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Bangla: AL man beaten and hacked to death at madrasa
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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Africa North
Egypt: activist Ziada, sad to say things better under Mubarak
Women are 'an integral part of Egyptian society' though they are suffering the most from the economic crisis which is getting worse every day in Egypt, said in an interview with ANSAmed Dalia Ziada, a human rights activist, blogger and the director of the Ibn Khaldum Center for Democratic Studies. Ziada is in Marseille to attend the Forum promoted by the Anna Lindh Foundation.

'Over 30% of women are 'caring women' like widows or divorcees who are working to support their families', said the activist. 'They work at a time when men are having a hard time finding a proper job'.

In the past, said Ziada, poor women benefited from measures supporting their businesses, which were sponsored by Suzanne Mubarak, wife of the president who was toppled in the January 25 revolution. Now 'they have no one sponsoring them', she said.

The activist, who was awarded a prize in 2010 by the Anna Lindh Foundation, told ANSAmed that 'it is sad to say that the situation for women was much better during the Mubarak era'. 'It was not the best possible but it was still better than today because there was a state which supported women's rights', she noted. 'Suzanne Mubarak was a women's rights activist before being the president's wife and a staunch supporter of new laws in favour of women', continued the activist. 'Now we have a regime which is very hostile to women, an extremist regime of the Muslim Brotherhood which doesn't like women, least of all in public life and the economy'. The regime is so hostile, the activist noted, that it accuses women of 'causing men's unemployment' based on the conviction that if they stayed home their jobs would go to men. 'However it's a problem of qualifications', noted Ziada, which has nothing to do with being women or men.

Ever since stepping into power, President Mohamed Morsi has started a sweeping campaign to abolish all laws supporting women, the activist also noted, on the grounds that they were passed under the Mubarak era and are therefore 'meaningless'.

Though it is true that many women close to the regime benefited from them, Ziada said that 'many programmes of the National Council for Women were aimed at poor women living in rural areas, and their objective was to enable them to help change the condition of their families'. This has been the aim pursued by the Ibn Khaldum center for a number of years in a project 'which has been successful but does not have any support now'.

Talking about genital mutilation, still a widespread practice in rural areas, she said 'the issue exists from previous eras and I, a sort of survivor, have always fought to abolish it. But we are threatened by the fact that the laws making this practice a crime could be abolished. The Muslim Brothers have started a major campaign among the poorest saying it is in agreement with Islamic customs, which is not true, and stating that people should be free to carry it out', she concluded
Posted by: tipper || 04/07/2013 07:39 || Comments || Link || [336091 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
Kim Jung Un addresses NORK congress from SNL cold start april 6
Posted by: lord garth || 04/07/2013 08:34 || Comments || Link || [336090 views] Top|| File under:


Fifth Column
Islamism Is Winning The Cognitive War -- Thanks To Manipulative And Gullible Journalists
Why France's fifth (!!) bite at the Mohammed al Durah apple matters.
[Telegraph] Anyone who remembers the halcyon dreams of the 1990s, of civil society spreading the world over, heralding a new peaceful, global millennium, must marvel at the path the young 21st century has taken. Even those who paid attention to global Jihad before the millennium could not imagine how vulnerable the West would prove in the coming, wildly asymmetrical war. Those who, over the course of the last 13 years, have awakened to the ever-growing danger of Islamism and to the astonishing inability of decent people -- Mohammedans and non-Mohammedans -- to effectively oppose its aggressions, owe themselves a brief lesson in cognitive warfare, and a second look at the nuclear bomb of that warfare, the Muhammad al Durah affair.

All asymmetrical wars take place primarily in the cognitive arena, with the major theater of war the enemy's public sphere. The goal is to convince your far more powerful enemy not to fight. In defensive cases, from the Maccabees to the Vietnamese, this has meant getting imperial powers to "go home." But Islamists who want to spread Dar al Islam conduct an offensive campaign: how to get your targets to surrender on their own home ground? In this seemingly absurd venture, they have had remarkable success.

The mainstream news media -- their journalists, editors, producers -- constitute a central front of this cognitive war: the "weak" but aggressive side cannot have success without the witting or unwitting cooperation of the enemy's journalists. The success of global Jihad in eliciting our media's cooperation with their goals

Paleostinians, like most belligerent armies, propagate stories about how vicious and hateful the enemy. The primary audience for this propaganda is the home front, which it incites to vengeance of the most ruthless kind, even justifying killing children in cold blood.

But since 2000, and for reasons that beg for serious investigation, the Western media has almost systematically presented these "lethal narratives" as news even though some/many of them are patently false. The dominance of such "lethal journalism," undermines the very fabric of the civil society upon which, ironically, Western journalists depend for their freedom.

The nuclear bomb of current Jihadi cognitive warfare, is the Al Durah Affair. The story first hit the airwaves on September 30, 2000, and marks the takeover of "lethal journalism" among Western Middle-East correspondents. According to La Belle France2's correspondent from Jerusalem, Charles Enderlein, Israeli troops targeted and killed a defenceless 12-year-old boy and badly maimed his father. The story spread like wildfire, an icon of hatred. Not only did global Jihadis use it to recruit for Jihad, but Europeans seized upon it for a substitution theology that freed them of Holocaust guilt: the Israelis were the new Nazis and the Paleostinians the new Jews

"Human Rights" NGOs made Israel the global villain, and at Durban, with Muhammad al Durah as the patron saint of the hatefest, this "conference against racism" laid out a plan for the systematic delegitimization and eventual destruction of Israel -- a battle plan that suited both "progressive forces" in the West (like Judith Butler) and the global Jihadis whom the "Left" embraced in the war against imperialism (like Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, and Hizbullah).

In the saturnalia of scapegoating that followed, the press played a critical role: it delivered Paleostinian lethal narratives about Israeli evil into the information circulation of the West as news. Starting the with orgy of stories about the "Jenin Massacre", Western mainstream news inverted the reality (at Jenin the Israelis acted with more concern for enemy civilians than any army in the history of warfare), in favor of the invented Paleostinian accusations. And with each cycle of violence, the news media electrified both the forces of Jihad and a global audience among whom this narrative carried immense emotional resonance. This lethal journalism has poisoned the West, given wings to global Jihad, and literally allowed an aggressive Mohammedan Street to take root in Europe and other Western democracies.

A year ago, the shooting spree of French-born Jihadi Muhammad Merah included small children at a Jewish school, to get Dire Revenge™ for "the Jews [who] kill our brothers and sisters in Paleostine". This man grew up in a world that constantly reported to him the Israel is a child-killer, both on Arabic channels and mainstream French channels like La Belle France2. His media-inspired rampage, rather than inspiring horror, made him a hero in his own community, and the media, a year later, reports the affair as a psychotic breakdown with no mention of media and religious incitement. This bodes very poorly for a nation (and a continent) that is, now over a decade late, beginning to awaken to the threat to its civic fabric.

On April 3, 2013, the French court will decide for the fifth time in a defamation case brought by Charles Enderlin and (state-owned) Franc2 against a private citizen, Philippe Karsenty who, in 2004, called for the station's director and Enderlin to resign for "having been duped and duping the public." In terms of legal issues it's something of a no-brainer: citizens in a democracy have a right to publicly criticise public figures; journalists have a responsibility to the public with whom they have a privileged relationship of access. The idea that a state-owned news agency should use the courts to throttle legitimate criticism is, democratically speaking, scandalous.

In terms of both intellectual integrity and civic sanity, there's no question. In the last round, on January 16, Karsenty once again demolished Enderlin and La Belle France2's news reporting before the court, and La Belle France2's only answer was to replay the news reports that used the staged footage Karsenty had just shown to the court. Even the judges seemed puzzled at the lack of substance (and his technical incompetence -- unlike earlier times, no one from the company was there alongside Enderlin who couldn't even run the videos he wanted to show).

There are two possibilities, and if the past is any guide, they will play out as follows. 1) The court has the integrity to find against Enderlin's effort to silence criticism, and the mainstream news media will either fall silent or complain about restrictions on freedom of the press; or 2) a politicised court will find against Karsenty, and the press will trumpet the victory as proof that the Israelis killed Muhammad al Durah. Decades in the future, acute observers may look back at this moment as a turning point -- for good or ill -- in the battle for democracy in the West.

Yesterday, the court, without explanation, delayed its decision until May 22. For those arguing a politicised court which would naturally side with state-owned and politically correct La Belle France2, this needs explanation. A kangaroo court does not hesitate. If it hesitates, it's because the evidence is so "badly" in Karsenty's favor that the judges hesitate to defy it. Whether for fear of contradiction, or some (significant but not decisive) remaining elements of intellectual integrity, this is good news.

The fact that they remain uncommitted, rather than deciding for Karsenty's obvious right to criticise a journalist, however, means the weight of public honour (Enderlin's, La Belle France2′s, the Paleostinians') remains inappropriately significant in their calculations.

While the court's failure to defend the values of civil society would just add one more to a long list of such failures on the part of Western elites to defend a legacy of freedom and human dignity it took many centuries of great suffering and struggle to achieve, a defense of those principles could inspire the forces needed to turn around this great ship, now being led by its allegedly progressive elite into civilizational suicide.

(For evidence and analysis of the original incident, see Second Draft and for ongoing discussion of the controversy, The Augean Stables.)
More at PJMedia here.

Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
Al Durah Affair
Mohammed al Durah
Philippe Karsenty
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336081 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Only with the "cognitive elites".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/07/2013 7:09 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Piety at the polls
[Dawn] JUST as well I'm not running in the elections next month: imagine my embarrassment had I flunked the Islamiat test devised by some zealous returning officer. Or, indeed, to be informed -- as Ayaz Amir was -- that my columns went against our elusive ideology.

According to press reports, when Owais Muzaffar Tappi, widely known as President Zardari's foster-brother and unofficial enforcer in Sindh, went to file his nomination papers recently, he was grilled on the finer points of Islamic ritual and history.

Luckily for him, he had the answers down pat, otherwise the next Sindh Assembly might have been deprived of his presence. I would not have lost any sleep if Tappi is defeated in the polls, but I would have objected vociferously if he had been barred from standing by failing to answer the RO's questions.

What business is it of any bureaucrat's to sit in judgment over a candidate's religious knowledge, or lack of it? Surely this is a concern some voters might have, but for the Election Commission to permit such a bizarre criterion for suitability -- especially when it is being led by a liberal like Fakhruddin Ebrahim -- beggars belief.

Indeed, the entire raucous debate about Articles 62 and 63 exposes the hypocrisy flourishing in Pakistain today.

These constitutional provisions refer to a candidate's moral standing, and include an odd reference to his "practice and knowledge of Islam".

Considering that we aren't looking for angels to fill our assemblies with, I fail to see how a person's adherence to his faith -- a very private matter in my view -- would makes him better suited to be a public representative. If voters demand this quality, they have a wide variety of religious parties to vote for.

However,
nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits...
as we all know, our holy mans have never fared well at the hustings. The only time they won power through elections was in 2002, when they formed provincial governments in KP and Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
. But that fortuitous result was a gift from Musharraf.

So while people with impeccable Islamic credentials have been offering themselves before the electorate for decades, there have been few takers. Religious parties have seldom obtained much more than five per cent of the vote in any national election.

What does this say about the Pak voter? Clearly, he respects our venerable holy mans, but sensibly considers them to be better guides to the next world than to this one. Here and now, his concern centres round mundane things like jobs, roads and electricity connections.

In such worldly matters, he thinks mainstream parties can deliver more effectively than politicians who are largely concerned with the spiritual -- or say they are. Ever since our holy mans entered electoral politics, they have been unable to overcome this reality. While they have been trained to preach and give religious guidance, the job requirement for elected representatives in the modern era is very different.

The truth is that madressahs do not equip students to deal with issues like economics and management. This is not to suggest that our MNAs and MPAs are experts in these fields either. Far from it, sadly. Nevertheless, they are flexible in their approach, and not circumscribed by the dictates of their ideology.

According to a recent British Council poll conducted among more than 5,000 Paks between the ages of 18 and 20, a mere 29pc were for democracy. A startling 32pc preferred military rule, and 38pc expressed their preference for Sharia rule.

Although deeply depressing, the fact is that over the years, many Paks have voiced a vague yearning for Islamic rule. And yet, when given a chance to vote for religious parties, they have refused to go along. So either they don't trust our holy mans to deliver, or voters say one thing to pollsters, but vote according to their real interests.

All these contradictions make for a divided and increasingly hypocritical society. While our electronic media is full of mealy-mouthed piety, the actions of the guests on our chat shows are very different. Although many young people say they want Sharia, it is a fact that Paks are among the largest audiences in the world for websites with sexual content.

Similarly, while we pay lip service to Islamic injunctions relating to alcohol, the amount of booze consumed in the drawing rooms of our cities is prodigious. Although technically, betting is banned at horse races, millions are wagered every week. The state, however, is deprived of the billions in revenue other countries earn as a matter of routine.

The spirit behind Articles 62 and 63 was to ensure that crooks should not get elected to parliament. Nobody can object to this worthy goal. However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
thus far, they have failed to do so: witness the drug smugglers and loan defaulters who have populated our assemblies in the past.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336073 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Terror Networks
Talking About Terrorism
Posted by: tipper || 04/07/2013 12:40 || Comments || Link || [336075 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Culture Wars
Victor Davis Hanson: America in the Age of Myth
Completely unrelated to the War on Terror, but a good overview of the current status of the cultural battlefield.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336073 views] Top|| File under:

#1  great read
Posted by: Mikey Hunt || 04/07/2013 0:33 Comments || Top||

#2  VDH pegs it every time. I know all those little towns he writes about and what he says is soooo true.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy || 04/07/2013 2:19 Comments || Top||

#3  I see the essay as highly relevant to the War on Terror. Things would not have developed the way they did had it not been for the cultural shifts well under way by 9/11/2001.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 04/07/2013 4:31 Comments || Top||

#4  Completely unrelated to the War on Terror

Historically, Muslims only attack civilizations during the later's periods of decline.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/07/2013 7:19 Comments || Top||

#5  5 Stars
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/07/2013 7:26 Comments || Top||

#6  ...10 stars.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 04/07/2013 8:12 Comments || Top||

#7  6 Oranges 3 Cashews
Posted by: Shipman || 04/07/2013 17:12 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
38[untagged]
10Arab Spring
5Govt of Pakistan
3Jamaat-e-Islami
2Govt of Syria
2Hamas
1al-Qaeda
1Govt of Sudan
1Taliban
1al-Shabaab
1TTP
1al-Qaeda in Iraq
1Boko Haram

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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2013-04-07
  Bangla: AL man beaten and hacked to death at madrasa
Sat 2013-04-06
  Egypt's Azhar, Mursi supporters clash near Muslim Brotherhood HQ
Fri 2013-04-05
  Syrian regime troops appeal for immediate aid in Al-Raqqa
Thu 2013-04-04
  Syrian jets 'attack' Lebanese town
Wed 2013-04-03
  N. Korea approves nuclear strike on US
Tue 2013-04-02
  Dutch Hold 4, Search for Alleged Sarin Nerve Agent
Mon 2013-04-01
  Al Nusra Front chieftain killed in Syria
Sun 2013-03-31
  North Korea Declares 'State of War' with Seoul
Sat 2013-03-30
  Hundreds rally against Egypt's prosecutor general
Fri 2013-03-29
  52 Taliban killed in one day in Afghanistan
Thu 2013-03-28
  Sectarian clashes in central Nigeria kill 23: Military
Wed 2013-03-27
  Bangla: 12 vehicles torched, Train compartment set ablaze, police station bombed
Tue 2013-03-26
  Egypt: ‘Morality Police’ Thrashed for Whipping Woman
Mon 2013-03-25
  Riad al-Asaad, Syrian rebel commander, loses leg in bomb attack
Sun 2013-03-24
  Syria Rebels Seize Key Military Base in Daraa

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