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Thursday, December 06, 2012
Oprah Winfrey's Australian Tour paying off with increase in American Tourists to Australia
Oprah effect pays off with rise in US tourist visiting Australia
Angela Saurine, National Travel Reporter
Daily Telegraph
December 06, 2012 12:00am
OPRAH Winfrey's visit to Australia is finally paying off, with the growth in American tourists at its highest level since the Sydney Olympics.
After a drop last year - attributed to the global financial crisis - the number of US visitors rose nearly four per cent to around 472,000 people in the year to October.
The record for American tourists was 480,000 in 2000, which was nearly 18 per cent higher than the year before, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.
"You do these things and you want them to have an impact but we have to give them time,'' Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy said.
"It's never one thing but we said at the time this was about the time frame it would take for people to fall in love with the idea of a trip, plan a trip, convince their friends and family and book a trip.
"It's not just Oprah though, I think the marketing the state tourism organisations have done with us and the airlines has also helped.''
Destinations visited by Oprah have also reported a boost in numbers.
Ayers Rock Resort, which has also just seen the completion of the $30 million refurbishment of its Sails in the Desert hotel and conference centre, Uluru Meeting Place, has seen 26 per cent rise in the number of US visitors so far this financial year.
"We thought that we would get an increase but the extent surprised us,'' Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia sales, marketing and distribution executive general manager Ray Stone said.
Hamilton Island spokeswoman Sophie Baker said US visitors at the luxury resort qualia, where Oprah stayed, were up 10 per cent last financial year and on track to be up 20 per cent this financial year.
"When you're chatting to American guests they ask about where Oprah visited and try to recreate what she did,'' she said.
"They will go to the Wildlife Park and want to hold the koala that Oprah held.''
Oprah visited Australia in December 2010 and four shows were broadcast in the US the following month before being repeated in March.
A survey of 500 US travellers last October found 73 per cent had visited recently or booked a trip in the coming year had been influenced by Oprah.
Overall, Australia welcomed a three per cent growth in international visitors in the year til October.
The biggest growth continued to be from China at 16 per cent followed by Russia at 15 per cent and the United Arab Emirates at 13 per cent, according to the ABS arrivals and departures figures for the year until October.
While Tourism Australia launched its latest campaign in China earlier this year, Mr Mc Evoy said the US remained a key focus as part of a balanced portfolio approach to its international marketing activities.
The biggest falls in visitors came from Israel at 18 per cent, Brunei at 16 per cent and New Caledonia which fell nearly nine per cent.
UPDATE Detective Inspector Bryson Anderson Murdered
Police officer killed in axe attack in western Sydney
Earlier reports had wrongly said he was struck with an axe.
Mark Morri and Daniela Ongaro
Daily Telegraph
December 06, 2012 8:14PM
A SENIOR NSW police officer has died after being hit with an axe in western Sydney today.
He has been named as Detective Inspector Bryson Anderson, 45.
It is understood he had been responding to a neighbourhood dispute at Oakville, near Windsor, where a man was reportedly firing arrows into his neighbour’s yard
Arriving at the scene Insp. Anderson was allegedly struck with an axe and collapsed unconscious. He suffered serious head wounds and was taken to hospital.
The incident happened about 4.15pm. Senior police and detectives are currently at the scene.
"We can't release any further details at the moment,'' the spokesman said.
Police have taken two people into custody.
Police officer Bryson Anderson killed in knife attack in western Sydney
Daniela Ongaro, Clementine Cuneo, Mark Morri and Yoni Bashan
Daily Telegraph
December 06, 2012 9:56PM
Detective Inspector Bryson Anderson, 45, was fatally attacked moments after he and a colleague arrived at a rural property at Oakville, near Windsor, after a callout about a man firing a bow and arrow over a fence.
Police were called about 2pm and, as a senior officer, Insp Anderson arrived a couple of hours later when the situation escalated following a stand-off. He had only been at the Scheyville Rd property for a few minutes when he was allegedly knifed from behind. It is understood he had walked over to the fence to speak with the neighbour on the other side, when a 19-year-old man allegedly attacked him.
Earlier reports had wrongly said he was struck with an axe.
Insp Anderson's colleague's panicked calls for help, as his superior lay injured, were heard across the police radio network.
Senior police said the colleague tried desperately to render assistance to his dying partner but he lapsed into cardiac arrest.
With no time to wait for an ambulance helicopter, paramedics rushed Insp Anderson by road to Hawkesbury Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione rushed to the hospital shortly afterwards, where Insp Anderson's distraught wife and three children had gathered.
Back at the crime scene, a 19-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman, believed to be a mother and her son, were arrested and taken to Windsor police station for questioning.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal the feuding neighbours had been involved in a long-standing dispute, which had featured on A Current Affair in August this year.
One of the neighbours, who is not under arrest, is well-known to police and is well known in the tow truck industry.
Other residents in the street said the bad blood between the men was well known.
Outside the hospital, Mr Scipione paid tribute to his fallen colleague.
"A veteran of the police force ... an excellent officer and a damn good bloke," he said.
"He was called to a dispute and at the scene suffered some serious injuries. He was pronounced deceased a short time after."
He said NSW had lost a dedicated, brave and skilled officer, who would have gone a long way in the job. "Insp Anderson worked for me as a young officer. He was a fine officer then, his tenacity his courage his wisdom and his strength stood him in very good stead to go much much further than he has," Mr Scipione said.
Insp Anderson was heavily involved in an investigation of alleged police inaction following the high-profile case of domestic violence victim Catherine Smith.
Ms Smith was found not guilty of attempting to murder her own husband after revelations she had suffered 20 years of terror at her husband's hands.
Insp Anderson appeared on ABC'S Australian Story describing Ms Smith as "tenacious" and "probably one of the most singularly determined people that I have ever met".
He also personally delivered a letter of apology to Ms Smith following her acquittal.
"It was a step that we could take to try and restore Catherine's faith in the New South Wales police," he told the ABC.
NSW Police Association president Scott Weber said the force has lost a colleague and a leader in their our organisation.
"He was a father, a brother and an incredibly well-respected officer," Mr Weber said.
He said it was incomprehensible to think an officer could attend a routine neighbourhood dispute, and never go home. "It just highlights the dangers police face everyday. I ask anyone tomorrow if they see a police officer pass on their condolences," he said.
A neighbour who knew Insp Anderson said he was a well-known cop who had worked in various stations throughout western Sydney.
"He'd been around the traps a bit, and for this to happen is really hard to understand. He must have let his guard down which is unlike him," the neighbour said.
It is the second officer to die on duty this year, following the death of senior constable David Rixon who was shot in the chest during a traffic stop in Tamworth.
Stone Age Satan Worshippers abduct and Rape 14 year old Girl
A Pakistani Christian girl forced to convert to Islam and raped
Pakistan Christian Post
December 5, 2012, 11:25 pm
A young Christian girl named, Asiya Masih, daughter of Francis Yaqoob, aged 14 years, was a resident of Chak no.198 EB, District Vihari. Francis Masih worked as a laborer in the fields of the landlords. Due to the poverty, Asiya Masih also helped her parents in the fields to earn some more money for the family.
On 11th November, 2012, she went to the fields to pick cotton flowers from the fields. The two culprits, Mohammad Javed and Mohammad Mumtaz who are the influential persons of their area, abducted her from the fields and took her to some unknown place. They took thumb impressions of Asiya Masih on different papers and forcibly converted her to Islam. They also raped her and tortured her for 11 days.
When Francis Masih came to know that Mohammad Javed and Mohammad Mumtaz had abducted his daughter, he made a complaint in the local police station but the police did not cooperate with him. Afterwards Javed and Mumtaz called Francis Masih and threatened him that if would contact the police, they would kill Asiya Masih. They also proposed Francis that if he wants his daughter back, then he would have to give them a written document that he would not take any police action.
Afterwards with the help of WVIP and Chaudhry Riaz Bashir, who is an influential Christian businessman, Francis Masih got his daughter back on the 22nd of November. But the Paish Imam of the local mosque has announced yesterday that as Asiya Masih was converted to Islam, she cannot live as a Christian again, if she did not follow the Religious customs of Islam, She and her family will face the consequences. He also announced that all eight Christian families of the village should be banished and their houses should be burnt. And today at 5:00 P.M they are holding a meeting of Muslim clerics in Chack No- 198/EB District Vihari . WVIP Team leader of South Punjab and Legal Advisor Mr. Lazar Allahraka is making every effort to help these Christian families as well Aisya Masih. The Executive Director of WVIP, Mr. Farrukh H. Saif Requested the international community to lift their voices for the defenseless Christian Girls and women in Pakistan.
Sydney Australia
Serial Muslim Blasphemer Diaa Muhammad to continue to run Blasphemy bill boards and now TV Commercials
"We can't keep letting other people paint a picture of who we are."
"THE Muslim activists behind the controversial billboards proclaiming Jesus was a "prophet of Islam" have launched a TV campaign to show the world their religion is about "peace and respect".
Called "I'm Muslim and proud", the $30,000 commercials - airing on Foxtel and SBS - aim to repair the religion's image in Australia.
Worried about negative public perceptions after the September riots in central Sydney, the My Peace organisation aims to show Australian Muslims are "just like everyone else - they love their family, contribute to the community and are proud Australians".
"We hope this campaign enables the wider community to see us in a new light, to see that our values are closely matched and our beliefs are not that different," he said.
"Social media has enabled My Peace to connect with thousands of Australian Muslims."
"When people understand other religions, only then can they accept them and have nothing to be concerned about," Mr Mohamed said.
Billboards preaching about Mohammed, Islam and the Koran have already started springing up around Sydney and the campaign features in ads on the back of more than 40 buses. As for his comment that "Muslims can be whingers", Mr Mohamed said: "A large part of that is, even though we have migrated well, we have kept who we are from Australians.
"This commercial will educate non-Muslims on Islam and the beauty of our religion.
"We can't keep letting other people paint a picture of who we are."
Serial Muslim Blasphemer Diaa Muhammad to continue to run Blasphemy bill boards and now TV Commercials
Supporting Islam and Australia
Bruce McDougall
The Daily Telegraph
December 06, 2012 12:00AM
THE Muslim activists behind the controversial billboards proclaiming Jesus was a "prophet of Islam" have launched a TV campaign to show the world their religion is about "peace and respect".
Called "I'm Muslim and proud", the $30,000 commercials - airing on Foxtel and SBS - aim to repair the religion's image in Australia.
Worried about negative public perceptions after the September riots in central Sydney, the My Peace organisation aims to show Australian Muslims are "just like everyone else - they love their family, contribute to the community and are proud Australians".
The "Jesus and Islam" message sparked outcry among some Christians when it appeared on billboards around Sydney.
Diaa Muhammad - who founded My Peace in 2011 to "build bridges between the Muslim and wider community" - hopes to energise Muslims with positive images so they saw themselves as proud members of Australian society.
"We hope this campaign enables the wider community to see us in a new light, to see that our values are closely matched and our beliefs are not that different," he said.
"Social media has enabled My Peace to connect with thousands of Australian Muslims."
Equating Jesus Christ,the Son of God,with a Syphilitic induced Sociopath,self confessed Paedophile,Slave Trader,Mass Murderer and Serial Rapist will not win this Blasphemer, Diaa Muhammad, many friends in the majority Judeo / Christian Australian population.
I am sure the Multicultural Industry will just love it, Diaa Muhammad's version of "Pisst Christ" if you like,smearing Jesus by association, with such filth as Muhammed and allh will I am sure win him and his co religionists many friends in the Labor Green Loon Government and its "Progressive" arts, education and media cheer squads.
He's not the son of God, just the support act
SMH
Aaron Cook
May 28, 2011
CHRISTIANS in Sydney will have their core beliefs challenged by provocative advertisements due to appear on billboards and buses in the next month.
The ads, paid for by an Islamic group called MyPeace, will carry slogans such as ''Jesus: a prophet of Islam'', ''Holy Quran: the final testament'' and ''Muhammad: mercy to mankind''.
A phone number urges people to call to receive a free Koran and other Islamic literature.
“The Anglican Bishop of South Sydney, Rob Forsyth, said it was ''complete nonsense'' to say Jesus was a prophet of Islam. ''Jesus was not the prophet of a religion that came into being 600 years later.''
But the billboard was not offensive, he said. ''They've got a perfect right to say it, and I would defend their right to say it [but] … you couldn't run a Christian billboard in Saudi Arabia.''
Mr Mohamed said he hoped the billboards would encourage Christians and Muslims to find common ground. They were not intended to downgrade the significance of Jesus. ''We embrace him and say that he was one of the mightiest prophets of God.''
MyPeace plans to extend the campaign, funded by private donations, to television.
The Anglican Bishop of South Sydney, Rob Forsyth, said it was ''complete nonsense'' to say Jesus was a prophet of Islam. ''Jesus was not the prophet of a religion that came into being 600 years later.''
But the billboard was not offensive, he said. ''They've got a perfect right to say it, and I would defend their right to say it [but] … you couldn't run a Christian billboard in Saudi Arabia.''
The bishop said he would pay for billboards to counter those of MyPeace if he could afford it, and ''maybe the atheists should run their billboards as well''.
A spokesman for the Australian Islamic Mission, Siddiq Buckley, said the campaign would increase awareness of the positive facts of Islam. ''I would be looking at this as a good opportunity to explain what we mean.''
Siddiq Buckley
Clearly Mr Buckley and his co religionists prefer to live under the the manifestations of Judeo / Christianity founded by a Jew, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, than they do the manifestations of their “Islam” founded by their Infamous Paedophile Pirate,Slave Trader,Misogynist,Rapist,Mass Murderer and Polygamist called Mohammed.Why would this “Two Pound Pom” want to do to Australia,what his coreligionists have done to the Country he and many of his fellow English Men and Women Ran Away from ?
Australia: Devout Muslim Diaa Mohamed the “Bill Board Blasphemist” sharing the “real truth” of Islam.
Devout Muslim Diaa Mohamed sharing the 'real truth' of Islam
EXCLUSIVE by Nathan Klein
The Daily Telegraph
July 15, 2011 12:00AM
"MUSLIMS can be whingers and they tend to blame everyone but themselves for the way people view them."
They are the words of a devout Muslim man who is determined to show the real people behind the religion.
Television commercials aimed at improving the "concerning" way many Australians perceive Muslims will soon hit our screens.
They are the brainchild of mypeace.com.au - the same group of Muslims behind the "Jesus is a Prophet of Islam" billboards across the city. I guess Diaa Mohamed and his group are not yet prepared to go as far as their fellow Islamist’s in Israel and declare Jesus a SLAVE of allah, not yet anyway.
In the muslim area of Jerusalem, right next to the spot where Jesus Christ fell while carrying the cross, Glenn Beck comes across the following sign: Via. Bare Naked Islam
"A lot of the things we see on television are acts by extremists and radical Muslims. (according to Muslims and their apologists there is only about 100 million of them)
"That is not who we are."
The state government recently flagged new laws giving police the power to compel Muslim women to show their faces if they are suspected of committing an offence.
The move came after the case of Carnita Matthews, who was convicted and later acquitted of falsely accusing a police officer of trying to rip her niqab from her face when stopped for traffic offences.
The commercials - the first Islamic advertisement on free-to-air TV - are stage two of a plan to improve the way Muslims are viewed in Australia.
They will be unveiled at a $75-a-head dinner tonight featuring a guest appearance by Canadian Muslim rapper Boona Mohammed.
Organisers will also reveal the findings of a survey of more than 1000 people, commissioned by mypeace.com.au, which aims to educate all religions on the Islamic faith.
"When people understand other religions, only then can they accept them and have nothing to be concerned about," Mr Mohamed said.
Billboards preaching about Mohammed, Islam and the Koran have already started springing up around Sydney and the campaign features in ads on the back of more than 40 buses. As for his comment that "Muslims can be whingers", Mr Mohamed said: "A large part of that is, even though we have migrated well, we have kept who we are from Australians.
"This commercial will educate non-Muslims on Islam and the beauty of our religion.
"We can't keep letting other people paint a picture of who we are."
Sydney under siege Muslim Insurgents riot
Muslim Insurgents Sydney Riot latest Video and Pictures
Australia: "Muslims are anglicising their names to avoid religious discrimination when applying for work"
Multicultural Australia we were warned two years ago
Australia:Dame Elisabeth Murdoch dies at 103
Dame Elisabeth Murdoch - a woman who touched so many lives
Andrew Rule
Herald Sun
December 05, 2012 11:34PM
DAME Elisabeth Murdoch has died, aged 103.
She passed away peacefully at her home Cruden Farm in Langwarrin.
The renowned community leader, charity worker, philanthropist and matriach of Australia's greatest media family will be mourned by countless thousands of Australians whose lives she has touched.
She was the wife of Sir Keith Murdoch and mother of four children, including Rupert Murdoch.
Dame Elisabeth leaves behind three surviving children - Rupert, Anne Kantor and Janet Calvert-Jones.
Her eldest daughter, Helen Handbury, died in 2004.
Share your memories and leave your condolences below.
She is also survived by 77 living direct descendants, including five great-great grandchildren as well as other members of her large extended family.
Dame Elisabeth devoted her life to helping others.
She said it was the most important thing in life and the most rewarding.
"Be optimistic - and always think of other people before yourself," she said in an interview to mark her 100th birthday.
Born on February 8, 1909, in Melbourne, she went to school at St Catherine’s in Toorak before being sent to board at Clyde at Mt Macedon.
As Elisabeth Greene, aged 18, she featured as a debutante in Table Talk magazine, which was published by the Herald and Weekly Times Limited.
The photograph caught the eye of Keith Murdoch, influential editor and newspaperman and at 42, one of Melbourne’s most eligible bachelors.
After a fairytale romance they married on June 6, 1928, and they would have 24 years together before his death.
As a wedding present, Keith Murdoch gave his bride Cruden Farm, set on 54ha at Langwarrin.
Over the years the property became both the family home and an internationally famous garden which Dame Elisabeth opened to the public to raise millions of dollars for charity.
Dame Elisabeth constantly supported her husband and he became chairman of the Herald and Weekly Times Limited in 1942.
Her interest in the arts grew alongside his as he became president of the board of trustees which ran the National Gallery of Victoria, the State Library and the Museum until he put them into separate administrations.
Dame Elisabeth was the first woman trustee of the National Gallery of Victoria; chair of the committee which established the Victorian Tapestry Workshop; trustee and prime mover behind the establishment of the regional McLelland Gallery and a benefactor of organisations ranging from the Australian Ballet and Opera Australia to the Bell Theatre Company.
She was known to have helped at least 100 organisations directly.
But she also helped thousands of individuals, either with advice or by using her considerable influence and contacts.
Her greatest monuments are the Royal Children's Hospital and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute.
Lady Elisabeth, as she was then, threw herself into the work of the Royal Children's Hospital after the sudden death of Sir Keith in 1952.
Widowed at 43 and left to raise four children, she commuted to Melbourne almost daily from Cruden Farm to head the planning committee to relocate and build a new children's hospital at Parkville.
She was created a Dame the day the Queen opened the hospital.
Altogether, Dame Elisabeth would serve the hospital for 33 years, retiring as President. She was known ever since as the children's friend.
Her interest in the hospital never waned and she turned up at every Good Friday Appeal to greet volunteers and thank them for their efforts.
Peter Blunden, Victorian Managing Director (Editorial) said Dame Elisabeth was “part of the family” and that everyone at the Herald and Weekly Times was feeling “a deep sense of personal loss”.
“Dame Elisabeth involved herself in all our lives and with our newspapers,” he said. “She was part of the fabric of Melbourne and Victoria and did so much good in the community.”
News Limited CEO Kim Williams said all who work at News Limited in Australia mourned the loss of “an extraordinary national figure who inspired generations of Australians through her selfless devotion to helping others and by her leadership and her remarkable generosity in fostering both scientific research and the arts.
“We feel the loss intensely because she was the wife of Sir Keith Murdoch and mother of our chairman Rupert Murdoch, both towering figures in our national story and the builders of our own media heritage here at News.”
HWT board chairman Julian Clarke said Dame Elisabeth’s extraordinary contribution and generosity and warmth and hospitality would not be forgotten.
"History will long remember Dame Elisabeth Murdoch's extraordinary contribution and generosity to this State and the wider Australian community.
"Undoubtedly, Dame Elisabeth has been one of the great Australians whose intellect and keen interest in others, particularly their welfare, has endeared her to so many throughout her long and remarkable life.
"Dame Elisabeth has been an ever-present influence in our company and will be sadly missed by the many employees who knew her personally.
"We send our sincere condolences to her loving family."
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
"You may (and must) curse...he Infidel "
Whilst in Sydney Jewish School Girls are been programmed to submit the Saudi's have issued the following instructions to their fellow Muslims when living amongst the Infidel
Don't dare say hello to your `infidel' neighbor
A report by the Center for Religious Freedom shows that literature distributed at many U.S. mosques promotes extreme Islamic teachings as well as hatred of Jews, Christians, moderate Muslims and America.
By Nathan Guttman
Feb.14, 2005 | 12:00 AM
WASHINGTON - When a believing Muslim is summoned to the United States due to
life's circumstances, Saudi Arabian authorities disseminate through a
network of major American mosques, like other religious directives, clear
ways as to how one should act in his new surroundings.
Take, for example, a document signed by the cultural attache at the Saudi
embassy in Washington that instructs Muslims arriving in the United States
not to initiate a greeting when meeting Christians or Jews, and never to
convey good wishes marking a Christian or Jewish holiday.
In general, the attached recommends that the Muslim believer avoid friendships with the
infidels, be careful not to imitate their customs (e.g. not to wear a cap
and gown at a graduation ceremony), and try not to remain in the country any
longer than required. The Saudis feel that a good Muslim can stay in America
only for two reasons: acquiring knowledge and capital to promote the
objectives of jihad, and lobbying the infidels to accept Islam.
The aforementioned document and dozens of other papers and books are
distributed for free at major mosques throughout the U.S.
This is revealed in a recent study published by the Center for Religious Freedom, which is
affiliated with Freedom House, an unaffiliated organization promoting
political and economic freedom around the world, partly through research
studies and information dissemination.
The center's representatives went to the 12 largest mosques in American
urban centers and took samples of literature distributed to all comers. The
study's findings were unequivocal: All of the mosques had literature
originating from Saudi Arabia that promoted extreme Islamic teachings
(Wahabi) as well as the hatred of Jews, Christians, moderate Muslims and
America.
The report further exacerbates the rift in America between supporters of
friendship with Saudi Arabia and those calling for a forceful approach
against the kingdom. While the Bush administration continues to show
patience toward the House of Saud, and finds rays of democratization and the
war on terror, some congressmen consider the report on Saudi incitement in
the mosques as additional evidence that the country's soft-handed approach
is a mistake and will not produce results.
Examination of the literature began about a year and a half ago after
American Muslims informed the center about hate literature being distributed
in the mosques. Although the center usually tracks religious freedoms
outside the United States, since this issue involved actions taken by a
foreign regime, the Saudi government, it decided to pursue the
investigation.
Once the material was assembled and translated, the researchers concluded
that the Saudi Arabians indeed were trying to promote an attitude among
Muslims living in America that they should resist their hosts and not
befriend them. "It represents an ideology in which the Muslim in the U.S. is
in enemy territory," Paul Marshall, a senior fellow at the center who
co-authored the report, says.
One of the documents, signed by the Saudi embassy in Washington, warns Muslim foreigners that there are no Muslim scholars in the country who might guide the visitor, and therefore, he must learn from distributed written
material. The document may explain how the Wahabi followers became
mainstream in America, even though they are in the majority in the Muslim world at large.
You may (and must) curse
The main message of the material examined in the study is one of hatred
toward any non-Muslim.
"[I]t is basic Islam to believe that everyone who
does not embrace Islam is an unbeliever, and must be called an unbeliever,
and that they are enemies to Allah, his Prophet and believers,"
one handout distributed at a San Diego mosque said. Another document, found in the Great Mosque in Washington, D.C., explains to Muslims that they must keep their
distance from non-believers:
"To be disassociated from the infidels is to hate them for their religion, to leave them, never to rely on them for support, not to admire them, to be on one's guard against them, never to imitate them, and to always oppose them in every way according to Islamic
law."
A book was distributed in another mosque containing questions and
answers on matters of religion.
Regarding whether it is permitted to curse Christians and Jews, the author answers it is not only permitted, but also obligatory.
Hatred aside,the literature found in American mosques clearly maps out what
sort of difficulties the United States can expect when it tries to enlist
the Muslim community to help in the war on terror. The Saudi literature
expresses absolute opposition to any believing Muslim working for the alien
government or assisting it to defend itself from its enemies.
The report's authors believe that the aim of the authors and disseminators
of the documents is to intimidate Muslims living in America not to become
involved in local culture, thereby ensuring loyalty to the Islamic approach
represented in the literature. A booklet distributed to high-school students
at a Houston mosque goes so far as to warn Muslim youth not to celebrate
birthdays in an American style.
Three wrongs of the Jews
Much of the literature groups Christians and Jews together as "infidels"
whom one is obligated to hate, but a significant amount of the material
specifically refers to hatred of Jews. "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion"
is referred to as absolute truth and as containing basic facts about Jews,
who are accused of harming Muslim values and of being infidels.
One document found in Washington even enumerates the three wrongs of the Jews against
religion in general, and the Muslims in particular - Karl Marx, Sigmund
Freud and the industrial revolution, which brought women into the labor
force and caused the loss of their modesty. "They're anti-Semitic," Marshall
says. "It is beyond criticism of Israel and views on the conflict; they
speak directly about the Jews in an anti-Semitic way."
The material relating to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute also is rife with
harsh expressions. A fourth-grade textbook written in Saudi Arabia that was
handed out at a New Jersey mosque states that Israel is "a thorn in the back
of the Muslim nations, and a window through which colonialism can sneak up
among the ranks of the Muslims to work on dividing them, and light the fire
of hatred between them." The book explains to pupils that "the Muslims will
not rest until they cut off this disease, and purify the land of Palestine
from the plague of Zionism."
The researchers also discovered some discordant expressions reserved for
moderate Muslims, including a definition of Muslims who exhibit tolerance
for other religions as "infidels." In a similar context, threats were
leveled against any Muslim who converts - such an individual faces a
punishment of death.
The Saudi embassy in Washington did not deny the existence of the incitement
literature in mosques, or their Saudi origin. A statement issued to several
American media outlets simply stated, "Saudi Arabia condemns extremism or
hateful expressions among people anywhere in the world."
The study's authors are asking American mosques to take measures to prevent
the free distribution of the literature, and that minimally, it should be
placed in a separate area of the mosque. But beyond that, it will be
difficult to do much about the phenomenon. Marshall explains there is
disagreement among people engaged with the issue over whether it is
permitted to restrict distribution of such written material:
On the one hand, some people believe this is an issue of freedom of expression,
protected by the First Amendment. On the other hand, however, some observers
believe the First Amendment does not apply to foreign governments, and
therefore, the United States can prohibit Saudi Arabia from bringing such
material into its borders. Due to the differences of opinion, the Center for
Religious Freedom is making do with a call on the administration to lodge a
protest against Saudi Arabia regarding distribution of the hate literature.
However, the situation of the Saudi Arabians in Congress is much less
secure. Two subcommittee chairmen in the House of Representatives already
have promised to hold hearings on the subject. And at least three
congressmen, prompted by the Center for Religious Freedom report, have
issued condemnations of the Saudis. A group of six House lawmakers sent a
letter to the Saudi ambassador in Washington, Prince Bandar, calling on him
to denounce the literature.
Congress has been pestering the administration with a lengthy list of
complaints against Saudi Arabia for some time, including foot dragging in
the quelling of terror, questions of human rights and democracy within the
kingdom, and issues of xenophobia and incitement toward anti-Semitism. It is
hard to find any real changes, however, in the administration's position.
U.S. President George W. Bush did issue a rare direct call on the Saudis in
his State of the Union address two weeks ago, saying, "The government of
Saudi Arabia can demonstrate its leadership in the region by expanding the
role of its people in determining their future." However, critics contend
this was merely lip service, and the United States has little intention of
altering its supportive attitude toward the House of Saud.
Today marks the 60th anniversary of the historic meeting between former U.S.
president Franklin Roosevelt and former Saudi King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, a
meeting that paved the way for long years of partnership between the two
countries.
The U.S.-Saudi relationship is still in robust condition, albeit
with a sense of continued erosion: Disapproving voices in Congress,
grievances of Democrats (expressed during John Kerry's presidential
campaign), and the administration's desire to avoid an image of exercising
double standards in its drive to realize the vision of promoting democracy
around the world are jeopardizing the old friendship between the two states.
The Saudis still enjoy an open door to the administration, but now they are
also appealing to the American people. For the past three years, they have
invested large sums of money in advertising and public relations in the
United States, and last month, a counselor at the Saudi Arabian embassy,
Nail Al-Jubier, even embarked on a U.S. speaking tour with the aim of
promoting Saudi interests.
Even so, the report on incitement literature is the clearest indicator of
all that the Saudis have little to be concerned about. The American
administration has done nothing about the report, so far. When asked about
it last week, deputy spokesman of the State Department Adam Ereli said that
the department is still studying the report and that it had yet to be
determined that any "wrongdoing had been done by diplomatic establishments."
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