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	<title>FrontPage Magazine &#187; Mohammad</title>
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		<title>Did Muhammad Approve of Torture?</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/robert-spencer/did-muhammad-approve-of-torture/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=did-muhammad-approve-of-torture</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/robert-spencer/did-muhammad-approve-of-torture/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Dec 2014 05:30:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert Spencer]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mohammad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Qasim Rashid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sharia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tolerance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Torture]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=247411</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[An Ahmadi Muslim whitewashes the Prophet.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft  wp-image-247438" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/behead.jpg" alt="behead" width="331" height="251" />Did Muhammad approve of torture? For Ahmadi Muslim leader Qasim Rashid, the answer is “no” – a “no” so unequivocal that Rashid holds up Muhammad as an example for the U.S. – newly sullied, in his view, by the just-released torture report – to follow in its treatment of prisoners of war.</p>
<p>This all sounds like a mainstream media dream: a moderate Muslim invoking Muhammad to rebuke the U.S. for its torture practices. The only problem with this gloriously multicultural scenario is that Qasim Rashid is a relentlessly disingenuous writer. Previously he has whitewashed <a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/12/fox-news-publishes-piece-whitewashing-jihad-violence-and-proselytizing-for-ahmadi-islam">the reality of jihad violence</a> and Sharia oppression; dissembled about <a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/02/taqiyya-about-taqiyya-in-the-washington-post.html">the Qur’an’s sanction of deception of unbelievers</a>; lied about <a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/08/wapo-do-critics-actually-read-the-koran-uh-yeah.html">the presence of violent passages in the Qur’an</a>; lied about <a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/03/the-islamic-solution-to-stop.html">the Qur’an’s sanction of beating disobedient women</a>; lied about <a href="http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2012/08/huffington-post-whitewashes-sharia.html">the nature of Sharia</a>; and <a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/03/us-muslim-calls-for-restrictions-on-free-speech-at-event-hosted-by-obama-appointee.html">called for limitations on the freedom of speech</a> and expression to outlaw behavior and speech some Muslims may find offensive. When challenged about the “facts” he has presented, he (like virtually all other Islamic supremacists) responds with furious ad hominem contempt, but no substance.</p>
<p>But he tells the mainstream media establishment what it wants to hear and fosters the complacency and ignorance of non-Muslims regarding jihad terror, and so his abject inability to defend his preposterous claims is of no import: he continues to be given a platform all over. Here he takes advantage of the controversy over the just-released torture report to claim that Muhammad rejected torture — while cynically refraining from mentioning all the evidence to the contrary.</p>
<p>In “5 Lessons From Prophet Muhammad to Stop Torture” in the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/qasim-rashid/5-lessons-from-prophet-mu_b_6302084.html">Huffington Post</a> (of course) last Wednesday, Rashid claimed:</p>
<blockquote><p>…Were the world to adopt Muhammad’s example of compassion, tolerance, and civility, such a torture report would not exist, because torture itself would not exist.</p></blockquote>
<p>Yes, because Muhammad would never have approved of harsh interrogation techniques, would he? Well, let’s see: Muhammad’s earliest biographer, Ibn Ishaq, records that when Muhammad was trying to determine whether or not his favorite wife, Aisha, was guilty of adultery, he asked a slave, Burayra: “So the apostle called Burayra to ask her, and Ali got up and gave her a violent beating, saying ‘Tell the Apostle the truth.&#8217;” (Ibn Ishaq 734) Muhammad is not recorded as having rebuked Ali for violently beating this woman.</p>
<p>Nor was that an isolated incident, as we shall see.</p>
<p>Rashid continues:</p>
<blockquote><p>Here are five lessons the CIA, ISIS and humanity at large can learn from Prophet Muhammad on how to stop torture.</p>
<p><strong>1. Stop engaging in pre-emptive war</strong></p>
<p>Prophet Muhammad forbade pre-emptive war, all forms of terrorism, violently revolting against a government no matter how unjust, and even went to the extent of forbidding civil disobedience lest it lead to violence.</p></blockquote>
<p>All forms of terrorism? But Muhammad is reported as having said: “I have been sent with the shortest expressions bearing the widest meanings, and I have been made victorious with terror…” (Sahih Bukhari 4.52.220). One may argue that he didn’t mean modern-day terrorism, but given the other incidents that I will recount in this article, the claim that he forbade “all forms of terrorism” is fanciful in the extreme.</p>
<p>While not mentioning that hadith or the Qur’an verse telling Muslims to “strike terror into the hearts of the enemies of Allah” (8:60), Rashid plows on:</p>
<blockquote><p>When Muslims faced incessant and brutal persecution in Mecca from 610-620, Muhammad forbade any violent or incendiary response to the governing authorities. He offered his companions three options — remain and bear the persecution, try to change laws through peaceful argumentation, or leave.</p>
<p>Many Muslims left — some to Abyssinia where they sought and received refuge under the righteous Christian King Neghus. Others left to Medina, where they forged a peaceful alliance with the Jews and soon established a unified secular state governed by the Charter of Medina. Fighting was then only permitted in self-defense once Muslims were pursued and attacked, just as the <a href="http://www.alislam.org/quran/search2/showChapter.php?submitCh=Read+from+verse%3A&amp;ch=22&amp;verse=40">Qur’an 22:40</a> allows: “Permission to fight is given to those against whom war is made, because they have been wronged — and Allah indeed has power to help them.” Once in defensive war, the Qur’an only permits killing active combatants, as elaborated next.</p></blockquote>
<p>Rashid omits all mention of the Qur’an’s teaching on offensive fighting. Ibn Ishaq explains the progression of Qur’anic revelation about warfare. First, he explains, Allah allowed Muslims to wage defensive warfare. But that was not Allah’s last word on the circumstances in which Muslims should fight. Ibn Ishaq explains offensive jihad by invoking a Qur’anic verse: “Then God sent down to him: ‘Fight them so that there be no more seduction,’ i.e. until no believer is seduced from his religion. ‘And the religion is God’s’, i.e. Until God alone is worshipped.” The Qur’an verse Ibn Ishaq quotes here (2:193; cf. also 8:39) commands much more than defensive warfare: Muslims must fight until “the religion is God’s” — that is, until Allah alone is worshipped.</p>
<p>The great medieval scholar Ibn Qayyim (1292-1350) also outlines the stages of the Muhammad’s prophetic career: “For thirteen years after the beginning of his Messengership, he called people to God through preaching, without fighting or Jizyah, and was commanded to restrain himself and to practice patience and forbearance. Then he was commanded to migrate, and later permission was given to fight. Then he was commanded to fight those who fought him, and to restrain himself from those who did not make war with him. Later he was commanded to fight the polytheists until God’s religion was fully established.”</p>
<p>In other words, he initially could fight only defensively — only “those who fought him” — but later he could fight the polytheists until Islam was “fully established.” He could fight them even if they didn’t fight him first, and solely because they were not Muslim.</p>
<p>Nor do all contemporary Islamic thinkers believe that that command is a relic of history. According to a 20th century Chief Justice of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh ‘Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Humaid, “at first ‘the fighting’ was forbidden, then it was permitted and after that it was made obligatory.” He also distinguishes two groups Muslims must fight: “(1) against them who start ‘the fighting’ against you (Muslims) . . . (2) and against all those who worship others along with Allah . . . as mentioned in Surat Al-Baqarah (II), Al-Imran (III) and At-Taubah (IX) . . . and other Surahs (Chapters of the Qur’an).” (The Roman numerals after the names of the chapters of the Qur’an are the numbers of the suras: Sheikh ‘Abdullah is referring to Qur’anic verses such as 2:216, 3:157-158, 9:5, and 9:29.)</p>
<p>As an Ahmadi, Rashid may reject this understanding of the Qur’an and jihad, but it does exist, and he must know it exists. To ignore it entirely and give the impression that it doesn’t exist is cynical and deceptive.</p>
<p>And his cynicism and deceptiveness don’t end there. He continues:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>2. Stop justifying collateral damage</strong></p>
<p>Drone strikes, indiscriminate bombing, and collateral damage have each sadly become part of the American military experience. Prophet Muhammad categorically condemned any act of violence in which civilians, property, or places of worship were harmed.</p>
<p>Following Muhammad’s guidance, <a href="http://www.alislam.org/topics/khilafat/abubakar.html">Abu Bakr the first Khalifa</a> commanded to the Muslim army about to embark on battle,</p>
<p>“O people! I charge you with ten rules; learn them well… for your guidance in the battlefield! Do not commit treachery, or deviate from the right path. You must not mutilate dead bodies. Neither kill a child, nor a woman, nor an aged man. Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire, especially those which are fruitful. Slay not any of the enemy’s flock, save for your food. You are likely to pass by people who have devoted their lives to monastic services; leave them alone.”</p>
<p>As history’s first major figure to condemn collateral damage in word and in deed, Prophet Muhammad demonstrated a high precedent that even the most advanced nations today cannot match. Today’s leaders can end the war atrocities engulfing our world by following Muhammad’s example of justice and compassion.</p></blockquote>
<p>Collateral damage: “It is reported on the authority of Sa’b b. Jaththama that the Prophet of Allah (may peace be upon him), when asked about the women and children of the polytheists being killed during the night raid, said: They are from them.” (Muslim 4321)</p>
<p>There is still more. Rashid says:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>3. Stop indefinite detention for POWs</strong></p>
<p>The Afghan and Iraq wars are long over. Yet, America continues to maintain numerous POWs in Guantanamo Bay, and likely in other undisclosed locations. Prophet Muhammad categorically condemned this practice. After permitting Muslims to only fight in self-defense, the Qur’an 47:5 next commands Muslims to release POWs immediately as war comes to an end.</p></blockquote>
<p>Actually, Qur’an 47:5 says: “Soon will He guide them and improve their condition.” That is not in any clear sense a command to release POW’s immediately as war comes to an end. Ibn Abbas in his commentary on this verse explains: “He will give them success to perform righteous deeds (and improve their state) and improve their condition and intention; it is also said that this means: He will save them in the Hereafter and improve their state and accept their works on the Day of Judgement.” To whom is Ibn Abbas referring? Not to prisoners of war, but (according to his gloss on 47:4) to “those who are killed in obedience of Allah on the Day of Badr, referring here to the prophetic Companions.” Ibn Kathir interprets the verse in a similar way, without any reference to freeing prisoners of war at the end of the war.</p>
<p>Without mentioning this anomaly, Rashid goes on:</p>
<blockquote><p>Maintaining POWs well after the war has ended creates distrust and animosity among allies and enemies alike, and is beneath the standard of a civilized country. Rather than usurp human rights with indefinite detention, rather than provide propaganda material to extremists, rather than violate its own Constitution and international law, we should all learn from Prophet Muhammad’s example, and justly release POWs.</p>
<p><strong>4. Stop mistreating POWs</strong></p>
<p>POWs, during and after the war must be treated with the dignity all human beings deserve. Historian Sir William Muir well records how Prophet Muhammad commanded his companions to treat POWs:</p>
<p>The Refugees had houses of their own, received the prisoners with kindness and consideration. “Blessings on the men of Medina!” said one of these in later days: “they made us ride, while they themselves walked afoot; they gave us wheaten bread to eat when there was little of it, contenting themselves with dates.” It is not surprising, therefore, that some of the captives, yielding to these influences, declared themselves Believers, and to such their liberty was at once granted. The rest were kept for ransom. Such as had nothing to give were liberated without payment; but a service was required… To each were allotted ten boys, to be taught the art of writing; and the teaching was accepted as a ransom.</p>
<p>Mind you, this was at a time in Arabia when Muslims captured during battle suffered the fate of torture and death. Yet, in response, Muslims demanded the ransom of education, fed POWs with their own food and sheltered them with their own shelter. Once war ended, Muhammad immediately released all POWs. This is how he brought lasting peace to a former Arabian wasteland engulfed in constant war.</p></blockquote>
<p>Mistreating POW’s: “When Muhammad saw Hamzah he said, ‘If Allah gives me victory over the Quraysh at any time, I shall mutilate thirty of their men!’ When the Muslims saw the rage of the Prophet they said, ‘By Allah, if we are victorious over them, we shall mutilate them in a way which no Arab has ever mutilated anybody.” (Al-Tabari, vol. 7, p. 133; cf. Ibn Ishaq 387)</p>
<p>And: “Anas reported: Eight men of the tribe of ‘Ukl came to Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) and swore allegiance to him on Islam, but found the climate of that land uncogenial to their health and thus they became sick, and they made complaint of that to Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him), and he said: Why don’t you go to (the fold) of our camels along with our shepherd, and make use of their milk and urine. They said: Yes. They set out and drank their (camels’) milk and urine and regained their health. They killed the shepherd and drove away the camels. This (news) reached Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) and he sent them on their track and they were caught and brought to him (the Holy Prophet). He commanded about them, and (thus) their hands and feet were cut off and their eyes were gouged and then they were thrown in the sun, until they died.” (Sahih Muslim 4131)</p>
<p>Rashid concludes with a dishonest coup de grace:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>5. Stop justifying torture</strong></p>
<p>Nothing justifies the torture the CIA meted out to those 119 human beings. Indeed, in response to those arguing safety, the report concludes that America was not made any safer as a result of these barbaric practices. This was just one among many reasons Prophet Muhammad categorically forbade torture.</p>
<p>For example, as recorded in Sahih Muslim, “Hisham ibn Hakim passed by some people in Syria who had been made to stand in the sun and had oil poured over their heads. He asked, “What is this?” It was said,</p>
<p>“They are being punished for not paying taxes.” Hisham said: I heard Prophet Muhammad say: “Verily, Allah will torture those who torture people in this world.” Likewise, Jabir ibn Abdullah reported that Prophet Muhammad commanded: “Do not torture the creation of Allah the Exalted.”</p>
<p>Indeed, <a href="http://www.alislam.org/library/books/TheBlessedModelAndCaricatures.pdf">Prophet Muhammad’s compassion extended beyond humans</a> as he also specifically forbade torturing animals, declaring, “A woman was punished because of a cat she had imprisoned until it died; thus, she entered Hellfire because of it. She did not give it food or water while it was imprisoned, neither did she set it free to eat from the vermin of the earth.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Muhammad, according to Islamic tradition, didn’t just justify torture. He ordered it: “Kinana b. al-Rabi`, who had the custody of the treasure of B. al-Nadir, was brought to the apostle who asked him about it. He denied that he knew where it was. A Jew came (T. was brought) to the apostle and said that he had seen Kinana going round a certain ruin every morning early. When the apostle said to Kinana, ‘Do you know that if we find you have it I shall kill you?’ he said Yes. The apostle gave orders that the ruin was to be excavated and some of the treasure was found. When he asked him about the rest he refused to produce it, so the apostle gave orders to al-Zubayr b. al-Awwam, ‘Torture him until you extract what he has,’ so he kindled a fire with flint and steel on his chest until he was nearly dead. Then the apostle delivered him to Muhammad b. Maslama and he struck off his head, in revenge for his brother Mahmud.” (Ibn Ishaq 515).</p>
<p>After his tour de force of disingenuousness, Rashid concludes:</p>
<blockquote><p>It is not a lack of intelligence, but a lack of morality that permitted this barbaric act of torture to occur at all. The CIA, ISIS, and indeed the world at large can learn volumes about compassion, justice, mercy, and morality from Prophet Muhammad, the man who successfully <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw3R8xc1TQ0">brought peace to a warring world</a>.</p></blockquote>
<p>The world is warring all over today because of Muhammad’s teachings. It is a peculiar lack of morality that would create this deceptive piece, with its calculated omissions and frankly false conclusion. If Rashid is asked about this post, he will sneer that it is not peer-reviewed; he will not answer any of its substantive refutations of his dishonest claims. He cannot do so — both because the traditions about Muhammad don’t bear out his claims, and because of his own intellectual and moral dishonesty.</p>
<p>Qasim Rashid apparently doesn’t want the world to know that Muhammad commanded and approved of torture. He wants people to think that he forbade it. The effect of this will be to foster ignorance and complacency about the jihad threat. The blood of the next victims tortured by Islamic jihadists will cry out to Qasim Rashid from the ground on which it is spilled.</p>
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		<title>Islam’s Groundhog Day</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/dgreenfield/islam%e2%80%99s-groundhog-day/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=islam%25e2%2580%2599s-groundhog-day</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:18:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Arab Spring]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Repeating the same century over and over again. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Groundhog-Day-2012.gif"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-121564" title="Groundhog-Day-2012" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Groundhog-Day-2012.gif" alt="" width="375" height="249" /></a></p>
<p>Groundhog Day is the long eternal tragedy of Islam, which always sees its shadow and always ends up with six weeks, six months or six hundred years of more winter. That hopeful time when the bitter cold of winter begins its slow transition into the warmth and renewal of spring never comes for Islam.</p>
<p>In a reversal of the cycle of season, the Arab Spring led to the Islamic Winter, but that is the endless pattern of Islamic attempts at reform and rejuvenation, which rather than finding renewal in their attempts at transformation only go on perpetuating the same cycle of violence, tyranny and oppression.</p>
<p>There is a peculiar tragedy to a religion which cannot escape its own destructive nature, each time it reaches for some form of redemption, its hands come up dripping with blood and it all ends in more bodies and petty tyrannies.</p>
<p>The film Groundhog Day showed us a man who was doomed to repeat the same day over and over again until he learned to use his time to become a better person. Islam has been stuck in its own form of that cycle, repeating the same century over and over again, moving from religious ecstasy to holy war, seeking redemption through religious tyranny, and finding that there was no escaping the internal decay and instability in the veins of its religion.</p>
<p>Islam&#8217;s only redemption lies in establishing a theocracy. Its commitment to power and the indulgence of the earthly and heavenly paradise of loot, slaves and violence led to its own degeneration over and over again. Having no other spiritual form than the exercise of power, it has corrupted itself each time, and then attempted to exorcise the corruption through more of violence.</p>
<p>The Islamic leaders of one generation endorse the tyrants whom the Islamic leaders of another generation strive to overthrow. Hardly had Mohammed kicked the bucket than his nearest and dearest were fighting a civil war over supreme rulership. The origins of the Shiite-Sunni split lay not in theology, but in a vulgar power play between Mohammed&#8217;s relatives. That greedy infighting has hardened into theological variations, but underneath they remain fixed in the same patterns of warring over power and wealth.</p>
<p>Over a thousand years later the Muslim world is still dedicating all its energies to civil wars and external conflicts whose only true goal is to put money and power into the hands of its leaders. The confrontations between the prominent Shiite families running Iran and the Arab Sunni families running the Arabian gulf states are not theological, though they take place under the guise of theology. They are ethnic and economic conflicts dressed up as religious conflicts.</p>
<p>The ugliest elements of Islam, its bigotry toward Jews and Christians, its endless raids, its need to remove the faintest doubt about the parentage of the children of its women, are pure tribal pettiness distilled into religion by warlords and clan leaders whose understanding of theology did not extend beyond sanctifying the exercise of their personal power.</p>
<p>Islam was a predecessor of power movements like Communism and Nazism, its leader worship grimly real, as any cartoonist who has tried to draw a picture of Mohammed knows, or anyone who has seen Shiites cut their children bloody while crying out in mourning for Caliph Ali. Its theology is still incapable of embracing anything higher than its own will to power. Its objects of worship are its warleaders, its soldiers and its atrocities.</p>
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		<title>Times Square Denial</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2010/stephenbrown/times-square-denial/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=times-square-denial</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 12 May 2010 04:01:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Brown]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Obama officials jump to wrong conclusions to stop Americans from making the right ones.]]></description>
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<p>Before  any real investigation had been carried out into the attempted terrorist bombing  on New York’s Times Square last week, Secretary of Homeland  Security Janet Napolitano had almost immediately dismissed it as a “one-off”  thing. General David Petraeus, head of US Central Command, was also quick off  the mark, saying the terrorist behind the plot, <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/05/04/new-york-bomb-suspect.html" target="_blank">Faisal  Shahzad</a>, 30, who traded his Pakistani citizenship for American last year,  was a “lone wolf.”</p>
<p>But  last weekend the truth came out when Attorney-General Eric Holder was forced to  admit what many suspected all along. It was another act of international Islamic  jihad against the United  States, and faceless murderers in Taliban/ al Qaeda  terrorist organizations, based in Pakistan and motivated by their undying  resolve to kill as many Americans, were the  string-pullers.</p>
<p>“We’ve now developed evidence that shows that the  Pakistan Taliban was behind the attack,” Holder said on the ABC program, <em>This Week</em>. “We know that they probably  helped finance it. And that he (Shahzad) was working at their  direction.”</p>
<p>With  Holder’s admission, the question remains as to why a government that told people  not to jump to conclusions concerning a connection between the  Fort Hood massacre and Islamist terrorism was  so quick to erroneously declare the Times Square bombing a solo, one-time operation? In the  Fort Hood killings, Major Nidal Malik Hasan  was also initially described as a lone gunman, whose motives were unclear,  although he was shouting “Allahu Akbar” during his murderous rampage. President  Obama himself cautioned against any premature judgement, even though his own  intelligence agencies knew for months Hasan had been trying to make contact with  al Qaeda-connected people.</p>
<p>“We  don’t know all the answers yet,” Obama said at the time. “And I would caution  against jumping to any conclusions until we have all the facts.”</p>
<p>But in  the case of the failed Times Square bombing the facts were already in, some of  them for a long time. The United  States is in a worldwide war with radical Islam, a  concept some still have difficulty with. As a result of this war, according to  one analyst, America was the target of about a <a href="http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htintel/articles/20091121.aspx" target="_blank">dozen  terrorist attacks</a> within its borders last year alone. Only the  Fort Hood strike was successful, costing 13  lives while another 30 were wounded.</p>
<p>In one  of the thwarted attacks, also potentially the most deadly, an Afghan residing  legally in the United  States, <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/z/najibullah_zazi/index.html" target="_blank">Najibullah  Zazi</a>, 25, was arrested last September along with two others for planning  three suicide attacks on the New York subway. Zazi, like Shahzad, had  also received weapons and explosives training at a terrorist training camp in  Pakistan. Zazi pleaded guilty last February  and will be sentenced in June.</p>
<p>However, it was the arrest of two men of  Pakistani origin in Chicago last year on terrorism charges that  indicated how deeply the al Qaeda/ Taliban terrorist network had spread in  America. Rather than use the two Chicago  residents, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Headley" target="_blank">David  Headley</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahawwur_Hussain_Rana" target="_blank">Tahawwur Rana</a>, the  former an American and the latter a Canadian citizen, to carry out terrorist  attacks in the United States where they lived, an easier proposition, the  terrorist leaders sitting in Pakistan confidently used them to help carry out  the most devastating terrorist attack of 2008: Mumbai.  Headley, using his American passport and  Rana’s business as cover, traveled several times to  India to scout out potential targets  before the attack and to gather information. The two men’s sinister activities  remained undetected in both India and  America.</p>
<p>Headley  would also travel to Pakistan where he would drop off his reports  to<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilyas_Kashmiri_%28militant%29" target="_blank"> Ilyas  Kashmiri</a>, the mastermind behind the Mumbai attack and allegedly the head of  al Qaeda’s military operations. When arrested, Headley and Rana were carrying  out reconnaissance in Denmark for another Kashmiri-planned  terrorist attack, this time against the Danish newspaper, the <em>Jyllands-Postens</em>, which printed the  Muhammad cartoons. Kashmiri was indicted at the trial that saw Headley plead  guilty to terrorism charges last March.</p>
<p>When  the investigation is complete concerning the failed Times Square bombing, it would not surprise if  Ilyas Kashmiri’s name pops up once more. South Asian affairs analyst <a href="http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers36/paper3506.html" target="_blank">B. Raman</a> describes Kashmiri as seeing himself as another Khalid Sheikh Mohammad who wants  “to carry out a spectacular terrorist strike in a Western country.”</p>
<p>American  intelligence indicated Kashmiri’s importance by subjecting him to three drone  attacks in the past. Kashmiri, who also heads al Qaeda’s secretive <a href="http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers36/paper3506.html" target="_blank">313 Brigade</a>, granted a Pakistani journalist <a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KJ15Df03.html" target="_blank">an interview</a> last October after his death was reported in the  third attack to prove he was still alive and planning further terrorist strikes  in India, Europe and North America.</p>
<p>“They  are right in their pursuit. They know their enemy well. They know what I am  really up to,” he told the interviewer with  pride.</p>
<p>The  fact the Pakistani Taliban rather than al Qaeda at first took credit for helping  Shahzad and then later retracted its claim is probably an attempt to deceive.  Raman writes there is really no knowing what the relationship is between the  Pakistani Taliban, Ilyas Kashmiri and his 313 Brigade. He further observes that  the terrorist scene in Pakistan is “getting murkier and murkier”  and not even Pakistan’s leaders know exactly what is  going on.</p>
<p>The  fact that so many terrorist plots in America and elsewhere have led back to  Pakistan, why then would Napolitano and  General Petraeus hastily conclude the Times Square bombing was a “one-off”, “lone wolf” deed?   What drives such speedy, and  misleading, utterances and presidential warnings not to jump to conclusions is  the White House’s fear of a backlash against Muslims living in  America. Such a backlash, it is believed,  would not only play into the Islamists’ hands and adversely affect the War on  Terror, but would also jeopardise Obama’s stated desire to build bridges to the  Islamic world.</p>
<p>But  while such fear may be understandable, it only serves to hinder people from  drawing the proper conclusion: Islamic terrorism is a very real danger to  Americans and the threat is growing.  And that is something that can’t be  denied.</p>
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		<title>The “South Park” Revolution</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2010/rich-trzupek/the-%e2%80%9csouth-park%e2%80%9d-revolution/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-%25e2%2580%259csouth-park%25e2%2580%259d-revolution</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Apr 2010 04:25:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rich Trzupek]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[How Comedy Central's irreverent show demonstrated the incompatibility of Sharia law and a free society. ]]></description>
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<p>When the ever-offensive creators of the popular Comedy Central cartoon “South Park” recently featured the Prophet Mohammed in a bear costume, they provoked a veiled death threat from some Islamist fanatics in New   York and set off a firestorm about free speech in the process. The cable network’s cowardly response to Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s perfidy – namely, censoring the show and bleeping out any reference to the prophet – unintentionally triggered the kind of backlash that radical, fascist, jihadists should have earned a long time ago. It’s ironic that it took a cartoon to spotlight the issue so brightly.</p>
<p>As a Catholic, I have often been offended by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The same can be said by anyone who practices Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism or just about any other “ism” under the sun. The difference is that “South Park” could poke fun at Jesus, Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Joseph Smith, David Blaine, or practically any other religious or cult figure, without any fear of repercussion. There is, of course, one exception. Muslim fundamentalists can’t abide it when the prophet Mohammed’s teachings are questioned, much less when the prophet himself is mocked. For a religion as certain that it has a direct pipeline to the absolute, unalterable Word of God as Islam is, too many Muslims are awfully – and too often violently – insecure about that point.</p>
<p>Parker and Stone believed that it was their duty to call out the hypocrisy inherent within a society that purports to champion freedom of expression, but whose mainstream media outlets simultaneously refuse to criticize – or even gently make fun of – a murderous cult that would extinguish that very freedom. Through the voices of Cartman, Kyle, Stan and (the unintelligible utterances of) Kenny, Parker and Stone place the issue that CNN, MSNBC, Fox and their media brethren and their political supporters are unwilling to face squarely on the table: not one involving the merits of Islam per se, but rather something more basic: freedom of speech.</p>
<p>Parker and Stone didn’t criticize the religion of Islam in any substantive way during their two-episode send up. That was a touch of genius, for what they did – without attacking any Muslims directly – was to mock the countless people of other faiths who refuse to question the tenants of Islam in even the mildest of ways, out of fear of what might become of their own skins should they dare to do so.</p>
<p>The supposedly edgy powers-that-be at Comedy Central dutifully assumed the posture of good, subservient dhimmis when Parker and Stone submitted their part two of their tribute to free speech, censoring any purported image of the prophet and bleeping away every mention of Mohammad’s name. The latter is rather remarkable. There is nothing in Islamic scripture that prohibits mentioning the name of the religion’s founder, but the executives at Comedy Central were so thoroughly cowed that they couldn’t bring themselves to allow cartoon characters to utter that name, which, if I didn’t mention it before, is “Mohammed.”</p>
<p>A subsequent exchange between Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane and comedian Penn Jillette <a href="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2010/04/23/lkl.south.park.cnn?iref=allsearch">on Larry King Live</a> was sadly representative of the contrast between the mainstream media’s hands-off policy towards Islam and the courage that Parker and Stone displayed. McFarlane is always ready to take a swipe at other religions, but then there’s nothing risky about poking fun at people who aren’t going to do anything more than compose an angry letter in response. But would McFarlane make a joke about Islam? Heavens no. In McFarlane’s world, you don’t take the risk of insulting an enemy sworn to kill and subjugate you because there are plenty of other groups to insult who will do nothing more than write an angry letter or two. Penn Jillette’s response to McFarlane was right on the money:</p>
<blockquote><p>“I think you cheapen Matt and Trey’s morality, strength and courage when you say ‘is the joke worth it?’ Because the question is: what is morally right?”</p></blockquote>
<p>The public’s response to “dhimmigate” has been both swift and heartening. Had Comedy Central been less appeasing of the Islamist bullies, it would have taken even more time for a great many otherwise disinterested people to notice the appalling, violent bigotry that consumes too much of the Islamic world. Who could have imagined that the names Trey Parker and Matt Stone would ever be mentioned alongside that of <a href="http://www.ushistory.org/paine/commonsense/">Thomas Paine</a>?</p>
<p>Yet, the parallels are there. When Paine penned <em>Common Sense</em> he shone a spotlight on British tyranny so brightly that the colonists found it impossible to ignore and, as a result, discontent with His Majesty’s government reached critical mass. This, in turn, left the British government with two equally unpalatable choices. They could ignore the movement and thus embolden the malcontents across the pond, or they could come down hard on the colonies, a policy which would simply serve as a recruiting tool for the rebellious faction in America. Lord North and George III ultimately chose the latter course, but it really didn’t matter. Once a matter of principle was transformed into a popular cause, courtesy of Thomas Paine (and, it must be admitted, others, but Paine spoke to the common man better than anyone), British colonial rule was doomed, no matter what the government did. William Pitt the Elder, Edmund Burke and other British stalwarts saw that coming, and urged the King to cut his losses, but pride ever goeth before a fall.</p>
<p>Pride is again on the table more than two hundred years later, courtesy of Parker and Stone, but it’s Muslim pride at issue this time around. Among the liberties Americans cherish is the right to make fun of anyone, anything and any system of belief. “South  Park” censorship made it clear that there is one system of belief that believes itself to be off-limits, and this episode has created the critical mass of public opinion that will again prove impossible to ignore.</p>
<p>We’re already seeing the effects. Jon Stewart, bless his liberal heart, <a href="http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/the-daily-show-south-park-death-threats/17vuo5h0j">rose to defend Parker</a> and Stone’s right of freedom of expression. Sunday night’s episode of <em>The Simpsons</em> began with <a href="http://www.threedonia.com/archives/23159">Bart using the chalkboard</a> to write “South Park – we’d stand behind you if we weren’t so scared” however many times Bart has to scribble his punishment of the day. <em>Reason Magazine</em> declared May 20 “<a href="http://reason.com/blog/2010/04/23/first-annual-everybody-draw-mo">Everybody Draw Mohammed Day</a>.” More of the same, we can be sure, will be coming.</p>
<p>That leaves radical jihadists with the same uncomfortable, impossible choice that the British government faced in 1776 when Paine’s pamphlet first hit the streets. They can ignore the “make fun of Mohammed” movement, which will do nothing but embolden more Americans to do the same. Alternately, they can attack the growing number of Americans who dare to crack a joke at the expense of the founder of Islam, but doing so would simply outrage even more citizens who heretofore have stood silently on the sidelines, hoping that radical Islam might somehow fade away. It really doesn’t matter. The intolerance and insecurity that permeates Islam is plainly out there now and it’s impossible to ignore. Whatever those Muslims who would kill untold number of innocents in order to further their aims do going forward, they will lose – at least in America, if nowhere else.</p>
<p>Here’s hoping that the trend continues and that more and more Americans come to realize that there is no way to reconcile the demands of Sharia law with the inalienable rights of free peoples. How ironic that it took two irreverent, blasphemous cartoonists to make that happen.</p>
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		<title>Pakistan arrests 2 senior Afghan Taliban &#8211; AP</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2010/jlaksin/pakistan-arrests-2-senior-afghan-taliban-ap/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=pakistan-arrests-2-senior-afghan-taliban-ap</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:21:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jacob Laksin]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Abdul Ghani]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Pakistan has captured two &#8220;shadow governors&#8221; belonging to Afghanistan&#8217;s Taliban movement, an Afghan official said on Thursday. The timing of the reported arrests coincides with the capture of Taliban&#38;apos;s second-in-command Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Pakistan&#38;apos;s Karachi by Pakistani and U.S. agents this month. Mullah Abdul Salam and Mullah Mir Mohammad, respectively the shadow governors [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Pakistan has captured two &#8220;shadow governors&#8221; belonging to Afghanistan&#8217;s Taliban movement, an Afghan official said on Thursday.</p>
<p>The timing of the reported arrests coincides with the capture of Taliban&amp;apos;s second-in-command Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Pakistan&amp;apos;s Karachi by Pakistani and U.S. agents this month.</p>
<p>Mullah Abdul Salam and Mullah Mir Mohammad, respectively the shadow governors of the northern Afghan provinces of Kunduz and Baghlan happened in Pakistan&amp;apos;s Baluchistan province, the Afghan governor for Kunduz said.</p>
<p>&#8220;My information about their capture, which occurred nearly a week ago, is based on national intelligence sources,&#8221; Mohammad Omar told Reuters.</p>
<p>Pakistan has yet to comment about the report on the arrest of the two men, who both reported to Baradar.</p>
<p>Since their ouster from power by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in 2001, the Taliban have appointed shadow governors whose primary responsibility is organizing Taliban military activities.</p>
<p>The reported detentions come after mounting criticism by some U.S. officials who say Islamabad is not tackling Afghan Taliban based on it soil, using it as a base for carrying out attacks on Afghan and foreign troops across the border.</p>
<p>Washington has hailed Pakistan for the capture of Baradar, the seniormost Taliban leader to be held since the movement&amp;apos;s ouster from power in Afghanistan more than eight years ago.</p>
<p>via <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_afghanistan_taliban_pakistan;_ylt=AgEIMYVwjCuaU8LgQWpI7XKs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTN2NWY5bHB2BGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTAwMjE4L3VzX2FmZ2hhbmlzdGFuX3RhbGliYW5fcGFraXN0YW4EY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwMxBHBvcwMyBHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNvZmZpY2lhbHBha2k-">Pakistan arrests 2 senior Afghan Taliban: official &#8211; Yahoo! News</a>.</p>
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		<title>Iranians’ Cry for Freedom – by Lisa Daftari</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2009/lisa-daftari/iranians%e2%80%99-cry-for-freedom-%e2%80%93-by-lisa-daftari/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=iranians%25e2%2580%2599-cry-for-freedom-%25e2%2580%2593-by-lisa-daftari</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Dec 2009 05:10:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Lisa Daftari]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Daring Iranians continue to take to the streets. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-43845" title="iran" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/iran1.jpg" alt="iran" width="450" height="300" /></p>
<p>Iran’s Islamic regime may be in denial about sanctions and anti-nuclear proliferation proposals, but after a long weekend of renewed and intense demonstrations, it cannot deny the thousands of disenchanted and daring Iranians who took to protest despite government threats, beatings and cold-blooded murder.</p>
<p>Up to 9 are reported dead and hundreds wounded as tens of thousands of Iranian protestors clashed with government security forces in what was the bloodiest and most violent demonstrations since the aftermath of President Ahmadinejad’s allegedly fraudulent re-election six months ago. The number of deaths is reported through sites that cannot be verified, though eyewitnesses confirmed the murder of at least four protestors when guards opened fire in Tehran’s central neighborhood   College Square mid-morning Sunday.</p>
<p>Websites report that clashes were not limited to the capital city of Tehran. Demonstrations were also held in Isfahan, Mashad, Shiraz and surprisingly, the Shiite clerical headquarter, Qom.</p>
<p>The demonstrations began two days prior and led up to Sunday’s commemoration of Ashura, the Islamic day of mourning the martyrdom of Imam Hossein, the third Imam and grandson of Prophet Mohammad.  Hossein was overcome by his nemesis and heretic to Islam, Yazid, at the Battle of Karbala in the seventh century.  On this day, Shiite Muslims traditionally congregate at mosques and hold public processions of flagellation and reenactments of his death.</p>
<p>Hossein’s death is commonly referred to as the battle between good and evil, as he is said to have spoken out against oppressive rulers. Though protesters have chanted anti-Islamic and anti-regime slogans since the initial hours after the presidential election, they used this religious day to voice grievances against their own modern-day oppressive rulers.</p>
<p>Anticipating large-scale protests this weekend, the regime made threats about participating in these events, instituted a 7pm curfew and forbid the assembling of groups larger than three.</p>
<p>In some areas reports say early shots were fired in the air Saturday morning to deter rioters. In other areas, witnesses say tear gas was used to disperse crowds.</p>
<p>Similar to the violence we have seen in previous Iran protests, Basiji militiamen freely used batons and in some cases, reports indicate that daggers and knives were used. The only difference is that this time around there were also reports of protestors fighting back, and in some cases, successfully restraining security forces.</p>
<p>Losing presidential candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi made no official statements encouraging people to participate in protest. However, over the past two weeks, non-affiliated political activists called on Iranians of all backgrounds via websites, Facebook, Twitter and text messages, to come out in this new round of demonstrations.</p>
<p>The protests also coincided with the seventh day of mourning the death of 87-year-old reformist cleric Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, Iran’s most senior dissident religious figure and architect of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.  Montazeri’s death last week played a significant role in igniting demonstrations which have sporadically taken place since the elections, but gave the opposition a significant running start for this weekend’s upheaval.</p>
<p>When funeral attendees clashed with security forces in the religious city of Qom last week, the regime lost its religious constituency and the opposition gained bragging rights to an emerging opposition that is colorful and diverse and not just comprised of secular Tehranis but of conservative Muslims as well.  Supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s order to attack funeral attendees made a serious and significant escalation in the plot of this boiling Iranian Revolution.</p>
<p>The rift was further intensified this past weekend when the government ordered violent and unwarranted attacks during the holy day of Ashura.  Traditionally, this day is a peaceful, reflective one. During the eight year Iran-Iraq war, there was no fighting in honor of this holiday, and even during the 1979 Revolution, political activists took advantage of Ashura, coming out in protest knowing that the Shah would not order attacks out of respect for the holiday. Violating this sacred holiday by not just any government, but an Islamic one, reaffirmed that the regime’s hunger for power and tyrannical rule run deeper than the ‘absolute’ religious doctrines they have purported at the heart of their leadership and have utilized in gaining legitimacy.</p>
<p>As a matter of fact, the timely death of a revered clergy member coupled with violent escalations breaching one of the holiest Shiite days succeeded in giving the opposition what it has been lacking surely for the past six months, if not 30 years; homogenization.</p>
<p>Within one week, the regime helped bring the conservative and religious factions of Iran’s population to the streets. Dejected and disillusioned, members of the clergy and other conservative Iranians seamlessly joined the secular opposition.</p>
<p>It was apparent in the demonstration footage. Some demonstrators wore green, and others wore black.  Many did not color coordinate, believing that their cause was obvious absent visual manifestation.</p>
<p>Developments in Iran’s opposition movement seem promising. At the very least, these demonstrations have and continue to weaken and divide the clerical regime, and at best, they can be integral in eradicating this regime altogether. For the last six months, the opposition movement has endured bloodshed and brutality, proving to the international community and their own government that they will stop at nothing to get their country back.  They have and will continue to sacrifice their lives, jobs, families and more to overcome this tyrannical regime, and more importantly, they have showed that they will continue to resist with or without the help of the United States or any other world power.</p>
<p>Ironically, anti-American propaganda has long helped in legitimizing this regime’s absolute reign over its people.  From its inception, the government made its people believe that the United States and Israel, the two Satans, large and small, will dutifully stand in the way of Iranian advancement. Synonymous with Iranian patriotism was hatred for the United   States. The people of Iran may have believed this at first, possibly while still under the spell of this regime, but now they are awake and cynical of religion and the clerics’ regime.</p>
<p>So commonplace is the role of anti-Americanism in the backdrop of this regime’s reign that if the United   States had sided with the people of Iran, it would have naturally been a huge blow to their rule.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Obama administration made another attempt at curbing Iran’s nuclear proliferation agenda this week with a year-end deadline, to which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad simply scoffed, and said he is not afraid.</p>
<p>How many attempts will it take for our ivy-league educated leaders to recognize that diplomacy will not work with Iran?</p>
<p>As a result, America has isolated the Iranians to have to take on their government on their own. There are sound arguments as to why this is actually to their benefit. This may be the case, however, that would hold true only if America was completely absent from the Iranian political scene; not involved in a sideshow attempting to fruitlessly engage this regime or to daunt them with meaningless deadlines.</p>
<p>Even if the United States did not prioritize human rights in Iran, the single way to eliminate it as a nuclear threat is to weaken its government; a task only within the capabilities of its people.  Diplomacy is not seasonal, and it is not a temporary way to achieve a goal. It is establishing a lasting relationship between powerful and sovereign countries, similar to the relationship Iran and the United States had under the late Shah. If our administration were after true diplomacy in the region, then they would sooner side with the 70 million Iranians who have looked our way for an approving nod.</p>
<p>After 30 years, the people of Iran have come to the conclusion—the same conclusion that should now be the obvious one to President Obama after failing to successfully engage the Islamic Republic; We cannot change the actions or philosophy of this terrorist government; The only thing we can change is the government. We can only hope that the pivotal moment will come soon, when those outside Iran can join those inside in unanimously acknowledging that the only solution in the case of Iran is regime change.</p>
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		<title>Hamas</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2009/john-perazzo/hamas/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=hamas</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2009/john-perazzo/hamas/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:29:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[John Perazzo]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[  For the complete HAMAS profile, click here. Excerpts from the HAMAS profile: Hamas is a radical fundamentalist group founded on December 14, 1987 by the Muslim Brotherhood&#8230;. Its avowed purpose is &#8220;liberating Palestine&#8221; from the Jew &#8220;oppressors,&#8221; whose presence in the Middle East it considers an affront to Muslims&#8217; rightful sovereignty in the land of [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41925" title="hamas" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/hamas.jpg" alt="hamas" width="469" height="322" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>For the complete HAMAS profile, </strong><a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6204"><strong>click here</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p>
<p><strong><em>Excerpts from the HAMAS profile:</em></strong></p>
<p><span style="WIDOWS: 2; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; TEXT-INDENT: 0px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; FONT: medium 'Times New Roman'; WHITE-SPACE: normal; ORPHANS: 2; LETTER-SPACING: normal; COLOR: #000000; WORD-SPACING: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px">Hamas is a radical fundamentalist group founded on December 14, 1987 by the </span><a style="COLOR: maroon; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.discoverthenetwork.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6386">Muslim Brotherhood</a>&#8230;. Its avowed purpose is &#8220;<a style="COLOR: maroon; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:T-e99pjS9VoJ:www.palestinecenter.org/cpap/documents/charter.html+%22hamas+founding+charter%22&amp;hl=en&amp;gl=us&amp;ct=clnk&amp;cd=1">liberating Palestine</a>&#8221; from the Jew &#8220;<a style="COLOR: maroon; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:T-e99pjS9VoJ:www.palestinecenter.org/cpap/documents/charter.html+%22hamas+founding+charter%22&amp;hl=en&amp;gl=us&amp;ct=clnk&amp;cd=1">oppressors</a>,&#8221; whose presence in the Middle East it considers an affront to Muslims&#8217; rightful sovereignty in the land of the Prophet Mohammad&#8230;.</p>
<p>With tens of thousands of loyal supporters, Hamas&#8217; strength is concentrated principally in the Gaza Strip and a few areas of the West Bank. The group&#8217;s leadership is dispersed throughout these same areas, with a few senior leaders residing in Syria, Lebanon, and the Gulf States. Hamas receives some funding from Iran but is supported primarily by donations from Palestinian expatriates around the world and private benefactors in Arab nations. Some clandestine fundraising takes place in Western Europe and North America as well. When the <a style="COLOR: maroon; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://frontpagemag.com/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6529">United Nations Oil-For-Food</a> program was in effect, <a style="COLOR: maroon; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.discoverthenetwork.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=1344">Saddam Hussein</a> skimmed more than $21 billion from its coffers and sent some of it it directly to Hamas&#8230;.</p>
<p>The Hamas <a style="COLOR: maroon; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:T-e99pjS9VoJ:www.palestinecenter.org/cpap/documents/charter.html+%22hamas+founding+charter%22&amp;hl=en&amp;gl=us&amp;ct=clnk&amp;cd=1">Charter</a>, written in 1988, puts forth &#8220;The Slogan of the Hamas,&#8221; which reads as follows: &#8220;Allah is its goal, the Prophet its model, the Qur&#8217;an its Constitution, Jihad its path, and death for the case of Allah its most sublime belief.&#8221; The Charter says that <em>jihad</em>, or holy war, &#8220;becomes an individual duty binding on every Muslim man and woman; a woman must go out and fight the enemy even without her husband&#8217;s authorization, and a slave without his masters&#8217; permission.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Hamas Charter explicitly abjures negotiated settlements as mechanisms for peaceful coexistence: &#8220;There is no other solution for the Palestinian problem other than <em>jihad</em>. All the initiatives and international conferences are a waste of time and a futile game.&#8221; According to the Charter, those against whom jihad is to be directed are the Jews&#8230;.</p>
<p><strong>For the complete HAMAS profile, </strong><a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6204"><strong>click here</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p>
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