Palestinian held for Facebook criticism of Islam
Associated Press correspondent Diaa Hadid reports:
A mysterious blogger who set off an uproar in the Arab world by claiming he was God and hurling insults at the Prophet Muhammad is now behind bars — caught in a sting that used Facebook to track him down.
The case of the unlikely apostate, a shy barber from the backwater West Bank town of Qalqiliya, is highlighting the limits of tolerance in the Western-backed Palestinian Authority — and illustrating a new trend by authorities in the Arab world to mine social media for evidence.
Residents of Qalqiliya say they had no idea that Walid Husayin — the 26-year-old son of a Muslim scholar — was leading a double life.
Known as a quiet man who prayed with his family each Friday and spent his evenings working in his father's barbershop, Husayin was secretly posting anti-religion rants on the Internet during his free time.
Now, he faces a potential life prison sentence on heresy charges for "insulting the divine essence." Many in this conservative Muslim town say he should be killed for renouncing Islam, and even family members say he should remain behind bars for life.
"He should be burned to death," said Abdul-Latif Dahoud, a 35-year-old Qalqiliya resident. The execution should take place in public "to be an example to others," he added.
Over several years, Husayin is suspected of posting arguments in favor of atheism on English and Arabic blogs, where he described the God of Islam as having the attributes of a "primitive Bedouin." He called Islam a "blind faith that grows and takes over people's minds where there is irrationality and ignorance."
If that wasn't enough, he is also suspected of creating three Facebook groups in which he sarcastically declared himself God and ordered his followers, among other things, to smoke marijuana in verses that spoof the Muslim holy book, the Quran. At its peak, Husayin's Arabic-language blog had more than 70,000 visitors, overwhelmingly from Arab countries.
His Facebook groups elicited hundreds of angry comments, detailed death threats and the formation of more than a dozen Facebook groups against him, including once called "Fight the blasphemer who said 'I am God.'"
The outburst of anger reflects the feeling in the Muslim world that their faith is under mounting attack by the West. This sensitivity has periodically turned violent, such as the street protests that erupted in 2005 after cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad were published in Denmark or after Pope Benedict XVI suggested the Prophet Muhammad was evil the following year. The pope later retracted his comment.
Husayin is the first to be arrested in the West Bank for his religious views, said Tayseer Tamimi, the former chief Islamic judge in the area.
The Western-backed Palestinian Authority is among the more religiously liberal Arab governments in the region. It is dominated by secular elites and has frequently cracked down on hardline Muslims and activists connected to its conservative Islamic rival, Hamas.
Husayin's high public profile and prickly style, however, left authorities no choice but to take action.
Husayin used a fake name on his English and Arabic-language blogs and Facebook pages. After his mother discovered articles on atheism on his computer, she canceled his Internet connection in hopes that he would change his mind.
Instead, he began going to an Internet cafe — a move that turned out to be a costly mistake. The owner, Ahmed Abu-Asal, said the blogger aroused suspicion by spending up to seven hours a day in a corner booth. After several months, a cafe worker supplied captured snapshots of his Facebook pages to Palestinian intelligence officials.
Officials monitored him for several weeks and then arrested him on Oct. 31 as he sat in the cafe, said Abu-Asal.
Husayin's family has been devastated by the arrest. On a recent day, his father stood sadly in the family barber shop, cluttered with colorful towels and posters of men in outdated haircuts. He requested that a reporter not write about his son to avoid being publicly shamed.
Two cousins attributed the writings to depression, saying Husayin was desperate to find better work. Requesting anonymity because of the shame the incident, they said Husayin's mother wants him to remain in prison for life — both to restore the family's honor and to protect him from vigilantes.
The case is the second high-profile arrest connected in the West Bank connected to Facebook activity. In late September, a reporter for a news station sympathetic to Hamas was arrested and detained for more than a month after he was tagged in a Facebook image that insulted the Palestinian president.
Gaza's Hamas rulers also stalk Facebook pages of suspected dissenters, said Palestinian rights activist Mustafa Ibrahim. He said Internet cafe owners are forced to monitor customers' online activity, and alert intelligence officials if they see anything critical of the militant group or that violates Hamas' stern interpretation of Islam.
Both governments also create fake Facebook profiles to befriend and monitor known dissidents, activists said. In September, a young Gaza man was detained after publishing an article critical of Hamas on his Facebook feed.
Such "stalking" on Facebook and other social media sites has become increasingly common in the Arab world. In Lebanon, four people were arrested over the summer and accused of slandering President Michel Suleiman on Facebook. All have been released on bail.
In neighboring Syria, Facebook is blocked altogether. And in Egypt, a blogger was charged with atheism in 2007 after intelligence officials monitored his posts.
Husayin has not been charged but remains in detention, said Palestinian security spokesman Adnan Damiri.
He could face a life sentence if he's found guilty, depending on how harshly the judge thinks he attacked Islam and how widely his views were broadcast, said Islamic scholar Tamimi.
Even so, a small minority has questioned whether the government went too far.
Zainab Rashid, a liberal Palestinian commentator, wrote in an online opinion piece that Husayin has made an important point: "that criticizing religious texts for their (intellectual) weakness can only be combatted by ... oppression, prison and execution."
Comments
So people in the Muslim world believe that he should be killed for denouncing Islam. The saddest part is when we as Americans cant see that this religion is wrong in what it preaches, let alone in the fact that it doesnt accept Christ, which is the most important thing. We have a president who supports Islam, we have people thanking our Muslim veterans who should be witnessing to them about Christ. It is almost as though we white, black and native Americans are agreeing to work as hard as we can and pay taxes in order for people to keep pouring across the border and use our country because they would rather live here than where they are from. Its sad, and in the end, a disaster for the unsaved when they leave this earth.
Posted by: Clay | November 12, 2010 1:18 PM
Clay what you see going on there is one reason why religion and civil government needs to be separated, to prevent such things. How is Obama supporting Islam? You really didn’t specify anything. We should thank all veterans regardless of what faith they may practice including those who practice none. Are you saying we shouldn't thank those who risk their lives to defend our freedom just because they practice Islam? Of course we need to be witnesses, but that doesn’t mean we should be ungrateful for the sacrifices others make for us. As Christians we are supposed to have compassion for everyone.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 12, 2010 3:34 PM
Its just a shame what has happened to our country in this unGodly world. How is Obama supporting Islam? He goes to Turkey and says that we are not a Christian nation and celebrates Ramadan when he insists that a cross be covered before giving a speech. How is he supporting Islam? You're kidding. He is done in 2 years.
Posted by: Clay | November 12, 2010 10:08 PM
Clay, When John Ashcroft was religious wingnut in charge of the justice department he spent $8,000 of your tax money to cover a female statue with an exposed breast. Hey, boobs should not be exposed, I agree. But somehow we just can't shut you up.
Posted by: Augustine from the Hippo | November 13, 2010 6:04 PM
Clay,
"What has happened to our country" is that we elected a President who doesn't look like you and me and who doesn't wear his religion on his sleeve for political purposes. I'd think you'd be more discerning and be able to recognize the false piety of GW Bush and his ilk.
Posted by: BankStreet | November 13, 2010 8:19 PM
Anytime we have a president who doesnt proclaim Christ we go downhill, and that includes Republicans as well as Democrats.
Posted by: Clay | November 14, 2010 3:17 PM
Tell me Clay, does a President "proclaim Christ" by launching a devastating war by lying to his people, causing 109,032 Iraqi causalities and 4,404 American s dead, or by hosting a Prayer Breakfast?
Posted by: BanknStreet | November 15, 2010 6:25 AM
The prayer breakfast is a much better idea. With it, war may have been avoided. No one ever said that Bush proclaimed Christ other than to say he goes to church, etc. And that sounds like the current man in office.
Posted by: Clay | November 15, 2010 8:17 AM
Clay,
When have we ever had a President who "proclaimed Christ"?
Posted by: BankStreet | November 15, 2010 2:30 PM
"Of all the systems of morality, ancient or modern which have come under my observation, none appears to me so pure as that of Jesus. I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus." - Thomas Jefferson.
Posted by: Clay | November 15, 2010 4:58 PM
Old Thom Jefferson was a very wise man and he chose his words carefully. Note that he refers to the doctrines taught by Jesus as “a system of morality.” He is speaking about ethics Clay.
I reference to that old heretic John Calvin he said “"His (Calvin's) religion was demon-ism. If ever man worshiped a false God, he did. The being described in his five points is ... a demon of malignant spirit. It would be more pardonable to believe in no God at all, than to blaspheme him by the atrocious attributes of Calvin"
Pretty brutal statement Clay. Did Bush or Obama ever refer to a fundamentalist protestant sect as demonic, as idolaters, or as blasphemers?
No Clay, only your example of of the president who "proclaimed Christ."
Of religion in general he said “The clergy ... believe that any portion of power confided to me will be exerted in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly: for I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”
So can you come up with a better example Clay?
Posted by: Dana | November 16, 2010 3:18 AM
Clay,
Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't GW Bush host prayer breakfasts before and well into his illegal and immoral war against Iraq? So much for pancakes and sermonizing having any effect on the waging of war....
Posted by: BankStreet | November 16, 2010 6:09 AM
There are many examples from founding fathers that I have put here. What is the point? God bless.
Posted by: Clay | November 16, 2010 6:29 AM
The point was that you claimed Thomas Jefferson was an example of a president who proclaimed Christ. Yet I gave you examples that proved he did not feel that way. In fact he referred to Calvinists as demonic and that clergy should consider him an enemy of their tyranny.
So to reiterate BankStreet's question, when have we ever had a President who "proclaimed Christ"?
Posted by: Dana | November 16, 2010 8:54 AM
"We recognize no Sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus!" - John Adams. "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." - John Adams. Again, what is the point of myself leaving these quotes here? If the devil wants us to find something bad about them no matter what the person was saying, he will if we allow him. Please make an effort to not only kick him out of the church, but also out of your life. I dont know what else to say. God bless.
Posted by: Clay | November 16, 2010 9:25 AM
Oh, and Clay ... see if you can come up with a President who "proclaimed Christ" in a public statment, made when he was President, not some musings of the private man (which any citizen has the right to do).
Posted by: BankStreet | November 16, 2010 9:36 AM
The question before the human race is, whether the God of nature shall govern the world by his own laws, or whether priests and kings shall rule it by fictitious miracles?
-- John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson, June 20, 1815
The United States of America have exhibited, perhaps, the first example of governments erected on the simple principles of nature; and if men are now sufficiently enlightened to disabuse themselves of artifice, imposture, hypocrisy, and superstition, they will consider this event as an era in their history. Although the detail of the formation of the American governments is at present little known or regarded either in Europe or in America, it may hereafter become an object of curiosity. It will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service had interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the influence of Heaven, more than those at work upon ships or houses, or laboring in merchandise or agriculture; it will forever be acknowledged that these governments were contrived merely by the use of reason and the senses.
-- John Adams, "A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America" (1787-88), from Adrienne Koch, ed, The American Enlightenment: The Shaping of the American Experiment and a Free Society (1965) p. 258, quoted from Ed and Michael Buckner, "Quotations that Support the Separation of State and Church"
Thirteen governments [of the original states] thus founded on the natural authority of the people alone, without a pretence of miracle or mystery, and which are destined to spread over the northern part of that whole quarter of the globe, are a great point gained in favor of the rights of mankind.
-- John Adams, "A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America" (1787-88), from Adrienne Koch, ed, The American Enlightenment: The Shaping of the American Experiment and a Free Society (1965) p. 258, quoted from Ed and Michael Buckner, "Quotations that Support the Separation of State and Church"
We should begin by setting conscience free. When all men of all religions ... shall enjoy equal liberty, property, and an equal chance for honors and power ... we may expect that improvements will be made in the human character and the state of society.
-- John Adams, letter to Dr. Price, April 8, 1785, quoted from Albert Menendez and Edd Doerr, The Great Quotations on Religious Freedom (1991)
As I understand the Christian religion, it was, and is, a revelation. But how has it happened that millions of fables, tales, legends, have been blended with both Jewish and Christian revelation that have made them the most bloody religion that ever existed?
-- John Adams, letter to FA Van der Kamp, December 27, 1816
The frightful engines of ecclesiastical councils, of diabolical malice, and Calvinistical good-nature never failed to terrify me exceedingly whenever I thought of preaching.
-- John Adams, letter to his brother-in-law, Richard Cranch, October 18, 1756, explaining why he rejected the ministry
I shall have liberty to think for myself without molesting others or being molested myself.
-- John Adams, letter to his brother-in-law, Richard Cranch, August 29, 1756, explaining how his independent opinions would create much difficulty in the ministry, in Edwin S Gaustad, Faith of Our Fathers: Religion and the New Nation (1987) p. 88, quoted from Ed and Michael Buckner, "Quotations that Support the Separation of State and Church"
When philosophic reason is clear and certain by intuition or necessary induction, no subsequent revelation supported by prophecies or miracles can supersede it.
-- John Adams, from Rufus K Noyes, Views of Religion, quoted from from James A Haught, ed, 2000 Years of Disbelief
Indeed, Mr. Jefferson, what could be invented to debase the ancient Christianism which Greeks, Romans, Hebrews and Christian factions, above all the Catholics, have not fraudulently imposed upon the public? Miracles after miracles have rolled down in torrents.
-- John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson, December 3, 1813, quoted from James A Haught, ed, 2000 Years of Disbelief
Cabalistic Christianity, which is Catholic Christianity, and which has prevailed for 1,500 years, has received a mortal wound, of which the monster must finally die. Yet so strong is his constitution, that he may endure for centuries before he expires.
-- John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson, July 16, 1814, from James A Haught, ed, 2000 Years of Disbelief
I do not like the reappearance of the Jesuits.... Shall we not have regular swarms of them here, in as many disguises as only a king of the gipsies can assume, dressed as printers, publishers, writers and schoolmasters? If ever there was a body of men who merited damnation on earth and in Hell, it is this society of Loyola's. Nevertheless, we are compelled by our system of religious toleration to offer them an asylum.
-- John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson, May 5, 1816
Let the human mind loose. It must be loose. It will be loose. Superstition and dogmatism cannot confine it.
-- John Adams, letter to his son, John Quincy Adams, November 13, 1816, from James A Haught, ed, 2000 Years of Disbelief
Can a free government possibly exist with the Roman Catholic religion?
-- John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson, May 19, 1821, from James A Haught, ed, 2000 Years of Disbelief
I almost shudder at the thought of alluding to the most fatal example of the abuses of grief which the history of mankind has preserved -- the Cross. Consider what calamities that engine of grief has produced!
-- John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson, from George Seldes, The Great Quotations, also from James A Haught, ed, 2000 Years of Disbelief
The priesthood have, in all ancient nations, nearly monopolized learning.... And, even since the Reformation, when or where has existed a Protestant or dissenting sect who would tolerate A FREE INQUIRY? The blackest billingsgate, the most ungentlemanly insolence, the most yahooish brutality is patiently endured, countenanced, propagated, and applauded. But touch a solemn truth in collision with a dogma of a sect, though capable of the clearest proof, and you will soon find you have disturbed a nest, and the hornets will swarm about your legs and hands, and fly into your face and eyes.
-- John Adams, letter to John Taylor, 1814, quoted in Norman Cousins, In God We Trust: The Religious Beliefs and Ideas of the American Founding Fathers (1958), p. 108, quoted from James A Haught, ed, 2000 Years of Disbelief
The Church of Rome has made it an article of faith that no man can be saved out of their church, and all other religious sects approach this dreadful opinion in proportion to their ignorance, and the influence of ignorant or wicked priests.
-- John Adams, Diary and Autobiography
What havoc has been made of books through every century of the Christian era? Where are fifty gospels condemned as spurious by the bull of Pope Gelasius? Where are forty wagon-loads of Hebrew manuscripts burned in France, by order of another pope, because of suspected heresy? Remember the Index Expurgato-rius, the Inquisition, the stake, the axe, the halter, and the guillotine; and, oh! horrible, the rack! This is as bad, if not worse, than a slow fire. Nor should the Lion's Mouth be forgotten. Have you considered that system of holy lies and pious frauds that has raged and triumphed for 1,500 years.
-- John Adams, letter to John Taylor, 1814, quoted by Norman Cousins in In God We Trust: The Religious Beliefs and Ideas of the American Founding Fathers (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958), p. 106-7, from James A Haught, ed, 2000 Years of Disbelief
God is an essence that we know nothing of. Until this awful blasphemy is got rid of, there never will be any liberal science in the world.
-- John Adams, "this awful blashpemy" that he refers to is the myth of the Incarnation of Christ, from Ira D Cardiff, What Great Men Think of Religion, quoted from James A Haught, ed, 2000 Years of Disbelief
Numberless have been the systems of iniquity The most refined, sublime, extensive, and astonishing constitution of policy that ever was conceived by the mind of man was framed by the Romish clergy for the aggrandizement of their own Order They even persuaded mankind to believe, faithfully and undoubtingly, that God Almighty had entrusted them with the keys of heaven, whose gates they might open and close at pleasure ... with authority to license all sorts of sins and Crimes ... or withholding the rain of heaven and the beams of the sun; with the management of earthquakes, pestilence, and famine; nay, with the mysterious, awful, incomprehensible power of creating out of bread and wine the flesh and blood of God himself. All these opinions they were enabled to spread and rivet among the people by reducing their minds to a state of sordid ignorance and staring timidity, and by infusing into them a religious horror of letters and knowledge. Thus was human nature chained fast for ages in a cruel, shameful, and deplorable servitude....
Of all the nonsense and delusion which had ever passed through the mind of man, none had ever been more extravagant than the notions of absolutions, indelible characters, uninterrupted successions, and the rest of those fantastical ideas, derived from the canon law, which had thrown such a glare of mystery, sanctity, reverence, and right reverend eminence and holiness around the idea of a priest as no mortal could deserve ... the ridiculous fancies of sanctified effluvia from episcopal fingers.
-- John Adams, "A Dissertation on the Canon and the Feudal Law," printed in the Boston Gazette, August 1765
Posted by: BankStreet | November 16, 2010 10:12 AM
"The gospel of Jesus Christ prescribes the wisest rules for just conduct in every situation of life. Happy they who are enabled to obey them in all situations." Benjamin Rush. Signer of Declaration of Independence. "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions but on the gospel of Jesus Christ." Patrick Henry. No matter what anyone says, you want to deny that Christ helps them or us. I know not only from writings, but from experience, that the Holy Spirit helps and heals. Do you know from your experience that it doesnt? God bless.
Posted by: Clay | November 16, 2010 1:42 PM
I know from overwhelming evidence that hideous disease, grinding poverty, calamitous wars, and heinous crimes exist. Ample opportunity for your holy spirit to "help and heal." That spirit lacks the eiter the power or the desire to work its magic. Or it doesn't exist.
Posted by: BankStreet | November 16, 2010 3:10 PM
God never said that there wouldnt be troubles. He promises us peace in the midst of them. The main thing we need to keep in mind is that we only spend a tiny bit of time here on earth and eternity in the afterlife. Thanks.
Posted by: Clay | November 16, 2010 3:45 PM
Yes dear Clay, eternity is a long time. Confess and repent. Hope to see you at Mass on Sunday. I'll sign you up for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. Of course you'll have to study the Catechism and make your first Communion.
In your case we might need to call in Father Amorth.
Posted by: Lankester Merrin S.J. | November 16, 2010 4:18 PM
But would you agree to attend my church for a few weeks if I attend yours? Neither could attend our own for those two weeks. God bless.
Posted by: Clay | November 16, 2010 7:31 PM
My purpose is to convert you to the Universal Church young man!
I did not come here to sanction your heresies.
Especially important is the warning to avoid conversations with the demon. We may ask what is relevant but anything beyond that is dangerous. He is a liar. The demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us. But he will also mix lies with the truth to attack us. The attack is psychological, Clay, and powerful. So don't listen to him. Remember that - do not listen.
Posted by: Lankester Merrin S.J. | November 16, 2010 8:15 PM
If anyone has mixed lies with the truth of scripture, it is this "universal" church. Keep it simple. There is no heresy with people coming to an altar and praying to Christ. If so we are all in trouble. God bless.
Posted by: Clay | November 17, 2010 8:18 AM
So, Clay, your god teaches you complacency in the midst of the horrors of this world, "peace in the midst of them"? I suppose that's one way to rationalize the inability (or unwillingness) of an omnipotent loving diety to do anything about those horrors.
Perhaps Karl Marx was onto something in saying, "religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people."
Posted by: BankStreet | November 17, 2010 9:24 AM
And where is Mr Marx now? Christ said that He was coming back and I believe Him. I also dont believe that it will be that long. We definitely wont have the current problems when that happens.
Posted by: Clay | November 17, 2010 10:18 AM
Clay. It is obvious that you are not familiar with me and with my work. First I should tell you that the rumors of my death in 1971 are highly exaggerated. The exorcism for which I am often credited is in part a fiction as it was considered wise at the time to suggest that I had died in that struggle with the demon Pazuzu. Obviously I did not, or I would not now be working to rescue you.
At that time I was working on a book at a Jesuit college, Woodstock College, in Woodstock Maryland. Infamous fiction has it that I was an archeologist but that is not true. I am a paleontologist and that work has taken me on many archeological digs, but my work has been centered on the study of life, not of things. During the course of my work I have uncovered evidence of the corporeal existence of demons. My proofs are not yet published for reasons that cannot be said.
The result of those discoveries combined with my lifelong efforts as a Jesuit led natural to the study and practice of exorcism. Woodstock was converted to profane use in 1974 and at that time was officially desecrated. I moved to Georgetown and continued my work. Your case came to the attention of some colleagues and I was asked to investigate. After readings some of the things you have written I firmly believe that your only option is to repent and study the Catholic faith.
If the evil words persist I am prepared to attempt an exorcism. But I am quite old Clay. So I will bring Father Amorth to perform the ritual and I will assist.
Again, we will not be attending your “church.” This is not about ecumenism Clay. This is about salvaging your soul.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHT69uj0S4E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqWSBNmCtAk
Keep it simple indeed. Salvation is not simple young man.
Yes. You are all in trouble. The Demon Pazuzu has led you to proclaim deviant fictions and in the last days you will say, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?”
And He will reply, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
Repent while there is time Clay.
Posted by: Lankester Merrin S.J. | November 17, 2010 11:01 AM
Marx is here in heaven with me Clay. Boy was he surprised!
It's incredible, they have a whole section for revolutionaries. Abbie Hoffman's here smoking hashish. Che almost didn't make it. But Fidel worked out a deal with John Paul II to get the Jesuits to pray for his soul in purgatory. So Che just rode in on his motorcycle a few months back.
Just in time too because over in the celestial choir section Michael Jackson was going into withdraw. Being a doctor Che was able to write him some scrips for some "candy."
Shame you can't join us. Oh well, them's the breaks kiddo.
Posted by: Leon Trotsky | November 17, 2010 11:12 AM
BankStreet, Karl missed the point but now he gets it. The big Man says you are supposed to organize the people AND pray like heck, not organize the people INSTEAD OF" praying. He's completely changed his views on opiates too. He's sucking on a hookah at this very moment in fact.
He gave up rolling those doobies because he kept singing his beard.
One more thing, Jesus says that when he said he came to bring a sword instead of peace he meant he came to bash back and act up. He didn't mean anything military by it.
Posted by: Leon Trotsky | November 17, 2010 11:21 AM
Karl Marx died in 1883, Clay. Why do you ask? Given the trends, wonder when European Christianity will die....
Christians have been looking/watching/waiting for the return of their saviour for nearly two thousand years. Puffing at the opium all the while, knowing that Jesus will make eveything right ... someday.
Posted by: BankStreet | November 17, 2010 11:42 AM