The 4 Freedoms Library2024-03-28T14:11:08ZAlan Lakehttp://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLakehttp://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/54802804?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://4freedoms.com/group/Spain/forum/topic/listForContributor?groupUrl=Spain&user=097vqiv65r6ui&feed=yes&xn_auth=noThe expulsion of muslims from Spain.tag:4freedoms.com,2016-07-06:3766518:Topic:1804322016-07-06T10:11:35.017ZAlan Lakehttp://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<p>The descendants of muslims finally expelled from Spain in 1609 are demanding to be let back in.</p>
<p>We should expel every muslim living in Europe with 3 days notice like Philip III did, only pass a law at the same time that does not allow those deported or their descendants to claim the right to return.</p>
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<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expulsion_of_the_Moriscos">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expulsion_of_the_Moriscos…</a></p>
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<p>The descendants of muslims finally expelled from Spain in 1609 are demanding to be let back in.</p>
<p>We should expel every muslim living in Europe with 3 days notice like Philip III did, only pass a law at the same time that does not allow those deported or their descendants to claim the right to return.</p>
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<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expulsion_of_the_Moriscos">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expulsion_of_the_Moriscos</a></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4183/muslim-right-of-return-spain">http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4183/muslim-right-of-return-spain</a></p>
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<p><a href="http://lostislamichistory.com/spains-forgotten-muslims-the-expulsion-of-the-moriscos/">http://lostislamichistory.com/spains-forgotten-muslims-the-expulsion-of-the-moriscos/</a></p>
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<p><b>Final Expulsion</b></p>
<p>Despite the best efforts of the Moriscos to conceal their practice of Islam, the Christian kings suspected them of continued adherence to Islam. In 1609, over 100 years after the Muslims went into hiding, King Phillip of Spain signed an edict expelling all Moriscos from Spain. They were given only 3 days to completely pack up and board ships destined for North Africa or the Ottoman Empire.</p>
<p>After the fall of Granada in 1492, most Muslims expected it to be a small setback. They thought Muslim armies from Africa would soon come to redeem the loss of Granada and re-establish a Muslim state. The new Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, had other plans, however.</p>
<p>They made their religious intentions clear early on. In March 1492, Spain’s monarchs signed an edict that effectively forced every last Jew out of the country. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were forced out, with the Ottoman Empire accepting many of them. Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire sent his entire navy to Spain to pick them up and bring them to Istanbul, in order to avoid the mass killing that awaited them in Spain.</p>
<p>The Spanish policy towards the Muslims was not much different. In 1492, there were about 500,000 Muslims throughout Spain. The Catholic Church made it a priority to convert them all to Christianity now that they did not have the protection of a Muslim state.</p>
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<p>The first attempts to convert Muslims to Christianity was through bribery. Converts were showered with gifts, money, and land. This approach proved to be unsuccessful, as most of these “converts” quickly returned to Islam after getting such gifts.</p>
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<p>By the end of the 18th century, indigenous Islam and Morisco identity were considered to have been extinguished in Spain.</p> Forced Marriages, another stigma of Catalan Islamizaicontag:4freedoms.com,2012-10-05:3766518:Topic:1129232012-10-05T12:56:30.767ZAlan Lakehttp://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<p>Further to the report I submitted recently about forced marriages in Catalan, I asked Enric Ravello of Party PxC in Catalonia if he would please make comment on the situation there. Below please find his response. I would like to thank him for taking the time to give us this report.</p>
<p>“El Periodico” (The Newspaper), a media which few "suspect" of being anti-immigrant, because it is the socialist wing, published on 24 March 2011 that in the previous year (2010) The Catalan police,…</p>
<p>Further to the report I submitted recently about forced marriages in Catalan, I asked Enric Ravello of Party PxC in Catalonia if he would please make comment on the situation there. Below please find his response. I would like to thank him for taking the time to give us this report.</p>
<p>“El Periodico” (The Newspaper), a media which few "suspect" of being anti-immigrant, because it is the socialist wing, published on 24 March 2011 that in the previous year (2010) The Catalan police, Mossos, knew of 15 cases forced marriages with minors, but calculated that 300 cases occurred actually. The cases detected in 2011 and in 2012 (at the moment) confirm that this scourge continues to grow in Catalonia.</p>
<p>Forced marriages, clitoris ablations, violence and abuse against women, proliferation of mosques, the presence of women wearing burkas. These are the consequences of the process of Islamization which plagues Catalonia. A phenomenon as serious as it is happening dizzily fast.</p>
<p>You need to remember that as recently as 1996, the rate of immigrants in Catalonia and in Spain was 0.4%, most of them British and German retirees and perfectly integrated in full harmony with the Spanish daily life, to which added some Argentine Spanish or Italian origin. It should be noted that 1996 was the year the liberal right Popular Party (PP) came to power. Spain's doors were opened to mass immigration so that cheap labor -needed to fuel the housing boom - and which has ended with the current crisis passed on to our country.</p>
<p>Since then the tide of migration has been steadily growing, always with the complicity of the conservatives and socialists government, up to 13% today.</p>
<p>However, we must point out a peculiarity in the Spanish migration process which makes a specific case at the European level. Spain has received two kinds of immigration: the South American Indians (Bolivia, Ecuador, etc.) who live in Madrid and central Spain, and Islamic immigrants (Pakistan and Morocco preferably) who have migrated to Catalonia and in general throughout the Levantine coast (east coast).</p>
<p>Because of this, Catalonia is the area where the heaviest impact is being felt due to the Islamization process, in some cases, this is as severe as and similar to southern France. </p>
<p>Today Catalonia is the region of Spain that has largest number of mosques, even more than Spanish cities Ceuta and Melilla in the north of Africa, where it has had to legislate to prohibit the public use of the burka. Where there have been cases like the Terressa Salafist Imam, who has been indicted for encouraging "prayers" to mistreat women. This is where they want to build a huge mosque which will be benchmarked for all Muslims on this side of the Mediterranean. </p>
<p>It is the same reason that explains why in Catalonia we find these cases of forced marriages with minors, another feature of backwardness and barbarism typical of the vast Muslim community, even though it is a modern European land and as Christian as Catalonia.</p>
<p><b>Enric Ravello</b></p>
<p><b><i>Secretary of national and foreign relationships of PxC-PxL party.</i></b></p> Spain invaded again by Islam.tag:4freedoms.com,2012-09-12:3766518:Topic:1115382012-09-12T00:20:09.252ZAlan Lakehttp://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<p><a href="http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3341/spain-meter-maids" target="_blank">http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3341/spain-meter-maids</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3341/spain-meter-maids" target="_blank">http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3341/spain-meter-maids</a></p> Forced Marriages a growing problem in Islamized Cataloniatag:4freedoms.com,2012-08-17:3766518:Topic:1103662012-08-17T15:14:29.537ZAlan Lakehttp://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<p>The details from this came originally from the Gatestone Institute in an article by Soeren Kern.</p>
<p>Police in the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia have intervened to try and prevent the forced marriage of a 13 year old girl from a Muslim immigrant family from Morocco.</p>
<p>This 13 year old was one of nine who were reported victims of forced marriage in this region, and this during the first six months of 2012. Seven of these were minors. Police have had difficulties…</p>
<p>The details from this came originally from the Gatestone Institute in an article by Soeren Kern.</p>
<p>Police in the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia have intervened to try and prevent the forced marriage of a 13 year old girl from a Muslim immigrant family from Morocco.</p>
<p>This 13 year old was one of nine who were reported victims of forced marriage in this region, and this during the first six months of 2012. Seven of these were minors. Police have had difficulties intervening in time to prevent the marriages from taking place.</p>
<p>Mossos d’Esquadra are the Catalan police, report more than 50 forced marriages involving minors since the regional government started to gather official data in 2009.</p>
<p>Many victims are unaware of their rights, so most cases go unreported.</p>
<p>In Catalonia the Muslim population has risen sharply in recent years. In a region with 7.5 million inhabitants, 400,000 are Muslim, this up from 30,000 in the 1980s.</p>
<p>In many towns in Catalan, Muslim populations exceed 20 per cent. In Salt, near Barcelona, Muslims make up 40 per cent of the population. Salt is now being referred to as the ‘new Mecca of the most radical Islamism’ where Muslims are attempting to enforce Islamic Sharia law.</p>
<p>Who are these girls who are being forced into marriages? They come from North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Middle East, however, the majority of cases are immigrants from Morocco. </p>
<p>These marriages are arranged by family members, cousins or other members who are following a tradition. They force these girls into marriage at a young age to prevent the Europeanization of the girls, or even to pay outstanding debts.</p>
<p>Debts? These are young women and girls. They are not chattel.</p>
<p>Four cases of forced marriage during the first half of 2012 occurred in Gerona, according to the Catalan police. This is one of the most Islamised regions of Spain. Police were able to prevent two of the four marriages. Three more occurred in Barcelona. All of these involved Muslim immigrants.</p>
<p>Children are approaching the police on their own begging for help. The young girl referred to at the beginning of this report in January of 2012, lost her mother, and went to reside with her father in Toulouse. Once she arrived in France, she found out that her father had planned to marry her off to a Moroccan man in July.</p>
<p>She contacted the police in Toulouse and they in turn contacted the Spanish consulate there.</p>
<p>Spanish authorities came up with a scheme where the girl persuaded her father to take her to Gerona to complete some official paperwork. Once across the border in Spain, police arrested the father, and the girl was transferred to a foster home in Gerona.</p>
<p>Force marriage is not an offense under Spanish Criminal Code, and the police are using other legal avenues to pursue these crimes. They charge them with sexual assault, unlawful detention, gender violence and kidnapping.</p>
<p>In the instance of the 13-year-old, police determined that the girl was being subjected to physical violence, and arrested the father for child abuse. However the judge later released the father.</p>
<p>Schools report these child victims to the police, when the child confides the information to their teachers.</p>
<p>One case involved a girl being taken by her family on a trip to Morocco and forced to marry. When she returned to Spain, she contacted a teacher who called the police. This girl had been detained against her will and raped by the new ‘husband’. Sadly, again, the judge hearing the case ordered the husband released from jail.</p>
<p>A young Pakistani girl who was forced into marriage escaped and wandered along on the streets of Barcelona for ten days, before she found the courage to speak to the police.</p>
<p>Some of these marriages are coming into play once the families find out their daughters are dating Spanish boyfriends.</p>
<p>Catalan police report they have prevented 21 forced marriages in 2011. Thirteen of those involved were minors. In 2010, they prevented 15 forced marriages and 13 in 2009.</p>
<p>They also are intervening to prevent genital mutilations of girls (36 girls) between the ages of TWO and Twelve. Most of these occurred in Barcelona (27), 8 in Geron, with one in Lérida.</p>
<p>Again the police prevented the genital mutilation of 28 girls in 2010, and 55 mutilations in 2009.</p>
<p>Local police say that many Muslim girls in Catalonia live in fear of having to attend 'Family Reunions' because they are afraid they will never be heard from again, as they watch their friends disappearing. </p> 800th anniversary of Las Navas de Tolosatag:4freedoms.com,2012-07-02:3766518:Topic:1057662012-07-02T12:53:06.453ZAlan Lakehttp://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<p>We need to remember the past in order to build a future.</p>
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<h3 class="post-title entry-title">800th anniversary of Las Navas de Tolosa</h3>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-1108867953580317372"><div class="separator"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U7a7fIf4sRc/T_BwXWkBuCI/AAAAAAAAGps/TsZLTE4TF_A/s1600/NavasDeTolosaMonument.jpg"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U7a7fIf4sRc/T_BwXWkBuCI/AAAAAAAAGps/TsZLTE4TF_A/s400/NavasDeTolosaMonument.jpg" width="266"></img></a></div>
<div>At least two major battles for the history of the Church and her expansion will have their centennials…</div>
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<p>We need to remember the past in order to build a future.</p>
<p>--</p>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title">800th anniversary of Las Navas de Tolosa</h3>
<div id="post-body-1108867953580317372" class="post-body entry-content"><div class="separator"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U7a7fIf4sRc/T_BwXWkBuCI/AAAAAAAAGps/TsZLTE4TF_A/s1600/NavasDeTolosaMonument.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U7a7fIf4sRc/T_BwXWkBuCI/AAAAAAAAGps/TsZLTE4TF_A/s400/NavasDeTolosaMonument.jpg" width="266" height="400"/></a></div>
<div>At least two major battles for the history of the Church and her expansion will have their centennials celebrated this year. One is arguably one of the major turning points of the entire History of mankind, as it ended persecution against the Church and lay the foundation of the Christian Era - the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, which we will remember and celebrate in October.</div>
<div>But 800 years ago another major battle was about to take place in Andalusia. There was nothing inevitable about the Reconquista, on which so much of the History of the world as we know it would depend, due to the disproportionate influence that the quest for evangelization and discoveries would grant to the poor depopulated kingdoms of what was then largely known as "the Spains" (the Iberian Peninsula). </div>
<div>In the decades prior to 1212, the Reconquest had come to a halt. The Almohads, battle by battle, advanced to the greatest extent of Muslim domination in the Peninsula in centuries. In 1211, the Caliph himself crossed the Straits of Gibraltar with tens of thousands of his soldiers. 1212 would be the year that would decide if the Spains would ever be completely Christian once again.</div>
<div>Earlier in 1212, the King of Castille had sent an embassy to Pope Innocent III asking for a special Bull granting the privileges of Crusade to those warriors from all over Christendom who would go to Spain to aid a struggle that was common to all - a request granted by the Pope. In fact, in the Eternal City itself, the <a href="http://books.google.es/books?id=3jvefS4rGzIC&pg=PA28#v=onepage&q&f=false">Wednesday following</a> the Sunday of the Most Holy Trinity in 1212 was dedicated to public penance, prayers and processions led by the Pontiff himself for the success of Christian troops in Spain.</div>
<div>The armies of Christian kingdoms in the Spains (Castille, Portugal, Navarre, Aragon), as well as volunteers from Leon and from all Christendom, particularly France, met the Almohad forces on Monday, July 16, 1212, in sweltering fields and hills of the Sierra Morena not far from Jaén: it would be the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, won by Christian forces. </div>
<div>Muslim forces in Spain would be in permanent retreat, soon limited to the Emirate of Granada, itself finally conquered in the fateful year of 1492, well after the first Iberian seafarers had left the European mainland with a crusading spirit that would conquer half the world and take the faith of the Church of Rome to previously unknown or unreachable lands and peoples.</div>
<div>Note: <a href="http://batallanavasdetolosa.es/">The Province of Jaén (Andalusia, Spain) has dedicated a website to the celebration of the 800th anniversary of this pivotal battle (in Spanish).</a></div>
</div> Jihadis say they plan to take back Al Andalustag:4freedoms.com,2012-05-29:3766518:Topic:1031412012-05-29T11:56:17.715ZAlan Lakehttp://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<p><a href="http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/ansar-al-din-targets-spain.html">http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/ansar-al-din-targets-spain.html</a></p>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title"><a href="http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/ansar-al-din-targets-spain.html">Ansar al-Din Targets Spain</a></h3>
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<div class="post-body entry-content">The <i>mujahideen</i> of North Africa are again threatening…</div>
<p><a href="http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/ansar-al-din-targets-spain.html">http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/ansar-al-din-targets-spain.html</a></p>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title"><a href="http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/ansar-al-din-targets-spain.html">Ansar al-Din Targets Spain</a></h3>
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<div class="post-body entry-content">The <i>mujahideen</i> of North Africa are again threatening the Iberian Peninsula. They have renewed their vow to reclaim the lost territory of al-Andalus (Islamic Spain), a goal that has obsessed the Ummah since Islam was driven from Iberia in 1492.<br/> <br/> Our Spanish correspondent Hermes has compiled a report on the topic based on Spanish-language sources. It focuses on a terrorist group called Ansar al-Din, which is now planning attacks in Spain.<br/> <br/><center><img src="http://chromatism.net/images/bar400.gif" border="0"/></center>
<br/> <b>Ansar al-Din Targets Spain<br/> by Hermes</b><br/> <br/><center><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WksWAQV6HUA/T8PbX90kTnI/AAAAAAAAEvM/gGfbI4O87hY/s400/ansaraldin-webpage.jpg" border="0" vspace="8" alt="Ansar al-Din webpage"/><br/> <i>Snapshot of the website in which the group threatens Spanish cities</i></center>
<br/> <b>Spain has been threatened again by jihadists from Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb<br/> <br/> Ansar al-Din controls Mali and has gained territory thanks to the weapons stolen in Libya<br/> <br/> Ansar al-Din,</b> a Salafi jihadist group which maintains an alliance with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, has again pointed out Spain as top target. Ansar al-Din controls the north of Mali and Timbuktu. It has become powerful by of being one of the groups which obtained the largest quantity of weapons from the Libyan arsenal after the fall of Khadafi. The threat against Spain came with a photo in which the Salafists showed boxes of weapons and explosives with the seal of Misrata, stolen from the headquarters of Khadafi<br/> <br/> Ansar al-Din (the defenders of the Islamic religion) has published a statement which was intercepted by the State Security Forces, and in which they point out four Spanish cities as targets: Granada, Valencia, Seville and Cordoba. The text of this statement explains that “they want to free these four cities which were once governed by Muslims”, and “restore Al-Andalus”.<br/> <br/> Apart from the marked targets, which once again are Spanish, this group gives concern to the police because it has become powerful through acquiring so much weaponry from the Libyan arsenal after the fall of Khadafi. The threat against Spain arrived with a photo which the Salafists took of themselves on a truck full of explosives stolen from the headquarters of Khadafi in Misrata.<br/> <br/><center><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1iPZBN7a0Zw/T8PbXTZOT4I/AAAAAAAAEvA/UVS8fCY07Eo/s400/ansaraldin-weapons.jpg" border="0" vspace="8" alt="Ansar al-Din weapons"/><br/> <i>Terrorist photographed with the weapons stolen from Misrata</i></center>
<br/> The State Security Forces engaged in the fight against the radical jihadists give total credibility to this new statement from Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. After having intercepted and studied it, the conclusion remains the same: Spain is one of the top targets of the terrorist organization, and that AQMI remains one of our most significant menaces.<br/> <br/> For her part, the government representative in Andalusia, Carmen Crespo, did not give much importance to this issue and pointed out that “what the government is concerned about is to work in order to ensure that the Islamist groups will not be able to take action, either in Spain or the rest of Europe.”<br/> <br/> In this way, she said that the State Security Forces “investigate and are very aware in order to detect any cell or person involved”. According to her, this statement “has little to do with the reality in the country”, because “Spain is Spain, and here everybody has his/her place, because we welcome people, but what’s clear is clear.” Finally, she remarked that the government “is working to prevent the actions of the radical Islamist groups, and work is being done regarding investigation and prevention.”<br/> <br/> <b>AQMI still has its headquarters in Mali</b><br/> <br/> AQMI still has its headquarters in Mali. The lawless desert of Mali is the main bastion of the Salafists, who have been maintaining their bases and training camps there for decades. There’s concern that AQMI has rearmed itself with weapons and explosives from Libya, which they have begun to use in countries such as Nigeria and in attacks against Christians. The route they followed in order to carry the weapons was Libya-Niger-Mali, and they were moved by road on trucks.<br/> <a name="more" id="more"></a><br/> The missiles and the explosives arrived in Mali thanks to the Tuaregs and the mercenaries of AQMI, who carry the military material in trucks under the disguise of security convoys in exchange for money. Some trucks were intercepted in Niger in their way to Mali with missiles and explosives<br/> <br/> Recent police reports to which radio SER had access point out that this branch of Al Qaeda in North Africa has among other things “long range missiles and a very destructive kind of military explosive known as semtex”. This is a plastic explosive of general use preferred by terrorists because it is extremely difficult to detect and easy to obtain. It is one of the best methods to blow up planes, and one of the big challenges of AQMI, because just 250 kg of this explosive are enough to destroy a civilian plane. Between 1975 and 1981 Libya bought more than 700 tons of semtex, which are even now in good condition.<br/> <br/> Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb continues to be very active in Algeria, Mauritania, Niger and Mali. According to recent police reports, their goal is to continue to spread in the Sahel and the rest of countries in the Maghreb<br/> <br/> <b>We know some details about the Islamic organization which has expressly threatened Granada<br/> <br/> Ansar al-Din</b> (The Followers of Faith) is an Islamist group created in Mali, which wants to impose Sharia law in that territory. Its leader is Ag Ghaly, a prominent figure of the Tuareg uprising in the 1990s in Niger and Mali, and who is accused of having links to Al Qaeda in Maghreb.<br/> <br/><center><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6BuwfXeo_0o/T8PbXEOCIII/AAAAAAAAEu0/zAL6LhfO5ok/s400/ansaraldin-alghaly.jpg" border="0" vspace="8" alt="Ansar al-Din: Ag Ghaly"/><br/> <i>The leader of Ansar al-Din, Ag Ghaly</i></center>
<br/> The group declared in March that it had gained control of the northeast regions of Mali, near Algeria. France asserts that <b>Ansar al-Din</b> executed 82 soldiers captured in that zone of the country, and described their tactics as “characteristic of Al Qaeda”.<br/> <br/> The BBC stated back in April that the group was beginning to implement their interpretation of Sharia in the city of Timbuktu. In a radio interview with its leader Ag Ghaly, he announced his intention to make it compulsory for women to wear the veil, to stone adulterers and to mutilate thieves. He drove the Christian population of Timbuktu to leave the city.<br/> <br/> On May 4, Ansar al-Din was accused of having burned the tomb of a saint in Timbuktu, a site which had been declared a world heritage site by the UNESCO. The explicit threat to Granada and other Spanish cities such as Valencia, Seville and Cordoba is the first threat of international scope made by the group, which up until now limited its actions to gaining control of Mali.</div> The Crusading Valor of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivartag:4freedoms.com,2012-05-08:3766518:Topic:1012462012-05-08T12:24:21.542ZAlan Lakehttp://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<p>We need to remember the past in order to build a future.</p>
<p>--</p>
<div class="headline_area"><h1 class="entry-title">Al Sayyid: The Crusading Valor of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar</h1>
<p class="headline_meta">by <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn" href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/author/brendan-j-mcguire">Brendan J. McGuire…</a></span></p>
</div>
<div class="format_text entry-content"><p class="first-child"></p>
</div>
<p>We need to remember the past in order to build a future.</p>
<p>--</p>
<div class="headline_area"><h1 class="entry-title">Al Sayyid: The Crusading Valor of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar</h1>
<p class="headline_meta">by <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn" href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/author/brendan-j-mcguire">Brendan J. McGuire</a></span></p>
</div>
<div class="format_text entry-content"><p class="first-child"><a href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/2012/el-cid/el-cid-2" rel="attachment wp-att-45919"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-45919" title="el cid" alt="" src="http://www.crisismagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/el-cid.jpg" width="449" height="313"/></a><span class="cap" title="I">I</span>t has long been fashionable to disparage the notion that one can derive historical insight from medieval poems; an exception to this tendency can be found in the Castilian martial epic <em>Poema del mio Cid</em>, which displays a surprising fidelity to the documented facts of its hero’s life. Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, known to history by his Arabic moniker <em>al-Sayyid</em> (“the lord” or “El Cid”), was an extraordinary eleventh-century warrior who served both Islamic and Christian lords towards the end of a peculiarly chaotic period in Iberian history, and died in 1099.</p>
<p>The famous vernacular poem that tells his story was written about a century after his death, and therefore presents us with more than one layer of historical insight: on the one hand, it is imbued with early thirteenth-century martial values, crusading ideals which, although alien to Rodrigo’s own period, dominated the culture of the Spanish Christian nobility in the most crucial phase of the <em>Reconquista,</em> which culminated in the great victory at Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212. On the other hand, however, the poem also lauds its protagonist for displaying a particular set of virtues throughout his colorful and violent career; these virtues, although somewhat more opaque to a modern audience than the anti-Moorish crusading sentiment, constitute the real reason why the historic figure of Rodrigo Diaz was considered suitable material for enshrinement as a medieval literary hero. The virtues in question are those governing lordship and vassalage, which the literary Rodrigo displays perfectly; unlike the anachronistic crusading spirit of the poem, these qualities would have been just as much at home in the eleventh century as in the thirteenth.</p>
<p>The Iberian peninsula in the age of Rodrigo Diaz (1043-1099) was a world of small and relatively weak kingdoms, both Islamic and Christian, in which violent conflicts between coreligionists were just as common as wars pitting Christian and Muslim rulers against one another; in such an environment, interfaith alliances between embattled warlords were normal rather than exceptional. This unique period in Iberian history was inaugurated by the collapse of the once-mighty Umayyad caliphate of Cordoba in 1031. The Umayyad family, driven from their caliphal throne in Damascus by the Abbasid revolution of 750, had taken refuge in Spain, uniting the vast majority of the peninsula under their sway until eleventh-century civil conflict tore their caliphate to pieces. The Christian kings of the north, although nominally independent, had been accustomed to pay tribute to the government in Cordoba; after 1031, however, the tables were turned, as the mighty and monolithic Umayyad state was replaced by a gaggle of squabbling emirates known to history as <em>taifas</em>.</p>
<p>In the era of the <em>taifa</em> kingdoms, the Christian monarchs of the north made a modicum of headway, raiding, conquering, and exacting tribute from their southern neighbors. As one can imagine, however, the richness of the spoils also created conflicts among the resurgent Iberian Christians; these conflicts, in turn, presented opportunities for crafty Islamic emirs to play different factions off of one another. Rodrigo Diaz flourished in this chaotic world due in no small part to his raw martial prowess; as an <em>infanzon</em>, or petty nobleman, he served the king of Castile, Sancho II, until Sancho’s untimely and suspicious death in 1072. This event added Castile to the possessions of Sancho’s ambitious brother and nemesis, Alfonso VI king of Leon; needless to say, Alfonso’s relationship with his late brother’s chief warrior and battlefield champion was awkward in the best of times. Alfonso VI was the dominant figure in the Iberian world by 1072; Christian and Islamic kings awarded him a varying mixture of fear, honor, and tribute. Hence, it is perhaps not surprising that he felt confident in doing without the services of the mighty Cid; Alfonso sent him into exile on two distinct occasions, during which many of Rodrigo’s legendary exploits took place.</p>
<p>Rodrigo spent his first exile (1081-1087) in the service of the Islamic emir of Zaragoza, winning spectacular victories against his new lord’s enemies, including the emir of Lerida and the infamous Christian count of Barcelona, Berenguer Ramon the Fratricide. By the end of the Cid’s first exile, however, it was clear that the politically fragmented world of the <em>taifa</em> kingdoms was coming to an end; the mighty Almoravid empire, headquartered in the North African city of Marrakesh, had launched an invasion of the Iberian peninsula in 1086, gobbling up many of the defenseless Islamic <em>taifas</em> and defeating King Alfonso himself at the cataclysmic battle of Sagrajas (<em>az-Zallaqah</em>). The Cid, recalled to service for a brief time in the aftermath of the catastrophe, was exiled again in 1089; after this exile came to a nominal end in 1092, the Cid spent his last years capturing Valencia and then defending it from an Almoravid host in 1094. His conquest of Valencia resulted in the re-foundation of the Christian bishopric there. Hence, although his final exploits certainly involved the extension of Christian civilization at the expense of Islam, it is more accurate to see the historic Rodrigo as an unusually successful warlord than as a crusader. Nevertheless, his conduct as a vassal to his lords and a lord to his vassals earned him enormous prestige during his lifetime, and the peculiarly medieval virtues that he displayed in the conduct of these relationships provide much of the fodder for his poetic apotheosis.</p>
<p><img class="alignleft" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_eosGkndaIFM/TT7W1WqvYdI/AAAAAAAAQWY/OMSN3pngYyc/s1600/El_Cid-dae74%255B1%255D.jpg" width="252" height="184"/>The theme of lordship and vassalage appears at the very beginning of the poem; as the Cid sets off into exile, the reader is presented with a vivid picture of his journey through the city of Burgos. Accompanied by a band of loyal knights, the Cid receives no hospitality there due to King Alfonso’s edict, while the townsmen and their wives, powerless to help, cry out “<em>Dios, qué buen vassalo, si oviesse buen señor!</em>” (“O God, what a good vassal; if only he had a good lord!”). The Cid is portrayed as a good vassal because of his blind loyalty to the ungrateful Alfonso, even in the face of exile and punishment. He is also a good lord, however: he protects, provides for, and rewards his own vassals generously, attracting hundreds of noble followers even as a homeless exile. The poem moralizes frequently on this point, noting that after the Cid and his men captured Alcocer, “how well he had rewarded his own vassals! He had enriched them all, knights and foot soldiers—you could not have found one poor man among them. Those who serve a good master are always well off!” (<em>Qué bien pagò a sus vasallos mismos! / A cavalleros e a peones fechos los ha rricos, / en todos los sos non fallariendes un mesquino; / qui a buen señor sirve siempre bien en delicio</em>).</p>
<p>In conclusion, it should be noted that for medieval warriors, chivalry was much more than a sterile ritual code or a body of literary conventions. Chivalry imposed highly practical and clearly-understood obligations on the knightly warrior class; these were men capable of great violence but also grand acts of piety and generosity, whose personal relationships with one another held western society together. Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, not without reason known as <em>al-Sayyid</em>, epitomized the chivalric code in a manner similar to other historical figures that we find transformed into literary heroes; by doing so in his lifetime, he became an exemplar to knights of a much later generation, whose crusading valor would break the back of Islamic power in Spain.</p>
<p>(English quotations taken from Rita Hamilton’s translation, Penguin Classics edition)</p>
<p class="post_tags">Tagged as: <a href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/tags/el-cid" rel="tag nofollow">El Cid</a>, <a href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/tags/isalm" rel="tag nofollow">Isalm</a>, <a href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/tags/knightly-virtue" rel="tag nofollow">Knightly Virtue</a></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/2012/el-cid">http://www.crisismagazine.com/2012/el-cid</a></p> Immigrant Muslim Calls for Koran to be Bannedtag:4freedoms.com,2012-02-29:3766518:Topic:968242012-02-29T14:03:20.222ZAlan Lakehttp://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<p><a href="http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2012/02/no-quran-in-spain.html">http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2012/02/no-quran-in-spain.html</a> </p>
<p>Exactly what muslims all over Europe should have been calling for in the past 50 years. They flee their own disastrous countries and then most just bring the problem with them.</p>
<hr></hr><h2 class="date-header">Tuesday, February 28, 2012</h2>
<h2 class="date-header"><a href="http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2012/02/no-quran-in-spain.html">No…</a></h2>
<p><a href="http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2012/02/no-quran-in-spain.html">http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2012/02/no-quran-in-spain.html</a> </p>
<p>Exactly what muslims all over Europe should have been calling for in the past 50 years. They flee their own disastrous countries and then most just bring the problem with them.</p>
<hr/><h2 class="date-header">Tuesday, February 28, 2012</h2>
<h2 class="date-header"><a href="http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2012/02/no-quran-in-spain.html">No Quran in Spain</a></h2>
<div class="date-posts"><div class="post-outer"><div class="post hentry"><div class="post-header"><div class="post-header-line-1"></div>
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<div class="post-body entry-content"><center><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_QdM9DVlexE/T015KMDivyI/AAAAAAAAETg/tn11Q5qAsME/s400/peticion.jpg" border="0" vspace="8" alt="Petición Prohibir el Corán en España"/></center>
<br/>A Pakistani apostate now resident in Spain wants the Spanish government to ban the Koran. Below is the message we received yesterday from “Imran Firasat”, the owner of the Spanish website <a target="_blank" href="http://www.mundosinislam.com/">World without Islam</a>:<br/><br/><blockquote>I have formally asked the Spanish government through a legal petition for the prohibition of the Quran in Spain.<br/><br/>Many newspapers from Spain and some other European countries have published this news. I would like to request you to publish this very important and necessary news on your website please. We have to help each other in our fight against the Islamic dragon.<br/><br/>My petition calling for the prohibition of Quran is the sign of a grand revolution which we shall bring together against Islam. With this email I send you scans of the petition presented to the numerous institutions of Spanish Government. And below here I send you some links of media which published this news, and then after the links you can find the English translation of the news.<br/><br/><table border="0">
<tbody><tr><td valign="top">1.</td>
<td></td>
<td valign="top"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.minutodigital.com/2012/02/08/un-pakistani-afincado-en-espana-pide-formalmente-la-prohibicion-del-coran/">Un pakistaní afincado en España pide formalmente “la prohibición del Corán”</a></td>
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<tr><td valign="top">2.</td>
<td></td>
<td valign="top"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.alertadigital.com/2012/02/23/un-refugiado-pakistani-residente-en-espana-pide-la-prohibicion-del-coran-por-incitar-al-odio-y-la-violencia/">Un refugiado pakistaní residente en España pide la prohibición del Corán por incitar al odio y la violencia</a></td>
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<tr><td valign="top">3.</td>
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<td valign="top"><a target="_blank" href="http://eticha.dk/news/pakistaner-forbyd-koranen/">Pakistansk flygtning opfordrer til at Koranen skal forbydes</a></td>
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<br/><b>The English translation of the news:<br/><br/>A Pakistani settled in Spain asks formally “the prohibition of Quran”</b><br/><br/>“Imran Firasat” A Pakistani citizen with legal residence in Spain as a political refugee has presented an official petition to the numerous institutions of the Spanish government calling for the prohibition of the Quran.<br/><br/>Imran has formally sent the petition to the President of Spain, Parliament of Spain, ministry of the exterior and also to the ministry of the interior. A copy of the petition is attached at the end of this news.<br/><br/>In the document presented to the government of Spain, Imran reveals 10 points which will support his petition for banning the Quran:</blockquote>
<br/><a name="more" id="more"></a>
<blockquote><table border="0">
<tbody><tr><td valign="top">1.</td>
<td></td>
<td valign="top">The Quran is not a sacred and religious book, but a violent book, full of hatred and discrimination.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top">2.</td>
<td></td>
<td valign="top">The Quran is a horrible book which provokes a community calls Muslims to undertake Jihad, kill innocent people and destroy the peace of the world.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top">3.</td>
<td></td>
<td valign="top">The Quran is responsible for all the terrorism we have seen in recent years in which thousands of people lost their lives.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top">4.</td>
<td></td>
<td valign="top">The Quran is a book which contains evil teachings and forces its believers to capture the entire world and total power at any price.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top">5.</td>
<td></td>
<td valign="top">The Quran is a book which legally permits and incites hatred and violence and for that reason it is not compatible with the modern world including Spain.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top">6.</td>
<td></td>
<td valign="top">The Quran is a book which directly discriminates between human beings.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top">7.</td>
<td></td>
<td valign="top">The Quran is a book which doesn’t allow freedom of expression nor religious freedom.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top">8.</td>
<td></td>
<td valign="top">The Quran is a book which causes women to suffer and be tortured by means of its being full of injustice and macho laws.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top">9.</td>
<td></td>
<td valign="top">The Quran is a book which rather than teaching unity, teaches disunity and in this way it doesn’t allow its believers to form friendships with those who are not Muslims, because in the eyes of Quran they are infidels.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td valign="top">10.</td>
<td></td>
<td valign="top">The Quran is a major threat to the free society of Spain. A book which clearly preach the messages of Jihad, killing, hate, discrimination and revenge. For that reason it can’t be compatible with the Spanish system in any sense. It is a book totally contrary to what the law and constitution of Spain say and it incites hatred and violence in our country.</td>
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</tbody>
</table>
</blockquote>
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</div> Under Siege? Spain Resists Islamic ‘Invasion’tag:4freedoms.com,2012-02-14:3766518:Topic:959992012-02-14T02:29:23.362ZAlan Lakehttp://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<h1 id="articleTitle">Under Siege? Spain Resists Islamic ‘Invasion’</h1>
<p><a href="http://infidelsarecool.com/2012/02/spain-slowly-being-invaded-influx-of-muslims-refuse-to-assimilate-into-spanish-culture/">http://infidelsarecool.com/2012/02/spain-slowly-being-invaded-influx-of-muslims-refuse-to-assimilate-into-spanish-culture/</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2012/February/Under-Siege-Spain-Resists-Islamic-Invasion-/">BARCELONA, Spain</a> — Bullfighting is now illegal in…</p>
<h1 id="articleTitle">Under Siege? Spain Resists Islamic ‘Invasion’</h1>
<p><a href="http://infidelsarecool.com/2012/02/spain-slowly-being-invaded-influx-of-muslims-refuse-to-assimilate-into-spanish-culture/">http://infidelsarecool.com/2012/02/spain-slowly-being-invaded-influx-of-muslims-refuse-to-assimilate-into-spanish-culture/</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2012/February/Under-Siege-Spain-Resists-Islamic-Invasion-/">BARCELONA, Spain</a> — Bullfighting is now illegal in the Spanish province of Catalonia. Some arenas have been converted into business spaces.</p>
<p>But Muslims want to turn the most famous arena, the Coliseum, into a giant mosque.</p>
<p>In fact, some cities in Spain now look more like the Middle East. Muslims, who once ruled most of nation, are returning in large numbers.</p>
<p>In the city of Salt, parents have come to pick up their children from school. Muslims already make up 40 percent of city residents and will soon be the majority.</p>
<p>But the city government has pushed back, placing a one-year hold on a large mosque project funded by radical Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia.</p>
<p>For good measure, someone cursed the ground at the building site with a pig head that was still there when CBN News arrived. Islamic law forbids the building of a mosque on ground soiled by pigs.</p>
<p>But the number of Muslims in Salt is increasing so rapidly, it is now only a matter of time before Muslims will be running the city.</p>
<p>“When the first Muslim political party presents itself, all the Muslims will vote for it, and we’ll all end up wearing headscarves. We’re in a really big problem,” Salt city councilwoman Maria Osuna told CBN News.</p>
<p><strong>Immigration or Invasion?</strong></p>
<p>In the 7th century, Muslim armies conquered most of Spain, calling it Al-Andulus. They would not be completely expelled for 700 years, the year Columbus discovered the new world.</p>
<p>Now Muslims are returning, and polls suggest they are not returning to be Spaniards. A <a href="http://pewglobal.org/2006/07/06/muslims-in-europe-economic-worries-top-concerns-about-religious-and-cultural-identity/" target="_blank">Pew survey</a> found that 7 out of 10 Muslims in Spain think of themselves as Muslim rather than Spaniards.</p>
<p>“Plataforma x Catalunya,” or Platform for Catalonia, was the first political party to take the Muslim surge seriously. But in politically correct Spain, which celebrated the 1,300-year anniversary of the Muslim invasion as a good thing, Platform for Catalonia is denounced as racist and xenophobic.</p>
<p>Platform leader Joseph Anglada said his party is not against immigrants. They’re against uncontrolled immigration and what they say are immigrants who do not want to be a part of Spain.</p>
<p>“Muslim immigrants are not here to adapt,” Anglada said. “They’re here to conquer.”</p>
<p>“First the husband comes as the head of the family,” he explained. “Then the wife and children, and later he comes with his parents, in-laws,and grandparents, and it has turned into an invasion.”</p>
<p><strong>‘Mysterious’ Dog Poisonings</strong></p>
<p>In the city of Lleida, someone is poisoning dogs. Police don’t know who has been doing it, but the suspicion is that Muslims were the culprits.</p>
<p>Before the poisonings, Muslims were trying to get city government to ban dogs from public transport and public areas because they consider dogs unclean.</p>
<p>“What happened was, all of a sudden, one day, 12 to 14 animals showed up dead. They had eaten something or been given something. We don’t know,” Josep Ortiz I Llleida told CBN News.</p>
<p>Lleida, which is about one-quarter Muslim, was the first Spanish city to ban the burqa. Then the mayor shut down the city’s mosque because it was overflowing with Friday worshippers.</p>
<p>CBN News went to see where the Muslim men are praying now, and it is a large open air pavilion. Filming with a hidden camera, we saw more than 500 men listening to a sermon in Arabic.</p>
<p>“We don’t know what the Muslim leaders are telling their people,” Moises Font with Platform for Catalonia said. “Are they encouraging Muslims to assimilate or to stay separate?”</p>
<p><strong>Spaniards Disappearing</strong></p>
<p>There are reportedly more than 100 radical Wahhabi mosques in Spain. And two radical Muslim TV channels from the Middle East are now broadcasting into Spain.</p>
<p>And just as Muslim immigration is surging, the native Spanish are slowly disappearing. Their birth rate is below the replacement number.</p>
<p>Also, large numbers of college age Spaniards are fleeing the country to escape a 50 percent unemployment rate for young people.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Muslim birthrate is at least twice the native birthrate, and the number of Muslims has increased tenfold in the last 20 years.</p>
<p>A secret report by Spanish intelligence leaked to the media found that radical groups from the Middle East are pouring large sums of money into Spain to control the nation’s Muslims.</p>
<p>“The greatest threat for Spain, Catalonia, and Europe is Muslim immigration,” Anglada told CBN News.</p>
<p id="">“We know they are coming here to conquer what, according to Muslims, used to belong to them,” he said. “We have a moral duty so that in the future they can say that at least there was someone, one party, that was not willing to surrender the West to Islamization.”</p> The Financing of Islam in Spaintag:4freedoms.com,2011-08-18:3766518:Topic:704102011-08-18T12:43:12.349ZAlan Lakehttp://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<table border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tbody><tr><td align="right" style="text-align: left; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px;"><p><span class="huge">Money doesn't talk, it swears.</span><br></br><span class="bodybold"><a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/bob_dylan.html">Bob Dylan</a></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves…</p>
</td>
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<table border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tbody><tr><td style="text-align: left; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px;" align="right"><p><span class="huge">Money doesn't talk, it swears.</span><br/><span class="bodybold"><a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/bob_dylan.html">Bob Dylan</a></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.</p>
<p><em>Timothy 6:10</em> (<a href="http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/bible-phrases-sayings.html">King James Version</a>):</p>
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<tr><td style="padding-left: 10px; padding-top: 10px;" width="820"><p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Muslim countries in the Persian Gulf and North Africa are funnelling large sums of money to radical Islamic groups in towns and cities across Spain in a competing effort to exert control over the estimated 1.5 million Muslims in the country.</font></p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p> </p>
<a href="http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2011/07/31/actualidad/1312140952_655494.html">A newly leaked secret report prepared by Spain's National Intelligence Center (CNI), <font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">excerpts of which were published</font></a> <font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">by the Madrid-based <em>El País</em> newspaper on July 31, says the Spanish government is struggling to stop the flow of tens of millions of dollars to Islamic groups in Spain from Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and above all Saudi Arabia.</font><br/>
<p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">The CNI report states: "The financing is having negative consequences for [multicultural] coexistence in Spain, such as the emergence of parallel societies and ghettos, Islamic courts and police that operate outside of Spanish jurisprudence, removing girls from schools, forced marriages, etc."</font></p>
<p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">It continues: "There is insufficient control of financial flows involving grants and aid from other countries that are being funnelled to the Islamic community in Spain. For the most part donors are using alternative channels to ensure that their donations escape the control of the regular Spanish financial system. Donors should be made fully aware of the risks associated with such financing."</font></p>
<p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">According to <em>El País</em>, two high-level officials from the Spanish Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs travelled to the Persian Gulf in June seeking cooperation from Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. In May, the Spanish Justice Ministry summoned the ambassadors of several Gulf Arab states to a meeting in Madrid in which Spanish officials requested their cooperation in bringing order to the financing of Islam in Spain.</font></p>
<p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">At the meeting in Madrid, Spanish officials distributed a document titled "System of Channelling the Flow of Funds to Islamic Communities in Spain." The document, which is in Spanish, English and Arabic, explains that henceforth Spanish authorities want all donations from the Gulf Arab states to be channelled through the</font> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Commission_of_Spain"><font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Islamic Commission of Spain</font></a> <font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">(CIE), a group the Spanish government says should be the official representative for Muslims in Spain.</font></p>
<p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Spanish authorities say Arab countries are flooding mosques in Spain with a host of anti-Western literature. For example, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs in Qatar has distributed a document in Spanish titled "Mohammed: The Ideal Prophet" which states: "Europe today still considers that the white race is superior to that of color. Europe, with all its pretensions to enlighten and lead … is still behind Islam."</font></p>
<p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">The leaked CNI document says Kuwait is one of the worst offenders. Through the</font> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_the_Revival_of_Islamic_Heritage"><font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Society for the Revival of Islamic Heritage</font></a> <font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">(RIHS), the Kuwaiti government has funded the construction of mosques in the Spanish municipalities of Reus and Torredembarra (Catalonia), from which Islamic preachers are "spreading a religious interpretation that opposes the integration of Muslim into Spanish society and promotes the separation and hate towards non-Muslim groups. … In the medium term, the RIHS plans to open a delegation in Spain." In June 2008, the</font> <a href="http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/hp1023.aspx"><font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">U.S. Treasury Department designated the RIHS</font></a> <font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">for bankrolling Al Qaeda.</font></p>
<p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Qatar, by contrast, funnels most of its donations through the Islamic League for Dialogue and Coexistence in Spain, a group the CNI says is "linked to the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria" and which controls the Catalan Islamic Cultural Center. Qatar recently paid €300,000 ($450,000) to renovate that center, which is based in Barcelona.</font></p>
<p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">The United Arab Emirates is focussing its efforts on providing financial support to Muslims in the southern region of Andalusia. Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to the parts of Spain ruled by Muslim conquerors from 711 and 1492. Many Muslims believe that the territories they lost during the Spanish Reconquista still belong to them, and that they have a right to return and establish their rule there – a belief based on the Islamic precept that territories once occupied by Muslims must forever remain under Muslim domination.</font></p>
<p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">In this context, the United Arab Emirates, together with Libya and Morocco, paid for the construction of the</font> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3055377.stm"><font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Great Mosque of Granada</font></a><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">. Says Abdel Haqq Salaberria, a spokesman for the mosque: "It will act as a focal point for the Islamic revival in Europe. It is a symbol of a return to Islam among the Spanish people and among indigenous Europeans."</font></p>
<p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">The United Arab Emirates, together with Kuwait, Morocco and Egypt, are also involved in a project to make Córdoba the "Mecca of the West" by turning the ancient city into a pilgrimage site for Muslims throughout Europe. Muslims in Córdoba are demanding that the Spanish government allow them to worship in the</font> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral%E2%80%93Mosque_of_C%C3%B3rdoba"><font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">main cathedral</font></a><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">, which had been a mosque during the medieval Islamic kingdom of Al-Andalus and is now a World Heritage Site.</font></p>
<p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">The CNI report says Saudi Arabia is the most generous donor to Muslim causes in Spain and many of its donations to a never-ending list of Islamic groups and causes are funnelled through the Saudi Embassy in Madrid.</font> <a href="http://www.hudson-ny.org/1760/spain-mosque-building"><font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Much of the Saudi money is for the construction of mosques in Spain</font></a><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">.</font></p>
<p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Riyadh, for example, built the six-story, 12,000 square meter (130,000 square feet)</font> <a href="http://www.ccislamico.com/home2.html"><font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Islamic Cultural Center in Madrid</font></a><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">, which opened in 1992 and is one of the biggest mosques in Europe. Saudi Arabia also built the €22 million ($30 million)</font> <a href="http://www.ccislamicodemalaga.org/"><font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Islamic Cultural Center in Málaga</font></a><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">, a small city in southern Spain that is home to almost 100,000 Muslims. (The center's website includes "news" with headlines such as "</font><a href="http://www.ccislamicodemalaga.org/noticia.php?tabla=articulos&id=252"><font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Christian Palestine under Zionist Occupation</font></a><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">.")</font></p>
<p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Saudi Arabia, which also built the "great mosques" in the Spanish cities of</font> <a href="http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mezquita_del_Rey_Abdelaziz"><font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Marbella</font></a> <font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">and</font> <a href="http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mezquita_de_Fuengirola"><font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Fuengirola</font></a><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">, has been accused of using the mosques and Islamic cultural centers in Spain to</font> <a href="http://www.meforum.org/535/saudi-arabia-and-the-rise-of-the-wahhabi-threat"><font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">promote the Wahhabi sect of Islam dominant in Saudi Arabia</font></a><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">. Wahhabism rejects all non-Wahhabi Islam, any dialogue with other religions and any opening up to other cultures. By definition, it also rejects the integration of Muslim immigrants into Spanish society.</font></p>
<p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">In December 2000, the Islamic Cultural Center in Madrid was expelled from the Spanish Federation of Islamic Religious Entities (FEERI) to "</font><a href="http://www.webislam.com/?idn=2580"><font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">frustrate the attempts of Saudi Arabia to control Islam in Spain</font></a><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">." Most Muslim immigrants in Spain are from the Maghreb (especially Morocco and Algeria) or Pakistan; analysts say their low standards of living and low levels of education make them particularly susceptible to the Islamist propaganda promoted by Saudi Arabia.</font></p>
<p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Not to be outdone, Morocco recently co-sponsored a weeklong seminar in Barcelona titled "</font><a href="http://www.webislam.com/?idn=17789"><font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Muslims and European Values</font></a><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">" during which it was proposed that the construction of big mosques would be "a useful formula" to fight Islamic fundamentalism in Spain.</font></p>
<p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">According to Noureddine Ziani, a Barcelona-based Moroccan imam: "It is easier to disseminate fundamentalist ideas in small mosques set up in garages where only the members of the congregation attend, than in large mosques that are open to everyone, with prayer rooms, cafes and meeting areas." He also said it is</font> <a href="http://www.elpais.com/articulo/cataluna/Barcelona/promete/ulemas/Marruecos/acoger/gran/mezquita/elpepiespcat/20101227elpcat_7/Tes"><font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">absolutely necessary to accept Islamic values as European values</font></a> <font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">and that from now on, Europeans should replace the term "Judeo-Christian" with term "Islamo-Christian" when describing Western Civilization.</font></p>
<p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Meanwhile, the</font> <a href="http://www.abc.es/20101228/espana/piden-mejorar-para-combatir-20101228.html"><font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Madrid-based <em>ABC</em> newspaper</font></a> <font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">reports that more than 100 mosques in Spain have radical imams preaching to the faithful each Friday. The newspaper says some imams have established religious police that harass and attack those who do not comply with Islamic law. ABC also reports that during 2010, more than 10 Salafist conferences were held in Spain, compared to only one in 2008.</font></p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salafi"><font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Salafism</font></a> <font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">is a branch of revivalist Islam that calls for restoring past Muslim glory by re-establishing an Islamic empire across the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Europe. Salafists view Spain as a Muslim state that must be re-conquered for Islam.</font></p>
<p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">The irony (or maybe not) is that all of the Muslim countries supporting Jihad in Spain also support the</font> <a href="http://www.unaoc.org/"><font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">Alliance of Civilizations</font></a><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">, a post-modern initiative proudly launched by Spain's Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in 2005 as a way to "bridge the divide" between the West and Islam.</font></p>
<p><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3">In practice, however, the Alliance of Civilizations has turned out to be a one-way bridge: Islam has been invited to cross over into the West and the West has been invited to stand by and watch. As for Spain's belated efforts to control the spread of Islam on the Iberian Peninsula, it is probably too little too late.</font></p>
<p><strong><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3"><em>by</em></font></strong> <a href="http://www.hudson-ny.org/author/Soeren+Kern"><strong><font color="#D6661D" face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3"><em>Soeren Kern</em></font></strong></a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.hudson-ny.org/"><font face="book antiqua,palatino" size="3"><em>www.hudson-ny.org</em></font></a></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.muslimsdebate.com/n.php?nid=5870">http://www.muslimsdebate.com/n.php?nid=5870</a></p>
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