The Anniversary of
Auschwitz 's Liberation: Virginia Censors Anne FrankThis is the 65th anniversary of the
Red Army 's liberation of Auschwitz, the complex of death camps located near Kracow that the Nazis used to murder European Jewry. Culpeper County public school officials have, according to today's Washington Post, decided to discontinue assigning Anne Frank's diary because a parent complained that the book "includes sexually explicit material and homosexual themes." The director of instruction, one James Allen, says the book will no longer be used in classes, but retained in the library.
The problem, it seems, is that the 50th anniversary edition of the book contains passages that were not present in the original Dutch edition. The new version is fuller and does contain more details about Anne Frank's nascent sexual desires. But the school system has disgraced itself with this decision.
How can it expect students to behave in a courageous and moral fashion when it has abjectly crumpled before an obtuse parent? These kinds of stories are not entirely uncommon, of course, as censorship in the school system is a perennial issue. But that Virginia would go so far as to restrict access to Anne Frank's unexpurgated thoughts is another sign of what's amiss inAmerica today. Censoring Anne Frank in the name of morality, after all, is an immoral act.
Who are the inventors of this "bright" idea ?וירג'יניה: היומן של אנה פרנק יוצא מבתי הספר
בתי ספר במדינה החליטו כי יומנה של הנערה היהודייה יוצא מתוכניות הלימודים כי הורים התלוננו שהוא "מכיל מסרים מיניים בעייתיים"
צח יוקד, ארה''ב | 31/1/2010 11:55אנשי חינוך במדינת וירג'יניה החליטו שאין מקום בבתי הספר שלהם ליומן של אנה פרנק, והחליטו להסיר מתוכנית הלימודים את הספר המפורסם. הסיבה: "מסרים מיניים" בעייתיים שעולים ממנו. גורמי החינוך המקומיים הסבירו שההחלטה השנויה במחלוקת התקבלה בעקבות תלונה של אחד ההורים והוסיפו כי תלמידים שירצו יוכלו לקרוא את היומן בספרייה .מאז פורסם על ידי אביה אוטו פרנק ב,1947- הפך יומנה האישי של אנה פרנק לא רק לאחד הספרים הנמכרים ביותר בעולם, אלא גם לאחד מסמלי השואה המפורסמים ביותר, סיפור אנושי של נערה בגיל ההתבגרות בצל אחת הזוועות הגדולות ביותר שידעה האנושות. אלא שמאז שפורסם היומן לראשונה הוא עבר כמה עריכות, והתווספו אליו קטעים שנכתבו על ידי אנה והושמטו בזמנו על ידי אביה.באחד מקטעי היומן כותבת פרנק על איבר מינה, באופן המאפיין נערה מתבגרת. "אני פשוט לא יכולה להעלות על הדעת כיצד גבר יכול לחדור לשם, ובוודאי כיצד יכול תינוק שלם לצאת משם," כתבה פרנק.קטעים אחרים ביומן מעידים על עניינה של פרנק בגופן של נערות אחרות, באופן שפורש על ידי אחדים כנטייה לסבית.
הליך מזורזשמרנים בארצות הברית לא אהבו גם את התיאור של אנה פרנק לגבי נישואי הוריה. באחד מאותם קטעים מתארת פרנק באופן לעגני את היחסים בין אביה לאמה, כשבין השאר היא כותבת "אלו לא נישואים אידיאליים. אבא לא מאוהב. הוא מנשק אותה באותו אופן שהוא מנשק אותנו. לא פעם הוא מביט לעברה בצורה לעגנית או מתגרה. אבל אף פעם לא מתוך אהבה."
בעקבות תיאורים אלה החליטו גורמי החינוך במחוז קאלפפר שבוירג'יניה לחדול מלימוד הגרסה החדשה של היומן, שראתה אור לרגל ציון שנת החמישים להירצחה של אנה פרנק. כמו כן נודע כי בניגוד לנוהל המקובל במחוז, לפיו תלונות על מערך הלימודים יש להגיש בכתב לוועדת בדיקה מיוחדת, במקרה הנוכחי התקבלה ההחלטה בהליך מזורז במיוחד.
"המתלונן הגיע וההחלטה התקבלה באותו יום". הודה ג'יימס אלן, ראש ועדת ההוראה של המחוז שבו לומדים 7,600 תלמידים. "היינו רוצים לקבל את התלונה בכתב, אבל זה פשוט לא קרה," אמר אלן, "מה שהתבקשנו הוא לא ללמד את הגרסה הזאת. לא רצינו לעשות מזה סיפור גדול, ולכן החלטנו להקשיב לאותו הורה."
החלטת ראשי המחוז עוררה ביקורת רבה בארצות הברית ובעולם. בעקבות הביקורת הודיע אלן ביום שישי האחרון כי לא מדובר בהחלטה סופית, וכי "מחלקת החינוך תקים ועדה מיוחדת במהלך אביב 2010 במטרה לעבור על שתי הגרסאות לפני תחילת שנת הלימודים הבאה"
CCPS pulls explicit text
Associated PressAnne Frank is seen in a photo made available earlier this month byYad Vashem holocaust memorial.Culpeper County Public Schools have pulled a version of her memoir that contains a graphic passage.RhondaA version of an iconic autobiography detailing a young Jewish girl’s two-year experience hiding from Nazis in a cramped “Secret Annex” has been pulled from the shelves of Culpeper County Public Schools.Simmons , rsimmons@starexponent.com , (540) 825-0771 ext. 125
Published: January 28, 2010
Updated: January 29, 2010
“The Diary of aYoung Girl : The Definitive Edition,” a vivid memoir of Anne Frank’s private thoughts during the German occupation of the Netherlands duringWorld War II , will no longer be assigned to CCPS students, according to Jim Allen, director of instruction for the school system.
This book is usually given to eighth-grade middle school English students to read.
Citing a parent’s concern over the sexual nature of the vagina passage in the definitive edition, Allen said school officials immediately chose to pull this version and use an alternative copy.
“What we have asked is that this particular edition will not be taught,” Allen said from his office Wednesday morning. “I don’t want to make a big deal out of this. So we listened to the parent and we pulled it.”
Apparently, Anne’s father, Otto Frank, the sole survivor of the “Secret Annex,” felt the need to censor his daughter’s most intimate thoughts as well, eliminating about 30 percent of the original diary published in 1947.
He omitted parts where Anne criticized her mother and other Jews living in the confined quarters as well as some sexually suggestive references.
However, during the 50th anniversary of her death in a concentration camp, the Anne Frank Foundation published the unedited definitive version in 1995.
Sometimes dubbed controversial, this book has been translated into more than 50 languages — an English version in 1952, and transformed into a play and several movie versions.
The diary, which Anne received on her 13th birthday, chronicles the teenager’s life from July 1942 until she was arrested in August 1944. It is considered the most widely read literary composition about Holocaust victims.
According to Allen, a teacher had already assigned the book in the fall and students had completed the assignment before the complaint was made.
“I’m happy when parents get involved with these things because it lets me know that they are really looking and have their kids’ best interest (in mind). And that’s where good parenting and good teaching comes in.”
The alternative version will be used for future assignments,
he said.
The process of pulling a book
According to the school division’s “public complaint about learning resources” policy, a review committee consisting of the school’s principal, library media specialist, teacher, complainant, parent and/or student usually convene to discuss this type of issue.
The committee’s responsibility is to read, view or listen to the challenged material, read several reviews, check standard selection aids, talk with knowledgeable people about the material in question, make and file a recommendation with the principal and superintendent and notify the complainant of the recommendation. The complainant has the right to appeal any decision.
Allen suggested teachers become more familiar with any reading material before issuing an assignment and described this situation as a “teachable moment.”
Asked about other “pulled material,” Allen said there’s no specific list that he’s aware of for educations to use as a refernce.
“I don’t think a list exists,” he added. “We just try to deal with everything on a case-by-case basis.”
Any pulled material, Allen said, is usually stored in the librarian’s office.
According toAmazon .com, “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl,” tops the list of commonly banned children’s books in public schools nationwide.
The reason listed for banning this book is “for being too depressing for students.” Other books that made the Amazon list include “The Catcher in the Rye,” “Harry Potter,” “Of Mice and Men,” and “Harriet the Spy,” to name a few.
Always On Watch
Alex,
Regarding that link, which states:
Culpeper County public school officials have decided to stop assigning a version of Anne Frank's diary, one of the most enduring symbols of the atrocities of the Nazi regime, after a parent complained that the book includes sexually explicit material and homosexual themes."The Diary of aYoung Girl : the Definitive Edition," which was published on the 50th anniversary of Frank's death in a concentration camp, will not be used in the future, said James Allen, director of instruction for the 7,600-student system. The school system did not follow its own policy for handling complaints about instructional materials, Allen said....
Considering the amount of explicit material to which students are exposed on television and the internet, I find Culpeper County's decision stupid.
Honestly, I cannot imagine that what Anne Frank wrote even begins to approach being a problem.
I also note that, apparently, only ONE parent complained. Interesting that the county would violate its own policies about books with only ONE parent making a complaint.
Typically, if a family finds material unacceptable, the student is allowed to opt out of having to cover the material.
BTW, Culpeper County is hardly viewed as a cultural or well-educated region. Indeed, according to what I've heard, theKu Klux Klan has a presence there. The educational system there is hardly a model of academics and lags behind many counties here in Virginia.
Alex News
Jan 31, 2010
Anne Frank - Not in Virginia !...
Jan 26, 2010
The Mufti and Hitler
In Whose Apartment were the Blueprints for
Auschwitz found? Why the Secret?Original blueprints of the Auschwitz
death camp , discovered by chance in a Berlin apartment last year, have gone on display in the German capital. Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, an Auschwitz survivor, said they give a glimpse of "true hell."The owner's asking price for the blueprints was so high that the Federal Archive refused to purchase them. Bild bought the blueprints instead. (Spiegel)
"The horrific thing about them lies in their systematic nature. In their cold perfectionism. In their professional quality. The plans of Auschwitz shake the soul of every thinking and feeling individual because they're the expression of an inhumanity created by humans. They are the construction plans of true hell."
Yesterday I posted the heinous blueprints for the annihilation of the Jewish people.
The location of their discovery is being kept secret. The only forthcoming information was that they were ‘discovered in a apartment behind a wall when a renovation/remodel was taking place’. An anonymous source tells me that with all of the ‘slight’ tid-bits of information, it points to a possible location where the Grand Mufti lived during WWII. If it were the residence of the Grand Mufti, this would point to the muslim participation/and possible creation of theFinal Solution , as was testified in theNuremberg Trials (witnesses testified that the Grand Mufti was the Originator/Creator of the idea).
Germany does not hide information like this after WWII……why are they hiding it now? If the location were revealed to incriminate the Grand Mufti, this would be the ONLY reason to keep this location secret. There are no other reasons. Everyone is speaking of the ‘plans’, yet no one is speaking of the ‘location,’ and location is everything.
My source has worked with several people in Germany over the last few months, trying to get the ‘location’ of this remodeled apartment…..with no success.
Are there any Atlas Shruggers who can help us get to the bottom of this "secret"? All sources will be kept confidential. But this terrible secret cannot be kept any longer. If you know something, say something.
There are many who would want this to be kept secret, including many in the WJC….and if the WJC would like to prove us wrong, then we would love their participation.
The Mufti & Hitler The M/F on the right, destroyed 95% of my family!
The "Goat Molester" on the left, was put in charge ' TO DO ' the remaining 5% !!
Albert Speer reports in his memoirs on a similar statement made by Hitler: "The Mohammedan religion too would have been much more compatible to us than Christianity. Why did it have to be Christianity with its meekness and flabbiness?"- (hat tip Al S)
UPDATE: All Atlas posts on Hitler and the mufti here.
UPDATE: China Confidential picked up on my story and weighs in here
UPDATE: More from reader Al S:" I came home and read the actual Speer Memoirs-- It is important to note the context: that Hitler gave a similar talk at the Berghof over and over (in fact, Speer could practically recite the talk by memory after awhile and was bored by the repetition)":
"Hitler had been much impressed by a scrap of history he had learned from a delegation of distinguished Arabs. When the Mohammedans attempted to penetrate beyond France intoCentral Europe during the eighth century, his visitors had told him, they had been driven back at the Battle of Tours. Had the Arabs won this battle, the world would be Mohammedan today. For theirs was a religion that believed in spreading the faithby the sword and subjugating all nations to that faith. The Germanic peoples would have become heirs to that religion. Such a creed was perfectly suited to the Germanic temperament [according to Hitler]. Hitler said that the conquering Arabs, because of their racial inferiority, would in the long run have been unable to contend with the harsher climate and conditions of the country. They could not have kept down the more vigorous natives, so that ultimately not Arabs but Islamized Germans could have stood at the head of this Mohammedan Empire.
"Hitler usually concluded this historical speculation by remarking, 'You see, it's been our misfortune to have the wrong religion. Why didn't we have the religion of the Japanese, who regard sacrifice for the Fatherland as the highest good? The Mohammedan religion too would have been much more compatible to us than Christianity. Why did it have to be Christianity with its meekness and flabbiness?"
Atlas- Goebbels, in his diaries, had several similar quotes. Goebbels even said Hitler considered Christianity as just another sect of Judaism.
UPDATE: More love letters between the ummah and the Nazis. here's a telgram from Himmler to the Mufti:
November 2, 1943 Himmler's telegram to Mufti: '
To the Grand Mufti: The National Socialist movement ofGreater Germany has, since its inception, inscribed upon its flag the fight against the world Jewry. It has therefore followed with particular sympathy the struggle of freedom-loving Arabs, especially in Palestine, against Jewish interlopers. In the recognition of this enemy and of the common struggle against it lies the firm foundation of the natural alliance that exists between the National Socialist Greater Germany and the freedom-lovingMuslims of the whole world. In this spirit I am sending you on the anniversary of the infamousBalfour declaration my hearty greetings and wishes for the successful pursuit of your struggle until the final victory.' Reichsfuehrer S.S.Heinrich Himmler (hat tip bunch)
UPDATE: The Nazis gave the Mufti a mansion to live in, on fashionable Klostock Street in Berlin, one that had been confiscated from a Jew who was sent to a concentration camp..." (more here) hat tip Hal
UPDATE: A year ago they were trying to hide the Nazi-Muslim connection. Think they knew something then? Can you contact Weinthal? Maybe he can find out whose apartment the plans were hidden in.
Aug 28, 2009 0:03 | Updated Aug 28, 2009 17:12
Hiding the truth about Husseini
The curator, Karl Rössler, told TheJerusalem Post that it is a "scandal" that the director of the Werkstatt, Philippa Ebéné, sought to censor the exhibit.
"One must, of course, name that al-Husseini, a SS functionary, participated in the Holocaust," said Rössler.
The exhibit covers the "The Third World during theSecond World War " and three exhibit panels of 96 are devoted to the mufti's collaboration with the Nazis.
The grand mufti delivered a talk to the imams of the Bosnian SS division in 1944, and was a key Islamic supporter ofNazi Germany 's destruction of European Jewry.
Ebéné denied that there was an "agreement " reached with the local German-Muslim community to shut down the exhibit. She termed media queries regarding an agreement as "Eurocentric."
More documents ............ this was an alliance. The Nazis and the Muslims. We decimated the Nazis but we left Islam intact and gave the Muslims run of the West. WTF?
Biography
i am a prickly old fart, but quite helpless around beautiful women with "it," and extremely indulgent of and loyal to my friends.
i admire the thinkers of the enlightenment. i admire the "founding fathers," and think their presence in one epoch and in this country a matter of divine providence.
i do not give a bucket of warm piss for modern liberal "thought," viewing it as an abdication of personal virtue, an abject apology for moral cowardice.
i like dogs. i do not like people who do not like dogs.
more than this, you can figure out for yourself as you read, if you find all of this interesting enough to read.
Interests
thought. history. politics. current affairs. liberty. naked ladies. older nked ladies, as i age. and, as i age, thinking about naked ladies.
Jan 23, 2010
Osho school for creative touch
Article in the Star with Prasado D. Münch
Founder of the Osho school for creative touch
Johannesburg 22 April 1999
Hands up for good health
Marika Sboros Reports
22.04.1999
Illness is simply a sign of a body out of alignment, pulled down by the forces of gravity. But Rebalancing Therapy can lift the body back up to a state of well-being, says a
Cape Town teacher Sw. Prasado.
In the physical world, gravity dictates that what goes up must come down, fortunately, the same does not have to be true of your health. Tensegrity, the polar opposite of gravity, can lift your ailing body back up from the depths of illness and disease to a state of rising health, say Cape town based therapy teacher Prasado.
Prasado, founder of the Osho school for creative touch, will be in Sandton next month to give training courses in Rebalancing, at Vision lodge in Athol.
Rebalancing is a form of deep tissue massage that combines different disciplines with the principles of gravity and Tensegrity to achieve balance and harmony in body, mind and spirit.
If you have never heard of Tensegrity, your are not alone and you are probably not an architect. I could not find it in any of my English dictionaries. But I found it quickly enough through a searchon the Internet , on a Harward medical school biochemistry website that applies the principle of Tensegrity to new definitions of biological design of the cytoskeleton,(cells and bones of the body). Tensegrity is an architectural term for the upliftment of matter via pulleys and levers. Medical scientists have taken it on board, along with related terms such as scaffolding, in formulating new medical models based on the concept that the body cells use Tensegrity architecture for their organization. Illness says Prasado, is simply a sign of a body out of balance or out of alignment, pulled down by the force of gravity. The principals of Tensegrity in Rebalancing involves the manipulation of tendons, ligaments, muscles and bones to lift up the body but also the mind and spirit. This can offset the effects of relentless downward forces that lead the body to weakness illness, disease and death. Not that he is suggesting that rebalancing can conquer death. It can however, turn on its head the pessimistic views that old age, frailty and declining health are our inevitable companions. It is possible to grow healthier as you grow older, says Prasado, and Rebalancing is also helpful for children, he says particularly inSouth Africa where the turbulent, violent nature of society regularly exposes young people to unacceptable and relentless levels of stress and pervasive fear. Early intervention throughbody work can prevent the deleterious effect of years of accumulated stress on young bodies, he says, because the key components for health at any stage of life are deep relaxation and the ability to leave in the moment. The latter sounds simple enough, but it remains a surprisingly lucid and difficult goal for many to attain, it is one reason why Rebalancing uses a unique combination of established, powerful massage techniques to hopefully improve the odds.
These include: movements originating from Rolfing, a form of deep tissue massage that is said to reach a deeper, myofascial layers of the body not reached through more ordinary massage techniques.
Movements Originating from postural Integration, a form of intensive body work focusing on posture and the role it plays in health.
Joint release, a form of therapy in which a therapist uses specific techniques on separate joins to release holding patterns and to ease spasms that can lead to a debilitating overload of tension in the body.
Liquid body work, as the body is made up of almost 80 percent water this therapy uses a form of touch to create rhythmical waves in the body. This teaches the person having the treatment how to behave and use the body in a more fluid way. It requires drinking lots of water to keep the body liquid.
Separately these therapies have proven their worth, says Prasado, but he believes they work better in combination that allows therapists to deviate from rigid structures and give their own creative input. Rebalancing is a process of transformation says Prasado a creative form of touch that eventually formulates a permanent awareness of how best to use the body. Prasado is the best advertisement for what he preaches. Now in his early 40's he looks much younger than his years, with a relaxed, gentle features and a tranquil demeanour, to which he ascribes regular practice of meditation, and of course regular Rebalancing treatments.
Rebalancing is a path along which people can find a new relaxed place in the present, and slough off preoccupations with the past, essential prerequisites to be here now, he says. The therapists hands are the transmission tools of everything that is shared with the person on whom they are working. And that includes compassion and human warmth along with professional and scientific movements applied to muscle groups to release deep seated physical and emotional tensions. Breathing is also important part of the Rebalancing process. It is a major ingredient in the distribution of awareness, says Prasado, also in the distribution of the effects of the therapy. Apart from breathing to live, the body needs more oxygen to process waste products broken down through DEEP TISSUE and liquid bodywork he says.
Rebalancing was developed in the early 1980's by a group of trained American and European physical therapists working at the Osho Multiversity in Oregon, an academic environment dedicated to the study of and practice of alternative methods of meditation and healing. The Multiversity has now moved to Poona India. Prasado’s courses are conducted in different modules, full time professional trainings, short intensive trainings and workshops, or earn as you learn modules, with practical and theoretical assignments in between. Course material covers the precise anatomy of the body, without which no self respecting body Work therapists could ever hope to apply his or her trade, and in depth study of psychosomatic tension as a function of psychoneuro-imunology (the scientific study of how the mind affect the body and vice versa), it is unique among the deep tissue therapies, he says, as the 10 session structure is a tool to work with, and not a rigid structure to cling to. Besidesscientific knowledge of the strokes, precise anatomy, and theory of massage, there is space for creativity and even artistry on the practitioner’s part. The underlined concept of Rebalancing says Prasado, is that the body and the mind are one, and both are the home of the soul.
Jan 22, 2010
The Islamic Curtain Descends
As the Islamic Curtain Descends
by Mark Silverberg
Shari'a Law is taking over Gaza and is being received with mixed feelings by Gazans.
The Arabs of Judea andSamaria should take note.
In December, 2008, according to the London-based Arab daily Al Hayat, the Hamas parliament in Gaza voted in favor of a law allowing courts to mete out sentences in accordance with Shari’ a law. According to the bill, if approved, courts will be able to condemn offenders to a series of violent punitive measures that include whipping, severing hands, crucifixion and hanging. The bill reserves death sentences to people who negotiate with a foreign government "against Palestinian interests" and engage in any activity that can "hurt Palestinian morale." According to the Al Hayat report, any Palestinian caught drinking or selling wine would suffer forty lashes at the whipping post if the bill passes. Convicted thieves would lose their right hand.
Whether such a law passes or not, the shadow of Shari’ a law is descending on Gaza. In November 2009, ISS (Israel's internal security service) issued a Report describing how Hamas has instituted Islamic law and thought in all areas of Gaza life since its violent takeover of the area. Should Israeli security forces withdraw from Judea and Samaria, it is a safe bet that the implementation of Shari’ a law now unfolding in Gaza will follow the same path.
The Report's main points include...
. the enforcement of a dress code for women on the street, in schools and in the courts;
. the expulsion of female students from schools who do not wear a head covering and wide dresses;
. instructions to judges not to hold sessions if female lawyers do not appear in Islamic garb;
. a requirement on official Hamas TV (Al-Aqsa) that women announcers must wear a veil, and that Islamic content must be featured in its TV programs;
. men not being allowed to swim in the ocean without a shirt;
. a prohibition against female mannequins being exhibited in shop windows;
. a prohibition against mixed-gender public ceremonies;
. a prohibition against men teaching in girls' schools. (Efforts are also being made by Hamas to separateboys and girls in the UN-run schools);
. Fatah-identified teachers being replaced by Hamas members;
. Hamas police arresting immodestly clad women and enforcing gender separation;
. unmarried couples being prohibited from appearing in public;
. married couples being required to produce a marriage certificate upon demand;
. religious studies classes being added to schools, mosques and prisons with the stipulation that prisoners who become more religious can have their sentences shortened;
. an across-the-board 1%public sector pay-cut imposed during the summer months to pay for summer camps for reviewing the Koran;
. increased construction of mosques, madrasses and Islamic Shari’ a courts;
. the establishment of an Islamic National Bank and an Islamic insurance company; and
. a new criminal code based on Shari’ a law. (In June 2009, theLegislative Council passed amendments to the criminal code for the purpose of "preventing immoral incidents in public.")
The imposition of strict Shari’ a law by Hamas comes as a direct result of significant challenges to its religious authority. At the Ibn-Tamiya mosque in the Gaza town of Rafah, Salafi preacher-physician Sheikh Abdel-Latif Moussa and his Jund AnsarAllah ("Warriors of the Companions of God") followers recently challenged Hamas's Islamic credentials claiming that it had not gone far enough in imposing Shari’ a law in Gaza and had joined a democratic political process thereby violating Islam.
The group proclaimed an Islamic "emirate" in Gaza, posted statements supportive ofOsama bin Laden , hosted terrorist training videos on its website, and (according to Hamas) had acted against Israel without Hamas authorization. On August 19th, the group's challenge to Hamas's religious authority was ruthlessly crushed in a bloody confrontation, but the issues raised by the Salafist group continue to threaten the religious foundations upon which Hamas has established its rule.
The incident exposed deep religious contradictions within the Islamist movement in Gaza. Every missile not fired at Israel by Hamas has now become ammunition for the Salafists. Every effort made by Hamas to interfere with the actions of the Salafists in Gaza is deemed a betrayal of Islam. Any negotiations between Hamas and the Israelis on opening Gaza's borders or facilitating prisoner exchanges exposes Hamas to Salafist condemnation.
Until now, Hamas's dilemma has centered on how to translate its religious rhetoric (Shari’ a law) into actual policies without alienating its religious and secular supporters. There is a vast difference between religious theory and religious practice. In Gaza, while opinion polls calling for the implementation of Shari’ a law tend to be popular, actual implementation of Shari’a law has not been so well-received.
In Jordan, after the Muslim Brotherhood did well in the 1989 election, the organization discovered very quickly that limiting the interaction between males and females in public places, especially at sporting events, was less than popular amongst the general population. Eventually, that law was overturned.
Hamas may find that Gazans will react much the same way to the imposition of strict Shari’ a law. It is possible that the more Shari’ a law is implemented in Gaza, the more divided that society will become. Hamas's traditional religious supporters who continue to demand greater implementation of Shari’ a law may well become alienated and seek more radical Salafist movements willing to apply the full force of Shari’ a throughout Palestinian society, while Hamas's more moderate supporters (that is, those who voted primarily against Fatah corruption rather than for Hamas) will favor Shari’ a theory over its actual implementation.
This was borne out by a recent poll undertaken byStan Greenberg of Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research. The poll suggests that 58% of Gazans disapprove of Hamas' performance (42% strongly disapprove) including its implementation of Shari’ a law. Greenberg attributes this loss of popularity to Hamas’s record in office. As every elected representative has discovered, campaigning is much different from governing. While Hamas won the 2006 Gaza election largely due to Fatah's corruption and Hamas's rejection of the peace process, Gazans are discovering that the reality of Hamas rule in implementing Shari’ a law is affecting their lives just as profoundly as the two above issues.
The recent Gaza War only served to underscore that realization. Hama's firing missiles at Israel's civilian population centers, together with its use of Palestinian civilians, schools, ambulances and mosques as shields have shown the downside of Hamas's approach to the "peace process." Constant war and destruction combined with a repressive religious Shari’a system that affects their everyday life is not the desired outcome for most Palestinians. There is a significantbody of evidence showing that Hamas diverted UN relief aid and food supplies from general Palestinian society in favor of its supporters in the wake of the Gaza War, so the corruption argument has become a two-edged sword.
Hamas requires Islamic legitimacy, and as such, it is vulnerable to claims from Salafist groups in Gaza that it is merely a secular organization waving an Islamic flag as opposed to a true Salafist organization seeking to impose a global Islamic caliphate. While Hamas jealously guards its political power, it now seems willing to bow to the pressures of these Salafists. What the Shabak Report indicates is that an Islamic mini-state in the full sense of that term is currently emerging in Gaza. For reasons of survival (or so it believes), Hamas has made its choice.
Jan 18, 2010
Ali Sina
Islam Files A Formal Complaint Against Freedom
America , this is your battle: yourway of life , your basic freedoms are under fire from Islam. Everyone should rise up in outrage and fight this continuing suppression of free speech and freedom of expression.
A Formal Complaint Against FFI 01/17/2010 - 07:17
The following is a complaint made against faithfreedom International by Mr. Zameer Ahmed Jumlana, Secretary of All India Committee, Indian National League, to the Commissioner ofDelhi Police, India.
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To the desk of Y. S. Dadwal, Commissioner of Delhi Police, INDIA.CC. faithreedom International
My attention is being drawn about Anti-Islamic provocative website www.faithfreedom.org [1] . I personally check the website which contains the Alleged Pictures ofProphet Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him ) which are forbidden according to teachings of Islam. The Life History of ProphetMuhammad (Peace Be upon Him) is also described at the said website in a much distorted manner. What is more objectionable is that Anti-Islamic propaganda is done by imposing them as ardent Muslim.
I am optimistic that a swift legal action will be taken against the above identified website.
Zameer Ahmed Jumlana
(Secretary All India Committee, Indian National League)
Mobile: 9811531096
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Response by Mr. Ali Sina
Dear Mr. Zameer Ahmed Jumlana,
Showing the pictures of Muhammad is forbidden by the teachings of Islam. However, we are notMuslims and we do not abide by the teachings of Islam. Isn’t it absurd that you expect everyone to live by your dictums?
Muslims are in violation of the laws that are the hallmark of the civilized people, such as the Golden Rule, the Human Rights, the equality of genders, thefreedom of speech , the freedom of belief, etc. These are the laws that matter to us. They don’t matter to you, because they are not part of your laws.
Just as you file a complaint against us for violating your laws, we are taking you to court for violating our laws.
Which court? The court of the public opinion! It is in this court that we are exposing the deception, the violence, and the hate that is so intrinsic in the religion that you espouse. We are fighting the lies of Islam with truth and winning the minds and hearts of thousands of people, both Muslims and non-Muslims.
Can you defend Islam? Can you prove that what we allege against your faith and its monstrous prophet are untrue? No you cannot. When it comes to logic you are helpless. You cannot defend your evil belief with logic. There is nothing you can do, but to bring legal charges to stop us from revealing the truth about your cherished faith.
You can’t. There is no law that can stop us from telling the truth about any faith, at least not where I live. Here we practice freedom of speech and criticizing religions, including Islam is our birth right.
This is the freedom that you Muslims have always enjoyed, but have denied to others. You think it is okay to destroy churches, synagogues, temples and the houses of worships of other faiths, trash their religions and criticize them. You think it is okay for your prophet to call the Jews, maghdhoob (hated by God), the Christians, gone astray and the Hindus, polytheists and najes (filthy), but you cry like a baby when someone criticizes your faith.
Seven innocent Baha’is [2] inIran are being prosecuted, as I write these notes. They may face execution, because they are accused of “waging war against God and spreading corruption on Earth.” The punishment for these offences in Islam is death. You are not offended by this gross violation of human rights, but you are offended if we show the pictures of Muhammad?
Have you ever thought why Muhammad disallowed his followers to depict him? In his later years, Muhammad suffered from thedegenerative disease of achromegaly. Thanks to this disease his bones and cartilages grew disproportionately. His facial features were deformed. He looked like a monster. But Muhammad was also a narcissist and he was very concerned about his image. Consequently, he forbade his followers to depict him. He did not want the posterity to see how ugly he looked. If you want to really know how Muhammad looked, please read my book, Understanding Muhammad: A Psychobiography of Allah’s Prophet. I have unearthed his description, narrated by his nearest and dearest.
You went on to accuse us of “imposing” anti-Islamic propaganda on ardent Muslims.
Really? Have we ever called for jihad against ardent Muslims? Have we said anywhere that Muslims should recant their faith, pay jizyah, or they should be killed? Where is this imposition you are talking about? You fail to see that Muhammad imposed his diabolic faith on others thorugh his numerour ghazwas (raids), that your ancestors and mine were massacred, raped and forced into conversion, but you see an Internet site as an imposition? If a Muslim does not want to read our site, all he has to do is click out of it. Can a Muslim who does not want to remain a Muslim click out of his faith? What will happen to him if he does? Can non-Muslims living in Islamic countries prctice their faith freely? Have you read about the recent violence against the Copts in Egypet?Have you heard of innocentMuslims in Pakistan accused of blasphemy ane lynched by Muslim goons?
Your ancestors, like mine, were buchered and raped by marauding Muslims, and now you are defending the barbaric faith of their abusers? You and I don't owe any alligiance to the demnic faith of the murderers of our ancestors. Wake up Mr. Jumlana. Don't betray your own people, your own ancestors, your own culture. Have you become the defender of a cult that destroyed them? Instead of defending the filthy cult of a monster you should defend your own cultuer. You are a Hindu, Be proud of your heritage that has contributed to humanity so much.
It is amazing how Muslims can be so genuinely hypocritical. You accuse us of something that befits Islam. FFI does not have means of torture to impose anything. Any time a Muslim can’t handle us, relief is a click away. But they are coming. They are reading what we write and they are leaving Islam. We do not impose our views, but the truth is compelling.
Well, Mr. Zameer Ahmed Jumlana. Unlike Muslims I am a fair person and would like to give you the opportunity to defend your faith. Show us that Islam is a religion from God and not an idiotic faith concocted by a mentally and physically sick individual. Prove us wrong and I will not only publish your rebuttal, but also announce publicly that I was wrong and even will give you $50,000 dollars as reward.
That is not all. I am going to do something that is inconceivable for Muslims and may even shock the non-Muslims. We have a blog section in this site. I am going to let Muslims to run their blogs. Yes that is right! From today, I announce that the blog section of FFI is open to all those who want to prove us wrong. We are working on a new application for this site that will be easier to use. It will be launched in about a week. I am going to create a new chapter in the blogs section for Muslims to respond to all the charges made againstMuhammad and Islam.
How about that for freedom of speech? Of course Muslims have been always free to post anything in the forum and in the comments section of faithfreedom.org, but now they can also write blogs refuting FFI right on FFI. Show me one Islamic site that allows opposing comments, let alone giving their critics blogs to refute them.
So, Dear Mr. Jumlana, instead of crying like a baby and complaining to authorities, please act maturely and start refuting what you believe are “distortions” in our site.
This offer is open to all Muslims. Muslims can now have their own blogs to refute us on FFI. I have a hunch that their blogs will be very popular, provided they write scholarly articles. But be also prepared to be debunked and refuted. You are free to write anything and you readers are free to comment and show your errors.
There are some conditions.
1- You must not use copy pasted articles from other writers. What you publish on FFI must be your own writing.
2- Your articles must be in response to the charges made against Muhammad. The intent is to prove FFI is wrong and Islam is indeed a true religion.
Are you up to the challenge? If we are distorting the facts, as you accuse us, it should be easy for you to prove us wrong. The antidote to lies is truth. Show us the truth and debunk everything we say, in konta men al sadeqeen.
By searching your name in Google, I see you are a professional complainer to authorities and an avid lawsuit maker. But I did not find any scholarly article penned by you about Islam. I hope you will be able to defend your faith logically now that you have exposed yourself to all and sundry. Don’t try to bully the critics of Islam to silence, it won’t work anymore. Instead try to refute them wrong, if you can.
Wish you the best
Ali Sina
I grabbed and placed this post on my blog just in case the "Mother Huckers" will try to destroy Atlas!... This copy is kept along side with the "Dead See Scrolls"!...
P.S.
Ali Sina, Are there more like you 'OUT THERE'??
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..Israeli Shekel Exchange
The M/F on the right, destroyed 95% of my family!
The "Goat Molester" on the left, was put in charge ' TO DO ' the remaining 5% !!
I'm HERE!
' wana dance ' ?...
Read this:-
"Hajj-Amin And Berlin" , by Jennie Lebel, translated by Dr. Paul Münch ( My Father!... ) from Serbian.
ISBN 965-7018-06-4
.