Critiqué, Tariq Ramadan continue son travail à Rotterdam
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: ISLAM | La mairie soutient l'intellectuel genevois, après que des médias néerlandais lui aient prêté des propos homophobes. «Sortis de leur contexte», précise l'intéressé.

Photo: Google Images
La ville de Rotterdam a annoncé mercredi qu'elle poursuivait sa collaboration avec l'intellectuel genevois controversé Tariq Ramadan, conseiller de la mairie depuis 2007. Son poste était remis en question après des propos homophobes qui lui avaient été attribués par les médias néerlandais.

M. Ramadan "a, au sujet de l'homosexualité, un point de vue relativement conservateur", a reconnu Rik Grasshof, conseiller municipal à la Culture, lors d'une conférence de presse à Rotterdam. "Mais il a toujours été dans la même logique", a-t-il ajouté en présence de M. Ramadan, à savoir que "l'homosexualité est difficile à accepter en islam, mais le respect pour la personne prime" sur la religion. 
Voulant étouffer dans l'oeuf toute controverse, le conseil municipal a demandé une traduction assermentée de certains discours de M. Ramadan, reproduits fin mars dans De Gay Krant, un magazine pour homosexuels. >>> ATS/AFP | Mercredi 15 Avril 2009

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Dutch City Rules 'Euro Islam' Proponent Is not Homophobic

Rotterdam has exonerated Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan in an investigation over alleged homophobic and misogynistic statements he made in tapes aimed at immigrants. Holland's second largest city says it will retain him as an adviser to build bridges between its immigrant communities.

Last month, the Gay Krant, a newspaper for the homosexual community in the Netherlands, accused Tariq Ramadan of making homophobic and mysogenistic statements on tapes in Arabic destined for immigrant communities in Europe.

Ramadan, 46, a Swiss philosopher and theologist of Egyptian descent, was hired by the city of Rotterdam two years ago to "help lift the multicultural dialogue to a higher level". He dismissed the Gay Krant's accusations as slander.

The city of Rotterdam has since carried out its own investigation, the results of which were presented on Wednesday. The city had 54 Arabic-language cassette tapes translated and examined. According to council executive Rik Grasshof of the Green party GroenLinks, the Gay Krant's reporting was incomplete en [sic] inaccurate.

As a result, Ramadan's contract with the city will be extended for another two years, during which time he will lead public debates in an effort to bring the various communities in Rotterdam closer together. >>> By Mark Hoogstad | Thursday, April 16, 2009

Geldpolitik: Der Welt droht ein Krieg der Währungen
WELT ONLINE: Die Finanzkrise macht die Zentralbanken erfinderisch. Immer mehr Staaten setzen im Kampf um Wettbewerbsvorteile auf die Abwertung ihres Geldes – auf Kosten der Nachbarn. Ein Blick in die Geschichte zeigt: Wer die billigste Währung hat, kommt besser durch eine Krise und als erster aus ihr heraus.

Am Devisenmarkt sind bereits erste drastische Folgen des Abwertungswettlaufs zu erkennen. Die Währungen jener Staaten, deren Notenbanken eine unkonventionell aggressive Geldpolitik verfolgen, haben sich in den vergangenen Wochen gegenüber dem Euro deutlich verbilligt. Bild dank der Welt
Goh Chok Tong hat die Zeichen der Zeit verstanden. Der Chef von Singapurs Notenbank setzt alles daran, seinen heimischen Dollar zu schwächen. Denn der Stadtstaat steht vor dem schwersten Wirtschaftseinbruch seit seiner Unabhängigkeit vor 44 Jahren und kann jede konjunkturelle Unterstützung gebrauchen.

Weltweit ist die Währungsschlacht eröffnet. Die Finanzkrise macht die Zentralbanken erfinderisch. Mit Devisenmarktinterventionen, billionenschweren Anleihekäufen oder ultrabilligem Geld starten Notenbanken einen Feldzug für die heimische Konjunktur. Immer mehr Staaten setzen im Kampf um Wettbewerbsvorteile auf die Abwertung ihres Geldes. Ein Blick in die Geschichte offenbart: Wer im internationalen Vergleich die billigste Währung hat, kommt besser durch eine Wirtschaftskrise und auch als erster aus ihr heraus. Der Abwertungswettlauf bietet auch Chancen für Anleger. Devisenfonds haben zuletzt prächtig an den Verschiebungen der Wechselkurse verdient. Das beste Produkt liegt in diesem Jahr zweistellig im Plus. >>> Von Holger Zschäpitz | Mittwoch, 15. April 2009

Cuba: Open for Business
THE GUARDIAN: For the last 50 years, Cuba has struggled under a crippling US trade embargo. But this week President Obama eased sanctions on the island. Rory Carroll reports from Havana on what this will mean for ordinary Cubans

Photo: Google Images
They file into terminal 2 of José Martí international airport like any other ­tourists, wheeling and hauling luggage, checking mobile phones for reception, fumb­ling with passports. Navy blue passports, stamped with the image of a bald eagle with outstretched wings. American passports. ­History has yet to call time on half a century of enmity between the United States and Cuba, but these arrivals in jeans and sneakers are not awaiting a formal truce. A once forbidden island, they sense, is on the verge of opening up, and they are here to see it.

The trickle started a few weeks ago. ­Gum-chewing backpackers, middle-aged ­professionals, retirees, all bold enough to defy the US ­prohibition on spending money in Cuba, a de facto travel ban. Cubans half- jokingly call their new American visitors "los valientes", the brave ones, for carving a beachhead. Lenin, in a wry mood, might have called them a ­revolutionary vanguard. A more poetic soul would compare them to the first swallows of spring, harbingers of thaw.

The glacier in which the cold war remnant that is Cuba has been trapped may soon melt. Barack Obama this week lifted a broad set of sanctions that were designed to isolate the island. Cuban Americans, currently restricted on the amount of money then can send home and to one visit every three years, will be allowed to go as often as they wish and to send more money to relatives. Obama has also lifted restrictions on US telecommunications com­panies applying for licences to operate there, and on scheduled commercial flights to the island. Air travel is currently limited to charter flights from Miami, New York and Los Angeles for Cuban Americans with relatives on the island, and those with a special reason to visit, such as journalists.

The changes soften US policy but leave in place the economic embargo that John Kennedy imposed in 1962 - a ban on trade and investment designed to choke Fidel Castro's nascent ­revolutionary government. Over the decades the embargo was tightened and loosened, but the objective remained the same: topple Castro. It failed to do so. Cuba's ­economy staggered on and ­Castro strengthened his grip, but the embargo was maintained. >>> Rory Carroll | Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Guardian Audio: The Guardian's Latin America correspondent Rory Carroll explains why Barack Obama has been able to sidestep Florida's powerful Cuban exiles in breaking down barriers between the two nations >>>

Iran Offers New Package to Break Nuclear Weapons Deadlock
THE GUARDIAN: Ahmadinejad speech seen as sign that Tehran is softening its approach to the west

Tehran is preparing new proposals to break the deadlock over its nuclear programme, the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said today in a sign of thawing relations with the west.

Avoiding his usual fiery rhetoric, Ahmadinejad said: "Today we are preparing a new package. Once it becomes ready, we will present that package. It is a package that constitutes peace and justice throughout the globe and also respects other nations' rights."

In an apparent reference to recent overtures from President Barack Obama, and a signal from Washington and Europe that they are prepared to make significant concessions to get Iran to restart nuclear negotiations, Ahmadinejad told a crowd of thousands in Kerman, south-eastern Iran, that circumstances had changed.

But the Iranian leader could not resist boasting that Iran's resistance and progress in nuclear technology had forced Washington to back down.

"You know well that today you are suffering from weaknesses. You have no choice. You can't make any progress through bullying policies," he said. "I advise you to change and correct your tone and respect other nations' rights." >>> Mark Tran and agencies | Wednesday, April 15, 2009

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Iran to Unveil Proposals to Break Nuclear Impasse

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's president said Wednesday he is willing to forget the past and build a new relationship with the U.S., adding that he is preparing a new package of proposals aimed at breaking the impasse with the West over his country's nuclear program.

The remarks by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to thousands in the southeastern city of Kerman took a conciliatory tone not usually heard in his speeches.

"The Iranian nation is a generous nation. It may forget the past and start a new era, but any country speaking on the basis of selfishness will get the same response the Iranian nation gave to Mr. Bush," Mr. Ahmadinejad said.

He spoke a day after the Obama administration said its immediate goal is to get Iran back to the negotiating table. Though the U.S. government declined to publicly discuss possible new strategies for dealing with Tehran on the nuclear issue, one senior official said they could involve allowing Iran to continue enriching uranium at its current level for some time.

That concession was agreed two years ago by the U.S. and five other powers -- Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. But they still want to wrest a commitment from Iran not to increase enrichment while arranging formal negotiations on a permanent nuclear agreement.

Mr. Ahmadinejad said "circumstances have changed" -- an apparent reference to President Barack Obama's election and Iran's own progress in its nuclear program since talks with the world powers last year.

He said Iran welcomes dialogue with the world powers provided that it is based on justice and respect, suggesting the West shouldn't try to force it to halt its uranium enrichment program. >>> Copyright © 2009 Associated Press | Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Internet Privacy: Britain in the Dock
THE INDEPENDENT: 'Big Brother' state comes under fire as European Commission launches inquiry into secret surveillance of web users

Image: Google Images
Britain's failure to protect its citizens from secret surveillance on the internet is to be investigated by the European Commission.

The move will fuel claims that Britain is sliding towards a Big Brother state and could end with the Government being forced to defend its policy on internet privacy in front of judges in Europe.

The legal action is being brought over the use of controversial behavioural advertising services which were tested on BT's internet customers without their consent.

Yesterday, the EU said it wanted "clear consent" from internet users that their private data was being used to gather commercial information about their web shopping habits.

Under the programme, the UK-listed company Phorm has developed technology that allows internet service providers (ISPs) to track what their users are doing online. ISPs can then sell that information to media companies and advertisers, who can use it to place more relevant advertisements on websites the user subsequently visits. The EU has accused Britain of turning a blind eye to the growth in this kind of internet marketing.

Yesterday, the EU telecoms commissioner, Viviane Reding, said: "I call on the UK authorities to change their national laws and ensure that national authorities are duly empowered and have proper sanctions at their disposal to enforce EU legislation." >>> By Nick Clark and Robert Verkaik | Wednesday, April 15, 2009

BBC Rebukes Its Middle East Correspondent Jeremy Bowen for Anti-Israel Comments
Ruling: Jeremy Bowen was today found by an editorial standards committee to have breached the BBC's guidelines on accuracy and impartiality. Photo courtesy of MailOnline
NAME: BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen breached the corporation's guidelines on accuracy and impartiality, an official report found today.

Complaints about two pieces by Bowen - one online and another on Radio 4's From Our Own Correspondent - were ruled on by the BBC Trust's editorial standards committee.

Three references in the web article broke BBC rules on accuracy, the committee said.

They were the references to 'Zionism's innate instinct to push out the frontier'; Israel's 'defiance of everyone's interpretation of international law except its own'; and Israeli generals' sense they were dealing with 'unfinished business' left over from the 1948 war of independence.

The Radio 4 broadcast inaccurately claimed the US considered a particular Israeli settlement to be illegal, but had not breached impartiality rules, the report found.

Bowen used the online article, published on the BBC News website on June 4 2007, to put the present-day Israeli-Palestinian conflict in context by explaining the events of the 1967 Six Day War.

But the committee said the subject was very controversial and Bowen, the author of the 2003 book Six Days - How The 1967 War Shaped The Middle East, should have done more to make clear that there were other views on the matter.

Ruling that the article had breached the rules on impartiality, the committee said: 'Readers might come away from the article thinking that the interpretation offered was the only sensible view of the war.

'It was not necessary for equal space to be given to the other arguments, but... the existence of alternative theses should have been more clearly signposted.' >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Human Filth! Human Garbage!
MAIL Online: City bankers are set to pocket huge bonuses again, despite bringing the world economy to the brink of ruin.

Goldman Sachs yesterday promised thousands of staff - 5,500 of them in the UK - a 33 per cent pay boost after it returned to profit.

Other banks are expected to follow suit after benefiting from trillions of pounds in government bailouts.

Last night angry MPs condemned what they said was 'business as usual' for City fat cats. Goldman Sachs was accused of 'taking the mickey' out of taxpayers with such massive bonuses during a global recession.

The Wall Street bank, bailed-out with £6.7billion from the U.S. government only last October, has raised its bonus and pay pool for the first three months of this year by 17 per cent, to £3.1billion. Sachs of Gold: Six Months after Bailout Costing Billions, Greedy Bankers Reward Themselves with a NEW Round of Huge Bonuses >>> By Simon Duke and Olinka Koster | Wednesday, April 5, 2009

God’s Business: Islam in France
Part 1:


Part 2:


NB: There can never be a “European Islam”. To believe that there can be is to buy into a delusion. It is also dangerous to believe that a European Islam can be created. A Muslim’s belief system – Islam – is unifying; it cannot be fractionated. Indeed, Islam defies fractionation. Muslims – all Muslims – belong to the Ummah, or community of Muslims worldwide. The Ummah is ONE. – ©Mark

Survivors Remember Kristallnacht
Hedi (Politzer) Pope:


Johanna (Gerechter) Neumann:


Susan (Strauss) Taube:


Susan (Hilsenrath) Warsinger:


Inge (Berg) Katzenstein and Jill (Gisela Berg) Pauly:


United States Holocaust Memorial Museum >>>

Afghanistan: Taliban richten junges Liebespaar öffentlich hin
WELT ONLINE: Weil sie nicht miteinander verheiratet waren, haben Taliban im Südwesten Afghanistans eine 19-jährige Frau und ihren vier Jahre älteren Freund öffentlich hingerichtet. Ausgerechnet die Eltern des Mädchens lieferten das Paar an die Taliban aus. Erst vorgestern hatten diese eine Frauenrechtlerin ermordet.

Radikalislamische Taliban haben in der südwestafghanischen Provinz Nimros nach offiziellen Angaben ein unverheiratetes Liebespaar öffentlich hingerichtet. Provinzgouverneur Gholam Dastagir Asaad sagte am Dienstag, die 19-jährige Frau und der etwa 23 Jahre alte Mann seien von zu Hause weggelaufen, als ihre Eltern ihnen die Heirat verweigert hätten.

Die Familie der Frau habe die beiden im Distrikt Khosh Rud aufgespürt und an die Taliban ausgeliefert, um über sie zu richten. In ihrem Dorf im Bezirk Chasch Rod hätten drei Mullahs sie dann zur örtlichen Moschee gebracht und mit einer Fatwa, einem islamischen Rechtsgutachten, zum Tode verurteilt, sagte der Gouverneur.
Die Extremisten haben sowohl den Jungen als auch das Mädchen durch Schüsse vor einer Ansammlung von Dorfbewohnern sinnlos getötet“, sagte Asaad. Er bezeichnete die am Vortag vollzogene Hinrichtung als eine Beleidigung für den Islam“. Einige Berichte deuteten darauf hin, dass die Familien des jungen Paares Verbindungen zu den Taliban hätten. Khosh Rud grenzt an Helmand an, die unsicherste Provinz in Afghanistan. >>> dpa/AFP/ks | Dienstag, 14. April 2009

Dhimmitude Alert! Lloyd's of London Eyes Islamic Reinsurance
Educating Islamic Bankers: Dubai International Financial Center plans to set up a board to encourage education in Islamic finance, an industry that is likely to grow by 15 to 20 percent this year despite the financial crisis.

The Executive Director of Islamic finance at the DIFC Nik Thani, speaking at the 2009 Reuters Islamic Banking and Finance Summit in Dubai, says that with large conventional banks increasingly venturing into the Islamic arena, more educational and training resources are needed.

Thani says "this would be the minimum standard and from their we could build up to other things...including degrees in Islamic finance."

Speaker: Nik Thani, Islamic Finance Executive Director Dubai International Financial Center

Presenter: Ruben Ramirez, Dubai
REUTERS: LONDON - Lloyd's of London is setting up an Islamic re-insurance syndicate with a capacity of up to 200 million pounds to write Islamic compliant reinsurance globally, a PriceWaterhouseCoopers executive said on Tuesday.

Mohammad Khan, director for Islamic insurance, or takaful, at PwC, said the Lloyd's syndicate would include mainly financial institutions and to a lesser extent individual investors. It would become operational between the end of 2009 and the beginning of next year.

Financial consultant and accounting firm PwC is advising the financial group on the syndicate, he said at the Reuters Islamic Banking and Finance Summit in London.

Lloyd's of London was not immediately available to comment. >>> By Cecilia Valente | Tuesday, April 14, 2009

American Journalist Roxana Saberi Awaits Fate after Iran Spy Trial
Photo of Roxana Saberi courtesy of TimesOnline
TIMESONLINE: The jailed Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi was waiting to learn her fate today after her one-day trial on espionage charges at Tehran’s Revolutionary Court.

She was tried on charges of “spying for foreigners... for America,“ Ali Reza Jamshidi, an Iranian government spokesman said, adding that a verdict was expected in two to three weeks. She faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Ms Saberi, 31, who was arrested in January after buying a bottle of wine and subsequently accused of working without press credentials, was charged last week with spying for the United States. An investigative judge involved in the case alleged that she had passed classified information to American intelligence services.

She “was carrying out spying activities under the guise of being a reporter”, Hassan Haddad, the chief deputy prosecutor said last week. “The evidence is mentioned in her case papers and she has accepted all the charges,” he added.

News of yesterday’s speedy trial came as a setback for American efforts to secure her release. They also dashed hope of rapprochement between the countries, raised by Tehran’s positive response to President Obama’s appeal for direct talks.

Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, expressed her “deep concern” for Ms Saberi’s safety and dismissed the charges against the reporter as baseless. She said it was unclear why the trial was moving at such fast pace, especially given the gravity of the charges.

Her parents visited her briefly today at the notorious Evin prison and said she appeared in reasonable health. “We met Roxana for a few minutes and she is doing well,” Reza Saberi, her father, said. “We are waiting for the judge to make a decision. It should come out in a week. There is always hope but we don’t know what will happen.” >>> Catherine Philp, Diplomatic Correspondent | Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Zuma the Movie

Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Islam and Freedom

Tide Turning for Same-sex Marriage
Image by Google Images
BRISBANE TIMES: A CULTURAL shift appears to be under way in the US in favour of same-sex marriages, with two landmark legal decisions this month and eight states set to vote on bills later this year.

Gay campaigners are celebrating a vote in the Vermont legislature last week and an earlier Iowa Supreme Court ruling, bringing to four the number of states where same-sex marriages are legal.

The mood contrasts with the despondency in November when the public in California ended a brief period in which same-sex marriages were allowed and voted for a definition of marriage as being only between a man and woman.

Evan Wolfson, the founder and executive director of the New York-based Freedom to Marry organisation, described the recent events as wonderful and said the public were beginning to see gay people in a different way.

The presidency of George Bush had been marked by social conservatism, often based on the agenda of the Christian right, he said. But the victory of Barack Obama in November had coincided with an apparent rejection of much of that agenda in favour of greater liberalisation.

"Eight years after the most polarising politics of Bush-Rove and orchestrated attacks on gay people, I think what happened in 2008 was the American people said they have had enough of divisiveness," Mr Wolfson said. >>> Agencies | Sunday, April 12, 2009

Pakistani Peace Deal Gives New Clout to Taliban Rebels
Map courtesy of The Wall Street Journal
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: MINGORA, Pakistan -- Thousands of Islamist militants are pouring into Pakistan's Swat Valley and setting up training camps here, quickly making it one of the main bases for Taliban fighters and raising their threat to the government in the wake of a controversial peace deal.

President Asif Ali Zardari effectively ratified the government's deal with the Taliban Monday by signing a bill that imposes Islamic law in Swat, a key plank of the accord, hours after legislators overwhelmingly approved a resolution urging it. Pakistani officials have touted the deal, reached in February, as a way to restore peaceful order in the bloodied region -- which lies just a few hours' drive from the capital -- and halt the Taliban's advance.

Yet a visit to the Taliban-controlled valley here found mounting evidence that the deal already is strengthening the militants as a base for war. U.S. officials contend the pact has given the Taliban and its allies in al Qaeda and other Islamist groups an advantage in their long-running battle against Pakistan's military.

The number of militants in the valley swelled in the months before the deal with the Taliban was struck, and they continue to move in, say Pakistani and U.S. officials. They now estimate there are between 6,000 and 8,000 fighters in Swat, nearly double the number at the end of last year.

Taliban leaders here make no secret of their ultimate aim. "Our objective is to drive out Americans and their lackeys" from Pakistan and Afghanistan, said Muslim Khan, a spokesman for the group, in an interview here. "They are not Muslims and we have to throw them out."

Militant training camps are springing up across the valley's thickly forested mountainsides. "Young men with no prospect of employment and lack of education facilities are joining the militants," said Abdur Rehman, a schoolteacher in Swat. >>> By Zahid Hussain and Matthew Rosenberg | Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Blair Incorporated
THE TELEGRAPH: Tony Blair is the most highly paid speaker on the planet, and his wife is not doing too badly, either.

Mr and Mrs Blair have banked close to £18 million since leaving 10 Downing Street. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
As Tony Blair soaked up the applause of an adoring Filipino audience at the end of his latest paid speaking engagement last month, a startling statistic must surely have popped into his head. In the space of just 30 minutes, Mr Blair had earned £183,000 – the same as his salary as prime minister.

Put another way, he earned £6,000 per minute for addressing a 2,000-strong audience in Manila, making him far and away the highest-paid public speaker on the planet.

And the lectures, where Mr Blair delivers such pearls of wisdom as "politics really matters, but a lot of what goes on is not great", are only a small part of his vast earnings, which could very well net him a staggering £80 million by the time he reaches retirement age in 10 years' time.

Welcome to Blair Incorporated, a money-making machine like no other in the history of former political leaders.

No other retired statesman, not even Mr Blair's old buddy Bill Clinton, has made so much cash so quickly after leaving office.

Between them, Mr Blair and his wife Cherie have banked close to £18 million in the two years since they moved out of Downing Street, with no sign of any let-up in their earning power.

Such is the demand for Mr Blair's services on the international speaking circuit that there is a two-year waiting list for bookings, and Max Markson, the colourful Australian PR man who has worked with the likes of Nelson Mandela and Mr Clinton, described him as "one of the biggest stars in the world".

Mr Blair, 55, is certainly acting the part. He has assembled a global empire with its headquarters in a smart four-storey office in Grosvenor Square and outlying offices in America, Africa and the Middle East. >>> By Gordon Rayner | Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Islam and the West
Part 1:


Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14

End to Travel and Money Ban as Barack Obama Opens Up to Cuba
Mr Obama indicated that he was willing to engage with the Communist regime. Photo courtesy of TimesOnline
TIMESONLINE: President Obama yesterday loosened the American embargo against Cuba by lifting curbs on family travel and money transfers, as well as allowing US telecommunications companies to operate on the island for the first time in almost half a century.

The announcement, made only days before Mr Obama travels to Trinidad for a Summit of the Americas, represents a significant crack in the hardline policy adopted by Washington since the Communist revolution in Cuba in 1959.

Although the US trade embargo has been left largely intact, the White House indicated that it would consider further measures including the introduction of direct commercial flights if Havana responded by expanding democratic rights.

“President Obama has directed that a series of steps be taken to reach out to the Cuban people to support their desire to enjoy basic human rights and to freely determine their country’s future,” Robert Gibbs, a spokesman for the White House said. >>> Tom Baldwin in Washington | Tuesday, April 14, 2009

One Great American Guy: One Great American Hero
Captain Richard Phillips. Photo courtesy of the Daily Express
And the heroes known as The Navy Seals >>>