In this mailing:
by Bassam Tawil
• February 21, 2017 at 5:00 am
- Last week, Hamas
received an offer that no sane entity would turn down. The offer did
not come from Hamas's allies in Iran and the Islamic world. The offer,
to turn the impoverished Gaza Strip into "the Singapore of the
Middle East," came from Israel.
- "The Gazans
must understand that Israel, which withdrew from the Gaza Strip to the
last millimeter, is not the source of their suffering -- it is the
Hamas leadership, which doesn't take their needs into consideration...
The moment Hamas gives up its tunnels and rockets, we'll be the first
to invest." — Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
- Hamas does not
want a new "Singapore" in the Middle East. Hamas wants
Israel to disappear from the face of the earth. The welfare of the
Palestinians living under its rule is the last thing on the mind of
Hamas. The dispute is not about improving the living conditions of
Palestinians, as far as Hamas is concerned. Instead, it is about the
very existence of Israel.
- Hamas deserves
credit for one thing: its honesty concerning its intentions to destroy
Israel and kill as many Jews as possible. Hamas does not want 40,000
new jobs for the unemployed poor Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It
would rather see these unemployed Palestinians join its ranks and
become soldiers in the jihad to replace Israel with an Islamic empire.
Whither the future of Gaza: to be "the Singapore of
the Middle East," or to more terrorism and war? Sadly, Hamas does not
want a new "Singapore" in the Middle East. Hamas wants Israel to
disappear from the face of the earth. The welfare of Palestinians living
under its rule is the last thing on the mind of Hamas.
The Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas has once again demonstrated its
priorities: killing Jews. That clearly takes precedence over easing the
plight of the two million Palestinians living under its rule in the Gaza
Strip.
Since Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza Strip in the summer
of 2007, the conditions of the Palestinians living there have gone from bad
to worse. Crisis after crisis has hit those under the Hamas rule;
electricity and water as well as lack of medicine and proper medical care
are in dangerously short supply.
Disputes between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority have left the
Gaza Strip dangerously short of fuel, resulting in massive power outages.
Palestinians there consequently have had to resort to using wood for
cooking and heating. Hamas, which has brought about three wars that wreaked
havoc on its people, is unable to provide them with basic needs.
by Saied Shoaaib
• February 21, 2017 at 4:00 am
- How is it
possible that books that advocate violence and extremism meet the
"selection criteria" of the Ottawa Public Library, but those
that speak out against violence and extremism do not?
- The presence of
these Islamic books, and these books alone, in Canada's public
libraries, without any others to contradict them, gives them
legitimacy. They are seen to represent a certain form of Islam that
the government of Canada and the City of Ottawa recognize.
- This indicates
that there is official support for the extremist and terrorist version
of Islam, and at the same time no support for a humanist
interpretation of Islam.
- This surah
[4:74] also indicates that if you are a Muslim living in a non-Muslim
country, then you are in a state of war against your host country. If
you are a Muslim living in a non-Muslim country, then you are living
with the enemy.
- If we are to
reject this danger, it is important that libraries and other
institutions have books that reject these Islamist views and confront
their hatred, extremism and violence.
A copy of One Hundred Questions in Islam by Dr.
Muhammad al-Ghazali, found in the Ottawa Public Library. The image at right
shows the inside cover of the book, with the Ottawa Public Library Stamp.
The Muslim Brotherhood classifies as one of their great intellectual
leaders Imam Mohammed al-Ghazali (1917-1996). He famously decreed that the
assassination of the Egyptian Muslim thinker, Farag Foda, was acceptable.
In the views of al-Ghazali, Farag Foda was an apostate for defending
secular values and human rights. Moreover, al-Ghazali went into an Egyptian
court and defended the assassins: "Anyone who openly resisted the full
imposition of Islamic law," he said, "was an apostate who should
be killed either by the government or by devout individuals." He
added: "There is no penalty in Islam to kill the apostate by yourself
when the government fails to do so."
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