Sweden's Nyamko Sabuni - A Swedish Ayaan Hirsi Ali?

A fighter for women's rights, and an opponent of the the oppressive practices of Islamic extremism, Swedish Minister for Integration and Equality Nyamko Sabuni is often compared to Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Both were African immigrants to Europe, both are fighting for women' rights . . . and both have received death threats for their efforts:

In a tall, blond government, a small black woman like Nyamko Sabuni was always going to stand out.

It is, though, the former refugee’s outspoken views that have demanded attention in her adopted Sweden, where she wants a ban on the veil for under-15s and compulsory gynaecological checks for all schoolgirls to protect against genital mutilation masquerading as “female circumcision”.

Her views have led to death threats and round-the-clock protection in Europe’s most tolerant country.

"I will not be scared into silence. I will never accept that women and girls are oppressed in the name of religion.”

(Read it all).

(Hattip: Pastorius)

Why Don't More Muslims Speak Out Against Islamic Extremism? Part II

Moderate voices Farzana Hassan-Shahid, left, and
Tarek Fatah are named explicitly in a hate message
left on Muslim Canadian Congress voicemail. The
caller warns of "slaughter" unless the "smearing of
Islam" stops. (Photo is from the Toronto Star)

Moderate Muslims Farzana Hassan-Shahid and Tarek Fatah have been speaking out against Saudi and Iranian extremist influences on Canadian mosques. As is so often the cases with Muslims who dare to speak up against extremism, they have received death threats:

OTTAWA–Toronto police have launched a hate crime investigation into a phone call from a man who vowed to "slaughter" members of a local Muslim group unless they stop speaking publicly about Islam.

A message left Monday on the voice mail of the secretary general for the Muslim Canadian Congress warned that organization members must "cease from your campaign of smearing Islam" or "I will slaughter you."

The message mentioned congress founder Tarek Fatah and current president Farzana Hassan-Shahid by name. Both have openly criticized the politicization of Islam and alleged influence of Iran and Saudi Arabia in Canadian mosques.

It's not the first time they've been threatened. Hassan-Shahid said since publishing her book Islam, Women and the Challenges of Today, she has been heckled and had her home vandalized.

"But swearing by God that `I will do this and slaughter all of you,' that's pretty chilling," Hassan-Shahid said yesterday.

Fatah says both he and Hassan-Shahid will continue to speak out but are frustrated with the lack of public debate and the inability to air their views without the threat of violence.

"It's the youth I'm trying to reach out to with respect to providing a different perspective on Islam and women's rights and progress in general and nobody seems very interested in even entertaining another viewpoint," Hassan-Shahid said yesterday. (cont'd)

See also: Why Don't More Muslims Speak Out Against Islamic Extremism? Part I.

(For more about how Saudi oil money is used to spread extremism via mosques and schools worldwide, click here).

Why Don't More Muslims Speak Out Against Islamic Extremism?

Photo: Norwegian-Somalian Kadra, critic of
Imams' support of female genital mutilation

People often wonder: "Where are the Islamic 'moderates'?" Why don't the "moderate" Muslims speak out against the extremists? One reason may be what happens when they do.

When Muslims actually do speak out against Islamic extremism, they receive death threats-- and, in many cases they are actually physically attacked by Muslim fundamentalists.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali was a devout Muslim, born in Somalia. As such, as young girl, she was forced to undergo the cruel practice of "female genital mutilation". She eventually emigrated to the Netherlands, and left Islam.

She is an outspoken critic of Islamic extremism (and had a good platform for expressing her views as she was elected to the Dutch parliament). She teamed up with Theo van Gogh to make Submission, a short film critical of the Islamic abuse of women.

Van Gogh was brutally murdered, and Hirsi Ali is still under constant guard due to the death threats she has received.

Unfortunately, these are not unusual examples. It seems that whenever Muslims speak out against the extremism so prevalent in their religion they become subject to the threat of violence. The Danish cartoonists who published the "Mohammed cartoons" all had to go into hiding. (In the riots and embassy burnings following the publication of the cartoon, over 140 people were murdered-- all over some relatively mild cartoons satirizing Mohammed!)

Kadra is the latest victim of this ongoing violence against critics of Islamic extremism:

Norwegian-Somalian Kadra, who became famous in Norway for exposing imam support of female circumcision, was beaten unconscious on Thursday

Kadra was attacked and beaten senseless by seven or eight persons of Somali origin, newspaper VG reports.

"I was terrified. While I lay on the pavement they kicked me and screamed that I had trampled on the Koran. Several shouted Allah-o-akbar (God is great) and also recited from the Koran," Kadra told VG.

Kadra linked the attack to recent remarks in VG where she said that the Koran's views on women needed to be reinterpreted.

Kadra's role in a 2000 hidden camera TV documentary revealing the positive attitude of Muslim leaders to female circumcision had a massive impact on Norway, and sparked new legislation. (complete article)

For more about FGM ("female circumcision", or "female genital mutilation"), some fascinating information about the life of Ayaan Hirsi Ali , and a video interview of a panel discussion about Islam with Hirsi Ali, Bill Maher and others, click here.

On the front lines against global jihad - women of the IDF

Israel is a tiny country, about the size of New Jersey. Because they are surrounded by hostile neighbours who wish to annihilate them, they find themselves on the front lines in the fight against global jihad.

As such, they must devote extraordinary time and energy towards merely surviving. This include the necessity of drafting women to serve as soldiers in their army (the Israel Defense Forces, or "IDF" ).














Israel is such a mall country that no place is far from the borders of unfriendly neighbours. Most people are not aware of just how tiny this country is. To get an idea of Israel's small size, here are two maps comparing its size with two neighbouring countries:



































Click the picture for more Israel size comparison maps. (If you're wondering how all this came to be, here is a really excellent online slideshow that explains it: History in a Nutshell).


















Video (above)- collection of photos of Israel's female soldiers.
(Hattip: Vital Perspective )


















Probably the best collections of still photos of these amazing women are on Israel Military Net and Rachel Papo: Serial No. 3817131.

(There is also another excellent Youtube video of women in the Israel Defense Forces here).

Video: Ayaan Hirsi Ali & Bill Maher - Panel Discussion of Islam

Is Islam a religion of peace? A panel discussion (shown in this Youtube video) has some people who know a lot about Islam (and several people who don't!) all expressing their opinions: Steven Weber, Bill Maher, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA). They discuss terror, religion, and freedom. Hirsi Ali outshines them all-- her presentation is quite knowledgeable, clear and to the point.

>

Watching the video, I was very impressed with Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She really has an in depth understanding of Islam, having been raised as a Muslim.

In contrast, it amazing how some of the others on the panel really don't know much about the subject and are obviously merely repeating politically correct cliches they've heard. (Actually, I think a lot of people in the media don't really know a lot about Islam, so they repeat politically correct things, and try to sound like they know what they're talking about).

Here are some brief excerpts from this article about Ayaan Hirsi Ali:

Born in Somalia, her family lived in Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya. As a young Muslim girl, she was forced to undergo the cruel practice of female genital mutilation (AKA "FGM", or "female circumcision").

Later, following Saddam's invasion of the fundamentalist Islamic Republic of Iran, she sympathised with Iran and the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, and also wore a hijab. She supported the fatwa against British writer Salman Rushdie following the publication of his controversial novel The Satanic Verses.

She moved to the Netherlands in 1992, where she worked as an interpreter and translator for Somali women in asylum centers and hostels for battered women. She saw firsthand the way certain practices she thought she had left behind in Africa continued in the West, as well as the workings of the Dutch immigration system, and became severely critical of the way it handled asylum seekers.

Inspired by The Atheist Manifesto she renounced Islam and became an atheist writing a book called De Zoontjesfabriek (The Son Factory) that criticized Islamic culture, which is a dangerous thing to do. Not surprisingly, after its publication she received death threats for the first time. (cont'd)