thisisbabylon.net

The "religious right" is a myth.

There is no unified bloc of religious people with a unified agenda heaven-bent on criminalizing more and more extra-scriptural things for the sake of creating this hyper-moral utopia in America.

Baruch Hashem.

The New Jersey Jew ish Standard ran a story speaking about various religious organizations' reaction to the emergency contraceptive Plan B's being sold

The pill is designed to prevent a pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. WalMart began filling prescriptions for Plan B in March because "they could not justify being the only large pharmacy chain that didn't carry it." This means that now all large pharmacy chains will have access to Plan B, and before the end of this year, this pill should be in the hands of any woman over 18 who wants it.

One would expect such wide access to contraception to run smack head-on into a front of irate Scripture-clutching fundamentalists. Well, yes and no.

The Jewish Standard reports:

When the FDA last week approved the over-the-counter sale of Plan B, a post-intercourse oral contraceptive, conservative and right-wing Christian groups scored the move, but Jewish groups seem fairly nonplussed by the decision.

Over the counter access to emergency contraception will make minors more vulnerable to sexual abuse. Easy access to Plan B will allow sexual predators to cover up their crimes by making a simple trip to the pharmacy.

Rabbi Jeffrey Fox, of the Orthodox Kehilat Kesher in Englewood, agreed that the pill does not pose much of a halachic problem "because the pill must be taken within 72 hours. According to the Talmud, the first 40 days, the embryo is called ‘mayim be’elma,’ simply water."

The Orthodox movement generally prohibits abortion, though, except when the fetus threatens the life of the mother. In that case, said Fox, the mother’s life always takes precedence over that of the unborn life. And when a fetus has certain known genetic defects, many Orthodox rabbis would condone abortion. It is almost universally condoned in the case of rape.

Rabbi Avi Shafran, the spokesman for the fervently Orthodox Agudath Israel, which typically falls to the right of the Orthodox Union, said the issue is not that simple. Agudath Israel has not taken a position on the Plan B pill.

"Needless to say, we deplore the culture of abortion that has resulted in the routine abortion of considerably advanced fetuses even when there are no truly compelling justifications," Shafran told The Jewish Standard.

But his problem, the problem of Agudath Israel, again, was not Plan B but a sociological phenomenon. Pregnancy is taken lightly and he wants to combat that. This is a far cry from fear-mongering and this.

In addition, notably absent from this article was Muslim input. Paterson, NJ schools get off for Muslim holidays. Not one sheikh came out either in support of or against Plan B. A "religious right wing" should unify all religions no?

People like Gary Aminoff quote people like radio host Dennis Prager and say things along the lines of "the more a Jew understands Jewish law and is committed to Torah values, the more apt he is to support social conservative positions."

I question Mr. Prager in light of the above. Here you have Orthodox rabbis going against quite socially conservative right-wing organizations.

I find myself a bit insulted by Mr. Prager. Not that I'm his hugest fan, but does Mr. Prager know more about "Jewish Law" than Rabbi Avi Weiss? And isn't Boro Park's Dov Hikind a Democrat? Is he not committed to Torah?

Morality does not only extend to the abortion clinic or the motel room. And, at worst, the worst abortion could ever achieve scripturally is a crime less than murder. Yet, whether by commission or omission, murders of the poor in Katrina and Rita, murders of Arabs "suspected terrorists" with no due process, exemption from war crimes -- how can one look at Bush's actions and say, "I know Scripture and I know this guy is doing what G-d wants!"?

Taking a stand against bigotry and racism. Taking a stand for the poor. Looking into the Torah -- without ties to the GOP and not on Pat Robertson's payroll -- and asking, "What does the Torah say about this?" Actually caring about and helping people. Why does G-d not want this, but would instead favor a philosophy of "F your neighbor, F the poor, just keep raking in those bucks galore"? G-d honestly supports 64 deaths per month?

An infinite G-d is not going to fit so neatly into the GOP party platform.

Again, in America, the hijacking of Scripture.

(cross posted from MySpace)

Posted by Y-Love at 05:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today the German Der Spiegel ran an interview with Charlotte Knobloch, president of the German Jewish Council. In her interview, she warns of growing resentment towards Jews:

SPIEGEL ONLINE: When you took office you said one of the main focuses of your work would be the struggle against right-wing extremism. Has the conflict in the Middle East worsened anti-Semitic attitudes in Germany?

Knobloch: It has, unfortunately. I see an absolutely hostile attitude towards Jews and Israel. Signs that read "Israel -- Child Murderers" are being carried through the streets at demonstrations here, for example. The police don't confiscate these placards. Persons that deal with the issue only marginally, or not at all, are influenced negatively. That's the basis of this hostile attitude. You can find it everywhere. We're currently organizing a fundraising concert, for example, and even there we get negative, anti-Semitic mail. No distinctions are made. We're sucked into the current Middle East conflict one hundred percent, as Jewish citizens in Germany.

While anti-Semitism in Germany is certainly no surprise, Germany is one of the most stringent countries vis-a-vis Nazi-style rhetoric, criminalizing public displays of swastikas and pro-Holocaust speech.

But when the president of the German Jewish Council describes the mood there as "absolutely hostile" following the incursions into Lebanon and Gaza, and says "I've never experienced anything quite like this. It's on a new level," I think it behooves Jews of the world to at least glance at the situation of our German counterparts.

Crying out in reaction to an IDF-committed injustice is one thing. Doing so in front of swastika-concealing anti-Semites is something else entirely. Some people can't make the distinction between "Jews" and "Israel." Some people don't even want to.

(cross-posted from Jewschool)

Posted by Y-Love at 01:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A series of Article 32 hearings began today in Camp Pendleton, California for a group of seven Marines and a Navy corpsman accused of murder.

The case, whether or not the killing of 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Hamdania in rural Iraq was murder or a justifiable act of war.

Ireland On-Line reports:

Iraqi witnesses today recounted how seven US Marines and a Navy corpsman kidnapped an Iraqi man from his home and shot him dead. Their testimony came during the first public airing of a case that has again highlighted allegations of abuse by US forces in Iraq.

It formed part of a pre-trial hearing at Camp Pendleton, California, for two of the men accused of participating in the shooting of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52, in Hamdania in rural Iraq. At issue is whether the shooting was murder or a justifiable act of war.

The witnesses said the eight grabbed Awad on April 26, bound his feet, dragged him from his home and shot him in a roadside ditch.

Defence lawyers are expected to argue that Awad was trying to plant an explosive device when the servicemen found him. They also question the credibility of the Iraqis who reported the incident to US authorities.

A conviction could mean the death penalty.

As the Washington Times explains, the soldiers are charged with allegedly taking a disabled Iraqi villager from his home, kidnapping him, placing him in a hole, shooting him repeatedly and staging the scene to make it appear he was an insurgent planting a bomb.

The San Jose Mercury News says:

Prosecutors say Magincalda, Thomas, Pennington and Barcos went into a house and kidnapped 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad on April 26. Magincalda, Thomas, Pennington bound his feet and, together with Barcos, the four took Awad to a roadside hole where Hutchins, Thomas, Shumate, Jackson and Jodka shot him, according to charging documents. Barcos fired an AK-47 in the air and Magincalda put the spent bullet casings by Awad's body, according to prosecutors. Pennington wiped fingerprints off the AK-47 and put it in Awad's hands, the charging documents state.

THE DEFENSE: Denfense attorneys say the troops are innocent and question the credibility of the Iraqis who reported the incident to U.S. authorities.

"These guys are not getting a fair shake at all," said retired World War II Marine Sgt. Maj. "Iron" Mike Mervosh of Oceanside. "I'm for them. All we're getting is one side of it."

Mervosh, who retired in 1977 as the most-senior enlisted man in all the armed forces after 35 years in the Corps, said he is inclined to believe his fellow Marines rather than Iraqi witnesses. "We trust those people, but not our Marines," he said.

I also, for one, hope that the Marines get a fair trial. And, in interest of fairness to the Iraqis, I hope justice is dispensed. But we are dealing with a president who has bent over backwards to keep Americans immune from war crimes charges, has unapologetically held thousands of Arabic-speaking people in secret jails around the world with no hope of due process, and has turned a blind eye as his cronies systematically engineered an ethnic cleansing campaign in the wake of a natural disaster. (see here, and also DailyKos -- some are even calling it American genocide.)

In light of these things I am afraid for the perversion of justice, and equally afraid as to in which direction it will be twisted.

Posted by Y-Love at 05:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

MSNBC reports (hat tip to the very left-wing Buzzflash for this one):

"In most cases, family members and hospital workers said, the motive for the abductions appeared to be nothing more than religious affiliation. Because public hospitals here are controlled by Shiites, the killings have raised questions about whether hospital staff have allowed Shiite death squads into their facilities to slaughter Sunni Arabs."

UPI quotes the victims of the families as blaming the Mahdi Army, which is controlled by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The Mahdi Army is known to have infiltrated a number of Iraqi government departments, and the Iraqi minister of health, Ali al-Shimari, is known to be a follower of Sadr.

Corruption so entrenched means that people can't win. But "mission accomplished" right? Do we forget that Muqtada as-Sadr's violence was sporadic up until 2003, and support for Sadr was waning into 2004 as average Shia people saw him as being a puppet of Iran. Now our government speaks of "hundreds of thousands" of passive Sadr supporters.

And now Sadr supporters are not only in the government, they run the health ministry. And the hospitals.

And 43 year old Sunni masons have their IVs ripped out and breathing tubes snapped in the middle of the waiting room as their bodies are riddled with bullets.

Who actually is being beaten in the war on terror?

Posted by Y-Love at 03:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A new conservative-backed movie entitled "Border War" is scheduled to hit theatres in Los Angeles tomorrow, followed by screenings in theatres in Phoenix, San Diego, Nogales, Ariz., Washington, D.C., Seattle, San Francisco, Dallas and Houston.

The movie, to quote MSNBC, "makes the case for tougher border enforcement by focusing on the most unsettling aspects of the nation's huge illegal immigration problem: the cold-hearted coyotes who guide illegal migrants across the border".

I'm not going to address the veracity of claims or counter-claims. I do, however, think this should raise red flags. A spin like this now gives the racists a humanitarian angle. Now they're not saving their daughters, they're saving the "poor Mexican girl" being "smuggled over the border."

Indeed, MSNBC quotes the Washington Post as noting that the movie does "not portray illegal immigrants as economically desperate people who break the law by sneaking across the border then often go on to renew the American dream with their thrift, enterprise and hustle while filling back-breaking jobs that few citizens want."

I think these "back-breaking jobs" need a little bit of discussion time.

So the employers who break backs can be pointed out.

Posted by Y-Love at 03:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Aryan Nations forum has a "Brother in Islam" category?

An "Aryan Nations Recruiter" speaking to a "Mujahid" saying, "Take up refuge and friendship with us my fellow 13th Warrior and brother in arms. We are and shall remain allies because we are the few and the strong ready to bring holy bloody hell upon the heads of our enemy."

WTF is this? Do Middle Eastern people really think that the Nazis won't call THEM "ragheads" too?

Posted by Y-Love at 02:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hugo Chavez departed Caracas today to go to Syria to discuss energy agreements. Mr. Chavez "will sign several energy agreements during the visit", a foreign ministry spokesman said today in a telephone interview with Bloomberg News.

The spokesman declined comment on how long Chavez would be in Syria.

I have a sinking feeling they'll be discussing more than just oil.

Posted by Y-Love at 02:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

You've seen the Jews for Allah site. You've read my blog on MySpace about him.

Now here are the videos.

At least 20 minutes worth. For your consideration:

Most recently, an interview with a German film crew:

And from earlier this year, an interview with a famous British atheist journalist:

The video which started it all (total over 10 minutes):

And a blog about them all.

It's one thing to embrace Islam. It's another thing entirely to profess an unending Jew hatred. His problem, as he says, "is with the Jewish people".

Posted by Y-Love at 02:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Thank you, Chatham House for reporting what those of us on the angry American left have been saying for quite some time.

The "war on terror" is helping terrorists in ways that couldn't be achieved with just donations. And now we know just whom we've been helping this entire time.

Iran.

The British think-tank Chatham House just released a report saying that "there was little doubt that Iran had been the chief beneficiary of the war on terror." A grand total of over $400 billion goes a long way. Let's examine some of what the Jerusalem Post notes:

"The United States, with coalition support, has eliminated two of Iran's regional rival governments, [the Taliban and Saddam Hussein], but has failed to replace either with coherent and stable political structures."

The [Israel-Lebanon] conflict also boosted Iran's popularity to unprecedented levels on the Arab street, according to a Wednesday report by leading British think-tank Chatham House, giving Tehran even greater leverage to use at the international bargaining table.

But the US?

Iran has apparently been swift to fill the power void in the Middle East. Bereft of the secular Hussein regime and with the hardline Islamist Taliban regime in Afghanistan fighting up against the wall, Iran's charismatic and relatively moderate Ahmadenijad enjoys public support not unlike Britney Spears.

Not only does this screw Israel:

Fears of a resurgent Iran led an Israeli minister on Tuesday to warn that Israel should build more bomb shelters. "The Iranians have said very clearly that if they come under attack, their primary target would be Israel." Pensioner Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan told Israel Radio.

Meanwhile experts predict that if Iran is able to continue enrichment work unchecked, it may be able to construct nuclear warheads by 2010.

Our own government can't even assess what Iran's true nuclear capabilities are.

We've increased his PR through what we've done in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We've given him an unending stream of volunteers and people ready to join the militia groups that he and his Syrian counterpart are aiding -- Ahmadenijad with the funding and Syria with the logistics. In addition, much of Iran's current wave of confidence is underpinned by the extensive ties Iran has with Russia.

How can columnist Yasmine Rassam even come out of her face to say that a pullout of Iraq now would be a decisive victory for Iran? What more could we do for him that we're not doing already? This neo-con lie of "we're creating democracy in a free Iraq" gets harder to believe with every passing murder.

The "mission accomplished" against terrorism gets harder to stomach with every passing Osama Bin Laden sighting.

Senator Joseph Lieberman already said he "sees Iranian danger in U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, with Iran moving in." Moving IN? They are not only already there, Iran has replaced the US -- and the Coalition -- as the key power in Iraq!

How much more ammunition do we need to give to Ahmadinejad? Or have we made the bed that we are tragically doomed to lie in?

Posted by Y-Love at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

TIME Magazine says beautifully and succinctly why the racist undertones of the "War on Terror" are undermining itself and the safety of Americans:

Jamal Harwood prays five times a day. He doesn't drink, smoke or eat pork. He's active in his local Muslim community, and he's very serious about the need for an Islamic state. But if you passed him on the street, you would have no idea. Not just because Harwood, a financial consultant in London, wears a suit instead of traditional Muslim dress. Or because he keeps his beard cropped fashionably close.

But because he's white.

A year later, he converted and soon joined Hizb ut-Tahrir, a political party known for its radical views that is banned in many Muslim countries. Harwood, 45, is now a spokesman for the group; he says it is opposed to terrorism. Although his life choices may make him an object of scrutiny by his government--Hizb ut-Tahrir has been on Britain's watch list since the July 2005 terrorist attacks in London--he has no regrets.

The government has labeled group A as terrorist and goes out to look for "Arabs" -- but a white guy is the spokesperson for group A. And the current terrorism related racial profiling is rife with other flub-ups.

Racial profiling simply does not work. However, no one has told this to Rep. Peter King -- the Republican from New York -- he already said:

"The fact is the overwhelming odds are that it is going to be someone of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent and of the Muslim faith. And I think a screener should be allowed to factor that in as one of many factors. Like if we were told that the Ku Klux Klan was going to attack Harlem or Bedford Stuyvesant, I think we'd spend more time looking more closely at whites than we would at African-Americans," King told 'FOX News Sunday.'

Actually, Representative King didn't stop there. As Newsday reported:

eclaring that airport screeners shouldn't be hampered by "political correctness," House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King has endorsed requiring people of "Middle Eastern and South Asian" descent to undergo additional security checks because of their ethnicity and religion....

King, who has said that all Muslims aren't terrorists but that all recent terrorists are Muslim, favors an ethnic and religious profiling scheme that would include foreign and American-born travelers. "I would give the investigators and screeners a lot of discretion as to where it ends," he said.

Last week, the British Department of Transport got caught up in a scandal regarding using racial profiling. One of the masterminds of the July 7th London bombings was black, and one of the airline plot terrorists was white.

Any terrorist with half a mind -- much less a mastermind -- would learn, just by reading the above, the hard lesson that millions of black men in America already know.

If the cops show up, give everything to the white guy.

If the racial profiling increases, it's almost a corollary -- obviously the use of "non-Middle Eastern or South Asian" terrorists will increase.

I think some of the Department of Homeland Security must be more interested in keeping America racist than safe. As even FOX News shows, we have other ways -- behavioral screening, etc. -- which are already in place at a number of airports which would not require screeners to resort to ethnic profiling.

But why do that? Who cares about offending a bunch of "ragheads", right?

Posted by Y-Love at 04:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I really have a serious problem understanding precisely what Irshad Manji's agenda is.

I have no qualms with saying precisely how opposed I am to Irshad Manji and her mindset -- granted not as opposed as I am to the atheistic Wafa Sultan who got called a "Daring Voice for the New Islam" by Time Magazine even after she said on al-Jazeera "Lastu muslimah"/I am not a Muslim.

Ms. Manji's Ha'Aretz article "Good News About Islam" gives a glimpse into precisely what it is about her that raises the ire of this author. First of all:

Brace yourselves: During the same week that India and Israel were reminded of Islamist brutality, liberal Muslims made progress in reclaiming our faith, both in the East and in the West.

And as I continually stress on MySpace.com's "This is Babylon" -- even a cursory reading of the Quran and ahadeeth makes Nasrallah and his ilk seem sorely in need of ideological Scriptural support. Living by Qur'an and living according to al-Zarqawi almost look antithetical at times when one compares the speech transcript to the Qur'anic text.

So let's hear the progress made by "liberal Muslims". After telling of abuses of shari'a in Pakistan under the "Hudood" -- laws meant to make Pakistani civil law more in line with Sharia, namely the law proscribing punishment for adultery and its requirement of "4 male adult witnesses" for zina bil jabr - rape:

As more and more of Pakistan's Muslims recognize that these laws emanate from humans, they acknowledge that the duty to re-think them rests in their hands, not God's. Muslims believe that Allah is perfect. We are learning to appreciate that Allah's interpreters are not.

But for a Muslimah to say that shari'a "emanates from humans"? As SunniPath.com points out (quoting the BBC):

“For each We have appointed a divine law and a traced-out way. Had God willed, He could have made you one community. But that He may try you by that which He has given you. So vie one with another in good works. Unto God you will all return, and He will then inform you of that wherein you differ.” (Qur’an, 5: 48)

[...]

God decreed for each soul a time on earth so that He might try them. Then, after the completion of their appointed terms, He would judge them and send them to their eternal destinations: either one of endless bliss, or one of everlasting grief. This life, then, is a journey that presents to its wayfarers many paths. Only one of these paths is clear and straight. This path is the Shariah.

Why is the instant instinctive response within humanity trained to be -- "X messed up my life and said that he was doing it for religious reasons therefore my religion must need fixing"? Abuses of shari'a are abuses. But like I point out on the other "This is Babylon" -- for virtually every terrorist incident is some sheikh, somewhere who's saying otherwise. Ms. Manji even points out disputes among Imams regarding whether or not "Islam was the only path to salvation". Are there not such disputes in many other areas of Islamic law?

Why must the solution be -- "the liberal reformation of Islam"?

At the same time, the liberal reformation of Islam picked up speed - in Copenhagen, the city that served as Ground Zero for worldwide riots over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

One of the ultimate disrespects that one could possibly make to a Muslim person -- and this is justified how? "We will not apologize" for printing the article, Jyllands-Pøsten said, citing their own freedom of the press. An apology for emotions, but not for the actual offense.

So what happened in Copenhagen?

I joined 99 other "Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow" in Copenhagen to debate how Islam and the West can enrich each other. We came from the United States, Canada, Australia and across Europe.

[...]

Maybe the most compelling insight came from a surprise guest: Flemming Rose, publisher of the reviled Prophet Muhammad cartoons.

Granted, the subject of pictures of Muhammad is a debated topic among Sunni and Shia scholars alike. But Islamic reformists have taken it upon themselves to make their own cartoon contest. In fact IslamicReform.org is pitching a "Reformist Qur'an Translation".

Why is this necessary? Why MUST practice and tradition be watered down instead of adapting?

I think it should be axiomatic:

G-d is good.

G-d wants good for all of us.

G-d, wanting good for all us, would not set up a system whereby any one of His creations would be automatically screwed.

That being said, I think it behooves religious people to look inside their holy texts -- both theological and practical -- before choosing to infuse secular ideas into their worlds.

Posted by Y-Love at 02:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Yediot Aharonot reports:

The Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (FJC) said Madonna's stage performances were amoral and urged all religious-minded people to abstain from attending her Moscow concert due on September 11, the Interfax news agency reported.

[...]

In her show, Madonna uses Jewish and Muslim religious symbols and this for "me as a Jew, is shocking," Gorin said, adding that the fact that she uses in her songs Jewish terminology was "rather illiterate and inconsiderate."

This comes after Pope Benedict and the entire Vatican slammed her for her use of crucifixion during a show in Rome.

The Russian Orthodox church also voiced their discontent with Madonna's performance:

The statement reports an intention to hold a broad action in protest against Madonna’s ‘blasphemous and anti-Christian’ show and urges the authorities ‘at least to postpone the planned concert from September 11 to another date and to ban her scene with the blasphemous crucifixion’.

And, as RIA noted, perhaps expectedly, the protests on behalf of literally every Christian denomination, the Council of Muftis and Federation of Jewish Communities fell on deaf ears as the deafening sound of printing tickets drowned them out -- 4,000 tickets flew in a couple hours.

This is not what concerns me. I wouldn't expect there to be a mass rush of teshuva in Eastern Europe, that all teens should burn their Madonna CDs instantly. However, the bravado is almost summed up perfectly in the words of Benedetta Mori of Rome, who attended Madonna's show there:

“If they allowed her to stage the show here they must also play by her rules.”

According to the report, Gorin stressed that the organizers of such concerts in Moscow, which he said is "the capital of Orthodoxy," ought to "be more tactful toward the innermost in human moral; that is faith."

Gorin reminded the audience about the reaction of the Muslim world to the publication in the Western media of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, the report said.

Posted by Y-Love at 06:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Arutz Sheva reports:

The largest number of Jews making aliyah in a single day will be this coming Wednesday, August 16th, ha'ba aleinu l'tovah.

On Wednesday, August 16th...three simultaneous flights will arrive. Embodying the Jewish prayer that the nation be gathered “from the four corners of the Earth,” the planes will depart from Canada, America and England – all arriving simultaneously in the Holy Land.

The August 16, 2006 influx will constitute the largest number of Jews in history making Aliyah to Israel from Western countries in a single day. Overall this summer, 3,000 North American and British Jews are moving to Israel on specially chartered flights organized by the Nefesh b'Nefesh Aliyah assistance organization, in close cooperation with the Jewish Agency.

Posted by Y-Love at 02:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The British Times Online reports that the Community Security Trust (CST), an advisory group to the British Jewish community, advised synagogues to raise security measures this week.

There has been almost a 100 percent jump in anti-Semitic incidents over this month last year.

Just FYI.

Posted by Y-Love at 05:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Bahraini Gulf Daily News reports:

Nasrallah has spawned a souvenir industry churning out everything from tapes and CDs of his speeches to posters, key rings and T-shirts in the wake of Israel's offensive against Hizbollah in neighbouring Lebanon.

The tape of the 46-year old Shi'ite cleric, which includes combat music and Lebanese nationalist songs, has become a runaway bestseller. "I am out of CDs already and have only tapes left," Otabshi said.

Nasrallah has become such an iconic figure in Syria that the Laterna night club has added Hizbollah songs to its staple diet of dance music.

New products come out almost every time Hizbollah delivers what it calls surprise operations against Israel.

One of the latest additions to Mohammad Ali's souvenir shop is a poster of Hizbollah missiles hitting an Israeli warship off the Lebanese coast -- an attack that badly damaged the vessel.

[...]

Another music shop, Ashtar in old Damascus, has placed a guest book outside its door for customers to write their thoughts about the Lebanese resistance. "When rifles speak, Arab rulers sink in silence," read one inscription, signed by an unknown passer-by.

At the P.L.O. Flag Shop, a local store that specializes in Palestinian souvenirs, the best-selling items for the past couple of weeks have been posters, T-shirts, buttons and coffee mugs featuring Hezbollah’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah.

Nasrallah has become an iconic figure in Syria. Children raise their hands and shout “Nasrallah, Nasrallah” as they go down slides in a park in central Damascus. Hezbollah’s yellow flags fly and pictures of its charismatic leader are plastered all over the city—on cars, traffic police motorcycles, government buildings, homes and even hospital emergency rooms.

Public support this entrenched -- to the point that little kids are singing about you as they slide down a sliding board -- is going to be very hard to extricate. It is probably not going to be undone by outside forces. From within the Shia communities themselves in Southern Lebanon, there is going to have to be a feeling of pride which comes from non-terrorists. Social services taken care of by non-terrorists.

I would like to fault the Lebanese government for this, but it's not that simple. One thing is for sure, no amount of ceasefire is going to stop Nasrallah CD's from going platinum. That war is not fought with guns. That war -- the war for the hearts and minds of Lebanon and the Arabic-speaking world -- is going to have to be fought on more intellectual, and ethereal, planes.

Posted by Y-Love at 02:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

My rav told me that the current Israel - Hezbollah conflict "is bigger than it seems". How right he was.

Blogger Andre Pachter, on his blog ChinaConfidential adds yet another facet to the ever-complexifying web of events in Northern Israel and Southern Lebanon.

The mastermind behind the coordinated Arab demand for an immediate Israeli troop withdrawal from Lebanon is China's special envoy to the Middle East, Sun Bigan, who is currently visiting the region.

Sun, who is a veteran diplomat and one of China's leading Arabists, called Monday for an immediate unconditional ceasefire in the war between Israel and the Lebanese proxy army of Beijing's non-Arab Islamist ally, Iran.

"Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah should end hostilities immediately to avoid further deterioration of humanitarian crisis in Lebanon," Sun told a press conference in Damascus following a closed-door meeting with Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Shara.

Sun is advancing the argument that the United States has lost credibility and influence in the region as a result of its steadfast support for Israel, and that a more neutral power--such as China-- is urgently needed to help end the fighting and reduce regional tensions. The real objective is to weaken the U.S. position--and ultimately drive the US from the region altogether.

Toward this end, China has been a major arms supplier to Hezbollah's sponsor. In the context of energy deals, Beijing has sold Iran tanks, planes, artillery, and cruise, anti-tank, surface-to-surface and anti-aircraft missiles. Chinese-designed missiles--including some that have been upgraded and improved by North Korea--have found their way into Hezbollah's arsenal of aerial terror.

If you want to know what China feels about the conflict, just look at Syria. After all, as the Syrian News Agency itself reported:

Chinese Special Envoy to the Middle East Sun Bigan on Monday described his talks with Vice- President Farouk al-Shara as very successful. "Viewpoints regarding the deteriorating situation in the region as a result of the Israeli aggression on Lebanon were identical," Bigan said in a press conference held at the Chinese Embassy in Damascus.

It's a conspiracy, I tell you.

Posted by Y-Love at 01:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

A New Zealand mosque is fed up with its numerous attacks and is switching to plastic windows. Stuff News reports:

Muslims arrived at the Lower Hutt Islamic Centre at 6.30am yesterday to find four smashed windows, the Nazi symbol and the number 666 – said to be Satan's number – scrawled across its exterior walls.

The centre was attacked two weeks ago and had been hit more than five times already this year, prayer leader Khaled Abbas said. "People are getting very, very upset about it," said Hanif Khan, who chairs Islamic organisation the Hutt Valley Trust. "We have not done anything at all. We are peaceful and not motivated to go against people."

The centre had replaced smashed glass windows in its kitchen and library with plastic.

Authorities reassured Muslims on Friday that Maine is safe after the state filed a civil-rights lawsuit against a man accused of rolling a frozen pig's head into a mosque during prayers...Published reports have quoted Matthews as telling police that he bowled the pig's head into the mosque on July 3 "as a joke," but James Howaniec, his lawyer, said Matthews has entered a not-guilty plea.

Howaniec said he expects Matthews, a construction worker now free on bail, will be charged with desecrating and defacing a place of worship in local court, a misdemeanor charge.

A Santa Clara man accused of stabbing his Sikh neighbor in the neck because he thought the man was a member of the Taliban is scheduled to be arraigned today in a San Jose courtroom on attempted murder and hate crime charges, authorities said.

Everett Thompson, 25, could face life in prison if convicted in the attack, prosecutor Jay Boyarsky said. He said formal charges will be filed today, and prosecutors will ask that Thompson be held without bail.
Iqbal Singh, 40, was standing with his 2-year-old granddaughter in his family's carport on Sunday preparing to leave for religious services when Thompson approached and stabbed him once in the neck with a steak knife, Boyarsky said.

How could I not tell of the flipside?

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