Religious Reciprocity Norwegian Style

The official and only officially tolerated religion in Saudi Arabia is Islam, and the fundamentalist Wahhabi version of Sunni Islam at that. No other public religious practices are allowed and any such attempts are severely punished by the state. There are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia. Non-Muslim clergy are not allowed to enter Saudi Arabia. Non-Islamic religious texts and religious items such as rosary beads and crucifixes are similarly not allowed and are confiscated if found.

Saudi Arabia is consistently determined by the U.S. State Department to be a "country of particular concern" for violating international standards of religious freedom. Consistently, if inexplicably, the Secretary of State has granted Saudi Arabia a waiver of sanctions under the International Religious Freedom Act.

Norway appears ready to not be nearly as generous to the kingdom. As reported on October 19 in the Islam in Europe blog, the Saudi government and wealthy Saudi individuals want to build mosques in Norway. While they are legally entitled to do so, the large financial sums involved require government approval and the Norwegian foreign office is refusing to grant that. The foreign ministry noted it would be "a paradox and unnatural to approve funding from sources in a country which is not open to religious freedom."

As noted by Islam in Europe, the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre stated, "We could have just said no, in principal the ministry doesn't approve such things. But when we were first asked, we used the opportunity to add that an approval would be paradoxical as long as it's a crime to establish a Christian community in Saudi Arabia."

The U.S. government officially recognizes Saudi Arabia's egregious violations of religious freedom but does little about it. The Norwegian government, conversely, is stopping Saudi money destined to foment their radical version of Islam within Norway's borders and sending a strong message that Saudi religious intolerance is unacceptable to the civilized western world.

Convoy Reaches Gaza and Hamas' Embrace

The fourth Viva Palestina (VP) land convoy arrived in the Gaza Strip Thursday, with more than 350 people from 30 different countries delivering nearly 150 vehicles, and $5 million worth of aid. Similar to VP's previous trips to Gaza, convoy members were warmly greeted by Hamas officials.

Deputy Hamas foreign minister Ahmed Youssef spoke at a press conference along with VP leader Kevin Ovenden, who said that peace in the Middle East could be achieved only by including Hamas. Youssef, born in Gaza, came to the United States in 1982 where he served as the Executive Director of United Association for Studies and Research (UASR). UASR was an Islamist think tank that was an arm of the defunct Palestine Committee, a Hamas support network in the U.S. created by the Muslim Brotherhood.

On Friday, Viva Palestina activists met with Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh during a lunch. Haniyeh later appeared on stage at a festival honoring the "Life line 5 convoy," along with Yemini Sheikh Muhammad al-Hazimi. Al-Hazimi instigated passengers on the IHH Mavi Marmara ship to fight the Israelis during the May 2010 flotilla. Haniyeh is the man sitting fifth from the right, and Al-Hazimi is the man sitting all the way on the right in this picture.

Viva Palestina officials said they were pleased with Egypt for enabling a smooth passage of the vehicles and convoy participants into Gaza. Previously, VP leader George Galloway, who has been banned from entering Egypt and joining the convoy, slammed Egyptian President Mubarak for banning 17 convoy members from entering the country.

Yet convoy spokesperson and Hamas operative Zaher Birawi, who was among the banned 17, was able to enter Egypt and Gaza. While at the Rafah crossing, he said:

"The people of Gaza, they did no wrong at all but they just elected their leadership in a very democratic way. But the Americans, the Israelis they didn't like this from the Palestinian and they imposed this siege on them. We are to say all the internationals are with you Gaza people and we will continue doing this until this siege been broken forever" [Emphasis added].

VP leader Muhammad Sawalha, a high ranking former Hamas Izz ad Din Al-Qassam Brigades commander living in the UK, said on Thursday:

"We will always be ready to come to Gaza because Gaza leads the international struggle for freedom and deliverance from [the control of] Zionism. Victory and dismantlement of the racist state are near" [Emphasis added].

Although Galloway is no longer with the convoy, other Viva Palestina leaders have filled his usual role in supporting the Hamas government in Gaza. And as far as the $ 5 million worth of aid, it "was warmly welcomed by the Hamas government which runs the blockaded coastal strip."

Is the Saudi Prince an Islamophobe?

Advocates of the proposed Ground Zero mosque are quick to dismiss any and all opposition as bigotry and Islamophobia. This comes despite similar criticisms of the plan expressed by Muslims in the U.S. and abroad.

Leading that charge has been Ibrahim Hooper and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). "Unfortunately, there is a vocal minority in our nation whose lives are dedicated to marginalizing American Muslims and demonizing Islam," he wrote in August.

It would be interesting to see if Hooper casts Saudi Prince Talal bin Alwaleed in that category. As Irfan Al-Alawi and Stephen Schwartz point out in the Weekly Standard, the prince told the New York Times that the mosque shouldn't be built at its current site. "I'm not for putting that mosque there," he said.

While Alwaleed has supported fundamentalist institutions abroad, Alawi and Schwartz say, he has "publicly favored modernization and a more open culture inside the kingdom …. A move away from Saudi involvement with the GZM hustle could favor moderation among Muslims in Mecca and Medina as well as in Manhattan."

His opposition, he told the Times, was rooted in its proximity to a strip club and out of respect to the relatives of 9/11 victims upset by the proposal. When a Saudi prince is more deferential toward American sensitivities than a national Islamist mouthpiece, it's time for Hooper, et al. to check their rhetoric.

Somali Terrorist Group Threatens Phone Companies

Mobile money transfers in Africa are part of a conspiracy to rob the continent of its money, subjugate its people and impede mujahideen, the media wing of the Somali terrorist group Al-Shabaab wrote this week.

On Tuesday, Al-Kataib warned phone companies to stop providing mobile transfers by the end of January. "We warn all companies that intend to introduce similar services to Somalia to refrain from such actions," the statement said.

It spelled out a series of problems created by mobile money transfers, which were described as part of "The control that the Jews have over the financial system in the West and the spread of the so-called economic globalization." The Middle East Media Research Institute reports.

Among those problems, destroying the hawala system – the network of Muslim money transfer operators; allowing financial transactions by Mujahideen to be monitored and intercepted; and exploiting poor people by making "them hostages to this service in all their financial activity."

The statement urges Muslims to find other ways to invest or move money promising "that we will not relent in protecting them and their wealth from any danger that surrounds them by the help and grace of Allah."

Napolitano Appoints Islamist To Homeland Security Panel

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano's appointment of "de-radicalization" expert Mohamed Elibiary to the Homeland Security Advisory Council earlier this month has thus far drawn little attention from Congress or the media, despite his record of criticizing successful terrorism prosecutions and praising Islamist ideologue Sayyid Qutb.

Elibiary recommended the writings of Qutb, who is credited with inspiring the Muslim Brotherhood and terrorist groups like al Qaida and Hamas, as offering "the potential for a strong spiritual rebirth that's truly ecumenical allowing all faiths practiced in America to enrich us and motivate us to serve God better by serving our fellow man more."

Elibiary also criticized the indictment and subsequent convictions of the Holy Land Foundation and five former officials for providing more than $12 million to Hamas, depicting the case as a defeat for the United States. He suggested that the convictions were part of a U.S. government policy of "denying our civil liberties and privacy at home" while pursuing anti-terror policies that have "left thousands of Americans dead, tens of thousands maimed, trillions of taxpayer dollars squandered and our homeland more vulnerable than ever."

Read Elibiary's criticism of a recent Supreme Court decision in favor of current material-support laws here.

At a March 2010 hearing held by the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment, Elibiary appeared to perpetuate the message that Islam is under attack from the West. He criticized federal law enforcement for targeting "low-hanging fruit" and using "agent provocateurs" to infiltrate mosques.

Read more about Elibiary's congressional testimony here.

Elibiary, president and CEO of the Freedom and Justice Foundation, has also come under fire for allegedly threatening a Dallas Morning News columnist and speaking at a December 2004 conference in Dallas paying tribute to the Ayatollah Khomeini.

When Rod Dreher, then a Morning News columnist, questioned his participation in the conference, Elibiary's reply included this suggestion: "Treat people as inferiors and you can expect someone to put a banana in your exhaust pipe or something."

Dreher replied that he regarded this as a threat. He said Elibiary and his fellow Islamists regarded "debate" as consisting of "yelling and bullying and blustering" and "groundless accusations of 'racism' and 'Islamophobia' and what rot. And now I suppose I have to worry that someone from your community would see me drive up, identify my car, and alter it to cause me harm. Great work, Mohamed."

MB Publication Shifts Incitement Toward U.S.

Incitement of violence against Israel in the Muslim Brotherhood's London-based weekly publication, Risala al-Ikhwan is nothing new. It has also expressed varying degrees of anti-U.S. sentiment since at least 2003. However, until recently the publication avoided inciting violence against the U.S, according to a report published by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.

"The resistance [al-muqawamah, i.e., terrorism and violence] is the only solution in view of Zionist-American arrogance and cruelty, it is sufficient that the Arab and Muslim nations all stand behind the resistance, help it and support it," the report quotes from the September 30, 2010 issue of Risala al-Ikhwan.

The same issue includes a letter by Mohamed Badi, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, lauding the armed resistance to the U.S. presence in Iraq and Afghanistan and calling for resistance as the only solution to the "Zionist-American tyranny." The issue goes on to blame the U.S. and Zionists for the problems in the Arab and Islamic countries and thereby calls the U.S. an enemy of Islam.

The issue also lays out a course of action for its readers:

"They [Muslims] have to understand that the reform and change the [Islamic] nation seeks can only be acquired by the jihad and sacrifice and the rise of a generation of jihad warriors who concentrate on death the way the enemies [of Islam] concentrate on life."

One of the articles claims that the U.S. has been defeated by the will of the people who resisted the U.S. in Iraq. It lays the foundation for the claim that the will of the people directed against the U.S. can overcome the U.S. not only in Iraq, but also on all fronts in the Arab world.

The September 3, 2010 issue tells readers that, "now more than ever, the resistance is called on to step up attacks on the occupiers, unite its forces, and make the liberation of Iraq from its occupiers and enemies its top priority."

The publication, Risala al-Ikhwan, is circulated through the Muslim Brotherhood Information Center in London and is posted to the Muslim Brotherhood's main website.

Treasury Hunts for Iranian-Front Banks

U.S. officials are tracking Iranian attempts to secretly buy out banks in Muslim countries to evade sanctions triggered by Iran's refusal to give up its nuclear weapons program, the Washington Post reports.

The efforts are "an indication that they can't do normal banking," an unnamed senior administration official told the newspaper. The U.S. has blacklisted 16 Iranian banks as part of a sanctions package targeting

Iran has set up banks in Iraq and Malaysia using front companies, the Post reports.

The Treasury Department is aggressively hunting down evidence of secret Iranian bank efforts, sending officials to at least five countries, including Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, and warning "local authorities of the risks of letting these operations take root," the U.S. official told the Post.

Court: HLF Co-Conspirator List Should Have Been Sealed

The unindicted co-conspirator list in the Hamas-support trial of the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) never should have been made public, a federal judge in Dallas ruled last year. But that doesn't mean the groups and individuals identified should be removed.

U.S. District Judge Jorge Solis sealed the list and his order, but that part of his decision was reversed Wednesday by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals after a challenge by the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), reports Politico's Josh Gerstein.

HLF and five former officials were convicted of illegally routing millions of dollars to Hamas through a series of Palestinian charities controlled by the terrorist group. Attorneys submitted appeals to those convictions Tuesday.

The publication of the list, with 246 individuals and groups identified, created a reputational harm that violated NAIT's Fifth Amendment rights, the judge ruled. NAIT sought relief from the court in 2008, arguing it had no way to challenge its presence on the list and that it hurt NAIT's reputation with government agencies and other religious organizations.

Government attorneys didn't contest the judge's determination that the list shouldn't have been publicized, calling it an "unfortunate oversight." The appeal produced "a muddled result," Gerstein wrote, because Solis found "ample evidence" tying NAIT to the Holy Land Foundation's Hamas-support effort. NAIT bank accounts were used HLF to deposit donations that were ultimately meant to go to Hamas, prosecutors say.

For details, see Gerstein's full report. Read the order here.

Awlaki Dined At the Pentagon After 9/11

Despite connections to some of the hijackers and a record of radical sermons and speeches in the United States, fugitive al-Qaida terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki was a lunch guest at a Pentagon "Muslim outreach" event just months after the 9/11 attacks, according to documents obtained by Fox News.

A current Defense Department (DoD) employee told investigators that she helped arrange the meeting after watching Awlaki speak in Alexandria, Va.

In the aftermath of 9/11, there was a push by the Secretary of the Army "to have a presentation from a moderate Muslim," according to one document. Awlaki was also "considered to be an 'up and coming' member of the Muslim community."

After watching Awlaki's speech, the employee "recalls being impressed by this imam. He condemned Al Qaeda and the terrorist attacks," according to the documents. And Awlaki was "harassed" by members of the audience and "suffered it well."

"After her vetting, Aulaqi [Awlaki] was invited to and attended a luncheon in the Pentagon in the secretary of the Army's Office of General Counsel."

The invitation came despite the fact that Awlaki "was interviewed at least four times by the FBI in the first week after the attacks because of his ties to…three hijackers – Nawaf al-Hazmi, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Hani Hanjour," Fox News reported. The three hijackers were on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon.

The Defense Department has failed to respond to Fox News' repeated requests for information on Awlaki's attendance at the luncheon. A former high-ranking FBI agent told Fox News that there was tremendous "arrogance" about the Pentagon's vetting process.

"They vetted people politically and showed indifference to security and intelligence advice of others," the agent said. It wasn't just the Pentagon. As we reported in July, Awlaki is shown in a PBS documentary leading Muslim staffers in prayer on Capitol Hill.

South Park Threat Prompts Charge/Plea

A Virginia man pleaded guilty today to charges he tried to provide material support to the Somali-based terrorist group Al-Shabaab and for making threats against the writers of "South Park."

Zachary Chesser, a 20-year-old convert to Islam, faces up to 30 years in prison.

The "South Park" threat was not part of the original charge against Chesser filed in July. An April episode of the show, lampooning hypersensitivity concerning images of the prophet Muhammad, depicted a character that was supposed to be Muhammad in a bear suit. The website RevolutionMuslim.com responded by suggesting the producers of the animated comedy could meet a fate similar to Theo Van Gogh, the Dutch filmmaker murdered by an Islamist extremist after producing a 2004 video critical of women's treatment in Islam.

Chesser posted at the website under the name Talhah al-Amrikee.

An official at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) suggested the whole thing was a hoax "to make Muslims look bad." Hooper added. "We just have very deep suspicions. They say such outrageous, irresponsible things that it almost seems like they're doing it to smear Islam."

In his plea, Chesser admitted making online postings with producer Trey Parker and Matt Stone's addresses and suggesting readers to "pay them a visit." He also posted speeches by al-Qaida cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki in which he cited religious justification for killing people who insult the prophet Muhammad.

"Zachary Chesser seriously endangered the lives of innocent people who will remain at risk for many years to come," U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride said in a statement. "His solicitation of extremists to murder U.S. citizens also caused people throughout the country to fear speaking out – even in jest – lest they also be labeled as enemies who deserved to be killed. In admitting his guilt today, Mr. Chesser reminded us of the serious threat homegrown jihadists pose to this country, and I express my gratitude and admiration for the FBI agents who apprehended Mr. Chesser before he could endanger even more Americans."

He also admits to making two attempts to join Al-Shabaab, one in November 2009 and one in July. He was stopped in the most recent attempt and admits bringing his infant son with him as "cover" to avoid suspicion.

His sentencing is scheduled for February. Details of Chesser's actions are spelled out in the DOJ statement here.

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