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Gathering reliable statistics for such punishment is challenging, but reports suggest there have been at least 1,000 women stoned to death over the past 15 years in countries such as Iran, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. In 2008, a 13-year-old Somali girl was stoned by 50 men in a football stadium in front of a crowd of 1,000 spectators. According to BBC reports, the mob buried her up to her shoulders while she begged for her life, pleading "don't kill me, don't kill me." Eleven people in Iran, nine of them women, were waiting to be stoned to death for adultery last year, according to Amnesty International. The United Nations estimates that 5,000 women each year become victims of "honor crimes" in which family members kill a woman who has allegedly brought dishonor on them.
Steven Emerson, “Soraya’s Warning to the Mullahs,” The Investigative Project on Terrorism, July 6, 2009
[T]he [Iranian Revolutionary] Guard has developed from a military institution into a political and economic powerhouse. It has vast holdings in every sector of the Iranian economy. And because of those holdings, the Guard is institutionally opposed to rebuilding ties to the West. Why? Because among its various tentacles, the Guard is engaged in a wide-ranging smuggling enterprise that brings its commanders large profits. And if the Iran made a deal with the West that eliminated the sanctions strangling Iran, those profitable smuggling operations would disappear. . . . Part of the struggle in Iran involves an economic tussle pitting behind-the-scenes titans like Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a billionaire, and many private sector businessmen against the power of the IRGC. There's a strong economic dimension to Iran's political crisis. Many of the wealthiest Iranian merchants, who control tremendous power through Iran's networks of bazaars, are traditional conservatives who are increasingly unhappy with the mismanagement of the Iranian economy by Ahmadinejad and his IRGC cronies, and by the IRGC's corruption and greed. Indeed, if the political struggle is raised to the next level, watch the bazaar.
Robert Dreyfuss, “Iran’s Eye-Gougers,” The Nation, July 7, 2009
Democracy is a great tribulation and a huge catastrophe, but it is a proven indicator in winnowing out the ranks of the righteous believers, keeping the good [among them] and ejecting the miscreants whose hearts are sick. [On the one hand] are piled up all the democrats – Christians, Jews, atheists, Hindus, Shi'ites, Zoroastrians, apostates, hypocrites, Murji'ites, and Ash'arites – and [on the other hand are] the ranks of the Muslims clinging to the path of Allah straighten out . . . and they stand against the entire world, certain of Allah's victory and aid. . . .
Abu Taha Abdallah al-Miqdad, “The Spread of Democracy—A Victory for the U.S. and Israel,” Memri.org, July 8, 2009
Do the Palestinians want a state? This question sounds like a provocative one. Isn’t it patently clear that the Palestinian national movement aspires to realize its goals by establishing a Palestinian state? Isn’t it patently clear that the ethos of political sovereignty has guided the dreams and struggles of the Palestinian people for ages?
Well, no. It’s not patently clear. . . .
In a June 11 New York Review of Books article, written by Hussein Agha and Robert Malley, they two prominent experts argue the following: “Unlike Zionism, for whom statehood was the central objective, the Palestinian fight was primarily about other matters . . . Today, the idea of Palestinian statehood is alive, but mainly outside of Palestine . . . A small fraction of Palestinians, mainly members of the Palestinian Authority's elite, saw the point of building state institutions, had an interest in doing so, and went to work. For the majority, this kind of project could not have strayed further from their original political concerns. . . ” .
The article written by Agha and Malley, associated with the Left, and Morris’ book, on the Right, convey deep pessimism. The Palestinians will not agree to either divide or share the country. They continue to cling to the revolutionary dream of “national liberation,” and until this unrealistic liberation materializes, they prefer to exist as a national rather than political entity; one that has no obligations and is always seen as a victim, in its own eyes and in the eyes of the world.
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid issues fatwas on Saudi Television and at this website. Recently, Al-Munajjid's site issued one in response to the following query: “How is a woman to be punished if she marries a Christian? How is it carried out?” . . . . According to Al-Munajjid's clerical team: “It is not permissible for a Muslim woman to marry a kaafir (non-Muslim), whether he is Jewish, Christian or an idol-worshipper, because the man has authority over his wife, and it is not permissible for a kaafir to have authority over a Muslim woman. For Islam is the true religion and all other religions are false.” . . . . Al-Munajjid is best known for calling for the death of Mickey Mouse last year.
IPT News, “Saudi Sheikh: Muslim Women Could Face Death Penalty for Marrying Non-Muslims,” The Investigative Project on Terrorism, July 9, 2009
Iran is not a threat to the United States (and nor do I find it to be a threat to Israel). As such, any American who calls to launch a military attack on Iran and destroy Iranian nuclear plants is an Israeli-aligned Likudnik, who is betraying his country to the extent that he would sacrifice young American lives for the sake of a country run by fascists.
Jihad el-Khazen, “The Dreams of the American Empire are Over,” Dar Al Hayat, July 10, 2009
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