Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/18/2010

Chicago resident David Headley has pleaded guilty to twelve terrorism counts and promised to cooperate with federal investigators in order to avoid the death penalty. Among the charges against him are plotting to kill Kurt Westergaard and scouting targets for the 2008 Mumbai attack.

In other news, a Thai migrant worker in southern Israel was killed by a Palestinian rocket launched from Gaza. In Britain, a Turkish immigrant girl underwent a £60,000 sex-change operation, paid for by the National Health Service.

Thanks to Andy Bostom, Aurelian, Barry Rubin, C. Cantoni, Gaia, Insubria, JD, KGS, Lurker from Tulsa, Paul Green, TB, Zenster, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

[This post is a stub — nothing further here!]

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Violent Humiliation in Veenendaal

In many ways this is the archetypal cultural enrichment news story, not just for the Netherlands, but for any Western country (with the possible exceptions of Denmark and Australia).

First of all, notice how the authorities dance around frantically, trying to avoid having to identify the culturally enriched background of the hoodlums who engage in larceny, violence, and mayhem against “persons of Dutch background”. They’d rather do anything than say, “The scum who did this are Moroccans.”

Secondly, notice their pathetic response to the problem:

(1)		Persuade the imams to mention the issue at Friday prayers and ask anybody who knows anything to come forward. Ha! How much help will that be?
(2)		Tell the indigenes to stay out of the afflicted area when alone, and especially at night. Not only at night — in other words, the bike path is not safe even in the daytime. So all good law-abiding Netherlanders must forget their time-hallowed tradition of bicycling, and take the bus instead! No, wait — people get knifed by “youths” on the buses. So just stay home and watch the Cargo Bike Imam on TV.

Above all, there is no discussion at all about the criminal stupidity of mass Muslim immigration, which is what brought all these unassimilable thugs into the Low Countries in the first place. Nor is there a whisper of the treason committed by the Dutch leadership against their own people.

According to NIS News:

Mayor Warns of No-Go Areas

VEENENDAAL, 19/03/10 — Mayor Ties Elzenga of Veenendaal has advised his residents to avoid certain areas in the town due to a series of violent muggings. Although he says the ethnic background of the perpetrators is not yet clear, he has already made contact with the Moroccan community.

At least three violent robberies took place last weekend along a bicycle route from the centre to the south of Veenendaal, a small town near Utrecht. The victims were stripped and assaulted. Police are speaking of a new form of violence. “A combination of robbery and brutal humiliation,” said a spokesman.

Mayor Elzenga has advised all residents to avoid the cycle route along which the offences occurred. “Do not go there if you are alone, and especially not in the dark.”

- - - - - - - - -

The Christian democrat (CDA) mayor and social workers held talks Wednesday evening with the Moroccan community. “It was agreed that the Imam will pay attention to it in Friday’s prayers,” said the mayor’s spokesman. The local Muslim leader “will call for any information about the muggings to be reported”.

At the same time, Elzenga said it has not yet been established that the perpetrators are Moroccans. “We do not yet know which population group the perpetrators come from, but I do fear the worst.” Veenendaal has for some time had problems with youngsters of Moroccan origin.

A residents’ group says there have been violent muggings for months along the same route. They have written Elzinga a letter: “The negative spiral of theft, violence against fellow-citizens and threats by this group, including Moroccan street youths, evokes seriously unsafe feelings among the indigenous population. We call on the local authority to take forceful and appropriate measures.”

Elzinga says he has personally visited the victims. “I can tell you that it has made a gigantic impression on these people,” the mayor reported. “One man was stripped of his clothing, dragged to the train rails and robbed of his bankcard. Another has a knife-wound which hit a lung, and will have to stay in hospital for some days.”

For a complete listing of previous enrichment news, see The Cultural Enrichment Archives.

Hat tip: LN2.

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Danish TV Interviews Kurt Westergaard

Kurt Westergaard, the most famous of the Danish Mohammed cartoonists and the creator of the iconic Turban Bomb, was interviewed a few days ago on Danish television. Many thanks to Valdemar Blonde for the translation and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:


A full transcript is below the jump.
- - - - - - - - -

00:00.02
00:04.03		When you visit Kurt Westergaard, there is only one place in the house…
00:08.10		where P.E.T. allows you to film, and that is here in the workroom.
00:12.10		We have asked Kurt Westergaard to look back and give status…
00:16.16		now five years after the whole thing started, when pen met paper and he drew.
00:20.20		the now world famous cartoon of the ‘Prophet Mohamed’
00:24.22		The drawing was made to support free speech…
00:28.22		and of course at that time…
00:32.23		I hadn’t imagined it could become like this. [Today it is new years cards Westergaard is working on]
00:36.24		A new years card which I was late on, which I was inspired to do…
00:40.24		after the axe man came at me.
00:44.27		But on the wall, hangs his Mohamed cartoon…
00:48.34		We have come to a situation where …
00:52.35		we had what you could call ‘a culture war’
00:56.35		which we should have settled.
01:00.42		And that we should obviously have won, because we represent
01:04.46		…democracy and freedom of speech.
01:08.48		We should not bend to their…
01:12.56		religion, which craves to be superior over…
01:16.59		democracy and freedom of speech.
01:20.61		[Narator] after the Mohamed drawings, the embassy burnings followed…
01:24.65		and terror plans towards the artists.
01:28.65		The question for many at home would be, was it worth it?
01:35.04		That, I think it has been. For Kurt personally,
01:38.23		the drawing had huge consequences.
01:41.43		Recently a somali man armed with an axe broke in to his home shortly after new years.
01:45.46		That which means most to him (Kurt) is still his principles.
01:49.49		We have put a pass on our values, and we have allowed the strangers in…
01:53.53		In a way, it’s a good thing we gave them what they didn’t have when they came here…
01:57.58		They got a place to live, they got money,
02:01.62		They have the best for their children’s well being…
02:05.63		and they have a great chance for a future and a free education…
02:09.67		What I am getting at,
02:17.72		is that they undermine our democratic traditions…
02:21.73		Our rules of fair play and our freedom of speech.
02:25.74		[Narator] Westergaard feels that the Islamists and fanatics are ahead…
02:29.80		one to nothing. “It’s a victory for them” [N] in the battle against free speech…
02:33.84		There are things that happened recently
02:37.85		which has demoralized me I’m thinking about Politiken (Danish paper)
02:41.85		which appologized…
02:45.85		and… there are also others…
02:49.87		what can you say, have become very appeasing…
02:53.91		[N] The problem following the Mohamed cartoonist, is self cencorship.
02:57.96		Self censorship is in many ways…
03:01.99		functions unbeknownst …
03:06.02		inside of peoples heads.
03:10.03		There sits I think, many creative,
03:14.05		intelectuals that have become very …
03:18.07		discreet about their own thoughts.
03:22.15		[N] but what is it they don’t dare say?
03:26.16		They don’t dare say anything that can…
03:30.20		in some way, be taken as a…
03:34.27		critique, maybe more or less rude…
03:38.27		towards Islamic relationships.
03:46.32		And that is bothersome. [N] Especially Politiken’s appology…
03:50.32		to remove the Mohamed drawing has disapointed Kurt Westergaard.
03:54.34		[Interviewer] What is the problem with the appology?
03:58.34		The problem is that we have given it. and that we have forsaken our own…
04:02.41		democratic ideals and…
04:06.41		freedom of speech. I think that is wrong.
04:10.45		[N] Kurt means that many …
04:14.47		reporters practice self censorship because they are afraid.
04:18.61		I respect that people become afraid and I will always take that seriously…
04:22.61		I would never harras anyone if they are afraid,
04:26.68		I would say that …
04:30.77		it does not work. It doesn’t work.
04:34.83		The old expression from the 30s when Nazism began…
04:38.87		That was the expression, ‘Appeasement’
04:42.90		That which you would try to help the situation…
04:46.91		by not offending the others in power.
04:51.00		[Interviewer] And that’s the same with Islam today?
04:55.00		And that leads us nowhere.
04:59.07		And that can give the…
05:03.17		dark powers the means to take even more influence.

Hat tip: TB.

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Al-Misri on Circumcision

I reported briefly yesterday on the sharia requirement for female circumcision, as mandated by Reliance of the Traveller, which is the authoritative law manual under the Shafiite school of Islamic law. In the comments section on the post, Inalienable Rights requested that I scan the page in question and post it so that everyone could have a look.

I’m more than happy to comply, but a first brief introduction is in order. We (that is, people who resist the Great Jihad) are routinely accused of distorting Islamic doctrine, quoting material out of context, relying on “extremist” sources that do not represent “true Islam”, etc. I’ll present the material here as if I were establishing an evidentiary chain in a court of law, citing factual material from creditable sources so as to present a case that could stand up before a judge and a jury.

But this process represents Western standards of logic and legality. None of it will stop me from being accused of “defaming Islam”, because anything I do — even quoting authoritative sources on Islamic law — is defined as “defamation” under sharia if it does not serve to further Islam.

That’s why the kuffar may be legitimately shouted down for quoting the Koran, while Muslims may do the same freely. This is not illogical, and there’s no contradiction: it makes complete sense, once you understand the basic premises of Islamic doctrine.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
The source I cite here is ’Umdat al-salik wa ’uddat al-nasik, or The reliance of the traveller and tools of the worshipper. It is commonly referred to as Reliance of the Traveller when cited in English.

According to the title page, my copy is the Revised Edition (published 1991, revised 1994) and is “The Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law ’Umdat al-Salik by Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri (d. 769/1368) in Arabic with Facing English Text, Commentary, and Appendices”, edited and translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller. The publisher is listed as amana publications in Beltsville, Maryland.

Why do I consider this an authoritative source on Sunni Islamic law?

Because it is certified as such by Al-Azhar University in Cairo. There is no higher authority on Sunni Islamic doctrine than Al-Azhar; it is the closest equivalent to the Vatican that can be found in Islam.

On page xx of the “Documents” preface, we find this encomium (the Arabic version, including official stamps and seals, is on the facing page xxi):
- - - - - - - - -

[CERTIFICATION OF AL-AZHAR]

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, MOST MERCIFUL AND COMPASSIONATE

al-Azhar
Islamic Research Academy
General Department for Research, Writing, and Translation

Mr. Nuh Ha Mim Keller
Amman, Jordan

Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

To commence: In response to the request you have submitted concerning the examination of the English translation of the book ’Umdat al-salik wa ’uddat al-nasik by Ahmad ibn Naqib in the Shafi’i school of jurisprudence, together with appendices by Islamic scholars on matters of Islamic law, tenets of faith, and personal ethics and character: we certify that the above-mentioned translation corresponds to the Arabic original and conforms to the practice and faith of the orthodox Sunni Community (Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama’a). There is no objection to printing it and circulating it.

The stamping of the pages of the above-mentioned work with the seal of the department has been completed.

May Allah give you success in serving Sacred Knowledge and the religion. Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

Composed on 26 Rajah 1411 A.H./11 February 1991 A.D.

General Director of Research, Writing, and Translation
Fath Allah Ya Sin Jazar [signed]

Muhammad ’Umar Muhammad ’Umar [signed]

Seal of al-Azhar [stamped] General Department for Research, Writing, and Translation

This establishes the unassailable credentials of Nuh Ha Mim Keller’s translation of ’Umdat al-Salik.

In Book E “Purification”, section e4.0 “The Body”, we find on page 59 the following text:


This is the original Arabic, for those of our readers who read the language and can translate it for themselves. For everyone else, below is an image of the English side-by-side with the Arabic. I include e4.4 just to give you an idea of the type of material covered by Book E:


And here is the same text after it has been processed through the OCR:

e4.3 Circumcision is obligatory (O: for both men and women. For men it consists of removing the prepuce from the penis, and for women, removing the prepuce (Ar. bazr) of the clitoris (n: not the clitoris itself, as some mistakenly assert). (A: Hanbalis hold that circumcision of women is not obligatory but sunna, while Hanafis consider it a mere courtesy to the husband.)

As I mentioned yesterday, this section demonstrates that all four schools of Sunni law consider female circumcision a good thing, and two of them list it as mandatory.

I also mentioned that the original Arabic is more stringent than the English version, in that it specifies excising the entire clitoris rather than just the prepuce. I find further backing for this assertion in the Australian Islamist Monitor, which reports:

Reliance of the Traveller, a classical manual of Islamic sacred law in Arabic with facing English text, commentary and appendices edited and translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller (1994) re ‘circumcision’ we find the Arabic actually says -

“Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the clitoris (this is called HufaaD). “ (p59) (Shafi’I jurisprudence)

(Note the English version is falsely translated as ‘prepuce ‘ of the clitoris!!)

The Arabic word bazr does not mean “prepuce of the clitoris”, it means the clitoris itself (cf. the entry in the Arabic-English Dictionary). The deceptive translation by Nuh Hah Mim Keller, made for Western consumption, obscures the Shafi’i law, given by ’Umdat al-Salik, that circumcision of girls by excision of the clitoris is mandatory. This particular form of female circumcision is widely practiced in Egypt, where the Shafi’i school of Sunni law is followed. Note a comment by Sheikh ‘Abd al-Wakil Durubi in the English ‘version’ notes “Hanbalis hold that circumcision of women is not obligatory but sunna, while Hanafis consider it a mere courtesy to the husband.” (answering-Islam.org)

This is supported by several hadiths eg

Abu-Dawud Book 41, No. 5251: Narrated Umm Atiyyah al-Ansariyyah: A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina. The prophet (peace be upon him) said to her: Do not cut severely as that is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband.

(Note: The powerful Mohammad did NOT stop the procedure yet he did stop the Arab practise of adoption when he wished to marry his adopted son’s wife Zainab, regarded as incest by the Arabs because adopted sons were held as sons!)

Anyone who reads Arabic is invited to check the image posted above against what AIM says here, and see if you agree with it.

With this, the sharia justification (and, under Shafi, requirement) for radical female circumcision is now clearly and fully demonstrated, and constitutes a “fact in evidence”.

Case closed.

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Repeat After Me: “Sieg Heil!”

Our Austrian correspondent AMT reports on a seamy little incident that occurred recently at an FPÖ rally near Vienna:

This is interesting, especially in view of the usual Nazi-tactics employed by the political left. A journalist of the state-run TV station, financed by everyone (!) owning a television set, a computer, and/or a mobile phone (with the mere possibility of watching TV), whether or not one actually watches ORF programs, provokes the always peaceful FPÖ campaign rallies by infiltrating it with skinheads.

ORF is notorious for its lack of objectivity, especially in view of all things Muslim.

For instance:

• The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) has been sugar-coating Islam and Turkey for many years and does not question Muslim claims
  
• For example: In the show “Killing for Allah?” the viewer is not told whether or not Islam provides a foundation for terrorism. Additional claims include:

  ·		Islam equals diversity. Yet there is the Muslim allegation that the presence of non-believers (kuffar) leading to conflict.
  ·		Terror in Great Britain was committed by British citizens. Why is the fact that the terrorists were naturalized Pakistanis neglected?
  ·		Muslims of French nationality claim they have no legal right to work and housing. This allegation needs to be elaborated on. It sounds implausible.
  ·		A Muslim may only fight in a war in the case of attack. However, what constitutes an attack? For instance, the presence of non-Muslims on Muslim territory is viewed as aggression.
  ·		British openness allows for hate preachers. It has not been explained that Western tolerance is being exploited by Muslims.
  ·		At a conference of imams in Vienna, Muslims in Austria were excluded. However, it was not explored how acceptance can be expected if the Western way of life is rejected and Westerners are considered “kuffar”.

• In a recent show about honor killings in Austria, Islam was not even mentioned and the practice was attributed to “patriarchy”.

The article below from SOS — Österreich was translated by Liz at Europe News:

ORF journalist sends Neo-Nazis to Strache demonstration!

An outrageous incident happened at a campaign rally for the Freedom Party in Wiener Neustadt [a city south of Vienna]. At the end of the rally, as [party leader Heinz-Christian] Strache worked the crowd, being photographed with some citizens, he met three men with shaven heads who said to him: “The [TV] camera is our photo.” Strache then turned around, remarking that this probably wouldn’t be possible, and continued signing autographs for other people.

- - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, a journalist (who had previously been provoking) came up to the three shaven men and urged them to literally, “Come on, say it!” Whereupon one of the three skinheads shouted “Sieg Heil”.

Then Strache replied: “I heard that. You have summoned these people to come here.” The FPÖ leader insisted that the police record the skinheads’ personal information, and explained that he wanted to file charges.

When the police recorded the personal details, it turned out that [one of the men] was Edward Moschitz from the ORF editorial “On the scene”. With a low-life method of manipulation, he placed three neo-Nazis [at the rally] and prepared everything in order to let them shout Nazi slogans which he then documented. Moschitz also admitted that he had known the three skinheads and that he had accompanied them for a few days. According to the Prohibition Act [Verbotsgesetz] he has made himself an accomplice.

We have done some research on this ORF journalist Mr. Moschitz — on Facebook we found some interesting information — he is a fan of SOS MITMENSCH [a leftist organization], AUDIMAX SIT-IN [students who took over the largest auditorium at Vienna University in fall 2009], STERMANN + GRISSEMANN [two left-wing comedians],…. that’s enough to know in which part of the political spectrum this ORF man feels most comfortable!

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Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/17/2010

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Turks living in foreign countries to gain citizenship in their new homelands to become politically active, not in order to integrate. He told Turkish-German politicians to resist political and social integration in their adopted homeland. The Turkish Social Democrats in Gothenburg seemed to heed Mr. Erdogan, voting to leave their party in protest over Sweden’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

In other news, Kim Jong-un, the 27-year-old third son of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il is being groomed as his father’s heir. Kim the Younger is reputed to be even crueler than his old man. Meanwhile, China and Japan have reduced their investment in US Treasury bills even further, putting the dollar at greater risk.

Thanks to Aurelian, Barry Rubin, C. Cantoni, Insubria, JD, KGS, Perla, Sean O’Brian, Srdja Trifkovic, Steen, TB, Wally Ballou, Zenster, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

[This post is a stub — nothing further here!]

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A Rosetta Stone for Col. West: Part Six

Tonight we’re adding videos of LTC (ret.) Allen West’s February 19 speech in Serbian and Czech.

As you all know by now, Col. West delivered this speech in Washington D.C. during CPAC at the launch of the Freedom Defense Initiative, which was a superb event organized by Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer.

Many thanks to Gray Falcon and Margita for the translations, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling. A full transcript in both languages is below the jump.

Someone volunteered yesterday to do Polish, so this is now the complete list of languages:

Albanian	German	Romanian
Arabic *	Greek *	Russian *
Czech	Hebrew	Serbian
Danish	Italian	Spanish
Dutch	Polish *	Swedish *
French	Portuguese

(* = assigned but not yet received; † = received but not yet subtitled)

If you want to volunteer for a language not listed above, please email me at unspiek (at) chromatism.net, and I’ll send out a time-stamped text file with an English-language transcript.

Serbian translation by Gray Falcon:


Czech translation by Margita:

- - - - - - - - -
Serbian translation by Gray Falcon:

00:00.02		Хвала.
00:04.07		Хвала лепо…
00:08.11		и Памела, хвала на уводу. Роберте, задовољство је…
00:12.12		да будем овде са вама, и желим да кажем само једно: ако…
00:16.17		је истина постала говор мржње, онда можете да ме хапсите,
00:20.20		јер ја нећу да ћутим.
00:24.27
00:28.32		Један од основних конзервативних принципа је државна безбедност.
00:32.34		Овде смо се окупили и о томе данас разговарамо, и то је…
00:36.38		једна од ствари које Американци очекују од принципијелних конзервативаца…
00:40.41		а то је да их заштите. Ако ми не устанемо…
00:44.46		на овој дивној конвенцији, овде и сада, и кажемо ко смо,
00:48.49		и да разумемо овај проблем и ову ситуацију, амерички народ ће нас се…
00:52.51		одрећи. Морате да позовете конзервативне вође који су овде…
00:56.57		овог викенда на одговорност, да учине што треба да вас заштите.
01:00.59		Е сад, да објасним неке ствари, јер сам до сад седео и слушао.
01:04.60		Нећу више да чујем фразу ”рат против терора.” Не постоји рат против…
01:08.64		терора. У 2. светском рату, да ли би имало смисла,
01:12.67		да су Сједињене Америчке Државе објавиле рат Блицкригу.
01:16.69		Или камиказама. Ниједна земља не ратује…
01:20.72		против тактике. Исто тако,
01:24.74		кад седите и гледате наше лидере и стратеге овде…
01:28.79		у Вашингтону на ТВ емисијама недељом како причају о томе…
01:32.84		како је дивно што изводимо теледириговане нападе,
01:36.85		сетите се шта је било у Вијетнаму,
01:40.89		када је Џонсон директно наређивао бомбардовање из…
01:44.92		Беле куће; то није нешто што стратег треба…
01:48.93		да ради. То није стратешка перспектива.
01:52.97		У рат се иде против идеологије,
01:56.98		и управо о томе је данас било речи.
02:01.02		Дискутовали смо о чињеници да се боримо против једне тоталитарне…
02:05.05		теократске политичке идеологије која…
02:09.06		се зове Ислам.
02:13.09
02:17.12
02:21.16		Овде није реч о муслиманима.
02:25.18		Исто је као са нацистичком Немачком: није сваки…
02:29.20		Немац био нациста. Исто као кад сам био у…
02:33.24		Ираку 2003, није сваки Ирачанин био члан…
02:37.26		Баас партије. Говорим овде о
02:41.30		идеологији која постоји од 622 године,
02:45.33		од 7. века, и почела је догађајем познатим као
02:49.34		Накла, који се десио после Мухамедове хиџре из Меке у…
02:53.38		Медину. Од тог дана наовамо, Ислам је насилан. Сукобио се са западном цивилизацијом,
02:57.41		и ово је само још једно поглавље подуже књиге…
03:01.42		коју исписују да би нас све освојили и покорили.
03:05.46		Сада је дошло време да ми, попут наших предака, устанемо и пружимо отпор,
03:09.47		устанемо и одбранимо се од ових непријатеља, овде и данас.
03:13.51
03:17.55
03:21.56		Стивен Кофлин вам је објаснио шта је ”поништење”. Морате да схватите шта значе…
03:25.66		ствари попут споразума Худаибија, где ће да седе и да вам лажу…
03:29.68		и добијају на времену док не ојачају; управо тако је 627,
03:33.72		628, Мухамед успео да уђе и да,
03:37.75		освоји Меку. Иста ствар се дешава и данас.
03:41.75		Морате да схватите традцију Мухамеда. У писмима …
03:45.80		персијском цару Кушришу, и писмима Ираклију…
03:49.82		византијском цару, рекао је, ”Имате три избора, да промените веру,
03:53.88		да се покорите, или да нестанете.” Знате шта?
03:57.92		То исто је урадио Осама бин Ладен, негде око 1992.
04:01.94		Послао је писмо Сједињеним америчким државама. Касније, негде…
04:05.98		2005 или 2006, Махмуд Ахмединеџад је урадио то исто.
04:10.01		Послао је писмо америчком народу и председнику Бушу. Нама је већ …
04:14.02		објављен рат, и ако наше руководство не може то да схвати,
04:18.05		не може да проучи овог супарника, овог непријатеља,
04:22.07		онда је ова велика земља на путу у пропаст.
04:26.12		Морамо то да схватимо. Сви који су овде говорили објаснили су да…
04:30.14		је шеријатско право у сукобу са оним што представља наша
04:34.16		западна цивилизација, у сукобу са оним што представљамо ми …
04:38.19		у Сједињеним Америчким Државама. Ту нема појединачне ни колективне…
04:42.21		слободе. Нема заштите људских права, или права жена….
04:46.26		Већ само суштине појма Ислам: што значи 'покорност'.
04:50.29		Не знам за вас, али ја нећу да живим као…
04:54.30		поданик. Нећу да живим у покорности било којој…
04:58.34		другој идеологиј осим оној записаној у…
05:02.35		Уставу ових великих Сједињених Америчких Држава.
05:06.41
05:10.44
05:14.47
05:18.54		Хвала.
05:22.57		Морамо да схватимо…
05:26.58		да у овом рату морамо да повратимо иницијатву.
05:30.63		У истом смо положају као наши млади војници који ратују под рестриктивним …
05:34.66		правилима која их спречавају да преузму иницијативу од непријатеља.
05:38.73		Видели сте у Марџану, у покрајини Хелманд, како Талибани само…
05:42.74		баце оружје и шеткају пред нашим војницима а онда се после поново боре.
05:46.76		Да сам ја врховни командант, то се под мојом командом не би дешавало.
05:50.80
05:54.83
05:58.88		Исто тако: морамо да развијемо одговарајућа…
06:02.92		стратешка правила сукобљавања. Јер наша…
06:06.92		уставна права не треба да се протежу на незаконите …
06:10.96		непријатељске борце, како каже и Женевска конвенција.
06:14.99
06:19.00		Не смемо више да дозволимо овом непријатељу…
06:23.05		да ратује параграфима, као што људи окупљени овде…
06:27.07		добро знају, да се тако константно труде да вас…
06:31.12		ућуткају. Треба да се боримо против њих а не да им пуштамо…
06:35.14		да користе наш правни поредак, и нека сам проклет, али…
06:39.16		онај адвокат који оптужи грађанина САД да би му ускратио…
06:43.17		право на слободу говора, тај адвокат ми није ни сестра ни брат.
06:47.20		Нека се пакује и иде из ове земље.
06:51.26
06:55.30
06:59.33		Ако наставимо…
07:03.39		у овој атмосфери политички коректног мултикултурализма…
07:07.43		на стероидима, ми сами себе…
07:11.44		спречавамо да реагујемо како ваља.
07:15.47		Видимо шта се десило у Судану. Видимо шта се дешава у Аустрији.
07:19.53		Знамо за Херта Вилдерса у Холандији. Знамо шта се дешава у Данској.
07:23.57		Ово се некад звало анализа трендова…
07:27.59		И сасвим је нормално. А ви новинари овде…
07:31.61		медији, немојте то да зовете ”профилисање.” Ради се о …
07:35.65		идентификацији непријатеља и његовог деловања, и њиховом неутралисању.
07:39.67		Када сам командовао у Ираку, знао сам да младићи на бициклима излазе из …
07:43.75		шумарака да нам поставе мине. Зато нисам прогањао…
07:47.78		жене у буркама усред ноћи, у својим кућама.
07:51.80		То је анализа трендова. Престаните са политичком коректношћу, не пуштајте их више у нашу…
07:55.84		земљу.
07:59.86		Ако не разумете…
08:03.94		да стварност нашег непријатеља…
08:07.98		мора постати наша, онда ћемо остати у овом стању…
08:12.01		самообмане. Када сам чуо за напад у Форт Худу, шта је урадио мајор…
08:16.07		Хасан, био сам запањен. И онда гледам…
08:20.10		те недеље како Генерал Кејси, шеф штаба Армије, каже
08:24.11		да га више брине штета нанесена разноликости него губитак…
08:28.16		тринаест војника у Форт Худу у Тексасу… То значи да имамо проблем…
08:32.19		у руководству ових Сједињених Америчких Држава.
08:36.25
08:40.28		Морамо да прихватимо стварност.
08:44.30		Пут напред је једноставан. Морамо да …
08:48.36		имамо право руководство у овој земљи. Јер о томе се ради.
08:52.38		Морамо да имамо право руководство широм Европе
08:56.39		Морамо да имамо руководство које се неће плашити.
09:00.46		Медији, престаните да нападате Јевреје и Хришћане.
09:04.46		Не бојте се овог непријатеља. Покажите им исту оштрину …
09:08.52		којом се сада обрушавате на ваше земљаке Американце.
09:12.55		Јер да вам кажем нешто. За тридесет, четрдесет године,
09:16.56		ако они преузму контролу у овој земљи…
09:20.60		неће бити слободних медија. Неће бити слободе говора. Неће бити слободе…
09:24.63		изражавања. А ви ћете бити саучесници у томе,…
09:28.70		јер сте кукавице и не смете да заузмете став.
09:32.73
09:36.76
09:40.82		Сада,
09:44.84		сада је време за принципијелно вођство у Сједињеним државама,
09:48.85		Јер како је цитирала Елизабет…
09:52.88		када толеранција постане једносмерна,
09:56.91		води културном самоубиству.
10:00.95		Оног дана када будем могао да уђем у Саудијску Арабију са…
10:04.97		библијом у руци, крстом око врата, одем у Меку и,
10:08.98		тамо одем у цркву - онда ћемо имати толеранцију.
10:13.03		Али до тада,
10:17.05		морамо да схватимо,
10:21.11		циљеве и задатке које је Ислам поставио…
10:25.14		себи. Морамо бити поносни на то што јесмо.
10:29.15		Не можемо имати руководство које ће пред турском
10:33.22		скупштином изјавити да Америка није јудео-хришћанска земља.
10:37.24		Не можемо имати руководство које ће отићи на…
10:41.26		универзитет у Каиру, у Египту и извињавати се у име Сједињених…
10:45.30		држава. То није амерички понос.
10:49.31		Не можемо имати руководство које на…
10:53.36		питање ”Како дефинишете победу?” одговара да не зна.
10:57.39		Ево ја да вам кажем како ја дефинишем победу,…
11:01.40		исто као Роналд Реган када су га питали за комунизам:
11:05.44		”Кад ми победимо а они изгубе”. Бог вас благословио…
11:09.47		и хвала вам.
11:13.53
11:17.57

Czech translation by Margita:

00:00.02		Děkuji.
00:04.07		Mnohokrát děkuji…
00:08.11		a Pamelo děkuji za uvedení a Robertovi, je skvělé …
00:12.12		být tady dnes s vámi se všemi, a chci vám všem jen říci jednu věc: jestliže …
00:16.17		se pravda právě stala projevem nenávisti, můžete mě zrovna zavřít
00:20.20		protože mě neumlčíte.
00:24.27
00:28.32		Jedním ze základních konzervativních principů je národní bezpečnost.
00:32.34		A fakt že jsme tady, a že o tom mluvíme, to je…
00:36.38		jednou z věcí, o kterou Američané žádají konzervativně smýšlející…
00:40.41		vedení - aby je ochránilo. A jestliže se nepostavíme …
00:44.46		během tohoto sjezdu, kterého se právě účastníme, a neřekneme, kdo jsme
00:48.49		a že tuto situaci chápeme, americký lid se od nás …
00:52.51		odvrátí. Musíte přimět konzervativní vůdce, které tu vidíte …
00:56.57		tento víkend, k zodpovědnosti za to, aby dělali vše pro to, aby vás ochránili.
01:00.59		A teď mi dovolte, abych vysvětlil nekteré věci. Protože tady sedím a poslouchám.
01:04.60		Jsem znechucený a unavený z lidí, kteří mluví o ‘válce proti teroru’. Nic takového jako válka …
01:08.64		proti teroru neexistuje. Jaké by to bylo, během druhé světové války,
01:12.67		kdyby Spojené státy americké řekly, že vedou válku proti Blitzkriegu.
01:16.69		Nebo že válčí proti Kamikaze. Národ nejde …
01:20.72		do války proti taktice. A zrovna tak .
01:24.74		když tady sedíte a vidíte tady naše strategické lídry…
01:28.79		ve Washingtonu D.C., když chodite na tyhle všechny nedělní shows a oni mluví o …
01:32.84		tom, jaké je to řídit ‘útoky letadel bez pilota’,
01:36.85		vzpomenete si na to, co se stalo ve Vietnamu,
01:40.89		když L B Johnson schvaloval bombardování právě tady…
01:44.92		z Bílého Domu, to není to, co by měl delat dobrý stratég.
01:48.93		Takhle by se strategie neměla dělat.
01:52.97		Národ jde do války proti ideologii,
01:56.98		a to je to, o čem tady dnes mluvíme.
02:01.02		Mluvíme o faktu, že stojíme před něčím, co je totalitní…
02:05.05		politická ideologie a
02:09.06		ta se jmenuje ‘Islám’.
02:13.09
02:17.12
02:21.16		To není o muslimech.
02:25.18		To je to samé jako v nacistickém Německu. Ne každý…
02:29.20		němec byl nacista. Zrovna tak, když jsem byl…
02:33.24		v Iráku v roce 2003, ne každý Iráčan byl členem…
02:37.26		strany Baath. To, o čem tady mluvím,
02:41.30		je ideologie, která existuje od roku 622 našeho letopočtu,
02:45.33		od 7. století. Začalo to událostí zvanou
02:49.34		útok Naklah, která se udála, když Mohammed udělal svou Hijru, když opustil Mekku a šel do…
02:53.38		Mediny. Od té doby je tu neustálé násilí. To se střetává se západní civilizací,
02:57.41		a toto je další kapitola dlouhé knihy…
03:01.42		kterou píší, aby porazili každého z nás.
03:05.46		A nyní přišel náš čas, zrovna jako naši předkové se museli postavit proti těmto nepřátelům a vyhnat je,
03:09.47		i my se musíme postavit proti těmto nepřátelům a vyhnat je, a to dnes.
03:13.51
03:17.55
03:21.56		Slyšeli jste vysloužilého důstojníka zpravodajské služby Stephen Coughlin, když hovořil o ‘anulování’. Musíte rozumět věcem jako
03:25.66		smlouva Hudaibiyah, kde oni budou sedět a podvedou vás …
03:29.68		tím, že budou vše zrdžovat, aby mohli posílit, jako okolo roku 627,
03:33.72		628, to je kdy se Mohammed
03:37.75		zmocnil Mekky. To samé se děje právě nyní.
03:41.75		Musíte porozumět tradicím Mohammeda. Když psal dopisy…
03:45.80		Chosroesovi, perskému císaři, když psal dopisy Heracliusovi
03:49.82		byzanskému císaři, ve kterých uvedl: “Máte tři volby: konvertujete se,
03:53.88		podrobíte se, nebo přijdeme a dostaneme vás. A co se stalo?
03:57.92		V roce 1992 Osama Bin Laden udělal to samé.
04:01.94		Poslal dopis Spojeným státům. Později v roce …
04:05.98		2005 nebo 2006 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad udělal přesně to samé.
04:10.01		Poslal dopis Američanům a presidentu Bushovi. Nacházíme se už…
04:14.02		ve vyhlášené válce, a jestliže nebudeme mít vedení, které tuto situaci pochopi,
04:18.05		které bude tohoto nepřítele studovat,
04:22.07		jsme na cestě vedoucí do záhuby. Právě teď, v této úžasné zemi.
04:26.12		Musíme to pochopit. Všichni tady musí chápat, …
04:30.14		že zákon šaria je neslučitelný s tím, kdo jsme
04:34.16		v západní civilizaci, a za co se stavíme…
04:38.19		ve Spojených státech amerických. To není o svobodě. To není …
04:42.21		o volnosti. To není o ochraně lidských práv nebo práv žen
04:46.26		To je o tom, co Islám říká: to slovo znamená ‘podřízení’.
04:50.29		A nevím, jak smýšlíte vy všichni tady. Já nechci …
04:54.30		žít jako dhimmi. Já nechci žít…
04:58.34		pod jinou ideologií než tou jaká je napsaná
05:02.35		v Ústavě Spojených států amerických.
05:06.41
05:10.44
05:14.47
05:18.54		Děkuju
05:22.57		Musite rozumět tomu…
05:26.58		že musíme v tomto boji znovu získat iniciativu.
05:30.63		Zrovna tak, jako když naši mladí vojáci bojují svázáni omezujícími pravidly,
05:34.66		která jim brání vyvinout veškerou iniciativu proti nepříteli.
05:38.73		To jste videli v Marjanu v Provincii Helmand, kde příslušníci talibánu vyjdou a
05:42.74		odhodí své zbraně a odejdou a posmívají se naším vojákům a potom opět zahájí boj.
05:46.76		To by se pod mým vedením nestalo.
05:50.80
05:54.83
05:58.88		A právě tak musíme vymyslet správná …
06:02.92		strategická pravidla boje. Protože naše…
06:06.92		ústavní práva by neměla být ovlivněna ilegálními…
06:10.96		nepřáteli, jak je to napsáno v Ženevské konvenci.
06:14.99
06:19.00		Už nemůžeme dovolit tomuto nepříteli….
06:23.05		aby používal tuto novou taktiku ‘boje v rámci zákona’,
06:27.07		kterou, jak většina lidí, kteří tu stoji, chápe, oni využívaji, aby nás dostali a
06:31.12		aby nás umlčeli. Měli bychom jít po nich, .
06:35.14		nedovolit jim zneužívat náš právní system, a já prokleju…
06:39.16		každého právníka, který pošle před soud občana USA, aby mu
06:43.17		odejmul svobodu slova. To nejsou mí bratří a sestry.
06:47.20		Ať si sbalí kufry a odejdou ze země.
06:51.26
06:55.30
06:59.33		A když budeme pokračovat
07:03.39		v této politicky korektni multikulturální atmosféře…
07:07.43		která je na steroidech,
07:11.44		která nás paralyzuje a zabraňuje nám nastavit ten správný kurs.
07:15.47		Vidíme, co se stalo v Sudanu. Vidíme, co se děje v Rakousku.
07:19.53		Víme o Geert Wildersovi v Holandsku. Víme o tom, co se děje v Dánsku.
07:23.57		Tomu říkáme analýza trendů…
07:27.59		To není nic špatného. A pro vás všechny, co tu jste…
07:31.61		v médiích, přestante tomu říkat profiling. Jde o
07:35.65		identifikaci nepřítele a co on dělá a jde o jeho pronásledování.
07:39.67		Když jsem byl velitelem v Iraku, věděl jsem, že mladí muži na motorkách vycházeli
07:43.75		z lesíků, aby pokládali miny a zautočili na nás. Já jsem nechtěl
07:47.78		honit ženy v burkách v noci, v jejich domech.
07:51.80		Tomu se říka analýza trendů. Přestaňme být politicky korektní, nedovolme jim příjít do naší…
07:55.84		země.
07:59.86		Jestliže nechápeš
08:03.94		že se realita tvého nepřítele …
08:07.98		musí stát tvou vlastní, nemůžeme takhle pokračovat v tomto stavu …
08:12.01		popírání. Když jsem četl o útoku na základnu Fort Hood a o tom, co Major
08:16.07		Hasan udělal, byl jsem úplně znechucen. Když jsem tam stál a pozoroval…
08:20.10		nedělní představení, když Generál Casey, velitel armády řekl
08:24.11		že jeho více znepokojovalo, aby neutrpěla diverzita než…
08:28.16		ztráta 13 vojáků z Fort Hood Texas, máme problemy…
08:32.19		ve vedení Spojených států amerických.
08:36.25
08:40.28		Musíme si připustit, že problémy jsou reálné.
08:44.30		A cesta dopředu je jednoduchá. Musíte mít…
08:48.36		správné vedení této země.
08:52.38		Musíme mít správné vedení po celé Evropě
08:56.39		Musíme mít správné vedení, které se nebude bát.
09:00.46		Členové médií. Přestaňte napadat Židy a křesťany.
09:04.46		Přestaňte se bát tohoto nepřítele. Ukažte ten samý
09:08.52		zápal, který máte proti Američanům
09:12.55		proti nim. Protože, já vám něco řeknu, za 30 nebo 40 let
09:16.56		jestliže oni uspějí a získají kontrolu nad touto zemí
09:20.60		nebudeme mít svobodný tisk. Nebudeme mít svobodu slova. Tady nebude svoboda
09:24.63		projevu. A vite co? Vy na tom budete mít spoluvinu
09:28.70		Protože jste zbabělí, a proti tomuto nebezpečí jste se nepostavili.
09:32.73
09:36.76
09:40.82		nyní
09:44.84		nyní je čas pro zásadové vedení v USA
09:48.85		protože, jak mě citovala Elisabetha
09:52.88		Když se tolerance stane jednosměrnou ulicí
09:56.91		vede to ke kulturni sebevraždě.
10:00.95		Až budu moci letět do Saudské Arábie se svou biblí
10:04.97		v ruce, s křížem na krku, abych šel do Mekky,
10:08.98		A šel do kostela, potom, víš co? Já pojedu.
10:13.03		Ale do té doby
10:17.05		musíme pochopit…
10:21.11		cíle a záměry Islámu.
10:25.14		Musíme být hrdí na to, kdo jsme.
10:29.15		Nemůžeme mít vedení, které půjde před turecké
10:33.22		všeobecné shromáždění a řekne, že Amerika není židovsko křestanský národ.
10:37.24		Nemůžeme mít vedení, které stojí před
10:41.26		universitou v Káhiře a omlouvá se za Spojené státy
10:45.30		americké. To není americká hrdost.
10:49.31		Nemůžeme mít vedení, které, když se jich někdo zeptá,
10:53.36		jak definujete vítězství, nevědí.
10:57.39		Něco vám řeknu. Takhle já definuji vítězství,
11:01.40		zrovna tak, jako Ronald Reagan, když se ho zeptali na komunismus.
11:05.44		“My zvítězíme, oni prohrají.” Bůh s vámi všemi.
11:09.47		Děkuji.
11:13.53
11:17.57

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To Cut or Not to Cut?

Last night, when writing about the Algerian mufti and his reaction to proposed restrictions on wife-beating, I mentioned in passing that female genital mutilation enjoys scriptural validation under Islam. In the comments, Anti-Islamist asked for a specific citation to support my assertion:

…i humbly must ask the Baron: where in the Koran or the Hadiths are these nicities imposed?

I should be very much obliged to you for giving me an exhaustiv answer. Thank you!

By then it was quite late, and I was too tired to do more than make a quick search. As a result I listed only a weak hadith from Abu Dawud about female circumcision in my response.

However, it’s important to remember that although Islamic law relies on the Koran and the hadith for its ultimate authority, there are other sources of authoritative instruction under the fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). The actual details of sharia are codified in the four major schools of Islamic law (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi, and Hanbali). The Reliance of the Traveller (’Umdat al-Salik), by Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, is a Shafiite law manual, and is considered one of the best and most reliable authorities on the specifics of sharia. As the documents in the preface to Nuh Ha Mim Keller’s translation attest, his version is recognized as an officially approved statement in English of the doctrines of Islamic law, as certified by Al-Azhar University and the governments of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Syria.

Unfortunately, a complete Reliance of the Traveller is all but impossible to find online. So today, after a good night’s sleep, I got out my copy of ’Umdat al-Salik and looked up the relevant section on circumcision.

Let’s see what Al-Misri has to say in Book E, “Purification”, Section e4.0, “The Body”:
- - - - - - - - -

e4.3     Circumcision is obligatory (O: for both men and women. For men it consists of removing the prepuce from the penis, and for women, removing the prepuce (Ar. bazr) of the clitoris (n: not the clitoris itself, as some mistakenly assert). (A: Hanbalis hold that circumcision of women is not obligatory but sunna, while Hanafis consider it a mere courtesy to the husband.)

There are four doctrinal schools of Sunni Islamic law: the Hanafi, the Maliki, the Shafi, and the Hanbali. In this passage al-Misri names all four schools.

Does he seem to name only two of schools? A closer inspection tells us more.

This is a Shafiite manual, and it explains Shafiite rules. It makes no exception for the Malikis, so the stated rule — circumcision is obligatory — applies to both Shafi and Maliki. The first exception is for the Hanbalis, who hold that circumcision of women is not obligatory, but recommended. And finally it acknowledges that the Hanafis consider it a mere courtesy to the husband.

So now what does this tell us? All of Sunni Islam says that female circumcision is a good thing. And two of those schools actually say it is mandatory.

As a side note, a contact who is a scholar of Arabic tells me that the Arabic version of this passage gives instructions to cut the whole thing out, and not just the prepuce — which confirms what most of us thought.

I hope this gives a more complete and comprehensive answer to the reader’s question.

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Pennies From Heaven

Steven Vincent. A man who belongs irretrievably to the past now, but whose memory shines bright for those who loved him, and for those of us who admired him.

Earlier this month Lisa Ramaci, his widow, happened upon an old post about her husband at Gates of Vienna and was moved to write in response. She willingly gave permission for us to share her thoughts with you:

Hello -

I was recently made aware of a wonderful post you wrote about my husband Steven Vincent, the journalist who was kidnapped and murdered in August 2005 in Basra, Iraq, and I wanted to write and thank you for it.

Since I do not expect you to remember it, here’s the link.

I remember Steven Vincent’s tragic end very well. His summary execution and the attempted murder of his translator by terrorists in Iraq is an unforgettable story. It was only luck that Nour, the translator, survived and managed to elude those who wanted her dead.

I cannot tell you what your words mean to me, even after all this time; I am touched and honored by the regard in which you obviously held Steven, and how you so clearly understood what he was trying to accomplish with his writings. (Funnily enough, my favorite character in Romeo and Juliet was always Mercutio, the most complex, intelligent and interesting of the protagonists, so I was struck by your comparison of him to Steven.)

I was pleased that Ms. Ramaci noticed the comparison. Mercutio is also one of my favorite dramatic characters. It continues to be a source of fascination to me that Shakespeare could manage to flesh out a real human being in so few lines. Thus, my title of the post on Steven Vincent, ‘Tis Not So Deep as a Well, Nor So Wide as a Church Door…, is the line Mercutio (Romeo’s best friend) says on receiving a mortal wound whilst fighting for his friend. Romeo claims that Mercutio can’t be that seriously hurt, to which Mercutio responds:

No, ‘tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a
church-door; but ‘tis enough, ’twill serve: ask for
me to-morrow, and you shall find me a grave man.

In such a manner does Shakespeare capture the face of courage at the moment of death. It is indeed an Italian answer that Shakespeare has fashioned for his character. Does it not remind you of Fabrizio Quattrocchi, the Italian security guard also executed in Iraq?

Ms. Ramaci has information about Nour al-Kahl, the interpreter who was kidnapped along with Mr. Vincent.
- - - - - - - - -
They were both shot, but she survived and went into hiding after leaving the hospital. Thus began his widow’s arduous mission to retrieve her husband’s translator and bring her to safety:

An update regarding Nour — not long after I found out what happened I began working to get her to New York, where I live.

After she was released from the Green Zone some 3 months after being shot, she was able to get to Amman , where her former USAID boss and I supported her so she would not have to risk trying to find a job and possibly get sent back to Iraq as an illegal refugee.

It took 18 months of working fruitlessly with the Baghdad Embassy, the State Department and immigration lawyers here, and I actually wound up testifying in front of Senator Ted Kennedy’s Iraq Refugee Crisis committee, but I finally managed to get her into the US. She arrived in June 2007, lived with me for 6 months while she found her footing, as it were, and then moved out to live with a roommate.

However, we stay in frequent contact — I took her out to California at Thanksgiving so we could spend it with Steven’s family (she’d met them before, but it was her first chance to see a whole new part of the US and see where Steven had grown up), she spends Christmas with my mom and me, and we celebrate her birthday at the end of each January.

She is now semi-happily ensconced in Queens (she prefers Manhattan), living with a truncated Iraqi family (the boy had to come to the US for heart surgery with his dad, leaving the rest of the family behind for the moment), working as a translator, and in general in a much better position than she was. She’s taken off the headscarf, and is quite the cosmopolitan woman now, she even has a shrink. She misses her family of course, but not the life she had to lead in Iraq , and she does, indeed love New York.

Ms. Ramaci gave me several links to more stories about Nour’s life in this country when she was living with her benefactor. One of them is particularly moving. It demonstrates the bond that can develop between two people who deeply cherish a third person who is no longer with them, who is separated from them eternally.

She says of herself:

As for me, I press onward, visiting Steven out in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn on a regular basis, thankful I was able to fulfill what I know his last wish would have been by bringing his translator to the new world he had promised her. I miss him sorely still — not a day goes by that I do not think of him and wish he were here — but you have no idea how it does my heart good, even after all these years, to find a tribute to him as beautifully written as yours was.

So again, thank you beyond measure for your eloquent and profoundly touching defense of my beloved husband, it is beyond appreciated.

Before signing off Ms. Ramaci took the trouble to read my profile and she touched on the things that we share:

And I thought you might find this interesting; when I checked out your online profile, I saw you had listed, among many others, Gymnopaedies and Wallace Stevens as favorites — Steven loved Erik Satie’s Gymnopaedies, and we often drifted off to sleep listening to them, while Wallace Stevens was long one of his favorite poets.

Of course it goes without saying that I wrote back to Mr. Vincent’s widow. I couldn’t do so immediately. Her letter affected me deeply; I had to travel back in time to re-read my own post and to recall those old memories of the Iraq stories. Then there was a ‘settling’ process, always necessary when one is deeply moved and yet the subject is so irretrievably gone. Hard to believe it’s been five years already. Life moves on, as though we were on a train and the person we knew then and cared about is left at the station marked 2005. It becomes hard to see them waving. Or have they, too, turned away?

At any rate, I had to ask permission to publish her email, and I wanted to share some of my own feeling about that time. I told her how relieved I was to hear that Nour had made it to the US, and related my own experience with the death of my daughter.

I also asked if she believed that life continued in some fashion after death. As I explained, this ‘belief’ isn’t really voluntary; one finds the idea acceptable or one dismisses it, but it’s not really a choice to think this way. It’s a fundamental part of who we are.

Her response:

…I would be happy to have people find out that Nour is safe in the West and making a new life for herself. If you would let me know when it runs I’d appreciate it.

Please accept my condolences on the untimely death of your daughter; I think that is even harder than losing a husband, since I did not carry him inside of me for 9 months, birth, raise and love him from tiny baby to adulthood. And while I truly feel half of me was irrevocably ripped away when Steven was killed, I cannot even begin to imagine the grief of his mother; I literally weep every time I think of it.

Not long ago, while going through my storage space, I came upon some of Steven’s papers, in which was something she had done when he was 2 — she’d inked his foot and hand, pressed them on a piece of paper and written “Steven Charles Vincent December 31, 1957 — two years old”. And I sat there and thought of how proud she must have been of her sweet, cherished firstborn, her only son, and cried until my eyes were swollen and I could not breathe. I have tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat just thinking of it now.

And I do believe in the eternal spirit, and can only hope God will grant me the chance to be with Steven again someday, somewhere.

She’s partially right that the death of a child — of any age — is exquisitely difficult. It is a death out of order; parents should always go first. On the other hand, the death of a beloved spouse has a much more immediate and daily impact on our lives. Even though I believe the Baron will outlast me, I still prepare myself for the possibility that he may not. “Accidents and incidents” abound in all our lives. The extent to which I depend on him would be hard to measure. The comparison between the two types of pain is hard to construct, at least for me.

Ms. Ramaci has had the common experiences many of us do after the death of someone very close:

He visits me in dreams sometimes, and they are so vivid I find it hard to believe he is not there; friends who are far more psychic than me (given that I possess the extra-sensory perception of a brick) have assured me they have not only felt but seen him in our apartment, and even Nour confessed to me, more than a year after she moved out, that she saw him there on a regular basis, which is one reason she wanted to live elsewhere. She wasn’t afraid, but she felt he was always watching and judging her. I pointed out that he had not done that in life so why would he in death, but she can be rather set in her beliefs, so…

Others have ‘seen’ my daughter, too, in the house where she died.

Like Ms. Ramaci, I have the ESP of a brick, though sometimes my thoughts are intruded upon by an inner ‘voice’ sounding much like my daughter. She is usually making a comment about whatever is going on and she’s often very witty, just as she was in real life.

Here’s another experience from her husband:

But he sends me pennies — I find them everywhere, in the oddest of places, always a single one. And I firmly believe it’s his way of saying, “Hi, I’m here!” May sound silly, but it gives me comfort, and what else matters?

My response was to say that his message was a joke, that he’d keep showing up “like a bad penny” — an unexpected, fond presence. But then, in telling someone else the story, she had a different response: “but of course. Pennies from heaven”.

Since I know that Steven Vincent was buried with a CD of Frank Sinatra songs to accompany him to eternity, I found this video for Lisa:


She sent along a few photos of his “mansion” in Greenwood Cemetery, saying that she cannot use the “g” word. I know what she means. It sticks in the throat.

She says:

So he would know that we will be together again someday, I put my name on the headstone. Some people find it creepy, but I am perfectly content, knowing his name is not alone on that black stone.

I don’t find her behavior “creepy” at all. It is a way to transcend the hardest part of death’s aftermath, thinking of a beloved person being alone. In truth, it is we who are so awfully alone. They have comforts we do not know.

Dymphna, thank you so much for writing back to me and again, for wanting to publish my email to you. By reminding your readers about Steven and his untimely death, you help to preserve his memory. God bless you for that.

For Steven Vincent’s widow he is present still, in her waking moments, in his visits to her dreams and in his laughing gift of pennies, lots of pennies.

“A penny for your thoughts, Lisa...”
“Pennies from heaven, Lisa...Be sure that your umbrella is upside down...”

Gabriel Marcel defined devotion this way: “love means that, for me, you will never die.” I’ve yet to see a better definition.

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Spurious Spalpeens

Since virtually no Irish blood runs in my veins, I’m not properly qualified to write a St. Patrick’s Day post. Nevertheless, Dymphna has given me permission to create one in her stead.

When I was a kid, St. Patrick’s Day was still mostly for proles. That was back before he was gentrified, when the Irish were still Irish, before they became “Celts”.

Back then the proper abode of the Irish — outside the walls of the Catholic Church — was the tavern or the smoke-filled rooms of Tammany Hall. Nowadays the Irish are more likely to be found in coffee houses and the folk-filled rooms of Celtic music festivals.

In my day, Irish songs were generally referred to as “shanties”. Here is a fragmentary transcript of one that has stuck in my mind for all these years:

In eighteen hundred and forty-one,
I put my corduroy breeches on,
I put my corduroy breeches on
To work up on the railway.

Chorus:
Fil-li-me-oo-ri-i-ri-aye
Fil-li-me-oo-ri-i-ri-aye
Fil-li-me-oo-ri-i-ri-aye
To work up on the railway.

In eighteen hundred and forty-two,
I left the old world for the new,
Bad cess to the luck that brought me through
To work upon the railway.

It’s “Pat do this” and “Pat do that,”
Without a stocking or cravat,
And nothing but an old straw hat
While working on the railway.

All that has changed. Today’s Irish music is for the high-minded and the literate. Check out the Celtic music programming on NPR if you doubt my word.

But St. Patrick’s Day has retained most of its plebeian charm, what with green beer and parades of giant leprechauns and sodden Celts-for-a-day hurling into the gutters.

For a change of pace, here’s another voice from the past. As early as the 1930s, Ogden Nash — whom I suspect of being a filthy Sassenach like yours truly — had his own bone to pick with the commercialization of St. Paddy’s feast day:
- - - - - - - - -

It’s a Grand Parade It Will Be, Modern Design
by Ogden Nash

Saint Patrick was a proper man, a man to be admired;
Of numbering his virtues I am never, never tired.
A handsome man, a holy man, a man of mighty deeds,
He walked the lanes of Erin, a-telling of his beads.
A-telling of his beads, he was, and spreading of the word.
I think that of Saint Patrick’s Day, Saint Patrick hadn’t heard.

The saint was born a subject of the ancient British throne,
But the Irish in their wisdom recognized him as their own.
A raiding party captured him, and carried him away,
And Patrick loved the Irish, and he lived to capture they,
A-walking of the valleys and a-spreading of the word.
I think that of Saint Patrick’s Day, Saint Patrick hadn’t heard.

He defied the mighty Druids, he spoke them bold and plain,
And he lit the Easter fire on the lofty hill of Shane.
He lit the Easter fire where the hill and heaven met,
And on every hill in Ireland the fire is burning yet.
He lit the Easter fire, a-spreading of the word.
I think that of Saint Patrick’s Day, Saint Patrick hadn’t heard.

Saint Patrick was a proper man before be was a saint,
He was shaky in his Latin, his orthography was quaint,
But he walked the length of Ireland, her mountains and her lakes,
A-building of his churches and a-driving out the snakes,
A-building of his churches and a-spreading of the word.
I think that of Saint Patrick’s Day, Saint Patrick hadn’t heard.

But the silver-tongued announcer is a coy, facetious rogue;
He ushers in Saint Patrick with a fine synthetic brogue,
He spatters his commercials with macushlas and colleens,
Begorras, worra-worras, and spurious spalpeens.
I hope one day Saint Patrick will lean down from Heaven’s arch
And jam the bloody air waves on the Seventeenth of March.

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Children and Sharia

The Danish writer and free-speech advocate Helle Merete Brix recently wrote an article for www.rights.no about the plight of children under Islamic law. Anne-Kit from Perth, Australia has kindly translated it into English for Gates of Vienna.


Children and Sharia

By Helle Merete Brix for Human Rights Service

March 11, 2010

Many years ago in Copenhagen I met a Saudi poet — let’s call her B. She participated in a cultural festival for Arabic writers where I was the compere.

B, who wore tight leather trousers and loose, flowing hair, spoke relatively openly about some of the many problems that exist for freedom of speech and equality of the sexes in Saudi Arabia. But nevertheless she had to speak with some caution as she was due to return to Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s most restrictive societies.

I remember clearly an episode from B’s childhood which she spoke about. She was a half-grown girl when her mother told her that she had to cover herself up from now on. “Why?”, she asked her mother.

“Because you are beautiful”, replied her mother. “But”, B protested with a child’s logic, “if I am beautiful, why do I have to cover myself up?”

A similar episode plays out in an Iranian film I watched a couple of years ago. The film depicts a fictitious but quite realistic tale about the last day in the childhood of an Iranian village girl. The girl tries to prolong her childhood. She wants to run freely in the countryside and on the beach. She wants to keep playing with boys of the same age. But her mother holds up the black, full length cloak which adult Iranian women wear, ready for her to put on.

Child brides in Yemen and Saudi Arabia

In every society which introduces Sharia, formally or informally, the boundaries between childhood and adulthood are blurred. Girls are “suddenly” sexual objects at a point in time when, in the West, they are expected to be occupied only with play and school. Khomeini reduced the marriageable age for girls to 9. From Yemen and Saudi Arabia we hear barbaric tales of child brides who are married off to men who could be their grandfathers, and who want divorce. But women in these countries are often more or less the property of men from birth to death.

Girls are not the only victims of Sharia; boys are too. Some of the most horrifying stories I have read are about what happened to the boys who deserted from the Iranian army in the 1980s, when Iran was at war with Iraq. The late Iranian-French writer Freidoune Sahebjam wrote about some of these children in his last book: “Reviens Mahomet, ils sont devenus fous” (“Come back Mohammed, they have gone mad”, Grasset, 2007). Sahebjam told me in the Autumn of 2007 that he had received phone calls from angry people who thought he was guilty of exaggeration.

The book is about the barbarous customs of Islamized countries. Sahebjam bases the examples in his book on travels in Iran (illegally, as he had been condemned to death by the Iranian regime), Iraq and Afghanistan, among other countries. But what makes the biggest impression is of course his descriptions of the miserable children.

Children are hanged

One of the examples in Sahebjan’s book is a reconstruction of the circumstances surrounding the execution of 12-year-old Ahmen in Iran in 1983. He deserted from the army. He never showed up at the barracks but went into hiding. But he was caught and thrown in prison.
- - - - - - - - -
In November 1983 he appeared on Iran’s state TV with his mother. The mother, who was a widow and wore the chador, had lost four sons in the war with Iraq and was willing to give up her last son as well. She was therefore upheld by the interviewer as an exemplary mother. And she did not acknowledge her son. She told the interviewer and the viewers that he was the Devil incarnate. The 12-year old boy cried and was terrified when the interviewer told him that he risked the death penalty for deserting from the army. His mother refused to intercede for him.

As a result of this, Ahmed was hanged publicly three days later. They had to drag him to the gallows, and while he cried for his mother the spectators shouted “Coward, coward!”

Officially, the Iranian regime did not hang children under the age of 14. So Ahmed’s age was never revealed. Two years later, in 1985, an 88-year old grandfather who kept his 13-year old grandson hidden from the army was displayed on Iranian TV by the same journalist. Days after this both the grandfather and the boy were hanged in a Tehran public square.

Muslim countries execute minors

Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Pakistan and Iran are supposedly the only countries in the world which have condemned minors to death in recent years. Iran leads by a wide margin. An Amnesty International report from 2007, published in The Washington Post, tells of at least 71 minors, i.e. children under 18, who were on death row in Iran. From 1990 to 2007 there were 24 documented executions of people who were minors at the time they were arrested. 11 of them were under 18 when they were executed.

These minors were both girls and boys. The report says that these young people often belonged to minority groups, Iranian Arabs, Afghan refugees and homosexuals and girls who have been sexually abused. In Iran many offences carry the death penalty, among them breaches of the laws of chastity, infidelity, incest, rape, murder and homosexuality.

The execution of 16-year old Atefeh

The BBC produced a documentary, “Execution of a Teenage Girl” about 16-year old Atefeh Rajabi, who was hanged in the town of Neka in August 2004. Her mother was killed in a traffic accident when Atefeh was only 4 years old. Her father was a drug addict. Atefeh was first arrested by the Revolutionary Guard when she was 13 years old. She was sentenced to death on four counts of crimes against chastity. She was jailed the first time for being alone in a car with a boy and for being in a cafe without a male guardian. The fourth time she confessed during interrogation to having had a relationship with a 51-year old man, who she said had abused her. According to the BBC documentary she was also abused by prison guards.

The judges insisted that Atefeh was 22 years old. But her family showed her death and birth certificates to the Iranian journalist who took up her case, documenting that she was only 16 when she was executed.

Atefeh was hanged from a crane in a public square in the religiously conservative town of Neka. Iran has ratified the international conventions that make it illegal to execute minors. But this means nothing. In a country that is governed according the Sharia, children and women are especially deprived of rights. Allah’s law rules above anything else, not least humaneness.


Helle Merete Brix is a Danish writer and commentator. She is a prominent member of the Free Press Society.

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