C L O S E R

Protected: Trouw, hetNieuws| nederland – Extra controle vanwege nikaab

Posted on July 19th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Multiculti Issues.

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Expatica's Dutch news in English: Court refuses to ban Dutch paedophile party

Posted on July 18th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News.

Expatica’s Dutch news in English: Court refuses to ban Dutch paedophile party
Court refuses to ban Dutch paedophile party

AMSTERDAM — A court in The Hague had turned down a request to outlaw pro-paedophile party PNVD.

The ban was sought by the Soelaas foundation which investigates instances of paedophilia in the Netherlands.

But Judge HFM Hofhuis ruled that the PNVD has the same right to exist as any other political party. The court also took into account that Soelaas did not have a compelling and urgent interest to justify a ban.

“They (Soelaas) only want to give expression to their moral concerns. That is far from being sufficient to outlaw a party,” Hofhuis said. Soelaas argued a preventative ban was needed to protect children from the PNVD.

There was an outcry in the Netherlands
and abroad earlier this year when the party was formed by three self-confessed paedophiles to campaign for the legalisation of child porn and sex between adults and children.

The PNVD also seeks to allow teenagers older than 16 to act in porn movies, as long as the participation is voluntary. The age of consent should be cut from 16 to 12, the party says.

The arguments the Dutch judge uses are compelling, but of course because it is an ‘paedophile’ party it doesn’t feel right to me. Can you base a legal system on that kind of feelings?

2 comments.

Expatica’s Dutch news in English: Court refuses to ban Dutch paedophile party

Posted on July 18th, 2006 by .
Categories: Misc. News.

Expatica’s Dutch news in English: Court refuses to ban Dutch paedophile party
Court refuses to ban Dutch paedophile party

AMSTERDAM — A court in The Hague had turned down a request to outlaw pro-paedophile party PNVD.

The ban was sought by the Soelaas foundation which investigates instances of paedophilia in the Netherlands.

But Judge HFM Hofhuis ruled that the PNVD has the same right to exist as any other political party. The court also took into account that Soelaas did not have a compelling and urgent interest to justify a ban.

“They (Soelaas) only want to give expression to their moral concerns. That is far from being sufficient to outlaw a party,” Hofhuis said. Soelaas argued a preventative ban was needed to protect children from the PNVD.

There was an outcry in the Netherlands
and abroad earlier this year when the party was formed by three self-confessed paedophiles to campaign for the legalisation of child porn and sex between adults and children.

The PNVD also seeks to allow teenagers older than 16 to act in porn movies, as long as the participation is voluntary. The age of consent should be cut from 16 to 12, the party says.

The arguments the Dutch judge uses are compelling, but of course because it is an ‘paedophile’ party it doesn’t feel right to me. Can you base a legal system on that kind of feelings?

2 comments.

Madrid11.net | Debates: Is Religion the Problem?

Posted on July 18th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Religion Other, Religious and Political Radicalization.

Madrid11.net | Debates
Debate
Madrid11.net invited two prominent voices to start the debate on ‘Is Religion the Problem?’

Most of the terrorist atrocities committed in recent years claim to be inspired by religion. Terrorists frequently refer to religious texts, and use holy scriptures as a justification for the killing of innocent civilians. Indeed, some believe that religion itself has become the problem, while others argue that it merely serves as an excuse. What’s your view?
Mark Juergensmeyer, professor of sociology at the University of California at Santa Barbara, believes religion can be a problematic medium that may serve to justify violence.
Faisal Bodi is a leading commentator on Muslim affairs and columnist for the London Guardian newspaper, he points to the misuse of ‘religion’ and the aspect of secularity in most wars.

0 comments.

Madrid11.net | Debates: Is Religion the Problem?

Posted on July 18th, 2006 by .
Categories: Religion Other, Religious and Political Radicalization.

Madrid11.net | Debates
Debate
Madrid11.net invited two prominent voices to start the debate on ‘Is Religion the Problem?’

Most of the terrorist atrocities committed in recent years claim to be inspired by religion. Terrorists frequently refer to religious texts, and use holy scriptures as a justification for the killing of innocent civilians. Indeed, some believe that religion itself has become the problem, while others argue that it merely serves as an excuse. What’s your view?
Mark Juergensmeyer, professor of sociology at the University of California at Santa Barbara, believes religion can be a problematic medium that may serve to justify violence.
Faisal Bodi is a leading commentator on Muslim affairs and columnist for the London Guardian newspaper, he points to the misuse of ‘religion’ and the aspect of secularity in most wars.

0 comments.

The Middle East's Symbolic Slugfest – Los Angeles Times

Posted on July 18th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News.

The Middle East’s Symbolic Slugfest – Los Angeles Times
The Middle East’s Symbolic Slugfest
Arabs strike, and Israelis hit back harder. Where’s the creativity and courage in that?

An op-ed by David N. Myers, (teaches Jewish history at UCLA).

RECENT EVENTS in Gaza and on the Israel-Lebanon border reveal the extraordinary value of symbols in the region. News of kidnapped Israeli soldiers prompts rejoicing in the streets of Gaza City and Beirut, as Arabs revel in the blow delivered to the powerful Israeli Goliath. Meanwhile, for Israelis, and many Jews around the world, the image of captured soldiers induces a kind of tribal rage that demands the use of overwhelming force. This force is intended, first, to return the soldiers, but no less important, to send a message that Israel’s military might remains as potent as ever.

And so the power of symbols brings Israel and its Arab foes together again in a deadly dance. Driven by the need to protect these symbols, the competing sides have entered into yet another cycle of violence that threatens to plunge the region into a new abyss. Indeed, the current pair of conflicts could easily expand from two to four fronts, if Hamas’ and Hezbollah’s patrons, Syria and Iran, are lured into the battle.

ADVERTISEMENT
On the eve, then, of a potentially dramatic escalation, the question arises: Is it worth it? Must the script be followed once again — according to which the two sides enact an almost ritualized series of violent actions and reactions in order to protect their symbols, knowing full well that these deeds will only deepen hatred and mistrust?

Israel, in particular, must weigh these questions before acting further. It was goaded into action by the two sets of kidnappings and accompanying rocket attacks. Instead of adopting a “more restrained and level-headed policy,” as the Israeli newspaper Haaretz counseled, Israel swallowed the bait of the terrorist groups that wanted nothing more than for it to react with massive force and propel the region into chaos.

The evidence now at hand suggests that the reaction has been strategically counterproductive. Israel’s military response in Gaza has been disproportionately harsh, injuring or killing scores of innocent civilians, and its chief Palestinian foe, Hamas, appears to have been considerably strengthened as a result.

On the Lebanese front, Israel’s attacks on the Beirut airport and elsewhere have not only incurred the wrath of Arabs throughout the region but have brought down a rain of rockets on Safed, Nahariya and even Haifa.

Israel has the right to protect its citizens from attack. No self-respecting state would stand idly by while rockets fall on its cities. But a measured, targeted and finite response — and not necessarily an immediate one borne of wrath — would seem a far more prudent course.

Especially mystifying in the current escalation is why Israel seems to be driven more by the symbolic impact of the soldiers’ abduction than anything else. Israel did not respond with the kind of massive force it is now marshaling after the bomb blast in Tel Aviv in January in which nine civilians were tragically killed. Why then react so disproportionately now?

The short answer is an absence of leadership. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert understands all too well the symbolic logic of the Middle East, where an attack always demands a greater counterattack. He forgets that Israel has used backroom diplomatic channels in the past to gain the release of its abducted citizens and that such an approach might work again now (especially because Israel still has some high-profile Arab prisoners in its possession).

Of course, Israel is not solely to blame for the escalating violence. But as a sovereign state with a major army, it has to be the most responsible party. What, after all, can we expect from Hamas or Hezbollah? Before plunging even further into the darkness of war, Israel must weigh carefully the consequences of its actions, lest the force of symbols overtake sound reason.

0 comments.

The Middle East’s Symbolic Slugfest – Los Angeles Times

Posted on July 18th, 2006 by .
Categories: Misc. News.

The Middle East’s Symbolic Slugfest – Los Angeles Times
The Middle East’s Symbolic Slugfest
Arabs strike, and Israelis hit back harder. Where’s the creativity and courage in that?

An op-ed by David N. Myers, (teaches Jewish history at UCLA).

RECENT EVENTS in Gaza and on the Israel-Lebanon border reveal the extraordinary value of symbols in the region. News of kidnapped Israeli soldiers prompts rejoicing in the streets of Gaza City and Beirut, as Arabs revel in the blow delivered to the powerful Israeli Goliath. Meanwhile, for Israelis, and many Jews around the world, the image of captured soldiers induces a kind of tribal rage that demands the use of overwhelming force. This force is intended, first, to return the soldiers, but no less important, to send a message that Israel’s military might remains as potent as ever.

And so the power of symbols brings Israel and its Arab foes together again in a deadly dance. Driven by the need to protect these symbols, the competing sides have entered into yet another cycle of violence that threatens to plunge the region into a new abyss. Indeed, the current pair of conflicts could easily expand from two to four fronts, if Hamas’ and Hezbollah’s patrons, Syria and Iran, are lured into the battle.

ADVERTISEMENT
On the eve, then, of a potentially dramatic escalation, the question arises: Is it worth it? Must the script be followed once again — according to which the two sides enact an almost ritualized series of violent actions and reactions in order to protect their symbols, knowing full well that these deeds will only deepen hatred and mistrust?

Israel, in particular, must weigh these questions before acting further. It was goaded into action by the two sets of kidnappings and accompanying rocket attacks. Instead of adopting a “more restrained and level-headed policy,” as the Israeli newspaper Haaretz counseled, Israel swallowed the bait of the terrorist groups that wanted nothing more than for it to react with massive force and propel the region into chaos.

The evidence now at hand suggests that the reaction has been strategically counterproductive. Israel’s military response in Gaza has been disproportionately harsh, injuring or killing scores of innocent civilians, and its chief Palestinian foe, Hamas, appears to have been considerably strengthened as a result.

On the Lebanese front, Israel’s attacks on the Beirut airport and elsewhere have not only incurred the wrath of Arabs throughout the region but have brought down a rain of rockets on Safed, Nahariya and even Haifa.

Israel has the right to protect its citizens from attack. No self-respecting state would stand idly by while rockets fall on its cities. But a measured, targeted and finite response — and not necessarily an immediate one borne of wrath — would seem a far more prudent course.

Especially mystifying in the current escalation is why Israel seems to be driven more by the symbolic impact of the soldiers’ abduction than anything else. Israel did not respond with the kind of massive force it is now marshaling after the bomb blast in Tel Aviv in January in which nine civilians were tragically killed. Why then react so disproportionately now?

The short answer is an absence of leadership. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert understands all too well the symbolic logic of the Middle East, where an attack always demands a greater counterattack. He forgets that Israel has used backroom diplomatic channels in the past to gain the release of its abducted citizens and that such an approach might work again now (especially because Israel still has some high-profile Arab prisoners in its possession).

Of course, Israel is not solely to blame for the escalating violence. But as a sovereign state with a major army, it has to be the most responsible party. What, after all, can we expect from Hamas or Hezbollah? Before plunging even further into the darkness of war, Israel must weigh carefully the consequences of its actions, lest the force of symbols overtake sound reason.

0 comments.

Protected: TweeVandaag :: het nieuws- en actualiteiten programma van de TROS en AVRO op Ned.2

Posted on July 17th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Multiculti Issues.

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Abdelkader Benali

Posted on July 17th, 2006 by .
Categories: Misc. News.

Abdelkader Benali

Gisteren kreeg ik een tekstbericht van een goede vriend: waarom bleef ik daar? En ik dacht meteen: een smoes, verzin een smoes. Een leugentje om de bestwil. En ik schreef: Ik denk dat ik een taak heb als intellectueel om hier verslag van te doen. Onder deze omstandigheden observeren en helder nadenken is een triomf voor de intellectueel. Hier zijn we toch voor gemaakt? Ik verzond het bericht. Wat een stomme smoes. Moet je niet om jezelf lachen, Abdel. Een paar weken terug zat je nog te schreeuwen toen Khalid Bouhlahrouz zijn voet in een Portugese bovenbeen plantte. Maar plotseling voelde ik dat de smoes werkte. De smoes had magie. Ik liep over straat als intellectueel die observeerde, kijk mij eens!

Van die bravoure is vanochtend niets over. Meer doden, meer infrastructuur geraakt en het groeiende besef dat Israël bezig is met een niets en niemand ontziende vergeldingscampagne die elke logica mist. Tot nu toe zijn alleen Libanezen geraakt en nog niemand van het Hezbollah-kader. Dit is shock and awe.

0 comments.

Protected: Trouw, deVerdieping| overigeartikelen – Jonge moslimleiders / Spuugzat om altijd maar voor extremist te worden aangezien

Posted on July 17th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Young Muslims.

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Protected: Trouw, deVerdieping| overigeartikelen – Jonge moslimleiders / Spuugzat om altijd maar voor extremist te worden aangezien

Posted on July 17th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Young Muslims.

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Trouw, deGids| gidsartikelen – Surfen over een zee vol gebroken harten

Posted on July 17th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

Trouw, deGids| gidsartikelen – Surfen over een zee vol gebroken harten
Niet alleen antropologen kunnen hun voordeel doen met de almaar uitdijende ’blogosfeer’

0 comments.

Trouw, deGids| gidsartikelen – Surfen over een zee vol gebroken harten

Posted on July 17th, 2006 by .
Categories: Blogosphere.

Trouw, deGids| gidsartikelen – Surfen over een zee vol gebroken harten
Niet alleen antropologen kunnen hun voordeel doen met de almaar uitdijende ’blogosfeer’

0 comments.

Orange County Weekly – Heavy Metal Muslim

Posted on July 17th, 2006 by .
Categories: Youth culture (as a practice).

Orange County Weekly – Heavy Metal Muslim
An article by Mark Levine, a must read:

The culture wars are all about power, he said. “In Pakistan the mullahs are afraid of losing their gig to longhaired rock musicians, and so come down hard on music; in the U.S., foreign policy is being shaped by global terrorism and politicians who want to control the political and social agenda by raising the specter of fear. In both cases, Muslims are caught in the crossfire. As a result of being under the microscope, they are being forced to re-examine their religious, social and cultural identities.”

Hence, the crucial role of what I call Heavy Metal Islam. As Reda Zine explained to me, “We play heavy metal because our lives are heavy metal.” From Morocco to Pakistan, metal, thrash, punk and rap are increasingly popular precisely because they offer a public space for the criticism of closed and oppressive societies.

1 comment.

Protected: Het Nieuwsblad – Jihad krijgt girlpower: Radicale moslima's tokkelen

Posted on July 11th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

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Protected: Het Nieuwsblad – Jihad krijgt girlpower: Radicale moslima’s tokkelen

Posted on July 11th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

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Protected: Trouw, hetNieuws| europa – Deense journalist: Zelfcensuur is bewezen

Posted on July 11th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Uncategorized.

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Protected: Trouw, hetNieuws| europa – Deense journalist: Zelfcensuur is bewezen

Posted on July 11th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Uncategorized.

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C L O S E R – Zo, zo Zizou?!

Posted on July 10th, 2006 by .
Categories: Some personal considerations.

Before the WorldCup final on islamicate Zizou was ‘elected’ for President

Cut to 2006, Paris is burning. Young Muslims and Arabs are the target of suspicion, police brutality, and racism. Once again, the French team led by the greatest player of the past 40 years, Zinadine Zidane, are about to unify a country. The timing could not be more perfect. Zidane, the son of Algerian, Berber, Muslim parents, comes out of retirement to send France past Spain and the heavily favoured Brazilians for one final game against Italy. On Sunday, I hope that the streets of Paris burn only with the desire of all French citizens to see France win. I hope to hear millions chant “Zizou for president”. I hope to hear the Marseille being sung by hijab covered women and half-naked drunken louts. Imagine, the French nation actually chanting for a Muslim immigrant to become president. This is why I love the World Cup. Muslims need more heros and role models that are not sitting in a cave somewhere thinking how best to kill lots of people. “Allez Les Bleus” not just for the French, but for all of us Muslims looking for something positive in the news about one of our own that does not include the word extremist or militant.

Allez, Zidane what was burning in your head that must have been so fierce, it looked like the French riots of last year all over again in the back of your mind?  Forget the fact that Italy has won, forget the fact that the French were better (certainly in the 2nd half), forget the tormenting excitement of the last minutes; we only talk about Zidane being ejected. Yes it is a tragic end to his career, what was he thinking? He should get another red card for just being so stupid and letting his team down. And Materazzi, if ever gets out what you said, you should be expelled as well for unfair play, provoking one of the best players of the last ten years and probably for your remark itself as well.

3 comments.

TBS Journal – The Appeal of Sami Yusuf and the Search for Islamic Authenticity by Christian Pond

Posted on July 10th, 2006 by .
Categories: Youth culture (as a practice).

TBS 16 The Appeal of Sami Yusuf and the Search for Islamic Authenticity by Christian Pond

Well-dressed, sporting a fashionably cut, close-cropped beard and preferring tailored black suits to traditional dress, he is famous for his glitzy religious CDs and music videos. Born in 1980 to Azerbaijani parents, Sami Yusuf grew up in London and first studied music under his father, a composer. From a young age he learned to play various instruments and at the age of 18 was granted a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London.(2) In 2003, Yusuf released his first album entitled Al Mu’allim (The Teacher). Along with the Al Mu’allim also came the release of the first “Islamic music video” for the album’s title track by the same name. Both the video and the album were immensely popular throughout the Muslim world, where even in conservative Saudi Arabia album sales topped 100,000 copies.(3)

Yusuf’s message is one of tolerance and integration. In Yusuf’s music, talk of infidels and jihad are replaced with appeals to God’s love and the beauty of religion. “Islam teaches us to be balanced, to be in the middle,” Yusuf says, adding that “Islam is not a religion of extremism, and my message is balance.”(4) Yusuf believes that the majority of Muslims hold Islam to be a religion of peace and tolerance(5) and so Muslim youth, especially in the West, should be proud of their religion. “My message (to the youth) is … to be proud of your religion, be proud of who you are whether you’re from Pakistan or from Saudi Arabia or from Algeria or from Morocco or anywhere in the Muslim world … just be proud of who you are.”(6)

Thanks to Sami Ben Gharbnia for submitting this one here.

0 comments.

about:blank – Alaa en de belegering van de Egyptische Blogosphere

Posted on July 10th, 2006 by .
Categories: Blogosphere.

about:blank – Alaa en de belegering van de Egyptische Blogosphere

About:blank heeft, net als dit weblog al eerder, een paar linkdumps en entries over de arrestatie van Alaa geplaatst. Youssef Boussaid beantwoord in een stuk op ‘About:blank’de volgende vragen: Wie is Alaa en wat was de reden van zijn arrestatie en die van 10 andere webloggers? Waarom lopen de Egyptische webloggers gevaar in het land van de farao’s?

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C L O S E R – Waarom bloggers hyperindividualistische narcisten zijn / deel 2

Posted on July 9th, 2006 by .
Categories: Blogosphere, Some personal considerations.

In een eerdere blog met deze titel stelde ik dat bloggers hèt voorbeeld zijn van moralistische individualisten die zichzelf dapper en moederziel alleen in het middelpunt van de wereld plaatsen, maar dat graag door anderen erkend zien.

De reacties op het artikel in de NRC over ‘burgerjournalistiek‘ lijken dat maar weer eens te bewijzen.

Journalistiek definieert Van Eijk als waarheidzoekend verhalen vertellen, primair ten dienste van burgers. Veel ‘burgerjournalistiek’ noemt hij eerder het digitale equivalent van een conversatie aan de dorpspomp. Gezellig, prikkelend – ja. Maar waarheidszoekend? Feiten checkend? Hoor en wederhoor toepassend? Hooguit soms.

En zo is het maar net. Natuurlijk pretendeert iedere blogger, ik ook, meer te doen dat dan (ja maar dit blog is echt interessant hoor), maar het blijft toch maar behelpen meestal (en ja ik kan Geenstijl.nl wel wel weer als voorbeeld aanhalen, maar ik heb nog steeds last van zonne-allergie dus dat doe ik niet…). Check enkele van de comments bij Marketingfacts maar zou ik zeggen, of hier en hier op Ditisberry.nl.

Dat wil natuurlijk niet zeggen dat de ‘traditionele media’ zaligmakend zijn. Waar waren deze media tenslotte bij de discussie van en over Hassan al-Turabi, toch niet de kleinste islamitisch-fundamentalistisch geleerde en voorheen leider van Sudan? Nee ik link er niet naar toe; als journalisten die dit lezen niet weten waar ik het over heb…I rest my case (nou ja vooruit dan zoek maar op de website van de NIO). Gisteravond was op Canvas het tweede deel van de documentaire Beeldenstorm te zien over (embedded) journalism die een helder kijkje gaf hoe wij, als burgers, in de luren worden gelegd door het Amerikaanse leger en de embedded journalists. Een voorbeeld was het omvertrekken van het beeld van Saddam in Baghdad; volkomen in scene gezet door de Amerikaanse PsyOp afdeling van het leger. Opvallend was ook de opmerking dat er talloze embedded journalists waren in het leger, maar geen in een Iraaks gezin om zo de andere kant van de bombardementen te beschrijven. En daar precies komen de bloggers om de hoek kijken. Denk bijvoorbeeld maar aan Salam Pax (ja hij bestaat echt), Riverbend, Healing Iraq en Iraq Dispatches. Op die manier zou je bloggers ook kunnen beschouwen als ’embedded journalists’: slechts de helft van het verhaal, maar wel een belangrijke helft want het gaat om die mensen die de gebeurtenissen ondergaan. Als we nu ook nog eens bloggers krijgen uit Uruzgan, dan zou dat wel aardig zijn voor de Nederlandse berichtgeving.

En laat ik dan maar gelijk even mijn bijdrage leveren. Het verhaal in de Nederlandse media over moslims die een pretpark afhuren en waar dan geen niet-moslims mogen komen, klopt niet. Overigens ook over genomen door een een of ander vaag blog: Slegs vir Moslims Het is namelijk wel degelijk toegestaan voor niet-moslims zo blijkt uit het verhaal op Indigo Jo. En vergelijk ook het uitstekende stuk op Akram’s Razor over de discussie hierover. En zo moet het.En zo ben ik als blogger toch weer heel content met mezelf.

UPDATE
Wat betreft het laatste, dan zijn er toch weer bloggers die niet door hebben dat het verhaal over het pretpark niet klopt en dat simpel overnemen van Metro. Zo schiet het dus niet op.

0 comments.

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.”

0 comments.

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.

1 comment.

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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