OK, I'll admit it - I've been guilty of doubting the "Religion of Peace" thing. But looking at the example of tolerance shown here....Oh, yes, I'm a believer now. I mean, look how peaceful....

Christian Family Burned to Death in Pakistan After Koran is 'Defiled'
Zahid Hussain in Islamabad

Paramilitary troops patrolled the streets of a town in eastern Pakistan yesterday after Muslim radicals burnt to death eight members of a Christian family, raising fears of violence spreading to other areas.

Hundreds of armed supporters of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an outlawed Islamic militant group, set alight dozens of Christian homes in Gojra town at the weekend after allegations that a copy of the Koran had been defiled.

The mob opened fire indiscriminately, threw petrol bombs and looted houses as thousands of frightened Christians ran for safety. “They were shouting anti-Christian slogans and attacked our houses,” Rafiq Masih, a resident of the predominantly Christian colony, said. Residents said that police stood aside while the mob went on the rampage. “We kept begging for protection, but police did not take action,” Mr Masih said.

Police and local officials said that at least eight people, including four women and a child, were killed in the fires. Two others died of gunshot wounds. Residents said that the casualties were much higher; one claimed that the number of dead could be in the dozens as many bodies were still buried under the rubble.Shahbaz Bhatti, the Minister for Minorities, said that 40 Christian homes were torched in rioting. He said there was no truth to allegations that a Koran had been defiled, and accused the police of ignoring his appeal to provide protection to Christians.

[...]

On second thought...maybe, just maybe, burning down houses with women and children inside doesn't qualify as 'peaceful' after all...

The rest of the article is here, from The Times of London

Labels: Islam, Pakistan, Religion of Peace?

I'm not quite sure why this is headline news, since this place has been well known for years, but here we are:

HANCOCK, N.Y. — If you didn't know where to look, you'd probably never find Islamberg, a private Muslim community in the woods of the western Catskills, 150 miles northwest of New York City.

The town, sitting on a quiet dirt road past a gate marked with No Trespassing signs, is home to an estimated 100 residents. There are small houses and other buildings visible from the outside, but it is what can't be seen from beyond the gate that has some watchers worried.

Islamberg was founded in 1980 by Sheikh Syed Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani, a Pakistani cleric who purchased a 70-acre plot and invited followers, mostly Muslim converts living in New York City, to settle there.Federal authorities say Gilani was also one of the founders of Jamaat al-Fuqra, a terrorist organization believed responsible for dozens of bombings and murders across the U.S. and abroad. The group was linked to the planning of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and 10 years earlier a member was arrested and later convicted for bombing a hotel in Portland, Ore.

[...]

Shoe bomber Richard Reid has been linked to the group, along with convicted D.C. sniper John Allen Muhammad. But it is Sheikh Gilani who creates the most controversy and concern.

Gilani has told his followers that "Zionist plotters" plan to rule the world, and he encourates them to leave America's cities and avoid the "decadence of a godless society." Gilani is the man American reporter Daniel Pearl was trying to interview in Pakistan when he was kidnapped and beheaded. The Sheikh was taken into custody and later released by Pakistani authorities; he denies any involvement in Pearl's murder.

[...]

So basically, we have a report that warns state troopers to look out for citizens exercising their Constitutional rights, and classifies them as possible domestic terrorists - but it's very likely that real terrorists have been allowed to operate in upstate NY for years without anyone saying anything. Oh, and the place was founded by the guy Daniel Pearl was headed to interview when he was kidnapped. But Gilani couldn't have had anything to do with that - after all, he says so.

Yeah, that makes sense.

The full story is here.

Labels: Islam, Islamberg, Jamaat al-Fuqra, Religion of Peace?, Sheikh Syed Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani, terrorism, terrorists

Bridges TV was touted as the TV station that was going to bring understanding to America - to "better the Islamic image" in the U.S.

Yeah, umm.....FAIL:

Beheading in New York Appears to Be Honor Killing, Experts Say

The beheading of 37-year-old Aasiya Hassan has all the markings of an honor killing, psychologists and Islamic experts tell FOXNews.com, as the upstate New York woman's husband awaits a preliminary hearing on murder charges.

Muzzammil Hassan, 44, remains jailed after being charged with the second-degree murder of his wife, whose body was found Thursday at the office of Bridges TV, their television station in Orchard Park, near Buffalo.

Orchard Park Police Chief Andrew Benz said Hassan has not confessed to the crime, despite media reports to the contrary.

"He came in and said his wife was dead," said Benz, who declined to elaborate on the particulars of his conversation with the suspect.

But Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita III left no doubt that he believes Muzzammil Hassan killed his wife. Hassan will appear for a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Orchard Park. If convicted of second-degree murder, he faces up to life in prison.

"He's a pretty vicious and remorseless bastard," Sedita told FOXNews.com Tuesday. "Whether he was motivated by some kind of interpretation of his religious or cultural views, we don't know. We'll look into everything in the case."

More here

And then there's this little gem:

FBI Cuts Ties With CAIR Following Terror Financing Trial

The FBI severed its ties with all local branches of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the country's largest Islamic advocacy group, an FBI official told FOX News.

The FBI is severing its once-close ties with the nation's largest Muslim advocacy group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, amid mounting evidence that it has links to a support network for Hamas.

All local chapters of CAIR have been shunned in the wake of a 15-year FBI investigation that culminated with the conviction in December of Hamas fundraisers at a trial where CAIR itself was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator.

The U.S. government has designated Hamas as a terrorist organization.

An official at the FBI's headquarters in Washington confirmed to FOX News that his office directed FBI field offices across the country to cut ties with local branches of CAIR.

More here

Me, I'm a little concerned that there ever WERE ties to CAIR....seriously, how did anyone not know these guys were tied to terrorists?? What's next - the shocking news that Mexican drug gangs are dangerous?

And while we're on the subject, CAIR was an unindicted co-conspirator in a trial that ended - in a conviction - in freakin' December! It takes until February to cut ties?? Methinks there's a few people whose heads need to be removed from a certain part of their anatomy.

Your tax dollars at work, folks.

Labels: CAIR, Hamas, honor killing, Islam, Religion of Peace?, terrorism, terrorists

Report: Maryland Students to Get PC Lesson on Islam

A textbook monitoring group said that Maryland middle and high school students will be required to read about Islamic teachings that have been dumbed down and are products of political correctness.

According to the New York Examiner, a new report issued by the American Textbook Council said that administrators who approved books for use in the Montgomery County school district caved into pressure by pro-Islamic groups seeking to present a less violent interpretation of Islam.

Gilbert Sewall, director of the council, stated that, for example, the definition of jihad has gone through "amazing cultural reorchestration" in textbooks, losing any connotation of violence, the Examiner wrote.

Other terms, such as sharia law, have been adjusted or removed from lessons to avoid what he called "inconvenient truths."

Inconvenient truths....like the wealth of terrorists that practice it. Next stop...burqas in the classroom. This stuff makes me sick.


Read the whole story here.

Labels: Islam, political correctness, sharia law

From Multi-National Force - Iraq:

With the ball, Spc. Cortez Cox, a water purification specialist, and Staff Sgt. Howard Benjamin, a section leader, both with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), teach Radwaniyah children how to defend and take the ball away during day two of a three-day basketball camp at Patrol Base Lion’s Den. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Tony M. Lindback, 3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Div. (AASLT).


Friday, 11 April 2008
By Staff Sgt. Tony M. Lindback
3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Div. (AASLT)

PATROL BASE LION’S DEN — Radwaniyah area children were treated to something a little out of the ordinary when U.S. Soldiers at Patrol Base Lion’s Den held a basketball camp recently.

Holding a basketball camp where Soldiers could teach lessons in teamwork, discipline and hard work, resulted from Staff Sgt. Christopher Dickerson and his company commander, Capt. Sean Morrow, putting their heads together.

Dickerson and Morrow wanted Company B, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), to give back to the community and get the kids in the area together. Their idea captured the support of many company Soldiers, some of whom, like Sgt. Dwight Williams, added ideas and manpower to make the camp a hit.

Williams, originally from Birmingham, Ala., has a brother who holds a basketball camp at home every summer. Williams said he tries to make it to the camp to help each year, but donates $500 to sponsor five children when he can’t be there.

“Being over here this time, I got to work with the Iraqi kids and I felt just like I was back at home,” Williams said. “I was able to give back to the community.”

Giving back to Radwaniyah has involved more than just teaching basketball. One sheikh said the security the Americans had established was the first gift to the community.

“Thanks to God, the Iraqi Army and the Coalition forces, the security is very good,” said Sheikh Hameed Shalal Al-Tharib, a local leader in Radwaniyah. “That makes a good situation where our kids can play soccer, or come here and learn basketball.”

Teaching the children basketball, an American game, instead of soccer - a much more common game in Iraq - had its purpose. The Soldiers wanted to share American culture, but they also wanted to get everyone on common ground, starting off as beginners. They brought in Iraqi Army Soldiers and sheikhs to give the youth figures to look to for learning.

“We wanted to bring them in and have the IA with us so they could serve as good role models,” said Atlanta native, 1st Lt. Trivius Caldwell, 3rd Platoon leader for Co. B, 2-69th Armor Regt. “We wanted to teach them basic elements of life – teamwork, discipline, hard work – things of that nature. I think we accomplished that.”

Williams said he felt the Iraqi children may have had a misunderstanding of why Americans are in Iraq and the basketball camp was one way to show them what kind of people Americans really are.

“The kids really enjoyed it because they had heard about Americans,” Williams said. “But there’s a big difference between hearing about us and standing there with us and shaking our hands. I think they really enjoyed that more than the basketball camp – getting to interact with us.”

Eighteen children showed up for the first day of the three-day camp, 27 came on the second day and there were 47 by the last day.

“It’s just like spreading the word back home; if one kid likes it, he’s going to tell a friend and then he’ll tell a friend,” Williams said. “We were just glad to have so many kids come out.”

The children formed teams and played a championship game at the culmination of camp, allowing them to show off what they had learned. They were then treated to a cookout and given awards. Twenty-five children got one more thing, something they held dearly as they walked away – their very own Quran.

“In my brother’s camp (in Birmingham) we give out Bibles,” Williams said. “Here, a lot of families don’t have Qurans, so we gave out Qurans … Giving out a Quran is letting them know, ‘I respect your religion, just like I respect mine.’”

Local sheikhs happily brought the Qurans in at the request of Morrow.

“It’s a great thing to give the Quran to the children at the end of the basketball camp,” Sheik Al-Tharib said. “We want to teach our kids about more than sports … Since the people here are poor, it’s good that each kid can now have his own Quran – something his family maybe didn’t have before.”

Labels: 101st Airborne Division, 2-69th Armor Regiment, children, Good News, Iraq, Islam, Patrol Base Lion's Den, Radwaniyah, US Army

From Fox News:

Report: Syrian Man Butchers Baby Nephew in Supermarket
Wednesday, March 05, 2008

A Syrian man decapitated his 15-month-old nephew with a knife before his mother's eyes at a supermarket in Jeddah, according to an Arab News report.

The 25-year-old man beheaded the baby following a dispute with his sister and brother-in-law in front of stunned shoppers at the Al-Marhaba supermarket Tuesday morning, police say.

More details here


Gee, why is it that people are skeptical about that 'Religion of Peace' thing....?

Labels: Islam, Religion of Peace?

Saudi Men Busted for Flirting With Women in Public

Saturday , February 23, 2008
Associated Press

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia began interrogating 57 men Saturday who were arrested after allegedly flirting with women in front of a shopping mall in the holy city of Mecca, a local newspaper reported.

The country's religious police arrested the men Thursday night, alleging behavior that included dancing to pop music blaring from their cars and wearing improper clothing, according to the Okaz newspaper, which is deemed close to the government.

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice runs the religious police, who are charged with enforcing Saudi Arabia's strict Islamic lifestyle...

Read the Rest, at Fox News


Just kinda makes you feel warm all over, doesn't it?

Labels: Islam, Religion of Peace?

More joy from the poor misunderstood radical Muslims today...

Pakistani Minister Murdered For Refusing to Wear a Veil
A Pakistani minister and woman’s activist was shot dead Tuesday by an Islamic extremist for refusing to wear the veil.

Zilla Huma Usman, the minister for social welfare in Punjab province and an ally of President Pervez Musharraf, was killed as she was about to deliver a speech to dozens of party activists, by a “fanatic”, who believed that she was dressed inappropriately and that women should not be involved in politics, officials said...

Here's what this dirtbag had to say for himself:

Sarwar appeared relaxed and calm when he told a television channel that he had carried out God’s order to kill women who sinned. “I have no regrets. I just obeyed Allah’s commandment,” he said, adding that Islam did not allow women to hold positions of leadership. “I will kill all those women who do not follow the right path, if I am freed again,” he said.

So, let me get this straight...these are the people that the Democrats want us to "negotiate" with? These are the people who are only violent because of what the U.S.A. does? These are the people that I'm supposed to feel bad for when the poached salmon at Gitmo isn't exactly the way they want it? Somehow, I just don't feel inclined to do any of that...

My condolences to Minister Usman's friends and loved ones. She was a brave woman.

Labels: Islam, Religion of Peace?