X-Symantec-TimeoutProtection: 0 X-Symantec-TimeoutProtection: 1 X-Symantec-TimeoutProtection: 2 Received: (qmail 24574 invoked from network); 6 Jan 2007 04:14:31 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO pre-smtp21-02.prod.mesa1.secureserver.net) ([64.202.166.37]) (envelope-sender ) by smtp21-02.prod.mesa1.secureserver.net (qmail-ldap-1.03) with SMTP for ; 6 Jan 2007 04:14:31 -0000 Received: (qmail 26302 invoked from network); 6 Jan 2007 04:14:31 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO sccrmhc15.comcast.net) ([204.127.200.85]) (envelope-sender ) by pre-smtp21-02.prod.mesa1.secureserver.net (qmail-ldap-1.03) with SMTP for ; 6 Jan 2007 04:14:27 -0000 Received: from pc1 (c-67-188-77-173.hsd1.ca.comcast.net[67.188.77.173]) by comcast.net (sccrmhc15) with SMTP id <20070106041424015004u5lie>; Sat, 6 Jan 2007 04:14:24 +0000 Message-ID: <00cf01c73149$19cf7b30$0200a8c0@PC1> Reply-To: "Pointer" From: "Pointer" To: "Pointer @LittleHornArchive.com" Subject: Pipes weblog on Iraq's border, swing voters, niqab danger, Palestinians leaving, El Al Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2007 20:13:58 -0800 Organization: LittleHornArchive.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_00CC_01C73106.08B84F90" X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.3028 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3028 X-Nonspam: Statistical 64% X-NAS-BWL: No match found for 'Pointer@LittleHornArchive.com' (278 addresses, 0 domains) X-NAS-Bayes: #0: 0; #1: 1 X-NAS-Classification: 0 X-NAS-MessageID: 909 X-NAS-Validation: {90CAE177-5BA4-4FB6-A837-23BBD659225E} This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_00CC_01C73106.08B84F90 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Daniel Pipes Daniel Pipes Mailing List December 25, 2006 =20 =20 Homepage | Articles | Weblog | Reviews | = Unsubscribe =20 Weblog =20 Muslims "Lagging Behind" =20 Wilfred Cantwell Smith, author of "Islam in Modern History." =20 =20 The book that most shaped my understanding of modern Muslim life = was Wilfred Cantwell Smith's Islam in Modern History (Princeton, 1957). = To reduce Smith's nuanced thesis to a few sentences, he argues that = Muslim military, economic, and cultural success in the premodern period = created an expectation that God's people would be rewarded for their = faith in mundane ways. That expectation left Muslims incapable of = explaining what happened when, in modern times, they fell behind in = those same arenas. The fundamental malaise of modern Islam is a sense that = something has gone wrong with Islamic history. The fundamental problem = of modern Muslims is how to rehabilitate that history: to set it going = again in full vigour, so that Islamic society may once again flourish as = a divinely guided society should and must (p. 41). The trauma of modern Islam has already lasted over two centuries, = with no end in sight. I presented an abbreviated and updated version of Smith's thesis = in a 2000 article, "Islam and Islamism - Faith and Ideology," which = included this sentence: "Whatever index one employs, Muslims can be = found clustering toward the bottom-whether measured in terms of their = military prowess, political stability, economic development, corruption, = human rights, health, longevity or literacy." Islamists angrily jumped = on this observation, though it seems rather self-evident and can be = confirmed by looking at nearly any index of political openness, civil = liberties, economic development, scientific breakthroughs, technological = prowess, and the like. This background comes to mind with the publication of two recent = studies, in the United Kingdom and in India. Each of them makes my point = in spades. Some highlights of the British report, as summarized by = Reuters: Based on data from the 2001 national census, the 162-page study = paints a relatively bleak picture of life for Britain's 1.8 million = Muslims, most of whom are ethnic Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. = "Of the different religious groups, unemployment rates among Muslims = were more than double those in other groups," it found. Some 17 percent = of Muslim men and 18 percent of Muslim women were unemployed compared to = just five percent of Christian men and four percent of Christian women. = "Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Black African groups had low levels of = participation in the labor market," the study found. "Their high = unemployment rates suggest that even when active in the labor market = they experienced difficulties finding employment." A third of Muslims lived in households which, according to the = census definition, were overcrowded, compared to just six percent of = Britain's Christians. Some 44 percent of ethnic Bangladeshi and 26 = percent of ethnic Pakistani households were deemed to be overcrowded, = against an average for the country of seven percent. In a country of = nearly 59 million where home ownership is widespread and regarded as a = key measure of wealth, Muslims were less likely to own their own houses = than followers of other faiths. Just over half of Muslim households = owned their houses compared to a national average of nearly 70 percent. The Indian report has not been released, only portions leaked. = From a summary by the prime minister's office: The Muslim community is = "lagging behind" in most areas: they are "relatively poor, more = illiterate, has lower access to education, lower representation in = public- and private-sector jobs and lower availability of bank credit = for self-employment. In urban areas, the community mostly lives in slums = characterized by poor municipal infrastructure." Some particulars, as = presented by the New York Times: in many states Muslims are significantly overrepresented in = prison. In the western state of Maharashtra, for instance, Muslims make = up 10.6 percent of the population but 32.4 percent of those convicted or = facing trial. In the famed national bureaucracy, the Indian = Administrative Service, Muslims made up only 2 percent of officers in = 2006. Among district judges in 15 states surveyed, 2.7 percent were = Muslim. Educational disparities were among the most striking. Among = Muslims, Mr. Shariff said, the literacy rate is about 59 percent, = compared with more than 65 percent among Indians as a whole. On average, = a Muslim child attends school for three years and four months, compared = with a national average of four years. Less than 4 percent of Muslims = graduate from school, compared with 6 percent of the total population. = Less than 2 percent of the students at the elite Indian Institutes of = Technology are Muslim. Equally revealing, only 4 percent of Muslim = children attend madrasas, Mr. Shariff said. The gaps in employment are likely to be among the most = politically explosive. Muslims appear to be overrepresented in the = informal sector of day laborers and street vendors and underrepresented = in the public sector. Muslims secured about 15 percent of all government = jobs, considerably less than the share filled by "backward" castes and = Dalits, those who were considered "untouchables" in the Hindu caste = system. Comment: With few exceptions - such as Muslims in the United = States - the pattern of Muslim backwardness is nearly universal. = Accepting this fact would be a first step toward remedying it. (November = 29, 2006) Permalink | Reader Comments -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - Iraq and Kuwait Have a Recognized Border=20 There's so much going on in Iraq, it's easy to miss a momentous = development that just took place: the Iraqi and Kuwaiti governments have = just signed a border agreement. Why momentous? Because it was the lack = of a mutual-agreed-upon border in 1990 that led Saddam Hussein to invade = Kuwait, which in turn led to the sanctions regime on Baghdad whose 1998 = renunciation eventually led to the invasion of 2003 and to the mess = today. Details on the agreement, as reported by Agence France-Presse: "We have signed a deal ... after which Kuwait will be able to = complete the construction of the security fence," Kuwait's foreign = ministry undersecretary Khaled al-Jarallah told reporters after talks = with his Iraqi counterpart on Tuesday. The deal calls for the payment of = "compensation to Iraqi farmers" on the border, said Jarallah, and added = that the amount "had been deposited with the United Nations." "We have completed the practical requirements for the = demarcation of borders," based on UN Security Council Resolution 833 = issued in 1993, Iraq's foreign ministry undersecretary Mohammad al-Haj = said. The UN resolution demarcated the land border between the two = nations and granted Kuwait some territory that had previously been held = by Iraq. . Kuwait began the construction of a 200-kilometer (125-mile) = metal barrier along its land borders with Iraq in early 2005, but Iraqi = protestors near the town of Umm Qasr tore down parts of the fence saying = it was being erected on their land. The two officials also discussed demarcation of sea borders and = production of oil from border oilfields. (November 23, 2006) Permalink | Reader Comments -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - American Muslims - Perpetual Swing Voters? "Democrats' wins hinged on Muslims" reads the headline of an = article by Eric Pfeiffer in the Washington Times, and one wonders how = anyone could write such a title with a straight face. In 2000, year of the Palm Beach hanging chads, it was Muslims who = allegedly won the election for George W. Bush. Here is an excerpt from a = 2001 article by Alexander Rose, "How Did Muslims Vote in 2000?" in the = Middle East Quarterly: An "exclusive exit poll" of 350 Florida Muslims, apparently = conducted by the AMA [American Muslim Alliance] and reported on its = website, found that 91 percent voted for Bush, 1 percent for Gore, and 8 = percent for Nader. The Tampa Bay Islamic Center estimated that 55,000 = Muslims in Florida voted and that 88 percent of them favored Bush. If = true, this would mean that Bush's majority among Muslims in Florida was = far more than his several-hundred-vote lead over Gore. From this rather flimsy evidence, Islamist organizations decided = that Bush owed them for his victory. Agha Saeed, the AMPCC chairman, = concluded that "it won't be long before political analysts realize that = Muslim voters have played a historic role." And Sami al-Arian, an = engineering professor at the University of Southern Florida and someone = who was the subject of a six-year federal investigation for alleged = links to Islamist terrorism, added, "Political pundits have been slow in = acknowledging the crucial, even decisive, role of the Muslim vote in = Florida." The chairman of a Massachusetts AMA chapter, Tahir Ali, crowed = that if Muslims "had voted like we did in previous elections, guess who = would be president right now? Al Gore." Republican leaders seeking = Muslim support have accordingly paid lip-service to this strange logic: = at an MPAC forum in January, Tom Davis, the chairman of the National = Republican Congressional Committee, declared that without the AMPCC = endorsement, "Florida would have been reversed." (It's always good to have the political wisdom of convicted = terrorist supporter Sami Al-Arian added to the mix.) =20 Mukit Hossain, Democratic activist and "researcher." =20 =20 This year, with a Senate cliffhanger in the balance, a study = immediately popped up to "prove" that Muslims won it for the Democrats. = Here is Mahdi Bray of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, = hewing to a very thin line: "Although the-get-out-the-vote campaign was = nonpartisan, there is no doubt that our strategy to support a large = Muslim voter turnout in areas with potentially close election races was = a correct one." And here is Mukit Hossain, also of MASFF - not to speak of = president of the Virginia Muslim Political Action Committee, a group = that endorsed the candidacy of Democrat James H. Webb Jr. and appearing = at a press conference wearing a Webb campaign button on his jacket - = with the details, all produced by his very own research: In the Virginia = U.S. Senate race, 86 percent of the state's over 50,000 self-identified = Muslim registered voters went to the polls; of them, 92 percent, or = 47,092, voted for Webb. Webb defeated Republican George Allen by 9,326 = votes, so QED. "If Muslims had decided to put their weight behind Allen, = Republicans would have had at least a tie in the Senate," Hossain = claimed. Comment: (1) Give me a break. (2) Is this the beginning of a = trend, whereby Islamists claim that every close U.S. election is won = (never lost) by virtue of the Muslim vote? Stay tuned for 2008 and = thereafter. (November 14, 2006) Nov. 30, 2006 update: Never slack about letting the Washington = Times get ahead, the Washington Post has now also run an article using = Mukit Hossain's "research." Dec. 24, 2006 update: Mahdi Bray is now busily spreading the = gospel of the Virginia vote. Here he is in Dearborn, Michigan, at the = Muslim American Society and Islamic Circle of North America convention, = as reported by the Detroit Free Press: A strategy of organizing Muslim voters worked in Virginia this = year in the U.S. Senate race. The effort was so organized that Muslim = taxi drivers in northern Virginia took the day off to ferry Muslims to = the polls, said Imam Mahdy Bray, a speaker at the convention. Volunteers = also made phone calls to Muslims in Virginia to urge them to vote, he = said. As a result, Democrat James Webb ousted incumbent Republican = George Allen by about 9,000 votes in a race in which 50,000 Muslims went = to the polls -- 47,000 of them voting for Webb, Bray said. "You can make = a difference when you work," Bray said. Permalink | Reader Comments -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - "Six Arab States Join Rush To Go Nuclear" Those six states are Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi = Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, according to the International = Atomic Energy Agency. In all six cases, they are talking only of = developing civilian nuclear energy programs, as international law = permits that. But no one doubts that this sudden interest in nuclear = power has military implications. =20 The IAEA logo. =20 =20 Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute for Strategic = Studies assumes these states want a "security hedge" vis-=E0-vis Tehran. = "If Iran was not on the path to a nuclear weapons capability you would = probably not see this sudden rush." It also marks an abrupt reversal = among states which until very recently had called for a nuclear-free = Middle East, and for Israel to disarm. Comment: One can't help but get a certain grim satisfaction from = this development. It suggests that however much the Arabic-speaking = leaders inveigh against Israel and its nuclear weapons, they know at = base that not it but Iran threatens them. Or why, all these decades, = would they not have responded in like fashion to Israel's well-known = nuclear capability? (November 4, 2006) Permalink | Reader Comments -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - The Niqab and Burqa as Security Threats I wrote a week ago, in a blog for National Review Online, that the = niqab and burqa should both be banned on security grounds, "as one = cannot have faceless persons walking the streets, driving cars, or = otherwise entering public spaces." This blog will document that danger = in the West, just noting in passing that Islamist terrorists in Iraq and = Afghanistan have routinely and effectively relied on the burqa as a = disguise. Palestinian gunmen Israeli forces in Gaza: The IDF suspects that = Palestinian gunmen dressed up as women to escape a 19-hour standoff with = the IDF that tried to dislodge them from a mosque where they were = hdiing. (November 3, 2006) =20 Abdul Rasheed Khalid, owner of Zaibi Jewellers, in Brampton, = poses with empty display cases. He was bound and hit several times = during a robbery on Nov. 17, the latest in a series of Toronto-area = jewellery store heists. =20 =20 Jewelry theft in Canada. : This incident was reported by the = Toronto Star, "Jewel heists target Asians": Abdul Rasheed Khalid was alone in his Brampton jewellery store = filling the display cases with yellow gold rings and necklaces when two = people, one wearing a head-to-toe black burqa, appeared outside his = locked door. "Salamu alaikum," the 58-year-old store owner said after pushing = the entry buzzer, believing them to be a Muslim couple. There was no = reply, and seconds later the pair - both males - forced him at gunpoint = to the back office where he was bound with duct tape and hit several = times. Then his store was cleaned out. "Keep quiet, keep quiet, close your eyes," they said, while = emptying the red velvet trays into duffel bags carried by an accomplice. = Khalid caught a glimpse of the crooks. He thinks they were Pakistani or = Indian. Last Friday's daylight robbery has other South Asian jewellers = across the GTA on edge, fearful they'll be next. The thieves didn't seem = to care that Zaibi Jewellers is in the same strip mall as a storefront = Peel Region police station at McLaughlin Rd. and Ray Lawson Blvd. (November 21, 2006) =20 Mustaf Jama, Britain's most wanted fugitive, apparently fled = the country for his native Somalia by donning the niqab. =20 =20 Murder suspect flees UK: It's not been confirmed, but a reliable = source indicates that Mustaf Jama, 26, wanted for the murder of a police = constable Sharon Beshenivsky, 38, in November 2005, fled the country = during the last week of 2005 and returned to his native Somalia. The = picture of Britain's most wanted man, with 21 criminal convictions, had = been circulated to every police force, port and airport in the country. = He got through by disguising himself as a Muslim woman. Specifically, he = adopted his sister's identity, using her passport and by wearing a = niqab. Turns out, security personnel at London's Heathrow Airport made = no attempt to match his face with her passport picture, even though the = airport was on a heightened state of alert after the 7/7 terrorist = attack. Indeed, the Times (London) writes that "British immigration = officers rarely carry out a visual check to match a passport photograph = with a departing female passenger's veiled face." It also adds that, in = October 2006, "a male suspect in a major anti-terrorist investigation = evaded capture in Britain for several days by dressing in a burka. He = was eventually arrested and is awaiting trial." (December 20, 2006) Permalink | Reader Comments -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - NATO and Israel - New Friends In his call to adapt the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to the = problem of radical Islam, former Spanish prime minister Jos=E9 Mar=EDa = Aznar deems bringing Israel into the alliance "an extremely important = step." To some, it might also seem an extremely remote one, too. =20 Jos=E9 Mar=EDa Aznar, former prime minister of Spain. =20 =20 But a close look by Joshua Brilliant of United Press = International, "Israel assesses NATO ties," finds the prospect not all = that distant. In fact, both sides are warming to the idea. On the = Israeli side, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni Tuesday [Oct. 24] addressed the = opening session of a conference that NATO, the Israeli Atlantic Forum = and the Institute for Policy and Strategy held in Herzliya. "Israel's = traditional long-term policy has been one of self-reliance," she said. = However, "the current threats necessitate international cooperation and = multilateralism." NATO is "most essential" to meet these strategic = threats because it has a just value system, a special ability to rapidly = adapt to current strategic threats, and a unique approach that combines = diplomacy with the use of military force when necessary, she said. On the NATO side: Al-Qaida's Sept. 11 attacks in the United States demonstrated = that the major threat and challenges come from outside Europe, that = terrorism is globalized, noted Patrick Hardouin, a deputy assistant = secretary-general at NATO's Political Affairs and Security Policy = Division. NATO decided to upgrade its dialogue with Mediterranean = states. It launched Operation Active Endeavor in which its ships, = submarines and aircraft carry out naval anti-terrorist patrols. Israel = contributes to Active Endeavor. It will post an officer at NATO's = headquarters in Naples to help with intelligence gathering so that the = units at sea can be more effective. Some of the cooperation is already quietly underway: An Israeli corvette this summer participated in a NATO exercise = in Romania. Infantrymen joined war games in the Ukraine and a NATO AWACS = plane was in Israel demonstrating its capabilities. . Recently, Israel = became the first country to conclude an Individual Cooperation Program = with NATO. It covers 27 areas, including the fight against terrorism and = joint military exercises, and goes beyond cooperation through the = Mediterranean Dialogue. That said, full membership in NATO will probably require full = resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict, something nowhere in prospect. = In the meantime, Oded Eran, Israel's representative to NATO, emphasizes = the benefit of a multilateral umbrella, without the = attack-on-one-is-an-attack-on-all obligations. (October 26, 2006) Permalink | Reader Comments -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - Palestinians Leaving the West Bank and Gaza "What the Israelis were unable to do - try to push the Palestinian = out of the country - the internal strife is achieving," observes Birzeit = University pollster Nader Said, who has monitored emigration attitudes = among Palestinians for 12 years. Without getting into the accuracy of = the first half of that statement, about Israel, the second part is true = and worth noting. The disaster that is Hamas is causing Palestinians, = who have among the most exaggerated of ties to the land, to up and out. Joshua Mitnick of the Christian Science Monitor details the = changes in "Fallout of Hamas's rule spurs Palestinian desire to flee." = Nader Said says that the percentage of Palestinians willing to relocate = used to hover under 20 percent. That figure reached 32 percent in = September 2006. The percentage among 20- and 30-year olds jumps to 44 = percent. And among males in that age category, it surges to over 50 = percent. Beyond the numbers, there's been a change in attitudes. Among Palestinians, the mere mention of hijra - Arabic for = emigration - is enough to stir up painful memories of the 1948 = Arab-Israeli war that left hundreds of thousands of Palestinians = stranded outside the newly independent Israeli state. "Emigration means = that you are escaping the occupation and that you don't want to liberate = your land. It's a shame on you," says Abdel Nasser Najjar, a columnist = for the Palestinian daily Al Ayyam. "Now it's different. There are many = pressures: economic pressure and psychological pressure. Many people are = speaking out." . a trio of students admitted that the topic of emigration remains = sensitive among family and friends. But at the same time they reject the = suggestion that moving abroad constitutes any betrayal. "If I leave then = I'll be lucky," says Birzeit law student Masaad Masaad, who hopes to = move after graduating and a two-year internship. "The country hasn't = provided anything for me. The government has failed ... No attention is = given to the citizens." Comment: The law of unintended consequences is at work in the = Palestinian Authority, as elsewhere in the world. Who knew that Israel's = allowing a terrorist organization to run for elections would lead to the = depopulating of the Palestinian Authority? (October 24, 2006) Nov. 20, 2006 update: More evidence of the same pattern in The = Globe and Mail, where Mark MacKinnon reports from Ramallah on = "Heavy-hearted Palestinians taking their chances abroad: Thousands leave = the territories to escape politics and poverty-many bound for Canada." = More than 10,000 Palestinians have left the West Bank and Gaza Strip in = the past four months and 45,000 additional emigration requests are being = evaluated by foreign states. The Palestinian territories have never been an easy place to = live, but even when violence was at its peak, most Palestinians refused = to contemplate leaving, believing that would be giving Israelis what = they wanted. Similar polls taken a year ago found only about 5 per cent = were interested in emigrating. But now, more than ever before, = Palestinians are giving up on their homeland. "I want to get out-to = Canada, to Norway, to Switzerland, to Nigeria even," said Fadi el-Fahr, = 24, an unemployed telecommunications engineer. "All I want is a job." Nov. 27, 2006 update: As though nothing is happening, Hamas = leaders responded with the same old formulations to Israeli prime = minister Ehud Olmert's offer to withdraw from large parts of the West = Bank and engage in negotiations in exchange for Palestinians giving up = their claim of a "right of return" to Israeli territory. Hamas spokesman = Ghazi Hamad called the offer "a conspiracy, especially since Olmert is = trying to bypass the core of the Palestinian cause, namely the right of = return for the refugees." Musa Abu Marzouk of Hamas replied that "The = Palestinian people will never give up this sacred right. Our people have = been fighting for 58 years to achieve the right of return for all those = who were expelled from their homeland. We reject any deal that does not = recognize the right of return." For good measure, Fatah also turned down = the offer. Abdullah Abdullah of Fatah on the West Bank said that "The = right of return cannot be ignored or surrendered." Dec. 9, 2006 update: Sarah El Deeb provides more information on = this exodus for the Associated Press in "More Palestinians Flee = Homelands." A technician armed with $7,000 in savings and a tourist visa = plans to seek political asylum in Europe. Travel agents report a brisk = demand for visas to Cuba, one of the few places that welcomes = Palestinians. More than 20 factories have moved out of Gaza in recent = months. Driven by fear of civil war and increasingly bleak economic = prospects, Palestinians are fleeing their violence-wracked lands in = growing numbers. Many are skilled and educated, and are leaving behind = an increasingly impoverished and fundamentalist society. The brain drain = reverses a trend of the 1990s when, fueled by peace hopes, thousands of = well-to-do Palestinians returned from the diaspora to the West Bank and = Gaza, building homes and setting up businesses. . Businesses are also leaving. More than 20, including clothing = and plastic factories, have moved to Egypt or Jordan in the past six = months - as many as in the previous six years - taking 12 percent of = Gaza's scarce jobs with them, according to Gaza's Federation of = Industries. In September alone, 35 factory owners applied to relocate = their machinery abroad, said Mohammed al-Kidwa, governor of Gaza City. = Some who left came back because of the difficulties of doing business = abroad. Of particular interest are the two destinations of choice, Canada = and Cuba: Many countries make it difficult for the stateless Palestinians = to obtain even tourist visas, because they often overstay them and = obtain citizenship by marrying nationals of their host countries. Two = popular destinations for Gazans are Canada, which still offers legal = immigration, and Cuba, which imposes few restrictions on Palestinian = travelers. Those with tourist visas to Cuba often don't plan to go = there. Instead, they get off in transit at a European airport, rip up = their Palestinian travel document and seek asylum. Travel agencies in Gaza arrange for fictitious invitations, = hotel bookings and Cuban visas for their clients, a Palestinian security = official said. The cost of the service has gone up from $200 to $1,500 = because of the high demand and increasing risk, the official said. = Palestinian, Egyptian and European officials have begun to tighten = restrictions in an attempt to stem the flow. Travel agent Mohammed Mouin = said 65 of his clients with Cuban visas were sent back from Egypt, but = that many more are trying. "Traveling to Cuba has become a fad," he = said. Comment: The article also includes this throw-away line: = "Emigration from Gaza, in particular, has picked up. Life in the = fenced-in strip has become increasingly difficult following Israel's = pullout last year." Combined with the point about life under Hamas rule = being unbearable, this suggests that, ironically, the dual Israeli folly = of permitting a terrorist organization to win an election and withdraw = unilaterally from Gaza has inadvertently led to the reduction in the = number of its enemies. Permalink | Reader Comments -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - The United States Government, Still the Patron of Islam In early 2002, I revealed (with co-author Mimi Stillman) the = surprising history of U.S. government statements favorable to Islam in = "The United States Government: Patron of Islam?" I noted there that this = approach has "four main elements, each of which has become a policy = mantra: There is no clash of civilizations. Terrorism is not Islamic. = Islam is compatible with American ideals and adds to American life. = Americans must learn to appreciate Islam." Since then, there have been few such pandering statements, but = they have not disappeared entirely. This weblog entry records some of = the more outlandish ones: _________ Russell Hanks, political counsellor in the U.S. embassy in = Nigeria, as reported by the Daily Triumph of Kano, Nigeria: Contrary to the widely held opinion in the Muslim world = concerning America's view on Islam, the United States of America has = respect, care and acknowledgement of Muslims contribution in America = civilization. This assertion was made by Mr. Russell Hanks, the = political counsellor in the Embassy of the United States of American in = Nigeria. The counsellor who made the disclosure at a dinner parts = organized by the US embassy for selected Muslims for breaking their fast = on Tuesday, stated that the very foundation of democracy laid by = America's founding fathers was based on Islamic influence essentially = from the Middle East. America, he opined, has seven million Muslims whom = he said, are making wonderful contributions to the development of the = nation. He said the programme was organized for Muslims in this very = important month of Ramadan because of the respect the embassy accords to = Muslims and their religion. (October 5, 2006) Karen Hughes, under secretary of state for public diplomacy and = public affairs - and, with the FBI's Robert Mueller, easily the most = incompetent of U.S. government officials on the topic of Islam - = speaking at the Annual State Department Iftaar Dinner: Recently I was told a story from the time of the prophet about a = famous man who expressed a desire to seek knowledge. He was advised, = this man, by another man to join the assembly of a well-known woman = jurist of the day named Amara bin Al-Rahman. She was described as a = boundless ocean of knowledge and she shared her knowledge with a number = of famous men which kind of reminds me of our boss Dr. Condoleezza Rice = when she shows up at a national security meeting and shares her = boundless knowledge with all the men in the room. Amara was not an = exception in Islamic history. There are many examples of extraordinary = women, including jurists, poets and narrators of Hadith. (October 19, 2006) Oct. 20, 2006 update: According to Khalid = Hasan, writing in the Daily Times of Lahore, this comment "raised = several eyebrows." Permalink | Reader Comments -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - Polling American Islamists An organization called "Muslims For A Safe America" conducted a = unscientific but nonetheless interesting opinion survey at its booth in = the Islamic Society of North America's convention in early September. In = all, 307 American citizens attending this Islamist event replied to 30 = questions. I have rearranged the order of the questions and excluded = some. We begin with the denial and conspiracy theory section: 5. Did Muslims hijack planes and fly them into buildings on = 9/11? Yes 117 No 139 Undecided 51 6. Did the U.S. government have advance knowledge of the 9/11 = attacks, and allow the attacks to occur? Yes 200 No 70 Undecided 37 7. Did the U.S. government organize the 9/11 attacks? Yes 106 No 151 Undecided 50 8. Are the tapes of Osama Bin Laden, claiming responsibility for = the 9/11 attacks and threatening future attacks, real or fake? Real 126 Fake 129 Undecided 52 9. Did Muslims commit the July 2005 train and bus bombings in = London? Yes 140 No 104 Undecided 63 10. The Canadian government says it stopped a plot by Canadian = Muslims in June 2006 to attack targets in Canada. Do you believe there = was a real plot by Muslims? Yes 61 No 202 Undecided 44 11. The British government says it stopped a plot by British = Muslims in August 2006 to bomb planes flying to America. Do you believe = there was a real plot by Muslims? Yes 66 No 191 Undecided 50 12. Is Al Qaeda a real organization, operated by Muslims who are = trying to attack America? Yes 149 No 109 Undecided 49 Comment: These replies point to an outlook consonant with opinion = in the Middle East and other Muslim-majority areas. Living in the United = States, clearly, hardly affects their conspiracist mentality. Second, what about the means that the U.S. authorities use to = protect the country? 15. Is it justifiable for the U.S. government to do any of the = following in an attempt to prevent terrorist attacks in America: a. taking religion and ethnicity into account as one factor when = deciding whom to interview and search at airports? Yes 37 No 258 Undecided 12 b. monitoring activities at American mosques? Yes 43 No 255 Undecided 9 c. listening to phone calls of people in America whom the = government claims are connected in some way with Al Qaeda? Yes 64 No 232 Undecided 11 d. having an informer pretend to support or encourage violence = against America, to see if the targeted Muslims will decide to attack = American targets? Yes 35 No 258 Undecided 14 e. monitoring Muslim charities in America, in the hopes of = preventing funding for possible terrorist attacks?=20 Yes 52 No 242 Undecided 13 f. focusing Immigration & Customs Enforcement resources on = deporting Muslim illegal aliens, who have not been convicted of = terrorism, in the hopes of disrupting possible Al Qaeda attacks? Yes 29 No 263 Undecided 15 g. allowing Muslim illegal aliens to stay in America if they = agree to work as informants, monitoring the Muslim community for the = government? Yes 21 No 277 Undecided 9 h. torturing suspected Al Qaeda members to get information about = possible planned attacks? Yes 14 No 278 Undecided 15 Comment: Overwhelmingly, American Islamists want to prevent = Americans from using just about any means for self-defense, suggesting = where their sympathies lie. Third, some key foreign policy issues: 21. Should Iran develop nuclear weapons? Yes 161 No 123 Undecided 23 22. Should America attack Iran to stop Iran from developing = nuclear weapons? Yes 10 No 292 Undecided 5 23. Was America justified in invading Iraq in 2003? Yes 8 No 294 Undecided 5 24. Should American troops leave Iraq immediately, or stay there = until the Iraqi government and Iraqi military are stronger? Leave now 199 Leave later 86 Undecided 22 25. Was America justified in invading Afghanistan after 9/11? Yes 51 No 248 Undecided 8 26. Is violence by Muslims against American civilians = acceptable, in retaliation for the American government's actions in the = Muslim world? YES 23 NO 274 UNDECIDED 10 27. Is violence by Muslims against the American military = overseas acceptable, in retaliation for the American government's = actions in the Muslim world? YES 134 NO 154 UNDECIDED 19 28. Is violence by Muslims against the American military in the = U.S. acceptable, in retaliation for the American government's actions in = the Muslim world? Yes 73 No 211 Undecided 23 29. Is violence by Muslims against American government officials = acceptable, in retaliation for the American government's actions in the = Muslim world? Yes 51 No 231 Undecided 25 3. Is the American government at war with the religion of Islam? Yes 208 No 79 Undecided 20 Comment: As in the second section, these views closely track ones = found in the Middle East. Living in the United States and American = citizenship have little or no effect on views. Fourth, an all-important question about counterterrorism: 30. If you learned about a plot by Muslims to attack targets = inside America, would you tell law enforcement authorities? Yes 234 No 39 Undecided 34 Comment: 24 percent of the respondents won't commit to stopping = terrorism. By comparison, surveys of the whole British Muslim population = (not just self-selected Islamists, as in this survey) find between 5 and = 18 percent unwilling to help law enforcement prevent attacks. Fifth and final section: 2. Do you consider yourself to be a Muslim first, an American = first, or both equally? Muslim first 214 American first 4 Both equally 86 Undecided 3 4. Can a good Muslim be a good American? Yes 292 No 11 Undecided 4 Comment: In the context of all the survey answers, with their = profoundly negative views of the United States these replies suggest = that being "a good American" is a virtually meaningless phrase to = respondents. (September 9, 2006) Permalink | Reader Comments -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - El Al, "Goy" Airline? Given the many restrictions on observant Jews during the sabbath, = they have need of someone not Jewish to undertake necessary tasks to = keep households and the society going. The idea behind the "Shabbos goy" = (as he is known in Yiddish) is that activities forbidden to Jews (such = as lighting fires or turning on electricity) are entirely permissible to = non-Jews. =20 An El Al plane. =20 =20 This arrangement could perhaps solve the woes of El Al, Israel's = main airline company. For a quarter century, El Al has avoided flying on = the sabbath to honor the wishes of its observant clientele, who make up = an estimated 20-30 percent of its passengers. Trouble is, not flying = slightly more than one day out of seven has a severe impact on the = company's bottom line. For years, and especially since it was privatized = in 2004, El Al has been trying to find a way to square the circle - both = fly on the sabbath and retain its observant passengers. Failure to = achieve this goal could land the airline in bankrupty, as it presumably = can no longer depend on taxpayer subventions in its role as the national = airline; the stakes for it are high. The airline recently flew flew some aircraft on the sabbath - and = aroused a major reaction among observant Jews, many of whom are saying = they will henceforth boycott El Al. One haredi leader, Rabbi Yitzhak = Goldknoph, secretary of the Rabbinic Council for the Holiness of = Shabbat, even raised the prospect of setting up a haredi-owned airline, = which sounds like a sure business loser. The odd thing is, observant Jews who boycott El Al will find = themselves on airlines like Brussels Airlines, Continental, and Delta, = which have always flown on the sabbath and would never consider doing = otherwise. Why prefer them to El Al? For the simple reason that they are = not "Jewish" airlines. They might have Jewish executives, staff, and = shareholders, they might offer kosher meals and service the Israel = market, but they are not "Jewish" airlines in the way that El Al is. So, El Al's solution is obvious: Take the steps necessary (mostly = psychological?) to exit its status as a "Jewish" airline and become a = "goy" airline, keep the all-Kosher service, still permit large groups to = congregate in the back of the plane for prayer, plus fly every day of = the week and keep its observant clientele. (December 11, 2006) Permalink | Reader Comments =20 To subscribe to this list, go to = http://www.danielpipes.org/subscribe.php (Daniel Pipes sends out a mailing of his writings 2-3 times a = week.) Sign up for related (but non-duplicating) e-mail services: Middle East Forum (media alerts, event reports, MEQ articles): = http://www.meforum.org/subscribe.php Campus Watch (research, news items, press releases): = http://www.campus-watch.org/subscribe.php You may freely forward this information, but on condition that you = send the text as an integral whole along with complete information about = its author, date, and source. =20 =20 ------=_NextPart_000_00CC_01C73106.08B84F90 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
 

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Muslims "Lagging = Behind"

=20

Wilfred = Cantwell Smith,=20 author of "Islam in Modern History."

The book that most = shaped my=20 understanding of modern Muslim life was Wilfred Cantwell Smith's = Islam in = Modern=20 History (Princeton, 1957). To reduce Smith's nuanced = thesis to a=20 few sentences, he argues that Muslim military, economic, and = cultural=20 success in the premodern period created an expectation that God's = people=20 would be rewarded for their faith in mundane ways. That = expectation left=20 Muslims incapable of explaining what happened when, in modern = times, they=20 fell behind in those same arenas.

The fundamental malaise of modern Islam is a sense that = something has=20 gone wrong with Islamic history. The fundamental problem of = modern=20 Muslims is how to rehabilitate that history: to set it going = again in=20 full vigour, so that Islamic society may once again flourish as = a=20 divinely guided society should and must (p. = 41).

The trauma of modern Islam has already lasted over two = centuries, with=20 no end in sight.

I presented an abbreviated and updated version of Smith's = thesis in a=20 2000 article, "Islam and=20 Islamism - Faith and Ideology," which included this sentence:=20 "Whatever index one employs, Muslims can be found clustering = toward the=20 bottom-whether measured in terms of their military prowess, = political=20 stability, economic development, corruption, human rights, health, = longevity or literacy." Islamists angrily jumped on this = observation,=20 though it seems rather self-evident and can be confirmed by = looking at=20 nearly any index of political openness, civil liberties, economic=20 development, scientific breakthroughs, technological prowess, and = the=20 like.

This background comes to mind with the publication of two = recent=20 studies, in the U= nited=20 Kingdom and in India.=20 Each of them makes my point in spades. Some highlights of the = British=20 report, as summarized=20 by Reuters:

Based on data from the 2001 national census, the 162-page = study=20 paints a relatively bleak picture of life for Britain's 1.8 = million=20 Muslims, most of whom are ethnic Indians, Pakistanis and = Bangladeshis.=20 "Of the different religious groups, unemployment rates among = Muslims=20 were more than double those in other groups," it found. Some 17 = percent=20 of Muslim men and 18 percent of Muslim women were unemployed = compared to=20 just five percent of Christian men and four percent of Christian = women.=20 "Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Black African groups had low levels = of=20 participation in the labor market," the study found. "Their high = unemployment rates suggest that even when active in the labor = market=20 they experienced difficulties finding employment."

A third of Muslims lived in households which, according to = the census=20 definition, were overcrowded, compared to just six percent of = Britain's=20 Christians. Some 44 percent of ethnic Bangladeshi and 26 percent = of=20 ethnic Pakistani households were deemed to be overcrowded, = against an=20 average for the country of seven percent. In a country of nearly = 59=20 million where home ownership is widespread and regarded as a key = measure=20 of wealth, Muslims were less likely to own their own houses than = followers of other faiths. Just over half of Muslim households = owned=20 their houses compared to a national average of nearly 70=20 percent.

The Indian report has not been released, only portions leaked. = From a=20 summary by the prime minister's office: The Muslim community is = "lagging=20 behind" in most areas: they are "relatively poor, more illiterate, = has=20 lower access to education, lower representation in public- and=20 private-sector jobs and lower availability of bank credit for=20 self-employment. In urban areas, the community mostly lives in = slums=20 characterized by poor municipal infrastructure." Some particulars, = as=20 presented by the New York Times:

in many states Muslims are significantly overrepresented in = prison.=20 In the western state of Maharashtra, for instance, Muslims make = up 10.6=20 percent of the population but 32.4 percent of those convicted or = facing=20 trial. In the famed national bureaucracy, the Indian = Administrative=20 Service, Muslims made up only 2 percent of officers in 2006. = Among=20 district judges in 15 states surveyed, 2.7 percent were = Muslim.

Educational disparities were among the most striking. Among = Muslims,=20 Mr. Shariff said, the literacy rate is about 59 percent, = compared with=20 more than 65 percent among Indians as a whole. On average, a = Muslim=20 child attends school for three years and four months, compared = with a=20 national average of four years. Less than 4 percent of Muslims = graduate=20 from school, compared with 6 percent of the total population. = Less than=20 2 percent of the students at the elite Indian Institutes of = Technology=20 are Muslim. Equally revealing, only 4 percent of Muslim children = attend=20 madrasas, Mr. Shariff said.

The gaps in employment are likely to be among the most = politically=20 explosive. Muslims appear to be overrepresented in the informal = sector=20 of day laborers and street vendors and underrepresented in the = public=20 sector. Muslims secured about 15 percent of all government jobs, = considerably less than the share filled by "backward" castes and = Dalits,=20 those who were considered "untouchables" in the Hindu caste=20 system.

Comment: With few exceptions =96 such as Muslims in the = United=20 States =96 the pattern of Muslim backwardness is nearly universal. = Accepting=20 this fact would be a first step toward remedying it. (November 29, = 2006)

Permalink | Reader=20 Comments

Iraq and Kuwait Have a = Recognized Border=20

There's so much going on in Iraq, it's easy to miss a momentous = development that just took place: the Iraqi=20 and Kuwaiti governments have just signed a border agreement. = Why=20 momentous? Because it was the lack of a mutual-agreed-upon border = in 1990=20 that led Saddam Hussein to invade Kuwait, which in turn led to the = sanctions regime on Baghdad whose 1998 renunciation eventually led = to the=20 invasion of 2003 and to the mess today.

Details on the agreement, as reported by Agence = France-Presse:

"We have signed a deal ... after which Kuwait will be able to = complete the construction of the security fence," Kuwait's = foreign=20 ministry undersecretary Khaled al-Jarallah told reporters after = talks=20 with his Iraqi counterpart on Tuesday. The deal calls for the = payment of=20 "compensation to Iraqi farmers" on the border, said Jarallah, = and added=20 that the amount "had been deposited with the United = Nations."

"We have completed the practical requirements for the = demarcation of=20 borders," based on UN Security Council Resolution 833 issued in = 1993,=20 Iraq's foreign ministry undersecretary Mohammad al-Haj said. The = UN=20 resolution demarcated the land border between the two nations = and=20 granted Kuwait some territory that had previously been held by = Iraq. =85=20 Kuwait began the construction of a 200-kilometer (125-mile) = metal=20 barrier along its land borders with Iraq in early 2005, but = Iraqi=20 protestors near the town of Umm Qasr tore down parts of the = fence saying=20 it was being erected on their land.

The two officials also discussed demarcation of sea borders = and=20 production of oil from border oilfields.

(November 23, 2006)

Permalink | Reader=20 Comments

American Muslims =96 Perpetual = Swing=20 Voters?

"De= mocrats'=20 wins hinged on Muslims" reads the headline of an article by = Eric=20 Pfeiffer in the Washington Times, and one wonders how = anyone could=20 write such a title with a straight face.

In 2000, year of the Palm Beach hanging chads, it was Muslims = who=20 allegedly won the election for George W. Bush. Here is an excerpt = from a=20 2001 article by Alexander Rose, "How Did Muslims Vote in = 2000?" in the Middle East Quarterly:

An "exc= lusive=20 exit poll" of 350 Florida Muslims, apparently conducted by = the AMA=20 [American Muslim Alliance] and reported on its website, found = that 91=20 percent voted for Bush, 1 percent for Gore, and 8 percent for = Nader. The=20 Tampa Bay Islamic Center estimated that 55,000 Muslims in = Florida voted=20 and that 88 percent of them favored Bush. If true, this would = mean that=20 Bush's majority among Muslims in Florida was far more than his=20 several-hundred-vote lead over Gore.

From this rather flimsy evidence, Islamist organizations = decided that=20 Bush owed them for his victory. Agha Saeed, the AMPCC chairman,=20 concluded that "it won't be long before political analysts = realize that=20 Muslim voters have played a historic role." And Sami al-Arian, = an=20 engineering professor at the University of Southern Florida and = someone=20 who was the subject of a six-year federal investigation for = alleged=20 links to Islamist terrorism, added, "Political pundits have been = slow in=20 acknowledging the crucial, even decisive, role of the Muslim = vote in=20 Florida." The chairman of a Massachusetts AMA chapter, Tahir = Ali, crowed that if Muslims "had voted like we did in = previous=20 elections, guess who would be president right now? Al Gore." = Republican=20 leaders seeking Muslim support have accordingly paid lip-service = to this=20 strange logic: at an MPAC forum in January, Tom Davis, the = chairman of=20 the National Republican Congressional Committee, declared that = without=20 the AMPCC endorsement, "Florida would have been=20 reversed."

(It's always good to have the political wisdom of convicted = terrorist=20 supporter Sami Al-Arian added to the mix.)

=20

Mukit Hossain, = Democratic=20 activist and "researcher."

This year, with a = Senate=20 cliffhanger in the balance, a study immediately popped up to = "prove" that=20 Muslims won it for the Democrats. Here is Mahdi Bray of the Muslim = American Society Freedom Foundation, hewing to a very thin line: = "Although=20 the-get-out-the-vote campaign was nonpartisan, there is no doubt = that our=20 strategy to support a large Muslim voter turnout in areas with = potentially=20 close election races was a correct one."

And here is Mukit Hossain, also of MASFF =96 not to speak of = president of=20 the Virginia Muslim Political Action Committee, a group that = endorsed the=20 candidacy of Democrat James H. Webb Jr. and appearing at a press=20 conference wearing a Webb campaign button on his jacket =96 with = the=20 details, all produced by his very own research: In the Virginia = U.S.=20 Senate race, 86 percent of the state's over 50,000 self-identified = Muslim=20 registered voters went to the polls; of them, 92 percent, or = 47,092, voted=20 for Webb. Webb defeated Republican George Allen by 9,326 votes, so = QED.=20 "If Muslims had decided to put their weight behind Allen, = Republicans=20 would have had at least a tie in the Senate," Hossain claimed.

Comment: (1) Give me a break. (2) Is this the beginning = of a=20 trend, whereby Islamists claim that every close U.S. election is = won=20 (never lost) by virtue of the Muslim vote? Stay tuned for 2008 and = thereafter. (November 14, 2006)

Nov. 30, 2006 update: Never slack about letting the=20 Washington Times get ahead, the Washington=20 Post has now also run an article using Mukit Hossain's=20 "research."

Dec. 24, 2006 update: Mahdi=20 Bray is now busily spreading the gospel of the Virginia vote. = Here he=20 is in Dearborn, Michigan, at the Muslim American Society and = Islamic=20 Circle of North America convention, as reported by the Detroit = Free=20 Press:

A strategy of organizing Muslim voters worked in Virginia = this year=20 in the U.S. Senate race. The effort was so organized that Muslim = taxi=20 drivers in northern Virginia took the day off to ferry Muslims = to the=20 polls, said Imam Mahdy Bray, a speaker at the convention. = Volunteers=20 also made phone calls to Muslims in Virginia to urge them to = vote, he=20 said. As a result, Democrat James Webb ousted incumbent = Republican=20 George Allen by about 9,000 votes in a race in which 50,000 = Muslims went=20 to the polls -- 47,000 of them voting for Webb, Bray said. "You = can make=20 a difference when you work," Bray said.

Permalink | Reader=20 Comments

"Six Arab States Join Rush To = Go=20 Nuclear"

Those six=20 states are Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and = the=20 United Arab Emirates, according to the International Atomic Energy = Agency.=20 In all six cases, they are talking only of developing civilian = nuclear=20 energy programs, as international law permits that. But no one = doubts that=20 this sudden interest in nuclear power has military = implications.

=20

The IAEA = logo.

Mark Fitzpatrick of = the=20 International Institute for Strategic Studies assumes these states = want a=20 "security hedge" vis-=E0-vis Tehran. "If Iran was not on the path = to a=20 nuclear weapons capability you would probably not see this sudden = rush."=20 It also marks an abrupt reversal among states which until very = recently=20 had called for a nuclear-free Middle East, and for Israel to = disarm.

Comment: One can't help but get a certain grim = satisfaction from=20 this development. It suggests that however much the = Arabic-speaking=20 leaders inveigh against Israel and its nuclear weapons, they know = at base=20 that not it but Iran threatens them. Or why, all these decades, = would they=20 not have responded in like fashion to Israel's well-known nuclear=20 capability? (November 4, 2006)

Permalink | Reader=20 Comments

The Niqab and Burqa as Security = Threats

I wrote a week ago, in a blog for National = Review=20 Online, that the niqab and burqa should both be = banned=20 on security grounds, "as one cannot have faceless persons walking = the=20 streets, driving cars, or otherwise entering public spaces." This = blog=20 will document that danger in the West, just noting in passing that = Islamist terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan have routinely and = effectively=20 relied on the burqa as a disguise.

Palestinian gunmen Israeli forces in Gaza: The IDF = suspects that=20 Palestinian gunmen dressed up as women to escape a 19-hour = standoff with=20 the IDF that tried to dislodge=20 them from a mosque where they were hdiing. (November 3, = 2006)

=20

Abdul Rasheed = Khalid,=20 owner of Zaibi Jewellers, in Brampton, poses with empty = display=20 cases. He was bound and hit several times during a robbery = on Nov.=20 17, the latest in a series of Toronto-area jewellery store=20 heists.

Jewelry theft in = Canada. :=20 This incident was reported by the Toronto Star, "Jewel=20 heists target Asians":

Abdul Rasheed Khalid was alone in his Brampton jewellery = store=20 filling the display cases with yellow gold rings and necklaces = when two=20 people, one wearing a head-to-toe black burqa, appeared outside = his=20 locked door.

"Salamu alaikum," the 58-year-old store owner said after = pushing the=20 entry buzzer, believing them to be a Muslim couple. There was no = reply,=20 and seconds later the pair =97 both males =97 forced him at = gunpoint to the=20 back office where he was bound with duct tape and hit several = times.=20 Then his store was cleaned out.

"Keep quiet, keep quiet, close your eyes," they said, while = emptying=20 the red velvet trays into duffel bags carried by an accomplice. = Khalid=20 caught a glimpse of the crooks. He thinks they were Pakistani or = Indian.

Last Friday's daylight robbery has other South Asian = jewellers across=20 the GTA on edge, fearful they'll be next. The thieves didn't = seem to=20 care that Zaibi Jewellers is in the same strip mall as a = storefront Peel=20 Region police station at McLaughlin Rd. and Ray Lawson=20 Blvd.

(November 21, 2006)

=20

Mustaf Jama, = Britain's=20 most wanted fugitive, apparently fled the country for his = native=20 Somalia by donning the niqab.

Murder suspect flees = UK: It's=20 not been confirmed, but a=20 reliable source indicates that Mustaf= =20 Jama, 26, wanted for the murder of a police constable Sharon=20 Beshenivsky, 38, in November 2005, fled the country during the = last week=20 of 2005 and returned to his native Somalia. The picture of = Britain's most=20 wanted man, with 21 criminal convictions, had been circulated to = every=20 police force, port and airport in the country. He got through by=20 disguising himself as a Muslim woman. Specifically, he adopted his = sister's identity, using her passport and by wearing a niqab. = Turns out,=20 security personnel at London's Heathrow Airport made no attempt to = match=20 his face with her passport picture, even though the airport was on = a=20 heightened state of alert after the 7/7 terrorist attack. Indeed, = the=20 Times (London) writes that "British immigration officers = rarely=20 carry out a visual check to match a passport photograph with a = departing=20 female passenger's veiled face." It also adds that, in October = 2006, "a=20 male suspect in a major anti-terrorist investigation evaded = capture in=20 Britain for several days by dressing in a burka. He was eventually = arrested and is awaiting trial." (December 20, 2006)

Permalink | Reader=20 Comments

NATO and Israel =96 New = Friends

In his call to adapt the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to = the=20 problem of radical Islam, former Spanish prime minister Jos=E9 Mar=EDa = Aznar deems=20 bringing Israel into the alliance "an extremely important step." = To some,=20 it might also seem an extremely remote one, too.

=20

Jos=E9 Mar=EDa = Aznar, former=20 prime minister of Spain.

But a close look by = Joshua=20 Brilliant of United Press International, "Israel=20 assesses NATO ties," finds the prospect not all that distant. = In fact,=20 both sides are warming to the idea. On the Israeli side,

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni Tuesday [Oct. 24] addressed the = opening=20 session of a conference that NATO, the Israeli Atlantic Forum = and the=20 Institute for Policy and Strategy held in Herzliya. "Israel's=20 traditional long-term policy has been one of self-reliance," she = said.=20 However, "the current threats necessitate international = cooperation and=20 multilateralism." NATO is "most essential" to meet these = strategic=20 threats because it has a just value system, a special ability to = rapidly=20 adapt to current strategic threats, and a unique approach that = combines=20 diplomacy with the use of military force when necessary, she=20 said.

On the NATO side:

Al-Qaida=91s Sept. 11 attacks in the United States = demonstrated that=20 the major threat and challenges come from outside Europe, that = terrorism=20 is globalized, noted Patrick Hardouin, a deputy assistant=20 secretary-general at NATO's Political Affairs and Security = Policy=20 Division. NATO decided to upgrade its dialogue with = Mediterranean=20 states. It launched Operation Active Endeavor in which its = ships,=20 submarines and aircraft carry out naval anti-terrorist patrols. = Israel=20 contributes to Active Endeavor. It will post an officer at = NATO's=20 headquarters in Naples to help with intelligence gathering so = that the=20 units at sea can be more effective.

Some of the cooperation is already quietly underway:

An Israeli corvette this summer participated in a NATO = exercise in=20 Romania. Infantrymen joined war games in the Ukraine and a NATO = AWACS=20 plane was in Israel demonstrating its capabilities. =85 = Recently, Israel=20 became the first country to conclude an Individual Cooperation = Program=20 with NATO. It covers 27 areas, including the fight against = terrorism and=20 joint military exercises, and goes beyond cooperation through = the=20 Mediterranean Dialogue.

That said, full membership in NATO will probably require full=20 resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict, something nowhere in = prospect. In=20 the meantime, Oded Eran, Israel's representative to NATO, = emphasizes the=20 benefit of a multilateral umbrella, without the=20 attack-on-one-is-an-attack-on-all obligations. (October 26, = 2006)

Permalink | Reader=20 Comments

Palestinians Leaving the West = Bank and=20 Gaza

"What the Israelis were unable to do =96 try to push the = Palestinian out=20 of the country =96 the internal strife is achieving," observes = Birzeit=20 University pollster Nader Said, who has monitored emigration = attitudes=20 among Palestinians for 12 years. Without getting into the accuracy = of the=20 first half of that statement, about Israel, the second part is = true and=20 worth noting. The disaster that is Hamas is causing Palestinians, = who have=20 among the most exaggerated of ties to the land, to up and out.

Joshua Mitnick of the Christian Science Monitor details = the=20 changes in "Fallout of=20 Hamas's rule spurs Palestinian desire to flee." Nader Said = says that=20 the percentage of Palestinians willing to relocate used to hover = under 20=20 percent. That figure reached 32 percent in September 2006. The = percentage=20 among 20- and 30-year olds jumps to 44 percent. And among males in = that=20 age category, it surges to over 50 percent.

Beyond the numbers, there's been a change in attitudes.

Among Palestinians, the mere mention of hijra - Arabic for = emigration=20 - is enough to stir up painful memories of the 1948 Arab-Israeli = war=20 that left hundreds of thousands of Palestinians stranded outside = the=20 newly independent Israeli state. "Emigration means that you are = escaping=20 the occupation and that you don't want to liberate your land. = It's a=20 shame on you," says Abdel Nasser Najjar, a columnist for the = Palestinian=20 daily Al Ayyam. "Now it's different. There are many pressures: = economic=20 pressure and psychological pressure. Many people are speaking = out."=20 =85

a trio of students admitted that the topic of emigration = remains=20 sensitive among family and friends. But at the same time they = reject the=20 suggestion that moving abroad constitutes any betrayal. "If I = leave then=20 I'll be lucky," says Birzeit law student Masaad Masaad, who = hopes to=20 move after graduating and a two-year internship. "The country = hasn't=20 provided anything for me. The government has failed ... No = attention is=20 given to the citizens."

Comment: The law of unintended consequences is at work = in the=20 Palestinian Authority, as elsewhere in the world. Who knew that = Israel's=20 allowing a terrorist organization to run for elections would lead = to the=20 depopulating of the Palestinian Authority? (October 24, 2006)

Nov. 20, 2006 update: More evidence of the same pattern = in=20 The Globe and Mail, where Mark MacKinnon reports from = Ramallah on=20 "Heavy-hearted=20 Palestinians taking their chances abroad: Thousands leave the = territories=20 to escape politics and poverty=97many bound for Canada." More = than 10,000=20 Palestinians have left the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the = past four=20 months and 45,000 additional emigration requests are being = evaluated by=20 foreign states.

The Palestinian territories have never been an easy place to = live,=20 but even when violence was at its peak, most Palestinians = refused to=20 contemplate leaving, believing that would be giving Israelis = what they=20 wanted. Similar polls taken a year ago found only about 5 per = cent were=20 interested in emigrating. But now, more than ever before, = Palestinians=20 are giving up on their homeland. "I want to get out=97to Canada, = to=20 Norway, to Switzerland, to Nigeria even," said Fadi el-Fahr, 24, = an=20 unemployed telecommunications engineer. "All I want is a=20 job."

Nov. 27, 2006 update: As though nothing is happening, Hamas=20 leaders responded with the same old formulations to Israeli = prime=20 minister Ehud Olmert's offer to withdraw from large parts of the = West Bank=20 and engage in negotiations in exchange for Palestinians giving up = their=20 claim of a "right of return" to Israeli territory. Hamas spokesman = Ghazi=20 Hamad called the offer "a conspiracy, especially since Olmert is = trying to=20 bypass the core of the Palestinian cause, namely the right of = return for=20 the refugees." Musa Abu Marzouk of Hamas replied that "The = Palestinian=20 people will never give up this sacred right. Our people have been = fighting=20 for 58 years to achieve the right of return for all those who were = expelled from their homeland. We reject any deal that does not = recognize=20 the right of return." For good measure, Fatah also turned down the = offer.=20 Abdullah Abdullah of Fatah on the West Bank said that "The right = of return=20 cannot be ignored or surrendered."

Dec. 9, 2006 update: Sarah El Deeb provides more = information on=20 this exodus for the Associated Press in "More=20 Palestinians Flee Homelands."

A technician armed with $7,000 in savings and a tourist visa = plans to=20 seek political asylum in Europe. Travel agents report a brisk = demand for=20 visas to Cuba, one of the few places that welcomes Palestinians. = More=20 than 20 factories have moved out of Gaza in recent months. = Driven by=20 fear of civil war and increasingly bleak economic prospects,=20 Palestinians are fleeing their violence-wracked lands in growing = numbers. Many are skilled and educated, and are leaving behind = an=20 increasingly impoverished and fundamentalist society. The brain = drain=20 reverses a trend of the 1990s when, fueled by peace hopes, = thousands of=20 well-to-do Palestinians returned from the diaspora to the West = Bank and=20 Gaza, building homes and setting up businesses. =85

Businesses are also leaving. More than 20, including clothing = and=20 plastic factories, have moved to Egypt or Jordan in the past six = months=20 =96 as many as in the previous six years =96 taking 12 percent = of Gaza's=20 scarce jobs with them, according to Gaza's Federation of = Industries. In=20 September alone, 35 factory owners applied to relocate their = machinery=20 abroad, said Mohammed al-Kidwa, governor of Gaza City. Some who = left=20 came back because of the difficulties of doing business=20 abroad.

Of particular interest are the two destinations of choice, = Canada and=20 Cuba:

Many countries make it difficult for the stateless = Palestinians to=20 obtain even tourist visas, because they often overstay them and = obtain=20 citizenship by marrying nationals of their host countries. Two = popular=20 destinations for Gazans are Canada, which still offers legal=20 immigration, and Cuba, which imposes few restrictions on = Palestinian=20 travelers. Those with tourist visas to Cuba often don't plan to = go=20 there. Instead, they get off in transit at a European airport, = rip up=20 their Palestinian travel document and seek asylum.

Travel agencies in Gaza arrange for fictitious invitations, = hotel=20 bookings and Cuban visas for their clients, a Palestinian = security=20 official said. The cost of the service has gone up from $200 to = $1,500=20 because of the high demand and increasing risk, the official = said.=20 Palestinian, Egyptian and European officials have begun to = tighten=20 restrictions in an attempt to stem the flow. Travel agent = Mohammed Mouin=20 said 65 of his clients with Cuban visas were sent back from = Egypt, but=20 that many more are trying. "Traveling to Cuba has become a fad," = he=20 said.

Comment: The article also includes this throw-away line: = "Emigration from Gaza, in particular, has picked up. Life in the = fenced-in=20 strip has become increasingly difficult following Israel's pullout = last=20 year." Combined with the point about life under Hamas rule being=20 unbearable, this suggests that, ironically, the dual Israeli folly = of=20 permitting a terrorist organization to win an election and = withdraw=20 unilaterally from Gaza has inadvertently led to the reduction in = the=20 number of its enemies.

Permalink | Reader=20 Comments

The United States Government, = Still the=20 Patron of Islam

In early 2002, I revealed (with co-author Mimi Stillman) the = surprising=20 history of U.S. government statements favorable to Islam in "The United States = Government:=20 Patron of Islam?" I noted there that this approach has "four = main=20 elements, each of which has become a policy mantra: There is no = clash of=20 civilizations. Terrorism is not Islamic. Islam is compatible with = American=20 ideals and adds to American life. Americans must learn to = appreciate=20 Islam."

Since then, there have been few such pandering statements, but = they=20 have not disappeared entirely. This weblog entry records some of = the more=20 outlandish ones:

_________

Russell Hanks, political = counsellor in the=20 U.S. embassy in Nigeria, as reported by the Daily Triumph = of Kano,=20 Nigeria:

Contrary to the widely held opinion in the Muslim world = concerning=20 America's view on Islam, the United States of America has = respect, care=20 and acknowledgement of Muslims contribution in America = civilization.=20 This assertion was made by Mr. Russell Hanks, the political = counsellor=20 in the Embassy of the United States of American in Nigeria. The=20 counsellor who made the disclosure at a dinner parts organized = by the US=20 embassy for selected Muslims for breaking their fast on Tuesday, = stated=20 that the very foundation of democracy laid by America's founding = fathers=20 was based on Islamic influence essentially from the Middle East. = America, he opined, has seven million Muslims whom he said, are = making=20 wonderful contributions to the development of the nation. He = said the=20 programme was organized for Muslims in this very important month = of=20 Ramadan because of the respect the embassy accords to Muslims = and their=20 religion.

(October 5, 2006)

Karen=20 Hughes, under secretary of state for public diplomacy and = public=20 affairs =96 and, with the FBI's Robert Mueller, easily the most = incompetent=20 of U.S. government officials on the topic of Islam =96 speaking at = the=20 Annual State Department Iftaar Dinner:

Recently I was told a story from the time of the prophet = about a=20 famous man who expressed a desire to seek knowledge. He was = advised,=20 this man, by another man to join the assembly of a well-known = woman=20 jurist of the day named Amara bin Al-Rahman. She was described = as a=20 boundless ocean of knowledge and she shared her knowledge with a = number=20 of famous men which kind of reminds me of our boss Dr. = Condoleezza Rice=20 when she shows up at a national security meeting and shares her=20 boundless knowledge with all the men in the room. Amara was not = an=20 exception in Islamic history. There are many examples of = extraordinary=20 women, including jurists, poets and narrators of = Hadith.

(October 19, 2006) Oct. 20, 2006 update: According to = Khalid=20 Hasan, writing in the Daily = Times=20 of Lahore, this comment "raised several eyebrows."

Permalink | Reader=20 Comments

Polling American = Islamists

An organization called "Muslims For A = Safe=20 America" conducted a unscientific but nonetheless interesting = opinion=20 survey at its booth in the Islamic Society of North America's = convention=20 in early September. In all, 307 American citizens attending this = Islamist=20 event replied to 30 questions. I have rearranged the order of the=20 questions and excluded some. We begin with the denial and = conspiracy=20 theory section:

5. Did Muslims hijack planes and fly them into buildings = on=20 9/11?
Yes 117
No 139
Undecided 51

6. Did the U.S. government have advance knowledge of the = 9/11=20 attacks, and allow the attacks to occur?
Yes 200
No=20 70
Undecided 37

7. Did the U.S. government organize the 9/11 = attacks?
Yes=20 106
No 151
Undecided 50

8. Are the tapes of Osama Bin Laden, claiming = responsibility for=20 the 9/11 attacks and threatening future attacks, real or=20 fake?
Real 126
Fake 129
Undecided 52

9. Did Muslims commit the July 2005 train and bus bombings = in=20 London?
Yes 140
No 104
Undecided 63

10. The Canadian government says it stopped a plot by = Canadian=20 Muslims in June 2006 to attack targets in Canada. Do you believe = there=20 was a real plot by Muslims?
Yes 61
No 202
Undecided = 44

11. The British government says it stopped a plot by = British=20 Muslims in August 2006 to bomb planes flying to America. Do you = believe=20 there was a real plot by Muslims?
Yes 66
No = 191
Undecided=20 50

12. Is Al Qaeda a real organization, operated by Muslims = who are=20 trying to attack America?
Yes 149
No 109
Undecided=20 49

Comment: These replies point to an outlook consonant = with=20 opinion in the Middle East and other Muslim-majority areas. Living = in the=20 United States, clearly, hardly affects their conspiracist = mentality.

Second, what about the means that the U.S. authorities use to = protect=20 the country?

15. Is it justifiable for the U.S. government to do any of = the=20 following in an attempt to prevent terrorist attacks in = America:

a. taking religion and ethnicity into account as one = factor when=20 deciding whom to interview and search at airports?
Yes = 37
No=20 258
Undecided 12

b. monitoring activities at American mosques?
Yes = 43
No=20 255
Undecided 9

c. listening to phone calls of people in America whom the=20 government claims are connected in some way with Al = Qaeda?
Yes=20 64
No 232
Undecided 11

d. having an informer pretend to support or encourage = violence=20 against America, to see if the targeted Muslims will decide to = attack=20 American targets?
Yes 35
No 258
Undecided 14

e. monitoring Muslim charities in America, in the hopes of = preventing funding for possible terrorist attacks?
Yes = 52
No=20 242
Undecided 13

f. focusing Immigration & Customs Enforcement = resources on=20 deporting Muslim illegal aliens, who have not been convicted of=20 terrorism, in the hopes of disrupting possible Al Qaeda=20 attacks?
Yes 29
No 263
Undecided 15

g. allowing Muslim illegal aliens to stay in America if = they agree=20 to work as informants, monitoring the Muslim community for the=20 government?
Yes 21
No 277
Undecided 9

h. torturing suspected Al Qaeda members to get information = about=20 possible planned attacks?
Yes 14
No 278
Undecided=20 15

Comment: Overwhelmingly, American Islamists want to = prevent=20 Americans from using just about any means for self-defense, = suggesting=20 where their sympathies lie.

Third, some key foreign policy issues:

21. Should Iran develop nuclear weapons?
Yes = 161
No=20 123
Undecided 23

22. Should America attack Iran to stop Iran from = developing=20 nuclear weapons?
Yes 10
No 292
Undecided 5

23. Was America justified in invading Iraq in = 2003?
Yes=20 8
No 294
Undecided 5

24. Should American troops leave Iraq immediately, or stay = there=20 until the Iraqi government and Iraqi military are = stronger?
Leave=20 now 199
Leave later 86
Undecided 22

25. Was America justified in invading Afghanistan after=20 9/11?
Yes 51
No 248
Undecided 8

26. Is violence by Muslims against American civilians = acceptable,=20 in retaliation for the American government's actions in the = Muslim=20 world?
YES 23
NO 274
UNDECIDED 10

27. Is violence by Muslims against the American military = overseas=20 acceptable, in retaliation for the American government's actions = in the=20 Muslim world?
YES 134
NO 154
UNDECIDED 19

28. Is violence by Muslims against the American military = in the=20 U.S. acceptable, in retaliation for the American government's = actions in=20 the Muslim world?
Yes 73
No 211
Undecided 23

29. Is violence by Muslims against American government = officials=20 acceptable, in retaliation for the American government's actions = in the=20 Muslim world?
Yes 51
No 231
Undecided 25

3. Is the American government at war with the religion of=20 Islam?
Yes 208
No 79
Undecided 20

Comment: As in the second section, these views closely = track=20 ones found in the Middle East. Living in the United States and = American=20 citizenship have little or no effect on views.

Fourth, an all-important question about counterterrorism:

30. If you learned about a plot by Muslims to attack = targets=20 inside America, would you tell law enforcement = authorities?
Yes=20 234
No 39
Undecided 34

Comment: 24 percent of the respondents won't commit to = stopping=20 terrorism. By comparison, surveys of the whole British Muslim=20 population (not just self-selected Islamists, as in this = survey) find=20 between 5 and 18 percent unwilling to help law enforcement prevent = attacks.

Fifth and final section:

2. Do you consider yourself to be a Muslim first, an = American=20 first, or both equally?
Muslim first 214
American = first=20 4
Both equally 86
Undecided 3

4. Can a good Muslim be a good American?
Yes = 292
No=20 11
Undecided 4

Comment: In the context of all the survey answers, with = their=20 profoundly negative views of the United States these replies = suggest that=20 being "a good American" is a virtually meaningless phrase to = respondents.=20 (September 9, 2006)

Permalink | Reader=20 Comments

El Al, "Goy" Airline?

Given the many restrictions on observant Jews during the = sabbath, they=20 have need of someone not Jewish to undertake necessary tasks to = keep=20 households and the society going. The idea behind the "Shabbos = goy" (as he=20 is known in Yiddish) is that activities forbidden to Jews (such as = lighting fires or turning on electricity) are entirely permissible = to=20 non-Jews.

=20

An El Al = plane.

This arrangement = could perhaps=20 solve the woes of El Al, Israel's main airline company. For a = quarter=20 century, El Al has avoided flying on the sabbath to honor the = wishes of=20 its observant clientele, who make up an estimated 20-30 percent of = its=20 passengers. Trouble is, not flying slightly more than one day out = of seven=20 has a severe impact on the company's bottom line. For years, and=20 especially since it was privatized in 2004, El Al has been trying = to find=20 a way to square the circle =96 both fly on the sabbath and retain = its=20 observant passengers. Failure to achieve this goal could land the = airline=20 in bankrupty, as it presumably can no longer depend on taxpayer=20 subventions in its role as the national airline; the stakes for it = are=20 high.

The airline recently flew flew = some=20 aircraft on the sabbath =96 and aroused a major reaction among = observant=20 Jews, many of whom are saying they will henceforth boycott El Al. = One=20 haredi leader, Rabbi Yitzhak Goldknoph, secretary of the Rabbinic = Council=20 for the Holiness of Shabbat, even raised the prospect of setting = up a haredi-owned=20 airline, which sounds like a sure business loser.

The odd thing is, observant Jews who boycott El Al will find = themselves=20 on airlines like Brussels Airlines, Continental, and Delta, which = have=20 always flown on the sabbath and would never consider doing = otherwise. Why=20 prefer them to El Al? For the simple reason that they are not = "Jewish"=20 airlines. They might have Jewish executives, staff, and = shareholders, they=20 might offer kosher meals and service the Israel market, but they = are not=20 "Jewish" airlines in the way that El Al is.

So, El Al's solution is obvious: Take the steps necessary = (mostly=20 psychological?) to exit its status as a "Jewish" airline and = become a=20 "goy" airline, keep the all-Kosher service, still permit large = groups to=20 congregate in the back of the plane for prayer, plus fly every day = of the=20 week and keep its observant clientele. (December 11, 2006)

Permalink | Reader=20 Comments

 

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