Archive
Illinois: Muslim Immigrant from Lebanon Admits to Planting ‘Bomb’ in Wrigley Field
“A Lebanese immigrant will admit to dropping a backpack he thought held a bomb into a busy street’s trash bin near Chicago Cubs’ home ground Wrigley Field.
Sami Samir Hassoun, 23, also talked about poisoning Lake Michigan, bombing a landmark skyscraper and assassinating the then Mayor of Chicago.
He initially pleaded not guilty to charges that he received a fake bomb he believed was real from undercover FBI agents last year.
But attorneys have now told a federal judge he will plead guilty under an agreement worked out with prosecutors – a deal experts say may reflect the enormous odds he would face a trial.
At a hearing in Chicago, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman set a date of February 14 for Hassoun to change his plea.
But neither side offered details about exactly what charges he would plead guilty to, and government and defence attorneys declined to comment after the hearing.
Hassoun has a strong incentive to reduce his potential prison time via a plea deal.
A conviction on just one of the charges against him – attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction – carries a maximum life prison term.” Read more.
UK: Antisemitic Blogger Calling for Attacks Against Jews ‘Wherever You See Them’ Escapes Prison Term, Receives Slap on the Wrist
The ‘religion of peace’ once again shows its true colors with another Islamist calling for the genocide of Jews, yet for all intents and purposes the UK continues to tolerate this murderous vitriol by issuing nothing more than an admonishing slap on the wrist. I’d hate to imagine what it would actually take to convince this impotent government that the next appropriate step is to imprison and deport these radical savages repeatedly calling for another holocaust …
By Jessica Elgot – “A London blogger who wrote that Jews must be ‘attacked wherever you see them’ on the Scotsman newspaper’s website has escaped jail, after pleading guilty to posting the comments.
Mohammed Sandia from Wembley said Jews were a ‘genetically mutated inbred tribe. Jews are not fit to breathe our air and should be attacked wherever we see them. Throw rocks at their ugly, hooked-nosed women and mentally ill children, and light up the real ovens.’
He changed his plea to guilty after initially denying the charges in November 2010. Sheriff Gordon Liddell expressed regret he could not impose a longer custodial sentence, suggesting a short sentence would ‘only have the effect of turning you, in your own eyes, and in the eyes of your supporters, into a martyr. I choose not to do that.’
Sheriff Liddell opted to defer sentencing for 12 months. Last week, Sandia appeared again in court, and was admonished – leaving him with a criminal record but no substantive penalty.
The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities director Ephraim Borowski welcomed the sentence as an ‘outspoken condemnation of Sandia’s outrageous and abhorrent postings on the Scotsman website, and a clear signal that the law will not tolerate the abuse of freedom of speech to spread hatred.'” Read more.
Flashback: UK: Muslim Cab Driver Decries Jews as ‘Animals’, Screams ‘All Jewish Children Must Die’ in Front of Jewish School – “A taxi driver ranted racial abuse outside a Jewish school after getting stuck in a traffic jam. Taha Osman shrieked ‘All Jewish children must die!’ after his car was hemmed in by parents picking up pupils outside King David School in Crumpsall. Two mums on the school run and a teaching assistant were singled out in a foul-mouthed and ‘frightening’ tirade witnessed by kids, Manchester Crown Court heard. Osman – an Iraqi Kurd who has settled in Britain – also shouted that Jewish people were ‘animals’ who ‘should not be allowed in this country’.” Read more.
Flashback: UK: Shocking Rise in Hate Crimes Against Jewish Community in Europe – “Anti-Jewish hate crime has rocketed by one third in Greater Manchester – with the region for the first time suffering more attacks than London. Shocking new figures show there were 121 anti-Semitic incidents – including assaults, desecration, threats and abuse – in the first six months of the year. That compares to 98 in Greater London – despite the capital having a Jewish population six times the size.” Read more.
Flashback: ‘Muslims are the new Nazis of Europe’ – “Well, we already knew it, but now there’s confirmation: Muslims are the new Nazis of Europe. They are responsible for at least 50% (and probably far more) of the anti-Semitic hate crimes in Europe. Don’t be shocked if that number gets mirrored here (the FBI refuses to keep publicly-released statistics on the heritage of hate-crime perpetrators here–gee, I wonder why; might get in the way of their ‘outreach’ to extremist Muslims)…” Read more.
Russia Ends Anti-Nuke Talks with the United States and Puts New Giant Nuclear ICBM Dubbed ‘Satan’ Into Play
By H. Scott – “Russia, frustrated with anti-nuke talks with the United states has decided to put an end to the talks and move forward with its plans to upgrade its nuclear defensive and offensive systems, including the construction on a new and more powerful Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). Nicknamed ‘Satan’ by Western intelligence, the new missile carries a 100-ton warhead. This giant ICBM will take its place at the head of an already impressive missile arsenal which includes the Yars, Topol-M and Bulava-class ballistic missiles sometime in 2015.
This announcement come on the heels of a US announcement that its last B-53 nuclear weapon has been dismantled. The B-53 was the largest bomb in the US arsenal.
Russian president Dimitri Medvedev walked out of talks with the United States back in November over US plans to set up a missile defense system in Europe. The European Phased Adaptive Approach plan is a intricate array of sea and land based missiles which were designed to be used against a missile attack from Iran. The US says that cooperation from Moscow is needed to help the shield work. Moscow on the other hand claims the talks were useless because the US refused to guarantee the missiles would not be aimed at Russia. At that point, Moscow decided to end their particiaption in the talks and shortly after announced it plans to build the Satan Nuke.” Read more.
Time-Lapse Map of Every Nuclear Explosion Since 1945 (Video):
Iraq: Dozens Die as 14 Bombs Explode Across Baghdad
It appears that these attacks targeted Shi’ite neighborhoods primarily. Although many Iraqi Shi’ites generally despise their Iranian neighbor, this could change if attacks like today’s continue and the Iraqi people begin to lose faith in their own country’s ability to maintain security. I’d expect to see Iran offering “assistance” to step in and fill the gap of every security vacuum crevice left by America’s departure …
“BAGHDAD — A wave of bombings ripped across Baghdad on Thursday morning, killing at least 60 people and injuring more than 150 in the worst violence Iraq has seen for months. The bloodbath comes just days after American forces left the country.
The blasts also came on the heels of a political crisis between Iraq’s Sunni and Shiite factions that erupted this weekend.
The political spat has raised fears that Iraq’s sectarian wounds will be reopened during a fragile time when Iraq is finally navigating its own political future without U.S. military support.
Most of the attacks appeared to hit Shiite neighborhoods although some Sunni areas were also targeted.
While the string of explosions was likely not a direct response to the political Sunni-Shiite confrontation, it will ratchet up tensions at a time when many Iraqis are already worried about security. If continued, it could lead to the same type of tit-for-tat attacks that characterized the insurgency years ago.
Iraqi officials said at least 14 blasts went off early Thursday morning in 11 neighborhoods around the city.
Figures gathered from Iraqi health and police officials across the city put the death toll at 60, with 160 injured. The spokesman for the Iraqi health ministry put the death toll at 57 and said at least 176 people were injured. Conflicting casualty figures are common in the aftermath of such attacks.” Read more.
Iraq’s Shiites in no mood to embrace Iran – “NAJAF, Iraq — Whеn a senior Iranian cleric announced last month thаt hе wаѕ рƖаnnіnɡ tο mονе tο thіѕ holy Shiite city tο open аn office, thе furor thаt erupted offered a glimpse іntο thе future οf a complicated relationship. Aѕ American troops leave Iraq, Iran сеrtаіnƖу ranks high аmοnɡ thе beneficiaries οf thеіr nearly nine-year presence. Aѕ a Shiite power thаt suffered enormously during аn eight-year war wіth a Sunni-dominated Iraq іn thе 1980s, Iran now саn generally count οn closer ties wіth a friendly Shiite government next door. Bυt thе bіɡɡеѕt winners οf аƖƖ hаνе bееn Iraqi Shiites, whose ascent tο power reversed nearly 1,400 years οf sometimes brutal Sunni domination. Anԁ although Iraqi Shiites broadly welcome thе departure οf thе Americans, thеу seem іn nο mood tο substitute one form οf foreign domination fοr another — аnԁ Ɩеаѕt οf аƖƖ, thеу ѕау, frοm Iran.” Read more.
‘Fight the Jews and Kill Them’: Extremist Teachings Remain in Saudi Textbooks Despite Kingdom’s Claims of Reform
What ever you do, don’t remind the current American administration about what is going on in the Saudi kingdom. Even though Saudi Arabia is the spiritual birthplace and homestead of Islam, the Department of Injustice now considers it politically incorrect to speak the truth in this regard and will not only classify you as “Islamophobic” for pointing out the obvious, but could even soon charge you with hate speech if we continue this administrated descent into submission and dhimmitude …
Revelation 17:1-2,5, “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, ‘Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication… And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
By Catherine Herridge – “Despite Saudi Arabia’s promises to clean up textbooks in the kingdom, recent editions continue to raise alarms in the West over jihadist language.
The recent editions were obtained by the Institute for Gulf Affairs in Washington, D.C., and the translations were first provided to Fox News.
‘This is where terrorism starts, in the education system.’ Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, told Fox News. Al-Ahmed, a Saudi national, said the textbooks, made and paid for by the Saudi government, were smuggled out of the kingdom through confidential sources.
In a textbook for 10th-graders, printed for the 2010-2011 academic year, al-Ahmed said teenagers are taught barbaric practices. ‘They show students how to cut (the) hand and the feet of a thief,’ he said. In another textbook, for ninth-graders, the students are taught the annihilation of the Jewish people is imperative. One text reads in part: ‘The hour (of judgment) will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them. … There is a Jew behind me come and kill him.’
According to the textbook translations provided to Fox News, women are described as weak and irresponsible. And al-Ahmed said the textbooks call for homosexuals to be put to death ‘because they pose a danger at society, as the Saudi school books teaches.’
Al-Ahmed say the textbooks are both a Saudi and an American problem. ‘If you teach six million children in these important years of their lives, if you install that in their brain, no wonder we have so many Saudi suicide bombers.’
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, there was an intense focus on Saudi Arabia and its educational teachings because almost all of the attackers were from the kingdom. In 2006, Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Prince Turki al-Faisal told the Chicago Council on Foreign Relationships that the Saudi king was determined to eradicate this ideology of hate…
But the new textbooks, most from the 2010-2011 academic year, show the hateful speech remains.” Read more.
Flashback: 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. The problem is far greater than the five million students in Saudi Arabia who use these texts every day, said Nina Shea, director of the Washington-based Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom. ‘Because of the Saudis’ great oil wealth, it is able to disseminate its textbooks far and wide,’ she wrote in the report, Ten Years On. ‘[These textbooks] are posted on the Saudi Education Ministry’s website and are shipped and distributed free by a vast Saudi-sponsored Sunni infrastructure to many Muslim schools, mosques and libraries throughout the world. ‘This is not just hate mongering, it’s promoting violence,’ she said in an interview. It is exporting terrorism through textbooks.” Read more.
Genocide Warning – Urge President Obama to Defend Mideast Christians
“Stop the Eradication of Christian and other Religious Minorities in the Islamic Middle East
‘We cannot accept and thereby facilitate what looks more and more like a particularly perverse program of religious cleansing in the Middle East.’ – French President Nicholas Sarkozy
‘Massacres are taking place for no reason and without any justification against Christians. It is only because they are Christians. What is happening to Christians is a genocide.’ – Former Lebanese President Amine Gemayal.
‘The most recent developments [i.e., deadly Islamist attacks against Egyptian Christians in May 2011] fill us with dread. …The aim of the Islamists is to stoke up hatred and violence.’ – Former Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, June 27, 2011.
‘Christians [in the Middle East] are the most oppressed and tormented minority. We witness acts of violence in which the most elementary rules of humanity collapse’ – Pope Benedict XVI.
Learn more about Christian Persecution in the Middle East Here
—-
What is the President of the United States doing to prevent the eradication of Christian communities and other religious minorities in the Islamic Middle East? Will President Obama heed or ignore the Pope’s appeal for the emergence of ‘leaders to show them effective solidarity’?
Our President has the opportunity to demonstrate a determination to prevent Genocide. CSI urges him to do so by presenting an effective policy for securing the survival of religious minorities when he speaks about the Middle East in the State of the Union Address this January.
If you do not raise your voice, neither will the President.
Please send this urgent appeal to President Obama, and distribute it by e-mail to friends, colleagues, politicians, and religious leaders.
CSI will also forward your appeal to all the Republican presidential candidates so that they too will be powerfully challenged to help prevent the destruction of religious minorities and promote religious freedom throughout the Middle East.” Please click here to sign the petition.
Related:
- Christian Bishop in Egypt: Christians Are Currently Experiencing Their Worst Time in Recent Centuries, Many Now Unable to Buy or Sell
- Iran: The Spread of the Gospel Among Iranian Youth and Families Sparks Islamic Authorities to Increase Suppression of Christianity
- Islamic Militants Calling Themselves ‘The Unknown Soldiers of The Hidden Imam’ Threaten to Hunt Down and Execute Christians Who Flee Iran
- Nigeria: Muslim Extremists Killing Christians in Two States in Effort to ‘Cleanse’ Islamic Land, Entire Christian Families Among Those Killed
- Egypt: Rising Islamic Leader Declares ‘We Will Launch a Campaign of Islamic Conquest Throughout the World’, ‘Exterminate’ Christians Who Get In the Way of Sharia
- Sudan: Christianity No Longer an Accepted Religion, Muslims Attack Christians Trying to Rebuild Church
- Iraq: Islamic Extremists Want to Eliminate Christians From Country, Mass Movement of Christians Continues Unabated
- Not a Single Christian Church Left in Afghanistan, Says State Department
- Egypt: Islamists Boast, ‘We Won’t Leave Any Christians in This Country’
- Pakistan: The Existence of Christians Threatened Now More Than Ever Before, Persecution the Worse It Has Ever Been
- Middle East Christians Are Being Killed by Radical Islamists Because of Their Faith, Threatening Their Very Existence
2012 and Israel: Could This be the Year That Everything Changes?
As pivotal as 2011 has been with developments throughout the Islamic world, even more significant events could be just over the horizon in 2012 …
By YAAKOV KATZ – “Hezbollah and Hamas are just some of the challenges Israel could face in the coming year of 2012. With Iran continuing what appears to be an unstoppable race towards obtaining nuclear weapons, 2012 appears to be turning into the year which might be the last chance to stop the Ayatollahs from obtaining the bomb.
Hezbollah, Israel believes, has obtained 50,000 rockets and missiles of various sizes and ranges that encompass the entire State of Israel and could be fired in a future war. This is in comparison to the 15,000 rockets it had just five years ago during the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
With predictions that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s days are numbered, concern is growing in Israel over the possibility that in the twilight days of his regime, Assad will attack Israel, possibly with his long-range Scud missiles.
And then there is the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Middle East – the American pullout from Iraq, the future withdrawal from Afghanistan, the revolution in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya – all of which can impact Israel’s security… 2012 is shaping up into one of the most important years in Israel’s existence.” Read more.
Flashback: Israel National News: Will 2012 See The Beginning of Gog-Magog? – “In Israel, we find ourselves in foreboding circumstances today, in Spring 2011. The State of Israel seems to have lost a major measure of its support in the non-Jewish world and is being stampeded into abandoning large parts of the Land of Israel to the tender mercies of sworn enemies who have no peaceful intentions at all – the Palestinians. These are Arabs who constitute a ‘national entity’ invented recently of whole cloth and which never existed in world history. Their wish is to destroy the State of Israel and kill as many Jews as possible in the process. Prime Minister Netanyahu is being pushed into formulating a plan of further concessions, beyond those already granted… The Palestinian enemy fully expects this scenario to materialize and so, steadfastly refuses to negotiate. Since the ‘World’, lead by US President Barack Hussein Obama whose father was a practicing Moslem, does not punish them in any way for not negotiating, they feel vindicated in this assessment.” Read more.
Flashback: Why Iran’s Top Leaders Believe That the End of Days Has Come – “… Iranian leaders may, in fact, have a motive to accelerate direct attacks on the U.S.: Shia Islamic eschatology, or ‘End Times’ theology. Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are convinced that the End of Days has come. They believe the Shia messiah known as the ‘Twelfth Imam’ or the ‘Mahdi’ will appear soon to establish a global Islamic kingdom known as the caliphate. What’s more, they believe the way to hasten the coming of the Twelfth Imam is to annihilate Israel …” Read more.
Flashback: Jews Familiar With Yalkut Shimoni Believe Iran and Saudi Arabia May Soon Fulfill Ancient Messiah Prophecy – “Jews familiar with an ancient compilation of Aggadic exegesis called Yalkut Shimoni noticed in recent weeks that current tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia matches a prophecy it contains regarding the year in which the Messiah – the King who redeems Israel and the world – is to appear. In particular, the recently revealed Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the U.S. and subsequent reports that the Arab nations are pressuring the West to attack Iran, appear to fit the sequence of events predicted in the Yalkut Shimoni. In to the part of the book dealing with the Book of Isaiah, the following passage appears:” Read more.
Flashback: Jewish Rabbi Reveals the Name of the Messiah (Video):
Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Calls for a ‘United Arab States’ with Jerusalem as its Capital
On the heels of the Arab Spring, this is apparently now becoming a trend in the Muslim world, whether Sunni or Shia. And I get the impression that, despite their differences, they all have one goal in mind …
Ezekiel 38:8-23, “… In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel … You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land… On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. You will say, ‘I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people …’ You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land … I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes … my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel… And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”
By Raymond Ibrahim – “Time and time again, we see how Western concepts, when articulated through an Islamic framework, lead to results antithetical to the West. For instance, ‘democracy’ and ‘elections’—which in the West suggest ‘freedom,’ ‘human rights,’ ‘liberty,’ etc.—are today being used to bring Sharia law, the antithesis of Western law, to power.
In this recent video, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Dr. Safwat Hegazy, a popular preacher, talks about how he yearns to see Arab nations become ‘like the United States’—for them to unify into the ‘United Arab States.’ While that may sound like an admirable (or at least neutral) goal, bear in mind what he is alluding to: the resurrection of a caliphate—which by nature exists to expand, including through jihad.
Moreover, Hegazy made clear that his interest in seeing the ‘United Arab States’ has less to do with Arab solidarity (nationalism) and more to do with Islamic allegiance (religion). As he gushed about how wonderful it would be for Arab nations to unite into one bloc, the secular and skeptical host interviewing him reluctantly agreed, ‘so long as the capital is Cairo,’ that is, so long as Egypt’s integrity remains. To this, Hegazy replied: ‘No, I say the capital is Jerusalem, Allah willing.’
Thus, just as that sacrosanct word ‘democracy’ is being used to establish fascist rule in the Muslim world, so too is the notion of a ‘United Arab States’ fraught with problems—from the elimination of Israel to the establishment of an expansionist caliphate on its remains.” Source – Jihad Watch.
Flashback: Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Holds Venomous Anti-Israel Rally, Vows to ‘One Day Kill All Jews’ – “Arab hate: A Muslim Brotherhood rally in Cairo’s most prominent mosque Friday turned into a venomous anti-Israel protest, with attendants vowing to ‘one day kill all Jews.’ Some 5,000 people joined the rally, called to promote the ‘battle against Jerusalem’s Judaization.’ The event coincided with the anniversary of the United Nations’ partition plan in 1947, which called for the establishment of a Jewish state… Speakers at the event delivered impassioned, hateful speeches against Israel, slamming the ‘Zionist occupiers’ and the ‘treacherous Jews.’” Read more.
Flashback: Muslim Brotherhood Elder: ‘Jerusalem Belongs to Us, and the Whole World Belongs to Us … the Caliphate Will Return’ – “We are the children of Islam, the children of prophecy, the children of ‘there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah.’ I say unto you Gouraud, we will return and we will kill anyone who has polluted the al-Aqsa Mosque. I say unto you that we will return, as the day of Qurayza from long ago. I say unto you that we will return, as the day of Khaybar from long ago. I say unto you that we will return. Jerusalem belongs to us. Al-Aqsa belongs to us. Jerusalem belongs to us, and the whole world belongs to us. Every land upon which Islam has set foot will return to us. The caliphate will return to us, on the platform of prophecy.” Read more.
Flashback: Ahmadinejad: Iran is Determined to Eradicate the ‘Infectious Tumor’ of Israel, ‘Will Never Withdraw’ From This Policy – “Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran was determined to eradicate Israel, ISNA news agency reported Thursday. ‘Iran believes that whoever is for humanity should also be for eradicating the Zionist regime (Israel) as symbol of suppression and discrimination,’ Ahmadinejad said in an interview with a Lebanese television network, carried by ISNA.” Read more.
The Terrifying Truth Behind the So-Called Arab Spring
In this case, the truth will not be what sets anyone free. Instead, the truth is becoming a stark reminder of the depths to which tyranny and suppression remain deeply embedded in the fabric of Islamic society. It is now, finally, becoming unmistakably clear to an increasing number of observers within the “mainstream” media that in the absence of a so-called secular autocrat wielding an iron fist ready to crush any and all hint of insurrection, its replacement in the aftermath of the Arab Spring is an iron fist of a different kind — a theocratic master that, although patient, is all too ready to exercise its own form of tyranny and suppression. The only difference this time is that, with the camouflage of a “justice” and “freedom” backdrop, it doesn’t need to take it’s power by force. It is willingly handed over by the sand of the sea …
By JOHN R BRADLEY – “Stripped above the waist — save for her bright blue bra — the protester lies in a street just off Cairo’s Tahrir Square, seconds before a soldier stamps on her naked torso.
She has been dragged around by her arms and beaten by frenzied soldiers wielding metal batons, but still they won’t let her escape to safety.
This brutal scene from Egypt has sent new shockwaves around the West in the past three days, as the military regime has become ever more brutal towards pro-democracy protesters. Ten people have been killed and more than 400 wounded.
For the ‘girl in the blue bra’, as she has been dubbed by outraged bloggers across the globe, it is a gross violation of human rights — as well as contradicting conventional wisdom about Arab respect for female dignity and modesty.
For the watching world, it encapsulates the reality that Egypt is rapidly sliding back into brutal tyranny. The overthrow of President Mubarak’s despotic regime in February is already a distant memory, and hopes for a new era of freedom following the Arab Spring have turned to dust…
There has been little condemnation from the Islamist political parties, led by the Muslim Brotherhood.
That is because the Islamists, no allies of the pro-democracy movement, are playing the long game. Ultimately, what they aim to construct is a Muslim state run according to strict, fundamentalist Sharia law. And they are well on their way to that goal.
In the first round of the recent Parliamentary elections last month, they emerged as the dominant force.
In the second round, currently underway, it looks as though the Muslim Brotherhood, and the even more extreme Salafi Muslim parties, will again win around 70 per cent of the vote — compared with just over 10 per cent for the parties set up by revolutionaries.
As they march along this road towards a Muslim theocracy, the Islamists are happy for the time being to let the military establishment remain in charge.” Read more.
Egypt’s Islamist Parties Claim Second Round Victories with 75% of Overall Vote
It is still surprising to me the extent of support that an even more extreme Islamist party, Salafi al-Nour, is receiving at the polls in Egypt. Then again, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. Hamas and Hezbollah did pretty much the same thing …
By Elad Benari – “Egypt’s two leading Islamist parties said on Sunday their parties have secured about three-quarters of votes cast in the second round of a parliamentary election, Reuters reported.
A source from the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) told Reuters the party was on track to win about 40 percent of votes for party lists, based on results from most districts.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the ultra-conservative Salafi al-Nour Party told the news agency its list received about 35 percent of votes.
The second round of the voting in Egypt was held last Thursday in Giza, Luxor, Aswan and Ismaila.
In last month’s first poll, the Muslim Brotherhood claimed victory, winning about 40 percent of the ballots.
The once-outlawed Islamists’ Freedom and Justice party had won 34 seats in runoff elections, while Al Nour garnered another five seats, according to the group’s website.
While an official breakdown of results for the list vote has yet to be announced, Reuters noted that both parties’ predictions after the first round were broadly accurate.” Read more.
Egypt: New Islamist Fatwa Forbids Women From Wearing High Heels Outside Home, Forbids Muslims from Voting for Christians – “The recent emergence of the hardline Salafi trend in Egypt after the January 25 revolution has given way to a series of controversial fatwas that mainly focused on women, Copts, culture and democracy. Preacher Mustafa al-Adawi issued a fatwa prohibiting Muslim women from wearing high heels because they are a source of seduction for men. ‘A woman can only wear high heels for her husband but she is not to do so outside her house,’ he said. Another cleric, Sheikh Mahmoud Amer, had issued a fatwa prohibiting Muslims from voting for Coptic candidates or their Muslim counterparts who do not pray on regular basis. ‘It is forbidden by Islam to vote for them and whoever does that will be committing a grave sin,’ he said.” Read more.
Saudi King Calls for the Formation of a Sunni Arab Super State Into One Unified Diplomatic and Military Confederation
Wouldn’t it be interesting to witness the formation of two divided unions within the kingdom of Islam — one Sunni and one Shia — each comprised of five nations each? Although Bahrain is currently included as part of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, a large majority of its population is Shi’ite and resentment continues to simmer against the Sunni monarchy with no end in sight …
By Gavriel Queenann – “King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia formally called for the formation of a Gulf Union on a backdrop of regional unrest and growing tensions with rival Iran.
‘I ask today that we move from a phase of cooperation to a phase of union within a single entity,’ Abdullah said during his address at the opening session of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council conference in Riyadh.
‘You must realise that our security and stability are threatened and we need to live up to our responsibilities,’ said King Abdullah.
‘Our summit opens in the shadow of challenges that require vigilance and a united stance,’ he added.
The GCC — comprised of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates — was formed in 1981 as a security alliance to counter post-revolution Iran.
While Abdullah did not speak directly to the nature such a union might take, the six-member GCC has been openly discussing transforming their alliance into a unified diplomatic and military confederation for months now.
It has also been actively moving to expand its ranks. The GCC opened integration negotiations with Jordan earlier this month, and is engaged in exploratory talks with Morocco.
Last week GCC officials revealed they were making the inclusion of Egypt – the region’s most populous and militarily powerful Arab country – a priority.
The GCC nations have technically been at war with Israel since 1948, raising uncomfortable questions about the future of Israel’s treaties with Egypt and Jordan should those nations join.
The move also comes on the heels of the GCC flexing its muscles in the Arab League, where it moved to isolate key Iran ally Syria over the bloody crackdown of President Bashar al-Assad that has killed over 5,000 civilians.
In a clear reference to Syria, Abdullah urged his GCC allies to help their ‘Arab brothers so that the blood stops flowing and to guard against the risks of foreign intervention.’
Analysts say isolating Assad also weakens Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, the Shi’ite terror organization Hizbullah, which relies on Syria as a land-bridge to Tehran.” Read more.
Israel: IDF’s Appointment of New ‘Iran Command’ Chief Raises Eyebrows
Israel is dead serious about eliminating the growing existential threat that has infected the former Persian ally and understands that a preemptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities and leadership is fast becoming the only option left on the table. The IDF’s appointment of an “Iran Command” chief now leads the world to face one of two possibilities: Either plans are well under way for a unilateral strike against Iran’s nuclear program headed by a suicidal theocracy, or plans are well under way for a coordinated strike against Iran’s nuclear program headed by a suicidal theocracy, and Israel is letting the free world know that the time has now come to unite for the sake of peace …
By Amos Harel – “The decision by Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz to create a new army formation, to be known as the Depth Corps, followed recent recommendations issued by a team headed by Maj. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot. Eizenkot was tapped for the task last summer, after he completed his assignment as GOC Northern Command and began an educational leave of absence.
Maj. Gen. Shai Avital was named head of the new corps, which has already earned the somewhat overstated sobriquet ‘the Iran Command.’ Israel already has a command for Iran affairs – the Mossad, which since the last decade has been doing the heavy lifting in the campaign against the Iranian nuclear threat. If there is any unit within the IDF that deals with Iran specifically it is the Israel Air Force, the main branch that will be called upon in the event of an Israeli attack on the country’s nuclear facilities.
The new corps could, in the future, assist in mobilizing special forces in the Iranian context. More important, it will have the job of planning and leading operations in areas far beyond the borders, operations that are connected to the covert war against terror organizations (and, indirectly, against Iran ). One could imagine, for example, operations that have been ascribed to Israel, such as alleged IAF air strikes and special forces operations in Sudan, or the assassination of a Syrian general at his home in northern Syria.” Read more.
Israeli Navy completing secret 2 year submarine upgrade – “Israel will boost its long-arm strategic capabilities with the reinstatement of one of its Dolphin-class submarines that underwent an unprecedented structural overhaul. The submarine, one of three currently in the navy, arrived in Israel in 1999 and is the first to undergo the mid-life renovation. The Israeli submarines, which were purchased from Germany, have an expected lifespan of 30 years. The submarine was taken out of service almost two years ago but the renovation was a carefully guarded secret in the navy so Israel’s enemies would not know that one of its three submarines was out of commission.” Read more.
Israel hosts Italian Air Force for joint training exercise – “The Israeli and Italian Air Forces on Friday completed a two-week joint training exercise involving fighter jets from both nations. Three Israeli fighter jet squadrons (including F-16A, F-16C and F-15I aircraft) and two Italian fighter jet squadrons (including advanced Eurofighter and veteran Tornado aircraft) participated in the exercise. The exercise was conducted at the Uvda Airbase in the southern Negev Desert.” Read more.




Recent Comments