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Please read just a few of the headlines that World Net Daily has published.

July, 2005

 



Because they hate

"Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America," is written by Brigitte Gabriel. This is an edited version of our interview.

Larry Elder: You are of Christian Lebanese descent. When you heard what Rosie O'Donnell said, that Christian extremism is as bad as Islamic extremism, how did you react?

Brigitte Gabriel: Well, I do not know what land she is living in, but I do not recall when the last time I saw a Christian behead anybody on television, or behead somebody and advertise it on the Internet. I do not recall hearing a Christian preach that Muslims are apes and pigs because they are cursed by Jesus, the way that Muslims are teaching that we are apes and pigs. I do not recall the last time a Christian went into an elementary school, hijacked children and started shooting them in the back like the Muslims did in Beslan in Russia when they went into a schoolyard and took over the children and started butchering them and killing them. [Rosie] better be thankful that she is living in America, because if she were living in Iran and spoke against her country – or any Arabic country – she would be beheaded or actually buried halfway in the ground, to be stoned to death.

Elder: Did you study Islam?

Gabriel: No, I did not study Islam; I lived Islam. I lived in the Middle East. I read the Quran in the Arabic language – I do not need translation. There is something about living in a place and being an eyewitness and coming from a culture and blowing the whistle on that culture, and that is very different from someone majoring in Islam and living in the Middle East for two months so they can write their thesis.

Elder: You were raised in Lebanon. You were 10 years old and living in southern Lebanon when militant Muslims ... poured into your country and declared jihad against Lebanese Christians such as yourself.

Gabriel: Yes, my 9-11 happened to me in 1975 when I was a 10-year-old child, living and minding my own business [in] a small town in south Lebanon. I was an only child to a businessman and his wife. I was blessed with a wonderful childhood. ... They showered me with love and everything life had blessed them with. However, our lives were turned upside down because in 1975, the Muslims declared holy war on the Christians of Lebanon. My home exploded around me, buried in the rubble, wounded as the perpetrators shouted, "Allahu Akbar" [God is great]. My only crime was that I was a Christian living in a Christian town. I learned at 10 years old the meaning of the word "infidel." I had a crash course in survival not in the Girl Scouts, but in the bomb shelter that I lived for seven years of my life in freezing cold, pitch darkness, drinking stale water and eating grass to live. I remember at the age of 13, I dressed in my burial clothes going to bed at night, waiting to be slaughtered . By the age of 20, I had buried most of my friends, who were slaughtered by Muslims.

Elder: You call your book a wake-up call. Tell us what the West does not understand about what I call Islamo-fascism. And, do you think "Islamo-fascism" is an appropriate term?

Gabriel: Yes, it is an appropriate term. We are fighting Islamo-fascism, we are fighting a war that is much worse than Nazism, anything we have fought before, because even the Nazis did not encourage their children to strap bombs onto their bodies and then rejoice at their deaths, as well as the deaths of their victims. Islamists are encouraging their children to die.

Elder: There are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world. I want you to analyze them by ideology.

Gabriel: Not all of them are radicals. We estimate that the radicals are between 15 and 25 percent; that translates to between 180 and 300 million people like Mohamed Atta who are willing to strap bombs to their bodies and commit martyrdom operations. Now, that is still a minority, 15 to 25 percent, but 300 million Mohamed Attas ready to unleash their blood upon the West. ... Now, the rest of them ... despise the West, they hate our westernization, they think we are morally corrupt, that we are corrupting the world, and they think we are such a bad influence on the world that we need to be stopped at any cost. They may not be willing to commit martyrdom operations themselves, but they will sit there and cheer on and rally those who are willing to kill us.

Elder: Are we winning?

Gabriel: No, we are losing.

Larry Elder: What caused Lebanon's 1975 jihad invasion?

Brigitte Gabriel: ... In the early '70s, Lebanon was a majority Christian country ... a republic very much like America. We prospered. We focused on growing our economy. We were multicultural, fair and tolerant, and had an open border policy. We welcomed everybody into our country, because we wanted to share the Westernizations we had created in the Middle East. ... Sadly, many people who came didn't want to assimilate and adopt Westernizations, but wanted to drag us down to their tribal Islamic culture. ... By 1974, Christians stopped traveling. We became prisoners in our homes and cities because Muslims would set up fly-by-night checkpoints. ... Our religion is written on our national ID. ... So, Muslims would stop cars, look at their IDs and if a Christian family was traveling, they would shoot them in cold blood – the whole family. ... Extremist Muslims started coming from all around the Arabic world to fight alongside the Muslims in Lebanon.

Elder: Tell us about Islamo-fascism in the West.

Gabriel: The Center for Religious Freedom went undercover last year and collected 200 publications from some of the most prominent mosques in the United States. Those books, provided by the government of Saudi Arabia to American mosques, teach Muslims living in an infidel land how to deal with infidels. These Saudi publications repeatedly exalt Muslims to, and I quote, hate them for their religion – meaning Christians, Jews, atheists and everybody in between. ... They say that democracy, justice, freedom, brotherhood and equality cause all of the world's problems. This is being taught in the mosques. And it gets worse. They say it is the religious duty of every Muslim to impose functionally Islamic government on every country in the world. This religious duty is binding ... and a sacred obligation of jihad. ... Many people do not realize that under the banner of Islam the Muslims killed children in Israel, massacred children in Lebanon, killed cops in Egypt, murdered Armenians i n Turkey, killed Hindus in India, and expelled over 900,000 Jews from Arab land. All that happened before they turned their eyes to the West and before Sept. 11, 2001. ... This is the religion of Islam. ...

Elder: Are there moderate Muslims who condemn the radicals, who don't feel threatened by democracy?

Gabriel: Yes. ... I call it a practicing Muslim and a non-practicing Muslim. I think it is a better description than "moderate" and "radical." A practicing Muslim goes to mosque, prays five times a day, doesn't drink, believes God gave him women to be his property – to beat, to stone to death. ... He believes Christians and Jews are apes and pigs because they are cursed by Allah. He believes it is his duty to declare war on the infidels because they are Allah's enemies. That is a practicing Muslim. A non-practicing Muslim no longer goes to mosque or prays five times a day, has an occasional glass of wine and believes that a woman is equal to a man. ... He believes he cannot murder his wife just because he wants to. He does not believe in taking four wives just for sexual pleasure. ... He no longer believes that, as a Muslim, it is his duty to kill the apes and pigs that have been cursed by Allah. A non-practicing Muslim is educated, an intellectual who believes the Quran – writt en in the seventh century – doesn't apply to today's standards, and Islam needs to be reformed. Those Muslims do exist and live in the West. However, they are such a minority – we estimate about 2 percent – they are irrelevant because it is the majority that is causing the problem now.

Elder: What should be done?

Gabriel: Shut our borders. We have terrorists coming through our borders. Al-Qaida is working with the MS-13 gang [El Salvadorian gang Mara Salvatrucha], smuggling al-Qaida terrorists into the country. Hezbollah is doing the same. ... We estimate thousands have already been smuggled into America. ... Hamas is here. ... They have cells in over 40 states. ... We also need to reform our immigration and visa programs. We need to monitor who is coming into our country and why. ... We need to increase human intelligence. ... To get that human element that gets you the information, it takes years to establish trust with the enemy in order to get the secrets out of them. ... As for profiling, I want everyone who fits the terrorist profile to be profiled. We have men between the ages of 16 and 40 who have committed terrorist acts around the world in the name of Islam. They are not little old ladies from Ohio with blue hair. They are not children going to Disney World on their Easter vaca tion.

Elder: What happens if a Democrat wins the 2008 election?

Gabriel: We are doomed. Our enemies want the Democrats to win. This last election, jihadist websites were playing victory songs and declaring the Democrats are our allies in the war against America. ... Whoever comes next is going to have to deal with the same things Bush is dealing with.
 


Muslim nations throttle
U.N. terror resolution

Criticism of suicide bombers censored by global body's Islamic member states

Islamic United Nations representatives blocked an attempt to have the world body condemn killing in the name of religion.

The International Humanist and Ethical Union said it submitted the request to the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva in response to moves by Islamic clerics to legitimize the current wave of terror attacks.

IHEU representative David Littman tried to deliver a prepared text in the names of three international NGOs � the Association for World Education, the Association of World Citizens and the IHEU � but was blocked by the "heavy-handed intervention" of Islamic representatives of the panel.

Littman said that after repeated interruptions, he was unable to complete his speech.

The Muslims members said they saw the text as an attack on Islam.

The IHEU argued Littman's speech was a report on recent critical comment on Islamist extremism by a number of notable Muslim writers.

The intent was for the U.N. Human Rights Commission "to condemn calls to kill, to terrorize or to use violence in the name of God or any religion."

The text referred to recent decisions by high-ranking Muslim clerics to confirm that those who carry out suicide bombings remain Muslims and cannot be treated as apostates.

A Saudi cleric, for example, issued a fatwa saying that innocent Britons were a legitimate target for terrorist action. Also, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, dean of the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies at Qatar University, who has visited Britain, said terror attacks are permissible.

Roy Brown, president of IHEU, said the censorship is "part and parcel of the refusal by the Islamic representatives at the U.N. to condemn the suicide bombers, or to accept any criticism of those who kill innocent people in the name of God."

World Net Daily
  July, 2005



Pope won't call Islam
religion of peace

'I would not like to use big words
to apply generic labels'


Pope Benedict XVI yesterday refused to declare Islam "a religion of peace."

Asked by reporters whether Islam could be considered a religion of peace shortly before entering a meeting with priests and deacons of Valle d'Aosta in northwest Italy where he is spending a brief holiday, the pontiff refused to reply positively.

"I would not like to use big words to apply generic labels," he replied. "It certainly contains elements that can favor peace, it also has other elements: We must always seek the best elements."

The day before, he asked God to stop the terrorists.

"Even these days of serenity and repose have been disrupted by the tragic news of the execrable terrorist attacks which have brought death, destruction and suffering to various countries such as Egypt, Turkey, Iraq and Great Britain," he said. "As we entrust to divine goodness the dead and injured and their loved ones, victims of gestures that offend both God and man, we call on the Almighty to block the murderous hand of those who, driven by fanaticism and hatred, committed these acts, and we ask that He convert their hearts to thoughts of reconciliation and peace."

He asked Muslims to embrace peace.

"Renounce the way of violence which causes so much suffering to civilian populations, and instead to embrace the way of peace," he said in a statement issued through Vatican Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano, in response to terrorist attacks at the popular Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh in Egypt.


World Net Daily
  July, 2005


IRS, FEC dismiss Falwell complaints
Messages regarded by some as illegal political endorsements



Two federal agencies have dismissed separate complaints related to messages by Rev. Jerry Falwell that were regarded by some as illegal political endorsements.

The Internal Revenue Service closed its books on a complaint about a seminary chapel speech in which Falwell personally endorsed President Bush's re-election.

Separately, the Federal Election Commission dismissed a complaint related to statements Falwell, a WND columnist, made in a "Falwell Confidential" e-mail sent during the 2004 presidential election season.

Falwell's chapel-service message was about spiritual maturity, and he emphasized any views expressed were his own. But a complaint was filed against Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, based on an account in the Fort Worth Star Telegram of the Aug. 24, 2004, meeting.

Falwell and the seminary are represented by Liberty Counsel President and General Counsel Mathew D. Staver.

Staver pointed out the seminary's chapel, scheduled three days a week, is a religious meeting in which outside speakers regularly are invited to address the students and faculty.

The messages are personal to the speaker, he emphasized, and Falwell told reporters after his address that his statements supporting Bush for president were his personal views.

Liberty Counsel filed a response to the IRS on Dec. 17, 2004, and the agency now has closed its file on the matter.

Staver said that while he was pleased the complaint was dismissed, it is "disconcerting" that it was filed in the first place.

"The IRS should not be eavesdropping and pursuing complaints based upon one citizen forwarding a newspaper account," he said.

Staver said that while no church has ever lost its tax-exempt status for engaging in political activity, most Americans believe the IRS regulation implemented in 1954 regarding political candidates should be repealed.

"Pastors and churches, as much as any other private citizen, have the right to express their opinions regarding political candidates," he said.

Meanwhile, the FEC unanimously dismissed a complaint filed against Jerry Falwell Ministries and Liberty Alliance by a 6-0 vote.

On July 1, 2004, Falwell sent a "Falwell Confidential" e-mail urging people of faith to exercise their vote during the presidential election.

In the email, he stated, "For conservative people of faith, voting for principle this year means voting for the re-election of George W. Bush. The alternative, in my mind, is simply unthinkable."

The e-mail also urged supporters to contribute to the Campaign for Working Families Political Action Committee.

Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the FEC alleging that Jerry Falwell Ministries and Liberty Alliance, a lobbying organization, violated election laws by circulating an e-mail that expressly advocated the election of a federal candidate and contained a solicitation for contributions to a political action committee.

Liberty Counsel argued that those groups are covered by the press exemption.

Falwell is the founder of Liberty Broadcasting Network, WTLU television station, the Liberty Channel cable network and two radio stations, WRVL FM and WWMC FM.

His "Old Time Gospel Hour" has been broadcast since 1956 and is the longest running, uninterrupted religious program in the nation.

The response also argued that that Jerry Falwell Ministries and Liberty Alliance meet the "qualified nonprofit corporation" status because they are supported by private, rather than corporate, contributions. In addition, the response argued that the cost of disseminating the e-mail was minimal.

Staver argued Falwell does not "lose his right to personal _expression each election cycle."

"As a member of the media, the media outlets through which he communicates enjoy the protection of the First Amendment, just as much as the Washington Times," Staver said.

Falwell commented: "Religious nonprofit groups are not orphans to the First Amendment. I have been expressing my views on politics for five decades and am pleased with the FEC's ruling."

World Net Daily
  July, 2005



Tancredo to request
al-Qaida nuke briefing

Congressman to ask Justice Department for report on 'American Hiroshima' plan

WASHINGTON – Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., a staunch critic of the federal government's lax immigration and border enforcement policies, said yesterday he would request a briefing from the Justice Department on information it has on plans revealed by WND this week for a nuclear attack on the U.S. by al-Qaida terrorists.

Tancredo said he was greatly alarmed by the report and would seek whatever information he could get from the nation's law enforcement authorities – either in classified or unclassified reports.

Al-Qaida's plans, known as "America's Hiroshima" according to captured terrorists and terrorist documents, calls for the multiple detonation of nuclear weapons, already in the possession of Osama bin Laden's operatives currently inside the U.S. The agents and arms having been smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border with the help of the MS-13 street gang and other organized crime groups, according to the report originating in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, a premium, online intelligence newsletter published by the founder of WND.

The attack is designed to kill at least 4 million Americans.

Al-Qaida has obtained at least 40 nuclear weapons from the former Soviet Union – including suitcase nukes, nuclear mines, artillery shells and even some missile warheads, according to the report. In addition, documents captured in Afghanistan show al-Qaida had plans to assemble its own nuclear weapons with fissile material it purchased on the black market.

In addition to detonating its own nuclear weapons already planted in the U.S., military sources also say there is evidence to suggest al-Qaida is paying former Russian Spetznaz, or special forces operatives, to assist the terrorist group in locating nuclear weapons formerly concealed inside the U.S. by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Bin Laden's group is also paying nuclear scientists from Russia and Pakistan to maintain its existing nuclear arsenal and assemble additional weapons with the materials it has invested hundreds of millions in procuring over a period of 10 years.

The plans for the devastating nuclear attack on the U.S. have been under development for more than a decade. It is designed as a final deadly blow of defeat to the U.S., which is seen by al-Qaida and its allies as "the Great Satan."

At least half the nuclear weapons in the al-Qaida arsenal were obtained for cash from Chechen terrorist allies.

But the most disturbing news is that high-level U.S. officials now believe at least some of those weapons have been smuggled into the U.S. for use in the near future in major cities as part of this "American Hiroshima" plan, according to an upcoming book, "The al-Qaida Connection: International Terrorism, Organized Crime and the Coming Apocalypse," by Paul L. Williams, a former FBI consultant.

According to Williams, former CIA Director George Tenet informed President Bush one month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that at least two suitcase nukes had reached al-Qaida operatives in the U.S. President Bush reportedly went "through the roof" upon hearing the news, prompting him to order his national security team to give nuclear terrorism priority over every other threat to America.

"Each suitcase weighed between 50 and 80 kilograms (approximately 110 to 176 pounds) and contained enough fissionable plutonium and uranium to produce an explosive yield in excess of two kilotons," wrote Williams. "One suitcase bore the serial number 9999 and the Russian manufacturing date of 1988. The design of the weapons, Tenet told the president, is simple. The plutonium and uranium are kept in separate compartments that are linked to a triggering mechanism that can be activated by a clock or a call from the cell phone."

It is worth noting Bush failed to translate this policy into securing the U.S.-Mexico border through which the nuclear weapons and al-Qaida operatives are believed to have passed with the help of the MS-13 smugglers. He did, however, order the building of underground bunkers away from major metropolitan areas for use by federal government managers following an attack.

Bin Laden, according to Williams, has nearly unlimited funds to spend on his nuclear terrorism plan because he has remained in control of the Afghanistan-produced heroin industry. Poppy production has greatly increased even while U.S. troops are occupying the country, he writes. Al-Qaida has developed close relations with the Albanian Mafia, which assists in the smuggling and sale of heroin throughout Europe and the U.S.

Some of that money is used to pay off the notorious MS-13 street gang between $30,000 and $50,000 for each sleeper agent smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico. The sleepers are also provided with phony identification, most often bogus matricula consular ID cards indistinguishable from Mexico's official ID, now accepted in the U.S. to open bank accounts and obtain driver's licenses.

The Bush administration's unwillingness to secure the U.S.-Mexico border has puzzled and dismayed a growing number of activists and ordinary citizens who see it as the No. 1 security threat to the nation. The Minuteman organization is planning a major mobilization of thousands of Americans this fall designed to shut down the entire 2,000-mile border as it did in April with a 23-mile stretch in Arizona.

According to Williams' sources, thousands of al-Qaida sleeper agents have now been forward deployed into the U.S. to carry out their individual roles in the coming "American Hiroshima" plan.

Bin Laden's goal, according to the book, is to kill at least 4 million Americans, 2 million of whom must be children. Only then, bin Laden has said, would the crimes committed by America on the Arab and Muslim world be avenged.

There is virtually no doubt among intelligence analysts al-Qaida has obtained fully assembled nuclear weapons, according to Williams. The only question is how many. Estimates range between a dozen and 70.

The future plan, according to captured al-Qaida agents and documents, suggests the attacks will take place simultaneously in major cities throughout the country – including New York, Boston, Washington, Las Vegas, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles.

In response to the G2 Bulletin revelations, Chris Simcox, founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a citizen action group demanding the U.S. government take control of its borders, said an immediate military presence on the borders is now imperative "to stop the overwhelming influx of unidentified, potentially hostile and seditious persons coming across at an alarming rate."

"Terrorists have carte blanche to carry practically anything they want across our national line at this time," he said. "As ordinary citizens have warned this government for years, the only surprising part about the new information reported here is that nothing apocalyptic from Mexican-border weapons trafficking has yet happened. Terrorism has reared its ugly head in London again these past few days, and as we know all too well we are not immune in this country.

"At this point, the next attempt to attack America at home is just a matter of 'when,' not 'if.' And our unsecured borders have surely contributed to this threat – yet our government officials continue to fiddle while our nation's margin of security and safety burns away. The president and Congress had better wake up before they have to answer for another devastating terrorist incursion on our own soil."

World Net Daily
  July, 2005


GLOBAL JIHAD
Muslim scholar: Killing civilians OK
Head of Islamic center in London responds to attack



Responding to questions about the terrorist attack on London, a Muslim scholar in the British capital asserted Islam makes no distinction between civilians and military targets.

"The term 'civilians' does not exist in Islamic religious law," said Hani Al-Siba'i, head of the Al-Maqreze Centre for Historical Studies in London.

Al-Siba'i, in an interview with the Arab news channel al-Jazeera, elaborated, "There is no such term as 'civilians' in the modern Western sense. People are either of Dar Al-Harb or not."

Dar Al-Harb refers to the Muslim concept of the world being divided into two "houses," the House of Islam and the remaining territories, the House of War, or Dar Al-Harb.

Al-Siba'i speculated that a Western nation could have been responsible for the attack, but he acknowledged it could have been carried out by Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization, according to a transcript provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI.

"If al-Qaida indeed carried out this act, it is a great victory for it," he said. "It rubbed the noses of the world's eight most powerful countries in the mud."

But al-Siba'i said British Prime Minister Tony Blair "made a grave error when he spoke before the investigation and claimed that the perpetrators of these acts were acting in the name of Islam."

The Muslim leader said "the possibility that it was done by the intelligence agency of another Western country hostile to Britain" should not be ruled out.

He also conjectured it could have been done by "some Zionist Americans who wanted to overshadow the G-8 summit."

Al-Siba'i finally said al-Qaida could not be ruled out as the perpetrator.

He asserted the terrorist organization controls the "war agenda" in Iraq and "imposes its policies" on the Middle East.

As an example, he pointed out that al-Qaida's beheading of an Egyptian envoy prompted Cairo to lower its level of representation in Baghdad.

On the subject of targeting civilians, the al-Jazeera host asked Al-Siba'i: "You, as a Muslim and as the director of a center for Islamic history. ... Is targeting wretched civilians considered brave or manly?"

Al-Siba'i replied that after the Madrid bombing, bin Laden called on the people of Western nations to pressure their governments.

"He told them: We did not attack you. You have been attacking us for more than two centuries, and your campaign continues. He said to them simply: Withdraw your soldiers from the Arabian Peninsula, withdraw from Afghanistan and Palestine. …"

Asked whether he considered bin Laden a religious scholar who issues fatwas or the head of al-Qaida, Siba'i said, "First of all, he is one of this (Islamic) nation. ... We have no clergy or a pope, or anything like this. Anyone can carry out his religious duty, even if he is by himself."

The host argued that the religious law assembly in Mecca at the end of last month issued a fatwa forbidding the killing of civilians.

"Should we follow it or Osama bin Laden?" the host asked.

Al-Siba'i said, "These assemblies resemble the assemblies of the church. These assemblies forbid young people from going to Iraq to fight the jihad. … The Higher Religious Authority (in Saudi Arabia) are the ones who allowed the presence of Crusader forces in the Land of the Two Holy Places (Saudi Arabia)."

World Net Daily
  July, 2005


LAW OF THE LAND
Allstate terminates manager over homosexuality column
On own time, man posted anti-'gay' article insurance giant says didn't reflect its values


A former manager with Allstate has sued the insurance giant, alleging the company, which financially supports homosexual advocacy groups, fired him solely because he wrote a column posted on several websites that was critical of same-sex marriage and espoused his Christian beliefs.

J. Matt Barber was a manager in Allstate's Corporate Security Division, its investigative arm, at the Fortune 100 company's headquarters in Northbrook, Ill. Besides working for the insurance provider, Barber was and is a professional heavyweight boxer, a jazz drummer and a Web commentator. His columns have appeared on TheConservativeVoice.com, MensNewsDaily.com and others.

Though the column in question was written and posted in December, it wasn't until Jan. 31 that Barber was called into a meeting with two Human Resources officials, one of whom Barber says "slapped down" a printed copy of the column in front of him and asked if he had written it.

Recognizing the piece, Barber confirmed he had written it on his own time, at his home and on his own computer. Barber claims he was told, "Here at Allstate we have a very diverse community."

Barber says the Human Resources assistant vice president told him the column didn't reflect Allstate's view and that he was suspended with pay. Barber was immediately ushered off company grounds – "which was humiliating," the former employee said.

"I explained to Allstate that the article was a reflection of my personal Christian beliefs, and that I had every right to both write it and to have it published," Barber told WND. "I further explained that I had written the article while at home on my own time, that I never mentioned Allstate's name and that I neither directly nor indirectly suggested that Allstate shared my Christian beliefs or my views on same-sex marriage."

Three days later, on Feb. 3, Barber, who had worked for Allstate for five years, says he got a call informing him he was fired "for writing the article," he said. Now, with the help of the Christian Law Association and David Gibbs III, who represented Terri Schiavo's family in the final weeks of her life, Barber is challenging Allstate in federal court.

According to an investigation by the state of Illinois' Department of Employment Security related to Barber's claim for unemployment benefits, an organization – likely a "gay"-rights group – complained to Allstate about the column. But how did the group connect Barber to the insurance company? It turns out one site that posted the column, MensNewsDaily.com, added to the bio line on the article the fact that Barber worked for Allstate.

Barber says he did not include that fact in the original column submission but that the site "disclosed that without my knowledge or consent." According to Barber, he is somewhat well-known in the boxing field in Chicago, and Allstate would sometimes tout the fact that he worked for the company.

The columnist told WND even if he had included a reference to Allstate in his bio, "I wasn't intimating that I was representing Allstate or that these were the views of Allstate."

Barber stressed to the unemployment office that he did not intend for the affiliation to be included in the bio. Allstate argued to the agency that Barber should not be given unemployment, but upon investigation, the agency agreed with Barber's contention and ruled he was entitled to the money.

Said the agency's report: "The claimant was discharged from Allstate Insurance Company because an outside organization had complained about an article he had written while on his own time."

The state agency also ruled Barber did not engage in misconduct, saying, "The term misconduct means the deliberate and willful violation of a reasonable rule or policy of the employer. … In this case, the claimant's action which resulted in his discharge was not deliberate and willful."

Homosexuality a violation of 'natural law'

In the commentary piece, which Barber refers to as "the article that got me fired," he makes several arguments against same-sex marriage.

Wrote Barber: "Marriage between one man and one woman, and the nuclear family have forever been cornerstones of civilized society. Regrettably, there are at present, many within the militant homosexual lobby who wish to take a sledge hammer to those cornerstones – many who hope to undermine both the historical and contemporary reality of marriage and family – many who, through judicial fiat, aim to circumvent the Constitution, the legislative process, and the overwhelming will of the people in an effort to redefine marriage. Accordingly, the unsolicited, oxymoronic and spurious _expression 'same-sex marriage' has been forced into popular lexicon."

Barber, who holds both a law degree and a masters in public policy, uses anatomy to argue against homosexual behavior.

"For one to believe that homosexual behavior, the act of sodomy in particular, follows the biological order of things," wrote Barber, "one must ignore the fact that sodomy violates natural law – you know … wrong plumbing … square hole/round peg. The whole thing really is a testament to man's creativity. Give us something good, and we'll bend over backwards to twist it into something else."

'Diversity and inclusion'

Barber – known in the boxing world as Matt "Bam Bam" Barber – says Allstate has a decidedly "pro-homosexual" philosophy, requiring employees to undergo "diversity training" and offering domestic partnership benefits.

The training, Barber says, "is really indoctrination hostile toward thousands of employees' Christian beliefs."

The insurance company's foundation has donated money to homosexual-advocacy organizations, including the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the LAMBDA Legal Defense and Education Fund. A notice about the Allstate foundation says funds are given to "nonprofit organizations that are related to tolerance, diversity and inclusion."

Barber says he hopes consumers who hold traditional values will stop patronizing Allstate.

Addressing those who do, Barber said, "You are helping to support an organization that brazenly and illegally discriminates against religious employees who do not blindly and silently toe the extremist, liberal line on official company policy – policy that is not just overtly pro-homosexual, but is demonstrably anti-family."

Gibbs is the lead attorney on the case.

"To have Fortune 100 companies like Allstate firing people for expressing their sincerely held religious beliefs and even their personal viewpoints on their own time demonstrates just how out of kilter things have gotten," Gibbs told WND.

"Allstate aggressively pushes and promotes the homosexual agenda in the name of tolerance, but the minute someone speaks up with what would be considered the traditional moral-values viewpoint, the tolerance disappears and it results in a termination."

Gibbs rhetorically asked if Allstate would take the same action against someone who put forth a pro-homosexual viewpoint.

"The answer is absolutely not," he said. "The tolerance is only running one way."

Such discriminatory action violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Gibbs contends.

Said Gibbs: "The law was intended to make sure people of faith didn't have to leave their religion or viewpoints at the workplace stairs."

Gibbs compared the situation to that of racial discrimination.

"Just like Allstate can't go in and say, 'We've discovered your ethnicity and we're going to fire you,' I don't believe Allstate should be able to go in and say, 'We've discovered your anti-homosexuality viewpoint and we're going to fire you.'"

The complaint claims Barber was "terminated from his employment and discriminated against by Defendants, with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment because he expressed during non-work hours his sincerely held religious beliefs."

Whistleblower retaliation?

Part of the complaint filed in court discusses a 2003 business trip to Lisbon, Portugal, Barber took to attend the annual Chairman's Conference with hundreds of other Allstate employees.

According to the suit, Barber witnessed on the trip his boss' boss, Ben Tarver, assistant vice president for corporate security, "engaging in various public displays of affection with a young female physician who had been hired by Allstate to serve as the on-call physician for the conference team."

Following Barber's report of the assistant vice president's alleged behavior to his immediate supervisor, the ex-employee says Tarver began harassing him and treating him in an "abusive manner."

Barber eventually filed a sexual harassment/retaliation complaint against Tarver with the Human Resources Department at Allstate.

Barber pointed out the irony of the head of the agency that investigates company-policy violations and fraud allegedly breaking the rules of sexual conduct.

"He was a married man," Barber explained. "It made me very uncomfortable, especially because we investigate sexual harassment."

Barber believes the whistleblower action was a motive in his being fired and that officials were looking for a reason to terminate him. It was the very people to whom he had reported Tarver's alleged misconduct who confronted him about the online article.

'Allstate is very fair'

Marissa Quiles, media relations spokesperson for Allstate, told WND the company could not comment on a lawsuit its lawyers have not yet seen. According to Barber's attorneys, the company was to be served with the suit today.

"Allstate is very fair and has a very good reputation for being inclusive," Quiles said.

"It's the company's policy to maintain a working environment free of any type of discrimination and harassment that may affect an employee's terms or conditions of employment."

Continued Quiles: "We cannot disclose or discuss details related to the former employee's termination, nor can we comment on a lawsuit we have not yet received."

Barber says his termination from Allstate came at a stressful time in his life with his wife just having given birth after a problem pregnancy.

He recently described the situation in a narrative:

To add insult to injury, about two weeks before I was fired, my wife, Sarah, and I delivered our third child in four years following a highly stressful at-risk pregnancy. Allstate was fully aware of our new arrival and that Sarah was still recovering from her C-section surgery when they callously snatched away both our medical insurance and our means of providing for our young family.

All of this notwithstanding, my personal faith and optimism remain intact. I always knew that people were persecuted in the workplace for their religious beliefs, but I never imagined it would happen to my family and me. We’re losing our home, and we may be forced into bankruptcy; but I know that somehow, God will provide. I believe it’s crucial to take a stand for truth, even if that stand results in suffering in the short term.

The lawsuit, which was filed May 26, seeks compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorneys' fees.

An initial status hearing on the federal lawsuit is set for July 5 in the Illinois Northern District Court.

World Net Daily
  June, 2005



London a Longtime Haven for Radical Muslim Figures


(CNSNews.com) - Terrorism experts have long warned that Islamists espousing violence enjoy a haven in London, an assertion that has come into sharp focus again with Thursday's bombings in the British capital.

For years, Britain tolerated the presence of high-profile and outspoken Islamic clerics whose fiery sermons frequently extolled jihad against the West. Since 9/11, however, anti-terror legislation has been tightened, some groups have been outlawed, terror rings have been broken and some controversial figures have been arrested.

One of them, Egyptian-born Abu Hamza al-Masri, went on trial this week at London's Old Bailey courthouse, where he faces more than a dozen charges include inciting terrorism and racial hatred.

Al-Masri was formerly the imam at a North London mosque linked to confessed al-Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and Richard Reid, who tried to blow up a U.S.-bound flight from Europe with explosives hidden in his shoe.

He also is wanted in the United States and Yemen on terror-related charges.

For years before his May 2004 arrest al-Masri used the Finsbury Park mosque as a base to speak for what he insisted were political causes.

Despite his radical rhetoric and close links to a group that claimed responsibility for attacks including the Oct. 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen, it was only in 2003 that the authorities acted against him, stripping him of his British citizenship and barring him from preaching at the mosque.

Al-Masri then took to addressing his followers -- mostly young British- and foreign-born Muslims -- on the street outside the building.

Britain also detained another London-based extremist cleric, Abu Qatada, whose sermons were found in the 9/11 hijackers' apartment in Germany.

But other radical leaders remained free, among them Omar Bakri Mohammed, a Syrian-born cleric who has promoted and praised violence against Israel, America and Britain for years.

Yael Shahar of the Israel-based International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) said that although London had been a center for Islamic extremism for years, the British security services only started taking the threat seriously after 9/11.

Before that, Shahar said, "the firebrand clerics who preached jihad and hatred of the West were dismissed as 'armchair warriors' by British intelligence."

Even since 9/11, however, critics have questioned Britain's apparent tolerance for highly-controversial Muslim figures.

As recently as last year, the government allowed a visit by Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a Egyptian cleric who has publicly voiced support for suicide bombers. London's leftwing Mayor Ken Livingstone, who has called al-Qaradawi a "man of peace," welcomed him as an honored guest. (see related story).

Exploiting democracy

In 2000, Bakri told Cybercast News Service in an interview: "We will use your democracy to destroy your democracy."

Britain's legal system and its willingness late last century to offer asylum to figures like Bakri, al-Masri and Abu Qatada made it a magnet for exiled radical organizations.

"In the past decade, the United Kingdom's undisputed political, economic, and cultural center has also become a major world center of political Islam and anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, and anti-American activism," writes Hebrew University of Jerusalem academic Robert S. Wistrich, in online excerpts of an article to be published soon.

"Through its Arabic-language newspapers, magazines, and publishing houses, not to mention its flourishing network of bookshops, mosques, and community centers, radical Islam has taken full advantage of what British democracy has to offer for its anti-Western goals, reaping the benefits of London's significance as a hub of global finance, electronic media, and mass communications technology."

Osama bin Laden himself laid the groundwork for a London-based network, according to terrorism researcher Yossef Bodansky.

In his biography on bin Laden, written before 9/11, Bodansky wrote that the al-Qaeda leader based himself in the London suburb of Wembley in 1994. By the time he left, after the Saudis began demanding his expulsion, "he had consolidated a comprehensive system of entities" in the city.

In Nov. 1998, Bakri hosted a conference in London called Western Challenge and Islamic Response, attended by more than a dozen extremist groups. At the gathering, Bakri voiced support for Osama bin Laden's jihad and said recent anti-U.S. attacks such as those in Saudi Arabia and East Africa were "legitimate acts."

Following 9/11, Bakri was one of the first Islamist figures to publicly applaud the attacks.

Since then he has spoken often of his support for violent jihad, even admitting to signing up recruits for Islamist campaigns in places like Kashmir and Israel.

A number of governments -- including those of India, Algeria, Sri Lanka and Egypt -- have long complained about the presence in Britain of groups connected to violent campaign in those countries.

Extremists recruited in Britain for terrorist acts abroad include "shoe bomber" Reid, eight men involved in kidnappings in Yemen, and two men who carried out a deadly suicide bombing in Tel Aviv in 2003.

Bakri insisted that fighters were never recruited to carry out violent acts inside Britain itself, although he did say it was his dream to see the Islamic banner flying over Downing Street.

After the fall of the Taliban and its al-Qaeda allies in Afghanistan in late 2001, a member of Bakri's organization, Hassan Butt, told the BBC from Pakistan that British Muslim volunteers who had been fighting in Afghanistan would return to Britain where they would "strike at the heart of the enemy."

In an interview with a Portuguese magazine in April 2004, Bakri said attacks on London were "inevitable."

One "very well organized" group in London called itself al-Qaeda Europe, he said. "I know that they are ready to launch a big operation."


By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor



Britain's online imam declares war as he calls young to jihad

Omar Bakri Mohammed, banned from many British mosques, is issuing a call to arms to a committed audience

AN EXTREMIST London cleric is using live broadcasts on the internet to urge young British Muslims to join al-Qaeda and has condoned suicide terrorist attacks. Omar Bakri Mohammed, who has lived in the UK for 18 years on social security benefits, pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden and told his followers that they were in a state of war with Britain. The Times monitored Mr Bakri Mohammed’s nightly webcasts in which he declared that the "covenant of security" under which Muslims live peacefully in the UK had been "violated" by the Government’s tough anti-terrorist legislation, The Syrian-born radical said: "I believe the whole of Britain has become Dar ul-Harb (land of war). In such a state, he added, "the kuffar (non-believer) has no sanctity for their own life or property." In his broadcasts, conducted through an internet chatroom, Mr Bakri Mohammed stopped short of calling for terrorist attacks in Britain. But he said that Muslims should join the jihad "wherever you are" and told one woman that she was permitted to become a suicide bomber. Mr Bakri Mohammed, 46, has indefinite leave to remain in the UK but could be detained without trial under the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act if the Home Secretary were to decide he is a terrorist associate. Last Monday he told his listeners: "Al-Qaeda and all its branches and organisations of the world, that is the victorious group and they have the emir and you are obliged to join. There is no need . . . to mess about." Two nights later he said that the voices of dead Mujahidin were calling young Britons to fight. "These people are calling you and shouting to you from far distant places: al jihad, al jihad. They say to you my dear Muslim brothers, ‘Where is your weapon, where is your weapon?’ Come on to the jihad," he said. The cleric is regarded as a fringe extremist by mainstream Muslims and is banned from preaching at many mosques. But every night he is using internet forums to reach an audience of between 60 and 70 committed listeners, most of whom are under 30. He lectures for 90 minutes and his audience responds enthusiastically, typing questions about jihad and suicide bombing which are answered verbally. An announcement last October that Mr Bakri Mohammed had disbanded his al-Muhajiroun movement was welcomed. But it appears that he has regrouped and is delivering a more hardline message through the internet and at secretive meetings. Speaking directly to The Times, Mr Bakri Mohammed denied that he was calling for violent action in the UK. He said his definition of Britain as Dar ul-Harb was "theoretical". He added: "It means that Muslims can no longer be considered to have sanctity and security here, therefore they should consider leaving this country and going back to their homelands. Otherwise they are under siege and obviously we do not want to see that we are living under siege." The alternative to leaving was to put pressure on the Government to review its anti-terrorist laws, he said, and that the definition of jihad took many forms and not simply military activity. He also denied that he was inciting others to commit acts of violence. Andrew Dismore, a Labour MP who has long campaigned against Mr Bakri Mohammad’s extremism, said: "With these words he may well be committing offences under the Terrorism Act and other legislation. I will be raising this immediately with the Home Secretary and the Metropolitan Police." WAR OF WORDS "If I am living under a system, Islam allows me to take the benefit that system offers." August 1998 on accepting social security benefits

What happened was a direct consequence of the evil foreign policy of the USA. This is compensation and payback for its own atrocities against Muslims."

September 2001 on 9/11 attacks

"I am very happy today. As much as I regret the innocent people who passed away, with the USA you must pay."

September 2001 on 9/11 attacks

"We don’t want to see a September 11 in the UK and I think the British public should take these threats very seriously."

February 2003 on danger of terror attacks in Britain

"I can sense there is frustration in the hearts of the youth and they want action. I can see from debates and talking to people on the internet that there are many people abroad wanting to attack Britain."

February 2003 on anger among Muslim youth

"You must fight for the way of Allah, for the sake of Allah, to kill first and to be killed."

March 2004 address to followers in Derby

"What happened in Madrid is all revenge. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life."

March 2004 referring to the Madrid train bombings

Martyrdom is what you want. Do the effort. Clear your intention. Go forward, never look backwards. Make sure you have nothing left behind you to think about or cry for and fight in the name of Allah." April 2004 addressing followers in East London

By Sean O'Neil and Yaakov Lappin



CHINA: Executed for Distributing Bibles
Brought to you by The Voice of the Martyrs

When 34-year old Jiang Zongxiu went to her neighboring market last June in Guizhou Province, China. Along with her mother-in-law, Jiang went through the marketplace, taking opportunities to hand out Bibles and Christian literature and telling people about Jesus. Only this day they had an encounter with the Chinese police.

The two Christian women were handcuffed together and brought to the police station. They were interrogated throughout the evening of the 17th. The next morning they were sentenced by the Public Security Bureau (PSB) to 15 days incarceration for "suspected spreading of rumor and disturbing the social order."

Jiang and her mother-in-law knew the risk of spreading Christian literature in communist China. Both had been active in their church for more than 10 years and dared to go forth. Even when they were arrested, interrogated and sentenced to serve 15 days, they were willing to accept the consequences of their actions-all from a government that claims to have "freedom of religion."

But it was not enough for the PSB to arrest and beat these two Christian women for the crime of passing our Christian literature. In the afternoon of June 18th, Mrs. Jiang Zongziu was pronounced dead by the PSB office of Tongzi County. They claimed she died of "natural causes." The fact is she was beaten to death.

The Voice of the Martyrs has received video testimony from the surviving family, photos of Jiang body showing her bruised body, and a copy of the actual arrest document. All of this had to be smuggled out of China as the authorities continue to attempt to hide their systematic persecution of Christians. An international campaign is now under way on behalf of the surviving family.

Much of the world would like you to believe Christians are no longer persecuted. Sister Jiang's family would disagree. Now you can stay informed of what is really happening to your Christian brothers and sisters in countries like China and even discover practical ways to help, with a FREE subscription to The Voice of the Martyrs monthly newsletter. Don't turn your back on today's persecuted church. Subscribe today.

The Voice of the Martyrs



FAITH UNDER FIRE
5 years in jail for teaching Sunday School?
Indonesian housewives in hot water after kids invite Muslim friends


Three Christian housewives in Indonesia have been charged with endangering children and face a possible five years in prison after teaching a kids Sunday School class, a human-rights group reports.

According to International Christian Concern, which helps persecuted believers worldwide, the criminal charges stem from three Sunday School lessons the women – Rebecca Laonita Z, Rama Mala Bangun and Etty Pangesti – taught in 2003 and 2005.

The activities the women led included: telling stories and teaching from the Bible, teaching Christian prayers, providing prizes like pencils for memorizing Bible verses, giving children towels with a picture of Jesus, and giving kids blue sport shirts that bore a cross and the logo of their church. The women also allegedly invited a child to attend a church service and lent a girl a Bible to read, International Christian Concern reported.

While most of the children involved went to the women's church, the kids had invited some of their Muslim friends to the classes – and that's when the trouble began.

Indonesia has a child-protection criminal statute that states:

Any person who purposely uses deception, lies or enticement to make a child choose another religion not of his own free will ... will be prosecuted by imprisonment for five years and/or a fine of Rp.100,000,000.

In the last several years, Indonesia has seen the destruction of entire Christian villages by Muslim mobs.

"ICC has toured many of these burned down villages and seen firsthand the destruction wrought by intolerance, hatred, and fear of those that are different," International Christian Concern said. "ICC is still assisting these victims of hate."

Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim nation.

ICC is asking its supporters to contact the Indonesian Embassy in Washington, D.C., to protest the prosecution of the Christian women.

World Net Daily
  July, 2005