Islamism & Islamophobia Abroad - News & Analysis

Haresh · Post by **Haresh** » 28 May 2012 21:25

Sushupti,

Removed, you guys are to sensitive

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 28 May 2012 22:12

Haresh,

I liked the story, but please post it in Nukkad or elsewhere. Here is not really the right place for it. Thanks!

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 28 May 2012 22:16

Haresh ji, would recommend removing it altogether.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 28 May 2012 23:09

Thats gross, please delete it.

tejas · Post by **tejas** » 29 May 2012 03:42

Death penalty for dancing at a wedding? Justice Poaki style.

http://www.thenewstribe.com/2012/05/28/ ... 8P5U9X5Ag0

Charlie · Post by **Charlie** » 29 May 2012 04:09

Saudis Demand Punishment for McDonald's Toy They Say "Insults Muhammed"

According to the Saudis, the designs that appear all around the base, where the figure stomps its foot, is really the name "Muhammed" written several times in circles.

Saudi Arabians are angry at a McDonald's toy which they say mocks their prophet Muhammad. According to a report appearing today (5/27/12) on the Arabic news website, Kermalkom.com, the McDonald's fast food restaurant "abused the Prophet Muhammad by placing his name at the base of a toy that is being distributed as part of the Happy Meal, a toy which steps on the name 'Muhammad.'"

The toy consists of a blue superhero figurine (apparently a Power Ranger Samurai; click here for pictures). It stands on one leg, and, when the lever is pressed, it pounds on the base with the other leg. According to the Saudis, the designs that appear all around the base, where the figurine stomps its foot, is really the name "Muhammad" written several times in circles.

The toy had been distributed a few days before Saudi children and their parents began to take note of the name. Soon thereafter, Saudi Muslims launched several campaigns against McDonald's in "response to the savage attacks on the noble Prophet," under banners like "Help your Prophet!" and "Together in support of the Prophet."

Saudis, "demanding the strongest possible punishment for the restaurant" and insisting that "they will not be silent until this is realized," further complained how such an obvious insult could pass the supervision of the management at McDonalds.

In response, "Saudi McDonald's" has withdrawn the toy from all its restaurants, "in order to safeguard against any accusations or misunderstandings."

If not for the Oil wealth the Bedouin and Wahhabi tribals would still be leading a nomadic life instead of stuffing Big Macs

The unfortunate toy accused of blasphemy.

tejas · Post by **tejas** » 29 May 2012 04:55

There are more human beings in slavery today than in any time in world history. A disgusting fact. BTW slavery is perfectly acceptable under Sharia. That this "religion" has not only survived till now but is growing is a blot on human kind.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/05/ ... avery.html

In 2003, a Saudi imam, Sheik Saleh Al-Fawzan, said that "slavery is part of jihad, and jihad will remain as long there is Islam." He was also reported as saying that "[s]lavery is a part of Islam" and that those Muslims who oppose slavery "are ignorant, not scholars."

tejas · Post by **tejas** » 29 May 2012 05:22

^^^ The fact that these people are looking anywhere and everywhere to be insulted as well as prescribe the death penalty for leaving their religion tells you how strong their faith truly is.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 29 May 2012 09:15

Did Muhammad Exist? Robert Spencer & David Wood vs. Anjem Choudary & Omar Bakri

Charlie · Post by **Charlie** » 30 May 2012 00:42

Saudi Arab, the Gay heaven

The gay men I interviewed in Jeddah and Riyadh laughed when I asked them if they worried about being executed. Although they do fear the mutawwa'in to some degree, they believe the House of Saud isn’t interested in a widespread hunt of homosexuals. For one thing, such an effort might expose members of the royal family to awkward scrutiny. “If they wanted to arrest all the gay people in Saudi Arabia,” Misfir, my chat-room guide, told me—repeating what he says was a police officer’s comment—“they’d have to put a fence around the whole country

This society thrives just below the surface. During the afternoon, traffic cops patrol outside girls’ schools as classes end, in part to keep boys away. But they exert little control over what goes on inside. A few years ago, a Jeddah- based newspaper ran a story on lesbianism in high schools, reporting that girls were having sex in the bathrooms. Yasmin, a 21-year-old student in Riyadh who’d had a brief sexual relationship with a girlfriend (and was the only Saudi woman who’d had a lesbian relationship who was willing to speak with me for this story), told me that one of the department buildings at her college is known as a lesbian enclave. The building has large bathroom stalls, which provide privacy, and walls covered with graffiti offering romantic and religious advice; tips include “she doesn’t really love you no matter what she tells you” and “before you engage in anything with [her] remember: God is watching you.” In Saudi Arabia, “It’s easier to be a lesbian [than a heterosexual]. There’s an overwhelming number of people who turn to lesbianism,” Yasmin said, adding that the number of men in the kingdom who turn to gay sex is even greater. “They’re not really homosexual,” she said. “They’re like cell mates in prison.

This analogy came up again and again during my conversations. As Radwan, the Saudi American, put it, “Some Saudi [men] can’t have sex with women, so they have sex with guys. When the sexes are so strictly segregated”—men are allowed little contact with women outside their families, in order to protect women’s purity

Gay courting in the kingdom is often overt—in fact, the preferred mode is cruising. “When I was new here, I was worried when six or seven cars would follow me as I walked down the street,” Jamie, a 31-year-old Filipino florist living in Jeddah, told me. “Especially if you’re pretty like me, they won’t stop chasing you.” John Bradley, the author of Saudi Arabia Exposed: Inside a Kingdom in Crisis (2005), says that most male Western expatriates here, gay or not, have been propositioned by Saudi men driving by “at any time of the day or night, quite openly and usually very, very persistently.”

Many gay expatriates say they feel more at home in the kingdom than in their native lands. Jason, a South African educator who has lived in Jeddah since 2002, notes that although South Africa allows gay marriage, “it’s as though there are more gays here.” For Talal, Riyadh became an escape. When he was 17 and living in Damascus, his father walked in on him having sex with a male friend. He hit Talal and grounded him for two months, letting him out of the house only after he swore he was no longer attracted to men. Talal’s pale face flushed crimson as he recalled his shame at disappointing his family. Eager to escape the weight of their expectations, he took a job in Riyadh. When he announced that he would be moving, his father responded, “You know all Saudis like boys, and you are white. Take care.” Talal was pleased to find a measure of truth in his father’s warning—his fair skin made him a hit among the locals.

Marcos, a 41-year-old from the Philippines, was arrested in 1996 for attending a party featuring a drag show. He spent nine months in prison, where he got 200 lashes, before being deported. Still, he opted to return; he loves his work in fashion, which pays decently, and the social opportunities are an added bonus. “Guys romp around and parade in front of you,” he told me. “They will seduce you. It’s up to you how many you want, every day.”

A magazine editor in Jeddah told me that many boys in Mecca, where he grew up, have sexual relations with men, but they don’t see themselves as gay. Abubaker Bagader, a human-rights activist based in Jeddah, explained that homosexuality can be viewed as a phase. “Homosexuality is considered something one might pass by,” he said. “It’s to be understood as a stage of life, particularly at youth.” This view of sexual behavior, in combination with the strict segregation of the sexes, serves to foster homosexual acts, shifting the stigma onto bottoms and allowing older men to excuse their younger behavior—their time as bottoms—as mere youthful transgressions.

Yasmin, the student who told me about the lesbian enclave at her college, said that her 16-year-old brother, along with many boys his age, has been targeted by his male elders as a sexual object. “It’s the land of sand and sodomites,” she said. “The older men take advantage of the little boys.” Dave, the American educator, puts it this way: “Let’s say there’s a group of men sitting around in a café. If a smooth-faced boy walks by, they all stop and make approving comments. They’re just noting, ‘That’s a hot little number."

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 01 Jun 2012 03:37

I was watching CNN last night. They had a story about "zombie' attack in Florida. The curious thing is the supect is supposed to be on "bath salts' a new strain of drugs that cause:
- Combative/Violent behavior
- Hallucinations and /or psychosis
- Confusion
- Paranoia

I wonder if Islam's teachings induce similar symptoms in the believer so they behave as Zombies.

tejas · Post by **tejas** » 01 Jun 2012 06:19

^^^ Why wonder?

brihaspati · Post by **brihaspati** » 01 Jun 2012 09:39

ramana wrote:I was watching CNN last night. They had a story about "zombie' attack in Florida. The curious thing is the supect is supposed to be on "bath salts' a new strain of drugs that cause:
- Combative/Violent behavior
- Hallucinations and /or psychosis
- Confusion
- Paranoia

I wonder if Islam's teachings induce similar symptoms in the believer so they behave as Zombies.

Kabila <?> suppressed homosexuality <?> janisseri <?> simultaneous bisexuality and violent sexual abuse of women <? hatred of women?> horde militancy behaviour and genocide. I believe its intense self-hatred for suppressed sexuality, justifying the male company with militancy, justifying militancy with divine order, and the combination resulting in an explosive mix of violence against women, extreme insecurity leading to total intolerance of criticism.

My prediction would be that - such a culture would be more obsessed with humilating males by forcing them into female roles and situations such as rape, a predilection for penetrative physical punishments like impalement, and amputations/decpaitations as symbolic emasculations [symbolic penectomy/castration], and a very high degree of sado-masochism like use of whips and flogging and making it a public spectacle [ group voyeurism].

It runs through previous cultures also - Roman/Greek/Persians. Think Sparta, Romans in the imperial stage starting with Sulla the dictator, and Persians from Cyrus's grandson onwards.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 01 Jun 2012 20:10

brihaspati wrote:It runs through previous cultures also - Roman/Greek/Persians. Think Sparta, Romans in the imperial stage starting with Sulla the dictator, and Persians from Cyrus's grandson onwards.

B ji, what's the dope on Cyrus' grandson? I would like to explore this.

Sushupti · Post by **Sushupti** » 01 Jun 2012 21:04

wrong thread.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 02 Jun 2012 02:28

Well Islam's well springs are the Asian Middle East.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 03 Jun 2012 09:21

Businessman launched bigoted rant against Muslim airport worker ... after reading article in Daily Mail

http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islam ... t-wor.html
( Karma barra Balwan re, Rakhai Briturd ki pehchan re)

A high-flying businessman was hauled before the court for a tirade of religious abuse at a Muslim immigration official waiting to check his passport.Anthony Holt, 65, had become wound up after reading an article in the Daily Mail about the "victimisation of Christianity" on a flight into Manchester. When he landed, the retired consultant refused to go through a desk where Sayima Mohammed was on duty.He astonished witnesses by pointing at her and saying: "I don't want to be seen by that. I don't want to be seen by any Muslim in a position of authority. I want to be seen by someone who's English. This is England. This is my country. I'm not into all this Islam."As Ms Mohammed burst into tears, her colleagues refused to check Mr Holt's documents and ordered him to calm down. When police arrived, Holt turned his attention to a cop, saying: "That's Islam. I'm not going to that. This is my country." The 15-minute row only ended when he was arrested.During a police interview Holt claimed the abuse was not "personal". He said: "The problem I have is with Islam as a whole. It's threat to the British population and the British way of life. I wanted to take a stand."Holt, of Railway Road, Urmston, pleaded guilty to using religiously aggravated threatening words or behaviour. He was ordered to pay £100 compensation and a £145 fine.Trafford magistrates heard he had worked as a consultant advising lawyers about the purchase of railway stock until his retirement earlier this month.The court heard the outburst took place in front of a queue of witnesses, including children. In a statement to police, Ms Mohammed said: "I felt threatened, shocked and humiliated to be treated in that manner for no apparent reason."
Praveen Sethi, defending, said Holt had been flying into Manchester at the end of "a stressful week". He had been reading an article in the Mail in which the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey spoke of the "victimisation of Christians and Christianity".r Sethi said: "He took his frustrations out on the first person he saw. Mr Holt is a man of previous good character. He's not a racist nor against any religion what-so-ever, which makes it even more surprising he carried out this act."The court heard Holt suffered from a neurological disorder which meant he could "explode" at any time.Holt told magistrates his comments were not directed to Ms Mohammed, but at the fact she was wearing a scarf. He said: "I have pleaded guilty because I am. It's totally out of character for me. I deeply regret it and deeply regret any offence or distress I caused the lady. Nothing I said was directed to her personally."

."

arun · Post by **arun** » 03 Jun 2012 10:18

In Sudan, the Mohammadden religion recommended punishment of stoning to death for adultery is handed down :

Young woman sentenced to death by stoning in Sudan

Charlie · Post by **Charlie** » 04 Jun 2012 07:18

Enslaved for 18 years in Bious Saudi Barbaria, TN man returns home

Periyasamy was a young man in his late 20s, married for just a few months, when he received the offer to work as a shepherd, tending goats and camels in the Gulf, for 500 riyals a month in 1993-94 (he is no longer sure of the year). He had done a stint in the Gulf in the late ’80s, and readily accepted the chance for a second.

It was when he reached Hial in Saudi Arabia that he realised that he had signed on for an agreement to work as a shepherd for 20 years. He was denied monthly salary by his employer, made to work from before daybreak till after midnight, given just one meal a day and beaten up for putting up any resistance.

“I am illiterate, so could not write any letter to my family to describe my struggles. Also, as the employer kept my passport and all other documents, it was impossible for me to escape,” says Periyasamy, now sitting in the verandah of his modest house at Karakkudi village.

Even his family members were scared of his “tough” employer, he adds. “They were kinder to me, but there was little they could do.”

As his watch stopped functioning after a while, he lost all perspective of time. Next to go were Periyasamy’s memories of his village and family, but for disconnected bits that would suddenly strike him in the middle of a day. As he picked up Arabic, he believed he had also lost the ability to converse in Tamil.

Back home, as days, months and then years passed without any news from Periyasamy, his family feared the worst. His mother Alamelu was the only one who clung on to hope. “I believed he would come back. Astrologers too assured me that my son was alive,” she says.

It was a neighbour who had been noticing Periyasamy’s condition who finally informed the local police authorities about him. They came over to inspect the house even as officials at the Indian Consulate got wind of the matter. As the latter took it up with the Saudi authorities, Periyasamy was rescued from his employer’s house and taken to a police station.

However, the authorities faced a major hurdle: Periyasamy had forgotten most things about his native place, making it difficult for them to trace his family in Tamil Nadu. Apart from remembering Perambalur, he had little recollection of his village.

Again, fate struck. Says younger brother Kannappa, a farm hand who has also worked in the Gulf briefly: “A person from our neighbouring village who was coming on leave was told by officials about the case. When he came here, he started asking around if anyone knew a person who had been missing in Saudi Arabia for years. Word spread and it finally reached us, after which we contacted the Indian officials there. It was a miracle.”

Kannappa was a school student when Periyasamy had left home. Not surprisingly, the elder brother could not recognise the grown-up man waiting for him at the Chennai airport when he arrived home in April end.

Ironically, on the airport premises, a woman claimed Periyasamy was her missing husband Selvam. Her brothers had to pull her away. It was only when he reached home that it was finally revealed to Periyasamy that his own wife was now gone.

“We ran out of lies and he was adamant that he would go to her house to see her. So we had to tell him the truth,” says Kannappa.

His family members say Periyasamy cried a lot and is trying still to get over her. He is also hoping to start a new life again, with the money that his Arab employer has been ordered to pay him. While 5,000 riyals were given to him to take care of his expenses till he reached home, he is yet to get the full amount. Officials at the Indian Consulate are making arrangements to transfer the money to his account in a local bank here.

Periyasamy hopes to marry again, raise a family of his own near his home. He wants to own a vehicle too if he can afford it — he used to drive tractors once. At other times, the long years of his lost life crowd in on him. “I think perhaps I should return to the desert. There is nothing much left for me here.”

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 04 Jun 2012 12:26

Khadamma a Malayalam movie which was based on the experience and lifes of women taken to the Middle east as maid servants. Kerala has seen many cases in which women are taken to the middle east as Khadamma only to land up in prostituition rackets etc.

Khadamma: House maid in Arabic.

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 04 Jun 2012 17:00

And Nigeria these things just keep happening more regularly:

14 killed in Church Attack in Nigeria

Sushupti · Post by **Sushupti** » 05 Jun 2012 03:05

Are Muslims Complicit to Islamic Terrorism

http://europenews.dk/en/node/55308

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 05 Jun 2012 03:20

^^^
Nice article, but it seems to be too much to expect Moslems to acknowledge India and Hindus as a major recipient of that Mullah-Imam hatred and fanaticism. Let's see courageous Egyptians, Syrians, Algerians and Jordanians recognize that Hindus are one of the largest targets. It's almost as if they have a blind spot toward Hindus and Hinduism. By now, they must surely be aware.

Anindya · Post by **Anindya** » 05 Jun 2012 05:40

I dont understand this fascination for beheading people - every week there seems to be a new video of this. Recently, there's been the example of the Tunisian apostate....
http://www.raymondibrahim.com/11798/gra ... er-convert

and seems like yesterday, again in germany, we have a Turkish man beheading his wife in front of their 6 children...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... tment.html

I'm sure brutal murders happen in many societies, but do not seem to understand this fascination for public beheadings, with legal or semi legal sanction. I can never forget the 12-year old Paki boy beheading a man with obvious glee written all over his face and the celebratory mood of the enthusiastic spectators, around the kid. What gives?

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 05 Jun 2012 05:51

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3092/ ... r-apostate
Graphic Video: Muslims Slaughter "Apostate" in Tunisia
"There is unanimity that the male apostate must be put to death."

Liberal talk show host Tawfiq Okasha recently appeared on "Egypt Today," airing a video of Muslims slicing off a young man's head off for the crime of apostasy -- in this instance, the crime of converting to Christianity and refusing to renounce it. The video—be warned, it is immensely graphic—can be seen here (the actual execution appears from minute 1:13-4:00). For those who prefer not to view it, a summary follows:
A young man appears held down by masked men. His head is pulled back, with a knife to his throat. He does not struggle and appears resigned to his fate. Speaking in Arabic, the background speaker, or "narrator," chants a number of Muslim prayers and supplications, mostly condemning Christianity, which, because of the Trinity, is referred to as a polytheistic faith: "Let Allah be avenged on the polytheist apostate"; "Allah empower your religion, make it victorious against the polytheists"; "Allah, defeat the infidels at the hands of the Muslims," and "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger."Then, to cries of "Allahu Akbar!"— Allah is greater!"—the masked man holding the knife to the apostate's throat begins to slice away, severing the head completely after approximately one minute of graphic knife-carving, as the victim drowns in blood. Finally, the severed head is held aloft to more Islamic slogans of victory.Visibly distraught, Tawfiq Okasha, the host, asks: "Is this Islam? Does Islam call for this? How is Islam related to this matter?...These are the images that are disseminated throughout the electronic media in Europe and America…. Can you imagine?" Then, in reference to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis, whose political influence has grown tremendously, he asks, "How are such people supposed to govern?"
Only the other day, a prominent Egyptian Salafi leader -- referring to the canonical hadiths, including Muhammad's command, "Whoever leaves his religion, kill him" -- openly stated that no Muslim has the right to apostatize, or leave Islam.Any number of Islamic legal manuals make explicitly clear that apostasy is a capital crime, punishable by death. The first "righteous caliph," a model of Muslim piety, had tens of thousands of former Muslims slaughtered—including by burning, beheading, and crucifixion—simply because they tried to break away from Islam. According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the most authoritative reference work on Islam in the English language, "there is unanimity that the male apostate must be put to death."
Finally, a word on the "prayers" or supplications to Allah made by the Muslim executioners in the video: these are standard and formulaic. In other words, these are not just masked, anonymous butchers who pray to Allah as they engage in acts of cutting throats and holding up heads, these are top-ranking Muslim leaders, who appear regularly on TV, who invoke such hate-filled prayers. See here for examples of Muslims supplicating Allah to strike infidels with cancer and disease "till they pray for death and do not receive it;" there are even formalized prayers in Mecca, blasted on megaphones as Muslims honor their obligation to go on a pilgrimage at least once in their lives, supplicating Allah to make the lives of Christians and Jews "hostage to misery; drape them with endless despair, unrelenting pain and unremitting ailment; fill their lives with sorrow and pain and end their lives in humiliation and oppression."

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 05 Jun 2012 06:09

We Pray To Allah That We Be Terrorists

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thr-YN8eHI8
Almost funny!

Anindya · Post by **Anindya** » 05 Jun 2012 06:17

Salafi Leader: No Freedom in Islam; Apostates Must be Persecuted

Is it the right of the Muslim to convert to Christianity or another religion? Of course this is not a right; this is a matter that Sharia has clearly addressed, according to the agreed upon hadiths. It is impermissible, for any reason, for a Muslim to leave the community. Of course, you cannot coerce any infidel to enter into Islam [Koran 2:256]—except for the apostate. It is impossible to let the apostate remain in [a state of] apostasy, deeming it a form of "freedom."

Please note, that 76% of Pakistanis and 80%+ Egyptians (both large Muslim countries) support the legalization of murder for apostates.

Charlie · Post by **Charlie** » 05 Jun 2012 12:21

BBC: Muslims killed in Myanmar attack

Buddhist residents in western Myanmar have killed at least nine Muslims as sectarian tension worsens in the region, police say.

Reports say a crowd attacked a bus in Rakhine province after blaming some of the passengers for the gang rape and murder of a Buddhist woman.

In another incident, at least 10 people were injured in the state capital Sittwe when police broke up a protest.

It is the worst violence to hit the province in recent months.

Sectarian and ethnic tension persists in the country despite a new, supposedly tolerant climate introduced by the civilian-led government which came into power 15 months ago.

Mob attack

The bus attack took place near the town of Taungup in Rakhine province, which borders Bangladesh, on Sunday evening, police and residents said.

It was thought to be carried out by mostly Buddhist ethnic Rakhine people.

"More than 100 people beat and killed those people," a resident told AFP news agency. "The residents even torched the bus."

The reason for the attack is unclear, but some residents say it was a revenge attack following the rape and murder of a Buddhist girl in another part of the province last month.

But the Myanmarese Muslim Association said most of those killed were Muslims visiting a mosque from central Myanmar.

That account was corroborated by unnamed residents quoted by Reuters news agency, who said those killed were not from the area.

No arrests have been made. A police investigation is under way.

In another, apparently unrelated incident at least 10 people were injured after police fired rubber bullets at a mob who attacked their police station in Sittwe, reports said.

A 13-year-old protester was among those injured, witnesses said.

There were contradictory reports about what triggered the protest, but some accounts suggested anti-Muslim sentiment could have played a part.

Rakhine is home to Myanmar's largest concentration of Muslims, including much-persecuted Rohingya Muslims, and their presence is often deeply resented by the majority Buddhist population.

In a joint statement quoted by Reuters, eight Rohingya rights groups based outside Myanmar condemned the attack on the Muslims on the bus, whom they termed "Muslim pilgrims".

Although it appears those on the bus were not Rohingyas, the groups said the attack followed months of anti-Rohingya propaganda stirred up by "extremists and xenophobes".

arun · Post by **arun** » 05 Jun 2012 23:26

harbans wrote:And Nigeria these things just keep happening more regularly:

14 killed in Church Attack in Nigeria

Mohammadden terrorist group Boko Haram takes “credit” for the suicide bombing that targeted a place of worship used by followers of Christism in Bauche, Nigeria:

Islamist group claims to be behind attack that killed 15

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 05 Jun 2012 23:52

Anindya wrote:I dont understand this fascination for beheading people - every week there seems to be a new video of this. Recently, there's been the example of the Tunisian apostate....
http://www.raymondibrahim.com/11798/gra ... er-convert

and seems like yesterday, again in germany, we have a Turkish man beheading his wife in front of their 6 children...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... tment.html

I'm sure brutal murders happen in many societies, but do not seem to understand this fascination for public beheadings, with legal or semi legal sanction. I can never forget the 12-year old Paki boy beheading a man with obvious glee written all over his face and the celebratory mood of the enthusiastic spectators, around the kid. What gives?

PBUH ordered some poor woman poet's throat to be cut. I guess he thought she spoke from the throat. Since then this is ritual punishment by the faithfools.

Charlie · Post by **Charlie** » 06 Jun 2012 02:44

Racism in Lebanon and much of the Arab World

THE multilingual, fashion-conscious residents of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, fancy their city to be cosmopolitan. But not everyone is welcome. Black people and foreigners from Asia and elsewhere in the third world who make up the bulk of migrant workers are often turned away from the city’s smarter venues. Conscious of the bad blood this can cause, Lebanon’s government has warned beach clubs against barring entry on the basis of race, nationality or disability.

But racism is unlikely to be erased overnight, either in Lebanon or in many other Middle Eastern countries where blacks are routinely looked down on. Racist taunts are often heard on Egypt’s streets, and in Yemen, darker-skinned people, known as al-akhdam (“the servants”), who make up perhaps 5% of the population, are confined to menial jobs and tend to dwell in slums. In Libya rebel militias often targeted darker-skinned people from nearby countries such as Chad and Mali and from countries further south, accusing them of being mercenaries of Muammar Qaddafi.

Filipinos, Sri Lankans and Chinese-Americans, among others, whisper of racist slurs both at work and on Lebanon’s streets. “When black or Asian friends visit,” says a young Lebanese professional, “I’m at the airport the moment they land to make sure immigration officers don’t ask inappropriate questions. It’s a disgrace.”

Some people blame the legacy of the slave trade, which brought sub-Saharan Africans, as well as others, to the region from the 7th century onwards. But Nadim Houry of Human Rights Watch, a New York-based lobby group says that racism persists in the region because governments have been lax about tackling it. “There are racists everywhere in the world, but in many countries it is now taboo to make comments, partly because there are laws against it,” he says. “Here, even when there is legislation, it is never applied.”

Snobbery makes things worse. Millions of foreigners in the Middle East do cleaning and building jobs which locals consider beneath them. Sponsorship schemes often deny such workers basic rights. “People just see us as cheap labour,” says a Filipino university graduate who makes $200 a month in a Beirut beauty parlour. Some beach clubs have already said they will ignore the new regulation. Their customers, they say, would not tolerate having to rub shoulders with the dark-skinned servant class.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 06 Jun 2012 02:48

Charlie, It really comes from the Noah and his three sons BS.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 07 Jun 2012 09:00

How "Good" Is The Koran?
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com ... koran.html

I too, have read the Qur'an a number of times, in both English and Arabic, and have a couple of counters to that rather offensive and bigoted quote. First, the Qur'an, unlike the Bible, is not a narrative expected to promote morality through example. It is considered the living, breathing, actual word of God, dictated and preserved to inspire and educate through spirit and meaning. If you approach it with the typical 21st century American (Judaeo-) Christian idea of biblical narrative, then yes, you will come away disappointed, puzzled, and probably very misinformed. If you approach it as you would the ecstatic poetry of say, Julian of Norwich, or Hildegard of Bingen, you may see things differently.I won't say that the Quran is a particularly "wise" book, but the idea that everything but a few lines about patience and generosity is "just vilification of the infidel" is patently unfair. Sura 2 (the Cow), verse 62, in the Yusuf Ali translation: "Those who believe (in the Qur'an) and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians, - any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with the Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve." 1,400 years ago, the Qur'an was preaching salvation of followers of other faiths, an idea which only became widespread among Christians less than a century ago. A shame so many Muslims don't bother to pay attention to this verse.

Charlie · Post by **Charlie** » 07 Jun 2012 13:54

Global Times: Kids rescued from illegal Xinjiang Koran camp
By Xuyang Jingjing

Never heard "Illegal" and "Koran Camp" in the same sentence. Always thought Koran camp supercedes every man made law even in Kuffar countries.

Police rescued 54 children from an illegal Koran teaching center in Hotan in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region yesterday, during a raid in which 17 people were injured by suspects setting off explosives that caused a fire.

A total of 12 children suffered mild burns, while three police officers and two of the three suspects arrested were also injured, local authorities said yesterday.

At around 2 am yesterday, police in Hotan, an oasis town in southern Xinjiang's Tarim Basin, received a tipoff from a parent whose child was held at the Koran teaching center.

When police arrived at the scene, the suspects lit home-made explosives that sparked a fire, Hou Hanmin, chief of the regional information office, told the Global Times yesterday.

The raided center was located on the fifth floor of a six-storey residential building. Fire destroyed much of the floor, said a local resident who works a block away from the building.

But the resident, who requested anonymity, told the Global Times she had no idea about the Koran classes or congregation of children in the building.

Police said the rescued children have been reunited with their families, adding that the case is still under investigation.

Hou said the children, aged between 6 and 10, were previously not allowed to meet with their parents.

"Some of the children were abducted or lured from the streets, while others may have been sent there by their parents," said Hou.

But when these parents wanted to pull their children out of the school, the suspects refused. "That's why parents called the police," said Hou.

It is not clear how long the suspects had been teaching the Koran at the center.

Illegal religious activities held in unregistered places and carried out by unauthorized preachers are a major target of a crackdown in Xinjiang.

Earlier this week, local authorities announced that a 12-year-old boy was beaten to death by his fellow "classmates" at an illegal Koran teaching center in Korla, central Xinjiang.

The boy was sent there by his uncle to learn the sacred Islamic text. On May 17, the "teacher" instructed other students to beat the boy because he could not finish reciting scriptures. The boy died three days later on the way to a hospital, the Korla local government said on its website.

Hou said many children were harmed at illegal schools in Xinjiang.

Last December, a 4-year-old girl was raped at such a center in Urumqi. In February, a 7-year-old boy was tied up against a radiator and suffered burns to his back, said Hou.

"We respect people's religious beliefs, but illegal teachings are strictly prohibited and children especially shouldn't be involved in such activities," said Hou.

Although the Law on Protection of Minors does not prohibit children from religious practices, local regulations related to the law in Xinjiang stipulate that parents should not allow minors to engage in religious activities, nor should any organization or individual force minors to practice their religion.

Illegal Koran teaching centers have specifically recruited women and children in recent years, Li Jiansheng, a professor at the School of Economics and Law at Xinjiang Normal University, wrote in the Tribune of Social Sciences in Xinjiang.

He said that such centers are vulnerable to manipulation by outside forces and many underground Koran teaching centers are linked to separatists and extremists.

Global Times is a Chinese Website, this is strictly the Chinese/Han version of things. I find it hard to believe that any faithful will report to Police like this

"Police in Hotan, an oasis town in southern Xinjiang's Tarim Basin, received a tipoff from a parent whose child was held at the Koran teaching center. "

There is a forum in English on the Global Times Website where Han Chinese (May be expat Chinese) are going open season on the faithful from Xinjiang.

From the Forum section of Global Times:

Xinjiang problem can be solved either by driving out the Muslims from the country or by converting the Uighurs Muslim community into Buddhists. Buddhism is the only religion in the world that allow the people to live in peace and harmony.
Xinjiang like problem can be averted in future if China adopts Buddhism as its state religion and ban all other religion especially Christianity and Islam from being practised. These two religions are anti-people and the sermons preached are usually anti-national.
China's glorious past had always been associated with Buddhism. China's progressive future too will rely on a peaceful and a liberal Buddhism that will provide ample opportunity for the leaders to think, ponder and strategise plan that will help China out-prosper the world, rather than plan on how to control terrorism

The next time Turkey criticises China for its handling of the Uighurs, the Chinese Foreign Ministry should remind Turkey of its own sordid history, namely its genocide against the Armenians. If Mr Erdogan wishes to champion the so-called plight of the Uighurs, the Chinese can champion the cause for Kurdish independence. I am sure the Kurds living in northern Iraq and in Turkey would love to have their own nation-state, which should it come to fruition will earn instant recognition from the PRC. China should, if it is not already doing, flood Xinjiang with Han Chinese. There is nothing for China to apologise. After all, see the manner in which historically white settlers in North America and Australia seized possession of the land from the original natives and decimated them most ruthlessly.

I don't see any reason for us Chinese to hold back righting the wrongs that's been done on our hard working brothers and sisters in this western most province.
Get rid of the terrorists & hoodlums there ....asap... Central Govt. or we'll take the matter into our own hands.
No Ifs and Buts about it.

This is why China needs to remain 100% Han Chinese. Look at the West: multiculturalism has destroyed their harmony. Recently in England, the Africans rioted in London. And the Africans and Hispanics do most of the crime in the West, are all on welfare, and don't like to work. Well, that is the West's business, but China must not make the same mistake. Kick all non-Han Chinese out of China. Or at least sterilize them so that they cannot perpetuate themselves. They all have their own countries. Turkish terrorists have their own country: they don't need to be in China. Have some courage, China, just like Mao did.

Uighurs who are not happy living under Han rules should seriously consider migrating back to their ancestral homeland . We Chinese need to develop the place and you lot unhappy souls are a hindrance to our plans .
We have no rooms for your kind.

There are some more NSFW comments best left ignored.

member_19686 · Post by **member_19686** » 07 Jun 2012 18:02

Priceless heritage at risk from extremists
Rebel group in control of Timbuktu desecrates venerated tomb and seeks to obliterate thousands of ancient manuscripts

By Emily Sharpe. Conservation, Issue 236, June 2012
Published online: 06 June 2012

Timbuktu is in the hands of religious extremists who have set fire to a 15th-century mausoleum

Concern for the cultural heritage of Mali is growing after militant Islamic fundamentalists desecrated a 15th-century tomb of a Muslim saint in Timbuktu in May, and threatened to destroy other tombs as well as anything else they perceive as being idolatrous or contrary to their version of Islam. The northern Malian city, a Unesco World Heritage Site, is home to several other such tombs and three historic mosques as well as many small museums. Timbuktu also has between 600,000 and one million ancient manuscripts housed in public and private collections that are vulnerable to acts of destruction from the occupying rebel forces as well as from those looking to profit from the political unrest.
Mali has been in a state of crisis since a military coup seized power in March. Two rebel factions—Ansar Dine and the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Azawad—took control of the north in April. Members of the extremist Islamist group Ansar Dine, which is trying to impose Sharia law in the region, attacked and set fire to the mausoleum of the Muslim scholar Sidi Mahmoud Ben Amar on 4 May. His grave is venerated by many local Muslims who visit to receive blessings. According to local reports, the doors, windows and gates to the tomb were broken before the rebels set fire to the tomb itself.

The director-general of Unesco, Irina Bokova, condemned the attack on the tomb, calling the desecration “a sign of change for the worse”. She also stressed that Mali’s cultural heritage “is our common property, and nothing can justify damaging it”. Lazare Eloundou Assomo, the chief of the Africa unit of Unesco’s World Heritage Centre, warns of future risks. “We know that the [rebels] have threatened to destroy other mausoleums if the community continues to visit these tombs to receive benedictions.” He adds: “The community is taking action to protect its cultural heritage because it’s too dangerous for anyone else to enter the region right now.” This appears to be the case as reports have since emerged that armed Islamists attempted to reach the pyramidal tomb of Askia—another World Heritage Site in nearby Gao—but were denied access by locals.

As we went to press, Unesco was sending a mission to the capital city of Bamako (in the south) to meet the transitional government to discuss how to prevent future attacks.

Located at the crossroads of several Trans-Saharan trade routes, Timbuktu, founded in the late fifth century, grew to become a celebrated centre of Koranic culture by the late 15th century. Academic institutions such as the University of Sankore, brought scholars from all over Africa to the city to exchange ideas. As a result, the city became a major centre of manuscript production, with texts on a variety of subjects including astronomy, agriculture and religion as well as biographies and diplomatic correspondence.

It is the safety of these manuscripts in both private hands as well as public collections, including the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Learning and Islamic Research, which has more than 25,000 texts, that scholars are particularly concerned about. “Islamists do not like some views articulated in these manuscripts by some old African thinkers who believed in moderate Islam and called for co-operation with the rest of the world, particularly the West,” says Habib Sy, a west African scholar who is working with the Ford Foundation to document Timbuktu’s manuscripts.

According to Sy, within the first week of the city’s occupation, rebels went to the Ahmed Baba Institute with the intention of making it their headquarters, but staff prevented the takeover. He also says that the curator of the Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library in Timbuktu had to flee the city for Bamako in April. “He had to leave the manuscripts behind, hiding the few that he could,” he says.

“People are nervous and are either burying the manuscripts or taking them to Bamako,” he says, adding that many of these texts are fragile and moving them puts them at risk of damage. Transferring the texts to the capital is also risky because there are many checkpoints along the way and, if discovered, the manuscripts would probably be destroyed. Efforts to co-ordinate plans to safeguard the texts are also proving difficult. “People can’t even speak on the phone as their lines are monitored. And using the internet is not possible because there is only one small internet centre, which is also being monitored by the Islamists,” Sy says.

According to Sy, drug dealers from neighbouring areas including Libya have moved in and are offering money for manuscripts. “This crisis presents a perfect opportunity for them to launder drug money,” he says. “We need to act. If [these manuscripts] are lost, they are lost to all human kind. They are invaluable,” Sy says.

“We need to put pressure on the Malian authorities who should be providing security. They’ve abandoned the people of Timbuktu.”

An online petition has been launched to save the manuscripts. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/TIMBUKTU

The extremists have also threatened to destroy the city’s collection of ancient texts

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles ... ists/26505

Anindya · Post by **Anindya** » 08 Jun 2012 01:13

Hostility Between Muslims and German Nationalists Rattles a Former Capital

...since 1999, when the central government moved to Berlin, the capital of the reunited Germany, the diplomats have gone. Now there is a growing population of Muslim immigrant families, many of whom have moved into the neighborhood of Bad Godesberg, filling many of the houses left empty by the shift in capitals.

Today Bonn, once tranquil, is a volatile cocktail of social tensions between its Muslim newcomers, who include some German converts as well as immigrants from Arab-speaking countries, with some hard-core elements, and a far-right nationalist group that is mounting a growing campaign against them.

arun · Post by **arun** » 08 Jun 2012 21:22

The Mohammadden Sabbath of Friday records a suicide bombing in Maiduguri, capital of Nigeria's north-eastern state of Borneo, home to the main strongholds of Mohammadden Terrorist group Boko Haram :

7 killed, 24 wounded in attack on police Hq in Nigeria

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 08 Jun 2012 21:28

Rebel group in control of Timbuktu desecrates venerated tomb and seeks to obliterate thousands of ancient manuscripts

^^^ I wonder who/when will declare Kaba idolatrous.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 09 Jun 2012 04:02

As per Tea Party Candidate

arun · Post by **arun** » 10 Jun 2012 20:02

Mohammadden Terrorists launch a suicide car bomb attack and separately a gun attack on places of worship used by followers of Christism in the Nigerian cities of Jos and Biu:

UPDATE 2-Gunmen and suicide bomber attack Nigerian churches