In the book 'Schmoozing with Terrorists' several Palestenian leaders threaten the two American pop superstars.

For instance Muhammad Abdel-Al, a spokesman and senior leader of the Popular Resistance Committee which is mainly based in the Gaza Strip and has carried out rocket attacks, shootings and bombings against Israelis, is quoted as saying:

"If I meet these whores I will have the honour – I repeat, I will have the honour – to be the first one to cut the heads off Madonna and Britney Spears if they will keep spreading their satanic culture against Islam."

Muhammad Abdel-Al believes that musicians such as Madonna and Britney Spear are deliberately "spreading this culture as part of the Americans' war against Islam."


'American music may be altogether banned'
The book, and the threat, was published a few days before Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie were preparing to celebrate the Jewish New Year with around 2,000 other Kabbalah followers in Israel in September 2007.

The author of the controversial book is a young Jewish-American journalist, Aaron Klein, who has been 'chatting' with leaders of Hamas' military wing, as well as reactionary, military or extremist Islamist groups such as the Popular Resistance Committee, Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigade, Islamic Jihad, the Sword of Islam and several others. He asked the extremist leaders to describe what USA would be like if Islamic Sharia law was imposed, and among the long list of changes he was told that "there is a possibility that American music may be altogether banned if Islam takes over".

Abu Abdullah, considered one of the most important operational members of Hamas' military wing, is quoted as saying: "At the beginning, we will try to convince Madonna and Britney Spears to follow Allah's way. But I honestly don't think they will follow. If they persist with their whoring music, we will prevent them by force. I don't think that I can be in the same place with these singers. They might be killed if they do not respect our laws."


If Sharia was imposed
Speaking hypothetically when asked to describe what he'd do if his group took over the US, Muhammad Abdel-Al similarly told Aaron Klein that "Their music video clips will be forbidden and these whores Madonna and Spears will be thrown in jail until they admit they made sins and return to the moral way. If these two prostitutes keep doing what they are doing, we of course will punish them. First we will call them to join Islam. But if they keep what they are doing... we can stone them or kill them as we see fit if they keep tempting men in order to put them far from Islam. A prostitute woman must be stoned or must be hit 80 times with a belt."

"I was surprised to learn [they] knew exactly who were Madonna and Spears," said Aaron Klein in an interview. Asked about American pop music icons, multiple Islamist leaders had never heard of many of the most popular singers of the country, but Aaron Klein said they were all familiar with Madonna and Britney Spears.

"Unfortunately, I heard the names of Madonna and Spears on [Arab] television when parents complain that their children neglect their studies and their values because they are influenced by your cheap American music that you call culture," said Sheik Abu Saqer, a prominent Gaza-based preacher and the founder of the Sword of Islam group which subscribes to the ideology of al-Qaida. He is close to the militant wings of Hamas and Islacmic Jihad and is considered a Sharia law expert. His Sword of Islam group has taken responsibility in Gaza for bombings of secular music stores, as well as internet cafes and pool halls.

Aaron Klein has recently reported that according to security officials affiliated with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, gunmen associated with several Gaza-based Islamist organisations, including Hamas, have formed patrol units to enforce hard-line Islamic law in Gaza. The units are responsible for a slew of recent closures of pool halls, water pipe smoking clubs and stores that sell music. Gaza-based militants have also attacked secular Palestinian youth for wearing hair gel in the Hamas-controlled territory.


About the book
The full title of Aaron Klein's book is: 'Schmoozing With Terrorists: From Hollywood to the Holy Land, Jihadists Reveal their Global Plans – to a Jew!'. It was released in September 2007.

WorldNetDaily reported on 12 November 2007 that the book had climbed to Number 1 on Amazon.com's list of works on Islam, Number 2 in the category of terrorism, and Number 35 on the overall non-fiction list.


About the author
27-year-old Aaron Klein is an American journalist and author based in Jerusalem, Israel. He is a graduate of Torah Academy Boys High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he edited the school's monthly newspaper. After high school, he enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, later transferring to Yeshiva University in New York City, where he edited the undergraduate bimonthly student newspaper.

Aaron Klein gives regular interviews at Israel National Radio, an online English radio station broadcasting from Israel. Klein has been a co-host for American ABC Radio's nationally syndicated John Batchelor Show and has had regular segments and commentary on US talk radio programmes.

Aaron Klein has interviewed many Middle East newsmakers, including government officials and leaders of extremist groups. His first interview with Islamic extremists was in 1999 when, at age 19, he spent time with members of Al-Muhajiroun, a group reportedly connected to al-Qaeda. His article about the experience, 'My Weekend with the Enemy', was published in The Jerusalem Post.

Today he is a Middle East correspondent and head of the Jerusalem bureau for WorldNetDaily, and a columnist for The Jewish Press. His articles for WorldNetDaily have been republished on Ynetnews and in The New York Sun.

WorldNetDaily.com is an independent newssite, founded in 1997, which attracts nearly five million unique visitors a month and more than 40 million pageviews, according to its own internal monitoring software.