From: "plastic" <@optusnet.com.au> Muslim department store employee refuses to sell "unclean" Bible story book
UK: Muslim department store employee refuses to sell "unclean" Bible story book to grandmother Welcome to the New Britain! And remember: when cabbies in Minneapolis started refusing to carry customers with alcohol, this next step became entirely reasonable. There are many Sharia rules, and we are going to see increasing pressure in the West to accommodate ourselves to them. "Muslim M&S worker refuses to sell 'unclean' Bible book to grandmother," from the Daily Mail <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=508263&in_page_id=1770> A Muslim store worker at Marks & Spencer refused to serve a customer buying a children's book on Christianity because she said it was "unclean". Sally Friday, a customer at a branch of one of the famous stores, felt publicly humiliated when she tried to pay for First Bible Stories as a gift for her young grandson. When the grandmother put the book on the counter, the assistant refused to touch it, declared it was unclean and then summoned another member of staff to deal with the purchase. Mrs Friday was so upset that she has now complained to the store's manager. Politicians and religious leaders supported her in condemning the high street chain and it has reignited the debate over religious beliefs in the workplace. Conservative MP Philip Davies said the refusal to serve Mrs Friday, 69, was "unacceptable" and "damaging" to community relations. Inayat Bunglawala, assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, described the assistant's comments as "offensive" and called for Marks & Spencer to conduct an investigation. He said: "This appears to be a very regrettable incident and the 'unclean' remark was clearly very offensive and unacceptable. "Many Biblical stories complement the teachings of the Koran. We hope that M&S will investigate this incident."... The store clerk was likely acting in accord with Qur'an 9:28. COMMENT "Many Biblical stories complement the teachings of the Koran. We hope that M&S will investigate this incident." Ummmmm didnt the Bible come first so shouldnt it be "Many Qur'an stories complement the teachings of the Bible?" =========================================== From: "plastic" <@optusnet.com.au> Take note of this during our bushfire season U.S. officials monitoring terrorist web sites have discovered a call for using forest fires as weapons against "crusader" nations, in what may explain some recent wildfires in places like southern California and Greece. A terrorist website was discovered recently that carried a posting that called for "Forest Jihad." The posting was listed on the Internet on Nov. 26 and reported in U.S. intelligence channels last week. The statement, in Arabic, said that "summer has begun so do not forget the Forest Jihad." The writer called on all Muslims in the United States, Europe, Russia and Australia to "start forest fires." The posting quoted imprisoned Al Qaida terrorist Abu Musab Al-Suri, as saying "Jihad is an art just like poetry, music, and the fine arts. There are people that draw and there are others that are jihadists. They both act upon inspiration." Al-Suri is a senior Al Qaida leader captured in Pakistan in 2005 who is believed to be in U.S. custody. "The idea of forest fires is attributed to him, may God set him free, as is in this short clip," the writer stated. The posting said that setting forest fires were legal under extremist Islamic law as part of a "eye for an eye" and that can produce "amazing results." Wildfires in California burned more than 500,000 acres beginning in October and authorities said arson was to blame for some of the fires. In August, wildfires broke out in Greece that authorities say were deliberately set. The writer stated that it was permissible to burn trees in carrying out jihad. "Scholars have justified chopping down and burning the infidels' forests when they do the same to our lands," the writer said. The writer stated that "targeted forests" are in the nations that "are at war with Muslims," including the United States, Europe, Russia, and Australia. Other nations, including Brazil are "off limits" because Brazil has not joined the "armies of the crusade." On damage caused by wildfires, the report said that the fires typically take months to put out which means that "this terror will haunt them for an extended period of time."... COMMENT Islam produces those who love to spread good will & bush fires wherever they go - feel the warmth of their "love". ============================================ From: "plastic" <@optusnet.com.au> Christians get killed here, let alone a Muslim who converted Gaza's Christian population wanes Some blame Israel. Others know better. Islamic Tolerance Alert by Erica Silverman in the Washington Times <http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/FOREIGN/506016306/1003> GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A small group of Palestinian Christians stands outside Gaza City's Baptist Church on a Sunday morning, waiting for the generator to power up. The church is cold and dark in the dead of winter, Israel having reduced fuel supplies to Gaza in an effort to pressure Hamas to halt rocket fire into Israel. Freshly bound prayer books, containing traditional American hymns, are tucked into the backs of the chairs in the fifth-floor prayer room. But there are no visible religious symbols in the room or outside the building, constructed about a year ago with the help of Christian donors in the U.S. and abroad. Just eight worshippers are present for the service, compared with more than 100 who attended Sunday prayers six months ago. Gaza's small Baptist community is dwindling rapidly. Pastor Hanna Massad, who attended seminary in California, took refuge in the West Bank after congregant Rami Eyad was killed in October. Mr. Eyad's religious bookshop was bombed in April. Mr. Massad and his wife, director of the Gaza Bible Society, which is now closed, still hope to return. Life has become increasingly difficult for Christians in Gaza since Hamas seized control of the coastal strip in June. Most Christians do not hold Hamas directly responsible, but they are calling for increased protection and accountability. "The Hamas leadership, on the political level, wants to live side by side with the Christian community, but we are not sure who is responsible for Rami's murder," said Mr. Massad. Ihab Al-Ghusain, a spokesman for the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, condemned the killing but said there had been no progress in the investigation. Some suspect an Islamic extremist group was behind the attack. Church elder Farid Ayad, 67, now leads the Baptist service. "As a child, I learned from the American Baptist Mission that was here since 1954," said Mr. Ayad. The mission left in 2001, but a representative from the Southern Baptist Church remains in Jerusalem. Clergymen in Gaza estimate there are about 3,000 Christians still living in the Gaza Strip. Most are Greek Orthodox, but there are also a few hundred Catholics and a handful of Baptists. They live among some 1.5 million Muslims in the 140-square-mile territory. Some Christians believe the Hamas government is trying to protect them, if only to improve their image in the eyes of the West. But for others, the threat has become too great. Over the past few weeks, Israel granted temporary permission to hundreds of Gaza Christians to travel to the West Bank for the holidays. At least six families - more than 40 people - did not return. Wael Hashwa and his family of four are now living in the West Bank town of Beit Zahur, near Bethlehem. "We are living here month to month, waiting for the situation to improve," said Mr. Hashwa, who was employed by a now-closed organization of Christian ministers in Gaza. The Baptist community, self-described as evangelical, has been a principal target of the extremists because of its missionary work, which has been halted. "Christians get killed here, let alone a Muslim who converted," said Ashraf, 36, from Gaza City, who declined to provide his last name. "I stopped going to church even before the coup." Father Artymos, originally from Greece, leads the St. Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church, founded 1,600 years ago in Gaza's old city. Christians and Muslims live peacefully together in Gaza, said Father Artymos, but conversions and the construction of new churches are prohibited. The Rev. Manuel Musallan of the Latin Church in Gaza City blamed Israel for the woes of his tiny Catholic community, which also runs a school with 1,200 students, many of them Muslims. "The embargo is inhumane. It attacks the innocent here - children, the sick and the elderly," he said. "If Gaza is to be prepared for peace, this is not the way." Father Musallan meets regularly with the Hamas leadership, but members of his congregation are not as confident. "We are afraid Hamas is targeting Christians," said Issa, who manages a designer-clothing store in the city center. COMMENT Some blame Israel. Others know better.
