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Boston bombings ‘a message’ to West, Muslim cleric says. Egyptian Salafi Sheik Murgan Salem warns France that it could be next if it continues to fight its campaign in Mali

By Aaron Kalman / TimesOfIsrael.com

While they weren’t up to the standard set by al-Qaeda, the Boston bombings were nevertheless a warning to the U.S. and West — especially France — for waging war against Islam, a Muslim cleric said.

Two bombs were detonated during the Boston Marathon on Monday, killing three and injuring more than 150 people.

In a video from Egyptian TV translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Egyptian Salafi cleric Sheik Murgan Salem said he didn’t know who was behind the attack, but “if it was done by the mujahideen” — Islamist fighters — “it serves as a message to America and the West: We are still alive… We have not died.”

“This was not up to the standard of al-Qaeda. It was extremely amateurish,” said the cleric, who boasted of a close relationship with the killed former al-Qaeda head Osama bin Laden. “The standards and techniques of al-Qaeda are much higher.”

But regardless of who did it, he said, the message that “we can reach you whenever and wherever we want” was conveyed, Salem said, praising the advances made in “the war with America” over the past 30 years, especially the relocation of the war from Arab countries to U.S. soil.

It was likely that “people resentful of the policy and arrogance of America and Europe” carried out the attack, he said, noting that they might have been U.S.-born.

France led the first crusade and was now spearheading the war against Islam in Mali, he charged, warning that if things don’t change “they must taste the bitter retribution for their deeds.”

By Russell Goldman / ABCNews.go.com

Saudi Arabian officials execute an Indonesian maid on June 18, 2011.

Rizana Nafeek, a young nanny from Sri Lanka, was beheaded by sword earlier this year in Saudi Arabia, punishment for allegedly killing a baby in 2007 when she was believed to be just 17.

The execution has spurred international outcry, given Nafeek’s age at the time of the incident and her limited access to a defense attorney. The beheading has also shined a light on the Arab kingdom’s medieval system of punishment, which includes cutting the hands off thieves, executing women accused of adultery, and flogging men accused of being gay.

Few details of Nafeek’s execution have leaked from the country’s tightly controlled media, but the interior ministry said her head was severed from her body in public in Dawadmy, a dusty suburb of the capital Riyadh.

In modern times, women in saudi Arabia condemned to death were traditionally executed by gunfire, but in recent years they have routinely been beheaded, an historic form of execution ordered under sharia, or the Muslim religious law that governs the country.

The death penalty is routinely allowed for criminals convicted of murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking or drug use, and apostasy or the renunciation of the Islamic faith, according to human rights group Amnesty International.

Some 82 executions were carried out in Saudi Arabia last year, according to Amnesty. It is unknown how many of them were women or carried out by sword, but the majority of the condemned were foreigners, like Nafeek.

Beheadings in Saudi Arabia are governed by certain rules.

They are conducted in public, typically in town squares or near prisons. The condemned, as well as the executioner, typically wear white. The convict is blindfolded, handcuffed and often given a sedative. A plastic tarp, several feet wide, is sometimes spread out around the convict to make cleaning up the blood and recovering her head easier.

The heads of the condemned can sometimes roll several feet from the body, said Saudi Arabia’s leading executioner in a rare 2003 interview with Saudi newspaper Arab News.

“The criminal was tied and blindfolded. With one stroke of the sword I severed his head. It rolled meters away,” said executioner Muhammad Saad al-Beshi, recalling his first beheading.

Al-Beshi said he has executed as many as 10 people in one day, by sword and by bullet.

“It depends what they ask me to use. Sometimes they ask me to use a sword and sometimes a gun. But most of the time I use the sword,” he said.

He said he keeps his sword razor sharp, and allows his children to help clean it.

“People are amazed how fast it can separate the head from the body,” he said.

Executioners like Al-Beshi are trained professionals who also carry out amputations, severing the hands, feet, and tongues, of convicted criminals.

The executioner said it is not uncommon for spectators to pass out at a beheading.

“There are many people who faint when they witness an execution. I don’t know why they come and watch if they don’t have the stomach for it,” he said.

The goal of the executions is to provide justice to the victims’ families, said Brian Evans, director of the Amnesty’s death penalty abolition campaign. As a result, a victim’s family is allowed to call off the execution at the last minute.

“There is always a dramatic moment where the victim’s family has to give the OK, a thumbs up or thumbs down,” said Evans.

Only an adult male family member is allowed to stay an execution and they typically only occur in cases where a Saudi national has been condemned and the family been paid so-called “blood money,” Evans said.

The government of Sri Lanka reportedly tried to buy Nafeek’s life with a blood money payment.

The executioner, flanked by several uniformed police officers, prays with the condemned before severing the head with a quick stroke to the back of the head.

“When they get to the execution square, their strength drains away. Then I read the execution order, and at a signal I cut the prisoner’s head off,” al-Beshi said.

Bodies are sometimes put on crosses to be observed by the public as a warning. In one case in 2011, when an Indonesian maid was beheaded (see picture), her body was reportedly displayed by being hung from a helicopter.

To be told by Islam that it is “peaceful & tolerant” is no recommendation at all. Judge it by its behavior and not by its own empty, brainwashed and desperate platitudes.

“This is Islam, an absurd theology of an immoral Bedouin, a rotting corpse which poisons our lives.” — Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (Founder of Modern Turkey)

“I studied the Koran a great deal . . . I came away from that study with the conviction that by and large there have been few religions in the world as deadly to men as that of Muhammad.” — Alexis de Tocqville (French thinker/historian)

By Terry Frieden / CNN

A Chicago man received 35 years in prison on Thursday for his role in the deadly 2008 siege in Mumbai, India, that killed more than 160 people, including six Americans.

Federal prosecutors had asked U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber to sentence David Headley, 52, to 30-35 years behind bars rather than a full life sentence because he had been fully cooperative and provided useful intelligence after his arrest.

A Justice Department official who attended the hearing in Chicago said Headley had written a letter to the judge, but declined to speak in court.

Headley, who was born in Pakistan and changed his name from Daood Gilani, had lived much of his life in Chicago. But he attended terrorist training camps in Pakistan, authorities said.

He admitted scouting attack locations in Mumbai for the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, which carried out the attack on the Taj Mahal Hotel and other targets over three days in November 2008.

Prosecutors said Headley also worked for members of al-Qaeda.

Headley reached a plea agreement in 2010.

MidEastTruth.com

In order to achieve peace, each side must see the other as equal and not dehumanize them. This is the first condition for real dialogue.

Let’s see how Arabs are portrayed in Israeli media and how Jews are portrayed in Palestinian media.

This story has updated information. Read here. And sign the petition.

By Stoyan Zaimov / global.ChristianPost.com

Iranian-American Pastor Saeed Abedini with his wife, Naghmeh, and his two children. While visiting his parents in Iran in July 2012, Abedini was arrested by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard for his previous Christian work in the country. (photo: American Center for Law and Justice)

Pastor Saeed Abedini, an American citizen born in Iran, is facing a quick trial in Tehran on Jan. 21 and has expressed fears that he might be given the death penalty for his Christian work.

The American Center for Law and Justice shared an update with The Christian Post about the pastor’s case, and revealed that his attorney in Iran has been allowed to see the court file only very recently – to discover that the pastor’s trial date is set for Monday, Jan. 21, less than a week away.

“It is an outrage that Pastor Saeed’s trial date and charge against him would be withheld from his legal counsel until less than a week before the trial itself. Not only is Iran violating Pastor Saeed’s fundamental freedom of religion, but it is making a mockery of justice,” Jordan Sekulow, Executive Director of the American Center for Law and Justice, said in a statement. The ACLJ is representing the pastor’s family, his wife and two children, who are in the U.S.

Pastor Abedini’s case was also recently transferred over to a notorious “hanging judge” in Iran, named in 2011 by the European Union as an individual subject to sanctions for human rights violations for sentencing a number of human right activists to death.

In a letter to his wife, Naghmeh, the 32-year-old pastor recently expressed his fears that he might indeed be facing the death penalty, and revealed some of the interrogation techniques that have been used against him in Evin Prison in Tehran.

“This is the process in my life today: one day I am told I will be freed and allowed to see my kids on Christmas (which was a lie) and the next day I am told I will hang for my faith in Jesus,” Pastor Abedini wrote. “One day there are intense pains after beatings in interrogations, the next day they are nice to you and offer you candy.”

Pastor Abedini, who converted from Islam to Christianity at the age of 20 and later married Naghmeh, a U.S. citizen, has long been targeted by Iranian authorities for helping underground churches in Iran and for his charity work. He was first detained by Iranian officials in 2009, and released with a warning not to continue preaching. But in July 2011, he was once again arrested during one of his trips from America to Iran.

His lawyer has deciphered, however, that the only real charge authorities have managed to make against him is for “endangering” the national security of Iran in 2000, the year when he converted to Christianity. The ACLJ described it as “a typical charge brought by the radical Islamic regime against those it wishes to persecute for their religious beliefs. His court file indicated that this national security charge was directly related to his work starting a house church movement in Iran.”

The law group claims that Iranian authorities have even confiscated more than $105,000 from an Iranian bank account given to Abedini in donations for a local orphanage project.

The U.S. State Department recently revealed its “serious concerns” for the pastor’s imprisonment, but stopped short of calling for his immediate release. The ACLJ has urged the State Department to take a stronger stand on the issue and offer better protection for Americans persecuted in other countries for their Christian faith.

More than 66,000 people have already signed a petition urging for Pastor Abedini’s release from prison, and the ACLJ is hopeful that intense international pressure will eventually lead to his freedom, such as in Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani’s case.

global.christianpost.com

A criminal court in Egypt has sentenced a family of eight in Beni-Suef to 15 years in prison for converting to Christianity and changing their place of residence. The court also sentenced seven employees in the local authority of Beni-Suef’s city of Beba to five years in prison.

The court, headed by Judge Ashraf abdel-Naby Shahin and Judge Tamer abdel-Rahman, sentenced Nadia Mohamed Ali and her children Mohab, Maged, Sherif, Amira, Amir, and Nancy Ahmed Mohamed abdel-Wahab to 15 years in prison.

They also sentenced Nabil Adly Hana, Ayad Naguib Ayad, Hany Bebawy Reyad, Amgad Awad Bebawy, Shehata Wahba Ghobrial, Mohamed Oweis abdel-Gawad, and Mohamed abdel-Fatah el-Berawy to five years in prison.

The case dates from 2004 to 2006, when Nadia Mohamed Ali and her sons cooperated with seven employees to change their names on their identification cards to Christian names, in addition to changing their place of residence to Beni-Suef.

They extracted administrative documents with their new names that paved the way to create new identification cards.

Previous investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution clarified that Nadia Mohamed Ali was a Christian when she converted to Islam 23 years ago. She married a mechanic named Mohamed abdel-Wahab Mustafa who died in 1991. She planned to return to Christianity with her children to obtain her dues.

The court said that the violation was proven when her son extracted a birth certificate replacing his name with Malak Bishoy abdel-Massih. He was arrested in the headquarters of the Information Center. He acknowledged during the investigations in front of the public prosecution that his mother asked to change his religion.

By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik / PalWatch.org

During the November 2012 eight-day military conflict between Hamas and Israel, Hamas broadcast various ideological messages on its official Al-Aqsa TV station. One recurring message called for the killing of Jews, which Hamas defined as a religious Islamic act in worship of Allah. During one music video, these words were shown on the screen:
“Killing Jews is worship
that draws us close to Allah”

“Killing Jews is worship that draws us close to Allah”

“We Kidnap Soldiers; We Kill Jews”
While the song was broadcast in Arabic to accompany pictures of Israelis being attacked and of an Israeli funeral, Hebrew words appeared on the screen addressing Israelis:

“Your body parts are scattered everywhere”
“The cemeteries await you”

“Hamas Behind the Mask”
Hamas is one of the world’s most secretive and controversial organizations. Its charter calls for the destruction of the state of Israel. “There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through jihad.” Hamas regards the territory of Israel, the Gaza strip, and the West Bank as an inalienable Waqf (Islamic bequest), which can never be surrendered to non-Muslims. Hamas has been listed as a terrorist organization by most Western powers. Yet despite this, Hamas has grown in strength and popular support among Palestinians. This documentary investigates the men and women behind the mask.
(1:04:45 long version)

“Hamas broadcasts “Death to Israel”
On Nov. 14, 2012, Israel launched an aerial offensive in the Gaza Strip called Operation Pillar of Defense, with the aim of crippling the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza and protecting Israeli civilians from Hamas rocket fire. On Nov. 22, one day after Hamas and Israel brokered a ceasefire, Hamas broadcast the following music video:

“Destroy the throne of Zion, the house of absolute evil
Raise the banner of victory
Be like the fire of a volcano
Repeat in the name of your Jihad: Death to Israel!
With blood and fire, resist until freedom
Defeat the soldiers of aggression the enemies of humanity.”
[Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), Nov. 22, 2012]

This is an update of an article posted earlier: Bethlehem Christians Put Jesus Back in Christmas

By Brian Schrauger / IsraelToday.com

It is Christmas Eve in Bethlehem in 2012. Tonight on Manger Road, in Manger Square and on all its thoroughfares, Bethlehem is lit with many-colored lights. Like rivulets they stream down the city’s face, falling in-between vibrant shapes of snowmen and Santas, stars and trees. Why does Bethlehem weep luminescent tears disguised as twinkling strings of light?

Until one week ago there was not a single place in its public square that even gave a hint of the reason for this pagan day’s redemptive transformation into a holy day. No manger scene, no God-incarnate baby boy. No creche, no cradle, no cross. Even the Church of the Nativity was decorated only by a single large tree. (About one week ago, a nativity scene was hastily erected next to the towering tree.)

Two thousand years after his birth there was, once again, no room for Jesus in Bethlehem.

Early this month Shari Khoury brought this observation to her husband’s attention. Pastor Steven Khoury took note. He examined city streets and saw for himself what he had not noticed.

The Khoury’s live in Bethlehem. Steven was raised there where his father, Dr. Naim Khoury, started Holy Land Ministries in 1980. During the past 32 years Steven, his family and the ministry’s congregations have experienced opposition to the gospel of Jesus the Messiah, God’s incarnate Word made flesh.

There have been threats and muggings, fire bombs and murder. Many believers have fled the region, but the Khoury’s remain. Every Sunday, worship and teaching are broadcast from speakers atop their local church’s steeple, clashing with Islamic calls to prayer.

On December 5, Steven Khoury made a decision. He composed brief words, commissioned graphic art, hired a printer. In the middle of the night and into next day’s early morning light, workmen hung the composition on the city’s largest billboard. Across an expanse of 1200 square feet, in Arabic and English too, it reads:

Jesus: born to die and rose again. Invite him in to your heart so that you too might live

And the response? Two weeks later, only days ago, Pastor Khoury received a call. Officials from the city were on the line, informing him that they were being asked to remove the sign.

That same day vandals cut power to lights that illuminate the sign at night. The owner refused to repair them, fearing they would only be cut again along with an escalation of damage to his property.

The print shop also received disturbing calls. Although the words were never spoken, the message was clear: take Jesus down.

Tonight the billboard is still up, lit now by portable lights from the back of a car. The cost is high. Thousands of dollars have been spent. So far individual donations to help with the expense total about $60.00.

In spite of public exposure on YouTube, radio, television and in written press, other Christian organizations in Bethlehem have reacted with resounding silence. So too Christian organizations throughout Israel.

Pastor Khoury has no regrets. “Scripture says that if we do not speak up for Jesus, for who he is and what he has done, stones will cry out. With God’s help, I will not remain silent. I will not be a quiet one rebuked by shouting rocks.”

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Brian Schrauger is a Christian media consultant who is currently visiting and reporting from Israel and the Palestinian-controlled territories.

Saudi Shura Council Member Ibrahim Al-Buleihi: Progress for Arab and Islamic World Can Only Come from Western Civilization
The Internet, Rotana Khalijiya TV (Saudi Arabia) – July 23, 2012