.jpg)
Fourth mosque targeted in France last weekend
The Collectif contre l'Islamophobie en France reports that in addition to those at Ozoir-La-Ferrière and Besançon, a fourth mosque was the target of an Islamophobic act this weekend: at Meximieux in eastern France. On Saturday mosque officials found an envelope containing slices of ham in the mailbox. When they went to the police station to lodge a complaint, officers refused to register it on the grounds that the letter only contained pork and was not accompanied by a letter with insults or threats.
Hamza Dziri, one of the mosque officials, contacted the CCIF. He was distraught, as this is not the first time acts of hatred have been directed against the mosque. While it was under construction he found stickers on the walls, windows and site gates featuring swastikas and tricolor flags and bearing the name of a mysterious organisation of "patriots".
In January 2012 vandals broke a window and damaged the scaffolding. After that the site was placed under guard by members of the mosque and fifteen days later two vandals had returned, throwing stones at the glass door and breaking it. They escaped by car, but the guard was able to identify the registration number, which enabled the police to arrest the perpetrators. The vandals received suspended prison sentences and had to pay compensation.
With such a history, the CCIF observes, it is not surprising that Hamza Dziri says he is "worried".
The protection of places of worship should not be left solely to the faithful, the CCIF says. Following antisemitic attacks in France, schools and synagogues have been placed under police surveillance. The CCIF concludes: "In the current situation where mosques are the target of Islamophobic acts every week, the competent authorities must urgently put in place a security plan for Muslim places of worship."
Baghdad court hands down second death sentence to Saudi
A criminal court in Baghdad sentenced Shadi Al-Sadhi, a Saudi prisoner, to death for a second time, a local newspaper reported.
He was accused of illegally crossing into Iraq from Syria and joining the "Islamic Army".
In a statement, the Iraqi High Judicial Council said Al-Sadhi was captured by the American forces in Baghdad and had confessed to illegally entering the country.
The head of the committee of Saudis detained in Iraq, Thamer Al-Blaihed said that this is the second death sentence handed to Al-Sadhi.
He added that another Saudi inmate was also sentenced to death twice in four months.
Meanwhile, Saudi Ambassador to Jordan Fahd Al-Zaid said the Saudi Council of Ministers has approved an exchange of prisoners agreement between the Kingdom and Jordan.
The head of Saudi affairs at the embassy, Saled Bedaiwi, said there are 44 Saudis in Jordanian prisons.
The plenipotentiary minister in the embassy Hamad Al-Hajri said most of the cases were drugs-related and there were a few cases involving immoral behavior.
Of the 44 prisoners, 24 have been sentenced to between three to seven years in prison. Nineteen prisoners are still waiting to be sentenced.
One Saudi prisoner who had been convicted of terrorism and was sentenced to death, but the embassy appealed the sentence and the convict is now serving a life sentence.
Jordanian Ambassador in Riyadh Jamal Al-Shamaylah put the number of Saudi prisoners in Jordan at 58.
Al-Shamaylah confirmed that his country’s cabinet has approved the prisoner exchange deal and it will soon be ratified by the parliament. He expects the agreement to take effect by the middle of this year.
Al-Shamaylah said there are about 200 Jordanians in Saudi prisons. Charges against them mostly involve financial irregularities filed by their Saudi employers.
He was accused of illegally crossing into Iraq from Syria and joining the "Islamic Army".
In a statement, the Iraqi High Judicial Council said Al-Sadhi was captured by the American forces in Baghdad and had confessed to illegally entering the country.
The head of the committee of Saudis detained in Iraq, Thamer Al-Blaihed said that this is the second death sentence handed to Al-Sadhi.
He added that another Saudi inmate was also sentenced to death twice in four months.
Meanwhile, Saudi Ambassador to Jordan Fahd Al-Zaid said the Saudi Council of Ministers has approved an exchange of prisoners agreement between the Kingdom and Jordan.
The head of Saudi affairs at the embassy, Saled Bedaiwi, said there are 44 Saudis in Jordanian prisons.
The plenipotentiary minister in the embassy Hamad Al-Hajri said most of the cases were drugs-related and there were a few cases involving immoral behavior.
Of the 44 prisoners, 24 have been sentenced to between three to seven years in prison. Nineteen prisoners are still waiting to be sentenced.
One Saudi prisoner who had been convicted of terrorism and was sentenced to death, but the embassy appealed the sentence and the convict is now serving a life sentence.
Jordanian Ambassador in Riyadh Jamal Al-Shamaylah put the number of Saudi prisoners in Jordan at 58.
Al-Shamaylah confirmed that his country’s cabinet has approved the prisoner exchange deal and it will soon be ratified by the parliament. He expects the agreement to take effect by the middle of this year.
Al-Shamaylah said there are about 200 Jordanians in Saudi prisons. Charges against them mostly involve financial irregularities filed by their Saudi employers.
Kerry to visit Riyadh next month
US Secretary of State John F. Kerry will embark on his first overseas journey as America’s top diplomat next week, a whirlwind tour of nine nations in 11 days with a heavy focus on how to end nearly two years of bloodshed and civil war gripping Syria.
US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said in a statement Wednesday that Kerry will visit Saudi Arabia in the first week of March.
She said that during his visit to Riyadh, the Secretary of State will discuss with Saudi officials cooperation between the two countries and issues of common concern. He will participate in a ministerial meeting with his Gulf Cooperation Council counterparts. The State Department official said Kerry’s visit also will include stops in Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, with meetings on a range of topics, including the ongoing French military intervention in Mali and the impending withdrawal of US military forces from Afghanistan.
Kerry will skip Israel. He had been expected to visit Israel and the West Bank and push for restarting peace talks with the Palestinians ahead of President Obama’s trip to the country next month.
“Given the fact that the government’s coalition negotiations in Israel are still under way,” Nuland said, “the secretary will be traveling there with the president when he visits later in the spring in lieu of making his own separate trip in February to Jerusalem and Ramallah.”
The Feb. 24 to March 6 tour will be highlighted by a diplomatic gathering in Rome of representatives from European and Middle Eastern powers who are supporting opposition forces seeking the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. Leaders of the Syrian Opposition Council are expected to attend the Rome meeting. Kerry also is expected to meet them privately, Nuland said.
US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said in a statement Wednesday that Kerry will visit Saudi Arabia in the first week of March.
She said that during his visit to Riyadh, the Secretary of State will discuss with Saudi officials cooperation between the two countries and issues of common concern. He will participate in a ministerial meeting with his Gulf Cooperation Council counterparts. The State Department official said Kerry’s visit also will include stops in Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, with meetings on a range of topics, including the ongoing French military intervention in Mali and the impending withdrawal of US military forces from Afghanistan.
Kerry will skip Israel. He had been expected to visit Israel and the West Bank and push for restarting peace talks with the Palestinians ahead of President Obama’s trip to the country next month.
“Given the fact that the government’s coalition negotiations in Israel are still under way,” Nuland said, “the secretary will be traveling there with the president when he visits later in the spring in lieu of making his own separate trip in February to Jerusalem and Ramallah.”
The Feb. 24 to March 6 tour will be highlighted by a diplomatic gathering in Rome of representatives from European and Middle Eastern powers who are supporting opposition forces seeking the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. Leaders of the Syrian Opposition Council are expected to attend the Rome meeting. Kerry also is expected to meet them privately, Nuland said.
Saudi Arabia recalls ambassador to Sri Lanka
Saudi Arabia has recalled its ambassador from Colombo in a tit-for-tat decision amid tensions after a Sri Lankan nanny convicted of murder was beheaded in the kingdom, the official SPA news agency reported.
"Based on the decision by the Sri Lankan government to withdraw its ambassador from the kingdom, the [Saudi] foreign ministry has recalled its ambassador in Sri Lanka for consultations," SPA reported late Tuesday quoting a ministry spokesman.
Tensions between both countries have been strained since the January 9 execution of Sri Lankan maid Rizana Nafeek, who was only 17 when she was charged with smothering a four-month-old baby in Saudi Arabia in 2005.
Nafik was found guilty of smothering the infant in her care after an argument with the child's mother, the Saudi interior ministry said.
Last month, Sri Lanka's Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella announced that women under 25 were now banned from going to Saudi Arabia to work as maids, adding that it was the first step towards a worldwide travel ban for low-paying jobs.
The United States and the United Nations have led international condemnation of the execution.
Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's strict version of sharia, or Islamic law.
In 2012, the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom executed 76 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. The US-based Human Rights Watch put the number at 69.
This year, it has so far beheaded 14 people.
Israel on alert over Palestinian protests
The Israeli army is on high alert ahead of protests expected to be held outside Israel’s Ofer prison, north of al-Quds (Jerusalem), in solidarity with thousands of imprisoned Palestinians.
The army is bracing itself for protests on Friday outside the notorious prison in solidarity with more than 4,000 Palestinians in Israeli detention.
On Wednesday, Palestinian protesters held a demonstration in the West Bank city of Ramallah in solidarity with hunger strikers in Israeli jails.
Israeli troops clashed with Palestinian protesters supporting those on hunger strike in the West Bank town of Huwara on February 19. The troops used teargas and sound bombs to disperse the demonstrators.
Meanwhile, Palestinian inmate Saamer al-Isaawi, who has been on hunger strike for more than 200 days, is expected to appear in court on Thursday.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has voiced deep concern over the dire condition of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails.
Many of the Palestinian prisoners are under Israel’s administrative detention, which is a sort of imprisonment without trial or charge that allows the Tel Aviv regime to incarcerate Palestinians for up to six months. The detention order can be renewed for indefinite periods of time.
Israel’s PM again asks for international action on Iran
Israel is drawing a parallel between North Korea and Iran, saying nuclear proliferation by rogue states could turn the Middle East into a “tinderbox.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says North Korea’s nuclear test last week is a warning to the international community that tougher action is needed to stop Iran from acquiring the atom bomb.
“Have sanctions, tough sanctions, stopped North Korea? No. And the fact that they produced a nuclear explosion reverberates everywhere in the Middle East, and especially in Iran. They say ‘Where’s the world, where’s the international community, where’s the tough response?’ ”
Both Iran and North Korea are under stiff Western sanctions aimed at curbing their nuclear programs. But Netanyahu told Jewish leaders in Jerusalem that Iran will remain defiant unless more is done.
“Sanctions alone will not stop the nuclear program of Iran. They have to be coupled with a robust, credible, military threat.”
Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but Israel and the West believe the Islamic Republic is building atomic weapons that could threaten the existence of the Jewish state.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said over the weekend that Iran is not seeking nuclear weapons, but if it wanted to, no country could stop it from doing so.
The U.S. and some other countries are due to meet Iranian officials in Kazakhstan later this month to discuss Tehran’s nuclear program. The U.N. has placed sanctions on Iran.
Netanyahu has warned that if sanctions and talks fail, Israel might attack Iran’s nuclear facilities on its own.
“The world has to decide whether it allows this terror regime that breaks all norms to have access to atomic bombs.”
The prime minister said Iran will top the agenda when U.S. President Barack Obama visits Israel next month.
US is major recipient of humanitarian aid from UAE
In an attempt to sway Americans’ low and undecided opinions about the United Arab Emirates, the UAE is providing millions of dollars of foreign aid to the US to rebuild schools and donate to nonprofits in storm-ravaged regions.
While the US is the largest provider of foreign aid, the UAE is writing checks for the US to help out where its own government does not provide enough assistance, the Washington Post reports.
“Tell me what you need,” a UAE embassy staffer working in Washington told a school official in Joplin, Mo., where a devastating tornado killed 161 people and destroyed six schools in 2011.
By building soccer fields and schools, donating to hospitals and nonprofit organizations, and helping in the Hurricane Sandy relief effort, the UAE is hoping to gain a better image among Americans.
After a 2006 UAE embassy survey found that 30 percent of American respondents had an unfavorable view of the emirates and 70 percent had no opinion, the country decided to change that. UAE ambassador to the US Yousef al Otaiba in 2008 began an initiative to create favorable opinions of his country among those who remain undecided.
“We had a responsibility to educate Americans about who we are,” Otaiba told the Post. “We have been in Afghanistan with you. We went into Libya. We’re the largest export market for the US in the [Middle East] region.”
But despite being an important American ally, US citizens overwhelmingly know little or nothing about the UAE. So in addition to lending a helping hand abroad, the UAE is bringing its assistance directly into American communities.
“We spot needs and we try to help,” Otaiba told the Post. And wherever the embassy believes financial help is needed, the UAE makes a generous humanitarian donation. During the past two years alone, the UAE government has funded the construction of all weather-artificial turf soccer fields in low-income neighborhoods across Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Chicago – and plans to build three more this year. The embassy also provided 2,200 Joplin children with their own MacBook laptops, spent $5 million to build an intensive-care unit at a Joplin hospital, and provided $150 million to the Washington, DC-based Children’s National Medical Center.
The UAE has also made hefty donations to numerous other hospitals and now plans to donate to food banks. Otaiba has also promised to provide about $5 million to each of the Hurricane Sandy relief efforts in New York and New Jersey.
While other countries primarily donate money to the US to promote their own languages and traditions through programs like study-abroad grants, the UAE has taken an unusual approach by donating millions of dollars to disaster relief and construction efforts that don’t directly benefit the UAE.
And even despite the country’s generous initiatives, some Americans have kept their misconceptions about the predominantly Muslim region. When public schools in Joplin accepted $1.5 million worth of donations, some conservative radio commentators and Joplin residents accused the school system of accepting “Islamic blood money”.
Still, the UAE has not given up its attempt to change American misconceptions – and US organizations continue to receive generous donations from the UAE, while their own government spends money elsewhere.
تنخواہ حلال کر کے کھائیے!
خیرپور سے ایک خیر کی خبر یہ آئی ہے کہ ایک کالج کے اساتذہ نے اپنی تنخواہ حلال کرکے کھانے کا حلف اٹھایا ہے۔ کالج کے پرنسپل نے ان سے یہ حلف لیا کہ وہ روزآنہ کالج آئیں گے اور طلبہ کو پڑھائیں گے۔ چند ماہ قبل اسی کالج کے اساتذہ نے کالج میں امتحانات کے دوران نقل نہ ہونے دینے کا حلف اٹھایا تھا جس کے بعد انٹر کے امتحانات کے دوران اس کالج میں نقل نہ ہونے دی گئی۔ یہ خبر پڑھ کر دل نہ صرف باغ باغ ہوا بلکہ خوشی سے جھوم بھی اٹھا کیونکہ سسٹم پر تنقید کرنا اور اسے برا بھلا کہہ کر ساری ذمہ داریوں سے بری الذمہ ہوجانا تو بڑا آسان ہوتا ہے لیکن اسی سسٹم میں رہتے ہوئے اپنی اصلاح کرنا اور پھر اس پر سختی سے کاربند رہنا انتہائی مشکل کام ہوتا ہے۔ جب قدم قدم پر مختلف قسم کی مافیاؤں نے اپنے پنجے گاڑے ہوئے ہوں تو اپنے تئیں انتہائی ایماندار ہونے کے باجود ثابت قدم رہنا اور ہر طرح کی دھمکیوں کا سامنا کرنا ایک مقدس جہاد سے کم نہیں ہوتا۔ اگر دیکھا جائے تو کالج کے اساتذہ کو جو مشاہرہ دیا جاتا ہے وہ اتنا کم ہوتا ہے کہ اگر اسے مرغی سے تشبیہ دی جائے تو غلط نہ ہوگا اور اس کے مقابلے میں وزراء اور مشیروں کو جو کچھ ملتا ہے اگر اسے بکرے سے تشبیہ دی جائے تو بھی غلط نہ ہوگا ۔ اب اگر ایک کالج کے اساتذہ اپنے مرغی حلال کرکے کھا سکتے ہیں تو پھر ان حضرات کو بھی اپنا بکرا حلال کرکے کھانا چاہئے اور ایمانداری سے اپنے فرائض انجام دینے چاہئیں۔ وفاقی اور صوبائی کابینہ کو بھی ایسا ہی حلف اٹھانے کی اشد ضرورت ہے۔ کچھ عہدے ایسے بھی ہوتے ہیں جہاں خدمات کے عوض بیل جتنی تنخواہ پیش کی جاتی ہے، اس بیل کو حلال کرکے کھانا اکیلے ان کے لئے انتہائی مشکل کام ہوگا چنانچہ ایسے لوگوں کو اپنے بیل کے حصہ داروں کو بھی سمجھانا ہوگا تاکہ حق حلال کی کھانے کی عبادت میں وہ بھی شامل ہو سکیں۔ یہ خبر ایک چھوٹی سی مثال ہے کہ معاشرے میں پائی جانے والی خرابیوں پر رونے اور کڑھنے کے بجائے انفرادی سطح پر قدم اٹھا کر بھی کچھ نہ کچھ اصلاح کی جانب جایا جا سکتا ہے، جب ہم انفرادی سطح پر ایسی سوچ کو فروغ دیں گے تو بدی کے پیروکاروں کے قدم ضرور لڑکھڑائیں گے۔۔۔ بس ضرورت ہے اپنے اوپر اعتماد اور تھوڑی سی ثابت قدمی کی۔۔۔!!
بیٹیوں کی شخصیت سازی میں باپ کا کردار
| بیٹیوں کی شخصیت سازی میں ماوٴں کے مقابلے میں باپ کا زیادہ اثر دکھائی دیتا ہے۔باپ کا رویہ بیٹی کے طرز عمل پر حاوی رہتا ہے ۔ ایسے مرد جو گھریلو کام کاج میں زیادہ وقت دیتے ہیں ان کی بیٹیاں گھر سے باہر کام کرتے وقت زیادہ پراعتماد طریقے سے اپنے فرائض کو پورا کرتی ہیں، انہیں کسی قسم کے صنفی مسائل کا سامنا بھی نہیں کرنا پڑتا۔ وہ اپنے دفاتر میں پر عزم دکھائی دیتی ہیں، ان کاوژن انتہائی زیادہ بلند ہوتا ہے اور ان کی صنفی معاملات میں زیادہ دلچسپی نہیں ہوتی۔ تاہم ایسے باپ جوروایتی خیالات کے حامل ہیں، گھر کے امور میں زیادہ دلچسپی کا مظاہرہ نہیں کرتے۔ بیٹے یا بیٹی سے برتاوٴ میں بھی یکساں سلوک نہیں کرتے اور سمجھتے ہیں کہ بیٹی کو گھر کے اندر ہی گڑیوں اور باربی ڈول سے کھیلنا چاہیے اور اسے گلابی ملبوس تک ہی محدود رہنا چاہیے تو ان کی بیٹیوں کوباہر کی دنیا میں کافی مسائل کا سامنا کرنا پڑتا ہے ، صنفی مسائل کا بھی شکار ہوتی ہیں۔ وہ زیادہ تر بیرونی دنیا سے کٹی رہتی ہیں۔ انہیں مردوں کے درمیان کام کرتے ہوئے بھی کئی مشکلات کا سامنا کرنا پڑتا ہے۔ حالیہ تحقیق سے ظاہر ہوتا ہے کہ بچے کے رویے پر باپ کی ذہنی حالت اثر انداز ہوتی ہے۔ دوستانہ برتاوٴ اور گھریلو امور میں عمل دخل کرنے والے والد بیٹی کی شخصیت پر زیادہ اثر انداز ہوتے ہیں۔ اس سے قبل تحقیق میں بھی کہا گیا تھا کہ بچوں کی شخصیت سازی پر باپ کا زیادہ اثر ہوتا ہے۔ اکثر عورتیں گھریلو کام کاج میں او رمرد باہر کے کاموں میں مصروف رہتے ہیں۔بچے کی اوائل عمری میں ماں کی شخصیت کا ان پر زیادہ اثر ہوتا ہے جبکہ بیٹیوں کی بلوغت کی زندگی میں باپ کا زیادہ اثر دیکھا گیا ہے۔ بیٹیوں کی نسبت بیٹے باپ کی شخصیت کو اپنے اوپر حاوی نہیں ہونے دیتے۔سائنسدان کہتے ہیں کہ بیٹیاں باپ کی شخصیت سے بہت اثر لیتی ہیں کیونکہ وہ گھر میں اسے سب سے اعلیٰ اتھارٹی اور اپنی زندگی کارول ماڈل سمجھتی ہیں۔ اپنی شخصیت میں بہتری کے اہم نکات بیٹیاں اپنے باپ سے ہی سیکھتی اور سمجھتی ہیں کہ ایک لڑکی کو کسی طرح کا طرز عمل اختیار کرنا چاہیے۔ وہ اپنے باپ کی زندگی کی مثال سامنے رکھتی ہیں جن سے خواتین متاثر ہوتیں ہیں۔ تحقیق میں یہ بھی بتایا گیا کہ جو خواتین نوکری کرتی ہیں ان پر گھر کا بوجھ مردوں کی نسبت پھر بھی زیادہ ہوتا ہے، بچے کے ساتھ کھیلنے یا سکھانے کے عمل میں باپ ہمیشہ دھیما اور مثبت رویہ رکھتے ہیں جب کہ ماؤں کا رویہ معاون اور حکم دینے والا ہوتاہے۔ بیٹیوں کے رویے کی پختگی میں باپ کا کردار ماں کے مقابلے میں بہت اہم ہے۔ باپ کارویہ اس بات کی عکاسی کرتا ہے کہ ان کی بیٹی کس طرح کے کھیلوں میں دلچسپی لیتی ہے۔جو بیٹیاں باپ سے متاثرہ ہوتی ہیں وہ ٹرانسفارمر کے کھلونے کو باربی ڈول سمجھ کر کھیلتی ہیں۔ | |
Bangladesh's parliament moves to ban Jamaat-e-Islami
The Bangladeshi parliament has amended the country's war crimes law, allowing the prosecution of the largest Islamic party - Jamaat-e-Islami.
News of the move was greeted by loud cheers from thousands of protesters in central Dhaka who have been demanding a ban on Jamaat, whose leaders are on trial for war crimes allegedly committed in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.
Law minister Shafique Ahmed told AFP that under the new law “any organisation including Jamaat can be prosecuted” by a special court for war crimes and if found guilty “it can be banned” from politics.
Previously only individuals could be prosecuted for war crimes.
“It’s one step towards banning Jamaat,” deputy law minister Qamrul Islam told AFP.
The move comes after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday indicated that she would back a ban on Jamaat, whose members are suspected in the murder of an anti-Islamist blogger, as it had “no right to be in politics in free Bangladesh”.
The decision could see a ban on the party. Some of the party's leaders are on trial for war crimes allegedly committed in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.
Tens of thousands of protestors on the streets of central Dhaka, demanding the ban, have welcomed the news. Meanwhile clashes between police and Jamaat-e-Islami supporters, have left at least one man dead.
Bangladesh plans to ban Jamaat-e-Islami
The Bangladeshi parliament has amended the country's war crimes law, allowing the prosecution of the largest Islamic party - Jamaat-e-Islami.
News of the move was greeted by loud cheers from thousands of protesters in central Dhaka who have been demanding a ban on Jamaat, whose leaders are on trial for war crimes allegedly committed in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.
Law minister Shafique Ahmed told AFP that under the new law “any organisation including Jamaat can be prosecuted” by a special court for war crimes and if found guilty “it can be banned” from politics.
Previously only individuals could be prosecuted for war crimes.
“It’s one step towards banning Jamaat,” deputy law minister Qamrul Islam told AFP.
The move comes after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday indicated that she would back a ban on Jamaat, whose members are suspected in the murder of an anti-Islamist blogger, as it had “no right to be in politics in free Bangladesh”.
The decision could see a ban on the party. Some of the party's leaders are on trial for war crimes allegedly committed in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.
Tens of thousands of protestors on the streets of central Dhaka, demanding the ban, have welcomed the news. Meanwhile clashes between police and Jamaat-e-Islami supporters, have left at least one man dead.
Sri Lanka hardline group calls for halal boycott.
Sri Lanka's Buddhist monks have launched a campaign to boycott Islamic halal-slaughtered meat amid mounting religious tensions in the country.
Sri Lanka's nationalist Buddhist monks have launched a campaign to boycott Islamic halal-slaughtered meat amid mounting religious tensions in the ethnically divided nation.
Thousands of men and women led by hundreds of monks of the Bodu Bala Sena, or Buddhist Force, staged a rally outside Colombo to announce the boycott.
Buddhist monk Kirama Wimala Jothi has urged Sri Lanka's non-Muslim majority to boycott any product with the halal label and asked the government to outlaw Islamic clerics issuing such certification.
"More than 90 percent of the population are Buddhists, Hindus and Christian and therefore there is no justification to force them to eat halal products," he said.
The monks are demanding shops clear their stocks of halal food by April.
Halal killing requires the slitting of an animal's throat.
The issue has raised new tensions in a country emerging from nearly four decades of ethnic strife, which the UN estimates has claimed at least 100,000 lives.
The rally has come less than three weeks after President Mahinda Rajapakse urged monks not to incite religious hatred and violence amid reports of a wave of attacks targeting Muslims.
The Buddhist Force has disassociated itself with violence saying that there have been "duplicate groups" pretending to be them and stirring up trouble.
Less than 10 per cent of Sri Lanka's population of 20 million people are Muslims.
Sri Lanka ended its 37-year Tamil separatist war in May 2009 with the crushing of Tamil rebels, who were mainly Hindus.
Hindus constitute about 12 per cent of the population.
Plan for Muslim cemetery rejected
After residents voiced strong opposition to a proposed Islamic cemetery in a rural part of unincorporated Bullitt County, the county's Board of Adjustments voted 4-1 to deny the request to loud applause from the crowd of more than 110.
The Louisville Islamic Center had requested a conditional-use zoning change to buy 10 acres of land near Mount Washington and build a cemetery. The land is currently zoned agricultural.
Some residents cited traffic concerns on narrow Hubbard Lane and expressed no malice to the Islamic faith.
Others expressed concern about environmental issues associated with Islamic burial traditions, which typically involve no caskets or vaults. Some feared vandalism from those opposed to Islam.
Several told the board the board the United States was built on Christian principles and that the Islamic Center should go where it is more welcome.
School principal threatened over class on history of Islam
The Collectif contre l'Islamophobie en France reports that the Notre-Dame Catholic primary school at Saint-Mihiel, in the la Meuse department of Lorraine in north-eastern France, has been subjected to a campaign of Islamophobic harassment.
In late December, as part of the French national curriculum which requires pupils to receive a basic grounding in the history of the three main monotheistic faiths, the school taught a class on the origins of Islam, just as it does on those of Christianity and Judaism. A handout that included quotations from the Qur'an and named the architectural features of a mosque was given to students.
Early in January the principal of Notre-Dame, Christelle Lainet, was accosted in the schoolyard by the mother of one of the pupils. Apparently unable to distinguish between proselytism and the transmission of knowledge, as the CCIF puts it, the parent vehemently objected to her offspring being taught about Islam, using what Lainet described as "very racist" language. The father then paid a visit to Lainet at her office, expressing similarly extreme views and demanding the right to withdraw his child from the course on Islam, which Lainet agreed to.
The CCIF expresses its full support for Lainet in face of the harassment to which she has been subjected. They note that Muslims are not the only victims of Islamophobia and that this hateful ideology "threatens the whole of society", because it divides citizens and undermines the tolerance and respect for others that are the foundations of coexistence.
Man who left pig's head outside Muslim place of worship escapes jail
An office worker who left a severed pig's head outside a Muslim place of worship on Boxing Day has been spared jail.
Liam Ferrar was sentenced to 12 weeks' imprisonment, suspended for a year, after a court heard he was disgusted by his actions and had written a letter of apology to his victims.
Ferrar, 24, of Leicester, pleaded guilty last month to causing religiously aggravated harassment after leaving the frozen pig's head on the steps of the city's Thurnby Lodge community centre.
Sentencing Ferrar at Leicester magistrates court, the district judge John Temperley described the offence as being "to some extent planned, premeditated and targeted".
He told Ferrar: "You were well aware of the significance of your actions. You knew that what you did would cause great distress, indeed that was your intention."
The court heard that Ferrar was under the influence of alcohol when he placed the pig's head – which had been stored in a freezer for several months – in an area where it could not be avoided by adults and children arriving for prayers.
Stressing that the offence had taken place against a background of protests over the community centre's use as a place of worship, Temperley added: "It is easy to imagine the shock, distress and disgust [those who discovered the pig's head] would have felt.
"The witnesses statements I have read bear testimony to the serious impact of your actions, but the harm you caused goes further. Others in the local community and beyond would also have been affected when news of this incident spread, prompting profound alarm, fear and insecurity.
"It should have been obvious that what you did was intimidatory and would only serve to inflame an already tense and volatile situation."
Suspending the 12-week prison term because of Ferrar's personal mitigation, including his previous good character, the district judge accepted that the defendant regularly gave his time and energy to local good causes.
"The character references I have read do you great credit. I also accept that you have demonstrated genuine remorse and regret for your actions. You co-operated with the police and pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity," Temperley said.
He ordered Ferrar to complete 250 hours of unpaid community work and to pay £85 in costs.
Louise Cox, prosecuting, told the court that a group calling itself Forgotten Estates had stepped up protests at the community centre last summer.
The defence solicitor Stephen Morris said the protest group, of which Ferrar was a member, aimed to highlight the lack of facilities in the Thurnby Lodge area.
Claiming that his client had chosen to distance himself from Forgotten Estates in September last year, Morris said: "The behaviour by Mr Ferrar on this occasion is out of character – he is not somebody who displays racist tendencies."
Case of Quetta tragedy lodged after 30-hour delay
The case of one of Pakistan's worst bomb blasts in Quetta has been registered 30 hours after the tragic incident, said police.
According to police, the FIR of the remote controlled bomb blast at Karani Road on Saturday has been registered.
It may be noted here that the massive explosion executed through a remote controlled devise killed 83 people including women and children and injured over 180 injured.
No One is serious in holding talks. Maulana Samiul Haq
Jamiat Ulema-I-Islam (S) chief Maulana Samiul Haq has said that neither the Taliban nor the Awami National Party (ANP) are serious in holding talks.
Speaking to media after attending multi-party conference organized by the ANP on Thursday, he said conferences and Fatwas would not help resolving the issue of terrorism.
He said his party supported the Taliban for their struggle against occupation forces, adding that negotiations should be held between the militia and the government without any pre-condition.
The cleric said US President Barrack Obama had announced to end war in Afghanistan and Pakistan should also do so, a reference to Obama’s announcement to reduce US troops in Afghanistan.
Australian Party candidate rejects halal meat, doesn't want his money to 'go to the Muslim community'
A candidate for Bob Katter's fledgling political party declared his preference for buying ''guaranteed non-halal meat'' so his money does not ''go to the Muslim community''.
Jamie Cavanough, who is standing for Katter's Australian Party in Sydney's most marginal federal seat, Greenway, is under fire for the apparently divisive comments he made to a community forum in one of the city's most ethnically diverse areas.
Katter's Australian Party played down the comments on Friday, describing them as a non-issue.
Mr Cavanough made his comments on Saturday, less than a fortnight after controversy in the Greenway community over plans for a supposed Muslim enclave, dubbed ''Halal housing'', in Riverstone.
Mr Cavanough posted on the Riverstone Community Group forum, which has 732 members on Facebook: ''Can anyone advise me where I can buy Guaranteed NON halal lamb for Australia day.''
When a forum user suggested he might try a butcher, Mr Cavanough replied: ''have not asked yet, just wondering if anyone new [sic] of any, I would prefer to always buy non halal as proceeds of halal goes to the Muslim community.''
And in a separate post, Mr Cavanough called on people to sign a petition against a supposed plan by the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, to scrap the name Australia Day in favour of Harmony Day, saying ''the Muslim church is in favour of this''. The Prime Minister's office confirmed there was no such proposal.
Mr Cavanough told Fairfax Media he was simply looking for a better deal on meat and his comments were not racially motivated.
''In my view, and it's not the view of any party, I want to be able to purchase a product that has not been faced to a god that I don't believe in and blessed,'' he said.
Another Nazi graffiti attack on a French mosque
The Collectif contre l'Islamophobie en France reports that there has been yet another fascist graffiti attack on a French mosque, this time at Provins in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. On Saturday morning worshippers found six red swastikas sprayed on the walls and doors of the building. The CCIF points out that this follows a similar attack only a week ago at Ozoir-La-Ferrière.
French interior minister Manuel Valls has issued a statement condemning the incident and declaring his support for the Muslim community, but the CCIF dismisses this as just words, when what is needed is action. They add that Valls himself, with his expulsion of preachers, his talk of the Republic's "essential struggle" against the veil, and his treatment of French Muslims as the enemy within, has helped to legitimise Islamophobic acts.
New Zealand MP: Ban Muslims from flights
New Zealand First MP Richard Prosser has spoken out in defence of his "Wogistan" rant which has been slammed as racist by Muslim leaders and politicians.
In a column for Investigate Magazine, the Waimakariri list MP suggested young Muslims shouldn't be allowed to travel on Western airlines because "most terrorists are Muslims".
"If you are a young male, aged between say about 19 and about 35, and you're a Muslim, or you look like a Muslim, or you come from a Muslim country, then you are not welcome to travel on any of the West's airlines," he wrote.
Prime Minister John Key was "appalled" by the comments, while the New Zealand Muslim Association called them "senseless".
But in an interview with Newstalk ZB's political editor Barry Soper, Mr Prosser stood by his controversial stance.
He denied that the use of "Wogistan" was racist, citing mentions of it being a "mythical place", which could even have been "a real place".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)