“Madonna Targeted by Muslim Fanatics” Story Scrutinised

Four days after the Sun ran its notorious “Terror Target Sugar” front-page splash, the following article appeared in the People:

Madonna Gaza

As with the Alan Sugar article, the evidence that Madonna faced a terror threat in relation to Gaza was culled from postings to a Muslim discussion forum:

On the notorious Islambase site, a Palestinian terror leader says: “If I meet these whores I will have the honor to be the first one to cut the head off Madonna if they will keep spreading their satanic culture against Islam.”

The vile threat was made by Muhammad Abdel-Al, leader of the Popular Resistance Committees – a fringe group of Palestinian militia who have launched thousands of rocket attacks on Israel.

 Another misspelt rant on Islambase says: “What can be done to stop kuffars like maddona supporting the killing in Gaza?”

On another site called Ummah a fanatic naming himself Hammed10 writes: “Madonna is a disgrace.

“She insults us with her slutty behaviour and then she insults us further with her love of the Jewish kuffar non-Muslims.

“Some brothers were talking about what to do about this the other day on another site. I don’t want to say too much on here. But you can pm me send a private message.”

Unity at Ministry of Truth points out that the comment by Abdel-Al is actually a 2007 quote, given to WorldNetDaily‘s Aaron Klein in response to a question about how he would run America, and was not connected to any particular new development concerning Gaza. However, Unity has also dug much deeper and discovered that the postings to the two Muslim forums are deeply suspicious. In particular:

In all, Hammed10 made only five posts on Ummah’s forum, all on this one thread and all from an account that had been registered on the same day that this thread appeared (9th January).

In fact, on close examination of the full thread, it transpires that, but for a single comment at the very end of the thread by ‘Ibn Sina’, all the comments on this thread that were critical of Madonna, including Hammed10’s comment, came from new accounts that had been registered on same day that the thread appeared… Email and IP address information… indicates that all four of these accounts, which were all registered on 9 January, all supplied false email addresses and made use of anonymity services/software to conceal their real IP address and, therefore, their location and the internet service provider they were using.

Unity then casts an eye over Paul Ray’s blog – on the same day, Ray posted that he was also under threat from extremists on Ummah. Unity notes:

There is no evidence to show that that comment was ever posted on Ummah.com’s forums prior to its appearance on Ray’s blog. However, within a few hours of Ray posting that article, a link to it was posted to the forum at Ummah,com, along with its full text,  using the username ‘aljih’. Once again, this was a newly registered account and the post relating to Ray’s article was this users first and only post on the forum. However, what makes this user of particular interest is the fact that their one and only post was made from the same IP address that had been used, earlier, by Umm_765, one of the would-be agent provocateurs on the Madonna thread.

Unity’s discussion of the evidence goes into much further detail. He goes on to note that the People journalist responsible for the Madonna story, Daniel Jones, received an email from Patrick Mercer MP’s office in March offering him information derived from Glen Jenvey, who was responsible for the fake Alan Sugar story. Remarkably, this was after Jenvey’s faking had been brought to public attention by Tim Ireland of Bloggerheads and had featured both in the Guardian and Private Eye.

Unity also notes interest in Islambase from our old friend Dominic Wightman. There is no suggestion here that Wightman was involved in planting bogus messages on this site, although he certainly did post a fake document on-line somewhere else in an attempt to deceive Tim and me into writing about someone against whom he has a grudge (this is not a matter of argument: he has admitted to it, justifying his actions as some kind of undercover action  against us as “lefties”). Patrick Mercer has distanced himself from Jenvey – indeed, he has gone so far as to suggest that his office never worked with Jenvey, which is manifestly untrue. However, he has not yet said anything publicly about Dominic Wightman, whom he also endorsed and with whom he posed for a photograph outside New Scotland Yard. It should be noted that Wightman has recently berated Tim and me for getting information on IP addresses from Ummah.com – he believes that it is a sign of a “Red Black Alliance” of Muslim extremists and leftwingers. Clearly, this is an avenue of research that he’s keen to discourage.

Unity also gives link to a January 2008 article on Wightman’s Westminster Journal website, that is of particular interest to me. Here’s an extract:

The residue of the now banned British-based radical Islamist groups, Al Muhajiroun, the Saved Sect and Al Ghurabaa currently use the website Islambase to congregate when Omar Bakri’s cyber mosque on Paltalk is closed. The site is full of “fake jihadi” chatter and members’ whimsical sighing about their brothers (and some sisters) who are now locked up in jail.

The site was part of a December 2007 investigation by a team of Russian hackers, who entered several extremist Islamist sites around the world. Using their manipulated version of eBlaster they recorded the key strokes of certain users of these extremist sites for up to several days. Those users who clicked on the Russians’ links and entered the websites at certain times fell into their clever traps.

… Islambase’s Hamza… shows himself to be the least likely pure Islamist…After seventeen minutes on Strangeland, he goes for something even more hardcore on a site called Puretna. Clicking on “TNAFlix full length streaming porn movies for free!!!”

In the same month that this was published, a one-post only blog was created by someone going  by the name “James Osposol”, and with the username “Rosposol”. “Rosposol”, interestingly, is a word used in the official email addresses of Russian embassies. The site, now removed, pasted in a chunk of material from my blog, and added the intro:

“Hi, I’m Bartholomew and you can find me doing what i do best here…”

This was followed with a link to a pornographic video on TNAFlix, featuring an actor who perhaps could look a bit like me. More recently, another attack blog has made fun of a supposed physical similarity between myself and the vicar from Dad’s Army. However, Wightman has assured me that he had nothing to do with the “Osposol” blog. The name of “James Osposol” was brought to my attention by investigators at Spinwatch, who found the name in correspondence relating to VIGIL [UPDATE: And for those curious about the video, I’ve captured a safe-for-work screenshot of the actor’s face here] .

24 Responses

  1. Maybe those bomb-throwing ‘jihadists’ came from these training camps?

    Al-Fayçal summed up the report in a very short and succinct manner: ‘Ennahar, the Algerian daily, asserted that the Jewish State is recruiting al-Qaeda Islamists in Europe who originated in the Maghreb (the Maghreb, or the Western part of Africa, is considered to encompass the countries of Morocco, Tunisia, Lybia and Algeria) and providing them with training in Israeli camps, in order to use them in terrorist attacks next summer.’

    http://www.examiner.com/x-2086-Foreign-Policy-Examiner~y2009m4d17-Breaking-News-Algerian-daily-confirms-Mossad-training-camps-for-alQaida?cid=email-this-article

    How far will certain NeoCONs and Zionists go to keep America fighting ‘Wars for Wall Street and Israel?’

    We found that out on 9/11.

    Why bother with Madonna? If you’re pissed at her, the best thing one could do to a vain narcissist is to let them age and be trapped in the shell of the formerly cute.

  2. So you trust an Algerian newspaper – described only as an “Algerian daily” to accurately report what those “evil Zionists” are getting up to?

    Pur-lease.

    Methinks people see only what they want to see (well, if “The Sixth Sense” movie is right about dead people….)

    Your obvious contempt for Israel and “Zionists” seems to colour your notions of truth. And do I detect a smidgeon of anti-Semitism?

    Remember how tolerant and even-handed the Algerian establishment is – punishing Christians for “illegally worshipping”.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7433869.stm

    Why do leftists complain about anything that America or Israel does (even to the extent of believing bullshit) but remain silent when it comes to the abuses of basic rights that are carried out in Islamic regimes.

    Cultural relativism? Or a deep-seated hatred of one’s own culture and traditions?

    • “Why do leftists complain about anything that America or Israel does (even to the extent of believing bullshit) but remain silent when it comes to the abuses of basic rights that are carried out in Islamic regimes.”

      Isn’t America silent when it comes to the abuses of basic rights that are carried out in Islamic regimes like Saudi Arabia? Why is the right silent when America or Israel commits human rights abuses (the Gaza war report)? When people do they automatically get branded as an anti-Semitic even when they are Jewish (like Richard Goldstone).

      • There is certainly a political disconnect from reality – made by governments re: Saudi Arabia. After the affair of Saudi Prince Bandar (who was former ambassador to the US) apparently threatening Britain with suggestions that unless corruption investigations were halted, his country would not inform Britain of upcoming terror attacks (see the article linked below), perhaps one can see why governments do not criticise Saudi Arabia.

        http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/15/bae.armstrade

        After all, Bandar’s (alleged) threats emerged in the BaE Eurofighter deal, but Britain, USA all need Saudi oil. And sadly, he who pays the piper calls the tune.

        It stinks, I don’t agree with it, but political “pragmatism” allows this to happen. Thatcher did it openly.

        Are you old enough to remember when ITV showed a dramatised documentary called “Death of a Princess”? About the official honour killing ordered by a senior Saudi against a female relative and her boyfriend?

        http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1084444/index.html
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_a_Princess

        The Saudis got their abayas in a twist and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sent Lord Carrington scuttling over to grovel in front of the House of Al Saud, and offer, on behalf of the British nation, an APOLOGY.

        For something shown on ITV!

        The Iron Lady must have developed some rust in her gusset…… Sadly, this is how the Saudis get away with things.

  3. “And do I detect a smidgeon of anti-Semitism?”

    You may detect one, but you’d be mistaken in doing so.

    Glad to be of service.

    • So you are Greg Bacon’s, attorney, amanuensis, character witness, representative on Earth?

      If so, I am curious too about Greg Bacon’s comment about 9/11 and wonder if he also supports the “theory” that “it was Mossad that done it.”

      Perhaps you could could extend the good service to also answer this question on his behalf?

      • *Slaps wrist*

        I’m sorry, Adrian, I wasn’t reading carefully enough, and thought you were commenting on Barth’s article. Apologies.

      • (Naturally, I withdraw the “mistaken” comment…and, grudgingly, the condescension.)

  4. Hey – apologies accepted.

    The English language is so open to misinterpretation. It is a shame really – as the story that Richard presents is bizarre and fascinating. It is also a shame that the comments have been diverted away from the original theme of the article.

    Maybe Richard’s mention of someone resembling himself in a porn movie has sent people’s minds racing at high speed to other things (sorry Richard, I am sure you would make an admirable porn star).

  5. And do I detect a smidgeon of anti-Semitism?

    Please, that worn out canard has been used so many times it no longer has any meaning.

    Anytime anyone starts digging up some 9/11 Truth, Zionists and Israeli-Firsters start screaming ‘anti-Semitism.’

    Why?

    A majority of the 9/11 Commission members said they were lied to by the feds; had crucial evidence withheld and couldn’t interview some of the wiitnesses they wanted and that basically, the ‘official’ 9/11 story is a sham and that the investigation needs to be re-opened.

    So are they ‘anti-Semitic? And if so, why?

    If the official 9/11 story is the gospel truth, then why are there so many lies, falsehoods and diversions from the truth?

    Why did Bush and Cheney fight against any 9/11 investigation until the cry for that became too great to ignore, then only testify to the commission behind closed doors, and refuse to be under oath or allow notes to be taken?

    If you want to actually educate yourself on 9/11, here’s an article worth reading.

    Fifty questions on 9/11

    1) How come dead or not dead Osama bin Laden has not been formally indicted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as responsible for 9/11? Is it because the US government – as acknowledged by the FBI itself – has not produced a single conclusive piece of evidence?

    2) How could all the alleged 19 razor-blade box cutter-equipped Muslim perpetrators have been identified in less than 72 hours – without even a crime scene investigation?

    3) How come none of the 19’s names appeared on the passenger lists released the same day by both United Airlines and American Airlines?

    4) How come eight names on the “original” FBI list happened to be found alive and living in different countries?

    http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KI11Ak02.html

    • These “questions”, designed to promote conspiracy theories, are not helpful. Many of the supposed anomalies around 9/11 have been debunked in detail, and in fact wouldn’t have even come to attention as questions in the first place if an overarching conspiracy were in place.

  6. Thanks for the link to the Asia Times “article”, but I am afraid that I do not feel at all “educated” by it. Usually education requires some presentation of facts, rather than a list of 50 questions. It is normally the task of the person being educated to ask questions, not to be asked to provide answers to questions that themselves are based upon questionable assertions.

    Numbed by the fiftyfold repetition of interrogatives and desperately seeking substance – or least a “narrative” that made sense – I looked for relevant links to guide me to some authoritative and factual presentations of arguments.

    There were none. So all the questions did nothing more than state: “Hey — why no this? Why no that?”

    Such paranoid ramblings do not make a case for anything. In essay structure, questions are a good way of presenting topics, as long as the author then guides the reader to the answers, or at least an argument that attempts to answer the questions presented.

    So I am sorry Greg, I am not enlightened, only bizarrely confused (once again) as to what Asia Times is really about. Sometimes it presents some valid and informative articles, and at other times it presents bilge. And that article fits neatly into the latter category. Its nervy, paranoiac style reads like the agitated ramblings of someone who has fried his or her neural circuits with too much amphetamine or cocaine.

    Maybe it is me. Perhaps I should go and revisit sites dealing with Groom Lake, Area 53, anal probes and Roswell to get myself into the right mindset to believe six (or fifty) impossible things before breakfast.

    • Sorry, I should have typed Area 51….. I must brush up on my alien conspiracy theories. After all, they make terrestrial conspiracy theories seem almost credible by comparison.

  7. Re: Death of a Princess – I was slightly too young, but I know of it. In the USA, Warren Christopher tried to have the programme pulled. The awfulness of the Saudi regime is the one issue that unites everyone except the political establishment – publishers and authors affected by UK libel threats range from the left-wing Pluto Press through to the neo-Conservative Rachel Ehrenfield.

    • What makes the Saudi situation worse is that it has no codified laws. Iran may break international agreements about hanging minors, but on its own terms it does have a legal system and a set of laws that are enforced to the letter, and perhaps over-enforced.

      But Saudi Arabia – with no written code, allows travesties of justice. On November 2, 2007, pharmacist Mustafa Ibrahim was decapitated at Riyadh for the impossible crime of sorcery.

      Fawzah Falih, a Jordanian woman, was sentenced to death for witchcraft in early 2008. Many campaigns were made to attempt to gin clemency for her, but now her fate remains unknown.

      http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd%5B157%5D=x-157-560543
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawza_Falih

    • “The awfulness of the Saudi regime is the one issue that unites everyone except the political establishment –”

      It’s a shame to see you write such a thing.

      I’m Saudi, and whatever faults the Saudi government has, most Saudis seem content with it and live their loves happily.

      The thing that does bother most of us is its foreign policy, but I’ve a feeling that that is the one thing that the West actuallylikes about the Saudi government.

  8. […] 28 January. Mercer’s office ignored all this, and was offering Jenvey-sourced tabloid fodder to the People as late as March. Only towards the end of March did Mercer admit he may have been duped, after […]

  9. […] for Patrick Mercer MP, who endorsed Jenvey and whose office passed materials from Jenvey both to newspapers and to the Home […]

  10. […] Target Sugar” Glen Jenvey fiasco and the “Madonna Targeted by Muslim Fanatics” non-story, one is strongly advised to consider whether the “chatter” is anything more than some […]

  11. […] (I should disclose that I have occasional contact of my own with the people who run Spinwatch, and they were helpful in relation to events I blogged here and here.) […]

  12. […] on postings taken from on-line discussion forums, and were deeply problematic. In the case of the Madonna story, Unity at Ministry of Truth noted that the postings cited came from newly-created accounts that […]

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