UK: Sharia-Compliant Student Loans?

The documentary, filmed by the BBC, proved what had long been suspected: that Sharia courts... routinely issue rulings according to Sharia law that are at odds with British law.
Paragraph 2.3 of the guidelines of the Law Society of Britain suggests that Sharia law could overrule British law in inheritance disputes.
Critics say the controversy is just the latest example of how the British legal and financial systems are being steadily transformed to comply with Sharia law.

The British government has launched a public consultation on whether or not to introduce student loans that are compliant with Islamic Sharia law, which forbids loans that involve the payment of interest.
The move to seek input from the general public comes amid rising complaints from Muslim students, who argue that the existing interest-based student loan system is unfairly forcing them to choose between getting a university degree and staying true to their religious beliefs.
The government says the establishment of a scheme that would enable Muslim students to finance their degrees in a way that complies with Islamic principles would "ensure that anyone with the ability and desire can go to university."

"I want London to stand alongside Dubai and Kuala Lumpur as one of the great capitals of Islamic finance anywhere in the world." — UK Prime Minister David Cameron addressing the World Islamic Economic Forum in London on October 29, 2013. (Image source: 10 Downing St. Facebook page)

Critics counter that the dispute over interest-bearing student loans follows stepped-up demands for Sharia-compliant banking and insurance as well as credit cards, mortgages and pension funds, which—taken together—are contributing to the establishment of parallel Islamic financial and legal systems in Britain.
The consultation—formally known as the Consultation on a Sharia-Compliant Alternative Finance Product—seeks to determine whether an "alternative finance system that is not interest based" would be acceptable to "anyone who might be deterred from the conventional system."
The alternative financial model involves a mutual fund pooling scheme (known as takaful in Arabic), whereby prospective students would withdraw money from a Sharia-compliant fund to pay for school. Upon graduation they would make a series of repayments back into the same fund to help pay for the education of other students who come along after them.
In an effort to address concerns that Muslim students would end up paying less than non-Muslims, the government says the fund would be set up in such a way so as to ensure that repayments are made at the same rate as students who take out traditional student loans.
The government's consultation document says "this model of student finance product was proposed and developed by experts in Islamic finance and has been approved by the Sharia Supervisory Committee of the Islamic Bank of Britain." It continues:

The model's underlying principle is one of communal interest and transparent sharing of benefit and obligation, with the repayments of students participating in the fund being used to provide finance to future students who select to join the fund. This ensures that all members of the fund benefit equally from it.
Students participating in the fund would not be borrowing money and paying it back with interest to a third party, which would not be compliant with Sharia law. Instead, the Takaful fund will be established with an initial amount of money that can be donated to the fund or on the basis of Qard Hasan (interest-free loan) and based on a concept of mutual participation and guarantee.
Students will obtain finance from the fund by applying in a similar manner to the conventional loan. The contract will be based upon a unilateral promise guaranteeing that they will repay a Takaful contribution—which is perceived as a charitable contribution from a Sharia perspective for the benefit of the members of the fund. Monies will be released once the contract is signed. Repayment will be made to the fund once they are in employment and earning above the repayment threshold, which would be set at the same level as for traditional student loans.

The consultation—which was unveiled on April 3 and will run until June 12—is in response to pressure from several Muslim lobbying groups who argue that sweeping government reforms to higher education that came into effect in September 2012 are discriminatory against Muslim students.
The reforms—aimed at improving the financial sustainability of the British university system by shifting the financial burden from taxpayers to graduates—tripled the cap on tuition fees to £9,000 ($15,000; €11,000). The new system also requires graduates who earn above £21,000 ($35,000) to pay interest on student loans of up to 3 percent above inflation.
The London-based Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) says the requirement to pay interest on student loans is unacceptable for the estimated 115,000 Muslim university students in Britain.
In an interview with The Independent, a FOSIS spokesman said: "Under Islamic law interest is seen as something that is prohibited. Previously, the interest rate was at the market rate of inflation. The problem now is that the interest is above the market rate. Because the rate of interest is above the rate of inflation, it is quite blatant usury."

FOSIS says it knows of many Muslim students have who decided against going to university because of the new system of student loan repayments.
Another group called First Ethical Charitable Trust has launched an advocacy campaign— "Lobbying for a Halal Alternative to Student Loans"—aimed at pressuring the government to introduce Sharia-compliant student loans. The group's website states:

In our view, there are thousands of Muslim students, each and every year, who are effectively being denied access to a university education because of the current interest based system of student loans.
Given Islam strictly prohibits both the paying and receiving of interest, many Muslim students face a conflict between funding their university course through taking a government backed interest-bearing loan and practicing their faith. As a result, thousands choose to forgo the massive benefits a university education can confer.
Denying these principled young people access to university is an incredibly short sighted policy which will condemn tens of thousands of practicing Muslims to permanently lower career and life opportunities, hence storing up social cohesion and equality issues for decades to come.

The group says it welcomes the government's "promising, yet long overdue step" but complains that "it will take 3-4 years before an alternative model becomes a reality, not only because of the need to pass legislation, but also because they need to then carry out a feasibility study, and properly test an alternative model. We think this is way too long and will leave many Muslim students stranded in the interim."

Others complain the government is creating a scheme that is only superficially avoiding interest and thus is not actually Sharia-compliant.
Sheikh Suhaib Hasan, a Muslim hardliner who runs the UK Islamic Sharia Council, is quoted by The Independent as saying: "By limiting the repayments to a benchmark similar to that of conventional bank interest rates, Sharia-compliant schemes I think are nothing but a smokescreen through which a prohibited matter turns into a permitted one, so it's better to leave it as it is."
Meanwhile, young Muslims interviewed by The Guardian are indifferent to the government's initiative and say they do not see the point in Sharia-compliant student loans.
Critics say the controversy over student loans is just the latest example of how the British financial and legal systems are being steadily transformed to comply with Sharia law.
In March 2014, it emerged that Islamic law is to be effectively enshrined in the British legal system for the first time under guidelines to help lawyers draft Sharia-compliant wills and estate planning documents.

Ground-breaking guidelines approved by the Law Society—the main professional association representing and governing the legal profession in England and Wales—provide details on how British lawyers should draft inheritance documents in order to comply with Islamic rules, which deny women an equal share of inheritances and exclude non-Muslims altogether.

The documents, which would be recognized by British courts, prevent children born out of wedlock—and even those who have been adopted—from being counted as legitimate heirs. In addition, anyone married in a civil ceremony or in a church could be excluded from inheritance under Sharia law, which recognizes only Muslim weddings for inheritance purposes.

Paragraph 3.6 of the guidelines recommends that some wills include a declaration of faith in Allah that would be drafted at a local mosque, and paragraph 5.2 hands responsibility for drawing up some papers to Sharia courts. Paragraph 2.3 of the guidelines suggests that Sharia law could overrule British law in inheritance disputes.

In April 2013, a documentary secretly filmed inside several of the 85 Islamic Sharia Law courts operating in Britain exposed the systematic discrimination that many women are suffering at the hands of Muslim jurists.

The documentary—Secrets of Britain's Sharia Courts—was filmed by the British Broadcasting Corporation and proved what had long been suspected: that Sharia courts, which operate in mosques and houses across Britain, routinely issue rulings on domestic and marital issues according to Sharia law that are at odds with British law.

In 2012, the British government began offering Muslim workers a Sharia-compliant pension fund in the public sector. A new government agency, the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), will give Muslims who do not already have a company pension the option of investing in the HSBC Life Amanah Pension Fund, a Sharia-compliant pension scheme. The initial target market comprises some 200,000 Muslims in Britain.

In June 2011, Pointon York, an independent financial services company based in Leicestershire, announced that it would begin offering four Sharia-compliant Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPP) products that comply with Islamic law.

Pointon York was the first specialist SIPP provider to receive Sharia-compliant accreditation by the Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB), which has pioneered Islamic retail banking in the United Kingdom. The IBB will supervise the entire life-cycle of Pointon York's pension funds to ensure full compliance with Sharia legal principles.

Muslim families in Britain can already acquire Sharia-compliant baby bonds under the British government's Child Trust Fund scheme. In 2008, Britain's Financial Services Authority (FSA) authorized the establishment of the country's first Islamic insurance company as well as the country's first Sharia MasterCard, called the Cordoba Gold MasterCard.
In 2009, a report titled "Sharia Law or One Law for All?" found that scores of unofficial tribunals and councils regularly apply Islamic law to resolve domestic, marital and business disputes, many operating in mosques. The report warned of a "creeping" acceptance of Sharia principles in British law.

Here's what we (conservative blacks) hear virtually everyday, "How can you be black and conservative? You're siding with people that hate you."

Well if you are truly walking out your Christian faith, here's what I'd ask you, "How can you be liberal and Christian? You're siding with people who are doing all within their power to eliminate the one you (claim to) believe is the Lord from as many corners of our society as possible."

The left's flat out WAR on Christianity is no... longer even subtle, no longer stealth, no longer closeted. They've gone big time with it and made it as plain to see as daylight. They've no problem with budda, they openly defend mohammed, hari krishna can be a friend of theirs. But that name "Jesus", that's the one that has to go.

I've reached the following conclusion about "Christian liberals"; there can only be 2 kinds:

1) You are ignorant. I mean, legitimately ignorant - you really just don't know. You pay zero attention to politics, are completely disengaged from discussion and information concerning what the political factions in this nation are doing and you just vote; and most likely you just "vote the way you've always voted." You literally just don't know what you're doing.

2) You have made a conscious decision. At some point in time you've made the knowing decision that, "God, in this area of my life - you are number 2." I'm not talking about the "I go to church every Easter therefore I'm Christian" types. I'm talking about people read & know the Word, they attend worship services on a regular basis, many are active in their churches and ministries.

The ONLY way you can be knowledgeable about the bible/Word of God and vote to support the current liberal agenda in this nation is to say to yourself, "Lord, I know you, I know your Word and I love you - but as far as political expression goes; liberalism, Barack Obama, Harry Reid, the Democrat party, progressivism, [fill in this blank] is number one and You are number two. And that's just the way that it is." There is no other way possible. You cannot, in clear conscience, worship the God of the bible on Sunday, then show up for volunteer duty at the local DNC office Monday thru Saturday & work to dismantle God's presence in your community without experiencing at least some internal conflict. So you've quelled that conflict by consciously placing the agenda of the left AHEAD of your devotion to the Lord.

Then these same people have the nerve to criticize me for standing proudly with my conservative brethren (99.69% of whom haven't a racist bone in their bodies) and call me a sellout, when they themselves have sold out the very one they call Lord of lords, King of kings, Creator of the very universe. Even IF I were a sellout, at least I would have only sold out men. These cretins have turned their backs upon & sold God Almighty down the river, then turn around and have the gal to hold me in disdain for not supporting the pharisees they roll with.

This is an excellent, well-written piece:

http://www.freedomsjournal.net/2014/04/23/liberals-announce-plan-to-purge-christians/ See More

HEALTH WISE

Whether the storm is from natural causes or political ones, WE WILL PRAISE YOU IN THE MIDST OF IT! We know who holds us in the very palm of His hand, who knows each hair on our heads, and who listens and is working ALL things together for OUR good! No matter what it looks like, God is still working all things together to fulfill His plan. Don't lose hope or believe otherwise. He is faithful and nothing escapes His eye. The day is coming when many will be looking for rocks to crawl under to hide from His awesome power.

 

Let this image be a reminder of who is in control and an encouragement to those in Arkansas and those praying.
"Our help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heave...n and Earth
We will praise you in this storm!"

Join us as we continue to lift up the families that were affected by these storms in Arkansas and Oklahoma.

April 26th – What happened at the Bundy ranch was never about an individual, and as it turns out (like every one of us) never about an imperfect individual. In an effort to be “fair & balanced” this quote from Dem & lib icon Eleanor Rooseve...lt: “Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.” The “idea” in this case being that the federal government has grown too big and too often wields far too much power. The “event” being that hundreds of armed feds invaded a Nevada ranch to collect on an unpaid bill, when a simple property lien would have been appropriate. The “people” or person here of course being Cliven Bundy. So the media that has virtually ignored the “event” and the “idea” the event represents, instead focused like a laser beam on the impolitic remarks from a private individual. Including some on the right. Eleanor Roosevelt was right, “Small minds discuss people.” “Small minds” that never wish to address the REAL ISSUES threatening America today. And the media today is filled with “small minds

 

 

The East German revolt of 1953

“The first real uprising, by working people, against the Communist and Socialist system.”
-Socialism Sucks
On June 17, 1953, East Germany (The German Democratic Republic ) (GDR) experienced a series of workers strikes, riots and demonstrations. This unrest became much more than just a strike as the populace attempted to rid themselves of Socialism and Communism.
"The ‘proletariat' had risen against the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat'."
-Christian Ostermann
(Well, imagine that !)

On the morning of 16th June 1953, 300 East Berlin construction workers went on strike after their superiors announced a pay cut, if they did not meet their new Socialist work quotas.
Their numbers quickly swelled and a general strike and protests were called for the next day.
Throughout the night of June16th and the morning of June 17th , reports of the events in East Berlin spread quickly throughout the GDR by radio broadcasts.
From all over East Berlin and the surrounding suburbs came the people !
The result?
More than one million people in about 700 localities.
As the numbers grew so did their confidence and determination, They were there to rid themselves of communism, stop the inhumane human rights abuses and unrealistic quotas the Socialists had levied on them.
Demonstrators began to demand other changes too, such as free elections.
These Communist policies did not work and their Socialist economic demands were unrealistic.
Chants were heard calling for "Death to Communism" and
"Long live Eisenhower!"

The protests soon turned violent as the workers became more vocal and determined.
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev decided to use force to stop the uprising. On June 17th 1953,
16 Soviet divisions with tanks, 20,000 soldiers and 8,000 KVP (Barracked People's Police) were used to quell the uprising.
How ?
They opened fire on unarmed civilians.
“By 09:00, some 25,000 people had gathered in front of the House of Ministries, and tens of thousands more were en route. Between 10:00 and 11:00, some 80 to 100 demonstrators apparently managed to storm the government seat. Only the sudden appearance of Soviet Army vehicles, and then tanks, seemed to prevent a complete takeover.

  Within an hour, Soviet troops had cleared and isolated the area around the government headquarters. But fighting between Soviet forces (later also GDR police) and the demonstrators continued into the afternoon and night; eyewitnesses reported that in some instances the Soviets fired directly into the crowd:”
“It was awful to see [. . . ] how the crowds of people fell to the ground. One could immediately see several writhing on the ground, covered with blood; everybody screamed for ambulances and police."
-Wikipedia
The world knew and observed but, in fear of nuclear war, would not move to help the East Germans.
There would be no help !
This revolt was over.
Here's a video:
http://youtu.be/CzLI7WenYho
West Germany estimates of the number of people killed at:
513 people shot and killed in the street, 106 people executed under martial law (or later condemned to death) and 170 executed for political crimes.
1,838 were injured, and 5,100 were arrested (1,200 of these were later sentenced to an average of 5 years in penal camps).
17 Soviet soldiers were also executed.
Why?
They refused to shoot demonstrating workers.
Even they knew it was wrong !
Well, there it is !
Again !
Isn’t Socialism great ?
"The ‘proletariat' had risen against the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat'."
They always do.
“Know the history”

Most Americans and those who reside in the West do not know about what happened to the Christian Orthodox Serb civilians during Clinton-NATO's illegal war on them in the 1990s. As you may know Clinton-NATO sided with the Mujahedeen and al Q...aeda terrorists and Alijah Izetbegovic in Bosnia against the Serbs and they bombed the Serbs four separate times culiminating with the bombing of Serbia aka Yugoslavia in 1999. The Mujahedeen were brought into Bosnia on NATO planes and Clinton-NATO armed them! Here are the testimonies of some of the Serbs who were horrifically tortured there.

Today the Mujahedeen are still entrenched in Bosnia and the
Mujahedeen are rapidly completing their base (center in eastern Bosnia MODRAN village) 15 kilometers south of Foca! Everything is fenced in with a green fence and the building has three floors! This is the center of their ideology!
~
THE MUJAHEDDIN CAMP FOR SERBS IN KAMENICA

1.1. Witness 249/97-4, born in 1957, who was kept in this camp for 13 days, states:

… On 17 or 18 September, 1995, I was captured and taken to the mujaheddin camp located in the village of Kamenica near Zavidovići. P.M. from Kotor Varoš, R.R from Banja Luka, G.G. from Banja Luka, P.N. from Banja Luka, S. from Lijevče Polje, G. from Laktaši, and N. from Budžak, were taken there together with me.

We were brought to their camp, where we saw big, circular tents, in which the mujaheddins stayed. I counted 29 tents, assessing that each could hold 40-60 men.

I was taken to a room on the upper floor of a house, where I saw three mujaheddins, their heads wrapped up so that only their eyes could be seen. They ordered me to sit on a slab. One of them took a full-steel rod, diameter cca 2 cm, and started hitting me on my back and neck, until the rod banded. Then the other flattened the rod with a hammer. He then took the second, and then the third rod.

When the rods bent by the beating, they tied a wire around my neck, tying its other end around my leg. They had taken our boots, so I was barefoot. The end of the wire around my neck and leg was not insulated, while the remaining part of the wire was not. I saw something like a transformer in the room. One of the men took another wire connected to the transformer and connected it with the wire that was tied around my neck and leg. As soon as he did it, the electric shock made me faint. When I came around, they would turn on electricity again. This was repeated several times and I lost consciousness each time. The kept the electricity on for different durations. The electric shock made me feel as if my tongue had become shorter, and I started to choke.

When they were done with the electricity, they started hitting me with their legs, and then one of them took me back to the ground floor, where my friends were kept. After returning me downstairs, they took another prisoner upstairs, so we all underwent the same torture.

According to my assessment, the mujaheddins were Pakistanis, Turks, Arabs from Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, but among them were also Arabs from Germany and England.
Most Americans and people in the West do not know what happened to the Christian Orthodox Serbs during Clinton-NATO's illegal and treacherous war on them in the 1990s and beyond, culminating with the illegal bombing of Serbia in 1999. Here are the testimonies of many of the Serbs who were rounded up by the Mujahedeen terrrorists, that were brought into Bosnia on NATO planes no less, and horrifically tortured. This is what the criminal MSM never told you.

Here are some of their testimonies.
~
I would also add that apart from these mujaheddins, there were also Bosnian Muslim in the Kamenica prisoner camp. I remember a Gunić form the Novoselije settlement in Banja Luka …

1. 2. Witness 284/97-2, worker, born in 1961, states:

… I lived in Vozuća, the place where I was born. On 10 September, 1995, early in the morning, soldiers of the Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina attacked Vozuća and the civilian population, including me and other women, had to flee. The next day, we were in the village of Kesten, where I was captured at about 16.30 hrs., with a group of 60 people. The group consisted of civilians, women and children, and some soldiers. We were taken prisoner by mujaheddins and Bosnian Muslims.

After they captured us, they started beating us with their fists, legs, rifle-butts and sticks. A mujaheddin hit me hard on the back with his rifle, and then spit on me scolding my “chetnick mother”.

I saw a captured Serb fall on his knees, after which the Muslim killed him with a shot from automatic rifle.

About thirty of us from the village of Kesten, including me and two more women (J.M. and G.B.), were taken from the village of Kesten to a mujaheddin camp in the village of Kamenica near Zavidovići. The others were taken to Tuzla.

They tied our legs and arms, and put some wrapping around our eyes.

The three of us were imprisoned in a wooden shed in Kamenica, while men were locked up in a nearby barrack. I could not see anything because I was blindfolded, but I concluded that it was a mujaheddin camp because they spoke in a very bad Serbian language.

Throughout the night, mujaheddins and Bosnian Muslim were coming to the shed in which we were kept, to beat us with rifles, sticks, legs and fists. I heard them talking about cutting our throats.

During the night, a mujaheddin came and put a non- insulated wire end on my face. He connected the rest of the wire, which was insulated, to some source of electricity, and I felt a terrible pain caused by the electric shock. This was repeated several times. Then he moved the wire from my cheek to my spine. Sometimes he held the wire on me longer, sometimes shorter.

The same electricity-torture procedure was applied on the other two women who were imprisoned with me.

During the night, we heard screams and moans and captured Serbs from the nearby barrack, pleading the mujaheddins not to torture them.

The next day, they interrogated us several times, beating us at the same time.

I heard them mentioning the names of my father, Miloš Jović, my uncle Mitar Jović, Drago Marković, Ranko Djurić, Mirko Matičić and his son Miodrag and a Čeda, who were captured with us, but now I do not know anything about their further fate. It has been assumed that they were killed on the way to Kamenica.

We were not given any food in Kamenica.

The second day, in the evening, the mujaheddins took the three of us, women, to their base in the territory of Zenica, by a small bus. We were kept there for about twenty days, before they took us to KPD in Zenica.

Croatian Ustashe Ante Pavelic presided, along with the Ustashi (Muslim & Croat Nazis) and the Vatican, over the most brutal of all the Nazi Concentration Camps in Europe, Jasenovac Concentration Camp, and the 3rd largest, where they horrifi...cally cleansed 750,000 Orthodox Christians Serbs from Croatia the Nazi puppet state during WWII along with tens of thousands of Jews and Roma. In these recently declassified CIA documents you will see how one of the biggest monsters of all time, Ante Pavelic, evaded being captured. You can see the CIA documents written in English by clicking on the link below.

Sorry for the poor translation via google translate:
Shocking DETAILS

CIA : " British secret agents were barely saved Pavelic from arrest"

Author : Jutarnji.hr | 24/04/2014 - 11:12:00 h |

Records of U.S. agents confirmed previous speculation about the run " Poglavnik " NDH . Ante Pavelic , the former Poglavnik quisling Independent State of Croatia , after a flight from Zagreb to its territory in Rome hid the Vatican

This information , of which the previously speculated , confirmed by documents recently declassified U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ) .

In addition , note that was written on November 8 , in 1947. Headquarters in the Mediterranean operations of the U.S. military proves that the Americans and British in the summer of that year planned to arrest Pavelic , but this plan was not implemented .

Open documents about CIA monitoring Pavelic

Ante Pavelic in Zagreb fled with his family on May 6 , in 1945. , In Austria , where he was in the American zone of occupation . From there, the Peruvian false documents under the name of Don Pedro Goner and disguised as a priest , transferred to Italy . Coming to Rome , where he both confirms discovered a note under her wing takes the Vatican and Pope Pius XII , a former Vatican nuncio in Nazi Germany .

In Rome, shortly after the fall of NDH Krunoslav Draganović priest and a group of priests and monks connected with Institute of St. Geronimo established network that is supposed to allow members of the quisling regime to shift the time the safest location in the countries of South America : are favorite destinations were Argentina , Paraguay and Brazil . At that time , namely , in this part of the world in power were mostly military junta . About the network in the second note of the 12th of February in 1947. , The detail says Special Agent Robert Clayton Mad in America's counterintelligence service .

CIA document signed by GF Blunda

He managed to find insiders at the Institute of St. Geronimo who is thoroughly reported on the status of the institution which is located in the center of Rome , but was under the administration of the Vatican. According Madovim knowledge, there have stayed high ranking government officials NDH - air force commander Vladimir Kren , dr . Vjekoslav Vrancic , Deputy Minister spoljih Affairs , and George Peric , propaganda minister in the Serbian government of Milan Nedic . But not Pavelic .

Agent Mad in the note warns that prepares operation to shift to South America Pavelic and go and after that American intelligence driven operation to locate Pavelic. The task was taken over by Colonel GF Blunda author novodeklasifikovane notes , coming to Rome on August 11 in 1947. , And in contact with U.S. and British agents . After that concludes that all of the data " show that Pavelic refuge provides the Vatican ."

Blunda wants to move in a joint operation arrest , but according to British diplomats and intelligence Bendal " trying to manipulate " to perform the action only American forces , a British remained clean hands . Blunda to reject as " not in the American interest." The " U.S. intelligence agencies use many Croats as informants . It is known that a significant number of these Croat Pavelic loyal anti-communist activities and Catholic fanaticism . " Therefore Blunda , Bendal and another Briton , Veršojl , arrange the following plan . Both parties will appoint an officer who will be on standby in case of Pavelic leave the Vatican .

Veršojl still has to organize the Italian police team who would assist the British and the Americans in the finals took on the arrest , to avoid a diplomatic incident . In that time the British and the Americans reported that the Italian authorities arrested a wanted war criminal Ante Pavelic and the matter would be resolved . Only in extraordinary circumstances arrest jointly conducted the British and the Americans , and then solve the problems with the Italians .

Veršojl said that Pavelic was the last time sometime in July, was seen walking around the Roman Via Corso Umberto , ie outside the Vatican , and with him was one of his bodyguards , Kadnerik . Pavelic was cut short and dressed in monk's robes , a Veršojl said he knows the exact location of the Vatican where Pavelic resident ( according to another document, the U.S. counter-intelligence it is the Via Giacomo Veneciana No. 17 - C , second floor) . Therefore, he says Blunda , should ensure that Pavelic fraud outside the Vatican and then the agreed plan arrest . But after the meeting held on August 11, nothing happened for three months. The British are Blund only suggest that they are not able to get the Pavelic in the Vatican.

The author notes in serious doubt , and in recognition according to the British Pavelic earlier in the year allowed to escape from Genoa when there is a police raid and arrest quislings who planned it from the port city of traveling to South America. Since , therefore, that the British were reluctant to arrest operations Pavelic , Colonel Blunda considered that it did not happen .

American intelligence says that it is probable that the Pavelic family in Florence , according to information from the U.S. agent of the Vatican , is considered completely reliable and that the " Headman " and that there had recently been subjected to surgery. Colonel in the end notes points out that sends Colonel Fričeu personally because " the possible implications of the Vatican 's involvement in harboring war criminals ."

Al-Qaeda Leader Calls Terrorists to “Eliminate the Cross”

A new video released on global Islamist websites purports to show a large meeting of al-Qaeda terrorists in Yemen, with the group's “crown prince” vowing to attack America because it is the “bearer of the cross.” CNN reported that the video, which is dated from March of this year, “shows what looks like the largest and most dangerous gathering of al Qaeda in years.” The news site added that “the CIA and the Pentagon either didn't know about it or couldn't get a drone there in time to strike.”
The clip features Nasir al-Wuhayshi, al-Qaeda's second in command and head of the terror group in the Arabian Peninsula. Known euphemistically as al-Qaeda's “crown prince,” Al-Wuhayshi can be seen on the video saying that he wants to attack the United States. Referring to America's predominant Christian faith, he tells the 100 or so supposed Yemen terrorists that “we must eliminate the cross.... The bearer of the cross is America!”
Peter Bergen, a national security analyst with CNN, said that the “U.S. intelligence community should be surprised that such a large group of al Qaeda assembled together, including the leadership, and somehow they didn't notice.” He added that it was surprising al-Wuhayshi appeared out in the open with no apparent concern that he might be targeted by a U.S. drone strike.

 

The United States has targeted and killed a number of terrorist figures tied to al-Qaeda of the Arab Peninsula (AQAP), considered the group's most ruthless branch.
In response to the video a U.S. State Department spokeswoman, Marie Harf, told a press briefing it did not represent “breaking news that AQAP is a significant threat to the United States, the people of Yemen, to other people in the region and around the world.” She noted that AQAP has been linked to attempted attacks against the United States, including the attempted “shoe bomb” attack against a Detroit bound airliner in 2009 and an attempt on a cargo plane in 2010.

“I don't think we can make generalizations about [AQAP's] strength based on one video, quite frankly,” said Harf. “We know they've been gaining in strength.... So, I don't think this increases our concern, because quite frankly, our concern was already incredibly high.”
But despite the fact that the U.S. government has targeted al-Qaeda in the global “war on terror,” the U.S has also armed the terror group, and those arms have been used against Americans. In an article published by The New American April 23, Thomas Eddlem reported that in at least one case in which al-Qaeda was responsible for a deadly attack on Americans, the terrorists were supplied with their weapons by the U.S. government. Eddlem noted that a report by the “Citizens Commission on Benghazi,” made up of a dozen and a half former high-ranking military and intelligence specialists for the U.S. government, concluded that “the U.S. was fully aware of and facilitating the delivery of weapons to the al-Qa’eda-dominated rebel militias” throughout the 2011 rebellion that toppled the Qadhafi regime. Those weapons were later used in the deadly September 12, 2012 al-Qaeda attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, which killed U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

:: DEMOCRATS ARE THE PARTY OF THE RICH ::

In keeping with my recent penchant for publicly answering private messages -- thank you for this ridiculous, wholly absurd meme, Richard. You, sir, are being mind-controlled. Here's why:

a. LOGIC
There are approx. 55 million registered Republicans in the USA. There are currently about 490 billionaires in the country. So what you believe is that some 54.9998 million people vote not in their own best interest, but to protect the inter...ests of those in an economic class that they themselves are not in. About 55 million people are more concerned with a tiny group of individuals far, far, far above themselves on the economic ladder, than they are with their own lives and own family. This make NO sense and is completely illogical.

b. FACTS
Of the 10 wealthiest House districts in America, 8 have voted for, elected & are represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by Democrats. Of the 10 poorest states in America, by per-capita household income, 9 voted for both John McCain and Mitt Romney (Oklahoma, South Carolina, Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas, West Virginia, Mississippi). Why are the poorest states in the nation voting almost exclusively for the party of the super-rich? One would think it would be the other way around. If the Republican were the party of the super-rich, then these states would naturally all vote Democrat.

c. STATISTICS
Stop fooling yourselves - Richard & the rest of you hyper-liberals. These past 5 years under the Obama administration, the top 1% you so loathe have added more personal wealth than they did the previous 10. Meanwhile those at the bottom are suffering more. The unemployment & workforce participation rates are both extremely high particularly at the lower end of the economic spectrum. Yet we now have MORE millionaires --A RECORD HIGH NUMBER OF THEM-- while at the same time we have the greatest number of poor American households on foodstamps or some other form of government assistance than we have ever had in this nation since the Great Depression.
http://articles.latimes.com/2014/mar/13/business/la-fi-mo-number-of-millionaires-in-us-reaches-a-new-high-20140313

*Stop going by emotions.*
**Stop going by what you believe to be the truth,**
***and start going by the truth.***

The truth of the matter is - THE DEMOCRAT PARTY IS THE PARTY OF THE VERY RICH. Whether that's a good or a bad thing is not up for discussion here, I'm simply pointing out that it is factual, demonstrable, complete, total and utter truth. Period.

 

American wickedness “Monster Experiment"

 

Operation Paperclip (1945)

 Right after World War 2, President Truman wanted to snag up all of the German scientists because they had all of the cool weapons and we didn’t want the Russians to have access to them.  We had already brought in some Germans to help with the Manhattan Project – the building of the atom bomb, but we wanted more advancement.  Truman stated that he didn’t want any Nazi party members or people who were influential in the war, but this was nearly impossible to fulfill.  Government officials, working for a group called the Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency (a precursor to the CIA), circumvented the President and created false documents from the Nazi scientists.  Without the head of our government knowing, this group brought in the Nazi scientists and gave them high security clearances and hid them from the world and their crimes!  While some of these men helped to create our aeronautic and space program, they never paid for the crimes against humanity that they were a part of.  Operation Paperclip lasted from 1945 until 1990 and imported almost 1600 scientists from around the world.  They were able to retire and live off of their U.S. pensions, guilt-free in the eyes of the law.

 

Project F (1945)

 Growing up we were all told that fluoride is good for our teeth.  They add it to drinking water, it has to be good.  I had read about different groups complaining in the 1950s about fluoride in our drinking water, but I thought they were all kooks.  Turns out I was wrong!  As it turns out, fluoride in our drinking water was the result of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC).  Program F was the largest and most extensive study on the effects of fluoride in human subjects, which is a key component in the making of nuclear bombs.  Fluoride is one of the most toxic chemicals known to man and does some really bad stuff to your central nervous system.  This information, however, has been largely pushed under the rug to keep our nuclear program going.  From 1945-1956, the Department of Health used Newbury, New York as a testing ground for fluoride.  The results are still classified.  Fluoride exposure collects in the bones and also effects the brain.  While it does have some benefit to our teeth, does this outweigh the hazards?  Fluoride can be found in mouthwash, toothpaste, drinking water, and nuclear missiles.

 

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/sisterthundershow/2014/04/24/american-wickedness-monster-experiment

Take Action to Stop Human Trafficking in America

The WellHouse began through The Samaritan Woman Ministry. The mission given to the original ministry was to pray and offer help to the women who were lost in the Woodlawn community of Birmingham, Alabama. Upon realizing NO shelters would accept these women unconditionally, it was placed on our hearts to open a home with NO prerequisites or requirements, other than being a victim of sexual exploitation.

After conducting extensive research, the launch team saw the link between prostitution and human trafficking, thereby broadening the population of women and girls to be helped.

The WellHouse is the only 24-­‐‑hour shelter offering immediate housing assistance to women being sexually exploited in the Southeast. In comparison to other shelters, The WellHouse enables women to breakdown the barriers often undermining their ability to receive immediate assistance.

We are able to accept women without any pre-­‐‑qualifications, and help residents receive the assistance they need to obtain identification and documentation to rebuild their lives.

Together, we can change the story of these women and children’s lives.

 

SNAPSHOT OF Reality

11 years average in prostitution

65 - 95% sexually abused as children

12 - 14 years old average age to enter !

The WellHouse is hope for the weary and is positioned to rescue and serve

nearly 300 women by the end of 2014

 

  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/sisterthundershow/2014/04/23/take-action-to-stop-human-trafficking-in-america

 

America wickedness part 2 do you trust Obamacare? 

PUBLIC LAW 95-79 [P.L. 95-79] TITLE 50, CHAPTER 32, SECTION 1520 “CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WARFARE PROGRAM” “The use of human subjects will be allowed for the testing of chemical and biological agents by the U.S. Department of Defense, accounting to Congressional committees with respect to the experiments and studies. The Secretary of Defense [may] conduct tests and experiments involving the use of chemical and biological [warfare] agents on civilian populations [within the United States 

1900: A U.S. doctor doing research in the Philippines infects a number of prisoners with the Plague. He continues his research by inducing Beriberi in another 29 prisoners. four test subjects die

Under commission from the U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Walter Reed goes to Cuba and uses 22 Spanish immigrant workers to prove that yellow fever is contracted through mosquito bites. Doing so, he introduces the practice of using healthy test subjects, and also the concept of a written contract to confirm informed consent of these subjects. While doing this study, Dr. Reed clearly tells the subjects that, though he will do everything he can to help them, they may die as a result of the experiment. He pays them $100 in gold for their participation, plus $100 extra if they contract yellow fever

1906: Harvard professor Dr. Richard Strong infects prisoners in the Philippines with cholera to study the disease; 13 of them die. He compensates survivors with cigars and cigarettes. During the Nuremberg Trials, Nazi doctors cite this study to justify their own medical experiments

1907: Indiana passes the world's first law authorizing the state to force the sterilization of those it deems unfit to reproduce. In Germany, Adolph Hitler is only 18 years old.  

1911: Dr. Hideyo Noguchi of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research publishes data on injecting an inactive syphilis preparation into the skin of 146 hospital patients and normal children in an attempt to develop a skin test for syphilis. Later, in 1913, several of these children's parents sue Dr. Noguchi for allegedly infecting their children with syphilis ("Reviews and Notes: History of Medicine: Subjected to Science: Human Experimentation in America before the Second World War").  

1913: Medical experimenters "test" 15 children at the children's home St. Vincent's House in Philadelphia with tuberculin, resulting in permanent blindness in some of the children. Though the Pennsylvania House of Representatives records the incident, the researchers are not punished for the experiments ("Human Experimentation: Before the Nazi Era and After").  

1915: Dr. Joseph Goldberger, under order of the U.S. Public Health Office, produces Pellagra, a debilitating disease that affects the central nervous system, in 12 Mississippi inmates to try to find a cure for the disease. One test subject later says that he had been through "a thousand hells." In 1935, after millions die from the disease, the director of the U.S Public Health Office would finally admit that officials had known that it was caused by a niacin deficiency for some time, but did nothing about it because it mostly affected poor African-Americans. During the Nuremberg Trials, Nazi doctors used this study to try to justify their medical experiments on concentration camp inmates

1918: In response to the Germans' use of chemical weapons during World War I, President Wilson creates the Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) as a branch of the U.S. Army. Twenty-four years later, in 1942, the CWS would begin performing mustard gas and lewisite experiments on over 4,000 members of the armed forces

1940's: The U.S. government injected 12 human guinea pigs with uranium and plutonium without their knowledge as part of a Cold War-era radiation experiment. The 12 victims were injected during the 1940s -- 11 with plutonium, and one with uranium -- to see how the human body would react to an atomic bombing. The tests sprang from efforts to develop atomic weapons. At the time, scientists claimed that the people were terminally ill anyway and would not survive 10 years. But a number of them lived longer, and the plutonium is said to have caused urinary tract infections and painful osteoporosis, or thinning of the bones 

 1940's: In an exceptionally large study at Vanderbilt University in the 1940s, approximately 820 poor, pregnant Caucasian women were administered tracer doses of radioactive iron. Vanderbilt worked with the Tennessee State Department of Health, and the research was partly funded by the Public Health Service. Today, most women take iron supplements during pregnancy. This experiment provided the scientific data needed to determine the nutritional requirements for iron during pregnancy  

 1940: Four hundred prisoners in Chicago are infected with Malaria in order to study the effects of new and experimental drugs to combat the disease. Nazi doctors later on trial at Nuremberg cite this American study to defend their own actions during the Holocaust.

1942 Chemical Warfare Services begins mustard gas experiments on approximately 4,000 servicemen. The experiments continue until 1945 and made use of Seventh Day Adventists who chose to become human guinea pigs rather than serve on active duty.  

The Statesville Penitentiary Malaria Experiment (1940)

 In Chicago, in the 1940s, prisoners were purposefully infected with malaria to study the effects on humans if left untreated and to test the effects of experimental drugs in combating the disease.  Four hundred men, between 1940-1960 were infected with the disease conducted by the University of Chicago.  They were all volunteers, knowing that they were going to be given the disease in exchange for a chance at parole or a lighter prison sentence.  In 1946, during the Nuremberg Nazi Medical trials, the Nazi doctors who had been captured used Statesville Penitentiary as a defense that their studies were no different than what the Americans were doing.  It didn’t fly with their Jewish judges and they were executed while the Chicago experiments went on for almost two decades. Somehow these actions weren’t illegal.

1943 In response to Japan's full-scale germ warfare program, the U.S. begins research on biological weapons at Fort Detrick, MD.   1944 U.S. Navy uses human subjects to test gas masks and clothing. Individuals were locked in a gas chamber and exposed to mustard gas and lewisite.  

www.blogtalkradio.com/sisterthundershow/2014/04/17/america-wickedness-part-2

                 (George Washington hears – “The Shot Heard ‘round the World”) 

George Washington was born in humble surroundings in what is still an idyllic part of Virginia. His birthplace “Wakefield” is on Popes Creek in Westmorland County VA. 

If your travels ever take you to the Virginia’s Northern Neck stop by and enjoy beautiful Wakefield.   It is a working farm – complete with staff and livestock.  Little could George or his parents have known the storied life he would lead. This is true even without the American Revolution or his becoming the first President of the United States of America factored in.

His boyhood home “Ferry Farm” near Fredericksburg is in Stafford County VA:                            

George Washington must have been the most reluctant boy to man to become a hero to his               countrymen:  as an adventurer, surveyor, statesman, general, president or renowned distiller            of his still famous bourbon recipe - George Washington's “White Dog”.

When looking at the life of this great American one begins to wonder if God above set him aside as a man of his times and one as an example for the ages. I ask you how many teenage boys ever put together a book much less one on rules for civility. He surveyed one Virginia’s natural wonders at Natural Bridge as a teenager as well.

Testimony of Chief who tried to have Washington shot repeatedly and could notBy the age of sixteen, Washington had copied 110 Rules of Civility Link below82nd Rule:  Undertake not what you cannot Perform but be Careful to keep your Promise.

George Washington surveyor - Signature on inner wall of Natural Bridge: 

It could easily be argued that without George Washington not only would the colonies have                lost the war for independence; they would not have been able to keep an army together to                defend this new nation. He then goes on to keep these new United States of America from                  becoming just one more Monarchy vs an elected and term limited presidency.

George Washington really desired one thing during his entire life. He wanted to live with his              wonderful wife Martha and develop Mount Vernon on the Potomac River into their home and a        thriving plantation. Something he rarely was given the chance to pursue as history continuously beckoned George Washington - the reluctant Hero.     

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/sisterthundershow/2014/04/19/george-washington-hears-the-shot-heard-round-the-world                                                                              

Boots on the ground news

 

Every Friday at 11:00 am we will be reporting news from the country and around the world.  Why you ask? America has gone off the deep end and we the people must bring her a new glory.  I cannot do this alone.  My desire is to invite anyone who has a story that needs attention called to the problem.

 Government over reach is at an all-time highest level, with 22 million federal employees. (They would like to grow it more) That is like New York ruling all of America.  Together we stand or divided we fall.  Wake-up America!!!  Wake-up world!!! Government is out of control.  The new war is on America people.  What is it going to take for America to realize freedom is fleeing and power is given to the elite?  The race card has been played time after time to destroy hopes and dreams of any one that holds different view.

South Dakota

What caught my attention this week was a news story I heard on the radio about the anticipated shortage of rail cars to ship Urea which is used as a fertilizer for corn crops and is applied prior to or early in the planting phase. The newscast ended with the dire prediction that this would mean a record drop In corn production in SD for 2014. To give you an idea of how large an impact this would be, SD is the ranks 7th in the US for corn production (4.2%) and ND ranks 15th (1.2%).

I immediately thought of the risk of food shortage. While most of the corn grown in the State goes towards ethanol production, some is produced for livestock feed and human consumption. The thought was, reduce the supply, reduce the feed, reduce the livestock, limit beef and other meat production, and with limited supply comes rising prices. Interesting as well, SD is ranked 8th in total cattle on hand.

Tie this in with the deliberate draining of the reservoirs in CA’s breadbasket area which will not only reduce produce amounts this year, no one can even estimate the damage to the orchards which take decades to recover from drought conditions.

The following are three articles I have found discussing this topic. You could consider this an issue affecting all of us in the northern plains states. And, I have yet to find the reason why there is a rail car shortage.

 

Where did this happen?

I had just started school when it was rudely brought home to me that the great life that we had was about to be turned on its head.  My mother, who was pregnant with my youngest brother, was driving home from town (Bulawayo) when her car was stoned by a furious crowd of protestors and she barely got out of there alive.  She gave premature birth to my brother at home that night as we could not risk taking her to the hospital.  My father, an ex-navy man, was a member of the neighborhood watch.  About a week after my mother’s harrowing experience, he was out in the early hours of the morning on neighborhood patrol.  The dogs warned us that something was amiss and grandpa bravely went to see what was wrong.  He found my father, barely alive, having been beaten severely and dropped on our front porch.  At the time this served as a warning that “we know who you are and where you live and can get you any time we want”.  My parents felt that, as they had 5 children all under the age of 10, it would be best if they took us to safety!  So, they started the long, heartbreaking business of TRYING to leave the country.  They were told that “of course” they could leave BUT – they could take no money with them, no furniture, could not sell their home, had to give up their pension funds – in fact they were allowed to take only what fitted into their vehicle.  7 people in even the biggest car does not allow for much luggage.  So we left literally with one change of clothes each.  My grandparents left some years later and were far worse off as even their car was taken from them at the border.  So much for lifetime of working, saving and attempting to take care of their old age. 

 

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/sisterthundershow/2014/04/18/boots-on-the-ground-news

Blood red moon

For 2014 and 2015:  Two will fall on Passover and two will fall on Tabernacles. Seven tetrads (four consecutive blood moons in a row) falling on the seven days designated by God Himself as His Convocations, all within a 2-year period has only occurred 7 times since the Crucifixion.  The last three times have been in:

     a.  1492 - The Edict of Expulsion when Spain kicked the Jews out of Spain and seized all that they owned

     b.  May 14,1948 - Israel was declared a nation by the U.N. and was attacked by its Arab neighbors the very next day

     c.  The 1967 6-Day War of Miracles

     On all three occasions Blood Moons occurred on Passover and on Tabernacles for two consecutive years

5)  The Hebrew word for 'signs' is 'owth', meaning a signal6) The Hebrew word for 'feast' is moed, meaning a divinely appointed time

7) The Hebrew word for 'convocation' is miqra, meaning a dress rehearsal

To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.  Jer 6:10

DEFINITIONS

Lunar Eclipse – Occurs when the earth’s shadow blocks the sun’s light from reaching the moon, i.e., the earth is between the sun and the moon and the moon shows the effects when the earth’s shadow completely covers it.  Eclipses can be total or partial.

Blood Moon – The moon appears red when in total shadow (total lunar eclipse) due to the ‘red’ light waves bending as they go around the earth.  Other colors are blocked but some ‘red’ light makes it through.

Solar Eclipse – Occurs when the moon’s shadow blocks the sun’s light from reaching the earth, i.e., the moon is between the sun and the earth and the earth shows the effects.  This only takes place at the phase of a new moon, when the moon passes directly between the sun and earth and the moon’s shadow falls on the earth’s surface.  These eclipses can also be total or partial.

Biblical Examples•

 Joel 2:30-31  &  Acts 2:19-20 – Both blood moons and a solar ecipse are described.•

 Matt 24:29 – Both confirmed by Jesus

Tetrad – Four consecutive Blood Moons that occur during specific intervals of time.  Partial lunar eclipses are fairly common, but total lunar eclipses are not.  A Tetrad that occurs without partial eclipses in between is rare.  A Tetrad with a total solar eclipse within the series is extremely rare. 

A tetrad lilnked to Jewish history is astronomically rare and has only happened three times in the past fir hundred-plus years.

The Future of Terrorism: What al-Qaida Really Wants

The Fifth Phase This will be the point at which an Islamic state, or caliphate, can be declared. The plan is that by this time, between 2013 and 2016, Western influence in the Islamic world will be so reduced and Israel weakened so much, that resistance will not be feared. Al-Qaida hopes that by then the Islamic state will be able to bring about a new world order.

 The Sixth Phase Hussein believes that from 2016 onwards there will a period of "total confrontation." As soon as the caliphate has been declared the "Islamic army" it will instigate the "fight between the believers and the non-believers" which has so often been predicted by Osama bin Laden.

 

 We talk about blood red noon and The Future of Terrorism: What al-Qaida Really Wants

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/sisterthundershow/2014/04/14/the-future-of-terrorism-what-al-qaida-really-wants

 

Erdogan's Theological Justification for His Dictatorial Stance

"Both materially, and in essence, sovereignty unconditionally and always belongs to Allah." — Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister, Turkey.
What is surprising is that so many Western politicians, including EU-minded ones, apparently still ignore what the consequences could be of such an ideology. Do they really assume it could never happen to them?

Once again, Turkey's Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is – although ineffectively – cracking down on social media, most notably Twitter, which public outrage forced him to reinstate, and the latest municipal elections were again ridden with intimidation and fraud.

On September 12, 1980, the Turkish military cracked down on religious opposition movements that challenged the secular state, and took power over the country. What stood out during these events was that Western nations, with political structures vigorously opposed to military involvement in civil politics, were actually relieved by the military's action[1]. After all, one year earlier the secular and allied state of Iran had transformed into a theocratic and hostile nation.

Over time, however, a worrying dynamic revealed itself: The Western view of Islamic religious political movements changed, while the core ideology and intentions of these movements did not. This phenomenon coincided with the "New Left" consolidating its "March through the institutions," referring to its takeover of the academy and journalism.

The West stopped seeing political Islam as an expansionist, possibly antagonistic, ideology, and started actively to aid the consolidation of Islamist power, particularly in Turkey. The EU stated that if Turkey were ever going to join it, the country would have to abolish the influence the Turkish military had over civil politics. It is reasonable that the EU did not want a member state with a military that could undo a democracy at will. But it was unreasonable of the EU to think that the only way a democracy could be undone was by a military, or, in the instance of Turkey, that of the then-secular Turkish military. The EU may also have been naïve to dismiss out of hand the claims of the Turkish military that Islamist doctrine was inherently anti-Western.

True, modern Turkish Islamists, with the current Erdogan government as a prime example, have started out by preaching their theocratic intentions in more discrete and innocent-sounding ways. Erdogan for example said: "All the schools will become [madrassa-like religious] Imam Hatip schools"[3] and "I am the Imam of Istanbul"[4], but it is not as if Erdogan is a master of disguise. The truth was out there for those not taken by wishful thinking. Erdogan, during his time as mayor of Istanbul, 1994-1998, had said that "Democracy is like a streetcar. When you come to your stop, you get off." What is somewhat less known is that Erdogan stated in 1998: "Our reference [guide] is Islam. Our only goal is an Islamic state. They can never intimidate us. If the skies and the earth open up, if storms blow on us, if the lava of volcanoes flow on us, we will never change our way. My guide is Islam. If I cannot live according to Islam, why live at all? [Turk], Kurd, Arab, Caucasian cannot be differentiated; because these peoples are united under the roof of Islam."[5]

Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2009. (Image source: World Economic Forum)

What is even less known is that during the same period he repeatedly and elaborately explained why his ideology is inherently dictatorial.

On video[6], Erdogan was saying: "You cannot be both secular and a Muslim. You will either be a Muslim, or secular. When both are together, they create reverse magnetism [they repel one another]. For them to exist together is not a possibility. Therefore, it is not possible for a person who says, 'I am a Muslim' to go on and say, 'I am secular, too.' And why is that? Because Allah, the creator of the Muslim, has absolute power and rule.... When [does the sovereignty belong to the people]? It is only when they go to the polls [every five years] that sovereignty belongs to the people. But both materially, and in essence, sovereignty unconditionally and always belongs to Allah."

Although statements such as that might sound arbitrary and irrelevant to Western readers, they are not. The overarching theological drive of many Islamists is – as for example re-emphasized by one of the founder fathers of modern political Islam, Sayyid Qutb – the implementation of the sovereignty of Allah on earth, Hakimiyyat Allah. The Sovereignty of Allah, a divinely mandated set of laws, known as Sharia, may not be undone by men: all sovereignty of the people is inferior to the sovereignty of Allah. This means that Islamist doctrine does not allow Islamist rulers to be removed from power democratically. Such a view makes such a form of government inherently autocratic.

Erdogan's views should not be surprising. He was an apprentice of Necmettin Erbakan, the founding father of what is basically the Turkish Muslim Brotherhood, known as Milli Görüs. What is surprising, however, is that so many Western politicians, including EU-minded ones, apparently still choose to ignore what the consequences could be of such an ideology. Do they really assume it could never come to them?

A "Wadjda" for Kosovo

Kosovo shares one social problem with Saudi Arabia. That is the infiltration of radical Islam. The story of victimized moderate Muslim clerics and intellectuals, removed from their congregations, dismissed from their teaching positions, and physically attacked, remains to be told.
I would like to be a brother or friend to a female president, but to a president that has reached her position as Wadjda got her bicycle -- because she deserved it.

Saudi Arabia, a male-dominated country, is changing slowly. One example of its cautious new openness is the 2012 movie Wadjda, Saudi Arabia's first feature film, by its first female director, Haifaa Al-Mansour.
My country, the Balkan republic of Kosovo, more than 90% Muslim, is likewise male-controlled and also appears to be changing.
That impression, however, is created by Kosovo having a woman president, Atifete Jahjaga, and is false.
President Atifete Jahjaga does not belong in the same category as Wadjda, the female protagonist of the Saudi film. We need a Wadjda for our country – both a female with the spirit of the cinema character, and a movie like it. We need many Wadjdas.

A promotional poster for the film Wadjda (left), and Kosovo's President Atifete Jahjaga.

In Wadjda, the film-maker tells the story of a 10-year old girl in a world where women exist to bear children, satisfy sexual demands, and serve food. Wadjda, living in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, makes an immense effort to purchase a bicycle, like the one owned by a neighborhood boy. She is warned that girls should not ride bicycles, reflecting Saudi Wahhabi doctrine. Still, Wadjda's mother, using money she saved for a red dress, buys her the bicycle. At the end Wadjda rides toward the highway, another Saudi male preserve.
Wadjda got what she desired, without complaining about being a woman.
I want a Wadjda for Kosovo.

My country is full of women who want their rights, and are intelligent and educated, but who fail. They hold to a mindset that declares, "I am a women, unequal, wronged, and must be given rights."
Kosovo is a European country, and the obstacles to women's equality present in the Balkans are seldom comparable to those in the Saudi kingdom. Polygamy is rare in Kosovo, civil divorce is a guaranteed right, women are represented widely in the professions – President Atifete Jahjaga was a police commander – and all religions have freedom.

But Kosovo, with a movie industry that is not restricted by the so-called "moral" and religious requirements of Saudi reality, also needs films that will expose the dark aspects of life in the republic – where the male leader caste decides the future of the country alone, ignoring or manipulating nearly all women, government officials, and religious leaders. They act as if unrestrained by law or custom – spreading corruption in private and public life, through intimidation, counting on habitual assent to injustice.

Kosovo shares one social problem with Saudi Arabia. That is the infiltration of radical Islam through the top clerical apparatus in the Balkan lands. The Wadjdas of Kosovo need to defy those who would, in the name of Islam, impose foreign habits on them. The story of victimized moderate Muslim clerics and intellectuals, removed from their congregations, dismissed from teaching positions, physically attacked, and otherwise abused, remains to be told.

As a Kosovo citizen, I owe allegiance to the female head of our state, President Atifete Jahjaga, nicknamed "Zarf-tifete," or "Envelope-tifete." Her position was gained two years ago, in April 2011, when her name was presented to the Kosovo government in an envelope, by the former U.S. ambassador to Kosovo from 2009 to 2012, Christopher Dell, who was an Obama appointee. Jahjaga was an unknown – when she became president there was only one picture of her in Google Images.
Atifete Jahjaga did not seek her post as president, the way Wadjda fought for her bicycle. Atifete Jahjaga risked nothing. She appears above party politics.

It would be bad enough if my very small country had only one Atifete Jahjaga, that is, only one person whose high position represented tokenism and reward without real merit. Unfortunately, the majority of women in Kosovo's public life are like her. She is supported by American diplomats and local personalities pushing and grabbing for others' positions: in business, in politics, in criminal operations, as silent partners.

President Atifete Jahjaga presents merely a positive image of Kosovo. It is a country with more than 90% of its 1.8 million people Muslim, a country with an Islamic majority but a female president.
Wadjda's director, Haifaa Al-Mansour, dedicated years of work to her product. She was forced into compromises, changing the script.

My country, Kosovo, with its Muslim identity, needs strong women in public life, who dare to do things forbidden in the name of Islam but which Islam does not prohibit.
Saudi Arabia is changing. Wadjda, a film that offered a realistic depiction of the opening-up of Saudi society, gained the support of Saudi King Abdullah. Some have criticized the film for showing Wadjda's mother buying the bicycle instead of the young girl herself.
I want a Wadjda for my country, in addition to women like President Atifete Jahjaga.
I have sisters and female friends. I would like to be a brother or friend to a female president, but to a president who has reached her position as Wadjda got her bicycle – because she deserved it.