By Andrew G. Bostom FrontPageMagazine.com February 20, 2006
This past fall, after three successive weeks of rioting in France by predominantly Muslim youths, the violence ebbed, albeit to an uneasy level in excess of the early October 2005 “baseline” before the riots. For example, about 60 cars per night continued to be burned as of December 8, 2005, and the number soared to 425 New Year’s Eve 2006, in “troubled,” i.e., Muslim neighborhoods. Then on New Years Day, teenagers of Arab Muslim origin, rampaged through a train between Nice and Lyon, intimidating and robbing passengers, and allegedly assaulting at least one young woman, sexually, prompting the creation of a special French police force to ensure security for railway passengers. During the fall 2005 intifada, the overwhelmingly Muslim rioters engaged in acts of wanton destruction, punctuated by claims of “territorial control” over sections of various French cities. In the context of this havoc, one saw repeated references to the term “Eurabia” by journalists and other media and academic elites, who, almost without exception, had no idea about the concrete origins, or significance of this term.
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The rest of the article here.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Radical Islam Finds Fertile Ground on African Island
By George Thomas
CBN News Sr. Reporter
CBN.com – STONETOWN, Zanzibar - At first glance, Zanzibar is a picture of paradise: the tropical weather, palm-fringed, white sand beaches, and spectacular views leave visitors feeling they have journeyed to the very edge of the Earth.
But this vision of an island paradise is only half the story. In recent years, another side to Zanzibar, often hidden to outsiders, has emerged: the face of radical Islam.
Islam's roots along Africa's east coast go back more than 1,000 years. Intelligence officials believe that the stretch of land from Sudan to this island off the coast of Tanzania is now fertile ground for fundamentalist militants.
Zanzibar's shift towards radical Islam is led, in part, by Sheikh Azzani Khalid Hamdan.
He heads up a group that wants to turn Zanzibar into an Afghanistan-like island -- the kind of island where Sharia law, which includes punishments like amputation, stoning and beheading, would be the law of the land.
"Sharia law is the basis of all law,” Hamdan stated. “It allows us to render judgment based on the Koran against those who don't follow the laws of Allah."
The rest of the article here:
Monday, February 27, 2006
Barbarians Inside the Gate
More barbarism from adherents to the religion of peace....
From the Wall Street Journal
By MATTHEW KAMINSKI
February 25, 2006; Page A10
PARIS -- In life, Ilan Halimi sold cellular phones on a boulevard named after Voltaire, off a square dedicated to la République. He was an ordinary young Frenchman, except for one thing; he was Jewish, which got him killed. So in death, after 25 days of torture, Ilan Halimi became a symbol of this Continent's failures in dealing with its poor and maladjusted Muslims.
His story is shaking France in a deeper, possibly more lasting, way than the recent riots or the ongoing fracas over the Muhammad cartoons. Last week, on a Monday morning, Ilan was found naked, handcuffed, with burns and bruises over 80% of his body, stumbling on train tracks in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, south of Paris. He died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Each detail of his kidnapping and ordeal that emerged in the past week fed widespread popular outrage.
On Jan. 20, the 23-year-old Ilan, depicted here, went for a rendezvous with a young woman he met at his store and fell right into the hands of his kidnappers. In the previous month, this group tried to entrap six other men, four of them Jewish, using women as bait. Ilan was whisked to the cité de la Pierre-plate, a large housing project in Bagneux, a Paris suburb (or banlieue) that's home to immigrant and French lower-middle-class families. In an empty third-floor apartment and later a basement utility room, he was tortured to death. Several times, as Nidra Poller this week reported in the Journal's European editorial pages, the kidnappers called Ilan's family and read them verses from the Quran while their son screamed in agony in the background. Their demands for ransom from Ilan's modest parents never turned out to be serious.
-----More here
From the Wall Street Journal
By MATTHEW KAMINSKI
February 25, 2006; Page A10
PARIS -- In life, Ilan Halimi sold cellular phones on a boulevard named after Voltaire, off a square dedicated to la République. He was an ordinary young Frenchman, except for one thing; he was Jewish, which got him killed. So in death, after 25 days of torture, Ilan Halimi became a symbol of this Continent's failures in dealing with its poor and maladjusted Muslims.
His story is shaking France in a deeper, possibly more lasting, way than the recent riots or the ongoing fracas over the Muhammad cartoons. Last week, on a Monday morning, Ilan was found naked, handcuffed, with burns and bruises over 80% of his body, stumbling on train tracks in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, south of Paris. He died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Each detail of his kidnapping and ordeal that emerged in the past week fed widespread popular outrage.
On Jan. 20, the 23-year-old Ilan, depicted here, went for a rendezvous with a young woman he met at his store and fell right into the hands of his kidnappers. In the previous month, this group tried to entrap six other men, four of them Jewish, using women as bait. Ilan was whisked to the cité de la Pierre-plate, a large housing project in Bagneux, a Paris suburb (or banlieue) that's home to immigrant and French lower-middle-class families. In an empty third-floor apartment and later a basement utility room, he was tortured to death. Several times, as Nidra Poller this week reported in the Journal's European editorial pages, the kidnappers called Ilan's family and read them verses from the Quran while their son screamed in agony in the background. Their demands for ransom from Ilan's modest parents never turned out to be serious.
-----More here
A Bishop’s Lonely Struggle
The West is about to sell out the Serbs.........again. Everytime I hear someone tell me how the Albanians deserve to be able to steal Kosovo I wonder how they would feel if Mexico took back Texas and desecrated the Alamo........
--------------
By Srdja Trifkovic Originally published on Chronicles Magazine February 14, 2006 --
When various Balkan potentates come to Washington, you can guess their ethnicity by the kind of treatment they receive. Albanian terrorists like the KLA leader Hashim Thaci do rather well. They are received at the State Department, which but a decade ago would have deemed them untouchable. They have full access to the mainstream media and publically-funded think-tanks to propagate independence for their mono-ethnic criminal fiefdom.
For the rest of the article click here
For a bio of Bishop Artemije c
lick here
--------------
By Srdja Trifkovic Originally published on Chronicles Magazine February 14, 2006 --
When various Balkan potentates come to Washington, you can guess their ethnicity by the kind of treatment they receive. Albanian terrorists like the KLA leader Hashim Thaci do rather well. They are received at the State Department, which but a decade ago would have deemed them untouchable. They have full access to the mainstream media and publically-funded think-tanks to propagate independence for their mono-ethnic criminal fiefdom.
When Bishop Artemije of Rashka and Prizren, the spiritual leader of Kosovo's beleaguered Serbs, comes to Washington, he stays with friends in suburban Maryland who drive him hundreds of miles to meetings in Chicago, Pittsburgh, or Cleveland. He is received in Washington by low-to-middle ranking bureaucrats who listen to him politely but repeat stock platitudes that should be too embarrassing to utter by now ("we want a democratic, multi-ethnic Kosovo, in which each group will be able to prosper in peace and security," und so weiter, und so weiter).
The reason for the discrepancy is simple. Bishop Artemije has no money because he is not dealing drugs; he has no armed thugs under his command; and he is telling the truth, warning that "working for Kosovo’s independence is to prepare, consciously or unconsciously, the ground for a militant jihad and terrorism in the heart of Europe, which will put at risk all democratic values of Europe and of America itself." That is not what the U.S. government and its European partners want to hear.
For the rest of the article click here
For a bio of Bishop Artemije c
lick here Sunday, February 26, 2006
Protesters plunder, burn Libyan church
More from the religion of peace:
Protesters plunder, burn Libyan church, convent; religious evacuate
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A Catholic church and convent in Benghazi, Libya, were plundered and burned just days after anti-Italian protests in Libya turned violent. The Feb. 20 attacks against the two religious properties forced the apostolic vicar of Benghazi, the rest of his Franciscan community, and the religious men and women who lived and worked in the diocese to be evacuated to the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Bishop Sylvester Magro of Benghazi told Vatican Radio Feb. 23 that "everything has gone up in smoke." Everything inside the church and friary was destroyed; "everything that could be set on fire was set on fire," he said. The blaze came just a few days after protests Feb. 17 targeting the Italian Consulate in Benghazi left at least 10 people dead. Demonstrators were condemning a recent incident in which an Italian government minister had unbuttoned his shirt on Italian television to display a T-shirt bearing an image of one of the Danish cartoons that have sparked condemnations and demonstrations in many Muslim communities.
Protesters plunder, burn Libyan church, convent; religious evacuate
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A Catholic church and convent in Benghazi, Libya, were plundered and burned just days after anti-Italian protests in Libya turned violent. The Feb. 20 attacks against the two religious properties forced the apostolic vicar of Benghazi, the rest of his Franciscan community, and the religious men and women who lived and worked in the diocese to be evacuated to the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Bishop Sylvester Magro of Benghazi told Vatican Radio Feb. 23 that "everything has gone up in smoke." Everything inside the church and friary was destroyed; "everything that could be set on fire was set on fire," he said. The blaze came just a few days after protests Feb. 17 targeting the Italian Consulate in Benghazi left at least 10 people dead. Demonstrators were condemning a recent incident in which an Italian government minister had unbuttoned his shirt on Italian television to display a T-shirt bearing an image of one of the Danish cartoons that have sparked condemnations and demonstrations in many Muslim communities.
Christians under cover
Bush hopes for a "Moderate Hamas" which shows what a dhimmi he is. We see here how times are changing in the West Bank.
From the Jerusalem Post:
Palestinian educator Dr. Maria Khoury geared up for the winter chill with what was at the time a meaningless purchase: a black silk scarf with silver stripes to drape around her neck.
But now, on her daily excursions from the West Bank's Taiba to nearby Ramallah, the scarf serves as a political symbol of the changing times.
"Since Hamas took over, I cover my head in Ramallah," she says. "I don't feel comfortable."
In the largely cosmopolitan Ramallah, though they comprise some 10 percent of the population, Christians are becoming less and less visible.
The first time that Khoury ran into her local parish priest there with her head covered, he raised his eyebrows and laughed.
"I see more and more women covered up," Khoury says, explaining that for now, it's preferable to play it safe and assimilate on the street, even if she would never choose to cover her head otherwise.
"Years ago I even used to go in short sleeves," she says. "You'd have to put a gun to my head to get me to wear short sleeves now."
With fear of government-supported religious coercion on the rise since Hamas's unexpected win in January's Palestinian elections, Christians across the West Bank and Gaza Strip are keeping a low profile, with eyes wide open.
Though no changes on the ground have affected their rights as of yet, they are watching carefully and anxiously to see if an already precarious "church and state" separation in Palestinian government is about to disintegrate.
They have reason for concern: If Hamas follows on its founders' path to fight Israel and install strict Islamic religious rule, Palestinian Christians stand to become a legally subjugated minority inside Palestinian society, while suffering further conflict with neighboring Israel.
A small minority, estimated to be between one to two percent of the total Palestinian population, Christians have long been in an awkward position, managing a balancing act of simultaneously being insiders and outsiders.
Local Christians see themselves as part of a single Palestinian people with Muslims - with a shared destiny, language and culture, a shared political goal to keeping their land in a safe, sovereign Palestinian state and shared suffering and anger.
On the other hand, they are an ever-shrinking minority, with separate religious beliefs and rituals, trying to fight for religious equality and oppose violence as a means of legitimate struggle, without isolating or alienating themselves from the larger Palestinian population. Intermarriage between Palestinian Christians and Muslims is a rare, sensitive and sometimes risky issue.
Further exaggerating the balancing act in recent years is an insecure relationship with western Evangelical Christians, who fervently support Israel, leaving indigenous Palestinian Christians on the other side of the security fence sometimes feeling neglected or like the enemy, despite a shared reverence for the Christian Gospels.
Amidst this already tenuous situation, Palestinian Christians are holding their breath, as a new Palestinian leadership determines their future.
While locals and analysts doubt Hamas will enforce a strict Shari'a religious law, the Christian community is proceeding with a "just in case" caution.
ALCOHOL IS one of the things on the minds of Christian and secular Palestinians these days - not because the society drinks very much, but because it is an at-risk symbol of freedom in a secular society, a symbol that was tolerated under the largely secular Fatah leadership.
Though in Gaza alcohol was banned in recent years and only smuggled in, legal alcohol manufacturers, distributors and pubs can be found across the West Bank in many areas with Christian populations, like east Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bir Zeit, Jericho, Jifna and around Bethlehem.
Since the elections, a new joke has hit these neighborhoods: "Better drink up now - while we still can." Despite the joke, business for vendors is a little slow.
"There is a change in the market because people are hesitant to overstock," says Nakhle Jubran, a Ramallah-based family manufacturer of Arak, an anise-flavored liquor. "People are taking a 'wait and see' approach. This happens whenever the political climate changes. I assume it's temporary."
People are hoping for order, and not only freedom, he added: "Before Hamas there were problems, people shooting in bars and nightclubs for stupid or no reasons. [Lawlessness] and chaos is not only a problem for Christians, but all minorities, rich and poor."
In Taiba, a solely Christian neighborhood with fewer than 2,000 residents, the only micro-brewing plant in the Middle East and the only Palestinian beer brewery is finishing the last touches on its first non-alcoholic beer.
"It's a good time to launch," says Nadim Khoury, head of the Taybeh Brewing Company.
Not only is a non-alcoholic beer a respectful and careful nod to religious Muslims, but the product is also good for Palestinian economic interests, a fact that Hamas is unlikely to ignore, he says: "Other non-alcoholic beers are already produced in Turkey, Egypt and Bavaria, so a locally-produced product would benefit the Palestinian economy. Hamas knows it needs all kinds of support. We also generate revenue for the Palestinian economy by buying gas for our trucks, paying our workers, etc."
Hana Karkar, an east Jerusalem and West Bank distributor of Taybeh Beer, as well as Israeli and foreign beers, says it's not just the alcohol industry that's on edge. "Restaurants are afraid that the Palestinian Authority won't be able to pay their monthly bill, because of all their financial problems."
OTHER SYMBOLS of religious and social freedom, from secular dress to coeducational schools and the right to opt out of a mandatory Islamic religion and history test for students, are on the list of rights that Christians are talking about in the wake of the Hamas win.
But the issues they aren't talking about are even more critical, says an area bishop who spoke to The Jerusalem Post on condition of anonymity.
"The situation is complex, very delicate, very sensitive. Tensions between Christians and Muslims revolve around social and criminal issues, but there are also religious issues, strong and sometimes harsh issues," he said. "Fear of revenge, isolation and misunderstanding keeps them from speaking up. There are many prejudices, and it can be dangerous. For this reason, and sometimes to protect the family's honor, sometimes things are not reported."
One issue that is underreported is what the bishop calls "property abuse," instances when a Muslim steals the property of a Christian, he says. "It's important to add that on occasion this happens with the help of other Christians, who get paid off to report when a family is on vacation."
Attorney Justus Reid Weiner recently published a report via the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs that says Palestinian Christians also frequently underreport violence and harassment, including sexual harassment and rape.
And tensions are always high when Christians feel their neighborhoods or holy places are being violated, like after a September attack on 14 Christian family homes in Taiba. A local priest, Father Raed Abu Sahliyeh, told The Palestine Report that 14 young men from Deir Jreir were arrested, but released in exchange for calm.
The attack took place after a Muslim woman caught having an affair with a Christian man was purportedly killed by her family in an "honor killing," and angry neighbors came out to target the relatives of the Christian man. Villagers reported hearing the rampagers saying, "Let's get the Christians."
Palestinian security forces were delayed from intervening, held up at Israel's Beit El checkpoint, making the Christians feel abandoned by their Muslim neighbors and by Israel. But their religious leader spoke cautiously.
"The attack by the young men of Deir Jreir was a violent, unjustified and barbaric reaction, but it should not be taken as an attack by a Muslim village against a Christian village," the priest told local newspapers, adding that such events have happened previously and with worse results, including deaths.
"I reject the newspapers and the people who spoke about an attack by Muslims against Christians," he added. "I will repeat this a million times: We are Arabs, we are Palestinians and we are Christian since 2,000 years. This is a small biblical village. We have lived in peace with surrounding Muslim villages for 14 centuries. This mistake between two people should not poison the relations between Muslims and Christians. Those who are playing this dirty game should calm down. We are wise and we say that we have no choice but to live together, side by side, and with friendly relations."
The plight of Christians is not known to Palestinian human rights organizations, says Bassam Eid, director of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group. "I'm quite sure there are some troubles or clashes but they do not represent a trend," he says. "Our organization has never received information about discrimination; we have only heard rumors, which seem exagerated. If there is persecution or discrimination, the Christian community must raise it at once to Christian Palestinian Legislative Council members and to rights organizations."
Such messages as have already been sent have been hesitant. Thirteen Holy Land patriarchs and bishops sent a statement to Hamas on February 1, congratulating the Palestinians on their democratic performance, and offering cooperation toward "justice and peace in a nonviolent way, whether in regard to foreign relations [or] the rule of law together with full religious freedom." They also offered prayers for "the Holy Land with all its inhabitants, Palestinians and Israelis, be they Muslims, Christians or Jews."
Days later, delegations of Christian Arabs from Israel appealed to a Vatican assembly for aid for Holy Land Christians, to help stem further emigration and despair. Christians around the world worry that ancient Christian neighborhoods will become antique ruins without native inhabitants. Since the 19th century, periods of economic and political turmoil have often led to periods of migration for Christians, many of whom already have family in North, Central and South America.
"The whole Palestinian people is suffering because of the general situation, but Palestinian Christians suffer twice as much," says Palestinian theologian and psychologist George Khoury, who recently emigrated to the United States.
DESPITE TENSIONS, analysts predict that Hamas's hunt for financial stability and international recognition and legitimacy is likely to keep it more moderate - at least for the time being.
"Hamas is trying so hard to be accepted internationally that they will work even harder than Fatah in this direction," says Palestinian journalist and commentator Daoud Kuttab.
"In Bethlehem, Palestinian Christians had some real problems with the way the PA dealt with some of their complaints. The current feeling is that Hamas will do better in this direction. [Shari'a being imposed] is a risk, although I don't think at present it is a big risk. Hamas barely won in real terms and so they don't have anything close to the 2/3 majority they would need to make such changes."
Palestinian legislation currently reserves six local seats for Christian candidates to help govern their own cities, and in the cities with the largest Christian populations, Ramallah and Bethlehem, Hamas voted as well for the local Christian candidates, a point Kuttab says also underlines a Hamas awareness of Christian concerns.
Recent events also made political analysts around the world take a second look at Hamas.
When protests broke out across Gaza after the publishing of the Muhammad caricatures, Muslim gunmen associated with Fatah threatened local Christians and their churches. But when word got out to local Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar, he astounded locals and internationals by paying a visit to a Catholic church to apologize and offer the protection of his own military forces.
"You are our brothers," Zahar purportedly told Father Manuel Musallem.
Fatah gunmen then returned to the Catholic grounds there, armed this time with red carnations, to apologize for their comrades' transgressions.
Later, members of the Greek Orthodox church joined their Muslim neighbors in Gaza City for a peaceful solidarity protest against the caricatures.
In Nablus in December, the Hamas-affiliated Mayor Adli Yaish told The Jerusalem Post that he planned to uphold one of his campaign pledges: to run Nablus as a city for all its citizens. "Our slogan is Nablus for all, which means Christians, Muslims, Samaritans and people from the villages," he said. Local Christians there also helped elect the Hamas city council candidates, who won a sweeping majority.
Randa Siniora, a Palestinian lawyer and head of Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights watch group, explains that Hamas will be very careful not to step on the rights of Christians, even though Shari'a remains one source for legislation.
"It was shocking, stunning that Hamas won. We saw the worries of Christians and also secular Muslims who want a separation [of church and state]. But Hamas has other priorities and will postpone addressing these issues [of Shari'a]. There are some voices for Islamization, but they have been shut down. [These] voices are not the trend in Hamas leaders, who are focusing on political, not social, issues. Hamas is pragmatic; it knows that if you touch these issues it could be detrimental, even catastrophic for them."
If there are any changes they will be gradual and with the people's approval, she added.
"If you look at the basic Palestinian law, it clearly outlines respect for religion and religious practice. Laws about family status will affect only Muslims. Shari'a is tricky, it can be interpreted in many ways by different individuals. In Palestinian law it's hard to drop Shari'a as a source."
Palestinian society itself may also put up a fight against strict Shari'a, as locals are considered much more liberal than many other Arab populations across the Middle East and Africa, where Christians routinely complain of discrimination, coercion and violence under Shari'a.
ACROSS THE WEST BANK, local Christians, the secular and other minorities are waiting to see whether agreements signed by Yasser Arafat will be upheld, like the year 2000 agreement between the Holy See and the PLO guaranteeing freedom of religion, and the Palestinian "Basic Law" passed by the PLC in 1997 and ratified by Arafat in 2002.
Regarding religion, the Basic Law says: "Islam is the official religion; the respect and sanctity of all other heavenly religions shall be maintained; the principles of Shari'a shall be a major source of legislation; all Palestinians are equal under the law and judiciary, without discrimination because of race, sex, gender, religion, or political views; freedom of belief and performance of religious rituals are guaranteed [unless] they violate public order or public morals."
Though Siniora doesn't think Hamas will go so far as to attempt to control the way people dress or participate in drinking or secular activities in public, she does think people will observe self censorship as a defensive measure.
"I think people will censor themselves," she says. "Young people usually celebrate Valentine's Day at Bethlehem University. This year [after the elections] they didn't, but nobody censored them. This [self censorship] is more dangerous because it is creating changes on the ground."
Bernard Sabella, a Bethlehem University sociologist who was elected in January to Bethlehem's city council, was apparently thinking about such issues several years ago. In 1999, after increased tensions between Muslims and Christians when Muslims laid the cornerstone for a mosque in Nazareth, he was quoted in Cairo's Al-Ahram newspaper as saying, "A majority-minority relationship means either you don't have equal rights before the law or that you are dependent on the good will of the majority for these rights. At the dawn of the 21st century, this idea is simply no longer acceptable to Palestinian Christians. I exist in Palestine not because Muslims or the PA or Israel 'protects' me. I exist here by virtue of my birth, my ancestors and, above all, because I am a Palestinian. I don't owe this existence to anybody. The age of Ahl Ad-Dhimma [second-class citizenship] is over."
Like Sabella, Palestinian Christians worry that the rest of the world has forgotten that their roots are indigenous.
"This is called the Holy Land and we were here before the Muslims... I mean, look at our late president [Arafat]. He was always saying 'Christians and Muslims;' he always said Christians first, because he knew we were here before Muhammad," says Nadim Khoury.
"But I think it's too early now for Hamas to worry about Christians. Hamas will either become more moderate and succeed in parliament, or will become more religious and strict on women's dress and alcohol - but nobody will like that, so I don't think they will choose that path.
"Let's give them a chance. After all, [Menachem] Begin delivered Sinai and [Ariel] Sharon delivered Gaza. Maybe Hamas will deliver, too."
His sister-in-law, Maria Khoury, agrees.
"We will follow any rules, but it's important for my son to have the same freedoms he had before. We already struggle under Israeli occupation; we don't want to struggle under Islamic rule. We want everyone to have rights, not just Christians."
And by summer she hopes things will have cooled down.
"By then," she says, "the black scarf will be very hot to wear over my head."
From the Jerusalem Post:
Palestinian educator Dr. Maria Khoury geared up for the winter chill with what was at the time a meaningless purchase: a black silk scarf with silver stripes to drape around her neck.
But now, on her daily excursions from the West Bank's Taiba to nearby Ramallah, the scarf serves as a political symbol of the changing times.
"Since Hamas took over, I cover my head in Ramallah," she says. "I don't feel comfortable."
In the largely cosmopolitan Ramallah, though they comprise some 10 percent of the population, Christians are becoming less and less visible.
The first time that Khoury ran into her local parish priest there with her head covered, he raised his eyebrows and laughed.
"I see more and more women covered up," Khoury says, explaining that for now, it's preferable to play it safe and assimilate on the street, even if she would never choose to cover her head otherwise.
"Years ago I even used to go in short sleeves," she says. "You'd have to put a gun to my head to get me to wear short sleeves now."
With fear of government-supported religious coercion on the rise since Hamas's unexpected win in January's Palestinian elections, Christians across the West Bank and Gaza Strip are keeping a low profile, with eyes wide open.
Though no changes on the ground have affected their rights as of yet, they are watching carefully and anxiously to see if an already precarious "church and state" separation in Palestinian government is about to disintegrate.
They have reason for concern: If Hamas follows on its founders' path to fight Israel and install strict Islamic religious rule, Palestinian Christians stand to become a legally subjugated minority inside Palestinian society, while suffering further conflict with neighboring Israel.
A small minority, estimated to be between one to two percent of the total Palestinian population, Christians have long been in an awkward position, managing a balancing act of simultaneously being insiders and outsiders.
Local Christians see themselves as part of a single Palestinian people with Muslims - with a shared destiny, language and culture, a shared political goal to keeping their land in a safe, sovereign Palestinian state and shared suffering and anger.
On the other hand, they are an ever-shrinking minority, with separate religious beliefs and rituals, trying to fight for religious equality and oppose violence as a means of legitimate struggle, without isolating or alienating themselves from the larger Palestinian population. Intermarriage between Palestinian Christians and Muslims is a rare, sensitive and sometimes risky issue.
Further exaggerating the balancing act in recent years is an insecure relationship with western Evangelical Christians, who fervently support Israel, leaving indigenous Palestinian Christians on the other side of the security fence sometimes feeling neglected or like the enemy, despite a shared reverence for the Christian Gospels.
Amidst this already tenuous situation, Palestinian Christians are holding their breath, as a new Palestinian leadership determines their future.
While locals and analysts doubt Hamas will enforce a strict Shari'a religious law, the Christian community is proceeding with a "just in case" caution.
ALCOHOL IS one of the things on the minds of Christian and secular Palestinians these days - not because the society drinks very much, but because it is an at-risk symbol of freedom in a secular society, a symbol that was tolerated under the largely secular Fatah leadership.
Though in Gaza alcohol was banned in recent years and only smuggled in, legal alcohol manufacturers, distributors and pubs can be found across the West Bank in many areas with Christian populations, like east Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bir Zeit, Jericho, Jifna and around Bethlehem.
Since the elections, a new joke has hit these neighborhoods: "Better drink up now - while we still can." Despite the joke, business for vendors is a little slow.
"There is a change in the market because people are hesitant to overstock," says Nakhle Jubran, a Ramallah-based family manufacturer of Arak, an anise-flavored liquor. "People are taking a 'wait and see' approach. This happens whenever the political climate changes. I assume it's temporary."
People are hoping for order, and not only freedom, he added: "Before Hamas there were problems, people shooting in bars and nightclubs for stupid or no reasons. [Lawlessness] and chaos is not only a problem for Christians, but all minorities, rich and poor."
In Taiba, a solely Christian neighborhood with fewer than 2,000 residents, the only micro-brewing plant in the Middle East and the only Palestinian beer brewery is finishing the last touches on its first non-alcoholic beer.
"It's a good time to launch," says Nadim Khoury, head of the Taybeh Brewing Company.
Not only is a non-alcoholic beer a respectful and careful nod to religious Muslims, but the product is also good for Palestinian economic interests, a fact that Hamas is unlikely to ignore, he says: "Other non-alcoholic beers are already produced in Turkey, Egypt and Bavaria, so a locally-produced product would benefit the Palestinian economy. Hamas knows it needs all kinds of support. We also generate revenue for the Palestinian economy by buying gas for our trucks, paying our workers, etc."
Hana Karkar, an east Jerusalem and West Bank distributor of Taybeh Beer, as well as Israeli and foreign beers, says it's not just the alcohol industry that's on edge. "Restaurants are afraid that the Palestinian Authority won't be able to pay their monthly bill, because of all their financial problems."
OTHER SYMBOLS of religious and social freedom, from secular dress to coeducational schools and the right to opt out of a mandatory Islamic religion and history test for students, are on the list of rights that Christians are talking about in the wake of the Hamas win.
But the issues they aren't talking about are even more critical, says an area bishop who spoke to The Jerusalem Post on condition of anonymity.
"The situation is complex, very delicate, very sensitive. Tensions between Christians and Muslims revolve around social and criminal issues, but there are also religious issues, strong and sometimes harsh issues," he said. "Fear of revenge, isolation and misunderstanding keeps them from speaking up. There are many prejudices, and it can be dangerous. For this reason, and sometimes to protect the family's honor, sometimes things are not reported."
One issue that is underreported is what the bishop calls "property abuse," instances when a Muslim steals the property of a Christian, he says. "It's important to add that on occasion this happens with the help of other Christians, who get paid off to report when a family is on vacation."
Attorney Justus Reid Weiner recently published a report via the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs that says Palestinian Christians also frequently underreport violence and harassment, including sexual harassment and rape.
And tensions are always high when Christians feel their neighborhoods or holy places are being violated, like after a September attack on 14 Christian family homes in Taiba. A local priest, Father Raed Abu Sahliyeh, told The Palestine Report that 14 young men from Deir Jreir were arrested, but released in exchange for calm.
The attack took place after a Muslim woman caught having an affair with a Christian man was purportedly killed by her family in an "honor killing," and angry neighbors came out to target the relatives of the Christian man. Villagers reported hearing the rampagers saying, "Let's get the Christians."
Palestinian security forces were delayed from intervening, held up at Israel's Beit El checkpoint, making the Christians feel abandoned by their Muslim neighbors and by Israel. But their religious leader spoke cautiously.
"The attack by the young men of Deir Jreir was a violent, unjustified and barbaric reaction, but it should not be taken as an attack by a Muslim village against a Christian village," the priest told local newspapers, adding that such events have happened previously and with worse results, including deaths.
"I reject the newspapers and the people who spoke about an attack by Muslims against Christians," he added. "I will repeat this a million times: We are Arabs, we are Palestinians and we are Christian since 2,000 years. This is a small biblical village. We have lived in peace with surrounding Muslim villages for 14 centuries. This mistake between two people should not poison the relations between Muslims and Christians. Those who are playing this dirty game should calm down. We are wise and we say that we have no choice but to live together, side by side, and with friendly relations."
The plight of Christians is not known to Palestinian human rights organizations, says Bassam Eid, director of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group. "I'm quite sure there are some troubles or clashes but they do not represent a trend," he says. "Our organization has never received information about discrimination; we have only heard rumors, which seem exagerated. If there is persecution or discrimination, the Christian community must raise it at once to Christian Palestinian Legislative Council members and to rights organizations."
Such messages as have already been sent have been hesitant. Thirteen Holy Land patriarchs and bishops sent a statement to Hamas on February 1, congratulating the Palestinians on their democratic performance, and offering cooperation toward "justice and peace in a nonviolent way, whether in regard to foreign relations [or] the rule of law together with full religious freedom." They also offered prayers for "the Holy Land with all its inhabitants, Palestinians and Israelis, be they Muslims, Christians or Jews."
Days later, delegations of Christian Arabs from Israel appealed to a Vatican assembly for aid for Holy Land Christians, to help stem further emigration and despair. Christians around the world worry that ancient Christian neighborhoods will become antique ruins without native inhabitants. Since the 19th century, periods of economic and political turmoil have often led to periods of migration for Christians, many of whom already have family in North, Central and South America.
"The whole Palestinian people is suffering because of the general situation, but Palestinian Christians suffer twice as much," says Palestinian theologian and psychologist George Khoury, who recently emigrated to the United States.
DESPITE TENSIONS, analysts predict that Hamas's hunt for financial stability and international recognition and legitimacy is likely to keep it more moderate - at least for the time being.
"Hamas is trying so hard to be accepted internationally that they will work even harder than Fatah in this direction," says Palestinian journalist and commentator Daoud Kuttab.
"In Bethlehem, Palestinian Christians had some real problems with the way the PA dealt with some of their complaints. The current feeling is that Hamas will do better in this direction. [Shari'a being imposed] is a risk, although I don't think at present it is a big risk. Hamas barely won in real terms and so they don't have anything close to the 2/3 majority they would need to make such changes."
Palestinian legislation currently reserves six local seats for Christian candidates to help govern their own cities, and in the cities with the largest Christian populations, Ramallah and Bethlehem, Hamas voted as well for the local Christian candidates, a point Kuttab says also underlines a Hamas awareness of Christian concerns.
Recent events also made political analysts around the world take a second look at Hamas.
When protests broke out across Gaza after the publishing of the Muhammad caricatures, Muslim gunmen associated with Fatah threatened local Christians and their churches. But when word got out to local Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar, he astounded locals and internationals by paying a visit to a Catholic church to apologize and offer the protection of his own military forces.
"You are our brothers," Zahar purportedly told Father Manuel Musallem.
Fatah gunmen then returned to the Catholic grounds there, armed this time with red carnations, to apologize for their comrades' transgressions.
Later, members of the Greek Orthodox church joined their Muslim neighbors in Gaza City for a peaceful solidarity protest against the caricatures.
In Nablus in December, the Hamas-affiliated Mayor Adli Yaish told The Jerusalem Post that he planned to uphold one of his campaign pledges: to run Nablus as a city for all its citizens. "Our slogan is Nablus for all, which means Christians, Muslims, Samaritans and people from the villages," he said. Local Christians there also helped elect the Hamas city council candidates, who won a sweeping majority.
Randa Siniora, a Palestinian lawyer and head of Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights watch group, explains that Hamas will be very careful not to step on the rights of Christians, even though Shari'a remains one source for legislation.
"It was shocking, stunning that Hamas won. We saw the worries of Christians and also secular Muslims who want a separation [of church and state]. But Hamas has other priorities and will postpone addressing these issues [of Shari'a]. There are some voices for Islamization, but they have been shut down. [These] voices are not the trend in Hamas leaders, who are focusing on political, not social, issues. Hamas is pragmatic; it knows that if you touch these issues it could be detrimental, even catastrophic for them."
If there are any changes they will be gradual and with the people's approval, she added.
"If you look at the basic Palestinian law, it clearly outlines respect for religion and religious practice. Laws about family status will affect only Muslims. Shari'a is tricky, it can be interpreted in many ways by different individuals. In Palestinian law it's hard to drop Shari'a as a source."
Palestinian society itself may also put up a fight against strict Shari'a, as locals are considered much more liberal than many other Arab populations across the Middle East and Africa, where Christians routinely complain of discrimination, coercion and violence under Shari'a.
ACROSS THE WEST BANK, local Christians, the secular and other minorities are waiting to see whether agreements signed by Yasser Arafat will be upheld, like the year 2000 agreement between the Holy See and the PLO guaranteeing freedom of religion, and the Palestinian "Basic Law" passed by the PLC in 1997 and ratified by Arafat in 2002.
Regarding religion, the Basic Law says: "Islam is the official religion; the respect and sanctity of all other heavenly religions shall be maintained; the principles of Shari'a shall be a major source of legislation; all Palestinians are equal under the law and judiciary, without discrimination because of race, sex, gender, religion, or political views; freedom of belief and performance of religious rituals are guaranteed [unless] they violate public order or public morals."
Though Siniora doesn't think Hamas will go so far as to attempt to control the way people dress or participate in drinking or secular activities in public, she does think people will observe self censorship as a defensive measure.
"I think people will censor themselves," she says. "Young people usually celebrate Valentine's Day at Bethlehem University. This year [after the elections] they didn't, but nobody censored them. This [self censorship] is more dangerous because it is creating changes on the ground."
Bernard Sabella, a Bethlehem University sociologist who was elected in January to Bethlehem's city council, was apparently thinking about such issues several years ago. In 1999, after increased tensions between Muslims and Christians when Muslims laid the cornerstone for a mosque in Nazareth, he was quoted in Cairo's Al-Ahram newspaper as saying, "A majority-minority relationship means either you don't have equal rights before the law or that you are dependent on the good will of the majority for these rights. At the dawn of the 21st century, this idea is simply no longer acceptable to Palestinian Christians. I exist in Palestine not because Muslims or the PA or Israel 'protects' me. I exist here by virtue of my birth, my ancestors and, above all, because I am a Palestinian. I don't owe this existence to anybody. The age of Ahl Ad-Dhimma [second-class citizenship] is over."
Like Sabella, Palestinian Christians worry that the rest of the world has forgotten that their roots are indigenous.
"This is called the Holy Land and we were here before the Muslims... I mean, look at our late president [Arafat]. He was always saying 'Christians and Muslims;' he always said Christians first, because he knew we were here before Muhammad," says Nadim Khoury.
"But I think it's too early now for Hamas to worry about Christians. Hamas will either become more moderate and succeed in parliament, or will become more religious and strict on women's dress and alcohol - but nobody will like that, so I don't think they will choose that path.
"Let's give them a chance. After all, [Menachem] Begin delivered Sinai and [Ariel] Sharon delivered Gaza. Maybe Hamas will deliver, too."
His sister-in-law, Maria Khoury, agrees.
"We will follow any rules, but it's important for my son to have the same freedoms he had before. We already struggle under Israeli occupation; we don't want to struggle under Islamic rule. We want everyone to have rights, not just Christians."
And by summer she hopes things will have cooled down.
"By then," she says, "the black scarf will be very hot to wear over my head."
Friday, February 24, 2006
Bosnian bishops say Catholics in some regions near extinction
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
ROME (CNS) -- Catholics in the Balkan nation of Bosnia-Herzegovina have become "second-class" citizens and, in some regions, are on the verge of extinction, said a group of Bosnian bishops visiting Rome.
While the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords brought an end to ethnic violence and bloodshed between Serbs, Muslims and Croats, the bishops said the accords were flawed and unfairly enforced, resulting in a lack of true peace, justice and adequate human rights protections in the country.
On the eve of the start of their weeklong "ad limina" visit to the Vatican, Bosnian Cardinal Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo, Bishop Franjo Komarica of Banja Luka, and Auxiliary Bishop Pero Sudar of Sarajevo spoke to journalists at a Feb. 22 press conference hosted by Italy's Catholic Action movement.
The bishops appealed to the international community to help transform Bosnia-Herzegovina from its current two-government existence to a unified, decentralized democracy that would no longer be split along ethnic lines.
The bishops said they would be informing Pope Benedict XVI about their appeal and the situation of the country's Catholics.
The 1995 accords, signed by the presidents of Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, divided Bosnia-Herzegovina into two areas -- one administered by ethnic Serbs and another by a Muslim-Croat federation. This, however, has left the mostly Catholic Croat minority with little to no political power in both areas, the bishops said.
Cardinal Puljic, who is also head of the Bosnian bishops' conference, said Catholics "are in the minority; slowly we are becoming second-class citizens in our own country."
The democratic principles and protections outlined by the Dayton accords do not carry the same weight for the different ethnic groups, he said. The bigger groups, that is the Serbs and Muslims, have the most power and have more rights than the smaller groups, he said.
The cardinal said that more than 10 years after the Dayton accords, Bosnia-Herzegovina is "a confused country" whose complex political structure is unsustainable, unjust and must be changed.
Bishop Komarica told journalists that dividing the country and granting powers based on ethnicity were some of the many "fatal mistakes" created by the accords.
The present situation of "rule of the strongest" not only prevents the country from developing into a healthy, multiethnic country, it also has legitimized ethnic cleansing by dividing the country along ethnic lines and granting majority rule to the predominant ethnic group, he said.
He also said displaced Croats and Catholics have been "hindered from returning and staying on."
Before the start of the 1992-95 war, there were 820,000 Catholics throughout the country's four archdioceses, he said, adding, "Today, 10 years after the war's end, there are only 460,000."
He said his diocese of Banja Luka was the most affected: 120,000 Catholics have dwindled to barely 40,000.
The dramatic situation of the Catholic Church in Bosnia-Herzegovina "is constantly forgotten, ignored and treated as something normal and acceptable by national and international political leaders, not as a serious crime of extermination of a people and the Catholic Church" in this Balkan nation, said Bishop Komarica.
As long as the rights and freedoms of Croats are denied and their political clout is stifled, there will be no true peace in the country, and Catholics there will disappear, he said.
Bishop Sudar, meanwhile, emphasized the importance of stimulating the economy of a country where unemployment has risen to 48 percent. Those who do have a job sometimes must wait months or years for their wages, he added.
While government leaders are looking at some proposals to revise the political structures the Dayton accords established, "nothing is proposed to re-establish structures which help to improve the economy, to favor the return of refugees and to safeguard human rights and equality among the peoples," he said.
He said a fairer balance of political power among Croats, Muslims and Serbs is needed as well as a revamped legislature and executive branch of government in which members of one region would not be able to "outvote members of the other two" regions.
From Catholic News Service
Also-
Vatican to Muslims: practice what you preach
By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor
Catholic News Service
ROME (CNS) -- Catholics in the Balkan nation of Bosnia-Herzegovina have become "second-class" citizens and, in some regions, are on the verge of extinction, said a group of Bosnian bishops visiting Rome.
While the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords brought an end to ethnic violence and bloodshed between Serbs, Muslims and Croats, the bishops said the accords were flawed and unfairly enforced, resulting in a lack of true peace, justice and adequate human rights protections in the country.
On the eve of the start of their weeklong "ad limina" visit to the Vatican, Bosnian Cardinal Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo, Bishop Franjo Komarica of Banja Luka, and Auxiliary Bishop Pero Sudar of Sarajevo spoke to journalists at a Feb. 22 press conference hosted by Italy's Catholic Action movement.
The bishops appealed to the international community to help transform Bosnia-Herzegovina from its current two-government existence to a unified, decentralized democracy that would no longer be split along ethnic lines.
The bishops said they would be informing Pope Benedict XVI about their appeal and the situation of the country's Catholics.
The 1995 accords, signed by the presidents of Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, divided Bosnia-Herzegovina into two areas -- one administered by ethnic Serbs and another by a Muslim-Croat federation. This, however, has left the mostly Catholic Croat minority with little to no political power in both areas, the bishops said.
Cardinal Puljic, who is also head of the Bosnian bishops' conference, said Catholics "are in the minority; slowly we are becoming second-class citizens in our own country."
The democratic principles and protections outlined by the Dayton accords do not carry the same weight for the different ethnic groups, he said. The bigger groups, that is the Serbs and Muslims, have the most power and have more rights than the smaller groups, he said.
The cardinal said that more than 10 years after the Dayton accords, Bosnia-Herzegovina is "a confused country" whose complex political structure is unsustainable, unjust and must be changed.
Bishop Komarica told journalists that dividing the country and granting powers based on ethnicity were some of the many "fatal mistakes" created by the accords.
The present situation of "rule of the strongest" not only prevents the country from developing into a healthy, multiethnic country, it also has legitimized ethnic cleansing by dividing the country along ethnic lines and granting majority rule to the predominant ethnic group, he said.
He also said displaced Croats and Catholics have been "hindered from returning and staying on."
Before the start of the 1992-95 war, there were 820,000 Catholics throughout the country's four archdioceses, he said, adding, "Today, 10 years after the war's end, there are only 460,000."
He said his diocese of Banja Luka was the most affected: 120,000 Catholics have dwindled to barely 40,000.
The dramatic situation of the Catholic Church in Bosnia-Herzegovina "is constantly forgotten, ignored and treated as something normal and acceptable by national and international political leaders, not as a serious crime of extermination of a people and the Catholic Church" in this Balkan nation, said Bishop Komarica.
As long as the rights and freedoms of Croats are denied and their political clout is stifled, there will be no true peace in the country, and Catholics there will disappear, he said.
Bishop Sudar, meanwhile, emphasized the importance of stimulating the economy of a country where unemployment has risen to 48 percent. Those who do have a job sometimes must wait months or years for their wages, he added.
While government leaders are looking at some proposals to revise the political structures the Dayton accords established, "nothing is proposed to re-establish structures which help to improve the economy, to favor the return of refugees and to safeguard human rights and equality among the peoples," he said.
He said a fairer balance of political power among Croats, Muslims and Serbs is needed as well as a revamped legislature and executive branch of government in which members of one region would not be able to "outvote members of the other two" regions.
From Catholic News Service
Also-
Vatican to Muslims: practice what you preach
By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor
PARIS (Reuters) - After backing calls by Muslims for respect for their religion in the Mohammad cartoons row, the Vatican is now urging Islamic countries to reciprocate by showing more tolerance toward their Christian minorities.
Roman Catholic leaders at first said Muslims were right to be outraged when Western newspapers reprinted Danish caricatures of the Prophet, including one with a bomb in his turban. Most Muslims consider any images of Mohammad to be blasphemous.
After criticizing both the cartoons and the violent protests in Muslim countries that followed, the Vatican this week linked the issue to its long-standing concern that the rights of other faiths are limited, sometimes severely, in Muslim countries.
Vatican prelates have been concerned by recent killings of two Catholic priests in Turkey and Nigeria. Turkish media linked the death there to the cartoons row. At least 146 Christians and Muslims have died in five days of religious riots in Nigeria.
"If we tell our people they have no right to offend, we have to tell the others they have no right to destroy us," Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican's Secretary of State (prime minister), told journalists in Rome.
"We must always stress our demand for reciprocity in political contacts with authorities in Islamic countries and, even more, in cultural contacts," Foreign Minister Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo told the daily Corriere della Sera.
Reciprocity -- allowing Christian minorities the same rights as Muslims generally have in Western countries, such as building houses of worship or practicing religion freely -- is at the heart of Vatican diplomacy toward Muslim states.
Vatican diplomats argue that limits on Christians in some Islamic countries are far harsher than restrictions in the West that Muslims decry, such as France's ban on headscarves in state schools.
Saudi Arabia bans all public expression of any non-Muslim religion and sometimes arrests Christians even for worshipping privately. Pakistan allows churches to operate but its Islamic laws effectively deprive Christians of many rights.
Both countries are often criticized at the United Nations Human Rights Commission for violating religious freedoms.
"ENOUGH TURNING THE OTHER CHEEK" Continued ...Thursday, February 23, 2006
The Bosnian Jihad
From - Serbianna.com
February 20, 2006 -- Presidents Bush-41 and Clinton sided with Alija Izetbegovic-led Bosnian Islamists in the civil and religious conflict in Bosnia in order to mollify the radical Muslim world and Saudi Arabia in particular. A secular Bosnian Muslim faction, who had no interest in war with either the Serbs or the Croats, was completely marginalized by Washington. Izetbegovic publicly stated that he needed the war to accomplish his objective of an Islamic Republic in Bosnia (creation of what some call “mujoland” in the heart of Europe). The Iran-led pan-Islamic coalition lavishly financed by Saudi Arabia and other petrodollar countries launched the Bosnian jihad. Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, like the Algerian Group Islamic Armee (GIA) and Egyptian Gamm’a al-Islamiyya, infiltrated the jihad. While Iranians are predominantly Shiites and the Iranian Islamists are anti-American and anti-Jewish they were allowed to lead the pan-Islamic coalition in an attempt to forge unity of the Muslim world.
Alija Izetbegovic, the 1994 winner of the King Faisal Award and 2001 Figure of the Year in the Islamic World, spent most of his life dreaming of a Muslim-led independent Bosnia-Herzegovina. His U.S. supporters and admirers such as former President Clinton, Clinton’s Balkans envoy Richard Holbrooke, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Ambassador to Belgrade Warren Zimmermann, and various handmaidens in the media--characterized him as a devout Muslim but committed to a multi-ethnic and democratic Bosnia. They claimed that Serbs and Croats only painted him as an Islamic supremacist and that this was not the case. Izetbegovic’s two prison terms, his writings in Islamic Declaration (inspired by famous jihadist ideologue Sayyid Qutb’s writings) and close relationships with the Islamists defeat that argument. Nonetheless, the petrodollars turned lies into the truth.
Nebojsa Malic, an antiwar.com columnist, concluded: “Izetbegovic’s vision of Bosnia was not a multi-ethnic democracy, but a multi-caste hierarchy of the kind that existed under the Ottoman Empire, the memories of which were still fresh at his birth in 1925.” Jonathan Eyal, director of the London-based Royal United Services Institute, stated that Izetbegovic was not only responsible for atrocities committed by the Bosnian Muslims, Iranian and Arab mujahideen but also for the declaration of independence when it was abundantly clear that it was leading to war, for gambling with the destiny of his people, and for the corrupt, single party state he was attempting to establish with rule through nepotism.
The Western governments and the compliant media demonized the Serbs and attributed almost every atrocity committed to the Serbs. In November 1998 The Times of London published a letter quoting General Sir Michael Rose, Former UN Military Commander in Bosnia: “We were escorted by a woman from the US Embassy as we flew towards Tuzla. She pointed at all the destroyed villages and exclaimed excitedly ‘Look at what the criminal Serbs have done.’ In fact they were Bosnian Croat villages ethnically cleansed by the Muslims…Later (we) visited Mostar where the Croats had virtually destroyed the Muslim sector. The US official cried: ‘Well at least this was done by the criminal Serbs.’ The woman burst into tears when it was pointed out that the Croats had been to blame.”
Bin Laden’s Master Plan
The Clinton administration fueled the rise of Osama bin Laden from an ordinary man to Hydra-like monster. Al Qaeda operated with impunity in Bosnia. Bin Laden’s master plan was to establish a hub in Europe against Al Qaeda’s true enemy, the U.S. Without the Bosnian jihad it is difficult to imagine 9/11. Who’s who in Al Qaeda were directly involved in the Bosnian war including bin Laden himself, Al-Zawahiri, masterminds of the 9/11 and Madrid bombings, recruiters of the pivotal Hamburg cell, members of the supporting Madrid cell, five 9/11 hijackers, etc. All in all 9/11 and Madrid bombing capabilities were then established. The Clinton administration transported Al Qaeda’s mujahideen from Central Asia to Bosnia; encouraged the Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to send a unit to Bosnia, which included British Pakistani involved in the 7/7 London bombings; gave a green light for transportation of Iranian arms to Bosnia; recruited mujahideen to fight the Serbs in Kosovo, etc. Omar Sheikh, a British Pakistani convicted of kidnapping the Wall Street journalist Daniel Pearl, was lured into the Bosnian jihad.
Catastrophic Consequences
Had the U.S. decided to remain neutral, the war could have been prevented as the EC (EU predecessor) brokered a deal with all three parties. However, acting upon advice from the U.S. and the Islamic world Alija Izetbegovic reneged on the agreement. The ensuing civil and religious war killed some 100,000 people (not 200,000 or 250,000 as commonly reported by the media and the State Department for over 10 years). Two independent studies have arrived at a figure of 100,000 including the one by the International Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). In addition, Bosnia would not have become Al Qaeda’s staging ground leading to 9/11.
Had the Clinton Administration not rejected four peace proposals, including the Vance-Owen plan, the 42-months war would have ended much sooner.
Dayton Accords: Ashdown’s Plenipotent Rule
The Dayton Accords not only terminated the war but also provided a platform for peace.
On the military side 60,000 NATO peacekeepers were deployed. On the civilian side it enshrined the ethnic rights by creation of two entities--the Muslim-Croat Federation and the self-governing Serbian entity Republika Srpska. President Clinton promised that the American contingent would not stay longer than a year. They stayed for nine years until replaced by the European Force (EUFOR) in 2005.
Elections were the other key feature of the Dayton Accords. Subsequently at the Berlin meeting the international community appointed a so-called “High Representative,” who has been in ultimate control of Bosnia. The elections were rushed resulting in nationalist parties being swept in. While prior high representatives performed responsibly Englishman Paddy Ashdown grossly abused his power by administering Bosnia for the last four years (2002-2006) as his fiefdom, as an imperial proconsul, and exhibited a disdain for the Dayton Accords. In his final interview with The Times of London, Ashdown boastfully stated that “these two entities have gradually had their powers cut and those of the State increased.” At one point he sacked 59 Bosnian Serb elected politicians and officials. The notion that an absolute ruler promoted democracy is nothing short of absurd.
For Ashdown, creation of a stable Bosnia depended on the Serbs accepting the role of Nazis. The major burden of guilt is on the Serbs and they have to acknowledge it like the
Germans did after WWII. That seemed to be an imperative of the New World Order that resulted in Bosnia becoming a major social engineering experiment. The fact that Bosnian Muslims and Croats were the real Nazis in WWII was history of no interest to Ashdown. His biggest regret is that former Bosnian Serbs leaders Karadzic and Mladic were not apprehended on his watch. Ashdown dismissed the fact that the ruling Izetbegovic’s party had a platform to create an Islamic Republic in Europe and provided safe haven to bin Laden’s Al Qaeda.
Ashdown ignored existence of Al Qaeda on his watch. His support for terrorism has been profound. He was caught on a tape inspecting KLA weapons in Albania, promising that he will “do his best” to procure assistance, and to inform Tony Blair. The tape was shown at the Milosevic’s trial in The Hague. In his appearance before the Hague Tribunal on March 14, 2002, he testified under oath that he was in Albania looking into Kosovo and saw Serbian troops shelling several Kosovo villages. Serbian General Bozidar Delic testified that Ashdown couldn’t have seen the villages from the location he gave. Ashdown then changed the testimony that he was in Kosovo itself. General Delic testified that he couldn’t have been in Kosovo at the location he gave. “If Ashdown had been there, especially for the four hours, then he would have been arrested. “ The border between Albania and Kosovo was sealed.
Clinton Administration Legacy
As a part of the Dayton Accords, the U.S recognized that the mujahideen represented a threat to NATO troops and demanded withdrawal within 30 days. About 3,500 of them stayed, some having no option to return to their native countries, they married local women, became Bosnian citizens, and obtained Bosnian passports. In 2002, six of them were flown to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after it was discovered they were plotting to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo. In November 2005, cooperation by law enforcement officials in four European countries and the U.S. stopped a terrorist cell of 14 Muslims, spanning from Bosnia to Britain, who were planning a suicide attack in Europe or America. The Sarajevo police confiscated a suicide bomber belt and a video of masked men begging for God’s forgiveness for the sacrifice they were about to commit. The tape, showed on Bosnian TV, was made 20 hours before the raid. The probe began October 19 with a bust in Sarajevo that netted explosives, rifles, other arms and a videotape pledging vengeance for the “brothers” killed fighting Americans in Afghanistan and Iraq. One of those arrested ran a Web site on behalf of Abu Musab Zarqawi who heads the insurgent group Al Qaeda in Iraq.
At this point even NATO commander General Louis Weber admitted that terror cells and support for terrorism exist in Bosnia. Prior to that international officials, like High Representative Paddy Ashdown, claimed that the existence of Al Qaeda in Bosnia was a part of Serbian and Croatian propaganda. Existence of “White Al Qaeda,” non-Arab members, who can evade racial profiling, has been confirmed by a number of intelligence agencies. Dutch authorities are investigating a possible link between Bouyeri, the Dutch Moroccan who murdered filmmaker Theo van Gogh, and an Al Qaeda cell in Bosnia. Republika Srpska Interior Minister, Darko Matijasevic, stated that 1,800 individuals in Bosnia have some kind of terrorist links: 800 Islamists who were granted the citizenship and 1,000 native Bosnians.
Bosnia Today
Ten years after the Dayton Accords and billions of dollars spent or misspent, Bosnia remains a desperately poor place suspended somewhere between war and peace. The economy has continued to be on international life support. The peace has been kept but the nation was not built. The Serbs want to be a part of Serbia, the Croats part of Croatia while the Bosnian Muslims want to dominate the Christians either with assistance from the West or the Islamic world. The present state of affairs is unsustainable. The EU has recently added the carrot of possible membership by announcing negotiations of a Stabilization and Association agreement deemed as the first step towards the EU membership. NATO membership is also mentioned.
On the 10th anniversary of Dayton, the State Department summoned presidents of all three parties to Washington to celebrate U.S. diplomatic achievements in the field of nation building. In addition they were coerced to negotiate on ways to make the country unified. Assistant Secretary of State Nicholas Burns explained: “Simply put, the Dayton Accords need to be modernized. They served Bosnia well over the last decade, but they were never meant to be immutable or set in stone.” It was also built up as a slogan, “from Dayton to Brussels.” Needless to say all three parties pursued their own interests. For Muslims that meant abolition of Republika Srpska in order to establish domination over the Christians. The U.S however, did not clobber the Serbs as the Muslims expected. In disappointment, Tihic, the Muslim representative, accused Burns of being a liar. In the end, the parties signed a commitment to pursue constitutional reform so that Dayton-plus Bosnia will have one president, a strong prime minister and a parliament.
Islamic Republic Must Be Ruled Out
The U.S. must stick with neutrality and thus prevent any creation of an Islamic state. Republika Srpska must be preserved. The Serbs and Croats should be assigned anti-terrorism duties to check the spread of Wahhabism and monitor activities of Al Qaeda cells. According to Jeffrey Kuhner, writing in The Washington Times, the Croats locked into the federation with Muslims dwindled in numbers slowly departing their ancestral land with less than half a million left. “Those who remain suffer daily violations of their basic rights. The Croatians are dying. If these constitutional reforms pass, it will be the Serbs’ turn to be submerged by the growing Muslim majority.” A strong centralized state was a cause of the conflict and in all likelihood cannot be a part of the solution. It is mind-boggling why Bosnia needs to be centralized, when a larger version—Former Yugoslavia couldn’t be kept together, and Kosovo was taken out of Serbia.
Continued Ties with Iran
While the West continues with its flawed policies of siding with the Bosnian Muslims at the expense of the Christians, the Bosnian Muslims continue to cultivate ties with Iran. The Bosnia’s Parliament speaker, Nikola Spiric, visited Tehran and met with the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Both sides emphasized expanding bilateral relationships. At a news conference Ahmadinejad lambasted the West: “Bosnia’s contemporary history has shown that nations are keen of peace, friendship and stability, and that is the unending greed of Powers for more that creates wars.” Ahmadinejad has become the most outspoken leader of the Islamic world in opposing the West and threatening Israel with annihilation. He is also pursuing Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions.
Part II provides a brief overview of the U.S. foreign policies in Bosnia starting with the Bosnian jihad together with the Bin Laden’s master plan. The available literature on terrorism essentially omits this crucial part that led to 9/11. It ends up with a conclusion that an Islamic republic must be prevented at all cost. Part III is dedicated to Kosovo starting with the Kosovo war and proceeding with lawlessness instead of implementation of UN Resolution #1244, Kosovo Kristallnacht, Albanian mafia control of the province, talks on future of Kosovo, conditional independence, and ending with a case why the Bush administration should consider conditional autonomy within Serbia rather the conditional independence.
About the author-
Vojin Joksimovich is a Nuclear Engineer that has written over 125 professional publications, over 50 newspaper columns and delivered over 40 talks on Balkan conflicts.
More news from the religion of peace:
I hope the leaders of the Western nations pay attention to what happens in Muslim countries to Christian minorities. If immigration to the West is not stopped now, it will come to us as well.
Raid on Christian Copts Exposes Egypt's Secular Paradox
PAKISTANI CHURCH BURNS – St. Savior Church burns in Sukkur, Pakistan, Feb. 19. Hundreds of angry Muslims set fire to this church and a Catholic church in Pakistan during a protest over the rumored burning of pages of the Quran. Police said a Muslim man who converted from Christianity burned the pages of the Quran. (CNS photo/Reuters)
Raid on Christian Copts Exposes Egypt's Secular Paradox
ODAYSSAT, Egypt -- Christians called the flat-top mud and brick building in this little farming community a guest house. But inside, big crucifixes adorned an altar chamber separated from two dozen rows of pews by a wooden screen. A baptismal font was hidden in a side room. Pictures of a resurrected Jesus, saints and patriarchs gazed from the walls.
For 35 years, the congregation and priests labeled the place a guest house to avoid restrictions on church construction in Egypt. But on Jan. 17, a police official, tipped off that the Christians were trying to have the building officially recognized, stopped by to inspect.
"This is not a guest house," he said with surprise. "It's a church."
According to residents and officials who described the incident, the monks, priests and worshipers answered, in effect: That's right. What of it?
The next day, a mob of Muslim rioters invaded the neighborhood, set fires to palm trees and stables and tried to burn down the building. Only a frantic defense by the Christians and heavy smoke from the flaming trees kept the mob at bay. Police officers who had already surrounded the building stood idly by. One Christian man was killed by a blow to the head with a hoe.
More at AINA
Eight wounded in sectarian clashes south of Cairo
Eight Egyptians were wounded Monday when clashes broke out between Muslims and Coptic Christians south of Cairo, police said.
The violence erupted in the village of Al-Ayat, some 15 miles south of Cairo, following Muslim anger over the construction by the local Christian minority of a centre for their community, a police official told AFP.
The district's Islamists reportedly accused the Christians of seeking to turn the centre into a church. The clashes left five Muslims and three Christians wounded, but none were believed to be in serious condition.
More at Copts.com
Catholic church burned after desecration rumor
LAHORE, Pakistan (UCAN) – An attack on two churches and other church property in southern Pakistan has drawn condemnation and a demand for justice.
PAKISTANI CHURCH BURNS – St. Savior Church burns in Sukkur, Pakistan, Feb. 19. Hundreds of angry Muslims set fire to this church and a Catholic church in Pakistan during a protest over the rumored burning of pages of the Quran. Police said a Muslim man who converted from Christianity burned the pages of the Quran. (CNS photo/Reuters)
A mob on Feb. 19 attacked and destroyed Hyderabad Catholic Diocese's St. Mary Church and St. Savior Church of the Church of Pakistan in Sukkur, 780 kilometers (about 485 miles) southwest of Islamabad. The mob also attacked two Christian schools. The attack came following a rumor that Irfan Ahmed, a man believed to be a Christian, had burned pages of the Qur'an.
More at Catholic Online
Bethlehem Christian Minority Concerned about Hamas
Bethlehem Christian minority concerned about Hamas
From Spero News
Christians living in Jesus' birthplace are bracing themselves as the militant Islamic group Hamas prepares to take power as the Palestinian Authority government after winning legislative elections in January
Christians living in Jesus' birthplace are bracing themselves as the militant Islamic group Hamas prepares to take power as the Palestinian Authority government after winning legislative elections in January.
"There are many Christians who are afraid," said Shatha, a student at the Roman Catholic Bethlehem University. "Since Hamas is new to the government, I doubt they will be able to implement Islamic law," she said the day before Hamas was to take over the Palestinian authority on Feb. 17. "But it's possible they might in the future."
Bethlehem's Christian community was already concerned after a member of the city council that is controlled by Hamas suggested imposing a tax known as Jizya on Christians, one traditionally imposed by Islamic rulers on non-Muslim subjects. The councilor has since said that such a tax would only be imposed once Sharia law is imposed in line with Hamas' charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic state on its ruins.
But the denials that the council is considering imposing a Jizya tax has not quelled concern among some Christians in Bethlehem, where there is rising tension between the dwindling Christian residents and the growing Muslim population.
Since being elected, Hamas leaders have made a point of emphasising they would not force women to wear the "hijab" or veil, ban alcohol or separate boys and girls at schools.
But some Christians believe it is only a matter of time before Hamas starts flexing its muscles. They cite a list of grievances that have made life in Bethlehem uncomfortable for some and which is spurring an annual emigration rate of an estimated 2,000 of the city's 40,000 Christians.
Complaints range from services in the Church of the Nativity being drowned out by blaring loudspeakers from a mosque across Manger Square, to incidents of what local Christians call harassment of their women by Muslims.
Brawls between Christians and Muslims have broken out over small incidents such as car accidents as well as allegations of harassment.
"A lot of Christians don't wear the cross anymore, especially the men, because they don't want to stand out and they don't want any trouble," one Christian woman said.
But not everyone is worried. A Christian shopkeeper, who declined to be named, said he is certain that Hamas will never try to ban the selling of alcohol in Bethlehem as it has almost completely done in the Gaza Strip, where Christians are a tiny minority.
"Hamas is smart and knows that Bethlehem is in the world's spotlight," he said. "Don't worry, I'll always be allowed to sell alcohol, and they will never make our women wear the veil."
From Spero News
Christians living in Jesus' birthplace are bracing themselves as the militant Islamic group Hamas prepares to take power as the Palestinian Authority government after winning legislative elections in January
Christians living in Jesus' birthplace are bracing themselves as the militant Islamic group Hamas prepares to take power as the Palestinian Authority government after winning legislative elections in January.
"There are many Christians who are afraid," said Shatha, a student at the Roman Catholic Bethlehem University. "Since Hamas is new to the government, I doubt they will be able to implement Islamic law," she said the day before Hamas was to take over the Palestinian authority on Feb. 17. "But it's possible they might in the future."
Bethlehem's Christian community was already concerned after a member of the city council that is controlled by Hamas suggested imposing a tax known as Jizya on Christians, one traditionally imposed by Islamic rulers on non-Muslim subjects. The councilor has since said that such a tax would only be imposed once Sharia law is imposed in line with Hamas' charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic state on its ruins.
But the denials that the council is considering imposing a Jizya tax has not quelled concern among some Christians in Bethlehem, where there is rising tension between the dwindling Christian residents and the growing Muslim population.
Since being elected, Hamas leaders have made a point of emphasising they would not force women to wear the "hijab" or veil, ban alcohol or separate boys and girls at schools.
But some Christians believe it is only a matter of time before Hamas starts flexing its muscles. They cite a list of grievances that have made life in Bethlehem uncomfortable for some and which is spurring an annual emigration rate of an estimated 2,000 of the city's 40,000 Christians.
Complaints range from services in the Church of the Nativity being drowned out by blaring loudspeakers from a mosque across Manger Square, to incidents of what local Christians call harassment of their women by Muslims.
Brawls between Christians and Muslims have broken out over small incidents such as car accidents as well as allegations of harassment.
"A lot of Christians don't wear the cross anymore, especially the men, because they don't want to stand out and they don't want any trouble," one Christian woman said.
But not everyone is worried. A Christian shopkeeper, who declined to be named, said he is certain that Hamas will never try to ban the selling of alcohol in Bethlehem as it has almost completely done in the Gaza Strip, where Christians are a tiny minority.
"Hamas is smart and knows that Bethlehem is in the world's spotlight," he said. "Don't worry, I'll always be allowed to sell alcohol, and they will never make our women wear the veil."
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
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