Extremists' Burning of Quran Outrages Muslims Worldwide

Afghan Riots Over Quran-Burning: 2 Days, 20 Dead

April 2, 2011

AP – Afghans rioted for a second day Saturday to protest the burning of a Quran in Florida, killing nine people in Kandahar and injuring more than 80 in a wave of violence that underscored rising anti-foreign sentiment after nearly a decade of war.

The desecration at a small U.S. church has outraged Muslims worldwide, and in Afghanistan it further strained ties with the West. On Friday, 11 people were killed, including seven foreign U.N. employees, in a protest in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

The protests come at a critical juncture as the U.S.-led coalition gears up for an insurgent spring offensive and a summer withdrawal of some troops, and with Afghanistan's mercurial president increasingly questioning international motives and NATO's military strategy.

Two suicide attackers disguised as women blew themselves up and a third was gunned down Saturday when they used force to try to enter a NATO base on the outskirts of Kabul, NATO and Afghan police said. Earlier in the week, six U.S. soldiers died during an operation against insurgents in eastern Afghanistan near Pakistan, where the Taliban retain safe havens.

President Hamid Karzai expressed regret for the 20 protest deaths, but he also further stoked possible anti-foreign sentiment by again demanding that the United States and United Nations bring to justice the pastor of the Dove Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, where the Quran was burned March 20. Many Afghans did not know about the Quran-burning until Karzai condemned it four days after it happened.

The pastor, the Rev. Terry Jones, had threatened to destroy a copy of Islam's holy book last year but initially backed down. On Friday he said Islam and its followers were responsible for the killings.

In the southern city of Kandahar, the cradle of the Taliban, hundreds of Afghans holding copies of the Quran over their heads marched in protest of the burning. Security forces shot in the air to disperse the crowd, but it was unclear how the protesters were slain, said Zalmai Ayubi, a spokesman for the provincial governor.

The Kandahar governor's office said nine protesters were killed and 81 others were injured in the demonstration that turned into a riot. Seventeen people, including seven armed men, have been arrested, the statement said.

The protests began Friday in Kabul, Herat in western Afghanistan and Mazar-i-Sharif, where thousands flooded the streets.

In Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghan demonstrators stormed a U.N. compound, shooting and killing four Nepalese guards, a Norwegian, a Romanian and a Swede. Afghan authorities suspect insurgents melded into the mob; they announced the arrest of more than 20 people, including a militant they suspect was the ringleader of the assault.

The top U.N. envoy in Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, said the organization was temporarily redeploying 11 staff members from Mazar-i-Sharif to Kabul.

"This is not an evacuation, it is a temporary redeployment because the office is not functioning. We will be ready to go back as soon as we can establish an office that is secure enough," he told reporters.

The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, known as UNAMA, has some 1,500 staff — about 80 percent Afghans — operating in 18 regional and provincial offices across the country and in liaison offices in neighboring Pakistan and Iran.

In late 2009, the U.N. sent about 600 foreign staff out of the country or into secure compounds after three gunmen stormed a Kabul guest house used by U.N. staff and killed 11 people, including five U.N. workers.

Karzai has in recent months increasingly criticized both the international community and U.S.-led foreign forces — the first for being ineffectual and unaccountable, the second for causing unnecessary civilian casualties in its campaign against insurgents.

Some Western diplomats privately say Karzai stoked some of the tension in recent days by making speeches about issues that had not gained much attention in the country, including the Quran burning.

De Mistura, however, said he drew no connection between the riots and Karzai's earlier condemnation of the Quran-burning. He said it takes "two to three weeks for information to percolate. It's not like in the West. Then it goes through the mosque and then through the Friday prayers."

"I don't think we should be blaming any Afghan. We should be blaming the person who produced the news — the one who burned the Quran," he said.

Although the Taliban are responsible for the vast majority of killings in Afghanistan, civilian casualties from coalition operations are a major source of strain in the country's relationship with the United States. The deaths tend to generate widespread outrage and Karzai has said they will no longer be tolerated.

The politicking could be part of an effort to reach out to the Taliban as Karzai tries to build bridges with the insurgents as part of a peace and reconciliation process. He and his advisers no longer refer to the Taliban as insurgents. They are often referred to as armed opposition groups.

The Taliban themselves have no such qualms and openly call for the overthrow of Karzai's government. Last week about 300 Taliban fighters overran the tiny capital of a remote mountainous district in northeast Nuristan province and raised their flag over city hall.

Radicals Claiming to be Christians Fan the Flames toward Hatred for All Religions

Christian Mob Surrounds Muslim Man Outside the White House

"But I say unto you, 'Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you'." (Matthew 5:44)

"But I say unto you which hear,
'Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer also the other;
And him that taketh away thy cloke, forbid not to take thy coat also.
Give to every man that asketh of thee;
And of him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not again.
And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye?
For sinners also love those that love them.
And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye?
For sinners also do even the same.
And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye?
For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again;
And your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest:
For He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful'."
(Luke 6:27-36)

March 4, 2011

YouTube - The following are comments from YouTube:

These [self-professed] "Christians" need to learn a little about Christ's love. Shame on them. - meowomon 2

As an honest follower of Jesus, I am sickened by these so-called Christians polluting the name of Jesus with their obnoxious signs and t-shirts and picking on the poor Muslim guy. Who the flip crowned them as Christians anyways? They share absolutely nothing in common with Jesus, yet LOTS in common with modern churchianity and Fox news zealots. Sad and wrong. - ywamer

Domestic terrorism at its absolute finest. Stop the incompetence, protect your children from this irrational behavior. Christ would be ashamed of every one of these people. Especially the man in the fur coat 'ala circa 1970's pimp. - chouzan

This video is absolutely one of the most vile things I have ever watched. Just remember, the bible tells us it is the ones Who are of the synogogue of satan, those who say they are jews but are not..NOT the muslims. Read your bibles rather than listening to the apparent lieing pastor. - ggb45601

It makes me really sad that people can show such disrespect and intolerance to their fellow man for something as petty as a difference in religion, especially in a country where we supposed to be free from religious persecution. - 4everfourtwenty

I really hope some Christian extremists crash a plane into the Burj Dubai. Then, they will have to go through all the shit Muslims have to put up with because of a few radical people. - Minecrafter007

Actually if America Survives This Economic Crisis that is about to hit, then there is plenty of hope. More and More Atheists, and Agnostics are "coming out"...They will soon be the majority of America be it 50-100 years. They will prevail. - skwerl23

I love the contrast in this video of a muslim acting like a christian, and christians acting like muslims. Common sense might be to kill your enemies, but Jesus says different. The only true change that can be brought about is through love and prayer. Using violence only makes you like your enemy, and no change will happen. God bless. - robonintendo

I'm currently a soldier, and I'm getting out because of what I see regarding Afghanistan. They are humans beings, the same as us. Going and killing them, and them killing us doesn't do anything but bring more pain to everyone on both sides. Listening to what Jesus said is the key. Yes, no matter what all sides think they're right. There is a huge difference between Jesus and Mohammed though. Jesus said to love your enemy, not kill them. Why do so many people get that wrong? - robonintendo

The old testament can be confusing as hell. Do we take it at face value, or is it allegorical? Metaphorical? I do not know. What is more important is the new testament. The words of Jesus are quite clear. Love God, and love your neighbour as yourself. It is truly sad so many so called Christians act the opposite of this. So many believe, yet act like the very enemy they condemn. - robonintendo

Pretty much all of these people in this video are what I would define as evil. If I didnt have the utmost confidence (sadly) in my fellow Americans to be this stupid, I would think this was produced by pro-sharia conspirators because it's pretty obvious who's peaceful and who's insane/brainwashed, and it makes America look like shit if anyone from another country sees this sorry cloud assholes trying to express their pestillence. - Linkupovich

This is more about ignorant racist Americans than Christians. Sad. - dtorfleming

Ground Zero Mosque and Qur'an Burning

This is America, the Beacon of Freedom

September 14, 2010

Pravda - The ninth anniversary of September 11 attacks coincided with the offensive insults of the Americans to the holiest book of 1.5 billion Muslims around the globe. According to reports by the Reuters, near Nashville, Tennessee, evangelical Pastor Bob Old and another preacher used lighter fluid and a lighter to burn at least two copies of the Quran. Old called Islam "a false religion."

It was also reported that the American protesters objecting to the construction of an Islamic center and a mosque adjacent to the Ground Zero site tore pages from the Holy Quran and set them alight. Reuters also dispatched reports from the similar abuses to the Holy Quran in Lower Manhattan.

The terrifying plan of burning the holy book of Muslims was initially proposed by the pastor of an obscure, small, non-denominational church in Gainesville who had announced that he would be burning copies of the Holy Quran on the anniversary of 9/11 attacks. The plan was described by the global media as a publicity stunt by someone whose desire for gaining some reputation and attention by the international media propelled him towards thinking of such an evil action.

Although a global wave of protests which erupted immediately after Pastor Jones announced his plan for burning the Holy Quran on September 11 dissuaded the attention-seeking preacher from realizing his mischievous intention, he inspired other people to go ahead with the plan and abuse a Holy Book which is venerated and adored by millions of people in the four corners of the world.

Insulting the holy book of Muslims in the United States put an emphasis on the fact that those who consider themselves the harbingers of mutual understanding, religious toleration, peaceful coexistence and freedom of expression are merely making unfounded and baseless claims which they perpetually fail to adhere to in practice. These are only claims which are designed to portray an idealistic image of the United States and its culture. Burning a holy book is the clear manifestation of an uncivilized and barbaric action for which there can't be any justification or explanation.

Muslims around the world are subject to the most unfair convictions and unjustifiable discriminations. They're usually labeled as extremists, fundamentalists and radicals. They're always judged with pessimism and negativity. Every terrorist operation is attributed to them and the most offensive charges are leveled against them as unjustly as possible.

So, what's the reality of Islam? Is it a religion of violence and barbarism, as the Americans claim? Does it further and spread terrorism and extremism? Is Islam a "false religion," as the evangelical pastor has claimed?

A general investigation of the Islamic scriptures and Quran can provide the response to all of these questions. There are numerous indications that Muslims are among the most pacifist and peace-lover people in the world. Islam has categorically rebuffed violence and aggression towards the people and condemned those who use force against others and undermine their esteem.

The most fundamental pillar of Islam is based on sociability, interaction with the other people and respecting their prestige and stature. The Holy Quran on several occasions has underlined the importance of revering the humankind as the most prestigious and valuable creature of the Almighty God. In the verse 70 of the chapter Al-Isra', the Almighty God introduces the man as His most admirable and brilliant creature, saying that he is superior than all of the other beings on the Earth:

"It is a favor that We have honored the sons of Adam and blessed them with conveyances on land and sea and provided them with good and pure things and exalted them above many of Our other creatures."

As a vanguard ideology, Islam has always emphasized the essentiality of behaving with the followers of other religions with respect and admiration. It was once asked from Imam Reza, the eighth Twelver Shiite Imam and the seventh descendant of Prophet Muhammad that how should one pay tribute to the Jews and Christians who don't follow the religion of Islam?

He answered: "Tell them may the Almighty God bless the world for you."

Those who claim to be the guardians of human rights have so far killed more than 1 million innocent civilians in Iraq since they launched their so-called War on Terror. One may wonder whether these 1 million people have been human or not.

Islam has never claimed to be a charter of human rights, but in actuality, it is the most comprehensive and all-inclusive declaration of human rights. It pays attention to each and every aspect of human's dignity and disallows the destabilization of man's decorum. In the verse 12 of the chapter Al-Hujuraat, the Almighty God prevents the believers from backbiting, being suspicious about the others and spying:

"Believers, avoid being excessively suspicious, for some suspicion is a sin. Do not spy, nor backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? (by backbiting) You would surely detest it. Have fear of Allah. Surely Allah is much prone to accept repentance, is Most Compassionate."

In the verse 13 of the same chapter, the Almighty God has highlighted the fact that the most venerable and esteemed people are the ones who fear Him the most and do good deeds as a result of this fear. This shows that people, regardless of their religion, ethnicity, gender and language, are equal in Islam and their decency is the basis of judging their actions:

"Verily the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the most God-fearing of you."

Islam has also stressed the importance of respecting the followers of other religions and called the holy books of Jews and Christians divine revelations which should be treated with esteem and respect. In the verse 46 of the chapter Al-Ma'idah, we read:

"And We sent Jesus, the son of Mary, after those Prophets, confirming the truth of whatever there still remained of the Torah. And We gave him the Gospel, wherein is guidance and light, and which confirms the truth of whatever there still remained of the Torah, and a guidance and admonition for the God-fearing."

With these descriptions, it will become clear that Islam is a religion of toleration, peace and friendship. It pays tribute to all of the religions which had preceded it and obliges the Muslims to live along with the followers of other religions peacefully. Islam confirms and verifies the authenticity of previous holy books and asks the Muslims to be benevolent and compassionate with the "people of faith."

Burning a holy book which is full of instructions for a peaceful, serene, pure and happy life indicates nothing but ignorance and animosity. More than 1.5 billion people around the world read the Holy Quran to learn from its insights and teachings. Burning such a book simply indicates the lack of tolerance and freedom in a country which considers itself a beacon of freedom.

Thanks God, Muslims have always treated with the followers of other religions respectfully. They never drew insulting cartoons of Prophet Jesus nor did they desecrate the Bible and Torah. The mainstream media in the West portray the Muslims as terrorists and extremists, but the Muslims around the world have righteously demonstrated that they are worthy of praise and admiration for their excellent demeanor and their peaceful disposition.

Ground Zero Mosque and Qur'an Burning

Ground Zero Mosque and Qur'an Burning

Ground Zero Mosque Controversy: A CIA Orchestrated Event

The Ground Zero mosque event was designed to reinvigorate the Manufactured Global War on Terror

September 12, 2010

Infowars.com - Imagine my surprise when I learned that the so-called Ground Zero mosque has connections to the CIA. Mark Ames, writing for the New York Observer, spelled out the connections on Friday.

Ames notes that the “right” (neocons) portray Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf as a terrorist sympathizer with ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. “But meanwhile, links between the group behind the controversial mosque, the CIA and U.S. military establishment have gone unacknowledged,” he writes.

Ames connects the Cordoba Initiative behind the mosque to R. Leslie Deak, a “business consultant” for Patriot Defense Group, apparently a CIA front company. One of the company’s “strategic advisers” is a former deputy director for operations at the CIA who “managed the CIA’s globally deployed personnel and nearly half of its multi-billion dollar budget” and “served as head of America’s Clandestine Service, the CIA’s operational response to the attacks of September 11, 2001.” Other consultants include a former four-star general who commanded the U.S. Special Operations Command and its effort in the manufactured Global War On Terrorism. The trio is complete with the presence of a banker.

Leslie Deak’s father was a former top intelligence commander during World War II for the OSS (the forerunner of the CIA) and was the founder of Deak-Perera, a foreign currency and gold dealer that was accused by a Presidential Commission on Organized Crime in 1984 of money laundering for Columbia drug cartels. The CIA is known for its connections to the worldwide illegal drug trade.

Mark Ames steers the whole affair safely into the false right-left paradigm.

The Cordoba Initiative and the controversy surrounding it is designed to damage “moderates and progressives who actually view New York, and the nation as a whole, as a tolerant melting pot, and strengthening the position demagogues on both sides [and] it will almost certainly deal a setback to interfaith relations. It will also help to hobble the Democratic party. Which just might have been the point all along,” writes Ames.

The Ground Zero mosque has nothing to do with sabotaging moderates or Democrats (who mostly buy into the fairy tale that Muslims hate us for our freedom). Instead, the event was designed to reinvigorate the manufactured GWOT unleashed by the CIA with its spook agency spawned terror attributed to shadowy operatives who handle an array of clueless patsies like the Christmas day fizzle pants non-bomber and the Times Square barbeque grill gas tank non-bomber. It is also no mistake the controversy unfolded in the weeks before the September 11 anniversary.

Both Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood are intelligence assets. Hamas was aided directly by Israeli intelligence as a counter balance to the PLO. The Muslim Brotherhood was long ago compromised by British intelligence.

“The bottom line is that the Muslim Brotherhood’s success could not have been achieved without the approval of the British ruling establishment,” writes Peter D. Goodgame. The CIA was also interested in exploiting the Brotherhood.

“According to CIA agent Miles Copeland, the Americans began looking for a Muslim Billy Graham around 1955… When finding or creating a Muslim Billy Graham proved elusive, the CIA began to cooperate with the Muslim Brotherhood.”

Ground Zero Mosque and Qur'an Burning

Florida Pastor Sill 'Not Today, Not Ever' Burn Quran

September 11, 2010

AP – A Florida pastor says his church will "not today, not ever" burn a Quran, even if a mosque is built near ground zero.

Pastor Terry Jones had threatened to burn the Muslim holy book on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks over plans to build an Islamic center near where terrorists brought down the World Trade Center nine years ago.

He flew to New York and appeared on NBC's "Today" show. He says that his Gainesville, Fla., church's goal was "to expose that there is an element of Islam that is very dangerous and very radical."

He tells NBC that "we have definitely accomplished that mission." He says no meeting is planned with the imam leading the center but he hopes one will take place.

A "Burn a Koran Day" banner outside his church has been taken down.

Terry Jones Says He Will Not Burn Quran on 9/11

Pastor Terry Jones (R) and Imam Muhammad Musri from the Islamic Society of Central Florida.

September 10, 2010

Alarabiya.net - The pastor of a small Florida church said on Friday he does not plan to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and hopes a Muslim imam will organize a meeting with those planning an Islamic center near the site of the New York attacks.

"Right now we have plans not to do it," Pastor Terry Jones, of Gainesville, Florida, told ABC's "Good Morning America."

"We believe that the imam is going to keep his word, what he promised us yesterday ... We believe that we are, as he said, and promised, going to meet with the imam in New York tomorrow."

Jones had threatened earlier to "rethink" his decision to abandon plans for a weekend Quran-burning event that has drawn global outrage.

Hours after calling off the much-criticized ceremony to mark Saturday's anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Jones rowed back and said it had merely been suspended.

"Right now we are just putting a temporary hold upon our planned event," he said.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates had called the pastor of the tiny evangelical church, the Dove World Outreach Center, to express "grave concern" that the Quran burning "would put the lives of our forces at risk, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Jones later told journalists outside his church that he was calling off his plan, which had caused worldwide alarm and raised tensions over this year's anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington.

He confirmed Gates' call but linked his decision to what he said was an agreement by Muslim leaders -- which they denied -- to relocate an Islamic cultural center and mosque planned close to the site of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York.

The proposed location has drawn opposition from many Americans who say it is insensitive to families of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

"The imam has agreed to move the mosque, we have agreed to cancel our event on Saturday," Jones said.

He said he would fly to New York on Saturday with Imam Muhammad Musri, head of the Islamic Society of Central Florida to meet the New York imam at the center of the controversy, Feisal Abdul Rauf.

But Rauf said in a statement he was surprised by the announcement.

"I am glad that Pastor Jones has decided not to burn any Qurans. However, I have not spoken to Pastor Jones or Imam Musri. I am surprised by their announcement," he said.

"We are not going to toy with our religion or any other. Nor are we going to barter. We are here to extend our hands to build peace and harmony," he said.

Sharif el-Gamal, the project developer for the New York mosque, said in a statement:

"It is untrue that the community center known as park 51 in lower Manhattan is being moved. The project will proceed as planned. What is being reported in the media today is a falsehood."

Musri conceded to reporters:

"This is not a done deal yet. This is a brokered deal," he said.

He said he had no fixed time for him and Jones to meet Rauf in New York.

International condemnation

Earlier, world leaders had joined Obama in denouncing Jones' plan to burn copies of the Islamic holy book on Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The international police agency Interpol warned governments worldwide of an increased risk of terrorist attacks if the burning went ahead, and the U.S. State Department issued a warning to Americans traveling overseas.

Jones has said Jesus would approve of his plan for "Burn a Quran Day," which he called a reprisal for Islamist terrorism.

The United States has powerful legal protections for the right to free speech and there was little law enforcement authorities could do to stop Jones from going ahead, other than citing him under local bylaws against public burning.

Many people, both conservative and liberal, dismissed the threat as an attention-seeking stunt by the preacher.

"This is a recruitment bonanza for al-Qaeda," Obama said in an ABC television interview.

"You could have serious violence in places like Pakistan or Afghanistan. This could increase the recruitment of individuals who would be willing to blow themselves up in American cities or European cities."

The U.S. president, who has sought to improve relations with Muslims worldwide, spoke out in an effort to stop Jones from going ahead and head off growing anger among many Muslims.

Insults to Islam, no matter their size or scope, have often been met with huge protests and violence around the world. One such outburst was sparked when a Danish newspaper published a cartoon mocking the Prophet Mohammad in 2005.

Pentagon spokesman Morrell said earlier in the day that there was intense debate within the administration over whether to call Jones. Officials feared of setting a precedent that could inspire copy-cat "extremists."

Jones' plan was condemned by foreign governments, international church groups, U.S. religious and political leaders and military commanders.

It also threatened to undermine Obama's efforts to reach out to the world's more than one billion Muslims at a time when he is trying to advance the Middle East peace process and build solidarity against Iran over its disputed nuclear program.

One Afghan dead and 11 inured in anti-Quran-burning protests

One protester was shot dead and several were wounded outside a German-run NATO base in northeast Afghanistan and NATO said it was investigating. Demonstrations later spread to the capital, Kabul, and at least four other provinces.

Officials said the German-run base was singled out after German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday paid tribute to freedom of speech at a ceremony for a Dane whose cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad sparked deadly protests five years ago.

Thousands of Afghans hurled rocks at a NATO military outpost on Friday as fury built across the Muslim world against a U.S. pastor's threats to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of 9/11. Officials say at least 11 people have been injured.

In a turbulent start to the festival of Eid al-Fitr, when Muslims worldwide mark the end of the Ramadan fasting month, leaders of countries including Afghanistan and Indonesia issued dire warnings against the provocative act.

It was unclear if radical Florida evangelist Terry Jones had finally decided to call off the event, which he had planned for Saturday's ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks in protest at the "evil of Islam".

"We have heard that in the U.S., a pastor has decided to insult Qurans. Now although we have heard that they are not doing this, we tell them they should not even think of it," Afghan President Hamid Karzai said.

"By burning the Quran they cannot harm it. The Quran is in the hearts and minds of one and a half billion people. (But) insulting the Quran is an insult to nations," Karzai said in an Eid message.

Protestors threw rocks at the small German-held base in the remote town of Fayzabad in northeast Afghanistan, after traditional prayers for Eid, police said.

"They numbered in their thousands, it is a big crowd," provincial deputy police chief Sayed Hassan Jafary told AFP.

"People almost from all city mosques gathered," he said, adding that the crowd chanted "death to America."

In neighboring Pakistan, hundreds rallied in the central city of Multan and the southern metropolis of Karachi, torching U.S. flags and calling for Jones to be hanged.

"We have heard that they have postponed the plans to burn the Holy Quran, but it is not enough. We will continue to raise our voice so that it never happens again," cleric Mufti Hidayatullah Pasroori said in Multan.

In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, also saw protests.

"This threatens peace and international security. This is something that endangers harmony among religious people," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in a nationally televised address.

"I'm of course aware of the reported cancellation of the deplorable act by Terry Jones. However, none of us can be complacent until such a despicable idea is totally extinguished," he said.

Najib Razak, prime minister of Muslim-majority Malaysia, warned the fraught relationship between the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds would enter "a very dangerous chapter" if the burning went ahead.

"I hope the pastor will have a change of heart because by that single act of abhorrence... it will ignite the feelings of Muslims throughout the world, the consequences of which I fear would be very, very costly," he told reporters.

In the Gaza Strip, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya called Jones an "insane lunatic" and the Quran "our constitution."

The imam of Mecca, Saleh bin Humaid, said Jones's threat was "a form of terrorism and an incitement to terrorism".

Hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his part said the plan to burn the Quran was a "Zionist plot" that would end up in the speedy "annihilation" of Israel.

Iraq’s top Shiite cleric warns against Quran burning

Iraq's top Shiite cleric warned of "terrible" consequences if a Florida church followed through on plans, now apparently suspended, to burn hundreds of Qurans, a statement from his office said Friday.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called on Muslims to exercise restraint in their reaction to the "shameful" plans for a mass immolation of the Muslim holy book on the ninth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

"This shameful behavior does not correspond with the responsibilities of religious leadership, which are to confirm the values of peaceful cohabitation based on mutual respect between people of different faiths," he said in a statement released by his office in the holy Shiite city of Najaf.

"I call on the concerned parties in the United States to stop this horrible act because if it happens, it will have terrible consequences," Sistani said.

"The Marjaiya (the Shiite spiritual leadership in Iraq) denounce this aggression against the Quran and call on Muslims to exercise maximum restraint, and for them not to harm Christians," he said.

Sistani, who heads the four-person Marjaiya, is revered by his followers in Shiite-majority Iraq and his stature dwarfs that of any politician here, including Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, himself a Shiite.

Quran burning threat ignites debate on media coverage

The Florida pastor's threat to burn the Quran on September 11 has sparked a soul-searching debate in the media over the amount of coverage being devoted to the deliberately provocative event.

Before Pastor Jones suspended his plan to set fire to the Quran, Fox News said it would not cover the stunt, making the Rupert Murdoch-owned television network the first major news outlet to turn its back on the story.

And the U.S. news agency the Associated Press, citing a policy of "not to provide coverage of events that are gratuitously manufactured to provoke and offend," said it would not distribute images that show Qurans being burned.

"This is really about just using some judgment," said Michael Clemente, senior vice president at Fox News.

"He's one guy in the middle of the woods with 50 people in his congregation who's decided to try, I gather, to bring some attention to himself by saying he's going to burn a Quran," Clemente told The Baltimore Sun. "Well, you know what, there are many more important things going on in the world than that."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed hope during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations this week that the news media would ignore Jones's book-burning "as an act of patriotism."

Clinton's tongue-in-cheek remarks about media restraint triggered laughter from the crowd but the potential for violence stemming from the actions of a fringe religious group did provoke a bout of self-examination in the media.

"What would happen if the media just didn't cover the Quran-burning preacher?" Garrett Graff, editor of The Washingtonian magazine, asked on his Twitter feed. "Not every nut deserves 15 minutes."

"The story of this kooky pastor seems to me to be substantially overplayed, with potentially dangerous consequences," The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz said on his blog, "Media Notes."

"Why does the world need to follow the antics of one obscure book-burner in Florida?" Kurtz asked. "You can say we're just covering the story, but our combined megaphone has made it into an international story."

Dan Kennedy, an assistant professor of journalism at Boston's Northeastern University, noted that the Quran burning coverage coincided with tensions over plans to build an Islamic community center near the site of the September 11 attacks in New York.

News organizations that have been "pounding away week after week about the Ground Zero mosque have some complicity" in turning the Quran burning plan into front-page headlines, Kennedy told AFP.

"Maybe this minister would have gone ahead and held a Quran-burning anyway," he said. "But I think all of the hateful, not to mention inaccurate, public discussion about the Islamic center near Ground Zero helped to create an atmosphere in which this Quran-burning suddenly seemed, at least to a few people, like a real good idea.

"I don't think that the media ought to ignore it," Kennedy added, but the coverage should be "proportionate."

Mike Thomas, a columnist for Florida's Orlando Sentinel newspaper, said the media bears responsibility for promoting a "sad-sack preacher, lucky to draw 50 people" to his church into an international figure.

"I ask you: If a sad little man burns some Qurans in the woods, and the media aren't there to film it, is it news?" he asked. "Of course not."

"We could help head off such future nonsense if we folded up the circus tent and left Jones alone with his blowtorch and 30 followers," he said. "Without us, this book burning would be little more than a grainy video on YouTube."

Time magazine's television critic James Poniewozik said the Quran burning story however had generated a momentum that meant it can no longer be ignored.

"This is, unfortunately, one of those cases in which, by having become news, the story is now making legitimate news," Poniewozik wrote.

"World leaders and military leaders have weighed in, there is real international attention to the story and the prospect of real-world, non-virtual protest and unrest if the burning goes on," he said.

Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the media attention on Pastor Jones has ended up giving "a lot of weight to an insignificant action."

"That's what he he wants. He wants this attention," he said. "I think in a way he succeeded, he succeeded in distracting the media from the main issues.

"Maybe this is a teachable moment for all of us," Awad added.

Thousands of Afghans in Anti-Quran-Burning Protest

Feds issue travel alert due to Quran burn plan

September 11, 2010

Associated Press – Thousands of people protested in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday against a small American church's earlier plan to burn the Muslim holy book, chanting "Death to America" and setting shops and police checkpoints on fire, officials said.

Din Mohammad Darwish, spokesman for the governor of Logar province, said police fired warning shots into the air to prevent the protesters from storming the governor's house. He said no injuries were immediately reported.

He said a highway linking Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan was briefly blocked by the protesters.

Nabi Charkhi, the deputy provincial police chief, said more than 10,000 people took part in the protest in the provincial capital, Puli Alam.

At least 11 people were injured in similar protests in Afghanistan on Friday.

A Florida pastor who had announced plans to burn the Quran on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States traveled to New York on Friday. His son said the Quran burning would not take place Saturday but couldn't say whether it might occur later.

'No True Christian Would Burn Quran'

September 10, 2010

PressTV - Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast says no pious Christian would support the "evil" plans of a US church to burn copies of the holy Quran.

The remarks were made after a meeting with foreign ambassadors, as plans by Florida pastor Terry Jones to torch copies of the Quran on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attack continue to draw condemnation from Muslim and non-Muslim leaders.

"We are certain that no true follower of Christ is willing to act in line with this pastor's wishes and go down this path with him," Mehr News Agency quoted Mehmanparast as saying on Thursday.

Mehmanparast said Foreign Minister Mottaki had called on the envoys to discuss the anti-Islamic plans with their governments and properly respond to this matter.

He went on to echo earlier remarks by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who denounced the plans as a "Zionist plot, and against the teachings of all divine prophets."

Jones' decision has even angered the Catholic Church, with the Vatican council blasting the Florida church's scheme as an "outrageous and grave gesture against a book considered sacred by a religious community.”

Senior Washington officials have slammed the plans as "disrespectful," "disgraceful" and "un-American."

Earlier on Friday, angry demonstrators marched in Tehran to condemn the Islamophobic decision, as protests in neighboring Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as India and Indonesia continued.

Following the fierce international condemnation of the plan, Jones, a radical evangelist, announced on Thursday that he had put his Quran burning plans on hold.

Florida pastor's daughter says "he needs help"

Ground Zero Mosque and Qur'an Burning

Ground Zero Mosque and Qur'an Burning

Obama Fears Koran Burning Copy Cats Could Hurt U.S. Troops

Pastor Jones had threatened to publicly burn copies of the Koran on September 11 said he cancelled the burning after securing a deal to move a proposed mosque away from Ground Zero in New York. Organizers behind controversial plans for an Islamic cultural center near the World Trade Center denied Jones' claim that they had decided to move the project elsewhere. New York Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has released a statement saying he has not spoken to Pastor Jones or Imam Musri about any deal to move the mosque.

September 10, 2010

ABC News - Although Pastor Terry Jones has dropped his threat to burn Korans on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, President Obama said today he is fearful of copycats looking to get their turn in the spotlight.

"Although this might be one individual in Florida, part of my concern is that we don't start having a whole bunch of people across America thinking this is a way to get attention," Obama said at a press conference today. "This is a way to endanger our troops...you don't play games with that."

Jones reaffirmed today that he no longer plans to go through with his Koran-burning ceremony. But several other religious leaders across the nation say they'll go ahead with their own.

In Springfield, Tenn., Rev. Bob Old has vowed to burn three copies of the Koran in his backyard and plans to videotape it, later uploading it onto the popular video streaming website YouTube.

In Cheyenne, Wyo., Duncan Philp, the founder of the Wyoming Tyranny Response Team, plans to burn a copy of the Koran on the steps of the State Capitol on Saturday, according to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

The Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., which became infamous for heckling funerals of U.S. soldiers, also has said it will hold a Koran burning.

Instead of burning Korans Saturday, Jones intends to travel to New York City to meet with the man behind the so-called Ground Zero Mosque hoping to convince him to move it away from the vicinity of the 9/11 terror attacks.

But even that has become entangled in confusion that has marked the past 48 hours of talks surrounding the issue. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has indicated that he has no intention of moving the Islamic community center said today that he has no plans to meet with Jones.

That prompted Jones and his newest allly, evangelist Dr. K.A. Paul, to hold a news conference in Gainesville, Fla., and issue a "challenge" to Rauf to call them and state whether he is willing to move his project.

After announcing their phones numbers at the news conference, Paul declared, "The challenge is crystal clear. It's 1:20 now. He has until 3:20, two hours, so there is no cat and mouse game here."

Two hours later, the chaos continued, as Jones told the press that he had not received a phone call but still remained hopeful that "the meeting would take place" in New York.

The pastor's son, Luke Jones, stepped in to tell the media that they would not be kept informed of what going to happen, that Paul was speaking only for himself, and suggested bluntly that maybe the press should leave.

That confusion has been the hallmark of the last few days of efforts to halt the Koran burning, which Obama had said earlier in the week would endanger American troops abroad and would be a recruitiing tool for al Qaeda.

President Obama Fears That Burning Korans Could Hurt U.S. Troops

Obama said that he hopes U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' phone call to Jones on Thursday sent a clear message.

"We have an obligation to send a very clear message that his kind of behavior or threats of action put our men and women in harms away and it's also the best imaginable recruiting tool for al Qaeda," said Obama.

Jones decision to cancel his Koran-burning hinged on a deal he claimed he struck with Florida Imam Muhammed Musri who, Jones insists, promised that the Islamic community center and mosque planned near Ground Zero would be moved.

"We believe that the imam will keep his word," Jones told "Good Morning America" today. "We believe that proposal is still good."

But that proposal -- canceling the bonfire of Korans in exchange for moving the proposed Islamic center away from the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- exists only in Jones' mind, said Musri, who is president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida.

"That offer wasn't on the table," Musri told "Good Morning America" today. "He stretched and exaggerated my statements."

"I told him, 'I did not even speak with the imam in New York, so how can I guarantee you?'" Musri said.

Musri said he was in the room with Jones when Gates called to impress upon Jones how dangerous the Koran-burning could be to U.S. troops serving in Muslim countries. He believed it was Gates' call that changed Jones' mind.

Jones said his conversation with Gates was "very short" but that the defense secretary was "very gracious" when he asked the pastor to cancel the burning.

Jones said he took Gates' concerns that U.S. service members would be put at risk "very, very seriously" and that "we absolutely would not want that to happen."

"I tried to close the deal," Musri said, recalling how he told Jones that if he did not cancel there could be riots today, as Muslims celebrate the end of Ramadan.

"I told him I'm willing to make contact as an imam with the imam in New York, Muslim to Muslim," Musri said. "And ask to schedule a meeting."

But Jones, who repeatedly mispronounced the Muslim honorific as "iman," said today that he confirmed the exchange several times with Musri Thursday and that the two men were clear on the proposal that he thought would "make everyone happy."

"There is absolutely no possibility that I misunderstood him," Jones said. "If he is saying that, then he is lying."

"I had witnesses in my office," he said. "We repeated it several times."

Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, weighed in on the controversy, telling ABC News that "there has been some damage done" by the mere threat of Jones' leading his worshippers in burning Korans.

"There are already in a sense images, if you will, implanted in minds," he said, "albeit not with photos of something as inflammatory as the burning of a Koran."

Even Donald Trump joined the conversation Thursday when he offered to buy out one of the investors of the New York site for 25 percent more than they had paid.

Imam, Developer Denies That Ground Zero Mosque Will Move

Rauf told ABC News' Christiane Amanpour that the move of the center in New York would have serious consequences in the Muslim world.

"Let's say we moved under this current circumstance with this dialogue," said Rauf. "What will be the headline tomorrow in the Muslim world?"

"'Islam under attack in America.' That's the theme of it. 'Mosque forcibly removed by whatever.' That will feed the radicals. So diffusing terrorism is a necessity for our national security," he said.

The developer of the project Rauf calls a "multifaith community center" also issued a denial that it would be moved.

"The Muslim Community Center called Park51 in Lower Manhattan is not being moved," read a statement from SoHo Properties. "The project will proceed as planned."

Jones told "Nightline" Thursday that despite cancelling the burn, events have upheld his dim view of Islam.

"Our opinion of Islam has only been confirmed through the very fact we've done nothing, we have not burned the Koran, [and] even though we haven't done anything there have been riots and threats around the world to us," he said. "That already confirms our mission has been accomplished to bring a greater awareness to America and the world that Islam is more dangerous and much more violent than we thought."

Several FBI agents visited Jones at his church, the Dove Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., on Thursday.

FBI sources told ABC News that the agents were there to brief Jones on all the death threats he's received and to discuss how they would protect him and the church on Saturday.

The event sparked a worldwide debate over what kind of backlash the event may cause.

The international police agency Interpol released a warning to governments worldwide of an increased risk of terror attacks if Jones went ahead with his plan.

The U.S. State Department also issued a warning to Americans living and traveling abroad about the potential for violent protests before and after the scheduled burning.

Leaders of Pakistan, Indonesia and India had called on the United States to take action to prevent Jones from desecrating the Islamic holy book, and Afghan insurgents were distributing flyers about the Koran burn to turn villagers against Americans.

Ground Zero Mosque and Qur'an Burning

Muslim Bashers 'Bring Dishonor to the Name of Jesus Christ,' Says Evangelical Leader

September 7, 2010

CNSNews.com - A group of religious leaders joined Muslims in denouncing what they call “derision” and “bigotry” being directed at American Muslims as a result of the proposed ground zero mosque and Islamic cultural center. One evangelical leader in the group said those who have spread misinformation about Muslims in America “bring dishonor to the name of Jesus Christ,” while a Reverend at the press conference said “Christians in the West” have “mostly been responsible” for the “intolerant” rhetoric toward Muslims.

"To those who would exercise derision, you see, bigotry, open rejection of our fellow Americans for their religious faith, I say, shame on you. As an evangelical, I say, to those who do this, I say, 'you bring dishonor to the name of Jesus Christ. You directly disobey his commandment to love our neighbor," said Richard Cizik, President of the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good at the National Press Club during a press conference sponsored by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).

“You violate the command, you see, not to bear false witness and not least of all, you drive the watching world further away from any interest in our Gospel message.”

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington says leaders of all religions cannot allow American Muslims to be publicly criticized for their faith.

“Religious leaders cannot stand by in silence when things like this are happening; when things like this are affecting the – so many good, wonderful people around our country who have brought Islam to these shores and who are playing a role in our society, which is constructive and which is excellent,” he said.

“I think we have to reach out to them and say, ‘look, we’re happy you’re here. We love you and we understand that you bearing false witness against your neighbor is against the Qur’an, is against the Bible, is against the Gospels and this is why we’re here so we have to be here.’”

Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, the General Secretary of the National Council of Churches said Christians in the West have often been responsible for anti-Muslim rhetoric in America.

“Christians in the West have often been responsible for the kind of intolerant rhetoric that we now hear from various places in this country,” said Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon.

“So, it’s important for us as a Christian community to say an unequivocal no, that is not who we are. Our own faith calls on us to bear, not false witness, but true witness and that means to speak out on behalf of Islam, for example, as a peace loving and peace teaching faith and to say that these are indeed our brothers and sisters.”

During the press conference, the General Secretary of the organization, American Baptists Churches said Baptists have made “some of the most offensive statements” about Muslims.

“Some of the most offensive statements about Islam, unfortunately, have come forth from the Baptist community and, therefore, some of us as Baptist leaders felt that it was important for us to join with ISNA and with our Muslim brothers and sisters in order to put together our program that would help us with this very issue in our local congregation of understanding other faiths; in this particular point, the Islamic faith,” said Roy Medley, the General Secretary of American Baptist Churches.

Religious Leaders Condemn "Anti-Muslim" Frenzy

September 8, 2010

Reuters - U.S. religious leaders on Tuesday condemned an "anti-Muslim frenzy" in the United States, including plans by a Florida church to burn a Koran on September 11, an act a top general said could endanger American troops abroad.

Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders denounced the "misinformation and outright bigotry" against U.S. Muslims resulting from plans to build a Muslim community center and mosque not far from the site of the September 11, 2001, hijacked plane attacks in New York by the Islamist militant group al Qaeda that killed 2,752 people.

Tensions have risen with the approach of both the September 11 anniversary on Saturday and the Muslim eid al-Fitr festival that marks the close of the fasting month of Ramadan, which is expected to end around Friday.

Passions have been further inflamed by Terry Jones, the pastor of a 30-person church in Gainesville, Florida, who has announced plans to burn a Koran on Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Jones says he wants to "expose Islam" as a "violent and oppressive religion."

Religious leaders, including Washington Roman Catholic Archbishop emeritus Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and Dr. Michael Kinnamon of the National Council of Churches, released a statement saying they were "alarmed by the anti-Muslim frenzy" and "appalled by such disrespect for a sacred text."

"To attack any religion in the United States is to do violence to the religious freedom of all Americans," said the religious leaders, including Rabbi David Saperstein, head of the Union for Reform Judaism, and Rabbi Julie Schonfeld of the Association of Conservative Rabbis.

"The threatened burning of copies of the Holy Qu'ran this Saturday is a particularly egregious offense that demands the strongest possible condemnation by all who value civility in public life and seek to honor the sacred memory of those who lost their lives on September 11," they said.

The planned Koran-burning by the Dove World Outreach Center has already prompted protests in Kabul. Several hundred Afghans -- mostly students from religious schools -- gathered outside the Milad ul-Nabi mosque and chanted "Death to America" in anger over the plans.

General David Petraeus, the head of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement the Koran burning could "endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort" to stabilize the Afghan situation.

"It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems, not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community," Petraeus said.

UN-AMERICAN ACTIONS

President Barack Obama's administration made clear that it deplored the planned event, which State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley described as "un-American."

"I am heartened by the clear and unequivocal condemnation of this disrespectful, disgraceful act that has come from American religious leaders of all faiths," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told American Muslims at the State Department as she hosted an Iftar, the meal at which Muslims break their daily fast during the month of Ramadan.

Attorney General Eric Holder, the top U.S. law enforcement official, called the planned Florida event "idiotic" during a closed-door meeting with a small group of religious leaders, said Saperstein and a Justice Department official.

Holder also told the group no one should have to live and pray in fear and that he planned soon to address the issue publicly, the meeting participants said. He also reiterated a commitment to aggressively prosecute hate crimes, they said.

Dr. Ingrid Mattson, the Islamic Society of North America president who helped organize Tuesday's statement by religious leaders, said ordinary U.S. Muslims were feeling increasingly worried and harassed as they went about their daily lives.

"I have heard many Muslim-Americans say that they have never felt this anxious or this insecure in America since directly after September 11," she said.

She urged Muslims abroad to "take a step back" and not use the "loud voices of some Christian extremists" in the United States as a justification for action against American Jews and Christians.

"They do not represent America, they do not represent Christianity or Judaism," Mattson said. "These people who are here with us today represent the true values and views of the vast majority of American Jews and Christians and just American citizens."

The religious leaders did not take a stand regarding the planned cultural center and mosque near the Ground Zero site in downtown Manhattan. The Muslim cleric leading the project reasserted in a New York Times opinion piece on Tuesday that organizers would proceed with the center.

Rallies for and against the center and mosque are set for Saturday in New York after a memorial ceremony for those killed. Families of the victims were debating whether to call a truce on the anniversary, with some saying the day should be reserved for "appropriate remembrance and reflection."

Critics say the planned location two blocks from Ground Zero is insensitive, while supporters say politicians have wrongly commandeered the emotionally charged debate before U.S. congressional elections on November 2.

New York Imams Say Muslims Are Americans, Too

September 1, 2010

Reuters - New York City Muslims declared themselves just as American as opponents of an Islamic cultural center and mosque near the World Trade Center on Wednesday in a bid to seize control of a debate they appear to be losing.

Leaders of some 55 New York mosques and Islamic organizations gathered on the City Hall steps in the face of growing opposition to the proposed $100 million Islamic center that would stand two blocks from the site where the Twin Towers were destroyed on September 11, 2001.

A Quinnipiac University poll on Tuesday showed 71 percent of New Yorkers said it should be built further from the site known as "Ground Zero," where 2,752 died.

Republican politicians hoping to wrest control of Congress from President Barack Obama's Democrats in the November 2 election have latched onto other polls showing a majority of Americans oppose building a mosque near what they consider sacred land.

With Democratic defenders of the mosque taking a more cautious tone in the face of those same polls, New York Muslims staged Wednesday's rally to defend themselves. Some Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, have joined in opposing locating the center near Ground Zero.

"We are not strangers to this country and this country is not a stranger to us. Rather we have a long history and heritage of Muslims in this land," said Zaheer Uddin, executive director of the Islamic Leadership Council of New York.

One of the imams said 300 Muslims died in the attacks, and there were Muslims among the police and fire department first responders and the chaplains who aided survivors following the attacks by al Qaeda suicide hijackers nine years ago.

"We do not believe that we are good enough to die, that we are good enough to minister to others, that we are good enough to respond to tragedy, but we are not good enough to build a place where we can pray right where we worked and died," said Talib Abdur Rashid, another imam with the council.

Other speakers expressed sympathy for the families of those who died on September 11 but questioned whether proximity to "Ground Zero" was the issue considering opposition to Islamic centers or mosques elsewhere in New York City and in California, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Illinois and Kentucky.

"This kind of verbal assault on Islam and Muslims is unprecedented in our history in this country," said Al-Amin Abdul Latif.

"This nation was founded on the values of religious freedom and tolerance and fairness and justice and pluralism. We're going backwards."