"Ya Just Can't Make This Stuff Up"

[Turtle]

You're probably aware of the anti-Islamic sentiment that is gripping the country of late. Most of it's a load of emotional crap, and everyone knows it. I'd sure hate to be a Muslim living in this country, what with all the crackpots we seem to regularly produce here. I'm sure 9/11 is just a really fun day for all the regular run-o-the-mill American Muslims who just want to get through their day just like the rest of us. Kind of like being a Japanese-American on December 8, 1941. We've seen attacks on Muslims and vandalism on mosques all over the country.

The latest is the ironically named Dove World Outreach Center, which is a non-denominational charismatic church in Gainesville, FL, where they've erected a large sign that reads "Islam Is Of The Devil", and plans a Qur'an book-burning to commemorate this year's 9/11 anniversary. Wonderful. So much for reaching out to the world with the dove of peace. <snort>

Well, you've heard of Ramadan, right? Many people have heard of it but don't really know what it is. It's the holy month of Islam, the 9th month of the Islamic calendar, because the Qur'an was "delivered" to Islam during that month. Muslims fast (no food, drink or sexual relations) from sunrise to sunset to cleanse themselves of sins, and each day is marked primarily with charity of giving food and other items to the poor.

Each year, the month of Ramadan begins and ends on different days of the year, because the Islamic year is comprised of Lunar Months, rather than the more traditional solar calendar month the rest of us go by. Each year Ramadan gets moved back roughly 11 days, depending on the Moon.

The end of Ramadan is marked by a full-tilt boogie, Mardi Gras type celebration called "Eid ul-Fitr". It marks the end of the fasting period of Ramadan and the first day of the following month, usually after the new moon is sighted. Eid ul-Fitr means the Festival of Breaking the Fast, and results in the special celebration, complete with decorations. Food is donated to the poor to ensure they can participate in Eid ul-Fitr, everyone puts on their best clothes, communal prayers are held in the early morning, followed by feasting and visiting relatives and friends and general partying.

The celebration lasts for three days, often with the third day being the biggest, party-wise.

This year, the final day of Eid ul-Fitr is, ta-da, September 11.

Ya just can't make this stuff up.

 

[Freightdawg]

Bad timing for sure! You can't say that some Muslims don't have a sense of humor....although alittle strange brand of humor! This is from the NY Times.


BAGHDAD — An Iraqi reality television program broadcast during Ramadan has been planting fake bombs in celebrities’ cars, having an Iraqi army checkpoint find them and terrifying the celebrities into thinking that they are headed for maximum security prison.

The show “Put Him in [Camp] Bucca” has drawn numerous protests but has stayed on air throughout the fasting month, broadcasting its “stings” on well-known Iraqi personalities.


Al-Baghdadia

“Put Him in Bucca”All of them were ensnared by being invited to the headquarters of the private television station Al Baghdadia to be interviewed, but en route to the station a fake bomb would be planted in their car while they were being searched by Iraqi soldiers, who were in on the deception.

The unwitting celebrities are then secretly filmed, Candid-Camera-style, as they reacted with shock, disbelief and anger as fake checkpoint guards shout abuse at them: “Why do you want to blow us up?” “You are a terrorist.” “How much did they pay you to do it? You will be executed.”

The celebrities protest that they know nothing about the supposed bomb, that they are innocent and honorable Iraqi citizens, only to be told, “We have caught you red-handed, with the bomb in your car.”

How much of it is staged with the knowledge of the actors is unclear from the footage, which has been broadcast daily this month, with excerpts, reactions and comments on the channel’s Web site.

One televised exchange ran:

Soldier : “Which group you are working for?”

Television Host: “Al Qaeda for sure.”

Guest: “I am an actor. What are you saying? Is this a game or what?”

Soldier: “This a military checkpoint. What do you think we are playing here? You have got a bomb in your car.”

Television Host: “Why are you doing this? Why are you putting me in such trouble?”

Guest: “I am a family man. I have two kids. How could I do this to my family? I am telling you the truth, it’s not me who planted the bomb.”


Nearly every Iraqi newspaper carried complaints about the idea of the show, with many well-known figures asking for it to be canceled. Some said it was simply too close to Iraq’s daily reality.

The name of the show refers to Camp Bucca, the large American-built high-security prison near the Kuwaiti border in southern Iraq that held thousands of Iraqi detainees and was closed in September 2009.

Kifah al-Majeed, an official with the Baghdad Operations Command, which runs the Iraqi security forces in the capital, said: “Al-Baghdadia did it in an official way. They sent us a document asking us for permission to do this television show. We agreed, so al-Baghdadia did nothing wrong.”

The producers of the show said that the show was entertainment, that it made people laugh and that no one had gotten hurt. The celebrities, they said, agreed for the episodes to be broadcast, and many were interviewed in the studio afterward.

Ali al-Khalidi, the show’s host, who appears on screen in many of the setups, said: “The show will continue until the end of Ramadan. Yes, there have been a lot of things said about it in the newspapers and on radio and television, but it will go on.”

Of the dozens of comments left on the Web site by viewers, most were negative. A sample taken on Friday included:

“Everyone knows that Iraq is living under unnatural circumstances on all sides, so why do you make a program that is based on fear, provocation and mocking, especially to Iraqis.”

“To al-Baghdadia channel, I hope that your channel does not dance on the wounds of the Iraqi people”.

“I am sure that showing such scary and frustrating programs is merely to bring a smile to the lips of the viewers. There are not many ways to bring such smiles other than what we have watched in this program.”

“The program is very nice, and the nicest thing is that the soldiers are acting in a very good and convincing way. It is obvious that the artist feels that he is in big trouble without a solution, so he would do anything to convince the soldiers that he is innocent.”

“When you want to bring a smile to someone’s lips, do not do that at the expense of other people. I want to ask, if one of the victims was sick with diabetes or blood pressure and had a heart attack, what would your reaction be then if a disaster took place? Would an apology be enough then?”

 

[chefdennis]

Guess they are a bit nervous.....

US Muslims prep for Islamic holiday _ around 9/11

By RACHEL ZOLL (AP)
– Aug 13, 2010
The Associated Press: US Muslims prep for Islamic holiday _ around 9/11

NEW YORK — The lunar calendar that Muslims follow for religious holidays is creating a potential for misunderstandings or worse in a year when American Muslims are already confronting a spike in assaults on their faith and protests against new mosques.

Eid al-Fitr, a joyous holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, this year falls around Sept. 11. Muslim leaders fear that their gatherings for prayer and festivities could be misinterpreted by those unfamiliar with Islam as a celebration of the 2001 terrorist strikes.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council, an advocacy group based in Los Angeles, is contacting law enforcement and the Justice Department civil rights division to alert them to the overlap.

The Islamic Circle of North America, which organizes Muslim Family Days at the Six Flags amusement park in several cities around Eid al-Fitr, this year planned nothing for Saturday, Sept. 11, because of the anniversary. A founder of Muslim Family Day, Tariq Amanullah, worked at the World Trade Center and was killed in the attacks.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based civil rights group, is urging mosques to review the group's security guidelines, including clearing brush where people could hide and installing surveillance cameras.

"The issue I can sense brewing on hate sites on the Internet is, `These Muslims are celebrating on September 11,'" said Ibrahim Hooper, national spokesman for CAIR. "It's getting really scary out there."

The exact date of Eid al-Fitr this year is not yet known. Muslims follow different authorities on moonsightings and astronomical calculations to decide when a holiday begins. In North America, the eid could fall on Thursday, Sept. 9, Friday, Sept. 10, or Saturday, Sept. 11.

It is one of the two biggest Muslim holidays of the year, often compared to Christmas in its significance and revelry. (The other major holiday is Eid al-Adha, at the end of the hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.)

Muslims who rarely attend congregational prayer fill mosques to overflowing on Eid al-Fitr. Mosque leaders often rent hotel ballrooms or convention centers to handle the crowds. Families wear their best clothes, exchange gifts, plan special meals with friends and relatives, sometimes decorate their homes inside and out, and organize carnivals for children.

In predominantly Muslim countries, the celebration can last for three days. But because of work and school obligations in the U.S., American Muslims generally attend congregational prayer on the day of the holiday, then continue the festivities over the next weekend or two.

Most mosques usually intensify security around Ramadan because of the attention the month brings. This year, leaders have grown especially concerned about safety. In recent months, mosques around the country have faced protests and vandalism. The debate over a proposed mosque and Islamic center near ground zero has become a national issue.

Yet well before these recent tensions, American Muslim leaders saw trouble ahead when they checked the calendar. Haroon Moghul, a New York Muslim leader who speaks regularly at mosques, said mosque leaders have been discussing Eid al-Fitr for months.

"When we realized that Ramadan would be ending around that time, a lot of people started sitting down together and saying, `How do we handle this in a way that's appropriate?'" said Moghul, executive director of Maydan Institute, a communications consulting company.

Moghul said most New York Muslims likely won't celebrate the way they normally do, and noted that a significant number lost relatives when the World Trade Center was destroyed. Many imams in the city plan sermons on dealing with loss and grief.

"It's a very painful day for everyone," Moghul said.

However, he and other American Muslim leaders don't want to make so many changes that they appear to be giving in to those who reject any Muslim observance in the United States. Some critics have said Muslims should move the date of the eid.

"It's like being offended that 9/11 and Christmas fall on the same day," said Safaa Zarzour, secretary general of the Islamic Society of North America, an Indiana-based communal group with tens of thousands of members. "There is something unsettling about that."

Yvonne Maffei, 35, of Des Plaines, Ill., a Chicago suburb, said she and her husband plan to stick with their usual Eid al-Fitr plan. They will attend morning prayers at their local mosque, go out for brunch then visit friends during the day.

"I think most Americans understand the value and place of religious holidays in a person's life," said Maffei, editor of My Halal Kitchen, a blog with recipes that meet Islamic dietary laws. "For those who don't, I just hope they will take the time to try and understand not only why we are celebrating at this time, but also what we are celebrating, which is the end of the holy month of Ramadan, a blessed month of fasting and attaining closeness to Allah."

Rizwan Jaka, a board member of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society, based in Sterling, Va., near Washington, D.C., said he hopes the attention to Muslim traditions during the month of Ramadan will help educate non-Muslims and decrease the likelihood of any problems.

He said the mosque will reach out to its interfaith partners and others ahead of the eid. The All Dulles Society is one of the largest mosques in the country and expects to host as many as 20,000 worshippers during the holiday at several locations.

Jaka said the board met a few weeks ago to discuss the overlapping dates and decided to include condemnations of terrorism and extremism in the holiday sermons. The mosque will also hold its annual interfaith, memorial and peace events tied to the anniversary.

"Could there be some misperceptions because of the anti-Muslim climate? Potentially," Jaka said. "We will make sure our neighbors and friends understand that we all stand firmly as Americans for peace and for creating an environment of respect."

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

 

[AMonger]

I'd sure hate to be a Muslim living in this country,

That's the least of their worries. Eternity approaches for all men.

The latest is the ironically named Dove World Outreach Center, which is a non-denominational charismatic church in Gainesville, FL, where they've erected a large sign that reads "Islam Is Of The Devil",

It is.

and plans a Qur'an book-burning

Good.

Well, you've heard of Ramadan, right? Many people have heard of it but don't really know what it is. It's the holy month of Islam,

The so-called holy month.

Muslims fast (no food, drink or sexual relations) from sunrise to sunset to cleanse themselves of sins,

It doesn't.

and each day is marked primarily with charity of giving food and other items to the poor.

That's honorable.

The fact is that Islam is a horrid, vile religion. It would be bad enough to be merely any other false religion, but they go beyond other false religions.

Hell is hot.

 

[Turtle]

OK, here we go...
My comments in red

MIAMI — U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan warned Monday that a small Florida church's plan to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks could endanger the lives of American troops.

The warnings followed an angry protest on Monday by several hundred people in the Afghan capital, Kabul, who chanted "Death to America" as they denounced the planned burning event by the Gainesville, Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center church.

The center, calling itself a "New Testament, Charismatic, Non-Denominational Church," says it will go ahead with the torching of the Quran on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of the 2001 attacks against the United States. Gainesville authorities have said that will contravene fire safety rules.

"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort," General David Petraeus, the U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, said in a statement to U.S. media organizations.

"It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world, we are engaged with the Islamic community," he added.

In Kabul, the demonstrators, mostly students from religious schools who gathered outside Kabul's Milad ul-Nabi mosque, said they would continue their protests.

"We call on America to stop desecrating our Holy Quran," student Wahidullah Nori told Reuters.


See? They do it, too. America blames all Muslims for the actions of a few imbecilic religious nutjobs, and they blame all of America for the actions of a few imbecilic religious nutjobs.


In comments broadcast by CNN, Terry Jones, pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center, said it would be "tragic" if anybody's life was lost as a result of the planned Quran burning.

But he added, "Still, I must say that we feel that we must sooner or later stand up to Islam, and if we don't, it's not going to go away."


So he really doesn't care. He's got his little agenda and he's gonna do it, and if people (other than him, of course) have to die, then so be it. His Christian God is better than their Islamic God, so there.


Last January, Afghan troops shot and killed eight demonstrators and wounded 13 in southern Helmand province in a riot triggered by a report that foreign troops had desecrated the Quran during a raid. A spokesman for NATO forces denied the report.