She forced her daughters to marry, so she was jailed for three years

By Houriya | Published: May 24, 2009

Last Thursday a 39-year-old mother was sentenced to three years in jail for forcing her two teenage daughters to marry their first cousins in Pakistan in July 2007. This is the first case where someone has actually been convicted of a forced marriage – and it is about time.

The 14 and 15-year-old girls thought they were visiting Pakistan on holiday. Instead, they were married off in a joint ceremony. The mother married her children off in order to ‘defend’ the family’s honour within Muslim and Pakistani communities, as her eldest daughter supposedly had an affair with an older man, got pregnant and then had an abortion. When the same daughter got married, the mother told her that if she did not consummate the marriage, she would ‘tie her to the bed, blindfold her and strip her’, and then watch to make sure her daughter had sex with her new husband.

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Posted in Crime, Human Rights, Sharia | Tagged , , , , | 6 Responses

Fun with Maps

By Guest | Published: May 23, 2009

This article is cross-posted from Harry’s Place as a guest-post by habibi.

****

The self-styled Muslim Association of Britain and Palestinian Solidarity Campaign have found a new cause: campaigning against ads for Israeli tourism in London.

Posters have recently appeared in London Underground tube stations advertising Israel as a tourist destination. The map on the advert depicts Israel as incorporating the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights.

Please write to London Underground, the Advertising Standards Agency and CBS Outdoors – the company which manages the poster sites – asking for the removal of these posters, which deliberately deny the existence of Palestine.

tube

I’m sure the MAB’s and PSC’s next righteous struggle for cartographic accuracy will target groups using logos like these:

Interpal, a British charity linked to Hamas:

interpal

The Palestinian Return Centre, a pro-Hamas political group based in London:

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Posted in Islamism, Israel/Palestine | 2 Responses

Iran and the US “retreat”

By Faisal | Published: May 22, 2009

Persian Night by the Iranian author and journalist Amir Taheri is an eye-opening work of journalism. In his book, Taheri draws out the rich and beautiful tapestry of pre-Islamic Iranian cultural history and it’s influence on the flowering of Islamic civilisation, arts, architecture and literature in Iran. This was a different Persia, before it was blighted by the brutal Shah dynasty of the Pahlavi’s and latterly, the Islamic Revolution of Ayatollah Khomeini and the present regime, on which he is ruthlessly clear-sighted.

Taheri’s recent article in the WSJ on Iran’s designs of expansionism in the face of Obama’s “perceived” retreat from the Middle East is insightful. Covering the dynamics of Iran’s engagement and real-politik with six of its immediate neighbours, Egypt, Lebanon, Bahrain, Morocco, Kuwait and Jordan.

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Posted in International Affairs | Tagged , , , , | 3 Responses

Man bites dog

By Faisal | Published: May 22, 2009

In the spirit of giving credit where credit is due, it’s good to see Inayat Bunglawala giving the truculent wierdness of Hizb ut-Tahrir a good kick.

Specifically, this is about HT’s use of the expenses scandal to underline the endemic “corruption, exploitation and treachery” at the heart of the democratic system and therefore the west. And naturally, for the Hizbis, any abuse of our political system is another nail in the coffin of democracy and only serves to demonstrate that the Khilafa, the Islamic Caliphate, must be the only viable and corruption-free alternative.

Bunglawala trashes this false dichotomy neatly:

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Posted in Democracy | Tagged , | 3 Responses

What the Boys have been up to so far…

By Houriya | Published: May 21, 2009

Recent punishments handed down by the al-Qaeda linked group al-Shebab (lit. The Youth) in areas they control in Somalia:

‘Thieving’ in Kismayo
Earlier this month, a local court run by the Shebab found Mohamed Omar Ismail guilty for stealing “10 pairs of trousers, 10 shirts, eight other items and a bag” worth approximately $90. A vehicle summoned residents through loudspeakers to witness Ismail’s punishment. He was brought into a park and had his hand chopped at the wrist. The severed hand was held up to the crowds. Ismail insists he did not steal.

‘Adultery’ in Kismayo
In October last year, Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow, a 13 year old girl was forced into a hole in a stadium, buried up to her neck and then stoned to death by more than 50 men in front of 1,000+ people for allegedly confessing adultery in a Shebab run court. Amnesty says the victim was actually gang raped. She approached the court, run by the Shebab militia, for justice.

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Posted in Human Rights, Islamism, Sharia | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Filling the bogeyman role

By Faisal | Published: May 20, 2009

With both Abu Hamza and Omar Bakri Muhammed out of the loop due to either incarceration or ‘banishment’, it was only a matter of time before the British media presented the mantle of ‘Most Evil Islamist Fruitcake’ to another willing individual. Enter Anjem Choudary of Al Mouhajiroun. A glutton for media attention, Choudary’s deranged but calculated outburts have shown him to be more than willing to fill that role and, not to mention, column inches.

Anjem Choudary having a quiet moment to himself

Anjem Choudary having a quiet moment to himself

Edmund Standing’s breakdown of the media attention devoted Choudary discusses the demonisation ‘by association’ of Muslims as the inevitable result of this over-exposure. Here is an excerpt:

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Posted in Anti Muslim bigotry, Islamism | Tagged | 1 Response

“How can they take over?”

By Faisal | Published: May 20, 2009

Some mid-morning levity from Asif Zardari on the Jon Stewart show.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart M – Th 11p / 10c
Apakalypse Now
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes		 Economic Crisis Political Humor
Posted in Islamism | Tagged | 2 Responses

Prabhakaran is dead

By Houriya | Published: May 19, 2009

Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran has been killed, according to the Sri Lankan government. The government is claiming victory after 26 years of war with the Tigers.

I wonder if the Tamils will still protest in front of Parliament…

Posted in Politics, Terrorism | Tagged , , | 3 Responses

Hizb-ut Tahrir and the ‘butcher of Buner’

By Houriya | Published: May 18, 2009

Hizb-ut Tahrir (HT) Britain, a global Islamist revolutionary group calling for the establishment of an Islamic state (Khilafah), has recently issued a press statement titled ‘Brown welcomes the butcher of Buner to Downing Street’ – denouncing Pakistani President  Zardari’s visit to the UK. Taji Mustafa HT Britain’s media representative said:

“The whole reason why the British, American and other Western governments sponsor brutal tyrants such as Zardari is because they fear the growing call in the Muslim lands such as Pakistan for Islam and the re-establishment of the Khilafah. Their strategy revolves around the simple objective of preventing Muslims from controlling their own political destiny…”

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Posted in Human Rights, Islamism | Tagged , , | 10 Responses

Diesel bombers convicted

By Faisal | Published: May 17, 2009
Beheshti, Mirza, Taj

Beheshti, Mirza, Taj

Three men, Ali Beheshti (41), Abrar Mirza (23) and Abbas Taj (31) who conspired to firebomb the residence of publisher Martin Rynja in September 2008, have been found guilty of recklessly damaging property and endangering life.

Rynja had been planning to publish a novel by US author Shelley Jones called the Jewel of Medina.

Fortunately all three men, who possessed the collective IQ of a cabbage, had been under police surveillance. Officers followed them on the night of the attack and arrested Beheshti, a former member of al-Mouhajiroun and Mirza at the scene. The fire was quickly put out. Taj was the driver of the getaway car.

The men were under surveillance by police who had warned Martin Rynja, 43, and his partner, to move out of their four-storey townhouse, which had an office in the basement.

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Posted in Books, Crime, Freedom of Expression | 8 Responses

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