Freedom of Expression

Post No 3

We still remember only too well
When that Danish newspaper decided to sell
Its principles like some prostitute
And drove like a tank down the route.
Of blatant disregard for all that we know
To be good and decent - when it put on show
Those dreadful cartoons of the prophet of Islam
Muhammad (peace be upon him) - and the harm
And the hurt and the uproar they caused in Muslim lands,
While the Danish Prime Minister was sitting on his hands.

Would they still have accepted and printed them
Had they been of Jesus? NO! They would condemn,
Not only the artists but the very thought
Of such an irresponsible onslaught
On values so dear to so many in the West
But it was not Jesus - and we all know the rest.

In several countries in Europe today
It is quite simply illegal to say
In public that the Holocaust never took place
(The Nazi persecution of the Jewish race)

It may land you in prison for up to three years -
It is hard to believe your eyes and ears
But that is the law as it stands - and of late
An option to use for any EU-member state.

Would they print a collection of drawings which brought
To your attention the abuses and the havoc wrought
The trampling on conventions and basic human rights
The state-terrorism with which Israel fights
The defenseless Palestinians? The answer is NO!
I herewith challenge you to do so!

And if you don't - well it would simply show
And confirm what most of us already know:
That the whole affair was not an accident
But carefully planned and obviously meant
As a direct provocation against Islam.

And THAT if nothing else should raise the alarm
In all civilized minds - for it has no place
In decent interactions in the public space.

But it was only Islam and Muhammad - so who cares?
Should you ask that stupid question
well, the answer stares
You right in the face: Of all mankind
Twenty percent are Muslim, and you will find
They are understandably hypersensitive
To any expression, actual or suggestive
Of contempt or disrespect or ridicule
Of their faith and their prophet.

And only a fool
Would allow himself to be used as the tool
Of those dark and evil powers that rule.

Keep playing with the fire, keep fanning the flames
Of discord and mistrust - and anyone who blames
Islam and Muslims for the resulting mess
Is a hypocrite and liar - and unless
THEY take urgent steps to end this curse
The situation is bound to go from bad to worse.

Like naughty little children, they want it all
And squeal with indignation when we call
Them to account for their unacceptable acts
They may well claim innocence but the facts
Speak for themselves also when each
Individual hides behind freedom of speech

For those truly obnoxious
Here let me state the obvious:

Any right to do anything
Must be balanced by a matching
Obligation to exercise that right
Responsibly and in the light
Of a civilized society, if it wishes to remain
Civilized.

We should therefore refrain
From abusing that right, indeed we must
See it as a gift placed in our trust
To be valued highly, treated with care
And used with some civility to spare!

No right to act before you think!
No right to use those words that stink!

Prove yourself unworthy of that precious gift
And the reaction from society should be swift
If you still cannot moderate what you say
Maybe that right should be taken away!

Eight hundred years later and a New Crusade
Has been fully staged and is now being played
Out in front of your very eyes
But it should come as no surprise
For Fascist ideas are on the rise
A right-wing and Zionist enterprise –

The fear of foreigners is a pitiful sign
And a sad manifestation of the malign.

What happened to compassion and empathy
And international solidarity
With asylum seekers and refugees?
Will everyone answer that question now, please!

More and more applications turned down
Simply because they are Muslim and brown.

"Kick them out and keep the jobs for us
Show them the white Christian is the boss,"
Such idiotic slogans are increasingly heard
Throughout the EU and every word.

Reeks of intolerance and xenophobia
And a longing for some childish Utopia
Which never yet existed and never will
But they play on fears with considerable skill -
Fortress Europe proudly proclaimed
Any problem - Muslims are blamed

So much for the quality of that free speech!
And still the West believes it can teach
The wider World how it should live
When in truth it has little or nothing to give,
That would make this World a better place -
Most of its attempts have ended in disgrace
And in order to atone for every crime
It should wear sack and ashes for a very long time!

Put differently, let me say it again:
Before you speak, let it pass your brain!

Better for everyone to heed that call -
Better for some if they did not speak at all!

To recap once more for those who need to know
Before decent behaviour suffers another blow:
No right to offend my sensibility!
No freedom without responsibility!
No culture without civility!
No humanity without humility!

Made in Denmark

Post No 2

To those who think it is OK to publish those dreadful cartoons but get
terribly upset when hurt Muslims burn the Danish flag around the world, I wrote two short poems.
Here is the first one.

*****

For decades I have travelled extensively
Without any real problems fortunately.
And being Danish used to help me a lot,
The friendly reception and assistance I got
Was amazing and touching and sometimes such
That I felt it was almost a little too much.

The trouble people went to was not deserved
That kind of treatment should be reserved
For more important visitors than me,
But obviously many did not quite see.
It the same way as I did, so carried on
Leaving me feeling guilty that so much was done.

I always told people wherever I went
Sightseeing or climbing or pitching my tent
Assuming that the locals could understand
That coming from a small unimportant land

Had certain advantages because it is not
Big enough to be a threat to anyone, so has got
To behave in a friendly and forthcoming way
To everyone else, come what may.

That was the situation until recently -
But look again - how wrong can you be!
Too insignificant to upset anyone?
Sweet little Denmark - now what you have done!

First it joined the Coalition of the Killing,
The PM able and more than willing
To make Denmark participate in two illegal wars
Of aggression without any justifiable cause.

First against Afghanistan and then Iraq
Both of those ventures based on a pack
Of lies and fabrications as we now all know,
As if not bad enough, the highlight of the show:

Those dreadful drawings of the prophet of Islam
Causing violent protests and serious harm
To the interests of little Denmark right across
The Islamic world, resulting in a loss
Of goodwill, prestige, business and trade -
The biggest blunders recently made!

Right from Morocco and Nigeria
To occupied Palestine and Arabia
Iran, Afghanistan and Syria
All the way to Pakistan and Indonesia.

Denmarksuddenly on everybody's lips
Instant notoriety which erupts and grips
Hundreds of million Muslims world-wide.
No Scandinavian-looking person can hide

From the angry masses crowding the streets
No use here throwing handfuls of sweets
For Danish flags are set alight
Some embassies experience a fight.

Still, like a brain-dead parrot might screech
The PM keeps repeating: "Freedom of speech!
We have Freedom of Expression - how about you?
Nothing to do with me! Nothing I can do!"
Which was neither statesman-like nor was it true!

Decent people had worked so long
And tirelessly to build the strong
Reputation that Denmark enjoyed,
Overnight it was destroyed
Crashing down around their ears,
Every one reduced to tears.

The world still turns and life goes on
But the total effects of the damage done
Cannot be measured so easily
And certainly not just financially,

It will take a long time to improve
And Denmark should make the first move,
All in all there must be better ways
To add that extra little spark
To the slogan Made in Denmark

Scandinavian and Nordic Flags

Post No 1

Given the recent burnings of the Danish flag, the Dannebrog (literally: cloth of the Danes) around the Muslim world on the republication of some of those dreadful cartoons, most of the world must by now be familiar with what it looks like.

In fact all the Scandinavian-Nordic flags follow this pattern:
-Denmark: Red background with white cross
-Sweden: Blue background with yellow cross
-Finland: White background with blue cross
-Norway: Red background with blue cross superimposed on white cross
-Faeroe Islands: White background with red cross superimposed on blue cross
-Iceland: Blue background with red cross superimposed on white cross
-The regional flag of Scania - the southern province of Sweden: A mix of the Swedish and Danish flags having a red background with yellow cross.

But have you noticed that the cross of each one is offset?
Have you ever wondered why? Surely a symmetrical flag would be more logical and would look neater, wouldn't it?

All you have to do is turn these flags clockwise through 90 degrees and they are no longer offset but become symmetrical along the vertical axis.
That is because originally they were not flying horizontally from poles or masts but hanging vertically behind the high seat in the main hall of the local strongman, chieftain or petty king, representing his family, clan or little kingdom. And viewed vertically, it suddenly becomes obvious and instantly recognizable as the cross of Christ.

The Danish flag is generally believed to be the oldest flag in continuous use, dating back to the early 14th century, and it is safe to assume that the others were based on the Danish one, as territories changed hands many times over the centuries.

To return to the present, I personally know Danes who get as upset over the flag-burnings as Muslims do over the cartoons but those same Danes also think it is perfectly okay to publish such things - some people really do want it all!

I finally came up with my answers a few weeks ago - you may check them on my next week's blog post on Euro Muslims Zone.

MYSPEAK at GPU-London in November

Ibraheem will attend the
Global Peace and Unity Event 2007
at ExCel in London on 24/25 November which
last year attracted 50,000 people over the
two days.

A stand has been booked in order to promote
MYSPEAK in general and the poems in particular.

Signed collections of Ibraheem's poems will be
offered in print and hopefully also on CD.

Doing this event is not exactly cheap but it
has to be done and Ibraheem would be very
grateful for any DONATIONS in order to
hopefully break even. This is a one-man
effort and every little bit helps!

Speaking-time on main stage for reading a
poem is being pursued.

Do visit the official website for the GPU2007

Check back here regularly for updates over
the coming weeks.

Latest - Sunday 18 Nov:
All set, flying over tomorrow with 300 CDs,
printing to be done in London.
Stage time still a possibility.
Hope to see you there next Saturday/Sunday -
my stand is G-75 - www.MYSPEAK.info

Copyright Notice

Updated 31 July 2010

All poems and posts may be freely
copied-distributed-printed if not for profit but
please include the following copyright notice:

Used with permission and not for profit
Copyright © - IBRAHEEM (O.E.H.Johansen)
All Rights Reserved
Original can be found on www.IBRAHEEM.dk

On Random Mutations

As I understand it, random mutations are
currently held to be responsible for most
genetic changes, and random mutations are
overwhelmingly caused either "spontaneously"
or induced either by chemical agents already
present within that particular organism or from
the outside by cosmic radiation colliding with
genetic material, triggering off chemical
changes and thus effecting a purely random
change. We are also asked to believe in
Darwinian evolution.

Excuse me - but it does not make
any sense to me!

Think of the following experiment:

We have a computer programme, of average
size and average complexity, fully tested and
proven to "work as designed".
We now print out the actual code that is running
when the programme is being executed, be it in
a high-level user-friendly language or something
closer to the machine, like assembler.
We then hang this printout on the wall, either
vertically, which could prove difficult because of
the contigious paper, so hang it sideways around
the room, whichever way suits.
Then take a few steps back and either fire a
shotgun at it or just a single-shot pistol but keep
shooting until you see at least one single
character has been damaged or removed.
Now take the paper down, scan it in carefully
sheet by sheet and attempt to re-compile or
re-assemble it, as this is a prerequisite to
executing the new version.
As a former software consultant over many years
I guarantee you that our programme will not even
compile/assemble which of course means that it
will never run again.

What is the likelihood of any purely random
change actually improving our programme?
Surely non-existant/zero/nil.
If this could be made to work at all, surely any
random change would be harmful, possibly
possibly -on a lucky day- neutral in effect.

This is of course a very crude comparison with
the terribly complex fabric of life itself but doesn't
that make it even less likely that purely random
changes have any possibility at all of effecting
positive changes which might lead to advances
for that particular living organism? I think so.

It seems pretty obvious to me that any random
change would be harmful and therefore lead to
malfunctioning and/or disease and from there
fairly quickly to extinction!
If the above conclusion is correct, it follows that
the whole concept of random mutations being
the main agent responsible for positive
evolutionary changes is absolute rubbish!!

On Nudity

The annual World Naked Bike Ride recently
(ostensibly to highlight global warming), and
the Naked for Peace section of the anti-war
movement in the US, as well as the latest
exploits of mass-naked-group photographer
Spencer Tunick not long ago, prompted me
to write this post.

My start and end point is: I do not like nudity
unless it is in the company of someone you are
intimate with. All the rest I find embarrassing,
offensive, unethical etc....
And the people who advocate it and participate
must surely be, in some way or other, deranged.

Of course I have heard all the arguments:
-We were all born naked (oh really??)
-When we take our clothes off, we are all naked
(thanks for the info - I didn't know that!)
-What could be more natural? (see below)

My answer to the above "justifications" is this:
Of course being naked is quite natural but there
is a time and a place for everything!

Why on earth anyone would feel the urge to draw
attention to a particular matter or cause by using
nudity is a complete mystery to me.
If publicity were the driving force and the aim,
surely much more powerful and effective means
could, with a little time and effort, be found and
employed?
Of course that would require some imagination.....

If it is done wholly or in part to "shock the
establishment", surely that is already well into
the realms of psychiatry or the sign of adults
stuck in the mental age of puberty.

Whatever the motivation, forcing your own nudity
upon others is not a civilised way to make any
kind of statement.

But they say: "What could be more natural?" -
I am not trying to be gross here but urinating,
defecating and occasionally vomiting are also
perfectly natural things to do.
Does that mean that I should do any -or all- of
those on somebody's table or in somebody's lap
in order to prove a point that I wish to make??
Of course not - and no sane and decent person
would do it or advocate it or even think about
doing so.

As for Spencer Tunick and his exploits:
Does he get some perverse satisfaction out
of directing all his willing victims through a
megaphone - now do this, now do that - and
watch thousands of useful idiots do as they
are told?
A few years ago he had a mass-shoot in Barcelona
in Spain, which is of course a Catholic country.
His most recent outing, setting a new record with,
if I remember right, 23,000 participants, was in
Mexico City in another Catholic country -
do we see a pattern of deliberate provocation
here? Have all these people really got nothing
better to do?

I personally know an old English couple,
practising Catholics, who spend most of their
time living on a nudist campsite on the Spanish
south coast.
Whilst they do not deliberately provoke anybody
with their nudity, I still cannot get my head
around that combination.

The obsession in the Western world with nudity
is surely a sign both of immaturity and the blind
pursuit of material values and the physical world,
superficial as they are.

As for the World Naked Bike Ride:
Although I would not recommend it, if
the participants in these grotesque acts of
exhibitionism truly care about the planet and
global warming, they could start making their
personal contribution to a reduction of CO2
emissions immediately by simply stopping
breathing!

Hypocrisy, Hypocrisy, Hypocrisy.....

First of all, my apologies to my regular
readers for the month-long silence.

The main reason is that I find it increasingly
difficult to read and watch the news:

Whether the topic is the imperialistic wars of
aggression on Iraq and Afghanistan, or the
legitimate technological aspirations of Iran,
or the continued terrible plight of the
Palestinians, or almost any other subject in
the news, the West is daily proving to the
rest of the world that it (the West) has little
or no positive role to play anywhere - in its
own perverse view, the West is always right
and the rest is always wrong, so no need for
dialogue, consensus and compromise,

and the West claims it promotes moderation,
but what it really seeks is compliance with its
own narrow interests, which are insatiable
greed and ruthless exploitation,

and, as it pursues its ridiculous counter-
productive and unwinnable "War on Terror",
the West rants and raves about Islamic
"extremism" and what a grave threat it poses
to the "civilised" world but there is nothing
civilised about the general conduct of the
West itself, forever encroaching on Muslim
lands and resources, so inevitably forcing a
healthy, natural, human reaction, which is
no more militant than the methods of the
West, and, by the way, the current revival
of political Islam is not a threat but -
a promise!

All in all, the reality seen and felt by the
rest of the world, in particular Muslims,
is that of hypocrisy, and not just ordinary
hypocrisy -
nauseating, stinking, hideous, revolting,
screaming-to-high-heaven hypocrisy.....

Maybe I'll leave the news alone for a few
weeks and see if I can write some serious
articles or some more poems - Inshallah.....

Happy Birthday Osama bin Laden!

Whilst realising that birthdays are neither
considered important nor generally celebrated
in the Muslim world, and also realising that there
is doubt whether he was in fact born on a date
equivalent to 10 March 1957 in the Gregorian
(solar) calendar, which would be 8 Sha'baan
1376 AH in the Islamic (lunar) calendar (some
"experts" claim he was born on 30 July 1957),
and also realising that, if you count lunar years
which on average are around 11 days shorter
than a solar year, he did in fact turn 50 about
18 months ago - nevertheless, despite all that,
I would like to say:

Wherever you are, I hope you are safe and in
good health and may Allah protect you for at
least another 50 years - you are an inspiration
to many around the globe.

See also my brief post:
The Face of Osama bin Laden .

NOTE:
When above I call him an inspiration it is to be
understood in the following context:
Having been born into a very wealthy and well-
connected family, the logical path we might have
expected Osama to take would have been to
participate fully in the family business, do and
say all the right things at the right times to the
right people, drink tea and be seen with members
of the Royal House of Saud whenever that
privilege was on offer.
Instead, he decided to give up all that and went
to Afghanistan to fight the brutal Soviet invaders
and occupiers, spending much of his own money
in the process, living in caves and, in his own
words, it is a miracle that he came through it
all alive.

That he is now equally determined to drive the
new but equally brutal invaders and occupiers out
of that achingly beautiful but ravaged country
should be applauded by all good and decent
people everywhere, regardless of creed, colour,
culture.

As for Islamic militancy against the West,
again in the words of Osama, it is only:
"Your goods returned to you".

Well Said Muqtada al-Sadr

Whilst US and Iraqi leaders have urged the public
to be patient, warning that it will take months
before the security operation now under way
has a tangible effect, and president Bush has
ordered 21,500 more US troops to Baghdad and
Anbar (although the last units are not due until
May), - the leader of the Mehdi Army, Iraq's
largest Shia militia, Muqtada al-Sadr, has issued
a statement which was read to his followers in
Baghdad's Sadr City, and it is likely to add to the
tremendous pressure already on US and Iraqi
forces to show results in the nearly two-week-old
crackdown.

Here are a few excerpts of what he had to say:
"I'm certain, just like all oppressed Iraqis are
certain, that no security plan will work and no
good will come of any occupier. Here we are,
watching booby trapped cars exploding to
harvest thousands of innocent lives from our
beloved people in the middle of a security plan
that is controlled by an occupier who does as
he pleases", he urged Iraq's mainly Shia security
forces to "make your own Iraqi plans independent
of the Americans" and he called on both Sunnis
and Shias to "scorn sectarianism and hoist the
banner of unity".
And what can you say to that, other than Ameen!

Says It All Doesn't It??

This one caps it all:
In a new blow for Israel's defence minister
Amir Peretz, already deeply unpopular since the
"invincible" Israeli army's dismal performance in
last summer's war against Hizbollah in Lebanon,
he has been photographed observing military
manouvres in the (illegally occupied) Golan
Heights with the army's new chief of staff Gen
Gabi Ashkenazi, and whilst there may be nothing
unusual in that, Peretz was using his binoculars
with the lens caps still on.....
According to the photographer, Amir Peretz
"looked through the capped binoculars three
times, nodding as Gen Ashkenazi explained
what was in view".
To be fair to him, it is a very human mistake
to make but how can he nod repeatedly in
understanding whilst seeing nothing??

But, as one Israeli newspaper pointed out, he is
not the first well-known politician to make this
mistake: US president GW Bush and former
Israeli PM Ariel Sharon have both done it, too.

With Sharon it is perhaps surprising as he was
a soldier and therefore a practical man and surely
used to handling binoculars -
with Bush, well, what do you expect?

Possibly Hizbollah and Hamas will take heart
from this little episode!

Rats Leaving Sinking Iraq

So, the Brits and the Danes have announced
withdrawals from Iraq:

-British troop numbers in southern Iraq will be
reduced from 7,100 to 5,000 "by late summer",

-Denmark says its force of 460 troops, serving
with the British in the south, will be out by
August but will be substituted by "four
surveillance helicopters and civilian advisors".

Several other nations participating in this brutal
neo-colonialist venture which was always doomed
to failure, are also considering either pulling out
or scaling back their involvement, among them:

-Lithuania (53, said to be "seriously considering"
withdrawing in August with the Danes with whom
they serve),

-South Korea (2,300 and plans to halve it by
April, under domestic pressure to withdraw totally
by the end of the year),

-Poland (900 and the Polish president says they
will stay no longer than December),

-Bulgaria (120, extended until 31 March 2008).

The plans of
-Australia (1400),
-Georgia (800),
-Romania (600)
are currently unknown.

Not surprisingly -for no people likes being
occupied- the news has been welcomed in Iraq.

The official reaction from America is that these
new developments are signs of success!!

-Condi Rice played down the British pullback,
saying it is consistent with the US plan to turn
over more control to Iraqi forces:
"The British have done what is really the plan
for the country as a whole, which is to transfer
security responsibility to the Iraqis as the
situation permits. The coalition remains intact
and, in fact, the British still have thousands of
troops deployed in Iraq",

-A National Security Council spokesman said that
Bush views Britain's troop cutbacks as "a sign of
success" in Iraq and "While the United Kingdom
is maintaining a robust force in southern Iraq,
we're pleased that conditions in Basra have
improved sufficiently that they are able to
transition more control to the Iraqis",

-The Danish PM said, after speaking to GW Bush,
that GWB expressed "both understanding and
satisfaction that the situation in Iraq makes it
possible for Denmark and Britain to reduce their
numbers of troops".

Have you noticed something?
All this is happening at the same time Bush is
frantically trying to find 21,500 extra troops to
send to Baghdad!!!
Now, if these other members of the Coalition of
the Killing were really keen to stay on or to help
their mates in Washington, surely they would
offer their troops to the Americans??
Not a word of it! Clearly, they wish to get out:
The rats are leaving the sinking Iraqi ship
while they can.....
And there are no indications that these countries
will reassign the people pulled out of Iraq to
Afghanistan where Bush & Co have used almost
intimidating language in order to drum up more
troops.

This will also be very helpful ammunition for
those in the American Congress who want the
troops out and indeed Senate majority leader
Harry Reid wasted no time in saying:
"There can be no purely military solution in
Iraq. At a time when president Bush is asking
our troops to shoulder a larger and unsustainable
burden policing a civil war, his failed policies have
left us increasingly isolated in Iraq and less
secure here at home".

The official US reaction of "signs of success"
sounds uncannily like the words of Saddam
Hussein's minister of information back in 2003 -
remember?
He was telling international journalists:
"The infidel Americans will be massacred to the
last one and stand no chance at all against the
heroic Iraqi armed forces and will never get
anywhere near Baghdad" - at the same time as
American tanks were rumbling up to the front
door of the Baghdad hotel where he was speaking
- remember now?

The situation is strikingly similar, that of a
deranged leader being out of touch with reality
and the wishes of the majority of his own people
but stubbornly clinging to his sick hallucinations.

As for the neo-Cons' fantasies about the American
troops eventually returning home victorious and
with honour, having liberated Iraq, defended the
world, and made America a safer place - words
fail me, they really do....
As they did recently when GWB said on a TV
show that "the Iraqis owe the Americans a huge
debt of gratitude".
Almost like saying to some hapless victim whose
good legs you have just deliberately amputated:
We did this out of compassion and because we
are super-compassionate we will give you a
free pair of artificial legs.

But the nightmare-scenario often referred to
by many American politicians, that "If we do
not finish the job [whatever that may mean] the
terrorists [whatever that may mean] will follow
us home", is highly likely to materialise -
and who could blame them, after the unspeakable
death and destruction you brought to Iraq??
Should they follow you home, it would be a
perfectly normal, healthy human reaction, and I
for one hope that they will and they do, and wish
them every possible success in their endeavours
which, as opposed to what you did to Iraq (and to
Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine, and to Islam
in general), would be both wholly justified and
richly deserved.

(Un-) Orthodox Romanian Death-Case

In Romania, a priest and 3 nuns have been jailed
for conducting an exorcism in 2005 that led to the
death of a nun believed to be possessed by devils.

The ritual took place at the secluded Holy Trinity
convent in Tanacu village in north-east Romania
and was led by the convent priest Daniel Petru
Corogeanu (31).
The novice nun, Irina Cornici (23) who grew up
in an ophanage and who had only entered the
monastery 3 months before (and who was known
by others to suffer from schizophrenia) died after
being tied or chained to a cross in a cold room
and left gagged for several days without any
food or water. The causes of death were given
as dehydration, exhaustion and lack of oxygen.

At the time, Father Daniel had this to say:
"God has performed a miracle for her, finally
Irina is delivered from evil. I don't understand
why journalists are making such a fuss about this.
Exorcism is a common practice in the heart of the
Romanian Orthodox church and my methods are
not at all unknown to other priests".

He and four nuns have now been convicted
of manslaughter, Father Daniel got 14 years
(out of a possible 20) and the nuns as follows:
Nicoleta Arcalianu eight years and Adina Cepraga,
Elena Otel and Simona Bardana each five years.
All the defendants plan to appeal against the
verdict in a case which has shocked Romania.

After being sentenced, Corogeanu said:
"We will appeal and hope that it will succeed.
We didn't expect this sentence, but this is the
judge's decision. We will pray to God for help".

The Orthodox Church, which described the
Tanacu incident as "abominable", has promised
reforms, including psychological tests for those
seeking to enter monasteries.

It has banned Corogeanu from the priesthood
and excommunicated the four nuns.

In 1999, when the Vatican issued its first new
guidelines since 1614 for driving out devils, it
urged priests to take modern psychiatry into
account in deciding who should be exorcised.

Now, having read the above, consider this:
Ignoring other aspects, what would the Western
world's reaction have been if a comparable event
had taken place not in an Orthodox convent but
in an Islamic madrasa or in a masjid (mosque)??

Whilst the actual event here has of course been
reported, and at the time in quite a sensationalist
manner, there has been no generalising of it,
no public debates, no Europe- or world-wide
Christian or secular soul-searching, no political
damnation.

Clearly what was at work in that convent and
which led directly to the unnecessary death of this
young woman was a fundamentalist, benighted,
inhuman, radical, extremist, evil ideology -
yes, you recognised the terms, all the very things
that the collective West is constantly accusing
those of who support the current revival of
political Islam. Why are they all silent on this?!?

If these are indeed "common practices" in at least
that part of the Christian world, and Fr. Daniel
says so, then this was carried out quite literally
with the blessing of the Church and in the name
of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
Halleluja! Halleluja! (All together now) Halleluja!

I trust we shall hear no more criticism of the
Taliban!

Also, the Pope must have known about this
tragedy when he chose to select that deeply
offensive medieval quote for his now infamous
speech last year - oh the folly and hypocrisy!!!

Mahmoud Abbas - the Dancing Bear

So, the 3-way meeting in al Quds (Jerusalem) of
Condi Rice, Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas was
a waste of time and breath - oh what a surprise!

The 2 of them repeated to Abbas and the world,
like deranged parrots, all the conditions that the
new Palestinian government must fulfil before
America and Israel will consider talking to it.
We have heard it all ad nauseam but repeating
those conditions does not make them any more
reasonable!

Why must the Palestinians recognise Israel?
All Israel's actions, particularly all those illegal
"facts on the ground", make it absolutely clear
that Israel has NOT recognised Palestine and
has no intention of doing so.
Besides, Yasser Arafat did recognise Israel many
years ago and what did that bring his people?
Nothing but the continuation of suffering, misery
and despair.

Why must the Palestinians renounce violence?
Israel, the occupier, is using savage violence
against the Palestinians, the occupied, every
single day in one way or another and is in
continuous breach of its obligations under the
Geneva and other treaties and conventions.
Besides, according to international law, the
occupied have a legitimate right to resist the
occupier and the occupation.

Why must the Palestinians honour, respect and
implement past agreements when almost every
act by the Israelis directly contradicts and negates
those self-same agreements?
Besides, it is surely no coincidence that the title
of that frequently mentioned "agreement",
The Road Map, rhymes with Load of Crap??
Read the text of it, including of course the long
list of amendments attached by Ariel Sharon,
and you will soon see that it is a road map to
Nowhere and to Hell for both parties and the
Road to Ruin for hopes of a functioning
Palestinian state.
The Road Map is irrelevant to the Palestinian
struggle because it was only meant to buy time,
and lots of it, for Israel to implement its
"Final Solution for Palestine".

Yet there was Condi Rice, telling Abbas and the
world that a future Palestinian state could not be
founded using violence and terror!!
Why not indeed? Most nations are founded that
way, including of course Israel and some of those
Zionist terrorists later became prime ministers,
including Yitzak Shamir and Menachem Begin -
many current Israeli politicians are openly proud
of those facts, including Benjamin Netanyahu.
And the United States of America was founded by
insurgency and civil war which eventually was
successful in throwing out the occupiers and
colonisers.
Right now, America is using violence and terror
to re-create 2 sovereign nations, Afghanistan and
Iraq, neither of which was any threat to America,
in America's own sick image according to its own
perverse and evil ideology.
Same old story, as with Iran's disputed nuclear
programme:
We may, because we say so, but you may not!

The time is long overdue for at least Russia to
leave that useless Quartet and say clearly that
it doesn't want to play anymore and start aiding
the Palestinians directly.
That would at a stroke reduce the Quartet
to a Trio.
And several individual EU countries could also
without causing any major problems for
themselves start direct aid to the PA and to the
legitimate Hamas-led government.
There can be no excuse for NOT doing so.

Nor can there be any excuse whatsoever for
all Arab (and Muslim) nations not to help, and
if America objects and threatens their banks,
as it has done up to now, well, the time is long
overdue for those Arab governments to do what
they know to be right and overrule American
objections, failing that, it is to be hoped that
"the Arab streets" will finally explode and
demand justice not only for themselves
but also for their brothers and sisters in
occupied Palestine.

Mahmoud Abbas would look much more sensible
and decent if he would simply tell America+Israel
that unless there are real concessions from Israel
then please don't call me because it is bad for my
status back home to be seen with you two.
Little more than their unpaid dancing bear or
underpaid clown, he looks more and more silly
and irrelevant to the Palestinians and their
struggle.

Did he get any of the 9,000 or so mostly illegally
held prisoners released?
Did he get any of the 600m USD illegally withheld
tax money?
Did he get anything at all??
Really, he should be ashamed of himself but if he
is not, surely most Palestinians are!

Anybody Left in Israel??

It is one scandal after another in Israel and
it must now be legitimate to speculate aloud
whether any politician or high-ranking official
currently serving is "clean" - from the president
and prime minister down, they are either falling
like autumn leaves or under some kind of
investigation.

-The former justice minister Haim Ramon,
accused last summer during Israel's grotesquely
savage onslught on Lebanon, has now been found
guilty of sexual harassment,

-One of Olmert's closest aides over many years
has resigned pending an investigation into her
affairs,

-The PM himself is under investigation for a bank
deal from when he was finance minister,

-The nation's figurehead president Moshe Katsav
is "on leave" pending the investigation of his
alleged multiple rapes and, as he is due to retire
anyway this coming summer, he will lose his
immunity then, if not impeached by parliament
in the meantime,

-Army chief Dan Halutz resigned shortly after the
dismal performance of Israel's "invincible army"
against the resistance fighters of Hizbollah,

-The head of the tax authority Jackie Matza
resigned a few days ago amid allegations that
appointments were influenced by businessmen
in exchange for tax breaks,

-And now the police chief Moshe Karadi has
resigned after a government commission
reported that due to alleged misconduct he
should be removed (for failing to make sure
that the police thoroughly investigated the
1999 murder of a suspected crime boss and,
separately, for having ignored links between
senior officers and leading figures within
criminal circles).

Oh the proud Jewish State of Israel!
Oh the pure heart of Zionism!

And these are the people, supported blindly by
America and the rest of the West, who refuse to
talk to the God-fearing, clean-living, straight-
dealing Islamists of Hamas and Hizbollah.....

It certainly tells the Islamic world all it needs
to know about Israel and the West.

Muslims of the World unite!