The Right Reaction

Walk away when Islam is shoved down your throat in a Western venue:

PASTORIUS CUTTING IN:

This Muslim man calmly tells the crowd, "I am not a madman". And then he tells them, "I am a servant of Allah, and I call you to Islam."

Here is some information from the Clarion Project about "The Call to Islam", and what happens to those who ignore it:

The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them. This obligation is compulsory because it is written in the Qur’an as a divine order.

‘Invite all to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious.’     -- Q 16:125

So, too, the inevitable consequences for those who refuse the Da’wa call to Islam are spelled out in the Qur’an:

‘Who receiveth guidance, receiveth it for his own benefit; who goeth astray doth so to his own loss…When We decide to destroy a population, We first send a definite order to those among them who are given the good things of this life and yet transgress; so that the word is proved true against them: then it is We destroy them utterly.’
-- Q 17:15-16

From these Qur’anic citations, then, it can be seen that Da’wa, the invitation to convert or submit, is preliminary to jihad. Jihad will inevitably follow Da’wa if the call to convert or submit is ignored. But only after due warning has been given are Muslim forces free to launch attacks of military conquest. 

Posts for Nov 1st: Jihadist arrested in Sweden, girls killed by Al-Shabab, Packages' plot, Italian Muslims on niqab, Suharto "national hero"?, former Dutch Jihadist denounces Jihad, Abu Bakar Bashir update

1. Sweden: police arrest suspects in terrorist bomb threat: Although the police refused to give more details, because it's an ongoing investigation, "local media reports suggested that the target had likely been a large shopping mall in the centre of the city".
2. Somalia: Al-Shabab executes two girls, town horrified. The two accused "spies" died amid a fusillade of bullets from a firing squad organized by a hardline Islamist militia. The condemned pair were only girls, aged 15 and 18, and their grieving relatives say they were uneducated, usually stayed at home and could not have spied for anyone.
3. Yemen: suspect held in connection with packages' plot, released: It seems the responsible is a Saudi national. Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, who tops a Saudi Arabian terrorism list, is the brother of a suicide bomber killed in an attempt to kill Saudi counter-terrorism chief Prince Mohammed bin Nayef last year.
4. Italy: Muslims and niqab: "Italian women go around naked. Muslim women should be covered to be pure".
5. Indonesia: Dictator Suharto to be named "national hero"? In a move that has caused consternation to human rights activists and heated debate in the country’s media, the Indonesian government is now proposing that the former dictator be formally declared a “national hero”.
6. Netherlands: prominent Jihadist recants and renounces terrorism. Jason Walters, a member of Hofstadgroep, the group whose leader was Mohammed Bouyeri, Theo van Gogh's killer, has written a letter in which he denounces the Jihadist world. "The image that the world only exists of believers and infidels, in which the latter are motivated only to destroy the former, is a childish and coarse simplification of reality,” Walters said. “It ignores the complexity and many nuances of which reality is rich”. He called on Islamists “to put down their weapons and employ other, productive methods” in order to bring about reforms instead of blaming the United States and the West. Anyone having more information on this guy?
7. Indonesia: Preacher funded terrorism in Aceh province. Radical Islamist preacher Abu Bakar Bashir allegedly raised tens of thousands of dollars to set up a training camp for militants in Indonesia’s Aceh province, a court heard on Thursday.

Lastly, a funny video:

Morocco: "Christian proselitism is terrorism", ulemas say

Image via Wikipedia

Read at El País:

7,000 Moroccan ulemas (Islamic scholars) rejected in a common message the Christian proselitism in their country and considered it even like "moral rape" and "religious terrorism" as it"tries to divert Moroccan children from their faith".

The collective text released this weekend is the last episode of the campaign by the authorities in Rabat against foreign Christians who settled in Morocco accusing them of proselytizing and trying to shake the faith of Muslims, a crime in the code Moroccan criminal.

Throughout the month of March about 70 Christians have been forced to flee the country, as calculated by the different churches, but the Moroccan Interior Ministry acknowledged only the expulsion of 16 who ran a small orphanage in Leuh Ain, in the Atlas Mountains .

The Christian victims of the decision of the Interior are all Protestants except a Franciscan who lived in Larache. It is the first Catholic ever expelled from northern Morocco, as the Archbishop of Tanger which also denies that would make proselytism. Attending to the small community of foreign Catholics in that city.

The message of the ulema expressed "full support and great pride" of those who subscribe to "the relevant historic decisions taken by the government to abort the plan hypocritical for a group of Christian proselytizing." His performance with the children, he continues, is "a moral violation, a form of religious terrorism and is equivalent to the abduction of innocent children."

"These tough decisions," the statement concluded, "reassured about the future of the national faith protected by Divine Providence that watches and on His Majesty Mohammed VI, Commander of the Faithful, as defender of the faith (...)" . The text of the scholars of Islam was spread by its highest hierarchical body, the Supreme Ulema Council chaired by the monarch.

The Archbishops of Rabat and Tangiers, the apostolic nuncio in Rabat and the official representative of Protestant churches in Morocco have demanded an explanation to the authorities on the wave of expulsions, but so far not been obtained. Some Moroccan converts to Christianity have been the victims in March, as they say, of police harassment.

At least two governments, the U.S. and the Netherlands, have criticized the measures taken by the Moroccan authorities, but not the Spanish that is currently chairing the European Union. The bulk of the expulsions were carried, however, held during the first weekend in March that was held in Granada the first summit between Morocco and the EU supported by Spain.

So, ehhm, our dear President stopped from critisizing Morocco because they were negotiating the "united economic space". Hasn't he sooo marvellous a relationship with Moroccan King? Weren't this Govt staunch defenders of Human Rights?

Oh, wait, the expelled ones were Christians...

Cross-posted at T&P.

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• In Morocco, a Crackdown on Christian Aid Workers (time.com)

Balanced over here, unhinged over there

Over on Your Freedom and Ours a thoughtful piece on the March 5 presentation of Fitna and subsequent press conference by Geert Wilders, Lord Pearson of Rannoch and Baroness Cox.

Particularly interesting (to foreign readers, but perhaps also to Dutch readers) is the section on Wilders' intended policies, of which we hear far too little, as Helen notes as well:

What are Mr Wilders’s policies? It’s worth asking that question since you will never find out the answer from the main-stream media whose denizens consider the state of Mr Wilders’s hair far more important.

All in all, of you want a short concise introduction to the political views of Geert Wilders, or a proper report on the press conference, head on over.

Elsewhere, some prominent US conservatives have decided that Europe's re-emerging self-esteem is somehow a prelude to a Europe-wide take-over by fascists. Glenn Beck is the most notable. But, as GoV points out, Charles Krauthammer and Bill Kristol have also joined this mad dash into little green insanity.

Or is there something more sinister going on? Several commenters made the observation that Fox is owned, in part, by Prince bin Talal of Saudi Arabia. This may have something to do with Fox actively fighting (and mis-labelling) criticism of islam and muslims. As remembered by Walid Shoebat:

He himself (Prince bin Talal) said, ‘I just had to make a phone call to [tell them to] stop using the word Muslim’ regarding the rioting in France,” Mr. Shoebad notes. “Bill O’Reilly says to Ibrahim Hooper, the head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), that he is an upstanding citizen. Since when was the head of CAIR an upstanding citizen?

Beck's interview with Geert Wilders has been taken down. But what were these Mr. Beck? Just empty words? Or are you selling out your friends and comrades in arms for a few measly pieces of silver? What are you, Mr. Beck?

[UPDATE001] Mark Steyn has his take on the situation here.

Wilders does not need to be lectured condescendingly about distinctions within Islam, because he lives with them every day.

Ouch! So true, but... Ouch!

(cross posted from Klein Verzet)

Teach your children well

From De Dagelijkse Standaard (NL) this delightful item: In the upcoming local elections (March 3) a party calling itself Islam Democrats will compete for city council seats in The Hague. Heading the list of candidates (NL) for ID The Hague is one Dilaver Delikaya.

This character of course has his own social network page. On Hyves as it happens. On his page he has placed some pictures of family life in the Delikaya household. Particularly striking is the picture of ‘Muhamed Gangsta’, reproduced on the right. But there are other, equally quaint pictures here and here.

How old are these little ones? Seven, eight maybe? And how did they come up with the idea of striking these particular poses for the camera of Mr. Delikaya? And what is the message that Delikaya is trying to convey with these pictures?

Why should we allow a character like Mr. Delikaya to foul the political scene in The Hague with his presence? And lastly: Why isn't Mrs. Els Lucas pressing charges for 'incitement to hatred and violence'?

Questions... question...

[UPDATE001] Unfortunately, the pictures were already removed by the time I saw the DDS item. Links to the pictures are from a mirror provided by DDS. MSM reporting by the Algemeen Dagblad here (NL).

[UPDATE002] More on this on the NewsReal.

(cross posted from Klein Verzet)

A Victory For Freedom

In the Netherlands, they've had a blasphemy law on the books since the 1930's. Muslim immigrants started using those laws to censor speech and writings critical of Islam's political, totalitarian, and suppressive teachings.

So the Dutch government repealed the blasphemy laws on November 1st, 2008. Religious criticism is a legitimate activity in a free country.

You can read more about this important victory here: Blasphemy Law Dropped in Netherlands. Here are a few excerpts from the article:

Blasphemy will no longer be a crime in the Netherlands, the Dutch government announced last week. On Nov 1 Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin said the country’s coalition government would repeal a 1930s blasphemy law in favor of strengthening the current anti-discrimination legislation.

Religion not be given a privileged place above free speech.

The push to reform the blasphemy laws comes in response to heightened tensions with the Netherland’s Muslim minority. Criticism of Islamists and Islam by comedians, cartoonists, filmmakers and politicians has led to threats of prosecution for offending Muslim sensibilities.

Tariq Ramadan appointed professor of Islamology

Froms NIS News, without further comment.

THE HAGUE, 07/11/07 - Tariq Ramadan is to hold the Sultan of Oman chair of Islamology at the University of Leiden[, the Netherlands]. Education and Culture Minister Ronald Plasterk said yesterday in the [Dutch] Lower House that he does not object to Ramadan's appointment.

The Party for Freedom (PVV) complained that "the sultan of an Islamo-fascist dictatorial state" is paying 2.5 million euros to win influence at a Dutch university. PVV MP Bosma added that Ramadan does not reject stoning of women and wants to destroy Israel. The conservatives (VVD) also suggested that Ramadan poses a risk to national security.

But Plasterk was unimpressed: "We live in a free country. (...) I have no judgement on the university's selection methods", said the Labour (PvdA) minister. "As far as I know Ramadan does reject the stoning of women", said Plasterk, who in addition called him an "interesting" man.

De Volkskrant had reported yesterday morning that Ramadan was selected from 40 candidates for the chair financed by Oman. Ramadan will mainly focus on the position of Muslims in Western Europe and will start his work in the summer months. In Leiden, he will also be involved with the training of Imams in the Netherlands that the cabinet wants to develop. "The arrival of the scholarly Muslim is expected to lead to great - also international - interest in the Islam course in Leiden and in the debate on Islam in the Netherlands," De Volkskrant predicted.

According to the newspaper, Ramadan is one of the world's best-known Muslim theologians. "Ramadan, who speaks fluent French, English and Arabic, is intellectually gifted and has great charisma. He is a role model for Muslim youngsters who favour integration, stick to their Islamic identity and reject radical Salafist ideas," De Volkskrant believes.

De Volkskrant did add that "opponents of Ramadan call him a wolf in sheep's clothing." The grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hasan al-Banna, "has the reputation of being a modern, moderate Muslim, though critics say he has a double agenda. His texts in Western languages are more moderate than those in Arabic, the criticism runs. He also is said to have distanced himself insufficiently from terrorist acts, by showing sympathy for their background."