IslamiCity.com – Muslims set up coalition to fight extremism

Posted on July 8th, 2006 by .
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization.

IslamiCity.com

Muslims set up coalition to fight extremism
By Ben Russell and Nigel Morris
Published: 07 July 2006

Fourteen Islamic groups have formed a coalition to fight extremists, amid continuing anger at Tony Blair’s demand for their community to do more to combat radicalism. The groups, which include the Muslim Parliament and the Association of British Muslims, aim to raise awareness of extremism and speak out against “extremist ideologies and related propaganda”.

Forum members hope to commission research into why people are attracted to extremist ideologies and “to speak up for democratic values, and the principles of tolerance, justice and citizenship while maintaining our identity as British Muslims”.

The forum said: “We are aware that some from the Muslim community may be uneasy about the creation of a new body, arguing that Islam is not to blame for extremism and that Muslims as a whole cannot be held responsible for acts of terror committed in the name of their religion.

“We acknowledge this may be true, but we emphasise that Muslims must accept that there are extremists and terrorists who justify themselves by reference to Islam and this places a particular responsibility on Muslim citizens to expose these false claims and to refute such false justifications for acts that are clearly against Islam.”

Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, attacked Mr Blair for suggesting Muslims were not doing enough to combat extremism. He said: “Blaming a community, especially those who have been working for the last five years to bringing sanity in the community, bringing peace and harmony in the community. This blaming is not helpful to us.”

Fourteen Islamic groups have formed a coalition to fight extremists, amid continuing anger at Tony Blair’s demand for their community to do more to combat radicalism. The groups, which include the Muslim Parliament and the Association of British Muslims, aim to raise awareness of extremism and speak out against “extremist ideologies and related propaganda”.

Forum members hope to commission research into why people are attracted to extremist ideologies and “to speak up for democratic values, and the principles of tolerance, justice and citizenship while maintaining our identity as British Muslims”.

The forum said: “We are aware that some from the Muslim community may be uneasy about the creation of a new body, arguing that Islam is not to blame for extremism and that Muslims as a whole cannot be held responsible for acts of terror committed in the name of their religion.

“We acknowledge this may be true, but we emphasise that Muslims must accept that there are extremists and terrorists who justify themselves by reference to Islam and this places a particular responsibility on Muslim citizens to expose these false claims and to refute such false justifications for acts that are clearly against Islam.”

Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, attacked Mr Blair for suggesting Muslims were not doing enough to combat extremism. He said: “Blaming a community, especially those who have been working for the last five years to bringing sanity in the community, bringing peace and harmony in the community. This blaming is not helpful to us.”

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Transatlantic Intelligencer :: Talking With Islamists: The European Left and its “Dialogue” with the Arab World

Posted on July 8th, 2006 by .
Categories: Multiculti Issues, Religious and Political Radicalization.

Transatlantic Intelligencer :: Talking With Islamists: The European Left and its “Dialogue” with the Arab World
One of the main political themes (but also in social sciences) at this moment is whether or not to include islamists of different types in the democratic process and negotiate with them. In this article the politics of the European Left and the Islamists are connected to eachother and, so the authors argue, this dialogue has led to nothing. The Dutch WRR-report on islamic activism has mainly the same theme and the WRR sees possibilities for this dialogue (on the level of the state). It is an important theme and an important question.

The effect of conferences like that in Beirut is to promote radical Islamists to the status of serious negotiating partners.

Among other things, this has become possible because European Islamists, partly from conviction and partly from opportunism, have now nearly perfectly mastered the use of a vocabulary that dovetails seamlessly with “left-wing” ideas and programs. Just as in the case of Tariq Ramadan, who found an enthusiastic audience at the European Social Forum in Paris, so the success of the British Islamist al-Tamimi derives from his consciously relating his Islamism to the discourses of anti-Americanism and the anti-globalization movement. Thus, in an essay on Arab anti-Semitism, he writes that “In essence, the Zionist project is a Western colonial enterprise whose success depends on two main factors. The first factor is the determination of a powerful West to see this enterprise continue. The second factor is the weakness of the Arabs and the Muslims who have been robbed of the possibilities of defending themselves”. [18] In the same measure as the “Muslim world” is presented as the victim of the “New World Order”, he proposes it as the bearer of a more just one. “Evidently, the Muslim world is witnessing a massive awakening that will transform its weakness into strength. When the Arabs and Muslims again achieve strength and confidence, this will coincide with a retreat of the World Order due to dwindling material and military resources and as a result of the escalation of the current crisis. Then the end of the Zionist project will also have come and the State of Israel will no longer exist.” Packaged in academic language, Tamimi presents the same program of global jihad as that expressed in cruder form by Osama bin Laden and al-Qa’ida. The resistance to a “New World Order” controlled by Israel and the Zionists will succeed if it can exact a rising military price through a multiplication of conflicts and so sap the enemy’s strength. The call to murder could hardly be more soberly stated. And this is in fact essentially the program followed by the Ba’thists and Islamists in Iraq since the fall of Saddam.

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Protected: NRC – De stelling van Irshad Manji: islam is gebaat bij keiharde religiekritiek

Posted on July 8th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Multiculti Issues.

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The Peninsula On-line: Qatar's leading English Daily

Posted on July 8th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News.

The Peninsula On-line: Qatar’s leading English Daily
Muslim world needs democracy, says Qaradawi

Dr Yousuf Al Qaradawi

DOHA • Noted Islamic scholar Dr Yousuf Al Qaradawi has said the Muslim world needs democracy. The scholar, who is in Istanbul, Turkey to attend a conference, said: “The Muslim world needs democracy. It wants democracy. But it should be real democracy and not just democracy by name only.”

He added: “Democracy has done some good things. It has saved humanity from despots and dictators who act like gods. The details should be left to the people. Let them decide for themselves.”

He, however, added that democracy in the Muslim world would be different from what it is in Western countries. “This is because in Islam there are some fixed principles that cannot be changed. But there are some things where the people can call for change, depending on the time and place,” he said.

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The Peninsula On-line: Qatar’s leading English Daily

Posted on July 8th, 2006 by .
Categories: Misc. News.

The Peninsula On-line: Qatar’s leading English Daily
Muslim world needs democracy, says Qaradawi

Dr Yousuf Al Qaradawi

DOHA • Noted Islamic scholar Dr Yousuf Al Qaradawi has said the Muslim world needs democracy. The scholar, who is in Istanbul, Turkey to attend a conference, said: “The Muslim world needs democracy. It wants democracy. But it should be real democracy and not just democracy by name only.”

He added: “Democracy has done some good things. It has saved humanity from despots and dictators who act like gods. The details should be left to the people. Let them decide for themselves.”

He, however, added that democracy in the Muslim world would be different from what it is in Western countries. “This is because in Islam there are some fixed principles that cannot be changed. But there are some things where the people can call for change, depending on the time and place,” he said.

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Protected: AD.nl – Youssra ster in onderwijsfilmpjes

Posted on July 8th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Gouda Issues, Uncategorized.

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De nieuwe reporter » Blog Archive » Waarom integreren we de herkomstlanden van Turken en Marokkanen niet beter in onze verslaggeving?

Posted on July 8th, 2006 by .
Categories: Misc. News.

De nieuwe reporter » Blog Archive » Waarom integreren we de herkomstlanden van Turken en Marokkanen niet beter in onze verslaggeving?
Goede vraag lijkt me. Er zijn wel wat uitzonderingen: zo lijkt de NIO vooral op de radio maar toch ook wel op TV aardig op weg om die krenten uit de nieuwspap te pakken die anderen laten liggen zoals het nieuws rondom Al Turabi.

Als er iets rampzaligs gebeurt in onze ex-koloniën, Suriname en Indonesië, zitten de Nederlandse media er bovenop, alsof het nog steeds een beetje onze wingewesten zijn. Ik weet niet hoe journalisten dit voor zichzelf rechtvaardigen, of ze bijvoorbeeld denken: dit zijn landen van herkomst van veel Nederlanders, dus laten we deze groep goed bedienen, zij zijn ook ons publiek.

Gesteld dat ze zo redeneren, hoe zit het dan met Marokko, Turkije, Irak, en al die andere landen van herkomst van honderdduizenden Nederlanders? In de kranten worden ze grosso modo niet anders behandeld dan al die andere landen waarmee Nederlanders met uitsluitend Nederlandse voorouders geen enkele band hebben. Op de televisie komen kijkers uit herkomstlanden als Marokko iets beter aan hun trekken, hoewel niet in de nieuwsprogramma’s, maar in apolitieke, human interest documentaires.

Ik ken Marokkanen en Turken die schitterend Nederlands spreken, schrijven en lezen, die echter al jaren geleden zijn opgehouden de krant te lezen, omdat er zo zelden iets over hun herkomstland in staat, en dan nog meestal vanuit Europese invalshoeken, dat het niet de moeite waard is een abonnement te nemen. Tegelijkertijd wordt hen verweten vooral naar buitenlandse satellietzenders te kijken.

Een dergelijke situatie treffen we aan in alle West-Europese landen, met kleine, historisch bepaalde nuances. De Britten doen meer aan India, de Duitsers aan Polen, de Italianen aan Libië, de Spanjaarden aan Zuid-Amerikaanse landen, Portugal aan Brazilië.

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Boston Review – The Brotherhood

Posted on July 8th, 2006 by .
Categories: Religious and Political Radicalization.

Stephen Glain: The Brotherhood

Assuming its fidelity to the word of Sayyid Qutb, the Muslim Brotherhood’s strategy is to cinch control over Egyptian politics and establish sharia through constitutional fiat. The most populous and geopolitically vital Arab nation would then go the way of Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Sudan to become an orthodox Islamic regime, perhaps to be joined one day by Iraq, Palestine, Pakistan, and possibly Syria and several of the lesser Gulf states.

Or not. It is just as likely that Brotherhood members really believe their big-tent talk of coalition-building and interfaith harmony. They may also know that hammering Arab states together into a borderless fiefdom is just as absurd and impractical as it was when Nasser and the Syrians tried it in 1958.

More important, however, is what the people in al Catatny’s chambers believe. If they think the Muslim Brotherhood is the only political group in Egypt with the commitment and resources to address their needs, then they will buoy the Brotherhood to power regardless of its intentions. If, on the other hand, there is a political awakening to match the Islamic one, with a proliferation of secular parties competing for voter loyalty, then the Brotherhood will have to reveal itself as either a center-right political party with an Islamist character or an Islamist movement with a regional agenda.

These are two different things. The former would appeal to the moderate sensibilities of most Egyptians. To follow this path would be to swap orthodoxy for legitimacy, an exchange familiar to all radicals who have traveled from the tributaries of politics to its main currents. The latter would alienate all but a small host of Egyptian radicals. To embrace it would be to strangle political Islam in its crib, as just another failed conceit of Arab self-government.

Stephen Glain is a contributing editor to Newsweek International and the author of Mullahs, Merchants, and Militants: The Economic Collapse of the Arab World.

(Via Arabesque)

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