Russian Nationalists attack plans to build more mosques in Moscow

 

Muslims pray at the Moscow Congregational Mosque in central Moscow on the Feast of the Sacrifice.

Moscow city authorities are about to announce the allocation of plots of land for three new mosques in the city, but ethnic Russian nationalists have voiced their protests saying that no one asked local residents before passing this decision.

"

We need to ask local residents. We should follow the European practice of taking local opinion into account in everything.

” Aleksander Belov of the Russkiye movement told the press. In his opinion such practice would ensure that everything goes in a peaceful and calm manner.

Belov’s statement came as a comment to a newspaper article that stated that Moscow city authorities will soon allocate land for the new mosques. The Izvestia daily referred to a representative of a public movement called Spiritual Directorate of Muslims of European Russia who said that the exact sites are already fixed and thanked the city for paying attention to his co-believers.

In the same article the newspaper quoted top city officials who doubted the efficiency of the step. Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said that the city needs no new mosques, adding that the majority of those who attend Muslim sites are unregistered labor migrants and once they are dealt with the need for new sites would disappear. The Speaker of the Moscow City Legislature Vladimir Platonov noted hat apart from discussing new places of worship with religious representatives, those responsible must poll local residents and base the decisions on the local mood.

Interestingly, after news agencies spread the report, the city authorities refuted it. The head of the city department for investment in construction wrote a letter saying that the land plots for new mosques have not yet been negotiated. The official added that the mayor’s office has a special working group determining the need for various religions in the city’s many districts, but this group has not yet taken any decisions whatsoever regarding mosques.

According to the latest poll, the proportion of Muslims among Russians has reached seven percent this year compared to just four percent in 2009. The share of Russian Orthodox Christians is now 74 percent compared to 80 percent in 2009.

Islamic Terrorists Spring Break

A major reason for the renewed vigor of Islamic terror organizations in the last year is the success of the Arab Spring revolution. Egyptian, Libyan, Syrian, and Tunisian jails were emptied of political prisoners after the rebels replaced the dictators. The freed prisoners included thousands of Islamic radicals, many of them Islamic terrorists who have gone back to the business of being bad. Most of the imprisoned Islamic terrorists were those who had experience, especially management skills. In the last decade the U.S. and Israel have put thousands of skilled Islamic terrorists out of action (dead or imprisoned). Arab dictatorships were particularly effective at finding and killing to imprisoning Islamic radicals and have been doing this vigorously since the 1990s. All this led to a steady decline in the number of Islamic terrorist attacks over the last decade. But with so many jailed Islamic terrorists freed, the mayhem is on the increase again.

Already, police in Arab countries are seeking to arrest some of those freed radicals for crimes committed since they got out, or for general bad behavior over a long period of time. Despite that experience, countries still undergoing Arab Spring rebellions (like Syria) will be under pressure to let Islamic radicals out of prison once the dictatorship is overthrown. In part this is because many Islamic radical groups are taking part in the fighting and expect to get something more than a “thank you” for their efforts. Indeed, Syrian rebels are concerned about the Islamic radicals attempting to install a religious dictatorship after the current secular Assad dictatorship is overthrown. Whatever the case, Islamic radicals expect a new government to let imprisoned Islamic terrorists to go free. Even if the new government wants to keep Islamic terrorists and criminals imprisoned, the chaos that accompanies a revolution often leads to many jails breaks. Moreover, many of the non-terrorist criminals and political prisoners are recruited into Islamic radical groups while in prison. Western and Arab intelligence agencies are identifying more and more of these former prisoners in terrorist hot sports like Pakistan, Yemen, Mali, and Libya, including those who were not originally jailed for Islamic terrorism.

Islamic Terrorists Go Too Far

In its continuing effort to get Pakistan to quit supporting Islamic terrorism the U.S. has gone public with more and more evidence of the corruption and double-dealing in Pakistan that supports terrorism. One of the latest problem areas to be highlighted is the connection between the Pakistani Army and ISI (military controlled intelligence agency) and large criminal gangs. These gangs are an essential part of the organized crime activities used by terrorists groups (especially the Haqqani Network and Pakistani Taliban) to support their terrorism. Speaking openly about this stuff in Pakistan can be fatal, but American officials can do so with a greater sense of security. These terrorist groups are deeply into drug smuggling, extortion, theft and kidnapping. Since the cops and military are being paid for their participation, and troublesome journalists silenced, there is nothing to stop this sort of thing. So far, publicity generated by foreigners has had little impact inside Pakistan.

The three year old Indian campaign against Maoists in the eastern states is making progress. In many rural areas where the Maoists were long in control, the leftists are much weaker on the ground. The government sent 80,000 special police into these areas (including over 70 paramilitary police battalions). The years of patrols by these police (who are operating as infantry and police) has reassured the locals to the point where more people are reporting Maoist movements and locations. This leads to more raids on Maoist camps and fewer armed Maoists to contest the police and intimidate civilians. The information gained from Maoist camps and prisoners has led to the identification and capture of more Maoist leaders (who often hide in plain sight in cities and towns). The Indian Air Force is sending some new Mi-17 helicopters equipped to operate at night. This will provide the police with yet another advantage over the Maoists, who will now lose even sleep over the threat of night raids. The air force has been providing six helicopters that can operate only during the day. The air force helicopters are armed, but only fire back if fired on. The helicopters are there for moving police and casualties.

October 9, 2012: In Pakistan's Swat Valley a 14 year old girl (Malala Yousufzai) was shot in the head by a Taliban assassin. Two other girls on her school bus were wounded. Yousufzai has been famous in Pakistan for the last three years by opposing Taliban efforts to prevent girls from going to school. She began by writing an anonymous blog about her experiences trying to get an education despite Taliban opposition. Eventually she went public and the Taliban threatened retaliation but few thought the terrorists would attack an individual teenage girl (many teenage girls have been killed by Taliban bombs). Yousufzai survived the shooting but is still in a coma. The Taliban initially took credit for the shooting, which caused an anti-Taliban uproar throughout the country. Since then the Taliban and other Islamic radical groups have backed away from this approval. The government offered a $100,000 reward for the capture of the shooter and this apparently worked as the government now says it knows who the attackers were. Conservative Islamic clerics who usually approve of the Taliban policy on education for women have been silent about this incident.

The Swat Valley has been a battleground between the army and the Taliban for years. The Pakistani Taliban claims to have regained control of much of the tribal territories, including the Swat Valley (right outside the tribal territories). This is propaganda, not reality. The Pakistani Taliban still have armed men in many parts of the tribal territories, often operating from bases across the border in Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban are still very much at war with Pakistan, and are loudly striving to "avenge" the death of Osama bin Laden, and other foreign terrorists who had come to help the Pakistani Taliban. Attacks, like those against Malala Yousufzai are supposed to remind everyone that the Taliban are still around.

The Taliban took control of the Swat Valley for two years in 2007, and were then driven out by the army. But there remained a lot of hostility towards the government. It's all about corruption and lack of a rule of law. The Taliban got in partly on the promise of driving out corrupt government officials and providing fair Islamic courts. The Taliban then destroyed their popularity by also trying to impose unpopular lifestyle rules (no schools or jobs for women, no video, music or shaving for men). The government brought back the corruption, despite knowing this was a major problem. This has driven some Swat Valley residents to support the Taliban again.  But those supporters were appalled by the shooting of Malala Yousufzai.

October 8, 2012: Islamic political parties in Pakistan have forced the government to block over 20,000 websites, including YouTube, for displaying material considered critical of Islam. Over the last month the pro-Islamic parties organized dozens of demonstrations to protest, often violently, an American film accused of being anti- Islam. These demonstrations are part of an effort by the Islamic parties to establish themselves as censors for all Pakistanis.

In the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta a bicycle bomb went off (via remote control) at a checkpoint killing one person and wounding 11 others.

October 5, 2012: In Karachi Pakistan police arrested seven Islamic terrorists who were preparing to carry out a series of suicide attacks against school buses and prisons in the city.

October 4, 2012: For the first time the U.S. has refused, as American law requires, to certify that Pakistan is taking effective action against Islamic terrorism. This is a condition for receiving billions of dollars in military aid. While Pakistan has made some efforts against Islamic terrorists since 2002, it has continued to provide sanctuary and support for some terror groups. Despite the U.S. officially recognizing this support by not certifying Pakistani cooperation, the U.S. State Department requested a waiver because the billions (essentially a bribe at this point) paid were “important to the national security interests of the United States.” Pakistan will receive $2 billion, and more pressure from the United States to shut down terrorist sanctuaries in North Waziristan and Quetta and to stop using Islamic terrorists to launch attacks against India and Pakistan.

October 3, 2012: Pakistani and Afghan generals met to discuss persistent Pakistani artillery fire into Afghanistan. Pakistan had denied this, but now admitted it and said it was only returning fire after its troops had been hit by rockets and mortar shells fired by Pakistani Taliban seeking refuge in Afghanistan. The Pakistanis insisted that they were not firing blindly, but at areas where they were certain the Pakistani Taliban were. The Afghans pointed out that there have been Afghan civilian casualties. The discussions continue and Afghan military leaders threaten retaliation.

October 2, 2012: Army units in Baluchistan (southwest Pakistan) have surrounded a village in an effort to capture or kill armed separatist tribesmen. There have been several dozen casualties, most of them civilians. It is feared that the troops are indiscriminately killing civilians. The army gets a lot of criticism for this sort of thing, from Pakistanis as well as the United States. The army promises to investigate, but nothing ever comes of that.

In eastern India (Chhattisgarh State) some Maoists are trying to intimidate police into halting frequent patrols and free some Maoist leaders who were captured. The Maoists are blocking many roads (by felling trees across them or digging pits in them). Truckers are threatened and commerce is suffering. The police would not back down.

Islam - The Cry Of The Ancient Terrorist

An ugly and ancient aspect of Islamic culture recently triggered violent demonstrations throughout the world. The cause was a low-budget film ("The Innocence of Moslems") made by an Egyptian-American Coptic Christian. A minority of Moslems have always been particularly sensitive about their religion and how it should be practiced. These conservatives have gone by many names over the centuries. The most common tags these days are Salafists and Wahhabis. These fanatic minorities have exercised an influence on Islamic culture far larger than their numbers (usually less than 10-20 percent) would suggest. 

Criticism of Islam was also forbidden by these conservatives, particularly by foreigners. In the past these conservatives have used persuasion and coercion to force the majority to resist change of any sort. Thus the early practice of Moslem scholars translating ancient Greek, Roman and other books into Arabic and then discussing all these new ideas was brought to a halt. The conservatives considered these foreign ideas and concepts poisonous and unIslamic. Thus after a few centuries of being a beacon of knowledge, the Islamic world began to fade. The Turks revived it for a while, by conquering most of the Middle East, but even the Turks eventually found themselves dragged down by corruption and opposition to new ideas. What used to be the wealthiest region in the world became one of the poorest. Were it not for the Western world developing an appetite for oil, which Arabia had a lot of the Middle East would be the poorest region in the world.

Not all Moslems quietly accepted this static thinking and the poverty (economic, intellectual and cultural) that went along with it. They were often joined in this resistance by non-Moslems still living in the region. But the Islamic conservatives almost always managed to muster enough force to halt change, often with much bloodshed. This brought with it frequent bouts of Islamic terrorism, as some of the Islamic conservatives sought to express their opposition to change in the most violent way possible. That Islamic terrorism has been flaring up for over a thousand years. It's nothing new, not at all.

This brings us back to "The Innocence of Moslems" and why it was created by an Egyptian Christian who had fled his homeland. He's one of many, actually. Some 1,500 years ago most Egyptians were Christians, nearly all of them belonging to the local Coptic sects. Then the Moslems invaded in the 7th century and used threats and financial incentives to encourage conversion to Islam. After three centuries of this, Moslems were the majority. Ever since, Egyptian Moslems have sought, often with violence, to convert the remaining Egyptian Christians (currently about ten percent of the population). Some converted, but increasingly over the last century, Copts have simply fled the country. Those who left had bitter, and ancient, memories of Moslem persecution. That apparently led to making the "The Innocence of Moslems" (allegedly financed by Copts in Egypt).

In response the Egyptian government issued arrest warrants for seven Copts (including the man believed behind the film) and an American clergyman noted for his anti-Moslem attitudes. All eight are accused of having something to do with the film. This is a largely symbolic gesture, as all those being sought by the police are outside the country. Copts living outside Egypt frequently say unkind things about Egypt and Islam, but these comments are usually ignored inside Egypt. Meanwhile, a senior Pakistani government official has offered $100,000 of his own money for whoever kills the Egyptian-American man responsible for the film.

Islamic terrorism often gets explained away as being a reaction to Western imperialism, or colonialism or simply cultural differences. No one, especially in the Islamic world, wants to admit that the cause of it all is religious fanatics who would rather appear righteous than be righteous.

Taliban threatens to kill popular politician

Khan has been a popular figure in Pakistan since he led the country’s cricket team to victory in the 1992 World Cup.

The Taliban have threatened to kill Pakistani cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan, if he holds a planned march to their tribal stronghold along the Afghan border to protest U.S. drone attacks.

Although the Pakistani Taliban also oppose the strikes, which have killed many of their fighters, spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan said they would target Khan because he calls himself a “liberal.” He also warned they would attack anyone who participates in upcoming elections.

 “If he comes, our suicide bombers will target him,” Ahsan told The Associated Press in an interview on Aug. 6 in the militant group’s stronghold of South Waziristan. “We will kill him.” The threat could come as a surprise to many in Pakistan who have criticized Khan for not being tough enough on the Pakistani Taliban and instead focusing most of his criticism on the government’s alliance with the U.S.

Taliban not seeking help

Khan, the founder of the Pakistan Movement for Justice party, has gained momentum over the last year and is famous in Pakistan because he led the country’s cricket team to victory in the 1992 World Cup.

Ahsan, the Taliban spokesman, seemed to ignore that distinction and said the militants didn’t want Khan’s help in opposing drone attacks. Khan has said he is planning to lead thousands of people in a march to Waziristan in September to demonstrate against the strikes.

Ahsan said the Taliban consider anyone who participates in elections, even Islamist parties, as infidels and will target them. “The election process is part of a secular system,” said Ahsan. “We want an Islamic system and will create hurdles to secularism.”

Islamic Rubbish - 'Tomatoes are Christian,' Egyptian Salafi group warns

A Salafi group called the "Popular Egyptian Islamic Association" has warned Muslims against eating tomatoes on the grounds that the fruit is a "Christian food," NowLebanon.com has reported.

The group based its claim on the fact that a shape resembling a cross is revealed when one cuts a tomato in half.

The association published the warning on its Facebook page with a photo of a tomato cut in half, revealing a cross-shaped interior.

A message posted on the page read, "Eating tomatoes is forbidden because they are Christian. [The tomato] praises the cross instead of Allah and says that Allah is three [in reference to the Holy Trinity]."

The message went on to say, "I implore you to spread this photo because there is a sister from Palestine who saw the Prophet of Allah in a vision and he was crying, warning his nation against eating [tomatoes]. If you don’t spread this [message], know that it is the devil who stopped you.”

The message caused outrage among Facebook users, which prompted the group to clarify their warning, saying they did not tell people not to eat tomatoes. "We said don’t cut it in [such a way that it reveals] the cross shape.”

Live conversion on Pakistan TV stirs anger

A Pakistani Hindu's conversion to Islam live on television during a prime-time Ramadan chat show has sparked criticism on behalf of religious minorities in the overwhelmingly Muslim country.

In just five minutes, the 20-year-old introduced as Sunil officially changed his religion under a cleric's guidance.

A packed studio audience congratulated him and shouted out suggestions for his new Muslim name before he was renamed Mohammad Abdullah -- the consensus choice.

Abdullah insisted on Friday that he had been a willing convert.

"I have accepted Islam by my own will and my family has no objection," he told AFP by telephone from the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust, where a staff member said he has worked as their office boy for the last six years.

But Pakistan has been criticised by rights groups for showing an increased lack of tolerance towards religious minorities, who complain of discrimination, and critics blasted the show, broadcast by private channel ARY on Wednesday.

"The joy with which the conversion was greeted and the congratulations that followed sent a clear signal that other religions don't enjoy the same status in Pakistan as Islam does," wrote Dawn, Pakistan's oldest newspaper, on Friday.

"In a country where minorities are already treated as second-class citizens in many ways, this served to marginalise them even further," it said.

It was a second recent controversy for chat show host Maya Khan, who was this year sacked by a rival channel after chasing couples in a public park, accusing them of behaving immorally.

Ramesh Kumar, a leader of the Pakistan Hindu Council, told AFP that Wednesday's programme would encourage intolerance.

"We are already intimidated against. The government gives little heed to the kidnapping of Hindus and forced faith conversion of our girls. Please don't do things that make us more alienated," he told AFP.

Talat Hussain, who hosts a political show on private television channel DawnNews, also warned against turning religion into mass entertainment.

"Think about how Muslims would feel when Buddhists in Burma show similarly a Muslim being converted in a live TV show," he told AFP.

According to Pakistan government figures, Hindus make up 2.5 percent of the nuclear-armed country's population of around 180 million.