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1. Islamic Influence in U.S. Prisons
by Hillel Fendel
Douglas J.Hagmann, Director of the Northeast Intelligence Network, has written of “extensive” Islamic infiltration into American prison systems. Excerpts from his most recent article on the topic: “Most recent statistics available show that one out of three African-American inmates in U.S. prisons convert to Islam while incarcerated. The type of Islam to which they convert teaches the same ideology as the 9/11 hijackers, which is the ‘Wahhabi’ or ‘Salafi’ form of Islam that originated in and is continually being exported from Saudi Arabia… [T]he ideology behind this ‘fundamentalist’ form of Islam is completely incompatible with the culture, politics, and social fabric of the West. Nonetheless, it is being embraced by numerous groups, agencies and individuals inside the United States.
“The high rate of conversion of inmates to Islam, and specifically the Wahhabi brand of Islam is no accident. The lack of oversight of teaching materials brought in to prisons to facilitate their conversion is no accident. The influx of Wahhabi chaplains into our prison system and military is no accident. The entire process is by design, and consists of a sophisticated combination of personnel placement, funding, and an active support structure of numerous interrelated entities and individuals.
“The indoctrination of American inmates is a well known strategy detailed in al Qaeda training manuals. The manuals state that non-Muslim prisoners should be eyed for conversion to ‘religious jihad’ as they are likely to be ‘disenchanted with their country’s policies’ and feel disenfranchised from society. They also can make perfect operational assets for Islamic terrorist groups because of their ability to more easily blend into American society.”
In 2003, when Muslims comprised well under 1% of the American population, it was estimated that 17-20% of the prison population was Muslim. An oft-quoted statistic states that 80% of the prisoners who "find faith" in prison convert to Islam.
This month, this phenomenon led to violence. A man who converted to Islam in a U.S. prison before he was freed has confessed to killing his wife and three others in Chicago because she refused to wear Muslim garb and adopt his new-found faith.
The confessed murderer is James A. Larry, 31, who confessed to the crime and expressed no remorse. During his most recent prison term, between 2002 and 2007, he began receiving visits by imams through the Islamic prison outreach program. “He became increasingly radicalized with orthodox Islamic beliefs," a detective on the case said, "ultimately demanding compliance to fundamentalist Islam by his wife and family. He [allegedly] killed his wife because she would not wear Muslim attire, and would not follow his beliefs. It was an honor killing, pure and simple…”
In addition to shooting his 19-year-old pregnant wife to death, Larry also stands accused of murdering three other relatives, all aged 16 and under, as well as injuring his mother and nephew and shooting at his niece.
"Prisons are Recruiting Grounds for Islamic Fundamentalism"
“This didn’t have to happen,” the detective said. “But it did, and it will probably happen again in another community, to another family. The reason it happened here and the reason it will happen again is that we’ve allowed our prisons to become recruiting grounds for Islamic fundamentalism that teaches this twisted [expletive deleted]. And our system has become too lenient, too ‘PC,’ and too afraid to confront this problem, so now we have nearly an entire family murdered by a guy quoting Allah and the Qur’an.”
In a 2004 report, the Justice Department faulted the prison system for failing to protect against “infiltration by [Muslim] extremists.
2. Iran, Egypt Line Up Against US, Allies at UN Nuke Meeting
by Hana Levi Julian
Iran and Egypt are lining up to fight the United States and its allies over Israel at the upcoming United Nations meeting on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has requested a visa to enter the U.S. to attend the meeting, which begins Monday in New York, but it is not yet clear whether the State Department will approve his application. The Iranian leader is hoping to lead a fight to force Israel to sign the treaty and thereby admit to possessing nuclear weapons – something the Jewish State has never confirmed or denied, but which is widely assumed to be true.
Israel will not participate in the conference, nor will India or Pakistan, who also are not signatories to the treaty.
If Ahmadinejad is granted the visa, he will face U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who heads the American delegation on nuclear non-proliferation.
The treaty, first signed in 1970, calls on those who possess nuclear warheads to abandon them, and is intended to stop the further spread of atomic weapons. Every five years the 189 signatories to the pact gather to review current compliance with its mandate, as well as the progress made towards its worldwide goals.
In 2005, neither objective was reached due to ongoing debates between Iran, the U.S. and Egypt.
The treaty has thus far failed to stop Iran from proceeding with its rush towards nuclear capability, despite a current mandate from the U.N. Security Council ordering the Islamic Republic to suspend its uranium enrichment activities. Nor has it stopped North Korea from building a nuclear weapon, or blocked a Pakistani-led illicit nuclear supply network from providing materials to those who can meet the price.
The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, including the U.S., Russia, China, France and Britain plus Germany are already in New York working to draft a resolution on a new set of sanctions aimed at slowing down, if not stopping, Iran from continuing with its nuclear technology development. But the Council is far from united on the issue, as Russia and China continue to balk at the idea of imposing harsh economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic to stop its nuclear development, despite the growing threat to the nations of the world that is becoming clearer as time passes.
Russia has many investments in Iran, not the least of which is a nuclear plant of its own; China has numerous trade agreements, including several involving petroleum products.
By next week, the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council again changes hands, and for the next six months, Lebanon will be its new leader. The Lebanese government includes numerous representatives from the Hizbullah terrorist organization, which is patronized by Iran both through generous funding and shipments of arms.
3. Congress Outruns Obama for Israel and Sanctions against Iran
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
U.S. President Barack Obama’s Democratic majority is turning against him after barely a year in office and is racing ahead of the President to ensure Israel’s security and force harsh sanctions against Iran.
Senate Majority Leader Harold Reid of Nevada, who did not join more than 80 colleagues who recently sent a pro-Israel letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, fired off his own missive several days ago.
As the Obama administration increasingly accepts Palestinian Authority demands as non-negotiable, Senator Reid wrote, “I...believe that the United States should clearly and unequivocally state our continuing support for Israel and reiterate the unbreakable bond between the two nations…. I hope that the Obama Administration will do everything possible to reduce recent tensions with Israel while reaffirming the need to move forward with the peace process. I urge you to encourage both sides to participate in direct negotiations, which Prime Minister [Binyamin] Netanyahu has already agreed to do.
Other leading Democrats, most notably New York Senator Charles Schumer and Representative Anthony Weiner, also have come out swinging against Secretary Clinton’s and President Obama’s unprecedented public condemnation of Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israeli plans to build more residences for Jews in Jerusalem.
The United States does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over parts of the capital where 300,000 Jews now live following the reunification of the city in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Sen. Reid pointedly stated, “A secure Israel is in our national interest.” One of the principle foundations that President Obama has used to advance the PA position for a new Arab state within Israel’s borders is the claim that doing so is in the interests of the national security of the United States.
Sen. Reid also asserted he is "deeply concerned about the continuing threat from Iran’s nuclear weapons program.”
He is among dozens of Congress members who are pushing for legislation to place crippling gas and oil sanctions on Iran, and the Congressional pace appears to be far faster than that of President Obama.
“We cannot allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon which would threaten Israel, our allies in Europe, and our own national interests,” Sen. Reid wrote Secretary Clinton. “We must move forward with a peace process that protects the security of Israel. I strongly believe that our relationship with Israel makes the United States more secure. We cooperate on critical intelligence matters, work together on weapons systems, and rely on Israel as our ally in a volatile part of the world.”
His comments offset recent remarks and hints from U.S. Army generals and Obama advisors that the failure to establish a PA state is an obstacle towards reaching an understanding with Iran on its nuclear weapons program.
A joint Senate-House of Representatives conference is to meet Wednesday (today) to try to reach common language on the proposed Iran Sanctions Act, which would force President Obama’s hand.
The executive branch’s initiatives for tough United Nations sanctions have been met by stiff opposition from Russia and China. President Obama’s main achievement at the recent nuclear summit was to gain a handshake and a noncommittal statement from Beijing.
Another obstacle in the president’s way will pop up on May 1, when Lebanon assumes the month-long rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council. The chances of his fulfilling his vow to pass a resolution for sanctions “within weeks, not months” are near zero.
His apparent failure gives Congress, which has been criticized for deep divisions, a chance to show it is leading the country. The House of Representatives last December passed the sanctions bill by a whopping 411-12 vote.
The bill would punish companies that export refined petroleum products to Iran, which has limited refining capacity despite its vast crude oil reserves. The Obama administration's arguments against the bill are weakening. Fears that it would make it more difficult for the United Nations to pass a resolution on sanctions are less meaningful as the obstacles grow to such a resolution and Iran appears past the point of no return for obtaining nuclear capability.
4. Why Israeli-Arabs Don’t Want to Live in a PA State
by Hillel Fendel
Accounts of a two-week-long arrest under cruel conditions and humiliating tax collection practices are indications of the “quality of life” in the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has issued a condemnation of two recent major human-rights abuses in the Palestinian Authority. One, a relatively minor incident, involved the sudden arrest and interrogation of a writer named Walid Ibrahim al-Hodali, 50, in Ramallah; he was interrogated about his political affiliations for an hour, but his computer was confiscated and not returned.
The second case involved the arrest of journalist Muhannad Salahat, a resident of both Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, on charges that were never explained to him. The representative of the Palestinian Society for Human Rights (RASED) in Jordan, Salahat said afterwards that his interrogators concentrated on a newspaper report he had prepared in 2007 "on the state of lawlessness and chaos in the West Bank and also Gaza following the Hamas takeover." He also said he was abused for criticizing the PA.
The conditions of his detention included, at various times, interrogations until the early morning hours, threats and insults, and not being allowed to wash or go to the bathroom, as well as no contact at all with a lawyer or family members. He was abruptly released after two weeks, only to find that information had been disseminated to the effect that his arrest was not of a political nature, but rather on criminal charges. Three days after his release, his computer was returned to him, with much information deleted, and he was prevented from traveling to Jordan.
PFLP: Hamas is Too Harsh
At the same time, in a separate incident, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), long notorious for its decades of terrorism and murder in its bid to achieve Arab independence in Israel – now complains that the Hamas government is too strict, levies unfairly high taxes, and acts in "baseless and humiliating ways."
Specifically, the PA’s Ma'an news agency reports that the PFLP condemns the Hamas-Gaza government’s harsh collection of unfair taxes. It accuses the Hamas government of seizing the homes and apartments of those living abroad and giving them to Hamas security officers.
The PFLP also said that despite all the hardships caused by the war of last winter – which Hamas often cites as a “humanitarian crisis” caused by Israel - falafel vendors and taxi drivers are being overcharged to keep their businesses running, and a new 60% tax on cigarettes has been imposed.
In addition, civilians are interrogated in "baseless and humiliating ways" regarding their incomes and taxes, and “strange taxes" have been imposed on the scales in vegetable and meat shops.
Majority of Israeli-Arabs Prefer Israel
A December 2007 survey showed that a majority (62%) of Arab citizens of Israel would prefer to remain Israeli citizens rather than become citizens of a future Palestinian state. Similarly, a poll conducted by Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in June 2008 found that 77% of Israeli-Arabs would rather remain in their native land as Israeli citizens than in any other country in the world.
5. Arab MK Tibi Forcibly Removed from Podium
by Hillel Fendel
For the first time in memory, a Knesset Member was forcibly removed from the podium: Arab MK Ahmed Tibi.
Tibi had been allotted the normal three minutes to speak about the recent trip he organized for Arab Knesset Members to Libya, at the invitation of Libyan dictator Muammar Gadaffi. The trip has been sharply criticized, and the participants are likely not to be allowed to run for Knesset, based on a law banning visits to enemy countries.
After several minutes, the acting Speaker, Likud MK Carmel Shama, asked Tibi to conclude and descend from the podium, as his allotted time had come to an end. Tibi refused, yelling at Shama, calling him names, and saying, “Get out of here.” “You’re using terrorism against me,” Tibi also accused, to which Shama replied, “The terrorism doesn’t generally come from our side.”
Finally, after about six minutes of arguing, Shama asked the Knesset ushers to come and remove Tibi forcibly. Tibi held on to the podium with both hands, refusing to be moved and saying twice, “I just want to say this last sentence." He finally gave in, muttering "you have no shame," and allowed the ushers to escort him down, from where he returned to his seat.
Asked later what sentence he wanted to add, Tibi said, “I wanted to say that we [Arab MKs – ed.] were summoned to a Knesset House Committee session on the topic of the removal of our immunity, and that we are not planning to appear.”
'Seize the moment'
The proposal to remove their immunity was submitted by MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union). Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin criticized the proposal, saying Ben-Ari should not use the term “traitors” on MKs who have not been questioned or investigated for their actions. Ben-Ari said in response that he hopes the Knesset House Committee “seizes the moment to wipe the smiles off the faces of those who mock the Knesset and country.”
MK Tibi, a former advisor to Yasser Arafat, has a violent background. In 1987, Tibi was involved in an altercation at Hadassah Hospital. According to a hospital spokesman, "Tibi hit a security guard with his briefcase on the skull, and left him lying on the floor bleeding. He [the guard] needed several stitches."
In 2001, an internal Justice Ministry investigation found that it was Tibi who assaulted a Border Guard policeman in a February incident, and not, as Tibi had claimed, that the policeman attacked him.
In the same year, a Jerusalem court found that Tibi was not telling the truth when he accused three Kach activists of assaulting him, and Yehuda Levinger of Jerusalem filed a police complaint charging that Tibi had punched him during a Knesset committee session.
6. In Wake of Greek Economic Crisis, Israel Coping Better Than Many
by Malkah Fleisher
While the Greek financial crisis which is beginning to fan out over Europe has put a damper on Israel's economy, the Jewish State is faring better than many.
On April 27, the Standard and Poor's rating agency downgraded Greek bonds to the status of "junk", lower than investment level, on fears that the Mediterranean country would default on international debt repayments. Greece's debts are estimated at around 300 billion euros.
The Tel Aviv 25 Index fell 1.12% Wednesday, with the Tel Aviv 100 falling 1.19%. Though it was a bad day at Israel's Exchange, Tel Aviv coped better than many major global markets. Wall Street fell 1.9% on Standard and Poor's announcement, Paris 2.16%, Madrid 2.72%, and Tokyo 2.57%.
On April 27, Standard and Poor's also significantly downgraded Portugese stock, causing Lisbon's exchange to plummet 5.56%.
Bailout?
The European Union will hold an emergency summit to discuss a bailout of Greece and potentially Portugal, in order to thwart an EU-wide economic catastrophe. Upcoming elections in the largest euro-using country, Germany, may throw a spanner in the works, as a massive bailout payment to Greece is a political bone of contention.
Currently, a bailout agreement of 45 billion euros is estimated, with analysts wondering whether that will be enough to keep Greece – and the rest of the EU – away from financial disaster.
On Wednesday, the shekel-dollar exchange rate rose 0.34% to NIS 3.7477 to the dollar, but the shekel-euro exchange rate fell 0.48% to NIS 4.9479 to the euro.
7. Last Minute Efforts to Counter Netanyahu's Pressures
by Yoni Kempinski
Arutz Sheva TV met Likud Knesset Member Danny Danon between the meetings and phone calls with party activists he held all day long.
Danon is working very hard to convince the Likud members to vote on Thursday against the postponement of the Likud internal elections.
Speaking to Arutz Sheva TV, Danon explains that there is a fear that if postponed the next elections may be held after a mass recruitment to the party will take place, a recruitment which will bring in people who are loyal to the Prime Minister, but not to the party's principles and platform.
