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(Apologies for the long blog title, but I feel that both are worthy of the same post. Solomon's new book was for sale at the second Toronto event sponsored by the International Free Press Society, which invited the Swedish Muhammad cartoonist to Toronto. At the first IFPS Toronto conference, Sam Solomon himself, along with Bat Ye'or, was present. And both events were held at a Toronto synagogue. It is becoming clearer that those in the line of fire, the avant-garde, are once again Jews. This became clear to me at this second event (and I also attended the first one). I think it is important to point this out. Part of Hitler's success occurred because ordinary citizens failed to recognize Hitler's Götterdämmerung and his hatred of, and his will to destroy, Jews. Of course, next in line was to be everyone else. I think there are parallels with this second, now Islamic, Götterdämmerung. We ignored it once, and we have no excuse to ignore it a second time).
It's been a few days since I attended the Toronto event "Lars Vilks in North America," sponsored by the International Free Press Society. This was meant to be a four-city North American tour of the Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks in order for him to discuss and present his Muhammad cartoons. These cartoons earned Vilks a fatwa by the global Islamic community, forcing him to live in hiding. Vilks was to have been present in Philadelphia, Boston and Ottawa, but these venues were canceled due to death threats. The only schedule that went ahead was the one in Toronto. I don't know what this says about Toronto security (and nerve?). But, I went, nonetheless, and was duly impressed by the security guards who kept vigil throughout the program. Lars Hedegaard, President of IFPS-International, and Mary Lou Ambrogio, Vice President of IFPS-Canada made introductory statements before Lars Vilks took the podium.
However rudimentary and amateurish Vilks's Muhammad cartoons appear, he showed us a pencil drawing of a portrait (I didn't have time to note down who it was) that indicated to me that he is an accomplished artist. My only conclusion is: "Who wants to make a good and complementary drawing of Muhammad, anyway?" Scribbled portraits, with Muhammad in various guises, suit our discussions fine. They could even be part of the satire that Vilks is trying to portray.
At the event, I got the chance to buy Sam Solomon's latest book, Al-Yahud: Eternal Islamic Enmity and the Jews, for a mere CND$10. The book is for sale at Amazon.ca for CND$19, and also at Amazon.com.
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Al-Yahud: Eternal Islamic Enmity and the Jews
This is Solomon's second book, after Modern Day Trojan Horse: Al Hijra, The Islamic Doctrine of Immigration, which he introduced at a previous meeting in Toronto also arranged by IFPS-Canada, and where Solomon was present. (This book is also available both at Amazon.ca and Amazon.com). I also attended, and documented, this meeting which took place only four months ago in June 2010.
IFPS-Canada held both these events at the Toronto Zionist Centre, one of Toronto's synagogues. This was an apt venue for both events. Muhammad's enmity towards the Jews is fundamental to Islam, as described in Solomon's second book, Al-Yahud: Eternal Islamic Enmity and the Jews. Here are quotes from page two of Al-Yahud: Eternal Islamic Enmity and the Jews:
In each of the five daily prayers, they [Muslims] pray the opening Sura of the Qur'an ending in these two verses, "Guide us to the straight path, the path of those whom You have favoured with guidance, not [the path] of those against whom there is wrath, nor of those who are astray." [Sura 1:6-7].
In the interpretation of the last verse, Muslims scholars are in unanimous agreement that "those against whom there is wrath" are the Jews, who have incurred Allah's wrath, for though having allegedly received the scriptures and the revelation of the coming prophet, who is the seal of all prophets, namely Muhammad, it is stated in the Qur'an that they concealed this revelation - hence justly incurring the divine and eternal wrath of Allah. While "those who are astray" are identified as being the Christians, who have blasphemed by adding "partners" to Allah.
Though these Qur'anic verses in the opening Sura are in "code" recognizable only by its adherents, in essence this is a concealed but implicit castigation and condemnation of Jews and Christians embedded within the formal daily prayers of all Muslims.Jews receive the "wrath of Allah," whereas, as I see it, there is possibility for redemption by Christians who simply "went astray." Thus, the animosity toward Jews is far greater than that toward Christians.
More information and writings on Vilk's visit to Toronto can be viewed here at the IFPS-Canada site.