Cameron Calls on Islam to Embrace Democracy and Reject Extremism

THE GUARDIAN: • Major speech in Jakarta will praise example of Indonesia • 'Democracy and Islam can flourish alongside each other' • Extremists are 'dangerous foe' to the whole world

Democracy and Islam can flourish together, David Cameron will declare on Thursday as he uses a landmark speech in Indonesia to tell the Muslim world that it can reject a "dead-end choice" between extremism and dictatorship.

In one of his most significant speeches on Islam, the prime minister will say that the world can defeat extremists, who are a "dangerous foe" on a par with supporters of slavery.

Cameron will hail the "extraordinary journey" undertaken by Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, since the end of the Suharto dictatorship in 1998 as an example of the "inspirational path" countries can follow.

"What Indonesia shows is that in the world's largest Muslim-majority country, it is possible to reject this extremist threat and prove that democracy and Islam can flourish alongside each other," the prime minister will tell students at Al-Azhar University in Jakarta. "That's why what you are doing here is so important, because it gives heart to those around the world who are engaged in the same struggle." » | Nicholas Watt | Thursday, April 12, 2012

My comment:

David Cameron is doing what all politicians do these days: They deny the true nature of Islam. Like most politicians, David Cameron has neither studied Islam nor lived in a Muslim-majority country, yet he is sure of his facts, it seems: Islam is compatible with democracy.

This is wishful thinking. Islam at its core is undemocratic. And for many reasons. First among them is that Islam denies the separation of mosque and state, or religion and politics. The separation of the two is the sine qua non of a properly-functioning democracy.

Then there is the fact that democracies are ever-changing. New laws are made in response to changing circumstances, changing needs. Muslims believe in Allah’s law, Islamic law, Shari’ah law. Shari’ah law is based on the Qur’an and the Ahadith, or Hadiths – the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. Islamic law is unchanging by definition. It would be heresy to change Allah's injunctions.

Living according to Shari’ah law is close to a Muslim’s heart. That’s why so many countries are in the process of introducing Islamic law after the Arab Spring, and it’s why Iraq introduced Shari’ah law at the first opportunity. Does David Cameron think that Shari’ah law is compatible with democracy then? Further, if Islam were really compatible with democracy, why has democracy not been the political norm for Islamic countries till now?

Since 9/11, all Western politicians have been in denial about the nature of Islam. They keep on repeating the same old canards, namely that Islam is really a ‘religion of peace’ and that extremists have got it wrong. In other words, the extremists misunderstand their own religion. Whereas, in actual fact, the extremists want what they consider to be pure Islam – Islam unadulterated by Western values. But this is something which our politicians cannot countenance, for were they to do so, they’d be forced to do something meaningful about it. That would take great strength and resolve. One could even say that it would bring the house of cards down, because ‘our house’ in the twenty-first century is built increasingly on the myth of multiculturalism. They’ve all bought into this, so they’ve got to try and make it work. One day, they might be forced to change course. God only knows what it will take to bring that about though! – © Mark

Islam: The Enemy of Democracy and Freedom » | Mark Alexander | Friday, April 20, 2007

'The Holocaust Is German Family History': Book Urges Germans to Quiz Dying Nazi Generation

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: German historian Moritz Pfeiffer asked his granddad what he did in World War II, and then fact-checked the testimony. His findings in a new book shed light on a dying generation that remains outwardly unrepentant, but is increasingly willing to break decades of silence on how, and why, it followed Hitler.

Germany has won praise for collectively confronting its Nazi past, but the subject has remained a taboo in millions of family homes -- with children and grandchildren declining to press their elders on what they did in the war.

At least 20 to 25 million Germans knew about the Holocaust while it was happening, according to conservative estimates, and some 10 million fought on the Eastern Front in a war of annihilation that targeted civilians from the start. That, says German historian Moritz Pfeiffer, makes the genocide and the crimes against humanity a part of family history.

Time is running out. The answer to how a cultured, civilized nation stooped so low lies in the minds of the dying Third Reich generation, many of whom are ready and willing to talk at the end of their lives, says Pfeiffer, 29, who has just completed an unprecedented research project based on his own family.

"The situation has changed radically compared with the decades immediately after the war," Pfeiffer, a historian at a museum on the SS at Wewelsburg Castle, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "The generation of eyewitnesses evidently wants to talk now, at least that's my impression. Towards the end of one's life the distance to the events is so great that people are ready to give testimony."

"Immediately after the war, conversations about it between parents and children appear to have been impossible because it was all too fresh," Pfeiffer continued. "Now the problem is that no one is listening to that generation anymore. As a source of information, one's relatives are largely being ignored. But one day it will be too late." » | David Crossland | Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Fear of Honor Killings: Immigrants Flee Families to Find Themselves
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Hundreds of young female immigrants are hiding from their families in Germany after fleeing oppression, physical violence and even death threats. Charities and social workers help the women get new identities and build independent lives for themselves, but the risk of revenge from honor-obsessed relatives remains.

Bahar ran away early on a winter morning, one-and-a-half years after her mother was murdered. She helped her younger siblings get ready for school, and then she gave them a goodbye kiss on the forehead. Her uncle and her brothers were still sleeping. Bahar tiptoed out of the apartment in her socks, walked down the stairs and out the door. And then she ran for her life.

Today Bahar is 26 and likes to wear high-heeled shoes. She has chosen a popular café in a small city as a meeting point. She is wearing a modest amount of makeup, and her black hair is pulled back into a bun. She smiles tentatively and introduces herself, using the name in her new passport, which, for her protection, cannot be used in this article.

Bahar's family came to Germany from Iraq in 1996. They lived in the eastern city of Halle an der Saale for the first two years, in an apartment in a high-rise building with a dingy kitchen. Her father felt that most jobs were beneath him, beat his wife and "put out cigarettes on her skin," says Bahar. The father would sometimes disappear for months at a time. Bahar suspects that he was involved in criminal activities. "Everything was always peaceful without him. We even had a picnic in the park once," says Bahar. She took along some of the photos from that day when she ran away, but she can't bear to look at them, she says.

During those happy times, when she was alone with her six children, Bahar's mother came to the conclusion that she wanted to separate from her despotic husband. She went to the local town hall with Bahar to get information about German divorce law. When the father found out about it, he took a knife and locked himself in the bedroom with his wife on a summer night in 2003. Bahar holds up her hands to show us two scars: the evidence of her attempt to save her mother.

With the mother dead and the father sentenced to life in prison, an uncle took control of Bahar and her five siblings. He managed to make a caring and thoughtful impression on the youth welfare office, but it was deceptive. He used to turn up the music before he began beating the children. Bahar used makeup to hide the bruises. "I wasn't allowed to read books, and I couldn't even go out on the balcony anymore," she says. "Just cook, do the laundry and clean."

Bahar endured her life as a virtual slave for a year and a half. "Then I knew that I would either kill myself or leave." » | Antje Windmann | Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Egypt: The Other Homeland
Revealing a bygone era, we tell the story of Egypt's once-thriving Greek community.

Growing Calls for Cancelling of Bahrain Grand Prix
Formula One teams have been arriving in Shanghai, ahead of this week's Chinese Grand Prix. But the big issue for the sport is whether next week's Bahrain Grand Prix can go ahead. Al Jazeera's Lee Welling reports from London.

French Cabinet OKs New Anti-terrorism Measures
THE BOSTON GLOBE: PARIS—The conservative French government on Wednesday unveiled new counterterrorism measures to punish those who visit extremist websites or travel to weapons-training camps abroad, in the wake of deadly shootings by an suspected Islamic extremist in southern France last month.

The measures now go to Parliament, where it may face resistance from the Socialists, who say France's legal arsenal against terrorism is already strong enough and that the proposal is a campaign ploy to boost President Nicolas Sarkozy's chances at a second term.

Sarkozy's Cabinet gave its go-ahead to measures that would make it illegal to travel abroad to "indoctrination and weapons-training camps for terrorist ends" or to regularly visit websites that incite or praise deadly terrorism.

Sarkozy's government insists the measures are needed to fight the relatively new phenomenon of "lone wolf" terrorism by extremists who self-radicalize online via jihadist Web sites, and are hard for authorities to track. » | Sylvie Corbet | Associated Press | Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Indonesia Aceh Quake Triggers Indian Ocean Tsunami Alert

BBC: An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.6 has struck under the sea off Indonesia's northern Aceh province.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) said a tsunami had been generated but its likely impact was not yet clear.

It advised national authorities across the Indian Ocean region to "take appropriate action".

The region is regularly hit by earthquakes. The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 killed 170,000 people in Aceh.

One official quoted by Reuters said a 17cm (6.7in) tsunami had been generated and was heading for the coast of Aceh.

The US Geological Survey (USGS), which documents quakes worldwide, said the Aceh quake was centred 33km (20 miles) under the sea about 495km from Banda Aceh, the provincial capital.

It was initially reported as 8.9 magnitude but was later revised down to 8.6 by the USGS. Strong aftershocks were also reported.

The BBC's Karishma Vaswani in Jakarta says there were reports of the ground shaking for up to five minutes. (+ video) » | Wednesday, April 11, 2012

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Indonesia Sets New Tsunami Warning as Aftershock Hits: BANGKOK — A powerful 8.6-magnitude earthquake struck more than 200 miles off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Wednesday, spreading panic among residents and reviving memories of the devastating 2004 earthquake and tsunami in the same area. » | Thomas Fuller | Wednesday, April 11, 2012

AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Indian Ocean on tsunami alert after quakes: Indian Ocean tsunami warning extended after strong aftershock off northern Indonesia's coast. » | Source: Al Jazeera and agencies | Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Inside a Sharia Divorce Court
Sheikh Haithem Al-Haddad and Dr Suhaib Hasan of Britain's Sharia Council allow us rare and exclusive access to their deliberations on Islamic divorces
Watch the video here | Mona Mahmood and Richard Sprenger | Wednesday, April 09, 2011

New Wave of Well-off Pakistani Women Drawn to Conservative Islam

THE GUARDIAN: Wealthy, educated women are increasingly embracing the trend for religious inquiry and observance

All the women working in the information technology division of the Bank of Punjab's headquarters in the western Pakistani city of Lahore wear headscarves tightly wound around their cheeks and chin, framing their faces as they tap at their keyboards. A year or so ago not one covered their heads with the hijab.

"I was the first," says 28-year-old Shumaila, as she waited with some impatience in the city's iStore for her new £800 Apple MacBook to be loaded with the software she had ordered.

"I started reading the Qur'an properly and praying five times a day. No one made me wear the hijab. That would be impossible," she laughs brightly. "I showed the way to the other girls at work."

They are not alone. Though there are no statistics and most evidence is anecdotal, a new wave of interest in more conservative strands of Islam among wealthier and better educated women in Pakistan appears clear.

It is part of a broader cultural and religious shift seen in the country over decades but which observers say has accelerated in the past 10 years.

"The other girls who were working with us left." Shumaila said. "They found the new environment a bit unfriendly."

One indication of the trend is the growing proportion of women within the conservative religious political organisation Jamaat-e-Islami (JI). Syed Munawar Hassan, the leader of JI in Pakistan, said that women made up an increasing proportion of the organisation's 6 million members and 30,000 organisers. "Our women's wing is doing very well," he said. "They are some of our best organisers." » | Jason Burke in Lahore | Monday, April 09, 2012

US Election 2012: Rick Santorum Drops Out of Race

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Rick Santorum dropped out of the US presidential race today, clearing the last remaining obstacle for Mitt Romney to seize the Republican nomination.

Trailing badly in the polls and facing the prospect of a humiliating defeat in his home state of Pennsylvania, Mr Santorum used Gettysburg, the site of the bloodiest battle of the American civil war, to announce his withdrawal.

"We made the decision to get into this race at our kitchen table against all the odds and we made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race is over for me - and we will suspend our campaign effective today - we're not done fighting," he said.

While he used his brief appearance to attack President Barack Obama, the one-time candidate did not offer any endorsement of Mr Romney, who faces an open road to the Republican nomination.

The former Pennsylvania senator said he had "tried to be a witness" to the struggles of America's middle class and a voice for social conservatives.

"Even when they said we couldn't win, we were winning because we were touching hearts and raising issues that frankly a lot of people didn't want raised," he said. Read on and comment » | Raf Sanchez | Washington | Tuesday, April 10, 2012

My comment:

Rick Santorum is a handsome man who speaks eloquently. Pity is that he is too conservative, too religious, and too frozen in time. Were he to loosen up a little, and leave some of his ante-diluvian ideas behind him, he'd be a very serious contender for the White House. One can only wish him well even if one is relieved that he is out of the race. – © Mark

This comment also appears here



TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Le républicain Rick Santorum jette l'éponge : Le candidat ultraconservateur suspend sa campagne pour l'investiture républicaine, laissant la voie libre au favori Mitt Romney pour devenir le candidat qui affrontera Barack Obama en novembre. » | AP/Newsnet | mardi 10 avril 2012

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Santorum macht Weg für Romney frei: Das Rennen der Republikaner um den Herausforderer des amtierenden US-Präsidenten ist so gut wie entschieden. Rick Santorum verkündete am Dienstag seinen Rückzug. Jetzt wird Multimillionär Mitt Romney gegen Barack Obama antreten. » | aar/fab/Reuters/dpa/AP/AFP | Dienstag, 04. April 2012

Mitt Romney and the Mormon Factor
What is Mormonism and what would a Mormon in the White House mean for US politics and the world?

AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Read the article here » | People & Power reporter Bob Abeshouse | Thursday, April 05, 2012

WIKI: American exceptionalism »

A Muslim Finds the Catholic Faith … Through Geography and Theology

NATIONAL CATHOLIC REGISTER: British soccer team owner and prominent philanthropist Ilyas Khan reflects on his conversion.

Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar was instrumental in helping Ilyas Khan, a British philanthropist and former Muslim, to become Catholic. But so too were many other distinctly Catholic influences, all amounting to a “pull” towards the faith rather than a “push” away from Islam.

Khan, a merchant banker by training and the owner of the Accrington Stanley soccer team, is also chairman of the prominent British charity Leonard Cheshire Disability — the largest organization in the world helping people with disabilities. In a revealing interview with Register Rome correspondent Edward Pentin, Khan explains in more detail what drew him to the Catholic Church. » | Edward Pentin | Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Iran Before Islam

THE ATLANTIC: Iran Before Islam: Challenging Stereotypes Through Art – A Smithsonian exhibition of ancient Iranian offers a different perspective on the country than what Westerners normally see. » | Jennie Rothenberg Gritz & Massoud Hayoun | Jennie Rothenberg Gritz is an Atlanticsenior editor. Massoud Hayoun writes for and produces The Atlantic's International channel | Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Norway Massacre Gunman Anders Behring Breivik 'Not Insane'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A new psychiatric examination has found that confessed Norway massacre killer Anders Behring Breivik is not criminally insane, contradicting an earlier assessment.

"The experts' main conclusion is that the accused, Anders Behring Breivik, is not considered to have been psychotic at the time of the actions on July 22, 2011," the Oslo district court said in a statement which reopens the debate on whether the self-confessed killer can be sent to prison.

"That means that he is considered criminally responsible at the time of the crime."

The new evaluation counters the findings of an initial probe that found Breivik was suffering from "paranoid schizophrenia," which meant he would most likely be sentenced to psychiatric care instead of prison. » | Tuesday, April 10, 2012

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Anders Behring Breivik will tell a court he 'regrets not going further': Anders Behring Breivik, the far-Right extremist who killed 77 people in Norway last summer, will tell a court that he regrets “not going further, after a new psychiatric examination rule that he is not criminally insane. » | Richard Orange, Malmö | Tuesday, April 10, 2012


Verwandt »

Günter Grass persona non grata en Israël

LE FIGARO: Israël a annoncé dimanche une interdiction de territoire pour Günter Grass, après le tollé provoqué par la publication d'un poème dans lequel l'écrivain allemand accusait Israël et son arsenal atomique de menacer la paix mondiale.

"Le poème de Günter est une tentative d'attiser les flammes de la haine contre l'Etat d'Israël et contre le peuple israélien", affirme le ministre dans ce communiqué, trois jours après que gouvernement israélien a qualifié ce poème de "honteux" et "minable". "Si Günter veut continuer à disséminer ses oeuvres déformées et mensongères, je lui conseille de le faire depuis l'Iran, où il trouvera un public qui le soutient", a ajouté M. Yishaï. » | FP | dimanche 08 avril 2012

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Grass Says Campaign Against Him 'Injurious': German Nobel laureate Günter Grass has taken to the airwaves to address the raging controversy surrounding his new poem, which is sharply critical of Israel. Yet the debate continues to broaden, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joining the fray on Thursday. » | dsl – with wires reports | Thursday, April 05, 2012

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: 'Israel's Government Has Reacted Absurdly': German politicians across the spectrum are criticizing Israel's travel ban on author Günter Grass after the publication of his controversial poem. Editorialists condemn the decision, and some are alarmed over what the development could mean for traditionally close ties between the two nations. » | Daryl Lindsey | Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Terror Suspects ‘Can Be Extradited’

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David Cameron: Lib Dems Were Fully Aware of 'Snooping' Plans

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron has hit back against Liberal Democrat critics of the new internet “snooping” laws, claiming Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne approved the controversial plans.

In a put-down to his Coalition partners, the Prime Minister said it was important to “remember” that some of the most senior Liberal Democrats in Government waived [sic] through the proposals.

Ministers insist the new laws will simply widen the current scope of powers to the internet, as police and intelligence agencies are already allowed to monitor phones, letters and emails. They dispute the idea that monitoring voice calls and other communications over the internet amounts to snooping.

But prominent Liberal Democrats have expressed outrage that the changes will allow the police to have greater power to track online communications, such as Facebook and Skype.

Last week, Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, intervened to say he would block any intrusive new powers following a series of reports on the forthcoming legislation.

Tim Farron, the president of the Liberal Democrats, has even said the party is prepared to “kill” the plans, if the laws pose a “threat to a free and liberal society”. » | Rowena Mason, Political Correspondent | Tuesday, April 10, 2012

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Nick Clegg denies endorsing Coalition's 'snooping' plans: The Coalition has been shaken by a row as Nick Clegg denies claims by David Cameron that he had signed up to controversial internet surveillance plans. » | Rowena Mason, Political Correspondent | Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Extradition of Abu Hamza and Four Others for Terrorism Offences Can Go Ahead, European Court Rules

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Human rights judges have this morning ruled the Government can lawfully extradite radical preacher Abu Hamza to America to face terrorist charges.

The judges gave a final ruling on six extradition cases in a verdict which effectively passed judgment on whether America's treatment of terrorist suspects amounts to "inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" in breach of the European human rights code.

They decided it would be lawful for five of the six to be jailed for the rest of their lives in a so-called 'super-max' prison.

The ruling stated that the five, including radical preacher Abu Hamza, would not be subject to "ill-treatment" at ADX Florence, a so-called 'super-max' prison. The court adjourned its decision on Haroon Rashid Aswat pending consideration of further complaints lodged by him.

The ruling granted the men the right to appeal to the court's Grand Chamber, meaning any extradition could be some time away.

Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "very pleased" by the ruling. » | Matthew Holehouse | Tuesday, April 10, 2012

France, Welcome No More?

Read the article here | Willy Bracciano | Friday, April 06, 2012