"You will surely find the most intense of the people in animosity toward the believers [to be] the Jews..." (Qur'an 5:82)

Usually this works out in practice that the most intense of the people in animosity toward the Jews are the Muslims. Note also Batayena's Qur'an quotes. Will Muslims in the U.S. condemn him for misunderstanding the Muslim book, and explain how he is taking the verses out of context? Will they explain to him and us the true, benign meaning of the passages he quotes? Time will tell!

"Jordanian newspaper: 'Let's kill the Jews everywhere,'" from Elder of Ziyon, June 16 (thanks to Inexion):

This article, by Dr. Muhammad Qasem Batayena writing in Jordanian newspaper Assawsana. is the worst one I have ever read. And that's saying something.

Batayena is apparently a Ba'athist, and in other articles he writes of his support for the Assad regime and he refers to Saddam Hussein as a "martyr." Even so, as you will see, he will happily use Koranic references as well.

The title of the piece is "Let's Kill the Jews Everywhere."

I'm not an extremist, nor racist… I'm not bloodthirsty and not vengeful… I'm not a terrorist and I've never been a killer… All my life I hated the color red, and my dictionary never included the word "blood"… I am not bloodthirsty at all… but I'm an oppressed Muslim and an Arab whose will has been taken away from him… that is how we were shaped in (these) bad times, which we haven't chosen (to be born into)… this is how it was planned that we should be… we are living in volcanic lands… We smell the smell of blood coming from every direction… they [presumably the Jews] turned the color of the ground into red… our people's body parts were scattered and their factions fought each other (literally "shot at each other") through Arab-like Hebrew hands ["musta'ariba", see Wikipedia for analog Mista-arvim]… and because I look at all these things without doing a thing – for that I'm an Arab.

Because all my limbs are chained and I cannot move… because my tongue was made silent by the treacheries of the blood-traders [Arab rulers who made peace with Israel or at least don't fight it]… because my heart became dead and my words are no longer virgin, because my brown skin hides behind it chagrin/sorrow/anger and humiliation/disgrace, and therefore I am an Arab for sure… because our blood is permitted, while the blood of the apes and pigs is forbidden… because the Arab tyrants sold us for a cheap price and served us on golden plates as sacrifice for the Zionists… because the rotten Jewish tourist walks around [Arab countries] firmly guarded by Arab guards, in order to guard his filthy soul… because any Arab who wants to pray in Jerusalem has to obtain a visa from the killers of the children of Palestine… because the hero Daqamseh , see here] is described as "a criminal murderer by our Arab-like ["musta'arabin" again) ambassadors in the so-called Israel, and therefore I'm an Arab, unfortunately.

Yes, unfortunately, our identity is lost since that whore Livni slept on the bosom of the rulers of Qatar, and its leaders kissed Hillary Clinton and hugged the black whore Condoleeza Rice… Yes, unfortunately I'm an Arab since Palestine has been erased from the map of the world… since that/one Canadian policeman told me that Israel is oppressed and it has to be aided [not sure if he means the Canadian government, or he refers to a personal encounter with an actual Canadian policeman]… since I found out that the entire world collects donations in order to support Israel in getting rid of terror, therefore I'm sorry that I'm an Arab.

Thus, I have to be ashamed of my Arabness... I have to bury my head in the sand like an ostrich, with chagrin and weakness… but this will never happen… since our great leaders have taught us that Falsehood might win the battle but Truth wins the war, our paragon, leader and Master (the prophet) Muhammad Bin Abdallah Peace Be Upon Him taught us this... Yes, we will triumph, pray in Jerusalem and take revenge on the filthy murderers… we will kill them wherever we find them, as the Holy Koran told us [referring to the verse in the Koran which begins: "And kill them wherever you find them… " Sura 2, verse 191]… we will make them taste the taste of death, in which they became masters all over the Islamic and Arab lands… Yes, we will kill them, and I swear that if I get the chance, I won't miss it… since I believe in Allah and his Messenger, and I know that this world is nothing but the enjoyment of a delusion [another Koranic reference]…Therefore I want to be proud that I'm a Muslim Arab who doesn't believe in the Arab borders [he is a Baathist/nationalist Arab who believes in Arab unity "from the Maghreb to the Gulf"].

This is important not only for its unmistakable message of genocide against Jews, but from the perspective of the Arab honor/shame mentality.

Batayena is writing exclusively from the point of view of Arabs being deeply humiliated by the very existence not only of Israel, but of Arabs who dare make peace with Israel. While this level of vitriol is unusual in even for the Arab media, it is clear that his point of view is not anomalous or even unusual.

This is the same situation that is created by the dhimmi laws: second class status is institutionalized for Christians, and if they complain, the "contract of protection" is annulled and they can lawfully be killed. And now, Christians are being forced to accept the Muslim Brotherhood regime, even though it means discrimination and harassment for them (and ultimately perhaps even the return of those dhimmi laws), and warned that they could be killed if they try to better their lot by demonstrating against the Muslim Brotherhood regime.

"Islamists Warn Christians From Demonstrating to Topple Egyptian President," by Mary Abdelmassih for AINA, June 15 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

(AINA) -- The youth-led Tamarod (rebel) Initiative has collected more than their targeted 15,000,000 signatures calling for a no-confidence vote against President Mohammed Morsi and forcing early elections in Egypt, causing the ruling Muslim Brotherhood party and its Islamists partners to feel seriously threatened, say political observers. Millions are expected to join a nationwide anti-Morsi and anti-Brotherhood demonstration set for June 30, to coincide with Morsi's first anniversary as president. Protesters in Cairo will go to the Presidential "Unity" Palace in the Heliopolis suburb of Cairo with their demands. "We will stay there until Morsi leaves," said Mahmoud Badr, spokesman for Tamarod. In every other Egyptian province local protests will be held. Expatriate Egyptians will also hold demonstrations in their respective countries.

This week Assem Abdel Maged, a leader of the Egyptian extremist group Gamaa Islamiya, said that those calling for the demonstrations are "extremists Copts" and issued a warning to the Coptic church and Christian citizens who plan to join in the protests on June 30. Speaking on an Islamist satellite channel (video), he said "Do not sacrifice your children, Muslim public opinion will not tolerate toppling the President."

Abdel Maged denounced the Coptic rights group Maspero Youth Union as "extremist Copts" whom he holds responsible for the Maspero massacre on October 9, 2011 which claimed the lives of 27 Copts and injured 329, with no Muslim casualties (AINA 10-10-2011). "They held battons in the shape of crosses and assaulted the Egyptian soldiers and smashed the heads of the army recruits with stones while they were in their armored vehicles." His criticism targeted another rights group, Copts Without Shackles, whom he claims is made up of communists and atheists.

Abdel Maged, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the terrorist attacks in the late eighties in Minya on police headquarters, killing 117 policemen, is coordinator for the Tagarrod Movement to support Morsi and counter the Tamarod initiative. "Not one single Copt signed our petition," he said.

"Who will be responsible if fanatics slaughter the Copts because of this incitement?" asked renowned Egyptian TV anchor Amr Adeeb, on his nightly program.

It was reported that the Presidential palace applied pressure on Coptic Pope Tawadros II in order to forbid the Coptic Orthodox Christians from joining the demonstrations. However, the Pope told the media the "Copts are free to choose." This was also confirmed after a multi-denominational meeting of Christian leaders this week in Wadi Natrun, which stressed the freedom of Egyptian Copts in determining their position on the events of June 30, and the Egyptian churches do not impose a specific position on the Copts. "The church does not play politics," said Coptic judge Amir Ramzy of the Cairo Criminal Court, adding that Pope Tawadros is different from the late Pope Shenouda III, who had asked the Copts not to join the protests of January 25, 2011 Revolution, which ousted former president Mubarak. "The Copts still joined, so even if Pope Tawadros asks the Copts to boycott the June 30 demonstrations, they will still go out."

Maspero Youth Union announced that they have pressed charges against Abdel Maged on grounds of threatening Egyptian citizens, attempting to threaten social peace and instigating sedition. They will hold him fully responsible in the event that Coptic property or churches are subjected to any attacks before and during the event of June 30 through his instigations.

During the Presidential elections in 2012 which, brought Morsi to power, over 6,000,000 Copts voted, excluding those who were prevented by force by Islamists from leaving their villages to cast their votes, which would not have gone to the Muslim Brotherhood candidate.

Addressing the Copts, Ibrahim Eissa, editor-in-chief of Al Tahrir newspaper and TV presenter, wrote "you are not a minority, you are many and influential, and your participation on June 30 will cause panic to the Muslim Brothers and their partners."

Apparently this was written by a member of the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria. Not that it has anything to do with Islam, of course.

"Church Vandalised in France: 'Death to France, Long Live Islam, Long Live Bin Laden,'" by Cheradenine Zakalwe for Islam Versus Europe, June 15 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

On Saturday morning a parishioner discovered the graffiti on the wall of the Saint John the Baptist church in Bourgoin-Jallieu. These were done with a marker on two pillars, and on a notice on a panel at the back of the church. The messages were signed GIA, which may be a reference to the armed Islamic group. [Armed Islamic Group of Algeria].

Source: LeDauphine.fr

“There are groups of foreign nationals involved in this and maybe respect for women isn’t seen as being a high priority in their country of origin.” Especially Infidel women.

The Qur'an allows for the owning of sex slaves:

If you fear that you will not act justly towards the orphans, marry such women as seem good to you, two, three, four; but if you fear you will not be equitable, then only one, or what your right hands own; so it is likelier you will not be partial. (Qur'an 4:3)

This verse is the basis for Islamic polygamy, allowing a man to take as many as four wives, as long as he believes he is able to “deal justly” with all of them. But justice in these circumstances is in the eye of the beholder. Ibn Kathir says this the requirement to deal justly with one’s wives is no big deal, since treating them justly isn’t the same as treating them equally: “it is not obligatory to treat them equally, rather it is recommended. So if one does so, that is good, and if not, there is no harm on him.”

The verse goes on to say that if a man cannot deal justly with multiple wives, then he should marry only one, or resort to “what your right hands own” – that is, slave girls.

The Qur'an commentator Maulana Bulandshahri explains the wisdom of this practice, and longs for the good old days:

During Jihad (religion war), many men and women become war captives. The Amirul Mu’minin [leader of the believers, or caliph – an office now vacant] has the choice of distributing them amongst the Mujahidin [warriors of jihad], in which event they will become the property of these Mujahidin. This enslavement is the penalty for disbelief (kufr).

He goes on to explain that this is not ancient history:

None of the injunctions pertaining to slavery have been abrogated in the Shari’ah. The reason that the Muslims of today do not have slaves is because they do not engage in Jihad (religion war). Their wars are fought by the instruction of the disbelievers (kuffar) and are halted by the same felons. The Muslim [sic] have been shackled by such treaties of the disbelievers (kuffar) whereby they cannot enslave anyone in the event of a war. Muslims have been denied a great boon whereby every home could have had a slave. May Allah grant the Muslims the ability to escape the tentacles of the enemy, remain steadfast upon the Din (religion) and engage in Jihad (religion war) according to the injunctions of Shari’ah. Amen!

This is by no means an eccentric or unorthodox view in Islam. The Egyptian Sheikh Abu-Ishaq al-Huwayni declared in May 2011 that “we are in the era of jihad,” and that as they waged jihad warfare against infidels, Muslims would take slaves. He clarified what he meant in a subsequent interview:

...Jihad is only between Muslims and infidels….Spoils, slaves, and prisoners are only to be taken in war between Muslims and infidels. Muslims in the past conquered, invaded, and took over countries. This is agreed to by all scholars--there is no disagreement on this from any of them, from the smallest to the largest, on the issue of taking spoils and prisoners. The prisoners and spoils are distributed among the fighters, which includes men, women, children, wealth, and so on.

When a slave market is erected, which is a market in which are sold slaves and sex-slaves, which are called in the Qur’an by the name milk al-yamin, “that which your right hands possess” [Qur’an 4:24]. This is a verse from the Qur’an which is still in force, and has not been abrogated. The milk al-yamin are the sex-slaves. You go to the market, look at the sex-slave, and buy her. She becomes like your wife, (but) she doesn’t need a (marriage) contract or a divorce like a free woman, nor does she need a wali. All scholars agree on this point--there is no disagreement from any of them. [...] When I want a sex slave, I just go to the market and choose the woman I like and purchase her.

Right around the same time, on May 25, 2011, a female Kuwaiti activist and politician, Salwa al-Mutairi, also spoke out in favor of the Islamic practice of sexual slavery of non-Muslim women, emphasizing that the practice accorded with Islamic law and the parameters of Islamic morality.

...A merchant told me that he would like to have a sex slave. He said he would not be negligent with her, and that Islam permitted this sort of thing. He was speaking the truth….I brought up (this man’s) situation to the muftis in Mecca. I told them that I had a question, since they were men who specialized in what was halal, and what was good, and who loved women. I said, “What is the law of sex slaves?” 

The mufti said, “With the law of sex slaves, there must be a Muslim nation at war with a Christian nation, or a nation which is not of the religion, not of the religion of Islam. And there must be prisoners of war.”

“Is this forbidden by Islam?,” I asked.

“Absolutely not. Sex slaves are not forbidden by Islam. On the contrary, sex slaves are under a different law than the free woman. The free woman must be completely covered except for her face and hands. But the sex slave can be naked from the waist up. She differs a lot from the free woman. While the free woman requires a marriage contract, the sex slave does not--she only needs to be purchased by her husband, and that’s it. Therefore the sex slave is different than the free woman.”

While the savage exploitation of girls and young women is an unfortunately cross-cultural phenomenon, only in Islamic law does it carry anything approaching divine sanction. Here is yet another human rights scandal occasioned by Islamic law that the international human rights community and the mainstream media cravenly ignore.

"Scots police smash two ‘large’ paedophile rings," by Ben Borland for the Express, June 16 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

SCOTTISH police have smashed two “large scale” child sex networks involving a “significant proportion” of ethnic minority offenders.

Further details cannot be disclosed for legal reasons as the cases are still to come to court, however the investigations contain chilling echoes of high- profile prosecutions south of the Border.

In another, utterly appalling example of child abuse, two 13-year-old Scots girls were groomed and raped by a network of “numerous” paedophiles across Britain.

This operation resulted in 37 arrests and the identification of 108 further potential victims and perpetrators. Again, all of those involved are still awaiting trial.

The details of the crackdown were revealed by Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham to a Holyrood inquiry into the scale of child abuse. Concern is growing that the problem has been grossly underestimated for years, with police and prosecutors failing to take victims seriously.

Senior officers also fear the involvement of ethnic minority offenders in child sexual exploitation (CSE) will lead to “significant community tension”.

Mr Graham said: “In two large scale CSE investigations in Scotland a significant proportion of the identified perpetrators were from ethnic minority communities. It is not possible to draw conclusions from this relatively small dataset and more accurate data and wider research is required.

“It is acknowledged extremist groups have attempted to associate CSE with wider immigration issues and this has the potential for significant unrest.”

However, a police source added: “There are groups of foreign nationals involved in this and maybe respect for women isn’t seen as being a high priority in their country of origin.”

The two Scottish probes follow similar operations in England, which saw members child grooming rings jailed. In particular, cases in Rochdale, Oxford and Telford where Asian and North African men preyed on vulnerable white girls sparked widespread outrage.

Mr Graham, formerly the top murder detective in Edinburgh, said the force was determined to “tackle this emerging threat to Scotland”.

Extra training on how to investigate child abuse has been provided, as well as a seminar where a victim gave an emotional speech to 200 officers.

In addition, a National Vulnerable Persons Database will be rolled out from July to record every child under threat and suspicious adult in Scotland in one place.

Mr Graham also had a chilling message for parents about the “darker side of social media and the internet”.

He said there has been a “significant rise” in young people posting indecent photos of themselves online, known as “selfies” – which often fall into the hands of paedophiles.

The biggest success of the internet crackdown was a “recent operation concerning two 13 year old girls who were groomed, exploited and sexually abused by numerous individuals across the UK. “This operation resulted in 37 arrests across the country.”

The difficulty in establishing the scale of child abuse in Scotland is partly down to the variety of different charges which offenders can face.

The Crown Office has revealed that 350 perverts have been convicted of rape or serious sexual assault of a child under the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 since it came into force in December 2010.

A further 239 people have been cleared while 116 have been reported to the procurator fiscal but faced no further action.

Last month, the Sunday Express exposed the nationwide scandal of ‘party flats’ where young girls are groomed and then raped by older men.

It's the worst insult one Muslim can hurl at another: the claim that he is a tool of the Jews, the worst enemies of the Muslims according to the Qur'an (5:82). "Syria: Egypt's Morsi joining US, Israeli conspiracy," from the Jerusalem Post, June 16 (thanks to Jerk Chicken):

Syria on Sunday harshly criticized Cairo's decision to sever diplomatic relations with Damascus, accusing Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi of joining a US and Israel-led conspiracy against Syria.

Morsi said he had cut all diplomatic ties with Damascus on Saturday and called for a no-fly zone over Syria, pitching the most populous Arab state firmly against President Bashar Assad.

Syria's official SANA news agency quoted a government source as saying that Morsi was implementing the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood, who has called for jihad against the Syrian regime, and ignoring the aspirations of the Egyptian people.

The statement added that Morsi and the Egyptian clerics should direct their attention toward liberating "usurped Palestinian land, particularly Jerusalem," rather than issuing fatwas calling for more "Syrian bloodshed."

The Syrian official said that Morsi's calls for foreign intervention in Syria and the implementation of a no-fly zone in the country would only serve the interests of the US and Israel.

The source added that the continued presence of an Israeli embassy in Cairo and Egypt's adherence to the Camp David accords with Israel delegitimizes both Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.

On Saturday, addressing a rally called by Sunni Muslim clerics in Cairo, Morsi said: "We decided today to entirely break off relations with Syria and with the current Syrian regime."

He also warned Assad's allies in the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shi'ite militia Hezbollah to pull back from fighting in Syria.

"We stand against Hezbollah in its aggression against the Syrian people," Morsi said. "Hezbollah must leave Syria - these are serious words. There is no space or place for Hezbollah in Syria."

Morsi, who faces growing discontent at home over the economy and over fears that he will pursue an Islamist social agenda, said he was organizing an urgent summit of Arab and other Islamic states to discuss the situation in Syria, where the United States has in recent days decided to take steps to arm the rebels.

Morsi said Syria was the target of "a campaign of extermination and planned ethnic cleansing fed by regional and international states", partly in reference to Iran, though he did not name the Shi'ite Islamic Republic.

Morsi said: "The Egyptian people supports the struggle of the Syrian people, materially and morally, and Egypt, its nation, leadership ... and army, will not abandon the Syrian people until it achieves its rights and dignity."

The Brotherhood has joined calls this week from Sunni Muslim religious organizations for a jihad against Assad and his Shi'ite allies. Egypt has not taken an active role in arming the Syrian rebels, but an aide to Morsi said this week that Cairo would not stand in the way of Egyptians who wanted to fight in Syria.

Louie Gohmert for President. "Louie Gohmert Accuses FBI Of Aiding Muslim Brotherhood: ‘They Want Sharia Law, Not Our Constitution,’" by Evan McMurry for Mediaite, June 15 (thanks to Jerk Chicken):

On the House floor on Friday, Texas Representative Louie Gohmert accused various federal agencies of aiding Islamic terrorists organizations such as the Council on American Islamic Relations and the Islamic Society of North America in their attempts to enact Sharia Law.

“We need to address the political correctness that is blinding our agencies and blinding our military of its ability to see who the enemy is, because it’s getting people killed,” Gohmert said. “When you refuse to acknowledge that the Afghans you’re training, may be willing to turn their guns you’re training them on and kill you…until you recognize that and who our enemy is, and that our enemy can be among us, and that our enemy can be in uniforms that we’re supposed to be friendly with, then more Americans are going to be killed needlessly.”

Gohmert accused the Obama administration of changing policy so that the FBI, State Department, and others had to “partner with” CAIR and ISNA, rather than treat mosques as terrorist recruitment centers.

“Any time CAIR says, ‘This offends us,’ the FBI says, ‘Oh, gee, we’d better change it,’” Gohmert claimed. “When you’ve had the Fifth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals confirm that, yes, the evidence shows that CAIR, Islamic Society of North America—those are front organizations for the Muslim Brotherhood. They want Sharia law to be the law of the land, not our Constitution. And that is what we did not take an oath to allow to happen.”

Gohmert also recalled his theory that the Obama administration and various Congressional offices had been infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood, especially by citizens born in the US to parents on VISAs and later radicalized in their homelands—so-called “terror babies“—which he called a “misinterpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

“So [Anwar] al-Awaki’s family was free to come in on a VISA for college, have al-Awlaki, take him back to Yemen, and radicalize him, so that he had America, and as he did lead prayers here on Capitol Hill with congressional Muslim staffers, and also have contact with people in the administration,” Gohmert said. “He was free to come and go and radicalize people in America because he was an American citizen.”

How was he wrong?

Putin's Russia is in bed with Iran, so he lives in a glass house, but that doesn't mean his stones aren't hitting the mark. "Putin says West arming Syrian rebels who eat human flesh," by Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Alexei Anishchuk for Reuters, June 16:

AMMAN/LONDON (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin, arriving in Britain ahead of an international summit set to be dominated by disagreement over the U.S. decision to send weapons to Syria's rebels, said the West must not arm fighters who eat human flesh.

In Syria, rebels fought back on Sunday against forces of President Bashar al-Assad and his Lebanese Hezbollah allies near Aleppo, where Assad has announced a campaign to recapture the rebel-held north after seizing a strategic town this month.

After months of deliberations, Washington decided last week to send weapons to the rebels, declaring that Assad's forces had crossed a "red line" by using nerve gas.

The move throws the superpower's weight behind the revolt and signals a potential turning point in global involvement in a two-year-old war that has already killed at least 93,000 people.

It has also infuriated Russia, Cold War-era ally of Syria, which has sold arms to Assad and used its veto at the U.N. Security Council to block resolutions against him.

Russia has dismissed the U.S. evidence that Assad's forces used nerve gas. The White House says President Barack Obama will try to lobby Putin to drop his support for Assad during this week's G8 summit hosted by British Prime Minister David Cameron.

After meeting Cameron in London, Putin said Russia wanted to create the conditions for a resolution of the conflict.

"One does not really need to support the people who not only kill their enemies, but open up their bodies, eat their intestines in front of the public and cameras," Putin said.

"Are these the people you want to support? Are they the ones you want to supply with weapons? Then this probably has little relation to the humanitarian values preached in Europe for hundreds of years."

The incident Putin referred to was most likely that of a rebel commander filmed last month cutting into the torso of a dead soldier and biting into a piece of one of his organs....

The U.S. has sold Erdogan much of this tear gas -- and now it is being used to put down any resistance to Sharia and the Islamization of Turkey. Pamela Geller has updates from a source on the ground in Turkey here and here. "Erdogan Goes to War; Police Wound Hundreds, Attack Drivers," by Tzvi Ben-Gedalyahu from the Jewish Press, June 16 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

Turkish police went to war against protesters Saturday night, using rubber bullets and tear gas to clear thousands from Taksim Square and on pedestrians trying to cross a foot bridge, where drivers also suffered the effects of the gas.

Hundreds of people, including motorists, were injured, while official government statements claimed the number of wounded was 44.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had issued an ultimatum to the protesters to leave Taksim Square in favor of a pro-Erdogan rally scheduled for Sunday.

One hour later, police, backed by armored vehicles, raided the square and attacked pedestrians before they could cross a foot bridge leading to the square.

Turkey’s European Union minister Egemen Bağış said in a televised interview that anyone trying to enter Taksim Square will be treated like a “terrorist.”

He lived up to his word.

“We tried to flee and the police pursued us. It was like war,” Claudia Roth, a German politician who was on the scene to show her support for the protesters, told Reuters. “There are dozens of injured shot with rubber bullets or who couldn’t go to the hospital,” according to the Taksim Solidarity Platform that represents the Gezi Park protesters.

In a statement quoted by Turkey’s Hurriyet News, the Platform added, “The attack with rubber bullets, intense tear gas and stun grenades at a moment when there were a lot of women, kids and elderly people were at the park is a crime against humanity.

“This attack that took place at a moment when there was no demonstration at the park shows that the prime minister’s intention is to increase the social polarization and satisfy his ambition of authority by oppressing his people.”

The Platform and Erdogan struck a compromise Thursday night whereby development plans for Gezi Park would be altered. Erdogan apparently has used the agreement as a signal, or excuse, to clear the protesters and stage his own pro-government rally Sunday.

“We have our Istanbul rally tomorrow. I say it clearly: Taksim Square must be evacuated, otherwise this country’s security forces know how to evacuate it,” Erdogan told supporters in Ankara on Saturday.

Hurriyet quoted sources last week that the Israel’s Mossad boss met with Turkish intelligence officials and that Syria and/or Iran may be behind the protest movement.

Regardless, Erdogan’s heavy-handed response has only made the protest movement more popular, as has happened in every other Muslim country where brute force has been used to quell protests.

Erdogan, like other leaders of Muslim regimes, cast Twitter and social networks as the villain. He said Twitter was begin used to slander the government and therefore should not be allowed.

However, it was Turkish President Abdullah Gul who took to Twitter Saturday, saying that “everyone should return home now,” and that “the channels for discussion and dialogue” are open.

More than five people have been killed by police and 10 people have lost an eye after being hit by plastic bullets since the protest movement began three weeks ago over a plan to redevelop Gezi Park. The violent response by police resulted in much larger demonstrations against police violence.

Morally unsound? Why? Because they don't teach polygamy, wife-beating, the devaluing of a woman's testimony and inheritance rights, and death to apostates? Tolerance: "Central Java: fatwa against Catholic schools, "forbidden" to Muslims," by Mathias Hariyadi for Asia News, June 14 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - The powerful Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has come out against Catholic schools in Tegal District, Central Java province, issuing a "controversial" a fatwa that has sparked reactions and protests.

For MUI leaders, such schools are "haram", "morally unsound" for young Muslim pupils despite the fact that they score high for the quality of the education they provide and have as a consequence attracted a large number of non-Christians.

In so doing, they have opened up a new fault line after their recent attack against Miss World Contest; this in the world's most populous Muslim nation, where Catholics are a small but significant presence.

For the schools, the fatwa is a great blow, coming in the wake of attacks from Muslim extremists and local governments that included threats of closure that were however eventually dropped.

The Ulema Council has often intervened to enforce orthodox views about Muslim precepts, such as how to butcher animals or uphold Islamic mores. However, in this case the motivation behind MUI's stance is "political" in nature. It follows appeals by local authorities to force Catholic schools to teach the Muslim religion to its non-Christian pupils.

Harun Abdi Manaf, MUI leader in Tegal, said that the council went through "lengthy discussions" and that a "decision was taken in April" to issue "a fatwa destined for the parents" of Muslim pupils, telling them not to send their children to Catholic schools. He explicitly referred to Catholic schools in Tegal and Pemalang, which have been under the threat of closure because they opposed a government order that requires them to reach Islam.

In addition to Mgr Julianus Sunarko, bishop of Purwokerto, many Muslim families have come to the defence of the two schools, claiming their right to a quality education. In fact, many schools run by nuns, priests and lay Catholics offer such excellence in education that they are sought after by non-Christians.

However, government authorities have tried too often to exert some form of control (however small) over these schools. The demand to have Islam included in the curriculum has thus become a rallying point to gain Islamist political and electoral support.

Indeed, Indonesian authorities in recent years have repeatedly given in to MUI's pressures. For example in Aceh, a province run by Islamic radicals, women are not allowed to wear tight pants or skirts.

In March 2011, MUI also lashed out at the flag raising "because Mohammed never did it". Before that, it had launched anathemas against Facebook for its "amoral" nature, as well as yoga, smoking and voting rights, in particular for women.

Let's see. The ayatollahs are genocidal Jew-haters who hope to obliterate Israel in a nuclear holocaust. The Tea Party isn't. The ayatollahs are in favor of stoning women who commit adultery. The Tea Party isn't. The ayatollahs support murdering people who leave Islam. The Tea Party doesn't. The ayatollahs support second-class status for women and non-Muslims. The Tea Party doesn't.

The mainstream media, of course, always uses the word "conservatives" for people they don't like. This creates the peculiar paradox that opponents of Sharia in the West are "far right" and "conservative," while those who support Sharia in Muslim countries are "far right" and "conservative." These appellations have become essentially meaningless.

Witless Moral Equivalence Alert: "Ayatollah DeMint? CBS Reporter Equates Iran's Islamist Hardliners To U.S. Tea Party," by Tim Graham for Newsbusters, June 15 (thanks to Maxwell):

For many years, the networks have done a sloppy job of comparing "conservatives" around the globe. As the Berlin Wall fell, the "conservatives" became the communists who wanted to keep their grip on power and not give way to democracy. That's hardly comparable to American conservatives.

On Saturday night, CBS News was doing this sloppy dance on the elections in Iran. From London, reporter Elizabeth Palmer declared all the candidates to succeed Ahmadinejad were the Islamist equivalent of the American Tea Party movement:

JIM AXELROD: Liz, a man named Hassan Rowhani will be the next president of Iran. Is he in the mold of Ahmadinejad?

ELIZABETH PALMER: Well he was seen as the most reform-minded of all the candidates who ran this time. That being said, they were all very conservative. In U.S. terms, it was as if all the candidates for the presidency came from the Tea Party.

Nevertheless, young people especially see Mr. Rowhani as presenting a little bit of a hope for liberal reforms. He is a cleric. He is 64 years old. Hes a very experienced diplomat, quite charismatic and extremely close to the centers of power in Iran.

Why must they do that? Can't they denounce the Tea Party for being alleged haters of Islam? Do they have to add the smear that they're somehow like the ayatollahs?

These politically correct, reeducated Keystone Kops did nothing -- after all, why should they have done anything? He was a jihadi, and their Obama-mandated training told them that jihad was a beautiful interior spiritual struggle. "FBI knew earlier of Boston bombing suspect," by Josh Gerstein for Politico, June 15:

Deceased Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev came to the attention of the FBI on at least two occasions prior to a Russian government warning in March 2011 that said he appeared to be radicalizing, FBI Director Robert Mueller said in Congressional testimony this week.

The earlier references have led some lawmakers to question whether the FBI acted too quickly in closing an assessment of Tsarnaev's potential ties to terrorism done in response to the Russian request.

In a little-noticed exchange before the House Judiciary Committee Thursday, Mueller acknowledged that the Russian alert was not the first time the elder Tsarnaev brother crossed the FBI's radar.

"His name had come up in two other cases," Mueller said in response to questions from Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa). "Those two other cases, the individuals had their cases closed. So, he was one or two person [sic] away."

When King asked Mueller if it was reasonable to say that the Russian letter "refocused" the FBI on Tsarnaev, Mueller replied, "Absolutely."

Mueller did not elaborate on the nature of the prior investigations where Tsarnaev's name had arisen. However, an FBI official told POLITICO they were not related to terrorism. The official, who asked not to be named, also said the agent who conducted an "assessment" of Tsarnaev in response to the Russian warning in 2011 found the previous references and was aware of them.

Former House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.) said he believes the prior mentions of Tsarnaev in FBI files should have resulted in greater scrutiny of the Russian-born U.S. resident who allegedly went on to carry out the April 15, 2013 bombing that killed three and an ensuing crime spree that left a police officer dead.

Tamerlan was eventually killed in a shootout with police a few miles away from the bombing scene. His brother, Dzhokhar, survived the shootout. He has been charged with the bombings and is in a federal prison hospital near Boston.

"What are the chances of the Russians reporting on someone who's pretty obscure and the FBI checks him out and finds out his name has come up twice before?" asked Peter King. "Wouldn't it have warranted keeping the investigation open longer or at least going to the Boston police and warning them?"

At Thursday's hearing, Mueller defended that inquiry as thorough, even though it resulted in no further action.

"I do believe that when we got the lead on Tamerlan from the Russians, that the agent did an excellent job in investigating, utilizing the tools that are available to him in that kind of investigation," the FBI chief said. "He did all the records checks. He went out to the interview persons at the college where Tamerlan was there for a period of time, ultimately interviewed the parents, interviewed Tamerlan himself, sent the information back to Russia. And on three separate occasions we asked the Russians for additional information that might give us indications or evidence that he was a terrorist."

Other U.S. officials have said the Russians did not respond to those requests for more information.

Mueller suggested that there simply wasn't enough of a legal basis to do anything else at that juncture. "At that point in time, I do not know that there was much else that could be done within the statutes, within the Constitution, to further investigate him," the FBI director said.

Peter King said local police could have visited Tsarnaev's mosque, for example, something he said FBI guidelines would not have permitted. "They never went to the mosque, never went to the imam....I just find it of some concern there were two references to [Tsarnaev] before and they still didn't think it merited keeping the investigation open," the New York Republican told POLITICO Friday.

Steve King, who asked Mueller about the FBI's full history of knowledge of Tsarnaev, said it's important to establish how much of the early information on Tsarnaev came from Russia and how much was produced by the U.S. government.

"I thought it was important to ask: 'Who first flagged you?…How did he first come to our attention?" Steve King told POLITICO Saturday. "The Russians seemed to know more about Tamerlan than we did, including that he had traveled to Utah to compete in the Golden Gloves."...

Steve King said his most urgent concern is that Chechens in the U.S. may be winning asylum without anyone in the U.S. government checking with Russia about whether the individuals have terrorist ties. "My concern is how many terrorists are coming into the United States and are receiving asylum?...What's the total number of others who might have come in under that same window?" the congressman asked.

Oh yeah? Then how did Obama get elected twice?

As Iran elects yet another Islamic supremacist that the ridiculous Western press is hailing as a "moderate," Khamenei reminds us of the paranoid, Jew-hating heart of the Iranian mullahcracy. "Khameini [sic]: U.S. elections controlled by ‘Zionists,’" from the JTA, June 15:

On the eve of Iranian elections, the country’s religious leader said on his Facebook page that American elections are controlled by the “Zionist regime.”

“U.S. president is being elected only from two parties while Zionist regime is controlling everything behind the scenes,” said a cartoon posted Thursday on the English language Facebook page of Ayatollah Ali Khameini [sic], the country’s supreme leader.

The graphic depicts the star of David logo of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee over an arrow pointing at three fat oligarchs with money bags for heads, hovering over a line of voters.

Iranian presidents, by contrast, the cartoon said, come from “ordinary people” and some are not affiliated with parties. In another graphic, an arrow ascends from a line of voters to a single presidential candidate.

The page shows also Khameini [sic] voting on Friday and quotes him as saying to “hell with recognition” from the United States....

Those right-wing extremists are at it again. "New York-bound flight from Egypt diverted after threat," from the Associated Press, June 15 (thanks to Mona):

CAIRO – British fighter aircraft escorted a plane from Cairo bound for New York to an emergency landing in the U.K. after a passenger discovered a letter onboard threatening to blow up the aircraft, officials said Saturday.

Flight 985 to John F. Kennedy Airport had around 300 passengers onboard when it was diverted to Glasgow's Prestwick Airport after a passenger found the letter in a lavatory, EgyptAir chairman Tawfiq Assi said.

Britain's Ministry of Defense confirmed that that fighter jets were scrambled to escort the plane to the Glasgow airport, but referred further questions to police in Glasgow....

Assi said the flight is now being checked by a technical team that includes bomb disposal experts.

Passengers were let off to wait in Glasgow's airport, and officials are also looking into their backgrounds, he said, adding that the flight hopefully will resume its journey to New York following inspections.

"A group of Asian youths were outside the barracks and were abusing the cadets as they came out." "Asian" is British media code for "Muslim." This Muslim gang despises the air cadets because they reject all non-Muslim authority and believe that the British are fighting against Islam in Afghanistan.

"Police probe ‘racist’ cadet incident at army barracks," from the Lancashire Evening Post, June 13 (thanks to B.):

A disgusted father has told how a group of young air cadets were racially abused by a gang who waited outside Preston’s Territorial Army barracks.

Police were called on Tuesday night after one cadet was allegedly chased towards Preston north End’s stadium from Kimberley Barracks on Deepdale Road, following a training session.

On Tuesdays the barracks is used by the 341 Air Squadron, but it is also understood a group of army cadets may have been verbally abused on the same evening.

Today, Det Chf Insp Ian Dawson of Preston Police said there were no security concerns at the barracks and said it was a minor incident.

He said: “ we are aware of a minor incident at the barracks and believe it was isolated. We have close links with the barracks and are working,through our diversity team, to establish who the youths involved are.

“Preston has a diverse community and we are not aware of any problems.

“We are working closely with community leaders.

He added: “We understand the cadets had played football on the park before returning to the barracks. A short time later, as they left the barracks, they were shouted at by a group.

“We have assessed our reassurance response to the incident.

A concerned parent, who did not wish to be named, said: “ A group of Asian youths were outside the barracks and were abusing the cadets as they came out.

“One ran back inside and had to get a sergeant’s help.

“Members of the TA who are stationed at the barracks also came out.

“My stepdaughter is in the air cadets and we worry about her walking home as it is.

“The youngsters were advised not to walk home alone.

“My stepdaughter had been shouted at once before as she left the barracks. It does not put us off sending her, but it frightens me.”

Coun Terry Cartwright, who represents the area, said: “ It is disturbing, particularly in the wake of what happened at Woolwich Barracks in London.

These young cadets are trying to make something of themselves.”

Preston community worker Ali Amla said: “ It is totally unacceptable behaviour for these young people to have been treated like that.

“The cadets are there to volunteer their time very positively and do something very positive in the community.”

A spokesman for Fulwood Barracks confirmed the air cadets had been training in the barracks at the time.

An Air Cadet spokesman was not available for comment.

Intent on appeasing their bloodthirsty god. "Pakistan militants bomb women on bus, then seize hospital in deadly attack," by Gul Yousafzai, Syed Raza Hassan and Frank Jack Daniel for Reuters, June 15 (thanks to Kenneth):

QUETTA, Pakistan -- Militants in western Pakistan bombed a bus carrying women university students on Saturday and then seized part of the hospital where survivors of the attack were taken, killing at least 12 people, officials said.

At least 19 were injured.

The gunmen in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province long plagued by sectarian violence, were holed up in the emergency ward of a hospital, engulfed in a firefight pitting militants against the security forces.

Television footage showed security forces surrounding the Bolan Medical Complex and a helicopter hovering overhead.

The attack in resource-rich Baluchistan was Pakistan's most lethal since the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took office last week.

The initial blast gutted the bus, killing 11 students, and another explosion went off soon after at the hospital, the city's largest. Television footage showed people fleeing the building in panic.

A senior local government official was killed in the hospital attack, the state television network reported.

Earlier, city police chief Mir Zubair Mehmood told Reuters that the students on the bus were from various ethnic groups, including the Hazara minority that has been the target of a series of bombings this year.

Saturday's attack was the biggest since bombings in the city at the start of the year killed almost 200 people, briefly drawing global attention to a growing campaign of victimization of the Hazaras by sectarian militants.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack, or whether it was aimed at the Hazaras.

The 500,000-strong community in Quetta has been subjected to an escalating campaign of shootings and bombings by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LEJ), a militant group dedicated to attacking Pakistan's Shiite Muslim minority, which includes the Hazaras....

"It's a chain reaction – when people listen to music, they ask for alcohol, which will lead to adultery." Yep. Happens every time. "Music has magic, it gets in your blood and makes you want to get up and dance and forget your personality. Your butt is shaking and she's going to get up and her butt is going to shake – where is the religion then?" Where indeed? That's why Muhammad -- and Lenin -- hated music.

Anyway, this Muslim music festival is going to go on, even though the imams are against music. But what is striking is that fact -- that they're against music. Whenever I have pointed out Muhammad's prohibition of music, I'm accused of being a racist, bigoted Islamophobe, ignorant of the true teachings of Islam. So how did racist, bigoted Islamophobes, ignorant of the true teachings of Islam, become the imams of Sacramento's two biggest mosques?

Hadith Qudsi 19:5: "The Prophet said that Allah commanded him to destroy all the musical instruments, idols, crosses and all the trappings of ignorance." (The Hadith Qudsi, or holy Hadith, are those in which Muhammad transmits the words of Allah, although those words are not in the Qur'an.)

Muhammad also said:

(1) "Allah Mighty and Majestic sent me as a guidance and mercy to believers and commanded me to do away with musical instruments, flutes, strings, crucifixes, and the affair of the pre-Islamic period of ignorance."

(2) "On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will pour molten lead into the ears of whoever sits listening to a songstress."

(3) "Song makes hypocrisy grow in the heart as water does herbage."

(4) "This community will experience the swallowing up of some people by the earth, metamorphosis of some into animals, and being rained upon with stones." Someone asked, "When will this be, O Messenger of Allah?" and he said, "When songstresses and musical instruments appear and wine is held to be lawful."

(5) "There will be peoples of my Community who will hold fornication, silk, wine, and musical instruments to be lawful ...." -- 'Umdat al-Salik r40.0

"Hip-hop, poetry, singers, classical music to star in Muslim event," by Stephen Magagnini for the Sacramento Bee, June 15 (thanks to Karl):

Muslim hip-hop artists, poets, singers and classical musicians will perform today at the Crest Theatre in "An Islamic Expression of Traditional & Contemporary Art."

The event – perhaps the first of its kind in the nation – challenges the belief among some orthodox Muslims that music can lead to sinful behavior.

"It's kind of risky.

It's not really all that risky. Music can get you murdered in Afghanistan, threatened with mutilation in Mali, killed in a car chase in Saudi Arabia, thrashed and your musical instruments smashed in Pakistan, but in Sacramento? No big deal.

It's something we have not done before," said Imam M.A. Azeez of Salam Islamic Center, which organized the evening at the Crest. "It represents a paradigm shift in the Muslim community. Kids are listening to this stuff, so why not be proactive and expose them to beautiful, inspiring music that promotes love of religion and country?"

The imams of Sacramento's two biggest mosques declared that music is not permissible according to the Prophet Muhammad, Allah's messenger.

"It's a chain reaction – when people listen to music, they ask for alcohol, which will lead to adultery," said Imam Mahmoud Abdel of Masjid Annur Islamic Center. "One step leads to another in the majority of cases. It's well known that anybody who listens to music a lot will be distracted from his or her mission, which is worshipping God Almighty."

Imam Mumtaz Qasmi of Sacramento's Downtown Mosque said there's not a mosque in the world that allows music. "So how can we allow it outside the mosque?" he asked.

The only instrument the Prophet Muhammad allowed was a tabla, or drum, and not more than two at a time, Qasmi said.

The tabla – which will be played at the Crest – "can make you feel relaxed, but nowadays there are hundreds of instruments, and music actually makes you high, 100 percent," Qasmi said. "Music has magic, it gets in your blood and makes you want to get up and dance and forget your personality. Your butt is shaking and she's going to get up and her butt is going to shake – where is the religion then?"

Azeez said there will be no dancing at the Crest performances. Ever since he was a boy in Egypt, he said, he has run into clerics who think "there's something wrong with music and people's natural desires and inclinations to enjoy music and poetry – there's a belief that it is synonymous with sin."

He recalls his parents listening "to the greatest singer in the Muslim world, Oum Kolthoum, even though the imam at our mosque said it's not permissible."

Waterfalls, winds and birds all make music, Azeez said. "Why would God be angry with the beautiful sounds of nature? There's nothing conclusive in the Quran that states music is inherently wrong."

There are stories of how political leaders used singers to sway people from following the Quran, or settings where music was performed "and really bad things took place, like the inappropriate mingling of genders, drinking or fornication," Azeez said.

Songs that have profanity or objectify women and dances meant to highlight sexuality aren't acceptable, Azeez said. "Why not present an alternative? Instead of listening to rap music filled with filth, why not listen to clean rap?"

There's no Muslim-world consensus on music, said community leader Rashid Ahmed, a former president of the Downtown Mosque.

"Music certainly has the power to change your state of mind like drugs, and can motivate you to do things you might not normally do," Ahmed said.

But the prohibition against music is not nearly as strict as that against alcohol or pork, Ahmed said. "Even the Prophet Mohammed allowed children to sing for him, and permitted music at weddings or other special celebrations."

Many Muslim countries, from Egypt to Iraq, boast pop stars with glitzy stage shows and huge followings.

In the Sufi Muslim tradition still going strong in Pakistan, India and other countries, music plays a central role in prayer, Ahmed said.

Still, the event at the Crest featuring Islamic rap, or strong social commentary, represents a break from standard Muslim practices, Ahmed said.

Event organizer Rihana Ahmad said the goal is to bridge the generation gap and show the community that all kinds of music from punk to traditional can be found in Islam nowadays.

I am sure that Imam Rauf and Reza Aslan are on their way to Kabul as we speak, ready to explain to the Afghans that Sharia is benign and completely compatible with Western understandings of human rights. "Mob Attacks Afghan Doctor and Female Patient," by Rod Nordland for the New York Times, June 13 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

KABUL, Afghanistan — A mob attacked an Afghan medical doctor and his female patient, stoning the doctor after the two were discovered in his private examining room without a chaperon, Afghan officials said on Thursday.

There were conflicting accounts that the doctor had been killed or that he had been severely injured and sent out of Afghanistan for treatment. The woman was initially feared missing, but was later reported to be at a women’s shelter, according to an official there.

The attack took place in Sar-i-Pul, a government-held town in the northern province of the same name, on Tuesday, but news was slow to leak out and officials initially denied that anyone had been hurt.

The provincial police chief, Abdul Raouf Taj, said that local villagers and shopkeepers stormed the private clinic when they heard that the doctor, Ajmeer Hashimi, was treating a patient, a midwife named Mahboba, alone in his examining room.

In many parts of Afghanistan, particularly in remote areas, women are customarily not allowed to be examined by male doctors except in the presence of close male family members as their chaperons. Stoning is the punishment for adultery under Shariah law, and many Afghan clerics approve of it, although it is officially outlawed here.

“It’s always hard for working women to stay in touch with male colleagues because most Afghans see them as sexual relations rather than work relations, and it’s all because of old traditions and a low level of education,” Chief Taj said.

He said there was no indication that the victims’ relationship was anything other than professional in nature.

Nonetheless, a crowd quickly gathered on the street below the doctor’s second-floor office after word spread that he was treating a patient alone. The police arrived to escort them out of the office, according to Nabila Rahimi, head of the legal department of the ministry of women’s affairs in the province, and were able to protect the woman from serious attack, but not the doctor. Ms. Rahimi said attackers threw Dr. Hashimi off a balcony into the crowd below, and people began stoning him.

A local television station broadcast the attack, according to residents.

Chief Taj said the doctor was eventually rescued and taken to the Balkh General Hospital in Mazar-i-Sharif. However, officials at that hospital said they had been told by the police that the doctor had been killed and the midwife was missing. One said that the police had ordered hospital officials to lie and to say that both victims were at their hospital under treatment. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution for violating those orders.

The victims, who were both married, but not to each other, were employed at the Sar-i-Pul provincial hospital. Dr. Hashimi also where he saw patients. Mahboba, the midwife, is the mother of two children, ages 5 and 6; like many Afghans, she has only one name.

An official at the women’s shelter where Mahboba was taken, the location of which is being withheld for her safety, said Mahboba was in good condition.

That official said she had been told that the doctor had survived the attack but was critically injured and had been taken to India for treatment....

This Sunni-Shi'ite confrontation in Syria is escalating, and could ultimately engulf the whole region and more. "Clerics call for ‘jihad’ in Syria," from AFP, June 15:

CAIRO - Influential Sunni clerics from several Arab states including Saudi Arabia and Egypt have called for ‘Jihad’ against the regime in Syria. "We must undertake jihad to help our brothers in Syria by sending them money and arms, and providing all aid to save the Syrian people from this sectarian regime," they said in a statement at the end of a gathering in Cairo. "The flagrant aggression of the Iranian regime, of Hezbollah and of their sectarian allies in Syria amounts to a declaration of war against Islam and Muslims." Lebanon's Iran-backed Shia movement has been fighting alongside the forces of President Bashar Al-Assad, a member of the Alawite offshoot of Shiaism, against Syria's rebels.

Saudi Arabia's top cleric Abdulaziz al-Shaikh has urged governments to punish the "repulsive sectarian group" while Qatar-based Sunni cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi has called on Sunnis to join the rebels. Hezbollah's intervention in Syria, which helped Assad's troops overrun the strategic town of Qusayr, has been roundly condemned by Arab countries.

In Cairo, a senior aide to President Mohamed Mursi demanded the guerrilla group "immediately end" its involvement in Syria.

The Shia group's assistance to Assad could "further turn this conflict into a sectarian conflict that will spill over into the entire region," Khaled Al-Qazzaz told reporters on Thursday. The conflict has drawn Sunni volunteers from several Arab countries to join rebel ranks, and Shias from Iraq who support Assad....

Why did Allah bother to create all the Spanish if he was just going to raise up this clown to kill them all? Islamic jihadists, oddly enough, never ponder such questions. "Terrorist hairdresser nabbed by Majorca police," from The Local, June 14 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Police in Majorca arrested a "radical" hairdresser on Thursday after he claimed to have been sent by Allah to "kill all the Spanish".

The man, a German national of Tunisian descent, also said that he had "terrorist friends who could plant bombs" and added: "I don't mind dying; if I have to die, I'll die, but I'll take plenty of others with me."

The man was arrested in Alcúdia, Mallorca, and charged with a number of crimes, according to press agency EFE.

An official report from the Baleares Civil Guard stated that the accused was a student at a well-known hairdressing academy in Palma.

"He became radicalized in the last year after making a trip to his country of origin", said the report.

It pointed out that he had made "constant threats of death and references to being a Muslim" and that he had said, "Soon the Muslims will be the kings of the world."

In the past week the man is said to have threatened to "blow up the hairdressing academy and kill everyone" and to have threatened to kill one of the centre's administrators while holding scissors to her neck.

The man had been arrested before, on February 15th, for attempting to attack a local policeman by following his vehicle, attempting to crash into it and then threatening to kill him.

A police search of the man's apartment revealed a samurai sword, self-help books for low self-esteem, documents in Arabic about the forgiveness of sins, and material considered by the police to show "signs or evidence of family tensions or changes in behaviour, withdrawal and social polarization".

The dreaded bacon sandwich of hate

Bacon sandwiches are now racist. What race is bacon again? I keep forgetting. "Contractor loses out on his 'dream' £1,000-a-week IT role after unwittingly saying he would treat his Muslim recruiter to a bacon sandwich," by Helen Lawson for the Daily Mail, June 15 (thanks to Blazing Cat Fur):

An IT contractor claims an off-the-cuff remark about a bacon sandwich cost him a £1,000-a-week job.

Clive Hunt, 58, says he was offered an eight-month NHS contract after attending an interview set up by recruitment firm Reed.

But he says he lost out on the job after he told a recruitment consultant he would 'get the bacon sarnies in'.

Mr Hunt, from Heywood, Greater Manchester, said he wasn't aware he had offended Sharika Sacranie, 29, during a meeting at the firm's city centre office until he received a phone call from a senior manager.

Mr Hunt said: 'After we shook hands she said that she would come over to meet me on site with the other contractors and take us for breakfast.

'My parting words to her were "I will buy the bacon sandwiches".

'Later, as I was driving home, Ms Sacranie's manager called me and wanted to know about the racist remark I had made.

'I said I had not made one and he said I had said that I would get her a bacon sandwich. But I only made the remark because she referred to breakfast.

'The woman was of Asian appearance. I am not a racist, never have been. I wasn't brought up that way.

'Bacon sandwiches are often eaten at breakfast. I didn't think for a minute this would have caused offence otherwise I wouldn't have said it.'

Mr Hunt said he was due to take up the NHS role last Monday.

'I have lost a contract because of an unassuming remark about a bacon sarnie,' he said.

'I have been an IT contractor for 30 years and never been subjected to this.

'I'm really gutted that I've missed out on this job. I was over the moon when I got it.

'I love working for the NHS, I know their systems.'

A spokesman for Reed said: 'Due to inappropriate comments made to members of our staff during the recruitment process before Mr Hunt started his new role we have unfortunately decided that we do not feel we can represent this client further.

'A senior manager from the Reed team spoke to Mr Hunt via telephone following an inappropriate comment made to a member of staff before he was due to start in the role.

'During that conversation, Mr Hunt made further inappropriate comments.

'At this point it became clear to the senior manager that Reed could no longer represent Mr Hunt.

'Reed is committed to supporting its staff, clients and candidates and this is not a decision we have taken lightly.'

Mr Hunt said: 'When the manager called me, I was driving and I got increasingly exasperated as he kept telling me I should admit to my wrongdoing for referring to bacon sandwiches.

'In the end I told him to "sod off" and put the phone down. They have blown this out of all proportion.'

Uh, yeah.