Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
The New York Times
Middle East
Qaeda in Iraq Says It Was Behind Latest Attacks
By ANTHONY SHADID
Published: August 28, 2010
BAGHDAD — Insurgents affiliated with Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility on Saturday for a wave of car bombings, roadside mines and hit-and-run attacks this week in at least 13 Iraqi cities and towns, a deadly and relentless campaign whose breadth surprised American military officials and dealt a blow to Iraq’s fledgling security forces.
At least 56 people were killed in the attacks, in which insurgents deployed more than a dozen car bombs. Two of the assaults wrecked police stations in Baghdad and Kut, a city southeast of the capital, though American and Iraqi officials said measures taken by the security forces had prevented the attacks from inflicting an even higher toll.
The statement from the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group for the Qaeda militants, was posted on one of its Web sites. It called the assaults “the wings of victory sweeping again over a new day.” It said it had attacked “the headquarters, centers, and security barriers of the apostate army and police.”
For weeks, officials had warned that insurgents might try to escalate attacks during the holy month of Ramadan, which began in August, capitalizing on months of stalemate over forming a new government here. Popular frustration has risen sharply this summer, as scorching temperatures accentuate shortages of electricity and drinking water, whose shoddy delivery remains one of Iraqis’ long-standing grievances.
Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki ordered the security forces on high alert Friday, saying that insurgents were planning more attacks across the country “to kill more innocents and spread panic.” He urged a public that has yet to bestow much confidence in the security forces to cooperate with them in an effort to stanch coming attacks.
“We call upon citizens to open their eyes, to observe the movements of those terrorists, to abort their evil planning and inform on any suspect movements as soon as possible,” said the statement, which was broadcast Friday night on television.
On Wednesday, the United States will formally end what it describes as combat operations in the country, assuming a training and advisory role for the nearly 50,000 troops who will remain here through next summer. The administration has described the date as a turning point in the war, though it remains somewhat ceremonial. The levels the American military will maintain still represent a formidable force here, and while most combat has indeed ended, troops will still take part in what it calls counterinsurgency.
American military officials have said the most formidable Sunni insurgents may number just in the hundreds. While they said they knew that attacks like Wednesday’s were still possible, they were nevertheless struck by the breadth of the campaign, which hit towns and cities from southernmost Basra to restive Mosul in the north.
“The potential for violence, what I would characterize now as primarily terrorist acts here, is quite significant, and the ability of terrorist acts to have an impact on the political life of this country is still a significant risk,” James F. Jeffrey, the new American ambassador to Iraq, told reporters at the embassy this week.
But, he added, “This does not change our assessment that the security situation, by every statistic that we have looked at, is far better than it was a year or two ago.”
At the scene of the worst bombing in Baghdad, where explosives piled in a blue pickup toppled a police station and sheared the top floors off a block of houses, residents on Saturday walked aimlessly through houses in which they could no longer sleep. They were angry that no one from the government had visited and that no one had offered help.
“Each day is worse than the day before, each year is worse than the year before,” said Sabah Abu Karrar, 45. He walked over bricks that were once his wall, and he quoted a saying cited often in calamity. “There is no power or strength except through God.”
Qaeda in Iraq Says It Was Behind Latest Attacks
By ANTHONY SHADID
Published: August 28, 2010
BAGHDAD — Insurgents affiliated with Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility on Saturday for a wave of car bombings, roadside mines and hit-and-run attacks this week in at least 13 Iraqi cities and towns, a deadly and relentless campaign whose breadth surprised American military officials and dealt a blow to Iraq’s fledgling security forces.
At least 56 people were killed in the attacks, in which insurgents deployed more than a dozen car bombs. Two of the assaults wrecked police stations in Baghdad and Kut, a city southeast of the capital, though American and Iraqi officials said measures taken by the security forces had prevented the attacks from inflicting an even higher toll.
The statement from the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group for the Qaeda militants, was posted on one of its Web sites. It called the assaults “the wings of victory sweeping again over a new day.” It said it had attacked “the headquarters, centers, and security barriers of the apostate army and police.”
For weeks, officials had warned that insurgents might try to escalate attacks during the holy month of Ramadan, which began in August, capitalizing on months of stalemate over forming a new government here. Popular frustration has risen sharply this summer, as scorching temperatures accentuate shortages of electricity and drinking water, whose shoddy delivery remains one of Iraqis’ long-standing grievances.
Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki ordered the security forces on high alert Friday, saying that insurgents were planning more attacks across the country “to kill more innocents and spread panic.” He urged a public that has yet to bestow much confidence in the security forces to cooperate with them in an effort to stanch coming attacks.
“We call upon citizens to open their eyes, to observe the movements of those terrorists, to abort their evil planning and inform on any suspect movements as soon as possible,” said the statement, which was broadcast Friday night on television.
On Wednesday, the United States will formally end what it describes as combat operations in the country, assuming a training and advisory role for the nearly 50,000 troops who will remain here through next summer. The administration has described the date as a turning point in the war, though it remains somewhat ceremonial. The levels the American military will maintain still represent a formidable force here, and while most combat has indeed ended, troops will still take part in what it calls counterinsurgency.
American military officials have said the most formidable Sunni insurgents may number just in the hundreds. While they said they knew that attacks like Wednesday’s were still possible, they were nevertheless struck by the breadth of the campaign, which hit towns and cities from southernmost Basra to restive Mosul in the north.
“The potential for violence, what I would characterize now as primarily terrorist acts here, is quite significant, and the ability of terrorist acts to have an impact on the political life of this country is still a significant risk,” James F. Jeffrey, the new American ambassador to Iraq, told reporters at the embassy this week.
But, he added, “This does not change our assessment that the security situation, by every statistic that we have looked at, is far better than it was a year or two ago.”
At the scene of the worst bombing in Baghdad, where explosives piled in a blue pickup toppled a police station and sheared the top floors off a block of houses, residents on Saturday walked aimlessly through houses in which they could no longer sleep. They were angry that no one from the government had visited and that no one had offered help.
“Each day is worse than the day before, each year is worse than the year before,” said Sabah Abu Karrar, 45. He walked over bricks that were once his wall, and he quoted a saying cited often in calamity. “There is no power or strength except through God.”
Friday, July 16, 2010
Yahoo News
Sunni group claims Iran mosque blast killing 27
By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer – 7 mins ago
TEHRAN, Iran – A Sunni insurgent group said it carried out a double suicide bombing against a Shiite mosque in southeast Iran to avenge the execution of its leader, as Iranian authorities Friday said the death toll rose to 27 people, including members of the elite Revolutionary Guard.
The blast was the latest by the group Jundallah, which has repeatedly succeeded in carrying out deadly strikes on the Guard, the country's most powerful military force — including an October suicide bombing that killed more than 40 people. It was a sign that the group is still able to carry out devastating attacks even after Iran hanged its leader Abdulmalik Rigi and his brother earlier this year.
Shiite worshippers were attending ceremonies marking the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Hussein, when the first blast went off outside the mosque in the provincial capital Zahedan. The male bomber was disguised as a woman, local lawmaker Hossein Ali Shahriari told the ISNA news agency.
Inside the mosque, a cleric was reading from the Quran in front of lines of faithful sitting cross-legged on the floor when the building suddenly shook from the blast and screams were heard from outside, according to footage taken at the time and aired on Iranian state TV.
As people rushed to help, the second explosion detonated, causing the majority of the deaths and injuries. The technique is often used by Sunni militants in Iraq to maximize casualties.
Members of the Guard were among the worshippers, particularly because the ceremonies coincided with Iran's official Revolutionary Guard Day. The deputy interior minister, Ali Abdollahi, told the Fars news agency Thursday that several Guard members were among the dead.
Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastagerdi told the semiofficial ISNA news agency that the toll stood at 27 dead but could still rise, with another 270 injured, including 11 in serious condition.
Iran accuses the United States and Britain of supporting Jundallah in a plot to weaken Tehran clerical leadership, a claim both countries deny. On Friday, officials blamed them for the latest attack.
Gen. Hossein Salami, deputy head of the Revolutionary Guard, told worshippers during Tehran Friday prayers that the victims "were martyred by hands of mercenaries of the U.S. and U.K."
He was echoed by influential lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi who said "America should be answerable for the terrorist incident in Zahedan."
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the bombing in the "strongest possible terms" and called for those responsible to be held accountable.
Jundallah has been waging an insurgency for years in the remote Sistan-Baluchistan province, a lawless area where smuggling and banditry are rife. The groups says it is fighting for the rights of the mainly Sunni ethnic Baluchi minority, which it says suffers discrimination at the hands of Iran's Shiite's leadership. Iran has accused the group of links to al-Qaida, but experts say no evidence of such a link has been found.
Iran executed Jundallah's leader in June in Zahedan, a month after hanging his brother Abdulhamid Rigi, who had been captured in Pakistan in 2008 and extradited to Iran. The group named a new leader, al-Hajj Mohammed Dhahir Baluch.
In a statement posted on its Web site, Jundallah claimed responsibility for Thursday night's blast, saying they were to avenge Abdulmalik Rigi's death. It showed pictures of two suicide bombers wearing explosive vests, identified as Mohammad and Mujahid Rigi, apparently members of the leader's clan, though the site did not specify their relationship to him.
The group said its "sons of the faith ... carried out tonight a heroic unprecedented operation at the heart of an assembly of the Guard at Zahedan," claiming to have killed more than 100.
Jundallah has repeatedly targeted the Revolutionary Guards. In its deadliest attack, a suicide bomber hit a meeting between Guard commanders and Shiite and Sunni tribal leaders in the border town of Pishin on Oct. 18, killing 42 people, including 15 Guard members.
The group struck another mosque in Zahedan in May 2009, killing 25 people. In February 2007, a Jundallah car bomb blew up a bus carrying Revolutionary Guards in Zahedan, killing 11.
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By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer – 7 mins ago
TEHRAN, Iran – A Sunni insurgent group said it carried out a double suicide bombing against a Shiite mosque in southeast Iran to avenge the execution of its leader, as Iranian authorities Friday said the death toll rose to 27 people, including members of the elite Revolutionary Guard.
The blast was the latest by the group Jundallah, which has repeatedly succeeded in carrying out deadly strikes on the Guard, the country's most powerful military force — including an October suicide bombing that killed more than 40 people. It was a sign that the group is still able to carry out devastating attacks even after Iran hanged its leader Abdulmalik Rigi and his brother earlier this year.
Shiite worshippers were attending ceremonies marking the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Hussein, when the first blast went off outside the mosque in the provincial capital Zahedan. The male bomber was disguised as a woman, local lawmaker Hossein Ali Shahriari told the ISNA news agency.
Inside the mosque, a cleric was reading from the Quran in front of lines of faithful sitting cross-legged on the floor when the building suddenly shook from the blast and screams were heard from outside, according to footage taken at the time and aired on Iranian state TV.
As people rushed to help, the second explosion detonated, causing the majority of the deaths and injuries. The technique is often used by Sunni militants in Iraq to maximize casualties.
Members of the Guard were among the worshippers, particularly because the ceremonies coincided with Iran's official Revolutionary Guard Day. The deputy interior minister, Ali Abdollahi, told the Fars news agency Thursday that several Guard members were among the dead.
Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastagerdi told the semiofficial ISNA news agency that the toll stood at 27 dead but could still rise, with another 270 injured, including 11 in serious condition.
Iran accuses the United States and Britain of supporting Jundallah in a plot to weaken Tehran clerical leadership, a claim both countries deny. On Friday, officials blamed them for the latest attack.
Gen. Hossein Salami, deputy head of the Revolutionary Guard, told worshippers during Tehran Friday prayers that the victims "were martyred by hands of mercenaries of the U.S. and U.K."
He was echoed by influential lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi who said "America should be answerable for the terrorist incident in Zahedan."
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the bombing in the "strongest possible terms" and called for those responsible to be held accountable.
Jundallah has been waging an insurgency for years in the remote Sistan-Baluchistan province, a lawless area where smuggling and banditry are rife. The groups says it is fighting for the rights of the mainly Sunni ethnic Baluchi minority, which it says suffers discrimination at the hands of Iran's Shiite's leadership. Iran has accused the group of links to al-Qaida, but experts say no evidence of such a link has been found.
Iran executed Jundallah's leader in June in Zahedan, a month after hanging his brother Abdulhamid Rigi, who had been captured in Pakistan in 2008 and extradited to Iran. The group named a new leader, al-Hajj Mohammed Dhahir Baluch.
In a statement posted on its Web site, Jundallah claimed responsibility for Thursday night's blast, saying they were to avenge Abdulmalik Rigi's death. It showed pictures of two suicide bombers wearing explosive vests, identified as Mohammad and Mujahid Rigi, apparently members of the leader's clan, though the site did not specify their relationship to him.
The group said its "sons of the faith ... carried out tonight a heroic unprecedented operation at the heart of an assembly of the Guard at Zahedan," claiming to have killed more than 100.
Jundallah has repeatedly targeted the Revolutionary Guards. In its deadliest attack, a suicide bomber hit a meeting between Guard commanders and Shiite and Sunni tribal leaders in the border town of Pishin on Oct. 18, killing 42 people, including 15 Guard members.
The group struck another mosque in Zahedan in May 2009, killing 25 people. In February 2007, a Jundallah car bomb blew up a bus carrying Revolutionary Guards in Zahedan, killing 11.
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Thursday, July 15, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
Al Jazeera bomb attack on Pakistan's most important sufi shrine
NEWS CENTRAL/S. ASIA
Pakistan on alert after shrine raid
Al Jazeera's Imran Khan reports on the deadly suicide
bomb attack on Pakistan's most important sufi shrine
Police are on high alert in Pakistan as demands grow for a tougher crackdown on armed religious groups in the central Punjab province after bombers targeted a popular Muslim shrine there.
In the second major attack in Lahore in a month, two bombers struck Data Darbar, Pakistan's most important Sufi shrine, on Thursday night, killing at least 42 people and wounding another 180.
About 2,000 people, some armed, staged protests in Lahore on Friday, shouting "Down with Shahbaz Sharif", the chief minister of Punjab.
His repeated vows to "defeat terrorists" were ridiculed.
Thousands of worshippers were said to be visiting the shrine, where Syed Ali Hajwairi, a famous Sufi saint, is buried, at the time of Thursday's attack.
The suicide bombers struck in the evening when the shrine was at its busiest because of the cooler weather.
Taliban dislike
Taliban fighters generally abhor the Sufi strand of Islam and disapprove of Muslims visiting shrines, popular with many Pakistanis.
They may have been trying to whip up emotions by attacking sacred religious sites in a bid to destabilise Pakistan, analysts say.
Groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban have launched a wave of attacks across Pakistan in apparent revenge for the military offensives in their bastions in the northwest of the country near the Afghan border.
Ties between armed groups in Punjab, the Taliban and al-Qaeda are especially worrying for the Pakistan government, which has said the military is stretched in campaigns in the northwest.
While most of the reprisal attacks have taken place there, fighters have also stepped up operations in the country's heartland, mainly Punjab, in recent months.
More than 80 people were killed in twin attacks on the mosques of the minority Ahmadi sect in Lahore in May.
Talat Masood, a defence analyst and former Pakistan military officer, said Taliban-linked groups are exploiting the uncertainty over the government's response to such attacks.
"At the moment there is lukewarm support from the people, and the people have no confidence in the government and their governance," he told Al Jazeera on Friday.
"These people are taking full advantage of this vacuum. You can only win against militancy if you really harness the support of the people, and this is exactly what has not been done."
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
RT NEWS
.“Believing cultures are equal is West’s biggest disease”
18 February, 2009, 08:40
He’s being prosecuted for an alleged hate speech against Islam and Dutch MP Geert Wilders calls the Koran a “fascist book”, and Islam “a retarded culture”. Yet, he also claims he has nothing against Muslims.
Propeller RT: How can you be not against Muslims and be against Islam?
G.W.: Well I don't hate people. I hate nobody. I have no grudge against any person whatever religion social or sexual background they have, but I have a problem with totalitarian ideologies and I believe that Islam is more an ideology than a religion in fact. So it’s very possible to have nothing against the persons individually I mean most of the Muslims in Holland are in fact law-abiding people, like you and me, but still if the numbers grow, then our society will change entirely and I believe not for the better.
RT: Your film about Islam, Fitna, has fuelled the debate on race in Holland. Do you claim to be objective in it?
G.W.: Certainly not objective, no. I'm a politician and an objective politician is a contradiction in terms. I am not objective. So of course with a lot of arguments I say what I think about Islam and I believe the biggest disease in the West today is called cultural relativism: people who believe out of political correctness that all cultures are equal. I don't think so. I think that a culture based on Christianity on humanism, on Judaism, is a far better culture than a retarded culture like the Islamic culture.
RT: Do you consider yourself a xenophobe?
G.W.: No, I'm certainly not a xenophobe and all those people. I mean if you look at the polls today, you are the third biggest party in Holland we've got 23 seats out of 150 in the post today and two years ago we had only nine seats. So we are enormously popular and with those kind of people. Millions of people in Holland are not xenophobes or racists or whatsoever. They just feel that they are losing their country, their identity. It’s not the Netherlands anymore and people have concerns about that and I will fight for them to preserve the identity of the Netherlands against the influx of indeed a retarded Islamic culture. Now my aim is not to offend people.
RT: But you've offended those Muslims just now!
G.W.: It might be. What I'm saying, it’s not my aim. My aim is to warn against Islamisation.
RT: Mr. Wilders, do you believe in freedom of religion?
G.W.: I believe Islam is more an ideology than a religion. I believe if you compare it., you see Islam is not just one other leaf on the tree of religions. It’s not to be compared with Christianity, with Judaism, with Buddhism. It’s more to be compared with another tree about totalitarian ideology. So I think Islam is more to be compared with communism or fascism or other totalitarian ideologies than it’s to be compared with other religions.
RT: But surely by saying that your culture is better than the other culture, these are the views that are very similar that what Hitler had?
G.W.: So when you talk about reciprocity, the Arab world is everything but cultural relativism. They believe their culture is far better than our culture, while we are politically correct. I have nothing against other cultures. I believe that our culture should be dominant.
RT: What do you mean by the dominant culture?
G.W.: It means that first we have to make a new article, article 1 of the constitution – that some countries already have – saying that the Netherlands is a country which is based on the values of Christianity and Judaism and humanism to make it clear, which means that the Netherlands should not change into a dominant other culture. For instance, you can do that by stopping immigration from Muslim countries.
RT: Have you actually read the Koran from beginning to end?
G.W.: Many verses, many translations
RT: One of the verses from Koran you are citing in your film is this “those who have disbelieved our signs we shall roast them in fire.” Now can you tell me in what context that verse is being in used in Koran?
G.W.: Well, most of the Koranic verses…
RT: No, but this particular one.
G.W: No, I'm not talking about this particular one. I'm talking about most of them because you have to see it in the context. And if you study the life of Mohammed you will see most of them are based on that.
RT: This particular verse actually explains what will happen to a disbeliever when he goes to hell, and that’s obviously the kind of verse we can find in the Bible as well.
G.W.: It’s not being seen as going to hell. It’s interpreted, unfortunately, by many Muslims that it’s during the lifetime of a person.
RT: Well how about this one in the New Testament attributed to Jesus saying to his disciples: “These enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence”?
G.W.: This is written down in a different way of wording like you just said in that time. Then it’s written in the Koran. Look at surahs, look at the imperative way it is said in many surahs. But secondly, Christianity had in all the centuries had a change of enlightment, and today almost nobody kills today or makes terrorist acts today in the world, whether it’s in Russia, whether it’s in Holland, in Madrid or in London on behalf of Christianity…
RT: There are such groups.
G.W.: Ninety-nine percent, not all Muslims are terrorists, but 99 per cent of the terrorist acts in the world are done by Muslims. You can not ignore that of course.
RT: Well actually religious and secular extremism exist across all nationalities and groups. How about the Christian identity, the Ku Klux Klan, the Army of God?
G.W.: They are not only minority, but they are also culturally seen not as the biggest problem today. Of course we have extremists, even within the Jewish community and the Christian. We have it also in the atheists, the people who don’t believe in anything. But it doesn't change the fact that we have a problem with Islamic culture.
RT: What do you think of Israel’s recent attacks on Gaza where more than a thousand people, most of them civilians, were killed?
G.W.: I hope our government would have acted the same if from just over the border in Belgium, let’s say, or from Cologne just over our border with Germany, if we had been attacked by the missiles, if our cities were bombarded, I would hope that the Dutch government would have been as brave as the Israeli government in defending their people. So I fully understand why the Israelis acted like they did.
RT: You suggest banning women from wearing burka, saying that this will free them. But have you actually asked what Muslim women think about that?
G.W.: I don't care what they think about it. It’s totally irrelevant. I'm not elected by them here. I'm elected by people who share my view. I don't care what those women think, but I also do it for them. I don't do it out of hatred or anything else, I really believe that if you wear a burka in Holland, you will have a very tough time to integrate and if you want Muslim women to have a job and education and to be independent. Young Muslim women should be independent in Holland. This is what I'm fighting for. And if you wear a burka, please believe me, you will have no Dutch friends, you will get no job. It would be difficult to find any job.
RT: You are facing prosecution and soon will be tried for an alleged hate speech and discrimination. What will the outcome be of this trial?
G.W.: I think it’s very sad not only because it’s me, but because it’s one step down from the freedom of speech. And I believe that people should be allowed, especially elected politicians, to say what they believe.
RT: The mayor of Rotterdam is Muslim. What do you think about that?
G.W.: I think it’s very bad, not because he is Muslim, but because he has a double nationality. And I believe I also tried to send some ministers away from parliament two years ago because they have a double nationality. I believe that if you are a minister, if you are a secretary of state, if you are a member of parliament, if you are a mayor of the city, if you are an important public figure, if you have a position, you should only have loyalty to your own country. So you can not have two nationalities, because it means legally and otherwise that you have two countries to be loyal to.
RT: You've called the Netherlands the country of tolerance and consensus. How would you describe your attitude towards Muslims?
G.W.: You know the problem with Holland is that we were too long too tolerant. We should stop the immigration of Muslim people from Muslim countries. We should make it more clear and be more proud of our identity, values and culture. We should stop the Islamic symbolism. I wouldn't want to have more mosques in the Netherlands. I want Islamic schools to be closed and let the people integrate with other children from other religions in public schools, and I want to have tough penalties to people who are committing crimes, send then away. Send them out of Holland, denaturalise them if they have double nationality. If we do that, it will not only be good for Holland, but it will certainly be good for those Muslims who are in the Netherlands today and who are behaving themselves.
RT: Mr Wilders, thank you for the interview.
18 February, 2009, 08:40
He’s being prosecuted for an alleged hate speech against Islam and Dutch MP Geert Wilders calls the Koran a “fascist book”, and Islam “a retarded culture”. Yet, he also claims he has nothing against Muslims.
Propeller RT: How can you be not against Muslims and be against Islam?
G.W.: Well I don't hate people. I hate nobody. I have no grudge against any person whatever religion social or sexual background they have, but I have a problem with totalitarian ideologies and I believe that Islam is more an ideology than a religion in fact. So it’s very possible to have nothing against the persons individually I mean most of the Muslims in Holland are in fact law-abiding people, like you and me, but still if the numbers grow, then our society will change entirely and I believe not for the better.
RT: Your film about Islam, Fitna, has fuelled the debate on race in Holland. Do you claim to be objective in it?
G.W.: Certainly not objective, no. I'm a politician and an objective politician is a contradiction in terms. I am not objective. So of course with a lot of arguments I say what I think about Islam and I believe the biggest disease in the West today is called cultural relativism: people who believe out of political correctness that all cultures are equal. I don't think so. I think that a culture based on Christianity on humanism, on Judaism, is a far better culture than a retarded culture like the Islamic culture.
RT: Do you consider yourself a xenophobe?
G.W.: No, I'm certainly not a xenophobe and all those people. I mean if you look at the polls today, you are the third biggest party in Holland we've got 23 seats out of 150 in the post today and two years ago we had only nine seats. So we are enormously popular and with those kind of people. Millions of people in Holland are not xenophobes or racists or whatsoever. They just feel that they are losing their country, their identity. It’s not the Netherlands anymore and people have concerns about that and I will fight for them to preserve the identity of the Netherlands against the influx of indeed a retarded Islamic culture. Now my aim is not to offend people.
RT: But you've offended those Muslims just now!
G.W.: It might be. What I'm saying, it’s not my aim. My aim is to warn against Islamisation.
RT: Mr. Wilders, do you believe in freedom of religion?
G.W.: I believe Islam is more an ideology than a religion. I believe if you compare it., you see Islam is not just one other leaf on the tree of religions. It’s not to be compared with Christianity, with Judaism, with Buddhism. It’s more to be compared with another tree about totalitarian ideology. So I think Islam is more to be compared with communism or fascism or other totalitarian ideologies than it’s to be compared with other religions.
RT: But surely by saying that your culture is better than the other culture, these are the views that are very similar that what Hitler had?
G.W.: So when you talk about reciprocity, the Arab world is everything but cultural relativism. They believe their culture is far better than our culture, while we are politically correct. I have nothing against other cultures. I believe that our culture should be dominant.
RT: What do you mean by the dominant culture?
G.W.: It means that first we have to make a new article, article 1 of the constitution – that some countries already have – saying that the Netherlands is a country which is based on the values of Christianity and Judaism and humanism to make it clear, which means that the Netherlands should not change into a dominant other culture. For instance, you can do that by stopping immigration from Muslim countries.
RT: Have you actually read the Koran from beginning to end?
G.W.: Many verses, many translations
RT: One of the verses from Koran you are citing in your film is this “those who have disbelieved our signs we shall roast them in fire.” Now can you tell me in what context that verse is being in used in Koran?
G.W.: Well, most of the Koranic verses…
RT: No, but this particular one.
G.W: No, I'm not talking about this particular one. I'm talking about most of them because you have to see it in the context. And if you study the life of Mohammed you will see most of them are based on that.
RT: This particular verse actually explains what will happen to a disbeliever when he goes to hell, and that’s obviously the kind of verse we can find in the Bible as well.
G.W.: It’s not being seen as going to hell. It’s interpreted, unfortunately, by many Muslims that it’s during the lifetime of a person.
RT: Well how about this one in the New Testament attributed to Jesus saying to his disciples: “These enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence”?
G.W.: This is written down in a different way of wording like you just said in that time. Then it’s written in the Koran. Look at surahs, look at the imperative way it is said in many surahs. But secondly, Christianity had in all the centuries had a change of enlightment, and today almost nobody kills today or makes terrorist acts today in the world, whether it’s in Russia, whether it’s in Holland, in Madrid or in London on behalf of Christianity…
RT: There are such groups.
G.W.: Ninety-nine percent, not all Muslims are terrorists, but 99 per cent of the terrorist acts in the world are done by Muslims. You can not ignore that of course.
RT: Well actually religious and secular extremism exist across all nationalities and groups. How about the Christian identity, the Ku Klux Klan, the Army of God?
G.W.: They are not only minority, but they are also culturally seen not as the biggest problem today. Of course we have extremists, even within the Jewish community and the Christian. We have it also in the atheists, the people who don’t believe in anything. But it doesn't change the fact that we have a problem with Islamic culture.
RT: What do you think of Israel’s recent attacks on Gaza where more than a thousand people, most of them civilians, were killed?
G.W.: I hope our government would have acted the same if from just over the border in Belgium, let’s say, or from Cologne just over our border with Germany, if we had been attacked by the missiles, if our cities were bombarded, I would hope that the Dutch government would have been as brave as the Israeli government in defending their people. So I fully understand why the Israelis acted like they did.
RT: You suggest banning women from wearing burka, saying that this will free them. But have you actually asked what Muslim women think about that?
G.W.: I don't care what they think about it. It’s totally irrelevant. I'm not elected by them here. I'm elected by people who share my view. I don't care what those women think, but I also do it for them. I don't do it out of hatred or anything else, I really believe that if you wear a burka in Holland, you will have a very tough time to integrate and if you want Muslim women to have a job and education and to be independent. Young Muslim women should be independent in Holland. This is what I'm fighting for. And if you wear a burka, please believe me, you will have no Dutch friends, you will get no job. It would be difficult to find any job.
RT: You are facing prosecution and soon will be tried for an alleged hate speech and discrimination. What will the outcome be of this trial?
G.W.: I think it’s very sad not only because it’s me, but because it’s one step down from the freedom of speech. And I believe that people should be allowed, especially elected politicians, to say what they believe.
RT: The mayor of Rotterdam is Muslim. What do you think about that?
G.W.: I think it’s very bad, not because he is Muslim, but because he has a double nationality. And I believe I also tried to send some ministers away from parliament two years ago because they have a double nationality. I believe that if you are a minister, if you are a secretary of state, if you are a member of parliament, if you are a mayor of the city, if you are an important public figure, if you have a position, you should only have loyalty to your own country. So you can not have two nationalities, because it means legally and otherwise that you have two countries to be loyal to.
RT: You've called the Netherlands the country of tolerance and consensus. How would you describe your attitude towards Muslims?
G.W.: You know the problem with Holland is that we were too long too tolerant. We should stop the immigration of Muslim people from Muslim countries. We should make it more clear and be more proud of our identity, values and culture. We should stop the Islamic symbolism. I wouldn't want to have more mosques in the Netherlands. I want Islamic schools to be closed and let the people integrate with other children from other religions in public schools, and I want to have tough penalties to people who are committing crimes, send then away. Send them out of Holland, denaturalise them if they have double nationality. If we do that, it will not only be good for Holland, but it will certainly be good for those Muslims who are in the Netherlands today and who are behaving themselves.
RT: Mr Wilders, thank you for the interview.
Violent fundamentalist groups are all the same: criminal
Edited 16 June, 2010, 08:24
US Senator Joe Lieberman has criticized US President Barack Obama's National Security Strategy because it does not indicate specifically that the US is fighting a war against radical Islam.
Propeller “This war will not end when al Qaeda has been vanquished—though that, of course, is a critical goal—but only when the ideology of violent Islamist extremism that inspires and predates it is decisively rejected,” said Senator Lieberman (Independent – Connecticut) in a recent op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal.
“I think that the threshold point for extremism is behavior,” said Thom Hartmann, a radio host and political commentator.
Hartmann explains that extremism is bigger than Islamic extremism, citing previous groups such as the Red Brigades in Italy, and the Weathermen and Tim McVeigh in the US.
“We should stop labeling them as religious extremists and simply label them, as Bill Clinton did in the case of Tim McVeigh, as criminals and prosecute them as criminals. That way we do not deify them, we don’t strengthen them, we don’t help them become martyrs. George Bush did the worst thing possible with Osama Bin Laden. He did exactly what Osama Bin Laden wanted,” said Hartmann.
Many in the United States have painted the debate as a black and white, Christian v. Islam framework and Hartmann not new.
“What we have to do is repudiate the violence part of it and say no, that’s got nothing to do with the religion, that’s criminal behavior,” said Hartmann.
A documentary called “Jesus Camp” documents the activities at an evangelical camp for American children. The film shows adults inciting children to go to war with Islam, and shows children chanting and dancing with sticks while wearing camouflage.
Hartmann said that society should be concerned, but not just because of religious groups, but concerned about fundamentalism in general.
“We need to, right across the board, repudiate all of them and say that’s not us and we will not allow that. When people step over that line they go to jail,” said Hartmann, citing “The Turner Diaries” and other publications that incite a fundamentalist violence based ideology, including Glenn Beck’s latest publication.
Hartmann argued that there is no real difference between extremist groups when they begin to call for the use of violence. Whether Christian, Islamic or non-religious, groups that choose to incite violence are criminal.
Akhmed Zakayev (RIA Novosti)
Moscow demands investigation into Chechen militant’s presence at PACE
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Published 23 June, 2010, 08:54
Edited 25 June, 2010, 17:08
Russia has demanded that the Council of Europe investigates Chechen militant envoy Akhmed Zakayev’s presence at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe session (PACE) in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
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“Russia’s permanent mission in Strasbourg has forwarded a protest to the Council of Europe Secretary General, Thorbjorn Jagland, and demanded that an investigation into the incident should be carried out,” Vladimir Voronkov, Director of Foreign Ministry’s European Cooperation Department, told Interfax agency.
In response, he said, Jagland stated that he was not aware of Zakayev’s presence at the PACE session.
According to Voronkov, “Zakayev attended the session on the invitation of the faction of liberals in PACE, but most likely he was using a different name.” He said no pass card with the surname Zakayev had been registered at PACE.
The self-proclaimed Prime Minister of “Independent Chechnya” Akhmed Zakayev – who is on the wanted list in Russia on accusations of terrorism and other crimes – found asylum in Britain, where he has been living since 2002. His appearance during Tuesday’s session in Strasbourg – Zakayev was reportedly sitting on a balcony reserved for guests – sparked fierce criticism and anger from the Russian side.
The president of the Russian Republic of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, expressed concern about the fact that Akhmed Zakayev attended the meeting on Tuesday.
“I will tell you this: bring back the chronicles of these events in Grozny. Have a look at Akhmed Zakayev – in a headband, with people wielding automatic rifles and machine guns,” Yevkurov was quoted as saying by Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency. “And ask him now about the rights of those people they dragged onto city squares and lashed, thinking themselves being all great Muslims.”
“He is no one and his name in nothing,” Ingushetia’s president added. “If he was someone he would kneel before his people, repent and apologize instead of attending sessions here.”
The head of the Russian mission to PACE, Konstantin Kosachev, also expressed his displeasure in a private conversation with PACE President Movlut Cavusoglu. Zakaev’s presence at the session was very sudden and unpleasant, he said.
“Nobody announced Zakaev’s participation in PACE events, and, in fact, he was brought into the convention center under somebody else’s name,” Kosachev claimed.
Zakaev’s participation in the discussion “muffed” Dick Marty’s positive, although not without criticism, speech, the Russian official said.
“The balanced resolution on the Caucasus stuck in someone’s gizzard,” he added.
Kosachev also called what happened “a political action.”
“Zakaev’s presence contravenes the concept of Moscow-PACE cooperation concerning human rights in the Caucasus,” he emphasized.
Akhmed Zakayev worked as a culture minister and deputy prime minister in the Chechen government in the late 1990s. He fled to Great Britain after Chechen militants were defeated. Russia sought his extradition on charges of terrorism, but the UK granted him political asylum.
PACE on Tuesday approved a resolution describing the human rights situation in the Northern Caucasus. The resolution was approved by the Russian delegation for the first time in many years.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
The New York Times
Middle East
4 Shop Owners Die in Iraqi Robberies
4 Shop Owners Die in Iraqi Robberies
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS and DURAD ADNAN
Published: June 26, 2010
BAGHDAD — An armed gang went on a rampage Saturday, gunning down four jewelry store owners and robbing more than a dozen shops in the western city of Falluja in what may have been an effort to finance insurgent groups, Iraqi authorities said.
During the past month or so, violent hold-ups of jewelry stores selling gold products have become increasingly commonplace in Iraq. The robberies have been blamed variously on groups such as al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and on outlaw bands of soldiers and police officers.
Earlier this month in the southern city of Basra, gunmen killed three people during a jewelry shop robbery. Last month, bandits killed 14 people during a string of daytime hold-ups of jewelry stores in Baghdad.
The businesses make an inviting target: They sometimes have large amounts of cash on hand, offer a product that can be easily resold on the black market, and are typically not well protected despite the value of their inventory.
On Saturday, officials in Falluja blamed al Qaeda for the most recent attack, saying the militant Sunni organization is seeking to regroup after the capture of several of its leaders earlier this year.
Sheikh Aifan Saadon al-Aifan, the leader of the security committee for the provincial council in Anbar Province, said on Saturday that security forces in the province have been infiltrated by insurgents and their sympathizers who may have aided the robbers in Falluja.
“The insurgents are trying to gain back the power they lost,” Mr. Aifan said.
The Iraqi police said that about 8 a.m. on Saturday, a group of about 20 men dressed in black and wearing black masks burst into shops in al-Bazarah market. Armed with rifles and pistols fitted with silencers, they began shooting into stores, witnesses said.
After shooting dead four shop owners who may not have immediately complied with their demands, they fled with a large quantity of gold jewelry, the police said.
Abu Asil, a jewelry store owner in Faluja, said Saturday that shop keepers who had gone to the police about 10 days ago seeking increased protection were told that the police did not have enough manpower.
At the funerals for the four victims Saturday, people were angry that the robberies had occurred in a city filled with checkpoints and roving security force members.
“How can gunman so easily rob these stores?” asked Sheijh Khalid Mohammed “Every two or here days there is an explosion. Where is the police and army? If they can’t protect us they should tell us and we will protect ourselves.”
A group with links to al Qaeda claimed responsibility for deadly raids during the past two weeks on Iraq’s Central Bank and the country’s Trade Bank, although robbery did not appear to have been the motive in those attacks.
Also Saturday, during an oil conference in Baghdad, Iraqi officials said it will cost at least $23 billion to build four new refineries as part of the country’s effort to become a net exporter of petroleum products. Iraq, which has the world’s third largest amount of proven oil reserves, currently imports refined petroleum.
An employee of The New York Times in Falluja contributed reporting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/world/middleeast/27iraq.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Middle East
4 Shop Owners Die in Iraqi Robberies
4 Shop Owners Die in Iraqi Robberies
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS and DURAD ADNAN
Published: June 26, 2010
BAGHDAD — An armed gang went on a rampage Saturday, gunning down four jewelry store owners and robbing more than a dozen shops in the western city of Falluja in what may have been an effort to finance insurgent groups, Iraqi authorities said.
During the past month or so, violent hold-ups of jewelry stores selling gold products have become increasingly commonplace in Iraq. The robberies have been blamed variously on groups such as al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and on outlaw bands of soldiers and police officers.
Earlier this month in the southern city of Basra, gunmen killed three people during a jewelry shop robbery. Last month, bandits killed 14 people during a string of daytime hold-ups of jewelry stores in Baghdad.
The businesses make an inviting target: They sometimes have large amounts of cash on hand, offer a product that can be easily resold on the black market, and are typically not well protected despite the value of their inventory.
On Saturday, officials in Falluja blamed al Qaeda for the most recent attack, saying the militant Sunni organization is seeking to regroup after the capture of several of its leaders earlier this year.
Sheikh Aifan Saadon al-Aifan, the leader of the security committee for the provincial council in Anbar Province, said on Saturday that security forces in the province have been infiltrated by insurgents and their sympathizers who may have aided the robbers in Falluja.
“The insurgents are trying to gain back the power they lost,” Mr. Aifan said.
The Iraqi police said that about 8 a.m. on Saturday, a group of about 20 men dressed in black and wearing black masks burst into shops in al-Bazarah market. Armed with rifles and pistols fitted with silencers, they began shooting into stores, witnesses said.
After shooting dead four shop owners who may not have immediately complied with their demands, they fled with a large quantity of gold jewelry, the police said.
Abu Asil, a jewelry store owner in Faluja, said Saturday that shop keepers who had gone to the police about 10 days ago seeking increased protection were told that the police did not have enough manpower.
At the funerals for the four victims Saturday, people were angry that the robberies had occurred in a city filled with checkpoints and roving security force members.
“How can gunman so easily rob these stores?” asked Sheijh Khalid Mohammed “Every two or here days there is an explosion. Where is the police and army? If they can’t protect us they should tell us and we will protect ourselves.”
A group with links to al Qaeda claimed responsibility for deadly raids during the past two weeks on Iraq’s Central Bank and the country’s Trade Bank, although robbery did not appear to have been the motive in those attacks.
Also Saturday, during an oil conference in Baghdad, Iraqi officials said it will cost at least $23 billion to build four new refineries as part of the country’s effort to become a net exporter of petroleum products. Iraq, which has the world’s third largest amount of proven oil reserves, currently imports refined petroleum.
An employee of The New York Times in Falluja contributed reporting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/world/middleeast/27iraq.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
BBC News
Somaliland appeal to vote despite al-Shabab threat
Page last updated at 18:29 GMT, Friday, 25 June 2010 19:29 UK
E-mail this to a friendPrintable version Security has been beefed up ahead of the vote Somaliland's authorities have appealed to voters to turn out for Saturday's presidential election despite a warning from Islamists not to participate.
An al-Shabab leader in Somalia said elections were un-Islamic and called democracy "the devil's principles".
Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 when the country descended into civil war; it has not been recognised internationally.
But 70 international observers will monitor its second presidential poll.
About 800 local personnel will also observe as 1.69m officially registered voters choose a new president.
Incumbent President Dahir Riyale Kahin faces two opponents.
The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in the capital, Hargeisa, says this week's al-Shabab warning by Abu Zubayr, also known as Mukhtar Abdirahman, has been the talk of the town.
But with campaigning finished and appeals from the government and respected traditional leaders to ignore the threat, the mood is quiet and security has been increased, he says.
Compared with its neighbour, Somaliland has been relatively stable.
After declaring independence in 1991, it formed its own hybrid system of governance consisting of a lower house of elected representatives, and an upper house, which incorporated the elders of tribal clans.
Page last updated at 18:29 GMT, Friday, 25 June 2010 19:29 UK
E-mail this to a friendPrintable version Security has been beefed up ahead of the vote Somaliland's authorities have appealed to voters to turn out for Saturday's presidential election despite a warning from Islamists not to participate.
An al-Shabab leader in Somalia said elections were un-Islamic and called democracy "the devil's principles".
Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 when the country descended into civil war; it has not been recognised internationally.
But 70 international observers will monitor its second presidential poll.
About 800 local personnel will also observe as 1.69m officially registered voters choose a new president.
Incumbent President Dahir Riyale Kahin faces two opponents.
The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in the capital, Hargeisa, says this week's al-Shabab warning by Abu Zubayr, also known as Mukhtar Abdirahman, has been the talk of the town.
But with campaigning finished and appeals from the government and respected traditional leaders to ignore the threat, the mood is quiet and security has been increased, he says.
Compared with its neighbour, Somaliland has been relatively stable.
After declaring independence in 1991, it formed its own hybrid system of governance consisting of a lower house of elected representatives, and an upper house, which incorporated the elders of tribal clans.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
NUJ Protests Journalists’ Murder
NUJ Protests Journalists’ Murder
• Urges Jonathan to act now • Fashola condemns killingsBy Gboyega Akinsanmi, 05.04.2010
Scores of journalists yesterday stormed the streets of Lagos, protesting the incessant killing of their colleagues in the last two decades while calling the Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and the Nigeria Police to ensure that the masterminds of all the unresolved murders in the country are brought to book.
NUJ President, Alhaji Mohammed Garba led the peaceful march from the Ladi Lawal Press Centre through Head Office of NewsWatch Magazine to Lagos State Police Command and ended at the Lagos State Government House in Marina alongside Chairman, NUJ Lagos Council, Mr. Wahab Oba, Chairman and National Secretary-General, Mr. Liman Shuiab among others.
NUJ President, Alhaji Mohammed Garba led the peaceful march from the Ladi Lawal Press Centre through Head Office of NewsWatch Magazine to Lagos State Police Command and ended at the Lagos State Government House in Marina alongside Chairman, NUJ Lagos Council, Mr. Wahab Oba, Chairman and National Secretary-General, Mr. Liman Shuiab among others.
The protest caused a major traffic build-up along Billing Way in Alausa and Kodeso Street in Ikeja Central as some hundreds of journalists dressed in back T-shirts and trousers were marching peacefully, holding placards of diverse inscriptions and singing dirges and requiems in honour of their murdered colleagues.
The inscription of their placards read in part: “Journalists are no longer safe in Nigeria. Killers of our colleagues will not go unpunished. Enough is enough: stop the killing. God, protect us from the wicked enemies of the pen profession. Several years after, killers of Dele Giwa, Bagauda Kaltho, Abayomi Ogundeji, Godwin Agboroko, Omololu Falobi and Bayo Ohu are yet to be found.
“Justice delayed is justice denied. Inspector-General of Police (IGP), save our soul. Journalists say no to the incessant killing of colleagues. We want justice to prevail. Dele Giwa, Bagauda Kaltho, Bayo Ohu, Omololu Falobi, Edo Sule Ugbagwu, Abayomi Ogundeji and Godwin Agboroko, your killers will not know peace. State of blood: who killed our colleagues,” the placards read.
Speaking at the Lagos State Police Command, Garba expressed profound reservations on the failure of the Nigeria Police to bring the masterminds of all unresolved murders in the murder to book, stating that the trend “continues because no killers of our colleagues have been found since 1986 when Dele Giwa was killed.
“We are disturbed, grieved and worried with the increasing cases of harassment, intimidation and killing that continually confront journalists in Nigeria. Despite the killings, no culprits have been brought to book. it not only dents the image of Nigeria, but also puts Nigeria on the top of the list of countries in the cases of abuse of press freedom in West Africa apart from The Gambia.
“Journalists are no longer safe. We believe that inability of Nigeria’s security operatives to arrest the killers of our colleagues are responsible for the trend to continue unabated. We embarked on this protest to mark the 2010 World Press Day because we are disturbed about the situation of media killings in Nigeria.
“Going by the murder trend in the media from Dele Giwa, we are worried because our security agencies are yet to unravel the killers of this dastardly act several years after the sad occurrences and we chose Lagos because majority of the cases occurred here. The killings are a deliberate ploy of the political office-holders to prevent us from discharging our responsibilities,” Garba said.
While receiving a two-page protest letter from the NUJ National Executive, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) yesterday condemned the incessant killing of journalists in the country, adding that the trend “portends grave danger to the nation's nascent democracy. There is urgent need to regulate telephone sim cards procured for proper identification”.
According to him, the government at all levels should be prepared to spend resources in building forensic labs as a way of getting evidence against the perpetrators of heinous crimes. Every time the life of a person is lost in the state. It diminishes me as a governor. We need to increase our security capacities in protecting lives and property as well as bursting crimes.
Fashola said no amount of money is too much to invest in security. I sincerely empathise with you on the loss of your colleagues and families.
Receiving a two-page letter of protest, Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo, expressed concern over the incessant killings of journalists revealing that the police had begun a full-scale full scale investigation into the murder of Edo Ugbagwu of The Nation Newspapers, killed a fortnight ago. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr Solomon Aranse received the letter on behalf of Akpoyibo.
He added that the death of any person “diminishes humanity. We are greatly worried and pained. We are working tirelessly to bring the perpetrators to book. We would do everything humanly possible. We are out to ensure that these spate of killings stop. The police are currently working with some journalists to fish out the killers of some of the slain journalists”.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Kenya denies links to Somalia's al-Shabab
Kenya has denied reports for the UN that many of its citizens are fighting with Somalia's al-Shabab militants.
"This is propaganda," Francis Kimemia, a senior official at the internal security ministry told the BBC.
A report to the UN Security Council said leaders of the al-Qaeda-inspired group regularly travelled to Nairobi to raise funds and recruit fighters.
Al-Shabab controls much of southern Somalia, where it is battling the weak UN-backed government.
Mr Kimemia told the BBC's Network Africa programme that any al-Shabab leaders who passed through Nairobi would be arrested.
He also said the Kenyan authorities were closely watching the country's mosques in case clerics sympathetic to al-Shabab were using them to radicalise young Kenyans and Somali refugees, as alleged by the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia.
Kenya is home to many thousands of Somali refugees, and also has a large ethnic Somali population.
On Tuesday, suspected al-Shabab militants attacked a Kenyan para-military base near the border with Somalia.
BBC
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Israel's new war on Islamic sites Al Jazeera
Palestinian protesters clashed with Israel forces over Tel Aviv's decision to declare the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron a national heritage site for Jews [EPA]
By Daud Abdullah
In a move that appears to be a celebration of the 16th anniversary of the massacre of 29 worshippers by the terrorist Baruch Goldstein, the Israeli government has proclaimed that the Ibrahimi Mosque in Khalil (Hebron) and Masjid Bilal ibn Rabah (mosque) in Bethlehem are "Jewish Heritage sites".
Goldstein, an American-born Israeli settler who served as a medic in the military, opened fire on worshippers at a mosque in Hebron on February 25, 1994, killing 29 and wounding more than 150, before being subdued and beaten to death.
The announcement by the government of Binyamin Netanyahu, though not surprising, is the latest in a series of Israeli attacks on Islamic historical and religious sites in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
It is consistent with the Israelis' long-standing ambition to dispose of all non-Jewish religious symbols and presence in Palestine.
While the Israeli government was announcing the annexation of the Islamic sites, dozens of settlers attempted to storm into Jericho on the pretext that they were visiting an ancient synagogue.
Under the Gaza-Jericho Agreement of May 1994, Israel agreed to dissolve its civil administration and "transferred its powers and responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority".
Israel disinterested in peace
In his first reaction to the annexation of the Ibrahimi Mosque, Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, said: "This proves that Israel is not interested in peace and negotiations."
The question is: when was Israel ever interested in such? When has it ever recognised the rights of the Palestinians? Israel’s founding fathers made no secret of the fact that they wanted all of historic Palestine, but without the Palestinians and all that is associated with their history.
Hence, Menachem Begin, the late Israeli prime minister, recorded in his memoirs, The Revolt: "The partition of the Homeland [Israel] is illegal. It will never be recognised. The signature by institutions and individuals of the partition agreement is invalid. It will not bind the Jewish people. Jerusalem was and will for ever be our capital. Eretz Israel will be restored to the people of Israel. All of it. And forever."
Everything that has happened in Palestine since 1948, and in Jerusalem and Hebron in particular over the past year, can be explained in the context of this statement.
Those who ignore it, not least the Arab and Muslim leadership, do so at their peril.
That having been said, the timing of these latest provocations against the Ibrahimi Mosque has not gone unnoticed.
The Israeli moves come at a time of huge embarrassment for the European patrons of the Zionist project, who saw their passports, among them diplomatic documents, being used illegally to carry out the murder of a Palestinian figure in Dubai, a "moderate" and thus by definition a friendly country.
Crude distraction?
Is Israel trying to divert global attention from the Mabhouh assassination? [AFP]
In as much as the announcement of the new "heritage sites" coincides with the anniversary of the Goldstein massacre, it has been pointedly described as a crude distraction away from the issue of the criminal responsibility for the Dubai murder and the discomfort it has caused many in Europe.
Observers have rightly noted that while the European Union maintains its proscription of Hamas as a "terrorist organisation", they are yet to produce any evidence that the organisation has carried out a single military operation outside Occupied Palestine.
This is in stark contrast to the Israeli government, which threatens, attacks and occupies the lands of neighbouring countries, and assassinates its opponents in other sovereign nations.
Nevertheless, Israel continues to receive the patronage and support of the European Union.
If nothing else, the Zionists have surely perfected the art of gradualism, taking Palestinian territory inch by inch and brick by brick. Thus, when the Israeli government partitioned the Ibrahimi Mosque in 1994 and took two-thirds of it for Jews, it was safe to assume that was not the end of the affair.
PA surrender
While many Palestinians hold the occupation authorities responsible for the escalating tensions and damage to the mosque, they are embittered equally with the Palestinian Authority (PA) for having surrendered the area adjoining the second most important mosque in all of historic Palestine, as part of the "Hebron Protocol" of 1996.
Today, the security agencies loyal to US General Keith Dayton, the US security coordinator between Israel and the Palestinians, and the PA prevent young people living in Hebron from going to the Ibrahimi Mosque to defend it against Jewish settlers.
With the greatest sense of foreboding they point out that today it is the Ibrahimi Mosque but tomorrow it could be Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest mosque in Islam, which is under serious threat.
Salih al-Razim, the imam of the Ibrahimi Mosque, recalls that during the last five years the occupation authorities have prevented systematically the call to prayer in the mosque, particularly the daily maghrib (sunset) prayer, and all prayers on Saturdays.
Typically, the occupiers’'claim that the mosque was being annexed because it was in a state of disrepair is disingenuous because they themselves have deliberately obstructed more than 90% of maintenance efforts by the mosque authorities. In effect, theirs is only a device to intervene and seize control of the mosque.
"Second Temple"
Since the Palestinians have maintained the Ibrahimi Mosque for more than one thousand years there is nothing preventing them from doing so today apart from the occupation authorities.
Meanwhile, in April 2009 the same authorities took a huge stone from the Khatouniyah Palace and embedded it in the square in front of the Knesset, claiming that this was a stone from the "Second Temple".
Fakhri Abu Diyab, a member of the Council for the Defence of Real Estate in Silwan, reported that the Israeli operation was monitored and documented even though some of it took place in the early hours of the morning.
Several months later, in late December 2009, the Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage reported the theft of archaeological artifacts of historical importance from the Umayyad palaces in Al-Khatouniyah.
The stones in question were transported to the Ma'ale Adumim colony-settlement where some were off-loaded in a dump; other items were taken to warehouses run by the Israeli antiquities department in the Rockefeller Museum, ironically the former Palestine Archaeological Museum.
It is believed that the Islamic relics will be given cosmetic treatment and then reappear, miraculously, as "Jewish" relics. We know this because it’s not the first time that this has been done.
Mosque destruction
Scores of mosques were destroyed across Palestine in 1948 (as reported inter alia in Haaretz on July 6, 2009) and in the succeeding years as part of the deliberate policy to obliterate the Islamic identity of the country. Many were converted into museums, night clubs and restaurants.
The Great Mosque (Jaame'a al-Kabir) in Bir al-Saba'a (Beersheba) was used as a detention centre and subsequently as a court before it was abandoned.
The Afula Mosque was converted into a synagogue and Al-Qaysayrieh Mosque became a restaurant.
None of these acts will give legitimacy to the claims of the Zionist Occupation. The presence of the Palestinian population in Hebron and Jerusalem represent the greatest obstacle to the process of annexation and Judaisation.
This latest outrage could well signal the beginning of a new phase in the conflict - one that has the potential to resonate well beyond Palestine.
Daud Abdullah is the director of the Middle East Monitor- an independent media research institution founded in the United Kingdom to foster a fair and accurate coverage in the Western media of Middle Eastern issues and in particular the Palestine Question.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.
By Daud Abdullah
By Daud Abdullah
In a move that appears to be a celebration of the 16th anniversary of the massacre of 29 worshippers by the terrorist Baruch Goldstein, the Israeli government has proclaimed that the Ibrahimi Mosque in Khalil (Hebron) and Masjid Bilal ibn Rabah (mosque) in Bethlehem are "Jewish Heritage sites".
Goldstein, an American-born Israeli settler who served as a medic in the military, opened fire on worshippers at a mosque in Hebron on February 25, 1994, killing 29 and wounding more than 150, before being subdued and beaten to death.
The announcement by the government of Binyamin Netanyahu, though not surprising, is the latest in a series of Israeli attacks on Islamic historical and religious sites in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
It is consistent with the Israelis' long-standing ambition to dispose of all non-Jewish religious symbols and presence in Palestine.
While the Israeli government was announcing the annexation of the Islamic sites, dozens of settlers attempted to storm into Jericho on the pretext that they were visiting an ancient synagogue.
Under the Gaza-Jericho Agreement of May 1994, Israel agreed to dissolve its civil administration and "transferred its powers and responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority".
Israel disinterested in peace
In his first reaction to the annexation of the Ibrahimi Mosque, Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, said: "This proves that Israel is not interested in peace and negotiations."
The question is: when was Israel ever interested in such? When has it ever recognised the rights of the Palestinians? Israel’s founding fathers made no secret of the fact that they wanted all of historic Palestine, but without the Palestinians and all that is associated with their history.
Hence, Menachem Begin, the late Israeli prime minister, recorded in his memoirs, The Revolt: "The partition of the Homeland [Israel] is illegal. It will never be recognised. The signature by institutions and individuals of the partition agreement is invalid. It will not bind the Jewish people. Jerusalem was and will for ever be our capital. Eretz Israel will be restored to the people of Israel. All of it. And forever."
Everything that has happened in Palestine since 1948, and in Jerusalem and Hebron in particular over the past year, can be explained in the context of this statement.
Those who ignore it, not least the Arab and Muslim leadership, do so at their peril.
That having been said, the timing of these latest provocations against the Ibrahimi Mosque has not gone unnoticed.
The Israeli moves come at a time of huge embarrassment for the European patrons of the Zionist project, who saw their passports, among them diplomatic documents, being used illegally to carry out the murder of a Palestinian figure in Dubai, a "moderate" and thus by definition a friendly country.
Crude distraction?
Is Israel trying to divert global attention from the Mabhouh assassination? [AFP]
In as much as the announcement of the new "heritage sites" coincides with the anniversary of the Goldstein massacre, it has been pointedly described as a crude distraction away from the issue of the criminal responsibility for the Dubai murder and the discomfort it has caused many in Europe.
Observers have rightly noted that while the European Union maintains its proscription of Hamas as a "terrorist organisation", they are yet to produce any evidence that the organisation has carried out a single military operation outside Occupied Palestine.
This is in stark contrast to the Israeli government, which threatens, attacks and occupies the lands of neighbouring countries, and assassinates its opponents in other sovereign nations.
Nevertheless, Israel continues to receive the patronage and support of the European Union.
If nothing else, the Zionists have surely perfected the art of gradualism, taking Palestinian territory inch by inch and brick by brick. Thus, when the Israeli government partitioned the Ibrahimi Mosque in 1994 and took two-thirds of it for Jews, it was safe to assume that was not the end of the affair.
PA surrender
While many Palestinians hold the occupation authorities responsible for the escalating tensions and damage to the mosque, they are embittered equally with the Palestinian Authority (PA) for having surrendered the area adjoining the second most important mosque in all of historic Palestine, as part of the "Hebron Protocol" of 1996.
Today, the security agencies loyal to US General Keith Dayton, the US security coordinator between Israel and the Palestinians, and the PA prevent young people living in Hebron from going to the Ibrahimi Mosque to defend it against Jewish settlers.
With the greatest sense of foreboding they point out that today it is the Ibrahimi Mosque but tomorrow it could be Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest mosque in Islam, which is under serious threat.
Salih al-Razim, the imam of the Ibrahimi Mosque, recalls that during the last five years the occupation authorities have prevented systematically the call to prayer in the mosque, particularly the daily maghrib (sunset) prayer, and all prayers on Saturdays.
Typically, the occupiers’'claim that the mosque was being annexed because it was in a state of disrepair is disingenuous because they themselves have deliberately obstructed more than 90% of maintenance efforts by the mosque authorities. In effect, theirs is only a device to intervene and seize control of the mosque.
"Second Temple"
Since the Palestinians have maintained the Ibrahimi Mosque for more than one thousand years there is nothing preventing them from doing so today apart from the occupation authorities.
Meanwhile, in April 2009 the same authorities took a huge stone from the Khatouniyah Palace and embedded it in the square in front of the Knesset, claiming that this was a stone from the "Second Temple".
Fakhri Abu Diyab, a member of the Council for the Defence of Real Estate in Silwan, reported that the Israeli operation was monitored and documented even though some of it took place in the early hours of the morning.
Several months later, in late December 2009, the Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage reported the theft of archaeological artifacts of historical importance from the Umayyad palaces in Al-Khatouniyah.
The stones in question were transported to the Ma'ale Adumim colony-settlement where some were off-loaded in a dump; other items were taken to warehouses run by the Israeli antiquities department in the Rockefeller Museum, ironically the former Palestine Archaeological Museum.
It is believed that the Islamic relics will be given cosmetic treatment and then reappear, miraculously, as "Jewish" relics. We know this because it’s not the first time that this has been done.
Mosque destruction
Scores of mosques were destroyed across Palestine in 1948 (as reported inter alia in Haaretz on July 6, 2009) and in the succeeding years as part of the deliberate policy to obliterate the Islamic identity of the country. Many were converted into museums, night clubs and restaurants.
The Great Mosque (Jaame'a al-Kabir) in Bir al-Saba'a (Beersheba) was used as a detention centre and subsequently as a court before it was abandoned.
The Afula Mosque was converted into a synagogue and Al-Qaysayrieh Mosque became a restaurant.
None of these acts will give legitimacy to the claims of the Zionist Occupation. The presence of the Palestinian population in Hebron and Jerusalem represent the greatest obstacle to the process of annexation and Judaisation.
This latest outrage could well signal the beginning of a new phase in the conflict - one that has the potential to resonate well beyond Palestine.
Daud Abdullah is the director of the Middle East Monitor- an independent media research institution founded in the United Kingdom to foster a fair and accurate coverage in the Western media of Middle Eastern issues and in particular the Palestine Question.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.
By Daud Abdullah
THE ACT OF TERRORISM IS UN ISLAMIC.
Religion Protest Terrorism.
.“Quran says – you're free in your religion” – Muslim cleric
print version Published 09 March, 2010, 10:30
Edited 15 March, 2010, 12:05
Only multiculturalism can provide a peaceful atmosphere for mankind, and the first Islamic society created by Prophet Muhammad was multicultural, Dr Mohammed Tahir ul-Qadri told RT.
Propeller Speaking about his recently-issued religious ruling – a fatwa – which condemns terrorism and suicide bombings, Dr Tahir ul-Qadri also said “holy war” is the incorrect translation of jihad and Koran says that there should be freedom of religion.
RT: Here in the UK we mostly know the word fatwa from the one that was issued against Salman Rushdie and his book – The Satanic Verses. Could you explain what fatwa is?
TQ: Fatwa literally means a decree and a ruling and this has a very significant place in sources of Islamic laws and Islamic rulings.
RT: Why are you doing it now and why you didn't issue this fatwa after 9/11 for example?
TQ: I normally never issue a fatwa. But now I thought this was the time because terrorism as a wave became much stronger than earlier in Pakistan and that part of the world last year. Then terrorists started slaughtering people, then terrorists started even killing the people, then taking their dead bodies out of the graves and hanging them on the trees, and they started bombing everywhere and they captured the particular areas, you know, and they took over and then Pakistan military started a very strong operation against them. That was last year. And at that time I found that many scholars and many preachers and even religious political leaders kept silent on that act of brutality committed by the terrorists.
RT: Can we talk in detail – what exactly do you say in the fatwa? Why hasn’t jihad or holy war been mentioned? Why did you miss that out?
TQ: Because I concentrated only on the subject of terrorism. But I mentioned in my book categorically, that an act of terrorism is not jihad.
RT: So in fact terrorism can't be considered as a part of holy war?
TQ: Absolutely not. The holy war is a wrong translation, and I would be clear and you would be the means to communicate this message faster to the world. Its meaning is struggle. That’s it. The word war is not included in the origin and the meaning of the word jihad. Jihad is a much wider concept which means just to strive for, to struggle. If you put your energy and abilities, efforts to achieve your good end – that's known as jihad. So there's no place for aggression in the concept of jihad, no place for brutality when we speak about jihad. The holy war isn't the concept – it is holy struggle.
RT: So did terrorists hijack the concept of jihad?
TQ: Yes they did. They misguided people and youth and their efforts have no links with jihad.
RT: You used terms like “terrorism” and “innocent people” in your fatwa – these are terms that hugely open to interpretation. What did you mean by them?
TQ: I understand they again create an excuse on the base of innocent – the word innocent. I’d like to make it clear: in case of killing or non-killing, the word innocent has never been used in the Koran. This exception of innocent has never been given in Koran. The word which is used in Koran means: if anyone kills a human being without the lawful right which the court exercises if the person was an intentional murderer, so he was liable to capital punishment or he was a rebel, so as the punishment of rebellion with killing of man – he is liable to capital punishment and if he is a terrorist and he kills a person, so as punishment of the act of terrorism he is liable to death punishment. So the Koran says if the person is neither an intentional murderer nor a terrorist, killer, rebel… so if anyone kills a person who doesn't fall within these three categories, then they kill innocent people. Any peaceful population, all men who aren't fighting with you one to one on the battlefield – everybody has a right to kill anyone on the battlefield – so every single civilian person who is non-combatant is innocent.
RT: The aim of your fatwa seems to go against everything that suicide bombers and fundamentals believe about themselves. Who do you think they aimed at and what effect do you think it will have?
TQ: Millions of youngsters who aren't potential extremists but who are available. Some people who are always behind the youth, they again trap them and they again put wrong ideologies in their minds and misguide them by using wrong meanings of this terminology. First of all this will effect them, they'll be clear and they'll never be “kidnapped” by the terrorist people. Secondly, thousands of youth who haven’t been totally brainwashed and who haven't become suicide bombers yet, but they're on the same track. They’re going forward – they've become conservative, living an isolated life, they believe in isolation and don't want to be integrated and we can see a tendency which could lead them to radicalism and terrorism. These thousands of youth will stop. And I hope nobody in the whole Muslim world would be in position to rebut it. They can disagree with me just in slogans, and I can't say to be 100 per cent sure about those who were thoroughly brainwashed – but their number is little. Much larger in number are those thousands who are waiting behind to enter. At least it will stop them and this will have a very big effect on Islam and humanity.
RT: Let’s talk about what is increasingly being known as Islamophobia, particularly in Europe. Dutch politician Geert Wilders made a film which says that Koran is a fascist book – what would you say to him?
TQ: I think these are the same kind of activities – not Osama and Taliban, but their supporters who are acting against non-Muslims. If in Western world some people start to do the same kind of thing, it won't help in developing the peace process. It'll only create hatred. The question is what do they want to achieve out of that? Just hatred? Just reaction? Further disputes? Clashes and further division of humanity?
RT: There's quite a lot of opposition to Islam in Europe at the moment. The Swiss for example have banned the building of more minarets. France is talking about banning the burqa… do you think Europe is ready to accept Islam?
TQ: The best solution for peaceful atmosphere for the mankind is multiculturalism. There should be full democracy, freedom of religions, freedom of cultures and no freedom for terrorism, extremism, no freedom of creating brutality and divisions in the society. The first Islamic society created by the Prophet Muhammad, prophet of Islam in Medina, was a multicultural society. He started this society instead – alliance with Jews, Christians and their allied tribes. And their local customs, cultures, traditions, religions and customary laws were given guaranteed protection. Koran says – there should be freedom of religion. Koran says: you're free in your religion and we are free in our religion.
RT TOP STORIES
.“Quran says – you're free in your religion” – Muslim cleric
print version Published 09 March, 2010, 10:30
Edited 15 March, 2010, 12:05
Only multiculturalism can provide a peaceful atmosphere for mankind, and the first Islamic society created by Prophet Muhammad was multicultural, Dr Mohammed Tahir ul-Qadri told RT.
Propeller Speaking about his recently-issued religious ruling – a fatwa – which condemns terrorism and suicide bombings, Dr Tahir ul-Qadri also said “holy war” is the incorrect translation of jihad and Koran says that there should be freedom of religion.
RT: Here in the UK we mostly know the word fatwa from the one that was issued against Salman Rushdie and his book – The Satanic Verses. Could you explain what fatwa is?
TQ: Fatwa literally means a decree and a ruling and this has a very significant place in sources of Islamic laws and Islamic rulings.
RT: Why are you doing it now and why you didn't issue this fatwa after 9/11 for example?
TQ: I normally never issue a fatwa. But now I thought this was the time because terrorism as a wave became much stronger than earlier in Pakistan and that part of the world last year. Then terrorists started slaughtering people, then terrorists started even killing the people, then taking their dead bodies out of the graves and hanging them on the trees, and they started bombing everywhere and they captured the particular areas, you know, and they took over and then Pakistan military started a very strong operation against them. That was last year. And at that time I found that many scholars and many preachers and even religious political leaders kept silent on that act of brutality committed by the terrorists.
RT: Can we talk in detail – what exactly do you say in the fatwa? Why hasn’t jihad or holy war been mentioned? Why did you miss that out?
TQ: Because I concentrated only on the subject of terrorism. But I mentioned in my book categorically, that an act of terrorism is not jihad.
RT: So in fact terrorism can't be considered as a part of holy war?
TQ: Absolutely not. The holy war is a wrong translation, and I would be clear and you would be the means to communicate this message faster to the world. Its meaning is struggle. That’s it. The word war is not included in the origin and the meaning of the word jihad. Jihad is a much wider concept which means just to strive for, to struggle. If you put your energy and abilities, efforts to achieve your good end – that's known as jihad. So there's no place for aggression in the concept of jihad, no place for brutality when we speak about jihad. The holy war isn't the concept – it is holy struggle.
RT: So did terrorists hijack the concept of jihad?
TQ: Yes they did. They misguided people and youth and their efforts have no links with jihad.
RT: You used terms like “terrorism” and “innocent people” in your fatwa – these are terms that hugely open to interpretation. What did you mean by them?
TQ: I understand they again create an excuse on the base of innocent – the word innocent. I’d like to make it clear: in case of killing or non-killing, the word innocent has never been used in the Koran. This exception of innocent has never been given in Koran. The word which is used in Koran means: if anyone kills a human being without the lawful right which the court exercises if the person was an intentional murderer, so he was liable to capital punishment or he was a rebel, so as the punishment of rebellion with killing of man – he is liable to capital punishment and if he is a terrorist and he kills a person, so as punishment of the act of terrorism he is liable to death punishment. So the Koran says if the person is neither an intentional murderer nor a terrorist, killer, rebel… so if anyone kills a person who doesn't fall within these three categories, then they kill innocent people. Any peaceful population, all men who aren't fighting with you one to one on the battlefield – everybody has a right to kill anyone on the battlefield – so every single civilian person who is non-combatant is innocent.
RT: The aim of your fatwa seems to go against everything that suicide bombers and fundamentals believe about themselves. Who do you think they aimed at and what effect do you think it will have?
TQ: Millions of youngsters who aren't potential extremists but who are available. Some people who are always behind the youth, they again trap them and they again put wrong ideologies in their minds and misguide them by using wrong meanings of this terminology. First of all this will effect them, they'll be clear and they'll never be “kidnapped” by the terrorist people. Secondly, thousands of youth who haven’t been totally brainwashed and who haven't become suicide bombers yet, but they're on the same track. They’re going forward – they've become conservative, living an isolated life, they believe in isolation and don't want to be integrated and we can see a tendency which could lead them to radicalism and terrorism. These thousands of youth will stop. And I hope nobody in the whole Muslim world would be in position to rebut it. They can disagree with me just in slogans, and I can't say to be 100 per cent sure about those who were thoroughly brainwashed – but their number is little. Much larger in number are those thousands who are waiting behind to enter. At least it will stop them and this will have a very big effect on Islam and humanity.
RT: Let’s talk about what is increasingly being known as Islamophobia, particularly in Europe. Dutch politician Geert Wilders made a film which says that Koran is a fascist book – what would you say to him?
TQ: I think these are the same kind of activities – not Osama and Taliban, but their supporters who are acting against non-Muslims. If in Western world some people start to do the same kind of thing, it won't help in developing the peace process. It'll only create hatred. The question is what do they want to achieve out of that? Just hatred? Just reaction? Further disputes? Clashes and further division of humanity?
RT: There's quite a lot of opposition to Islam in Europe at the moment. The Swiss for example have banned the building of more minarets. France is talking about banning the burqa… do you think Europe is ready to accept Islam?
TQ: The best solution for peaceful atmosphere for the mankind is multiculturalism. There should be full democracy, freedom of religions, freedom of cultures and no freedom for terrorism, extremism, no freedom of creating brutality and divisions in the society. The first Islamic society created by the Prophet Muhammad, prophet of Islam in Medina, was a multicultural society. He started this society instead – alliance with Jews, Christians and their allied tribes. And their local customs, cultures, traditions, religions and customary laws were given guaranteed protection. Koran says – there should be freedom of religion. Koran says: you're free in your religion and we are free in our religion.
RT TOP STORIES
Sunday, March 28, 2010
TERRORIST AND HUMAN TRAFFICKERS ARE MISCHIF MAKERS
Most of the wars around the world nowadays is a hidden money making industry, where some evil men are operating to make mischief in the land so they can easily get what they want by using weak governments or the rebels, who will lay down red carpet of blood for them to reach their goal and destiny.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
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