Free Republic

We constantly see the government of the UK catering to Islam and doing nothing to protect the non-Muslim citizens at home against Islamic takeover. Now the British PM Gordon Brown has taken his Islamic catering on the road and is going after Israel over Jewish settlements being built in the West Bank.

There was no fanfare, no press release when Keith Ellison made the pilgrimage to the Muslim holy city of Mecca last week. "We weren't really trying to turn this into a political thing," said the Democratic congressman from Minneapolis. "This is just me trying to be the best person I can be." Downplaying his role as the first member of Congress to make the Hajj, as the pilgrimage is known, Ellison called the experience "transformative." "It really didn't have anything to do with me being a congressman," said Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress. Bravo...Sierra...

TAMPA -- Former University of South Florida student Ahmed Mohamed got a 15-year sentence today for providing material support to terrorism. "I still wonder why this young man in front of me at his age, at his intelligence, how he has become committed to this path," said U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday, who gave Mohamed, 27, the harshest penalty allowed by law

The accession of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the presidency of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been accompanied by a sharp transformation in the Iranian attitude to, and depiction of, the state of Israel. This change includes not only an amplification of the traditional hostility toward the Jewish polity, but also—most ominously—a new conception of that polity as weak and unstable, an easy target for a united Muslim (or united Shiite) offensive. The prevailing opinion among Middle East experts and Iran watchers, however, is that the revised rhetoric is just that—rhetoric—and that it harbors no significant ramifications for policy-making on the...

The Netherlands Info Service (NIS) has reported that the UK House of Lords will screen Fitna (ostensibly as a response to the EP’s refusal to show the controversial film). Wilders has recently shown Fitna at meetings in Jerusalem and New York. He said the film will also be on view in the House of Lords in January. A brief scan of online news did not reveal any other sources reporting this story at the time of this posting. Here is the complete 15 minute version of Fitna. It is well worth watching…(tried to post here but failed...here is the link)...http://www.darkskiesblog.com/2008/12/18/the-uks-house-of-lords-will-show-geert-wilders-fitna/

With the election of Barack Obama, the United States has moved dramatically to the left in its foreign policy at just the time that Israel, which seems likely to return Bibi Netanyahu to office in early February, is moving to the right. A collision is almost inevitable. Caroline Glick, the highly astute conservative columnist for the Jerusalem Post, writes that the "international community" believes that Obama "will move quickly to place massive pressure on the next Israeli government to withdraw from Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem and the Golan Heights in the interests of advancing a 'peace process' with the Palestinians and...

Placing banners on motorway bridges in a Germany-wide campaign Unterm-Schleier.com (Press Release) December 16 2008On 16 December 2008, the "Anonymous group for democratic and free thinking" continued their campaign that started with former actions such as veiling of female statues and sculptures with a head scarf and burka. This time we place banners of up to 8 x 1,3 meters on bridges near the following cities Heidelberg, Konstanz, Eckernförde, Osnabrück, Bremen, Krefeld, Berlin and Munich. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...

“We are not afraid of terror attacks; we will still come to our homeland, India,” said Jewish scholar Dr Shalva Weil, in the city for a lecture on the Jewish diaspora in the country. “It is an irony that Jews were attacked by terrorists in a country which has always treated them well,” said the senior researcher at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel. Weil, who was addressing social science students at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences on Thursday, on the topic ‘Diaspora and Homeland: The situation of Jews in India’, added that the Jewish community was traumatised after the...

Rights experts attack Islam defamation drive at UN Wed 17 Dec 2008, 15:33 GMT By Robert Evans GENEVA, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The United Nations should stop passing resolutions, largely promoted by Islamic countries, calling for laws against "defamation of religion", according to international experts on freedom of expression. The four experts -- from Africa, Europe, Latin America and the United Nations itself -- said such laws were often used to shield religious leaders from criticism and to suppress religious minorities and non-believers. "International organisations, including the United Nations General Assembly and Human Rights Council, should desist from the further...

THE HAGUE, 19/12/08 - The UK's House of Lords will show Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Willders' controversial Islam film Fitna. So says Wilders following the European Parliament's refusal to show the short film. The EP on Wednesday rejected a request by the UK MEP Gerard Batten of the anti-European Independent Party to allow Fitna to be shown in Strasbourg to MEPs and journalists. Wilders called the ban "censorship" and compared the EP to Saudi Arabia. Wilders has recently shown Fitna at meetings in Jerusalem and New York. He said the film will also be on view in the...

Clinton for sale By posting this am I saying that Bill Clinton is different from any other powerful politician, in taking money from foreign donors who obviously hope to influence the political process? No, in this Bill Clinton is not singular. But look at this list: $10 million to $25 million from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Between $1 million and $5 million each from Saudi businessman Nasser Al-Rashid, Friends of Saudi Arabia, the Dubai Foundation, and the governments of Kuwait, Qatar, Brunei and Oman. And the New York Post here is worried about money from India keeping Hillary from...

Gunmen broke into the house of a women's rights activist in the volatile northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Thursday and beheaded her, police said. The victim was identified as Nahla Hussain, the leader of the women's league of the Kurdish Communist Party. She was alone in the house at the time of her death. It is not known what the circumstances were that led to the attack. Violence against women has been an ongoing problem in Iraq. The killing comes ahead of next month's provincial elections, a post-Saddam era watershed event that's generating an uptick in civil unrest and...

China is considering sending ships to fight pirates off the Horn of Africa in what would be the country’s first significant long-range naval combat mission since the 15th century. Senior Colonel Huang Xueping, spokesman for China’s ministry of national defence, told the FT an anti-piracy mission was “still in the consideration stage”. But he said: “There will be an announcement very soon.” Since late October, more than 30 ships have been attacked by pirates based in Somalia and up to 19 vessels captured. These include a Chinese fishing vessel with 30 crew seized off the coast of Yemen on Tuesday....

The Taliban have defeated the primary tribal opposition organized against it in the insurgency-wracked district of Swat in Pakistan's northwest. The leader of the tribal resistance was killed and two of his aides were beheaded last weekend after the Taliban overran the region controlled by the opposition. Pir Samiullah, a rival tribal and religious leader opposing Mullah Fazlullah's forces in the Matta region of Swat, and eight of his followers were killed in a Taliban assault on Dec. 16. Two of his aides were subsequently beheaded in public, while an estimated 40 of his followers have been captured. "The Taliban...

Iraq's parliament speaker announced his resignation Wednesday after a parliamentary session descended into chaos as lawmakers argued about whether to free a journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush. The speaker, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, has threatened to resign before and has been suspended for embarrassing the prime minister with erratic behavior. On Wednesday, after arguments erupted among lawmakers over the fate of the journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the speaker said: 'I have no honor leading this parliament and I announce my resignation.' Al-Zeidi's family went to the Central Criminal Court expecting to attend a court hearing for him, said...

Within a few unlikely seconds, a pair of size 10 shoes have become the most destructive weapon the people of Iraq have managed to throw at the occupying powers, after nearly six years of occupation and formidable resistance. One Iraqi writer called the shoes, hurled by a journalist at George Bush, “Iraq’s weapon of comprehensive destruction”. While the uprisings of Fallujah, Najaf, Basra and Baghdad against the occupation will always remain as landmarks of a people resisting occupation, these incredible seconds have united Iraqis in the most dramatic fashion. Contrary to most media coverage, the 28-year-old TV reporter Muntadar Al-Zeidi...

Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi will be known for a long time as the shoe thrower. He who succeeded in throwing a pair of shoes at U.S. President George Bush last Sunday in Baghdad. The shoes are now priceless. A Saudi entrepreneur has offered $10 million for one of the pair of shoes. The shoe throwing incident has been hailed as heroic by many people around the world, especially those who opposed the foreign policies of the outgoing US president. What are the reactions of Southeast Asian bloggers and residents? Hafriz from Singapore thinks al-Zaidi should become president of the world:...

Hizbullah, also an Islamist group, has long been using the mixed language of Islam and Arabism, which is why Chuck Freund and I came up with the labels "Pan-Arabist Islam/ism" or "Arabo-centric Islam" (see also Matt Frost, who has an interest in this particular subject. Cf. Lee Smith's old article in Slate, and, Josh Landis' excellent post on the Baath and whether it's "secular"). In fact, speaking of Nasser, that's precisely the sort of image Hassan Nasrallah has been projecting: a Shiite Nasser. If you take a look at Avi Jorisch's Beacon of Hatred, you'll see in the accompanying DVD-Rom...

There are about,1.6 million Muslims in Great Britain and while they represent only 3% of the population it is a very vocal and radical minority. Almost half of Britain’s mosques are under the control of a hard line Islamic sect whose leading preacher loathes Western values and has called on Muslims to “shed blood” for Allah, an investigation by The Times has found. Riyadh ul Haq, who supports armed jihad and preaches contempt for Jews, Christians and Hindus, is in line to become the spiritual leader of the Deobandi sect in Britain. The ultra-conservative movement, which gave birth to the...

<p>GENEVA (AP) - Islamic proposals to ban criticism of religion, which have gathered strength since the publication of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad two years ago, threaten to derail an already troubled U.N. anti-racism conference planned for next year. The European Union rejects suggestions by Algeria—backed by other Muslim and African countries—that limits on free speech are needed to stop the publication of offensive articles and images.</p>