Anti-Muslim DVD Boosts McCain

The Clarion Fund supported by friends of Israel has paid dozens of newspapers across the country including The New York Times to distribute the "Islam terror" DVD "Obsession" with their home delivery packages. The documentary showcases scenes of Muslim children being encouraged to become suicide bombers, interspersed with shots of Nazi rallies. New York Times Co. spokeswoman Diane McNulty justified its support for the DVD. She said: "We believe the broad principles of freedom of the press confer on us an obligation to keep our advertising columns as open as possible..."An estimated 28 million copies have been distributed so far, also through the mails and other magazines. The supporters of Israel believe that by distributing such material undecided American voters will vote for John McCain in the US general election scheduled for this November.

Making bus dawa in Seattle

Running on the sides of several Metro buses in Seattle, the advertisements say: "Q: Islam. A: You deserve to know," with a phone number and Web site. "We feel often Muslims don't have a voice," said Aijazi, one of about six people who helped coordinate the local effort to get the ads onto the outside of six Metro buses and the inside of about 25. About 10 local Muslims contributed to the nearly $5,000 campaign. "This is just a way to present the community with a source of information about Islam that comes from Muslims themselves," he said. A 2007 poll from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life showed that 58 percent of Americans surveyed said they knew little or nothing about Islam - a figure that's changed little since 2001. And Americans' attitude toward Muslims and Islam appears to have gotten slightly more negative in recent years. The same Pew poll showed that 43 percent of those surveyed had a favorable opinion of Muslims, down from 48 percent in 2004. Muslims in the West should not cower under the banner of fear; rather they should take every opportunity to expose the fallacies of Western liberalism and present Islam as the only alternative.

Britain unveils Shariah courts

On 14/9/2008 the Sunday Times reported that Islamic law had been officially adopted in Britain, with sharia courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases. The government has sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence. Previously, the rulings of sharia courts in Britain could not be enforced, and depended on voluntary compliance among Muslims. It has now emerged that sharia courts with these powers have been set up in London, Birmingham, Bradford and Manchester with the network's headquarters in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Two more courts are being planned for Glasgow and Edinburgh. Politicians and church leaders expressed concerns that this could mark the beginnings of a "parallel legal system" based on sharia for some British Muslims. However, the reality is that the British government wants enforce its own version of Islam and having shariah courts at its disposal is one way of accomplishing this feat. The government has already introduced its version of the nikah contract, under which a wali amr is not a mandatory requirement. Hence, if a Muslims objected to this contract, his/her objection would be over ruled by Britain's Shariah court.

Kill Muslims for fun

An Australian-made video game that encourages players to massacre Muslim people has caused furor amongst Muslims."Muslim Massacre" is promoted as taking place after the United States "declares war" on the religion of Islam and encourages players to wipe out followers."Take control of the American hero and wipe out the Muslim race with an arsenal of the world's most destructive weapons," the "Muslim Massacre" Web site says. The targets appear as bearded men wearing normal clothes or characters in black outfits with facemasks. Later levels include suicide bombers and a "boss" opponent resembling Osama Bin Laden. So far no western government has taken any action. Had a Muslim produced a game about killing Jews for fun there would have been international outrage, condemnation and calls for boycott against those Muslim countries selling it.

Saudi clerics call for death penalty but remain silent about Saudi Arabia's systems of kufr

A senior Saudi cleric has said that purveyors of horoscopes on Arab television should be sentenced to death. "The Muslim consensus is that the apostate's punishment is death by the sword," Sheikh Saleh al-Fozan told al-Madina daily. "Those who call in these shows should not be accorded Muslim rites when they die," the prominent cleric added. Earlier Sheikh Lohaidan, another prominent cleric who is the head of Saudi Arabia's Islamic shariah courts, told Saudi radio: "I want to advise the owners of these channels that broadcast programmes with indecency and vulgarity and warn them of the consequences. They can be put to death through the judicial process." How ironic it is to find such scholars calling for stern punishments for indecency, but they remain silent at the kufr systems that pervade Saudi society.

Pakistani army unable to decide whether it wants to help or repel US forces

On 15/9/2008 the Pakistani media reported that Pakistani troops fired shots into the air to stop US troops crossing into the South Waziristan region of Pakistan. Local witness said that seven US helicopter gunships and two troop-carrying Chinook helicopters landed in the Afghan province of Paktika near the Zohba mountain range. US troops from the Chinooks then tried to cross the border. As they did so, Pakistani paramilitary soldiers at a checkpoint opened fire into the air and the US troops decided not to continue forward. Reports state that firing lasted for several hours. Local people evacuated their homes and tribesmen took up defensive positions in the mountains. However, a Pakistani military official in Islamabad confirmed there was firing but denied that Pakistani troops were involved. Later, military spokesman Athar Abbas said no incursion will be tolerated and military commanders were told to prevent any incursion into Pakistani territory. It is exactly this type of ambiguity that blights the reputation of the Pakistani army both at home and abroad. What is required is a firm response both in word and deed by the Pakistani army to dissuade the US crusaders from violating Pakistan's sovereignty.