I couldn’t believe my eyes for a while, reading this (via Mick Hartley).

Human rights groups are raising alarms over a new law passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country’s Jews and Christians to wear coloured badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims.

Iranian expatriates living in Canada yesterday confirmed reports that the Iranian parliament, called the Islamic Majlis, passed a law this week setting a dress code for all Iranians, requiring them to wear almost identical “standard Islamic garments.”

The law, which must still be approved by Iran’s “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenehi before being put into effect, also establishes special insignia to be worn by non-Muslims.

Iran’s roughly 25,000 Jews would have to sew a yellow strip of cloth on the front of their clothes, while Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would be forced to wear blue cloth.

The new law was drafted two years ago, but was stuck in the Iranian parliament until recently when it was revived at the behest of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

When a completely mad person gets to all kinds of shenanigans in public, it could be quite embarrassing for the people who elected him to a high office. But when the parliament becomes a willing toy in the hands of a maniac, the world should take heed. Knowing the ways of the world, I do not expect much. But a few interested parties might want to sort out the situation.

I am not a prophet, but my advice to all Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, gays and any other minorities: get out of there while there is time. And the time is getting short.

Update by Meryl: Another source says the story is untrue. However, it has been picked up and expanded on by Ynet and other news sources. And while I believe the current Iranian regime is perfectly capable of this, the jury is still out on whether or not this story is true.

Update by SnoopyTheGoon: I hope that source is right, and the whole story is a hoax. There is a report in the London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat that talks about the new dress code law in Iran, without going into specific details. We should wait.

Update by Meryl, 5/20: The reports are being denied by the Canadian Iranian ambassador and a Jewish member of the Iranian parliament, and the MP who proposed the law in the first place.

But I see an interesting omission here. Funny, but you’d think that this would be the kind of thing that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would want to deny to prove that he’s not anti-Semitic. He’s the one who insists, over and over again, that it isn’t Jews he’s against. It’s Zionism. The silence here is very telling.

I read a broad range of national and international media sources to keep up with events that I’m interested in. Occasionally, the Arab/Muslim press gives me guffaw-worthy “news” items. Here’s one:

An Arab strategic expert has warned that Israel’s rabid efforts to maintain nuclear monopoly in the Middle East is aimed at keeping hundreds of millions of Muslims under the mercy of the Zionist state’s nuclear weapons.

Abdul Sattar Qassem, a professor of political science and former candidate for President in the Palestinian Authority, said Israel wanted all Arabs and Muslims in this region to remain in a “perpetual state of strategic and military inferiority. “This means they can invade, attack and occupy any rampage through any Arab or Muslim country in this region with impunity,” he said while speaking during a symposium in Dura Tuesday, marking the 58th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, the forced usurpation of Palestine by Zionist Jews.

Qassem, a frequent critic of the Palestinian Authority and the Oslo process, said it was imperative that Muslim states seek to create military and strategic parity with Israel.

“Such a parity or a semblance of parity is essential to prevent Israel from annihilating millions of Muslims. Just imagine if some crazy Jewish fundamentalists take power in Israel, would it be far-fetched to imagine the possibility that these racists would seek to attack neighboring states with nuclear bombs in order to fulfill their messianic aspirations.”

Batshit effing crazy. This is what passes for an expert? The PA, apparently, is utterly filled with nuts. What’s really scary — so is the rest of the Muslim and Arab world. Go read MEMRI if you don’t believe me.

First, a Hamas member reported $450,000 stolen from a hotel room in Kuwait. Pretty large amount to have just lying around, especially for someone from an organization that is supposedly broke.

Then, Mahmoud Abbas told the EU that the situation is so desperate that there will be an “explosion of anger” if the world doesn’t hand over money to the desperate, impoverished, poverty-stricken, poor, poor, pitiful pals.

Now, monitors snagged Hamas spokesman (that appears to be his official title) Sami Abu Zuhri trying to smuggle $800,000 into Gaza.

(more…)

The awesome tuna, all 2.5 kg of it, was stolen from the Kenyan Fisheries Department in Mombasa.

The tuna fish, which had provoked intense interest from Muslims, was apparently stolen by people posing as National Museum officials.

Officials from the museum and the country’s fisheries department have launched a low-profile search for the stolen fish, fearing possible anger from Muslims if they hear it has been stolen.

Here is the picture, so that the grieving friends and relatives could have another look at the writings.

An aside to the media: it is past time to decide whether it’s Koranic, Kuranic, Qoranic, Quranic. As well as to settle the issue of that Libyan character Qaddafi / Ghadaffy….

And, by the way, the sushi wasn’t all that good. Elders will pay the market price mentioned in the article ($6), but not a penny more!