Egyptian blogger files lawsuit against anti-Christian incitement
Yasser al-Bourhami is called out for inciting violence against Egypt's Coptic Christians
Egyptian blogger and political activist Mahmoud Salem, more commonly known by his online persona Sandmonkey, filed a civil lawsuit on Thursday, January 26th against the well-known and influential Salafi preacher Yasser al-Bourhami for the latter’s incitement of violence against Coptic Christians. While the details of this suit are still emerging, they deserve serious domestic and global attention: if methodically pursued, the case could form an important challenge to Egypt’s still-persistent culture of legal impunity for violence and discrimination against members of the country’s significant Christian minority.
Via Michael Totten, who comments, “[Mahmoud Salem] is a Muslim, by the way, not a Copt. And he’s a real stand-up guy. Last year he ran for parliament in Cairo and lost, which is a shame. Egypt could become a great country if someone like him were elected its president. I don’t expect to see that in my lifetime, but who knows.”
Comments (1) »Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 at 7:42 AM | Stand for Israel
High school curriculum spreads lies about Israel
The Arab World Studies Notebook
A Boston-area newspaper, the Newton Tab, recently reported that local parent Tony Pagliuso was horrified when his daughter, a freshman at Newton South High School, brought home an article on women in the Middle East that claims “Several hundred [Palestinian women] have been imprisoned, tortured, and killed by Israeli occupation forces since the latest uprising, ‘Intifada,’ in the Israeli occupied territories.”
The article, which was distributed to Pagliuso’s daughter’s class by her world history teacher, makes it sound like Israel arbitrarily imprisons innocent Palestinian women. What it fails to mention is that Palestinian women have been responsible for carrying out some of the most horrific terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians. For example, Dalal Mugrahbi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization, carried out the 1978 coastal road massacre in which 38 civilians were murdered, including 13 children.
On top of this, the accusation that Israel tortures female prisoners is simply false. Palestinian female prisoners serving in Israeli jails enjoy full prisoner rights as stipulated by the Third Geneva Convention. In Israeli jails, Palestinian prisoners – male and female – are given decent living quarters, food, clothing, medical care, religious and physical activities, newspapers, phone calls, visits from friends and family, and a canteen where relatives and friends deposit money for their use inside the prison.
The article refuting these truths was taken from a controversial textbook called The Arab World Studies Notebook. In 2005, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) prompted many schools across the U.S. to ban the book from their high-school curriculum. In its critique, the AJC said that the book “is replete with factual errors, inaccuracies and misrepresentations about Middle East history.” The textbook goes so far as to suggest that “students repeat Arabic phrases that are confessions of belief and proposes that Muslim faith statements be transmitted to others,” concludes the AJC report. The textbook even makes the claim that Muslims discovered America prior to Columbus. Unbelievable!
This textbook is not about genuine learning — it’s a propaganda tool meant to shape…
Read More » Comments (4) »Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 at 12:11 PM | Amichai Farkas
Bethlehem mayor calls for Israel boycott
Bethlehem mayor Victor Batarseh (photo: bethlehem-city.org)
Sad, but predictable: In his Christmas message, the mayor of Bethlehem, a Palestinian Christian, has called for a boycott of Israel, declaring, “It worked with South Africa.” Khaled Abu Toameh comments:
The mayor’s anti-Israel message came at a time when Christians throughout the Arab world — and in Bethlehem and the Gaza Strip — are facing serious threats. But of course Batarseh has chosen to bury his head in the sand and does not want to look around him and see what is happening to his fellow Christians.
The Bethlehem mayor’s Christmas message completely ignored the fact that the “Arab Spring” has been anything but a blessing to Christians living in the Arab countries. According to Rita Daou, a reporter for Agence France Press, “The rise of Islamist movements in countries swept by the Arab revolutions has sent shudders throughout the region’s Christians who fear for their survival and question the make-up of the Middle East.”
Toameh concludes, “For now, Israel remains the only place in the Middle East where Arab Christians feel protected and safe.” Mr. Mayor, pull your head out of the sand and listen.
Comments (30) »Tuesday, December 20th, 2011 at 8:23 AM | Stand for Israel
Mugrabi Bridge closure infuriates Palestinians
The Mugrabi Bridge, the only entrance for non-Muslims to the Temple Mount
If you’ve visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem, you’ve seen the Mugrabi Bridge, the only entrance for non-Muslims to the Temple Mount. Yesterday, Israeli officials closed the bridge after deeming it structurally unsound. Sounds reasonable, no? It’s the government’s job to protect the public by repairing unsafe structures. Well, apparently it’s not that simple:
Hamas warned Monday that the Israeli closure of the Mugrabi Bridge is tantamount to a “declaration of war” on Muslim holy sites. “This is a serious step that shows the Zionist scheme of aggression against the al-Aqsa mosque,” said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum in an interview with AFP. “This is a violent act that amounts to a declaration of religious war on the Muslim holy places in Jerusalem.”
Israeli officials closed the Mugrabi Bridge on Sunday for safety reasons, three days before the municipality deadline to close the ramp leading from the Western Wall plaza to the Temple Mount.
Elsewhere in the article, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat says that the repair of the bridge is yet another example of Israel’s ”determination to judaize Jerusalem.” Ah, no, Mr. Erakat. Israel is not trying to “judaize” Jerusalem. She doesn’t need to. That’s already been done by thousands of years of history. Crack open a legitimate history book (not one of the textbooks you let your children “learn” from, but a real history book) or a Bible sometime … it’s all in there.
Comments (15) »Monday, December 12th, 2011 at 9:12 AM | Stand for Israel
Saudi Arabia to give Australian 500 lashes for blasphemy
Mansor Almaribe
An Australian man visiting Saudi Arabia for a Muslim pilgrimage, was recently sentenced to 500 lashes (considered a death sentence) and a year in jail:
Mansor Almaribe, a resident of southern Victoria state, was arrested by religious police on November 14 in Medina while participating in the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca known as the hajj. His eldest son Jamal told The Melbourne Age newspaper that Almaribe was reading and praying in a group at the time.
Family members told Australian media that Saudi officials accused the 45-year-old of insulting companions of Islam’s Prophet Muhammed; blasphemy is considered a serious offense in Saudi Arabia, which is governed under Shari’a (Islamic) law.
No information is available about exactly how or when he insulted them, or even which companions of Muhammed he allegedly had insulted.
Friends, if this is how the radical Islamist rulers of Arab countries treat their fellow Muslims, how can any of the rest of us – especially the Jewish state of Israel – have any hope of living at peace with them?
Comments (19) »Thursday, December 8th, 2011 at 2:34 PM | Stand for Israel
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