When The Carpetbagger Came-A-Begging, The Church Played Politics.

Hantu Laut

House of God. Every religion has this inviolable place where worshippers of the faith visit and pray to their God every now and then, a sacred place where one communicates with the Almighty.

Anwar has done what many others would have shied away from.

Was it desperation on the use of the name Allah that brought the church to its knees to one man whom they see as a saviour, allowing him to desecrate the sacred ground to hold his political campaign?

One should not trust someone proven unworthy of trust. True to his chameleonic character his response to the Allah issue is at best lukewarm.

This man of many faces, sly and manipulative as usual, when asked by a churchgoer about his opinion on the Allah issue told the congregation that even international Muslim scholars thought it was a subject unworthy of debate.

Anyone with enough intelligence can see through that thin sheet and know that was no positive response, giving not his own but third party opinion. What surprises me is the report by Malaysian Insider here that the congregation was impressed and happy with his ambiguity and ambivalence.

He, like most UMNO politicians is still afraid of losing the Muslims support.

Churches, mosques, temples, synagogues and any other holy places are not appropriate places for politics and Anwar had shown great disrespect to the Christian community for abusing his welcome. It goes to show his greed for power has no bound. He should have just visited the church without giving any political talk. 

He has tried many times to hold his ceramas in mosques but was not allowed to do so. Sadly, there are Malaysians who think he should be allowed to soil holy places to deliver his political platitudes. Father George Harrison is one. Christians should take Father George Harrison to task for his "angkat kaki" attitude.

Many Christians have taken to social media to express their disgust and disappointment with Father George and Anwar Ibrahim for tarnishing the sanctity of the church for politics.

His greed for power knows no bound, he is now on a political flight to oust one of his most trusted lieutenants and to take over as menteri besar of Selangor. He is going to play out Khalid as he had done to many of his friends and party officials before because he couldn't handle and control Azmin Ali.I wish Khalid Ibrahim do not give in easily.

It would also be interesting to watch whether DAP and PAS would sacrifice Khalid for Anwar? They rejected Azmin Ali and reappoint ed Khalid as MB. 

A loophole in the state constitution can allow the Sultan of Selangor to nominate his own choice as MB, as what happened in Trengganu during Pak Lah's time. Khalid seems to have the sultan as his ally. It won't be smooth sailing for Anwar, a crisis is in the offing.

Should he become menteri besar of Selangor, would he dare repel the state law that prohibits Christians from using Allah and tell the Sultan of Selangor to fly kite with his fatwa?

Wake up people, if you are so desperate to kick BN/UMNO out, please do so by all means, but don't allow this man to pull a wool over your eyes and lead you down the garden path.

Wandering Sikhs

Foreign Policy

The world was shocked by the murder of six people after a gunman stormed a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin on Aug. 5, opening fire on those gathered for morning services before falling to a policeman's bullet. But religious persecution is sadly, nothing new for Sikhs. The confusion and anger over the incident recall earlier chapters in the religion's history, when adherents of the 500-year-old faith found themselves in bloody skirmishes with Hindus and Muslims in India, the birthplace of Sikhism and home to the majority of its practitioners.

Sikhs, who comprise about 2 percent of India's population and form the world's fifth-largest religion, have in many ways been integrated into Indian culture, a point that was driven home by the 2004 election of Prime Minister Monoman Singh, the first Sikh to hold India's most powerful office. But adherents have traveled a bloody road to acceptance: After the 1984 siege of the holy Golden Temple by Sikh separatists and the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at the hands of her Sikh bodyguards the same year, India saw waves of retaliatory anti-Sikh riots, including a siege of one of the holiest Sikh temples. In a virtual pogrom that torched Sikh homes, storefronts, and temples across the capital New Delhi, mobs killed almost 3,000 people. Many Sikhs fled to the United States. Once again, they have faced persecution, including incidents of violence and a spate of hate crimes, sometimes after being misidentified as Muslims in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.Read more.

HAPPY 2012

TO ALL MY READERS,FRIENDS,ACQUAINTANCES AND EVERY LIVING BEINGS ON THE FACE OF THIS EARTH LET THERE BE PEACE AND TOLERANCE OF OUR DIFFERENCES.

RELIGIOUS LEADERS SHOULD DO WHAT GOD FORFENDS.STAY WITH RELIGION AND STAY AWAY FROM POLITICS.

May the New Year bring peace and harmony to our beloved nation.Malaysians are more divided now than ever before. We must stay together as one and not be divided by those who has no temperance in seeking political power and we must not allow them to destroy the peace and harmony that we, the people, have built since the birth of this nation.

We, must not allow those who preaches religions to divide us.We must not allow those questioning the constitution to fool us.

If the constitution was a bad contract, a fait accompli, change it, when you have the numbers, otherwise, don't try to fool us Malaysians to think you care for us.

The Grinch - Stole Malaysian Christmas

The Bamboo Desk

It’s farcical, but carol singing is a national security issue in Malaysia from this year.

Prime Minister Najib Razak’s spanking new Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011 that was passed last month has bared its teeth and caused astonishment and fright in equal measure.

The law is being put to use to control Christmas carollers and the places they visit during the run-up to Christmas, making them spies and government informers all rolled into one.

According to Christian groups in the country, they have been notified of strict new conditions imposed that they need to satisfy before they are granted a police permit to visit households and sing Christmas carols.

The new rules have alarmed civil and religious rights activists and church carolling groups are in a quandary over how to fulfill the conditions to gain the police permit needed to go carol singing.

Catholic Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing described the new conditions as turning the country into “very nearly a police state”, local news portal, Malaysiakini reported.

“The Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011 is vexing if things have come down to this,” the bishop who is head of the Catholic Church for the Malacca-Johor diocese and president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia told the portal this week.

Up to last year, carolling groups visiting Christian homes during the Christmas season were required to apply for a police permit for the visits and approvals were never a problem.

However, under provisions of the recently passed, highly controversial Peaceful Assembly Bill, Christian authorities must furnish the names of the main occupants of homes the carollers intend to visit.

“If parish priests have to furnish the names of the main tenants, then we have become very nearly a police state. This is a bureaucratic requirement that is so vexing,” said Tan.

“We are a church that periodically conducts a census of our members, but we do not go around asking our members details of where exactly they stay and if they own their residences or are merely tenants.

“We generally know where they stay but we don’t keep a ledger of their addresses. We don’t snoop and we respect the privacy of individual members of our congregation. We don’t believe we should be Big Brother or Nanny to them,” he added. Read more.

It's Time To Bring Out The ISA

Hantu Laut

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's feeble warning on the worsening religious and race relations would not be effective enough to stop the troublemakers of wanting to turn this nation into a state of chaos by fanning religious fervour.

By now the government should realise Malaysians are incapable of handling freedom of expression responsibly.Elements from both the oppositions and the ruling party are equally responsible for the deteriorating inter-racial and religious relations.

As much as I hate to say it, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad was right when he said such racial polarisation and religious conflicts did not happen under his watch.Say what you like about this misunderstood man, we had 22 years of peaceful co-existence under his regime.There were no religious issues or racial polarisation that we see is building up now which could ignite at any moment into something more unpleasant, unless, drastic actions are taken forthwith to arrest it before it gets out of hand.

Mahathir was prepared to take unpopular decision to protect the delicate membrane that separate the different religions and races in the country, which has kept the nation alive in peace and harmony for 22 years.He responded quickly, though at time harshly, to any attempt to undermine our peaceful society that have co-existed for many decades in the harsh realities of religious and ethnic differences.

Hated by politician and loved by the rabble, Mahathir had used the carrot and stick approach to ensure peace and prosperity.His detractors may not agree with his less than desirable approach but it certainly has been for the greater good......keeping the nation at peace.

Though, I am no supporter of the opposition I do not believe the recent claim that the DAP was conspiring with Christian leaders to make Christianity the official religion of the country and to install a Christian prime minister.It is highly improbable and was nothing but mischievous attempt to cause civil unrest.

The bloggers that started the rumours should be investigated, if found guilty, arrested and thrown in the slammer.

Utusan Malaysia that propagate the rumours without checking its facts first should be given a show cause letter why its publishing permit should not be suspended or withdrawn unless it come up with reasonable explanation or give material evidence that such allegations were true.

I believe the leaders in DAP are not that stupid to trot on such improbable and sensitive subjects.No one in their right mind could have believed that the minority Christians have such ambitions and DAP toying with such an idea seemed preposterous.

Is Najib in a Catch 22 situation? Why has he not acted against the troublemakers and show them he meant business.His 1 Malaysia would remained a mere slogan and a sham if he continues to allow such disemboweling of religious issues for political mileage.Is he maintaining his elegant silence because he is afraid of losing the Malay supports if he slammed Utusan and pro-UMNO blogs for the spectre they have created .

The opposition DAP are equally guilty of raising sensitive religious issues for political mileage. The Allah and Malay Bible issues were boldly and loudly accentuated by DAP in their political campaigns in the Sarawak state elections.They were hoping to turn the Christians in Sarawak to vote massively against the BN. However, the swing was not enough to dethrone Taib and the BN. DAP, not Pakatan, was the winner.

Here, another moron from the Bar Council seeking cheap publicity says Malaysia has no official religion.He cited Article 3 as stating “Islam is the religion of the Federation; but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation” and pointed out the word “official” was nowhere in the provision.

This learned fool is worse than the man in the street, is he splitting hairs, or just plain stupid? Was it necessary to mention the word "official" in every articles in the Constitution, is it not sufficient that Islam was explicitly mentioned as religion of the Federation.

Malaysia is not the only country with such provision in its Constitution, many Christian nations particularly in Latin America and Europe and Muslim nations in Middle East have the same provision in their constitutions.

If it was not so, why the need to mention Islam as religion of the Federation. Article 3 (1) would be simply written as shown below.

"All religions can be practised freely in the Federation"

The learned joker failed to widen the scope of interpretation of Article 3 (2), (3), (4) and (5) which officially makes the rulers of the states and by extension the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as head of Islam.

Article 3 of the Malaysian Constitution is reproduced below:

1. Islam is the religion of the Federation; but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation.

2. In every State other than States not having a Ruler the position of the Ruler as the Head of the religion of Islam in his State in the manner and to the extent acknowledged and declared by the Constitution, all rights, privileges, prerogatives and powers enjoyed by him as Head of that religion, are unaffected and unimpaired; but in any acts, observance or ceremonies with respect to which the Conference of Rulers has agreed that they should extend to the Federation as a whole each of the other Rulers shall in his capacity of Head of the religion of Islam authorize the Yang di-pertuan Agong to represent him.

3. The Constitution of the States of Malacca, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak shall each make provision for conferring on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall be Head of the religion of Islam in that State.

4. Nothing in this Article derogates from any other provision of this Constitution.

5. Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall be the Head of the religion of Islam in the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Labuan; and for this purpose Parliament may by law make provisions for regulating Islamic religious affairs and for constituting a Council to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in matters relating to the religion of Islam.

It's about time Najib use his absolute discretion to invoke the ISA, fairly and squarely, on the troublemakers from both sides of the political divide.

This is the time to bring out the ISA, without fear or favour.

Sabah cannot enforce anti-apostasy laws

Hantu Laut

The story here is by a writer whom I know personally and is on the other side of the political fence.

It is good that he divulged the existence of such laws that goes against the grains of what JHEAINS tried to impose unbeknown to many Sabahans.

I am not familiar with the law, the state government or JHEAINS should come out to clarify the matter before they are taken to court for arbitrary abuse of power.

The question is why the sudden interest in the case when it has always been a non-issue in Sabah.Is JHEAINS taking orders from KL when they should have not and should have stayed independent.

Rewinding The 'A' Word

The 'A' Word

By Luke Hunt

When three mosques were desecrated with pig heads last month, the violent row over the use of the word ‘Allah’ appeared to have escalated to a new and unwanted level.

Police immediately linked the January 27 incident to earlier attacks on 11 Christian churches and a Sikh temple that followed a New Year’s Eve court ruling–now being appealed by the government–that overturned a government-imposed ban on the use of the word ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims.

Sitting at the centre of this legal fight is Father Lawrence Andrew, editor of the Catholic weekly newspaper The Herald.

‘We can say this was done by someone who was out to create trouble,’ says Father Andrew, although he adds that as the investigations are still ongoing it is difficult for him to go into details. ‘Who that someone is, people can guess.’

Perhaps crucially, the bloodied remains of the pigs that were scattered around the mosques at Taman Dato Harun, Al Imam al Timizi and Sri Sentosa were left in plastic bags. Unlike Christians, many Muslims believe they should not even touch pigs directly, prompting widespread speculation that Muslims bent on inflaming tensions were responsible and not Christians looking for revenge.

Whoever is to blame, the reprisals are threatening on many levels, in particular to Malaysia’s image abroad, which has been built largely on a catchphrase used to sell the country around the world—‘Malaysia Truly Asia’.

Indeed, the images of multiculturalism the jingle is designed to conjure up are given life on the streets of Bukit Bintang, in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Here, Malays, Chinese, and Indians mix easily with tourists and expatriates from Africa, the Middle East and the West. Muslims mingle with Christians. Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs are plentiful.

And it is here that Father Andrew, an urbane man of the cloth who divides his time between journalism and the spiritual needs of his flock, is speaking from his office behind St. Anthony’s Catholic Church. He wears the same smile that he did when meeting the late Pope John Paul II–a moment captured in a photo that hangs on the wall behind his desk stands as testament.

However, Father Andrew’s patience has–along with the vast majority of Malaysians, regardless of creed–been sorely tested by the spate of fire-bombings that erupted in early January after the courts overturned the government’s three-year bid to ban non-Muslims from using the word Allah.

‘It’s unfortunate, it’s irresponsible and there’s no respect for the rights and property of others,’ he says of the attacks. ‘They should approach the proper channels and not flex their muscles on the people. It is becoming the law of the jungle right now and they should stop this.’

Lording the Law

Most were delighted by the latest legal victory. The Home Ministry, though, was irritated and hard line Islamic elements enraged.

Allah was not the only word banned. Use of ‘Kaabah’ for Islam’s holiest shrine in Mecca, ‘Solat,’ meaning prayer and ‘Baitullah’ or ‘House of God,’ were also written off for non-Muslims under the literary amendments. The ban was imposed on The Herald when its annual publishing license was renewed amid claims use of the words could lead to confusion and unintended conversions among members of the Islamic faith. This, apparently, poses a threat to national security.

But Father Andrew has remained confident over the court challenges. The ban and the reasoning behind it, he says, defy logic. He says the word Allah has remained part and parcel of religious teachings within Christian churches around the world. It was introduced to the Malay Peninsula and Borneo about 370 years ago by Arabic traders when no other word for God existed here.

This held particular ramifications for Malay-speaking indigenous tribes living in Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo, who are among the main readers of The Herald’s Malay-language edition. Catholic officials say Allah is still the only word they know for God and the government has just bowed to this, announcing an exemption to the ban for the two East Malaysian states.

‘We’ve been using this word for centuries. It’s not a new word. It’s not something we have just thought about. So that’s why we say that it’s not so much a question of language here,’ Father Andrew says, producing a Dutch-Malay-Latin dictionary published in 1631 that uses the word Allah for God.

‘It’s also a cultural heritage of our Christian people that has been challenged by prohibiting us from using the word Allah,’ he says. ‘There’s no precedent about us trying to manipulate or cheat people.’

He adds that fundamentalists within and close to government who claim the word could be used by Christians to induce conversions are simply wrong.

‘I don’t see how we are a force against the government. No, we are corroborating with the government. But there are some elements in the government and some zealots outside who think we are trying to convert, and that we are certainly not.’

Father Andrew says that although it’s against the law for any religion to interfere with the internal affairs of another, Muslim groups consistently and actively attempt to convert believers of other faiths.

‘There have been Malays who came to me and said “Father I want to become a Christian–baptize me.” And my answer to them is: “No way, we will not baptize you. You know the law of the country. We cannot convert you.”

‘Now this law of the country has been in existence for 50 years, and it is part of the constitution and we wouldn’t want to go against this constitution.’

About 60 percent of Malaysia’s 28 million people are Malay Muslims, while the rest are ethnic Chinese, Indians and indigenous tribes. The minorities follow Christianity, Hinduism and other religions.

Malaysia has kept racial tensions under control since race riots hit the country in the late 1960s. However, in the past few years, minorities have increasingly complained of government discrimination and argued that their constitutional right to practice religion freely has come under threat. They say that the nation’s Sharia court, which rules on family matters for Muslims, is unfair to them.

Further disputes in recent years have involved the demolition of Hindu temples illegally built on state-owned land and the seizing of Malay-language bibles.

The government denies any discrimination, and in a bid ensure peace, police have urged Muslims not to take part in planned street demonstrations. Meanwhile, protests by Christians in Sabah were called off because of fears of a government crackdown and claims that police were being dispatched in force.Read more.

Luke Hunt now lives in Kota Kinabalu,Sabah.

ICONOCLAST OR IDIOTS ?

HANTU LAUT
(A Secularist and Pacifist)

"Never underestimate the destructive power of stupid people I'm happy to report that we at Pedestrian Infidel are continuing to get under the skins and piss off Muslims. The honor is ours!"

That's the opening paragraph of an anti-Islamic blogger who was irked by my article 'Judaism, Christianity and Islam: Are we in compatible ?'

The article is not an affront to Judaism and Christianity and I had not the slightest intention to insult or desecrate the two religions. The article merely stated the history of Jewish persecution over the past two millennium by the Romans and later Christians. For those who don't have the stomach to digest history and accept that the human race irrespective of race, colour and creed are capable of committing injustices, atrocities and genocides, are either pretending to be ignorant or living in a state of denial of the crimes committed by their forefathers.As the Bible teaches all Christians " Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" NEW TESTAMENT, John,VIII,13.

Men of all creeds had, over the millennium, forsaken religion and God to pursue personal glory through expansion of territory, ideology and sphere of influence.Hegemonic control of countries and the people had always been through forceful means.No conquest had been achieved without bloodshed and atrocities committed on the vanquished. Alexander the Great had conquered many territories as far east as India.He had no need for such vast stretch of land, needless to say, he did it for personal glory. The Roman empire covered most countries in Europe and those around the Mediterranean. This so called civilisation had, in pursuing the expansion of its empire, committed untold atrocities on the people defeated and conquered by them.Jesus Christ, a Galilean Jew, a central figure in Christianity was accused of sedition against the Roman Empire and was crucified. He died in the most horrible way. The persecution of Jews and Christians went on for a few centuries in the Roman Empire.After 313 CE, Christianity was legalised and had become the official state religion.

When Hitler became the 'Fuhrer' in 1934 he had a vision of a great German Empire that he perceived should cover half the globe, ruled and populated only by people of unadulterated Aryan blood. His madness brought great destruction, massive loss of human lives and mass extermination of Jews in most part of Europe.In Russia, at about the same time, Stalin, killed few millions of his countrymen in the 'Great Purge', anyone who opposed or perceived to oppose him were either killed or sent to the Gulag, a forced labour camp where prisoners worked like slaves under most atrocious conditions.In Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, Pol Pot, another mad man, senselessly massacred about 2 millions of his own people, many professionals were killed to satisfy his whims of turning the country to an agrarian society.In 1994 the biggest genocide in recent time killed almost 1.0 million ethnic Tutsis in Rwanda, mostly hacked to death by Hutu militiamen in 100 days, the most efficient killing spree ever recorded. In Iraq, Saddam Hussein massacred few thousands Kurds after an attempted assassination on his life. Genocide in Darfur and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Don't you see the similarities in all of them.None of this atrocities and wars were for religion, they were for the greed of men.

I will further show how the West, which are mostly Christian populated nations were so embroiled in hypocrisy,they forgot what they preach, they don't do what they have preached.

There had been many genocides in the world where the Western powers and the United States, the self-proclaimed global policemen had closed their eyes to. The genocide in Combodia, the genocide in Rwanda, the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and the current genocide in Darfur. Where were the morally upright and caring American? Why didn't the President send his troops to stop the massacre of innocent civilians by invading the country and bring the leaders to trial and execute them like what they did to Saddam Hussein. Do the Americans love the Iraqis more than the black African ? Or was it Iraqis' oil that they love ?

America pick and choose where they want to be. Its priority is America's economic interest not human lives.The American administration don't give a damn, even if there were another holocaust as long as it does not injure the American economy.

To take the criminal actions of Osama and other terrorist organisations that shouted jihad as, teachings of the Koran, to inflict violence on Jews and Christians, is nothing but bad intention of the anti-Islamic groups to rile up the Muslims even further.Osama is not the typical Muslim, he is an outcaste, a pariah of the Islamic ummah, a mad man, who, not unlike George Bush, perceived violence as a solution to stop violence. To equate violence to Islam is a complete lack of profundity. A Western chauvinism and a misplaced self-fulfilling doctrine of superiority, the dogmas of the Western nations.

The days of miracles are over, God doesn't speak to men any more. It is man who speaks to man to do evil things.The person who strapped bomb onto his body and blow himself and other innocent people up were the product of evil man, not evil religion.

How would you, yes you!, the one that find honor to piss off Muslims and insult Mohammad, the sacred prophet of Islam, benefited from your action. Don't you think your malicious actions could worsen the problem? What do you hope to achieve by doing such derogatory task of insulting other religion ? Do you think you are any better than the mad Muslims that you are trying to incite?

JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM - ARE WE INCOMPATIBLE ?

HANTU LAUT
When Abraham's two sons went on their separate ways, he wouldn't have known, that his sons and descendants would, one day, brought to this world, three of the greatest religions and also brought the greatest human conflicts and tragedies. Jews,Christians and Muslims have been at loggerheads for over a millennium. Tragic consequences of religious intolerance resulting in religiously motivated violence, mass murder and genocide.

The three faiths share a common heritage.All three religions worship one god.Judaism and Islam originated amongst the Jews and Arabs, while Christianity came from Judaism.The youngest, which most Muslims wouldn't agree is Islam. Mohammad, the Messenger of God, the last prophet according to Islam, founded the religion around the year 610 A.D when he received his first revelation.The Koran accepted all previous prophets before Muhammad as the prophets of Islam and accepted Jews and Christians as part of the Ahl al-Kitab (People of the Book).

Islam demands that Muslims treat Jews, Christians and non-Muslims as dhimmis, protected citizens who has certain rights.In some places and times, Muslims treated non-Muslims with great tolerance;in other places and times, non-Muslims were treated as enemies and persecuted. Likewise, Christians and Jews had their fair shares of unjust treatment of Muslims.

In the Hebrew Bible (old Testament).....violence is easily the most often mentioned subject.There are about 100 passages in it where God expressly commands others to kill people.Four of this events in the Jewish Scriptures would probably qualify as genocide under most current definition of the term.

They were;

1.The worldwide flood of Noah as mentioned in Genesis ,Chapter 6 to 8.It almost completely wipe out the human race with the exception of Noah,his wife and sons and their wives.This is God's violent rage.

2.The 'Passover' described in Exodus, Chapter 11 and 12.All the first born of all Egypt were to be slaughtered.

3.The conquest of Canaan in which God ordered the Hebrews to completely exterminate the Canaanite people....from the elderly to the new born and fetuses.Described in the Book of Joshua.

4.The near extermination of the entire tribe of Benjamin by the remaining 11 tribes, triggered by the serial rape and murder of a priest's concubine by a few Benjaminite.Described in the Book of Judges, Chapter 20.

Why have three religions sharing the same roots drifted so far apart and caught in perennial conflicts, atrocities and wars.Were they due to religion or were they the results of political and ethnic conflicts, the selfishness and greed of powerful men and nations, the desire for greater hegemony and enslavement of others and to exert total control of the weak and poor nations ?

The Islamic Golden Age spanned from the middle of the 8th century to the middle of the 13th century.Scientific and intellectual achievements blossomed during that time.Scholars and engineers from the Islamic world contributed enormously to the arts, literature, philosophy, sciences and technology.Religious freedom created cross cultural network attracting Muslims, Christians and Jewish intellectuals.During the Umayyad Caliphate rule of Southern Spain, the city of Cordoba was one of the largest cities in the world, a great cultural, political and economic centre and had the highest standard of living and quality of live in the whole of Europe.It has many splendid buildings and artistic architecture.The Mezquita, a mosque built during the Umayyad period is now a World Heritage Site.This civilisation precipitated the birth of the European Renaissance.

The Jews has a long history of persecution, from the days of the Pharaohs to the end of the 2nd World War. History has shown that it wasn't the Muslims that inflicted systematic persecution of Jews.The Christians had much longer history of systematic and atrocious persecution of the Jewish people.Many genocides and ethnic cleansing were inflicted on the Jews by Christians, over the past few centuries in Europe.

Below are some of the list of Jewish persecution for almost two millennium.

70.AD: The massacre of 1,100,000 Jews and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans to quell Jewish rebellion.

132-135: The Bar Kocha rebellion.Death of 500,000 Jews, thousand taken into slavery.

315: 'Constantine the Great' established 'Christianity' as a state religion throughout the Roman Empire and issued many anti-Jewish law.

613: Persecution of Jews in Spain.All Jews who refused to be baptized were kicked out of Spain.Those who stayed were taken as slaves.All Jewish children 7 years and over were taken and given Christian education.

1181: French King Philip banished the Jews from his domain .All immovable assets such as land and houses reverted to the king.

1189:Richard the 'Lionhearted' unexpectedly persecuted the Jews.Most Jewish houses in London were burned and many Jews killed.All possessions of the Jews were claimed by the Crown.Richard's successor alone, relieved the Jews of more than 8 million marks.

1290: Edward I banished the Jews from England.16,000 Jews left the country.

1298: Persecution of Jews in Franconia,Bavaria and Austria.Nobleman Kalbfleish alleged he had received a divine order to destroy all Jews .More than 100,000 Jews were mercilessly killed.

1306: King Philip the Fair banished Jews from France, 100,000 Jews left the country.

1321: Jews were accused of having incited outlaws to poison wells and fountains in France.5000 Jews were burned at the stake.

1497:Jews banished from Spain.300,000 Jews left Spain penniless.Many migrated to Muslim country, Turkey,where they found tolerance and a welcome.

1846-78: All former restrictions against Jews in the Vatican were re-inforced by Pope Pius IX.

1903: Renewed restrictions and pogroms of Jews in Russia.

1933: Commencement of persecution of Jews by Hitler's Germany.Systematic destruction of 6 million Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe.

I will not list the Muslims persecution of Jews as they were pale compared to that of the Christians.In term of numbers, Christians have killed more Jews than the Muslims.

Why are the Jews persecuted ? Have they asked themselves where they have gone wrong to deserve such treatment? Are they so bad that others wanted to hurt them? Even Shakespeare didn't have kind words for the Jews. In 'Merchant of Venice' , a story about the fundamentals of morality, Shylock, a Jewish moneylender was portrayed as an evil man, selfish, ruthless and heartless . In his play 'Macbeth' , one of the many ingredients used by the three witches for the' witches brew' was 'the liver of a blaspheming Jew'.There was great deal of prejudice towards Jews in Shakespeare's time because Jews do not believe in Christ.

In the Umayyad kingdom of Al-Andalusa, the Caliph of Cordoba, Abd-ar-Rahman instructed his successor son, Hisham, and his government officials on the importance of tolerance towards all of his subject, Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.

"Remember, my son, these are God's kingdoms, God who gives and take away at leisure...Be just to all men, equally to the poor and the rich, for injustice is the road to ruin;at the same time be gentle and merciful with those who are dependant on you, for they are all creatures of God.Trust the government of the provinces to wise, experienced men and punish without pity those ministers who oppress the people" Abd-ar-Rahman, Caliph of Cordoba

The fair and just rule in Al-Andalusa came to an end with the Reconquista (reconquest) by the Christians that led to the Spanish Inquisition culminating in 1492.Jews and Muslims were expelled from the country, forcefully converted to Christianity, become slaves or be killed.The persecution of Jews and Muslims lasted almost 500 years before Spain gradually adopted tolerance and openness to other religions.

Today, Jews and Christians have joined forces against Islam. The war in Iraq, Afghanistan and the bombing of Lebanon are glaring example of Judeo-Christian alliance.This is an alliance of the power of money. An alliance for global dominance.A war of attrition against weak Islamic nations under the pretext of fighting terrorism.

In 1982 at Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugees camp in Lebanon the Jews used Phalangists Christian Militia to massacre and killed 3500 innocent Palestinian children, women and men that took refuge in the country. In the West Bank and other Occupied Territories, Palestinians homes were demolished or bombed, killing innocent civilians.The Occupied Territories remained occupied because America and the West support and protect Israel for the occupation and atrocities against the unarmed and defenceless Palestinians.

Terrorism came into existence in the Middle East due to the pro-Israel policy of the United States and Western European nations, which was further aggravated by the uncompromising stand taken by Israel toward the Palestinian issue. Different groups of Islamist decided to take the law into their own hands and form terror groups, as they couldn't get justice from powerful nations that control the politics and faith of other poor and weaker nations. Undeniably, America was the reason for the birth of terrorism. The powerful Jewish lobby and the immense wealth they control have greatly influenced America's policy in the Middle East. The Jewish Diasporas probably control greater wealth then those of all the OIC countries put together. The continuing injustice and atrocities against the Palestinians launched the birth of global terrorism, which has strong following in many Muslim nations.

The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq were the biggest mistake made by the American administration. These unjustifiable wars had riled up the Islamists to seek further revenge.

Has Bush, the moron in the White House, got legs to stand on to defend himself on the number of people he had killed in the wars on terror.His parochial and myopic views of the outside world, other religion and culture had made him an irrationally dangerous man.His foreign policies are kindergarten stuff, in dire need of civilised behaviour.He kept saying he has won the war on terror.Has he ? Then why are innocent Iraqi civilians dying in the streets of Baghdad every day.Why built a huge fortress in the centre of Baghdad for his diplomatic mission if he truly believes he has won the war and Iraq is safe. He protects his own citizens and accorded them all the luxuries of life in a war zone sheltered inside an armoured fortress while outside Iraqis get killed by terrorists or American bombs and guns. Indubitably, George Bush is a god-fearing Christian. He is a man of the Bible and truly believes in 'an eye for an eye'.

Isn't his killing machines more efficient than those of the terrorists ? How many more people he would like to kill, to avenge those killed at the World Trade Centre in New York before he stops.It was estimated, at least, 500,000 Iraqis have been killed since the Gulf War started. He has made a mockery of the meaning of the word 'freedom'.Guantanamo Bay, where prisoners are detained without trial and stripped of their civil liberties broke all the rules of the Law of Protection of Human Rights.He cheated his American people and failed his nation as the epitome of freedom.

Should Bush, Blair and Howard be called Christian terrorists? Don't you think they deserve the name and more, as war criminals ?

The violence done by Muslims all over the world had nothing to do with Islam. They are the products of imams, mullahs and other so-called Muslims experts who are utterly confused and conveniently misinterpreted the religion to serve their own purpose.