Muslims Threaten Restaurant-Bar for Serving Alcohol

The New York Observer:

The much-hyped, soon-to-open Breslin restaurant, situated in the 12-story Ace Hotel on Broadway and 29th, is giving members of the Masjid Ar-Rahman mosque across the street some agita. "Five times a day, there's a hundred cabs on the street--the good news is you can always get a cab," co-owner Ken Friedman told the Transom the other evening. He said some mosque visitors "object to seeing people drink alcohol."

After the recent FergusStock, a festival during which famed British chef Fergus Henderson cooked whole pigs for a rapt crowd of New York chefs and foodies, Mr. Friedman said the mosque's leaders called a meeting with the hotel. "They said, 'Can you move the bar?'" he said. "And I laughed. And the guy said, 'Oh, you think that's funny?' And I said, 'Yeah, that is funny, that is really funny, because we're not going to move the bar just because you discovered we're serving booze.' Can you name one restaurant in New York that doesn't serve booze?"

Mr. Friedman and his partner, Spotted Pig chef April Bloomfield, did agree to nix plans for a dive bar in a townhouse next door, but as for the restaurant, "I said, 'This is the United States of America and we'll do whatever the f**k we want.'"

He said the mosque had suggested it couldn't control the behavior of "a few bad eggs"; i.e., "we could get a brick through our window." Mr. Friedman said he made the police aware of this threat....

Read it all here.

World Gender Gap Worst in Islamic Nations

From R.E.A.L Courage:

The 2009 report by the World Economic Forum has listed predominantly Islamic nations in the bottom of their annual Global Gender Gap (GGG) Index. This included such major nations as Pakistan (ranked 132 out of 134), Saudi Arabia (ranked 130 out of 134), Iran (ranked 128 out of 134), Egypt (ranked 126 out of 134), and Turkey (ranked 129 out 134). Yemen, which is 99 percent Islamic, was the bottom ranked nation as 134 on the Global Gender Gap Index. The only nation not predominantly Islamic in the bottom of the Global Gender Gap index was Benin.

In addition, the 2009 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Index report does not include rankings on a number of significant and predominantly Islamic nations where women are oppressed. Somalia (population of nearly 10 million) was not included in the index. Endless numbers of reports of the stonings and Islamic supremacist abuses of women have been reported in Somalia in the past year, including the stoning to death of a 13 year old girl based on “Sharia law” in October 2008. Sudan (population of nearly 41 million) was also not included in the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Index. Among other nations, Afghanistan (29 million) and Iraq (29 million) are also not included in this Global Gender Gap Index. With the index not reporting on these 109 million, the desperate fate of an estimated 50 plus million women are not included in this Global Gender Gap index report.

Even with these significant exclusions from the Global Gender Gap index report, the bottom 10 index nations (excluding Benin), which are all predominantly Islamic nations, represent a population of over half a billion individuals. These include Yemen (134 out of 134), Chad (133), Pakistan (132), Saudi Arabia (130), Turkey (129), Iran (128), Mali (127), Egypt (126), Qatar (125), Morocco (124). If women represent half of the population in these nations, then these bottom 10 predominantly Islamic nations demonstrate the ongoing oppression of an estimated 250 million women.

Buckingham Mosque: What Fanatics Want to Call Buckingham Palace

From the UK's Daily Express:

A fanatical Muslim group campaigning to impose sharia law on Britain wants to turn Buckingham Palace into a mosque, it was revealed last night.

Days before a potentially incendiary rally in central London, the hardline Islam4UK group claims to have uncovered historical evidence which challenges the right of the Queen to live at the royal property.

Notorious hate preacher Anjem Choudary is calling for the palace to be renamed Buckingham Masjid, the Arabic word for mosque.

The Mall, which approaches the palace, would become Masjid Road.

Choudary, the right-hand man of exiled cleric Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, spoke out as he urged Muslims across Britain to join Saturday’s rally to demand a complete overhaul of the British legal system and the introduction of sharia courts.

The protest is due to begin at 1pm outside the Houses of Parliament and end at Trafalgar Square, less than a mile from Buckingham Palace, raising concerns over security.

Last night angry politicians and fellow Muslims condemned Choudary’s comments.

Tory MP Philip Davies compared Choudary to the leader of the BNP, saying: “This man’s a complete idiot. He’s the Muslim equivalent to Nick Griffin. I’m all for free speech and people having the right to have their say but, equally, there are all these ridiculous laws the Government has introduced about inciting racial hatred. Quite clearly, that’s what he is doing.

“If these laws are in place, they have to work both ways – they can’t apply to just one group of people.”

In a rambling diatribe, Choudary wrote on the Islam4UK website: “There is a spark that has ignited and its flame has become unstoppable.

“In recent years the world has witnessed an Islamic resurgence which continues to grow in strength.

“We find ourselves in the year 2009, waiting for Rome to fall, waiting for the White House to fall and indeed waiting for Buckingham Palace to fall.”

Choudary said that under sharia law the Queen’s official residence in London would have a dome fitted and a tannoy system to call followers to prayer.

The Palace would be used as a judiciary court for handing down sharia punishments and a detention place for “prisoners of war”.

In addition, the building would become the headquarters of the Islamic States’ supreme leadership and the Department of Information and Culture....

Read it all here.

Copts Attacked Over Church Construction

From Middle East Online:

Clashes erupt as Muslim residents protest plans to increase size of Church tower, put bell.

CAIRO - Thirty people were arrested on Wednesday after Muslims and Coptic Christians clashed over the building of a church tower in a village in southern Egypt, a security official said.

Three people were injured in the clashes which broke out late on Tuesday in Al-Badraman, in Minya province.

Muslim residents began hurling stones at Christian construction workers after hearing that the church was planning to increase the size of its tower and put in a bell, the official said.

"Thirty people were arrested on the spot," the official said.

The Copts, the Middle East's largest Christian community, make up six and 10 percent of Egypt's 80 million.

Public Broadcaster's Childrens Choir Sings "Allah Akbar"

From www.nisnews.nl:

THE HAGUE, 29/10/09 - Kinderen voor Kinderen (Children for Children), the children's choir of public broadcaster VARA, has composed a song in which Islam is praised. The Party for Freedom (PVV) is demanding clarification from Education Minister Ronald Plasterk.

In the song, 'Allah Akbar' is chorused 27 times. "The Dutch are in this way humiliated," declares PVV MP Martin Bosma. "The multi-culturalists have no shame any more. The multicultural faith is at death's door in society, but on subsidised public television, it is still alive and kicking."

Kinderen voor Kinderen is a well-known choir that makes a CD every year that is sung on TV on VARA. A number of the choir's songs became national hits in the 1980s and 1990s. In recent years the choir has become less popular.

On Tuesday evening, the choir sung its 2009 CD on TV, among which was the Islam song. According to Bosma, the slogan 'Allah Akbar,' which forms the refrain, is "a standard part of the Islamic prayer that has been used for 14 centuries as a war-cry by the ruthless Islamic armies of conquest."

Mass Cancelled in the Phillipines Following Grenade Attack

From Asia News:

Mgr Angelito Lampon, Apostolic Vicar of Jolo, has cancelled masses for the feast of All Saints and All Souls, 1 and 2 November. The decision was taken following an attack at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Caramel, October2 7. The launch of a grenade damaged the building. The prelate explains that this is a "precautionary measure" and the faithful can participate in "moments of common prayer."

In a statement posted on the website of the Philippine Bishops Conference (Cpcp), Msgr. Angelito Lampon confirms the cancellation of the mass originally planned at the cemetery; instead he will lead brief moments of prayer for the dead and bless the graves. The Justice and Peace Commission of the Vicariate of Jolo said the attack on October 27 caused minimal damage to the roof and windows of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Caramel, but there were no injuries nor casualties.

The town of Jolo, the capital of the province of Sulu in southern Philippines, is a majority Muslim area, the scene of attacks and violence in the past. Abu Sayyaf gangs are active in the area, a Filipino Islamic fundamentalist movement linked to terror network al Qaeda.

On July 7, 2009 another attack targeted the cathedral of Mount Caramel: the launch of a grenade caused the deaths of six people, wounding forty others.

Somali man, '112', weds girl, 17

While we are not convinced the man is 112, there is a problem in the Islamic world where young girls are married off to men old enough to be their grandfathers. From BBC:

Hundreds of people have attended a wedding in central Somalia between a man who says he is 112 years old, and his teenage wife.

Ahmed Muhamed Dore - who already has 13 children by five wives - said he would like to have more with his new wife, Safia Abdulleh, who is 17 years old.

"Today God helped me realise my dream," Mr Dore said, after the wedding in the region of Galguduud.

The bride's family said she was "happy with her new husband".

Mr Dore said he and his bride - who is young enough to be his great-great-grand-daughter - were from the same village in Somalia and that he had waited for her to grow up to propose.

"I didn't force her, but used my experience to convince her of my love; and then we agreed to marry," the groom said....

Two Chicago Men Charged in Terror Scheme

From the Naperville Sun:

When FBI agents at O'Hare arrested David Headley en route to Pakistan earlier this month on charges he plotted to kill a newspaper cartoonist in Denmark, authorities say he held an additional airline reservation – to Copenhagen.

He was to depart Thursday.

Headley's friend, Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who shared an extreme hatred for cartoons that depicted the prophet Mohammed, arranged for the flight, authorities said.

Any depiction of the prophet, even a favorable one, is forbidden by Islamic law as likely to lead to idolatry.

The Chicago men, who knew each other from a military school in Pakistan, on Tuesday were accused of an international plot dubbed "The Mickey Mouse Project" that since late 2008 included scheming with others to "commit terrorist acts against overseas targets," according to federal criminal complaints made public in Chicago.

The North Side men are accused of plotting to target employees of the Danish newspaper Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten, which published cartoons of the prophet Mohammed in 2005, sparking violent riots across the Muslim world.

The most controversial of the 12 cartoons depicted Mohammed wearing a bomb with a lit fuse as a turban. That cartoon was drawn by Kurt Westergaard, 78 – who was targeted for assassination, authorities said.

But Headley's phone calls were wiretapped and his e-mails were under FBI review. When he tried to board his Pakistan-bound O'Hare flight Oct. 3, the FBI arrested him.

Headley, 49, then confessed to agents about the plot, authorities said. He was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts involving murder and maiming outside the United States and one count of conspiracy to provide material support to the alleged overseas terrorism conspiracy.

Rana, 48, a native of Pakistan and a Canadian citizen, was arrested Oct. 18 at his West Rogers Park home. He was charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorism conspiracy that involved Headley.

In October 2008, Headley used his birth name, Daood Gilani –which he changed in 2006 to avoid suspicion while traveling – when posting a message to a Yahoo group called "abdalians," authorities said.

"Everything is not a joke . . . We are not rehearsing a skit on Saturday Night Live," Headley said in the posting. "Call me old-fashioned, but I feel disposed towards violence for the offending parties."

Headley began his surveillance of targets in Denmark in 2008 and visited two of the newspaper's offices in January under the pretense of taking out an ad for a new business, authorities said.

Headley told agents the plot recently focused on Westergaard and the paper's cultural editor, Flemming Rose, "whom Headley felt were directly responsible for the cartoons," the criminal complaint states.

He also allegedly told agents he was trained by a terrorist organization called Lashkar-e-Taiba, according to his criminal complaint.

Authorities say Headley reported to Ilyas Kashmiri, the operational chief of what the FBI describes as a Pakistani-based terrorist organization with links to al-Qaida, according to the complaint. Headley was headed to Pakistan to report to Kashmiri when the FBI foiled his plans, according to charges.

When he was arrested, FBI agents found a memory stick on him that contained 10 surveillance videos, including footage of the newspaper office and Danish military barracks, the complaint said.

Westergaard was told Tuesday of the alleged plot to kill him.

"I feel confident and safe in my private life," Westergaard said. "I'm angry because I have to live with threats, just because I have done my job. PET (police intelligence) has advised me to keep a low profile and don't give statements. I will follow that, but I'm allowed to say that I'm angry."

Rana owns several businesses, including First World Immigration Services, which has offices on Devon Avenue in Chicago, New York and Toronto, as well as a meat-processing plant in Kinsman. That plant is used to slaughter goats and sheep per Muslim religious requirements.

Extensive means were used to carry out a search warrant of the plant earlier this month. Witnesses said about 100 agents were on the scene. Helicopters, trucks and SUVs could be seen in front of the building during the raid.

Rana's attorney asked the community to reserve judgment.

"Mr. Rana is a well-respected businessman in the Chicagoland community. He adamantly denies the charges and eagerly awaits his opportunity to contest them in court and to clear his and his family's name," said attorney Patrick Blegen. "We would ask that the community respect the fact that these are merely allegations and not proof."

In Response to Calls to Improve Status of Saudi Women, Saudi Princess Launches 'My Guardian Knows What's Best For Me' Campaign

From MEMRI:

Recently, Saudi women activists, led by Saudi Princess Jawaher bint Jalawi, launched a campaign called "My Guardian Knows What's Best For Me," calling for redefining the term "guardian" and for opposing calls by those with liberal views to improve the status of women in Saudi Arabia.

Princess Jawaher's campaign is a response to the struggle launched in July 2009 by Saudi women's rights activist Wajeha Al-Huweidar calling for abolishing the mahram ("guardian") law, which requires women to obtain the approval of a male relative for nearly any move they make in their lives. As part of her campaign, Al-Huweidar, together with her colleagues, went to the King Fahd Bridge, which joins Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and demanded to leave the country without a guardian's approval.

Columnists who weighed in on the issue of the campaigns stated that Princess Jawaher's campaign harmed women's status by increasing men's sovereignty over them and eradicating their selves. Op-eds on Al-Huweidar's campaign appeared in both the Saudi press and in the U.S. and U.K. press.

Click here to view the excerpts from various responses to this important issue.

Abu Sayyaf Blamed for Blast in Roman Catholic Church in Philippines

From news.xinhuanet.com:

Philippine security forces blamed Al-Qaida affiliated Abu Sayyaf militants for the grenade blast Tuesday inside a Roman Catholic Church in the southern Philippines.

Regional military spokesman Major Ramon David Hontiveros said the attack inside a church in Jolo, Sulu around 10:45 a.m. was part of the test mission of militants belonging to the Abu Sayyaf group.

"The explosion could be a test by the terrorists to see the reaction of our forces in the area," Hontiveros said.

There were no casualties in the blast inside the church along Arolas Street in Jolo, Sulu.

Investigators said the explosive was lobbed from an overland terminal beside the church.

Jolo is a known bailiwick of Abu Sayyaf, a group blacklisted by Washington as a foreign terrorist organization and considered a major security threat to the Philippines and the region engaged in kidnappings, bombings and even beheadings in the South over the past decade.

A day before the incident, security forces have foiled a roadside bombing in Zamboanga del Norte following the recovery of improvised bombs planted by unknown suspects.

On July 5, six people died and over 50 were injured when a homemade bomb went off in front of a Catholic church here.

Christian in Somalia Who Refused to Wear Veil is Killed

From Compass Direct News:

Three masked members of a militant Islamist group in Somalia last week shot and killed a Somali Christian who declined to wear a veil as prescribed by Muslim custom, according to a Christian source in Somalia.

Members of the comparatively “moderate” Suna Waljameca group killed Amina Muse Ali, 45, on Oct. 19 at 9:30 p.m. in her home in Galkayo, in Somalia’s autonomous Puntland region, said the source who requested anonymity for security reasons.

Ali had told Christian leaders that she had received several threats from members of Suna Waljameca for not wearing a veil, symbolic of adherence to Islam. She had said members of the group had long monitored her movements because they suspected she was a Christian.

The source said Ali had called him on Oct. 4 saying, “My life is in danger. I am warned of dire consequences if I continue to live without putting on the veil. I need prayers from the fellowship.”

“I was shocked beyond words when I received the news that she had been shot dead,” the source in Somalia told Compass by telephone. “I wished I could have recalled her to my location. We have lost a long-serving Christian.”

Ali had come to Galkayo from Jilib, 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Kismayo, in 2007. She arrived in Puntland at the invitation of a close friend, Saynab Warsame of the Darod clan, when the Islamic extremist group al Shabaab invaded Kismayo, the source said. Warsame was born in Kismayo and had lived in Jilib but moved to Puntland when war broke out in 1991.

The source said it is not known if even Warsame knew of Ali’s conversion from Islam to Christianity.

“She might not have known, because Warsame is not a Christian,” he said.

In 1997 Ali, an orphan and unmarried, joined the Somali Christian Brothers’ Organization, a movement commonly known as the Somali Community-Based Organization. As such she had been an active member of the underground church in the Lower Juba region.

Muslim extremists have targeted the movement, killing some of its leaders after finding them in possession of Bibles. The organization was started in 1996 by Bishop Abdi Gure Hayo.

Suna Waljameca is considered “moderate” in comparison with al Shabaab, which it has fought against for control over areas of Somalia; it is one of several Islamic groups in the country championing adoption of a strict interpretation of sharia (Islamic law). Along with al Shabaab, said to have links with al Qaeda, another group vying for power is the Hisbul Islam political party. While al Shabaab militia have recently threatened forces of Hisbul Islam in Kismayo, Suna Waljameca has declared war on al Shabaab.

Among Islamic militant groups, Suna Waljameca is said to be the predominant force in Puntland.

It is unknown how many secret Christians there are in Somalia – Compass sources indicate there are no more than 75, while The Economist magazine hedges its estimate at “no more than” 1,000 – but what is certain is that they are in danger from both extremist groups and Somali law. While proclaiming himself a moderate, President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has embraced a version of sharia that mandates the death penalty for those who leave Islam....

Read more here.

Selective Outrage: Islamic World Fuming Over German Who Murdered Hijab-Wearing Woman

Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch makes an excellent point about selective outrage concerning hate crimes. While any hate crime is undoubtedly wrong and the man who killed a Muslim woman in an apparent hate crime should be punished, the continued refusal to address problems of oppression within the Muslim community, which also affect western countries with Muslim residents, is a huge concern and an outrage.

From Jihad Watch:

The photo above is from a protest in Istanbul. Note the flag following the coffin, featuring the swastika and the Star of David. What does demonizing Israel have to do with this case? Why, nothing -- but it is all part of the larger jihad against the West.

The selectivity of the outrage here is stunning. Alexander Wiens has apparently committed a heinous crime, and he should be punished to the full extent of the law. But to pretend that his crime is a manifestation of some pandemic "Islamophobia" is simply political manipulation. Muslim groups in America and Europe need "hate crimes," because "hate crimes" confer victim status, and victim status confers privilege. Victimhood is big business: insofar as Muslim groups can claim protected victim status for Muslims in the U.S. abd Europe, they can deflect unwanted scrutiny and any critical examination of how jihadists use Islamic texts and teachings to justify violence and supremacism.

That's most likely why CAIR and others have not hesitated to stoop even to fabricating "hate crimes." They want and need hate crimes against Muslims, because they can use them for political points and as weapons to intimidate people into remaining silent about the jihad threat.

But note: while Barack Obama spoke in Cairo about his determination to protect the right of Muslim women in America to wear the hijab, no one is speaking up for the Muslim and non-Muslim women in Islamic countries and in Muslim families in the West who have been threatened or murdered for not wearing the hijab. No one demonstrated for Aqsa Parvez, murdered by her father in Canada for not wearing the headscarf. No one demonstrated for the women killed in Iraq and elsewhere for not wearing it.

The outrage here is selective, and nakedly manipulative.

Aftermath of Peshawar Explosion in Marketplace

From BBC (click here for video):

At least 80 people have been killed and dozens wounded by a large blast in a market in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Buildings were set on fire after the blast and plumes of smoke were seen drifting over the city.

More than 200 people have been killed by such attacks in recent weeks as the army carries out an operation against Taliban militants in South Waziristan.

The blast comes as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton begins a visit to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

Pressure on Catholic Family to Rob them of House and Property

From Asia News:

A Catholic family in the parish of St. Lawrence is receiving threats and being shot at to force it to abandon the area so the house and surrounding land can be taken.

On 22 October around 19.30, a group of local Muslims fired several gunshots at the house of the family of Sunil Gomes. Two weeks earlier, on October 8, 150 Muslims invaded the home of Gomes family and under the threat of violence annexed part of the garden building a dividing wall. Mrs. Rita Gomes, the eldest daughter of Sunil (pictured), who tried to stop them, was beaten. Everything happened in front of the detached gaze of the police, who did not intervene. The Muslim group has removed the plaque with the name of the Gomes family and a small cross and put in its place a plaque with the inscription "Allah Akbar" (God is great).

Ms Gomes said that the attacks were instigated by some Muslim neighbours, particularly the Kazi family, who along with other Muslims in the neighbourhood have been trying for over a year to expel the Catholics from their home.

Some time ago other Catholic families in the same neighbourhood have suffered the same fate and emigrated to India.

Mrs. Gomes told AsiaNews that the Muslim neighbours "have been pushing us to sell the house for a long time." But the family includes very old and sick parents who could not endure a forced relocation.

"Because we are Christians - says Ms Gomes, - nobody comes to help us. Muslims have wealth and power from the political point of view. They have strong links with the ruling party, the Awami League".

Rita Gomes is the eldest daughter of the family. She has a younger sister, Jhuma who will soon enter a convent.

Seizures of land and houses are very common in Bangladesh. The victims are usually members of ethnic religious and tribal minorities. The parish of St. Lawrence in Dhaka is home to over 1000 Catholic families.

Jordanian Activists Call for Ending Peace Between Israel and Jordan

Will Jordan and neighboring Middle Eastern countries ever take responsibility for making one million indigenous Jews homeless and forcing their exodus to Israel in the 1950s? No, but they will advocate for war against a tiny Israel every chance they get. Jordan treats Palestinian Arabs like animals, yet gets away with it.

From ANSAmed:

Dozens of activists today demonstrated at the professional association headquarters calling on the government to end the peace treaty with Israel, 15 years after the accord was signed. Protestors were unable to walk the streets of the capital after they were refused permission by authorities under the controversial public gathering law. They held banners that condemn Israel war on Gaza and recent clashes with Palestinian worshipers near al Aqsa mosque. "Israel is the only beneficiary of the peace agreement. It was given the time needed to execute its agenda in the Palestinian territories," said Abdullah Obeidat, president of the professional Association council, an umbrella of 14 labour syndicates including doctors, engineers, lawyers, pharmacists and others. The associations are known as a hot bed for anti-peace activists who are influenced by ideologies of the Muslim Brotherhood movement and leftist parties. Jordan signed peace with Israel in 1994, making it the second Arab country to end the state of war after decades of hostilities. Demonstrators called on authorities to scrap the peace accord and kick out the Israeli ambassador from Amman. "We must take a clear stance regarding the crimes committed in the Palestinian territories, while the government is watching," Hamam Saaid, over all leader of the Muslim Brotherhood told ANSA during the protest.

Homegrown Terror Cell Sent to Prison

From the Agence France Presse:

Two Americans and a legal US resident were handed prison sentences ranging from eight to 20 years for conspiring to commit terrorist acts against US interests in Iraq, the Justice Department said Thursday.

The convictions were the first successful trial of a "homegrown terror cell" for terrorism related crimes, the department said.

All three live in the midwestern state of Ohio.

Mohammad Zaki Amawi, 29, who holds dual US and Jordanian citizenship, received the top sentence of 20 years, followed by life supervision upon his release, while Marwan Othman El-Hindi, 46, was given a 13-year sentence.

They were each convicted in June 2008 of one count of conspiring to kill or maim people outside the United States, one count of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, and two counts of distributing information on explosives.

Wassim Mazloum, 28, a legal US resident originally from Lebanon, was sentenced to a little over eight years in prison on one count of conspiring to kill or maim people outside the country, and one count of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, the department said.

The group began conspiring before June 2004 to carry out their strikes.

They trained with firearms, learned how to use explosives -- including how to operate suicide bomb vests -- and also conspired to recruit others for "jihad training," the government argued in court.

The defendants had also worked to provide materials to a co-conspirator in the Middle East, which involved Amawi travelling to Jordan in August 2005 "with laptop computers intended for delivery to mujahideen 'brothers,'" the department said.

Iraq Blast Toll Worse Than Feared, Includes 30 Children

From the Assyrian International News Agency:

As the flooding from broken water mains and sewers ebbed on Monday, workers pored over the wreckage from the Baghdad bomb blasts a day earlier, recovering still more bodies, including 30 children at a day-care center playground.

The official death toll climbed to 155, with more than 500 wounded.

The extent of the damage was even worse than initially feared, with three major government buildings destroyed rather than the two at first thought to have been targeted by Sunday's pair of suicide vehicle bombs.

The first blast that gutted much of the Ministry of Justice also did similar damage to the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works, located just across the street. The area had been sealed off from the press by authorities on Sunday. The second blast, which came a minute later, destroyed the Baghdad Provincial Council building a quarter-mile away.

Monday, workers were still hunting for victims inside the tangled debris of collapsed ceilings and walls inside those two seven-story high buildings.

A police official stationed at the Ministry of Justice, Hussein Issa, became distraught as a body bag holding the remains of a small person was loaded into a refrigerated van. "Unfortunately our government will not tell the real number of how many were killed," he said. "Why don't the terrorists go down and attack the government sitting there in the Green Zone, these were just people doing their jobs."

The prime minister, president and other top officials have their offices inside the heavily fortified Green Zone, less than a mile from the bomb sites.

Among the victims, Mr. Issa said, were 30 children killed in the Justice Ministry's day care center. Most were in the center's playground, close to the street, when the bomb went off, knocking down protective blast walls. "There were children killed in the swings, others who died right where they sat on the see-saws," said Usay Ednan, a 33-year-old taxi driver who lives nearby and said he was among the first rescuers.

Police at the scene speculated that the force of the explosion was equal to five tons of TNT, which if true would make initial reports that the bombs were carried in cars unlikely. The two badly damaged ministries were on opposite sides of a wide road.

An official at the Ministry of Interior, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said investigators were working on the theory that the bomb outside the Ministry of Justice was in a minivan, while that at the provincial council was in a water tanker.

No one has so far claimed responsibility for the pair of bombings, but they were remarkably similar to a pair of coordinated attacks last Aug. 19th targeting the Foreign and Finance Ministry buildings.

Credit for those attacks was claimed on Aug. 24th by the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group that includes al-Qaeda of Mesopotamia, a largely Iraqi group with some foreign leadership. Many analysts view the I.S.I. as no more than a front for al-Qaeda.

"The ground shook beneath their feet and their hearts were torn from fear and terror," the group boasted in a posting on a jihadi website, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist groups' internet activities.

Curiously, the ISI also claimed in the same postings to have attacked the Baghdad Provincial Council building at the same time as the Foreign and Finance Ministries, which was not true.

Iraq's hospitals coped well with the influx of wounded, said Dr. Thamer al-Ali, director of Al-Kindi Hospital, the nearest to the scene. "Unfortunately we are accustomed to such crises," he said. "We haven't lost any of the wounded victims. All who reached here are still alive."

The second blast took place close to an old Anglican church, St. George's, but fortunately before Sunday services so no one was hurt despite extensive damage to the church's charity clinic.

Caretaker Edward Edmond was repairing the roof and had a good view of one side of the Baghdad Provincial Council building when the second blast occurred. "I saw the body of a female employee blown out the window," he said.

The church would have been much more heavily damaged, said lay pastor Faiz Georges, if a windstorm had not blown a tree down on the road outside the night before. That forced the bomber to use the other side of the road. "It was a miracle," Georges said.

The church, built by the British military during their occupation of Iraq in the 1920s, had lost some of its famous stained-glass windows when the United States bombed a nearby building in 1992, and more were destroyed during the invasion in 2003, Mr.

Edmond said. There were three left, and they were destroyed Sunday, he said.

Earlier in October, a spokesman for the U.S. military, Brigadier General Stephen R. Lanza, said that high profile attacks such as suicide bombings have been generally on the decline, with longer and longer periods between each such attack, suggesting a diminished capacity among insurgents to mount such attacks.

He also said the government had learned from the Aug. 19th attacks. "The government of Iraq reassessed its security measures, adjusted, enhanced and increased its security operations," he said.

"We are confident the government of Iraq is doing the right things in these areas."

Lanza said high profile attacks through October 12, 2009 had declined 51 percent compared to the same period in 2008.

After the August bombings, Iraqi officials arrested two men who they said were a Baathist Party member and an al-Qaeda member, and televised their confessions. They also arrested police and military officers responsible for security lapses. None has so far been tried, and U.S. officials have cast doubt on the validity of the confessions.

Elsewhere in Iraq, a suicide car bomber struck a checkpoint outside Karbala Monday afternoon, killing four civilians, according to Sattar Ardawi, chief of the Karbala provincial council's security committee.

In Babel Province south of Baghdad, three beheaded bodies were found Monday at an abandoned farm about 25 miles north of Hilla, one of them an Iraqi soldier, according to a security source in the provincial government. In Mosul, in northern Iraq, four persons died in three separate attacks Monday.

Al Qaeda Claims Responsibility for Terror Attack

From Kuwait's Arab Times:

Al-Qaeda's front-group in Iraq claimed in an online statement responsibility for the twin suicide bombings that ripped through the centre of Baghdad killing around 100 people, a US-based monitoring group said Tuesday.

The self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq said the attacks were within its campaign dubbed the 'Invasion of the Captive,' SITE Intelligence said.

The near-simultaneous car bombings which targeted on Sunday the justice ministry and the Baghdad provincial government headquarters also wounded more than 500 and left body parts and charred corpses scattered around the streets of the capital.

Defence ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari had told AFP that the evidence found confirmed the bombers were linked to Al-Qaeda and supporters of the Baath Party of executed dictator Saddam Hussein.

Saudi Female Journalist Gets 60 Lashes for TV Show

From Khaleej Times:

A Saudi court on Saturday convicted a female journalist for her involvement in a TV show, in which a Saudi man publicly talked about sex, and sentenced her to 60 lashes.

Rozanna Al Yami is believed to be the first Saudi woman journalist to be given such a punishment. The charges against her included involvement in the preparation of the program and advertising the segment on the Internet.

Abdul-Rahman Al Hazza, the spokesman of the Ministry of Culture and Information, told The Associated Press he had no details of the sentencing and could not comment on it.

In the program, which aired in July on the Lebanese LBC satellite channel, Mazen Abdul-Jawad appears to describe an active sex life and shows sex toys that were blurred by the station. The same court sentenced Abdul-Jawad earlier this month to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes.

The man’s lawyer, Sulaiman Al Jumeii, maintains his client was duped by the TV station and was unaware in many cases he was being recorded.

On Saturday, he told the AP that not trying his client or Al Yami before a court specialized in media matters at the Ministry of Culture and Information was a violation of Saudi law.

‘It is a precedent to try a journalist before a summary court for an issue that concerns the nature of his job,’ he said.

The case has scandalized this ultraconservative country where such public talk about sex is taboo and the sexes are strictly segregated.

The government moved swiftly in the wake of the case, shutting down LBC’s two offices in the kingdom and arresting Abdul-Jawad, who works for the national airline.

Three other men who appeared on the show, ‘Bold Red Line,’ were also convicted of discussing sex publicly and sentenced to two years imprisonment and 300 lashes each.

Arab Woman Pulls Knife from Under Skirt, Stabs Israeli Security Guard

From Y-Net:

A security guard stationed at the Qalandiya checkpoint in northern Jerusalem sustained light to moderate injuries Sunday afternoon after being stabbed by a Palestinian woman in the abdomen.

The assailant was apprehended. The guard was treated at the scene by Magen David Adom emergency services personnel and later evacuated to Jerusalem's Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital.

"The guard was lying on the ground with a stab wound to his lower abdomen, and the young female terrorist was apprehended," one of the paramedics said, "The guard was in great pain; he was in a state of shock."

According to Magen David Adom, the stab wound was five centimeters deep (about two inches).

Guards manning the checkpoint spotted the knife in the woman's handbag as she passed through the metal detector. She stabbed one of the guards who approached her with a knife she pulled out from under her skirt.

The assailant, a 21-year-old resident of the West Bank town of Ramallah, was taken in for interrogation by Jerusalem Police.

The stabbing attack followed renewed Muslim riots in and around the Temple Mount compound in east Jerusalem. During the violence, which erupted in the morning hours, nine police officers were lightly injured and at least 18 people were arrested.

Police Commissioner Dudi Cohen told reporters while visiting the Mount, "I identify many large groups of east Jerusalem Arabs and Israeli Arabs who have arrived here following calls made by the Islamic Movement, whose leaders are here. I call on them to practice restraint and calm and not to incite.

"The Jerusalem Police will act firmly against any rioters on the Temple Mount. The inciters are the same people you know. It's impossible that the Israel Police will have to deal with the Islamic Movement every Sunday, and so we will handle this on the investigative level."

Palestinian-Arab Bites Teacher for Shaking Daughter's Hand

From the AFP, via iol.ca.za:

Danish police said on Thursday that a Palestinian father had hit a primary school teacher and bitten his ear after he had shaken the hand of the man's daughter.

The 47-year-old Danish teacher of Moroccan origin had invited the father and daughter for a meeting at the school in the town of Vollsmose on Wednesday when he had been "repeatedly hit and bitten in the ear", the police said.

"The father, a Palestinian, apparently became furious that the teacher had greeted his daughter just before a meeting," said Joergen Andersen, the police superintendent in the nearby city of Odense.

The 33-year-old father, a Muslim, said the teacher had "gone too far and offended his honour", Andersen said.

"The man is apparently not a fundamentalist," Andersen said. But he "could not accept this handshake between the teacher and his daughter".

The father told the police he had "lost his cool" because of what he considered the teacher's "indecent" behaviour.

The teacher was treated at a hospital and put on sick leave.

The father was charged with assault on a public service employee. He was arrested and released on Thursday.

"It's the first time that a teacher is the victim of such violence in Denmark," Odense Mayor Anker Boye told TV2 News television.

Muslim Man Jailed Over Racist Attack on Indian Student

From Australia's The Age:

A gang of racist youths nearly killed a man during an armed rampage in an Indian grocery store in Melbourne's west for the "sheer thrill" of the attack, a judge said today.
Drunk and carrying wooden planks ripped up from a nearby bus stop seat, the seven youths raided the Impex shop in Sunshine yelling "are you Indian?" as they randomly struck their victims on December 1 last year, the County Court heard today.

Indian student Sukhraj Singh, 28, was in a coma for 15 days and will suffer the effects of a severe acquired brain injury for the rest of his life after being beaten during the assault.

Eight men were punched and hit with the weapons and most suffered minor injuries but Mr Singh was beaten unconscious and spent months in hospital and rehabilitation after being struck three times to the head and body.

In sentencing one of the attackers, Zakarie Hussein, 21, of Braybrook, Judge Pamela Jenkins said today the group had deliberately targeted victims of Indian ethnicity in the "unprovoked rampage".

The youths had been drinking beer in a park for about four hours before they went to the store in City Place just after 6.30pm where two of the teens began a racist argument with two customers, the court heard.

About five minutes later, the pair returned with their friends, most armed with wooden bars and one with a fluorescent light tube, and began smashing up the store and indiscriminately striking customers and staff as they yelled "are you Indian?" and "bloody Indians, f--- off".

The shop's cash register was stolen and the loot divided up among the offenders. Hussein received about $15.

In a victim impact statement tendered to the court, Mr Singh said metal plates had been inserted into his face, he had shed up to 15 kilograms and been left with lumps and scars on his head from the assault.

"I am lucky to be alive, all my friends and family thought I was going to die," Mr Singh said in the statement.

He said he suffered from dizzy spells and had undergone counselling after being plagued by nightmares and flashbacks.

The court heard his injuries had been potentially life-threatening and meant he had been unable to work for five months, may not be able to complete his studies and was too frightened to live alone.

Hussein had pleaded guilty to armed robbery, recklessly causing serious injury, and six counts of recklessly causing injury.

Judge Jenkins said Hussein had not used his wooden weapon but had planned to before being knocked out of the way by a co-offender.

She said the victims had tried to cower from their attackers and had done nothing to provoke the attack.

"Your victims presented no threat to you or your co-offenders whatsoever. They did not provoke you, they did not fight back and indeed they made every effort to escape from the assaults," she said.

"Notwithstanding these circumstances the victims were beaten apparently for the sheer thrill, Mr Singh being subjected to a particularly savage beating with the terrible consequences for him."

Judge Jenkins said the assault was among a number of racist attacks that had rightly provoked international and local community outrage and should be condemned.

"Short of becoming prisoners in their own homes, there is little potential victims can do to prevent such attacks," she said.

Judge Jenkins sentenced Hussein to four-and-a-half years' jail with a minimum non-parole period of two years.

Hussein, dressed in a black suit and white shirt and supported in court by family, bit his nails throughout the hearing and stood with his hands clasped while he was sentenced to serve his time in an adult prison.

The court heard he had migrated to Australia from Somalia, aged about six, with his older brother and mother, who were both later diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

His younger sister had died from malaria shortly before the family left Africa where they spent time in a refugee camp in Kenya.

The court heard Hussein had experienced a difficult childhood and by his final year of school was drinking and taking drugs daily.

His defence had argued Hussein played only a minor role in the attack, had been drunk after consuming about 10 beers, and was remorseful.

But Judge Jenkins said despite Hussein not having hit any of the victims he had entered the store armed with the intention of hurting someone and had yelled encouragement to his friends.

She said it was "particularly shameful" that the Somali immigrant had vented his rage on international students and other young immigrants.

"There is no question that the offending constituted an extremely violent and indiscriminate rampage by armed youths exhibiting the worst traits of a pack mentality," Judge Jenkins told Hussein.

Hussein had prior convictions including, for robbery, assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.

Four of Hussein's co-offenders, aged between 14 and 17 at the time of the attack, had already received 12-month sentences in a youth detention centre and a fifth teen received a 12-month youth supervision order.

The Director of Public Prosecutions Jeremy Rapke has appealed against the sentences, arguing they are "manifestly inadequate".

The Court of Appeal is yet to hand down its judgment. A sixth offender, who has pleaded guilty in the Children's Court, will be sentenced following the result of the appeal.

Pakistan Police Torture Christians Arrested in Islamic Attack

From Compass Direct News:

Two Christians in Gojra, Pakistan who allegedly fired warning shots as an Islamist mob approached that burned seven Christians to death on Aug. 1 told Compass they were tortured after police arrested them.

Only one of hundreds of Muslim assailants in the fire assault on Gojra’s Christian Town is in jail, but sources said Islamists have provided police a pretense for arresting the two Christian brothers who gave shelter to 300 people. Naveed Masih, 32, alias Fauji (“the Soldier”) and his 25-year-old brother Nauman Masih were arrested on Sept. 2 and Sept. 7 respectively for “rioting with deadly weapons and spreading terror with firing.”

Naveed Masih is said to have fired warning shots from a rooftop into the air and at the feet of the mob of approaching Muslim assailants to try to disperse them, but both brothers deny using any weapons.

From his jail cell, Naveed Masih told Compass that he and his brother were taken to the Police Training Centre in Choong, where they were kept in illegal detention for 18 days and were tortured “in so many ways ruthlessly and in inhumane ways.”

“Sometimes we were not given anything to eat or drink except one time, and sometimes we were hung in a dark well while our faces were covered with a cloth,” Naveed Masih said. “They beat me with cane sticks on the back of my hands and sometimes hung me upside down and then brutally beat me.”

Police kept them hungry for days, he said; when they asked for food, officers told them to confess that they had fired, he added. Naveed Masih said police tortured them to try to force them to say they had links with terrorist organizations that provided arms and ammunition to them.

Naveed Maish said they were forbidden to sleep; they were awoken whenever they dozed off. Throughout the 18 days of torture, he said, the two brothers were kept separate but saw each other when they were taken to court.

“We hugged each other and wept, seeing each other’s wounds,” he said.

Naveed Masih said police tortured them because they had given shelter to more than 300 women, children and elderly people on the day of attack, in which the assailants – acting on an unsubstantiated rumor of “blasphemy” of the Quran and whipped into a frenzy by local imams and banned terrorist groups – also looted more than 100 houses and set fire to 50 of them. At least 19 people were injured in the melee.

In spite of the targeting of the Christian area in Gojra by hundreds of Islamic extremists, police have registered complaints filed by the Muslim assailants against 129 Christians; sources said these various charges were filed only to pressure the Christian community. Thus far police have arrested only Naveed Masih and Nauman Masih – whose cases were submitted in an Anti-Terrorism Court to make it difficult for them to obtain bail, according to their lawyer – but the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement was able to obtain release on bail for Nauman Masih.

Nauman Masih told Compass that of the 17 Muslims named in the First Information Report on the Aug. 1 attack, only one, Abdul Khalid Kashmiri, was in jail. Kashmiri has offered 1 million rupees (US$12,500) if the Christian complainants would withdraw the case, Nauman Masih added.

The rest of the Muslim assailants are still at large, and sources said police have no intention of arresting them. In addition, three checks of 100,000 rupees (US$1,200) each issued by Punjab Provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah for compensation to victims have been cancelled, Nauman Masih said, probably because the recipients are among the 129 Christians implicated in the false charges.

Nauman Masih said that when his mother arrived at the Christian Town Police Station the night his brother was arrested, officials told her that she could see him the next morning. But when she and other women arrived the next morning, he said, police told them that they had not arrested him.

The Community Development Initiative (CDI), an advocacy group working with the help of American Center for Law and Justice, has taken up the case of both brothers. CDI lawyer Haroon Suleman Khokhar said that they have been falsely implicated in a serious crime for protecting themselves and many other innocent Christians.

He said that police had no justification for submitting the cases of the two brothers in the Anti-Terrorism Court of Faisalabad. Khokhar said Naveed Masih was a key eyewitness in the report filed with police on the Aug. 1 attack, and that the two brothers were implicated in the cases only to try coercing Naveed Masih to withdraw from testifying against the Muslim attackers.

To protest police registration of the complaints against the 129 Christians, which include Bishop of Gojra John Samuel, Naveed Masih and Nauman Masih, on Oct. 5 the Christians of Gojra rejected goods sent by the U.S. Embassy to Pakistan in Islamabad. Demanding justice rather than aid, the Christians threw away the boxes of aid.

Egyptian MP Says Beyonce Concert Violates Islam

In Egypt, members of the Muslim Brotherhood are protesting Beyonce's scheduled concert. In particular, Beyonce's sexy image has come under fire. Here at Women Against Shariah we find it more distasteful that girls are often forced to undergo female genital mutilation in Egypt and couldn't care less what this younger singer is wearing on stage. From Al Arabiya:

Two weeks before American superstar Beyonce Knowles is scheduled to hold her first ever concert in Egypt, an Islamist MP publically blasted the government for accepting to host the event and accused the government of violating Sharia law.

The bootylicious pop diva is set for a government-approved gig at the Red Sea resort of Port Ghalib, irking Muslim Brotherhood member Hamdi Hassan, who slammed the government for allowing a singer “who appears naked in her clips” to perform, which he said would spread vice.

“The government is trying to make people indulge in sin and licentiousness to cover up the other crimes it is committing against them,” Hassan said in a parliament session.

Hassan highlighted what he called government double standards for refusing to allow an Islamic band that sings religious songs for children to enter the country.

But for Cairo University student, Nagwa Ali, the MP's comments are uncalled for and she said she believed Egypt should "welcome" the star and not slam her.

"We have to separate between politics and the art. We have to respect everyone's tradition and welcome her. We enjoy her voice and her performance on the stage," the 17-year-old told Al Arabiya.

Ali, who is studying in the university's English department, highlighted that she was Muslim and wears the veil and would prefer if Beyonce covered up to respect Egypt's culture but added "if she refuses to cover we must accept her traditions."

This is not the first time Western pop diva's have irked Egyptian conservatives.

Last year Egypt cleric Khaled al-Gindi decried a performance by hip-shaking sensation Shakira and likened her profession to prostitution but stressed he was sure she was a "nice person."

During Shakira's performance at the Pyramids Plateau Cairo grinded to a halt but organizers sought to avoid the same logistical nightmare with Beyonce's concert and will hold it at a Red Sea resort forcing people to fork out for a five-star hotel and plane ticket.

The price for a ticket to see Beyonce has reached $400.

Hassan's public outcry comes at a time when the outlawed brotherhood is facing numerous problems with the government and is seen by analysts as a way to make a statement rather than enforce a ban on the concert, since the government does not generally bow to Muslim Brotherhood demands.

Beyonce, who will perform in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi on Thursday, has also irked conservatives in Malaysia, where she is due to perform in November.

Malaysian conservatives were initially calling for her concert to be canceled but were satisfied when the singer vowed to wear “decent clothes” on stage.

Obama Effigy Burned in Kabul, Afghans Say No to Democracy and Yes to Islamist State

From the Digital Journal:

Protesters took to the streets of the Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday, and burned an effigy of President Obama, after rumors were circulated that U.S. troops had desecrated a copy of the Koran.

U.S. military officials have strongly denied the rumors relating to the supposed burning of a copy of the Koran by American troops, Reuters actually calls them allied troops and does not specify a nationality, during a raid last week in Maidan Wardak province. The officials said that the Taliban had started the rumors in order to stir up hatred against the international force operating in Afghanistan.

And whilst those in the crowd which marched to the Afghan Parliament building from Kabul University, the crowd was said to mainly consist of students, were unable to provide specific details of the alleged Koran-burning incident the lack of evidence that such an act had indeed taken place did not prevent the setting fire to an effigy said to represent President Obama or the chanting of anti-American slogans.

There were no injuries reported as some of the crowd, which Reuters says numbered thousands but the Los Angeles Times put at 1,000, threw stones at police, who responded by firing warning shots in to the air.

With a run-off of the Afghan presidential election due on November 7 and the Taliban threatening to disrupt that run-off there is considerable tension in a country in which religious conservatism is reportedly on the rise.

According to the Los Angeles Times even the educated Afghan elite is becoming increasingly conservative in its outlook, hence the large number of students on the streets of Kabul on Sunday.

One such student, Zabiullah Khalil, who is studying engineering, is quoted as saying of the alleged desecration of the holy book of Islam:

Muslims were disrespected! The foreigners shot the Koran, and then they burned it. They should be tried for this

Referring to what is viewed as excessive U.S. influence when it comes to the make-up of the Afghan government and the policies it pursues, he added:

We don't want a slave government. We want a real Islamic country

A banner seen at the protest supposedly carried the message "No to democracy. We just want Islam"....

Jordanian Parents Approve of Beatings in Schools

From ANSAmed:

Jordanian parents approve beating their children in schools as a form of discipline, a study showed today. According to a survey conducted by UNICEF, in cooperation with the national council for family, cases of physical and psychological abuse have increased in the past period in Jordan.

The study showed that at least 70 percent of school students are subjected to some form of physical or physiological abuse by parents or teachers in schools. "Beating a child leads him to feel insecure and force him to run away from school." said the study, which called for implementing reform measures in schools. "Beating can also turn children to become violent and negatively influence the education system," said the study.

Meanwhile, ministry of education is working to on a national initiative under the title: "Towards a safe school environment," in cooperation with UNICEF, which aims at reducing case of abuse in schools around the kingdom. The initiative is expected to be launched under the patronage of Queen Rania, a renowned champion of children rights.

Australia Sheikh Arrested for Widow Hate Mail

From Al Arabiya:

A self-styled sheikh has been arrested in Australia over letters sent to widows of soldiers killed in Afghanistan, accusing their partners of murder, as Canberra mulls an early withdrawal from the troubled country.

The Iranian-born Muslim spiritual leader, who calls himself Mufti Sheikh Haron, was charged with sending hate mail to families of seven Australian soldiers killed fighting Taliban and al-Qaeda militants in Afghanistan over a two-year period.

"I feel bad that you have lost your son but I don't feel bad that a murderer of innocent civilians has lost his life," Haron allegedly wrote to the family of one Australian commando killed in January, the Daily Telegraph newspaper said on Thursday.

Haron denied the charges after his arrest. But New South Wales state Premier Nathan Rees said on Thursday that if proven true, the letters were an "evil act of cowardice."

Australia, a close U.S. ally, has 1,550 troops in Afghanistan, including special forces, and is the largest non-NATO troop contributor. Ten Australian soldiers have died fighting alongside Dutch forces in southern Oruzgan province....

Is Feminism Deaf to the Women in Islam?

Gramfan, a mother and concerned citizen, has an excellent article over at Muslims Against Shariah about feminism and Islam. Here is an excerpt:

All too often I see stories of honour killings, rape, female genital mutilation, subservience, domestic (and other) violence, forced marriage and utter discrimination perpetrated against women in Muslim countries and now also in the West.

Some women are getting hymenoplasties and buying repair kits before they marry.

Some are being recruited as homicide bombers.

One is punished for drinking beer, others face lashings or stonings.

An Australian Islamist tries to justify polygamy for everyone.

There are women who suffer terribly from acid attacks quite frequently.

Women in Gaza are not allowed to ride motorcycles, and Somali women are being scrutinised when wearing a bra!

Where's Germaine when you need her, or would this make her happy I wonder?

And recently we have the on-going case of Rifka Bary who, as a minor, cannot chose her religion, and could become a victim of honorcide for apostasy. If she is sent back to her parents her fate is unknown. If she is allowed to remain alive the Islamists can deny honorcide even exists. This is happening in the USA now.

Yet in spite of these incidents feminists like Naomi Wolfe manage to defend discrimination towards women in Islam and it then takes a compassionate feminist, Phyllis Chesler, who has actually lived in a Muslim country, to sort it out for her!

I know many feminists, and women in general, can be fearless fighters.

Code Pink, for example, have gone to Iraq and Afghanistan. True, they are an anti-war movement, but perhaps, just perhaps, they could have drawn some attention to the women who live and suffer in the war zones they are so adamantly against.

They could have easily added one more mission statement to what is on their website which mentions "social justice".

Indeed, any other anti-war group could easily have done the same. I know they do not define themselves as feminists per se, but why not do more?

Could they not have met with Malalai Joya and offered some help?

Indeed, could not some of our famous feminists, female politicians and celebrities who spend so much time choking on their own venom over Sarah Palin have done the same? Are they afraid?

Or are they simply not interested in the women's issues of today because they think it is another culture and therefore they shouldn't interfere. They know it isn't right but they can turn a blind eye to it, even as it happens under their noses, in their own countries.

It's a cop-out.

The improvement of the condition of women in Islam is, to me, a far loftier goal than getting to wear trousers, getting equal pay, getting an abortion on demand, and having a man treat a woman more like a man! This was definitely an "unintended consequence" for me: trivial as it may seem.

I am much heartened by the fact that progress is being made, albeit in small steps.

Kuwati women in parliament refuse to wear the veil.

An Egyptian Cleric wants to ban burquas and other facial coverings.

Honor killing or Honorcide is getting more attention.

Lubna Hussein got a lot of media attention over her sentence for wearing trousers.

Najwa Bin Laden and her son, Omar, wrote a book about their husband and father, Osama, and seem to be fearless about it. They have provided a fascinating insight into this man.

I think the real "feminist"heroines now are the ones who have literally put their lives on the line, not only for women in Islam but for the world in general.

Their goals and committment are what is truly deserving of our respect and support.
Feminists

I am referring to women like Dr Wafa Sultan, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Nonie Darwish, Supna Zaidi, Irshad Manji and women like them.

There is another one who would have possibly made it to this list: Neda Soltan.

Tragically she cannot, but in spirit she can inspire so much. I feel she deserves a mention among these brave, dedicated and fascinating women.

This is my challenge to todays feminists. Use your power again.

I am "just a Mom". I do not have your platform and power.

This is indeed a most worthy cause to support and fight for.

Read the full article here.

Sudanese Woman Punished for Wearing Trousers

From Reuters, via iol.co.za:

Two Sudanese women were on Thursday sentenced to 20 lashes and fined for committing an act of indecency by wearing trousers, weeks after a similar case sparked worldwide controversy.

The two women were arrested at the same party as Lubna Hussein, a former journalist who was also charged with wearing trousers and publicised her case as part of a campaign against Sudan's public order laws, Hussein told Reuters.

Judge Hassan Mohamed Ali sentenced each woman to 20 lashes and a fine of 250 Sudanese pounds in Khartoum East court on Thursday afternoon.

The women's supporters told journalists the punishment, often carried out immediately after a conviction, was postponed after the women launched an appeal.

Hussein, who was at the court on Thursday said the latest sentencing showed her campaign still had a long way to go.

"The campaign has succeeded in showing the world that there are unfair laws against women in Sudan. But we will keep on fighting," she said.

The two women, one aged 25, the other 27, both of them Muslim, would not give their names to journalists.

Lawyers and supporters at the trial also said they would not release the names as the women came from conservative families.

Indecency cases are not uncommon in Sudan, where there is a cultural gap between the mostly Muslim north and the south, dominated by Christians and followers of traditional beliefs.

Many women activists complain Sudan's public order regulations are vague and give individual police officers undue latitude to determine what is decent clothing for women.

Hussein was arrested by Sudan's public order police at a Khartoum party in July with 12 other women, 10 of whom pleaded guilty to similar charges and were flogged, she has said.

Hussein was jailed in September after refusing to pay a fine for the same offence but released after a day in prison after the country's journalists' union came up with the payment.

Asylum Seeker Blackmails Muslim Woman, Threatens to Send Her Family Photos of Her in Western Clothes

From the Daily Mail:

An asylum seeker and his wife blackmailed a Muslim friend by threatening to show photographs of her wearing jeans and a T-shirt to her devout family, a court heard yesterday.

Emal Ismaeli, 34, and Joanna Richards, 22, demanded more than £7,000 in a two-month terror campaign against the woman, identified only as Miss X.

They threatened to confront her traditional Islamic family - including her husband-to-be - with photographs of her in Western clothing with her arms around a man, and with a videotape of her dancing.

Ismaeli and mother-of-one Richards, both of Lye, West Midlands, admitted blackmail at Wolverhampton Crown Court and were jailed for 15 months and 12 months respectively.

Miss X's potential shame was 'the powerful weapon being used against her', the court was told.

The photographs were taken during a day out to a seaside resort two years before with Ismaeli and Richards, who are now divorced.

Prosecutor Bernard Linnemann said: 'Miss X received a letter on the doorstep of her father's home with her name on the envelope.

'Inside was a picture of her in Blackpool wearing western clothing. On the back, Miss Richards had written "If you don't sort out the money you owe, more will come out".'

The court heard how Richards formed the belief that Miss X was having an affair with her husband, while Ismaeli attacked her car, ripping off its wing mirror, and tried to unlock the door as she drove.

Gurdeep Garcha, defending Ismaeli, said the blackmail attempt was a short-lived and 'amateurish' operation, adding that his client deeply regretted what he had done.

Sam Powis, representing Richards, said the mother-of-one's crime had been committed out of stupidity and anger but the photographs had not been taken with the intention of using them for blackmail.

Sentencing them, Judge Michael Challinor said: 'The harm that has been done is very significant.'

Islamic Foundation Condemns Minivan News for Publishing Letter on Homosexuality

From Miadhu.com:

Islamic Foundation of the Maldives has condemned Minivan News for publishing a letter-to–the–editor that supported gay rights in Maldives. The said letter was written by an anonymous person on the 26 September 2009.

The foundation, in a press release issued yesterday, stated that homosexuality was against human nature and that it was forbidden in Islamic Shariah as well as a criminal offence under the Maldivian constitution. This foundation also called upon Maldives Police Service to investigate and find out the people involved in encouraging homosexuality.

Responding to the press release issued by Islamic Foundation, Minivan News made a statement in the website saying that all letters to the editor were submitted by readers and were published by the website as long as they were not defamatory. The statement stressed that the views and content of the letters do not represent the views of Minivan News.

Iraqi Man Runs Over Daughter for Being "Too Western"

Evidence points to a so-called "honor crime." This monster ran over his daughter because she is "too Western" in his opinion. He also reportedly took offense that she refused an arranged marriage. From ABC:

Police in Arizona are hunting for an Iraqi-American father who they say ran over his daughter with his car to punish her for becoming "too Westernized" and rebuffing the conservative ways he valued.

Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 48, was last seen fleeing the parking lot of the Department of Economic Development in Peoria, Ariz., Tuesday after hitting his 20-year-old daughter and her boyfriend's mother with his Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Noor Faleh Almaleki is in "life-threatening condition," Peoria Police spokesman Mike Tellef told ABCNews.com today. Her boyfriend's mother, 43-year-old Amal Edan Khalaf, is also still hospitalized, but with non-life threatening injuries. "It occured because her not following traditional family values. We've been told that by everybody," Tellef said. "He felt she was becoming too westernized and he didn't like that."

Calls to the Almaleki family weren't returned.

Noor Almaleki had backed out of an arranged marriage about a year ago, police learned, and had been living with Khalaf and her son in a nearby town.

'Arab Times' Article Claims Maids Are Jews Who Practice Black Magic

The Kuwaiti Arab Times printed one of the silliest articles we have ever seen here at Women Against Shariah. The article makes very weird claims about Jewish maids working in the country despite an extremely tiny number of Jews in Kuwait. The majority fled the country in the last few decades. The article also uses a somewhat politically incorrect and racist term, "Falasha," which is often applied to Ethiopian Jews. Aside from the strange claims, the author writes that "sources" claim these "Jewish maids" are really witches who practice black magic. Racism and antisemitism seems to be an issue in this oil-rich and backwards country.

Here it is:

There are about 1,800 Jewish maids working in Kuwaiti households, reports Alam Alyawm daily quoting Interior Ministry sources.

The same sources said these maids are citizens of India, Bangladesh and Ethiopia. The sources also warned such maids practice black magic and may have allegiance to Israel.

They thoughts and opinions may also constitute a danger to Muslim families - either Kuwaiti or expatriate - and may have an ill effect on our children.

The sources added the origin of most of these maids is believed to be Falasha.

Musharraf Threatens to 'Sort Out' Heckler at US Lecture

From the Rediff News Bureau:

Though former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf has switched careers to being a touring speaker, he is still to get over his authoritarian ways.

At a recent talk in Baltimore in the United States -- which did not find mention in the local newspapers -- one small incident seemed to have provoked Musharraf's dormant presidential arrogance and also his enmity with India.

American magazine The New Republic, however, did report the incident.

Musharraf was talking on the US's foreign policies to a learned audience of about 2,000 Baltimore citizens, when a voice from the crowd forced him to halt.

A burly South Asian man raised his voice once again and shouted 'Dictator'. Musharraf could not contain his anger and shouted back to the man, 'Yes, I was.'

And continued, 'I wish you were there so I could have handled you also.'

The volley of words could have ended at this point; however, the audience had more drama in store.

When Musharraf began speaking on India-Pakistan relations, he could not stop himself from getting back at the man who had heckled him.

He turned towards the side of the audience where the burly man sat and said, 'Maybe the gentleman who's talking belongs to India.'

The man shouted back saying he was from Baluchistan, a country bordering Afghanistan and Iran, to which Musharraf shot back, 'In Baluchistan, people like you who want to get away from Pakistan need to be sorted out.

'That is what I did…

'If you were there, you would have been sorted out by me. He thinks I'm a dictator. I'm a dictator for people like you!' Musharraf thundered in the hall.

In a satisfying finish to Musharraf, the audience clapped at the clincher and the talk resumed.

Toronto Imam Preaching Hatred

From the National Post:

A Toronto-area imam is under fire for using derogatory language against Jews and Christians, calling for Allah to "destroy" the enemies of Islam from within and calling on God to "damn" the "infidels."

The address, given last Friday by Imam Saed Rageah at North York's Abu Huraira Centre and then posted on YouTube, is an attack on those who have been calling for a ban on the niqab and burka, both of which cover the faces of women.

"Allah protect us from the fitna [sedition] of these people; Allah protect us from the evil agenda of these people; Allah destroy them from within themselves, and do not allow them to raise their heads in destroying Islam."

Tarek Fatah, a Canadian Muslim author and commentator, said that type of language could be interpreted as a call to violence. As well, the imam asks Allah to "damn" Christians and Jews.

"The cleric's ritual prayer asking for the defeat of Christians and Jews and the victory of Islam is not unique," Mr. Fatah said. "It is uttered by many clerics across Canada spreading hate instead of harmony. There should be no room in Canada's mosques for such hatred, especially when most of these institutions get [tax-free status]."

The Abu Huraira Centre attracts about 800 to 1,000 people to a typical Friday service. A man who worked at the centre said that many women who attend only wear the hijab, which covers the head, and do not wear any covering on their faces.

The National Post repeatedly attempted to reach Mr. Rageah for an interview, but was unsuccessful.

Throughout the 35-minute speech he uses the word "kuffar" to describe non-Muslims.

In referring to those Muslims who would seek allies outside the Muslim community to bring about legislation that would ban face coverings, the imam said: "You will see a lot of them going to the kuffar, taking them as friends and allies. The wrath of Allah is upon them. If they were true believers they would never take them as allies."

At its most benign, kuffar means "non-Muslims." But others say the most common usage is considered highly offensive, akin to calling a black person a "nigger," Mr. Fatah said.

"It goes back to the Arab use of the word against black slaves. It's used in a very derisive manner."

Read it all here.

Hijacking Thwarted on Egyptian Flight

There is little media coverage about this latest hijacking attempt. From the Associated Press:

Security guards thwarted an attempted hijacking Wednesday on an EgyptAir flight from Istanbul to Cairo by overpowering a man who threatened crew members with a knife, a security official for the airline said.

A Sudanese man used a plastic knife from the in-flight meal to threaten flight attendants after the plane left Turkish airspace and demanded that the flight be diverted to Jerusalem, the official said. Guards on the flight were able to detain the man and no one was hurt, he said.

The flight landed safely at Cairo airport. The man was arrested and was being questioned by state security, the official said.

The Boeing aircraft was carrying 87 passengers, a Cairo police official said. He identified the suspect as Mohammed Hamad Nourain, 26, and said he used a passport with a phony name to board the flight.

The man told flight attendants he wanted to "liberate Jerusalem," the police official said.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to provide the information to journalists.

Massachusetts Man Charged With Alleged Terror Plot Defiant in Court

From Fox News:

The pharmacy college graduate student charged with plotting to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq and shoppers in American malls was thwarted -- along with two other co-conspirators -- when he was unable to get into terror camps for training and failed to get access to automatic weapons.

Tarek Mehanna, 27, of Sudbury, Mass., got rebellious in court Wednesday, refusing to stand for the judge and at one point throwing his chair.

FBI officials said Mehanna worked with others from 2001 to May of 2008 in a conspiracy to "kill, kidnap, main or injure" people in foreign countries, and to kill prominent U.S. politicians. Terror plots to attack U.S. shopping malls and U.S. military in Iraq were also in the works, officials said.

Mehanna initially refused to stand for the judge before the terror charge against him was read at the brief hearing Wednesday. He finally did stand — tossing his chair loudly to the floor — only after his father urged him to do so.

Click here for Video.

A detention and probable cause hearing was set for Oct. 30.

The complaint further alleges that the co-conspirators attempted to radicalize others and inspire each other by, among other things, watching and distributing jihadi videos.


The charges accuse the suspects of talking about their desire to participate in Islamist holy war and of their desire to die on the battlefield.

The case comes less than a month after an Afghan-born man, Najibullah Zazi, was accused of plotting a bomb attack against the United States.

Federal prosecutors say Mehanna and his conspirators planned the logistics of a mall attack — including the possibility of attacking emergency responders. However, authorities say the plot was not carried out because they could not get automatic weapons.

"Mehanna and the co-conspirators had multiple conversations about obtaining automatic weapons and randomly shooting people in a shopping mall, and that the conversations went so far as to discuss the logistics of a mall attack, including coordination, weapons needed and the possibility of attacking emergency responders," the Justice Department said.

Mehanna's attorney J.W. Carney Jr. did not immediately return calls for comment.

If convicted on the material support charge, Mehanna faces up to 15 years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine, the Justice Department said.

Mehanna was arrested in November 2008 for allegedly lying to authorities about the whereabouts of a man who trained with Al Qaeda members with the goal of overthrowing the Somali government.

In December 2006, Mehanna got a phone call from American Daniel Maldonado, who urged Mehanna to join him in Somalia, where he was training for jihad.

But when interviewed by FBI a few days later, he told FBI that Maldonado was in Egypt working for a Web site.

The FBI also interviewed Mehanna about a trip he and two othes made to Yemen in 2004.