Monthly Archive: May 2009

Closing the week 20 0

Closing the week 20

A weekly round up of writings on the Internet, some relevant for my research, some political, some funny but all of them interesting (Dutch/English). (This week to a large extent based upon suggestions from Dutch, other European, American and Middle Eastern readers. Thank you all.)

Anthropology on the web – the culture of youtube 2

Anthropology on the web – the culture of youtube

Of course, anthropology is one of the most important and interesting studies one can imagine. But what does an anthropologists on Youtube give a nice impression. The Internet offers a range of possibilities for anthropologists and the work on Youtube is fascinating. Moreover, the participation of students in it, make it highly relevant for teaching as well.

House of Glass – New publications by Al-Maqdisi 1

House of Glass – New publications by Al-Maqdisi

Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi was not only the mentor and teacher of Al-Zarqawi but his texts also played a major role in several Dutch jihadi circles, in particular that of the Hofstad network. The murderer of filmdirector and writer Theo van Gogh translated several texts of Al-Maqdisi such as Millat Ibrahim. Al-Maqdisi has presented a new book and an essay (the latter has been translated into English). In the essay he criticizes the pope and the book is dedicated to, among others, the pope and Geert Wilders.

MOI Lezing: Cartoons, minorities, freedom of speech and self-censorship in Denmark – Jørgen S. Nielsen 0

MOI Lezing: Cartoons, minorities, freedom of speech and self-censorship in Denmark – Jørgen S. Nielsen

The representation of religion in the public sphere can bring about major debates and conflicts. In the Netherlands, the limits of free speech and Dutch tolerance are to be tested in a court case after judges ruled that a right-wing MP Geert Wilders who compared the Koran to Mein Kampf and last year released the film Fitna, should be put on trial for inciting hatred and discrimination in his speeches. Similar issues can be found in other cases such as the “Muhammad Cartoons in 2005/2006. The Dutch Association for the Study of the Middle East and Islam (MOI) invites you to attend a lecture that will address the issues of freedom speech, self-censorship and the representation of religion: “Cartoons, minorities, freedom of speech and self-censorship in Denmark” by Jørgen S. Nielsen.

Closing the week 19 0

Closing the week 19

A weekly round up of writings on the Internet, some relevant for my research, some political, some funny but all of them interesting (Dutch/English). (This week to a large extent based upon suggestions from Dutch, other European, American and Middle Eastern readers. Thank you all.)

Het glazen huis – Al Maqdisi Jihadi Controverse en nieuwe publicatie 27

Het glazen huis – Al Maqdisi Jihadi Controverse en nieuwe publicatie

Abu Mohammed al-Maqdisi is een Jordaans-Palestijnse islam-geleerde. Hij is één van de meest invloedrijke jihad-theoretici en ideologen van de mondiale jihad. Zeer recent heeft hij een nieuw boek gepubliceerd: Man Kana Baytahu min Zujaj fa-la Yarmi ghayrahu bi-Hajar – Qira’a wa-Ta’ammul fi Asfar al-‘Ahd al-Qadim wa-Muqarana bayna Akhbariha wa-bayna l-Qisas al-Qur’an al-‘Azim (Wie een huis van glas heeft moet een ander niet met stenen bekogelen – Een lezing en beschouwing over de boeken van het Oude Testament en een vergelijking tussen zijn boodschap en de verhalen van de geweldige koran). Het mag een opvallend boek genoemd worden dat is opgedragen aan onder meer Geert Wilders en Theo van Gogh.

Nikolaos van Dam: The Global Political Trend and the Role of Islam: The Academic Responsibility of Muslim Scholars 1

Nikolaos van Dam: The Global Political Trend and the Role of Islam: The Academic Responsibility of Muslim Scholars

The Dutch Ambassador in Indonesia, Nikolaos van Dam, has delivered a speech on the occasion of the graduation ceremony of The Institute for Qur’anic Studies Jakarta, at Jakarta Convention Center, 29 April 2009. The complete text of the ‘Orasi Ilmiah’ The Global Political Trend and the Role of Islam: The Academic Responsibility of Muslim Scholars, can be found here.

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Islamizing Europe – Muslim Demographics

The Youtube video Muslim Demographics is a hit all over the Internet. It is informed by several well-known narratives about the Islamic threat. In this article an evaluation of the most important ‘facts’ of this video. Notwithstanding the conclusion that the facts are disorted, the images in the video provide people with access to the abstract notion of the Islamic threat and in some cases (as with Fitna the movie) it creates and organizes the relationship between a particular authority and parts of his constituency. In that case, the real facts do not matter, what matters is making the fact of the Islamic threat real and concrete. ***UPDATED 15 MAY 2005***

Yme Kuiper on charisma, leadership, personality and the X-factor 0

Yme Kuiper on charisma, leadership, personality and the X-factor

The concept charisma is being used all over the place and is thus losing its meaning, thinks University of Groningen anthropologist and theologian Prof. Yme Kuiper. And that’s a real shame, because when used well the concept can provide an insight into political culture. The insight that someone like Obama in the Netherlands would have had less chance of becoming great than in the United States, for example.

Closing the week 18 0

Closing the week 18

A weekly round up of writings on the Internet, some relevant for my research, some political, some funny but all of them interesting (Dutch/English). (This week to a large extent based upon suggestions from Dutch, other European, American and Middle Eastern readers. Thank you all.)