Misery Index

Nice Sign.  Yesterday, about  200 Palestinian supporters, marched in front of the state capital at noon, urging the United States to take a neutral stand in the Mideast.

The protest was organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, OK chapter.

People walked in front of the Capital building in a circle during the noon hour chanting, “Stop the killing, free, free Gaza!” and “Free, free Palestine; occupation is a crime!”

Michael Abdulaziz-Gipson, a board member said the group is calling upon public officials and congressmen to stop the Israeli attacks and potential occupation of the Gaza Strip. “We are asking the American public not to become desensitized,” he said, noting that the general population is being forced to stay in their home.

HamasPalestinian Legal Advisor, Diana Buttu, says “Absolutely not” and “you are blaming the victim”  to Hamas being the aggressors here.  She also claims that is not a question of Israel responding, it is a question of Israel initiating attacks on Gaza, and that their actions are a violation of International Law. [Listen for Jarrett laugh after she says that statement.]

Says “Absolutely not” to Hamas using humans as shields and firing rockets from high civilian population areas and if Hamas is responsible for the high death rate of civilians.  Her defense is that Jarrett has never been to the Gaza Strip and he does not know what it looks like that Israel is targeting Government buildings and schools.  Note, she never directly answers the question of Hamas firing rockets from civilian areas, in numbers around 6,000 over 18 months, or comments about using Mosques as armories. 

She also says that the Hamas rockets do not have explosive heads.  Well the last time I checked a .45 bullet doesn’t have one either, but that doesn’t stop it from killing someone either.

She also says it is wrong to blame victims because Israel is using US backed weapons to attack Gaza.  That these are war crimes are Israel should be prosecuted.  So obviously this woman justifies any rocket that Hamas fired into civilian areas prior to Israel attacking Gaza wasn’t a war crime?

Jarret informs Buttu that he has been to the Gaza Strip, that he has met with terrorists, and that this was the end of the interview.  Buttu continues to tell Jarret that he’s wrong and the feed ends.

PWNED! 

Here Buttu talks with CNN.  Here again she talks about how over 1600 people were killed from Israeli attacks prior to Israel attacking Gaza, but never talks about the over 6000 rockets that were sent from Gaza to Israel in the same time.  And she says the only way for peace, is for Israel to end the occupation [of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem].

She really does defend Hamas in this video saying they are a political organization with domestic roots that is portrayed differently outside the world.  And that this is a “homegrown organization”.

Seriously, it’s an honest question, not filled with sarcasm.  Really, I don’t understand. 

In this first picture from the AP, the caption reads:  “Palestinians carry the bodies of senior Hamas leader Nizar Rayyan and his family during their funeral in Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip.  Rayyan, his four wives and eight children were killed in an Israeli air strike on their home on Thursday.” 

And if all the citizens of Gaza are innocent and victims of Hamas, then who are all of these people attending the funeral?

I mean  really, if all these people are innocent civilians and not Hamas supporters, then why are they at Rayyan’s funeral?

I’m just really confused at what I hear pro-Palestinian protestors saying, and what I see in pictures.

So, if you support a terrorist organization, but are not directly involved with the terrorist organization, then you are innocent?

So can anyone explain this contradiction to me without blowing a microchip in the process?

Here’s another example from about a month ago at a funeral for four Hamas gunmen.

Especially since this picture is from the Hamas Anniversary celebration from Dec. 14, 2008?  If the citizens of Gaza are innocent, they why are they celebrating Hamas’ anniversary?

Or did all these people really just have nothing better do do that day than to go to a celebration support a terrorist organization?

This is an award-winning documentary on Radical Islam that has been out for a couple of years however, I think it’s time to bring it back to the surface.  My first experience with this movie was back in September when it showed up inside my local Sunday newspaper where some 28 million copies of this DVD have been distributed for free.

Using images from Arab TV, rarely seen in the West, Obsession reveals an “insiders view” of the hatred the Radicals are teaching, their incitement of global jihad, and their goal of world domination. 

Obsession examines how seemingly isolated acts of terrorism are seen by radical Islamists as an integral part of a global war or jihad for world domination.

Walid Shoebat is shown in this video.  He was born in Bethlehem and became a member of the PLO.  He was jailed and after his release came to the US and continued his anti-Israel activities.  In 1993, he studied the Jewish Bible in a challenge to convert his wife to Islam.  Six months later, Walid realized that everything he had been taught about Jews was a lie.

Nonie Darwish is also in this video.  Her father headed the Egyptian military in Gaza and the Sinai when Gaza was under Egyptian control in the fifties. In 1978 she emigrated to America.  After 9/11 she realized that her culture of origin is in a head of collision with the rest of the world, and started speaking out about terrorism.  She believes that her support to Israel does not take away from her love of her culture of origin.

Mary Matalin, former Assistant to the President, Counselor to Vice President & Political Strategist and Commentator said about the movie:

For those people who don’t understand the threat posed by Radical Islam, and especially for those people who do understand the threat - ‘Obsession’ demonstrates in the clearest possible terms that we must stand up and defend our way of life. 

Major General Bentley Rayburn (Ret) of the USAF had to say about ‘Obsession’:

As a retired Air Force Major General who has lived and traveled through the Middle East and has commanded major combat organizations in key Muslim countries, I believe ‘Obsession’ is a movie that every American ought to see.  It is the most accurate description I’ve seen of the great struggle that the western world will face for many years to come."

Now the movie does have its share of refuters, calling the movie nothing but a lie filled with propaganda.  One such website is “Obsession With Hate” saying that

“there are those who have misused Islam to promote an anti-Western militant ideology” but “Obsession is not an honest critique of violent radicalism.  Instead, it is a propaganda piece that seeks to cast a wide net of suspicion of against Muslims by blurring the line between violent radicalism and mainstream Islam.”

“As such, it does not call on credible experts and reputable scholars but resorts to shady characters like “former-terrorist” Walid Shoebat, who has made such outlandish statements as: ‘Islam is no the religion of God Islam is the devil.’”

Those who oppose this movie, mostly Muslims, are quick to note that the movie was produced and made by Jews saying again, it is nothing more than propaganda against Muslims produced by Jews.

Either way, Obsession does show some interesting things.  Only you yourself can decide what to get out of this movie, and what the movie is trying to say.

Below is the movie, in it’s entirety.  The movie can also be downloaded via Google Video for your iPod.

This is what can happen when you ask “What if?”  “What if everything I’ve been told, been taught is a lie?”  And then sent out to decide what is right and what is wrong for oneself.

Mus’ab Hassan Youself is the son of Sheikh Hassan Youself, the man who is one of the Hamas founding members.  Mus’ab has decided to abandon his Muslim faith, denounce his father’s organization, move to America and become a Christian.  Youself has sought asylum in the US and now attends an evangelical Christian church in San Diego, CA.

This is a person, who was “inside” Hamas.  Who’s father is one of the founding members of Hamas.  This is a person, who has turned away from Islam, turned away from Hamas, turned away from his family and made an informed decision about what Hamas really is.  This is the person that everyone should be listening to.  “I call upon the Palestinian people to open its eyes and see what Hamas was doing…”

He has said the true nature of Hamas and radical Islam was discovered during a stint in an Israeli prison.  He renounced his Muslim faith, left his family behind in Ramallah and converted to Christianity.

“Islam is not the word of God,” said Youself.  “If you want to be offended it’s your problem.  But you know something?  Go study.  Think for a second that I might be right.  So wake up, look at your path, see where you’re going.  Are you really going to heave with 72 virgins after you kill yourself and kill another 20 people?”