Dr. Richard L. Benkin is a human rights activist who most often finds himself battling America’s and Israel’s enemies. He is the foremost advocate fighting to stop the ethnic cleansing of Hindus by Islamists and their fellow travelers in Bangladesh. He earlier secured the release of an anti-jihadi journalist and stopped an anti-Israel conference at an official Australian statehouse. For more information, go to Are my Sources Better than CNN’s
My sources of news and information must be so much better than those of the major news media because I keep coming across things that they do not have. The most recent item was the death of an Islamic clergyman this week in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Bangladesh, by the way, is the world’s third largest Islamic-majority country and a battleground between radical and moderate Islamic forces. What happens there is of more than marginal interest.- Sunday, February 8, 2009
An anti-Israel conference scheduled to be held in an official Australian state building was canceled after a small group of dedicated individuals revealed the conference leader’s anti-Semitic motives. Maqsood Alshams, an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh, planned the conference to debate the issue of charging Israel with war crimes for its recent actions in Gaza. Since arriving Down Under in the 1990s, Alshams had become a darling of the Australian left and became known as a “human rights” advocate. It is within that context that spews his relentless anti-Israel venom.
Even before the US economic crisis pushed all other issues out of the recent Presidential election, an issue that many thought would be a dominant one mysteriously dropped out of the public dialogue: illegal immigration and border control. Not only is that curious but dangerous as well. Most of the Democratic leaders who will try to shape US policy over the next four years have stated their preference for the sort of “comprehensive” immigration reform that a massive popular action defeated in the Senate last year. During the primaries, candidate Barack Obama charged the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement with “terrorizing” people when they crack down on illegal immigrants. The subsequent silence about this during the campaign, has given Obama and his allies a sense of entitlement to affect their agenda even though it is at odds with the sentiments of most Americans. In an August 2008 Rasmussen poll, 69 percent of Americans said that border enforcement is more important than legalizing aliens and only 14 percent thought the government is doing enough to secure the borders. The survey also showed that 56 percent of Americans favor an enforcement-only approach to immigration reform with no path to citizenship for illegal aliens.
Meet Kazi Aziz Huq. While many Bangladeshis only whisper their support for anti-Islamist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, he shouts his! Kazi Aiz Huq has written to countless members of the government, calling the charges against Shoaib false and demanding that they be withdrawn. Almost alone in his country, he has sided publicly with Shoaib in calling on the government to end its ban on travel to Israel. He helped found the multi-religious Human Rights Forum, with a Hindu chairman, one of its goals being “the security and rights of the religious and ethnic minorities of” South Asia. And as such, they have unequivocally condemned Islamist violence against Bangladeshi Hindus and Christians, even joining forces with us in opposing these attacks and government inaction.
Picture the following scenario. You live in a country that long ago declared itself a “people’s republic” with Islam as its official religion. Although you are a Muslim, you have openly declared yourself to be a “Muslim Zionist” and are known for advocating relations with Israel and other positions that are very unpopular with the Islamic radicals who have accrued considerable power in your country.
For your stance, you have been persecuted, jailed and tortured, your family harassed and your brother beaten, your place of business first bombed and later taken over by a mob that was allowed to do so with impunity.
Earlier this year, a group known for its human rights violations took you into its custody and it required nothing short of an international outcry to force them to release you. Now, you find yourself on trial for “sedition, treason, and blasphemy” and could receive the death penalty (or more likely a very long prison term) if convicted.
Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has touted himself as a friend to the oppressed, as a politician who stands up for justice and human rights.
This is a cornerstone of his campaign to the American people. It’s easy enough, however, to define oneself in whatever way one wants; especially when no one in the media challenges you on it.
The real test of moral courage is how one acts—not just talks—in real-life situations. And in the one concrete instance when the Illinois senator was called upon to stand up for justice, he was nowhere to be seen.
In fact, Barack Obama demonstrated a level of moral cowardice unmatched by anyone in either the US House or Senate.
It has long been an article of faith on the left that the United States has lost the support of its allies around the world. It is a major Democratic major talking point, and the mainstream media has never challenged it, even though it is based on a false and Euro-centric premise. (See my 
Editor’s Note: On April 29, Canada Free Press (CFP) picked up a