MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Isaiah 5:20-21, 24, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness… who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight… as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust …”

Promotes the devil

By Joseph Mayton, Bikyamasr – “ELAKA, Malaysia: The small street seller had all the European club jerseys ready for sale on Saturday evening, as passersby wanted to grab their favorite international shirt ahead of this month’s Euro 2012. But for Portugal fans, the jersey was nowhere to be found.

‘We are not allowed to sell the jersey because it shows a cross,’ the shopkeeper told Bikyamasr.com. ‘I still love Portugal and will be rooting for them, but we are an Islamic country and don’t want to get people angry,’ he added.

While it is not officially banned in the country, a number of Islamic clerics have voiced their concern over the jersey, which has a large cross on the front, highlighting Portugal’s Catholic faith. But in Malaysia, symbols often find themselves under attack by the country’s virulent Muslim clerics.

However, one fan, who recently returned from a short trip to Thailand sports his Ronaldo jersey with pride. ‘I don’t care what those people say, this is just football and not religion,’ he said.

Portugal is not the only jersey to be pulled from the shelves. Brazil, which also boasts a large cross, has been barred by clerics. Manchester United, the world’s most popular club team, has also sparked the ire of clerics in the Southeast Asian country over its nickname, the Red Devils.

Despite the Old Trafford side having an estimated 81 million followers in Asia, one senior cleric said: ‘You are only promoting the devil.’

‘This is very dangerous. As a Muslim we should not worship the symbols of other religions or the devils,’ another added, in a Forbes report.

‘It will erode our belief in Islam. There is no reason why we as Muslims should wear such jerseys, either for sports or fashion reasons.’

Either way, Malaysians are gearing up for Europe’s continental tournament and are picking up their team’s jerseys in large numbers.

‘We are getting most of these sold all the time because of the tournament, so it’s good for business,’ added the shopkeeper.

But not for Portugal fans.” Source – Bikyamasr.

Flashback: Malaysia: Rise of Strict Islam Exposes Fears and Tensions, ‘If You Don’t Follow the Mainstream You Will Be Lynched’ – “Muslim women without headscarves are a common sight on the streets of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. But engaging them in a discussion about the hijab is difficult. Norhayati Kaprawi is a Malaysian activist whose recent documentary Aku Siapa (Who Am I) deals with the issue of how women in Malaysia should dress. She found some women unwilling to show their faces in her film – not on religious grounds, but becasue they feared reprisals. This is a damning reflection on Malaysia’s Muslim society, says Ms Norhayati.” Read more.

Is it any wonder that when 80% or more of mosques in the west preach violent extremism and Islamic supremacy that we see a steady increase of Anti-Semitic and Anti-Christian “incidents” involving the “religion of peace”? If the Muslim community in France is any indication today, then we can be absolutely certain that similar behaviour will be seen in the cities of America tomorrow …

IPT News – “Three Jews were attacked Saturday night in Southeast France by 10 men wielding a hammer and an iron bar. Two of the victims, both wearing yarmulkes, were hospitalized in what the French Interior Ministry is calling an act of anti-Semitism.

This latest attack comes on the heels of a report released June 1 by the French Jewish community’s protection service, known as the SPCJ, which documented a surge in anti-Semitic attacks throughout France in March and April. The impetus is believed to be the March 19 shooting at a Jewish day school in Toulouse, in which Muslim radical Mohamed Merah claimed the lives of three children and a rabbi.

The report states that the Toulouse shooting ‘triggered an explosion’ in anti-Semitic attacks in France, with more than 90 incidents occurring in the ten days immediately following the shooting. In total, the Interior Ministry logged 148 anti-Semitic attacks in March and April, with 43 classified as violent. In the same months last year, only 14 violent attacks were recorded against Jews.

The last violent incident documented in the interim report occurred April 30 in Marseille, when self-identified Palestinians accosted a Jewish man and his girlfriend while promising to ‘exterminate’ the Jews. The man sustained internal bleeding from the attack.” Read more.

Imams’ indoctrinating French Muslims with culture of hate, racism – “In reaction to the incident, French Jewish artist Ron Agam told the Algemeiner that, ‘It is about time now for the French authorities to radically search for these Imams and put a stop to the brainwashing on tens of thousands of Muslim kids in France.’ ‘It is unacceptable that this culture of racism and antisemitism is being tolerated by a significant number of the Muslim community, this culture must stop,’ he concluded.” Read more.

Flashback: Report: Saudis Export Anti-Christian and Anti-Jewish Textbooks that Continue to Fuel Intolerance and Violence Around the Globe – “Textbooks used in Saudi Arabia’s schools contain virulent forms of anti-Christian and anti-Jewish bigotry that continue to fuel intolerance and violence around the globe, says a new report…  ‘Because of the Saudis’ great oil wealth, it is able to disseminate its textbooks … to many Muslim schools, mosques and libraries throughout the world. ‘This is not just hate mongering, it’s promoting violence,’ … Christians are referred to as ‘swine’ and Jews as ‘apes,’ while being blamed for much of the world’s ills.” Read more.

“The worst sin and distraction from virtue that I have left for man is woman” – Prophet of Islam, Mohammed, Sahih AlBukhari, 5096

 “When I stood on the door of hell, I saw most of its inhabitants were women” – Prophet of Islam, Mohammed, Sahih AlBukhari, 5196

By Nabila Ramdani – “If you were to read a first draft of last year’s Egyptian revolution, it would probably be written by a woman. The uprisings that spread across the country from late January were originally chronicled by prolific female writers such as Nawara Negm, who used everything from internet blogs to appearances on Al Jazeera to spread information to the outside world. ‘Freedom is only for those who are ready to die,’ was her mantra, although the protesters’ tactics proved less extreme. Civil disobedience, marches and strikes were preferred to violence, with the number of women in Cairo’s Tahrir (‘liberation’) Square peaking at around 50%.

How dispiriting, then, a year and a half on, to see a highly politicised female population relegated to near-onlookers during Egypt’s first bona fide presidential election race.

In Cairo today, there is no longer a sense of a traditionally patriarchal society yielding to the democratic spirit of the Arab Spring. Instead, the hundreds of thousands of women who contributed so much to the downfall of President Hosni Mubarak find themselves marginalised, if not ignored.

Commentators have made much of the 40% of seats won by the Freedom and Justice party of the Muslim Brotherhood in parliamentary elections earlier this year. Some have suggested that Egypt has replaced a western-backed, secular dictatorship with an Islamic version, but for others the true headline figure was the paltry 12 seats for women out of a total of 498.

This translates into female representation of 2.4% compared with an already low UN world average of 19%. The 13 starting candidates in the presidential race – the run-off takes place 16-17 June – were all men.

‘The truth is that women were doing better under Mubarak,’ says Dina Shobra, a 20-year-old law student at Al-Azhar University who is out shopping in downtown Cairo. Dina, who wears a headscarf and still lives at home with her parents and four younger siblings, thinks that a combination of complacency and fear has reversed the successes of the 18-day revolution. ‘The complacency comes from conservative Egyptians who believe that a woman’s place is in the home,’ she says. ‘The fear is of the army and its oppression.'” Read more.

Flashback: Women’s Rights In Egypt: Islamist Parliament Members Introduce Several Controversial Draft Laws That Will Bring Egypt Back To Middle Ages If Passed – “Islamist Members of Parliament in Egypt are trying to deprive Egyptian women of their basic rights by introducing several controversial draft laws that, if passed, will bring Egypt back to the Middle Ages… Egypt’s National Council for Women is campaigning against the above mentioned Islamist initiatives that are targeting women rights, saying that ‘marginalizing and undermining the status of women would negatively affect the country’s human development.’” Read more.

FlandersNews – “There was trouble in the Brussels municipality of Sint-Jans-Molenbeek on Thursday after a woman wearing a niqab was detained by police. A niqab is a headscarf worn by some Muslim women. The niqab covers all of the face except the eyes and is part of the sartorial hijab. The wearing of the niqab (and the burqa) in public is forbidden in Belgium.

The niqab-wearer was asked to produce proof of identity by police in the neighbouring municipality of Jette on Thursday afternoon.

She refused to remove her niqab and was taken to a Molenbeek police station for questioning. At the police station the woman injured a female police officer by head-butting her.

The policewoman had been trying to frisk the woman. She sustained a broken nose and lost two-teeth in the attack. Another policewoman also sustained slight injuries in the attack.

The woman, a Belgian convert to Islam, is well-known to police. She has often been the subject of identity checks and always refuses to remove her niqab.

She was also injured in the fracas and was taken to hospital with slight concussion.

Police station surrounded

News of the incident spread quickly and soon the police station was surrounded by around 100 youths.

The Brussels West Police Services called in re-enforcements from the Federal Police and other Brussels police forces to contain the situation.

Nevertheless, several windows were smashed and bus-shelters damaged by the youths.

Six people were detained. The Mayor of Molenbeek Philippe Moureaux went to the scene to try and help diffuse the situation.

By 9:30 pm calm had returned to the vicinity of the police station.” Source – FLANDERSNEWS.BE.

Flashback: Belgium: Authorities Cope To Struggle With Muslim Crime Wave – “New Europe reported a recent incident that occurred on the streets of Brussels which raised questions as to the true integration of the Muslim population in an already divded country. Crime in EU’s capital has been growing as well as minority popoulation. Integration of Muslims into Belgium culture has been extremely difficult. With a rapidly growing population, the capital of Belgium – and of the EU – is already one of the most multicultural in Europe. Muslims are already a majority in some neighborhoods.” Read more.

Seems like Turkey is certainly working hard to become that useful model for new Arab regimes in the region. Not satisfied with simply being listed as one of the world’s worst religious freedom offenders, it appears that Turkey also wants to be known as one of the worst freedom offenders, period. Now, if only I could figure out why the Islamist Prime Minister of Turkey has apparently become Barack Obama’s favourite foreign leader …

By Elad Benari, INN – “A Turkish court on Friday formally charged an internationally known pianist and composer with insulting Islamic religious values, in comments he made on Twitter.

According to The Associated Press, the court in Istanbul voted to approve an indictment against Fazil Say, who has played piano with the New York Philharmonic, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, National Orchestra of France and Tokyo Symphony.

The 42-year-old Say faces charges of inciting hatred and public enmity, and insulting ‘religious values.’ He allegedly mocked Islamic beliefs about paradise in April.

Say’s lawyer, Meltem Akyol, told AP the pianist has denied the charges. The trial will be held on Oct. 18, she said.

‘We certainly do not accept the charges,’ Akyol said. ‘He has stated in his initial testimony during the probe that he had no intention to humiliate any religion. He was basically criticizing those who are exploiting religion for profit.’

Akyol said Say’s tweets and retweets on social media cannot be considered as public remarks because only people who follow him can see them.

In one tweet cited in the indictment, Say said, ‘What if there is raki (traditional anisette drink) in paradise but not in hell, while there is Chivas Regal (scotch) in hell and not in paradise? What will happen then? This is the most important question!!'” Read more. <Gasp! Shock!> Oh the humanity …

Flashback: Turkey Still Receives Cordial Treatment From Obama Administration Even While Declaring It Is Now ‘Too Late’ For Mediation With Israel – “As Turkey’s leaders intensify efforts to isolate Israel internationally, the cordial treatment they are receiving from the Obama administration this week will add to concerns some Americans have about the strength of its support for Israel… While Israeli leaders have expressed a desire to heal the rift between the one-time allies, Turkey imposed sanctions on Jerusalem and declared its intention to use all international forums to make its views on Israel known.” Read more.