Those Loving and Peaceful Muslims

[Relic]

GAZA

source:
cbsnews page 1
cbsnews page 2


Gaza Falls Deeper Into Chaos
Israeli Planes Pound Hamas Targets, Fatah And Hamas Clash On Gaza Streets


GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip, May 18, 2007

Hamas gunmen carry their weapons during the funeral for a member killed in an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City, Friday, May 18,2007. (AP)
Quote

"Our retaliation for (Fatah's) crimes is going to be beyond their imagination." ~ Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida ~



(CBS/AP) Israeli planes pounded Hamas targets and rival Palestinian factions exchanged bursts of automatic weapons fire outside Gaza City's Islamic University Friday. The volatile mix of Israeli strikes and Palestinian infighting plunged Gaza deeper into chaos.

Five Palestinians were killed in a single air strike by Israel, which said it was responding to Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel  a campaign that showed no sign of subsiding Friday. Hamas fired three rockets at the town of Sderot, where three people were injured by shrapnel and several others were treated for shock.

Hamas has fired more than 100 rockets across the border this week, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger. Hamas gunmen also clashed with members of the rival Palestinian faction for the sixth straight day.


In other developments:

* Israel has been aiding Fatah against Hamas by allowing Fatah to bring into Gaza earlier this week as many as 500 fresh troops. The fighters were trained in Egypt under a U.S.-coordinated program to counter Hamas. The Bush administration and Israel want to strengthen Fatah militarily and politically but have been trying to avoid being seen as taking sides in the Hamas-Fatah conflict.

* Israeli and Palestinian businessmen launched a joint council on Friday in Jordan, saying they want to advance networking and promote peace despite the raging violence in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli-Palestinian Business Council's 10 founding members, all prominent businessmen, will work toward advancing the "relationship between the two business communities and, ultimately, assist the region to move toward durable peace and coexistence," the World Economic Forum said in a statement.

* Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's coalition government won a reprieve on Friday when Labor party allies turned down a call by rebels to bolt the alliance immediately, but Labor's central committee said it would meet again to review its support for Olmert's administration after May 28 primaries.

Outside the Islamic University  a Hamas stronghold  one person was wounded from the exchange of fire, but it was not immediately known from which side.

The fighting largely died down later in the day after Fatah and Hamas fighters took up positions around the university. Then it flared up again, with Hamas firing grenades at Fatah forces and Fatah responding with a hail of gunfire.

Earlier, the office of the university's president, Kamelen Shaath, was attacked by rocket-propelled grenades, according to Hamas.

Shaath appealed for an immediate halt to the violence.

"Universities must be outside the circle of violence and I appeal to the president and all the wise people on both sides to try and spare the university the agony of this fight," he said.

In six days of mayhem, 47 Palestinians have died in infighting and another 17 were killed by Israeli strikes. The latest casualty was a 40-year-old Palestinian fisherman named Samir Amodi, who was shot in the head by a sniper in Gaza City's harbor.

The fighting between Hamas and Fatah has all but destroyed a two-month-old power sharing deal between them, and brought them close to all-out civil war. The Israeli strikes have introduced a new layer of violence and uncertainty  though a senior army official, speaking on condition of anonymity because no official decision has been made, said Israel had no immediate plans for a major ground offensive to halt rocket fire.

Israeli aircraft fired missiles east of Gaza City on Friday, killing five Palestinians, at least three of them Hamas militants, and wounding six people, Hamas and local doctors said. The military said the target was a Hamas headquarters building. Two other strikes followed but there was no word of any casualties, Palestinian doctors said. The army said it struck at a squad that fired rockets into Israel.


The Palestinian street battles were down from their height two days ago, but the latest cease-fire worked out between the sides was not holding. Gunfire could be heard in many areas, and gunmen who had promised to withdraw from the streets were still manning roadblocks and taking up positions on rooftops.

"Our retaliation for (Fatah's) crimes is going to be beyond their imagination," Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas' military wing, told The Associated Press.

Walid al-Awad, a member of a committee set up to implement the cease-fire, said his team worked late into the night to get the sides to withdraw, but to no avail.

"Nothing has been implemented, and I have warned both sides that this a time bomb that is sabotaging our efforts," al-Awad said.

By most accounts, Hamas' performance in the latest round of internal fighting has been superior to Fatah's, with greater discipline and more motivated fighters.

Although Israel said it wasn't taking sides, the air strikes did make it harder for Hamas gunmen to move around and that could help Fatah's fighters.

There was no sign of any Israeli military buildup that would indicate plans for a serious intervention into chaotic Gaza, though a few tanks and soldiers moved just across the Gaza border on Thursday.

"Israel will take every defensive measure to stop these rocket attacks. We will defend our citizens against the rockets, against the weapons, against the Iranian-backed Hamas who are attacking Israel," government spokeswoman Miri Eisen said.

Analysts said Israeli policy makers were likely trying to walk a narrow line to avoid uniting Palestinian factions into a common front against Israel but Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, a retired general, said Israel could not stand idly by while Palestinian rockets continued to fall.

"We have to show them one thing, that the moment you fire, we shall return fire," he told Israel Radio.

Hamas Web sites, radio and TV carried accusations that forces loyal to Abbas were working with Israel  a charge dismissed as "absurd" by a Fatah spokesman.

The Israeli strikes complicated an already chaotic situation in Gaza, making the embattled Abbas even more vulnerable to Hamas accusations that he is in Israel's pocket. With his aides citing security concerns, Abbas canceled a Thursday trip to Gaza for talks with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas.

Israel had remained on the sidelines during the infighting, but security officials said the military had to respond to the rocket attacks on Sderot.

"The Hamas government is a terrorist organization-led government," Eisen said.

Olmert was under intense public pressure to respond to the Hamas barrage, and he visited the town late Thursday to tell residents they shouldn't feel alone, his office said. "I am handling this crisis in order to remove this threat as much as possible," he was quoted as saying.

Olmert is fighting for political survival in the face of plummeting popularity and harsh criticism of his handling of last summer's war in Lebanon.

Still, he probably would be wary of a major ground offensive in Gaza, fearful of another inconclusive effort.

© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


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[Relic]

INDIA

source: cbsnews page 1
cbsnews page 2


13 Die In Blast At Historic Indian Mosque
11 Killed By Bomb; 2 More In Clash Between Worshippers And Police

HYDERABAD, India, May 18, 2008

(AP) A bomb ripped through a historic south India mosque Friday, and 13 people were killed  11 in the blast and two in subsequent clashes between angry Muslim worshippers and security forces, police said.

Minutes after the blast at the 17th-century Mecca Masjid, worshippers who were angered by what they said was a lack of police protection began chanting "God is great!" Some hurled stones at police, who dispersed them with baton charges and tear gas.

While the situation at the mosque was quickly brought under control, Muslims later clashed with security forces in at least three parts of Hyderabad, said Mohammed Abdul Basit, police chief of Andhra Pradesh state, where Hyderabad is located. Police fired live ammunition and tear gas to quell the riots, killing two people, he said.

The bombing, which killed 11 people and wounded 35, and clashes raised fears of wider Hindu-Muslim violence in the city, which has long been plagued by communal tensions and occasional spasms of inter-religious bloodletting.

Many of those injured in the explosion at the Mecca Masjid were severely wounded, and the city's police chief, Balwinder Singh, warned the death toll could rise.

Soon after the blast, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh state, where Hyderabad is located, appealed for calm between Hindus and Muslims.

"This is an intentional sabotage on the peace and tranquility of the state," Reddy said of the bombing. "Every sane person has to unequivocally condemn this sort of incident. ... I take this opportunity to appeal to everyone concerned to show restraint."

Reddy told reporters in New Delhi, where he was meeting with federal officials on unrelated business, that one bomb went off around 1:30 p.m. local time and that police soon after found and defused two other bombs in the area of the mosque.

The bomb, made of a stick-grenade packed into a metal pipe, was detonated by a mobile phone attached to the device, said the state's police chief, Mohammed Abdul Basit.

Neither he nor any other officials gave any indication of who they suspected in the attack.

About 10,000 people usually attend Friday prayers at the mosque, located in a Muslim neighborhood of Hyderabad. The explosion sparked a panic.

"I was very close to the spot of the blast," said Abdul Quader, a 30-year-old who sustained light injuries to his legs.


"As soon as prayers ended, we were about to get up, there was a huge deafening blast sending bodies into the air," he continued. "People stated running helter-skelter, there was such confusion. People were bleeding, running around in a very bad condition."

Worshippers in white robes and skullcaps, many bent in prayer, initially appeared bewildered by the explosion before rushing out of the historic structure as startled pigeons fluttered about inside the stone-and-marble mosque.

The independent NDTV news channel broadcast video taken inside the mosque as the blast went off. A loud noise is heard, and pieces of masonry can be seen flying through the air.

The explosion immediately drew comparisons to a September bombing of a mosque during a Muslim festival in Maleagaon, a city in western India. That attack killed 31 people and was seen as an attempt to inflame tensions between India's Hindu majority and Muslim minority. There are an estimated 130 million Muslims in India, a country of 1.1 billion people.

Relations between Hindus, more than 80 percent of India's population, and Muslims, its largest religious minority, have been largely peaceful since the bloody partition of the subcontinent into India and Muslim Pakistan at independence from Britain in 1947. However, there have been sporadic bouts of violence.

The worst in recent years came in 2002, in the western state of Gujarat. More than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, were killed by Hindu mobs after a train fire killed 60 Hindus returning from a religious pilgrimage. Muslims were blamed for the train fire.

Hyderabad, a city of 7 million people, about 40 percent of whom are Muslim, has also had its share of communal violence.

Five people were killed and 27 wounded in Hindu-Muslim clashes in 2003. The fighting began when Muslims marked the anniversary of the destruction of the 16th-century Babri Mosque by Hindu extremists in northern India in 1992.

The city was tense as dusk fell Friday, with Muslims blaming Hindus for the latest attack.

"I don't have any doubts that this is an act of Hindu terrorists," said Saleem Uddin, a 35-year-old businessman who lives near the Mecca Masjid.

He spoke of the bombing of the mosque in Malegaon, and complained bitterly that authorities have blamed Muslim extremists for that attack but provided only limited evidence.

Apart from the two mosque bombings, a series of blasts have hit India in the past year, including the July bombings of seven Mumbai commuter trains that killed more than 200 people.

Most of the bombings have been blamed on Muslim militants based in neighboring Pakistan, India's longtime rival.

The Hyderabad bombing came the same day a judge in Mumbai began sentencing those convicted of involvement in India's worst terror attack, the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings that killed 257 people.

The bombings were believed to have been acts of revenge by Muslims for the demolition of the Babri Mosque and ensuing riots that left more than 800 dead, most of them Muslims.


© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.


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[Relic]

INDIA


64 Die On Train In India
Bomb Suspected As Train Catches Fire Enroute To Pakistan
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/18/world/main2491539.shtml

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More Than 50 Dead In Indian Violence
Second Day Of Attacks In Northeast, Kashmir Claim Dozens Of Lives
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/06/world/main2334999.shtml


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[Relic]

Over 25% younger U.S.Muslims say suicide bombings acceptable

UNITED STATES


"Over 25%" of U.S. Muslims under 30 "say suicide bombings to defend their religion are acceptable"


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Some US Muslims say suicide attacks OK
By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 22, 6:42 PM ET


One in four younger U.S. Muslims said in a poll that suicide bombings to defend their religion are acceptable at least in some circumstances, though most Muslim Americans overwhelmingly reject the tactic and are critical of Islamic extremism and al-Qaida.

The survey by the Pew Research Center, one of the most exhaustive ever of the country's Muslims, revealed a community that in many ways blends comfortably into society. Its largely mainstream members express nearly as much happiness with their lives and communities as the general public does, show a broad willingness to adopt American customs, and have income and education levels similar to others in the U.S.

Even so, the survey revealed noteworthy pockets of discontent.

While nearly 80 percent of U.S. Muslims say suicide bombings of civilians to defend Islam can not be justified, 13 percent say they can be, at least rarely.

That sentiment is strongest among those younger than 30. Two percent of them say it can often be justified, 13 percent say sometimes and 11 percent say rarely.

"It is a hair-raising number," said Radwan Masmoudi, president of the Washington-based Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, which promotes the compatibility of Islam with democracy.

He said most supporters of the attacks likely assumed the context was a fight against occupation  a term Muslims often use to describe the conflict with Israel.

U.S. Muslims have growing Internet and television access to extreme ideologies, he said, adding: "People, especially younger people, are susceptible to these ideas."

Federal officials have warned the U.S. must guard against homegrown terrorism, as the British suffered with the London transit bombings of 2005.

Even so, U.S. Muslims are far less accepting of suicide attacks than Muslims in many other nations. In Pew surveys last year, support in some Muslim countries exceeded 50 percent, while it was considered justifiable by about one in four Muslims in Britain and Spain, and one in three in France.

"We have crazies just like other faiths have them," said Eide Alawan, who directs interfaith outreach at the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, Mich., one of the nation's largest mosques. He said killing innocent people contradicts Islam.

Andrew Kohut, Pew director, said in an interview that support for the attacks represented "one of the few trouble spots" in the survey.

The poll briefly describes the rationales for and against "suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilian targets" and then asks, "Do you personally feel that this kind of violence is often justified to defend Islam, sometimes justified, rarely justified, or never justified?"

The question did not specify where a suicide attack might occur, who might carry it out or what was meant by using a bombing to "defend Islam."

Those of all ages backing at least some suicide attacks were about evenly divided between men and women, with support stronger from those who were U.S.-born and less educated, and those who attend mosques at least weekly.

In other findings:

_Only 5 percent of U.S. Muslims expressed favorable views of the terrorist group al-Qaida, though about a fourth did not express an opinion.

_Most said they are concerned about a rise in Islamic extremism in the U.S. and around the world.

_Only 40 percent said they believe Arab men carried out the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

_By six to one, they say the U.S. was wrong to invade Iraq, while a third say the same about Afghanistan  far deeper than the opposition expressed by the general U.S. public.

_Just over half said it has been harder being a U.S. Muslim since the 9/11 attacks. Nearly a third of those who flew in the past year say they underwent extra screening because they are Muslim.

_Forty-seven percent said they consider themselves Muslim first, rather than American. Forty-two percent of Christians and 62 percent of white evangelical Protestants identified themselves primarily by their religion in earlier surveys.

_By six-to-one, they favor the Democratic Party over the Republican Party, and by five-to-one say they voted for Democratic Sen. John Kerry over President Bush in 2004.

The survey estimates there are roughly 2.35 million Muslim Americans. Among adults, two-thirds are from abroad while a fifth are U.S.-born blacks.

By law, the Census Bureau does not ask about people's religions.

Telephone interviews were conducted with 1,050 Muslim adults from January through April, including in Arabic, Urdu and Farsi. Subjects were chosen at random, from a separate list of households including some with Muslim-sounding names, and from Muslim households that had answered previous surveys.

The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 5 percentage points.

___

http://www.pewresearch.org

Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

source:


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[Steve]

Question: Why are you focusing only on Muslims? Would you like a list of reports of what orthodox Jews do to followers that convert to Christianity?

Just wondering, because it seems that you are lumping all Muslims together. Yet make no mention of other followers of other faiths.

What I do find interesting though is that I have worked with Muslims, have friends that are Muslims, shopped at businesses that are owned by Muslims, yet I have never once been approached to 'convert' or prosyletized by a Muslim.

Perhaps the method could be a part of the problem?!?

Well, duh....... :-? That's cuz they are a minority here. Let them become a MAJORITY, and let's see whatcha sweet lil' ol' Muslim buddies do, then!

 

[Relic]

CAIR's Fuzzy Math on Muslim Count ???

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So, who to believe.... C A I R ?


Surely, stats are not always truthful! Especially when there are illegal aliens sneaking into this country while the government has stuck it's head in the sand on that problem for far too many years! :smt012


Check out the following article. Who do you believe?
OR do you beleive any of it at all? When it comes to numbers, I say there is no way we can know because of the illegals and secret cells already in this country! :-?

====================================


CAIR's Fuzzy Math
source: INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 5/23/2007

Politics And Demographics: We've been told for years that Islam is the fastest-growing religion in America, and that the size of the Muslim population here has swelled to 6 million to 7 million. A new study pops that myth.

The Pew Research Center just concluded an exhaustive scientific study of the size of the U.S. Muslim population. It was able to identify only 2.35 million Muslims  less than half the figure commonly cited by Muslim activists.

Pew, a liberal group with certainly no interest in marginalizing Islam, described its study as "perhaps the most rigorous effort to date to scientifically estimate the size of the Muslim American population."

Yet it practically apologized for its more accurate reading, being that it came in "significantly below some commonly reported estimates frequently cited by Muslim groups."

Foremost among such groups is the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which claims to represent Muslims in Washington. CAIR commissioned its own survey in 2001 and came up with 6 million to 7 million, an estimate it always touts in its press releases and on its Web site.

As a result, most media outlets  as well as Congress, the White House and the State Department  have parroted the figure to describe the size of the nation's Muslim population.

Politicians in Washington are intimidated by the figure, which CAIR uses as a cudgel to help advance its Islamist agenda. They believe it.

But it's a wildly inflated guess manufactured by CAIR, something the media could have easily refuted all these years if they dared  simply by deconstructing CAIR's unscientific methodology.

Until now, finding reliable data for Muslims in America has been hard because the Census Bureau does not survey creed. So CAIR's fuzzy math went unchallenged, even though the "respected scholar" it hired to lead its "study" wasn't a trained demographer. In fact, as a CAIR board member, he wasn't even independent.

Worse, the Muslim professor admitted the number he arrived at for CAIR was a "guesstimation" that magically and conveniently matched the size  and potential political clout  of the Jewish population in the country, also estimated at 6 million.

It's telling that CAIR did not link to the Pew study or any press coverage of it on its Web site. CAIR derives its power from the size of its potential membership. The bigger it is, the more clout it has in Washington and the corporate boardroom.

Until now, the perception was that CAIR spoke for several million Muslims and could rally them to boycott a company or to vote as a bloc to swing an election if it didn't get its way. Officials feared the group because they thought it could marshal an Islamic juggernaut. The threat alone has caused many to back down from criticism or policies CAIR didn't like.

But it was the Wahhabi lobby's big lie. CAIR couldn't deliver even 2 million voters if it tried. According to Pew, just 1.5 million Muslims are of voting age.

There is no big Muslim lobby, just CAIR's big, hollow PR machine.


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[Relic]

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Islamic Groups Named in Hamas Funding Case
BY JOSH GERSTEIN - Staff Reporter of the Sun
June 4, 2007


Federal prosecutors have named three prominent Islamic organizations in America as participants in an alleged criminal conspiracy to support a Palestinian Arab terrorist group, Hamas.

Prosecutors applied the label of "unindicted co-conspirator" to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Islamic Society of North America, and the North American Islamic Trust in connection with a trial planned in Texas next month for five officials of a defunct charity, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.

While the foundation was charged in the case, which was filed in 2004, none of the other groups was. However, the co-conspirator designation could be a blow to the credibility of the national Islamic organizations, which often work hand-in-hand with government officials engaged in outreach to the Muslim community.

A court filing by the government last week listed the three prominent groups among about 300 individuals or entities named as co-conspirators. The document gave scant details, but prosecutors described CAIR as a present or past member of "the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee and/or its organizations." The government listed the Islamic Society of North America and the North American Islamic Trust as "entities who are and/or were members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood."

The secretary-general of the Islamic Society of North America, Muneer Fareed, said his group was surprised to be named in the Texas case. "I can tell you categorically that the current administration of ISNA, as well as its stakeholders, they have no connection to my knowledge with any Holy Land foundations," he said.

Mr. Fareed denied his group has any ties to Hamas, though he said it is difficult to police all 300 mosques under his umbrella. "We might have a kid whose dad was president of Hamas for all I know," he said. "How do you verify these things?"

The Islamic official expressed frustration at the lack of detail in the prosecution's filing. "Perhaps there's some evidence. I just don't really know what it is," he said.

Spokesmen for CAIR did not respond to messages seeking comment yesterday. Efforts to contact the North American Islamic Trust were unsuccessful.

The identification of the alleged co-conspirators could aid prosecutors when the Holy Land Foundation and five of its officials, Shukri Abu-Baker, Mohammad El-Mezain, Ghassan Elashi, Mufid Abdulqader, and Abdulraham Odeh, go to trial on July 16 in Dallas. Statements by and about co-conspirators are exempt from rules barring hearsay.

Judge A. Joe Fish will have to decide whether to accept the government's description of the alleged conspiracy.

The practice of publicly naming unindicted co-conspirators is frowned on by some in the legal community, chiefly because there is no trial or other mechanism for those named to challenge their designation. Justice Department guidelines discourage the public identification of unindicted co-conspirators by the government.

"In all public filings and proceedings, federal prosecutors should remain sensitive to the privacy and reputation interests of uncharged third-parties," the Justice Department's manual for prosecutors says. When co-conspirator lists have to be filed in court, prosecutors should seek to file them under seal, the guidelines say.

In practice, the lists are often made public. A list of co-conspirators was released in connection with the federal trial in 2005 of a former college professor, Sami Al-Arian, on terrorism support charges. However, when Enron executives went on trial last year, the list of alleged co-conspirators was kept under seal. Prosecutors on the Holy Land Foundation case could not be reached yesterday and did not respond to an e-mail.

The inclusion of the Islamic groups on the list of alleged conspirators could give ammunition to critics of the organizations. CAIR, in particular, has faced persistent claims that it is soft on terrorism. Critics note that several former CAIR officials have been convicted or deported after being charged with fraud, embargo violations, or aiding terrorist training. Spokesmen for the group have also raised eyebrows for offering generic denunciations of terrorism but refusing to condemn by name specific Islamic terrorist groups such as Hamas or Hezbollah.

In addition, one of the Holy Land Foundation defendants, Ghassan Elashi, founded CAIR's Texas chapter. CAIR's Washington office was also set up in 1994 with $5,000 in seed money from the foundation, according to congressional testimony by a researcher into Islamic extremism, Steven Emerson.

Last year, Senator Boxer of California, a Democrat, withdrew an award she gave to an official at a local CAIR chapter. She said she had concerns about statements by some CAIR officials and about claims of financial links to terrorism. Many FBI officials meet regularly with CAIR representatives and clerics from the Islamic Society of North America.

A New York Times article published in March said unidentified government officials believed that the criticism of CAIR was unwarranted. A former FBI official, Michael Rolince, said yesterday that the co-conspirator designation might prompt CAIR to be more direct in denouncing terrorism but was no reason to cut off all contact with the group.

"People could say the same thing about the FBI. They're not all choirboys," he said. "We don't go into this with blinders on."

Separately, a reporter for the Dallas Morning News, Steve McGonigle, is fighting the prosecution's efforts to call him as a witness at the Holy Land Foundation trial.

In filing to quash the subpoena last week, Mr. McGonigle said prosecutors want to question him about an interview that he conducted in 1999 with the spiritual leader of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin. Yassin, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2004, denied any connection between Holy Land Foundation and Hamas.

However, Mr. McGonigle reported that records showed that the foundation sometimes singled out the families of Hamas "martyrs" for assistance.

Mr. McGonigle's lawyer said his client could be targeted by terrorists if he forced to testify. "A journalist who is perceived to have acted as an agent for the U.S. Government will almost inevitably be placed at a substantially greater risk when on assignment in the Middle East," the attorney, Paul Watler, wrote.


source: nysun


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[Relic]

FEDS TARGET NUKE PHANTOM

OSAMA HENCHMAN NAMED IN JFK PLOT

By MURRAY WEISS, LARRY CELONA and BRIGITTE WILLIAMS-JAMES

June 4, 2007 --

Al Qaeda's so-called nuclear whiz kid - a "tantalizing terror figure" with a $5 million bounty on his head - was the radical big shot investigators had hoped to snag in their 18-month JFK-plot probe, The Post has learned.

The name of "invisible hand" Adnan Gulshair el-Shukrijumah, reportedly the man Osama bin Laden tapped to lead a previous scheme to detonate nuclear bombs simultaneously in several U.S. cities, came up at several points in taped conversations during the probe, according to law-enforcement sources familiar with the investigation.

Three Muslim men were nabbed Friday in the alleged plan to attack John F. Kennedy International Airport - the "chicken farm," as they dubbed it - which involved exploding a jet-fuel pipeline. A fourth suspect is at large.

Given Shukrijumah's notoriety in the terror world and the fact that he grew up in Guyana, as did three of the suspects, probers immediately homed in on him.

"Eyebrows went up," said one law-enforcement source.

"We thought he could be the invisible hand. He's always in the shadows, particularly in [the Caribbean]. He's passed through it, he's known, his name came up in the conversations.

"He would have been the prize."

So the feds allowed the probe to continue until the last moment, which came when one of the suspects boarded a plane in Trinidad headed for Venezuela - where the United States has no extradition agreement. Authorities weren't willing to risk losing him, so they "pulled the trigger" on the arrests, one source said.

Investigators had yet to collect evidence linking Shukrijumah to the JFK plot, but it's clear his name and efforts were well-known to the suspects.

Shukrijumah grew up in Guyana, according to terror expert and author Paul L. Williams. Shukrijumah's late father, Gulshair, an Islamic scholar, once served as a temporary imam at Brooklyn's al-Farouq mosque, which is well-known in radical circles, Williams said.

The mosque has connections to a scheme to fund an al Qaeda-linked sheik as well as one of the 1993 World Trade Center bombers.

But the mosque's imam, Hile Said, 31, said, "We are against terrorism. We are callers of peace."

The Shukrijumah family wound up in Florida, where the terror suspect was educated, went to college and reportedly learned to fly planes.

Some terror experts think 31-year-old Shukrijumah is among a handful of up-and-coming leaders of al Qaeda handpicked by Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, to keep the terrorist network running.

Apparently hoping to be part of that network was suspected JFK-plot mastermind Russell Defreitas, 63. Defreitas, a native of Guyana and former cargo worker at the airport, landed on the authorities' radar after approaching a drug dealer-turned-informant at a mosque at Bedford Avenue and Fulton Street in Brooklyn, allegedly seeking help.

Defreitas remained in custody in New York yesterday pending a bail hearing.

Kareem Ibrahim, of Trinidad, and another suspect, Abdul Kadir, of Guyana, were in custody in Trinidad awaiting extradition hearings. Kadir is a former mayor of the Guyanese coal-mining town of Linden and a one-time radical member of the country's parliament.

Kadir was arrested as he boarded the plane to Venezuela - where his family said he planned to pick up a travel visa to attend an Islamic religious conference in Iran.

His wife, Isha, told a Guyanese newspaper, Kaieteur News, she believes that her husband may have been framed because of his innocent association with Ibrahim and a fourth suspect, Abdel Nur - a Guyanese who is still being sought. Isha Kadir revealed that two of the couple's nine children studied in Iran.

"He might have been set up because he is a Muslim and has contact with Iran," she told the newspaper. "My children studied in Iran."

Kadir's daughter, Saudia, said the family was "shocked and traumatized and are asking God to help us through this situation."

At least one former neighbor of Defreitas was shocked to learn of his arrest in the complicated plot.

"That guy couldn't even fill out a job application," said Trevor Watts, who lived next door to Defreitas on Albany Avenue in Brooklyn several years ago.

"I can't believe he's the mastermind of a terror plot. He doesn't have the brains."

But one law-enforcement source said authorities were concerned about Defreitas linking up with someone who did have the smarts and financial backing - Shukrijumah.

source: nypost


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[Relic]

CATSKILLS SITE EYED
By JOHN MAZOR and MURRAY WEISS

June 4, 2007 -- A remote Muslim commune nestled in the Catskill Mountains has come under the scrutiny of state and federal authorities for possible ties to terrorism, according to law-enforcement sources.

Officials say Islamberg - a wooded, 70-acre encampment in upstate Tompkins, about three hours north of the city - acts as the headquarters for an outfit called Muslims of the Americas, widely believed to be a front for Jamaat al-Fuqra, founded by radical Pakistani cleric Mubarak Ali Gilani.

Reports of gunfire and military-style physical training at the camp have led some investigators to believe that the group's members are preparing for homegrown jihad.

According to one account, a neighbor said he has seen commune members dressed in Port Authority uniforms.

Al-Fuqra members have been suspects in assassinations and firebombings in the United States, authorities said, and an associate of the group, Rodney Hampton-el, was jailed in 1996 for plotting to bomb New York bridges and tunnels.

Gilani is the extremist who Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was reportedly trying to meet in Pakistan when he was abducted and beheaded.

Gilani started the organization in 1980, when he came to America and began preaching at a Brooklyn mosque.

After Gilani returned to Pakistan, the American group he started entrenched itself in a number of rural outposts, according to authorities.

The feds have alleged that some group members have been sent to Pakistan and Afghanistan to receive terrorist training.

One Islamberg resident denied the charge.

"This is my country," the resident said. "I love this country. I did a year in the bush in Vietnam for this country."

The resident, who wouldn't give his name, was wearing traditional Islamic garb when he intercepted a Post reporter seeking a tour of the camp.

The camp, which sits off a dirt road, appears to be little more than a collection of ramshackle homes and trailers.

The resident admitted that Gilani was the spiritual head of Muslims of the Americas but denied the existence of al-Fuqra.

The resident called Gilani "a reformer."

"But some people don't reform," he said. "They do a lot of foolishness in [Gilani's] name."

Asked whether commune members kept weapons at the camp, the resident said, "We got guns up here just like everyone else got guns. We're American citizens."

source: nypost


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[Relic]

The following is an excerpt from an article by Ney Rieber



... We have been hearing that Islam is a religion of peace, and in fact that Islam means peace. Both of these assertions are in error. Islam means submission. Check with any good Muslim dictionary and "submission" will be the definition of Islam. Redefining the word Islam is an attempt to deceive people about the real nature of Islam.

The argument is made based upon the idea that the Arabic word salaam means peace. The word "Islam" shares a common root with salaam, therefore Islam means peace also. It is true that Islam and salaam share a common root, but according to the dictionaries, they do not mean the same thing.

According to A Basic Dictionary of Islamic Words by M Zakiuddin Sharfi, Islam means, "Submission or resignation to the will of Allah, completely. He does not define salaam, but does note that one of the ninety-nine attributes of Allah is as-Salam, meaning "The Peaceful One’

A common greeting is Arabic is "as-Salam-u’Alaikum." This means "Peace be upon you." It is easy to see that it is not Islam, but Salam.

Do not be deceived by claims that Islam means peace. It means submission. Islam has always been a religion of violence.

Notice the teaching of the Qur’an:

* "Fight and slay the pagans [Christians] wherever ye find them and seize them, confine them, and lie in wait for them in every place of ambush" (Surah 9:5)

* "Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the last day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and his apostle nor acknowledge the religion of truth of the people of the Book (the Jews and the Christians) until they pay the Jizya [tax on non-Muslims] with willing submission and feel themselves subdued." (Surah 9:29)


* "Those who follow Muhammad are merciless for the unbelievers but kind to each other." (Qur'an 48:29)

* "Enmity and hatred will reign between us until ye believe in Allah alone." (Qur'an 60:4)

* Say to the Unbelievers, if (now) they desist (from Unbelief), their past would be forgiven them; but if they persist, the punishment of those before them is already (a matter of warning for them). And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in God altogether and everywhere; but if they cease, verily God doth see all that they do. (Qur'an 8:37-39)

* And fight them on until there is no more Tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in God; but if they cease, Let there be no hostility except to those who practice oppression. (Qur'an 2:193)

* "Fight the unbelievers in your surroundings, and let them find harshness in you." (Qur'an 9:123)

* "For he who believes in the Trinity, "the Fire will be his abode … a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemer." (Qur'an 5:72-73)


Notice the teaching from the Hadith:

* "You (the Jews) should know that the earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle and I wish to expel you from this land (Arabia) (Hadith, 4363)

* "I will expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula and will not leave any but Muslims." (Hadith Sahih 4366)

~end of excerpt~

===========================================

Does the Koran teach reverse evolution? Of course not! For example: The Koran says men were turned into apes because they broke the Sabbath. This was a popular legend in Muhammad's day (Suras 2:65; 7:163-166).

Koran is literally a book of fairy tales. No kidding! The Qur'an is a revised counterfeit of 6th century polytheism, composed of previously existing pagan beliefs, practices and fairy tales.

The 20 Versions of the Qur’an today. (7 are recorded in the Hadith)Muslims believe that the Koran used today is identical to what was used 1400 years ago. Depending on the local sect in the world today, Muslims use up to 20 different versions of the Koran.

The Koran and the earliest Muslims did not believe the Bible was corrupted. Muslims may be surprised to learn that, contrary to popular belief, the Koran actually says nothing about the corruption of the Bible. It may also surprise Muslims that historically, the first Muslim to trash the Bible was Ibn-Khazem, in 1064 AD.

Theological and historical errors in the Qur’an


Things found in Christ, not found in Islam: One simple but effective way of explaining the difference between a major "world" religion and the gospel of Christ (the New Testament, Matt. 26:28) is to show the things found "in Christ" that are not found elsewhere. The following are things found in Jesus Christ that are not found in Islam.


==============================================


Myth of Muslim toleration Don’t be fooled by the "tolerant" face of Muslims you meet in the Western world today. Islam has historically developed in four stages: 1. Evangelism. 2. Consolidation of power. 3. Revolution 4. Islamic State. Muslims would love to see Canada and the USA become Islamic states but are only at stage one: Evangelism! Islam has not changed its methods since Muhammad 1400 years ago. Muslims are tolerant, when they are powerless, but this veneer of toleration evaporates when an Islamic state is formed.

The Islamic Death Threats! Whether Salman Rushdie or Jerry Falwell, the religion of Islam was designed by Muhammad to kill those who criticize it.

Oxymoron: Can a devout Muslim be an American patriot and loyal citizen? Why Islam should be cautiously trusted in the Western world.




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[Relic]

.

Who Are CAIR's Paymasters?
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Tuesday, June 12, 2007 4:20 PM PT

Islamofascism: Recent tax filings reveal an Islamist group that claims to speak for millions of Muslims in America actually boasts just 1,700 members. So whose interests does it really represent?

There's been surprisingly little transparency about the financing of the top Muslim lobby in Washington  the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Until recently, few in the media have bothered to investigate.

Since spinning off from Hamas front group Islamic Association for Palestine in 1994, CAIR has maintained it's a "grass-roots organization"  a "Muslim NAACP"  supported by members who pay dues. It repeatedly has denied receiving foreign funding.

These claims are no longer operative, however, and mainstream media and politicians who cozy up to the group should take note.

Citing IRS records, the Washington Times reports that CAIR has suffered a whopping 90% decline in membership since 9/11. Its official number of members shrank to 1,700 last year from 29,000 in 2000. As a result, CAIR's annual income from dues sank to $59,000 from $733,000.

Yet over the same period, CAIR's revenues have bounded ahead, reaching $3 million last year. Meanwhile, it has managed to open 25 new chapters in major cities across the country.

So where's it getting its money?

Tax records show the group is relying on some two dozen deep-pocketed donors for support. Who are they? We don't know. By law, CAIR doesn't have to publicly disclose them, and they're blacked out on IRS disclosure forms.

But land records unearthed by Paul Sperry, author of "Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington," show that exactly one year after 9/11  as its dues were drying up  CAIR signed over the deed to its Washington headquarters to a United Arab Emirates-based foundation headed by the ruler of Dubai.

Sheikh Mohammed Al-Maktoum's foundation put up almost $1 million for the property, and recently pledged $50 million more to help CAIR build larger headquarters, replenish its legal war chest and fund a nationwide pro-Islam propaganda campaign.

The New York Times earlier this year confirmed that "wealthy Persian Gulf governments"  including the UAE and Saudi Arabia  were backing CAIR. "CAIR has raised some suspicion by accepting large donations from individuals or foundations closely identified with Arab governments," the story said.

We also know from federal court records that CAIR received startup cash from the Holy Land Foundation, which the government has shut down as another Hamas front. Several of its founders  including a senior CAIR official  go on trial next month in Texas for allegedly funneling millions to Hamas for suicide-bomb operations.

U.S. prosecutors have named CAIR as "unindicted co-conspirators" in the terror case.

CAIR claims to represent 7 million American Muslims, yet as we've reported, they've inflated that figure  the real number of Muslims in America is 2 million.

Now we learn that of that 2 million, CAIR boasts a paltry 1,700 official Muslim members. So the group can hardly claim to be the voice of Muslims in America. In fact, it is shilling for Arab sugar daddies  their headquarters and operations are financed by the Saudi and UAE governments, both of which have aggressively financed the spread of militant Islamism around the world.

The mainstream media, which regularly book CAIR spokesmen to claim to argue the point of view of Muslims, and weak-kneed pols, who let CAIR mau-mau them into reserving rooms in the Capitol to hold court, have been totally hoodwinked by these charlatans. They need to wake up to the facts about this foreign front group.

The days of legitimizing and mainstreaming CAIR  now an official unindicted co-conspirator in a major terror case  must end before it can lobby against one more antiterror measure, boycott one more airline for protecting passengers from suspicious Muslim men, or sue one more John Doe tipster who could save hundreds of lives.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Related Stories: CAIR's Fuzzy Math | What Is CAIR Afraid Of?

source: IBD
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[jgredline]

Oh like the Old Testament god is any Loving better.

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

18 "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."

 

[Lewis]

Those Loving and Peaceful Muslims

 

[Relic]

truth_will_prevail and Joudie,

I would hope and think that any Muslims who are against killing whoever they consider infidels and/or, are against "forcing" others to convert to the Muslim religion are truly loving and peaceful. Yes? If so, then there is nothing for them to be offended by, that is, considering they are against the aforementioned situations.


Speaking out against corrupt muslims is no different than speaking out against corrupt ministers or politicians, or individuals whoever they may be affiliated with or loyal.


So then, there is nothing against and no offense to those muslims who are truly loving and peaceful, those who are NOT out to kill infidels or force the conversion of religion on others.



.

 

[Lewis]

The Quran does not say the word love. The Quran does not teach to love all of mankind.

 

[Solo]

IRAN

New Wave of Persecution in Iran – VOM Sources

On June 19, 2007, The Voice of the Martyrs confirmed reports that believers in Iran are being detained, interrogated and in one case, imprisoned, because of their faith in Jesus Christ. According to VOM sources, this new wave of persecution is coming against Christians who meet to worship God in the privacy of their homes. VOM sources said, “We have confirmed reports that several believers have been interrogated and one house was stormed by an elite police team that confiscated a computer, several CDs and Christian materials. A Christian was arrested in this attack, and remains in prison.†Pray believers in Iran will remain steadfast in their faith despite this new wave of persecution. Pray for the release of the believer in prison and for protection for all Christians in Iran. Psalm 27:1-31, Joshua 1:8-9



EGYPT

Muslims Attack Christian Shops and Homes in Egypt – Compass Direct News

Seven Christians were injured in two recent, unrelated attacks on Coptic Orthodox churches and Christian-owned shops in northern Egypt. According to a Compass Direct News report, on June 8, Muslim men damaged and looted Christian shops and churches in the town of Zawyet Abdel-Qader, 20 miles west of Alexandria. A number of Christians were injured while trying to defend their property. Two churches were also vandalized. Pray for those injured in the attacks. Pray Christians will show Christ’s love to the attackers. 3 John 2, Psalm 107:19-20



Information received in email from Voice of the Martyrs at http://www.persecution.com/

 

[jgredline]

 

[Lewis]

Yeah, the idea of a Muslim who is loving and peaceful is outrageously amusing.

*Looks at family*

I'm surrounded by peace and love and all of us are Muslims...and I'm smiling. Definitely not the same way you are, but at least we found a common point to smile at.

:-D

Anyways...truth_will_prevail, good luck trying to get any point through.

Yes Quran tells people its people to kill others who will not conform to islam. The very word islam means submission. Even though one of my best friends is muslim and I have about 7 of them in my family' I hate the muslim faith' and I will never like it or bow to it' or respect it.

Paul had to say this twice.

Galatians 1:8-9
8But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

9As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

 

[Solo]

MALAYSIA

MALAYSIA – Christians Face Persecution – VOM Sources

The Voice of the Martyrs’ contacts in Malaysia have received information that they are being investigated by Malaysian police for sharing the gospel with Muslims. VOM sources reported, “An individual in one of the villages where we have led many Muslims to Jesus reported us to the police. The police have interrogated a family living in the house we have ministered in and have collected evidence against us. It is not clear how many new believers in the area are being persecuted.†Pray God protects Christians in Malaysia and strengthens the faith of new believers. Ask him to draw more Muslims into fellowship with Him as a result of what has happened. 2 Timothy 1:7, Philippians 4:6-7



IRAN

IRAN – Increased Persecution against Christians – VOM Sources

The Voice of the Martyrs’ contacts in Iran report increased persecution for Christians in Iran. Several Christians have been imprisoned, interrogated and threatened. VOM sources said, “Iranian security forces prompted by the Islamic leadership and Iranian president are trying to wipe out Christianity in Iran. They are angry many Iranian Muslims are choosing to follow Christ.†Pray God protects and sustains Christians in Iran. Ask God to use the testimonies of those being persecuted to draw nonbelievers into fellowship with Him 1 Peter 5:7, John 14:27



INDONESIA

INDONESIA – Imprisoned Christians Charged – VOM Sources

More than 40 Christian leaders imprisoned in April, after a video recording of them praying for Muslims was leaked to Islamic organizations, have been charged under Article 156 KUPH. Under article 156 and 156a, “anyone who expresses hatred, opposition or insults one individual or groups of Indonesian citizens in public, will be imprisoned four to five years, or fined 4,500 rupiah. Muslims claim Christians blasphemed the Koran by placing it on the floor and praying for millions of people deceived by it. The Islamic organizations consider the video’s content abusive and have released the video to the media. Among the imprisoned are parents of young children. Pray for those in prison and their families. Ask God to give them boldness and wisdom as they face these difficult challenges. Psalm 91, Isaiah 26:3



IRAQ

IRAQ – Christian Killed by Militants in Baghdad – Compass Direct News

On June 12, Fouad Salim was killed by Muslim militants in Baghdad while leaving the police station where he worked. According to Compass Direct News, Salim’s family believes he was killed because he refused to convert to Islam. He had informed his family that anonymous people he believed to be Muslim militants had been threatening to kill him if he did not convert. Salim is survived by his wife and two children less than six years of age. Pray God comforts and protects Salim’s family. Pray those who persecute Christians will repent and accept Jesus Christ. Psalm 23, Romans 8:31




Information received in email from Voice of the Martyrs at http://www.persecution.com/

 

[Solo]

All Off Topic Posts have been edited or deleted. This is a Christian Forum that allows debate concerning other Religions in comparison with Christianity. The Terms of Service and Statement of Faith remain paramount in any and all discussions on this forum. Do not post anything that is hostile towards Almighty God, Christianity, Christians, and/or the Tenets of the Christian Faith.

Remember, this is a Christian Forum for the edification of the Body of Christ Jesus. Other religious affiliations have forums for discussions apart from Christianity and if your intent is to post negative comments about Christianity, and/or to promote another religion, you are on the wrong forum.