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	<title>FrontPage Magazine &#187; abuse</title>
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		<title>Reyhaneh Jabbari&#8217;s Execution Shows Emboldened Iran</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/majid-rafizadeh/reyhaneh-jabbaris-execution-shows-emboldened-iran/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=reyhaneh-jabbaris-execution-shows-emboldened-iran</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2014 05:30:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Majid Rafizadeh]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[abuse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[execution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Human Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[negotiations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nuclear]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reyhaneh Jabbari]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Nations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=244655</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[How the weakness of the U.S. is creating more victims inside the Islamic Republic. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/1412068835096_wps_19_A_picture_taken_on_July_8.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-244656" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/1412068835096_wps_19_A_picture_taken_on_July_8-409x350.jpg" alt="1412068835096_wps_19_A_picture_taken_on_July_8" width="290" height="248" /></a>Despite the surge in executions and human rights violations in the Islamic Republic, the mainstream media and some Western politicians still depict the Iranian president Hassan Rouhani and his governmental technocrat team as moderate or reformist.</p>
<p>Recently, a 26-year-old Iranian woman, Reyhaneh Jabbari, was executed in Iran’s prison for allegedly killing the man who raped her. Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi, the alleged rapist, was a former employee in Iran’s intelligence ministry. The trial of Jabbari lacked fair and due process.</p>
<p>The intriguing issue is that this execution led to a considerable amount of international outcry from human rights groups. Many requested that the Islamic Republic’s president, Hassan Rouhani, rescind the death sentence against Jabbari.</p>
<p>Normally, when there is significant international pressure, the Islamic Republic has tended to shift the death sentence or postpone it. But the fact that the Iranian government went ahead and executed this women highlights the increasing empowerment and emboldened sentiments of the Iranian regime as it defies, as well as disregards, the international condemnation.</p>
<p>Several crucial factors, including President Obama’s projection of weak foreign policy, leadership, as well as his administration’s appeasement policies toward the Islamic Republic’s domestic and foreign policy, play crucial roles in emboldening and empowering the Islamic Republic.</p>
<p>In addition, the new wave of acid attacks against Iranian women appear not to raise any concerns in the Iranian government with regards to its  global and regional image.</p>
<p>A new report by a United Nations Human Rights investigator further highlights the surge in executions and human rights violations, and it underlines the fallacy of the narrative that President Hassan Rouhani is distinct from other Iranian politicians, such as his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.</p>
<p>The new report was provided by a United Nations human rights investigator, Ahmad Shaheed, who was a former diplomat from the Maldives and currently special rapporteur on human rights issues in the Islamic Republic.</p>
<p>Shaheed, who has been denied to entry into the Islamic Republic, conducted his report by amassing hundreds of interviews and substantiated records of human rights abuses, including those executions officially reported by the Iranian government. Although he did not directly blame Rouhani, Shaheed recently addressed and briefed the United Nations General Assembly on Iran’s human rights record, which corresponds with the timing that Rouhani had been in office.</p>
<p>The surge in human rights abuses appear to have been carried out on several crucial platforms. First of all, there is an alarming increase in the number of prison and public executions in comparison to the prior year.</p>
<p>In 2012, under the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the recorded number of executions was 580 people. This indicates that there has been an increase of approximately 45 percent in executions under Rouhani. In 2013, 687 people were executed.</p>
<p>In addition, the range of charges for executing Iranian citizens appears to have been widened. The legal reasons behind executions include political, economic, human rights activism, and drug trafficking. Addressing a General Assembly human rights committee this week, Ahmad Shaheed pointed out this &#8220;surge in executions in the country over the past 12-15 months.&#8221; Shaheed added, &#8220;At least 852 individuals were executed in the period since June of last year, including eight juveniles.&#8221;</p>
<p>The second manner of human rights violation is targeted at those who are engaged in freedom of information, particularly journalists. In addition, other reporters and posters, such as bloggers, Facebook users, and people who are active on social media, have been restricted as well. The number of journalists who have been detained in the Islamic Republic have also ratcheted up. According to Shaheed, there are currently 35 journalists under detention in Iran.</p>
<p>The third phenomenon appears to represent the concerns regarding the persecution of religious minorities, including the Christians, Sunnis, Dervishes, and Baha&#8217;i community. Currently, 120 people of the Baha&#8217;i community, as well as 49 Christians, have been documented to be in prison in Iran solely for religious practices.  Some members of the Arab community, characterized as “cultural rights activists,” as well as juveniles, have also been put to death sentence.</p>
<p>The fourth category of human rights abuses is linked to the restrictions on and deterioration of women&#8217;s rights in the Islamic Republic. For example, the Iranian government has also imposed a quota on the admission of Iranian girls to universities. According the UN human rights reports, the number of Iranian women being enrolled at universities has come down to 48 percent.</p>
<p>President Rouhani was elected by the majority of Iranian people as a moderate candidate who would potentially promote civil liberties, social justice, and individual freedoms (including freedom of speech, assembly and press).</p>
<p>Instead of taking a more robust position towards the Islamic Republic when it comes to dealing with the Islamic Republic, President Obama will more likely disregard the recent surge in egregious and appalling human rights abuses due to the administration&#8217;s extreme focus on striking a final nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic. The comprehensive nuclear deal would ultimately remove political and economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic. The United States should concentrate more on human rights violations in Iran by incorporating this issue with the country’s nuclear defiance.</p>
<p><b>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank"><b>Click here</b></a><b>. </b></p>
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		<title>The Conversation We Won&#8217;t Have About Raising Men</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/ben-shapiro/the-conversation-we-wont-have-about-raising-men/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-conversation-we-wont-have-about-raising-men</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Sep 2014 04:30:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ben Shapiro]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[abuse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Male]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NFL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ray rice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[role model]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wife]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=241125</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Inconvenient questions raised by the Ray Rice abuse scandal. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/RayRicePresser.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-241126" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/RayRicePresser-397x350.jpg" alt="RayRicePresser" width="319" height="281" /></a>On Thursday night, the Baltimore Ravens took on the Pittsburgh Steelers. The event carried national significance thanks to the Ravens&#8217; public-induced decision to cut running back Ray Rice after tape emerged of Rice clocking his then-fiancee in the head, knocking her out cold. CBS sportscaster James Brown utilized his pregame show to draw attention to the problem of domestic violence — and suggest widespread culpability for domestic violence. &#8220;Our language is important,&#8221; Brown suggested. &#8220;For instance, when a guy says, &#8216;You throw the ball like a girl&#8217; or &#8216;You&#8217;re a little sissy,&#8217; it reflects an attitude that devalues women, and attitudes will eventually manifest in some fashion.&#8221;</p>
<p>Brown wasn&#8217;t the only commentator to blame &#8220;The Sandlot&#8221; for Ray Rice&#8217;s horrifying Mike Tyson-esque blow to his future wife&#8217;s head. ESPN commentator Kate Fagan explained, &#8220;This is behavior that is happening at the grassroots level that is born through years of our culture like raising men to want to not be like women and using language like &#8216;sissy&#8217; and &#8216;you throw like a girl&#8217; that demean women. &#8230; [We need to focus on] really reprogramming how we raise men.&#8221;</p>
<p>Naturally, this talking point was celebrated far and wide by a mainstream press more interested in perpetuating the tenets of political correctness than in actually fighting domestic abuse. The real solution to domestic abuse is twofold: punishing it to the greatest possible extent, and yes, raising young men differently. But to state that the greatest risk factor for future domestic violence is insulting other boys as &#8220;throwing like girls&#8221; is pure idiocy. No man has ever hit a woman because she &#8220;throws like a girl.&#8221; But plenty of young men have hit women because they had no moral compass and did not believe in basic concepts of virtue — and plenty of young men lack such a moral compass and belief in virtue thanks to lack of male role models.</p>
<p>Teaching respect for women begins with ensuring that solid male influences models fill the lives of young men — men who respect women, cherish them, treasure them, and believe in protecting them. This is an unpopular stance, because it suggests that boys require men to raise them. Which they do. But that truth doesn&#8217;t fit the logic of the left, which seems to think that lack of fathers counts less than rhetorically bothersome phrases.</p>
<p>For leftists, the answer to domestic violence isn&#8217;t to deal with any of the issues that could lead boys to become abusing men. The answer, instead, is to lecture Americans about the use of the word &#8220;sissy&#8221; — not because that solves the problem, but because it makes those on the left feel warm and fuzzy inside. Similarly, the left will tell Americans that the name of the Washington Redskins matters far more to Native-Americans than the nearly half of Native-American youths who drop out of high school; they will explain that &#8220;microaggressions&#8221; are the true problem faced by blacks in America, not lack of education, poverty or unwed motherhood.</p>
<p>We extol the language police even as we castigate moral authorities. And so our problems grow worse. But at least we feel better about them.</p>
<p><b>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank"><b>Click here</b></a><b>. </b></p>
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		<title>Jihadis Display ‘Power of Islam’ on Donkey Victims</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/raymond-ibrahim/jihadis-display-power-of-islam-on-donkey-victims/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=jihadis-display-power-of-islam-on-donkey-victims</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Jun 2014 04:40:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Raymond Ibrahim]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[abuse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[animals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[donkeys]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sacrifice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Torture]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=233651</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Which came first, the infidel or the animal?]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/donkey.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-233658" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/donkey-391x350.jpg" alt="donkey" width="255" height="229" /></a>Very graphic videos recently appeared on <a href="http://new.elfagr.org/Detail.aspx?nwsId=613994"><span style="color: #0433ff;">Arabic-language media</span></a> portraying Islamic jihadis in Syria slaughtering donkeys in order to consume them.</p>
<p>The main point made by some of these websites is that the jihadis are hypocrites for (again) violating Islamic law, which bans the eating of domesticated donkeys.</p>
<p>In the words of a fatwa, or Islamic decree, titled “<a href="http://islamqa.info/en/85534"><span style="color: #0433ff;">Is it permissible to eat donkey meat</span></a>?”</p>
<blockquote><p>Praise be to Allaah.</p>
<p>It is permissible to eat the meat of onagers (“wild donkeys”) and it is haraam [forbidden] to eat the meat of domesticated donkeys. The first is permitted because of the report narrated by al-Bukhaari (5492) and Muslim (1196) from Abu Qataadah (may Allaah be pleased with him) who hunted an onager and brought a piece of it to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and he ate some of it, and he said to his companions: “It is halaal [permissible], eat it.”</p>
<p>With regard to domesticated donkeys, their meat was permitted at first, then the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) declared it to be haraam [forbidden] on the day of Khaybar.</p></blockquote>
<p>Questions of wild or domesticated aside—and the donkeys do appear to be domesticated—this is yet another example of the fact that, for those waging jihad to empower Allah’s word, dispensations are always available.</p>
<p><span style="color: #0433ff;"><a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/sex-jihad-fatwa-permits-incest-in-syria/">As discussed here</a></span>, it is precisely because the strictures of Islamic law are relaxed for the jihadi—often <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/sex-jihad-and-western-disbelief/"><span style="color: #0433ff;">permitting the indulgence of depraved behavior</span></a>—that the jihad has always been an appealing option.</p>
<p>While killing animals for consumption is commonplace, what is notable about these videos is the “supremacist” demeanor of the jihadis towards the donkeys—as if the animals are also “infidels” to be treated with contempt and brutality.</p>
<p>Watching them slaughter the donkeys is like watching them slaughter human “infidels”—with all the triumphant theatrics.</p>
<p>In one video, “Allahu Akbar!” is heard while a donkey is being decapitated.</p>
<p>Jihadis habitually cry “Allahu Akbar” (Islam’ supremacist war-cry, which literally means Allah is “greater”) whenever striking down infidels—especially when ceremoniously beheading them.</p>
<p>But why say it while slaughtering a donkey—an animal—for consumption?</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEa3smEQgho"><span style="color: #0433ff;">another</span></a> video, the animals are very inhumanely treated—sadistically dumped out of a truck, then struck on the head with a club, followed by decapitation—all to background laughter and snickers (reminiscent of <span style="color: #0433ff;">yet another video</span> of a donkey being set on fire, apparently “for laughs,” in some Arab nation, possibly Algeria.)</p>
<p>Again, why is the act of slaughtering an animal for consumption videotaped and disseminated on the Internet in the first place—and sensationalized as if it were an infidel enemy, not a dumb animal, that was being “overcome”?</p>
<p>Upon further reflection, one begins to realize that the jihadis are not treating the donkeys like infidels, but rather that, because non-Muslims are often seen as <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/islamic-racism-muslim-blood-superior-to-infidel-blood/"><span style="color: #0433ff;">subhuman on a par with animals</span></a>—Islam’s prophet reportedly said that women are like horses, “<a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/islam-on-cows-horses-camels-and-women/"><span style="color: #0433ff;">for all are ridden</span></a>”—it is the infidels who are being treated as animals.</p>
<p>As for the sadistic abuse of animals—full of supremacism and power trips—that’s apparently standard, as suggested by <span style="color: #0433ff;"><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/1.563151">this December 2013 report</a>.</span></p>
<blockquote><p>Shocking footage of cattle exported from Australia being <i>tortured</i> and killed in the streets of Gaza is being described by an Australian animal rights group as <i>the worst animal cruelty case it has ever seen</i> in the live export industry, The West Australian news reported Thursday.  Footage compiled by Animals Australia shows <i>bulls being “knee-capped by a man armed with an assault rifle, another stabbed in the eye and other having their throats hacked open in the streets</i>.”…</p>
<p>“<i>So acceptable is this brutal treatment to locals that they are cheering and filming the spectacle on mobile phones</i>,” Animals Australia campaign director Lyn White said (emphasis added).</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank"><strong>Click here</strong></a><strong>.   </strong></p>
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		<title>Islamist State of Iran: Leader in Human Rights Violation</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/majid-rafizadeh/islamist-state-of-iran-leader-in-human-rights-violation/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=islamist-state-of-iran-leader-in-human-rights-violation</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2014 05:27:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Majid Rafizadeh]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[abuse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Human Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[U.S.]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Responding to the Mullahs' phony human rights indictment of the U.S.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/iran-hangings-from-cranes.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-217644" alt="iran-hangings-from-cranes" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/iran-hangings-from-cranes-450x301.jpg" width="270" height="181" /></a>The Iranian military published a flimsy and unsubstantiated 28-page report this week criticizing human rights in the United States. Intriguingly, the report was supported by the Basij, a militia governmental group that is a leader in human rights violations, according to numerous international organizations. Several of its leaders have been convicted of crimes against humanity, and cannot leave the Islamic Republic of Iran.</span></p>
<p>Ahmed Esfandiyari, the lieutenant commander of the Basij force, was quoted by the semi-official Fars News Agency as saying that similar reports on the human rights situation about other Western countries would be released on a regular and quarterly basis.</p>
<p>Iranian military leaders were excited about the ceremony for the publication of the 28-page report on human rights and the US held Monday in Tehran. The reports lacks any statistical data for supporting its conclusions, and it fails to provide any credible arguments to back its thesis. It draws on cases arbitrarily, such as the case of George Zimmerman.</p>
<p>Speaking of Iran&#8217;s record, Esfandiyari mentioned that human rights issues are at the foundation of the Iranian government and that Iran&#8217;s emphasis on human rights is &#8220;extensive.&#8221;</p>
<p>It is ironic that Iranian Ayatollahs, Mullahs and leaders are boasting about their human rights records while the nation is carrying out egregious human rights abuses, according to various international organizations.</p>
<p>These facts are documented by credible international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, rather than by a militia group that itself carries out crimes against humanity. It is worth noting that these facts are the official ones, there are many covert human rights violations being carried out in Iran and other Islamic countries that are not recorded by human rights organizations or Amnesty International since they cannot be adequately verified.</p>
<p>Iran tops many credible lists compiled about human rights violations, lack of democracy, and constriction of rights including freedom of speech, press, assembly, and political participation of the citizenry. Iran tops the rank in arbitrary arrests and detentions, capital punishment, stoning, unequal rights for women and men, widespread abuses against members of recognized and unrecognized religious and ethnic minorities— this groups includes Christians and Baha’is who have been discriminated against and continue to encounter arbitrary detention and unfair trials, and be denied educational opportunities and jobs.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In addition, according to Human Rights Watch, Iran also engages in systematic discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.  According to the organization, &#8220;Iran is one of only seven countries with laws allowing executions for consensual same-sex conduct.&#8221;</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Several branches of the Iranian regime have been accused by international organizations of human rights abuses, including the volunteer paramilitary force, the Basij, the judiciary, as well as security forces like the elite Islamist Revolutionary Guards Corps.</span></p>
<p>According to Amnesty International, just since the beginning of 2014, the Islamist state of Iran has carried out a total of 40 executions. According to reports, at least 33 of these executions were carried out in the past week alone. These executions are officially acknowledged by the Iranian regime.  Public executions were also carried out this month, on January 14<sup>th</sup> in a city called Saveh, Markazi Province, in the northern part of Iran.</p>
<p>“The spike in the number of executions carried out so far this month in Iran is alarming. The Iranian authorities’ attempts to change their international image are meaningless if at the same time executions continue to increase,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa. Iran&#8217;s Islamist authoritarian rulers have abused their own people for decades, since 1979.</p>
<p>In 2013, thousands of students, political activists, human rights activists, filmmakers, lawyers, advocates for gender equality, Iranians with ties to Western countries, journalists, ethnic and religious minorities, and religious dissidents have been arrested, jailed and executed by the Iranian regime. Many of these victims did not receive due process. Many are tried in the military courts of Iran’s notorious Revolutionary Guards Corps.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">According to Sahraoui, “Revolutionary Courts which routinely fall far short of international fair trial standards. The reality in Iran is that people are being ruthlessly sentenced to death after unfair trials, and this is unacceptable.”</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Iran’s constitution legitimizes these human rights abuses by adding Sharia or Islamic laws to almost every article. For example, when it comes to arresting bloggers and torturing those who exercise free speech or press, a certain article states, &#8220;publications and the press are free to express their ideas unless these contravene the precepts of Islam or harm public rights. These conditions will be defined by laws.&#8221; This gives the Islamist regime the legal apparatuses to arrest, torture, jail, kill and execute people.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">These recent happenings are only the tip of the iceberg of human rights abuses in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Unlike Iran’s 28 page unsubstantiated report collected by an institution accused of crimes against humanity, the aforementioned reports about Iran’s human rights abuses are collected by credible international organizations that do not record anything until it is completely verified by the concrete evidence.</span></p>
<p><b>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank"><b>Click here</b></a><b>. </b></p>
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		<title>Hollywood&#8217;s Favorite Sleazeball Shutterbug</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/michellemalkin/hollywoods-favorite-sleazeball-shutterbug/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=hollywoods-favorite-sleazeball-shutterbug</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 18 Nov 2013 04:02:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Michelle Malkin]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[abuse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hollywood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sexual harassment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Terry Richardson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Women]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=210911</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Why are celebrity elite silent to Terry Richardson's sexual abuse and harassment of women?]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/o-TERRY-RICHARDSON-CHANGE-ORG-facebook.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-210912" alt="o-TERRY-RICHARDSON-CHANGE-ORG-facebook" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/o-TERRY-RICHARDSON-CHANGE-ORG-facebook-450x307.jpg" width="270" height="184" /></a>The silence is deafening. A depraved photographer accused of abusing and exploiting young models enjoys access to the entertainment industry&#8217;s hottest female stars, from Rihanna to Lady Gaga to Beyonce to Miley Cyrus. He counts &#8220;progressive&#8221; feminist celebs among his most intimate friends. He&#8217;s even photographed President Obama. But when confronted with his sordid history and career degradation of women, these elite friends of Terry have nothing to say.</p>
<p>Meet Terry Richardson (but be sure to bring your mental Purell). The Guardian touted him as &#8220;the former junkie punk who put the filth into fashion.&#8221; The son of a fashion photographer, his first &#8220;success&#8221; was an image he shot for British designer Katharine Hamnett. &#8220;There was a shot of a girl, with her legs open, she had white panties,&#8221; he recounted to an admiring New York Times reporter. The see-through underwear left nothing to the imagination. It was a &#8220;cool image,&#8221; Richardson bragged.</p>
<p>The title of that fawning Times feature: &#8220;The Naughty Knave of Fashion&#8217;s Court.&#8221; Naughty? Try skeezy. Shady. Icky. Pervy. Richardson has mainstreamed overlit soft porn and pedophilia chic as &#8220;art.&#8221; His &#8220;Terryworld&#8221; photo exhibit featured women performing oral sex on him while crammed into suitcases and trashcans. He&#8217;s the warped mastermind behind Miley Cyrus&#8217;s naked, phallic-drenched &#8220;Wrecking Ball&#8221; video, for which they won an MTV Europe Music Award. He persuaded Lindsay Lohan to pose with a gun to her head. He slathered Lady Gaga in red meat for Vogue. He finagled &#8220;Glee&#8221; stars Dianna Agron and Lea Michele into simulating group-sex play with the late Cory Montieth, for which Agron later apologized to fans and their appalled parents.</p>
<p>The leering Richardson, who insists that his subjects call him &#8220;Uncle Terry,&#8221; has convinced countless women in the industry to doff their tops, bottoms, and dignity. A few, brave fashion models have publicly exposed Richardson&#8217;s misogyny and manipulation. Model Rie Rasmussen told the New York Post&#8217;s Page Six: &#8220;He takes girls who are young, manipulates them to take their clothes off and takes pictures of them they will be ashamed of. They are too afraid to say no because their agency booked them on the job and are too young to stand up for themselves.&#8221; Veteran supermodel Coca Rocha has spoken out about Richardson&#8217;s creepitude and forbidden her agents from working with the lech.</p>
<p>Model Sara Ziff formed the Model Alliance last year to blow the whistle on sexual harassment and abuse, after women &#8220;began to speak out in numbers against the photographer Terry Richardson for his practice of putting models on the spot to disrobe on castings, soliciting sex from them, and documenting these exploits.&#8221;</p>
<p>These women, alas, are the exception, and not the rule. Hollywood&#8217;s elite sisterhood is a sexual predator sanctuary. Powerful starlets continue to flaunt their hipster friendships with Richardson. Lady Gaga just hired him to shoot the video for her newest single, &#8220;Do What You Want (With My Body).&#8221; High-profile liberal New York City powerbroker Audrey Gelman, press secretary for Democratic city comptroller Scott Stringer, has been dating Richardson for the past few years. Gelman&#8217;s bestie and fellow Oberlin College luminary, actress Lena Dunham, posed naked from the waist down for Richardson in a &#8220;V&#8221; magazine photo spread headlined — I kid you not — &#8220;Girl Power.&#8221;</p>
<p>These women wear their feminist politics on their sleeves (or their sleeveless, tattooed arms). They take to Twitter regularly to moan about the GOP&#8217;s &#8220;war on women.&#8221; They mock conservatives as retrograde and sexist. But when asked about their relationship with a notorious sexist pig who has made a career out of humiliating women (did I mention the time he scrawled &#8220;SLUT&#8221; across one girl&#8217;s forehead), the femme role models are AWOL.</p>
<p>Last month, the Times spilled a barrel of ink on Gelman&#8217;s rising political star. The paper noted her relationship with Richardson in passing, and noted the publicity-hungry couple&#8217;s selective reticence: &#8220;Ms. Gelman generally refuses to discuss her personal life. And Mr. Richardson, who is 48, declined to be interviewed.&#8221; Earlier this month, the New York Post&#8217;s Maureen Callahan zeroed in on Richardson&#8217;s perv history and asked both the outspoken Gelman and Dunham for a response. Cue the chirping crickets: &#8220;Dunham and Gelman would not comment for this article.&#8221;</p>
<p>Young women, whatever your politics, take note. This is not &#8220;girl power.&#8221; It&#8217;s chauvinist power. This soulless shutterbug has supposedly enlightened women right where he wants them: Servile, subordinate and disempowered. Terry Richardson&#8217;s enablers, the poseurs of feminism, are selling out their sisters in the name of &#8220;fashion&#8221; and &#8220;art.&#8221; It&#8217;s not hip. It&#8217;s sick.</p>
<p><b>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank"><b>Click here</b></a><b>.   </b></p>
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		<title>Islamic Feminism: Muslim Husbands Must Hate Non-Muslim Wives</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/raymond-ibrahim/islamic-feminism-muslim-husbands-must-hate-non-muslim-wives/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=islamic-feminism-muslim-husbands-must-hate-non-muslim-wives</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Sep 2013 04:10:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Raymond Ibrahim]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[abuse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HATE]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[infidel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Muslim]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wife]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=204692</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[An Islamic preacher explains how marriage to infidel women is a lot like rape. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/55106a7c4868b83d132f258d50d5.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-204693" alt="55106a7c4868b83d132f258d50d5" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/55106a7c4868b83d132f258d50d5.jpg" width="194" height="198" /></a>Often translated as “Loyalty and Enmity,” the little-known Islamic doctrine of <i>wala’ wa bara’</i> commands Muslims never to befriend or be loyal to non-Muslims, while being clean of, disavowing and ultimately hating them. </span></b></p>
<p>During a question-and-answer session at an Islamic conference (see video below), the full extent of this divisive doctrine was given full expression.  Popular preacher <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/fatwa-bans-christian-priests-from-public-transportation-to-church/">Dr. Yassir Burhami</a>, the vice president of the Salafi party in Egypt, explained how this doctrine must be upheld at all times—<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4ULdik8UCA">even with a Muslim’s wife, if she happens to be a non-Muslim</a> member of the “People of the Book,” (Christians and Jews, whom Muslim males are permitted to marry; conversely, male Christians and Jews are strictly banned from marrying Muslim females).</p>
<p>When an attendee asked Burhami how Islam can allow a Muslim man to marry a non-Muslim woman and yet expect him to hate her, the sheikh responded as follows:</p>
<blockquote><p>Where’s the objection? Do all men love their wives?  How many married couples live together despite disagreements and problems? Huh? That being the case, he [Muslim husband] may love the way she [non-Muslim woman] looks, or love the way she raises the children, or love that she has money. This is why he’s discouraged from marrying among the People of the Book—because she has no [real] religion. He is ordered to make her hate her religion while continuing marriage/sexual relations with her. This is a very standard matter….  Of course he should tell her that he hates her religion. He must show her that he hates her because of her religion, and because she is an infidel. But if possible, treat her well—perhaps that will cause her to convert to Islam. He should invite her to Islam and call her to Allah.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Dr. Burhami further used the example of <i>rape</i> as an analogy:</p>
<blockquote><p>In fact, let me tell you: whoever rapes a woman, does he necessarily love her? Or is he just sleeping with her? He’s sleeping with her for her body’s sake only, and he does not love her in reality, because if he loved her, he wouldn’t have hurt her. Therefore it is possible to have sexual relations [between a Muslim man and a Christian or Jewish woman] without love. This is possible, but as we said, he is commanded to hate her.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Next, Burhami exonerated infidel-wife-hating by quoting the Koran verses that form the cornerstone of the doctrine of Loyalty and Enmity:</p>
<blockquote><p>Otherwise what do you do with the undisputed texts [of the Koran], such as “Thou wilt not find any people who believe in Allah and the Last Day, loving those who resist Allah and His Messenger, even though they were their fathers or their sons, or their brothers, or their kindred…<b> </b>“O ye who believe! take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors…”  [Koran 58:22 and 5:51, Yusuf Ali translation].  What do you do with such a verse? What do you do will all these verses?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Indeed, “<i>what do you do with all these verses</i>?”</p>
<p>This is the crux of the problem between so-called Islamists and so-called moderates: Islamic scriptures—like “all these verses” quoted by Burhami—often side with the “radical” (and intolerant, and hostile, and violent, and supremacist) worldview of the Islamists, leaving the moderates without much of a leg to stand on in the realm of Islamic exegesis.</p>
<p>When asked if a Muslim husband can at least greet his wife—according to Islam’s prophet, Muslims are not permitted to offer greetings to non-Muslims—Burhami was consistent:</p>
<blockquote><p>When he [Muslim husband] comes home, he should not be the first to greet her. He may greet his children [because they are Muslim] or he can offer a general greeting if any other Muslims are present, meaning them by it [but <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/tawriya-lying/">allowing her to think it’s for her</a>]. These are mainstream commands… She has to begin with greeting him, and then he may respond.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If this is how Islam expects the Muslim to treat his non-Muslim wife, simply because she is an “infidel,” how must it expect him to feel about non-Muslim strangers—like the majority of you reading this?</p>
<p>Not that you’d know it, thanks to another of Islam’s complementary teachings: <a href="http://www.meforum.org/2538/taqiyya-islam-rules-of-war"><i>taqiyya</i></a>.</p>
<p><b>Note</b>: To learn more about <i>wala’ wa bara’</i>, see Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri’s seminal essay titled “Loyalty and Enmity”—nearly 60 pages worth—which I annotated and translated years back in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Qaeda-Reader-Essential-Organization/dp/076792262X"><i>The Al Qaeda Reader</i></a> (pgs. 63-115).  And for more on hate, see “<a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/muslim-prayers-of-hate/">Muslim Prayers of Hate</a>.”</p>
<p><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/E4ULdik8UCA" height="315" width="420" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p><strong>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank">Click here</a>.</strong></p>
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		<title>Christians: On the Front Lines of Muslim Violence</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/noah-beck/christians-on-the-front-lines-of-muslim-violence/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=christians-on-the-front-lines-of-muslim-violence</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Aug 2013 04:56:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Noah Beck]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[abuse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[egypt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oppression]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[persecution]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=201264</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The global religious genocide the West refuses to acknowledge. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>
<p style="text-align: left;" align="center"><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/christians.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-201279" alt="christians" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/christians.jpg" width="278" height="181" /></a>As Egypt’s Islamists blame Christians for the ouster of Mohammed Morsi, anti-Christian violence has reached epidemic levels, with <a href="http://www.aina.org/news/20130818125428.htm" target="_blank">an estimated 82 churches across Egypt attacked and heavily damaged by Morsi supporters in a mere 48 hours.</a></p>
<div>
<p>Unfortunately, the persecution of Christians is nothing new in Egypt or other Muslim-majority countries. But thanks to the mainstream media, few Westerners understand the true scale or nature of the horrors involved.</p>
</div>
<p>As you read this, Christians around the world are being murdered, raped, plundered, abducted, forcibly converted to Islam, or otherwise oppressed by Muslims. Christians in Muslim-majority areas are some of the most vulnerable and horribly oppressed people on Earth; they live at the mercy of the mob and receive little or no protection from the police or other government institutions.</p>
<p>The reach of this silent tragedy is sweeping – a global religious genocide on “slow burn” with occasional conflagrations that make it into the mainstream media. <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/08/us-religion-christianity-persecution-idUSBRE9070TB20130108" target="_blank">There are an estimated 100 million persecuted Christians.</a></p>
<p>This massive crime is documented in shocking and painstaking detail in Raymond Ibrahim’s new book <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ATL9ZZQ/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B00ATL9ZZQ&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thelasisr-20" target="_blank">Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians</a></i>. The book is required reading for anyone who cares about religious freedom, human rights, and/or the survival of Christians in their ancestral lands.</p>
<div>
<p>In <i>Crucified Again</i>, Ibrahim methodically presents overwhelming evidence of Muslim persecution of Christians (documented with about 700 footnotes). His exhaustive, scholarly, and compelling study uses many news and historical sources, and statements by contemporary Muslim clerics. The evidentiary details are far too numerous to summarize here, but a few examples stand out.</p>
</div>
<p>Ibrahim explains the theological basis for Muslim persecution of Christians. He notes the Islamic belief that Koranic verses from later in Muhammad’s career abrogate contradictory verses from earlier. The hostile verses naming Christians “infidels” occur towards the end of his career, so they override any tolerance for Christians in earlier verses. Ibrahim writes: “The Koran’s final word on the fate of Christians and Jews is found in Koran 9:29 [where] Allah commands believers, [to fight them]&#8230;&#8217;until they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.&#8217;”</p>
<p>Ibrahim cites the writing of renowned Muslim scholar Ibn Khaldun [1332-1406]:</p>
<div>
<blockquote><p>[Jihad] is a religious duty, because of the universalism of the Muslim mission and the obligation to convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force &#8230; The other religious groups did not have a universal mission, and the holy war was not a religious duty for them…But Islam is under obligation to gain power over other nations.</p></blockquote>
<p>Ibrahim explains: “The <i>Conditions of Omar</i>…[details] exactly how [Christians and Jews] are to feel themselves subdued.” The laws applicable to “dhimmis” (non-Muslims treated as second-class citizens under Islamic hegemony) made life so miserable for Christians over the millennia that these rules gradually transformed thousands of miles of formerly Christian territory into what is today the “Arab world.” Ibrahim also highlights a tragic historical absurdity: many of the Muslims persecuting Christians today are themselves descendants of Christians who converted because of persecution.</p>
</div>
<p>Having established the theological basis for Muslim oppression of Christians, Ibrahim reviews the endless historical examples of these crimes. He cites one medieval Muslim historian reporting that &#8220;30,000 churches were burned or pillaged in Egypt and Syria alone&#8221; in just two years. During the Abbasid rule (in 936), “the Muslims in Jerusalem…burnt down the Church of the Resurrection [believed to be built atop the tomb of Christ].&#8221; Ibrahim notes the &#8220;1453 conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans and the subsequent attack on&#8230;the Hagia Sophia and its transformation into a mosque.&#8221;</p>
<p>After reviewing the more notable examples from history, Ibrahim catalogs the extent to which such Muslim persecution of Christians continues today across the entire Muslim world, “from Afghanistan to Zanzibar” – regardless of race, ethnicity, culture, or language. <i>Crucified Again</i> details how these anti-Christian crimes are often incited by governments and/or religious leaders of Muslim countries. Ibrahim “broke news” in 2012 merely by translating into English that Saudi Arabia’s highest religious authority declared it “necessary to destroy all the churches” in the Arabian Peninsula. The shocking statement by Abdulaziz ibn Abdullah Al al-Sheikh, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, was widely reported by Arabic-language media, but the Western mainstream media avoided coverage of the outrage. As Ibrahim argues, the media willfully ignore such news because it contradicts their narrative that all Muslim violence is motivated by some socio-economic or political grievance.</p>
<p>But the West risks its own demise by ignoring four truths: 1) a hateful, absolutist ideology drives Islamist violence against non-Muslims; 2) sharia’s draconian penalties for apostasy and blasphemy maximize Muslim demographic growth because nobody can safely criticize or leave Islam (including those converted under duress); 3) sharia destroys the rights and freedoms cherished by the West; 4) sharia creates a Muslim monopoly on the marketplace of ideas – something antithetical to any free society. To survive, the West cannot let sharia laws take root in Muslim-majority communities of Europe and North America.</p>
<p>With documented examples, <i>Crucified Again</i> also debunks the myth of the “moderate” Muslim state. So-called “moderate” states like Turkey or the Maldives may not be as atrociously violent towards their Christian minorities as countries like Pakistan, Iraq, and Egypt, but they follow the same patterns of anti-Christian persecution and are far from Western standards when it comes to treating their non-Muslim minorities with equal rights, justice, and dignity.</p>
<p>Ibrahim has argued <a href="http://www.meforum.org/2159/are-judaism-and-christianity-as-violent-as-islam" target="_blank">elsewhere</a> that the Koran’s violent verses, unlike “their Old Testament counterparts…[use] language that transcends time and space, inciting believers to&#8230;slay nonbelievers today no less than yesterday.” According to Ibrahim, Old Testament violent verses are fundamentally different because they are merely a descriptive account of historical incidents – not a prescriptive exhortation to attack non-believers in the future.</p>
<p>Ibrahim shows how the Western media, academia, and the Obama administration have all whitewashed Muslim oppression of Christians and/or supported Islamists like the Muslim Brotherhood to the point of enabling anti-Christian persecution and obscuring it from the public. Indeed, of Ibrahim’s 680+ cited news sources reporting on Muslim abuse of Christians, only about 6% were from the mainstream media. Biased media coverage of the Middle East deserves a book of its own, but to cite one powerful example (not mentioned in <i>Crucified Again</i>), consider <a href="http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=3&amp;x_outlet=13&amp;x_article=2226" target="_blank">how CBS&#8217;s “news” program, <i>Sixty Minutes</i>, defamed the only Mideast country where Christians are actually safe (Israel) while missing the real story of Mideast Christian persecution so thoroughly documented in </a><a href="http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=3&amp;x_outlet=13&amp;x_article=2226" target="_blank"><i>Crucified Again</i></a><i>.</i></p>
<p>Western passivity over the maltreatment of minority Christians has only encouraged Islamists to attack them for any perceived wrong by the West – whether it’s offensive cartoons, movies, or any other grievance. Worse, the apathetic West has forgotten that the Islamic prohibitions (against apostasy, blasphemy, and proselytism) used to justify Muslim oppression of Christians completely negate Western values like freedom of speech and religion.</p>
<p>Ibrahim <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/how-dare-you-the-supremacist-nature-of-muslim-grievances/" target="_blank">elsewhere</a> makes an excellent point about Muslim animus towards Israel: “if grievances&#8230;were really about justice and displaced Palestinians, Muslims – and their Western appeasers – would be aggrieved by the fact that millions of Christians are currently being displaced by Muslim invaders.” Indeed, the truer explanation for Muslim hostility towards Israel is that it&#8217;s the only non-Muslim state in the entire Middle East and North Africa. As long as Israel thrives as a strong, non-Muslim state, the Islamist mission of global jihad has failed in that region where Muslims are strongest. But if Israel were ever to fall, one can only imagine the genocide that would descend upon Israeli Jews – and the Israeli religious minorities sheltered in Israel (Christians, Bahá&#8217;ís, etc.).</p>
<p>Despite the grim signs for the West, it’s worth noting that there is a tiny but brave reform movement within Islam that should be robustly supported. Courageous humanists like Irshad Manji, who questions received doctrines with critical-thinking and a preference for tolerance over conquest, are the best hope for a reformed Islam that builds on its virtues, fixes its problems, and is at peace with itself (regarding the Sunni-Shia divide) and the non-Muslim world. Of course, anyone who reads <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ATL9ZZQ/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B00ATL9ZZQ&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thelasisr-20" target="_blank"><i>Crucified Again</i></a> will be unsurprised that Irshad Manji lives in the West.</p>
<p><b>Noah Beck is the author of </b><a href="http://thelastisraelis.com/buy-the-book/" target="_blank"><b><i>The Last Israelis</i></b></a><b>, an apocalyptic novel about Iranian nukes and an Israeli submarine with a diverse crew, including a Christian Israeli.</b></p>
<p><strong>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank">Click here</a>.  </strong></p>
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		<title>Seven More Reasons to Impeach Eric Holder</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/j-christian-adams/seven-more-reasons-to-impeach-eric-holder/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=seven-more-reasons-to-impeach-eric-holder</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Aug 2013 04:35:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[J. Christian Adams]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[abuse]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[The multiple new reasons why Holder is unfit to serve as Attorney General.]]></description>
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<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/holder.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-199415" alt="holder" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/holder-450x299.jpg" width="315" height="209" /></a><strong>To order J. Christian Adams&#8217; pamphlet <em>Ten Reasons to Impeach Eric Holder</em>, <a href="https://secure.donationreport.com/productlist.html?key=WY6LJDB7J48Y">click here</a>.</strong></p>
<p>Power is never vested in just one man. Even the powers of the man in the Oval Office depend on internal checks and balances. A president alone cannot violate the law. His cabinet has to aid him in that task. The man who stands at Obama&#8217;s side, the man who aids and abets his lawbreaking more than any other, is Attorney General Eric Holder.</p>
<p>Holder is the man who is truly accountable for Obama&#8217;s lawlessness because it is his responsibility to hold Obama accountable. Instead Holder has descended into entirely new areas of lawnessness. Instead of acting to enforce the law, he has become the enemy of the law.</p>
<p>Over a year ago, I penned <a href="http://frontpagemag.com/2012/frontpagemag-com/ten-reasons-to-impeach-eric-holder/" target="_blank">Ten Reasons to Impeach Eric Holder</a>.  In that David Horowitz Freedom Center pamphlet, I documented how Attorney General Eric Holder has corroded the rule of law, abused power and deserved to be impeached.  Since the publication of the pamphlet, Holder has provided multiple new reasons why he is unfit to serve as Attorney General.</p>
<p>Instead of moderating, instead of adopting a more centrist approach after the publication of that pamphlet in Spring 2012, Holder has radicalized even further.</p>
<p>This should be unsurprising to anyone who has followed Holder’s career.  Holder is driven by a radical progressive view of the law, and by contempt for conservatives.  He is hostile to the rule of law, at least as traditionally understood by Americans.</p>
<p>Holder once said to a gathering of the American Constitution Society the “nation must be convinced that it is a progressive future that holds the greatest promise for equality and the continuation of those policies that serve to support the greatest number of our people.”  Progressivism, with all of its bending of the plain meaning of words, of ends justifying means and its hostility toward constitutional restraints on the power of government, enchants our Attorney Gneral.</p>
<p>Projecting, he also said conservatives “have made a mockery of the rule of law.”</p>
<p>But Holder’s record demonstrates it is he who has made a mockery out of the rule of law.  His tenure at the Justice Department overflows with abuse of power, appeals to racial division, and disregard of the constitutional balance of powers.</p>
<p><b><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Taking Sides in George Zimmerman Trial and Federal Threats</span></b></p>
<p>Soon after George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin in Florida on February 26, 2012, Eric Holder took the side of the racial mob calling for vengeance for Trayvon Martin.  After the shooting, the racialist anti-Semite head of the New Black Panther Party – Malik Zulu Shabazz – and a gang of uniformed New Black Panther Party members, were calling for the seizure of George Zimmerman.  Just<a name="1404bc321b1f5aba_1404b9851e53577d__GoBack"></a> after the black panther rallies, Rev. Al Sharpton travelled to Florida to agitate for George Zimmerman’s arrest.</p>
<p>Eric Holder’s Justice Department did not stand silently by.  Instead, they devoted time and resources to aid the racial mob, including the New Black Panther Party.</p>
<p>A little known component of the Justice Department, the Community Relations Service, or “CRS,” travelled to Florida and helped the protesters.  For example, CRS helped to facilitate a police escort for college students to travel forty miles to participate in a rally seeking the arrest of George Zimmerman.</p>
<p>DOJ documents reveal thousands of dollars in travel costs and manpower devoted to helping the mob seeking the seizure of George Zimmerman off the street.  The New Black Panther Party produced wanted posters for Zimmerman and offered an award for his illegal seizure.  One member of the New Black Panthers said the bounty would be paid if Zimmerman were seized, “dead or alive.”</p>
<p>DOJ officials met privately with protesters and gave them advice how to conduct their protests.  Other components of Holder’s Justice Department met with the Sanford police and elected officials and strongly “suggested” that the city take a second look at charging Zimmerman.</p>
<p>The DOJ Community Relations Service is supposed to act as a neutral party to provide a buffer during heated disputes.  They aren’t supposed to take sides.  But a black teenager was dead, and the shooter was a “white-Hispanic,” according to NBC News, and therefore Holder took sides.</p>
<p>The rest is history.  Because of DOJ and New Black Panther pressure, that “second look” by law enforcement officials led to the prosecution of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin.  Even Al Sharpton admitted to Tom Joyner that everyone knew the case lacked merit. But in the age of Holder and Obama, the law isn’t used like it once was.  The law is no longer the great leveler.  Instead, it is a weapon for those in power to satisfy the demands of their racially inflamed faction, to prosecute a man who exercised self-defense against a bloody and unwarranted physical attack.  The law, to Holder, is a means to punish those on the wrong side of the racial divide, a divide Holder has helped to create.</p>
<p>Holder erased any doubt about his racial radicalism soon after the jury acquitted George Zimmerman of all charges.  Holder appeared before a number of racially homogeneous audiences, including the black sorority Delta Sigma Theta, and announced that the Justice Department would consider civil rights charges against George Zimmerman.  Never mind that the Federal Bureau of Investigation already concluded that Zimmerman did not act with any racial animus toward Trayvon, an necessary element under the federal law.</p>
<p>But law doesn’t matter to Holder the same way it matters to the rest of us.  Law is what once protected us from people like Holder.  But to Holder, law is a nuisance to be cast aside when he seeks applause from the all-black sorority audience at the Delta Sigma Theta convention.  Gaining approval from, and fostering excitement in, a racial faction is more important to this attorney general than whether an American should face down the federal government because he is a disfavored “white-Hispanic” to that racial faction.</p>
<p><b><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Failure to Indict Black Panthers</span></b></p>
<p>Holder’s involvement in the Zimmerman matter was not confined to the outrageous meddling by the DOJ, as we have seen.  Holder also failed to act against crimes in Florida possibly committed by the racial mob demanding action against Zimmerman.</p>
<p>Holder announced to the loud applause of the Delta Sigma Theta convention that his DOJ may charge George Zimmerman with federal civil rights charges.  As usual, Holder has given the New Black Panther Party a pass on the same civil rights laws.</p>
<p>When the New Black Panther Party conspired to have George Zimmerman seized off the streets, dead or alive, they likely violated the exact same law under which Holder may yet charge Zimmerman.  Section 245 of Title 18 protects people from being attacked or seized off the streets in part because of their race.  And the Panthers made no secret of their racial hostility toward Zimmerman.  Section 249 of Title 18, another civil rights law Holder will use to investigate Zimmerman, prohibits conspiracies to harm someone with a racial animus.</p>
<p>These federal civil rights laws could be used against the New Black Panther Party for actions they took during the mob protests in Florida even easier than they can be used against George Zimmerman.</p>
<p>But will Attorney General Holder announce the opening of an investigation against Malik Zulu Shabazz and his anti-Semites in the New Black Panther Party? Of course not, because we know well Holder’s reluctance to enforce the law against them.</p>
<p><b><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Contempt of Congress</span></b></p>
<p>Eric Holder has demonstrated contempt for the rule of law, but also contempt for Congress.  Holder&#8217;s contempt for the legitimate constitutional oversight authority of the Congress is so extreme, that the House of Representatives voted to find him in contempt of Congress on June 28, 2012. Even House Democrats voted to find Holder in contempt of Congress.</p>
<p>After the vote, House Speaker John Boehner said, “But no Justice Department is above the law and no Justice Department is above the Constitution, which each of us has sworn to uphold.”</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Holder’s Justice Department behaves as if it is above the law, and appears to show no loyalty to the Constitution, oath or no oath to uphold it.</p>
<p>The contempt vote by the House was preceded by many months of attempting to obtain documents to find out the truth about the Fast and Furious gunrunning program concocted and managed by Holder’s Justice Department.   In Fast and Furious, the Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms allowed guns to be purchased in the United States for ultimate transportation into Mexico by drug cartels.  In Mexico, these guns were used to kill hundreds of Mexicans, and were also found where U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered.</p>
<p>While the DOJ was allowing guns to flow into Mexico, President Obama was complaining that American guns were killing Mexicans, and advocated for restrictions on the Second Amendment.  Naturally, Obama never bothered to tell anyone that Holder’s own Justice Department was responsible for the flow of weapons.</p>
<p>When the House Oversight Committee sought to obtain Justice Department documents about who developed this bloody scheme, Holder obstructed Congress.  The historic contempt finding against Holder formalizes what many Front Page readers have long known about the Attorney General of the United States: that he holds in low regard American traditions, norms and institutions.</p>
<p><b><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Failure to Prosecute IRS Officials</span></b></p>
<p>Attorney General Holder has failed to prosecute a single IRS official that feloniously leaked private tax information of Tea Party and conservative groups to the media.  IRS officials have been shown to not only improperly have targeted conservative groups for heightened scrutiny for IRS 501(c)(3) tax exemption applications, but to have actually leaked the information contained in those applications to the political enemies of the applicants.</p>
<p>Consider IRS official Cindy Thomas.  Thomas is the manager of exempt organizations at the IRS office in Cincinnati.  Thomas illegally released the tax applications of nine conservative groups to the left-wing website ProPublica, an organization that includes President Obama’s old friend, Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates.</p>
<p>Other leaks included information leaks against pro-marriage groups to radical gay-marriage groups.  Information contained in the IRS 501(c)(3) applications ended up in the hands of radical groups dedicated to defeating the pro-marriage groups.</p>
<p>These actions by IRS officials are federal felonies.  Holder has an obligation to have them investigated and charged, but instead has done nothing.  The victims of IRS abuse haven’t even been interviewed by the FBI.  FBI Director Robert Muller was completely unaware of the status of any DOJ investigation in testimony before Congress.  He couldn’t even name who was investigating the matter.</p>
<p>Moreover, prosecution of IRS leakers would be a simple matter.  Leaking information constitutes the crime.  It doesn’t not require the complicated burden of proving racial animus, as any federal prosecution of George Zimmerman would entail. Simply, for charges not to have been filed against an IRS official by now means Holder doesn’t seem to care much about the IRS targeting of conservative groups.</p>
<p><b><span style="text-decoration: underline;">DOJ Vendetta Against Fox News and James Rosen</span></b></p>
<p>Eric Holder authorized a criminal investigation against James Rosen of Fox News.  This provides an example where progressives often engage in projection.  During the Nixon years, the left would claim Nixon had a vendetta against certain reporters and used law enforcement against them.  We find the fulfillment of that plot in the age of Obama and Holder through the DOJ actions against Fox News.</p>
<p>James Rosen had reported on various national security issues.  These revelations angered the White House and the Justice Department launched a criminal investigation in response to the reports.  They sought to discover the sources behind Rosen’s reporting.</p>
<p>Under DOJ guidelines, the Attorney General must personally approve any subpoenas of news reporters.  When I was at the Justice Department, I sought and obtained the personal approval of the Attorney General in a matter I was investigating.  But before a subpoena can issue against a reporter, DOJ rules require a number of steps.</p>
<p>First, the DOJ must seek the information through less restrictive means.  So if it could identify the leaker without subpoenaing the papers of James Rosen, DOJ rules required them to do so. Second, the DOJ is supposed to try to work out an arrangement with the news organization.  But the Justice Department kept the investigation of Fox News secret, and so therefore never tried to “work out” any resolution.</p>
<p>Eric Holder was supposed to sign off on any press subpoena under DOJ guidelines.  This requirement ensures accountability and protects Americans from an out of control administrative state that can seek press subpoenas as a routine matter.  Yet Holder delegated this authority in the Rosen matter to a deputy.  He said, without a trace of irony, that the reason he did so is because the investigation also included interviews to determine if Holder himself was the source of the leak!</p>
<p>But merely authorizing criminal investigations against Fox News reporter James Rosen wasn’t the worst thing Eric Holder’s Justice Department would do in the saga.  The worst was yet to come.</p>
<p><b><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Perjury Before Congress on Rosen Investigation</span></b></p>
<p>Eric Holder also lied before Congress about the Rosen matter.  On May 15, 2013, Holder was asked if he knew anything about investigations of reporters by his DOJ.</p>
<p>“With regard to potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of material, that is not something that I have ever been involved, heard of, or would think would be a wise policy,” Holder said.</p>
<p>When Holder gave this testimony, he was “involved” in and “heard of” potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of material.   Holder knew about various investigations of journalists and was involved in them.  His under-oath testimony before Congress was demonstrably false and misleading.  The House Judiciary Committee would issue a report reaching the same conclusion.</p>
<p>Eric Holder cannot be trusted to tell the truth, even when under oath and when the entire nation is watching him.</p>
<p><b><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Manipulation of 2012 Elections and Opposition to Election Integrity</span></b></p>
<p>The gravest and most long lasting damage that Eric Holder has done to the nation is his manipulation of the electoral process, particularly before the 2012 presidential election.</p>
<p>Eric Holder allowed that election to take place with over 4,000,000 ineligible voters on the rolls.  The left-leaning Pew Foundation issued a report showing that voter rolls around the country were polluted with dead and ineligible voters.  Holder is obliged to enforce federal laws which require states to remove these ineligible voters from the rolls before a federal election.</p>
<p>Instead, Holder has a philosophical objection to these laws and he refuses to enforce them.  Failure to remove ineligible voters allows people to vote multiple times in multiple states.  It allows dead voters to remain on the rolls to be voted by family members or others who know they have died.  Felons who have not been removed from the rolls will also be allowed to cast illegal ballots.  Since Holder alone has power to prosecute federal election crimes, we cannot count on him to do anything about voter fraud in federal elections.</p>
<p>Consider Meloweese Richardson in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Richardson admitted on camera to news reporters that she voted multiple times for President Obama in 2012 and 2008.  She voted in the names of people who spent time at her house as well as family members.  She was unapologetic.</p>
<p>Voting twice for president is a federal crime.</p>
<p>Yet, to this day, Eric Holder has not prosecuted Richardson for violation of federal law.  After all, she voted for the President, and some people get breaks from this Attorney General, and others get threats.  It all depends on who you are or what you look like, not how you behaved.  It is true that Ohio brought charges against Richardson. But there are federal issues at stake separate from the state concerns.</p>
<p>The arrogance of Melowese Richardson is a symbol of what a nation with Attorney General Eric Holder will produce. Her brash unrepentant arrogance for voting six times for President Obama sounds like Eric Holder’s unrepentant testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Fast and Furious.</p>
<p>Like Richardson, even after Holder is found to be contemptuous of the law, there are no apologies.  At her sentencing, Richardson blustered that she did it all for her beloved President out of a deep allegiance.  Holder acts contemptuously toward Congress and the rule of law for the same reason.  It is all about power, power for President Obama and his revolutionary transformation of America.</p>
<p>Meloweese Richardson didn’t care if the law was perverted as long as President Obama held power – and neither does Holder.  If IRS officials committed federal crimes to target Tea Party groups, so be it.  They are the enemies of the progressive President and deserve a pass.  If the New Black Panthers violated federal civil rights laws, so be it.  They were fighting to stoke racial tensions and threaten an innocent man because of his race.  If Holder’s DOJ intimidates Fox News, so be it.  Fox News provides the most objective coverage of the Obama administration and deserve the pain.</p>
<p>Eric Holder is the Ivy League schooled lawyer representing the hopes and dreams of the progressive mob and race hustlers.  He displays the same contempt for the law as does the mob calling for racial vengeance. He is skilled at using power and position to protect political friends and harm political enemies.  Holder’s version of justice is foreign to these American shores, and to our American age.</p>
<p>Eric Holder is a menace to the rule of law and the individual liberty it protects.  He should not only be run out of his office, but hounded forever by liberty-loving Americans exposing his behavior until he is bereft of clients after he leaves the Justice Department.</p>
<p><strong>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank">Click here</a>.  </strong></p>
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		<title>The Talibanization of Gaza</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/davidhornik/the-talibanization-of-gaza/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-talibanization-of-gaza</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2013 04:48:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[P. David Hornik]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[The horrifying human rights abuses taking place in the Palestinian terror-statelet. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/2013-635027659504567988-456.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-188947" alt="2013-635027659504567988-456" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/2013-635027659504567988-456.jpg" width="247" height="185" /></a>What a relief that Israel withdrew from Gaza, liberating the Palestinians there.</span></b></p>
<p>Well, not exactly. As <a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/167838">summed up on <i>Israel National News</i></a>, this week the pan-Arab daily <i>Al-Hayat</i> reported that</p>
<blockquote><p><i>Hamas is lobbying for a stricter enforcement of Islamic law in Gaza—including provisions to cut off the hands of thieves, and execution of individuals who cheat on their spouses…. Hamas expects the new regulations to take effect in the coming months, after introduction of the legislation in the PA parliament.</i></p></blockquote>
<p>The report notes that “Existing laws mete out the death penalty to individuals convicted of murder, spying, homosexuality, or selling land to Jews” and that the new legislation will also include “lashes for a large number of ‘crimes,’ including drinking alcoholic beverages and gambling.”</p>
<p>And furthermore, “Hamas has a large majority in the PA parliament, with 74 of the 134 parliamentarians belonging to the Islamist party,” and the new legislation</p>
<blockquote><p><i>is expected to easily pass. Once it does, the laws will be extant in both Gaza and Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria, but it is not clear if they will be enforced there.</i></p></blockquote>
<p>It is also not clear at this point whether the Palestinian Legislative Council, which for the time being has ceased to function, could be reconstituted for such a vote.</p>
<p>What is clear, though, is that horrific Islamic abuses are already occurring in Gaza. Last week the UK’s <i>Telegraph</i> <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/10025466/Fear-and-fundamentalism-as-the-modesty-police-patrol-Gaza.html">told</a> this harrowing tale:</p>
<blockquote><p><i>It’s three weeks since his arrest but Ismail Halou still has streaks of purple bruising on the soles of his feet. The 22 year-old was filling cars at his family’s petrol station in Gaza City at 5 pm on April 4th when a black jeep pulled into the forecourt, plain-clothed police stepped out and ordered him into the car. He was blindfolded and driven to the nearest police station.</i></p>
<p><i>“I could hear the screams of people being beaten in the rooms next to me. Two men held my legs down and tied them together on a wooden board then they beat the soles of my feet with a plastic rod. They beat me for at least five minutes. I was crying and screaming with agony. It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt,” Mr Halou recalls.</i></p>
<p><i>It was only after the beating that police officers set to work trying to shave off the one-inch fin of gelled hair that was the cause of his arrest.</i></p>
<p><i>“At no point did they tell me why they had arrested me. I found out from neighbours when I got home that it was because of my hair,” Mr Halou explains, running a hand over the fuzzy regrowth on his head. He could not walk for three days after his release.</i></p></blockquote>
<p>April, to paraphrase T. S. Eliot, was indeed a cruel month:</p>
<blockquote><p><i>Police in Gaza…arrested at least 41 men on charges of immodesty this April.</i></p>
<p><i>Most of them were beaten, all of them had their heads forcibly shaven. Some were shaven because their haircuts…were deemed culturally inappropriate, others because their trousers were either too low-slung or too fitted…. Gaza is gripped with a palpable fear that Hamas is driving the population towards unapologetic, militant, Islamic fundamentalism.</i></p></blockquote>
<p>It was, of course, the Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank who overwhelmingly chose Hamas in parliamentary elections in 2006. Presumably, they knew something about this movement’s nature. They may not have thought, though, they were getting something that looks increasingly like an Arab version of the Taliban.</p>
<p>Which is not to say Fatah, the relatively secular movement running the West Bank, is a bed of roses. At the end of March the UK’s <i>Daily Mail</i> <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2301682/Hooded-hanged-left-agony-hours-end-Palestinian-security-chief-tells-tormented-suspects-MI6s-knowledge--reveals-Britain-helps-pay-33m-foreign-aid.html">published a hair-raising report</a> on its use of torture. Last week when an Israeli father of five was stabbed to death, Fatah’s Facebook page <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/fatah-tapuah-junction-stabber-a-hero/">erupted in praise and celebration</a>.</p>
<p>By and large, the same people who have made the Palestinians and their alleged rights a cause célèbre for decades cannot be gotten interested in these realities. There are certain to be more Israeli Apartheid Weeks next spring, but there will be no Gaza Torture or Gaza Sharia weeks. Back when waves of Palestinian suicide bombers were strewing body parts all over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, it was Israel’s checkpoints and separation fence that became the focus of—supposed—moral concern.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry has <a href="http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3699/arab-league-john-kerry">launched yet another major diplomatic initiative</a> aimed at restarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that are supposed to lead to “peace.” The ongoing refusal to internalize the problematic nature of the “Palestinian people”—who exhibit the same afflictions so evident in Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and elsewhere in the region—is stunning to behold.</p>
<p><strong>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank">Click here</a>.</strong></p>
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		<title>Exploiting the Americans with Disabilities Act</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/arnold-ahlert/exploiting-the-americans-with-disabilities-act/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=exploiting-the-americans-with-disabilities-act</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Oct 2012 04:10:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Arnold Ahlert]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Americans with Disabilities Act]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=149369</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[How Congress helped created a frivolous lawsuit racket. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Under the heading of unintended consequences, few things can match the spate of frivolous lawsuits engendered by the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). Two of the latest abuses have been chronicled on both coasts. In Rye, NY, a single wheelchair-using resident, Luigi Girotto, has <a href="http://www.lohud.com/article/20121016/NEWS02/310160030/Spate-litigation-Rye-seen-shakedown?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFrontpage">filed</a> at least 12 separate lawsuits against local merchants for ADA violations. Yet in Yuba City, CA, such abuse has reached an unprecedented level: officials there have <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_21780003/yuba-city-pay-man-15-000-stop-ada">agreed</a> to pay serial litigant George Louie $15,000 to stop filing any more ADA-inspired lawsuits within the city limits.</p>
<p>The ADA, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Act_of_1990">enacted</a> in 1990, combined a civil rights initiative with a determination to give Americans who are permanently disabled as much access to mainstream activities as possible. As a result of the civl rights part of the equation, employers could no longer discriminate against hiring someone because of a disability. The second aspect of the law required businesses to make reasonable accommodations that would provide disabled people with &#8220;access&#8221; to their establishments.</p>
<p>It is the latter aspect of the law that has led to an array of abuses. Former Manhattan Institute scholar Walter Olson, in an article released in 2004, <a href="http://www.city-journal.org/html/14_1_the_ada_shakedown.html">explains</a> why. &#8220;Lawyers can find targets with ease, because Title III of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, covering public accommodations such as stores and theaters, is so hard to comply with. It lays out hundreds of requirements&#8211;everything from the permissible height of countertops and mirrors in newer or renovated buildings to how heavy swinging entrance doors can be to the exact location where grab bars must be located in toilets, and on and on,&#8221; Olson reveals.</p>
<p>Olson then cuts to the heart of the matter. &#8220;Even a firm that thinks that it&#8217;s complying with the law because, say, its architect worked with an ADA consultant, can be in for a rude surprise when a different official swings by looking for violations. &#8216;I have not found anything that&#8217;s 100 percent compliant with the ADA,&#8217; Mariana Nork, senior vice president of the American Association of People with Disabilities, recently observed.&#8221; And then there&#8217;s this. &#8220;ADA demands clash with the aims of the historic preservation movement, since all historic building styles incorporate features now forbidden or discouraged.&#8221;</p>
<p>That last bit is key, as the <em>New York Times</em> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/17/nyregion/lawyers-find-obstacles-to-the-disabled-then-find-plaintiffs.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=0">revealed</a> as recently as last April. &#8220;A small cadre of lawyers, some from out of state, are using New York City’s age and architectural quirkiness as the foundation for a flood of lawsuits citing violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act,&#8221; the <em>Times</em> reports. The paper notes that these attorneys &#8220;are generally not acting on existing complaints from people with disabilities. Instead, they identify local businesses, like bagel shops and delis, that are not in compliance with the law, and then aggressively recruit plaintiffs from advocacy groups for people with disabilities.&#8221;</p>
<p>The egregiousness of the scam is underscored by the reality that each plaintiff, who typically collects $500 for each suit filed, &#8220;can be used several times over. The lawyers, meanwhile, make several thousands of dollars, because the civil rights law entitles them to legal fees from the noncompliant businesses.&#8221; That&#8217;s because when the law was written, Congress refused to allow disabled plaintiffs to sue for damages, only for court-ordered remedies to the problems that were raised in lawsuits. Yet in a compromise, Congress allowed for fees to be awarded to attorneys that bring their discrimination cases.</p>
<p><a href="http://frontpagemag.com/2012/arnold-ahlert/exploiting-the-americans-with-disabilities-act/courtroom-gavel/" rel="attachment wp-att-149379"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-149379" title="courtroom-gavel" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/courtroom-gavel.gif" alt="" width="315" height="237" /></a>In Rye, the Aventura, Florida-based Weitz Law firm that has filed scores of ADA-inspired suits in the Northeast, has teamed up with Luigi Girotto, and targeted such mom-and-pop businesses as Bubble and Tweet, Rye Eye Care, Rye Bagel Shop, Yogo Joy, a yogurt boutique, Arcade Books, Central Barber Shop, and R&amp;M Woodrow Jewelers. One of the most damnable common denominators here is the fact that, according to a number of these merchants, Mr. Girotto <em>has never patronized their establishments. </em>Despite this reality, most of the merchants are settling their cases due to the reality that tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and settlement costs associated with fighting such abuse could literally be the difference between staying in business or shutting one&#8217;s doors.</p>
<p>Case in point: in 1998 restaurant River City Brewing Co. in Sacramento, whose owners spent $1.5 million on architect plans <em>approved by the city</em>, <a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/1998/10/12/story1.html?page=all">filed</a> for bankruptcy after a two-year legal fight with a wheelchair-bound woman who did not have access to the restaurant&#8217;s mezzanine, where less than a third of the restaurant&#8217;s total seating was located. A court ordered the owners to pay $145,000 &#8212; to compensate the plaintiff&#8217;s lawyers.</p>
<p>In similar fashion, the business owners in Rye note it is the Weitz law firm, not plaintiff Girotto, who will end up with most of the money. “It’s a terrific business model if you can live with yourself,” said David Lacher, a lawyer who is defending two businesses, Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. and the Central Barber Shop. “The judges hate these cases because they know exactly what’s going on.” Lacher further noted that since the ADA is so heavily skewed towards the plaintiffs, most of them settle for sums that generally reach the &#8220;low five figures.&#8221; “If they just find a step, that’s all they need,” he said. “At the end of the day, everybody settles.”</p>
<p>In Yuba City, CA, the <em>entire municipality</em> has settled with serial litigant George Louie, despite a <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_21780003/yuba-city-pay-man-15-000-stop-ada">ruling</a> by a Contra Costa County Superior Court judge that placed him on a state list of &#8220;vexatious litigants&#8221; in 2011, which barred him from filing lawsuits in California courts. Louie can still file suits in federal court, and he has apparently made the most of that opportunity. He <a href="http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012/10/13/yuba-city-pays-lawyer-to-stop-frivilous-lawsuits/">filed</a> a large lawsuit against Yuba City for disability access at several of its intersections, costing them tens of thousands of dollars. Hence, the settlement. &#8220;He&#8217;s agreed not to file ADA lawsuits in our city, period,&#8221; said Darin Gale, Yuba City&#8217;s economic development manager. &#8220;There&#8217;s no timetable. It&#8217;s forever.&#8221;</p>
<p>That&#8217;s forever, as far as Louie &#8212; and only Louie &#8212; is concerned. Yet city officials naively believe that such a ground-breaking settlement, unanimously <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_21780003/yuba-city-pay-man-15-000-stop-ada">approved</a> in a closed-door meeting by the Yuba City Council on October 2nd, is a one-of-a-kind arrangement. “We are definitely not here to be a bank for some of these advocates to continue to sue the city or local businesses,” said Gale. “But in this case, we went through the process and it’s in the best financial interest of the city, and we don’t plan on doing it again.”</p>
<p>Such a plan is at odds with reality. America is rife with attorneys and litigants in search of an easy payday, especially one that can be couched in noble terms of helping the disabled, in order to obscure the true intent. Thus, it is no surprise that mass filings have been occurring for years in states such as California, Florida, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Oregon.</p>
<p>Former Representative Mark Foley (R-FL) regularly introduced legislation to amend the ADA to require that business owners receive 90 days notice before being sued, which would allow those owners time to put their establishments in compliance with the law. That alone would prevent most of the frivolous litigation currently occurring. Unfortunately, that legislation was regularly tabled. Similar reform is currently pending. Yet one has to wonder about its odds for success in the 112th <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2010/11/06/the-more-things-change-few-demographic-distinctions-in-112th-congress/">Congress</a>, where 148 attorneys inhabit the House &#8212; and a majority of 52 lawyers inhabit the Senate. Furthermore, it is not likely those totals will be radically altered by the election. Thus, it is likely that such abuse of the ADA will continue.</p>
<p><strong>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank">Click here</a>.</strong></p>
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		<title>Human Rights Travesties at the United Nations</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/frontpagemag-com/human-rights-travesties-at-the-united-nations/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=human-rights-travesties-at-the-united-nations</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 02 Oct 2012 04:15:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Frontpagemag.com]]></dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=146471</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Pat Condell once again tells it how it is.  ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>An important message from Pat Condell that becomes more relevant as time goes on. </strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><iframe width="610" height="458" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5Ana9w3uSNA?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank">Click here</a>.</strong></p>
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		<title>Indicting Penn State</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/alan-w-dowd/indicting-penn-state/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=indicting-penn-state</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jul 2012 04:40:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Alan W. Dowd]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Jerry Sandusky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joe Paterno]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=137373</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Time to remove the university's bronze statue of Joe Paterno? ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/joe-paterno-statue.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-137377" title="joe-paterno-statue" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/joe-paterno-statue.gif" alt="" width="375" height="250" /></a>Jerry Sandusky, the former defensive coordinator of Penn State’s football program, was convicted on 45 counts of sexual abuse of children in June. Sandusky used his position of authority, the trappings of big-time college football, and the facilities and respected name of Penn State, to prey upon young boys. But as we now know, the sordid story doesn’t end there.</p>
<p>Sandusky’s crimes went on for more than a decade. And Penn State’s administration, athletics department and football program did nothing about it until Sandusky was indicted last fall. In fact, what many suspected at the time is now beyond dispute: Former football coach Joe Paterno, former president Graham Spanier, former athletics director Tim Curley and others served as enablers for Sandusky and his monstrous crimes. As late as 2007, Sandusky had full access to football facilities and even kept an office as a “coach emeritus.” That’s 13 years after Sandusky’s first known attack and nine years after the first Sandusky attack the Penn State hierarchy was made aware of.</p>
<p>As the Freeh report concludes, by granting Sandusky continued access to the football program, Paterno and others “empowered Sandusky to attract potential victims to the campus…Indeed that continued access provided Sandusky with the very currency that enabled him to attract his victims.”</p>
<p>In short, people in positions of respected authority allowed a predator to roam and hunt and destroy. If you think this language is too strong, read the information in Freeh’s <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/penn-state-freeh-report/REPORT_FINAL_071212.pdf?hpid=z2">report</a>—but only if you are ready to glimpse the most depraved and cowardly side of man.</p>
<p>That brings us to the legacy of Joe Paterno, who was fired last fall as the scandal unfolded and died just a few months later, succumbing to cancer. We have heard much about how Paterno donated millions, built libraries and student centers, and selflessly gave to the university he loved. Students and alumni marched in support of the sainted coach. But the hard truth is that Paterno covered up a heinous crime and allowed Sandusky to destroy the lives of young boys. In his press conference, <a href="http://www.thefreehreportonpsu.com/Press_Release_07_12_12.pdf">Freeh concluded</a> that Paterno and the Penn State hierarchy “showed no concern” for the victims, displayed a “total disregard for the safety and welfare of the victims” and “repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky’s child abuse from the authorities.”</p>
<p>Rather than protecting the innocent—the report scathingly concludes that Paterno and other higher-ups “failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade”—the goal was to protect the football program. For those who know Paterno’s many good works by heart, this is hard to hear. Indeed, it is hard to see heroes fall. But those who hold themselves to a higher standard—those who allow others to elevate them onto pedestals—must be held to that higher standard.</p>
<p>Paterno did many, many good things in his half-century of coaching. But one bad thing—especially something this appalling—can sweep away all the good. This truth applies to anyone: the good husband who has but one indiscretion and ruins a family; the good teacher who loses control for just a moment and ruins her career; the good surgeon or CEO who cuts a corner and ruins someone’s life. This truth—this frailty of reputation—hangs over all of us.</p>
<p>Soon, the NCAA will weigh in on the Sandusky-Paterno scandal. There are reports that the NCAA is investigating Penn State for a “lack of institutional control” (LOIC)—code for the most serious violations of the spirit and letter of NCAA rules. The punishment could be devastating for the football program, including the NCAA equivalent of the <a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball/story/penn-state-should-lose-football-privileges-dealth-penalty-in-wake-of-freeh-report-child-sex-abuse-071212">death penalty</a>.</p>
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		<title>Censorship at the U.N.</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/bruce-bawer/censorship-at-the-u-n/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=censorship-at-the-u-n</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Jul 2012 04:45:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Bruce Bawer]]></dc:creator>
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		<category><![CDATA[Thor Halvorssen]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Brutal authoritarians of the "human rights" council shut down any mention of their crimes. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/un.general-assembly-hall_72.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-136606" title="un.general-assembly-hall_72" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/un.general-assembly-hall_72.gif" alt="" width="375" height="255" /></a>The United Nations never ceases to impress.  As noted <a href="http://frontpagemag.com/2012/bruce-bawer/truth-telling-at-the-u-n-human-rights-council/">here</a> recently, Thor Halvorssen of the Human Rights Foundation appeared before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on June 28. Halvorssen offered a few frank, bracing words about the state of human rights in Venezuela under Hugo Chavez, and expressly argued that Chavez&#8217;s government, which is seeking a seat on the council, has no right to such a seat.  For good measure, Halvorssen pointed out how disgraceful it is that another tyrannical Latin American government, that of Cuba, currently sits on the council.</p>
<p>The result, as also noted <a href="http://frontpagemag.com/2012/bruce-bawer/truth-telling-at-the-u-n-human-rights-council/">here</a>, was an explosion of righteous indignation on the part of some of the council&#8217;s least worthy members – China, Russia, and, especially, Cuba, whose representative was so quick to rise to his feet in outrage that he knocked his chair over.  The message sent out by him, and by his Chinese and Russian friends, in response to Halvorssen&#8217;s dose of truth-telling was clear: it&#8217;s one thing to engage in vague, pretty talk about human rights, but it&#8217;s another thing to point fingers and name names.</p>
<p>Two days later, interestingly enough, the very same message was communicated to a group of teenage girls from Norway at the U.N. Headquarters in New York – or, at least, so it would appear from the available evidence.  Here&#8217;s the story.  The <a href="http://www.detnorskejentekor.no/english/%20">Norwegian Girls&#8217; Choir</a> was in New York as part of a music festival produced by something called the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation, which, according to an <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/30/arts/music/rhythms-of-one-world-festival-from-friendship-ambassadors.html">article</a> that appeared in the <em>New York Times </em>on June 30,<em> “</em>has promoted cultural exchanges between American and international arts groups since its founding in 1973. This year the group, which often focuses on youth initiatives, has produced the inaugural Rhythms of One World festival, a series of choral performances featuring adult and children’s choirs from Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, Luxembourg, Canada, Australia, Norway and the United States.”</p>
<p>As the <em>Times </em>reported, “The choirs performed individually at various halls in the city this week, and joined forces for an event on Thursday evening at Avery Fisher Hall, which celebrated the signing of the United Nations Charter in 1945.”  The <em>Times </em>described each act in some detail, and singled out the girls&#8217; choir as a “highlight of the evening,” saying that they “sang with nuance and elegant dynamic contrast.”  The <em>Times </em>article closed by noting that the festival would conclude that evening, Saturday, June 30, “with a performance at the United Nations General Assembly Hall.”</p>
<p>So it was that on Saturday afternoon, the girls&#8217; choir was rehearsing lighting cues in the General Assembly hall.  That&#8217;s when the trouble started.  The girls were doing a piece by composer Maya Ratkje entitled “Ro-Uro,” which can be translated as “Peace-Unrest.”  It&#8217;s an archetypal Norwegian statement about the beauty of peace and the evil of war.  (You can see a video of a 2007 performance of it <a href="http://ratkje.no/2007/10/ro-uro/">here</a>.)  The work, which lasts just under ten minutes, alternates throughout between harmony and discord; the girls are almost constantly on the move, one moment dancing happily arm-in-arm and making pretty music, the next moment dashing madly across the stage – and around the auditorium – as if in sheer terror, all the while shrieking out harsh dissonances.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s exactly the kind of thing you&#8217;d think was tailor-made for the U.N.  But there&#8217;s one problem.  Toward the end of the piece, the girls shout out the names of famous people who have abused their power, such as Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, Quisling, Castro, and Mugabe.</p>
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		<title>Going Undercover in Sweden&#8217;s Mosques</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/bruce-bawer/going-undercover-in-swedens-mosques/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=going-undercover-in-swedens-mosques</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 21 May 2012 04:26:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Bruce Bawer]]></dc:creator>
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		<category><![CDATA[Investigation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mosque]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sweden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Undercover]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Women]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=132526</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Daring exposé shows the real face of Islam. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/932264-3x2-340x227.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-132532" title="932264-3x2-340x227" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/932264-3x2-340x227.gif" alt="" width="375" height="250" /></a>You may recall that back in 2007, the series <em>Dispatches, </em>produced by Britain&#8217;s Channel 4, sent reporters into several mosques in that country with hidden cameras and microphones.  The result was a <a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2515587181120245843#%20%20">program</a> entitled <em>Undercover Mosque, </em>which – for those who didn&#8217;t already suspect that fishy stuff was going on behind those walls – was mind-blowing, confirming pretty much every claim made by the critics of Islam that had been furiously rejected by imams as sheer Islamophobia.  Among other things, Channel 4 caught preachers on videotape rejecting Western law and integration into Western society; asserting the intellectual inferiority of  women and the acceptability of marrying pre-pubescent girls; and calling for the murder of Jews, Hindus, gays, Muslim apostates, and British soldiers.</p>
<p>If you remember that program, you may also remember what happened afterwards.  The British police investigated the mosques, but decided they didn&#8217;t have enough evidence to charge them with anything.  At which point the cops did a 180 and <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_midlands/6936681.stm%20">reported</a> Channel 4 to Ofcom, the UK&#8217;s answer to the FCC, for allegedly editing its footage in such a way as to misrepresent the preachers&#8217; views.  The good news is that Ofcom eventually rejected the charges; the bad news is that, once again, the critics of Islam became the heavies, the Muslims the victims.  And despite <em>Undercover Mosque</em>&#8216;s explosive revelations, nothing much changed as a result of them.</p>
<p>Now, to its credit, and to the astonishment of many, Swedish television has done its own version of <em>Undercover Mosque.  </em>The <em>60 Minutes</em>-style series <em>Uppdrag: Granskning (Assignment: Investigation) </em>sent two women in burkas into ten Swedish mosques.  One of them carried a hidden camera; the other pretended to be a woman whose abusive husband had taken a second wife and who wanted to know the answers to these questions:</p>
<ul>
<li> Is a man permitted to marry more than one woman?</li>
<li> Is a woman permitted to deny her husband sex?</li>
<li> Is a man permitted to hit his wife?</li>
<li> If so, is she permitted to call the police?</li>
</ul>
<p>Again, for those who have been following these matters for years in North America and Europe, the results of this investigation will not come as much of a surprise.  But in Sweden, where the media try their best never to approach these matters in a remotely honest way, this episode of <em>Uppdrag: Granskning </em>provided a rare taste of media candor.</p>
<p>One of the ten mosques was the Stockholm Mosque, the most prominent Muslim house of worship in Sweden.  An official at the mosque, Mahmod Adam, told his burka-clad interlocutor that it&#8217;s perfectly acceptable under the Koran for a man to take four wives, so long as he can support them and treat them equally.  “Understand?” he asked.  “Yes,” she replied meekly.  In response to which he told her, sharply, “You&#8217;re supposed to listen!” – in other words, “Shut up!”</p>
<p>The faux wife went on to tell Adam that her husband hits her if she so much as opens her mouth – and that he cites the Koran in his defense.  Adam replied that her husband is allowed to smack her on the arm – and that under no circumstances, in any case, should she call the police on him.  His final advice: to show her husband more affection.</p>
<p>Elsewhere the advice was similar.  At the Örebro Mosque, Abdur Kadir Salad told the woman not to call the police because she&#8217;d end up getting a divorce and breaking up her family – and Muslims don&#8217;t want that, for Islam is about building families, not breaking them up.  At the Islamic Center in Malmö, same advice: no police, because “they can take your kids.”  At another Malmö mosque, the message was unambiguous: “Never, never consider calling the police.”  Even if he hits her twenty or thirty times?  Smacking himself on the arm, the imam said forcefully: “This is not hitting!”</p>
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		<title>Food Stamp Nation</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/frank-crimi/food-stamp-nation/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=food-stamp-nation</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/frank-crimi/food-stamp-nation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Apr 2012 04:35:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Frank Crimi]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[abuse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food stamps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fraud]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Left]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[welfare]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=129997</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Obama administration works overtime to enroll more people into a program saturated with fraud and abuse.  ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/food-stamp.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-130074" title="food-stamp" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/food-stamp.jpg" alt="" width="410" height="267" /></a></p>
<p>Despite a new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43173">report</a> finding a record number of Americans receiving food stamps, the Obama administration is working overtime to enroll more people into a program increasingly rife with fraud and abuse</p>
<p>According to the CBO, a record 45 million Americans (one out of every seven people) are now receiving assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a 70 percent increase in participation since 2007.</p>
<p>While it should be noted that the Bush administration increased participation in the food stamp program by 63 percent during its eight years, enrolling nearly 11 million people, the Obama administration has taken that number to staggering new heights, enrolling nearly the same number of people in only three years.</p>
<p>Since 2007 spending on SNAP has also ballooned from $30 billion to $72 billion, an increase of 135 percent.  Moreover, the CBO estimates that spending on the program will continue to <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43173">increase</a> to $82 billion by 2013.</p>
<p>Eligibility for SNAP, which is administered by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) but whose benefits are distributed by the states, necessitates that a person’s income must be near or at the national poverty level.</p>
<p>As such, the CBO reports that roughly 65 percent of the skyrocketing <a href="http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&amp;id=3450">growth</a> in the number of participants and program costs can be attributed to a stagnant economy; 20 percent due to higher benefit amounts passed in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; and 15 percent from other factors, such as higher food prices.</p>
<p>Begun in 1964 as a temporary food aid program for low-income adults and children, the food stamp program has nevertheless exponentially grown to become more of a permanent entitlement with <a href="http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/06/confronting-the-unsustainable-growth-of-welfare-entitlements-principles-of-reform-and-the-next-steps?query=Confronting+the+Unsustainable+Growth+of+Welfare+Entitlements:+Principles+of+Reform+and+the+Next+Step">half</a> of food stamp aid actually going to individuals who have received the aid for 8.5 years or longer.</p>
<p>While most of SNAP’s participants faithfully abide by the program’s guidelines, it’s not surprising to find that its dramatic growth has also witnessed a correspondingly high swelling in the number of cases of fraud, corruption and abuse by crooks and hustlers.</p>
<p>That sentiment was recently shared by USDA Inspector General Phyllis Fong when she <a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/03/08/148235246/house-committee-urges-action-on-food-stamp-fraud">testified</a> in March before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.</p>
<p>According to Fong, the USDA since 2007 has launched 779 probes that had <a href="http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2012/03/food-stamps-exchanged-for-drugs-weapons-contraband/">resulted</a> in 1,356 indictments, 944 convictions and 792 sanctions against individuals and businesses that had cheated the program out of more than $200 million.</p>
<p>The most common type of fraud, according to Fong, is food-stamp trafficking where retailers encourage food-stamp recipients to use their Electronic Benefits Transfer debit card to trade their benefits for cash, alcohol or cigarettes, an illicit activity that can garner the retailer up to $50,000 a month.</p>
<p>That type of fraud was on display when Pat Lu, a mini mart owner in Massachusetts, was recently arrested as the <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2012/04/21/massachusetts-welfare-fraud-mini-mart-owner-skimmed-30k-per-month/">ringleader</a> of a $700,000 scheme involving at least 53 suspects engaged in trading food stamp benefits for cash.</p>
<p>Over a period of two years, Lu would swipe a customer’s SNAP debit card, ring up a phony sale for the value of the card, give the customer 50 cents on the dollar in cash, and pocket the rest, netting Lu $30,000 per month.</p>
<p>However, uncovering that type of fraud has become increasingly problematic given that the USDA has only 40 <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304657804576401412033504294.html">inspectors</a> to oversee the 231,000 retailers nationwide that have been approved to participate in SNAP.</p>
<p>For example, the USDA has each year since 2002 removed an average of 830 retailers for food stamp trafficking, including ousting more than 1,200 stores in 2011. However, a recent <a href="http://www.10news.com/news/30494893/detail.html">investigation</a> found that of the 4,600 retailers from 2006 through 2011 who had been permanently disqualified from accepting food stamps, 1,492 continue to participate in the program.</p>
<p>Of course, crooked retailers are abetted by equally crooked food stamp beneficiaries, witnessed by myriad reports of food stamp recipients <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304657804576401412033504294.html">selling</a> their SNAP benefit cards on Facebook and on Craigslist.</p>
<p>Moreover, in her appearance before the House Committee, Phyllis Fong <a href="http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2012/03/food-stamps-exchanged-for-drugs-weapons-contraband/">testified</a> that many food-stamp recipients also use proceeds illegally netted from their food stamp benefit to buy illegal drugs, weapons and prostitutes.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, thousands of people who are not eligible for food stamps are still able to get them by lying or using the social security number of dead people, an activity highlighted by a USDA report that <a href="http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2012/03/food-stamps-exchanged-for-drugs-weapons-contraband/">found</a> the states of Maryland and Virginia having distributed $130 million in food stamps in 2010 to individuals who were not eligible.</p>
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		<title>A Day in the Life of Sharia</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/frank-crimi/prisoners-in-their-own-country/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=prisoners-in-their-own-country</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/frank-crimi/prisoners-in-their-own-country/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:15:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Frank Crimi]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[abuse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Afghanistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sahar Gul]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Torture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Women]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=118280</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The savage and barbaric torture of Afghan women continues under Islamic law in Afghanistan.
]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/sahar_gul_victim_in_baghlan.gif"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-118297" title="sahar_gul_victim_in_baghlan" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/sahar_gul_victim_in_baghlan.gif" alt="" width="375" height="250" /></a></p>
<p>In December 2011, Sahar Gul, a 15-year-old Afghan girl and underage bride, was freed by Afghan police after having been severely <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2082231/Sahar-Gul-Tortured-child-brides-father-law-arrested-hunt-goes-husband.htm1?ito=feeds-newsxm1">tortured</a> for six months by her in-laws in an attempt to force her into prostitution. During her captivity, Sahar had been kept locked in a basement, tortured with hot irons, her fingers broken and fingernails ripped out.</p>
<p>While Sahar’s horrific ordeal sparked justifiable outrage among many Afghans, her agony is all too commonplace in Afghanistan, a country in which violence against women and girls is both pervasive and growing.</p>
<p>The violent abuse used against Afghan females also entails the widespread and socially accepted practice of forced child marriage, a cultural and religious reality that has led to over half of the marriages in Afghanistan involving girls under the age of 16.</p>
<p>So, given that, it’s not surprising to find that in the decade after the ouster of the Taliban from power in 2001, Afghanistan still remains one of the world’s most dangerous places for women. According to the UN’s Gender Inequality Index, Afghanistan <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/04/sahar-gul-afghanistan_n_1184279.htm1">ranks</a> as the world’s sixth-worst country for women due to violence &#8212; including domestic abuse &#8212; sexual harassment, poverty and lack of healthcare.</p>
<p>Moreover, Afghan women and girls &#8212; in addition to underage marriage &#8212; are also subjected to honor killings and the traditional Afghan practice known as “baad,” whereupon women are given away to pay family debts or settle disputes.</p>
<p>Unfortunately &#8212; despite the rise of scores of women’s advocacy groups and the enactment of laws guaranteeing women’s rights &#8212; both the Afghan justice system and its patriarchal society remain heavily stacked against Afghan women and girls.</p>
<p>For example, in April 2009 Afghan President Hamid Karzai <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106328">signed</a> the Shiite Personal Status Law, legislation which applied to Afghanistan’s minority Shiite populace. Provisions in that legislation allowed 14-year-old girls to marry as well as men to rape their wives.</p>
<p>After outcries by Afghan women’s groups that the government was legalizing marital rape, Karzai said the law would be amended to bring it in line with the Afghan constitution, which guarantees equal rights for women.</p>
<p>To that end, the Afghan government <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106328">enacted</a> later in 2009 the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) law which criminalized acts like early or forced marriage and rape.</p>
<p>Despite its passage, however, a UN <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/child-brides-torture-renews-afghan-rights-worries-235457243.htm1">report</a> in November 2011 found that the EVAW act was rarely enforced, citing as an example the 2,299 crimes reported in 2010, of which only 155 cases, or just 7 percent, were prosecuted.<br />
According to the UN <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106328">report</a>, “Judicial officials in many parts of the country have begun to use the law &#8212; but its use represents a very small percentage of how the government addresses cases of violence against women.”</p>
<p>Of course, it’s not terribly surprising that given the treatment of women in Afghan society the response by Afghanistan’s police and judiciary is to either ignore crimes launched against women or, in most cases, send the women back to their abusers.</p>
<p>Nowhere has that latter point been better demonstrated than in the recent case of Gulnaz, a 19-year-old Afghan girl who was raped by her cousin’s husband and imprisoned in 2009 for “forced adultery.”</p>
<p>After spending two and a half years in jail, during which time she gave birth to a daughter fathered by her defiler, Gulnaz was offered a <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106328">pardon</a> in December 2011 by Afghan President Hamid Karzai on the condition Gulnaz marry her rapist.</p>
<p>While Karzai’s decision may have engendered outraged disbelief from those in the West its foundation was deeply rooted in Afghan custom and Islamic law. Specifically, Gulnaz’s little girl, having been born in prison, is considered to be illegitimate, a disgrace to her family and, as a consequence, never to be accepted by Afghan society unless her parents marry.</p>
<p>Yet, whether prompted by domestic pressures or by a need to polish Afghanistan’s international image, Karzai graciously <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/afghanistan/111218/gulnaz-afghan-rape-victim">released</a> Gulnaz without the precondition she wed her rapist. In a bitter irony for Gulnaz, however, she has now traded the relative safety of the jail cell for a life on the run.</p>
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		<title>Attacking the Church and Double Standards</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2010/william-kilpatrick/attacking-the-church-and-double-standards/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=attacking-the-church-and-double-standards</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Apr 2010 04:23:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[William Kilpatrick]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[abuse]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[alfred kinsey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ayatollah Khomeini]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Birmingham]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brendan]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Catholic]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[christian agenda]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Christopher Hitchens]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[media blitz]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[pedophilia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Phyllis Chesler]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Richard Dawkins]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=59166</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Why the media attacks Catholic crimes of 20 years ago but turns a blind eye to present-day Muslim crimes against children.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/vatican.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-59170" title="vatican" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/vatican.jpg" alt="" width="375" height="281" /></a></p>
<p>In the war against jihad it might seem that President Obama’s plan to remove all discussion of Islam and jihad from our national security document would rank higher as a threat to Western security than recent attempts to link the pope to 40 year-old sex crimes in Milwaukee. But the perfect storm that has hit the Catholic Church may turn out to be of greater consequence for the West’s survival. For that reason it’s important to sort out how much of the current indignation toward Rome represents justified anger, and how much of it represents a larger anti-Christian agenda.</p>
<p>Non-Catholic Christians who think the recent media blitz against the Catholic Church is mainly about sex abuse should think again.  Likewise, Christians would be naïve to think that those who would like to discredit the Catholic Church will be content, should they succeed, to leave the rest of Christianity alone.  The attack on the Catholic Church should be seen as part of a larger attack against Christianity itself.  Of course, there have been attacks on Christianity before, but never before have the stakes been so high.  From the standpoint of the West’s survival it would be difficult to imagine a worse time for the pundits to launch a campaign to undermine Christian belief.</p>
<p>There is much to suggest that media criticism of the Church is fueled less by outrage over pedophilia, and more by another agenda.  There wasn’t much outrage over Roman Polanski’s rape of a 13 year-old girl a number of years ago.  When attempts were made last year to bring Polanski back to the U.S. to serve his sentence, many of the same cultural elites who are now condemning the Church, leapt to his defense.  Likewise, there has never been much media outrage over the apparent crimes of celebrated sex researcher Alfred Kinsey.  The media continued to lionize Kinsey long after it was revealed that he had collaborated with pedophiles in order to gather data.  “What did Kinsey know and when did he know it?” has never been a pressing question for CNN or <em>The New York Times</em>.</p>
<p>In 1996—several years before the priestly sex scandal broke—Mary Eberstadt wrote the first of two in-depth articles on “Pedophilia Chic” for the <em>Weekly Standard</em>. She made a convincing case that liberal elites were moving in the direction of tearing down the taboo against pedophilia.  The only thing that stopped them, she suggests in a recent article, was the opportunity to use priestly pedophilia as a weapon to demonize the Church.  Of course, there was no pause in the liberal media’s campaign to normalize homosexuality, and this may account for the fact that much of the media coverage conveniently ignored the homosexual nature of the abuse—something that should have been difficult to ignore, given that about 90 % of male abuse victims were teenage boys, not young children.  While criticizing the Church for cover-ups, media pundits had no compunctions about their own calculated cover-up of a major aspect of the abuse.</p>
<p>Though sexual abuse remains a problem in the Catholic Church, enormous strides have been made in rooting it out, due in large part to a crackdown that originated with Cardinal Ratzinger in 2001.  So, the venomous attacks on him and the church he represents, suggest that something else is afoot.  When a major Canadian newspaper features a piece claiming that the pope’s “whole career has the stench of evil,” it’s time to reach for the decoding machine.  That particular quote comes from Christopher Hitchens, who has made a career in recent years of questioning the legitimacy, not just of Catholicism, but of Christianity, itself.  Hitchens aside, there is plenty of other evidence that Catholics are not the only ones being targeted for de-legitimization.  In Canada and in Europe, Christian pastors have been fined or jailed for expressing their beliefs from the pulpit.  In Birmingham, England, Christian evangelists were warned by police that distributing gospel leaflets in a Muslim section would be considered a hate crime.  A survey of history textbooks for American schoolchildren reveals that they present Christianity as a purveyor of bigotry and violence.  On college campuses, Christian clubs are routinely banned.  Meanwhile, Christianity is often the butt of vulgar comedy routines, and of crude cartoons that make the infamous Muhammad cartoon look benign by comparison.</p>
<p>Why the outrage?  Read between the lines of a typical assault column and you’ll find that what the columnist really hates about Catholicism and about Christianity in general is not the moral failings of Christian leaders, but the fact that Christianity still proposes moral absolutes.  It is not sexual misbehavior that galls, but rather that the churches dare to put limits on sexual behavior.  Christian churches are the main obstacle to the dominance of secular gods such as moral relativism and absolute sexual liberation.  While Christians and non-Christians are rightly disturbed by the sex scandals in the Catholic Church, they also ought to be disturbed at the motives behind some of the criticism.</p>
<p>As Brendan O’Neill, himself an atheist, writes, “Many contemporary opinion-formers are not concerned with getting to the truth [of what happened]…rather they want to milk incidents of abuse and make them into an indictment of religion itself.”  What draws militant secularists and atheists toward the Catholic-abuse story?  O’Neill says it is “their belief that religion is itself a form of abuse.”  As atheist Richard Dawkins writes, “Odious as the physical abuse of children by priests undoubtedly is, I suspect that it may do them less lasting damage than the mental abuse of bringing them up Catholic in the first place.”  But, as O’Neill points out, if religious upbringing is a form of abuse, then “authorities must protect children not only from religious institutions but from their own religious parents, too.”  The dismantling of Christianity can proceed that much more smoothly if enough people can be convinced that, “It’s for the children’s sake.”</p>
<p>There is, of course, a major exemption from media condemnation of child abuse.  It appears that the abuse of children is much more acceptable to the opinion-makers when it is protected by the shield of multiculturalism.  The media has been much less willing to criticize the widespread child abuse that occurs in Islamic cultures, or to note that, in the case of Islam, the abuse is religiously sanctioned.  For example, although one can find plenty of criticism of the Ayatollah Khomeini’s political views, rarely does one see a condemnation of his views on sex.  The one-time spiritual leader of Iran not only endorsed sex with children in his writings, but he also took to himself a 13 year-old bride.</p>
<p>Here we come to the world-historical turning point of which the frenzied assaults on the Catholic Church are only a part.  The drive to undermine the Church’s moral authority, and the threat posed by Islam are linked in an ironic way.  For many centuries the Catholic faith was the main bulwark against the Islamization of Europe.  Now that Christianity is in decline in Europe, Islam is on the move again.  And with the growing presence of Islam has come an increase in child abuse—or what the West considers as child abuse.  The sexual exploitation of children is considered a far less serious offense in Islamic societies, and is often protected by the force of sharia law.  Muhammad, who consummated his marriage with Aisha when she was nine years-old, is considered by all Muslim authorities to have provided a “beautiful pattern of conduct.”  That’s why, whenever a Muslim country tries to ban child marriages (as recently happened in Yemen), you can be sure that the imams will rise up to insist on their right to marry minors.</p>
<p>And the exploitation of girls is only half the story.  There also appears to be some justification in the Koran for the culture of pederasty, which Phyllis Chesler points out is “epidemic in the Muslim world.”  A recent edition of PBS <em>Frontline</em> reported on the phenomenon of the dancing boys of Afghanistan—youngsters who are recruited, usually at age nine or ten, to provide entertainment and sex for men.  While Islam frowns on adult homosexuality, pederasty is a different matter.  Perhaps this has to do with several passages in the Koran which promise men that in addition to the dark-eyed maidens that await them in paradise, “there shall wait on them young boys of their own as fair as virgin pearls” (52: 22).  Since the boys are mentioned in conjunction with the maidens, and since they are described in the same way—“graced with eternal youth,” “fair as virgin pearls”—it seems likely that they are there for the same purpose.</p>
<p>The dancing boys haven’t yet been imported to Europe, but Europe’s waltz with the multicultural devil has already whirled it into unfamiliar territory.  A United Nations NGO study estimates that there are now 10,000 cases of female genital mutilation in Switzerland, with hundreds of thousands of cases elsewhere in Europe.  According to a National Police Chiefs report an estimated 17,000 girls and women in the UK are victims of honor crimes or forced marriages each year.  In the British Midlands girls in their early teens are routinely flown to Pakistan to marry men they have never met.</p>
<p>Europe’s Muslim girls are being mutilated and forced into marriages… therefore, according to the twisted logic of the opinion molders, it must be time to go after the Vatican for possible cover-ups of long ago.  It’s a strange juxtaposition.  Not that the abuse scandals aren’t newsworthy stories.  But there are two ways to frame them.  You can angrily focus on what wasn’t done in the past, or you can point out how much the Church has done in recent years to root out the problem.  Unlike the public schools (which have a much higher incidence of abuse) the Catholic Church has actually done something about its abuse problem.  That’s why almost all the cases highlighted by the media took place decades ago.</p>
<p>Judging by the way the story has been handled, it’s difficult to avoid the impression that the Western elites want to do as much damage as possible to the Church—which, when you think about it, betrays an almost suicidal impulse.  It really does seem that the fate of Europe is bound up with the fate of Christianity in Europe.  Europe is in trouble in large part because it has rejected its Christian heritage and embraced moral and cultural relativism, instead.  In the end, cultural relativism is a suicidal policy which is why Pope Benedict has frequently cautioned the West about the dangers inherent in a “culture of relativism.”</p>
<p>Relativism is the ultimate justification for never having to say you’re sorry.  As the climate of opinion changes in a relativist society, so will the consensus about what’s right and wrong.  And if Catholic Christianity is swept aside in Europe, the climate of opinion will increasingly be dictated by Islam.  Some may think that once Europe is free of its Catholic/Christian influence, children in lederhosen will once again romp freely through the meadows.  But don’t count on it.  Instead, look for children in hijabs being hurried into the local government approved clitorectomy clinic.</p>
<p>A lot of people find it difficult to fathom the motives of suicide bombers.  It may be time to also ponder the motives of the suicide pundits who have declared open season on the religion that built their civilization, while treating as a protected species the religion which aims to dismantle it.</p>
<p><strong>William Kilpatrick’s articles on Islam have appeared in <em>Front Page Magazine, Jihad Watch, Catholic World Report, the National Catholic Register, World, </em>and<em> Investor’s Business Daily.</em></strong></p>
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		<title>Should I Stay or Should I Go?</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2010/timothy-radcliffe/should-i-stay-or-should-i-go/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=should-i-stay-or-should-i-go</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Apr 2010 04:03:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Timothy Radcliffe]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[As a former Master of the Dominicans, I've decided the Church
is stuck with me, whatever happens.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/night.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-58190" title="night" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/night.jpg" alt="" width="375" height="250" /></a></p>
<p><strong>This article is reprinted from <a href="http://www.thetablet.co.uk/">The Tablet.</a></strong></p>
<p>Fresh revelations of sexual abuse by priests in Germany and Italy have provoked a tide of anger and disgust. I have received emails from people all around Europe asking how can they possibly remain in the Church? I was even sent a form with which to renounce my membership of the Church. Why stay?</p>
<p>First of all, why go? Some people feel that they can no longer remain associated with an institution that is so corrupt and dangerous for children. The suffering of so many children is indeed horrific. They must be our first concern. Nothing that I will write is intended in any way to lessen our horror at the evil of sexual abuse. But the statistics for the US, from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2004, suggest that Catholic clergy do not offend more than the married clergy of other Churches.</p>
<p>Some surveys even give a lower level of offence for Catholic priests. They are less likely to offend than lay school teachers, and perhaps half as likely as the general population. Celibacy does not push people to abuse children. It is simply untrue to imagine that leaving the Church for another denomination would make one’s children safer.  We must face the terrible fact that the abuse of children is widespread in every part of society. To make the Church the scapegoat would be a cover-up.</p>
<p>But what about the cover-up within the Church? Have not our bishops been shockingly irresponsible in moving offenders around, not reporting them to the police and so perpetuating the abuse? Yes, sometimes. But the great majority of these cases go back to the 1960s and 1970s, when bishops often regarded sexual abuse as a sin rather than also a pathological condition, and when lawyers and psychologists often reassured them that it was safe to reassign priests after treatment. It is unjust to project backwards an awareness of the nature and seriousness of sexual abuse which simply did not exist then. It was only the rise of feminism in the late 1970s which, by shedding light on the violence of some men against women, alerted us to the terrible damage done to vulnerable children.</p>
<p>But what about the Vatican? Pope Benedict has taken a strong line in tackling this issue as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) and since becoming Pope. Now the finger is pointed at him. It appears that some cases reported to the CDF under his watch were not dealt with. Isn’t the Pope’s credibility undermined? There are demonstrators in front of St Peter’s calling for his resignation. I am morally certain that he bears no blame here.</p>
<p>It is generally imagined that the Vatican is a vast and efficient organisation. In fact it is tiny. The CDF only employs 45 people, dealing with doctrinal and disciplinary issues for a Church which has 1.3 billion members, 17 per cent of the world’s population, and some 400,000 priests. When I dealt with the CDF as Master of the Dominican Order, it was obvious that they were struggling to cope. Documents slipped through the cracks. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger lamented to me that the staff was simply too small for the job.</p>
<p>People are furious with the Vatican’s failure to open up its files and offer a clear explanation of what happened. Why is it so secretive? Angry and hurt Catholics feel a right to transparent government. I agree. But we must, in justice, understand why the Vatican is so self-protective. There were more martyrs in the twentieth century than in all the previous centuries combined. Bishops and priests, Religious and laity were assassinated in Western Europe, in Soviet countries, in Africa, Latin America and Asia.</p>
<p>Many Catholics still suffer imprisonment and death for their faith. Of course, the Vatican tends to stress confidentiality; this has been necessary to protect the Church from people who wish to destroy her. So it is understandable that the Vatican reacts aggressively to demands for transparency and will read legitimate requests for openness as a form of persecution. And some people in the media do, without any doubt, wish to damage the credibility of the Church.</p>
<p>But we owe a debt of gratitude to the press for its insistence that the Church face its failures. If it had not been for the media, then this shameful abuse might have remained unaddressed.</p>
<p>Confidentiality is also a consequence of the Church’s insistence on the right of everyone accused to keep their good name until they are proved to be guilty. This is very hard for our society to understand, whose media destroy people’s reputations without a thought.</p>
<p>Why go? If it is to find a safer haven, a less corrupt Church, then I think that you will be disappointed. I too long for more transparent government, more open debate, but the Church’s secrecy is understandable, and sometimes necessary. To understand is not always to condone, but necessary if we are to act justly.</p>
<p>Why stay? I must lay my cards on the table; even if the Church were obviously worse than other Churches, I still would not go. I am not a Catholic because our Church is the best, or even because I like Catholicism. I do love much about my Church but there are aspects of it which I dislike. I am not a Catholic because of a consumer option for an ecclesiastical Waitrose rather than Tesco, but because I believe that it embodies something which is essential to the Christian witness to the Resurrection, visible unity.</p>
<p>When Jesus died, his community fell apart. He had been betrayed, denied, and most of his disciples fled. It was chiefly the women who accompanied him to the end. On Easter Day, he appeared to the disciples. This was more than the physical resuscitation of a dead corpse.</p>
<p>In him God triumphed over all that destroys community: sin, cowardice, lies, misunderstanding, suffering and death. The Resurrection was made visible to the world in the astonishing sight of a community reborn. These cowards and deniers were gathered together again. They were not a reputable bunch, and shamefaced at what they had done, but once again they were one. The unity of the Church is a sign that all the forces that fragment and scatter are defeated in Christ.</p>
<p>All Christians are one in the Body of Christ. I have deepest respect and affection for Christians from other Churches who nurture and inspire me. But this unity in Christ needs some visible embodiment. Christianity is not a vague spirituality but a religion of incarnation, in which the deepest truths take the physical and sometimes institutional form. Historically this unity has found its focus in Peter, the Rock in Matthew, Mark and Luke, and the shepherd of the flock in John’s gospel.</p>
<p>From the beginning and throughout history, Peter has often been a wobbly rock, a source of scandal, corrupt, and yet this is the one – and his successors – whose task is to hold us together so that we may witness to Christ’s defeat on Easter Day of sin’s power to divide. And so the Church is stuck with me whatever happens. We may be embarrassed to admit that we are Catholics, but Jesus kept shameful company from the beginning.</p>
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		<title>In Defense of the Pope</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2010/alan-m-dershowitz/in-defense-of-the-pope/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=in-defense-of-the-pope</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Apr 2010 04:11:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Alan M. Dershowitz]]></dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=57958</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thou shalt not stereotype.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/pope-benedict-xvi.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-57960" title="pope-benedict-xvi" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/pope-benedict-xvi.jpg" alt="" width="375" height="328" /></a></p>
<p>Having criticized <a href="http://cgis.jpost.com/Blogs/dershowitz/entry/catholic_church_accused_of_covering">particular Catholic cardinals</a> for blaming everything&#8211;including the Church&#8217;s sex scandal&#8211;on &#8220;the Jews&#8221;, let me now come to the defense of the Pope and of the Church itself on this issue.  To begin with, this is an extraordinarily complex problem, because the Church has at least five important traditions that make it difficult to move quickly and aggressively in response to complaints of abuse.</p>
<p>The first tradition involves confidentiality, particularly not exclusively the confidentiality of the priest with regard to the penitent.  But there is also a wider spread tradition of confidentiality within the Church hierarchy itself.</p>
<p>Second, there is the tradition of forgiveness.  Those of us outside the Church often think, perhaps, that the Church goes too far in forgiving.  I was shocked when the previous Pope immediately forgave the man who tried to assassinate him.  But this episode and other demonstrate that the tradition of forgiveness is all too real.</p>
<p>Third, there is the tradition of the Church regarding itself as a state.  The Vatican is, after all, a nation state.  The Catholic Church is not big on the separation of church and state, as are various Protestant denominations.  The Catholic Church, like Orthodox Judaism, believes that matters affecting the faithful should generally be dealt within the church, without recourse to secular authorities.</p>
<p>Fourth, the Vatican prides itself on moving slowly and in seeing the time frame of life quite differently than the quick pace at which secular societies respond to the crisis of the day.</p>
<p>Fifth, the Catholic Church has long had a tradition of internal due process.  Cannon Law provides for scrupulous methods of proof.  The concept of the &#8220;devil&#8217;s advocate&#8221; derives from the Church&#8217;s effort to be certain that every &#8220;t&#8221; is crossed and every &#8220;I&#8221; is dotted, even when it comes to selecting saints.</p>
<p>None of these explanations completely justify the long inaction of the Church in coming to grips with a serious problem.  But they do help to explain how good people could have allowed bad things to happen for so long a period of time.  Nor is the Catholic Church the only institution that has faced problems of sexual abuse.  Every hierarchical body, especially but not exclusively religious ones, has faced similar problems, though perhaps on not so large a scale.</p>
<p>The problem of hierarchical sex abuse has only recently emerged from the shadows.  Singling out the Catholic Church, and for stereotyping all priests  is simply wrong.</p>
<p>Pope Benedict, both before he became Pope and since, has done a great deal to confront the issue.  He changed the policy that kept allegations of abuse within the authority of local bishops, and he acknowledged that the local option had encouraged shifting abusive priests from parish to parish, thereby hiding their sins from potential new victims.  He also met with abuse victims and recognized their victimization.  Nor has he tried, as other members of the Vatican hierarchy have, to publicly blame the problem on &#8220;the Jews&#8221;, &#8220;the media,&#8221; and others.</p>
<p>It is obvious that despite Pope Benedict&#8217;s good efforts, more must be done, and not only by the Catholic Church but by all institutions that have experienced hierarchical sexual exploitation.  They must create structures that assure prompt reporting, a zero tolerance policy and quick action, so long as these processes are consistent with due process and fairness, not only to alleged victims but to the accused as well.  It&#8217;s easy to forget, in the face of real victims with real complaints, that there have also been false accusations as well.  Processes must be put in place that distinguish true complaints from false ones.</p>
<p>Most important, this tragedy should not be used as an excuse to attack a large and revered institution that does much good throughout the world.  Blame must be placed with precision and praise should be given with precision as well.  The eleventh Commandment, Thou Shalt Not Stereotype, must never be forgotten.</p>
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		<title>Harry Reid: Out of Work Men Become Abusive &#8211; The Hill</title>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:50:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[David Swindle]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[by Michael O’Brien Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) suggested Monday that domestic violence by men has increased due to U.S. joblessness. Reid, speaking in the midst of a Senate debate over whether to pass a $15 billion package meant to spur job creation, appeared to argue that joblessness would lead to more domestic violence. [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>by Michael O’Brien</strong></p>
<p>Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) suggested Monday that domestic violence by men has increased due to U.S. joblessness.</p>
<p>Reid, speaking in the midst of a Senate debate over whether to pass a $15 billion package meant to spur job creation, appeared to argue that joblessness would lead to more domestic violence.</p>
<p>&#8220;I met with some people while I was home dealing with domestic abuse. It has gotten out of hand,&#8221; Reid said on the Senate floor. &#8220;Why? Men don&#8217;t have jobs.&#8221;</p>
<p>Reid said that the effects of joblessness on domestic violence were especially pronounced among men, because, Reid said, women tend to be less abusive.</p>
<p>&#8220;Women don&#8217;t have jobs either, but women aren’t abusive, most of the time,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p><em><strong><a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/82803-reid-men-when-theyre-out-of-work-tend-to-become-abusive" target="_blank">Read the full article.</a></strong></em></p>
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