Israel Matzav: 'You represent the concerned citizens of Englewood, not the oil-rich dictatorship of Libya'

The winter is heating up in Englewood, New Jersey. Remember that house that Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi built there and wanted to stay in for the UN General Assembly? Now, Libya wants to move its UN ambassador there. And the (apparently) Jewish dhimmi who represents the district in Congress is all in favor, because it's not in his backyard. But it is in Rabbi Shmuley Boteach's.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, best known as the author of Kosher Sex, lashed out on Tuesday at a US congressman who was quoted as saying residents of Englewood, New Jersey, should be "good neighbors" to a Libyan diplomat planning to move to the New York City suburb.

Boteach accused Rep. Steve Rothman of brokering a closed-door deal for Libya to buy a mansion in Englewood in 1982.

Coming a day after the Democratic congressman issued his own press release criticizing Boteach, the rabbi fought back, asking: "Will he really defend the right of an envoy of a terror-sponsoring government to live in our midst, spending millions of dollars on his home while refusing for more than a quarter of a century to pay even one dollar in taxes?"

The flap - between two men who fought to prevent Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi from staying at the Englewood mansion last year - came amid news that Libya's UN representative, Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalgham, would be moving to the town.

In an interview with the New Jersey Jewish Standard, Rothman said: "The George W. Bush administration reestablished diplomatic relations with the Libyan government and removed Libya from the list of state sponsors of terrorism... Up until this moment the Englewood police chief has advised me that he sees no problem in allowing the ambassador and his wife and children to occupy the residence. And so, I hope everyone will be appropriately good neighbors."

Read the whole thing.

Good luck, Rabbi. I wouldn't want him in my backyard either.

via israelmatzav.blogspot.com

Boteach is one of the more liberal rabbis out there. a guy who gets along on CNN and with Michael Jackson's entourage for years.

the whole story is hilarious to me... in a sad kind of way

Posted via web from noahdavidsimon's posterous

Hamas $540 million budget for 2010, mostly Iranian aid.

$30 million of Hamas funds would be relayed to bolster the Islamic presence in Jerusalem.

The Hamas parliament approved the 2010 budget on Dec. 31, but legislators provided no details. One parliamentarian, Jamal Nasser, said that no more than $60 million of the budget would come from taxes and fees.

"The rest would come from gifts and foreign aid," Nasser said.

Nasser announced the passage of the Hamas budget on Jan. 2. He did not identify the foreign aid, but Palestinian sources said Iran would be the main donor

via worldtribune.com

Who was it that said that Shi'i and Sunni terrorists didn't work together?

"Two common assumptions handicap an understanding of terrorist networks. The first is that Shi'i and Sunni groups or governments do not cooperate. Hence, some scholars argue that it is impossible that the Iranian regime could supply arms to the Taliban. In 2007, Juan Cole, a professor at the University of Michigan, wrote, "Among the more fantastic charges that Bush made against Iran was that its government was actively arming and helping the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. In fact, the Taliban are extremist Sunnis who hate and have killed large numbers of Shiites. Shiite Iran is unlikely to support them." The evidence that they have done so, however, is overwhelming as U.S. forces have seized truckloads of Iranian weaponry en route to the Taliban" via meforum.org

oh that's right... Juan Cole, a professor at the University of Michigan

Google Blocking Negative Search Recommendations On Islam – Why?

Religion always causes a stir when it is debated, and Google seems to know it. Google is not taking a fair approach to the way that it handles searches for different religions.

When you search for the major religions of the world, the monotheistic faiths for example, Google serves up suggestions for the search “Christianity is” such as, “a lie,” or false.” Try it on a a number of faiths, and then Islam.

Notice any difference?

Google is systematically blocking, it seems, all search suggestions for Islam. Why? To remove the chance of an adherent of the faith from being offended by a perhaps severe search suggestion? Why not treat all search terms equally?

Given the complete lack of suggestions, not just terms that could be perceived as negative, it seems that Google is covering its, well, behind.

Don’t want to do all the leg work? Check the image after the jump.

A thank you to the Atheism sub-Reddit for finding this. Original post here.

via thenextweb.com

Posted via web from noahdavidsimon's posterous