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Friday 30 January 2009

Robert Spencer on Freedom of Speech

A powerful argument by the incomparable Robert Spencer on the merits of freedom of speech in the face of the Stealth Jihad currently being waged against us - here:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/024625.php#respond

It comprises a 30 minute speech and a 15 minute Q&A session. It might take up most of your lunch hour but it's time well spent. Don't miss it.

Thursday 29 January 2009

We Are All Geert Wilders Now

An excellent article from Jeffrey Imm - here:

A great man once warned that we "cannot sit idly by" and "not be concerned about what happens" in other places as injustice happens, equality is crushed, and liberties are threatened. He told us that: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."

That great man dared to defy an ideology of identity-based supremacism, an ideology based on denying equality to all men and women, an ideology based on the lie that some are inherently superior to others simply based on their race, religion, creed, or national origin. That great man challenged a supremacist ideology whose "ugly record of brutality is widely known," and he did not fear to name it or protest against its oppression of others. As a result, he was threatened and charged by some with actions that would "incite to hatred and violence." Those against him felt that a line had to be drawn to stop his protestations and stop his message of defiance against supremacism. That man was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man in America, who is still celebrated today and honoured today as a courageous leader in defending equality and liberty.

But just a few days after the United States' annual honouring of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life and courage in defying supremacism, another man in another part of the world in another era, was being charged once again with inciting hatred for defying another supremacist ideology. That man was Geert Wilders, a legislator in the Netherlands, who has dared to defy the ideology of Islamic supremacism. Mr. Wilders has challenged Islamic supremacism because of its leaders' threats against humanity, because of Islamic supremacism's goals to conquer the Earth, and because of Islamic supremacism's refusal to acknowledge the inalienable human rights of equality and liberty.

Like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did not fear to recognize that this problem dealt with the identity-based supremacist ideology of "white supremacy," so Geert Wilders has also not feared to address the identity of those who would promote an Islamic supremacy. Like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. challenged whites, so Geert Wilders has challenged Islam. Defying any supremacist ideology requires the honesty to name the problem, so that humanity can find a solution. Whispering among ourselves in the dark in the face of a brutal supremacist ideology will only ensure that no one can gather the courage to light the first candle of wisdom to help humanity find the answers we desperately need.

In the case of Geert Wilders, a court was repulsed by his comments comparing Islamic supremacism's beliefs to those expressed in Hitler's Mein Kampf. That court was not repulsed by the daily calls for killing Jews by Islamic supremacists. That court was not repulsed by the anti-Semitic hate that is regularly channelled in the Islamic supremacist media. That court was not repulsed by the regular calls for the destruction of Israel by Islamic supremacists. That court was not repulsed by the references to the anti-Semitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion promoted in Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf within the very charter of the Islamic supremacist Hamas organization, a group defended by protesters in the Netherlands over the past few weeks. That court was not repulsed by other Netherlands politicians defending calls for an intifada against Israel, while Amsterdam crowds called for "Jews to the gas."

Closing its eyes and plugging its ears to the reality around it, the Netherlands court extended an accusation against Geert Wilders of inciting hate for defying an Islamic supremacist ideology that is itself based on hate. Like those who charged Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with inciting hate for defying white supremacism, no doubt they believe that if they just silence this one man - they will set an example to others causing "friction and unrest." No doubt they hope to persuade those who would defy supremacism that they need to find a more "realistic approach" and accept "forbearance" of the supremacist cause.

We have seen such tactics to silence defiance to supremacism before. We have seen them in 1963 in Alabama. We have seen them in the decades of covenants of security by nations that have harbored and tolerated Islamic supremacism around the world. We have seen them in the United Nations where Islamic supremacist groups seek to silence dissent and free speech against such supremacism. We have seen them in the halls of Congress in the United States in our present day, by those lobbying for "engagement" and "reconciliation" with Islamic supremacist organizations and leaders. Now we see them in the nation of the Netherlands by a court that seeks to turn a blind eye to the incitement of hatred throughout its nation by Islamic supremacists and instead focuses its blame on Geert Wilders, a leader of freedom who would dare defy such supremacism.

We know these tactics, and we know the frightened people behind them. We know those who would sell out their values and principles to totalitarian ideologues for the hope that they can declare "peace in our time." We know how much they dread acknowledging the reality that appeasement of supremacist ideologies will never quench the endless thirst for equality and liberty in humankind. We know how supremacists desperately cling to the lie of their superiority, for without it, they must acknowledge the harsh reality that their society is built on a hopeless delusion. We know how much the frightened people just desperately want to be left alone, and not be forced to have to face the difficult decisions that a world of mutuality must make to recognize the inalienable human rights of equality and liberty.

Most of all, we understand the frightened people, because even though we oppose their tactics, we know that they are fellow human beings, and because if our fate had been different they could have been us.

But our destiny is different and our future is based on who we are, not what we fear. Our destiny is not to live a lie of supremacism, but to embrace the truth of humanity's inalienable right of equality. Our destiny is not to depend on the whims of the merciless, but to extend our courage of equality and liberty to the hopeless and the helpless. Our destiny is not to find solace by cowering in a dark corner, but to shine a torch of truth even in the darkest night. Our destiny is not to ignore Islamic supremacism's war on equality and liberty, but to stand ready to defend these human rights.

We have not sought out conflict, but we have been challenged to prove the courage of our convictions. In the struggle of promoting equality and liberty against Islamic supremacism, we have been handed the responsibility to prove our dedication to humanity's inalienable rights. The decision over whether we will defend the principles of freedom or submit to the lie of Islamic supremacism is more than a war of ideas - it is a measure of our generation's willpower and resolve.

It is more than a debate by learned individuals referencing documents, organizations, actions, people, and history. It is more than an argument of who, what, where, and when. It is more than debating those who live in denial over the threat of Islamic supremacism, more than debating those who believe equality and liberty are merely relative values, and more than debating those who believe that humanity has no purpose or value at all.

Most of all, the fight for equality and liberty is a struggle to protect humanity's very identity in freedom, and a commitment to preserve and protect our inalienable human rights for the helpless, the hopeless, those without a voice, and for the next generation. It is a test to see if the flame of courage in our hearts will burn bright against the darkness of a supremacist ideology that seeks to envelop our civilization.

It is a challenge to see if we really believe that all men and women are created equal and that all human beings have the inalienable right of liberty, or if those are just words on a piece of paper.

It is a defining moment in history - not just for free speech, not just for a free press, not just for freedom of conscience, and not just for equality among all people.

It is a defining moment in history for determining who and what we are as a free people.

History will remember our choices. Will we stand as free men and women responsible for equality and liberty? Or will our resolve be blown away by those who can't see the gathering storm around humanity?

It is our choice, our destiny, our legacy - the outcome will define our identity.

But as for me, I say, that those who live in free lands and who cherish equality and liberty, have no real option for the survival of our society in this war of ideas. We cannot steal away quietly and hope that someone else will pick up the shield.

We must realize that we are all Geert Wilders now.

If we accept the silencing of him, then we know they will silence one of us next, and then another, and another, and another... until our defiance to Islamic supremacism and our commitment to equality and liberty is reduced to a handful of voices, then a whimper, then a whisper, and then not at all. That is a silence that we cannot accept, a defeat that we cannot stomach, a surrender we cannot live with.

This battle chose us because it knew who and what we are, the sons and daughters of free men and women who lived, fought, and died for the inalienable human rights of equality and liberty we hold so dear and that is fundamental to our identity.

It chose us because it could see within our society of freedom a light of courage that could shine around the nation and around the world - to the darkest places, to the most rejected places, and to the most hopeless places. It chose us because it knew what that light could mean to those oppressed by Islamic supremacists, what that light could mean to those who lived in fear of Islamic supremacism's brutality and terror, what that light could mean to those who had given up for a chance to have equality and liberty in their generation. It chose us because it knew we had no choice - that as free men and women responsible for equality and liberty we are compelled to defend such inalienable human rights - because we cannot accept a world, a humanity, and a future without them.

Those who would silence us, those who would threaten us, those who would terrorize us - you have no power over our commitment to the inalienable human rights of equality and liberty. Your efforts to block the light of resistance by the sentinels of equality and liberty are as hopeless as trying to block the rays of the sun from reaching the very Earth itself. Your efforts to divide us, crush us, and silence us - will only strengthen our resolve and our commitment. Silence one of us and another will take his place, and another, and another, and another.

We are all Geert Wilders now.

Tuesday 27 January 2009

Lord Ahmed the Nazi

An absolutely incredible story has broken out here, here and here in the blogosphere - reproduced on at least seven or eight other different sites. I have yet to receive confirmation of it in the mainstream media, but if true, it drags our parliamentary system here in the UK to rock bottom. To say nothing of the freedom of speech so precious to our liberal democracy and Judaeo-Christian civilisation.

The bottom line would appear to be that Lord Ahmed, a Labour peer, has single-handedly bullied the House of Lords into cancelling a showing of Geert Wilders' short film "Fitna", accompanied by a speech from Geert Wilders himself and a subsequent discussion in the House of Lords, with the threat of some ten-thousand-strong Muslim "rent-a-mob" thugs to besiege the Houses of Parliament.

Lord Ahmed, if this is true, you are a disgrace. We simply don't do things like this in England. This is precisely why we have freedom of speech laws, to protect us from unprincipled fascists like yourself. If you had a shred of integrity, you would resign immediately. I won't hold my breath, though.

On an unrelated note, I am sure I am not the only person to wonder why you are not already in prison after pleading guilty to the dangerous driving charge that resulted in the death of an innocent motorist. Text messaging in the fast lane of a motorway. You really are a nasty piece of work, aren't you? I guess it goes to show that it's not what you know, it's who you know.

More on Lord Ahmed here:

2009: A Year to Defend Free Speech - Or Lose It

More on the persecution of Geert Wilders, and its wider ramifications here:

Monday 26 January 2009

Aisha and Nawal

Well, never let it be said that as Freedom Loving Infidels (TM) here at Infidel Towers (TM) we don't appreciate a little light-hearted humour - :)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Dyujx4t2fYQ

Straight out of Monty Python. I'd cry if it wasn't so funny. And so true.

The Persecution of Geert Wilders

The Dutch parliamentarian, Geert Wilders, is perhaps the only politician in Europe today who has the guts to speak up concerning the threat of Islam to our Judaeo-Christian Western civilisation. Now he is facing prosecution merely for speaking the truth, because the speaking of truth "hurts the feelings of" and "incites hatred towards" - yup, you guessed it - Muslims.

This is going to be a pivotal moment in European history and for the Western world. If criticism of Islam is to be outlawed, our ability to defend our civilisation against Islam will vanish. Only through honest, frank and open discussion, and the dissection and critical analysis of the Islamic texts, can we expose exactly what the totalitarian, supremacist agenda of Islam means for all decent and civilised people.

Extensive discussion of this case is taking place on many of the blogs listed on the right-hand side of this page. One of my favourites is Pat Condell speaking here:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=EJKRF2uB8xU

Don't miss it.

Sunday 25 January 2009

Enough of Radical Islam Already

In the absence of any meaningful reporting in the mainstream media (MSM) concerning the threat that Islam poses to our civilisation, the ability to search the Internet has never been more important and more necessary. A relatively new writer here encapsulates what all Freedom Loving Infidels (TM) have been saying for years.

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Enough with the pseudonyms. Western civilization isn't at war with terrorism any more than it is at war with grenades. Western civilization is at war with militant Islam, which dominates Muslim communities all over the world. Militant Islam isn't a tiny minority of otherwise goodhearted Muslims. It's a dominant strain of evil that runs rampant in a population of well over 1 billion.

Enough with the psychoanalysis.
They don't hate us because of Israel. They don't hate us because of Kashmir. They don't hate us because we have troops in Saudi Arabia or because we deposed Saddam Hussein. They don't hate us because of Britney Spears. They hate us because we are infidels, and because we don't plan on surrendering or providing them material aid in their war of aggressive expansion.

Enough with the niceties. We don't lose our souls when we treat our enemies as enemies. We don't undermine our principles when we post more police officers in vulnerable areas, or when we send Marines to kill bad guys, or when we torture terrorists for information. And we don't redeem ourselves when we close Guantanamo Bay or try terrorists in civilian courts or censor anti-Islam comics. When it comes to war, extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice, and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

Enough with the words. Talking with Iran without wielding the threat of force, either economic or military, won't help. Appealing to the United Nations, run by thugs and dictators ranging from Putin to Chavez to Ahmadinejad, is an exercise in pathetic futility. Evil countries don't suddenly decide to abandon their evil goals — they are forced to do so by pressure and circumstance.

Enough with the faux allies. We don't gain anything by pretending that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are true allies. They aren't. At best, they are playing both sides of the table. We ought to be drilling now in order to break OPEC. Building windmills isn't going to cut it. We should also be backing India to the hilt in its current conflict with Pakistan — unless Pakistan can destroy its terrorist element, India should be given full leeway to do what it needs to do. Russia and China, meanwhile, are facilitating anti-Western terrorism. Treating them as friends in this global war is simply begging for a backstabbing.

Enough with the myths.


Not everyone on earth is crying out for freedom. There are plenty of people who are happy in their misery, believing that their suffering is part and parcel of a correct religious system. Those people direct their anger outward, targeting unbelievers. We cannot simply knock off dictators and expect indoctrinated populations to rise to the liberal democratic challenge. The election of Hamas in the Gaza Strip is more a rule than an exception in the Islamic world.

Enough with the lies. Stop telling us that Islam is a religion of peace. If it is, prove it through action. Stop telling us that President-elect Barack Obama will fix our broken relationship with the Muslim world. They hate Obama just as much as they hated President George W. Bush, although they think Obama is more of a patsy than Bush was. Stop telling us that we shouldn't worry about the Islamic infiltration of our economy. If the Saudis own a large chunk of our banking institutions and control the oil market, they can certainly leverage their influence in dangerous ways.

Enough. After the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, the plane downed in Pennsylvania, the endless suicide bombings, shootings and rocket attacks in Israel, the Bali bombings, the synagogue bombing in Tunisia, the LAX shootings, the Kenyan hotel bombing, the Casablanca attacks, the Turkey synagogue attacks, the Madrid bombings, the London bombings, and the repeated attacks in India culminating in the Mumbai massacres — among literally thousands of others — it's about time that the West got the point: we're in a war. Our enemies are determined. They will not quit just because we offer them Big Macs, Christina Aguilera CDs, or even the freedom to vote. They will not quit just because we ensure that they have Korans in their Guantanamo cells, or because we offer to ban “The Satanic Verses” (as India did). They will only quit when they are dead. It is our job to make them so, and to eliminate every obstacle to their destruction.

So enough. No more empty talk. No more idle promises. No more happy ignorance, half measures, or appeasement-minded platitudes. The time for hard-nosed, uncompromising action hasn't merely come — it's been overdue by seven years. The voice of our brothers' blood cries out from the ground.

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Thursday 22 January 2009

Those Who Ignore History Are Condemned To Repeat It

From an American History student (and bearing in mind that what happens in America is likely to be repeated here in spades):-

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I am a student of history. Professionally. I have written 15 books in six languages, and have studied it all my life. I think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is just a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis. Yes these exist, but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a sharper focus.

Something of historic proportions is happening. I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and how people react to it. Yes, a perfect storm may be brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has been evolving for about ten - fifteen years. The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two.

We demand and then codify into law the requirement that our banks make massive loans to people we know they can never pay back? Why?

We learn just days ago that the Federal Reserve, which has little or no real oversight by anyone, has “loaned” two trillion dollars (that is $2,000,000,000,000) over the past few months, but will not tell us to whom or why or disclose the terms. That is our money. Yours and mine. And that is three times the 700B we all argued about so strenuously just this past September. Who has this money? Why do they have it? Why are the terms unavailable to us? Who asked for it? Who authorized it? I thought this was a government of “we the people,” who loaned our powers to our elected leaders. Apparently not.

We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy. Why?

We have intentionally dumbed down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents, why we are exceptional, and why we are worth preserving. Students by and large cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate. Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, school boards continue to back mediocrity. Why?

We have now established the precedent of protesting every close election (now violently in California over a proposition that is so controversial that it wants marriage to remain between one man and one woman. Did you ever think such a thing possible just a decade ago?). We have corrupted our sacred political process by allowing unelected judges to write laws that radically change our way of life, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into a banana republic. To what purpose?

Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are failing, our banking system is on the verge of collapse, social security is nearly bankrupt, as is medicare and our entire government, our education system is worse than a joke (I teach college and know precisely what I am talking about)–the list is staggering in its length, breadth, and depth. It is potentially 1929 x ten. And we are at war with an enemy we cannot name for fear of offending people of the same religion, who cannot wait to slit the throats of your children if they have the opportunity to do so.

And now we have elected a man no one knows anything about, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, let alone a town as big as Wasilla, Alaska. All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fields of employment, and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling if not downright scary (Surely you have heard him speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our borders? No? Oh of course. The media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it. Sarah Palin’s pregnant daughter and $150,000 wardrobe is more important.)

Mr. Obama’s winning platform can be boiled down to one word: change. Why?

I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now.

This man campaigned on bringing people together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life. In my assessment, Obama will divide us along philosophical lines, push us apart, and then try to realign the pieces into a new and different power structure. Change is indeed coming. And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again.

And that is only the beginning.

And I thought I would never be able to experience what the ordinary, moral German felt in the mid-1930s. In those times, the savior was a former smooth-talking rabble-rouser from the streets, about whom the average German knew next to nothing. What they did know was that he was associated with groups that shouted, shoved, and pushed around people with whom they disagreed; he edged his way onto the political stage through great oratory and promises. Economic times were tough, people were losing jobs, and he was a great speaker. And he smiled and waved a lot. And people, even newspapers, were afraid to speak out for fear that his “brown shirts” would bully them into submission. And then, he was duly elected to office, a full-throttled economic crisis at hand [the Great Depression]. Slowly but surely he seized the controls of government power, department by department, person by person, bureaucracy by bureaucracy. The kids joined a Youth Movement in his name, where they were taught what to think. How did he get the people on his side? He did it promising jobs to the jobless, money to the moneyless, and goodies for the military-industrial complex. He did it by indoctrinating the children, advocating gun control, health care for all, better wages, better jobs, and promising to re-instill pride once again in the country, across Europe, and across the world.
He did it with a compliant media–did you know that? And he did this all in the name of justice and . . . change. And the people surely got what they voted for.
(Look it up if you think I am exaggerating.)

Read your history books. Many people objected in 1933 and were shouted down, called names, laughed at, and made fun of. When Winston Churchill pointed out the obvious in the late 1930s while seated in the House of Lords in England (he was not yet Prime Minister), he was booed into his seat and called a crazy troublemaker. He was right, though.

Don’t forget that Germany was the most educated, cultured country in Europe. It was full of music, art, museums, hospitals, laboratories, and universities. And in less than six years–a shorter time span than just two terms of the U. S. presidency–it was rounding up its own citizens, killing others, abrogating its laws, turning children against parents, and neighbors against neighbors. All with the best of intentions, of course. The road to Hell is paved with them.

As a practical thinker, one not overly prone to emotional decisions, I have a choice: I can either believe what the objective pieces of evidence tell me (even if they make me cringe with disgust); I can believe what history is shouting to me from across the chasm of seven decades; or I can hope I am wrong by closing my eyes, having another latte, and ignoring what is transpiring around me.

Some people scoff at me, others laugh, or think I am foolish, naive, or both. Perhaps I am. But I have never been afraid to look people in the eye and tell them exactly what I believe–and why I believe it.

I pray I am wrong. I do not think I am.

---------------------------------------------

There is a storm coming.

Thanks be to (the Judaeo-Christian) civilisation that I have been brought up in, I have lived all of my life to date insulated from the effects of such a storm. But my children and grandchildren, and your children and grandchildren, will not have that luxury. The least that we can do is forewarn them.

Learn about Islam. Tell them about Islam at every opportunity. Make it a priority for them to learn about Islam. Don't learn about it from Muslims, who will gloss over the unpleasant, inconvenient facts. Rather, learn about it from the likes of Robert Spencer, Hugh Fitzgerald, Andrew Bostom, Ibn Warraq, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Nonie Darwish, Brigitte Gabriel, Pamela Geller, Geert Wilders, Ali Sina, all of whom have published extensively in books and on the Internet.

Recognise the necessity of criticising Islam, of having an honest, rational and dispassionate discussion on the subject of Islam. To do so is not racist, bigoted or Islamophobic. After all, Islam is not a race. There is no such thing as Islamophobia. It is not irrational to be concerned about the deleterious effects that Islam is having on our society. And to discuss Islam dispassionately, with the dissecting tools that Western philosophy has granted to us, is not bigoted. It is a necessity, without which our civilisation might well fall.

The truth is out there. The best antidote to Islam is exposure to the light of truth - all we have to do is to resist the politically-correct multiculturalists who would curtail our freedoms and have us believe that Islam is simply a religion of peace.

So do it - and do it now. You owe it to future generations. And if you think that I am exaggerating, you only have to look at the history of Islam over the past 1400 years, and the fate of those civilisations that encountered it. There is no compromising with Islam. There is no bargaining with Islam. Left to its own devices, it simply will not stop - until we are all either converted, subjugated, or killed. Is that what we want? Because that's what we will get if we don't act now.

Saturday 17 January 2009

Eyeless in Gaza

Over the past three weeks, I have been struck by the tendency of presenters in the mainstream media, and in particular the BBC, to implicate Israel in perpetrating a “disproportionate assault” that underlies the current humanitarian disaster in Gaza. While these doubtlessly well-intended individuals seek the moral high ground in calling for “an immediate cessation of hostilities,” they unfortunately ignore the realities of the situation. I would be remiss if I did not attempt to provide a clearer picture of the reality in Gaza, as the invocation of an alleged “moral voice” in the face of a complex political situation without a full understanding of the facts is irresponsible and unprofessional.

A brief chronology of the latest saga of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is crucial to a proper appreciation of the issues involved in the current war. In August 2005, after five years of fighting in the Second Intifada with no resolution in sight, Israel unilaterally withdrew all of its soldiers and citizens from the Gaza strip in hopes of fostering a lasting peace. Since the Israeli withdrawal, however, Hamas, an internationally recognized terrorist organization funded by Iran, has fired over 6,000 deadly rockets from Gaza targeting Israeli civilians. It is against these war crimes, the indiscriminate targeting of innocent civilians, that the Israeli military has been forced to respond.

As President-elect Obama asserted in a campaign visit to Israel in July 2008, "If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I would do everything to stop that, and would expect Israel to do the same thing." After years of restraint and after exhausting all diplomatic avenues, it is this very principle of defending its civilians, one of the foundational tenets of a democratic nation, which has driven Israel to take up arms against Hamas.

There is no question that the loss of Palestinian life in Gaza is terribly tragic and that every effort should be made to avoid civilian casualties and to provide medical aid and supplies to those suffering. While no party is blameless for the tragic Palestinian death toll, the stark contrast between Israel's and Hamas' treatment of the people in Gaza must be unequivocally asserted.

Israel's defense of its own citizens has gone hand in hand with extraordinary efforts to protect the civilians of Gaza. Israel distributes leaflets, sends voicemails and text messages, and uses radio and TV announcements to warn Gazan civilians to clear areas of imminent attacks. Israel seeks to minimize civilian casualties through surgical strikes on military objectives, and frequently aborts key missions due to concerns for civilian casualties. Moreover, since the beginning of the war, Israel has transported thousands of pounds of food and medical supplies to ease the Gazans’ plight.

Unfortunately, Israel's efforts to minimize harm to the civilians of Gaza have been confounded by Hamas which consistently places civilians in the line of fire. Hamas, in clear violation of international law, gathers women and children around military targets to use them as human shields. This terrorist regime endangers the people of Gaza by using civilian homes, schools, mosques and hospitals as launching grounds for rockets fired at Israeli civilians and prides itself on the number of its own people martyred to the destruction of Israel. It preys on the moral conscience of the democratic world, which places a premium on innocent lives, knowing that Israel seeks to avoid killing the very same Palestinian civilians whom Hamas militants hide behind and deem dispensable. It is these abominable tactics of Hamas that leads to the "disproportionate" number of Palestinian civilian casualties and which should evoke international condemnation and outrage.

Obviously there are hardships and painful losses incurred by both sides of this conflict, but simplistic solutions based on distorted facts are not the answer. Blind calls for an “immediate cessation of hostilities” outside the context of a viable and sustainable security are short-sighted. While this may seem to be an attractive and “humanitarian” solution in the short term, it will not alleviate the plight of Palestinians who suffer under the policies of the Hamas regime nor bring safety to the civilians of Israel who currently live in terror of Hamas rockets.

Every decent, civilized person on the planet should rightly be pained by the death and suffering of innocent people wherever they may be. Nevertheless, espousing moral indignation in the face of a skewed and one-sided picture of an immensely complex situation simply delays finding appropriate solutions. How can presenters in the mainstream media, especially the BBC, whilst calling for humanitarian and civilian protection, point to Israel’s “brutal attacks” while ignoring the countless Israeli efforts to protect Gazan civilians? Why is it deemed irrelevant to mention the significant role of Hamas in the number of Gazan civilian deaths? How can they attempt to value the lives and security of one people over the lives and security of another, and to express solidarity with some innocents while ignoring others?

Personally, I hope for a speedy and viable resolution so that both Gazans and Israelis can live in peace and safety, but the onus is on Hamas to cease its daily rocket attacks into Israel. I’m not holding my breath, though.

A German's View of Islam

I was recently sent this by a very good friend of mine (you know who you are!) and although I had seen it before on a number of websites, it bears repeating. If you want to do your bit in the war against the Global Islamic Jihad (not quite as catchy as the "War on Terror" I know, but far more accurate and to the point) please forward it to as many people as you can.

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A man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.

"Very few people were true Nazis 'he said,' but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories."

"We are told again and again by 'experts' and 'talking heads' that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectra of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam. The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history."

"It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. The hard quantifiable fact is that the 'peaceful majority', the 'silent majority', is cowed and extraneous."

"Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people."

"The average Japanese individual prior to World War ll was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilian s; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet."

"And, who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were 'peace loving'?"

Just to put this into perspective, 1400 years of the so-called "Religion of Peace" so far has led to the deaths of over 270 million people worldwide at the hands of Muslims who were happy to kill non-Muslims in the name of Islam and for the glory of Allah. And it's not nearly over yet.

"History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points: Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany, they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun."

"Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghan is, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late."

"As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts: the fanatics who threaten our way of life."

"Lastly, at the risk of offending, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on, is contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems of expand. So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, world wide, read this - think about it - and send it on."

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I would end by saying only that our ancestors, yours and mine, shed blood, sweat and tears to bequeath us the Western Judaeo-Christian civilisation that we have today. It may not be perfect, but it is undoubtedly better than anything that has gone before, and infinitely preferable to the nightmare that would descend upon us should Islam and Shari'ah ever come to predominate. But our civilisation, with all its drive, innovation and sophistication, is infinitely fragile, and therefore needs the defence of all decent, civilised human beings to protect it in these difficult times. This is not just our civilisation. We will bequeath it in turn to our children, our grandchildren and all future generations. They don't know it yet, but they are depending on us. What will you say to them when they ask you - "Grandad, why didn't you do more to stop the Global Islamic Jihad in the war?"