Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar suggests the Moslems should apologize--for their 8 century long occupation of Spain.Sounds fair. Both the Pope and an Imam can each aplogize. Ummm...who goes first?
A collection of sacred artefacts looted by the Romans from the Temple of Jerusalem and long suspected of being hidden in the vaults of the Vatican are actually in the Holy Land, according to a British archaeologist.He also links to an article that is skeptical.
“Cockroaches have been given a bad (reputation) in our society,” said PETA spokeswoman Jackie Vergerio. “They are gentle, complex animals.”You think that's odd?
Benedict "should be removed from his position immediately for encouraging war and fanning hostility between various faiths" and "making insulting remarks" against Islam, said a joint statement issued by the clerics and scholars at the end of their one-day convention.Encouraging war.
Police have agreed to consult a panel of Muslim leaders before mounting counter-terrorist raids or arrests. Members of the panel will offer their assessment of whether information police have on a suspect is too flimsy and will also consider the consequences on community relations of a raid.The inmates have taken over the asylum.
The Associated Press, the reliable just-the-facts news agency you and I once knew, no longer exists. Amoral propagandists have taken over.Technorati Tags: Media Bias and Associated Press
As Corner readers know, I was told many months ago that Osama died in Iran last December, and is buried there, under a marker carrying a woman's name. In early January, Pakistan's President P. Musharaff announced bin Laden had died of kidney failure, which I took as pretty good confirmation. Meanwhile, there has been no bin Laden video for two years, only audios with a voice that might be his son's. Now French intelligence, which is a serious organization, has leaked a document citing Saudi sources (often not serious at all) saying Osama died recently in Pakistan of Typhoid fever.Technorati Tags: Osama Bin Ladin
Take a look at this dialog between Lebanese blogger Rania el-Masry and Israeli blogger Lisa Goldman (via Lisa). It is sponsored by the BBC. No doubt they picked Lisa because they know that she hails from the Israeli far left. Unfortunately for them, they didn't know that though she's a leftist, she's honest, and doesn't distort or overlook relevant facts. Notice how Rania's arguments sound convincing as long as you don't know the facts. After trying to avoid confrontation, Lisa gives it to her. Her response is so good that I can't let it lie in such an obscure location. I'm reproducing it here in full:You need to go read it, in full.
A Bangladeshi Muslim journalist arrested in the past for advocating ties with Israel now faces charges of sedition, a crime punishable by death in Bangladesh, and will likely be put on trial by the end of the month, The Jerusalem Post has learned.Will the media make as big a deal of this as they did of the Pope?
Number two on the Amazon.com bestseller list tonight: "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance," by Noam Chomsky.That's quite an accomplishment for Mr. Chavez.
"Under Sharia law, anyone who even indirectly implies that Islam is anything less than 'peachy keen' can only be forgiven once they've been decapitated, disemboweled, and then trampled to death by a herd of unwashed goats. The Pope is probably too much of a bigot to accept such an olive branch, but there is an alternative. He could convert to Islam."--BlameBush.typepad.com, Sept. 17Technorati Tags: Pope Benedict and Islam
MSM Completely Ignores Pro-Israel Rally
Astoundingly (or maybe not), yesterday 35,000 people turned out to demonstrate for Israel and against Iran and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad...
...and not a single mainstream media source carried the story.
One blog--I forget which--made the point that if the rally was anti-Bush or pro-Ahmadinejad, the rally would have been covered.I hope that on different occasions during my visit – for instance, in Munich when I stressed how important it is to respect that which is sacred to others – my profound respect for the great religions, and in particular for the Moslems, who "adore the one God" and with whom we are engaged in "defending and promoting together, for all men, social justice, moral values, peace and freedom" (Nostra Aetate, 3) was clearly apparent.So now Islam is a Religion of Peace?
The gay pride parade will take place after the end of Ramadan, presumably so as not to attract the heightened Islamic wrath and violence that often accompany Ramadan.Orthodox Jews who are accused of being violent are arrested.
Arutz-7's Kobi Finkler quotes a senior IDF officer as threatening, "In the end, the terrorists will see that it wasn't worth it for them. The IDF won't hit only the rocket launchers, but also the vicinity around them in a way that no one will know what hit them."The difference between Palestinian and Israeli rhetoric:
a. WithdrawalTechnorati Tags: Israel and Palestinians and Kassams
b. Release of terrorists
c. Promises of more meetings with Abbas
d. Destruction of Jewish homes
e. All of the above
Yesterday NPR host Diane Rehm featured a discussion between The Very Reverend David O’Connell, president of Catholic U. and Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Prof. of Islamic Studies at George Washington U. Nasr was well-versed in the history of Western Civilization as well as articulate and calm. But according to the segments I heard, he took issue with O’Connell’s description of the violence perpetrated against Christians worldwide following the Pope’s remarks as “unprovoked.” He interjected “But it was provoked.” Diane Rehm equably restated his position (I paraphrase) “So you think words are violence.” He confirmed.The problem is that they prefer beheading to dialogue.
Call me crazy but I’d prefer to be called nasty names to being beaten or beheaded any day of the week. How about you Prof. Nasr?
The French President is the first European leader to state publicly that a freeze by Iran is not a precondition for opening talks. The concession to Iran seems to be linked to events in Lebanon, where there had been concern that French soldiers may be targeted by Iran's proxy militia, Hizbollah, over France's previously hardline stance in the nuclear negotiations.Hat Tip: The Corner
But the attacks against the pope are especially grotesque. The severe criticism -- often coupled with threats of violence -- directed at the speech held last Tuesday by Benedict XVI is not just an attack on the head of the Catholic Church. The malicious twisting of the pope's words and the absurd allegations made by representatives of Islam represent a frontal attack on open religious and philosophical dialogue.Maybe somehow people could justify the reaction to the cartoons.
Iraq's parliament also rejected Benedict's explanation of his remarks, saying it was insufficiently clear. The parliament "demands the pope take practical steps to restore respect to the Islamic world and its religion, and a clear-cut apology for what he said," lawmakers said in a statement read at a press conference.OK, but if the Moslems themselvses cannot restore Islam's lost respect, how do they expect the Pope to?
"We live in a world of terrorism where evil acts are being regularly perpetrated in the name of your faith," Mr Robb said at the Sydney conference.Imagine if the US gave a talk like that to CAIR.
"And because it is your faith that is being invoked as justification for these evil acts, it is your problem.
"You can't wish it away, or ignore it, just because it has been caused by others.
"Instead, speak up and condemn terrorism, defend your role in the way of life that we all share here in Australia."
"Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."Here is a rundown by Peter Robinson:
Manuel II Paleologus reigned as emperor of Byzantium from 1391, the year in which he is believed to have composed the text from which the Pope quoted last week, until his death in 1425. A brief overview of his experience of Islam:Now where do the Imams get the authority to speak about Christianity or Judaism?
1390: Manuel is sent as a hostage to the court of Sultan Bayezid I. As his writings demonstrate, he reads widely in Muslim texts and engages in repeated debates with Muslim scholars. He is also forced to participate in an attack on his own people, the siege of Philadelphia, which eliminated the last Byzantine settlement in Anatolia.
1394-1402: The Ottomans besiege Constantinople. For some five years, Manuel directs the defense of the city in person. Then he entrusts Constantinople to his nephew and embarks on a tour of the West, seeking assistance.
1422: The Ottomans attack Manuel in Constantinople once again.
By the time of his death in 1425, Manuel had spent virtually his entire adult life in the struggle against an armed and expansionist Islam—and in 1453, just over a quarter of a century later, the Ottomans would finally conquer the empire he had defended.
The point? One may certainly argue that Islam had no monopoly on fourteenth and fifteenth century violence—Manuel himself had to resist several attempts by members of his own family to deny him the throne. What one may not, argue, I think, is that Manuel lacked the authority or knowledge to speak about Islam. When he described efforts “to spread by the sword the faith [the Prophet] preached,” he wasn't mouthing some sort of ignorant medieval prejudice. He knew exactly what he was talking about.
Norwegian police said gunshots were fired at a synagogue in Oslo early on Sunday, the national news agency NTB reported.Oslo? Oslo??
...The Mosaic Religious Community, which owns the synagogue, had asked for better protection of its property following threats and after the site was vandalised in early August.
It is believed to be the first time in Australia, if not the world, that an individual has been charged with committing an antisemitic offence using SMS technology. The court did not release the exact content of the messages, but they are believed to be of a threatening nature.Technorati Tags: Australia and Anti-semitism
As long as the Hamas is in Gaza, and Islam is the rule there, there will only be more sectarian violence of this sort.And that could be a long, long time.
An influential Iranian cleric, Ahmad Khatami, warned that if the Pope did not apologise, the "outcry will continue until he fully regrets his remarks". He suggested "the Pope should fall on his knees in front of a senior Muslim cleric and try to understand Islam".But while trying to appease the Moslems, the Pope:
...appeared to risk causing fresh controversy during his speech yesterday when he cited a passage from St Paul that risked being interpreted as hostile - not by Muslims, but by Jews. It described the crucifixion of Jesus as a "scandal for the Jews".When this incident first started, some saw it as a major representative of the West taking a stand.
Israel offered an incentive to the Islamic militant group [Hamas] Monday, saying it will consider releasing millions of dollars and freeing Palestinian prisoners if the Palestinian government moderates itself and an Israeli soldier captured in June by Hamas-linked militants is freed.According to Haaretz:
Members of terror organizations who were released from Israeli custody after being defined as not having "blood on their hands" perpetrated 14 terror attacks in the past several years. In them, 132 Israeli civilians were killed and many others were injured, according to a report released over the weekend by the Almagor Terror Victims Association.At least Israel only said it "would consider" the release.
Salah also said that the day "was not far off" that Israeli rule over the Temple Mount would be thrown off, and Jerusalem would become the capital of a new Muslim caliphate.According to Wikipedia, the caliph is "the title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah or community of Islam".
