Are Judaism and Christianity as Violent as Islam?

The military conquest of the land of Canaan by the Hebrews in about 1200 B.C.E. is often characterized as “genocide” and has all but become emblematic of biblical violence and intolerance. God told Moses:

But of the cities of these peoples which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, but you shall utterly destroy them — the Hittite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite — just as the Lord your God has commanded you, lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God. So Joshua [Moses' successor] conquered all the land: the mountain country and the South and the lowland and the wilderness slopes, and all their kings; he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord, God of Israel had commanded.

...God clearly ordered the Hebrews to annihilate the Canaanites and surrounding peoples. Such violence is therefore an expression of God's will, for good or ill. Regardless, all the historic violence committed by the Hebrews and recorded in the Old Testament is just that—history. It happened; God commanded it. But it revolved around a specific time and place and was directed against a specific people. At no time did such violence go on to become standardized or codified into Jewish law. In short, biblical accounts of violence are descriptive, not prescriptive.
This is where Islamic violence is unique. Though similar to the violence of the Old Testament—commanded by God and manifested in history—certain aspects of Islamic violence and intolerance have become standardized in Islamic law and apply at all times. Thus, while the violence found in the Qur'an has a historical context, its ultimate significance is theological. Consider the following Qur'anic verses, better known as the "sword-verses":

Then, when the sacred months are drawn away, slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them, and confine them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they repent, and perform the prayer, and pay the alms, then let them go their way.
Fight those who believe not in God and the Last Day, and do not forbid what God and His Messenger have forbidden – such men as practise not the religion of truth, being of those who have been given the Book – until they pay the tribute out of hand and have been humbled.

....MORE
Summer 2009 | Middle East Quarterly,
Volume XVI: Number 3, pp. 3-12 |
by Raymond Ibrahim
and image via wilybadger.wordpress.com

Where Is Human Rights Watch? Worried about Censorship!

To alleviate restrictions on freedom of expression, HRW urged him [Assad] to “stop blocking websites for their content.” In a contemporaneous op-ed article, "Syria's decade of repression” (The Guardian, 16 July 2010), HRW researcher Nadim Houry concludes with gentle prodding of Assad: “his legacy will ultimately depend on whether he will act on the promises” of reform he made upon taking office. “Otherwise, he will merely be remembered for extending his father’s...government by repression.

NAUGHTY NAUGHTY NAUGHTY... Syria's big Boo Boo was Censorship? One would think Assad was about as bad as the feminists in Washington State. It's almost like a light prodding by a progressive activist to a liberal government. Because in the world of Human Rights Watch... there might be a reason for censorship, but Syria just needed to be encouraged to do a more progressive thing.

Human Rights Watch has been poorly prepared in dealing with the slaughter of protesters by Assad--and it shows:
Since the Arab Spring awoke at the end of 2010, HRW has quickly expanded to cover developments and violations in Egypt, Libya, and elsewhere. HRW’s lack of preparation, foresight, and capacity is obvious. Indeed, the international media have relied entirely on local activists; as a source of information, HRW is entirely irrelevant. 

Human Rights Watch released 51 documents on “Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.” At the same time, HRW released just 12 such documents on Syria. Similarly, while HRW released 3 “single country reports” on Israel, to one short report on Syria. says Daled Amos.

Polar bear kills British boy in Arctic

A polar bear has mauled a 17-year-old British boy to death in the Arctic and injured four other UK tourists.
A group of 13 mainly 16 to 23-year-olds were on a trip with the British Schools Exploring Society near a glacier on the remote Norwegian island of Svalbard.
The Svalbard governor's office said a group member shot the bear.
The families of the victims have been told. via bbc.co.uk

The Norwegian Polar Bear does not have a manifesto and does not have any Zionist connections. It has also been concluded that the Polar bear didn't leave any comments on any Neo-Conservative blog.

N.J. Dunkin Donuts worker caught in 'extra sugar' sex sting

ROCKAWAY, N.J. — A 29-year-old woman working the night shift at Dunkin Donuts faces prostitution charges for allegedly taking breaks from selling donuts and coffee to provide sexual services in exchange for money. sounds good!

Egypt: Two Molotov cocktails hurled at Arab League HQ

Cheerio!

...(AFP) Saboteurs on Thursday threw two Molotov cocktails at the Arab League headquarters in central Cairo, with no reports of casualties or serious damage, an Arab League source told AFP. "At dawn this morning, there were two Molotov cocktails thrown into the Arab League building. There were no casualties, and only minor damage was caused to one of the air conditioning units," the source said. Another source close to the Arab League said the 22-member body had received several threats by telephone from members of the Libyan and Syrian communities. He said there had been "several phone calls" expressing anger at the league's response to the conflicts in both countries, but refused to provide further details. More... via eye-on-the-world.blogspot.com

Poll shows Iran has lost Arab support

The AAI poll, which included 4,000 Arabs, has showed a "strong regional support for the GCC's new and more assertive role protecting their regional interest,".
The poll has covered Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan and the UAE.
As an example of the dwindling support to Iran, the percentage of Moroccans who have positive views toward Iran has dropped from 82 per cent in 2006 to 14 in 2011, and in Egypt from 89 per cent to 37. While Saudis recorded the lowest percentage of positive views towards Iran with 6 per cent, Lebanon recorded the highest percentage among the six surveyed countries with 63.
"None [of the Arabs] believe that the region would be safer if Iran became a nuclear power," was among the main conclusion of the AAI poll, which was conducted during the first three weeks of June 2011 by Zogby international.
Turkey favoured
When asked if they had to choose one nation other than Israel to be a nuclear power in the Middle East, Egypt comes in the first place followed by Turkey, which received the highest favourable ratings in most Arab countries due to its positions visa-a-vie the Arab-Israeli conflict, which Arabs praised as pro-Arab. The US received the lowest rating in every country surveyed.
"I think it is seeing Egypt playing its historic role as a leader of the Arab world," replied Zogby to a question on explaining choosing Egypt. via gulfnews.com

I don't trust Zogby at all, but I do believe there is a real threat to Arabs from Iran.