More" interfaith dialogue" and "Muslim outreach"  from our Islamic betters. These religious leaders smash the Statue of the virgin Mary and the crowd chants "takbir!" "Allahu Akbar!"

Obama say, "respect it!"

And Muslims want to kill us if we damage the Koran (thanks to Jack) 

Wahhabi Cleric Breaks the Statue of the Virgin Mary: We Won't Accept Anything but Wahhabism in Syria

Wahhabi cleric, Omar Gharba' (fb.com/123321qwe), is seen carrying the statue of the Virgin Mary in Yaaqoubiya in Syria's Idlib province after it was taken over by militants from the "Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) and breaking it by throwing it on the ground after stating that he and his fellow Wahhabis won't tolerate any form of worship except strict Wahhabism of Saudi Arabia.

"Aimed more directly at the bull's-eye that is the spiritual heart of China" -- targeting the spirtual heart. Typical of jihadis. 

Anywhere Muslims emigrate, there is conflict, there is jihad. Anywhere there are Muslims, there is conflict. When they reach a certain level of population, they engage in jihad in order oppress and subjugate the non-Muslim community, using violence and terror when necessary.

"Tiananmen Square attack sows terror in spiritual heart of China LA Times, October 28, 2013

BEIJING--It could hardly have been a more audacious attack or one that was aimed more directly at the bull's-eye that is the spiritual heart of China.

At 12:05 p.m. Monday, a white sport utility vehicle entered a sidewalk and drove nearly 500 yards, plowing through tourists and police, until it stopped near the iconic portrait of Mao Tse-tung that hangs over the main gate in front of Tiananmen Square.

The Chinese state news reported that five people were killed and 38 injured. The dead included the three occupants of the car and two tourists, one a Filipina woman and the other a Chinese man.

There were some suggestions that police were looking at suspects from the Uighur community, Muslims from the northwest of China.

A purported police notice put out Monday, apparently after the incident, advised Beijing hotel owners to look out for a 25-year-old and a 42-year-old man from the towns of Pichan and Lukchun, who have been involved in deadly tit-for-tat violence since the summer. The notice, which was published on the Baidu.com Internet site, referred to an unspecified incident in Beijing, and said that the men had at least one light-colored SUV and several license plates.

Few other details were forthcoming from the official Chinese news organs and photographs were scrubbed clean from the Internet.

Nelson Bunyi, a Filipino tourist who survived the attack with a fractured leg, said he had been on the sidewalk with his wife and two daughters when they spotted the vehicle heading toward them.

"A lot of people were running and jumping, but it was too late for me," said Bunyi, who was flat on his back in the hospital, oxygen tubes in his nose. "It was a white car and it was coming very, very fast. I fell to the ground. I remember there was smoke, not much else."

The interview was interrupted when police, who were stationed in the hallway outside the hospital room, said the patient could not be questioned without written permission.

The Xinhua news service said only that the causes of the incident were "under investigation." The circumstances, however, suggested that it was a deliberate attack at one of the most closely guarded locations in China.

At all times, Tiananmen Square is blanketed with paramilitary and police, uniformed and plain-clothed, mingling in the crowds. Cameras record every motion. Separating the street from the sidewalk are 5-foot-high white steel barricades—designed to prevent the type of attack that took place Monday.

However, the white sport utility vehicle appears to have entered at one of the few openings in the barricades, some 500 yards to the east of the square at the intersection of Nanchizi, a street running perpendicular to the main Chang’an Street. The driver then headed along the sidewalk toward the enormous Mao portrait, which hangs over the vermillion-walled "Gate of Heavenly Peace" (or Tiananmen Gate) that leads into the Forbidden City, erstwhile home of China’s emperors.

The vehicle appears to have crashed into a column, bursting in flames. Photographs taken immediately after showed plumes of white and brown smoke rising from the scene. It is unclear whether the car carried explosives or whether it caught fire after being stopped by police.

"The police were unprepared," wrote one micro blogger, who gave his name as Ma Min, and who claimed to have information from eyewitnesses.

Another, writing under the name Chen Renda, complained, "We have yet to hear the story behind the story. What was the real identity of the people inside the jeep?... Were there weapons found? Were there any pamphlets?"

Best known as the site of the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators, Tiananmen Square is a frequent magnet for protesters and self-immolators. But most plots are foiled far from the square—such as a 2009 incident in which three people set themselves on fire in a car at the Wangfujing pedestrian mall, reportedly over personal grievances with the government.

Most of the injured appeared to have been tourists or police. A nurse at Beijing’s Tongren Hospital said that besides the Filipino family, there was a Japanese tourist and a 5-year-old Chinese boy.

The Chinese government appeared embarrassed by the apparent lapse in security at the heart of the city. There was no mention of the incident on the main 7 p.m. evening news, which led with a report on the 11th meeting of the All China Women’s Federation. A report on the incident ran on the late news.

Beijing police closed off subway stations near the square after the incident and blocked vehicles and journalists.

Using high-pressure water hoses, workers scrubbed the sidewalk clean and there was no trace of fire or explosion. But people knew what happened from the sketchy reports and word of mouth and appeared to be surprised, and a little shaken.

"I can’t believe this is happening in the center of Beijing," an elderly man in a beret murmured to his wife.

Senior members of the Chinese Communist Party are due to convene next month inside the Great Hall of the People, which is on the west side of the square, for a plenum to chart the nation’s economic future. Mao’s mausoleum lies to the south and Zhongnanhai, the compound of the top leadership, just behind the vermillion walls to the west.

Why?

Why is Obama training jihadists? He authorized the DoD to train the jihadists in Syria.....now Libya?  Libyans attacked our embassy and killed our people. Why would Obama bring them here -- on US soil, and train them?

Homeland Security quietly considering lifting ban on Libyans training in US FOX News, October 28, 2013

The Department of Homeland Security is quietly considering lifting a long-standing ban on Libyans coming to the U.S. for training in the aviation and nuclear fields, according to an internal document, raising red flags for lawmakers who say Libya is still a security threat. 

"Now, more than ever, we have concerns about terrorist activity in that country," Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, told FoxNews.com. "Now the administration wants to normalize -- that's just not acceptable." 

Chaffetz and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., first drew attention to the draft document, which is circulating inside DHS and is not yet final. It comes a little more than a year after the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi in which four Americans were killed. The suspects still have not been brought to justice, and Fox News has reported over the past week how several Al Qaeda-tied individuals are linked to the attack. 

U.S. forces just this month captured terrorist Abu Anas al-Libi, wanted in connection with the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, in Tripoli. 

"It is shocking that the Obama administration is turning a blind eye to real terrorist threats that exist in Libya today," Goodlatte said in a written statement. "We still haven't gotten to the bottom of the Benghazi terrorist attacks and continue to face additional terrorist threats from Libya, yet the Obama administration is preparing to lift a longstanding ban that protects Americans and our interests." 

The DHS document calls for rescinding restrictions first put in place in 1983 that barred Libyan nationals from coming to the U.S. to study or train in aviation maintenance, flight operations or nuclear-related fields. At the time, relations between the U.S. and Libya were breaking down as Muammar Qaddafi came to power. Before the 1983 decision, the Reagan administration in 1981 also invalidated the use of U.S. passports for travel to Libya and banned the import of Libyan oil. Later in the decade, Libyans spearheaded the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and also were involved in the bombing of a French airliner. 

In 2011, Qaddafi was killed, and his government was replaced. 

A DHS official told FoxNews.com on Monday that the department is now "reviewing U.S. policies that have been in place since before the Libyan revolution to see how they might be updated to better align with U.S. interests." 

The official noted that while Libya is subjected to the training restrictions, there are no similar provisions for state sponsors of terrorism including Cuba, Iran and Syria. 

Without commenting specifically on the draft proposal, the official said: "The United States supports the aspirations of the Libyan people as they participate in their democratic transition after 42 years of dictatorship. We are committed to working with Libya to build its sovereign institutions and are working closely with the government to bring stability to Libya." 

The official noted that the draft proposal is "deliberative and not final" and had "not been approved by DHS for publication." 

A copy of the document reviewed by FoxNews.com says that DHS is moving to rescind the restrictions "after consultation with the Department of State and the Department of Defense." 

The document notes that U.S.-Libya relations eroded beginning in the 1970s, leading to the nation being placed on the list of state sponsors of terrorism. It said the prohibition on Libyan nationals was imposed to deal with training "that could potentially have a negative impact on U.S. national security." 

But the document notes that Libya has moved to democratize since the fall of Qaddafi, and "most sanctions" that the United Nations and U.S. imposed have been lifted. It casts the effort to lift the travel restrictions in that light, noting the new Libyan government has "expressed initial interest" in sending students to the U.S. to receive training from the Defense Department to help them rebuild and sustain their own fleet. 

"The United States has normalized relations with Libya and is working to establish robust diplomatic, military and economic ties," the document says. 

Chaffetz and Goodlatte, though, warn that the administration could "unilaterally" make these changes, and are urging the department to back down. 

Chaffetz said that if necessary, the House could pass legislation barring the change, but he questioned whether the Senate would follow suit. Chaffetz said these changes have "not yet been earned."

Apparently the bomb exploded while Obama-backed "terrorists were preparing it."

Syrian mosque car bomb 'kills 40' in Suq Wadi Barada

At least 40 people, including children, have been reported killed in a car bomb blast in Syria, outside a mosque in a town in Damascus province.

The blast, in the town of Suq Wadi Barada, came just before the end of Friday prayers and brought down the mosque's entrances.

Both the government and rebels blamed each other for the explosion.

Meanwhile, Norway has turned down a request to help the UN dismantle Syria's chemical weapons arsenal.

The UN has set a deadline of mid-2014 for the weapons to be destroyed.

Sweden has offered to provide an air force unit to transport the weapons. But Norway, asked by the US to help destroy the arms, said it was "not the most suitable location" for the work.

 

At least three children were among the dead and dozens more wounded in Friday's car bombing, UK-based activist group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

While Suq Wadi Barada was under opposition control, government forces were positioned just outside the town, it said.

State news agency Sana said one of the victims was aged seven. It blamed opposition forces, saying the bomb exploded while "terrorists were preparing it".

Rebel leaders blamed government troops.

Car bombs have become a common, deadly occurrence in the long-running conflict. Earlier this week, a truck bomb in the central city of Hama killed at least 30 and wounded dozens more.

Observatory figures show the 31-month conflict has killed more than 115,000 people. More than five million people are displaced inside Syria, and another two million have fled the country as refugees, according to the UNHCR.

Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) issued a warning Friday that continuous heavy bombing had forced 130,000 people out of al-Safira in the north.

They said aid agencies could not cope with the numbers as winter approaches.

"These people arrive in areas that already host a large number of displaced people, where the rare humanitarian players that are present are faced with huge needs," Marie-Noelle Rodrigue, MSF head of operations said in a statement.

Fighting has also spread to northern Lebanon.

The northern city of Tripoli has seen five days of street battles between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime, killing five and injuring more than 40.

Wow. I suspect that Houshang Nazemi changed his name to Antony Piazza to avoid detection.

Check out the scrubbed headline. Wow.

"Lasalle man charged in connection with airport disturbance" CBC, October 28, 2013 (thanks to Eric)

A 71-year-old Iranian-born man with a legally changed name faces three criminal charges in connection with an alleged attempt to bring explosive material onto an airplane.

He was charged today over the incident, which paralyzed Trudeau airport for several hours Sunday and caused Airlie St. in Lasalle — where he lived — to be shut down while a police search went on.

The defence lawyer, Louis Morena, tells reporters that his client was transporting a bag belonging to someone else.

A bail hearing is scheduled tomorrow for Antony Piazza, who was born in Iran and whose name was originally Houshang Nazemi. It was under that original moniker that he received a 10-year sentence for drug trafficking in the mid-1980s.

He made a brief court appearance today, where the Crown objected to his release.

He faces three charges — being in possession of an explosive substance; conspiracy to transport an explosive substance on an airplane; and endangering the safety of an airport or aircraft.

His lawyer cited the police report and said there was powder, wires, a lighter, bullets and a lighter inside the suitcase.

With files from The Canadian Press

"O Delmore how I miss you. You inspired me to write. You were the greatest man I ever met. You could capture the deepest emotions in the simplest language. Your titles were more than enough to raise the muse of fire on my neck. You were a genius. Doomed.”

I was a Lou Reed fan. I posted a favorite tune when I heard he died -- Walk on the Wild Side -- because he did, and we walked with him.

His death was personal.  Lou Reed was New York. He was my New York, and it's hard to talk about and I don't want to. But New York died a little with his passing. He was a poet, and a lot of his noise was the soundtrack of my tween and teen years. He was always there in the background -- not just the Velvet Underground, but in the huge influence he had on people I loved (David Bowie, John Lennon, Ramones -- hell, the whole NY punk scene). And the people I loved  loved him.

I don't want to talk about how cool he was or what a stand up guy he was, or how he inspired my peers and me.

So why I am writing about it now? Because I didn't know he was a proud Jew. “Of course, aren’t all the best people?”

Rocker Lou Reed’s Judaism Central to His Identity, Misfit and All (VIDEO) Algemeiner

Rock and roll iconoclast Lou Reed died Sunday, aged 71, of an undisclosed cause, and while many of the obituaries dedicated to him have mentioned his Judaism, few delved into how central it was to his identity.

Born Lewis Allan Reed to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, he was once asked by a journalist if he was Jewish, replying, “Of course, aren’t all the best people?”

Tom Gross, of the National Review, writes of his connection to Israel: “He was a frequent visitor to the country, last performing in Tel Aviv in 2008, and his aunt and many cousins live in Haifa and other Israeli towns.”

Recently, a team of researchers named a spider native to Israel after him.

Though much has been made of his statement to journalist Lester Bangs that he didn’t know any Jewish people, with some claiming it was an anti-Semitic comment, it could hardly be taken as literal. In fact, many of his greatest influences were Jews.

Writing of Delmore Schwartz, the acclaimed Jewish poet, who taught Reed while an undergrad at Syracuse University, he wrote: “O Delmore how I miss you. You inspired me to write. You were the greatest man I ever met. You could capture the deepest emotions in the simplest language. Your titles were more than enough to raise the muse of fire on my neck. You were a genius. Doomed.”

Gross also notes that Reed was a central figure of what author Steven Lee Beeber, in his book The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB’s: A Secret History of Jewish Punk, argued was a key Jewish element to the New York punk-rock movement of the 1970s. Crypto punk rock Jews included Joey Ramone (nee Jeffrey Ross Hyman), Patti Smith’s guitarist Lenny Kaye, Richard Hell (Richard Lester Meyers), Jonathan Richman, and Blondie’s guitarist Chris Stein.

Though perhaps reticent to embrace his Judaism in public, keeping with his motto that “rock and roll is my God,” that didn’t stop Reed later in life from a public embrace of his heritage. In the Passover 2004 Downtown Seder, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, Reed performed his own rendition of the traditional Four Questions.

Watch a video of Lou Reed reciting the Four Questions below:

This explains at least some of the enemedia's unshakeable loyalty to Obama, no matter how disastrously he fails.

CNN Anchor: Obama Administration Not Afraid to Threaten Jobs of Journalists Who Actually Do Their Job Bubba Atkinson Independent Journal October 28, 2013 (thanks to Armaros)

It’s not a good sign when the White House tries to stop the press from doing its job (via Newsbusters):

COSTELLO: And Will really does have a point. Because I felt it first hand when I was, you know, reporting on the presidential race. I mean President Obama’s people can be quite nasty. They don’t like you to say anything bad about their boss, and they’re not afraid to use whatever means they have at hand to stop you from doing that, including threatening your job.

As the Washington Post reported earlier, the Department of Justice spied on the Associated Press and Fox News reporter James Rosen. Maybe Obama’s favorable coverage is not all because of what a swell guy he is, after all…

Terrorist attacks and deaths hit record high, report shows by Daniel Burke, CNN Belief Blog October 28, 2013

START's definition of terrorism closely mirrors that of the State Department and other experts. To be counted as an act of terror, an incident has to be an intentional act or threat by a "non-state actor" that meets two of these three criteria:

• It was aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious or social goal.

• It was intended to coerce, intimidate or convey a message to a larger group.

• It violated international humanitarian law by targeting non-combatants.

Part of the observed increase in 2012 may be due to the fact that START has improved its data collection methods and is better than ever at finding and categorizing terrorism, LaFree said. But he said the dramatic rise is not just a matter of having better data.

“We are convinced that a big chunk of this is real change in the world,” LaFree said. “We’ve seen a fairly steep upward trajectory in the total of terrorist attacks and fatalities worldwide.”

Outside of small dips in 2004 and 2009, the number of attacks has steadily increased in the past decade, according to START. The upward trend increases the likelihood that 2012’s numbers are not an aberration, LaFree said.

Counterterrorism experts not affiliated with START also said attacks appear to be occurring with increasing frequency.

“There’s just a lot of killing going on along sectarian and religious lines,” said Daniel Benjamin, coordinator for counterterrorism at the State Department from 2009 to 2012. “And that’s a worrisome thing.”

The reasons behind the rise are complex, experts say:

• Weak and unstable states and corrupt or ineffective governments.

• Poverty and high unemployment, particularly among young men.

• Access to more lethal weaponry and increasing use of tactics like suicide bombings capable of killing scores of bystanders.

• A spike in sectarian tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, where ancient grudges give rise to modern massacres.

• The increasing use of terrorism as a tactic in war.

“The distinction between the front line and home front has largely been erased as terrorism has become a growing feature of contemporary warfare,” said Brian Michael Jenkins, a senior adviser at the RAND Corp. and the founder of its counterterrorism program.

But Jenkins also cautioned that “terrorism” is notoriously difficult to define, and the increase in attacks does not necessarily mean the United States is “losing the war on terror.” He said it could just reflect a shift in strategy among Syrian rebels and Afghani radicals, for example.

Still, experts say the apparent increase in civilian casualties is alarming.

Gone are the days when terrorist groups like the Irish Republican Army or Italy’s Red Brigade would try to keep casualties low by issuing warnings, LaFree said.

“If you’re a terrorist group now and you want to get your message out,” he said, “the more people you kill, the more ‘successful’ you’ll be.”

Sectarian attacks - such as the pitched battles between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in Iraq, Syria and Pakistan - tend to be disproportionately deadly, said Martha Crenshaw, an expert at Stanford University and a START board member.

“Sadly, it seems to be increasingly acceptable in certain belief systems to kill as many members of the other religious community as possible,” she said. “Moral restraints seem to be eroding.”

Bombings and explosions were used in 58% of terrorist attacks in 2012, but it wasn’t always this way. In fact, START’s data also show a dramatic global shift in terrorist tactics and hot spots.

In the 1970s, most attacks were committed with guns and occurred in Western Europe. In the 1980s, Latin America saw the most terrorist acts. Beginning with the 1990s, South Asia, North Africa and the Middle East has seen steadily rising number of attacks, a trend that has accelerated in recent years.

Although terrorism touched 85 countries last year, just three - Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan - suffered more than half of 2012’s attacks (55%) and fatalities (62%).

In January, Sunni suicide bombers attacked scores of Shiite pilgrims in Iraq, killing at least 73. In February, a car bomb outside a café in Mogadishu, Somalia, left 15 dead. In March, a bombing in Thailand killed 14 and injured 340 in a commercial district.

Just eight private U.S. citizens died in attacks outside the United States in 2012, all in Afghanistan, according to the State Department. In the United States, seven people died in 11 terrorist attacks last year, six of them in a shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

Despite the death of Osama bin Laden and capture of other key al Qaeda leaders, the group has exported its brand of terrorism to other militant Muslims, according to START and other counterterrorism experts.

“We’ve had success in stopping al Qaeda central,” LaFree said. “But we have been unsuccessful in stopping the message.”

Afghanistan’s Taliban was by far the deadliest group in 2012, when it launched 525 attacks that killed 1,842 people.

The second deadliest group was Nigeria’s Boko Haram, a jihadist group that orchestrated 364 attacks last year that killed 1,132 people.

The next most deadly were al Qaeda in Iraq, the Communist Party of India-Maoist, Somalia’s Al-Shabaab, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Pakistan’s branch of the Taliban.

Rhonda Shore, a spokesperson for the State Department's Bureau of Counterterrorism, said she hadn't seen START's latest numbers and couldn't comment on the report. But she offered a staunch defense of the Obama administration’s approach to al Qaeda.

“We have made great progress in our efforts to disrupt, dismantle and defeat the larger al Qaeda organization in recent years,” she said.

“However,” she said, al Qaeda and its affiliates “continue to present a serious threat to the United States and its interests, and we must remain vigilant as we consider the range of tools and actions available to disrupt this threat.”

In April, START compiled a separate report for the State Department that counts fewer attacks (6,771) and fatalities (11,098) in 2012 than its own report because the U.S. government uses slightly different criteria to define terrorism.

Those lower numbers still represent an all-time yearly high in the number of attacks, according to START’s database.

Despite top terrorist groups’ affiliation - sometimes tenuous - with al Qaeda, some do not fit the mold created by its former head, bin Laden, and current leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, said Benjamin, the former State Department counterterrorism coordinator.

Bin Laden was motivated by an apocalyptic vision, Benjamin said, and wanted to spark a global war between Christians and Muslims.

The power struggles in many Muslim countries, on the other hand, are driven as much by political as religious concerns, according to Benjamin and other terrorism experts.

“Al-Shabaab, for example, is a fractious and disorganized group,” he said, “and the overwhelming majority of its foot soldiers don’t care about al Qaeda. They are just fighting to stay alive.”

And while most terrorism in 2012 was committed in Muslim-majority countries, LaFree and other experts cautioned against viewing Islam itself as inherently violent.

“Not so long ago, terrorism was centered in Western Europe and Latin America,” LaFree said. “It moves. And, unfortunately, it has moved into the Muslim world right now.”

Like Benjamin, Rizwan Jaka, a Muslim leader based in Northern Virginia, said that political - not religious - motivations lay behind many acts of terrorism.

“It isn’t like they woke up and said 'I’m a Muslim; I’m going to go kill someone in a shopping mall,' ” Jaka said. “In their twisted mind, this is political retaliation.”

Still, American Muslims are working to reduce Sunni-Shiite tensions, said Jaka, a board member of the Islamic Society of North America.

The Fiqh Council of North America, an influential group that issues rulings based on Sharia, or Islamic law, released a fatwa endorsed by dozens of Muslims in 2005 categorically condemning terrorism.

Robert Spencer explains why that condemnation was bogus and hollow here.

More recently, the Islamic Society of North America has met with African and Middle Eastern leaders to urge them to protect the rights of religious minorities and discourage terrorism.

In September, Sunni and Shiite leaders meeting in Washington announced an agreement to set aside differences and address the “dire situation of unrest, destruction, genocide and refugees” in many predominantly Muslim countries.

“All Muslims are one nation, even if the schools of thought are diverse,” the scholars’ declaration said. “Such diversity is a source of intellectual enrichment and should not be the cause of accusations of disbelief, murder, and the desecration of sanctities.”

A celebration of Obama's capitulation.

'Grand Day of Death to America' rally planned in Iran FoxNews.com October 28, 2013 (thanks to Christian)

Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, bottom, listens during a parliament session to defend the nominees for the three remaining ministries of his cabinet while parliament speaker Ali Larijani speaks, top right, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013. Irans parliament has rejected a close ally of Rouhani for a ministerial post. In a vote Sunday, 141 out of 261 lawmakers present voted against Reza Salehi Amiri, who Rouhani nominated as sports and youth minister. (AP Photo)

Militant factions in Iran are reportedly planning a sweeping rally titled, “Grand Day of Death to America,” to coincide with the 24th anniversary of the storming of the U.S. Embassy there.

According to The National, Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri is saying the planned Nov. 4 convocation outside the long-shuttered and now-graffiti-covered diplomatic institution in the capitol city of Tehran will be organized by a newly created bureaucratic body called the “Death to the U.S. Committee.”

“The crimes of U.S. leaders and international Zionism in dealing with Iran’s great nation will never be erased from public memories and minds,” reportedly noted Jazayeri, the deputy commander for cultural affairs of Iran’s hard-line and influential Revolutionary Guard.

And the event will not be without events to occupy a crowd officials promise will number in the many thousands.

The New York Times reports the rally will include the conferral of, “The First Major International Award of ‘Down With America’” for best anti-American photograph, poster, video, song or caricature.

The paper additionally writes contest winners will receive cash awards of as much as $4,000, and be selected by a three-judge panel that notably includes Maziar Bijani, a Holocaust-denying cartoonist.

Both The National – and The Times – write hard-line elements within the Iranian state, and its theocratic regime, are paying particular attention to this year’s annual anniversary of the embassy attack in light of recent overtures made to the west by the nation's comparatively dovish newly elected president Hassan Rouhani.

Specifically, Rouhani spoke by phone with President Barack Obama during this year's U.N. General Assembly, and both nations are part of ongoing, multilateral nuclear arms negotiations in Switzerland.

“There are elements in Iran who believe the (“Death to America”) chant and what it represents – a call for an end to imperialism and U.S. hegemony rather than death to Americans – is crucial to the maintenance of the revolutionary spirit,” Hooman Majd, a New York-based Iranian-American author told The National. “They believe without it and the animus against the U.S., the revolution will crumble.”

The Times reports some Iranians – of late – have mandated the age-old “Death to America” slogan be shouted at all public events, and last week, members of the nation's parliament even employed it during one of their sessions.

This is no surprise.

"Germany stands for an uncompromising struggle against the Jews. It is self-evident that the struggle against the Jewish national homeland in Palestine forms part of this struggle, since such a national homeland would be nothing other than a political base for the destructive influence of Jewish interests. Germany also knows that the claim that Jewry plays the role of an economic pioneer in Palestine is a lie. Only the Arabs work there, not the Jews. Germany is determined to call on the European nations one by one to solve the Jewish problem and, at the proper moment, to address the same appeal to non-European peoples." — Adolf Hitler to Haj Amin Al-Husseini, mufti of Jerusalem, November 28, 1941¹

Hitler loved Islam, and all too many Muslims today love Hitler: Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' is standard Arab textbook WND October 28, 2013 (thanks to Christian)

Exclusive: Laurie Cardoza-Moore examines growth of 'new' anti-Semitism

“The New anti-Semitism is an illegitimate and intellectually dishonest movement impacting academia in the U.S. today” – Dr. Gerald Meister

Episode 3 of Focus on Israel unravels the pretzel logic behind the equation, namely new anti-Semitism = anti-Zionism = anti-Israel = anti-Jew.

In this episode Cardoza-Moore demonstrates “how a new anti-Semitism has taken hold worldwide after the re-birth of the State of Israel. It emanates from the far left, radical Islam, and the far right. It is tantamount to demonization and has led to a resurgence of anti-Semitic attacks.”

On April 3, 2006, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights announced its finding that incidents of anti-Semitism are a “serious problem” on college campuses throughout the United States. University campuses today have become a hotbed of anti-Semitism and a propagator of pro-Islamic teachings and organizations.

Dr. Meister exclaims, “What they’re telling young people are incitements to further mayhem because the Nazis are now the darlings of Islam!”

This examination of the new anti-Semitism includes:

• Dr. John Garr, founder and president of the Hebraic Christian Global Community
• Rabbi Dr. Gerald Meister, former advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel on Israel-Christian Affairs
• Dr. Brad H. Young, Graduate School of Theology, Oral Roberts University
• Rabbi Shlomo Risken, founder and dean of the OHR Torah Stone Institution
• Walid Shoebat, former PLO terrorist

This is the ultimate result of collectivist indoctrination. The individual gives way to the "group." The Left only talks about groups because to them the individual is an enemy defying the group (thanks to Armaros).

PC Madness: Londoners sign petition supporting Female Genital Mutilation because "it's part of their culture" Blazing Cat Fur

Approaching shoppers with the petition supporting FGM, she told them she wanted to protect her “culture, traditions and rights”.

In only 30 minutes 19 people signed it with some saying they believed FGM was wrong but because it was part of Ms Hussein’s culture they would add their names. Only one person refused to sign.

This, of course, is reasonable. It is the views of myself and my colleagues who oppose the most vicious and brutal ideology on the planet, the sharia, that are the problem. We are extreme. We are intolerant. Obama say, "respect it!" Obama say, "stand down!" 

That's the way it goes down in a sharia-complaint Western culture.

The victims were accompanied by brothers and husbands who were waiting in the parking area while they went shopping.

Sharia in action in Pakistan: Women stabbed for shopping while unaccompanied by men

(thanks to Robert Spencer)

"A woman may not leave the city without her husband or a member of her unmarriageable kin accompanying her, unless the journey is obligatory, like the hajj. It is unlawful for her to travel otherwise, and unlawful for her husband to allow her to." -- 'Umdat al-Salik m10.3

"Vigilante violence: Women stabbed ‘for shopping,’" by Owais Jafri for the Express Tribune, October 28 (thanks to Lookmann):

The Sahiwal district police officer has announced a Rs200,000 cash prize for anyone who helps the police arrest the people who have been stabbing women in shopping areas.

On Saturday, DPO Syed Khurram Ali had suspended Cheechawatni Station House Officer Abid Hussain from service for failing to arrest the gang members. The SHO had been given four days to track the suspects.

The DPO said that a criminal gang had recently surfaced in Cheechawatni. He said the gang members stabbed women “for leaving their houses after sunset”. He said most of the women were attacked in shopping areas.

Police said at least 25 cases had been reported in October so far. In most cases, they said, the victims were accompanied by brothers and husbands waiting in the parking area while they went shopping.

Dr Asim Nawaz at the tehsil headquarters hospital told The Express Tribune that two to three women were being brought to the hospital every day since October 6. He said most of them had been stabbed in the shoulders, back and arms. Some had also been attacked on their faces.

He said four women were brought to the hospital on Saturday. Three of them were referred to the district headquarters hospital in Sahiwal.

One of the injured woman, who did not want to disclose her identity, told The Express Tribune that a masked man stopped her and asked why she was out in the market unaccompanied. She said she ignored him and walked away but he stabbed her in the shoulder.

The DPO said the incidents had caused alarm among residents, who were not allowing their women to leave home or go shopping on their own.

He said they had also led to low attendance at girls’ schools and colleges. He said some working women had requested the police for deployment at major roads.

He said most cases had been reported from Ahmed Nagar, Ali Town, Block No 10, Block No 19, Kamalia Road, and Gyarawala Mor. He said the victims had not been robbed.

He said the injured women had told police that the assailants had told them that they were not allowed to leave their homes and that “it was against the Sharia law for women to go shopping”.

 

All were convicted of murder, including brutal killings such as 1990 Rosh Hashanah lynch of IDF reservist in Gaza; 21 inmates are from West Bank, 5 from Gaza.

A great sin.

The reverence for human life is the founding principle of Judaism. The love for life -- the sanctity of life -- informs the whole of our belief system. Our enemies know this. How many times do the jihadists taunt the Jews with "We love death more than you love life"? But of course, that is impossible -- because the love of evil cannot come to measure the love of good.

This news is an abomination. How many more wil die at the hands of these murderers? A great sin.

Relatives of Israelis killed in terror attacks holding signs as they demonstrate outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on August 11, 2013. (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Israel names 26 Palestinian prisoners to be freed in 48 hours Times of Israel, October 28, 2013

All were convicted of murder, including brutal killings such as 1990 Rosh Hashanah lynch of IDF reservist in Gaza; 21 inmates are from West Bank, 5 from Gaza 

The Israel Prison Service published the names late Sunday night of 26 Palestinian prisoners set to be released over the next 48 hours as part of a deal to keep the US-brokered Israeli-Palestinian peace talks on course. All are convicted murderers.

Six of the inmates have been imprisoned for just under 30 years, one of whom was due to be released in four years. All were imprisoned for murders committed before the signing of the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords. A government statement said earlier that  21 of the inmates were from the West Bank and five were from the Gaza Strip.

Among the prisoners to go free is Damouni Saad Mohammed Ahmed, who was convicted in the 1990 lynch of IDF reservist Amnon Pomerantz in the Gaza Strip; Pomerantz’s car was set on fire while he was inside. The other convicted murderer of Pomerantz is not among those set to be released.

In a list of Pre-Oslo prisoners released by the Almagor Terror Victims Association, it is noted that Ahmed “did not express regret for his acts.”

Gila Molcho, center, holds a picture of her brother Ian Feinberg, who was killed in 1993 in Gaza, at a demonstration against the release of Palestinian prisoners outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on August 11, 2013. (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The killer behind the 1993 murder of South-African-born Ian Feinberg, a 30-year-old lawyer and activist working with Palestinians in Gaza, will also be set free. Masoud Issa Rajeb Amer, a member of the PFLP, was sentenced to three life sentences for the killing, which was perpetrated with a hatchet. On April 18, 1993, Feinberg participated in a meeting in the Gaza offices of a European-funded NGO involved in aid projects when terrorists burst in, ordered everyone, except Feinberg, to the floor, and proceeded to kill him.

Massalha Awwad Mohammed Yusuf and Amawi Hamed Alabad Halmi, both Hamas members who killed 22-year-old Yigal Vaknin in 1993, are also on the list. Vaknin was lured with a plea for help and stabbed to death. His body was found in a field near his home in Moshav Bazra in the Sharon region, two hours before the start on Yom Kippur that year. Yusuf was originally sentenced to two life terms for the killing.

Also included is Haga Salim Mahmud Mo’id who in May 1992 swam from Aqaba, Jordan to Eilat along with three other terrorists and shot 62-year-old Yosef Shirazi to death. Various weapons were found on Mo’id which led authorities to believe they planned a much larger attack.

Relatives of Israelis killed in terror attacks holding signs as they demonstrate outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on August 11, 2013. (Photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The planned release constitutes the second phase of a four-stage prisoner release deal, agreed to as part of the talks which restarted in July. Israel released a first group of prisoners in August.

Earlier Sunday, a ministerial committee headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved on the names of those Palestinians set to go free on Tuesday.

“A list of the prisoners is to be published Sunday night on the website of the Israel Prisons Service, after the bereaved families have been informed,” the statement said.

The releases were expected to be accompanied by the announcement of new plans for West Bank settlement construction, a senior Israeli official said.

The religious, nationalist Jewish Home party has bitterly attacked the planned prisoner releases in recent days. On Sunday, the party proposed legislation to prevent future releases. Opposed by Netanyahu, the bill was rejected by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation in an 8-5 vote.

The Jewish Home’s decision to push forward with the bill drew harsh criticism from Likud ministers and other coalition partners.

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (Hatnua), who is heading off negotiations with the Palestinians, criticized Jewish Home and said that the committee vote showed which coalition parties truly had the nation’s needs at heart.

“Today it has once again been made clear that the government, in contrast to one of its member parties, is acting in the national interest and not according to the instructions of the rabbis in the West Bank,” she said.

Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar (Likud) denounced the Jewish Home ministers for failing to toe the government line.

“You are responsible just like all the other members of the government,” he said to Pensioners Minister Uri Orbach (Jewish Home). “If you don’t like it, you can resign.”

Although the prisoner release deal was approved by Netanyahu, Jewish Home, led by Economics Minister Naftali Bennett, blamed Livni for it.

MK Ayelet Shaked of Jewish Home told Channel 2 Saturday that Jewish Home had made its opposition clear to Netanyahu. ”We told the prime minister that we are against the release of terrorists. It’s immoral. No other country in the world does it,” she said.

Jewish Home also made plain it was not appeased by news of further homes to be built in the settlements. In a statement on Thursday, the party said that “the attempt to link the release of the murderers to construction tenders is manipulative and morally wrong. It will be better if the prime minister does not release murderers and does not build. This looks like a despicable attempt to free murderers and tarnish the settlement enterprise.”

Hatnua’s Environment Minister Amir Peretz said earlier Sunday that Jewish Home could have prevented the release by agreeing to a halt in settlement building, but is instead trying to paper over its own involvement in the government move.

“What is happening in front of our eyes is the biggest dance of hypocrisy I’ve ever seen by a party,” Peretz, a former defense minister, told Army Radio. “On the one hand it sits within the government, and on the other hand it takes advantage of the convenience of being in the government to fulfill its objectives; participates in the vote on the prisoner release, and prevents any way of discussing another option.”

A senior Israeli official said the Americans and Palestinians were aware of Israel’s intentions to build more settlement homes, which had been made clear before talks resumed. The official said that any new construction would take place inside the major blocs Israel aims to keep in any future peace deal. In previous rounds of negotiations, the Palestinians agreed in principle to swap some West Bank land for Israeli territory to allow Israel to annex some settled areas adjacent to the 1967 lines.

Netanyahu has faced pressure from hawkish ministers to delay or cancel the prisoner releases in the wake of a series of violent incidents in the West Bank in recent weeks, including the killing of two IDF soldiers and an attack that wounded a 9-year-old girl in the settlement of Psagot.

Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon (Likud) also slammed the planned prisoner release, saying it only strengthened terror. ”We’ll see the celebrations in Gaza, in Ramallah, in Nablus. This only strengthens those who seek to harm [us],” he told Army Radio Saturday. ”Any approval of settlement construction should not be linked to these releases,” he added.

Mahmoud Abbas celebrating the return of Palestinian prisoners in August. (photo credit: Issam Rimawi/Flash90)

Netanyahu has resisted the pressure from the right and plans to release the prisoners on schedule, the prime minister’s representative in the peace talks, attorney Yitzhak Molcho, assured Palestinian and American officials in recent days.

In July, Israel agreed to the four-phase release of 104 prisoners, many of whom were convicted of brutal murders, serving sentences for acts of terror committed before the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. Twenty-six prisoners were released in the first wave on August 13, just after talks started.

The deal was intended as a sign of good faith ahead of the renewed American-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

A council of former heads of state and government leaders has called on the European Union to establish national surveillance units to monitor citizens of all 27 EU member states suspected of “intolerance.”

What's laughable here is that the most intolerant ideology on the face of the earth is the sharia and jihad. The sharia is the very definition of intolerance -- intolerance of Jews, Christians, Hindus and all non-Muslims, intolerant of women. Jihad defines intolerance. The blasphemy laws under the sharia are intolerant, and yet this is exactly what the EU is proposing to enforce.

Orwell.

Tolerance when applied to evil is a crime. This is criminal.

EU Proposal to Monitor "Intolerant" Citizen by Soeren Kern

"There is no need to be tolerant to the intolerant" — European Framework National Statute for the Promotion of Tolerance, Article 4

"The supra-national surveillance that it would imply would certainly be a dark day for European democracy." — European Dignity Watch

While European leaders are busy expressing public indignation over reports of American espionage operations in the European Union, the European Parliament is quietly considering a proposal that calls for the direct surveillance of any EU citizen suspected of being "intolerant."

Critics say the measure -- which seeks to force the national governments of all 28 EU member states to establish "special administrative units" to monitor any individual or group expressing views that the self-appointed guardians of European multiculturalism deem to be "intolerant" -- represents an unparalleled threat to free speech in a Europe where citizens are already regularly punished for expressing the "wrong" opinions, especially about Islam.

The proposed European Framework National Statute for the Promotion of Tolerance was recently presented to members of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, the only directly-elected body of the European Union.

The policy proposal was drafted by the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation (ECTR), a non-governmental organization established in Paris in 2008 by the former president of Poland, Aleksander Kwasniewski, and the president of the European Jewish Congress, Moshe Kantor.

The ECTR -- which describes itself as a "tolerance watchdog" that "prepares practical recommendations to governments and international organizations on improving interreligious and interethnic relations on the continent" -- includes on its board more than a dozen prominent European politicians, including former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar.

The ECTR first presented its proposal for a Europe-wide Law on Tolerance to the European Parliament in November 2008 as part of the European Week of Tolerance that marked the 70th anniversary of the Kristallnacht, a night of anti-Semitic violence that began the Jewish Holocaust in Germany.

After five years of lobbying in Europe's halls of power, the ECTR proposal appears to be making headway, as evidenced by the European Parliament's recent decision to give the group a prominent 45-minute time slot to present its proposal to the Civil Liberties committee on September 17.

Also known as the "Model Statute for Tolerance," the ECTR's proposal was presented as part of the EU's ongoing work towards a new "Equal Treatment Directive" (ETD) that would vastly expand the scope of discrimination to all sectors of life in both the public and private spheres.

Critics of the ETD, currently being negotiated within the Council of the European Union, say the directive seeks to establish an ill-conceived concept of "equal treatment" as a horizontal principle governing the relationships between all and everyone, thus interfering with the right of self-determination of all citizens.

According to European Dignity Watch, a civil rights watchdog based in Brussels,

The principles of freedom of contract and the freedom to live according to one's personal moral views are in danger of being superseded by a newly developed concept of 'equality.' It would undermine freedom and self-determination for all Europeans and subject the private life of citizens to legal uncertainty and the control of bureaucrats. It is about governmental control of social behavior of citizens. These tendencies begin to give the impression of long-passed totalitarian ideas and constitute an unprecedented attack on citizens' rights.

When viewed in the broader context of the ETD, the ECTR document is so audacious in scope, while at the same time so vague in defining its terminology, that critics say the proposal, if implemented, would open a Pandora's Box of abuse, thereby effectively shutting down the right to free speech in Europe.

According to Section 1 (d), for example, the term "tolerance" is broadly defined as "respect for and acceptance of the expression, preservation and development of the distinct identity of a group." Section 2 (d) states that the purpose of the statute is to "condemn all manifestations of intolerance based on bias, bigotry and prejudice."

An explanatory note to Section 2 states: "Religious intolerance is understood to cover Islamophobia" but it provides no definition at all of "Islamophobia," a term invented by the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1990s. If taken to its logical conclusion, Section 2 would presumably ban all critical scrutiny of Islam and Islamic Sharia law, a key objective of Muslim activist groups for more than two decades.

The document also declares that "tolerance must be practiced not only by governmental bodies but equally by individuals." Section 3 (iv) elaborates on this: "Guarantee of tolerance must be understood not only as a vertical relationship (government-to-individuals) but also as a horizontal relationship (group-to-group and person-to-person). It is the obligation of the government to ensure that intolerance is not practiced either in vertical or in horizontal relationships."

According to Section 4 (f) (i) of the document: "There is no need to be tolerant to the intolerant. This is especially important as far as freedom of expression is concerned." Section 5 (a) states: "Tolerance (as defined in Section 1(d)) must be guaranteed to any group, whether it has long-standing societal roots or it is recently formed, especially as a result of migration from abroad."

Section 6 states: "It goes without saying that enactment of a Statute for the Promotion of Tolerance does not suffice by itself. There must be a mechanism in place ensuring that the Statute does not remain on paper and is actually implemented in the world of reality."

An explanatory note to Section 6 (a) states: "Members of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups are entitled to a special protection, additional to the general protection that has to be provided by the Government to every person within the State." Another note adds: "The special protection afforded to members of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups may imply a preferential treatment. Strictly speaking, this preferential treatment goes beyond mere respect and acceptance lying at the root of tolerance."

Section 6 (b) demands that every one of the 28 member states of the EU "set up a special administrative unit in order to supervise the implementation of this Statute." An explanatory note adds: "The special administrative unit should preferably operate within the Ministry of Justice (although the Ministry of the Interior is another reasonable possibility)."

Section 6 (c) calls for the establishment of a "National Tolerance Monitoring Commission as an independent body -- composed of eminent persons from outside the civil service -- vested with the authority to promote tolerance." An explanatory note adds: "The independent Commission will be empowered to express its views regarding implementation of the Statute by all concerned. Implementation in this context includes (but is not limited to) the imposition of penal sanctions."

Section 7 (a) states: "The following acts will be regarded as criminal offences punishable as aggravated crimes: Incitement to violence against a group and group libel. "Group libel" is broadly defined as: "defamatory comments made in public and aimed against a group or members thereof with a view to inciting to violence, slandering the group, holding it to ridicule or subjecting it to false charges."

Section 7 (b) states that "Juveniles convicted of committing crimes listed in paragraph (a) will be required to undergo a rehabilitation program designed to instill in them a culture of tolerance." Paragraph 7 (e) states that "victims of crimes listed in paragraph (a) will have a legal standing to bring a case against the perpetrators, as well as a right to redress." Paragraph 7 (f) states that "free legal aid will be offered to victims of crimes listed in paragraph (a), irrespective of qualification in terms of impecuniosity."

Section 8 states that "the government shall ensure that (a) Schools, from the primary level upwards, will introduce courses encouraging students to accept diversity and promoting a climate of tolerance as regards the qualities and cultures of others." An explanatory note adds: "It is very important to start such courses as early as possible in the educational program, i.e. in elementary school. Yet, these courses must be offered also at higher levels of education, up to and including universities."

Section 9 (a) states: "The government shall ensure that public broadcasting (television and radio) stations will devote a prescribed percentage of their program to promoting a climate of tolerance." Section 9 (b) adds: "The government shall encourage all privately owned mass media (including the printed press) to promote a climate of tolerance." Section 9 (c) states: "The government shall encourage all the mass media (public as well as private) to adopt an ethical code of conduct, which will prevent the spreading of intolerance and will be supervised by a mass media complaints commission."

The document, if adopted by the European Parliament in its current form, would -- among other problems -- establish a right to a freedom from hurt feelings at the expense of the freedom of speech and expression. In practical terms, critics say, the highly subjective definition of terms and concepts such as "tolerance," "discrimination," "vulnerable," and "disadvantaged," amounts to a legal straitjacket that would encourage frivolous litigation aimed at silencing individuals and groups, or at finding circumlocutions that appear to avoid violating these principles.

"Faith-based groups and schools, adherents of a particular religion or even just parents who want to teach their children certain moral values would all be put under general suspicion of being intolerant," according to European Dignity Watch.

"Even worse, if enshrined as EU policy, such language also could lead to the possibility that charges are brought on unclear or even without legal grounds. The chilling result of this would be the dramatic diminution (and possible disappearance) of the fundamental freedom of expression -- individuals and groups would censor themselves, afraid that they might be prosecuted for expressing their own personal moral views," the NGO argues in a statement.

"The authors of this proposed statute -- under the aegis of an international NGO for tolerance and reconciliation -- have invited the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee to endorse it as a legal project. But not only would an adoption of this statute at the national level of the European states be a significant step backward," the statement concludes, "but the supra-national surveillance that it would imply would certainly be a dark day for European democracy."

"A father's heartbreak?" He raised them to be good Muslim girls, and that is exactly what they are. Even in his appeal, he says to the jihadists in Syria, "I know your condition; I see what you see, I feel what you feel.” So what did he expect? This Telegraph piece is nonsensical.

For years this moderate Muslim family lived a calm life in Norway. The girls were both students and seemed happy, he said.

Here again we see that moderate means secular.

However, in recent months the older sister had become more conservative in her practicing of Islam. She reportedly started to wear a full black niqab, covering her head, body and face in public.

So we see yet again. Devout means jihad. Devout means, wage a holy war against non-Muslims.

A father's heartbreak as his daughters leave Norway to join jihad in Syria The Telegraph, October 27, 2013

The father of two Norwegian sisters who said they were leaving to wage jihad in Syria has told the Telegraph of his heartbreak as his daughters have now "been seen" with the rebels.

As he learned of the their plan, the father rushed to the Turkish border with Syria, hoping to catch his daughters, aged 16 and 19 and of Somali origin, before they crossed into the war-torn country.

But late on Thursday night, activists from Azzaz, a town in Syria close to the Turkish border that is controlled by a branch of al-Qaeda, seemingly confirmed the worst, saying they saw two girls matching the sisters’ description “get in a car and drive away towards [the rebel held city] Aleppo”.

“My daughters! You saw my daughters?” said the father, whose identity is not being disclosed for his own safety, his voiced tinged with desperation as he spoke, in the presence of The Telegraph, on the phone with the Syrian activist who delivered the news.

Speaking from the Turkish town of Antakya, the father looked lost, frightened and confused:

“My daughters are beautiful girls,” the father told The Telegraph from the Turkish town Antakya. When asked whether he suspected that his girls had been affected by the situation in Syria he shook his head and clicked his fingers: “One day they just vanished”.

For years this moderate Muslim family lived a calm life in Norway. The girls were both students and seemed happy, he said.

However, in recent months the older sister had become more conservative in her practicing of Islam. She reportedly started to wear a full black niqab, covering her head, body and face in public.

Some local activists in Syria said they feared the girls may have come into online contact with some of the foreign jihadists now fighting in Syria, and been lured by them to “join the jihad”.

“This has happened many times before,” said Ahmed, one local activist in touch with foreign fighters who have come to fight for al-Qaeda in Syria.

“A woman would not be allowed to fight on the front line; for a women they interpret jihad to mean they must cook and clean, and sometimes have intercourse with the fighters”.

Since arriving in Turkey, the father has been able to speak once to his daughters: “They said: ‘forget it dad, it is too late,” he said.

The father held his head in his hands: “I have not slept for four days, and I will not sleep until I bring my daughter’s home. If I have to go to Syria, I will go there to find them”.

Red Bill De Blasio’s 50-point lead speaks to a larger problem: not just the low-information voter, but the no-information voter. This is why we created the Stop Red Bill committee, and we will be running advertisements across the New York City transit system. Not 24 hours after I had announced the ad campaign, Joe Catania, Independent Expenditures Analyst/Liaison NYC Campaign Finance Board, wrote me and warned me:

"the new rules concerning independent spending in NYC municipal elections by groups and individuals.  Certain independent expenditures, as well as information about the independent spender and, if an organization, its source of funds, must be reported to the Campaign Finance Board through the web-based Independent Expenditure Disclosure System.  A schedule of when these reports are due, as well as a Guide to the CFB Independent Expenditure Disclosure Rules"

They even require do-it-yourself youtube videos talking an election that are put on a web site "designed to influence an election" as disclosable and a 10k fine. The totalitarian state is coming, and no one notices or cares.

This whole disclosure regime appears to be unconstitutional. The guidelines exempt media. Why do they get a pass (expenditures in publishing for or against a candidate) and not me?

DEFENDING THE WEST
Media in uproar over my bid to stop Red Bill
Exclusive: Pamela Geller unveils 'truth about frontrunner in New York mayor race'

I’m leading a coalition of human-rights activists and advocates for fiscal responsibility who have submitted an ad to the MTA to run the week before the election, telling the truth about the frontrunner in the New York mayoral race, Bill de Blasio. And the media is in a frenzy.

The ad is necessary because the mainstream media are not telling New Yorkers the disturbing details of de Blasio’s career, associations and plans for the city. And now, because of the mainstream media’s hatred for the truth and desire to get de Blasio into office, it has gone viral.

We held a press conference Thursday that was widely announced to expose the subversive, seditious and communist candidate for New York mayor. We exposed de Blasio’s Marxist and terrorist ties. Cliff Kincaid organized an intense debriefing on de Blasio’s subversive past. It was two-and-half hours packed with information, documentation and news. Here is an 84-page leave behind from the event.

Pamela Geller’s commitment to freedom from jihad and Shariah shines forth in her books – featured at the WND Superstore

Concerned New Yorkers attended, but there was no media present, with the exception of Jennifer Fermino from the New York Daily News. If a Soros-funded group like Media Matters or the Center for American Progress had announced that it was holding a press conference to expose Joe Lhota, there would have been a stampede.

Did Fermino report on any of the blockbuster research on de Blasio? Not a word. The media won’t cover the shady, subversive history of Bill de Blasio, aka Warren Wilhelm. They won’t ask him about Ortega, Castro, Arafat, etc., or what he was doing in Cuba, Nicaragua, etc.

But Fermino did report on our ad, busying herself not with looking into de Blasio’s positions and associations, but with trying to smear and insult me. She headlined her piece this way: “Subway’s Islam hater Pamela Geller slams ‘Red’ Bill’ de Blasio.” New York Magazine was just as bad, calling me the “subway uglifier” in an article titled: “Nobody Puts Pamela Geller in a Corner.”

No matter. New York Magazine is running our ad. It gets the message out. Pretty or not.

The objective of the Stop Red Bill ad campaign is to get the news that the media ignore out to the voter. They won’t cover it, and they preen about that. It’s funny. The media remind me of the hunchback who can’t see its own hunch. They are so biased, they practically boast about it.

Is it any wonder that the subversive Sandinista is leading in the polls by 50 points? De Blasio’s huge lead speaks to a larger problem: not just the low-information voter, but the no-information voter.

This is why we created the Stop Red Bill committee, and we will be running advertisements across the New York City transit system.

 The ad reads:

STOP RED BILL

• He’ll endanger New Yorkers by stopping counter-terror surveillance programs
• He’ll wallop N.Y. businesses with crippling new taxes
• He partners with vicious terror-aligned foes of Israel
• He supported bloody communist terrorists in Central America
• He has called for the gagging of his political foes

Bill de Blasio has said that he will not allow surveillance of jihadi suspects and terror mosques. This, although two New Yorkers were charged with plotting jihad terror attacks in the last week. And since 9/11, there have been plots against the Brooklyn Bridge, the subway system, the Stock Exchange, Citigroup headquarters, the Garment District, the PATH train, JFK Airport, Long Island Railroad, synagogues in the Bronx and Manhattan, Times Square and more.

De Blasio has a great deal to hide: He has had a number of aliases and name changes. And it’s not surprising that he would want to cover up his past. He has aided the brutal communist Sandinistas and “Palestinian” jihadists, although he has scrubbed that from his website. He even supported the bloodthirsty President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

Newly available documents from his years on the New York City Council show him interfering with the work of the Manhattan district attorney when a New York teacher named Steve Quester was facing prison for working with jihad terrorists in Gaza, Judea and Samaria. Quester called suicide bombers “desperate and hopeless” and said that “all the heartbreak flows directly from Israel’s policy” of “occupying the Palestinian territories.” And he recently appeared at a Muslims for de Blasio rally with Linda Sarsour, who has called Zionism “racism.”

His plans to increase taxes are the death knell of the city. The fact is, nearly half this city’s job growth has come from health care and social services. Who’s going to pay for it if he kills the businessman?

We have also started a website, StopRedBill.com, that provides further documentation of these assertions.

It’s an uphill battle. But we will never stop telling the truth.

Here's the thing: Obama is punishing Egypt for moving in this direction. He has suspended aid and continued to threaten Egypt for throwing off the yoke of Islamic tyranny by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Progress despite Obama.

Decisive anti-Sharia step in Egypt: Constitution committee eliminates all barriers to building churches, stipulates "absolute freedom of belief" for Egyptians

(thanks to Robert Spencer)

Islamic law forbids Christians to build new churches or repair old ones. This is, therefore, a strong and welcome rejection of Sharia. "UPDATE: Constitution committee eliminates all barriers to building churches in Egypt," from Ahram Online, October 27:

Egypt's 50-member committee tasked with amending the suspended 2012 constitution adopted on Sunday a transitional article that will cancel existing restrictions regulating the building of new churches.

According to Ahram Arabic news website, the committee also initially adopted an article [47] which stipulates "absolute freedom of belief" for Egyptian citizens and endows the state with the responsibility to ensure free practice of religion.

However, under pressure from representatives of Egypt's highest Sunni authority Al-Azhar, which has demanded that freedom of religion be restricted to the three monotheistic beliefs, the committee opted to postpone its vote on article 47 until Monday.

Sources at the meeting told Ahram that representatives of the church, who have until now strongly supported complete freedom of religion, sided with Al-Azhar's objection.

Christians, who make up 10 to15 percent of Egypt's 85 million, need special presidential permits in order to build or renovate churches in Egypt.

Supporters of equal rights for all citizens have long demanded the freedom to build and renovate churches without restraint in order to ensure parity between Egypt's religions.

Islamic extremists have attacked tens of churches, destroying many, in the past 15 years....

My dear friend and colleague Robert Spencer observes the 10-year anniversary of Jihadwatch today. The website Jihadwatch is a national treasure, an essential and critical tool in the information battle-space.

Who would have thought that in the decade since 911, Mr. Spencer and the few brave lone voices like his would be demonized and marginalized in the righteous fight for freedom.

Now, 44,415 Jihad Watch posts later, the evidence has been marshaled with numbing repetition, and yet the point is more elusive than ever -- smothered in an avalanche of propaganda from well-heeled Leftist and Islamic supremacist propaganda mills loudly claiming that to discuss this issue, to amass this evidence, to make this blazingly obvious point, is "hatred," "bigotry," "Islamophobia." The timid cower and scuttle away, afraid of being connected with something so "controversial." The opportunistic mouth the currently acceptable pieties, and climb the ladder of success to the extent that they're willing to sell their souls.

I am honored to work with Robert and applaud his tenacity, fortitude and courage. Never give up. Never give in. Never surrender. Happy birthday, JW. Yellow-cake for everyone!

Ten years of Jihad Watch

Ten years ago, on October 28, 2003, I started Jihad Watch. Since then I've been at this every day (except for two or three days out of 3,650, missed due to travel), putting up 34,056 posts (out of a total of 44,415) containing news and commentary about jihad activity, domestic and international, violent and stealthy.

I have done what I set out to do: document and chronicle a certain level of violence and thuggery, as well as supremacist calls for and predictions of conquest and domination, and show how they derive their inspiration and impetus from Islamic texts and teachings. The point of doing this was not (as the relentless cliche has it) to "demonize" Islam or Muslims, but to prove that there is a problem within Islam that needs to be addressed by people of good will, Muslim and non-Muslim -- a problem that would not be solved by concession, accommodation, or appeasement. By refusing to address this problem, and instead defaming those who have dared to raise it, Muslim and Leftist organizations in the U.S. and Europe have demonized themselves.

While I was impatient with George W. Bush's "Islam is a religion of peace" posturing, it seemed so self-evidently absurd to me and so many others at the time that it never occurred to me when I started this site that the broad mainstream of the public discourse would ever consider the Jihad Watch effort, or the three books I had published about Islam before starting this site, to be remotely controversial. The point was blazingly obvious; it just had to be reinforced since it was being so brazenly denied, in the face of so much evidence.

Now, 44,415 Jihad Watch posts later, the evidence has been marshaled with numbing repetition, and yet the point is more elusive than ever -- smothered in an avalanche of propaganda from well-heeled Leftist and Islamic supremacist propaganda mills loudly claiming that to discuss this issue, to amass this evidence, to make this blazingly obvious point, is "hatred," "bigotry," "Islamophobia." The timid cower and scuttle away, afraid of being connected with something so "controversial." The opportunistic mouth the currently acceptable pieties, and climb the ladder of success to the extent that they're willing to sell their souls.

In the face of this moneyed propaganda barrage, the task is sisyphean, and perhaps pointless. At the same time, because of the ubiquity of this propaganda barrage, the task has to be done more than ever. The truth remains as obvious as it always was; it is the minds of human beings that can be so clouded that they cannot see it. And so here's to another ten years -- or as much time as we have -- of truth and clarity.