By Andrew L. Jaffee

Turkey’s constitutional crisis over electing a new president has stirred passions. Approximately 50,000 Turks attended a rally Sunday to voice their support for secularism. On April 29, “More than a million Turks rallied here [Istanbul] … in support of secular democracy.” Today, somebody set off a bomb in Ankara. Was it related to the constitutional crisis? Was it Kurdish separatists? Islamic militants? From the Beeb:

…The blast occurred during evening rush hour at the entrance to a shopping centre in the district of Ulus. …

Unconfirmed reports suggest an explosive device may have been left at a nearby bus stop. …

Much of the front of one building was ripped off by the blast at the Anafartalar shopping centre.

TV footage showed several people lying seriously injured on the pavement surrounded by piles of concrete and glass. Other people, possibly passers-by, were hurt by flying glass.

“There was a sudden explosion, everything turned to dust. I could hear people screaming,” eyewitness Cenk Yedier told AP news agency. …

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by Daniel Pipes*

A question mark hangs over the opening of New York City’s planned Arabic-language school, the Khalil Gibran International Academy.

That the topic remains open is surprising. Other than objections from a few of us – the New York Sun’s editorialists, its columnist Alicia Colon, the investigative team of Beila Rabinowitz and William A. Meyer, plus my own article and blog on this subject – the school enjoys unflagging support. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation helps pay for it. The mayor’s office, the Anti-Defamation League, and the United Federation of Teachers endorse it. Newspaper coverage from the New York Times, New York Daily News, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and International Herald Tribune attempts to discredit us opponents, sometimes stooping to distort our arguments.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Apparently, Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid has offended Muslim sensibilities:

The Little Mermaid statue in Denmark’s capital was found draped in a Muslim dress and head scarf Sunday morning. Police removed the clothing after a telephone caller reported it, spokesman Jorgen Thomsen said.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

…The staunchly secular elite of Turkey believes a president whose wife wears an Islamic headscarf would have Ataturk turning in his grave.

- BBC

“Elite?” Hmmm… Approximately 50,000 Turks attended a rally yesterday to voice their support for secularism. All elitists? On April 29, “More than a million Turks rallied here [Istanbul] Sunday in support of secular democracy.” Daniel Pipes doesn’t use the term “elite” to describe the protesters. Rather, he calls them “moderate Muslims.” More specifically, Pipes asks:

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By Jonathan Spyer*

Thirty eight people lost their lives on Sunday in fierce fighting between the Lebanese military and Sunni jihadist operatives near the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, close to the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. This outbreak of violence represents the heaviest toll in intra-Lebanese violence since the conclusion of the Lebanese civil war of 1975-90. The events in Nahr al-Bared cast light on a side of the Lebanese crisis which has until now been largely ignored by the international media. This is the emergence in recent months of an organization of armed Sunni Islamist operatives in the largely-Sunni north of the country. So far, much of the coverage has suggested that the group in question, known as Fatah al-Islam, may be linked to the al-Qaida network. Nevertheless, informed opinion suggests caution before drawing the simple conclusion that Fatah al-Islam is merely Osama bin-Laden’s latest local franchise.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

From the group that brought you the Passover bombing in Netanya, babies dressed up like suicide bombers, and kindergartens run to train children to become homicide bombers… Today, JPost reports:

…A senior Hamas leader in Gaza declared that it was signed and sealed within his party that Israel would be wiped off the map and replaced by a Palestinian State, Israel Radio reported. He added that rockets and missiles were the means of removing Israel from the picture. …

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Internal Muslim politics in Australia are playing out like a soap opera — one where radicalism and corruption are major themes. The current “mufti” presiding over Australia’s national imams council got himself in hot water last year: “Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali said women who did not wear a hijab (head dress) were like ‘uncovered meat’.” A name being floated to replace Hilali is Mohammed Swaiti, who is currently under investigation by the tax office for taking Saudi money under the table, and reportedly “praised mujaheddin (holy warriors) in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Can you say “credibility problem?” From The Australian:

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

…[Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon] Peres compared Estonia and Israel.

“We are small countries that must be great,” he said. “We have to be as great as our dangers. We have to be as developed as our opportunities.”…

- JTA

Peres makes a valid comparison: The tiny nation of Estonia has been bullied by much larger neighbors (e.g., Germany and Russia). Israel is surrounded by hostile neighbors bent on her destruction. If “Estonia is a Nazi state,” as the Stalinist die-hards maintain, then why have its top leaders, plus Israeli and other Jewish dignitaries, attended the opening of a new synagogue in Tallinn? From JTA:

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New Report Corrects Misconceptions About High-Tech Visa

By Mark Krikorian *

WASHINGTON (May 2007) — There is much discussion of reorienting the legal immigration flow toward “highly skilled” workers, the kind of workers admitted by the H-1B visa program. That visa, which is theoretically temporary but often serves as a stepping-stone to permanent residency, is widely used by high-tech employers and is the frequent subject of debate as available slots are snapped up within hours and lawmakers call for higher limits.

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by Bill Levinson

For too long, Democratic House, Senate, and presidential candidates have conducted themselves under the assumption that Jews will vote for them no matter what. This JTA poll, while not scientific, shows that there is just so much that anyone will take, and it is clear that many Jews are no longer willing to take candidates who consort with anti-Semitic individuals and hate groups. To recap, the three leading Democratic candidates have all:

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Russian President Vladimir Putin has prevented political dissidents from attending summit talks with the EU. He’s afraid of a former chess player? Such a tough guy, pushing around tiny nations like Estonia. Vladimir has surrounded himself with other former KGB goons, so in the Kremlin nowadays, “influence stems from the former Soviet organs of repression.” Back in the USSR? From the Beeb:

A number of leading anti-Putin activists, including the former chess champion Garry Kasparov, had passports confiscated and were detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.

The authorities said they had false travel documents.

Several foreign journalists were also reportedly prevented from traveling.

False? Yeah, if you’re KGB/NKVD…

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

The culture of victimization marches on. As if YouTube videos sympathizing with the Virginia Tech murderer Cho Sueng Hui were not enough… An Australian loser, who lives off his mommy, has created a video game where:

…Players control an image of Korean-born gunman Cho Seung-hui, who killed 32 people before turning a gun on himself, and screams can be heard on the soundtrack as shots are fired at the other characters.

The creator of “V-Tech Rampage”, 21-year-old Ryan Lambourn, said he made the game “because it’s funny,” the Sydney Morning Herald reported Thursday. …

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

The terrorist groups Hamas and Fatah are both are factions of the Palestinian family, and are currently fighting a civil war, vying for power. Led by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin during the late 1960s, Hamas evolved from the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas wrested control of the Palestinian parliament from Fatah in elections held on January 25, 2006. Current Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was one of the founding members of Fatah. Fatah had more secular beginnings during the heyday of pan-Arab nationalism, and dominated Palestinian politics from 1967 until 2006. Why are the two groups fighting?

They have differing ideological origins, i.e. Hamas in Islamism, and Fatah in secular/socialist, pan-Arabism. The West and Israel seem to favor Fatah in the conflict precisely because of its secular roots, and this probably irks Hamas. Some of the fighting between Fatah and Hamas has had a tribal aspect, also. According to the BBC, “Hamas considers Fatah to be corrupt, Fatah regards Hamas as militants still learning the ropes as politicians,” but does this justify a civil war? I have been trying to find a simple explanation for the rift between the two sides but, after studying myriad sources, can only conclude that their conflict is mostly a play for total control of the Palestinian territories — an internecine mob/turf battle.

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Barack Obama fundraiser host said “Jews were responsible for Christ’s death”
by Bill Levinson

Aesop wrote long ago that birds of a feather flock together. Barack Obama flocks with so many racists and anti-Semites that it is reasonable to conclude that he is one himself. We previously described his connections with:

(1) MoveOn.org, an anti-Semitic hate group whose members (backed by official bulletins) say Israel has no right to exist. MoveOn.org has also published an anti-Catholic hate cartoon that shows Pope Benedict waving a gavel in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

(2) Al Sharpton, a prominent racist and anti-Semite whose inflammatory rhetoric helped provoke the Crown Heights riots and the arson of Freddy’s Fashion Mart.

(3) Jeremiah Wright. As reported by Atlas Shrugs, “[Wright’s] rhetoric includes attacks against white people and against Israel.”

(4) George Soros, a prominent hater of both Israel and the United States, which he calls a danger to world peace that is in need of “de-Nazification.” We remind Soros that, had genuine Nazis discovered his Jewish identity before the “danger to world peace” defeated them, he would have been gassed and turned into a lamp shade. Obama received tens of thousands of dollars from Soros and his family.

(5) Now Barack Obama has attended a $1000 a plate fundraiser hosted by an individual who has effectively called Jews “Christ-Killers.”

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Rapper Master P is taking a stand and pledging to clean up the image and lyrics of hip-hop music by forming a record label “with 100% clean lyrics.” …

- TMZ.com

Perhaps Don Imus’ nasty racial slur (”nappy-headed hos”), and the ensuing controversy, has had some positive affects, as we’ve found that it wasn’t only “right-wing” Republicans who denigrate African-Americans. The fact was emphasized that African-Americans and PC politicians were denigrating African-Americans. Immediately after Imus blew a cork, the great demagogues, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, went for Imus’ jugular. But Sharpton and Jackson’s double standard was rightfully pounced on by the blogsphere, and even by some newspapers and TV shows. These two charlatans happily tolerate — probably profit from — the disgusting, misogynistic, and violent lyrics in rap music. In stepped people like Jason Whitlock and Russell Simmons, “the pioneering entrepreneur who made millions of dollars as he helped shape hip-hop culture.” Simmons is, “Expressing concern about the ‘growing public outrage’ over the use of such words in rap lyrics,” and “said the words ‘bitch,’ ‘ho’ and ‘nigger’ should be considered ‘extreme curse words’.” Now comes Rapper Master P, as TMZ.com reports:

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