Guess The Country

Over at The View From Cullingworth, Simon Cooke has a quote from a 17th Century English sailor:

"The men that are married are given much to jealousy, and will not permit any stranger to come where their wives are, much less to see them, but will keep them out of sight as much as they possibly can...all their women, both married and unmarried, go with a black veil over their heads and reaching down to their legs, all being covered except their eyes."

Can you guess where the sailor was visiting? If not, have a guess at the predominant religion in the country.


He wasn't at some port in the Ottoman Empire or on the Barbary Coast but was instead visiting Catholic Portugal. It might reflect the Moorish influence in Portugal although it must have been a few centuries since Islam held sway in the country.

It does show that while the burqa is now an Islamic garb in the past, other cultures have been equally repressive. It also shows that even in the 17th century the English regarded it as primitive and evidence of the failings of the menfolk that enforce it.

Also 17th century sailors are more insightful about the motives behind face covering garments than most modern politicians, academics and pundits- it is due to extreme sexual jealousy on the part of the menfolk.

What causes some cultures to foster such extreme sexual jealousy is the next obvious question- I don't know the answer but suspect it has something to do with clannishness and marriage structure.

Quote Of The Day

"Allahu akbar" is Arabic for "Nothing to see here."

- Mark Steyn.

The Less Unfunny Terry Jones Banned.

Koran burning (actually threatening to burn then wimping out) pastor Terry Jones has been banned from entering the UK.Fair enough- he is a provocatuer with few followers who wants to cause contoversy for its own sake. At least he can console himself that he is funnier than his namesake.

Plus the government wants some anti-islamic speakers to ban to say to Muslims that they aren't being singled out when Jihadis are banned. Unlike the last government's target they have actually banned someone who expressed an interest in visiting this country (although I believe Michael Savage is still banned even under this government).

Still the contrast between what gets an Islamist banned- nothing short of direct calls to murder infidels will result in a ban- with what gets an extreme "islamophobe" banned- burning paper.

A New Development In Hate Crime Hoaxes?

The stabbing of a Muslim taxi driver in New York was immediately linked to the protests against the proposed mosque at Ground Zero, until it emerged that the main suspect, Michael Enright, is an activist in a group that supports the proposed building and promotes interfaith understanding.

Since the story has been the subject of much speculation with various groups and pundits using it as an opportunity to condemn opponents of the Mosque for stirring up hatred I shall give my guess as to the motivation behind the assault.

It looks to me like a variation on the ubiquitous "hate crime hoax" craze, in which someone stages a bogus attack against themselves and then milks the ensuing publicity to denounce their political opponents and draw attention to the cause they are promoting. Except instead of staging a bogus attack on himself, Enright carried out a real attack on someone else in the hope that it could be used to delegitimise his opponents.

Psychiatrists- As Dangerous As Plumbers.

This New York Times report on the massacre at Fort Hood- "Army Doctor Held in Fort Hood Rampage"- is more notable for the words it doesn't use than those it does. In that sense it resembles the BBC's classic- " Plumber appears on terror charges".

Do they think that readers won't put 2 and 2 together when they see the suspect's name? Not that they should have headlines blaring out "Muslim Nutter Goes On Rampage", but it is clearly worth mentioning that the chief suspect is a Muslim given that the US is fighting islamist organisations that purport to represent Muslims. It could be that religion isn't the shooter's motive but it is legitimate line of enquiry. If reports in other more open newspapers are accurate, then it is highly likely that the massacre was related to the shooter's beliefs.

It's A Mystery To Me As Well.

A Scottish Muslim group is outraged and bewildered because they believe, rightly or wrongly, that Muslims are being targetted excessively by police at Glasgow Airport, which was the location of an unsuccessful terrorist attack by an Islamist group less than 18 month ago.

They should really blame Al Qaeda for not having diversity policies that would allow wannabe terrorists of all faith traditions achieve occupational success.

Quote of the Day.

Inayat Bunglawala writes:

An alcohol-fuelled attack on a Christian priest in east London has stirred up more Islamophobia

You see who the real victims are here!

Via

NothingTo See.

Uh oh it appears that terrorist students are plotting to attack us. This is particularly scary following on from terrorist plumbers and alleged terrorist doctors. If only theses people had something in common.

Another Boycott In The Offing?

When the Danish Motoons row broke out last year many people were determined to demonstrate their solidarity with Denmark by buying Danish goods to counteract any boycotts from the anti free speech contingent. A new row may be brewing over a Swedish Motoon (Pakistan are stirring it up again) which will presumably entail another counter boycott, now as far as I'm aware Sweden's main exports are:

• Cars, Volvos and Saabs to be precise.
• Flat pack furniture.
• Hard core pornography.

I don't need any furniture and can't afford a car right now so....

Incidentally there has been a case of a western country punishing someone for a motoon, I doubt that they will receive much appreciation from those demanding apologies from Denmark and Sweden.

Unintended Consequences.

Islamophobia watch really is an indispensable site, albeit not for the reasons the authors intended to be. The accusations of 'islamophobia' are predictably absurd and question begging of course. However in order to expose 'Islamophobia' the site author links to some really good critiques of islamism and radical islam. In fact I would argue that it is like a British version of Little Green Footballs when it comes to exposing radical Islam. Some good links I've come across recently on Islamophobia Watch include:

• Immigration divides England into two zones- Andrew Green

• How I Escaped Islamism- Shiraz Maher.

There is a lot more to choose from because they don't seem to realise what they're doing yet, thank god. It's as if a radical feminist decided to create a blog condemning pornography on the internet, complete with pictures and links.

Spot The Difference.

Here are two reports of the court appearances of two men both accused of stockpiling weapons for terrorist offences:

Plumber appears on terror charges
A London man has appeared in court charged with five offences relating to alleged terrorist activities and firearms possession.

Kazi Nurur Rahman, 28, a plumber from Newham, east London, appeared at Bow Street Magistrates' Court on Monday.

Mr Rahman was ordered to stand trial on 19 December at the Old Bailey.

He faces charges relating to alleged possession of three Uzi sub-machine guns and 3,000 rounds ammunition with intent to endanger life.

Mr Rahman was arrested by anti-terrorism detectives operating in Hertfordshire on 29 November.

Two of the charges are under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Now compare it with this:

Ex-BNP man 'wanted to shoot PM'

A former British National Party (BNP) candidate who held explosive chemicals in anticipation of a civil war wanted to shoot Tony Blair, a court heard.

Robert Cottage, 49, from Colne, Lancashire, pleaded guilty to possession of explosives at the start of his trial at Manchester Crown Court.

His wife said he often boasted of wanting to shoot Mr Blair and Lib Dem peer Lord Greaves, the court was told.

Mr Cottage denies conspiracy to cause an explosion.

A second man, David Jackson, 62, of Nelson, Lancashire, denies both charges under the Explosive Substances Act.

Alistair Webster QC, defending, said Mr Cottage, of Talbot Street, was a former BNP candidate and had been the subject of threats.

I guess Mr Rahman simply didn't have any political ideology that was pertinent to his case.

Alienation, Identification & Ideology.

I have been thinking and reading about what makes a western muslim become a muslim fanatic for a while. My conclusion is that there are at least three crucial steps- Alienation from the society they live in which causes them to define themselves by their religion, a spurious identification with any muslims whom they perceive to be suffering results from this and turns alienation into rage and finally an ideology to harness the resulting emotions. In order to look at the three steps, Alienation, Identification and Ideology, they should be considered separately. Here are my ruminations on the process of alienation. Two other pieces on Identification and Ideology will hopefully be posted later this week.

Alienation.

One of the recurrent themes with respect to westernised Islamist terrorists and their sympathisers is that they never felt themselves to be a part of their host society and that it was not possible to do so. Hassan Butt, a British islamist who rejected even the extremist Shaikh Omar Bakri because he was too moderate, says in a interview with Prospect that:

I experienced it as I was growing up, going into majority white schools and having a problem trying to be a Muslim.

In France jailed islamic radical, 'Ousman', declares

I wanted to conform to the image of the average Frenchman, to be like them, to make myself in their image. But at the same time I had the feeling that this was more or less impossible: ..... Islam was my salvation

Another French Islamist Zacarias Moussaoui testified at his trial:

today. I stand here as a French citizen. I want to make clear that I am not French and have no relation. I’m a sworn enemy of France. So I want to make this in the record that I’m not French, okay? I tell you I am a Muslim, and I have nothing to do with a nation of homosexual Crusaders. And I am not a frog

In all these cases radical Islam is turned to in order to fill a void. The possible causes of this alienation are worth considering. Part of the reason is Islam, a religion which limits social interaction with non muslims. From Britain to Bosnia to India to Malaysia marriages outside the religious community are very much the exception.

The growing influence of the extremists exacerbates this difficulty, the attempt to encourage garments like the burqa and the veil is nominally about modesty but has the inevitable result that social interaction with the wearer is made more difficult. Perhaps this is because Islam encourages adherents to think of themselves as superior to other cultures:

quite a few Muslims who enter the West see no reason for being assimilated. They assume that it is not they who should be guided by the West but they who should guide the West.

However it is not just Islam which causes difficulties, western societies can themselves inhibit integration. Ethnic Turks in Germany cannot easily integrate into a society which largely defines nationality by descent. The modern ethnic based nation state is less welcoming to outsiders than the multi-ethnic dynastic states that were once prevalent throughout Europe. Even in countries where nationality is less ethnically defined such as in Britian there have been attitudes that hindered integration. Politically correct dogma used to be that asking minorities to integrate was racist, during the 1980s a Bradford headmaster, Ray Honeyford, was vilified by much of the left for warning of the dangers of communal separatism that was occurring in his city.

Outside of London many minority communities live parallel existences to the natives even though physically they are intertwined, the riots that occurred in 2000 in Oldham and Burnley are a testament to that, white and asian youths who had grown up within a petrol bomb's throw of each other were virtually strangers. Should anyone have been surprised that the Tube bombers came from Bradford and its environs? If they were familiar with Honeyford's warning of two decades previously then they ought not have been.

Whilst it is important to be truthful about the barriers Western societies put up to those who simply want to belong it should be noted that the West is far more open than the Islamic world and that non muslim minorities appear to find the process far less fraught with difficulty. Societies are not obliged to encourage incomers, but if they do then it is dangerous to allow them to form parallel communities with strong links to dangerous and volatile homelands.

In any case the cause of alienation might simply be the personal failing of the individual involved, as Policy Review notes the aforementioned 'Ousman' complains of the westernisation of his siblings who presumably faced the same barriers which he found insurmountable.