Terror Attack in Jerusalem

Why, as a Muslim, I support the congressional hearings about Radical Islam, by Tawfik Hamid

House Homeland Security Committee chairman, Republican Peter King, of New York, opens hearings on the threat of homegrown Islamic terrorism in Washington, DC, on Thursday 10 March. Congressman Keith Ellison, a Muslim, objected to Rep. Peter King saying that, "Singling out one community is the wrong thing to do." Congressman Ellison should have realized that it was not Rep. Peter King, but the unequivocal statistical data that showed that almost all - if not all, home grown terror attacks and plots in the US since September 11 have been conducted by Muslims.

Similarly, the statistical data in Europe was the reason why Tony Blair a few months ago had to single out Muslims as the cause of failure of integration in Europe. In an Op-Ed published in the WSJ on November 9 2010Mr. Blair mentioned that "We have to nail down the definition of the problem. There is no general failure to integrate. In the U.K., for example, we are not talking about Chinese or Indians. We are not talking about blacks and Asians. This is a particular problem. It is about the failure of one part of the Muslim community to resolve and create an identity that is both British and Muslim."

Failure of Muslim communities to address the root causes of home grown radicalism in their communities in the last 10 years supports the view that these communities failed to solve the problem and indicates that Muslim communities need unbiased research conducted by outsiders to get to the root causes of this problem and solve it. The failure of the Muslim communities is exemplified in the fact that, according to a May 2010 Rand Corporation report, between September 11, 2001, and the end of 2009, the U.S. government reported forty-six incidents of "domestic radicalization and recruitment to jihadist terrorism" that involved at least 125 people. There had been an average of six cases per year since 2001, but that rose to thirteen in 2009, a worrisome sign to some experts.

Proclaiming "Today I am a Muslim too," about 1,000 protesters gathered last Sunday in Times Square to decryRep. Pete King's upcoming hearings. It was much better that such communities ask their religious scholars to remove or challenge the mainstream Sharia teachings that encourage Muslims to declare wars against Non-Muslims and undervalue the lives of "unbelievers" instead of  demonstrating against the hearings.

Congressman Ellison mentioned that he welcomes confronting the ideology of Al-Awlaki, the American-born cleric who is hiding in Yemen now. I fully agree with him on this; however, Congressman Ellison needs to realize that the violent teachings that can end in creating terrorists is not limited to Al-Awlaki or Bin Laden teaching but is an integral and unchallenged part of the current mainstream teachings that are available to many young Muslims in the US and overseas.

Muslims must ask themselves that why these hearings are not about Buddhists or followers of the Bahai faith. The answer is simply that it is the indisputable statistics rather than individual opinions that made it a necessity to "single out" the Muslim communities in the West for these hearings.  If Muslim communities were capable of solving the problem of home grown radicalism within their own communities, these hearings would not have been initiated.

If there is any one to blame for this, it is the Islamic scholarship  that failed to bring a new understanding of Islam that challenges values of hatred or violence that are widely available in the mainstream Islamic books.

Muslims in the US must realize that the Quran stated that (Quran 4:135) "O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to the Lord, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin." Accordingly, Muslims need to be honest enough and admit that there is a particular problem that affects their Muslim communities more than other communities and that they failed to solve such problems. As a Muslim, I send my full support to Rep. Peter King in his noble and desperately needed research about the root causes of home grown Islamic Radicalism in the US as his work can save many human lives including Muslim's lives as well. If the efforts of Rep. Peter King resulted in saving even one human live it is as if he saved all mankind {Quran 5:32 If any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people}.

ISRAEL MATZAV: What a terror attack is really like; Here's video of the immediate aftermath of the car bombing outside the Coptic Church in Alexandria, Egypt late on Friday night. This is very difficult to watch.

Latest Terror Threat in US Aimed to Poison Food Exclusive: The Dept. of Homeland Security Uncovered a Plot to Attack Hotels and Restaurants Over a Single Weekend

(CBS)  In this exclusive story, CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian reports the latest terror attack to America involves the possible use of poisons - simultaneous attacks targeting hotels and restaurants at many locations over a single weekend.

A key Intelligence source has confirmed the threat as "credible." Department of Homeland Security officials, along with members of the Department of Agriculture and the FDA, have briefed a small group of corporate security officers from the hotel and restaurant industries about it. 
"We operate under the premise that individuals prepared to carry out terrorist acts are in this country," said Dec. of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano on Dec. 6, 2010.

The plot uncovered earlier this year is said to involve the use of two poisons - ricin and cyanide - slipped into salad bars and buffets.

Of particular concern: The plotters are believed to be tied to the same terror group that attempted to blow up cargo planes over the east coast in October, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

In online propaganda al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has praised the cargo attack, part of what it called "Operation Hemorrhage."

The propaganda says in part, "...attacking the enemy with smaller but more frequent operations" to "add a heavy economic burden to an already faltering economy."

Manuals and videos on jihadist websites explain how to easy it is to make both poisons.

"Initially it would look very much like food poisoning," said St. John's University professor of pharmaceutical sciences Dr. Susan Ford.

She showed how little of each poison could be fatal by putting a small amount of poison in cups.
Armen Keteyian: Are these dosages enough to really harm someone or kill someone?
Susan Ford: Yes, these are 250 milligrams and that is the fatal dose.
Keteyian: So just that much sodium cyanide is enough to kill me?
Ford: Yes, it is.

That leads to a difficult debate: The need to inform the public without alarming it.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said, "A threat you might feel is sufficiently specific and credible to tell the people who are professionally involved might not be specific or credible enough to tell the general public."

Chertoff says it's important to let public health officials know that what looks like food poisoning could be a terrorist attack.

On Monday Dept. of Homeland Security spokesman Sean Smith said, "We are not going to comment on reports of specific terrorist planning. However, the counterterrorism and homeland security communities have engaged in extensive efforts for many years to guard against all types of terrorist attacks, including unconventional attacks using chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear materials. Indeed, Al-Qa'ida has publicly stated its intention to try to carry out unconventional attacks for well over a decade, and AQAP propaganda in the past year has made similar reference.

"Finally, we get reports about the different kinds of attacks terrorists would like to carry out that frequently are beyond their assessed capability."

The fact remains the government and hospitality industries are on alert.

Republican Jewish Coalition: Sestak - "Out of Touch"

UAE Islamic Court: Beat Your Wife, Just Don’t Leave a Mark

A man has the right to discipline his wife and children provided he does not leave physical marks, the Federal Islamic Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi - the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - has ruled. The judgment was made in the case of a man who slapped and kicked his daughter and slapped his wife.The wife suffered injuries to her lower lip and teeth, and the daughter had bruises on her right hand and right knee. The court ruled that the bruises were evidence that the father had abused his shariah(Islamic law) right.

ISRAEL MATZAV: Last Ramallah lynch mob member acquitted

The last member of the Ramallah mob that lynched IDF reservists First Cpl. Yosef Avrahami and First Sgt. Vadim Norzhich ten years ago when they made a wrong turn into Ramallah, has been acquitted on the grounds that - get this - he beat a dead body. No, this is not about the guy in the picture. That guy - Azaz Salha, then 20 - is serving a life sentence. This is aboutWisam Ali Mahmad Raadi.

Inspire Magazine for individual terrorists

This is crazy. A new magazine that has a target audience of terrorists.

It is called "Inspire" and it offers advice on how to perform terrorist attacks, such as using a pickup truck to mow people down, create a homemade bomb using a pressure cooker, using firearms to shoot up a crowded restaurant most efficiently, and more.

New issue of magazine offers jihadists terror tips

(CNN) -- The second edition of an online al Qaeda magazine has surfaced with frank essays, creatively designed imagery and ominous terror tips such as using a pickup truck as a weapon and shooting up a crowded restaurant in Washington.

Al-Qaeda magazine published 'tips on how to kill Americans' A magazine run by the Yemeni group al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula has published a list of tips on how to kill Americans

"A random hit at a crowded restaurant in Washington, DC at lunch ... might end up knocking out a few government employees," one article reads, according to the private SITE Intelligence Group, which studies, tracks and analyses the global jihadist network and terrorism financing.

ISRAEL MATZAV: And again: Jewish drivers stoned in Jerusalem; Palestinians ambush Jews with rocks and photographers

Once again, Jewish drivers were stoned in Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood on Sunday. Here's a lengthy report from Israel's Channel 2.


Note what Be'eri says at the end about Friday's stoning and how the car behind him set him up. The police ought to be able to get the license plate of that car and find the driver. But they won't. On Monday morning, Jewish residents of predominantly Arab parts of Jerusalem called for the police Inspector General Dudi Cohen to fire Jerusalem chief Ilan Franco, because the Jerusalem police refuse to protect the Jewish residents in that part of the city.

Note also the size of the rocks in Ms. Levy's car - they aren't little pebbles, are they? As I've pointed out to you many times before, rocks thrown at cars can be deadly.

Hebron - Residents Receive Text Message from Hamas Threatening Revenge

Hebron - Many residents received a text message from Hamas, in which the group threatened to avenge the deaths of the two operatives who murdered four residents of Beit Hagai in August.

25 Years Later, Remember Leon Klinghoffer & the Achille Lauro Hijacking, By Debbie Schlussel

You’d hardly know it from the scant media coverage, but today is the 25th anniversary of one of the many pre-9/11 acts of Islamic jihad against America.  Twenty-five years ago, today,  on October 8, 1985, Palestinian Islamic terrorists headed by Abul Abbas a/k/a Abu Abbas hijacked the Achille Lauro cruise ship and murdered Leon Klinghoffer–a 69-year-old helpless man bound to a wheelchair.  Klinghoffer’s crimes:  being an American and a Jew.

Leon Klinghoffer, Zichrono LiVracha [Blessed Be His Memory]: American Hero in Life & Death

Klinghoffer and his wife were taking the cruise to celebrate their 36th wedding anniversary. After hijacking the ship, cowardly Palestinian terrorists assassinated Klinghoffer by gunshot and threw his body overboard, a plot masterminded by Abul Abbas. I know Lisa Klinghoffer, daughter of Leon Klinghoffer, and she has kept in touch with me regarding her brave father.

Sadly, one of the men involved in his hijacking lives and breathes free here in America, today. I know this because one of my Muslim informant clients was asked by federal authorities to help testify and prosecute the man on drug charges, after the U.S. already shamelessly and knowingly let the man enter and live in America, absolving and agreeing not to prosecute him for his involvement in the brutal Achille Lauro murder of Klinghoffer, in exchange for “information on Al-Qaeda.” No information is enough to justify freedom (or even life) for any of Klinghoffer’s murderers.

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Sanctions begin to compound Iran's severe economic problems

TEHRAN - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, already faced with growing opposition from competing political forces within Iran, is confronting new pressure brought on by severe economic problems, including some triggered by international sanctions.
The sanctions, intended to push the country to abandon its nuclear program, are not yet crippling the Islamic Republic, economists and analysts say. But they are causing prices to rise and making it increasingly difficult for Iranian companies to work internationally.
U.S. officials have noted recently that the sanctions are having an impact, and also acknowledged the confluence of challenges. "This all comes at a time when Iran is especially vulnerable because of its government's economic mismanagement and narrowed political flexibility," Stuart Levey, a senior U.S. Treasury official, said in a Sept. 20 speech.
"We are already receiving reports that the regime is quite worried about the impact of these measures, especially on their banking system and on the prospects for economic growth," Levey said. "And, as pressure increases, so has internal criticism of Ahmadinejad and others for failing to prepare adequately for international sanctions and for underestimating their effect."
The sanctions are taking hold as Iran prepares to implement a major overhaul of how its state subsidies are distributed, giving direct payments to the poor while allowing prices of basic commodities such as bread, electricity and gasoline to rise by large percentages.
The confluence of the sanctions, concerns over the subsidy redistribution and possible budgetary problems have made the Iranian economy extremely fragile, as was apparent Sept. 25, when Iran's currency, the rial, took a deep dive.
Following fresh financial sanctions from the United Arab Emirates, the Islamic Republic's Central Bank did not intervene as the rial - stable for over a decade - plummeted by 15 percent, leaving traders and importers with evaporating bank accounts.
It's not clear whether the Iranian government was caught by surprise by the impact of the U.A.E. measures or deliberately hesitated. But it waited a full week before starting to sell its petrodollars, trading them at a considerably higher rate than it would have received a week before and making a profit on the sales.
The absence of well-defined policies to address these fundamental issues is making economists, businessmen and some officials increasingly nervous.
"It is a little bit difficult to see a clear economic strategy from the government," said Mohammad Nahavandian, the head of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines. "Different ministries are coming up with different policies. It seems they react to the facts of the day," he said.
While international sanctions increasingly are hurting the government and the private sector, Iranians seem to have faith in their economy. Tehran's stock market has seen a huge increase in trade, and there is no clear sign of a significant capital flight.
But faced with dwindling buying power, many Iranians are reconsidering their faith in the currency, a shift that could prove to be more significant than the sanctions.
The increasing exchange rate and the lack of foreign currency led to chaotic scenes at some banks. "People were literally screaming and yelling at the foreign exchange counters," said a middleman operating in Iran's vibrant steel industry, on the condition of anonymity. "They wanted dollars because the prices of goods they bought abroad was rising by the minute but nobody could give them any. It was chaos."
He and other traders operating on Iran's free market, the bazaar, saw profits disappear as the rial slid down versus the dollar. Steel prices have already increased by nearly 50 percent in the past two months because of the sanctions.
In the first sign that Iranians are becoming nervous about the currency, some businessmen are starting to send cash abroad. "People are traveling outside with their pockets stuffed with hundreds of thousands of dollars," the steel trader said. "We feel the government is intentionally trying to break our backs."
The government says its all-encompassing "economic evolution plan" - which includes the reduction of state subsidies and an increase in taxes and tariffs - will help combat monopolies and corruption.
Opponents say the plan is aimed at increasing the government's income and influence and warn that a shock implementation will lead to unrest.
The government maintains that the goal of the subsidies plan is to elevate Iran's poor, who, Ahmadinejad says, do not benefit from the current system. Instead, by keeping many prices artificially low, the existing structure mostly helps the middle classes, who consume more.
Many in that group, already affected by a sluggish economy, are preparing themselves for the change. They fear they will not be able to pay utility bills, which are expected to rise by at least 40 percent, but potentially much higher. A typical electricity bill for an urban middle-class family could rise from $8 a month to $48 dollars, according to bills that mention the price change. With average income of $500 a month, people would find such price hikes shocking - prompting officials to brace for possible protests.
To counter those increases, some groups designated as poor will receive handouts up to $40 a person each month.
Analysts doubt that the Ahmadinejad government has the money it needs to make all those handouts. The government has declared the contents of the treasury a state secret, and even parliamentarians don't know how many billions of dollars remain after two years of lower oil prices.
Many in the private sector, which makes up about 25 percent of Iran's economy, say they are victim of both government polices and the sanctions.
"The goal of these sanctions is to change the political behavior of the government - in the nuclear field," Nahavandian said. "But instead it has intensified their political stances."

Rabbi Marvin Hier calls upon world to confront Islamic terror after Chabad Mumbai attack

Three Things About Islam