Hyderabad police lodge case against Taslima Nasreen

The following article details how Hyderabad police are lodging a complaint against Taslima Nasreen for 'hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims.' It should be recalled that she was the one who faced riots against her, and was personally beaten when she spoke in Hyderabad. Her personal safety was only assured after Hindu journalists formed a wall around the Muslim rioters, and allowed her to have a police escort out of the facility. She is a Bangladeshi ex-Muslim feminist who speaks out in favor of human rights, and for that was kicked out of Bangladesh. She is seeking refuge in India, and now it seems her country of refuge is making it quite difficult for her to live there.

You might wonder how this is all possible. The answer is that it is a crime to insult Muhammad in India. According to my understanding, it is also a crime to insult Krishna and Buddha, etc. Does anyone know how this law came about, and if there is an equality of enforcement of these blasphemy laws? As far as I see it, blasphemy should not be a crime, regardless of which religion is insulted, due to the far reaching free speech implications. But then again, I have grown to prize the First Amendment.

That useless, feckless, terror-enabling organization

I know I have not posted, and so I have a great deal of catching up to do, including a discussion of my meeting with Elliott Abrams (deputy national security advisor), a producer from the film Obsession, my meeting with the Indian ambassador to the US about Israeli-US-Indian relations (see story about it here), as well as meeting the wife of the author of Myths and Facts about Israel (who runs the CAMERA website) I also have been meaning to write about my interpretation of the meaning of Purim and Passover... So many thoughts in my head...I have been overwhelmed! And I have retreated from blogging. But I am going to try to be better. In the meantime, I think you all should see a video compilation of what is and is not allowed to be discussed at the UN. It may or may not shock you. Long term Culture for All readers should already know that I consider the UN to be a useless, feckless, terror enabling organization that aids and abets terrorism. I believe it should be immediately disbanded and/or moved to France. Perhaps those that disagree might change their minds after watching this:

Anti-Israel hatred at universities

I attended a top-notch undergrad school. At my undergrad school, I was simply apolitical and apathetic with regards to Israel. The four memories I have concerning Israel are as follows...

• During my last semester at college, I took a writing class concerning the theory of space. The prof would mention Israel with regularity, calling Sharon some sort of a monster.
• I remember having a conversation with a "progressive" back in 2000 or so, and telling her I wouldn't vote for Nader in part because he was anti-Israel. This "progressive" said she was pro-Palestinian, and this was a positive position of Nader's.
• Hanan Ashrawi, a spokesperson for the PLO, came to speak at my alma mater. I didn't pay attention to this, but I recall there were Hillel groups who were upset with her. (Please note the Camera link about this woman)
• Many undergrads were applying to go to Birthright Israel, a free trip to Israel, but at the time, pre-Intifada, (I am oooold), Birthright had a massive waiting list! During the Intifada, no one wanted to go, sadly.

These are the totality of my memories concerning Israel, as an undergrad. My impression is that things have radically changed in the years since I have graduated. Please read the following article about 'Palestine Awareness Week" at Saint Louis University. You will see how there is a concerted effort to indoctrinate students into hating Israel, and blaming the Jews for the world's problems. This is hardly an isolated incident. Columbia University is an Ivy League school that is widely seen as one of the best in the world. Note who the Chairman of the Mideast Studies Department is - Rashid Khalidi. This individual also has served as the President of the Middle East Studies Association of North America in 1994. Mr. Khalidi publishes the Journal of Palestine Studies, a Palestinian propoganda journal that regularly refers to the creation of Israel as "an-Nakba," (catastrophe in Arabic) Mr. Khalidi famously said "the tragedy of September 11 was a godsend” to “American Likudniks and their Israeli counterparts” because it “enabled them to draft the United States to help fight Israel’s enemies.” (source) In addition, Mr. Khalidi is responsible for gross plagiarism of his 'academic' works. (source) Essentially, Mr. Khalidi, who is the Chair of Columbia's 'Mideast Studies' Department, was Arafat's minion. (source) Juan Cole was the most recent president of the Middle East Studies Association of North America. Juan Cole is, like Khalidi, a propogandist. He has been known to bend the truth to his liking when it suits him, including the absurd claim that Ahmedinejad (aka Dinnerjacket) never said he wanted to wipe Israel off the map. (source) Mr. Cole also stated some of the following things...

The Neocons wanted to knock down Saddam, Khamenei and al-Asad in hopes that those countries would be so weakened and preoccupied with internal power struggles that Sharon would have an unimpeded opportunity to pursue his dreams of Greater Israel.” (source)

It may be that the powerful Likudniks inside the US government are deliberately engineering a diplomatic rift in NATO, so as to ensure that Paris and Moscow cannot position themselves to influence Washington’s position (usually supine) toward Sharon’s excesses.” (source)

Paul Wolfowitz’ attitude to NATO allies is “so gratuitous and immature that one can only guess something else lay behind it,” that something being a wish to create bad blood between the U.S. government and states that are, in Cole terms “no longer a knee-jerk supporter of Israeli militarism and expansionism.” (source)

For more on Juan Cole, please read here. Mr. Cole is a professor in the Mideast Studies Department at another prestigious school - the University of Michigan. And for the creme de la creme of academia, Harvard, Culture for All already covered the firing of president Lawrence Summers for noting the anti-Israel bent of academia! The anti-Israel entrenchment of academia runs far and wide. Remember, I am not citing junior professors. I am citing some of the top professors in the field. And this is just the US. At Oxford, for example, Tariq Ramadan is teaching - a known propogandist for the Muslim Brotherhood. And lest we forget, Culture for All already profiled Karen Armstrong. What should be done? There is no clear answer. It is troubling to see lies taught as fact in universities across the world. It makes one wonder what sort of primrose path the world is heading down.

Blogger Abdel Kareem in Egypt jailed for insulting Islam and President Mubarak

Abdel Kareem, a blogger in Egypt, was sentenced to FOUR YEARS in prison for insulting Islam and Mubarak. You can read about it here. Very troubling to think of the implications this verdict has on people like Sandmonkey. This is extra troubling:

Seconds after he was loaded into the truck and the door closed, an Associated Press reporter heard the sound of a slap from inside the vehicle and a shriek of pain from Nabil.

You know what that will mean for Kareem. He will be tortured in prison. He likely already is being tortured. If you would like to do something about this, I suggest writing to the Egyptian Embassy. The link is here. Maybe together, we can make a small difference.

Laura Mallory:- where intolerance leads...

So here we have a woman who has never read a Harry Potter book, but read excerpts and decides to declare them evil books indoctrinating children into the occult world of witchcraft. Now while I find her amusing, I think she has some very serious problems. Facts are: Witchcraft is based on myth and superstitions, from the earliest stages of human history. The Harry Potter books have several major themes that are positive:- Love, Friendship and the courage to make tough choices even when the easy path is wide open. It also deals with Evil in the form Of Lord Voldemort. Who is the very essence of evil in the books. However it is a very human evil, enhanced with the plot device of Voldemort being a very powerful wizard. Voldemort has the same motivations that Humans sometimes tend to gravitate like moths to a flame. Those being Immortality and power. Voldemort is a dictator who uses terror to instill fear into the hearts of his enemies and his followers. Magic is just one of his tools. He is very good at the art of misdirection and turning friends against one another. Whereas Harry is the exact opposite. He stands for all the best human qualities that one can hope for. Those being love, friendship and respect for those who are might not be on an equal footing as you are. Which brings me back to Laura Mallory. She is intolerant of ideas that go against her religious beliefs. Like most Christians of her type, she has i think lost the point that Jesus made about love in general. While you should love your friends and family, you should also show love and perhaps even pity your enemies. So her basis for wanting the Potter books removed from Schools ? Myth: We are trying to ban Harry Potter. Truth: This case first began when we noticed the books in our son's elementary school classroom. We were then told by the school that anything in the school library may be used in the classroom. The original request of August 2005 asked that the books be removed from the classrooms and libraries due to the extreme evil and violent content, the promotion of witchcraft (Wicca) and the age-inappropriateness. We are not trying to ban Harry Potter. The books may of course be purchased in bookstores or checked out at public libraries, but need not be encouraged, assigned and read aloud in our children's schools and classrooms. Are they ready to put the Bible and prayer back in our schools and classrooms and read it aloud? Source. This seems to hinge on the perception that if you don't teach kids about the bible and how to pray they will somehow be lead astray by something like Harry Potter, and turn into social misfits who will goto hell because they are not following the path that Jesus Christ laid out for Humanity, to gain entry to heaven. Now i would like to point out that while I do have some religious beliefs, i don't follow them meekly and without question. I am open to the fact that all religions are just myths and superstitions and nothing more. Created by early man to explain the universe, and also as method to control the masses. Or religion could actually be based on some truth, that has been obscured over the passage of time. Now the Harry Potter books may not be to everybody's taste. But Rowling has woven some pretty heavy concepts and themes into the novels. That death is but the next great adventure to the well organised mind, that intolerance leads to death and destruction i.e. pureblood mania has created the correct environment for the type of evil that Lord Voldemort represents. In much the same way as the centuries of intolerance towards Jewish people in Christian Europe lead to the eventual rise of Hitler and his desire to purge the world of Jewish people because they had dirty blood and polluted the German race, which lead to Germany's defeat in the first world war (at least in Hitler and those of his followers minds). But Rowling has tempered that evil with the character that is Harry Potter who shines through not with magical power but with the best human qualities (as I've already stated). Laura Mallory may well have the best of intentions but i believe she is mistaken and would be better off tackling the issues that really matter. Developing a child's moral values through the use of different sources, be they Harry Potter books, the bible or Tolkien's masterpiece that is the lord of the rings. Though as with any attempt to ban books, it will only make a child want to read it even more. Thus Laura Mallory has defeated herself even before shes begun. The moral of the story ? Be open to new ideas and if you don't like those ideas, fight your points with reason, rather than resorting to the old and tested viewpoint that "God is great, Witchcraft makes kids evil" mentality. You can follow this story via the many Harry Potter fansites, who are literally laughing themselves silly over the whole thing, or least the pottercast gang are... Leaky link.