Vice President of Jihad Watch, Hugh Fitzgerald has posted this essay today entitled “The Arab-Israeli conflict: nationalism or jihad?”

For the entire history of the Lesser Jihad against Israel, the promptings of that war from Islam itself have been largely obscured, obscured most of all from the Israelis themselves.

The original opposition of the Arabs to Jews buying land from landowners was naturally muted as long as the Arabs needed Western power to help them against the Turks. But as the earliest leader of the local Arabs — they were not then, not until after the Six-Day War, renamed the “Palestinians” — the mufti El Husseini — made clear, it was Muslims who opposed them, and it should be a common Muslim cause. It took quite a while.

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To assume that the war between the Arabs and Israel is ethnic or tribal ignores the rhetoric, the appeals, the views of Muslims as expressed through time and space. It ignores the simplest and most obvious truth: the entire world in the end belongs to Allah and his people, the best of people. And Israel, a sovereign state run by Jews, is a particular affront, not only for where it is situated (seeming to break up the continuity of one uninterrupted Arab Muslim landmass, as Arab Muslims see it — for them the Maronites, the Copts, the Berbers, the Kurds, have no rights, hardly exist in what Arabs, with a little help from ARAMCO, began decades ago calling “the Arab World” — a phrase that misleads, but stuck, so that it keeps on misleading), but because the traditionally despised Jews, despised because they had no power (unlike the local Christians, who at least could look to powerful co-religionists in Western Christendom) were in charge of that sliver of land.

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Muslim Arabs, local (“Palestinians”) and non-local, understand perfectly why Israel will never be accepted and must in the end disappear. They differ on the instruments through which this may best be achieved. They differ on the amount of time it will take — there are the Rapid Jihaidsts of Hamas, and Hezbollah, and the Slow Jihadists of Abbas’s PLO. But the understanding of what the end result must be, at some point, is shared by all of them.

Read the whole thing.

Still on Canada, an educational look into the workings of some rather twisted and hateful minds. “Hateful chatter behind the veil” traces through cyberspace the digital footsteps left by the wives of some of the terror suspects arrested in Canada on June 3rd.

The whole article is worth reading, but here are some selection.

MISSISSAUGA — When it came time to write up the premarital agreement between Zakaria Amara and Nada Farooq, Ms. Farooq briefly considered adding a clause that would allow her to ask for a divorce.

She said that Mr. Amara (now accused of being a leader of the alleged terror plot that led to the arrests of 17 Muslim men early this month) had to aspire to take part in jihad.

“[And] if he ever refuses a clear opportunity to leave for jihad, then i want the choice of divorce,” she wrote in one of more than 6,000 Internet postings uncovered by The Globe and Mail.

Wives of four of the central figures arrested last month were among the most active on the website, sharing, among other things, their passion for holy war, disgust at virtually every aspect of non-Muslim society and a hatred of Canada. The posts were made on personal blogs belonging to both Mr. Amara and Ms. Farooq, as well as a semi-private forum founded by Ms. Farooq where dozens of teens in the Meadowvale Secondary School area chatted. The vast majority of the posts were made over a period of about 20 months, mostly in 2004, and the majority of those were made by the group’s female members.

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Ms Farooq, on jihad:

There is nothing casual about Ms. Farooq's interpretation of Islam. She reiterates the belief that jihad is the "sixth pillar" of the religion, and her on-line postings are decidedly interested in the violent kind. In the forum titled "Terrorism and killing civilians," she writes a detailed point-by-point explanation of why the Taliban is destined to emerge victorious in Afghanistan

Ms. Farooq on homosexuality:

Ms. Farooq's criticism is often directed first at other Muslims. When another poster writes about how he finds homosexuality disgusting, Nada replies by pointing out that there are even gay Muslims. She then posts a photo of a rally held by Al-Fatiha, a Canadian support group for gay Muslims. "Look at these pathetic people," she writes. "They should all be sent to Saudi, where these sickos are executed or crushed by a wall, in public."

Mariya's (wife of alleged leader Fahim Ahmad) wishes for Israel's jews:

In a thread started by Mr. Fahim's wife, Mariya, marking the death of Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi after an Israeli missile strike, Ms. Farooq unleashes her fury: "May Allah crush these jews, bring them down to their kneees, humuliate them. Ya Allah make their women widows and their children orphans."

By the way, they certainly did not get it from their parents:

While his daughter has used her Internet forum to lament the end of the Taliban, Mr. Farooq is a firm supporter of Canada's mission in Afghanistan. Many of the soldiers he serves at CFB Wainwright will eventually be joining the mission.

Ms. Farooq's feelings towards the ever-tolerant and all-accepting Canada:

Ms. Farooq's hatred for the country is palpable. She hardly ever calls Canada by its name, rather repeatedly referring to it as "this filthy country." It's a sentiment shared by many of her friends, one of whom states that the laws of the country are irrelevant because they are not the laws of God.

In late April of 2004, a poster asks the forum members to share their impressions of what makes Canada unique. Nada's answer is straightforward.

"Who cares? We hate Canada."

Ms Jamal's paranoia (Ms Jamal is 44):

"You don't know that the Muslims in Canada will never be rounded up and put into internment camps like the Japanese were in WWII!" she writes in one 2004 post. This is a time when Muslims "are being systematically cleansed from the earth," she adds.

Mr Fahim on beheadings:

In May, 2004, the Meadowvale students come across an extremely graphic video showing the beheading of a U.S. hostage in Iraq. Mr. Fahim, posting under the name "Soldier of ALLAH," praises the killers as mujahedeen who will be rewarded in the afterlife. Another poster maintains the beheading was actually carried out by U.S. forces as a ploy to direct anger at the Muslim community. It's this post that inspires Nada to prohibit any further discussion of similar conspiracy theories.

Three posts later, her husband reprints an article claiming the Americans were responsible for the beheading.

_M#]

I get a strong sense of deja vu reading these forum quotes as I’ve spent a bit of time on various Muslim forums, Australian and international, and on every one there is always a vocal minority, who hold the same views, use the same tone, says the exact same things, pretty much word for word, with the same hate for all things Western, with the same rabid paranoia, the same sense of victimhood and the same urgency for violent and spectacular revenge. And I will be posting examples to confirm this and links, so people can confirm it for themselves. What is interesting is how other Muslims react to these people. On some forums they are derided, disciplined, put in their place and educated, while in other places they are the ones attempting to do the disciplining and educating. And I would at this point commend the Muslims of the rational, scholared and non-insecure varieties, who have to confront these degenerates and put them in place, even as they rant on deliriously, all the while making a mockery of their religion. I have seen great patience and perseverence displayed by those who try to bring these fevered jackasses back to the straight path. Now that is a community service.

Link to full article.

Last year UK’s BBC THREE network aired an excellent 12 part series on various Eastern martial arts, called “Mind, Body and Kick Ass Moves”. Hosted by Chris Crudelli, himself an experienced martial artist, the show followed Chris around the Far East as he visited various Masters and Grandmasters, talking to them about their, at times seemingly superhuman and even supernatural, abilities, coercing them into giving demonstrations and stepping in as a bit of a crash test dummy to cop a hit or 11. Some of the featured Masters will be well known to martial artists – like Ip Shui (Southern Praying Mantis), Leung Ting (Wing Chun) and the head of the Bujinkan Sr Masaaki Hatsumi. Others are hitherto completely unknown publicly, at least in the West.

The show was aimed not only at martial artists but at a wide audience, including viewers completely ignorant of the subject. The down to earth Crudelli went around doing impromtu street performances, demystifying various martial arts feats by explaining the science behind them and offering, perhaps somewhat irresponsibly, self-defence advise to strangers. The show could have probably done without Chris’ party tricks, but the team can be excused for trying to reach to a wider audience. There’s enough of the real deal in there to keep the most snobbish martial artist interested, while still keeping the average BBC punter entertained and perhaps a little amazed.

All 12 episodes of the show have now been released as a 2 DVD set. So far there is only a UK release, which is a PAL format region 2 2-disc set. I purchased mine from Amazon.co.uk and I’ve seen a couple of other sites selling it also. No word as to whether the show will be broadcast in Australia or anywhere else or when an international DVD release may be coming out. Another British channel, UKTV People, just aired the series and it has been very well received, so I am sure we’ll get it out here sooner or later.

You can read a couple of reviews of the series here. Scroll to the end of the post for a full list of the martial arts masters that appear on the show.

Earlier this year BBC THREE screened a follow up 6-part series, called “Kick Ass Miracles”. Here’s the official edisode guide on the BBC THREE site. This time the focus is not on martial arts but various other indigenous esoteric traditions from around Asia that seem to challenge the Western notion of what is possible within the laws known to science. The show features various monks, Qi Gong Masters,
more martial arts Grand Masters,

warriors possessed by spirits, healers and yogis. No DVD has been released as yet.

Here are links for episodes 1, 3 and 4 from the first series in full and a few clips from both Kick Ass Moves and Kick Ass Miracles. There are too many to embed in the post, so follow the links. And there’s plenty more on the show than whats in these clips, the first series alone totalling nearly 6 hours.

Mind, Body and Kick Ass Moves, Episode 1 (Google Video)

Mind, Body and Kick Ass Moves, Episode 3 (Google Video)

Mind, Body and Kick Ass Moves, Episode 4 (Google Video)

(Click more for a few clips from both first and second series and a list of the martial artists in the first series.)

Read the rest of this entry »

(Updated 17 June)

Australia would do well to study the debate under way in Canada since the arrest of 17 terror suspects in Toronto on June 3rd. The two nations have much in common. Each country is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, with only one full century of independence from the UK and a highly concentrated urbanised populations, our landscapes dominated by vast expanses of uninhabitable land. Most importantly for the debate in question, the two nations share the doctrine of multiculturalism as the cornerstone of society, and have recently discovered active terrorist cells in their midst, made up of young Muslim men, from a Muslim population that makes up about 2% of the total in each country.
In light of these similarities, the benefit of observing recent Canadian events from a distance presents a unique opportunity for some level-headed Australian self-reflection.

Just substitute “Australia” for “Canada” into the following paragraph.

The problem of Muslim radicalization has been on the agenda of all nations since 9/11. But Canada faces a unique dilemma because the doctrine of multiculturalism is seen as intrinsic to our national identity. The recent disruption of an alleged homegrown Islamist terror plot has caused many Canadians to ask: How can multiculturalism — which preaches tolerance above all else — be squared with a militant, intolerant creed that demonizes non-believers? This week, the National Post presents a week-long series of articles examining this question.

The recent disruption of an alleged homegrown Islamist terror plot has caused, or should have caused, many Australians to ask the exact same question. Some answers are presented in this series in Canada’s National Post. Links and extracts below. And more posts on this to follow.

• How we became a land of ghettos, by Robert Fulford, Monday, June 12, 2006
• Islam: A religion of peace?, by Gordon Nickel, Tuesday, June 13, 2006
• Good intentions, gone awry, by George Jonas,Thursday, June 15, 2006
• The country that hates itself, by Melanie Phillips, Friday, June 16, 2006. If you only read one of these, this is the one to read!
• Redefining Diversity, by Andrew Coyne, Saturday, June 17, 2006

Below are some extracts from the series. Of course, reading the articles in full is recommended.
Read the rest of this entry »

Last week the Mayor of Shoalhaven City Council, Greg Watson, and 4 councillors travelled to China to meet with representatives of the Shaolin Temple. On Saturday the deal was signed for the development of the new temple complex on the 1,200 hectare property, called Camberton Grange, south of Nowra. The original Ch’an Buddhist monastery (its main gate is pictured below) is located in the Henan province in China and has a 1500 years history. It is considered the birthplace of Ch’an (Japanese: Zen) Buddhism and Kung Fu.

According to the Mayor, speaking on the ABC’s AM program on Saturday, from China, the development is to include “a three-tier temple complex, with two pagodas, 500-room hotel, a 500-place kung fu academy”. He then continued: “There’ll be some residential subdivision, a 27-hole golf course, herbal medicine, herbal gardens, acupuncture, special massage, and that’s about it.”

Sounds like the primary purpose of the new temple is to function as the centerpiece of a tourist resort. The 500-place kung fu academy however is exciting news for Australian martial arts. The planned hotel is going to be four-star and sounds like it is aimed at the tourists, so perhaps the academy will have separate accomodation for the kung-fu students on top of that? Unless they either think Nowra is much bigger than it is or they are targetting very rich students.
Competition for the site apparently came from Victoria and Italy, with the Italian Government putting forward a deal to the Shaolin abbot. Perhaps the proximity of the Ch’an Buddhist Nan Tien Temple at Wollongong played a part the decision.

Late last year, when the proposal was first brought before the Council, some controversy arose around the development, following comments from local Pastor Trevor Aspin and opposition from some residents. Pastor Aspin said the development would be “bringing evil into the Shoalhaven”. According to the South Coast Register, reporting in November 2005, “ The spark was lit by Pastor Aspin, chairman of the [Shoalhaven] Ministers Association, who sent a memo to fellow ministers saying he believed God had directed him to call a war of prayer to stop the Shaolin temple being developed.”

This earlier report in the same paper has his comments in full:

“I believe the Holy Spirit has instructed me to call the army of God and go to war against this principality,” Pastor Aspin wrote in a letter to members of the Shoalhaven Ministers Association.

“Dear people, it is not worth inviting evil into our city for any amount of money – I’m sure you will agree.”

Although I disagree with the notion that the development is inviting evil into the city, the Pastor’s concerns are understandable, as much as his ostentatious militancy is amusing (if only he had said “Crusade” instead of “war”!). After all Buddhism is Australia’s fastest growing religion, while the number of Anglicans in Australia has declined in the last 3 census’. In the 2001 census 370,345 people were Buddhist, with a 79% increase from the previous one in 1996, accounting for 1.9% of the population. The vast majority are Asian migrants, but tens of thousands are also converts. It will be interesting to see the new numbers in this year’s census.
Predictably ugly was the response from the Shoalhaven City Council. Cl Watson :

“”As a Christian I hang my head in shame at the intolerance which is apparent in this whole exercise,” he said.
“This whole matter is totally misguided, and demonstrates a total lack of understanding of the fundamentals of Buddhism.”

and

“The abbot’s not going to be enamoured towards what’s going to appear to him to be racial bigotry,” Cr Watson said.

Racial bigotry? Where was race mentioned? This deserves the first ever TOD “Bullshit” Award. It is the right of a Christian Pastor to defend what he believes is Australia’s already battered Christian identity. I personally disagree with him, but his concern is perfectly understandable. But I am also thankful that we are a secular nation and his concerns are not government policy. And the Pastor’s “army of God” does not also happen to be the Australian army. Interestingly, one of the Shoalhaven City Council Councilors is a Buddhist – Cr John Anderson. From the same article:

As a follower of Buddhist teachings, Cr John Anderson said the arguments were just religious intolerance disguised as planning concerns – something he described as “an utter disgrace”.

After Pastor Aspin the torch was then taken up by the Anglican minister Peter Robinson of St Stephens Church in Bomaderry. The ABC reported in March 2006:

“In a letter to the federal government, Anglican minister Peter Robinson of St Stephens Church in Bomaderry, raised concerns that the Shaolin temple planned for Comberton Grange, south of Nowra, could threaten the security of the naval base, HMAS Albatross.”

Then it was the turn of the Wollongong’s Anglican Bishop, Reg Piper. From the same ABC article: “For my part, I think I’d be arguing about the difficulty of the Buddhist religion. I think it’s a soul destroying religion rather than a life giving one and so for my part that would be my line.”

Ironically the Camberton Grange development gave rise to far more opposition than a 500-bed prison that was also proposed for the area.

Despite the opposition the Council announced in early March it will officially offer the property to the Shaolin Buddhist Order.
But the controversy did not stop there, as the Council went ahead and planned the trip to China to sign the deal before actually getting State government approval. The NSW Planning Minister Frank Sartor wrote to the Mayor to inquire about this decision. According to this ABC report the “Planning Department has earmarked the area as of state significance” and did not want permanent housing on the site. The permanant housing is the dwellings of the monks, as the hotel is not actually “permanant housing” and is perfectly ok, apparently.

At this stage the NSW government is yet to approve the deal, but, according to the Council, no opposition is expected, considering the great economic value the site will bring. The aforemention Cr Watson stated that the complex will add an extra 1.5 million international visitors a year to the Shoahaven region, on top of the current 200,000. It is expected to have 10 times the economic impact of the Nan Tien Temple, which currently generates $16 million a year for the Illawarra economy and attacts between 250,000 and 300,000 day visitors each year.

Lets hope negotiations run to a smooth end.

The Camberton Grange property is located on the NSW south Coast, just south of Nowra and is about a 2 and half hour drive from Sydney CBD.