Jordan: “The Mosque of Jesus”

Note: I don’t want them to build “Jesus’ mosques”. I want them to respect people who don’t think he is a prophet announcing Muhammad but the Son of God. This is absolutely useless, from my point of view.

Image via Wikipedia

A mosque named after the central figure of Christianity is to become a milestone of interfaith coexistence in Jordan. Both Muslim and Christian leaders expressed their satisfaction when the Mosque of Jesus Christ was opened some time ago. The place of worship was inaugurated in the town of Madaba, 30 km south of the capital, Amman.

“This is a message to the world that Muslims consider Jesus Christ as their prophet, because he informed humanity beforehand that the Prophet Muhammad was coming”, said the imam of the mosque, Belal Hanina. “And this also proves that Islam is a religion of tolerance and has nothing to do with extremism”.

Hanina explained how Christians and Muslims have lived in peace for a long time and have nurtured fraternal ties in this area of the Hashemite Kingdom, an ardent supporter of interfaith dialogue. Christians account for 10 percent of the residents of Madaba and 5 percent of Jordan, which has five and a half million inhabitants.

From Vatican Insider.

Israel: Preaching the Gospel in a Muslim neighbourhood

Image via Wikipedia

Holy Land Missions recently purchased a building in a Muslim neighborhood to use as a youth center. A week before the youth center opened, Khoury was summoned to the courthouse.

“Mr. Khoury, there are many complaints that you are going to begin outreaches in the youth center, and many people are afraid these outreaches will be noisy,” a government official told him. “A lot of trouble can come if you are active in that controversial neighborhood.”

Pastor Khoury promptly responded, “Well, it is very interesting that you have been warned about this because we have not even begun yet. So how will those that are concerned about our presence in the neighborhood know if we will cause trouble or noise?”

The government official agreed to let HLM begin its work in the neighborhood, but he warned Pastor Khoury that he expects to see him again.

The same week Pastor Khoury was summoned to the courthouse, a Muslim family threatened to harm HLM pastors and vandalized the center’s locks. The family said they would “break the legs” of anyone who enters the youth center’s gates. “You can break my legs, but you can’t break my faith,” responded the pastor’s son, Steven.

From Beliefnet.com.

Nazi Death Camp Doctor Josef Mengele’s Diaries Sold by Auction to a Jewish Buyer

Joseph Mengele.Image via Wikipedia

The diaries, written after the end of the Second World War when Mengele had fled to Latin America, contain his philosophical reflections, autobiographical stories and poems written between 1960 and 1975.

via Nazi Death Camp Doctor Josef Mengele\\\\\\\’s Diaries For Sale By Auction Expected To Fetch Up To £250,000 | World News | Sky News.

Related articles

• Mengele diaries sold to Jewish buyer (jta.org)

Herman Cain: Communities have right to ban mosques

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said Sunday that communities have a right to ban Islamic mosques. Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO said protests and legal challenges to a planned mosque in Tennessee city are an example of local residents pushing back.

…

“Let’s go back to the fundamental issue that the people are basically saying that they are objecting to,” Cain said. “They are objecting to the fact that Islam is both religion and (a) set of laws, Shariah law. That’s the difference between any one of our other traditional religions where it’s just about religious purposes.
“The people in the community know best. And I happen to side with the people in the community.”

via Herman Cain: Communities have right to ban mosques – Nuevo Digital Internacional.

Related:

• We Don’t Have to Ban the Religion of Islam – We Merely have to Enforce our Existing Laws (ibloga.blogspot.com)

Related articles

• Herman Cain Says US Communities ‘Have the Right’ to Ban Mosques – Fox News (news.google.com)

Malaysia: Muslims object to Christian use of word “Allah”

Here we go again [the reason Christians use "Allah" to call God is simple: there is no other word to call God in Malaysian language]:

Image via Wikipedia

Muslim leaders in Malaysia are insisting that Christians must stop using the word “Allah” in reference to the Christian God.

The use of “Allah” as a translation of “God” in the Malay Bible “must be abandoned because it erroneously represents the two religions as equal,” said Mohd Sani Badron, a leading Islamic scholar.

Malaysia’s Catholic newspaper has won a decision in the nation’s supreme court, allowing the use of “Allah” in its pages to refer to God. But the paper is still unable to use that word, because government officials have appealed the decision. Christians explain that “Allah” has been used routinely as a word referring to the Supreme Being—not necessarily the Islamic deity. The renewed dispute comes during the same week when Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak met with Pope Benedict XVI and made a commitment to establish diplomatic ties with the Vatican. The Malaysian leader said that his visit to the Vatican shows that although the country is officially Islamic, “we are an inclusive government.” Speaking of the nation’s Christian minority, he said: “We accept them. We can engage with them. We can have dialogue with them because we want to uphold peace in this world.”

via Catholic Culture : Latest Headlines : Malaysian Muslims object to Christian use of word \’Allah\’.

Related articles

• Malaysia: Christians can not use “Allah” to define God (onecatholicnews.wordpress.com)
• Malaysia Muslim PM to meet Pope (bbc.co.uk)
• Malaysian Prime Minister to Meet With Pope in Gesture to Christians (nytimes.com)
• Malaysia Premier Is to Meet With the Pope (nytimes.com)
• Malaysia, Vatican Establish Diplomatic Relations (online.wsj.com)
• Malaysia and Vatican establish diplomatic ties (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Malaysia and Vatican establish diplomatic ties (sfgate.com)

Pew Global Poll: Muslims, Westerners retain stereotype views

Andrew Kohut. Image by Miller_Center via Flickr

Westerners and Muslims continue to hold negative stereotypes of each other, although views of Muslims in the West appear to have improved marginally over the past five years, according to a new survey released by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, reports IPS.

The survey was based on in-depth interviews with respondents in six predominantly Christian and six predominantly Muslim countries, as well as in Israel and the Palestinian Territories (PT).

“Many in the West see Muslims as fanatical and violent …,” it concluded. At the same time, “Muslims in the Middle East and Asia generally see Westerners as selfish, immoral and greedy – as well as violent and fanatical.

”“The survey obviously gives evidence to those who think there is pretty much an intense and entrenched divide (between the two groups),” noted Andrew Kohut, the Project’s founder and director.

The survey found that majorities or pluralities of respondents in all but three of the countries surveyed said they believed “some religions are more prone to violence than others.”

Among Christian respondents who agreed with that assertion, overwhelming majorities said that Islam was the most violent.

Among respondents in predominantly Muslim countries, on the other hand, similar majorities named Judaism as the most violent. Turkey, however, was an exception: 45 percent pf respondents who said some religions were more violent than others named Christianity as the most violent; 41 percent chose Judaism.

via Muslims, Westerners retain stereotype views – ucanews.com.

Related articles

• Muslims, non-Muslims still dislike each other (sfgate.com)
• Muslims, non-Muslims still dislike each other (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Talib al-Britani: British nationals caught supporting the Taliban

Taliban in Herat.Image via Wikipedia

Britain’s connection to jihad in South Asia was once again cast into the spotlight with the capture of two British nationals with alleged links to the Taliban in Herat. The man and woman remain unidentified, and the British Ministry of Defense and Foreign Office have both merely confirmed that they were British nationals. Stories have started to circulate in the press that they were plotting an attack back in the U.K. and it seems that they were dual Afghan-British nationals known to MI5, though other reports indicate they may be of Pakistani origin.  Whether they were planning an attack in the U.K. or not, the prospect of British nationals fighting British soldiers in Afghanistan is something that has long worried British officials. Either way, their presence shows the connection between the U.K. and fighting in Afghanistan continues to exist, a demonstration of how ingrained extreme ideas continue to be in the U.K.

In many ways, this discovery is not that surprising. NATO forces have captured other European nationals fighting for their enemies in Afghanistan before, and there have been reports of British signals intercepts planes over the country hearing men talking in distinct regional British accents. Recently a picture surfaced in an extremist video showing “Musa the British” – a dead Taliban fighter with roots in the U.K. Most dramatically, a couple of years ago a story circulated that British forces had discovered a Taliban corpse with an Aston Villa tattoo. (Aston Villa is a Birmingham football team, one of Britain’s cities with a large South Asian population.)

via Talib al-Britani « Raffaello Pantucci.

Read it all.

Related articles

• British Terror Suspects Held In Afghanistan (news.sky.com)
• British forces detain 2 UK citizens in Afghanistan (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• British ‘Taliban fighters’ arrested in Afghanistan terror raid (telegraph.co.uk)
• British Taliban Suspects Held In Afghanistan (news.sky.com)
• UK forces arrest “britons” in Afghanistan terror plot – lefty lawyers on the case (undhimmi.com).

Pakistan: mixed Christian-Muslim married couple flee death threats

Image via Wikipedia

A young Pakistani married couple has been forced into hiding because of death threats. Islamic leaders have condemned their marriage because the husband is Christian while the wife is Muslim.

Asthma Zubaida, a Muslim schoolteacher, married Basharat Mashi, a civil official in the town of Gujranwala, in September 2010. After receiving multiple death threats, they have fled the town. Their relatives report that they now have been threatened, and complain that local police have taken little interest in their safety.

via Catholic Culture : Latest Headlines : Pakistan: mixed Christian-Muslim married couple flee death threats.

Related articles

• Muslim woman forced to flee for marrying a Christian (onecatholicnews.wordpress.com)
• Pakistan: Christians are forbidden to eat in restaurants (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
• Pakistan: Muslim think-tank denounces persecution against Christians (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
• Pakistan: Court Acquits 70 Muslim Radicals of Burning 8 Christians Alive during 2009 Gojra Massacre (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)

Norway: twin blasts rock Oslo, 2 dead (BREAKING) [UPD]

From BBC:

South America: Hezbollah Gaining Strength Dealing with Mexican Drug Cartels

Image by stevendamron via Flickr

Noriega told the committee that the Venezuelan government is encouraging Hezbollah activities in several Latin American nations. A key operative in the Hezbollah network, he pointed out, is the second highest ranked diplomat in the Venezuelan embassy in Syria, Ghazi Nassereddine.

Nassereddine, who was born in Lebanon, reportedly manages a network that raises and launders money and trains operatives to expand Hezbollah’s influence in Venezuela and other Latin American countries.

Noriega also noted that an Iranian overseer of Hezbollah is Mohsen Rabbani, who is wanted by Argentinian prosecutors for his role in the 1992 and 1994 terrorist attacks against the Israeli embassy and the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires.

via Hezbollah Gaining Strength in Latin America Dealing with Mexican Drug Cartels | Stopping the spread of Sharia in America.

More:

Related articles

• Hezbollah Hooks Up With Mexican Drug Cartels (businessinsider.com)
• Al-Qaeda, Drug Cartels and Chávez, united in drug trafficking (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
• US: counter-terrorism investigators find criminal related ring of activities related to terrorism (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)

Pakistan: Farah Hatim to stay with Muslim family

Bawhalpur. Image via Wikipedia

A Pakistani girl who was allegedly kidnapped and forced to marry a Muslim man has told a high court that she will stay with him, said reports in the Vatican Insider and on Fides.

In tears, Farah Hatim appeared before the judge of the High Court of Punjab, Bahawalpur section. When the judge asked her the question “which family do you choose”, the girl, after an interminable silence, replied: “Both.” The Court argued that “this is impossible”, the question was repeated. At that point, Farah chose her new Muslim family.

Australia: Turkish Vandalism Forces Name Change in Assyrian Memorial Plaque

Bodies of Christians who perished during the Assyrian genocide. Image via Wikipedia

A controversial plaque commemorating Australian and Assyrian forces fighting side by side is set to be recast with a word change in an effort to quell ethnic tensions and constant vandalism.

The Assyrian Levies Association plaque in Fairfield Park, which was removed by vandals in March and splashed with paint last September, will be replaced next month with the word “Turkey” changed to “Ottoman” after a complaint was made to council.

Assyrian Levies Association president Gaby Kiwarkis said the Assyrian community were up in arms after the latest act of vandalism in March but wanted to keep the situation calm.

“They wanted to demonstrate,” he said. “I had to tell people to calm down and do it the right way.

“It’s not about politics when you are remembering the dead.”

Mr Kiwarkis, who helped negotiate the change, said the Turkish community originally asked for several changes but eventually agreed on the one.

via Turkish Vandalism Forces Name Change in Assyrian Memorial Plaque.

Indonesia: parishes house refugees fleeing volcano

Mount Lokon, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Image via Wikipedia

Christian schools and church halls in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, are now housing 5,000 refugees–mostly Muslim–who have fled the eruption of Mount Lokon.

The Diocese of Manado, located in an area that is only 3% Catholic, is providing masks to refugees and is urging parishes to be “open and show solidarity, providing as much assistance as possible.”

via Catholic Culture : Latest Headlines : Indonesia: parishes house refugees fleeing volcano.

Arab world: Poll show USA’s less popular under Obama

The attitude of the Arab world to the United States is much worse now with Obama than was with Bush at the end of his term. A survey by Zogby International for the Arab American Institute Foundation shows that there has been a great decline from the favorable attitude toward the United States between 2008 and 2011. In particular, the attitude towards the US has plummetted from 26 to 12 percent in Morocco, from 9 to 5 percent in Egypt, from 16 to 10 percent in Jordan and from 22 to 12 percent in UAE.

Nihil Obstat.

Translation by T&P.

France: theatre play will show Christ as “whore terrorist devil”

Speaking about Christophobia:

Christ will soon be a “fucking hell of a terrorist.” This is provided in a “show” ( what are you talking about…) which, coincidentally, will be held in Paris in December, ie just before the Feast of the Nativity, or as we say today, Christmas. The “show” is funded by institutional partners and sponsors (see below, it is very instructive).

So, about this new vulgar, obscene and Christianophobic “show”, a Catholic institute informs (excerpts): “The” Golgota picnic “(ndmg – Picnic at Golgotha​​?) it is scheduled  at the Theatre du Rond-Point in Paris from 8 to 17 December. The director Rodrigo Garcia claims he is revisiting the Holy Scriptures and spoke about his “absolutely shameless” approach, intended to present the Christian iconography as the image of “the terror and barbarism”. “I allow myself even the poetic license to say that with such a past iconography, it is normal to rape little boys,” dares to declare what Rodrigo Garcia.

-

“In the press kit of Golgotha ​​picnic, Rodrigo Garcia explains how he built his own biblical imagination, translating it into an obscene language and images. Christ is here called “el diablo puto” (ndmg – whore devil) and is compared to a terrorist. He also shows Christ, crucified surrounded by banknotes. Burgers litter the floor of the stage, trying to parody grotesquelly the multiplication of the loaves. And then the Italian conductor Marino Formenti plays in the piano the “Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross” by Haydn. “
-

But Marino Formenti sees no malice because “the actors appear naked very often on stage” (yes, actores also appear naked… it’s soooo original, isn’t it?). And this blasphemous show is scheduled in the agenda of the prestigious “Fall Festival”.

via Le Christ est un « putain de diable terroriste » – Michel Garroté – drzz.info.

The play will be funded by the French Culture Ministry and by prestigious associations such as the Fuoundation Pierre Bergé and the Baron Philippe de Rotschild Society, among others.

Senegal: At least six churches attacked

Abdoulaye Wade. Image via Wikipedia

While Senegalese President funds Marseille’s mosque, churches are attacked in his country.

The World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA-RLC) is calling on the government of Senegal, West Africa to investigate attacks on churches that occurred during recent protests over constitutional amendments.

Protests erupted on June 23 after President Abdoulaye Wade’s government proposed a bill which would change the current requirement of a 50 per cent vote to become president to 25 per cent so Wade could remain in power.

The same day, at least six churches were attacked by mobs. WEA Executive Director, Godfrey Yogarajah, said it is clear the attacks had nothing to do with the protests and were clearly planned and organized to take advantage of the situation.

via The Voice of the Martyrs Canada: At least six churches attacked in Senegal.

Related articles

• France: Senegal contributes to the funding of Marseille’s mega-mosque (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)

Australia: Muslim Convert Held Down by Intruders and Whipped for Drinking

Image by Lynda Giddens via Flickr

A man who was held down on his bed and whipped up to 40 times by strangers had recently converted to Islam and was reportedly being punished for drinking.

The 31-year-old was asleep in his apartment in Silverwater, in Sydney’s west, when he woke to find four bearded men in his bedroom about 1am (AEST) yesterday.

Three of the intruders restrained him on the bed while the fourth man used a cable to lash him 40 times.

The attack lasted about 30 minutes and left the man covered in welts, the Seven Network reported today.

Al-Qaeda: Bin Laden Plotted 9/11 Anniversary Attack

A still of 2004 Osama Bin Laden video. Image via Wikipedia

Osama bin Laden was working to assemble a team of militants to attack the U.S. on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, according to communications Navy SEALs seized from his Pakistani hideout when they killed the al Qaeda leader this spring.

Bin Laden and his operations chief, Attiyah Abd al-Rahman, swapped views about the composition of the attack team, with bin Laden repeatedly rejecting names that Mr. Rahman suggested, according to U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence taken from the bin Laden compound.

…Plans for an anniversary attack were one of the few specific potential threats to emerge from the trove of documents and other materials taken from bin Laden’s residence in Abottabad, Pakistan, in the May 2 raid. An initial analysis of the evidence said al Qaeda hoped to attack trains in the U.S., possibly on the anniversary of Sept. 11.

via Bin Laden Plotted 9/11 Anniversary Attack – WSJ.com.

Related articles

• Al-Qaeda: Possible terrorist targets (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)

Honor Killings, a video

By Memini.co. Thanks to EuropeNews.

Thailand: Islamist rebels slaughter Buddhists

Theravadda Bhuddism is highly respected in Thailand. Image via Wikipedia

Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, notes that an Islamist terrorist insurgency has claimed 4,000 lives in southern Thailand since 2004. Recent victims include two beheaded boys; “they are all innocent victims, guilty only for not being Muslims,” according to a Fides source.

“We will kill, burn, and destroy all Buddhists: you will never be able to live in peace here,” notes a pamphlet distributed by the terrorists. “The Pattani Islamic guerrillas announce that they will never stop the slaughter of infidels of Siam until the land of Pattani [becomes] an Islamic state.”

The nation of 66.5 million is 0.5% Catholic, according to Vatican statistics. Nearly 95% of Thais are Buddhist, while nearly 5% are Muslim.

via Catholic Culture : Latest Headlines : Islamist rebels slaughter Buddhists in Thailand.

Related:

• Islam 2010.
• Thailand: Southern terrorists could have received training by JI.
• Thailand: Islamism spreads amid violence.