Video - Where Are the Moderate Muslims?

Transcript:

After every new Jihadist attack against the West, politicians reassure us that the atrocity does not represent the true nature of mainstream Islam. Of the 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, they constantly reassure us, the overwhelming majority are as law abiding as any members of any other monotheistic faith. Only a tiny fraction engage in terror. And Islam is a religion of peace. Furthermore, we are told, the great majority of Muslims hold moderate views.

But what does that mean? How moderate are moderate Muslims? Given the threat of radical Islam, it would seem to be a fair question. Let me start to answer it by telling you something of my own story.

I was raised in a middle class Muslim home in Cairo, Egypt. Growing up, I was told, among many other things, the following:

That every day that passes on the Islamic nation without a caliphate is a sin. That the failures and miseries of the Muslim world started the moment we Muslims gave up conquests and wars against the infidels. That our prosperity depended on conquering new lands and converting new believers. That anyone who leaves the faith must die. And I also remember how my teachers and my mosque imams reacted to the news of 9/11 when it happened: joy.

My experience was typical, and there is data to prove it:

According to the Pew Research Center, 88% of Muslims in Egypt, 62% in Pakistan, 86% in Jordan and 51% in Nigeria believe that any Muslim who choses to leave Islam should be put to death. Similar, if not identical, numbers are in favor of stoning people who commit adultery, severely punishing those who criticize Muhammad or Islam, and chopping off hands for theft.

All of these practices are a part of the penal code of Islamic law, which is known as Sharia. And 84% of Muslims in South Asia, 77% in Southeast Asia, 74% in the Middle East and North Africa and 64% in Sub-Saharan Africa support Sharia as the law of the land. Less drastic, yet significant, percentages are to be found even among Muslim communities in the West.

So, too, most of the world's Muslims believe that any acts of violence against Israel, including suicide bombers in buses and restaurants, are justified. Now, does any of this sound moderate to you? Yet if anyone raises these inconvenient truths here in the West, he is sure to be called an Islamophobe, a hater of Islam. Again, my own story is instructive.

In February of 2015, I was yelled at, cursed at, and successfully prevented from speaking at Swarthmore College by students and others who did not agree to what I was saying. 

Some of them were Muslim women who fit the image of the unveiled, perfect English-speaking, moderate Muslim young woman. Other seeming “moderates” tried and failed to do the same during my speech at Temple University the next day. Some of them, sadly, were students of journalism.

For the complete script, visit https://www.prageru.com/courses/polit...

All's not well in the Caliphate: Western ISIS Members Complain About Life In The Islamic State.

All's not well in the Caliphate: Western ISIS Members Complain About Life In The Islamic State. (MEMRI).

It is hard to gauge the full reality of life in the Islamic State. The dominant narrative, presented by ISIS, is carefully honed; the group meticulously controls what their official media outlets distribute online. ISIS champions its state as the only place in which Muslims can fully adhere to their faith and enjoy shari'a-compliant Islamic life. ISIS fighters often take to social media to boast about the benefits provided by the state, among them no taxes, free housing, and stipends for families. 

ISIS promotes the notion that it is helping to restore order and to bring normalcy to the Syrians, who have long been oppressed under the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. It is, it claims, positively impacting the lives of local Muslims by bringing them back to Islam.

Some activist groups based in the Islamic State are vocal online, and they try to dispel the glossy images that ISIS is projecting, by chronicling the horrors under ISIS hegemony.  In general, members adhere to the group's media policy and do not stray from its messaging points, and do not publicly express doubts or disagreements. However, sometimes ISIS members have been overly candid in their postings; when this happens, others often quickly step in and ask that the dissenting post be removed. Such grumblings provide glimpses into Western ISIS members' discontent with life in the Islamic State.

This report will examine some examples of ISIS members' complaints about aspects of life in ISIS-controlled territories in Syria, Iraq, and Libya. A few examples from fighters from other groups are also included, to show how these fighters' attitudes differ from those of ISIS fighters. They indicate that other groups can be more open to locals and their customs than ISIS, and perhaps that the feeling is mutual – the locals like them better than they do ISIS.   

Women's Problems.

Judging by the social media posts shared by ISIS women members, the Western women form tightly knit cliques, and do not appear to mingle with the native Syrian women.

In the past, Western women in the Islamic State have complained that the quality of clothing is not on par with what they are accustomed to in the West. One curious woman wrote into a blog maintained by a few women in the Islamic State to ask: "Aslamu alakuum sister I want to ask you are their salons..Don't be mad at me and say u will come for Allah why u need salons but sis I know we will come for ALLAH SWT but no harm if we go to salons beauty ourselves init." 

The reply was: "Wa' Alaykum Assalam, There are salons but trust me you're better off getting a sister here to do your hair/make-up etc, For two reasons: The style here isn't really that nice and their makeup most of the time goes towards the clowny look. I would advise not to go because although Dawlah does da'wah [preaching] on these specific places, most of them do pluck brows for people and add hair extentions etc so I would not give my money to them, Allahu A'lam." 

Syrian women cannot risk appearing insolent towards these Western women, for it has been reported previously that the Al-Khansaa Brigade, the Western all-female policing brigade, has brutally punished women accused of deviant behavior and various misdemeanors.

Women emigrate to the Islamic State for different reasons; they are not a monolithic group. Often, these women are widowed shortly after marriage. Numerous posts by ISIS members have been circulated in the past assuring women that they are under no pressure to remarry; however, one tweet by a Dutch ISIS woman member, Haarith, indicates otherwise. 

On May 20, she wrote: "When you're in your iddah [mourning period] and the first thing people ask is 'Do you want to marry if ure finished?' #GettingTired! Let it be clear. NOHO!!."

These complaints seem innocuous, but voicing unhappiness with the treatment of women in the Islamic State is forbidden. On August 10, 2015, a Swedish woman called Muhajira Umm Hamza[5] lashed out, in a series of tweets, at the treatment of women in Raqqah by male foreign fighters (muhajirin). Moments after her tirade, the tweets were deleted.

In the tweets, she had said: "Seriously I am getting so tired of many men muhajirin now. I feel harassed so often now. Women can't do this or that. What is the point?"

She continued, "It's not sharia that men scream or talk to us in the street. Its not. I feel more and more sad here now. There is so little respect for us.

A user called UmmNutelaLioness asked, "Where?!" Muhajira Umm Hamza responded: "here in Raqqah sister and its not only me sadly." UmmNutellaLioness[6] asked: "What do u mean sister?! What's going on?!" The reply was: "That is sad and feels very oppressive as we left the west and one reason is to get rid of rude behavior."

On October 27, UK national Sally Jones, the widow of prominent British ISIS hacker Junaid Hussein,[7] complained about ISIS fighters leisurely hanging out at Internet cafes instead of standing guard and carrying out their military duties. She wrote: "They all sit there gassing [gossiping] in internet cafes when they should be out on Ribat [guard duty]..wallahi its me I don't care I'm here to release my pastebin."[8] She was referring to the personal details of U.S. military personnel that she publishes on Pastebin.com. It should be noted that it is very rare for an ISIS member to criticize fellow ISIS members, particularly fighters.

ISIS fighter Abu Malik Al Qatari responeed to Jones's post, writing, "and you needn't be so rude. I do [did] my share of fighting for the last year and 7 months. This is my ijazah. I just thought I hd 2 point out before I'm accused. We all know who never fired a bullet on [an] enemy [a reference to Jones's deceased hacker husband]."

Jones replied: "who lol he went on ribat in al bab a week before he got shaheed.

Al Qatari answered: "The status of 'wife of shaheed' is overstepped by some people with their rudeness. We all know who never went to fight. Let's not start."

This exchange is notable for two reasons. Firstly, the status of a martyr's widow is highly honored in the ISIS caliphate, and secondly, Junaid Hussain was very respcted and revered. Pointing out that the late fighter had not been active on the battlefield but merely on the keyboard is extremely insulting. Again, such disuptes amongst ISIS members seldom play out in public. Read the full story here.

Video - PLO official: Killing Israeli parents of 4 children is "national duty"

Official PA TV program The State of Politics hosted PLO Executive Committee member Mahmoud Ismail:

Official PA TV host: "Are they [killers of Henkin couple] from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades (Fatah’s military wing) or from Hamas?"

PLO Executive Committee member Mahmoud Ismail: “There is no need to return to the argument and dispute about who carried out the operation. There is no need to announce it and boast of having done it. One fulfills his national duty voluntarily, as best as one can.” [Official PA TV, Oct. 6, 2015]

The Henkin murders - Israelis Naama and Eitam Henkin (also an American citizen) were murdered in a shooting attack on Oct. 1, 2015, on the road between Itamar and Elon Moreh near Nablus. Their four children, aged 9, 7, 4, and 4 months, who were in the car and witnessed the murders, were not physically injured. Although the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades of Fatah originally took credit, five Hamas terrorists were arrested by Israel and confessed to the murders.

EU: Of 600,000 refugees, only 20% are Syrian, 72% men.

EU[Rabia]: Of 600,000 refugees, only 20% are Syrian, 72% men. (WaEx).

The refugee wave sweeping over the European Union has nearly reached last year's total of 662,000, but despite reports that many are families from Syria just 20 percent are from that war-torn nation and most are younger men.

Eurostat, the EU's statistical agency, said that by August, 600,000 had arrived at the union's border seeking asylum, but just 121,500 were from Syria. The rest came from a collection of other countries including Kosovo, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Pew Research Center reviewed the Eurostat data and found that Germany is the overwhelming choice of those fleeing home nations, with 40 percent applying for asylum in Germany.

Pew noted that while the number of Syrians fleeing was lower than the impression given by the media coverage, many from other countries are claiming to be Syrian because people from that nation appear to be on the fast-track for asylum. Read the full story here.

Video - “Anti-migration sentiment in Europe is unnecessarily endangering the lives of migrants,”

“Anti-migration sentiment in Europe is unnecessarily endangering the lives of migrants,” William Lacy Swing, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), has warned the United Nations General Assembly.

With winter fast approaching, many undertaking the journey face further complications.

In recent days, temperatures have dropped significantly and many migrants have caught colds or the flu following days on the road in the rain and mud.

Croatia

Officials say more than 70,000 migrants have arrived in Croatia over the past few days.

A transit camp has been set up near the eastern border for the bus loads of people arriving from Serbia.

Austria

Some 10,500 people are waiting in Austria to enter Germany. However, with the country preparing to accept as many as 80,000 arrivals in 2015 alone, the German president has warned there are limits to the numbers Germany is able to receive.

But the amount of people making the journey doesn’t seem to be slowing down. According to the IOM, a record half a million migrants have crossed the Mediterranean between January and September 2015.

Between Sunday and Monday (September 27-28), 17 people lost their lives making the crossing

Video - PM Orban of Hungary has given a simple, earth-shattering and historic speech.

@MFS001 Golda to Hungary- We refuse to be the one people in the world which consents to having its fate decided by others

— ☇ Ann Atkins☇ (@Flash_History) September 26, 2015

Hungarian law makers approves army use of non lethal force: 'rubber bullets and tear gas' against refugees

Hungarian law makers approves army use of non lethal force: 'rubber bullets and tear gas' against refugees. (IBTimes).

Hungary's parliament has approved a controversial law that authorizes the wider use of the military to fence off migrants gathering on its borders. The legislation allows the army to use non-lethal weapons such as rubber bullets, pyrotechnical devices, tear gas grenades and net guns, according to a statement published on the Hungarian parliament's website.

Predictably, the far-right Jobbik party voted with the right-wing Fidesz party of prime minister Viktor Orban in the ballot. The law passed with 151 votes to 12 against and 27 abstains in the 199-strong parliament.

Defending the measure, Orban said Eastern European nations have to protect themselves from the "brutal threat" of mass migration into their countries, until the EU organises a communitarian response to the refugee crisis.

"The migrants are not just banging on our door: they're breaking it down," he said. "It is our historical and moral obligation to defend Europe. Europe is rich but weak."

On Monday, Hungary took out a full-page ad in a Lebanese newspaper to deter refugees from setting off for Europe. "Hungarians are hospitable but the strongest possible action is taken against those who attempt to enter Hungary illegally," the message read. "Do not listen to the people smugglers. Hungary will not allow illegal immigrants to cross its territory."

More than 430,000 migrants have arrived in Europe since January, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Most have crossed from Turkey to Greece and then proceeded north through the Balkans. Hmmm.....Turkey opened the flood gates send them back.Read the full story here.

Two in every 100 Syrians entering Europe may be Islamic State-trained fanatics.

‘2 in 100′ Syrian refugees may be IS members, Cameron told by Lebanese min extremists are picking out possible recruits in refugee camps. (TOI).

Lebanese minister warned British Prime Minister David Cameron last week that the Islamic State is sending trained fighters posing as Syrian refugees to attack Western targets.

Education Minister Elias Bousaab told Cameron during the British leader’s one-day trip to the region that two in every 100 Syrians entering Europe are Islamic State-trained fanatics, the Daily Mail reported.

More than 4 million Syrians have fled to Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt since the conflict in their homeland erupted in 2011. Lebanon, which has a population of less than five million, is home to more than one million Syrian refugees.

The extremist Islamic State group controls nearly half of Syria, more than four years after the start of an uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad. The militant group has also seized large areas of Iraq.

Bousaab said the IS picks out targets, including children, in refugee camps and schools and then traffics them into Europe via Turkey and Greece, the Mail said.

He added that the threat posed by IS is “growing and mushrooming.” Hmmm......Time and time again i am warning that Caliphate 'cubs' could be entering among the refugees, the EU Authorities are NOT Prepared for such a challenge and it will cost them very dear.Read the full story here.

Video - Refugee Crisis: Munich is drowning in refugees

Video podcast - 'Radical Islamic' Terrorism Brutality Martyrs One Christian Every Five Minutes.

'Radical Islamic' Terrorism Brutality Martyrs One Christian Every Five Minutes.(Christianfreedom).

Christian Freedom International, a humanitarian aid organization that supports persecuted Christians, has calculated that a Christian is martyred for their faith every five minutes.

Christians have become the most persecuted faith group in the world as a result of the persecution they face in 105 countries across northern and western Africa, the Middle East and Asia, according to aid organization Christian Freedom International.

CFI president Jim Jacobson said that much of the persecution against Christians is carried out in the Middle East by Islamic State militants.

"Islamic State militants in Iraq are using Christian churches as torture chambers where they force Christians to either convert to Islam or die," Jacobson told Breitbart.

"Islamic State militants are also stripping the former places of Christian worship of ancient relics which in turn are smuggled to Western collectors to help fund their terrorist activities."

Islamic State militants are known to have carried out mass evictions, forced migrations and killings of Christians and other religious and ethnic groups such as Yezidis, Kurds, Turkmens and Shabaks.

Other militant Islamic groups have also targeted Christians for systematic persecution. In April 2014, 276 Christian schoolgirls were kidnapped by Boko Haram militants from their school in northern Nigeria, and more than 200 are believed to remain imprisoned.

In April 2015 al-Shabaab militants stormed a dormitory complex at Garissa University College in Somalia, during a Christian prayer service. Non-Muslim students were targeted in the massacre, in which the terrorists killed at least 147 people.

The CFI, a humanitarian aid organization which supports those persecuted because of their faith, has calculated that more Christians have been martyred in the 20th and 21st centuries alone than during the previous 19 centuries combined, and that every five minutes, a Christian is martyred for their faith. Hmmm.....Pres Hussein Obama's reaction? "I Will stand with my Muslim Brothers".

Video - Children on Hamas TV: We Want to Wage Jihad and Blow Up the Jews.

On a children's show on the Hamas-owned Al-Aqsa TV channel, young children, dressed in military fatigues, were asked what they want to be when they grow up. One of the children said that he wanted to be an engineer, "so that I can blow up the Jews." Another recited a poem: "I shall liberate [Jerusalem] from the Jews by means of the Al-Qassam Brigades." Hmmm.....EU[Rabia]'s Favorite terrorist group

Video - The Most Important Video About The ‘Palestinians’ Ever Made.

Hamas is vowing revenge for Temple Mount incidents, releases a video.

Hamas is vowing revenge for Temple Mount incidents, releases a video.

HT And Source:

WARNING:Just what I reported 12 hours ago, #Hamas is vowing revenge for AlAqsa incidents, releases a video https://t.co/TSAl3rFzR5

— Mudar Zahran (@Mudar_Zahran) September 15, 2015

Video - Hillel Neuer Refuses to be Intimidated, Exposes UNRWA on WSJ TV

An @UNRWA teacher's daily cartoon? A Jew carving up a Palestinian w/ American silverware. http://t.co/AGucz6GnOe pic.twitter.com/GTmw36tsGu

— Anne Bayefsky (@AnneBayefsky) September 3, 2015

Hamas 'apologizes' for Jew-rapes-West Bank cartoon.

Man from Gaza: "West Bank, get up and defend your honor and your children!"

Woman in Yellow ("West Bank"): "Yes, I would like to, but I have no permit." [Twitter account of Al-Risala (Hamas news source), Jul. 31, 2015]

Hamas 'apologizes' for Jew-rapes-West Bank cartoon. (Palwatch).

Hamas publicized on its twitter account this cartoon depicting a long nosed Jew raping a woman in yellow, the color of Fatah, who is named "West Bank." At the same time, the Jew is shooting her two children. A policeman next to a sign "West Bank [Palestinian] Authority" is standing by idly, smoking a cigar and ignoring the rape and murder. A man across the border, next to a sign "Gaza," stands on a helmet dripping with blood from a killed Israeli soldier, and calls to her:

The cartoon outraged the PA and generated anger in the Palestinian street. Hamas was forced to remove the cartoon from its twitter account and apologize, while the cartoonist, Baha Yassin removed the cartoon from his Facebook page and replaced it with a modified version that is actually a continuation of the first one.

A second woman with the words "West Bank" written in green, the color of Hamas, stabs the Jew in the back in the center of the "Star of David" and kills him. The new "West Bank" woman holds the knife dripping with the Jew's blood, then rebukes the first yellow (Fatah) woman, who is now renamed "[Palestinian] Authority".

Woman 2 to woman 1: "I will attain what my children deserve and what you deserve, [Palestinian] Authority of shame."

The cartoonist added this text beside the visual: "This is the West Bank that I know."

Text on the policeman's post now reads: "Security Cooperation Position" [Facebook page of cartoonist Bahaa' Yassin, Aug. 1, 2015]

The following are excerpts of some of the reactions to the cartoon of a Jew raping "West Bank":

"[Hamas] Media agency Al-Risala published a clarification regarding the caricature tweeted from its twitter account... [Hamas Media agency] Al-Risala emphasized that the caricature and the caricaturist who drew it are not associated with the agency, and that an apology was tweeted immediately after by the same account." [Al-Risala website (Hamas news source), Aug. 1, 2015]

The caricaturist himself also apologized for the publication of the caricature: "Baha Yassin, the caricaturist who sparked a debate over the last few days, apologized for his actions... The social network is still raging with reactions that criticized the caricature, which caused the Ministry of Interior in Gaza - run by the Hamas movement - to announce that it intends to 'take legal action against this caricaturist, who harms our people, its culture, its resistance, and its struggle.'" [Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London newspaper), Aug. 4, 2015]

Headline: "Caricaturist that harmed the [West] Bank arouses the anger of the residents of Gaza" "The Palestinian journalists' union expressed dismay yesterday [Aug. 1, 2015] over the caricature drawn by caricaturist Baha Yassin, and censured it. [The caricature] was posted on the Twitter page of the Al-Risala newspaper, and very severely harmed the holy sites of our people, its unity, and its symbols." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 2, 2015] Hmmm......Hamas apologizing......the end is near. Read the full story here.

Video - N.Y. Imam Tareq Yousef Refutes Hadith about War with Jews before Judgment Day.

Palestinian Arsonists set fire to Hamas leader's car.

'Crazy Canucks they do exist'

Palestinian Arsonists set fire to Hamas leader's car. HT: IMRA.

Unidentified assailants threw a Molotov cocktail at a private car belonging to Hamas leader in Jenin in the northern West Bank overnight Friday, according to Palestinian security sources.

Hamas leader and former Palestinian Minister of Prisoners' Affairs, Wasfi Qabaha, said his parked car was partially torched in front of his home in the al-Basatin neighborhood of Jenin when the arsonists hurled a Molotov cocktail at the car from a speeding vehicle, Palestinian security services told Ma'an.

The sources said neighbors hurried to put out the fire.

Palestinian police arrived and opened a probe into the case.

Qabaha commented on the attack on his personal Facebook page saying out that it was the 38th attack against him.

“Collaborators with the [Israeli] occupation hurled a Molotov bomb at my Hundai Accent 2007 which was parked in front of my house in Baghdad Street in al-Basatin neighborhood," Qabaha said in his Facebook post.

Hamas leadership has accused the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) of security collaboration with Israel in recent weeks following a detention campaign by PA security forces in early July that reportedly left 200 Hamas members detained, many with signs of torture.

He highlighted that his neighbors put out the fire using small extinguishers.

Police and Palestinian security officers also helped put out the fire before firefighters arrived. Hmmmm.....Just a friendly Neighborhood BBQ that went wrong?

Video - Hamas Summer Camps in Gaza Train Youth in Warfare, Instill Spirit of Jihad

On July 28, Al-Mayadeen TV reported on Hamas "Vanguard of Liberation" summer camps, which provide military training to youth. According to the report, 25,000 participants trained in various camps throughout the Gaza Strip, the goal of which was to "instill spirit of Jihad in these cubs." Footage posted on the Internet shows naval and military training, including shooting, hand-to-hand combat, and drills.

Video - Passerby Scolds Sheik for Teaching Martyrdom to Children at Al-Aqsa Mosque Summer Camp

Video - Sheik Ahmad Al-Dweik in Al-Aqsa Mosque Address: The Caliphate Will Eliminate the West in Its Entirety