Attempts by government troops to arrest three militant leaders wanted by the Philippines and the United States on kidnapping and murder charges sparked clashes that left up to 17 rebels dead, officials said Monday.

The fighting erupted Sunday when government forces cordoned off a village on Jolo island in the southern Philippines and tried to arrest the three Abu Sayyaf commanders. Some of the estimated 220 militants in the village fired on the soldiers and clashes ensued.

Regional military commander Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino said troops recovered the body of one militant, but that intelligence sources indicated at least 17 rebels were killed. Five government soldiers were wounded, Dolorfino said in a brief telephone interview.

The hostilities broke out as residents of the predominantly Muslim island celebrated the Islamic festival of Eid-al-Fitr. Troops were trying to arrest rebel commanders Isnilon Hapilon, Albader Parad and Umbra Jumdail, also known as Dr. Abu.

Related: Philippine troops seize al-Qaida-linked militants’ camp; kill 19 in clashes.

VOA:

Indonesian authorities have confirmed that a man killed in a shootout with police this week is terrorist leader Noordin Top.

National police spokesman Nanan Sukarna said Saturday that DNA tests supported findings of an earlier fingerprint identification.

Noordin was one of four people killed in a raid Thursday on a militant hideout in Central Java. Three others were arrested.

Really. Good. News.

Related: Indonesians welcome death of terrorist leader.

Before:
The reasons of Noordin’s success.
Noordin uses a burqa to avoid police?
Noordin is alive.
Govt will tackle Islamic schools – and track down Noordin.
Noordin Mohammed Top, believed killed.
The JI’s “Jihad on Westerners” using social ties.
Thailand: Southern terrorists could have received training from JI.
Singapore: JI’s terrorist attack on Changi airport foiled.
Jakarta bombings: Malaysia questions 3 JI simpathizers.
Raids on JI terrorists prove existence of Islamist social nets.
3rd bomb in Jakarta bombings malfunctioned.
Malaysia: Noordin Mat Top not in the country.
Jakarta: suicide attacks most likely carried by JI offshoot.

Well, it looks like so. From Realite-UE free newsletter:

As Iran moves ahead with its nuclear ambitions other countries in the Gulf are pushing forward with their own plans to go nuclear. [1] Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have all indicated interest in developing nuclear programs. [2]

Nowhere is the concern over Iran’s nuclear ambition felt more strongly than among Iran’s Arab neighbors in the Persian Gulf region. While they watch uneasily for signs of Iranian nuclear progress, Saudis and Emiratis will continue to spend billions of dollars on ballistic missile defense systems. [3]

The Gulf States have ambivalent relations with Iran. While Iran is seen a strategic threat it is also a trading partner and possible Mideast regional leader. Statements and actions by Gulf leaders reflect this ambiguity.

Bahrain

• In September 2009, Commander-in-chief of the Bahrain Defense Force, Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, said Iran is an important country that greatly influences regional security and stability. Sheikh Al-Khalifa and Iranian ambassador to Bahrain Hossein Amir Abdollahian discussed Tehran-Manama relations and called for an expansion in cooperation especially in military spheres. [4]
• In June 2009, Bahrain closed the newspaper Akhbar al-Khaleej after it published an article heavily critical of the Iranian government. [5]
• Bahrain has supported using diplomacy to resolve the conflict over Iran’s nuclear program though Iran’s uranium enrichment has complicated relations between Iran and Bahrain. Bahrain is an ally of the United States. [6]
• In 2007, Manama and Tehran discussed increasing annual trade to $1 billion per year and bolstering their joint health and tourism cooperation. Both countries proposed a large purchase of Iranian oil to help fuel Bahraini development in May 2008. ["Bahrain-Iran Cooperation Hailed," Bahrain News Agency, December 26, 2007; "Bahrain Eyes Gas Imports From Iran," Press TV, May 27, 2008]
• In March 2008, the United States Treasury Department announced sanctions against Future Bank B.S.C, a Bahraini Bank accusing of helping Iran’s alleged nuclear proliferation activities. Future Bank B.S.C. is controlled by Iran’s Bank Melli, which is sanctioned “for facilitating Iran’s proliferation activities.” [8]
• Bahrain turned down financial and technical support that Iran offered in October 2007 to help Bahrain establish its own civilian nuclear energy program. [Tourmi, Habib: "Bahrain Rejects Nuclear Assistance by Iran," Gulf News, October 24, 2007]

Kuwait

• Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah congratulated Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009, after his re-election. Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah described Iran as Kuwait’s friend and expressed hope that Kuwait and Iran and would continue to expand their relationship in all fields. [10] This, despite the fact that Kuwait has been a major allay of Washington since the 1991 Gulf War.
• Kuwait’s government has declared it will not allow its territories to be used for military action against Iran. [11]
• Kuwait and Iran held their first Economic Commission in January 2008 in order to create a platform for more financial connections between the countries. [12]
• Renowned Kuwaiti author Abdullah Al-Hadlaq has urged the Gulf States to suspend their diplomatic relations with Iran and deal with its real agenda. He insisted that the country’s nuclear program was not adopted for peaceful purposes despite Iran’s pretence that it was, in reality being a military program. [13]

Oman

• Oman has accelerated its cooperation with Tehran, nurturing an alliance that helps empower Iran while highlighting the deep divisions among Arab capitals. Oman has refused overtures of its larger neighbors to pull away from Iran. [14]
• Oman sees Iran as an important political and economic ally that is “too powerful and too potentially dangerous to ignore, let alone antagonize.” Oman has for years helped Iranian smugglers circumvent international trade sanctions. [Ibid]
• In August 2009, Oman and Iran signed an agreement for security cooperation. The deal covers exchange of information and combating infiltration, smuggling and other crimes. [16]
• The Oman Oil Company (OOC) and Hirbodan EPC of Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding to build a power plant at the Queshm Free Zone in Iran. Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said said the agreement reflected the “depth of relations between the two countries.” [Ibid]

Qatar

• Qatar, an ally of the United States, has been outspoken against Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. [18] However, Qatar has rejected the Security Council’s resolutions against Iran, calling them counterproductive. ["First Target For Iran: Qatar?," Middle East Times, November 26, 2007]
• In January 2009, Qatar, Iran and Russia met in Tehran, where they agreed to establish a “gas troika” to cooperate on the exploration and production of their gas reserves. [20]
• In a meeting in April 2009 with the Qatari minister of information, Sheikh Hamad Bin Thamar At-Thani, Iranian Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani expressed Iran’s desire to create unity among regional and Muslim countries. Sheikh Hamad Bin Thamar At-Thani said that Qatar appreciates Iran’s position on regional and international issues. ["Iran Pursues Unity Strategy In The Region: Larijani," Iranian Students News Agency, April 8, 2009]
• In a meeting in July 2009 with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Ahamad Bin Khalifa al-Thanii, Larijani described Qatar as a strategic partner and indicated that Iran is determined to expand its bilateral ties with Qatar. The Emir of Qatar said: “Iran is always standing behind Arab sand people of Palestine, but some want to make minds turn against the country while we have no problem with it. Iran is always our friend and we won’t allow any ill-will person to create problems between us.” [22]

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

• In August 2009, the National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC) and a UAE company signed an agreement for transferring Iranian natural gas to the UAE. [23]
• On August 14, 2009, the UAE seized a cargo of North Korean weapons being shipped to Iran, which would have violated a UN embargo on arms exports from North Korea. [24]
• UAE sees Iran as both a threat and a valued trading partner – it spends billions to defend itself against a perceived Iranian threat while it also enjoys a robust trading relationship with Iran. The UAE is one of Iran’s largest trading partners. [25]

So, Iran’s Ayatollahs want the Gulf for themselves, and don’t want to end like Saddam Hussein if they invade them. Peaceful nuclear technology? Yeah, what a joke!

From ICC:

A Muslim family enraged by the fact that Falish had fallen in love with their daughter, concocted the blasphemy allegations. Of course, their daughter could not decide for herself.

Falish had severe wounds on his face, arms and the rest of his body, but the Police in Pakistan still insists he committed suicide. Well, a real strange suicide, isn’t it?

Missao Portas Abertas reports that the arrested are both Muslims and non-Muslims:

Egyptian authorities have arrested more than 150 people for eating during Ramdan.

They were imprisoned in Assua, South of Egypt and in the city of Hurghada, in Red Sea. According to the Al-Arabia net, authorities are taking severe measures against Muslims and non-Muslims who are found drinking, eating or smoking during the jejum time.

This is the first time that Egyptian authorities have acted in this manner. This is another sign of the Islamization process that will happen in the future. Nowadays, Egypt looks like it’s following the Gulf’s practices, where drinking, eating or smoking during Ramadan is punished with a month in prison or US$ 350 fine.

“This goes against the basic human rights of citizens. We, as Christians, aren’t Muslims and don’t believe there is an Islamic Jejum. And for Muslims this should be a personal question”, says Magdhi Kalil, director of Fórum de Liberdade do Oriente Médio.

Jonathan Racho, director of ICC for Africa and Middle East, says: “Punish Muslims for eating and drinking during Ramadan is a shame and a clear violation of religious freedom. We condemn this measure taken in Egypt to force Muslims and non Muslims to fast during Ramadan”.

Some days ago, a similar thing happened in Morocco.

Related: Church firebombed in Egypt after Opposition from Muslim neighbours.

"The police decided before any forensics were carried out that the cause of the fire was caused by a short-circuit," said an unofficial Church source. "This cannot be true, as the electricity was shut off as usual before locking the Church and the panel boards are intact as the photos show." Sherif Ramzy of Free Copts said that Coptic witnesses told him that while the fire was burning, Muslim neighbors were elated. To portray their happiness, Muslim women were letting out the traditional celebration sound "zaghroota."

The MSM remains silent on the Coptic persecution in Egypt. The more silence on their situation, the more “Islamized” the country will become.

(Translation: T&P)

Zineb el Rhazaoui began the group “Alternative movement for the defense of civil liberties” which is fighting against Islam’s abuses. Among other petitions, they are asking for the abrogation of Article 222 of the Moroccan Criminal Code which punishes Muslims who don’t respect the Ramadan’s fast. They can be sentenced to a jail term of between 6 months and a year.

Using Facebook, they scheduled a protest to eat a sandwich before dawn, something which is forbidden by the Ramadan’s fast, but they weren’t able even to begin their protest. Zineb, her friend and other 4 friends were arrested under charges of “trying to incite the public to break the fast”, according to official press agency Magrehb Arabe Presse.

Authorities consider they were trying to stage a protest and “break” the fast publicly, reason why they were arrested in the train station, although they consider the organization is “peaceful”. This is the first time some people show publicly in Morocco asking not to fulfill Ramadan’s fast.

The Moroccan Council of Ulemas has considered the action as a “hedious action which defies the teachings of God and his Prophet”.

During Ramadan, Islam believers must abstain themselves from eating, drinking, smoking and having sex, from dawn till nightfall.

There will be no scheduled protests for this around the world, I’m sure. But it’s deeply conforting there are people fighting against this kind of laws. These are basically against separation of State and Mosque, a concept which is so difficult to find along the Islamic world. Of course, I don’t believe Mohammed VIth to be very interested in having his power diminished and he knows that Islamism is a danger. He has not done a lot of reforms and the country is basically as it was 10 years ago when he began his reign. Specially the state of press freedom is worrying.

An NY federal court has condemned a Swedish-Lebanese to life in prison accused of having planned the construction of training camps for AQ terrorists in US. 43-year-old Oussama Abullah Kassir, was found guilty of 11 terrorism charges.

The accused had planned to build in Oregon a training camp for terrorists. They were to be sent afterwards to Afghanistan.

I wonder why so little news about this sentence.

This article writes about why Bin Laden must be caught and tells us about his life-style. Interestingly, AQ educates terrorists to live with no “luxuries” such as electricity, for example.

What do you think? Must or mustn’t he be caught?

(Sorry for the lack of posting…).

Each time I see these images, I feel the same: a shock to realise the extremely madness and badness (is that correct?) human beings can do if moved by  devilish ideas. Progress and evolution have made our lives different: we can fly in airplanes, go under the sea a lot of miles down, have gone to the moon, can see stars which disappeared several light-years ago, etc. They have really improved our life style. But human beings can still feel hate, be cruel and get satisfaction when harming others. They can sing and dance when someone is killed, raped or maimed.

Luckily, not ALL human beings are equal: there are others who want to make this world a better place, think that being merciful is just to follow a Godly path and get inner satisfaction in helping others, whatever their religion, political ideas, intelligence, etc.

That is, Cain and Abel continue to live with us. But you know: that’s what free will means. And freedom is a very important thing: if there would be no freedom, there would be no good nor bad either.

In this day, I want to remember those who have been killed by Islamic terrorism. It’s truly important to consider that before this unlucky people, there were already people assasinated, killed, maimed… and that afterwards, in this 8 years, nearly 14,000 people have already been killed. Yes, I know, perhaps there are more people dead in car crashes or by lung and heart cancer. But that’s not caused by another human being’s will. It’s just that really awful thought of wanting to kill even killing oneself what makes this more terrible, more powerful. Such extreme hate has been worrying so much people over these 8 years, although I fear that it has not worried enough.

To begin to understand 9/11, you should read Mohammed Atta’s last will. Mysogynist, obsessed with details and with his body… For the most part, it’s just a recollection of what to do in his funeral and burial. He wrote it on 1996, when he didn’t know he was going to be a suicide bomber.

I remember the first time I read that will, it stroke me as cold-hearted. He was a very young man then, and he seemed so absolutely deprived of any inner happiness. Nothing about having sons or having lived a good life. Nothing about his family. Just “don’t touch my genitals without gloves, don’t let women approach by body, wash my body this way”. If there is somebody which can be considered as an example of “There is no fun in Islam”, it’s without doubt this guy. Yes, I understand someone who kills 3000 people must be cold-hearted, but reading what he wrote is very chilling for me: it’s to know what he considered important. He revered his own death, more than his life.

But the photo that impress me the most is this one:

Sept. 11 hijackers Ziad Jarrah, left, and Mohammed Atta laugh in what is apparently their last will and testament in a videotape apparently made in Afghanistan on Jan. 18, 2000.

These guys were at a terror camp…. laughing. I have seen lots of photos of Jarrah having good time. he was a playboy, impacient, deeply in love with his German Muslim girlfriend. He did really doubt about what he was going to do, and Atta was worried about him deserting. Anyway, I have seen very few photos of Atta laughing. Or just smiling. Now compare it with the above photo. His eyes are practically looking the same (his left eye is smaller than the other…). Cruel eyes, hein? I believe he only considered himself a happy man while kidnapping and killing those people. And committing suicide.

Maybe this is just a stupid rant and I should just have blogged the first photo. Maybe. But those photos really make me think. How many other Attas are there? What leads them personally to commit such atrocities? Yes, I understand the ideological reasons for them to kill, but I feel we are just forgetting to look at the guys who kill. Why instead they don’t like to spend their free time baking bread, watching TV or writing poems? Are they bad or are truly mad? What would have happened if they haven’t been born and educated where they were? Are they just brainwashed or are just cruel assassins who use those teachings to kill in Allah’s name, fulfilling at once their own deepest and bloodiest desires and Allah’s hate for infidels?

And the most important one: will this end someday? Or not?

Málaga – Promueven un Centro de Estudios Andaluces e Islámicos de la Junta en Ronda – ADN.es

The creation of a Center of Andalusian and Islamic Studies of the Andalusian Autonomous Government in the city of Ronda (Málaga) is promoted by the Major. The latter, Antonio María Marín, asked Socialists this when he negotiated with them his affiliation in their party after abandoning the Andalucist Party.
Marín has assured EFE that he has the socialist regional direction’s license and underlines that Ronda is “the place where Andalucism was born”, after remembering that it was in this city where symbols like the Andalucian flag and coat of arms were drawn in 1918.
He also explains that the Major’s office has two palaces where this center can be placed. One of them is the house-palace from the Ahumanda Dukes (located in the historical center of the city) and the other is placed in Armiñán st.
The resposible of this center should have level of Director General or similar considering Ronda’s special situation, according to the Major, who also adds that this could be configured as an Andalusian Public Foundation.
He assures that the provincial secretary of Socialist party in Málaga, Miguel Ángel Heredia, is representing this affair before the Andalucian Autonomous region and the party’s representatives; he believes the Andalusian Government should be “sensitive and delicate” and underlines that they have yet to decide if this would be part of Culture or Tourism departments.
Antonio María Marín defends for Ronda “that meaning because historically it fulfills all the requirements” considering its caracter and “andalucist roots” and maintains that “the andalucism is represented nowadays by the Socialists best”.
Ronda’s Major and the 8 councilmen the Andalucist Party had in the city, entered last June 11th the Socialist group in the city in a movement which was hoped for months, considering the situation of the main Andalucist city in the province and one of the most important within Andalucia.

A magnificent time to promote this, isn’t it? Unemployment rate: 18.5%. Public expenditure: boosting.

If the Duke of Ahumada would come from the afterlife…

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España acogerá a dos presos de Guantánamo antes de noviembre en CADENASER.com

Both are Yemeni nationals who were arrested in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2002. There is no evidence of links to Al-Qaeda and that’s why they have been accepted. But noth had links with the Taliban. They will arrive in Spain between october and november. They can’t be given political asylum because of national security reasons, but they will be under the foreigners’ regulation while they live in Spanish territory.

They are going to be under surveillance permanently, they will be given a residence which will be compulsory for them, as they won’t have freedom of movement throughout Spain nor Europe. There’s no knowledge about the exact place where they are going to live. But a place where they can be reinserted in society will be seeked out for them (Are Talibans in Western society? Answer: No… so they can’t be reinserted…). The decision has been taken by Foreign Ministry (Moratinos) and Interior (Rubalcaba). It only remains to reach a final agreement with other European members.

Portugal has already received another 2 ex-GITMOs.

• Global Voices Online » Egypt: Two Coptic Orthodox Church Channels
  t's been a long time in the making, but the first Coptic television network, Aghapy TV, broadcast its first program Tuesday to audiences in the United States. Under the auspice of Pope Shenouda III, the Heliopolis-based network aims to bring the teachings of the Coptic Church, through liturgies, Bible studies, children's programming and more, into the homes of Copts worldwide
  (tags: Coptic_Christians Egypt)

According to Spanish newspaper La Voz de Galicia, the father burned himself and his 10 daughters in a fire he lighted. The 10 daughters died in the fire, while the father died some time afterwards in a hospital where his wife is being treated of cancer. According to the local MSM, the man worked for the city’s harbour administration and earned 20,000 rials a month ($100). The wife told a reporter that before dying, his husband has told her that: “I burned myself and all the girls because I didn’t want life to treat them badly“.
A girls’ uncle stated that the father “could not prevent himself from having only sons and that no male would have helped him to earn money for the family”.
Consequences of male chauvinism: women can’t work, they can’t earn their own salary, so if they don’t die of hunger, they are killed by so good a father who is so concerned about them being “treated badly by life“. As the veil in all its forms, this is another sign of the situation of women in Islamic countries, whatever some Western illuminati think of them. I’m sure they are not going to reflect on this, of course: they are sufficiently worried with chewing khat. Because after all, equality between men and women is a Western value, which “is not on the Quram“…

This is un update on this story:

Yahya Yildiz (49) is alleged to have shot his son Ahmet (26) as he couldn’t bear the fact that he had a gay partner, Ibrahim Can (44).
Ahmet, from South Anatolia, told his family in October 2007 that he was gay after he fell in love with his German-Turk boyfriend.
The family were shocked and bombarded Ahmet with death threats. The gay couple went to the authorities but nothing was done.
And as Yildiz was walking through the streets of Istanbul on July 15 2008, he was hit by shots fired from a black car.
The student died on the street.
Witnesses identified the gunman as Yahya Yildiz, who then fled to Iraq.

No, last year, there was NO outrage about this murder.

I had forgotten this one:

on Friday Mr Rasmussen was all smiles at a joint press conference with Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister. He said he would make every effort to improve relations with Muslim countries, adding that attending a dinner to break the Ramadan fast with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish premier, on Thursday had been “an extraordinary personal experience”.

He added: “Please also see my presence here tonight as a clear manifestation of my respect for Islam as one of the world’s great religions.”

The next guy coming to Europe who doesn’t say that “Christianity is one of the greatest religions and I hereby show my great respect for it“, should be declared “persona non grata“, for not showing enough respect for it.

I normally don’t do “Spanish MSM Watch” because I would not sleep at all: there are so many innacuracies that CNN could be considered “balanced”. Till you read it critically, of course.

El Mundo is an important newspaper, whose editor-in-chief, Pedro J. Ramírez, can be considered as one of the leading Spanish journalists. His problem is that he defends what he perceives it’s the majority’s ideology at every step of the way. It would be much more correct if he always stood by the same principles, but principles only don’t sell newspapers. Or so it’s the general perception about him.

Anyway, there are three subjects in which El Mundo (at least in its web: the latter is much more leftist that the newspaper sold in shops…) seems to maintain its ideas: Fidel Castro is not bad (its online special on the subject is vomitive), Palestine is really enslaved (or something) by those evil warmongers of the Jews and Iraqi war was an illegal piece of shit (so Aznar was nearly a bad dictator who was commanded by George “Mr Danger” Bush to enter Iraqi war while Zapatero is not the “socialdemocrat” Pedro J was hoping he will become). Of course, not always they are so clear in those beliefs but that’s the core of their political phylosophy. By those standards, I am, of course, some kind of evil-warmonger conservative, who must learn tact and Talante, that is, good disposition to… whatever political correctness considers it’s good. While the Talibans and Bin Laden are insurgents, etc.

So to the facts.
El Mundo produced an special on the 70th anniversary of the beginning of WWII. Among other things, it added an interview with known Holocaust denier David Irving. Israeli Ambassador in Spain sent a private letter to Pedro J which was published, with its last paragraph censored. I am translating that letter:

Esteemed Mr. Pedro J. Ramírez,

In El Mundo’s edition published on Aug 30th, it was announced the publication this week of a number of interviews with several known specialists to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the beginning of World War II. Sadly, your newspaper has found appropriate to include among the interviews one with Holocaust denier David Irving. It’s true that it was announced that these specials were going to offend a lot of people, but the problem is not the offense or the polemic, but the absence of any moral, historical or ethical values concerning the person who took the decision to interview Irving with some other important experts on the matter. That decision is just the consequence of considering morally equivalent the words of well-known historians or intellectuals and those of a charlatan criminal who was sent to prison in Austria because of denying the Holocaust really happened.

One of the most perverse phenomenons related to post-modernism is the lack of will, which causes the loss of all the capacity to make differences between truth and lies, important and superfluous things, high and low. There is no truth, only stories. There is no hierarchy, everything is at the same moral level. Everything is at the same ethic level: the murdered and the victim, the wise and the ignorant, Mozart’s operas and the last pop music freak. Therefore, it’s not surprising, from that perspective that the fundamental ethical values waver and it’s difficult as a result to identify the authentic values in the ocean of rubbish we are surrounded of.

A very good friend of this poisonous climate is the stereo-typed multiculturalism; because if there is no hierarchy, we are obliged to accept what’s different, “the other” (a cliché in this context). We already know of air comapnies who make their air hostesses cover the face in some airports, and it doesn’t look far away (or perhaps it’s already here) the day when someone compels us to accept polygamy, cliteridectomy or adulterers’ stoning. Who are we to make differences between what’s wrong and what’s right?

No. This is not a case about freedom of expression. The only right that’s not limited it’s the right to live. For freedom of expression there are and there should be limits. I am convinced that for you there are some limits too and that you would not publish some things.

So the unfortunate decision to interview criminal Irving can’t be justified in the name of freedom of expression; it’s only the reflection of the lack of ethics shown by the responsible of your newspaper, of its scorn towards readers, the other people interviewed on the same occassion and, obviously, to the newspaper-. It’s just a cheap provocation in the line of worst sensationalism.

I would be grateful if you would annul the decision to publish it.

Attentively

Raphael Schutz
Israeli Ambassador.

Well, the only thing I do not agree with, is with “freedom of expression has limits”. No, the Holocaust is a fact, so anyone denying it, firstly, is not speaking about reality. That is he/she is lying. If someone would be defending the earth is plain, I am sure Pedro J would not publish an interview with him. But being that a huge error, no one has been killed by saying the “earth is plain”, so there are no lives depending on that. But denying the Holocaust after 6 million people were killed because of the aim to kill anyone who would be Jewish, gipsies, political opponents, homosexuals, disabled, etc. is not only a lie, it is denying one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in History of mankind, and maybe with Communist persecution of opponents, the worst of planned and desired serial killing of humans.

Of course, there have been some protests. Hermann Tersch has published a letter for Pedro J:

Only a few lines to express my indignation and repugnance to David Irving’s infamous words and to the fact that you have turned yourself into his speaker. Don’t try to make us consider as freedom of expression what’s only an ongoing insult to Holocaust victims, “innocent Jews” as Irving says as if there weren’t any responsibility in the millions of human beings who were killed. And a banalization of this crime as I have never read in any publication which was not openly Neo-Nazi. Just read that “Holocaust is like a Kleenex“.

Or that your interviewer just cooperates with him in that last question when he asks Irving if he thinks the Holocaust, the only act of the history of industrial genocide, which broke the understanding in themselves of the human beings, is a fact which should only “merit a footnote” in the history books. Or the announcement of the streets and squares which would again be named “Adolf Hitler” once he is again rehabilitated by History. I’m sure that in several countries with more democratic tradition, the rubbish you have published would have been removed from shops on General Attorney’s order.

And both Irving and the responsible of this publication, that is, you, would have been called to declare before a court. But here nothing of that would take place because we continue to be a rare country. It’s very difficult for me to accept that, in cases which have no comparison at all with this, you would have published an interview with someone who would make differences between innocent and “non-innocent” victims of ETA’s murders.

But the Holocaust and the Jewish are always good to fill a Sunday’s page. They must have done something. Or you could have given two pages for a pedophile to tell you about the satisfaction of raping babies or the logic that deed hides. I just conclude here, hoping that both Irving and you pay in some way the infamous interview and its publication.

Hermann Tersch, one of the most respected Spanish journalists, was expelled from El País, when he began critisizing Zapatero.

But if all of this is worrying, the infamy reaches its peak when El Mundo published Schutz’s letter, censoring its last paragraph, with a note:

Precisely, our newspaper will publish next Saturday an interview with David Irving. Our opinion has always being coherent with the condemnation to nazi savagery and of the Holocaust caused by Hitler. We do not agree with theories who deny Holocaust’s existence. Serious historians have always shown with uncontested evidence and data the extermination of the Jewish people by the Third Reich. Our newspaper published articles and interviews which are interesting for the public, if they don’t incite to commit crimes. That’s what we have done with Irving. We understand Ambassador Schultz is not happy with it, but his assesments about the decision to publish it only reflects a Manichean and intransigent vision of reality that helps very little to the cause of defending his people and country’s interests“.

In the end they published the entire letter with a new “footnote”:

To prevent misunderstandings, we are publishing in full Ambassador’s Shutz’s letter. Censorship, what he is proposing us, is not a sign of our identity“

Not only they published a private letter: they also censored its content when critizising their absolutely infamous decision to publish it, but they couldn’t leave unpublished this kind of rubbish in which someone tells them openly that the Shoah is like a “Kleenex”. But instead, they didn’t publish another letter about Obama’s role in the Middle East written by the same Ambasador to be published, because it was “too long“. The unpublished letter corrected some historical innacuracies about Israel’s history.

Anyway, my opinion is that it’s better for them to have behaved freely in this one: that’s the only way to know who are really good guys and who are not. I have very seldomly bought newspapers. Internet is avalaible all the time, it doesn’t waste paper (yes, I am very conservationist) and it’s free.

Even Spanish FM Moratinos, who I don’t have in high regards, has lamented the publication. Of course, as El Mundo has accused them so often of corruption, they are just “lamenting” this now, but really, although some other MSM do not interview Irving, they can be considered judeophobe too. Perhaps they don’t deny the Shoah but they consider the Jews as “Zionists” and you know, those evil Zionists want to take over the world. The Zion Protocoles told than and I have read them…

Related:
Spain FM ‘regrets’ interview with Holocaust denier.
Israel slams Spanish publication of Holocaust denier interview. Following public criticism of the decision to print the article, El Mundo has announced that alongside Irving’s article, they will print an article saying they refute all Holocaust denial. So, why publishing “Irving’s article” in the first place?
Tertsch le lee la cartilla a Pedro J. y sus censuradores muchachos. I have found some of my post’s links in that post.

I have not found this in English so I translate what I have found: Un padre encierra a su hija un año y la tortura hasta la muerte en Egipto – Antena 3 Noticias

A father shut his 23-year-old daughter down in an obscure room during one and a half year, offering her little food and drink, and tortured her to death in a clear case of honor crime, according to Egyptian daily ‘Al Ahram’.
The 55-year-old man had heard rumours about his daughter’s behaviour: she had a relationship with a boy who she was supposedly to marry with.
Her father’s relatives, from Egyptian city of Miniya, south Egypt, were offended by the bad fame she had and menaced the father not to let him enter the city if he didn’t kill her daughter.The man, who worked as a porter in a building of Old Cairo, told the police that he chained and tortured his daughter to kill her and send her corpse to his family in Miniya to beg for their forgiveness. The murderer’s neighbours told the police about the crime before he could flee with the corpse.

The family is as responsible for this murder as the murderer himself.

Waiting for the Islamic rage on this family’s crime… as happened with the “Hijab Martyr”.

Feminism was born as movement to defend women’s rights in a “manly” world. Women couldn’t vote, manage their own money or receive education. Sufraggettes (for the opposed to this movement) or sufragists (as were known by supporters) were the first known modern movement in defense of women’s rights. Most of them also asked for less complicated attires: the new women found themselves much more comfortable in Coco Chanel’s dresses (elegant but simple and “casual“) than with meters and meters of fabric.

Looks like that now that revolution in clothing, is being critisized and considered not “feminist“. The “feminist” thing now is to wear a niqab or burqa, because then women are not objects to men’s eyes:

The West interprets veiling as repression of women and suppression of their sexuality. But when I travelled in Muslim countries and was invited to join a discussion in women-only settings within Muslim homes (sex seggregation!), I learned that Muslim attitudes toward women’s appearance and sexuality are not rooted in repression, but in a strong sense of public versus private, of what is due to God and what is due to one’s husband. It is not that Islam suppresses sexuality, but that it embodies a strongly developed sense of its appropriate channelling – toward marriage, the bonds that sustain family life, and the attachment that secures a home.

…At home, in the context of marital intimacy, Victoria’s Secret, elegant fashion and skin care lotions abounded. The bridal videos that I was shown, with the sensuous dancing that the bride learns as part of what makes her a wonderful wife, and which she proudly displays for her bridegroom, suggested that sensuality was not alien to Muslim women. Rather, pleasure and sexuality, both male and female, should not be displayed promiscuously – and possibly destructively – for all to see.

Phyllis Chesler writes about this:

Most Muslim girls and women are not given a choice about wearing the chador, burqa, abaya, niqab, jilbab, or hijab (headscarf), and those who resist are beaten, threatened with death, arrested, caned or lashed, jailed, or honor murdered by their own families. Is Wolfe thoroughly unfamiliar with the news coming out of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan on these very subjects? Has she forgotten the tragic, fiery deaths of those schoolgirls in Saudi Arabia who, in trying to flee their burning schoolhouse, were improperly veiled and who were beaten back by the all-powerful Saudi Morality Police?

It’s not only that, though. It’s interesting to note that she is an Al Gore’s former adviser, that is, politically she is sided on the democrat side. I wonder what this woman thinks of Hollywood films, publicity, etc. I would think that displaying sexuality (in some cases absolutely unnecesarily: woman nearly naked to sell youghourts…) would be her ideal and that conservatives supporting a less aggresive display of sexuality (i.e.: free porn on TV) could be considered as not “sexually liberated“. Sex within marriage, not before or with partners different to the married one, is ridiculed if it’s mantained by a Christian (specially Catholic). Well, I’m sure that in those cases she thinks that, of course, they have not a “healthy approach to sex“.

But if the women protesting about “men’s gaze” and supporting “sex channeled toward marriage and family” (whether they are free or not to choose it) are Muslims, dressed in a niqab/burqa or whatever, then they are liberated because they are “sexy” in their “marital intimacy“.

This article is worse than that mention though. It is like reading “The Book of One Thousand and One Nights“. Even if you’re writing an opinion piece, you must be at least neutral and balanced. And burqa/niqab is not only a dress, it’s a symbol. When you have guys like this one, defending beating your wife in an article titled “There must be violence against women“, with the subsequent defense of abuses made on women, it’s clear the robe is not only to protect women (or not mainly) but just to underline their character as a property (they even call the woman a toy) which belong to their husbands. The latter in exchange of protecting his investment, must also keep her apart from people who can damage that same investment. And lewd lookings from strangers are, of course, blamed on the women, not on the lewd looks’ owner. If she would have been burqa’d!

They forgot that also mystery plays an important role on sexuality and that sexual desire, both for men and women, begins in the mind. Thta’s why Muslim women can’t use high heels: they introduce on men’s head the idea of a sexy woman walking down the street, even if they actually hadn’t seen her. So, if they actually can’t see her, the sexual impulse in some cases can be even greater: that’s perhaps why there are so much women complaining about sexual abuses in Egypt, including hijab’d or veil’s wearers.

Sexual harassment has become an overwhelming and very real problem experienced by all women in Egyptian society, often on a daily basis,” said the report by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights.

So, first, they convince the girls they are not going to be assaulted if they wear those garments, and after that, the harrassment ends being a national problem. Some feminists in Western countries have recognised this phenomenon, but instead of blaming the stalker, blame the stalked women, surprisingly agreeing with some of the most radical imams. Unni Wikan is one of those stupid human beings who support that idea:

Dr. Unni Wikan, a professor of social anthropology at the University of Oslo. Wikan’s solution for the high incidence of Muslims raping Norwegian women (who are committing the crime of being unveiled) stresses neither punishment of the perpetrators nor repudiation of the Islamic theology that legitimizes such abuse of women. Rather, Wikan instructs Norwegian women to veil themselves.  “Norwegian women must understand that we live in a Multicultural society,” she states ” and adapt themselves to it.”

Of course, Wolf actually is not defending this harrassment, her vision being much more “idealised”:

When sexuality is kept private and directed in ways seen as sacred – and when one’s husband isn’t seeing his wife (or other women) half-naked all day long – one can feel great power and intensity when the headscarf or the chador comes off in the the home.

Sexual fantasies are varied: mystery bases a lot of them. Precisely, sexual taboos in Islamic societies make fantasies extremely attractive and the fact that the culture considers that women are inferior to men and basically sexually active, sinners, easies the idea of them being asking for sexual harrassment. If they don’t wear hijab/veil/… because they are demanding it (theory defended by more than one imam along the world, al Hilali for example). If they wear it, because they are also demanding it. A Saudi imam even demanded a one-eyed veil, because if a woman showed both eyes, that was, without doubt, sexually arousing.

Little Miss Attile points another obvious stupid reasoning:

Wolf:The Western Christian tradition portrays all sexuality, even married sexuality, as sinful. Islam and Judaism never had that same kind of mind-body split. So, in both cultures, sexuality channeled into marriage and family life is seen as a source of great blessing, sanctioned by God.

And she later comments about it:

I’d be interested in how “married sexuality” got to be sinful in the Christian tradition without making it into scripture. Or how Judaism is pro-sex, and led to Christianity, which is anti-sex, which led to Islam, which is also pro-sex. Does celebration of human sexuality skip a tradition within the world’s religions? Just askin’. And why do I get the feeling that Wolf has never read Song of Solomon—or listened to Frank Zappa’s “Catholic Girls”?

It’s interesting to note that Catholic countries such as Italy or Spain have an important tradition to paint nude women:

Goya's "Maja Desnuda" (Naked Maja)

There are other manifestations of culture (sculpture, dancing…) which have not any kind of “pious” nature.

That doesn’t mean that they supported a “free sex” attitude. But certainly I doubt that, being accurate, one can defend that sex in marriage was considered as sinful, except by some heretic branches from the Middle Ages, such as the Cathars. But if the birth of sons was the first end of matrimony, the consideration of sex as sinful would have been idiot and stupid, because they would have prevented them from fulfilling that first and main end.

The final point on the article is that Ms Wolf is not even familiar with the garments she has herself used or at least, with the differences between different Islamic attires. She is speaking about “veiled” women, but she has only used a shalwar kameez, not a niqab or a burqa. Something interesting if you happen to be writing about Islamic dress. In the link there are photos to show the differences. The shalwar kameez is more like the Indian Hindu dress.

There is also another aspect, she doesn’t mention: there are burqa-clad bandits and burqa-clad terrorists… Maybe they are also searching for their sexuality while robbing or committing suicide.

Lastly,even when she has seen his article contradicted, she is demanding an apology. Laughable.

Related:

1. Hijab in Islam, why Hijab is necessary? A very interesting link: the hijab in Muslims’ own words.
2. The Women of Islam, TIME.
3. Women’s Dress Code and Conduct: “A women is a object of concealment, thus when she emerges, Satan surreptitiously pursues her (and lays in wait to create his fitna for immorality)“.
4. The Violent Oppression of Women in Islam. Video. Warning:Graphic Images.
5. The Place of Women in Islam.

Today Iran has backed Ahmadinejad’s new cabinet.

The parliament, dominated by conservative factions both loyal to and wary of the Ahmadinejad, approved 18 out of 21 proposed ministers, including a controversial defense minister, Ahmad Vahidi, who is wanted on Interpol terrorism charges, and a female health minister, Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, who advocated gender segregation of the nation’s hospitals.

Vahidi is, plainly said, a terrorist: he is linked (directly, one should say) to the AMIA bombing in 1994. BBC:

Interpol says Mr Vahidi has been subject to a “red notice” – or international wanted persons alert – since 2007. The Argentine authorities are seeking his arrest along with that of five other suspects.
…Mr Vahidi is a long-serving member of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards and he served as deputy defence minister in Mr Ahmadinejad’s outgoing government.
He was the commander of a special Guards unit known as the Quds Force at the time of the 1994 attack.
The red notice informs Interpol’s 187 members that an arrest warrant has been issued by a judicial authority, and it is not an international arrest warrant in itself.

It is particularly interesting that Argentina, not particularly an Israel friend with Kirchners in power, has spoken against this appointment and is subsequent general backing.But, if Mr. Vahidi is a really shocking appointment, specially when Iran wants their new nuclear proposal to be considered (how you’re going to allow a country with a terrorist Minister of Defence have the nuclear bomb?), Ms. Vahid is not. When Ahmadinejad announced the presence of three women in his cabinet, every person in the global politically correct stablishment clapped their hands, saying: wow, Ahmadinejad can consider good the stoning of adulterers (specially women), but he must be supportive in some way of women’s rights. But if we consider the ideology of these women (of the three, only Vahid has been backed), we will see that’s false. In fact, they have been even harder in legislating against women than most men.

It is specially shocking the leftist applause, because of the huge number of left-wing people in the world who think that’s progressive to defend abortion, and yet, they are feeling contented by these women, who have supported less abortion rights.Of course, not that I like abortion, but it’s ridiculous to criticize the Catholic Church or in general any other Christian chruch for not supporting abortion and, at the same time, applaud these women who are just “the voice of their lords”, in this case of Ahmadinejad. And no, the latter is no women’s champion, even if he wants to be considered so.

Meanwhile the repression continues: it’s official now that 25-year-old Rouholaimini was killed in prison after brutal beatings. But, instead of his father feeling revolted by this fact, he thanks the “Supreme Leader”, Ayatollah Khamenei, in a letter:

In a statement posted Tuesday on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s Web site, his father, Abdol-Hossein Rouhol-Amini said Khamenei ordered the investigation into the death and other incidents “from the very first hours.”
“The leadership is ahead of us … and has been ahead of all efforts since that time,” Rouhol-Amini’s statement said.
The “esteemed supreme leader is in the first line of those who require answers for these crimes,” he added.
Some experts say such statements speak to a strategy change by Khamenei, who has watched as religious and political leaders try to undermine the credibility of his Islamic establishment. Faced with reformists’ charges of detainee torture, death and rape on his watch, his no-tolerance rhetoric against the opposition has shifted to one demanding justice — if there is sufficient evidence — for mistreated post-election detainees.

I believe this to be even more nauseating than the crime in itself. But absolutely understandable in a country, where the imam who Ahmadinejad consults with, defends that Islam allows raping and torturing prisoners. I will copy the interesting part of it:

“Can an interrogator rape the prisoner in order to obtain a confession?” was the follow-up question posed to the Islamic cleric.

Mesbah-Yazdi answered: “The necessary precaution is for the interrogator to perform a ritual washing first and say prayers while raping the prisoner. If the prisoner is female, it is permissible to rape through the vagina or anus. It is better not to have a witness present. If it is a male prisoner, then it’s acceptable for someone else to watch while the rape is committed.”

This reply, and reports of the rape of teen male prisoners in Iranian jails, may have prompted the following question: “Is the rape of men and young boys considered sodomy?”

Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi: “No, because it is not consensual. Of course, if the prisoner is aroused and enjoys the rape, then caution must be taken not to repeat the rape.”

A related issue, in the eyes of the questioners, was the rape of virgin female prisoners. In this instance, Mesbah-Yazdi went beyond the permissibility issue and described the Allah-sanctioned rewards accorded the rapist-in-the-name-of-Islam:

“If the judgment for the [female] prisoner is execution, then rape before execution brings the interrogator a spiritual reward equivalent to making the mandated Haj pilgrimage [to Mecca], but if there is no execution decreed, then the reward would be equivalent to making a pilgrimage to [the Shi'ite holy city of] Karbala.”

One aspect of these permitted rapes troubled certain questioners: “What if the female prisoner gets pregnant? Is the child considered illegitimate?”

Mesbah-Yazdi answered: “The child borne to any weakling [a denigrating term for women - ed.] who is against the Supreme Leader is considered illegitimate, be it a result of rape by her interrogator or through intercourse with her husband, according to the written word in the Koran. However, if the child is raised by the jailer, then the child is considered a legitimate Shi’a Muslim.”

Disgusting. As nearly everything which comes from Iran these days. It’s not the act in itself, absolutely brutal. It’s the recreation in the cases, effects and possibilities, which makes this absolutely disgusting. But that is nothing compared to the fact that this has not been even published by any MSM around the world. Not even Aftonbladet, we publish-blood-libels-against-Jews-in-the-name-of-freedom-of-expression.

Chaim has written a post about this. A very interesting read.

British Police Hunt Robber Bandits in Burqas

British police say they’re on the trail of a burqa-clad bandit, or bandits, who robbed three different locations in the past two months.

Police said last week that three armed men, one wearing a full-body veil, stole tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of watches from a jewelers in Banbury, 80 miles northwest of London.

Men also want to feel sexy under a burqa.

Lord, there are human beings who train very hard to be… more stupid than before.