http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/07/us-afghanistan-taliban-woman-idUSBRE8660C320120707 KABUL (Reuters) – A man Afghan officials say is a member of the Taliban shot dead a woman accused of adultery in front of a crowd near Kabul, a video obtained by Reuters showed, a sign that the austere Islamist group dictates law even near the Afghan capital. In the three-minute video, a turban-clad […]
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4251324,00.html
NYC: Ex-Muslim to be ordained as rabbi Dario Hunter, born to Iranian Muslim father and African-American mother to graduate online rabbinical program in the summer
On August 25 in New York City, environmental lawyer and former academic Dario Hunter will become the first Muslim-born man to be ordained as a rabbi. According to various reports in the NYC media, Hunter, an openly gay man raised by an Iranian Muslim father and an African-American mother, will graduate alongside classmates who include a Catholic-born Brazilian and a British songwriter.
But so far, none of the graduating class has ever met in person: They have all studied via an online program led by Rabbi Steven Blane of the Jewish Spiritual Leaders Institute (JSLI).A year ago Hunter left behind his academic career in the US and moved to Israel, where he decided to study toward rabbinical ordination.
One-third of the members of Hunter’s graduating class are converts to Judaism, and their diversity of backgrounds reflects Rabbi Blane’s belief in the need to train rabbis to serve the nearly 50% of Jews who are unaffiliated or in interfaith marriages.
Blane himself left his previous rabbinical position because he felt he needed to pursue a more progressive mission, and he resigned from the highly regarded Cantors Assembly in 2009 when he was threatened with expulsion for officiating at interfaith weddings.
He now trains rabbis and runs an online synagogue, Sim Shalom, which holds services for a global congregation every week.
Blane knows that a former Muslim becoming a rabbi will be uncomfortable for some, but the plurality of backgrounds of his graduating class fits perfectly with his belief in Jewish Universalism.
http://q4j-middle-east.com Professor William G. Moseley’s analysis in Al Jazeera of the new, would-be nation of Azawad is among the best out there so far…http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/04/20124149184982408.html. Having written about the quest for justice by the region’s various peoples for decades myself (http://q4j-middle-east.com), I have watched these new developments in North Africa very carefully. What has been of […]
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3151/national-jewish-democratic-council-adelson David Harris, the President of the National Jewish Democratic Council, has asked Jewish Democrats to sign a petition demanding that Mitt Romney and the rest of the Republican Party stop taking campaign contributions from Sheldon Adelson, and return those already received. They claim his money is “tainted.” This absurd allegation comes from a highly […]
http://www.dianawest.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryId/2171/The-Afghani-tan-candal-Contd-Sharia-of-the-Press.aspx
World donors in Tokyo this weekend will cluck a little over the billions we have watched go down the Afghanistan drain or into the pockets of its kleptocratic elite, but then they will open our financial arteries again, bleeding still more billions into the Kabul dust. For nothing.
And worse than nothing.
The latest example of worse-than-nothing is Afghanistan’s proposed new mass media law that is expected to come before the Afghan parliament.
That would be the same Afghan parliament, of course, recently investigated by three Afghan media organizations after a member was suspected of taking bribes from Iran. The attorney general of Afghanistan is now investigating … the three media organizations.
The Committee to Protect Journalists raises the new draft law as something that “had better” be high on the agenda of the donor conference — but that’s all huff. Secretary Hillary made nothing but goo-goo eyes at Klepto-Karzai this week in Kabul, declaring Afghanistan a major non-NATO ally of the US before dashing off to Tokyo, no doubt to compensate our “major ally” accordingly.
http://www.dianawest.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryId/2170/Devastating-Michael-Behennas-Conviction-Upheld.aspx
Devastating: Michael Behenna’s Conviction Upheld
By a 3-2 majority, the highest military appeals court has upheld Army Ranger 1st Lt. Michael Behenna’s conviction for the unpremediated murder of a detainee and al-Qaeda-operative in Iraq named Ali Mansur. While Michael still could receive clemency, his legal appeals are now officially exhausted. Barring clemency, Michael will remain at Leavenworth military prison until 2024.
What a blow. What a disgrace.
I just finished reading the majority opinion. It is a chilling document. It contains analysis of whether Michael had “the right to act in self-defense” when the detainee he was questioning about IED attacks that had recently killed two men in his platoon, suddenly lunged for Michael’s gun, and Michael shot and killed him.
This was one of several issues before the court. As the “initial aggressor” for engaging in an unauthorized interrogation of a naked detainee, Michael, the court upheld, had lost his right to self-defense. Under consideration was whether at any point in the split seconds during which the detainee hurled a piece of concrete at Michael and rushed for his gun, and Michael fired in return at the detainee, Michael ever regained it. Three judges in the calm of their chambers in Washington, D.C., determined that he did not.
Or, as they wrote: “Even assuming for a moment that Mansur could have escalated the level of force, we conclude that a naked and unarmed individual in the desert does not escalate the level of force when he throws a piece of concrete at the initial aggressor in full battle attire, armed with a loaded pistol, and lunges for his pistol.”
Oh yeah? Maybe it’s simplistic of me, but I’d like to see them step into Michael’s combat boots and see how it felt out there in the night, after a hard day’s “catch-and-release,” after military intelligence shockingly set Mansur free and ordered Michael to drive him home — the very man Michael suspected of knowing all about the attacks that had recently killed two of his men. Michael thought he could get the necessary evidence in one more interrogation, just him and Mansur. But it didn’t work out as Michael hoped.
http://www.andrewbostom.org/blog/2012/07/06/ancient-koranic-origins-and-modern-islamic-intolerance/
Ancient Koranic Origins and Modern Islamic Intolerance
THE BOOK IS AVAILABLE IN KINDLE EDITION….HARDCOVER IS ?$98.00
Wednesday, July 4, 2012, Americans celebrated the 236th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence [2], affirming yet again, our unique God-given heritage of freedom
…that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
The same day, prosecutors in Indonesia—that bastion [3] of contemporary Islamic tolerance [4] and moderation—insisted [5] upon a four-year prison term for Shiite leader Tajul Muluk, under Article 156, Paragraph A of the Criminal Code, which penalizes “blasphemy.” Tajul was accused, specifically, of informing his students that the contemporary Koran they (and all Muslims) now study, was not the original “sacralized” text. Currently incarcerated, Tajul Mulk, has received [5] death threats from fellow inmates even before his trial, while in December, 2011, over 300 members of Tajul’s Shiite community were displaced [5] when a mob of 500 people attacked and burned houses, a boarding school and a place of worship.
http://times247.com/
Feds blow $20m on green energy plan — for Africa
The U.S. government is spending $20 …
Read more…
Read more: http://times247.com/#ixzz1zwH8iuaG
Vlad says hi: Russian planes pay U.S. another visit
The Washington Free Beacon
Friday, July 6, 2012
News
Vlad says hi: Russian planes pay U.S. another visit
Two Russian strategic nuclear bombers entered the U.S. air defense zone near the Pacific Coast on Wednesday and were met by U.S. interceptor jets, defense officials told the Free Beacon. It was the second time Moscow dispatched nuclear-capable bombers into the 200-mile zone surrounding U.S. territory in the past two weeks. Read more…
Read more: http://times247.com/#ixzz1zwHMONbJ
http://www.thecommentator.com/article/1376/leaked_uk_foreign_office_documents_reveal_attitudes_towards_netanyahu_and_palestinian_incitement?print=true
Documents seen by The Commentator have revealed disturbing attitudes towards the Israeli Prime Minister and the British Government’s analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Documents seen exclusively by The Commentator have revealed disturbing attitudes towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the British Government’s analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
While British Prime Minister David Cameron publicly calls the UK a ‘strong friend of Israel’ – previously redacted documents marked “RESTRICTED” by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have placed fresh doubts over whether Britain is as firm an ally as the Prime Minister has previously suggested.
Research papers and e-mail correspondence from within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office were supposedly redacted, however staff who compiled responses to freedom of information requests had seemingly failed to properly secure the information before it was released.
The text, which was then uncovered by TaxPayers’ Alliance Founder Matthew Elliott, reveals information about the FCO approach to Benjamin Netanyahu and the wider Middle East peace process.
Of specific interest is a document called “Research Paper FINAL” in which the following lines had previously been redacted by British Government officials:
“Netanyahu has a history of using the incitement issue as a delaying tactic in peace talks.”
and
“The history of this issue suggests that Netanyahu administrations have a tendency to charge the PA/PLO with incitement as a delaying tactic in peace talks.”
http://chqdaily.com/2012/07/05/landau-encourages-truthful-just-dialogue-for-peace/
Mary Desmond | Staff Writer
On Independence Day, Yehezkel Landau came to Chautauqua Institution for the first time to tackle the Week Two lecture theme, ”2012: What’s at Stake for the Common Good.”
In the 2 p.m. Interfaith Lecture Wednesday in the Hall of Philosophy, Landau explored the path to, and requirements for, peaceful understanding and dialogue within Israel and the United States, between those two nations, and among them and all the world’s nations.
In a speech titled “Truth, Justice, and Peace: Foundations for a Healthy Society,” Landau elaborated on finding peace and healing, nationally and internationally based on his own experiences as a Jewish man with both U.S. and Israeli citizenship. Landau has experienced both sides of the coin in terms of religious prejudice and preference. In the U.S., he has been part of a religious minority, while in Israel, he has experienced life as part of an empowered majority.
Landau is a faculty associate at the Hartford Seminary. He founded the Open House Center for Jewish-Arab coexistence, located in Ramle, Israel, and was its co-director until 2003. He has written many books on Jewish-Arab-Christian relations, including John Paul II in the Holy Land: In His Own Words.
There are many similarities between Israel and the U.S. Both countries are democratic, multiethnic and multicultural. And right now, both countries are at war, Landau said. Israel is at war with countries that are hostile to its status as a state. Since 2001, the U.S. has been engaged in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In their military operations, both countries have clearly defined their enemies, Landau said.
“Focusing on external enemies whether in Israel or here, rather than on common humanity, and rather than looking within with critical honesty, may be our critical error,” he said.
In his talk, Landau began by focusing on passages from Hebrew works. In the first chapter of Pirkei Avot, a compilation of teachings by sages of the Jewish tradition, two sages called Simon provide three basic tenets for Jews to follow.
“Simon the Righteous, who says on three things the world stands: on Torah study, sacrificial service or worship, acts of love and kindness,” Landau said.
