War of the Cartoons: Belgians in a Pickle

From the desk of Paul Belien on Mon, 2006-02-06 00:04

The Cartoon Affair is putting the Belgian authorities in a pickle. On Friday one of its citizens, the Arab immigrant Dyab Abu Jahjah, who lives in Brussels, decided to put a daily cartoon on the website of his organization, the Arab European League.

“After the lectures that Arabs and Muslims received from Europeans on Freedom of Speech and on Tolerance […] AEL decided to enter the cartoon business and to use our right to artistic expression. […] If it is the time to break Taboos and cross all the red lines, we certainly do not want to stay behind,” he wrote. According to Mr Jahjah he has the right to show abusive cartoons if Western papers have the right to show cartoons that are considered abusive by Muslims whose faith forbids the mere depiction of the prophet Muhammad.

The three AEL cartoons posted so far have been very instructive in that they have all mocked the Nazi persecution of the Jews and the Holocaust, as if Mr Jahjah wants to emphasize that “islamofascism” is indeed the ideology he adheres to.

The first cartoon, posted on Friday evening, shows Anne Frank in bed with a naked Adolf Hitler. “Write this one in your diary Anne!” Hitler says. The cartoon of the Führer and the little girl in his bed is eerily reminiscent of a story I once heard about a certain leader who took himself a child wife, but I have forgotten who it was. The second cartoon, posted yesterday, shows Jews amidst Auschwitz corpses. “We have to get to the 6,000,000 somehow!” one Jew tells another. “I don’t think they are Jews,” the other one replies. The third cartoon, posted today, shows Steven Spielberg ringing Peter Jackson to ask for his assistance with a Holocaust movie. “I don’t think I have that much imagination Steven, sorry,” Jackson replies.

Personally, I share the American view that – apart from incitements to violence and slander – freedom of speech allows people to say what they like so long as they do not impose their views on others in public spaces and at the taxpayer’s expense. Mr Jahjah says he shares the same view on freedom of expression.

In general, there is a danger in prohibiting certain opinions and an advantage in not doing so. The danger is that prohibition often makes the forbidden acts more attractive. The advantage of allowing people to say whatever they like helps other people to acquire useful information. Indeed, by their words people can be judged. Freedom of speech makes it plain for all to see how despicable some people really are. The AEL cartoons strikingly show where one can find the true heirs of Adolf Hitler in contemporary Europe. If Mr Jahjah had not published his cartoons, the proof that he is an islamofascist would still not have been conclusively delivered. But now it has.

On Dutch television on Saturday evening Mr Jahjah said that people who exercise freedom of expression without tact should be able to stand being offended themselves. “Europe also has its taboos, though they are not religious taboos,” he said referring to the Holocaust.

The AEL cartoons violate Belgian law, because denying and minimalizing the Holocaust is a criminal offense in Belgium. If the Belgian authorities take their own laws seriously they will have to prosecute Mr Jahjah. So far, however, the Belgian authorities have tended to leave Muslim radicals alone (though Lebanese born Mr Jahjah, whom some suspect to be a Syrian agent, has been arrested once, following riots in an Antwerp suburb). The Belgian authorities deny it, but there have been consistent rumours from the 1990s onwards that Brussels has made a deal with terrorists, agreeing to turn a blind eye to conspiracies hatched on Belgian soil in exchange for immunity from attack. In a statement of the Groupe Islamique Armé (GIA), an al-Qaeda subsidiary, addressing the Belgian King but posted to the French Embassy in Brussels in June 1999, the terrorists explicitly referred to such a deal dating from the summer of 1996.

In 2004 the authorities in the Netherlands prohibited the book “The Way of the Muslim” published in 1964 by the Algerian born Sheikh, Abu Bakr Jabir al-Jaza’iry, dean of the University of Medina. The book states that men are allowed to beat women and that sodomy should be punished by death, specifically as follows: “Take them to the highest building and throw them down with their head to the ground. Then stone them.” While the authorities in the Netherlands banned the book – the only book to be prohibited in the Netherlands apart from Hitler’s Mein Kampf – the Belgian authorities refused to do so.

The Belgian minister of Justice, Laurette Onkelinx, a leader of the Parti Socialiste (PS), told the Belgian Parliament when politicians asked her to follow the Dutch example: “A prohibition might upset the delicate balance between certain cultures.” Ms Onkelinx referred to freedom of speech. “Freedom of speech is one of the foundations of a democratic society. […] This applies not only to information or ideas that are well received, or regarded as harmless or to which one is indifferent, but also to ideas which offend, shock or cause unrest.” She added: “Similar texts have been circulating on our territory for many years and are freely available in certain Islamic bookstores in our country. As far as I know this has not caused deviant behaviour among members of the Islamic community.”

During that same year 2004, however, Ms Onkelinx and her party applauded the banning of the right-wing Flemish secessionist party Vlaams Blok (VB), Belgium’s largest party. Ms Onkelinx' party is currently demanding that the Vlaams Belang party, the successor of the VB, be stripped of its funds because the party is said to be “Islamophobic.” It will be interesting to see whether the Belgian government will prosecute Mr Jahjah, thereby antagonizing radical Muslims.

Meanwhile the Dutch website Retecool has called upon its readers to send it pictures of Muhammad advertising everyday products. The website is a huge success, though many of the pictures are truly offensive.

The Belgian Muslim artist Chokri Ben Chika who offended many Catholics with his depiction of a partially naked Madonna last September, told a Belgian newspaper on Friday that what he did is allowed because “it was my own constructive attempt to contribute to a multicultural society.” Depicting Muhammad, however, should not be allowed. Mr Ben Chika, who is of Tunisian origin, said: “In Islam it is not done to depict Muhammad. That has [...] to do with the essence of this religion itself. No-one will attempt to make an image of the prophet. There is no tradition of depicting the saints [in Islam], while in Christianity there is.”

Asked why he treats Christianity differently from Islam he explained: “I am an artist and not a hero or kamikaze. I have a daughter, you know.” He added that he understood Muslim anger. “The anger of the Muslims was just the last straw. The Islamic world has been made to suffer one abuse after another: politically, socially and economically.”

Ah, so you equate people

Submitted by Ethnocentrist on Wed, 2006-02-08 07:04.

Ah, so you equate people becoming brown with becoming "like each other"
- it's only skin colour which distinguishes us one from another?

Actually as you say that "genes are in essence culture" this shouldn't
be a surprise.

Absolutely not, skin color is but one aspect that distinguishes one peoples from another. Yet, that is what you implied in your abolishing "whiteness" in order for "all to become brown" statement. Is that not? Or did you mean that we are all brown, "yet still different". If that's the case, a simple tan will do the trick and we do not need messy mass miscegenation that is irreversible. Do we?

Also, genes are culture, unless you would like to assert that culture somehow is genes. I hope not, but then again, I have heard just about everything.

Danish Dynamite

Submitted by Ethnocentrist on Mon, 2006-02-06 15:41.

I am not "arrogant", nor is most of the west. Why would we like you to be less religious and more secular/fair? Because your religion is holding you back, same as catholocism did in the west.

You ask us to learn from our past, but shouldn't you from yours as well? When you were allowed to debate and question islam, your region was a beacon to the west. You were the keepers of knowledge, developers of technology... Now, you are not allowed to debate or question islam, and you have reverted to a "pre-islamic" state...

I posit that Muslims are essentially a millenium behind us in their "enlightenment". Catholicism in the year 1000 was not so tolerant nor were its people. However, with that said we cannot wait 1000 years while the Muslims play catch up while we just wait. We should not allow them within the boundaries of Europe because two cultures and two peoples of "different times" cannot cohabit the same region. No one was tapping their proverbial foot while we got to where we are now and no one should be doing that to anyone else, like Muslims and other third worlders. The reason is that no one knows how they will evolve and they should be allowed to evolve on their own. This makes perfect sense to me.

Also, Muslims and the Arab world today are in the shambles that they are in, not necessarily because of Islam per se. It is thanks to Attila the Hun and his raids on the west. Attila ravaged the Arab world, killing the intelligencia of the time. What he left was rubble and the lower classes, lower intelligent beings to run the place and in turn they have been handicapped because morons interbred with other morons. He single-handedly decimated the place where they still have not been able to recover their past glory and enlightenment. See how our parents always tell us to "marry well". Genes do matter because genes in essence are culture.

Bob Doney says...I certainly don't want everyone to become like each other, but I do want people to have full bellies, security and personal freedom. I know it's a lot to ask.

That's not what you said before, where you would not mind have whites become "brown". This isn't a form of PC on your part, is it?

Racial dynamite

Submitted by Bob Doney on Mon, 2006-02-06 16:05.

"I certainly don't want everyone to become like each other"

That's not what you said before, where you would not mind have whites become "brown"

Ah, so you equate people becoming brown with becoming "like each other" - it's only skin colour which distinguishes us one from another? Actually as you say that "genes are in essence culture" this shouldn't be a surprise.

Bob Doney

Nermin, "you said one

Submitted by DanishDynamite on Mon, 2006-02-06 14:13.

Nermin,

"you said one fine true words it is that we build after each other...it i sok so donot bearrogant on your western advancing anyway ignoring all the rest."

I am not "arrogant", nor is most of the west. Why would we like you to be less religious and more secular/fair? Because your religion is holding you back, same as catholocism did in the west.

You ask us to learn from our past, but shouldn't you from yours as well? When you were allowed to debate and question islam, your region was a beacon to the west. You were the keepers of knowledge, developers of technology... Now, you are not allowed to debate or question islam, and you have reverted to a "pre-islamic" state... I pray for the day you rise up against your clergy and demand open and free debate of islam. I pray for the day you rise up against the clergy and question islam. Untill you do, you will continue to be backwater nations.

"also, just i remind u of one thing islam civilization lasted for 1000 years now there is a decline for the past 400 years..but also imust remind u that USA adavancment is only 200 years old and also europe.."

That is ofcourse wrong. Europe has been the driving force for many centuries not just 200 years. Advancements have come extremely fast over the past 200 years compared to earlier, but we were at the front centuries before that.

As for the US, it has really only been the leader for the last 50-60 years. But it is a very young country unlike us in the "old world".

 

"and history tell us that there is always raise and declin eof civilizations..who read history well knows that..
so my advice to you is taht be wise and not arrogant and take or have a look to what happened to ex-soviet union who was th e only super power that threatens USA .where is it now? and how doesthat happen to it..take a wisdom from history if you use your mind."

 

What happened to USSR was western boycott, coupled with an arms race, bringing a vast empire to its knees.

Nothing for the world to learn really...

 

Again, we are not "arrogant". We've looked at history, we've noticed what has brought civilization to its knees. We've realized religion is a very big factor. That's something you once knew but has since abandoned. What we "want", is for you to learn from your own past. Look at when you were the beacon of wisdom. You were not as much slaves to your religion then as you are now. You've chosen to destroy your once great civilization and replaced it with religious oppression... LEARN FROM YOUR PAST!

Re Danish Dynamite's reply to nermin!

Submitted by A New Believer on Mon, 2006-02-06 15:50.

Bravo! Brava! Bravisse!
Oh! You are so good! That was brilliant and honestly, what you had to reply to was so tortured nad off the mark as to be ludicrous! Once again and with gusto this time! Bravo! Brava! Bravisse!

(It went over her tiny little mind and she will not understand anything that you said, but maybe it will seep through like weed killer on dandelions and crab grass.)

Thank You! Mange Tak!
Tackar dig! Pilamaya!

Odin be Praised! Baldur Save Us!

to danish dynamite

Submitted by nermin on Mon, 2006-02-06 14:50.

it is very clear from I said that we learnt from our past .idonot know how you undeerstand but it I svery clear that when we were sticking to islam principlas we were strong people and noone dared to attck or to invade us …It is clear that I learn from the history.
Also , on contray to what u said ,islam doesnot enslave us..thisis bad words…
When were real Muslims ,Muslims were at thetop…
I want to clarify to u that we donot hav eany problem in islam..to say enslave us..because islam talk to us as human not angles..for example when islam set a rule it make it easy for people to practice it.
Ex.islam make marriage an d divorce very easy since its start ..why ? also permit second wife why? To block every small hall to adulterous and exmarital relationship .so islam leaves nothing to people to make excuses…muslim woamn can divorce herself…marriag ecan take placein one minutes at any time day or night(24 hours service).
We donot need church license or any authority or civil marriages..
There are offices which are opened 24 hurs a day to make people marry in minutes..and divorce can occur in the same way too or even by agrrement between the two..
So why we compalin …
I relly pray for thos edays when Muslims were adhering to islam principals to regain the rank they deserve.
Your analysis of collapse of ex-soviet union is rather somewhat simple an d naive…

to Mr Bob

Submitted by nermin on Mon, 2006-02-06 14:10.

what i say is all facts .here is example o fone...you may wonder why most of those peopel who convert toislam write books ...may you dont regard ex british singer cat stevensen any concern but he one famous one and i willnot mention this jemmima goldsmith because you will say she converted due tomariage although muslim man can marry christian or a jewish wife which mean no compulsion to convert also..religion is teh only thingwhich cannot be inforced on anyone..also u can reply saying that this jemmima lives now with hugh grant...
ok i have now experiance on your all ways of replying.
just see this links about that lord. till i try to find u more of those british..
http://www.islamic-paths.org/Home/English/Discover/Pillars/Shahada/Conve...
http://aaiil.org/text/pic/converts/lordheadley.shtml

Replying

Submitted by Bob Doney on Mon, 2006-02-06 14:25.

ok i have now experiance on your all ways of replying

Ah, not quite. You haven't seen my triple-somersault historical/philosophical blockbuster with scientific half-twist. The judges gave it 5.8 last time I used it. Unfortunately I also damaged my cortical ligaments, and my brain is still in plaster.

Bob Doney

PS you're right about Cat Stevens and Jemima Goldsmith.

To Bob Re Cat Stevens at least!

Submitted by A New Believer on Mon, 2006-02-06 15:34.

Ah! Yes that is right he met up with a mullahs daughter, converted and married her. Did you know that he was also flying back and forth to the USA for some time before 9/11; doing concerts and speaking before his fellow "muslims" in America. He also brought "gifts" to the head of the American Muslim Council. One Abdulrahman Alamoudi, who worked from the council's office at 721-R Second St. NE Washington, DC 20002. The same ex singer made several trips from Saudi Arabia to Beirut to Frankfurt to London and then to the USA. Passing out gifts along the way. Dr. Alamoudi was always distributing gifts around the USA to various organizations. Wondering what a lovely way to funnel monies for activites.

Former chairman was Abdulrahman Alamoudi, who was imprisoned for terror-related charges in 2003
Supports Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah
Defended terror suspect and Palestinian Islamic Jihad sponsor Sami Al-Arian

Founded in 1990, the American Muslim Council (AMC) was one of the most prominent militant Islamic organizations of our time. It largely ceased operations, however, after its founder and former chairman Abdulrahman Alamoudi was imprisoned on terrorist-related charges in October 2003.

The tenor of the AMC's message was set by Alamoudi, who has a long history of making statements expressing support for groups that the U.S. State Department has designated as terrorist organizations. On November 22, 1994, for instance, he told the National Press Club, "Hamas is not a terrorist group. . . . I have followed the good work of Hamas. . . . They have a wing that is a violent wing. They had to resort to some kind of violence." During a March 26, 1996 appearance on Middle East TV, he had this to say about Musa Abu Marzook (founder of the Islamic Association for Palestine), who was deported from the United States because of his Hamas-related activities - and then became Deputy Chief of Hamas' Political Bureau in Syria: "I am honored to be a member of the committee that is defending Musa Abu Marzook in America. This a mark of distinction on my chest. . . . I have known Musa Abu Marzook before, and I really consider him to be from among the best people in the Islamic movement, Hamas - in the Palestinian movement in general - and I work together with him." At an October 28, 2000 anti-Israel protest in Washinton, D.C, al-Amoudi shouted to a cheering crowd, "We are all supporters of Hamas. Allahu Akhbar! . . . I am also a supporter of Hezbollah." In addition, al-Amoudi has passionately defended Omar Abdul Rahman, the blind sheikh now imprisoned for his role in plotting New York-area terrorist attacks - most notably the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

On December 29, 1996, Alamoudi told a meeting of the Illinois-based Islamic Association of Palestine, "I think if we were outside this country, we can say, 'Oh, Allah, destroy America,' but once we are here, our mission in this country is to change it. There is no way for Muslims to be violent in America, no way. We have other means to do it." Alamoudi was arrested in September 2003 for illegally failing to notify the U.S. State Department of his numerous trips to Libya, and for illegally accepting $10,700 from the Libyan mission to the United Nations. That same month, British customs officials found $340,000 in cash in al-Amoudi's luggage - money that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) affidavit asserts originated in Libya and was intended for distribution in Syria, where terror groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad maintain a strong presence.

AMC executive director Eric Vickers has been no less outspoken on terrorism-related issues. In January 2002 he publicly defended University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian, who had been accused of involvement with the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Vickers denounced what he called the character assassination that the media were aiming at the suspect. "What has happened to professor Arian," he said, "is happening to Muslims and people of Middle Eastern descent all over this country. They are being discriminated against." A month later, al-Arian was indicted by a federal grand jury for leading the terrorist operations of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in America.

On June 27, 2002, Vickers told MSNBC's Hardball With Chris Matthews that al-Qaeda is "involved in a resistance movement." On September 26 of that year, in a letter to editor of the Buffalo News, Vickers wrote, "We [Americans] have no more right or business putting Wahhabism on trial for the September 11 attack . . . than we do putting Christianity on trial for the Oklahoma City bombing." On January 29, 2003 - as the U.S. prepared for its invasion of Iraq - Vickers condemned President Bush's expression of faith that a Higher Power would guide U.S. forces to victory. "In invoking God to be with American soldiers in our apparently imminent war with Iraq," said Vickers, "what the president did not say is that he is calling on God to kill innocent Iraqi children." Also in January 2003, Vickers sent a memorandum to the imams of American mosques, which stated: "AMC calls upon you to demonstrate mass criticism and activism against the new FBI policy, which directs FBI field offices nationwide to conduct an inventory of mosques and Muslims as part of their charge to develop demographic profiles of their regions to combat possible terrorism."

In November 2002 the AMC publicly urged American Muslims to give money to Islamic relief organizations to aid Afghani refugees. Included in the AMC's list of recommended charities was the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), whose assets had recently been seized by the FBI and the Treasury Department because of the group's alleged activities as a terrorist fund-raising front. "Money raised by the Holy Land Foundation is used by Hamas to support schools and indoctrinate children to grow up into suicide bombers," said President Bush. "Money raised by the Holy Land Foundation is also used by Hamas to recruit suicide bombers and support their families." The AMC called Bush's action against the HLF "particularly disturbing . . . unjust and counterproductive." The AMC also solicits Muslims to give to the Global Relief Foundation, another charity under U.S. government scrutiny for possible terrorist links.

In December 2000, the AMC's Dallas chapter presented an award to an individual named Ghassan Dahduli, who was deported eleven months later because of his connections to al-Qaeda and Hamas. According to one U.S. prosecutor, AMC advisory board member Soliman Biheiri is "the Muslim Brotherhood's financial toehold" in the United States. In March 2002, federal authorities raided the Virginia house and business of yet another AMC board member, Jamal Barzinjim, in an anti-terrorism investigation. Over the years, the AMC has held press conferences supporting Sudan's National Islamic Front (NIF), which is on the State Department's list of terrorist organizations. In 1992, the AMC hosted the NIF leader during his visit to the United States.

In February 2003, the AMC joined the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the American Muslim Alliance (AMA), and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) in forming a coalition to repeal and amend the anti-terrorism measure known as the Patriot Act -- alleging that it violates the civil rights of Americans.

The AMC endorsed the Civil Liberties Restoration Act (CLRA) of 2004, which was introduced by Democratic Senators Ted Kennedy, Patrick Leahy, Russell Feingold, Richard Durbin, and Jon Corzine, and Democratic Representatives Howard Berman and William Delahunt. The CLRA was designed to roll back, in the name of protecting civil liberties, vital national-security policies that had been adopted after the 9/11 terrorist attacks

Poor Cat Stevens or whatever his name is now.. So many of his muslim council friends are in jail in the US. For "laundering monies" to organizations etc. Is that why he does not return and do more conferences or speeches for american muslim organizations? I wonder?

Odin be Praised! Baldur Save Us!

Cat Stevens

Submitted by westofthemoon on Fri, 2006-02-10 19:32.

Moon shadow... oh I still like his music from back then.
He choose to become a Muslim for whatever reason and as far as I know he stopped making music because his new religion didn't permit individual creativity.

Sad.

Reply to Bobwith regard to Islam AKA Cat Stevens!

Submitted by A New Believer on Mon, 2006-02-06 16:17.

As far as I know he is still on a watch list. He was traveling in some pretty rarefied circles there, hobnobbing and attending meetings with several radical mullahs in the US, Great Britain, Germany and the Middle East; spending time out west with Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin( aka H. Rap Brown of formerly of the Black Panthers)who received a life imprisonment for murdering two Fulton country Deputy Sheriffs in Atlanta, Georgia on March 16th, 2000. So unsure..but as I understand it. He has not been back so far, or maybe he cannot obtain another visa. But of one things I am sure.. all his old buddies from teh American Muslim Council are not doing well. And Islamic Society of North America would love to stifle free speech, they held their September 2005 42nd annual convention in Rosemont, Illinois, without him though. time will tell and see. But if I was him and he had
any connections he might be embarrassed about.. rest assured. Homeland Security will find them. ( They are monitering phone calls back and forth to overseas)

Wednesday, September 22, 2004 Posted: 10:09 PM EDT (0209 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The singer formerly known as Cat Stevens was making his way back to London Wednesday after being taken off a diverted trans-Atlantic flight by U.S. officials.

But U.S. Muslim leaders say they want the government to explain why the singer was on a "watch list" meant to keep terrorists out of the country.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge accused Yusuf Islam, the singer's Muslim name, of having some unspecified relationship with terrorist activity.

"Celebrity or unknown, our job is to act on information that others have given us," Ridge said. "And in this instance, there was some relationship between the name and the terrorists' activity with this individual's name being on that no-fly list, and appropriate action was taken."

United Airlines Flight 919 from London to Washington was diverted to Maine after Islam's name turned up on a list designed to keep terrorists or their supporters from boarding flights, U.S. officials said.

Islam, 56, took that name when he became a Muslim in the 1970s.

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said his organization wants a better explanation for why the singer was denied entry into the country.

"We are getting a little tired of this kind of Kafkaesque treatment of people, where vague allegations are made and actions are taken against individuals and organizations," Hooper said.

He said American Muslim leaders "need to know where the allegations are coming from."

"I don't think we want to be in a situation where people are denounced by anonymous government officials and labeled as terrorists and that's it -- everybody says 'OK, we don't need any more information.' We need more information," he said.

Other officials said Islam was on the watch list because of reported associations and financial support for Muslim charities with terrorist connections.

But they would not disclose the names of those charities. Homeland Security spokesman Garrison Courtney would only say "the intelligence community has come into possession of additional information that further heightens our concerns of Yusuf Islam."

According to Islam's Web site, he is associated with three charities: Small Kindness for humanitarian relief; Islamia Schools' Trust for education; and Waqf al Birr Educational Trust for educational research and development and scientific and medical research.

Ridge said the intelligence that put the singer's name on the list came from outside the United States, but he would not reveal the source.

He questioned why United allowed him onto the flight at all. Government sources said Islam's name was added to the watch list only recently and had been misspelled -- which could explain why airline employees overlooked it.

While the plane was in flight, the Advanced Passenger Information System flagged Islam's name, a Department of Homeland Security official said.

Customs agents alerted the Transportation Security Administration, which then ordered the plane diverted to Bangor, Maine, and away from the northeast corridor of New York and Washington.

Islam, a British citizen, was held in Bangor before being taken Wednesday morning to Boston, where the Massachusetts Port Authority said he would be put aboard an afternoon flight to Washington. From there he will be sent back to London.

On his official Web site, Islam has posted numerous statements in opposition to terrorist attacks, most recently the school seizure in Beslan, Russia that ended with more than 300 people dead -- about half of them children.

Islam also criticized the September 11, 2001, attacks against the United States and donated a portion of the royalties from a four-disc set of his music to the families of the September 11th Fund.

Muslim groups in Britain also reacted with anger and surprise at Islam's detention. (Full story)

In Bangor, the rest of the passengers were screened and continued on to Washington's Dulles International Airport after Islam was taken off the flight.

The Boeing 747 had about 280 passengers and crew onboard when it took off from London's Heathrow Airport, United spokesman Jeff Green said.

As Cat Stevens, Islam had a string of folk-rock hits in the 1960s and early 1970s, including "Peace Train," "Morning Has Broken" and "Wild World."

He dropped out of the music business for more than a decade after converting to Islam but returned to the recording studio periodically during the 1990s.

Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve contributed to this report

Odin be Praised! Baldur Save Us!

to Mr Bob(3)

Submitted by nermin on Mon, 2006-02-06 14:40.

i really didnot understand what u mean by being right on jemmima or cat stevensen..does thatmean taht you r reply would hav ebeen as isuggested..
anyway MR BOb thisis not fair ...if u mean what i understood because cat stevense is a human and if not considered elite or something..this doesnot get from him anyway..he was veryfamous pop singer at 1970s...
also this jemmima didnot leave her islam when she was asked about that.
i ask u , is her living now with hugh grant amuse u ..is that kind o rstyle o flife u want muslim woman live so we all becom elike each others..

What I mean

Submitted by Bob Doney on Mon, 2006-02-06 14:57.

Yes, the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens was a pop singer in the 1970s. I didn't think he was particularly good as a singer, but I believe he is a perfectly nice person.

A lot of things about Hugh Grant amuse me. He is a talented actor (he was very good in "Maurice", an early film about a homosexual relationship based on a book by E M Forster, another very gifted homosexual writer). Grant's relationships with women have not been as successful as his acting career.

I certainly don't want everyone to become like each other, but I do want people to have full bellies, security and personal freedom. I know it's a lot to ask.

Bob Doney

Muhjahadeen Cowards

Submitted by The Great Satan on Mon, 2006-02-06 13:33.

This religion is a vile creed, and it's practitioners are suffocating in its miasma of insanity... Now they come to our clean well ordered shores and, Muslim finger stabbing in the air, beady eyed and furrowed brows bristling at the "infidel", they tell US how to conduct ourselves -- they tell US how things will be -- they suggest that WE are the ones who need to change to comfort them and their insanities --

Who's boss in the West? The primitive barbarian Muslim? Or the secular humanist democrat who made it a clean well ordered place?

The filth of their creed, the filth of Islam must be washed from our shores -- We must not permit the heavy burden of their backwardness and craziness to drag us down into the sewer of their hellish "religion"... We must protect ourselves at all costs from the dark shadows of ignorance and hatred which accompany Islam wherever it rears its ugly head...

And your big, bad Muhjahadeen fighters... such cowards. They are REALLY GOOD at attcking WEDDING RECEPTIONS, SCHOOL BUSES, OFFICE BUILDINGS WITH HIJACKED JETS, CAFES, HOTELS and all soft, undefended targets.

Every single time we get you on a battlefield we kick your ass and you turn and run like cowards.

Only in Afghanistan against the Russian army were you successful, ONLY BECAUSE THE
CIA gave you weapons and training.

How else would shoot down a Russian helicopter? Chase it on your camel and throw rocks at it? No, THE CIA gave you Stinger missles, technology that you NEVER are able to come up with on your own because you are kept in such IGNORANCE by your depotic, criminal leaders that the only way you can get an education in the fields of science required to make weapons like that is if
you try to get out (again) of your own pitiful countries and go to school in the West.

Great splendour

Submitted by Bob Doney on Mon, 2006-02-06 13:38.

The Uthmaani Sultans reigned over it with great splendour and it ended in the beginning of the twentieth century through the treachery of Kamal Ata Turk(He went to Hell), and the secular state which came into being.

"Great splendour", eh? More like unimaginable cruelty and intrigue in the Sultan's palace for generation after generation. Murder of brother by brother was the rule rather than the exception.

For an excellent book on the subject (the history of the royal court from Suleiman the Magnificent to Kamal Ataturk) try "Lords of the Golden Horn" by Noel Barber.

Bob Doney

Muslim falsehood

Submitted by DanishDynamite on Mon, 2006-02-06 13:18.

It is simply false to claim muslims built the worlds first universities. Sure, the first "univerities" of muslim nations are CLOSER to what universities are today, than anything that came before. That does not mean they built the FIRST universities in the world...

 

"

Because of the above definition, the oldest universities in the world were all European, as the awarding of academic degrees was not a custom of older institutions of learning in Asia and Africa. However, institutions of higher learning considerably older than the most ancient European universities existed in countries such as China (Yuelu Academy), Egypt and India.

The Academy, founded in 387 BC by the Greek philosopher Plato in the grove of Academos near Athens, taught its students philosophy, mathematics, and gymnastics, and is sometimes considered a forerunner of modern European universities. Other Greek cities with notable educational institutions include Kos (the home of Hippocrates), which had a medical school, and Rhodes, which had philosophical schools. Another famous classical university was the Museum and Library of Alexandria.

About a thousand years after Plato, institutions bearing a resemblance to the modern university existed in Persia and the Islamic world, notably the Academy of Gundishapur and later also al-Azhar University in Cairo.

In Asia, there were a number of institutions of higher learning that vaguely resembled universities in the Western sense of the word. In general, these are of considerable antiquity, predating western institutions of higher learning by centuries. In China, it's recorded that the education system had been established during the Yu period (2257 BC - 2208 BC) and the imperial central academy was named Shangyang (Shang means higher and Yang means school) at the time. The higher learning institution - imperial central academy, was called Piyong in Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC - 249 BC), Taixue in Han Dynasty (202 - 220) and Guozijian in Sui dynasty. For example, Nanjing University traces its source back to the imperial central academy at Nanking founded in 258 by the Kingdom of Wu. The early Chinese state depended upon literate, educated officials for operation of the empire, and an imperial examination was established in the Sui Dynasty (581 -618) for evaluating and selecting officials from the general populace. The ancient cities of Nalanda, Vikramasila, Kanchipura and Takshasila were greatly reputed centres of learning in the east, with students from all over Asia. In particular, Nalanda was a famous center of Buddhist scholarship, and as such it attracted a vast number of Buddhist scholars from China, central Asia and Southeast Asia."

 

As for hospitals...

 

"

In ancient cultures religion and medicine were linked. The earliest known institutions aiming to provide cure were Egyptian temples. Greek temples dedicated to the healer-god Asclepius might admit the sick, who would wait for guidance from the god in a dream. The Romans adopted his worship. Under his Roman name Æsculapius, he was provided with a temple (291 BC) on an island in the Tiber in Rome, where similar rites were performed.

Sinhalese (Sri Lankans)are perhaps responsible for introducing the concept of dedicated Hospitals to the world. According to the Mahavamsa, the ancient chronicle of Sinhalese royalty written in the 6th century A.C. King Pandukabhaya (4th century B.C.) had lying-in-homes and hospitals (Sivikasotthi-Sala) built in various parts of the country after having fortified his capital at Anuradhapura. This is the earliest literary evidence we have of the concept of dedicated hospitals anywhere in the world."

 

True, muslims expanded on the idea, but they were not first. Same as much of current western civilization really. We all build on what came before.

As for al-kwarizmi(whatever), him you can claim. He is yours, and yours alone.

 

Muslim, I can't speak for the rest of Europe, but in Denmark, we were actually taught about the middle-east being the "repository" of ancient knowledge/wisdom. It's just sad that it's such a long time ago, at a time when you were allowed to question islam. Times change, so has your faith. Sadly it did not change for the better but for the worse, holding you back, keeping you from advancing yourselves.

to DanishDynamite from nermin

Submitted by nermin on Mon, 2006-02-06 13:28.

you said one fine true words it is that we build after each other...it i sok so donot bearrogant on your western advancing anyway ignoring all the rest.
also, just i remind u of one thing islam civilization lasted for 1000 years now there is a decline for the past 400 years..but also imust remind u that USA adavancment is only 200 years old and also europe..
and history tell us that there is always raise and declin eof civilizations..who read history well knows that..
so my advice to you is taht be wise and not arrogant and take or have a look to what happened to ex-soviet union who was th e only super power that threatens USA .where is it now? and how doesthat happen to it..take a wisdom from history if you use your mind.

Insane Islam and its coward "fighters"

Submitted by The Great Satan on Mon, 2006-02-06 13:08.

Let us ask our muslim friends about the concept of Dhimmitude, the "protected people” that the Sharia defines as non-muslims, Jews, Christians, atheists... basically all non-believers. How they are free to practice their religion, or not practice any religion, in an Islamic society but must subjected to humiliating regulations designed to enforce the Qur'an's command that they "feel themselves subdued" (Sura 9:29).

This remains a part of the Sharia and is the goal of global jihadists, dedicated to enforcing this law everywhere, bit by bit. Europe is now the primary target. Any time muslims are questioned about this, they yell "RACISM" and "HITLER" because they know the multiculturalist’s dogma that has taken hold in Western politics and academics has told us to feel ashamed when we hear these words. Europeans must not point out the inconsistencies in Islam, "religion of peace", or they will be called "BIGOTS."

Above all, Europeans must not take pride in their own history, in their own culture... a culture that, along with the ancient Greeks, is responsible for the most progress... in politics, art, philosophy, science, medicine... that the world has ever known. We must only think about the sins of "colonialism" and the Nazis, say the Multiculturalists. Muslims love this, as it plays right into their hands. This is dawn of the European Dhimmi.

And this is not "Islamophobia", as that implies an irrational fear. There is nothing irrational about the steady chipping away of our rights in the interests of other intolerant "cultures" or "religions." Especially a "religion" that has in its basic tenets the subjugation of all non-believers. What kind of "religion" advocates the killing of unarmed civilians because they have different political or cultural beliefs from what is mandated in the intolerant dogma of Islam? What kind of "religion" reacts so violently to cartoon depictions of their "prophet", when the political cartoons in Islamic countries' newspapers constantly, routinely depict Christians and Jews, Jesus and Moses as cannibals, rapists, and pedophiles?

However, that's OK. The hypocrisy of "Islam" is incredible. Islam is a cult, a melodramatic death cult designed to take the minds of the people off the horrible conditions in which they live, where they can't earn a decent living, where they can't get a decent education, unless of course its in an Islamic brainwashing academy, where they can't have running water or electricity and must live in rags and filth... Yes, get their minds off that... encumber them with endless, obsessive, infantile rules of conduct... insane questions that can only be answered by the insane imam, who is familiar with all the arcana of Islam.

Fearful of cutting your fingernails on the wrong day? Avoid transgressions against Allah... ask the imam! "Is this permitted oh learned one? Would it be sinful to cut my fingernails on this day?" Ask him. He'll have an intricate answer for this, backed by centuries of "rulings." Anything to keep them from realizing their "leaders" have taken all the billions and billions of dollars the west has paid for a century of oil... AND KEPT IT FOR THEMSELVES!! Yes, the life of a ruler of an Islamic state! Yachts in the Mediterranean filled with gold and jewels! Whores and slaves... the most blonde and young they can buy! English princesses! Big, lazy, drunken fat bastards fucking pre-teen blonde whores all night on cocaine! Solid gold Rolls Royce, Bentleys and Massarattis! Cocaine, champagne, diamonds... see you on the Riviera, Uday!! Oh... I forgot, you and your brother had your heads blown off by the US Army. That's what happens when muslims finally have no place to run, no children to hide behind.

The richest men in the world are the leaders of the Islamic states. Bar none. But look at what they give their people... nothing! Then they tell you to blame it on the west! Blame it on the infidels! And if you are broke or sick or hungry, you must have offended Allah!

Just know this, all muslims who think they can take the west for themselves. Read an actual history book. Take a look at the last couple of "Empires" that have tried to take Europe and the US, the Nazis and Imperial Japan. And they were tough bastards. They didn't shoot, run, hide, shoot again, find some old women to hide behind, shoot again, run, find some children to use as a shield... no, they didn't do that. They came right at you. It took us years, but we beat them. We will always beat the fascist hordes that hate our freedom.

And if you think Iran or Pakistan can help you with their little pathetic nuclear programs... we have dozens and dozens of nuke submarines, all with over 25 warheads each, under all the oceans of the world, and JUST ONE of them could take out ALL YOUR CAPITAL CITIES AND THE PEOPLE IN THEM IN TWENTY MINUTES. So go ahead and try to start something. You may kill some of us, but 20 minutes later you will ALL be extinct.

About cartoons

Submitted by westofthemoon on Mon, 2006-02-06 13:06.

Talking for myself I couldn't care less what some Arab organization which don't interest me wish to publish on their website.
I don't spend my time looking for things which could offend me like the Muslims do.

About cartoons

Submitted by westofthemoon on Mon, 2006-02-06 13:05.

Talking for myself I couldn't care less what some Arab organization which don't interest me wish to publish on their website.
I don't spend my time looking for things which could offend me like the Muslims do.

Elite

Submitted by Bob Doney on Mon, 2006-02-06 13:28.

Well, the elite converts identified in this article are one garden designer and one man whose father was Director General of the BBC. It doesn't say what his current role in society is!! The other 14,000 "white" converts are said to be "mainly elite", whatever that means.

We are also not told how many elite figures believe in New Age crystals, homeopathy or astrology. Far more, I would imagine.

Bob Doney

What would you call a religion whose beliefs, practices and foll

Submitted by nermin on Mon, 2006-02-06 12:59.

What would you call a religion whose beliefs, practices and followers are being bashed and bad-mouthed in practically every sphere of activity, in almost every corner of the globe, yet it attracts ever-increasing numbers of people?

A Paradox? A Miracle ? Or simply, The Truth: Islaam.

The fact that Islaam is the fastest growing religion in the world today, is proof that our Creator has taken it upon Himself to perfect the Truth that He sent all His prophets and messengers with -- from Aadam [AS] to Muhammad [SAW].

Studies conducted in the West show that the sheer number of new Muslims is changing the demographic profile of countries all over the world, and not all of them are born into Muslim families. With some 6 million adherents in the United States, Islam is said to be the nation’s fastest-growing religion. One expert estimates that 25,000 people a year become Muslims in this country; some clerics say they have seen conversion rates quadruple since Sept 11.

Ironically for a religion that is routinely bashed for “subjugating” and “oppressing” its female followers, the number of female reverts to Islaam outnumber the males 4:1!

The fact that more and more people are finding their way to Islaam, notwithstanding the relentless propaganda, deliberate misinformation and outright prejudice against it, never ceases to amaze me.

How do these people navigate in the darkness to find the light of Islaam in spite of all the obstacles in the way?

The answer is that our Creator has granted each one of us a guiding light -- a pure, undefiled innate nature called the fitrah. Unlike Christians who believe in the doctrine of Original Sin and assert that each baby is born tainted with the sin of Adam’s disobedience to God, Muslims believe that every child is born into a state of purity where it recognizes its Creator and is naturally subservient to His laws.

to this fool

Submitted by nermin on Mon, 2006-02-06 12:55.

hit your head in the nearest wall as the jews do ...you are only capable of ugly words which doesnot hurt me because it proves tome how weak who said it an dhow idiot fool he is.in arabic we say who say ugly,vulgar words..these words turn around an dreturn to the one who said it.
i will never fall or drop into your standard of speech because i am a muslim.case is closes mr idiot.

Numbers and the alphabet

Submitted by DanishDynamite on Mon, 2006-02-06 12:10.

"Submitted by Onenoson on Mon, 2006-02-06 11:08. new

You said :

WITHOUT THE WEST OR WESTERN WORLD THAT YOU MUSLIMS HATE SO MUCH, YOU WOULDN'T EVEN BE ABLE TO USE THIS COMPUTER.
YOU PEOPLE ARE SO PRIMITIVE, ALL OF YOUR ACTIONS THROUGHOUT HISTORY SHOWS IT.

How can be the COMPUTER use without
our ALFA and our NUMARIC?!!!...How much you so IDIOT and STUPID."

 

 

You do not know your history onenoson. The numbers 0 through 9 originated in India. Muslims simply spread it.

The alphabet isn't muslim either...

to danish dynamit and army scout (2): you just ignore and deny f

Submitted by nermin on Mon, 2006-02-06 12:35.

Muslims built the world's first public hospital in Baghdad in 706CE.
Texts on medicine produced by the Islamic world were studied in Europe for centuries. The great historian Ibn Khaldun was the first to examine history and
culture within the paradigm of scientific enquiry, laying the foundation for the
study of sociology and political economics. Muslims also made great advances in
geography, chemistry, and other fields. The efforts of Muslim scholars and intellectuals contributed significantly to the Renaissance, which helped Europe overcome its Dark Ages. It is of great significance that Muslims advanced culturally and scientifically when they followed Islamic teachings. Islam has never taught a conflict between religion and science, since true religion and true science are always in agreement. How is it that a culture of illiterate, desert dwelling shepherds achieved ascendancy over the world, laying the foundation of an empire that lasted over 1000 years? The implementation of the Qur'an and the example of Muhammad reformed their society into one focused on Allah-consciousness, truth, justice, compassion and knowledge. The revival of Islamic civilization is linked to a return to the pure teachings of Islam and an ppreciation of its rich cultural and intellectual tradition.

Nermin

Submitted by Muslim on Mon, 2006-02-06 12:45.

Well said, Nermin. Much of early Greek scholarship was translated by Muslims, and then made available to Europeans which contributed to the Renaissance. This very important historical fact is unfortunately missing in the minds of many.

my reply to danishdynamite and army scot

Submitted by nermin on Mon, 2006-02-06 12:33.

History and Civilization
The glorious history of Islamic civilization is an instructive example of the fruits of implementing Islam in society and life. Muslims are justifiably proud of their history, which saw them excel in diverse fields of intellectual endeavor, among them: the establishment of law and justice, advancement of science and technology, enrichment of the humanities, and a flourishing of the arts. Allah (Almighty God) says: Have they not traveled in the land and seen the nature of the consequence for those who were before them? They were stronger than them in power [Qur'an 30:9].
Inspired by statements in the Qur'an encouraging them to reflect upon the majesty of God's creation, Muslims became the world's leading thinkers.
Muslims built the world's first universities – Al-Zaytunah in Tunis, and Al-Azhar in
Cairo, both of which are over 1000 years old. Muslim astronomers devised precise calendars, built astronomical tables, compiled almanacs and built the world's first observatories. The great Muslim mathematician Al-Khawarizmi (from whose name we derive the word `Algorithm') invented algebra (Al Jabr in Arabic).

Jahjah should read Philip

Submitted by grumpy on Mon, 2006-02-06 10:26.

Jahjah should read Philip Roth's "The Ghost Writer", and see what a jew can do with the Anne Frank theme without getting in trouble.
I would also invite him to make a cartoon about gay marriage or something along that line. That would be an interesting test for our PC politicians.
I think the Holocaust denial legislation is plain silly. If someone wants to cover him/herself with ridicule denying the Auschwitz gas chambers let him go ahead. You can't stop people from behaving as idiots. Better make sure everyone can see that they are.

Those caricatures are perfectly fine

Submitted by DanishDynamite on Mon, 2006-02-06 09:12.

I don't see anything wrong with those caricatures. Fact of the matter is, we don't KNOW how many jews were murdered during the holocaust. Personally, I don't see the point in trying to deny the holocaust, but I can understand those who may wish to question its scope.

For the record, those caricatures would be legal in Denmark, same as the Muhammed ones. Wether a newspaper would want to publish them is a different matter. Infact, neo-nazis regularly deny the holocaust, and we have a holocaust revisionist institute here as well...

 

I read somewhere that the laws prohibiting questioning the holocaust, prohibits questioning ALL crimes against humanity as determined by the war crimes tribunal, incl. what happened in the Balkans and elsewhere. That would ofcourse mean, you can not question what happened to the muslims during the Balkan civil war, either. That in itself should shut muslims up, but ofcourse they're so fixated on the holocaust, they don't see anything else.

Re: Abu Jahjah

Submitted by A New Believer on Mon, 2006-02-06 03:44.

 

 

Lee, he was sitting on his  lahlah waiting for a yahyah.. ah ha!  He is a spoilt nad  pouting child! He is the destiny they seek!  Stale as crumbs from yesterday's bread!  Poor little  jahjah! No money, no honey..no funny!  Definitely not!

 

( he looked like a four year old who had been told he  could not have anymore candy.)

Odin be Praised!  Baldur Save Us!

armyscout43: A correction of your errors

Submitted by Muslim on Mon, 2006-02-06 12:25.

Why would the Muslims attack the Chinese? There are millions of Chinese Uighur Muslims living in Western China, and also those who have successful businesses in China's eastern coast.

Saying that China is a "communist country" without qualifying the statement is shere ignorance. China is now mainly known as a mixed economy that has both communist and, yes, capitalist elements. Do a search on Special Economic Zones in China and you'll see glimpses of capitalism. Surprise, surprise...

You imply that the West has a good human rights record. Why does the West supply ammo to dictatorial/fundamentalist Arab regimes, like the Wahhabi Saudi government that forbids women from driving and consider non-Wahhabi Muslims as reprehensible innovators and/or apostates?

You say that the Chinese are allies with Russia, North Koreans, and Indians. You forgot to mention the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a country that has been its strongest ally. Their cooperation on nuclear matters is well known -- at least to the educated.

You say that India is allied to all powerful countries that are not Muslims. Then why are India signing oil agreements with Iran?

My advice to you is to check your facts before you post them.

Kind regards...

Re: China the Other SupoerPower!

Submitted by A New Believer on Mon, 2006-02-06 03:47.

ArmyScout! Do no t tell them that! Let them go amassed at 200 million strong and you will not have to worry about having any more "muslims!" Because as you and I well know.. a billion Chinese will murder them. And such a great way for the Chinese to get their frustrations out as well.

*wiping my eyes from the tears*

Odin be Praised! Baldur Save Us!

Abu Jahjah?

Submitted by Lee on Mon, 2006-02-06 03:28.

He saw the light? He discovered satire?

Looks more like a spoilt and pouting child. Disregard.

Next please.