US: The Simpsons support South Park creators

Oh, well, they support them… if they weren’t so scared!!!

Via.

At least, they admit they are scared. Others would have spoken about “respect” for other beliefs… just after they have been threatened…

US: "I haven’t seen any evidence of Iranian military presence in Venezuela"

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Iran is expanding its diplomatic and economic ties with Venezuela but has no military presence in the South American country, a US general said on Tuesday.
The comments came as Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez denied allegations from the Pentagon that members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force were stationed in his country.
The leftist leader, who often heaps scorn on the United States, called a recent report “absolutely false” at a military ceremony.
The head of US Southern Command, General Douglas Fraser, said Iran was bolstering its relations with Venezuela.
“We see a growing Iranian engagement with Venezuela,” Fraser told reporters.
Iran has a “diplomatic, commercial presence” but, “I haven’t seen any evidence of a military presence,” he said.

It would be somewhat helpful if they just firstly agree, then write the reports and then speak in public, instead of publishing reports and after critizise those same reports. In this case, the report says just the opposite to what this guy says. There is no middleground here: or Iran has military presence in Venezuela or it hasn’t.

What they don’t get is that each error diminish their capacity to convince people about what they say. And that’s not really helpful…

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• US downplays Iran threat in Latin America (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Venezuela’s Chavez rebuffs Pentagon report (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Nigeria: women protests Senator marriage to a 13-year old girl

Ahmad Sani Yerima. Image from Wikipedia.

The quiet marriage of former Zamfara State governor and Senate Minority Whip, Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima to a 13-year old Egyptian girl, has continued to attract condemnation by the womenfolk.
A coalition of women groups yesterday took its protest to the Senate, urging the Senate President, David Mark leadership of the Upper House to suspend him for marrying an underaged girl.  

The coalition, led by Dr. Mma Nkwocha, comprised the Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN), Women Rights Advancement and Pro-tection Alternative (WRAPA) and the Global Association of Women Attorneys (GAFA).
In a swift reaction to the protest, Senators Chris Anyanwu, Emem Uffot Ekaette, Nkechi Nwaogu and Patricia Akwashiki pledged to provide support to the group in its advocacy against the act.

In addition to the call on the Senate leadership to suspend Yerima, the coalition urged his constituents in Zamafara Central Senatorial District to recall him from the Senate.
But Chair of the Senate Committee on Information and Media, Senator Ayogu Eze, said at a briefing session yesterday that those opposed to Yerima’s marriage should go to court.

According to him, “It is not the responsibility of the Senate to begin to investigate if he (Yerima) has broken the law. The Senate is not a law enforcement agency.”

Leader of the Coalition, Nkwocha had said, while briefing Senate Correspondents, that “The people who are supposed to be guarding the nation are the ones breaking the rules.

“Hitherto, Nigeria had hidden under the guise of Islam or Christianity but the issue in question is the marriage of one minor.

“Maybe because of poverty, he brought this little girl to Nigeria to complete the marital rites.

“We are calling on senator Yerima to resign because this is not the first time. We learnt that another girl that he had taken before now is turning seventeen years.

“He has kept that one aside and has come for this little one.  Are we disposable commodities?  It is unbecoming of a nation called Nigeria.

“We should be the ones advocating the abolition of child marriage…It is not acceptable.”

GAFA representative, Mrs. Chinelo Iriele, said “Nigerian women are sad because the Child Right Acts, Section 21 prohibits Child marriage.

Via.

Two points:

1. where are the girl’s parents? I imagine that they have given her in marriage. So I assume they should be considered responsible for this. Of course, Egypt is soooo moderate and soooo modern that it seems impossible that this could happen.. and yet it has happened.
2. This is not the first time he marries a minor. So I wonder, if she wasn’t either able to marry, why the marriage wasn’t declared void. A senator is not an ordinary man: his private affairs are not kept “private”. So, why they only learnt it now? And why did the marriage took place?

Anyway, if the civil Law contradicts the Shariah (which also supports polygamy), this guy doesn’t have to obey it…

UNICEF on Child marriag in Egypt: Abuse is common in child marriages:

Data from Egypt indicates that 29 per cent of married adolescents have been beaten by their husbands (or husband and others) and, of these adolescents, 41 per cent have been beaten during pregnancy.

Child marriage in Africa:

It is predicted by the UNFPA that worldwide 100 million girls are expected to marry in the next decade [4]. In Africa, UNICEF estimate that 42 per cent of girls are married before the age of 18 and in some African countries the figure is much higher, such as in Niger where there is a 76 per cent incidence of child marriage [5]. The age at which children are married also varies between countries but marriage before the age of 15 is not uncommon and in some areas of West Africa and in Ethiopia, girls are sometimes married as early as age 7 [6].

Spain: Najwa’s family announces legal action against Institute

El Mundo:

Najwa’s family has announced they will appeal the decision of the Institute of forcing the schoolgirl to leave the center due to her going to class with a veil and is ready to go to court to defend her right to religious freedom, has said their lawyer, Ivan Jimenez Aybar.

The lawyer, Professor of Ecclesiastical Law at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, has confirmed that Najwa will resume classes tomorrow, “where she can”, that is, at the Institute Gerardo Diego de Pozuelo de Alarcón.

The lawyer has indicated that Nawja has been assigned the center after the one which was closer to home, IES San Juan de la Cruz, changed the internal rules quickly to prevent the girl came to class wearing the veil.

Jiménez-Aybar has considered that the decision to “expel” Najwa IES Camilo José Cela is disproportionate and violates her “dignity” and her right to religious freedom, and stressed that from a legal standpoint, the decision is not solid, because it does not point out any fundamental right to justify the cut in the right to education of the child.

Yes, equality of students before the law!!

Background:
16-year-old removed from class from wearing the hijab.
School confirms hijab prohibition.
Opinions on Najwa’s hijab.
National Federation of Muslims will take legal action against the school on Najwa’s hijab affair.
Najwa’s veil: an analysis.

Social networks: Chávez opens a Twitter account

Hugo Chavez is starting to use Twitter to counter his opponents online, forcing a president who often talks for hours to sum up each thought in 140 characters or less.

Chavez urged Venezuelans to watch his newly created account – chavezcandanga – after midnight Tuesday, saying “at that point is when I let loose.”

His first tweet in Spanish popped up at 14 minutes after midnight: “Hey how’s it going? I appeared like I said I would: at midnight. I’m off to Brazil. And very happy to work for Venezuela. We will be victorious!!”

By late Tuesday, the socialist leader had more than 18,000 followers before posting a single tweet, and that increased to more than 23,000 early Wednesday.

More:

Given Chávez’s penchant for speaking on Venezuelan TV for hours at a stretch, the biggest challenge facing el presidente is how to restrict his musings to 140 characters or less.

Whether he’s capable of keeping it short remains to be seen, although this will not in fact be the Venezuelan government’s first foray into Twitter.

According to Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz, dark forces moved against his account after he criticised the Chávez regime. In 2007, the Venezuelan powers that be banned a Sanz show when the popular crooner said he didn’t much like the cut of the president’s jib.

He now claims he’s been hacked by Chavistas who’ve posted “racist and faked” tweets in his name.

Background:
Chávez will write a blog.
http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/xcnub7
Trinchera
Cargado por noticias24. – Mira las noticias más recientes en video.

Look carefully to the TV channel (top right of the screen)

http://www.youtube.com/v/nfhgyCPEp6g&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1
Via.

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• Hugo Chávez goes a-twittering (go.theregister.com)

Social Networks: Al-Zawahiri had a Facebook page

Image via Wikipedia

It has already been erased:

Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden‘s top deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri had appeared on Facebook, but the social networking site later removed those pages.

Less than a fortnight after Osama bin Laden came on Facebook, The Sun revealed that al-Zawahiri, who has a 16.5 million-pound price on his head, also appeared on the site.

Facebook said: “These pages have been removed.”

Two more pages linked to the Taliban were also removed.

Zawahiri’s page had a photo of him with a semi-automatic rifle in the background and videos included a truck bombing in Afghanistan. It could be found through a Voice of Jihad site that included film clips calling for attacks on Britain and the US, the media report said.

Hey, I’m Al-Zawahiri, don’t you want to be my FB friend?

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MSM watch: El Pais blattant "Israeliphobia"

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I don’t normally copy entire articles but in this case I’m making an exception. Ynet News:

A few weeks back, the well-known author Alfonso Ussia wrote in Spain’s La Razón about a young Catalan woman picked up by Israeli police in Ramallah. Ussia relates that she was presumably campaigning against the Jewish state while holding an expired entry visa on her Spanish passport. Had she been in an Arab state doing something similar, writes Ussia, she would be – most probably – stoned to death in the public square. Instead, Ariadna Jové Martí was sent in good health back to Spain, with an airplane ticket – probably paid for by the State of Israel.
How was all this viewed in Spain? The Foreign Relations Office expressed outrage to Israel’s diplomats over the affair, while the press got busy lambasting the Jewish state. All this, as Ussia rightly points out, while ignoring or justifying every ignominy of any other country around the globe.
Are Israelis aware of the Israel-bashing and demonizing carried out in the Iberian press?
Do they know, for example, the case of Madrid’s El País? With 430,000 daily copies and an Internet readership of over two million, El País is considered the “leader of the mainstream press in Spain.” And alongside every single article about Israel on the website of this pre-eminent newspaper is a profile of Israel that lists Tel Aviv as the country’s capital.
In its section “Corresponsales” (reporters), El País explains that reporter Juan Miguel Muñoz reports from “Jerusalem, Near East.” No other reporter is identified like this as based in a geographic area; they are all in a named country (except those who report on the EU from Brussels).
ReVista de Medio Oriente, a Spanish media watchdog organization, asked El País’ editors why this different treatment of Israel. About their placement of Israel’s capital in the “Near East,” they said that Muñoz “reports from Jerusalem on Lebanon and Syria too” – hardly a convincing answer on the face of it, and even less so because the reporter almost never writes about those countries but writes practically daily on Israel. About Tel Aviv as the capital of Israel, the editors told ReVista that the “directive to maintain this designation the way it is comes from the paper’s directors and can’t be changed.”
Analysis of Muñoz’s biased reporting has been published at ReVista for two years and recently, a further, in-depth review examined all his articles in El País during an arbitrarily-selected three week period in January and February of 2010. The study showed that Muñoz mainly picked up material from the “local press” (as he calls the Israeli press) and re-wrote it in Spanish. He selectively chose topics that cast Israel in a negative light and presented them without context, creating an image of a nation populated by lunatics and killers.
In this vein, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is portrayed continuously as cynically posing for the press, and his concerns about Iran are all cast as politically motivated rather than justified on security grounds.
In two such articles (February 7th and 10th) Muñoz includes not even one sentence on Iran’s threats to world order. Although many nations in the West and Middle East are increasingly alarmed at the peril posed by a nuclear Iran, to read and believe Muñoz is to conclude only Netanyahu has problems with Iran (and they are actually just political posturing). “Benjamin Netanyahu has a fixation: To stop Iran’s nuclear program”, Muñoz writes. “Possessing atomic weapons, and not a signer of the Non Proliferation Treaty, Israel will not accept losing the monopoly in the Middle East.”

Relentlessly derogatory 

In the Muñoz rendition, Israel is overbearing and unreasonable and Iran doesn’t seem to deserve sanctions or isolation. The only mention of Iran’s policies is: “In any case, it doesn’t seem to be sufficient for Israel that President Mahmud Ahmadinejad agrees to have the uranium enriched in Russia and France”.
Another Muñoz story on February 7th lashes out at Netanyahu’s family with familiar interjection of editorial comment; his 15-year-old son, described as a “know-it-all”, is ridiculed for winning a Bible contest; and his wife Sara is judged as guilty of being a tyrant with her house help. “On the stage (of the child’s contest) the image was perfect: flag, religion and army, since, for the idyllic picture to be complete, his brother Yair showed up dressed in khakis.” Muñoz’s stereotype of the Likud leader’s family is crudely signaled as nationalistic, religious and militaristic.
Two more articles (on the 1st and 2nd of February) deal with white phosphorus allegedly used “profusely” in the Gaza war, and two officers being “disciplined” for that, according to the “local press.” Although the army denied that the officers were disciplined about white phosphorus use, and although the report sent to the UN doesn’t mention white phosphorus in this regard, Muñoz repeated a Ha’aretz article by Anshel Pfeffer to serve his purpose of vilifying Israel as much as possible, regardless of the accuracy of the information he repeated.
To complete the lineup, Muñoz reports on a fashion model who refused to serve in the army, only saying that army leaders attacked her mercilessly and publicly for her action but never producing any context to explain the army’s point of view, which is that all citizens are required to serve.
All in all, like Ms. Jové Martí, Muñoz enjoys Israel’s hospitality while indulging consistently in biased reporting in his native language unbeknownst to his naïve hosts. His reporting on Israel is relentlessly derogatory, typified by omissions of key information, lack of context and informational errors. In his rendition, Israel is violent, irresponsible, or plain ridiculous. In contrast, his treatment of Hamas is always respectful and understanding. 

As Mr. Ussia writes about the Jové Martí story, perhaps Israel should encourage Muñoz to live permanently in one of the other Near East countries he covers, whose oppressive policies he almost totally ignores. At least then he wouldn’t be able to enjoy living in Israel while making any “insignificant thing something big against Israel” as Ussia writes.
Perhaps when El País reports on Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and Muñoz gets his facts straight on the Middle East as a whole, Israel could consider welcoming Muñoz back.  

Background:
Dor Chabab hosts event about Spanish Jews at the Center for Jewish history (theblogmocracy.com).
Spanish Amnesty International’s campaign for Judeophobia in schools.
A New Judeophobia has replaced the old one.
Judeophobia in Spanish MSM: El Mundo‘ interview with David Irving.
Judeophobia supported by Spanish Govt.

Yemen: British Ambassador escaped unharmed from terrorist attack

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THE British Ambassador to Yemen escaped unharmed after an explosion near his car today, the Foreign Office confirmed.
The blast happened as Tim Torlot, 52, travelled to work in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a.

The Foreign Office was unable to confirm reports that a suspected suicide bomber died in the explosion.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We can confirm that there was an incident in Sana’a this morning.

“There was a small explosion beside the British Ambassador’s car. He was unhurt. No other embassy staff or British nationals were injured. “The embassy will remain closed to the public for the time being. “We advise all British nationals in Yemen to keep a low profile and remain vigilant. We are working urgently with the Yemen authorities to investigate what happened.”

The blast comes after Yemen became a focus of international concern about al-Qaeda activity after the man suspected of attempting to blow up a US-bound airliner on Christmas Day, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was reported to have told FBI investigators that he was supplied with his bomb by al-Qaeda members in Yemen.

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"EU, Maghreb share "common interests" on migration, security"

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Lesueur, a general delegate at the Thomas More Institute, said the EU had a role to play in putting an end to the conflict between Morocco and Algeria over Western Sahara, a 266,000 square-kilometre territory that has been a bone of contention between the two countries.

According to him, the new distribution of portfolios within the European Commission should accelerate progress, as several commissioners are concerned by the issue. He also proposed to appoint a coordinator.

“We urge the EU to reinvest itself in the region and place its relations with the Maghreb at the top of its agenda,” he said.

Moreover, “the EU should help projects and business development,” he said, stressing the importance of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), launched in 2008 under the French EU Presidency.

On migration, Lesueur explained that Morocco had problems similar to those faced by Europe in dealing with its southern neighbourhood. As sub-Sahel migrants move north to reach Europe, “Maghreb countries are transforming themselves into transit countries, and are also slowly turning into host countries,” he said, remarking that thousands of Senegalese are currently living in Algerian capital Tangiers.

This, he argued, highlights the common challenges faced by Europe and the Maghreb, as he says the countries in the region may soon start experiencing ethnic tensions and even racism.

To deal with such problems, Lesueur says the EU’s Frontex agency should open offices in the South Sahel region and work in close cooperation with Maghreb countries. “It is not sufficient to return illegal migrants from Spain to Morocco,” he stressed.

In reality, he said the EU’s migration policy “is being played out in Nouakchott [Mauritania] and Dakar [Senegal],” not on the island of Lampedusa, south of Sicily. “Lampedusa represents the failure of the EU’s migration policy,” he said.

Similarly, he said European security and anti-terrorism policy is not being played out at the EU’s southern borders, but 3,000 kilometres away. “In the anti-terrorism area, Algeria and Morocco have pretty well cleared Al Qaeda off the ground,” he remarked. But the organisation has now retreated further south to Mali, Cameroon and Senegal, he said.

So the EU is beginning to act protecting countries which are not inside the EU. I think we have enough problems inside our borders which are not solved by now, to defend countries which are not inside those borders. But I’m sure this is just the next step after the “United Economic Space”, negotiated with Morocco.

There are a lot of people worried about Turkey entering EU. Morocco should also worry every free citizen: a theocracy with no possibility of changing into a democracy, expelling Christians for “proselityzing”, mistreating homosexuals, opponents to the regime (specially Saharauis) or who demonstrate against fasting in Ramadan and shutting down (or banning) MSM for insulting Islam or the King. An ideal partner…

Of course, Algeria has also a growing problem with Islamism and has condemned people to three years in prison for owning a Bible. So, I don’t think it’s an ideal partner either.

Besides, if Islam/Shariah is the Law’s source in these states, I’m sure the measures taken will be different. Or not?

 

Iran: Campaign to end politically motived executions

http://www.youtube.com/v/EDeJvfxCUI8&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1

Via.

More information here:

at least eleven protestors have been sentenced to death by the Iranian Judiciary following unfair trials and insufficient evidence justifying any punishment, let alone executions. Seven of the protestors on death row have been identified as: Mohammad Amin Valian, a 20 year student; Abdolreza Ghanbari, a 47 year old teacher; Motahareh Bahrami and Mohsen Daneshpour Moghaddam (husband and wife) and their son, Ahmad Daneshpour, together with two of their close friends, Rayhaneh Haj Ebrahim and Hadi Ghaemi (not related to the Campaign’s executive director of the same name).

After the 12 June 2009 presidential elections, thousands were arrested, hundreds were tortured, and dozens killed. Some authorities bluntly advocated for the use of violence against peaceful protesters and even killing them. Some had command responsibility for those who shot innocent people on the streets. Some had direct responsibility for what happened to dozens of arrested protesters in Kahrizak Detention Center, which resulted in the death of at least four of the detained.

The Campaign appeals to the Iranian authorities, that instead of sending innocent people to death row, they should hold responsible those who perpetuate violence in society–in order to prevent similar tragedies in the future. Until we fully know the role individuals and institutions had in directly or indirectly masterminding and participating in the systematic and deadly crackdown, we cannot ensure that such brutality will not occur again.

Iran: homosexuals flee to Turkey, hoping to make it to the West

Boston.com:

…The atmosphere has only gotten more tense since the arrival in power five years ago of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who famously proclaimed in a 2007 speech at Columbia University that there are no homosexuals in his country. An official memo sent to government departments last year called on employees to either marry or resign — a step seen as aimed at seeking to weed out homosexuals.

Alireza Naimian is one of the lucky ones. After 2 1/2 years in Turkey, he has won acceptance through the U.N. for resettlement in the United States. Sitting in his ground-floor apartment he describes the event that eventually led to his flight: One day in 2007, a group of paramilitary Basijis who noticed his long hair as he traveled in a cab in the northern Iranian town of Roodehen detained him, took him to his home and brutally raped him. 

…Many are placed by the Turkish government in Kayseri and nearby towns, where they form a precarious community, overshadowed by a larger influx of thousands of Iranians fleeing the political crackdown since June’s disputed presidential election. In this conservative region of Turkey, they try to lay low, fearing harassment as they wait in hopes of resettlement.

“Police here tells us to stay indoors when we report violence against us,” said Roodabeh Parvaresh, a 32-year-old lesbian who has been in Turkey for over two years.

…Another lesbian, Hengameh, who refused to give her full name to avoid publicity, said she was severely beaten by two Turkish youths soon after arriving in the country a year ago.

Still, Turkey provides an escape from their lives in Iran, where homosexuals can face threats from every direction — from the state, from co-workers or security officials who harass them or try to blackmail them into sexual favors.

There is no authoritative figure for the homosexual population in Iran. However, recently published data based only on psychological reports of recruits for compulsory military service or for sex change operations put the number of gay men at 200,000 in a country of 66 million, Ghahraman said. Sex changes are legal in Iran, and many gays resort to them as the only way to live with their partners or avoid the harsh penalties.

 Via.

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US: Video shows "Pantybomber" Abdulmutallab training in Yemen, making martyrdom statements

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The videos, to be broadcast Monday on ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, appear to support Abdulmutallab‘s statements to the FBI that there are “others like me” who also trained with him in Yemen to carry out attacks against U.S. and western targets.

The tape also includes an apparent martyrdom statement in Arabic from the 23-year old Nigerian justifying his actions against “the Jews and the Christians and their agents.” He says, “the enemy is in your lands with their armies, the Jews and the Christians and their agents.” He reads several passages from the Koran and adds, “God said those who punish you must be punished.”

Abdulmutallab was arrested on Christmas Day in Detroit after he allegedly attempted to set off a bomb on a Northwest Airlines jet. He has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges but U.S. authorities say he is now cooperating in the investigation.

Background:
Nigerian terrorist threatens to explode powdery substance near Detroit.
Qaeda-linked group takes responsibility for NWA attack.
Christmas Day bomber aka “Pantybomber” invited Jihad cleric to adress British students.
Pantybomber’s father, an extremist himself, worried about losing Western investments.
London breeding Islamic terrorists.

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Spain: High School passes a resolution to forbid the veil in hijab’d Najwa’s affair

Image via Wikipedia

Analysis: where will study Najwa now?

- Where will study Najwa from now?
- The girl’s father says she will not change schools and that she’s not going to stop wearing the veil. However, the institute Camilo Jose Cela de Pozuelo does not allow its students to attend class with their heads covered. The Community of Madrid has offered the family another institute in which it is permissible to do the “hijab” but have not yet received the request for Najwa’s family to make the change.

- What is the deadline for the family to chose one of those two options?
“There is no deadline for these cases. However, when Najwa is finally medically able to return to school (she suffers from anxiety), she must choose between returning to Camilo Jose Cela without a veil or accepting the transfer.

- What would happen if she does not opt for either of them?
- Najwa is 16 and has yet to finish 4th of ESO, the final year of compulsory education, therefore, her parents are required by law to send her to class and end this cycle. In the event that Najwa does not choose either of the two solutions she has been offered and therefore fails to come to school Camilo Jose Cela, the established protocol for school absenteeism will be launched.

- How can you force Najwa to return to class?
“First of all, the Malha family must send the medical report attesting the medical leave of Najwa to the school. Otherwise, the days that she hasn’t come to class will be counted as unexcused absences. When the center detects more than 25 hours per month unjustified (one week), it opens an internal file that will be the sent to the Central Absenteeism Committee, which will examine the case and will try to solve the problem. If she continues not attending school, the center will refer the case to the Local Committee of the City, where local social and education services will ensure that the student will return to class regularly. If the situation continues, the local board shall refer the case to the Ministry of Education and the Office for Children, the competent body to force and, if not, punish those responsible for student absenteeism.

El Mundo reports that the nearest High School, that didn’t forbid the veil, has passed a regulation, on an urgent basis, to forbid it too:

Najwa, the Moroccan girl who is not allowed to attend classes at the Institute of Pozuelo Camilo Jose Cela because of wearing the hijab, was told she should change her school after the refusal of the center to change its rules.

During these days, it had been suggested that she might enroll in the school San Juan de la Cruz, close to Camilo Jose Cela and her house, because there was no rule against the use of the veil.

However, this afternoon the school board of San Juan de la Cruz has voted to change its internal rules and prohibit class attendance with the head covered, hours after Najwa’s mother requested her daughter down the Camilo Jose Cela.

Madrid’s Education Department has not liked the decision and has announced a decision to forbid any changes to internal regulations that affect schooling during the year.

Forced by this change, the Department has chosen Gerardo Diego High School, which is also close to her home and is better adapted to the wishes of Najwa’s family.

ABC.es:

Next month, Najwa Malha will be 17 years old and she will do it from a different perspective if we consider her previous anniversaries: from the vantage point of her religion, Islam, and dedication to it. Her passage from girl to woman marks a turning point in the life of this young woman. Those who have seen her transformation, her inner circle, does not get over their astonishment, but understand and respect the significance of his decision. “She was like a normal girl: shorts, skirts, makeup, wore her hair loose, and even gave wicks,” says a friend of Najwa. “Two months ago, without saying anything before, she appeared one day with the scarf at school,” adds another.

Background:
16-year-old removed from class from wearing the hijab.
School confirms hijab prohibition.
Opinions on Najwa’s hijab.
National Federation of Muslims will take legal action against the school on Najwa’s hijab affair.

Switzerland: the "Alliance of Civilizations" will analyse the "minarets’ crisis

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The ministerial conference of the Alliance of Civilizations, to be held in Cordoba on 3 and 4 May as part of the Spanish EU presidency, will address the impact of the crisis provoked by the Swiss decision to ban the construction of minarets in mosques.

The meeting will take the title Religious freedom in democratic societies and with the participation of some 300 people, including ministers, religious scholars and leaders of EU countries, as reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with responsibility for organizing the event.

Among the guests will have a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, who will present the impact it is having the measure in his country on the minarets in the Muslim worship centers.

Most Swiss citizens approved the ban on building minarets in a referendum held on 29 November.

The Swiss Government has been saying that this decision should not be interpreted as an attack against Islam or its adherents, although it has caused great unrest in Muslim countries and has encouraged far-right parties in other European countries to go in the same direction.

A meeting of delegates will attend Córdoba candidate countries for accession to the EU, the EU institutions and the Council of Europe.

Also invited to the bishops of the eight cities of Andalusia and the representatives of the major religious communities.

The conference will feature several panels, which will discuss issues such as pluralism of faiths, the role of religious leaders and combating radicalization and religious extremism.

It is not yet confirmed attendance of Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos s deputy for Córdoba.

Moratinos organized in the capital of Córdoba in October 2007 a meeting to discuss a religious intolerance and discrimination against Muslims in Western countries. It was held on that occasion by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The Alliance of Civilizations was initiated by Spain and Turkey in 2004 to help foster understanding between religions and cultures.

The group of friends of the Alliance, integrated into United Nations, has around one hundred countries.

Why religious freedom is not analysed in un-democratic societies, for example, in Islamic societies? Why always democratic countries should under the microscope, while huge Human Rights violations are taking place in other parts of the world, without anyone caring about them because the place they are happening are not democratic countries?

Really fed up of hypocrisy…

Iran: Qods force delivering weapons to Afghanistan Taliba, report says

Washington Times:

Qods forces in Afghanistan are working through nongovernmental organizations and political opposition groups, the report says. Tehran also is backing insurgent leaders Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Ismail Khan.

“Arms caches have been recently uncovered [in Afghanistan] with large amounts of Iranian-manufactured weapons, to include 107 millimeter rockets, which we assess IRGC-QF delivered to Afghan militants,” the report says, noting that recent manufacture dates on the weapons suggest the support is “ongoing.”

“Tehran’s support to the Taliban is inconsistent with their historic enmity, but fits with Iran‘s strategy of backing many groups to ensure that it will have a positive relationship with the eventual leaders,” the report says.

In Iraq, Qods forces are supporting terrorists through Iranian embassies. The report says the outgoing Iranian ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, is a member, as well as the new ambassador in Baghdad, Hassan Danafar.

Iranian support for Shi’ite militants in Iraq has included the supply of armor-piercing explosively formed projectiles, as well as other homemade bombs, anti-aircraft weapons, rockets, rocket-propelled grenades and explosives.

The report says the elite Iranian fighters are controlled by Iran’s government, despite efforts by the group to mask Tehran’s control.

Complete report here (PDF).

Background: Iran increasing Qods’ force in Venezuela.

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• Iran exports ‘revolutionary principles’ to Venezuela, report claims (telegraph.co.uk)
• Taliban training fighters in Iran (tech.bl0x.info)
• U.S.: Taliban fighters training in Iran (cnn.com)

Germany: Prosecutors probing more terrorism suspects

BKA HQ in Wiedesbaden. Image via Wikipedia

DW:

Of the 350 preliminary investigations into suspected Islamist terrorists, 220 inquiries are currently being handled by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), and “almost half of those are aimed at finding the perpetrators of attacks on German troops in Afghanistan,” BKA chief Joerg Ziercke said.

Under German law, attacks on German nationals anywhere are a crime and must be investigated if a complaint is made.

However, according to Guido Steinberg, an analyst at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), the upsurge in proceedings against Islamist terror suspects is not only due to attacks on German soldiers in Afghanistan that are prosecuted here in Germany.

“A kind of German jihadist scene has emerged since 2006, and that is also why the number of people under scrutiny has risen,” Steinberg told Deutsche Welle.

The BKA considers about 1,100 people in Germany to be part of an “Islamist terrorist personnel potential.“

“Nationwide, security forces have an eye on 127 potentially threatening individuals,” Ziercke told the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung newspaper on Monday.

Since the beginning of last year, there has been an increase in the number of Germans travelling to Islamist training camps, Zierke said. “More than 30 young Germans went to Afghanistan or Pakistan in 2009.” 

“There’s a German community in the area now. A group of 10-12 people is trying to lure others with German-language propaganda,” he said.

“Unfortunately, they are successful.”

Related:
German police investigates Taliban attacks in Afghanistan.

Background:
Video shows German jihadists in Afghanistan.
German intelligence warns of Jihadi families.

SK: torpedo likely cause of warship sinking near NK

South Korea’s defense minister says a torpedo was the likely cause of an explosion that sank a warship near the tense border with North Korea last month.

Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told reporters Sunday that he believes a bubble jet effect caused by a heavy torpedo is the most likely cause of the disaster.

A bubble jet is a powerful shock wave and high-pressure gas bubble resulting from an explosive device detonating beneath a vessel.

Kim was also quoted by the French news agency as saying “various other possibilities are also under review.”

Investigators say there is evidence that the 1,200-ton Cheonan patrol ship exploded because of a strong impact from the outside. Seoul has refrained from blaming Pyongyang for the incident until its experts carry out a thorough investigation. Pyongyang has denied any involvement. South Korea raised the front section of the warship with a large crane Saturday.

A body was found inside the recovered section, bringing the official death toll to 40. Six sailors remain missing and are believed dead. The coast guard rescued 58 crew members from waters near the blast site.

There were 104 sailors on board the ship when it exploded and sank March 26 during a regular patrol in the waters near the disputed border with North Korea.

North Korea Saturday warned the United States and South Korea that it will employ “all means, including the nuclear deterrent” if they intrude into its territory. The state-run Korean Central News Agency quotes army chief Ri Yong-Ho as saying North Korea’s armed forces are “fully ready to frustrate any provocation of the aggressors at a single blow.”

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Friday urged Pyongyang not to “engage in provocative actions,” and said she hopes there is no “miscalculation” or action that could lead to conflict.

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• Seoul mourns ship sinking victims (news.bbc.co.uk)
• South Korea hoists 2nd half of sunken warship from sea (ctv.ca)
• Torpedo likely sank S. Korean ship (cbc.ca)

Egypt: "We refuse to be Muslim by force"

AINA:

On March 30 an administrative judicial court in Egypt dismissed a lawsuit filed by Mrs. Camilia Lutfi, mother of the Coptic Christian twins boys Mario and Andrew (right), against the Interior Minister, and the director of the Civil Status Department for refusing to re-instate the Christian religion on their birth certificates, and invalidate those which were forcefully changed to “Islam” in 2005 by their father Medhat Ramsis Labib, who had converted to Islam.

After his conversion, Andrew and Mario became Muslims in what is called “Islamization by dependence,” by which children follow the religion of a converted parent (to Islam only) until they reach the age of puberty (fifteen), because Islam is “the best among all religions,” according to Egyptian Court rulings.

The purpose of Lutfi’s litigation was to restore back to her twins their identity as Christians, before reaching the age of 16 in June, when they will have their national ID cards issued. Camilia said that because of the developments in their case, her worst nightmares would materialize, in which they would have Islam as religious affiliation on their ID cards. “If they change to Christianity after that, they will be considered apostates,” she told Freecopts advocacy. She expressed her surprise at the intransigence of the judiciary in dealing with the issue of her sons, especially after they have already reached the legal age of 15-years, when they can choose their own religion. “The boys have lived this tragedy for the last ten years, through no fault of their own.”

ElYoum 7 Newspaper reported that 15-years-old Mario and Andrew were extremely disappointed with the court verdict, saying “faith is not by force, we want to remain Christians and we do not wish to become Muslims.” Both boys are practicing Christians and were consecrated last year as deacons in their regular church in Alexandria.

The court explained in its verdict, which was issued on April 14, that Camilia Lutfi has not presented a verdict from a relevant court (it did not say which court) proving the change of her sons’ religion from Islam to Christianity. “How come that when their father changed their religion from Christianity to Islam, he required no court verdict, and now that they want to revert back to Christianity, the court requires a verdict?” she told Freecopts.

Although the mother’s lawyers presented to the court a portfolio containing 15 different certificates proving they are Christians, contradicting what was written on their birth certificates, the court said in its reasoning that it does not recognize the validity of a certificate issued by the Church as a document of change of religion from Islam to Christianity, as “churches by law are not competent to issue such certificates.” The courts only accept certificates of religion change from Al-Azhar (the Muslim theology school in Cairo). Moreover the Court said that there is no law to force the Interior minister and the Civil Status Department chief to change the religion of the boys on their documents without a court ruling to this effect.

Hmm, what marvellous freedom of religion there is in Egypt, hein? And this is happening NOW, not 500 years ago. Just as we speak. Of course, CNN, BBC or El País will not run a piece on these two teenagers. But their case exist (as it exists in other cases, some of them known, some of others unknown), nonetheless.

France: Muslims cry "discrimination" over niqab’d driver affair

Muslims in the French city where a woman was fined for driving wearing a burqa complained of being stigmatised by the affair on Sunday as the political repercussions rumbled on.

With the government planning to ban wearing the burqa in public, the fining of the French woman took a political turn when a minister threatened to punish her Muslim husband for offences including polygamy.

“The Muslims of Nantes…are worried by this systematic stigmatisation which goes against the values of the republic,” the collective of Nantes mosques said in a statement.

The association “considers that the stopping of a driver is a judicial procedure and is angry at how such an event has been turned into being all about Islam”.

No, the stopping of a driver is an administrative procedure, not a judicial one. You can always appeal it according to the law.

Is this really “all about Islam“? This woman is married to an alleged poligamyst (something that is forbidden in France, in fact it’s a crime) and she herself is an alleged welfare fraudster, for receiving a social benefit only destined for single mothers.

The woman has challenged the fine as a breach of her human rights.

 

President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government said last week it would push ahead with a ban on wearing a burqa in public, despite a warning from state legal experts that such a law could be unconstitutional.

In this context, the Nantes incident gained political momentum and dominated the news this weekend.

And now for the allegations against the Government:

Criticising Hortefeux’s move Nantes Deputy Mayor Jean-Marc Ayrault (Socialist, ), said the state authorities had known about the polygamy allegations for some time. “Why are they pretending just now to have discovered the situation?” he said.

Well, better late than never, isn’t it? Just because for some time no measures have been taken, doesn’t mean they cannot be taken now.

The state prosecutor in Nantes, Xavier Ronsin, said that so far no charge had been lodged against the husband, but an investigation could be launched if there were grounds to suspect fraud.

As to whether the man could be stripped of his French nationality, a source close to the investigation said that French law allowed this only in the case of serious crimes against the state such as terrorism, not for polygamy.

The Minister should run an investigation on this guy. And nationality should be stripped from people living obviously according to Sharia Law, as this is based on principles actually opposed to Western democracy. You want to be living by Sharia Law, go to a place where it is allowed.

Le Figaro:

Wearing a beard, dressed in a Pakistani Khamiss, head covered with a skullcap and turban, Lies Hebbadj, the companion of the French converted to Islam, does not go unnoticed in Rezé-les-Nantes, a common Nantes’ suburs. Born in Algiers 34 years ago, he was but a young child when he arrived in the big city in western France, Lies Hebbadj is known for his religious position and his actions as head of the cultural association that he founded to get local officials permission to create a large mosque in the town where he lived and worked for ten years.

Lies Hebbadj is, in effect, a merchant storefront and handles the supply El-butchery Kaouthar, a store brand new and very well kept. But he is also an active member of the Tabligh movement, this movement and ostentatious proselyte whose epicenter is Pakistan, where he has already visited several times in the past. His trips abroad, including London, have also been the subject of ongoing monitoring by the intelligence services. 

But what he accuses Brice Hortefeux him of, is primarily related to his private affairs. Lies Hebbadj, who obtained French nationality through a marriage contracted in 1999 with a Nantes-born woman, is suspected of polygamy. He would have four wives informal, married religiously including French converts to Islam. Women who had given him twelve children.

For now, the authorities remain silent on the possible scam to social benefits paid under the single parent allowance to his companions who all wear the niqab and live in a sort of harem divided among three houses within a contiguous pleasant suburban neighborhood Rezé-les-Nantes. Lies Hebbadj has erected around them a great fence to shield the community from being seen by neighbours.

More:

The controversy over the headscarf ban full took a new turn, this Sunday, fueled by the case of the husband of the veiled driver verbalized in Nantes. On Radio J, the boss of UMP deputies, Jean-Francois Cope, began by providing strong support to Brice Hortefeux. The Interior Minister, who intends to deprive of his citizenship a man suspected of polygamy and welfare fraud, was “having reason to set foot in it“, said the deputy mayor of Meaux.

In addition, Cope has reaffirmed its determination to achieve a law generally prohibits the full veil “before the end of the special session in July, as requested by the President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon.

Later, on TV5 Monde, the Immigration Minister Eric Besson was more cautious on the case of alleged polygamist. The minister, who on Friday called Brice Hortefeux to study the matter, said it was “legally required to verify a number of points“, admitting in passing that it would “probably” difficult to prove polygamy. 

I repeat what I have copied before: They:

live in a sort of harem divided among three houses within a contiguous pleasant suburban neighborhood Rezé-les-Nantes. Lies Hebbadj has erected around them a great fence to shield the community from being seen by neighbours.

Why a man would live with four women in three houses surrounded by a common fence? He has had sons with all of them. And remember that sex our of wedlock is haram…

Background: Interior Minister wants investigation on niqab’d driver’s husband.

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• Suspicion of polygamy stokes France’s veil debate (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Today is Boobquake Day!

Just to prove the stupidity of Ayatollah Sedighi’s claims that “unmodest women” produce the earthquakes, a new initiative is born:

that point of view doesn’t sit well with Blag Hag blogger Jen McCreight.

The student from Indiana has launched a Facebook campaign against Mr Sedighi’s comments, asking women across the world to wear their most revealing outfits to test the cleric’s theories.
The campaign is called called Boobquake – and today is Boobquake Day.

“On Monday, April 26th I will wear the most cleavage-showing shirt I own… the one usually reserved for a night on the town,” says organiser Jennifer McCreight on the Facebook page.
“I encourage other female sceptics to join me and embrace the supposed supernatural power of their breasts.

“With the power of our scandalous bodies combined, we should surely produce an earthquake.”

  A very good idea!!!

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