Post-Revolt Tunisia Wrestles with Resurgent Islam, ‘We Want Islamic Schools All Over the Country’

By Tarek Amara – (Reuters) – “For Walid, Tunisia’s revolution is an opportunity to turn one of the Arab world’s most secular countries towards Islam.

‘We paid a heavy price for the revolution so we are not ready to let secularists and supporters of the Zionists control our destiny,’ said the young man, with a beard and a long white robe, after prayers in the Omrane district of the capital.

‘We want to respect our religion and to apply Islamic law in our country.

‘We want Islamic schools all over the country … We do not want our women prevented from wearing the hijab and niqab (Islamic veils). We would like our country to be an Islamic country that does not allow taboo things, like wine.’

As Tunisia prepares to vote next weekend in the first election since the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings, people like Walid, a follower of the Salafist school which embraces a purist interpretation of Islam, are sending jitters through secular elites who fear their world could be about to change for ever.

It is a nervousness felt in Egypt and Libya where revolutions inspired by the one in Tunisia in January have handed power or influence to previously repressed groups who want Islam to play a bigger role in political life.

The Middle East is paying close attention to how Tunisia reconciles the conflicting agendas of Islamists and secularists following the ousting of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, and the evidence so far is that it will be a bumpy path.

Police last week used tear gas to break up a crowd of thousands of Islamists who were trying to march on the prime minister’s office.

Another crowd attacked the home of a businessman whose television station broadcast the award-winning film ‘Persepolis.’ Islamists say one scene is blasphemous.” Read more.

Flashback: ‘Freedom and Democracy’ in Action: Post-Revolution Tunisia Passes Law Banning ‘Any Form of Normalization’ with Israel – “Today Tunisia’s commission of political reform announced that it adopted (by majority) a ‘republican pact’ that will be the basis of the future new Constitution, and in particular it states the rejection of any normalisation with Israel. While announcing the pact the president of the commission, Yadh Ben Achour, did not offer any details, but the Arab speaking Tunisian press published its content, which defines Tunisia as a free and democratic country, whose official language is Arab and whose religion is Islam.” Read more.

Flashback: Muslim Brotherhood Leader of Tunisia Calls for an End to Israel – “Arab media has reported an interview with Tunisian Muslim Brotherhood leader Rachid Ghannouchi in which he calls for and predicts the end of Israel. According a Muslim World News translation of the interview in the London-based Elaph: … Ghannouchi maintains that altogether the Arab revolutions are positive for the Palestinians, and threaten to bring Israel to an end. He says that the Palestinian problem lies at the heart of the Nation [umma], and that all the land between the mosque in Mecca and Jerusalem represents the heart of the Islamic Nation, and any [foreign] control over part of this heart is a stamp on the umma’s illness.” Read more.

Malaysia: ‘A Million Muslims’ Plan to ‘Rally’ This Weekend Against Christians and the Spread of Christianity

“KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 — Perlis Mufti Dr Juanda Jaya today dismissed as ‘illogical’ claims that over 250,000 Muslims in Malaysia have renounced their religion.

While agreeing that apostasy exists in the country, the Muslim cleric said the issue should not be overly publicised as it was a sensitive matter and would destroy the image of the country’s religious school as institutions incapable of protecting its own devotees.

‘It is illogical what has been written on the Internet that more than 250,000 Muslims in this country have abandoned their faiths.

‘If it is true, prove it and do not be emotional. Every state has enactments governing religious propaganda from being spread to Muslims, so why are they not being charged?’ he was quoted as saying in Utusan Malaysia today.

The Malaysian Insider reported yesterday a planned gathering of a million Muslims this Saturday to rally against Christians ‘challenging the sovereignty of Islam’, a momentous event that could raise religious tension that has intensified in recent months after alleged proselytising by Christians.” Read more.

Flashback: Malaysia: Rise of Strict Islam Exposes Fears and Tensions, ‘If You Don’t Follow the Mainstream You Will Be Lynched’ – “Muslim women without headscarves are a common sight on the streets of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. But engaging them in a discussion about the hijab is difficult. Norhayati Kaprawi is a Malaysian activist whose recent documentary Aku Siapa (Who Am I) deals with the issue of how women in Malaysia should dress. She found some women unwilling to show their faces in her film – not on religious grounds, but becasue they feared reprisals. This is a damning reflection on Malaysia’s Muslim society, says Ms Norhayati.” Read more.

Flashback: Muslim Group in Malaysia Declares Jihad Against Christians Who … Disagree With Them – “An umbrella coalition of Muslim groups held a protest today and declared bloodshed against ‘extremist’ Christians that insult and ridicule the position of Islam in the country. The Muslim Organisations in Defence of Islam (Pembela), comprising 20 groups, protested after Friday prayers at the National Mosque against Putrajaya’s release of Malay-language bibles and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s promise to never impound the Alkitab again.” Read more.

Flashback: Non-Muslims in Malaysia Who Recite Quranic Verses ‘Insincerely’ Can Be Charged With Blasphemy – “The government can take action against people who abuse Quranic verses for certain interests and dispute all forms of worship by Muslims in this country. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom said this followed the special conference of the National Fatwa Council on Dec 3 last year to discuss issues including abuse of Quranic verses. ‘The muzakarah agreed that non-Muslims who cite Quranic verses according to their own understanding without sincerity is an affront to the sanctity of al-Quran and can cause doubt and slander in society,’ he told Dewan Rakyat today.” Read more.

Pakistan: Christian Woman Slaughtered By Muslim Man For Resisting Rape

“Karachi: October 18, 2011. (PCP) A Muslim worker in a garment factory in Korangi Industrial Area of Karachi East slaughtered a Christian woman on her resistance to rape when she was cleaning bathrooms.

A Christian woman named Zubaida Bibi, aged 35 and mother of four was employed as sanitary worker in Crescent Enterprises, a garment factory in Korangi Industrial Area.

On October 12, 2011, during duty hours, Zubaida Bibi entered to clean factory bathrooms when one Muslim employee named Mohammad Asif followed her and locked door behind him.

When Mohammad Asif attempted to sexually assault Zubaida Bibi, she cried for help on which Mohammad Asif took out a dagger and slit the throat of Zubaida Bibi…

There are rising incidents of sexual harassment against Christian women workers on workplaces in Pakistan which go unreported due to cultural and social values.

The influential Muslims feel free to kidnap and rape Christian women in Pakistan where Islamic laws protect culprits. In kidnap and rape cases against Christian women, the Muslim culprits walk free from courts which keep victims silent on such abuses.” Read more.

Pakistan: Woman, daughter butchered for ‘honour’ – “A woman and her daughter were killed by her sons in the name of ‘honour’ here in Marot area on Tuesday. According to detail, old age Manzooran Bibi were residing with her divorced daughter namely Rani Bibi in Chak 423/HR, separately from her sons. Her sons including Ramzan, Allah Bachaya etc, however, opposed to her living with her daughter and had born a grudge against them. They took their mother and sister to their home on the pretext that their separate living was bringing a bad name to their family a few days. On Monday morning, Implementing their plan which had already orchestrated, they cut the throat of their real mother and sister with a sharp edge tool and killed them.” Read more.

Freed Palestinian Prisoner Vows to ‘Sacrifice’ Her Life, Encourages Dozens of Schoolchildren to Follow Her Example

Proverbs 8:36b, “… All those who hate Me love death.”

Luke 17:2, “It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin.”

By Adrian Blomfield and Richard Spencer – “An unsuccessful suicide bomber released from prison as part of the deal to free Gilad Shalit, the Israeli conscript, on Wednesday vowed to fulfil a childhood ambition by ‘sacrificing’ her life for the Palestinian cause.

As she returned to her family home in northern Gaza, Wafa al-Bis insisted she would seize any opportunity to mount another suicide mission and encouraged dozens of cheering schoolchildren to follow her example.

Bis was one of hundreds of Palestinian militants freed by Israel on Tuesday in the first phase of a prisoner swap agreed with Hamas, Gaza’s Islamist overlords, to win the freedom of Sgt Maj Shalit after five years in solitary confinement.

Her words will chill critics of the deal who argue that many of the 1,027 Palestinians who are to be released from prison will return to violence once they have been freed…

Bis was just 21 when, in 2005, she volunteered to undertake a suicide mission in Israel.

Her target, Israel says, was a hospital where she had been given permission to seek treatment for burns she sustained in a gas tank explosion. She never got there. Stopped by suspicious Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint on Gaza’s border, she was discovered with 22lb of explosives sewn into a belt inside her underwear. Bis tried to blow herself up but the detonator malfunctioned.” Read more.

Ground Zero Mosque Honcho Provides Shady Proof of Property Tax Payment with Doctored Statements

Taking Taqiyya to a whole new level.  I’d love to know if there is a law against doctoring official Finance Department receipts …

By Erin Einhorn – “The real estate developer who wants to put a mosque near Ground Zero tried to pull a fast one Tuesday about his property tax woes.

When the Daily News contacted developer Sharif el-Gamal about the $30,000 he owed the city in back property taxes for the future Islamic center in lower Manhattan, he insisted he had already taken care of it.

‘The check was sent in,’ Gamal insisted to The News during an interview about 3:30 p.m. ‘The taxes have been paid.’

Gamal was supposed to be making quarterly payments for a $224,000 tax bill his company had run up last year on the Park Place building.

But he missed a scheduled $30,000 payment that was due on Oct. 3.

When the Daily News asked for proof of payment, Gamal forwarded an email receipt from the city Finance Department’s online payment system showing a $30,435.11 payment made on Oct. 5 at 1:54 p.m.

The email receipt Gamal forwarded had a receipt number of WWW23334165.

There was a problem, however.

The Finance Department says that payment was actually made yesterday at 3:55 p.m. – roughly half an hour after Gamal claimed he’d already paid.

The Finance Department sent over what they say is the real receipt, which had the same code number of WWW23334165.

It was dated Tuesday.

City officials say receipt numbers are sequential and that the one in question was issued Tuesday – not two weeks ago as Gamal claimed in his apparently doctored proof of payment.

Gamal apparently also sent reporters from different news organizations receipts with different time stamps.” Read more.

Iraq: Islamic Extremists Want to Eliminate Christians From Country, Mass Movement of Christians Continues Unabated

The worst is yet to come …

Daniel 12:10, “Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.”

By Alex Murashko – “SANTA ANA, Calif. – Ongoing violence against Christians in Iraq has produced an accelerated exodus of believers recently and numbering in the hundreds of thousands over the last 10 years, said Open Doors USA officials.

Members of the Orange County, Calif.-based organization that provides help to persecuted believers in Jesus worldwide say that while the world’s attention has shifted to such countries as Syria, Egypt, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the mass movement of Christians in Iraq continues unabated.

Before the Gulf War in 1991, the number of Christians was about one million, stated Open Doors in a news release. ‘That number fell to an estimated 850,000 in 2003 at the start of the U.S.-led invasion that ended the Saddam Hussein regime. Since then the numbers have plummeted.

‘At the beginning of the summer, Open Doors estimated the number of Christians remaining in Iraq at 345,000. However, the number decreases every month,’ officials stated.

‘It is an estimation; some even think there are less Christians left in the country than that,’ another Open Doors member said.

Bassam Isho, 30, who was killed by unknown gunmen on Oct. 1 is considered a martyr by Christians in Mosul. The gunmen entered the restaurant where Isho worked and opened fire, killing him instantly, according to Open Doors.

During the same week, two more Christians were killed in Kirkuk. It is this type of violence, including the continuing harassment from Muslim extremists that has many Christians in Iraq seeking refuge.” Read more.

Egypt: Islamists Boast, ‘We Won’t Leave Any Christians in This Country’ – “A group of Muslims burnt down part of a church Friday – the Islamic Sabbath – in the village of Marinab, according to a report published in the daily Al Masry Al Youm. The village, situated close to the town of Edfu in the Aswan Governorate, is located some 800 kilometers south of Cairo. Security sources said Muslims rampaged through the village in what appeared to be a pogrom, clashing with the Christian residents and destroying their shops.” Read more.

Not a Single Christian Church Left in Afghanistan – “There is not a single, public Christian church left in Afghanistan, according to the U.S. State Department. This reflects the state of religious freedom in that country ten years after the United States first invaded it and overthrew its Islamist Taliban regime. In the intervening decade, U.S. taxpayers have spent $440 billion to support Afghanistan’s new government and more than 1,700 U.S. military personnel have died serving in that country. The last public Christian church in Afghanistan was razed in March 2010, according to the State Department’s latest International Religious Freedom Report. The report, which was released last month and covers the period of July 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010, also states that ‘there were no Christian schools in the country.’” Read more.

Azores: Experts Concerned With Abnormal Seismic Activity

“Experts in the Azores have alerted the population of São Miguel Island for seismic activity which they considered to be above normal. The seismic events where located in the system of Fogo and Congro lakes, the central region of the island.

‘The situation is ongoing and the number of microseisms is slightly above reference values’ said Wednesday João Luís Gaspar from the Center of Volcanology and Geological Risk Assessment (CVARG) of the University of the Azores.

He also said that the seismic activity was the result of ‘very low magnitude earthquakes’ adding that ‘none of which have been felt by the population.’

Declining to comment on what the evolution of the crisis could be João Luís Gaspar recalled that ‘seismological activity is difficult to predict,’ but that the possibility could not be eliminated of an earthquake occurrence which may be felt by the population. He said, ‘It does not mean it will happen; only that one cannot eliminate that possibility.’

According to the CVARG website, the Fogo-Congro system is one of the most critical seismologic areas of the archipelago where accumulated tensions exist resulting from the lithospheric interplay of the Eurasian, African and American plates.” Read more.

Iran: Our ‘Secret Weapons’ Will Surprise Our Enemies

“A senior Iranian commander says secret weapons and military equipment owned by the Islamic Republic will catch the country’s enemies off guard once they are used for defensive purposes.

All the intelligence on the military capabilities of Iran’s Air Force cannot be publicized, but ‘these secret weapons will be used surprisingly against the enemy if need be,’ Deputy Commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF), Brigadier General Aziz Nasir-Zadeh, was quoted by IRNA as saying in Tehran Tuesday.

He added that IRIAF is ready to respond to any threat as it has demonstrated its readiness and competence in the military drills the country has performed.

Commending Iran’s enhanced military might, the commander pointed out that ‘today, we have attained self-assurance and self-sufficiency so that we can manufacture the necessary equipment and weapons domestically.’

Nasir-Zadeh described successful test use of smart ammunition, including intelligent and anti-radar bombs, as part of the most important achievements the IRIAF has recently made.

Responding to a related question, he also said, ‘Competent Iranian experts have installed new and up-to-date equipment on Sukhoi 24 and MiG 29 aircraft and upgraded these fighters’ [operating] systems.'” Read more.

Texas: Five French-Moroccan Muslims Arrested for Breaking Into Courthouse Also Had Photos of Shopping Malls, Water Systems, Courthouses and Other Public Buildings From Across the Nation

They claim they just wanted ‘to get a better view of the city.’   Well, at least they’re honest.  That’s what all terror cells do before deciding which sites to attack …

By Jim Forsyth – “Five men in their twenties, described as French-Moroccan Muslims, are being questioned by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and by officials of the Department of Homeland Security after they were arrested inside the 120 year old Bexar County Courthouse in downtown San Antonio shortly before 2 this morning, 1200 WOAI news reports.

Officials say three of the men crawled through a window to get into the 120 year old Courthouse, which is a landmark in downtown San Antonio, and theother two were found in a van parked in front of the building.

Inside the van, officials say they found ‘photographs of infrastructure’ including photos of shopping malls, water systems, courthouses and other public buildings which they say were taken in cities nationwide.

‘They got travel documents, parking passes, they have been all over the country,’ one law enforcement officials who asked not to be identified told 1200 WOAI’s Michael Board on the scene. ‘A lot of photographic equipment, a lot of documentation equipment inside their vehicle.’

Officials say the five men entered the country legally on visas from Heathrow Airport in London. They didn’t immediately know how long the men have been in the U.S., or what places they may have visited.

Officials immediately blocked off a two square block area of downtown San Antonio around the Courthouse, and bomb sniffing dogs fanned out throughout the building. About two hours later, the streets were reopened, indicating nothing dangerous was found in the building.

‘They are going to be held for interrogation by the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the joint terrorism task force,’ the law enforcement source said.” Read more.

‘Allahu Akbar!’: Muslim Man Screams ‘You’re All Going to Die … You’re All Going to Hell’ at Passengers During Flight Over Texas

By Joe Gamm – “Somewhere in the heavens above Amarillo, angry shouts rang out from the back of Southwest Airlines Flight 3683.

‘You’re all going to die,’ a man dressed in black screamed at passengers Tuesday afternoon. ‘You’re all going to hell. Allahu Akbar,’ translated as God is great in Arabic.

Federal authorities arrested Ali Reza Shahsavari, 29, of Indialantic, Fla., onboard the Boeing 737 after pilots made an emergency landing at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport at 3:30 p.m. He is being held in the Randall County jail on a federal charge of interfering with a flight crew.

None of the 136 passengers and five crew members on the flight from Los Angeles to Kansas City was hurt, said Brad Hawkins, spokesman for Dallas-based Southwest.

Police said the incident began with Shahsavari arguing with another passenger. The flight crew separated the men, said Amarillo police Cpl. Jerry Neufeld.

Shahsavari went into a bathroom and yelled obscenities from the rear of the plane, said passenger Doug Oerding, of Sacramento, Calif. Attendants tried to calm Shahsavari before a female flight attendant finally succeeded in quieting him. Oerding said.

As the tension mounted, the aircraft began to gain speed and descend, Oerding said. The slender Navy veteran said he put his shoes back on in preparation to act.” Read more.