‘We Welcome War’: Egypt’s Islamic TV Talks With Iron Salafist, ‘We Will Be Masters Of The World’

By Guy Taylor, The Washington Times – “A Muslim cleric hosting an Egyptian television show recently outlined his version of Islamic instructions for wife-beating. In another show, a cleric claimed that the Muslim Brotherhood, now governing Egypt, one day will rule the world.

‘If not through peace, there is nothing preventing war. We welcome war,’ said the second cleric, who added that ‘one of the tenets of the Muslim Brotherhood, which they cannot renounce,’ is the goal of global dominance by an Islamic caliphate.

The shows aired on Egypt’s Al Nas network, a hard-line Salafist Muslim outfit that for years has flown largely under the radar of international observers.

The network was thrust into the spotlight last week when it broadcast Arabic-dubbed movie clips from what it described as an English-language film insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. Riots and protests erupted throughout the Middle East and other parts of the Muslim world.

Protesters breached the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Tuesday, destroyed the American flag and raised a black banner used by Islamic extremists.

In Libya, terrorists killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and others in an armed attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.

Protests continued Sunday when hundreds of Pakistanis clashed with police as they tried to storm the U.S. Consulate in Karachi. One protester was killed and more than a dozen were injured.

U.S. officials last week cited Al Nas‘ attention to ‘Innocence of Muslims’ — a crudely made independent film produced in the United States — as a flash point behind the wave of anti-American unrest.

Like Al Jazeera, CNN Arabic and other international satellite stations, Al Nas broadcasts live on YouTube and is piped into millions of homes across the Middle East…

U.S. officials applaud the emergence of an independent Egyptian media spawned by the ouster last year of the nation’s longtime authoritarian leader, Hosni Mubarak. However, such independence appears to have made hard-line religious programming far more mainstream, especially for the strict, puritanical Islam of the Salafists…

An apparently neutral host on the [Egyptian network ONTV] asked [Egyptian cleric Safwat Higazi] whether new fronts of war would need to be opened against Israel — including an Egyptian front — to ensure that Jerusalem can be made the capital of a new ‘United States of the Arab.’…

‘We seek peace,’ said the cleric, although he added that ‘if not through peace, there is nothing preventing war. We welcome war.’

‘The day will come when we will be the masters of the world,’ Mr. Higazi said.” Read more.

Egypt: Islamists Tell Sinai Christians To Leave Or Their Properties Will Be ‘Blown Up’ Within 48-Hours

By Milad Zaki – “Christian residents of Egyptian border towns Rafah and Al-Arish have so far refused to leave the city, as a local church had advised, after they received leaflets containing messages threatening to blow up their property if they do not leave within 48 hours.

Rev. Gabriel Habib, priest at the Church of the Virgin Mary and the Archangel Michael in Al-Arish, said Christian residents had refused to leave temporarily to avoid fulfilling the extremists’ goal of forcing them out of their city.

Habib added that some Christians told him, ‘Even if we die, we are not better than the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the sake of their homeland and religion,’ adding that they will stay with their Muslim neighbors.

Seven Christian families saw leaflets posted on the walls of their shops or homes, commanding them to leave within 48 hours or else have their property destroyed.

Habib said, ‘The church of Rafah was destroyed during the January revolution [of 2011] and has not been renovated yet.’ He added that ‘prayers have stopped there, because of the security situation in the Sinai.’

Rev. Carlos Victor, secretary of the diocese of North Sinai, quoted security sources as saying that investigations have shown that [the warnings to Christians] were random and no organizing group was behind them, and that it is likely that these leaflets were distributed by Muslim residents angry at the film that insults Prophet Muhammad.” Source – Al Monitor.

Germany: Hamburg Mosque Violates Anti-Hate Contract, Calls For The Destruction Of Israel

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, The Jerusalem Post – “BERLIN – The Imam Ali Mosque in Hamburg, widely considered by experts in Germany and abroad the long arm of Iran’s regime in the Federal Republic, appears to have violated the spirit – and perhaps the terms – of its contractual partnership with the city of Hamburg.

The mosque and its parent organization are said to have mobilized anti-Israel activists to call for the destruction of the Jewish state.

The city of Hamburg’s interior ministry sent the Green Party politician Antje Möller a list of responses to her September 10 queries about the role of the Imam Ali Mosque.

Möller questioned whether the Iranian religious institution mobilized groups and associations to travel to Berlin in August to participate in the annual al-Quds day march, which calls for the violent destruction of Israel.

According to Hamburg’s domestic intelligence agency – Germany’s version of Shin Bet – efforts to recruit for the anti-Israel al-Quds march have taken place since 2009 in ‘the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH) association, which operates the (Shia) Imam Ali-Mosque.’

The intelligence agency added that ‘two buses with roughly 90 people traveled to Berlin this year. The costs for the travel were paid for by the IZH.’

The al-Quds day rally was attended by over 1,000 Islamists, including pro-Hezbollah members, who promoted the obliteration of the Jewish state in the heart of Berlin’s shopping district.

According to a report in the liberalleft taz on Wednesday, the IZH is a member of the council of Islamic communities (Schura) and a main partner of Hamburg’s senate contract between the city and Muslim associations.

The legal agreement provides that the Schura, which includes the IZH, is to actively outlaw discrimination and violence because of religion, national origin and religious views.

The taz reported that Möller is looking into the meaning of the IZH’s calls to abolish Israel based on the anti-violence and anti-discrimination language of the partnership agreement.

Hamburg has the largest German-Iranian and Iranian community in the Federal Republic. The northern city is believed to have the second largest European Iranian community.” Read more.

Nigeria: Suspected Islamists Kill Two After Suicide Bomber Attacks Church In Bauchi, Injures At Least 48

AFP – “A suicide bomber has attacked a church in northern Nigeria , killing at least two people and injuring 48, according to the Red Cross.

Witnesses at the scene in the city of Bauchi said they heard a blast near St John’s Church, possibly in a car park.

Bauchi has often been targeted by the Islamist Boko Haram group, which wants to impose Sharia law across Nigeria.

Sunday attacks on churches took place regularly earlier this year but had eased in recent months.

Attacks in central and northern Nigeria blamed on Boko Haram have killed some 1,400 people since 2010.

On 16 September, Nigerian security forces said they killed Boko Haram’s spokesman Abu Qaqa in a gun battle in the northern state of Kano.

However, the group has not confirmed his death.

Meanwhile, the military in Yobe state imposed a 24-hour curfew on two cities as soldiers went door-to-door, searching for Boko Haram members.

‘Residents of the two cities are to remain indoors until further notice to enable security personnel to fish out Boko Haram terrorists,’ a military spokesman told the AFP news agency.” Source – BBC.