Protesters Overrun US Embassy In Egypt Over Mysterious Movie

No one can actually verify what film the protesters are supposedly upset about which makes the protests against the US Embassy in Cairo all the more odd and disturbing. Reuters and USA Today can't seem to track down the film, but regardless of the facts and circumstances, a group of protesters set out to overrun the US Embassy in Cairo. They succeeded in taking down the US flag for a time and scrawling graffiti referring to not disgracing the name of the prophet Mohammad.

From Reuters:

"This movie must be banned immediately and an apology should be made ... This is a disgrace," said 19-year-old, Ismail Mahmoud, a member of the so-called "ultras" soccer supporters who played a big role in the uprising that brought down Hosni Mubarak last year.

Many Muslims consider any depiction of the Prophet to be offensive.

Mahmoud called on President Mohamed Mursi, Egypt's first civilian president and an Islamist, to take action. Many others were supporters of Islamist groups.

About 20 people stood on top of the embassy wall in central Cairo, where about 2,000 protesters had gathered.

"There is no god but Allah, Mohammad is Allah's messenger. We will sacrifice ourselves for you, Allah's messenger," they chanted, with many waving religious flags.

A U.S. embassy official had no immediate comment on the protesters' actions but the embassy had put out a statement earlier on Tuesday condemning those who hurt the religious feelings of Muslims or followers of any other religions.

"We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others," the U.S. embassy said in its statement.

One slogan scrawled on the walls of the embassy, a fortress-like structure that is near Tahrir Square where Egyptians revolted against Mubarak, said: "If your freedom of speech has no limits, may you accept our freedom of action."

An Egyptian state website carried a statement by Egypt's Coptic Orthodox church condemning what it said were moves by some Copts living abroad "to finance the production of a film insulting Prophet Mohammad".

About a 10th of Egypt's 83 million people are Christians.

It was not immediately clear which film angered protesters.

However, according to the website www.standupamerianow.org, the Christian Pastor Terry Jones, who angered Muslims by burning a copy of the Koran, was due to take part in an event on Tuesday called "International Judge Mohammad Day" in Florida in which it would symbolically put the Prophet on trial and play it out live over the Internet.

"Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy," the U.S. embassy statement said, adding that it condemned the efforts by "misguided individuals" to hurt the feelings of Muslims.

What's interesting is that you've got hundreds of people protesting a film allegedly being made in the US but not a single person can actually cite the name of the film. Moreover, it appears that FARS (Iran) is pushing the claim that Egyptian Coptic Christians are behind the film and fanning sectarian violence that will inevitably result from such claims.

So, the only "film" that could even fit the profile is some Internet production by Terry Jones who's got quite the reputation for hating Islam and showing a tremendous amount of religious intolerance.

That might be what they're protesting, but as with most kinds of protests across the Arab world, all it takes is a rumor for things to take hold, and no amount of debunking will stop things.

What we do know is that Egypt has been hit by several waves of sectarian violence since the fall of Hosni Mubarak and Coptic Christians have been under assault from Islamists who are asserting themselves at the Coptic Christians' expense.

UPDATE:
According to twitter links to this website provided by NJDhockeyfan, the name of the film is Life of King of Islam but there's no reference in IMDB.com. It was supposedly done by Sam Basil (again no reference in imdb), but they refer to Terry Jones' actions. There's also a reference to Dutch involvement, but it's not clear what is being referenced.

UPDATE:
The Atlantic seems to have run down more details, though there's way too much speculation about who is behind the film, their intentions, and other salient details.

The movie is called Mohammed Nabi al-Muslimin, or Mohammed, Prophet of the Muslims. If you've never heard of it, that's because most of the few clips circulating online are dubbed in Arabic. The above clip, which is allegedly from the film (update: Kurt Werthmuller, a Coptic specialist at the Hudson Institute, says he's confirmed the clip's authenticity) is one of the only in English. That's also because it's allegedly produced by Florida Pastor Terry Jones (yes, the asshole who burnt the Koran despite Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates' pleas) and two Egyptians living in the U.S., according to Egyptian press accounts. The Egyptians are allegedly Coptic, the Christian minority that makes up about a tenth of Egypt.

Obviously, there's a lot to this story that's still unclear. What we do know is that some members of Egypt's sometimes-raucous, often rumor-heavy media have been playing highly offensive clips from the highly offensive film, stressing its U.S. and Coptic connections. In the clip below, controversial TV host Sheikh Khaled Abdallah (known for such statements as "Iran is more dangerous to us than the Jews" and that Tehran had engineered a deadly soccer riot in Port Said) hypes the film as an American-Coptic plot and introduces what he says is its opening scene.

UPDATE:
A second American embassy has been besieged, this time in Libya. Libyan security forces have been fighting against unknown militias in the vicinity of the American embassy.

The AP reports that Morris Sadek is promoting the video on his website and on some television stations.

Morris Sadek, an Egyptian-born Christian in the United States known for his strongly anti-Islam views, said in an interview from Washington that he was promoting the video on his Web site and on certain television stations, which he did not identify.

He said the video “explains the problems of the Copts who suffer from Muslims,” for which he blamed the Koran.

For several days, the Egyptian news media have been reporting on the movie, playing excerpts and blaming Mr. Sadek for it, with ultraconservative clerics going on the air to denounce it.

Medhat Klada, a representative of Coptic Christian organizations in Europe, said Mr. Sadek’s views did not represent those of expatriate Copts.

“He is an extremist,” he said in an interview from Switzerland. “We refuse any attacks on religions because of a moral position.”

This has the feel of the cartoon jihad in the making - where more than 100 people were killed around the world, several embassies were ransacked and torched, and all because of the publication of cartoons in a Danish publication, Jyllands Posten.

Who Will Follow Bin Laden as Head of Al Qaeda?

While much of the speculation as to who will assume the role as top terrorist in al Qaeda has fallen on Ayman al Zawahiri, there appears to be rumblings over whether he is sufficiently charismatic enough to keep the group going and whether he can get along with other terrorists.

Other possibilities include Anwar al Awlaki, whose followers have carried out several high profile attempted attacks in recent years.

Yet, there's one figure who hasn't quite made the headlines in the US who may be in a position to take over al Qaeda. He's a former Pakistani commando known as Ilyas Kashmiri.

An elusive figure who often wears heavily tinted aviator glasses, Kashmiri remains at large and active in plotting new attacks against the West, U.S. officials say. It was Kashmiri who, according to U.S. officials, was the key figure behind a suspected plot for multiple attacks in European cities, patterned after the 2008 Mumbai terror strike, which led to a widely publicized State Department travel advisory in October.

While Ayman al-Zawahri remains the “presumed” successor to bin Laden, the longtime al-Qaida deputy is deeply unpopular in some circles and his elevation is by no means guaranteed, a senior U.S. official told reporters this weekend. If al-Zawahri doesn’t make it, Kashmiri may emerge as the dark horse in the ensuing power struggle, the official told NBC on Monday.

“His star has been on the rise for the last several years,” said the official. “He would have to be on the al-Qaida short list.”

Kashmiri was at one point a member of the Pakistani military, serving as a commando in a Special Services Group that was once tasked with training Afghan mujahedeen to fight the Soviets.

He was later reassigned to train Kashmiri fighters against the Indians, but broke from the Pakistani army and joined a terrorist group — called Harakat-ul Jihad-i-Islami, or HUJI (“Movement of Islamic Holy War”) — that has been closely aligned with al-Qaida.


So far, U.S. officials have remained tight-lipped on whether they have found evidence in bin Laden’s compound that shows direct contacts between the now deceased al-Qaida leader and Kashmiri. But hints of such links — and of Kashmiri’s interest in mass casualty terror plots — are contained in U.S. court documents.

While Kashmiri was originally trained and worked closely with the Pakistani military and security services, he turned on Pervez Musharaf's regime and even targeted him in assassination attempts. His cadre of terrorists have carried out attacks in Pakistan, India, Kashmir, and plotted against the West, including a plot against Jyllands Posten for their running cartoons depicting Mohammad.

He's known to use the frontier provinces of Pakistan as his base of operations.

The US labeled him a specially designated global terrorist in August 2010, which puts him in the same ranks as the ex-bin Laden and Zawahiri. The US has attempted to carry out UAV airstrikes against him in the past, and have come close on several occasions, particularly after capturing several of his top henchmen.

Depending on who to believe, one would think that al Qaeda had three spheres of operation - the strategic, military, and ideological - with bin Laden, Kashmiri, and Zawahiri running each, respectively. However, with bin Laden's death and the cache of intel gathered from his compound in Abbottabad, that thinking may have been sorely misguided. It would appear that bin Laden was in command and control over most operational and strategic thinking of the terror group, using couriers to shuttle information between him and his subordinates.

Kashmiri, being central to these discussions, therefore may be in a better position to assume the leadership role. He's got the military credibility among the Taliban and knows his way through the region better than others, including Zawahiri. He also benefits from knowing Pakistani tactics and probabilities - where and how the Pakistanis operate their security forces and military. That's invaluable in evading capture or being struck in Pakistani airstrikes.

Jihad Jane Enters Guilty Plea On Four Terror-Related Charges

Colleen LaRose, who had been dubbed Jihad Jane, has entered a guilty plea on all four terror-related charges.

Colleen LaRose, the woman who authorities say called herself "Jihad Jane" on YouTube, has changed her mind about fighting government charges that she was plotting to wage violent jihad overseas. She pleaded guilty to all counts Tuesday at a federal change-of-plea hearing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

LaRose was indicted in 2009 on four counts, including conspiring to support terrorists and kill someone overseas. She was allegedly part of a plot to murder Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who outraged some by depicting the prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog in 2007.

Five other co-conspirators were allegedly involved, but never named by the government.

LaRose also is accused of lying to a federal agent and attempted identity theft.

Al Qaeda in Iraq had put a $100,000 bounty on Vilks for his involvement in depicting Mohammed.

Prior coverage is here.

Twin Terror Bombings Shatter Serenity In Sweden

Stockholm, Sweden was rocked by a pair of terror attacks. The pair of car bombs detonated within minutes of each other and the attacks were geared towards Sweden's involvement in fighting in Afghanistan and the cartoon jihad.



These attacks differ from other Islamic terror attacks in that warnings were emailed to local media outlets and law enforcement. That's a different modus operandi than the typical attack, and should signal to law enforcement that something else is perhaps going on here.

One man, who appears to have been a suicide bomber, was killed, and two people were injured. The explosions occurred about ten minutes after a Swedish news agency and police received a threatening e-mail that referred to Sweden’s troops in Afghanistan and a Swedish cartoonist's controversial 2007 depiction of the Prophet Muhammad.

The attacks bring the struggle with terrorism to Sweden, which until now has avoided the violent attacks that have taken place in other European nations.

In the first explosion, a car filled with gas canisters burst into flames at about 4:50 p.m. local time on a street in a busy shopping center, reports The Guardian.

Another explosion occurred nearby 10-15 minutes later, and witnesses reported seeing a man lying on the ground afterward with wounds in his abdomen.

The Swedish newspaper Aftonblade reported the he was carrying pipe bombs and a backpack full of nails, according to the Guardian, but that news was not confirmed by authorities. Police did say it was “possible” that the man had blown himself up, and a police spokesman said Sunday the force was investigating “terror crimes.”

Awlaki Announces Fatwa Against Cartoonist

Anwar al-Awlaki is in the news once again. The radical Islamist who has been linked with the Fort Hood massacre, the failed Times Square bombing, and the underwear bomber, has announced a fatwa against a cartoonist who wanted to test the limits of free speech in the United States.

Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki - the radical who has also been cited as inspiring the Fort Hood, Tex., massacre and the plot by two New Jersey men to kill U.S. soldiers - singled out artist Molly Norris as a "prime target," saying her "proper abode is hellfire."

FBI officials have notified Norris and warned her they consider it a "very serious threat."

In an English-language Al Qaeda magazine that calls itself "Inspire," Awlaki damns Norris and eight others for "blasphemous caricatures" of the Prophet Muhammed. The other cartoonists, authors and journalists in Awlaki's cross hairs are Swedish, Dutch and British citizens.

The 67-page terror rag is seen by terrorism experts as a bald new attempt to reach and recruit Muslim youth in the West.

"The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved," writes Awlaki, 39, a Las Cruces, N.M.-born American citizen.

"A soul that is so debased, as to enjoy the ridicule of the Messenger of Allah, the mercy to mankind; a soul that is so ungrateful towards its lord that it defames the Prophet of the religion Allah has chosen for his creation does not deserve life, does not deserve to breathe the air."

Awlaki's rant first appeared late last month in "Inspire," which was posted to the Internet by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a Yemeni branch linked to a Christmas Day bombing attempt on a U.S.-bound jet.

The Seattle-based American Molly Norris was among nine people singled out by Awlaki, including Swedes, Dutch, and British authors and artists.

Awlaki continues to run free in Yemen despite efforts to track him down. He is a major player in recruiting to jihad and his online rantings are both used for indoctrination and for spreading the message of hate and violence against those who do not subscribe to his vision of Islam.

A Norwegian Connection In Subway Bomb Plot In US and UK

In addition to the indictment handed down yesterday against Adnan Shukrijumah, it looks like authorities in Norway have arrested three people in connection with a plot that appears to have links with the US subway bomb plot led by Najibullah Zazi and a similar plot in Britain.

The three men, whose names were not released, had been under surveillance for more than a year. Officials believe they were planning attacks with portable but powerful bombs like the ones at the heart of last year's thwarted suicide attack in the New York City subway.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has called that one of the most serious terrorist plots since 9/11. On Wednesday, prosecutors revealed the existence of a related plot in Manchester, England.

Officials believe the Norway plan was instigated by Salah al-Somali, al-Qaida's former chief of external operations, who was in charge of plotting attacks worldwide until he was killed in a CIA drone airstrike last year.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case. The Norwegian Police Security Service said only that the three were arrested on suspicion of "preparing terror activities."

Al-Somali has been identified in U.S. court documents as one of the masterminds of the New York subway plot. Two men have pleaded guilty in that case, admitting they planned to detonate explosives during rush hour. A third man awaits trial.

Officials said it was not clear the men had selected a target for the attacks but they were attempting to make peroxide bombs, the powerful homemade explosives that prosecutors say were attempted in both New York and England.

U.S. and Norwegian counterterrorism officials worked closely together to unravel the Norwegian plot, officials said. Janne Kristiansen, the head of the Police Security Service, traveled to the U.S. this spring to discuss some of the closely held intelligence that been gathered in the case.

So why was Norway chosen? Well, Norway has a contingent of 500 troops in Afghanistan as part of the NATO ISAF.

Much more likely is that it is yet another outgrowth of the cartoon jihad sparked by the publication of a series of Mohammad cartoons in a Danish newspaper, Jyllands Posten, which caused riots in many Islamic countries and embassies of several nations were torched, including the Norwegian embassy in Syria, primarily because the Scandanavian countries were seen as being of a similar mind about the publication and freedom of speech that it represents.

UPDATE:
So how did Shukrijumah get implicated? Well, it looks like Zazi cooperated with federal authorities to the extent that they're even considering putting him and fellow terrorist Zarein Ahmedzay into witness protection.

Federal Judge Raymond Dearie agreed yesterday to unseal the cooperation agreements. Medunjanin's co-defendants - Zazi, who was the New York plot's pointman, and Ahmedzay - both apparently may get a sweet deal.

Zazi and Ahmedzay could have their life sentences reduced and enter the witness protection program if the Justice Department agrees with prosecutors' recommendations. Zazi could also receive the "S" visa.

Palestinians Threatening War Over Israel's Decision To Protect Holy Sites

Islamic Jihad has joined with Hamas and Fatah in warning of terror attacks against Israel following Israel's decision to include the Cave of Machpellah among Israel's natural heritage sites. Islamic Jihad wants to go to war with Israel over this
.

The decision to declare the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb national heritage sites ahead of their renovation may lead the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to another boiling point: Abu Ahmed, a spokesman for the Islamic Jihad's military wing, threatened Tuesday to launch attacks within Israel.

"If the Israelis continue to damage our mosques and holy places, we will respond within the Zionist territory," the al-Quds Brigades spokesman told Ynet. Israel's ministers, however, insist that the government will not renege on its decision.

Abu Ahmed admitted that the reinforced security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority was preventing the Palestinian groups from operating inside Israel, but estimated that "in the coming months, or to be more exact – in the next six months, the rules of the games are expected to change and the attacks will not only be against the settlers in the West Bank, but also within the entity, as we are aware of the fact that the soft underbelly and the biggest pain are when the attacks take place deep inside the enemy's territory.

"As far as we are concerned, the annexation of the mosques to the heritage sites is another move of aggression and a move aimed at completing the Judaization of the holy sites – and all the organizations are required to respond."

Mind you that these mosques were built over Jewish holy sites that predated the Muslim presence. Yet, now Palestinians want to excise the Jewish presence and any attempts to preserve Jewish claims.

Think about it. These terrorists want to start a war with Israel because Israel wants to protect a Jewish heritage site.

Moreover, the Palestinians admit that Israel's security measures have thwarted the terrorists' attempts to engage in jihad against Israel - to murder Israelis.

This is Israel's partner in peace? Seriously?

Somali Man Charged With Attempted Murder of Danish Mohammad Cartoonist

A Somali man with ties to al Qaeda was charged with the attempted murder of Kurt Westergaard after he broke into the cartoonist's home with an axe and knife with the intention to murder him for depicting Mohammad in a series of cartoons that were published in 2005.

A Somali man was charged Saturday with two counts of attempted murder for an attack on a Danish artist whose 2005 cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad ignited riots and outrage across the Muslim world, authorities said.

The 28-year-old Somali -- who had ties to al-Qaida -- broke into Kurt Westergaard's home in Aarhus on Friday night armed with an ax and a knife, said Jakob Scharf, head of Denmark's PET intelligence agency.

The 75-year-old artist, who has been the target of several death threats since depicting the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb-shaped turban, pressed an alarm and fled with his 5-year-old granddaughter to a specially made safe room.

Officers arrived two minutes later and tried to arrest the assailant, but then shot him in the hand and knee when he threatened them with the ax, said Preben Nielsen of the Aarhus police.

Several Islamist groups issued fatwas in the aftermath of the publication and called for the death of the cartoonist and those responsible for their publication. Riots also ensued around the world with several embassies being damaged, and rioters murdered more than 50 people.

It's instructive to remember what Westergaard refuses to back down in the face of the violence. He doubled down on the jihadis in 2008 with yet another critique of the Islamists and their incessant violence against those who do not believe as they do.

Curiously, the Danish authorities aren't releasing the name of the man, who they say has ties to al Qaeda and al Sahab terror groups, and may have carried out other terror attacks in Africa.

Yale's Book On Mohammed Cartoons Wont Publish Them

The Mohammed cartoons that started riots around the world and left a wake of death and destruction will not be published in a book that is on Mohammed cartoons. The publisher, Yale University Press, opted not to include those cartoons.

Yale University has removed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad from an upcoming book about how they caused outrage across the Muslim world, drawing criticism from prominent alumni and a national group of university professors.

Yale cited fears of violence.

Yale University Press, which the university owns, removed the 12 caricatures from the book "The Cartoons That Shook the World" by Brandeis University professor Jytte Klausen. The book is scheduled to be released next week.

A Danish newspaper originally published the cartoons — including one depicting Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban — in 2005. Other Western publications reprinted them.

The following year, the cartoons triggered massive protests from Morocco to Indonesia. Rioters torched Danish and other Western diplomatic missions. Some Muslim countries boycotted Danish products.

Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.

Cary Nelson, president of the American Association of University Professors, said Yale's decision effectively means: "We do not negotiate with terrorists. We just accede to their anticipated demands."

In a statement explaining the decision, Yale University Press said it consulted counterterrorism officials, diplomats and the top Muslim official at the United Nations.

Irony Meter Pegged in the Redline

Once again the New York Times doesn't fail to disappoint when it comes to pegging the irony meter in the red.

This time, their public editor, Clark Hoyt notes that photos are central to the telling of any narrative. He's writing this in respect to the fact that photos of US soldiers at war - particularly those showing US soldiers injured or dying are lacking from public view in US media outlets.

Painful as these issues are — C. J. Chivers, a Times reporter and former Marine officer who wrote about Valdez-Castillo, told me he is “pretty tortured” about them — I think The Times has an obligation to pursue stories and photographs that report the entire experience of war, including death.

It's funny he mentioned this since his paper steadfastly refused to ever entertain publication of the Mohammed cartoons. The paper could report on it, but never actually showed what the hubbub was about.

Islamists around the world rioted and attacked diplomatic facilities, murdered people on the streets, and caused mayhem. It was a cartoon jihad. Yet, the images that the mullahs used to stoke the violence were kept from public view by the Times because it claimed it wasn't necessary.

HT: Hot Air

Good News From the Dockets

Yesterday's Supreme Court ruling was a serious setback for the nation and how it handles those enemy combatants it captures on the fields of battle around the world. For those individuals picked up in the US, they face a civilian criminal justice system that sometimes misses the mark as well.

Today wasn't one of those days.

Today two decisions/deals were reached that found suspects guilty of engaging in terrorism against the US.

The first is University of South Florida student Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, who entered into a plea deal with prosecutors and admitted to being a terrorist.

In the court document, he admits to providing material to support terrorists. He also acknowledges that a YouTube video he produced was to be used in "preparation for or in carrying out the killing of employees of the United States," including uniformed personnel.

Mohamed and Youssef Megahed were arrested August 4, 2007, in Goose Creek, South Carolina after a traffic stop. Authorities recovered a number of items from the car which constituted explosive materials.

Megahed remains in custody.

I expect Mohamed to turn on Megahed in what would likely be characterized by Megahed's attorney's as Mohamed giving testimony in exchange for a lighter sentence down the road (that's how these things usually work). CAIR initially came out and claimed that these two were victims, but I doubt we'll be hearing from CAIR again on this case.

The second case was a trial of three men in Toledo, Ohio, where a jury found all three men guilty of plotting terror attacks against US troops overseas.

Mohammad Amawi, Marwan El-Hindi, and Wassim Mazloum, all of whom are Muslim, were convicted on all counts of conspiring to kill or injure people outside the United States and face sentences of life in prison.

Prosecutors said the men were learning to shoot guns and make explosives while raising money to fund their plans to wage a holy war against U.S. troops.

“Today’s verdicts should send a strong message to individuals who would use this country as a platform to plot attacks against U.S. military personnel in Iraq and elsewhere,” said Patrick Rowan, acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security, in a written statement.

“This case also underscores the need for continued vigilance in identifying and dismantling extremist plots that develop in America’s heartland.”

Defense attorneys charged that the three defendants were manipulated by a government informant.

So much for the defense attorney claims. The jury didn't buy them.

Closer to home, Brian Morgenstern , who broke open the Fort Dix Six terror plot after overhearing the conspirators talking at a Circuit City where Morgenstern works, was honored by the New Jersey Senate. The trial on five of the six people indicted is to go forward with jury selection in September. The sixth member, Agron Abdullahu, entered into a plea deal separately from the other five and is serving 20 months in prison on weapons charges.

UPDATE:
Michelle Malkin wonders which would get more media coverage - the R. Kelly child porn case verdict, or the terror trial outcomes. Does she really think that the media would focus on the terror trial, especially with guilty verdicts or plea deals involved?

Remember also, that Megahed and Mohamed had claimed that they were in the vicinity of the Goose Creek Naval Station to play with fireworks.

Kurt Westergaard Doubles Down

Westergaard is one of the cartoonists whose images were useful fodder for Islamists who whipped their parishioners into a frenzy of rage and hatred and violence. The Muslims who rioted around the world complained about the bad portrayal of Muslims and that of Mohammad all while committing all manner of violence (torching embassies and businesses, and murdering more than 50 people).

He's doubling down. As someone who is the focus of multiple death threats and fatwas and a recent assassination plot that brought out media in Denmark to republish the same cartoons in response, he's not backing down from the jihadis:



UPDATE:
Found this interview of Westergaard at Family Security Matters, and it's quite an interesting read as he goes off on the multiculturalists that enable Islamofascism.

Free Speech Under Assault at YouTube

Pakistan's government has banned access to the video-sharing Web site YouTube because of anti-Islamic movies that users have posted on the site, an official said Sunday.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority told the country's 70 Internet service providers Friday that the popular Web site would be blocked until further notice.

The authority did not specify what the offensive material was, but a PTA official said the ban concerned a movie trailer for an upcoming film by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, who has said he plans to release an anti-Koran movie portraying the religion as fascist and prone to inciting violence against women and homosexuals.

The PTA official, who asked not to be identified because he was not an official spokesman, said the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority also blocks Web sites that show controversial drawings of the Prophet Muhammad. The drawings were originally printed in European newspapers in 2006 and were reprinted by some papers last week.

The PTA urged Web users to write to YouTube and request the removal of the objectionable movies, saying authorities would stop blocking the site once that happened.

Pakistan finds the videos and images of Mohammad to be objectionable and wants to see YouTube ban them. No word on whether Pakistan would ban the jihadi propaganda videos showing the butchers slaughtering innocents - beheadings and terrorist attacks and martyrdom videos.

Free speech is more objectionable than suicide bombings, terrorism, and beheadings.

Demonstrative Demonstrations

Once again, the Gazans are busy whining and seething. This time, they're busy complaining about the republication of the Mohammad cartoons, which happened two weeks ago after Danish authorities cracked an assassination plot against Kurt Westergaard, one of the cartoonists.

Flags were burned, and the demonstrators expressed their ire against the likes of Denmark, the US, and Wikipedia (which refuses to stop publication of the cartoons at the heart of the matter). Brian at Snapped Shot has photos of the ongoing demonstrations. Michelle Malkin has more. The editors have done their best to crop the heck out of the photos to sanitize the messages of hatred and venom.

They're busy burning effigies of Westergaard (and jumping over the flaming carcass?) in Pakistan [ed: added location for clarity]. Seriously. What is this about? Getty Images has a whole bunch of these types of photos.

I have to wonder just how many of the protesters actually know what Wikipedia is.

Demonstrations also took place in Indonesia and Kuwait, where one of the signs indicated that the demonstrators are more than willing to sacrifice their sons for the cause. How comforting.



Syria warns that the cartoons will lead to a religious war. Right, as though the ongoing jihad against the West by the Islamic co-religionists is to be ignored?

UPDATE:
Jammie notes that the Islamists are sure to start complaining about snack foods before long. You see, some actually use alcohol to tease out additional flavors, but are in minute quantities so are therefore not included on ingredient lists.

A tiny amount of alcohol is used in some products as a chemical agent to extract flavour.

The use of alcohol was discovered by Besharat Rehman, who owns a halal supermarket in Bradford, and reported in the Eastern Eye. Mr Rehman said: “Our suppliers were unaware of the alcohol. Walkers must make it clear on the packaging so customers can make an informed choice.”

Shuja Shafi, who chairs the food standards committee of the Muslim Council of Britain, said that he intended to investigate. “Certainly we would find it very offensive to have eaten food with alcohol.”

Right, it would be offensive to eat foods containing alcohol, but you don't seem to have a problem with co-religionists turning into suicide bombers and slaughtering innocents. I find that highly offensive.

UPDATE:
Charles at LGF points out that the AP is busy calling the protestors torching Danish flags human rights activists. George Orwell would be proud.

Does that make me a human rights activist according to the AP if I publish the Mohammad cartoons to protest the jihadis who blow stuff up in the name of Allah? I didn't think so.

Worldwide Reactions Continue In Aftermath of Cartoon Republication: UPDATE: Bombing in Copenhagen

UPDATE --- See below for latest on bombing incident in Copenhagen ---

While rioting in Denmark itself has settled down (or isn't being reported by the wire services, demonstrations in Muslim countries around the world continue to make news and headlines. One such demonstration took place in Indonesia. At least 150 people demonstrated, organized by Hizbut Tahrir, outside the Danish embassy:

The protesters, who blocked the entrance to the embassies, wore headbands bearing Arabic inscriptions and waved banners saying "Death to those who insult the Prophet" and "Freedom of speech a disguise to insult Islam".

Free speech for me, but not for thee. You disagree with the Islamists, and you could find yourself sans head.

Pakistani officials summoned Danish officials to demand explanations for the cartoon republication.

"The Danish charge d'affaires was called to the foreign office today... to lodge a strong protest over the republication of the blasphemous cartoons in Denmark," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Danish envoy was told by a senior Pakistani foreign ministry official that the republication of the cartoons had "deeply offended Muslim feeling and sentiment" all over the world, it said.

"Since hurting sentiments of other religions was not responsible behaviour, the Danish government was obliged as a responsible government to stop the publication of the cartoons," it quoted the official as telling the Danish envoy.

The ministry said that the Danish diplomat explained that his government did not have any hand in the publication of the cartoons and that he would convey the sentiments of the government of Pakistan to his government.

None of these governments are exactly going out of their way to condemn the men who were arrested plotting to assassinate one of the cartoonists who drew one of the cartoons involved. They, instead, are going after the newspapers and those who republished the cartoons.

The matter has even made its way into the United Nations Durban II conference, where they're debating limitations on free speech.

UPDATE:
Kurt Westergaard, one of the cartoonists, and the author who penned the cartoon that accompanies this and other postings on the cartoon jihad, has been kicked out of a hotel where he was staying on fear that the jihadis might strike at him there:

He was booted from his police-protected hotel room on Feb. 15 for being “too much of a security risk.” And now the 73-year-old cartoonist and his wife are without a place to live.

UPDATE:
This is the only report I've seen thus far, but apparently a bomb went off in Copenhagen earlier today and two other suspicious packages were destroyed as well. No one was injured, but it does mark an escalation in the violence. Once again, the author is Jakob Illeborg, and I've been highly critical of him before. He again suggests appeasement in the face of violence, and I'm not alone in that criticism. Eugene Volokh also wonders why Illeborg doesn't consider free speech an important concept worth defending, and instead counsels waiting until it really matters (leaving it completely undefined and amorphous).

Nine Days of Danish Riots; New Excuse Offered

The latest excuse to the ongoing rioting that has resulted in schools across Denmark torched, along with hundreds of cars, is that the riots occurred to protest police harassment.

A group of youths who have been torching cars and waste containers in the Danish capital said Tuesday the wave of unrest started as a protest against police harassment.

In a letter published in Copenhagen newspaper Politiken, the youths accused police of "brutal, racist" behavior.

It was the first time that rioting juveniles had offered any explanation for the fires that have raged for nine consecutive nights mostly in immigrant neighborhoods across the country. The authors of the letter said they would now stop rioting.

"Basically the unrest is about the way we are treated by the police, who are brutal, racist and totally unacceptably insulting," the group said in the letter.

The authors called themselves "Boys of inner Noerrebro," referring to the immigrant neighborhood in Copenhagen where the unrest started on Feb. 10.

Police said 21 fires were set overnight Tuesday for a total of about 600 since the wave of arson started. The youths have burned cars, trash containers and schools. In some cases, they have pelted firefighters with rocks, but no serious injuries have been reported.

Did no one try nonviolent demonstrations such as protesting in papers or marching through the streets, rather than starting directly with rioting and carnage?

Expect this to be an excuse proffered by those who are rioting in France as the French government cracks down and arrests dozens over the weekend for involvement in the nightly rioting that occurs in the Paris suburbs.

These thugs are justifying the inexcusable rioting and destruction of public and private property because they claim that the police are racist or engage in harassment.

Meanwhile, the Egyptians summoned the Danish ambassador to give him a talking to over the cartoon republication. Egypt also banned issues of four papers from distribution in Egypt, including the Wall Street Journal:

The Egyptian government has summoned the ambassador of Denmark in Cairo to protest the reprinting of cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohammad in Danish newspapers, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The Information Ministry also said it has banned issues of four Western newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal and Britain's The Observer, because they contained the reprints, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported.

Protests and riots erupted in many Muslim countries in 2006 when the cartoons, one showing the Prophet wearing a turban resembling a bomb, first appeared in a Danish daily. At least 50 people were killed and three Danish embassies attacked.

"The insistence of the Danish media to insult Islam again is unfortunate since the incident of publishing the cartoons has undoubtedly confirmed that such shameful acts only lead to more tension," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The insistence to complain bitterly about the publication of cartoons while remaining silent over the assassination plot to murder one of the cartoonists, is quite telling. Thousands of Egyptian students demonstrated and called for a boycott of Danish goods. You can't tell me that this is some spontaneous action - there is coordination going on here that smacks of Islamist intent.

Riots Continue for Eighth Night in Denmark

The riots in Denmark continue for an eighth straight night.

A total of 20 towns were hit by fires on Sunday night, with around 29 people arrested - most of them for arson or attempted arson.

In two cases the fires were so strong that blocks of flats had to be evacuated.

Bands of young people have vandalised or set fire to hundreds of cars and a number of schools in the past week, however the situation was said to have been improving over the weekend.

Police said they could give no reason for the behaviour, but said unusually mild weather and the closure of schools for a winter break might have contributed.

Social workers believe an alleged plot to kill a Danish cartoonist for his drawing two years ago of the Prophet Mohammad may have fuelled the riots. Fifteen Danish newspapers reprinted his drawing on Wednesday in protest against the alleged murder plot.

It's almost become a truism about these riots that they're due to winter break combined with unusually warm weather.

Social workers are on the right track, at least in part. The rioting began before the republication of the Mohammad cartoons following the revelation and disruption of an assassination plot against one of the cartoonists. However, things progressively became worse after the republication. Muslim groups denounced the republication, but have been strangely silent over the assassination plot against the cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard, who was expressing his free speech rights to criticize others. It's truly a sad commentary when the cartoons spur the very violence that the cartoons depict.

About 90 fires were reported last night. The Danish Prime Minister puts the onus on those responsible for the violence:

Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Sunday said the rioting youths and their parents bore the responsibility for the unrest, and said they should expect no sympathy from society.

He noted that Denmark's freedom of speech includes cartoonists, and that anger over a drawing did not give anyone "the right to burn others' cars or to burn down schools or institutions."

On Saturday, Danish lawmakers canceled a planned trip to Iran after the Foreign Policy Committee received a letter from Iran demanding that lawmakers condemned the cartoon reprints.

The all-party committee said in a statement that the trip was called off because its members "can't or will not apologize for the drawings."

The violence may lessen now that the Danish schools are back in session.

Still, there are those who think that the riots are self-inflicted by the newspapers that republished the articles. Jakob Illeborg, a writer at the Guardian, thinks that the Danish papers acted hastily and that the reaction was predictable in the anti-Danish sentiment that swept through the Muslim world. Really? Your right to speak your mind is based on the ability to say things that might be uncomfortable or put the beliefs of others in a bad light. You may be satirized, criticized, and lambasted for what you say and what you believe.

The cartoon jihad shows that there are groups, specifically Muslim and Islamist groups, that refuse to accept criticism, satire, or any kind of objection to their views and that their first response is not to speak back, but to whine, seethe, and riot. There is absolutely no reason why people have to watch what they say, print, or draw because it may be offensive to some other group. That's the beauty of free speech. You fight speech with speech. The moment you set a group aside that is exempt from criticism, they are given a position of power over other groups that is neither afforded to them under the law of the state, nor should be granted to them as a practical matter.

He writes:

"But it is the Muslims' fault", a few angry Cif commenters reminded me. That may be, but I think we ought to ask ourselves whether it is worth picking these fights. Of course we must protect our writers and cartoonists from deranged fundamentalists, but we are not faultless ourselves. There were hidden political and religious agendas in the original printing of the cartoons, just as is there are this time around. The latest street riots in Denmark tell their own story of the serious problems with disintegrated migrants that we have at the moment, but they also speak loudly about Danish society's inability to cope with foreign cultures and religions - it is no coincidence that such riots take place in capitals such as Copenhagen and Paris and not in London.

London may not have had riots, but they surely had suicide bombers who attacked the London Underground, and they had the gas-car bomb plot that saw a number of Muslim doctors plot and attempt to carry out mass-casualty attacks across the UK.

The problem isn't so much that the Danes or the French refuse to cope with foreign cultures as much as it is a refusal of Muslim groups to assimilate into the Danish or French cultures. I know and understand that there is resistance in France to accept non-French as Frenchmen, but there is a certain amount of reciprocity involved, and when Muslim groups first impulse is to riot and torch hundreds of cars and businesses and schools, you're not going to get a whole lot of sympathy from this quarter.

There were hidden agendas involved in the publication of the cartoons. It took two months from the time the cartoons were originally published to initiate the riots, and that was after additional cartoons were invented by Islamist groups to further fan the flames of vitriol in Muslim communities around the world. The cartoon riots did not happen spontaneously, but were stage managed by Islamist leaders.

The political statement made by the original publication was, and remains, the ability of people to speak freely and criticize others, and specifically criticize the violent and misogynistic nature of the Islamists.

UPDATE:
Gateway Pundit has more. Astute Northern Seer has a contrary view, with reliapundit questioning that take in the comments.

UPDATE:
In a related note, Wikipedia has been deluged with emails demanding the service take down copies of the Mohammad cartoons. Thus far, Wikipedia refuses to do so. Good for them. (HT: DanThePainter at LGF)

Seven Nights of Rioting in Denmark

For the seventh straight night, Muslim thugs are rioting in the streets of Denmark, torching cars and businesses.

Bands of youths set fire to cars, buses and schools in Denmark on Saturday, the seventh night of rioting and vandalism in the capital Copenhagen and other Danish cities, police said on Sunday.

Four youths were arrested in the capital for suspected arson and at least 24 fires were reported across the country. Several youths were detained in Denmark's second city Aarhus in Jutland, and in Odense on Funen island.

"It is some of the same groups that have roamed the city for the last couple of nights," police operations leader Preben Jorgensen told Reuters while inspecting fire damage at Tingbjerg School in the outskirts of Copenhagen.

Hundreds of cars and a number of schools have been vandalised or burned in the past week. Police could give no reason, but said unusually mild weather and the closure of schools for a winter break might have contributed.

Authorities have arrested dozens of youths, predominantly with immigrant backgrounds.

Police said that Saturday night was calmer than earlier in the week.

The situation would be calmer still if more aggressive policing allowed the arrest of still more of these rampaging youths. Still more schools have been torched. The past week has seen 180 fires set around the country.

The police are giving no reasons, despite the fact that some in the Muslim community were thoroughly upset with the republication of the Mohammad cartoons in the aftermath of the discovery of an assassination plot against one of the cartoonists. Danish lawmakers canceled a planned trip to Iran following the latest incidents in Denmark because the Iranian parliament demanded an apology because Danish newspapers had reprinted the cartoon.

The Danes know what is at stake and refuse to give in on a foundation concept in the West: free speech. Muslims seek to subsume that concept to their own preconditions and create a law unto themselves.

UPDATE:
Via storagemanager at LGF, Jordanian groups are looking to protest the Danish government for their protection of free speech rights for the cartoonists. Storagemanager also notes that some Iranian parliamentarians are calling for Iran to break ties with Denmark over the republication of the cartoons.

As usual, these Muslim groups are full of fury and seething over publication of cartoons, but are silent over the rampaging slaughter of jihadis who murder innocents in the name of Islam.

Muslims Continue Rioting in Denmark

There have been now six straight nights of rioting, which began even before the news that a group of jihadis were plotting to assassinate one of the cartoonists involved in publishing cartoons less than complementary of Mohammed or the response by Dutch papers to reprint those same cartoons in response and defiance.

Gangs of rioters set fire to cars and garbage trucks in northern Copenhagen on Friday, the sixth night of rioting and vandalism that has spread from the capital to other Danish cities, police said on Saturday.

Five youths were arrested in the capital on Friday after 28 cars and 35 garbage trucks were burned, Copenhagen police duty officer Jakob Kristensen told Reuters. Several youths were arrested in other Danish towns.

Scores of cars and several schools have been vandalised or burned in the past week. Police could give no reason, but said that unusually mild weather and the closure of schools for a winter break, making them easy targets, might have contributed.

Social workers said the reprinting of a two-year-old cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad in Danish newspapers might have fuelled the riots.

Social workers want to ignore the fact that the riots started before the publication. They ignore the assassination plot against the cartoonist.

They ignore that the jihadis and the Islamists refuse to assimilate into Danish life, and instead want to impose their views on everyone else. When they fail to get their way, they not only whine and seethe, but they send their youth out on to the streets to riot.

Two 15-year olds are in custody for inciting still others to rioting. In all 50 have been arrested thus far. The reproduction of the cartoons sparked demonstrations in Pakistan, where a group of Islamists demanded the expulsion of the Danish ambassador and torched the Danish flag. Others demonstrated in Gaza.

Muslims protested Friday in the Gaza Strip, Pakistan and Denmark against the reprinting of a Danish newspaper cartoon depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Thousands of residents in the conservative Gaza Strip ruled by the militant Islamic Hamas movement marched in the Jebaliya refugee camp chanting: "What Denmark said is heresy."

"It is shameful that Denmark should renew its offense against the prophet," Hamas official Mushir al-Masri told reporters at the protest.

In Pakistan, hundreds of people rallied in various parts of the country, setting fire to Danish flags and demanding the Danish ambassador's expulsion. And in Denmark, a prominent Danish imam urged rioting youth to stop setting fires and hurling rocks at police.

Note what they weren't complaining about. They weren't talking about how shameful it was for co-religionists to plot to assassinate a cartoonist. They weren't talking about how shameful it is for people to go into the streets and riot and set fire to any vehicle or building within their sight.

That's the disconnect.

UPDATE:
Gateway Pundit has more.

UPDATE:
The NY Post has a good editorial today on the cartoon riots, the disconnect between Islam and Western political thought and freedom of speech.

Rioting in Denmark Continues

While some may note that the rioting in Denmark may be related to the latest news out of the country that a group of jihadis were caught plotting the assassination of one of the cartoonists responsible for penning the cartoons that in part provoked rioting worldwide that killed more than 100 people and torched several embassies, the riots have actually been going on for nearly a week.

Turban Bomb has the details as the rioting progressed and became more violent each successive night.

American Thinker reports that some of the Danish authorities can't quite figure out why the rioting is occurring. The quote from the Copenhagen police chief is telling: "We don't know why they're rioting. I think it's because they're bored. Some people say it's because of the cartoons but that's not my opinion,"

That's right. Thugs are busy rioting in your fair city because they're bored. So, what exactly are you doing about this? Are you going in and arresting all those involved, or are you simply going to let them burn off their excess energy? Considering that the rioting has been getting worse, I'd posit that the police chief has been allowing the thugs to riot and rampage and those same thugs know that they're able to get away with it.

In some instances the firefighters responding to the carbeques have been assaulted by the thugs who set the fires.

Meanwhile, the target of the jihadi assassination plot has been living in fear and terror - unable to live at home and can't stay at the same place more than a night. Flemming Rose interviewed Kurt Westergaard, the cartoonist whose life has been in danger ever since he penned one of those cartoons:

For the past three months Kurt and his wife have been moving from house to house. In early November, they had a few hours to collect their most necessary belongings before they were driven to a safe location. They had to leave their car at home because the police wanted to create the impression that Kurt and Gitte were still living in the house. The mail was collected, garbage was removed, and an agent who physically resembled Kurt was installed in the house. This was done in case the plotters were to execute their plans to kill Kurt.

In the middle of December Kurt and Gitte returned to their house for just one day to celebrate Christmas with their family.

Early Tuesday morning Danish police broke into several apartments in the suburbs of Aarhus, the second largest city of Denmark with 250,000 inhabitants. Of the three men who were arrested, two are citizens of Tunisia and one is a Danish citizen of Moroccan descent. The police want to deport the two foreigners, which is possible according to an anti-terror law.

I asked Kurt about September 2005, when I wrote to him and other members of Denmark’s Cartoonist Association asking them to draw the prophet Mohammed as they see him.

“I did the cartoon quickly. It was just another day at the office. I finished with a sense of satisfaction. I felt that I was able to express myself in a simple and clear way, and that’s what every cartoon is about.”

What did you want to say?

“My intention was that some Muslims are using their religion as spiritual ammunition to commit terrorist acts. It was directed at Muslims in general, but exclusively at those who are willing to commit violence in the name of their religion.”

Hot Air has more.