The news stories to pay attention to tonight concern immigration. In Italy, a “Record Number of Would-Be Immigrants Arrive”. But the President of Italy says, “Immigrants are a resource — no more prejudice!” And in the UK, a report in the House of Lords: “Economic Benefits of Mass Immigration Are Close to Zero”.We report, you decide.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, DS, ESW, Gaia, Insubria, JD, RRW, Steen, TB, Vlad Tepes, Zonka, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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Bill Ayers Memoir: Barack Obama ‘a Family Friend’
In a new afterword to his memoir, 1960s radical William Ayers describes himself as a “family friend” of President-elect Barack Obama and writes that the campaign controversy over their relationship was an effort by Obama’s political enemies to “deepen a dishonest narrative” about the candidate.
Ayers describes phone threats and hate e-mail he received during the campaign, and he bemoans Obama’s guilt by association.
During the campaign, Ayers’ friendship with Obama was a favorite subject of conservative bloggers and talk show hosts who insisted the two were closer than the candidate was admitting. Ayers’ new description of the relationship seems to contradict Obama’s statements.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Communist Party Hails Role of Labor Unions in Obama Win Socialist Activist Pledges ‘No Let Down’ in Helping White House Bring ‘Change We Need’
The official magazine of the Communist Party USA has lauded the important role of labor unions in electing Sen. Barack Obama, and quotes socialist-aligned labor leaders hoping the unions can work with the president-elect to enact policies related to jobs, retirement security and health care reform.
In a separate article, the Communist Party’s Political Affairs magazine quotes a prominent socialist activist and longtime Obama friend petitioning the president-elect to push through a “single payer” health care system, or socialized universal medicine.
In an article titled, “Special Interest or Class Consciousness? How Labor Put Obama in the White House,” Political Affairs reports on polling data released earlier this week revealing the extent of union support for Obama.
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, or AFL-CIO, sponsored a poll showing union members supported Obama by a 68-30 margin and strongly influenced their family members.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Condemning Islamic Terrorism Banned on Marine Training Base
Father of USS Cole Victim Ordered to Remove Critical Bumper Stickers
A lawsuit has been filed against two officers at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune Marine base for banning a civilian worker — a 25-year Marine whose son was a victim of the U.S.S. Cole attack — from publicly condemning Islamic terrorists.
The lawsuit was filed by the Thomas More Law Center on behalf of Jesse Nieto after base officials first ordered him to remove bumper stickers from his private vehicle then banned the vehicle from all federal installations nationwide.
In a statement e-mailed to WND, base spokesman Nat Fahy said the action against Nieto was pursued based on “third party complaints regarding the offensive nature of Mr. Nieto’s stickers.”
“After refusing his supervisor’s informal request to remove the stickers, Mr. Nieto was issued two separate motor vehicle citations. After being afforded an opportunity to argue his position in front of the base magistrate, the magistrate told him to remove the stickers from his car. While he did remove several offensive stickers off during this period, he refused to remove all of the offending stickers. Because he remained in violation of the base order, Mr. Nieto’s DoD registration decal was ultimately removed from his vehicle.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Military Experts to Obama: Stop Exporting Democracy
By: Dave Eberhart
A panel of experts wants President-elect Barack Obama to end the practice of long-term military occupations and banish the so-called “presidential military,” where “Congress has lost all control over going to war.”
In a 271-page report titled, “America’s Defense Meltdown — Pentagon Reform for President Obama and the New Congress,” the Center for Defense Information gives Obama and his transition team a grim picture of a Defense Department that lacks proper resources and guidance.
Newsmax obtained an advance copy of the report, which includes frank advice from 13 nonpartisan Pentagon insiders, retired military officers and defense experts.
“In Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army and Marine Corps have been stretched to the limits of their strength to fight enemies not even a tenth as numerous as those they faced in Vietnam,” the report says. “We have become a pampered, sluggish, weak-muscled elephant that cannot even deal effectively with mice.”
The editor and overseer of the project, CDI’s Winslow T. Wheeler, said he hopes the new administration reads and heeds the report — no matter how painful the exercise.
“Following the recommendations of this book will mean the cancellation of numerous failing, unaffordable and ineffective defense programs, as well as the jobs, and more importantly careers, those programs enable,” warns Wheeler.
“The acceptance of data and analysis presented in this [report], and the conclusions and recommendations that flow from them, would require the elite of Washington’s national security community to acknowledge the many flaws in their analysis of weapons, Pentagon management and leadership of the nation in a tumultuous world,” Wheeler writes.
“In too many cases, it would also require those elites to admit their own role in the virtual meltdown of America’s defenses.”…
| — Hat tip: DS | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Camp: Lawsuits by Citizens Are ‘Garbage’
More than a half-dozen legal challenges have been filed in federal and state courts demanding President-elect Barack Obama’s decertification from ballots or seeking to halt elector meetings, claiming he has failed to prove his U.S. citizenship status.
An Obama campaign spokeswoman told WND the complaints are unfounded.
“All I can tell you is that it is just pure garbage,” she said. “There have been several lawsuits, but they have been dismissed.”
WND is tracking the progress of many cases across the U.S., including the following…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Canada: Professor Arrested in Deadly 1980 Paris Synagogue Bombing
Carleton, U of O instructor a suspect in attack that killed four
The Reuters news agency said the French arrest warrant accuses Mr. Diab of making and planting the bomb.
Citing French jurisdiction over the case, the RCMP Thursday refused to confirm Mr. Diab as the arrest suspect, though a justice department official did confirm his arrest. The RCMP would only say an individual was taken into custody at a Gatineau address under what a government official said was a provisional extradition warrant. The warrant was executed as part of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty at the request of French authorities
Soon after details of the renewed French investigation were reported last year, Mr. Diab issued a statement to the Citizen through his lawyer, stating he had no involvement in the bombing, no criminal record and was never a member of the Palestinian group or knew anyone associated with the group. Nor, he added, has he been active with any other militant organizations.
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Font:****Mr. Duval at the time said his client was open to meeting with French authorities for questioning in Canada, in accordance with Canadian legal process, but that offer was never accepted.
Though he visited a cousin in Paris roughly a year or two after the explosion, Mr. Diab said he only learned of the bombing when a Figaro reporter approached him last fall at the University of Ottawa. He is now in his second year of part-time teaching there, with one bachelor-of-arts-level class. A university spokeswoman said the school had no official word of Mr. Diab’s arrest and could not say what, if any, actions it might take as a result.
Mr. Diab also teaches sociology part-time at Carleton University. Last year, he taught a Carleton course on race and ethnicity.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
BNP’s Shock Victory in Council Election Sparks Fears of Surge in Votes Across Britain
Fears Over Rising Racial Tension Mounted Last Night After the British National Party Scored a Shock by-Election Victory.
The extremist party snatched a council seat in the Lincolnshire market town of Boston — where migrants make up a quarter of the population.
Anti-racism campaigners warned that the BNP surprise triumph would fuel ‘scaremongering’ about foreigners and lead to an increase in ‘violence and threats’.
The town has a huge numbers of migrants, especially from Portugal and Poland, who take low-paid work on farms picking flowers, fruit and vegetables and in food processing plants.
A BNP campaign: The party has won its first seat in Lincolnshire
Critics have accused the Government of failing to prepare cash-strapped councils for the influx of immigrants by giving them the resources to invest in public services.
This has left schools, health facilities and transport struggling to cope with greater numbers.
The resurgence of the BNP will also spark fears among the main political parties that the radical group could prosper at future by-elections in the run-up to the next General Election.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
Danish Hookers on EU Warpath
Danish prostitutes are calling for an EU-wide service boycott of any politicians who try to eject sex workers.
The Danish prostitutes union SIO (Sex Workers Interest Organisation) says it rejects what would be both stigmatic and annoying if the European Parliament forbids MEPs to stay at hotels which have contacts with prostitutes. The organisation is calling on all prostitues to boycott politicians who support the move up to next year’s European elections.
The organisation’s reaction comes after Søren Søndergaard of the People’s Movement Against the EU and the ruling Liberal Party’s Karen Riis-Jørgensen have raised the issue with the Chairman of the European Parliament.
Understanding
“The hotels are where we work. We can’t do it in backyards or in cars. The proposal will force many out into the streets,” Sex Worker Sus tells politiken.dk.
But her arguments and threats of a boycott, have no influence on Søndergaard who says he has the support of 37 Nordic politicians in the European Parliament.
“I don’t care. They just have to know what it is they are calling for,” says Søndergaard adding that his proposal is not directed in favour of, or against prostitution…
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Acid Bombs Planted in Children’s Areas
Over the past two days bottle bombs containing hydrochloric acid have been left at two city sites commonly used by children, reported TV2 News.
On Thursday, bomb squads removed three of the homemade explosives from a playground in the northwest district. Another acid bomb was found on Friday at a park in the city’s Nørrebro district.
Hydrochloric acid is a highly active compound commonly used as a corrosive. Its fumes can cause serious damage to the respiratory system and can deteriorate tissue and organs.
Police have no leads or motives yet in the case.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Faith School ‘Surprises’ Swindon Muslims
CAIRO — A proposal floated by an Islamic center to turn a primary school in Swindon, the southwest of England, into a faith school is astonishing the city’s Muslim community.
“I am very surprised about these plans,” Azim Khan, chairman of the Thamesdown Islamic Association, told the local daily Swindon Advertiser on Friday, November 14.
“I am concerned that members of the Muslim community in Swindon have not been consulted.”
Al-Habib Islamic Center on Thursday proposed turning a primary school in Oakhurst in northern Swindon into a faith school.
The center’s chairman Shahid Sahu said that if the bid to run the school was successful, it would become a single faith school.
But Swindon Muslims showed a poor appetite for the proposed school.
“I think they should have asked people in the community before putting in their bid, to make sure the need was there,” said Khan.
Khan said many areas with a bigger Muslim community need faith schools other than Swindon.
“I’m not sure that Swindon is a big enough place for this kind of school,” he said.
“It works in somewhere like Birmingham, because they have a large Muslim community, but in Swindon I don’t know where they would find the students and where they would find the teachers.”
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
France: Sabotaged Trains, 8 Far-Left Activists Arrested
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, NOVEMBER 11 — Eight persons ‘‘belonging to a far-left Anarcho-autonomous movement’’ have been arrested in France in connection with investigations into ‘‘acts of sabotage’’ on railway tracks and high-voltage cables, announced Interior Minister, Michele Alliot-Marie. Following a rapid investigation, Alliot-Marie wished to ‘‘congratulate police forces and the gendarmerie’’ who brought about ‘‘the arrest of eight persons belonging to an ultra-left-wing Anarcho-Autonomous movement, linked to the sabotage on SNCF cables over past days’’. In a communique, the Minister speaks of ‘‘a successful operation carried out across various areas’’ which was ‘‘made possible thanks to the work of intelligence services and anti-terrorist investigations’’. Sources within the investigation confirm the direct link between the acts of sabotage which led to serious delays on the high-speed rail links at the end of last week. It would appear that concerted acts of politically-motivated terrorism had taken place, as alleged by SNCF, the railway company, on Saturday. The inquiry came into the hands of the anti-terrorism unit yesterday, after an incident on Sunday evening, when a TGV travelling between Brussels and Perpignan (in the South of France) hit two 30-kilogram blocks of cement which had been left on the tracks. On Saturday, steel bars had been attached to the cables of the North, East and South East TGV lines, delaying over 160 services, causing disruption for thousands of passengers. The sabotage plan, as speculated on by SNCF Chair, Guillaume Pepy, was confirmed on Sunday by Claude Gueant, the General Secretary of the Elyse’e Palace. Hostile acts of sabotage against track and railway equipment have been in progress for several years in France, but have been stepped up over past months, compounding a serious of mishaps for which the railways have been blamed. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
G-20: Zapatero to Propose International Supervisor
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, NOVEMBER 13 — Spanish Premier, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, will lay a proposal before Saturday’s G-20 summit in Washington for the setting up of an international financial policeman’, a body charged with unifying supervisory criteria to promote market transparency. The proposal is leaked in today’s edition of Publico, which cites sources close to the Government. The Supervisor could be the International Monetary Fund with a fresh mandate, or a specially formed body. Whichever the case, the Socialist premier from Spain will be proposing a “democratisation” of the World Bank and the IMF, with a redefining of their functions and an opening up to emerging nations to provide them with added legitimacy. Zapatero also intends to refer to the “systemic crisis”, not just of the financial system, which he sees at a global level, and which is called to tackle issues such as climate change, the food crisis and the fight against poverty and imbalances in world trade. “Zapatero heads for summit to take on Neo-liberalism”, runs the headline in El Mundo, which cites an internal working document of the PSOE, which stresses, among other things, how “the crisis is forcing a change of course” and an affirmation of “Social-democratic values”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Immigrants, ‘Source of Strength for Nation’ Says President
Rome, 13 Nov. (AKI) — Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said on Thursday that immigrants are a new source of strength for the Italian nation. Napolitano made the remarks at the Quirinal Palace, the official residence of the President while receiving a group of immigrants who recently acquired Italian citizenship.
“This influx of new energy coming from every part of the world that has established itself here is a factor of freshness and strength for the Italian nation,” said Napolitano.
Napolitano also said he would like to see the end of what he calls ‘old prejudices’ against immigrants. There are now close to four million legal immigrants living in Italy according to figures released earlier this month by Catholic charities Caritas and Migrantes.
“There is a need for openness and appreciation towards foreigners that become Italian citizens: workers, students, researchers, entrepreneurs, athletes, managers,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gianfranco Fini, head of the post-fascist National Alliance party and current President of the Chamber of Deputies said that a new citizenship law for immigrants must be enacted.
“The sociological reality of the country has changed, and the times are ripe to discuss a new law,” said Fini.
He also said a middle ground must be found between those who advocate for Italian citizenship at the moment of birth, and the current law which states that the person must reach 18 years of age to be eligible.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Violence Against Police Tripled Since 1997
THE HAGUE, 14/11/08 — The frequency of violence by citizens against police tripled between 1997 and 2007. And the frequency of threats and insults actually rose by a factor of 6, concludes the Centre for Police Sciences of Amsterdam’s Free University (VU).
The university does not fully attribute the explosion in violence to increased aggression and waning respect for the police. The increase could be partly explained by more fines being imposed. It is also attributed to improved registration of the number of cases of assault, threats and insults.
But the report, to be presented Friday, shows that a change in attitude has indeed taken place. Researcher Jan Naeye, professor of criminal law and police law at the VU, writes: “The people know that the police will not immediately lash out. Those who wants to abuse this, are given scope to do so.”
The report gives an example. A schoolboy is riding a scooter without a helmet and gets lectured and fined. “Just give me a fine, assh*le. I have nothing to do with you,” the kid replies. Because he also has no scooter driving licence, the agent asks him for the keys. “Filthy lunatic,” adds the child, “You keep your paws off my keys.” The police officer says: “You better watch your language,” before the boy hits him in the face.
The research is based on an analysis of 2,085 incidents of aggression and violence against police. The perpetrators, relatively often of Moroccan origin, are mostly aged between 28 and 34. Naeye estimates the actual number of registered incidents at between 8,500 and 14,000.
Violence against public service staff, including ambulance personnel, have become a particular theme in recent months. Amsterdam’s Slotervaart district council leader Ahmed Marcouch, himself Moroccan, said recently that threatening of government personnel is part of Moroccan culture and should be punished more severely.
In a letter to parliament, Home Affairs Guusje ter Horst announced yesterday that she will in future have the perpetrators of violence against public service staff pay for the damages they commit. Vandalised ambulances, for example, are now usually repaired out of tax receipts, even if the perpetrator is arrested and convicted.
Ter Horst also announced the establishment of a national expertise centre, to advise the government and companies on how damages by vandalism can be claimed from the perpetrator. The minister is also requiring police always to make a formal report to their colleagues if they are assaulted. The corps must in future pass these reports on to Ter Horst within 48 hours.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Fraud at 86 Percent of Islamic Schools
THE HAGUE, 14/11/08 — Nearly nine out of 10 Islamic schools in the Netherlands spend government subsidies unlawfully. The education ministry confirmed yesterday following a report in De Telegraaf that 86 percent of the schools make fraudulent use of money.
De Telegraaf obtained a study by State Secretaries Sharon Dijksma and Marja van Bijsterveldt of Education of the 41 primary schools and two secondary schools that provide Islamic education. At half of the schools, the quality of the education is assessed as weak to very weak. At normal schools, this figure is 11 percent.
Additionally, financial mismanagement was established at 86 percent of Islamic school managements. The illegal spending ranges from salaries to ‘teachers’ who turn out to be the wives of management board members, unlawful payments for transport that is never hired and even, as already made known earlier, trips to Saudi Arabia — the school (Ibn Ghaldoun in Rotterdam) bought plane tickets for Muslims who had nothing to do with the school whatsoever.
The Islamic education “gives ground for great concern,” said Dijksma and Van Bijsterveldt yesterday. The education ministry is trying to claim back 4.5 million euros in unlawfully spent subsidies from the schools. This is an increase of 2.5 million from fraud figures previously known.
Due to the constitutional freedom of education — every religion can set up its own school at the expense of the government — the government sees little possibility of intervening. No Islamic school has ever been closed. Virtually nothing can be done against fraudulent school managers either.
Dijksma and Van Bijsterveldt hope that the Islamic schools themselves will introduce reforms. The weak and very weak Islamic schools will come under “intensive supervision” by the Education Inspectorate. And “if the position of the management board becomes insupportable, the ministry will push for the removal of the board,” they write to the Lower House.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Real Estate: Against Crisis, Spanish Government Buys Soil
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, OCTOBER 28 — In order to give oxygen to businesses brought to their knees by the financial crisis in the construction market, the Spanish government is to buy soil suitable for building from real estate agencies, on which it will build 20,000 homes for public housing. The public offer to buy the land is the primary measure contained in the government housing and regeneration plan 2009-2012, presented yesterday by the Housing Minister, Beatriz Corredor, to the autonomous community, to the labour unions and charitable institutions. It has the double objective of reactivating, on one hand, a sector in crisis, and on the other, the creation of public housing announced by the executive branch during the legislature. The offer has a budget of 300 million euro, to which Sepes, the public terrain management company, will add 130 million for urbanisation. The agencies that want to sell soil and can’t do so on the market due to the crisis in the sector, have from now until December 29 to present their offers that, from January 1 to April 30 2009, will be screened by Sepes. The representative of the executive branch explained that the government will buy only tracts of land suitable for building that will permit the construction of 300 homes — 150 in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla — situated in cities of over 20,000 inhabitants. The ministry directed by Corredor calculates that the economic effect of the measure will be over 2.8 billion euros. The objective is to avoid the catastrophic situation in the real estate sector, together with the halt in construction, which could have negative effects on the four year plan for housing. To this end, the minister has temporarily broadened the minimum fiscal limits for access to the buying of public housing from 45,427 euro per year to 48,922 euro, which is the limit that will stay in vigour until December 31 2009. Another life vest thrown by the government to promoters provides for facilitation for agencies which can’t manage to sell their stock of houses, so that they can be converted into public housing. The four year plan focuses for the first time on renting with the option to buy. The draft of the plan, to which the autonomous communities and social bodies can apply suggestions and amendments, will be approved on November 5 at the sector conference to be held in Barcelona. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The Change the Old World Doesn’t Believe in — Yet
By Dan Hamilton and Sushmitha Narsiah
If Europeans could have voted in the U.S. presidential election, they would have voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama. More than two-thirds of Germans, Italians and Spanish queried recently by a Harris Interactive poll supported Obama; less than one in ten favored John McCain. Only one percent of those polled in France supported McCain.
The main reason Europeans give for supporting Obama is his perceived ability to represent change from the Bush administration. Other strengths are his personality and youth. None of this is particularly surprising, and confirms most anecdotal evidence.
What is particularly striking about the poll is not what Europeans think about America but how they think about themselves.
Electing a “candidate of color” is the change Europeans believe in when it comes to America, according to the poll. But that’s not the change Europeans believe in for their own political systems. 71 percent of those polled in Germany, for instance, expect the election of a leader of color to have a positive effect on the United States, with just 3 percent negative. But only 35 percent in Germany believe a leader of color would be positive for their country; 16 percent believe the effect would be negative. This difference in view is mirrored across Europe.
| — Hat tip: RRW | [Return to headlines] |
Cinema: Albania, Archive Images of ‘Country Opposite’
(ANSAmed) — ROME, NOVEMBER 12 — Only 60 miles separate Italy from Albania and yet, for many Italians, Albania has only existed since 1991, when the first boats overloaded with Albanians began to arrive on Italian coasts. But what was Albania before then? And how far had the two countries already been involved in each other’s history? A documentary, “Albania, the country opposite” answers these questions; produced by Istituto Luce and Fox Channels Italia with contributions from the Lazio Region, it has its national premiere at the Casa del Cinema di Roma on 13 November at 8.30pm. Written by Albanian journalist Roland Sejko, who directed the film together with editor Mauro Brescia, the film tells the story of the “land of the eagles from the fall of the Ottoman empire to the first world war, from King Zog to the Italian occupation, from the ascent of Enver Hoxha to the end of communism. Ending with images of the statue of the dictator falling on 20the February 1991, a few days before the start of the great exodus into Italy. The documentary — a DVD to be released in shops soon — tells this history through the great cinematic archives of the Istituto Luce, which cover almost the whole of the 1900s. A history “doubly linked with Italy’s history” said Sejko, who runs the magazine ‘Bota shqiptare’ in Italy. He remembers the help given by Italy towards Albanian independence, the first and only King, the occupation during the First World War, economic and political investments and interests in the country until its annexation from 1939 to 1943. The second part shows images from the archives of the Albanian Communist regime for the first time in Italy, the seizure of power by Hoxha is reconstructed, his friendships with the USSR and Maòs China, the struggle to construct the new socialist man, the purges and the fall of Communism, in a country by now reduced to poverty. Accounts by historians such as Roberto Morozzo della Rocca and Antonello Biagini enrich the story, as does former President of the Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, who was an official in Albania during the occupation, designer Sergio Staino, who in the 1970s was part of the Marxist-Leninist groups in Albania, and writer Ismail Kadaré. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Kosovo: Ethnic Albanians Reject UN Plan
Pristina/New York, 11 Nov. (AKI) — The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday postponed a session on Kosovo, after Kosovar leaders in the capital Pristina rejected a plan proposed by the Secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon. Ban’s plan was related to the deployment of the European Union mission in the former Serbian province.
Serbia is opposed to Kosovo’s independence and has resisted moves to replace the current UN mission (UNMIK) with the EU mission (EULEX).
But after weeks of secret negotiations, Serbia’s pro-European president Boris Tadic accepted Ban’s plan, regulating, customs, border control, police and the judiciary, provided the mission took a neutral stand on independence based on Security Council resolution 1244.
The resolution, adopted after Serbian forces pulled out of the former province in 1999 and Kosovo was placed under UN control, still officially treats Kosovo as a part of Serbia.
But after a meeting with western diplomats in Pristina on Monday, ethnic Albanian leaders rejected Ban’s proposal, saying it infringed on Kosovo’s independence status.
The UN Security Council was first scheduled to meet on Friday to put a stamp on Ban’s proposal, but was moved to Tuesday and postponed again.
Kosovo president Fatmir Seidiu told the media that Ban’s plan represented “interference in the internal structure of Kosovo”. The deployment of EULEX in Kosovo was acceptable only based on the independence plan forged by former president of Finland Martti Ahtisaari.
Ahtisaari’s plan called for “internationally supervised independence, but was blocked in the Security Council by Serbia’s ally Russia.
“We are for a dialogue which would facilitate EULEX deployment in Kosovo, respecting the plan of Martti Ahtisaari, Kosovo’s constitution and laws,” Seidiu said.
Meanwhile, representatives of Kosovo’s minority Serbs on Tuesday presented officials in Belgrade a petition signed by 70,000 people, who oppose EULEX deployment saying its main goal was the implementation of independence.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
EU-Israel: EU Parliament Approves Reinforced Cooperation
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 6 — The Foreign Commission of the European Parliament today gave the go ahead for the reinforced participation of Israel in EU programmes that concern European area policies. Other than the resolution adopted by the EU parliamentarians another document was approved that binds the reinforced cooperation to respect for commitments made in Annapolis. According to the parliamentarians, additionally, businesses and organizations based in the settlements should not be eligible for EU programmes. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Health: Information in Arabic in Palermo Children’s Hospital
(ANSAmed) — PALERMO, OCTOBER 30 — Information in Arabic has been set up in the waiting room of the Casualty department of the paediatric hospital “Di Cristina” in Palermo, with signs for triage, the system showing the waiting priority for the young patients. The notice board, already in Italian and English, was requested by staff in Casualty who had the cooperation of Guesmi Farhat, the father of an Arab child admitted in recent days to the reception ward. “We are acknowledging the generous donation of the Sultan of Oman with this initiative” said Fortunata Fucà, chief of the Casualty Operations Unit — “the donation will allow us to renovate and enrich our technology. We are focused on continued improvements to the welcoming and care of children of all races”. The designs on the triage board were done by little Paolo della Valle, a thirteen year-old from Ancona who died of a serious illness. His drawings are displayed in several paediatric Casualty units in Italy. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Algeria: Parliament Vote on Constitution Changes, Wednesday
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, NOVEMBER 10 — The revisions to the Algerian constitution which could allow the current president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, to run for a third term take place on Wednesday. The news was announced by the office of the Algerian presidency to the APS press agency. A note on the subject says that following the “positive opinion expressed by the Constitutional Council, President Bouteflika has today signed the decree which calls the two parliamentary chambers for Wednesday 12 November”. The main change provided for by the new constitutional alterations is the cancelling of the two-mandate limit for the Presidency of the Republic. If the constitution does get changed, it will allow Bouteflika, 71 years old, and in power since 1999, to run in the presidential elections scheduled for April. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Mid East: Italian Writer in Israeli-PNA School
(by Aldo Baquis) (ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, NOVEMBER 7 — Italian writer, Gabriella Ambrosio, with a book that reconstructs the final hours of a Palestinian kamikaze’s life, and of the kamikaze’s victim, an Israeli peer, got the attention of the Ministers of Education of Israel and of the Pna. After having translated the book into Hebrew and Arabic with the support of Amnesty International (Ai), they are about to propose it to Israeli and Palestinian scholars to stimulate reciprocal understanding. At times, a person coming from abroad, noted Ambrosio, can be useful in dialogue. Even if the names have been changed, the story in “Prima di lasciarsi” (Before Leaving Each Other) occurred in 2002. Dima, an 18 year old Palestinian refugee from a camp in Deheishe (Bethlehem) dreamt about becoming a journalist. But traumatic episodes pushed her to go into a supermarket in nearby Jerusalem where she detonated an explosive, killing a watchman and a high school girl, Miryam. Over the past days ‘Yediot Ahronot’, the most widely read Israeli newspaper, commemorated the event and put images of the kamikaze and the girl who was killed side by side: they are almost identical, and even look like sisters. Presenting the book yesterday in Tel Aviv, Gabriella Ambrosio, copywriter, and teacher at the Sapienza University in Rome of publishing techniques with past experience in journalism, stated that she was not pushed in her writing by any form of “intellectual tourism”. In this book, she explained, “the readers are forced to separate the lives of each of the protagonists”: the kamikaze, the people who sent her, the Jewish student, the watchman, and their families. “The reader finds themselves exploring different worlds, which prove to be strangely familiar”. According to her, it is a universal story, which involves characters that even living close to each other geographically “have no chance of meeting until their death”. “A tragedy of Shakespearian proportions” agreed playwright Yehoshua Sobol. “For reasons that are outside of their own will, people that do not know each other end their existence in a common pool of blood”. The monstrosity of the situation, for Sobol, should be strongly and courageously denounced to oppose mass media desensitisation to the matter. For this reason, he thinks, Ambrosio’s book should be on shelves alongside other books that deal with social problems like “Infidel” by Ayyan Hirsi Ali, “Burned Alive”, “Suad”, and “Dishonoured” by Pakistani Mukhtar Mai. But in an Israeli family (that of “Miryam”, or high school girl Rachel Levy) the translation of the book reopened the wounds. Her father told ANSA of having learned from Shin Bet (Internal Security) that attacker Ayat al-Akhras was forced in reality to sacrifice herself to “save her family’s honour” following a love affair. He added that Rachel’s mother, Avigail, was hospitalised yesterday because she was so upset by the recalling of the case in the press. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanon-Syria: Terrorism Accusations, Facts or ‘Fabrication’
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, NOVEMBER 7 — Syria accused its Lebanese foes of financing terrorism, and that via a media campaign which those accused say is “political propaganda and intelligence fabrication”. Yesterday, the Syrian state Tv showed what it claimed to be 12 members of Fatah al-Islam “confessing” they had helped plan the bombing in Damascus on Sept. 27 that killed 17 people with financial assistance from Lebanese anti-Syrian Future movement. The Tv did not say whether the 12 persons were detainees and waiting for trial or whether the issue will be raised with Lebanese interior and defense ministers Ziad Baroud and Elias Murr who will travel separately to Damascus in the next days on invitation by Syrian authorities. Future movement had always maintained that Fatah al-Islam, an al Qaeda-inspired group which Lebanese troops crushed in a three-month battle in northern Lebanon in 2007, is a “Syrian puppet”. Among the 12 persons was Wafaa Absi, alleged daughter of the group’s leader Shaker Absi —an ex-detainee in Syrian jails and who disappeared after his militants were defeated in Lebanon. About ten days before she appeared on the Syrian Tv, Wafaa Absi had mysteriously vanished from Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Helweh in southern Lebanon. The allegations on the Syrian Tv were refuted as a “Syrian soap opera” and “propaganda by Syrian intelligence” by Future movement, headed by Sunni leader Saad Hariri, son and heir of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri whose assassination in 2005 was attributed to Syria. Damascus denies involvement. Lebanon’s anti-Syrian March 14 alliance said in a statement Friday that through the televised “confessions”, the Syrian Baath regime “is paving the way to launch a new terrorist campaign in Lebanon under the pretext of “self-defense.” Following the murder of Rafik Hariri, the Syrian state Tv showed Syrian witness Hussam Hussam who claimed to have been “pressured and wowed” by Lebanese officials to give an international investigation commission a false testimony about Damascus’ involvement in the murder. Hussam has never been heard of since. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanon-Syria: Inquest Committee on Damascus Accusations
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, NOVEMBER 10 — The leader of the Lebanese anti-Syrian parliamentary majority party, Saad Hariri, has requested that an Arab inquest committee be formed to investigate the alleged accusations, made by Syria against his party, which say that it financed the attack carried out in Damascus last September. This was reported today by the TV station al-Mustaqbal. The broadcaster, part of the party of the same name led by Hariri, did not however clarify if the request had been officially presented to the Arab League. Saad Hariri is the son and political heir of the former Lebanese leader Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated in Beirut in 2005. Syria was named as the instigator of this crime by several parties, but Damascus has always rejected any accusations. Syrian state television last week broadcast “confessions” from alleged members of Fatah al-Islam, the extremist group inspired by al-Qaida that fought the Lebanese army in the summer of 2007. The “terrorists” admitted receiving money from Harirìs party to carry out the attack in Damascus on 27 September, in which Syria confirmed that 17 people died. Saad Hariri has for his part rejected any accusations, calling the “confessions” by Fatah al-Islam “inventions created deliberately by Syrian security”, similar to the “confession” by an alleged Islamic terrorist, Abu Adass, who in February claimed responsibility for the Beirut bombing in a video message. However, the UNO inquest committee on the Hariri murder has not been able to establish any link between Abu Adass and the crime. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Ondus,Three Intellectuals Banned From Leaving Country
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, NOVEMBER 3 — The list of intellectuals and Syrian human rights activists who may not leave the country drawn up by the security services has had three more names added to it in the last 48 hours: writer Khaled Smeisem, University Professor Hassan Abbas, and lawyer Mazen Darwish, Director of the Centre for Information and Freedom of Expression. According to the Human rights organisation in Syria (ONDUS), Smeisem, Abbas and Darwish were informed by the Syrian Security services separately and in different circumstances between last Saturday and yesterday, of the forbidding to leave the country “without an explanation of the reason”. ONDUS stated that Smeisem was told of the ban on his return from a trip to the USA, while Abbas and Darwish were unable to go to France and the United Arab Emirates respectively for meetings with academics to which they had been invited. Well-known Syrian director Muhammad Malas, expected in Paris, is a “prisoner in his own country”: he was stopped by security services at Damascus airport on 27 October where he was told that he must stay in Syria. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Businesses Concerned Over Govæt IMF Aversion
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, NOVEMBER 11 — As the Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan accuses the International Monetary Fund (or IMF) of “squeezing Turkey’s throat” and refuses to rush into a deal with the fund, Turkish business leaders could not disagree more, Hurriyet daily reports today. The government needs to sign a deal as soon as possible or the train will leave the station, businessmen warn. Erdogan says his 700 billion dollars economy does not need more help from the International Monetary Fund to fight the credit crisis. Yes it does, business leaders say. The leaders, who have mostly backed Erdogan’s policies as he presided over a record 26 quarters of economic growth, say Turkey needs the credibility that IMF support brings. “We must definitely make a deal,” said Tuncay Ozilhan, chairman of Istanbul-based Anadolu Group, Turkey’s biggest beverage maker. “If only we had done it earlier.” Any new deal would likely require Erdogan to lock away the government’s checkbook at a time when he and his Justice and Development Party, gearing up for local elections, plan to increase non-interest spending 17% in 2009. The budget plans, the first Erdogan has drawn up without fund oversight from past loan accords, assume 4% economic growth next year. That will not be easy to achieve as the credit crunch curbs expansion, Turkish Central Bank Governor Durmus Yilmaz said October 31. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy ‘Role’ on US- Russia Missiles
Rome can help defuse row, Frattini says
(ANSA) — Rome, November 13 — Italy can help ease tension over missiles between the United States and Russia, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Thursday.
‘‘A strategy of missile proliferation is no good for Europe, Russia or the United States,’’ Frattini said in reply to a question over Moscow’s decision to deploy missiles near the Polish border in response to the planned US missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.
‘‘Italy is really one of the few countries which can play a facilitating role. And I hope (US) President-elect (Barack) Obama can meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev really soon to discuss these issues’’.
Frattini denied a reporter’s suggestion that Italy was ‘‘veering East’’ after Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Wednesday that Russia had been ‘‘provoked’’ into deploying the missiles.
‘‘For us it is indispensable that there is a strategic security framework, which includes Europe and the United States as pillars of world security but which addresses Russia as a strategic partner,’’ he said, echoing Berlusconi in calling for a return to the ‘‘spirit’’ of a 2002 summit at Pratica di Mare near Rome.
In his statements Wednesday night, Berlusconi said: ‘‘Let’s be clear: we believe that there were provocations towards the Russian Federation with the plan to place missiles in Poland and the Czech republic, with the unilateral recognition of Kosovo and then the acceleration of the NATO entry process for Ukraine and Georgia’’.
Russia then responded ‘‘in a way that the US adminstration considered arrogant,’’ he went on.
This could lead to a return to ‘‘the terror and anguish’’ of the Cold War, he said, urging the US and Russian presidents to meet ‘‘in the spirit of Pratica di Mare’’.
On Thursday Frattini said Italy had ‘‘doubts’’ about speeding up the NATO accession process for Ukraine and Georgia and stressed that the two countries must meet all the preconditions for entry.
President Medvedev last week announced the move to distribute short-range Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, a Russian territory between Poland and Lithuania.
He said the deployment would counter the US anti-missile system to be based in Poland and the Czech Republic by 2013-2014.
Moscow has said the US plans threaten Russian security and dismissed claims they are directed against ‘‘rogue states’’ like Iran.
Medvedev had said the US sped up its missile defence plans in reaction to August’s war in Georgia, in which Russia clashed with its southern neighbour over the Moscow-backed South Ossetia region.
The Russian president’s announcement drew criticism from the West, with the US calling it ‘‘disappointing’’ and Germany saying it was ‘‘the wrong message at the wrong time’’.
The European Union also expressed strong concern over Russia’s decision.
On Thursday Medvedev told French daily Le Figaro that the Russian missiles would not be deployed if the US decided not to go ahead with its missile shield.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Sets New Goals With Russia
Countries ink 13 accords at Moscow summit
(ANSA) — Moscow, November 6 — Italy plans to overtake Germany as Russia’s top trading partner, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Thursday.
Speaking at the first intergovernmental summit between the two countries since Russian President Dmitry Medvedev took office in May, Berlusconi said a string of business deals inked at the summit demonstrated Italy’s ‘‘precise goal’’ to become ‘‘the foremost partner of the Russian Federation’’.
Medvedev said Italo-Russian trade was 60% up this year and could end 2008 ‘‘at an unprecedented level’’. The two countries signed 13 accords and statements of intent regarding joint business ventures and intergovernmental agreements during the Italian delegation’s visit to the Kremlin. Among the strategic business accords, Italian tyre giant Pirelli signed a 300-million euro deal with state corporation Russian Technologies to begin production of pneumatic tyre in Russia by the end of 2010.
Work will begin on the new factory in summer 2009 near Samara in the Volga Federal District, and output is set at around 4.2 million tyres a year.
Italian energy giant ENEL meanwhile renewed its agreement to supply energy to Russian railway company RZHD via the joint venture RusEnergoSbyt for 15 years, a deal worth an estimated billion euros.
ENEL signed a second statement of intent with Russian electricity trading company Inter RAO UES for cooperation in the energy sector both in Russia and elsewhere.
Other deals diplomatic sources said earlier in the week were set to be signed on Thursday included an accord between Italian aeronautics, space and defence giant Finmeccanica and Russian Railways on safety systems and rail track checks, while Russian oil company Lukhoil was to formalise its 49% purchase of a refinery in Sicily with Italy’s top petrol group ERG. Ministers from both countries meanwhile signed deals on adoption, drugs trafficking and cultural cooperation.
Berlusconi and Medvedev exchanged jokes during their encounter, entering the chamber in a jovial atmosphere.
The Italian premier, who is a personal friend of Medvedev’s predecessor as president, Premier Vladimir Putin, said Italy wanted to cement friendly relations with a country ‘‘we feel particularly close to’’. Berlusconi praised ‘‘the culture and nature of the people and the values and principles which have inspired the new direction you have taken’’.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti, Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, Industry Minister Claudio Scajola, Culture Minister Sandro Bondi and Family Undersecretary Carlo Giovanardi were among the Italian delegation. Bondi overcame an eight-year fear of flying to make the trip.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
French President ‘Soothed’ Putin’s Rage
Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, wanted to depose Mikheil Saakashvili, the Georgian leader, and hang him “by the balls” following Russia’s invasion of Georgia in August but was deterred by Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president.
That is the version of events related by Jean-David Levitte, Mr Sarkozy’s chief foreign policy adviser, to a French magazine on Thursday, an account that helps the French leader’s claim that he averted a Russian military dash to occupy Tbilisi, the Georgian capital.
According to Mr Levitte, when Mr Sarkozy flew to Moscow on August 12 for emergency talks with Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, and Mr Putin a few days after the conflict began, Mr Putin told him: “I want to hang Saakashvili by the balls.”
“Hang him?” a startled Mr Sarkozy interjected.
“Why not,” Mr Putin replied. “The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein.”
“But do you want to end up like [George W.] Bush?” Mr Sarkozy asked.
Mr Putin apparently paused, and said: “Ah, there you have a point.”
Mr Levitte told Le Nouvel Observateur that this exchange helped to persuade Mr Putin to refrain from a full invasion of Georgia.
According to other accounts of the meeting, the French president was appalled at Mr Putin’s use of foul language in talking of Georgia and Mr Saakashvili, and threatened to walk out of the lunch and return to Paris if he did not calm down. Mr Putin then moderated his language.
Mr Sarkozy, who as the holder of the European Union’s rotating presidency led western efforts this summer to secure a ceasefire in the Georgia conflict, has been accused of ceding too much ground to the Kremlin. Russian troops still occupy the disputed Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
In the early days of his negotiation, the French president seemed to be sympathetic to the Russian argument that it was defending “Russian speakers” in South Ossetia, apparently oblivious to the fact that virtually everyone in the Caucasus speaks Russian as a second language.
Mr Sarkozy’s critics, including many in eastern Europe, doubt whether Russia was really intent on sending its tanks all the way to the Georgian capital.
The French president defended his peacemaking role on Thusrday, pointedly referring to Washington’s diplomatic absence in the conflict.
Speaking as he received a prize for “political courage”, Mr Sarkozy said: “When on August 8 it was necessary to go to Moscow and to Tbilisi, who was it that stood up for human rights? Was it the president of the United States who said, ‘This is unacceptable’? Or was it France that maintained dialogue with Mr Putin, Mr Medvedev and Mr Saakashvili?”…
| — Hat tip: Zonka | [Return to headlines] |
Taslima Nasreen ‘Forced’ to Leave India Again
NEW DELHI: Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has again been “forced” to leave India after her brief stay here, prompting the
controversial writer to question the country’s alleged secular credentials.
The writer, who returned to India on August 8, said she had to leave on October 15 following the government’s dictum.
“Yes, I was forced to leave India once again… The government gave me resident permit for 6 months with a secret condition that I must leave the country in a few days,” she told PTI in an e-mail interview.
The ex-physician-turned-feminist author, who is under attack from Muslim fundamentalists for her book ‘Lajja’, said she is now somewhere in Europe, delivering lectures.
Taslima’s second exit from India comes seven months after she was forced to leave the country in view of protests by fundamentalist groups against her presence here.
Prior to her departure, she had been living in Kolkata since 1994 after being exiled from Bangladesh over her book, which was dubbed anti-Islam by the fundamentalists.
“The condition of getting permission to reside in India is yet a direction for not to reside in India.”
She said she will “go back” to India in January. “As the door of Bangladesh is closed for me, my home, I still consider, is in India, in the West Bengal city of Kolkata. If I am not allowed to return there, then it is back to nomadic existence again, without a land, without a home,” the author said.
Expressing her angst over being shunted out again and again, she said “India, which prides itself of being the world’s largest democracy, an allegedly secular state, could not give shelter to me.”
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
China: Strikes and Clashes With Police Boom as a Result of Economic Injustice
Entrepreneurs, local authorities and common criminals oppress industrial workers and peasants. But ordinary citizens have taken to the streets, laid siege to government buildings, demanding justice. Four officials are jailed for beating to death a passer-by.
Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) — For the past three days some 2,000 workers at the Yangdong Co. Ltd in Jiangyan (Jiangsu) have been in the streets laying siege to city hall, shouting ‘Save our jobs’. Their action is symptomatic of the fact that despite China’s boom the looming recession is raising dissatisfaction levels among industrial workers who have few rights and no economic security, as quickly dumped by big companies at the first signs of crisis as they are exploited by them for years.
“They went to the city government yesterday to demand action on the company, and I think the city officials are talking to them today, too,” said Yu Changjiang, a local resident.
Because of the downturn in the economy the plant in question is planning to lay off thousands of employees. But a company boss, Ge Weiqing, is also thought to have absconded with about 100 million yuan (US$14 million), part of which is said to be from the workers’ pension fund
Faced with such injustice, few rights and little faith in a legal system under the thumb of the Communist Party, ordinary citizens are now clamouring for the authorities to guarantee them at a time of crisis the minimal economic rights they have.
For instance in Sanya (Hainan) and Yongdeng County (Gansu) hundreds of taxi drivers launched strikes over monopolistic taxi companies, rents for cabs and illegal taxis. The drivers want local administrations to solve the problems. Their colleagues in Chongqing did the same earlier this month.
Online postings have reported that in Malanzhuang town (Tangshan, Hebei), Zhang San, the alleged head of a local group of gangsters (but thought to have connections with local government officials), beat to death a local peasant, Lu Gui, and intimidated local residents into selling their land for peanuts. But here too the death prompted scores of angry people to storm the town hall demanding justice.
For some time Beijing has responded to the situation by telling local governments to prevent mass protests by any means.
Zhou Yongkang, the mainland’s top official in charge of maintaining public security and social order, last month urged officials at all levels to prevent the rise of conflicts and to resolve disputes, knowing full well that protests are often triggered by obvious injustices.
By contrast a court in Tianmen (Hubei) convicted four urban management officials for their part in the death of Wei Wenhua, a local construction company manager, and sentenced them to three to six years in prison. Mr Wei was beaten to death after he stopped to film the culprits as they attacked residents in a village during a demonstration.
Such officials are employed in large mainland cities as a secondary security force, but are regularly accused of heavy-handedness in carrying out their duties.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
South Africa: All Actions Against Muslims Not Malicious
Contention over flags used for 2010
Durban- FI South Africa office-Two issues got the South African Muslims talking in the last week — the arrests and subsequent release of Muslim women at Shoprite/Checkers in Lenasia, Gauteng province, and the alleged printing of soccer balls sporting the flags of Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia to promote the 2010 Soccer World Cup. While this caused some Muslims to get hot under the collar, even calling for a boycott of the chain store, Muslim commentators urged Muslims to be cautious not to overreact, especially in cases where no malice was intended towards them.
Speaking as an observer, Muslim Views editor Farid Sayed said he would not go so far as to say that Muslims were over sensitive on these issues.
“I think one has to be careful about terminology because sensitivities are important since it deals with people’s feelings. However, I do feel that certain issues could have been handled differently, in a more low key fashion.”
On the issue of flags and symbols of Muslim countries which includes the ‘kalima’ — a primary article of faith for Muslims — Sayed said often people who use such symbols and calligraphy do so without any malice.
“If they did so with malice, then we can absolutely stand up and object, but in this case, the flags were used as national symbols of certain countries, much as the flags of other countries would be used.”
Bigger Issues
According to Sayed, questions could also be asked on why any country would put the kalima on their flag to begin with and how they as a society projected Islam. “My concern is that at a time when our kids are pumped with drugs; education is facing great dangers; when we see ostentatious display of Muslim wealth — real issues that face us — we become embroiled in these debates, as we did on the Sami Yusuf music debate. By making very big issues about flags and symbols we are slowly getting our priorities wrong because there are more serious issues we should be tackling.”
On Tuesday the Jamiatul Ulema Gauteng lodged an objection about the use of the kalima printed on the Saudi, Iranian and Iraqi flags which in turn were printed on the soccer balls. However, Fifa said it did not know of any soccer balls bearing the national flags of those countries that were in circulation and hastened to assure Muslims of their utmost respect, saying that it would not deliberately act in a fashion to offend Muslims.
Asked about the role of ulema in such debates, Sayed said it was right for the scholars to deal with such issues from a fiqh perspective. “They are qualified to be the ones to speak to Fifa. But we as the public really need to help set the agenda for the ulema and vice versa. There needs to be a broader education related to how we project ourselves to the world. We need to make sure that we handle such matters in a very calm manner.”
As for the niqab/hijab issue at the chain store last week, Sayed related an instance when a Muslim store owner only searched customers who were not Muslim, coloured or white. “We did not hear Muslims raise a hue and a cry about that. I don’t think the Shoprite incident had purely to do with the fact that the women were in niqab or hijab. We are all sensitive about people wearing niqab because it identifies people as Muslims. But it is not always because we are Muslims that we are under fire. There are issues too,” he said.
Known Better
Naeem Jeenah of the Afro Middle East Initiative largely agreed with Sayed. He said Muslim countries using the kalima on their flags should have known better than to put verses of the Quran, knowing that it could be used in different ways. “Similarly you could have a flag like that on your t-shirt and walk into a toilet.”
He said a good example was the complaints often made by Jews when the Israeli flag is burnt in anti-Israeli protests. The Star of David on the Israeli flag is regarded as a religious symbol and as such they were justified in making protesting, Jeenah said. “I have no problem with the burning of flags, but they are right in saying that the Star of David is a religious symbol. However, that is not the fault of the protesters, but the fault of the Israelis’ who put the symbol on the flag to start with.
“So if countries participating in the World Cup are being honoured by putting their flags on soccer balls, including the Saudi flag with the Shahada on, you cannot blame people for using the flag as other flags are being used. It should be the duty of those Muslim countries to then ask for their flags to be removed from such material.”
Media Role
Jeenah also took issue with the manner in which Muslim journalists approached such issues which has the potential to inflame the community. “Sometimes Muslim journalists get overtaken by emotionalism. In cases like these, I believe the role that Muslim media and commentators like us play is bigger than the role of the ulema. In the Shoprite example, Muslim journalists must report on it, but it won’t do anything for solving the problem or how women are treated in future (when a position is taken).
“The fact is that there was a problem of women being manhandled by male security guard. People who quite innocently handed over counterfeit notes were treated in a humiliating fashion. They were customers. That is how it should be reported. It is when we take a position on the story because the women were in niqab that we move away from the real issue and makes it anti-Islam and that inflames people. Would we feel less upset if non-Muslims were dealt with in that way?”
Jeenah said often when Muslims are involved, people forget what the real issues are and this applies to both the public and the Muslim media. It was therefore critical how Muslim media package such information. However, Muslims, like people of any other faith, have the right to protect their sacred symbols from being abused. “We should not allow our symbols, reputation or the name of the Prophet (SAW) to be abused. We must speak out on that, but there are limits.”
He related an incident a week ago when he received an email that took the Mixt logo, turned it upside down in which case the first section looked like the Arabic word Allah. “Now what possible reason could Mixt or their graphic designers have to do that? Is there any way that we can assume the name of Allah is an abuse, similar to what was done by turning around the Coca Cola symbol? If people wanted to abuse such symbols would they not do so openly? It is ridiculous.”
Intentions
Jeenah said when such things happen it is important for Muslims to handle it in a proper way. We can’t assume that there are bad intentions from people like Fifa. I can’t think how we can say that. It’s not as if a soccer ball was printed with only Muslim flags on it — everyone’s flags were used.”
But he also differed from Sayed on the issue of Muslim responses to big versus small debates. “I won’t say that we must only look at the bigger issues. We are humans, we look at big and small issues and we have priorities in our lives. We will differ in what we feel strongly about. For one Muslim, dealing with drugs is most important, for another madrassah education is bigger. We can argue about who is right and who is not, but we can’t say stop dealing with ‘small’ issues to only focus on the ‘big’ issues.”
The matter has led to much debate among Muslims. In an online poll presently been conducted on vocfm.co.za, half of the voters feel that it is all a storm in a tea cup, while 40% think there is justification for it. VOC listeners also got stuck into the debate. Onliner Abdul Ghakiem Agherdien was among the first to email his comment. “I honestly think we are making an issue out of nothing. I’m working in the Arab world and this is their language. As you are aware, you get non-Muslim Arabs too and this is my point — the Arab language is not for Muslims only. We must learn to see the difference between religion and customs.”
Regular VOC listener, Fahiem Khan concurred somewhat. “Muslims must be very careful on the issue of flags. If things like these happen, it must be dealt with but those who act on behalf of Muslims must do so in a manner that shows Muslim tolerance. It could very well be that the people who were involved did so in ignorance, but this might not be the case either. One cannot simply assume either way. I agree that there are many other, bigger issues, such as the state of our children’s madrasah education. Perhaps that needs greater attention.”
Source: Voice of the Cape
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Record Number of Would-Bbe Immigrants Arrive
Rome, 13 Nov. (AKI) — A record number of would-be immigrants arrived in Italy this year, according to the daily Corriere della Sera. Over 40,000 people have requested refugee status so far this year, compared to 14,000 over the same period in 2007.
A total 24,241 illegal immigrants reached Italy between January and 16 September this year, and 3,176 in the following month, the paper said, quoting recent data from Italy’s Interior Ministry.
The illegal immigrants include 4,417 Nigerians, 4,320 Somalis, 2,918 Eritreans and 2,514 Tunisians.
The southern Italian region of Sicily received the highest number of illegal immigrants arriving by boat, followed by Sardinia and the southern region of Calabria.
The number of women arriving on the southernmost island of Lampedusa from January to November was 3,128 — over three times the 973 who arrived over the same period last year.
Similarly, 2,002 children landed on the island between January and November, compared with 977 last year. Of these, eight percent were unaccompanied.
Over one-third of unaccompanied minors arriving on Lampedusa disappear, according to police in Agrigento, Sicily, where the children are sent to live in communities.
Hundreds of these children have vanished since June, the Save the Children charity told Adnkronos International (AKI).
Despite dramatic reports of boatloads of illegal immigrants adrift at sea or coming ashore, 63 percent of illegals in Italy have arrived by land or plane, according to the Interior Ministry.
Between January and September, 49,297 people were recorded as illegal immigrants. The total included 25,056 ‘overstayers’ who remained in the country beyond the maximum three month period stipulated by their visas.
According to the Interior Ministry, however, the total number of foreigners living illegally in Italy is seven times greater — over 650,000.
The Italian Government estimates it will grant 170,000 permits of stay this year to foreigners currently living in the country illegally, mostly to domestic workers, out of 380,000 requested.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Napolitano: Immigrants a Resource, No More Prejudice
(by Alberto Spampinato) (ANSAmed) — ROME, NOVEMBER 13 — One could debate what the best instruments are to tackle the issue of immigration but, warned Italy’s President, Giorgio Napolitano, there is a limit to everything, of methodology and of substance, even in measures employed to limit illegal immigration. It is necessary to act ‘‘with the utmost earnestness’’ and ‘‘respecting basic human rights that cannot be subject to frontiers’’. On a more general front, ‘‘old prejudices must give way, we have to create a climate of openness and of appreciation for foreigners who choose to become Italians’’. Warm approbation has arrived from the Vatican from Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, who expressed his full agreement. There was also favour from Minister Maurizio Sacconi and several figures in the Democratic Party (Pd). Although some critical comments were raised among the ranks of the Northern League, with Party Whips, Federico Bricolo and Roberto Cota to the fore. Napolitano was speaking in an address to the Italian Senate during a solemn ceremony to welcome a delegation of ‘‘new citizens’’ with ‘‘a joyous embrace’’. Foreign-born residents who have this year obtained Italian citizenship number 32 thousand, and should exceed last year’s total of 38 thousand). It is important to continue, the Head of State urged, in the knowledge that this is no passing problem, and it is not just an Italian problem: that regular immigrants are giving us ‘‘new life-blood’’ and in the awareness that it is in our own interests to realise a ‘‘better integration’’ of those who come to work among us and their family members, as ‘‘they are an element of renewal and of strength for the Italian nation’’, ‘‘they enrich our population with valid contributions and precious dynamism’’. Napolitano was preceded by Interior Minister, Roberto Maroni, whose tones were somewhat different, presenting citizenship as a target to be achieved only through a rigorous test, subject to a minimum income per family as well as to ‘‘conditions of sustainability for the country’’. Napolitano made no reference to these statements, nor did he refer to the measures, which are not in full consonance with his words, which are under discussion in the Senate as part of the Law and Order bill. He was silent with respect to the prerogatives of the Government and of Parliament and the various political groupings. His appeal was addressed to the spirit in which these matters should be faced: looking to what other nations do, such as Britain, France, Germany, who have the same problems; bearing in mind the common guidelines elaborated by the European Union; promoting ‘‘a collective searching of conscience’’ of the real nature of the question; promoting an attitude of ‘‘openness and appreciation’’. Only in this ‘‘atmosphere’’, he said, can one successfully launch integration policies and build ‘‘the welcoming of a growing number of new citizens’’. Further, he noted, the more the requirements for citizenship are emphasised, such as the language and knowledge of our history and our values, ‘‘the less it is possible to stiffen up’’ present criteria based on the length of the period of actual residence in Italy. The Speaker of the House, Gianfranco Fini, nodded and commented: for example, bestowing citizenship on a child born and raised in Italy should not involve a wait of eighteen years. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘Economic Benefits of Mass Immigration Are Close to Zero’, Lords Told
The economic benefits from record levels of immigration to Britain are ‘small and close to zero’, the Lords was told today.
A report by a committee of peers, including two former Chancellors and several former Cabinet ministers, called on ministers to set an ‘explicit target range’ for immigration and make rules to keep within that limit.
Tory former Cabinet Minister Lord Wakeham said the report by the Economic Affairs Committee, which he chaired, rejected the Government’s claim that immigration is needed to prevent labour shortages as ‘fundamentally flawed’.
He told peers the Government had said immigrants brought large economic benefits to the UK in boosting economic growth, filling job vacancies that Britons could not or would not do and paying more tax than British-born workers.
‘Serious flaws’: The benefits of immigration have been ‘wildly overstated by the Government, according to a damning Lords’ report
But there was no evidence of such benefits, which had been ‘wildly overstated’ by ministers.
In a debate on the report, Lord Wakeham said: ‘The committee found no evidence of these large economic benefits.
‘What we did find was serious flaws in the Government’s arguments and we concluded that on average the economic benefits of immigration were small and close to zero.’
The report found certain groups in Britain — the low-paid, some ethnic minorities and some young people looking for a foot on the job ladder — may have suffered because of competition from immigrants.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
Teen Told to ‘Burn’ for McCain T-Shirt
When a 14-year-old girl wore a “McCain girl” T-shirt to school, students told her she should be “crucified” or “burned” for supporting the Republican — but when she wore an Obama T-shirt, everyone complimented her.
Illinois 8th grader Catherine Vogt’s mother supported Obama, while her father supported McCain. The teen conducted an experiment to test tolerance among her peers and teachers, the Chicago Tribune reported. But she was surprised by their strong reactions.
Vogt began the experiment by wearing a white T-shirt with “McCain girl” painted in red across the front to Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School in Oak Park. She wrote her observations in a journal.
“I was just really curious how they’d react to something that different, because a lot of people at my school wore Obama shirts and they are big Obama supporters,” Catherine told the Chicago Tribune. “I just really wanted to see what their reaction would be.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Dangers to Free Speech
60 Years After Adoption of Article 19, Protecting Freedom of Expression, “There is a Lot More to be Done”, Leading Human Rights Lawyer Geoffrey Robertson Says
Speaking at IPI’s Top Media Forum in Vienna last night, Mr. Robertson QC (Queen’s Counsel) provided a candid assessment of the state of freedom of expression worldwide and of the role of the United Nations (UN) in protecting that right.
“The two rights that the UN can do absolutely nothing about and does nothing about: the right to democracy and the right to free speech. Why? Because half its members are undemocratic and because more than half its members curb free speech,” Mr. Robertson stated.
The IPI event, held at the PresseClub Concordia, brought together Mr. Robertson, Wolfgang Greber, editor of the foreign desk at Die Presse, and Werner Löw, presenter with ORF Radio News. It was organised to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, particularly Article 19, which provides that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression”.
As for Article 19’s most important effect, Mr. Robertson noted that it led to the inclusion of Article 10 in the European Convention on Human Rights, which he sees as a stronger source of protection for the media than the non-binding UN Declaration. Mr. Robertson lauded the European Court of Human Rights for having in the past come out strongly in favor of the right to press freedom, particularly with respect to the protection of sources. However, he also noted that the court’s commitment to free expression has waned in recent years.
Mr. Robertson’s speech outlined historical and current challenges to free expression worldwide. He pinpointed the criminalization of defamation and overly broad interpretations of the right to privacy as major obstacles for the media.
Looking back, he noted that, in 1941, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt envisioned a future founded on “four freedoms” — freedom of speech and of religion, and freedom from fear and from want. The right of free speech came first. Today, much must be done to again make it the “first freedom”, he concluded.
Mr. Robertson, a British-Australian human rights lawyer and prolific author, has represented several prominent clients, including writers and media outlets. For additional biographical information and a photograph of the event, please visit IPI’s website.
| — Hat tip: ESW | [Return to headlines] |
Global-Warming Hurricane Scare Debunked
Maue’s results dovetail with other research suggesting hurricanes are variable and unconnected to global warming predictions, said Stan Goldenberg, a hurricane researcher with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“The simplistic notion that warmer oceans from global warming automatically lead to more frequent and or stronger hurricanes has not been verified,” said Goldenberg, whose research points to periods of high and low hurricane activity that last several decades each.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Internet and Al Qaeda Two ‘Networks’ for Islam
It is difficult to understand, in the absence of direct contact, and meetings which are susceptible to monitoring and tapping, the capacity of the Al Qaeda penetration into the Islamic world, and the capillarity of its propaganda.Within the space of a few years, the qaedists have passed from amateur video from a cave to a chain of messages. And also the channels of transmission of the information have changed: from satellite TV, Al Qaeda has passed to qaedist sites on the Internet.Anyone, in any part of the world, can access to Internet, receive messages, exchange information, announce imminent actions, develop that “mediatic terrorism” which generates fear and panic without firing a single shot. This is a foretaste of the thesis developed by the author in his book shortly to be published.
With the historic leaders hidden, the operations entrusted to regional factions and spontaneous cells, the old Qaedist guard has maintained presence and control, thanks to Internet. A control room with two levers. The first, stronger, governs the ideology. The second, not always in working order, activates the operative phase. A mechanism which, through the Internet, has communicated the idea of perpetual activity.
This has been served by the messages of Osama Bin Laden and of a long line-up of spokesmen, alternating in being the mouthpiece for the propaganda. A rather well articulated mediatic explosion which has pushed some researchers to say that without the web the Al Qaeda phenomenon would have been perceived in a different way. Certainly, we would have seen it as a distant reality and less threatening.
Using Internet, the chiefs have been able to open an ideological umbrella, even without having direct contact with what the teachers have put into practice. Bin Laden, Al Zawahiri and Al Libi, Azzam the American, Abu Al Yazid and an array of minor ideologies — considerably cited on the web — have assumed the role of inspirers. In this way, from Asia to North Africa, groups grown with characteristics tied to the respective theatres have tried to assume a trans-national physiognomy.
Some have been successful on the territory: it is the case of Al Qaeda in the Maghreb Countries, which from Algeria it spread to Mauritania, Mali and Tunisia. Surprise attacks consolidated by a strong activity of proselytism on the web. Other factions have limited themselves to actions
of propaganda, taking care to underline the bond with the main branch. Once again, it has been Internet to guarantee them cover and to create a common virtual space. A scenario of defensive asymmetric war, with the Moslems pledged to respond to the presumed aggression of the West. The Islamist ideologies have repeated this concept and have been successful in convincing sectors of the Moslem public opinion. Fortunately, the mass revolt that Osama dreamed of has not come about, but it is a fact that there are many who although not willing to take up arms, consider themselves victims of an attack. Any regional crisis — Palestine, Chechnya, Sudan, to make some examples — have become the ideological motivator employed by the Qaedists. In their narration, the responsibility is only on one side…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic Scientist: Hadith Revealed Cure for Aids
‘If a Fly Falls Into Your Drink, You Should Dip it in the Drink’
Hamas TV scientist Ahmad Al-Muzain says Bayer, the German drug giant that developed aspirin, got its treatment for AIDS from “Prophet Muahmmad’s Hadith About the Wings of Flies.”
Al-Muzain, a Palestinian expert on “Quranic science,” said during a program aired on Al-Aqsa Television Sept. 19 that the German company only confirmed what already had been revealed by Muhammad.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Liberals Clinically Mad, Concludes Top Psychiatrist
Eminent doctor makes case leftist ideology is a mental disorder
“A social scientist who understands human nature will not dismiss the vital roles of free choice, voluntary cooperation and moral integrity — as liberals do,” he says. “A political leader who understands human nature will not ignore individual differences in talent, drive, personal appeal and work ethic, and then try to impose economic and social equality on the population — as liberals do. And a legislator who understands human nature will not create an environment of rules which over-regulates and over-taxes the nation’s citizens, corrupts their character and reduces them to wards of the state — as liberals do.”
Dr. Rossiter says the liberal agenda preys on weakness and feelings of inferiority in the population by:
- creating and reinforcing perceptions of victimization;
- satisfying infantile claims to entitlement, indulgence and compensation;
- augmenting primitive feelings of envy;
- rejecting the sovereignty of the individual, subordinating him to the will of the government.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Religion: Dialogue, Global Forum for Saudi King Campaign
(by Fausto Gasparroni) (ANSAmed) — ROME, NOVEMBER 11 — The initiative on dialogue between religions has taken on a global dimension — in particular between the three great monotheistic faiths which originate on the shores of the Mediterranean — talks promoted by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who brought together Christians, Muslims and Jews in an inter-faith conference in Madrid. World leaders are meeting in New York for a UN Special General Assembly tomorrow and Thursday dedicated to the “culture of peace” which will place the emphasis on the need to respect all cultures and firmly reject the use of religion to feed wars and terrorism. The Saudi sovereign, “keeper of the two Holy Mosques”, who announced the initiative for inter-faith dialogue after his historic meeting a year ago with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, will speak at the meeting at the Glass Palace. UN sources say that around 50 world leaders and Heads of State have confirmed their presence. Particular significance is being placed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon at tomorrow’s conference on the aim of strengthening cooperation between member States, putting an end to conflict and promoting peaceful coexistence between nations. “The New York declaration will commend the initiative by Saudi Arabia. And above all it will reject the use of religion to justify the murder of innocent people, stressing the need for respect between faiths and cultures, and between their leaders”. Participants are expected to appeal for the promotion of a culture of tolerance and mutual understanding through dialogue. The proposal by religious leaders of civil society and UN member countries, launched at Madrid, to reinforce a culture of dialogue between faiths, will also be supported. Yesterday Kind Abdullah, one of the first to arrive in New York for the conference, met the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, to discuss the main questions concerning the region and prospects for a lasting peace. Expected at the Assembly in New York are Israeli President Shimon Peres, Lebanon’s Michel Suleiman, King Abdallah of Jordan, the Prime Minister of Morocco Abbas El Fassi, representing King Mohammed VI, President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan,Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, and US President George W. Bush, Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari, and President of the Philippines, Gloria Arroyo. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Scientists: We’re Actually Heading Toward New Ice Age
It has plagued scientists and politicians for decades, but scientists now say global warming is not the problem.
We are actually heading for the next Ice Age, they claim.
British and Canadian experts warned the big freeze could bury the east of Britain in 6,000ft of ice.
Most of Scotland, Northern Ireland and England could be covered in 3,000ft-thick ice fields.
The expanses could reach 6,000ft from Aberdeen to Kent ? towering above Ben Nevis, Britain?s tallest mountain.
And what’s more, the experts blame the global change on falling — rather than climbing — levels of greenhouse gases.
Lead author Thomas Crowley from the University of Edinburgh and Canadian colleague William Hyde say that currently vilified greenhouse gases ? such as carbon dioxide ? could actually be the key to averting the chill.
The warning, published in the authoritative journal Nature, is based on records of tiny marine fossils and the earth?s shifting orbit.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Study Confirms Genetically Engineered Crops Threaten Human Fertility
Los Angeles, CA. — A long-term feeding study commissioned by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, managed by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Health, Family and Youth, and carried out by Veterinary University Vienna, confirms genetically engineered (GM) corn seriously affects reproductive health in mice. Non-GMO advocates, who have warned about this infertility link along with other health risks, now seek an immediate ban of all GM foods and GM crops to protect the health of humankind and the fertility of women around the world.
Feeding mice with genetically engineered corn developed by the US-based Monsanto Corporation led to lower fertility and body weight, according to the study conducted by the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. Lead author of the study Professor Zentek said, there was a direct link between the decrease in fertility and the GM diet, and that mice fed with non-GE corn reproduced more efficiently…
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2 comments:
Hmmm, so the genetically modified foods decrease fertility, huh? Then perhaps we should send some to the starving, impoverished Middle Eastern and sub-Saharan African countries, the next time we're lectured that it's our obligation and moral duty to feed a family of 11 children and unemployed/homeless parents in Somalia.
Best idea ever!
Not.
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