Islam: ‘The Religion of Love, Mercy, and Compassion’
Sweet soul! Ayatollah Khatami delivering Friday prayers in Tehran. Photo: TimesOnline
TIMES ONLINE: A hardline cleric seen as a mouthpiece of the Iranian regime today demanded that opposition demonstrators be punished “without mercy”.

Even as Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami delivered his uncompromising message at Tehran’s Friday prayers, foreign ministers of the world’s leading industrialised nations issued a statement deploring the regime’s violent crackdown on the protestors and demanded it “stop immediately”.

Mr Khatami’s televised sermon came at the end of a week in which the regime has brutally suppressed all streets protests and rounded up hundreds of opponents for daring to question President Ahmadinejad’s re-election. It conveyed the unmistakable message that no dissent would be tolerated, and that the crackdown would, if anything, intensify.

“I want the judiciary to ... punish leading rioters firmly and without showing any mercy to teach everyone a lesson,” Mr Khatami told worshippers at Tehran university.

He said the judiciary should treat the leading “rioters” as “mohareb” - people who wage war against God. “Based on Islamic law, whoever confronts the Islamic state ... should be convicted as mohareb,” he said. “They should be punished ruthlessly and savagely" to deter others. Hardliner says Iran protesters should be punished 'without mercy' >>> Martin Fletcher | Friday, June 26, 2009

Iran's Turmoil Opens Rift Among Shiites Across Mideast
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Unrest in Iran has opened a theological rift within the Shiite sect of Islam, undermining the Iranian regime's founding dogma that is shared by millions of fellow Shiites across the Middle East.

The concept, known as wilayat al-faqih -- literally "guardianship by a jurist" -- holds that, in an Islamic state, a divinely anointed scholar of Islamic law must exercise unquestioned authority over elected officials and the rest of the government.

Iran's current such incumbent, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, isn't just the top arbiter of the country's affairs. He also serves as the marjaa, or spiritual guide, for many Shiites outside Iran. Mr. Khamenei's image graces billboards in south Beirut, mosques in Shiite shantytowns of eastern Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and the walls of Shiite lawmakers' offices in Kuwait.

But, in recent weeks, this moral authority -- and the wilayat al-faqih ideology that underpins it -- has been shaken by Ayatollah Khamenei's handling of Iran's disputed June 12 presidential elections.

The Shiites, a minority sect of Islam, split from majority Sunnis some 14 centuries ago. Iran has long been the world's leading Shiite power; 90% of its 66 million people follow the Shiite faith.

With his open support of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ayatollah Khamenei has departed from his traditional role as a neutral arbiter and consensus-builder. While opposition candidates have alleged fraud during the vote, Ayatollah Khamenei has hailed Mr. Ahmadinejad's re-election as a "divine assessment" and ordered an end to protests. >>> Yaroslav Trofimov in Istanbul and Gina Chon in Najaf, Iraq | Friday, June 16, 2009

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY:
Wilayat al-Faqih (Supreme Jurist Leadership) >>>

Proche-Orient: Le Hamas prêt à dialoguer avec Washington
LePARISIEN.fr: Le chef en exil du Hamas palestinien, Khaled Mechaal, s'est déclaré jeudi favorable à un «dialogue direct et sans condition» avec les Etats-Unis. Il a annoncé la reprise «dans deux jours» des discussions interpalestiniennes au Caire.

«Nous saluons le nouveau discours de Barack Obama à l'égard du Hamas, il s'agit d'un premier pas vers un dialogue direct et sans condition» entre Washington et le mouvement palestinien, a déclaré Khaled Mechaal lors d'un discours attendu à Damas, où il réside.

«Le Hamas ne se fait pas d'illusions face aux discours», a-t-il toutefois ajouté, tout en précisant: «Nous aspirons à un changement sur le terrain qui mette fin à l'occupation» israélienne.

Dans un discours au Caire le 4 juin, le président américain a pressé l'Etat hébreu de cesser la colonisation dans les territoires palestiniens et exprimé son engagement en faveur d'un Etat palestinien aux côtés d'Israël. >>> Leparisien.fr | Jeudi 25 Juin 2009

Arabische Strategie gegen islamischen Terror
BERLINER ZEITUNG: Paris - Die arabischen Länder wollen mit einer arabischen Strategie gegen islamische Terroristen vorgehen. Insbesondere sollen die Geldströme der Terroristen schärfer ins Visier genommen werden, teilte das Sekretariat des Rats der Innenminister der Arabischen Liga in Tunis mit.

Dazu sei am Freitag eine «arabische Strategie des Kampfes gegen die Geldwäsche und die Finanzierung des Terrorismus» beschlossen worden. Die arabischen Länder wollen insbesondere Geldtransfers über das Internet schärfer kontrollieren und Schenkungen und Stiftungen für angeblich karitative Organisationen besser überwachen. Auch auf die Internetkriminalität soll dabei ein schärferes Auge geworfen werden. >>> © dpa | Freitag, 26. Juni 2009

Mehrheit der Ostdeutschen sieht DDR positiv
BERLINER ZEITUNG: Berlin - Die DDR wird von einer Mehrheit der Ostdeutschen heute positiv beurteilt. Dies habe eine repräsentative Umfrage des Emnid-Institutes im Auftrag der Bundesregierung ergeben, berichtet die «Berliner Zeitung».

49 Prozent vertreten demnach die Auffassung, die DDR habe «mehr gute als schlechte Seiten» gehabt. Weitere acht Prozent meinen, man habe damals dort glücklicher und besser gelebt als heute.

Von den befragten Westdeutschen wurde die DDR dagegen mit deutlicher Mehrheit negativ beurteilt. Befragt worden seien 1208 Menschen. Die Entwicklung seit dem Mauerfall werde im Osten eher negativ, im Westen dagegen eher positiv[.] [Quelle: BerlinerZeitung] © dpa | Freitag, 26. Juni 2009

You're Still Jewish – Even If Your Mother Isn't
THE INDEPENDENT: Judges rule that London school's strict admissions policy is in breach of Race Discrimination Act

Britain's Jewish faith schools may have to revise their admission policies after the Court of Appeal ruled that the widely used criteria for selecting pupils breached the Race Discrimination Act.

In a far-reaching judgment, three judges found the well known JFS (formerly the Jews' Free School) in Brent, north-west London, racially discriminated against a 12-year-old boy by denying him a place at the school because his mother was not a recognised Jew.

The ruling was immediately attacked by the Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sachs, who said he supported an appeal to the House of Lords to try to overturn the judgment so that Jews could "be true to the Jewish faith" by upholding the existing criteria for membership of the Jewish religion. >>> By Robert Verkaik, Law Editor | Friday, June 26, 2009

Obama maintient son offre de dialogue à l'Iran
Barack Obama s'est dit « choqué » par la répression brutale des manifestations en Iran, mardi, pendant une conférence de presse à la Maison-Blanche. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Zbigniew Brzezinski, ancienne personnalité du parti démocrate américain, assure au Figaro qu'il n'y a pas d'alternative à la main tendue par le président américain.

«Nous devons à la fois montrer de la sympathie pour les aspirations du peuple iranien à la démocratie, tout en affichant notre volonté de négocier avec Téhéran, quels que soient ceux qui sont au pouvoir.» Pour Zbigniew Brzezinski, ex-conseiller à la sécurité nationale de Jimmy Carter entre 1977 et 1981, et qui a aujourd'hui l'oreille de Barack Obama, la politique d'engagement tracée par le nouveau chef de la Maison-Blanche est appelée à se poursuivre, en dépit des dramatiques événements en Iran.

«La ligne a été tracée de façon très claire et très intelligente», estime ce mentor démocrate en géopolitique, âgé aujourd'hui de 81 ans. Il a toujours son bureau au Centre pour les études internationales et stratégiques (CSIS), l'un des principaux think-tanks de Washington. «L'important, insiste-t-il, c'est de ne pas interférer dans la politique intérieure iranienne car cela donnerait aux dirigeants conservateurs de Téhéran des arguments pour accroître la répression contre le mouvement démocratique.» >>> Alain Barluet, envoyé spécial du Figaro à Washington | Jeudi 25 Juin 2009

«Wir Iraner sind anders als unser Regime»
TAGES ANZEIGER: Junge, Alte, Frauen, Männer, Arbeiter, Akademiker – die grüne Bewegung gegen Ahmadinejad und die herrschenden Mullahs umfasst alle Schichten des Iran.

Seit zwei Stunden versucht Mashid ihre Tochter Shirin in Teheran zu erreichen. Sie ist voller Sorge. Aus dem Fernsehen weiss sie, was in der Hauptstadt los ist. Endlich nimmt jemand den Hörer ab. Es ist das Kindermädchen. «Shirin ist nicht zu Hause», sagt sie aufgeregt, «sie ist zu den Moussavi-Leuten gegangen.» Im Hintergrund schreien Shirins Zwillinge. Die Mutter ist entsetzt. «Sie geht zur Demonstration?», ruft sie. Als das Fernsehen später berichtet, dass der Marsch der Opposition gewaltlos verlaufen sei, beruhigt sich Mashid. Sie lacht über das ganze Gesicht. Tränen rollen über ihre Wangen.

Vor 30 Jahren auch demonstriert

Mashid ist 63, doch jetzt sieht sie plötzlich viel jünger aus. «Vor dreissig Jahren habe ich auch demonstriert», sagt sie, «gegen den Schah. Shirin war noch ein Baby.» Angst hatte Mashid damals nicht. Es waren Zehntausende, die auf die Strasse gingen. Sie riefen: «Nieder mit dem Schah!» Manche trugen auch Bilder von Ayatollah Khomeini. Mashid ging oft mit Freunden, weil ihr Mann, ein Architekt, arbeiten musste. Sie wohnten in einem besseren Stadtteil von Mashhad, der zweitgrössten Stadt des Iran, in einem schönen Haus mit einem gepflegten Garten. Als Khomeini über den Schah siegte, war Mashid Feuer und Flamme. An diesem Abend im Januar 1979 feierte die Familie mit Freunden den Sieg der islamischen Revolution mit versteckten Restbeständen von Wodka und Whisky. Was die Zukunft bringen würde, kümmerte sie damals nicht. Hauptsache, der Schah war verschwunden.

Mashid lebt noch heute in ihrem Haus. Als ihr Mann vor zwei Jahren an Krebs starb, erbte sie Bargeld und Grundstücke. Die Erbschaft hat Mashid bei einer privaten Bank für fünf Jahre fest angelegt. Von den Zinsen können sie und ihre Kinder sorglos leben. >>> Von Ahmad Taheri, Teheran | Donnerstag, 25. Juni 2009

Iranian Film Calls for Change
BBC: The recent death of a female protestor in Iran has become a rallying cry for people across the country and echoes the populist anger seen in the late 1980s at the stoning of a woman for a adultery. Now, the events leading up to her death have been made into a film 'The Stoning of Soraya M'.

We spoke to the Iranian-American actress Shohreh Aghdashloo who stared in the movie and asked her about the political importance of her cinematic performance. Watch BBC video here >>> | Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Iran Doctor Tells of Neda's Death
"We heard a gunshot. Neda was standing a metre away from me... I saw blood gushing out of her chest"
BBC: The doctor who tried to save an Iranian protester as she bled to death on a street in Tehran has told the BBC of her final moments.

Dr Arash Hejazi, who is studying at a university in the south of England, said he ran to Neda Agha-Soltan's aid after seeing she had been shot in the chest.

Despite his attempts to stop the bleeding she died in less than a minute, he said.

Video of Ms Soltan's death was posted on the internet and images of her have become a rallying point for Iranian opposition supporters around the world.

Dr Hejazi also told how passers-by then seized an armed Basij militia volunteer who appeared to admit shooting Ms Soltan.

Dr Hejazi said he had not slept for three nights following the incident, but he wanted to speak out so that her death was not in vain.

He doubted that he would be able to return to Iran after talking openly about Ms Soltan's killing. >>> | Thursday, June 25, 2009

Iranische Regierung setzt Moussavi unter Druck: Opposition berichtet von Verhaftungswelle
NZZ Online: Der iranische Oppositionsführer Moussavi wird nach eigenen Angaben von der Regierung zunehmend unter Druck gesetzt, seine Forderung nach einer Annullierung der umstrittenen Präsidentschaftswahl aufzugeben. Nach Oppositionsangaben ist es zu einer Verhaftungswelle gekommen.

Moussavi solle seine Vorwürfe des Wahlbetrugs fallenlassen und werde auch zunehmend abgeschirmt, hiess es am Donnerstag auf der offiziellen Website des Politikers. Sein Zugang zum Volk sei «völlig eingeschränkt», und er werde zunehmend der Zusammenarbeit mit dem Ausland bezichtigt.

Moussavi will dem Druck jedoch nicht nachgeben und Ahmadinejads Sieg nicht anerkennen. «Es kann keine Lösung sein zu erwarten, dass ich etwas äussere, woran ich nicht glaube», erklärte er auf seiner Website. Nach Angaben der Opposition wurden unterdessen 70 Hochschulprofessoren nach einem Treffen mit Moussavi festgenommen. Über ihren Verbleib sei nichts bekannt. Beobachter werteten die Festnahmen als weiteres Zeichen eines verschärften Vorgehens der Behörden gegen die Oppositionsbewegung. Seit Beginn der Proteste wurden bereits Hunderte von Demonstranten festgenommen. >>> (ap)/bbu | Donnerstag, 25. Juni 2009

Somalia Steps Up Amputations for Criminals
BALTIMORE NEWS: Four men from Somalia have had their hands cut off for stealing phones and guns. 



Hardline Islamists carried out the sentences on the men after they had been convicted in a Sharia court earlier this week. 



Mainly women and children watched as masked men cut off a hand and foot of each of the men with machetes.

Witnesses have said the four men cried for help during and after the amputations.

The four men had reportedly admitted to the robberies, but were given no appeal against their sentence.

The amputations were carried out by members of the al-Shabab group, which controls much of the south of the country. 



Most Somalis traditionally practise a more tolerant form of Islam but President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who took office in January, immediately allowed Sharia law. [Source: BaltimoreNews.net] | Thursday, June 25, 2009

Comment: here >>>

THE TELEGRAPH:
Somali Islamists carry out public double amputation on 'thieves': Hardline Somali Islamists amputated a leg and a hand from each of four alleged thieves in a public punishment held in the middle of Mogadishu >>> Mike Pflanz in Nairobi | Thursday, June 25, 2009

Obama’s Mistakes: Chancellor Merkel Visits the Debt President
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The occupant of the White House may have changed recently. But the amount of ill-advised ideology coming from Washington has remained constant. Obama's list of economic errors is long -- and continues to grow.

The president may have changed, but the excesses of American politics have remained. Barack Obama and George W. Bush, it has become clear, are more similar than they might seem at first glance.

Ex-President Bush was nothing if not zealous in his worldwide campaign against terror, transgressing human rights and breaking international law along the way. Now, Obama is displaying the same zeal in his own war against the financial crisis -- and his weapon of choice is the money-printing machine. The rules the new American president is breaking are those which govern the economy. Nobody is being killed. But the strategy comes at a price -- and that price might be America's position as a global power.

In his fight against terrorism, Bush had the ideologue Dick Cheney at his side. "We must take the battle to the enemy," he said -- and sent out the bomber squadrons toward Iraq on the basis of mere suspicion. The result of the offensive is well known.

Obama's Cheney

Obama's Cheney is named Larry Summers. He is Obama's senior-most economic advisor, and like the former vice president, he is a man of conviction. The financial crisis may be large, but Summers' self-confidence is even larger. More importantly, President Barack Obama follows him like a dog does its master.

The crisis, Summers intoned last week at a conference of Deutsche Bank's Alfred Herrhausen Society in Washington, was caused by too much confidence, too much credit and too many debts. It was hard not to nod along in agreement.

But then Summers added that the way to bring about an end to the crisis was -- more confidence, more credit and more debt. And the nodding stopped. Experts and non-experts alike were perplexed. Even in an interview following the presentation, Summers was unable to supply an adequate explanation for how a crisis caused by frivolous lending was going to be solved through yet more frivolity. >>> Gabor Steingart | Thursday, June 25, 2009

Saberi: Iran Can't Go Back: Freed U.S. journalist Roxana Saberi talks with Anderson Cooper about being jailed in Iran and the current protests

Iran developments: June 25: CNN's Ivan Watson reports on the latest developments in Iran

Reporter's Last Hours in Iran: CNN's Reza Sayah discusses what it was like to cover the tension and turmoil in Tehran and his last hours there

The Swan Song of the Islamic Republic
THE HUFFINGTON POST: Whatever happens from this point on, nothing will ever be the same in Tehran.

Whatever happens, if the protest gains momentum or loses steam, if it ends up prevailing or if the regime succeeds in terrorizing it, he who should now only be called president-non-elect Ahmadinejad will only be an ersatz, illegitimate, weakened president.

Whatever happens, whatever the result of this crisis provoked two weeks ago by the enormity of a fraud that serious-minded people can no longer doubt, no Iranian leader can appear on the global scene, or in any negotiation with Obama, Sarkozy, or Merkel, without being haloed, not by the nimbus of light dreamed of by Ahmadinejad in his 2005 speech to the United Nations, but by the cloud of sulphur that crowns cheaters and butchers.

Whatever happens, the Ayatollah Khamenei, Khomeini's successor and Supreme Leader of the regime, tutelary authority of the President, father of the people, will have lost his role as arbiter, will have shamelessly sided with one faction over the others, and will have therefore lost what remained of his authority: "Only God knows my vote," he carefully replied four years ago to those who were already calling upon him to denounce the fraud--"in the name of merciful God, I armor, I hammer, and I dissolve the people," he has responded this time to the naïve who believed he was there to uphold the Constitution.

Whatever happens, the block of ayatollahs who had always succeeded in maintaining a united front, whatever their differences and divergent interests, will have put their ferocious divisions on display: the ones behind Khamenei, approving of the decision to crush the movement with blood; the others, like the ex-President Rafsanjani, leader of the very powerful Assembly of Experts, warning that if the wave of protests were not taken seriously, veritable "volcanoes" of anger would erupt. Others still like the Grand Ayatollah Montazeri who, since his house arrest in Qom, has been calling for a recount and for national mourning for the victims of the repression; and without mentioning the leading religious experts of the "Office of Theological Seminaries" who no longer fear proposing the possibility--what passed for heresy not long ago--of Khamenei's resignation and of his replacement by a "Guidance Council."

Whatever happens, and beyond these internal conflicts, the people will be dissociated from an anemic and fatally wounded regime. >>> Bernard-Henri Lévy, French philosopher and writer | Monday, June 22, 2009

Translated from French by Sara Phenix.

Demonstrationen: Iranische Machthaber beschuldigen jetzt die CIA
WELT ONLINE: Hinter der Protestwelle seit der Präsidentschaftswahl steht nach Ansicht des iranischen Innenministeriums nicht Unzufriedenheit mit der Regierung – sondern der US-Geheimdienst CIA. Die Demonstranten fordern inzwischen nicht nur Neuwahlen, sondern kritisieren die Herrschenden, sogar den geistlichen Führer Chamenei.

Das geistliche Oberhaupt des Iran, Ayatollah Ali Chamenei, hat sich angesichts der Proteste gegen das Wahlergebnis unnachgiebig gezeigt. Die Führung werde nicht „zurückweichen“, erklärte Chamenei am Mittwoch. „Weder das System noch das Volk werden nachgeben.“

Das iranische Innenministerium warf den Demonstranten vor, Unterstützung von den USA, insbesondere dem Geheimdienst CIA, sowie von den Volksmudschaheddin zu beziehen. Viele „Aufständische“ hätten Kontakte dorthin und erhielten finanzielle Unterstützung, erklärte Innenminister Sadegh Massuli nach Angaben der Nachrichtenagentur Fars.

US-Präsident Barack Obama bezeichnete die Vorwürfe als „falsch und absurd“. Teheran versuche mit „einer alten Strategie“ und der Schaffung von Sündenböcken davon abzulenken, dass das iranische Volk um seine Zukunft ringe, sagte Obama. „Das iranische Volk hat ein universelles Recht auf Versammlungs- und Redefreiheit.“

Chamenei hatte sich vergangene Woche deutlich hinter Amtsinhaber Mahmud Ahmadinedschad gestellt, dessen Sieg bei der Präsidentenwahl die anderen Kandidaten anzweifeln. >>> AP/dpa/Reuters/AFP/ks | Mittwoch, 24. Juni 2009

New Dark Age Alert! YouTube Video Shows Church 'Exorcism' of Gay Teenager
THE GUARDIAN: Manifested Glory Ministries denies any wrongdoing but gay advocates demand an investigation

An American church has been condemned over a video showing a 16-year-old boy apparently being exorcised by church leaders trying to cast a "homosexual demon" from his body.

The 20-minute video posted on YouTube shows the teenager lying on the floor, his body convulsing, as elders of a small Connecticut church shout "Rip it from his throat!" and "Come on, you homosexual demon! You homosexual spirit, we call you out right now! Loose your grip, Lucifer!"

Later, the teenager is seen coughing and apparently vomiting into a bag before lying on the ground, limp and covered in a white sheet.

Gay and youth advocates claim the film depicts abuse and are demanding an investigation. But a spokeswoman from Manifested Glory Ministries, which posted the video on YouTube, this week denied any wrongdoing.

"We believe a man should be with a woman and a woman should be with a man," the Rev Patricia McKinney told the Associated Press. "We have nothing against homosexuals. I just don't agree with their lifestyle."

McKinney denied the ritual was an exorcism, describing it instead as a casting out of spirits. She said the church took care of the youth, providing him with clothes. >>> Helen Pidd and agencies | Thursday, June 25, 2009

YOU TUBE: Controversial ‘Gay Exorcism’ by Connecticut Church

'Wailing of Wolves' in Iran as Cries of Allahu Akbar Ring from Roofs
TIMES ONLINE: At about 9pm each day Nushin, a young housewife, performs the same curious ritual. She climbs up the stairs to the roof of her Tehran home and begins shouting into the night. Allahu akbar,” she cries, and sometimes “Death to the dictator”.

She is not alone. Across the darkened city, from rooftops and through open windows, thousands of others do the same to form one great chorus of protest — a collective wail of anger against a reviled regime that no amount of riot police and Basiji militia can stop. “It sounds like the wailing of wolves,” said one Tehrani.

And each night, as the street demonstrations are crushed with overwhelming force and the regime cracks down on all other forms of dissent, it grows steadily louder and more insistent, not just in Tehran but in other densely populated cities of the Islamic Republic.

“It’s the way we reassure ourselves that we are still here and we are still together,” says Nushin, a woman who has never dared to rebel before.

“This is what people did before the revolution and I hope it warns the regime about what could happen if it doesn’t change its way.

“And because I’m a religious person the sound resonating in the neighbourhood makes me feel better. Even my little daughter joins me, and I can see how she feels that she is part of something bigger. It is our unique way of civil disobedience and what’s interesting is that it increases every time they do something that makes people angrier.” >>> Martin Fletcher | Thursday, June 25, 2009