Just Say No
To Jihad. Euro-Muslims vs. al-Jazeera. MEMRI:
Arabs in Europe have launched a public campaign to stop Al-Jazeera TV broadcasts in Europe. In a petition, they accuse the channel of fostering extremism among European Arab youth and of supporting terrorism.
While the petition’s initiators have not provided their names, it seems likely that they are Iraqi expatriates; although various Arab news websites, such as Elaph, [1] have reported on the campaign, the petition itself has been posted primarily on Iraqi websites. These sites include the Iraqi news site Sotaliraq; [2] the Iraq of Tomorrow news site; [3] the Al-Najaf News site; [4] the website of Al-Fayhaa TV, a liberal Iraqi station; [5] the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan website; [6] Bahzani, a news and opinion website focusing on the Yazidi community and other Iraqi minorities; [7] the Yezidi Community website; [8] the website of the GilgamishCenter for Kurdish Studies and Research; [9] and the Kurdistan Times e-journal. [10]
In addition, on November 28, 2007, Iraqi exile Joseph Shallal wrote an article on the Arab left-liberal Modern Discussion website urging a boycott of Al-Jazeera.
TO VIEW MEMRI TV’S PAGE OF AL-JAZEERA CLIPS VISIT: http://www.memritv.org/subject/en/166.htm
The following are excerpts from the petition and from Shallal’s article:
“Since Its Inception, Al-Jazeera Has Chosen the Path of Fostering Violence and Hatred”
“Why should Al-Jazeera be blocked in liberal Europe?
“More than 10 years after the emergence of the extremist Al-Jazeera channel, the time has come for Arabs who live in Europe and believe in a free Europe to defend the principles of a continent that has sacrificed millions of victims to reach its current state of progress, respect for human rights, rejection of extremism, and rejection of the fostering of hatred.
“Since its inception, Al-Jazeera TV has chosen the path of fostering violence and hatred in the world, and has acted so as to be an arm of terrorist forces, such as Al-Qaeda and other extremist forces. [Al-Jazeera TV] has already been prevented from operating in many countries, and some of its presenters and technical crew have been arrested for their involvement in aiding obscurantist terrorist forces like Al-Qaeda and others.”
“The Time Has Come for… ‘The Bin Laden Channel’ to Face Its Day of Reckoning on the European Continent”
“The time has come for Al-Jazeera TV, whose name has become ‘the bin Laden channel,’ to face its day of reckoning on the European continent.
“It would be difficult, in this brief [overview], to provide examples of the calamitous influence, danger, and ignominy that Al-Jazeera TV has presented and continues to present. Every day that this channel [continues to] broadcast constitutes a clear violation of the principles of the media, and poisons the minds of the youth…”
Howbout that. Meanwhile, MEMRI also brings us a couple of rueful jihadis, compliments of the official Saudi media:
“I left for Iraq in order to participate in the jihad, and to fight the occupiers - [at least] that was what I thought at the time. The commander of my group, Abu ‘Abd Al-Rahman, asked me to deliver a fuel tanker to a particular place in the Al-Mansour residential neighborhood in Baghdad, and drew me a diagram of the spot. I told him that I didn’t know how to drive a heavy vehicle, but he said that [it] was easy. In truth, this operation, which was the first mission I was asked to carry out since I entered Iraq, was highly suspect. Why were they asking me to deliver [a fuel tanker] when I didn’t know how to drive a heavy vehicle - while [the commander] or any other Iraqi in the organization could deliver the tanker and knew the way? But I could not refuse to carry out the operation, for fear that they would kill me.
“[In general,] from the moment I entered Iraq I saw that they were acting suspiciously, and were not training me to use weapons [so that I could] participate in the fighting. But… I told myself, ‘They pray and fast, they are jihad-fighting Muslims; they could not possibly kill me or harm me.’ And I agreed [to carry out the mission].
“They asked me to deliver [the tanker] at 9:00 PM, and at the appointed hour we [got in] the tanker, which was very long, and drove off. After a while, the driver asked me to try and drive. I did, until I learned how to do it. After that, we got on the main road [to] Al-Mansour, where I was meant to hand over the tanker. A while later, they stopped the tanker, got out, and left in another vehicle. Left there alone, I considered running away, but where [would I go]? I didn’t know anyone except them. I trusted in Allah, hoped for the best, and set out to carry out what they had asked of me…
“When I reached the street where I was meant to stop, the truck suddenly exploded. I saw the fire take hold, and it was a nightmare for me; I couldn’t believe the horrible sight. Twelve people were killed in the explosion, and dozens of others were wounded - [all of them] innocent people. Later, I learned that this was one of a series of bombings aimed against the Jordanian Embassy, and that this kind of tanker could hold 25 tons of propane.
“After the explosion, I quickly jumped out of the window [of the tanker]… and fell to the ground. [I lay there] until an ambulance took me to the Al-Yarmouk University hospital, and from there to the Muhammad Baqr Al-Hakim hospital, based on the [forged] identity card given to me by the [Al-Qaeda] organization.
“Then Iraqi intelligence was informed of my whereabouts, and an Iraqi intelligence officer came and questioned me in the hospital. Later he took me to the Iraqi Interior Ministry… where I was interrogated by the minister’s aide for intelligence affairs… The Iraqi government handed me over to the American forces, which sent me to the hospital at the Abu Ghraib prison, to have my burns and wounds treated. I spent six months there, and received treatment like all the other prisoners.
“Before my extradition to Saudi Arabia, three officers from the Saudi Interior Ministry came, and met with the Saudi prisoners, including me… About a month after that, the American investigator told me that they were going to extradite me to Saudi Arabia, and indeed, a week later, I was extradited to Saudi Arabia on a special plane. When I reached the Riyadh air force base, before we went into the arrivals hall, one of the senior Interior Ministry officers told me, ‘Your family is here to welcome you,’ and my joy was multiplied.”
What? No waterboarding?
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:23 am on Saturday, December 8, 2007
2 Responses to “Just Say No”
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December 8th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
Oh the horror of it all.
So much for ignoring the evidence before you and thinking for yourself. Perhaps they never heard of “Allah helps those who help themselves.” This is a lucky young man.
December 8th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
They’re not supposed to help themselves, Salty, but submit in all ways to Allah. Even more, they are certainly not supposed to think for themselves. They are supposed to Ask the Imam, and Allah T’allallah knows best, dontcherknow.
If sh*t happens, it is the will of Allah.