Venezuela detained American Airlines crew in 2008 for allegedly “insulting” 'loco' or crazy Chavez (which is illegal) - Wikileaks cable

U.S. embassy cables leaked by WikiLeaks reveal that on Sept. 30, 2008 the U.S. embassy in Caracas received word that the pilot and crew of American Airlines flight 903 were being detained for allegedly “insulting” the Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.²

In December 2007, Venezuela created its own time zone and moved the local time half an hour back.²

Due to this time change, a crew member made an in-flight announcement informing passenger to adjust their clocks to "local" Chavez time.²

Passenger Nestor Maldonado, however, alleged that the announcer “insulted” Chavez, which became illegal in 2006, by saying “Loco” Chavez time (loco means crazy in Spanish) and reported it to his friend, Venezuelan National Assemblyman Carlos Echezuria Rodriguez, who in turn reported it to Vice President Ramon Carrizalez.²

The detainees was later released on Oct. 1 after an apology by American Airlines Country Manager Omar Nottaro.²

They left immediately without completing the return flight out of Caracas after refueling and in the process incurred a considerable loss.²

The U.S. embassy later learned that Venezuelan immigration authorities alleged "the hour of the crazy Chavez and his women" was said by the announcer.²

The embassy said the incident showed¹

"how heightened sensitivities are ... when a chance remark escalates within minutes to the level of the Venezuelan Vice Presidency."¹

Source: 1. AP, 2. World Net Daily


Comments: The issues here are secular blasphemy (blasphemy of a non-religious kind coming usually from atheists and other groups that want 'special rights'), hypersensitivity and anti-free speech tendencies - traits which are also common among Islamists.

The anti-American left-wing Hugo Chavez is in an 'Unholy alliance' with Iran and in both countries it is a crime to "insult" the president.

Just the other day, Iranian journalist Mashallah Shamsolvaezin was jailed for insulting (megalomaniac or crazy) Iranian president Ahmadinejad.

Undermining the establishment is also a crime in Iran, as is 'insulting' Islam (religious blasphemy). 

Chavez is not a Muslim but his religion is communism and so he probably would like to make it a crime of blasphemy to 'insult' or question, the 'the Party' (communist party) or its ideology.

See the similarities between the two hypersensitive totalitarian ideologies; Islamofascists and Left-fascists? (They like going around labeling people who don't agree with them as fascists when it is they who are the real fascists for persecuting heretics from their orthodoxy.) 

Politically correct elites in the West and their lackeys - censoring officials and the thought police would no doubt want something similar.

Its already creeping up under cover of the false taboos of 'hate speech' and 'Islamophobia'.


[NOTE: The author is not against left wing thought or Islam simply because they are left wing or Islam. The criticism of them is based instead on their negative and deadly practical effects that are being reported daily - a few of which are recorded here on this blog. The main focus of this blog is not politics or religious study, although these issues do come up frequently in relation to the violence they inspire among many.]


Some previous similar or related stories:

Hugo Chavez and Iran in an Unholy alliance [South American Left-wing and Islamist Axis]

Iranian journalist Mashallah Shamsolvaezin jailed for insulting (megalomaniac or crazy) President Ahmadinejad & undermining establishment

Bolivia's Morales defiant against the US over its ties to the Iranians who have just been told to leave by their former Gambian allies [South American Left-wing and Islamist Axis]

COVER-UP: Brazil denies terrorism threat as it is “extremely sensitive” towards Muslim community in the country – WikiLeaks US embassy cables

Asia Bibi (aka Aasia Bibi and Aasia Noreen) case summary - Christians unclean, pressured to conver to Islam, defending Christianity as blasphemy

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Iranian journalist Mashallah Shamsolvaezin jailed for insulting (megalomaniac or crazy) President Ahmadinejad & undermining establishment

From AFP

" … one year in prison on the charge of undermining the establishment for giving interviews to foreign TV networks and news agencies”

" … four-month sentence for calling Ahmadinejad a megalomaniac in an interview with Al-Arabiya TV which the prosecutors misinterpreted as crazy and so insulting the president," he said.

One of the accusations mentioned in the verdict was "defending" in an analysis Nazak Afshar, an employee of the French embassy in Tehran who was jailed in the aftermath of Iran's post-election unrest in 2009, he added.

Source: AFP


Comments: Another blasphemy case but this time not a religious blasphemy but a secular blasphemy.

What it shows is that Islamists and Islamophilic politically correct elite establishment and 'petty tyrant' officials are against free speech and freedom of expression, and are extremely hypersensitive.

These tyrants have their 'dogma' and no body is allowed to question it or defend what they consider blasphemies, both religious and secular.

 You are expected to simply shut up and accept what they say.

These sort of repression are also emerging in the West too with the collusion of the PC brigade and shows the threat to freedom of expression, free speech and ultimately all other freedoms.

People should therefore watch out and speak out against this trend of censorship.


Some previous similar or related stories:

Saeed Malekpour reportedly sentenced to death in Iran for porn web sites, anti-government activities and "insulting the sanctity of Islam"

Abdel Kareem Nabil (aka Kareem Amer), the first Egyptian blogger jailed for criticizing Islam, al-Azhar and the government freed after a 4yrs sentence

Ex-Muslim Atheist Palestinian, Walid Husayin, facing life sentence for “insulting” Islam as some call for his death for apostasy

Asia Bibi (aka Aasia Bibi and Aasia Noreen) case summary - Christians unclean, pressured to conver to Islam, defending Christianity as blasphemy

Death threats against Swedish Mohammed cartoonist Lars Vilks by Swedish al-Shabaab member Abu Zaid – migration for terror also urged

For similar or related stories posted after this article (if any), copy the title of this article and paste it in the search box on top of the page and click search.

For even more similar or related stories, click on the 'Labels' below.

Saeed Malekpour reportedly sentenced to death in Iran for porn web sites, anti-government activities and "insulting the sanctity of Islam"

From AFP

[Iranian-born Canadian resident] Saeed Malekpour, 35, was convicted of "designing and moderating adult content websites" [software he designed was used without his knowledge for a porn site], "agitation against the regime" in Tehran, and "insulting the sanctity of Islam," according to an online campaign [Campaign for Release of Saeed Malekpour] calling for his release.

Malekpour arrived in Canada in 2004, but was detained in Iran after returning in 2008 to visit his ailing father. He was sentenced to death on Saturday.

Source: AFP


Comment: Yet another case of death for blasphemy against Islam and Islamists.


Some previous similar or related stories:

Alleged Iranian agent Mohammad Reza Sadeghnia tired to hire a hitman to kill a critic of Iranian regime in the US and spied on another in the UK

Ex-Muslim Atheist Palestinian, Walid Husayin, facing life sentence for “insulting” Islam as some call for his death for apostasy

Asia Bibi (aka Aasia Bibi and Aasia Noreen) case summary - Christians unclean, pressured to conver to Islam, defending Christianity as blasphemy

Abdel Kareem Nabil (aka Kareem Amer), the first Egyptian blogger jailed for criticizing Islam, al-Azhar and the government freed after a 4yrs sentence

Muslims angry Coptic Bishop Bishoy said they were guests in Egypt and questioned Koran 5:7

Death threats against Swedish Mohammed cartoonist Lars Vilks by Swedish al-Shabaab member Abu Zaid – migration for terror also urged

Court rules judges in Wilders trial suspected of bias, new trial ordered

Islamic dumbing down - Restrictions on 12 un-Islamic university subjects in Iran

For similar or related stories posted after this article (if any), copy the title of this article and paste it in the search box on top of the page and click search. 

For even more similar or related stories, click on the 'Labels' below.

Abdel Kareem Nabil (aka Kareem Amer), the first Egyptian blogger jailed for criticizing Islam, al-Azhar and the government freed after a 4yrs sentence

Abdel Kareem Nabil, 26,² who wrote under the name Kareem Amer, was the first Egyptian blogger jailed specifically for his writings as part of a crackdown and to serve as a warning to others.¹

In his writings, Nabil called President Hosni Mubarak "a symbol of tyranny"¹ and Al-Azhar

"the university of terrorism," the "other face of the coin of al-Qaida" that "stuffs its students' brains and turns them into human beasts ... teaching them that there is not place for differences in this life."¹

For expressing his opinions online, Babil was expelled from the state-run religious al-Azhar University² where he was studying law¹ and arrested in 2006.²

The judge at his trial said that he also insulted Islam by writing in an article that

Muhammad and his seventh century followers were "spillers of blood" for their teachings on warfare.¹

The article was written after Muslims rioted and attacked an Egyptian Coptic Christian church in 2005 over a play deemed offensive to Islam.¹ He also wrote in it that

"Muslims revealed their true ugly face and appeared to all the world that they are full of brutality, barbarism and inhumanity."¹

 In a later article not cited by the court, Nabil clarified his comments on Muhammad saying he was "great" and that he should be viewed in the context of the seventh century.¹

After his release, he said that he has no regrets and would not be deterred from future activism.²

Gamal Eid, head of Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) which had supported Nabil said,²

"We defend opinions regardless of whether we agree or disagree with them."²

"We would [also] protect (religious) extremists' right of freedom of expression on condition that their thoughts remain thoughts and are not coupled with implementation,"²

Sources: 1. AP, 2. Reuters


Comment:

Gamal Eid is not entirely correct by supporting the religious extremists here. He has made the usual 'moral equivalence' error.

Those who argue for freedom to criticize oppression and repression are not equivalent to the Islamists who abuse freedom of expression in order to destroy it. Unlike others, Islamists want freedom only for themselves and are using freedom in order to deny others their freedom.

Freedom comes with the proviso that it be not used against freedom. Using freedom to destroy freedom is a perversion of freedom. Freedom is not meant for such purposes and therefore can and must rightly be denied to those who abuses it.

As Abraham Lincoln said

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.

Islamists wish to deny others freedom and so they do not deserve any and so should not have any.

Nabil also went to far in trying to excuse Muhammad with the usual 'out of context' explanation. The quick reply to it is that if one looks at all of what Muhammad did, a lot of his actions are inexcusable even by the contexts and standards of the seventh century or even the stone age. And if each individual cases are looked at closely, the excuses given for the violence and extremism of Muhammad can also be questioned. 

Like Nabil, Walid Husayin, who is now in custody facing a possible life sentence, recently said

Allah has attributes of a "primitive Bedouin."

and called Islam a "blind faith that grows and takes over people's minds where there is irrationality and ignorance."

The fact that even supposedly secular and 'moderate' Muslim governments in Egypt, the Palestinian West Bank ( Walid Husayin facing life in prison for blasphemy) and Pakistan (Asia Bibi's death sentence for alleged blasphemy) are like this shows that depth of Islamic problem despite politically correct lies.

It is also ironic that while Human Rights activists in Muslim countries like Egypt are calling for freedom of expression, the politically correct elites in the West are trying so hard to bring in blasphemy laws, disguised as 'hate speech' and 'Islamophobia', to censor, silence and punish any criticism of Islam or Muslims and turn it into a taboo.


Some previous similar or related stories:

Ex-Muslim Atheist Palestinian, Walid Husayin, facing life sentence for “insulting” Islam as some call for his death for apostasy

Death sentence for Christian woman Asia Bibi, accused of blasphemy in Pakistan

Finally some PROOF: German studies find religious and cultural roots to Muslim propensity to violence, PC excuses can't explain all – like so DUH!!!

Muslims angry Coptic Bishop Bishoy said they were guests in Egypt and questioned Koran 5:7

Muslims burn Christian homes in the Egyptian village of Nawahid over rumors of relationship between a young Christian and Muslim girl

For similar or related stories posted after this article, copy the title of this article and paste it in the search box on top of the page and click search.

For even more similar or related stories, click on the 'Labels' below.

Alleged Iranian agent Mohammad Reza Sadeghnia tired to hire a hitman to kill a critic of Iranian regime in the US and spied on another in the UK

According to US diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks, Mohammad Reza Sadeghnia, 43, admitted being an Iranian agent and carried out surveillance on 'two anti-Iranian government broadcasters — London-based Voice of America commentator Reza Nourizadeh and Jamshid Sharmahd, who runs Los Angeles-based radio programming for opposition group Tondar.'

He lived for years in Ann Arbor, Mich., and was arrested in July 2009 for trying to hire a hitman to kill Sharmahd for $32,000. He confessed to the crime after the man he tried to hire refused his offer and agreed to testify against him.

He was released a year later and allowed to travel to Iran while on probation to see his ailing father on the promise that he would return by Oct. 25. He has failed to keep this deadline and has not come back yet so far.

Sharmahd told the Associated Press that Sadeghnia pretended to offer him donation or suggestions and insisted on seeing him in person.

He said,

"There's no rights or laws that they uphold, they're violent against their detractors and this is something every detractor, including myself, knows."

Sadeghnia also claimed to be a "big fan" of Nourizadeh and met with him to monitor his 'habits' and take photos that ended up with Iran's deputy intelligence minister Majid Alavi.


Sources: AP


Comment: Iran engaging in these sorts of activities is nothing new but was Sadeghnia allowed to travel back to Iran as part of some secret deal or prisoner swap?

Some previous similar or related stories:

Taqiyya vs Taqiyya, "they lie to us, and we lie to them" - Qatar Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani on relations with Iran

WikiLeaks summary - Saudis donors fund terrorists, Saudi king wants Iranian snake's head cut off, Iranian Red Crescent is a front group for Iran

Secular Shiite Ayad Allawi says Iran definitely finances terror

Nigeria said to have evidence linking Iran to secret weapons shipment to the country

For similar or related stories posted after this article, copy the title of this article and paste it in the search box on top of the page and click search.

For even more similar or related stories, click on the 'Labels' below.

Muslim cleric Maulana Yousef Qureshi offers $5800 for anyone who kills Asia Bibi - he offered over $1 million in 2006 for Danish Mohammed cartoonists

A hardline, pro-Taliban Pakistani Muslim cleric has offered $5,800 for anyone who kills Asia Bibi, a Christian sentenced to death for allegedly insulting Islam.

Maulana Yousef Qureshi, Imam of Masjid Mohabat Khan, a major mosque in the city of Peshawar, said during a rally by hardline Islamists on Friday that

"Anyone who kills Asia will be given 500,000 rupees in reward from Masjid Mohabat Khan,"

He also said that they would "strongly resist" any attempt to repeal blasphemy laws that sentenced Bibi to death.

He later told Reuters

"We expect her to be hanged and if she is not hanged then we will ask mujahideen and Taliban to kill her."

No one has so far been hanged for blasphemy in Pakistan but accusations of blasphemy are common and many have been killed by mobs and fanatics after being acquitted on appeal.

In 2006, Qureshi and his followers offered over $1 million for anyone who killed Danish cartoonists that drew caricatures of Mohammed [in support of freedom of expression and against the Islamist threat to it]. 


Source: Reuters


Comment: Pakistan has ridiculous discriminatory blasphemy laws but no laws against clear, open and public calls for murder and terrorism.

Surely murder and incitement to murder are worse blasphemies (supposing that Islam really was against death for blasphemy) than mere words that insult.

So where is the outrage from the mythical and supposedly overwhelming majority of Muslims who they and the PC elites and the media keep saying are 'moderate', 'peaceful' and 'tolerant'?

Where are they and why don't they do something about it? And why didn't they already do anything about in 2006?


Some previous similar or related stories:

Islamists massacre a Christian family of 7 including children in Pakistan

Pakistan court rules Asia Bibi can't be pardoned while her court case continues, after lawyers filed a petition

Asia Bibi's family in hiding after death threats, no immediate Presidential pardon and no repeal of the blasphemy law as protests held against her

Asia Bibi Update: Some Muslims considered water fetched by her, a Christian, to be unclean

Death sentence for Christian woman Asia Bibi, accused of blasphemy in Pakistan

Ex-Muslim Atheist Palestinian, Walid Husayin, facing life sentence for “insulting” Islam as some call for his death for apostasy

Musa Sayed, 45, and Ahmad Shah, 50, awaiting trial and facing death penalty in Afghanistan for conversion to Christianity from Islam

For similar or related stories posted after this article, copy the title of this article and paste it in the search box on top of the page and click search.

For even more similar or related stories, click on the 'Labels' below.

Death threats against Swedish Mohammed cartoonist Lars Vilks by Swedish al-Shabaab member Abu Zaid – migration for terror also urged

US monitoring group SITE said that Swedish al-Shabaab member Abu Zaid has made death threats against Swedish artist Lars Vilks for drawing a picture of Islam's prophet Mohammed.

In a video posted on jihadist forums, Zaid said 

"Know what awaits you, as it will be nothing but this: slaughter!''

"To my brothers and sisters, I call you to make (migration), and if you can kill this dog called Lars (Vilks), then you will receive a great reward from Allah,"

Vilks, who drew the picture of Mohammed with the body of a dog, has dismissed the threat saying he feels safe.

The cartoon was published in 2007 by Swedish newspaper Nerikes Allehanda to illustrate the importance of freedom of expression.

Since then, Vilks has received numerous death threats, including a suspected assassination plot.


Source: The Local (A Swedish online news site). Note: Report from the local contain contents from AFP. A report from AFP can be view here.


Comments: This is yet another 'death for blasphemy' case threatening freedom of expression.

 Some (the "Minimizers") might try to dismiss it saying it came from a fringe extremist. But the very recent cases only several days ago of Asia Bibi being sentence to death in Pakistan and Walid Husayin being arrest and facing a possible life sentence in the Palestinian West Bank, illustrates that people such as him are not fringe. In fact only weeks ago there was a move by Muslim countries at the United Nations to impose a global blasphemy law.

 This issue also is not a Christian-Muslim matter as some might try to portray since Husayin is an ex-Muslim atheist. Neither is this a West versus the non-West issue since Pakistan and the Palestinian West Bank are not in the West. This is a reminder to watch out for the "Confusers" (See the case of John Larkin) who always try to confuse the issue with something else like race or culture or this or that issue. Also keep in mind the fact that followers of other religions do not react as violently to insults (or even terrorism that kills thousands in the most savage fashion) as these people do, in case the "Equalizers" and atheists comes around with their 'moral equivalence' arguments claiming all religions to be equally violent.

There are similarities between Abu Zaid's call to use immigration as a means for terror and previous incidents such as American Muslim convert al-Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn urging of Muslim immigrants to carry out terror attacks against the host countries, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's Samir Khan saying he was ''proud to be a traitor to America'', and failed Times square car bomber Faisal Shahzad who said that he "did not mean it" when he swore the pledge of allegiance to the U.S. during citizenship ceremony.

Vilks should not live in fear ('security phobia' which is what they are trying to create) but should not dismiss it so lightly either. Theo Van Gogh was murdered in 2004 for the same offense and recently Molly Norris has had to changed her name and go into hiding after receiving death threats for urging people to draw pictures of Mohammed as an exercise of free speech.

There is also the case of Roshandra Chaundry who was recently convicted for attempted assassination of a UK MP, although that was for the MP's support for the Iraq war. Closer to home for Vilks, only a few days ago, news emerged that a Tunisian Swedish citizen had carried out a suicide bombing in Iraq, with his Swedish widow Anna praising him for it. These are only a few of the publicly known cases and there must be several others not made public or undiscovered.

So it is wrong in a way for Vilks to dismiss it too lightly. Dismissing or denying it will not make the problem go away. Instead, it plays into the hand of those who, for various agendas or misguided reasons, deny or minimize the serious threat from Islamic extremism.

A better response from Vilks would be to remind people again of the threat, not only to free speech but to everything else, from Islamic extremism, and to urge them and the government to take action against it, and to demand that no concessions be made to the terrorists or to the PC censors who wish to ban all criticism of Islam, as is happening in the case of Geert Wilders, and to further reaffirm the importance of freedom of expression, as it is being done by this blog with the articles posted here and also even by it's mere existence.


Previous similar or related stories:

Tunisian Swedish citizen carried out suicide bombing in Iraq and Swedish widow Anna says it's right and is proud

Aid group volunteer Nima Ali Yusuf, a Somali native, charged in San Diego with aiding and recruiting for al-Shabab

Days after Pakistan sentenced Christian woman to death for blasphemy, Muslim countries will vote again at the UN for global blasphemy law

Asia Bibi Update: Some Muslims considered water fetched by her, a Christian, to be unclean [Bibi was accused of blasphemy in Pakistan and sentence to death]

Ex-Muslim Atheist Palestinian, Walid Husayin, facing life sentence for “insulting” Islam as some call for his death for apostasy

White American Muslim convert Zachary Adam Chesser pleads guilty to terror charges [Includes threats against South Park cartoon for showing Muhammad]

ISLAMIC TERROR 101: A case study in race-card, victim-card, blaming victims & isolated explanations, using UK 'anti-terror' police John Larkin

Detective Superintendent John Larkin of the West Midlands counter-terrorism unit told BBC Radio 5 Live that²

In some areas, we have evidence that once they have gone and the high-profile policing of the event has occurred, there's fertile ground for those groups who would come in to encourage people to have this reality - this is the way white Western society sees us¹

And that's a potential recruiting carrot for people and that's what some of these radicalisers look for - they look for the vulnerability, for the hook to pull people through and when the EDL have been and done what they've done, they perversely leave that behind.¹

 He also claimed that [The following is not a direct quote by him but only as reported in the Daily Mail]

there is evidence that violence or damage towards Muslim property associated with the protests encourages extremist retaliation afterwards² 

 The English Defence League (EDL) was formed last year after Islamists protested against British soldiers returning from tour of duty, calling them “murderers” and “rapists.”³

 They have carried out numerous anti-extremism demonstrations, some of which have

often turned violent with clashes breaking out not so much between the EDL and Islamists, but with the left-wing group Unite Against Fascism (of which Prime Minister David Cameron is a supporter).³

 Nick Lowles, from the anti-racist group Searchlight told the Guardian that

"For the [Muslims Against Crusades] the presence and activities of the EDL prove how white British society is the enemy. For the EDL the Islamist extremists are proof of the violent nature of Islam. They are two sides of the same coin of hate."⁴

 In reply to Larkin, EDL leader Tommy Robinson sarcastically said that they could not have been responsible for all of 9-11, 7-7 attacks on London, the 17,000 terror attacks since 9-11 and “1,400 years of history, where Islam's been at war with non-Islam.”^1,3

 He explained that,

The root cause of the problem is the Koran, it's Islam and no one has got the balls to admit it and say it and talk about it. We will.³

The problem is when someone takes a 7th century book and tries to implement it in its barbaric way.³ [Emphasis and hyperlinks added]

Sources: 1. BBC, 2. Daily Mail (U.K.), 3. International Business Times 4. The Guradian (U.K.)


Analysis: Larkin engaged in the now well know 'blame game' and used 'race card' - "this is the way white Western society sees us" - and 'victim card' - "violence or damage towards Muslim property" - as an excuse for terrorism. He also made a 'blame the victim' argument by blaming victims of terrorism speaking out in protest and calling for action as causing terrorism.

 Non-Muslim White Britain can not however use the exact same reasoning and use the race card - 'this is the way Muslim Arabs, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Indians sees us' - or - victim card -'brutal and sadistic terrorism against civilians, including women and children' to justify even mere protests.

 This shows that Muslims can be angry and aggrieved for even minor issues, but non-Muslim victims can not feel the same way for deadly major issues like the murder of civilians by terrorists. It is a typical double standard that privileges Islamic supremacists and deny non-Muslims the same rights.

 It is good to see that Robinson seems to have recognized the 'isolation' or limited 'context' strategy that tries to portray each cases of terror on it's own and isolated in a narrow limited micro-context, like the protests. He made an excellent counter reply by showing the 1,400 year long trend of Islam in the macro-context.

 The problem of Islamic terrorisms is not isolated or related to this or that particular issue. Instead, it is part of a bigger picture. Out-of-context and localized explanations fail to consider this fact.

 As it had been argued before in a previous article here, such explanations can be challenged at the micro level. But they can also be challenged by showing macro-level trend where there will be violence and conflict but for different reasons.

 Race and the West can be eliminated to show that terrorism exists even then. The clashes in Nigeria have nothing to do with race as both the Christians and Muslims there are Blacks. The persecution of Christians in Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan or Indonesia by Muslims have nothing to do with the White race or the West. It is also the same for Muslim on Muslim violence all over the world as well.

 In the 'victim-card' case, Christians victims in those countries mentioned before are suffering from daily violence, discrimination or terrorism from Muslims. Yet they do not become radicalized or extreme and join terror groups – since there are none to join.

 This shows the fallacy of the 'race card' and the 'victim card' explanations.

 Take away race and you will still see Muslims fighting other Muslims or non-Muslims of the same race. Look at non-Muslims victims of Muslim persecution and you won't see them using it as an excuse for terrorism like the Muslims do.

 This quote by Walter Rodgers from a previous article posted here illustrates the point clearly.

Bernard Lewis, the renowned Princeton scholar of Islam, has called attention to the Arab tendency to play “the blame game.”[Emphasis added]

He notes Arabs traditionally blamed the Mongols, the Ottoman Turks, the colonial powers, and now the Jews and the Americans for everything that has gone awry

 As for Lowles, he made the tired old 'moral equivalence' argument that equates the victim with the perpetrator. It is an improvement on 'blame-the-victim' argument from Larkin but is still false.

 Even if EDL and their opposition are the same as he claims, the Islamic extremists started it all and caused the formation of EDL. He confuses cause with effect. The effect will disappear once the cause of it is eliminated.

 If there was no Islamic extremism, there would be no EDL. But if there was no EDL, there would still be Islamic extremism. It was already there before the formation of EDL and it exists in other places where there is no EDL.

 Finally, if Larkin is concerned about violence at demonstrations, he should also focus his attention on the left wing pro-Islamic extremists who contribute to it. And of course even if the protests were entirely peaceful, there would still be Islamic extremism as he well knows.

 Larkin may modify his argument and say that EDL and other anti-Islamic extremists do not cause extremism but make the situation worse.

 But even then, free speech and the right to protest should not be sacrificed to appease extremists. Instead, Muslims should learn and accept that in a free and open society, people have the right to challenge and criticize them. There is no place for Sharia blasphemy death penalty laws or hypersensitivity that gets offended by everything and quickly turns to terrorism.

PS: There is no need to agree with EDL's actions for the arguments made here to be valid. Even if EDL was wrong, the arguments here against excuses for terrorism would still hold.


Related story: EDL Leister protest, stones bricks thrown at them, Rabbi will join next protest

Similar stories:

ISLAM 101: A must read article by Bob Siegel refuting tired old politically correct myths about Islam - Share it!

(Bad) Muslim psychology: The blame game

Deadly dysfunctional Muslim culture, past, present, future, and why democracy and modernization fail

Asia Bibi Update: Some Muslims considered water fetched by her, a Christian, to be unclean

 The Independent reports,

[Bibi] was sent to fetch water. When she returned, some Muslim women refused to drink it, saying it was unclean because it had been carried by a Christian. The women then fought.⁴

 From the BBC,

[Bibi's Husband] said the other women challenged his wife and said it was sacrilegious to drink water collected by a non-Muslim.²

"My wife took offence, saying, 'Are we not humans?' This led to an altercation," he said²

 From AFP,

[Bibi] was asked to fetch water while out working in the fields. But a group of Muslim women labourers objected, saying that as a non-Muslim, she should not touch the water bowl.¹

 Local police official Muhammad Ilyas told CNN that Bibi allegedly said³

"the Quran is fake and your prophet remained in bed for one month before his death because he had worms in his ears and mouth. He married Khadija just for money and after looting her kicked her out of the house"³

 Qari Muhammad Salim, the Muslim cleric who filed the police report against Bibi, claims Bibi confessed and apologized to him.³ 

 Bibi's husband, Ashiq Masih, 51, however, said he would appeal the death sentence on his wife claiming the conviction was based on "false accusations". 

 The 45-year-old^1,2,4 mother of two sons and three daughters¹ was sentenced to death after being found guilty of blasphemy under section 295-C of Pakistan's penal code which states³

Whoever ... defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.³

 Although no one had ever been executed for blasphemy under this law, around ten accused,¹ including Pastor Rashid Emmanuel, 32, and his brother Sajjad, have been murder during their trials.^1,2

Sources: 1. AFP, 2. BBC, 3. CNN, 4. Independent (U.K.)

Related stories: 

Days after Pakistan sentenced Christian woman to death for blasphemy, Muslim countries will vote again at the UN for global blasphemy law

Death sentence for Christian woman Asia Bibi, accused of blasphemy in Pakistan

Ex-Muslim Atheist Palestinian, Walid Husayin, facing life sentence for “insulting” Islam as some call for his death for apostasy

Walid Husayin, 26, a barber and son of an Islamic scholar from the Palestinian West Bank town of Qalqiliya, has been arrested there for secretly “posting anti-religion rants” on blogs and Facebook. Ahmed Abu-Asal, owner of the internet cafe from where he posted his messages said he was caught after an employee there reported him to intelligence officials.

The Associated Press reports,

a potential life prison sentence on heresy charges for "insulting the divine essence." Many in this conservative Muslim town say he should be killed for renouncing Islam

"He should be burned to death," said Abdul-Latif Dahoud, a 35-year-old Qalqiliya resident. The execution should take place in public "to be an example to others," he added.

suspected of posting arguments in favor of atheism

Allah as having the attributes of a "primitive Bedouin."

called Islam a "blind faith that grows and takes over people's minds where there is irrationality and ignorance."

sarcastically declared himself God and ordered his followers, among other things, to smoke marijuana in verses that spoof the Muslim holy book, the Quran.

Two cousins attributed the writings to depression, saying Husayin was desperate to find better work.

Such "stalking" on Facebook and other social media sites has become increasingly common in the Arab world.

in Egypt, a blogger was charged with atheism in 2007 after intelligence officials monitored his posts.

a small minority has questioned whether the [Palestinian] government went too far

Source: AP


[ This comes only a couple of days after Asia Bibi, a Christian woman, was sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan, and as Muslim countries push for a global blasphemy law at the U.N.


It now seems common for Muslims to accuse those leaving Islam as suffering from mental illness.

Husayin is alleged here to be suffering from depression. Abdul Rahman, an Afghan convert to Christianity from Islam, was alleged by some to be mentally unfit during his 2006 trial for apostasy, which is punishable by death in Afghanistan.

This is similar to what atheist Soviet Communists did in the past with “Punitive psychiatry” that labeled those who do not subscribe to their atheist totalitarian ideology as mentally ill.

This probably still happens even today in the atheist communist North Korea which is in an unholy alliance with the Iranian Islamic theocracy and Syria by selling them nuclear and ballistic equipments.

And those Muslims pushing for global blasphemy laws at the U.N. probably also want to label anyone who criticizes Islam as suffering from the mental disease called "Islamophobia".


Muslims will no doubt will be angry now that Husayin "spoof the Muslim holy book, the Quran". However, Hussein Didi and his workmates in the Maldives thought it was funny when they spoofed not only the Koran but also Islamic prayer, while insulting non-Muslims and calling them "swine". Could it be that in their twisted minds, it is funny and okay, as long as it is directed against non-Muslim "infidels".


Husayin likened Islam to "primitive Bedouin" culture. This has been discussed in an earlier article posted on this blog that included criticism by the U.N. of "primordial" aspects of Arab [and by extension Islamic] culture.


An earlier article on this blog contained the following quote by Bob Siegel criticizing politically correct portray of Islam - “a popular notions that Islam is a wonderful religion, mostly peaceful, yet distorted and misrepresented by a few terrorists”.

The following quote mentioned earlier in this article that “a small minority has questioned whether the government went too far” in arresting Husayin, while “many” in the town wants him dead, supports Siegel's assertion that Islamic extremists are not a just a tiny minority as liars and wishful thinkers claim.

And this situation is not confined to the Palestinian West Bank either. The situation would be similar or worst in Hamas controlled Gaza, Egpyt, Afghanistan, Saudia Arabia - which had only restored Facebook a few hours ago after blocking it temporarily for some reason or other - and Syria where Facebook is banned completely.

Finally, keep in mind that Husayin might be let off lightly due to publicity. Do not be fooled if that happens as it will only be a publicity stunt. The important thing to note then is that the law will still remain intact with no moves to repeal it.]

Days after Pakistan sentenced Christian woman to death for blasphemy, Muslim countries will vote again at the UN for global blasphemy law

 Only days after a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, was sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan, U.N. members will again vote this week on the resolution “On Combating Defamation of Religions” put forward by Organization of the Islamic Conference, made up of 57 states with large Muslim populations.³ The resolution calls for a ban on expressions which offend religious sensibilities. Pakistan has been pushing for an international blasphemy law since 1999.³

 Freedom House's Paula Schriefer wrote in the New York Times that it was hypocritical that countries with appalling religious and other human right records, such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt were pushing for the resolution.³ He also pointed out that blasphemy laws were used to suppress religious minorities and those dissenting from orthodoxy, or simply to settle personal scores.³

 According to AsiaNews.it, the National Commission on Justice and Peace (NCJP) of the Catholic Church recorded 974 people being charged for “defiling the Qur'an or insulting the Prophet Muhammad” between 1986 and August 2009 in Pakistan.²  Christians and Ahmadis (who do not consider Muhammad the last prophet) there made up less than 2 percent of the population but accounted for nearly half of the cases during the last two decades, showing how minorities were disproportionately targeted.³

 Deacon Keith Fournier wrote on Catholic Online that,

This so called "Blasphemy Law" is in actuality an instrument of oppression with which Christians and other religious believers are persecuted by Islamic supremacists.”²

 The Catholic League, which is an anti-defamation organization, also claim that blasphemy laws were

designed to give Islamist nations the right to plunder the religious rights of non-Muslims—under the guise of fighting religious intolerance!¹

 It said that “it is one thing to issue a news release, conduct a letter-writing campaign, call for a boycott or hold a street demonstration; it is quite another to criminalize offensive speech” and has urged for the resolution to be voted down.¹

[Theo Van Gogh was murdered in 2004, on the 2nd of this month, by a Muslim for making a short film called "Submission" that was considered blasphemous. Molly Norris, who a few months ago urged people to draw pictures of Muhammad as an exercise of free speech has had to changed her name and go into hiding following FBI advice, after death threats. The threat from Muslims is there. The only difference is tactical, between those who openly use violence and those who engage in stealth jihad and lawfare, playing the victim card, while issuing death sentences, such as those at the U.N. on this issue.]

Sources: 1. Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights (U.S.), 2. Catholic Online (www.catholic.org), 3. The New York Times 

Related stories: Death sentence for Christian woman Asia Bibi, accused of blasphemy in Pakistan

[Note: The New York Times article by Paula Schriefer contains some false "moral equivalence" arguments, such as trying to equate (or suggest) the Danish Muhammad cartoons and opposition to the 9-11 mosque in New York with things such as death penalty for blasphemy. This is the standard practice of Muslims and their liberal and leftist sympathizers. It is unlikely that the New York Times would publish anything critical of Islam without also including some criticism of others, however minor, trivial, petty and insignificant it may be. This is borne out of "inferiority complex" leading to obsession with "equality". There is a complete hatred and ressentment (ressentment, not mere resentment) of anyone being better.]

Death sentence for Christian woman Asia Bibi, accused of blasphemy in Pakistan

 Asia Bibi, who is a married⁵ mother of two,¹ in her 30s,⁵ worked as a field laborer⁵ in the village of Ittanwali^3,4 in Punjab⁴ province, and had been under pressure from some Muslim co-workers to leave Christianity and convert to Islam.^1,3,4,5

  On June 19, 2009,^3,5 while working in the fields,⁴ female co-workers called her an “infidel”³ and Christianity a “religion of infidels”,³ and pressed her to convert to Islam.³ Bibi, who has a strong faith⁴ responded by saying Christianity was the only True religion³ and that Jesus died on the cross for their sins and asked what Muhammad, the founder and prophet of Islam, had done for them.^1,5 This reply enraged⁵ the Muslim women who then beat her.¹

  She was then either, locked up in a room by some men who then began broadcasting on the local mosque public address (PA) system plans to blacken her face and parade her through the village on a donkey, while a mob of villagers and Muslims clerics beat her two daughters,⁵ or she fled to her home where she was followed and beaten and her daughters tortured.³ Two other Christian families also lived in the village⁵ and either some of them⁵ or someone else³ informed the police and she was arrested.

  Pressure from local Muslims leaders¹ lead the police to charge her with blasphemy for insulting Muhammad under section 295-B and C of Pakistan Penal Code,³ which carries a sentence of death or life in prison.³ Bibi denies the charges and said instead that she was being persecuted for her religion.²

  The trial lasted over 16 months⁴ and she was found guilty on November 7 ⁵ in the town of Sheikhupura² and sentenced to death in the first ever such sentence for a woman.⁵ She was also fined £728, which is around two and a half year's wage for an unskilled laborer.⁵ Bibi can appeal the sentence but it may take years before her case is heard.⁴

  In a similar case, another Christian, Martha Bibi, is currently on trial for blasphemy in Lahore, after getting into a dispute with builders in Kasur.^1,5

  Release International, a Christian organization working for persecuted Christians worldwide, said the blasphemy law is easily⁴ open to abuse for vengeance,⁵ and Pakistan Christian Congress has called on the government to repeal it.³

Sources: 1. Christian Today (Australia), 2. Daily Telegraph (UK), 3. Pakistan Christian Post, 4. 5. Release International

UPDATE: A second article on this story has been posted here. Later reports claim Aisa Bibi is be 45-years-old and that she has at least 3 and up to 5 children.

Related Stories:

Days after Pakistan sentenced Christian woman to death for blasphemy, Muslim countries will vote again at the UN for global blasphemy law

Asia Bibi Update: Some Muslims considered water fetched by her, a Christian, to be unclean

Islamic dumbing down - Restrictions on 12 un-Islamic university subjects in Iran

 Iran has announced a ban on universities from opening new departments¹ in 12 humanities subjects considered too “Western”² and not in “harmony”³ with Islam. It also plans to revise the content of existing courses in these subjects by up to 70 per cent⁴ to make them “compatible”⁵ with Islam. The subjects targeted includes human rights, law, management, philosophy, political science, psychology, sociology and women's studies.^6,7 The move comes after Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for action saying the many humanities subjects based on “materialism disbelieving the divine Islamic teachings”⁸ will lead students to “doubt”⁹ Islam. Two million out of a total of 3.5 million Iranian university students are studying humanities.

Sources: AP 1, 3, 4, 7. Reuters 2, 5, 6, 8, 9. 

Court rules judges in Wilders trial suspected of bias, new trial ordered

  A new trial has been orderd for Geert Wilders after an independent appeals panel of judges headed by judge G H Marcus¹ found there was an “understandable”² suspicion of “a degree of bias”³ by trial judges after they made an “incomprehensible”⁴ decision to disallow the recalling⁵ of a key witness⁶ by the defence.

  Hans Jansen⁷ was a defense witness as an Arab⁸ or Islamic culture expert,⁹ who has said that one of the judges in the trial, Tom Schalken,¹⁰ had tried to convince him during a dinner party that prosecuting Weilders was a correct decision.^11,12 Weilders has brought charges of legal interference against Schalken¹³ for the improper contact.¹⁴

  The case against Weilders was only brought after the prosecution was forced to do so by a court.¹⁴ The prosecution does not believe Weilders has a case to answer and has asked the court to dismiss the case in this trial.¹⁵

  Wilders had earlier tried unsuccessful for the judges' recusal after one of them said he was avoiding debate by exercising his right to remain silent in court.¹⁶

  Wilders is facing five counts of offending and inciting hatred against Muslims and non-Western immigrants, especially Moroccans.¹⁷ He faces up to¹⁸ a year in jail or 7,600-euro fine.¹⁸ Weilders maintains he is only exercising his right to free speech in a debate on “the dangerous totalitarian ideology called Islam”.¹⁹

Sources:

AFP 1-5, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15, 16, 19, 20
AP 9, 10, 12, 14, 17, 21
BBC 6, 18

Muslim censorship: Journalist Juan Williams fired for expressing worry of Muslims on planes

 National Public Radio (NPR) news analyst Juan Williams, who is black, has been fired after saying that although he is not a bigot and has written books on civil rights movement, he "get worried" and "nervous" at seeing people on the same plane as him that "identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims" by wearing "Muslim garb".  The comments were made on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" to host Bill O'Reilly. NPR's reason for firing Williams was that the comments were "inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR."

Source: WorldNetDaily (WND) 

White American Muslim convert Zachary Adam Chesser pleads guilty to terror charges

 Chesser aka Abu Talhah Al-Amreeki has pleaded guilty to providing material support to Al-Qaeda-inspired al-Shebab and making threats against South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker.¹ Chester had warned that Stone and Parker risked the same fate as Theo Van Gogh for depicting Mohammed in South Park and posted their office addresses online.¹ He also posted the personal information of those who joined the Facebook group "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" on jihadist websites saying it was "a place to start."¹ According to the FBI, he also posted online the U.S. Army Ranger Handbook in order to help terrorists target U.S. Airlines.² Chester also admitted placing fake suspicious packages around to make police drop their guard when dealing with such reports so that there would be a "Boom! No more kafir" while inspecting a real one.^1,2 He made two attempts to travel to Somalia to join al-Shebab in jihad terror and was arrested on his second attempt.¹

 Chester seems to have converted to Islam after dating a Muslim girl in school.² He broke up with her after a brief period but married another Muslim woman soon after and quickly had a child with her. A high school friend Drew Harrington said Chester was "always trying to find himself" and "just wanted to be part of something".²

Source: 1. AFP, 2. Washington Post

Dutch prosecutors ask judges for Geert Wilders acquittal

 Dutch prosecutors have argued that Wilder's comparing of Islam to Nazism and Koran to Hitler's Mein Kampf, and urging it's banning, and to stop Muslim immigration were "within the legal bounds of public debate". They also argued there was "insufficient proof to convict him of trying to polarize Dutch society into antagonistic groups". They have asked for him to be acquitted on all charges but judges can disagree with prosecution in the Dutch legal system. Wilders has never called for violence.

Source: AP

Muslims angry Coptic Bishop Bishoy said they were guests in Egypt and questioned Koran 5:7

 Muslims protested in Egypt and insulted Christians by throwing shoes¹ at picture of  Coptic pope Shenouda III in Alexandria, after Coptic Bishop Bishoy reportedly said they were "guests of the Christians,"² and suggested Koran verse 5:17 was inserted by Caliph Uthman¹. Islamic Research Council of Al-Azhar university¹, a key learning centre of Sunni Islam³ also issued a “Statement to the Nation”¹ saying such comments crossed "a red line" and that Christian should accept accept Islamic dominance as Dhimmis, similar to Christians of Najran, Medina, during the rule of Muhammad.¹ The Coptic pope has issued an apology for the comments.³

 Despite the typical hypocritical Muslim anger over the comments, Christians were the original inhabitants of Egypt² prior to the invasion, conquest, and occupation by Muslim Arabs in the 7th century A.D., which continues to this day. While Al-Azhar denounces others, it has also been accused of challenging and ridiculing other religions since it's founding in 972 A.D., including by Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the current head of it's Islamic Research Council that issued the criticism of Bishop Bishoy, who challenged the validity of the Bible on TV.¹

Sources: 1. Continental News (ContinentalNews.net), 2. AFP, 3. BBC