Inside Story - Can Muslim Leaders Change Trump's Jerusalem Decision?

Jerusalem's status as part of Israel, or Palestine, or both has long been a controversial issue many politicians have shied away from. But Donald Trump changed decades of US policy last week, by recognising the holy city as Israel's capital. That decision set off worldwide protests and condemnation. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan called a meeting of The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Wednesday to discuss a response. He said the US decision was illegal and a threat to all humanity. But what can the 57-member organisation realistically do to pressure the US?

Presenter: Laura Kyle | Guests: Yusuf Kanli - Former Editor of Turkey's Hürriyet Daily News; Gedeon Levy - Columnist with Haaretz newspaper; Mouin Rabbani - Senior Fellow at the Institute for Palestine Studies

UN Pressures Germany to Bow to 'Hate Speech' Hysteria
THE LEGAL PROJECT: A recent decision by the United Nation's (UN) Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) foreshadows an ominous future for free societies should Muslim entities like the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) achieve their goal of having "Islamophobia" defined internationally as a form of prejudice.

Former German central bank board member Thilo Sarrazin has got himself in trouble with the UN, as the Turkish Union in Berlin-Brandenburg (Türkischer Bund in Berlin-Brandenburg or TBB) stated with satisfaction in an April 18, 2013, German-language press release. The spokesman of this German-Turkish interest group, Hilmi Kaya Turan, praised a February 26, 2013, "historic decision" by the CERD condemning Germany for not having prosecuted Sarrazin's criticism of Arab and Turkish immigrants.

Sarrazin, a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands or SPD), produced a storm of controversy with his August 2010 book Deutschland Schafft Sich Ab: Wie Wir Unser Land aufs Spiel Setzen ("Germany Abolishes Itself: How We Are Risking Our Country"). In the context of this controversy, CERD's detailed 19-page target=_blank>decision extensively excerpted in English translation a fall 2009 interview with Sarrazin. In the interview, the Berlin magazine Lettre International discussed some of the upcoming book's themes.

CERD complained that "[i]n this interview, Mr. Sarrazin expressed himself in a derogatory and discriminatory way about social 'lower classes', which are not productive' and would have to 'disappear over time' in order to create a city of the 'elite'." Sarrazin specified that about 20% of Berlin's population depended on welfare payments, which he wanted to cut, "above all to the lower class." » | Andrew Harrod and Sam Nunberg | Frontpage Mag | Thursday, May 16, 2013

Islamic Nations Relinquish Demand for Defamation Laws
VOICE OF AMERICA: WASHINGTON — In the wake of a U.N. resolution condemning discrimination on the basis of religion, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has stopped pushing for an international treaty banning the defamation of religion.

The 57-member confederation of Muslim countries has lobbied for years for an international treaty that would outlaw blasphemy against Islam and other religions.

Ufuk Gokcen, the OIC's Permanent Observer to the U.N., played a key role in that effort.

But the Turkish diplomat said the OIC is now satisfied with U.N. Human Rights Council Resolution 16/18 adopted last year.

"I don't see any attempt to go back to the old controversy over defamation and blasphemy," he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said Resolution 16/18 recognizes that free expression plays an important role in bolstering religious tolerance. » | Gabe Joselow | Wednesday, October 24, 2012

West's Free Speech Stand Bars Blasphemy Ban: OIC
REUTERS.COM: (Reuters) - Western opposition has made it impossible for Muslim states to obtain a ban on blasphemy, including anti-Islamic videos and cartoons that have touched off deadly riots, the Islamic world's top diplomat said.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), said his 57-nation body would not try again for United Nations support to ban insults to religion, but appealed for states to apply hate-speech laws concerning Islam.

"We could not convince them," said the Turkish head of the 57-member organisation which had tried from 1998 until 2011 to get a United Nations-backed ban on blasphemy.

"The European countries don't vote with us, the United States doesn't vote with us."

Western countries see the publication of such images and materials as a matter of free speech. » | Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor | ISTANBUL | Monday, October 15, 2012

Jerusalem Can Never Be Surrendered, Khalifa Says
GULF NEWS: Abu Dhabi Declaration urges OIC countries to recognise palestine [sic]

Abu Dhabi: The UAE is pressing for taking a firm stand against countries which move their embassies to occupied Jerusalem or recognise it as the capital of Israel.

The Abu Dhabi Declaration confirmed recognition by the OIC member countries of the State of Palestine that includes all of the territories captured in 1967, including occupied east Jerusalem.

It demanded all member countries immediately recognised the Palestinian State and raise the diplomatic representation to an embassy level.

President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan said the Arab-Muslim [occupied] Jerusalem can never be surrendered as history, law and international legitimacy confirm Muslims' inalienable rights to it, irrespective of the Israeli occupation's measures to increase the Jewish presence there.

His speech at the meeting of Inter-parliamentary Union of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) was read out by His Highness Shaikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah.

The Abu Dhabi declaration demanded that the UN Security Council issue a resolution recognising the independent Palestinian state.

Parliamentary leaders also condemned the Israeli occupation's atrocities in Palestine, especially in the Gaza Strip, which claimed the lives of many innocent people, demanding that Israeli officials be brought to account for their war crimes in Gaza.

The UAE has also urged the OIC member countries to take action to halt Islamophobia in the West.

Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Speaker of the Federal National Council, said concerted efforts were necessary to stop the spread of Islamophobia that impaired Muslim-West relations. >>> Samir Salama, Associate Editor | Thursday, January 20, 2011

‘Burn the Quran Day’ Plan Prompts Warnings of Anger, Unrest
CNS NEWS: The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has joined the growing condemnation of plans by a Florida church to burn copies of the Quran on the 9th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

A spokesman for the Jeddah-based bloc of Islamic states expressed concern Tuesday that the planned action by the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville would stir up “anger across the Muslim world and provoke unrest.”

The OIC said it hoped the U.S. government would “take appropriate steps to protect the sacred religious sentiments of Muslims of America and of the Muslims across the world.”

Dove pastor Terry Jones did not respond to queries Tuesday about the planned event or whether his church had come under any pressure from law enforcement agencies to call it off.

But after the City of Gainesville fire department last week turned down its application for a permit under outdoor fire ordinances, Dove emailed a statement saying that despite the rejection of the application as well as pressure from its commercial insurance provider and the bank holding its mortgage, “we will still burn Korans.”

The non-denominational church has drawn fire from Christian, Jewish and Muslim groups over the plan, which it says will take place “in remembrance of the fallen victims of 9/11 and to stand against the evil of Islam.”

The National Association of Evangelicals late last month said in a statement that the Quran burning would “exacerbate tensions between Christians and Muslims throughout the world” and urged cancellation of the event.

The Anti-Defamation League called it a tactic undoubtedly “intended to cast blame on all Muslims for 9/11, and not the extremists who perpetrated the terrorist attack.”

Also weighing in was the Supreme Council of Al-Alzhar University in Cairo – regarded as the highest seat of learning in Sunni Islam – which called on other American churches to condemn an event it said was aimed at “stirring up hate and discrimination.” Continue reading and comment >>> Patrick Goodenough, International Editor | Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Hatred Against Islam Now Political Feast: OIC
SAUDI GAZETTE: DUSHANBE – Islamophobia will dominate the agenda of the 37th session of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) meeting here, marking the first time the Tajik capital has played host to the annual gathering.

The President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, addressed the opening of the three-day conference Tuesday.

“We are happy to notice the recent positive changes and developments in the OIC’s activities as it has increased its international role,” said Rahmon.

OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu highlighted the significance of holding the OIC session in Dushanbe. “The chronicles of Islamic history bear eloquent testimony to the abounding wealth of cultural and edifying legacy, conferred to Islamic civilization, by the illustrious sons of this region,” he said.

Stressing the need to effectively tackle Islamophobia, Ihsanoglu said the hate wave against Islam and Muslim immigrants has become a “political commodity” and a “winning chip” in the hands of political parties during their election campaigns in the West.

Achieving any real progress in this area requires direct and dedicated interaction between OIC member states and the West.

“A high level ministerial meeting must be convened to evolve an Islamic plan for interaction with the West, regarding Islamophobia, and defending our just causes and in facing up to the mounting hate wave against Islam.

I also suggest that the question of Islamophobia be included in all member states’ interactions with their Western counterparts,” he said. >>> Jassim Alghamdi, SG | Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Islamische Konferenz bietet ihre Dienste an: OIC könnte in der Libyen-Affäre vermitteln
NZZ ONLINE: Die Schweiz ist in der Auseinandersetzung mit Libyen offenbar doch nicht ganz auf sich alleine gestellt. Die Organisation der Islamischen Konferenz (OIC) hat ihre Dienste angeboten.

Die Organisation der Islamischen Konferenz (OIC) ist bereit, im Konflikt zwischen der Schweiz und Libyen zu vermitteln. Das sagte der OIC-Botschafter Babacar Ba gegenüber dem Schweizer Radio DRS.

Über die Affäre im Bild

Die OIC sei über die Krise zwischen Libyen und der Schweiz im Bild und hoffe auf eine baldige bilaterale Lösung, sagte der OIC-Botschafter bei der Uno in Genf weiter. >>> sda | Dienstag, 27. Oktober 2009

US Religious Freedom Report Hits Speech Curbs
VOICE OF AMERICA: The U.S. State Department's annual report on world-wide religious freedom, released Monday, was critical of what it says are international efforts to limit free speech in the name of combating defamation of religion. The Organization of the Islamic Conference, or OIC, has been pushing such anti-defamation measures in U.N. bodies. 



The State Department report says the United States deplores actions that show disrespect for religious traditions, including Islam.



But it says the broad anti-defamation measures being sought by the Islamic Conference would have the effect of curbing debate about religious issues and should be discarded in favor of outreach and government defense of religious freedom and free speech.



The comments were the most prominent to date by the United States on efforts led by the OIC to get anti-defamation resolutions approved in the U.N. General Assembly and the U.N. Human Rights Commission.



In comments introducing the annual report, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States will always stand against religious-based discrimination and persecution, but that it strongly disagrees with those who would combat such problems by curbing free speech.



"The best antidote to intolerance is not the 'Defamation of Religions' approach of banning and punishing offensive speech, but rather a combination of robust legal protections against discrimination and hate crimes, proactive government outreach to minority religious groups, and a vigorous defense of both freedom of religion and expression," said Secretary Clinton. >>> David Gollust, State Department | Monday, October 26, 2009

Organization of Islamic Conference Upholds Sharia and Human Rights: Largest Muslim Organisation Aims for New Human Rights Commission
AL ARIBIYA NEWS CHANNEL: CAIRO – A bloc of Islamic states accused of undermining human rights standards set by the United Nations have taken matters into their own hands and set out to establish their own independent human rights commission Sunday
The Organization of Islamic Conference, a 57-nation bloc of Muslim nations and the largest organization after the U.N., met yesterday at its headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to establish an independent OIC human rights commission.



Eklemeddin İhsanoğlu, the OIC Secretary-General, stressed in a statement Monday that "human rights and man’s dignity are an integral part of Islam and core components of Islamic culture and heritage.” >>> | Monday, April 13, 2009

UN Urged to Reject Bar on Defamation of Religion
REUTERS: GENEVA - Some 200 secular, religious and media groups from around the world on Wednesday urged the United Nations Human Rights Council to reject a call from Islamic countries for a global fight against "defamation of religion."

The groups, including some Muslim bodies, issued their appeal in a statement on the eve of a vote in the Council in Geneva on a resolution proposed by the 56-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

Such a resolution, the statement said, "may be used in certain countries to silence and intimidate human rights activists, religious dissenters and other independent voices," and to restrict freedom of religion and of speech.

The resolution, its critics say, would also restrict free speech and even academic study in open societies in the West and elsewhere. >>> By Robert Evans | Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Gaffney: Embracing of Shariah?
THE WASHINGTON TIMES: 'Respect' should be a two-way street

President Obama on Friday reiterated for the umpteenth time his determination to develop a “new relationship” with the Muslim world. On this occasion, the audience were the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Unfortunately, it increasingly appears that, in so doing, he will be embracing the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood - an organization dedicated to promoting the theo-political-legal program authoritative Islam calls Shariah and that has the self-described mission of “destroying Western civilization from within.”

As part of Mr. Obama's “Respect Islam” campaign, he will travel to Turkey in early April. While there, he will not only pay tribute to an Islamist government that has systematically wrested every institution from the secular tradition of Kemal Ataturk and put the country squarely on the path to Islamification. He will also participate in something called the “Alliance of Civilizations.”

The Alliance is a United Nations-sponsored affair that reflects - as, increasingly do most things the United Nations is involved in - the views of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). The OIC is made up of 57 Muslim-majority nations. Thanks to support from Saudi Arabia and its proxies, the Muslim Brotherhood has become a driving force within the Conference and their agendas largely coincide. >>> Frank Gaffney Jr. | Tuesday, March 17, 2009

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David Littman: The UN in the Last Year

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Islamic States: Criminalize Defamation of Islam
THE JERUSALEM POST: The Islamic states circulated a new resolution at the current session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday that would criminalize defamation of Islam as a human rights violation and encourage the imposition of Shari'a.

According to the nonbinding governmental resolution, titled "Combating Defamation of Religions," anything deemed insulting to Islamic sensitivities would be banned as a "serious affront to human dignity" and a blatant violation of religious freedom.

The resolution would attempt to influence "local, national, regional and international levels" to incorporate such guarantees of this perceived freedom in their "legal and constitutional systems."

"It is a covert package coordinated by Pakistan against the West," said Leon Saltiel, director of communications at the Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch, on Thursday. "They think there is too much liberty and freedom of expression in the Western world, which therefore defames religion."

This resolution is part of the ongoing campaign of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, a powerful bloc of 56 states at the UN, which began to introduce annual resolutions in 1999 to ban the "defamation of Islam."

Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, said during an address to Radio Free Europe in December that "Islamic states pursued the diplomatic battle with a vengeance" because of the post-9/11 war on terror and the controversy ignited by the cartoon of their prophet published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005.

"The resolutions pose a major threat to the premises and principles of international human rights law and harm Muslims as much as non-Muslims. International law already protects victims of religious discrimination," for instance via the 1984 Declaration of Human Rights and the 1966 International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, declared Neuer.

The resolutions fail to address human rights violations of Muslim countries, notably Iran's persecution of Baha'is, Saudi Arabia's banning of all religious practice aside from Islam, and the persecution of Christian communities in Egypt, Pakistan and Iraq.

The latest resolution is "not really trying to protect individuals from harm," but rather attempting "to shield a set of beliefs from question or debate and to ban any discussion of Islam that may challenge state orthodoxies or offend Islamic sensibilities," Neuer said. >>> Maya Spitzer | Thursday, March 12, 2009

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Obama Says US Can Work with Muslims: OIC
KHALEEJ TIMES ONLINE: RIYADH - President Barack Obama told the Organisation of Islamic Conference that he has full confidence that the United States can work together with the world's largest grouping of Muslims, the OIC said on Sunday.

In a letter to OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihasanoglu, Obama said he would work to improve relations with the group, the Jeddah-based organisation said in a statement.

It did not release the text of the letter.

Obama also thanked the OIC, which represents 1.5 billion Muslims in 57 countries, for its congratulations on the occasion of his inauguration on January 20, the organisation said.

In an open letter published in major US newspapers on January 21, the OIC urged Obama to work for a "shared" peace in the world rather than one that is "imposed."

"We warmly welcome your expressed desire to give a major address in a Muslim nation soon after you assume the presidency and hope it will mark the beginning of a more fruitful and better-informed dialogue between the West and the Muslim world," the OIC said at the time.

"We firmly believe that America, with your guidance, can help foster that peace, though real peace can only be shared -- never imposed. A nation can either be great or feared, but rarely both at the same time." [Source: KTO] AFP | Sunday, February 1, 2009

Hat tip: Jihad Watch >>>

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Don't Link Islam to Terror, Islamic Chief Urges
REUTERS: GENEVA - The world's top diplomat for Islam called on Friday for an end to what he termed efforts to equate the religion with terrorism and said the 'demonization' of Muslims around the world must be fought.

But speaking soon after the U.N. General Assembly passed an Islamic-sponsored resolution condemning "defamation of religion" for the fourth year in a row, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said his group was committed to respecting freedom of expression.

There was a "rising tide of incitement to religious hatred and discrimination and intolerance targeting Muslims," he told a meeting called by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) at the United Nations in Geneva. The 57-nation OIC, based in Saudi Arabia, represents 1.5 billion Muslims.

"Attempts to equate Islam with terrorism should be stopped. Stereotyping and demonization of Muslims should be combated," said Ihsanoglu, a Turkish history professor who became OIC Secretary-General in 2005. >>> By Robert Evans | Friday, December 19, 2008

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Joseph Klein: Off the Table
FRONTPAGEMAG.COM: Islam was born as a religion spread through violence. There is a direct line from the prophet Muhammad to today’s Islamic terrorists, whose latest deadly attacks wreaked havoc in Mumbai, India. The ongoing effort in the United Nations and the politically correct media to disassociate Islam from terrorism is a sham.

Just days before the Mumbai attack, a United Nations Committee passed a resolution entitled “Combating Defamation of Religions”, which will be going to the General Assembly for approval in mid-December. It is one in a series of such resolutions pushed by the Organization of Islamic Conference. While ostensibly applying to all religions, it refers only to Islam by name. The text “expresses deep concern … that Islam is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism.”

The New York Times’ lead news stories in the aftermath of the Mumbai massacre played right into the Organization of Islamic Conference’s campaign of obfuscation. It omitted the central fact that the terrorists who murdered more than 170 innocent people were fanatical Islamists. The Times referred to them simply in generic terms as “gunmen”, “attackers”, and “militants”.

The only hint of a Muslim connection to the terrorist acts reported in the New York Times’ lead article on November 28, 2008 was the recounting of a complaint from two of the attackers to local television stations about the treatment of Muslims in India and about hostilities in the disputed territory of Kashmir. The Times actually quoted one of these cold-hearted terrorists, who tried to play victim in justifying the carnage.

Islamic terrorists always have some kind of excuse for their wanton killings. Usually it starts with the Jews, whom the religious fanatics believe are responsible for every ill befalling Muslims everywhere and thus deserve to die. It was no surprise that a Jewish center in Mumbai was among the prime terrorist targets, with deadly consequences to a rabbi, his wife and other Jews.

Westerners also must be punished for keeping the Muslim people down, so the Islamists’ rationalization for murder goes. American and British citizens in particular were targeted at hotels and other locations in Mumbai where they were likely to congregate. However, the slaughter soon became indiscriminate. In fact, most of the dead appeared to be Indians and tourists of other nationalities caught in the midst of the terrorists’ mayhem. Indian commandos involved in an operation to end the siege described the terrorists as "showing no remorse, firing at anyone who moves". >>> By Joseph Klein | December 1, 2008

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Islamophobia Worse than Racial Prejudice
TODAY’S ZAMAN: The secretary-general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Eklemeddin İhsanoğlu, has told a Danish newspaper that Western institutions which deal with Islamophobia agree that hatred against Islam and Muslims is worse than racial discrimination.

"Incitement to religious hatred is a new form of racism, and Western institutions dealing with Islamophobia are unanimous in saying that the phenomenon of Islamophobia is worse than racial discrimination," he stated in a recent written interview with the Danish Jyllands-Posten daily. İhsanoğlu stressed that discrimination is discrimination whether on religious or racial grounds. İhsanoğlu also clearly expressed that the OIC is neither against criticism of religion nor is it calling for a ban on any criticism of religion. >>> | October 30, 2008

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Malaysia to Combat Anti-Islam Perception
NST ONLINE: NEW YORK: Malaysia has proposed that an international convention sponsored by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) be held next year to tackle anti-Muslim movements in several developed nations.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said on Thursday the OIC had asked Malaysia to play a major role in rectifying the misconception about Islam, especially in the West.

He said Islamaphobia [sic] was so serious that some Western countries hated Muslim nations, as shown by the protests against the construction of a mosque in Cologne, Germany, recently.

Rais said OIC's request was conveyed to him by its secretary-general, Prof Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, on the sidelines of the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.

He told Malaysian journalists that the OIC was confident that Malaysia would be able to counter the misconception.

Rais hoped that the convention would be attended by influential people like national leaders, intellectuals and representatives of non-governmental organisations supporting religious tolerance.

"Malaysia hopes that another window can be opened for a more universal understanding of Islam to help in civilisation-building," he said. Malaysia to Combat Anti-Islam Perception >>> September 26, 2008

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OIC Slams Germany Anti-Islam Meeting
RADIANCE VIEWSWEEKLY: The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has deplored an anti-Islam conference to be held in Germany next month, urging all segments of the German society to take a firm stand against the proponents of hatred. “The OIC expresses serious concern over reports of the holding of ‘Anti Islamisation Congress’ in Cologne, Germany,” the world’s biggest Muslim body said in a statement. Koeln members were associated with neo-Nazi parties or groupings. OIC has warned that the conference was “intended to arouse anti-Muslim sentiments in Europe. “Organisers of the proposed event were motivated by racial hatred and the so-called “Anti-Islamisation Congress” is to take place on September 19-20 in Germany’s fourth-largest city of Cologne. The meeting is organised by Pro Koeln, a far-right organisation which has held five seats in Cologne’s city council since 2004.”

Meanwhile, a well-known Holocaust survivor, German Jewish writer and Holocaust survivor Ralph Giordano, has come out strongly against the planned so-called Anti-Islamisation Congress. He said he strongly opposes the international anti-Islam conference slated to take place in Germany next month, despite his critical stance on Islam. [Source: OIC Slams Germany Anti-Islam Meeting] | August 22, 2008

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