"Officials: Taliban Take 30 Pakistani Children Hostage In Afghanistan," from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, September 2 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Pakistani officials say Taliban militants in Afghanistan have taken hostage around 30 Pakistani children who crossed the border by mistake.

They said the incident took place on September 1 after the group of boys, aged between 12 and 18, visited an area of Pakistan's Bajaur tribal region for celebrations marking the Muslim Eid holiday when they crossed into the Afghan province of Kunnar and were abducted....

Imani writes:

Another line of argument implying Perry’s Islamic leanings, if not an out and out supporter of it, pertains to inclusion of Islam in the state’s educational curriculum. I looked closely into that claim, because it is indeed a critical juncture where young minds can indeed be influenced.

The nuggets of the Muslim history curriculum Perry helped coordinate in Texas are summarized below. It says:

1-Countries of Western Civilization have secular governments, which means great toleration of cultural and religious differences. [...]

No matter how I tried, I couldn’t reach the conclusion that this inclusion promotes Islam or it is pro-Sharia. It seems that the mere fact that Islam is included in the curriculum represents supporting it.

The only problem with Imani's analysis is that he isn't examining the actual curriculum. You'll note that Imani relies for his information about the curriculum on Alana Goodman's piece at the dhimmi publication Commentary, and that Goodman in turn relies on David Stein's claim that the Perry/Aga Khan curriculum was written by one Ronald Wiltse, a retired San Antonio high school teacher. In contrast, Pamela Geller and I have been working from teacher training session material that bears the legend "the curriculum for this project was developed at Harvard University and modified at the University of Texas at Austin," and which, in contrast to Wiltse's material, is a dhimmi whitewash of Islam (see here for details).

So which is the real curriculum? The one drawn up by Wiltse, or the one drawn up by Harvard and UT-Austin in collaboration with the Aga Khan Foundation?

What do you think?

With all due respect to Mr. Wiltse, how likely do you think it is that Harvard, UT-Austin, and the Aga Khan Foundation would choose a retired high school history teacher to write their curriculum, and publish his work under official auspices even though it contradicted the tone, thrust, and editorial line of their own teacher training sessions? Harvard and UT-Austin are no doubt full of dhimmi academics -- including the ones who actually produced the teacher training material. Wiltse's lesson plan does show up on the (now scrubbed) Aga Khan/Perry teacher training curriculum pages, but only in a section headed "Lessons and Strategies," which included other lesson plans and was clearly just a repository site for the individual lesson plans that teachers who attended the teacher training program (as Wiltse did, according to David Stein) developed in response to an assignment asking them to create such plans.

That means that to represent Wiltse's lesson plan as the official Perry/Aga Khan curriculum is like representing a 9th grader's history paper as the official curriculum for his school district. Was Wiltse actually hired by UT-Austin and/or the Aga Khan Foundation to develop their Islam curriculum for Texas schools? Of course not, and even David Stein, who has never retracted his false claims about the curriculum, doesn't claim that.

It is a shame to see someone like Amil Imani, who generally sees things clearly, not only fall for this deception but retail it himself. I expect the dhimmi dim bulbs at Commentary to spread falsehoods, but I expected more from Amil Imani.

And let's not lose sight of the larger question: Rick Perry is demonstrably closer than other candidates are to Grover Norquist, and has sponsored the institution of a whitewashed, misleading Islam curriculum into Texas schools. Instead of demonizing those who have called attention to this, Perry supporters need to start asking their man some hard questions. But here again, I won't be holding my breath.

Philistines for Palestine Update. Here, thanks to Sam, is video of the disruption of the Israel Philharmonic concert in London by anti-Israel thugs. It's come to this degree of a breakdown of order and decency. Enjoy the music at the end, and note the study in contrasts encompassed therein. Order and beauty disrupted by hideous disorder.

They are hiding behind generalities, in hopes that Western audiences will project their own understanding of those terms onto the rebels' use of them, but it is Sharia that will determine the specifics. The draft constitution has already made that clear.

And the West is left to cross its fingers and hope that this cast of characters can make a U-turn from the tactics that brought them to power and pull a liberal democracy out of their hats. "Libya rebel commander plays down Islamist past," by Hadeel al-Shalchi for the Associated Press, September 2:

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — The rebels' Tripoli military commander, a former leader of an Islamic militant group that sent fighters to Iraq and Afghanistan, insisted Friday that the new Libya will shun extremism and won't become a breeding ground for terrorism.

The commander, Abdel Hakim Belhaj, said he was detained in 2004 in Malaysia and sent to a secret prison in Thailand where he claimed he was tortured by CIA agents. Then he was sent to Libya and jailed for seven years by Moammar Gadhafi's regime.

But Belhaj, 45, played down his Islamist past, seeking to allay concerns about his emergence as a prominent figure in the Western-backed Libyan opposition movement.

He said he had been blindfolded, hung from the wall and beaten on his back in Thailand but insisted he holds no grudges against the West because of the shared goal of ousting Gadhafi.

"Revenge doesn't motivate me personally," he told The Associated Press in an interview at his headquarters at the sprawling military airport in central Tripoli.

Belhaj was a leader in the now dissolved Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which was deemed a terror group by the U.S. But he said he refused to join Al-Qaida because he disagreed with its ideology of global jihad, or holy war, and wanted to focus on ridding Libya of Gadhafi.

He lauded the West for supporting the rebels, saying that "the U.N. Security Council and the whole world stood by us in the cause and have helped us to get rid of Gadhafi."

Gadhafi, in courting the West in recent years, has insisted al-Qaida would gain influence in Libya unless he remained in power.

Belhaj dismissed those concerns.

"We never have and never will support what they call terrorism," he said.

"Libya is a moderate Muslim country," he said. "We call and hope for a civil country that is ruled by the law, which we were not allowed to enjoy under Gadhafi. The religious identity of the country will be left up to the people to choose."

He knows he's going to get an Islamic republic. Even if the draft constitution stops short of using those two words together, its legislation is based on Sharia, and the document itself begins with the Bismillah. Then, what about individual religious identity? Can a Libyan leave Islam? Can a Christian propagate the Gospel or build a new church? Can a Muslim eat in daytime during Ramadan? All of these remain to be seen.

Some in the West, such as Spain's foreign minister, do not seem to see much of a problem with granting an aspirational, not-ready-for-prime-time state, as long as it gives Palestinians "hope." But "hope" does not make a governable state. And due diligence would suggest asking the Palestinian Authority and Hamas what exactly is they would be "hoping" for.

"Palestinian statehood bid 'dangerous': France," from Agence France-Presse, September 2:

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Friday that a bid by Palestinians to win UN recognition as a state would risk triggering a dangerous diplomatic confrontation.

Palestinians, frustrated by the failure of the frozen US-sponsored peace process with Israel, plan to campaign for recognition at the UN General Assembly later this month.

Frustrated? They have squandered 31 opportunities for statehood. At the 2000 Camp David summit, "Clinton exploded at the Palestinians over their refusal to make a counteroffer. ‘A summit’s purpose,’ Clinton said, ‘is to have discussions that are based on sincere intentions and you, the Palestinians, did not come to this summit with sincere intentions.’"

"France hopes that they use the occasion for reopening the path to dialogue rather than risking a futile and dangerous diplomatic confrontation," Juppe told an annual gathering of French ambassadors.

Indeed, it will be an occasion for blackmail. The denial of a state will become the next pretext for violence.

No "right of return" there: one of the remaining who was interviewed was pessimistic about prospects of Iraqi Jews returning even to visit: "saying that latent anti-Semitism within Iraqi society would prevent this from happening anytime soon."

It's "latent" because they've all but run out of Jews to expel. "Only eight Iraqi Jews in Baghdad in 2009: cable," from Agence France-Presse, September 2:

Baghdad's Jewish community numbered just eight people in late 2009, having fallen from 20 in 2003 due to deaths from old age and sectarian violence, and emigration, a leaked US diplomatic cable says.

A woman who spoke with a US embassy staff member in October 2009 said "there are now eight remaining members of the Iraqi Jewish community in Baghdad," including herself, according to the cable released by whistleblower website Wikileaks.

"She stated that the community had numbered 20 persons in 2003, but that the number has declined as a result of old age, emigration, and sectarian violence," according to the cable.

It said the woman, a dentist, was "one of the last remaining Jews in Iraq."

Her mother, she said, had died in the previous year, while her husband was kidnapped by Al-Qaeda-affiliated militants in 2005, and was most likely murdered.

The woman expressed interest in emigrating to the Netherlands, where two of her brothers lived.

She said a synagogue and Jewish cemetery in Baghdad have been shut since 2004.

But another synagogue in the southern port city of Basra had been turned into a warehouse.

When asked about Iraqi Jews living abroad returning to visit or re-establish connections here, the woman "was pessimistic, saying that latent anti-Semitism within Iraqi society would prevent this from happening anytime soon."

There were about 150,000 Iraqi Jews before the 1948 creation of Israel. But between 1948 and 1951, nearly all of the country's 2,500-year-old Jewish community fled amid a region-wide outbreak of nationalist violence....

And for that matter, the European Union should be asking itself that same question about Turkey. "Turkey expels Israeli ambassador," from YNet News, September 2:

Israel-Turkey relations sink to a new low: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu announced on Friday that following Jerusalem's adamant refusal to apologize over the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid, Ankara will be downgrading its diplomatic relations with Israel and suspending key military agreements.

In a dramatic turn of events, Turkey announced that it was expelling Israeli Ambassador Gabby Levy from Ankara. Davutoglu said Turkey's diplomatic representation in Israel would be further reduced to second-secretary level. In accordance, all lower Israeli diplomatic personnel above the second-secretary level have also been expelled.

The announcement followed a press conference, in which Davutoglu said that some of the UN's Palmer Report findings on the raid were "unacceptable," adding that it was "time for Israel to pay the price... The highest price it can pay is losing our friendship."

"Today, we reached a point where Israel has, in fact, spent all of the chances that were given to them. The Israeli government, on the other hand, see themselves (as being) above international laws and human conscience," the Turkish FM said.

Turkey withdrew its own ambassador to Israel immediately after last year's raid.

Davutoğlu's stated that Ankara views the Israeli government as responsible for the situation, and that Turkey will not revise its position on the matter until Israel reconsiders its stand on the flotilla incident. Davutoğlu added that despite the Palmer Report findings, Turkey does not recognise the legality of the Israeli blockade on Gaza.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul reportedly said Friday that as far as Turkey was concerned, the Palmer Report was "null and void." Ankara is also said to be exploring its options against Israel with the International Court of Justice.

Earlier Friday, Turkey vowed that its demand for an apology from Israel would remain unchanged, stating that it is powerful enough to protect the rights of its citizen. The statement was made in Ankara's first official reaction to a leaked United Nations panel report on the Mavi Marmara incident....

Don't like your opponent? Shout them down. Bully them into silence. It is childish and uncivilized. But anti-Israel demonstrators expect a pass from the norms of acceptable behavior. They should not get it.

"Protests disrupt Proms concert by Israel Philharmonic," from BBC News, September 1:

Protesters have disrupted the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra's BBC Proms concert at London's Royal Albert Hall.

Several demonstrators in the hall shouted as Zubin Mehta stood to conduct Bruch's violin concerto. Many other audience members booed in response.

BBC Radio 3 said it had to interrupt its live broadcast twice "as a result of sustained audience disturbance".

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign had earlier called on people to boycott the concert and urged the BBC to cancel it.

In a statement published on its website ahead of the Proms, the pro-Palestinian group claimed the IPO showed "complicity in whitewashing Israel's persistent violations of international law and human rights".

The BBC Proms Team tweeted: "We're sorry that the concert was taken off air following hall disturbance. Glad both pieces were heard by the audience in the RAH."

It later added: "We regret that as a result of sustained audience disturbance tonight's concert was taken off BBC Radio 3."

The performance, which consisted of four parts, was interrupted at about 19:45 BST and coverage was cut off again an hour later after more protests.

A spokeswoman for BBC Proms said it appeared each piece had been targeted by different protesters seated around the hall.

She said the broadcaster was "disappointed" the coverage had been taken off air but said the performance had continued in the hall.

About 30 people were removed by security but there were no arrests and no violence, she said.

The BBC's Tom Symonds said: "As Zubin Mehta stood up and began each piece a small group of protesters each time tried to stop the music.

"They sang, they shouted, they were met by boos by the audience and they had to be removed by the security staff."

Outside the concert hall a group of about 20 campaigners waved banners and sang songs in protest against the appearance of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO).

Several pro-Israeli groups met them with their own protest outside, our correspondent said.

He said it had been a "pretty disruptive" but the orchestra was said to have "taken it all in their stride and had smiles on their faces"....

This charade appears bound to continue until the world awakens one morning to news of an Iranian nuclear test. "Iran "charm offensive" fails to ease nuclear fears," by Frederik Dahl for the Associated Press, September 1:

VIENNA (Reuters) - An Iranian effort to show increased openness about its disputed nuclear program is doing little to dispel Western suspicions about Tehran's atomic ambitions, with one Vienna-based envoy dismissing it as a "charm offensive."

Diplomats accredited to the U.N. nuclear watchdog said they believed it would once again highlight concerns about possible military aspects to Iran's atomic work in its next quarterly report, due to be submitted to member states in coming days.

"I expect it will be a bit tougher than the last one. Still a number of outstanding matters related to possible military dimensions that Iran refuses to answer," a Western envoy said.

Other diplomats painted a similar picture, saying Tehran had failed to address the International Atomic Energy Agency's core concerns and appeared to be playing for time.

"There is nothing particularly virtuous and wonderful about being transparent and open about activities that are in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions," a senior European diplomat said. "It still very much sounds to me like an establishment that is stalling for time."

Western nations suspect Iran is trying to use its nuclear program to develop atomic weapons. The Islamic Republic has denied the charge, saying it wants to produce nuclear energy.

The Vienna-based IAEA, tasked with ensuring that nuclear technology is not diverted for weapons, has often complained about Iran's lack of cooperation over allegations of military-linked atomic activity.

In previous reports, the U.N. agency has urged Tehran in vain to provide prompt access to sites, equipment, documents and people relevant for its probe.

In a move that Iran said showed the country's "100 percent transparency and openness," it allowed a senior IAEA inspector to tour the country's main atomic facilities last month, including one for developing advanced enrichment machines.

The IAEA has been trying since 2008 to gain access to sites linked to the manufacture of centrifuges used to refine uranium -- material which can have both civilian and military purposes -- but Iran had until now ignored the requests.

Tehran has also signaled some flexibility in responding to IAEA questions, with state television quoting a top nuclear official as saying the agency should present "their main claims" together with relevant evidence and documents.

But the Western envoy suggested Iran was merely using an old tactic to ward off any harsher international pressure on the country, while forging ahead with sensitive nuclear work.

"The Iranians' recent charm offensive has not changed the agency's view on what Iran still needs to do," he said.

URANIUM STOCKPILE

For several years, the IAEA has been investigating Western intelligence reports indicating Iran has coordinated efforts to process uranium, test high explosives and revamp a ballistic missile cone to accommodate a nuclear warhead.

Iran rejects the allegations as forged and baseless.

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano has taken a more hard-nosed approach than his predecessor, Mohamed ElBaradei, saying in his first report on Iran in 2010 he feared it may be working now to develop a nuclear-armed missile, not just in the past.

Tehran's refusal to halt enrichment has provoked four rounds of U.N. sanctions on the world's No. 5 oil exporting state, as well as tighter U.S. and European Union restrictions.

Since talks between global powers and Iran foundered in January, Russia has advocated a phased plan in which Tehran would address concerns that it may be seeking nuclear weapons, and be rewarded with an easing of sanctions.

But the Islamic Republic is showing no sign of heeding U.N. demands to curb its nuclear activities....

The "official" ceremonies are anything but that. They do not represent the reality of the war or the will of the American people. So come to ours!

The AFDI/SIOA 911 Freedom Rally will feature 9/11 family members, including Rosaleen Tallon, sister of hero firefighter and reservist in the United States Marine Corps, Sean Tallon, who was killed in the 9/11 attacks; Sally Regenhard, mother of hero firefighter Christian Regenhard, also killed in the 911 attacks (Regenhard is an American activist who has become one of the leading voices for the families of the victims of the September); U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton; German MP René Stadtkewitz leader of Germany’s Freedom Party, Dr. Arieh Eldad, former candidate for Prime Minister of Israel, Member of the Knesset; first responder Alan T. DeVona, the patrol sergeant on duty on September 11, 2001, as well as members of the clergy (a priest, a rabbi, a pastor, for the invocation) and the leading voices for freedom across America and the free world.

Other speakers include Anders Gravers, leader of SIOE and SIAD; Ezra Levant, TV anchor, newspaper columnist, author, founding publisher of the Western Standard magazine, the only Canadian media outlet to publish the Danish cartoons of Muhammad, and which will be livestreaming on SUN TV, Sudanese ex-slave and freedom fighter Simon Deng; the courageous ex-Muslim human rights activist Wafa Sultan; war hero and North Carolina Congressional candidate Ilario Pantano; William J. Murray, chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition, popular radio host Joyce Kaufman; Helen Freedman, Americans for a Safe Israel; Darla Dawald, National Director of the Patriot Action Network; James Lafferty of the Virginia Anti-Sharia Taskforce (VAST); Egyptian Coptic Christian activist Joseph Nassralla; Iraqi ex-Muslim Michael Paul; and others.

And that evening, we will host a special screening of the groundbreaking film, The Ground Zero Mosque: The Second Wave of the 911 Attacks, at The Actor's Temple Theater on 47th between 8th and 9th Avenues. RSVP to GroundZeroMosque@aol.com.