Is the taxi fatwa from the Muslim Brotherhood and Osama bin Laden?

Somali muslim cab drivers at the Twin Cities airport have been complaining lately about how they cannot carry fares who carry alcohol. This is a problem because as some reports claim, "About three-quarters of the 900 taxi drivers at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport are Somalis, many of them Muslim. And about three times each day, would-be customers are refused taxi service when a driver sees they're carrying alcohol."

Investigative reporting by the Star Tribune has followed the source of this issue back the Muslim Brotherhood.

Ahmed Samatar, a nationally recognized expert on Somali society at Macalester College, confirmed ... "There is a general Islamic prohibition against drinking," he said, "but carrying alcohol for people in commercial enterprise has never been forbidden. There is no basis in Somali cultural practice or legal tradition for that.

"This is one of those new concoctions."It is being foisted on the Somali community by an inside or outside group," he added. "I do not know who."

But many Somali drivers at the airport are refusing to carry passengers with alcohol. When I asked Patrick Hogan, Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesman, for his explanation, he forwarded a fatwa, or religious edict, that the MAC had received. The fatwa proclaims that "Islamic jurisprudence" prohibits taxi drivers from carrying passengers with alcohol, "because it involves cooperating in sin according to the Islam."

The fatwa, dated June 6, 2006, was issued by the "fatwa department" of the Muslim American Society, Minnesota chapter, and signed by society officials.

The society is mediating the conflict between the cab drivers and the MAC. That seems odd, since the society itself clearly has a stake in the controversy's outcome.

How did the MAC connect with the society? "The Minnesota Department of Human Rights recommended them to us to help us figure out how to handle this problem," Hogan said.

Omar Jamal, director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center, thinks he knows why the society is promoting a "no-alcohol-carry" agenda with no basis in Somali culture. "MAS is an Arab group; we Somalis are African, not Arabs," he said. "MAS wants to polarize the world, create two camps. I think they are trying to hijack the Somali community for their Middle East agenda. They look for issues they can capitalize on, like religion, to rally the community around. The majority of Somalis oppose this, but they are vulnerable because of their social and economic situation."

What is the Muslim American Society? In September 2004 the Chicago Tribune published an investigative article. The society was incorporated in 1993, the paper reported, and is the name under which the U.S. branch of the Muslim Brotherhood operates.

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna. The Tribune described the Brotherhood as "the world's most influential Islamic fundamentalist group."Because of its hard-line beliefs, the U.S. Brotherhood has been an increasingly divisive force within Islam in America, fueling the often bitter struggle between moderate and conservative Muslims," the paper reported.

The international Muslim Brotherhood "preaches that religion and politics cannot be separated and that governments eventually should be Islamic," according to the Tribune. U.S. members emphasize that they follow American laws, but want people here to convert to Islam so that one day a majority will support a society governed by Islamic law.

The S and T investigation get a bit aggressive, tracing the the MB back to the Egyptian Muslim writer Qutb who in turn influenced OBL.

Another example of how journalism in today's post-9/11 world makes a big spicy soup of the religions of the world.

My question is: I know of nobody who goes around an airport swinging a bottle of gin. How then do these drivers "see" that a person is carrying alcohol? Do they have special glasses, or do they check their booze detectors?

New MS iPod: Obscene in Israel and Canada

"What songs have you got on your f-ing iPod?" Yes the new Zune from Microsoft will be pronounced Z-une in Israel which in Hebrew is the f-word. By the way it turns out that it also allegedly is a French-Canadian euphemism for “penis”. The French word "zoune'' and the variant "bizoune'' are ways that children refer to male or female genitalia.

Israeli bloggers are having fun asking
?אז מי פה רוצה זיון and ?כמה עולה זיון

What is Bill Gates doing about it? Luckily he cleared this up with a press release, "While we do acknowledge the similarity in pronunciation to Hebrew zi-yun, that is not the intended meaning of the name Zune."

Intention is not the most important thing. It is everything. After years of screwing their users and competitors, perhaps Microsoft has started owning up to their real intentions.

India: Let's Get Our Own AIPAC

An Indian columnist, Ajai Shula, has criticized Indian lobbyists for their lack of clout in the US and compares them with the pro-Israel AIPAC organization which he says is, "variously called the Jewish lobby, Zionist agents, or the most successful lobby group on the planet." Apparently the Indians have asked AIPAC to share some of its practices with them. Here are some of the secrets they have learned so far.

The first secret of the AIPAC’s success is its simplicity of purpose, namely, to promote the interests of Israel in the US. In this endeavour the AIPAC is bipartisan, both internally and in its outreach, wooing Democrats and Republicans with equal fervour. The American Jewish community is no less divided than the Indian American community in many ways, but when it comes to Israel, the AIPAC sets aside local differences to work for the benefit of Tel Aviv. In contrast, various sections of the Indian American community tend to work with various likeminded political parties in India towards various goals, which exacerbates rather than overcomes differences.

Secondly, the AIPAC always frames its global aim in local terms that strike a chord within a constituency. As a prominent AIPAC lobbyist puts it: “The average American legislator does not wake up thinking about Israel, or, for that matter, about India. The first thing he thinks is, what do my voters want?” And since voters want different things in different places, the AIPAC functions through a country-wide network of local offices that are in touch with voter concerns in every electoral constituency. To voters concerned about homeland security, Israel is the frontline in the war on terror. To heavily immigrant communities (and America is predominantly immigrant) Israel is the ultimate immigrant homeland. To defence-manufacturing constituencies, Israel is the biggest buyer. So well-informed is the AIPAC’s network that the government of Israel has consulted it on likely US reactions before passing important legislation in Tel Aviv.

Thirdly, the AIPAC’s brilliant organisation makes up for small numbers and demonstrates that while being visible is vitally important, functioning effectively is much more so. The group monitors all legislation, pending or in process, and evaluates where its support is needed. Its workers cover every meeting on Capitol Hill that deliberates on matters relating to Israel, and hold some 2000 meetings with US congressmen each year. Through email, snail mail, flyers, community hall meetings and ballroom galas, it passes on to voters and congressmen the facts that support Israel, particularly each congressman’s voting record on Israel. The AIPAC thus helps to pass about one hundred pieces of pro-Israel legislation annually, and ensures the smooth passage of $2.4 billion in security-related aid to Israel. Indian communities, by similar record keeping, could make their local congressmen realise that a vote against India will not be forgotten.

So the blue billion sits at the feet of the blue and white 5 million to learn how to lobby. Interesting.

And by the way The "Blue Billion Express" is a Pepsi ad campaign aimed at a billion cricket fans with the catchy cheer, "Oooooh Aaaaah India, Aaaaah Yaaaaa India!"

Blue Billion Chase - video powered by Metacafe

Trow da Bums Out

The drive from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul to Rochester Minnesota is about ninety miles along a quiet country highway. It's a pleasant enough trip in the autumn. The fall foliage colors are near their peak. The John Deere Turbos and the R60 Gleaners are out in the fields along the road, harvesting the last of the year's corn. A good driver can progress quickly and without heed past the roadside pumpkins, cows and occasional bales of hay on the landscape of farms and modest front lawns. I was out on my way to lecture for my Jewish Studies continuing education extension course in Rochester.

There are few billboards along this highway after you get by the southern tier of the suburban extremities. I was driving this route back in 1990. Closer to Rochester, about seventy miles from the progressive Twin Cities, right next to Fox's Cafe and Standard Station, I found a rather blunt welcome to the republican municipality, twenty miles down the pike. To make its point against abortion, an indelicate billboard presented to motorists a depiction of a foetus at eight weeks.

But before I faced that abrupt greeting years back, as I drove south on Route 52, on a mild October day, temperature about 55 degrees, skies overcast and even a few ominous clouds on the horizon, and a few patches of blue clear sky came into view.

I was somewhere between Goodhue and Cannon Falls in Goodhue County, about forty miles past the airport and the Mendota bridge, a good fifteen miles before I reached the sleepy Zumbro River. I had not yet passed the Town of Zumbrota or the celebrated Zumbrota Cheese Mart. But the powerful signals of the metropolitan radio stations were starting to fade. And in that lull I sensed that here one might feel the gentle, steady pulse of America.

As I drove steadily south, I remember how I noticed that a homemade billboard stood facing the highway on a lawn beside a modest home. As I approached, the solitary hand-lettered plywood placard appeared independent, even self-reliant. When I came close enough to read its message I could see it announced one strident principle. The sign bore this three-word beat of 1990 citizen sentiment.

BYE BYE INCUMBENTS

I’m endorsing this same crisp and clear platform for the election season of 2006.

Netanyahu to Goldman: Israel Ahead of US, China, Russia, Canada

Israel's economy is robust, Netanyahu told a Goldman Sachs meeting, according to the EJP News. (Thanks Yitz.)

LONDON (EJP)--- Israeli Likud party leader and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told an audience in London that Israel’s economy “has a brilliant future”.

The former finance minister was speaking Thursday during a business event at investment bankers Goldman Sachs International, hosted by the British Friends of Bar Ilan University.

“Israel produces more goods per capita, after the US. Israel also has more registered patents, more than China and Russia. Israel has even overtaken Canada on the NASDAQ,” he said.

Threat downplayed

Netanyahu played down the threat of North Korea, who recently crossed the nuclear weapons threshold, calling them “local eccentrics”. He said they are a local threat more than an international one.

Militant Islam and globalisation are the real threats and the source of the world’s problems.

The Shia strand is more dangerous than Al Qeida, he said “Through the radical regimes and their production of nuclear weapons, they threaten not only the Middle East but also Europe and the US”.

“The future depends on leaders recognising this threat and carrying out policies to ward off this danger,” he said.

He said there is a “fabulous opportunity”. “There is a great threat and the threat should unite all of us in common action and this is something that Israel understands.”

If you are measuring spriritual achievements, Israel has more Torah learning per capita and more religious publications than any other country.

German Pol Slams Bush's Fundamentalism

Yes it may be hypocritical, says German Ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in an excerpt of his book, "Decisions: My Life in Politics" published in the German weekly Der Spiegel Saturday, according to a report by the AP. Bush thinks he can play both sides of the fence but is now getting called on the carpet from every imaginable side.

"What bothered me, and in a certain way made me suspicious despite the relaxed atmosphere, was again and again in our discussions how much this president described himself as 'God-fearing,'" Schroeder wrote, adding he is a firm believer in the separation of church and state.

Schroeder accused some elements in U.S. as being hypocritical when it comes to secularism in government.

"We rightly criticize that in most Islamic states, the role of religion for society and the character of the rule of law are not clearly separated," Schroeder wrote. "But we fail to recognize that in the USA, the Christian fundamentalists and their interpretation of the Bible have similar tendencies."

Video: The Absent Minded Suicide Bomber

"The Absent Minded Suicide Bomber"
starring Cary Broder and Fela Kiti
directed by Hank Jacobs
camera by Nick Santoro

Yom Kippur for Universities?

How indeed does a University atone for its sins? Brown U convened a committe to study the issue of how to deal with the links between Brown and the slave trade. The Times reports today -- Panel Suggests Brown U. Atone for Ties to Slavery -- that the institution will issue a report with recommendations.

There are major glaring issues associated with this process. First, as I insinuated in the title, is there such a thing as the institutional guilt of a University? Is a school an entity that has a personification, a personality, a conscience, a sense of morality and guilt? I do not think the answer to this is so clearly yes.

Second, is it proper to judge 18th century founders by 21st century standards? The report speaks of guilt and of "acknowledging and taking responsibility for Brown’s part in grievous crimes." I'm certain that trading in slaves, owning them and using them to construct university buildings was legal, ethical and moral by the social norms of the 18th century. So what were the crimes?

Is this process of study and introspection not getting close to a reductio ad infinitum? A friend of mine used to say, "Behind every great fortune is a great crime." How far behind do we go? Every social institution can be traced to some taint in the past. Are we responsible to ferret all of that out?

Is it right for Brown President Ruth Simmons, who is black and a descendant of slaves, to use her position and power to divert university resources for a partisan investigation that is now establishing a new form of post facto morality and faux collective guilt?

Those are some of my questions. Here is some of the article:

BOSTON, Oct. 18 — Extensively documenting Brown University’s 18th-century ties to slavery, a university committee called Wednesday for the institution to make amends by building a memorial, creating a center for the study of slavery and injustice and increasing efforts to recruit minority students, particularly from Africa and the West Indies.

The Committee on Slavery and Justice, appointed three years ago by Brown’s president, Ruth J. Simmons, a great-granddaughter of slaves who is the first black president of an Ivy League institution, said in a report: “We cannot change the past. But an institution can hold itself accountable for the past, accepting its burdens and responsibilities along with its benefits and privileges.”

The report added, “In the present instance this means acknowledging and taking responsibility for Brown’s part in grievous crimes.”

The committee did not call for outright reparations, an idea that has support among some African-Americans and was a controversial issue at Brown several years ago. But the committee’s chairman, James T. Campbell, a history professor at Brown, said he believed the recommendations “are substantive and do indeed represent a form of repair.”

The committee also recommended that the university publicly and persistently acknowledge its slave ties, including during freshmen orientation. Dr. Campbell said he believed that the recommendations, if carried out, would represent a more concrete effort than that of any other American university to make amends for ties to slavery.

“I think it is unprecedented,” Dr. Campbell said, adding that a few other universities and colleges have established memorials, study programs or issued apologies, but not on the scale of the Brown recommendations. It was not clear how much the committee’s recommendations would cost to carry out.

Google Mishnah Yomi Calendar

It's a good practice to study Torah daily. The Mishnah is the basis for the Oral Torah that we believe was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai along with the written Torah. I had some time, so I imported the data for the schedule for the cycle of daily Mishnah study to a Google Calendar to which you can subscribe....



Subscribe:

Ministry Checking Into Racist Remarks by Israeli Diplomat

If this turns out to be true, it sure is troubling.

The Age in Melbourne reports:

ISRAEL has recalled its ambassador to Australia to investigate comments he reportedly made on Asians.

Ambassador Naftali Tamir was believed to have been in Singapore on his way to Australia after a short holiday in Israel, when he received instructions to return immediately.

In an interview with the widely circulated daily, Haaretz, last week, Mr Tamir allegedly said Israel and Australia needed to co-operate because they were like sisters in Asia. "We are in Asia without the characteristics of Asians. We don't have yellow skin and slanted eyes. Asia is basically the yellow race. Australia and Israel are not — we are basically the white race," he was quoted as saying.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said in Jerusalem last night his ministry was checking whether the comments as reported were accurate.

"As they stand, they are obviously unacceptable and problematic," Mr Regev said. ...