Islam
November 29, 2012 — Scott Johnson
The AP plays this straight down the line, but the dateline should be Absurdistan: An Egyptian court convicted in absentia Wednesday seven Egyptian Coptic Christians and a Florida-based American pastor, sentencing them to death on charges linked to an anti-Islam film that had sparked riots in parts of the Muslim world. The case was seen as largely symbolic because the defendants, most of whom live in the United States, are
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November 26, 2012 — John Hinderaker
Liberal support for free speech has been waning for a long time, and at present it seems to be just about extinct. The latest evidence is a story in today’s New York Times about Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the man who made the video that was falsely blamed for the Benghazi attack, and has languished in jail for the last two months as a result. One might think that the Times
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November 20, 2012 — John Hinderaker
If you took the world’s liberal media seriously, you might think that Hamas is a group of human rights activists whose worst sin is protesting against Israel’s “occupation.” Occupation of what? Not Gaza, obviously. But the truth is that Hamas is a brutal, inhuman terrorist organization–worse, a brutal, inhuman terrorist organization that is supported by many, perhaps most, inhabitants of Gaza. To see how subhuman Hamas is, watch this video.
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November 19, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
In many ways, the current battle between Israel and Hamas is a familiar one. Hamas persists in launching rockets into Israel; Israel responds by targeting Hamas’ leaders and its rockets, and amasses troops for a possible invasion; Hamas launches potentially deadly but largely ineffective missile attacks at Israeli population centers; the world fixates on inadvertent Palestinian civilian casualties; and the U.S. publicly supports Israel while privately trying to defuse the
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November 2, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Yesterday I noted the Islamist connection to the rise of Minnesota Fifth District Rep. Keith Ellison in 2006. Ellison found timely support among Hamas and friends. I thought that the Hamas-related support for Ellison was indicative of the melding of the left with Islamist forces at home and abroad. It is an alliance that Ellison embodies. The key man in the picture was Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR. Drawing
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November 1, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Tom Friedman calls his column on going home to St. Louis Park “Minnesota mirror.” John ably dissected Friedman’s canned history of Minnesota politics here last night. Perhaps predictably, Friedman sees the higher wisdom of Tom Friedman reflected in the mirror. I want to add no more than a footnote regarding Minnesota Fifth District Rep. Keith Ellison, whose district includes St. Louis Park and whom Friedman salutes as “an African-American Muslim
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October 26, 2012 — Steven Hayward
That’s what Walid Phares says this article in a Saudi-funded, Brotherhood-influenced Arabic newspaper says. From Walid’s Facebook page: In an article published by the Saudi funded (but Brotherhood influenced) daily al Sharq al Awsat, Imad el Dine Adeeb writes that Obama “is not successful as much as we want, but he is less dangerous than Mitt Romney.” “Interesting how radicals in the Arab world measure the difference between American Presidential
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October 20, 2012 — John Hinderaker
The “Arab Spring” continues apace. Last night Sonia Dridi, a reporter on French television, was broadcasting live from Cairo, in or near Tahrir Square, when the surrounding crowd decided to assault her, just for fun. In the end, she wasn’t harmed as badly as Lara Logan, but the incident was broadly similar. You can see it in the video below, which is puzzling in some respects. I can’t explain why
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October 6, 2012 — Scott Johnson
A reader directs our attention to the Intelligence Squared debate putting the proposition before the house: Better elected Islamists than dictators. For the affirmative are Reuel Marc Gerecht and Brian Katulus. For the negative are Daniel Pipes and Zuhdi Jasser. Intelligence Squared provides the premise of the debate: “The popular uprisings of the Arab Spring have left a leadership void that Islamist parties have been quick to fill. A longtime
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September 27, 2012 — Scott Johnson
At the risk of courting the condemnation of the Obama administration or a visit from local law enforcement authorities, we bring you reader David Ferguson’s illuminating photoshop of Prime Minister Netanyahu at the UN today. Come and get me, copper! Mr. Ferguson comments: “In simple enough language even the UN delegates can understand — though likely not simple enough for the US Delegates.”
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September 27, 2012 — Steven Hayward
Fox News has just reported that the US is withdrawing (supposedly temporarily) all its personnel from the US embassy in Tripoli, Libya. What–did they get advance word of a YouTube sequel to The Innocence of Muslims? Are they worried of another imminent “spontaneous” protest with marchers who carry mortars with them? More likely the Clousseaus of Foggy Bottom have figured out they have serious security breach problems in Libya and
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September 23, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
On Sixty Minutes tonight, President Obama was asked: “Have the events that took place in the Middle East, the recent events in the Middle East given you any pause about your support for the governments that have come to power following the Arab Spring?” Obama responded: Well, I’d said even at the time that this is going to be a rocky path. . . .I was pretty certain and continue
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September 23, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
The other night, Sean Hannity suggested to Sen. Jim DeMint that the U.S. should cut off funding to Egypt. DeMint politely brushed the suggestion aside. If not even Jim DeMint is prepared to support cutting Egypt off, then clearly a cut-off isn’t going to happen. But should it? Before answering, read the New York Times’ account of its interview with Egyptian President Morsi. Morsi told the Times that it is
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September 22, 2012 — Scott Johnson
James Taranto rounds up the stories on the apology ad (video below) that the practitioners of smart diplomacy in the United States Department of State have arranged to run on seven Pakistani networks. Despite the best efforts of our practitioners of smart diplomacy, yesterday’s riots in Pakistan yielded a death toll of at least 20. Does that mean that the $70,000 reportedly spent by the United States government to broadcast
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September 21, 2012 — John Hinderaker
The Religion of Perpetual Outrage has been with us for a long time, but somehow the Obama administration apparently didn’t notice. According to Barack and his enablers, turmoil across ten or more Muslim countries, the storming of American embassies and consulates, the burning of countless American flags and the murder of an American ambassador are all due to a stupid video on YouTube. Sure. Haul the video guy in for
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September 20, 2012 — John Hinderaker
A judge in New York has ruled that the city’s transportation authority cannot refuse to accept display ads in subway stations because they are “demeaning” to jihadists. The New York Post reports: A provocative ad that equates some Muslim radicals with savages is set to go up next week in the New York City subway system, just as violent protests in the Middle East over an anti-Islamic film ridiculing the
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September 20, 2012 — Scott Johnson
It’s come to this: ISLAMABAD (AP) — Marked by the U.S. Embassy seal, advertisements condemning an anti-Islam video appeared on Pakistani television on Thursday in an apparent attempt to undercut anger against the United States, where the film was produced. Hundreds of youths, however, clashed with security officials as they tried in vain to reach the embassy in Islamabad amid anger in many countries over the film’s vulgar depiction of
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