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Response to NoahReader comment on item: Europe is Finished, Predicts Mark Steyn Submitted by Avenger (United Kingdom), Nov 27, 2006 at 18:51 May we be forgiven for our transgressions and may God allow us to be rightly guided. I will endeavour to answer your questions. The manner of your post cannot go without mention. It is like asking someone to explain why they enjoy eating strawberries without mentioning: (1) That they are sweet (2) That they are tasty (3) They look nice (4) They go well with other foods And that if we say they are tasty or nice we are in someway, evading the 'real' issues at hand. Nonetheless, I will do my best to help you with answers to your questions, which I post in good faith. Q1 - Why Palestinian children aspire to be suicide bombers http://wakeupfromyourslumber.blogspot.com/2006/07/israeli-children-sign-their-missiles_18.html I refer to the pictures and the context of those pictures as opposed to the blogger's view on issues, although I have no doubt there is a powerful message therein. It must be remembered that the establishment of the state of Israel was done by an illegal occupation of foreign lands by Western and European Ashkenazim Jews. It was a forceable occupation of a territory, with the massacre and displacement of the native Palestinians. Similarly, Israeli children are often taught in schools that before the establishment of Israel there was nothing but desert in that place, which is of course far from true. Since the establishment of Israel, the Palestinian territory has been ghettoised into refugee camps, with the redirection of surface water and amenities away from the Arabs to the Israeli occupiers. When any peoples are denied basic human rights, dignity, food, the means to clothe and educate themselves, access to their religious sites and are turned out from their homes and treated no better then the most basest animals (with the world watching on silently), whilst children and families continue to be persecuted, oppressed and murdered on a daily basis, the only option left to them may well be to sacrifice their own lives in defence of their people. I cannot agree with their response but I cannot deny the overwhelming right of the Palestinian chiildren to defend their people by all and every necessary means from an illegal occupation and a 360 degree oppression of Biblical proportions. Q2 - Why Islam sided with Hitler in WW2 The obvious question (if you will excuse answering a question with a question) is whether a "faith" can side with a political leader. In its correct historical context it is the case that prior to hostilities in WW2, Germany had grown to become a European superpower with the knowledge and support of other Western forces such as the US and England. It remains the case the Queen's of England who 'owns' one sixth of the land of the Earth, is of the German ruling family. The UK supported German nationalism and expansion into Austria-Hungary. The German Empire negotiated to build a Berlin-Baghdad railroad which would open up new, fast trade routes. The Ottoman Empire with administrative headquarters in Turkey agreed this. There is no support for the concept of 'Islam' siding with Hitler. We should make a distinction between the military associations such as Mussolini and Tojo and trade associations. It is a fact that if we examine trade associations in WW2, we need to look no further then this excerpt: "In the 1920s many big American corporations enjoyed sizeable investments in Germany. IBM established a German subsidiary, Dehomag, before World War I; in the 1920s General Motors took over Germany's largest car manufacturer, Adam Opel AG; and Ford founded a branch plant, later known as the Ford-Werke, in Cologne. Other US firms contracted strategic partnerships with German companies. Standard Oil of New Jersey — today's Exxon — developed intimate links with the German trust IG Farben. By the early 1930s, an élite of about twenty of the largest American corporations had a German connection including Du Pont, Union Carbide, Westinghouse, General Electric, Gilette, Goodrich, Singer, Eastman Kodak, Coca-Cola, IBM, and ITT. Finally, many American law firms, investment companies, and banks were deeply involved in America's investment offensive in Germany, among them the renowned Wall Street law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, and the banks J. P. Morgan and Dillon, Read and Company, as well as the Union Bank of New York, owned by Brown Brothers & Harriman. The Union Bank was intimately linked with the financial and industrial empire of German steel magnate Thyssen, whose financial support enabled Hitler to come to power. This bank was managed by Prescott Bush, grandfather of George W. Bush. Prescott Bush was allegedly also an eager supporter of Hitler, funnelled money to him via Thyssen, and in return made considerable profits by doing business with Nazi Germany; with the profits he launched his son, the later president, in the oil business" (http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/llt/51/pauwels.html) The obvious question is who financed the German occupation of foreign lands, the destruction and deaths of inumerable lives, Blacks, Muslims, Slavs and Jews alike? Q3 - Teachings of the 'Religion of Peace' One of the reasons that the religion of Islam is regarded as being such a threat to the Western, secular, capitolist system of existence is that the teachings of Islam are comprehensive. Should you be fortunate enough to read the Noble Quran, we would soon be clear not only about the inherent material but also the context. Islam has directives which relate to interpersonal relationships, the role of Governments, economics, medicine, warfare, peace and every other system of socio-economics. As much as any written constitution makes provisions for war and peace, as do the teachings of the Prophets - the Torah and the Bible both carry similar messages. For the record, Jews are certainly NOT apes, nor are Christians pigs - if there is a direct reference, please feel free to post it. For Muslims, Islam is the completion of the faith from Adam to Noah, from Abraham to Moses, from Jesus to Mohammed (peace be unto all of them). In Islam all the Holy Prophets of God are accepted and no discrimination no distinction is made between any of them - they carried the same message. Q4 - Islamic Maps representing Palestine It is strongly recommended that you look at maps of the development of the state of Israel (http://www.passia.org/index_pfacts.htm). As previously mentioned, Israel was and remains an illegal occupation of foreign territory. If our town or city was invaded tomorrow and our friends, families and neighbours were killed or turned out of their homes - of course we would be out on the streets in our nightshirts fighting with anything we had to hand. This illegal occupation would be no more acceptable to our children or their children. It is no wonder that such a state is not represented on certain maps. Similarly, questions should be raised about the nature of nationalism and jingoism. How is it that Israel are allowed to compete in the "European" soccer tournaments, such are the European Cup, and club competitions... similarly, how are they engaged in the Eurovision song contest when they are not of Europe? Their imports to Europe are not subject to the same scrutiny and trade provisions as non-EU member nations such as Egypt and Turkey, although those countries are geographically closer to the EU then Israel. It is said that the reporting of events is made by those who control the media and publishing. There is propaganda and misinformation on all sides; this is exactly one of the reasons why mankind is yearning for a healing, a revolution of the mind and spirit, social justice and truth. Q5 - Genocide in Africa It is unfortunate but the current situation in Africa is a direct result of European invasion and genocide stemming from the so-called "Race for Africa" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_for_africa) The participants were Belgium, France, German Empire, Italy, Portugal, United Kingdom and the USA colonization society. This lead to apartheid in Southern Africa (not exclusively in South Africa), the rape and pillaging of the natural resouces of the African continent throwing furure generations into poverty and civil conflict. This went side by side with the forced conversions, prosylatising and missionary work of the Christian organisations of Europe. The scramble for Africa was an overwhelming attack on the cultural, social, ecomomic and religious fabric of the society forcing them into chaos and warfare. Let us examine the current position in Darfur, Sudan. The US is sponsoring local militia to overthrow the Islamic ruling parties. The President Omar al-Bashir opposes the deployment of U.N. peacekeeping troops to replace an African Union-led force there now "Everybody knows the Americans and British are scheming against the Sudan...We shall not be the first country to be recolonized in Africa. ... We are free and shall not be enslaved". The President of Sudan says it best of all. It is only fair to be contextually accurate: let us do the body count of Christian genocide compared to Muslim genocide. It would be fairest to start from 1AD... we should include the Christian invasion and ensiung genocides in North Amercia, South America, Latin America, Australia, India, Africa, the Middle East (the crusades), the Catholic Inquisition in Europe, WW1, WW2... the list goes on. The should be no question about which race, ethnic or religious group has done the most damage on a toto global scale. Q6 - Allegations of sexual peversions Although your comments are made in a purely offensive manner, these are accusations occassionally levelled by people ignorant of the true values of Islam. Any red blooded man knows the nature of his sexual appetite. Islam is comprehensive and of course recognises this. If one wife is insufficient (sexually) to satisfy a man, he is allowed under certain conditions (one of which is getting the wife's permission and being able to equally love and provide for both) to marry another wife. In Biblical times, it was quite common in Hebrew and Christian traditions for people to be married from puberty; when the sexual urges are occurring the societal response is to have them married off to avoid unlawful sexual conduct outside of marriage. It was also quite common place to marry off adolescents below puberty although not necessarily proper for them to engage in sexual activity. Abraham himself took a slave for a partner when he wandered for many years in the absence of his wife. It is not exclusive to Islam. There is no acceptance of homosexuality whatsoever as it is regarded as an abomination and a peversity (as in Judaism and Christianity: Leviticus 18-22). There is no place in Islam for sexual peversion or harems. In fact, the concept of the Islamic Hijab as the headscarf worn by pious women is a sign of modesty such as worn by Mary the mother of Jesus, and other pious women of the Jewish and Christian faith. It is common knowledge that practising Muslim men and women do not even uncover in public let alone go to public swimming baths or beaches, let alone act as sexual deviants. Q7 - Mothers supporting the concept of 'shaheed' Martyrdom, or death whilst fighting in the cause of God has always been recognised in the religion of the People of the Book (Jews, Christians and Muslims). As a father and a Holy Prophet, Abraham was prepared to martyr his son for God. Judaism recognises that this even applies to children (http://www.aish.com/literacy/concepts/Judaism_and_Martyrdom.asp). If there is a battle against good and evil, both sides if fully committed with support even children killing and being killed. It is to be remembered that the US is the worlds largest Arms Dealer (40%), followed by Russia (15%), France, Germany and now Israel. Who is arming the world? LEADING ARMS SUPPLIERS I cannot apologise for the question but if our tax dollars / tax pounds are funding bullets, napalm and chemical weapons which are killing Iraqi children in Iraq, are we justifiable targets? Keeping in mind Nagasaki, Hiroshima and the fact that Western forces have since records began, used the collective punishment of INNOCENT native and civillians and collateral damage as a technique, is it any surprise that enemies of those Western forces have no qualms about reciprocating, especially when that collateral damage could be regarded as justifiable targets as the supporters and funders of the military actions. Q8 - Why are Muslims so well known for acts of terrorism? Good question. In early 2005, a NJ christian family were slaughtered in their homes, having had their throats cut. The American media went into a frenzy (google: NJ family slaughtered) with all media outlets claiming that Islamic fundamentalists had murdered them on religious grounds. It was even claimed that Muslims had pretended to be Christians to befriend the Coptic Christian family, getting close and then murdering them. By March 5th 2005 the neighbours had been arrested and later charged for murdering the family during a burglary; Edward McDonald, 25, who rented a second-floor apartment above the Armanious family, and Hamilton Sanchez, 30 (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,149434,00.html). This was given little or no airtime. Global misinformation and prejudgement, stereotypic images and bias is coming from editors who control the Western Media. The total picture is biased and does not represent the reality of Muslims - there is no true democracy within the Media. Robert Fisk is a Western journalist well educated, living in Beirut and doing a good job at making balanced reporting. Q9 - Top selling books in the Islamic World In Pakistan the most recent best selling books are the Harry Potter series, "My Feudal Lord" by Durrani and Sidhwa's "An American Brat". Literacy rates in many developing world countries are at or below 50%. The 4 religious books of Islam are the top sellers of all - namely, the Bible, the Torah, the psalms of David and the Quran. Although it is to be recognised that the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion is a good read, the oldest known version under lock and key at the British Museum; its origins are arguable but they are applicable to the global situation today. It is far from widespread in the Muslim world, and Mein Kampf is virtually unheard of. Please supply direct references. Q10 - Why are terrorists Muslims? Hizb Allah (the party of God) and Hammas are democratically elected political parties in their respective countries. So how is it that countries that defend themselves from outside invasion and occupation, from illegal aggression, when they and their democratically elected officals defend themselves, how can they be labelled "terrorist"? It is an unfortunate position, but much of the world has fallen into social and moral disorder. There is injustice everywhere. Is it any surprise that the people who are fighting this true terror are labelled as terrorists. Here's some food for thought: http://terrorizethis.org/?p=31 as in my answer to Q5 and Q7, there is no doubt about who the true terrorisers of the world are (in absolute numbers or by context). Q11 - The conflict in Sudan not opposed by Muslims The victims of the conflict ARE Muslims. As Islam spread from Arabia across the world, Ethiopia and Sudan were immediate recipients of the faith. since this time, they have been the focus of almost non-stop attempts to Christianise and convert the populous. Muslims are often vocal about massacres and injustices (http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/060801/2006080123.html). As covered in Q5, there is a religious context to the issues in Darfur. Anything Powell and Bush push for vehemently, will of course always raise concerns as to the validity of their claims. Q12 - Ahmedinejad denies holocaust and is planning another Wiping Israel off the map does not mean a holocaust. It is a fact that the zionist state is illegal and oppressive. It is a false and artifical state unsanctioned in international law exactly for this reason. No country in modern history has broken more UN sanctions than Israel. There is voluminous information about the so-called Holohaux. I make no comment about that other than to say that every person should be allowed to challenge revisionist history - in whatever forms this takes. For many, the zionist state is rejected and will never be accepted. Ahmedinejad is no exception. Q13 - Killing those who leave the faith There is no known basis for this accusation / claim. I would be more than happy to address this if you can provide some foundation for this as there is certainly no knowledge of this in Islam or in the Quran. I have in good faith attempted to answer your questions. I hope this helps. Kindest regards Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments". << Previous Comment Next Comment >> Reader comments (691) on this item
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