A Muslim Microcosm from Britain & the U.S.

A Labour Minister has called for the Red Cross symbol to be abandoned by the humanitarian organisation, because its link to the Crusades risks 'undermining its work'.

MPs are currently debating whether or not the cross and the crescent symbols should be replaced in certain areas by the 'Red Crystal' symbol, which apparently has no religious connotations.

The Mail tells us:

The founding Conference of the Red Cross Movement in 1863 adopted a red cross on a white background – the reverse of the Swiss flag – as the emblem of the voluntary medical personnel who assisted the wounded on the battlefield.

It was never intended to have any religious meaning and is thought to have been intended as a tribute to traditionally neutral Switzerland, which hosted the conference.

However, the symbol unintentionally raised suggestions that it was somehow linked to the Hospitaliers, a military order which took part in the Crusades, the centuries long series of military campaigns waged by Christians from Europe.

Subsequently, a red crescent emblem was adopted in tandem.

No mention, of course, of the centuries of brutal war waged by Muslims against Europe and against Christians - a conflict which continues to this very day.

I may be wrong, but it was my understanding that the ridiculous 'crystal' symbol came into use at least in part because Muslims refused to allow the addition of a Star of David symbol to represent Israeli membership and Jewish contributions to the organisation.

Speaking of ridiculous, politically correct pandering, a prison magazine has been withdrawn because a satirical cartoon about swine flu 'offended' Muslim inmates, who make up 17% of Britain's prison population.

From UK Media Watch:

The Jailhouselawyer’s Blog carries news that Inside Time, a monthly magazine distributed free to prisoners in the UK, has recalled 50,000 copies of its latest issue because of fears that a humorous article on swine flu and an accompanying cartoon could be offensive to Muslim inmates.

The column by Andy Thackwray, a prisoner at HMP Hull, was entitled “Porky’s Revenge“. It hypothesised that swine flu was the result of a failed plot by Osama Bin Laden “eradicate every pig in Christendom”:

Yes, not too long ago in a cave somewhere in deepest Afghanistan, our bearded foe created his halal flu virus to totally wipe out the pigs of the Western world, and hopefully see the end of pork as we know it. Only trouble was, the young terrorist Bin Laden hand-picked to fly across the Atlantic to carry out the wicked deed was not only a goat short of a full flock, he’d also never ventured out of his village before. So, with geography not being one of his strong points, coupled with his poor command of the English language, it’s not surprising that he got off the plane one stop early thinking he was in Kansas, America when really he was in Cancun, Mexico. There, he set the Bin Laden flu virus free on a Mexican pig farm instead of on an American one as planned – what a knob!

The article was accompanied by a cartoon of a bearded, turbanned pig standing on its hind legs and sneezing.

Just roll over, give in and submit. It is what Mohammed would want.

Speaking of prisons, crime and Islam, here are two more interesting stories from the United States, which seems a little more reluctant to give in to the demands of convicted criminals.

'Shoe bomber' Richard Reid, a convert to Islam with a British passport who attempted to blow up a transatlantic jet, is on hunger strike in an American jail because he feels unable to practice the tenets of his Sunni Muslim faith.

Presumably the guards are supposed to throw him an infidel to kill every so often, but no - they are force feeding him instead.

Still, the authorities refuse to throw out a lawsuit Reid has filed against his prison to the effect that he is not free to practice his faith - but then not being free to do things is rather the point of prison, isn't it?

Reid's lawsuit alleges prison authorities have repeatedly prevented him from following the tenets of his Sunni Muslim faith.

A U.S. District Court judge in Denver recently denied the authorities' request to throw out Reid's lawsuit.

Reid, 35, has refused food since March at the Supermax prison, the United States' highest-security federal lockup, 90 miles south of Denver, a federal government lawyer said in the court filings.

Traci Billingsley, spokesman at federal prison headquarters in Washington, D.C., said the bureau does not comment on inmates' conditions and would not say whether Reid's hunger strike is related

The government attorney, in a previously undisclosed court filing dated April 14, wrote that prison officials determined on April 7 'that medical intervention was necessary" and Reid was being force-fed and hydrated.

Also from the United States, we have news that Syed Haris Ahmed, 24, a former student at Georgia Tech, has been found guilty of conspiring to provide support for terrorist groups.

He faces up to 15 years in prison.

His father offers us some interesting information, however - information which I and most people who will read this know already, but many more need to hear:

“You think something and you’re guilty of something,” said Ahmed, somber and weary as he stood outside a federal courtroom. “He’s not guilty of any crimes in the eyes of Allah. He’s guilty of U.S. laws.”

His son waived the right to a jury trial so that he could use the 45 minutes allocated to close the case to 'deliver the message of Islam' to the court:

Ahmed quoted nine passages from the Quran in Arabic while giving his statement to Duffey, who presided as judge and jury. By delivering “the message that has been revealed by Allah,” he said, “the promise of protection from evil will also apply to me.”

I personally feel that being convicted of plotting to plant bombs designed to kill countless innocents delivers the message of Islam quite aptly, however.

Here is what Ahmed's father calls 'thought crime':

Prosecutors said Ahmed began plotting acts of terror in early 2005, when he and his alleged co-conspirator, Ehsanul Islam Sadequee of Roswell, met with suspected terrorists in Toronto. The men talked big, discussing attacks on military bases and oil refineries, even using lasers to disable the GPS satellite system.

A month later, Ahmed and Sadequee drove to Washington and took 62 amateurish “casing videos” of area landmarks, such as the Capitol and World Bank. Some of the recordings were later found on the computers of two men now convicted of terrorism crimes in Great Britain.

Prosecutors said Ahmed and Sadequee took the videos to earn the respect of terrorists overseas by proving they could take risks and showing how close they could get to potential targets.

Ahmed's sister claims that because he has spent three years in solitary confinement, he has suffered enough - and seeing as he has used that time to memorise the Koran, he is now 'a better person'.

You really couldn't make it up.