Monday 30 June 2014

OCN Interviews on Boko Haram, Meriam Ibrahim, and ISIS

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Fr Chris Metropulos and I cover some of the most urgent news of Orthodoxy and Islam, the Global Jihad, and Muslim Persecution of Christians:

1. Orthodoxy and Islam: Boko Haram
By Fr. Chris Metropulos in OCN Now Radio  Islamic militant group Boko Haram has kidnapped hundreds of Nigerian girls, killed masses of civilians, and called for Muslims around the world to �kill, kill, kill.� Ralph Sidway updates us on the group�s atrocities, discusses how it relates to other Islamic terrorist groups, and asks how they are receiving funding to continue.
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2. Orthodoxy and Islam: Meriam Ibrahim
By Fr. Chris Metropulos in OCN Now Radio  Join Ralph Sidway and Fr. Chris as they discuss Meriam Ibrahim � the Sudanese Christian woman who was condemned to be lashed 100 times and then executed. Hear about the developments in her situation, the danger she faces from honor killings, and what her story can teach us.
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3. Orthodoxy and Islam: ISIS
By Fr. Chris Metropulos in OCN Now Radio � ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) has declared its plan to take over large territories in the Middle East. Ralph Sidway offers a crash course on this Islamic terrorist group. Who are they? How has the group developed? Who are they targeting and is the US in danger?
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The West is Alienated from Christ and Therefore Intolerant

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Orthodox England Blog � June 5, 2014

Many people worldwide have been amazed at the Western indifference and even hostility to the plight of massacred and fleeing Christians in Serbia, Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Syria and now in the Ukraine. There, 55,000 refugees have fled to Russia in the last 24 hours from the devilish massacres by foreign mercenaries of the Christian people of the Ukraine. The neo-Nazi junta in Kiev, under strict Western control, sends in tanks, murders and maims Christians, refusing to talk to its own people.

Where do this intolerance and hatred for Christianity come from? Surely the West supports Christianity? It used to. 

And why does President Obama meddle in the UK�s possible decision to leave the atheist EU and Scotland�s possible decision to leave the atheist UK? Why does he threaten and intimidate even Western peoples? Where does this bullying arrogance come from? These riddles have today been answered by the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov.

As reported by the Interfax Religion agency and the sedmitza.ru website, the Russian Orthodox Foreign Minister considers that the West has become antagonistic to Russia because of its return to the Church of Christ. He noted the Russian amazement that the West still equates the Russian Federation with the atheist Soviet Union, whereas �the new Russia is returning to traditional spiritual values, rooted in Orthodoxy�.


At the same time, he noted that the ever clearer contradiction �between the multipolarity of the world which can be objectively affirmed, and the desire of the USA and the historic West to hang on to their habitual positions of domination, the ever clearer contradiction between the cultural and civilizational diversity of the contemporary world and attempts to foist Western values on everyone�. He added that the West �is increasingly breaking away from its own Christian roots and is less and less receptive to the religious feelings of people of other confessions�.

ISIS Shortens Name, Expands Claim to Worldwide Caliphate

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"Islamic State" issues call for global Muslim allegiance, declares all other Muslim states "null":
"It is incumbent upon all Muslims to pledge allegiance to (him) and support him...The legality of all emirates, groups, states, and organizations, becomes null by the expansion of the khalifah�s authority and arrival of its troops to their areas."

See my earlier post on this ominous development. For all articles related to ISIS/ISIL, see here.

After Iraq Gains, Qaeda Offshoot claims Islamic 'Caliphate'
Pravoslavie � June 29, 2014



(REUTERS) An offshoot of al Qaeda which has seized territory in Iraq and Syria has declared itself an Islamic "caliphate" and called on factions worldwide to pledge their allegiance, a statement posted on Islamist websites and Twitter said on Sunday. 

The move poses a direct challenge to the central leadership of al Qaeda, which has disowned it, and to conservative Gulf Arab rulers who already view the group as a security threat. 

"He is the imam and khalifah (Caliph) for the Muslims everywhere..."

The group, previously known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and also known as ISIS, has renamed itself "Islamic State" and proclaimed its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as "Caliph" - the head of the state, the statement said. 

"He is the imam and khalifah (Caliph) for the Muslims everywhere," the group's spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani said in the statement, which was translated into several languages and read out in an Arabic audio speech. 

"Accordingly, the "Iraq and Sham" (Levant) in the name of the Islamic State is henceforth removed from all official deliberations and communications, and the official name is the Islamic State from the date of this declaration," he said. 

The Sunni Muslim militant group follows al Qaeda's hard-line ideology but draws its strength from foreign fighters battle-hardened from Iraq. 

It seeks to re-create a medieval-style caliphate erasing borders from the Mediterranean to the Gulf. It deems Shi'ite Muslims to be heretics deserving death. 

[And it deems Christians infidels, kuffar, to be given the three choices: convert to Islam, or submit to Islamic rule as second-class dhimmis paying the jizya poll tax and following all the demeaning rules designed to humiliate the Christians, or face the sword and death.]

"It is incumbent upon all Muslims to pledge allegiance to (him) and support him...The legality of all emirates, groups, states, and organizations, becomes null by the expansion of the khalifah�s authority and arrival of its troops to their areas," the statement said. 

Fighters from the group overran the Iraqi city of Mosul last month in a lightning action and have advanced towards Baghdad. In Syria they have captured territory in the north and east, along the frontier with Iraq. 

In Syria, the group has alienated many civilians and opposition activists by imposing harsh rulings against dissent, even beheading and crucifying opponents, in areas it controls. In Iraq it has been accused by rights groups of carrying out mass executions in the northern city of Tikrit and in Lebanon the group claimed a suicide attack at a hotel on Wednesday. 

"The announcement that [Islamic State] has restored the Caliphate is the most significant development in international jihadism since 9/11..."

"Whatever judgments are made in terms of its legitimacy, (the) announcement that it has restored the Caliphate is likely the most significant development in international jihadism since 9/11," said Charles Lister, Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Doha Center. 

"The impact of this announcement will be global as al Qaeda affiliates and independent jihadist groups must now definitively choose to support and join the Islamic State or to oppose it." 

GULF REACTION 

Gulf Arab states such as Saudi Arabia are likely to be alarmed by the open declaration of a caliphate that challenges their power and the dynastic system on which it rests. Saudi Arabia fought al Qaeda militants for several years, finally crushing their campaign in 2006. 

"Gulf rulers will view the statement as evidence that the organization poses a grave external threat to their stability," said Kristian Ulrichsen, Gulf expert at the U.S-based Baker Institute. 

They will could also use it to defend themselves against any Western accusations they have been providing material and logistical support to the group by arguing that they stand in the front line against it, he added. 

But some dismissed the idea that this would have a significant effect on the Gulf region.

"It might sound good to some circles who always have this dream of an Islamic state of a sort, but we all know that this Baghdadi, ISIL, they are not the kind of entities that could bring back the Islamic state," said Emirati political scientist Abdulkhaleq Abdullah. 

"This guy (Baghdadi) doesn't have one iota of the credibility and credentials that (Osama) bin Laden had," he said, referring to al Qaeda's late leader. 

The group crucified eight rival rebel fighters in Syria, a monitoring group said on Sunday, and it has frequently fought against al Qaeda's Syrian wing and other armed Islamist groups. 

Such infighting has killed around 7,000 people in the country so far this year and complicated the three-year uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.


Persecuted Christians in Iraq look to Putin as an Unlikely Ally

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Not really unlikely at all, as this article indicates towards its conclusion, and as I wrote about here last Summer in my article, Resurgent Russia: The Hope of Persecuted Christians.

by Kate O'Hare, Breitbart News � June 29, 2014

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Frequently cited as an old Arabic saying, this oft-quoted phrase more likely came out of India, in a 4th century treatise on military strategy written in Sanskrit. But whatever its origin, it reflects a universal human phenomenon: in desperate times, a friend is one willing to stand with you against your enemy, regardless of that friend's own history or former inclinations.

A post Sunday in The Daily Beast, titled "Iraq's Christians See Putin as Savior," points up the calamitous situation of the followers of Jesus in what is now Iraq, under siege from the Islamist militant group known as ISIS. In droves, Christians have been fleeing the first major city to fall to ISIS, Mosul, and the irony is thick on the ground.

Mosul is the capital of Nineveh province, and the modern city has spread across the Tigris River to encompass areas on the opposite bank, formerly the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh. In Rudyard Kipling's 1897 poem/prayer "Recessional," written to mark Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, he begs the Almighty to remain with England, lest it forget Christ's sacrifice and fade away like other great empires.

He wrote, "Lo, all our pomp of yesterday / Is one with Nineveh and Tyre / Judge of the Nations, spare us yet / Lest we forget � lest we forget!"

Forgetting is one charge leveled at the West by some Christians in Iraq, who believe they have been abandoned in the West's geopolitical gamesmanship focused largely on warring Islamic factions in the region, which target Christians as brutally as they target each other.

Although Christians in general, and especially Catholics, were widely and savagely persecuted in the militantly atheistic Soviet Union, the collapse of Communism saw a swift change in attitudes, at least in public. Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Communist leader of the former Soviet Union, baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church, traveled to Assisi, Italy, in 2008. Rejecting his previous stance as an atheist, he proclaimed himself a Christian and knelt in prayer before the tomb of St. Francis, whom Gorbachev described as "the alter Christus, the other Christ."

Russia's current leader, Vladimir Putin, a former KGB agent, also was baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church. He made a great show of piety 20to meet with Pope Francis, and he has found a strong ally in Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The pontiff has made many overtures to Orthodox leader Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, most recently including him as a guest of honor in a multifaith prayer service in the Vatican Gardens, and this greeting in the June 29 homily during Mass at St. Peter's Basilica:

On this Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, the principal patrons of Rome, we welcome with joy and gratitude the delegation sent by the Ecumenical Patriarch, our venerable and beloved brother Bartholomaios, and led by Metropolitan Ioannis. Let us ask the Lord that this visit too may strengthen our fraternal bonds as we journey toward this full communion between the two Sister Churches which we so greatly desire.

However, the Ecumenical Patriarch is not the pope of the Orthodox Churches, which are self-governing, and Patriarch Kirill is not required, nor inclined, to follow his lead. Holding to the notion of Moscow as the "third Rome," popular at least since the 16th century, Kirill has made a political and religious alliance with Putin, with each bolstering the power of the other.

As most recently seen in the protests by Pussy Riot and by pro-gay activists leading up to the Sochi Olympics, Putin's Russia has declared itself a foe of the West's perceived march to hedonism, rampant consumerism, immorality, and functional atheism.

Putin found no less an ally in this than former GOP presidential candidate and fiery pundit Pat Buchanan, who wrote an April op-ed for Human Events which declared, "Putin is planting Russia's flag firmly on the side of traditional Christianity."

Against the backdrop of all of this, there is the perception that the West is indifferent to the plight of Mideast Christians, or, at best, is slow to respond to help Christians being deprived of rights, tortured, and killed in Syria, Nigeria, Iraq, Egypt, and other parts of the Middle East.

In response, the ancient Christian populations of these areas � which existed for centuries before there even was an Islam � are turning from London, Paris, and Washington, D.C., to Moscow in hopes of finding someone who will come down strongly in their defense.

In a May 9 essay in Forbes, contributor Melik Kaylan writes, "Putin and Assad have maneuvered to become the explicit protectors of Eastern Christianity in situ. Moscow is back as their shield and Orthodoxy's patron... As the U.S. and Europe are too tangled up in ideological confusion and contradictory goals to step into the breach, we furnish Moscow with easy triumphs in this area as in so many others."

"The West is not Christian," Chaldean Church official Aziz Emmanuel al-Zebari of the Iraqi city of Erbil told The Daily Beast. "They destroyed us by installing a government based on Islamic sects in which we have [no] place."

Of Russia, he said, "They've always stood up for Christians. I'm sure they'd do more for us in our ancestral lands."

As Breitbart News reported, al-Zebari may have a point; Russia was already committing to delivering fighter jets to bolster the Iraqi air force at a time when U.S. philosophy centered on asking the Iraqi government to "step up to the plate" and be "inclusive."


If anyone is going to do anything, they'd better do it soon, since Christian populations that are able to escape slaughter and imprisonment are fleeing their indigenous homelands at an alarming rate.

No discrimination between man and woman?

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"Islam is the religion which gives woman highest level of priority in her life which she actually deserves. There is no discrimination of man and woman in Islam.

And their Lord responded to them, "Never will I allow to be lost the work of [any] worker among you, whether male or female; you are of one another. [3:195]

This verse clearly shows no discrimination between man and woman. But regretfully the leader of Islamic society who are known as scholars are contributing in such concepts which only oppress a woman from her real rights which is given by Allah and never be un-declared by Prophet Muhammad. 

Some Hadith source might show you women were oppressed like woman beating or slave sex concept where 1st wife would have to see her husband�s romance with slave without marriage or the polygamy concept where no special condition is necessary or the concept of wife can�t refuse her man�s call for intercourse in anyway (even she is sick too or passing in bad mode too) or women are source of fitna etc. Can you believe these are authentic hadith proclaimed by Prophet Muhammad? No other words beside Quran could be authentic in 100 %. These are all fabricated hadith where really a woman is oppressed!! After Prophet�s death People who were in support of woman oppression (as it is a law of society) mixed their own words with his noble words and made this hadith where a man is shown as superior to woman.

But if you really look in Quran word�s (direct translation of the verses) nowhere you will find such conditions. Allah says in verse 2:228 that man and woman have similar rights over them. 
What is less from man a woman is only the physical structure, woman are weaker than man. This weakness is only for the pleasure of carnal relationship between man and woman. For the strength of man which more than woman, Allah also gives the man more trials than us in the same verse �But the men have a degree over them, women� which means man are responsible for financial activity and also for giving their wives pleasure in every possible way and also they will be protector of their women in verse 4;34.

Now some Islamic website and scholars held their opinion basing on some fabricated hadith and by some wrong interpretation of quranic words in chance of woman persecution, that Polygamy can be practiced for lust only by offering it to a younger woman. Which is the wrong concept of islam they are delivering to people. Allah in Quran 4:3 told �With respect to marrying widows, if you are afraid of not being able to maintain justice with her children, marry another woman of your choice or two or three or four (who have no children). If you cannot maintain equality with more than one wife, marry only one or your slave-girl. This keeps you from acting against justice�. Where it is clear plural marriage can be practiced only then when a man will be able to sacrifice his boundless love for his 1st wife because of humanity to give protection another woman who is widow and has orphan child. If he can�t take care of her orphan child then he should marry that woman who has no child. Now, the possibility of childless woman only goes to a woman who is widow or divorced not a younger wife. Or he can marry his slaves (for giving her freedom). So, all of the points for polygamy are only for humanity, not for lust. And also about permission of 1st wife Allah clearly denotes in 4:19 not to make any difficulty in his wife�s life to those services which he can deliver her. The service is not only confined in mahr but also in love/sex/passion. Now if a man gets married 2nd time without 1st wife�s permission will not it create difficulty in her life? 

And also For loving 1st wife more than other wives whom they marry for humanity, they will not be accused in Allah�s eye as per the verse 4:129, only they need to serve them equally in other services except love which will only be for the 1st wife whom he married for love or sexual desire.

And also on slave sex which is proclaimed by Islamic mollahs are also a wrongful or lustful thought by contributing themselves in a belief man need more than 4 women in their life, so they are permitted to take infinite number of women in bed as concubines from slaves. This is the most hateful speech of them which conflict with quran. But in Quran verse 23:5-6 Allah told by noble word �right hand possess� to those female slaves who are attached to you wedlock or who are legally your wives from your slaves.
According to their thought Allah prepared beautiful hoor only for them, men in jannah as their lust is infinite or they are not satisfied with the number of women whom they get in duniya (including 4 wives and many concubines), But women will not get any hoor in jannah. Do u really think allah can discriminate in giving gifts to the believers (men and women) who will get jannah?? Or Allah can grow the attitude in man�s mind not to be chaste-full but to be lustful?
What actually quran says hoor is both for man and woman. Al-Ahzab verse 35,

�Surely the men who submit and the women who submit, and the believing men and the believing women, and the obeying men and the obeying women, and the truthful men and the truthful women, and the patient men and the patient women, and the humble men and he humble women, and the charitable men and the charitable women, and the fasting men and the fasting women, and the men who guard their chastity and women who guard their chastity, and the men who remember Allah much and the women who remember � Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a mighty reward.�
And also in quran 2:282 Allah told for adding 1 man with two women in case of financial witness. Here Allah doesn�t show woman are less intelligent/less dutiful. But here Allah told to guard those women from any danger by adding a man with them, from which they will not be able to protect as they are physically weaker than men. 
And also about the inheritance woman also have the right to get equal property as man in some circumstances too. 

(http://www.quran-islam.org/articles/part_3/writing_a_will_(P1413).html)
And also about beating wife: Quran never uses word for beating wife. 
(http://quransmessage.com/articles/a%20deeper%20look%20at%20the%20word%20dharaba%20FM3.htm)

- Farhana Hossain (Bangladesh)"


Taken from Muslim Feminists page on Facebook  

For  full comment pls see http://muslimfeminist587.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/islam-feminist.html
 

Sunday 29 June 2014

ISIS/ISIL declares Islamic State, shortens name to �The Islamic State� (IS)

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For in-depth background on ISIS, their bloody persecution of Christians, and how they have come to prominence, see here.

Jihad Watch � June 29, 2014
Introductory comments by Robert Spencer.

They clearly intend to hold the territory they have captured. They�ve also declared Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi the new caliph; he claims to be a descendant of Muhammad, so it is possible that if they can make their state viable, this claim will gain currency. If that happens, it will be interesting to see how Muslims in the West react to the idea that he is the �leader for Muslims everywhere,� which historically was always a claim of the caliph.

�ISIS declares creation of Islamic state in Middle East, shortens name to �IS,�� RT, June 29, 2014:

ISIS jihadists have declared the captured territories from Iraq�s Diyala province to Syria�s Aleppo a new Islamic State � a �caliphate.� They removed �Iraq and the Levant� from their name and urged other radical Sunni groups to pledge their allegiance.

ISIS announced that it should now be called �The Islamic State� and declared its chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as �the caliph� of the new state and �leader for Muslims everywhere,� the radical Sunni militant group said in an audio recording distributed online on Sunday.

This is the first time since the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1923 that a Caliph � which means a political successor to Prophet Muhammad � has been declared. The decision was made following the group�s Shura Council meeting on Sunday, according to ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani.


The new Islamic State has marked its borders, spanning the territory captured by the group in a bloody rampage, from Iraq�s volatile Diyala province to Syria�s war-torn Aleppo.


Saturday 28 June 2014

20 Mind Blowing Ramadan Photos 2014

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Tonight billions of Muslims have welcomed the Ramadan Kareem by seeing the moon and offering First Taraweeh Including Saudi Arabia and many will do it tomorrow night in Pakistan and India. In Ramadan we witness some amazing scenes which are not witnessed in other months normally. More people praying, decorations, families eating together, deserving people getting helped. Ramadan parties and much more.

I have collected 20 awesome Ramadan Photos which will touch your heart:






















Watch Ramadan Taraweeh 2014 Live Online

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Ramadan 2014 Live Taraweeh from Makkah: Holy Month of Ramadan is starting tomorrow. All the Muslims are really excited to welcome the blessed month. Its a month in Which Muslims fasts, pray and try to as much good deeds as possible. In Ramadan a specially prayer called Taraweeh Or Tarawih is also offered everyday after Isha prayer in which Holy Quran is read. Reading Taraweeh is not compulsory as its not a fard but reading it is a great virtue and increases the Taqwa.

On some places 8 Rakaat of Taraweeh are offered which some offer 20 and some even 12. During Ramadan Tarawih is also offered in Masjid Al Haram and Masjid Al Nabwi.

You can watch Live streaming of Ramadan Taraweeh 2014  Online here from Masjid Al Haram:



Youtube

Friday 27 June 2014

Intel Official: Americans Have Joined Militant Group ISIS

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Muslims from America, Canada, England, Europe and Australia are joining the jihad. This raises several urgent questions:

  • Why are American Muslims inspired to travel to the Middle East to join ISIS and the jihad to create a new Islamic caliphate?
  • Why are American Muslims swearing their allegiance to an Islamic jihadist group waging open persecution against Christians?
  • Should they be allowed to return to the U.S. after swearing their allegiance to an Islamic jihadist organization?
  • What does this phenomenon tell us about Islam?


Related:




The Goal of ISIS: A renewed Islamic Caliphate

ERBIL, Iraq (CBS News/CBSDC/AP) � The Sunni militant group in Iraq is a force roughly 3,000 strong and includes some Americans, a senior intelligence official told CBS News on Tuesday.

The majority of fighters in the group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, are of Iraqi and Syrian origin.

In all, up to 10,000 are fighting with the group, 3,000 in Iraq and another 7,000 in Syria, the intelligence official said. Between 3,000 and 5,000 are foreigners, though how many of those are in Iraq is difficult to assess.

The fighters view Syria and Iraq as one battlefield and have been able to move swiftly inside Iraq with the help of local Sunnis, ties the intelligence official described as more of a �relationship of convenience� than a formal alliance.

The official said the group, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, was well-positioned to keep the territory that it has captured but would be stretched thin if it tried to push south into Baghdad. It has intentions to target U.S. interests, the official said.

Its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, rose through the ranks of the organization before becoming emir some time in 2010-2011. The group relies on a handful of senior decision makers, but al-Baghdadi has the final word, according to the intelligence official. Most of its funding comes via robbery, extortion and smuggling, with a small percentage coming from donations.

Meanwhile, Iraq�s top Kurdish leader warned visiting Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday that a rapid Sunni insurgent advance has already created �a new reality and a new Iraq,� signaling that the U.S. faces major difficulties in its efforts to promote unity among the country�s divided factions.

The U.N., meanwhile, said more than 1,000 people, most civilians, have been killed in Iraq so far this month, the highest death toll since the U.S. military withdrew from the country in December 2011.

Massoud Barzani, whose powerful minority bloc has long functioned as kingmaker in Iraqi politics, did not directly mention Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is facing the strongest challenge to his rule since he assumed power in 2006. But al-Maliki has made little effort beyond rhetoric to win the trust of his critics, who are led by disaffected Sunnis, Kurds and even several former Shiite allies.

Instead the Kurds have deployed their own well-trained security forces known as peshmerga and seized long-coveted ground of their own in the name of defending it from the al Qaeda breakaway group and other Sunni insurgents who have swept through the north. The Kurds are unlikely to give up that territory, including the disputed oil-rich city of Kirkuk, regardless of the status of the fighting.

Al-Maliki has been entirely focused on the security situation, spending hours each day in the main military command center, rather than politics, officials close to his inner circle say, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren�t authorized to release such details. Despite the attention, Iraq�s mainly Shiite security forces have failed to wage any successful counteroffensives against the insurgents.

A weeklong fight for control of Iraq�s largest oil refinery continued Tuesday with helicopter gunships attacking what appeared to be formations of Sunni militants preparing for another assault on the facility in Beiji, a top military official said.

Chief military spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi has denied reports that the facility has fallen to the rebels.

Government air forces also reportedly bombed the town of Qaim near the Syrian border on Tuesday, days after it was seized by Islamic extremists in Anbar province, west of Baghdad. Provincial government spokesman Dhari al-Rishawi said 17 civilians were killed.

Kerry traveled to Erbil, the capital of the self-rule Kurdish region on Tuesday, a day after meeting with al-Maliki and other Iraqi officials in Baghdad, where he pushed for them to adopt new policies that would give more authority to Iraq�s minority Sunnis and Kurds.

Kerry said after the Baghdad meetings that all the leaders agreed to start the process of seating a new parliament by July 1, which will advance a constitutionally required timetable for naming a president, prime minister and a new cabinet. Al-Maliki�s political bloc won the most seats in parliamentary elections in April but must assemble a majority coalition in the legislature in order to secure a third term for the Shiite leader.

Kerry has repeatedly said that it�s up to Iraqis � not the U.S. or other nations � to select their leaders. But he also has noted bitterness and growing impatience among all of Iraq�s major sects and ethnic groups with al-Maliki�s government.

Barzani�s support will be crucial for resolving the political impasse because Kurds represent about 20 percent of Iraq�s population and usually vote as a unified bloc.

He told Kerry that Kurds are seeking �a solution for the crisis that we have witnessed.� But, he said, �we are facing a new reality and a new Iraq.�

Barzani did not elaborate, but he was apparently referring to the Kurds now controlling Kirkuk and other areas in northern Iraq that they have long sought to incorporate into their region.

Kerry said at the start of an hour-long meeting that the Kurdish security forces have been �really critical� in helping restrain the insurgents.

�This is a very critical time for Iraq, and the government formation challenge is the central challenge that we face,� Kerry said. He said Iraqi leaders must �produce the broad-based, inclusive government that all the Iraqis I have talked to are demanding.�

The U.S. believes a new power-sharing agreement in Baghdad would soothe anger directed at the majority Shiite government, a rage that is thought to have fueled the ongoing insurgency. Iraq�s population is about 60 percent Shiite Muslim, whose leaders rose to power with U.S. help after the 2003 fall of former President Saddam Hussein and his Sunni-dominated regime.

Two senior State Department officials who attended the meeting said Kerry pre-emptively brought up the issue of the Kurdish region�s �self-determination� � its years-long desire to create an independent state � and told Barzani that Iraq will remain stronger if it is united. They spoke on condition of anonymity in exchange for releasing the details of the private meeting.

Iraqi Kurds had no love for Saddam, and were allowed to carve out a semi-autonomous region in Iraq�s north to protect themselves from his policies. But Barzani for years has feuded with al-Maliki, most recently over the Kurdish regional government�s decision to export oil through Turkey without giving Baghdad its required share of the revenues.

The Kurdish region is home to several vast oil fields and has enjoyed security and economic stability unmatched across the rest of the Iraq.

Control of Kirkuk and Kurdish pockets elsewhere in northern Iraq has been at the heart of tension between the Kurdish region and the Baghdad government. Al-Maliki�s supporters frequently suggest that the Kurds did nothing as the Sunni militants swept through most areas in the north because they stood to gain from chaos in the region. The Kurds have insisted they moved to Kirkuk and other areas to fill a security vacuum.

Al-Maliki has for months requested U.S. military help to quell the insurgency, and the Obama administration has said it must respond to the insurgent threat before it puts the West at risk of attack.

Obama is reluctant to send American military might back to the war zone, although U.S. special forces have been ordered to Baghdad to train and advise Iraqi counter-terror soldiers.

The U.N. findings were the first concrete sign of the toll the chaos is taking on civilians and Iraqi security forces.

Its team reported at least 1,075 people killed, including 757 civilians in the Ninevah, Diyala and Salahuddin provinces in northern and central Iraq, from June 5 through Sunday.

U.N. human rights office spokesman Rupert Colville cautioned however that the figure �should be viewed very much as a minimum,� and said it included �summary executions� and extra-judicial killings of civilians, police and soldiers who had signaled that they were no longer combatants.

In violence Tuesday, assailants killed Munir al-Qafili, the head of the Kirkuk city council and a politically active member of the Turkmen minority group, police chief Torhan Abdul-Rahim said. It was the first such attack since Kurdish forces seized control of the city.

West of Baghdad, authorities found the bodies of 12 policemen killed as militants seized the Anbar town of Rutba this weekend. Militants also stole at least 6 billion Iraqi dinars, about $5 million, from the town�s state-run bank, the authorities said, declining to be identified because they were afraid of retaliation by the militants.


The bodies of three men who were shot in the head and chest and had their hands and legs bound also were found on the streets of three Shiite neighborhoods in and around Baghdad, according to police and hospital officials.

Sen. Rand Paul: 'American power, if it is to have value in the world, must be used as a force against persecution...'

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"Our aid money should never go to countries that persecute women or Christians... Not one dime."

RAND PAUL CALLS FOR CUTTING AID TO PAKISTAN OVER PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS, WOMEN
by Frances Martel, Breitbart News � June 25, 2015

Sen. Rand Paul called for an end to American foreign aid to Pakistan in the name of both persecuted young women and the many Christians forced to face the threat of violence and oppression in the country. Before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee, Sen. Paul named several examples of women suffering for their gender and faith.

Citing the globally acclaimed Malala Yousafzai as an example of the struggles women must face in demanding education and equality in that nation, Sen. Paul noted that no woman in Pakistan who seeks education is safe, thanks to the threat of the Taliban.

Christians, too, are in danger. Sen. Paul noted the case of Asia Bibi, a woman convicted and sentenced to death for being a Christian. Bibi allegedly insulted the Prophet Muhammad after being stoned, dragged through streets, and threatened with death while visiting a Muslim well. The insult landed her on death row. 

"According to her co-workers, she insulted the Prophet. In our country, we refer to such quibbling as gossip. In Pakistan, if you are a Christian, it can land you on death row," Sen. Paul noted.

The United States has a moral imperative not to sponsor such human rights violations, the Senator argued. "Many countries that receive U.S. foreign aid have laws that officially discriminate against Christians. Persecution of women is wrong. Persecution of Christians is wrong. Persecution of women or Christians in the name of religion must be stood up to," he concluded, adding, "American power, if it is to have value in the world, must be used as a force against persecution. Our aid money, for example, should never go to countries that persecute women or Christians, not one dime."

Persecution of Christians in Pakistan has been on the rise in recent years. In April, reports circulated that up to 700 Christian women were forced to convert to Islam and marry in the country. A report by the Fides agency Solidarity and Peace Movement claimed that same number of women were being forced to convert and marry every year.

Not only Christian women are the targets of violence. Last September, a Christian congregation in the city of Peshawar was all but eliminated after a suicide bomb struck their church, killing 75 Christians of the 500-600 estimated to be in attendance for services that day. The incident earned the Pakistani government particular scorn due to the lack of law enforcement or security surrounding the church.

More, with video of Senator Paul's remarks, here.


Thursday 26 June 2014

Beautiful Views of Gaza

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we only see bad news about the Gaza and Palestine In the International media like bombs falling and Innocent people dying. Gaza is known as a place of sorrow and darkness and there is no good spot to visit. But the perception is not right. There are many good places in Gaza as well that are worth watching.

We are going to show you some beautiful views of Gaza which you have never seen before.











See do you agree with me now that Gaza has many beautiful places as well? or not?

Omaha�s Tri-Faith Initiative Mirrors �Pact of Umar�

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by Joe Herring and Dr. Mark Christian

For those of you unfamiliar with Islamic history, Umar bin al-Khattab � the second Islamic Caliph � made an agreement with the subjugated Christians of Syria setting forth the conditions under which said Christians would be permitted to live in proximity to the conquering Muslims.

This Pact of Umar is the origination of the concept of dhimmitude, a dehumanizing status belonging to subjugated non-Muslims in Islamist societies.

The translation I have re-produced below comes from the stellar book by Raymond Ibrahim, titled Crucified Again.

In return for their lives, the Christians agreed:

  • Not to build a church in our city�nor a monastery, convent, or monk�s cell in the surrounding areas�and not to repair those that fall in ruins or are in Muslim quarters;
  • Not to clang our cymbals except lightly and from the innermost recesses of our churches;
  • Not to display a cross on them [churches], nor raise our voices during prayer or readings in our churches anywhere near Muslims;
  • Not to produce a cross or [Christian] book in the markets of the Muslims;
  • Not to congregate in the open for Easter or Palm Sunday, nor lift our voices [in lamentation] for our dead nor show our firelights with them near the market places of the Muslims;
  • Not to display any signs of polytheism, nor make our religion appealing, nor call or proselytize anyone to it;
  • Not to prevent any of our relatives who wish to enter into Islam;
  • Not to possess or bear any arms whatsoever, nor gird ourselves with swords;
  • To honor the Muslims, show them the way, and rise up from our seats if they wish to sit down;


Adhere to these conditions and live. Break these conditions and all bets are off. While this pact was made in the early 7th Century, it is still considered relevant today as evidenced by its widespread application throughout the Middle East.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) certainly considers these conditions to be quite pertinent to the present-day conduct of interfaith relations. They are enforcing the conditions on the Christian residents of Syria, in addition to the regions they have recently conquered in Iraq.

According to the BBC, ISIS offers a heck of a deal � you must convert to Islam or if you remain Christian, you must accept dhimmi status and pay the jizya, (a tax for non-Muslims only) or� you can just be put to the sword.

As wildly enticing as the first or third choices may appear, most opt for door number two and live out their lives as second-class subjects. This is the hard-tyranny of Islamic supremacy. The inherently political and social nature of Islam and Sharia leave no room for other forms of intersection between believers and unbelievers.

This hard-tyranny is the hallmark of the Caliphate system. Freedom is an unknown concept; liberty is blasphemy in a system that crushes the individual into mortar paste for the building of greater Islam.

The global left views the advent of a new Caliphate as something akin to an Islamic version of the European Union, an economic and political alliance designed to trade with the rest of the world on an equal footing. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Caliphate is a means toward an end; that end being Islamic dominance. The Caliphate is merely the structural entity that will administer Sharia throughout an Islamist-controlled world.

Considering the recent proliferation of �interfaith� initiatives throughout Western Europe and the United States, it seems prudent to give more than a cursory glance to the preferred ground-rules of the Islamists, and to examine the role such interfaith efforts might play in an expanding the Caliphate system.

One such interfaith initiative, here in Omaha, Nebraska intends to co-locate a Mosque, a Synagogue and a Church on the same campus.

There is a �Memorandum of Understanding� (MOA) that governs the interaction between the three faiths that make up the Tri-Faith Initiative, as they call themselves. It lays the ground rules for everything from site planning, to building design and subsequent use.

From the MOA:
  • Each Participant controls the ultimate design of their own building.  To the extent that design issues can be coordinated among the buildings, we will attempt to do so.
  • A common �look and feel� shall be sought in the design of buildings on this campus.
The Synagogue has already been built on the Tri-Faith site. This building has no outward indications of the Jewish faith. No Star of David, no Menorah. The only indication that this isn�t an ordinary office building is a stylized Hebrew script on the clerestory windows, done in a much understated manner.

The general understanding of the MOA is that it will likewise require a similar incoherence on the exterior of the Christian church slated for the project. No exterior display of the Cross. Where have we seen this before? Let�s ask our buddy Umar!

Not to display a cross on them [churches], nor raise our voices during prayer or readings in our churches anywhere near Muslims; Not to produce a cross or [Christian] book in the markets of the Muslims;

While it is possibly a simple oversight on the part of the architect, the renderingof the Mosque provided by the Mosque organizers features a very prominent Crescent and Star, an internationally known symbol of Islam, in apparent defiance of the MOA.

Similarly, the MOA outlines how people are to behave outside of their respective buildings:
To the extent Practices take place outside the walls of one�s own religious space, consideration shall be given to the beliefs of other Participants. 
Rules governing shared space and practices allowed therein will givemaximum consideration to issues of respect for and tolerance of the beliefs of all Participants. (authors� emphasis)

Could such an innocuous bylaw be construed as a parallel to yet another of Umar�s conditions?
Not to congregate in the open for Easter or Palm Sunday, nor lift our voices [in lamentation] for our dead nor show our firelights with them near the market places of the Muslims; 
Not to clang our cymbals except lightly and from the innermost recesses of our churches;

Perhaps not. It is for the reader to decide.

The MOA continues:
No Participant shall engage in any proselytizing (intending to convert members of other Participants).

Now that exhortation rings a bell�
Not to display any signs of polytheism, nor make our religion appealing, nor call or proselytize anyone to it; (authors� emphasis)

Setting aside for a moment the command of Jesus to spread the Gospel, it is instructive to note that Islam considers the Cross to be a �sign of polytheism� as is any graphic representation of the Christian concept of the Trinity, a feature of Christianity that is foundational.

Insisting on these sorts of prohibitions under the rubric of respect is the methodology Islamists have employed across Europe to first bully citizens, then governments into a forced respect for their often barbaric 7th Century traditions and notions of worship.

The end result is the functional equivalent of the installation of the Pact of Umar among the societies where Muslims are not in control of the government. This is the soft-tyranny of Islamism, utilized when hard-tyranny is not an option. One certainty however remains consistent throughout�Islam reigns supreme.

I have written previously about the troubling connections between the governing board of the Tri-Faith venture and two known fronts for Muslim Brotherhood operations in the US � CAIR (Council on American and Islamic Relations) and ISNA (The Islamic Society of North America).

As of the time of this writing, the board stubbornly refuses to disavow relationships with either group, despite being presented with evidence from the FBI linking these groups to the terror group HAMAS.

The clear parallels between the Tri-Faith Memorandum of Understanding and the Pact of Umar cannot be ignored and should not be discounted � especially given the refusal of the Mosque organizers to renounce the involvement of CAIR and ISNA in their project.


Islamists spread their radical ideology through all means, not just the sword. Will the Tri-Faith Initiative prove to be a Midwest expression of 7th Century subjugation, albeit a voluntary one? That remains to be seen, but the vision emerging is not a hopeful one, unless you�re Umar bin al-Khattab.


How can we stop honour killings?

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 Farzana Parveen was killed on May 27 by relatives for marrying against her family's wishes [AFP]


Disturbing cases of extreme violence against women from around the world have come to the fore in the past few weeks. Farzana Parveen's murder in Pakistan highlighted the country's dismal record of women killed in so-called honour killings. According to the Pakistani Human Rights Commission, 869 women were murdered in 2013 in what were said to be "honour killings". 
Sensationalist media quickly picked up Parveen's story and blasted the familiar stereotypes and misrepresentations, sidelining a much-needed open discussion on misogyny. 

The so-called honour killings is one manifestation of violent and criminal practices against women that seem to persist in places such as Pakistan, Afghanistan and several other Muslim-majority countries. Some are quick to seek the causes of this deplorable act in religion, when in fact Islam stands clearly against it. Therefore, it is important to expose the faulty logic behind such accusations and openly discuss violence against women and honour killings in the context of Islam as well as in the context of perceived social norms of honour


Understanding the 'honour code'
It is important first to consider the concept of honour itself. Renowned philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah'sanalysis of honour and his idea of moral revolutions can be particularly useful in this case. His book The Honour Code explores the processes that ended three abominable practices related to honour: duelling in Britain, foot-binding in China and slavery in the British Empire. According to Appiah, what ended these practices "wasn't the moral arguments ..., it was the willingness to live by them."  

Islam and reshaping honour 
After drawing lessons from history, reshaping honour is what Appiah suggests as a way to successfully move forward in the ongoing battle against honour killings. 
In other words, those willing to eradicate honour killings should pursue a strategy of collective shaming: to shed light on how such cases are bad publicity for the country, and demand the government'saccountability for keeping Pakistan "a ship permanently poised on the verge of failure". 

Religion is also a key factor in campaigning against honour killings. For example, Islam plays a very important role in Pakistan, including it in its constitution. Therefore it is encouraging to hear a fatwa by the Pakistan Ulema Council, declaring "Killing one's daughter and humiliating them is a sign of ignorance."(However, as one critic put it, clerics need to be more vocal and consistent in opposing every form of bigotry.) 

In the battle for shifting perceptions of honour in those Muslim communities where it causes bloodshed, it is of fundamental importance to demonstrate the fact that Islam in no way condones honour killing. 

For example, there are two verses in the Quran - An-Nur and Maryam, which were revealed to defend the honour of Prophet Muhammad's wife, Ayesha and Prophet Isa's mother, Maryam respectively. In fact, Islamic laws regarding sexual morality teach us that God protects woman's honour, and that the Quran holds both men and women equally responsible for adultery. It is clear that the idea of violence against women to protect honour is in no way justice prescribed by the Quran, but instead stems from socially constructed notions of patriarchy. Therefore, Islam can help us against honour killing as a religion that protects women from violence and condemns those who hurt them. 
Appiah rightly points out that Islam is "an ally" in the fight against "honour killings", and offers us a proposal to consider: Shaming communities where this practice occurs for disgracing Muslim ideals instead. Given the Western media hysteria surrounding cases like Farzana's, it is not difficult to see how the actions of a few Muslims stain the perception of Islam by non-Muslims. 

In this regard, it is important to distinguish between an act that is "Islamic" and an act perpetrated by a Muslim. As Myriam Francois-Cerrah points out in her article on Islamophobia: "Although Pakistan is a Muslim majority ?country, to assume Islam is the central motivating factor in the behaviour ?of all Pakistanis, is a form of cultural racism."
 
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