Promoting Coexistence In Palestine Through Sports

While most Palestinians continue to foster hate by encouraging children to embrace martyrdom through Islamic jihad, a few are trying to foment peace through coexistence. In a perfect world, we would all live together in peace, but that will never happen as long as adults continue to teach children to hate. We are not born with the prejudice and bias, it is something that is taught and passed down from generation to generation. And if we want to some day live in harmony it will have to start with our children, especially the Palestinian kids who have been brainwashed from a very young age, by parents and the media alike, into loathing the Israelis enough to sacrifice their own lives to get rid of the Jews.

So what better way to promote peace, cooperation and coexistence than sports. Apparently, the European Union, along with an Israeli organization Hapoel Tel Aviv Club, funded a project 'Football- Our Common Denominator' which brought Israeli and Palestinian kids together to play "a friendly game of football" south of Hebron, in the PA, in early December.

The offical Palestinian Authority daily- Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 11, 2010- reported the following [excerpt]:

Headline: "Game for coexistence between Palestinian and Israeli children"
"On Friday, Palestinian children hosted a group of Israeli peers for a friendly game of football between two mixed teams, in the first visit of its kind, in order to demonstrate the possibility of peaceful coexistence between two states in the future... The mixed game was organized with the support of the 'Football - Our Common Denominator' project, funded by the European Union, in conjunction with the Israeli Ha-Poel Tel Aviv club."

It must start with the children who need to learn the importance of coexisting with others if there is ever to be peace in that region. A sports match is only the beginning. There needs to be many more projects like this.

Source: Palestinian Media Watch

Somalia's Al Shabaab Demands Obama Embrace Islam Or Americans Will Die

If it wasn't for the fact that at least 20 young Somali Muslim males went missing from Minnesota several years ago, some of whom blew themselves to bits and yet others have been indicted in connection with an ongoing investigation into how and who recruited the would-be-terrorists, the latest out of Somalia would be laughable.

Al Shabaab, the marauding, hardline Islamist thugs have ravaged Somalia (along with their arch-enemies now good buddies Hizbul Islam), in an attempt to establish their uber-strict form of Sharia on the poor people of the country. Some of the most bizarre fatwas have emerged from over there, including the banning of bras and school bells, because they are un-Islamic. Somalia has been a hotbed of violence for ages, and now they are threatening to export it to the good old U.S.A. unless Barack Obama gives in to their demands. They don't want ransom money, they don't want the removal of troops from Afghanistan, they want Barry O to embrace Islam. I'm not quite sure what their rationale is for demanding that he convert to Islam, other than the fact that they might consider him one since he has a Muslim background which would mean they would expect him to 'revert' but that's what Fuad Mohamed "Shongole" Qalaf wants. During a speech broadcast on radio he said,

"We tell the American President Barack Obama to embrace Islam before we come to his country."

So, although I find the idea that some extremist goons thousands of miles away in some God-forsaken country seem to think they can threaten a President into converting to their religion rather entertaining, the fact that they already reside in the U.S. is not so amusing. I am sure the majority are law-abiding, peaceful types glad to not be subjected to the religious excesses of al Shabaab, but how many other young Somali men have been recruited into jihad like the missing Minnesotans? And look at 19-year-old Mohamed Osman Mohamud, who was absolutely convinced that dialing a cellphone was about to blow up a van at a Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in Oregon this year? Not only was he Somali-born, he also happened to be a naturalized U.S. citizen.

So al Shabaab's threats are not out of the realm of possibility, which is not a comforting thought.

Baby It's Cold Outside- Or, What Happened To Global Warming?

It's the second year in a row, where I live, that we've had the coldest pre-winter ever, and I'm loving every minute of having to bundle up, since it's not something we've enjoyed very often. I've been here for 15 plus years, and although we experienced some cold spells the first few Decembers and Januaries after moving here, all those other years I've had to dust off the sweaters and coats only a few days here and there during the winter months. But it seems that the winters are getting colder, harsher and snowier- not just in this country, but all over the world.

Europe has recently experienced terrible weather. So have we, with record amounts of snow, and the first white Christmas in Atlanta, GA since 1898. All this coldness begs the question:

what happened to Global Warming?

Yes, I know that there are scientists and other eco-types who claim that global warming has caused the increase in snow fall, but what about the record cold temps? Florida had record cold weather in January of this year, and again in December, and they're in for another freeze before year-end. Temps have been so frigid this year that record numbers of Manatees have died in Florida waters. And this hasn't been the coldest year to date. The winter of 2009/2010 also saw record-breaking cold weather across our planet. I was reading a comment from a woman in the Netherlands in a forum on a website that I sell my photography and she said the winters have been getting progressively colder and that they were finally skating on natural ice again after years.

Just as there are those who continue to claim the world is heating up at an alarming rate and that we are at fault, there are others (scientists included) who believe that we are actually entering what they believe is another little ice age.

More opinions from those who believe the ice age is coming, here and here.

Spam Comments

As a result of a slew of spam comments I have decided to temporarily enable comment moderation.

I love comments but not when they're made under false pretenses, i.e. to promote some on-line business.

YouTube Closes Down Palestinian Media Watch's Account

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) along with MEMRI are two of the best sources for information concerning the Middle East and beyond.

PMW needs our help after essentially being censored by having their account closed on YouTube.

The following is an email I received asking for help. It doesn't specifically mention what to do, but an email to YouTube might help. Anyone with half a brain knows that PMW isn't promoting hate speech, they are merely attempting to shed light on the plethora of hate speech that does exist in the Middle East.

YouTube closes down PMW account

PMW needs your help. YouTube has closed down PMW's main video account - PALWATCH - for "violating YouTube terms of use", by supposedly propagating hate speech. Of course PMW does not promote hate speech, but exposes the hate speech of the PA and the Hamas, in order to bring about its elimination.

YouTube stated that the account was henceforth terminated "due to repeated or severe violations of our Terms of Use" and they specified the following PMW videos from Palestinian sources, promoting the killing of Jews:

1. "Hamas TV teaches kids to kill Jews" formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwN2M6ZIIRU
Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 10/02/2009.

2. "Jews are a virus like Aids" formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYaGl3KjPUw
Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 01/18/2010.

3. "Farewell video before suicide attack of Hamas suicide bomber Adham Ahmad Hujyla Abu Jandal" formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYdTudQhWM4
Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 06/10/2010.

4. "Hamas suicide farewell video: Jews monkeys and pigs; Maidens reward for killing Jews" formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryc7RqXlVdE
Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 08/14/2010.

5. "PA cleric: Kill Jews, Allah will make Muslims masters over Jews" formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjuDTO8fgqM
Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 12/12/2010.

6. "Hamas suicide terrorist farewell video: Palestinians drink the blood of Jews" formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSftYIGH6-w
Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 12/15/2010.

PMW urgently seeks to have this account reopened, since some of these videos have accumulated hundreds of thousands of viewings and the exposure is critical to our ongoing work.
If any of our subscribers could help, it would be much appreciated.



Thank you,
Itamar Marcus

Muslim Family In Spain Denounces Teacher For Offending Son- Or, Talking About Ham Is A No-No

For various reasons, there are many of us who choose not to eat pig, in its many different culinary manifestations. I'm a vegetarian, so any form of animal flesh is out- besides, after seeing the film "Babe", who could ever eat bacon again? Others stay away from ham and pork for health reasons- you can still get trichinosis from eating undercooked pork, and who wants to share their intestines with a bunch of nasty worms. Still others stay away from piggy products because of religious dietary laws. Judaism and Islam forbid eating pork, and it's even a no-no for the Seventh-day Adventists, although there are some who don't abide by those particular laws. But even though I choose to 'just say no' to eating pork products (along with some Jews and Seventh-day Adventists, we have no problems if someone else eats them, and we certainly are not offended by the mere mention or a picture of a piglet. Some Muslims, on the other hand, consider it almost a capital offense to even talk about the "P" word, and people around the world are suffering the consequences of that aversion.

Ask a high school teacher at the Menéndez Tolosa institute in Spain who was reported to the National Police by the family of a student of his, for having offended the boy. His major crime? Mentioning 'ham', which the Spaniards happen to love.

According to Spanish language El Diario de Cádiz , a professor was teaching a class in geography and talking about the different climates on our planet. As an example of a cold, dry climate he mentioned Trevélez, which happens to be a major ham-producing village in Granada, Spain. Apparently, that kind of climate is perfect for curing ham and the professor used that fact as an anecdote. Now, the professor wasn't forcing the students to eat, or touch said 'cured ham', he simply mentioned the fact that the weather there was ideal. Well, the mere mention of the "H" word ticked the student off, and he told the teacher to stop talking about ham because it offended him as a Muslim. The teacher responded, and rightfully so, that it was simply an example and that he did not take into account the religion of his students. And rather than broach the subject with the teacher first, the family raced off to the police to file a complaint- the teacher is now accused of labour abuse, with a little racism and xenophobia for added effect.

Students and teachers alike are furious considering he is a well-liked professor with a stellar record, who has dedicated well over 20 years to teaching. The National Police is keeping the investigation open pending the outcome in court.

Now, I know not all Muslims would go so far as to file a criminal complaint against someone for mentioning pork, ham bacon or any other pig-related word, but good grief, the fact that even a few do happen to file frivolous complaints is a few too many. This should not be happening in the Western world. We should not have to censor ourselves for fear that we might offend someone, or worse yet, that we might get sued for said offenses.

I think the good professor should file a counter-complaint (on behalf of the poor maligned pig) against the student and his family for porkophobia. This insanity has got to stop!

Other Sources: Diario De Jerez, Larazon.es

H/T Tea and Politics

The U.K. Red Cross Bans Christmas Decorations In Their Stores UPDATE: Old Story

The Red Cross lost my respect a long time ago with the various controversies it has been involved with throughout the decades, including what it was doing with all the money it raised during the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, and training the Taliban in first aid. Neutral or not, aiding and abetting terrorists is appalling. I stopped donating years ago, and have found other worthwhile charitable organizations to give money to when natural disasters have decimated our land and countries around the world. So, the fact that they have now banned Christmas in their 430 U.K. shops, doesn't really make much difference to me, other than the fact that it proves that England is quickly succumbing to a politically correct path which will eventually lead to its own demise, and that the charity itself deserves a lump of coal when Santa comes along this year.

Not that the Red Cross is a Christian organization, per se (other than the use of a red "cross" as its symbol), but to ban any and all Christmas decorations other than some measly tinsel or snow, which is what it did, is completely and utterly fatuous. According to an article on the DailyMail website,

Staff have been ordered to take down decorations and to remove any other signs of the Christian festival because they could offend Moslems.

Ironically, the ban was apparently self-imposed, and criticized by both Christians and Muslims alike.

Labour peer Lord Ahmed, one of the country's most prominent Moslem politicians, said:

'It is stupid to think Moslems would be offended. 'The Moslem community has been talking to Christians for the past 1,400 years. The teachings from Islam are that you should respect other faiths.' He added: 'In my business all my staff celebrate Christmas and I celebrate with them. It is absolutely not the case that Christmas could damage the Red Cross reputation for neutrality - I think their people have gone a little bit over the top.

Over the top, indeed. I'm sure there probably are a few Muslims, along with some equally bah-humbug-ish Atheists, who might take offense to a nativity scene- that has always been the case- but I have always believed that if you don't want to celebrate a a particular holiday, then by all means don't. But to prevent others from celebrating their religious holidays is incredibly selfish.

No-one would expect the Red Crescent to ask Muslims to not celebrate Ramadan. And there's certainly no global movement to stop Jewish people from celebrating Hanukkah or Hindus Diwali, but for some reason Christians are being asked to step back and remove their 'Christ' from Christmas, and not just by the Red Cross. There has been an increasing trend to take Christmas away from Christians, from people being told not to say "Merry Christmas" to nativity scenes being removed from public places. And remember the time when Christmas Trees were called 'Holiday' Trees?

I actually prefer to say 'Happy Holidays', not because I am being politically correct, but because this time of year is not exclusively Christian; other religions celebrate too, and one never knows what religion a person might be. But if someone tells me Merry Christmas, you can be sure I will respond with a "Merry Christmas to you too!".

UPDATE: According to the Red Cross, this apparently was a story from back in 2002. Still doesn't change my mind about the organization.

Wikileaks Cable- The American Airlines Crew And "Loco" Hugo Chavez

Although I firmly believe what Wikileaks is doing is, for the most part, a criminal act rather than a freedom of speech issue (but that's a topic for another post), some of the less potentially harmful information that has emerged has been rather bizarre. Take what happened at the airport in Caracas, Venezuela several years ago, when the captain and crew of American Airlines flight 903 were briefly held by Venezuelan authorities because of what amounted to the language barrier. According to a confidential, classified 2008 cable from the US Embassy in Caracas, the captain and flight crew had been detained because of the following announcement by one crew member:

"Welcome to Venezuela. Local Chavez time is ..."

If you remember, back in 2007, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, decided to arbitrarily create his own personal time-zone by permanently turning the clock back a half hour; simply because he could. And, as those of us who travel by air well know, passengers are always informed of the local time upon arrival at our destination. However, according to the cable, one Chavez groupie passenger, Nestor Maldonado Lanza, thought he heard "loco" instead of "local". For those of you who might not know Spanish, "loco" means crazy, which (ironically) Chavez is, but that's beside the point. Incensed at this perceived insult, Lanza immediately told National Assemblyman Carlos Echezuria Rodriguez (who was waiting for him at the airport) about these terrible Americans who had called his beloved Presidente "loco". The Deputy, in turn, called Vice President Carrizales, and from there it almost spiralled out of control- all because of one misinterpreted word.

Omar Nottaro, American Airlines Country Manager, managed to extricate the crew from what could have turned into an international incident, by some deft diplomacy which included apologies to various entities and off they went. Frankly, there should have been no need for apologies but when you are dealing with people like Chavez (who is clearly not in his right mind) and his minions, it's best to placate.

And apparently it wasn't an isolated incident- the cable also briefly mentions a Delta flight that had similar problems in Caracas.

UK Muslim Cleric Says There Is No "Rape Within Marriage"

There is no such thing as rape in marriage, according to a prominent Muslim cleric in the U.K. Sheikh Maulana Abu Sayeed, who heads the Islamic Sharia Council in Britain. Sayeed said that since "sex is part of marriage', and since ‘in Islamic Sharia, rape is adultery by force. So long as the woman is his wife, it cannot be termed as rape.’ He's basically saying that it's okay for a man to force his wife to have sex against her will, because she's his property after all. But forcing a woman to have sex against her will is RAPE, so he's in essence condoning the raping of wives. In comments made on the blog The Samosa and the Independent, Sayeed said,

‘Clearly there cannot be any rape within the marriage. Maybe aggression, maybe indecent activity… Because when they got married, the understanding was that sexual intercourse was part of the marriage, so there cannot be anything against sex in marriage. ‘Of course, if it happened without her desire, that is no good, that is not desirable.’

Yes sexual intercourse is part of marriage but not when a woman is bullied and forced into having sex. The sexual union should be an expression of love, not to satisfy some animalistic male urge. We are human beings after all, not animals.

Rape within marriage is against the law in the West and we certainly don't need idiots like Sayeed encouraging men to rape their wives because they feel it is their right within Sharia law. He also told women not to go to the police after allegedly being raped by their husbands, at least

‘Not in the beginning, unless we establish that it really happened. Because in most of the cases, wives… have been advised by their solicitors that one of the four reasons for which a wife can get a divorce is rape, so they are encouraged to say things like this.’

As for the punishment for men who have raped wives?

‘He may be disciplined, and he may be made to ask forgiveness. That should be enough.’

I'm sure the discipline would be simply a slap on the wrist. Thankfully, there are those in the Muslim community who condemned Sayeed's comments. Inayat Bunglawala, head of Muslims4UK (a counter group to the radical Islam4UK) said:

‘Sheikh Sayeed’s comments are woefully misguided and entirely inappropriate. Rape – whether within marriage or outside it – is an abominable act and is clearly against the law.’

Rape is an act of violence, and according to a spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers, Dave Whatton, most rapes are perpetrated by those familiar with the victims.

‘We know that the majority of rapes do not take place through strangers attacking women late at night but between acquaintances and within marriages and partnerships.


‘It is a fundamental principle that Sharia law should not replace the laws of the UK. Putting out views that rape can be dealt with in another way fundamentally undermines everything we are trying to do,’ he said.

The problem is that there are many who would like to supplant UK laws with Sharia. And the UK isn't the only country.

What Sayeed is doing is encouraging men to rape their wives because he claims it's okay in Islam. Well, it's not okay in any religion. A woman has the right to say no, it's her body and if the husband can't control his urges then take a cold shower. If a man wants to love and respect from his wife, then he needs to treat her as a human being not a sexual object.

The Ongoing Narco-Terrorist War In Mexico

There's a war going on in Mexico and it's getting bloodier and more violent and no-one seems able to do anything about it. Neither the police nor the military have been able to prevent the massacres that are occurring with unrelenting frequency all over Mexico. It's getting so bad that an entire police force in a small town in north Mexico quit after their building was ferociously attacked.

All 14 police officers in Los Ramones, a rural town in northern Mexico, fled the force in terror after gunmen fired more than 1,000 bullets and flung six grenades at their headquarters on Monday night.

No one was injured in the attack. Mayor Santos Salinas Garza told local media that the officers resigned because of the incident.

The gunmen’s 20-minute shooting spree destroyed six police vehicles and left the white and orange police station pocked with bullet holes, the Financial Times reported.

The station had been inaugurated just three days earlier.

If you can't count on the police because they are either corrupt or fear for their own lives, where does that leave the poor Mexican people? But just in October alone, we have had a series of attacks that have left men, women and children dead. 15 innocent people were massacred at a carwash.

Gunmen killed 15 people at a car wash Wednesday in a Mexican Pacific coast state where drug-gang violence has risen this year. It was the third massacre in Mexico in less than a week.

The gunmen in three vehicles drove up to the car wash in the city of Tepic and opened fire without provocation, said Fernando Carvajal, public safety secretary of Nayarit state, where the city is located. Fifteen men were killed and three people were injured.

Apparently some of the workers at the carwash were recovering addicts. Other recovering addicts were targeted at a rehab center in Ciudad Juarez in early October. 18 were killed. Mercilessly lined up and then gunned down. The possible reasons for the massacre are twisted at best.

It was the third attack on a drug treatment center in Ciudad Juarez. Chihuahua state authorities said Thursday they were investigating reports that the centers have turned into hideouts for drug smugglers being sought by police and hit men from rival gangs.

Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna, Mexico's top law enforcement official, said rehab clinics were also being used as recruiting and training centers by drug cartels.

He told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview that a recently detained drug suspect belonging to the La Familia cartel oversaw various private, nonprofit drug rehab centers across western Michoacan state. The suspect Rafael Cedeno claimed to have trained 9,000 recruits for the cartel in 2008.

"We're checking to see if there is a link with what we've found (in Michoacan)," Garcia Luna said.

Garcia Luna said in Michoacan, Cedeno's rehab centers held retreats to train members, and if addicts did not cooperate, they were executed. He said the La Familia gang preferred recovered addicts because they were less likely to touch the drug loads.

And saddest of all was the birthday party massacre in Ciudad Juarez, where 13 people were killed and 15 injured. Some of the injured will probably not survive. It's not the first birthday party that has been targeted. Back in January 15 people were killed in the same city, at a party for teenage athletes.

Though in most cases no-one knows for sure who the perpetrators are, we can rest assured that they are narco-terrorists and every bit as vicious, evil and barbaric as their Islamist extremist counterparts. The narco-terrorists fueled by drugs and money, and the radical Islamists by a twisted religious ideology.

'Tis The Season- Hamas TV Calls For Allah To Eliminate Jews, Christians and Communists

It's not just Jews and Christians that the Palestinians want dead, apparently they're not too fond of Communists either, so they'd like Allah to smite down the lefties, too.

In the video below, from Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), Hamas' official Al-Aqsa TV broadcast an 'Allah please kill all our enemies' video on December 3, 2010, just in time for our holiday season.

"Allah, oh our Lord, vanquish Your enemies, enemies of the religion
[Islam] in all places.
Allah, strike the Jews and their sympathizers,
the Christians and their supporters,
the Communists and their adherents.
Allah, count them and kill them to the last one, and don't leave even one."

Of course, it isn't the first time they've called for death to infidels. Back in January, 2010 there was this particular video calling on Palestinians to kill all Jews, only this time it was on Fatah's PATV station, not Hamas' Al-Aqsa, and rather than calling on Allah to do the dirty deed, they call on the people themselves.

Ho ho ho, and a Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas.