IRIS Blog

Attacks against Christians and Jews continue to go unreported by the mainstream media.

As a result of a religious dispute, nearly 5,000 Christians were displaced and six were injured on September 20th, when Muslim rioters destroyed and torched at least 18 churches, 20 Christian homes, and 40 Christian shops in Dutse, the capital of Jigawa state in Northern Nigeria. After an Islamic young man made several unsuccessful advances on Jummai, a female Christian, he angrily reacted by calling her a fake Christian who follows a "useless Jesus." Jummai responded by telling the boy he followed "a useless prophet?Muhammad." Furious, the Muslim boy raised alarm through the town by proclaiming that a Christian lady blasphemed Muhammad. She was quickly taken to the local police station where she was kept in custody to diffuse the potentially volatile situation.

Notice how the symmetry in the accusations gives the lie to the nearly universally accepted conventional wisdom that Muslims are not fully aware of their double standard on religious insults. A double standard is the basis of sharia (Muslim Law). It is designed to create humiliation and submission of the infidel.

Source: Voice of the Martyrs (requires subscription, but not submission) (Hat tip: Maria Sliwa)

This one fact about American politics is enormously significant to undertanding the split between Left and Right in any country. Republicans control 49 of the 50 congressional districts with the highest rates of marriage, while Democrats represent all 50 districts with the lowest rates of married adults. That is why, for example, there is a large "marriage penalty" in taxation after Democrats controlled Congress for decades. The Left sabotages marriage at every opportunity, which is why Sweden, for example, has a shockingly high rate of children in single-parent homes. Obviously, fostering a two-parent enviroment is about the best thing that government can do for "the children" that politicians constantly crow about.

Marriage Gap Could Sway Elections

The marriage divide drew attention in the 2004 presidential race. President Bush beat John Kerry by 15 percentage points among married people and lost by 18 percentage points among unmarried people, according to an exit poll conducted by national news media organizations.

This bifurcation is actually understated, because it counts those who have previously been married, overwhelmingly Republican, as single.

Update: Don is on to something with his humorous comment on this post. While obviously there is a wide diversity of people in each party, surveys have consistently shown that Republicans are significantly happier in general. This is probably largely explained by marriage, for every age category.

It pains me to see women, in particular, who are deeply disappointed in life because they were sold a liberal way of life. Some have confided that only now, when it is too late, do they feel cheated by the feminist vision that "a woman without a husband is like a fish without a bicycle." All those men who pretended that they cared about them and thought they were interesting have long disappeared.

It is the most beautiful thing, on the other hand, to see an elderly couple surrounded by their lives' work, seeing an overflowing cup of love around them, watching the future they helped shape growing around them.

Bibi Encourages Olmert to Meet Abbas
He just lost my endorsement. Abbas praised the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit and holds a position in the terror government that still holds him hostage.

Peres: 'Fighting Terror is Like Fighting Crime, Not Another Army'
This is the mainstream view among the Left. See this previous post for important context.

French Teacher in Hiding for Criticizing Islam
The latest in a series of many

The Collapse of Israel's Legal System
Daniel Doron documents the Leftist disaster wrought on Israel

UN, Israeli Tanks in Brief Face-Off in South Lebanon
A sign of things to come. As I predicted, the UN will not molest Hezbollah (what an interesting choice of words for UN peacekeepers). Israel, however, will be prevented from retaliating by the UN presence.

CAIR Targets Michigan Congressman for Calling al-Qaeda 'Jihadist-Fascist'
CAIR, whose officials are regularly prosecuted personally for terror involvement, legally advocates for terrorists. What a suicidal society.

Egypt Allowing Arms Smuggling
Egypt is transitioning from a covert to an overt enemy. The next attack may be with nuclear technology, courtesy of the US with the blessing of Olmert.

Evelyn Gordon documents the utterly predictable results of electing corrupt politicians in Israel--the country's long-term strategic assets are being sold for personal political and financial gain. It is exacerbated by the Leftist system that inevitably results in gang warfare by special interest groups over the budget and the squandering of much of it.

One of the most disturbing things about Israel's political culture is the ease with which governments squander credibility. This is a resource far more precious than money, because once gone, it can never be replaced. Yet time after time, governments have sacrificed long-term credibility on the altar of short-term interests.

Consider two recent examples. One was the government's decision earlier this month to trim the budget by slashing the number of Falash Mura allowed to immigrate from Ethiopia from 300 to 150 a month - thereby reversing last year's pledge to double the quota, from 300 to 600.

This decision will obviously cause humanitarian distress, both for the Falash Mura waiting in overcrowded camps in Ethiopia and for the relatives awaiting them in Israel. It also contradicts the Kadima government's alleged concern for demography - the declared reason for its proposed unilateral withdrawal from most of the West Bank: Some 20,000 immigrants of Jewish descent, who are eager to rejoin the Jewish people and willing to convert, would clearly be a demographic asset.

But what makes the decision particularly outrageous is that when the cabinet originally voted to double the quota, it asked American Jews to raise $100 million to finance the Ethiopians' absorption. Then prime minister (and Kadima founder) Ariel Sharon even appealed personally to US Jewish leaders when he visited New York last year. And American Jewry responded: The United Jewish Communities have thus far raised $70 million for this purpose. "We suspended the rest of our activity and focused on this campaign," a senior UJC official told the press.

Belgian Muslims Riot for Third Night
The mainstream media has utterly ignored the story

Palestinian Arrested for Attacking Hospital Guard
This is Muslim terrorism, just like all of the incidents like these in which Western authorities strenuously deny terror

Israel's Prime Minister and the head of the US program for nuclear technology transfer have both blessed Egypt's nuclear plans (cf, for example, Olmert Sees No Threat in Egypt's Plans to Build Nuclear Plants). The reasons one would advise against placing nuclear technology in Egypt are location, location and location:

With at least 80 million inhabitants, Egypt is not only the most populous nation in the Arab world but in many ways its intellectual and political nexus, the fount from which nearly every major political or religious force to spread through the region in the past century has emerged. Fundamentalist trends first fostered in Egypt, with their specifically anti-Western tilt, have fanned the flames of jihad throughout the region.

The Gama'a al-Islamiyya, a social movement espousing a rejection of Western values and a return to Islamic traditions, originated in Egypt in the 1970s before spreading throughout the Middle East. Islamic Jihad also has its roots in Egypt. Osama bin Laden was a disgruntled Saudi rich kid bankrolling resistance fighters in Afghanistan until he came under the sway of his Egyptian spiritual mentor, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and decided to go global; 4 or 5 of the 10 original founders of al-Qaeda were Egyptian. Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, one of the masterminds behind the first World Trade Center bombing? Egyptian. Mohammed Atta, the ringleader of 9/11? Egyptian. Wherever one turns in the arena of Islamic jihadists, one is likely to find either the direct or spiritual influence of an Egyptian.

Egypt as a whole bears scant resemblance to the placid image that its boosters - the Egyptian government and its friends in the West - wish to project. It is, instead, something of a seething volcano.

The Boston Globe articulates the obvious:

Israelis Reassess Territory Strategy

A year of violent clashes has reshaped Israel's strategic picture. Calls by the government to give up territory and redraw Israel's borders have given way to a less ambitious agenda that will seek to bolster the country's military, lower expectations about making further unilateral moves, and dampen hopes for a quick resolution with Palestinians. Mark Regev, spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, said, "We have two concrete examples where Israel redeployed behind internationally recognized frontiers, in Lebanon and in Gaza, and did not create the peace people predicted. Obviously, that affects our thinking about the West Bank."

After every speech I get the question "so what's the solution?" The answer is "peace through strength squared." Weakness and concessions embolden all aggressors as a matter of human nature, but its impact on jihad is greatly magnified because of the centrality of one of Muhammed's teachings on jihad. He forbade attack from a position of weakness, but mandated it from strength. Every show of strength, therefore, pushes back the jihad. To destroy the jihad, all one needs to do is turn to history. The fall of the Ottoman Empire essentially pacified Muslims globally without the need for much bloodshed.

Specfically, the only significant debate in the Muslim world is whether the West's strength is real or not. Islamists argue that there is no value to nuclear weapons, for example, when infidels won't ever use them. When entire populations demonstrate their enmity, such as the Palestinians, infidels refuse to use their strength to strike back at the group. Therefore there is no real strength, because Muslims can always be shielded by paralysis over "civilian casualties."

This single, simple lesson, however, is not at all understood. It can prevent the death of billions and the enslavement of all humanity. Would you please be so kind as to help us spread it?

Russian-Built Iranian Reactor to Be Fully Operational by November 2007

IDF Withdrawal from Lebanon Stalled Until UNIFIL Role Clarified
As usual this will have no significance. It is only for domestic consumption, so that Olmert can posture that he stood up for Israel, but found that his hands were tied because of international pressure.

Khaled Abu Toameh provides an update on Israel's enemy:

Nearly two-thirds of Palestinians (63%) agree that Palestinians should emulate Hezbollah by firing rockets at Israeli cities, while 35% disagree, according to a poll conducted last week by the Truman Institute at Hebrew University and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah.

None of those who disagree do so because of the immorality of war crimes; disagreement is tactical only.

The poll also showed that 57% of Palestinians support attacks against Israeli civilians inside the "green line," and 75% of Palestinians support the kidnapping of IDF soldiers.

A popular line of Orwellian propaganda behind the "Peace Process" is "you don't make peace with your friends." With whom, however, does one make war?

Israel has earned the blessings of management by protexia. Today brings news of a wartime Defense Minister oblivious to the basic elements of Israel's defense.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz bolstered Daniel Doron's argument that he is illiterate by announcing during the war that no one had informed him that Hezbollah had missiles in Lebanon. Apparently no one had informed him that this information could be accessed from non-classified materials released to the public in the form of the daily newspaper.

Today Peretz falsely announced that the naval blockade of Lebanon was still in effect. (In defense of the Defense Minister, this is not viewed as central to Israel's defense now that the job has been outsourced to UN defenders.)

Interestingly the reporting implies that rather than reveal his ignorance, he simply chose to assert a random answer:

The defense minister faced an embarrassing moment during the meeting after giving a false reply to a question to which he seemed not to know the correct answer. When asked whether Israel was still enforcing a naval blockade in Lebanese waters, Peretz answered affirmatively.

After several MKs retorted that they "were aware of different information," his military secretary told him that no such blockade was intact

Clearly Peretz is not aware of IRIS, because he could have learned of the Hezbollah missile threat twelve years ago without reading a single word. Therefore I request that one of our readers should please inform the Minister that the disarmament of Hezbollah is an absolute farce. Rather than being in hiding as the Prime Minister bragged, Nasrallah claimed to be back to a strength of 20,000 missiles. Here is independent confirmation of this:

Hizballah Moving Rockets Near Israeli Border

Hezbollah has been transporting rockets and heavy weaponry to Palestinian camps in south Lebanon just a few miles from the Israeli border, according to Lebanese officials.

The office of Lebanese Prime Minister Faud Siniora sent a letter last week to Abbas Zakir, the PA's most senior representative in Lebanon, outlining the Hezbollah weapons transfers into Palestinian camps.

A senior Lebanese official said Hezbollah started building a new set of bunker systems, this time in Palestinian camps.

"The Lebanese Army doesn't have the authority to patrol inside the camps," said the official.

"Hezbollah knows it is safe there to rebuild their war bunkers, and they began doing so with Iranian help."

Olmert Sees No Threat in Egypt's Plans to Build Nuclear Plants
This man appears as if he is trying to destroy the country, although he may just be parroting the recent US statement to the same effect. Olmert didn't see any threat from Egypt taking over responsibility for Israel's southern border either, before it turned into a vehicle for the massive terror armament of Gaza. The top priority of Islamists are the acquisition of WMDs. Egypt is rapidly becoming Islamist.

Russia Offers Iran Surface-to-Air Missiles to Protect Nuclear Facilities
"Last June Bush decided within two hours of meeting him that Putin was a man he could trust"

Abbas Gives Assurances on Israel; Hamas Breaks Them
Looks like the old protege has perfected Arafat's favorite--the good cop/bad cop routine

EU Makes Cash Handouts to Palestinians for Ramadan
The majority of the $51 Million will be siphoned to Hamas

Qaeda Operative, an Escapee in '05, Killed in Iraq

IDF Says 90% of South Lebanon in Hands of UN, Lebanese Army
IRIS says that Hezbollah will have no difficulty striking again when its massive rearmament program is complete. Only Israel will find itself deterred in its response. Of course that gives Olmert a great excuse--we'd love to hit back really really hard, but our hands are tied by the UN.

Finally, a columnist has echoed my sentiments from last week that rarely has a facile opinion been so widely repeated. Here is how I explained it:

The conventional wisdom about the Papal Intifada is clever ("we'll protest your charge that we're violent with violence") but facile. Islam is not the slightest bit interested in fairness toward infidels. The entire point of the laws regarding insulting Islam and dhimmitude in sharia in general is to inflict humiliation on non-Muslims to pressure them into converting or accepting subjugation. "Submission," after all, not "peace," is the definition of "Islam."

See here and here, for some of the hundreds of pundits pontificating that the violent reaction to the Pope's implication that Islam is violent is hypocritical and ironic. (My favorite headline in this group, by the way, is this one for its unsderstated humor: Many Missed Pope's Point)

Of course, this is precisely the point that was missed regarding the Danish Cartoon Intifada. Here is how I explained it then:

Outrage Over Danish Cartoons is Not "Hypocritical"

This controversy has nothing to do with fairness or sensitivity. It has to do with the insistence of Islamists on the principle of the primacy of Islam, and a second-class status (dhimmi) for others. We do not understand this because the West cannot conceive that anyone could openly espouse inequality as a principle.

Precisely as I have been explaining for months, Clifford May explains the reaction in the terms I used, dhimmitude and submission:

Many commentators have noted the apparent irony: The pope suggests Islam encourages violence ? and Muslims riot in protest.

Many commentators have pointed out the apparent hypocrisy: Muslims are outraged by cartoons satirizing Islamic extremism while in Muslim countries Christianity and Judaism are attacked viciously and routinely.

Many commentators are missing the point: These protesters ? and those who incite them ? are not asking for mutual respect and equality. They are not saying: ?It?s wrong to speak ill of a religion.? They are saying: ?It?s wrong to speak ill of our religion.? They are not standing up for a principle. They are laying down the law. They are making it as clear as they can that they will not tolerate ?infidels? criticizing Muslims. They also are making it clear that infidels should expect criticism ? and much worse ? from Muslims.

They are attempting nothing less than the establishment of a new world order in which the supremacy of what they call the Nation of Islam is acknowledged, and ?unbelievers? submit ? or die. Call it an offer you can?t refuse.

If you don?t understand this, listen harder. In London, Anjem Choudary ? a Muslim Fascist if ever there was one ? told demonstrators that Pope Benedict XVI deserves to be killed ? for daring to quote a Byzantine emperor?s description of Islam as a religion ?spread by the sword.?

?The Muslims take their religion very seriously,? Choudary explained as if to a disobedient child, ?and non-Muslims must appreciate that and must also understand that there may be serious consequences if you insult Islam and the Prophet. Whoever insults the message of Mohammed is going to be subject to capital punishment.?

Iraqi insurgents ? some Europeans admiringly call them ?the resistance? ? posted on the Internet a video of a scimitar, a symbol of Islam, slicing a cross in half. It would be a stretch to interpret this as a plea for interfaith understanding.

In Iran, the powerful imam Ahmad Khatami said the pope ?should fall on his knees in front of a senior Muslim cleric.? In no culture of which I am aware is that a posture from which brother addresses brother.

This is extremely bad news. al-Qaeda and the Taliban now openly control Waziristan, a territory approximately the size of Israel, which is where bin Laden is believed to be operating. al-Qaeda's American spokesman, Adam Gadahn, was recently spotted in the area.

Pakistan Surrenders: The Taliban Control the Border with Afghanistan

INTELLIGENCE ANALYSTS woke up on September 5 to unsettling news. The government of Pakistan, they learned, had entered into a peace agreement with the Taliban insurgency that essentially cedes authority in North Waziristan, the mountainous tribal region bordering Afghanistan, to the Taliban and al Qaeda. Just ten days later, the blow was compounded when the government of Pakistan released a large number of jihadists from prison. Together, these events may constitute the most significant development in the global war on terror in the past year--yet the media have taken little notice.

For four years, the Pakistani military engaged in a campaign to assert governmental control over Wazir istan. The cost to Pakistan has been considerable; some intelligence sources believe this fighting has exacted a higher death toll on the Pakistani military than U.S. forces have sustained in Iraq. It is in this context that Pakistan gave up on South Waziristan last spring, abandoning its effort to control that area. Thereafter, sharia law was declared in South Waziristan, and the Taliban began to rule openly.

Yet even in the wake of Pakistan's earlier surrender of South Waziristan, this new agreement, known as the Waziristan Accord, is surprising. It entails a virtually unconditional surrender of Waziristan.

Second Assyrian Christian Killed in Retaliation for Pope's Remarks
You won't see this one mentioned in the mainstream media--a jihad group has announced the slaying of all Iraqi Christians in three days if the Pope does not apologize

Islamic Militants Take Key Somali City
America needs to adopt Reagan's Cold War strategy--oppose the Global Jihad everywhere by supplying arms to the local Jihad's enemy. Instead there is a politically correct approach of neutrality lest domestic Muslims be offended.

Producer Accuses Clintons of 'Looting'
They allegedly pocketed a lot more than silverware this time.

Lebanese Christians Rally Against Hezbollah
Lebanon's Christians have no IDF to protect them from the eventual devastation of the Jihad

CIA: Al-Qaeda Could Expand into Lebanon

Palestinian Rocket Fire at Israel Continues

Egypt Bans European Papers for Comments on Islam
The country is turning Islamist, yet the head of US nuclear energy can think of no reason why America should not help Egypt build a nuclear program.

Charles Krauthammer has written an interesting piece about the pattern of well-known leaders who are outed as Jews when their success draws the scrutiny of the press into their family backgrounds.

Strange doings in Virginia. George Allen, former governor, one-term senator, son of a famous football coach and in the midst of a heated battle for reelection, has just been outed as a Jew. An odd turn of events, given that his having Jewish origins has nothing to do with anything in the campaign and that Allen himself was oblivious to the fact until his 83-year-old mother revealed to him last month the secret she had kept concealed for 60 years.

Apart from its political irrelevance, it seems improbable in the extreme that the cowboy-boots-wearing football scion of Southern manner and speech should turn out to be, at least by origins, a son of Israel. For Allen, as he quipped to me, it's the explanation for a lifelong affinity for Hebrew National hot dogs. For me, it is the ultimate confirmation of something I have been regaling friends with for 20 years and now, for the advancement of social science, feel compelled to publish.

Krauthammer's Law: Everyone is Jewish until proven otherwise. I've had a fairly good run with this one. First, it turns out that John Kerry ? windsurfing, French-speaking, Beacon Hill aristocrat ? had two Jewish grandparents. Then Hillary Clinton ? methodical Methodist ? unearths a Jewish stepgrandfather in time for her run as New York senator.

A less jaunty case was that of Madeleine Albright, three of whose Czech grandparents had perished in the Holocaust and who most improbably contended that she had no idea they were Jewish. To which we can add the lead