The stifling/repression of "Free Speech" is on the loose in the western world. Unless we loudly reject this islamification, and diminishing of our right to free speech, we will soon face the reality that Saudi Arabia will dictate what can or cannot be said in public here in Canada. We face stiff opposition from determined Sharia lovers who wish to implement the draconian, medieval code that suppresses thought and intellect in virtually all of the middle-east and beyond.
But, word is getting out and this scourge is being cast into the light of day where hopefully, it will wither with the publics on look.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Quran = Hunting License!!
Reprinted and translated from "De Telegraaf" a Dutch Daily News paper
'Quran - Hunting License'
By Joost de Haas
AMSTERDAM - The Dutch chairman of the Muslim Council, Abdelmajid Khairoun, fears street violence and says Geert Wilders' now certainly in danger. " Okay Pala, leader of the radical movement Hizb ut-Tahrir (Liberation Party), even draws a comparison with the fate of Theo van Gogh. And the grand-mufti of Syria, with a visit to the European Parliament threatened that Wilders should be held responsible if his film about the Quran leads to "violence and bloodshed".
"What exaggerated reactions from all," said arabist Hans Jansen this week. "But perhaps we should be concerned. This Grand mufti is an official of the Syrian state, who is in a manner of speaking, dressing as an Imam." So the words of the Syrian are ominous in a sense, says Jansen. "If there is one country that could now benefit by the occurrence of riots, it is most likely Syria. The country has many problems. And protests against an anti-Quran film distract nicely." As in other Arab countries, according Jansen, whole batteries of officials, maintained in Damascus, are involved in creating just such strategies. "These officials make policy, they are not really concerned about an afterlife in hell-fire."
The cartoon riots in 2006 were also driven by Arab regimes. "Images of the prophet Mohammed are already prohibited by Islam," says Jansen. "In this respect, the plan by Jami Ehsan to make a movie about the prophet is perhaps much more dangerous." Hans Jansen has a reputation as one of the most critical arabists. He studied in the sixties in the Egyptian capital Cairo, and he later - early eighties - return as director of the Dutch Institute. On his office wall in Amsterdam hangs an aged and faded picture from that time, Jansen with a well known Imam. "A nice man, but downright fundamentalist."
Jansen, since 2003 a professor for "modern Islamic thought' at the University of Utrecht, is putting the finishing touches on a new book: "read the Quran yourself”, which is expected to be published in April. "The Koran for Muslims is God's word, God's voice here on earth. No wonder that any criticism is viewed very sensitively. Even the prophet is sacred. Criticism is always immediately and vehemently suppressed, especially if the suggestion is that Mohamed himself has invented everything in the Quran. Westerners are all guilty of insulting Islam, merely by being non-Muslim. And because we exist, we deny that the Quran is God's word. Saying that everything was invented (made up) by Mohamed, is seen as a completely unacceptable insult. "
In May 2004, a half year before the murder of Theo van Gogh, Jansen spoke to the committee for Foreign Affairs of the Lower House on the fight against terrorism. He then declared among other things: "Quran and Bible both do not speak positively about the enemies of God. Nonetheless, there is a difference. The difference lies in that some groups of militant Muslims view the Quran as a hunting license, regarding it as a kind of license to kill, while in the Bible, that function has been lost in the world of Christianity. " The Quran as a hunting license, was not only the inspiration for Mohammed Bouyeri, but also led to 9 / 11 and a whole series of smaller attacks, such as the assassination of Egyptian President Sadat in 1981.
Jansen: "Non-Muslims and others in the Muslim world, must be slain according militants. The Quran speaks of fighting in the cause of death. Example, the Koran says about the unbelievers: “Kill them where thee finds them. And that is repeated twice more elsewhere”. According to Jansen, it is a weakness when the critics of Geert Wilders will not discuss the content of the Quran. In that respect, he also criticizes historian Geert Mak, who after the murder of Van Gogh, published the booklet 'Vulnerability of the Damned'. "Mak doubted if the Quran is indeed very specific about the duty to kill unbelievers."
He grabs the book and points to page 59. "Here a clearly annoyed Mak writes: 'As if in the Quran would be a recipe for the slaughter of religious opponents." Well, what do we read in Quran 8:12? "then chop down into the necks of the unbelievers, and each phalanx. "An obvious recipe, I think, also for Mohammed Bouyeri." Islam is also different from other religions because of the concept of 'jihad'. Jansen: "Contrary to what some would have us believe, it is really not primarily for bettering oneself. Jihad is the struggle for the triumph of Islam and is simply tantamount to the use of violence against unbelievers."
Alternative
Jihadisten see Islam as an alternative to democracy. As Okay Pala of Hizb ut-Tahrir recently told the newspaper De Telegraaf: "We do not agree with the freedom of expression, because we reject democracy! Our alternative is Islam. There is no middle: we choose the absolute truth, the word of Allah”. According to Jansen, the radicalization is fed by petrodollar fueled 'wahhabiism from Saudi Arabia, now referred to as salafiism. The ultraorthodox version of Islam, that in the Netherlands is driven from four well-known mosques. The arabist believes that Muslims who advocate jihad unduly abuse our religious freedom. "Islam is not dangerous because of the holy book. The danger comes from people who, by virtue of what the Quran says, see themselves as God and having the right to decide about the life and death of others. Those who want to use violence to have their religion dominate, should be excluded from religious freedom.
'Quran - Hunting License'
By Joost de Haas
AMSTERDAM - The Dutch chairman of the Muslim Council, Abdelmajid Khairoun, fears street violence and says Geert Wilders' now certainly in danger. " Okay Pala, leader of the radical movement Hizb ut-Tahrir (Liberation Party), even draws a comparison with the fate of Theo van Gogh. And the grand-mufti of Syria, with a visit to the European Parliament threatened that Wilders should be held responsible if his film about the Quran leads to "violence and bloodshed".
"What exaggerated reactions from all," said arabist Hans Jansen this week. "But perhaps we should be concerned. This Grand mufti is an official of the Syrian state, who is in a manner of speaking, dressing as an Imam." So the words of the Syrian are ominous in a sense, says Jansen. "If there is one country that could now benefit by the occurrence of riots, it is most likely Syria. The country has many problems. And protests against an anti-Quran film distract nicely." As in other Arab countries, according Jansen, whole batteries of officials, maintained in Damascus, are involved in creating just such strategies. "These officials make policy, they are not really concerned about an afterlife in hell-fire."
The cartoon riots in 2006 were also driven by Arab regimes. "Images of the prophet Mohammed are already prohibited by Islam," says Jansen. "In this respect, the plan by Jami Ehsan to make a movie about the prophet is perhaps much more dangerous." Hans Jansen has a reputation as one of the most critical arabists. He studied in the sixties in the Egyptian capital Cairo, and he later - early eighties - return as director of the Dutch Institute. On his office wall in Amsterdam hangs an aged and faded picture from that time, Jansen with a well known Imam. "A nice man, but downright fundamentalist."
Jansen, since 2003 a professor for "modern Islamic thought' at the University of Utrecht, is putting the finishing touches on a new book: "read the Quran yourself”, which is expected to be published in April. "The Koran for Muslims is God's word, God's voice here on earth. No wonder that any criticism is viewed very sensitively. Even the prophet is sacred. Criticism is always immediately and vehemently suppressed, especially if the suggestion is that Mohamed himself has invented everything in the Quran. Westerners are all guilty of insulting Islam, merely by being non-Muslim. And because we exist, we deny that the Quran is God's word. Saying that everything was invented (made up) by Mohamed, is seen as a completely unacceptable insult. "
In May 2004, a half year before the murder of Theo van Gogh, Jansen spoke to the committee for Foreign Affairs of the Lower House on the fight against terrorism. He then declared among other things: "Quran and Bible both do not speak positively about the enemies of God. Nonetheless, there is a difference. The difference lies in that some groups of militant Muslims view the Quran as a hunting license, regarding it as a kind of license to kill, while in the Bible, that function has been lost in the world of Christianity. " The Quran as a hunting license, was not only the inspiration for Mohammed Bouyeri, but also led to 9 / 11 and a whole series of smaller attacks, such as the assassination of Egyptian President Sadat in 1981.
Jansen: "Non-Muslims and others in the Muslim world, must be slain according militants. The Quran speaks of fighting in the cause of death. Example, the Koran says about the unbelievers: “Kill them where thee finds them. And that is repeated twice more elsewhere”. According to Jansen, it is a weakness when the critics of Geert Wilders will not discuss the content of the Quran. In that respect, he also criticizes historian Geert Mak, who after the murder of Van Gogh, published the booklet 'Vulnerability of the Damned'. "Mak doubted if the Quran is indeed very specific about the duty to kill unbelievers."
He grabs the book and points to page 59. "Here a clearly annoyed Mak writes: 'As if in the Quran would be a recipe for the slaughter of religious opponents." Well, what do we read in Quran 8:12? "then chop down into the necks of the unbelievers, and each phalanx. "An obvious recipe, I think, also for Mohammed Bouyeri." Islam is also different from other religions because of the concept of 'jihad'. Jansen: "Contrary to what some would have us believe, it is really not primarily for bettering oneself. Jihad is the struggle for the triumph of Islam and is simply tantamount to the use of violence against unbelievers."
Alternative
Jihadisten see Islam as an alternative to democracy. As Okay Pala of Hizb ut-Tahrir recently told the newspaper De Telegraaf: "We do not agree with the freedom of expression, because we reject democracy! Our alternative is Islam. There is no middle: we choose the absolute truth, the word of Allah”. According to Jansen, the radicalization is fed by petrodollar fueled 'wahhabiism from Saudi Arabia, now referred to as salafiism. The ultraorthodox version of Islam, that in the Netherlands is driven from four well-known mosques. The arabist believes that Muslims who advocate jihad unduly abuse our religious freedom. "Islam is not dangerous because of the holy book. The danger comes from people who, by virtue of what the Quran says, see themselves as God and having the right to decide about the life and death of others. Those who want to use violence to have their religion dominate, should be excluded from religious freedom.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Taliban commander buys his Freedom, Again and again and again
H/T nu.nl
As if the battle against terrorists isn't hard enough, outright, flagrant corruption in Afghanistan is setting some Taliban, convicted with lengthy sentences, free.
Corruption, which is rampant in most Muslim nations, is allowing terrorists to buy their way out jail faster than the coalition can put them in.
As if the battle against terrorists isn't hard enough, outright, flagrant corruption in Afghanistan is setting some Taliban, convicted with lengthy sentences, free.
Corruption, which is rampant in most Muslim nations, is allowing terrorists to buy their way out jail faster than the coalition can put them in.
Taliban commander buys his Freedom, Again
Released: January 8, 2008 19:30
Last Modified: January 8, 2008 19:32
KABUL - A high ranking Taliban commander has bought his freedom from an Afghan prison for the third time in three years . Mullah Sorkh Naqaibullah claims his latest release cost him 10,000 euros($14,800.00) to buy off corrupt officials and leave his cell.
The man, nicknamed the Red Mullah, told the British broadcaster BBC that he in similarly fashion escaped lengthy detention sentences in 2004 and 2005. He is especially active in Helmand province, where British soldiers are operating.
He was last arrested in July of last year. He served 5 months of a lengthy sentence before buying his way out, and is already leading new operations against NATO soldiers in the district of Gereshk.
The international community that is trying to secure and rebuild Afghanistan has been complaining for years about the flagrant corruption in the Asian country. The BBC reported Tuesday that after this latest embarrassing incident, an official investigation has begun.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Politician of the Year - Dutch edition
In a poll conducted by the NOS, (Public Broadcaster) in the Netherlands, Rita Verdonk. Nicknamed the Iron Rita for her uncompromising immigration policies earning when she was minister for Immigration and Integration, 2003 - Feb 2007, is the peoples choice for Politician of the Year.
She was expelled from the parliamentary faction of the VVD on September 13, 2007, but remained extremely popular with the citizenry. A month later, she cancelled her membership, after a reconciliation attempt failed, and the VVD party board tried to initiate a procedure of exclusion. She left the VVD and in October 2007 she announced the creation of a political movement, Proud of the Netherlands (Dutch: Trots op Nederland)
PVV leader Geert Wilders came in at 2nd place. This does not sit well at all with Liberal members of parliament and lefties in general. The Volkskrant (Liberal paper) has renounced the poll and refused to recognize the result. This might bode well for the right in the next election in the Netherlands. More and more citizens are beginning to realize that they are being sold out by the left, in favour of the EU and islamists.
There may just be a glimmer of hope left for old Europe.
She was expelled from the parliamentary faction of the VVD on September 13, 2007, but remained extremely popular with the citizenry. A month later, she cancelled her membership, after a reconciliation attempt failed, and the VVD party board tried to initiate a procedure of exclusion. She left the VVD and in October 2007 she announced the creation of a political movement, Proud of the Netherlands (Dutch: Trots op Nederland)
PVV leader Geert Wilders came in at 2nd place. This does not sit well at all with Liberal members of parliament and lefties in general. The Volkskrant (Liberal paper) has renounced the poll and refused to recognize the result. This might bode well for the right in the next election in the Netherlands. More and more citizens are beginning to realize that they are being sold out by the left, in favour of the EU and islamists.
There may just be a glimmer of hope left for old Europe.
Wilders: Cabinet is intimidating me!!
The leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV) Geert Wilders accuses the government of "pure political harassment." In an interview in the Volkskrant Monday he says that the government is exercising "intolerable pressure" on him to refrain from making his film about the Koran.
Wilders still intends to release the film in late January. The movie will cause a commotion. It is not my intention to cause riots, but some delicate souls are quickly offended," says the PVV leader. "The most important thing is that it opens people's eyes to the wretched things contained in the Koran, unlike the Bible or the Torah, that are still being practised. And it would be good if Muslims learned a little self control.
Press
According to Wilders, the justice department is intentionally going to delay a decision until next month ,on what is to be done with the dozens of complaints that have been lodged against him after his article appeared in the Volkskrant in August. In which he called for a ban on the Koran. "This postponement is intended to put me under extra pressure to refrain from the planned broadcast of the Koran film . The government sends the Ministry of Justice after me. Unbelievable." Says Wilders.
Strike A Blow For Freedom, Stop The Jihad Against Dutch Politician Geert Wilders
H/T Pipe Line News
This is what we in Canada have to look forward to if we allow this creeping plague called islam to continue unopposed.
Read more and sign the petition..
This is what we in Canada have to look forward to if we allow this creeping plague called islam to continue unopposed.
Dutch MP and leader of Holland's "Party for Freedom," Geert Wilders, is being denied his right to freedom of expression by a coalition of Islamists and leftists who wish to stop the production of his upcoming film, which takes a critical look at Islam. Mr. Wilders has been the object of death threats for years made by extremist Muslims - he sometimes receives as many as 40 in a single day. As a result, he must have 24 hour security and is being forced to live under near house arrest in his own country.
The threats on Mr. Wilders' life must be taken seriously, they are real and ongoing. The inciteful actions of his opponents - including those who have now started an anti-Wilders ["Stop the de Verwildering"] movement, outrageously labeling him as "evil," - are putting his life in even further jeopardy.
Read more and sign the petition..
Belgium fears Xmas terror attack
H/T Gates of Vienna
No need to panic the populace though, after all this is "The Religion of Peace" we're talking about, just go back to sleep.
Read more...
Brussels - Belgian security authorities believe that a terrorist attack on the country is possible over Christmas after 14 suspected extremists detained earlier in the week were released, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday.
The country's security services have been put on a higher alert level until January 2, but citizens have been told that there is no need to panic.
Reinforced police patrols are to operate in public places, such as Christmas markets, shopping areas and bus and train stations.
Security personnel at the capital's transport companies have been placed on elevated alert as is normally the case when EU summits are held in Brussels.
The 14 suspected Islamic extremists were released overnight after being held on suspicion of planning to break a former footballer, Nizar Trabelsi, out of the prison to which he was condemned for 10 years for planning an attack on a Belgian military base in 2001.
A spokesperson for the public prosecutor's office said that searches of the suspects' homes had uncovered documents but no weapons or explosives.
One of the detainees was the widow of a suicide attacker who in 2001 killed Ahmed Shah Masud, who as head of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance had been fighting the Islamist extremist Taliban in central Asian country.
"We had sufficient evidence for a terrorist threat and therefore did not hesitate to arrest suspects," the spokesperson said.
No need to panic the populace though, after all this is "The Religion of Peace" we're talking about, just go back to sleep.
Read more...
Anger over plan to broadcast Muslim call to prayer on loudspeaker in Oxford
H/T Daily Mail UK
NO, not upset or disturb them. Just get the filthy Kuffars of Britain used to the sounds of their new medieval overlords.
Muslim plans to broadcast a loudspeaker call to prayer from a city centre mosque have been attacked by local residents who say it would turn the area into a "Muslim ghetto".
Dozens of people packed out a council meeting to express their concerns over the plans for a two-minute long call to prayer to be issued three times a day, saying that it could drown out the traditional sound of church bells.
But a spokesman for the Central Mosque said that Muslim's also have the right to summon worshippers.
"We don't want to do anything that will disturb the people or upset the people." Sardar Rana, said a spokesman for the Central Mosque
NO, not upset or disturb them. Just get the filthy Kuffars of Britain used to the sounds of their new medieval overlords.
Afghan insurgents hiding bombs in corpses
H/T National Post/CanWest
It can't be. Because islam is all about peace and respect, right?
Read more...
It can't be. Because islam is all about peace and respect, right?
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- Insurgents here have booby-trapped two human corpses with bombs recently, killing two Afghan civilians in Kandahar Province, says a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
An improvised explosive device concealed by an Afghan decapitated by insurgents killed two civilians and wounded two others on Dec. 21, after they discovered the body in a cemetery outside Kandahar City, ISAF Brig.-Gen. Carlos Branco said Monday.
A second booby-trapped dead body of a man was discovered about 18 kilometres from the first, just outside of Kandahar City, on December 23. It caused no casualties.
Read more...
Canadians and Gurkhas in search-and-destroy mission
H/T National Post/CanWest
Funny how those tough terrorists run like hell when they are opposed by "real" soldiers willing and allowed to fight.
Read further...
Funny how those tough terrorists run like hell when they are opposed by "real" soldiers willing and allowed to fight.
Canadian soldiers joined the renowned Royal Gurkha Rifles Sunday in a battle to eliminate the source of rocket fire that targeted two Kandahar military outposts.
But when the coalition forces showed up, insurgents hiding out at a compound near the Pashmul district shied away from a fight. It's the third joint operation between the Gurkhas -- a highly-praised Nepalese infantry division of the British army -- Canadian soldiers and the Afghan National Army.
Read further...
More Quebec soldiers seek religion
H/T National Post
ZHARI DISTRICT, Afghanistan -- Crosses and Bibles are being removed from public institutions across Quebec--but in Afghanistan, they are in short supply.
Military chaplain Charles Deogratias said there has been growing demand among the Quebec soldiers here from the Royal 22nd Regiment in Valcartier, Que., for religious items. In the run-up to Christmas, demand for the camouflage Bibles designed for the Canadian forces has exceeded supply.
"I have to order more because I keep running out of them," said Rev. Deogratias, a Presbyterian military chaplain. "And the crosses. Everyone is asking for the crosses. They put it on their dog tags. Ask them and they'll show them to you. They'll tell you it is for their protection." It is a curious shift for the soldiers, who come from a province that is increasingly rejecting the role of religion in public life. Their embrace of spirituality reflects the impact this war -- the deaths, the near-deaths and the life-transforming injuries -- has had on their lives.
Read all...
Burqa Bombs
H/T News24
What is it about this particular religion that makes people so mentally deranged that they can do something like this and find a way to rationalize it away.
Read further...
What is it about this particular religion that makes people so mentally deranged that they can do something like this and find a way to rationalize it away.
Asadabad, Afghanistan - Afghan intelligence agents said on Monday they had detained a woman hiding a bomb-filled waistcoat of the type used in Taliban suicide attacks under her all-covering burqa.
"She was carrying the suicide waistcoat for the Taliban. We had intelligence reports that she was working for the Taliban," said the official, who asked not to be identified.
Read further...
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
When will they declare a Global COOLING scare??
H/T Washington Times
As if the whole "Climate Change" Lie needs more evidence of it's preposterous claims. Here is an article that sums up many of the "Global Cooling" trend I've been reading about all year. Finally a MSM outlet reveals the truth!
read on
As if the whole "Climate Change" Lie needs more evidence of it's preposterous claims. Here is an article that sums up many of the "Global Cooling" trend I've been reading about all year. Finally a MSM outlet reveals the truth!
Since the mid-19th century, the mean global temperature has increased by 0.7 degrees Celsius. This slight warming is not unusual, and lies well within the range of natural variation. Carbon dioxide continues to build in the atmosphere, but the mean planetary temperature hasn't increased significantly for nearly nine years. Antarctica is getting colder. Neither the intensity nor the frequency of hurricanes has increased. The 2007 season was the third-quietest since 1966. In 2006 not a single hurricane made landfall in the U.S
read on
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Airline Panic Attack on Air Canada?
From You tube user - 2003tiburon
The video-grapher relay an account which he witnessed while flying from Toronto, Canada to London, England.
Is it just a nut or something more sinister, like a trial run to see how passengers will react to such an event?
The video-grapher relay an account which he witnessed while flying from Toronto, Canada to London, England.
I don't know what happened here. But this happened on my Air Canada plane ride to London, England in December 6th, 2007 from Toronto.
At 3:15 sec he says "f'in white people". I personally believe that another passenger somehow provoked or encouraged this persons paranoid behaviour.
What is important is that everybody arrived safely.
I am no medical doctor so I have no idea what this man was going through, but I feel that he seemed more concerned for his own safety? I think he was scared. I think it's a very fascinating phenomenon.
My partner and I decided we should videotape this in the interest of sharing the experience we went through on this plane with those interested.
Is it just a nut or something more sinister, like a trial run to see how passengers will react to such an event?
Monday, December 10, 2007
Antwerp: Vlaams Belang song against mosques, Oh no, not another mosque
H/T Islam in Europe
Vlaams Belang has come out with a single as part of their "Stop Islamization" campaign in Antwerp. The party had organized a protest against the opening of the 36th mosque in the city two weeks ago, and hopes this song will reach out to people who are not politically involved.
A translation of the words:
Oh no, a mosque again
They are really everywhere, from the city to the sea
Oh no, a mosque again
Enough is enough, so I say no!
Political-correct, anti-racist, multicultural
Everything's becoming way too much
Minaret and Muslim prayer for Mohammed
Flanders is not a Muslim land!
A mosque again
For Ahmed, Ali, Mohammed
Oh yes, another mosque
Islam, Koran, I'm not joining in
My koekestad (Antwerp), my Flemish city
is becoming too quickly Antwerpistan
with sharia and djellaba
everything halal and always Ramadan.
The cathedral, Brabo and het Steen,
Antwerp with an A, is better than 'Insh-allah'!
Source: Vlaams Belang Antwerp (Dutch)
Vlaams Belang has come out with a single as part of their "Stop Islamization" campaign in Antwerp. The party had organized a protest against the opening of the 36th mosque in the city two weeks ago, and hopes this song will reach out to people who are not politically involved.
A translation of the words:
Oh no, a mosque again
They are really everywhere, from the city to the sea
Oh no, a mosque again
Enough is enough, so I say no!
Political-correct, anti-racist, multicultural
Everything's becoming way too much
Minaret and Muslim prayer for Mohammed
Flanders is not a Muslim land!
A mosque again
For Ahmed, Ali, Mohammed
Oh yes, another mosque
Islam, Koran, I'm not joining in
My koekestad (Antwerp), my Flemish city
is becoming too quickly Antwerpistan
with sharia and djellaba
everything halal and always Ramadan.
The cathedral, Brabo and het Steen,
Antwerp with an A, is better than 'Insh-allah'!
Source: Vlaams Belang Antwerp (Dutch)
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
No head scarves for cops
The Hague - police Officers may not wear headscarf. A majority in the Second Chamber finds that the wearing of religious garments by the police must be banned. The clothing requirements of the police is at present unclear over the admissibility of religious clothing.
The PVV posed the question Wednesday during a debate in the Second Chamber to minister Guusje to Eyrie of Interior Affairs. Member of parliament Hero Brinkman of the PVV pointed out that a police woman with a headscarf has no chance if she must act against Moroccan hoodlums.
The various factions of Christian Democratic Party, People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and Christian Union also have objections to police officers wearing religious garments.
H/T to De Telegraaf
The PVV posed the question Wednesday during a debate in the Second Chamber to minister Guusje to Eyrie of Interior Affairs. Member of parliament Hero Brinkman of the PVV pointed out that a police woman with a headscarf has no chance if she must act against Moroccan hoodlums.
The various factions of Christian Democratic Party, People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and Christian Union also have objections to police officers wearing religious garments.
H/T to De Telegraaf
Tariq Ramadan Declines chair at Leiden University
Tariq Ramadan has declined the Chair of "Islam in the contemporary Western World" at the Leidse University in the Netherlands. The chair is financed by the sultan of Oman.
Developing and working on translations!!
Update, translation of the article as it appeared in the NRC Handels blad.
To read the original in Dutch Follow...
Developing and working on translations!!
Update, translation of the article as it appeared in the NRC Handels blad.
Tariq Ramadan declines chair: 28 November 2007 15:17 | Changed: 28 November 2007 16:31 Through editor Mark Duursma NRC Handelsblad, Rotterdam, 28 nov.
The Swiss philosopher and theologian Tariq Ramadan (45) Doesn’t become lead professor at the University.
The international renowned islam apologist passes on being the chair 'islam in the contemporary western world' at the faculty religious studies that he would have occupied starting next year. The chair is financed by the sultan of Oman.
From Oxford, where he senior research fellow is at the St. Antony’s , Ramadan let it be known that it had been premature to announce his appointment at the Leidse University and it has brought him much embarrassment. "I had not yet informed my other employers, the University of Oxford and the Erasmus University in Rotterdam”. I was waiting for official confirmation, when it became public via the media on the 6th of November. I had not yet made my definitive choice for Oxford or Leiden. I decided to take a few weeks off and to weigh everything, and decided to remain at Oxford. I do not want to give up this appointment. I have given the Leiden University my decision this morning."
According to a spokesman of the Leiden University, private matters were also a factor: your family would not be able to face a move from England to the Netherlands.
"That definitely plays into it, a move would be very difficult. We chose to remain for the foreseeable future England. My appointment here is permanent."
In your news release today you write that the decision has nothing to do with the criticism that has pursued you for years, namely that your plea for a western islam is not sincere and that you are much more radical then you pretend to be. But at the same time you take a swipe at politicians and journalists that led a critical backbiting campaign against you. What about that?
"The news about the appointment in Leiden led to the usual reactions of a mere handful of customary critics. Someone in France, someone in Italy. That is annoying, but no reason not to take the job."
But in the Netherlands the criticism wasn’t all that severe?"Well, De Telegraph went against me . And there was that guy in your parliament.
Wilders?"Yes, him."
Member of parliament Bosma of the Freedom Party (PVV) on the day of the news about the appointment in Leiden immediately questioned Minister Plasterk (Education, dutch labor Party). He thought of the appointment of Tariq Ramadan, "who does not distance himself from the stoning of overly-playful women", paid for by the "islamo- fascist dictatorship" of Oman. Wilders during question period called Ramadan "a terrible man".
Ramadan in his explanation praises the courage of the Leidse university administration and of Education Minister Plasterk, whom according to him has always put academic freedom in the forefront.
How was your reception on the University of Leiden?"I felt very welcome. Staff members of the faculty of religious studies were at my orientation in Rotterdam, I was looking forward to the academic debate. I feel myself welcome in the Netherlands, I like the work at the Erasmus University and I certainly want it to continue for a few years."
The expressive Leidse professor Afshin Ellian, who is very critical about islam, couldn’t possibly have been very happy with your arrival."I have not yet met Ellian, but we follow each other's work and we respect each other."
According to the spokesman of the University of Leiden, Ramadan was "an interesting candidate" . There are at this moment "several candidates in the picture" to fill the vacancy.
To read the original in Dutch Follow...
Geert Wilders making movie about the Koran.
H/T to Trouw On-line
Geert Wilders, Leader of the PVV party in the Netherlands has oft spoken out against the islamization of Europe and the Netherlands in particular. He recently called for the banning of the Koran as it incites it's followers to commit "horrendous" cruelty against non-believers. He compares the koran to Mein Kampf and shows that the two books are remarkedly similar in many aspects including it's fanaticism and fascism. Mein Kampf has always been banned in the Netherlands and many other European countries.
Geert Wilders, Leader of the PVV party in the Netherlands has oft spoken out against the islamization of Europe and the Netherlands in particular. He recently called for the banning of the Koran as it incites it's followers to commit "horrendous" cruelty against non-believers. He compares the koran to Mein Kampf and shows that the two books are remarkedly similar in many aspects including it's fanaticism and fascism. Mein Kampf has always been banned in the Netherlands and many other European countries.
The cabinet worried over the reactions to a provocative film Geert Wilders is working on. The ministers of Justice Department and Interior Affairs pointed out to the PVV-leader, the risks of his planned film in a conversation with him.
There are measures which have been taken in case of vehement debate erupts about the movie in both inside and outside the country. Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin (Justice) emphasized Wednesday that Wilders is free to express his opinions, but that people also have a responsibility to society at large, “think about what the repercussions could be”, he told the Member of Parliament(Wilders).
Those repercussions could come in various forms, according to the minister. He will wait for the content of the film. But if it is something of an impetus as is suspected, it could draw violent reactions against himself and others”.
Participants in the free debate should, according to Hirsch Ballin, respect every belief and for that which is holy for someone else. If that line is crossed, the cabinet will be against it and move to make it clear that “we respect each other”, according to the minister. And “everything that is violent will be disapproved”. For the content of the conversation, Minister Guusje ter Horst (Interior Affairs) referred to the reaction of Hirsch Ballin.
Wilders has informed the ministry of Justice about his planned movie. Thereupon government officials from the Ministry of Justice and Interior Affairs spoke with him to utter their concern over possible reactions. Minister Maxime Verhagen (Foreign Affairs) has spoken to PVV-leader Geert Wilders about the film that Wilders is making about the koran. “I pointed out to him the possible risks to himself, the people around him and for Dutch citizens outside the country”, said Verhagen Wednesday. That meeting took place at the request of the PVV-leader.
The PVV-Party leader affirms that he is working on a film. He will make a short but robust movie about his earlier proclaimed viewpoints about the Koran in an expressive manner. He want to show that the book revered by Muslims is a “Terrible and fascist” book that always inspires it followers to undertake “horrendous” acts.
Wilders is not out to insult people with his movie about the Koran. If that does happen, it is a” pity but not my problem”. The Member of Parliament said Wednesday after a debate in the Second Chamber. “I hope that it opens peoples eyes that the Koran, like Mein Kampf must become banned”, said Wilders.
It is the intention that the movie will be broadcast at end of January on TV. According to reports several public broadcasting stations are interested, but want to impose conditions. Wilders wants nothing to do with that. He does float the possibility the film could be broadcast during the PVV’s allotted public time slot for political parties on the internet.
Wilders would not confirm that he had spoken with ministers about his movie plans.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Islamic Science, not really!
From the Gates of Vienna
Perhaps this sounds a bit "Eurocentric," but it is an historical fact that the scientific revolution happened in Europe, not in India, China or the Middle East. There was also nothing quite like the medieval university in the Roman Empire. Whatever existed of real science in Roman times was almost entirely of Greek origins, and even the contributions of the Greeks had been steadily declining for centuries. The Romans were good at certain types of engineering and technology, but like the Chinese they were surprisingly poor at providing a coherent scientific view of the world. The medieval European university then represented a real innovation, and Huff places its development, and the decision to include also natural sciences, not just theology, in its regular curriculum at the center of the scientific achievements of the West:
"We should also not underestimate the magnitude of the step taken when it was decided (in part, following ancient tradition) to make the study of philosophy and all aspects of the natural world an official and public enterprise. If this seems a mundane achievement, it is due to our Eurocentrism which forgets that the study of the natural sciences and philosophy was shunned in the Islamic colleges of the Middle East and that all such inquiries were undertaken in carefully guarded private settings. Likewise, in China, there were no autonomous institutions of learning independent of the official bureaucracy; the ones that existed were completely at the mercy of the centralized state. Nor were philosophers given the liberty to define for themselves the realms of learning as occurred in the West."
The German-Syrian Muslim reformist Bassam Tibi writes in his book Islam Between Culture and Politics that "rational sciences were – in medieval Islam – considered to be 'foreign sciences' and at times heretical. At present, Islamic fundamentalists do not seem to know that rational sciences in Islam were based on what was termed ulum al-qudama (the sciences of the Ancients), that it, the Greeks."
Science was viewed as Islamic science, the study of the Koran, the hadith, Arab history etc. Tibi believes it is thus incorrect to call institutions like al-Azhar in Cairo, Egypt, the highest institution of learning in Sunni Islam, a university: "Some Islamic historians wrongly translate the term madrasa as university. This is plainly incorrect: If we understand a university as universitas litterarum, or consider, without the bias of Eurocentrism, the cast of the universitas magistrorum of the thirteenth century in Paris, we are bound to recognise that the university as a seat for free and unrestrained enquiry based on reason, is a European innovation in the history of mankind."
Al-Azhar was created in the tenth century and is hailed as one of the oldest universities in the world. However, as late as the early twentieth century, the blind Egyptian author Taha Husayn complained about the total lack of critical thinking he encountered at the institution:
"The four years I spent [at al-Azhar, from 1902] seemed to me like forty, so utterly drawn out they were....It was life of unrelieved repetition, with never a new thing, from the time the study began until it was over. After the dawn prayer came the study of Tawhid, the doctrine of [Allah's] unity; then fiqh, or jurisprudence, after sunrise; then the study of Arabic grammar during the forenoon, following a dull meal; then more grammar in the wake of the noon prayer. After this came a grudging bit of leisure and then, again, another snatch of wearisome food until, the evening prayer performed, I proceeded to the logic class which some shaikh or other conducted. Throughout these studies it was all merely a case of hearing re-iterated words and traditional talk which aroused no chord in my heart, nor taste in my appetite. There was no food for one's intelligence, no new knowledge adding to one's store."
Read the whole thing at DhimmiWatch
Perhaps this sounds a bit "Eurocentric," but it is an historical fact that the scientific revolution happened in Europe, not in India, China or the Middle East. There was also nothing quite like the medieval university in the Roman Empire. Whatever existed of real science in Roman times was almost entirely of Greek origins, and even the contributions of the Greeks had been steadily declining for centuries. The Romans were good at certain types of engineering and technology, but like the Chinese they were surprisingly poor at providing a coherent scientific view of the world. The medieval European university then represented a real innovation, and Huff places its development, and the decision to include also natural sciences, not just theology, in its regular curriculum at the center of the scientific achievements of the West:
"We should also not underestimate the magnitude of the step taken when it was decided (in part, following ancient tradition) to make the study of philosophy and all aspects of the natural world an official and public enterprise. If this seems a mundane achievement, it is due to our Eurocentrism which forgets that the study of the natural sciences and philosophy was shunned in the Islamic colleges of the Middle East and that all such inquiries were undertaken in carefully guarded private settings. Likewise, in China, there were no autonomous institutions of learning independent of the official bureaucracy; the ones that existed were completely at the mercy of the centralized state. Nor were philosophers given the liberty to define for themselves the realms of learning as occurred in the West."
The German-Syrian Muslim reformist Bassam Tibi writes in his book Islam Between Culture and Politics that "rational sciences were – in medieval Islam – considered to be 'foreign sciences' and at times heretical. At present, Islamic fundamentalists do not seem to know that rational sciences in Islam were based on what was termed ulum al-qudama (the sciences of the Ancients), that it, the Greeks."
Science was viewed as Islamic science, the study of the Koran, the hadith, Arab history etc. Tibi believes it is thus incorrect to call institutions like al-Azhar in Cairo, Egypt, the highest institution of learning in Sunni Islam, a university: "Some Islamic historians wrongly translate the term madrasa as university. This is plainly incorrect: If we understand a university as universitas litterarum, or consider, without the bias of Eurocentrism, the cast of the universitas magistrorum of the thirteenth century in Paris, we are bound to recognise that the university as a seat for free and unrestrained enquiry based on reason, is a European innovation in the history of mankind."
Al-Azhar was created in the tenth century and is hailed as one of the oldest universities in the world. However, as late as the early twentieth century, the blind Egyptian author Taha Husayn complained about the total lack of critical thinking he encountered at the institution:
"The four years I spent [at al-Azhar, from 1902] seemed to me like forty, so utterly drawn out they were....It was life of unrelieved repetition, with never a new thing, from the time the study began until it was over. After the dawn prayer came the study of Tawhid, the doctrine of [Allah's] unity; then fiqh, or jurisprudence, after sunrise; then the study of Arabic grammar during the forenoon, following a dull meal; then more grammar in the wake of the noon prayer. After this came a grudging bit of leisure and then, again, another snatch of wearisome food until, the evening prayer performed, I proceeded to the logic class which some shaikh or other conducted. Throughout these studies it was all merely a case of hearing re-iterated words and traditional talk which aroused no chord in my heart, nor taste in my appetite. There was no food for one's intelligence, no new knowledge adding to one's store."
Read the whole thing at DhimmiWatch
Sunday, November 11, 2007
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