Bahrain names Jewish woman as ambassador to U.S.

H/t to Gramfan for sending this in. This is a step in the right direction, I suspect the word for her is “token” but that doesn’t mean she will be ineffective.

By Syed Rashid Husain, April 27, 2008, DAWN: Bahrain is nominating a Jewish woman as its ambassador to the United States, press reports said.

Huda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo is Bahrain’s nominee for the post and this is of course very good news for Bahrain’s deep-rooted values of tolerance and openness,” Faisal Fouladh, a Shura Council representative, and some western diplomats were quoted in the reports as saying.

Huda Nonoo, a businesswoman, was also the first Jewish woman to sit in the Bahriani Shura Council, the 40-member upper house of the bicameral legislature, replacing her uncle.

She is also the first Jewish woman to head a rights organisation, the Bahrain Human Rights Watch, as its secretary-general.

The appointment of Huda is based on her qualification and not just ‘a public relationing campaign’ by the island kingdom, her colleagues in Shura insisted.

Huda Nonoo belongs to a tiny Jewish community in Bahrain, dating back to the Talmudic era. Her forefathers migrated from Iraq in the late 19th century.

Iranian Film about Jesus is Blasphemous to Christians

From one of our readers, Chris, comes the following email:

Dear Dr. Bulldog,

You [might] be interested in a new film being marketed for distribution in the US. It depicts Jesus from an Islamic perspective, drawing heavily from the Gospel of Barnabas. There is an article about it on the front page of today’s Los Angeles Times. I submitted the following letter to the editor:

The article about the new Iranian film on Jesus may leave readers wondering about this Gospel of Barnabas, which was mentioned several times as the primary source for Jesus’ dialogues. There are some relevant points which were left out of the article: 1) This Gospel is touted by Muslims because it alone foretells the coming of Muhammad, in agreement with the Quran. (See Barnabas, Chapter 112, and Quran 7:157) 2) Three gross errors in the Gospel of Barnabas betray its inept fabrication and its medieval origins: a) Jesus sailed to Nazareth which is 25 or 30 miles from any navigable body of water (Chapter 20), b) Wood wine casks are mentioned, though they were not invented until the Middle Ages (Chapter 152), c) the Jubilee was celebrated every 100 years, though this change from the Leviticus 25 decree of 50 years was implemented in 1343 (Chapter 82). The forgery was long after 1343, because the author seemed unaware of the change. 3) Most Islamic scholars have backed away from the Gospel of Barnabas for these reasons. For example, Muhammad Asad in his “The Message of the Quran” states that there was another, lost gospel.

“It is to be borne in mind that the Gospel frequently mentioned in the Quran is not identical with what is known today as the Four Gospels, but refers to an original, since lost, revelation bestowed upon Jesus and known to his contemporaries under its Greek name of Evangelion (“Good Tiding”), on which the Arabicized form Injil is based. It was probably the source from which the Synoptic Gospels derived much of their material and some of the teachings attributed to Jesus.” ( Page 79, note 4)

When the director of the film says, “I didn’t say Jesus wasn’t crucified. God did. It’s in the Quran,” it is clear that the research for this film was quite limited. Western audiences will find it as curious as the Doo Dah Parade.

Chris

An Iranian’s vision of Jesus’ life stirs debate

The new film, based on the Islamic version of Jesus’ life, depicts him as a prophet rather than the son of God. Its director says he wants to further understanding.

By Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 29, 2008

TEHRAN — A man wrapped in a shawl stood at the door.

“This is Jesus,” said another man.

Jesus sat and peeled an orange as his companion, Nader Talebzadeh, began to speak, precisely, so as not to be misunderstood on a matter so sensitive. The Iranian director’s new film is based on the Islamic version of the life of Jesus, depicting the man Christians believe to be the messiah and son of God as a tormented Judean prophet foretelling the coming of Muhammad, the founder of the Muslim faith.

One might imagine such a tale may not screen well in the red states of America. The film, nearly 10 years in the making, draws on the Koran and the putative Gospel of Barnabas, considered by many Western scholars a medieval fable. The premise of “Jesus, the Spirit of God” is that Jesus was compassionate and performed miracles, but was not crucified or resurrected from the dead. The message implies that Christianity, a faith of 2 billion people and the core of much Western philosophy, is based on a falsehood.

“I pray for Christians. They’ve been misled. They will realize one day the true story,” said Talebzadeh, whose film has been screened at international film festivals and is being marketed for wider release.

“People might use this film as a strategy to further demonize Iran,” he said. “They may succeed. But I hope once you see that the focus of the film is sacred, it will overwhelm. No one would have imagined that an Iranian would make a film to glorify Jesus.”

[It seems to me it was made to glorify the false prophet Muhammad’s ignorance and lies.]

Al Qaeda Linked Extremists “Honor” Kill Yet Another Christian Evangelist in Somalia

Muslims like to claim that they recognize Jesus as a prophet. They do this in an attempt to lull Christians into a false sense of religious unity without mentioning that they don’t consider Jesus to be the Son of God. Truth is, Christians are considered Infidels just as every other non-Muslim or apostate…

Islamic Extremists Kill another Christian in Somalia

Fourth Christian Martyred in Somalia in the Last Six Months

Persecution.org

ICC Note

Islamic extremist group Al-Shaba is fighting for formation of Islamic State in Somalia where Sharia law is the law of the land. The Islamic insurgent group has killed four Christians in the past six months alone.

April 29, 2008 – The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org has learned that Islamic extremists shot and killed a Muslim convert to Christianity on April 22 in Baidawa, a town 149 miles away from Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. His name was David Abdulwahab Mohamed Ali, and he was 29 years old.

On Tuesday, April 22, 2008, at 4:30pm local time, one of David’s cousins led two other members of the Islamic extremist group Al-Shabab to David and asked him if he was a Muslim or an infidel. He answered, “Neither.”

They asked, “Then what are you?”

He answered, “Waxaan ahay Masiixi,” which means, “I am a follower of the Messiah.”

At this, David’s cousin was enraged and humiliated. In Somalia’s strict Muslim society, David’s conversion to Christianity brought enormous shame on his family. His cousin’s first response was to pull out a gun and shoot David. The other two extremists did the same, and the three continued shooting David until their Muslim “honor” had been avenged.

BBC Facing Court Challenge Over Decision to Censor Christian Party Broadcast

More signs from the BBC of its anti-Christian, pro-Islam attitude…
BBC ‘censored Christian party broadcast’Andrew Norfolk
April 29, 2008

TimesOnline.co.UK
The BBC is facing a High Court challenge over its decision to censor a party political broadcast in the run-up to Thursday’s local elections.

A Christian party has begun legal action after the corporation insisted on changes to a short film in which the party voiced opposition to the building of Europe’s biggest mosque next to the site of the 2012 Olympics.

Tablighi Jamaat, the Islamic missionary group behind the £75 million Abbey Mills mosque, opposes inter-faith dialogue and preaches that non-Muslims are an evil and corrupting influence. One of its British advocates has said that it aims to rescue Muslims from the culture and civilisation of Jews and Christians by creating “such hatred for their ways as human beings have for urine and excreta”.

The Christian Choice election broadcast would have described Tablighi Jamaat as “a separatist Islamic group” before welcoming that some “moderate Muslims” were opposed to the mosque complex.

Alan Craig, the party’s candidate in the London mayoral election, also on Thursday, said that he was forced to change the wording at the insistence of lawyers at the BBC and ITV, which will also feature in the court action.

The BBC refused to accept “separatist” — the corporation asked for “controversial” instead — and barred the use of “moderate Muslims” because the phrase implied that Tablighi Jamaat was less than moderate.

ITV went a step farther, demanding that the adjective “controversial” be used merely to describe the planned mosque and not the group itself.

Saudi governor orders haircuts for men who hit on women

Of course, there is no real punishment for men who hit women…

Apr 29 2008
via Breitbart
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) – Local media reports say a governor in northern Saudi Arabia has ordered authorities to punish men who flirt with women in public places by cutting their hair.

Several Saudi newspapers, including Al Hayat, say Prince Fahd bin Badr ordered police Sunday to carry out the punishment after seeing a group of men with long hair pestering female students as they left school in the town of Skaka.

Many clergymen in this conservative Gulf country say men should not have long hair because Islam prohibits the sexes from emulating each other.

Saudi Arabia has long enforced a strict Islamic lifestyle in which men and women are segregated in public.

Tuesday’s newspaper reports identified Fahd as the governor of the northern region of al-Jof.

Largest Church in London Told to Take a Hike

More ominous signs from Britain of a dhimmi government in action:

London Church Forced Off Its Property
By Dale Hurd
CBN News Sr. Reporter
April 29, 2008

CBNNews.com – LONDON – If you live in London, and you want to build the largest Mosque in Europe, that’s great. But if you want to build the largest church, forget about it.

London’s Kingsway International Christian Church, the largest church in Europe, no longer has a permanent home. Nor is there much prospect of it finding one in London.

This congregation of as many as 10,000 was forced off its property to make room for the 2012 London Olympics. And now it must hold five Sunday services jammed into a 1000-seat former theatre in East London.

“I’m probably one of the few pastors around the world who has to preach 5 times every Sunday,” Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo.

When Kingsway had its old building taken from it for the London Games, it not only was forbidden to re-build nearby, where most of its church members live. But the London Development agency offered this predominantly black church land on the far outskirts of London, in a white suburb, where local officials didn’t want a large black church and turned down Kingsway’s planning request.

“We were left high and dry, to face the wrath of the community,” Ashimolowo said. “When you have a church of our magnitude with 90 percent ethnic minorities from about 46 nations, the first thing that comes to the mind of the neighborhood is, ‘Oh my God, this large church is coming to our neighborhood.'”

So for now, Kingsway has nowhere to move. Feeling more than just abandoned by the city, Pastor Ashimolowo contends government officials’ treatment of the church amounts to racial discrimination and religious persecution.

“When the largest church has its property taken from it and made to operate from a small building, that is a form of persecution,” Ashimolowo said.

“KICC is the largest church in Western Europe, and I think that ought to have been celebrated,” Ashimolowo said. “Rather, I believe that we were victims of the fact that it was a Christian church that has succeeded. The megachurch growth of the large church is so unknown to them. In fact, they call KICC “the American style church led by a Nigerian pastor,” he added.

Alan Craig, a Christian city councilman running for London mayor, calls it “a perfect illustration” of the City of London’s “prejudice against Christianity.”

“It’s just appalling the way they’ve been treated,” he said. “KICC are left swinging in the wind. They have no permanent home, as we stand here today.”

So while London city government has literally told the largest church in the city to take a hike, it’s still pushing the construction of the largest mosque in Europe.

Man Who Advocates an Intifada in U.S. to Teleconference with Muslim Students Association

Even ‘moderate’ Muslim groups seem to add credibility to Islamonazis…

Attention News Editors:
Jewish Defence League of Canada exposes intifada plot in Canada and the U.S.A.

TORONTO, April 29 /CNW/ – It has recently come to the attention of the Jewish Defence League of Canada that the Muslim Students Association, the largest and most respectable Muslim Student group in Canada and the USA will be having a Teleconference on Wednesday, April 30th, with a man who advocates an INTIFADA in North America. This is from the Muslim Students Association web site.

This man, Dr. Hatem Bazian, recently stated during a speech to students, “Are you angry? (Yeah!) Are you angry? (Yeah) Are you angry? (Yeah). Well, we’ve been watching intifada in Palestine, we’ve been watching an uprising in Iraq, and the question is that what are we doing? How come we don’t have an intifada in this country? and it’s about time that we have an intifada in this country that change(s) fundamentally the political dynamics here. And we know every – They’re gonna say some Palestinians are being too radical – well, you haven’t seen radicalism yet!”

We have witnessed a rise in anti-semitism and violence against Jewish students on many campuses in Canada and any person who calls for an Intifada in our country only serves to fuel the flames of hatred and violence directed toward our community.

On May 30th, 2008 Dr. Jamal Badawi, Senior Board Member of the Council of American Islamic Relations – Canada (CAIR-Canada), will be the Keynote Speaker for the Muslim Student Association Conference in Canada. We call upon Dr. Jamal Badawi to denounce any calls for an intifada in Canada and the U.S.A.
We also call upon the Solicitor General of Canada and the RCMP to monitor hate speech by Dr. Hatem Bazian.

For further information: please contact the Jewish Defence League of Canada at (905) 474-0555

France: 60 to 70 Percent of Prisoners are Muslim

H/T – Matamoros

In France, Prisons Filled With Muslims

By Molly Moore
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, April 29, 2008; A01

SEQUEDIN, France — Samia El Alaoui Talibi walks her beat in a cream-colored head scarf and an ink-black robe with sunset-orange piping, an outfit she picked up at a yard sale.

After passing a bulletproof window, El Alaoui Talibi trudges through half a dozen heavy, locked doors to reach the Muslim faithful to whom she ministers in the women’s cellblock of the Lille-Sequedin Detention Center in far northern France.

It took her years to earn this access, said El Alaoui Talibi, one of only four Muslim holy women allowed to work in French prisons. “Everyone has the same prejudices and negative image of Muslims and Islam,” said Moroccan-born El Alaoui Talibi, 47, the mother of seven children. “When some guards see you, they see an Arab; they see you the same as if you were a prisoner.”

This prison is majority Muslim — as is virtually every house of incarceration in France. About 60 to 70 percent of all inmates in the country’s prison system are Muslim, according to Muslim leaders, sociologists and researchers, though Muslims make up only about 12 percent of the country’s population.

On a continent where immigrants and the children of immigrants are disproportionately represented in almost every prison system, the French figures are the most marked, according to researchers, criminologists and Muslim leaders.

“The high percentage of Muslims in prisons is a direct consequence of the failure of the integration of minorities in France,” said Moussa Khedimellah, a sociologist who has spent several years conducting research on Muslims in the French penal system.

Its future uncertain, barrier on the border going up quickly.

I am totally in favor of a fence. I do not think it is the complete answer to uncontrolled immigration but it is better than our current system. For you open borders are best types. I ask why do you live in gated communities and still lock your doors and put alarms on your cars? Open up everything you own if you are so trusting.

Times are hard and American’s needs jobs. We can no longer afford to take the trash of others. With controlled immigration, we could still allow sizable numbers to enter the US but we should pick them ourselves. The bottom line is the vast majority of the worlds population would love to immigrate, we can’t take them all but we can take the ones who have something to add to our country.

Now before everyone attacks me. I fully realize not all immigrants, legal or not are “trash” but the crime stats speak for themselves, we have a problem and ignoring it is no solution.

I am actually against one-stop fits all solutions many immigrants have proved their worth, especially the ones who arrived many years ago. I think a penalty is fair, they did break our laws but some clearly have proven worthy of citizenship. Violent criminal illegals should serve time and be deported and never allowed back. Commit a violent crime and your finished, no second chance.

28 April, 2008 (AP)
WASHINGTON – The U.S. fence along the Mexican border is less a wall than a stuttering set of blockades: half barrier, half gaps.

Americans are split pretty much the same way: half in favor, half against, passionate on both sides when it comes to the idea of erecting a wall to keep people from entering the country illegally.

It can seem a shaky foundation as the United States rushes to complete the fencing on nearly 700 miles of the border by the end of the year. That’s when a new administration arrives in the White House with its own ideas about security, freedom, the 11 million illegal immigrants already here and the prospect of many more on the way.

Nearly half complete, the multibillion-dollar fence project stretches from the Pacific surf at Tijuana to the Gulf of Mexico near Brownsville, Texas. The messages it sends are decidedly mixed.

For Rep. Peter King, the New York Republican who wrote the legislation to build the fence, the message is simple: Don’t sneak into America; we are taking control of our borders.

For others, the fence is inconsistent with a country founded by immigrants and priding itself on opportunity.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says it’s simply a new law enforcement device, part of a multipronged crackdown on the flow of illegal immigrants. The government also has hired more border agents, stepped up enforcement nationwide and increased penalties for those who don’t follow the law.

“I don’t invest the fence with the iconic significance that some people place on it,” Chertoff says. “To some people, it is a be-all and end-all of controlling the border. To some people, it is a symbol of … the Berlin Wall. I think it’s a tool.”

The concept of a border fence took on new life after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, which revived the heated immigration debate. Intelligence officials have said the holes along the southwest border could provide places for terrorists to enter the country.

About 317 miles of the southwest border fence have been built, with plans for another 353 miles by the end of the year. Longer term, there are plans for physical fencing or surveillance and detection technology along the entire 2,000-mile border by 2010.

An Associated Press-Ipsos poll last month found Americans just about as split as they could be: 49 percent in favor of the fence, 48 percent opposed. Tellingly, a majority of 55 percent think it won’t fix the problem.

Congress already has allocated $2.7 billion for fence construction, and there’s no estimate how much the entire system – the physical fence and technology – will cost to build, let alone maintain.

The new construction includes completion of a nearly solid stretch from San Diego to Yuma, Ariz.; a new section extending several miles in each direction from Lukeville, Ariz.; additional lengths flanking Nogales, Ariz., and Columbus, N.M.; extension of the current barrier at El Paso; new sections near the Texas border towns of Esperanza, Presidio, Del Rio and Eagle Pass, and a dotted line of fence stretching from Roma to past Brownsville.

Border fences have been sprouting across California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas for decades – dating to the 1940s, when the International Boundary and Water Commission built 234 miles of fence to keep out foot-and-mouth disease.

As a result, the U.S. fence is a patchwork of old and new construction and in varying states of repair; the only consistency is a uniform ugliness.

In San Diego, rusted, corrugated metal wades ashore from the Pacific onto a beach and becomes a 9-mile wall that dips into canyons, runs along hillsides and jogs beside a highway. In Arizona, short vertical posts, some connected by horizontal rails, mesh fencing and World War II surplus corrugated steel sheets are scattered along the border from Yuma to Douglas. In New Mexico, 15-foot poles poke up from the desert floor on either side of the Columbus port of entry, rust-colored pipes just inches from each other, allowing enough space to wriggle a hand between. And in Texas, dull gray panels of thick steel fencing curve along the Rio Grande through downtown El Paso, patched here and there with mismatched pieces of metal.

Napolitano vetoes bill on immigration enforcement

Yet another weak democrat caving to illegals and their supporters. You can never depend on weak politicians to do the right thing, build the damn fence.

by Matthew Benson, April 28, 2008, The Arizona Republic

Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed a measure Monday that would have required local law enforcement to work with federal authorities on immigration enforcement.
-Heaven forbid a governor encourages law enforcement in her own state. Remember this folks and vote her out the next chance you get.

Napolitano, a Democrat, had been urged to reject House Bill 2807 by Latino activists who feared the measure would lead to racial profiling and further alienate the Latino community. But Napolitano cited neither of those issues in vetoing the measure. Instead, she relied on fiscal concerns, noting a provision that would have required the state to pay for the training of local officers in immigration enforcement if federal funds were unavailable.
-A convenient excuse but we aren’t buying it.