Scotland: Muslims tackle Islamic far-right
The British National Party and the Scottish Defence League often portray Islam as a separatist Trojan horse inside Britain – a religion of shadowy conspirators plotting to bring the county to its knees.
But Scottish Muslims are now setting out to take a stronger role in civic society, determined to do away with the negative image of Islam that is being pushed by the far-right and challenge the extremist doctrine promoted by zealots such as Omar Bakri or Abu Hamza.
Shaykh Amer Jamil, an Islamic scholar from Glasgow, has promised to wipe out what he sees as dangerous misinterpretations of his religion.
Using arguments taken directly from the Koran, he is demolishing misguided attempts to justify domestic violence, within fringe elements of the Muslim community.
He has also embarked on a project to educate Scottish Muslims about the true meaning of the word “jihad”, which is so often misunderstood.
He is distributing 12,000 pamphlets around Scottish mosques, reminding Muslims that jihad does not just mean holy war, but can mean “personal struggle”. The campaign will continue throughout the year and he will issue further pamphlets on issues such as forced marriage.
He said: “Some people come out and condemn terrorism or domestic violence, but never from a scholarly perspective. I wrote this leaflet so it is readable by anyone. It is not an academic piece that only five people can read. I set out to rebut negative arguments in such a scholastic way that there is no way of arguing against it.”
(...)
His effort is part of a wider trend among Muslim communities, as young people take an increasingly proactive stance in the society around them, reconciling their faith with their responsibilities as Scottish, British and European citizens.
For instance, in Edinburgh yesterday, classes were cancelled at the central mosque so women and children could take part in the protests against the Scottish Defence League – that did not happen during the SDL’s Glasgow protest.
Osama Saeed, of the Scottish-Islamic Foundation, one of the organisers of Scotland United, said the increased turnout reflected a “new wave” of Muslims determined to get involved in civic society.
(more)
Source: Herald Scotland, h/t Islam in Britain
Norway: Parliament member against Muslim taxi drivers
Norway: Parliament member against Muslim taxi drivers
Ulf Erik Knudsen, parliament member for the Norwegian Progress Party, has joined the Facebook group "we demand non-Muslim taxi drivers".
Knudsen says he joined the group to show that freedom of speech should be protected. He points to the Muslim taxi drivers protest in Oslo on Feb. 6th, when they stopped working in protest of Dagbladet printing the Mohammed cartoons. That the drivers did this shows that they don't respect freedom of speech, thinks Knudsen.
"When it comes to rapes in Oslo, it has happened several times that the attacker is of Muslim background, while the victim has been of Western or Norwegian background," he told NRK.
The group says it's a direct threat to get into a taxi with a Muslim driver, and the group demands the right to live life in safety from criminals.
Q: Would you rather see that there won't be any Muslim taxi drivers?
A: That was the most stupidest question. I think it's not worthy of a comment, answers Knudsen.
Lise Christoffersen, immigration policy spokesperson for the Labor Party thinks Knudsen has crossed the line. She says it's almost as if people can't take it seriously, it looks so far out.
Knudsen later left the group. He said that after NRK drew his attention to some of what the group wrote, he couldn't stay there. However, he says he joined as a protest against those who protested against freedom of speech, but it's clear that some of the group members support things he himself doesn't.
The group had 64 members Tuesday morning, and a few hours later, when NTB checked again, it had 94.
Source: VG 1 , 2(Norwegian)
Ulf Erik Knudsen, parliament member for the Norwegian Progress Party, has joined the Facebook group "we demand non-Muslim taxi drivers".
Knudsen says he joined the group to show that freedom of speech should be protected. He points to the Muslim taxi drivers protest in Oslo on Feb. 6th, when they stopped working in protest of Dagbladet printing the Mohammed cartoons. That the drivers did this shows that they don't respect freedom of speech, thinks Knudsen.
"When it comes to rapes in Oslo, it has happened several times that the attacker is of Muslim background, while the victim has been of Western or Norwegian background," he told NRK.
The group says it's a direct threat to get into a taxi with a Muslim driver, and the group demands the right to live life in safety from criminals.
Q: Would you rather see that there won't be any Muslim taxi drivers?
A: That was the most stupidest question. I think it's not worthy of a comment, answers Knudsen.
Lise Christoffersen, immigration policy spokesperson for the Labor Party thinks Knudsen has crossed the line. She says it's almost as if people can't take it seriously, it looks so far out.
Knudsen later left the group. He said that after NRK drew his attention to some of what the group wrote, he couldn't stay there. However, he says he joined as a protest against those who protested against freedom of speech, but it's clear that some of the group members support things he himself doesn't.
The group had 64 members Tuesday morning, and a few hours later, when NTB checked again, it had 94.
Source: VG 1 , 2(Norwegian)
Labels:
anti-Islamism,
Location: Norway
Russia: Estonia becoming transit point for illegal immigration
Russia: Estonia becoming transit point for illegal immigration
Russian border and migration officials estimate that there are about 20,000 illegal immigrants near Estonian and Latvian borders whose destination is Finland or other Scandinavian countries and who attempt to get there through the Baltic states.
They say that if Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania wish to keep those illegal immigrants outside their borders they need to close all loopholes that they may use for illegal border crossing.
Estonian police and border guard board agrees that Estonia is becoming an important transit point for smuggling illegal immigrants, especially Afghans, Syrians and Palestinians to Scandinavia.
(...)
After Finnish authorities informed Estonian border guard service that the number of illegal immigrants arriving from Estonia was increasing, Estonian authorities started active inspections and in two months detained more than ten Afghans and Palestinians who were travelling to Tallinn from Riga by intercity coach and who had either forged IDs or none.
(...)
According to informed sources, illegal immigrants pay up to 15,000 US dollars per person for the right to get to the West. They sell everything, are taken first to Russia and then to the Baltic border zone.
(more)
Source: Baltic Business News (English)
Russian border and migration officials estimate that there are about 20,000 illegal immigrants near Estonian and Latvian borders whose destination is Finland or other Scandinavian countries and who attempt to get there through the Baltic states.
They say that if Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania wish to keep those illegal immigrants outside their borders they need to close all loopholes that they may use for illegal border crossing.
Estonian police and border guard board agrees that Estonia is becoming an important transit point for smuggling illegal immigrants, especially Afghans, Syrians and Palestinians to Scandinavia.
(...)
After Finnish authorities informed Estonian border guard service that the number of illegal immigrants arriving from Estonia was increasing, Estonian authorities started active inspections and in two months detained more than ten Afghans and Palestinians who were travelling to Tallinn from Riga by intercity coach and who had either forged IDs or none.
(...)
According to informed sources, illegal immigrants pay up to 15,000 US dollars per person for the right to get to the West. They sell everything, are taken first to Russia and then to the Baltic border zone.
(more)
Source: Baltic Business News (English)
Germany: Jewish leader warns of Muslim antisemitism
Germany: Jewish leader warns of Muslim antisemitism
In a related story, Imam Sabahattin Türkyilmaz of the Shiite Hazrat Fatima Zehra mosque in Frankfurt resigned all his positions in the mosque this week, saying he did so in order to protect the community, the blessed mosque, to protect all the families involved, the Muslims of the city and to protect - although now damaged - dialog. The Christian Democrats in the city said they thought it was the logical step, since the Islamic community was not in a position to refute the allegations against their imam.
The resignation followed a TV report about the imam's participation in an anti-Israel demonstration in Berlin on al-Quds Day several years ago, where he marched with demonstrators who cried "Death, death to Israel". In a speech he gave at a different demonstration he called in Arabic that "we belong tot he community of Hezbollah", and he expressed anti-Israel sentiments in a Friday sermon, quoting the Ayatollah Khomeini's speech against Israel.
The imam had accused the news program of conducting a smear campaign against him. (DE, DE)
-------------
The vice chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Dieter Graumann, warns of increasing antisemitism among Muslim immigrants. Especially among youth of Arab origins it's 'frightfully high', says Graumann in the latest edition of the German magazine 'Focus'. There's no point in denying it or in sidestepping the issue.
It's particularly the Muslim communities who would be served by curbing the anti-Jewish sentiments among Muslims, according to Graumann. Although their representatives make official statements against antisemitism, they don't do enough among their own people.
"If they'll make more of an effort, the Muslim communities would win much more credibility," according to the vice chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.
Source: Katholiek Nieuwsblad (Dutch), h/t NRP
In a related story, Imam Sabahattin Türkyilmaz of the Shiite Hazrat Fatima Zehra mosque in Frankfurt resigned all his positions in the mosque this week, saying he did so in order to protect the community, the blessed mosque, to protect all the families involved, the Muslims of the city and to protect - although now damaged - dialog. The Christian Democrats in the city said they thought it was the logical step, since the Islamic community was not in a position to refute the allegations against their imam.
The resignation followed a TV report about the imam's participation in an anti-Israel demonstration in Berlin on al-Quds Day several years ago, where he marched with demonstrators who cried "Death, death to Israel". In a speech he gave at a different demonstration he called in Arabic that "we belong tot he community of Hezbollah", and he expressed anti-Israel sentiments in a Friday sermon, quoting the Ayatollah Khomeini's speech against Israel.
The imam had accused the news program of conducting a smear campaign against him. (DE, DE)
-------------
The vice chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Dieter Graumann, warns of increasing antisemitism among Muslim immigrants. Especially among youth of Arab origins it's 'frightfully high', says Graumann in the latest edition of the German magazine 'Focus'. There's no point in denying it or in sidestepping the issue.
It's particularly the Muslim communities who would be served by curbing the anti-Jewish sentiments among Muslims, according to Graumann. Although their representatives make official statements against antisemitism, they don't do enough among their own people.
"If they'll make more of an effort, the Muslim communities would win much more credibility," according to the vice chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.
Source: Katholiek Nieuwsblad (Dutch), h/t NRP
Labels:
Jews and Israel,
Location: Germany
Amsterdam: Moroccans burglarizing each other
Amsterdam: Moroccans burglarizing each other
Moroccan residents of Amsterdam are increasingly breaking into each other's houses, for example to steal dowries.
According to Joke Padmos, spokesperson of the Slotervaart district, this is really a new trend. "It's alarming how much the number of home burglaries is rising. Part of it is due to shops being better secured, but it also has to do here with the phenomenon of Moroccans breaking into each other's houses. They know, for example, that there was a wedding and go looking for the dowry."
According to Padmos, district mayor Marcouch has gotten letters from other parts of the country about this problem. Meanwhile, she says that things are going very well in the neighborhood when it comes to muggings and breaking into cars. "The number of muggings has been halved and breaking into cars has almost disappeared from the scene. But those house burglaries are therefore a problem and we'll now deal with that."
1,400 families in Sloterparkwijk were provided with anti-burglary liquid, with lets them spray valuables with micro-dots of synthetic DNA.
If the police locates the stolen goods, the microdots, which can be seen with a microscope, show who's the rightful owner.
Padmos says that they'll make it extensively clear that the valuables in these houses are marked. There would be stickers on the windows and signs in the neighborhood. It then won't be attractive for thieves to break-in. There would also be less people willing to buy the stuff.
Such projects in Rotterdam, Utrecht and Venray lead to an average decrease in break-ins of 50%.
The number of burglaries in Sloterparkwijk increased last year by 67%. Padmos say that the anti-burgalry fluid is just the first step. "We looking at how we can renovate these houses and want to improve local employment in the neighborhood. People rarely have links with the neighborhood and each other. There's poor social control. We get way too few reports that there's a suspicious car in front of a house or that somebody or that someobdy is entering a house by ladder."
A ton of the fluid was needed for the 1,400 families. That money was given by the district and by the Eigen Haard and Alliantie housing companies.
Source: De Telegraaf (Dutch)
Moroccan residents of Amsterdam are increasingly breaking into each other's houses, for example to steal dowries.
According to Joke Padmos, spokesperson of the Slotervaart district, this is really a new trend. "It's alarming how much the number of home burglaries is rising. Part of it is due to shops being better secured, but it also has to do here with the phenomenon of Moroccans breaking into each other's houses. They know, for example, that there was a wedding and go looking for the dowry."
According to Padmos, district mayor Marcouch has gotten letters from other parts of the country about this problem. Meanwhile, she says that things are going very well in the neighborhood when it comes to muggings and breaking into cars. "The number of muggings has been halved and breaking into cars has almost disappeared from the scene. But those house burglaries are therefore a problem and we'll now deal with that."
1,400 families in Sloterparkwijk were provided with anti-burglary liquid, with lets them spray valuables with micro-dots of synthetic DNA.
If the police locates the stolen goods, the microdots, which can be seen with a microscope, show who's the rightful owner.
Padmos says that they'll make it extensively clear that the valuables in these houses are marked. There would be stickers on the windows and signs in the neighborhood. It then won't be attractive for thieves to break-in. There would also be less people willing to buy the stuff.
Such projects in Rotterdam, Utrecht and Venray lead to an average decrease in break-ins of 50%.
The number of burglaries in Sloterparkwijk increased last year by 67%. Padmos say that the anti-burgalry fluid is just the first step. "We looking at how we can renovate these houses and want to improve local employment in the neighborhood. People rarely have links with the neighborhood and each other. There's poor social control. We get way too few reports that there's a suspicious car in front of a house or that somebody or that someobdy is entering a house by ladder."
A ton of the fluid was needed for the 1,400 families. That money was given by the district and by the Eigen Haard and Alliantie housing companies.
Source: De Telegraaf (Dutch)
Opinion: Why don't the Jews join us?
Opinion: Why don't the Jews join us?
An orthodox Jewish reader once asked me why Islam-critics criticize EVERYTHING about Islam. Why do they criticize the religious aspects and don't just focus on violent Islamic ideology?
Keep this question in mind as you read this.
A recent article in The Daily Telegraph brings a story which is repeated in various ways across Europe. Malmö, Sweden, is the city with one of the highest proportion of Muslim residents, and its small Jewish community is fleeing an increase in Muslim antisemitic attacks.
Various anti-Islam, Islam-critical, counter-Jihad etc blogs and activists expect Jews to stand with them against the Muslims. But Jews don't always do so, and, sometimes, for good reason.
I do not deny the threat of Muslim antisemitism. But why put the Jews on the spot? When anti-Islam protesters wave Israeli flags, they might want to show that they're not antisemitic. They might want to make the Muslims mad. But what they're actually doing is focusing the hatred at the Jews. The Jews are a tiny minority in Europe, and one which has been through quite a lot. Why put them on the spot more than anybody else, and certainly more than any other endangered minority?
On the other hand, I do not think the only threat comes from Muslim antisemitism.
Jews face various threats, one of them being Muslim antisemitism. Aside from that, Jews also suffer from Christian antisemitism, general European foreigner-rejection, and the possibility of genocide by proxy with the goading of the far left. Even if they would be accepted with open arms, Jews face two much more serious threats.
The first is the threat of assimilation. It's been called the 'Silent Holocaust'. As Jews become more and more like their non-Jewish neighbors, as they reject ancient religious traditions and accept liberal values instead, they face the prospect of losing their Jewish identity.
And now, another threat appears on the horizon. Championed by the Islam-critics, European countries are starting to consider banning basic Jewish traditions. Female modesty, boy's circumcision, kosher food, the sanctity of the Sabbath and Jewish holidays - all are being put on the chopping block.
I've written this in the past, and I will say it again: if circumcision and kosher food would be criminalized in Europe, Orthodox Jewry would disappear from Europe almost immediately. The core of Jewish life would disappear completely. Non-religious Jews would stay on and keep on being Jewish, but statistics show us that their grand-grandchildren have a very small chance of identifying as Jews and an almost zero chance of being Jewish according to Jewish law. If there would be no religious Jewish community, they would have nothing to return to, either.
Judaism is not just a faith. Jewish religious law is a way of life. It is aimed at ensuring that Jews remain a separate, un-assimilable group among the nations. As the Book of Esther describes the Jews: 'There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from those of every people; neither keep they the king's laws.. " In the Biblical story, the Jews face physical destruction, but today they face an additional threat, that of having their culture disappear.
And now, as has been the case throughout much of their history, Jews are finding themselves once again caught between a rock and hard place. When the French get all worked up about a restaurant deciding to sell halal food, when Europeans get upset at Turkish PM Erdogan for urging German and Belgian Turks to integrate but not to assimilate, when the Swiss and Austrians pass laws on what a house of worship should look like, what does that tell the Jews?
Are Europeans fighting violent Muslim ideology, or are they fighting any religious community which refuses to assimilate? Must Jews be forced to choose between physical attacks and spiritual decline?
The Jews of Malmö might be leaving now because of antisemitic attacks, but they would leave even faster if Sweden would prevent them from practicing their religion. These questions are not theoretical. When elections in Belgium fell on a Jewish holiday, Orthodox Jews were fined for refusing to show up for poll-station duty. Politicians in both Sweden and Switzerland are discussing banning circumcision and ritual slaughter. Various countries are discussing banning head-covering for women. The irony is that Islam can be much more flexible than Judaism when it comes to religious requirements. Ban circumcision, and Muslims won't have a major problem, but Jews would be forced out.
When you criticize Islam for being more than just a faith, for seeing itself as a nation, for having religious courts, for having laws about the most mundane aspects of daily life, for having demands on modesty, for having ritual slaughter, and for circumcising young boys: Keep in mind that Judaism has all that and more.
So what really bothers you?
An orthodox Jewish reader once asked me why Islam-critics criticize EVERYTHING about Islam. Why do they criticize the religious aspects and don't just focus on violent Islamic ideology?
Keep this question in mind as you read this.
A recent article in The Daily Telegraph brings a story which is repeated in various ways across Europe. Malmö, Sweden, is the city with one of the highest proportion of Muslim residents, and its small Jewish community is fleeing an increase in Muslim antisemitic attacks.
Various anti-Islam, Islam-critical, counter-Jihad etc blogs and activists expect Jews to stand with them against the Muslims. But Jews don't always do so, and, sometimes, for good reason.
I do not deny the threat of Muslim antisemitism. But why put the Jews on the spot? When anti-Islam protesters wave Israeli flags, they might want to show that they're not antisemitic. They might want to make the Muslims mad. But what they're actually doing is focusing the hatred at the Jews. The Jews are a tiny minority in Europe, and one which has been through quite a lot. Why put them on the spot more than anybody else, and certainly more than any other endangered minority?
On the other hand, I do not think the only threat comes from Muslim antisemitism.
Jews face various threats, one of them being Muslim antisemitism. Aside from that, Jews also suffer from Christian antisemitism, general European foreigner-rejection, and the possibility of genocide by proxy with the goading of the far left. Even if they would be accepted with open arms, Jews face two much more serious threats.
The first is the threat of assimilation. It's been called the 'Silent Holocaust'. As Jews become more and more like their non-Jewish neighbors, as they reject ancient religious traditions and accept liberal values instead, they face the prospect of losing their Jewish identity.
And now, another threat appears on the horizon. Championed by the Islam-critics, European countries are starting to consider banning basic Jewish traditions. Female modesty, boy's circumcision, kosher food, the sanctity of the Sabbath and Jewish holidays - all are being put on the chopping block.
I've written this in the past, and I will say it again: if circumcision and kosher food would be criminalized in Europe, Orthodox Jewry would disappear from Europe almost immediately. The core of Jewish life would disappear completely. Non-religious Jews would stay on and keep on being Jewish, but statistics show us that their grand-grandchildren have a very small chance of identifying as Jews and an almost zero chance of being Jewish according to Jewish law. If there would be no religious Jewish community, they would have nothing to return to, either.
Judaism is not just a faith. Jewish religious law is a way of life. It is aimed at ensuring that Jews remain a separate, un-assimilable group among the nations. As the Book of Esther describes the Jews: 'There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from those of every people; neither keep they the king's laws.. " In the Biblical story, the Jews face physical destruction, but today they face an additional threat, that of having their culture disappear.
And now, as has been the case throughout much of their history, Jews are finding themselves once again caught between a rock and hard place. When the French get all worked up about a restaurant deciding to sell halal food, when Europeans get upset at Turkish PM Erdogan for urging German and Belgian Turks to integrate but not to assimilate, when the Swiss and Austrians pass laws on what a house of worship should look like, what does that tell the Jews?
Are Europeans fighting violent Muslim ideology, or are they fighting any religious community which refuses to assimilate? Must Jews be forced to choose between physical attacks and spiritual decline?
The Jews of Malmö might be leaving now because of antisemitic attacks, but they would leave even faster if Sweden would prevent them from practicing their religion. These questions are not theoretical. When elections in Belgium fell on a Jewish holiday, Orthodox Jews were fined for refusing to show up for poll-station duty. Politicians in both Sweden and Switzerland are discussing banning circumcision and ritual slaughter. Various countries are discussing banning head-covering for women. The irony is that Islam can be much more flexible than Judaism when it comes to religious requirements. Ban circumcision, and Muslims won't have a major problem, but Jews would be forced out.
When you criticize Islam for being more than just a faith, for seeing itself as a nation, for having religious courts, for having laws about the most mundane aspects of daily life, for having demands on modesty, for having ritual slaughter, and for circumcising young boys: Keep in mind that Judaism has all that and more.
So what really bothers you?
Labels:
Jews and Israel,
Opinion
Norway: Sparse showing for anti-'9/11 threat' demonstration
Norway: Sparse showing for anti-'9/11 threat' demonstration
See here for more on this story: Norway: Muslims to demonstrate against '9/11 threat'
This is the second attempt by Norwegian Muslims to protest against terror threats and terror attacks. The previous one followed the attack on Kurt Westergaard, and barely anybody showed up for that too.
Mohyeldeen Mohammad has meanwhile returned to his studies in Saudi Arabia and told Norwegian news services that he's not sure he'll come back.
-------------
"We disagree with Dagbladet printing the Muhammed illustration, but we hate terrorism. We should not threaten anybody even if we disagree with what others do. We live in a peaceful land, where we can speak freely and therefore disagree with Muslims who threaten others into silence," says Avian Arif, who was among hte organizers of the Larvik demonstration, which was organized as a counter-balance against the statements of Mohyeldeen Mohammad Friday more than a week ago.
Nine demonstrators met up, and twice as many press people, at the square in Larvik Monday afternoon.
"Actually we were supposed to be over 50, but another Muslim in Larvik sent out an SMS that the demonstration was canceled," Avia Arif told Aftenposten.no.
The peaceful demonstration was held in the snowy town With posters saying "We want peaceful coexistence in Norway", "we want mutual respect and understanding" and "what was the aim of printing of the caricature illustrations", the
Source: Aftenposten (Norwegian)
See here for more on this story: Norway: Muslims to demonstrate against '9/11 threat'
This is the second attempt by Norwegian Muslims to protest against terror threats and terror attacks. The previous one followed the attack on Kurt Westergaard, and barely anybody showed up for that too.
Mohyeldeen Mohammad has meanwhile returned to his studies in Saudi Arabia and told Norwegian news services that he's not sure he'll come back.
-------------
"We disagree with Dagbladet printing the Muhammed illustration, but we hate terrorism. We should not threaten anybody even if we disagree with what others do. We live in a peaceful land, where we can speak freely and therefore disagree with Muslims who threaten others into silence," says Avian Arif, who was among hte organizers of the Larvik demonstration, which was organized as a counter-balance against the statements of Mohyeldeen Mohammad Friday more than a week ago.
Nine demonstrators met up, and twice as many press people, at the square in Larvik Monday afternoon.
"Actually we were supposed to be over 50, but another Muslim in Larvik sent out an SMS that the demonstration was canceled," Avia Arif told Aftenposten.no.
The peaceful demonstration was held in the snowy town With posters saying "We want peaceful coexistence in Norway", "we want mutual respect and understanding" and "what was the aim of printing of the caricature illustrations", the
Source: Aftenposten (Norwegian)
Russia: Muslims set up Supreme Coordinating Council
Russia: Muslims set up Supreme Coordinating Council
Representatives of three centralized Islamic organizations of Russia agreed to establish the Supreme Coordinating Council of Russian Muslims.
Representatives of the Central Muslim Board of Russia, the Council of Muftis of Russia and Coordinating Center of Muslims of the North Caucasus at the session of joint working group in Moscow chaired by Petersburg Mufti Jafar Ponchayev unanimously supported CMBR head Talgat Tajuddin as he proposed setting up the Supreme Coordination Council of Russian Muslims without forming a legal entity, an Interfax-Religion correspondent reports.
"Recognizing absolute necessity to unite Muslim Ummah (community – IF), the working group considers inacceptable and impossible to set up a one religious Muslim organization at the present moment," the working group said in its statement conveyed to journalists.
The participants unanimously rejected the idea of convening All-Russian Muslim Congress and electing a "Muslim Patriarch."
(more)
Source: Interfax (English)
Representatives of three centralized Islamic organizations of Russia agreed to establish the Supreme Coordinating Council of Russian Muslims.
Representatives of the Central Muslim Board of Russia, the Council of Muftis of Russia and Coordinating Center of Muslims of the North Caucasus at the session of joint working group in Moscow chaired by Petersburg Mufti Jafar Ponchayev unanimously supported CMBR head Talgat Tajuddin as he proposed setting up the Supreme Coordination Council of Russian Muslims without forming a legal entity, an Interfax-Religion correspondent reports.
"Recognizing absolute necessity to unite Muslim Ummah (community – IF), the working group considers inacceptable and impossible to set up a one religious Muslim organization at the present moment," the working group said in its statement conveyed to journalists.
The participants unanimously rejected the idea of convening All-Russian Muslim Congress and electing a "Muslim Patriarch."
(more)
Source: Interfax (English)
Norway: Muslims to demonstrate against '9/11 threat'
Norway: Muslims to demonstrate against '9/11 threat'
In other news, police in Bodø in Norther Norway, removed a Muhammad cartoon sign Friday night (picture here). Police say they responded to the possible traffic hazard the sign, which was hung from a bridge above the busiest road in the city, could cause.
Per Youssef Alsiddique, a Norwegian convert who spoke in the anti-Dagbladet demonstration in Oslo, says he's been harassed since hten. He doesn't intend to report them to the police, though, since he doesn't feel there's anything serious behind them.
Mohyeldeen Mohammad has meanwhile left Norway and gone to Saudi Arabia to continue his Sharia studies.
His father, Hamad Ebrahim Belal Mohammad, was interviewed this week, and said that they participated in the demonstration because of the lack of freedom for Muslims in Norway, and that the responses to his son's statements show that Muslims are treated as second-grade citizens.
As to his son's warning of a Norwegian 9/11, Mohammad says that the media is overdoing it, and that his son only repeated what the security services are saying. He says he doesn't support Bin Laden, but asked about what his son said about mujahidun, Taliban and al-Shabaab he answered: "We are Muslims. We support those who are oppressed, not those who oppress. Everybody has a right to defend themselves."
-----------------------
On Monday Muslims in Larvik are planning a demonstration to denounce the statements of Mohyeldeen Mohammad.
"He doesn't represent us," say the organizers, reports Østlands-Posten.
In a press release, the organizer urge Muslims who live in Larvik to meet for a protest march in Larvik to demonstrate against the statements that Mohyeldeen Mohammad (24) of Larvik made in recent days.
"We wish to show that the statements aren't representative of the majority of Muslims in Larvik and Norway. His statements on threatening the country with terrorism, implementing Islamic laws in Norway and stoning gays to death are unacceptable and we think it's important to say that he's rather alone with these points of views," say Malika Hamarash and Ahmad Siddiq Umar, who are the organizers of the demonstrations. Both are Muslims from Larvik.
They say Muslims in Norway are just a complex a group as all other groups.
"We are afraid the massive media coverage of Mohammad will lead to a stigmatized and one-dimensional image of us. We are just as afraid of his statements as all others," the two say.
The demonstration is planned for 2:30 pm on Monday.
Muslim Larvik-politician Hiam Al-chirout is uncertain whether this is the most productive way to go about this. She think it's been clear in recent weeks that many reject [Mohammad's statements], and says that there's more of a need for dialog within the community rather than a demonstration.
"I know that Muslims in Larvik disagree and that there are certainly some who support Mohammad's statements," Al-Chirout
told Dagbladet.
Al-Chirout, who is a mother tongue teacher and municipal representative for SV, was herself asking to lead the demonstration. She turned it down.
"I don't want to participate in this demonstration. I myself disagree with Mohyeldeen's statements, but I think of his family who live in the city, and who have done nothing wrong. His mother needs consolation now, she doesn't need the city's residents to go against her son in a demonstration," says Al-Chirout.
Al-Chirout points out that the community in Larvik is small and that everybody knows everybody. She has nothing against people going to Oslo to demonstrate, but is uncertain of the consequences of such an event in Larvik.
"Here we meet each other at the shop and know who lives where. It can be difficult to deal with daily life after such a demonstration," she says.
The SV politician has been behind several dialog meetings between Muslims in Larvik, and work hard for friendship and understanding across borders.
"Tomorrow I will speak with the organizers of the demonstration, to discuss what are the best means to work further on the issue in Larvik," says Al-Chirout.
Larvik has 42,000 residents and Al-Chirout thinks about 800 are Muslim.
She says there are Kurds, Arabs, Somalis, Sudanese and Albanians and that many of them have differing views on things.
She disagrees with Dagbladet's printing of the Muhammad cartoon, but doesn't understand why Mohyeldeen Mohammad can speak as he does.
"I was shocked when I heard what he said during the demonstration in Oslo. But I don't think he means everything he says. We foreigners can some times have mistaken word-usage, and in this way we can be misunderstood. We can toss out words without thinking about what we're saying"
Sources: AN, Aftenposten 1, 2; Dagbladet 1, 2; VG (Norwegian)
In other news, police in Bodø in Norther Norway, removed a Muhammad cartoon sign Friday night (picture here). Police say they responded to the possible traffic hazard the sign, which was hung from a bridge above the busiest road in the city, could cause.
Per Youssef Alsiddique, a Norwegian convert who spoke in the anti-Dagbladet demonstration in Oslo, says he's been harassed since hten. He doesn't intend to report them to the police, though, since he doesn't feel there's anything serious behind them.
Mohyeldeen Mohammad has meanwhile left Norway and gone to Saudi Arabia to continue his Sharia studies.
His father, Hamad Ebrahim Belal Mohammad, was interviewed this week, and said that they participated in the demonstration because of the lack of freedom for Muslims in Norway, and that the responses to his son's statements show that Muslims are treated as second-grade citizens.
As to his son's warning of a Norwegian 9/11, Mohammad says that the media is overdoing it, and that his son only repeated what the security services are saying. He says he doesn't support Bin Laden, but asked about what his son said about mujahidun, Taliban and al-Shabaab he answered: "We are Muslims. We support those who are oppressed, not those who oppress. Everybody has a right to defend themselves."
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On Monday Muslims in Larvik are planning a demonstration to denounce the statements of Mohyeldeen Mohammad.
"He doesn't represent us," say the organizers, reports Østlands-Posten.
In a press release, the organizer urge Muslims who live in Larvik to meet for a protest march in Larvik to demonstrate against the statements that Mohyeldeen Mohammad (24) of Larvik made in recent days.
"We wish to show that the statements aren't representative of the majority of Muslims in Larvik and Norway. His statements on threatening the country with terrorism, implementing Islamic laws in Norway and stoning gays to death are unacceptable and we think it's important to say that he's rather alone with these points of views," say Malika Hamarash and Ahmad Siddiq Umar, who are the organizers of the demonstrations. Both are Muslims from Larvik.
They say Muslims in Norway are just a complex a group as all other groups.
"We are afraid the massive media coverage of Mohammad will lead to a stigmatized and one-dimensional image of us. We are just as afraid of his statements as all others," the two say.
The demonstration is planned for 2:30 pm on Monday.
Muslim Larvik-politician Hiam Al-chirout is uncertain whether this is the most productive way to go about this. She think it's been clear in recent weeks that many reject [Mohammad's statements], and says that there's more of a need for dialog within the community rather than a demonstration.
"I know that Muslims in Larvik disagree and that there are certainly some who support Mohammad's statements," Al-Chirout
told Dagbladet.
Al-Chirout, who is a mother tongue teacher and municipal representative for SV, was herself asking to lead the demonstration. She turned it down.
"I don't want to participate in this demonstration. I myself disagree with Mohyeldeen's statements, but I think of his family who live in the city, and who have done nothing wrong. His mother needs consolation now, she doesn't need the city's residents to go against her son in a demonstration," says Al-Chirout.
Al-Chirout points out that the community in Larvik is small and that everybody knows everybody. She has nothing against people going to Oslo to demonstrate, but is uncertain of the consequences of such an event in Larvik.
"Here we meet each other at the shop and know who lives where. It can be difficult to deal with daily life after such a demonstration," she says.
The SV politician has been behind several dialog meetings between Muslims in Larvik, and work hard for friendship and understanding across borders.
"Tomorrow I will speak with the organizers of the demonstration, to discuss what are the best means to work further on the issue in Larvik," says Al-Chirout.
Larvik has 42,000 residents and Al-Chirout thinks about 800 are Muslim.
She says there are Kurds, Arabs, Somalis, Sudanese and Albanians and that many of them have differing views on things.
She disagrees with Dagbladet's printing of the Muhammad cartoon, but doesn't understand why Mohyeldeen Mohammad can speak as he does.
"I was shocked when I heard what he said during the demonstration in Oslo. But I don't think he means everything he says. We foreigners can some times have mistaken word-usage, and in this way we can be misunderstood. We can toss out words without thinking about what we're saying"
Sources: AN, Aftenposten 1, 2; Dagbladet 1, 2; VG (Norwegian)
Copenhagen: Demands to cut funds for organizers of Khalid Yasin visit
Copenhagen: Demands to cut funds for organizers of Khalid Yasin visit
Sheikh Khalid Yasin visited the Netherlands last year, where he also provoked controversy (though much of it wasn't his fault):
* Netherlands: Controversy over arrival of preacher
* Netherlands: Khalid Yasin on Wilders
* Netherlands: A controversial talk by a controversial speaker
----------------
A member of the Red-Green Alliance Party in Copenhagen had to be escorted away from an immigrant meeting in Nørrebro after being threatened.
The only thing Jaleh Tavakoli did was to insist on seating with her husband - though there were gender-segregated sitting places in the sports hall, where the controversial American imam Sheikh Khalid Yasin was supposed to speak.
Jalah Tavakoli, an Iraqi immigrant, told bt.dk that towards the end there were maybe 50 people around her, calling her whore, fat pig and several threatening her with violence. It was really scary, she says, and all because she wanted to sit next to her husband. "I tried arguing that they also sat next to women on the bus, but they shouted and threatened only louder and louder."
In the end she called up the police, because she felt threatened.
The police had to escort them out and drive them away, since emotions were so high. They only took down the name of the young man who threatened with violence, and she says she would lodge a complaint against him on Monday. It was really shocking, says Jaleh Tavakoli.
----------------
Meanwhile, the Social Democrats, Red-Green Alliance and Danish People's Party demand an investigation into whether municipal money was used for Fridays' event, where Sheikh Khalid Yasin urged the youth of Nørrebro away from the gang wars.
According to the invitation, the event was aimed at the youth in the Blågaards Plads area in an attempt to prevent them from joining the gangs in the area. Khalid Yasin, who in the past argued for death sentence for gays, called women's equality a delusion and described the September 11 attacks and the AIDS virus as American conspiracies, was the main speaker.
The Social Democrats were critical. Mette Reissmann, political spokesperson, said that the imam's view were clearly something that the municipality rejected, and that it's counterproductive that a person with such view would be held up as an example for young people. In no way do we want to support such things.
Jaleh Tavakoli or the Red-Green Alliance , also rejected the Viden om Islam (Knowing about Islam) event.
"It's a good idea to try and get the youth in Nørrebro away from the gangs. But an event with people with extreme views on gays and women is certainly not a good solution," says Jaleh Tavakoli.
Finn Rudaizky of the Danish People's Party demanded that the integration alderman Klaus Bondam (R) deal with the issue. Bondam refused to comment on the imam's visit.
Finn Rudaizky said that there's no rhyme or reason to having Khalid Alsubei, who was formerly the controversial head of the father's group, so much so that the municipality felt the need to stop working with him, hire a gay-hating American imam who speaks against equality and for the death sentence for gays. It needs to be stopped soon, and he therefore hopes that Klaus Bondam would stop all support for the Nørrebronx project, which is now so openly abused to promote radicalization of young people, which should be helped out of the gang community.
The meeting with Khalid Yasin, for which about 200 young Muslims signed up for, was arranged by Viden om Islam (VIOMIS), which talks to young Muslims about Islam.
One of the leading figures in VIOMIS is Khalid Alsubeihi, who is also head of the Nørrebronx association, which arranges youth clubs and sports activities for youth in Nørrebro. Nørrebronx received 1.2 million Danish kroner this year in public support from the Copenhagen Municipality, and Nørrebronx is located at Rantzausgade 23D - the same address as VIOMIS.
On the event's webiste and on the invitation, which Khalid Alsubeihi sent out about Friday's event, Nørrebronx and VIOMIS appear as joint organizers together with Khalid Yasin. And Korsgadehallen, the hall where the event was held, which is co-sponsored by municipal funds, said that the event was booked by Nørrebronx.
The Social Democrats want to investigate whether the event was fincned with municpal funds.
"We supported Nørrebronx in its work in keeping youth away from crime, and we supported in in the form of funds for its operation. It's clear that funds shouldn't go to support events with an American imam with such controversial views," said Mette Reissmann. She said she will ask the culture and leisure committee to check what role Nørrebronx played in this event.
Khalid Alsubehi assured Berlingske Tidende that Nørrebronx money didn't go to the Friday event, but he acknowledged and regretted that he mixed his two positions together on the imam-meeting invitation.
The Social Democrats and Red-Green Alliance nonetheless want to have the issue investigated.
Mette Reissmann says it's annoying that things get mixed up in this way and that the municipality does not want to support such events in any way. They never intended to support Nørrebronx so that they'll send invitations for such an event.
Sources: BT 1, 2 (Danish)
Sheikh Khalid Yasin visited the Netherlands last year, where he also provoked controversy (though much of it wasn't his fault):
* Netherlands: Controversy over arrival of preacher
* Netherlands: Khalid Yasin on Wilders
* Netherlands: A controversial talk by a controversial speaker
----------------
A member of the Red-Green Alliance Party in Copenhagen had to be escorted away from an immigrant meeting in Nørrebro after being threatened.
The only thing Jaleh Tavakoli did was to insist on seating with her husband - though there were gender-segregated sitting places in the sports hall, where the controversial American imam Sheikh Khalid Yasin was supposed to speak.
Jalah Tavakoli, an Iraqi immigrant, told bt.dk that towards the end there were maybe 50 people around her, calling her whore, fat pig and several threatening her with violence. It was really scary, she says, and all because she wanted to sit next to her husband. "I tried arguing that they also sat next to women on the bus, but they shouted and threatened only louder and louder."
In the end she called up the police, because she felt threatened.
The police had to escort them out and drive them away, since emotions were so high. They only took down the name of the young man who threatened with violence, and she says she would lodge a complaint against him on Monday. It was really shocking, says Jaleh Tavakoli.
----------------
Meanwhile, the Social Democrats, Red-Green Alliance and Danish People's Party demand an investigation into whether municipal money was used for Fridays' event, where Sheikh Khalid Yasin urged the youth of Nørrebro away from the gang wars.
According to the invitation, the event was aimed at the youth in the Blågaards Plads area in an attempt to prevent them from joining the gangs in the area. Khalid Yasin, who in the past argued for death sentence for gays, called women's equality a delusion and described the September 11 attacks and the AIDS virus as American conspiracies, was the main speaker.
The Social Democrats were critical. Mette Reissmann, political spokesperson, said that the imam's view were clearly something that the municipality rejected, and that it's counterproductive that a person with such view would be held up as an example for young people. In no way do we want to support such things.
Jaleh Tavakoli or the Red-Green Alliance , also rejected the Viden om Islam (Knowing about Islam) event.
"It's a good idea to try and get the youth in Nørrebro away from the gangs. But an event with people with extreme views on gays and women is certainly not a good solution," says Jaleh Tavakoli.
Finn Rudaizky of the Danish People's Party demanded that the integration alderman Klaus Bondam (R) deal with the issue. Bondam refused to comment on the imam's visit.
Finn Rudaizky said that there's no rhyme or reason to having Khalid Alsubei, who was formerly the controversial head of the father's group, so much so that the municipality felt the need to stop working with him, hire a gay-hating American imam who speaks against equality and for the death sentence for gays. It needs to be stopped soon, and he therefore hopes that Klaus Bondam would stop all support for the Nørrebronx project, which is now so openly abused to promote radicalization of young people, which should be helped out of the gang community.
The meeting with Khalid Yasin, for which about 200 young Muslims signed up for, was arranged by Viden om Islam (VIOMIS), which talks to young Muslims about Islam.
One of the leading figures in VIOMIS is Khalid Alsubeihi, who is also head of the Nørrebronx association, which arranges youth clubs and sports activities for youth in Nørrebro. Nørrebronx received 1.2 million Danish kroner this year in public support from the Copenhagen Municipality, and Nørrebronx is located at Rantzausgade 23D - the same address as VIOMIS.
On the event's webiste and on the invitation, which Khalid Alsubeihi sent out about Friday's event, Nørrebronx and VIOMIS appear as joint organizers together with Khalid Yasin. And Korsgadehallen, the hall where the event was held, which is co-sponsored by municipal funds, said that the event was booked by Nørrebronx.
The Social Democrats want to investigate whether the event was fincned with municpal funds.
"We supported Nørrebronx in its work in keeping youth away from crime, and we supported in in the form of funds for its operation. It's clear that funds shouldn't go to support events with an American imam with such controversial views," said Mette Reissmann. She said she will ask the culture and leisure committee to check what role Nørrebronx played in this event.
Khalid Alsubehi assured Berlingske Tidende that Nørrebronx money didn't go to the Friday event, but he acknowledged and regretted that he mixed his two positions together on the imam-meeting invitation.
The Social Democrats and Red-Green Alliance nonetheless want to have the issue investigated.
Mette Reissmann says it's annoying that things get mixed up in this way and that the municipality does not want to support such events in any way. They never intended to support Nørrebronx so that they'll send invitations for such an event.
Sources: BT 1, 2 (Danish)
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Radicalism
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