From United Nations Watch, via YouTube:

Human Rights Nightmare

Speech before UN Human Rights Council 4th Session
23 March 2007

Delivered by Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch

Mr. President,

Six decades ago, in the aftermath of the Nazi horrors, Eleanor Roosevelt, Réné Cassin and other eminent figures gathered here, on the banks of Lake Geneva, to reaffirm the principle of human dignity. They created the Commission on Human Rights. Today, we ask: What has become of their noble dream?

In this session we see the answer. Faced with compelling reports from around the world of torture, persecution, and violence against women, what has the Council pronounced, and what has it decided?

Nothing. Its response has been silence. Its response has been indifference. Its response has been criminal.

One might say, in Harry Truman’s words, that this has become a Do-Nothing, Good-for-Nothing Council.

But that would be inaccurate. This Council has, after all, done something.

It has enacted one resolution after another condemning one single state: Israel. In eight pronouncements—and there will be three more this session—Hamas and Hezbollah have been granted impunity. The entire rest of the world—millions upon millions of victims, in 191 countries—continue to go ignored.

So yes, this Council is doing something. And the Middle East dictators who orchestrate this campaign will tell you it is a very good thing. That they seek to protect human rights, Palestinian rights.

So too, the racist murderers and rapists of Darfur women tell us they care about the rights of Palestinian women; the occupiers of Tibet care about the occupied; and the butchers of Muslims in Chechnya care about Muslims.

But do these self-proclaimed defenders truly care about Palestinian rights?

Let us consider the past few months. More than 130 Palestinians were killed by Palestinian forces. This is three times the combined total that were the pretext for calling special sessions against Israel in July and November. Yet the champions of Palestinian rights—Ahmadinejad, Assad, Khaddafi, John Dugard—they say nothing. Little 3-year-old boy Salam Balousha and his two brothers were murdered in their car by Prime Minister Haniyeh’s troops. Why has this Council chosen silence?

Because Israel could not be blamed. Because, in truth, the dictators who run this Council couldn’t care less about Palestinians, or about any human rights.

They seek to demonize Israeli democracy, to delegitimize the Jewish state, to scapegoat the Jewish people. They also seek something else: to distort and pervert the very language and idea of human rights.

You ask: What has become of the founders’ dream? With terrible lies and moral inversion, it is being turned into a nightmare.

Thank you, Mr. President.

To which came the reply:

REPLY BY U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL PRESIDENT LUIS ALFONSO DE ALBA

For the first time in this session I will not express thanks for that statement. I shall point out to the distinguished representative of the organization that just spoke, the distinguished representative of United Nations Watch, if you’d kindly listen to me.

I am sorry that I’m not in a position to thank you for your statement. I should mention that I will not tolerate any similar statements in the Council. The way in which members of this Council were referred to, and indeed the way in which the council itself was referred to, all of this is inadmissible.

In the memory of the persons that you referred to, founders of the Human Rights Commission, and for the good of human rights, I would urge you in any future statements to observe some minimum proper conduct and language. Otherwise, any statement you make in similar tones to those used today will be taken out of the records.

No, the United Nations can’t have people talking like that.

It would give their whole game away.

Our latest installment of enlightenment from the all-seeing worthies at Islam Question and Answer:

Why does Islam continue to be successful in the developed world?

Question No 3143

Question:

Why has Islam continued to be so successful in the modern world?

Answer:

Praise be to Allaah.

Islam continues to be successful in the developed world, and elsewhere, because its call is in accordance with the fitrah or natural inclinations of mankind, and it advocates the best of human values, such as tolerance, love, mercy, truthfulness and sincerity.

Islam educates people and lifts them up to righteous conduct, good manners and virtue. Its call is distinguished from others by its realism, balance and moderation. Islam pays due attention to both the soul and the body. It neither suppresses physical desires nor allows extravagance in this regard; it makes a distinction between the natural inclination to enjoy the pleasures of this world and forbidden desires that come under the heading of depravity and perversion.

People embrace Islam because they find security, comfort and peace in it, they see a cure for their problems in it, and through it they are able to get rid of their feelings of confusion, anxiety and loss.

Islam is the religion of the fitrah, the natural inclination or pattern on which Allaah has created mankind. For this reason, people of sound minds and upright inclinations embrace Islam, as Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘There is no child who is not born in a state of fitrah (i.e., Islam), then his parents make him into a Jew, a Christian or a Magian (Zoroastrian), just as animals produce whole animals (i.e., the animals are born perfect with no part of their bodies missing). Do you find any born with their ears cut off?’” Then Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “ ‘… Allaah’s handiwork according to the pattern on which He has made mankind: no change (let there be) in the work (wrought) by Allaah: that is the Standard Religion…’ [al-Room 30:30 – interpretation of the meaning – Yusuf Ali’s translation].” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 1359).

What is meant is that Allaah has created mankind with the potential to learn the truth, accept Tawheed (pure monotheism) and submit to Allaah. Their natural inclination is to learn Islam and love it, but a bad education, a kaafir (disbelieving) environment, their own whims and desires and the devils among jinn and mankind turn them away from the truth. Mankind is basically inclined towards Tawheed (pure monotheism), as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) reported that his Lord (Allaah) said: “I created all my slaves as ‘hunafa’ (pure monetheists), but the devils turned them away from their religion.” (Reported by Muslim). For this reason the one who becomes a Muslim after having been a disbeliever is described as having “reverted” to Islam, as this is more correct than saying that he “converted.”

When Islam enters a country where there is no nationalism or great legacy of jaahiliyah (ignorance), it spreads quickly because of its strength and the small number of obstacles. You may also see that Islam is suitable for all people, educated and uneducated, male and female, old and young; everyone finds in it what he wants and needs.

Those who become Muslim in developed countries realize what their country’s civilization and laws, which have been fabricated from men’s whims and desires, have done to them, and they realize the extent of the misery in which people in developed countries are living. They see how prevalent psychological illnesses, nervous breakdowns, insanity and suicides are, despite the technological advances and great number of discoveries and inventions and modern systems of management.

This is because all of that is concerned only with the physical and the outward, but it neglects the inward and fails to nourish and nurture the heart and soul. Allaah says of these people (interpretation of the meaning): “They know only the outside appearance of the life of the world, and they are heedless of the Hereafter.” [al-Room 30:7]

Islam will continue to succeed, with the permission of Allaah, so long as those who work for its sake are sincere and its followers adhere to it and believe in it, and apply its laws.

The fact that there are those who are not committed or who fall short will not prevent Islam from succeeding, with the permission of Allaah, and nothing can distort its beauty. Its light will not falter because some people abandon it or fail to adhere to it. What Islam has given humanity in the way of progress and civilization, and lifting them up from the darkness of oppression and enmity, is pride enough.

Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

Ah, that explains everything.

From a joyous Reuters:

Guantanamo’s Hicks to serve nine months

March 31, 2007

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba (Reuters) — Australian al Qaeda foot soldier David Hicks was sentenced to seven years in prison on Friday but will only serve nine months, a U.S. military tribunal said.

Hicks, who became the first war crimes convict among the hundreds of foreign captives held for years at the Guantanamo prison camp, had pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorism in an agreement with U.S. military prosecutors.

The deal allowed all but nine months of the sentence to be be suspended, meaning he could be free by New Year’s. Hicks will serve his sentence in Australia. The United States will send him home by May 29 after holding him for more than five years at the Guantanamo base in Cuba.

In Australia, Hicks’ father said Saturday he was relieved his son would soon be home. “The bottom line of all this is that at least he’s back home. He’s out of that hell hole,” Terry Hicks told local media.

The younger Hicks, a former kangaroo skinner from Adelaide, acknowledged that he trained with al Qaeda, fought U.S. allies in Afghanistan in late 2001 for two hours, and then sold his gun to raise cab fare to flee to Pakistan.

Hicks, 31, denied having advance knowledge of the September 11 attacks. His attorney, Marine Maj. Michael Mori, portrayed him as a now-apologetic soldier wannabe who never shot at anyone and ran away when he got a taste of battle.

The prosecutor, Marine Lt. Col. Kevin Chenail, said Hicks freely joined a band of killers who slaughtered innocents. “We are face to face with the enemy,” Chenail said.

Hicks was captured in Afghanistan in December 2001 and was among the first prisoners the United States sent to Guantanamo a month later. Washington considers them dangerous and unlawful “enemy combatants” who must be detained in the war against terrorism.

Hicks had previously said he was abused by the U.S. military but said in his plea agreement that he has “never been illegally treated while in U.S. custody.”

Hicks was the first person convicted in a U.S. war crimes tribunal since World War Two. He is also the only one charged in the tribunals created by the U.S. Congress after the Supreme Court struck down an earlier version that President George W. Bush authorized to try foreign captives on terrorism charges.

A convert to Islam who later abandoned the faith, Hicks agreed to cooperate with U.S. and Australian intelligence services and testify in court against his former al Qaeda and Taliban colleagues.

Hicks’ plea agreement bars him from speaking to the media for one year and requires him to give the Australian government any money received for the rights to his story.

Rights groups who monitored the trial said the deal seemed aimed at shielding the United States from scrutiny over its treatment of Guantanamo prisoners.

“If the United States had nothing to be ashamed of, it would not need to hide behind a gag order that would be illegal in our own courts,” said Ben Wizner, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union…

Hicks admitted conducting surveillance of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul more than a decade after it closed, as a training exercise for one of four al Qaeda warfare courses he took in Afghanistan.

He acknowledged meeting bin Laden at one al Qaeda camp and asking him why there were no training manuals in English. Hicks also admitted guarding a Taliban tank at Kandahar airport for a week, while “a fat al Qaeda leader” on a bicycle brought him food and updates about the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001…

Australian consular officials at the hearing declined to comment. But Lex Lasry, a senior barrister with the Law Council of Australia, said the tribunal process failed to meet international standards.

“I’m satisfied that David Hicks got a reasonable deal today so that’s good for him. As to the rest of the process, the Law Council remains far from satisfied,” Lasry said.

Nine months for helping the enemy during a shooting war?

Sure, that’s justice.

But don’t forget, Hicks won’t be able to cash in with book and movie deals for a whole year.

From an outraged Associated Press:

House panel: Why did Google ‘airbrush history?’

March 31, 2007

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) — Google’s replacement of post-Hurricane Katrina satellite imagery on its map portal with images of the region before the storm does a “great injustice” to the storm’s victims, a congressional subcommittee said.

The House Committee on Science and Technology’s subcommittee on investigations and oversight on Friday asked Google Inc. Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt to explain why his company is using the outdated imagery.

The subcommittee cited an Associated Press report on the images.

“Google’s use of old imagery appears to be doing the victims of Hurricane Katrina a great injustice by airbrushing history,” subcommittee chairman Brad Miller, D-North Carolina, wrote in a letter to Schmidt.

Swapping the post-Katrina images and the ruin they revealed for others showing an idyllic city dumbfounded many locals and even sparked suspicions that the company and civic leaders were conspiring to portray the area’s recovery progressing better than it really is.

Andrew Kovacs, a Google spokesman, said the company had received the letter but Schmidt had no immediate response.

After Katrina, Google’s satellite images were in high demand among exiles and hurricane victims anxious to see whether their homes were damaged.

Now, though, a virtual trip through New Orleans via Google Maps is a surreal experience of scrolling across an unscathed landscape of packed parking lots and marinas full of boats.

Reality, of course, is very different: Entire neighborhoods are now slab mosaics where houses once stood and shopping malls, churches and marinas are empty of life, many gone altogether.

John Hanke, Google’s director for maps and satellite imagery, said “a combination of factors including imagery date, resolution, and clarity” go into deciding what imagery to provide.

“The latest update from one of our information providers substantially improved the imagery detail of the New Orleans area,” Hanke said in a news release about the switch.

Kovacs said efforts are under way to use more current imagery.

It was not clear when the current images replaced views of the city taken after Katrina struck August 29, 2005, flooding an estimated 80 percent of New Orleans.

Miller asked Google to brief his staff by April 6 on who made the decision to replace the imagery with pre-Katrina images, and to disclose if Google was contacted by the city, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey or any other government entity about changing the imagery.

“To use older, pre-Katrina imagery when more recent images are available without some explanation as to why appears to be fundamentally dishonest,” Miller said.

Edith Holleman, staff counsel for the House subcommittee, said it would be useful to understand how Google acquires and manages its imagery because “people see Google and other Internet engines and it’s almost like the official word.”

Google does provide imagery of New Orleans and the region following Katrina through its more specialized service called Google Earth.

How hilarious. Oh, yeah, the suffering from Katrina is being whitewashed by Google because they are not still showing the worst of the devastation in their Google Earth gallery.

Maybe Congress should look into the airbrushing that has gone on for years in Google’s regular image stock.

Try Googling for images from 9/11, and see what you get.

And in case anyone has any doubts about the political agenda of Google Earth, this story from France’s AFP:

Google maps World Wildlife Fund efforts

Mon Mar 12, 12:59 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Google on Monday added details of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) environmental projects to its popular global online mapping service.

The Mountain View, California, Internet search powerhouse wove WWF images, information and Website links into its Google Earth program.

"This joint initiative will allow WWF to spread its conservation message to a vast new audience," said WWF director general James Leape.

"People interested in conservation and the environment now will be able to visit WWF projects in some of the worlds most threatened and biologically diverse places from their home computers."

Google added 150 projects of Switzerland-based WWF to a showcase of the world’s natural wonders, famous haunts, and man-made changes that it debuted in its global mapping service in September of 2006.

Google Earth offers "Featured Content" ranging from details of the Three Gorges Dam in China and King Tut’s tomb in Egypt to Itsukushima Shrine in Japan and Pablo Picasso’s favorite social spot in Sweden.

Google provides the information in "multimedia overlays" that users can trigger while viewing a virtual globe.

Icons designate natural wonders, major landmarks or cities, and environmental changes such as deforestation in the Amazon and a shrinking glacier in Iceland.

"Were pleased that the WWF has chosen Google Earth as a platform for sharing their incredibly important conservation work," said Google Earth and Maps director John Hanke.

"Google Earth has proven to be a powerful resource for the environmental community and for users wanting to learn more about the world around them."

Yes, it sure sounds like Google would want to downplay the tragedy of Katrina.

  Update!

It turns out that Google’s political agenda doesn’t stop with the environment.

The great Zombietime has pointed out a Google Earth peculiarity originally uncovered by Israel’s Ynet News:

Jerusalem’s Borders as Seen on Google Earth

Google Earth, the zoomable satellite photo program produced by Google, shows the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as not being in Israel, but being entirely as part of the West Bank (Palestinian Territories). In fact, a substantial portion of eastern Jerusalem is shown as not being part of Israel.

This randomly placed straight line completely ignores the geo-political realities on the ground and contradicts every international border designation that has ever been agreed upon or even proposed.

Enlarge

And from the original Ynet News article:

Google Earth reveals anti-Israel sentiments, labels Temple Mount Palestinian

January 17, 2007

While Jerusalem serves as Israel’s capital, and the Temple Mount is located within Israeli sovereignty, the popular satellite map program Google Earth divides the city and places the Temple Mount — Judaism’s holiest site — within Palestinian territory.

Interactive Google Earth maps mark eastern sections of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount as "occupied territory," set to become part of a future Palestinian state.

Google Earth states it demarcates its maps according to international standards, but no Israeli-Palestinian negotiations — even the failed Camp David final-status negotiations in 2000 — ever placed the Temple Mount within Palestinian territory…

Google Earth does not limit its input in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Jerusalem alone.

The Gaza Strip is labeled by Google Earth as "Israeli occupied," even though the Jewish state withdrew from Gaza in August 2005…

Google Earth is also accused of showing falsified images. Visitors to Google Earth who click on an area just outside Jerusalem can view a computer-generated image claiming to depict an Israeli missile factory…

Referring to Google erroneously labeling the Gaza Strip as occupied, the [Google] spokeswoman said, "Borders and place names are not always updated straightaway. Occasionally there are discrepancies. We are happy to receive feedback and will pass it on to the Google Earth team and take the necessary steps."

Yes, it sounds like an honest mistake.

It could have happened to anyone.

(Thanks to Eagle334th for the heads up on the Zombietime link.)

From a three week old article in the Jerusalem Post:

Israeli security services have prevented tons of metal pipes from being transferred to terror groups in Gaza.

Israeli metal used for Kassam rockets

By YAAKOV KATZ

Mar. 4, 2007

It took seven years, but the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) has finally put a stop to one of the more ironic aspects on Israel’s war on terror: Kassam rockets made of Israeli metal.

A Palestinian from the Gaza Strip who worked as a metal merchant at the Karni crossing between Israel and the Strip was arrested by the Shin Bet last month for allegedly selling pipes he bought in Israel to terrorist groups that used them to manufacture Kassams, it was released for publication on Sunday.

On February 9, the Shin Bet arrested Amar Azk, 37. During his interrogation, he confessed selling the pipes to Hamas and other terrorist organizations that manufactured Kassam rockets, fired almost daily at Israel. The Shin Bet said Azk’s activities began with the start of the second intifada in 2000 and were only brought to a halt by his arrest. The agency could not say how much metal Azk traded, except that it was “significant.”

The pipes that were sold to Zak were intended for the construction of a sewage system in Gaza. The Shin Bet has been unable to determine the amount of metal that actually made its way to the terror organizations, and how much went to the sewage project.

The Shin Bet arrested Azk after it received numerous reports last year that hollow pipes made in Israel were being used to manufacture Kassam rockets and shoulder-launched missiles.

The Shin Bet found that most of the raw materials used to manufacture Kassams came from Israel. The Israeli companies, the security service said, were used by the terrorist groups without their knowledge. As such, the Shin Bet refused to divulge the names of the firms.

In November 2006, OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant issued an order forbidding the sale of hollow pipes of certain sizes to the Gaza Strip.

In 2006, 1,700 rockets were fired from Gaza.

A Palestinian uses a raft as he paddles through sewer waters in the Bedouin village of Um Al-Nasr following the collapse of a sewer system in the northern Gaza Strip. At least five Palestinians, including two toddlers, drowned in a “sewage tsunami” on Tuesday when a water treatment reservoir burst, flooding a village in the northern Gaza Strip.

You reap what you sow.

From Lebanon’s Ya Libnan:

U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi flying in to Lebanon

Friday, 30 March, 2007 @ 3:17 PM

Beirut – U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi is expected to visit Beirut next week as part of a tour to the Middle East that includes Syria, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia…

The congressional delegation that accompanies the Speaker includes:

Congressman, Democrat Keith Ellison from Minnesota- US ’s first Muslim congressman.
Congressman, Democrat Nick Rahall from West Virginia, is of Lebanese descent
Congressman, Democrat Tom Lantos from California who is Jewish is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee
Congressman, Democrat Henry Waxman from California who is also Jewish
Congressman, Republican David Hobson from Ohio

Congressman Rahall was active last summer in trying to end the war between Hezbollah & Israel. He also came out against a bipartisan congressional resolution in July 2006 supporting Israel during the Second Lebanon War. During the war he wrote a letter to President George W. Bush calling on him to tell Prime Minister Ehud Olmert “that enough is enough. It is time for the disproportionate use of violence to end and for negotiations to begin.”

The exact date of Pelosi arrival into Beirut has not been announced as of yet, most probably for security reasons…

Pelosi’s visit is aimed at becoming better acquainted with regional issues in addition to discussing U.S. aid programs in Lebanon and other countries.

According to some reports the White House tried to convince Pelosi to cancel her stopover in Syria. But when it failed to do so, it urged the delegation to send a “strong message” to the Assad regime about the human rights situation there and the country’s interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs…

Yes, that will happen for sure.

By the way, how many Presidents, how many Secretaries of State do we have?

From those defenders of the faith at the Kuwaiti News Agency:

Human Rights Council concerned over stigmatising Muslim, Arab minorities

3/30/2007

GENEVA, March 30 (KUNA) — The Human Rights Council adopted a resolution Friday that expressed concern at laws or administrative measures specifically designed to “control” and “monitor” Muslim and Arab minorities, thereby stigmatizing them further and legitimating the discrimination they experienced.

The resolution was passed with 24 votees for, 14 against, and 9 abstentions.

The council also expressed deep concern over attempts to identify Islam with terrorism, violence and human rights violations.

Presented by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the resolution on combating defamation of religions that was adopted noted with deep concern the intensification of the campaign of defamation of religions and ethnic and religious profiling of Muslim minorities in the aftermath of 9/11.

The resolution recognizes that, in the context of the fight against terrorism, defamation of religions becomes an aggravating factor that contributes to the denial of fundamental rights and freedoms of target groups, as well as their economic and social exclusion.

In addition, it expressed concern at negative stereotyping of religions and manifestations of intolerance and discrimination in matters of religion or belief.

The resolution strongly deplores physical attacks and assaults on businesses, cultural centres and places of worship of all religions as well as targeting of religious symbols.

It urges states to take resolute action to prohibit the dissemination of racist and xenophobic ideas and material aimed at any religion or its followers that constitute incitement to racial and religious hatred, hostility or violence.

In addition, the resolution urges states to provide, within their respective legal and constitutional systems, adequate protection against acts of hatred, discrimination, intimidation and coercion resulting from defamation of religions.

The resolution deplores the use of the print, audio-visual and electronic media, including the Internet, and any other means to incite acts of violence, xenophobia or related intolerance and discrimination towards Islam or any other religion.

In addition, it invites the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance to regularly report on all manifestations of defamation of religions and in particular on the serious implications of Islamophobia on the enjoyment of all rights.

The resolution requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights to report to the Human Rights Council on the implementation of this resolution at its sixth session. Pakistani diplomat and coordinator of the OIC in Geneva Ambassador Tehmina Janjua told the council when introducing the adopted draft said that post-9/11, Muslims had suffered from systematic and collective discrimination as members of a global community belonging to one religion.

“The acts of a few persons professing to be Muslims allow to target one billion Muslims with the brush of terrorism,” she stressed.

In other words:

Please note that Islam is the only religion the United Nations saw fit to specifically mention in its glorious resolution.

The resolution strongly deplores physical attacks and assaults on businesses, cultural centres and places of worship of all religions as well as targeting of religious symbols.

Meanwhile, which are the most intolerant nations on earth when it comes to the practice of other religions?

Is the UN unaware that Bibles, crucifixes and even church bells are outlawed in most Muslim countries? That “Sharia Law” encourages the destruction of any outward sign of any other religion that is not Islam?

Maybe they should Ask The Imam:

Ask-Imam.com > Islamic Politics > Question 2492 from Canada 

Was it wrong of the talibans to destroy the buddha’s statues? Islam teaches tolerance and I don’t see how this action on theirs can be justafied. What are you views on this?

Answer 2492

It is wrong to say that Islam teaches us to respect the religious beliefs of non-Muslims. To respect the beliefs of others means to respect kufr and shirk. This is totally unacceptable.

Yes, what we do respect is their right to practice their religion. In other words, despite the fact that we intensely abhor their beliefs, should they wish to practice on those beliefs, we will grant them the freedom to do so. This too is on condition that it does not conflict with our interests…

Firstly, let us not be fooled by the term “freedom of religion”. There is no absolute “freedom of religion”. There is not a single state on earth that grants it’s citizens absolute freedom of religion. Even though such clauses appear in the constitutions of many States, it is a relative term. Should anyone’s personal religious convictions and practices conflict with the interests of the state, then such religious practices will be outlawed.

So just as every other state on earth gives preference to its own interests over the religious convictions of any citizen, similarly too does the Islamic state give preference to its own objectives.

An Islamic state is established with the sole purpose of establishing the Deen of Allah Ta’ala on Allah’s earth. The prime object is to entrench Islam in the land. Should any individual’s personal interests be in conflict with this objective, preference will obviously be given to the Deen. The Islamic State is established for the Deen, and not for any particular individual or group. This will apply to even Muslim citizens. Should their personal ideals be in conflict with that of Islam, the ideals of Islam would reign superior.

While the non-Muslim citizens do have the right to practice their religion in Daarul Islam, this is subject to certain conditions. The need for these conditions arises from the fact that, should they be granted absolute freedom, some of their actions would come in conflict with the objectives of the State. Some of these conditions will be discussed below…

Conditions:

They may practice their religion within the privacy of their homes

They may not build any new churches, synagogues etc.

Should any church, synagogue etc. be destroyed or require repair, they may repair or rebuild such buildings.

They may not celebrate any religious festivals in public

They may not display in public any item having particular religious purport, e.g. bible, Cross, statue, etc.

Such items should also be removed from the exterior of their places of worship i.e. No idol, Cross etc may be displayed on the outside of their places of worship.

They may not ring the church bell, nor read their religious books so loud that it is audible in public.

They may not invite towards their religion.

The reason for these conditions is that the purpose of Daarul Islam is to entrench Islam on the earth. Thus the salient features in religion must only be that of Islam. No features of other religions may be observable in public.

It is only when Muslims firmly enforced such laws that Islam reigned superior on earth. Thus the object for which Daarul Islam was established had been achieved…

The cross is a religious symbol, and not an idol or image. Yet since it is a salient feature of the Christians, they were not allowed to publicly display it in Daarul Islam. All publicly displayed crosses were to be demolished, as has been established from the decree of Hazrat Umar bin Abdul Aziz (rahimahullah)…

On the other hand the demolishing of idols displayed in Daarul Islam is a religious duty. Unlike swearing the mushrikeen, it has a purpose, which is to ensure that the atmosphere in Daarul Islam is only that of Islam. Thus it is a necessary duty. In carrying out our Islamic duties we fear not the rebuke of anyone….

Moulana Imraan Vawda
Assistant Mufti – Madrasah In’aamiyyah, Camperdown

This is a new level of hypocrisy, even for the United Nations.

From an outraged Associated Press:

Suspect at Guantanamo Claims Torture

Mar 30

By LOLITA C. BALDOR

WASHINGTON (AP) — A suspected Saudi terrorist told a military hearing that he was tortured into confessing that he was involved in the bombing of the USS Cole, according to a Pentagon transcript released Friday.

Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi national of Yemeni descent, said he made up stories that tied him to the 2000 Cole attack, which killed 17 U.S. sailors and nearly succeeded in sinking the $1 billion destroyer in Aden harbor, Yemen.

“From the time I was arrested five years ago, they have been torturing me. It happened during interviews. One time they tortured me one way, and another time they tortured me in a different way,” al-Nashiri said, according to the transcript. “I just said those things to make the people happy. They were very happy when I told them those things.”

Portions of the 36-page hearing transcript were redacted, and the transcript does not include any details of the torture that al-Nashiri said took place over five years. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said that any allegations of torture would be investigated. He said sections were blacked out of the transcript because of national security reasons.

Al-Nashiri is one of 14 so-called high-value detainees who were moved to Guantanamo in September from secret CIA prisons abroad. The military is conducting hearings for the 14 to determine if they are enemy combatants who can be held indefinitely and prosecuted for war crimes.

According to U.S. intelligence, al-Nashiri is the suspected mastermind of the Cole bombing, and was al-Qaida’s operations chief in the Arabian Peninsula until he was caught in 2002. Nashiri, 41, a Saudi national of Yemeni descent, was allegedly tasked by bin Laden to attack the Cole.

In the transcript, al-Nashiri says he met with bin Laden many times and received as much as a half million dollars from the terror leader. The money, he said, was for “personal expenses” including for marriage and business deals.

He said he took money to buy a boat and develop a fishing business, and bin Laden later told him it could be used for a bombing. Al-Nashiri said he ended the project, and was not involved when bin Laden later used it “as a military tool.”

Let it be forever stipulated that everyone who ever has set foot on the base at Guantanamo has been tortured. It will save some time.

But then what would our watchdog media write about?

From the Washington Times:

Fence firm hired illegals

By Jerry Seper
March 30, 2007

The head of a California company hired by the U.S. government to help build a fence along the Southwest border to curb the flow of illegal aliens into the United States has been sentenced on charges of hiring illegals for the job.

Mel Kay Jr., 64, founder, chairman and president of the Golden State Fence Co., pleaded guilty in December in federal court in San Diego to felony charges of hiring the illegals and was sentenced Wednesday to six months home confinement, three months probation and 1,040 hours of community service.

Michael McLaughlin, 42, manager of the company’s Oceanside, Calif., office, who also pleaded guilty in December to charges of hiring illegals, was sentenced to six months home confinement.

U.S. District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz in San Diego also ordered Kay to pay a $200,000 fine as part of a plea agreement, while McLaughlin was fined $100,000.

“Prosecution is long overdue in this area,” Judge Moskowitz said at sentencing. “Honestly, the government’s efforts have been at the border, not with the employer. Obviously, the government has signaled a change with this case.”

Judge Moskowitz, in explaining his decision not to impose a possible maximum sentence of five years in prison, said a company “that pays top dollar and did not get a competitive advantage, should receive different treatment.”

He said the court could not ignore the background of “hardworking people who treated others fairly. Contrary to the vast majority of people who hire illegal immigrants, there was no abuse [here].”

The company, which built more than a mile of a 15-foot-high fence near the Otay Mesa border crossing in the San Diego area to protect against illegal immigration, agreed separately to pay $5 million on a misdemeanor count — one of the largest penalties ever imposed on an employer for immigration violations…

Well, it’s comforting to see that this company was given leniency because they paid their illegal aliens top dollar.

From the not very politically correct Bangkok Post:

Leader of the banned Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh, Shaikh Abdur Rahman.

Bangladesh hangs six terrorists

Dhaka (dpa) – Six Islamic militants were executed in Bangladesh amid tight security early Friday for their role in a suicide bomb attack which killed two civilians judges over a year ago, prison officials said.

The executed militants included the chief of the outlawed Jamiatul Mujahideen group Shaekh Abdur Rahman and his deputy Siddikul Islam, alias Bangla Bhai.

Inspector General of Prisons Zakir Hasan confirmed the executions were carried out by hanging in four prisons in different towns overnight as thousands of police men and commando forces were put on a state of high alert.

The four others who sent to the gallows before daybreak were Shaekh Rahman’s younger brother Ataur Rahman Sunny, who operated the ‘military’ wing of the group, and three religious extremists – Abdul Awal, Khaled Shafiullah and Iftekharul Mamun.

The implementation of the death sentences handed down by a district court last May was delayed by appeals filed by the militants with the High Court.

The president and the highest judiciary rejected all mercy petitions recently, giving the nod to the executions.

The Mujahideen group came into the international spotlight in August 2005 after it carried out orchestrated bomb attacks in over 60 locations across Bangladesh.

The group vowed to bring about an Islamic revolution in the Muslim majority country of over 130 million people where tens of thousands living in abject poverty.

Two of their victims, judges, Jagannath Pandey and Sohail Ahmed were killed in a bomb attack in November 2005 in the small southern town of Jhalokhati.

The bodies of the executed militants were handed over to near relations for burial in their village homes.

The religion of peace has lost six proponents.

From a relieved Reuters:

Boys look at a pool of bloodied water at the scene of Thursday’s bomb attack, in Baghdad, March 30, 2007.

Suicide bombers kill 130 in Iraq

Fri Mar 30, 2007

By Ahmed Rasheed

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) – Suicide bombers killed nearly 130 people in a crowded market in a Shi’ite district of Baghdad and a mainly Shi’ite town on Thursday, one of the bloodiest days in Iraq in months.

The upsurge in sectarian violence threatens all-out civil war and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi’ite, called for restraint and urged Iraqis to work with security forces to prevent the violence spiraling out of control. Bombs earlier this week in northern Iraq sparked mass reprisal killings.

Two suicide bombers wearing vests packed with explosives killed 76 people in a market in the Shaab district of northern Baghdad, police and medical sources said, in what appeared to be the latest of a string of attacks on Shi’ite districts and towns blamed on al Qaeda. More than 100 were wounded.

“It is impossible to tell the exact number of dead because we are basically counting body parts,” said a Health Ministry official in Baghdad, who asked not to be named.

Most of the victims were women and children, who had been out shopping in the crowded market before the start of the nightly curfew, he said.

At about the same time, three suicide car bombs exploded within minutes of each other in Khalis, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, killing 53 people and wounding 103, police said.

There has been a spike in bloodshed, particularly outside the Iraqi capital, in recent days. Violence between majority Shi’ites and minority Sunnis has killed tens of thousands in the past year.

On Tuesday two truck bombs killed 85 people in a Shi’ite area of Tal Afar in northern Iraq. In the hours after those blasts Shi’ite gunmen, including police, shot dead up to 70 Sunni Arab men in reprisal.

The top U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, confirmed on Thursday police appeared to have carried out “retribution killings” after the bombings, which he blamed on al Qaeda. Iraq’s Sunni vice-president urged the Shi’ite-led government to do more to purge the security forces of militias.

In Khalis, one car bomb exploded in a commercial area and a second at a police checkpoint leading to the police headquarters and court building, police said. A third bomber attacked police patrols rushing to the scene.

“It was a scene of horror. There were charred bodies and human remains scattered about,” said one policeman who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A survivor of the Shaab market blast in Baghdad, Wissam Hashim Ali, 27, told Reuters the market had been “very, very crowded” at the time of the blasts.

“I saw heads separated from the bodies and legs blown off,” he said in hospital, where he was receiving treatment for his wounds.

Maliki’s office said in a statement the prime minister condemned the bombs and called on Iraqis “not to let evil-doers have their way and to cooperate with security forces, who are determined to cleanse Iraq of terrorism”.

Clearly the terrorists have gotten the message from our Democrat Congress.

They just have to keep hope alive.

From a delighted Associated Press and YouTube:

Iran broadcasts British sailor’s apology

By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer

One of the 15 British service members held captive in Iran appeared Friday on the government’s Arabic-language TV and said he apologized “deeply” for entering Iranian waters without permission.

Iran also released a third letter supposedly from the only woman in the group saying she has been “sacrificed” to the policies of the British and U.S. governments.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose government has insisted that its navy personnel were captured in Iraqi waters, immediately denounced Iran’s treatment of the captured navy personnel and said it would only lead to further isolation for Iran. The standoff has added to tensions over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and over allegations that Iran is arming Shiite Muslim militias in Iraq.

“I don’t know why the Iranian regime keeps doing this, all it does it heightens people’s sense of disgust. Captured personnel being paraded and manipulated in this way, it doesn’t fool anyone,” he said in a brief statement. “And what the Iranians have to realize is that if they continue in this way they will face continued isolation.”

In the video Friday, Royal Marine rifleman Nathan Thomas Summers was shown sitting with another male serviceman and the female British sailor Faye Turney against a pink floral curtain. Both men wore camouflage fatigues with a label saying “Royal Navy” on their chests and a small British flag stitched to their left sleeves. Turney wore a blue jumpsuit and a black headscarf.

“We trespassed without permission,” Summers said, adding he knew that Iran had seized British military personnel who strayed into their waters three years ago.

“This happened back in 2004 and our government said that it wouldn’t happen again,” Summers said. “And, again, I deeply apologize for entering your waters.”

It was not known whether the marine spoke under pressure from his captors, but Summers said in the broadcast “our treatment has been very friendly.”

Iran earlier broadcast a video showing Turney saying her team had “trespassed” in Iranian waters, and on Friday released a third letter from her.

The first two letters attributed to Turney said she was sorry the crew strayed into Iranian waters and asked if it wasn’t time for Britain to withdraw its troops from Iraq. The first letter was wooden; the second and third had language that was even more stilted.

“I am writing to you as a British serviceperson who has been sent to Iraq, sacrificed due to the intervening policies of the Bush and Blair governments,” the letter Friday said.

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, who also denounced Friday’s video as “appalling,” said a letter from Iran on the detention of the 15 sailors and marines had done nothing to bring the standoff to a close.

The letter stopped short of asking for a formal apology but instead asked for Britain to acknowledge its sailors had trespassed into Iranian waters and confirm that it would not happen again…

Where is the outrage?

From the UK’s Sky News:

‘Time For Iraq Pull-Out’

Thursday March 29, 2007

Iran has published another letter allegedly written by Leading Seaman Faye Turney in which she supposedly calls for British forces to withdraw from Iraq.

The letter also asks the British Government why it allowed the British captives to stray into Iranian waters.

And it goes on to say the group is being treated well by the Iranians.

Analysts immediately doubted the validity of the letter, saying the wording was not likely to have been thought up by the 26-year-old sailor.

The letter coincided with the release of new footage of the 15 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines being seized by Iranian gunboats in the Gulf.

In the video clips, gunshots are heard and a helicopter is shown hovering above inflatable boats in choppy seas.

Vessels close in on Royal Navy boats then the 15 captured Britons are shown seated in an Iranian gunboat.

The arrest footage was preceded by a senior Iranian officer using maps to explain how the Britons had “crossed into Iranian territory”.

But the UK has maintained the crews were in Iraqi waters and were wrongfully seized.

Iranian TV had previously shown video footage of the detainees eating and talking.

That broadcast featured an interview with L/S Turney in which she confessed – probably under duress – that the Britons had been at fault.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was a “disgrace” the way L/STurney, a mother of a three-year-old girl, was shown on TV.

“We are going to have to step up pressure not just with them in the UN and the European Union, but see what further measures are necessary to get them to understand it’s not merely wrong but only going to result in further tension,” he added.

This is getting interesting.

Where is Amnesty International?

Where is the UN?

The new video footage from Iranian TV can be viewed here.

From a shocked New York Times:

Iran May Delay Captured British Sailor’s Release

By ALAN COWELL

LONDON, March 29 — Iran today withdrew plans to free one of the 15 British sailors and marines it had seized on March 23, the only woman detained, insisting that Britain admit fault before she is released.

Iran also leveled new accusation against Britain, alleging that the seized military personnel had intruded on Iranian waters several times before they were detained.

Britain, for its part, said it would seek United Nations backing against Iran in the dispute, despite the delayed release of Ms. Turney, a 26-year-old mother of one.

The Iranian Mehr news agency quoted a military commander, Alireza Afshar, as saying the release of Ms. Turney, had been suspended because of the “wrong behavior” of the British government. Iran’s foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, attending a meeting in Saudi Arabia, has insisted that Britain must admit fault in the dispute to end the standoff, the Associated Press reported.

The escalating dispute turns on rival claims about where the British sailors and marines were when they were seized. Iran says they were more than 500 yards inside its territorial waters, but Britain produced satellite navigation coordinates Wednesday to support its contention that the sailors were 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi waters on patrols approved by the United Nations and the Iraqi government.

The IRNA news agency quoted an Iranian naval official today saying that the Britons, in two inflatable, high-speed patrol boats from the H.M.S. Cornwall frigate, had entered Iranian waters several times before they were seized. The Iranian official was quoted as saying Iran had film, taken by the Iranian coastguard, of the alleged intrusions.

The Royal Navy has said the sailors were “ambushed” as they completed an inspection of an Indian-flagged merchant ship in Iraqi waters.

IRNA also quoted from a letter sent by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the British Embassy in Tehran demanding British guarantees not to intrude into Iranian waters in the future.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran severely protests against the violation of its territorial waters in the Persian Gulf and, while underlining the importance of international laws and respect for the sovereignty of nations, cautions the London government of the consequences of such violations,” the letter was quoted as saying.

Initially, Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council had indicated the captive might still be freed if Britain retreated from its intention to seek United Nations backing. He said that “if we are faced with a fuss and wrong behavior” Seaman Turney’s release “would be suspended and it would not take place.” …

Is anyone outside of the New York Times surprised that the Iranians want to milk this for as long as possible?

Regular readers will recognize some familiar names in this piece from Waco, Texas local NBC affiliate KCEN-TV:

Anti-war group in McLennan County loses it’s corporate status

Mar 28, 2007

A nationally known anti-war group in Mclennan County has lost its corporate status with the state, and a former member is calling for an investigation.

Officials in the Texas State Comptroller’s office said the Crawford Peace House hasn’t handed in required paperwork in nearly a year.

The Crawford Peace House is no longer an organization in the eyes of the state, and why that’s happened is coming into question by former members.

Their questions began in the summer of 2005, when the nearly bankrupt Crawford Peace House gained national attention as the rallying point for Cindy Sheehan and other anti-war demonstrators near President Bush’s ranch.

According to members, donations to the organization came pouring in at that time.

“There were buckets of money that came in. There were thousands and tens of thousands that came in. In cash and in checks.

[Reporter] You saw this? I was there. I’ve been there. I watched them collect it,” former member Sara Oliver said.

Oliver said she and other members were told by directors roughly $700,000 in all was donated.

Several years later, Peace House officials tell NBC 6 News there’s now only about $11,000 in the organization’s account.

The state needs to see the paperwork, and according to the state Comptroller’s office, the Crawford Peace House was delinquent in doing that in May of 2006, and still hasn’t done it.

Its corporate charter is now revoked.

“Why? Because we’re just not responsible about doing it, I guess. I can’t answer that. I would like for someone to come and volunteer for us to do that work for us,” Peace House Board Member Kay Lucas said.

Lucas showed NBC 6 News a non-specific budget for August of 2005, of less than $300,000 and another for an Easter event in 2006.

When asked about specific numbers and receipts, Lucas said she didn’t have any available.

She also said the delinquent status for filing was in part due to paperwork being sent back.

“The IRS was asking us all these questions that I just did not know how to answer,” Lucas said.

The directors at the Crawford Peace House may have yet another problem on their hands.

They may not be able to use the name Crawford Peace House.

In documents obtained by NBC 6 News, it turns out Oliver has also filed for the name.

She said if members want to continue using the organization’s name, they must answer her questions about where all the money has gone.

“To get that back; they have to go to court. And if they want to go to court, they can go to court. And my attorney will explain to the judge everything that happened and ask for a full investigation,” Oliver said.

Right now that’s something that Kay Lucas said she isn’t willing to do.

A spokesperson for the Texas Comptroller said if a Texas corporate charter is forfeited, officers or directors can become personally liable for any debts incurred by that entity.

One of the directors of the Peace House is Cindy Sheehan.

Cindy Sheehan at the unveiling of her monument at the Crawford Peace House.

Of course these anti-Semitic folks hated America even before they heard of Cindy Sheehan:

Indeed, the founder of the “Peace House” is an Iraqi named Hadi Jawad.

So it’s about time some of these frauds got busted.

Hopefully Cindy is next.

(Thanks to NavyCopJoe for the heads up.)