Pamela Geller's Blog, page 6

Jihad in Kenya: New Year's grenade attack wounds 10 at tourist resort

When they aren't banning New Year's celebrations, they're bombing them.

New Year's fireworks -- Islamic style.

"Grenade attack wounds 10 at tourist resort in Kenya," BBC, January 2, 2013 (thanks to Claude):

At least 10 people have been injured in a grenade attack at a Kenyan tourist resort south of the port city of Mombasa, say police.

Attackers hurled the device into the Tandoori bar in the town of Diani in the early hours of Thursday.

Police said the injured were taken to hospital and are in a stable condition.

Kenya's coast, with its sandy, white beaches, is a popular draw for tourists but has been plagued by attacks blamed on Islamist militants.

Somalia's al-Shabab group has staged several attacks in Kenya, including one on the Westgate shopping centre in September 2013, since Kenya sent troops to fight it in Somalia.

No-one has yet claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack.

Local police chief Jack Ekakuro told journalists that the Tandoori bar had been full of New Year revellers when the attack happened at 03:30 (00:30 GMT).

"Three people appeared from the other side of the road and threw a grenade at the nightclub which exploded injuring 10 people," he said. "The attackers escaped on a motorbike".

"It cannot be anything else but a terrorist attack," he went on to say.

Regional police chief Aggrey Adoli said that all those wounded were Kenyans, the AFP news agency reports.

Tourist areas have been targeted in grenade attacks before.

Two British tourists travelling between Diani and Mombasa escaped unharmed in December after a grenade thrown at their vehicle failed to explode.

 

 

AFDI Appeal Filed in Boston

We filed our appeal in Boston, site of Marathon bombing. You would think that a city targeting by jihadists, leaving an 8-year-old boy among the dead and hundreds injured, would get it.

Download Notice_of_Appeal--filed

MBTA’s Ban on “Defeat Jihad” Advertisement Heading to U.S. Appellate Court American Freedom Law Center, January 2, 2014

The American Freedom Law Center (AFLC) has filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, seeking review of a Massachusetts federal judge’s ruling that denied AFLC’s motion for a preliminary injunction.  Through the motion, AFLC requested that the court order the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) to display a pro-Israel / anti-sharia bus advertisement.  The advertisement, which is supportive of Israel in the debate over the Israeli / Palestinian conflict, states: “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man.  Support Israel.  Defeat jihad.”  The MBTA rejected the proposed advertisement, claiming that it was “disparaging” and “demeaning.”

Robert Muise, AFLC Co-founder and Senior Counsel, commented: “It was evident from the federal judge’s opinion that but for a prior and sharply-divided decision from the First Circuit — a decision binding on the court — he would have likely ruled in our favor.  We knew when we filed this action that an appeal to the First Circuit was likely inevitable.”

According to the court’s opinion: “[T]he Court agrees with the plaintiffs that the most reasonable interpretation of their advertisement is that they oppose acts of Islamic terrorism directed at Israel.  Thus, if the question before this Court were whether the MBTA adopted the best interpretation of an ambiguous advertisement, it would side with the plaintiffs.  But restrictions on speech in a non-public forum need only be reasonable and need not be the most reasonable,” citing Ridley v. MBTA, a prior decision issued by the First Circuit in a case challenging the MBTA’s restrictions on bus advertisements.

AFLC Co-Founder and Senior Counsel David Yerushalmi commented: “We are appealing the lower court’s ruling in an effort to get the wrongly-decided Ridley decision either narrowed to the point where it won’t be a hindrance to future First Amendment cases or ultimately reversed either by an en banc (full court) panel or a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Needless to say, this important First Amendment battle continues.”

AFLC’s motion for a preliminary injunction is part of a federal civil rights lawsuit recently filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on behalf of Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, and their organization, the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI).

In the motion, AFLC highlighted the fact that although the MBTA rejected ADFI’s pro-Israel advertisement, it accepted an anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian display that appeared on approximately 80 posters throughout the transit system.  That advertisement depicted four maps that purport to show the “Palestinian loss of land” to Israel between 1946 and 2010.  Text accompanying the maps says: “4.7 million Palestinians are Classified by the UN as Refugees.”  As AFLC’s legal papers demonstrate, by claiming “refugee” status under the imprimatur of the U.N., the anti-Israel advertisement is claiming that Israel is in effect engaging in war crimes by “persecuting” Palestinians on account of their race, religion, or national origin.

AFLC has represented Geller, Spencer, and AFDI successfully in federal lawsuits across the country, most notably in New York and Washington, D.C., where the courts ordered the transit authorities to run AFDI’s pro-Israel advertisements.

In addition, AFLC recently filed a lawsuit in federal court in Seattle, Washington, against the King County transit agency for refusing to run an anti-terrorism advertisement on its public transit buses.  That advertisement, which was also sponsored by Geller, Spencer, and AFDI, displayed photographs of global terrorists from the FBI’s most wanted list, most of whom have Muslim names or are wanted for terrorist acts that were committed in the name of Islam.  King County denied the advertisement because it feared that it would be offensive to local Muslims.  In that case, AFLC also argued that King County’s censorship of AFDI’s advertisement was an unconstitutional speech restriction.

"Double Standards and False Tolerance"

Much thanks to David Wood for the video. Watch it until the end.

Thailand 2013: Muslim terrorists take grim toll

Chai, our Thai correspondent gives us a terrible rundown of the ongoing jihad war raging in that country:

If I am a little morose this New Year’s eve, you will please forgive me. The relentless Muslim war against everyone else in Thailand’s southern provinces raged on in 2013, and tonight the final accounting for the past year is in.
 
The number of deaths, injuries, attacks and incidents is even more appalling when one considers that the population of the southern provinces is about the same as Houston, Texas: 2 million souls give or take a few. 
 
In southern Thailand, devout Muslims accomplished the following in 2013:
 
- Committed over 1,500 terror incidents of all types
- Set off over 320 bombs in public places, stores, roads and schools.
- Launched 514 shooting attacks in schools, homes, businesses, highways and other public places.
- Committed 87 arson attacks in stores, schools, Buddhist temples and homes.
- Murdered 132 civilians
- Murdered 5 teachers

- Murdered 1 Buddhist monk

- Murdered double the number of Police and Military personnel compared with 2012
- Murdered 36 police officers
- Murdered 93 soldiers, rangers and marines
- Injured over 700 people, with hundreds suffering serious injuries that they will never fully recover from. 
 
Some of the “injured” are blind, or without legs or arms; or all of that. At least one child I know of has no lower jaw. Pretty girls no longer have faces. Once-strong and vibrant young men sit in wheelchairs. The word “injured” doesn’t do justice to the condition of many who survived and who sometimes wish they had not.

 
In 2013 the Thai police and military hit back and killed 51 Muslim terrorists, often after being ambushed while escorting teachers, students and monks to and from their homes and temples.
 
Uncounted are the empty shops, homes, schools, farms and temples as thousands of families left it all behind to move north where Muslims have not yet reached that magic demographic of ten percent of the population; which is where the serious violence seems to start in Thailand anyway.
 
The exodus of Buddhists from the southern provinces continues.
 
Happy New Year, Pamela.
 
Let’s hope 2014 is better.
 
Chai

 
Death toll of South security officials doubles in 201 National Multimedia

POLICE AND military casualties from the southern unrest more than doubled to 129 last year from 60 a year earlier, despite the series of peace talks with insurgents and the Ramadan truce, according to a police report.

Of the 267 deaths of officials and civilians due to separatist violence in 2013, 36 were police; 93 were soldiers, rangers and marines; 132 were civilians; five were teachers and one was a monk, said the report by the Police Operational Centre in the Southern Provinces.

Rising toll among militants too

On the other side, 51 militants were killed, which was more than the previous year's unspecified figure due to an increase in raids and blockades to 45 occasions, which saw 18 of them killed after firefights.

In 2012, the death toll was 21 police, 39 military personnel and 223 civilians, with no details about other people, according to the centre.
There were 1,539 incidents as of December 23, up from 1,465. They were broken down into 514 shootings, 87 arson attacks, three brutal murders, eight assaults, 24 ambushes, 714 disturbances of the peace and one protest.

Injuries were inflicted on 70 police officers, 352 military personnel, 265 civilians and eight teachers, for a total of 695 cases. 

Out of 513 security warrants, 562 suspects were arrested.

Yesterday, fake bombs were planted at two locations in Yala's Muang district, likely by insurgents intent on causing a commotion. 

Police blocked off a main road to keep people away while they tried to identify the objects. They shot rifles at them, only to find that they were tin cans filled with gravel. 

At one location, sheets of paper with "Pattani Merdeka" (Independence to Pattani) written on them were lying on the ground nearby.

"Bombing toll in deep South reaches 320," The Nation, December 26, 2013

 
AS MANY AS 320 bomb attacks have hit Thailand's deep South during the past year. As of Sunday, 105 explosions had erupted in Pattani, 69 in Yala, 129 in Narathiwat, and 17 in Songkhla.
 
Just last Saturday, three bombs exploded in Songkhla's Sadao district, injuring 27 people. Many victims sustained serious injuries. 
 
Kaycha Benjakarn, mayor of Tambon Samnakkham Municipality, yesterday lamented that one of those bomb attacks should have been prevented given that a local vendor had alerted police about a suspicious pickup near the Oliver Hotel hours before the truck proved to be a vehicle bomb and blew up. 
 
"She called police in the morning," the mayor said. It then took about an hour before police arrived and checked the vehicle. They then simply told the vendor that the pickup was being used by someone going to Malaysia to buy cheaper petrol. 
 
"Those policemen then left the scene. The bomb exploded, injured people and caused property damage," Kaycha said. 
 
Sadao Police Station superintendent Colonel Paipana Petchyen admitted that a police captain and a second lieutenant had inspected the truck but failed to recognise it as a vehicle bomb. "They were too inexperienced. It's because no violent incident had happened in Sadao district before," Paipana said. 
 
Provincial Police Region 9 chief Lt-General Pisit Pisuthsak said the recent incidents signalled that insurgents were trying to expand their violence to new areas. Initially, only four districts of Songkhla - Saba Yoi, Tepha, Chana and Na Thawi - had been struggling with unrest the way Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani provinces have. 
 
In fact, concerns about Sadao have emerged since Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) - which has engaged in a peace dialogue with Thai authorities - began mentioning the district in its demands earlier this year.
 
The government has tried to defuse the unrest in the deep South via various means, including the peace dialogue with BRN. 
 
Colonel Pramote Phrom-in, spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command Region 4 Forward Command, said the government's approach, especially the peace dialogue, had received praise from participants at the 40th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. 
 
The session ran from December 8-11 in the West African nation of Guinea.

Hamas-CAIR to hold symposium on "Islamophobia": What would Muhammad's Companions do?

We know what they would do. Muhammad's companions slaughtered those who criticized him, just as they do today. Sharia then, sharia now.

Hamas-CAIR's speakers have inspired Muslims to slaughter non-Muslims in cold blood -- what is being done to address that?

Hamas-linked CAIR to hold symposium on how Muhammad's companions dealt with "Islamophobia" Jihadwatch

Hamas-linked CAIR's Dawud Walid

The "Sahaba" are Muhammad's early followers, his "companions." It promises to be a most interesting seminar: after all, how did men who are supposed to have lived in the 7th century deal with a concept that was trumped up in the late twentieth century in order to intimidate the perceived opponents of the man that both groups revere as a prophet?

We may surmise the answer from how Muhammad himself dealt with criticism. Abu ‘Afak was a poet who was over one hundred years old, and had mocked Muhammad in his verses. Muhammad asked the Sahaba: “Who will avenge me on this scoundrel?” One of the companions murdered Abu ‘Afak in his sleep. Likewise with another poet who mocked him: the poetess ‘Asma bint Marwan. Muhammad on another occasion cried out, “Will no one rid me of this daughter of Marwan?” One of Muhammad's companions, ‘Umayr ibn ‘Adi, went to her house that night, where he found her sleeping next to her children. The youngest, a nursing babe, was in her arms. But that didn’t stop ‘Umayr from murdering her and the baby as well. Muhammad commended him: “You have done a great service to Allah and His Messenger, ‘Umayr!” (Ibn Ishaq, 674-676)

Then there was Ka‘b bin Al-Ashraf. Muhammad again asked his companions: “Who is willing to kill Ka‘b bin Al-Ashraf who has hurt Allah and His Apostle?" One of the Sahaba, Muhammad bin Maslama answered, “O Allah’s Apostle! Would you like that I kill him?” When Muhammad said that he would, Muhammad bin Maslama said, “Then allow me to say a (false) thing (i.e. to deceive Kab).” Muhammad responded: “You may say it.” Muhammad bin Maslama duly lied to Ka‘b, luring him into his trap, and murdered him. (Bukhari 5.59.369)

Will Shaykh Aly Lela mention all this and recommend that Muslims similarly murder "Islamophobes"? Or will he explain why Muhammad is not actually the supreme example of conduct for Muslims after all, despite the fact that Qur'an 33:21 says he is? What a conundrum!

"Muslim Youth Leadership Symposium (MYLS) in Dearborn Organized by CAIR-MI," from the Islamic Society of Greater Lansing (scroll down), n.d. (thanks to Diane):

Please arrange to send your sons and daughters to the Dynamic Youth Leadership Symposium

The following details have been presented by CAIR-MI Executive Director, Dawud Walid

There's an old cliché that the youth are our future.  In fact, I'd say that the youth are actually our present, which means they need to be prepared for the challenges of today and fill in the ranks of senior leadership when called upon.  Within the framework of understanding this reality, CAIR-MI seeks to coordinate with the talented professionals of our community to help train our youth. This will assist youth individuals and strengthen our community.

On Jan. 25, 2014, CAIR-MI will hold a dynamic Muslim Youth Leadership Symposium (MYLS) in Dearborn, Mich. to empower our youth with spiritual and intellectual take-away skills to become the leaders of today. The symposium is a combination of facets of best practices and training from CAIR chapters across the country with added components which assist our immediate demographics.

From the perspective of addressing the spirits and psyches of our youth, the Islamic Association of Greater Detroit's (IAGD) Shaykh Aly Lela will address how the Sahabah faced Islamophobia and threats to their identities and the remedies given by the Prophet (SAWS) to face those spiritual and psychological tests.

Complimenting [sic] this segment, Family Therapist Nadia Bazzy, will discuss conflict resolution and management when confronted both internally and externally.  Dr. Rami Nashashibi, the Director of Inner-city Muslim Action Network (IMAN) and Sociology professor at Chicago Theological Seminary, will hold an in-depth workshop on critical race theory and how to navigate intra and inter-racial differences in community organizing.

Some tangible skills that will be taught are coalition building around issues by Arab American Association of New York Director Linda Sarsour, and understanding the process of a legislative bill by Michigan State Representative Rashida Tlaib.

University of Michigan - Dearborn Professor Sally Howell will also discuss ways to better tell the community's stories within a historical and contemporary personal framework, and CAIR-MI President Haaris Ahmad will train activists on the art of public speaking.  I will be presenting on how to answer the most frequently asked questions and Muslims and Islam, insha'Allah.

These symposium will be a free interactive leadership training.  We encourage high school seniors and college students to attend.  Please visit our website, www.cairmichigan.org, for updates on time and location.

If you any further questions, please contact our office at (248) 559-CAIR or email info@cairmichigan.org

 

NBA Player Tony Parker Apologizes for Nazi salute

The recasted nazi salute is the new craze sweeping nations across the world.

Of course, to these people, the murder of children and the Holocaust is all "light-hearted", "anti-system" and a show of support for a "comedian" (Dieudonne) who has multiple convictions for anti-Jewish hate speech.

A man has been pictured performing the anti-Semitic 'salute' made famous by Nicolas Anelka in front of the Jewish school where three children were killed in a 2012 massacre (and look at his t-shirt).

Daily Mail: The photograph below shared on social media has helped to fuel anger over the 'quenelle', which was invented by an outspoken comedian accused of espousing extremist views.

The gesture, said to resemble a Nazi salute, was brought to international fame last week when Mr Anelka made it after scoring a goal for West Bromwich Albion.

The (London) Daily Mail: "Check YouTube for pictures of la quenelle at weddings and parties, by soldiers, policemen, on ski trips and, of course, at Auschwitz. In one reel, it is shown performed at the Holocaust memorials in Berlin and New York, on a deportation wagon in Drancy, outside synagogues in Paris, Bordeaux, Budapest and Barcelona, and on innumerable rues de la Juiverie. Quenelliers stand laughing while posing in the act outside the Creche Israelite de Paris or the Memorial des Camps de la Mort. So it is preposterous to believe Anelka did not know what he was doing, or the association."

 

Outrage: This photograph shows an unidentified man performing the quenelle, an allegedly anti-Semitic salute, outside the Jewish school where three children were killed in 2012 (thanks to David W)

 

Controversy: Nicolas Anelka made the gesture after scoring against West Ham United on Saturday

"NBA PLAYER TONY PARKER APOLOGIZES FOR NAZI-LIKE GESTURE – WHILE ENGLISH-BASED SOCCER STAR STOPS SHORT OF FULL APOLOGY," Tom Gross, Middle East Dispatch

(I write in some detail because of the disgraceful misreporting in some international media, including broadcasts on the BBC and reports in The Guardian, failing to explain who Dieudonne is and implying that Anelka is the innocent party. One paper that has reported on it accurately is the Daily Mail, and I include an article from the Daily Mail's sports pages at the end of this dispatch.)

***

San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker has apologized for using the "quenelle" Nazi-like gesture invented by the notorious anti-Semite and Holocaust denier, the French entertainer Dieudonne M'bala M'bala.

Parker said he will "never again repeat the gesture," and expressed his hope that the incident would "serve to educate others that we need to be more aware that things that may seem innocuous can actually have a history of hate and hurt" and incitement to kill.

Several prominent French public figures including soccer star Mamadou Sakho and TV journalist Yann Barthes have all been photographed making the gesture. Alain Sorel, an anti-Semitic filmmaker, was also seen posing at the Berlin Holocaust memorial, and in September, two French soldiers were punished for displaying the quenelle in front of a Paris synagogue they were supposed to be guarding.

Meanwhile, English-based French soccer star Nicolas Anelka has still not properly apologized for his use of the gesture after scoring a goal for English soccer club West Bromwich Albion earlier this week.

Jewish groups accused Anelka of "mainstreaming anti-Semitic hate" and criticized the West Brom coach and sections of the British media for defending Anelka.

The "quenelle" has been used by followers of Dieudonne in front of Nazi concentration camps, synagogues and Holocaust day memorials.

On Friday, French Interior Minister Manuel Valls, said that his ministry was looking for legal ways to ban Dieudonne's shows which are rife with encouragement to harm Jews and Holocaust survivors.

Dieudonne's film, "The Anti-Semite," was banned from the Cannes Film Festival last year. He has also openly supported former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial and said museums that educate about the Holocaust were "pornography."

Dieudonne also tells his audience that Jews spread the Aids virus in Africa, and the Jews made up the Holocaust.

Anelka is believed to be one of his followers. France's Minister for Sport, Valerie Fourneyron, said that, "Anelka's gesture is a shocking and disgusting provocation. Anti-Semitism or incitement to hatred has no place on the football field."

Dieudonne has defended the torture and killing of a young French Jew, Ilan Halimi, hunted down in Paris, and he has demanded Halimi's killers should be released from prison.

Jihadists Bomb Popular Hotel in Somalia, at Least 11 killed

New year's fireworks, Islamic style.

Three  bombs have exploded outside a popular hotel in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. The explosions occurred at the Jazeera hotel, which is near Mogadishu's airport and is popular with Somali politicians.
Photo: Bild

"Mogadishu hotel targeted by bombs, at least 11 killed," By Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar, Reuters, Jan 1, 2014

(Reuters) - Three bombs exploded within an hour outside a hotel frequented by government officials in a heavily fortified district of the Somali capital on Wednesday, killing at least 11 people.

The attacks on the Jazira hotel, one of the securest places in Mogadishu, underscore the security challenges facing President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, whose election by lawmakers last year was hailed by many as a way to end two decades of conflict.

The first two bombs came in quick succession and were followed by heavy bursts of gunfire by Somali security forces. The third blast took place about an hour later when a bomb went off inside a car that was being searched by the military.

At least one of the first two bombs appeared to be a suicide bomber, police said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Islamist rebel group al Shabaab has carried out a campaign of attacks over the past two and a half years in Mogadishu.

"First we heard a big crash and the security forces immediately opened fire," said Abdullahi Hussein who lives 300 meters behind the hotel. "After a few minutes another explosion took place and there was more gunfire."

Abdikadir Abdirahman, the director of a private ambulance service, told Reuters at least 11 people had been killed and 17 others were wounded.

The attack will be an embarrassment to the government whose survival depends heavily on a near 18,000-strong African peacekeeping force. Donors pump in hundreds of millions of dollars into the Horn of Africa country every year to provide basic services.

"This year, 2014 is going to be the strengthening of Somali forces and the elimination of the extremists," the newly appointed Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed said in a statement on Wednesday.

The African forces helped drive al Shabaab out of the capital in August 2011, as well as other major urban centers, but the militants still hold sway over swathes of rural areas.

Islamist suicide bombers attacked the Jazira hotel in September last year as Mohamud was giving a news conference just two days into the job. He and the visiting Kenyan foreign minister were unhurt in that assault.

An attack on Kenyan shopping mall in September that killed dozens of people highlighted the militants' ability to strike beyond Somalia's borders.

(Reporting by Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Alison Williams)

 

"Palestinian" Ambassador Reportedly Killed by Own Explosives

An ambassador with bombs. A savage's tool of diplomacy.

Poetic justice, I say.

"Palestinian Authority Ambassador Reportedly Killed by Own Explosives," Breitbart, January 1, 2014

The Palestinian Authority's ambassador to the Czech Republic has died in an explosion rumored to have come from the mishandling of his own explosives. 

Jamal al-Jamal, 57, apparently opened a safe or container in his house in Prague, and the subsequent explosion mortally wounded him and also sent his wife, 52, to the hospital with shock and smoke inhalation.

Czech police are saying the explosion was due to an “accident” and not an attack. The Guardian reported that an unnamed "Palestinian official" said, "He moved an old case with him to the new house [where the explosion took place - ed.] from the old house. And when he opened it, the explosion happened."

Czech authorities are tight-lipped about the explosion; police spokeswoman Andrea Zoulova only said, "There was a detonation in the residence of a Palestinian diplomat. The diplomat suffered a serious injury and was taken to hospital. We are investigating the causes."

 

Savage Celebrations

And city authorities won't run our ads?  They should be run for free as a public servce announcement.

Jubilant Scenes as Israel Releases 26 Palestinians Convicted of Deadly Attacks - Emma Thomas
Israel released 26 Palestinian prisoners convicted in deadly attacks against Israelis in the third of a four-stage package drawn up by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to restart Mideast peace talks. The prisoners received hero's welcomes on their return to the West Bank and Gaza with officials and jubilant relatives lining up to greet them.
    In the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukaber, the sound of kettle drums filled the air as residents braced for the return of Jamal Abu Jamal, who has spent nearly 20 years in prison for a stabbing attack. Women holding Abu Jamal's picture sang and danced an d praised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for securing his release. (Daily Mail-UK)

Netanyahu on Palestinian Prisoners: Murderers Are Not Heroes

Prime Minister Netanyahu: "The fundamental difference between us (and the Palestinians) can be seen on Monday: While we are willing to take painful, unparalleled steps to try and reach an agreement that would put an end to the conflict, they, along with their most senior leadership, are celebrating....Murderers are not heroes."
    "This is no way to educate toward peace. This is no way to make peace. Peace can be achieved only when the education toward incitement and toward the destruction of Israel is stopped. There will be peace only if our security interests and our communities a re ensured. Peace will be established only when we can defend ourselves, by ourselves, against any threat." (Ha'aretz-Prime Minister's Office)

Monty Python Star: "You can't parody Islam" because of the threat of "heavily armed" fanatics

Of course Monty Python would not make, say, a movie called, Life of Muhammad. Because they'd have to live under tight security for the rest of their lives, a death fatwa forever on their heads. But Palin is wrong in saying they couldn't make 'Life of Brian' again -- folks might not like it, but they wouldn't have a death fatwa on their heads.

"You can't parody Islam, says Palin: Monty Python star believes religious sensitivities have increased so much it would be impossible to make Life of Brian today," By Alasdair Glennie, Daily Mail (thanks to Mark)

Michael Palin said there is one comedy taboo he is too scared to break- Islam
We all saw what happened to Salman Rushdie - none of us want all that'
Rushdie forced into hiding after novel The Satanic Verses led to death treats

During his Monty Python days he poked fun at everyone from the Establishment to Christianity.

But thanks to the threat of ‘heavily armed’ fanatics, Michael Palin has admitted there is one comedy taboo he is too scared to break- Islam.

The 70-year-old said religious sensitivities have increased so much since his comedy days it would now be impossible to make 1979 film Life of Brian - which satirised the life of Jesus - let alone laugh at Muslims.

 

During his Monty Python days he poked fun at everyone from the Establishment to Christianity. But thanks to the threat of 'heavily armed' fanatics, Michael Palin has admitted there is one comedy taboo he is too scared to break-Islam

He said: ‘Religion is more difficult to talk about. I don’t think we could do Life of Brian any more. A parody of Islam would be even harder.

‘We all saw what happened to Salman Rushdie and none of us want to get into all that. It’s a pity but that’s the way it is. There are people out there without a sense of humour and they’re heavily armed.’ 

In 1989, Mr Rushdie was forced into hiding after the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa calling for him to be killed in revenge for his novel The Satanic Verses.

Ahead of a series of live reunion shows in July, Mr Palin admitted much of his Monty Python material would now seem dated to modern audiences.

But he denied the comedy troupe - which also included John Cleese, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam and the late Graham Chapman - deliberately targeted people with its comedy.

He said: ‘There’s probably a lot of political incorrectness in Python but we can’t rewrite it. I suppose attitudes have changed - a lot of British comedy at that time was ladies’ clothes falling off but in a rather sweet farcical way. Now what you can watch on television is incredibly explicit about sex.

 

The 70-year-old said religious sensitivities have increased so much since his comedy days it would now be impossible to make 1979 film Life of Brian - which satirised the life of Jesus - let alone laugh at Muslims

 

 

Mr Palin denied the comedy troupe - which also included John Cleese, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam and the late Graham Chapman - deliberately targeted people with its comedy

 ‘When we were writing you couldn’t even talk about homosexuality at all.

‘Python has always been about dealing with things you’re not meant to deal with. It’s like being at school - as soon as the teacher said ‘it’s not funny’ you started laughing.’

He added: We didn’t target people and say “We’re going to have a go at this or that”. We were just writing what would make the six of us laugh.” 

‘There are lots of laughs to be got from the way life is. The English love embarrassment. We are the ‘sorry’ society. 

‘Someone punches you in the face and you will say “I’m terribly sorry my face was there. Is your hand all right?” 

‘But each generation of comedians is looking for something new. It was only very recently before Python that somebody openly made a joke about the Prime Minister.

There was an establishment which still had to be respected. Now we can talk about anything ... and in an odd way it’s made us more depressed.’ 

Mr Palin was guest editor the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.

He interviewed Mr Cleese for the show, but admitted the pair rarely meet and poked fun at the fact the Fawlty Towers star is constantly struggling to pay the costs of his divorce to third wife Alyce Eichelberger.

He told The Times: ‘I can never keep up with him. He’s always terribly rude about my travels - whenever he talks about them he yawns - but he’s always jetting around trying to make money for his alimony.’