Month: October 2010

BY PHYLLIS CHESLER
Holland is on my mind right now, partly because Geert Wilders is, unbelievably, still on trial for the “thought crime” of telling the truth about Islamic jihad but partly because a new study has just been released which shows that half the victims of honor-related violence in Holland (this means Muslimgirls and women) who sought shelter through the social service network, Fier Fryslan, were also sexuallyabused by their own family members.

Of the sexually abused girls, 52% were abused by a cousin, 22% by a brother and 20% by an uncle. 8% were abused by their father, 2% by a stepfather, and 2% by an acquaintance.

But, I am mainly thinking a lot about Holland because I recently met with and interviewed the mostamazing woman, the author, Abigail R. Esman, who has just published a very important book, Radical State: How Jihad Is Winning Over Democracy in the West.

Read it all….

“The West is in a war of ideas against political Islam. If free speech is not protected in Europe, we’re already losing.”

And of course, we are. One freedom-fighter writes about another: “In Holland, Free Speech on Trial,” by Ayaan Hirsi Ali in the Wall Street Journal, October 11 (thanks to JW)

Dutch court cuts jail time for jihadist who plotted to kill U.S. troops in Iraq

Maybe they needed to free up a cell for Geert Wilders. “Court Cuts Jail for Plot to Kill US Troops in Iraq,” from AP, October 13, via JW>>

Feel Good Story of the Day:

Nose Restored

Taliban oppression poster girl unveils new nose

A woman who became the poster girl of Taliban oppression in Afghanistan after being mutilated by her husband has unveiled her new face to the world. (Daily Mail)

AFGHANISTAN: Obama’s policies are the reason why deaths of women by self-immolation are on the rise (Barenaked)

Holland’s rulers are turning the country towards theocracy, attacking another politician’s right to even speak the truth about Islam:

Prosecutors say Dutch politician Geert Wilders cannot defend himself on hate speech charges by arguing that remarks he has made critical of Islam are true.

They say there is no general agreement about the nature of Islam and his statements are only his opinion….

Prosecutor Birgit van Roessel said at the start of her closing arguments Tuesday that the right to freedom of speech has limits, including when it infringes too far on the right of freedom of religion….

How come our hate-speech laws protect only Assholes like these?

This is obscene.

Meanwhile, the law seems of more use to real hate-preachers than those who expose them:

Radical The Hague imam Fawaz Jneid is demanding €55,000 in damages from MP Geert Wilders for using video footage of him without permission in his anti-Islam film compilation Fitna.

The hearing will take place in The Hague next Wednesday. Wilders is also appearing in court in Amsterdam next week on charges of inciting hatred and discrimination.

Wilders had used part of an interview with Jneid recorded for tv current affairs show Network in 2008.

The imam claims his portrait rights have been infringed, that Wilders broke the law and that his good name has been damaged.

Why is this POS not in the dock? How come the Dutch Inquisition is not going after him?

So what had Wilders shown Jneid preaching?:

Sheik Fawaz Jneid … cursed filmmaker Theo van Gogh in a sermon a few weeks before he was murdered exactly two years ago yesterday. According to terrorist suspect Soumaya Sahla, the murderer, Mohammed Bouyeri, was present at the sermon.

In his prayer, Fawaz said to Allah: ”Cause Van Gogh a disease which all the inhabitants of the earth are unable to cure. Cause him suffering making him long for death. Blind the sight of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, give her brains a cancer. Give her tongue a cancer.” Fawaz said this week he had just wanted “to blow off steam”.

Thanks to Andrew Bolt:  Do our Greens have the courage of Holland’s to criticise Islam?

• Leader of Dutch left-wing party encourages criticism of Islam (JW)

NYT-Mona El-Nagar/via ROP

For Egyptians, Lebanese Pop Star’s Murder Was Her Own Fault

CAIRO — An Egyptian real estate tycoon falls in love with a Lebanese pop star. After three to four years, she decides to leave him. He pays another man $2 million to kill her. She is found dead, with her throat slit. He is found guilty of inciting and ordering the murder.

And what do women here have to say about the homicide victim? Mostly, that she deserved it.

Related:

• Egyptian Woman Wins Divorce after Husband Refuses to Bathe

Continue reading "She Made Him Kill Her, She Deserved It!"

“Gestures Needed”

So… what’s in it for us? One might be afraid to ask if we get a “gesture.”

Afghan peace council members want gesture from US

By DEB RIECHMANN/ The Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan — Releasing Taliban figures detained at Guantanamo Bay and scratching scores of others off the U.N. sanctions list would jump-start peace talks aimed at ending the 9-year-old war, members of Afghanistan’s new peace council said Tuesday.

In a sane world, Summary executions would have done the trick. Especially in light of the fact that released Gitmo apes have an incurable habit of returning to the jihad. But America under the Muslim POTUS Obama prefers to be deceived….

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, second left prays with members of the Afghanistan’s peace council, from left Burhanuddin Rabbani, Pir Sayed Ahmad Gailani, and Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf during the inaugural session in Kabul, Afghanistan. Members of Afghanistan’s new peace council say releasing Taliban figures detained at Guantanamo Bay and scratching scores of others off the U.N. sanctions list would jump-start peace talks aimed at ending the 9-year-old war.

Continue reading How will we ever get the Taliban to trust US?

Update:

Thanks to Vlad Tepes we have Video!

Testimony of Dr. Wafa Sultan at the trial of Geert Wilders in the Netherlands.

Here is some stunning court testimony thanks to our never-sleeping Dutch to English translator, V.H.

The judge reads from testimony that was given by Dr. Wafa Sultan about the nature and threat of Islam to Western liberal democracy at the trial of Geert Wilders for whatever it is he is charged with. I phrase it this way because frankly, I feel he is charged with 1. Being Geert Wilders and 2. Not following the Frankfurt school party line on all things politically correct and incorrect.

In any case, this is a great couple of clips. Thanks to VH for the translation, and to The Baron over at Gates of Vienna for the formatting.

First Round 1:0 for Wilders: Acquittal for Geert Wilders on One Count (GoV)

There is nothing hyperbolic in stating that a trial which has just started in Holland will have unparalleled significance for the future of Europe. It is not just about whether our culture will survive, but whether we are even allowed to state the fact that it is being threatened. (Douglas Murray/Telegraph UK)

Truth is No Defense:

“”No matter whether Wilders’ publications are true or not, this does not mean that he can express those as facts””

Telling the truth is now officially an offence punishable by a prison term.  This trial in the Netherlands has now assumed Franz Kafkaesque proportions.

If truth is no defense, then what is? All that’s left is “might is right”. The courts are commending the rule of barbarism. Can it get any worse?

“No matter whether Wilders’ publications are true or not, this does not mean that he can express those as facts”

AMSTERDAM — Prosecutors say Dutch politician Geert Wilders cannot defend himself on hate speech charges by arguing that remarks he has made critical of Islam are true.

They say there is no general agreement about the nature of Islam and his statements are only his opinion….

Prosecutor Birgit van Roessel said at the start of her closing arguments Tuesday that the right to freedom of speech has limits, including when it infringes too far on the right of freedom of religion….(The Associated Press, October 12/via Jihad Watch)

Continue reading Geert Wilders: On Trial For Telling the Truth

Peaceful Muslim demands that non-Muslims accommodate violent Muslims

Khalid Latif, a chaplain for New York University, here complains that moderate and peaceful understandings of Islam are being unfairly discounted: “As much as Muslims need to acknowledge the existence of a minority voice that is radicalized, so too does a broader society need to acknowledge the existence of a majority voice that is not radicalized and more importantly condemns radical thought.”

That’s just great, and I am happy to accommodate him in this. It is also worth noting, however, that a few years ago, when NYU students planned to display the Danish cartoons of Muhammad at a campus event, Latif wrote a letter to NYU President John Sexton, asking that he “not allow these cartoons to be displayed in any shape or form.” Why not? Because “the potential of what might happen after they are shown is something else that should be considered and not taken lightly.” For “the repercussions that would take place outside of the university setting are potentially huge. All over the world Muslims have been coming together over this issue and in New York they would not hesitate in doing the same thing.”

This has been widely interpreted as a veiled threat, but let’s give Latif the benefit of the doubt: let’s just say that he was simply noting the possibility of violence, not threatening violence, if the cartoons were displayed at NYU. Even if that were the case, another problem remains: he was asking Sexton to make sure that non-Muslims changed their behavior to accommodate violent Muslims, rather than directing his efforts to violence-minded Muslims to try to get them to stop the violence.

And that has everything to do with what he is saying here. Because here again, he is saying that it is up to non-Muslims to take due notice of peaceful Muslims. But how effective or helpful are these peaceful Muslims when one of their foremost exponents refuses to stand up to his violent coreligionists, but instead demands that non-Muslims curtail their activities to accommodate them? If Latif is really concerned that non-Muslims don’t believe his protestations of peace and moderation, this is why: his unwillingness or inability to stand up to the “radicals” either casts doubt upon his sincerity or demonstrates his impotence.

“My Take: Islam is a religion of peace, or it isn’t,” by Khalid Latif for CNN, October 11, via JW

Continue reading Khalid Latif's Dirty Little Jihad

Conflicting Reports

From Dutch News:

Find Wilders not guilty of insulting groups, prosecutors tell court

Anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders should be found not guilty of insulting Muslims and non-western immigrants as a group, the public prosecution department said at the MP’s trial on Tuesday.

By likening the Koran to Hitler’s Mein Kampf, Wilders was focusing on Islam and the Koran, rather than Muslims, even if the statement can be considered upsetting, the public prosecutors said during court hearings in Amsterdam.

In addition, there can only be talk of collective insult when a statement damages the entire group, the prosecutors said.

Second week

The public prosecutors began outlining their sentencing demands on Tuesday, in the second week of the MP´s trial.

In addition to group insult, Wilders has also been charged with discrimination and inciting hatred.

The department will outline its case and sentence demand on those charges on Friday.

The department has also said that none of the groups and individuals making formal complaints about Wilders are eligible for damages.

But then we have this:

“The Truth is No Defense”

“No matter whether Wilders’ publications are true or not, this does not mean that he can express those as facts”

Robert Spencer received the following message earlier today from a reader in the Netherlands:

If it is  illegal in the Netherlands to tell the truth, then the light of freedom is in imminent danger of going out not just in the Netherlands but all over the West.

Dear Mr. Spencer,At 09.45 Amsterdam local time the prosecution stated that “no matter whether Wilders’ publications are true or not, this does not mean that he can express those as facts”.

This means telling the truth, even well documented, can still mean jail is coming.

So, apparently The Netherlands are already back in the dark ages.

UPDATE: Yes, it’s accurate. “Prosecutors: Dutch anti-Islam politician can’t defend himself by arguing his comments are true,” from The Associated Press, October 12:

AMSTERDAM — Prosecutors say Dutch politician Geert Wilders cannot defend himself on hate speech charges by arguing that remarks he has made critical of Islam are true.They say there is no general agreement about the nature of Islam and his statements are only his opinion….

Prosecutor Birgit van Roessel said at the start of her closing arguments Tuesday that the right to freedom of speech has limits, including when it infringes too far on the right of freedom of religion….

Some more bad news:

Radical imam takes Wilders to court for damaging his good name

Radical The Hague imam Fawaz Jneid (terrorist scum) is demanding €55,000 in damages from MP Geert Wilders for using video footage of him without permission in his anti-Islam film compliation Fitna.  (DutchNews)

Continue reading Geert Wilders vs the Dutch Inquisition