Foreign Dispatches

Too Much Democracy Too Soon

It was only a few months that I expounded on the dangers of assuming that where democracy is concerned, "more" necessarily means "better." What I hadn't foreseen at the time was that events in the Middle East would so thoroughly vindicate my skepticism about the supposedly inerrant wisdom of "the people", especially when all segments of a society are given a voice in equal proportion to their numbers, however ignorant, illiterate and subservient to religious superstition each such voter may be.

Even Google is Afraid of Islam

If Google's "auto suggest" feature is any indication, even the folks at Mountain View have a "respectful"* [sic] view of the Religion of Peace. Think I'm kidding? Take a look at this picture and see for yourself. Better yet, why not go ahead and try typing "X is" for any number of religions "X" and see which ones come up curiously empty? Supposedly the people in charge of Google Suggest have claimed that this is just a "bug", but it is rather strange that this particular "bug" should be restricted to one religion whose adherents turn up frequently in the news for all the wrong reasons ...

[Via Digg.]

*See CNN's shameful display of cowardice for what "respect for Islam" means in journalistic circles.

No Minarets in Switzerland

As you might have heard, the citizens of Switzerland have just passed a constitutional amendment banning the construction of minarets in their country. In light of the lopsided margin by which the amendment passed (57% voted in favor it), there can be little doubt that it represents the opinion of the majority of Swiss adults in a clearly "democratic" manner; furthermore, it is clear that out of all the world's major religions, Islam presents unique difficulties for any state which wishes to retain the values of enlightenment liberalism and openness: as such, the decision of the Swiss public cannot simply be dismissed out of hand as an act of knee-jerk reaction.  And yet, just having said all of the preceding, I cannot allow any doubt to remain on one point, which is that I consider this Swiss resolution to be a colossal act of foolishness.

Women Should be Heard, Not Seen

That seem to be the position of certain broadcasters in Saudi Arabia, at any rate.

JEDDAH: A new TV show that discusses issues concerning teenage girls and female university students was recently broadcast with Saudi presenters dressed in black from head to toe. The show — named Asrar Al-Banat (The Secrets of Girls) — is broadcast on Awtan TV, a Saudi religious channel that was first aired in August 2008 and has women broadcasters who are covered in the all-enveloping abaya and niqab

No doubt the sight of figures shrouded in amorphous black outfits makes for compelling television ... 

Obama's Undeserved Nobel Peace Prize

No one who's been reading this blog for any decent length of time will ever mistake me for some sort of Obama-hater: on the contrary,  despite the fact that Obama's politics and mine differ considerably, I have repeatedly made clear on here how much I despise many of those who oppose him for supposed reasons which are merely thinly veiled covers for racist animosity.

Who's Afraid of Mohammed?

Yale University Press, that's who.

It’s not all that surprising that Yale University Press would be wary of reprinting notoriously controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a forthcoming book. After all, when the 12 caricatures were first published by a Danish newspaper a few years ago and reprinted by other European publications, Muslims all over the world angrily protested, calling the images — which included one in which Muhammad wore a turban in the shape of a bomb — blasphemous. In the Middle East and Africa some rioted, burning and vandalizing embassies; others demanded a boycott of Danish goods; a few nations recalled their ambassadors from Denmark. In the end at least 200 people were killed.

So Yale University and Yale University Press consulted two dozen authorities, including diplomats and experts on Islam and counterterrorism, and the recommendation was unanimous: The book, “The Cartoons That Shook the World,” should not include the 12 Danish drawings that originally appeared in September 2005 (emphasis added).

Ireland - the Iran of Europe?

The Irish Republic has certainly taken a huge step in the direction of Iran and Saudi Arabia with its adoption of a blasphemy law. Quite why "God" needs defending in such a manner - especially in what one imagined to be a modern, secular European state rather than a Middle-Eastern theocracy - is quite beyond me. Even stranger still is that it should be left to the likes of Sinn Féin to do what Ireland's main parties will not, by forcefully rejecting this legislative abomination. I mean, Jesus Christ, what god-damned nonsense politicians are capable of!

More Hamas TV

When one says that it is a pity certain Palestinian groups seem to hate Israelis' children more than they love their own, one opens oneself up to accusations of "racism" and "spouting Israeli propaganda", but how else is one to interpret creating television programs targeting children with the message that suicide bombing is something noble and praiseworthy?

It is tempting to think Israel's support for settlement building in the West Bank is the "root cause" of all the conflict in that part of the world, but while I do agree that most of the settlements must go (especially the ones far away from the "Green Line"), I am not so naive as to think that a desire for peace would suddenly bloom in the hearts of the Palestinians if every last settlement were simply to vanish into thin air. At heart, this is a conflict with a religious basis, and one which does not allow for any peaceful resolution: the Palestinians (and much of the rest of the Muslim world) believes that all of the former British mandate is holy soil which belongs to them by right, and the very existence of a Jewish state on any of it is therefore considered unacceptable. Seeing as the Israelis aren't about to either let themselves be driven into the Mediterranean sea or submit to becoming subservient subjects of a Muslim state, this conflict will run and run regardless of anything foreign politicians might do to try to bring it to a close.

A Quick Look at the Hamas Charter

In the interest of forestalling a lot of nonsensical argumentation to the effect that Hamas is merely a "freedom fighting" organization whose rocket attacks against Israel were simply in opposition to "occupation" (which in fact Israel unilaterally ended back in 2005), I strongly suggest reading this Times article providing a few interesting excepts afrom Hamas' 1988 charter. I quote:

Muslims Riot in Oslo

The following paragraph is a quick and dirty translation of the first portion of this Swedish article in Expressen.

Violent riots rage in Oslo as of Thursday evening. The police answered with teargas when the demonstraters set fire to litter bins and smashed shop windows. - Now nothing is sacred, says Uni Grøndal of the police in Oslo, to Dagbladet's web edition.