bestcurrentnews ReCap, Uncategorized

ReCap – May 2013

ReCap LogoWelcome to the May edition of Best Current News’ ReCap series – brief summaries of selected articles chosen to keep you informed of threats to traditional Judeo-Christian values and western culture by Islamists. In each synopsis there are links provided to the original sources to provide you with more information. Simply click on the underlined portion of each entry in order to access the source information.

Australia-United Arab Emirates: An Australian woman, Alicia Gali, working in Dubai, UAE for the Starwood Hotels, was drugged and gang raped by three fellow workers. She suffered four broken ribs during the attack and eventually sought medical help in a Dubai hospital where she was arrested and eventually convicted to 11 months in jail for having sex outside of marriage. Sunday Night, an Australian news and current affairs program produced an investigative report about her saga.

Britain: Six girls from the ages of 11 to 15 were drugged and abused as part of a sex trafficking ring that lasted over eight years. The ring originating in Oxford identified vulnerable girls and then groomed them through the use of drugs and abuse until they were under the control of the gang. Seven Muslim men Kamar Jamil, Akhtar Dogar, Anjum Dogar, Assad Hussain, Mohammed Karrar, Bassam Karrar and Zeeshan Ahmed were found guilty of charges ranging from conspiracy to rape to child prostitution and trafficking.

Britain: British Army Private Lee Rigby, off duty and walking down the street, was run down by a car and then hacked to death with knives and a cleaver by two Muslims who attempted to behead him. Witness stated the men shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the attack. The attackers stayed at the scene and were eventually arrested by police.

Britain: Three Muslims convicts stabbed and battered a prison officer at Full Sutton Prison, East Yorks.  A terrorism expert said the attack appeared to have been in support of the Muslims that murdered Army Private Lee Rigby.

Britain: Two men were seriously injured after being attacked in an Accrington barbershop by four masked me carrying machetes and knives. Police said they were looking for a gang of “Asian” men that typically refers to Muslims.

Canada: According to Statistics Canada, the Muslim population is growing at a rate exceeding other religions. The Muslim population has grown from 2% of the population in 2001 to 3.2%. Much of this growth has come through immigration. According to statistics, only .7% of those immigrating to Canada prior to 1971 were Muslim compared with 78.4% Christian. However 17.4% of immigrants arriving between 2006-2011, were Muslim with only 47.5% Christian.

Canada: Three men, Hewad Ahmadzai, Omeed Ahmadzai, and Nazeef Ahmadzai have all been charged with forcible confinement and gang sexual assault after they raped a woman in a Toronto parking garage. The woman was rescued when police, after being called by friends of the victim worried about her safety, found her in the parking lot and arrested the three men.

China: Police arrested 19 suspects in connection with the deaths of 15 police officers and community workers along with six assailants killed in a clash in Kashgar, in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang. This region has seen recurrent violence between members of the Muslim Uighur group and the authorities and Han Chinese.

France: A 21-year-old Muslim man confessed to stabbing a French soldier who was on an antiterrorism patrol in Paris. The Paris public prosecutor said investigators felt the suspect had “acted in the name of his religious ideology.”

Ireland: Burial regulations that were established in 1888 requiring a “coffin of wood or some other sufficiently strong material” were changed as of June 1 to accommodate Muslim burial rituals after members of the Muslim community expressed their concerns. Muslims are normally buried without a coffin.

Middle East: Millions of Christians are leaving Middle Eastern nations due to increasing persecution. Iraq’s Christian population, over a million strong in 2003 is now less than 400,000. Entire Christian cities in Syria have disappeared. Over 100,000 Christian Copts in Egypt have fled their nation since the “Arab Spring.” “The flight of Christians out of the region [Middle East] is unprecedented and it’s increasing year by year,” according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.  Reports are that “Christians might disappear altogether from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Egypt.”

Nigeria: At least 55 people were killed when suspected Boko Haram attacked security formations in northeast Borno State. Twenty-two police officers lost their lives when the group attack the police station and barracks in Bama.

Netherlands: There are calls for a debate in the Dutch parliament about the integration of Muslim immigrants. The district of Schilderswijk about two kilometers from the center of The Hague is known locally as “the Sharia triangle.” The area’s population is almost entirely Muslim and there are claims an unofficial Sharia police controls the area.

Sweden: Coca-Cola chose to leave out Muhammad in a publicity campaign for the nation that replaced the Coca-Cola logo on bottles with some of the most common Swedish names. After consulting with the Islamic Association in Sweden, the company decided that “it was less provocative not to include the name than to have it on such a US-associated product.”

Sweden: A week of rioting began in Husby, a suburb of Stockholm as more than 100 cars were set on fire, a shopping center was vandalized and an apartment building had to be evacuated because of a nearby car garage that was set on fire. Rocks were thrown at police attempting to stop the violence that involved somewhere between 50 and 60 youths. The riots eventually spread to Rinkeby, Fittja, Kista, Södertälje, and Vällingby. Jyllands-Posten revealed the rioting youth were not as the established media labeled them simply “youngsters,” but were immigrant boys with a Muslim background.

Syria: The United Nations announced their human rights investigators had testimony that indicates rebel forces in the Syrian civil war have used the nerve agent sarin.

United States: Politico reported Qatar-based Al Jazeera plans to have 12 bureaus across the U.S. when it launches Al Jazeera America, a 24-hour global news television network in July. The network will be headquartered in New York City with bureaus in Washington, Miami, Nashville, Chicago, New Orleans, Detroit, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.

United States: Eight Muslims living in Minneapolis, Minnesota were sentenced to prison for aiding foreign terrorism. Muhamud Said Omar had a key role in providing a “pipeline” to send young men to fight in the Somali civil war.  Kamal Said Hassan admitted to going to a training camp in Somalia and appearing in a promotional video encouraging other Americans to join the fight. Abdifatah Isse, Salah Ahmed, Ahmed Mahamud and Omer Abdi Mohamed were also sentenced to prison for supporting the Somalia terrorist group, Al-Shabaab. In addition, two women, Amina Farah Ali and Hawo Mohamed Hassan were sentenced to prison for sending funding to Al-Shabaab.

United States: Erwin Antonio Rios, a 19 year old from Fayetteville, NC pleaded guilty to charge of possession of a stolen firearm. In an affidavit filed with the court, the FBI revealed Rios holds extremist Islamic views. He planned to commit violent armed robberies leaving no witnesses alive in order to get money to buy weapons to finance a trip overseas to fight non-believers.

United States: Hysen Sherifi was given four life sentences for conspiring with his brother, Shkubin Sherifi and a female friend, Nevine Aly Elshiekh to behead three informants from his terror trial in North Carolina. Hysen Sherifi was already serving a 45-year sentence for his part in the Raleigh Jihad group plotting to attack marines at Quantico in Virginia. The FBI learned of the plan through a jail informant.

United States: Fazlidden Kurbanov, a refugee from Uzbekistan living in Idaho, was indicted for conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, giving material support to terrorists and possession of an unregistered explosive device. He allegedly conspired to provide support to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. An additional indictment from Utah will be handled after the Idaho prosecution alleges he was teaching people to build bombs to target public transportation.

United States: Yussuf Abdulle, a Somali Muslim immigrant living in Seattle was charged with promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor. His victim, a 16-year-old girl said he forced she and a friend to have sex with different men three to seven times a day. He allegedly drugged them and then he slept near the door of his apartment with a gun to keep them from leaving.

United States: Investor’s Business Daily in an editorial about the government’s plan to grant amnesty to illegal aliens reported that according to the Department of Homeland Security there are 87 deportable alien fugitives from Kazakhstan, 50 from Afghanistan 1164 from Egypt, 101 from Iran, 94 from Iraq, 9 from Libya, 384 from Pakistan, 45 from Sudan, 77 from Yemen and 126 from Saudi Arabia. These are aliens that came in as foreign students and does not take into account those crossing the border illegally.

United States: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan placed a ceremonial stone on a 15-acre mosque construction site in Lanham, Maryland. The estimated $100 million Turkish American Culture and Civilization Center (TACC) is a project of the government of Turkey. Erdoğan was previously convicted in Turkey of “inciting hatred based on religious differences” after he read a poem at protests being conducted by Islamists. The poem said, “The minarets are our bayonets; the domes are our helmets. Mosques are our barracks, the believers are soldiers. This holy army guards my religion. Almighty, Our journey is our destiny, the end is martyrdom.”

United States:  Accused Ft. Hood shooter, Major Nidal Hasan has been paid more than $278,000 since the shooting on November 5. 2009 while victims wounded in the shooting are fighting to receive the same pay and medical benefits given to soldiers wounded in combat because the Army has not classified the wounds of the victims as “combat related.”

United States: The Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Watch identified two professors, Dr. Ermin Sinanovic and Dr. Akbar Ahmed that teach courses at the US Naval Academy who have close ties to the International Institute of Islamic Thought, (IIIT), an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood.

United States: The Clarion Project reports the U.S. Air Force paid nearly $5,000 to advertise for military chaplains in Islamic Horizons, the magazine of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).  ISNA remains an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Trial, the largest terrorism financing trial in U.S. history.

bestcurrentnews ReCap

ReCap April 2013

ReCap LogoWelcome to the April edition of Best Current News’ ReCap series – brief summaries of selected articles chosen to keep you informed of threats to traditional Judeo-Christian values and western culture by Islamists. In each synopsis there are links provided to the original sources to provide you with more information. Simply click on the underlined portion of each entry in order to access the source information.

United States:  The U.S Army officially declined to award Purple Heart medals to the victims the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas that occurred in November of 2009. The medal is presented to members of the military who are “wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States.” The Army said awarding the medal would “set the stage for a formal declaration that Major Hasan is a terrorist.” Thus far the U.S. government has classified the attack at Fort Hood as “workplace violence” rather than a terrorist attack.

United States: The Associated Press, reacting to pressure from the Council on American Islamic Relations  (CAIR) revised the term “Islamist” in their stylebook after CAIR complained the term had a negative connotation. The AP now instructs their stylebook subscribers that the term should not be used as “a synonym for Islamic fighters, militants, extremists or radicals.”

United States: The Arab American News reports the Dearborn (Michigan) public schools accommodate Muslim student led prayer in all the schools in the district. The Council for American-Islamic Relations is also meeting with other school districts to obtain similar accommodations.

United States: Fox News reports a U.S. Army training instructor included Evangelical Christianity and Catholicism as examples of religious extremism along with organizations such as Al Qaeda, and Hamas during a training brief. Also listed, as a form of religious extremism was the term “Islamophobia.” An Army spokesman said the matter was closed after the instructor removed the slide from the presentation and apologized.

United States: A second defendant in the June 2011 plot to attack a military installation in Seattle, Washington was sentenced to 17 years in prison after pleading guilty. Walli Mujahidh planned to use grenades and machine guns to attack the Military Entrance Processing Center.

United States: In two separate cases – one in New York and the other in Ohio, Muslim workers are suing their employers for denying workplace accommodations for their religious practices. U.S. employers are increasingly forced to allow Muslim workers time during the work day for prescribed times of prayer and time off on Fridays for weekly Muslim services.

United States: Sharif El-Gamal, the developer of the controversial Park51 also known as the “Ground Zero” mosque property purchased a five-story adjacent building to the sight. With this purchase he now controls three properties within the city block.

United States: Three Americans were killed and 264 were injured when two pressure cooker bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon on April 15. Chechen brothers, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev were identified as the bombers. After pictures were released of the suspects, they allegedly killed a MIT police officer, stole a car and initiated an exchange of gunfire with police injuring 16 police officers. Tamerlan was killed during the exchange. Dzhokhar escaped but was later apprehended by police. The brothers reportedly were motivated by extremist Islamist beliefs and learned how to make the bombs through consulting al Qaeda’s online magazine, Inspire.

United States: A Pennsylvania mother rescued her son who had been abducted by his father and was living in Egypt.  Kalliope (Kalli) Atteya traveled with her son and ex-husband, Mohamed to visit Mohamed’s aging mother in July of 2011. While there, her ex-husband abandoned Kalli on the side of the road and abducted their son. After numerous attempts to appeal to the Egyptian authorities for help, she sought the help of a private company. When the company failed to find her son, she hired a local guide who helped her find her son, and she personally rescued him, grabbing him as he stepped off a school bus in Alexandria, Egypt.  Atteya’s son is one of many American children abducted by a parent and taken to a foreign country. In 2011, there were more than 1,300 similar cases according to the U.S. State Department.

United States: The National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association developed a program called the Muslim Journeys Bookshelf which is a collection of 25 books, 4 DVDs and programming resources that have been given to 843 humanities councils, public, academic and community college libraries to use in presenting Islamic programs across the United States.

United States: The National Review reported there were at least 7,518 illegal aliens apprehended in 2011 from four nations that the U.S. government calls “state sponsors of terrorism” and ten additional “countries of interest.” The fourteen nations include Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Yemen, Nigeria, Iraq and Cuba.

Canada: Chiheb Eseghaier and Raed Jaser suspected Al Qaeda terrorists were arrested for plotting to derail a New York to Toronto passenger train. According to Superintendent Doug Best of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police this was the first known Al Qaeda planned attack in Canada. CBC News reported that Canada had tried to deport Raed Jaser in 2004.

Canada: A Toronto single father was banned from watching his nine-year-old daughter’s swim class because of “religious reasons.”  The class listed on the city’s website did not indicate that males could not observe the lessons held at a public pool.  After the blinds to the viewing area were closed to him, the staff informed the father the policy was because of Muslim women. Female only swim programs began 20 years ago based on “accommodating cultural and religious practices and requirements.” Currently nine Toronto pools have female only swim programs.

Afghanistan: As Operation Enduring Freedom continues in Afghanistan 17 coalition military fatalities were reported in the month of April. This brings the total fatalities since the operation began in 2001 to 3,291 with the majority of the coalition fatalities (2,207) being U.S. soldiers.

Austria:  The Turkish Muslim community claims they successfully forced Lego, a Danish toy manufacturer to withdraw its production of a Star Wars toy set, Jabba’s Palace.” The toy based is off the 1983 film Return of the Jedi. Jabba the Hutt is a hookah-smoking villain who lives in a domed building that Muslims claimed resembled Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia mosque. Initially Lego denied the request to stop production of the toy, but after a meeting between Muslim leaders and Lego executives the company announced it would end production from 2014 onwards. According to the company, “’Jabba’s Palace’ was planned from the beginning to be in the assortment only until the end of 2013.”

Britain: A Christian worker, fired from Heathrow airport after five Muslim colleagues complained she was anti-Islamic won the right to appeal her unfair dismissal case. Nohad Halawi says she lost her job after expressing her concerns about intimidation that she received from Muslim workers at the airport. She lost her tribunal case in 2011, because it was ruled her job was part time and commissioned-based freelance rather than a staff employee.

Britain:  BBC Panorama released a program called “Secrets of Britain’s Sharia Councils.” The 29-minute program takes a look at sharia councils across Britain and how the rulings of these councils can oftentimes be in opposition to British laws. Among some of surprising findings are that Muslim women are obtaining Islamic marriages rather than civil marriages in Britain that are not recognized under British law. This means when it comes to divorce the women are not entitled to rights that a married couple under British civil law would possess.  It also means a Muslim man can take more than one wife since he is not married under British law.

Australia:  Qantas Airlines will no longer serve pork or meals prepared with alcohol because it is forbidden in Islam on flights to and from Europe because of its partnership with Middle Eastern airline Emirates. Because of the partnership, flights from Australia to Europe fly via Dubai instead of Singapore. Several other airlines also observe the Islamic ban including Virgin Australia who serves halal accredited meals on its flights to and from Abu Dhabi Halal simply means permitted and indicates the meat served has been prepared according to Islamic law.

Egypt: Violence continued against Egypt’s Coptic Christians as gangs of Muslims attacked St. Mark Cathedral during a funeral service for six slain Christians – including one intentionally set on fire. Two additional Christians were killed and hundreds forced to hide in the back of the Cathedral until the violence subsided. Raymond Ibrahim of FrontPage Magazine described the significance of the attack: “…this jihadi attack on St Mark Cathedral is no different for Copts than a jihadi attack on the Vatican would be for Catholics. Or, to maintain the analogy, but from the other side, it would be no different than a ‘crusader’ attack on the Grand Mosque of Mecca for Muslims.”

bestcurrentnews ReCap

ReCap March 2013

ReCap LogoWelcome to the March edition of Best Current News’ ReCap series – brief summaries of selected articles chosen to keep you informed of threats to traditional Judeo-Christian values and western culture by Islamists. In each synopsis there are links provided to the original sources to provide you with more information.

United States: Hafiz Khan, imam of the Flagler Mosque in Miami, Florida was convicted by a federal jury of providing more than $50,00 to the Pakistani Taliban. Sentencing will be May 30, 2013.

United States: Ahmed Ferhani was sentenced to 10 years in prison for plotting to blow up synagogues in Manhattan. Ferhani said, “By targeting a synagogue…I intended to create chaos and send a message of intimidation and coercion to the Jewish population of New York City, warning them to stop mistreating Muslims.”

United States: A report released by Sanctuary for Families discloses the risk for a female in the United States to undergo female genital mutilation, the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia, increased by 35%. The U.S. has had a law against FGM since 1996, but as of 2012 there have been no prosecutions under federal law and only one criminal case brought forward through state law.

United States: The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) president, Mohamed Magid joined 10 other leaders in a conversation with President Obama about immigration reform. Magid also took part in a meeting with the President to give “recommendations” in preparation for President Obama’s Middle East trip. ISNA remains an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism financing trial in U.S. history that was held in Dallas, Texas in 2008.

United States – Syria: Pending Congressional approval, John Kerry committed the U.S. to sending nonlethal aid to the Free Syrian Army, the armed faction that is battling to remove President Bashar al-Assad. The U.S. also pledged $60 million to help the anti-Assad group improve services to Syrians such as sanitation and education in areas it has already taken from the government. The $60 million is in addition to more then $50 million that has already been sent. Britain is also planning to send more nonlethal aid, and is consulting with other European nations regarding the type of aid they could send.

United States – Egypt:  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced the release of $250 million in American aid to support Egypt’s “future as a democracy” after meeting with, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. This is part of more than $1 billion in U.S. assistance promised by President Barack Obama to Egypt last year.

United States – Palestine: The U.S. has unblocked almost $500 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority, which had been frozen by Congress for months after President Mahmud Abbas won upgraded UN observer status at the UN General Assembly in November.

United States – Jordan: President Obama pledged an additional $200 million to deal with the growing number of Syrian refugees in Jordan pending Congressional approval. The U.S. is already the largest single donor of assistance to Syrian refugees.

Europe: Muslim gang rapes across Europe are under reported in the press due to political correctness. One report indicated that as many as 5,000 gang rapes occur in France alone each year. One particular gruesome case involved a 29-year-old Swedish mother of two who was raped by 12 Afghan refugees. The rape marathon lasted for seven hours during which the woman went into shock. She now lives in a psychiatric clinic and is wheelchair bound due to damage to her abdomen and suffers from fecal incontinence.

Belgium:  Politicians submitted a proposal in front of the Belgian Parliament to impeach or limit the influence of Muslim extremists in power, arguing that ultra-conservative Muslim beliefs are inconsistent with the European Convention on Human Right’s laws. According to recent estimates six percent of the Belgium population is Muslim.

France: A trial began for Bouchra Bagour, a French Muslim mother for “glorifying crime.” She was charged after sending her three-year-old son, named Jihad to nursery school wearing a shirt with the words “I am a bomb” on the front and “Jihad, born on 11 September” on the back.

Germany:  Three ultra-conservative Salafist Muslim groups were banned in Germany. Salafists are a militant group of Muslims who believe themselves the only correct interpreters of the Qur’an and consider moderate Muslims to be infidels. The banned groups wanted to overturn the German democracy and install a system based on sharia or Islamic law.

United Kingdom: The UK government is considering reviving plans to sell Islamic bonds to boost Britain’s role as a center for Sharia compliant financing. Zakat (which oftentimes funds terrorism) is required in order for a financial instrument to be considered sharia compliant.

Australia: Four men were found guilty of assault in an Australian court after they whipped a Muslim convert with an electric cord as punishment under sharia (Islamic) law.  His religious mentor and three other Islamic men punished the convert for drinking alcohol and taking drugs.

Australia: Cadbury Easter eggs are certified as halal (or permissible according to Islamic law) despite the fact Muslims do not celebrate Easter. A website called Halal Choices lists 340 companies in Australia that pay for halal certification of their products including Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, Franklins, Kellogg’s, MasterFoods, Nestle and Kraft’s Vegemite. Many companies pay for halal certification for products that do not require certification because in some cases their customers require the certification.

Malaysia: 27 people were killed after two deadly shootouts in Sabah on Borneo Island after an estimated 100 to 300 Islamic Filipino intruders claimed the state on behalf of the heir to a former Philippine sultanate. Follower of Islamic leader Jamalul Kiram III claim they are ready to die to defend his the Sultan’s claim to Sabah which was once controlled by the now-defunct sultanate.

Bangladesh: Jamaat-e-Islami supporters in Bangladesh are calling for a reunification with Pakistan and the creation of a “pure” state, free of non-Muslims. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party is supporting the group, and calling for the current government to resign.  Jamaat has begun handing out weapons to women and children to “save Islam and its soul from danger.” They are calling for Hindus, atheists and Christians to be expelled from the nation. Within the first week of March, 87 people have died – mostly police and peaceful protesters.

Nigeria: Boko Haram, a militant Islamic group allegedly destroyed 50 out of 52 Catholic churches in Borno state in Nigeria. Since its founding in 2001, the group has been responsible for between 3,000 and 10,000 deaths.

bestcurrentnews ReCap

ReCap February 2013

ReCap LogoWelcome to the February edition of Best Current News’ ReCap series – brief summaries of selected articles chosen to keep you informed of threats to traditional Judeo-Christian values and western culture by Islamists. In each synopsis there are links provided to the original sources to provide you with more information.

United States:

Portland, Oregon:   Mohamed Osman Mohamud was found guilty of attempting to detonate a bomb during Portland, Oregon’s 2010 tree-lighting ceremony. Mohamud had been under FBI surveillance for over a year prior to his attempt after he had traded e-mails with two accused terrorists and written for an online jihadi magazine.

New York, New York:  Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis pleaded guilty to attempting to detonate a bomb at the New York Federal Reserve Bank. According ot court documents, Nafis, a Bangladeshi citizen, came to the U.S. in January 2012 intending to wage violent jihad.

Oakland, California:  Matthew Aaron Llaneza was arrested after he allegedly attempted to bomb a bank in Oakland, California. Llaneza met with an undercover FBI agent who he believed to have connections with the Taliban and the mujahidin in Afghanistan.

San Diego, California:  Four Somali nationals including an imam from San Diego were found guilty of supporting terrorism in Somalia. The group had raised $10,000 and wired it to Al-Shabaab, a terrorist group.

Ft. Hood, Texas:  Representatives Michael McCaul and Frank Wolf sent a letter to their fellow members of Congress demanding the Obama administration classify the Ft. Hood attack as a terrorist act rather than “workplace violence” after an ABC news story revealed, “the broken promises made to the victims.” Major Nidal Hassan, the sole suspect in the shooting is accused of killing 13 people and wounding 29 others. According to witnesses, he shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he began shooting. Two days prior to the shooting he gave out copies of the Qur’an along with his business cards with SoA(SWT) printed on them. SoA is stands for Soldier of Allah and SWT is used by Muslims to mean “subhanahu we ta’ala” or “glory to God.”

Worcester, Massachusetts:  The Worcester Catholic Men’s Conference withdrew an invitation for Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch to speak at their conference in March. The invitation was rescinded after the Islamic Council of New England sent an e-mail demanding the cancellation to the diocese.

Detroit, Michigan:  Detroit’s Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) bus system rejected an anti-Muhammad ad by the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) despite the similarity to an ad that was previously accepted by an atheist group. The original ad said, “Don’t believe in God? You are not alone.” The rejected ad said, “Don’t believe in Muhammad? You are not alone.”

Chicago, Illinois:  The Chicago Transit Authority agreed to display anti-jihad ads on city buses only after losing a lawsuit by the American Freedom Law Center. The ads are in response to the “My Jihad” campaign sponsored by CAIR-Chicago that portray jihad as a peaceful struggle rather than a violent component of Islam.

New York, New York:  Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, famous for his attempt to build a 13-story mosque two blocks from the 9/11 World Trade Center site, had a lawsuit filed against him claiming that he used money donated for the project to finance a lavish lifestyle for himself.

Wichita, Kansas:  The Islamic Society of Wichita received approval to rezone about five acres of land near its mosque in preparation for development that could potentially include an apartment complex, an office complex, a medical clinic and a financial institution.

Falls Church, Virginia:  Sheik Shaker Elsayed, the imam of the Dar al-Hijrah Mosque in Falls Church, Virginia recently said in a speech to an Ethiopian Muslim group at a local high school, “Muslim men…are the first in jihad line…but they are last if anything is being distributed, unless it is arms for jihad.” Dar al-Hijrah Mosque has been characterized by law enforcement authorities as being “associated with Islamic extremists” and “operating as a front for Hamas.”

Lumberton, Texas:  Students at Lumberton High School in Texas were encouraged to dress in Islamic clothing, to refer to the 9-11 hijackers not as terrorists, but as freedom fighters and told to stop referring to the holocaust as genocide but rather call it ethnic cleansing as part of a World Geography class.

Britain:

Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, a leading playwright in Britain has accused the BBC of “extraordinary” censorship after she was told to remove key lines from a drama about the honor killing of a 16 year-old Asian girl.  The BBC asked her to remove the lines over fears the lines would suggest Muslims condoned honor killings.

Anjem Choudary, Muslim cleric and former leader of al-Muhajiroun and Islam4UK called hard-working Britons “slaves” and urged his followers to collect government benefits claiming it is their “Jihadseeker’s allowance.” Choudary reportedly receives 25,000 pounds (around $37,500) in government benefits yearly. In addition, both of Choudary’s Islamic groups were outlawed in 2010 under the Terrorism Act.

A school cafeteria worker lost her job after accidently serving non-halal meat at Moseley School in Birmingham. Although students of multiple faiths attend the school, all 1,400 students are served only halal meat. Halal indicates that an action or object is permissible in Islam. Halal meat is slaughtered according to Islamic law methods including saying, “In the name of Allah” prior to slaughtering the animal.

Saudi Arabia:

Fayhan al-Ghamdi, an Islamic “celebrity” imam accused of raping and killing his five-year-old daughter was released from custody after serving only a few months in jail and paying “blood money.” Al-Ghamdi admitted to using a cane and cables to injure his daughter because he doubted her virginity.

Denmark:

A gunman tried to assassinate Lars Hedegaard, a Danish free speech activist and president of the Free Press Society who has been outspoken regarding the threat of radical Islam to freedom of the press. Hedegaard was fined 5,000 kroner (around $1,000) in 2011 by the Eastern High Court for making “racially offensive” comments which included, “When a Muslim man rapes a woman, it is in his right to do so.”

Bangladesh:

Nineteen Christian children from the Bandarban district of Bangladesh were rescued from a trafficker who planned to sell the children to fundamentalist Islamic boarding schools in Dhaka. This year alone 55 children have been rescued from madrassas in Dhaka. The children are forced to convert to Islam and have their names legally changed to Muslim ones. Sources believe as many as 200 more children may be in need of rescue.

Spain:

The Spanish government has agreed to demands by the Moroccan government by agreeing that Moroccan children adopted by Spanish families must remain Muslim. The agreement obligates the Spanish government to establish a way Moroccan religious authorities can monitor the adopted children until they reach the age of 18 to make sure they have not converted to Christianity.

Egypt:

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the second largest international organization behind the UN and largest Islamic organization in the world, continued its attempt to curtail criticism of Islam at its 12th Islamic Summit held in February in Cairo. As part of this ongoing effort the OIC plans to push for nations to enact laws to criminalize “denigration of religions” which if implemented would violate the right of free speech considered a basic human right in free nations.

In the Media:

Iraqi cleric Qays bin Khalil Al-kalbi, currently living in the U.S., in an interview on  Al-Aqsa TV regarding the Jewish people said,  “They try to give the impression that the Israelis are the Chosen People, God’s favorite. But being chosen does not indicate preference. After all, Allah chose Pharaoh to massacre you, so who was better — you or him? ….Allah chose Hitler to kill you, so who was better — you or him? … Allah chose you to be the most wretched of all peoples. Allah transformed you into apes and pigs. You were chosen as the best to become apes and pigs.”

Yusuf al-Qaradawi, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood admitted on Arab TV, that Islam exists today because those who are apostates are killed. He said, “If they had gotten rid of the apostasy punishment Islam wouldn’t exist today…So opposing apostasy is what kept Islam to this day.”

The tenth issue of Inspire Magazine was published on February 28. Inspire is an online magazine written in English reportedly published by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.  The 60-page issue of the magazine encourages the assassination of world leaders including President Obama, the burning US embassies in Muslim nations, and strategies for lone-wolf attacks. Is also contains a page featuring “Wanted Dead or Alive for Crimes Against Islam” which includes names and pictures of nine people who have spoken out against Islam. Listed without a picture is Molly Norris, an American cartoonist that is currently in hiding because of her suggestion of a “Draw Muhammad Day” on Facebook.

bestcurrentnews ReCap

Islam in the U.S. – 2012

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With major news events such as the re-election of President Barack Obama, mass shootings in Connecticut and Colorado and major destruction from Hurricane Sandy, radical Islam did not dominate the headlines of American news outlets in 2012. However the continuing efforts of radical Islamists to wage holy war did not diminish.

Since 9-11-2001, TheReligionofPeace.com has recorded Islamic attacks around the world. In 2012, there were 2,546 Islamic attacks resulting in 11,306 casualties and 20,210 wounded. Many of these attacks have been on Christians. Open Doors, a Christian ministry that supports and strengthens persecuted Christians around the world releases a Watch List each year of nations where Christians are persecuted for their faith. The list ranks the top 50 persecuting nations from extreme to sparse persecution. In the most recent listing, ten out of eleven nations listed as practicing extreme persecution of Christians are Islamic nations.

In the U.S., at least three Islamic terror plots planned for Tampa, Florida, the U.S. Capitol, and the New York Federal Reserve building were uncovered and prevented during 2012. Despite evidence that there are continuing threats to United States citizens from radical Islamists, both local and federal law enforcement agencies faced increasing criticism and censorship not only by Muslim groups such as the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR), but also by individuals within our own federal government.

For example, CAIR was reportedly the driving force behind two articles and an Op-Ed by the New York Times criticizing the use of the film, The Third Jihad: Radical Islam’s Vision for America, for counterterrorism training for the New York City Police Department. The articles called the documentary a “hate-filled film about Muslims” and quoted CAIR saying the film “defiled our faith and misrepresented everything we stood for.” The film, narrated by Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, a practicing Muslim boldly states at the beginning, “This is not a film about Islam. It is about the threat of radical Islam. Only a small percentage of the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims are radical.” The NY Times failed to mention that CAIR was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation trial, the largest terrorism financing trial in U.S. history. The NYPD no longer uses the film.

FBI Director, Robert Mueller met with a coalition of Muslim groups (which included the Islamic Society of North America – also an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Trial) in February to reveal that the FBI had removed more than 700 documents and 300 presentations on Islam from FBI training materials that were deemed “offensive.” Some of the documents removed included articles and presentations that defined jihad as “holy war” and portrayed the Muslim Brotherhood as an organization that planned to take over the world. In order to purge the documents from the FBI training materials, the agency must ignore the words of Hasan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, which state, “It is the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated, to impose its law on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet.” In addition, FBI agents reported FBI headquarters had banned offices from inviting counter-terrorism specialists who were considered “anti-Islam,” and in June this policy extended to the military at the National Defense University when they suspended Lt. Col Matthew A. Dooley, an instructor of a college course that suggested the U.S. was “at war with Islam.”

The State Department removed sections from its Country Reports on Human Rights that discussed the status of religious freedom, which meant the reports did not include any information about the status of Christians and other minorities in Muslim nations that were a part of the Arab Spring revolutions in countries such as Egypt and Libya.

Six Army officers received administrative punishments for burning Qur’ans used by detainees at the Parwan Detention Facility in Afghanistan to exchange messages. NBC reported the punishments would most likely result in the end of their military careers. The Qur’ans and other religious material were burned in February. It was reported that up to 75% of the material contained extremist inscriptions on them. The material including Qur’ans had been boxed for storage, but were accidently sent to an incinerator. When Afghan workers discovered the burned Qur’ans, violent protests erupted. After several days of protest, 30 people were killed including four Americans and over 200 were wounded. Following this incident, the U.S. military released an advisory on the proper way to dispose of Islamic religious material. The material states, “If in doubt about the religious significance of any material, assume it is SACRED!” and “Non-Muslims should not handle a Quran.” The training even goes so far to say, “Any copy of a Quranic verse containing the name of Allah is an equally sacred text and should be handled the same as a Quran.”

As the U.S. government continually capitulated to the demands of Islamist groups, five members of Congress, Representatives Michele Bachmann, Louie Gohmert, Trent Franks, Thomas Rooney and Lynn Westmoreland sent letters to the Inspectors General of the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Department of State, Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence questioning the direct influence within the intelligence community of members of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Representatives requested that the offices conduct investigations into the extent of the Muslim Brotherhood involvement into their agencies. Rather than investigations beginning, the Representatives were met with vicious personal attacks.

Congressional investigations continue into the deaths of four Americans including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens killed in a terrorist attack at the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya on 9-11-2012. Initially the Obama administration blamed the attack on a YouTube video that was critical of Islam rather than a pre-planned act of terror against the United States.

As 2012, came to a close the Washington Times reported about the draft of the U.S. Army’s new handbook to be given to U.S. troops heading to Afghanistan. The draft of the handbook, reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, blames recent deadly attacks by Afghan soldiers against American troops on Western ignorance of Afghan culture. The handbook gives soldiers a list of topics to avoid which include, “making derogatory comments about the Taliban,” “advocating women’s rights,” “any criticism of pedophilia,” directing any criticism toward Afghans,” “mentioning homosexuality and homosexual conduct,” and “anything related to Islam.”

Although it may not have been in the headlines, Islamists inflicted great damage on the security and freedoms of American citizens in 2012 through the efforts of those who ignorant of their agenda. We as citizens must continue to be watchmen, sounding the warning of the threat as we move into 2013.

 

bestcurrentnews ReCap

ReCap January 2013

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Best Current News seeks to bring you timely, reliable information about the advance of radical Islam around the world. With hundreds of articles appearing each week, it can be difficult to keep up with events as they unfold. In an attempt to keep readers informed of threats to Judeo-Christian values and western culture by radical Islamists, Best Current News is beginning a new “ReCap” series. We will provide a short synopsis of articles of interest. In each synopsis there are links provided to original sources if you would like more information. If you have a suggestion for an article, please contact bestcurrentnews@gmail.com.

Articles of Interest

On the Internet:

  • A continuing concern for westerners is the use of the Internet and social media to promote terrorism. The Washington Free Beacon reported a suspected al-Shabaab terrorist and American citizen, Omar Hammami (aka Abu Monsoor al-Amriki) has been using both Twitter and YouTube to spread his terror message. Hammami was placed on the U.S. FBI’s most wanted list in November. Twitter has rules governing spam and abuse, but their rules do not address terror related tweets. YouTube has a user-regulated policy against terrorism. A user may flag a video and YouTube will review the clip and make a final determination although the Free Beacon reports that accounts that have been flagged by users remain open.

North America:

  • The Investigative Project on Terrorism reported a December 22nd story published in Egypt’s Rose El-Youssef magazine reveals the names of six American Islamist activists working in the Obama administration. The Egyptian magazine, named Arif Alikhan, assistant secretary of the Homeland Security Advisory Council; Mohammed Elibiary, a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council; Rashad Hussain, the U.S. special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference; Salam al-Marayati, co-founder of the Muslim Public Affairs Council; Imam Mohamed Magid, president of the Islamic Society of North America; and Eboo Patel, a member of President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships. The magazine says the six turned the White House “from a position hostile to Islamic groups and organizations in the world to the largest and most important supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
  • Former Vice President, Al Gore sold his television network, Current TV to Al Jazeera, an Arab television network known for its anti-American and anti-Israel bias. Gore and his partner Joel Hyatt announced the sale in a statement that read, “Current Media was built based on a few key goals: To give voice to those who are not typically heard; to speak truth to power; to provide independent and diverse points of view; and to tell the stories that no one else is telling…Al-Jazeera has the same goals and, like Current, believes that facts and truth lead to a better understanding of the world around us.” Conservative commentator, Glenn Beck attempted to buy the network last year, but Current TV executives refused to sell to Beck. Current TV told officials for Beck, “the legacy of who the network goes to is important to us, and we are sensitive to networks not aligned with our point of view.”
  • Foreign laws and legal doctrines such as Islamic shariah law, which are frequently at odds with American constitutional rights, have been used in U.S. courts across the nation. The American Laws for American Courts Act (ALAC) was written to clearly protect the rights of American citizens and residents from foreign laws that conflict with American constitutional principles. Groups such as the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) have fought against passage of ALAC in state legislatures falsely claiming the law discriminates against Muslims. Despite CAIR’s objections, four states have passed the legislation.

As part of CAIR’s ongoing fight against ALAC Creeping Sharia revealed CAIR in Washington state is urging Muslims to lobby their legislators to pass the Faith in Our State and Laws Resolution. This resolution, which says in part, “RESOLVED that this body has full confidence in the U.S. Constitution and the laws of the state of Washington and does not entertain any concern that any foreign or religious law offers a threat to the law of the land.” The report Shariah Law and American Courts by the Center for Security Policy, a review of 50 appellate court cases across the U.S., however reveals four instances where shariah law was used in cases in the state of Washington.

  • CAIR, co-founder, Nihad Awad told a Saudi TV station that Muslims preceded Columbus and Islam played a part in the establishment and development of the United States.
  • Prior to being elected as President of Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi called for a boycott of all products made in America because of our support of Israel. MEMRI-TV released a video of Morsi’s boycott comments. Despite Morsi’s comments, the United States is scheduled to deliver the first shipment of 20 F-16 fighter jets and 200 Abrams tanks from the United States as part of a $213 million foreign aid package to Egypt. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) has collected more than 170,000 signatures on a petition opposing this shipment.
  • Canada’s National Post reported Islamist extremists are radicalizing Canadians at “a large number of venues.” An intelligence report released under the Access to Information Act revealed, in addition to mosques, the Islamist radical agenda is being spread in prisons, on the Internet and through foreign travel.

Europe:

  • French Interior Minister Manuel Vallis said 1,193 vehicles were burned New Year’s Eve in the Muslim majority districts of Strasbourg and Mulhouse in France. In addition, seven police officers were attacked. The Conservative Papers report the American media rarely reports on this issue and when they do, they do not mention the background or religion of the offenders
  • Gatestone Institute reports an English language textbook designed for foreign students and immigrants to the United Kingdom contain to the nation of Israel as “Occupied Palestine.” A pro-Syrian nationalist owns the publisher of the textbook, Garnet Education.
  • Because of an increase in violent anti-Semitism, Copenhagen’s Jewish community and Israel’s ambassador to Denmark have warned Jews in Copenhagen to not wear anything that would identify them as Jews and to lower their voices when speaking in Hebrew. Sadly the same advice is being given in other European nations such as Germany, Finland, Sweden and Norway.