Khaled Abu Toameh: ISIS Followers Plan To Take Over Gaza Strip Burak Bekdil: Turkey: Is It Religiously All Right to Lust for My Daughter?

In this mailing: Khaled Abu Toameh: ISIS Followers Plan To Take Over Gaza Strip Burak Bekdil: Turkey: Is It Religiously All Right to Lust for My Daughter? ISIS Followers Plan To Take Over Gaza Strip by Khaled Abu Toameh  •  January 12, 2016 at 5:00 am In the video produced by the pro-ISIS Palestinian Islamic Army (PIA), Hamas leaders are denounced for aligning themselves with moderate Arab leaders in the Gulf, who are described as "criminals and enemies of Islam." Apparently, Hamas has been too kind to Christians living in the Gaza Strip. The narrator blasts Hamas leaders for offering greetings to Christians on their holidays. It seems that there may be valid reasons for Egypt's reluctance to reopen the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, as well as to Israel's opposition to lifting the naval blockade on Gaza -- initiated to prevent weapons from being imported to Hamas and other extremists in Gaza. The PIA video provides proof that the Gaza Strip has become a hub for jihadi groups posing a murderous threat not only to Israel and "the West," but also to Muslims who are deemed by the terrorists as lacking in religious standards. A frame from the recent video produced in Gaza by the Palestinian Islamic Army (PIA), in which the PIA followers pledge allegiance to ISIS "Caliph" Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. A new group calling itself the Palestinian Islamic Army (PIA) has popped up in the Gaza Strip, signalling incontrovertibly the growing influence of the Islamic State (ISIS) among Palestinians. A thirty-minute video put out by the PIA shows its followers pledging allegiance to ISIS "Caliph" Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, and paints Hamas leaders as "apostates" and "infidels" for failing to implement Islamic sharia law in the Gaza Strip. The video constitutes proof positive that the ISIS ideology has infiltrated Gaza -- a truth that Hamas has unsuccessfully been trying to conceal for the past year. Continue Reading Article  Turkey: Is It Religiously All Right to Lust for My Daughter? by Burak Bekdil  •  January 12, 2016 at 4:30 am The Directorate for Religious Affairs, or Diyanet in Turkish, enjoys an annual budget bigger than those of more than 10 other ministries combined -- and its president, a government-appointed cleric, enjoys a $400,000 chauffeur-driven car. Turkey accuses those who protest lusting for one's daughter of hating religiosity. "[G]ossip and holding hands, not allowed in Islam." — Fatwa from Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs. Mehmet Gormez, President of Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs. (Image source: İlke Haber video screenshot) Turkey has a government agency that regulates "religious affairs" [read: Sunni Muslim Affairs]. It is run by the country's top Muslim cleric and reports to the prime minister. The Directorate for Religious Affairs, or Diyanet in Turkish, enjoys an annual budget bigger than those of more than 10 other ministries combined – and its president, a government-appointed cleric, enjoys a $400,000 chauffeur-driven car. Among its duties is to issue "fatwas," or to tell Muslim Turks what is religiously permissible and what is not. Its current president, the top cleric, also enjoys making long, doctrinaire speeches. Sometimes they sound reasonable, sometimes not. Continue Reading Article