Deutschland: Zahl der Salafisten steigt
OVB ONLINE: Verfassungsschutz: 4500 Islamisten sind ernste Gefahr [|] Berlin – Der starke Zulauf für potenziell bedrohliche Salafisten in Deutschland beunruhigt die Sicherheitsbehörden.

Verfassungsschutz: 4500 Islamisten sind ernste Gefahr[.]

Berlin – Der starke Zulauf für potenziell bedrohliche Salafisten in Deutschland beunruhigt die Sicherheitsbehörden. Ihre Zahl hat sich laut Verfassungsschutz im vergangenen Jahr von 3800 auf 4500 erhöht. Zusammen mit etwa 1000 gewaltbereiten Islamisten stellten sie „eine ernst zu nehmende Gefahr“ dar, sagte Verfassungsschutzchef Hans-Georg Maaßen dem Nachrichtenmagazin „Focus“. „Wenn der Staat gegenüber salafistischen Bestrebungen nicht klare Kante zeigt, besteht die Gefahr, dass diese Gruppen weiter wachsen. Es ist denkbar, dass die Bereitschaft zur Gewalt, auch zu Anschlägen, zunimmt.“ » | ovb-online | Montag, 11. März 2013

Geert Wilders's Confidante and Former Dutch Islamophobe 'Arnoud Van Doorn' Converts to Islam
ABNA: In Holland, a major Islamophobic political and social activist, former member of parliament from a right-wing party, Arnoud van Doorn accepted Islam.

The former Islamophobe announced his decision to accept Islam on his Twitter profile. He says it is a new beginning of his life and published the declaration of Shahada (the words on monotheism to become a Muslim) in Arabic.

At first, other users took the news as a joke. After all, an active supporter of a notorious Dutch hater of Islam, Wilders, has repeatedly approved Islamophobic statements and public actions, and personally participated in them.

But van Doorn, who now serves as a regional adviser at the City Hall in The Hague, personally confirmed his decision to practice Islam in an official letter to the city Mayor.

Most recently, the politician filed a formal application to the mayor of the city to allow him to perform prayers obligatory for Muslims during his working hours.

The information on conversion of van Doorn to Islam was confirmed on the official website of the mosque Al-Yaqeen in The Hague. » | Source: News Agencies | Monday, March 11, 2013

Related »

Queen Backs Human Rights in Commonwealth Day Message
BBC: The Queen has delivered her annual Commonwealth Day message with a focus on equality.

The organisation is adopting a new charter committing all Commonwealth countries to uphold human rights and oppose all forms of discrimination.

This is seen as an important milestone for gay rights but is a sensitive issue as some member states still regard homosexuality as a criminal offence.

The Queen said, "Our shared values of peace, democracy, development, justice and human rights... mean that we can place special emphasis on including everyone in this goal especially those who are vulnerable". (+BBC audio) » | Monday, March 11, 2013

Jean-Claude Juncker Interview: 'The Demons Haven't Been Banished'

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: In an interview, Luxembourg prime minister and former Euro Group chief Jean-Claude Juncker, 58, urges other EU countries to push ahead with structural reforms, explains why he sees parallels between 2013 and the year preceeding World War I and throws his election support behind Angela Merkel's re-election campaign.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Prime Minister, it has been seven weeks since you stepped down as head of the Euro Group. Do you sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and think: I absolutely have to give another interview on the euro crisis? Juncker: No, I'm not suffering from withdrawal symptoms. I would say that I have a balanced state of mind. My life is less hectic and I'm calmer and more relaxed.

SPIEGEL: For eight years, you were a kind of informal president of the monetary union. When you take stock of your accomplishments during this period, don't you have to admit that Europe has tended to drift apart rather than become more close-knit?

Juncker: For my generation, the monetary union has always been about forging peace. Today, I notice with a certain sense of regret that far too many Europeans are returning to a regional and national mindset. SPIEGEL: What do you mean by that? » | Translated from the German by Paul Cohen | Monday, March 11, 2013

Verwandt »

Hungary’s Constitutional Changes Fuel New Tensions
EUR ACTIV: Thousands of Hungarians protested in central Budapest on Saturday (9 March) against imminent changes to the country's constitution which they fear would curb democratic rights, echoing worries this week from the European Union and the United States.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s ruling center-right Fidesz party has used its unprecedented two-thirds parliamentary majority to make laws that critics say limit citizens' freedoms.

Parliament is scheduled to hold a final vote on the constitutional changes today (11 March).

Decisions of the country's top Constitutional Court made before the new constitution entered into force in 2012 will no longer be valid, discarding an important body of law often used as reference before. Restrictive new regulation may now appear in higher education, homelessness, electoral law and family law.

"We really have had enough of this," said 17-year-old student Luca Cseh, adding the changes limited her prospects of going to university as state subsidies would only be available to students who pledge to work in Hungary after graduation.

"They oppress students, but also the homeless or homosexuals," she said. » | EurActiv.com with Reuters | Monday, March 11, 2013

Euro-Krise: Juncker spricht von Kriegsgefahr in Europa

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Drastische Warnung des Ex-Euro-Gruppenchefs: Jean-Claude Juncker sagte dem SPIEGEL, die Konflikte in Europa könnten sich gefährlich zuspitzen. "Wer glaubt, dass sich die Frage von Krieg und Frieden nie mehr stellt, könnte sich gewaltig irren."

Hamburg - Luxemburgs Premierminister Jean-Claude Juncker will im Bundestagswahlkampf dafür werben, dass Angela Merkel Kanzlerin bleibt. "Man hat mich bereits gebeten, und ich habe bereits zugesagt", verriet Juncker in einem SPIEGEL-Interview. "Ich fühle mich der Kanzlerin und der CDU sehr verbunden." Er habe zwar auch schon auf Veranstaltungen der SPD und der Grünen geredet, habe aber nicht vor, den Wahlkampf der Sozialdemokraten und der Grünen zu animieren.

In der Debatte um die Zukunft der Währungsunion warnte Juncker im SPIEGEL davor, dass sich die Konflikte in Europa gefährlich zuspitzen könnten. "Wer glaubt, dass sich die ewige Frage von Krieg und Frieden in Europa nie mehr stellt, könnte sich gewaltig irren. Die Dämonen sind nicht weg, sie schlafen nur." » | cte | Sonntag, 10. März 2013

Report: Saudis Rethinking Method of Execution
ASSOCIATED PRESS: RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A Saudi newspaper says a ministerial committee is looking into formally dropping public beheadings as a method of execution in the oil-rich kingdom.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where a death sentence results in beheading in a public square.

The authoritative daily Al-Watan says in its Sunday edition that the ministerial committee is considering fatal shootings as an alternative.

There have been calls in the kingdom for replacing public beheadings with lethal injections carried out in prisons. » | AP | Sunday, March 10, 2013

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Criticised for Hugging Mother of Hugo Chavez
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been accused of betraying Islam after he was pictured in an emotional embrace with the mother of Hugo Chavez at the late Venezuelan leader's funeral.


The Iranian president's domestic opponents reacted furiously after photos emerged of him giving Elena Frias de Chavez, 78, a consoling hug at last Friday's funeral in Caracas - at which he also kissed Mr Chavez's coffin.

Religious conservatives said the act insulted Iran's religious dignity and amounted to "haram" – a term used to describe a religiously forbidden act under Islamic rules.

Mohammad Taghi Rahbar, the Friday prayer leader of Iran's second city, Isfahan, told Mehr news agency that Mr Ahmadinejad had "lost control".

He added: "Shaking hands with a non-mahram (unrelated by family) woman, under any circumstances, whether young or old, is not allowed. Hugging or expressing emotions is improper for the dignity of the president of a country like the Islamic Republic of Iran." » | Robert Tait, Middle East Correspondent | Sunday, March 10, 2013

Experts Discuss Rising Female Conversion to Islam in the UK
EMIRATES 24|7: Experts at American University of Sharjah (AUS) and the University of Cambridge presented their insights based on the report Narratives of Conversion to Islam in Britain: Female Perspectives, which was prepared by Professor Yasir Suleiman, Project Leader and Founding Director at the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge, in association with The New Muslims Project, Markfield. This report was officially released at the panel for the first time.

The panel discussion was part of the two-day AUS–University of Cambridge joint conference on Perspectives on Middle Eastern Studies that brought the latest research and insight on several topics that are shaping global discussions on Middle Eastern studies.

Narratives of Conversion to Islam in Britain: Female Perspectives is based on original research done in the UK, narrating stories of women who have converted to Islam. It deals with a host of issues, including hijab, marriage, divorce, polygyny, sexuality, domestic violence, mosque provisions for female converts, the challenges facing the children of convert mothers and the role converts play as bridges between heritage Muslims and non-Muslims in society. The report is exclusively about female converts to Islam in Britain, although the converts who took part in the project came from different ethnic, national, faith and no-faith backgrounds that characterize the plurality of British society.

Introducing the report at the panel, Professor Yasir Suleiman said, “Whether a woman converts to Islam through marriage, or for some other reason, no one route into the faith is considered to be more worthy than the others and there was unanimous agreement among the participants on this issue. However, one of the consistent messages from participants in this project, British women from various faiths who had converted to Islam, was their conversion was not the result of any single theme but of various revelations. We have endeavored to describe the experience of women converts to Islam in contemporary British society and the relationship between the convert, the heritage Muslim communities and wider society is explored with reference to their political, social and religious contexts.” » | Staff | Sunday, March 10, 2013

Pakistan : des musulmans en colère brûlent plus de 100 maisons de chrétiens
LE POINT: Ils ont voulu se venger des propos "blasphématoires" qu'un chrétien est accusé d'avoir tenus contre leur religion. Aucune victime n'est à déplorer.

Une vive discussion sur la religion entre deux amis pris de boisson est à l'origine d'une émeute samedi à Lahore, au Pakistan, au cours de laquelle des musulmans ont incendié plus de 100 maisons appartenant à des chrétiens, ont indiqué dimanche la police et des témoins. Plus de 3 000 musulmans en colère ont pris d'assaut Joseph Colony, un quartier chrétien de Lahore (est), après l'arrestation d'un chrétien accusé d'avoir tenu trois jours auparavant des propos blasphématoires contre le prophète Mahomet. Les violences n'ont pas fait de victimes. » | Source AFP | dimanche 10 mars 2013

Queen Fights for Gay Rights: Monarch Makes Historic Pledge on Discrimination and Hints That If Kate Does Have a Girl, That Means Equal Rights to the Throne Too

MAIL ONLINE: First time Her Majesty has signalled support for gay rights in 61-year reign / Also promotes 'empowerment' of women in drive to boost human rights / Insiders say her decision to highlight the event is a 'watershed' moment

The Queen will tomorrow back an historic pledge to promote gay rights and ‘gender equality’ in one of the most controversial acts of her reign.

In a live television broadcast, she will sign a new charter designed to stamp out discrimination against homosexual people and promote the ‘empowerment’ of women – a key part of a new drive to boost human rights and living standards across the Commonwealth.

In her first public appearance since she had hospital treatment for a stomach bug, the Queen will sign the new Commonwealth Charter and make a speech explaining her passionate commitment to it.

Insiders say her decision to highlight the event is a ‘watershed’ moment – the first time she has clearly signalled her support for gay rights in her 61-year reign.

The charter, dubbed a ‘21st Century Commonwealth Magna Carta’ declares: ‘We are implacably opposed to all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, colour, creed, political belief or other grounds.’

The ‘other grounds’ is intended to refer to sexuality – but specific reference to ‘gays and lesbians’ was omitted in deference to Commonwealth countries with draconian anti-gay laws.

Sources close to the Royal Household said she is aware of the implications of the charter’s implicit support of gay rights and commitment to gender equality.

In her speech, the Queen is expected to stress that the rights must ‘include everyone’ - and this is seen as an implicit nod to the agenda of inclusivity, usually championed by the Left. Read on and comment » | Simon Walters | Saturday, March 09, 2013

Saudi Arabia Court Jails Activists Qahtani and Hamid
BBC: A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced two human rights and political activists to lengthy jail terms for setting up an illegal organisation and rebelling against the authority of the king.

Mohammed al-Qahtani was given 10 years, while Mohammed al-Hamid's earlier sentence of six years was upheld and a further five-year term added.

The court also disbanded their organisation, the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA).

An appeal will be heard next month. » | Saturday, March 09, 2013

Man Charges [sic] with Blasphemy
Mob wreaks havoc in Christian town
DAILY TIMES: 160 houses, 80 shops, several vehicles of Christians set on fire in Badami Bagh area ? SSP among several policemen injured as Saint Joseph Colony turns into ‘battlefield’

LAHORE: Hundreds of angry protesters turned into arsonists, attacking around 160 houses and 80 shops of Christians on Saturday, just a day after allegations of blasphemy were levelled against a man in the Badami Bagh area.

Several policemen, including SSP (Operations) Suhail Sukhera and the Badami Bagh SHO received multiple injuries when the angry mob pelted stones on them during a clash.

The Saint Joseph Colony and its surrounding areas turned into a battlefield when angry protesters started torching the houses and shops.

Upon being informed about the incident, police contingents and rescue teams reached the spot and tried to control the situation.

According to witnesses, the mob broke into the houses, looted them and burnt the remaining belongings in the streets. They said that on Friday, a large number of protesters forced the Christian community members to flee the area, leaving behind their homes and possessions unprotected. They said that the mob had gathered around St Joseph Colony on Noor Road at around 10am, led by a man named Shafiq Ahmed, who was in search of the accused, Sawan, alias Bubby.

They said that the mob first attacked Sawan’s house, setting it on fire and pelting it with stones, and then attacked other houses of the colony. » | Staff Report | Sunday, March 10, 2013

Merkel sieht Türkei nicht in der EU

DIE PRESSE: Die deutsche Bundeskanzlerin sprach sich in Ankara zwar für eine Wiederaufnahme der Beitrittsverhandlungen aus, aber das Ziel einer Vollmitgliedschaft lehnt sie ab.

Ankara. Gleich zweimal wurde Angela Merkel am Montag in der Türkei begrüßt: Am Morgen ließen Ballonfahrer in der zentralanatolischen Landschaft Rosen auf das Fahrzeug der Bundeskanzlerin herabregnen. Wenige Stunden später, nach einer Besichtigung mittelalterlicher Felsenkirchen und der Weiterreise nach Ankara, stand dann das türkische Wachbataillon vor dem Ministerpräsidentenamt in der türkischen Hauptstadt vor der deutschen Regierungschefin stramm.

Doch weder Blumen noch militärische Respektbezeugungen brachten Merkel dazu, ihrem Gastgeber Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in entscheidenden Punkten entgegenzukommen. Bei aller Bereitschaft, die türkischen EU-Beitrittsverhandlungen wieder etwas zu beschleunigen, blieb sie bei ihrem grundsätzlichen Nein zu einer Aufnahme des Landes in die Europäische Union. » | Susanne Güsten | Korrespondentin der Presse | Montag, 25. Februar 2013

Germany's New Anti-Euro Party
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Anti-euro political parties in Europe in recent years have so far tended to be either well to the right of center or, as evidenced by the recent vote in Italy, anything but staid. But in Germany, change may be afoot. A new party is forming this spring, intent on abandoning European efforts to prop up the common currency. And its founders are a collection of some of the country's top economists and academics.

Named Alternative für Deutschland (Alternative for Germany), the group has a clear goal: "the dissolution of the euro in favor of national currencies or smaller currency unions." The party also demands an end to aid payments and the dismantling of the European Stability Mechanism bailout fund.

"Democracy is eroding," reads a statement on its website (German only). "The will of the people regarding (decisions relating to the euro) is never queried and is not represented in parliament. The government is depriving voters of a voice through disinformation, is pressuring constitutional organs, like parliament and the Constitutional Court, and is making far-reaching decisions in committees that have no democratic legitimacy."

The sentiment, of course, is hardly new. Euro-skeptics are everywhere these days, particularly in those southern European countries that have been hit hardest by the crisis that continues to plague the common currency. And even in mainstream parties, concerns about the path on which the EU currently finds itself are common. But in Germany, as elsewhere in northern Europe, the most vocal critique of the euro has tended to come from right-wing populist parties. » | Charles Hawley | Friday, March 08, 2013

Abu Qatada Arrested After Breaching Bail Conditions
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Radical preacher Abu Qatada has been arrested for allegedly breaching his bail conditions, days ahead of the Government's latest deportation bid in court.


Qatada, 52, once described as Osama Bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe, was led away from his north London home on Friday after police raids at his address.

Specialist officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command searched Qatada’s tax-payer funded home for 12 hours before he was arrested. » | Josie Ensor and Hayley Dixon | Saturday, March 09, 2013

Bulgaria Regrets Failing to Save Thousands of Jews in WWII

BBC: Bulgaria has expressed regret that more than 11,000 Jews were deported to Nazi concentration camps from areas under Bulgarian control during World War II.

A Bulgarian parliament declaration did however praise Bulgarians for having blocked the deportation of more than 48,000 Jews during the war.

It said it could "not be disputed that 11,343 Jews were deported from northern Greece and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia".

Most Jews sent to the Nazi German death camps in Poland died.

Referring to the 11,343 deported, the MPs' declaration said "we denounce this criminal act, undertaken by Hitler's command, and express our regrets for the fact that the local Bulgarian administration had not been in a position to stop this act".

Only a few hundred of those deportees survived, Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust Centre says.

Yad Vashem lists 20 Bulgarians among its "Righteous Among the Nations" - individuals who acted to protect Jews from the Holocaust.

Bulgaria was an ally of Nazi Germany during the war, when Jews were deported en masse from the Nazi-occupied Balkans to death camps such as Auschwitz. » | Friday, March 08, 2013

Former Anti-immigrant Figure Converts to Islam
IRISH TIMES: In an extraordinary personal and political transformation, a former senior member of Geert Wilders’s virulently anti-immigrant Freedom Party (PVV) has converted to Islam – saying it was the party’s anti-Muslim rhetoric which led him to look more deeply into his new religion.

Arnoud van Doorn (46), formerly vice-chair of the PVV group on The Hague city council, announced his conversion on Twitter, first with a tweet saying he was about to make “a new beginning” – and later with another in Arabic proclaiming the Shahadah, his public declaration of belief.

Before leaving the PVV last year to set up a new party, Independent The Hague, Mr van Doorn was regarded as a staunch supporter of Mr Wilders, who wants to end immigration from non-western countries and described Islam as “a retarded culture” and the Koran as “a fascist book”.

Mr van Doorn – who is married, with three foster children – first declined to comment on his conversion, claiming his faith was “a private matter”, but subsequently appeared on al-Jazeera television to say the decision had been “a difficult one” and “not taken lightly”. » | Peter Cluskey in The Hague | Saturday, March 09, 2013

DEUTSCH TÜRKISCHES JOURNAL: Nicht der erste Politiker mit erstaunlichem Sinneswandel: Ende Februar twitterte Arnoud van Doorn, bis 2011 Vize-Vorsitzender der PVV-Fraktion im Gemeinderat Den Haag, das islamische Glaubensbekenntnis. Van Doorn ist nicht der erste Ex-Wilders-Anhänger mit einem erstaunlichen Sinneswandel. » | Von André Krause | Freitag, 08. März 2013

Related »

Should We Tolerate The Intolerant?

Hugo Chávez Funeral
Venezuela mourns Hugo Chávez, who died after a two-year battle with cancer on Tuesday, at his state funeral in Caracas. Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Cuba's Raul Castro joined about 30 other heads of state to pay respect to the charismatic and controversial leader. Thousands gathered in silence outside the ceremony watching the service on big screens