The EU should be stronger and more united. Great Britain should belong to the Union.
Die EU sollte stärker und geeinter sein. Großbritannien sollte der Union angehören.
L'UE devrait être plus forte et plus unie. La Grande-Bretagne devrait appartenir à l'Union.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Kommentar: Ein Gesetz kann das Burka-Paradox nicht lösen
WELT ONLINE: Kann man im Namen der Freiheit ein Gesetz erlassen, das die Freiheit beschneidet? Dieses Paradox schafft Frankreich mit dem geplanten Verbot von Burka oder Nikab in öffentlichen Einrichtungen. Ob es die Trägerinnen von Ganzkörperschleiern in Frankreich befreien oder noch stärker in die Isolation treiben wird, bleibt offen.
Bild: Welt Online
Die Kommission zum Ganzkörperschleier hat dem französischen Parlament empfohlen, eine „feierliche Resolution“ zu verabschieden, in der „das ganze Frankreich Nein sagt zum Ganzkörperschleier“. Ein Gesetz soll folgen, das die Verhüllung des Gesichts in öffentlichen Einrichtungen verbietet. Burka- oder Nikab-Trägerinnen werden dann künftig auf der Post nicht mehr bedient.
Damit bleibt die parteiübergreifend besetzte Kommission hinter den Forderungen einiger Vertreter der Regierungspartei UMP zurück, die sich für ein Verbot von Ganzkörperschleiern im gesamten öffentlichen Raum aussprechen.
Die Debatte wird munter weitergehen, denn wie ein Gesetz aussehen könnte, das anwendbar wäre, weiß niemand. Noch weniger, wie es sich auswirkt. Bringt es den betroffenen Frauen mehr Freiheit oder zwingt es sie in die völlige Isolation? >>> Von Sascha Lehnartz | Dienstag, 26. Januar 2010
Inquiry Condemns Burka as 'Un-French'
THE INDEPENDENT: Sarkozy calls for wearing of full-body veils to be banned in 'official' public places
The Islamic full-body veil should be banned from French public offices, hospitals, trains and buses, according to a parliamentary investigation which reported yesterday. In a bad-tempered final session, the committee of inquiry angered many members of President Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling centre-right party by rejecting their demands for an outright ban on the burka or niqab. After a muddled and heated six-month investigation, the committee decided that such a ban might be declared unconstitutional under French and European law.
Instead, a narrow majority of the 32 members accepted a compromise suggested by Mr Sarkozy and the Prime Minister, François Fillon. They called for a solemn, but unenforceable, parliamentary motion declaring the full-length veil – a marginal but growing phenomenon in France – to be "un-French". They said that this should be followed soon by a law forbidding people to cover their faces in "official" public spaces, from hospitals to post offices. >>> John Lichfield in Paris | Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Gay Couples Should Be Allowed to ‘Marry’ in Church, Government Minister Says
THE TELEGRAPH: Homosexual couples should be allowed to “marry” in churches, a Government minister has said.
Baroness Thornton, a spokesman for the Government in the House of Lords, said she was “not unsympathetic” to plans to permit civil partnerships on religious premises.
She admitted there were many “complexities” to be addressed since the ceremonies are currently secular, and because the change will be opposed by some major faiths who believe only a man and a woman can be married.
But Lady Thornton went on: “We want this dialogue to move forward and we want all those with an interest in this issue to have their say. We believe that this careful consideration will pay off in how we proceed together to the next stage of resolving this issue.”
Under the Civil Partnership Act 2004, same-sex couples are allowed to form legal unions that entitle them to the same property and tax rights as men and women who marry in register offices. It is estimated that 35,000 homosexual couples have done so.
However these ceremonies must be entirely secular, as civil marriages must be, and they cannot take place in churches, mosques, synagogues or temples.
During a Lords debate on the Equality Bill on Monday night, Lord Alli tabled an amendment that would “allow civil partnerships to take place on religious premises”.
He withdrew it after Lady Thornton pointed out it would create an “anomalous” situation whereby homosexual couples could have prayers said at their event whereas heterosexual ones could not.
It would also require registrars to carry out religious services, and for priests to conduct ceremonies outside of their places of worship, she said. The peer added: “We fully accept the fundamental importance of this issue to many same-sex couples, and we recognise the strength of feeling that some people have about the need for change.
“We also recognise, though, that any change would bring into play some fundamental issues and would risk undermining the parity that has been carefully established between civil partnership and civil marriage. >>> Martin Beckford | Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Obsession: A Documentary about Radical Islam
Change We Cannot Believe In!
THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama will attempt to transform his presidency in a State of the Union address focusing on jobs, the economy and controlling mounting national debt.
Barack Hussein Obama. Photo: The Telegraph
The president will take the podium in the House of Representatives with grim forecasts in his wake. This year's deficit is set to be $1.35 trillion, only marginally lower than last year's. Unemployment is predicted to stay at 10 per cent throughout 2010 while the housing market remains stagnant.
"We're going to talk about how we can first of all, focus on job creation and growth," the president said in an interview with ABC.
"There are going to be a set of proposals that we put forward that help to stabilise the situation and deal with the growing insecurity and anxiety of people who, even if they haven't lost their job, are still feeling squeezed by their incomes shrinking and their costs going up."
Though he said there were no "magic solutions" to reducing the deficit, the president will outline a three-year freeze on domestic spending, excluding the military and homeland security, in his 2011 budget that would save $250 billion by 2020. State of the Union: Barack Obama to announce spending freeze >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Ban That Bloody Burqah!
THE TELEGRAPH: The head of President Nicolas Sarkozy's Right-wing UMP party on Tuesday said he would continue to push for a total ban of face-covering Islamic veils in France.
Jean-François Copé's proposal for a full ban was backed by 190 MPs but rejected by a cross-party commission, which handed a list of proposals to parliament recommending a ban of the burka or niqab in state facilities but not in the street.
The ban would apply to public places, including all schools, hospitals, public transport and government offices. It described the face-covering veil as an unacceptable "challenge to our republic".
However, after six months of hearings, the commission stopped short of outlawing the veil in the streets, in shopping centres and other public venues, due to doubts about the constitutionality of such a move.
Mr Copé, however, dismissed the idea a full ban was unconstitutional. "It is incomprehensible to say you can't wear (the full veil) in hospitals but can in bakeries," he told the Daily Telegraph.
His stance is backed by the majority of French: a poll last week showed 57 per cent are in favour of a total ban.
The cross-party report recommends passing a parliamentary resolution, paving the way to a law making it illegal for anyone to appear with their face covered at state-run institutions and on public transport, for security reasons.
Niqab-clad women could be denied services at the post office, or other government buildings, as well as access to a work visa, residency papers or French citizenship, the report said.
Parliament is expected to pass a resolution after regional elections in March, with a law possible "by the end of the year", according to one commission member. France moves closer to Muslim face veil ban >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Dennis McShane: “Islam is a religion of peace”? Come on, Dennis! Get real!
France MPs' Report Backs Muslim Face Veil Ban
BBC: A French parliamentary committee has recommended a partial ban on women wearing Islamic face veils.
The committee's near 200-page report has proposed a ban in hospitals, schools, government offices and on public transport.
It also recommends that anyone showing visible signs of "radical religious practice" should be refused residence cards and citizenship.
The interior ministry says just 1,900 women in France wear the full veils.
In its report, the committee said requiring women to cover their faces was against the French republican principles of secularism and equality.
"The wearing of the full veil is a challenge to our republic. This is unacceptable. We must condemn this excess," the report said.
The commission called on parliament to adopt a formal resolution stating that the face veil was "contrary to the values of the republic" and proclaiming that "all of France is saying 'no' to the full veil".
Presenting the report to the French National Assembly, speaker Bernard Accoyer said the face veil had too many negative connotations.
"It is the symbol of the repression of women, and... of extremist fundamentalism.
"This divisive approach is a denial of the equality between men and women and a rejection of co-existence side-by-side, without which our republic is nothing."
The report is expected to be followed by the drafting of a bill and a parliamentary debate on the issue. >>> | Tuesday, January 26, 2010
BBC: Countries across the continent have wrestled with the issue of the Muslim veil - in various forms such as the body-covering burka and the niqab, which covers the face apart from the eyes. The debate takes in religious freedom, female equality, secular traditions and even fears of terrorism. The Islamic veil across Europe >>> | Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Interdiction du voile intégral : l'avis des juristes
Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Dans son rapport rendu mardi, la mission parlementaire préconise l'interdiction de la burqa par la loi dans les services publics. Les spécialistes du droit estiment en effet qu'une loi est mieux adaptée que des arrêtés municipaux ou des décisions de justice. Mais la justification de l'interdiction s'annonce délicate.
Le parlement peut adopter une loi restreignant le port de la burqa mais la voie est étroite : tel est l'avis des universitaires entendus par la mission d'information de l'Assemblée sur le port du voile intégral. En tout état de cause, une limitation du port de la burqa ne peut être édictée que par une loi, et non par des arrêtés municipaux ou par des décisions de justice, jugent ces juristes.
Ainsi Anne Levade, professeur de droit public à Paris XII, «le législateur bénéficie d'une plus grande liberté que l'autorité réglementaire pour poser des interdictions générales». «Les réglementations éparses qui peuvent exister ont des fondements juridiques très fragiles, observe Bertrand Mathieu, professeur de droit public. Le législateur est seul compétent pour réglementer l'exercice d'une liberté publique», en l'occurrence le droit de se vêtir librement. Et plus encore si le port du voile intégral est considéré comme la manifestation de convictions religieuses. Si les parlementaires décident d'élaborer une loi, quelle base juridique peuvent-ils invoquer?
Selon le professeur Guy Carcassonne, une réglementation du port de la burqa dans les lieux publics ne peut être motivée par le principe de laïcité. Dans son sens actuel, la laïcité signifie que l'État est tenu d'être neutre à l'égard des religions et de respecter la liberté de conscience. Le gouvernement a certes le droit d'interdire à ses agents et aux élèves des collèges et lycées publics de manifester ostensiblement leur confession. >>> Guillaume Perrault | Mardi 26 Janvier 2010
Ganzkörperschleier: Paris will Burka aus der Öffentlichkeit verbannen
WELT ONLINE: Muslimische Frauen in Ganzkörperschleiern sollen in Frankreich nicht mehr Bus und Bahn fahren dürfen. Eine parteiübergreifende Parlamentskommission empfahl ein vollständiges Verbot der Burka in öffentlichen Einrichtungen. Auch Schulen, Krankenhäuser und Behörden dürften verschleierte Frauen nicht mehr betreten.
Frauen im Burka in der südfranzösischen Metropole Marseille. Der Ganzkörperschleier soll in Frankreich aus dem öffentlichen Leben verbannt werden. Bild: Welt Online
In Frankreich zeichnet sich ein Verbot der Ganzkörperverschleierung muslimischer Frauen in Behörden und öffentlichen Einrichtungen ab. Eine parteiübergreifende Enquetekommission der Nationalversammlung forderte einstimmig eine Parlamentsresolution, die ein Verbot der Burka „auf dem Gebiet der Republik“ verlangen soll. Eine große Mehrheit der Kommissionsmitglieder sprach sich zudem für ein Gesetz aus, das die Vollverschleierung in allen staatlichen Einrichtungen untersagt.
Das würde unter anderem bedeuten, dass Frauen, die eine Burka tragen, keine öffentlichen Verkehrsmittel wie Busse oder U-Bahnen benutzen dürften. Auch der Zutritt zu Schulen, Krankenhäusern und Behörden wäre Burka- und Nikab-Trägerinnen damit untersagt. Weiter erlaubt wäre die Burka damit auf offener Straße und in der Privatwirtschaft.
„Ganz Frankreich sagt Nein zum Ganzkörperschleier und verlangt, dass diese Praxis auf dem Gebiet der Republik verboten wird“, heißt es im Vorschlag des Parlamentsausschusses für die Entschließung. Eine Burka zu tragen widerspreche „den Werten der Republik“. >>> AFP/dpa/ks | Dienstag, 26. Januar 2010
Für Burka-Verbot in Frankreichs Service Public: Parlamentskommission will Einschränkung von Verschleierung
NZZ ONLINE: Frankreich setzt ein offizielles Zeichen gegen die volle Verschleierung: Die Burka soll zwar nicht ganz aus der Öffentlichkeit verschwinden, aber das Tragen soll eingeschränkt werden. Die parlamentarische Kommission spricht von einer Herausforderung für die Demokratie.
Die vor sechs Monaten ins Leben gerufene parlamentarische Mission hat in ihrem «Burka-Bericht» klare Worte gefunden. Das voll verschleiernde Gewand sei Ausdruck einer gesellschaftliche Einkerkerung, die von einer islamische Minderheit propagiert werde. Der damit verbundene absolute Rückzug einer Person aus der Öffentlichkeit spiele sich oft auf dem Hintergrund einer sozialen und materiellen Not ab. Die Bewegung und die damit verbundene Ghettoisierung verkörpere eine Herausforderung für Demokratien.
Die Gruppe der Parlamentarier, die mit ihrem Bericht ein erstes offizielles Zeichen gegen die volle Verschleierung in Frankreich setzt, hat ihren Bericht am Dienstag dem Präsidenten der Nationalversammlung überreicht. Die Analyse, die unter dem Vorsitz des kommunistischen Abgeordneten André Gerin entstanden ist, gilt als Baustein eines Gesetzesentwurfs, der demnächst in Angriff genommen werden dürfte. Hoche Wellen wirft das Thema bereits jetzt. Denn, so eine der brennenden Fragen, lassen sich in der Republik individuelle Rechte (hier das Recht zur «freien» Kleidung) mit dem anderen staatsprägenden Gebot der gesellschaftlichen Integration vereinbaren?
Starke Symbolkraft
Der Bericht und die Schlussfolgerungen sind klar: Die Kommission schlägt nämlich vor, dass dort, wo öffentliche Dienstleistungen erbracht werden, die Verschleierung nicht toleriert werden soll. Von einem generellen Verbot, was einem Totalverbot des umstrittenen Gewands in der Öffentlichkeit gleichkäme, rät die Gruppe ab. Nun wird sich das Parlament mit dem Bericht befassen; anschliessend soll ein Gesetzesentwurf ausgearbeitet werden. Die Stossrichtung der Kommission … >>> Manfred Rist, Paris | Dienstag, 26. Januar 2010
More Troops for Afghanistan? Non, Mr President!
MAIL ONLINE: France is to stop sending soldiers to Afghanistan, Nicolas Sarkozy has announced.
It comes as leaders in Germany revealed plans to send more troops - but only to train local security forces and help with elections.
The decisions defy U.S. President Barack Obama's call for more troops from Europe. He had piled pressure on Nato allies after vowing to send up to 30,000 more troops to the country last year.
Mr Obama believed more troops were needed to fight a growing Taliban insurgency.
The French President yesterday said he would consider sending more trainers and civilian helpers in the hope of improving the efficiency of the Afghan Army.
But he ruled out extra soldiers to carry out these duties.
Mr Sarkozy said in a live interview on TF1 television on Monday night: 'If there is a need for more people to train, to help the police to undertake civil engineering, to help the population, to help Afghanisation, why not?
Single British Asian Mums Losing Their 'Honour Babies'
BBC: Some single British Asian women are being forced by their families to give up their children as so-called "honour babies", according to a charity which wants action to uncover the scale of the problem.
Saima was just 17 when she fell pregnant. But, instead of feeling happy about becoming a mum, she knew her world was about to fall apart.
Although she longed to keep her baby, she was aware her strict Pakistani parents would never allow it because she was not married.
She declined her GP's option of an abortion and hid her pregnancy from her parents until a few weeks before she was due to give birth.
"As soon as my parents found out I was pregnant they kept me hidden in the house," she said.
"I wasn't allowed out until I gave birth to my son. They immediately adopted him as their own and a few days later I was sent to Pakistan where my dad had arranged my marriage.
"I wasn't allowed to return to the UK until I fell pregnant with my husband's child.
"My husband and I lived quite close to my parents so I had to watch them bring up my son and pretend he was my brother. My marriage didn't really work out and I was very unhappy."
Saima's name has been changed to protect her identity but the situation is all too real for her and many more young Asian women.
A charity has told BBC Asian Network it fears a growing problem of single women being forced to give up their babies because of "honour".
"It is a deeply hidden issue but a very relevant one that is kept underground," says Jasvinder Sanghera, who founded the charity Karma Nirvana to help victims of forced marriages and honour-based crimes.
She said: "The term 'honour baby' is used because the baby is said to have brought dishonour on that family.
"The cases could be in their hundreds, because we have no idea how many there are." >>> Ushma Mistry, BBC Asian Network | Lundi 25 Janvier 2010
The Disgusting, “Shameless” Tony Bliar!
THE INDEPENDENT: (from a firm that bet on British banks going bust)
Tony Blair is to be paid at least £200,000 by a City firm accused of profiteering from the financial crisis that brought Britain's banks to their knees.
The former prime minister has been hired by the hedge fund Lansdowne Partners to deliver four presentations to staff about the world political situation. Mr Blair, one of the world's most highly paid speakers, reportedly commands between £50,000 and £170,000 for a single speech.
Details of his latest money-spinning appearance emerged days before he is due to appear before the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war.
He was accused last night of a "shameless" willingness to accept money from any source. Blair's £200,000 hedge fund pay-day >>> Nigel Morris, Deputy Political Editor, and Nick Clark | Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Death Threats for French Imam Who Preaches Peace with Jewish Neighbours
THE TELEGRAPH: Preacher under police protection after Gaza conflict raises tensions in poor Paris suburb
Women walk past a synagogue in Lille, northern France, tagged with the inscription Zog (Zionist Occupation Government) and a swastika. Photograph: The Telegraph
Hassen Chalghoumi has devoted his life to bringing people together. For years he has preached the values of inter-faith harmony from his mosque in Paris's poor and fractious north-eastern suburbs, working with Jewish leaders, inviting them to his home and urging young people of all religions to embrace harmony in place of hatred.
But today the imam, whose work has been hailed by religious and political leaders, was in fear of his life and under police protection in Drancy after the tensions lying dormant in his community were reawoken by the conflict over 2,000 miles away in Gaza.
Enraged by his determination to show solidarity with the Jewish community at a time when they feel the battle lines are clear, unknown French Muslims have left death threats on his mobile phone. Some have stopped him in the street to warn him he is going "too far". His car has been vandalised and drenched in fuel.
"It is very hard to work for rapprochement in such a climate," he said. "But it has to be done."
In a fortnight which has seen the Palestinian death toll from Israel's assault exceed 1,000, the European country with the largest Muslim and Jewish populations has been served an uncomfortable reminder of the tensions that continue to divide it.
Synagogues in several towns across France have been daubed with antisemitic graffiti. One in Lille was decorated with a swastika. Others have been attacked with petrol bombs and set alight. Dozens of people have been arrested after pro-Palestinian protests turned violent and Israeli flags were burned in the street. According to the French Jewish students' union, there have been 55 antisemitic incidents since 27 December. The police have not published an official list. >>> Lizzy Davies, Paris | Friday, January 16, 2010
Bravo for Nico! Nicolas Sarkozy Backs a Ban on the Full Muslim Veil
TIMES ONLINE: Curbs on wearing the full Muslim veil come a step closer in France today with a report that will call for a ban on the dress in post offices, universities, hospitals and state-owned premises, as well as public transport.
Last night President Sarkozy was due to endorse the proposals, to be made by an all-party commission. Last week he called the niqab, the form of veil worn in France, “contrary to our values and to the ideals we have of women’s dignity”. Parliament is expected to act on the proposals in the spring.
If they become law women with covered faces would be refused public services such as transport, university classes and benefits. >>> Charles Bremner in Paris | Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Remember Gays in the Holocaust
Yad Vashem (יד ושם): Remembering the Past, Shaping the Future
The Auschwitz Album: Visual Evidence of Mass Murder at Auschwitz-Birkenau
We Are Still In the Shadow of the Holocaust
THE TELEGRAPH: Anti-Semitism is on the rise, which makes memorial day all the more vital, says Michael Gove.
This Wednesday we remember the greatest crime ever inflicted by man against his fellow man. Holocaust Memorial Day allows us to reflect on the bleakest chapter in the history of the 20th century. And there is a special urgency in the call to remember this year, of all years - because the shadow of the Holocaust continues to fall over the world today.
Mass murder is still deployed as a political tool by tyrants, from Burma to Zimbabwe. Racism is returning to the streets of Europe, from St Petersburg to Antwerp. And, hard though it is to credit after the horrors of the last century, anti-Semitism is creeping back into the corridors of power.
We know that Nazi ideology still has the power to motivate evil men. From the Swedish fascist who tried to acquire the "Arbeit macht frei" sign which hung over the gates of Auschwitz, to the British fascists of the BNP, there is an ominous resurgence of extremist activity visible across our Continent.
It is because we face a new fascist threat, and because the extremism of the BNP is mirrored in the equally toxic ideology of anti-Semitic groups such as Islam4Uk and Hizb-ut Tahrir, that we need, all of us, to make an additional effort to remember how the Holocaust started. And where it ended.
The history of the Holocaust is the history of a society which blamed the Jews for its miseries, sought to push them to the margins and then sought, literally, to make them vanish from sight. In our time we can see the same trends returning. The calls for boycotts of Jewish thinkers at Israeli universities, the rise in anti-Semitic incidents on our streets, the inflamed rhetoric of vilification which culminates in the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call to wipe Israel off the map, are all connected. >>> Michael Gove | Monday, January 25, 2010
Buchenwald
Warning! Attention! Achtung! The images here are very graphic and disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.
Kristallnacht (Crystal Night / The Night of Broken Glass): The German Pogrom 1938
«La Shoah en tant que telle est une invention juive»
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: POLÉMIQUE | Quelques jours après la visite de Benoît XVI en la synagogue de Rome, un évêque polonais à la retraite provoque un tollé avec ses déclarations négationnistes sur un site italien.
"La Shoah en tant que telle est une invention juive", a affirmé lundi un évêque polonais à la retraite sur un site catholique traditionaliste italien, à deux jours du 65e anniversaire de la libération du camp d’extermination d’Auschwitz, journée mondiale de l’Holocauste.
"S’il est indéniable que la majorité des morts dans les camps de concentration étaient des juifs, dans la liste il y a aussi des tziganes, des Polonais, des Italiens et des catholiques", a déclaré Mgr Tadeusz Pieronek, sur le site Pontifex.roma.it.
"Il n’est donc pas permis de s’approprier cette tragédie pour faire de la propagande", a ajouté le prélat de 75 ans, qui fut ami du pape Jean Paul II, en affirmant qu’il "n’est pas historiquement vrai que dans les camps de concentration ce sont seulement des Juifs qui sont morts". "Il y a eu beaucoup de Polonais, mais cette vérité aujourd’hui est souvent ignorée", a poursuivi Mgr Pieronek.
Pour Mgr Pieronek, ancien secrétaire et ex-porte-parole de l’épiscopat polonais, "alors on pourrait parler avec la même force et fixer une journée de la mémoire aussi pour les nombreuses victimes du communisme, les catholiques et chrétiens persécutés et ainsi de suite". >>> AFP | Lundi 25 Janvier 2010
La Grèce appelle la Turquie à une relance des efforts de rapprochement
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: AVANCÉE | Le Premier ministre grec, Georges Papandréou, a appelé son homologue turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, à une relance des efforts de rapprochement , dans sa réponse à une lettre que lui avait envoyée en novembre le dirigeant turc.
Artisan en 1999 de la normalisation entre les deux pays, à l’époque en tant que chef de la diplomatie, M. Papandréou s’affirme dans ce courrier "encouragé par la volonté commune" des deux dirigeants "d’améliorer les relations bilatérales" qui marquent le pas ces dernières années, a indiqué l’agence de presse grecque Ana.
L’Ana a obtenu copie du courrier, qui a été remis dans la journée par l’ambassadeur grec à Ankara, a-t-on appris auprès des services de M. Papandréou.
M. Papandréou, qui adresse dans ce courrier une invitation à une visite officielle de M. Erdogan, exprime le souhait d’une relance des efforts pour "la mise en place entre les deux pays d’une relation plus viable et productive, et d’une paix durable", selon l’Ana. >>> AFP | Lundi 25 Janvier 2010
Türkei-Experte im Interview: "Erdogan kehrt zurück zu muslimischen Instinkten"
WELT ONLINE: In den 90er-Jahren galt der gegenwärtige türkische Ministerpräsident Erdogan als islamischer Fundamentalist. Danach erfand er sich neu als pro-europäischer Modernisierer. Im WELT-ONLINE-Interview erklärt Türkei-Experte Gareth Jenkins, warum Erdogan inzwischen wieder in Richtung Islam tendiert.
WELT ONLINE: Der türkische Ministerpräsident Recep Tayyip Erdogan galt in den 80er- und frühen 90er-Jahren als islamischer Fundamentalist. Später gab er sich moderat, pro-westlich, und stritt ab, dass der Islam zu seiner politischen Identität gehöre. Wo steht er heute? Hat er sich schon wieder geändert?
Gareth Jenkins: Er hat sich damals geändert, aber nicht so sehr, wie ein naiver Westen das glauben wollte. Ich denke, er hat nie wirklich die Idee verinnerlicht, dass es eine Gleichberechtigung geben sollte zwischen den Kulturen und Religionen. Fundamentalismus war in der Türkei immer etwas Anderes als beispielsweise in arabischen Ländern, es hatte mehr mit kultureller Identität zu tun als mit Scharia. Seit 2007 kehrt Erdogan zunehmend zu dieser Suche nach einer muslimischen Identität zurück. Es ist eine instinktive Rückkehr zu seinen ursprünglichen Werten.
WELT ONLINE: Warum?
Jenkins: Erdogan und die AKP waren naiv in ihrem Bestreben, der EU beitreten zu wollen. Sie verstanden nicht, was die EU ist, sie wollten eigentlich der EU ihrer Fantasie beitreten. Die Realität hat sie enttäuscht, auch die Erfahrung mit anti-islamischen Gefühlen im Westen. So kehren sie zurück zu dem, was sie ursprünglich wollten, es ist auch eine Hinwendung zu den muslimischen Ländern, die einst zum osmanischen Reich gehörten. >>> Von Boris Kalnoky | Montag, 25. Januar 2010
Brad Pitt’s Ever-lengthening Beard
With Brad’s beard getting longer and longer, one must ask oneself a couple of questions: 1.) Is Brad following Prophet Muhammad’s injunction on the length of the beard? 2.) Is he dabbling with the idea of conversion to Islam? - Mark
Hitler Was Enabled by Western Bankers and the JFK Assassination Story is a National Fairytale, Says Oliver Stone
MAIL ONLINE: Adolf Hitler was a product of his era and Americans are in denial about who really shot JFK, according to Oliver Stone.
The Hollywood filmmaker, who is working on a 10-part documentary called The Secret History Of The United States, said the German dictator was ‘enabled by Western bankers’.
Giving a lecture to high school students on the role of film in peace-building, Stone told how ‘psychopath’ Hitler rose to power thanks to big business leaders and other supporters who appreciated his vow to destroy communism.
Stone, who is in Bangkok for a visit organised by the Vienna-based International Peace Foundation, also told the 300 pupils his movie JFK was his most controversial to date as explores other theories into who killed U.S. president John F Kennedy.
Hitler was and managed to ‘seduce’ Germany's military industrial complex.
He said: ‘Hitler is a monster. There is no question. I have no empathy for Hitler at all.
‘He was a crazy psychopath. But like Frankenstein was a monster, there was a Doctor Frankenstein. He is product of his era.’
Stone said the aim of his documentary, which two historians are helping him with, was to offer a fuller understanding of the 20th century and how some of those lessons may be relevant to President Barack Obama.
‘What has America become? How can we in America not learn from Germany in the 1930s?’ the Oscar-winning director asked. >>> Mail Foreign Service | Monday, January 25, 2010
'Oral Sex' Definition Prompts Dictionary Ban in US Schools
THE GUARDIAN: A parent's complaint over a 'sexually graphic' definition has seen dictionaries removed from southern Californian schools
Dictionaries have been removed from classrooms in southern California schools after a parent complained about a child reading the definition for "oral sex".
Merriam Webster's 10th edition, which has been used for the past few years in fourth and fifth grade classrooms (for children aged nine to 10) in Menifee Union school district, has been pulled from shelves over fears that the "sexually graphic" entry is "just not age appropriate", according to the area's local paper. >>> Alison Flood | Monday, January 25, 2010
Téhéran : Mehdi Karoubi reconnaît la légitimité du président iranien
LE POINT: L'un des principaux opposants au président Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, le réformateur Mehdi Karoubi, a reconnu, pour la première fois lundi, le résultat de l'élection du 12 juin. Ses déclarations semblent ouvrir la voie à un apaisement de la crise politique qui secoue l'Iran depuis sept mois. "Je continue à croire que l'élection (présidentielle) a été marquée de fraudes massives, mais puisque le Guide (de la République islamique Ali Khamenei) l'a validée, je crois que M. Ahmadinejad est le chef du gouvernement, c'est-à-dire le président" de l'Iran, a déclaré Mehdi Karoubi, dans une réponse transmise par son fils Hossein Karoubi à une question de l'Agence France-Presse. >>> AFP | Lundi 25 Janvier 2010
Débat : La burqa vue par nos voisins européens
LE POINT: La mission parlementaire rend mardi son rapport préconisant l'interdiction du voile intégral dans les lieux publics. La France n'est pas le seul pays à s'interroger, voire à polémiquer sur l'interdiction de la burqa. Les positions de nos partenaires européens : >>> Par Ségolène Gros de Larquier | Lundi 25 Janvier 2010
Die Friedensnobelpreisträgerin in glücklicheren Zeiten. Bild: Google Images
Birma: Suu Kyi soll offenbar freigelassen werden
ZEIT ONLINE: Neue Hoffnung für Friedensnobelpreisträgerin Suu Kyi: Die Militärjunta will sie angeblich freilassen. Für eine Kandidatur bei der Parlamentswahl wäre es indes zu spät.
14 Jahre Hausarrest könnten in diesem Jahr enden: Wie in Rangun bekannt wurde, soll Innenminister Maung Oo schon in der vergangenen Woche bei einem Treffen mit Lokalpolitikern angekündigt haben, die 64-jährige Aung San Suu Kyi im November freizulassen. Zum ersten Mal seit Langem nennt damit ein Offizieller ein konkretes Datum für die Freilassung der Oppositionspolitikerin und Friedensnobelpreisträgerin.
Ein Sprecher von Suu Kyis Partei NLD wollte die Ankündigung nicht bestätigen. "Ich kann nicht definitiv sagen, dass sie freigelassen wird", sagte U Nyan Win, "aber ich hoffe es."
Suu Kyi war seit September 2003 nicht mehr in Freiheit – sie hat mehr als 14 der vergangenen 20 Jahre unter Hausarrest verbracht. Zuletzt war Suu Kyi von der Militärjunta im August zu 18 Monaten Hausarrest verurteilt worden, nachdem ein Amerikaner unter mysteriösen Umständen heimlich zu ihrem Haus an einem See geschwommen war. >>> Zeit Online, Reuters | Montag, 25. Januar 2010
Einwanderungspolitik: Das Problem der Niederlande mit dem "Multikulti"
WELT ONLINE: Obwohl die Morde an Pim Fortuyn und Theo van Gogh mehr als ein halbes Jahrzehnt zurückliegen, sucht die Niederlande bei der Einwanderungspolitik noch immer ihren inneren Kompass. Das zeigt auch der Volksverhetzungsprozess gegen Geert Wilders. Der Politiker profitiert von der tiefen Krise seines Landes.
Kurz vor Weihnachten wollte die Haagse Hogeschool ihren Studenten etwas Gutes tun. Die Hochschule in der niederländischen Regierungsstadt Den Haag beschloss, anders als bisher in diesem Jahr keinen Weihnachtsbaum aufzustellen. Die 19.000 Studenten nicht-westlicher Herkunft, so lautete die Begründung, könnten sich an der christlichen Symbolwirkung eines geschmückten Baumes stören – was sich wiederum negativ auf künftige Immatrikulationszahlen auswirken könnte. Kommunikationsdirektorin Annelies van Rosmalen bringt es auf den Punkt: "Der Baum passt nicht zum internationalen Charakter der Hochschule.“
Fortuyn 2002, Van Gogh 2004
So mancher fragt sich seit dem „Weihnachtskrieg von Den Haag“, ob die Holländer nur nett zu den Immigranten sein wollen oder ob sie – aus Angst oder falsch verstandener Toleranz – freiwillig ihre eigene Kultur über Bord werfen.
Der Fall mit dem Weihnachtsbaum ist nämlich keinesfalls eine Ausnahme. Der in Ägypten geborene Ezzat Aziz hat seine eigenen Erfahrungen gemacht. Seit 1998 arbeitet er als Fahrkartenkontrolleur beim öffentlichen Transportunternehmen von Amsterdam. Der 56-Jährige trägt bei seiner Arbeit immer ein Kreuz auf der Brust, denn er ist Christ, Mitglied der ägyptischen Minderheit der Kopten. Dann aber verbot das Unternehmen seinen Mitarbeitern, christliche Symbole zu tragen. Aus „Gründen der Professionalität“ dürfe Schmuck nicht über der Kleidung getragen werden, erläuterte Unternehmenssprecherin Petra Faber.
Aziz war 1984 nach Holland emigriert und versteht nun die Welt nicht mehr: "Ich lebe doch in einem demokratischen Land, in dem man das Recht hat, sich zu seinem Glauben zu bekennen.“ Es half nichts, Aziz wurde vom Dienst suspendiert. Er klagte, doch der Richter bestätigte die Sichtweise des Arbeitgebers. Jacqueline Koops, die Anwältin von Aziz, sieht Grundrechte verletzt. ,,Amsterdam ist eine multikulturelle Stadt. Mein Mandant wird diskriminiert. Es ist Tram-Schaffnerinnen oder Busfahrerinnen ja auch erlaubt, im Dienst ein Kopftuch zu tragen.“ Aziz wird auf Weisung seiner Vorgesetzten inzwischen psychologisch betreut – und hat Redeverbot. >>> Von Rob Savelberg | Montag, 25. Januar 2010
Fitna the Movie
To Obama's Pile of Woes, Add a Failing Iran Policy
TIME: As if President Barack Obama didn't have his hands full at home with his party's loss of Ted Kennedy's seat in Massachusetts, the collapse of health care reform and a disorganized war against the banks, he now faces a major foreign policy setback too. Since the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama has promised to curtail Iran's nuclear program by simultaneously offering talks and threatening sanctions. After a year of trying, both approaches appear on the verge of failure.
The President has given Iran two deadlines to demonstrate good faith. Last spring, his Administration told reporters that if Iran didn't show willingness to engage in talks by September, sanctions would follow. Then, in September, when Iran hinted it might possibly talk, Obama delivered another deadline, this time the end of 2009. >>> Massimo Calabresi | Monday, January 25, 2010
Is There Life After Death?
TIME: Is there life after death? Theologians can debate all they want, but radiation oncologist Dr. Jeffrey Long argues that if you look at the scientific evidence, the answer is unequivocally yes. Drawing on a decade's worth of research on near-death experiences — work that includes cataloguing the stories of some 1,600 people who have gone through them — he makes the case for that controversial conclusion in a new book, Evidence of the Afterlife. Medicine, Long says, cannot account for the consistencies in the accounts reported by people all over the world. He talked to TIME about the nature of near-death experience, the intersection between religion and science and the Oprah effect. >>> Laura Fitzpatrick | Friday, January 22, 2010
USA TODAY: BAGHDAD — Iraq's government spokesman says Saddam Hussein's notorious cousin "Chemical Ali" was executed Monday about a week after being sentenced to death for the poison gas attacks that killed more than 5,000 Kurds in 1988. >>> AP | Monday, January 25, 2010
Venezuela schaltet weitere TV-Sender ab: Opposition spricht von Einschränkung der Meinungsfreiheit
NZZ ONLINE: In Venezuela sind der oppositionelle Fernsehsender RCTV und fünf weitere Kabelsender nicht mehr zu empfangen. Die Kabelnetzbetreiber hätten die Sender am Sonntag ohne Vorwarnung aus dem Programm genommen, sagte eine RCTV-Sprecherin.
Die TV-Sender gehen davon aus, dass sie abgeschaltet wurden, weil sie sich einer Anordnung der Regierung widersetzten. RCTV hatte sich am Samstag zum zweiten Mal geweigert, eine Ansprache von Präsident Hugo Chávez zu übertragen. Ob die Weigerung in einem direkten Zusammenhang mit der Stilllegung stand, ist aber unklar.
Die Regierung in Venezuela hatte in der Vergangenheit bereits mehrfach Sender geschlossen. Menschenrechtsorganisationen befürchten deshalb eine ernsthafte Einschränkung der Meinungsfreiheit in Venezuela. >>> sda/afp | Sonntag, 24. Januar 2010
Tony Blair looking haggard in the build-up to the Chilcot Inquiry. Photograph: Mail Online
’Judgment Day’ for Tony Bliar
MAIL ONLINE: Taxpayers face a £250,000 security bill to protect Tony Blair from attack at the Iraq Inquiry.
Intelligence officers have picked up 'domestic chatter' suggesting his appearance warrants a high state of alert.
Thousands of anti-war protesters are expected to form a gauntlet of hate for the former Prime Minister on Friday as he attempts to justify Britain's involvement in the controversial conflict.
He is also a target for Muslim extremists raging at his decision to invade Iraq.
Mr Blair's six-hour appearance before the Chilcot Inquiry is being described as his 'Judgment Day' for sending British forces to topple Saddam Hussein, which cost the lives of 179 troops.
Demonstrators will be met by police road blocks, exclusion zones, armed officers and rooftop surveillance teams. The operation will cost at least £150,000 and could reach £250,000 depending on the number of protesters.
Mr Blair's long-awaited testimony comes days after security chiefs advised the Government to raise the level of terrorist threat from 'substantial' to 'severe' following the Christmas Day attempted plane bombing.
Allemagne : L’extrême gauche multiplie les actes violents
LE TEMPS: Voitures de luxe carbonisées, cocktails Molotov contre des commissariats, quartiers branchés ciblés: les autonomes ont radicalisé leur mouvement l’année dernière
Thomas n’en est toujours pas revenu: par un dimanche matin de novembre, il trouve un petit tas carbonisé à l’endroit même où se trouvait la veille au soir l’Audi A8 dernier cri qu’il avait garée devant sa porte, à Prenzlauer Berg, un quartier «bobo» de Berlin. Les policiers enregistrent sa déposition avec routine… L’année dernière, près de 300 véhicules, la plupart de luxe, ont brûlé dans les rues de Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg et Prenzlauer Berg, trois quartiers branchés de la capitale.
Thomas et son Audi, une voiture prêtée par le fabricant à des fins professionnelles (Thomas teste les nouveaux modèles pour la presse allemande), ne semble nullement impressionner les forces de l’ordre. La destruction de la voiture d’une valeur de 170 000 euros (255 000 francs) vient s’ajouter à la liste déjà longue des délits imputés à l’extrême gauche berlinoise depuis le début de l’année. Les autonomes chercheraient ainsi à freiner le mouvement d’embourgeoisement de quartiers ouvriers devenus branchés, et peu à peu vidés de leur population d’origine.
Voitures en flammes; affrontements de rue; cocktails Molotov lancés contre un commissariat ou un local utilisé par l’extrême droite; attaques contre des représentants des forces de l’ordre: les violences des activistes d’extrême gauche se sont multipliées l’année dernière en Allemagne. Berlin est en premier lieu concerné. Mais le mouvement touche aussi Hambourg, Francfort, Leipzig et Potsdam. >>> Nathalie Versieux | Samedi 23 Janvier 2010
Yémen : une génération de djihadistes irréductibles
LE FIGARO: Très jeunes, peu éduqués, ils constituentune cible de choix dans le recrutement d'al-Qaida dans la péninsule arabique.
Les vétérans du djihad les appellent «les gamins de l'Internet». Des jeunes d'à peine 20 ans, endoctrinés sur la Toile, sans avoir jamais croisés Oussama Ben Laden et les autres leaders historiques d'al-Qaida. «Nous assistons à l'émergence d'une nouvelle génération de militants, souvent au chômage, très peu éduqués, qui sont la cible du recrutement d'al-Qaida au Yémen», explique l'analyste yéménite Mourad Zafir. Tel Abdel Rahman al-Ujairih, ce kamikaze de 18 ans, inconnu des services de sécurité, qui tua quatre touristes sud-coréens et leur guide local en mars dernier, en se projetant contre eux avec des explosifs. Depuis «nous avons capturé des dizaines d'autres jeunes, certains avaient planifié des attentats suicides», reconnaît le vice-ministre des Affaires étrangères, Mohy Dhabi. Jeudi, les autorités ont annoncé avoir suspendu, dans les aéroports l'octroi de visa d'entrée aux étrangers, un certain nombre d'entre eux étant soupçonnés de venir grossir les rangs d'al-Qaida.
L'Irak fut le terrain d'entraînement de cette nouvelle génération de djihadistes. À partir de 2003, de nombreux Yéménites allèrent y affronter les troupes américaines. «N'oubliez pas que Zarqaoui (le chef d'al-Qaida en Irak, jusqu'à sa mort en 2006, NDLR) était entouré de plusieurs Yéménites» , relève le journaliste Abdullilah Shaya. Mais contrairement à leurs aînés «afghans», ces djihadistes ne se contentèrent pas de s'entraîner, ils combattirent deux, voire trois ans, face à la plus puissante armée du monde. À leur retour au Yémen, cette «expertise» ne tarda pas à produire ses effets : les premières attaques au mortier contre des ambassades eurent lieu en 2007. >>> Georges Malbrunot, Envoyé spécial du Figaro à Sanaa | Jeudi 21 Janvier 2010
The Economic System of Islam
Part 1:
Part 2:
Al-Jazeera Reporter Asks about Shariah-finance
Islam & the Beard
Part 1:
Part 2:
Joseph Stiglitz: Why We Have to Change Capitalism
THE TELEGRAPH: In an exclusive extract from his new book, Freefall, the former World Bank chief economist, reveals why banks should be split up and why the West must cut consumption.
Joseph Stiglitz Photo: The Telegraph
In the Great Recession that began in 2008, millions of people in America and all over the world lost their homes and jobs. Many more suffered the anxiety and fear of doing so, and almost anyone who put away money for retirement or a child's education saw those investments dwindle to a fraction of their value.
A crisis that began in America soon turned global, as tens of millions lost their jobs worldwide – 20m in China alone – and tens of millions fell into poverty.
This is not the way things were supposed to be. Modern economics, with its faith in free markets and globalisation, had promised prosperity for all. The much-touted New Economy – the amazing innovations that marked the latter half of the 20th century, including deregulation and financial engineering – was supposed to enable better risk management, bringing with it the end of the business cycle. If the combination of the New Economy and modern economics had not eliminated economic fluctuations, at least it was taming them. Or so we were told.
The Great Recession – clearly the worst downturn since the Great Depression 75 years earlier – has shattered these illusions. It is forcing us to rethink long-cherished views.
For a quarter century, certain free-market doctrines have prevailed: free and unfettered markets are efficient; if they make mistakes, they quickly correct them. The best government is a small government, and regulation only impedes innovation. Central banks should be independent and only focus on keeping inflation low.
Today, even the high priest of that ideology, Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board during the period in which these views prevailed, has admitted that there was a flaw in this reasoning – but his confession came too late for the many who have suffered as a consequence.
In time, every crisis ends. But no crisis, especially one of this severity, passes without leaving a legacy. The legacy of 2008 will include new perspectives on the long-standing conflict over the kind of economic system most likely to deliver the greatest benefit.
I believe that markets lie at the heart of every successful economy but that markets do not work well on their own. In this sense, I'm in the tradition of the celebrated British economist John Maynard Keynes, whose influence towers over the study of modern economics.
Government needs to play a role, and not just in rescuing the economy when markets fail and in regulating markets to prevent the kinds of failures we have just experienced. Economies need a balance between the role of markets and the role of government – with important contributions by non-market and non-governmental institutions. In the last 25 years, America lost that balance, and it pushed its unbalanced perspective on countries around the world.
The current crisis has uncovered fundamental flaws in the capitalist system, or at least the peculiar version of capitalism that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century in the US (sometimes called American-style capitalism). It is not just a matter of flawed individuals or specific mistakes, nor is it a matter of fixing a few minor problems or tweaking a few policies.
It has been hard to see these flaws because we Americans wanted so much to believe in our economic system. "Our team" had done so much better than our arch enemy, the Soviet bloc. >>> | Saturday, January 23, 2010
'Bin Laden' claims Christmas Day bomb plot
TIMES ONLINE: A new audio tape said to be from Osama Bin Laden that claims responsibility for the Christmas Day airline bombing attempt in Detroit has warned of further attacks against America.
The short recording purporting to be from the al-Qaeda leader, which was aired on Al Jazeera television, said: “The message delivered to you through the plane of the heroic warrior Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a confirmation of the previous messages sent by the heroes of the September 11.”
On Christmas Day, Mr Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian national, allegedly attempted to blow up the Northwest Airlines flight he was sitting on as it approached Detroit Metro Airport. But the bomb he was said to have been hiding in his underwear failed to explode.
He told police shortly afterwards that he had been trained and instructed in the plot by al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen.
More than 60 messages have been broadcast by bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahri, al-Qaeda’s number two, and their allies since the September 11 attacks in 2001.
The tape was aired after MI5 raised the terrorist threat level in Britain from "substantial" to "severe" — meaning that counter-terrorism agencies believe that an attack is "highly likely".
It is believed that intelligence whispers from America that an al-Qaeda affiliated group is close to finalising another atrocity coupled with a conference on Yemen and Afghanistan in London this week led to the decision. >>> Adam Fresco | Sunday, January 24, 2010
Osama bin Laden Tape: Al-Qaeda Leader Claims Re[s]ponsibility for Detroit Terror Attack
THE TELEGRAPH: Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, has released a new voice recording claiming responsibility for the Christmas Day attempt by underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner.
The latest recording emerges after British spy chiefs raised the UK threat state to "severe" amid fears that al-Qaeda was planning a fresh wave of attacks on western targets, including and a plot to hijack an Indian passenger jet and crash it into a British city and attacks using female suicide bombers.
In the audio recording, released by Qatar-based Al Jazeera television, a voice purported to be bin Laden, says: "The message sent to you with the attempt by the hero Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is a confirmation of our previous message conveyed by the heroes of September 11.
"If it was possible to carry our messages to you by words we wouldn't have carried them to you by planes," bin Laden added in a message he said was directed "from Osama to Obama".
David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary, said the fact that bin Laden had apparently claimed responsibility for the Yemen-back Detroit plot demonstrates "the links that can exist between different terrorist groups". >>> Phil Sherwell, in New York and Sean Rayment, Security Correspondent | Sunday, January 24, 2010
Bin Laden Claims Plane Bombing Bid (باللغة العربية)
Neue Audiobotschaft: Bin Laden bekennt sich zu Detroit-Anschlag
WELT ONLINE: Al-Qaida-Chef Osama bin Laden übernimmt die Verantwortung für den vereitelten Anschlag auf ein US-Passagierflugzeug an Weihnachten. Das geht aus einer Tonbandaufnahme hervor, deren Stimme dem Chef des Terrornetzwerkes zugeordnet wird. In der Botschaft kündigt bin Laden neue Anschläge auf die USA an.
„Wenn es möglich wäre, unsere Botschaft an Euch in Worten zu überbringen, hätten wir sie nicht mit Flugzeugen überbracht.“ Derart lakonisch rechtfertigt Al-Qaida-Chef Osma Bin Laden in einer neuen Audiobotschaft sowohl erneut die Angriffe vom 11. September 2001 als auch den versuchten Sprengstoffanschlag auf eine US-Linienmaschine auf dem Flug nach Detroit am 25. Dezember.
Die Aufnahme sendete wie schon diverse andere Verlautbarungen des Terror-Paten der in Qatar ansässige arabische Nachrichtensender al-Dschasira. Das Zeichen, das der "nigerianische Held“ Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab übermittelt habe, bekräftige die Mission „der Attentäter vom 11. September“ und nachfolgender Terroristen, sagte der Anführer des Terrornetzwerks in der gut eine Minute dauernden Tonbandaufnahme an die Adresse der USA. Es war die erste Video-Nachricht Bin Ladens seit dem 29. September. >>> Von Dietrich Alexander | Sonntag, 24. Januar 2010
LE FIGARO: «Nos attaques contre vous continueront tant que votre soutien aux Israéliens se poursuivra et que la sécurité ne sera pas établie en Palestine», promet le chef d'al-Qaida, qui revendique l'attentat manqué contre le vol Amsterdam-Détroit.
Oussama Ben Laden se rappelle au souvenir des autorités américaines. Dans un message audio, diffusé dimanche matin par la chaîne al-Jazira (écoutez la bande), le chef d'al-Qaida a revendiqué l'attentat manqué contre le vol Amsterdam-Détroit. Cette déclaration confirme le rôle joué par son organisation dans cette tentative. Fin décembre, la branche du groupe terroriste dans la péninsule arabique avait déjà clamé la responsabilité de l'attaque.
«De la part d'Oussama à Obama: le message délivré par le héros Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab confirme les messages précédents délivrés par les héros du 11 septembre et ceux qui les ont suivis», lance Oussama Ben Laden. Et l'islamiste promet de ne pas s'arrêter là. «Nos attaques contre vous se poursuivront tant que votre soutien aux Israéliens se poursuivra», met-il en garde. «Les Etats-Unis ne connaîtront pas la sécurité avant qu'elle ne soit établie en Palestine». «Il est injuste que vous ayez une vie tranquille alors que nos frères à Gaza vivent dans les pires conditions». Ben Laden veut montrer qu'il tient toujours les rênes >>> C.J. (lefigaro.fr) avec AFP et AP | Dimanche 24 Janvier 2010
We Expect Better from Government Advisers Than Poppycock; But Poppycock Is What We’re Getting!
THE TELEGRAPH: Britain will remain a target for home-grown suicide bombers for years to come because Muslims have not fully integrated into society, a senior Government adviser has warned.
Iqbal Wahhab Photo: The Telegraph
Iqbal Wahhab, a prominent Muslim businessman, claimed that divisions between Islamic communities and the wider population will remain for another 100 years.
He blamed Labour for failing to tackle the problems of unemployment and deprivation among the communities, which he argues are key factors in leading young Muslims to turn to extremism.
Mr Wahhab, who chairs a Whitehall panel which advises ministers on race issues, expressed deep concern that Britain will suffer more attacks in the future as the terrorists become more sophisticated and more Muslims become radicalised.
His comments follow a recent report that said the UK is now believed to have the greatest number of Islamic extremists linked to al-Qaeda of any Western nation.
It has been claimed that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who attempted to detonate a bomb on an airliner over Detroit last month, was radicalised as a student in London.
Appointed last week to head the advisory board of Quilliam, a leading counter-extremist think tank, Mr Wahhab said that the Government had failed to make young Muslims included in mainstream society and so left them exposed to being groomed by radical Islamic groups.
"It will take around 100 years for the employment gap between ethnic minorities and white people in this country to be eradicated," he said.
Ban That Bloody Burqah! Ban on Burqas Receives Strong Public Support in France
THE SUNDAY TIMES: A report drawn up by French MPs will this week call for a ban on Afghan-style burqas and other garments that cover a woman’s face.
The proposal has strong public support. According to an opinion poll by Ipsos for the magazine Le Point, 57% of voters favour a ban while 37% are opposed.
The recommendations of a parliamentary commission, to be published on Tuesday, are expected to include a bar on wearing full veils on public transport and in schools, hospitals and public-sector offices including post offices. The commission is thought likely to call for a total ban after further consultation.
President Nicolas Sarkozy launched a debate on veils last June, telling a special sitting of both houses of parliament that they were “not welcome” in France. He said last week the full veil was “contrary to our values and to the ideals we have of women’s dignity”. >>> John Follain in Paris | Sunday, January 24, 2010
Widerstand gegen Fed-Chef Bernanke wächst: Bis zu zehn Demokraten wollen keine nochmalige Nominierung
NZZ ONLINE: Im amerikanischen Senat wächst der Widerstand gegen eine zweite Amtszeit von Notenbankchef Ben Bernanke. Mehrere Senatoren von Barack Obamas demokratischer Partei kündigten an, gegen den Kandidaten des Präsidenten zu stimmen.
Eine Woche vor dem Ablauf der Amtszeit des amerikanischen Notenbankchefs Ben Bernanke wächst im Senat der Widerstand gegen eine nochmalige Nominierung. Auch in den Reihen der Demokraten kündigten am Freitag zwei weitere Senatoren an, Bernanke ihre Zustimmung zu verweigern.
Russell Feingold aus dem Bundesstaat Wisconsin warf Bernanke vor, die Finanzaktivitäten genehmigt zu haben, die zur schwersten Finanzkrise seit der grossen Depression geführt hätten. Bernanke habe die Politik von Ex-Präsident Bush mitgetragen, die für die aktuelle Wirtschaftskrise mitverantwortlich sei. Einer der schärfsten Kritiker Bernankes, der unabhängige Senator Bernie Sanders, sagte, mit einer Neubesetzung des Postens könnten auch die Regeln für das Finanzsystem neu geschrieben werden. >>> sda/apa/afp | Samstag, 23. Januar 2010
