In PJ Media I discuss a few examples of recent attempts at inter-faith dialogue that Pope Francis should consider as he weighs engaging with the Islamic State. During his trip to Turkey in late November, Pope Francis said that he would never rule out the possibility of dialogue with representatives of the Islamic State: I […]
Robert Spencer in FrontPage: Jihad in an Australian Chocolate Shop
I wrote this last night. The major revelation since then has been the hostage-taker’s announcement that the incident means that “Australia is under attack by the Islamic State.” In FrontPage today: The details are still sketchy, but this is what is apparently confirmed as of this writing (8PM EST Sunday night): as many as 50 […]
Sydney police commissioner on jihad flag: “We’re still trying to work out what exactly it stands for”
It stands for jihad. It stands for the Islamic confession of faith, “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.” But in a political culture that is determined to ignore the patently obvious regarding Islamic jihad, the police commissioner has to scratch his head and say that he just can’t figure out […]
Australian PM Abbott: “We don’t know the motivation” for cafe siege
Yes, just ignore that black flag of Islamic jihad that the hostages were forced at gunpoint to hold up at the window. We have no idea what its significance could possibly be! But we do know that it has nothing, nothing whatsoever, to do with Islam! “Tony Abbott: ‘We don’t know the motivation,’” Guardian, December […]
Robert Spencer in FrontPage: Imam Joe Biden Schools an Infidel
In FrontPage I discuss the latest absurdity from Joe Biden: The courageous ex-Muslim human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali recently recounted that at a speech in Washington not long ago, she met Vice President Joe Biden. Biden seized the opportunity to tell her that “ISIS had nothing to do with Islam.” Hirsi Ali politely disagreed, whereupon Biden […]
Biden tried to lecture Hirsi Ali about Islam
Even though Ayaan Hirsi Ali was raised a Muslim in a Muslim country, and Joe Biden has almost certainly never opened a Qur’an, Biden believed he knew more about Islam than she did. Why? Because her opinion of the religion was negative, and the possibility that such a view could have any merit whatsoever is […]
UK Home Office using theatre workshops to stop Muslim “radicalization”
What great plays these must be. As this program continues and expands, organizers can draw upon the vanishing English kuffar literary tradition, with suitable adaptations: Polonius: I hear him coming. Let’s withdraw, ya sheikh. Exeunt King and Polonius. Enter Hamlet. Hamlet: To be, or not to be a jihadi – that is the question: Whether […]
Robert Spencer in FrontPage: Rep. Sherman’s big idea
In FrontPage I discuss Representative Brad Sherman’s great idea: we should combat the Islamic State ideology. Indeed so, but he demonstrates that he holds a key (and common) false assumption. Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) had a great idea Tuesday: the U.S. needs to combat the Islamic State not just militarily, but ideologically. Speaking at a congressional hearing, he […]
Poverty causes terrorism? UAE jihadi arrested in palatial home
The Muslima who murdered an American at a mall in Abu Dhabi was arrested in her home. Pope Francis and John Kerry and others say we need to address the root causes of jihad terrorism by addressing problems of hunger and poverty. Would this woman have been turned away from jihad if she had, say, […]
Congressman: State Dept should hire Muslim scholars to combat Islamic State ideology
“Sherman stressed the need to find Islamic–rather than secular or humanitarian–justifications against the brutality of the Islamic State to appeal to Muslims worldwide.” It is certainly true that only showing that the Islamic State is wrong on Islamic grounds will keep some Muslims from supporting it. Sherman is, of course, assuming that Islam is a […]