There has been a terrible development in the case of Rifqa Bary, the teenage girl who fled from her home in fear for her life after her devout Muslim father found out she had become a Christian. According to Rifqa, who is now in foster care in Ohio, she has been diagnosed with advanced uterine cancer.

While this is a tragedy, how Rifqa is being victimized by her lawyers and her parents is nothing less than an atrocity. Her lawyers kept her in the dark about her condition -- despite the seriousness of her cancer -- for well over a week while they conferred with her parents and their CAIR-appointed lawyers about her treatment. While most cases like this result in a hysterectomy, Rifqa is only having the advanced malignancy removed. From what I understand, the survival rate in cases like these is only five percent.

Was she allowed to get a second opinion? No.

While she was lying ill, her lawyers brought her parents to her hospital bed. She was awaiting treatment and when she saw them, whereupon she became very agitated and upset. Her parents had to be removed.

One thing that has happened as a result of this terrible development is that Rifqa has broken her silence, a silence mandated by her lawyers. For some time now, she could not talk to her friends, such as her close friend and fellow convert from Islam, Jamal Jivanjee, or to those of us who have not wavered in our support for her civil rights and religious liberty.

She reached out to Jamal, who reports that "Rifqa has already had two surgeries at this point, and she is getting ready to undergo a third surgery which will be occurring this Thursday, May 27. ... As soon as Rifqa heals from the major surgery that she will undergo this Thursday, it is expected that she will need to undergo several rounds of chemotherapy. Although she has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, the extent of her condition will be known after this Thursday's surgery."...

Read it all.

RIFQA BARY UPDATE -- it is time to speak boldly and plainly. (The facts are trustworthy and reliable)

Dear friends & supporters of Rifqa Bary,

It is with much sadness and concern that I write this update to you about the latest developments regarding Rifqa Bary's situation. On Monday, April 5th, there was another hearing regarding Rifqa Bary's situation in the Franklin County Juvenile court in central Ohio. This hearing was an absolute disaster for Rifqa's dire immigration situation.

As you may know, Rifqa's family in not in the U.S. legally. As a result, Rifqa's attorney's entire legal strategy has been to secure dependency of the state of Ohio for her so that she can remain in foster care until she is 18 and pursue permanent residency status as a minor. According to a law passed during the Bush administration, minors who are declared to be a dependant of the state are eligible for a very special dependency proceeding. The official name of this dependency proceeding is called Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), which would allow Rifqa legal permanent residency in the U.S. In order to obtain SIJS, a court order is needed by the juvenile court judge stating that reunification is no longer possible, and that Rifqa would be in danger if she were to return to her home country of Sri-Lanka.

While this sounds like a good strategy, what has actually occurred has been the exact opposite of what Rifqa's entire legal team has said it was going to be. They simply have gotten it wrong every time. Many well qualified immigration attorneys have said that Rifqa has a strong case for asylum, yet Rifqa's legal team has absolutely refused to listen to any other council, and has refused to pursue the asylum process in addition to SIJS. They have put all their eggs in the SIJS basket, so to speak. This has been a major mistake by Rifqa's legal team. They told Rifqa that she has nothing to worry about, and that SIJS is a foregone conclusion. Yesterday's (April 5'Th) court developments have proved them wrong yet again. When will we wake up and smell the coffee?

For the last several months, myself and many others have openly questioned Rifqa's legal team's strategy. I have advised Rifqa to either allow another well qualified attorney to join her case, or to replace her attorneys altogether. I have had good cause for doing this for a variety of different reasons. As a result, I have been labeled as untrustworthy and Rifqa was told to no longer have any contact with me. Whether myself, or others, are trustworthy is not what I would like to debate today. It is not important. Who I am and what my motivations are simply do not matter. This is not about me. What are more important are the facts.

I have been told that I should not criticize her legal team because they have been working hard and there are things that I do not know. I wonder, does anyone know anything? I do not want to debate what I don't know, nor would I like to make speculations as well. What I would like to do is look at what we DO know. It is always best to make decisions and assertions based on what we DO know. Here is what we DO know:

1. Rifqa's legal team told her, and others, that she would be declared by the court to be a 'long term' dependent of the state shortly after she arrived in Ohio (long term dependent means reunification is not possible).

It has been 6 months, and she still has not been declared to be a long term dependent of the state. This is needed for SIJS immigration. As a matter of fact, her attorneys signed on to a case plan that calls for reunification. This is exactly the OPPOSITE of what needed to happen. This case plan is now in place and the judge demanded that all parties pursue counseling as the case plan calls for. This actually happened last month and that is why Rifqa has yet to be declared a 'long term' dependent of the court. The judge has said that the case plan must be followed and given a chance to work.

2. The hearing that happened yesterday (April 5) was when Rifqa's attorneys again led others to believe the judge would declare that reunification is not possible. This would make her a long term dependent of the court. Unfortunately, the judge refused to do this again at this latest hearing! Her attorneys were wrong again, and the horrendous case plan continues!

3. After last month's hearing, I was criticized for saying that Rifqa was running out of time regarding her immigration status. Her attorneys have put all their eggs in the SIJS basket, and have refused to file for asylum. She needs a court order from the judge to apply for SIJS and this court order must be obtained from the judge before the court loses jurisdiction over her when she turns 18 on August 10'th. Now, the clock is her enemy, so to speak. Rifqa's attorneys again mistakenly led others to believe that at this month's hearing, the judge would address the immigration and SIJS issue and allow them to move forward on her immigration status.

At this latest hearing Rifqa's attorney, Angela Lloyd, spoke up in the court room and specifically said that time was running out for Rifqa in regards to her immigration. Rifqa's parent's Muslim CAIR attorney objected and claimed that her parents were taking care of their entire family's immigration situation, and this includes Rifqa. The judge denied Angela Lloyd's motion to address immigration. Angela Lloyd objected due to the fact that Rifqa's parents have no right to file for immigration status for her because she is not in their custody. The judge again refused to address the immigration issue without a hearing regarding the Muslim attorney's objections. Angela Lloyd asked for an expedited hearing (due to the time factor regarding her immigration), and the judge said that she was not sure if she was going to even grant this hearing at all! (There was a person in the court room that relayed this information to me.)

Basically, Rifqa's attorneys were wrong yet again. Many have predicted this very thing would happen, yet her own attorneys did not see this coming. There has been absolutely no progress regarding Rifqa's immigration. She will be 18 in 4 months & has been in the court system for the last 8 months, yet the immigration process has not even begun yet! This is unacceptable, and this puts Rifqa at undue risk for deportation when she turns 18. Rifqa's attorneys also refuse to file for Asylum for her. Each day that they wait puts her at greater risk.

4. The threat that Rifqa has faced as a result of abuse at home is unknown to the court because Rifqa's attorneys have not demanded an investigation into her abusive past and home life. This information is also needed for SIJS and is not there because there has been no investigation.

5. The threat that Rifqa faces as a result of her conversion from Islam to Christianity is unknown to the court because her attorneys have avoided a trial where the evidence would have come out. Instead, they talked Rifqa into making a deal with the CAIR attorney to avoid trial by admitting to being an 'unruly' child and signing on to a case plan calling for reunification with her parents! This is now the very reason why the judge refuses to declare that reunification is not possible. This deal was simply to obtain a temporary dependency that does not help her in any way.

Many have asked if Rifqa can fire her attorneys. The answer is yes. They have been privately retained, and they can be replaced if needed. Many have asked if there are Christian attorneys who understand the spiritual nature of this case and who have experience in these types of cases that would even come alongside and give advice or become actively involved in her case. The answer is yes. Many great attorneys have offered their help free of charge and have expressed their grave concerns with the current strategy. Many have asked if Rifqa can file for asylum now without a court order and as a minor. The answer is yes. This has been done by many people before. Several immigration attorneys have said that she has a strong case for asylum, and they have offered to help Rifqa file for Asylum free of charge.

I have said this before and I will say it again. This case is entirely spiritual in nature. I am convinced that Rifqa's own legal team's blindness regarding the threat that Rifqa faces, as well as their legal blunders, are endangering her life as much as the Muslim CAIR attorneys are. Rifqa herself will have to be the one to take charge over her own defense if anything will change. She is the only one with authority to do anything. I ask all who read this to set aside time to fast and pray for Rifqa. I also would like to ask all those who are in contact with her to speak the truth plainly and boldly about what is occurring. Sugar coating the truth, or avoiding upsetting realities will only hurt her in the long run. The facts speak for themselves.

Jamal Jivanjee

UPDATE: Pamela Geller responds to Rifqa's attorney John Stemberger here.

Brian Williams

Over at Atlas Shrugs Pamela has a most disquieting report about legal maneuvering against Brian Williams, the Christian pastor who helped Rifqa Bary when she fled from her home in fear for her life after her conversion from Islam to Christianity was discovered. Now we know why the CAIR lawyer for Rifqa's parents pursued the "unruly" charge to which Rifqa unwisely, at the insistence of her clueless attorneys, pled guilty. They hope to use it as a stick to beat Rifqa's defenders.

Last week I reported on CAIR's latest move to stop any converts out of Islam and any Christians who might try to help these desperate, brave victims.

Back on January 19th, Rifqa Bary was tricked into pleading guilty to the "unruly" charges against her in exchange for a dependency deal that the Bary parents and their CAIR-appointed attorney have since reneged on, there have been new developments in the case.

The prosecutor, under pressure from powerful and influential CAIR, is pursuing charges against Brian Williams, the pastor and friend whom she contacted after she ran away.

The prosecution is seeking to indict Brian Williams on two charges -- contributing to the "unruliness" of a minor (eureka, now we understand why CAIR demanded a guilty plea in exchange for a meaningless deal with the kuffar) and a second charge of "interference with custody," which carries a sentence of six months to a year.

So now we understand the change in strategy.

Brian Williams is being urged by Rifqa's deal-making attorney, Stemberger-appointed attorney Kort Gotterdam, to plead guilty to a lesser charge. Gotterdam is following the direction of the lawyer who appointed him, John Stemberger, who also brokered broken deals for Rifqa....

But Williams will not do this. More power to him. You can see his remarks in the comments field at Atlas, confirming the veracity of the report there and giving the lie to those who have leveled the false charge that Pamela Geller is passing on rumors, innuendo and hearsay. Of course, the unfolding events of this case demonstrate who is dissembling and concentrating on saving their professional reputations rather than saving Rifqa, and who is telling the truth, more vividly every day.

[...] According to Jamal Jivanjee, Rifqa Bary's friend and pastor, the authorities are trying to arrest Brian Williams, the man who helped her escape. If you missed my interview with Brian Williams, listen here.

The impending arrest of the courageous Brian Williams is proof of the incompetence of Rifqa Bary's legal team. The silence is deference and dhimmitude to Islam. If the crime of apostasy in Islam and the threat Rifqa was facing were exposed and heard in an American court of law, Brian Williams would not be pursued by the Franklin County prosecutor. [...]

Jamal Jivanjee wrote me this:

I wanted to take a minute to give you an update on the latest situation surrounding Rifqa Bary's quest for life. According to Brian Williams, the dear friend who helped rescue Rifqa Bary on the night that she fled out of fear for her life, it is looking very likely that he will be arrested by Ohio authorities for his role in helping rescue her. This is very unfortunate because, in my opinion, he is a modern day Harriet Tubman or Corrie Ten Boom. They too risked their freedom in order to rescue those who fled for their lives. I know that I can speak for Brian when I say, if he could do it all over again, he would not hesitate. He knew then, and he knows now, that what he did was the Lord's work. Brian's courage is a breath of fresh air in a day and age when many are not able to see righteousness as clearly as Brian Williams did the night he rescued Rifqa in her hour of need.

I'd like to take a few minutes to point out something that we should be very well aware of right now. We all should be asking why someone who did something that was righteous and humane at the very least, is now possibly facing arrest and criminal charges? It is a good question which I believe points to a much deeper issue at hand.

When the truth is suppressed, the innocent suffer; when truth is proclaimed, justice prevails!

At some point in Rifqa's defense, her attorneys decided that the best course of strategy was to cut deals and settle the dependency case out of court. While it may have seemed easier and less risky to settle dependency out of court by making deals with the opposition, it is clearly not playing out that way in reality. By staying away from a trial for dependency, the court and the authorities are not being made aware of the threats and injustice that Rifqa Bary faced as a result of her conversion to Jesus Christ. This has only emboldened C.A.I.R. and the pro C.A.I.R. Ohio authorities who may be playing election year politics with innocent lives. It is very clear to me that if the truth were to be told in court regarding why Rifqa had to flee for her life, it would be very clear why Brian Williams took the actions that he took. By pressuring Rifqa to admit to wrongdoing as well as making an agreement for temporary dependency out of court instead of allowing Rifqa to be awarded dependency in court because of the truth, the truth continues to be suppressed and this has clearly emboldened those who are out to attack Rifqa and those who helped her.

So why am I bringing this up?

The point of this article is not to be pessimistic or negative, nor is it to simply be a legal commentary. I am not an attorney and I do not pretend to think that the problem that we face is simply a legal problem. There is much at stake in this case, and because this is indeed a precedent setting case in this nation, C.A.I.R. has made a vested interest in silencing Rifqa and those who rescued her. The point that I am trying to make is something I believe very strongly...The courts and the world need to hear the truth about Rifqa's testimony and persecution as a result of her conversion from Islam to Christianity. One way or the other, this story must be told. This is not only true for Rifqa; it is also true for our lives as well. Romans 8:28 says: "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." With that said, we can learn an essential truth from the unfortunate strategy that Rifqa's attorneys have employed: When the truth is suppressed, the righteous suffer; when truth is proclaimed, justice prevails. If we learn anything from this situation, let us learn that, and let us find courage and a voice for the struggles ahead.

There is much more. Read it all.

The agreement between Rifqa Bary and her parents to settle their conflict through counseling has ended without a single meeting between the parents and their daughter, according to a motion filed in Franklin County Juvenile Court.

The parents - Mohamed and Aysha Bary - are withdrawing their consent to resolve the case. Rifqa and her parents agreed on Jan. 19 that she would stay in foster care and they would undergo counseling instead of beginning a dependency trial to determine where the 17-year-old should live. Rifqa turns 18 in August.

The motion says "the parents now believe the entire deal should be thrown out because of misrepresentation and fraudulent inducement." It adds that the Barys now object to all decisions made on Jan. 19 and want a trial on the dependency case.

Rifqa ran away in July, saying her father abused her and threatened to kill her for converting from Islam to Christianity. Authorities could not find any credible threats to her safety.

Flaws in their investigation noted here.

Franklin County Children Services promised it would protect Rifqa from the people who helped her run away and are trying to exploit her, but she's being allowed to talk to Blake and Beverly Lorenz, according to the motion filed yesterday by Omar Tarazi, attorney for the parents. The Lorenzes are the Florida pastor couple who housed Rifqa for more than two weeks after she ran away.

Classic Islamic supremacist projection from a CAIR attorney. Rifqa doesn't need to be protected from the Lorenzes. She needs to be protected from her parents and other Muslims who believe in the death penalty for apostates and have threatened her life.

The motion says she is being allowed to attend "the very church that targeted her in the first place," but it does not name the church.

"Targeted her." Note once again the inversion of reality.

Tarazi also wrote that Angela Lloyd, an attorney for Rifqa, knew or should have known of the contents of a "happy birthday, Daddy" card that she sent to Blake Lorenz on behalf of Rifqa. The motion says Rifqa has yet to talk to her parents.

Two separate motions ask the court to remove Lloyd as Rifqa's counsel and Bonnie Vangeloff as her guardian ad litem.

Tarazi also filed an emergency motion that all contact between Rifqa and those who "assisted in her unruly behavior" be prohibited because of a pending criminal investigation.

Tarazi is pushing for the isolation of the female apostate, in accord with Sharia.

Pamela has much more -- including some unsavory self-serving dealing by Rifqa's disastrous Florida attorney, John Stemberger. Be sure to read it all.

Curiouser and curiouser.

"Runaway teen convert and parents end dispute," by Meredith "Hijab" Heagney for the Columbus Dispatch, January 19 (thanks to Pamela):

The long legal dispute over runaway teen convert Fathima Rifqa Bary apparently ended in Franklin County Juvenile Court late this afternoon when the girl and her parents agreed that she'll stay in the custody of Children Services and the family will try to resolve their issues with counseling.

That leaves two options for Rifqa, who is in foster care: She could eventually reconcile with her parents and go home or stay in foster care until her 18th birthday on Aug. 10.

Rifqa admitted she was unruly when she fled her parents' home last July to live with a Christian pastor and his family in Florida. She said at the time that her father, Mohamed, had threatened to kill her for abandoning the family's Muslim faith, although authorities say they never found credible evidence that that was true.

Mohamed and Aysha Bary and their daughter all agreed today not to continue with the Juvenile Court dependency case. The next hearing, besides a minor hearing regarding a gag order on Monday, is set for her birthday.

Today's decision ends months of legal action in Florida and Ohio.

In a statement read by Rifqa's attorneys, both she and her parents said they loved each other and believe counseling is the best route.

UPDATE: An eyewitness account of today's odd hearing.

Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Pamela Geller, founder, editor and publisher of the popular and award-winning weblog AtlasShrugs.com. She has won acclaim for her interviews with internationally renowned figures, including John Bolton, Geert Wilders, Bat Ye’or, Natan Sharansky, and many others, and has broken numerous important stories — notably the questionable sources of some of the financing of the Obama campaign.. Her op-eds have been published in The Washington Times, The American Thinker, Israel National News, Frontpage Magazine, World Net Daily, and New Media Journal, among other publications. She is the co-author (with Robert Spencer) of the soon to be released, The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America (forward by Ambassador John Bolton).

FP: Pamela Geller, welcome to Frontpage Interview.

I would like to talk to you today about Facebook’s Fatwa’s on Rifqa.

What exactly is going on?

Geller: Thank you Jamie.

Facebook is full of death threats and other vicious material about Rifqa Bary, the teenage convert from Islam to Christianity who is in a fight for her life in juvenile court on Franklin County, Ohio. She left Islam and converted to Christianity, and she has been persecuted for it ever since.

Rifqa’s life is now on the line. Back in September I reported at my website AtlasShrugs.com on the first Rifqa Bary Facebook Fatwa: a Facebook group that said openly, “we need to kill her,” and was full of Muslim members. Now add this to the list of fatwas and death threats against Rifqa Bary: a Facebook group, again with numerous Muslim members, proclaiming, “Don’t save Rifqa Bary, let them kill her.” Although I have called attention to that group, it is still on Facebook. It has 64 members, all of them apparently Muslims. Not a Moishe in the mix.

Imagine, these are just the ones we catch. Only G-d knows how many hit squads are out for this young woman.

Another Facebook group screams, “F*** RIFQA BARY !!! SHAME FOR ISLAM !!!!” It has 57 members – once again, all Muslims. This one openly admits what CAIR and other front groups in America lie about: “In Islam, yes, apostasy is the death penalty.”

And yet another Rifqa-hating Facebook group asks if she is the Dajjal, an evil figure from Islamic eschatology. Robert Spencer says: “The Dajjal will at the end of days lead people astray. Muhammad said: ‘The Dajjal is one-eyed and will bring with him what will resemble Hell and Paradise, and what he will call Paradise will be actually Hell; so I warn you (against him) as Noah warned his nation against him.’” The Facebook group says: “Scriptures reveal Dajjal will have one eye. Rifqa Bary has one eye. You be the judge.” It also quotes a dhimmi Christian, Rev. Tim Ahrens, praising the extremist Noor mosque that Rifqa’s parents attend and saying, “I have only ever found graciousness and kindness in my dealings with Muslims.”

They are screaming it on social networks, but in the case of Rifqa Bary, justice is not blind, it is deaf and dumb. Is Judge Elizabeth Gill and Rifqa’s crack legal defense team going to continue to ignore the death penalty for apostasy under Sharia law for those who leave Islam? Are the CAIR militants going to act like thugs, and intimidate and pervert the American justice system to enforce Islamic law?

FP: What are other developments since the Rifqa Bary case returned to Ohio?

Geller: There have been many, especially in recent weeks. Muslim Brotherhood/Hamas front CAIR has found out where Rifqa is living. Omar Tarazi knows the address of Rifqa Bary’s foster home. How? What Islamist enemy leaked her location to CAIR? She must be moved at once. Who put Rifqa’s life at risk? I would demand a change of venue. The courtroom has been infiltrated, her best interests subverted.

Rifqa’s foster parents have her on lockdown. Rifqa’s limited phone and computer were completely cut off after the hearing of the 22nd. Complete crackdown. All communication to Rifqa was cut off. It was decided that a counselor would determine if she could have contact with friends. The counselor said she could, but nothing has happened. She is literally being treated like a prisoner.

FP: Sounds like Sharia Law on America soil.

Geller: That is what is happening Jamie. This is the punishment for female apostasy. House arrest until the apostate recants. This isolation is a form of psychological torture. I thought Obama said no torture for jihadists. So why is a girl in America, guilty only of freedom of religion, allowed to be psychologically tortured? This is mental abuse, and the fact that the parents are behind it with a terror organization as their hatchet man speaks volumes as to what would happen to Rifqa if they ever dared to send her home.

Apparently Rifqa met with and was begging the counselor assigned to her for some contact, any contact, with the people she loves. She told the counselor she was completely isolated. Alone and sad. The counselor agreed and said OK. But nothing has been done. Rifqa’s John Stemberger-appointed lawyers have agreed to this house arrest. She is surrounded on all sides.

Her legal team, still led by her former Florida attorney John Stemberger, is fiercely raising money — for what? I thought his work was pro bono. And he bungled the case so badly in Florida that I cannot imagine why he is still driving the “strategy”.

FP: Why has Rifqa’s legal team agreed to or imposed this crackdown in concert with the foster family?

Geller: I don’t know. Perhaps because those who loved Rifqa would advise her to get new legal help that specialized in apostasy cases. But no one can get to her. A new lawyer could ask for a continuance to prepare for the brutal trial against the Islamic machine. She needs a continuance.

She has no one now. No one. It has never been this bad for her. And her legal team has not been preparing for trial. They seem to think they can still make a deal with CAIR (Muslim Brotherhood). The Barys will never make a deal. This is jihad. A deal is never going to happen. Rifqa’s lawyers have barely begun taking depositions for Rifqa. They haven’t interviewed any of Rifqa’s witnesses in the trial to prove dependency. And Rifqa’s parents are fighting dependency with every dishonest crooked tool in the Islamist toolbox (taqiya, lies, deception). But the Stemberger-led legal team is still in the earliest stages of preparations.

FP: What is it exactly that Rifqa’s parents are up to?

Geller: Rifqa’s parents are fighting dependency by saying there was no conflict in the home. They are saying there is no conflict for apostasy in Islam. Every teaching from the Quran (Allah’s word) says it is the most egregious crime, punishable by death. The devout Barys said “she could practice her Christianity in the home”. Nothing could be farther removed from objective reality. She lived in fear and in secret for years. The beatings, the death threats can all be substantiated by her friends. The nature of the conflict is Islam, yet Rifqa’s lawyers will not present any religious evidence. Ex-Muslims such as Wafa Sultan, Nonie Darwish, and the world’s leading scholar on Islam, Ibn Warraq, would testify. None are being called.

The parents and their CAIR-appointed attorney Omar Tarazi are determining who can speak to Rifqa. They are the only ones who can determine who is on the non-existent visitors list.  And now, still, there is no visitors list. The two closest friends of Rifqa are no longer able to contact her.

In the courtroom on December 22nd, the magistrate told the attorneys she doesn’t want any surprises before they go into any of the hearings, so they meet in chambers first. She wants to know everything that is going to be filed. Every motion, any move…and no Islam. You can not introduce Islam. And yet Islam has been introduced already. Just look at the Facebook threats.

I have said from the very first that Rifqa Bary is the highest value target in America. Apostasy is the most egregious crime against Islam. Her crime is not just against the family. It is against Islam.

I know Ohio law enforcement and Florida law enforcement found no threat to Rifqa, but perhaps they can put down the kool aid for five minutes and do their jobs.

With sites on Facebook threatening Rifqa with death, everyone should stop the PC Religion-Of-Peace nonsense and get serious. Is law enforcement going to stop playing games and protect this young girl or what? Salman Rushdie did far less.

FP: What can the average citizen do to help Rifqa? And who can we contact on Facebook to ask why it allows jihad and death threats on its site?

Geller: Jamie, the average citizen can write to Ohio authorities, including the governor, to protest how they are allowing Rifqa to be railroaded.

Franklin County children services can be reached here.

Eric Fenner’s fax number is 614-275-2755 and his e-mail address is edfenner@fccs.co.franklin.oh.us

The Ohio governor’s office can be reached here.

Also, Governor Strickland is up for re-election. Here is John Kasich’s contact information.

Be vigilant. And pray for her.

As for Facebook, they seem deliberately to make it difficult to contact them. There are contact forms within Facebook itself for members, but it is not easy to know which is the right one that will get to the right person. Readers can and should try abuse@facebook.com, but there is no assurance that anyone with any authority in Facebook will see the message.

FP: Pamela Geller, thank you for joining Frontpage Interview.

More Facebook jihad against Rifqa Bary: this Facebook wonders whether Rifqa Bary, the girl who converted from Islam to Christianity and then fled from her family in fear for her life, is the great evil figure of the Islamic end times, the Dajjal -- because, after all, she has one eye, and so does the Dajjal.

The Dajjal will at the end of days lead people astray. Muhammad said: "The Dajjall is one-eyed and will bring with him what will resemble Hell and Paradise, and what he will call Paradise will be actually Hell; so I warn you (against him) as Noah warned his nation against him."

These brilliant fellows fail to note that while the Dajjal is indeed blind in his right eye according to several ahadith, he also has "kaffir" -- unbeliever -- written between his eyes.

It's clear from things like this that Rifqa Bary is in danger from Muslims in the United States. The Ohio court should act accordingly to protect her, and resist the deceptive PC siren song of CAIR. The girl's life is at stake.

At last, the toon is here! One of the world's premier anti-jihad cartoonists, David Washburn, has graced us with the above toon of the 2009 Jihad Watch Award winners:

American Anti-Dhimmi: Rifqa Bary
Anti-Dhimmi Internationale: Geert Wilders
American Dhimmi: Barack Obama
Dhimmi Internationale: Gordon Brown

Congratulations to all the lucky winners!

Dear friends and supporters of Rifqa Bary,

As we begin this New Year, I would like to ask you to take a few minutes to remember in your prayers some urgent developments regarding Rifqa Bary's situation. Even though many were expecting Rifqa to be a dependent of the state of Ohio by now, (and thus be protected from being returned to the dire situation that she fled from), that is certainly not the case. As you may know, Rifqa's last hearing was held on December 22nd. During the hearing, dependency was not addressed, rather a trial to determine dependency was rescheduled for January 28th. The proceedings that occurred on December 22nd simply ensured that she would not be forced to meet with her parents (mediation) as her parents were demanding, and the motion to block people (3rd parties) from communicating with Rifqa was withdrawn. This seemed like good news for Rifqa, and I left the courthouse in Franklin County pleased with the outcome of the day's proceedings. This quickly changed the next few days as we became aware of what actually transpired behind the scenes.

Since Rifqa has been back in Ohio, the heat has gradually been turned up against her. To be blunt however, after this latest hearing on December 22nd, it seems that all 'hell' has literally broken loose against Rifqa. As you may know, C.A.I.R. (Council on American Islamic Relations) is actively supporting Rifqa's parents in this case. C.A.I.R. is a national organization which has a very precarious background whose roots are tied to the Muslim Brotherhood. Without getting into the specifics regarding the Muslim Brotherhood and C.A.I.R.'s ties to them, you should be aware that the Muslim Brotherhood is responsible for every major terror organization that currently exists. C.A.I.R. has went to great lengths to put together a strategy to attack Rifqa Bary and her testimony of faith in Jesus Christ. It seems surreal to think that such a powerful organization has decided to attack a 17 year old convert to Christianity with such hostility, but that is indeed what they have done. The strategy of their attack is centered around 2 major objectives.

Objective #1... Keep Rifqa Bary isolated and discouraged

This objective has risen to a new level as the Bary's C.A.I.R. appointed attorney, Omar Tarazi, filed a motion to ban Rifqa from receiving all 3'rd party communications (Christmas cards, notes, messages, etc...) While this motion was basically withdrawn, there was an undisclosed agreement made with the C.A.I.R. appointed attorney to require all communications to be screened by the court appointed (GAL) for Rifqa. Before the hearing on December 22nd, Rifqa's own attorney was the one screening communications for Rifqa. Apparently, this was not acceptable to C.A.I.R. They did accept the court appointed (GAL) to screen Rifqa's communication however. They probably assumed that the court appointed (GAL) for Rifqa would see things more to the liking of C.A.I.R.

As a result, since the last hearing, Rifqa has been literally cut off from the outside world. Currently, Rifqa has absolutely no official visitors list even though in Florida she was permitted supervised visits, and I was told by Children's services weeks ago in Ohio that a visitors list was being developed for Rifqa. Also, before the last hearing on December 22nd, Rifqa had one 'approved' contact that she was allowed to have phone conversations with. After the hearing in December, Rifqa has not been allowed to have phone contact with any of her friends! When I have inquired about the reasoning behind Rifqa's isolation, I am told that foster children are not entitled to receive phone calls from friends, nor are they entitled visits from people. This still does not explain the fact that even since she has been back in Ohio foster care, she has been permitted to talk on the phone with a few people under supervision, but since December 22nd, she has been forbidden to actually talk on the phone to the people that she was allowed to talk to at all! Criminals are treated better because in prison, they have the ability to make phone calls and have pastoral visits. Not so with Rifqa Bary, and it is incredibly unjust.

Objective #2...Attack those who saved Rifqa's life and destroy her testimony

In the state of Ohio, a child can become a dependent of the state simply by showing the court that there was a conflict in the home. Anyone who knew Rifqa Bary knew very well about the nature of the conflict that she faced at home. As a matter of fact, there are upwards of 50 people who, if allowed, could possibly testify to the fact that Rifqa greatly feared for her life long before she fled from her parents in Ohio. The evidence is actually overwhelming in favor of supporting Rifqa's assertion that she was in tremendous fear for her life for quite some time.

As a result of this overwhelming evidence, the C.A.I.R. appointed attorney wants to take the attention off of the threats that have been made against Rifqa by her parents, as well as any criticism against the Noor Mosque in central Ohio. Remember, this is the same mosque that put tremendous pressure on Rifqa's parents to punish and deal with her conversion to Christianity.

Instead, they have brutally attacked 3 individuals, (Brian Williams of Columbus, & Blake and Beverly Lorenz of Orlando Florida) who LITERALLY saved Rifqa's life by helping her when she fled her home. The attack and character assassination against these people has been horrific to say the least. This attack has been carried out by C.A.I.R., the media, and even some in the church community! This attack against them is very intentional. The strategy of Rifqa's parents and C.A.I.R. is to make the assertion that Rifqa was brainwashed by the Lorenz family, as well as by Brian Williams. They are saying that Rifqa had no conflict in the home with her parents before she met them. They have been billed as predators that lured a very impressionable new convert away from her home.

Not only has C.A.I.R. been making these allegations themselves, now they have purportedly either threatened, or persuaded a former employee of the Lorenz's church community to lie and make the same allegations against them as well! Well, with all this untruth and slander that has been leveled against Brian Williams and Blake & Beverly Lorenz, I am compelled to tell the truth surrounding how they got connected to Rifqa Bary.

Modern Day Heroes...Brian Williams & Blake and Beverly Lorenz

I have had the privilege of knowing Brian for the last several years. Brian is a young man who is very passionate about his faith in Jesus, and has a tremendous heart for seeing people mobilized to pray to affect change in our nation. Brian has started several prayer groups online, one of which now has over 100,000 members. The specific prayer group that Brian started on facebook that I'd like to talk about here is a group called the 'United States of Prayer.' This prayer group is the specific group that Rifqa Bary joined with a collection of people from around the country, including Beverly Lorenz. This was simply a group of people who are passionate about prayer. Most of the members, Rifqa Bary included, did not know each other prior to joining the group, rather they simply heard about the group on facebook and joined. It was through this group that Rifqa developed relationships with many people, including Brian Williams and the Lorenz family.

I'll share this story to give you an example of what the group was like. On a particular day in early 2008, Brian shared with the group a need for prayer regarding a woman whom he knew who was making plans to acquire an abortion. Brian set up a conference call for that specific evening and invited the group members to call in and pray over the phone for the life of this baby and for the mother who was considering the abortion. About 40-50 people actually called in and prayed over the phone for this baby and for the mother. Rifqa happened to be one of the people who called in and prayed. Remember, Rifqa is not a new convert to Christianity as C.A.I.R. and others are claiming. She has been a Christian for over 4 years!

Since she lived out her faith under great duress at home, Rifqa's main outlet for her faith was simply prayer, and this has ensured that her faith is much stronger than the average institutional church member in America! There are not many 16 year old girls in America today who would call in to a prayer group to pray for a woman whom they didn't know. As people would find out, Rifqa is a very strong person who is passionate about God and people. Those who got to know her were amazed at how strong her faith is in general, not to mention that she was only 16 at the time. This particular story has a beautiful ending as the woman decided not to abort her baby, and the mother herself discovered faith in Jesus as well.

As a natural result of this prayer group, friendships began to form and people began to get to know each other. Since Rifqa was forbidden to attend any institutional church, these relationships acted as her 'church' so to speak. Rifqa began forming close relationships with people like Abigal Dykema who spent hours on the phone mentoring Rifqa through extremely difficult times in her home. There were others like Shannon Psotta who got to know Rifqa as well through this group. The more that people got to know Rifqa, the more they realized the abuse that Rifqa had endured and the hostility that Rifqa was facing at home. Rifqa herself shared the threat that she was facing with her new friends from the prayer group.

When Rifqa fled her home, she chose to seek out Blake & Beverly Lorenz for help. Beverly was first informed about Rifqa's situation from Shannon Psotta (a friend from the facebook prayer group). When Beverly heard about the serious situation that Rifqa was facing, she simply began to pray for Rifqa. It was shortly after that time that Rifqa herself reached out and contacted Beverly for help. I am convinced that by taking Rifqa into their home when circumstances developed that forced Rifqa to flee, they literally saved Rifqa's life!

Once we look at the facts in this case, it is a preposterous idea to think that Rifqa was a recent convert to Christianity who was brainwashed to run away. This was clearly not the case as I also knew her and the seriousness of her situation. Brian Williams told me that before he met Rifqa, he knew nothing about Islam, honor killings, or apostasy. He had never even seen a mosque as well. It was Rifqa who informed him about all these things! Does that sound like brainwashing to you? This courageous decision by the Lorenz family, and Brian Williams to help Rifqa has come with a high cost, however. The media has ruthlessly attacked their character, they have been under investigation, and they have even been attacked and maligned by their own church community.

It is time for these lies to be exposed for what they are, and for the truth to be known about who these people are. By getting to know them better the last few months, I can personally tell you that these people are modern day heroes who have a tremendous love for people! I am convinced that it would do our nation well if we followed the courageous example of people like Brian Williams and the Lorenz family. If we commend and celebrate the actions of folks like Harriet Tubman and Corrie ten Boom in recent history, why are we attacking and persecuting those who follow in their example?

So what does this have to do with Rifqa Bary being in grave danger? EVERYTHING! 

This case is simply about a young girl who has decided to become a follower of Jesus (Christian) and leave Islam, and as a result of this decision, her life is on the line. This is the same story that happens all over the globe to other Muslims who leave Islam to follow Christ. Rifqa is simply one of millions. If C.A.I.R. is successful in keeping attention focused on the lies that are being leveled against Brian Williams and the Lorenz family, then they never have to deal with the real issue that this case centers around. Again, this case is about a girl who has decided to leave Islam and follow Jesus as the Messiah (Christ). This case is also about exposing the threat that people face when they leave Islam. I am also convinced that this is a wakeup call.

By creating a fictitious reality that states that Rifqa was a weak and impressionable young girl who was brainwashed, they hope to convince the court that there was no real conflict in the home. This would cause the court to dismiss Rifqa's plea for dependency and thereby send her back home. If that were to happen, her life would be in extreme danger. As you may realize, this trial for dependency on January 28th is very important and the truth about this situation must be made known quickly as her trial date is fast approaching. If you are a Christian, I would again like to ask that you and your church communities pray for this precedent setting case in our nation. Pray for Rifqa's encouragement, strength, and wisdom as well as for wisdom for her legal team. Please pray for Rifqa's family as well.

In the past many of you have emailed Franklin County Children's services. This may be necessary again because this isolation of Rifqa has gotten worse and simply cannot be allowed to continue. The director of Children's services may be the best person to contact about the abusive restrictions that are being put on Rifqa. Emails should be polite, yet direct. His name is Eric Fenner, and he can be contacted at this address: edfenner@FCCS.co.franklin.oh.us

Thank you so much for your continued support and prayer for Rifqa Bary. There is much at stake in the next few weeks.

Nonetheless, the initiative is just as insidious -- and, not coincidentally, in alignment with Sharia provisions calling for the isolation of female apostates from Islam. After all, this is still a marginally free country, isn't it? Why should Rifqa not be allowed to receive communications from people who have been encouraged to write to her on "blogs that malign Islam"? And remember that by "maligning Islam" in this context, what is meant is telling the truth about Islam's doctrines of violence and supremacism. But even if people writing to Rifqa really are maligning Islam, is that now illegal in the U.S.? Maligning Christianity is not illegal. Maligning Judaism is not illegal. Would Rifqa be allowed to receive letters that malign those religions? Is the person screening her mail going to hold up letters that she thinks malign Islam? On what grounds?

Pamela has trenchant and important observations on this here.

"Guardian to review Rifqa's mail: Attorneys in dependency case reach common ground on a few matters," by Meredith "Hijab" Heagney for the Columbus Dispatch, December 25 (thanks to Pamela):

Attorneys for Fathima Rifqa Bary and her parents haven't agreed on much, but they have settled a couple of small matters in the case of the 17-year-old runaway.

They have agreed that all mail to Rifqa from people who aren't relatives will be reviewed by her guardian ad litem, the attorney appointed by the court to represent her interests, to "ensure that no inappropriate messages are forwarded to Ms. Bary."

They also have agreed that Rifqa cannot have any contact with Blake Lorenz, Beverly Lorenz or Brian Williams until her counselor determines whether it would be in her best interest.

The Lorenzes are pastors in Florida whom Rifqa stayed with when she ran away. Authorities have said that Williams, an evangelical in his 20s who baptized Rifqa, drove her to the Greyhound bus station in Columbus when she ran away from home in July.

Rifqa, a New Albany High School student, said she left her Northeast Side home because her father, Mohamed Bary, threatened to kill her for converting from Islam to Christianity. Mr. Bary denies the accusation, and authorities in Ohio and Florida have found that she was not in danger.

A dependency case to determine where Rifqa should live is making its way through Franklin County Juvenile Court, where the attorneys frequently file motions on minute details of Rifqa's life and activities.

For instance, Omar Tarazi, the attorney for Mr. Bary and his wife, Aysha, had asked that third-party messages to Rifqa be reviewed by Franklin County Children Services, which has custody of the girl. He was concerned about letter-writing campaigns to Rifqa publicized on blogs that malign Islam.

That resulted in the agreement to have her guardian look at them. The magistrate's order says "incoming mail" but does not specify whether that includes e-mail.

The two sides also have argued over whether Rifqa's counselor should be a woman. Rifqa's attorneys, Kort Gatterdam and Angela Lloyd, have accused the Barys of forcing Rifqa to submit to Islam by making her see a male counselor, because she was raised in a male-dominated home.

Tarazi disputed that, saying Gatterdam and Lloyd file documents "containing baseless assertions that would be characterized as nothing more than religious and cultural bigotry."...

Unlikely at best. Rifqa's attorneys have steadfastly ignored the apostasy issue -- and substantially weakened their case by doing so.

"Magistrate rules that runaway doesn't have to sit down with parents," by Meredith "Hijab" Heagney for the Columbus Dispatch, December 22 (thanks to Pamela, who has more details here).

The magistrate in the Rifqa Bary case ruled today that the 17-year-old who ran away from her Columbus home in July does not have to sit down for mediation with her parents.

There were several issues resolved today at the hearing in Franklin County Juvenile Court, including:

* Mediation. Magistrate Mary Goodrich said issues now being discussed would best be resolved with individual counseling instead of group mediation.

That could be a bad break for Rifqa, if she is forced to see a Muslim counselor, as she has been pressured to do.

* Third-party messages. Bary's parents don't want her to receive any cards or letters directly, and had filed a motion that any messages first go to Franklin County Children Services. Omar Tarazi, the family's attorney, withdrew that motion today.

He should never have filed it. A CAIR lawyer trying to withhold Christmas cards from a little girl could be more damaging in the long run to this unsavory group than its unindicted co-conspirator status in a Hamas terror funding case.

* Rifqa's mental health. Assistant County Prosecutor Chris Julian said that a counselor was trying to determine whether 17-year-old, whose full name is Fathima Rifqa Bary, has post-traumatic stress disorder.

What? Post-traumatic stress disorder? Is just anyone and everyone getting that these days?

In July, Rifqa ran away and moved in with two pastors -- a married couple -- in Orlando, Fla., whom she had met on the Internet.

Rifqa said her father, Mohamed Bary, had threatened to kill her for leaving Islam -- the family religion -- for Christianity.

Authorities in Florida and Ohio could find no credible threat to her safety, and she returned to Franklin County on Oct. 27 and has been living in a foster home....

Authorities in Florida and Ohio wouldn't know a credible threat to her safety if a man were holding a scimitar to her neck.

"Parents of Rifqa Bary ask court to hold her in contempt to force her to attend counseling sessions with Muslim counselor," from The Jawa Report, December 18 (thanks to Pamela, who has more here):

...and the counselor they demand she attend filed an affidavit in support of Rifqa being held in contempt!

The next episode in the legal battle between Muslim-turned-Christian convert Rifqa Bary and her allegedly abusive parents will occur next Tuesday in an Ohio courtroom. As I reported last Friday, one of the issues that will be heard by the court is a motion by the CAIR-appointed attorney to the Bary parents demanding that all Christmas cards sent to Rifqa be banned, and any cards she has already received be seized. On Monday, we provided clear evidence of CAIR's backstage handling of the media in this case.

Another issue next week will be another motion filed by the Bary parents asking the court to hold Rifqa in contempt for refusing to attend counseling sessions with a Muslim counselor. Amazingly, the counselor that the Bary parents are attempting to force her to see filed a affidavit supporting the parents' motion to hold Rifqa in contempt of court. How could this counselor be remotely neutral?

But wait a second - haven't all the media stooges in this case, from Meredith "Hijab" Heagney of the Columbus Dispatch to Michael Kruse of the St. Petersburg Times, insisted that the Bary family intends to respect Rifqa's Christian faith? Haven't these media stooges repeated assurances from the Bary parents that Rifqa has nothing to fear from returning home?...

Her parents have defamed Christians who have attempted to help their daughter flee their abuse; they have filed criminal charges against Rifqa accusing her of being a delinquent; and now they ask the Ohio courts to ban and seize Rifqa's Christmas cards and to force her to see a Muslim counselor that has demonstrated his own partiality. What this long sequence of events clearly shows is that Rifqa Bary has much to fear from being returned to her parents and that they have no intention to honor her personal religious choices....

A 'psychotic bully' was today found guilty of the 'honour killing' murder of his teenage daughter almost a decade after she disappeared.

Mehmet Goren killed 15-year-old Tulay after she fell in love with a man from a different branch of Islam.

Goren had once tried to gas his whole family to death and on another occasion to inject his wife Hanim with rat poison.

It was Hanim's courage in speaking up against her husband in court after 30 years of torment that helped convict him of their daughter's murder.

Mehmet killed the teenager because of her doomed 'Romeo and Juliet' romance with a man called Halil Una.

She was besotted with him - but to her father the affair made her a 'worthless commodity' because he could not marry her off for £5,000.

On January 7 1999 the part-time fish and chip shop worker told his eight-year-old son Tuncay to kiss Tulay goodbye as he would never see his sister again.

The body of the schoolgirl - who told a friend she may have been pregnant - has never been found.

Police had become involved in the weeks leading up to the murder when Mehmet beat up Mr Unal, then complained about the relationship to officers and demanded his daughter take a virginity test.

Tulay ran away and told them he had beat her, and that she would rather be taken into care than return home, before being persuaded to go back by her mother....

Mehmet attacked his daughter's boyfriend with a hatchet outside an east London pub 13 days after the murder and in hospital Mr Unal reported her missing....

The picture above shows the parents of Rifqa Bary with Babak Darvish, an official of Hamas-linked CAIR. Here is the whole story: "Pics reveal CAIR backstage coordination of media in Rifqa Bary case and how the media kept silent," from the Jawa Report, December 14 (thanks to Isabella):

Since early August we have been following the ongoing saga concerning Rifqa Bary, the Ohio Muslim-turned-Christian convert teenager who fled her home to Florida in fear of her life after her family discovered her conversion. Last Friday we reported a motion filed by the Bary's CAIR attorney with the Ohio court considering Rifqa's case demanding a ban and seizure of all Christmas cards sent to her from outside parties. We also broke the story of how CAIR officials were allowed to be present as "neutral observers" when the Bary family was interviewed by Florida investigators.

Early on in this case we reported that the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) had convened a strategy session in Rifqa's hometown of Ohio where they formulated their media strategy in response to the negative press the parents were receiving:

But a source who was inside a secret strategy meeting conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) earlier this week has conveyed the strategy that the media's favorite Islamist group has devised to respond to the ongoing public relations crisis. According to my source who attended the strategy session, CAIR officials handed out copies of this Orlando Sentinel article and want supporters to push the meme that Christians have brainwashed and abducted this gullible teenage girl. They have also instructed supporters to circulate rumors that Rifqa had been carousing with infidel boys and engaged in acts of immorality. This CAIR strategy takes the focus off the near-universal Islamic legal precepts and Quranic injunctions that demand death for apostates and impugns the character of the innocent girl at the center of this controversy who appears to be in genuine fear for her life if she is returned to her parents.

That media narrative of Rifqa being brainwashed and abducted by a Christian cult was one that was carried by many media outlets, most notably Meredith "Hijab" Heagney of the Columbus Dispatch, Michael Kruse of the St. Petersburg Times, among others. In all their reporting, however, they carefully left the connections of the terror-tied CAIR out of their stories.

But from my source inside CAIR comes new information indicating media complicity with respect to concealing CAIR's backstage management of the case on behalf of Rifqa's allegedly abusive parents. Most of the stories by these media hacks featured pictures of the Bary family, such as this photo accompanying an article by the St. Pete Times' Michael Kruse:

What is important about this photograph is not so much what you see as what you don't see. As the late Paul Harvey said, and now for the rest of the story...

What CAIR's media allies neglected to mention was that these interviews with the lapdog media were being conducted in the office of CAIR-Columbus executive director Babak Darvish as seen in the following photographs taken in various media interviews.

Go here to see the pictures. In a sane world, this revelation would destroy the credibility of the Kruse/Heagney media coverage of the story for good, as well as the credibility of the parents' case against Rifqa and attempts to get her back home despite her fears for her life. Would it matter to the case that media interviews with the parents were being conducted in the offices of an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas funding case? Would it matter to the case that media interviews with the parents were being held in the offices of an organization that was known to have held meetings about false talking points it was going to circulate in order to discredit this girl and her defenders?

It should matter. But it doesn't. For the elites to whom it should matter are just as corrupt and compromised as Kruse, Heagney and co.

"Muslim Relatives of Sudanese Christian Woman Pursue Her, Son," from Compass Direct News, December 10 (thanks to Maxwell):

NAIROBI, Kenya, December 10 (CDN) -- A Sudanese woman who fled to Egypt after converting from Islam to Christianity is living in secluded isolation as her angry family members try to track her down.

Howida Ali's Muslim brother and her ex-husband began searching for her in Cairo earlier this year after a relative there reported her whereabouts to them. While there, her brother and ex-husband tried to seize her 10-year-old son from school.

"I'm afraid of my brother finding us," said the 38-year-old Ali, who has moved to another area. "Their aim is to take us back to Sudan, and there they will force us to return to the Islamic faith or sentence us to death according to Islamic law."...

A few weeks ago Pamela Geller started an initiative to have people send Christmas cards to Rifqa Bary, the girl who converted from Islam to Christianity and fled from her Ohio home in fear for her life, and is now in foster care in Ohio while authorities decide whether or not she is going to be returned home to the father who she says threatened to kill her.

Christmas cards -- who could object? Only someone whose heart is three sizes too small -- like an attorney from the unsavory and thuggish Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations. "CAIR Attorney Demands Ban and Seizure of all Christmas Cards sent to Rifqa Bary (Bumped)," from the Jawa Report, December 11:

In a stunning development in the ongoing legal saga of Muslim-turned-Christian convert Rifqa Bary, the parents' attorney, Omar Tarazi, filed a motion with the Franklin County courts last week moving to ban on all Christmas cards being sent to Rifqa through her attorneys, and demanding the seizure from her of all Christmas cards that she might have already received. And yet her parents still make representations to the media that they intend to honor and respect her Christian faith, while their attorney files sealed motions stating that Christmas cards are "dangerous to her health and safety".

This news and a copy of the motion were provided to me from a source inside CAIR, who noted that CAIR has raised funds for the Bary's legal jihad to have the courts return the 17 year-old to her allegedly abusive Muslim family....

The court will hear Tarazi's motion for the ban and seizure of all of Rifqa's Christmas cards on December 22nd.

And we will be there as well.

But is anyone listening? Pamela Geller reviews Wafa Sultan's superb and essential new book for FrontPage:

Wafa Sultan's seminal moment was when she took on an Islamic cleric on Al-Jazeera. The clip went viral on Youtube, and it really was a defining moment in the clash of civilizations. Here was a woman, basically considered "property" in the Muslim world and expected to do what she was told, turning around after she had been interrupted numerous times, and saying in effect, "Quiet, it's my turn."

Now comes her new book, A God Who Hates, which will undoubtedly prove to be a key resource in the resistance to jihad and Islamization. In it, the brilliant psychiatrist from Syria, now an American citizen, tells her own story.

It is the story of a Muslim woman who grew up in a country where she was indoctrinated in Islamic ideology. So her perspective is very important in terms of establishing the credibility of scholars like Robert Spencer and Dr. Andrew Bostom. But what makes this book great, apart from its breathtaking honesty and truth and the clarity and urgency of its warning, is that it is also a beautiful love letter to America.

Wafa speaks powerfully about what America means to her. It manifests itself in little things. She leaves her house at 5 am and makes her way to Starbucks to have her coffee without fearing that someone might see her and accuse her of immoral behavior. To her, America means saying "good morning" to her neighbor and chatting with him for a few moments without being accused of having spent the night with him. America, for this courageous woman, means that her daughter can come home and tell her that she had lunch with her boyfriend without being beaten or accused of having impugned the family honor.

It is clear throughout A God Who Hates that Wafa Sultan was always a very independent thinker, even though there were times in her life when she did not immediately allow herself to go to the next step to which her thinking was leading her. She writes lovingly about her husband, who was very supportive of her. He was an open-minded thinker -- initially more so than was Wafa herself. But she recounts in the book certain momentous events that jarred her thinking, such as in 1979 when Muslims screaming "Allahu akbar" murdered one of her professors, the ophthalmology lecturer Dr. Yusef Al-Yusef, whom she respected and admired. Wafa witnessed the murder - and at that exact moment started to question the nature of the Islamic faith.

"But I was afraid," she explained when I interviewed her recently, "to express my feelings. I was afraid to express my thoughts, because under Islamic sharia, a Muslim who dares to leave Islam or dares to convert to any other religion is to be killed. And every Muslim has the right to kill someone who has left Islam without being asked a question. This is the Islamic law. Once you were born as a Muslim, you're not allowed to leave it. This is simply the Islamic law, and it seems to me it's very hard to convince Americans that this is the way it is."

The recent Rifqa Bary apostasy case shows how right Wafa is about that, and how urgent her message is. Rifqa Bary is the teenage girl, a Muslim in Ohio, who left Islam four years ago and converted to Christianity. When her father found out about her conversion, she fled from her home in fear for her life. She said she ran away to Florida because she wanted to get as far away as she could -- because not only her family but the mosque and the community in Ohio is very devout, and as an apostate she is in danger. But now she has been returned to Ohio, in large part because American authorities don't know anything about Islamic apostasy law....

Read it all.

Dhimmi Internationale 2009: Gordon Brown!
American Dhimmi of the Year 2009: Barack Obama!

Anti-Dhimmi Internationale 2009: Geert Wilders!
American Anti-Dhimmi of the Year 2009: Rifqa Bary!

Congratulations to all the winners. 'Toon is in the making.

A new government case plan directs Rifqa Bary, the girl who fled from her family in fear for her life after converting to Christianity from Islam, to talk about religion with her Muslim parents, and work toward Rifqa returning home.

According to reporter Meredith Heagney of the Columbus Dispatch, who wore a hijab when she visited a Columbus mosque and has consistently filed slanted, anti-Rifqa stories on this case, the goal of this case plan is reunification of the Bary family. [...]

Hussein Wario, a native of Kenya and, like Rifqa, an apostate from Islam, tells the truth that Heagney ignores: "I am very concerned for Rifqa. If the judge reunites her with her family, you know that she will either be severely persecuted or killed here in the United States or elsewhere. An ardent Muslim father would rather kill his child in order to preserve his family from ridicule (from fellow Muslims) than see him or her alive. Mr. Mohamed Bary would be hailed as a hero to Muslims if he were to carryout-God forbid-Islamic judgment on Rifqa because she refuses to revert to Islam."

Rifqa's close friend and another convert from Islam to Christianity, Jamal Jivanjee, adds: "As Meredith Heagney is the main reporter assigned to the Rifqa Bary story, I have read several articles that Ms. Heagney has written about the case previously. Each time I read her account of Rifqa's situation, I come away amazed at her 'selective' use of pertinent information that she includes in her articles. I am beginning to wonder if this is more than just simple oversight. I am convinced that Meredith's oversight reveals at best, a hidden bias against Rifqa Bary, and at worst, a deliberate attempt to deceive the public in Central Ohio. This latest article was unfortunately no exception."

The media is against her. Child Services is against her. Her own family is against her - and eagerly awaiting her return to their clutches.

Who will stand for Rifqa Bary?

We will, on December 22. Be there. Oh, and be sure to read it all.