I cropped one of my photos of a GlobalAware button board so I could point out this one: "Bombing civilians is always a war crime."
Since leftists (and Islamists) are irony-impaired, I am certain the folks at GlobalAware thought only of Israel when they made and pinned this button to their board and didn't even pause to apply that standard to the Arabs who have sent thousands of rockets into Israel with the sole purpose of injuring and killing civilians.
(See the bottom photo in this post for the full shot.)
This is the only photo I took at GlobalAware's booth at Sunday's Word on the Street. (I have blurred the children's faces.) While I was checking out the booth, there were a few children looking at the displays and rifling through the bins of buttons. I could not take photos without the children being shown and, whenever possible, I avoid showing children in my photos and videos.
It was a lot less crowded two weeks earlier at GlobalAware's booth at the Junction Arts Festival and I was able to take several photos of their buttons and postcards then. I think it's safe to say that their inventory did not undergo a drastic change between September 12th and September 27th. (See the posts below for those photos.)
The GlobalAware rep that I spoke to on September 12th said their buttons are made by members and sold to raise money so they can give lectures to schoolchildren. They have to raise their own money to do that, he explained, because although children are interested in politics, society does not want to educate them on the subject because then they would challenge "the system".
He pointed out that children were drawn to their button displays and, indeed, at both events I saw children avidly reading the buttons' messages.
When I remarked on the political nature of the buttons (I was taken aback to see them at a supposed local arts festival), he said that all of their products were political because their organization's aim was to oppose "the system".
If you click on the photo, you might be able to read their sign, which reads, "Make Affluence History." That definitely sounds anti-capitalist to me.
So we see that, in addition to allowing Islam to be proselytized by an Islamic group, The Word on the Street enabled GlobalAware to demonize Israel and promote anti-capitalism.
Note: I only took one photo of GlobalAware's booth at The Word on the Street. These photos were taken on September 12th at GlobalAware's booth at the Junction Arts Festival. Click to enlarge.
Update: Welcome, fellow fans and readers of Scaramouche!
Note: I only took one photo of GlobalAware's booth at The Word on the Street. These photos were taken on September 12th at GlobalAware's booth at the Junction Arts Festival. Click to enlarge.
Note: I only took one photo of GlobalAware's booth at The Word on the Street. These photos were taken on September 12th at GlobalAware's booth at the Junction Arts Festival. Click to enlarge.
Note: I only took one photo of GlobalAware's booth at The Word on the Street. These photos were taken on September 12th at GlobalAware's booth at the Junction Arts Festival. Click to enlarge.
Don't just take my word for it; read what a Muslim website says about the event (note: dawah means proselytizing for Islam):
Events
Type: Dawa
Title: ***LARGEST DAWAH EVENT IN CANADA*** FREE QURAN FOR COMMUNITY
Date: 9/27/2009
Time: 11.00AM - 5.00PM
Suitability: Men, Women, Youth, Non-Muslim, New Muslim
Contact Info: Islamic Information Center
www.uwislam.com
info@uwislam.com
Place:
1). Queen's Park, Toronto Downtown
2). Victori Park - Kitchener Downtown
Comments: Assalam-O-Aleykum Brothers and Sisters
This edition of E-News includes:
1. Largest Event of the Year in Kitchener and Toronto (Sept 27)
2. Weekly Islamic Information Booth (Sept 23)
3. Volunteers Needed
1. Largest Dawah Event of the Year in Canada:
Alhamdullilah, IICUW is actively participating in one of the largest event in Canada, called, Word on the Street in Kitchener as well as in Toronto on this coming weekend, Sunday, Sept 27, 2008.
Over 210, 000 people attending this event in Toronto (equal to 10 times of full UW population) and 10, 000 people in Kitchener (half of the full UW population). This is Canada's largest book and magazine festival at National Level.
Sept 27, 2008, 11.00am – 5.00pm, Victoria Park, Kitchener Downtown
Sept 27, 2008, 11.00am – 5.00pm, Queen's Park, Toronto Downtown
Islamic Information Center, by the Grace of Allah, is FIRST and ONLY Islamic organization who is participating in Kitchener and IICUW is the FRIST and ONLY Islamic organization who is participating in two cities in Canada last year 2008 when thousands of dawah material was distributed to our non-Muslims community.
Alhamdullilah, we also participating this year.
[...]
The Islamic Information Center at University of Waterloo's website states:
Literacy Awareness Campaign
Learning how to read Qur'an in Arabic
Free Access to books in Multilanguages
Awareness of Community Diversity
Family Values Literacy in Multiculral* Society
Community Relations Awareness
and, for all I know, that is enough of a tie-in to The Word on the Street.
However, literacy was not mentioned to me by the folks at their booth. Instead, I was told that women have equal rights in Islam and that a woman -- Mohammed's wife -- was the first person to become a Muslim. I was also told that the Koran is the only holy book that has an entire chapter devoted to women (titled, "Women") yet it does not have a chapter called "Men." In addition, I was told that a lot of Christians were converting to Islam and that 60-70 percent of the people converting to Islam are women.
I was given an English-language Koran (The Quran, translated by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan). Inside the small paperback were tucked two tracts from the Islamic Information & Da'wah Centre International: How to Train Your Willpower to Work for [sic] and 7 Reasons to Read The Glorious Qur'an.
Another booklet that was given to me, Islam: Balancing life and beyond by Suhail Kapoor, was used to relate the wonderful story of Yvonne Ridley.
I'll let the booklet tell the miraculous tale:
"Muslim women's sense of sisterhood makes 'Western feminism pale into insignificance', says Yvonne Ridley, the tabloid journalist who converted to Islam after her experiences in a Taleban Jail. Where she claims that not a finger was laid on her nor was she mistreated during her captivity. Her study of the Qur'an after her release left her with no choice other than to embrace Islam."
I was also given a booklet, The Amazing Quran by Gary Miller; three pamphlets: The Qur'an, The "Final Revelation" And "Divine Guidance" From The Creator (author not given but seven websites listed), Islam Teaches Kindness to Animals and Depression How Islam Can Help (both by The Center for Islamic Development); and a DVD titled, The Fog is Lifting, part I, Islam In Brief, produced by Bridges Foundation.
Despite what was written on the Muslim website about the event, the Korans were only given away for free to non-Muslims. When a Muslim asked for one, she was flat-out refused. Literacy was not mentioned to her, either.
Why was The Word on the Street used to promote Islam to non-Muslims?
With all of the egregious human rights violations taking place in Islamic countries today, and the oppression of girls and women in Muslim households even in non-Muslim countries, why was this group allowed to present Islam as being strong on women's rights?
I didn't ask questions or attempt to engage the earnest proselytizer in dialogue. I wanted to mention the terrible plight of girls and women in Islamic countries. I wanted to list the names of Muslim girls and women who have been the victims of so-called honour killings. I wanted to bring up the topic of female genital mutilation. But why bother? I wasn't likely to get honest answers and I wasn't in the mood for an argument. I listened as if I was interested, took the freebies and left.
There were communist books and buttons to see, after all. More on those later.
BlogTO gives a glowing report on yesterday's Word on the Street event held in downtown Toronto and concludes with:
"Overall I had a great afternoon in the park, and I get the sense that many others did too, as the event was obviously well attended. There really was something for everybody, even library-cardless types like myself."
I was there yesterday, too, and, as you might expect, I have a slightly different take on it.
While there, I ran into RightGirl, who was mum about her meet-up with Salim Mansur. His new book sound interesting; hopefully, RightGirl will treat us to a review after she's read it.
This video is a bit shaky at the beginning. I had left the crowd to take photos and get a good spot for taping as the people started on their march. For some reason, I thought they were going to start marching after Khaled Mouammar finished his speech.
But another man took the stand and started reading from a list of demands, so I turned my camera back on midway through his first demand. The most notable was #3: a condemnation of Prime Minister Harper's government for assigning a terrorist designation to Hamas and Hezbollah. The balding man in the crowd who boos this designation and shakes his finger against the government is the same man who demanded to know my name and affiliation (update: Ali Mallah, vice president of the Canadian Arab Federation). Sure, I'll give my name to a supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah; what could possibly go wrong?
The speaker told everyone to walk together and walk slowly to make it look like they were a bigger crowd and then they all started on their way. I taped part of the beginning of their march and then my camera's back-up battery died.
This is my final Al Quds Day protest video. I'll start on the Jesus in the City video tomorrow.
This video shows the first part of a speech by Khaled Mouammar, president of the Canadian Arab Federation.
The back-up battery on my video camera was dying; I turned it off before he finished speaking because I hoped to have enough juice left to photograph the people as they marched.
Al Quds Protest Video: Part 5
(featuring the beginning of Suzanne Weiss's speech)
Al Quds Protest Video: Part 6
(featuring the conclusion of Suzanne Weiss's speech)
Al Quds Protest Video: Part 7
(featuring the first part of a speech by Khaled Mouammar, president of the Canadian Arab Federation; unfortunately, my camera battery was dying and I was unable to record his speech in its entirety)
Al Quds Protest Video: Part 8
(featuring an unknown speaker reading their list of demands -- including a condemnation of Prime Minister Harper's government's decision to list Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist groups -- and the start of the protesters' march to the American consulate)
This video features James Clark of the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War.
I'm taking a break now (but first I'm taking some Tylenol for a headache and aching shoulders). I have to go for a walk, stretch my muscles and clear my head.
The last bit will probably have to be broken into two parts. It takes time to split the clips and add titles, etc., then it takes time for iMovie to process it and upload it, and then it takes more time for YouTube to process it. I hope to be done with the Islamist He-Man Israel-haters party video by tonight. Wish me luck.
Coming up: "George Bush, where are you? I will throw my shoe at you!" Someone tell those guys there's a new man in the White House.
This video features Barry Weisleder at the Socialist Action literature table, Farid Ayad, the president of Palestine House and Ali Mallah, vice-president of the Canadian Arab Federation. (I don't know the name of the man who emceed the event.)
Start watching around the 6:15 mark for my encounter with Ali Mallah who blocked me from videotaping and demanded to know my name "because you are with the JDL".
Update: Here's a transcript of our encounter. Note that this took place after I was denounced as a witch Zionist by Jesse M. Zimmerman. After my conversation with Ali Mallah who demanded to know my name, a man behind and to the left of me walked past me and bumped into me to get to the area to my right (where James Clark and his denouncer friend stood). On his way back to the left of me, the man knocked into me again (his arm/shoulder into my upper back). He wasn't off balance. If it had happened once, it might have been an accident, but after the second time, it was clear that it was deliberate.
Transcript
Ali Mallah of the Canadian Arab Federation: "...talk to you for a second?"
Me: "I'm taping."
Ali Mallah: "Sorry?"
Me: "I'm taping the uh..."
Ali Mallah: "And who, who are you with?"
Me: "I'm by myself."
Ali Mallah: "Yeah and what is your name?"
Me: "That's my business."
Ali Mallah: "It's not your business because you're with the JDL."
Me: "No, I am not."
Ali Mallah: "Yes, you were."
Me: "No, I am not."
Ali Mallah: "So, you're not."
Me: "I do not belong to the JDL."
Ali Mallah: "So you're not belong to the JDL."
Me: "No, I do not."
Ali Mallah: "And then what is your name? I give you my name, it is AliMallah. You don't wanna give me your name?"
Me: "No, I'm not going to give you my name because I know who you're with."
Ali Mallah: [leans closer to hear me]
Me: "I know who you're with. I'm not giving you my name."
Ali Mallah: "Are you journalist? Documentary?"
Me: "No."
Ali Mallah: "No? Okay. And you're saying you're not a JDL?"
Me: "I do not belong to the JDL."
Ali Mallah: "Okay. Thank you."
Update #2: Welcome, fellow fans and readers of Blazing Cat Fur!
Update #3: Welcome, readers of Sharpe Stick! Hey, another new blog to add to my favourites!
Second photo from top: James Clark, of the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War, was a guest speaker at the Al-Quds Day protest. I recognized him from the Michael Coren Show. He seemed shy about having his photo taken by a Zionist (after his buddy denounced me).
Unless otherwise noted, the photos, video and writing on this blog are by me. If you use any of my (or my husband's or my friends') work, please credit us.
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