Bartholomew's Notes

Once again, WorldNetDaily stretches the meaning of the word “exclusive”: Jerusalem correspondent Aaron Klein has read the website of hawkish pro-Israel lobby group CAMERA, and found there a press release attacking a CNN documentary that covered Jewish extremism:

CNN special series airing this week entitled “God’s Warriors” – produced and anchored by the network’s chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour – is “one of the most grossly distorted programs” ever aired on mainstream American television, according to a media watchdog report.

…Tuesday’s segment started off comparing “Jewish terrorists” to that of Muslims, specifically focusing on the few instances of violence or attempted violence by religiously motivated Jews against Muslims. It told the story of Baruch Goldstein, an American-born Israeli physician who killed 29 Arabs in the West Bank city of Hebron in 1994. Goldstein’s actions were widely condemned by Israelis and worldwide Jewry. The organization he was a part of was outlawed in Israel.

States the CAMERA report: “While in reality Jewish ‘terrorism’ is virtually non-existent, the program magnifies at length the few instances of [Jewish] violence” comparing it to “violent jihadist Muslim campaigns” when indeed there is no such comparison “either in numbers of perpetrators engaged or in the magnitude of death and destruction wrought.”

However, although “the organization [Goldstein] was a part of was outlawed”, its members are still politically active, and indeed some of them are Klein’s favourite contacts. One of these, David Ha’ivri, features in the Amanpour programme:

We have our own God-given law. The law is called the Torah. The Torah gives us answers to — to all aspects of life…The Arabs have 22 of their own countries. If they want democratic rights, let them go and seek democracy in their own countries.

As for a failed 2002 bomb plot against a Palestinian girls’ school:

I make no judgment. I think that war is an ugly thing.

This cold-blooded attitude may come as a bit of a shock for anyone whose view of the conflict is informed by Klein – from his reports, one would think that Ha’ivri is simply a pious Jew who wants to pray on the Temple Mount (Incidentally, Ha’ivri has made visits to the USA, and in 2004 he was hosted by Americans for a Safe Israel, which has liaised closely with Christian Zionist groups).

Klein has also had other cozy contacts with Kahanists, some of whom have praised the Goldstein massacre. The most egregious example is probably Yekutel Ben Ya’acov, whom Klein describes as a “northern Samaria resident”; Ben Ya’acov, who used to be known as Mike Guzovsky, is a notorious Kahanist who has praised Goldstein’s “love for the Jewish people”.

In 2000, the BBC noted pilgrimages to Goldstein’s grave:

Militant Jews have gathered at the grave of Baruch Goldstein to celebrate the sixth anniversary of his massacre of Muslim worshippers in Hebron.

…Israeli extremists continue to pay homage at his grave in the nearby Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, where a marble plaque reads: “To the holy Baruch Goldstein, who gave his life for the Jewish people, the Torah and the nation of Israel.”

About 10,000 people had visited the grave since the massacre, Mr [Baruch] Marzel said.

The ineffectually-“outlawed” Kahanists also praised Goldstein on the tenth anniversary of his death:

Extreme right-wing activists of the outlawed Kach party this weekend celebrated the tenth anniversary of Baruch Goldstein’s 1994 massacre of 29 Palestinian worshipers in Hebron.

During the Purim holiday ten years ago, Goldstein murdered 29 Muslims during a prayer service at the Cave of the Patriarchs before being overcome and killed by the angry worshipers. Memorial services for Goldstein were held Saturday morning at Kiryat Arba and Hebron synagogues, and sextons called him “a saintly person,” Maariv reported.

In private conversations, many praised Goldstein’s act, saying he “did the right thing,” the newspaper said. Red wine bearing Goldstein’s name was handed out to synagogue members. On the bottle’s label, it was written, “A wine that won 29 awards,” according to the number of Palestinians Goldstein killed, Maariv reported.

Aaron Klein, meanwhile, has sought to downplay Goldstein’s act of mass murder; following the 2005 shooting at Shfaram (in which a rogue Israeli soldier, to use Klein’s preferred terminology, “killed” four “Arabs”, before being in turn “murdered” by “Palestinians”), he grudgingly gave some background details:

[Eden Natan] Zada’s hometown of Tapuach is well-known for its high-profile activist residents, most of whom are former members of the Kahane-Chai movement and its various off-shoots. Rabbi Meir Kahane, assassinated in New York in 1990, was founder of the Jewish Defense League. Kach and Kahane Chai, the Israeli branches of his organization, were outlawed in 1994 following statements in support of Baruch Goldstein, a Kach member who carried out a shooting attack against Arabs at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron.

No mention of any fatalities. No doubt that’s the kind of “undistorted” reporting of which CAMERA would approve.

For further details about Klein’s methods, see this article at ConWebWatch.

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Also: Pope is Catholic

Several days after Vladimir Putin’s decision to send long-range nuclear bombers on long-range patrol in the Pacific and Atlantic, Interfax adds a detail:

The Russian Orthodox Church gave some particles of St. Alexander Nevsky’s relics to the chapel of the headquarters of the long range air force…The ceremony…was led by Patriarch Alexy II’s vicar Bishop Amvrosy of Bronnitsy.

The bishop greeted the long range air force on the occasion of recommencement patrolling faraway regions and the fifth anniversary of dedication of St. Elijah’s Chapel at the headquarters.

The report adds that all the bombers are blessed by the church, and that the chapel already contains a relic of St Theodore Ushakov (var. Theodore Ouchakoff); Ushakov was an admiral of the Napoleonic era who captured Ionia from the French and who was noted for his piety and periods spent in monasteries.

Last week, Alexy praised Russia’s recent submarine visit to the North Pole, which was undertaken to bolster Russian claims over the area:

‘It was the first time that a Russian expedition, having reached the North Pole, made a 13,000ft dive and set a Russian flag on the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. Thereby they rose our country’s prestige and demonstrated unique features of our underwater machines and professionalism of the crew…This expedition proves that Russia is rightfully called a great polar power,’

(Name variations: Theodore Ouchakoff; Theodore Ouchakov; Theodore Ushakov; Fedor Ouchakoff; Fedor Ouchakov; Fedor Ushakov; Fyodor Ouchakoff; Fyodor Ouchakov; Fyodor Ushakov; Feodor Ouchakoff; Feodor Ouchakov; Feodor Ushakov)

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Calls for media censorship, deportation of journalist, arrests, dismissal of academic

A few weeks ago I blogged on the case of Julius Lukyamuzi, a Ugandan who alleges that he suffered years of sexual abuse at the hands of Grace Kitaka, a Pentecostal pastor. Kitaka’s alleged activities were allegedly covered up by Pastor Imelda Kula, one of the country’s most famous Pentecostal preachers. At the end of my piece, I wrote that

If the charges against Kitaka stick, there will hopefully be some questions about why she was not willing to deal with a “scourge” closer to home – and one that could have been dealt with without recourse to supernatural means. However, in the notoriously homophobic Uganda, it is just as likely that a conviction would be used to fuel a panic concerning “gays”, rather than to assess the problem of sexual predators among an unaccountable clergy.

In fact, I was only half-right; over the past two months Uganda has been rocked – and entertained – by accounts of pastorly misconduct that rival the events of 1987 in the USA. However, the anti-gay backlash has also now come into being:

CHRISTIANS opposed to homosexuality will hold a rally today, just days after gays addressed a news conference for the first time demanding respect for their rights.

…Pastor Martin Sempa, a key organiser of the event, told reporters yesterday that the rally is a direct reaction to the gay community’s quest for equal rights.

…The rally theme is, A Call for Action on Behalf of the Victims of Homosexuality. “It is a crisis before us because people are suffering, seeking for justice and are confused of their gender; they do not know what to do after being sodomized and molested,” Pastor Sempa said.

Sempa’s website can be seen here. As with similar anti-gay campaigns in Jerusalem and Moscow, the rally has brought the faiths together – the event was “organized by a coalition of Christian, Muslim and Bahai groups”.

The protestors – who call themselves the “Interfaith Rainbow Coalition” – have one particular target for their hate, a 22-year-old American journalist working as intern on the Daily Monitor named Katherine Roubos:

“We people of Uganda have values. If this lady cannot respect them then she had better be deported,” said Eddie Semakula, a member of the coalition. “She is advocating for the rights of homosexuals in a paper that is read by children even. We must protect our children.”

Roubos’ dire threat to children can be seen here. Highlights:

LESBIAN, gay, bisexual, and transgender Ugandans held their first-ever press conference at Speke Hotel yesterday to launch a media campaign to advocate for their rights.

A rainbow banner declaring “God created us like this, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI), Let Us Live In Peace” hung above the row of seven panelists, some of whom wore elaborate masks to hide their identity.

…A man wearing a mask, and a name card with the alias “Douglas,” condemned the brutality and corruption of police treatment of LGBTI people. “The goal of the police is to protect all people within the borders of Uganda,” he said. “It is not legal for the police to beat or bribe people.”

However, LGBTI people report that police have repeatedly demanded sexual favours or personal bribes in exchange for release from custody. “This is not protecting Ugandans, it is threatening people for profit. That is certainly not within the law,” exclaimed Douglas.

Sempa makes his case on this webpage (note the Fred Phelps-inspired logo), which is part of the official website of the Kobs Rugby team (their stadium was the location for the rally):

The Monitor Publication has in the recent past run many stories, which are well intended to promote homosexuality. Some of the recent stories include  “Lesbians demand their rights”, “Why police is not arresting homosexuals” which ran 11th August, 07 and “Homosexuals demand their place in society” 17th of August.

These propaganda stories, which have mostly worked in the service of homosexuality, have been written by two writers. Katherine Roubos an American who is listed on the internet as a president of a homosexual organization based in the United States called Querillas. She is helped by Val Kalende who is also listed as a Lesbian leader for two homosexual propaganda groups, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) and Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG) as listed on the homosexual internet site (OutRage).

It is terrible that this newspaper is being used by two people to promote a criminal behavior in the country. It is important that government takes appropriate action to ensure that the issue of homosexuality is not covered by homosexuals who are bent on giving Ugandans one side of the story.  This is not journalism, rather it is criminal propaganda.

A call for media censorship follows, along with a denunciation “Sylvia Tamale of Makerere University whose teachings on gender in faculty of Law and public statement have been used as propaganda for homosexuality, abortion and prostitution.”

Also supporting the demonstration was Nsaba Buturo, the Minister for Ethic and Integrity, who backed the call for censorship:

Addressing the rally, ethics and integrity minister Nsaba Buturo said the Government would not change its anti-gay stand.

“God created Adam and Eve and urged them to go and reproduce. He did not command Paul to wed John or Maria to live with Esther and have children,” he said, drawing applause.

The Government, Buturo added, will not tolerate anyone who lures others into lesbianism and homosexuality.

“They should not be allowed to pursue an agenda of indoctrinating our children to homosexuality,” he said.

He cautioned the media against promoting gay interests. “Must press freedom be used to undermine one of the cardinal provisions of the laws?”

He said the Government was investigating reports that homosexuals had spread their influence to schools and that some victims had died.

In July, Buturo responded to a constitutional challenge to a police raid on two lesbians by opining that

…the plaintiffs “suffered under the false notion that homosexuality can be a human rights issue” and cautioned that “next time, they will say bestiality should be a human right.”

We’ve come across Buturo before; his previous efforts to protect Uganda have included banning The Vagina Monologues on the grounds that “the idea was to promote lesbianism and glorify the vagina – even elevating it to god-like status.”

(Name variations: Martin Ssempa, Nasaba Botoro)

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…explored at Talk to Action.

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Christian Zionist wants Dome of the Rock destroyed

David Brog is the (non-Christian) Executive Director of Christians United for Israel. Back in May there was a bit of a controversy when it was noted that the CUFI website carried a logo which showed a view of Jerusalem from which the Dome of the Rock was missing. Brog expressed surprise when this was pointed out, and had the picture replaced with an undoctored one which included the world-renowned 1,300-year-old architectural masterpiece. Brog explained that

“If there is any doubt, I didn’t want that picture…I don’t want people to be able to attribute to us an agenda that does not exist. We were looking for a pretty picture of Jerusalem and nothing more.”

Also that month, Brog was part of a “Night to Honor Israel” in Wisconsin:

CUFI Regional Director Billye Brim and CUFI Executive Director David Brog brought the audience to their feet with their messages of solidarity between Christians and Jews.

Now, at Talk to Action, Bruce Wilson has found a couple of audio excerpts in which Billye Brim talks about her views concerning the Dome of the Rock. First, from the high-profile 17 July Night to Honor Israel, in Washington D.C. (which I blogged on here):

Yerushalayim, in Yerushalayim there is a hill, where Abraham offered Isaac, Moriah, the Temple Mount. On that hill there is a rock [Dramatic pause] where a holy arch stood. Today there’s a dome over the rock. [Dramatic pause] God has a plan for that hill.

But what is the plan? Bruce extracts another Brim sermon:

We’ll see it come down. Lots of other people have prayed it, God’s put it all together. We just happen to be the ones that were there on November the ninth, the date of Kristallnacht, the date that the Berlin Wall fell over, and he had us there. And he had us saying “that Dome is coming down!” [ululation] Hallelujah, Glory be to God! Bless the name of Jesus.

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A few months ago I wrote a blog entry on VIGIL, an anti-Islamist organisation which was used as a source for a BBC Newsnight report on Islamic extremism in the UK. As much as I applaud serious journalistic efforts to explore this subject, Newsnight’s reliance on this shadowy organisation was troubling, and a bit of googling led one to conclude that the group was rather weird. Now VIGIL has launched a website, with some silly James Bond-type graphics and a section called “corrections”. Alas, this gives further cause to be sceptical of group’s judgement and credibility:

Following the humiliation of infiltration and exposure by VIGIL in the autumn of 2006, Hizb ut Tahrir Britain issued a shabby blog document entitled “VIGIL Exposed”…They claimed that VIGIL was a Zionist conspiracy to paint them in a bad light.

The blog itself – which was short-lived – can be seen here. Clearly the blog’s author dislikes VIGIL, but there is no reason to believe that she is a member of HuT, or even a Muslim. Without evidence, we can only conclude that the VIGIL author – most likely Dominic Whiteman – either (a) throws around accusations of membership of HuT indiscriminately or (b) realises that an organisation which wishes to present itself as a global anti-terrorist spy agency tends to look silly by getting so exercised over “a shabby blog”. Further, the blog makes no mention of “a Zionist conspiracy”, although it does note that Glen Jenvey, who has been closely linked with VIGIL, is a “defender of Zionism”. In fact, that’s putting it mildly – Jenvey set up a fake Islamist website, which he then replaced with the following message:

There is just one way to achieve a lasting peace and have an end to terror in the middle east. The entire Muslim Ummah must realize:

There is no such thing as a ‘Palestinian.’ There never was. It is a PR fiction, a Madison Avenue fantasy. There is no ‘intifada,’ El Aksa or otherwise. There is a Philistine Authority Pogrom, both against Jews and Arabs, by Arafat and his thugs. The main victims are the resident Arabs themselves. There is actually one reference in the Qur’an to the Palestinian People – and that is the Philistines,” – Shaykh Abdul Hadi Palazzi

Israel belongs to the Jews – because Allah gave that land to them – why, because the Philistines won’t act like decent human beings – and only decent humans deserve their own country. If the Philistines don’t like it, they should just find somewhere else to live. Except no other country on earth wants to have them because they are not acting like decent human beings.

And Kashmir belongs to the Indians – for the same reasons.

However, VIGIL is now stressing that Jenvey is not part of the organisation:

…Glen Jenvey is not a member of VIGIL, although VIGIL has worked with him in the past with an online investigation into Al Muhajiroun in the UK.

Moving on:

…VIGIL has been linked with the group IC HUMINT. “IC HUMINT is the parent organization of VIGIL” has been said. This is incorrect. IC HUMINT is a stand-alone anti terrorist entity based out of the United States and the Netherlands and VIGIL is not owned by IC HUMINT, nor shares any members with IC HUMINT. The two groups have never worked together in the past.

VIGIL would like to point out that IC HUMINT does a great job and looks like a very impressive operation.

This is most curious, given the announcement which was posted on the IC HUMINT website until shortly after the Newsnight programme:

The VIGIL network is a large non-profit, non-political network of former intelligence officers, anti-terrorist operatives and proven private terror trackers united in one (mostly online) offensive strategy against the Islamic extremists threatening the planet right now. VIGIL was formed consequent to the 7/7 attacks on London.

…Now the VIGIL Group has found its place within the IC-HUMINT network to strenghten and extend both our service!

Dominic Whiteman, Director of VIGIL

So did IC HUMINT make this up, or what?

Elsewhere on the VIGIL website, there is an illustration of the “VIGIL structure”:

4 DIRECTORS
J Lewis (Americas)
D Whiteman (Europe)
A Zahra (Middle East)
M Chen (Asia)

DEMARCATED UNITS
(Up to 12 individuals per unit)

TRANSLATION TEAM
(Bangkok)

Meanwhile, the IC HUMINT website appears to have cleaned itself up a bit, removing a remarkable account of its origins as a group of people who

formed an alliance to establish a global network to form an army to fight the Evil-World to come and to serve for the glory of Jerusalem, the city of GOD

This was followed with

Shalom Jerusalem, holy city of GOD! We are in service of the Mighty one. For there is but one God and only him we shall serve.

That’s all gone – instead, the site now emphasises the work of an American private military researcher named Gerard (Jerry) Keenan, who is apparently available for hire. There is also a list of associate members, although “only those that have requested to be included” are provided. The list includes the SAS, the Israeli Defence Forces, and British Intelligence. The site also still states that it is “Crown Copyright”.

Very peculiar.

UPDATE: The above story presaged an extensive saga, beginning in 2009; see here for further details.

Also, here’s a screenshot of the website (which is now long-gone):

Two of the photos incorporated into this screenshot also appear on other sites. The photo used for “J Lewis” is a stock image, and can be seen here as a sample on a website for Kodak Professional Digital Enhancement; according to Wayback, it has been there since at least October 2005.  The picture of the supposed “M Chen” appeared on a dating site during 2006.

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Haaretz has a lengthy article on Scientology in Israel (link added):

…”The Way to Happiness: A Common-Sense Guide to Better Living” is an innocent-looking publication, with a dove and an olive branch on the cover, and 21 precepts inside: Take care of yourself, have self-control, set a good example, do not murder, don’t do anything illegal, be worthy of trust and more.

The messages are Hubbard’s, the distribution of the booklet in Israel is via the Association for Prosperity and Security in the Middle East, which also offers free talks to children and adults. Two weeks ago the booklet was distributed in a summer camp at Kibbutz Nachsholim, which is under Education Ministry supervision…

The Education Ministry said in response that it ordered the camp closed down and that “at no stage was the booklet ‘The Way to Happiness’ authorized by anyone in the ministry.” That is not accurate.

In 2002, Limor Livnat, the education minister at the time, wrote a letter to the chairman of the association, Danny Vidislavski, congratulating him and noting that the booklet was a tool for activity and for contributing to an atmosphere of violence prevention in schools.

YNet had a bit more detail, back in June:

“A guide comes and engages the children in hour-long activities, focusing on respect and caring for others, how to treat one another, and mutual help,” explained Victoria Lischinski, director of the association’s summer camp division.

Lischinski told Ynet that these activities have been available at summer camps for four years, adding that some camps work with the association on a regular basis.

Regarding the association’s connection to the Church of Scientology, Lischinski said, “We have nothing to do with Scientology … I personally am not that connected to them and I don’t really know what Scientology is.”

Lischinski mentioned a letter of approval by former Education Minister Limor Livnat in 2001, and said she was unfamiliar with any prohibition of the association’s activities by the Education Ministry since then.

The text of the letter became news in 2002, when a parent complained about the booklet being given to his daughter at school. The school head sent it to the father:

“Greetings. This is to confirm receipt of your letter and the enclosed booklet, ‘The Way to Happiness,’ noted for its importance in educating youth about violence prevention. Violence is a scourge that must be uprooted. It does not and shall not have a place in the school system, and we will fight it tirelessly. Please accept my congratulations on this project. Yours, Limor Livnat.”

In the margins, the school principal added a “reassuring” message to the father: “Pursuant to your questions and concern, I am enclosing a recommendation from the education minister that this booklet be used as a tool for fostering an atmosphere of violence prevention. Yours, Yardena Cohen.”

Dan Vidislavski, however, denied the booklet was linked to Scientology, despite having been written by Hubbard:

“That’s correct, but so what? He also once wrote science fiction books. Are they Scientology, too?”

The new Haaretz piece has a full account of Scientology in Israel, and the religion’s recent purchase of a theatre in Jaffa:

Donors to the building project include international artist Michal Rovner, [opera singer] Gaby Sade, Dorit Gabay and her daughter and Miriam Soglowek (wife of Soglowek Industries’ shareholder and Scientologist Hanan Soglowek).

As for Hanan Soglowek:

He stepped down from management of the family business in Shlomi seven years ago, after being accused of pressuring employees to join the Church of Scientology. He denied the allegations at the time. At about the same time, he distributed 2,800 copies of Hubbard’s “The Way to Happiness” to Jewish and Arab residents of the Galilee, explaining that the booklet was known for its conciliatory virtues: He credited the publication with improving the situation in Kosovo.

Vidislavski picked up the baton; an undated report from the Scientology Freedom website has further details:

“When the Palestinian uprising started, I was at a barbecue with friends…Right then, I decided that we needed to distribute 20,000 The Way to Happiness booklets to Arabs living in Israel — not in the Palestinian areas, as we couldn’t travel there. But there are many Arabs living in Israel too…There was a problem though: We had no Arabic translation of the booklet. I found out that a translation had been started in Italy. We got a hold of the translation and then contacted a Bedouin who lives in a tent. Astonishingly, he had no electric lights but he had a laptop. He finished the translation for us in a few days. We found an Israeli who could print in Arabic. Within a week of the start of the Intifada, we had printed 20,000 copies of The Way to Happiness booklet…An Arab DJ got a copy of the booklet and read it on the radio. He read one chapter a day for 21 days. Within a few weeks, we distributed all 20,000 booklets.

“In contrast to the Israeli Arabs, the Palestinian Arabs — those outside Israel — turned to violence,” he noted.

The same report tells us that

Joan Lonstein…, founder of the Association for Peace and Understanding in the Middle East (APUME), has joined forces with Zeinab Habash…of the Palestinian Ministry of Education, and like-minded Israeli and Arab humanitarians, to make The Way to Happiness available in Israeli newspapers (1), in shopping hubs (2), on the streets (3), at university campuses (4) and in the markets (5).

Habash gushed over the book’s virtues at the 2003 grand opening of The Way to Happiness Foundation International:

As General Secretary of Education, I tried to find ways to help my children face this horrible situation.

I formed a special committee from related personnel to produce an action plan for improving education.

The Way to Happiness, this thin and amazing book, attracted me like a magnet. It reflects my own beliefs. It speaks of equality, justice, freedom, peace, tolerance, and good behavior.

It gives hope to anyone and everyone, of any faith.

When I later saw how it helped improve the political situation in other countries, I became even more determined to distribute the booklet to all Palestinians.

…That is why I am very proud that the Ministry’s Committee on Improving Education has directed all school counselors to teach the Palestinian children using The Way to Happiness.

A second report adds that

With the help of these and grants from the International Association of Scientologists, in the last three years, the Association has distributed more than 1.5 million The Way to Happiness booklets to Palestinians and Israelis…. Public opinion surveys conducted by Hebrew University and a Palestinian research center have found that as the booklets are distributed, public support for peace builds among both Israelis and Palestinians.

Scientology is not the only new religious movement which has targeted Israelis and Palestinians in the name of promoting peace; a few months ago Rev Moon’s Middle East Peace Initiative announced a Cultural Center for Jewish-Christian-Muslim Dialogue in the area.

(Hat tip: Cult News Network)

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CPS admits to having no details about allegations

Police account differs from that of Ofcom

The latest Private Eye magazine (1191, p. 8) has an article on the decision by West Midlands police to refer the makers of a television documentary to Ofcom, the UK television regulator. As was widely blogged a few days ago, the documentary had uncovered evidence of extreme Islamist sentiments being expressed in (or on videos for sale at) a Birmingham mosque, and the police and Crown Prosecution Service had subsequently investigated. Rather unexpectedly, they announced that the documentary had “distorted” the speakers they had featured in the programme, who were shown expressing views such as this:

…No one loves the kuffaar! Not a single person here from the Muslims loves the kuffaar. Whether those kuffaar are from the UK or from the US. We love the people of Islam and we hate the people of kuffaar. We hate the kuffaar!

Another speaker made joking pig-snorting sounds as he suggested all Jews should be killed.

Now the Eye gives a bit more context to the police complaint:

Had [Assistant Chief Constable Anil] Patani bothered to check the CPS website beforehand he’d have realised that, under the legislation governing Ofcom, complaints about unfairness can only come from “the person affected”…the “formal complaint” looks like a non-starter. It appears to be little more than a publicity stunt.

Further:

The Eye asked the West Midlands police why they hadn’t read the rules before lodging the complaint. A spokeswoman told us that they had “liaised” with Ofcom in advance…But this true?

“No,” said an Ofcom spokeswoman… “We certainly didn’t.”

The police also told the Eye that the formal complaint to Ofcom came jointly from themselves and the CPS. Again, this turns out to be untrue. But the confusion is understandable, since Bethan David of the CPS certainly aided and abetted the stunt.

The Eye also asked the CPS for evidence that the sanguinary views of the Islamist speakers had been taken out of context. Reply:

“We don’t go into that level of detail.”

The report ends by noting that the documentary-makers are considering suing for libel. I drew attention to this possibility a few days ago; in 2002 journalist Donal MacIntyre won a libel action against Kent Police in similar circumstances. He received £15,000 damages and reportedly £650,000 in costs.

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Wording changed in wake of lawsuit over Bible class in public schools

Mr Chuck Norris, Bible scholar

At Dispatches from the Culture Wars, Ed Brayton has been keeping a close watch on the upcoming trial in Odessa, Texas, over the use in schools of the National Council On Bible Curriculum In Public Schools (NCBCPS), a fundamentalist project which, as I wrote about on this blog a while back, is completely devoid of serious scholarly input and which promotes the work of pseudo-scholars like David Barton. The syllabus is now the subject of a lawsuit over the issue of church-state separation. On August 12 Ed wrote that:

The NCBCPS is now featuring a column by Chuck Norris pushing their curriculum, originally published in the Worldnutdaily, right on their front page (and yes, I have it archived; as the trial gets closer, it will almost certainly disappear). In the column Norris, who is on the advisory board of the NCBCPS, declares that this curriculum is “Your first step to get God back into your public school.”

And sure enough, that’s what happened. But even more interestingly, WorldNetDaily has now followed suit in an effort to help the NCBCPS.

Version One:

Version Two:

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From the Jerusalem Post:

A group of Israeli politicians and academics on Monday sought the support of Japan’s small but influential Christian community, part of an increasingly global Judeo-Christian alliance against radical Islam.

This was the fourth annual “Jerusalem Summit Asia”, an initiative of the Jerusalem Summit, which involves evangelical Christians, neo-Conservatives, and Israeli right-wingers – and which is financed by a controverisal Russian-Israeli billionaire.

According to the Post, the Tokyo summit was held in a Diet-owned building, and it brought together

…Israeli Tourism Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, lawmakers from the Knesset’s Christian Allies Caucus and conservative Israeli academics and thinkers together with Japan’s tiny but growing evangelical Christian community…

Among those present were MKs Gideon Sa’ar and Benny Elon, the far-right former tourist minister who supports the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and who is particularly popular among right-wing American Christians. The rhetoric was predictable: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is simply about radical Islamism, which should be opposed by a “Judeo-Christian alliance”. Elon boasted that

…the decision to enlist the support of Japanese Christians in the struggle against Islamic extremism followed marked success in working with the evangelical Christian community in other Asian countries, including the Philippines and South Korea, which, along with Singapore, had hosted such conferences in the past.

The “Jerusalem Summit” also targets Africa, and I blogged on a Cape Town event last year. As I noted then, its first session, in 2003, featured “Richard Perle, Senator Sam Brownback, Congressman Eliot Engel, Prof. Daniel Pipes, Amb. Alan Keyes, Cal Thomas, Benjamin Netanyahu and Uzi Landau.” The organisation believes that “the accepted version of the Palestinian narrative…must be branded as devoid of any legitimacy” (a toned-down re-formulation: the website used to say that “the entire Palestinian narrative must be discredited and de-legitimized as a historical hoax”), and it wants to organise financial inducements to persuade Palestinians to relocate to other countries.

The executive director is Dmitry Radyshevsky, and funding comes from Michael Cherney; Radyshevsky is a former head of the Michael Cherney Foundation. Cherney has been accused of links with the Russian mafia, which he and his supporters strenuously deny. Radyshevsky is also on the advisory board of the American Center for Democracy, alongside Richard Pearle. Speaking in Tokyo, Radyshevsky

urged Christians and Jews to unite “politically and spiritually” in the face of radical Islam, which he called “the reincarnation of fascism and Nazism.”

“Jews and Christians are one tree, with the Jews forming the roots and the Christians the branches; when it is united it is unbreakable,” he said.

The Post doesn’t tell us anything about the Japanese Christians who met the delegation, but it’s likely to have included Kenichi Nakagawa, who runs Harvest Times Ministries. Harvest Time is the largest televangelist organisation in the country, and Nakagawa is a strong supporter of Israel and Zionism.

(Cross-posted to Talk to Action)

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