RUTHFULLY YOURS

Veracity, Mendacity – and Islam Posted By Bruce Bawer

URL to article: http://frontpagemag.com/2011/10/31/veracity-mendacity-%e2%80%93-and-islam/

The recent arrival in my mail of a book entitled Islam: Critical Essays about a Political Religion has prompted a number of thoughts. Edited by Sam and Wim van Rooy and published late last year, it is a massive compendium, just under 800 pages long. It is in Dutch. (The title is actually De Islam: Kritische Essays over een Politieke Religie.) And it is richly comprehensive, with thirty-four essays on such subjects as the Islamization of Europe, Islam in India, the term “Islamophobia,” jihad in Africa, dhimmitude, apostasy, the myth of Andalusia, taqiyya, Islam and the West, sharia law, Islam’s “fellow travelers,” Jews under Islam, Christians under Islam, Islam and women, Islam and slavery, Islam and fascism, and Islam vs. democracy.

The authors are mostly Dutch and Flemish writers with considerable expertise in their subjects, plus a sprinkling of well-known international figures as Ibn Warraq and Bat Ye’or. I have not yet read every word of the book – and given my spotty Dutch I may never do so – but one thing is absolutely clear: this is most definitely not a product of the Islamic Studies propaganda factory. It is not the sort of book, in other words, in which you would be likely to find the work of John Esposito, the king of Islamic Studies in the U.S., who is a reliable apologist for Islam and whose Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University is, in fact, funded by (and named for) his good friend and benefactor, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal of Saudi Arabia. Nor is this book the sort of soft-focus feel-good material churned out by popular writers like Karen Armstrong, who (it must be admitted) does a truly brilliant job of soft-pedaling the darker sides of Islam and emphasizing its warmly spiritual aspects, so that when you think of the religion you don’t picture a jihadist lopping off somebody’s head but a beautiful woman in a sensuously loose veil meditating at sundown under an olive tree while sipping coffee and nibbling on delicious figs

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/print/281653 Romney, Perry, and Tax Returns Never mind their taxation plans, what about their personal tax histories? When Mitt Romney and Rick Perry aren’t berating each other on the debate stage, with body language more befitting a bar fight, their campaigns are busy lobbing highly charged attacks back and forth: “Ponzi scheme,” “Romneycare,” “no heart” […]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15508697
An MP has described how he waited for police behind a locked door during a constituency surgery(meeting) after he was threatened by a group of men.

Mike Freer said it happened at North Finchley mosque in north London as he met constituents on Friday afternoon.

Mr Freer said about 12 people forced their way inside, with one of them calling him a “Jewish homosexual pig”.

The trouble began after messages on the Muslims Against Crusades website urged supporters to target him, he said.

Mr Freer said a message posted ahead of the incident on the group’s website made reference to Labour MP Stephen Timms, who was stabbed while holding a surgery in east London last year.

It warned the attack on Mr Timms should serve as a “piercing reminder” to politicians that “their presence is no longer welcome in any Muslim area”.

A Halloween Boo to UNICEF Posted By Claudia Rosett URL to article: http://pjmedia.com/claudiarosett/a-halloween-boo-to-unicef/ With Halloween upon us, what could be sweeter than urging your kids to skip the candy and instead collect coins for UNICEF? It’s a grand old tradition, and  many of us did it as kids. Even among UN critics, UNICEF — the […]

http://www.dianawest.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryId/1937/Welcome-to-Surreal-istan.aspx An Afghan National Army soldier opened fire and murdered three and wounded seven members of an Australian military training team in southern Afghanistan.yesterday. The ANA soldier attacked his own Mentoring Task Force 3 just as they ended a regular weekly parade at a forward operating base at Shah Wali Kot in Kandahar province. To […]

http://www.dianawest.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryId/1936/Fox-Family-Mattters.aspx

The ethical and legal failings of the Murdoch clan have made headlines for months with Lachlan Murdoch kicking up the most dirt in the British phone hacking scandals, much to the discomfort of the News Corp. board and shareeholders.

But what are even unconsionable, unlawful breaches of privacy next to putting bounties on the heads of Israeli soldiers to encourage their kidnappings? A close family member of another major New Corp. player has done exactly that.

From Haaretz:

“Saudi royal offers $900,000 for capture of Israeli soldiers”

A Saudi royal offered a $900,000 reward to anyone who captures an Israeli soldier, on Saturday. Prince Khaled bin Talal, the brother of business tycoon Walid bin Talal, told the Saudi-based broadcaster Al Daleel that the captive would then be released in exchange for Arabs held in Israeli prisons.

Khaled’s offer comes days after the prominent Saudi cleric, Awad al-Qarni, put $100,000 on the head of every Israeli soldier.

That makes it one million bucks per Israeli head.

Al-Qarni’s statement – posted on Facebook – was severely criticized, and messages posted online even warned of death threats.

Khaled told the broadcaster: “My offer also comes in response to the threats made against Sheikh al-Qarni.”

The Saudi offers follows the recent deal between the Israeli government and Hamas, when Israel agreed to release 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit.

Will this story about Talal’s brother be reported on Fox? Will such a report include a statement from Talal repudiating his brother’s malignancy and criminality? What about Rupert and Lachlan? How about the News Corp. board? Does terrorist incitement to kidnapping count as “fair and balanced”?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2055365/Poppy-burning-Muslims-plan-new-hell-heroes-demonstration-November-11.html#ixzz1cLpLZAb0 Poppy-burning Muslims plan new ‘Hell for Heroes’ demonstration on November 11 An extreme Muslim group which caused outrage by burning a poppy last Remembrance Sunday is planning further disruption on November 11, with a twisted ‘Hell for Heroes’ campaign. The demo, which mocks the charity for injured soldiers Help for Heroes, is […]

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/jewish-detention-camps/jewish-detention-camps-cyprus-remembered/20111026

The University of Cyprus is dueto host a hotly-anticipated lecture by Professor Emanuel Gutmann entitled, The Jewish Detention Camps in Cyprus (1946-1949): the Memories of a Contemporary Witness.

In the second half of the 1940s Cyprus become the temporary refuge for tens of thousands of Jews. These events have been well documented in Israeli history but relatively untold in the history of Cyprus. The camps played a role in both the independence movement of Cyprus and the creation of the state of Israel. In this light, the testimony of Prof Gutmann is of great interest in understanding the history of the detention camps.

Fleeing post-war Europe, survivors of the Holocaust found themselves barred from entering Palestine due to British quotas. Forced to immigrate illegally, they boarded ships and ventured into the Mediterranean unsure of their fate.

The British Navy overtook 39 of these ships, carrying a total of 52,000 passengers, and sent the people to Cyprus. On the island, the British government created a series of detention camps in order to prevent Jewish refugees from another attempt at entering Palestine. These detainees, the vast majority Holocaust survivors, endured deplorable conditions in Cyprus, some for a period of years. At its peak there were nine camps in Cyprus, located at two sites about 50km apart. They were Caraolos, north of Famagusta, and Dekhelia, outside of Larnaca.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/29/israel-gaza-militants_n_1065272.html….Read it all below JAN POLLER RESPONDS: The fact that Jihad Islami started the battle only appears in the next to last paragraph and does not explicitly say that Jihad Islami: On Wednesday, militants fired a long-range Katyusha rocket that exploded near Ashdod in the south of Israel. Sirens also went off in the central […]

http://www.hudson-ny.org/2545/totalitarian-britain

The breathtaking contempt at the heart of the British government for its own people and for democracy was showcased by its Conservative-Liberal Democrats coalition on October 24. Prompted by popular sentiment, a non-binding motion on Britain and the European Union was scheduled to be debated by MPs. The motion proposed holding a referendum, giving the public a chance to express their opinion on whether the country should withdraw from the EU, or remain a part of the EU, perhaps with the intention of negotiating some powers back from Brussels.

With three parties virtually indistinguishable on every major issue, and largely unresponsive to public opinion, faith in the democratic process in Britain has been seriously shaken over the last decade. Nevertheless, there has been reason to hope: The UK Government has a public website for petitions that can potentially raise the concerns of the public. Any British citizen can create a new petition, and members of the public can sign their names to it. If a petition that gets more than 100,000 signatures, it can be debated in the House of Commons.