Jews Slam Germany for Hosting Khatami
THE JERUSALEM POST: Three weeks after former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami visited Germany, the Central Council of Jews in Germany has launched a bitter assault on Social Democratic Foreign Ministry State Secretary Gernot Erler and the Green Party's mayor of Freiburg, Dieter Salomon, for welcoming him, accusing them of "pure appeasement" politics toward the Iranian regime.

Khatami, who served as president of Iran from 1997 to 2005, is now jockeying to replace the current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

On October 28, Khatami was invited by the University of Freiburg, in southern Germany, to deliver a lecture on "Dialogue between the Islamic and Western World."

Salomon praised Khatami's tenure as Iranian president, saying it represented "more rule of law, democracy and freedom for the [Iranian] people." He told the Badische newspaper, "We feel very honored" by Khatami's visit.

Khatami was also welcomed by Erler, Freiburg University dean Hans-Jochen Schiewer and the Reverend Wolfgang Sauer of the archdiocese in Freiburg.

His visit attracted barely any media attention and produced little controversy at the time, even though Khatami has described Zionism as the "continuation of fascism" and defended the French Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy.

In the wake of the visit, however, a public letter issued by the Central Council of Jews in Germany, co-headed by Dieter Graumann, has asserted that by hosting Khatami, Erler and Salomon aligned themselves with his reactionary politics. As outlined in the letter, Khatami advocates the death penalty for homosexuals, opposes women's rights, and represses minority religious and ethnic groups in Iran. >>> By Benjamin Weinthal, Jerusalem Post Correspondent in Berlin | November 23, 2008

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Ingushetia in 'State of Civil War'
BBC: Human rights activists and opposition politicians in Russia's southern republic of Ingushetia have told the BBC that the predominantly Muslim region is now in a state of civil war.

It is reported that more than 800 people have been killed in an escalating conflict which originally spilt over from neighbouring Chechnya six years ago.

Ingushetia is a tiny region with a total population of just 300,000.

"A lot of my human rights colleagues and politicians say it is now a civil war and I agree with that," Magomed Mutsolgov, director of the Ingush Human Rights organisation Mashr, says.

"In my opinion it is a war between the security forces and the local population. Many members of the security forces consider themselves above the law and the population outside the law," he adds.

A low-level insurgency involving Muslim fighters escalated dramatically last year with a surge of attacks on the security forces and also on people who have moved into the region from other parts of Russia.

"From July or August last year there have been three or four attacks every week," Tanya Lokshina, of Human Rights Watch, says. She recently compiled a major report on Ingushetia.

"There are a few hundred insurgents in total… who are Jihadists fighting to establish a Caliphate in the (Caucasus) region." >>> By Richard Galpin, BBC News, Moscow | November 23, 2008

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Somalia Sinks Deeper into a State of Total Disintegration
THE GUARDIAN / OBSERVER: Millions have fled their homes in terror; a raped 13-year-old has been stoned to death for 'adultery'; aid workers have been murdered by Islamist militias. While the world's attention is on the pirates off its coast, the failed African state is being ripped apart by violence.

Zam Zam Abdi fled Mogadishu after being threatened with death by the hardline Islamist militia - the Shabab. The message from the armed group once allied to the Union of Islamic Courts, the coalition that briefly seized power in 2006, was simple: if she continued working for her women's rights organisation in the Somali capital, she would be killed. The warning was posted on her office gates. But it is what happened to a friend and colleague, working for another organisation, that persuaded her to escape. He was shot dead and the same note left on his body.

'Most of us had to leave,' she said. 'We had emails and phone calls telling us to stop working. They used an expression famous in Somalia: Falka aad ku jirtid maka baxeeysa. May ama haa? It means - "Stop what you are doing or we will act. Yes or no?" Then someone spoke on the radio - a local leader called Sheikh Mahmoud - delivering the same warning.'

Zam Zam, 28, separates the chaos and violence that has pervaded her country since the overthrow of President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 into 'ordinary Mogadishu' and 'not ordinary'. 'Ordinary', in Zam Zam's definition, describes her country's persistent clan warfare, even the heavy fighting in the city that drove her to leave before with her daughter when Ethiopian troops - supporting the internationally recognised government - shelled her neighbourhood in 2006 to drive the Islamic Courts out after six months in power.

In the ordinary violence and chaos, Zam Zam and her colleagues could still work, negotiating with the clan warlords. In common with the UN, Zam Zam believes that what is happening now is something else. Something terrible, exceeding perhaps even the bloodsoaked chaotic days of the early 1990s when Somalia was last plunged into anarchy.

It is Mogadishu that symbolises what is happening. A large proportion of its population - already jobless, hungry and surviving on aid - has fled the fighting in the city between the Shabab and the forces of the country's weak and rapidly imploding government, backed by its Ethiopian allies. The streets are stalked by assassins, kidnappers and suicide bombers. And the Shabab is threatening to overrun the country's south and centre. >>> Peter Beaumont | November 23, 2008

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Historic British Pub Re-Named – Was Offensive to Muslims
Photo of 'The Saracen’s Head’ courtesy of Up Pompeii
UP POMPEII: More politically correct dhimmi claptrap is being forced down the throats of the British people - this time in the City of Birmingham.

The historic Saracen Head pub is getting a mandatory name change - why? - you no doubt have already guessed the answer:

IT IS OFFENSIVE TO MUSLIMS >>> The Opinionator | November 22, 2008

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Hillary Will Be ‘Mother-in-law the President Cannot Shift’
THE SUNDAY TIMES: The appointment of Hillary Clinton as US secretary of state will place a two-for-one power couple at the heart of Barack Obama's cabinet, which could tie the president-elect’s fortunes to the conduct of Bill Clinton, the former president.

There has been no formal announcement of Hillary Clinton’s new role but the appointment was said to be “firmly on track” after negotiations with Bill Clinton over his charitable and business affairs.

Although the former president last week gave Obama’s team of vetters the largely secret names of 208,000 donors to the William J Clinton Foundation, which covers his presidential library and the charitable Clinton Global Initiative, they may turn out to include some ticking timebombs.

Several US news organisations are digging for more disclosures of controversial allies such as Frank Giustra, the Canadian tycoon who accompanied Bill Clinton on a visit to Kazakhstan and subsequently clinched a $425m mining contract there.

“Among the questions being raised are: who is paying for his speeches and who is paying for the planes he is flying on?” said a source familiar with the investigations.

Bill Clinton, 62, is said to have agreed to restrictions on his paid speeches and his role at the foundation in an attempt to avoid future conflicts of interest. An ally of the Clintons insisted: “Bill has said publicly that he will do whatever they want. Not just with the Giustra stuff, but with the library, the foundation, the donors - he has demonstrated a willingness to go above and beyond.”

However, he will not forgo the lucrative lecture circuit. Last Sunday, even as his wife, 61, was pondering whether to accept the job and resign as New York senator, Clinton was in Kuwait City delivering a reported $500,000 speech, paid for by the National Bank of Kuwait, on the world financial crisis. >>> Sarah Baxter, Washington | November 23, 2008

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Ministers to Hold Summit on Church Closure Crisis
THE TELEGRAPH: The Government will hold a top-level summit next month to tackle the crisis facing Britain's churches.

Ministers are to examine how extra funding can be given to churches, with one in five of them under threat of being closed.

Andy Burnham, the culture secretary, said there would be a new drive to make them central to community regeneration, backed up with financial support.

His comments follow The Sunday Telegraph's Save our Churches campaign, which has called on the Government to increase grants to churches and allow them greater freedom to make the buildings suitable for community use. The campaign has been backed by politicians, celebrities and leading church figures, including Joanna Lumley, Jools Holland, David Cameron and Archbishop Rowan Williams.

Mr Burnham said that the campaign had placed the issue on the Government's agenda. He pledged to rally his Cabinet colleagues behind the proposals.

"It's a really timely campaign because some churches are on the brink of viability," he said.

"We need to find practical ways of helping them. Sometimes it's beyond the means of the local congregation to get the access to the necessary finances to do the repairs that are needed." >>> By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | November 22, 2008

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Who Would Be Part of the BNP?
TIMESONLINE: The British National Party’s leaked membership list was supposedly full of middle-class professionals. So where were they during its annual festival, asks Anna van Praagh.

It had all the hallmarks of a genteel country fete. Yet amid the fairground rides, Morris dancing and stands selling organic Welsh cakes, the BNP's annual summer festival had one rather less bucolic stall, at which revellers were invited to get their heads shaved.

The attraction was billed as being all in a good cause, a fundraiser for British troops. Yet, given the party's long association with skinheads and boot boys, one could be forgiven for construing it as some kind of party initiation ritual.

The BNP chairman, Nick Griffin, wreathed in pinstripes and smiles, and flanked by a coterie of intimidating, crop-haired security guards, laughed it off. "Men of a certain age tend to suffer from follicle problems," he told me as we stood outside a marquee festooned with Union Jack flags.

"You can't discriminate against them for that. Lots of the British rugby team are bald. That doesn't make them Nazis."

Since Griffin took control of the party in 1999, the BNP's high command has eschewed its trademark number-one crop haircuts, Doc Martens and Nazi salutes, replacing them with press releases, soundbites and appearances on Newsnight.

Last week, Griffin seized upon the publication of a list purporting to comprise the entire membership of the British National Party as proof that it had left behind its street-fighting days, and that it is now attracting a broad range of professionals: doctors, teachers, IT workers, clergy, more than a dozen soldiers, and a former Conservative constituency chairman.

He said: "Instead of the public being terrified, they can see we are not a bunch of knuckle-dragging morons but a party of people just like them. Long term, it's going to do us a great deal of good in the public's eyes."

However, The Sunday Telegraph has discovered that at least 30 people named on the list have criminal convictions. And there are thought to be many more. >>> By Anna van Praagh and Patrick Sawer | November 22, 2008

THE INDEPENDENT:
BNP Men Held over 'Racist Leaflet' >>> | November 24, 2008

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Far-Right NPD Is a 'Serpent at Democracy's Breast'

A leading German politician is suggesting a way to deal with the far-right NPD -- cut off state funding. His proposal has met with some skepticism and on Friday many German papers argue that it could set a worrying precedent.

German democracy is having a tough time dealing with the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) which is steadily gaining political ground. Now there are calls to hit the party where it hurts -- in its pocket.

The NPD has been deemed "racist, anti-Semitic and revisionist" by the country's domestic intelligence agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. There have been calls to ban the party, but an attempt to have the country's Constitutional Court outlaw it failed in 2003 and the NPD continues to get state funding, consistent with Germany's campaign finance laws.

The far-right party is no longer confined to the margins of German politics. It has increased its membership to 7,000 and has a presence in the regional parliaments in two eastern states, Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. >>> | November 21, 2008

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Italie: Berlusconi récidive et dit éprouver de "l'envie" pour le bronzage d'Obama
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: ROME | Le chef du gouvernement italien Silvio Berlusconi a une nouvelle fois évoqué le "bronzage" de Barack Obama, et Naomi Campbell, affirmant éprouver de "l'envie", en dépit des polémiques qu'une remarque similaire a provoqué il y a 15 jours.

"Mon compliment à Barack est un peu envieux. Nous aimerions tous être bronzés comme Naomi Campbell et Obama", a-t-il dit, selon l'agence Ansa, au cours d'une conférence de presse à Pescara, sur la côte adriatique dans le centre de l'Italie.

Il y a 15 jours, au cours d'une visite à Moscou, Silvio Berlusconi avait qualifié Barack Obama, premier président noir des Etats-Unis, de "jeune, beau et même bronzé".

M. Berlusconi s'est défendu en qualifiant son commentaire de "plaisanterie affectueuse" et a qualifié ses détracteurs d'"imbéciles" et de "couillons".

Le chef du gouvernement a été vivement critiqué par l'opposition italienne pour cette "plaisanterie", également considérée comme une gaffe par de nombreux médias à l'étranger. [Source: TDG] afp | 23.11.2008

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Frankreich: Die Ring-Affäre der umstrittenen Ministerin Dati
Foto von Rachida Dati, Frankreichs Justizministerin, dank der Welt
WELT ONLINE: Frankreichs Justizministerin Rachida Dati wird für Nicolas Sarkozy zunehmend zum Problem. Sie begeht einen handwerklichen Fehler nach dem anderen und stößt mit ihrem Strafrechtsreformvorhaben auf scharfe Kritik. Ihr momentan größtes Problem ist jedoch ein diamantenbesetzter Ring.

Und dann auch noch die Geschichte mit dem Ring. Als hätte Rachida Dati nicht genug um die Ohren. Am vorigen Mittwoch veröffentlichte die Zeitung „Le Figaro“ ein Interview mit Frankreichs Justizministerin. Unter Druck geraten, nachdem 534 Staatsanwälte in einer Petition ihre Strafrechtsreformvorhaben als „unzusammenhängend“ kritisiert hatten, verteidigte die Ministerin ihre Pläne kühl.

Doch dafür interessierte sich kurz danach kaum noch jemand. Stattdessen sprachen alle nur noch über den Ring: Der „Figaro“ hatte das Interview mit einem Foto von Dati illustriert, das ein Fotograf des Blattes im Juni während einer Sitzung im Senat aufgenommen hatte. In der nun veröffentlichten Version fehlt allerdings ein kleines Detail, das auf dem Originalfoto deutlich zu sehen ist: ein 16.000 Euro teurer diamantenbesetzter Ring, Modell „Leins“ (Bindungen) aus dem Juwelierhaus Chaumet.

Die Fotoredaktion des „Figaro“ hatte kurzerhand entschieden, das edle Schmuckstück wegzuretouchieren. Man habe nicht gewollt, dass „der Ring Gegenstand einer Polemik wird, obwohl das eigentliche Thema die Beschwerde der Magistrate ist“, rechtfertigte sich die Chefin der Bildredaktion des Blattes. Doch nachdem herauskam, dass das Foto manipuliert worden war, entstand genau die Diskussion, die das Blatt der Ministerin ersparen wollte. Dem „Figaro“ blieb nur noch übrig zu beteuern, Dati habe mit dieser redaktionellen Entscheidung „nichts zu tun“ gehabt.

Die Ringaffäre traf Dati am Ende einer Woche, in der die 42 Jahre alte Tochter eines Marokkaners und eine Algerierin unter Beschuss stand wie selten zuvor in ihrer blitzartig verlaufenden politischen Karriere. Die erste Muslimin im Ministeramt, Frankreichs Antwort auf Barack Obama, sei vom „Emblem zum Problem“ für die Regierung Sarkozy geworden, schrieb das Magazin „Express“, und der „Parisien“ ist sich bereits sicher: „C'est fini.“ Die Geduld des Staatschefs mit dem Liebling der Glamourpostillen sei zu Ende, nachdem diese einen handwerklichen Fehler nach dem anderen begehe. >>> Von Sascha Lehnartz | 23. November 2008

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Boris’ Immigrants Amnesty Is 'Naïve'
THE OBSERVER: As London mayor's plan is attacked by Labour and his own party, a rift with Cameron looms

Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, was branded 'naive' yesterday after raising the prospect of an amnesty for illegal immigrants, a move that puts him in open opposition to Conservative leader David Cameron.

Johnson's plan to study the potential benefits of an amnesty was attacked by the government's Phil Woolas, who said it could lead to more people being exploited by traffickers. It was also ruled out by Johnson's own party, as shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve warned that an amnesty would be 'massively counter-productive'.

Woolas, the Immigration Minister, said: 'I think this is naive of the mayor. His comments might start with the best of intentions but will lead to more people-traffickers making more money and exploiting more vulnerable individuals.

'The UK Border Agency is committed to stopping illegal migration. We are putting in place the biggest shake-up of the immigration system for 45 years and are seeing the results. We are putting more resources into expelling foreign lawbreakers and last year we removed one person every eight minutes.'

Johnson's comments risk opening a rift between himself and Cameron, with whom he clashed on the issue of an amnesty earlier this year. It will do nothing to quell speculation that the maverick mayor is positioning himself as a rival to his party leader, particularly at a moment of Tory weakness in the polls.

Grieve told The Observer yesterday: 'Our policy remains unchanged. We're not in favour of having an amnesty, because the evidence is overwhelming that amnesties encourage more people to come into this country as illegal immigrants. We've considered this very carefully and remain firmly of the opinion that to have an amnesty at the present time with the current state of our borders would be potentially massively counter-productive. >>> David Smith | Sunday, November 23, 2008

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Obama nomme le prochain porte-parole de la Maison-Blanche
LE FIGARO: Pour ce poste sensible et très exposé, le président élu a choisi un fidèle qui l'accompagne depuis 2004.

Le président élu américain Barack Obama a nommé Robert Gibbs, son ancien directeur de communication pendant la campagne, porte-parole de la Maison Blanche, a annoncé samedi l'équipe de transition dans un communiqué.

Brillant tacticien, M. Gibbs, 37 ans, a été pendant la longue et rude campagne présidentielle le directeur de la communication et le porte-parole de Barack Obama, qu'il a accompagné dans tous ses déplacements, mettant au point les stratégies de communication du candidat démocrate.

Originaire de l'Arkansas (sud), Robert Gibbs avait rejoint l'équipe Obama pendant sa course au Sénat en 2004 et avait été la même année le porte-parole de John Kerry pendant sa campagne présidentielle malheureuse. >>> lefigaro.fr avec AFP | 22.11.2008

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The Religion of Love and Peace? 'Israel Spy' Put to Death in Iran
Photo of Ali Ashtari courtesy of the BBC
BBC: Iran has hanged a telecoms engineer convicted of spying for Israel, reports from Tehran say.

Ali Ashtari, an Iranian, was convicted in June of spying for Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency. A video said to be of his confession was broadcast on TV.

He was convicted of sending "sensitive information on military, defence and research centres" for three years.

Israeli officials were quoted in June as saying that Israel was not familiar with the case.

Announcing the execution, which reportedly took place on Monday, Iran's official news agency said the case against the 45-year-old was clear and his appeal was summarily dismissed.

"He had spied for Mossad for three years," the state news agency quoted the intelligence ministry's director of counter-terrorism as saying. >>> | Novemebr 22, 2008

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The Gathering Storm Radio Show: Robert Spencer Interviewed by Always On Watch and WC on Stealth Jihad
To the show >>>
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Muslims to Be Offered Sharia-compliant Pensions by Government
The game must now surely be about up! - ©Mark
THE TELEGRAPH: Muslims are to be offered Sharia-compliant pension funds by a new Government body.

The scheme to provide retirement funds for millions who do not already have a company pension is likely to include a special option that would not invest in companies deemed sinful under Islam.

Ministers are keen to get Muslims saving with the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority, as many who have low-paid jobs or who have moved to Britain in recent decades are unlikely to have put away much for their old age.

The decision to provide a Sharia-compliant pension fund is another sign of the growing influence of Islamic law in British public life and in particular the country's finance industry.

The prospect of some aspects of Sharia law such as divorce proceedings and dispute resolution being enshrined in the English legal system – raised by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chief Justice this year – remains highly controversial because of fears that the system discriminates against women and that a two-tier approach would be divisive.

But more and more financial products are being tailored to cater for Britain's population of 2million Muslims.

The religion's holy book, the Qu'ran, forbids Muslims from making money from money, so they cannot use products that involve the charging of interest nor invest in traditional financial services firms.

Gambling, drinking and pornography are also seen as immoral under Islam, so Muslims cannot put their money into companies that promote these activities.

The Islamic finance market is estimated to be worth £500million already and is growing rapidly.

Families can already get Sharia-compliant baby bonds under the Government's Child Trust Fund scheme while the UK is likely to become the first Western country to issue Islamic bonds in order to raise money from the Middle East.

This year has also seen the launch of Britain's first Islamic insurance company and pre-paid MasterCard. There are a handful of wholly Islamic banks in the country and several more that offer alternatives to mortgages which do not involve the charging of interest. >>> By Martin Beckford, Social Affairs Correspondent | November 21, 2008

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Libia - Figlio Gheddafi: Tripoli pronta a investire negli Usa
VIRGILIO: Fondo sovrano "ha evitato lo tsunami" e ha scelto l'America

New York, (Ap) - La Libia è pronta a investire negli Stati Uniti parte del suo fondo sovrano, pari a circa 100 miliardi di dollari. Lo ha confermato il figlio di Muammar Gheddafi, Seif al Islam, senza precisare l'entità della cifra che Tripoli intende stanziare per i suoi investimenti.

"Siamo brave persone, piacevoli. Ci piace lavorare. Investiremo. Abbiamo amici negli States e apriremo un nuovo capitolo nelle nostre relazioni" con gli Stati Uniti, ha detto Seif al Islam Gheddafi in un'intervista all'Associated Press.

Il figlio del leader libico ha confermato che il fondo sovrano di Tripoli "intende investire in America" nonostante l'attuale crisi finanziaria. Senza precisare la cifra, Seif al Islam ha aggiunto che il fondo sovrano libico "ha evitato lo tsunami" finanziario perché si tratta di un fondo nuovo. "Siamo sfuggiti al rischio e adesso siamo in una buona posizione per investire", ha aggiunto.

Seif Gheddafi ha anche spiegato perché la Libia ha scelto gli Stati Uniti. "Questo è un grande paese con la maggiore economia al mondo e offre grandi opportunità", ha commentato. [Origine: Virgilio] APCOM | 22.11.2008

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"God Hates Australia!"
WESTENDER (Brisbane): Fundamentalist US Church accuses Australia of sodomy, idolatry, apostasy and peverted sex, among other things

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, are being urged to picket the Australian Consulate in Chicago, Illinois, in "religious protest and warning."

According to protest organisers, Australia is a "Sodomite nation, an evil and dangerous country practicing morbid idolatry and every form of peverted sex."

The Church went on to say "Their island insulation from reality is no excuse for their apostasy and their filfthy abandonment to Sodomy."

The Westboro Baptist Church is notorious for its uncompromising and vehement stance on social issues in the US, accusing even conservative religious leaders of being soft on homosexualtiy.

Since 1991, WBC has conducted over 34,000 peaceful demonstrations opposing "the fag lifestyle of soul-damning, nation-destroying filth."

The picket is planned for the morning of Monday, December 8. [Source: Westender] Undated

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Goodbye, First Amendment?
JIHAD WATCH: As Islamic nations pressure the UN to outlaw "defamation of Islam" -- by which they mean any honest examination of the motives and goals of jihad terrorists -- Obama's pick for Attorney General sends a disquieting signal. >>> Robert Spencer | November 21, 2008


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Opinion: Obama to Bridge the West and Islam
THE JAKARTA POST: Americans can be grateful to Indonesia for the contributions the Indonesian culture made to the character of a bright, sensitive, young boy named Barack Hussein Obama who was known to his Indonesian school mates from 1967 to 1971 as "Barry."

The United States will soon have a President who has a profound understanding and respect for Islam gained from having been immersed in "the real Indonesia" of the kampong during his first two years in Indonesia and from his later exposure to the tolerance and pluralistic attitudes at SD Besuki Mentang in Jakarta.

In The Audacity of Hope, the future President of the United States recalls that "our family was not well off in those early years; the Indonesian Army did not pay its lieutenants much. ...without the money to go to the international school that most expatriate children attended, I went to local Indonesian schools and ran the streets with the children of farmers, servants, tailors, and clerks."

Obama writes that he "remembered those years as a joyous time, full of adventure and mystery -- days of chasing down chickens and running from water buffalo, nights of shadow puppets and ghost stories and street vendors (kaki lima) bringing delectable sweets to our door." When his Indonesian stepfather left the military and obtained a job in the oil sector the young Obama was fortunate to attend SD Besuki Mentang, where he studied alongside Muslim, Christian, and Hindu students.

Today Obama knows the Muazzin's call to prayer by heart having lived in the shadow of a Mosque from when he was seven until he was eleven years old. He studied the tenets of Pancasila and can take to heart the motto enshrined on the Indonesian Coat of Arms, Bhinneka Tunggal lka (unity in diversity) which could well be the motto of his own administration. >>> Peter F. Spalding, Washington DC | November 22, 2008

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Malaysian Fatwa Council Bans Yoga for Muslims, Star Reports
BLOOMBERG: Malaysia’s National Fatwa Council today issued a religious edict banning Muslims from practicing yoga, saying it involves physical movements such as chanting that are prohibited in the religion, the Star reported today.

The decision was made after Zakaria Stapa, a lecturer at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, advised Muslims against taking yoga classes on concern they may deviate from the teachings of Islam, the report said.

More than 60 percent of Malaysia’s 27 million people practice Islam. The council is the religious body in Malaysia that issues fatwas for Muslims in the country. Their decisions are not legally binding. [Source: Bloomberg] By Soraya Permatasari | November 21, 2008

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British Terror Mastermind Rashid Rauf 'Killed in US Missile Strike'
THE TELEGRAPH: A fugitive British terrorist has been killed in a US missile strike in Pakistan.

Rashid Rauf, 27, who grew up in Birmingham, was killed along with at least three other militants in the attack on the house of a local tribesman in the North Waziristan area,

A US drone targeted the home in the village of Alikhel, part of a district known as a stronghold for al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

"The transatlantic bombing plot alleged mastermind Rashid Rauf was killed along with an Egyptian al-Qaeda operative in the US missile strike in North Waziristan," a senior Pakistani security official said.

Rauf, who has been on the run after escaping from a Pakistani jail nearly a year ago, was said to have played a key role in a liquid bomb plot allegedly targeting transatlantic airliners in 2006.

Rauf, a British national who used to live in Birmingham, escaped from Pakistani authorities after appearing before a judge in an Islamabad court in December last year. At the time, he could have faced extradition to Britain within weeks.

After the escape, Khalid Pervez, a city police official, said that Rauf managed to open his handcuffs and evade police guards taking him back to Adiala prison in the nearby city of Rawalpindi. >>> By Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter | November 22, 2008

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Dallas se souvient de JFK 
et prie pour Obama
Photo de JFK grâce aux Google Images
LE FIGARO: L'anniversaire de l'assassinat de John Fitzgerald Kennedy ravive les inquiétudes avec l'arrivée à la Maison-Blanche d'un jeune élu noir qui lui est souvent comparé.

Pour Kenneth Salyer, le souvenir de l'assassinat de John Fitzgerald Kennedy le 22 novembre 1963 n'a jamais été si vivant que depuis la victoire de Barack Obama. Il partageait ses impressions cette semaine au 6th Floor Museum de Dallas, le musée érigé à la mémoire de JFK dans l'entrepôt de livres, d'où Harvey Lee Oswald tira depuis une fenêtre du 6e étage sur le président.

Ce n'est pas tant le souvenir de son impuissance face au président mourant qui fait surgir des larmes dans ses yeux, que le sentiment d'avoir vu disparaître à ce moment-là «l'espoir» que JFK symbolisait pour l'Amérique et qu'il retrouve aujourd'hui en Barack Obama. «Ce fut le jour le plus triste de ma vie, mais les deux hommes m'inspirent de la même façon, confie-t-il, tout comme Kennedy, Obama porte en lui cette promesse que l'esprit américain est bien vivant, qu'on peut construire un monde meilleur».

Kenneth Salyer était de garde au Parkland Hospital de Dallas, lorsque le président mortellement blessé arriva aux urgences peu après 12 h 30. Placé sur sa droite, du côté où une partie du crâne avait disparu, il avait pour mission d'enlever un corset que JFK portait en permanence, afin de pratiquer un massage cardiaque. Celui-ci s'avéra très vite inutile. Le plus jeune président des États-Unis fut déclaré mort à 13 heures. «Contrairement à ce qui se dit, Jackie Kennedy était bien restée dans la salle tout ce temps-là», tient à préciser le chirurgien. «Ce jour-là, dit-il avec émotion, je me suis promis que la ville de Dallas ne resterait pas seulement dans les mémoires pour avoir été celle où a été assassiné John Kennedy.» >>> Par Adèle Smith, envoyée spéciale du Fugaro à Dallas | 21. November 2008

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La Suède ratifie le traité
 de Lisbonne
LE FIGARO: Stockholm est devenu jeudi la 25e capitale européenne à ratifier le nouveau traité.

Les parlementaires suédois étaient réunis jeudi en session pour donner leur feu vert au traité de Lisbonne. Un projet de loi du gouvernement ayant reçu l'aval de la commission des Affaires étrangères, la ratification n'a pas rencontré d'obstacle malgré l'opposition, minoritaire, des Verts et de la gauche.

Cette étape franchie, Stockholm devient la 25e capitale de l'Union à avaliser le nouveau traité européen. Hormis l'Irlande qui a répondu «non» par référendum, le 12 juin dernier, la République tchèque, prochaine présidente du Conseil européen, doit encore se prononcer. >>> Alain Barluet | 21.11.2008

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Konkurrenz im Jenseits: Auf der Suche nach dem Leben nach dem Tod
Foto von dieser Englestatue in einem Friedhof in Hannover dank der Welt
WELT ONLINE: Gibt es ein Leben nach dem Tod? Gut die Hälfte der Deutschen glauben daran. Doch der Glaube an die Unsterblichkeit ist längst kein Monopol der Christen mehr. Friedwälder, bunte Beerdigungszeremonien und die Kommunikation mit Verstorben über das Internet zeigen – um das Jenseits ist eine Konkurrenz entbrannt.

Man kann an ein Leben nach dem Tod glauben, ohne an die Auferstehung zu denken. Zwar sind nach verschiedenen Umfragen gut 50 Prozent der Deutschen davon überzeugt, dass mit dem Tod nicht alles zu Ende ist. Aber im christlichen Sinne religiös sind sie damit noch lange nicht. Sogar 70 Prozent der befragten Schüler zeigten sich bei einer Erhebung der Zeitschrift „Eltern Family“ von einem Weiterleben überzeugt, doch glaubten dabei 19 Prozent „an ihre Wiedergeburt“, 14 Prozent an ein Wiedersehen mit der Familie oder Freunden. 13 Prozent stellten sich eine Existenz ohne Streit und Angst vor, nur neun Prozent ein ewiges Leben im Reich Gottes.

Offenbar gründen die Unsterblichkeitshoffnungen vieler Deutscher „nicht mehr in der rituellen Vergegenwärtigung einer Erlösertat, die den Tod durch Auferstehung relativiert“, wie die Soziologen Hubert Knoblauch und Arnold Zingerle schreiben. Die „Auferstehungsgläubigen“, erklärt der katholische Theologe Michael Ebertz, geraten in die Minderheit. Stattdessen ruhen die Hoffnungen der Menschen auf durchaus austauschbaren Garantiemächten. >>> Von Gernot Facius und Matthias Kamann | November 22, 2008

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Österreich: Winter wird auch „Tierbordell“-Satz vorgeworfen
DIE PRESSE: Die FPÖ-Politikerin und Peter Westenthaler (BZÖ) stehen vor der Aufhebung der Immunität. Gegen Winter gibt es neue Vorwürfe. Sie soll ein "Tierbordell" für muslimische Männer gefordert haben.

WIEN(oli). „Das wird der Immunitätsausschuss entscheiden“, heißt es offiziell aus der ÖVP. Dem Vernehmen nach dürfte aber auch die ÖVP der Aufhebung der Immunität der FPÖ-Abgeordneten Susanne Winter zustimmen. Da SPÖ und Grüne sicher zustimmen werden, wäre eine Mehrheit gegeben. Sogar FPÖ-Chef Strache zeigte sich gestern dazu bereit.

Grund des Auslieferungsantrags sind nicht mehr nur die Aussagen Winters bei jener FPÖ-Veranstaltung in Unterpremstätten, bei der sie davon sprach, dass der Prophet Mohammed nach heutigen Maßstäben ein Kinderschänder gewesen sei und der Islam jenseits des Mittelmeers zurückgeworfen werden müsse. Winter wird nun auch vorgehalten, in einer Grazer Schule gesagt zu haben: „Wir sollten im Stadtpark ein Tierbordell errichten, damit die muslimischen Männer dorthin gehen können und sich nicht an den Mädchen im Stadtpark vergreifen.“ Ein entsprechendes Schreiben erging an die Mitglieder des Immunitätsausschusses. >>> | 19. November 2008

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Treffen in Indien: Tibets junge Mönche wollen Kampf gegen China
Foto dank der Welt
WELT ONLINE: Das Treffen der Exil-Tibeter in Indien legt einen Generationenkonflikt offen. Die Geister scheiden sich am Umgang mit Peking. Noch hat der Dalai Lama die Kontrolle. Er duldet nur friedlichen Widerstand. Doch jüngere Mönche sind das Warten auf ein Einlenken Chinas leid. Sie wollen die Autonomität ihres Landes erkämpfen.

Der alte Mönch in der dunkelroten Kutte hält die Hitzköpfe zurück. Noch. Ohne den Dalai Lama und seinen unerschütterlichen Glauben an eine gewaltfreie Lösung wären die Tibeter womöglich längst zu einer zweiten Palästinenserbewegung oder IRA geworden. Sie hätten ihre verlorene Heimat vielleicht mit Bomben und Terror von den chinesischen Besatzern zurückgefordert. Doch ihr geistiges Oberhaupt hält sie an der Leine und beharrt seit fast 50 Jahren auf dem „mittleren Weg“: Kompromisse, friedlicher Dialog und stoisch sanftes Lächeln. Jetzt aber scheint der Friedensnobelpreisträger mit seinem Latein am Ende. „Mein Vertrauen in die chinesische Regierung schwindet“, hatte er kürzlich resigniert erklärt und offen wie nie zuvor ein mögliches Scheitern seiner Bemühungen zugegeben.

Jetzt sollen Jüngere entscheiden, wie es weitergehen kann. Der Dalai Lama rief im nordindischen Dharamsala zu einer Krisensitzung über den künftigen Kurs der Tibeter gegenüber China – die erste ihrer Art, seit die tibetische Regierung vor fast fünf Jahrzehnten über den Himalaja in die Freiheit floh.

Seine Heiligkeit selbst hält sich heraus, wartet auf die Ergebnisse, die ihm am Sonntag vorgelegt werden. Sechs Tage lang haben rund 600 Delegierte hinter verschlossenen Türen diskutiert. >>> Von Sophie Mühlmann | 22. November 2008

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Stupid Is as Stupid Talks!

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Hillary Clinton Accepts Barack Obama's Offer to Be Secretary of State
Photo of Hillary Rodham Clinton courtesy of The Times
THE TELEGRAPH: Senator Hillary Clinton has accepted President-Elect Barack Obama's offer to become Secretary of State, the second most prestigious job in the country, according to friends.

She will give up her seat as a senator for New York and become the international face of the administration of the man who defeated her in a long and sometimes bitter battle for the Democratic Party's nomination.

With other reports saying Mr Obama will name his economic team on Monday, he could have completed much of his most important recruitment at an unprecedented early stage, just three weeks after his momentous victory on Nov 4.

NBC News reported that he will nominate Timothy Geithner, 47, as treasury secretary. As head of the New York federal reserve bank he has been involved with $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, which he will take charge of if he is confirmed.

After days of deliberation, friends of Mrs Clinton told the New York Times that she had put aside her doubts about yielding her senate seat after consulting Mr Obama again on what her role would be.

Friends were earlier quoted as saying that the 61-year-old former First Lady is concerned about what would come after her four years - the usual term - as the nation's top diplomat. As a representative of liberal New York state, she probably had a safe Senate seat for life.

However she is the junior of two senators from the state, and even after eight years in the Senate remains a long way down the pecking order of Democratic senators. She is several years away from one of the coveted committee chairmanships, such as foreign affairs, health or the environment, and the party's leadership in the Senate is unwilling to break precedent by letting her jump the queue.

As Secretary of State she would be arguably the second most powerful person in the country, and would be serving at a particularly critical time in US history.

"She will be aware that the influence of secretary of state on foreign policy is comparable to the whole of the senate," said Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the liberal Brookings Institution think tank.

The only doubts about her appointment within the Obama camp were removed after the vetting team pronounced themselves satisfied after examining his extensive overseas financial connections. >>> By Alex Spillius in Washington | November 21, 2008

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Thor Steinar and the Changing Look of the German Far Right
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Shaved heads, bomber jackets, black boots with white shoelaces -- it used to be easy to spot a neo-Nazi. But young far-right extremists are wearing more stylish and more coded clothes.

Lilian Engelmann never thought she would see neo-Nazis on her block. The young art curator works in a gallery in the trendy district of Mitte, a neighborhood in central Berlin. Her neighbors include an international cinema, designer hat store, Vietnamese restaurant and -- as of last February -- a store called Tönsberg, which sells clothing popular among right-wing extremists.

"By coming here, the neo-Nazis tried to come into the center of society," Engelmann told SPIEGEL ONLINE. Once local residents and shopowners learned that Tönsberg planned to sell the clothing brand Thor Steinar, they organized against the store. The group led by Engelmann and other shopowners called itself the "Mitte Initiative Against the Far Right," and mounted regular protests.

Neo-Nazis are a fringe group in Germany, where Holocaust denial, praise of Adolf Hitler and the display of Nazi symbols are all illegal. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the government's domestic intelligence agency, estimates there are about 40,000 active members of the German far right. The agency can shut down Kameradschaften, gangs or brotherhoods which tend to be violent, but many other groups in the neo-Nazi scene often fly under the legal radar -- like rock bands with suggestive lyrics or stylish clothing companies with coded symbols. As long as they don't display swastikas or explicitly support Hitler or his party, these groups are left alone.

Do These Sneakers Make Me Look Neo-Nazi?

Thor Steinar goods were banned in 2004 because of the logo's similarity to symbols worn by SS officers. But the company has rebranded, and its new look is legal. This presents a dilemma for Engelmann's group. Symbols and speech not obviously related to Nazism are protected by German law. So instead of trying to run the store out, her group decided to educate passersby about Tönsberg.

The group won permission from authorities in Mitte to set up a public display detailing the history of the Holocaust, the recent far right scene and neo-Nazi symbols and culture. Three tall boxes plastered with dossiers dot Rosa-Luxemburg Street in Berlin, where Engelmann's gallery stands near Tönsberg.

"We've had people come in and ask, 'If I buy these sneakers, are they sending neo-Nazi signals?'" said Engelmann. "People have a better idea of what kind of store it is."

"People" includes passersby, but also landlords. On Oct. 14, a Berlin court ruled that Tönsberg's landlord was allowed to kick the store out because Tönsberg had failed to fully disclose what types of products it would sell. A similar court decision on Oct. 28 will clear out a store selling Thor Steinar clothing in Magdeburg, a city in eastern Germany. A Hamburg store shut down in early October after protests. Three further stores in Germany sell Thor Steinar goods, but a legal decision on one of them, in Leipzig, is pending.

The brand also stirred a recent controversy in Berlin after a plainclothes policeman wore a Thor Steinar shirt while on duty at a demonstration to mark the anniversary of Kristallnacht -- the Nazi-orchestrated pogroms that swept Germany on November 9, 1938. Dieter Glietsch, head of police in Berlin, said ignorance of the brand was not an excuse. "That a police officer walks around wearing Thor Steinar clothes during the anniversary of the pogrom calls for a thorough investigation," he told the Tagesspiegel newspaper. "It is not as if in Berlin people don't know what the label stands for." >>> By Rachel Nolan in Berlin | November 20, 2008

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Yemen 'Faces Crisis as Oil Ends'
BBC: Yemen is facing an economic and political crisis as the country's oil resources near exhaustion, a report by a London-based think-tank says.

The Royal Institute for International Affairs warns that instability there could expand a zone of lawlessness from northern Kenya to Saudi Arabia.

It describes Yemen's democracy as "fragile" and points to armed conflicts with Islamists and tribal insurgents.

One diplomat says that the country's prospects get worse every month.

The World Bank predicts that Yemen's oil and gas revenues will plummet over the next two years and fall to zero by 2017 as supplies run out.

Given that they provide around 90% of the country's exports, this could be catastrophic.

An unnamed energy expert is quoted in the report as saying that this points to economic collapse within four of five years time. >>> By Martin Plaut, BBC News | November 20, 2008

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An Insight into the Mind of Anjem Choudary

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Obama and Islam

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US Jews, Muslims Launch Unprecedented Drive against Anti-Semitism, Xenophobia
HAARETZ: Dozens of synagogues and mosques across the United States and Canada are to take part in a first-of-its-kind three-day joint public relations campaign against anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim xenophobia beginning on Friday.

The initiative, which was given the code-name "Twinning," calls for close cooperation between rabbis and imams based in some of the largest cities in North America, including Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Palm Beach, St. Louis, and Washington DC.

Organizers say the venture, which will encompass an estimated 100,000 Jews and Muslims, will feature rabbis appearing before Muslim congregants in mosques while imams address Jewish worshipers at synagogues. In addition, workshops and symposiums will be held to examine ways to combat anti-Semitism and anti-Islamic hatred. >>> By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent | November 21, 2008

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Massenproteste in Bagdad gegen Sicherheitsplan der USA: Sadr fordert sofortigen Abzug der US-Truppen aus Zweistromland
NZZ Online: Tausende von Iraker haben in der irakischen Hauptstadt Bagdad gegen das Sicherheitsabkommen mit den USA protestiert, das den weiteren Einsatz der amerikanischen Truppen in dem Land regeln soll.

(sda/afp) Die Demonstranten, die am Freitag einem Aufruf des radikalen Schiitenpredigers Moktada Sadr gefolgt waren, forderten den sofortigen Abzug der amerikanischen Soldaten. >>> | 21. November 2008

ASSOCIATED PRESS: Bush Effigy Burned in Anti-US Protest in Baghdad

BAGHDAD — Followers of a Shiite cleric on Friday stomped on and burned an effigy of President George W. Bush in the same central Baghdad square where Iraqis beat a toppled statue of Saddam Hussein with their sandals five years earlier.

Chanting and waving flags, thousands of Muqtada al-Sadr's followers filled Firdous Square to protest a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security pact that would allow American troops to stay for three more years. The Bush effigy was placed on the same pedestal where U.S. Marines toppled the ousted dictator's statue in one of the iconic images of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

After a mass prayer, demonstrators pelted the effigy with plastic water bottles and sandals. One man hit it in the face with his sandal. The effigy fell head first into the crowd and protesters jumped on it before setting it ablaze.

Before it fell, the effigy held a sign that said: "The security agreement ... shame and humiliation."

Iraq's parliament is expected to vote next week on the plan to keep U.S. forces in Iraq for another three years. But the noisy opposition by the Sadrists indicates that even if it is approved, the deal could remain divisive in a country struggling for reconciliation.

Opponents view the security deal as a surrender to U.S. interests despite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, saying the pact would eventually lead to full sovereignty.

Al-Sadr, who is believed to be in Iran, was not at the protest, though he wrote a sermon read by his representative, Sheik Abdul Hadi al-Mohammadawi, calling the U.S. "the enemy of Islam."

"The government must know that it is the people who help it in the good and the bad times. If it throws the occupier out all the Iraqi people will stand by it," the sermon read, using common rhetoric for the United States.

Al-Sadr reiterated in the sermon that his followers in both the armed and the peaceful factions of his movement will continue to work for the removal of U.S. forces. >>> By Hamza Hendawi | November 21, 2008

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Muslime im Lande der Gauchos: In Buenos Aires steht die grösste Moschee Lateinamerikas
NZZ Online: In Argentinien leben rund eine halbe Million Muslime. Sie vertreten eine moderate Form des Islam, und das Zusammenleben der drei monotheistischen Religionen gilt als problemlos. Saudiarabien hat vor zehn Jahren die grösste Moschee Lateinamerikas finanziert.

Buenos Aires, im November

Es ist 12 Uhr mittags. Vor dem Eingang zum islamischen Kulturzentrum «König Fahd – Wächter der zwei heiligen Moscheen» in Buenos Aires warten gut drei Dutzend Personen auf eine öffentliche Führung. Wie der Direktor des Zentrums, der Saudi Saad Helail Alzewaihri, später im Gespräch erklärt, ist es ihm sehr wichtig, dass das Zentrum auch für Nichtmuslime offensteht. Deshalb finden zweimal wöchentlich öffentliche Führungen statt, zu denen man ohne Voranmeldung erscheinen kann. Das zwischen 1998 und 2000 von Saudiarabien für 22 Millionen Dollar errichtete Zentrum beherbergt die grösste Moschee Lateinamerikas mit zwei stattlichen Minaretten. Die Moschee bietet Platz für 1500 Gläubige, wobei für die Frauen ein um ein Stockwerk erhöhter separater Gebetsraum mit Blick in den Hauptraum geschaffen wurde.

Für die Zukunft geplant

Das grosszügig angelegte Zentrum ist in einem schlichten Stil mit arabischen Architekturelementen erbaut. Es umfasst eine Fläche von nicht weniger als 3,6 Hektaren, wovon 2 Hektaren überbaut sind. Auf dem Rundgang kommt es einem etwas menschenleer und überdimensioniert vor. In der Tat füllt sich die Moschee zum Freitagsgebet nicht, wie unser Führer, Fernando Refai, erzählt, doch zur Feier am Ende des letzten Ramadan seien immerhin über 1000 Personen gekommen. Offensichtlich wurde beim Bau des Komplexes mit einem deutlichen Anstieg der Zahl der Gläubigen gerechnet. Bei einer kurzen Einführung in der Eingangshalle zur Moschee erhalten die Besucher mehrere religiöse Broschüren, die ihnen den Islam näherbringen sollen. Die Gewinnung neuer Gläubiger scheint auch ein Ziel des Zentrums zu sein. Direktor Alzewaihri spricht von einer nicht unbedeutenden Zahl von Übertritten in letzter Zeit.

Ansteigen wird auf jeden Fall die Zahl der Schüler in der integrierten, vor zwei Jahren eröffneten Schule. Diese besteht zurzeit aus der Vorschulstufe und dem 1. und 2. Schuljahr. Jedes Jahr soll ein weiteres Schuljahr hinzugefügt werden. Zurzeit sind 130 Schüler eingeschrieben, überraschenderweise sind 90 Prozent davon keine Muslime. Das Zentrum bietet attraktive Schulgebühren. Es folgt dem gesetzlich festgelegten argentinischen Lehrplan und offeriert zusätzlich – fakultativ, wie der Führer betont – Arabisch- und Islam-Unterricht. Zukünftig soll für Schüler aus dem Landesinnern auch ein Internat eingerichtet werden.

Das Zentrum verfügt auch über eine öffentlich zugängliche Bibliothek mit Büchern auf Spanisch und Arabisch – die grösste Sammlung arabischer Literatur in Argentinien, wie der Direktor stolz erklärt. Arabisch wird für Erwachsene in kostenlosen Kursen angeboten. Das Zentrum besitzt ausserdem Räumlichkeiten für Konferenzen sowie für temporäre Ausstellungen, die den Argentiniern das arabisch-islamische Kulturgut näherbringen sollen. Auf dem Areal befindet sich sogar ein Fussballplatz, der von den Jugendlichen des Quartiers benützt werden darf und auf dem regelmässig Freundschaftsspiele zwischen Botschaften verschiedener Länder ausgetragen werden. >>> Werner Marti, Lateinamerikakorrspondent der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung | November 2008

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The Sun: Michael Jackson si è convertito all'islam
RAINEWS 24: Michael Jackson la celebre e discussa pop star americana si e' convertita all'Islam: lo scrive il tabloid britannico Sun. Il suo nome musulmano sarebbe ora Mikaeel, quello di uno degli angeli di Allah.

La pop-star, cresciuta dalla famiglia come Testimone di Geova, si sarebbe convertita per migliorare la propria vita, come successo a molti suoi amici recentemente diventati musulmani. Secondo il giornale la cerimonia sarebbe avvenuta, alla presenza di un imam, in casa dell'amico Steve Porcaro, a Los Angeles.

Michael Jackson e' atteso nel fine settimana a Londra, dove deve deporre nella causa intentata contro di lui da uno sceicco del Bahrein che lo accusa di aver violato un contratto, e chiede un indennizzo di 7 milioni di dollari. Jackson dovrebbe deporre in aula da lunedi'. [Origine: RAINEWS 24] Londra | 21 novembre 2008

THE SUN: The Way You Mecca Me Feel

MICHAEL JACKSON has become a Muslim — and changed his name to MIKAEEL.

The skint superstar, 50, donned Islamic garb to pledge allegiance to the Koran in a ceremony at a pal’s mansion in Los Angeles, The Sun can reveal.

Jacko sat on the floor wearing a tiny hat after an Imam was summoned to officiate — days before the singer is due to appear at London’s High Court where he is being sued by an Arab sheik.

A source told last night how Jacko, brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness, decided to convert as he used a studio at the home of his chum to record a new album.

The star — whose hits include The Way You Make Me Feel — was spotted looking “a bit down” by a producer and a songwriter who had both embraced Islam. >>> By Neil Syson | November 21, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH: Michael Jackson 'Converts to Islam and Changes Name to Mikaeel'

Michael Jackson apparently used to walk about Bahrain in a woman’s abayah. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
Michael Jackson has reportedly become a Muslim and changed his name to Mikaeel.

The singer, who was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, converted to Islam in a ceremony at a friend's house in Los Angeles.

He is said to have sat on the floor and worn a small hat while an imam officiated.

According to The Sun, the ceremony took place while Jackson, 50, was recording an album at the home of Steve Porcaro, a keyboard player who composed music on his Thriller album.

The former Jackson 5 star was counselled by David Wharnsby, a Canadian songwriter, and Phillip Bubal, a producer, who have both converted. >>> By Graham Tibbetts | November 21, 2008

Is it to be Muhammad, Abdullah or just Mikha'el Jackson? >>>

BILD: Michael Jackson ist jetzt Moslem

Er wurde als Zeuge Jehova aufgezogen, jetzt ist er Moslem: Popstar Michael Jackson (50) hat die Religion gewechselt.

Die Zeremonie in Los Angeles vollzog „Jacko“ alle nötigen Riten. Zu dem Schritt entschlossen hat er sich, während er im Tonstudio eines Freundes an einem neuen Album arbeitete. Das berichtet die „Sun“

Ab jetzt heißt Michael nicht mehr Michael, sondern „Mikael“. Den Namen „Mustafa“, der ihm zuerst angeboten wurde, lehnte er ab.

Quellen zufolge soll Michael, oder besser gesagt Mikael, in L.A. auch Besuch von Yousef Islam (60) bekommen haben, der mit ihm feierte. Der Sänger, besser bekannt als Cat Stevens, war bereits Ende de siebziger Jahre zum Islam konvertiert. >>> | 21. November 2008

BLICK: Michael Jackson ist Muslim!

LOS ANGELES - Erst sein Aussehen, jetzt sein Glaube: Michael Jackson konvergiert [konvertiert / hat sich bekehrt] zum Islam. Doch das ist dem Popstar nicht genug: Er hat jetzt auch noch einen neuen Namen!

Michael Jackson ist wahrlich ein Meister der Verwandlung. Und das in relativ grundlegenden Angelegenheiten. Der Popstar änderte einst seine Hautfarbe. Jetzt wechselt er auch noch seine Konfession. Kein Witz: Michael Jackson ist neu ein Muslim!



Den Religionswechsel vollzog Jackson im Haus eines Freundes in Los Angeles. Bei der Zeremonie war auch ein Imam anwesend. >>> | 21. November 2008

LA STAMPA: Michael Jackson sceglie l'Islam "Da oggi chiamatemi Mikaeel"

La popstar folgorata da Allah lunedì sarà in tribunale. E' accusato di aver intascato il denaro di uno sceicco

LONDRA
Dopo le mille evoluzioni fisiche grazie al bisturi, Michael Jackson si evolve anche nell’anima: il cantante è diventato musulmano e ha cambiato il suo nome in Mikaeel, il nome di uno degli angeli di Allah. È quanto scrive The Sun rivelando i particolari della cerimonia di conversione e ricordando che ciò avviene pochi giorni prima che Jacko, 50 anni, si presenti davanti alla Royal Court of Justice di Londra perché accusato di aver indebitamente intascato 7 milioni di dollari da Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa, secondogenito dello sceicco del Bahrein.

La cerimonia è avvenuta nella casa di Los Angeles di un suo amico, Steve Porcaro, musicista e autore che compose alcuni dei brani contenuti nell’album «Thriller». Erano presenti anche David Wharnsby, compositore canadese, e il produttore Phillip Bubal, entrambi già convertiti all’Islam. Il rito è stato ufficiato da un Imam a un Michael Jackson-Mikaeel, un tempo Testimone di Geova, vestito con la tradizionale tunica bianca. >>> | 21/11/2008

ALL NEWS WEB: Al-Qaeda Welcomes Michael Jackson to Islam

Initial reports are already filtering through that Al-Qaeda has warmly welcomed Michael Jackson into their faith and are confident that this high profile conversion will prove to be the turning point whereby millions of young Americans, already disillusioned by the economic crisis that is sapping Americas confidence will turn to the Koran for inspiration. Sources close to Al Qaeda leadership are said to have have confirmed open satisfaction by leaders including Deputy Ayman Al-Zawahiri according to some Pakistani news services.

It is claimed that Al Qaeda were already most surprised by the fact that Americans were prepared to vote in as President a candidate with some recent Muslim heritage, even if the President-elect is a practising Christian. Now with this latest celebrity conversion feel Al-Qaeda hope that the west is moving religiously towards Mecca. None of this stopped Ayman Al-Zawahiri referring to Obama as a ‘house negro ‘in a recent speech, however much praise was lavished on Malcolm X within the same speech. >>> | November 22, 2008

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Sun Sets on US Power: Report Predicts End of Dominance
THE GUARDIAN: US intelligence: 'We can no longer call shots alone' / European Union will be 'hobbled giant' by 2025 / Triumph of western democracy not certain

The United States' leading intelligence organisation has warned that the world is entering an increasingly unstable and unpredictable period in which the advance of western-style democracy is no longer assured, and some states are in danger of being "taken over and run by criminal networks".

The global trends review, produced by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) every four years, represents sobering reading in Barack Obama's intray as he prepares to take office in January. The country he inherits, the report warns, will no longer be able to "call the shots" alone, as its power over an increasingly multipolar world begins to wane.

Looking ahead to 2025, the NIC (which coordinates analysis from all the US intelligence agencies), foresees a fragmented world, where conflict over scarce resources is on the rise, poorly contained by "ramshackle" international institutions, while nuclear proliferation, particularly in the Middle East, and even nuclear conflict grow more likely.

"Global Trends 2025: A World Transformed" warns that the spread of western democratic capitalism cannot be taken for granted, as it was by George Bush and America's neoconservatives.

"No single outcome seems preordained: the Western model of economic liberalism, democracy and secularism, for example, which many assumed to be inevitable, may lose its lustre – at least in the medium term," the report warns.

It adds: "Today wealth is moving not just from West to East but is concentrating more under state control," giving the examples of China and Russia.

"In the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, the state's role in the economy may be gaining more appeal throughout the world."

At the same time, the US will become "less dominant" in the world – no longer the unrivalled superpower it has been since the end of the Cold War, but a "first among equals" in a more fluid and evenly balanced world, making the unilateralism of the Bush era no longer tenable.

The report predicts that over the next two decades "the multiplicity of influential actors and distrust of vast power means less room for the US to call the shots without the support of strong partnerships."

It is a conclusion that meshes with president elect Obama's stated preference for multilateralism, but the NIC findings suggest that as the years go by it could be harder for Washington to put together "coalitions of the willing" to pursue its agenda. >>> Julian Borger, diplomatic editor | November 20. 2008

TIMESONLINE: National Intelligence Council Report: Sun Setting on the American Century

The next two decades will see a world living with the daily threat of nuclear war, environmental catastrophe and the decline of America as the dominant global power, according to a frighteningly bleak assessment by the US intelligence community.

“The world of the near future will be subject to an increased likelihood of conflict over resources, including food and water, and will be haunted by the persistence of rogue states and terrorist groups with greater access to nuclear weapons,” said the report by the National Intelligence Council, a body of analysts from across the US intelligence community.

The analysts said that the report had been prepared in time for Barack Obama’s entry into the Oval office on January 20, where he will be faced with some of the greatest challenges of any newly elected US president.

“The likelihood that nuclear weapons will be used will increase with expanded access to technology and a widening range of options for limited strikes,” the 121-page assessment said.

The analysts draw attention to an already escalating nuclear arms race in the Middle East and anticipate that a growing number of rogue states will be prepared to share their destructive technology with terror groups. “Over the next 15-20 years reactions to the decisions Iran makes about its nuclear programme could cause a number of regional states to intensify these efforts and consider actively pursuing nuclear weapons,” the report Global Trends 2025 said. “This will add a new and more dangerous dimension to what is likely to be increasing competition for influence within the region,” it said.

The spread of nuclear capabilities will raise questions about the ability of weak states to safeguard them, it added. “If the number of nuclear-capable states increases, so will the number of countries potentially willing to provide nuclear assistance to other countries or to terrorists.” >>> Tim Reid in Washington | November 21, 2008

Read the report in full >>>

NZZ Online:
US-Geheimdienst erwartet Niedergang der USA: Russland und Kanada könnten vom Klimawandel profitieren - Prognose für 2025 vorgelegt >>> | 21. November 2008

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NGOs: Teach Islam to Jews and Judaism to Muslims
THE JERUSALEM POST: A coalition of non-governmental organizations and educators hope to improve Muslim-Jewish coexistence in Israel by teaching Islam to Jews and Judaism to Muslims in the nation's public schools.

"We believe that if there will be more knowledge about Islam among Jews and if Israeli Muslims know more about Judaism this would have a positive effect on social relations," said Rabbi Ron Kronish, head of the Interreligious Coordination Council (ICCI).

"There is a high level of ignorance on both sides which leads to mutual suspicion and stereotyping."

Relations between Israeli Arabs and Jews have deteriorated over the past eight years, particularly after 13 Arabs were killed in what has become known as the October riots of 2000, in support of the second Palestinian intifada.

Acre, one of the few cities in which Jews and Arabs live together, was the most recent flashpoint of violence. Arabs and Jews clashed in the streets after an Arab inadvertently drove his car into a Jewish neighborhood on Yom Kippur.

On Monday in Jerusalem's Mishkanot Sha'ananim neighborhood, a special symposium entitled "Teaching Islam to Jews and Judaism to Muslims in Israel" will be hosted by ICCI together with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung foundation in Israel, al-Qasemi College in Baka al-Gharbiya and the Nemia Levtzion Center for Islamic Studies at the Hebrew University.

The symposium marks the launching of an effort to encourage a deeper understanding of religious differences and similarities. >>> By Matthew Wagner | November 19, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
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Far Right Posting Gains in England
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Fueled by the recession, the groups have won members and seats in recent elections.

LONDON - For decades, the tiny city of Stoke-on-Trent in central England has been a stronghold for the country's left-leaning Labour Party, but disillusionment among poorer white residents and tensions with their Muslim neighbors is pushing the city to the far right.

The whites-only, anti-immigration British National Party (BNP), has gone from being a fringe group to gaining a 15 percent stake in Stoke-on-Trent's governing council. Many observers now believe the group could win enough votes to control the council by 2011.

Some mainstream politicians are now voicing concerns that BNP is poised to make nationwide gains. While white Britons have lived in relative harmony with immigrants for years, the nation's deepening recession is raising concerns of heightened anti-immigrant sentiment, and is sparking support for the far right, says Jon Cruddas, a parliamentarian who represents the London borough of Barking and Dagenham.

"History suggests that the far right tends to do well in times of economic trouble," says Mr. Cruddas, who was appointed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to spearhead a campaign against the far right.

Of the roughly 8,000 town council members scattered across England, only 50 or so are members of the BNP. But during June elections, the BNP is expected to make significant gains and could win up to three of England's 59 seats in the European Parliament, according to experts. Such results would also indicate a chance for the party to potentially capture two seats in the United Kingdom's national parliament. >>> By Ben Quinn, Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor | November 20, 2008

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Petzners Beziehung zu Haider war der Partei zu intim
TAGES ANZEIGER: Der nach dem Unfalltod von Jörg Haider zum neuen Chef des rechtspopulistischen Bündnisses Zukunft Österreich (BZÖ) ernannte Stefan Petzner ist von seinem Posten zurückgetreten.

Er habe den Entschluss freiwillig gefasst und sei nicht demontiert worden, sagte Petzner dem Fernsehsender ORF.

Petzner war ursprünglich Generalsekretär der Partei und galt als Ziehsohn des Kärntener Landeshauptmanns. Nach Haiders Tod Mitte Oktober wurde er einstimmig zum neuen BZÖ-Chef gewählt.

In den vergangenen Wochen zog er sich jedoch den Unmut vieler Parteifreunde zu, da er in Interviews ausführlich über seine innige private Beziehung zu Haider berichtete. >>> | 20. November 2008

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Saudi Arabia: Asian Immigrant Forced to Clean Mosques for 'Skipping Prayers'
ADNKRONOS INTERNATIONAL (AKI): Riyadh - A Saudi civil court has ordered an Asian immigrant to clean mosques next month during this year's Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca after religious police caught him skipping Friday prayers several times, Saudi daily al-Watan reports. The man will have to clean five mosques along the highway into Mecca twice daily for eleven days, the court ruled.

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs will be tasked with checking if the immigrant obeys the court order. If he fails to do so, the court has warned that he will be tried before a criminal court.

Instead of handing out custodial sentences, a number of Saudi judges have recently ordered minor offenders to clean buildings and cars, memorise the Koran (the Muslim holy book) or do community work.

Earlier this month, a judge ordered a young man to memorise part of the Koran and 40 sayings of the Prophet Mohammed as a punishment for appearing in public with a woman who was not a relative.

This year's Hajj is taking place in the first half of December. Last year, two million Muslim pilgrims attended.

The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is an obligation for all able-bodied Muslims to attend at least once during their lives, provided they can afford it. [Source: AKI] | November 18, 2008

Hat tip: Robert Spencer

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