Thanks to ACT for America, Barry Rubin, C. Cantoni, Holger Danske, Insubria, JD, Nilk, Steen, TB, The Observer, VH, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Details are below the fold.
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CAIR Asks Republican Candidates to ‘Avoid Divisive Islamophobic Rhetoric’
(WASHINGTON D.C., 9/3/08) — A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today called on John McCain and Sarah Palin to ‘avoid divisive Islamophobic rhetoric’ and instead offer ‘inclusive’ addresses at this week’s GOP convention in Minnesota.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said Sen. McCain and his supporters have in the past used rhetoric that many American Muslims believe serves to marginalize religious minorities, particularly Muslims.
Just today at the Republican National Convention, former House majority leader Dick Armey said Barack Obama’s “funny name” could “give people concerns that he could be or have been too much influenced by Muslims, which is a great threat now.”…
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Mosque Community Building Gets Approval
Leaders of the Orland Park Prayer Center can move forward with plans for a three-story community building near the mosque on 104th Avenue.
The village board on Tuesday night unanimously approved the plans. Trustees James Dodge and Bernard Murphy were absent.
The attorney for the mosque was on hand along with the architect for the project but neither spoke. The plan commission approved the preliminary plans in August.
Unlike when the mosque was proposed in 2004 and drew much public opposition, no one objected Tuesday night to the 19,600-square-foot building that will be used for religious education classes, dinners, guest speakers, meetings of the center’s board and other events. It will be constructed on land annexed into Orland Park in January. The mosque’s expanded parking lot recently was completed.
| — Hat tip: Holger Danske | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Had Close Ties to Top Saudi Adviser at Early Age
by Kenneth R. Timmerman
New evidence has emerged that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was closely associated as early as age 25 to a key adviser to a Saudi billionaire who had mentored the founding members of the Black Panthers.
In a videotaped interview this year on New York’s all news cable channel NY1, a prominent African-American businessman and political figure made the curious disclosures about Obama. (See Video Clip Below)
Percy Sutton, the former borough president of Manhattan, off-handedly revealed the unusual circumstances about his first encounter with the young Obama.
“I was introduced to (Obama) by a friend who was raising money for him,” Sutton told NY1 city hall reporter Dominic Carter.
“The friend’s name is Dr. Khalid al-Mansour, from Texas,” Sutton said. “He is the principal adviser to one of the world’s richest men. He told me about Obama.”
Sutton, the founder of Inner City Broadcasting, said al-Mansour contacted him to ask a favor: Would Sutton write a letter in support of Obama’s application to Harvard Law School?
“He wrote to me about him,” Sutton recalled. “And his introduction was there is a young man that has applied to Harvard. I know that you have a few friends up there because you used to go up there to speak. Would you please write a letter in support of him?”
Sutton said he acted on his friend al-Mansour’s advice.
“I wrote a letter of support of him to my friends at Harvard, saying to them I thought there was a genius that was going to be available and I certainly hoped they would treat him kindly,” Sutton told NY1.
Sutton did not say why al-Mansour was helping Obama, how he discovered him, or from whom he was raising money on Obama’s behalf.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Talking With Muslim Republicans
NEW YORK — If it’s been hard for American Muslim supporters of Barack Obama to hear right wing “accusations” that he’s a “secret Muslim” — and to feel that the Obama campaign keeps them at arm’s length — imagine how it feels to be an American Muslim Republican.
“The last 8 years have been truly distressing,” said Dr. Hesham A. Hassaballa, a physician and writer. “The Bush Administration has destroyed the Republican brand, misled us into a war that should never have been waged, and has served the privileged few at the expense of the many.”
“I am truly having an identity crisis as a Muslim Republican. I really don’t want to abandon the party, but I really feel the party has abandoned me,” he said…
| — Hat tip: Holger Danske | [Return to headlines] |
US Girl Fasting First Ramadan After Converting to Islam
19 year-old Ashley Mountasir Mountasir became curious about Islam when she watched her Muslim boyfriend Taha fast during the holy month of Ramadan two years ago.
When Mountasir met Taha, 23, two years ago through friends, she didn’t know he was Muslim until she asked him why he was fasting. She was nominally Catholic but never connected with Catholicism and rarely attended Mass, reported the Press-Enterprise.
Murrieta woman was Catholic at the time but in June she converted to Islam. On Monday, the first full day of Ramadan, she fasted with her now-husband Taha for the first time.
Mountasir asked Taha, and his mother, Nafissa Larson, many questions, first about Ramadan and then about Islam in general. The more she learned, the more questions she asked.
She began to attend prayer services at the mosque occasionally.
“Every time I came to the mosque, I felt at peace with myself,” she said. “I felt happy. Every time I went inside a church, I felt tension.”
The Press-Enterprise said that Ashley and Taha Mountasir married in October. She converted in June. She said her husband never pressured her to convert. In Islam, conversion is simple: recognizing that Allah is the only deity and that Mohammed is his messenger…
| — Hat tip: Holger Danske | [Return to headlines] |
US Mega-Mosques: Muslim Tradition With US Convenience
WASHINGTON (AFP) — As Islam makes inroads in the United States, American Muslims are setting up mega-mosques that combine religious tradition with typical American convenience.
Modelled on the huge, non-Catholic churches that offer their congregations of at least 2,000 members several different sites for worship, US mega-mosques have become a necessity in some places.
“Frequently, we have buildings designed for the Friday prayer, which is the largest, for 1,000 people and you have 2,000 to 3,000 show up,” said Corey Saylor of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).
To accommodate the overflow, which also results in traffic jams when prayer is over, US Muslim congregations have set up satellite places of worship, again following the lead of the Christian mega-churches.
That is just one way in which US mega-mosques are decidedly American.
They also offer worshippers a progressive form of Islam, in line with the profile and desires of many Muslim Americans.
| — Hat tip: Holger Danske | [Return to headlines] |
EC OK’s Gypsy Camp Census
Fingerprinting, other measures ‘not discriminatory’
(ANSA) — Brussels, September 4 — Italy’s census of illegal gypsy camps does not discriminate against the Roma community, the European Commission said on Thursday.
The census is in line with European Union law, the EC said.
An analysis of an Italian report on the census showed it did not seek ‘‘data based on ethnic origin or religion,’’ said Michele Cercone, spokesman for European Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot.
A controversial fingerprinting programme has the sole aim of ‘‘identifying persons who cannot be identified in any other way,’’ he said.
The fingerprinting of minors was only being carried out ‘‘in strictly necessary cases and as the ultimate possibility of identification,’’ Cercone said. Rome had worked with Rome to ‘‘correct measures that could give rise to protests,’’ he said..
Barrot will continue to monitor how the survey is being implemented and what its results are, Cercone said.
Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni launched the scheme this summer to clean up camps and get a picture of who was living in them by fingerprinting occupants including children.
Maroni, a leading member of the rightwing Northern League, has consistently defended himself from charges of discriminating against Roma.
He has insisted the census was not aimed against any specific ethnic group or spurred by a wave of crime-linked anti-immigrant feeling.
The fingerprinting campaign has been slammed by the European parliament, human rights groups and the Romanian government.
In the face of protests, Italy agreed with the European Union to make sure the scheme complied with human rights norms. It also announced it would require all Italian citizens to have their prints put on ID cards starting in 2010.
But the Council of Europe (CE), Europe’s rights body, said last month that Italian politicians had lacked ‘‘the moral leadership’’ to face down the kind of anti-gypsy sentiment that led to incidents such as the torching of camps in Naples in June.
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has defended the scheme as a means of helping Roma integrate as well as stopping gypsies forcing their children to beg and steal.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU: Denmark Must Solve Its Own Problems
The Danish government must be willing to compromise in its immigration legislation.
The European Commission has privately told the Danish government that Denmark is going to have to solve its own problems surrounding the insecurity that has arisen in its immigration legislation, according to Berlingske Tidende
According to the report, the Commission has sent senior civil servants to Copenhagen several times in recent weeks to consult with the Danish government on how it can solve the immigration quandary it finds itself in.
Compromise
At the same time, EU civil servants have stressed that the Danish government must be ready to compromise in its legislation in order to solve the current problems, according to high-ranking sources in the EU Commission.
The EU has directly warned Denmark against attempting to have the disputed EU Directive regarding the free mobility of EU citizens in Europe changed. The directive is at the centre of the current Danish controversy.
“You can paint a house another colour, but it’s still the same house,” a centrally placed source tells Berlingske Tidende…
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Eurotrashing Free Speech
How some Europeans and the U.N. are helping Islamists undermine freedom.
By Clifford D. May
In Europe, free speech may end with neither a bang nor a whimper — but with a lawyerly assist.
It was three years ago this month that the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, published twelve editorial cartoons satirizing Islamist terrorism. Some Muslim organizations objected. Protests were organized. Danish embassies in Syria, Lebanon, and Iran were set ablaze. Dozens of people were killed. The cartoonists and their editors received death threats from such characters as Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza.
Kurt Westergaard is the artist who drew the most iconic and controversial cartoon: He depicted Mohammed with his turban turned into a bomb, its fuse lit. His message was clear: Here is how Mohammed appears to those who learn about Islam from suicide bombers. Westergaard is neither apologetic nor regretful. But he has said as clearly as he can that his drawing was aimed “at fanatic Islamist terrorists — a small part of Islam.”
Westergaard has required police protection ever since. Last year he had to leave his home after Danish intelligence learned of a “concrete” assassination plot. Earlier this year, he also was forced to leave the hotel in which he had been staying because he posed “too much of a security risk” to other guests and staff.
And then, in June, a “prosecutor general” in Jordan — a Muslim nation usually described as moderate — issued a subpoena demanding Westergaard face a lawsuit in an Amman courtroom.
The 73-year-old cartoonist does not plan to submit. He said that although it ought to be obvious that “my problem is with terrorists not Muslims,” people are free to interpret his work as they wish. “Disagreement is very important and if we disagree,” he told a reporter, “it does not mean that we have to sue each other and kill each other.”
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
EU-Tunisia: Seminar in Gorizia on Free Trade Accord
(ANSAmed) — GORIZIA, MAY 7 — ‘Free Trade Accord Between the European Union and the Republic of Tunisia’: this is the title of a seminar on the economic relations between the EU and Tunisia which will be held tomorrow and on May 8 at the University of Gorizia, at the degree course in International and Diplomatic Studies. It is taking shape as “the first serious reflection carried out in Italy and, perhaps, in the European Union on the consequences brought about by the establishment that took place of the free trade area between the EU and the countries of the southern coast of the Mediterranean. The event scheduled for 2010 has been launched in full accord between the parties with about two years in advance between the EU and the Republic of Tunisia,” a statement reads. The accord is particularly important, most of all as regards the trade of industrial products. For as long as twenty years, or since the time of the rise in power of Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, Europés interest towards Tunisia has gradually increased in time. “In particular, France and Italy and their state-owned and private enterprises have developed investment policies in the territory and in the various economic sectors, apt to creating an assistance system between the two productive wholes, with the aim of being able to jointly carry out an industrial and commercial policy capable of confronting the other economies of the productive systems of the rest of the world, nowadays more than ever particularly equipped on the level of supply at definitely competitive prices,” the statement specified. On behalf of Tunisia attending the meeting, which will be held under the auspices of chairman of the Chamber of Advisers of Tunisia Abdallah Kallel, will be Abdelwahab El Bahi, chairman of the Tunisian mediation and arbitration centre, and Habib Mastouri, chairman of ‘The Mediterranean Dialogue’. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Four Out of 10 Offenders Commit Fresh Crimes Just After Being Released From Prison, New Figures Reveal
The number of crimes committed by serial offenders who have just left prison or begun a community punishment has leapt to more than half a million a year, latest figures show.
Ministry of Justice data shows almost four out of 10 are convicted of a fresh crime within 12 months — equivalent to 155,000 criminals a year — not including the fast-growing numbers being let off by police with a caution or on-the-spot fine instead of being charged.
The proportion of juvenile criminals who are reconvicted rose year-on-year, and the Government has missed its target of cutting numbers by five per cent from 2000 to 2006.
The disturbing figures, exposing the full extent of so-called ‘revolving door’ justice, emerged as one of Britain’s most senior police officers warned that Labour policies had gravely undermined confidence in the criminal justice system, both among the public and police themselves. […]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
France: Little Confidence in Govt on Purchasing Power, Poll
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, AUGUST 25 — Frenchmen have little confidence in their government as regards the growth of the purchasing power. According to a poll published by regional daily Ouest France, among the most popular in the country, a total 82% of the French say they have little or no confidence in the policies in this regard. They do not have more confidence as regards the attitude of the government concerning other themes of the current political debate such as reduction of the taxes (with 71% of the polled who do not have confidence), fight against poverty (72%), fight against unemployment (62%) and immigrants’ integration (59%). They trust in the government as regards the fight for security (38% are sceptical) and environment protection (45%). At global level the majority of the polled people, 67%, say they are pessimistic and only 33% are optimistic. In December 2007, according to a similar poll published by Ouest France, the optimists were 20% more. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Lashes Out at ‘Anti-Islamic’ Germany Meeting
The Foreign Ministry has urged France as the current EU president to block what Teheran described as an “anti-Islamic” gathering in Germany later this month, Iran’s state radio reported on Thursday.
The radio said a top French diplomat in Teheran was summoned to the ministry to hear Iran’s complaint over the “growth of anti-Islamic sentiments in Europe.”
The report refered to an Anti-Islamification conference by a small right-wing organization [Pro Köln] of about 400 members, due on September 19 in Cologne.
The right-wingers have petitioned against the construction of a mosque in the German city and against what they call the “Islamization” of Europe — not the existence of Islam.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Iranian Students Take Dutch State to Court
Iranian students in the Netherlands are not satisfied with the government’s explanation of stricter sanctions aimed at Iran. As of 1 July they have been excluded from taking certain courses and visiting certain places if Iran could make use of these to develop nuclear weaponry. The students say this is discrimination and are going to court to prove it.
The restrictions are based on a two-year-old United Nations resolution. Resolution 1737 obliges UN member states to ensure that certain sensitive information cannot find its way to Iran.
Behnam Taebi, spokesman for the Iranian students, says the Netherlands has put its own interpretation on the UN’s intentions:
“It’s not the resolution we object to. It’s the Dutch government’s interpretation. I would like to point out that the resolution dates from almost two years ago and says nothing about excluding students or about a master’s degree.
The cabinet is assuming that students here intend to pass on information to Iran and that the type of information in a master’s course — fairly fundamental, basic information — could be of use to the Iranian nuclear programme. These are two assumptions the cabinet will have to defend.”…
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Massive Weapons Haul in Amsterdam
Police have discovered what they describe as the biggest haul of illegal weapons in recent years, the public prosecution department said on Thursday.
Some 165 guns including new Glock pistols, 7,000 rounds of ammunition, silencers and laser-sights were seized in a commercial property in the district of Amsterdam Oud-West.
Computers, mobile phones and €20,000 in cash was also taken.
The raid follows a tip-off from Irish police who are investigating a criminal organisation involved with illegal weapon and drugs trading, and cigarette smuggling, the department said.
The Dutch police immediately raided three addresses in Amsterdam and one in Zaandam.
Three men and a woman, aged between 27 and 53, have been arrested in connection with the discovery. No further details have been released as to their identities. The four people arrested are due to appear in court in Rotterdam on Friday.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Norway: Academic Posts Reserved for Women
Minister for Research and Higher Education, Tora Aasland, is willing to break European rules by reintroducing academic positions reserved for women.
Tora Aasland plans to discriminate in favour of women, in order to promote sex equality in academia.
Aasland confirmed that next year’s national budget will contain money earmarked academic posts reserved for women, during an annual lecture at the University of Oslo.
She pointed out that women still have far to go before they can compete on equal terms with men in academia, particularly in science and technology subjects.
“We used this method in the 1990’s and I believe that this is why we had so many women doing post-doctoral work when the scheme was ended in 2003. I hope that earmarked funds will be a useful tool,” says Aasland.
The last scheme was stopped because the EFTA court, whose rulings apply to members of the European Economic Area, banned the allocation of professor’s jobs according to sex. As a result of this the new scheme will focus on short-term positions, such as Ph.D and post-doctoral jobs.
Aasland says that the Government will continue to lobby the EU in order to lift the ban against allocating professorships specifically to women.
| — Hat tip: The Observer | [Return to headlines] |
Open Asylum Centres Are Full
The open refugee centres in Belgium are full and overflowing. According to the daily ‘Het Belang Van Limburg,’ they have to refuse some 50 new asylum seekers every day.
The problem dates to October 2007.. The Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Fedasil) reported problems housing all the people who had requested asylum in Belgium. The Asylum Seekers Act which entered into force on May 7th, 2007, for the first time stipulated clear rules on the reception of asylum seekers.
The two main changes that were instituted are: material support during the entire asylum procedure and the introduction of a reception in steps. In principle asylum seekers should be given shelter from the very first day they file their request.
The situation has become more and more problematic. Spokeswoman of Fedasil Mieke Candaele confirms that asylum seekers are being turned away. “The numbers are rising every day,” she says.
“We ask people to look for a solution themselves- whether it’s staying with family or friends, or we try to offer them alternatives. We ask them to come back the following day, in the hope that we can find something more suitable for them.”
Fedasil is asking the asylum centres to create more space, temporarily, by using vacant buildings, for example. The Federal Agency of Asylum Seekers also requests that asylum seekers who have valid papers leave the asylum centres within two months in order to create space for the newcomers.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Sarkozy Gives Assad Letter From Noam Shalit to His Son Gilad
French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday passed a letter from Noam Shalit, the father of captured Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, to Syrian President Bashar Assad, officials from Sarkozy’s office said.
The officials, who were speaking anonymously in accordance with presidential policy, said the letter from Noam Shalit is to be handed over to the emir of Qatar, who is to pass it to Khaled Meshal, the Damascus-based leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Gilad Shalit has been held captive by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip for two years. […]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Staged Hunger Strikes [Translated by VH]
The recent reportage on the VRT [Belgium TV channel] about the network behind the hunger strikes of refugees and asylum seekers creates nervousness and irritated comments from all directions. Within the government, by the Immigration Service and the “Action Committees”.
The recent actions are not spontaneous, but are perfectly organized and directed. There is a well-oiled organization behind it, which leases premises, which provides doctors, makes appointments with police and politicians, and makes a stooge of the media, which delivers an army of lawyers to prolong the proceedings and to negotiate with the Minister.
The reportage, partly filmed with a hidden camera, proves exactly what the Flemish Interest already says for many months. Hunger strikes pay. That is also evident from the recorded statement by an Immigration official. And the asylum seekers are fully aware of it. It is even recommended to them in a real manual. “After more than 50 days (of hunger strike) and on condition that you are already well taken down: a residence permit for 9 months or a year”…
Freddy Roosemont — Director of Immigration — reacts shocked at the way things go: “So first locations are organised and guidance arranged, and thereafter the people are selected to fill the places in a church or elsewhere. If it continues like this, they’ll soon be able to even sell those places”… it’s too crazy for words and a downright shame indeed. The Action Committees and lawyers are playing games with the lives of asylum seekers and also try to squander it under the flag of humanity.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: a Newspaper Blog for Ramadan
The second largest Swedish daily newspaper, Svenska Dagbladet, has launched a Ramadan blog, where three practising Muslim bloggers — a policeman, a student, and a lawyer — reflect on everyday life throughout the Holy Month. Subjects span the high and low in an attempt to portray what it means to be Muslim in Swedish society today.
As Iftar — the daily breaking of the fast during the Muslim month of Ramadan — is quickly approaching, Swedish society is reflecting on how to adapt to the traditions of “new Swedes”, and are making their own efforts to celebrate and mark Muslim holidays.
The second largest Swedish daily newspaper, Svenska Dagbladet, has launched a Ramadan blog [SWE], where three practising Muslim bloggers — a policeman, a student, and a lawyer — reflect on everyday life throughout the Holy Month. Subjects span the high and low in an attempt to portray what it means to be Muslim in Swedish society today…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Taliban Ambush Trophy Photos Shock France
PARIS — A French magazine published photos on Thursday of Taliban fighters with trophies taken from French soldiers killed last month in Afghanistan, setting off a new round of pained debate about France’s presence there.
President Nicolas Sarkozy and his ministers have said again and again since 10 French soldiers were killed in an ambush on Aug. 18 that France would not falter in its determination to fight the “medieval” and “barbaric” Taliban.
But the pledges ring hollow in the ears of many French people who are suddenly being served blanket coverage of a faraway conflict involving about 2,600 French soldiers that had previously been confined to the inside pages of newspapers.
The weekly magazine Paris Match rekindled emotions with its spread of photos of Taliban fighters displaying French army guns, uniforms, helmets, a walkie-talkie and a wristwatch they said were taken from dead soldiers during the Aug. 18 ambush.
“It’s a shock to see our children’s killers parading their uniforms, their weapons,” said Joel Lepahun, the father of one of the dead soldiers, on RTL radio.
Defence Minister Herve Morin suggested the magazine’s reporters had done the Taliban a favour in the propaganda war.
“Should we be doing the Taliban’s promotion for them?” he said during an interview on France Inter radio.
“The Taliban are waging a war of communication with this kind of operation. They have understood that public opinion is probably the Achilles’ heel of the international community that is present in Afghanistan,” he said.
Eric de Lavarene, the journalist who arranged the meeting with the Taliban fighters and interviewed their leader, defended himself against accusations that he was manipulated by them.
“I wouldn’t say that. No one talks of propaganda when we set off embedded with NATO troops, yet information is always very tightly controlled on those occasions,” he said on i-Tele TV.
“However it is true that the Taliban have become masters in the art of communication,” he added…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Undercover Mosque: the Return
[Videos]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
VVD: Borders to Stay Closed if Turkey Ever Joins EU
THE HAGUE, 04/09/08 — If Turkey ever joins the EU, there can be no question of free movement of persons for it. This is part of the draft manifesto of the conservatives (VVD) for the European Parliament elections in June 2009.
The VVD draft manifesto states that Turkey in any event cannot become a member of the EU in the next decade. Perhaps it will never happen. But should Turkey ever join the EU, there can be no question of free movement of persons. The other EU countries cannot absorb a big influx of Turks, according to the draft manifesto.
The programme was written by a committee headed by former VVD leader Frits Bolkestein. He said that personally, he considers Turkey should never be able to become a member of the EU, but he backs the opinion of the majority of the programme committee which does want to keep this option open.
According to the VVD manifesto, the EU should not admit any new member states before 2014, with the possible exception of Croatia. The programme also urges more European cooperation in the area of asylum and immigration policy and in fighting crime. There is also a plea in the programme for stricter controls on the spending of European money, substantial cutbacks on European agricultural policy, and for the use of nuclear energy.
The VVD election programme must be approved by the party congress in November. The congress must also still decide who the VVD leader in the European Parliament will be; they can choose between MP Hans van Baalen and MEP Toine Manders.
Van Baalen has the support of prominent VVD members including Bolkestein, MP Henk Kamp and the present VVD leader in the European Parliament, Jules Maaten. Van Baalen has said his greatest ambition is to streamline the positions the VVD takes in the Upper and Lower House and the European Parliament.
VVD leader Mark Rutte said he was in favour of a double mandate, whereby members of national parliaments can also be members of the European Parliament. According to Rutte, this is however a theoretical question for now, because the present European rules do not permit a double mandate.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Wilders Pays Damages to Danish Cartoonist
Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration PVV party, is to pay the Danish cartoonist Koert Westergaard €7,500 damages for using his drawing in his controversial short film Fitna without the author’s permission, reports magazine De Journalist on Thursday.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Wine: France; Languedoc Crisis; Rage Against Gov’t, EU
(by Cristiana Missori) (ANSAmed) — LIMOUX (FRANCE), AUGUST 22 — With the reform of the Common Market Organisation (CMO), the European Union demonstrated to be a Stalinist organisation. It is the opinion of Romain Marchesi, winemaker of Italian origin living in Limoux, in the Aude, one of the five departments of the Languedoc Roussillon. The producer denounces a certain disquiet, shared by the thousands vine-growers of the region already on the rocks due to the debts generated by the plunge of the prices, the increase of the production costs and the taxes. There is increasing rage against the French government too, he explains. “Paris does not defend us. Moreover, the Elysee Palace buys wine from Argentine in order to sell Airbus planes. For the government the small producers are only a handicap to be eliminated.” Despite the measures adopted by the cabinet (direct aids, loans, possibility to process the surplus, reduction of the taxes — including the tax on farmland — temporary or permanent extirpation of the vines in exchange of compensations) the vine-growers refuse to calm down. The rise of the diesel prices, the change in the consumers’ behaviour (more connoisseurs of high-quality wine and less interest in this type of beverage from young people) and stricter traffic controls have done the rest. Many companies are disappearing while others replace their vines with other cultures. In the last twenty years the region has completely changed its look. In the late 1980s, Languedoc produced 30 million hectolitres of wine, while last year’s production stood at 15 million. And the forecasts of the French Agriculture Ministry for the 2008 grape harvest — a total fall of the national production by 10% compared to the average of the last five years — are hardly good news, as Coldiretti pointed out yesterday speaking of a historic overcoming of France by Italy. “In the past, some 100 hectolitres were produced from one hectare, while now many winemakers do not want to exceed 40-50 hectolitres,” explain the marketing representatives of ‘Anne de Joyeuse’, one of the most influential cooperative in Limouxin with 800 associates. This change of mentality cost a lot to many vine-growers. “There are still people who stubbornly continue to sprinkle their vines. They cannot understand that our future lies in quality rather than in quantity.” There is also the conversion of the cultures, expensive due to the calcareous and clayey terrain. Fruit trees, apples, apricots, peaches, cherries and olives have replaced the vines. Thus, according to the data of the Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes (Insee), in 2007, the revenue of the vine-growers in Languedoc Roussillon was lower than the revenue of the arboriculture. However, not all bad things are necessarily harmful, the Syndicat du Cru del Minervois claims. “Well-known in the last twenty years for the rather ordinary quality of its wines and for the fact that it was the most productive area of France, now the region has managed to obtain numerous AOC (DOC according to the Italian classification) certifications for its wines. Moreover, producers from other regions have shown their interest in the “terroirs languedociens” (geographic space with homogeneous characteristics such as soil and climate), such as baroness Philippine de Rothschild — famous owner of the grand cru Chateau Mouton Rothschild — who bought with her two sons the Domaine Baron’Arques of Saint-Polycarpe in 1998”. Yet, there are still concerns: of the 30,000 hectares of vine-yards that could be extirpated throughout France, 24,000 hectares are located in Languedoc Roussillon, the growers complain. In twenty years, 220,000 hectares have been destroyed. Now there are only 280,000. “What about tomorrow?” they ask. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Wounded British Soldier Forced to Sleep in His Car After Being Refused Hotel Room ‘Because He Was in the Army’
An injured paratrooper flown home from Afghanistan had to sleep in his car overnight after a hotel refused him a room because he was a serving soldier.
Corporal Tomos Stringer, 23, had booked to stay at the Metro Hotel, in Woking, Surrey, while helping organise the funeral of a friend killed in action.
On arrival, reception desk staff asked him for identification and he handed them his military pass.
Corporal Stringer, who was not dressed in uniform at the time, was astonished when they turned him away, claiming it was not company policy to allow Armed Forces personnel to stay at the hotel…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Cinema: Alexandria Festival Bars Morocco Film, Controversy
(ANSAmed) — RABAT, AUGUST 29 — Inflamed debate in Morocco for the exclusion from the International Cinema Festival currently running in Alexandria of Egypt, of the film ‘Whatever Lola wants’ by Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch. At the last moment, the film, which had been presented among the ones taking part in the Festival, was replaced by the Egyptian film ‘Stolen kisses’. In order to justify the change in the programme, the Festival direction informed that the film had already been shown at other similar events in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. According to the Moroccan press, instead, there are other reasons. Daily Le Matin wrote that the exclusion of Ayouch’s film is to be blamed on the “belly ache” which it gave Egyptian critics. From ‘Whatever Lola wants’, the image of the Egyptian man which emerges from the three main male characters — a homosexual and two young men depicted as cowards — comes out quite bruised. Shot in New York and Cairo, the film tells the love story of an American woman, Lola — with a passion for belly dance — and an Egyptian man, that is between two worlds divided by many things and which many people want to keep apart. Lola, in love, decides to follow her man to Egypt, where she discovers that the modern young man whom she got to know in the USA is in fact quite old-fashioned and conservative. The film, the producers explained, does not want at all to portray a bad image of the Arab man but, on the contrary, throw a bridge between the Middle Eastern and western cultures and encourage them to get to know each other. The film director is quite upset and accuses the organisers of the Festival of “pre-packed lies”. In any case, Le Matin says, the film’s exclusion from one of the most prestigious events of the Middle East — which opened on August 26 and will end on August 31 — is a hard blow for the Moroccan cinema. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Dropped Charges Against Gaddafi “Gift” to Libya
The decision by Geneva’s chief prosecutor to drop the charges against a son of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi and his wife has been criticised by an Arab expert.
Hasni Abidi, head of a research centre in Geneva, tells swissinfo why he thinks Wednesday’s announcement plays into the hands of the Libyan leader.
The prosecutor, Daniel Zappelli said the case against Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife would be closed because the former servants had withdrawn their complaint.
It came a day after the lawyer for the two former domestic staff members said the complaint of alleged bodily harm, making threats and coercion was rescinded in a “free manner”.
The July arrest and charging of Gaddafi and his wife led to a diplomatic crisis between Libya and Switzerland.
The Swiss foreign ministry described the decision by the Geneva prosecutor as “a very important step” towards resolving the affair. A spokesman said talks with Libya would continue until relations returned to the level they were at before the crisis.
But Hasni Abidi, the director of the Study and Research Center for the Arab and Mediterranean World in Geneva, said he was disappointed with the events of the past two days.
swissinfo: What do you make of this decision?
Hasni Abidi: It is a magnificent gift to the Gaddafi regime, which is currently celebrating the 39th anniversary of the Libyan revolution. It should be noted that this case allowed many Libyans to dream that a country would finally serve justice to one of Gaddafi’s children, and therefore to the regime itself.
Unfortunately the legal proceedings have been stopped and the saddest part is they were halted by the justice authorities themselves! This decision leaves a bitter aftertaste of unfinished business, even if it is something of a victory for the two complainants, since they were granted permission to stay in Switzerland on humanitarian grounds, and received compensation.
swissinfo: The canton Geneva justice officials have always claimed independence, and this autonomy has been recognised by the federal authorities.
H.A.: There are some grey areas. For example, the two plaintiffs had affirmed from the start of the affair that they would not renounce their complaint, until they were sure their family members were safe. Then from one day to the next, they decided to withdraw it. And this even before there was news from the brother of the plaintiffs.
To believe that the High Commission for Human Rights, via the Commission of Missing People, is going to be able to deal with the missing brother — as is hoped by the victims’ lawyer who took the plea to the UN — is at the very least naïve. Just think about the 1,200 people who went missing from the Abou Salim prison in Tripoli in 1996. No international organisation has succeeded in carrying out any inquiry.
It is certain that the two plaintiffs could only have been influenced by the climate that surrounded this affair, especially since the Swiss government declared the ball was in the Geneva camp. Which meant that only the two plaintiffs could find a way out of this crisis.
Imagine a country that tries to deal with a diplomatic crisis by saying the two staff are the only ones capable of resolving it? It is an enormous burden for the two plaintiffs to shoulder.
In fact, the out-of-court resolution of this affair is reminiscent of other crises, like the Lockerbie affair. There also, the Libyan regime paid to be cleared.
swissinfo: The affair is not completely over. But it has passed a decisive stage. How would you judge the overall reaction of the Swiss government to the affair?
H.A.: In the Arab world it is customary to say that a good chef is someone who manages to salvage a dish that has turned out badly. In this instance, Swiss diplomacy has not been able to recover from a bad start. The Swiss authorities were not able to act in parallel with the Geneva judiciary machine.
The Libyan regime was therefore able to exploit the affair for its own purposes, and that is what it has done. One could therefore say that Swiss diplomacy — failing to evaluate the situation properly and lacking the ability to anticipate — was not able to weigh up the consequences of the arrest of Gaddafi’s son on July 15. Switzerland only ended up suffering.
swissinfo: Did Switzerland underestimate Libya, which is now courted by the biggest world powers and which possesses significant oil reserves that could make it a heavyweight player in the future?
H.A.: That’s the crux of the problem. Switzerland did not weigh up Libya’s importance. This regime is drunk on power, not only because of its important currency reserves and its wealth in hydrocarbons, but also thanks to its restoration to the heart of the international community.
Just this week, Italy offered public excuses and large financial compensation for its colonialisation of Libya. And this Friday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is going to Tripoli to sign an important agreement with Libya.
Switzerland has well and truly under-estimated the weight and importance of Libya as well as its capacity for harm.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Alcohol Back at Grand Hyatt Hotel After Ban
(ANSAmed) — CAITRO, AUGUST 27 — Alcohol is once again being served at Egypt’s five-star Grand Hyatt hotel after a weeks-long ban in the name of Islam that was imposed by its owner, a hotel spokeswoman said as reported by the Middle East online. But alcohol will be served only at a bar on the top floor after a compromise between US chain Hyatt and owner Abdel Aziz Ibrahim, Sally Khatab said as reported by Middle East online. In May Sheikh Ibrahim, a member of the Saudi royal family, poured some 2,500 bottles of alcohol worth 300,000 dollars down the drain after unilaterally deciding to ban booze in the establishment. The authorities, highly protective of Egypt’s tourism industry, then threatened to downgrade the Grand Hyatt’s rating to two stars in line with national tourism guidelines. After a weeks-long standoff both parties agreed to a compromise whereby alcohol is served at the hotel’s 41st floor rotating restaurant, Khatab said. Booze remains banned at the hotel’s other 11 restaurants as well as in the 716 minibars in rooms and suites, although it can be ordered via room service. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya-EU: Soon Free Trade Agreement, Gaddafi’s Son Says
(ANSAmed) — TRIPOLI, AUGUST 21 — Libya will soon sign a free trade agreement with the EU for the export on special terms of products from Jamahiriya to Europe, according to statements issued yesterday evening by Saif al-Islam, one of the sons of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. In a speech held in the city of Sebha, broadcast live by the Libyan TV channel, Saif al-Islam affirmed that the agreement is the result of the improved relations with the EU and the United States. “Who would have thought that we could achieve so much? But this is the reality today”, the influential son of Gaddafi said, talking to a gathering of young people. In his speech, Gaddafìs son announced also that he plans to retire from political life and that in the future he will abstain from “intervening in state affairs”. “I have dealt with many issues, in foreign policy as well as in internal policy, in national planning and external relations, now my programme has been completed and the train is running on the track”, he said. Saif al-Islam also wished for “a strong civil society”, able to take part in decisional processes. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya-Switzerland: Hannibal Gaddafi Case, Complaint Withdrawn
(ANSAmed) — GENEVA, SEPTEMBER 2 — The two domestic employees of Gaddafi, son of the Libyan leader, have withdrawn the complaint for maltreatment filed in July in Geneva against their employer and his wife, their lawyer announced today, quoted by Swiss news agency ATS. The affair had triggered Libya’s rage against Switzerland and the withdrawal of the complaint was one of the conditions laid down by Tripoli to put an end to the crisis. Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife, nine months pregnant, were arrested on July 15 in a luxury hotel in Geneva. Charged with simple injuries, threats and coercion, the couple was set free two days later after paying out a 500,000 francs bail (equal to some 310,000 euro). “In a free, considered and clear way my clients have decided to withdraw the penal complaint,” the lawyer of the two domestic employees, Francois Membrez affirmed, quoted by ATS. The interest of the two domestic employees, a Tunisian woman and a Moroccan man, was protected “to the extent in which they have been properly compensated”. They also obtained temporary residence permit in Switzerland, of humanitarian type. As regards the fate of the brother of the domestic employee, arrested on July 27 in Libya and who has not been heard from since, the lawyer specified that a procedure for forced disappearance has been launched in Geneva at the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Analysis: Increasingly, Hamas is Gaining Acceptance in the Arab World
by Jonathan Spyer
A series of recent developments point to Hamas’s increasingly solid position in the Palestinian and broader Arab political constellations. This process is of significance both for Arab politics itself, and for the likely direction of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the coming period.
In the past week, it was announced that Jordan’s Intelligence Department, led by Gen. Muhammad Dahabi, has opened a dialogue with Hamas. The renewal of contacts between Amman and Hamas reverses a decade of Jordanian policy since the Hamas leadership were expelled from Jordan in 1999.
The fraught nature of Jordan’s relations with Hamas was compounded in April 2006 with the arrest of 20 men suspected of being Hamas operatives. Three of the detainees were charged with maintaining a Hamas cell that surveilled Israeli targets in the kingdom in order to carry out terror attacks. The three were convicted two months ago.
Analysts are assuming that Amman is hoping to secure guarantees from Hamas against the movement’s planning further operations against Israel from Jordanian soil. Jordan is also understood to fear the possible ramifications for its internal affairs of Hamas’s election victory in January 2006 and its subsequent consolidation of power. In this regard, it should be noted that the main Jordanian opposition movement — the Islamic Action Front — is Hamas’s sister Muslim Brotherhood front organization east of the Jordan River. The Front is regarded as the most popular political movement in Jordan, and it is currently led by an individual with close ties to Hamas — Sheikh Zaki Bani Irsheid.
For Hamas, of course, the Jordanian move is welcome toward dialogue, since it seems to represent the gradual acceptance by the Arab political mainstream of its growing power among the Palestinians. This acceptance derives not from ideological factors or sentiment: pragmatic, pro-Western, monarchical Jordan and Islamist Hamas with its links to Iran could not be more natural adversaries. Rather, the move points to a de facto acceptance of the fact that Hamas’s rivals in the Palestinian camp are too weak to dislodge it, and that no one else seems keen to take on this task.
| — Hat tip: Barry Rubin | [Return to headlines] |
Hezbollah Exhibit Celebrates War and ‘Martyrs’
A new exhibit in Lebanon celebrates Hezbollah’s 2006 war against Israel and commemorates fallen military leader Imad Mugniyah. Though gruesome and kitschy, the show has been a huge success.
A blue laser projects a dancing Star of David on smoke wafting out of a destroyed tank. A loudspeaker roars into life, booming out artillery salvos, hammering out rifle shots.
Above the noise, you can hear orders barked out in Arabic and fighters on the front speaking through walkie-talkies. For five minutes, the war is back in Lebanon — at least acoustically.
Then, the sounds of combat fade away, only to be replaced by the chitchat of the visitors to the exhibit. “Look, it’s the skeleton of an Israeli soldier,” a father explains to his 3-year-old son in front of a casket with a glass lid. […]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Mideast: Do Not Perform in Israel, Palestinians to McCartney
(ANSAmed) — JERUSALEM, SEPTEMBER 2 — A Palestinian non-government organisation in the United Kingdom has asked Paul McCartney of the Beatles to cancel his forthcoming concert in Israel because “the expropriations from the Palestinians (by Israel) and the Israeli apartheid cannot be a reason for festivities”. According to today’s issue of daily Jerusalem Post, the NGO, called Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) has affirmed in a statement directed to McCartney that “performing in Israel in this moment is morally the same as performing in South Africa at the peak of the apartheid”. The same request was directed to McCartney, according to Jerusalem Post, also by a British pro-Palestinian lobby, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which has asked the famous artist to reconsider his performance in Israel since it is a state which “continues to violate the international law and the human rights with the illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and due to its attitude to the Palestinians”. The British branch of an organisation supporting the Jewish state, StandWithUs, has rebelled in defence of Israel, affirming in a letter to McCartney and his manager Stuart Bell that the statement of PACBI “contains just incredible lies”. According to StandWithUs, the appeals for boycott of Israel drive an increasing number of people to prove they are sterile. “Performing in Tel Aviv you can expect to meet an audience of Jews, Muslims and Christians, a thing which is just impossible in any Arab state,” StandWithUs affirmed. In the meantime the tickets for the concert of McCartney, to be held this month in Tel Aviv, are selling like hot cakes in Israel, despite their high cost. A total 25,000 have been sold so far. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Assad Sends Israel Proposals for Direct Peace Talks
Syrian President awaits Israel’s response to six points submitted to Tel Aviv through Turkey.
DAMASCUS — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday a list of proposals has been sent to Israel via Turkish mediators aimed at laying the groundwork for direct peace talks between the two foes.
“We are awaiting Israel’s response to six points that we have submitted through Turkey,” Assad said at a four-way summit in Damascus with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatari emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.
“Our response would be positive, paving the way for direct talks after a new US administration that believes in the peace process takes office,” he said.
Israel and Syria, which have technically remained in a state of war for 60 years, launched indirect negotiations brokered by Turkey in May, eight years after talks were frozen over the fate of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that belong to Damascus. […]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Dubai Restricts IVF to Prevent Technical Adultery
IVF is a contentious technology in some Muslim countries. In Dubai, there are complaints from doctors that the fertility business is more tightly regulated than in the rest of United Arab Emirates. Private clinics there are banned from offering IVF to couples, giving a government fertility centre a monopoly on the procedure. The government recently insisted that any clinics offering IVF would be immediately closed down. Private clinics are limited to treating women who find it difficult to conceive with fertility drugs and surgery.
The issue, explains an official for the Dubai Health Authority, is that doctors who do not share Islamic values might be tempted to allow a woman to become pregnant by a man other than her husband, which should be considered adultery. “From an ethical point of view, there are special precautions which could not be easily controlled by private clinics, as the emirates are multinational. The Government needs more control, which is why IVF is still banned in Dubai.”
| — Hat tip: Nilk | [Return to headlines] |
Jordan: Alcohol and Dancing Banned in Ramadan Tents
(ANSAmed) — AMMAN, SEPTEMBER 4 — An official committee in Jordan has recommended that dancing and alcohol drinking be banned in some venues such as “Ramadan tents” to respect the holy spirit of the Ramadan, a statement reports today. Officials from the Jordan Ministry of Interior held meetings with their counterparts from the Ministry of Tourism and Representatives of the private sector to find ways of controlling what they called “up normal behavior during the holy month.” All parties agreed that only five stars hotels should be allowed to organize dancing parties and serve alcohol while other venues be restricted to offering food and music, without dancing, said an official statement from the Ministry of Interior. The committee also called on restaurants and cafes to “respect their space and refrain from invading on public squares,” according to the statement. The decision has not been implemented yet, as officials from Ministry of Interior said the private sector would soon be notified the decision. The move is expected to trigger an outcry among hospitality sector during the month, who splashed out big bucks to prepare for a month long of public activities in Ramadan. “I invested a lot of money to cater for my customers in Ramadan, but if they prevent dancing it will be very hard to make up for the loss,” said Ziad Hijazz, owner of Prego bar in Amman, where alcohol is served. Hours after a long day of fasting, Amman streets are turned into bee hive of activities as thousands of citizens. Ramadan tents have spread in the posh western Amman as young Jordanians flock to under the sound of oriental music. Many tents provide oriental dancing sessions to attract tourists from the Gulf and locals who gather everyday after sunset. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Sarkozy Warns Iran of a ‘Catastrophic’ Strike
French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned Iran on Thursday that its determination to press on with its controversial nuclear drive risked an Israeli strike that would be a “catastrophe.”
Addressing the four-way summit in Damascus with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatari emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Sarkozy warned that Tehran risked a fourth round of UN sanctions over its failure to abide by international calls to freeze uranium enrichment, a process which makes nuclear fuel but can also be used to build the core of a nuclear weapon.
Iran has consistently denied that its nuclear program is aimed at building an atomic bomb and says it wants only to generate energy for its growing population…
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
US Detains Photographer
BAGHDAD — MR Ibrahim Jassam, an Iraqi photographer working for Anglo-Canadian news group Reuters, has been arrested by American forces just south of Baghdad, the US military and the agency told AFP on Wednesday.
‘He has been detained because he has been assessed to be a threat to the security of Iraq and coalition forces,’ US army lieutenant Patrick Evans told AFP in an email.
A statement issued by Reuters said: ‘Ibrahim Jassam, an Iraqi who has supplied photos and video to Reuters on a freelance basis for about two years, was detained in a raid on his home in Mahmudiya by US and Iraqi forces early on Tuesday morning.’ […]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
After Georgian War, Russia Seeks Peace in Moldova
Russia will keep pushing for a deal beween ex-Soviet Moldova and its breakaway Transdniestria region, the Kremlin said on Wednesday in a drive to shore up its reputation after last month’s war with Georgia.
Like Georgia’s long-festering dispute over two rebel, pro-Russian regions, Moldova’s is a ‘frozen conflict’ left over from the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Georgian war raised fears in the West and among some former Soviet republics that Moscow might also intervene in other separatist conflicts involving Russian-speakers.
But the Kremlin has set out to allay such concerns by stepping up a mediation drive over Transdniestria. On Wednesday President Dmitry Medvedev met separatist leader Igor Smirnov in his summer Black Sea residence of Bocharov Ruchei. […]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. to Announce Over $1 Billion in Aid for Georgia
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The Bush administration will announce on Wednesday an aid package of more than $1 billion to help Georgia rebuild after its war with Russia over the separatist enclave of South Ossetia last month, U.S. officials said.
The aid was to be unveiled as Vice President Dick Cheney began a trip to the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine designed to show U.S. support for its allies in the region despite Russia’s military intervention.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
India: More Churches and Homes Burnt in Strife-Torn Orissa
Bhubaneswar, 3 Sept (AKI/Asian Age) — India’s strife-torn state of Orissa was the target of more sectarian violence on Tuesday with reports that more Christian churches and homes had been destroyed.
Official sources said at least half a dozen churches were set ablaze in villages in the districts of Tikabali and Raikia.
According to the Indian daily, The Asian Age, mobs set two churches on fire in Tikabali, and four Christian churches were burned down in Katinga and Raikia.
At least 100 houses were torched in several villages.
“We have received reports of attacks on churches and arson in some villages. We are sending forces there to combat violence,” said southern revenue divisional commissioner Satyabrata Sahu.
“We are using helicopters for the swift movement of forces to disturbed areas. However, violence continues unabated in the district, particularly in the rural areas,” official sources told The Asian Age.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, however, said, “The situation is considerably calmer in Kandhamal and Koraput.”
“The number of distressed people in relief camps is swelling every day. Around 15,000 riot-affected people have taken shelter in 10 relief camps,” said Kandhamal district collector Krishan Kumar.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of India said on Monday that Christians in eastern India were being subjected to a “reign of terror” which had destroyed thousands of dwellings and left nearly 40,000 people homeless.
Father Babu Karakombil, spokesman for the CBCI, told Adnkronos International (AKI) that a week of unrest sparked by the killing of a Hindu leader in the state of Orissa had provoked “unprecedented” attacks on Christians.
He said 4,300 homes, 50 churches and five convents had been destroyed in the worst affected district of Kandhamal and thousands of people were still hiding in the jungles of the state.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Iraqi Immigrants Crowd Apartments
The flow of refugees from Iraq is decreasing. But the immigration of the relatives to those who fled to Sweden earlier has increased. According to Dagens Nyheter this has caused problems to find accommodation for all newcomers. Especially in Malmö where most Iraqi immigrants live. (Photo of the Mosque in Malmo from Wikimedia Commons)
The immigration of relatives to established Iraqi immigrants in Sweden, has increased surprisingly much.
During the first half of 2008, the number of applications to the Swedish Migration Board increased with 43 percent compared to last year. In the same six-month period, 2 715 Iraqi children got permanent residence permit. This can be compared to the whole year of 2007 when 2 639 children got the permit.
This increase has created some practical problems for both their families in Sweden, but also for Swedish authorities…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Crisis, Workers Recruitment in Own Countries Stopped
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, SEPTEMBER 4 — The Spanish government has announced that it plans to stop recruiting workers directly in their own countries of origin, in order to tackle the economic crisis, with the rising unemployment in the country. The recruitment of foreign workers in their countries of origin “will be almost zero” in 2009, Labour and Immigration Minister Celestino Corbacho said last night. The socialist government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero took the decision after several consecutive months featuring a rising number of unemployed, who in August reached 2.5 million, including 500,000 foreigners. “It does not seem reasonable that in a job market like the Spanish one, where there are 2.5 million unemployed, we continue to recruit workers in their countries of origin,” Corbacho said. Spain, however, envisages to continue hiring foreign workers, whose arrival in the country is regulated by international conventions, and workers with a certain degree of specialised skills. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Islam Cartoons on Show in Eindhoven
EINDHOVEN, 04/09/08 — Controversial international newspaper cartoons are to be exhibited from 16 September in Eindhoven.
The works on display include anti-Semitic, anti-Christian and anti-Islamic cartoons from both Western and Arabic cartoonists. Among them are the Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard and the Dutchman Gregorius Nekschot, who was recently arrested by the Dutch authorities.
COS Brabant, an oganisation for international development and cooperation, will show the cartoons in the Plaza Futura theatre and event centre. It has selected about 30 cartoons about religion, peace and security and poverty.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Child Bride Book Too Costly for Danish Publishers
Danish publishers were priced out of the market for the controversial novel about Mohammed’s child bride
A novel about Aisha, the 6-year-old wife of Mohammed, was deemed to controversial to print in America. The Danish Freedom of the Press Society (Trykkefrihedsselskab) then offered to publish it, but the price was too steep.
‘The Jewel of Medina’ was due to be published by Random House in the US, but was cancelled, because of fears of offending Muslim sensibilities.
Trykkefrihedsselskab’s publishing company confirmed that an offer made for the Danish rights to Sherry Jones’ book was rejected by her agent.
‘Of course we are disappointed, but the most important thing for us is that the book gets permission to be published,’ said Lars Hedegaard, president of the society.
It is unknown if other Danish publishers have been awarded the right to publish the book, but the author told a German newspaper that the book would be released in German and in English by October.
Helle Merete Brix of Trykkefrihedsselskab described the book as well written, but is worried about how some might react to the content.
‘The novel describes the prophet getting a glimpse of the naked wife of his adopted son, and as a result sets his sights on marrying her. I don’t really know how well that story will be received.’
The book was published last month in Serbia, but strong reactions from the religious community forced the publishers to pull all copies from the bookstores.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Arctic Sees Massive Gain in Ice Coverage
A map of the sea ice increase from the same month last yearIncrease twice the size of Germany: “colder weather” to blame.
Data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has indicated a dramatic increase in sea ice extent in the Arctic regions. The growth over the past year covers an area of 700,000 square kilometers: an amount twice the size the nation of Germany.
With the Arctic melting season over for 2008, ice cover will continue to increase until melting begins anew next spring.
The data is for August 2008 and indicates a total sea ice area of six million square kilometers. Ice extent for the same month in 2007 covered 5.3 million square kilometers, a historic low. Earlier this year, media accounts were rife with predictions that this year would again see a new record. Instead, the Arctic has seen a gain of about thirteen percent…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Pentagon is Studying Ways of Countering the Threat of an Electromagnetic Pulse Attack
By Patrick Chisholm
Amid increasing reliance on computer networks and other electronic technology and the rise of new and technologically sophisticated potential adversaries, military officials are taking a renewed look at ways of countering the threat of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack.
During the Cold War, the possibility of an EMP attack was a prominent concern for U.S. defense planners. In such an attack scenario, a nuclear bomb is exploded miles—typically hundreds of miles—above the target area. The explosion generates an EMP that disrupts or destroys electronic devices everywhere in the target area, which could include an area as large as the continental United States.
With the downfall of the Soviet Union, the threat of EMP from that part of the world has greatly receded. However, since the end of the Cold War, new EMP vulnerabilities have emerged, the most obvious of which is terrorism. As a 2004 report by a panel of experts warned, terrorists or other adversaries could launch an EMP attack without having a high level of sophistication, such as through a short-range Scud missile. Also of concern are non-nuclear, small-scale E-bombs that target localized areas. (See MIT, Volume 8, Issue 8, page 8.)
The EMP generated from nuclear and E-bombs could pass through protective cages that shield electronics and critical infrastructure against lightning and other electromagnetic interference (EMI). And a byproduct of EMPs is said to be huge magnetic fields that collapse, generating a massive power surge that would render many electronic devices inoperable…
| — Hat tip: ACT for America | [Return to headlines] |
The Six-Day War as a Soviet Initiative: New Evidence and Methodological Issues
By Isabella Ginor and Gideon Remez
Abstract: The authors continue their analysis of Soviet involvement in the 1967 War with a discussion of new evidence and a response to criticisms regarding their controversial thesis that the USSR provoked that war, sought to use the conflict to eliminate Israel’s nuclear capability, and seriously considered direct intervention. Publication of this article is intended to further the debate on these issues.
“Admittedly, key archival documentation remains under lock and key and will be inaccessible for a long time to come…. But enough material is available, in the form of declassified documents, memoirs, oral histories and journalistic treatments, to begin to piece together the story.” — Fredrik Logevall[1]
Eight years ago, MERIA Journal provided the first academic platform for the highly revisionist findings of our joint research on direct Soviet military involvement in the Arab-Israeli conflict.[2] Focusing on the Six-Day War and relying on newly available sources in the former USSR and elsewhere, we challenged the prevailing concepts of Western and Israeli historiography, not to mention the official Soviet version that was upheld by post-Soviet Russia. Several additional papers in scholarly journals[3] led to the appearance of our conclusions in book form, on the fortieth anniversary of the war.[4]
In brief, we sought to demonstrate that:
- The war resulted from a deliberate Soviet-Arab effort to provoke Israel into a preemptive strike;
- A central motive for the Soviet move was to halt and destroy Israel’s nuclear development before it could attain operational atomic weapons;
- This Soviet effort was accelerated by a direct message from Israel that despite its official ambiguity, it was bent on acquiring such weapons;
- Soviet nuclear weapons were readied for use against Israel in case it already possessed, and tried to use, any nuclear device;
- The Soviets prepared a marine landing—with air support—on Israel’s shores, which was not only planned but actually set in motion, and readied strategic bombers to strike Israeli targets;
- The USSR committed its most advanced, still secret experimental aircraft and top pilots for provocative reconnaissance sorties over Israel’s most sensitive installation—its nuclear complex—in possible preparation for the planned attack on this target and/or in order to create such concern in Israel that would ensure its launch of a first strike;
- The planned Soviet intervention was to be unleashed once Israel was drawn into this preemptive attack and was internationally branded as the aggressor, out of calculation that the Soviet input could tip the balance in favor of an Arab counterattack.
Even before our book’s official publication on June 5, 2007, press reports about its main thesis touched off two chain reactions, which have since produced such an abundance of repercussions that this update can only present a brief sampling…
| — Hat tip: Barry Rubin | [Return to headlines] |
2 comments:
New article.
How many Jews died at WTC.
http://tinyurl.com/67yqqs
The single bigotry allowed/encouraged in PC left wing Britain - anti-military.
And the fine young gentleman in town to organize his friend's funeral, how must he now feel about the country he serves?
He probably reasons that it's futile to try to bring civilization to Afghanistan at the risk of his life while his home country is giving it away faster than he can recreate it elsewhere.
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