China’s communist leadership is trying to paint a smiley face over its most recent brutal suppression of dissent. Five days ago, protestors were gunned downed by police in a village not far from Hong Kong. The authorities blame a “few instigators” for the violence, but this event is indicative of growing socio-economic shifts in mainland China; namely the disparity between those profiting from communist experimentation with capitalism, and those left on the sidelines.

China’s government is trying to put lipstick on the pig. From MSNBC.com:

The government said three people died in Tuesday’s violence in this coastal village northeast of Hong Kong, but witnesses put the death toll as high as 20.

From the International Herald Tribune:

The delayed response by the government appeared, at least in part, to be part of a carefully measured public relations effort intended to defuse public outrage over the deaths of 20 or more residents of the hamlet, according to villagers’ accounts, as well as upholding Beijing’s own vision of public order and the “rule of law.”

The official account of the incident, as well as the death toll being reported in the mainland Chinese media, remain at odds with largely concordant accounts of the villagers, dozens of whom have been interviewed since Friday.

Is China really “perfecting communism through capitalism,” as its architect of economic reforms, Deng Xiaoping, once said? Again, MSNBC.com:

Such incidents have alarmed communist leaders, who are promising to spend more to raise living standards in the poor countryside, home to about 800 million people.

By the government’s count, China had more than 70,000 cases of rural unrest last year. Protests are growing more violent, with injuries on both sides.

President Hu Jintao’s government has made a priority of spreading prosperity to areas left behind by China’s 25-year economic boom. But in many areas, families still live on the equivalent of a few hundred dollars a year.

The Washington Post adds:

The long-simmering conflict in Dongzhou arose over disputed confiscations and what farmers here said were inadequate compensation payments. Authorities exercising the equivalent of eminent domain seized farmers’ fields to build a wind-driven electric generating plant on a hillside overlooking the village. The plant would be part of a $700 million electricity development project to supply the growing power needs of Shanwei and surrounding towns and villages.

Villagers, contacted by telephone, complained that the compensation was inadequate. Moreover, they charged, the power plant would also spoil fishing in Baisha Lake, a tidal inlet just below the hill, on which villagers rely heavily for food.

The confrontation was typical of the tension between the drive for economic development in China — which has a growth rate of 9 percent a year– and farmers’ desire to retain the land that they regard as security for their families. Land disputes have been a prime reason for popular explosions of violence, which the Public Security Ministry estimates involved 3.76 million people in 74,000 incidents during 2004.

In a country which supposedly adheres to an orthodox version of communism, the disparity between haves and have-nots is growing. So much for Mao’s dream of making everyone “equal” — forcing all the “people” to wear the same uniform and carry the same “little red book.” This is all more Kafkaesque than it is a page out of Das Kapital.

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Another reminder that just because China produces cheap products, we shouldn’t be buying them — and that the leftists who still see China as the last remaining outpost of “socialism” are delusional:

Chinese authorities have confirmed several villagers were shot dead by police in a protest earlier this week.

Three people died as result of the shooting in Guangdong province on Tuesday, the Xinhua news agency says after days of official silence.

But local residents have alleged that up to 20 people were killed.

If that is true, these killings could represent the deadliest use of force by security personnel against protesters in China since Tiananmen Square.

A special investigation into the incident has now been launched.

Protests against corruption, pollution and land seizures have become increasingly common in rural China.

- From the BBC

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What’s wrong with this picture? The BBC describes Iran’s appointed President Ahmadinejad as “conservative,” but a democratically elected Israeli politician as “right-wing.”

Ahmadinejad just publicly denied that the Holocaust ever occurred, called for the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Israel, and in October demanded that Israel “be wiped off the map.”

So, in the BBC’s eyes, a transparently elected official who has never made such inflammatory statements is further to the “right” than a genocidal maniac pursuing nuclear weapons?

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I couldn’t believe my eyes while reading the Haaretz article, “Muslim nations vow to combat extremist religion, rein in terror.” The 50 nations referred to include Algeria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. They met in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city. Together, the members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) issued a manifesto declaring:

“The Islamic nation is in a crisis. This crisis does not reflect on the present alone, but also on its future and the future of humanity at large,” the summit’s final statement, dubbed the Mecca Declaration, said.

“We need decisive action to fight deviant ideas because they are the justification of terrorism,” it said. “We are determined to fight terrorism in all its forms.”

In the declaration, the countries promised to “change national laws to criminalize financing and incitement” as well as correct school curriculums to purge extremist ideas.

“Islam is the religion of moderation. It rejects extremism and isolation. There is a need to confront deviant ideology where it appears, including in school curriculums. Islam is the religion of diversity and tolerance,” it said.

It should be noted what kind of statements have been produced by previous OIC summits. In their 2003 gathering, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir said:

The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million, but today the Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them.

We are up against a people who think. They survived 2000 years of pogroms not by hitting back but by thinking. They invented Socialism, Communism, human rights and democracy so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong, so that they can enjoy equal rights with others.

With these they have now gained control of the most powerful countries and they, this tiny community, have become a world power.

1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews. There must be a way.

Add to the OIC’s track record the fact that Iranian President Ahmadinejad attended the conference. He just publicly denied that the Holocaust ever occurred, called for the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Israel, and in October demanded that Israel “be wiped off the map.”

What has changed since the 2003 OIC conference?

Some 26,000 Iraqi civilians, mostly Shiite, have been murdered by Islamist terrorists. Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf has survived at least 2 assassination attempts by Muslim radicals. Saudi Arabia has suffered a slew of terror attacks — smack-dab in the heart of Islam. And, course, there was al-Qaeda’s attack against a Muslim wedding.

The list goes on and on and on and on… The victims of Islamic terror are mostly Muslims.

What else has changed? Afghanistan’s Taliban and Iraq’s Butcher of Baghdad have been knocked over, creating a strong wind blowing against the Middle East’s dictators. The United Arab Emirates just announced plans for its first elections. Millions of Afghans have voted twice, millions of Iraqis have voted twice, Lebanon is free of Syrian occupation (and has held elections), Kuwait has granted women the right to vote, and Saudi Arabia has held municipal elections — and the Saudis allowed women to vote and stand as candidates in an election held last week.

Maybe Middle Eastern populations are starting to look for some accountability from their “leaders” — e.g., protection from terrorists, free will (Gee — ya’ think?). As Michael Rubin puts it:

Long home to farfetched conspiracy theories and a political culture of victimization, the Arab world is now being swept by a new emphasis on accountability. While commentators and pundits debate the merits, drawbacks and sincerity of the Bush administration’s drive for democracy, events across the Middle East suggest that the relationship between rulers and the governed has been significantly transformed.

But talk is cheap, and action in the Arab/Muslim world rarely follows suit. After all this senseless murder, one would hope that at least a modicum of a desire for self-preservation would crop up. Sadly, many Arab/Muslim regimes have fueled the terror they now suffer from — to keep their citizens preoccupied with hatred, instead of the oppressive regimes they suffer under. Let us hope that’s changing a little.

I like the words, but eagerly await the action.

Addendum: The Washington Post reported:

Saudis fumed Friday that Iran’s hard-line president marred a summit dedicated to showing Islam’s moderate face by calling for Israel to be moved to Europe, and the chief U.N. nuclear inspector said he was losing patience with the Tehran regime.

Even some of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s conservative allies in Iran were growing disillusioned, fearing he has hurt the country with his wild rhetoric. Iranian moderates also called on the ruling clerics to reel him in.

See also here.

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IRIS Blog*
December 9, 2005
IRIS Source Link
* Cross-posted with permission

The full context of this story is here: Princeton Censors Ex-PLO Speakers; Likely to Hire PLO Professor.

I am currently at the Princeton Radisson press conference with the panel of three ex-terrorists (Walid Shoebat, Zak Anani and Ibrahim Abadallah).

It is chilling. I have just shaken the hand of a man who has killed 223 people during Lebanon’s militia violence. Hearing them talk about what they have done and the zeal with which they recount their former Jew-hatred is completely unsettling.

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As if Iran’s president denying the Holocaust and calling for Israel to be either “wiped off the map” or for Israel to be moved to Europe wasn’t enough… Today, Mohamed ElBaradei, the

…head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said the world is losing patience with Iran over its nuclear programme.

ElBaradei added that:

…outstanding nuclear issues with Iran would be clarified next year.

“Losing patience” and “clarified next year?” If I can quote Morrissey (The Smiths) but, “How soon is now?”

Iran has already:

…restarted uranium conversion, a precursor to enrichment.

The mullahcracy is estimated to have hidden its nuclear program in at least 350 separate sites. U.S. and Israeli intelligence do:

…not have precise knowledge of which [sites] are the most important or even which are active.

What is ElBaradei waiting for, the nuking of Moscow, Tel Aviv, London, New York, etc?

Sources: BBC and DEBKAfile

Good news — qualified, that is — on Afghanistan, from the BBC:

Nato foreign ministers meeting in Brussels have endorsed a plan to expand the alliance’s role in Afghanistan.

It will involve deploying 6,000 more troops in the south of the country, a third of them expected to be British.

But…

Our correspondent says that to ease the concerns of some member states, it is being stressed that the troops’ mission will be to promote peace and stability, and not to hunt down members of al-Qaeda and the Taleban.

That will remain the job of the US-led operation Enduring Freedom.

Britain, Canada and the Netherlands will lead the expansion of the alliance’s forces to the south of Afghanistan but more troop contributions will be needed before the plan is implemented.

Even though al-Qaeda used Afghanistan as it’s HQ under the Taliban, and threatens Europe just as much as it does the U.S. (Madrid, London, Theo Van Gogh?), Americans have to do the really hard work… as usual.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is again spouting Jew-hatred, and displaying his complete ignorance of history (but what’s rationality when expousing genocide?). In October, he urged that Israel be “wiped off the map.” Today, he:

…expressed doubt that the Holocaust occurred and suggested Israel be moved to Europe. …

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In an interview with the Council on Foreign Relations, Fawaz A. Gerges,

…an expert on the insurgency movement in Iraq and on the jihad movement in the Muslim world, says the bombings at three Amman hotels last month have produced “a turning point in the Middle East.” He says the overall disgust with these violent policies has also led to what he calls “the beginning of a civil war within the Sunni community in Iraq and the rest of the Arab world,” in which Sunnis are planning to defy Zarqawi and vote in large numbers later this month to have a role in the new Iraqi government.

From the interview:

I think we are witnessing a turning point in the Middle East, because I think more and more Muslims are having a closer look, not only at the [Abu Musab] Zarqawi network but also at the parent organization that is al-Qaeda. As you know, the basis for al-Qaeda is that it must wage jihad against the United States and its Western allies. What has happened in the last two or three years in particular, is that now al-Qaeda is waging its war in the heart of the ummah, the Muslim community worldwide. I think the overwhelming numbers of victims are Arabs and Muslims. These include Egyptians, Jordanians, Saudis, Indonesian, Turks, Moroccans. And I think many Arabs and Muslims are saying…

And the Iraqis of course. Many Arabs and Muslims are saying “Hey, you are killing Arabs and Muslims. You are killing innocent Westerners, who have nothing to do with American foreign policy.” And I think in this particular sense Arabs and Muslims are getting a closer look at the brutal tactics used and abused by al-Qaeda, particularly by the Zarqawi network in Iraq and elsewhere.

The Red Cross gets to have a cross. The Red Crescent gets to have a crescent. But Israel gets a box? Should the international relief agency now change its name to the “Red Box?”

The BBC today reported:

A diamond-shaped red crystal on a white background is to join the Red Cross and the Red Crescent as an emblem for ambulances and relief workers.

Geneva Convention member states voted by a two-thirds majority for the symbol, ending a decades-old row and opens the way for Israel to join. …

A spokesman for the Swiss government told reporters it was unfortunate that the crystal had not been adopted by consensus.

The Red Shield of David - or Magen David Adom - was not recognised by the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and Arab states had blocked attempts to find an alternative symbol.

Previously,

The ICRC [International Committee for the Red Cross] recognises the symbols of the Red Cross and Red Crescent emergency services, but not the red Star of David used by Israel’s Magen David Adom.

Can you say, “religious Apartheid?”

Princeton University cancelled an on-campus event featuring 3 former terrorists, citing the fact that it would be “too inflammatory.” The event will now take place off campus.

From IsraelLives:

On Thursday, Dec. 8 at 6:00 p.m., three former terrorists from the Middle East will hold a press conference in Princeton. A lecture will follow at 8:00 p.m. The location will be announced tomorrow morning in a media release. [Due to incredible anti-Israel/Anti-Jewish pressure the shameful Princeton Administration who denied this group a place to be heard on campus.] The group has moved to a motel, off campus – Support this group. You know the time: 6pm Thurs, to get the place call Keith Davies at: 720-935-2826 or lalric@verizon.net

These x-terrorist speakers will discuss the terrorist mindset, and how they were indoctrinated and instructed to kill and maim. A question and answer session will follow.

Walid Shoebat is from a prominent family in Bethlehem. After joining the PLO, he took part in numerous acts of violence against Israel including the bombing of a bank. He was also involved in the attempted lynching of an Israeli soldier. Feature stories on Mr. Shoebat have aired on the BBC, FOX News, MSNBC, CBS and have been published in the Telegraph, Irish Times, National Post, Calgary Sun, and St. Petersburg Times.

Zak Anani was a leader of the most notorious Arab gangs prior to Lebanese civil war. Before he age 16, he killed numerous Arabs in gang warfare and hated the West.

Ibrahim Abadallah was born and raised in Dearborn Michigan to a Jordanian father. At 17 he emigrated to Israel, where he joined the PLO. He injured many Israelis while rioting and throwing Molotov cocktails at them.

For more information, contact Keith Davies at: 720-935-2826 or lalric@verizon.net

From IRIS:

Update 6: I can now reveal that the lecture will be going ahead as scheduled, but off-campus instead. It will be held at the Princeton Radisson Hotel this Thursday at 7:30 pm.

IRIS Blog*
December 6, 2005
IRIS Source Link
* Cross-posted with permission

Princeton U. Says Campus Event Against Terrorism is “Too Inflammatory”

Princeton University has cancelled a speaking event by three former Middle East terrorists because it says that the use of the word “terrorist” in the promotion for the event is “too inflammatory.”

Two of the three self-described former terrorists were members of the PLO. Each of them apparently converted to Christianity. Here is the must-read story of one of the group, Walid Shoebat, who is now an ardent Zionist.

Meanwhile, another former PLO member is likely to be named a full professor:

Khalidi is Sole Candidate for History Position
Controversial professor appears to have wide support

As detailed in Campus Watch Rashid Khalidi is trying to weasel out of having worked for the PLO:

Mr. Khalidi dismisses the allegation that he served as a PLO spokesman, saying, “I often spoke to journalists in Beirut, who usually cited me without attribution as a well-informed Palestinian source. If some misidentified me at the time, I am not aware of it.”

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Now that Palestinians have “control” over Gaza, the Strip has become the staging-ground for internecine warfare. In an article aptly sub-titled, “Gaza clans battle it out,” Haaretz reports that:

…a woman was killed and several Palestinians were wounded in a gunbattle between two rival clans in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, medics and witnesses said.

The violence erupted after Palestinian security forces and militant faction leaders failed to resolve a dispute that led to the slayings of five Palestinians in fighting four days ago between the same clans in the Gaza town of Beit Hanun.

Witnesses said the woman killed was from a different family than those involved in the fighting, and that she was shot dead in the crossfire. Several other people were wounded, medics said.

A police official said Palestinian security forces deployed in the area after the shootings to restore calm. The heads of both feuding families later “agreed to stop these regrettable incidents,” the official said.

What? No UN resolutions decrying the “Palestinian Authority’s” inability to stop pretending that it is a government? Apparently, Palestinians killing Palestinians is not worthy of “outrage.”

by Kamal Nawash

When Rep. John Murtha said that the United States must leave Iraq immediately he ignited a national debate on whether the U.S. should leave Iraq. Normally, such a statement would not have been noticed, but because Congressman Murtha is a retired Marine colonel who earned a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts for his service in Vietnam Washington listened. In response to Congressman Murtha, the White House stated: “The eve of an historic democratic election in Iraq is not the time to surrender to the terrorists.”

Unfortunately, the debates that followed congressman Murtha’s statement were often misguided and off-point. Most of the discussions that followed dealt with whether the U.S. should leave Iraq. However, whether the U.S. leaves Iraq is not an issue. Most American politicians, including President Bush want to leave Iraq. The real issue is when should the U.S. leave and under what conditions?

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by Daniel Pipes
FrontPageMagazine.com*
December 7, 2005
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3185
* Cross-posted with permission

My column yesterday, “Converts to Terrorism,” delved into the issue of converts to Islam who engage in terrorism. Space constraints limited the information I could include, so here, I add to it in three ways: (1) providing names of converts suspected, arrested, or indicted of terrorism but who have not yet either gone into action or been convicted; (2) reviewing the matter of non-terrorist jihadis; and (3) summarizing a French intelligence report on converts to Islam.

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