Saturday
Fight on name of God
14 January 2010
Christian lawyers targeted over "Allah"
Fourth church attacked in Malaysia as "Allah" row deepens
Malaysia's Catholic Church said Thursday its lawyers' offices had been burgled and ransacked in the latest of a spate of attacks triggered by a row over the use of the word "Allah".
Police said a church in southern Johor state was also attacked, bringing to 10 the number of churches fire-bombed or vandalised in the past week.
Trouble broke out after the High Court decided on December 31 to lift a government ban on non-Muslims using "Allah" as a translation for "God".
"Our lawyers' offices were broken into and burgled sometime between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning and the office was ransacked," said Father Lawrence Andrew, editor of the Catholic Church newspaper the Herald.
"We believe the break-in is linked to the ongoing situation over the use of the word 'Allah' and we are very concerned."
"The law firm does not have any money or many valuables so we believe this is purely aimed at intimidation."
Church lawyer Derek Fernandez said a laptop was stolen in the attack on his firm's offices in southwest Kuala Lumpur, and he was checking whether any documents had been taken.
"This was a very professional job as there were very strong grilles protecting the office that were cut and the locks (were) carefully replaced after the break-in."
However, police denied the incident was linked to the Allah row.
"Police investigations so far indicate that this is purely a housebreaking and theft case, and is in no way related to the Allah issue," federal criminal investigation chief Bakri Zinin said in a statement.
Police said meanwhile the Saint Elizabeth Catholic Church in Johor had been splashed with paint early Thursday.
"The church was splashed with red paint sometime early this morning," deputy national police chief Ismail Omar told repoters. "We are still investigating the matter."
Malaysia's Bar Council condemned the attack on the law offices, saying lawyers must be free to represent their clients "without fear or favour".
"Criticism and dissent are legitimate forms of expression, but threats, coercion, intimidation or violence are unacceptable," president Ragunath Kesavan said.
The High Court's ruling in favour of the Herald, which argued for the right to use "Allah" in its Malay-language section, was suspended last week pending an appeal, after the government argued the decision could cause racial conflict.
Since the ruling, churches have been hit with Molotov cocktails, splashed with paint and had windows smashed with stones, triggering tighter security at places of worship nationwide.
About nine percent of Malaysia's 28 million people are Christian, including 850,000 Catholics. The majority community of Malays are Muslim.
The row is one of a string of religious disputes in recent years that have raised fears among minorities that the country is being "Islamised" and that their rights are being eroded.
In Geneva, the World Council of Churches said it was disturbed by the attacks and called on the Malaysian government to take immediate action.
"We hope that immediate measures will be taken to resolve the problem and that all perpetrators of these acts of violence will be brought to justice," the WCC said in a letter to Malaysian churches.
Pointing out that Christians living in neighbouring Indonesia -- the world's biggest Muslim-majority country -- has been using the word "Allah" for centuries, the WCC said it was "very disturbing to hear about this new controversy generated by a small sector of Muslims."
The US government's Commission on International Religious Freedom Tuesday voiced concern over the violence, and said the response of Malaysian leaders would be vital in shaping the nation's future.
The Malaysian government has strongly criticised the attacks, but has been accused of stoking Malay nationalism so as to protect its voter base after the opposition made unprecedented gains in 2008 elections.
After the latest attacks, Prime Minister Najib Razak said Thursday that probes were under way to bring the perpetrators to justice and said "several" suspects had been identified.
"These actions do not represent Malaysia. Malaysia is a tolerant country that supports religious freedom for all," he said in a statement.
Christian lawyers targeted over "Allah"
Fourth church attacked in Malaysia as "Allah" row deepens
Malaysia's Catholic Church said Thursday its lawyers' offices had been burgled and ransacked in the latest of a spate of attacks triggered by a row over the use of the word "Allah".
Police said a church in southern Johor state was also attacked, bringing to 10 the number of churches fire-bombed or vandalised in the past week.Trouble broke out after the High Court decided on December 31 to lift a government ban on non-Muslims using "Allah" as a translation for "God".
"Our lawyers' offices were broken into and burgled sometime between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning and the office was ransacked," said Father Lawrence Andrew, editor of the Catholic Church newspaper the Herald.
"We believe the break-in is linked to the ongoing situation over the use of the word 'Allah' and we are very concerned."
"The law firm does not have any money or many valuables so we believe this is purely aimed at intimidation."
Church lawyer Derek Fernandez said a laptop was stolen in the attack on his firm's offices in southwest Kuala Lumpur, and he was checking whether any documents had been taken.
"This was a very professional job as there were very strong grilles protecting the office that were cut and the locks (were) carefully replaced after the break-in."
However, police denied the incident was linked to the Allah row.
"Police investigations so far indicate that this is purely a housebreaking and theft case, and is in no way related to the Allah issue," federal criminal investigation chief Bakri Zinin said in a statement.
Police said meanwhile the Saint Elizabeth Catholic Church in Johor had been splashed with paint early Thursday.
"The church was splashed with red paint sometime early this morning," deputy national police chief Ismail Omar told repoters. "We are still investigating the matter."
Malaysia's Bar Council condemned the attack on the law offices, saying lawyers must be free to represent their clients "without fear or favour".
"Criticism and dissent are legitimate forms of expression, but threats, coercion, intimidation or violence are unacceptable," president Ragunath Kesavan said.
The High Court's ruling in favour of the Herald, which argued for the right to use "Allah" in its Malay-language section, was suspended last week pending an appeal, after the government argued the decision could cause racial conflict.
Since the ruling, churches have been hit with Molotov cocktails, splashed with paint and had windows smashed with stones, triggering tighter security at places of worship nationwide.
About nine percent of Malaysia's 28 million people are Christian, including 850,000 Catholics. The majority community of Malays are Muslim.
The row is one of a string of religious disputes in recent years that have raised fears among minorities that the country is being "Islamised" and that their rights are being eroded.
In Geneva, the World Council of Churches said it was disturbed by the attacks and called on the Malaysian government to take immediate action.
"We hope that immediate measures will be taken to resolve the problem and that all perpetrators of these acts of violence will be brought to justice," the WCC said in a letter to Malaysian churches.
Pointing out that Christians living in neighbouring Indonesia -- the world's biggest Muslim-majority country -- has been using the word "Allah" for centuries, the WCC said it was "very disturbing to hear about this new controversy generated by a small sector of Muslims."
The US government's Commission on International Religious Freedom Tuesday voiced concern over the violence, and said the response of Malaysian leaders would be vital in shaping the nation's future.
The Malaysian government has strongly criticised the attacks, but has been accused of stoking Malay nationalism so as to protect its voter base after the opposition made unprecedented gains in 2008 elections.
After the latest attacks, Prime Minister Najib Razak said Thursday that probes were under way to bring the perpetrators to justice and said "several" suspects had been identified.
"These actions do not represent Malaysia. Malaysia is a tolerant country that supports religious freedom for all," he said in a statement.
Thursday
Bible Guns Made in USA
19 January 2010
Defence Secretary orders 'Bible guns' for Military
Soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq are fighting using guns that have quotes from the Holy Bible.
News that US soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are issued with weapons carrying Christian beliefs provoked a outcry from Muslims and secular campaigners.
The US government has been at pains to keep religious language out of military affairs since George W Bush infamously referred to the war against terror as a "crusade" in 2001.
However, American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are using guns bearing inscriptions referred to passages in the Bible.
Defence Secretary orders 'Bible guns' for Military
Soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq are fighting using guns that have quotes from the Holy Bible.
News that US soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are issued with weapons carrying Christian beliefs provoked a outcry from Muslims and secular campaigners.
The US government has been at pains to keep religious language out of military affairs since George W Bush infamously referred to the war against terror as a "crusade" in 2001.
However, American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are using guns bearing inscriptions referred to passages in the Bible.
Coded references to biblical passages are inscribed on gunsights widely used by the US and British military in Iraq and Afghanistan, it has emerged.
The markings include "2COR4:6" and "JN8:12", relating to verses in the books of II Corinthians and John.
Trijicon, the US-based manufacturer, was founded by a devout Christian, and says it runs to "Biblical standards".
Jesus on Guns
One, JN8:12 – chapter eight, verse 12 in the Book of John – reads:
"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life'."
Another refers to a verse from Second Corinthians, which reads:
"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
Bible Weaponry
The Military is using religion to boost moral of serving soldiers on the ground. Bible guns are being given to soldiers who say they feel better in using them to shoot the enemy.
The company who makes the sights, Trijicon, was founded by a devout Christian and its website says its "morals" are based on "biblical standards".
"We believe that America is great when its people are good. This goodness has been based on biblical standards throughout our history and we will strive to follow those morals" said Trijicon.
Department of Defence confirmed that weapons from the American manufacturer had markings carried on the same brand of sights used by US Marines related to New Testament verses.
The Advanced Combat Optical Guides (ACOG) sights bearing words of Jesus are made in Michigan-based firm Trijicon.
The latest guns were ordered as an accessory for 400 new Sharpshooter rifles due to go into Afghanistan later in 2010.
Made in the USA
The Defence Minister praised the weapons for their "highly-precise, long-range capability"
"Our priority is to buy the best performingequipment available on the market."
Crop of Human Organs
21 December 2009
Israel admits harvesting organs from Palestinians
Israel has admitted that forensic pathologists "harvested organs" from dead Palestinians and others without permission of their families.
The issue emerged with publication of an interview with the then-head of Israel's Abu Kabir forensic institute, Dr. Jehuda Hiss.
There was was huge controversy during summer of 2009 over an allegation by a Swedish newspaper that Israel was killing Palestinians in order to harvest their organs. Israel denied the charge. Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported that Israeli soldiers killed Palestinians for their organs. Angry Israeli officials called the report "anti-Semitic."
Parts of the interview were broadcast on Israel's Channel 2 TV over the weekend. In it, Hiss said, "We started to harvest corneas ... Whatever was done was highly informal. No permission was asked from the family."
In a response to the TV report, the Israeli military confirmed that the practice took place. "This activity ended a decade ago and does not happen any longer," the military said in a statement quoted by Channel 2.
In the interview, Hiss described how his doctors would mask the removal of corneas from bodies. "We'd glue the eyelid shut," he said. "We wouldn't take corneas from families we knew would open the eyelids."
Human Meat Market
Council of Europe has said that kidney trafficking is “big business”. International organised crime is seeing it as a hugely profitable business. Doctors who perform the procedures are given large share of money. European patients die while waiting for a kidney transplantation, owing to a chronic shortage of organs. This demand makes prices go up and up.
Experts are concerned about the emerging global market in "human flesh". World Health Organization says evidence includes reports from "brokers" and doctors, accounts from villages, surveys of hospitals, government records, and kidney scars in slums. In some villiages, 40 percent of the people are turning up with only one kidney. Figures show the number of "donations" from unrelated family members are skyrocketing. 60 persent of the people getting these organs are from rich nations.
Modern diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and other kidney-destroying illnesses have spread. Antibiotics and other drugs suppress the immune system. More people need transplants, and more can be saved by them. But donations haven't kept up with demand. More than 70,000 Americans are waiting for kidneys. Over 1o0,000 patients in Europe are on waiting lists. The list is growing at a rate of 5,000 per year. People are dying.
Death Exploiters
Another unconfirmed report against Israel claims that in the days after the Haiti earthquake, Israeli rescue teams are stealing the organs of dead Haitians. It says that Israel is "Feasting Upon Human Organs".
The startling allegation was made T. West, an American, aims to provide "Proof of Israeli Trafficking in Human Organs". The video dated 19/01/2010 suggests that Israeli military forces are engaged in organ trafficking. Mr West from Seattle said that there are "exploiters" whereever there is death; and that he knows what Israel did in South Africa and with the Palestinians. He demanded transparency in Haiti .
Israel has dismissed the accusation as anti-semitism from another Jew hater. Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, and Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovich sent 100 Police Officers to Haiti after UN made a request to Israel for help.
Organs of Orphans
Prime Minister of Haiti Jean-Max Bellerive fears that trafficking of children and human organs is occurring in the aftermath of the earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12, 2010. Children whose parents have died are particularly vulnerable for organ theft.
When asked if he was sure, PM Bellerive said "the reports I received say yes."
"There is organ trafficking for children and other persons also, because they need all types of organs."
Children recently orphaned by Haiti's earthquake were being targeted for organ trafficking claimed Haiti's Prime Minister.
Ten Americans were caught in Haiti trying to abduct children. The group was arrested and charged with kidnapping children. These Americans were trying secretly to take 33 children out of Haiti and to the United States. The Jewish advisor of the ten U.S. citizens Jorge Puello has fled Haiti. Police said he has previously known to traffic women and girls.
U.S. authorities are desperate to get the ten citizens released. It is thought deals are being made behind the scene to get the kidnap charges dropped. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was pressuring the Haitian government to let the Americans go.
U.S. Military is incharge of all aid operations, rescue security in Haiti after PM Bellerive gave them full control of the destroyed capital city Portau Prance.
Market price for one Kidney is between 2,000 to 4,000 dollars, depending on its condition.
Earthquake in Haiti resulted in the death of over 250,000 people. Many of were buried together in mass graves.
+ +
Israel admits harvesting organs from Palestinians
Israel has admitted that forensic pathologists "harvested organs" from dead Palestinians and others without permission of their families.
The issue emerged with publication of an interview with the then-head of Israel's Abu Kabir forensic institute, Dr. Jehuda Hiss.
There was was huge controversy during summer of 2009 over an allegation by a Swedish newspaper that Israel was killing Palestinians in order to harvest their organs. Israel denied the charge. Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported that Israeli soldiers killed Palestinians for their organs. Angry Israeli officials called the report "anti-Semitic."
Parts of the interview were broadcast on Israel's Channel 2 TV over the weekend. In it, Hiss said, "We started to harvest corneas ... Whatever was done was highly informal. No permission was asked from the family."
In a response to the TV report, the Israeli military confirmed that the practice took place. "This activity ended a decade ago and does not happen any longer," the military said in a statement quoted by Channel 2.
In the interview, Hiss described how his doctors would mask the removal of corneas from bodies. "We'd glue the eyelid shut," he said. "We wouldn't take corneas from families we knew would open the eyelids."
Human Meat Market
Council of Europe has said that kidney trafficking is “big business”. International organised crime is seeing it as a hugely profitable business. Doctors who perform the procedures are given large share of money. European patients die while waiting for a kidney transplantation, owing to a chronic shortage of organs. This demand makes prices go up and up.
Experts are concerned about the emerging global market in "human flesh". World Health Organization says evidence includes reports from "brokers" and doctors, accounts from villages, surveys of hospitals, government records, and kidney scars in slums. In some villiages, 40 percent of the people are turning up with only one kidney. Figures show the number of "donations" from unrelated family members are skyrocketing. 60 persent of the people getting these organs are from rich nations.
Modern diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and other kidney-destroying illnesses have spread. Antibiotics and other drugs suppress the immune system. More people need transplants, and more can be saved by them. But donations haven't kept up with demand. More than 70,000 Americans are waiting for kidneys. Over 1o0,000 patients in Europe are on waiting lists. The list is growing at a rate of 5,000 per year. People are dying.
Death Exploiters
Another unconfirmed report against Israel claims that in the days after the Haiti earthquake, Israeli rescue teams are stealing the organs of dead Haitians. It says that Israel is "Feasting Upon Human Organs".
The startling allegation was made T. West, an American, aims to provide "Proof of Israeli Trafficking in Human Organs". The video dated 19/01/2010 suggests that Israeli military forces are engaged in organ trafficking. Mr West from Seattle said that there are "exploiters" whereever there is death; and that he knows what Israel did in South Africa and with the Palestinians. He demanded transparency in Haiti .
Israel has dismissed the accusation as anti-semitism from another Jew hater. Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, and Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovich sent 100 Police Officers to Haiti after UN made a request to Israel for help.
Organs of Orphans
Prime Minister of Haiti Jean-Max Bellerive fears that trafficking of children and human organs is occurring in the aftermath of the earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12, 2010. Children whose parents have died are particularly vulnerable for organ theft.
When asked if he was sure, PM Bellerive said "the reports I received say yes."
"There is organ trafficking for children and other persons also, because they need all types of organs."
Children recently orphaned by Haiti's earthquake were being targeted for organ trafficking claimed Haiti's Prime Minister.
Ten Americans were caught in Haiti trying to abduct children. The group was arrested and charged with kidnapping children. These Americans were trying secretly to take 33 children out of Haiti and to the United States. The Jewish advisor of the ten U.S. citizens Jorge Puello has fled Haiti. Police said he has previously known to traffic women and girls.
U.S. authorities are desperate to get the ten citizens released. It is thought deals are being made behind the scene to get the kidnap charges dropped. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was pressuring the Haitian government to let the Americans go.
U.S. Military is incharge of all aid operations, rescue security in Haiti after PM Bellerive gave them full control of the destroyed capital city Portau Prance.
Market price for one Kidney is between 2,000 to 4,000 dollars, depending on its condition.
Earthquake in Haiti resulted in the death of over 250,000 people. Many of were buried together in mass graves.
+ +
Kidney Thieves
-
The Big Apple kidney sale
Something rotten had been taking place with human organs in United States. Top officials and religious leaders were involved with criminal activity after 9/11.
FBI's secret operation led to arrest of organ traffickers in New Jersey and New York. Police caught politicians and Rabbis for money laundering, political corruption and human organ trafficking. Mayors, public officials and 19 orthodox Jews were indicted by the FBI.
Rabbi Levy-Izhak Rosenbaum sold kidneys at a huge profit. He was caught after organ smuggling expert Professor Nancy Scheper Hughes told FBI in 2002 that Rosenbaum is a major figure in international organ smuggling. Rabbi's business was to bribe vulnerable people to sell their kidney for 10,000. He would then sell it for 160,000. If people changed their mind at the last moment, Rabbi Rosenbaum would hold them at gunpoint to ensure they donated their organs.
The Big Apple kidney sale
Something rotten had been taking place with human organs in United States. Top officials and religious leaders were involved with criminal activity after 9/11.
FBI's secret operation led to arrest of organ traffickers in New Jersey and New York. Police caught politicians and Rabbis for money laundering, political corruption and human organ trafficking. Mayors, public officials and 19 orthodox Jews were indicted by the FBI.
Rabbi Levy-Izhak Rosenbaum sold kidneys at a huge profit. He was caught after organ smuggling expert Professor Nancy Scheper Hughes told FBI in 2002 that Rosenbaum is a major figure in international organ smuggling. Rabbi's business was to bribe vulnerable people to sell their kidney for 10,000. He would then sell it for 160,000. If people changed their mind at the last moment, Rabbi Rosenbaum would hold them at gunpoint to ensure they donated their organs.
Tuesday
School of Veil Snatchers
15 January 2010
Christian teacher "snatched veil off my daughter's head"
A Lebanese Muslim man he has filed a complaint against a Christian teacher for trying to snatch a veil from his daughter's head, a sensitive issue in this multi-confessional nation.
"After the year-end holidays, a Christian teacher tried to tear off the veil of my 12-year-old daughter, Ghiwa, and banned her from entering the classroom veiled," Ahmad al-Baarin told reporters.
"The teacher made offensive remarks ... and tried to snatch the veil. He even made her fall over by pushing her when she tried to defend herself."
Baarin said he has also filed a complaint against the school's director for complicity after the principal "expressed solidarity with the teacher."
Director Yussef Beshara insisted "the student was not mistreated or forced to remove her veil" at the public school in the mixed region of Kura whose teachers are all Christian and half its pupils Muslim.
But the father won support from the Muslim community.
"This case is contrary to the law and the spirit of coexistence in the country. It undermines Muslims," said Ihab Nafeh, president of the Muslim students association in northern Lebanon. The constitution bans any abuse of religious symbols in Lebanon, a country of 18 different religious communities and where a 1975-1990 civil war was fought at least partly across a Muslim-Christian divide.
Baarin meanwhile had moved his daughter and son Khaled, 8, to a new school saying: "My children have a right to education and at the same time to preserve their religious beliefs."
Christian teacher "snatched veil off my daughter's head"
A Lebanese Muslim man he has filed a complaint against a Christian teacher for trying to snatch a veil from his daughter's head, a sensitive issue in this multi-confessional nation.
"After the year-end holidays, a Christian teacher tried to tear off the veil of my 12-year-old daughter, Ghiwa, and banned her from entering the classroom veiled," Ahmad al-Baarin told reporters."The teacher made offensive remarks ... and tried to snatch the veil. He even made her fall over by pushing her when she tried to defend herself."
Baarin said he has also filed a complaint against the school's director for complicity after the principal "expressed solidarity with the teacher."
Director Yussef Beshara insisted "the student was not mistreated or forced to remove her veil" at the public school in the mixed region of Kura whose teachers are all Christian and half its pupils Muslim.
But the father won support from the Muslim community.
"This case is contrary to the law and the spirit of coexistence in the country. It undermines Muslims," said Ihab Nafeh, president of the Muslim students association in northern Lebanon. The constitution bans any abuse of religious symbols in Lebanon, a country of 18 different religious communities and where a 1975-1990 civil war was fought at least partly across a Muslim-Christian divide.
Baarin meanwhile had moved his daughter and son Khaled, 8, to a new school saying: "My children have a right to education and at the same time to preserve their religious beliefs."
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