Afternoon Posting.
- Syria Live Blog - May 25. Here .(Al-Jazeera).
- Libya Live Blog - May 23. Here (Al-Jazeera).
- Yemen Live Blog - May 27 . Here. (Al-Jazeera).
- Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan today 4.9 ! Lots of activity in Turkey.More info here.
- Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 123.Source : Here .
- Japan : For the most accurate info on the nuclear disaster go to : Paul Langley's Nuclear History Blog.Here.
- Memorial Day.Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. Service Members who died while in the military service. First enacted by formerly enslaved African-Americans to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War – it was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars.Begun as a ritual of remembrance and reconciliation after the Civil War, by the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of memory, as ordinary people visited the graves of their deceased relatives, whether they had served in the military or not. It also became a long weekend increasingly devoted to shopping, family get-togethers, fireworks, trips to the beach, and national media events such as the Indianapolis 500 auto race, held since 1911 on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.The first known observance of Memorial Day was in Charleston, South Carolina in 1865; freedmen (freed enslaved Africans) celebrated at the Washington Race Course, today the location of Hampton Park, and each year thereafter. African Americans founded Decoration Day, now referred to as Memorial Day, at the graveyard of 257 Union soldiers and labeled the gravesite "Martyrs of the Race Course" on May 1, 1865. Black Charlestonians created this American tradition.
In the North in Waterloo, New York on May 5, 1866. The friendship between General John Murray, a distinguished citizen of Waterloo, and General John A. Logan, who helped bring attention to the event nationwide, was likely a factor in the holiday's growth. On May 5, 1868, in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic – the organization for Northern Civil War veterans – Logan issued a proclamation that "Decoration Day" should be observed nationwide. It was observed for the first time on May 30 of the same year; the date was chosen because it was not the anniversary of a battle.
There were events in 183 cemeteries in 27 states in 1868, and 336 in 1869. The northern states quickly adopted the holiday; Michigan made "Decoration Day" an official state holiday in 1871 and by 1890 every northern state followed suit. The ceremonies were sponsored by the Women's Relief Corps, which had 100,000 members. By 1870, the remains of nearly 300,000 Union dead had been buried in 73 national cemeteries, located mostly in the South, near the battlefields. The most famous are Gettysburg National Cemetery in Pennsylvania and Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington.
The Memorial Day speech became an occasion for veterans, politicians and ministers to commemorate the war – and at first to rehash the atrocities of the enemy. They mixed religion and celebratory nationalism and provided a means for the people to make sense of their history in terms of sacrifice for a better nation, one closer to God. People of all religious beliefs joined together, and the point was often made that the German and Irish soldiers had become true Americans in the "baptism of blood" on the battlefield. By the end of the 1870s the rancor was gone and the speeches praised the brave soldiers both Blue and Gray. By the 1950s, the theme was American exceptionalism and duty to uphold freedom in the world.
Ironton, Ohio lays claim to the nation's oldest continuously running Memorial Day parade, it has been a tradition since 1868. The first parade was held May 5, 1868.
In the South
In Charleston, South Carolina in 1865, freedmen (freed enslaved Africans) celebrated at the Washington Race Course, today the location of Hampton Park. The site had been used as a temporary Confederate prison camp for captured Union soldiers in 1865, as well as a mass grave for Union soldiers who died there. Immediately after the cessation of hostilities, freedmen exhumed the bodies from the mass grave and reinterred them in individual graves. They built a fence around the graveyard with an entry arch and declared it a Union graveyard. On May 1, 1865, a crowd of up to ten thousand, mainly black residents, including 2800 children, proceeded to the location for events that included sermons, singing, and a picnic on the grounds, thereby creating the first Decoration Day-type celebration.
Beginning in 1866 the Southern states had their own Memorial Days, ranging from April 26 to mid June. The birthday of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, June 3, became a state holiday in 10 states by 1916. Across the South associations were founded after the war to establish and care for permanent cemeteries for Confederate soldiers, organize commemorative ceremonies, and sponsor impressive monuments as a permanent way of remembering the Confederate tradition. Women provided the leadership in these associations, paving the way to establish themselves as capable of public leadership.
The earliest Confederate Memorial Day celebrations were simple, somber occasions for veterans and their families to honor the day and attend to local cemeteries. Around 1890, there was a shift from this consolatory emphasis on honoring specific soldiers to public commemoration of the Confederate "Lost Cause". Changes in the ceremony's hymns and speeches reflect an evolution of the ritual into a symbol of cultural renewal and conservatism in the South. By 1913, however, the theme of American nationalism shared equal time with the Lost Cause.
Columbus, Mississippi at its Decoration Day on April 25, 1866, commemorated both the Union and Confederate casualties buried in its cemetery.The preferred name for the holiday gradually changed from "Decoration Day" to "Memorial Day", which was first used in 1882. It did not become more common until after World War II, and was not declared the official name by Federal law until 1967. On June 28, 1968, the Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill, which moved three holidays from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend. The holidays included Washington's Birthday, Veterans Day and Memorial Day. The change moved Memorial Day from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May. The law took effect at the federal level in 1971. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) advocate returning to the original date, although the significance of the date is tenuous. The VFW stated in a 2002 Memorial Day Address:
Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed a lot to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.Since 1987, Hawaii's Senator Daniel Inouye, a World War II veteran, has repeatedly introduced measures to return Memorial Day to its traditional date.After some initial confusion and unwillingness to comply, all 50 states adopted Congress's change of date within a few years. Memorial Day endures as a holiday which most businesses observe because it marks the unofficial beginning of summer. This role is filled in neighboring Canada by Victoria Day, which occurs either on May 24 or the last Monday before that date, placing it exactly one week before Memorial Day.Source.
- Obama Goes Golfing on Memorial Day.(Whitehousedossier).By ,Keith Koffler. The business of memorializing our war dead done, President Obama headed out to the Fort Belvoir golf course today, finding his way onto the links for the ninth weekend in a row.Obama earlier today laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and met with families of those killed in battle. But he emerged from the day’s solemnity to go golfing for the 12th time this year and the 70th time of his presidency.The decision to golf on Memorial Day invites comparison with President George W. Bush, who gave up the game early in his presidency and said he did it out of respect for the families of those killed in Iraq.Obama is out with the three younger aides he typically has in tow on his golf excursions, junior White House staffer Ben Finkenbinder, White House Trip Director Marvin Nicholson, and Energy Department staffer David Katz.In a sign of his determination to play no matter what, Obama is golfing even though it is currently 95 degrees at Fort Belvoir and it “feels like” it’s 98 degrees, according to The Weather Channel.Hmmmm......."Respect for the fallen soldiers" ever heard of it?No matter what he has to "Get His Fix"?Read the full story here.
- Yemen jets 'bomb al-Qaeda-held city'.(Al-Jazeera).At least 30 people reported killed in strikes on city of Zinjibar, which is said to be held by al-Qaeda-linked fighters.At least 30 people have been killed by military jet fire in Yemen's southern city, Zinjibar, which is said to be controlled fighters linked to al-Qaeda.The air attack on Monday appeared to be in response to Sunday's takeover of the city by 300 alleged al-Qaeda fighters and an overnight ambush that killed at least six Yemeni soldiers and injured dozens more who were travelling to the southern city."Civilians found a military car and an armoured vehicle. They were destroyed, and the bodies of six soldiers were found on the roadside," Ayman Mohamed Nasser, editor-in-chief of Attariq, Aden's main opposition paper, told the Reuters news agency by telephone.According to residents, the warplane response targeted positions held by the fighters, but also hit buildings in the town of 20,000, killing at least 13 people earlier in the day and more than 17 later on."The city is devastated. All of its residents have left. Even the dogs, animals and donkeys have abandoned it," said an opposition member in the city who asked to be named as Ali.Later on Monday night, four explosions were heard in Yemen's capital. More information about the blasts is not yet available.Opposition leaders accuse Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's embattled president under pressure to quit and end his 33-year rule, of allowing Zinjibar on the Gulf of Aden, to fall to al-Qaeda and allied fighters in order to raise alarm in the region that would in turn win him support.Elsewhere in the troubled country swept by anti-government protests, at least 20 people were killed in the southern city of Taiz after soldiers opened fire indiscriminately on a protest camp, a source said.They did not give further details on the violence in Taiz, but said the death toll was likely to rise.Ashraf Khandari, a journalist based in Aden, said protesters were sprayed with live bullets and hot water, adding that "a lot of people" had been killed.The latest unrest came days after troops loyal to Saleh clashed with Hashed tribesmen who support the opposition.A tenuous truce was reported on Sunday, but unrest erupted when security forces tried to storm Taiz's "Freedom Square", where hundreds of anti-government demonstrators have been camped for days."Most of the wounded were hit by live bullets, but some were run over by bulldozers," a medical source from a field hospital told Reuters.Al Jazeera correspondents said early on Monday that the security forces set fire to some tents of the protesters and fired water cannons and tear gas at the crowd.Security forces arrested dozens of people on Monday to head off plans for another rally in Taiz, where Saleh's troops have parked armoured vehicles in "Freedom Square".Separately, rocket attacks by government forces were reported in the tribal area of Arhab in south Yemen where fighting has taken place in the past, Al Jazeera's correspondents said.Read the full story here.
- Guess where this place is?(IsraelMatzav).I'm going to show you some pictures of a place that may be familiar to some of you (should be familiar to those who are regular readers) and you should guess where it is. For those who read Hebrew, just scroll down to the answer. For those who do not, I will put the answer below the ScribD embed.Are you ready?A MUST SEE !Read and see the full story here.
- Belgium: Muslim organization sues sociologist for making link between Islam and antisemitism.(IslamInEurope).Via HLN (Dutch):The Vigilance Musulmane (Muslim Vigilance) think-tank lodged a complaint with the Centre for Equal Opportunities and the Fight Against Racism (CGKR) against VUB professor of sociology Mark Elchardus, for statements about Islam and antisemitism he made in the De Morgen newspaper.On May 12 the newspaper published the results of a study 'Jong in Brussel' by the Youth Research Platform. In the article Mark Elchardus said that antisemitism among Muslim students was theologically inspired and that there is a direct link between being Muslim and harboring antisemitic feelings.Vigilance musulmane say that this goes back to the idea that every Muslim is antisemitic. His statements incite the public opinion to hate all Muslim citizens on the basis of their religious convictions. The think-tank say Elchardus' claim violates the anti-discrimination law of 2007 , which forbids discrimination on the basis of 'religious convictions'. They say his statements also violate article 444 of the penal code, since they were repeated extensively in print.The think-tank wants CGKR to legally review this type of public statement, and if it applies, to act appropriately.Hmmmm........Qur'an (5:51) - "O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people." Read the full story here.
- Germany: Woman sets fire to man in mosque.(TheLocal).A Turkish woman set fire to a man in a mosque in southern Germany on Saturday. She says she acted out of revenge after the man raped her.The 36-year-old poured petrol over the 38-year-old man in a mosque in the city of Reutlingen, in Baden-Württemberg, before setting him alight. The woman was taken into custody on Sunday, on charges of attempted murder, according to the state prosecutors office and the police. The victim was admitted into hospital after the attack suffering from severe burns, however his life is not in danger. According to the police, the victim and the suspect have known each other for some time. The woman claimed she had been sexually abused and molested by the man. He, on the other hand, says that there was a consensual relationship.On Saturday afternoon, according to the police, the woman’s husband and the later victim got into a fight in a room in the mosque. People attending the mosque tried to separate the two men, but were unsuccessful. The woman then poured petrol from a canister she had brought with her and set him on fire. The man was able to run outside and, with the help of a witness, managed to take off the burning clothes.The accused and her husband were arrested at the scene. The woman admitted that she had carried out the attack, saying that her motive was the alleged rape. Her husband was subsequently released.Read the full story here.
- Assad, Nasrallah discuss 'Syrian reform'(Ynet).Reforms go 'hand in hand' with backing Palestinian resistance in spite of Israel, al-Akhbar reports. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in order to discuss reforms in Syria, the Lebanese daily al-Akhbar, identified with Hezbollah, reported on Monday. Nasrallah "held more than one meeting with President Assad to discuss reforms in Syria", the report says. But Assad "did not require encouragement to proceed with reforms, as he himself presented many ideas", it was quick to add.The elusive reforms, which the paper did not go into detail over, go hand in hand, in Assad's opinion, with standing up to attempts "by officials and states that want to topple the Syrian regime because of its stance regarding the resistance" – a word used to describe Palestinian militancy – "and exhaust it so it capitulates on this issue". The report adds that Assad was so adamant in his stance on the "resistance" that he refused to hear any suggestions about it. Over the weekend anti-government protesters in Syria were seen burning pictures of Nasrallah, after the latter gave a speech voicing support for Assad. Read the full story here.
- Muslim girl, 19, 'stoned to death after taking part in beauty contest'.(DailyMail).A teenage Muslim girl was stoned to death under 'Sharia law' after taking part in a beauty contest in Ukraine.Katya Koren, 19, was found dead in a village in the Crimea region near her home. Friends said she liked wearing fashionable clothes and had come seventh in a beauty contest. Her battered body was buried in a forest and was found a week after she disappeared. Police have opened a murder probe and are investigating claims that three Muslim youths killed her claiming her death was justified under Islam. One of the three - named as 16-year-old Bihal Gaziev - is under arrest and told police she had 'violated the laws of Sharia'.Gaziev said he had no regrets about her death because she had violated the laws of Islam. Hmmmm.......Imam Feisa Abdul Rauf Sharia Law And US Constitution is The Same?Read the full story here.
- Fatah and Hamas Representatives Meet again in Turkey to Discuss Implementation of Reconciliation Agreement.(Memri).Representatives of the Palestinian factions – Fatah, Hamas, the Popular Front, and independents – met in Turkey on May 28 to discuss the strengthening and implementation of the Palestinian reconciliation agreement. Fatah representative Majed Abu Shamala said that the atmosphere had been good and that the discussions had focused on the establishment of mechanisms that would remove the Palestinian security and civil institutions from the partisan domain. Earlier meetings between representatives of Palestinian factions took place in Turkey on May 20-23, under the aegis of a Finnish NGO specializing in dialogue management. According to Hamas representative Isma'il Al-Ashqar, the meetings dealt with issues of security, the government, the political program, human rights, and representation in the PLO and in other Palestinian bodies, and were a follow-up to a meeting that took place in Finland in late 2010. The sides also met with a representative of the Turkish foreign ministry.Hmmmm....a "NATO Member" organising meetings with known terrorists?GET TURKEY OUT OF NATO!Read the full story here.
Kolkhoznik President Lukashenko declares war on Russia.(MoscowNews).Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has demanded that Russia be considered a nation at war with Belarus, as the Belarusian economy continues its freefall and the population begins to hoard food. He blames the crisis on various external factors, including an unrestrained Russian media and has effectively demanded that Russian journalists be thrown out of the country, Kommersant reported.Russia, meanwhile, has said it will “review” the loan it has been considering to bail out Minsk’s flagging rouble. Moscow has already demanded harsh terms, as it eyes up Belarus’ state companies. These include Beltransgaz, energy transit company and one of Lukashenko’s few bargaining chips.Hmmmm.....The last USSR dictator.Read the full story here.
Morning Posting.
- Syria Live Blog - May 25. Here .(Al-Jazeera).
- Libya Live Blog - May 23. Here (Al-Jazeera).
- Yemen Live Blog - May 27 . Here. (Al-Jazeera).
- Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan today 4.9 ! Lots of activity in Turkey.More info here.
- Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 123.On 30.05.2011 at 10:33 GMT+2
Two workers from Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear plant have been contaminated by high levels of radioactive iodine, the operator said Monday, prompting fears over their long-term health. The workers, reportedly men in their 30s and 40s, may have already been exposed to radiation levels higher than the recently boosted official annual limit, Japanese media suggested. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said it had been measuring the internal exposure to radiation of all employees involved in emergency work at the Fukushima Daiichi plant crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Internal exposure occurs when people take radioactive substances into their bodies through tainted air or food and drink. The company notified the governmental atomic energy agency of the possible problem and the agency confirmed that "the thyroid glands of two male employees showed high levels of radiation (iodine-131)", TEPCO said in a statement.
The Jiji Press news agency said the two workers had stopped working at the plant and were not sick at the moment. They will undergo further check-ups. The inspection by the government agency found 9,760 and 7,690 becquerels of iodine-131 in the thyroid glands of the workers, 10 times higher than other workers at Fukushima, reports said. The two men were working at a variety of locations at Fukushima Daiichi, including the central control room, in March and April, including on March 11 and during the following days. The tests sparked fears that their radiation exposure had been several hundred millisieverts, Jiji said. A few days after the disaster, the government boosted the annual limit of radiation exposure for emergency workers to 250 millisieverts from 100 as the nation battled the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986. No workers have been confirmed to have been exposed radiation higher than the annual limit since the disaster. Radioactive iodine is known to accumulate in the thyroid gland.Source : Here .
- Japan : For the most accurate info on the nuclear disaster go to : Paul Langley's Nuclear History Blog.Here.
- Classy. Obama Sits in Front Row and Chews Gum at Joplin Memorial Service (Video)Maybe he learned this at his Trinity Church?See the full 'story' here.
- The Complete #Weinergate Timeline: Crack investigative journalists at Politico ignore overwhelming evidence it really was Weiner's wiener.(DougRoss).When it comes to investigating Democrats -- especially nascent Democrat superstars -- the hacks at Politico must turn a blind eye to facts, logic and reason. Which also explains why they are Democrats. Consider what "media" must ignore to believe Rep. Anthony Weiner's story that the photo tweeted from his account, depicting a skinny white dude with bulging underwear, was not him. He asserts, on his Twitter account and through spokesmen, that his social accounts were all hacked and then immediately recovered somehow.Consider this timeline:Read and see the full story here.
- Another "CHANGE" brought to you by the Obama administration,no more 4th of July fireworks?(SignonSandiego).Fireworks shows need new environmental review.Court ruling could have sweeping impact.What started as a battle over fireworks shows led to a sweeping legal victory Friday for environmentalists that could stymie a wide range of events needing city permits, from the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon to birthday parties held at parks.“According to the strictest interpretation of this, jumpy-jumps and everything else would be subject to environmental review if this ruling stands,” said lawyer Robert Howard, who represented the La Jolla Community Fireworks Foundation in the case. “It’s a breathtaking ruling.”
California Environmental Quality Act
• The statute requires state and local agencies to identify significant environmental impacts of their actions and avoid or mitigate them, if feasible.
• Its origin can be traced to passage of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. The next year, the state Legislature passed its own version and Gov. Ronald Reagan signed it.
• Projects that need discretionary governmental approval and could have an environmental impact generally require review under the law, unless an exemption applies.
• Public agencies are entrusted with compliance, which is enforced by the public through litigation.
Superior Court Judge Linda Quinn said La Jolla’s annual Fourth of July fireworks show requires evaluation under the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA.The case, filed by the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation in Encinitas, targeted San Diego’s approval of the La Jolla event but eventually drew in a broad swath of city permits. San Diego officials said they issue about 400 special-events permits annually, along with up to 20,000 park-use permits for smaller-scale gatherings — most of which would now need environmental assessment.“San Diego issues thousands of these simple park-use permits over the counter with the only consideration being space, just as other cities do across the state,” said City Attorney Jan Goldsmith. “Existing law has never been interpreted to require a CEQA review for this. ... This decision opens the door to absurd results. This is the reason appellate courts exist and we plan to ask for their help.”Even before the judge’s ruling was finalized, Chula Vista officials on Thursday pulled the plug on their July Fourth show in the face of funding shortfalls and environmental challenges.The future of La Jolla’s event was fuzzy Friday. Organizers likely can’t complete the time-intensive and costly CEQA analysis by July 4, but Howard said he would ask the court to allow this year’s event while the case is appealed.City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner, whose district includes La Jolla, said she hoped to find a solution. “We have to strike a balance that protects the environment but also allows our finest traditions to continue,” she said.On Tuesday, the City Council ratified a long-standing city policy of exempting fireworks shows from special-events permits unless food or alcohol is sold. It was an attempt to shield pyrotechnics from environmental challenges, but Friday’s decision means CEQA still applies.Environmental impact reports can take a year and cost tens of thousands of dollars.“Does that mean every event has to get a full environmental impact report? No, but it means that the city has to undertake the burden and applicants have to undertake the cost” of a lower-level CEQA analysis, Howard said.He said some “events” such as temporary Christmas tree stands have existing exemptions under the law, but many others don’t.Alex Roth, a spokesman for Mayor Jerry Sanders, framed the suit as part of a “bizarre crusade to stop fireworks.”“What’s next, a lawsuit against swimmers for polluting the ocean with their suntan lotion?” Roth said.Hmmmm......where will this dictatorship end?Read the full story here.
- You got to be kidding?Albemarle Road church fined $100 per branch for excessive tree pruning.(Charlotteobserver).Every two to three years, Eddie Sales trims and prunes the crape myrtles at his church, Albemarle Road Presbyterian Church.But this year, the city of Charlotte cited the church for improperly pruning its trees."We always keep our trees trimmed back because you don't want to worry about them hanging down in the way," said Sales, a church member.The church was fined $100 per branch cut for excessive pruning, bringing the violation to $4,000."I just couldn't believe it when I heard about it," Sales said. "We trim our trees back every three years all over our property, and this is the first time we have been fined."The fine will be dropped if the church replaces each of the improperly pruned trees, said Tom Johnson, senior urban forester for city of Charlotte Land Development Division.Hmmmmm......Goodbye private property?Read the full story here.
- 'Bradford is very inbred': Muslim outrage as professor warns first-cousin marriages increase risk of birth defects.(DailyMail).Inbreeding among British Muslims is threatening the health of their children, a leading geneticist warned yesterday.Professor Steve Jones, from University College London, said the common practice in Islamic communities for cousins to marry each other increased the risk of birth defects.‘There may be some evidence that cousins marrying one another can be harmful,’ he told an audience at the Hay Festival. ‘We should be concerned about that as there can be a lot of hidden genetic damage. Children are much more likely to get two copies of a damaged gene. ‘Bradford is very inbred. There is a huge amount of cousins marrying each other there.’ Studies have shown that 55 per cent of British Pakistanis are married to first cousins – and in Bradford, this rises to 75 per cent.Other research has found that children of first cousins are ten times more likely to have recessive genetic disorders and face deafness, blindness and infant mortality.But Prof Jones’s comments provoked anger among some Muslim groups yesterday.Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, which promotes the image of Muslims in Britain, said: ‘I know many Muslims who have married their cousins and none of them have had a problem with their children.‘Obviously, we don’t want any children to be born disabled who don’t need to be born disabled, so I would advise genetic screening before first cousins marry.'But I find Steve Jones’s comments unworthy of a professor. Using language like “inbreeding” to describe cousins marrying is completely inappropriate and further demonises Muslims.’Concern about the risks to children from first-cousin marriage has been described as the last great taboo.Read the full story here.More on Muslim Inbreeding: Impacts on intelligence, sanity, health and society here.
- Gaza: Sheikh Yassin's house declared heritage site.(Ynet).Hamas to open home of spiritual leader killed in 2004 to visitors, turning location into historical landmark.The Hamas government decided to open the home of its former spiritual leader and founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was assassinated in 2004, to visitors.A Hamas official announced the decision will allow visitors to learn more about Yassin's "Jihadist career" as well as his activities against the "Israeli occupation." "The goal is to commemorate his image in a place which saw him devote his life to the distribution of Islam," the official remarked.Hamas prime minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh gave his blessing to the project, saying: "It will help us revive the memory of the Sheikh amongst the Arab and Islamic population."Visitors will be able to see the many pictures hanging in Yassin's living room, including photos with such leaders as Former Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. The wheelchair he used to get around the house and his conference room will also be on display.Abu Bilal Yassin, the person tasked with maintaining the site, said the home embodies "the history of the Palestinian people's resistance as well as Yassin's life." Hamas made sure to preserve and display, for the first time ever, the wheelchair Yassin sat on when he was assassinated, as well as the blanket he covered himself with that day.Hmmmmm.......Hamas Obama's peace partners sanctifying murderous terrorists.Read the full story here.
- Will an Arab Spring be needed for Turkey?(HurriyetDaily).The question of what exactly President Barack Obama wanted to achieve by his Middle East speech was on everybody’s mind in Washington last week, which was filled by Israel related events. Obama’s speech on the Middle East and “shocking” 1967 lines reference created a political earthquake between him and Israeli right wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with conservative Jewish-Americans, many of whom I talked with during the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC’s annual conference in Washington.The AIPAC crowd was not only woeful with Obama’s rhetoric but also was disturbed by repercussions of the Arab Spring across the region in addition to serious signals about the possibility of the peaceful protests’ arrival into Palestine. These vexations subjoined by the fear of loosing regional allies left and right were clearly reflected on Netanyahu’s body language at the White House, while lecturing Obama in front of a whole world.Turkey was also another source of exasperation among the AIPAC crowd, which was lengthily discussed in two AIPAC panels. Robert Wexler, a former co-chair of the Turkish Caucus at the Congress, therefore had two extremely difficult tasks at the conference; to defend Obama’s speech against mostly wrathful audience, and explain the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, leadership to some other ireful listeners as not a total “enemy,” an observation, which Wexler only laughed at when I conveyed to him during post-panel conversation.There certainly seems to be a “Turkey” problem for Israel, though it increasingly appears from Washington that the United States administration has been settling for a “modus vivendi” with “fretful” Turkish administration, by mainly pursuing a case by case approach in the relations. Dr. Anne-Marie Slaughter, director of the Policy Planning at the State Department until just a few weeks ago, as the first woman to fulfill the position in U.S. history, in an interview after Netanyahu’s theatrical joint session of Congress address on Tuesday, stated Turkey did not exactly live up to the expectations of Washington as a regional partner in last two years, citing primarily the Tehran Reactor Deal, in which she refused to elaborate how exactly the accident happened. On Syria, Slaughter sees the Turkish diplomatic efforts to persuade Assad regime so far “ineffective... since Syria is still continuing its violence against its people,” though she believes that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu “have a real opportunity to exercise regional leadership here.”Ankara so far neither went far enough to join the West in sanctions against Assad regime, nor was able to stay indifferent to Damascus’ brutal crackdown on its civilians. In result, neither Damascus nor the West has come to appreciate its efforts.Views greatly vary over what constitutes ‘naivete’ or “foresight” for Turkey’s Syrian policy. One “realist” Turkey and Middle East expert this week was seeking an answer behind what the expert called Turkey’s “unrealist” policy towards Syria, arguing that “since the basic power structures of the Syrian regime are strong and civilian protests are over-blown by the Western media,” why then does Ankara push Assad into Iran’s arms and demolishes decade long political and economic investments there?What is taking place is probably the following: While S. Arabia, by large, is taking the lead of the counterrevolution forces in the region, the discussions continues in Ankara whether to take a lead of the “pro-change” forces during “the fourth wave of democratization,” as Slaughter calls the Arab Revolution, and this indecisive state of Turkish mind produces half-measured and thankless policies. “All previous waves of democratization have resulted in more democracies overall, those countries that make it, that cast off dictatorship and succeed in electing governments… over time they will also make the Middle East a more stable, peaceful, and prosperous region,” said Slaughter.It is not only the Arab world but also Turkey has a tough road ahead. While the Arab world will live through upheavals, Turkey will undertake a historic mission to write its own, civilian Constitution following the June elections, deal with the Kurdish reality head-on and witness if the Ergenekon trials will do a just, so Turkey can start its normal life.Indeed, in the post-election period, it is Turkey who will have to update its own democratic credentials by creating such an inclusive constitution so it can lead by its own example in an evermore democratized region.If the Turkish leadership cannot get these vital issues right, I am afraid, or confident, that we will witness the spirit of the Arab Spring begin with startling splashes in many corners of Turkey.That is why, there is no other way for Ankara but to set audaciously a sample for best democratic norms, for its and region’s future.Hmmmm......Turkey the next Iran.Read the full story here.
- Iranian Ayatollah Affirms Legitimacy of Suicide Operations, Approves Killing Israeli Civilians –Including Children.(Memri). May 30, 2011 Special Dispatch No.3875
The issue of martyrdom operations and their religious legitimacy has been repeatedly discussed by Iranian ayatollahs. In a recent fatwa posted on his website in response to an online inquiry, Iranian Ayatollah Taqi Mesbah-e Yazdi ruled that martyrdom operations were not only legitimate but were a duty incumbent upon every Muslim.The inquirer asked whether such operations were considered suicide and were therefore forbidden, and whether Israeli civilians, especially children, were to be regarded as illegitimate targets, like civilians elsewhere. In his reply, Ayatollah Mesbah-e Yazdi expressed regret that the inquirer had apparently bought into the propaganda of the enemies of Islam, which presented martyrdom operations as suicide, and that the inquirer was wasting his time on this issue instead of focusing on "uprooting the Zionist regime" and its supporters. The Ayatollah ruled that when defending Islam and the Muslim ummah necessitated martyrdom, it was not considered suicide.
Martyrdom Operations Are Not Only Permissible but Obligatory
Q: "Some people say that martyrdom operations are considered suicide and that they are haram [forbidden] because they contradict Islam. They quote Hadiths, such as this one by Imam Ja'afar [Al-Sadeq]: 'A Muslim may fight and be killed [by the enemy], but will never shed his own blood' and ayat [Koranic verses] such as: 'Do not kill yourselves, for Allah is compassionate towards you. Whoever [does,] does so in transgression and wrongfully. We shall roast [him] in a fire, and that is an easy matter for Allah.' [Koran 4:29-30]
"They say this even about the martyrdom operations against military targets, such as the ones used by Hizbullah [in] Lebanon, or the ones used by the Iranian army against Saddam's army...
"The question [is whether] martyrdom operations, in which a person detonate[s] himself [in the midst of] enemy [forces], are haram. Is it suicide? Why or why not? Please answer this question, as there is lots of discussion and confusion about this issue."
A: "It is regrettable that the propaganda of the enemies of Islam has influenced the Muslim ummah so much that Muslims, instead of planning for the uprooting of the Zionist regime and its arrogant supporters, have occupied themselves with questioning and discussing the legitimacy of the Palestinians' self defense, which is carried out under the most oppressive conditions imaginable.
"[Certainly], when protecting Islam and the Muslim ummah depends on martyrdom operations, it not only is allowed, but is even an obligation (wajib), as many of the [great Shi'ite] scholars and Maraje' [sources of emulation], including [Ayatollah] Safi Golpayegani and [Ayatollah] Fazel Lankarani, have clearly announced in their fatwas. Consider the rewayah [i.e. tradition about] the prophet of Allah [i.e. Muhammad], who said: 'Whoever is killed in defense of his belongings, he/she is [a] shahid [martyr]' (Wasa'il al-Shi'ah, v.15, p.121)."
Only Those Israelis Who Openly Denounce Their Government Are Illegitimate Targets
Q: "Now, about [the] targeting [of] civilians in the Zionist state. Some say that according to the teaching[s] of [Ahl Al-Bayt, i.e. the Prophet Muhammad's household] and the Koran, it is haram to target civilians in any case. They also say that Israelis are civilians like any other people, while others believe they are settlers and usurpers [rather than] civilians.
"Are the operations [carried out] by Hamas and [Islamic] Jihad against [Israeli] 'civilians' haram? Why or why not? How about the Israeli children killed in such attacks? If it is not haram, what is the answer to those who quote the Hadith [which forbids targeting] non-combatants."
A: "Muslims should not attack those civilians of the occupied territories who have announced their opposition to their government's vicious crimes, except [in] situations in which they are used as human shields and [when] fighting the aggressors depends on attacking those [same] civilians."
Q: "...Given the fact that [today] there are [weapons of] mass destruction and that it is not always easy to prevent civilian [casualties] in wars [as it was in the past], what would be the ruling about attacks that unintentionally kill civilians in wars (as in the case of the Iran-Iraq war)?
"Also, say we live in a Muslim country, and there is another country which attack[s] one of our cities with nuclear weapons and wipe[s] it out. Then this country announce[s that] it will destroy our cities one by one using nuclear weapons.
"Supposing [this same] country ha[s] all its nuclear weapons in one of their cities – would it be [permissible] for [a] Muslim country to attack this city and destroy the nuclear weapons there before they are used to annihilate the Muslims, even though [this] would [cause civilian casualties] in that city, [if] this [were] the only way to protect the lives of the Muslims?..."
A: "In the case of conflict between two Muslim nations, Muslims should assist the oppressed against the oppressor.
"But before the war is waged, initiating [preemptive attacks] depends on [whether] permission [is granted by the] velayat-e faqih [rule of the jurisprudent]."With prayers for your success."Hmmmm......Read the full story here.
- Brotherhood sheikh to run for president wants to see no 'naked' women on the beaches,goodbye tourism.(Almasryalyoum)Muslim Brotherhood Sheikh Hazem Abu Ismail announced his intention to run in Egypt’s upcoming presidential elections.He said that if elected he would implement Islamic sharia law and cancel the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.Ismail was the Brotherhood’s candidate in 2005 parliamentary elections for Dokki in Giza.The group announced earlier that it would not take part in the presidential elections and confirmed that it would compete for only half the seats in Parliament. But Ismail is the second Brotherhood member to have announced his intention to run for president in defiance of the group's leadership. The other Brotherhood candidate is Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh, a liberal-minded Islamist.Abu Ismail said Saturday during a speech in a Dokki mosque that he will sweep the elections. Since he is an ordinary man, he said, the masses will support him.Abu Ismail said that his platform revolves around Islam, while "Mohamed ElBaradei, Amr Moussa, and Hamdeen Sabahi, the liberal candidates, will be unable to present a clear vision” for the country.“If I could apply sharia in Egypt, all people, including non-Muslims, would applaud me four years later,” said Abu Ismail.For his opinion on Brotherhood, he said, “They are chaste people and my opinion would not change even if they don’t support me.”Concerning the peace treaty with Israel, he said, “The Camp David peace treaty is insulting to the Egyptian people, so it must be canceled, and I will do my best to convince people to cancel it.”The sheikh said that no current presidential candidate represents the Egyptian people.“We seek to apply Islamic law, but those who don’t want it prefer cabarets, alcohol, dancers and prostitution, as the implementation of Islamic law will prohibit women to appear naked in movies and on beaches,”Abu Ismail added.Hmmmm......Welcome back to A.d.620?Read the full story here.
- Will Islam Destroy Itself?(SultanKnish).In his address to congress, Netanyahu said that militant Islam threatens Islam. As if there were any such thing as a non-militant form of Islam. An ideology that was militantly expansionistic from birth. And yet that expansionism does threaten it.It's not mere militancy that threatens Islam, but its own lack of proportion. Had the Nazis satisfied themselves with a round of domestic purges and only a little territorial expansionism, today they might still be running a bankrupt decaying state. And news stories from the 1970's and 1980's might carry reports of popular protests against the disastrous economics of National Socialism. But Hitler and his cronies lacked a sense of proportion. When they capped off an invasion of Russia, war in Africa and an air campaign against England, with a declaration of war on America-- they were done. And their ideology went down with them.
If an ideology fighting a simultaneous war on nearly every continent sounds familiar, it should. The new Islamic crusade is just as arrogantly overextended. Just as certain that it can win every battle because it's destined to. That its inherent superiority makes it unbeatable. And that its enemies are cowards who are easily tricked and even more easily beaten.
Petrodollars and Jihadis are being rushed to conflicts around the globe. And Muslim countries are racing to acquire nuclear weapons, even though it puts their own populations in the firing line of a nuclear war. Muslim terrorism is turning immigration into a national security issue. And Sharia is raising hackles even among many liberals. The arrogance and hubris of the Islamic crusade for a new caliphate has made too many enemies, too fast. And it relies on Western complicity and money. That remains its weak point.
Had Muslims focused on domestic revolutions, most of the world would have let it go. Western countries have lost their enthusiasm for armed interventions on behalf of tyrants. And if foreign businessmen can learn to live with Dubai and Saudi Arabia, they would have accepted similar transformations in Egypt and Syria. Muslims could have assembled a Caliphate with hardly an objection from abroad. But instead they spent more time focused on conquest, than on revolution.
Like an amateur gambler flush with his winnings, the Imams and Mullahs swelled with pride and decided they couldn't lose. They wouldn't just bring down their own countries, instead they would tie everything together and pull it all down. Use terrorism to blackmail and intimidate the West. And then use that as a lever for regime change. It's working quite well so far. But then again most battle plans work, when the enemy is hardly fighting back.The Islamists are assembling too many enemies too fast, to consider what would happen if those enemies united against them. They have spent too much time gloating over the Western dependency on their oil and their immigrants to think about what will happen the day the oil pipeline and the immigration pipeline are cut off. Like the Nazis, they are spending too much time moving pins on a map to note all the places where they are advancing, all the wars they are fighting and all the mosques they are building, to take the time to realize how vulnerable that makes them.Fortune rewards the aggressor who takes the initiative. But that's only until he overreaches. And then the other side takes the initiative.Read the full story here.
- At least six Yemeni soldiers killed in 'al-Qaeda-held town'.(Al-Jazeera).At least six Yemeni soldiers have been killed and dozens injured in an apparent ambush as they travelled to Zinjibar, a southern city reportedly under the control of al-Qaeda fighters, a security official has said.According to residents, Yemeni warplanes later targeted positions held by the fighters.Earlier on Sunday, residents spoke of up to 300 fighters entering Zinjibar and taking over "everything". The fighters were alleged to be al-Qaeda members.Opposition leaders accuse Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's embattled president under pressure to quit and end his 33-year rule, of allowing Zinjibar on the Gulf of Aden, to fall to al-Qaeda and allied fighters in order to raise alarm in the region that would in turn win him support.The security official who spoke about the attack in Zinjibar said he not did not know who was responsible and gave no figures of the injured soldiers.Elsewhere in the troubled country swept by anti-government protests, at least 20 people were killed in the southern city of Taiz after soldiers opened fire indscriminately on a protest camp, a source said. They did not give further details on the violence in Taiz, but said the death toll was likely to rise.Ashraf Khandari, a journalist based in Aden, said protesters were sprayed with live bullets and hot water, adding that "a lot of people" had been killed.The latest unrest came days after troops loyal to Saleh clashed with Hashed tribesmen who support the opposition.Read the full story here.More here.
- Mark Zuckerberg Avoids Death Penalty in Pakistan: But Facebook Likely To Be Shut Down.(AhmadiyyaTimes).Source/Credit: Gizmo Crunch |By Christopher Hudson | May 26, 2011
Facebook had come under heavy criticism for its lackluster approach to privacy. While most tech pundits were certain that this would be the eventual demise of Facebook, a new turn of events show that the social network has managed to create waves in many other ways, seeing as the Facebook users and their content it technically the responsibility and property of Facebook.TG Daily reports that Mark Zuckerberg has just dodged the death penalty in Pakistan after a blasphemy case had been silently dropped by the Pakistani courts.Zuckerberg came under heavy fire when an American used Facebook for a 'Everybody Draw Mohammed!' competition. Pakistan had temporarily blocked access to the site but due to the absence of appropriate legislation the High Court ordered, the site was again accessible in Pakistan. Simultaneously, the Deputy Attorney General took legal action and prosecuted Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg under section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code:"Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, 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." - 295-C (Pakistan Penal Code).While we are certain that even if the charges weren't dropped, the Pakistani court would not have been able to lay down the sentence as they would have had a tough time extraditing Zuckerberg from the US. Nevertheless as TG Daily reports, while "he's no longer under threat of the death penalty. Unfortunately, though, a Pakistani court has essentially ordered the government to police Facebook for 'objectionable' content, meaning there's a high chance the site will be shut down in the country."Hmmmmm........The 'allies' of the Obama administration.Read the full story here.
- Bill to treat Hindus in India as Jews In Nazi Germany – All Under Sonia Gandhi Leadership.(HIDF).A Bill that damns the majority . May 28, 2011 2:27:22 AM .By Arun Jaitley.
The draft Prevention of Communal Violence Bill appears to be the handiwork of those social entrepreneurs who have learnt from the Gujarat experience of how to fix senior leaders even when they are not liable for an offence
A draft of a proposed legislation titled “Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2011” has been put in public domain. The draft Bill ostensibly appears to be a part of an endeavour to prevent and punish communal violence in the country. Though that may be the ostensible object of the proposed law its real object is to the contrary. It is a Bill which if it is ever enacted as a law will intrude into the domain of the State, damage the federal polity of India, and create an imbalance in the inter-community relationship of this country.
What does the Bill in effect state
The most vital definition of the Bill is of the expression ‘group’. A ‘group’ means a religious or linguistic minority and in a given State may include the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The Bill creates a whole set of new offences in Chapter II. Clause 6 clarifies that the offences under this Bill are in addition to the offences under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Can a person be punished twice for the same offence? Clause 7 prescribes that a person is said to commit sexual assault if he or she commits any of the sexual act against a person belonging to a ‘group’ by virtue of that person’s membership of a group.
Clause 8 prescribes that ‘hate propaganda’ is an offence when a person by words oral or written or a visible representation causes hate against a ‘group’ or a person belonging to a ‘group’.
Clause 9 creates an offence for communal and targeted violence. Any person who singly or jointly or acting under the influence of an association engages in unlawful activity directed against a ‘group’ is guilty of organised communal and targeted violence.
Clause 10 provides for punishment of a person who expends or supplies money in the furtherance or support of an offence against a ‘group’. The offence of torture is made out under
Clause 12 where a public servant inflicts pain or a suffering, mental or physical, on a person belonging to a ‘group’.
Clause 13 punishes a public servant for dereliction of duty in relation to offences mentioned in this Bill.
Clause 14 punishes public servants who control the armed forces or security forces and fails to exercise control over people in his command in order to discharge their duty effectively.
Clause 15 expands the principle of vicarious liability. An offence is deemed to be committed by a senior person or office-bearer of an association and he fails to exercise control over subordinates under his control or supervision. He is vicariously liable for an offence which is committed by some other person.
Clause 16 renders orders of superiors as no defence for an alleged offence committed under this section. Any communal trouble during which offences are committed is a law and order problem. Dealing with the law and order is squarely within the domain of the State Governments. In the division of powers between the Centre and the States, the Union Government has no direct authority to deal with the law and order issues; nor is it directly empowered to deal with them nor it can legislate on the subject. The Union Government’s jurisdiction restricts itself to issue advisories, directions and eventually forming an opinion under Article 356 that the governance of the State can be carried on in accordance with the Constitution or not. If the proposed Bill becomes a law, then effectively it is the Union Government which would have usurped the jurisdiction of the States and legislated on a subject squarely within the domain of the States.
India has been gradually moving towards a more amicable inter-community relationship. Even when minor communal or caste disturbances occur, there is a national mood of revulsion against them. The Governments, media, the courts among other institutions rise to perform their duty. The perpetrators of communal trouble should certainly be punished. This draft Bill however proceeds on a presumption that communal trouble is created only by members of the majority community and never by members of the minority community. Thus, offences committed by members of the majority community against members of the minority community are punishable. Identical offences committed by minority groups against the majority are not deemed to be offences at all. Thus a sexual assault is punishable under this Bill only if committed against a person belonging to a minority ‘group’. A member of a majority community in a State does not fall within the purview of a ‘group’. ‘Hate propaganda’ is an offence against the minority community and not otherwise. Organised and targeted violence, hate propaganda, financial help to such persons who commit an offence, torture or dereliction of duty by public servants are all offences only if committed against a member of the minority community and not otherwise. No member of the majority community can ever be a victim. This draft law thus proceeds on an assumption which re-defines the offences in a highly discriminatory manner. No member of the minority community is to be punished under this Act for having committed the offence against the majority community. It is only a member of the majority community who is prone to commit such offences and therefore the legislative intent of this law is that since only majority community members commit these offences, culpability and punishment should only be confined to them. If implemented in a manner as provided by this Bill, it opens up a huge scope for abuse. It can incentivise members of some communities to commit such offences encouraged by the fact that they would never be charged under the Act. Terrorist groups may no longer indulge in terrorist violence. They will be incentivised to create communal riots due to a statutory assumption that members of a jihadi group will not be punished under this law. The law makes only members of the majority community culpable. Why should the law discriminate on the basis of religion or caste? An offence is an offence irrespective of origin of the offender. Here is a proposed law being legislated in the 21st century where caste and religion of an offender wipe out his culpability. Hmmmm........Why do i have this gut feeling this 'law' will be followed by others?Read the full story here.
