20 Israelis on plane that made emergency landing in Tehran
There are a lot of things I will do to get frequent flier miles. There are also things I won't do. One of them is to fly Turkish Airlines (or the national airline of any other country that has cordial relations with Iran) on a flight that overflies Iran or any other enemy country.
20 Israelis should say the blessing that one says after arriving on an overseas flight with a lot more fervor this morning. Overnight, they were on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to Mumbai (probably to save money because it's cheaper than flying El Al non-stop from Tel Aviv) that made an emergency landing in Tehran to evacuate an ill passenger. Fortunately, that passenger was not Israeli, and the rest of the flight was allowed to leave.
Five years later: Interview with hero nanny of Mumbai
Five years have passed since Moshe Holzberg was saved from Islamic terrorists by his nanny, Sandra Samuel. Here's an interview with Sandra - who is still helping to raise Moshe - five years later.
Obama: 'Jihad has a lot of meanings within Islam and is subject to a lot of different interpretations'
This is from a 'town hall' meeting with President Obama at St. Xavier College in Mumbai.
Here’s what the young lady asked Barack Hussein Obama, as recorded in the White House transcript:
Hi, good day, sir. Hi, my name is Anna and I’m from St. Davis College. My question to you is, what is your take on opinion about jihad, or jihadi? Whatever is your opinion, what do you think of them?
Now let’s take a close look at President Obama’s answer, bearing in mind the lessons we have learned over the last few years about taqiyya as it is practiced by the Muslim Brotherhood’s agents planted in the West:
Well, the phrase [sic] jihad has a lot of meanings within Islam and is subject to a lot of different interpretations.
This is always the first line of defense about jihad. There are many interpretations: it really means an “inner struggle”, and violent jihad is a fringe interpretation, etc., etc.
But this is not true. As Hans Jansen pointed out in his expert testimony at Geert Wilders’ trial, a consensus of the scholars — the Muslim legal experts and jurists who defined the precise meaning of Islamic legal terms a millennium ago — holds that jihad means waging war against the unbeliever until he converts, is killed, or accepts second-class status under the supremacy of Islam.
The only time when jihad means anything else is when fork-tongued dissemblers like Tariq Ramadan perpetrate their hoaxes on gullible Westerners.
Among Muslims themselves, “jihad” means “holy war”. Period.
But I will say that, first, Islam is one of the world’s great religions.
Heh. Doesn’t he sound just like George W. Bush?
And more than a billion people who practice Islam, the overwhelming majority view their obligations to their religion as ones that reaffirm peace and justice and fairness and tolerance.
Yes, this is true. But these four words have different meanings to Muslims than they do to other speakers of English:
Peace means “complete submission to Allah”. Those who submit live in the House of Submission, Dar al-Islam. Those who don’t submit live in Dar al-Harb — the House of War. This is codified in Islamic law, and it enjoys the consensus of the scholars.
Justice means “carrying out the tenets of Sharia law in their entirety”. This includes the stoning of adulterers, the chopping off of the hands of thieves, and the beating of recalcitrant wives. It’s in the Koran.
Fairness means “the equal treatment of all under Islamic law”. But “all” means “all Muslims”. Non-believers are not covered by fairness. Once again, the Koran is very explicit about excluding infidels from the benefits enjoyed by the faithful.
Tolerance means “the acceptance of all people, no matter what their race or nationality, who abide by the laws of Allah as handed down by his messenger”. Do you think that means tolerating Buddhists? Or lesbians? Think again.
Now the “extremists” appear:
I think all of us recognize that this great religion in the hands of a few extremists has been distorted to justify violence towards innocent people that is never justified.
Once again, this is precisely true: Islam forbids violence against innocent people. The trick here is the Islamic definition of the word “innocent”. No one can be considered innocent unless he has declared his submission to the law of Allah. Therefore non-Muslims are never “innocent”, and may be killed with impunity.
It’s in the Koran.
Keep reading here. It gets worse. Either he's a fool, a Muslim, or he's like Lauren Booth was before her conversion to Islam last month. I'd bet he's like Lauren. As soon as he's out of the White House, I'd look for him to openly convert to Islam.
Muslims seething: Obama security dog has Arabic name
Oy, how could they be so insensitive? The security for President Obama in India includes a military working dog named Khan (Hat Tip: Jihad Watch).
Muslims in Mumbai are up in arms against a United States military sniffer dog allegedly with name tag of 'Khan' that has landed in the city as part of President Barack Obama security arrangements.
On Tuesday, the German Shepherd arrived in the Mumbai airport from a Hercules C130 transport plane. The German Shepherd allegedly had a tag around its neck which read 'MWD Khan.' MWD stands for Military Working Dog. Khan is alleged to be the name of the dog.
Angry Muslims in the city and the state are threatening to protest this 'insult' to the community.
The issue became a rage when a tabloid had reported the incident and quoted veteran actor Raza Murad objecting to the dog being named 'Khan.'
...
Prominent Muslim religious heads have expressed anger and dismay on the information of a US dog being named 'Khan.' Maulana Syed Athar Ali said that it is a known fact that Muslims detest pigs and dogs.
"To name a dog a Muslim name by US security agencies is to deliberately incite the Muslim community. We would be meeting soon and devise a strategy to protest and seek apology from the US," said Maulana Athar Ali.
If I bought a dog, I'd think about naming it Khan too.
Obama to bankrupt US treasury by traveling for the next two years
On Wednesday, Jake Tapper tweeted his more than 73,000 followers (yes, I'm envious) to tell us all that it was not true that President Obama's trip to India is costing $200 million per day.
Still, luxuries like this do not come cheap (this undoubtedly costs a little more than Michelle's trip to Spain over the summer), and I have to wonder if every trip Obama takes for the next two years is going to include this type of coverage. If it does, the cost could be quite significant (Hat Tip: Sunlight).
Communications set-up, nuclear button, a fleet of limousines and majority of the White House staff will be in India accompanying the President on this three-day visit that will cover Mumbai and Delhi.
He will also be protected by a fleet of 34 warships, including an aircraft carrier, which will patrol the sea lanes off the Mumbai coast during his two-day stay there beginning Saturday. The measure has been taken as Mumbai attack in 2008 took place from the sea.
Arrangements have been put in place for emergency evacuation, if needed.
Obama is expected to fly by a helicopter -- Marine One -- from the city airport to the Indian Navy's helibase INS Shikra at Colaba in south Mumbai.
From there, he will drive down in Lincoln Continental -- the Presidential limousine -- to the nearby the Taj Hotel.
Two jets, armed with advanced communication and security systems, and a fleet of over 40 cars will be part of Obamas convoy.
Around 800 rooms have been booked for the President and his entourage in Taj Hotel and Hyatt.
I don't recall other Presidents doing this. In the time I've lived in Israel, Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush came here (George H.W. Bush never did) and I can tell you that neither the entourage nor the security were anywhere near this. I know that there was a terror attack in Mumbai two years ago. If it's not safe, maybe he shouldn't be going there.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
