Dutch MPs Bid to Halt
Hate Crime Trial Fails
THE CHRISTIAN INSTITUTE: A controversial Dutch MP has lost a legal attempt to halt a pending hate crime prosecution against him.

Geert Wilders will now face trial for inciting hatred against Muslims after a Dutch court described his challenge as “inadmissible”.

While leaving court on Wednesday Mr Wilders said: “Freedom of speech is under pressure. The legal system in North Korea is better than in the Netherlands.”

Despite the controversy Mr Wilders, the leader of the Freedom Party, is one of Holland’s most popular politicians.

Mr Wilders is the maker of the 17-minute anti-Koran movie, Fitna, which features quotations from the Koran interspersed with footage of terrorist atrocities and speeches by Muslim preachers.

The controversial MP has also been criticised for writing anti-Islamic articles and letters which were later published in a mainstream Dutch newspaper.

While in August 2007 Mr Wilders called for the Koran to be banned.

However, Mr Wilders has always maintained that he is targeting Islam not individual Muslims. >>> | Friday, January 15, 2010

La Turquie saisie par l'«ottomania»
LE FIGARO: L'opposition de pays européens à l'entrée d'Ankara dans l'UE contribue à mythifier l'âge d'or de l'empire perdu.

Les visiteurs, ravis, en prennent plein les yeux et les oreilles. Réglée au volume maximum, la bande-son fait gronder les canons et rouler les tambours. Le sultan Mehmet II le Conquérant chevauche fièrement son destrier blanc, les murailles byzantines cèdent à l'assaut des janissaires. Sur 360° et en trois dimensions, une fresque géante reproduit la conquête de Constanti­nople : c'est l'attraction phare du Musée historique panoramique de 1453. Depuis son inauguration il y a un an par le premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan, il voit défiler toutes les écoles d'Istanbul. «On revit la bataille en direct, c'est incroyable, s'enflamme Mutlu Turkoglu, professeur, aussi enthousiaste que ses élèves. Les jeunes Turcs doivent être fiers de leur histoire, c'est primordial pour leur identité. »

Ce musée, fondé par la municipalité d'Istanbul, est révélateur de l'«ottomania» en vogue en Turquie. Après avoir longtemps méprisé «l'homme malade de l'Europe», les Turcs redécouvrent leur passé ottoman et se penchent avec nostalgie sur un empire qui, au faîte de sa puissance, rayonna des Balkans à la péninsule arabique. «À partir de 1923, tous les efforts ont été concentrés sur la construction de la jeune République et sur son avenir, explique Nilüfer Narli, sociologue. S'en est ensuivie une sorte d'amnésie. Aujourd'hui, on revient à une image plus positive. »

La solennité des derniers honneurs rendus à Ertugrul Osman, le petit-fils du sultan Abdullamid II, en septembre, illustre le retour en grâce de l'Empire ottoman. En 1924, alors enfant, il avait été expulsé de Turquie avec les autres membres de la famille royale. En ordonnant l'exil, Mustafa Kemal, le fondateur de la République turque, liquidait définitivement les restes de l'empire. Pour les funérailles de l'héritier du trône, dix mille personnes et plusieurs ministres se sont massés à la cérémonie organisée à la Mosquée bleue.

L'arrivée au pouvoir en 2002 du Parti de la justice et du développement (AKP), aux racines islamistes, et l'ascension d'une bourgeoisie musulmane, concurrençant l'élite traditionnelle laïque, ont contribué à alléger le joug kémaliste qui pesait sur l'histoire. La nouvelle diplomatie turque, conduite par Ahmet Davutoglu, active au Moyen-Orient comme dans les Balkans, est souvent qualifiée de «néo-ottomane».«La Turquie réintègre des espaces où elle a été présente pendant des siècles», soulignait récemment Suat Kiniklioglu, porte-parole du comité des affaires étrangères au Parlement. >>> Laure Marchand, Istanbul | Jeudi 07 Janvier 2010

Al-Qaeda Threat: Britain Worst in Western World
THE TELEGRAPH: Al-Qaeda has successfully restructured its global network and now has the capability to carry out a wide range of terror attacks against Western targets, according to a detailed U.S. intelligence assessment that has been conducted in the wake of the failed Christmas Day Detroit bomb plot.

Pentagon officials estimate that one in five released Guantanamo detainees have rejoined al-Qaeda terror cells after their release. Photo: The Telegraph
And the growing strength of al-Qaeda’s support in Britain has emerged as a major concern for U.S. intelligence agencies as they attempt to prevent further attacks after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian student who studied at London’s University College, nearly succeeded in detonating an explosive device that he had concealed in his underpants as Northwest airlines flight 253 made its final approach to Detroit airport.

American intelligence officials are still investigating claims that Abdulmutallab was radicalised while he was a student between 2005 and 2008, although British security officials insist that he was radicalised in Yemen after he left London.

But the failure of British security officials to alert their American counterparts to Abdulmuttalab’s radical activities while president of UCL’s Islamic Society has led to increased tensions between Washington and London.

Earlier this week Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, confirmed that the UK had not passed any information to the U.S. prior to the attempted December 25 bombing that would have led American officials to believe that Abdulmutallab was a potential terrorist.

But while in London Abdulmutallab regularly presided over debates that denounced Britain’s involvement in the war on terror and America’s Guantanamo detention facility.

American officials now believe Britain poses a major threat to Western security because of the large number of al-Qaeda supporters that are active in the country. Two years ago Jonathan Evans, the head of MI5, estimated that there were 2,000 al-Qaeda sympathisers based in Britain – the largest concentration of al-Qaeda activists in any Western country. But American officials, who regularly refer to “Londonistan” because of the high concentration of Islamic radicals in the capital, believe the figure is growing all the time. They point out that recent al-Qaeda terror attacks planned in Britain have been the work of British-based Muslims, many of whom have been trained in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. >>> Con Coughlin | Friday, January 15, 2010

Clerics threaten to declare holy war if foreign troops land on Yemeni soil
TIMES ONLINE: A group of influential religious leaders in Yemen has threatened to declare jihad — holy war — if foreign troops intervene to stem the spread of al-Qaeda in the country. The edict is a clear warning to the United States as it plans to step up its military involvement in the country.

The leaders said that a jihad would be called if foreign troops set up bases inside the country, or moved into its territorial waters.

“If any party insists on aggression, or invades the country, then according to Islam, jihad becomes obligatory,” said a statement signed by 150 clerics and read out at a news conference in Sanaa, the capital. The stark threat came as Yemeni security officials declared that the country was openly now at war with the terrorists, who are trying to carve out a haven in a country riven by rebellion, secessionism, poverty and tribal loyalties. >>> James Hider, Middle East Correspondent | Friday, January 15, 2010

Russian Heir Demands Tsar Nicholas II Murder Investigation
THE TELEGRAPH: The self-proclaimed heir to Russia’s imperial throne has demanded the reopening of the investigation into the murder of Tsar Nicholas II and his family by Bolsheviks in 1918.

Tzar Nicholas II and family. Photo: The Telegraph
The Russian Prosecutor-General has formally closed a criminal investigation into the shooting because too much time had elapsed since the crime and because those responsible had died.

But monarchists said a resumption of the criminal case was essential if Russia as finally to come to terms with its brutal past.

“This case is essential for Russia,” said Alexander Zakatov, who represents Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, a Romanov who styles herself as the heir to the imperial throne.

“Russians need to know about the fate of the tsarist family and all of the other victims of the Communist regime. There should be a clear legal verdict on this,” said Zakatov, who heads the chancellery of Russia’s so-called Imperial House.

He said lawyers for Mrs Vladimirovna had asked Moscow’s Basmanny court to force prosecutors to reopen the case, which he said was needed to resolve a host of questions about the murder and remains said to belong to the last tsar.

Nicholas II, his wife and five children were killed by a revolutionary firing squad in July 1918 in the cellar of a merchant’s house in Yekaterinburg, 900 miles east of Moscow. >>> The Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Saturday, January 16, 2010

Petrol Attack on Actress in Muslim-themed Play
THE TELEGRAPH: An actress was doused with petrol in Paris in an attack thought to be related to her role in a feminist play she wrote about Algerian women.

The 45-year-old, who goes by the name of Rayhana, said two men approached her while she was walking to the theatre on Tuesday, grabbed her from behind, slapped her face and poured petrol on her. “I could smell the petrol. A flame brushed my hat and then I ran,” she said. >>> The Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Friday, January 15, 2010

"Le voile intégral, un symbole de l'oppression des femmes"
Crédits photo : L’Express.fr
L’EXPRESS.fr: Dernière représentation* ce samedi soir, à Paris, de la pièce de Rayhana, dramaturge d'origine algérienne agressée mardi par des hommes qui ont tenté de l'immoler. Révoltées, deux militantes féministes racontent leur propre combat contre l'intégrisme religieux.

Signe du temps. Asma, militante féministe d'origine algérienne, a toujours combattu l'intégrisme musulman. Mais depuis l'agression, mardi dernier, de la dramaturge algérienne Rayhana, elle ne ne sent plus en sécurité en France. Elle ne donnera pas son nom de famille. «Je connais bien Rayhana et son agression m'a profondément choquée, confie cette adhérente de Ni Putes Ni Soumises. Avant, je m'exprimais ouvertement dans les médias. Aujourd'hui, je me sens en danger. Mais je veux toujours témoigner pour continuer le combat.»

Rayhana a été aspergée de white spirit mardi soir alors qu'elle se rendait à la Maison des Métallos, à Paris, où se joue, jusqu'à ce soir, A mon âge, je me cache encore pour fumer. Une pièce qu'elle a écrite, dans laquelle neuf femmes se racontent leur quotidien dans société algérienne étouffée par l'obscurantisme religieux. Ce texte engagé a-t-il un lien avec l'agression violente dont a été victime la comédienne à l'entrée du théâtre? Les enquêteurs chargés de l'affaire en ont «de fortes suspicions». >>> Par LEXPRESS.fr | Samedi 16 Janvier 2010

Under Barack Obama, US Is Obsessed With Race But Can't Talk About It
THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama's election did not usher in a post-racial America. Instead, speaking honesty about race is taboo, writes Toby Harnden in Washington

Barack Obama: despite his presidency Americans are still obsessed about race. Photo: The Telegraph
A year ago, Americans were basking in what many believed was a post-racial new dawn. The United States was just about to inaugurate its first black President. Across the world, those who had pronounced the country too mired in its past to elect an African-American were being forced to reassess.

Fast forward to last week and the American chattering classes were engaged in the kind discussion about race that makes one despair. I use the term "discussion" but that's over-egging things - it was really a mud-slinging contest in which Republicans and Democrats shouted tired old slogans at each other.

The matter at issue was comments by Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, made during the 2008 election campaign. Obama was electable, Reid observed, because he was "light-skinned" and did not "speak with a Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one".

Reid knew he was in big trouble and immediately rushed out a statement of apology when his words, quoted in a new campaign book, became public.

He had forgotten that race was a taboo subject.

His use of the term "Negro" was a little anachronistic, though the National Council of Negro Women and United Negro College Fund still exist. But it wasn't exactly the other N-word.

Reid, who is fighting for his political life in Nevada, where polls have him trailing badly in his November re-election contest, has said many stupid things. Three years ago, he declared that the Iraq war "is lost".

Last month he compared Republicans who opposed healthcare reform to those who once clung to slavery.

But this time his sin was really to speak the truth. Part of candidate Obama's special appeal was that he was a black man who made white people feel exceedingly good about themselves - not least because he was half white and had been raised by a white mother and grandparents.

At the same time, Obama showed himself to be at ease among blacks who had, unlike him, lived through the civil rights area and were descended from slaves.

Thus, Obama walked the tightrope between being too black and being not black enough. One of the ways he did that was to alter his tone and cadence depending on the audience he was speaking to - as many politicians do. >>> | Saturday, January 16, 2010

UKIP Woos White Working Class with Call for Total Ban on Burkas
My comment on this article in The Times today:

Ms Jagger, this is not a class issue; rather, this is an issue of national identity and preserving one's culture and values. The burqah does not belong here. The practice has its roots in the desert. It is actually not Islamic, even though it has come to represent Islamic fundamentalism. Its actual roots lie in the class structure of Saudi Arabia! Upper class women in Arabia, the city-dwellers, wore them for two main reasons: to protect the skin from the hot sun in the desert (pale skin on women is prized there even to this day); and as the hallmark of a lady who didn't have to do manual labour, as the poorer classes did.

There is therefore absolutely no reason for wearing them in the United Kingdom. They were never really a religious duty anyway. The prophet of Islam called for modesty. One doesn't have to cover oneself from head to foot to preserve one's modesty! – © Mark

TIMES ONLINE: The UK Independence Party is to call for a ban on the burka and the niqab — the Islamic cloak that covers women from head to toe and the mask that conceals most of the face — claiming they affront British values. The policy, which a number of European countries are also debating, is an attempt by UKIP to broaden its appeal and address the concerns of disaffected white working-class voters.

UKIP would be the first national party to call for a total ban on burkas, though the far-Right BNP believes they should be banned from schools.

Lord Pearson of Rannoch, the leader of UKIP, said yesterday: “We are taking expert advice on how we could do it. It makes sense to ban the burka — or anything which conceals a woman’s face — in public buildings. But we want to make it possible to ban them in private buildings. It isn’t right that you can’t see someone’s face in an airport.”

He explained that UKIP wanted to bring to the fore the issue of the increasing influence of Sharia in Britain: “We are not Muslim bashing, but this is incompatible with Britain’s values of freedom and democracy.”

Nigel Farage, the former UKIP party leader, will announce tomorrow that the party believes the fabric of the country is under threat from Sharia and that forcing women to conceal their identity in public is not consistent with traditional Britishness.

UKIP believes that the burka and the niqab have no basis in Islam, are a threat to gender equality, marginalise women and endanger the public safety because terrorists could use them to hide their identity. >>> Suzy Jagger, Politics and Business Correspondent | Saturday, January 16, 2010

Obama – ein Jahr später: Der politische Wind wendet sich in den USA gegen die Demokraten
NZZ ONLINE: Selten war der Amtsantritt eines amerikanischen Präsidenten mit ähnlich hohen Erwartungen verknüpft gewesen wie Barack Obamas Einzug ins Weisse Haus an jenem denkwürdigen 20. Januar 2009. Dass sich in der Zwischenzeit Ernüchterung eingestellt hat, ist kein überraschendes Fazit nach einem Jahr. Denn schon an dem strahlenden Wintertag, als Obama auf den Stufen des Capitols seinen Amtseid ablegte, liess sich erahnen, dass der neue Präsident mit unerfüllbar hohen Erwartungen konfrontiert war. Zwei Kriege und die schwerste Wirtschaftskrise seit mehr als einem halben Jahrhundert nagten an der Zuversicht der Nation. Die Hoffnung auf Wandel und Erneuerung nach Jahren der republikanischen Dominanz hatte den jungen Senator zum Sieg getragen; doch ein Rezept zum Regieren war dies noch nicht. Einmal an der Macht, musste Obama sein vages Wahlprogramm konkretisieren und einen Teil seiner Anhänger, die ganz anderes auf ihn projiziert hatten, unweigerlich enttäuschen. >>> Neue Zürcher Zeitung | Samstag, 16. Januar 2010

Vatican : Juifs d’Italie sur la défensive
LE TEMPS: Le grand rabbin Di Segni maintient son invitation dimanche malgré la polémique au sujet de la volonté du pape de béatifier Pie XII, controversé pour son silence sur l’extermination des juifs

La traversée du Tibre, de la basilique de Saint-Pierre au vieux ghetto juif, devait s’effectuer dans le sillage lumineux de Jean Paul II, le premier pape de l’histoire à se rendre, en 1986, à la synagogue de Rome. Dimanche soir, la visite de Benoît XVI dans le grand temple de la capitale italienne sera, au contraire, entourée de l’ombre sulfureuse de Pie XII. La décision de Joseph Ratzinger de proclamer, le mois dernier, «vénérable» Eugenio Pacelli (en même temps que Karol Wojtyla) et d’en célébrer les «vertus héroïques» pour franchir une étape supplémentaire dans la cause en béatification du pape controversé pour ses silences durant la guerre a en effet relancé incompréhensions, polémiques, à la limite du courroux. >>> Eric Jozsef | Samedi 16 Janvier 2010

Iran will Protestaufrufe per SMS bestrafen: Schwester von Nobelpreisträgerin Ebadi freigelassen
NZZ ONLINE: Die iranischen Behörden wollen künftig mit drastischen Strafen gegen Protestaufrufe der Opposition über E-Mail und SMS vorgehen. Auf Druck der Öffentlichkeit wurde dagegen die Schwester von Nobelpreisträgerin Ebadi freigelassen.

Polizeichef Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam sagte am Freitag, Mobilfunk und Internet würden vollständig überwacht. «Diese Individuen sollten nicht davon ausgehen, dass sie ihre Identität verbergen können», wurde der General von der halbamtlichen Nachrichtenagentur ISNA zitiert. >>> ddp | Freitag, 15. Januar 2010

Melanie Phillips: The UK Will Be an Islamic State
Part 1:



Part 2:

Islam4UK’s Radical Spokesman Anjem Choudary Pledges to Keep Preaching
Anjem Choudary, Islam4UK's spokesman, sips a latte and talks about the creation of an Islamic state of Britain. Photograph: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: Anjem Choudary sits in a North London café, sips on a vanilla latte and then launches into a tirade about the decadence of the West.

With machinegun delivery, he expounds on numerous themes: British Muslims are suffering persecution because the Government rules by division; Sharia will solve all Britain’s ills; Western governments are carrying out terror attacks in the Middle East so they can be blamed on extremists.

His propaganda is peppered with colourful analogies. Moderate Muslims, for example, have lost their values and are like “vegetarians who eat beefburgers”. Holding court, with three young supporters hanging on his every word, it appears like business as usual for Mr Choudary. Except for one matter: we met on Thursday morning, when the Home Office ban on Islam4UK, Mr Choudary’s controversial group, had just come into effect. He and his supporters, dressed in traditional Islamic fashion, are defiant nonetheless.

Mr Choudary, a former solicitor whose plans to stage an anti-war protest in Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire caused widespread furore, told The Times: “Unless the Government can prove that you are ostensibly exactly the same organisation, doing the same things at the same time, it’s very difficult to clamp down.

“I’m not going to stop propagating Islam. I can still talk with journalists ... we can still go out publicly and talk about Islam. I could write a leaflet now ... and I could invite people to Islam.” The question he was unable to answer, however, was whether many people would actually be interested. >>> Fiona Hamilton, London Correspondent | Saturday, January 16, 2010

Anjem Choudary on the Islam4UK Ban
Watch BBC video here | Thursday, January 14, 2010
Islam4UK Founder: 'We Will Prevail'
Listen to BBC audio here | Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Islam4UK Spokesman Challenged on Ban and Apostasy
Watch BBC video here | Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Islam4UK Islamist Group Has Right of Appeal
Watch BBC video here | Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Senior Member of Extreme Islamist Group Hizb ut-Tahrir Teaches at LSE
Reza Pankhurst, now an LSE teacher, greets his wife in 2006 after four years in an Egyptian jail for promoting the Hizb ut-Tahrir movement. Photo: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: A senior figure in Hizb ut-Tahrir, a hardline Islamist group that the Government keeps “under continuous review” and the Conservatives want to ban, is teaching and preaching at a top university.

The Times has learnt that Reza Pankhurst, who was imprisoned in Egypt for membership of the group, is a teacher at the London School of Economics and regularly preaches to students at Friday prayers.

The group is supposedly barred from organising and speaking on campuses under the National Union of Students’ policy of “no platform” for racist or fascist views. The presence of one of its prominent members as a university teacher raises new concerns about Islamist radicalisation on campus.

A new review of campus extremism began last month after it was discovered that the alleged Detroit airline bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was a former president of the Islamic Society at University College London.

The Times understands that at least two London university lecturers are either supporters or members of Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Mr Pankhurst is a postgraduate student in the LSE’s government department and teaches classes for the course “States, Nations and Empires”. >>> Sean O’Neill, Crime and Security Editor | Friday, January 15, 2010

The Bloviator-in-Chief Doesn’t Have to Shut Up; So Why Should We?

Surprise! Surprise! So Obama Couldn’t Walk on Water After All!
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama has admitted he failed to unite Americans and change the way Washington works during his first year in office.

With his approval ratings falling below 50 per cent, Mr Obama confessed his disappointment at not delivering key pledges of his campaign.

"What I haven't been able to do in the midst of this crisis is bring the country together in a way that we had done in the inauguration," he told People magazine. "That's what's been lost this year ... that whole sense of changing how Washington works."

Mr Obama, who will mark a year in office next Wednesday, came to power amid a surge of optimism that he could unify Democrats and Republicans at a time of national distress, and reverse the bitter polarity of the George W Bush era.

Instead, there has been little collaboration between the parties in Congress while floating voters who turned out en masse for Mr Obama have deserted him in opinion polls. His approval ratings have tumbled down from the mid-to-high 60s when he took over.

In a Quinnipiac University poll, there was even a narrow margin among respondents of 35 to 37 per cent on whether the United States would have been better off had Obama's Republican opponent John McCain won the 2008 election. Barack Obama admits failure to unite the US >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Thursday, January 14, 2010

La burqa fait gonfler les voiles du Front national
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: FRANCE | Débat à grand spectacle, hier soir, entre Marine Le Pen et le ministre Eric Besson.

La Suisse a ses minarets devenus les «marronniers» de son identité nationale. La France, elle, a sa burqa pour agiter le débat sur cette question. Pour l’instant, la polémique sur le port du voile intégral dans la République voisine fait gonfler les voiles du Front national.

En effet, hier soir, Marine Le Pen – qui s’impose pour remplacer son père à la tête de la formation d’extrême droite – s’est mesurée au ministre de l’Immigration, Eric Besson, invité principal de l’émission A vous de juger sur France 2, avec l’eurodéputé socialiste Vincent Peillon comme troisième personnage. Mais au dernier moment le socialiste a renoncé à participer à ce qu’il appelle un «piège» qui ferait le lit du Front national.

Quant aux dérapages de son grand débat sur l’identité nationale, le ministre Besson s’est caché derrière… notre pays: «Je ne pouvais pas prévoir le vote suisse sur les minarets qui a provoqué une onde de choc dans toute l’Europe et pas seulement en France.»

Marine Le Pen reprend la balle au bond: «Même si ce n’était pas votre but, les Français se sont saisis de ce débat. Ils ont exprimé un véritable appel au secours en vous disant, nous sommes bousculés dans nos habitudes par une immigration massive. L’intégration est un échec total. Nous souffrons. Et vous n’entendez pas cette souffrance.» Zizanies >>> Jean-Noël Cuénod | Vendredi 15 Janvier 2010

Séisme en Haïti : les images vidéo de la catastrophe


Haïti Appel Séisme: Votre aide est nécessaire >>>

'Allah' By Any Other Name
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: The government's censorship has only compounded Malaysia's troubles.

Religious violence is rare in Malaysia, and so its people are rightly alarmed at the current spate of attacks on churches, which can conjure up memories of the 1969 race riots. The government has strongly condemned the attacks, but its policy of trying to coddle its Muslim population undermines its stated goal of an open Islam and stokes the very religious tension that it wants desperately to avoid.

The violence is the latest consequence of attempts to ban the use of the word "Allah" by Christians. In 1986, the Interior Security Ministry barred the word from non-Islamic publications on the grounds that it could confuse Muslims, but the ordinance was usually not enforced. However in December 2007, the Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association and the Islamic religious councils of seven states invoked it in a lawsuit against the Malay language weekly, the Catholic Herald. The government sided with the councils, saying that Christians' use of the term "could increase tension and create confusion among Muslims." Authorities also asked the Herald to put on its front page the word terhad, "restricted," meaning solely for distribution to Christians.

Christians and others responded that "Allah" has been used by Christians for centuries to refer to God, including in Malaysia. No other country has such a ban; even the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) says it opposes one. "Allah," the Arabic word for God, is used by Christians in Egypt and Syria, and, of course, neighboring Indonesia. On Dec. 31, 2009, the High Court ruled that Christians had a constitutional right to use "Allah." The government called for calm, but quickly said it would appeal and, on January 6, the judge suspended her ruling pending an appeals court decision. Subsequently, nine churches have been attacked, most of them firebombed. There have also been attacks on the Catholic Herald's legal team, whose offices were vandalized yesterday.

This is not the only federal government attempt to repress anything that could be perceived as deviating from the state-sanctioned version of Islam. In 2005, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi proposed that Malay-language bibles have "Not for Muslims" on the front. In 2003, the government banned publication of a Bible in Iban, an indigenous language, although the ban was later lifted. In March 2009, customs officials seized Christian books and other materials containing "Allah," and now some 15,000 volumes have been impounded. Since Indonesian Christian books in Bahasa contain the word "Allah" they cannot be imported. The government has also rebuffed calls for a state interfaith advisory council. >>> Paul Marshall* | Thursday, January 14, 2010

*Mr. Marshall is senior fellow at the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom in Washington.

Haiti Survivors Desperately Wait for Aid


Haiti Earthquake Appeal: YOUR HELP Is Needed! >>>

Livni: Turkey Must Choose Between ME Moderates and Fundamental Islam
THE JERUSALEM POST: As the most recent confrontation with Turkey began to abate, Kadima and opposition leader Tzipi Livni said Thursday that Ankara would have to decide which side to align itself with.

"Every country in the region must decide which side it is on. This goes for Turkey, too," Livni said. "The choice is not between Israel and the Palestinians or the Jews and the Arab but between Israel, the legitimate Palestinian Authority, Egypt, and Jordan and the world of fundamental Islam."

Livni was adamant that Valley of the Wolves, the Turkish TV series depicting Mossad agents as kidnappers and baby-killers, could only serve to incite violence. "Erdogan's words are also very worrying," she said.

"If anyone thinks that games of [musical] chairs are the way to defend Israel's interests ... they are making a strategic mistake," Livni concluded. [Source: The Jerusalem Post] JPost.com Staff | Thursday, January 14, 2010

Gay Marriage: Courtroom Drama
THE ECONOMIST: A vital case gets under way in California

LOS ANGELES – THE venue, gay-friendly San Francisco, is a predictable one for a legal challenge that may lead to the legalisation of gay marriage in America. But that hardly detracts from the drama of the trial of Perry v Schwarzenegger, which began on January 11th. Pitting two gay couples (including Kristin Perry) against the state of California (represented by its governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger), it is a federal review of whether Proposition 8, a Californian voter initiative of 2008 that outlawed gay marriage in the state, is constitutional.

Whatever the outcome, the case is likely to end up in the Supreme Court. But first the trial will do two things: it will establish for the first time a body of expert evidence which appellate courts can use to evaluate claims by supporters and opponents of gay marriage. And it will blur the existing partisan divide on the issue between conservatives and liberals.

This is thanks to the unusual pairing of lawyers who are arguing in favour of gay marriage for the plaintiffs. David Boies, a well-known liberal who acted for Al Gore in his 2000 court fight against George Bush over the presidency, is an unsurprising choice. But his partner, Theodore Olson, is a prominent conservative and was Mr Boies’s courtroom adversary in 2000. Now he has teamed up with Mr Boies to argue for legalising gay marriage based on what he considers an arch-conservative interpretation of the constitution. >>> | Thursday, January 14, 2010

Giacomo Puccini: O mio babbino caro

Supermarkets Criticise Government Plans to Raise Cost of Alcohol
Socialist governments just can’t help themselves, can they? They believe that for every societal ill, there is a tax that will solve the problem. Either that, or they come with an outright ban, as has been done for all smoking in public places, and fox-hunting.

Now they come with this hare-brained idea to put even more tax on alcohol in order to combat the ugly binge-drinking ‘culture’ if culture it can indeed be called!

Binge-drinking has its causes deeply-rooted in the way we bring up our children today. We in the West have forgotten that children need to be raised by full-time mothers, not part-time ones. A part-time mother is as much use as a part-time lover!

If this government is really serious about tackling binge-drinking, it needs to find a way to encourage mothers to return to being there full-time for their children in the formative years. The government also needs to find a way of reversing the trend of the break-up of the family, for without a strong family unit, there is no sanction on dreadful behaviour by our young people.

It’s time that we stopped deluding ourselves. Good, responsible behaviour is learnt in the home, and from good, solid mothers and fathers. No tax from a socialist government wll ever be a substitute for that! – © Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: Britain’s biggest supermarkets have criticised Government proposals to introduce a minimum price for alcohol saying it will fail to curb the country’s binge drinking culture.

They are outraged at the plans which they claim will end up targeting the wrong people and penalize middle-class consumers who drink responsibly instead.

A spokesman for Sainsbury’s said: “We believe that minimum pricing will unfairly penalise our shoppers, the vast majority of whom buy alcohol as part of their weekly shop and drink responsibly in their own homes.”

And a spokesman for Tesco agreed, saying: “We accept that the country has a binge drinking problem, but the vast majority of alcohol bought at our stores is by responsible people who enjoy a bargain.”

Yesterday, the Daily Telegraph revealed the Government was planning to fight the next election on proposals to cut alcohol abuse with a staged scheme including tougher warnings on labels and bans on discounting drinks which would culminiate in minimum prices.

But the price-fixing scheme could lead to a doubling in price of the cheapest alcoholic drinks sold in supermarkets.

Tesco said the doubling of prices would not stop alcohol abuse and would just encourage consumers to buy elsewhere.

The British Retail Consortium said cheap alcohol sold by supermarkets was not to blame and described the introduction of minimum prices as “unfair”.

Andrew Opie, food director at the British Retail Consortium, said: “Any change in alcohol policy must be based on evidence and not disadvantage the millions of people who drink responsibly and would be unfairly affected by price hikes.

“Simply putting prices up will not tackle problem drinking. It has cultural causes and they are what must be addressed. The UK already has some of the highest alcohol taxes in Europe. >>> Myra Butterworth, Rosa Prince and Simon Johnson | Thursday, January 14, 2010

Barack Obama Imposes Tax on Big Banks
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama has unveiled a new tax on the country's biggest banks to recoup the money spent bailing the system out, putting the administration on a collision course with Wall Street.

Barack Obama, the US president, is imposing a levy on banks to recoup bail-out costs. Photograph: The Telegraph
The plan, if approved by Congress, would levy the tax on up to 50 financial services companies based on the total size of their liabilities. White House officials estimates it will raise at least $90bn over the next decade and wrest back for the taxpayer the money given the banks as part of the $700bn Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP).

Mr Obama said the move is aimed at preventing Wall Street firms from going back to "business as usual" and resuming high-risk lending practices and huge bets on mortgages and other instruments he blames for igniting the financial crisis.

"My commitment is to recover every single dime the American people are owed," said Mr Obama.

"My determination to achieve this goal is only heightened when I see reports of massive profits and obscene bonuses at the very firms who owe their continued existence to the American people – have not been made whole, and who continue to face real hardship in this recession."

His announcement comes amid rising public anger in America at the prospect of the titans of Wall Street handing out multi-million dollar bonuses to staff little more than 12 months after the financial system was rescued by the brink. >>> Telegraph Staff | Thursday, January 14, 2010

Islam in Poland

Dark Age Alert! Poland: Gay Discrimination
Watch YouTube video: >>> AFP | Saturday, May 16, 2009
European Parliament Debate on Homophobia in Poland

Le mariage gay fait encore débat en Californie
Des partisans du mariage gay ont manifesté devant le tribunal fédéral de San Francisco où s'ouvrait, lundi dernier, un procès contre le mariage homosexuel. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: La légalité d'un référendum ayant banni les unions homosexuelles est en jeu devant la Cour suprême de l'État.

Un procès, dont l'objectif est de prouver l'inconstitutionnalité de l'interdiction pour les personnes du même sexe de se marier civilement en Californie, s'est ouvert cette semaine devant un tribunal fédéral de San Francisco. L'objet du litige entre militants pro et anti mariage gay est la Proposition 8. Adoptée par 52% des électeurs en novembre 2008, cette loi stipule que «seul le mariage entre un homme et une femme est valide ou reconnu en Californie».

Au moment du passage de la mesure, désormais inscrite dans la Constitution californienne, quelque 4.000 couples homosexuels avaient déjà profité d'une décision adverse et antérieure de la Cour suprême pour légaliser leur union devant le maire. La loi n'étant pas rétroactive, ces mariages n'ont pas été invalidés, même si, un an plus tard, la même Cour suprême revenait sur sa décision pour valider la victoire de la Proposition 8. Un manège judiciaire qui donne le tournis aux Californiens.

Présidé par le juge fédéral Vaughn Walker, le procès pourrait mettre un terme au débat houleux qui n'en finit pas de refaire surface depuis que, un jour de février 2004, le maire de San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, décida, pour la première fois dans l'histoire des États-Unis, de marier tous les couples gays qui se présenteraient sur les marches de son hôtel de ville. À moins que le cas n'atterrisse en appel devant les juges de la Cour suprême des États-Unis à Washington, ce qui est probable. Ténors du barreau >>> Armelle Vincent, à Los Angeles | Jeudi 14 Janvier 2010

LE FIGARO: USA : l'opinion se convertit peu à peu au mariage gay : Alors que se multiplient les initiatives locales, un sondage révèle que désormais 49 % des Américains ne sont plus opposés aux unions entre personnes du même sexe. >>> À New York, Adèle Smith | Vendredi 01 Mai 2009

Google Jihad
THE WASHINGTON TIMES – Editorial: Religions aren't all equal on popular search engine

Google isn't carrying water for jihad. That's what the company says, and they're sticking to it. Still, many Internet surfers wonder: Is there something bad about Islam the Google search engine doesn't want you to know?

Google has been accused of pandering to Muslims by censoring negative search suggestions in its main search box. Type "Christianity is" in the search bar, and Google suggests helpful endings to your query, such as "not a religion," "a lie," "a cult," and so on. Google makes similar adverse suggestions for Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism, among other religions. But type "Islam is" - and all you get is a big blank bar.

Google says there is no Islamic kowtowing involved, and that the omissions are a result of a program bug. If so, the bug is pretty selective. Typing "Muslims are" gives the same blank result. A Google representative said that the company is "working to fix it as quickly as [they] can." >>> The Washington Times | Thursday, January 14, 2010

Wilders to Be Tried for Hate Speech
NRC HANDELSBLAD: Geert Wilders will be tried for hate speech and inciting discrimination in a Dutch court next Wednesday.

A ruling on Tuesday took away the last obstacle standing in the way of the case against anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders, when the court dismissed his objections against prosecution.

Wilders’ lawyer, Bram Moszkowicz, had argued his client could not be prosecuted for discriminatory insults since the Dutch supreme court had very narrowly defined that concept in a ruling last March. The supreme court then found that insulting a religion did not automatically imply an insult to its believers, meaning it could be legal.

Last Tuesday however, the lower court hearing Wilder’s objections found that the supreme court ruling did not stand in the way of Wilder’s prosecution.

The ruling paves the way for the case against Wilders to be tried, which has been long in the making.

The case against Wilders originates in several complaints filed by the Dutch lawyer Gerard Spong on behalf of several clients, including the well known Dutch comedian Jörgen Raymann and the board of the As Soennah Mosque in The Hague. >>> NRC Handelsblad’s News Staff | Thursday, January 14, 2010

Niederlande: Bahn frei für Prozess gegen Wilders

DIE PRESSE: Der niederländische Rechtspopulist Geert Wilders muss sich im März wegen Aufstachelung zum Hass gegen Muslime vor Gericht verantworten. Seine Beschwerde gegen den Prozess ist zurückgewiesen worden.

Der niederländische Rechtspopulist Geert Wilders muss sich im März in einem mit Spannung erwarteten Prozess für die mutmaßliche Aufstachelung zum Hass gegen Muslime verantworten. Eine Beschwerde gegen das Verfahren wurde am Mittwoch von einem Gericht in Amsterdam zurückgewiesen. Wilders habe keine neuen Beweise vorgelegt, die zu einer Abschwächung der Anklage führen könnten.

Vorwurf eines "Schauprozesses"

Er habe keine Volksverhetzung betrieben, sagte der Chef der erstarkten rechtsgerichteten "Partei für die Freiheit" in der Gerichtsanhörung. Das, was er gegen Islam und Koran gesagt habe, sei von der Meinungsfreiheit geschützt. Nach der Anhörung warf er der niederländischen Justiz vor, einen politischen Schauprozess gegen ihn zu inszenieren. 

Selbst "das Rechtssystem in Nordkorea ist besser als das der Niederlande". Die Rahmenbedingungen bei der Anhörung zu seinem bevorstehenden Prozess in Amsterdam nannte Wilders "schlimmer als im Archipel Gulag", berichtete die Zeitung "de Volkskrant" am Donnerstag. Koran wie "Mein Kampf" verbieten >>> Ag. | Donnerstag, 14. Januar 2010

Pays-Bas: le député Wilders débouté
LE FIGARO: Un tribunal d'Amsterdam a rejeté mercredi une requête du député d'extrême droite néerlandais Geert Wilders, réalisateur du film anti-islam "Fitna", contre l'acte d'accusation du parquet qui le poursuit notamment pour incitation à la haine raciale. La requête de M. Wilders, qui conteste les poursuites dont il fait l'objet, est "non recevable", a indiqué le tribunal.



M. Wilders, 46 ans, est accusé d'avoir insulté les musulmans et d'avoir incité à la haine et à la discrimination à leur égard pour avoir comparé le Coran au "Mein Kampf" d'Adolf Hitler, selon l'acte d'accusation dont l'AFP a obtenu une copie. Il est également poursuivi pour incitation à la haine et à la discrimination envers les personnes d'origine étrangère, notamment marocaine, pour des propos tenus dans la presse et sur internet. >>> AFP | Mercredi 13 Janvier 2010

Lights Dim on West: Prosecution Widens Charges Against Free Speech in Geert Wilders Trial
ATLAS SHRUGS: They are creating new charges against Geert Wilders, this century's Winston Churchill. This is bad news for Wilders, but worse news for us. For Wilders is merely our proxy in this war on Western civilization and values. This is our battle.

The escalation in the persecution of Wilders is directly related to his popularity. He is now the number one party in the Netherlands (origin of recent Muslim plane attackers). So not only is Wilders being prosecuted, but so are a majority of beleaguered Dutch folks.

Islamic jihad can keep up its relentless destruction of the West but do not dare talk about it.

The trial begins January 20th. >>> Pamela Geller | Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Common Sense Trumps Theory and Experimentation
Now we need to find the politicians with enough courage to put this soupçon of common sense into practice. Don't hold your breath while we're looking, though! Please note that I have been calling for this ever since this blog was started, and ever since my book came onto the market. – © Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: All new immigrants should accept Britain’s traditional Christian values and be willing to adapt to them, according to a prominent clergyman.

The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester, said the country must never again repeat the multicultural experiment of recent decades.

He also called for an end to the segregation of Muslims in British cities, which he warned provides a breeding ground for extremists.

The bishop made his strongly-worded comments after Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, backed a campaign by the cross-party Balanced Immigration Group to stop Britain’s population reaching 70 million.

Bishop Nazir-Ali, who grew up in Pakistan before joining the Church of England, said in a statement: “Both he and the group are right that every country has limits to the numbers of new arrivals that it can accommodate and the UK, in particular, as a small country cannot take an indefinite number of people who wish to live here.

“Not only is there over-crowding, especially of metropolitan areas, but social, educational and medical services are placed under increasing strain and there is always the concern about jobs and housing for the indigenous population, particularly from its poorer sections.

“The question, however, is not simply one of numbers but also of the quality of would-be immigrants. One of the missing features of the mass immigration of the 50s and 60s was any concern for the congruence of such immigration with the values, culture and language of the host country. We must never again allow this to happen.” Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali: Immigrants should accept Britain’s Christian values >>> Martin Beckford | Thursday, January 14, 2010

Stop the Islamization of Europe! Stop the Islamization of the West! >>> Mark Alexander | Monday, May 28, 2007

Voile intégral – Interdiction de la burqa : Nicolas Sarkozy favorable à une loi
Nicolas Sarkozy serait favorable à une loi interdisant la burqa. Crédits photo : Le Point
Merci beaucoup, Monsieur le Président! C'est une décision très courageuse. – Mark
LE POINT: Comme le révélait en exclusivité lepoint.fr mercredi après-midi, Nicolas Sarkozy a tranché. En adressant ses voeux aux parlementaires, le chef de l'État a indiqué qu'il souhaitait une résolution parlementaire "sans ambiguïté", puis une loi pour interdire le port du voile islamique intégral en France.

Évoquant la mission d'information parlementaire sur ce sujet, qui doit rendre ses conclusions le 26 janvier prochain, le chef de l'État a d'abord indiqué "souhaiter que le Parlement en tire des conclusions par une résolution sans ambiguïté parce que la réforme constitutionnelle vous en a donné le pouvoir". "Il faudra ensuite tirer les conséquences de cette résolution, d'un point de vue législatif et réglementaire. Le Parlement aura alors à débattre d'un texte de loi adapté à la situation", a-t-il ajouté, en réaffirmant que "le voile intégral n'est pas le bienvenu en France". >>> Par Saïd Mahrane | Mercredi 13 Janvier 2010

Westerwelle: Atomwaffen sollen raus aus Deutschland
DIE PRESSE: Der deutsche Außenminister Guido Westerwelle setzt sich für den Abzug von in Deutschland stationierten Atomwaffen ein. Westerwelle gibt sich zuversichtlich, seit dem Amtsantritt Obamas gebe es Bewegung.

Der deutsche Außenminister Guido Westerwelle hat seine Forderung nach einem Abzug aller Atomwaffen aus Deutschland bekräftigt. "Dazu habe ich bereits erste Gespräche mit unseren Partnern geführt", erklärte der FDP-Politiker am Mittwoch zur Vorstellung des Jahresabrüstungsberichts 2009. >>> Ag. | Mittwoch, 13. Januar 2010

Barbara Cherish: My Father, the Auschwitz Commandant
BBC: Barbara Cherish tells Fergal Keane about the painful decision to uncover the full truth about her father, a man she had never known, former Auschwitz Commandant Arthur Liebehenschel. Listen to BBC audio >>> | Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The Child of Auschwitz's Kommandant
Photographs: BBC
BBC: Barbara Cherish is a child of the SS, and the burden lies heavily upon her.

She knew early in her life that her German father, Arthur Liebehenschel, was involved in something terrible, something the family did not discuss.

Only later, as an adult, did she discover he had run part of the Auschwitz concentration camp for five months during World War II.

The knowledge gnawed at her, but it took a life crisis - her divorce and the death of her sister - to spur her to delve into the past and piece together her father's story.

The result is a book in which she struggles to reconcile her love for the father she never knew with the knowledge of his crimes, which saw him sentenced to death in Poland after the war.

"As a child, I was never really allowed to talk about my past with my family. I heard some things as a small child, about the mystery father, about Auschwitz. I never really processed it because I was so young. I knew it was something bad.

"There was a guilt there, I think that we all have. That we carry the guilt, being the…" she hesitates, "the children of the perpetrators".

Born in 1943, she was placed in foster care aged six. Her new family emigrated in 1956 to the US, where she has remained.

Stylishly dressed, Barbara arrives early at a San Diego cafe and apologises in advance, saying that "sometimes I get emotional" while telling her father's story. As predicted, she later becomes tearful. >>> Mario Cacciottolo, BBC News | Monday, November 16, 2010

Iranian MPs Demand Iran Cuts Ties with Britain
THE TELEGRAPH: A group of Iranian MPs is demanding that the country cut its diplomatic ties with Britain in a sign of the country's deteriorating relations with the West.

The proposal, backed by up to 40 members of the Iranian parliament, came as Iran continued to accuse America and Israel of orchestrating the murder of a nuclear physicist on Tuesday.

Iranian leaders regularly accuse Britain of being the "Little Satan" to the American "Great Satan". They have also been particularly enraged by the leading role the Foreign Office has played in both urging sanctions over the country's nuclear programme and in protesting at the treatment of pro-opposition demonstrators following last year's presidential election.

The Iranian Speaker, Ari Larijani, said international relations were the responsibility of foreign policy and national security commission.

The commission described the proposal as "hasty" but said it would consider it.

Meanwhile more evidence has emerged of the links forged between the murdered physicist, Dr Moussad Ali-Mohammadi, and opposition groups.

Friends said he had been a committed supporter of the revolution but had been driven into the arms of the reform movement by the treatment of universities and students by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Haiti Earthquake Appeal: YOUR HELP Is Needed


BRITISH RED CROSS: A devastating earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale struck Haiti on 12 January 2010, killing hundreds and affecting thousands more. Please give what you can today to help thousands of people in desperate need of humanitarian assistance. Donate Now! >>>

Donation Hotline: 0845 053 5353 (24 hours)

AMERICAN RED CROSS: Washington – The American Red Cross is sending money, supplies and staff to Haiti to support relief efforts there after yesterday’s earthquake, which caused catastrophic damage and loss of life.

According to reports, as many as three million people may have been affected by the quake, which collapsed government buildings and caused major damage to hospitals in the area.

The Red Cross is contributing an initial $1 million from the International Response Fund to support the relief operation, and has opened its warehouse in Panama to provide tarps, mosquito nets and cooking sets for approximately 5,000 families. Donate Now! >>>

You may also call:

1-800 RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) – English

1-800-257-7575 – Spanish

For Google Checkout click here: Donate Now! >>>

SCHWEIZERISCHES ROTES KREUZ: Nothilfe für Erdbeben Haiti
Helfen Sie den Opfern: Nach dem schweren Erdbeben wird in Haiti eine Katastrophe befürchtet. Über die Zahl der Opfer und das Ausmass der Schäden herrscht noch Unklarheit. Das Rote Kreuz steht im Rettungseinsatz. Hier spenden >>>

AKTION DEUTSCHLAND HILFT: Aktion Deutschland Hilft ist das Bündnis renommierter deutscher Hilfsorganisationen. Gemeinsam helfen wir den Opfern des schweren Erdbebens in Haiti. Erdbeben Haiti: Sicher online spenden. Sicher Online spenden hier >>>

COMITÉ INTERNATIONAL DE LA CROIX-ROUGE: Haïti : le CICR contribue aux efforts déployés pour venir en aide aux victimes du séisme: Genève (CICR) – Le Comité international de la Croix-Rouge (CICR) coopère avec ses partenaires du Mouvement international de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge pour venir en aide aux victimes du tremblement de terre qui a frappé Haïti. L'institution mobilise des ressources humaines et matérielles pour faire face à cette catastrophe. [Source] Faire un don ici >>>

Nick Clegg: Faith Schools Should Teach Children That Homosexuality Is ‘Normal’
THE TELEGRAPH: Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, has said that children attending faith schools should be taught that homosexuality is "normal and harmless".

In a pitch for the “pink vote,” he called on all the parties to prove that they supported full equality for homosexuals, and accused David Cameron, the Conservative leader, of being untrustworthy on the issue.

The Liberal Democrats support measures forcing teachers, including those working in faith schools, to implement policies to combat homophobic bullying, with lessons teaching that same-sex relationships are “normal”.

Mr Clegg said: “Crucially faith schools should have a requirement to have an anti-homophobic bullying policy at their school.”

In an interview with Attitude magazine, the Liberal Democrat leader also called for lesbians and homosexual men who have undergone a civil partnership ceremony to be given the formal and symbolic status of a “married” couple. >>> Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent | Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Politikerwitwe Jehan Sadat: «Fanatiker haben keine Religion»
WELTWOCHE: Jehan Sadat vertritt unermüdlich das politische Erbe ihres Mannes, des ermordeten Präsidenten Anwar Sadat. Sie setzt sich für Frieden und Versöhnung im Nahen Osten ein. Und betet dafür, dass ihr Traum noch zu ihren Lebzeiten Realität wird. Von Pierre Heumann

Termin bei Madame Jehan Sadat, der Witwe des erschossenen ägyptischen Präsidenten. Sie gilt immer noch als First Lady Ägyptens. Ein Gemälde von Anwar Sadat dominiert die geräumige Eingangshalle, das ihn in stolzer Generalstracht und mit glitzernden Medaillen zeigt. Die zehn Minuten bis zum Eintreffen von Madame nutzt General Mahmoud Seoud, um die Empfangsräume der dreistöckigen Präsidentenvilla in Kairo zu zeigen. Seoud, der schon für Anwar Sadat arbeitete, ist jetzt Bodyguard von Madame, amtet aber gleichzeitig als ihr Sekretär. «Der Schreibtisch, an dem der Präsident über Krieg und Frieden entschied, steht noch an seinem Platz, ebenso die Sitzgruppen, die Anrichte, die Porzellanvasen und die Uhr», sagt Seoud. Neu hinzugekommen seien lediglich Fotos von Enkeln. Dann lässt er von einem Diener arabischen Kaffee servieren. Pünktlich um elf Uhr betritt Madame den Raum, begleitet von einer der zehn weissen Perserkatzen, die den Besucher beschnuppern. Seoud zieht sich diskret zurück. >>> Von Pierre Heumann | Dienstag, 22. Dezember 2009

Kommentar: Europa will einfach nicht klüger werden
WELT ONLINE: Die EU wächst und wächst, aber stärker wird sie nicht. Wenig könnte das deutlicher machen als die beiden neuen Funktionsträger der Union. Herman Van Rompuy und Baronin Ashton of Upholland gehören dem Typus Zellophan-Politiker an: Ernst und gewissenhaft, aber so unscheinbar, dass man sie kaum wahrnimmt.

In dem Musical „Chicago“ gibt es eine wahrlich triste Figur – den Mann von Roxy Hart, der Hauptdarstellerin. Mr. Hart ist ein total unscheinbarer Mensch, lieb bis zur Selbstverleugnung, aber niemand nimmt irgendwie Notiz von ihm. In einer ergreifend anrührend gesungenen Nummer nennt er sich daher „Mr. Cellophane“, Mister Zellophan. Man sieht förmlich durch mich hindurch, klagt er, als gebe es mich nicht, man geht achtlos an mir vorbei wie an einem Phantom.

Dieses Bild fällt einem ein, wenn man an die beiden neuen Funktionsträger der EU denkt, den Präsidenten sowie die Hohe Repräsentantin für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik. Herman Van Rompuy und Baronin Ashton of Upholland werden pflichtbewusst an ihre Arbeit gehen, wie Catherine Ashton bei ihrer Anhörung im Brüsseler Parlament gestern glaubhaft bekannte. Dem europäischen Demos freilich wird ihre Tätigkeit weitgehend schleierhaft bleiben, weil sie sich im Herzen einer Bürokratie abspielt, die mit jedem neuen EU-Vertrag undurchsichtiger und entrückter geworden ist.

Fragt man die Briten, ob sie schon einmal von Lady Ashton – und sie war eine echte, mit Sitz im Oberhaus – gehört hätten, wird man in 99 von 100 Fällen zur Antwort bekommen: Wie bitte – Catherine who? Lady Zellophan könnte sich durch die Menge bewegen, und niemand würde von ihr Notiz nehmen. Die Hoffnung, ihre Kandidatur könnte die Briten wenigstens mit ein wenig Stolz erfüllen und das Land damit etwas enger an die EU gebunden haben, ist weit gefehlt. >>> Von Thomas Kielinger | Dienstag, 12. Januar 2010

Islam: «Wir waren zu naiv»
WELTWOCHE: Der Genfer Theologe Shafique Keshavjee* denkt über die Grenzen des interreligiösen Dialogs nach. Von Stéphane Zindel

Kurz nach Annahme der Minarett-Initiative haben Sie ein Dokument publiziert, in dem Sie die Muslime in der Schweiz auffordern, klarer Position zu beziehen gegenüber problematischen Stellen im Koran und in anderen Referenztexten des Islam. In diesem Dokument geht es unter anderem um die Praxis der Steinigung, die Stellung der Frau und die Rechtfertigung der Gewalt. Was bewog Sie dazu?

Ich war zwar gegen die Minarett-Initiative. Aber ich bin der Auffassung, dass man die Botschaft des Volks ernst nehmen sollte. Insbesondere die muslimische Gemeinschaft sollte das. Das Abstimmungsergebnis ist keine Abwehrreaktion gegenüber den Muslimen im Allgemeinen. Im Islam gibt es aber eine kleine und einflussreiche Minderheit, deren Werte nicht mit unseren in Einklang zu bringen sind. Die Bevölkerung erwartet von den Verantwortlichen der islamischen Zentren, dass sie sich davon klarer abgrenzen.

War der Westen lange zu tolerant gegenüber dem Islam?

Der interreligiöse Dialog liegt mir am Herzen. Ich habe auch viel dafür getan in den letzten Jahren. Jetzt stösst er aber an gewisse Grenzen. Wir waren zu naiv. Der Dialog mit dem Islam darf sich nicht mehr darin erschöpfen, Floskeln in höflichem Ton auszutauschen, die sich auf harmlose Stellen des Korans beziehen. Gut gemeint genügt nicht mehr. Wir müssen über die konkreten Auswirkungen reden und die Realität im Auge haben.

Machen Sie ein Beispiel.

Mohammed ruft die Muslime auf, jene, die sich zu einer anderen Religion bekennen, zu töten. Das ist nicht bloss Theorie. Leute werden wirklich getötet in Ländern, wo dieses Prinzip gilt. Die Imame im Westen versichern, dass dieses Prinzip hier nicht angewendet wird. Aber das genügt nicht. Sie müssten sich auch zum Inhalt äussern und aufzeigen, wie man diese Aussage konstruktiv interpretieren könnte.

Haben Sie ein Beispiel, das in der Schweiz zu konkreten Problemen führt?

Nach muslimischem Recht müssen sich Nichtmuslime zum Islam bekennen, wenn sie eine Muslimin heiraten wollen. In solchen Ehen wird auch grosser Druck auf die Kinder ausgeübt, die ebenfalls zum Islam übertreten sollen. Das führt zu einer schleichenden Islamisierung und ist nicht akzeptabel. >>> Von Stéphane Zindel | Mittwoch, 06. Januar 2010

* Shafique Keshavjee ist Theologieprofessor an den Universitäten von Genf und Lausanne und protestantischer Pfarrer. Er stammt aus Indien, wurde aber in Kenia geboren. Ein Teil seiner Familie gehört der islamisch-schiitischen Glaubensgemeinschaft an. Zwei seiner Bücher sind auf Deutsch erschienen: «Der König, der Weise und der Narr: Der grosse Wettstreit der Religionen», Goldmann, und «Unterwegs zu einer Sinfonie der Kirchen», Lembeck.

Nicolas Sarkozy est grand-père d'un petit garçon
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: FRANCE | Le fils cadet du président de la République, Jean Sarkozy, et son épouse Jessica sont devenus mercredi matin les parents d'un petit garçon, selon une source proche de la présidence.

Le prénom du petit garçon n'a pas été dévoilé.

Jessica Sebaoun-Darty, héritière du géant de l'éléctroménager, et Jean Sarkozy, 23 ans, se sont mariés le 10 septembre 2008 à la mairie de Neuilly-sur-Seine. Jean Sarkozy, élu conseiller général des Hauts-de-Seine en mars 2008, est le deuxième fils de Nicolas Sarkozy et de sa première épouse Marie-Dominique Culioli. >>> AP | Mercredi 13 Janvier 2010

Eine entstellte Banknote. Bild: NZZ Online
Banknoten als Flugblätter: Parolen der Opposition auf iranischen Rial-Scheinen
NZZ ONLINE: Trotz Zensur und Störmanövern des Regimes findet die iranische Opposition neue Wege, um ihre Botschaften unters Volk zu bringen. Ausgerechnet auf Banknoten wird zu neuen Demonstrationen am 11. Februar aufgerufen.

Wenn es immer gefährlicher wird, zu Demonstrationen auf die Strasse zu gehen, suchen Oppositionelle im Iran andere Wege, ihrem Unmut Luft zu machen: Sie versehen Geldscheine mit Parolen wie «Tod dem Diktator», «Nieder mit Khamenei» oder dem Siegeszeichen V. Ein 2000-Rial-Schein (knapp 20 Eurocent) trägt das V-Zeichen und die Botschaft «Wir sind unzählige». Die Behörden haben ihre liebe Mühe, diese Protest-Noten aus dem Verkehr zu ziehen. >>> ddp | Mittwoch, 13. Januar 2010

France: Vous êtes Français, prouvez-le!
LE TEMPS: Les Français nés à l’étranger ou dont l’un des parents est né ailleurs sont de plus en plus appelés à prouver leur nationalité

Il y a Robert, né à Tarascon-sur- Ariège mais dont les parents ont vu le jour en Espagne (lire ci-contre); Michka, malheureux descendant de grands-mères ayant accouché à l’étranger; Emmanuelle, éclose à Berne d’une mère française ou bien encore Antoine, adopté dans l’Hexagone après deux années passées au Gabon. Tous se croyaient Français depuis – presque – toujours. Paris les somme aujourd’hui de le prouver.

Fameux «certificat»

Le scénario est chaque fois identique. Un simple renouvellement de pièce d’identité se transforme en imbroglio administratif. Montrer son ancien passeport ne suffit plus à en obtenir un nouveau. Selon le code de nationalité, un Français né à l’étranger, ou dont l’un des parents est né ailleurs, doit justifier de son appartenance à la Nation. Seule preuve recevable: le «certificat de nationalité» délivré par le tribunal d’instance. La loi, établie pour l’essentiel en 1945, est loin d’être nouvelle, mais elle est désormais appliquée.

Des milliers de Français se retrouvent ainsi sans papiers. «Obtenir ce certificat relève parfois d’un travail de titan. Il faut remonter sur des générations et les documents peuvent avoir disparu, souligne Cécile Madeline, avocate spécialisée. C’est le cas pour l’Algérie, où nombre d’habitants ont été naturalisés au mérite au XIXe siècle. Beaucoup de mairies, en Kabylie notamment, ont brûlé pendant la guerre d’indépendance puis la guerre civile. Nous savons que certaines personnes sont Françaises, mais qu’elles n’arriveront pas à le prouver!» >>> Caroline Stevan | Mardi 12 Janvier 2010

Le profiling débarque dans les aéroports français
LE FIGARO: Les passagers vont être scrutés à la loupe. Au moindre signe de nervosité, ils seront soumis à des questions pièges des agents de sûreté.

Profiling ou profilage : «Technique policière qui consiste à dresser le profil psychologique d'un criminel récidiviste inconnu », dit Le Petit Robert. Le mot est américain. La méthode fait fureur en Israël. Adaptée à la lutte antiterroriste, elle intéresse au plus haut point les autorités en France depuis l'attentat manqué contre le vol 253, le 25 décembre dernier. Le secrétaire d'État aux Transports annonce ainsi que cette nouvelle façon de travailler va s'étendre à l'ensemble des contrôles français, nécessitant d' «améliorer les efforts de formation de toutes les équipes» . Et Dominique Bussereau d'ajouter : «Il y a certainement une meilleure analyse comportementale des gens à avoir». Comme si un kamikaze pouvait se détecter à l'œil nu. >>> Jean-Marc Leclerc | Mardi 12 Janvier 2010

LE FIGARO: Des contrôles toujours plus draconiens dans les aéroports >>> Fabrice Amedeo | Mercredi 13 Janvier 2010

This Meddlesome Woman: Harriet Harman’s Direct Assault on the Roman Catholic Church
THE TELEGRAPH: The Roman Catholic ban on women entering the priesthood will become illegal under Harriet Harman's controversial Equality Bill, according to Christian charity, CARE.

A new report by the leading charity – backed by a legal opinion from a leading QC – says the Bill will make it impossible for all churches and faith-based charities to insist that their senior staff lead private lives in accordance with their religious beliefs.

CARE said that, under the Bill, which will be considered by the House of Lords on Monday, it would be illegal for a Christian charity to sack a senior manager for adultery or living an openly gay lifestyle.

The same rules would, it added, apply to Muslim and Jewish churches and charities.

However, the biggest potential showdown is likely to be between the government and Britain's 4.3 million Catholics over the church's tradition of an all-male, celibate priesthood.

Previous legislation in 2007, also backed by Ms Harman, the Commons Leader and equality minister, forced the closure of two Catholic adoption agencies for refusing to comply with new laws requiring them to place children with gay couples.

CARE's report – A Little Bit Against Discrimination? – warns that the proposals contained in the Bill are a serious threat to religious liberty in Britain.

John Bowers QC said in a legal opinion for CARE that the Bill could make it unlawful for a church to require a priest or minister to be male, celibate and unmarried, or not in a civil partnership. Catholic ban on women priests 'illegal under Harriet Harman equality bill' >>> Patrick Hennessy, Political editor | Sunday, January 10, 2010

Labour's Equality Bill Should Not Be Tolerated
THE TELEGRAPH: Telegraph View: ambiguities in the wording may penalise the Catholic Church and institutions linked to it

Toleration is one of the most fundamental values of a liberal society. It is also appears to be the one that some Labour ministers find hardest to understand. It requires accepting that other people are entitled to arrange their lives and institutions around their religious beliefs – even when those beliefs appear, to those who do not adhere to the religion in question, to be wrong-headed, or even discriminatory.

As we report today, there are serious concerns that Labour's new Equality Bill is incompatible with the value of toleration. According to one QC, it will make it illegal for a religion to insist on celibacy from some of its members, or to prevent women from becoming priests or holding other offices. There is enough ambiguity in the wording of the new law to make that intolerant result a real possibility. It would not be the first time that Labour's quest to achieve "fairness" has led to the imposition of prohibitions on religious organisations. A law passed in 2007 forced the closure of two Catholic adoption agencies for their refusal to place children with gay couples. >>> Telegraph View | Sunday, January 10, 2010

Muslim Prisoners 'Refuse to Take Part in Group Therapy as It's Against Religion'
THE TELEGRAPH: Muslim prisoners are refusing to take part in group therapy sessions saying it's against their religion to talk about their 'past crimes' in front of others.

Scores of Britain's 10,000 Muslim prisoners - one in eight of all inmates - are refusing to take part in Offending Behaviour Programmes (OBPs ), claiming it is 'forbidden' or 'Haraam'.

Haraam refers to anything that is prohibited by faith [Allah], and in Islamic culture criminals are barred from discussing their offences with others.

Previously, Muslim prisoners refused to take part in Sex Offender Treatment Programmes because it involved talking about offences against women, but now some are refusing to take part in all rehabilitation sessions where they have to 'open up' in front of other cons.

Among the courses some Muslims are declining to take part in are the Cognitive Self Change Programme (CSCP), just one of 13 OBPs on offer from the prison service,

The CSCP, which treats 7,000 prisoners each year, targets 'high risk violent offenders' and offers individual and group sessions to prisoners.

The course claims to: "Equip prisoners with skills to help them control their violence and avoid reconviction.

"It is aimed at offenders with a history of violent behaviour and is suitable for those whose violence is reactive and/or instrumental."

Other programmes on offer include Enhanced Thinking Skills, Cognitive Skills Booster Programme, Controlling Anger and Learning to Manage it and various motivational courses.

One Muslim prisoner, Abu Dira, a maximum security prisoner at HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire, said this week: "Muslims cannot speak about their past crimes in a group setting. >>> | Monday, January 11, 2010

Allergic to Clothes!
THE TELEGRAPH: The naked rambler, Stephen Gough, has been told he will spend the rest of his life behind bars if he continues refusing to wear clothes in public.

Stephen Gough on his naked ramble from Land's End to John O'Groats with his then girlfriend Melanie Roberts. Photograph: The Telegraph
The former Royal Marine, who became notorious for his naked hike from Land's End to John O'Groats in 2003, has spent much of the past seven years in prison for repeatedly appearing nude in public.

He was yesterday found guilty of breaching the peace when he walked naked from Perth prison in December after finishing a 12 month sentence for the same offence. Mr Gough was warned he will continue to be jailed every time he steps out of prison without any clothes on.

The 50-year-old, who conducted his own defence while appearing in court completely naked, turned down an offer to walk free yesterday on the condition that he got dressed.

Perth Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told Gough she would consider granting him bail to go home to his "warmer" house in Eastleigh, Hampshire, if he agreed to put some clothes on. The former lorry driver refused the offer and was remanded in custody. Naked rambler faces life in prison >>> Heidi Blake | Wednesday, January 13, 2010