From Fjordman, an update on the Dutch cartoonist…

It appears that Gregorius Nekschot’s situation is going to get a hearing in the Dutch Parliament. There is, thankfully, concern about the right to free speech, and the way in which this was handled by the police and judiciary:

A broad Lower House majority yesterday requested an interlocutory debate on the arrest of cartoonist Gregorius Nekschot.

Labour (PvdA), the Socialist Party (SP), the conservatives (VVD), Party for Freedom (PVV), leftwing Greens (GroenLinks) and independent MP Rita Verdonk all backed a request by centre-left D66 for a debate. As well as Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin, Education Minister Ronald Plasterk will be called to account. He is responsible for culture and media policy.

The Christian democrats (CDA) and small Christian party ChristenUnie are much less critical than the Lower House majority, which considers that freedom of speech is at risk. SP, VVD, PVV and Verdonk in particular are enraged by Nekschot’s arrest.

VVD leader Mark Rutte primarily blamed the CDA ahead of the debate yesterday. “It is time the CDA came to their senses, and publicly support one of the most important basic rights in our country,” he declared, “because it appears that the CDA is prepared to sacrifice freedom of speech at the altar of standards and values.” The PVV described the arrest as the first-ever arrest of a cartoonist in the modern Western world.

– – – – – – – – –

Gregorius Nekschot was arrested last week and kept in custody for 30 hours for cartoons that are “discriminatory against Muslims and people of darker skin”, as the Public Prosecutor’s Office (OM) in Amsterdam put it. Nekschot (‘Neck Shot’) has confirmed reports that around 10 police dragged him out of his home in Amsterdam, seized his computer and telephone and told him his real name would be revealed.

The arrest was particularly remarkable because it followed a complaint dating from 2005. The complaint was made at the time by Abdul Jabbar van de Ven, a Dutch convert to radical Islam. After the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh, he said on TV he would thank Allah if he could arrange for MP Geert Wilders to die, “for example of cancer”.

Gregorius Nekschot publishes mainly on the Internet, but also produced a book titled ‘Nekschot: Sick jokes.’ Theo van Gogh, assassinated by a Muslim terrorist in 2004, gave space on his website to the work of Nekschot. Eight specific cartoons that the OM in Amsterdam claims are criminal have meanwhile been removed by the cartoonist from his website.

Opinion magazine HP/de Tijd is printing the eight cartoons by Gregorius Nekschot today. The magazine normally prints a cartoon by him every week.

If someone could have told us twenty years ago that supposedly adult human beings were rampaging over cartoons, we would have considered this soothsayer insane.

Now the reality is here and instead we have large numbers of insane rampagers to consider instead.

A reader sent us an email this morning about an Islamic charter school in Minnesota:

A violent incident that yesterday at the Tarik ibn Ziyad Academy in Fridley, Minnesota, where Muslim school officials physically assaulted a local camera crew that was at a public school that is supported with public funds, while that crew reported on matters of a very public nature and interest.

The reporters who were physically assaulted were from KSTP Channel 5 in Minneapolis. Their report and video can be found here.

The original issue about the Academy — which shares premises with a mosque — is that Friday prayers were being conducted under official school auspices, and that schoolbuses to take children home weren’t available until after post-school religious instruction was finished. This latter practice, for all practical purposes, made instruction in Islam mandatory in a public school financed by the taxpayers of Minnesota.

Here’s what KSTP has to say about the incident:

News crew attacked during report at TiZA charter school

In an attempt to report about the new findings from the Department of Education Monday, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS went to Tarik ibn Zayad Academy in Inver Grove Heights.

While on school grounds, our crew was attacked by school officials. Our photographer was injured while wrestling with the two men over the camera.

Our photographer was examined by paramedics and suffered minor shoulder and back injuries.

The state education department on Monday directed the charter school to “correct” two areas related to religion at the school on Monday.

– – – – – – – – –

Tarik ibn Zayad Academy, which focuses on Middle Eastern culture and shares a mosque with the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, came under fire after a teacher alleged that the school was offering religious instruction in Islam to its students.

“The Minnesota Department of Education goes to great lengths to make clear to charter schools and their sponsors that, while schools should appropriately accommodate students’ religious beliefs, they must be ‘nonsectarian’ under the state’s charter school law,” said the state’s education Deputy Commissioner Chas Anderson.

The allegations first surfaced after an article by a columnist for the Star Tribune. The Education Department subsequently began a review of the south metro school and released its findings Monday.

The agency said it was concerned about the school, with about 300 students, accommodating communal prayer and providing transportation to an after-school religious program.

“We have directed the school to take appropriate corrective actions regarding these matters and will continue to provide oversight to ensure that the school is in compliance with state and federal law,” Anderson said.

Make sure you watch the video so that you can see for yourself the thuggish intimidation practiced by school employees. The guy who reaches his hand out to grab the camera is the same one who spoke so reasonably in other video interviews.

The school maintains that the TV crew was trespassing. I’m not certain that walking on the sidewalk in front of a public school can properly be termed “trespassing”, but — trespassing or not — what was done to the cameraman constitutes assault in my book.

Our emailer said that another news crew that was also there from another station filmed the physical assault. I couldn’t find the video in question, but KARE Channel 11 (also from Minneapolis) has some interesting video of the school.

As a final note, according to our correspondent:

The school is named after the Jihadist warrior who conquered Christian Spain in 711 A.D. His famous speech to his troops, known throughout the Muslim world, promised glorious death in Jihad, revenge, women as war booty, and placed at its center the installment of “the one true religion” by its conquest of the Infidels in Christian Spain. See the translation of the famous speech here.

Presumably Muslim policewomen in Sweden and Britain may wear the veil if so inclined. However, the same is not true in Algeria.

According to ANSAmed:

Algeria: No to Policewomen With Veil

ALGIERS, MAY 19 – The women who wear the hijab (the Islamic veil) will not be admitted in the Algerian police, director of the national security Ali Tounsi announced, cited by the Algerian press.

“The women who want to join the police will have to renounce the veil because this Islamic attribute is incompatible with the difficult job in the police,” Tounsi said during a ceremony of the week on the national security information in Skikda (600 km east of Algiers).

Algeria boasts the “biggest number of female agents in the countries of the Arab world”, Minister Delegate to Interior Ministry and local authorities Daho Ould Kablia said. The women in the police number some 9,000, equal to 7.8% of the total.

By 2010 the police will have some 200,000 agents, against the current 140,000, Tounsi also said. Some 40,000 in Algiers alone, against the current 23,000.

Hat tip: insubria.

[Nothing follows]

It’s out in the open now: in Australia, at least, all those friendly talking-head Muslims that you see on your TV screen are in the pay of Saudi Arabia.

According to The Australian:

Muslim leaders in pay of Saudis

SIX Australian-based Muslim clerics who are leaders of the Islamic community in the country are on the payroll of the Saudi Government, receiving allowances of up to $2000 a month.

The Australian can reveal for the first time the identity of the clerics — some paid through the Saudi embassy in Canberra, others directly from Riyadh’s Dawah (preaching) Office — who receive between 3500 and 7000 Saudi riyal ($1975) a month.

The payments to the six — who include former Howard government adviser Amin Hady and Melbourne Somali imam Isse Musse — are part of Saudi Arabia’s multi-billion-dollar campaign to transform its hardline image in the West.

However, Sheik Hady told The Australian there were as many as 14 others in the country being paid by the Saudis.

The real scandal isn’t that all the imams and other shills for Mohammed are being paid by Riyadh — which is, after all, no more than what we all expect.

The real scandal is the way that Saudi money corrupts non-Muslims in politics, the government, and academia. In the USA, for example, so many people in high places owe their comfortable lifestyles to Riyadh that a concerted effort to confront Islamization isn’t possible.

Hell, we can’t even name the enemy.

But back to Australia:
– – – – – – – – –

Saudi Arabia has pumped more than $120 million into Australia since the 1970s to fund mosques, Islamic groups and clerics to propagate Wahhabism, the puritanical brand of Islam espoused by al-Qa’ida.

The Malaysian and Indonesian governments have also funded Islamic initiatives in Australia.

Sheik Hady defended the allowance he has received since his arrival in Australia more than 25 years ago, saying it came with no strings attached.

“So far, they never tell any of the preachers what to say and what to do,” said the Indonesian imam at Zetland Mosque, in Sydney’s inner south.

“We are fully independent of what we do… they never instruct that this is what we should teach and this is what we should not.

“I don’t think there is any notion with Wahhabism being imposed by anyone.”

[…]

Asked if he received any orders about what to preach, he said: “No, we’re Muslim, we don’t say what we want, we say what the Koran and the prophet Mohammed want us to understand and to say, and that is what we teach the people. We don’t teach people our opinion.” [emphasis added]

Actually, all of this seems perfectly credible to me.

The Saudis don’t need to tell anyone what to do. All they have to do is hunt up some of their co-religionists, hand them suitcases full of cash, and let ’em rip.

An imam in the pay of the Saudis doesn’t have to teach his opinion, nor does he have to take specific orders from Moscow Riyadh. He and all the others, from the billionaire princes in Jeddah to the fire-breathing imams drawing the dole in London, are reading from the same playbook.

A playbook that happens to be the perfect, eternal, and immutable word of Allah.

A playbook that that demands the blood of the kuffar if they fail to submit.

The Saudis are just paying their man in Sydney or Canberra or Melbourne to do what comes naturally.

Hat tip: DC.

The following is just a part of Michael Yon’s post on the latest episode of the sleazy conduct of Michael Moore:

Many readers have complained that Michael Moore, in the conduct of his latest crusade against whatever he is against this month, has illegally used one of my photos on the banner of his website. Mr. Moore is not the first to have done so, and my readers can get pretty upset when it happens.

My lawyer has demanded that Mr. Moore take it down.

I usually freely grant use of my work to truthful, peaceful, non-commercial, non-political outlets. For instance, a church group wanted to use one of my photos for their congregation. I was honored and gave it to them freely. On another occasion, a peaceful, non-profit Islamic organization wanted to use the same photo that Michael Moore has infringed upon (Major Mark Bieger cradling a little girl named Farah), and I was honored to contribute to their peaceful cause.

For any of you not familiar with the iconic image of Farah dying in the Major’s arms as he runs for medical help, click on Yon’s site to see how Michael Moore has filched it that image and used it for political purposes. You’ll find it on the lower right hand side of the banner Moore has on his website. Yon has a screen cap.

To see the framed photograph of this image, which Yon has titled “Strength and Compassion” (the definition of a mensch, by the way) click here. It is also the picture on Yon’s book, Moment of Truth, available on Amazon, but if you buy it through his website, you can get an autographed copy. I’ve read the book and will be reviewing it eventually. Incidentally, the full title is actually Moment of Truth in Iraq: How a New ‘Greatest Generation’ of American Soldiers is Turning Defeat and Disaster into Victory and Hope — just in case you wondered what side he was on.

One of the nice things about the book is that he treats the British soldiers with respect.

Michael Yon has lived through this so far. I hope he makes it back.

He says:

I’ve seen grandmothers use my work in technically illegal ways, but since they’re not a big company, they probably have no idea about copyright, and usually use the work in tasteful, appropriate ways, I just smile and say, “Go ahead, Ma’am.”

But frequently, big companies and individuals who are knowledgeable of copyright laws filch my work and use it in ways that many readers consider partisan, highly political or incendiary. When this happens, I usually go after the infringer, and so do my readers.

Now here’s Michael Moore, the latest infringer, using my work for his own crude political purposes.

– – – – – – – – –

I recall some years ago watching one of his movies in Paris, and thinking how sad it was that an American would make propaganda so flagrant that it seemed pornographic. It was sad but at the same time uplifting, because Mr. Moore was able to exercise his right to free speech, rights that should never be infringed upon.

Mr. Moore is influential, rich, and could likely intimidate most photographers. But I ask my readers to please leave him be. Attacking him likely will be counterproductive. I know how to fight, and though I would fight for Mr. Moore’s right to free expression, I will fight against him if he steals my work and uses it in an inflammatory fashion.

The use Mr. Moore made of Farah’s dying moments and the desperation in the bowed head of the Major, fighting to keep her alive, is definitely inflammatory and ugly, in that special Michael Moore degradation of nobility in suffering.

Mr. Yon continues:

It’s got nothing to do with the fact that Michael Moore is anti-war (he’s not just against the Iraq War, but he was also against the war in Afghanistan). I respect Moore’s opposition to the Iraq War; I might even agree with him on some particulars. But I object to the tone of many of his arguments, especially the manner in which he uses my work to further his causes. As I said above, sometimes it seems pornographic. That’s a strong word, so I’ll explain.

Justice Potter Stewart once defined pornography by saying, “I know it when I see it.” Pornography and propaganda are closely related, as they are both cynical attempts at manipulation, rooted in a lack of respect for humanity. War Porn is one of the more disturbing developments in the new media, as people on both sides of the Iraq War get their kicks watching video images of death and destruction – as long as it’s their opponents who get killed.

Whether it’s an Al Qaeda cell-phone video of an IED attack or the grisly footage of a Coalition air strike, War Porn is degrading and incendiary. Of course, some footage is newsworthy and informative and the public deserves to see it. There is also great value to soldiers in watching footage for training purposes and to better understand battlefields and weapons.

But at some point, especially when the material is used to make political points, images of combat can cross the line into pornography. People die in war, but we must never forget that each casualty is a human being, even people as deserving of death as Al Qaeda. Denying our opponents’ humanity, we lose a little of our own.

When someone’s grandmother disseminates the photo of Major Beiger cradling a dying girl in his arms, I allow the usage because I feel she is trying to share the human tragedy.

When Michael Moore puts that same photo on his web site, alongside images of George Bush, John McCain and Hillary Clinton, the clear implication is that Farah’s death is their fault. That is a misrepresentation of the facts on the ground, as well as the story of the photo.

Farah was killed by a suicide car bomb in Mosul on May 2, 2005. Major Bieger and other soldiers literally risked their own lives to save many children and adults that day, but Farah didn’t make it.

Michael Moore apparently does not understand – or refuses to acknowledge – the moral distinction between a man who would murder innocent people, and a man who would sacrifice himself to save them. The photo, as I took it, is the truth, but Moore uses it – illegally – to convey falsehoods. His mind is that of a political propagandist who sees Farah’s death not as a human tragedy, but a tool.

We need to know the truth about the wars we are currently fighting. That’s why I went to Iraq in the first place. Sometimes the difference between War Porn and the truth can be subtle, ambiguous, even subjective. But I know it when I see it. And if Michael Moore learned to respect not just my work, but other aspects of the truth, not to mention respecting his audience’s intelligence, he would better serve his own cause.

There is much more in his post, I recommend that you read it through by using the link provided.

In the meantime, may Michael Moore get all that he deserves in life, in abundance.

With the ascendance of Lega Nord in the recent elections, good news emerges from Italy fairly frequently.

The latest is this story from La Repubblica, kindly translated into English by Gaia:

Oriana Fallaci Square in place of the mosque

VERONA — Goodbye mosque. In its place, Oriana Fallaci Square.

This decision was taken by the committee of Oppeano (Verona), where yesterday morning a building used by Muslims for prayer was bulldozed. In its place, the Municipality will create a public square named after the writer of The Rage and the Pride, which promoted a bitter campaign against Islam.

– – – – – – – – –

The decision to raze the structure which had been opened by ONLUS [translator’s note: Organizzazione Non Lucrativa di Utilita’ Sociale, a non-profit registered Italian charity] “For the success of Muslims”, was taken by the municipal administration, which acquired the area for €70,000 in order to transform it into an open area for parking and green space.

“My citizens did not want this takeover,” explained the mayor, Alessandro Montagnoli, deputy of the Lega Nord, “above all because it could create problems of practicability and cohabitation with the residents.”

Hat tip: RW.

Ahead of the elections for the National Assembly in Kuwait, it was hoped that things might turn out differently.

For one thing, the new, larger district system replaced the old fragmented arrangement, which had led to voting abuses. Instead of tribal politics and vote-buying in twenty five small wards which tended to be heavily influenced by familial ties, the new system has five large districts with ten representatives each.

Under this reform, each voter could select four of the fifty-five or so candidates in each district. Then the ten top vote-getters would gain parliamentary seats.

As Washington Institute for Near East Policy said a few days before the election:

Kuwait’s new electoral system intends to promote more coherent and cooperative legislative activity, but electoral reforms often have unintended consequences or no consequences at all.

I think that for the moment we can say that the results ended in “no consequences”, since the hardliners stayed in power.

Here is the Christian Science Monitor’s report:
– – – – – – – – –

The vote was meant to resolve a two-year political standoff between parliamentarians and the country’s cabinet ministers. However, after hard-line Islamists and tribal leaders scored major victories in Saturday’s parliamentary poll, many say the bickering will only continue, keeping this oil-rich nation from catching up to its booming Gulf neighbors.

The speedy economic development in Dubai and Qatar, the newly glitzy emirates where democracy doesn’t get in the way of business, loomed large in the election here. Many Kuwaitis blame both the government and the parliament for the lack of progress even though the country had $32.7 billion surplus for the 2007-08 fiscal year.

“Kuwaitis are very disappointed at being left behind in terms of advancement [compared] to their [Gulf] neighbors, especially since Kuwait led the region up until the ‘80s,” says Suliman al-Atiqi, a management student at the American University of Kuwait.

“Kuwait has now definitely acknowledged the competition … and seems very eager for a comeback. A comeback however will only be under way should the government privatize further government-controlled fields and find a way to make business easier to conduct from a bureaucratic level,” he says.

Prior to the last election in 2006, there was a great deal of active enthusiasm by younger voters. However, the results of that experience have left them cynical about change via parliament:

More than half of Kuwait’s population is under the age of 25. During the run-up to the 2006 parliamentary polls, Kuwait’s young people engaged enthusiastically in the campaigns – backing candidates, writing blogs, and attending opposition protests. This time around, however, voters said that they felt more cynicism than optimism about the outcome of the elections and a new parliament.

“In order for faster economic reforms to take place the notion of waiting for the parliament to take place is a joke,” opines a young Kuwaiti, Osama al-Sadi.

It turns out that the younger generation was right, since the elections are nothing but the same old, same old…

Kuwait voted according to the tradition: the count of the votes, which was completed today, showed a strong presence of radical Islamic MPs.

In fact, it may be somewhat worse than before:

• The Islamic Salafi Alliance and its allies made a big jump winning ten of the 50 seats in the Majlis al Umma, doubling the number of their seats in the previous legislature.
• The Sunni Islamists won the impressive 21 seats, four more compared to the previous elections.
• The important Shiite minority, one third of the Kuwaiti population, will be represented by five MPs, all Islamists, including Adnan Abdul Samad and Ahmad Lari, the two Kuwaiti MPs who took part in the commemoration of Imad Mughniyeh, senior official of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah killed in Damascus in February
• The liberals and nationalists registered a decrease winning seven and four seats respectively.
• The representation of the Muslim Brotherhood (Islamic Constitutional Movement) was halved to three, triggering serious disputes and protests that ended with their suspension from the party and their short-lived arrest . The three are Mughniyeh, considered a terrorist for his role in the hijacking of an airplane in 1988, and Samad and Lari, who were charged with founding and being members of Hezbollah Kuwait, an illegal organisation considered hostile to the state.
• Despite the fact that 56.7% of all voters were women, none of the twenty seven women running for office was elected.

The appeals of Prime Minister Nasser Al Ahmad al Sabah, who even during the election day reiterated his hope that the women who would enter the National Assembly would contribute to the growth of the country, were to no avail.

This ungainly group of Assembly members is not likely to last long. The emir has the right to dissolve the body and call for new elections. It won’t happen immediately, but it’s obvious that many, especially the young voters, are not happy with the results. Moreover, it is unlikely that this group will work effectively with the Emir’s cabinet, which will result in dissolving the Assembly yet again.

Establishing a democratically elected body of representatives who can work together with other branches of government seems to have a long, slow learning curve.

Hat tip: Insubria

Katya is a Gates of Vienna reader in Austria who picked up the following news story from a German news site. As far as I can tell there is no English-language version available so far.

Katya says the incident happened today (May 19th) at 04:35, and was reported by Andreas Drees and Ulrich Steden in Der Westen. Below is her summary of the news article:

A Turkish female died of heart failure in an intensive care unit in Evangelist Bethany Hospital, Iserlohn, Germany.

Twelve of her male and female relatives began to riot, throwing chairs and tables and ripping pictures off the walls. Horst Hennig, the manager of the hospital, while acknowledging that pain and grief follow such deaths, felt that such a reaction on the part of the mourners was beyond reasonable.

The initial police force, called to calm matters, was attacked by the rioters with fisticuffs and kicks and therefore withdrew to await reinforcements.

– – – – – – – – –

In the meantime, the relatives rang on their handys (cell phones) for reinforcements of their own and before long the so-called family members totaled forty. Eventually, it took nine police cars and eighteen policemen using pepper spray over an hour and a half to quell the rioters.

The patient was a 56-year-old Turkish woman. The giveaway is in the last paragraph, where the article mentions that there will be a meeting on Monday morning with the Integration Department (or Council) of the City of Iserlohn.

The hospital manager praises the police service. The rioting relatives were treated at the hospital for their pepper sprays injuries.

There are 26 readers’ comments so far.

Note: The link to the German-language news story does not seem to work consistently. However, I did manage to open the article successfully at one point.

That’s according to MPACUK, the Muslim Public Affairs Committee of the UK.

One of our readers subscribes to MPACUK’s mailing list, and this morning received the following email, inviting him to “donate towards the Jihad”:

To: myemailaddress@myemailprovider.com
Reply-To: bounce@mpacuk.net
Subject: [MPACUK] The Unknown Threat
Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 10:34:06 +0100

In the name of God, the most Compassionate, the most Merciful

The Unknown Threat

As you are reading this, a non-Muslim is learning about you in some newspaper, radio show or on a television channel.

By the time you finish reading this article, that non-Muslim will be more frightened of you, more ready to hate you and more ready then ever to act against you.

In the time you’ve read the last paragraph, steps will have been taken by politicians in planning the next war on Iran and Syria, planning more ways to take your rights away and more ways (of course) to send arms to Israel to further their plan of taking over the whole of the Middle East. Yet there will be others still making speeches about why we should ban hijab and remove all Muslims from Europe.

As you read this, 100 million people are being taught that war on Islam is their religious duty. That you are evil and that God has taught them to destroy you. These people are joining political parties right now and so will be making the decisions that will affect your life!!!

Shocked? Questioning the truth in this? Questioning how you have not heard of this? Find out the truth of the secret war in this ground-breaking talk, film and workshop.

– – – – – – – – –

So who is behind these attacks and what is the Mosque’s role in this whole affair? Should they remain empty prayer halls for old men? Or should they be the centre of the community, educating and organising our protection? And what is the role of politics and the media in all this — can we protect our rights in this country without getting political or is political involvement an Islamic, obligatory act?

For answers to the questions above, to hear about the global strategy from the experts, and finally to learn the best way to defend Islam, the Muslims and of course YOU, attend our ground-breaking set of talks, film and workshop, all delivered by experts.

Free Event: Reviving the Mosque — The Big Challenge.
Luther King House
Brighton Grove (off Wilmslow Road)
Manchester
M14 5JP

Sat 24th May, 1.30 — 5.00 pm

Book Now: phone 0870 760 5594 or email info@mpacuk.org

Plus more articles & alerts on our website: WWW.MPACUK.ORG

We at MPACUK need your help and constant vigilance to continue our work effectively. If you have a media critique please send it to info@mpacuk.org, don’t forget to include a URL for the article that you are reviewing.

To advertise with MPACUK or to donate towards the Jihad, please email us at funding@mpacuk.org.

Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK
Phone: 0870 760 5594
Email: info@mpacuk.org

[…]

The following physical address is associated with this mailing list:

MPACUK
PO Box 55136
London
N12 7UY

Our Russian correspondent Peter 1 offers his latest guest essay, a brief allegorical meditation.

If the World is a Blog
by Peter 1

I have a blog, and from time to time there come commenters who don’t behave well. They are not interested in discussion, but instead insult me and call me names. After a few warnings, I delete their comments completely.

What surprises me is that they usually complain about deleting, require that they be treated politely, and point at the lack of democracy in my blog. Frankly speaking, I am quite tolerant — I delete only the repeated and direct insults. That’s why I cannot understand people who require that they be treated with respect after having repeatedly insulted me.

Now imagine… the world is a blog. And our lives are the posts in that blog.
– – – – – – – – –
And suppose that we insult the owner by our misbehavior. His right is to delete our post from the blog. It has nothing to do with democracy or tolerance, because it is his blog and we insulted him.

And finally, suppose you believe that Allah is the owner of the world. Like you and me, he can be insulted. So, he commanded you to delete the records which are insulting for him. You are not a hater or a criminal, you simply do your job. It is fair and reasonable.

Assuming Allah is just a blogger and the world IS his blog.

Memorial Day is Coming

The other day I posted on Operation Gratitude, the non-profit group which sends packages and letters to our military deployed in war zones.

Again, I’m emphasizing support for them because they do a remarkable job on little money. I’ve always believed that the competence of any organization is usually a top-down phenomenon. Market analysts believe the same thing since they look to the CEO as part of their prediction of value in a given company’s stock.

In the case of Operation Gratitude, the top-down phenomenon holds. The woman who founded the group has the vision and determination to attract others to volunteer with her. Together they have done remarkable work.

Here’s an interview with Carol Blashek. It’s an attitude adjustment for all of us to realize what the determination of one person can accomplish.

Memorial Day is coming. Please click on the website or, better yet, send a check to:
– – – – – – – – –
Operation Gratitude/
Carolyn Blashek
16444 Refugio Road
Encino, California 91436
USA

Ten dollars will send one package to someone in the military. They also have a PayPal button, but if you use that, throw in a few dollars more to cover their PayPal expense.

There are many creative ideas on this site, but I’ve never seen this one put into practice before. It’s one of those “why-didn’t-someone-think-of-that before” inspirations.

Penny Alfonso has organized a letter-writing campaign to veterans of former wars (Vietnam, anyone?) to let them know their service is still appreciated. She’s on this page; scroll down a little to see her headline. You can email her with the name and address of a vet who you think would appreciate a letter. As long as there is life and spirit, it’s never too late to say thank you.

President Bush’s speech to the Knesset in Jerusalem hasn’t gotten much media coverage beyond the ten-second sound bite.

In an effort to redress that disturbing silence, here are the President’s remarks in full.

At the bottom of the post is a link to the video of his talk. It captures the immediacy of the moment much more than mere words can. When the President spoke in Hebrew, the text says “(applause)” — but a more accurate rendering would have been “sustained, fervent applause and foot-stomping, followed by a standing ovation.” If you don’t watch the full thing, do click on long enough to come to that point, which happens early on. The whole address is about twenty-two minutes long.

This is powerful and moving and long overdue. Obviously President Bush has affection for Israel. His words on this occasion will go down as one of the most important speeches of the President’s two terms in office.

The words he spoke to the Knesset will outlive the mendacity of his many detractors. Ironically, whoever follows in his footsteps has only to wait a year or two until he or she hears rumbling about how people “miss” George Bush. Fortunately for him, he will be off hunting somewhere on his ranch, or hanging out with Laura. He won’t have to care anymore, and being a Texan, he definitely will be happy to let history make the call.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

President Bush Addresses Members of the Knesset
The Knesset
Jerusalem, May 15th, 2008

2:55 P.M. (Local) THE PRESIDENT: President Peres and Mr. Prime Minister, Madam Speaker, thank very much for hosting this special session. President Beinish, Leader of the Opposition Netanyahu, Ministers, members of the Knesset, distinguished guests: Shalom. Laura and I are thrilled to be back in Israel. We have been deeply moved by the celebrations of the past two days. And this afternoon, I am honored to stand before one of the world’s great democratic assemblies and convey the wishes of the American people with these words: Yom Ha’atzmaut Sameach. (Applause.)

It is a rare privilege for the American President to speak to the Knesset. (Laughter.) Although the Prime Minister told me there is something even rarer — to have just one person in this chamber speaking at a time. (Laughter.) My only regret is that one of Israel’s greatest leaders is not here to share this moment. He is a warrior for the ages, a man of peace, a friend. The prayers of the American people are with Ariel Sharon. (Applause.)

We gather to mark a momentous occasion. Sixty years ago in Tel Aviv, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed Israel’s independence, founded on the “natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate.” What followed was more than the establishment of a new country. It was the redemption of an ancient promise given to Abraham and Moses and David — a homeland for the chosen people Eretz Yisrael.

Eleven minutes later, on the orders of President Harry Truman, the United States was proud to be the first nation to recognize Israel’s independence. And on this landmark anniversary, America is proud to be Israel’s closest ally and best friend in the world.

The alliance between our governments is unbreakable, yet the source of our friendship runs deeper than any treaty. It is grounded in the shared spirit of our people, the bonds of the Book, the ties of the soul. When William Bradford stepped off the Mayflower in 1620, he quoted the words of Jeremiah: “Come let us declare in Zion the word of God.” The founders of my country saw a new promised land and bestowed upon their towns names like Bethlehem and New Canaan. And in time, many Americans became passionate advocates for a Jewish state.
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Centuries of suffering and sacrifice would pass before the dream was fulfilled. The Jewish people endured the agony of the pogroms, the tragedy of the Great War, and the horror of the Holocaust — what Elie Wiesel called “the kingdom of the night.” Soulless men took away lives and broke apart families. Yet they could not take away the spirit of the Jewish people, and they could not break the promise of God. (Applause.) When news of Israel’s freedom finally arrived, Golda Meir, a fearless woman raised in Wisconsin, could summon only tears. She later said: “For two thousand years we have waited for our deliverance. Now that it is here it is so great and wonderful that it surpasses human words.”

The joy of independence was tempered by the outbreak of battle, a struggle that has continued for six decades. Yet in spite of the violence, in defiance of the threats, Israel has built a thriving democracy in the heart of the Holy Land. You have welcomed immigrants from the four corners of the Earth. You have forged a free and modern society based on the love of liberty, a passion for justice, and a respect for human dignity. You have worked tirelessly for peace. You have fought valiantly for freedom.

My country’s admiration for Israel does not end there. When Americans look at Israel, we see a pioneer spirit that worked an agricultural miracle and now leads a high-tech revolution. We see world-class universities and a global leader in business and innovation and the arts. We see a resource more valuable than oil or gold: the talent and determination of a free people who refuse to let any obstacle stand in the way of their destiny.

I have been fortunate to see the character of Israel up close. I have touched the Western Wall, seen the sun reflected in the Sea of Galilee, I have prayed at Yad Vashem. And earlier today, I visited Masada, an inspiring monument to courage and sacrifice. At this historic site, Israeli soldiers swear an oath: “Masada shall never fall again.” Citizens of Israel: Masada shall never fall again, and America will be at your side.

This anniversary is a time to reflect on the past. It’s also an opportunity to look to the future. As we go forward, our alliance will be guided by clear principles — shared convictions rooted in moral clarity and unswayed by popularity polls or the shifting opinions of international elites.

We believe in the matchless value of every man, woman, and child. So we insist that the people of Israel have the right to a decent, normal, and peaceful life, just like the citizens of every other nation. (Applause.)

We believe that democracy is the only way to ensure human rights. So we consider it a source of shame that the United Nations routinely passes more human rights resolutions against the freest democracy in the Middle East than any other nation in the world. (Applause.)

We believe that religious liberty is fundamental to a civilized society. So we condemn anti-Semitism in all forms — whether by those who openly question Israel’s right to exist, or by others who quietly excuse them.

We believe that free people should strive and sacrifice for peace. So we applaud the courageous choices Israeli’s leaders have made. We also believe that nations have a right to defend themselves and that no nation should ever be forced to negotiate with killers pledged to its destruction. (Applause.)

We believe that targeting innocent lives to achieve political objectives is always and everywhere wrong. So we stand together against terror and extremism, and we will never let down our guard or lose our resolve. (Applause.)

The fight against terror and extremism is the defining challenge of our time. It is more than a clash of arms. It is a clash of visions, a great ideological struggle. On the one side are those who defend the ideals of justice and dignity with the power of reason and truth. On the other side are those who pursue a narrow vision of cruelty and control by committing murder, inciting fear, and spreading lies.

This struggle is waged with the technology of the 21st century, but at its core it is an ancient battle between good and evil. The killers claim the mantle of Islam, but they are not religious men. No one who prays to the God of Abraham could strap a suicide vest to an innocent child, or blow up guiltless guests at a Passover Seder, or fly planes into office buildings filled with unsuspecting workers. In truth, the men who carry out these savage acts serve no higher goal than their own desire for power. They accept no God before themselves. And they reserve a special hatred for the most ardent defenders of liberty, including Americans and Israelis.

And that is why the founding charter of Hamas calls for the “elimination” of Israel. And that is why the followers of Hezbollah chant “Death to Israel, Death to America!” That is why Osama bin Laden teaches that “the killing of Jews and Americans is one of the biggest duties.” And that is why the President of Iran dreams of returning the Middle East to the Middle Ages and calls for Israel to be wiped off the map.

There are good and decent people who cannot fathom the darkness in these men and try to explain away their words. It’s natural, but it is deadly wrong. As witnesses to evil in the past, we carry a solemn responsibility to take these words seriously. Jews and Americans have seen the consequences of disregarding the words of leaders who espouse hatred. And that is a mistake the world must not repeat in the 21st century.

Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: “Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.” We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history. (Applause.)

Some people suggest if the United States would just break ties with Israel, all our problems in the Middle East would go away. This is a tired argument that buys into the propaganda of the enemies of peace, and America utterly rejects it. Israel’s population may be just over 7 million. But when you confront terror and evil, you are 307 million strong, because the United States of America stands with you. (Applause.)

America stands with you in breaking up terrorist networks and denying the extremists sanctuary. America stands with you in firmly opposing Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions. Permitting the world’s leading sponsor of terror to possess the world’s deadliest weapons would be an unforgivable betrayal for future generations. For the sake of peace, the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. (Applause.)

Ultimately, to prevail in this struggle, we must offer an alternative to the ideology of the extremists by extending our vision of justice and tolerance and freedom and hope. These values are the self-evident right of all people, of all religions, in all the world because they are a gift from the Almighty God. Securing these rights is also the surest way to secure peace. Leaders who are accountable to their people will not pursue endless confrontation and bloodshed. Young people with a place in their society and a voice in their future are less likely to search for meaning in radicalism. Societies where citizens can express their conscience and worship their God will not export violence, they will be partners in peace.

The fundamental insight, that freedom yields peace, is the great lesson of the 20th century. Now our task is to apply it to the 21st. Nowhere is this work more urgent than here in the Middle East. We must stand with the reformers working to break the old patterns of tyranny and despair. We must give voice to millions of ordinary people who dream of a better life in a free society. We must confront the moral relativism that views all forms of government as equally acceptable and thereby consigns whole societies to slavery. Above all, we must have faith in our values and ourselves and confidently pursue the expansion of liberty as the path to a peaceful future.

That future will be a dramatic departure from the Middle East of today. So as we mark 60 years from Israel’s founding, let us try to envision the region 60 years from now. This vision is not going to arrive easily or overnight; it will encounter violent resistance. But if we and future Presidents and future Knessets maintain our resolve and have faith in our ideals, here is the Middle East that we can see:

Israel will be celebrating the 120th anniversary as one of the world’s great democracies, a secure and flourishing homeland for the Jewish people. The Palestinian people will have the homeland they have long dreamed of and deserved — a democratic state that is governed by law, and respects human rights, and rejects terror. From Cairo to Riyadh to Baghdad and Beirut, people will live in free and independent societies, where a desire for peace is reinforced by ties of diplomacy and tourism and trade. Iran and Syria will be peaceful nations, with today’s oppression a distant memory and where people are free to speak their minds and develop their God-given talents. Al Qaeda and Hezbollah and Hamas will be defeated, as Muslims across the region recognize the emptiness of the terrorists’ vision and the injustice of their cause.

Overall, the Middle East will be characterized by a new period of tolerance and integration. And this doesn’t mean that Israel and its neighbors will be best of friends. But when leaders across the region answer to their people, they will focus their energies on schools and jobs, not on rocket attacks and suicide bombings. With this change, Israel will open a new hopeful chapter in which its people can live a normal life, and the dream of Herzl and the founders of 1948 can be fully and finally realized.

This is a bold vision, and some will say it can never be achieved. But think about what we have witnessed in our own time. When Europe was destroying itself through total war and genocide, it was difficult to envision a continent that six decades later would be free and at peace. When Japanese pilots were flying suicide missions into American battleships, it seemed impossible that six decades later Japan would be a democracy, a lynchpin of security in Asia, and one of America’s closest friends. And when waves of refugees arrived here in the desert with nothing, surrounded by hostile armies, it was almost unimaginable that Israel would grow into one of the freest and most successful nations on the earth.

Yet each one of these transformations took place. And a future of transformation is possible in the Middle East, so long as a new generation of leaders has the courage to defeat the enemies of freedom, to make the hard choices necessary for peace, and stand firm on the solid rock of universal values.

Sixty years ago, on the eve of Israel’s independence, the last British soldiers departing Jerusalem stopped at a building in the Jewish quarter of the Old City. An officer knocked on the door and met a senior rabbi. The officer presented him with a short iron bar — the key to the Zion Gate — and said it was the first time in 18 centuries that a key to the gates of Jerusalem had belonged to a Jew. His hands trembling, the rabbi offered a prayer of thanksgiving to God, “Who had granted us life and permitted us to reach this day.” Then he turned to the officer, and uttered the words Jews had awaited for so long: “I accept this key in the name of my people.”

Over the past six decades, the Jewish people have established a state that would make that humble rabbi proud. You have raised a modern society in the Promised Land, a light unto the nations that preserves the legacy of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And you have built a mighty democracy that will endure forever and can always count on the United States of America to be at your side. God bless. (Applause.)

Video of speech.

AH, a reader from the United States, wrote me an email while I was at the Vienna conference. In it he detailed his concerns about Europe’s position on the front line of the struggle against Islamization. With his kind permission, I am reproducing both his email and my response:

Dear Baron and Dymphna:

There is no point in wasting time castigating PJM or commiserating with you for any loss you may feel. What is necessary is, for those of us who do understand exactly what Islam is, not merely to provide moral and material support to each other but to develop a strategy to change popular perceptions of the “Religion of Peace” as just another entity much like Methodism etc.

I understand your present focus on Europe (Eurabia in Bat Yeor’s felicitous phrase) in the sense of it being a true front line. But, unless I don’t see the picture clearly, I believe it to be a poorly defended front line. Further I am uncertain of the nature of the apparent strongest anti-Muslim forces in Europe, the various rightist groups. There is little doubt in my mind that I am not so well-informed as I would like about those forces, and I cannot trust our own MSM at all. But while Steyn is clear about the collapse of Canada and the general state of Europe and while you are clear about the collapse as well, I remain uncertain about the nature of what might well be our allies there.

I suppose, in part, my distrust of European perspicacity and fortitude is a result of having “been around” during their staggering incapacity and stupidity and cowardice. All of these seemed to increase through time from the inadequate response to Hitler, the French military collapse and Petainian compliance through the disarmament craze of the fifties the victory of the relativists and “existentialists” in the 60’s, the abandonment of colonies to insanely inadequate “native” governments the anti-Americanism, the failure to fully support the Korean fight and the near total lack of assistance in Vietnam, the castigation of Americans as war-mongers, the hatred of Reagan, the idiot adulation of James Carter, the continuing hatred of President Bush, the desperate dhimmitude of most Europeans, the near totalitarian imposition of the EU etc. Have I missed something? Are they somehow better than they look? (I remember Mark Twain’s quip “Wagner is actually better than he sounds”.)

Your own passion and awareness of the European problem, so far as I can tell, has few strong allies. Do you think I am being isolationist for saying I think we need look to our own gardens rather than to saving the sewers of Paris, the stews of Cologne, or the wall to wall brothel that is the lowlands?

Warm regards,
AH

My response:
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AH,

Your message came while I was in Vienna, and I’m only just now getting to some of my email backlog.

In my Transatlantic operations I repeatedly find an astonishing level of ignorance on either side of the Atlantic about the other. People seem to glean their ideas about the other continent mainly from the MSM, which means that inaccuracy, caricature, and oversimplification are the order of the day. When I go to Europe, I have to combat an invincible ignorance about America. Too many people get their ideas mostly from Hollywood and CNN International — after all, what other sources do they have?

Americans, on the other hand, grossly oversimplify what is happening in Europe. When you speak of “incapacity and stupidity and cowardice”, your example is the French, and it may or may not be accurate. But you overlook the courage of the Danes and the Swiss, for example. And the Czechs, the Poles, and the Hungarians — indeed most of the former East bloc peoples — are stalwarts.

The front line in Europe is poorly defended. The strongest anti-Muslim forces are generally on the right, but not entirely — witness the Socialist Workers’ Party in Denmark. Some of them are inveterate anti-Semites (e.g. FN and FPÖ), but others, such as Sverigedemokraterna and Vlaams Belang, most assuredly are not.

Unfortunately, to find out the differences, to discover the most viable allies in our efforts, requires a lot of work. I try to listen to what the Europeans themselves have to say — regular people, not the political leaders or talking heads on TV — and be open to seeing the situation the same way they see it.

Relying on what the political leaders or NGO reps say is not a good idea, because ordinary people have a totally different view of what’s happening.

And to write off entire countries or the whole continent is to neglect the fact that millions of people — literally millions, the majority of the populace — do not agree with what is being done in their name. They are decent, law-abiding citizens with jobs and families who want to find a way to reverse what’s happening. The political deck is stacked against them, and I have dedicated myself to helping them find a viable way of defending themselves against the Islamization that is being forced upon them. As an American, I have some advantages in the fight, including the First Amendment and my relative safety on a different continent.

Whether you are “isolationist” or not is irrelevant for our purposes. If we let Europe fall to the new Saracens, the consequences for the United States will be devastating, if not fatal.

It’s not a battle we can afford to sit out.

— Baron Bodissey

Here’s a brief book review from Henrik at Europe News.

I’ve just picked up The Great Deception by Christopher Booker and Richard North, which finally provides a complete history of where the EU ideology came from. While I have read only the first couple of chapters, I find it so well researched and rich in detail I feel like passing on the tip to others before finishing it myself.

This books also provides an answer to a blog comment a couple of weeks ago where someone asked for a brief story of the European Union and its principles. 600+ pages isn’t exactly “brief”, at least it does provide the story. It requires some reading to be able to pinpoint what exactly the Union is doing, and why it does things in the weird ways we see.
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Rejecting the Constitution Treaty was a major blow to the plans of the Europhiles. But instead of doing the obvious, a complete retooling of the entire EU system, they chose to push the Treaty down our throats. This book reveals that it was perhaps more intentional than it seemed.

Though a serious and worthwhile book for everyone interested in the machinations of the European Union, it has largely been ignored by mainstream media, which is odd. They thus have to rely on “viral marketing” (that’s us) to make the book known. I hope it’ll work, for knowing the history of the Union will qualify us to react to what it does.