Will the Last Jew to Leave Afghanistan Please Turn the Lights Off.

"So fight them until there is no more Fitna & all submit to the religion of Allah alone." So says the Koran in verse 8:39, thus demonstrating why it is that Islamic society tends not to be terribly pluralist. In fact, a society in which Muslims dominate could well be described in terms reminiscent of apartheid South Africa or even, in the worst cases, the Third Reich. This report from Al Arabiya today might afford the casual browser a glimpse into what Islamic 'civilisation' is all about:

Last Jew in Afghanistan faces ruin as kebabs fail to sell Zabulon Simintov always removes his kippah, the skullcap worn by Jewish men, before entering his cafe in a dilapidated building that also houses Afghanistan's last synagogue. "Let me take off my cap, otherwise people will think something bad about me," Simintov said cheerfully as he descended grime-caked stairs to the ground-floor cafe. In his 50s, Simintov is the last known Afghan Jew to remain in the country. He has become something of a celebrity over the years and his rivalry with the next-to-last Jew, who died in 2005, inspired a play. Mindful of Afghanistan's extremely conservative Muslim culture, Simintov tries not to advertise his identity to protect the Balkh Bastan or Ancient Balkh kebab cafe he opened four years ago, naming it after a northern Afghan province. "All food here is prepared by Muslims," he said. Now the cafe, neat and shiny, faces closure because kebabs are not selling well - largely because of deteriorating security in Kabul that has made people frightened to eat out or visit the city. Simintov used to rely on hotel catering orders but even these have dried up as foreign troops begin to withdraw from Afghanistan, further weakening security and investment. "Hotels used to order food for 400 to 500 people. Four or five stoves were busy from afternoon to evening," he said. "I plan to close my restaurant next March and rent its space." At lunchtime, a single table was occupied, with a pair of customers ordering tender meat on long skewers and other Afghan dishes. Neither appeared to know about Simintov's history and said they came only because a cafe next door that made a special dish of Afghan noodles had shut down. Little is known about the origins of Afghan Jews, who some believe may have lived here more than 2,000 years ago. A cache of 11th century scrolls recently discovered in the north provided the first opportunity to study poems, commercial records and judicial agreements of the time. The community was several thousand strong at the turn of the 20th century, spread across several cities but having limited contact with fellow Jews abroad. They later left the country en masse, mostly for the newly created state of Israel. Simintov's wife and daughters also left for the Jewish state, but he decided to stay behind with his Afghan "brothers." Dusty and dilapidated A native of the western border city of Herat, the cradle of Jewish culture in Afghanistan, Simintov displays dog-eared posters and prayer books when he shows visitors around the dilapidated synagogue. He pulled a "shofar" - the ram's horn used for Jewish New Year and Yom Kippur, the day of atonement - from a dusty cupboard and blew into it with little effect. Simintov also maintains a nearby cemetery, marked by little more than a few broken pieces of stone in an unkempt yard. Other religions have fared even worse than Judaism. There are no Afghan Christians left, at least none who is open about it, and the only permanent church is inside the Italian diplomatic compound. There is a small Hindu population, but it is shrinking rapidly. Simintov's personal ill fortune is linked to the increasing risks of running a business. More than a dozen years since the U.S.-led invasion toppled the hardline Taliban movement to end its five years in power, fear of bombs, shootings and crime is still part of daily life. Simintov said the cafe had lost $45,000 and all the valuables collected by his father were stolen before the Taliban were ousted in 2001. He hopes that renting the cafe's space might generate enough money to renovate the synagogue. Much of the whitewashed building's interior, including the synagogue's floors and walls, are covered in a black film. It survived the Taliban, but the contents were ransacked. However resolute Simintov remains about practising his faith, he is embittered - even enraged - by misfortune and by the failure of the U.S-led NATO force to create conditions for peace and security without the threat of the Taliban. "It is better to see a dog than to see an American," he said. "If the situation in the country gets worse, I will escape.

So, Christians & Hindus are high-tailing it out of that savage-infested hellhole as well, are they? And we know that all traces of Buddhism were eradicated some time ago by the savages from the Taliban. Shall we peruse some more of the perfect words of Allah to reflect on why all this is happening? Yes, I think we shall:

And kill them wherever you find & catch them. Drive them out from where they have turned you out; for Fitna is worse than slaughter. Koran 2:191 Allah wished to confirm the truth by His words: 'Wipe the infidels out to the last.' Koran 8:7 Your Lord inspired the angels with the message: 'I am with you. Give firmness to the Believers. I will terrorise the unbelievers. Therefore smite them on their necks & every joint & incapacitate them. Strike off their heads & cut off each of their fingers & toes.' Koran 8:12 Fight & kill the disbelievers wherever you find them, take them captive, harass them, lie in wait & ambush them using every stratagem of war. Koran 9:5 Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the last day, nor do they prohibit what Allah & His Messenger have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the jizya in acknowledgement of superiority & they are in a state of subjection. Koran 9:29 The Messenger & those who believe with him, strive hard & fight with their wealth & lives in Allah's Cause. Koran 9:88 Allah has purchased the believers, their lives & their goods. For them (in return) is the Garden. They fight in Allah's Cause, & they slay & are slain; they kill & are killed. Koran 9:111 Truly, if the Hypocrites stir up sedition, if the agitators in the City do not desist, We shall urge you to go against them & set you over them. Then they will not be able to stay as your neighbours for any length of time. They shall have a curse on them. Whenever they are found, they shall be seized & slain without mercy – a fierce slaughter – murdered, a horrible murdering. Koran 33:60 So, when you clash with the unbelieving Infidels in battle, smite their necks until you overpower them, killing & wounding many of them. At length, when you have thoroughly subdued them, bind them firmly, making captives. Thereafter, either generosity or ransom until the war lays down its burdens. Thus are you commanded by Allah to continue carrying out Jihad against the unbelieving infidels until they submit to Islam. Koran 47:4