May 2026
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Sep
	1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

Closing the week 15 – Featuring The Assassins: US vs Anwar al Awlaki

Posted on April 18th, 2010 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

NEW on Closer!

The official website of ISIM is closed and the repository of Leiden University works like…well it doesn’t work so well. Which is a problem if you want to read the ISIM Review articles. Therefore I’m happy to present to you: ISIM Review via Closer

Most popular on Closer this week:

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE

If you want to stay updated about the ISIM Review pages I suggest you do subscribe

You can follow me on Twitter: Martijn5155

Featuring the Assassins: US vs Anwar Al Awlaki
BBC News – US approves killing US-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki

The US government has authorised the capture or killing of radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, currently based in Yemen, officials have confirmed.

The cleric, who is a US citizen, is being targeted for his involvement in planning attacks on the US.

Al Jazeera English – Middle East – Yemen’s Awlaki family offers deal

The father of Anwar al-Awlaki, a Yemeni religious scholar who has reportedly been added to a US hit list, says his son will halt his anti-US messages if Washington removes him from the list.

U.S. Approves Targeted Killing of American Cleric – NYTimes.com

The Obama administration has taken the extraordinary step of authorizing the targeted killing of an American citizen, the radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is believed to have shifted from encouraging attacks on the United States to directly participating in them, intelligence and counterterrorism officials said Tuesday.

Muslim cleric Aulaqi is 1st U.S. citizen on list of those CIA is allowed to kill

Because he is a U.S. citizen, adding Aulaqi to the CIA list required special approval from the White House, officials said. The move means that Aulaqi would be considered a legitimate target not only for a military strike carried out by U.S. and Yemeni forces, but also for lethal CIA operations.

gulfnews : In need of a fair trial

Omar Ahmad Sulaiman, an Imam in New Orleans and a member of the Islamic Circle of North America’s Sharia Council among others, firmly repudiated his call for jihad: “Most American Muslims simply dismissed his new lectures and writings as tainted by his frustration with what had happened to him in prison.”

Now, however, they believe that his is “the same call of the kharijites that has been repeated so many times, that feasts on the frustration and uncontrolled emotions of vulnerable youth that do not have the foundation or knowledge to recognise its illegitimacy”.

Yet, pause for a moment from the hysteria surrounding this man’s life. He’s clearly a hate-monger. But a terrorist? Al Awlaki denied that he encouraged the Nigerian bomber and called for the US to release correspondence between him and the Fort Hood shooter in the days prior to the attack.

Don’t Assassinate the Dangerous Cleric al-Awlaki – Newsweek.com

Obama wants to assassinate the radical Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. Thing is, his murder would do more harm than good.

Pickled Politics » Whatever happened to Anwar al-Awlaki’s human rights?

Now. I wasn’t going to write about this because, although it disgusted me, I’ll admit that I’m usually unwilling to criticise Obama. But what irks me is that the same people who keep going on about how important human rights for all are, have said nothing about this incident at all over here. In fact, over at Harry’s Place blog they’re crowing about it. Nick Cohen is still pretending he cares about women’s rights while saying nothing about this either.

You’d think that someone being assassinated by their government without trial would be regarded as a pretty big violation of basic human rights.

Liberal Conspiracy » Is it legal for Obama to have Awlaki assassinated?

My fear is not so much the targeting of a Muslim, in this instance at least, but the continual erosion of due process requirements that authorise a state to deprive an individual citizen of life, liberty or property.

Anwar al-Awlaki, the Infidel — jihadica

Since the awful shootings at Fort Hood, media attention has focused on MAJ Nidal Hasan’s relationship with Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born salafi preacher now in Yemen. Less well known, however, is that al-Awlaki was once declared kafir (infidel) by then London-based jihadi Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal.

Kucinich: White House Assassination Policy Is Extrajudicial

Targeted killings are not a new Obama administration policy. Beginning three days after his swearing in, President Obama has authorized scores of lethal drone strikes, including against specific individuals, in Pakistan and Afghanistan, surpassing the Bush era numbers. The elite Joint Special Operations Command maintains a list of individuals, including US citizens, which it is authorized to assassinate. In January, Dana Priest reported in the Washington Post that the CIA had US citizens on an assassination list, but the Post later ran a correction stating that only JSOC had “a target list that includes several Americans.” The policy of the CIA targeting al-Awlaki, a US citizen, for assassination, therefore, appeared to be a new development, at least in terms of public awareness of approved government assassinations.

Secularism and Islam going public
The Rage Against God by Peter Hitchens | Book review | Books | The Guardian

This sketch of sibling rivalry accounts for The Rage Against God’s unusual structure. It is a memoir, as well as an assault on Christopher Hitchens’s popular but poorly argued God Is Not Great (2007). In 2008, the brothers engaged in a public discussion about the coherence of religious belief. Peter reveals that they almost came to blows on that occasion, and that he has vowed never to debate with Christopher under the spotlight again. The Rage Against God is meant to be a grown-up substitute for more shouting matches.

The Associated Press: Europe struggles with Muslim dress code

Chances of seeing a burqa in Belgium are only a little better than spotting a liquor shop in Saudi Arabia. Yet Belgium soon may be the first European nation to outlaw the burqa and other Islamic garb that completely hides a woman’s body and face.

Tariq Ramadan: Muslims and the West | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly

Watch excerpts from his April 12 address at Georgetown University and his conversation with journalists, including Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly managing editor Kim Lawton. Ramadan discusses fear of the religious “other” and the need for policies that foster a better understanding of Islam, US relations with the Islamic world in the wake of President Obama’s 2009 speech in Cairo, and the new visibility of Islam in the West and current debates in Europe over whether to ban the burqa, the niqab, and other Islamic garments.

Notion of ‘reasonable accommodation’ under threat

“Reasonable accommodation” – the idea that the majority has a moral obligation to accommodate the rights of minorities in a reasonable manner – is increasingly under threat in the West today.

Bosnian colleges draw Turks avoiding headscarf ban | GlobalPost

About 1,000 Turkish students have left home to attend university in Bosnia, attracted by the low cost of living, good food and — for women — the right to wear an Islamic headscarf.

On Monday, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan officially opened a new campus of the International University of Sarajevo (IUS) on the outskirts of the Bosnian capital.

Quebec niqab legislation would cover more than the face by Daood Hamdani – Common Ground News Service

In dynamic societies, change is a natural process. Like in the rest of Canada, Quebec culture has evolved from the intermingling of people of different backgrounds and ideas. The same type of interaction taking place between Muslims and other Canadians, and between Muslims of diverse cultures, is producing change and driving a new Muslim Canadian identity – one that does not sacrifice religion or ethnicity.

Not to be left behind, Muslim women are in fact on the leading edge of this new phenomenon.

The Associated Press: Woman mosque leader seeks new Muslim in Europe

Yassmine el Ksaihi doesn’t see herself as a feminist rebel. She covers her head and wears modest clothing. She learned to read the Quran at age 5 and promotes traditional Muslim values.

Yet there is something pioneering about her nonetheless: At age 24 she is the administrator of a large mosque, an unusual position of authority for a young woman in the world of Islam, even in Europe.

The Muslim News

Up to a quarter of the 16 Muslim females standing as candidates at the next month’s general elections are in prominent positions to win parliamentary seats for the first time, according to an analysis carried out exclusively by The Muslim News.

Misc.
The Anthropology Of Facial Hair – The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

It was predicted that men would emphasize sexually-selected traits, including mustaches, beards, and sideburns, when they have difficulty obtaining spouses.

FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: Is an Anti-Islam Wave Hitting Europe?

The rise of Wilders has alarmed many political observers, and has been cited as yet another point of evidence of a new tide of European anti-Islamism. (Though Wilders specifically rejects comparisons to far-right politicians Jean-Marie Le Pen and Jörg Haider.) Bolstering this “trend” are Switzerland’s referendum against minarets, the French ban on headscarves in public buildings, and anti-immigration parties making headway in other countries. But is pure Islamophobia (e.g., the number of people who fear or dislike Islam) the driving factor in the PVV’s rise in support? And why are anti-Islam/anti-immigration parties such a force in the Netherlands, but not in countries like Spain? Is it simply a matter of integration of a new immigrant group, rather than cultural or political characteristics specific to Muslims?

Afghan Investigators Say U.S. Troops Tried to Cover Up Evidence in Botched Raid – NYTimes.com

Afghan officials investigating the deaths of five Afghan civilians gunned down in February during a bungled raid by American Special Operations forces believe that troops tampered with evidence at the scene, the lead investigator said Monday. NATO officials disclosed that they were looking into the allegations.

Bering in Mind: Scientists say free will probably doesn’t exist, but urge: “Don’t stop believing!”

One of the most striking findings to emerge recently in the science of free will is that when people believe—or are led to believe—that free will is just an illusion, they tend to become more antisocial.

DK Matai: Innovation, Anthropology and Cultural Relativity

Where a sociologist might put together a questionnaire to understand what people think of an object, an anthropologist would immerse themselves in the subject and try to understand it from “within”! With the arrival of micro and nano devices, anthropology has witnessed a mini-renaissance in the 21st century. As our lives become ever more exposed to technology, and companies become much more interested in how technology affects us and how we interface with it, anthropologists have found themselves in increasing demand.

Miami Bus Ads Ask Ex-Muslims: “Fatwa on Your Head?” « Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion

“Is your family or your community threatening you?”

Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller have come up with a new wheeze: anti-Muslim bus ads on the sides of buses in Miami.

Melilla: Europe’s dirty secret

African migrants will do anything to get into the Spanish enclave of Melilla. And the authorities will do anything to keep them out

Extended Interview: Zeba Iqbal | Muslims in Michigan

Here you can listen to Jennifer Guerra’s extended interview with Zeba Iqbal, the Executive Director of the Council for the Advancement of Muslim Professionals (CAMP) who has written numerous articles about Muslim dating.

The Voice of the Cape – www.vocfm.co.za – Let women into mosques: alim

In his first public address on Friday evening at the Newtown mosque in Johannesburg where the imamat is lead by Maulana Ebrahim Bham, Sheik Yusuf al Qardawi laid his finger on the one of the most contentious issues in the north by questioning the absence of women. According to the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC), Maulana Igsaan Hendricks, during his address Qardawi pointed out that he could not complete his talk since the women were absent.

The Saudi housewife who spoke out | Nesrine Malik | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

The Saudi housewife who spoke out

Hissa Hilal, a niqab-wearing Saudi housewife, made it to the finals of a TV poetry competition against the odds

Muslim World Journal of Human Rights

The use of the term `honor killing’ has elicited strong reactions from a variety of groups for years; but the recent Aqsa Parvez and Aasiya Hassan cases have brought a renewed interest from women’s rights activists, community leaders, and law enforcement to study the term and come to a consensus on its validity and usefulness, particularly in the North American and European Diaspora. While some aver that the term `honor killing’ is an appropriate description of a unique and particular crime, others deem it as rather a racist and misleading phrase used to promote violent stereotypes of particular communities, particularly Muslim minorities in North America and Europe. This article works to lay the groundwork by presenting both sides of the debate over the term `honor killing’ and analyzing the arguments various groups use in order to justify their particular definition of the term, and if and how they support its use in public discourse. I argue two main points: one, that `honor killing’ exists as a specific form of violence against women, having particular characteristics that warrants its classification as a unique category of violence. Second, I show that while `honor killings’ are recognized as such in many non-Western contexts, there is a trend among advocacy organizations in the North American and European Diaspora to avoid, ignore, or rebuke the term `honor killings’ as a misleading label that is racist, xenophobic, and/or harmful to Muslim populations. This is a direct response to the misuse of the term mostly within media outlets and public discourse that serves to further marginalize Muslim and immigrant groups.

Seattle University Spectator – A personal jihad: Melody Moezzi shares her tale

In a speech given April 12 in Pigott Auditorium, Melody Moezzi discussed the topic of “My Personal Jihad,” exploring Islam and gender roles in the Middle East.

Dutch
De kloof tussen burger en wetenschap | DeJaap

De kloof tussen burger en wetenschap

De controverse over klimaatverandering, het wantrouwen tegenover sociaalwetenschappelijk onderzoek naar allochtonen, het op gelijke hoogte willen zetten van creationisme en evolutieleer – er zijn veel onderwerpen waarin meningen en wetenschappelijke kennis aan elkaar gelijk gesteld worden. De wetenschap wordt verweten niet objectief te zijn, onderzoek te doen vanuit moralistische of politieke standpunten en/of feiten expres verkeerd te interpreteren. Het is goed als burgers autoriteit in twijfel trekken. De vraag is echter of zij voortgebrachte kennis in twijfel moeten kunnen trekken, zelfs als ze er helemaal geen kaas van hebben gegeten.

Joost Niemöller » De islam en de Nederlandse wet

De ‘contractsleer’ van de islam zou de Nederlandse overheid een ingang kunnen bieden om besprekingen te openen over de aspecten van de islam die zich al dan niet laten verenigen met onze wetgeving en de beginselen die daar aan ten grondslag liggen.

Nederlandse Islamitische Omroep » Archief » De Zevende Hemel 17 april

Islam in Europa: Bosnië-Hercegovina
Bosnië-Hercegovina is één van de weinige landen in Europa waar de islam al sinds eeuwen een vaste plaats inneemt binnen de cultuur en samenleving. Misschien zou Bosnië nog altijd het voorbeeld zijn voor een vreedzaam samenleven van culturen en godsdiensten, wanneer er niet de burgeroorlog geweest was, die in de jaren ‘90 van de vorige eeuw de illusie verstoorde.
Hoewel de vrede intussen sinds meer dan tien jaar teruggekeerd is, is de toekomst van het land nog altijd onzeker. Welke plaats neemt de islam in het huidige Bosnië in, en wat voor gevolgen heeft de oorlog voor het bewustzijn van de Bosnische moslims gehad? Correspondent Michael de Werd maakte over deze vragen een indringende documentaire.

Seminar: Adoptie & Islam « Moslim Sleutelfiguren Amsterdam

In navolging van het grote succes van voorgaande seminars hebben s.v. Avicenna en MSV Nijmegen de krachten wederom/opnieuw gebundeld. Op woensdag 21 april 2010, organiseren wij gezamenlijk het seminar: Adoptie in de Islam. Wat is het Islamitisch standpunt omtrent Adoptie? Is het verboden, toegestaan onder bepaalde voorwaarden of juist onze plicht? Wat zijn de voorwaarden en kan in deze moderne samenleving en wetgeving nog aan deze voorwaarden worden voldaan? Dit zijn slechts een aantal vragen waar een antwoord op zal worden gegeven tijdens deze avond. Bent u benieuwd hoe het nu precies zit? Dan is dit is uw kans om erachter te komen!

Opinieblog » God bestaat niet en Herman Philipse is zijn profeet

Steek uw vinger op als u in Ganesha gelooft, die beroemde god van de hindoes, met vier armen, een mensenlichaam en een olifantshoofd. Dit verzoek van filosoof en atheïst Herman Philipse werd donderdagavond slechts door één bezoeker in de afgeladen Jacobikerk in Utrecht beantwoord.

Een meerderheid, daarentegen, gooide de handen in de lucht toen Philipse vroeg wie er in een lichaamsloze, almachtige, algoede schepper van hemel en aarde gelooft. Als een volleerd opiniepeiler corrigeerde hij de uitkomst. „Gert van den Brink heeft zijn achterban goed georganiseerd.”

De godsdienstfilosoof Van den Brink had hem uitgenodigd om in debat te gaan over de oorsprong van de menselijke moraal. Niet zomaar, want Van den Brink heeft een heel boek gewijd aan kritiek op het denken van de atheïst. Er is geen God en Philipse is zijn profeet, heet het. Met als ondertitel: De onredelijkheid van een atheïst.

Wie Spreekt Zich Nu Eens Uit? | Middle East Affairs Information Center | Analysis, Downloads and In depth information on Middle East Affairs, Israel and Islam

Dat vrijheidsideaal wil afrekenen met alle taboes. Alles moet bespreekbaar zijn en liefst ook nog zichtbaar worden gemaakt op de televisie. De laatste tijd valt dat ook op als het gaat om seksueel misbruik in Rooms-katholieke instellingen. In een onlangs verschenen boek ‘Een meisje voor dag en nacht‘, door de journaliste Renate van der Zee,wordt schokkend duidelijk hoe het kan gaan achter een gesloten voordeur in een Islamitisch gezin. Een echt gebeurd verhaal van incest en familie-eer dat licht werpt in een duistere werkelijkheid. Nu nog de politieke en kerkelijke leiders.

Bruggenbouwers » “Conflicten moslims en christenen geïmporteerd door Westen”

De Ghanese predikant Johnson Mbillah was zondag 11 april te gast in de Lukaskerk in Den Haag. Hij ervoer nooit spanningen tussen moslims en christenen. Hij noemt de huidige conflicten ‘geïmporteerd’. “Westerse christelijke evangelisten doen soms extreme uitspraken en roepen op tot haat tegenover andersgelovigen.”

PAROOL: AMSTERDAM – Moslims: graag islamles op openbare scholen

Op openbare basisscholen in Slotervaart met overwegend moslimleerlingen bestaat grote behoefte aan islamlessen.

Dit blijkt uit een enquête door de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, waar de deelraad van Slotervaart om had gevraagd. Negentig procent van de moslimouders met kinderen op Ru Paré, de Einsteinschool, de Huizingaschool en de Louis Bouwmeesterschool is voorstander van islamlessen buiten de reguliere schooltijd.

Laat een openbare school openbaar blijven | De Dagelijkse Standaard

Het is weer eens zover. Het bolwerk van de seculiere openbare school ligt onder vuur. Deze keer wegens enquête door de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, waar de deelraad van Slotervaart om had gevraagd. Slotervaart is de deelraad waar Ahmed Marcouch namens de PvdA de scepter zwaait en toevalligerwijze heeft hij onderwijs in zijn portefeuille. Wat een toeval weer. De uitkomst is niet echt verrassend wanneer je kijkt naar de samenstelling van die buurt.

Southpark vertoont zogenaamd profeet Mohammed | Alatoerka.nl

In Islam is het absoluut verboden om tekening van de profeet Mohammed te maken. Met deze aflevering heeft Southpark de Islam en andere godsdiensten beledigd. Ik hoop in ieder geval dat mensen naar aanleiding van deze aflevering meer informatie zullen zoeken over de bestaande geloven. Tijdens het zoeken naar informatie zullen mensen ongetwijfeld goede bronnen tegenkomen die juiste informatie bevatten. Door deze informatie zullen mensen ook bewuster worden en eerder nadenken voordat ze een godsdienst beledigen. Welke godsdienst iemand heeft maak niet veel uit, het gaat uiteindelijk om respect voor elkaar.

Michael Mannheimer in München – AmsterdamPost

Vorige week donderdag vond in München een volgende grote islamkritische bijeenkomst plaats. Met Michael Mannheimer was wellicht de moedigste journalist van Duitsland aanwezig. Hij hield de lezing ”Eurabia – De capitulatie van Europa voor de islam”. Twee en een half uur lang leverde hij uiterst interessante feiten, die ook voor belezen islamcritici nieuwe zaken bevatten.

Weblog Anja Meulenbelt » Onzin over de ‘islamisering’

In de Groene Amsterdammer van 18 februari 2010 stond een artikel van John Bowen, antropoloog en professor in Washington, die die angstgolf voor de islamisering nog eens een keer terugbracht tot de feiten en de juiste proporties.

0 comments.

Closing the week 14 – Featuring The Burqa Ban

Posted on April 10th, 2010 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

NEW on Closer!

Most popular on Closer this week:

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE

If you want to stay updated about the ISIM Review pages I suggest you do subscribe

You can follow me on Twitter: Martijn5155

Featuring the Burqa Ban
To ban or not to ban the burqa – Broadsheet – Salon.com

To ban or not to ban the burqa
The circumstances surrounding France’s veil debate are key, but so is the individual context for Muslim women

Peter Berkowitz: Can French President Nicolas Sarkozy Justify Banning the Veil? – WSJ.com

Can Sarkozy Justify Banning the Veil?
Circumstances are decisive. What might be unthinkable in the U.S. looks more reasonable in France.

Feminist Intersection: The Niqab Ban IS a Feminist Issue | Bitch Magazine

To me this is an obvious feminist issue through and through, and it goes way beyond a human rights injustice. I’m checking myself as an ally to Muslim women, and supporting their right to bodily autonomy and self-determination.

However I’ll tell you this much – the amount of mainstream feminist response I’ve read regarding the lack of inclusion of contraception and abortion in maternal child health from Canada’s Conservative government in the G8 summit far exceeds the coverage I’ve seen regarding the niqab ban. In fact, I’ve barely seen any feminist press at all on the niqab ban. And I’m not surprised – reproductive rights gets lots of feminist attention, even if not mainstream media coverage. Intersecting race and culture? Not so much.

Is it because many of us don’t know about the niqab ban? Or are there lots of you out there who agree with it? What do you think?

Quebec Niqab Ban: No/Non to Bill 94! | Racialicious – the intersection of race and pop culture

How many times does it have to be said that gender equity is about giving women the right to make their own choices? If a woman’s choice is to wear a niqab, BARRING her from wearing one by removing access to work, childcare, healthcare and education is the absolute opposite of gender equality.

Women Fight Back: Don’t Ban the Veil! – Page 1 – The Daily Beast

Sheema Khan considers wearing her headscarf a feminist act—and says her native Canada is belying its liberal values by supporting Quebec’s attempt to ban the veil.

Siddiqui: Picking on Muslim women smacks of hypocrisy – thestar.com

I do not like the niqab/burqa. It makes me uncomfortable. But that’s not a good enough reason to argue that it be banned or, worse, that those wearing it be denied public services, including education and even health care, as Quebec is proposing.

Quebec bill will rescue Muslim women

Quebec will refuse all government services, including education and non-emergency health care, to Muslim women wearing the niqab or burka. Premier Jean Charest said the bill is aimed at “drawing a line” to demonstrate that gender equality is a paramount Quebec value.

As a Muslim Canadian, I am thrilled at this development, and welcome the rescue of all Muslim-Canadian women who were being blackmailed, bullied and brainwashed into wearing attire that has no place in either Islam or the 21st century.

Non/No Bill 94 Coalition Statement « NO to Quebec Provincial Bill 94

Forcing a woman to reveal part of her body is no different from forcing her to be covered. Both the federal Conservative and Liberal parties have expressed support for Bill 94, which raises the very real possibility that similar legislation will be proposed across Canada. We demand that Bill 94 be withdrawn immediately, as it has no place in a democratic state that values autonomy, liberty and justice.

No Bill 94 Coalition is made up of concerned individuals, organizations and grassroots movements that are demanding that the proposed Quebec legislation, Bill 94, be withdrawn immediately.

We invite all individuals and groups of conscience inside and outside of Quebec to publicly or privately endorse this statement by emailing their name(s), location (city, state/province, and country), and contact information to nonbill94 [at] gmail [dot] com

threadbared: Couture Coincidence

We’re still mulling the implications of the Givenchy couture runway show at the recent Paris Fashion Week, with its perhaps lucky, maybe deliberate, coincidence with French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s condemnation of the burqa (a specific garment that in this instance seems to stand in for any face-obscuring garment with a Muslim-y connotation) as a “walking prison.”

The blogosphere certainly recognizes the coincidence, if not quite sure what to do with it. Going for the morbid commentary, Fashionologie calls them “couture corpse brides.” At the Lux Style File, they note that, “[Givenchy’s] creative director, Riccardo Tisci, definitely struck design genius and political controversy by showing two burqas in the famed houses’ [sic] line. Givenchy’s Modern Arabian Nights theme paired well with the landscape of current political events in France.” Meanwhile, the lone comment ups the ante by assigning value to the artistic efforts of the couture house (including, presumably this latest couture collection) while denying it to the sartorial practices of Muslim others. “The house of Givenchy is excellent. I agree with French President Nicholas Sarkozay to ban the burquas [sic].”

Burkas Hit the Paris Runways; Ryan Seacrest Faces Oscar Backlash — The Cut

Burkas Hit the Paris Runways; Ryan Seacrest Faces Oscar Backlash

• French designers such as Jean-Charles de Castelbajac and Marithé + François Girbaud reacted to the country’s potential burka ban with burka-inspired runway looks.

Anushay Hossain: For France Banning The Burqa Is Not The Answer

The issue of banning the burqa in France has generated so much heat over the past few months that one would assume the ban had already come into effect. Not so.

Designers in Paris Veil Models in Protest of Proposed Burka Ban. – Feministing

I suppose on some level I appreciate that fashion designers read the news. My initial reaction was definitely of intrigue, interest and I kind of thought it was cool. But on closer inspection, given couture houses’ historical objectification of “other” as fetish spectacle, it is hard to all of a sudden think of design houses as allies in the fight for Muslim women’s rights. This fails to move us from a fixed understanding of what a burqa means which has essentially become a fill in, catch all, category to describe Muslim women, to a more complex one that actually encompasses and acknowledges the work, experience and resistance of Muslim women who don the burka. Flattening the very complex experience of “Muslim women,” is a reductive tendency that seems to be at the heart of pro and con arguments of banning verse allowing what is understood universally and often falsely as “forced” veiling.

Secularism and Religion
Kenan Malik’s essay on secularism, religion and demography

The real problem with the Eurabia thesis is not so much the invalid demographic projections as the belief that demography is destiny. ‘Can Europe be the same with different people in it?’ Caldwell asks at the start of his book. The very question is misguided for it confuses the diversity of peoples and the diversity of values. People of North African or South Asian parentage, Caldwell seems to believe, will inevitably cleave to a different set of values than those of European ancestry. Why? Being born to European parents is not a passport to Enlightenment beliefs. So why should we imagine that having Bangladeshi or Moroccan ancestry makes one automatically believe in sharia?

FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: Is an Anti-Islam Wave Hitting Europe?

The rise of Wilders has alarmed many political observers, and has been cited as yet another point of evidence of a new tide of European anti-Islamism. (Though Wilders specifically rejects comparisons to far-right politicians Jean-Marie Le Pen and Jörg Haider.) Bolstering this “trend” are Switzerland’s referendum against minarets, the French ban on headscarves in public buildings, and anti-immigration parties making headway in other countries. But is pure Islamophobia (e.g., the number of people who fear or dislike Islam) the driving factor in the PVV’s rise in support? And why are anti-Islam/anti-immigration parties such a force in the Netherlands, but not in countries like Spain? Is it simply a matter of integration of a new immigrant group, rather than cultural or political characteristics specific to Muslims?

Paul Berman’s outraged attack on Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s attackers. – By Ron Rosenbaum – Slate Magazine

The Flight of the Intellectuals, Paul Berman’s new 300-page polemic (to be published this spring), recalls these heady days in a book that is likely to provoke an intense controversy among public intellectuals. The most contentious assertion in Berman’s book is that some of the most prominent of these—people who rushed to the defense of Salman Rushdie when he was threatened with death for a novel deemed blasphemously irreverent to Islam—have failed to offer wholehearted support to Muslim dissidents today, people such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born author and Muslim apostate, whose lives are similarly threatened. This failure, this “flight of the intellectuals,” Berman argues, represents a deeply troubling abandonment of Enlightenment values in the face of recurrent threats to freedom of expression.

The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : Islamism, modernity & Indian Mujahideen

Many believe the jihadist movement in India to be driven by religious fanaticism. There is little doubt that the idiom of the Indian Mujahideen drew on Islam, or at least a certain reading of Islam. The manifestos the organisation released after its operations sought religious legitimacy for the jihadist project.

The Case for the Sabbath, Even if You’re Not Religious – Culture – The Atlantic

But herein lies a theological stumper. Why—and how—would one keep the Sabbath if God has nothing to do with it? Without a well-formed rationale, efforts to have a day of rest would be invariably tepid and toothless. Nostalgia alone isn’t nearly robust enough to sustain a weekly retreat from modernity.

Misc.

Women Judges Stir Up Old Debate in Egypt – NYTimes.com

When women tried to join the bench on Egypt’s top administrative court, the uproar from its judges was fierce. Women are too emotional, they insisted — and who will take care of the family if the mother is busy with the arduous tasks of the courtroom?

Saudi Arabia’s got talent – Times Online

Wearing the niqab, or veil, with only her eyes visible behind her full-length black gown, Hilal is the first woman to have reached the final — but it is the manner in which she got there that has captivated the judges and the public.

Three weeks ago, she stormed into the penultimate round with a blistering attack on extremist Muslim clerics. Her poem, The Chaos of Fatwas, denounced those who issue hardline religious decrees, comparing them to suicide bombers as “monsters wearing belts”. She attacked the segregation of the sexes maintained by preachers who “prey like a wolf” on those who seek progress and peace.

Saudis: No Girls Allowed in Mecca | RD Blog: The Devil’s Advocate | ReligionDispatches

The Saudi clerical establishment is once more making noise that Islam is only for them; not for women, and eventually not for any other men. Their latest proposal is that women should be barred from taking part in one of the commandments of the faith, to make pilgrimage to Mecca. Although women can still go to the city, they are to be kept separate from the Ka’ba, the actual point of the pilgrimage. The argument is that women and men should not mix, and it is too crowded to keep them separate. Perhaps we should look at basic infrastructure, or alternate years between men and women. However, the real goal has never been to advance the religion.

The Rise of Islamo-Erotica – Page 1 – The Daily Beast

Ignoring the prohibition of nudity, Muslim artists—many of them women—are now defying religious tenets by painting naked models in pinup poses.

Dutch
‘2010’: Hypocrieten versus hoofddoekjes

Ik wil liever iets kwijt over de burka. In België schijnt er een burka-verbod in aantocht te zijn. Er komen twee dingen bij me op. Houd in de gaten dat ik geen burka-liefhebber ben. Maar ten eerste: de hypocrisie van het verbod. Je verandert met een kledingvoorschrift niets aan de onderdrukking of de zelf-onderdrukking van die vrouwen. In feite komt het erop neer, dat het burkaverbod ervoor zorgt dat jij er niet meer tegenaan hoeft te kijken, maar dat die vrouwen vervolgens de straat helemaal niet meer op gaan en fijn achter de muren van hun flatjes worden onderdrukt. Dat schiet, om de waarheid te zeggen, maar weinig op.

Het debat over het debat « Humanieuws

Op 31 mei werd op de campus van de Universiteit Antwerpen een lezing verstoord van auteur Benno Barnard. De lezing droeg als titel “Leve God, weg met Allah” en werd georganiseerd door de Vrijzinnige Dienst van de U.A. Onmiddellijk na het incident brak een storm van reacties los en over die reacties willen we het hier even hebben.

BullShit,: Nieuws: Alsof de wereld op zijn kop staat…

In het wetboek staat dat je in bedreigende situaties ‘evenredig geweld’ mag toepassen.
Hoe kan het dan zijn,
dat iemand die zijn werk deed, en werd lastiggevallen,
gestraft wordt omdat hij zich zelf verdedigt?

Het Nieuwe Journaal » Sheikh Fawaz Jneid verlustigt zich weer

Imam Sheik Fawaz Jneid van de As-Soennah moskee in Den Haag voorziet een islamitische vluchtelingenstroom als gevolg van de discussie over hoofddoek, boerka en nikaab. Deze theatrale godsdienstmaniak met islamofascistische denkbeelden speelt reeds jaren een spel waarin anderen hem al voorgingen: je ensceneert een volk dat bedreigd wordt en er volgt een toenemende argwaan tegen degenen die niet tot dat bedreigde volk behoren, met agitatie en oproer als bekroning.

Burkaverbod in Beieren? – Welingelichte Kringen

Met die burka is natuurlijk toch iets aan de hand. In menig Westeuropees land is een debat ontstaan over de vraag of vrouwen zich op een dergelijke manier mogen kleden of niet. Tot heldere uitkomsten heeft dat nog niet geleid, want neem nou Frankrijk: de regering en ook president Sarkozy zijn voorstander van een burkaverbod, maar voor zoiets ook wettelijk is vastgelegd… dat blijkt verre van eenvoudig te zijn.
Geloof maar niet dat het debat over dit hoofddeksel zomaar overdrijft, daarvoor is de symbolische waarde ervan veel te groot en er zal toch iets moeten zijn om de ongemakkelijke verhouding tussen Oost en West een ‘gezicht’ te geven. Tot nader orde is dat de burka en het kan bijna niet anders of dit onderwerp zal ook in Nederland een punt van heftige discussies worden.
Inmiddels heeft de burka België in haar ban en nu is ook Beieren aan de beurt.

Nikaab en Boerka in Belgie verboden | Artikel 7

Net als elders in Europa woedt in België al jaren een debat over het verbieden van boerka’s (die lichaam en gezicht volledig bedekken), nikaabs (die een spleet voor de ogen vrijlaten) en hoofddoekjes. Het Vlaamse openbare onderwijs kondigde onlangs een verbod op hoofddoekjes op zijn scholen af, maar dat werd door de Raad van State geschorst, omdat die wil dat eerst het Belgische Grondwettelijk Hof zich uitspreekt over de wettigheid van zo’n hoofddoekjesverbod. Het extreem-rechtse Vlaams Belang had de Belgische regering eerder gevraagd zelf met een boerkaverbod te komen, maar minister van Binnenlandse Zaken Annemarie Turtelboom antwoordde destijds dat de maatschappij hierover zo verdeeld is, dat stringente regelgeving nu niet op zijn plaats is. Het parlement van België beslist nu anders.

Fawaz verklaart ons de oorlog | Artikel 7

De boodschappen van de sheikh en van islamitische voormannen wordt door de heersende, vooral linkse, elite aan ons voorgehouden met het beroep om ons niet ‘lullig’ op te stellen tegenover de islam en om onze harten en hoofden open te stellen voor de moslimse medemens. Die oproep gaat als regel gepaard met manipulatie van onze schuldgevoelen. Het elfde gebod luidt immers: ‘Gij zult niet islamofoob zijn.’ Gezagsgetrouwe linkse conformisten en naïeve progressieve christenen laten zich met die boodschap graag op pad sturen.

Hier wreekt zich niet alleen het tekort aan zelfbewustzijn in de confrontatie met de islam, maar ook de volstrekte naïviteit over de intenties van de islam op langere termijn. De sheikh is daar duidelijk over: “Zij willen het Licht van Allah doven met hun monden, maar Allah wil slechts Zijn Licht volledig laten schijnen, ook al haten de ongelovigen het. Hij is Het Die Zijn Boodschapper heeft gezonden met de leiding en de ware godsdienst om deze te doen zegevieren over alle godsdiensten, ook al haten de afgodendienaren het” (Soerat at Tawbah 32-33).

Dat klinkt als een oorlogsverklaring. Het wordt tijd dat we die eindelijk eens serieus nemen. Hoofddoekjes, boerka en nikaab vormen een door de islam opgedrongen oorlogsfront. Het is het beste als we ons daardoor niet bij de neus laten nemen. De tegenaanval zou direct gericht moeten zijn op de islamitische intentie om de ware godsdienst te doen zegevieren over alle godsdiensten. Voor zo’n godsdienst kan er geen plaats zijn in de Nederlandse herberg.

Gerelateerde artikelen

socialisme.nu – ‘Vrouwen moeten zelf beslissen wat ze op hun hoofd dragen’

België wordt het eerste Europese land met een nationaal verbod op het dragen van een boerka of nikab. Het parlement keurt het plan tegen gezichtsbedekking in april vrijwel zeker goed. Terwijl het aantal vrouwen dat de sluier draagt net als in Nederland slechts enkele honderden telt, kan deze maatregel de sociale verhoudingen verder polariseren en een precedent scheppen voor meer verboden, zoals tegen de hoofddoek. Het huidige debat in België daarover is al veelzeggend, zo stelt Ida Dequeeker van BOEH – Baas Over Eigen Hoofd.

Wilders misbruikt vrouwen | DeJaap

Wilders exploiteert daarmee Moslimvrouwen: zij mogen niet spreken en dienen alleen ter meerdere eer en glorie van Wilders’ agenda. Wilders doet dus precies wat hij Moslimmannen verwijt.

Van knielende gastarbeider tot boerkaver… – Nieuws – /Geschiedenis

Het Belgische boerkaverbod-in-de-maak is het zoveelste hoofdstuk in de discussie over Islamitische geloofsuitingen in de openbare ruimte. Welke rol heeft de overheid in deze discussie, zeker met het oog op de scheiding tussen kerk en staat? Andere Tijden maakte in 2005 een aflevering over de eerste moskeeën in Nederland.

1 comment.

Cartoonesque 15 – Muhammad Cartoons and Public Anthropology

Posted on March 27th, 2010 by martijn.
Categories: anthropology, Blogosphere, ISIM/RU Research, Public Islam.

By Carel Brendel

Also on the side of Fawaz (a salafi imam, MdK) is religion researcher Martijn de Koning, anthropologist at Radboud University. Minister Hirsch Ballin trusted Radboud University to do research on sharia courts in the Netherlands. I hope Martijn de Koning is not conducting this research because one might as well let Willem Holleeder (a well known convicted leader of organized crime, MdK) do research about organized crime.

Note: all translations of Dutch quotes are mine.
As an anthropologist on Muslim youth, Salafism, public Islam, radicalization and multicultural issues I think it is important to take up a role in public as well. As I have explained earlier:C L O S E R » Blog Archive » Public Anthropology – 10 Years from Researchpages to Closer (1999/2000 – 2009/2010)

public science and addressing public issues is not just giving answers to questions the public has. It is as much, or even more, about questioning why particular issues are addressed in the way they are addressed by particular people and what the consequences of that are. How are particular issues and the way they are debated related to (changing) historical and cultural contexts, what is taken-for-granted and what does it mean?

Now as my regular readers now, last week in the Netherlands we had a mini-cartoon crisis after the publication of one of the Muhammad cartoons by a Dutch newspaper in a story about an alleged terrorist plot against Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks. A group of Muslims protested against it and the newspaper withdrew the cartoon because they no longer deemed it relevant to publish it. Other newspapers, websites and magazines reported this withdrawal and with it published the same cartoon. This was followed by another action by the same Muslim group. One of their actions was a second video in which Salafi imam Fawaz appeared with several others, including myself.

This yielded a lot of criticism even more so because the comment above was copied by Dutch shocklog (yes that is me in the picture! like the blouse too?) in order to disqualify me:
GeenStijl : ZondagMiddagEssay: Carel Brendel over de CartoonRel

dr Martijn de Koning, the Albert Verlinde (A Dutch gossip king, MdK) van Islam.TV

.
It seems that my appearance on that video makes a me a ‘dhimmi‘ similar the newspaper AD for removing the cartoon after complaints:
The Dhimmi News From the Netherlands

This video would almost be as hilarious as a Monty Python sketch, if it were not deadly serious. No one in the video rejects the death threats against Lars Vilks, nor, most importantly, do they reject the Muslim plot to murder him.
[…]
Daily Standard comments in their article “Cowardly internet editors ofAlgemeen Dagblad remove Muhammad-cartoon after complaints by hate-imam”: “Above all, by removing the cartoon the Algemeen Dagblad reveals itself to be the Dutch version of the Danish Politiken. With the only difference being that the AD yielded to only a few angry e-mails, whereas Politiken at least was waited for some Muslim violence.”

From the same site (and also at Gates of Vienna), this is a transcript of my contribution:
The Dhimmi News From the Netherlands

01:16.00 I think the way this business is going now is a typical example of…
01:20.00 how the debate on Islam now taking shape in the Netherlands, especially also…
01:24.00 with these cartoons.
01:28.00 The AD [Algemeen Dagblad] has posted it. You may indeed wonder why…
01:32.00 and whether in any case they considered at all why they had…
01:36.00 to post that cartoon. Islam.tv and others have responded to it…
01:40.00 and partly as a result, AD removed this cartoon…
01:45.00 and now the AD gets the blame for having removed the cartoon.
01:50.00 In this way freedom of speech is placed against freedom…
01:54.00 of religion, in which the posting of this cartoon…
01:58.00 in fact only has one purpose, namely to teach the other, …
02:02.00 in this case the Muslim, a lesson about who in this country…
02:06.00 is the boss. Nah, you might wonder whether that…
02:10.00 is the meaning of freedom of speech or freedom of eh… religion.

Now according to some this is no less then a plea to limit the freedom of speech (and therefore to make that freedom void) or even more so a plea for preventive censorship. I don’t want to go into that because I think I have clarified my position already in a previous post (Cartoonesque 14), where you also can find more information about this whole event. I want to adress a few issues here that I think are relevant for debates about public anthropology.

First of all, it is (and should) be clear that the video of Islaam.tv was part of their campaign against these cartoons. So why did I appear in that? Well to begin with a reject the notion of ‘guilt by association’ and if I was asked for example by Elsevier to comment upon them publishing the cartoon I would have said the same. A possible appearance in that magazine does not imply that I’m in favour of publishing the cartoon (as they did), nor does my appearance in the Islaam.tv imply the opposite (and to be fair other bloggers such as Ewoud Butter and Prediker at webmagazine FrontaalNaakt recognized that and criticized me being compared to a criminal). In my opinion anyway. Of course, as said, the video was part of the campaign, and the makers of the video were very upfront about that. So I knew what I was going into. Those who have read Cartoonesque 14 carefully know that I reject the way the publication is framed by the imam (and more implicitly also stated that in the film). In the video I tried to reflect upon the issue by asking myself what does this whole chain of events say about the current Islam debate in the Netherlands. Islaam.tv gave me the opportunity to do this without any restriction or directions from their side. It should be noted that several commenters at the shocklog and also on other websites fully acknowledged that (with or without fully endorsing my view).
There is another good reason for me as an anthropologist to take requests such as those of Islaam.tv into consideration and to respond positively to it. The group of which Islaam.tv is part of, Muslims claiming to be part of the Salafi manhaj, is the group of my current research. The central question in this research is why do Muslims turn to Salafi sources of knowledge and take part in Salafi ‘knowledge practices’ to acquire their sense of what Islam ‘really’ is? This means I visit the mosques and other meetingplaces where lectures, courses and other types of meetings are held, I conduct formal and informal interviews with participants on a regular base and I publish in scientific magazins and editted volumes. Share my views on particular issues with them and for them is, as I see it, part as my obligation as an anthropologist. When I would by definition say no to such requests it would mean that I would not do my work properly; sharing anthropological knowledge with outsiders of the scientific community is necessary and important and people among whom I do research or about who I write are always among the first of that responsibility. So yes, next time I would seriously consider doing it again because I see it as an important part of public accountability and reciprocity.
What does this event tell us about the Islam debate. Most of it of course I have already explained in the video and in my previous Cartoonesque post. But also the debate about my appearance tell us something I think. The most obvious of course is the escalation of us vs. them. The representation of Islam is public seems to divide that same public in two: us (the freedom loving Dutch) vs. them (the angry easy to irritate Muslim who cares more for his God and prophet than freedom).GreenLeft know-it-all ‘Tofu’ Dibi limits freedom « indedelta.nl:

Then (based upon my comments in the video, see transcript, MdK) you show that you do not get it, De Koning! Itis not about making an opposition between issues; it is about correcting the one-sided nonsens of radical Islam with reasonable arguments. It is about the fact that there are people in this country who feel that this irrational religious stuff and in particular the intolerant Islam, is ridiculous and want to share that! With the matching illustrations! In ALL freedom!

If it is not freedom of speech vs freedom of religion than it certainly shows idea of a (radical) Islam (intolerant) or religion (irrational) vs. freedom of speech (reason, tolerance, not one-sided) whereby the latter is learning the former to become reasonable. The title of the piece (‘Tofik Dibi limits freedom) refers to a Moroccan-Dutch MP who cautioned the publishing of these cartoons and called for restrained; interpreted by the person who wrote the comment, as well as did others, as an attack on the freedom of speech or (based upon the title of the piece of the first comment of this post) ‘throwing away the DNA of the Netherlands‘ to imam Fawaz. The critique on Tofik Dibi is important because he presents himself, and is seen as such by many, as a liberal. Earlier he stated that he (re-)discovered the DNA of the Netherlands: freedom of speech, right of self-determination, non-discrimination, equality of men and women and the separation of church and state). According to his critics, he is exposed here as a tool of intolerant Islam and a supporter of radical Islam and radical Muslim community. The freedom of speech is sacred and every restriction is seen as an attack with the Muhammad Cartoons as ‘icons of freedom speech’: they symbolize as I have explained the freedom of speech. Removing them after complaints of religious Muslims is therefore an attack on the freedom of speech, making the freedom of speech even more sacred because it is under attack. Hence the headline at the shocklog about ‘solidarity’ with the newspaper and magazine who received complaints by Muslims. Freedom of speech is absolute, hence the claims of people having the right to insult. Having a closer look reveals however that the situation is more complex. Also people who hold the freedom of speech as very important for Dutch society, do sometimes agree with my viewpoints and I have received emails from Muslims who, although agreeing for a large part with my viewpoints, think it is necessary to publish these cartoons as much as possible until radical Muslims keep silent about it and also at Islaam.tv one can read several comments by non-Muslims who support their action. And again, and I cannot say it often enough, the depiction of the Netherlands as a country trapped in that us vs. them dichotomy does not do justice to the social realities out here.
And to close this post: what does this tell us about public anthropology? The debate about public anthropology could have been given a boost by a recent publication in American Anthropologist that featured three blogs: Savage Minds, Zero Anthropology and AAA Blogs. Unfortunately it wasn’t anything more than a crash course about blogs for the digitally challenged. Certainly the first two deserved the attention: the are the best anthropological blogs have to offer in my opinion. In fact the comments on Savage Minds‘ following the publication are more insightful about public anthropology than the article in the journal. (For a strong but fair critique read Finds and Features and Ancient World Bloggers Group.With two colleagues of mine (E.B. and D.K) I’m preparing an article for a special issue of Fieldwork in Religion about well…fieldwork and religion. The article we are writing is about the politicization of the field. What are the consequences for researchers when their research field politicizes while the research takes place. One of the themes in this article is the issue of neutrality. People want neutral researchers and for some critics simply appearing in such video is compromising my neutrality. Interestingly, for others (and not only Muslims) it increases my neutrality because I know all sides of the conflict from within: as a native citizen and as a person who frequently mingles among so-called radical Muslims. For those who see the freedom of speech as sacred and absolute, my appearance is enough to question my neutrality not only in this research but also in the sharia research of which they think I’m the researcher as well (which is not the case by the way). It appears that saying that neutrality does not exist is enough; as we conclude (as some other researchers did as well) neutrality itself appears to be subject of interpretation. This situation becomes more complicated because of how people understand anthropological research. One of the things I did for example was announce on my Twitter account that I was going to a mosque. Indeed I went to the mosque that day to attend a lecture. The notice itself was seen as a sign of islamization and me going to the mosque as a lack of distance. The very fact of trying to inmerse oneself, to observe and, as far as (ethically) possible to participate, invalidates my research according to those people. In his classic study Time and the Other: How anthropology makes its object (1983) Fabian writes:

“[Anthropology] patrols, so to speak, the frontiers of western culture. In fact it has always been a Grenzwissenschaft, concerned with boundaries: those of one race against another, those between one culture and another, and finally those between culture and nature. Those liminal concerns have prevented anthropology from settling down in any one accepted domain of knowledge other than the residual field of ‘social science'”

I think, or like to believe anyway, that this is exactly what I’m doing and this is also exactly what is unsettling about anthropological research. I try to move back and forth in a world that is for some people dominated by us vs. them and therefore as a native man I transgress the boundaries of ‘us’. The fact that in the video I did not defend ‘freedom of speech’ against acts of ‘radical’ imams (although the team of Islaam.tv knows my views about it) or at least was not clear about own position probably contributed to that feeling of uneasiness, the fear that I secretly belong to ‘the other side’ or even the conviction that I am (which according to some makes me a ‘traitor’). For example in another post I questioned a British research about the Muslim Arbitrage Tribunals in the UK. I stated that regulating Islamic arbitration might be a good idea in order to monitor such practices and prevent problems but that religious arbitration (even when regulated) also has several problems attached to it. This comment contributed to the idea that I was in favour of sharia courts in the Netherlands, full stop. Hence, the comment quoted in the beginning of this post. What is a position of distance to me, for them is an attack and for those who objected to the cartoons it was a sign of neutral comments or maybe even friendly towards Muslims. This does not make public anthropology any easier but it does make it more necessary and relevant as Jovan Maud also stated at Culture Matters. And indeed, it will not give anthropologists a high ranking in popularity contests.

3 comments.

Een wekelijks portie burgerschap 12 – Scouting en deugdzaamheid

Posted on March 23rd, 2010 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

Uit de burgerschapskalender:

Zelf willen de scouts het er eigenlijk niet meer over hebben. De goede daad. Want dat zou een oud en schimmelig idee zijn. Scouting bestaat dit jaar 100 jaar en draait tegenwoordig veel meer om leuke dingen doen, samenwerken, avontuur. Toch zit die dagelijkse goede daad van de padvinder nog in het collectieve geheugen. Hoe zou dat toch komen?
27 maart Nationale Scoutingdag
www.scouting.nl

Inderdaad waarom zit die dagelijkse goede daad van de padvinder nog in het collectieve geheugen? En waarom willen ze het er dan niet meer over hebben? En wat is een goede daad? Padvinders, sorry scouts herinneren ons, zo is mijn ongefundeerde idee, aan de jaren ’50. Iets waar we meewarig naar terugkijken, maar toch ook wel met een zeker verlangen naar de tijd die (vanuit het huidige perspectief) ons zo overzichtelijk en puur leek. Spruitjeslucht, maar ja toen aten tenminste deze ‘oerhollandse’ groente nog.

De scouts vertegenwoordigen het ideaal van de blanke middenklasse waarbij het niet ging om allerlei hoogdravende zaken, maar kleine (en vooral niet hemelbestormende) daden. Jonge scouts werden disciplineerd op basis van een gender-specifieke en hetero-normatieve invulling van het begrip deugdzame burger. De benadrukking van de waarden van de scouts (al dan niet van de scouts zelf) is al erg oud. Al in de 19e eeuw stimuleerde de seculiere regimes van die tijd het idee van deugdzame burgers die hun morele zelf realiseerden door zich te conformeren aan de dominante ideeën over een goed leven en door het verrichten van goede daden ten behoeve van het welzijn van de natie-staat. Deze morele gemeenschap had aanvankelijk een sterke religieuze connotatie; protestants en later als lid van de verzuiling bouwde men aan een vorm van religieus nationalisme. De ontzuiling heeft de verbinding van het nationalisme met religie ongedaan gemaakt (hoewel het nog steeds opduikt als verwijzing naar een joods-christelijke traditie), maar het idee van morele gemeenschap is nog steeds van belang in het Nederlandse nationalisme. Dat kenmerkt zich niet door allerlei hoogdravende patriottische rituelen of symbolen, maar door de nadruk op gezamenlijke waarden en normen die ten grondslag moeten liggen een het idee van deugdzame burgers. Ik gok zo dat dat idee van de morele gemeenschap datgene is wat de goede daden van de padvinders zo lang in het collectieve geheugen houdt. Tegelijkertijd herinnert het ons ook aan een tijd toen we de ‘knellende banden’ van religie (zoals sommigen het zouden formuleren) nog niet hadden afgeworpen.

Leuke dingen doen, samenwerken en avontuur gaat hedentendage nog steeds gepaard met discipline en ‘beschaafd’ gedrag. Dat wil niet zozeer zeggen dat het idee van een morele gemeenschap teloor is gegaan, maar alleen dat er andere waarden zijn die de morele gemeenschap bepalen.

2 comments.

Closing the week 11

Posted on March 20th, 2010 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

NEW on Closer!

Most popular on Closer this week:

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE
If you want to stay updated about the ISIM Review pages I suggest you do subscribe

You can follow me on Twitter: Martijn5155

http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/ayaan-hirsi-ali-wilders-channels-anger

Ayaan Hirsi Ali has returned to the Netherlands with the same message as when she left: Islam needs its own period of ‘Enlightenment’. Ms Hirsi Ali is back for one week to promote her most recent book, Nomad. It’s her first substantial visit since leaving the Dutch parliament four years ago to live in the United States.

The Imagination Age: DAM in Sheikh Jarrah: Protest re-Imagined

Social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, have been instrumental in raising international awareness about what’s going on in East Jerusalem and keeping supporters informed about the rallies. YouTube and Flickr have also played important roles, allowing for real-time photo/video archiving of the rallies, including aggressive police behavior, arrests, and counter-protests from Orthodox Jews. The video below shows a typical scene from such a rally, beginning with smiling Israeli demonstrators offering a bouquet of flowers to the chief of police, and ending with police getting aggressive with demonstrators at the end of the rally and Orthodox Jews approaching.

Muslim Scholar, Formerly Barred, Coming to New York – City Room Blog – NYTimes.com

A prominent Muslim academic barred from the United States for six years under the Patriot Act will speak at a panel at Cooper Union next month, his first public appearance since the restriction was lifted.

The scholar, Tariq Ramadan, will speak at “Secularism, Islam and Democracy: Muslims in Europe and the West,” presented on April 8 by the American Association for University Professors, the American Civil Liberties Union, PEN American Center and Slate.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62G41Y20100317

Muslim activists launched a campaign on Wednesday against a series of educational books that they say promote anti-Islamic sentiment among U.S. school children.

altmuslimah.com – Politics: France gets riled up about a candidate’s headscarf

While not the first candidate with a headscarf, the buzz around Moussaïd’s candidature is something new.

http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=55570

Muslims in Russia celebrate the 100th anniversary of St Petersburg Mosque.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hkf-F7ym6Gmwn1C_ETD5l7xmMypA

The Tatars first came to Poland in the late 14th century to serve as soldiers in its royal army, and remained. A group was granted land in Kruszyniany in 1679.

Today the country’s Tatar community numbers around 5,000 — of whom only 10 still live in the village.

Centuries of mixing mean they have lost their Turkish-linked language and adopted Polish-sounding names. But they kept their faith and are among the rare Muslims in this overwhelmingly Catholic nation of 38.5 million people.

http://www.khabrein.info/news/Debate_on_Muslim_women_in_Europe_hijacked_by_Hijab_issue_1268758882/

The debate on the situattion of Muslim women in Europe is being dominated and hijacked by the issue of headscarf and veil and is not tackling the real problems, according to speakers at a seminar on Europes Muslim Women held here Tuesday It is the social, cultural and political discrimination that we are victims of.

That is the problem, not the veil,stressed Malika Hamidi, head of the European Muslim Network (EMN) think tank.

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a916266213~db=all?tab=references

Generational differences in ethnic and religious attachment and their interrelation. A study among Muslim minorities in the Netherlands

altmuslim – Art: Jihad Jane and the Muhammad cartoons

Art can be used as a loaded cultural and political weapon to incite animosity amidst an already hostile climate dominated by foolish controversies — or it can be used wisely and bravely as a common language to bridge the divides.

Indigo Jo Blogs — Further thoughts on Qadri fatwa

why is a fatwa against suicide bombing significant in a British context now?

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1886539,00.html

Today’s revolution is more vibrantly Islamic than ever. Yet it is also decidedly antijihadist and ambivalent about Islamist political parties. Culturally, it is deeply conservative, but its goal is to adapt to the 21st century. Politically, it rejects secularism and Westernization but craves changes compatible with modern global trends. The soft revolution is more about groping for identity and direction than expressing piety. The new revolutionaries are synthesizing Koranic values with the ways of life spawned by the Internet, satellite television and Facebook.

http://mcgilldaily.com/articles/28988

Accommodation is a word with baggage in Quebec. In 2007, the public sphere was overtaken by debates about what accounts for reasonable and unreasonable accommodation. Who were we afraid of accommodating too much? Generally speaking, immigrants and their children, people of different faiths and customs whose demands were, some felt, unreasonable.

Focus on rebellion in Yemen, not al-Qaeda | statesmanjournal.com | Statesman Journal

While these series of problems can be met with eye-rolling, as they are almost comical in their repetition, the rebellion in the south is a different animal altogether than the other rebellions. It, more than anything else, has the potential to tear this fragile nation apart.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124915139

The arrest in Ireland of seven people alleged to be planning to kill Swedish artist Lars Vilks for a sketch he made of the Prophet Muhammad has once again turned the spotlight on the limits of free speech in Europe and the sensitivities of European Muslims. Two of those arrested earlier this month have been charged; five others have been released.

But the reactions in Sweden have been very different from the anger that erupted when similar cartoons were published five years ago in Denmark.

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100320/WEEKENDER/703199858/1306

The latest poster children in America’s “war on terror” could not embody anything further from the stereotypical Middle Eastern fanatic. Not only are they female, they have blonde hair and blue eyes – the sort of features more commonly associated with cheerleading at ball games and fresh-baked apple pie than guerrilla fighting against the United States and its allies.

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/782003–veiling-and-a-woman-s-right-to-choose

You seem to agree that the Muslim “garb,” be it hijab, burqa, niqab, is not a religious, but a cultural phenomenon. I agree. In fact, this was the explanation given by no less than Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi, grand imam of Al-Azhar Mosque and grand sheikh of Al-Azhar University, in Cairo, when he proclaimed a fatwa on various veilings in October 2009. Indeed, cultures and symbols that come with them constantly change over the time.

The veil used to be a sex symbol in pre-Islamic times, some 5,000 years ago. It was the identification sign of the temple priestesses who had ritual sex with young men to celebrate fertility. Nowadays, some brands of Islam brandish it as a sacred requirement of their religion, while other brands, such as Ismaili Muslims, claim that veiling has nothing to do with the religion.

Who is right and who is wrong?

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62I2LB20100319

A British anti-radicalization campaign called Prevent is a pressing priority in the European country experts see as the most at risk from al Qaeda attack.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/19/AR2010031904284.html

Top Dutch officials ditched their usual diplomacy Friday in an angry reaction to suggestions by a retired U.S. Marine Corps general that allowing openly gay troops to serve in their military was partly to blame for Europe’s worst massacre since World War II.

Al Jazeera English – Middle East – Egypt appoints senior Sunni figure

Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, has named Sheikh Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed al-Tayeb as head of Al-Azhar, the country’s most prestigious seat of Islamic learning, state television reported.

Societies use punishment as a tool to enforce norms in large populations

A society with a large number of people uses punishment to enforce norms, while the same does not hold true for societies with lower population, where everybody knows each other, claims a study.

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Sociological anthropology/2701506/story.html

magine for a moment the following situation: a young man gets onto a commuter train but all the seats are full.

In most circumstances, everyone else with seats would probably hardly even notice the young guy’s discomfort. If they did, they’d probably think that he’s young enough and strong enough to stand or find some other way to deal with not having a seat.

This young man is different. He’s on crutches and carries a skateboard. And what he does is a little different too: he takes out the skateboard and sits on it.

The Truth about Muslim-Coptic Relations in Egypt « Inner Workings of My Mind

It is time for me to tell this story. I tell it with the utmost shame. But it is a story that must be told. Unless we admit we have a problem and try to understand why we have it, we will never be able to fix it.

http://www.minnpost.com/globalpost/2010/03/19/16766/case_of_a_veiled_muslim_student_removed_from_class_hints_at_canadas_integration_issues

Naema Ahmed, a 29-year-old Egyptian, was attending a government-sponsored class in Montreal for immigrants who want to learn French. In the middle of writing an exam, she was pulled out of class by a provincial official, who gave her a stark choice — remove the veil or leave the class. Ahmed left.

Months earlier, Ahmed had been thrown out of another French class for the same reason.

http://www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/1344/Binnenland/article/detail/1081616/2010/03/18/Raad-van-State-schorst-verbod-op-hoofddoeken-in-onderwijs.dhtml

De Raad van State heeft het algemene verbod geschorst op het dragen van levensbeschouwelijke kentekens in het gemeenschapsonderwijs (GO!). De Raad van State stelt intussen een prejudiciële vraag aan het Grondwettelijk Hof om na te gaan of het verbod door het gemeenschapsonderwijs wel mag worden ingevoerd zonder voorafgaand optreden van de decreetgever. Het Minderhedenforum, de koepel van etnisch-culturele minderheden in Vlaanderen en Brussel, is verheugd.

http://www.eerstekamer.nl/nieuws/20100302/senaat_verwerpt_motie_over

De Eerste Kamer heeft de motie-De Vries (PvdA) c.s. over het ‘beroepsverbod’ (EK 31.386, G) dinsdag 2 maart verworpen . De motie kreeg steun van de fracties van PvdA, SP, GroenLinks, D66, PvdD en de OSF. De fracties van CDA, VVD, ChristenUnie en SGP stemden tegen.

http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=7V2NEE5N

De Nederlandse toppolitici Wouter Bos (PvdA) en Camiel Eurlings (CDA) verlaten de politiek, omdat zij meer tijd willen besteden aan hun privéleven. ‘Voor vrouwen betekent emancipatie demonstreren dat werk en gezin goed te combineren zijn; mannen oogsten daarentegen gegarandeerd een applausje als zij kiezen voor zorg en gezin’,

Mediawijsheid gevaarlijk | DeJaap

Jongeren die al problemen hebben, lopen het grootste risico als het gaat om geseksualiseerde of gewelddadige media-inhoud . Mediawijsheidinitiatieven sluizen geld weg bij instellingen die juist wel gericht zijn op die risicojongeren, zoals de jeugdzorg. En daarmee is mediawijsheid niet alleen onzinnig, maar zelfs gevaarlijk.

KLPD-lijst met criminele Marokkanen – Maroc.NL

Het Korps Landelijke Politiediensten (KLPD) heeft een ranglijst opgesteld waar de problemen met criminele Marokkaanse Nederlanders het grootst zijn. Hiermee wordt bepaald hoeveel geld gemeenten krijgen om overlast aan te pakken.

http://www.trouw.nl/opinie/columnisten/kennedy/article3013350.ece/Soort_zoekt_soort__ook_bij_schoolkeuze_.html

Een meerderheid in de Tweede Kamer lijkt het PvdA-wetsvoorstel te willen steunen voor een acceptatierecht in het onderwijs. Scholen kunnen dan niet langer leerlingen weigeren, als hun ouders maar respect hebben voor de grondslag van de school. Volgens de indieners betekent dit grotere keuzevrijheid voor ouders en zal het ervoor zorgen dat achterstandsleerlingen beter verdeeld worden over de scholen. Zou hierdoor het aantal zwarte scholen afnemen? Ik ben bang dat meer keuzevrijheid juist zal leiden tot meer segregatie.

http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=DMF20100318_102

Saïd Arissi, een van de negen beklaagden die voor de correctionele rechtbank van Brussel terechtstaat voor terrorisme, heeft donderdag gezegd dat hij ervoor had gekozen om te gaan vechten in Irak, er een vriend te ontmoeten, en uiteindelijk te vertrekken naar Pakistan. Vervolgens zou hij in Afghanistan gaan vechten.

0 comments.

IslamOnline – Strike, Stream and Twitter Activism

Posted on March 16th, 2010 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere, Internal Debates.

IslamOnline is on strike since today. Employees of the Arabic-English news website Islam Online are demanding their voices be heard by the new administration. The original plan was to have a short strike but after security forces were called in by the new Qatari administration an open-ended sit-in was announced.
According to Bikya Masr (well-informed):
Islam Online in crisis as administration threatens to fire journalists | Bikya Masr

According to Atef Abdel-Ghany, who runs the website’s development committee, said the new board has informed the employees that come March 31, “more than 250 of the journalists will be let go.” Islam Online currently employs more than 350 people.
[…]

Prominent Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawy, who is technically the owner of Islam Online, has been out of touch during the ordeal. Employees attempted to get in touch with him, but to no avail. HMLC said that the sheikh “had promised the workers all of their rights and the continuation of the Cairo branch or he would resign, but it seems the Qatari side has taken advantage of Qaradawy’s health and his trip to Saudi Arabia.”

The law center said this was an attempt to take advantage of the situation while he is away.

This left the Egyptian blogosphere up in arms over the development, which has been updating the situation constantly. According to reports, the new administration wants a more “conservative approach” to what has long been considered one of the few voices for moderate Islamic perspectives online in both English and Arabic. […]

The employees have said the new administration consists of conservative Salafist and Wahhabi – known for their conservative approach to Islam – Muslims who want to remove at least three sections from the website. They are the “Islamyoon,” “Madarik” and “Youth.”

The journalists argue this is an effort to push a new “conservative agenda” that runs counter to the traditional Islam Online effort of bring people together.

The move on the moderate Islam Online is likely to spur the already tense relationship between moderate Muslims and the conservatives, who have been attempting to buttress their support in Egypt for the past few years. Those from the Gulf have been pushing their agenda in Egypt for years, but only recently has their voice become stronger and supporters flocking to their ranks, says Gamal al-Banna, an elderly Islamic scholar and liberal thinker.

“We have for far too long allowed the conservatives to come into Egypt and have done nothing about it,” he began. “It is time to speak out for what Egyptians want.”

Except there is not much covering of this event as yet, with the exception of the site mentioned above and Al-Masry Al-Youm. Having said that, interestingly, the strike (or sit-in as it should be called by now) can followed live on Twitter. In particular Nadia el Awady (see also her blog) is twittering a lot about it and has reliable information (always a problem on Twitter). You can also follow employees: Mosab and Ghafari and the continuing tweets can be followed by using #IOL or #islamonline as hashtag. And the activists over there are using a live stream for a live coverage of their own activities at Ustream. You can follow that here: IOL on AIR.

As Nadia el Awady also remarked on Twitter, IOL has never been in the forefront of using new media, but now with this strike they have overcome that. The whole conflict seems to be related to a takeover of the board by conservative Muslims. IOL has always been relatively open to liberal and alternative lifestyle views and has been promoted by Yusuf Qardawi as a website for all Muslims. Bettina Gräf has written about IOL describing and explaining the history and operations of IslamOnline.net. The body behind IslamOnline (IOL) is the Al-Balagh Cultural Society in Qatar, which was established in 1997 on the initiative of Qatari IT specialist Maryam Hasan al-Hajari and Dr. Hamid al-Ansari, a scholar at the Sharica Faculty of the University of Qatar. In its early stages the project was supported by Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the 1926-born, Azhar-educated Egyptian scholar. Yusuf al-Qaradawi defined the site’s mission this way: “This project is neither nationalistic nor one aiming at a grouping or a group of people; it is a project for the entire Islamic community. It is the jihad of our era.” Read Gräf’s paper (pdf) HERE or only the introduction at Arab Media & Society.

Who decides what to say about Islam (be it liberal, conservative or whatever other label) seems to be at stake it here as well as job security. By using Twitter and Ustream as resources for activism and mobilization series of employees voiced their grievances before the video feed. Many said they were fighting for their jobs but also the maintain the website’s tolerant outlook.

3 comments.

Closing the week 9 – Dutch local elections II

Posted on March 7th, 2010 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

NEW on Closer!

Most popular on Closer this week

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE
If you want to stay updated about the ISIM Review pages I suggest you do subscribe

You can follow me on Twitter: Martijn5155

Dutch local elections II
Keep the PVV’s Dutch gains in perspective | Mark Fonseca Rendeiro | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

I shall go against the international headlines and some of the Dutch media when I say to you, please remain calm. This sudden explosion of intolerance and fragmented politics is nothing new; we have been reading about it for decades. The myth maintained by international media outlets and perhaps the Dutch bureau of tourism, which parrots the Netherlands as an open-minded leftwing paradise, has long kept a smoke screen over the well-established and not always tolerant tradition of smaller parties, extremist or moderate, left or right, which rise up suddenly, gain power and occasionally disappear into obscurity as fast as they came.

http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/203771-wilders-imaginary-eurabia

Brandishing the spectre of “the threat of Islam,” populist leader Geert Wilders obtained a breakthrough in the 3 March local elections, which will constitute a major step forward in his campaign to become prime minister. For Czech daily Mladá Fronta Dnes, Muslims are not a real threat to multicultural Dutch society: the main danger is the manner in which the majority of the population intends to live with them.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100028507/geert-wilders-victory-in-hollands-regional-elections-is-a-victory-for-free-speech/

Or are the Dutch people just fed up with being told they’re not allowed to criticise Muslim extremists because to do so is “Islamophobic”? As a defender of free speech, I don’t believe for one moment that the Koran ought to be banned. But if I was a member of the Dutch electorate I would vote for Geert Wilders’ party nonetheless because I don’t think he deserves to go to jail for 16 months just for arguing that it should.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/extreme-right-on-the-march-in-europes-most-tolerant-nation-1916481.html

The anti-Islamist party led by Dutch firebrand Geert Wilders has triumphed in municipal polls in The Netherlands, opening the way for a political breakthrough for the far-right in general elections in June.

Discussion » Who can still govern the Netherlands?

Although local results cannot be translated to the national level for a number of reasons a few predictions can be made based on them. The upcoming election campaign is likely to focus on the battle between CDA prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Labour leader Wouter Bos, with anti-Islamic Wilders as the strong third competitor.

New Statesman – Geert Wilders and the welcome silence of the majority

Considerable sound and fury was generated last year when Geert Wilders, the far-right Dutch politician who warns that Britain’s capital is in danger of turning into “Londonistan” (yawn), was refused entry into the country.

Now he’s been, showed his odious little film Fitna to a small audience at the House of Lords, and… to what effect, exactly?

The scary world of Geert Wilders – The Globe and Mail

This is the disarming thing about Mr. Wilders, the thing that allows many otherwise moderate Dutch voters, including some gay-rights leaders and leftists, as well as a surprising number of otherwise sane foreigners, to give him a chance: He comes to his politics from a position of “anything goes, let it all hang out” liberalism.

BBC News – The opportunity Geert Wilders has waited for

A party that calls Islam a backward religion, wants a ban on headscarves in public life and has compared the Koran to Hitler’s Mein Kampf has made major gains in local elections in the Netherlands.

Muslims in Europe
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/03/racist-question-brown-answer-curious

It may not be racist, but it’s a question I’m tired of hearing

Looking a bit brown still means being asked where you’re from. So here’s a ready-made answer for the overly curious

* Ariane Sherine

Last weekend, I had The Conversation for the 3,897th time – and this time, it took place in central London just two roads away from the hospital where I was born. As usual, it went like this:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,681948,00.html

With Germany lacking schools of Islamic theology, Muslim congregations have long imported religious leaders. As Germany considers steps to create more homegrown imams, countries like Turkey — which sends state-employed imams to Europe to serve large segments of the Turkish diaspora — are filling the gap.

4 convicted over foiled German terror plot – CNN.com

Four men were convicted in Germany on Thursday in connection with a foiled terrorist plot against Western targets, court officials said.

Let These Women Pray! – Page 1 – The Daily Beast

In an uprising reminiscent of the lunch-counter protests of the 1960s, women at one of Washington D.C.’s most popular mosques are copying the tactics of the civil-rights movement, and refusing to follow rules that ban them from praying with the men. Asra Q. Nomani on the arrest threats and outrage that followed.

FT.com / UK – Majority supports outlawing the burka

Almost six out of 10 Britons think women should be banned from wearing the burka in public, saying they would support a prohibition similar to the one being contemplated in France, according to an opinion poll for the Financial Times.

Global Voices Online » Bulgaria: A Debate on Islam

On Feb. 26, some 40 people attended a debate titled “Islam as a threat – again in fashion?”, held at the Center for Culture and Debate “Red House” in the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia. Speakers included Saleh Breh, a psychologist at the University of Damascus, Vladimir Chukov, a specialist in Islam, and Nidal Hlayf, a student in film directing.

Middle East
Saudi Bloggers Shatter the Kingdom’s Silence and Censorship – International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News – FOXNews.com

Eman Al-Nafjan, for instance, said over coffee on the “all-female” second floor of the Kingdom Mall in Riyadh that she began blogging in English two years ago, after she returned from studying in the United States, in an effort to “break through stereotypes” about her country at home and abroad. “I believe in the Saudi monarchy,” she said. “And I don’t hate Saudi Arabia. But restrictions that people think are religiously based are actually rooted in our culture, not our religion. They must change. But I’m not optimistic that they will.”

No Story Here! US Press Sits on Story Executing Handcuffed Afghan Kids? :: www.uruknet.info :: informazione dal medio oriente :: information from middle east :: [vs-1]

But these My Lais are all conveniently labeled accidents. They get filed away and forgotten as the inevitable “collateral damage” of war. There was, however, a massacre recently that was not a mistake–a massacre which, while it only involved fewer than a dozen people, bears the same stench as My Lai. It was the execution-style slaying of eight handcuffed students, aged 11-18, and a 12-year-old neighboring shepherd boy who had been visiting the others, in Kunar Province, on Dec. 26.

8 weeks on, Nato admits ‘terrorists’ it killed were really innocent students – The Scotsman

The International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) issued a statement on 30 December, four days after the attack, claiming “a joint assault force” had been attacked from several buildings as they entered the village. Isaf said nine people had been killed when the force returned fire. “Several assault rifles, ammunition and ammonium nitrate used in bomb-making were discovered,” it said.

Yesterday, an official admitted: “Knowing what we know now, it would have probably not been a justifiable attack… We don’t now believe we busted a major ring.”

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/04/malaysia.anwar.interview/

Malaysia’s opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is on trial in Kuala Lumpur on sodomy charges for a second time, speaks to journalist Wajahat Ali about the controversy and discusses the country’s ethnic and religious conflicts as well as issues facing the Muslim world.

The Definitive Guide to the Iraqi Elections | Foreign Policy

“The Land of Two Rivers” is also the land of thousands of aspiring political leaders. Foreign Policy takes you inside the diverse parties, coalitions, and sects, from the center of power to its outermost fringes, that make up Iraq’s political mosaic.

Muslim Leader Issues Anti-Terrorism Fatwa

The leader of a global Muslim movement has issued a fatwa, or religious edict, that he calls an absolute condemnation of terrorism.

Transcript of interview with Jordanian suicide bomber Khurasani – Threat Matrix

Below is the full transcript of the last interview with Abu Dujanah al Khurasani, a longtime internet jihadi who was recruited by Jordanian intelligence to provide targeting information for the US’ covert air campaign against al Qaeda’s leaders and operations in Pakistan’s tribal areas. Khurasani (who is also known as Humam Khalil Muhammed Abu Mulal al Balawi) turned on his handlers and carried out the suicide attack against the CIA at Combat Outpost Chapman in Khost province. Seven CIA agents and a Jordanian intelligence official were killed in the attack, which took place on Dec. 30, 2009.

How to do really terrible Middle East analysis « The Mezze – ?????

I do think the way in which Karsh arrived at his conclusions, though, gives us a great introduction to how to do bad Middle East analysis. Here are a few lessons drawn from his piece:

albawaba.com middle east news information::Global fashion trends reveal growing influence of Arabic style

The Arab fashion industry is set to further broaden its global appeal following years of steady acceptance and the growing support of top fashion icons, according to French Fashion University Esmod – Dubai, the leading fashion institution in the Middle East.

Misc.
A Parting Message « Umar Lee

I will continue to write occasionally for MQ Magazine and sometimes Islamonline and to work on books; but I think the blogging format is dead in the community after having been very vibrant. It is also a fact that I am very busy. With four children in my home and a stay at home wife I have to stay focused on money. Making money at my job now and looking for bigger and better things to earn more money for my family insha’Allah. The time I spend blogging I could be working. There is also the fact that what is a better use of time; blogging or spending more time in the masjid with the believers? Reading the Quran or reading Twitter? Reading Ibn Kathir or the Daily Beast? Bilal Phillips or the Huffington Post? Watching a Youtube video or listening to an Islamic lecture?

Experts theorize on human migration / LJWorld.com

Conventional wisdom says the first humans made their way into the Americas some 12,000 to 14,000 years ago, in a single mass migration from Africa to Asia to an area that now includes North America.

Eske Willerslev doesn’t buy it.

UNESCO/JLU – Caribbean Indigenous and Endangered Languages, The University of West Indies at Mona

Berbice Dutch Creole is a language formerly widely spoken in the former Dutch colony of Berbice, which became in the early 19th century part of the British colony of British Guiana, now Guyana. The last speakers of this language were found in the 1970s by Ian Robertson, living on the upper reaches of the Berbice River in and around the area of the Wiruni Creek. The last known Berbice Dutch Creole speaker is Bertha Bell, who was 103 years old when last interviewed by Ian Robertson and a UWI linguistics research team in March, 2004.

It’s Not the Size of the State, but the Ambulation of the Nation » Sociological Images

the ad agency actually reproduces a long list of stereotypes

Coming soon to a bookshop near you: an all new dimension of culture « Culture Matters

Brendan McSweeney, whose devastating analysis of intercultural communication guru Geert Hofstede caused Joana and me much pleasure when we were writing Seeing Culture Everywhere (it involved, among others, Bambi and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch), alerted us that the master with the trademarked name (as he likes to point out: one of the most highly cited authors in the social sciences, unmatched by any anthropologist) is preparing a new edition of his seminal work, The Dimensions of Culture. According to the flyer, it includes “an entirely new dimension: indulgence versus restraint, focusing on happiness and life control. Also, Professor Hofstede introduces a Darwinian explanation of the evolution of cultures, explaining the variety of cultures found in today’s world.”

On Reaching a Broader Public: Five Ideas for Anthropologists « Neuroanthropology

How can anthropologists reach a wider audience? Good debate on that question has sprung up in recent weeks at Savage Minds, Culture Matters, and Ethnografix. We’ve also written about this question here. Now it’s time for a synthesis.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100302/1024048361.shtml

For years and years we’ve been hearing about the supposed threats of “cyberwar” and “cyberterrosism.” For nearly a decade we’ve questioned whether this was all hype, and the story hasn’t changed. Sure, there are hackers and those who look to break into systems, but the real risks and overall threats still seem fairly minimal. But that’s not enough for some people. Wired’s Ryan Singel has a long, but excellent look at how former director of national intelligence (now consultant) Michael McConnell appears to be trying to build up a giant moral panic about this ill-defined threat, with the goal of basically ripping out the guts of today’s internet to recreate it with almost no privacy at all.

http://anthropologyworks.com/?p=1655

The United State Institute of Peace recently presented the second part of its program on The Other Side of Gender: Masculinity Issues in Violent Conflict. Panelists Elisabeth Wood, Professor of Political Science at Yale University, and Jocelyn Kelly, Research Coordinator with the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, drew on their diverse experiences in conflict zones worldwide to answer the question: Why are some wars worse for women than others?

Four women and a prophet – People – Life – The Times of India

Repression of sexual desire, enforcement of the hijab, zero-tolerance for criticism of the Quran… These are just some of the issues these four gutsy women have been fighting. Their battle to reform their religion has left them scarred, and without a home, yet they continue their crusade …

Dutch
Wilders: ‘Het gaat tussen Bos en mij’ – HP/De Tijd

Volgens opiniepeiler Maurice de Hond staat de PVV nu op 27 zetels, het CDA op 24. Maar Geert Wilders richt zijn pijlen nu op Wouter Bos die óók op 24 zetels staat. De snelle zondagochtendanalyse: dat is geen slecht nieuws voor Bos. Wanneer de kiezer het idee heeft dat het écht tussen Bos en Wilders gaat, dan zal het snel voorbij zijn met de 19 virtuele zetels van D66. Want die gaan dan naar de PvdA. U begrijpt, Wilders kiest zijn eigen opponenten. Het is zondag 7 maart, de campagne is begonnen.

Facebook | Dames en heren,…

Wij Blijven Hier! Dames en heren, komt naar het Mawlid Festival. Een festival wat je niet mag missen. Een hele dag in teken van Profeet Mohammed met lezingen, nasheed, workshops, etc. etc. Check www.mawlidfestival.nl

Marokkaan gezocht, niet de waarheid – Opinie – Villamedia

In 2009 bracht met name De Telegraaf heel Nederland in rep en roer vanwege een Marokkaanse jongen die een buschauffeur in de Goudse wijk Oosterwei zou hebben mishandeld. Bij nader inzien bleek het niet om een Marokkaanse jongen te gaan, was onduidelijk of het om mishandeling ging, en vond het incident evenmin plaats in de wijk Oosterwei. Gouda werd ondertussen neergezet als de zoveelste stad met problemen met ‘Marokkaans terreur’. Als je al de afkomst noemt, geef dan de relevantie hiervan aan, vindt hoofdredacteur Mercita Coronel van Wereldjournalisten.nl.

PVV-stemmer is bang voor allochtonen | Kennislink

Wat beweegt de PVV-stemmer? De gevestigde politiek zou het ontzettend graag willen weten, vooral om er achter te komen waar zij de steken precies laten vallen. Maar ook de wetenschap buigt zich over het mysterie van het uitdijende PVV-electoraat. De nieuwste inzichten komen van het Groningse Instituut voor Integratie en Sociale Weerbaarheid. Angst voor allochtonen blijkt een belangrijke drijfveer om op de PVV te stemmen.

Weblog Anja Meulenbelt » Petra Stienen: Europa en de moslims

We horen in de media eindeloos dat de Europese moslims niet integreren, dat ze op moeten houden met burka’s dragen, dat de op moeten houden met moskeeën met minaretten bouwen, dat ze net als wij moeten leren er tegen te kunnen dat hun religie wordt beledigd, hoe pijnlijk dat ook mag zijn. Maar is de zaak eigenlijk niet precies omgekeerd? Door steeds maar weer hun tradities en geloof te bekritiseren, en er op staan dat ze net als wij worden, zijn we daarmee niet bezig om onze eigen principes aan te tasten, die zeggen dat mensen de vrijheid hebben om hun eigen leven te leven? In plaats van dat de moslims er niet in slagen zich als goede Europeanen te gedragen is het niet Europa die faalt om zich tolerant op te stellen en die steeds maar bezig is om moslims onder druk te zetten? Kortom: wie schieten er tekort? Europa of de moslims?

Turkije » Wilders noemt Turkse premier ‘total freak’ (video)

Geert Wilders heeft de vertoning van zijn film Fitna in Groot-Brittannië en de aansluitende persconferentie gebruikt om flink af te geven op de islam.

‘Wij voelen ons niet ongewenst’ – Almere – Almere Vandaag

almere / Liset van Ravenzwaaij –

Ruim zeventienduizend Almeerders stemden bij de gemeenteraadsverkiezingen deze week op de PVV en maakte de partij hiermee in een klap de grootste van de stad. Hoe voelen de moslims van Almere zich onder deze politieke verschuiving? Hoe kijken zij aan tegen het belangrijkste speerpunt van de PVV: een hoofddoekjesverbod bij gemeentelijke instellingen. Zien ze hun stadbewoners tegen zich keren en voelen zij zich nog welkom hier?

‘Mam, ik word moslima’ – vrouw.telegraaf.nl [Psyche & Relatie]

Bep Weerts-De Vulder (52) kreeg de schrik van haar leven toen ze haar e-mail opende en een bericht van haar dochter las. Linda (25) had zich bekeerd tot de islam. Die nacht deed ze geen oog dicht.

Joost Niemöller » Islamdebat in Brussel: alle kritiek weggehoond

Martien Pennings was aanwezig bij een ‘groot Islam debat’ op de universiteit in Brussel. Maar wat bleek? Er was geen sprake van enig debat. De moslim dreun stampte ieder kritisch geluid te grond in. Pennings nam alles op en in dit zeer uitvoerige verslag gaf hij weer hoe de vrije meningsuiting de nek om werd gedraaid en er uiteindelijk vooral heel veel niet gezegd werd.

Allochtonenweblog: Evaluatierapport radicaliseringsproject Amsterdam-Oost/Watergraafsmeer

In het Amsterdamse stadsdeel Oost/Watergraafsmeer is de afgelopen jaren het project Weerbaar Oost/ Netwerken tegen radicalisering uitgevoerd. Het project is eind december 2009 afgesloten. Het project was gebaseerd op het plan van aanpak dat in 2007 door het stadsdeel was geschreven en werd uitgevoerd door ACB Kenniscentrum.

Brief Koranexperts is boemerang (2) « Peter Wierenga

U en enkele andere Koranexperts hebben kennelijk gemeend om hierop te moeten reageren. In een brief aan de rechtbank, het Openbaar Ministerie en de verdachte, bestrijdt u diens visie op Koranverzen in de film Fitna. Mijn stelling is niet dat u ongelijk heeft in dit theologische dispuut – het gaat immers om de interpretatie van een heilig boek. Sterker nog, ik noem enkele van uw observaties ‘terecht’. Maar ik vrees dat u onbedoeld (tenzij u een briljante dubbelspion bent…) Wilders een handje helpt in zijn proces.

‘Moslims hoeven niets te vrezen’ – Binnenland – Telegraaf.nl [24 uur actueel, ook mobiel] [binnenland]

Moslims in Almere hoeven de PVV niet te vrezen. Dit zei partijleider Geert Wilders woensdag in de stad waar zijn partij als grootste uit de verkiezingsstrijd kwam. ,,Als zij zich aan de wetten houden, zijn ze gelijk aan ieder ander en hebben ze geen enkele reden om bang te zijn”, aldus Wilders.

0 comments.

Anthropology of user-generated connections and mobilization

Posted on March 3rd, 2010 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere, ISIM/RU Research, Some personal considerations.

I have been thinking about online mobilization by social movements for quite some time now. It is clear by now that social movements (environmental, women, labor, religious, and so on) try to recruit and mobilize their constituency online by building and disseminating collective action frames and while participation in social movements back in the old days seem to have been limited to activists, today a broader group maybe involved in online mobilization. How to research this? We can look at connections between people that are generated online and collective action online. A lot of research has been done about that by now but what is missing then is the social context. By only looking at those online connections and online collective actions we have some information about these individuals, but we do not exactly know what that means within the context of social reality online and offline. A good example research that goes beyond mere content analysis is Michael Wesch’s research on ‘user-generated organization’ (instead of only user-generated content) and ‘user-generated distribution’ for example in his Anthropological Introduction to Youtube. Wesch traces the spread of music by including re-posts and re-mixtures, visuals, stories and relationships by looking a computer meta-data and offline ethnography. This user-generated content is not about the actual content of the videos but the organization and distribution: user-generated connections.

This is important for research on social movements online as well. Social movements of whatever kind use the internet to convery their messages. In these messages a social movement identifies particular shared grievances, an outgroup against which claims for compensation are raised and particular actions to accomplish their goals for example by instilling a sense of purpose, effectiveness and identity among (potential) followers. They frame their ideas and proposed actions:
Talk To Action | Imagining Satan (Part Two)

Klandermans explains that the “social construction of collective action frames” involves “public discourse” where “media discourse and interpersonal interaction” interface with “persuasive communication during mobilization campaigns by movement organizations, their opponents and countermovement organizations;” and that the process of “consciousness raising” occurs “during episodes of collective action.”~33

Our analysis should not only focus on the content of these frames but we should also look into how such messages are distributed, re-interpreted and re-worked online and offline. Discussionplatforms, weblogs, Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and so on, they all provide means to forward messages (in the case of Twitter, re-tweet) messages to other people in ways that cannot be fully controlled by the people disseminating the original message. They can define the content (in this case the particular possibilities to connect) but users, within those parameters, can establish their identity, raise awareness among others, mock the messages and even gain fame. Key in this are reference groups or the question: who is the (intended) public. People at Twitter send tweets to their followers and for themselves (lets not forget the latter), on Facebook and MySpace we are sending to our friends and on Youtube to those who are friends and/or have subscribed to our channel.
Missing the social in on-line social life « meaningfulconnections

It is a community in the sense of displaying a set of institutions not reducible to individual motives or intentions but, instead, shaping those.

Twitter for example has been used make the recent protests in Iran available to a wider audience in unforeseen ways as well as in Canada. Also websites have been used to sparkle protest online sometimes turning a crowd of users into a lynch mob. A recent article in the Guardian gives an example from research to show how a crowd can turn into a lynch mob:
When the net’s wisdom of crowds turns into an online lynch mob | Technology | The Observer

The paradox of the “wisdom of online crowds” is that it only works in clubbable, relatively small groups of like-thinking minds. The reason why the richest and most productive audiences online are for the most arcane subjects – on the relationship between economics and law, for example, or how to care for cats – is because everyone involved feels part of an exclusive club dedicated to finding out more about the same thing.

However, it’s for exactly the same reason that many of these clubs can become breeding grounds for vicious tribalism. The brevity required for communication on Twitter does not lend itself to decorous etiquette, but neither is it the soul of wit to circulate snide, snarky tweets to an enthusiastic group of followers.

Too often the online audience separates into a series of rival gangs, each of them patting each other on the back and throwing stink-bombs at the other side. In this environment civility can disappear, with the result that those who do not take an extreme approach in offering their views decide that online forums are not for them.

When everyone is reinforcing everyone else’s opinion in an online echo-chamber, there’s little need to state a case or debate one’s opponent. It’s easier – like the schoolyard bully – just to abuse them. The other problem with online “communities” is that decisions about quality often become snagged in a highly conservative and self-reinforcing feedback loop in which everyone queues up to follow the leader.

In an intriguing experiment, three social network theorists at Columbia University used the web to invite more than 14,000 young people to rate songs by relatively unknown bands and download the ones they liked. The researchers began by dividing their subjects into two groups. The first group was asked to make their decisions independently of each other, while the second was allowed to see a rolling chart of how many times, in descending order, each song had been downloaded by others – telling them, in effect, which songs were the most popular among their peers.

When they came in, the results were as clear as day. Those who could see the download charts, the researchers discovered, tended to give higher ratings to the songs at the top of the chart and were more likely to download those songs. People tended to like songs more, in other words, if other people liked them. The result was to make the choices of those in the second group highly unpredictable, with a great deal depending on who rolled up to make their choices first. Identical songs were judged to be hits or flops depending on whether other people had been seen to download them earlier.

In their haste to rustle up an audience, mainstream institutions have not quite grasped the implications of all this, which is why they keep trying to flatter the vast, anonymous masses by inviting them in. The results can be ruinous.

This to a certain extent this could also explain why particular inciting messages online can be so dangerous. Maybe not always intended by those sending the message initially, it particular frame can encourage particlar interpretations and obscure alternatives in particular when frame-alignment occurs: when frames held by individuals are congruent with and complentary to those of the movement. Sometimes politicians, movements and infotainment websites use such knowledge to disturb other people’s website and online actions. Not by saying: go their and wreck it, but by merely quoting out of context making it in line with a particular frame and provide a link of someone’s profile or weblog. They know nasty comments (to say the least) will be made but they will not explicitly call for it. The original message then functions more or less the same way as the chart with songs in the example above. Other websites will take up the same message and re-interpret them but with the same links and thereby contributing to the online attacks. In order to understand the major impact of this, merely looking at content is not enough, the content must be related to larger frames ‘out there’ and user-generated connections; together they can explain user-generated mobilization.

0 comments.

Closing the week 8 – Featuring the Dutch (local) elections

Posted on February 28th, 2010 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

NEW on Closer!

Most popular on Closer this week:

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE
If you want to stay updated about the ISIM Review pages I suggest you do subscribe

You can follow me on Twitter: Martijn5155

Featuring the Dutch (municipal) elections
Pickled Politics » The mythical Muslim vote

Yet his thinking is representative of a wider issue, which is the continued failure to treat Muslims as individuals. The BNP do it, the media does it and too many public figures do it as well. As Sunny has pointed out a number of times, there is nothing wrong with multiple identities, nor the idea that someone’s identities will probably influence they way they vote. Yet the moment we start talking about things like the ‘Muslim vote’, we are putting people into a box and expecting them to behave in a certain way because of their label. We do not talk of chasing the ‘white vote’, as we see white people as individuals, albeit with multiple identities that might inform their politics..

DutchNews.nl – Wilders goes for headscarf ban in the Hague

A ban on headscarves for city council workers and in all institutions and clubs which get local authority money will be the most important point in the PVV´s negotiations to join governing coalitions in Almere and the Hague, says party leader Geert Wilders.

Dutch parties tussle over approach to far right | Reuters

A Dutch Labour politician’s call to keep far-right leader Geert Wilders out of a new government has stirred anger among other parties who consider the move undemocratic and likely to drive voters towards him.

When social media websites don’t work in politics | Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Social media are becoming more and more important in election campaigns, although only a very small percentage of the electorate actually reads, watches or hears what their political frontmen and frontwomen have to say on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or their blogs.

With only a few days to go before Wednesday’s local elections in the Netherlands, Dutch politicians are putting in their final efforts to win the support of their prospective voters. In the old days, local candidates simply handed out flyers while canvassing in the streets of their municipality, but these days, modern social media have taken the place of the oldfashioned flyer or placard.

The Dutch government falls: Wild things | The Economist

The local elections on March 3rd will give a first hint of the parties’ strengths. Mr Wilders’s party is running only in two municipalities, partly because of a lack of experienced candidates. But that may not stop it doing well in June.

Controversy over bilingual election campaign | Radio Netherlands Worldwide

While the tax department is allowed to send information in Turkish, politicians may only use Dutch.

Can you distribute brochures in Turkish asking voters to elect a candidate of Turkish descent to the town council? Integration Minister Eberhard van der Laan says it is not permissible because it goes against the principle that immigrants should become part of Dutch society. Some ethnic candidates disagree, saying their message will not reach many citizens.

Turkish and Chinese-language election campaign literature for the municipal elections on 3 March has sparked controversy in the Netherlands.

Dutch news – Local Elections Scarcely a Prelude to General Elections

The cabinet’s fall comes shortly before the local elections, which as already scheduled are to be held on 3 March. The municipal elections can however scarcely be seen as a poll for the Lower House elections.

DutchNews.nl – Local Elections 2010

Elections will take place in most of the country’s 431 local government areas on March 3, 2010.

In this section you will find an explanation of the voting system, useful links and the main news relating to the local campaigns..

People power at Dutch local election meeting < | Expatica The Netherlands

A local election meeting in the Netherlands’ fourth city of Utrecht has made seven parties commit themselves to a ban on road construction.

nrc.nl – International – Bitter election campaign looms

The municipal elections of March 3 will be a first demonstration of the new balance of power. Blows dealt then may be fatal, since there will be very little time to recuperate. All parties are looking to get into a winning mode as soon as possible. For those who lose next month, there won’t be much time to recover.

Elections Special: Rijswijk Expat City – News – The Hague Online

“Patrick Créchet is the french candidate for Rijswijk”. Wrong! I want to be the representative of all the people living in Rijswijk, the Dutch people as well as the Expats. Having been living nearly 20 years in The Netherlands, I know that this country enjoys contact with the outside world. Furthermore, the Dutch people want us here; we bring welfare. That is part of the Dutch Policy. By voting, we do our duty and show that we are here. That is, participating in “living together” with the respect which we must have to our host country. Voting on 3 March could be a small step for integration, but is above all a big step to feeling more comfortable.

TRT – Turkish banners debate in Dutch elections

Ahead of the March 3rd elections in the Netherlands the country is discussing propaganda in minority languages

nrc.nl – International – In spite of numbers, Dutch Muslims are political non-entity

Several Muslim parties will participate in Dutch municipal elections on March 3. But in spite of a sizable Muslim electorate, they have so far been unable to garner many votes.

Reuters AlertNet – ANALYSIS-Dutch looking away from Europe, world

Local elections on March 3 will offer an early glimpse into how the break between Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende’s centre-right Christian Democrats and his deputy Wouter Bos’s Labour Party will play out with voters.

nrc.nl – International – Minorities quick to abandon ballot box

Only one out of every three minority voters intend to vote in the upcoming Dutch municipal elections, while 44 percent did so 2006.

The secular contract
“Religious freedom” and its critics « The Immanent Frame

Three aspects of the approach sketched by Obama in Cairo are new, or at least newly placed front-and-center in American foreign policy. First is the administration’s willingness to see Islam (and, by extension, all transnational, globalizing religions) as a no-longer-ignorable “player of impact,” for both good and ill, in setting national and international agendas, ranging from the provision of health care to economic development and environmental sustainability to women’s rights, conflict resolution, and democratization. Second is the “for good” part of that formula. Even before 9/11, the agency of religious actors abroad has been perceived and framed primarily in terms of counterterrorism policy: how do we defeat Al-Qaeda and the Taliban? But this is just one part of the security and prosperity puzzle. The enormous constructive—or potentially constructive—roles of religious actors beyond our shores, while never formally denied by past administrations, have rarely been viewed as an asset to be developed. Oddly, for a religious nation such as ours, believers elsewhere have been seen as adversaries or obstacles, and not as partners.

Are There Secular Reasons? – Opinionator Blog – NYTimes.com

if one argues, as the professor of law Steven Smith does in his new book, “The Disenchantment of Secular Discourse,” that there are no secular reasons, at least not reasons of the kind that could justify a decision to take one course of action rather than another.

http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/article911102.ece

Politiken has reached a settlement with the descendants of the Prophet Mohammed, apologising for the offence the Mohammed cartoons have caused. Political condemnation.

An Interview with Emma Tarlo, Author of Visibly Muslim » Muslimah Media Watch

An Interview with Emma Tarlo, Author of Visibly Muslim
February 24th, 2010
Sara

Last week, I reviewed Emma Tarlo’s book Visibly Muslim: Fashion, Politics, Faith. This week, I got the chance to speak with her further about the book and her experiences writing it.

Ilham Moussaid: “It is with Sadness I watch my life reduced to my headscarf” | loonwatch.com

Ilham Moussaid is an NPA candidate in forthcoming elections in France. The fact that she wears a headscarf has politicians from every corner in an uproar. French sensitivity to the scarf is bordering on fanaticism.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Islam a political target in Norway

With less than six months to go until Norway’s general election, increasing tensions over immigration and Islam appear likely to play a significant role in the vote.

This tide of anti-Muslim hatred is a threat to us all | Seumas Milne | Comment is free | The Guardian

The attempt to drive Islamists and young Asian activists out of the political mainstream is a dangerous folly

FT.com / Europe – Intolerant kingmaker defies Dutch clichés

It goes against all the clichés of the Dutch as a liberal, easy-going nation that the man likely to emerge as the kingmaker in the next general election has such extreme views on immigration and Islam.

Radicalization
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2010/0227/1224265260630.html

For The Irish Times , this story began with a note in a book, about an Irishman who had died fighting in 1980s Afghanistan. Foreign Correspondent MARY FITZGERALD traced his origins to a terraced house in Clonmel, where a father still grieves for John Burke, Tipperary man and Ireland’s only known jihadi ‘martyr’

Qaddafi calls for jihad against Switzerland: Is it funny? / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com

Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi called for jihad against Switzerland, the latest in a tit-for-tat dispute dating back to the 2008 arrest of one of Qaddafi’s sons. Some find humor in the latest from the dictator.

IRR: Spooked: how not to prevent violent extremism

A report published today by the Institute of Race Relations finds that the government’s Prevent programme for tackling extremism fosters division, mistrust and alienation.

Entitled Spooked: how not to prevent violent extremism, the report suggests that the Prevent programme has been used to establish one of the most elaborate systems of surveillance ever seen in Britain.

International Crisis Group – Peter Harling- The Middle Easts Dangerous Equilibr

President Obama’s first year of “engagement” has yielded little more than simmering crises and a frustrating diplomatic stalemate. But for all its pitfalls, the United States cannot quit the Arab world.

Anthropology
American Anthropologist, vol 112, no. 1 (p. 140-142) Public Anthropology – Blogging Anthropology: Savage Minds, Zero Anthropology and AAA Blogs

In this review essay, the academic merits of three anthropological blogs (“Savage Minds,” “Zero Anthropology” [formerly “Open Anthropology”], and the official blog of the American Anthropological Association) are considered. The review examines differences between group-blog projects (such “Savage Minds”), single-voiced blogs (such as “Zero Anthropology”), and official blogs representing central anthropological institutions (the AAA’s blog) and identifies roles and strengths of each of these blog forms.

The New Yorker Features Anthropology of Drinking Habits « American Anthropological Association

The February 15 edition of The New Yorker includes the Annals of Anthropology article “Drinking Games” (p 70-76), by Malcolm Gladwell, highlighting the alcoholism studies work of AAA member Dwight B. Heath. The article includes comments from anthropologists Craig MacAndrew and Robert B. Edgerton as well.

Misc.
Islam in Bosnia: an interview with Armina Omerika | TwoCircles.net

Islam has been practiced in Bosnia for centuries. Freelance writer Claudia Mende asks Armina Omerika, an expert in Islamic studies at the University of Erfurt in Germany, whether the Bosnian Islamic tradition could serve as a model for the integration of Muslims in other European societies.

The Muslim News – Book Review: Information on Muslims in Europe

Book Review: Information on Muslims in Europe

By Abdul Adil

Yearbook of Muslims in Europe, Vol 1. Edited by Jørgen S Nielsen, Samim Akgönül, Ahmet Alibaši?, Brigitte Maréchal, Christian Moe. Leiden, Brill, pp562, 2009, HB, $584.

The Yearbook of Muslims in Europe is an account of the Muslims in 37 European countries.

The new Muslim anti-Semitism

Why Jewish-Muslim relations were better in the Middle Ages.

Cautious reactions over women lawyers in courts – Arab News

There are mixed opinions after the minister of justice indicated Saudi women lawyers could be allowed in courts for the first time.

German Ad Takes Aim At FGM, Misses Mark – FGM – Jezebel

It is important to raise awareness about FGM – the U.N. recently called for renewed efforts to fight against the deplorable practice – but we would like to think it possible to do so without sending the message that white, blonde, and naked equals “perfection.”

Fatwa seeking death for gender mixing shocks society – Arab News

A Saudi cleric has shocked the international and Saudi communities after he issued a fatwa last Tuesday calling for those who promote co-educational environments to be put to death.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/58b05334-2262-11df-a93d-00144feab49a.html

In The Future of Islam, John Esposito has written the handbook for this new age of engagement. Intolerant of the extremists bent on provoking a clash of civilisations – western Islamophobes and violent Islamists alike – Esposito’s book is a calculated appeal to the moderate middle ground upon whom the success of Obama’s policies depends.

Dutch
Wereldjournalisten Contemporaire Indonesische Islam: Socio-Culturele en Politieke Dynamieken

Professor Dr. Azyumardi Azra uit Jakarta geeft een lezing in Leiden over “Contemporaire Indonesische Islam: Socio-Culturele en Politieke Dynamieken”. De lezing is in het Engels.

‘De vijand zit in Nederland’ – interview • Binnenlands Bestuur

Speciale wetgeving moet intimidatie door Marokkaanse jongeren stoppen, vindt burgemeester Albert van den Bosch van Zaltbommel. Hij wordt zelf bedreigd. ‘De mensen zijn het zat. Maak je dáár als overheid eens druk over!’

Kroonprins verdiept zich in islam – Trouw

Kroonprins Willem-Alexander heeft jaren hard gewerkt aan zijn imago. Niet zonder succes, aldus een gisteren verschenen biografie.

Allochtonenweblog: Klachtenbrief over het uittrekken van schoenen in moskee

Publiciste Bernadette de Wit was een van de velen die het verkiezingsdebat in de Badr moskee bezocht. Het debat werd georganiseerd door de Raad van Marokkaanse Moskeeen Noord-Holland en de jongerencommissie van de Badr moskee. De Wit werd bij binnenkomst verzocht haar schoenen uit te doen. Dat weigerde ze. Ze nam vanuit de hal deel aan het debat en schreef na afloop een klachtenbrief.

CDA wil strafdienstplicht voor allochtone crimineel – Binnenland – de Volkskrant

Het CDA wil dat allochtone jongeren die strafbare feiten begaan, bijvoorbeeld vrouwen uitmaken voor hoer en ze openlijk bedreigen, harder worden aangepakt.

Islam voor Nederland: Alweer moskee in Marokko ingestort. Eén dode

Eén persoon is vandaag om het leven gekomen toen een koepel van een moskee in de Noord-Marokkaanse stad Zayo gedeeltelijk ingestort. Drie anderen raakten gewond aldus het officiële persbureau MAP. Vorige week kwamen 41 mensen om in Meknes toen een minaret was ingestort.

Wereldjournalisten De Islam voor tieners

Een stortvloed mooie Arabische woorden van acteur Peter Faber overspoelt de tieners voor wie het toneelstuk De Boodschapper is bedoeld.
beeld/2010/02/KaderAbdolah.jpg – Kader Abdolah

De voorstelling is gebaseerd op het boek met dezelfde naam van Kader Abdolah. Het is een kennismaking met de geschiedenis van de Islam.

waar werd oprechter trouw, dan tussen man en vrouw: Mijmeringen bij het Hoofddoekjesverbod

De staat moet zich zo min mogelijk bemoeien met de kleding en het geloof van de bewoners. In die zin is de oproep tegen het dragen van hoofddoekjes die Geert Wilders deze week deed niet liberaal. Of het juridisch onmogelijk is, zoals de NRC schrijft, is niet van belang. De vraag of je het hoofddoekenverbod moet willen invoeren, is belangrijk.

Joost Niemöller » Hoofddoekjesverbod: de fout van Wilders

Geert Wilders kondigde in Almere en Den Haag aan dat een hoofddoekjesverbod voor ambtenaren zijn belangrijkste verkiezingsitem is. Keppeltjes en kruisjes mogen wel. Hiermee neemt hij afstand van het principe van de scheiding tussen kerk en staat. En stelt hij zich buiten het bestuur. Jammer.

Bruggenbouwers » Te verschijnen in april: ‘Fethullah Gülen & De Vrijwilligersbeweging’

Deze bundel behandelt de transnationale Gülenbeweging, oftewel Vrijwilligersbeweging, zoals de Turkse islamgeleerde en inspiratiebron Fethullah Gülen deze zelf betitelt. De beweging staat wereldwijd in de belangstelling, en Gülen wordt vaak genoemd als vooraanstaande intellectueel. Bovendien zijn er in de laatste jaren tal van academische congressen aan zijn ideeën gewijd. Tegelijkertijd wordt de beweging echter in Turkije en daarbuiten ook met argusogen gevolgd. In dit boek belichten diverse deskundigen een aantal dimensies van de beweging, met name op het gebied van dialoog en educatie. Het bevat een reeks analyses van Gülens gedachtegoed en de praktijk van de beweging, in de context van sociale cohesie wereldwijd en in Nederland in het bijzonder. Ook wordt aandacht besteed aan Gülens visie op maatschappelijke en religieuze thema’s in het licht van de moderne tijd. Deze bundel behandelt een hoogst actueel onderwerp, waarover in Nederland en België nog maar weinig bekend is.

‘Predikanten zijn te laf om te waarschuwen voor de islam’

Voor christenen is de PVV van Geert Wilders de beste partij om op te stemmen. Dat zei Peter Frans Koops, lijsttrekker van de Spakenburgse Vrijheidspartij in Dit is de Dag op Radio 1. Hij ging in debat met predikant Hans Wachtmeester die juist van mening is dat christenen niet op de PVV horen te stemmen.

Mawlid 2010 – Wij Blijven Hier!: Het schrijversplatform van moslims

Daarnaast het jaarlijkse Mawlid Festival wat dit jaar zal plaatsvinden in Den Haag op zondag 14 maart. Er zullen sprekers uit Egypte, Amerika, Engeland en Nederland komen spreken over dit onderwerp. Er zullen optredens zijn van Spoken Word artiesten uit Engeland en locale nasheedgroepen met Turkse, Pakistaanse en Indonesische roots. Verder een Kinder Mawlid voor kleintjes van 4 tot 10, een Mawlid markt met versnaperingen en verschillende koopjes (o.a. kleding en boeken) en een Mawlid Talentenjacht.

0 comments.

Closing the week 7 – Featuring Afghanistan

Posted on February 21st, 2010 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

Most popular on Closer this week:

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE

You can follow me on Twitter: Martijn5155

Featuring Afghanistan
Science Centric | News | Researchers collect data to aid Afghanistan reconstruction

Policymakers, potential private investors, and the public received valuable new information today to help identify fault lines and the potential location of undiscovered water, oil and gas, and non-fuel mineral resources in Afghanistan.

Data were collected by U.S. Geological Survey scientists, who flew over Afghanistan and conducted an airborne geophysical and photographic survey of the country. Today, survey data were unveiled at The Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, D.C.

Social Scientists Under Fire | Smart Journalism. Real Solutions. | Miller-McCune Online Magazine

Mahard’s mission to Baraki Rajan sure didn’t look like war — at least not like Hollywood depicts it. No one ran. No one shouted. Nothing exploded. No helicopters swooped majestically overhead. The mission boiled down to a long walk through a quiet village, a few conversations with local residents, a lot of jotted notes and figures and some photos.

When Scholars Join the Slaughter in Iraq and Afghanistan

Anthropology, in particular, has been referred to throughout history as the “handmaiden of colonialism,” thus putting anthropologists, at least those with a moral conscience, on guard against anything that smells like exploitation or oppression of their subjects. Roberto Gonzalez, an associate professor of anthropology at San Jose State University and a leading member of the Network of Concerned Anthropologists, told Time magazine that the militarization of anthropology will cause the field to become “just another weapon … not a tool for building bridges between peoples.” Anthropology has core professional ethics standards that require voluntary, informed consent from subjects, and that anthropologists do no harm. How likely do you think these will be adhered to by the flack-jacket-wearing, gun-toting, embedded anthropologists working directly with regimental combat units in Iraq and Afghanistan?”

Analysis: Taliban reconciliation is easier conceived than achieved | Stars and Stripes

Although Thursday’s conference on Afghanistan laid out a plan to bring up to 35,000 rank-and-file Taliban over to the side of the Afghan government, it remains to be seen how easily Kabul and NATO forces will be able to sway these fighters.

Homegrown insurgents who base their allegiance to the Taliban on Islamist ideology will be harder to persuade than the local man who is just trying to earn a living, analysts say.

Film probes the use of academics in war

In the midst of war, is it possible to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi and Afghan people?

An award-winning documentary by research professor/author James Der Derian examines a controversial U.S. military strategy that embeds academics and social scientists in war zones to gain cultural awareness, then uses the knowledge for counterinsurgency.

Oversimplifying Central Asia — Registan.net

I’ve written before on the absence of a coherent narrative from the United States’ perspective on Central Asia, and I’ve talked about the importance of using words with meaning when we’re doing analysis (others have agreed with me, here). But I haven’t talked as much about the local understanding of a narrative.

Dutch Soldiers Stress Restraint in Afghanistan – New York Times

But rather than advancing for reconnaissance or to attack, the Dutch soldiers pulled back to a safer village. “We’re not here to fight the Taliban,” said the Dutch commander, Col. Hans van Griensven, at a recent staff meeting. “We’re here to make the Taliban irrelevant.”

War Is Boring: Dutch Prepare for Afghan Deployment

The next Dutch battlegroup will deploy to southern Afghanistan in March 2010. Task Force Uruzgan 17 is composed of an army airborne company, a company of Dutch marines, a recon platoon, an engineer company and logistics staff.

Dutch Government Collapses Over Afghan Mission : NPR

The Dutch coalition government collapsed Saturday over whether to extend the country’s military mission in Afghanistan, leaving the future of its 1,600 soldiers fighting there uncertain. An early election is now expected.

International Crisis Group – Security in Afghanistan

The political system itself is also in need of serious reform. It is now highly centralised and largely based on patronage, bringing personalities rather than policies to the fore. President Karzai wields enormous powers as head of state and has encouraged an ever-growing culture of impunity. The role of political parties has become increasingly marginalised. There now needs to be a focus on how the political system can be made more functional and representative. Broad agreement is needed on a balance of power among the branches of the state, among which the relationship is now very poor, as well as on identifying which body is the ultimate constitutional arbiter, and on ensuring a more appropriate role for political parties.

Anthropology
Reuters AlertNet – Kuwait: Critical Opinions Unwelcome

On February 11, 2010, Kuwaiti security officials canceled the visa of Madawi al-Rasheed, of Saudi origin and a professor of cultural anthropology at King’s College London, one week before she was scheduled to speak at a regional economic forum and lecture at the Women’s Institute of Development and Training.
In January, the government barred Muhammad al-â€˜Uraifi, a prominent Saudi cleric, from entering the country, despite frequent prior visits on which he publicly lectured and held sermons. In December, Interior Ministry officials turned away the Egyptian scholar, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, when he arrived at Kuwait International Airport, even though he held a valid visa.Â Abu Zayd, a scholar of the Quran who holds the Ibn Rushd Chair of Humanism and Islam at the Utrecht University for Humanistics in the Netherlands, had been invited to lecture on Islam and democracy by the Kuwaiti Women’s Cultural Society.

Religion science: if you pay the piper, do you call the tune?

A hot debate has been taking place these last few days, in the comments section of Harvey Whitehouse’s recent post on religion. Part of the dispute has to do with the way cognitive scientists working on that topic might be influenced by the money they get, particularly from a Christian foundation that hopes to promote a more favorable view of religion by funding research in that area, albeit in a nonintrusive way. What, everyone wonders, does funding of this kind do to the work it finances? Is Christian-funded research biased? Is it more likely to present religious people with a rosy mirror?

News: Sociologists Get Religion – Inside Higher Ed

When Darren Sherkat published a paper in a major sociology journal in the 1990s, focused on Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, he said that the reaction from many senior scholars was “dismissive.” He remembers one telling him “this is garbage” for citing Weber’s views on the significance of religious values. “It can’t be religion” driving human behavior, the scholar told the then un-tenured Sherkat. “It’s got to be something else that caused the religion.”

Op-Ed Contributor – Disorder Out of Chaos – NYTimes.com

But a culturally meaningful distinction isn’t always a scientifically valid one. Almost everyone with Asperger’s also fits the profile of the more classic autistic disorder. Indeed, in the current diagnostic manual, a child who has good language acquisition and intelligence qualifies as autistic if, in addition to having restricted interests and problems with social interactions, he has just one of the following symptoms, which are common among children with Asperger’s: difficulty conversing, an inability to engage in make-believe play or repetitive or unusual use of language. Even the best available diagnostic instruments cannot clearly distinguish between Asperger’s and autistic disorder.

Beverly M. Weber, “Rethinking Islam and Masculinity in Germany”

Katherine Pratt Ewing’s Stolen Honor provides an interesting and original approach to analyses of discourses of Islam in Europe by focusing on constructions of Muslim masculinity in Germany. Pratt Ewing premises her book on the idea that so much attention has been paid to Muslim woman as victim that the stigmatization of Muslim masculinity goes unnoticed. The need for an analysis of the constructions of Muslim masculinity, Pratt Ewing argues, derives in part from the impacts of the stigmatization of Muslim men. Because the Muslim man is constructed against the modern “self” of the German national subject, the potential for a sense of full belonging, and thus for full cultural citizenship, is limited.

Challenging “West versus Islam” media paradigms | TwoCircles.net

At an international conference on “Islam and the Media” organised by the Center for Media, Religion and Culture at the University of Colorado-Boulder in January, many of the participants, including myself, examined the negative stigma attached by the media to Islam and Muslims, especially after 9/11 and various terrorist attempts made in the name of Islam by extremists and militants operating on the fringes of the larger mainstream Muslim community.

Anthropology vs Me

What does one do when he finds himself at odds with the foundations of his topic of study? I find myself in such a position as I wade my way through introductory anthropology courses and prepare to declare it as my major. As much as I have enjoyed the opportunities to explore Major Debates in the Study of Africa or Chinese Society over the past semesters, my resistance to the required courses for the major has resulted in a sudden collision with the most basic theories of the anthropological method of thinking. To my dismay, I find myself shaking my head in disagreement as my venerable professors outline, from square one, how a true anthropologist goes about viewing the world.

New Statesman – Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam and the West

Europe: Immigration, Islam and the West

By Christopher Caldwell

Reviewed by Ziauddin Sardar – 11 February 2010

Predictions of a Muslim takeover of Europe reproduce the worst sorts of orientalist prejudice.

anthropologyworks » Call for participants in a panel on public anthropology for a world in crisis

This panel explores how a contemporary public anthropology might be imagined, is emerging, and is capable of making interventions outside academic contexts. We are interested in theoretically and methodologically informed case studies, position papers, critical and historical considerations.

Gender-based violence
Honor Killing by Any Other Name

evidence suggests honor killings are still relatively common in the West as well, not only among Muslim immigrants, although such crimes may take a different name.

A Practical Approach to Talking About Honor Killing – Deepak Chopra & Intent

Recently, a story appeared in Huffington Post about a 16 year old Turkish girl who was buried alive by her father and grandfather for having talked to boys. The West rightly finds this a horrific practice. However, many in the West also misunderstand and conveniently condemn honor killing as a practice of Islam. The mistake with this condemnation is that Islam does not permit or condone honor killing. However, it is precisely this misunderstanding and ignorance that allows many in the West to participate in a climate of hate, mistrust and even the idea of war against all of Islam.

Remembering Aasiya Zubair | Wajahat Ali | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Remembering Aasiya Zubair

A year on from the tragic death of Aasiya Zubair, American Muslims have mobilised to confront domestic violence

Muslim women inside out
Mideast Youth – Thinking Ahead » Once upon a burka – Part 1

Once upon a burka – Part 1
February 16th, 2010Marian (Somalia)

It’s oppressive. It’s degrading. It’s this, it’s that. Jack Straw claimed this, Nicholas Sarkozy mentioned that. Let us liberate them in Afghanistan, let us liberate them in France. Yawn. I am getting fed up of these burka stories. They seem to be never ending and at times very cringe worthy. ’Burka woman sacked from her job!’ ’Lets liberate the burka women!’ ’Lady in burka aids Al Qaeda!’ ‘Burka lady almost kidnaps Obama!’ Now, I know you are probably raising your eyebrow, I wouldn’t blame you actually. Before you jump to conclusion about what I am going to express, give this veiled woman the voice that many claim I do not have and kindly listen to me.

A Niqabi Living in the Bastion of Secularism! – IslamOnline.net – European Muslims

In the center of one of the Muslim communities located at the French commune Aulnay-sous-Bois in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, we met Najat (37 years old), who refused to come out except with her twin sister Asmaa’ who is not wearing niqab. There is a great similarity between the two sisters to the extent that you may think they are the same person, only in different dresses.

New Statesman – Doing it for ourselves

Muslim women are talked about by others in the west as if they are powerless victims, in need of rescue. Give us a break.

Misc.
Yes to female circumcision?

Is it a good idea to fight against female circumcision? Not neccesarily according to Sierra Leonean-American anthropologist Fuambai Ahmadu.

Life after female genital mutilation | Society | The Guardian

Life after female genital mutilation
Consultant gynaecologist Geetha Subramanian is one of only a handful of medical professionals in the UK to carry out FGM reversals

Westernization vs Arabization | The Jakarta Post Mobile

Globalization is often perceived as Westernization, a growing influence of Western values in opposition or in competition with local values and identity. But in a country like Indonesia, globalization can also mean Arabization, a process of adopting Arab culture and traditions.

Berlin’s Museum of Islamic Art reaches out to new audiences | Culture & Lifestyle | Deutsche Welle | 01.02.2010

Berlin’s Museum of Islamic Art will have tripled in size and will house one of the largest collections of its kind in the Western hemisphere. But showing off its wares is not all the museum aspires to.

After burqa, halal menu target of French ire – Europe – World – The Times of India

A French fast food chain’s decision to serve only halal meat in eight restaurants with a strong Muslim clientele has sparked a wave of criticism from politicians decrying the step as unacceptable.

Bosnian film ponders strict Islam’s place in West | Reuters

A powerful Bosnian drama examines how people living in a Westernized, multi-cultural society and those observing a strict interpretation of Islam can co-exist, if at all.

The wannabe British jihadist who said no to Al-Qaeda – Times Online

It took months to get to the man I must call “Kasim”. I’d heard about a wannabe British jihadist who had been injured in a US drone attack in Waziristan, Pakistan, but he was not easy to find, and, once found, he was clearly uneasy. With good reason. There are probably many people far scarier than me who would like to meet him.

Midad al-Suyuf and al-Maqdisi: Sworn Enemies? — jihadica

Strangely enough, as late as 2008 al-Maqdisi’s writings were sometimes posted on the Midad al-Suyuf forum without any commentary or accompanied by praise, occasionally even by people like al-Mihdar, who would later criticise him severely. This change of tone from neutrality or even support for al-Maqdisi to downright hostility cannot be explained by simply pointing to al-Maqdisi’s criticism of al-Zarqawi; after all, this was expressed in 2004 and 2005, implying that if this was the reason, the change in attitude towards al-Maqdisi would have taken place earlier. This raises the question: what caused this change?

Dutch
De waarheid van Geert Wilders – Trouw

Messcherp analyseert Paul Frissen het populisme van PVV-leider Geert Wilders. Het is anti-politiek en anti-democratisch en heeft geen ruimte voor debat.

Column Paul de Krom | vvdnext.nl

De vraag die mij al een tijdje bezig houdt is waarom een relatief kleine groep van jihadistische extremisten zo’n grote impact heeft op onze samenleving.

Wereldjournalisten 515 terroristische aanslagen in EU: 1 door moslims

In 2008 meldden 7 EU-landen 515 pogingen tot terroristische aanslagen. Slechts 1 daarvan was afkomstig van moslimzijde. Zo blijkt uit het trendrapport van Europol: the European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (TE-SAT) 2009.

What Would the Prophet Do?

Het is niet makkelijk om de islam van de profeet en zijn metgezellen te volgen. Wat zou Mohammed in deze tijd doen? Internetsites bieden uitkomst.

Bruggenbouwers » Geven moslims geen tegengas? Echt wel!

Het wordt zo vaak en zo gemakkelijk gezegd: Moslims participeren niet in dialoog, ze laten christenen de kastanjes uit het vuur halen. Ook laten ze zonder enig commentaar zelfmoordenaars of de Taliban hun ding doen zonder geweld te veroordelen, ze laten de eerwraak gebeuren en nemen vrouwenbesnijdenis voor lief en ga zo maar door.

Het verhaal van de enige Westerse zelfmoordterroriste – Mensen – kanaal – Knack.be

In zijn nieuwe boek Vrede zij met u, zuster vertelt Knack-journalist Chris de Stoop het verhaal van Muriel Degauque, de enige Westerse vrouw die ooit een zelfmoordaanslag pleegde.

‘Racistisch geweld is structureel fenomeen’ – Trouw

Racistisch geweld, vernielingen en bedreigingen komen in Nederland al tientallen jaren stelselmatig voor. Dit terwijl Nederlanders juist vaak denken dat het niet om een structureel fenomeen gaat. De overheid ontkent zelfs regelmatig dat dergelijke misdrijven een racistisch karakter hebben.

0 comments.

Mobiliseren en ridiculiseren van onbehagen – Over kutmarokkanen, haatbaarden en tokkies

Posted on February 7th, 2010 by martijn.
Categories: Blind Horses, Blogosphere, Multiculti Issues, Some personal considerations.

Het is een geliefde bezigheid, het ridiculiseren van aanhangers van islam en van Geert Wilders. Termen als haatbaarden (gereserveerd voor alles wat op radicale moslims lijkt en met Rage Boy als een bijna archetypische verbeelding ervan) en tokkies (meest recent gereserveerd voor aanhangers van Geert Wilders die in beeld kwamen tijdens de eerste dag van het proces tegen hem. Het filmpje was gemaakt door Rutger van Geenstijl onder meer met als doel eens het bloed onder de nagels te halen van het gebruikelijke Geenstijl publiek. Hoe iemand er vervolgens bij komt bij komt om een reportage van Geenstijl ook maar enige journalistieke waarde toe te kennen (net als bij het geknipte en geplakte filmpje over Vogelaar) mag Joost weten, maar feit is wel dat het her en der is opgepikt onder het mom dit zijn nou de typische PVV-stemmers: achterlijke mensen, domme mensen, tokkies, enzovoorts enzovoorts. En inderdaad de mensen in de reportage waren bepaald niet welbespraakt of in ieder geval niet al te fijnzinnig. Wat ze in ieder geval lijken te overtreden is de norm voor gedragingen in het publiek, zoals ook bij sommige moslims gebeurt of kandidaten voor TON. Media-training, zo heb ik gemerkt, behelst ook onder meer dat: het bijschaven (of beschaven)van de communicatie van individuen zodat hij of zij goed overkomt in kranten, tijdschriften en op radio en tv. Goed volgens de normen van ‘ons soort mensen’; meestal blanke, gemiddeld tot hoger opgeleide mannen. Goed de mensen die in beeld kwamen, hadden duidelijk geen media training achter de rug. Degenen die dat wel hadden of echt niet nodig hebben kwamen of niet aan bod voor een interview of zijn er waarschijnlijk uitgeknipt.

Het is makkelijk deze mensen te ridiculiseren (en blijkens de HP/De Tijd undercover reportage over de PVV doen de PVV-ers daar zelf ook flink aan mee) net zoals het ‘haatbaardje’ die zijn ongezouten mening over joden, zionisten en israeliërs (allemaal één pot nat) voor de camera spuwt (maar niet mee doet aan de protestactie). Zowel dit haatbaardje als de tokkies van de PVV zijn uit de hand gelopen vormen van straatinterviews; iets dat een grote vlucht heeft genomen volgens sinds Pim Fortuyn toen ‘we’ erachter kwamen dat het plebs ook serieus genomen moet worden. En het levert natuurlijk vermakelijke filmpjes op, met een duidelijke morele boodschap van de makers: zo moet het dus niet en wij zijn beter dan zij. Het zijn geen filmpjes die een realistisch en representatief beeld moeten geven, maar het zijn filmpjes gericht op effectbejag. Eén van de effecten is dat het tokkie-gehalte van de aanhangers op de één of andere manier Wilders’ PVV aangerekend wordt. Alsof het afbreuk doet aan zijn politieke propaganda. Het filmpje wordt ingezet om een maximaal disassociatie effect te bereiken: met dat publiek wil toch immers geen weldenkend mens ge-associeerd worden (in ieder geval niet openlijk). Eerder willen we net als Peter R. de Vries in het publiek een PVV aanhanger voor schut zetten vanwege zijn, volgens De Vries, domme voorkeur. In feite komt het neer op het buitenspel zetten en niet serieus nemen van een groep mensen omdat ze niet aan onze voorkeur voldoen. Uitsluiting dus, vaak het begin van een heleboel ellende. En niet geheel onwaarschijnlijk gaat hier een behoorlijke hypocrisie achter schuil. Zoals politici zoals Wilders zich vaak opwerpen als verdediger van progressieve waarden, gebruikt men deze om moslims uit te sluiten waar linkse politici dan weer erg veel moeite mee hebben. In het geval van de Tokkies verdedigt men eveneens de tolerantie en het fatsoen tegen deze verwilderde mensen terwijl men in veel gevallen twee fundamentele uitgangspunten deelt: 1. de islam is een godsdienst van buiten (en dus niet van ‘ons’) en 2. de islam is een probleem. Het verschil tussen de ‘fatsoenlijken’ en de ‘tokkies’ is dus niet zo groot als uit de commentaren zou blijken.

We kunnen ze dus maar beter wel serieus nemen, die kutmarokkanen, haatbaarden en ja ook de tokkies. Dat men niet al te intellectueel is, niet al te fijnbespraakt en wellicht ook wat wereldvreemd, neemt nog niet weg dat men ook daadwerkelijk wat te melden heeft. Maar eerlijk is eerlijk, dat plaatst ons dan wel weer voor een lastig punt. In zijn recente boek Hoezo mislukt? – De nuchtere feiten over de integratie in Nederland stelt Frans Verhagen een vraag die mij ook al enige tijd bezighoudt:

‘Als heel Volendam wegens een hekel aan allochtonen op de PVV stemt, terwijl er in het dorp geen allochtoon woont, dan moet het probleem serieus genomen worden. Maar waarom gaat het precies? Dat de Volendammers kennelijk van alles weten over een groep die ze niet kennen?’

In de Volkskrant noemt Anet Bleich dit commentaar in haar lovende bespreking van dit boek ‘van een bevrijdende satire’, maar is dat daadwerkelijk zo bevrijdend? Een ander, eigen, voorbeeld. Als ik een lezing geef in een zaal met nogal wat PVV-stemmers over Fitna, waarin ik de film beeld voor beeld ontleed en per beeld laat zien dat Wilders in deze film liegt, verdraait en verdonkeremaand als het gaan om de Koran-citaten en de krantenknipsels? Niet als mening, maar gewoon ontleed, met bronnen erbij (in het geval van de krantenkoppen de originele berichten). En na afloop komen er twee mensen naar mij toe en die zeggen, ja dat klopt allemaal wat u zegt, alleen toch heeft Geert Wilders gelijk in deze film. Maar wat is dan zijn gelijk? Doet het er eigenlijk wel toe wat hij precies zegt? En wat zeggen deze mensen nu eigenlijk? En waar zijn wij nu eigenlijk helemaal mee bezig?

Natuurlijk is het de schuld van de media. In zijn boek geeft Verhagen een voorbeeld van mijn ervaringen met Pauw en Witteman nadat ik de redactie duidelijk had gemaakt dat de dominante tendens onder de jongeren in mijn Goudse onderzoek niet radicalisering is, maar conflictvermijding:

dat is goed nieuws voor Nederland en goed nieuws voor de moslims, maar daar zitten wij niet op te wachten’.

(Even terzijde, dat is geen reactie op het afnemende belang van geinstitutionaliseerde religie zoals Verhagen en Bleich – in haar bespreking – lijken te suggereren).

Verhagen gaat daarbij verder op een punt dat ik hier ook al gemaakt heb naar aanleiding van dat en andere incidenten: onderzoek naar islam en moslims wordt bekeken binnen vaste kaders die moeten passen binnen het beperkte aantal verhalen dat mogelijk is en binnen een aantal woorden en/of seconden die beschikbaar zijn. Daarbij heeft de journalistiek nog enige verslagleggende, objectieve pretenties terwijl het bij sites als Geenstijl vooral gaat om de infotainment, vorm boven inhoud en boven de (ingewikkelde) realiteit. De verslaglegging over Wilders’ aanhangers lijkt niet veel beter te zijn. Dit is geen afdoende verklaring, bovendien is dit er één van de kip of het ei: gaat de media zo met deze onderwerpen om, omdat het zo scoort of scoort het zo omdat de media zo met deze onderwerpen om gaat? In ieder geval is ook van belang de rol van politieke entrepeneurs zoals Wilders en Peter R. de Vries en Ellian die gebruik kunnen maken van allerlei onbestemde gevoelens van onbehagen en deze kanaliseren in de richting van een (nog te scheppen) duidelijke vijand. En het kenmerk van dergelijke politieke entrepeneurs is dat ze zo fatsoenlijk, verstandig en welbespraakt over komen en dat beeld ook proberen te cultiveren door te wijzen op de onbeschaafdheid van de ander.

4 comments.

Closing the week 5

Posted on February 7th, 2010 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

Most popular on Closer the last week:

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE

You can follow Closer on Twitter now (trying the find out what the use of it is): Martijn5155

Movements and activism
Court orders retrial of Dutch terror group | Radio Netherlands Worldwide

The Supreme Court of the Netherlands has ordered a retrial of the Hofstad Group suspects who were accused of preparing terror attacks, but acquitted in 2008. Members of the group had connections with the murderer of Dutch Islam critic and filmmaker Theo van Gogh.

The Jihadist Next Door « GOATMILK: An intellectual playground edited by Wajahat Ali

ON A WARM, cloudy day in the fall of 1999, the town of Daphne, Ala., stirred to life. The high-school band came pounding down Main Street, past the post office and the library and Christ the King Church. Trumpeters in gold-tasseled coats tipped their horns to the sky, heralding the arrival of teenage demigods. The star quarterback and his teammates came first in the parade, followed by the homecoming queen and her court. Behind them, on a float bearing leaders of the student government, a giddy mop-haired kid tossed candy to the crowd.

altmuslim – Homegrown radicals: Complacency is not an option

The American Muslim community should not brush aside facts by either taking a defensive posture or by being apologetic. The better path is to conduct honest soul searching and enact proactive measures that can avoid such attention grabbing headlines in the first place.

http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=268

Across predominantly Muslim nations, there is little enthusiasm for the extremist Islamic organizations Hamas and Hezbollah, although there are pockets of support for both groups, especially in the Middle East.

Cleric Al-Awlaki in U.S. and Yemeni Crosshairs – Political Hotsheet – CBS News

The revelation by Christmas Day airliner bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab that radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki directed him to perpetrate the attack will put increased pressure on the U.S. military to capture or kill the alleged mastermind of the plot.

Yemeni American cleric Aulaqi confirms contact with Nigerian suspect – washingtonpost.com

Yemeni American cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi said he taught and corresponded with the suspect in the attempted Dec. 25 airliner bombing but did not order the attack, according to an interview published this week.

Yemeni Cleric Says He Did Not Order Dec. 25 Attack, But Knew Suspect (Washn) – NewsFlash – mlive.com

Yemeni American cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi taught and corresponded with the suspect in the attempted Dec. 25 airline bombing but did not order the attack, Aulaqi said this week.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian, “is one of my students; yes, we were in correspondence” Aulaqi said in an interview published Tuesday in Arabic by al-Jazeera.net. “But I did not give (him) a fatwa in regards to this operation.”

Christmas Bomber Says Radical Cleric Directed Attack – AOL News

The suspected Christmas Day bomber told federal authorities that radical Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki directed him to execute the attack on Northwest Flight 253, reports CBS News. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab told investigators that al-Awlaki wanted him to blow up the plane over American soil, not over the ocean.

‘We Are Part Of The Terror’ – chicagotribune.com

‘We Are Part Of The Terror’
Americans Won’t Regain Security At Home While Innocents Are Being Killed In Our Name

Gender
altmuslimah.com – War: Rape for ethnic cleansing

To the victor go the spoils is the concept that has been used over history to legitimize wartime rape. This tradition of objectifying women during conflicts has not ceased during modern times. Despite the introduction of modern laws of warfare, armies exploit sexual violence systematically as in the cases of the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and the current situation in Darfur.

Why is it important to rethink masculinities in the Middle East? « Cycads

There is a glaring lacunae in an understanding of masculinity that has been affected by the major strides that women in the Middle East have been making throughout the last century in terms of education, employment, sexuality, political representation, and general public presence. Indeed, what is not studied more rigorously are the changing dynamics of gender relations resulting from the increasing independence of women from the home and male members of the family, studies in which men are placed as the central analytical subject. Recent literature that have charted these changes reflect what can be understood as men’s anxieties and fears emerging from “notions still deeply imprinted on their inherited memory which have not adjusted accordingly” to the explosive gendered transformations of the public arena (Ghoussoub 2006:230). Women’s increased emancipation is then perhaps one source of a threat to the grip of a dominant masculinity, but other threats can exist externally for the male collective. Ghoussoub (2006:233) also counts the devastating defeat in the 1967 war with Israel which incurred a lingering dent on the pride of the Arab and Muslim world1, in addition to the unremitting European imperialist presence throughout the history of the Middle East – all of which represents a “symbolic castration in which men’s virility and hopes of progeny are threatened”.

Let’s fashion a made-in-Canada approach to the burka – The Globe and Mail

France’s proposal to ban the face-veil is an infringement of individual freedoms

Dubai’s shameful record on rape | Nadya Khalife | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Dubai’s shameful record on rape

The arrest of a British woman allegedly raped in Dubai mirrors harsh Middle Eastern attitudes to women and sexual assault

English :: Women Stirred Politics on the Streets – Bianet

Women Stirred Politics on the Streets

Turkish women talked about women’s protest actions and campaigns after 1980, how they made their contribution to shape politics and what they achieved. They also reflected about today’s role of women in Turkish politics.

BBC News – Wedding trouble as UK Muslim marriages not recognised

A growing number of young Muslims in the UK are entering marriages that are not legally recognised, BBC Asian Network has found. This is because couples are having an Islamic wedding without the civil ceremony needed for the marriage to be recognised under British law.

Islam And Feminism | Muslim Feminists

Women don’t have to give up Islam for rights, argue Randa Abdel-Fattah and Susan Carland.

Orientalists writing on Islam and Muslims have tended to represent Muslim women as infantilised and oppressed, victims in need of rescue by the enlightened West. This is a classic example of the tyranny of self-projection, where the ”rescuer” assumes a position of superiority so the belief systems, values and norms of Muslim women are judged against the Western experience.

The Burqa, Fashion, and Measures of Freedom » Sociological Images

Tilly R. sent in the clip below of Bill Maher attempting to illustrate the oppressiveness of the burqa by staging a fake fashion show in which every model comes out in an identical burqa. You only need to watch the first couple models to get the idea (starts at about .20 sec.):

Man who forced veil on wife can’t become French | Reuters

The French government has refused to give citizenship to a foreigner who has forced his French wife to wear a full-face Islamic veil, Immigration Minister Eric Besson said on Tuesday.

Zizek in India
‘First they called me a joker, now I am a dangerous thinker’ – All That Matters – Sunday TOI – Home – The Times of India

Slávoj Zizek is an unusual philosopher with unfashionably inflexible left-wing views. He also loves Hollywood classics. The 59-year-old academic has written more than 30 books on subjects as diverse as Alfred Hitchcock, Lenin and 9/11. A self-proclaimed Leninist, the Slovenian thinker believes that “communism will triumph finally”. On his first visit to India this week, Zizek spoke about global capitalism, Gandhi, Bollywood and Buddhism. Excerpts from the interview:

Zizek Enters India | Edit Room

I read this interview on Sunday and I am sorry to report that the journalist has taken some serious liberties with Zizek’s responses. I can say this because I was present for the interview.

Islamophobia and hate
Media and politicians ‘fuel rise in hate crimes against Muslims’ | UK news | guardian.co.uk

Media and politicians ‘fuel rise in hate crimes against Muslims’

Report blames ‘Islamophobic, negative and unwarranted portrayals of Muslim London’ for increase in attacks in the capital

Far-Right Rhetoric: Germany’s Very Own Minaret Debate Turns Nasty – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News – International

Germany’s Very Own Minaret Debate Turns Nasty

A small Muslim community in a western German town would like to build a minaret on its mosque. But the plan has triggered passionate opposition from locals, many of whom rely on rhetoric from the extreme right in railing against the “symbol of Islam’s quest for power.”

Misc.
Book Review – ‘Blood and Faith – The Purging of Muslim Spain,’ by Matthew Carr – Review – NYTimes.com

Who remembers the last survivors of Muslim Spain, whom Spaniards contemptuously called Moriscos (“little Moors”)? Impressive research on them has appeared in the last 30 years, yet until now, none of it has escaped beyond the walls of the academic ghetto. Matthew Carr’s well-balanced and comprehensive book brings the story of their tragic fate to a wider public.

BERGHAHN BOOKS :: Celebrating 15 Years of Independent Publishing!

Anthropology of Media
Series Editors: John Postill and Mark Peterson
The ubiquity of media across the globe has led to an explosion of interest in the ways people around the world use media as part of their everyday lives. This series addresses the need for works that describe and theorize multiple, emerging, and sometimes interconnected, media practices in the contemporary world. Interdisciplinary and inclusive, this series offers a forum for ethnographic methodologies, descriptions of non-Western media practices, explorations of transnational connectivity, and studies that link culture and practices across fields of media production and consumption.

Dutch
Al-yaqeen

Islamtische studenten van het Albeda College ervaren onbehoorlijke behandeling door docenten. Al-Yaqeen is in samenspraak met het Albeda College overeengekomen hier tegen op te treden.

Interactieve kaart: Moslims in Europa – Kerk & Godsdienst – Reformatorisch Dagblad

Welbeschouwd vormen moslims met 4,4 procent nog een relatief kleine minderheid in Europa. Maar de islam wint wél terrein.

Discussie » Is onze definitie van homoseksualiteit wel tolerant genoeg?

Homofobie is dan ook geen kwestie van religieuze verboden, meent Verkaaik, maar van de moderne tijd. In het Westen is homoseksualiteit namelijk een identiteit geworden. En daarmee komt de mannelijkheid in het geding, vertelt Schaaik. Moslimjongens in Nederland zijn opgevoed met het moderne idee van homo’s als vrouwelijk, verwijfd, onmannelijk. De gedachte dat je via seks met mannen de zedenpreken van de dorpsmullah aan je laars kon lappen, kennen zij niet meer. Misschien is het zo dat de tolerantie jegens homoseksualiteit als identiteit in Nederland groter is, terwijl er in Pakistan meer tolerantie bestaat jegens de praktijk. En door te veronderstellen dat ‘de islam’ het probleem is, ontkent de Nederlandse samenleving dan ook de eigen ambivalente opvattingen over homoseksualiteit, meent Verkaaik.

Wat denkt u? Zou dit de vijandige houding tegen homoseksuelen van sommige moslims in Nederland kunnen verklaren? Is onze definitie van homoseksualiteit wel zo tolerant als we zelf denken?

nrc.nl – Binnenland – Derde Bekeerlingendag trekt honderden mensen

Het is de warmte, de waardigheid, het goeddoen. Zo verklaren vrouwen hun bekering tot de islam. In Utrecht werden zondag acht mensen moslim.

‘Meer allochtonen tegen vrouwenbesnijdenis’ – Maroc.NL

Steeds meer allochtonen die oorspronkelijk afkomstig zijn uit Afrikaanse landen als Somalië en Sudan spreken zich openlijk uit tegen vrouwenbesnijdenis. Dat zegt Marja Exterkate van Pharos, het kenniscentrum voor Vluchtelingen en Gezondheid. Volgens Pharos gaat het om vrouwen zowel als mannen.

Trollen knippen en plakken op de opiniesite – Ombudsman – VKBlog – de Volkskrant

Dit ging om reacties op een column van Hassnae Bouazza, die gehakt maakte van Geert Wilders. Dat was nadat Wilders op de opiniepagina ruimte had gekregen om zijn ongenoegen te uiten over minister Ter Horst en het proces dat tegen hem wordt gevoerd.

De columniste werd en wordt voor van alles en nog wat uitgemaakt op een toon waarvan ik vind dat die een site van de Volkskrant onwaardig is. Zelf tilt ze er niet zwaar aan, ik wel. Dat je de inhoud van de column bestrijdt is een ding, maar je speelt niet op de man, of in dit geval de vrouw. En je doet het onder je eigen avatar en niet een gepikte van een ander.

Overigens worden die persoonlijke aanvallen door de redactie verwijderd, maar dan hebben ze al wel op de site gestaan.

Allochtonenweblog: Wordt in Nederlandse moskeeen opgeroepen tot het vermoorden van andersdenkenden?

Vraag is dan aan wetenschapper Hans Jansen of hij zijn uitspraak voor Nederland hard kan maken: wie heeft er wanneer in welke moskee in Nederland opgeroepen om welke andersdenkende te vermoorden?

C L O S E R » Blog Archive » Hans Jansen in de moskee

Nou ja dat is allemaal de schuld van preken in moskeeën? De jongeren die dit doen bezoeken veelal niet eens moskeeën, maar los daarvan hoe kan Jansen bewijzen dat dit zo is?

0 comments.

Closing the week 3

Posted on January 23rd, 2010 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

Most popular on Closer this week

Gender & activism
gulfnews : Feminism in the Arab world

As the debate on feminism in the region gathers momentum, opinions on the matter are strongly divided. Some believe the so called Western concept of feminism has no place in the Arab world. Yet Arab women are still fighting for an equal place in society, academics and students argue.

Stress, quarrels and neglect: the ‘normal’ polygamous family | openDemocracy

A large-scale study currently underway across Malaysia uncovers proof that polygamy harms everyone involved: from emotionally scarred children, to wives who think they’d be better off as single-parent households, and even husbands who admit “I wouldn’t recommend it for my son; it’s quite stressful.”

Hijabi Mama: breastfeed in public without the worry
January 21st, 2010

Most hijabis probably wonder if it’s possible to go out and about while breastfeeding without having to miss out on all the fun.

Contemporary Muslim Woman Series: “Love or Arranged Marriage?” by Naila Sheikh « GOATMILK: An intellectual playground edited by Wajahat Ali

GOATMILK continues its original and exclusive month long series entitled “The Contemporary Muslim Woman” featuring diverse Muslim women writers from around the world discussing a gamut of topics in their own unique, honest and eclectic voices.

By Naila Sheikh

‘The happily ever after’ moments are very well tattooed in our minds from the time we are kids reading fairy tales to the very reality of growing up and realizing that ‘happily ever after’ may take another route before reaching its destination.

You Know I Love You, Baby: Muslims in Secret “Urfi” Marriages – elan: The Guide to Global Muslim Culture

As if being young and jobless – trapped by the stagnant Egyptian economy – wasn’t bad enough, now young people are facing an unexpected social consequence of poverty. Young Egyptians can no longer afford to get married and are engaging in secret “urfi” marriages – essentially, a Sharia version of common law marriage. Now, you may be wondering why Egyptian couples don’t just put on their Friday best and go to town hall for a marriage certificate. If so, you obviously don’t know Arabs.

Weddings in Arab culture are slightly absurd in their extravagance and expense.

No religious justification for child marriage: Saudi cleric – Yahoo! News

A senior Saudi cleric said the Prophet Mohammed’s marriage to a nine-year-old girl some 14 centuries ago cannot be used to justify child marriages today, a Saudi newspaper reported Thursday.

The comments by Sheikh Abdullah al-Manie, a member of the Council of Senior Ulema (scholars), followed the marriage of a 12-year-old girl to a man 68 years her senior.

Reuters AlertNet – Mauritanian Muslim imams initiate rare ban on female circumcision

Human rights campaigners who have been struggling for years to eliminate female genital mutilation (FGM) in West Africa got a boost this week as news emerged that a group of Muslim clerics and scholars in Mauritania had declared a fatwa, or religious decree, against the practice.

Women reject fatwa on hairstyles, ‘ojek’ | The Jakarta Post

Muslim women in Surabaya, East Java, have flatly rejected a fatwa recently issued by local clerics, who said women changing the color and form of their hair using the rebonding technique is haram (forbidden under Islam).

“Hair coloring and straightening are just a matter of fashion, and have nothing to do with one’s level faith,” university student Ulfa Damayanti, 19, told The Jakarta Post on the weekend, after undergoing a rebonding treatment at a stylist in Surabaya.

Women who wear the burka should be banned from benefits and public transport, claims French government spokesman | Mail Online

Women who wear the burka in France should be banned from using public transport or receiving state handouts, a government official says.

UMP party spokesman Frederic Lefebvre demanded that any woman breaking a proposed law making the garment illegal should be ‘deprived of her rights’.

His comments came the day after the head of president Nicolas Sarkozy’s party said Muslim women wearing full-face veils should not be granted French nationality.

Paris imam backs France’s proposed burqa ban – Yahoo! News

A French imam active in Muslim dialogue with Jews has backed a law against full face veils, parting ways with most Muslim leaders in France urging parliamentarians not to vote for a planned “burqa ban.”

Hassen Chalghoumi, whose mosque stands in a northern Paris suburb where many Muslims live, said women who wanted to cover their faces should move to Saudi Arabia or other Muslim countries where that was a tradition.

Violence, resistance and counter-opposition
Al Jazeera English – Africa – Horror of Nigeria clashes uncovered

Hundreds of people have died in violence between Muslims and Christians in northern Nigeria.

The clashes began on Sunday in the city of Jos, but later spread to the countryside.

Al Jazeera has obtained evidence that suggests the bloodshed from ethnic and religious violence could be greater than feared.

World Briefing – Africa – Kenya – Confusion Over Whereabouts of Radical Cleric – NYTimes.com

Government officials made contradictory statements on Thursday about whether a radical Muslim cleric had left the country. Kenyan authorities had detained the Jamaican-born cleric, Abdullah al-Faisal, who served four years in a British jail for inciting murder and stirring racial hatred, and were trying to deport him. In response to a lawsuit, the High Court ordered the government to produce Mr. Faisal in court on Thursday and state its reasons for holding him. A document filed by prosecutors said Mr. Faisal was trying to recruit Kenyan youths to fight for Al Shabab, an Islamist insurgency in Somalia. But at the hearing, a prosecutor said Mr. Faisal had left the country. An official confirmed that he was on a plane that was scheduled to refuel in Moscow before going on to Jamaica. But hours later, Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang said that Mr. Faisal was still in the country.

tabsir.net » Greg Johnsen on al-Qaeda in Yemen

Yemen has so many dire problems that it’s easy to be overwhelmed. Al Qaeda is growing in prominence, a Shiite rebellion is expanding in the north, and the threat of secession is renewed in the south. There’s a brewing fight over what comes after President Ali Abdullah Saleh, age 67, who has ruled Yemen for 31 years; the country’s elites are locked in a closed-door struggle to take power once he departs. Finally, and perhaps most intractably, Yemen is an environmental and resource catastrophe in the making. The country’s water table is nearly depleted from years of agricultural malpractice, and its oil reserves are rapidly dwindling. This comes just when unemployment is soaring and an explosive birthrate promises only more young, jobless citizens in the coming years.

Alan J. Singer: How I Almost Became a Terrorist

The survival of Israel as a Jewish state was important to my identity and the identity of my friends and family members. My friends, siblings, cousins, and I grew up in the shadow of the Holocaust and we had family members who were murdered. Jews had been victims for two thousand years but the survival of Israel meant we would be victims no more.

In Harmonium » Rethinking the role of Religious Conflict in Doctrine

A very interesting discussion is starting to heat up over at the Small Wars Council over a paper written by Matt Lauder called Religion and Resistance: Examining the Role of Religion in Irregular Warfare (March 2009, DRDC Toronto TN 2009-049; NB: originally posted by milNews.ca over at army.ca forums). I expect the discussion to expand quite a bit over the next few days. One of the reasons why the discussion is so interesting is that it is touching on some areas that are truly central to understanding the motivations and logics of people or, in other words, how people can “make sense” out of the weirdest things.

Radicalization Among Young Muslims in Aarhus : Euro-Islam: News and Analysis on Islam in Europe and the United States

The recently established Centre for Studies in Islamism and Radicalization has published its first research report entitled “Radicalization among Young Muslims in Aarhus”.

Protests Over Muslim Cleric in Kenyan Capital Turn Violent | Africa | English

A riot broke out in downtown Nairobi when a demonstration against the detention of a radical Muslim cleric from Jamaica turned into ongoing street clashes. Civilians on both sides attacked each other with rocks as Kenyan security forces fired tear gas and live bullets into the mass of protesters supporting the cleric. At least one person was killed and several others were wounded.

Wilders on Trial
Wilders on trial: who’s funding his defence? | Radio Netherlands Worldwide

The long-awaited trial of Dutch politician Geert Wilders begins this week. Charged with inciting hatred, Wilders could be facing several months – or even years – of court hearings. But Wilders is not independently wealthy, so where will he get the money to pay for his defence?

nrc.nl – International – First day in Wilders trial

The lead judge of the court started off by addressing Geert Wilders, leader of the populist PVV party, directly. The judge said that while the media might have portrayed his case as foregone, his court “would not cast judgment before the last word has been spoken”.

Geert Wilders: ‘I want Muslim fanatic to speak in my defence’ – Times Online

Geert Wilders, the Dutch far-Right MP, has demanded that his race hate trial should hear evidence from the fanatic who used the Koran to justify killing the director of an anti-Islamic film.

Muslim in minor
altmuslimah.com – Book “Journey to the End of Islam”: Don’t homogenize my hajj!

Muslim American communities have undertaken many efforts to add nuance to the public’s impression of Muslims. The Brooklyn Arts Museum held their Muslim Voices series last summer, and Boston recently held a Muslim Film Festival, and Altmuslimah itself has established a regular photographic campaign. For good reason, much of the energy in these projects is used to show the beauty and diversity of Muslims; however, there is definitely room to show the messiness within the Muslim community, and Michael Muhammad Knight is one writer filling this gap.
In his new novel Journey to the End of Islam, Michael Muhammad Knight writes on the complex relationship between what he sees as cultural Islamic practices, a new wave of corporatized Islam. The book is provocative, disjointed all over the place, and ultimately satisfying.

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Newsnight | Is the UK turning a blind eye to Muslim polygamy?

Reporter Sorious Samora, who was himself raised in a polygamous family in Sierra Leone, investigates the cultural sensitivities around polygamy and claims that polygamous marriages are on the rise in UK Muslim communities, but that the government is failing to tackle the issue.

Americans’ bias against Jews, Muslims linked, poll says – washingtonpost.com

A poll about Americans’ views on Islam concludes that the strongest predictor of prejudice against Muslims is whether a person holds similar feelings about Jews.

The Gallup poll, released Thursday, also finds that people who report going to religious services more than once a week are less likely to harbor bias against Muslims.

U.S. State Department Ends Ban on 2 Prominent Muslim Scholars – Faculty – The Chronicle of Higher Education

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has signed orders effectively reversing the Bush administration’s decisions to bar two prominent foreign Muslim scholars, Adam Habib and Tariq Ramadan, from entry into the United States.

Most German Muslims don’t wear headscarves, says report on integration / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com

The first representative study of Muslim life in Germany paints a portrait of a minority that is much more integrated, multifaceted, and secular than previously thought. The Nuremberg-based Federal Office of Migration surveyed 6,004 people age 16 and above by telephone. Based on data provided about other household members, the study evaluated almost 17,000 people and was released in June 2009.

Some findings: Half of Germany’s 4.3 million Muslims do quintessentially German things, such as join in soccer clubs or senior citizens’ groups. Only 4 percent belong to associations rooted in home countries. Most say they are religious, but 70 percent of women never wear a head scarf, 90 percent of girls go on school trips, and 93 percent attend swimming lessons. Integration into German society is helped through new pilot projects that offer Islam courses in public schools, in addition to already established classes on Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism.

Divided Loyalties or Imagined Conflicts? Muslims in America | Yasir Qadhi | Baltimore | IlmFest 2009 | MuslimMatters.org

Al walaa wal baraa is the primary intellectual crisis of generation Islam. The essential question being asked is, “What do we do as practicing orthodox Muslims living in secular lands, when our religion demands one thing and the land demands something else?” In Qadhi’s opinion, the answer to this question has yet to be formulated properly. We do not have an answer. We cannot look up the answer in some medieval textbook because this situation has never existed before. Never before has there been no Islamic khilafah. Never before have there been 40-50 million Muslims living in western lands in “secular democracies.” Never before has there been a system of nation-states. Never before was there a concept of secularism. Previously, Europe was very Christian in nature.

Islam In The Balkans: Can One Be European And Be Muslim?

There is a debate raging in Europe over what it means to be European. The identity issue came to a head a few years ago during the voting on a European constitution – it failed. But it’s also been attached to discussions of Islam in Europe. The question often asked: Can one be European and be Muslim?

French leaders push for ban of Muslim dress in public places – washingtonpost.com

France, which regards itself as the cradle of human rights, is moving to impose legal restrictions on Muslim women who wear Afghan-style burqas or other full-face veils.

Misc.
Fatwa Against Muslim Prayer Ringtones: They’re ‘Demeaning,’ ‘Disrespectful,’ Top Cleric Says

Egypt’s top cleric wants Muslims to answer the call to prayer, but not when it’s ringing on their cellphones.

Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa issued a fatwa, or a religious edict, on Wednesday urging Muslims to do away with a popular fad – Quranic verses or the five daily calls to prayer as cellphone ringtones. The government-appointed cleric says such ringtones are inappropriate, misleading and demeaning to God’s words.

Messages from Paradise #1 Egypt: Austria A documentary film by Daniela Swarowsky and Samuli Schielke « Austrian Cultural Forum London

In a village in Egypt, young men dream of migrating to Europe where they hope to find money, freedom, and new horizons. In Vienna, Egyptian migrants long for home. Their tales of migration reveal that the realities of living in Europe are more complex and nuanced than they themselves might have dreamt. Paradise, for both sides of this fictional dialogue, is always elsewhere. And perhaps happiness lies not in making old dreams come true, but in finding new ones. The series of showings listed below include Q&A sessions with film-makers Daniela Swarowsky and Samuli Schielke.

Social Movements 2.0

On September 27, 2007, the world experienced its first virtual strike. In response to a wage dispute, IBM workers in Italy organized a picket outside their company’s “corporate campus” based in the 3-D virtual world of Second Life. According to a report in the Guardian, workers “marched and waved banners, gate-crashed a [virtual] staff meeting and forced the company to close its [virtual] business center to visitors…. The protest, by more than 9,000 workers and 1,850 supporting ‘avatars’ from thirty countries,” included a rowdy collection of pink triangles, “sentient” bananas and other bizarro avatars.

Digital Democracy or Increasing Returns? | Resilience Science

Thomas Slee reviews The Myth of Digital Democracy by ASU political scientist Matthew Hindman. Slee is the author of the popular economics book No One Makes You Shop at Walmart, which shows how game theory and increasing returns can eliminate much of the choice that some argue is found in markets. Hindman finds that the internet can amplify similar dynamics in politics.

altmuslimah.com – Life under occupation: Miss Palestine’s mistaken rebellion

One of the travesties of living in a colonized environment is that the inferior, or oppressed, aspire to win admittance to the Western world. There seems to be an emerging trend of this type of appeasement, where submission has replaced the revolution. The introduction to spectacles, like the breaking of a Guinness record for the largest plate of kanafeh and the search for a national beauty queen, are just two examples of how absurd practices are coming to be seen as normal in Palestinian cities.

Jose Antonio Vargas: The Web Is Flat — The World Responds to Haiti’s Earthquake Online

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: The Web is flat. And in a world made smaller by the Internet and new technologies, we become each other’s witnesses — one text, one tweet, one Facebook status update, one YouTube video, one Wikipedia view and edit at a time.

VOA News – Margaret Mead, 1901-1978: A Public Face of Anthropology

Many consider her the most influential social science researcher of the 20th century. Yet some experts say her research depended too much on observation and local stories.

Dutch
Arabiste: de waarheid over islam bestaat niet – Binnenland – de Volkskrant

De waarheid over de islam bestaat niet. Er was vanaf het allervroegste begin verschil van mening over. Wetenschappers, publicisten en politici moeten hun statische beeld van de islam bijstellen, ‘of ze die nu interpreteren als serene volmaaktheid of als rigide onbuigzaamheid’. Dit zegt arabiste en papyrologe Petra Sijpesteijn in een interview met de Volkskrant.

Stoornis allochtone jongeren vaak niet behandeld – Binnenland – de Volkskrant

Allochtone jongeren belanden relatief vaak in de criminaliteit omdat psychische stoornissen bij hen niet of te laat worden behandeld. Dat blijkt uit onderzoek van Stichting De Jutters, een instelling voor jeugd-GGZ in de regio Haaglanden.

Een moslim als gemeentelijk bruggenbouwer? | ZemZem

Het ontslag van Tariq Ramadan heeft veel ophef veroorzaakt. De doorslag gaf zijn werk voor Press TV. Gerard Wiegers en Nelleke van Zessen stellen, net zoals Ramadan zelf, dat de controverse rond zijn opvattingen over homoseksualiteit het kernprobleem vormde. Ramadan bleek niet de vrijzinnige moslim die de gemeente Rotterdam in hem had gezien. Kan een orthodoxe moslim als bruggenbouwer functioneren voor een gemeente?

De hervormingsagenda van Ramadan | ZemZem

Waar Tariq Ramadan in zijn vorige boeken nog vooral schreef over mogelijke ontwikkelingen van de islam in het Westen, presenteert hij in zijn nieuwste boek Radical Reform een hervormingsagenda die op de islam wereldwijd gericht is. Door een herbezinning op de fundamenten van de islamitische wet wil hij het islamitisch denken klaarmaken voor de uitdagingen van de moderniteit.

Gezichtsbedekking uit of aan? MedicalFacts vroeg het aan moslims en artsen | Medicalfacts

In navolging op eerdere artikelen op MedicalFacts komt de discussie op gang dat gezichtsbedekking de communicatie met zorgverleners niet zou mogen verstoren. V&VN vindt dat een verpleegkundige of verzorgende een patiënt mag vragen haar boerka af te doen. Gezichtsbedekkende kleding zoals een boerka, nicap, spiegelende zonnebril, helm of bivakmuts mogen de diagnose en behandeling van patiënten en daarmee de kwaliteit en veiligheid van de zorg niet in gevaar brengen. Alleen geeft V&VN geen handvat aan haar achterban. En ook met het artikel van V&VN blijkt dat er behoefte is aan richting voor interculturalisatie vraagstukken in de zorg. De KNMG reageerde al eerder. Maar stekelde dat als moslima’s na uitleg weigeren de boerka af te zetten toch zorg geleverd moet worden. Maar soms kan men ondanks de boerka de zorg niet leveren. Denk aan aandoeningen aan het gelaat maar ook geestelijke gezondheidszorg kan men niet goed leveren met gezichtsbedekking.’

Geen taboes – Home

Salaam, en welkom op de site Geentaboes.nl! Wat deze website anders maakt dan alle andere voorlichtingssites is dat Geentaboes.nl tot stand is gekomen in samenwerking met jonge mensen van Turkse en Marokkaanse afkomst. Zij durfden zich open te stellen en kwamen met veel vragen die leefden in hun omgeving en bij zichzelf. Sommige van hen hebben nauwelijks goede seksuele voorlichting gehad. Thuis wordt er niet of nauwelijks over seksualiteit gesproken of ze hebben onjuiste informatie gekregen via vrienden of internet. De islam was voor velen van hen een belangrijke leidraad in hun leven als het aankwam op seksualiteit. Hier is rekening mee gehouden en er is goed geluisterd naar de wensen van iedereen.

‘Democratie en vrijheid zijn waardeloos’ – Nederlands Dagblad

Democratie en vrijheid brengen niets goeds en integratie is een samenzwering om moslims hun geloof en identiteitte ontnemen. Rond de Dag van de Godsdienstvrijheid in de VS en het verbod op Islam4UK in Engeland is de vraag weer opgekomen, hoe ver radicale geestelijken die dit stellen hun gang mogen gaan in een samenleving die zewillen vernietigen.

Gemengde gevoelens over een moskee | Al het nieuws over Edam en Volendam

In Edam is de eerste steen gelegd voor een Moskee. De dominee en de burgemeester waren er getuige van. Dus is het een goede zaak, anders waren ze wel thuisgebleven. Ik gun die Marokkanen hun gebedsruimte. Wonen in een koud land zonder een huis voor je eigen god is pas echt bedakken. Maar ik heb er wel gemengde gevoelens over. In de berichtgeving noemen ze hun moskee voortdurend een ‘gebedshuis’ om het woord moskee te vermijden. Als je vervolgens leest wat ze daar gaan doen verschilt dat echter niet van een gewone moskee. Ik was ook niet verbaasd toen ik las dat ze er lessen in Arabisch gingen geven. Wie dat wereldje kent, weet dat het betekent dat ze koranlessen gaan geven en kinderen leren de koran in het Arabisch op te zeggen. Allemaal dus vrij traditioneel.

Geert Wilders staat voor niets met zijn vrijheid – Trouw

Ik heb niets tegen moslims. Ik heb een probleem met de islam en de islamisering van ons land, omdat de islam haaks op vrijheid staat. Aldus motiveerde het PVV-Kamerlid Wilders deze week voor de rechtbank in Amsterdam zijn ’soms harde, maar nooit onbesuisde’ woorden over de godsdienst die, met naar schatting 800.000 aanhangers, in betrekkelijk korte tijd de tweede religie van ons land is geworden. De verklaring doet denken aan de protestantse agitatie tegen het besluit van het eerste kabinet-Thorbecke het herstel van de katholieke kerkprovincie toe te staan.

Bas Heijne » Wilders op z’n retour

Wat opviel aan de regiezitting van het proces tegen Wilders, afgelopen woensdag, die ik vanaf de publieke tribune bijwoonde, waren de fluwelen handschoenen waarmee de verdachte werd aangepakt. Niemand wilde gezien worden als de vijand van het vrije woord, de voorzitter van de rechtbank niet, de officieren van justitie niet. Men benadrukte met klem dat Wilders bepaald nog niet veroordeeld was, dat hij ruim de gelegenheid zou krijgen zijn zegje te doen, dat hij genoeg „deskundigen” als getuigen moest kunnen oproepen om zijn harde beweringen over de aard van de islam te kunnen staven. Toen hij de rechtszaal uitliep, werd hij voor de verzamelde televisiejournalistiek ondervraagd alsof hij een zware beproeving had ondergaan. Keer op keer herhaalde hij dat de vrijheid van meningsuiting op het spel stond – geen journalist die hem vroeg waarom hij als kampioen van de vrije meningsuiting de Koran wilde verbieden en het dragen van een hoofddoek wilde beboeten.

Joost Niemöller » Grenzen aan de vrijheid van meningsuiting

Gaat het bij het proces tegen Wilders om de vrijheid van meningsuiting? Of staat eigenlijk de islam terecht? In onderstaand essay maakt Martien Pennings op hartstochtelijke wijze duidelijk dat voor hem de vrijheid van meningsuiting niet absoluut moet zijn als het de islam betreft. Dat heeft met de islam zelf te maken.

Getuige acht: Wilders is een held – DePers.nl

Als de PVV-leider zijn zin krijgt, zullen radicale moslims en glasharde islamcritici door de rechtszaal paraderen.

PVV-favoriet Peter R. de Vries onder vuur – HP/De Tijd

Dat waren stevige woorden van Peter R. de Vries gisteren in Pauw & Witteman en op zijn website. De Nationale Misdaadverslaggever: “Ik vind Geert W. zelf een gevaarlijk man, een demagoog met de potentie van een volksmenner. W. is ronduit kwaadaardig.” En dat kwam hem op stevige kritiek te staan. Maar wacht eens, Peter R. was toch de populairste man onder PVV’ers?

Wereldjournalisten Geert Wilders: ‘Ik zeg de waarheid en dat is niet strafbaar’

Onder luid applaus van vooral PVV-Kamerleden verliet Geert Wilders op 20 januari 2010 rond 17.00uur de rechtzaal. ‘Ik spreek de waarheid en dat is niet strafbaar. De deskundigen zullen dat laten zien als ze de kans krijgen om te getuigen.’

.god.voor.dommen » Blog Archive » Tariq’s tegenspraak: Homoseksualiteit en islam

De voormalige bruggenbouwer tussen moslims en niet-moslims is verschenen in een tweetal filmpjes op de website geentaboes.marokko.nl. Een website gevuld met vragen voor de nieuwsgierige moslim – waar Wilders klop krijgt Marokkanen onterecht op één hoop te gooien met moslims, lijken ze daar zelf helemaal geen probleem mee te hebben.

Maar terug naar Tariq, want zijn bijdrage aan de vraagbaak voor onze islamitische medemens handelt over homoseksualiteit. En u weet dat gelovigen nergens zoveel over te zeggen hebben als de seksuele voorkeur van andere mensen. Nu, Tariq staat er om bekend zijn toon aan te passen aan het publiek dat hij toespreekt, en schijnt dit voornamelijk het geval te zijn als het gaat om homoseksualiteit of het toepassen van de sharia.

Expertdiscussies » Het proces tegen Wilders is een politiek proces

Wat vindt u? Is het proces tegen PVV-leider Wilders, dat woensdag van start gaat, inderdaad een politiek proces? En levert dat gevaren op voor de stabiliteit van de maatschappij?

Nederlandse Islamitische Omroep » Archief » Suudi en de nieuwe moslim omroep

Stichting Moslim Omroep Nederland (SMON) gaat per 1 september dit jaar de zendtijd voor moslims verzorgen. Nioweb sprak met Radi Suudi over de plannen van deze nieuwe omroep en hoe hij eventuele problemen uit de weg wilt gaan.

De Derde Nationale Bekeerlingendag – Wij Blijven Hier!: Het schrijversplatform van moslims

Het begint alweer een beetje te kriebelen en, hoewel ik me er soms een beetje voor schaam, is het toch ook wel logisch uit te leggen dat ik me zo voel. De bekeerlingendag 2010 komt er aan, de derde alweer. Parbleu, ik heb er zin in, ouwe!

Maghreb Magazine » Islamic Single Event: speeddate voor moslims

Ben je moslim, single en op zoek naar een levenspartner? Islamic Single Event organiseert op 30 januari een speeddate in Rotterdam voor single moslims.

‘De tijd van koppelen of van het via via met elkaar trouwen, is niet meer van deze tijd. Moslimjongeren zijn kritischer geworden. De een wil een vrouw die carrière maakt, de ander een man met hetzelfde opleidingsniveau of juist niet’, zei Rachid El Hajoui al 2 jaar geleden tegen Wereldjournalisten.nl . Maar het is moeilijk voor moslimjongeren om elkaar te ontmoeten of met elkaar in contact te komen, nog altijd. Ontmoetingen zijn aan culturele en religieuze regels gebonden. Daarom organiseert El Hajoui speeddates voor moslims. El Hajoui houdt rekening met de culturele en religieuze omgangsvorrmen en zorgt daardoor voor een ‘veilige’ omgeving.

Allochtonenweblog: Het komende proces Wilders: wat er wezenlijk op het spel staat

Het proces tegen Wilders, dat op 20 januari a.s., na wat eerdere inhoudelijke schermutselingen, volop van start gaat, werpt zijn schaduw vooruit. Naarmate deze rechtszaak dichterbij kwam, hebben geluiden dat een dergelijk proces überhaupt niet zou mogen plaatsvinden steeds meer vrij baan gekregen. Die zijn dan merendeels afkomstig van dezelfde categorie maatschappijbeschouwers die vroeger nog het standpunt innamen dat ‘alles gezegd moest kunnen worden, zolang de rechter zich niet in afwijzende zin daarover had uitgesproken’. Een artikel van mr. N.M.P. Steijnen, M. Rabbae en mr. F. Ben-Saddek.

Milaad Festival 2010, Binnenkort Online

Het Mawlid Festival vindt dit jaar plaats op 14 maart in dr. Anton Philipzaal in Den Haag. Om dit wederom tot een succesvol evenement te maken, kunnen wij jouw financiële steun goed gebruiken.

Met het Mawlid Festival wordt de komst van de Profeet (vzmh) op een vreugdevolle wijze herdacht en proberen wij de diversiteit binnen de moslimgemeenschappen tentoon te stellen.

Evenals voorgaande jaren hebben we ook dit jaar weer een zeer bijzonder programma samengesteld, met: nasheed (lofliederen), comedy en geleerden uit binnen- en buitenland. Van inspiratie tot ontspanning, het zal er dit jaar insha-Allah allemaal zijn In Dr. Anton Phillips zaal (Den Haag) op zondag 14 maart. We verwachten ongeveer 1500 bezoekers.

Dawah-TV: Geweigerde moslima vertelt Dawah TV exclusief verhaal

De 23 jarige moslima die op een vrijdagavond (25 december 2009) geweigerd werd door de arts die werkzaam was bij de huisartsenpost in Utrecht. Zij vertelt Dawah TV het volledige verhaal.

Dawah-TV Column: Burka bashing

Vol verbazing las ik het artikel op de site over onze moslimzuster die geweigerd was door een arts van de huisartsenpost in Multi-culti Utrecht. Dat zoiets gebeurt in een land als Nederland! We leven toch in een zogenaamd ‘beschaafd’ land waar iedereen elkaar zogenaamd respecteert en accepteert?

0 comments.

Closing the Week 2

Posted on January 16th, 2010 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

Most popular on Closer this week:

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE
You can follow Closer on Twitter now (trying the find out what the use of it is): Martijn5155

Gender, fashion & police
Status of face-covering veils Muslim around Europe – washingtonpost.com

NETHERLANDS: The Dutch government considered but abandoned legislation in 2006 for a total ban on Muslim veils, after lawyers said it would likely be unconstitutional. Instead, it said it would seek a ban on face-covering veils in all schools and prevent government employees from wearing them. No legislation has yet been passed.

France’s ban on the burqa: The war of French dressing | The Economist

FOR American commentators who like to denounce European complacency in the face of an increasingly assertive Islam, France is an intriguing test-case. It is home to Europe’s biggest Muslim minority, numbering some 5m-6m, and it unapologetically expects Muslims to adapt to French ways. In 1994 the government began clamping down on religious symbols, including the Muslim headscarf, in state schools. Ten years later it banned all “ostentatious” religious signs, including the veil, from state schools and other public buildings. Now yet another tightening is in the works: a proposed ban on wearing the burqa in any public places.

Grazia Talking Points: Are the fashion police going too far?

Can you imagine being fined a week’s salary for wearing the ‘wrong’ item of clothing on the street? Well, that’s what could happen in a few weeks time, because the French government is voting on a proposal to ban burkas and niqabs, full-body cloaks with eye slits. Jean-Francois Copé, leader of the majority party UMP, revealed the law would levy a €750 fine on anyone whose face is ‘fully covered in public’. That’s £675 in today’s exchange rate – ouch.

A B O U T – F A C E — blog » Attention t.v. shows, chick flicks, and magazines: stop pitting women against women!

The other day my friend and I were flipping through a recent Cosmopolitan magazine, and I was shocked by the comments coming out of my mouth:

The caged and the saved: finding feminism in the Islamic world – The National Newspaper

Like most ideas, this one did not have a single genesis. I’ve been thinking, and to some extent writing, about feminism for many years and in many guises.

The word itself is controversial, with some damning it as the force that destroyed the family and others defending it as the movement that freed a gender.

It is one of those terms that starts simply and rapidly gets tangled: if you look around the world and think there are inequalities between the genders, and that those inequalities are not biological and are unfair, you are probably a feminist. And that’s where the arguments begin.

War and Terror
Dutch PM backs away from criticizing Iraq report – Yahoo! News

HE HAGUE, Netherlands – Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende conceded Wednesday, “with the knowledge of now,” that a stronger legal mandate was needed for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 — and his decision to support it.

Newsweek

Defne Bayrak, the wife of the suicide bomber who killed seven CIA employees, tells Adem Demir what motivated her husband, Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi.

The Role of Women in Al Qaeda – Christopher Dickey – Newsweek.com

What role do women play in Al Qaeda? A few are suicide bombers; others may encourage their men to become one.

Generation Abdulmutallab | Foreign Policy

Generation Abdulmutallab
Young Africans have been failed by their governments and are increasingly turning to extremism.
BY GEORGE AYITTEY | JANUARY 15, 2010

The foiled attempt by young Nigerian extremist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day has baffled many Africans and sent them scrambling for an explanation. This is not the stereotypical poor and desperate young man usually associated with violence on the continent.

nrc.nl – International – Dutch government misrepresented case for Iraq war

The Dutch government was less than truthful in presenting its case for the invasion of Iraq to parliament, a report released on Tuesday noted.

Britain Moves to Ban Islamic Group – NYTimes.com

Britain said Tuesday it was outlawing a radical Islamic group that had incited outrage by planning a protest march through the streets of a town made famous for its somber ceremonies honoring British soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

“Jihad For Dummies”: Shaykh Abdullah al-Faisal « JARRET BRACHMAN

Over the past few weeks, in the aftermath of the Anwar al-Awlaki’s rise to mainstream media prominence, I’ve been asked by several journalists to identify and discuss the role of the influential ‘online celebrity shaykhs.’ At the top of my list of Western jihadist clerics has been a guy known as Shaykh Abdullah al-Faisal. Well, turns out, he’s not just at the top of my list.

Al Jazeera English – Focus – The $30bn pair of underpants

Almost immediately after it was learned that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a US airliner using explosives concealed in his underpants, received training in Yemen, US politicians called for Barack Obama, the US president, to expand the ‘war on terror’ – which remains very much a war despite the administration’s official ban of such vocabulary – to that country.

Middle East Online

Many recent terrorism cases have not resulted from a top down process of recruitment and radicalization initiated by al-Qaeda and its affiliates or radical preachers but rather from a bottom up dynamic. Today, individuals initiate. They become alienated and radicalized due to their own experiences and perceptions. They are profoundly affected and changed by what they see as endless oppression, corruption and injustice, notes John L. Esposito.

Authority
UK Muslim TV channel linked to al-Qaida cleric al-Awlaki | World news | The Observer

A London-based satellite broadcaster that describes itself as “the voice of authority for Muslims in the UK” has been accused of giving a platform to Anwar al-Awlaki, the extremist cleric with alleged links to al-Qaida and to the man charged with trying to blow up a transatlantic jet on Christmas Day.

The Islam Channel, a free-to-air English-language channel that claims to be “a trustworthy source to the two million-plus population of Muslims in the UK”, last year carried adverts for a box set of DVDs of Awlaki’s sermons and for at least two events at which the cleric was due to be the star speaker via a video link.

Metro – Social media gives rise to the new iMuslims

You’ve seen their mugshots: A Nigerian charged with trying to blow up a plane on Christmas Day; five young American Muslims detained in Pakistan, apparently desperately seeking jihad.
You’ve heard they went online in search of radical imams ready to recruit every Muslim within a foot of an Internet connection.

I bet you haven’t heard of these mugshots: Iranian men in chadors and headscarves.

Muslim religious guides only men? Think again by Moha Ennaji – Common Ground News Service

In recent years, Morocco, Egypt, and Turkey have trained and appointed a new group to the ranks of religious guides: women. Women religious guides, referred to as murshidat in Arabic, reach a demographic that might otherwise not be available–or receptive – to male imams, such as women and children, particularly those in poorer neighbourhoods. The efforts are an attempt by these countries’ governments to democratise and to curb extremism by reaching out to women, who can be a moderating voice in their families, and to youth, who are introduced to a tolerant and mainstream version of Islam at a young age.

altmuslimah.com – Female imams: Searching for American “nu ahongs”

A quiet Muslim community known as the Hui that has long been buried among China’s Buddhist majority has recently been receiving attention for its nu ahong – female spiritual leaders. While the spotlight is new, the concept is not. As early as the late Ming dynasty (around the 17th century), the faithful set up Muslim schools catering exclusively to young females and by the arrival of the late Qing dynasty in the 19th century, these schools had transformed into mosques operated by and serving women. In the coming decades, the practice of female Imams, if you will, permeated all Chinese Muslim societies.

Misc.
Roger Davidson – Jihad jokes | New Humanist

Imagine a sitcom featuring a Muslim community which has settled in a small prairie town where white locals suspect them of terrorism and fundamentalism. It has jokes about suicide bombing, polygamy and inter-religious sex; it has a love triangle involving a young Muslim woman, and an Imam whose ludicrous sermons make him a figure of fun even among his congregation; and it can also boast a range of comic references to 9/11. And yet Little Mosque on the Prairie has for the past two years been one of the most popular comedies on Canadian television.

2009 for Netherlands’ Muslims – IslamOnline.net – European Muslims

With the arrival of the hopefully better new year, Euro-Muslims team thought of displaying slideshows of Muslims’ harvest of the year in some European countries. In the series of “2009 harvest,” all prominent Muslim-related events are highlighted with their impact on the Muslim communities on all levels. Some of the countries covered in this series are France, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Italy, and Greece. Here we present the harvest of the year for the Netherlands with all hope it will appeal to you.

The Americanization of Mental Illness – NYTimes.com

For more than a generation now, we in the West have aggressively spread our modern knowledge of mental illness around the world. We have done this in the name of science, believing that our approaches reveal the biological basis of psychic suffering and dispel prescientific myths and harmful stigma. There is now good evidence to suggest that in the process of teaching the rest of the world to think like us, we’ve been exporting our Western “symptom repertoire” as well. That is, we’ve been changing not only the treatments but also the expression of mental illness in other cultures. Indeed, a handful of mental-health disorders — depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anorexia among them — now appear to be spreading across cultures with the speed of contagious diseases. These symptom clusters are becoming the lingua franca of human suffering, replacing indigenous forms of mental illness.

Teaching Anthropology: Unteaching: its what we do

I think I spend most of my time unteaching–I suppose that gets labeled as “critical thinking” or the “reexamination of our own cultural biases”. In many respects, a good cultural anthropology class just provides the safe environment to ask those questions and rethink how to find the answers. But first, students need to find their way back to those questions and like Walmart, we have to roll back those preconceived notions.

anthropologyworks » Recent sources on Haitian culture and social change

This list is intended to provide a guide to recent resources on culture and society in Haiti for people who wish to be better informed themselves about the context in which the recent earthquake and its devastation are occurring. With apologies, most of the journal articles are not public access.

Upsurge in gay Muslims fleeing forced marriage | Lesbilicious – the web’s tastiest lesbian magazine

UK charity The Albert Kennedy Trust has reported an upsurge in young gay Muslims becoming homeless after fleeing forced marriages and so-called honour violence.

LRB · Henry Siegman · Israel’s Lies

Western governments and most of the Western media have accepted a number of Israeli claims justifying the military assault on Gaza: that Hamas consistently violated the six-month truce that Israel observed and then refused to extend it; that Israel therefore had no choice but to destroy Hamas’s capacity to launch missiles into Israeli towns; that Hamas is a terrorist organisation, part of a global jihadi network; and that Israel has acted not only in its own defence but on behalf of an international struggle by Western democracies against this network.

I am not aware of a single major American newspaper, radio station or TV channel whose coverage of the assault on Gaza questions this version of events. Criticism of Israel’s actions, if any (and there has been none from the Bush administration), has focused instead on whether the IDF’s carnage is proportional to the threat it sought to counter, and whether it is taking adequate measures to prevent civilian casualties.

DutchNews.nl – Dutch children are again the happiest

Dutch children have the best lives of all children living in industrialised countries, according to new research by Unicef Germany, quoted by news agency ANP.

40 Dutch Innovations – Finding Netherland, from Used Napkin Chairs to Triplet Skyscrapers (CLUSTER)

40 Dutch Innovations Edit
Finding Netherland, from Used Napkin Chairs to Triplet Skyscrapers

No easy riding for Gaza bikers – Yahoo! News

When Munzer Diyya wants to get away from it all, he sits astride his motorcycle and takes to the open road — all 45 kilometres of it.

Diyya has the misfortune of being an open road enthusiast living in the Gaza Strip, a tiny territory sandwiched between Israel and Egypt and blockaded by both.

Anjem Choudary on the Islam4UK ban | EuropeNews

Anjem Choudary, the former leader of the now-banned organisation Islam4UK defends his actions as Andrew Neil asks him about the group and its origins and its possible reincarnation, as well as allegations over Mr Choudary’s benefit claims.

Dutch
Stiekem is de PVV doodnormaal | nu.nl/column zaterdag | Het laatste nieuws het eerst op nu.nl

Psssst, niet verder vertellen. De PVV is helemaal niet bijzonder, anders of vernieuwend. Ze zijn net als alle andere politieke partijen: ambitieus, geobsedeerd met media-aandacht en een tikkeltje amateuristisch. Door Remy Chavannes

Eutopia.nl | Artikelen | Minister Wilders…

Het zinderend nostalgische ‘ik had u lief, en leerde u verachten, Nederland’ zou de lijfspreuk kunnen zijn van al die mensen die nu zo graag Geert Wilders in de regering zien.

Wat als ze hun zin kregen?

Biep Biep » ‘Hoi, ik ben Marokkaans en wie ben jij?’

het deed me weer denken aan één van mijn grootste ergernissen. Als je mij op de kast wil jagen, dan moet je allereerste vraag aan mij zijn: ‘Waar kom je vandaan?’ Als het je tweede vraag is, dan ben ik overigens ook niet heel blij met je. Af en toe, dan heb ik zin om lekker te klieren en geef ik de naam van de plaats waar ik woon. ‘Néé! Dat bedoelde ik niet!’ Goh, echt? Nou fijn dan: ‘Mijn ouders komen uit Marokko, maar zelf ben ik hier geboren.’ Dat is tegenwoordig mijn standaard antwoord, want als je antwoordt met ‘Marokko’ gaat men er meteen van uit dat je daar geboren bent.

Tilburgse imam Salam stoorde gsm’s om rustig te kunnen bidden – Binnenland – Algemeen – bndestem

De Islamitische Stichting voor Opvoeding en Overdracht van de Tilburgse imam Salam is door de Bredase rechter veroordeeld tot een boete van 650 euro wegens het verstoren van het gsm-verkeer.

Allochtonenweblog: Mijn salafistische vrienden

Pleiters voor waakzaamheid jegens de islam houden ons voor dat alle moslims die hun geloof serieus nemen vroeg of laat voor geweld tegen ongelovigen zullen kiezen. Ze suggereren dat aan die conclusie een redenering ten grondslag ligt. Een blog van Bart Voorzanger.

De angst voor radicale moslims zit er bij velen stevig in. Nu ken ik mensen, die door anderen als radicale moslim worden beschouwd omdat ze wel eens naar de Al-Tawheedmoskee gaan, omdat ze omgaan met mensen die dat doen, of omdat ze een baard, een kalotje en een djellaba dragen. Als hun diagnose deugt, koester ik heel wat slangen aan mijn borst.

Toon lef in de zaak Wilders – Opinie – de Volkskrant

Het gaat erom dat iemand een visie mag geven op de islam, op de positie van migranten en op de multiculturele samenleving en dat een ieder die visie mag ondersteunen door de opvattingen van anderen instemmend aan te halen. Het gaat daarmee om het voortbestaan van het publieke debat want als uitwisseling van meningen strafbaar wordt, is dat debat niet langer mogelijk.

Toon lef in de zaak Wilders – Opinie – de Volkskrant

Het gaat erom dat iemand een visie mag geven op de islam, op de positie van migranten en op de multiculturele samenleving en dat een ieder die visie mag ondersteunen door de opvattingen van anderen instemmend aan te halen. Het gaat daarmee om het voortbestaan van het publieke debat want als uitwisseling van meningen strafbaar wordt, is dat debat niet langer mogelijk.

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE
You can follow Closer on Twitter now (trying the find out what the use of it is): Martijn5155

0 comments.

Closing the week 1 – Featuring Contested Islamization

Posted on January 9th, 2010 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

Most popular on Closer this week

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE

Featuring Contested Islamization
The church fights back against Islamification – Telegraph

We have had to wait decades for this moment, but it has finally happened. A leading British clergyman has said something sensible about immigration.

Lord Carey of Clifton, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, this week signed a declaration by the Cross Party Group on Balanced Migration calling for an urgent tightening of borders to stop the British population reaching 70 million by 2029. He also gave an interview yesterday in which he called for a tougher Church. “We Christians are very often so soft that we allow other people to walk over us, and we are not as tough in what we want, in expressing our beliefs, because we do not want to upset other people,” he said.

Migration threatens the DNA of our nation | George Carey – Times Online

The sheer numbers of migrants from within Europe and elsewhere put the resources of Britain under enormous pressure, but also threaten the very ethos or DNA of our nation.

Cardinal says Christian Europe is to blame for Islamisation – Telegraph

“The Muslims definitely have many reasons to be heading here. They also have a religious one – to bring the spiritual values of faith in God to the pagan environment of Europe, to its atheistic style of life.

“Unless the Christians wake up, life may be Islamised and Christianity will not have the strength to imprint its character on the life of people, not to say society.”

Universities don’t create extremists | Sunny Hundal | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

The attempted terrorist attack on 24 December has brought out a familiar line from the previously subdued neocons: British universities are to blame. The Telegraph’s foreign editor Con Coughlin led the attack last week by thundering over the fact that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was “allowed to be elected” president of the Islamic Society at UCL

Assoluta Tranquillita: The threat of Islam: The days are short

Geert Wilders is a Dutch Member of Parliament who has been vilified for his views on the very real, insidious, threat of Islam. He was banned from Britain last year. What follows is a speech he gave a speech in the US. Some may call Wilders an alarmist, but daily reports of terrorist acts thwarted around the world strongly support his position.

Will America Be The Last Man Standing? | Bible-Religion.com

This email is being sent so that you can consider Geert Wilders’ speech and its content and become more aware of the atmosphere in Europe and the possible cost to America. As Christians we do not want to give way to fear or rash reaction, only to be alert and use our great, powerful, and spiritual weapons. These weapons include prayer, faith, a knowledge of our salvation and the word of God, and most importantly, knowing the Mighty Lord and God that we represent and serve.

The Salvation of our ‘enemies’ is the best outcome.

A look into the future? The Danish Civil War

In a pattern seen in the UK after the 7/7 bombings there, Muslim groups became more confident than ever in pressing their demands for concessions of various sorts. Insisting that, however terrible the bombings might have been, they would not stop until Muslims felt their grievances against the Danish state had been addressed, Muslim advocacy groups pushed forward with a series of initiatives designed to drive foreign and domestic policies in directions considered more amenable to Islamic mores.

In response to these challenges, the Danish government adopted a policy of granting key concessions in what can only be considered an attempt at appeasement. During this initiative, which lasted from early 2009 until July 2012, the Danish government introduced a raft of measures to try to placate Muslim opinion in Denmark.

Europe’s looming demise – Washington Times

“Islamophobia,” “discrimination” and “racism” are all terms Muslims in Europe and America use to confuse people into thinking that the perpetrators of Islamic terrorism are the real victims. And it is working: Mr. Wilders is going on trial in the Netherlands, instead of all the Islamic hate sponsors he is fighting against. It has to be this way, to increase harmony among the Muslim and non-Muslim member states of the Euro-Med Partnership.

This internationalism is already destroying what has made Europe free and great. And now Mr. Obama seems to want to do the same to America.

While Europe Sneered by Bruce Bawer, City Journal 5 January 2010

Hege suggested that if all the influential newspapers in Europe had published the Danish cartoons, “it would have been much more difficult to build up the increasingly brutal climate we see now all over Europe: the fact that people are not just the subjects of attacks, and of attempted murder, but are denied virtually all personal freedom in their daily lives, so that Westergaard cannot set foot outside his home without the police on his heels, just as Robert Redeker is living underground in the homeland of Voltaire.” And she asked: “Will Europe manage to set its foot down strongly enough . . . that there will be no doubt that the continent never will give up its founding values? Or will the commentariat and political elite continue to give way, inch by inch . . . ?” Any of us, she warned, can end up a Kurt Westergaard if we dare to speak our minds. But don’t tell that to the “experts” at Foreign Policy.

What the “Eurabia” Authors Get Wrong About Islam in Europe – By Justin Vaïsse | Foreign Policy

By 2050, Europe will be unrecognizable. Instead of romantic cafes, Paris’s Boulevard Saint-Germain will be lined with halal butcheries and hookah bars; the street signs in Berlin will be written in Turkish. School-children from Oslo to Naples will read Quranic verses in class, and women will be veiled.

At least, that’s what the authors of the strange new genre of “Eurabia” literature want you to believe. Not all books of this alarmist Europe-is-dying category, which received its most intellectually hefty treatment yet with the recent release of Christopher Caldwell’s Reflections on the Revolution in Europe, offer such dire and colorful predictions. But they all make the case that low fertility rates among natives, massive immigration from Muslim countries, and the fateful encounter between an assertive Islamic culture and a self-effacing European one will lead to a Europe devoid of all Western identity.

Gender politics
Sex and the city of Beirut – Books – Entertainment – theage.com.au

JOUMANA Haddad, the Lebanese poet, author and critic, recently had a tattoo of a tulip imprinted on the lowest section of her back. She pulls down her waistband to indicate the area in question. ”My kids and my partner, they are not shocked that I have a tattoo, but by the fact that the guy tattooed my arse.” She roars with laughter.

Mideast Youth – Thinking Ahead » Iraqi women: A story of unjustice through decades

The Arab communities and even non-Arab Islamic had left us a legacy of customs and traditions against the female, and had subsequently generated a series of consequences of the process of discrimination between human beings on the basis of gender, ie, discrimination between women and men because of masculinity and femininity, both in pregnancy, adoption or name. The division went further to roles in jobs and to benefit from civil and political rights.

A new frontier in civil liberties — The Dawn Blog » Blog Archive

Transgender rights represent a relatively new frontier in civil liberties activism. In Pakistan, eunuchs have historically been disregarded and marginalised by mainstream issue advocates. The discriminations against eunuchs reveal our petty-bourgeois mentality that is mostly reluctant to recognise gender deviance.

AFP: French draft bill to fine burqa-wearing women

French draft bill to fine burqa-wearing women

(AFP) – 1 day ago

PARIS — Muslim women who wear the full Islamic veil in France will face a possible 750-euro (1,000-dollar) fine, according to a draft bill unveiled Thursday by the leader of the parliamentary majority.

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: They are right to ban the burka, even if it is for the wrong reasons – Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Commentators – The Independent

Muslims have the right to be free and equal but what they do not have the right to do is promote practices that violate the fundamentals of good societies anywhere, not just in the West.

The use of the burka has grown like a virus across the continent. Children as young as four are now dressed in hijab. It is time for us as a continent to rethink a garment which is more a statement about the position of women and the threat of men who apparently cannot control themselves if they see a woman’s face, hair, hand or ankles, than an item of clothing. It also physically cuts women off from other citizens. Last autumn I was in Canada, a very free and equal society, and saw not a single burka.

The Mythical European Umma : Muslim Media Network

Most projections that foresee a massive increase in Europe’s Muslim population are based on certain assumptions which are hard to justify. They assume that recent immigration trends will continue indefinitely for decades to come, but this is unlikely as Europe continuously raises the immigration bar for non-EU citizens, and it is not far-fetched to expect that many European countries may call a halt to immigration or draw their future immigrants from certain more “desirable” countries. The projections also assume that European Muslims will continue to have a significantly higher fertility rate than the population at large. But evidence suggests that the fertility rates of Muslim women are gradually converging with those of the wider population. And there are signs that the fertility rate among the white population of some European countries, such as France, is recovering.

France moves to outlaw the burka and niqab citing égalité – Europe, World – The Independent

The parliamentary leader of the ruling French party is to put forward a draft law within two weeks to ban the full-body veil from French streets and all other public places.

Muslim veil will not be banned in Zurich schools. – swissinfo

Veil will not be banned in Zurich schools
Zurich cantonal authorities have decided not to ban the wearing of veils in schools during the Muslim month of Ramadan.

Hamas encourages Gaza women to follow Islamic code _English_Xinhua

Aya Rachi, a 11-year-old girl from Gaza, did not pay much attention to the female preacher’s speech. Wearing a worn-out sweater, she seems to be only interested in receiving robes and headscarf for free.

“I want to receive a veil just like all the other girls, and I will wear a Hijab (headscarf) with it,” said Rachi, one of the girls and women who get veils and robes for free under the Hamas Islamic veil project.

A Muslim woman’s battle against American bigotry – The National Newspaper

Fatima Shama worries about a rising climate of bigotry directed towards American Muslims. As New York’s commissioner for immigrant affairs, her job is to oversee the welfare of the city’s 2.9 million immigrants, but as a Muslim herself, she is particularly aware of the plight of her co-religionists.

Recent events such as the Fort Hood shootings by an American-Muslim doctor and the failed Christmas Day attempt to blow up a US airliner by a Nigerian Muslim have again shifted the focus on to Muslims. Many are concerned that the trial expected in the next year or so of Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, accused of masterminding the attacks of September 11, could lead to greater persecution and hate crimes.

AFP: Egypt court upholds niqab ban

Egypt court upholds niqab ban

(AFP) – 5 days ago

CAIRO — An Egyptian court on Sunday upheld a ruling by the education ministry to ban women from wearing the full face veil in university examination halls, judicial sources said.

The ministry took the decision in October to ban the niqab, a veil covering the entire face usually worn by devout Muslims, for security reasons.

Arabic Fiction Prize Shortlist Comes Up Way Short for Women – elan: The Guide to Global Muslim Culture

Last month, the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) , which has been called the Arab Booker, announced their short list for the 2010 award. Although the recognition of Arab literary accomplishments is of course great, you can imagine my disappointment when I learned that only one woman was shortlisted for the prestigious prize this year, and that the same has been happening since the inception of the prize in 2007. Here are the nominees (female gets the gold star asterisk for making the cut):

Muhammad Al Mansi Qindeel – A Cloudy Day on the West Side
*Mansoura Ez Eidin – Beyond Paradise
Rabee Jabir – America
Abdo Khal – She Throws Sparks
Raba’l Madhoun -The Lady From Tel Aviv
Jamal Naji – When The Wolves Grow Old

The lack of female representation on this list is surprising considering how many great, contemporary, female, Arab authors are out there. The Beirut39, for example, shortlisted 12 females during their selection of the 39 best Arab writers under the age of 39. So what’s going on, IPAF?

Anthropology

Why Do They Do It? Portrayals of Alcohol on Facebook and MySpace « Neuroanthropology

Why do they do it? Why do otherwise smart and savvy college and high school student post photos of themselves drinking and partying on Facebook and MySpace? To the right is just one. There are many more, some of them a lot more, um… revealing than this one.

Essentialist animals?

Is essentialism restricted to humans, or does it also occur in other species? Obviously, the experimental procedures I just discussed all rely on language, so experimental design should be radically adapted to probe psychological essentialism in other animalleibniz3s.

In Harmonium » Real Cultural Relativism isn’t warm and fuzzy

A friend and colleague over at the SWC, Beezebubalicious (what a handle!), just posted a link to a BBC story on the rise of human sacrifice in Uganda. What sparked some of my interest was that he said he found this “hard to understand from a cultural (or a relativist) point of view.” Why?

Making Sense of Sudan » Blog Archive » “Making Sense of Sudan”

On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and one year before the scheduled date of the referendum on unity or secession in southern Sudan, this blog is renamed “Making Sense of Sudan.” This reflects both the way in which the center of gravity of Sudan’s problems has shifted to the CPA rather than Darfur, and the fact that the Darfur crisis was, all along, the Sudanese national crisis as manifest in Darfur.

Misc.
2009 in Review: The European Muslim Perspective

In recent times Europe has generally been seen as a successful melting pot of cultures, communities and faiths. But is this really the case in 2009?

It Hit Home: Netherlands Politics Update 2010

Politics in the Netherlands is complicated, really a world of its own. It’s when I try to write something in English about it, I realize it’s not that easy to communicate about it without losing nuance and context. Regardless, there are three important developments that may change the relative quietness as of late:

Privacy vs. Security: How to draw the line

A national Muslim civil rights group is asking the Transportation Security Administration for clarification on whether Muslim women wearing Islamic head scarves, or hijabs, will be singled out for additional security checks after a traveler said she was targeted for a “humiliating” full-body search at an airport Tuesday.

The noughties are defined by fakery | Hadley Freeman | Comment is free | The Guardian

Yet perhaps the most embarrassing, not to mention damaging, fakery has been the rise of “fake science”, which stems entirely from a fear of science and leads inexorably to no science at all.

CBC News – Canada – Attack on Canada, U.S is attack on Muslims: imams

A group of Canadian and U.S. Islamic leaders on Friday issued a fatwa, or religious edict, declaring that an attack by extremists on the two countries would constitute an attack on the 10 million Muslims living in North America.

The 20 imams associated with the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada said this marked the first fatwa by the Muslim clergy declaring attacks on Canada and the U.S. to be attacks on Muslims.

Dutch
FION-moskee in Slotervaart gefinancieerd door Qatar Foundation

FION-moskee in Slotervaart gefinancieerd door Qatar Foundation

De Qatar Foundation is de schenker van twee miljoen euro voor de bouw van een moskee in Slotervaart. Deze stichting financiert ook de leerstoel van Tariq Ramadan in Oxford. De omstreden sjeik Yusuf al Qaradawi speelt een hoofdrol in de religieuze onderwijstak van deze stichting. Moskeebouwer Yahia Bouyafa blijft desondanks ontkennen dat hij in een orthodox moslimnet zit.

Wereldjournalisten ‘Een Nederlandse islam, niet een islamitisch Nederland’

Yahia Bouyafa antwoordt op de suggestie in het Volkskrant-artikel van 21 december jl. dat hij een wolf in schaapskleren zou zijn en dat hij relaties onderhoudt met het Moslimbroederschap. Het artikel werpt de vraag op: Bouyafa lijkt zich in te zetten voor de Nederlandse moslims. Maar is dat ook zo?

Frontaal Naakt. Ongesluierde opinies, interviews & achtergronden » Zelfverdediging

Wanneer valt nou eindelijk eens het kwartje? Overal, waar Marokkanen wonen, is mot met de andere buurtbewoners. Dat komt door de opgroeiende zoons. Die krijgen door niemand een strobreed in de weg gelegd. Niet door hun ouders, niet door de buurtvaders, niet door de politie, niet door de overheid.

Wolven in schaapskleren – MSV-Blog

Het zal wel duidelijk zijn dat de zogenaamde integratie niet de belangen van de te integreren groep dient. Om maar een eufemisme te gebruiken: het is je reinste cultureel imperialisme. Het ‘integratieproces’ is vooral goed voor Nederlanders die niet kunnen verkroppen dat er andersdenkenden, -culturelen en -religieuzen in deze samenleving rondlopen.

Allochtonenweblog: Wolven in schaapskleren, een koekje van eigen deeg! (Nazima Shaikh)

Aangezien ik word weggezet als “meefeestende moslima op de Gay Parade” “ wolf in schaapskleren” en “huurlingen van de anti-Islambrigade” in ons land, hier mijn koekje van eigen deeg!
Ik houd van feestjes en als het goed is, is het elke dag een feest! Wolf in schaapskleren, ervaar ik als compliment.
De wolf kent een grote verscheidenheid aan expressies en geluiden. Het bekende huilen is vooral bedoeld om te communiceren over langere afstanden. Afhankelijk van de omstandigheden kunnen wolven het gehuil van andere wolven op afstanden van zes tot tien kilometer horen. Het afbakenen van het territorium, door middel van te urineren met een opgetilde achterpoot, is voorbehouden aan dominante dieren. De wolven begroeten anderen door onderwerping te laten zien, met neergeslagen ogen en een zacht gejank. Als wolven boos of bang zijn laten ze dat meestal zien met ontblote tanden en gegrom. Aldus Wikipedia.

Prima dat jij mij bestempelt als Wolf, ik krijg meteen de associatie met Wolverine uit X-Men die het opneemt tegen het “Kwaad”. Daarnaast is acteur Hugh Jackman een lekker ding, oooh sorry dat mag ik natuurlijk niet zeggen, ik spoel mijn mond meteen!
Iemand die er ongevaarlijk uitziet, maar wel gevaarlijk is deze letterlijke vertaling laat ik aan jou en de jouwen van je clubbie! Maar bij mij is het nou net andersom, ik zie er gevaarlijk uit, maar ben ongevaarlijk….

hoeiboei: Lurkende wolven

Nu hoort u het ook eens van een moslim. En nu alsjeblieft nooit meer beweren dat moslims geen gevoel voor humor hebben. Wat is onze student toch eerlijk! Hij gaat nog even door over cultureel imperialisme en waarom de Nederlandse cultuur niet relevant is

Ik ben (g)een nieuwe Nederlander – Wij Blijven Hier!: Het schrijversplatform van moslims

Ik zal de ‘Nieuwe Nederlander’ daarom voorlopig in mijn vocabulaire opslaan, maar alleen tot we een beter alternatief hebben ontwikkeld, want ik blijf geen Nieuwe Nederlander.

nrc.nl – Buitenland – Koptische kerkleiding wil geen problemen

Kopten zijn vaak doelwit van geweld in Egypte, en bekeerlingen zijn al helemaal hun leven niet zeker. Maar de kerkleiding beschermt hen niet of nauwelijks.

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE

0 comments.

Closing the week 53 – Featuring the Detroit terror

Posted on January 3rd, 2010 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

Most popular on Closer last week

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE

The Detroit terror
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab: Why are we surprised? – NigeriansTalk

It is itself a surprise to me that we are responding to the issue of the alleged Nigerian suicide bomber/terrorist if it was totally unpredictable. We want to condemn it, we are disappointed by what Umar is alleged to have done and the added shame and disrepute that has brought upon Nigeria, but it would be wrong to suggest that there are no fundamentalist strains in Nigeria. They abound.

Jasper Schuringa subdued alleged terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on Northwest Airlines 253

The passenger who tackled a suspected terrorist on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 said Saturday that he’s “happy” to be alive.

Jasper Schuringa, a video director and producer from Amsterdam, told CNN how he helped the cabin crew to subdue Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old who reportedly ignited a small explosive device on board the plane Friday as it prepared to land in Detroit.

I’m the first of many, warns airline ‘bomber’ Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab – Times Online

A global search for accomplices in the Detroit airliner plot was under way yesterday after an al-Qaeda group based in Yemen claimed responsibility for the operation and the would-be bomber was reported to have said that more attacks were being planned.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a terrorist cell led by a former personal secretary to Osama bin Laden, issued a statement saying that the failed attack by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a response to American-backed airstrikes on the group in Yemen this month.

MELANIE PHILLIPS: To our eternal shame, Britain is STILL a hub for Islamic terror | Mail Online

So here we go again. Another international Islamic terrorist plot – and yet another British connection.

The attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up an American plane was averted only by luck and courage.

The incident obviously raises alarming questions about gross lapses in security. In particular, how did Abdulmutallab obtain a U.S. visa when he had been on an American watch-list of people with known terrorist connections?

Mel P regurgitates her ‘Londonistan’ theory

It is characteristic of Phillips’ style and motives to favour a pseudo-intellectual analysis and proffer crude solutions over and above a rational, objective critique advancing focused and nuanced recommendations. Were she rather more sensible and sensitive she would see that Muslims do seek to live in Britain on ‘exactly the same basis as all other religious minorities’.

Detroit terror attack: British university ‘complicit’ in radicalisation – Telegraph

University College London, where Abdulmutallab was recently president of the Islamic Society, has been criticised for “failing grotesquely” to prevent extremists from giving lectures on campus.

UCL has been heavily criticised in the past for its relaxed attitude to radical preachers, and security agencies are investigating whether it was there that Detroit bomber Abdulmutallab was recruited by al-Qaeda sympathisers.

Dozens killed in Yemen air strike on al-Qaeda suspects, al-Awlaki may have been amongst them UPDATE: Awlaki is reported to be alive and well | MR’s Blog

UPDATE: According to this article Anwar al-Awlaki is alive and well.

On Anwar Al-Awlaki « Ginny’s Thoughts & Things

But regarding the reports of the death of Anwar Al-Awlaki, just wanted to say that despite the fact that I don’t know much about him, can’t say I’ve ever listened to any of his lectures, and that some of his recent blog posts/statements that I’ve read/heard about I have found to be shocking to say the least… I also would not wish for his death or rejoice at his death. One rule that I always try to live by is “do unto others as you’d have them do unto you”. Which means pretty much that no matter how much he may have advocated for the deaths of innocent civilians, or called Nidal Hasan a hero or may or may not advocate for the death and murder of Muslims who don’t follow his line of thinking or whatever, I’m still not going to rejoice upon his death. Why? Because quite simply, I’d not want him or anyone else to rejoice upon my death. I would want people to make dua for me, to pray for me, that Allah forgives me of my sins, makes my grave spacious for me, makes the questioning easy for me, and admits me, Inshallah, to the highest place in Jannah. And this is even assuming he was killed, which we don’t know for sure. And he may actually still be alive according to some reports.

The thing is, though, I also don’t think I’d go so far as to put him on a pedestal either, being that he’s supposedly said (if his blog posts are/were to be believed) some pretty shocking things an advocated positions that don’t seem Islamic to me. Because advocating for the deaths of innocent people, who’ve not as yet committed a crime, calling people heroes who’ve killed as yet innocent people, are just not positions that I feel that I can follow or even take seriously for that matter, and this is by no means “diminishing the position of jihad inIslam”, because quite simply, this is not jihad.

Political Correctness Gone Mad — Crooked Timber

A strong country has a strong culture that it is willing to defend against the enemy – and a willingness to ignore the natterers of multiculturalism when its citizens’ lives are in danger. We were lucky this time. We may not be so lucky the next.

Discussion » Body scans or body searches on airports?

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s attempt to blow up Northwest flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit on Friday failed, but he did succeed in taking 80 grammes of explosive PETN powder on board. The question being raised in the Netherlands is whether he should have been subjected to a so-called millimetre wave scan before boarding at Schiphol airport. The Amsterdam airport bought equipment that uses waves to scan the outlines of passengers’ bodies in 2007.

Gender & relations
Polygamy for Chicks: Saving Spinster Men Everywhere – elan: The Guide to Global Muslim Culture

I’m no religious scholar, but I basically do not understand the rationale for contemporary polygamy. I really don’t think single women need to be rescued anymore. If a woman remains unmarried at 30, I think she’ll survive. And if a man is so bored by one woman, then maybe he shouldn’t have gotten married in the first place.

Saudi television journalist Nadine al-Bedair feels the ridiculousness of modern-day polygamy just as acutely. She even wrote an article in the independent Egyptian newspaper, Al-Masry Al-Youm, entitled “My Four Husbands and I.” In it, she argues that if men have the right to marry up to four women, then women should have the right to marry up to four men. It’s a little something called gender equality, she says.

“A man would say, ‘I am bored. She has become like a sister to me. I am no longer sexually attracted to her.’…” al-Bedair writes (as translated in an Al Arabiya article). Then she asks what happens when a woman gets bored of her husband or if she has never enjoyed her married life. Men are allowed to escape from unfulfilling marriages while women remain trapped in them. Al-Bedair proposes that either polygamy be allowed for both men and women or “a new map for marriage be drawn to defeat men’s ‘lame’ excuses,” says the Al Arabiya article”>Al Arabiya article.

Of course, clerics across Egypt have not taken kindly to al-Bedair’s article, calling it blasphemous and filing complaints against the newspaper.

altmuslimah.com – Relationships: There are just no good Muslim women out there

I shouldn’t take this any further. Apart from not being true, it’s a diatribe that obfuscates something deeper (just as the parallel, but unnervingly more standard retreat, “Where are all the good Muslim men?” does). The degree of intelligent, sincere, socially conscious, and admirable Muslim women I meet is staggering, many of whom in a previous life I wouldn’t have hesitated asking out to dinner to get to know better. Yet, I find myself simply put off by Muslim women.

Organica: Muslim Dating: The Reality of Our Ummah

When people ask “do Muslims date?” A big chunk of Muslims will quickly respond with a “Hell No!” Because remember that Hadeeth about Shaytaan being the third? Ya, so of course Muslims don’t date, commit adultery or drink alcohol or have gay sex or break any other Quranic tenet. Muslims are perfect angels with no faults.

But if you’ve lived among a large Muslim population, befriended Muslims or visited a Muslim majority country, you will learn that things are not very different than what we see here (in America) among the mainstream culture. Muslims indulge in all of these acts, but the only difference is all is done in secrecy, in a hush-hush secret alternative reality where it’s better to sweep your shame under the carpet than dreadfully advertise your sins.

One doesn’t need to travel to the Middle East to witness the phenomenon. Take a short trip to the beautiful city of Toronto and its neighboring suburbs where a Muslim majority is present in the high school scene. You will find the percentages of Muslim individuals involved in dating, sex, drinking, drugs, etc is high, which is no different than a school with a Judeo-Christian majority.

If you’ve ever visited fatwa sites like Islam QA or Islamonline cyber counseling/fatwa section you will learn that our Muslim youth aren’t living a sin-free life. I remember a young man once wrote the site asking for advice about his ‘problem.’ You see this young man, an aspiring Sheikh, was attracted to men and he didn’t know how to keep his faith and battle his desires. Another girl wrote asking what to do with a man she loves and is on the verge of committing adultery with because her practicing beautiful Muslim family won’t allow her to marry him.

Organica: Part 2: Muslim Dating

When parents eventually learn about their child’s alternate reality their reaction is of one of two: 1) Overreact the situation, curse and damn child to hell, take away worldly possessions such as a phone while spitting out every Quranic verse to guilt the child to stop; 2) Deny the situation entirely and never address it. Astonishingly, the latter occurs at a much higher frequency.

Doctor turns away woman wearing veil | Radio Netherlands Worldwide

On Christmas day, a family doctor in Utrecht refused to allow a woman into his surgery because she was wearing a niqab, or burqa.

The 23-year-old woman had brought her baby to see the doctor. The three-month-old child had diarrhoea and had not drunk for several hours, a situation which is potentially dangerous in young baby. However, the doctor refused to see the woman because she was wearing Islamic dress, with her face covered.

Sveriges Radio International – English — Engelska

The introduction of a dress code for students at the University of Gothenburg has raised suspicion that the new policy might be aimed at Muslims. Swedish Radio news reports that lecturers now have the right to demand their students be dressed in a certain way during certain activities.

Hanan Turk is a famous Egyptian actress who started off her entertainment career as a professional ballerina. In 2006 she decided to wear hijab and shocked her fans by taking a break from the spotlight for a few years. She’s been back recently in the Arab cinema and television scene and has surprised naysayers with her success as a serious actress who just happens to don a headscarf.

Hijabtrendz recently interviewed Turk to learn more about what it’s like to be a Hijabi in a field that traditionally doesn’t support women who wear hijab.

Man jailed for life for ‘honour killing’

A 50-year-old Turkish man was jailed for life in Germany on Tuesday over the brutal “honour killing” of his 20-year-old daughter, a murder carried out together with the victim’s twin brother.

The National – People of the Decade: Sheikha Mozah of Qatar

Arab women who fight to end the practice of child marriages, or encourage the education of girls, or for women’s right to vote are often accused of importing a western feminism that is at odds with the values of conservative Muslim societies.

Over the years, particularly in the past decade, the Arab world has become increasingly religious. Partially as a result, there are fewer women in public life. If prominent Arab women are rare, then prominent Gulf Arab women are rarer still.

Which is why, when Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned arrived in Paris with her husband, the Emir of Qatar, for a state dinner at the Elysée Palace last June, traditionalists gasped. She also upstaged her hostess, that scary glamazon Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. In a floor-length, long-sleeved fuchsia gown cinched at the waist with a diamond and pearl belt, her hair wrapped in an elegant matching turban, the sheikha projected a retro glamour. Bruni-Sarkozy almost looked mousy by comparison.

Misc.
The End – Mujahideen Ryder’s Blog (2000 to 2009) | MR’s Blog

It’s been a long time with lots of fun, educational, spiritual, controversial and outrageous posts over an entire decade. The blog was bound to come to an end as do everything.

Cameron and the Muslim Vote (Part IV)

In addition to the choreography augmenting Muslim stigma, Michael Gove’s uneducated declarations, Douglas Murray’s fabrications and Paul Goodman’s bluster, there was another group of individuals lending support to the edifice of this intrigue. Although these individuals were not mentioned by name, there is strong evidence to suggest that they are the usual suspects whose latest incarnation as “Christmas tree activists” is consistent with their history as opportunists who will turn their heads in whichever direction the wind happens to be blowing. They are of course Ed and Co at the government-funded Quilliam Foundation.

Who Have Been Your Heroes and Villains of 2009? | MPACUK – Empowerment through political participation

As 2009 draws to a close and the Islamic year begins, let’s ponder on the happenings of the past year and reflect who have been our heroes and villains of 2009.

Mosque in Germany to Honor Marwa El Sherbini | Bikya Masr

A group of Islamic and Arab leaders, as well as a group from the Egyptian community in Germany, have asked the German government to grant them a license to build a mosque in Dresden in honor of the Egyptian woman killed in a courtroom in the same city. The original incident raised wide feelings of anger among Muslims,many of whom described the crime as a “hate crime” and have called Marwa El Sherbini, the victim, a “Martyr of veil”.

Glenn Greenwald – Salon.com

We’re currently at various forms of war in five different Muslim countries, so it’s not surprising that some of the violence directed at us is from Muslims. But to claim that “100 percent of attempted terrorist attacks on the U.S. (and [other than Spain], terrorists attacks on all Western nations)” since 1995 are by “people claiming to act in the name of Islam” is so blatantly, demonstrably, obviously false that you really have to wonder about a person who would utter such a thing. And while most don’t veer quite as deep into the falsehood department as Weiss did, one would get the sense from listening to our standard political discourse that “Terrorism” and “Islamic-inspired Terrorism” are synonymous. It’s the kind of myth-based demonization that is as familiar as it is false, dangerous and repugnant.

Informed Comment: Top Ten Good News Stories from the Muslim World in 2009 that You Never Heard About

Top Ten Good News Stories from the Muslim World in 2009 that You Never Heard About

Swiss ban on minarets was a vote for tolerance and inclusion / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com

Swiss ban on minarets was a vote for tolerance and inclusion

The Swiss vote highlights the debate on Islam as a set of political and collectivist ideas, not a rejection of Muslims.

By Ayaan Hirsi Ali / December 5, 2009
Washington

The recent Swiss referendum that bans construction of minarets has caused controversy across the world. There are two ways to interpret the vote. First, as a rejection of political Islam, not a rejection of Muslims. In this sense it was a vote for tolerance and inclusion, which political Islam rejects. Second, the vote was a revelation of the big gap between how the Swiss people and the Swiss elite judge political Islam.

Al Jazeera English – Europe – Danish cartoonist attacker charged

A Danish court has charged a Somali man with the attempted murder of a cartoonist whose 2005 drawings of Prophet Muhammad outraged Muslims around the world.

Dutch

Maghreb Magazine » Moslimomroep krijgt zendmachtiging

Stichting Moslim Omroep Nederland (SMON) heeft van het Commissariaat voor de Media (CvdM) de nieuwe zendmachtiging gekregen voor de hoofdstroom islam. De vergunning gaat in september 2010 in en geldt voor vijf jaar. Dit heeft het CvdM donderdag bekend gemaakt.

.god.voor.dommen » Blog Archive » Onze Judeo-Christelijke cultuur. Geen oplossing maar onderdeel van het probleem.

Het is opvallend hoe vaak we de laatste jaren geconfronteerd worden met het vermelden van onze veronderstelde ‘christelijke wortels’ als het gaat om een beschouwing van onze ‘Westerse cultuur’. In menig politiek debat wordt erover gesproken alsof het een onbetwistbaar feit is en ook in het debat rondom religie is het een faux pas om kanttekeningen te plaatsen.

CAPRICIO ITALIANO: PETITIE VOOR GEERT WILDERS

Onlangs stond in “bij de buren” een link naar een petitie tegen de vervolging van Geert Wilders. Dit zorgde voor een aanzienlijke toename van het aantal ondertekenaars. Daarom wijden we er nu een artikel aan.

Nederlandse tolerantie | Justice

Er wordt vaak gesproken over moslims die zeer gevaarlijk zijn, ze zouden radicale gedachtes en idealen hebben. Ondertussen heb je ook nog een Wilders, die de Islam de grond in boort, de moslims zouden volgens totaal niet in de maatschappij passen, rellen om cartoons die hun profeet keihard beledigen, en niet te vergeten Theo van Gogh, de Islam zou de oorzaak hiervan zijn, dit terwijl het in werkelijkheid maar een persoon was met psychische problemen.

Dat laatste heeft ons laten zien hoe tolerant de Nederlanders zijn, hoe zij zich gedragen als er iets gebeurd.

Christendom tolerant? Integendeel – Opinie – de Volkskrant

De Europese beschaving zou nu ver voorliggen op de islam. Maar die demarrage is nog maar net ingezet

Met zijn stuk ‘Hoe Europa zijn zelfvertrouwen verloor’ heeft Frits Bolkestein zich opnieuw geschaard onder wat de filosoof Daniel Dennett heeft omschreven als de believers in belief. Dat zijn mensen die zelf niet geloven, die de inhoud van het geloof vaak als onhoudbaar of zelfs als onzinnig afwijzen, maar die het toch heilzaam vinden dat anderen wel geloven.

Bidruimte moslims in Edam – Waterland – Noordhollands Dagblad

Bidruimte moslims in Edam

Marokkaanse moslims in Edam bouwen volgend jaar hun eigen gebedsruimte. Het gebouw, zonder minaretten, komt achter het sociaalcultureel centrum De Singel. Begin januari wordt de eerste paal geslagen.

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE

0 comments.

De winnaars en verliezers van 2009

Posted on December 31st, 2009 by martijn.
Categories: Blind Horses, Blogosphere, Headline.

Zo de uitslagen zijn binnen en bekeken door de partijdige jury. Ik heb diverse mails binnengekregen van mensen die de poll veel te politiek vonden. Dat kan. Aan de andere kant, probeer eens een poll te maken met onderwerpen over islam/moslims/multiculturele samenleving die niet politiek is. Een andere andere vraag ging over de afwezigheid van blogs van moslims terwijl deze site toch een uitgebreid overzicht daarvan biedt. Dat viel mij ook op, maar dan moeten ze wel genomineerd worden; alleen Wijblijvenhier.nl kwam naar voren maar niet vaak genoeg. Dan een hele trits mails met dit had er echt in gemoeten, waarom staat deze er niet in? Volgende keer beter mensen en u kunt u suggesties voor 2010 het hele jaar insturen (en ze worden dan in ieder geval opgenomen in de weekoverzichten).

Dan nu maar de uitslag he.

Beste en slechtste nieuwsbericht

Onbedreigd het beste van het begin af aan was RTL’s 110 burgerdoden door missie Uruzgan. Eindelijk weer eens een mooi staaltje onderzoeksjournalistiek en vasthoudendheid schreef een journalist van een concurrend station aan mij. Spannender was de verkiezing voor het slechtste bericht. Lange tijd stond Elsevier’s Amsterdam ontsnapt aan grootschalige aanslag bovenaan. Uiteindelijk is het de Telegraaf geworden met het bericht Wilders wil avondklok voor moslims. Zoals één van de mensen mij liet weten: Dit laat maar weer eens zien hoe de Telegraaf en media in het algemeen iedere scheet van Wilders en moslims onkritisch opblazen en niet eens de basisvaardigheden voor een journalist kunnen hanteren. Een vette hoax en erger, men rectificeert niet, nee men haalt het bericht gewoon weg. Geschiedvervalsing dus. De Telegraaf reageert niet op mijn verzoek om een reactie, het zal wel zoiets als dit zijn.
De totale uitslag:

Blogentries

Beste blogentry is onbedreigd de post geschreven door Gin op Sargasso.nl: Vrouwenbesnijdenis: verminking of een mensenrecht. Het is goed geschreven en pakt een ingewikkeld actueel onderwerp – vrouwenbesnijdenis – en laat een onverwacht perspectief zien: dat van de vrouwen die voor de praktijk van vrouwenbesnijdenis zijn. Voor mensen die daar meer over willen lezen, Anthropology Today heeft een interessant interview van Richard Shweder met Fuambai S. Ahmadu die in Sierra Leone (net als Gin) onderzoek heeft gedaan. Het is HIER te lezen.

De strijd om de slechtste blogentry was spannender met Geenstijl.nl als goede tweede, maar uiteindelijk is het toch Stan de Jong’s Kristallnacht geworden. Hier zijn ook nogal wat mails binnengekomen die goed laten zien hoe hoog mensen dit stuk opnemen “Stan de Jong is de nieuwe Goebbels”, “Als hij als journalist dit stuk schrijft, wat betekent dat dan voor zijn zogenaamde onderzoeksjournalistiek? Stan de Jong is een onbetrouwbare liegende stukjesschrijver”. Het is grof maar wel te begrijpen. Hij hoort een groep Marokkaans-Nederlandse jongens schreeuwen (etnisch kenmerk: capuchonnetjes en scooters). Hij weet niet wat ze zeiden, maar ze stonden voor een kosjere kruidenier dus hij wist wel wat ze bedoelden. Zoiets voel je aan. Hij weet niet wie ze waren, hoeveel of waar vandaan, maar het weerhoudt hem er allemaal niet van om er het stempel Kristallnacht op te plakken zeker omdat het ten tijde van het incident Offerfeest was (logica…). Hoe kan een ervaren journalist (goed over het algemeen voor de rioolpers en niet altijd even zorgvuldig) zo over de zeik raken van al te luidruchtige jongeren? En dat vervolgens ook nog eens opschrijven? En dat vervolgens ook nog eens publiceren? En wat nog erger is, zoals we hebben kunnen lezen in Bert Brussen’s uitstekende stukjes over Zuilen; er zijn wel degelijk problemen ervaren met Marokkaans-Nederlandse jongeren, en niet zo’n klein beetje ook. Stan de Jong’s stuk is een klap in het gezicht van die mensen want zijn stuk wordt een uitnodiging om die mensen belachelijk te maken. Vervolgens doet hij dan ook nog eens aan geschiedvervalsing door het stuk weg te halen. Een laffe, hypocriete en onbetrouwbare journalist.

De totale uitslag:

Zo en nu ga ik maar eens aan de oliebollen.

4 comments.

Closing the week 52

Posted on December 27th, 2009 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

Most popular on Closer this week:

Lezers van Closer kiezen het beste/slechtste nieuwsbericht/blogentry over islam/moslims/multiculturele samenleving. Ga HIERHEEN.

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE

Anthropology
Avatar | Savage Minds

I recently had a chance to see the movie Avatar in glorious IMAX 3D, which is the only way I would recommend anyone see the film. It is certainly not a film one sees for the writing, or the characters, or the story telling. It is a spectacular display of visual pyrotechnics, and I should probably leave it at that. However, the film is like a giant anthropological piñata and after two days of sitting on my hands I can’t hold off any more.

Jingle Bell – Punjabi Tadka

When we started this blog, we hoped that anthropologists among our readers would be willing to contribute ‘pictures of the week’, photos (or videos) that would illustrate in a suggestive manner a theme of cognition-and-culture relevance, but we had very little success and, sadly, we have all but given up. Here however is video not from an ethnographer but suggested by 3QuarksDaily and borrowed from YouTube that illustrates in a pleasant and timely manner how cultural items borrowed in another culture get transformed in the direction of a better integration to their novel environment.

Obama’s ‘ideological utopianism’ « Islam, Muslims, and an Anthropologist

Obama’s speeches are becoming a classic, no less than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, for those studying English, at least in Japan. Certainly, after eight years of Bushisms, Obama’s words sound like Shakespeare. Hence, few would have complained if the Nobel committee would have awarded him the Nobel in literature. Notwithstanding that, in listening to Barack Obama’s 36-minute Nobel lecture we may wonder whether a mistake has been made and if the President was supposed to receive the Nobel in Philosophy for his contribution to contemporary Sophism instead of Peace. Indeed, if Barack Obama should be compared to somebody for his Laureate Speech, it would certainly not be Martin Luther King or Gandhi, but perhaps rather John Lennon.

One-Dimensional Us – adambohannon

Sometimes things just seem to happen all at the right moment. I finished reading the first chapter of Herbert Marcuse’s One-Dimensional Man tonight. It’s titled New Forms of Control and in it Marcuse lays out his thoughts on the extent to which modern post-industrial society has reconfigured, in part through technological progress, humanity’s priorities by bombarding us with unnecessary things and desires, creating what he calls “false needs,” ultimately resulting in a pervasive “unfreedom” — a repressive existence with the visage of liberation but that is no more than the “free choice between brands and gadgets.”

trinketing « trinketization

So, the trite thing to ask is ‘What would Benjamin have to say about the Boxing Day sales?’ If you think that the Arcades equation goes: Capitalism > Paris > Arcades > Flaneur > Snowdome then you have probably missed the entire premise. Condensation is not all that goes on here – the world is not desiccated trinkets. It’s the constellation that can be discerned in the appreciation of trinkets that matters. The book remains unfinished (and I hate to say it but that also seems to be my excuse, though the mountain and the morphine are not yet in reach).

Space and Culture : Looking back at 2009

Boston.com’s The Big Picture takes a wide-ranging look at 2009 and although there is plenty that could be said about these end-of-year photo reflections, really I was just struck by a strange combination of hope and despair.

hawgblawg: BrAsian post-punk band Alien Culture

Thanks to Nabeel Zuberi, I was led to this post about the post-punk British Asian band Alien Culture. The post is informative, it’s very important history, especially if you are interested in the emergence into visibility of BrAsians in Brit pop culture and anti-racist politics. You can also download the only two songs that the band ever recorded, “Asian Youth” and “Culture Crossover.” John Peel played them on his show, but the band never “made” it.

European politics
The Associated Press: Lawmaker plans bill to ban all-encompassing veil

Lawmaker plans bill to ban all-encompassing veil

By SYLVIE CORBET (AP) – 4 days ago

PARIS — A French parliamentarian said Tuesday he would file legislation to bar Muslim women from wearing veils that hide their faces in public.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has said that burqa-like veils are “not welcome” in France, and a parliamentary panel has been gathering information on the subject to release in a nonbinding report expected next month.

UK fails to halt female genital mutilation – Home News, UK – The Independent

Girls are still at risk this Christmas as ‘cutters’ are flown in from abroad to perform the illegal procedure here

By Nina Lakhani

Women in Somalia being educated about the dangers of genital mutilation. Campaigners in the UK are angry that there have been no prosecutions of practitioners

Hundreds of British schoolgirls are facing the terrifying prospect of female genital mutilation (FGM) over the Christmas holidays as experts warn the practice continues to flourish across the country. Parents typically take their daughters back to their country of origin for FGM during school holidays, but The Independent on Sunday has been told that “cutters” are being flown to the UK to carry out the mutilation at “parties” involving up to 20 girls to save money.

Take off my what? Headscarves, hats and history (2) by HERA HASHMI*

Whenever the headscarf ban is mentioned, it quickly spirals into a debate about secularism, which is another major justification for the ban.

But what makes headscarf-wearing women in Turkey such an obstacle to a secular government when women in many Western countries and democracies wear headscarves and are able to participate easily in the public sphere?

Stop tiptoeing around ‘honour’ killings | Poorna Shetty | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Stop tiptoeing around ‘honour’ killings

Anyone who thinks murder is better than suffering the indignation of a community needs more than a softly-softly approach

The Curse of Being a “Moderate Muslim” | MPACUK – Empowerment through political participation

Recently, I’ve been reading a book by Stephen Poole entitled ‘Unspeak’ which explains just how powerful words can be in shaping the minds of an entire society.

And it was whilst reading this book that I came across an old article by Daniel Pipes about ‘moderate Muslims’.

Now, the fact is that I used to believe the tripe that we need Muslims to be “moderate” but the more and more I thought about it, it became clear just how detrimental this term is.

By saying that you are a ‘moderate Muslim’ you are basically saying that you moderately follow the tenets of Islam.

Terror
Op-Ed Columnist – www.jihad.com Thomas Friedman at NYTimes.com

Let’s not fool ourselves. Whatever threat the real Afghanistan poses to U.S. national security, the “Virtual Afghanistan” now poses just as big a threat. The Virtual Afghanistan is the network of hundreds of jihadist Web sites that inspire, train, educate and recruit young Muslims to engage in jihad against America and the West. Whatever surge we do in the real Afghanistan has no chance of being a self-sustaining success, unless there is a parallel surge — by Arab and Muslim political and religious leaders — against those who promote violent jihadism on the ground in Muslim lands and online in the Virtual Afghanistan.

John L. Esposito: Tom Friedman on Muslims and Terrorism: Getting it Wrong Again

Thomas Friedman, in his Dec. 15 column “www.jihad.com” repeats and reinforces the same tired, totally incorrect, but commonly-made generalization preached in his July 9, 2005 column, “If it’s a Muslim Problem, It Needs a Muslim Solution,” that “no major Muslim cleric or religious body has ever issued a fatwa condemning Osama bin Laden.” In his most recent column, Friedman continues to assert, despite readily available information to the contrary, that ” a “violent, jihadist minority seems to enjoy the most ‘legitimacy’ in the Muslim world today” and that “Few political and religious leaders dare to speak out against them in public”…..”How many fatwas — religious edicts — have been issued by the leading bodies of Islam against Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda?” Friedman asks and then answers his own question with “Very few.”

How To Win A Cosmic War

The global jihad movement is more than a movement – it’s an idea Aslan says. It goes beyond nations, states, cultures or ethnicities. The way to end such cosmic movement is by addressing the fundamental grievances Muslim’s feel in order to make the movement irrelevant.

Anwar al-Awlaki, Radical Cleric, Believed Unhurt In Yemeni Airstrike

A U.S.-born radical cleric is alive and well following reports he may have been killed in a Yemeni airstrike against suspected al-Qaida hideouts, friends and relatives said Friday.

The government said it targeted a meeting of high-level al-Qaida operatives in Thursday’s airstrike in the remote Shabwa region. It claimed at least 30 militants were killed, possibly including Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical cleric who has been linked to the shooter in last month’s attack at the Fort Hood military base in the U.S.

On Friday, a friend of the cleric, Abu Bakr al-Awlaki, told The Associated Press he was not among those killed. He refused to say if the cleric was attending the meeting.

Gender, activism and debate
altmuslimah.com – Beauty: Loving the skin you’re in: Unlearning the obsession with fair skin

Looking into the mirror, I stare at the reflection of my chai-colored forehead; I pause and consider the shades of color slowly descend down my face. Peeking through the brown, a soft pink highlights my cheekbones and the dimples around my crooked smile. The protected skin around my eyelids is the much coveted milky cream color that incites the unwelcome thought of discontent at the shade of my skin.

Violence against women is not a tenet of Islam by Naazish YarKhan – Common Ground News Service

Glendale Heights, Illinois – Listening to the radio one day, I was shocked to hear the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report on widespread occurrence of rape in Afghanistan. As a Muslim who knows that the core of her religion is about justice and mercy, I asked myself how the perpetrators of these acts could have strayed so far from the Muslim faith and from basic humane principles.

South Asians Confront AIDS Among Monogamous Women | Womens eNews

Ice was broken here in early December among three powerful groups of South Asian women.

About 20 female parliamentarians, journalists and staff members of nonprofit groups in South Asia left Washington, D.C., with strategies they believed could reduce the current specter of women losing their homes after caring for spouses who died of AIDS, as well as aiding HIV-positive women who are unable to reach rural clinics and teens who aren’t aware of how to prevent the infection.

AFP: Egypt university to appeal niqab ruling

Egypt university to appeal niqab ruling

(AFP) – 5 days ago

CAIRO — A leading Cairo university will appeal a court decision allowing female students to don the full face veil on campus dormitories, a university official said on Monday.

“Cairo’s Ain Shams University will immediately appeal the decision issued by the Supreme Administrative Court on Sunday,” the official said.

Sun2Surf

The High Court here today fixed Jan 25 for a decision on the application by Sisters in Islam (SIS) to lift the Home Ministry’s ban on its book “Muslim Women and the Challenge of Islamic Extremism”.

Justice Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof fixed the date after hearing submissions from senior federal counsel Noor Hishamuddin Ismail, for the then homeminister, Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar, and SIS’s counsel, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar.

SIS, in its application for a judicial review, claimed the ban on the book was outside the ambit of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 and contravened Articles 8(2), 10(1)(a) and 11(4) of the Federal Constitution.

tehran times : IKF banned women’s Shukokai style due to unveiling hijab

IKF banned women’s Shukokai style due to unveiling hijab
Tehran Times Sports Desk

TEHRAN – Iran’s Karate Federation (IKF) banned the Shitoryu Shukokai Union style for women after the youth athletes unveiled their hijab (Islamic covering) in the tournament held in Germany two weeks ago.

Iran: Woman Activist Somayeh Rashidi Arrested

Somayeh Rashidi, women’s rights defender and Campaign activist was arrested earlier today, Saturday December 19, after appearing for interrogation at the Revolutionary Courts.

Misc.
Feeling like a Muslim « The Making of My Identity

How do you feel today? Do you feel like a Muslim? Are you thinking like a Muslim? Talking and acting like a Muslim?

LoonWatch Islamophobia Montage | loonwatch.com

One of our readers, isherif who if I recall has been commenting on our site for quite some time now really took the initiative and provided us with a cool short montage of some of our best hits. We really love it when readers interact with us and are pro-active in joining us in exposing Islamophobia.

Top political philosophy books of the noughties — Crooked Timber

Jacob Levy is asking his Facebook friends to nominate their tips for the best political philosophy books (best, most enduring, most interesting) of the decade that Brits are now referring to as “the noughties”.

Switzerland celebrates democracy and “extreme” tolerance | El Koshary Today

Following last month’s vote that resulted in a ban on the construction of minarets throughout the federation, Switzerland is set to handle the growing threat of Muslim immigration coined “non-Swiss chocolate”. While the majority of Western European countries have not succeeded in outcasting Muslims outright, and in some cases going as far as granting them basic rights, the Swiss have become an example of a functional democracy that guarantees equality to all citizens that matter.

Reaching such a historical achievement was no walk in the park. The Association of Swiss Saviors, or ASS, is a group of liberal, intellectual teenagers who have realized that climate change, and the financial crisis accompanied by poor chocolate exports are of little concern when compared to the ever present, imminent threat of Muslim infiltration.

Dutch

Lezers van Closer kiezen het beste/slechtste nieuwsbericht/blogentry over islam/moslims/multiculturele samenleving. Ga HIERHEEN.

‘Justitie dwingt asielzoeker tot islam’ – Trouw Hoe de PVV-helden voorkomen dat alle niet-moslims worden afgeslacht door alle moslims | Krapuul.nl

Ik was even bang dat de PVV was begonnen met een offensief om ons Nederlanders tijdens deze Kerst dood te vervelen. Maar dankzij zo’n bondgenoot van de PVV, dit keer een labiele Nigeriaan, valt er toch weer wat te beleven, een heus spoeddebat. En waarover? De Koran.

Vrouw en Islam | Justice

De laatste tijd proberen sommige politici over de ruggen van moslimvrouwen heen te scoren door hen voor te stellen als onmondige en domme vrouwen die onderdrukt worden door hun brute broers en vaders. Wil men deze broodnodige discussie helder en zuiver voeren dienen politici, ‘witte’ feministen maar zeer zeker ook moslims zich op de hoogte te stellen wat de Islam zelf zegt over bijvoorbeeld: vrouwenrechten, eerwraak, educatie, vrije partnerkeuze, maagdenvlies mythe, het orgasme, echtscheiding, 2e vrouw, politieke loopbaan, huishouding, bezit en de eigen achternaam

Moslimbroeder: gij zult geen kerst vieren | De Dagelijkse Standaard

Nou Ahmed, als het aan jouw grote idool al-Qaradawi ligt, breng jij je dochtertje volgend jaar dus niet meer met een hapje naar school voor dat gezellige en warme kerstdiner.

Voetbalzone – Meepraten over voetbal. Abel Xavier beëindigt actieve carrière en bekeert zich tot islam

Abel Xavier heeft dinsdag definitief een punt gezet achter zijn actieve loopbaan. De 37-jarige Portugese verdediger, geboren in Mozambique, maakte het nieuws op een persconferentie in de Verenigde Arabische Emiraten bekend. Xavier liet ook weten zich tot de islam bekeerd te hebben en vanaf nu Faisal te heten.

In naam van de moslim – Funda – VKBlog – de Volkskrant

Mijn lief begrijpt mijn opwinding niet over het besluit van de Haagse Hogeschool om dit jaar geen grote kerstboom in de hal te plaatsen. Hij werkt zelf in het onderwijs: “Jij weet hoeveel wij moeten bezuinigen. Misschien was het alleen maar een financiële overweging. En een kerstboom die niet eens gemist zal worden, scheelt veel geld. Doe toch niet mee met die hitserigheid.”

“Wat jij hitserigheid noemt raakt ons allemaal. Die studenten is niets gevraagd. Misschien missen zij de gezelligheid van een grote kerstboom in de hal wel degelijk. In Turkije worden restaurants en hotels al jaren opgesierd met immens grote kerstbomen; als symbool van gezelligheid en de jaarwisseling. En stel dat jij gelijk hebt met je: het is alleen maar een financiële overweging. Waar blijft de verantwoordelijkheid van deze ‘beslissers’ als het gaat om de gevoelige en verhitte discussies over moslims en de islam in Nederland? Het zet alleen maar kwaad bloed. Ik citeer wat mijn Turkse glazenwasser deze week zei: “Wat voor moslims verzinnen dit soort dingen? Natuurlijk worden Nederlanders boos. In Turkije is het toch ondenkbaar dat nieuwkomers de tradities veranderen of aanpassen?”

De schijn van islamitische dominantie – Wij Blijven Hier!: Het schrijversplatform van moslims

Voor moslims in dit land is een belangrijke taak weggelegd en wel deze: Moslims moeten enige terughoudendheid betrachten en de schijn van ‘islamitische’ dominantie in het Nederlandse straatbeeld zien tegen te gaan.

‘Discriminatie moslims alarmerend’ – DePers.nl

Anti-moslimsentimenten vormen een ernstig probleem in Europa. Te veel Europeanen geloven dat een religieuze identiteit integratie tegenwerkt, terwijl de meeste moslims zich juist sterk identificeren met het stad en het land waarin zij wonen.

Hoe Europa z’n zelfvertrouwen verloor – Opinie – de Volkskrant

In het christendom liggen zelfkritiek, zelfrelativering en schuld besloten. Misschien ligt daar de oorzaak van ons gebrek aan zelfvertrouwen.

Er is een islamitische burgeroorlog nodig – Opinie – de Volkskrant

Hoe lang duurt het nog voordat moslims en Arabische leiders hun stem verheffen en protest aantekenen tegen moslim-aanslagen?

Opklaringen » De witte band en de zwarte hoofddoek

Wat vindt u? Slaat het Westen, zoals Bolkestein stelt, door in zijn zelfkritiek? Verschilt het christelijke Europa in zijn basis echt zoveel met de islamitische beschaving? Of zijn de problemen met homoseksuele docenten op de Veluwe van een zelfde orde als de incidenten met moslims die weigeren vrouwen de hand te schudden? En is het verstandig om in het integratiedebat de christelijke wortels van Europa te benadrukken?

Mohammed, Alia en Feruk vieren Kerst – Trouw

Islam en Kerst, gaat dat samen? Steeds meer mensen vinden van wel. Kerstmis is niet alleen een religieus feest, maar heeft ook aardse waarde, „vriendschap, liefde, warmte en gezelligheid. Daar kan een moslim niet tegen zijn”.

Bouyafa met argusogen bekeken – Binnenland – de Volkskrant

De gezaghebbende Yahia Bouyafa (47) lijkt zich in te zetten voor de Nederlandse moslims. Maar is dat ook zo?

Bruggenbouwers » “Nederland kijkt naar de islam door een christelijke bril”

Mirjam Shatanawi is historicus en arabist. Ze deed onderzoek naar de islam in Senegal, Soedan en Egypte en is nu werkzaam als conservator Midden-Oosten en Noord-Afrika bij het Tropenmuseum. Onlangs verscheen haar prachtige boek Islam in beeld. Kunst en cultuur van moslims wereldwijd. Wat is haar favoriete kunst en wat vindt zij van de manier waarop Nederlanders naar islamitische kunst en cultuur kijken?

waar werd oprechter trouw, dan tussen man en vrouw: Nora Kasrioui komt in verlegenheid

Nora Kasrioui komt in verlegenheid

door het minarettenverbod. Naar nu blijkt hebben Zwitserse feministen met hun stem het minarettenverbod in Zwitserland mogelijk gemaakt. Door de afkeer van sharia en de onderdrukking van de vrouw, heeft de Zwitserse feministe Julia Onken besloten een positief stemadvies te geven. Door een email sneeuwbal kwam uiteindelijk een positieve stemming voor het minarettenverbod op gang.

Is Europa schatplichtig aan de islam 1 (Islam) – Eurabia

De gedachtenpolitie is ook actief op universiteiten en in het onderwijs. Ons culturele zelfbeeld wordt gelijkgeschakeld in afwachting van verdere islamisering.

De islamitische hoofddoek is een swastika

Waarom? Hans Jansen zegt het niet zo, maar legt het wel nog een keertje uit. Lezen bij Hoeiboei. Ook minaretten zijn swastika’s. Symbolen van de islam, wat een fascistische doctrine is. -(notitie voor Meldpunt Discriminatie Internet -MDI- en Justitie: Michiel Mans, Rozengracht 48 III, 1016ND Amsterdam)- Kortom, leve de Zwitsers dus.

‘Justitie dwingt bekering tot islam af’ – Nederlands Dagblad

‘Justitie dwingt bekering tot islam af’

Geplaatst: 21 december 2009 08:00, laatste wijziging: 21 december 2009 08:19

van onze redactie binnenland

ZWOLLE – De Dienst Terugkeer & Vertrek (DT&V) van het ministerie van Justitie dwingt een christelijke asielzoekster te scheiden van haar man en zich te bekeren tot de islam. Op deze manier kan zij opnieuw een islamitisch huwelijk sluiten met haar man en uitgezet worden naar Afghanistan.

Lezers van Closer kiezen het beste/slechtste nieuwsbericht/blogentry over islam/moslims/multiculturele samenleving. Ga HIERHEEN.

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE

0 comments.

Stem op het beste en slechtste

Posted on December 21st, 2009 by martijn.
Categories: Blind Horses, Blogosphere, Headline.

KIJK HIER VOOR DE UITSLAG

Dan volgen hier de genomineerden voor beste en slechtste berichten/blogspost over islam/moslims/multiculturele samenleving. De nominaties zijn vastgesteld door een zeer ondeskundige jury bestaande uit een zeer radicale moslim, een echte PVV-hardliner en iemand die tussen deze twee al snel de redelijkheid zelve lijkt (maar niets is minder waar): moi.
Er zijn ook wat zaken afgevallen. Even voor iedere categorie één. Slechtste nieuwsbericht wordt niet Telegraaf (er zijn echt slechtere hoor over deze shoot out), slechtse blogentry wordt niet LWH (te makkelijk, en het is ook heel erg of zoiets), beste nieuwsbericht wordt ook niet: Epenaren (ja en sinterklaas bestaat ook) en beste blogbericht ook niet Geencommentaar.nl (tjsa én de volkskrant én GC hiervoor is echt wat veel, maar goed als de volkskrant wint met de slechtste nieuwsberichten krijgen jullie de credits).

Maar de genomineerden zijn echt goed en ranzig. Oordeel en stem zelf. U kunt direct stemmen door HIER te klikken (de titels in de polls linken door naar de artikelen) of hieronder even rustig te boel bekijken.

Nieuwsberichten.

Beste nieuwsbericht:

Genomineerd voor beste nieuwsberichten zijn:
Brochure over salafisme: ’bang makend broddelwerk’ – Trouw

Er is kritiek op een brochure van Binnenlandse Zaken over de façadepolitiek van salafistische organisaties. „Dit is een veel te ingewikkeld onderwerp voor een rapport in jip-en-janneketaal.”

Zeldzaam kritisch stuk voor het anti-radicaliseringsbeleid.

RTL Nieuws.nl – 110 burgerdoden door missie Uruzgan

110 burgerdoden door missie Uruzgan
De Tweede Kamer vraagt er al jaren om, RTL Nieuws heeft ze gekregen: de cijfers over burgerslachtoffers tijdens de Nederlandse missie in Uruzgan.

RTL doet iets wat veel media al tijden nalaten en de Tweede Kamer ook: de overheid dwingen tot openheid.

Eerst militair, dan moslim – Binnenland – Reformatorisch Dagblad

Hun integratie blijft nog wat achter bij die in de rest van de maatschappij, maar moslims in de Nederlandse krijgsmacht zijn geen zeldzaamheid meer. Wat ervaart een moslimmilitair als hij op missie is in een islamitisch land als Afghanistan? Sergeant van de verbindingstroepen Buddy Masfirdaus: „Ik ben allereerst militair, pas daarna moslim.”

Zonder de heikele punten te omzeilen of te vergoelijken, geeft dit artikel een mooi inzicht in de leefwereld van Nederlandse moslims in het leger.

Nederlandse Islamitische Omroep » Archief » Nieuw tijdperk voor jonge moslimleiders

Het is inmiddels een week geleden dat een Nederlandse delegatie van jonge moslims vertrok naar Doha om deel te nemen aan de wereldconferentie van ‘Moslimleiders van de toekomst’. Ze kwamen daar bijeen om met een groep van ongeveer driehonderd moslims te praten over een betere toekomst voor de moslims en de wereld in het algemeen.

Al is het maar omdat de NIO werkelijk de enige is (op een opiniebijdrage in Trouw na) die aandacht heeft gehad voor deze grote wereldwijde conferentie.

‘Ik draag het liefst altijd mijn nikab’ – Trouw

Nederlandse moslima’s willen de vrijheid hebben om op hun manier hun geloof te uiten. Door het dragen van een nikab bijvoorbeeld. Maar de Nederlandse samenleving accepteert dat niet. Dus dragen ze die alleen bij moskeebezoek.

Geeft een goed inzicht in de beweegredenen en dilemma’s van vrouwen die een niqab (willen) dragen.

Slechtste nieuwsbericht:

» Hoax van de maand: Geert Wilders

Jullie hadden het natuurlijk al lang door: Geert Wilders heeft natuurlijk helemaal niet gepleit voor een avondklok tegen Moslims. Deze keer niet in ieder geval.

Let op, het gaat hier niet om het bericht op Zuighaas.nl zelf, maar om het Telegraaf bericht daarin. Het oorspronkelijke bericht bestaat niet; geen wonder want het was onzin. Het weghalen ervan is echter ook geschiedvervalsing.

Allochtonenweblog: Opmerkelijk: Spitsnieuws plaatst foto van Poldermoskee bij bericht over Iran

Bij een artikel in Spitsnieuws met de titel ‘Drie mannen opgehangen in Iran’ is een foto geplaatst van Mohammed Cheppih in gebed in de Poldermoskee in Amsterdam.

Ook hier gaat het om het Spitsnieuws artikel en niet om het stuk op het weblog.

‘Geert Wilders ondermijnt democratie’ – Binnenland – de Volkskrant

De PVV van Geert Wilders is een extreem-rechtse partij die islamofobie en systeemhaat tegen de overheid mobiliseert. Daarmee ondermijnt zij de sociale cohesie en de democratie in het land. Dat stellen drie wetenschappers in een aan de Tweede Kamer beloofd onderzoek over radicalisering, dat in opdracht van het ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken is uitgevoerd

Een hoop heisa en onbeantwoorde vragen over een onderzoek dat nog niet eens is gepubliceerd. Veel insinuaties, maar weinig harde feiten.

Elsevier.nl – Nederland – Amsterdam ontsnapt aan grootschalige aanslag

De bedreiging van de IKEA en enkele winkels aan de Arenaboulevard in Amsterdam-Zuidoost blijkt terroristisch van aard. De politie heeft zes Marokkaanse mannen en een Marokkaanse vrouw in de leeftijd van 19 tot en met 64 jaar gearresteerd op verdenking van ‘voorbereidingshandelingen met een terroristisch oogmerk’.

Oftewel, laten we klakkeloos de Amsterdamse autoriteiten geloven en uitpakken met een flinke kop die in ieder geval lezers trekt maar waarvan we eigenlijk helemaal niet weten of die wel klopt.

Britse krant: in 2050 is eenvijfde moslim – Binnenland – de Volkskrant

In 2050 is eenvijfde van de Europeanen moslim. In Nederland, Spanje en Groot-Brittannië wordt dit cijfer van 20 procent zelfs al eerder bereikt. Dat schreef het Britse dagblad Daily Telegraph zaterdag. PVV-leider Wilders noemde de voorspelling maandag ‘schokkend’.

Neem klakkeloos een bericht van de Daily Telegraph over en de krant is weer gevuld en we hebben er weer een controverse bij wanneer we het klakkeloos toepassen op Nederland. Ook al is het onzin.

Blogentries

Beste blogentries

Vrouwenbesnijdenis: verminking of een mensenrecht? – Sargasso

De vraag rijst dus in wiens belang een verbod op vrouwenbesnijdenis zal zijn, en of het überhaupt nagestreefd zou moeten worden. Een minimumleeftijd van achttien jaar, waarna het meisje zelf mag beslissen, lijkt alleszins redelijk. Als men het gebruik toch aan de kaak wil blijven stellen, is de bemoeienis door de mannenwereld waarschijnlijk een betere optie. Mannen staan buiten de vrouwen-society, maar het zijn tegelijkertijd de mannen die de bondo-bush bouwen. En het zijn de mannen die de levens van vrouwen vormgeven.

Zeldzaam goed stuk over de dilemma’s van vrouwenbesnijdenis zonder daarbij het perspectief van vrouwen die vóór vrouwenbesnijdenis zijn te vergeten. Goed geschreven, helder, prikkelend en informatief.

Frontaal Naakt. Ongesluierde opinies, interviews & achtergronden » Salafisten

Net zoals het communisme, het hindoeïsme, democratische idealen en elke andere ideologie of geloof, kan ook het Salafisme vervallen in geweld, vrijheidsbeknotting van anderen of misdaden. Ik hoop dat ik niemand hoef uit te leggen dat ik elke gewelddadige vorm van het Salafisme zou afwijzen. Maar nu worden mensen die misschien wel eens afwijkende gedachten in het hoofd zouden kúnnen krijgen, bij voorbaat van het democratisch proces uitgesloten. Guilty until proven innocent. Als iemand een lange baard heeft, maar tevens een briljant idee om radicalisering tegen te gaan, dan zeg ik nog steeds: graag.

Je kunt heel nuchter zijn en niks van ‘salafisme’ willen weten en toch een helder en gedegen stuk schrijven over de zogenaamde kritische reacties op (vermeende) salafisten.

Zuilens dagboek: schokkende ooggetuigenverslagen | Bert Brussen

Onderstaande is een verslag van mijn bezoek aan Zuilen, Utrecht met een reportageteam van Ncrv’s Netwerk. Voor de veiligheid van de betrokkenen heb ik sommige details aangepast of geheel weggelaten. Ook de citaten zijn geen letterlijke weergave maar benaderen de werkelijkheid zo dicht mogelijk. Verder is het een subjectieve reportage, een persoonlijk verslag vanuit mijn oogpunt geschreven.

Zeer subjectief met de nodige verdichting, maar misschien daarom wel een van de meest indringende stukjes over het leven in een ‘kansenwijk’.

Laten we vooral wel praten met Hamas – GeenCommentaar.nl

“Hamas is een fundamentalistische islamitische terreurorganisatie, die er van uitgaat dat er geen plaats is voor enige niet-islamitische staat in het Midden-Oosten,” aldus Naftaniel in een verder redelijk genuanceerd stuk. Hij slaat de plank echter een aantal keer mis.

Helder en prikkelend en richt zich op een actueel dilemma.

Filosofieblog » De Nederlandse democratie en de Islam

Veel Nederlanders lijken overtuigd dat de Islam niet verzoenbaar is met een liberale democratie. Het is ontegensprekelijk dat bepaalde Nederlandse politici hebben bijgedragen tot het ontstaan van dit idee. Problematisch is vooral dat er te weinig wordt nagedacht over de betekenis van deze overtuiging. Wat bedoelen mensen wanneer ze zeggen dat de Islam niet verzoenbaar is met een democratie?

Het is eigenlijk een recensie. Maar vooruit, één van de weinige blogs waar men zich realiseert dat het hebben van kritiek vooral en op de eerste plaats te maken heeft met het stellen van de juiste vragen.

Slechtste blog

GeenStijl : ‘Adzin was een lafaard’

Wat een gezelligheid weer op het forum van Marokko.nl. Ook daar is het overlijden van Adzin Chadli groot nieuws. Veel RIP- en Allah-osewiezewoze-comments, maar niet iedereen is bedroefd.

Je valt een verwijderd topic op Marokko.nl aan over de dood van soldaat Chadli. Vervolgens bekritiseer je het forum omdat ze dergelijke postings laten staan. Terwijl op je eigen blog de hoera-stemming over de dood van een allochtone soldaat er nu nog steeds staan. Als dit een verkiezing was voor de meest laffe en hypocriete redactie…

Stan de Jong » Kristallnacht Buitenveldert

Lieve lezers, terwijl ik dit schrijf (zaterdagavond half twaalf) zit ik nog een beetje te shaken.

Er gebeurt wat ‘s nachts in het altijd zo rustige Amstelveen. Hey het lijken wel Marokkanen, hey het is een joodse winkel. Maar eigenlijk weet je niks, je niet wie, waarom, hoe, wat en nauwelijks wanneer. Gelukkig ben je een kwaliteitsjournalist en maak je er een nieuwe kristallnacht van…en als er kritiek op komt haal je het weg. Jammer, mijn lezers hebben je toch opgepikt en genomineerd.

Joost Niemöller » Wat als Wilders veroordeeld wordt?

En wat als Wilders vier jaar de gevangenis in moet en hij het recht verliest gekozen te worden? Wat als islamkritiek strafbaar wordt? Wat rest er dan?

Antwoord: dan moet er geweld gebruikt worden tegen de islam. Ik ken mensen die voor minder opgepakt zijn. Maar goed deze oproep tot geweld is dan ook gedaan door een kwaliteitsjournalist.

www.misdaadjournalist.nl: Moord Urk om ‘mooie Nellie’ & Wendy en Joyce Videler geïdentificeerd

Inmiddels is ongeveer duidelijk waarom Dirk Post (14) uit Urk is vermoord: zijn verliefdheid op Nellie werd hem fataal. Vanaf het begin werd in het vriendencircuit verteld dat Dirk al enige tijd bonje had met een groepje jongens én dat het te maken had met een meisje. Er werd toen gedacht dat het om een Turks meisje ging. Dat blijkt niet te kloppen, maar het is wel duidelijk hoe dit verhaal is ontstaan: Nellie had een Marokkaans vriendje.

Inderdaad, een Turks meisje is de bron van alle ellende en dat komt omdat het slachtoffer een Marokkaans vriendje had. De dader is overigens een autochtone Nederlander. Als u dan nog niet snapt waarom het hier staat, laat dan maar.

Femke Halsema » Blog Archive » Vrijheid van geloof en van hoofddoek

Ik respecteer vanzelfsprekend de autonome keuze van veel Islamitische vrouwen om, zoals Fatima Elatik, een hoofddoek te dragen als deel van hun (religieuze) identiteit. Die zal ik ook nooit aantasten. Maar ik vind dat degenen die nu vooral de schoonheid van de hoofddoek verheerlijken, eens moeten nadenken over de opmerking van een Islamitisch meisje in een mail aan mij: ‘zo dwing ik ook respect af’. En wie nog twijfelt over de vele keren dat het dragen van een hoofddoek voortkomt uit sociale en religieuze dwang (of drang), moet vooral de retorische vraag van Sheikh Fawaz Jneid eens op zich laten inwerken: ‘Welke vrouwen zijn vaker het doelwit van verkrachtingen en seksuele intimidaties in de wereld? Gesluierde vrouwen of niet-gesluierde?’

Nog een politicus die aan islamkritiek moet doen (moslimhobbyisme) en zonder enige kennis van zaken verwijst naar imam Fawaz Jneid om haar verlichte liberale standpunt even duidelijk te maken (sarcasme he).

Op de link hieronder kunt u klikken om uw stem te geven. U kunt slechts één keer stemmen, maar uw stem wel aanpassen.

KIJK HIER VOOR DE UITSLAG

3 comments.

Closing the week 51

Posted on December 20th, 2009 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

Most popular on Closer last week

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE

Anthropology
The South African Vuvuzela at the FIFA Football « Standplaats Wereld

The word vuvuzela is said to derive from the Zulu expression to make a noise, and, as an instrument similar in register to a cow horn is said to be related African traditional herders horns forged from the antlers of wild game. The official history of the use of the vuvuzela at local soccer matches is still unknown, but the first ones are said to have been moulded by the most ardent supporters from tin. The vuvuzela’s widespread popularity and use, however, is a recent phenomenon dating back not much further than the 1990’s. The dramatic increase in its use is related to the coincidence of the Masincendane Sport company winning a competition to mass produce improved plastic versions of the horn in the early part of the twenty first century, and the drive to promote interest in football and local football culture by the World Cup local organising committee. While the historical authenticity of the horn’s place in South African football culture may be open to question, undoubtedly, in the run up to the tournament the vuvuzela has become the defining feature of what South African football support is about.

Panel Criticizes Military’s Use of Embedded Anthropologists – NYTimes.com

A two-year-old Pentagon program that assigns social scientists to work with military units in Iraq and Afghanistan has come under sharp criticism from a panel of anthropologists who argue that the undertaking is dangerous, unethical and unscholarly.

Jeff Stein: Anthropology Association Condemns Work with U.S. Counterinsurgency

Anthropologists should not be helping U.S. military forces gather information about Afghan villagers and their way of life, a study commission sponsored by their academic organization said today.

Professor Richard Antoun, murdered Fri. Dec. 4, 2009: We Will Miss You, May God Bless You « ZERO ANTHROPOLOGY

Professor Antoun was a blessing to all of us who took his courses. He was exceedingly gentle, soft spoken, and took an active interest in our research. It is to him that I owe thanks for endless brilliant little tips on doing ethnographic research, down to how to ask questions, and for sharing some of his wealth of knowledge on the Middle East and Islam. It is to him that I owe thanks for his course on Reinterpreting Tradition, so memorable that since I took it back around 1996, it feels like I was just sitting in his class, remembering individual lectures, his extensive notes occupying all the boards in his seminar room next to his office.

War against Terror
African Arguments » Blog Archive » Counter-terrorism in Somalia, or: how external interferences helped to produce militant Islamism

Article by: Markus Virgil Hoehne, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

Note: For more detailed analysis, download the full version of this essay on the Crisis in the Horn of Africa essay forum.

Somalia has made international headlines for almost two decades now, first as a state of civil war characterized by clan warfare and humanitarian catastrophe, then as a failed state, and finally as a potential safe haven for Islamic terrorists. Contrary to the assumption about ‘black holes’ and ungoverned spaces voiced by politicians and some academics, the Harmony Project of the Center for Combating Terrorism at West Point has recently shown that the absence of a government in Somalia did not automatically provide fertile ground for Al Qaeda terrorism. Its researchers, who had access to declassified intelligence reports on Al Qaeda activities in the Horn in the early 1990s concluded that the foreign Islamist activists faced similar problems as did the UN and US humanitarian and military intervention in Somalia (1992-1995): they were partly distrusted as ‘foreigners’ who adhered to a version of Islam that was not popular in Somalia, they ran into problems with always changing clan and sub-clan alliances, they suffered from the weak infrastructure of the country, they lacked security, they were exposed to external interventions since no government could uphold Somalia’s sovereignty, and they were at risk of being ‘sold’ by petty criminals and others in Somalia to the enemy (the US).

Home / Headlines / Rounded Up: Artificial Terrorists and Muslim Entrapment after 9/11 :: Book Review :: – Media Monitors Network (MMN)

In the wake of 9/11, the Bush Justice Department arrested almost 1,200 Muslims throughout the United States. They were ordinary American immigrants, mostly of Arab origin. The evidence at best was flimsy based on someone’s vendetta or in some cases neighbor’s paranoia.

Within a week the Justice Department unveiled the infamous “USA Patriot Act”. Congress passed it in early October 2001 over the objection of many thoughtful Americans. The word USA PATRIOT is an acronym designed to pull at American heart strings. It stands for ‘Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism’

None of the arrested were ever brought to trial; although a few were summarily deported at the slightest irregularity in their immigration documents. Many were tortured. Exactly how many were tortured and how badly is a secret under the aegis of the “Patriot act”. Perhaps some day it will come out.

Overnight Muslim organizations became suspect. FBI undercover operations were taken in stride by most Muslims as a part of the job of the FBI to protect the citizens. But what unfolded in many cases was incitement and entrapment by implanted agent Muslim provocateurs with shady pasts, in trouble with the law.

On August 5, 2004, the lead national news was that two Muslims associated with the Albany Mosque were arrested in a terrorist plot. There names were Yassin Muhiddin Aref and Mohammed Mosharref Hossain.

Column: ‘Sinister Muslim’ stereotype fades – Opinion – USATODAY.com

Negative stereotypes of Muslim characters date to at least the black-and-white era, but by the 1990s and the end of the Cold War, one-dimensional Muslim terrorist characters were the generic “bad guy” in countless movies and television shows, including True Lies (’94) and Executive Decision (’96). Even the cartoon Aladdin (’92) portrayed villains with Middle Eastern accents while the hero and heroine had standard American voices.

Such repeated portrayals have colored public perceptions of Muslims and Middle Easterners. The events of 9/11 crystallized and, for some, affirmed the stereotype. But nearly a decade later, Hollywood seems to be changing its tune toward Muslims and Arabs.

It’s about time.

Salafism etc.
nrc.nl – International – Growth of radical Islam halted in the Netherlands

Growth of radical Islam halted in the Netherlands

Salafism, an ultra-orthodox Islamic movement, is no longer growing in the Netherlands, Dutch intelligence agency AIVD reported on Thursday.

By Jaco Alberts and Steven Derix

Nordin Akhssay (31) is still different – but on the outside, he looks just like everybody else. “If people won’t accept you for who you are, you’d better be like they want you to be,” he said.

AFP: Wife of Qaeda number 2 urges women not to join jihad

Wife of Qaeda number 2 urges women not to join jihad

(AFP) – 1 day ago

DUBAI — The wife of Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has appealed to Muslim women not to join the jihad themselves but to support their menfolk in holy war, US monitoring groups said on Thursday.

Headscarf, Niqab, Burqa, etc.
Mona Eltahawy Blog » Archives » What’s Barbie Wearing Under Her Burka?

What on Earth are little girls supposed to do with Burka Barbie? More intriguingly, what is Barbie wearing under that lime green burka? I was at a loss until I came across an ad by German lingerie company Liaison Dangereuse.

The Media Line

Bans of the traditional face veil are angering the public in Egypt and Morocco.

Personal liberties campaigners in Egypt and Morocco are speaking out against government bans on wearing the face veil.

Middle East Online

Iranian men wearing the Islamic headscarf, or hijab, have launched a cyber campaign to press for the release of a student activist who allegedly dressed as a woman to avoid arrest during a protest.

Culture and Life: Living life without the hijab – kih –> Updated Saturdays!

I’ve been trying since September to get a friend of mine, a non-Hijabi Muslim at U of T, to talk about her experiences on St. George campus. Ever since she let on that she was facing a lot of Muslim-on-Muslim discrimination, I wanted to pick her brain. Finally, she agreed – on condition of anonymity.

No French citizenship for ‘burqa’ Muslims < French news | Expatica France

No French citizenship for ‘burqa’ Muslims
Muslim men who force their wives to wear the full Islamic veil should not be granted French citizenship, Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said Thursday.

News – Europe: Headscarf attack: Muslim student beaten up

A Muslim medical student wearing a headscarf has been beaten up in what appeared to be a racist attack, the police chief of the German university town of Goettingen said Wednesday.

She suffered grazes and bruises when she was knocked to the ground and kicked by four assailants Saturday evening near a university library. The attackers have still not been caught. The incident became public through a later newspaper report.

Middle East and beyond
Letter from Egypt – Complaints of Bias Can Go Both Ways in Egypt – NYTimes.com

On a side street in the far northeast Cairo suburb of Ain Shams, the door of a five-story former underwear factory is padlocked.

This is, or was supposed to be, the St. Mary and Anba Abraam Coptic Christian Church. The police closed it Nov. 24, 2008, when Muslims rioted against its consecration. Since then local Copts have had to commute to distant churches or worship in hiding at one another’s homes.

While Muslim leaders criticized the Nov. 29 vote in Switzerland that banned construction of minarets, the distinctive spires on mosques that are used for the call to prayer, they don’t support Christians who want to build churches in some Islamic countries. Restrictions in Egypt have exacerbated sectarian violence and discrimination, say Copts, a 2,000-year-old denomination that comprises about 10 percent of the population.

The day after the Swiss vote, Ali Gomaa, one of Egypt’s top Muslim clerics, called the decision “an attempt to insult the feelings of the Muslim community in and outside of Switzerland.”

Copts quickly said that neither he nor any other Islamic leader mentioned the Christian situation in Egypt.

“Without the merest attempt to put our house in order, are we in any position to taunt others to put theirs?” Youssef Sidhom, editor in chief of the Cairo-based Egyptian Coptic weekly newspaper El-Watani, said by telephon. “They should be ashamed.”

The contrast between criticism of the Swiss and silence about local parallels isn’t limited to Egypt. Censure of Switzerland, where about 5 percent of the population is Muslim, was widespread in Islamic countries where Christians face restrictions on practicing their faith.

World Briefing – Asia – China – Asylum Bid by 22 Uighurs Opposed – NYTimes.com

China said Tuesday that 22 Uighurs who fled to Cambodia after deadly ethnic rioting this summer were criminals and should not be granted asylum. The Uighurs, who are Muslim, were smuggled out of China with the help of a network of missionaries and Chinese Christians, the missionaries said. They arrived in Cambodia in recent weeks and have applied for asylum at the United Nations refugee agency office in Phnom Penh. “These people are involved in crimes,” Jiang Yu, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said at a news conference, although she provided no evidence.

Feminist Review: Muslim Women Reformers: Inspiring Voices Against Oppression

Ida Lichter’s Muslim Women Reformers ambitiously highlights the work of Muslim women around the globe involving an array of interrelated issues, including lack of gender equity in education and the workplace, domestic violence, human trafficking, biased family law practices, and rape with impunity. Many of these problems stem from the socioeconomic inequality experienced globally by women of all backgrounds, and problems that transcend class and religious boundaries. In other instances, misogynist traditions have persisted because local and national authorities, in a gross affront to the majority of Muslims, pass abuses off as Islamic practices.

The book is organized by country, with the largest number of women representing Afghanistan, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, localities prominent in current U.S. political discourse. However, it is worth mentioning that the nations with the largest number of Muslims are actually Indonesia, India, and Pakistan. The reformers’ biographies are preceded by a very brief background section describing important historic events in the region. In terms of methodology, Lichter, a psychiatrist by training, does not give many specifics about her selection process or research methods.

Obama’s speech to Muslim world top religion story of the year | News-Leader.com | Springfield News-Leader

President Barack Obama’s address to the Muslim world last June was chosen as the top religion story of 2009 in a survey of journalists who cover the beat.

Obama extended a hand to the Islamic world in a speech in Cairo while quoting from the Quran, the Gospel of Matthew and the Talmud, the collection of Jewish law.

“So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, those who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity,” Obama said in the speech. “And this cycle of suspicion and discord must end.”

Misc.
Women like Tulay Goren must not be abandoned – Telegraph Blogs

There was me navel-gazing about whether Pamela Anderson appearing in a panto sends a dodgy message to impressionable girls when along comes a headline which puts this sort of thing firmly into perspective. Mehmet Goren has been convicted of the “honour killing” – an abhorrent distortion of the English language – of his daughter Tulay, who was 15 at the time. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the only women’s issues at stake in this country are things like maternity rights or equal pay or whether Twiggy’s had her wrinkles air-brushed out or not, when in fact in some pockets of society a girl can be tortured and killed simply for assuming ownership of her own body.

altmuslimah.com – Child brides: A response to “The case of an eight year-old Saudi bride”

As easy as it is to blame the problems of the Muslim world on the literalist interpretations of the Wahhabis, the fact remains that the Sunni legal tradition is not entirely in disagreement with the Wahhabis on this issue. In reality, there are many sources of Islamic law that allow a father to marry his daughter away without her consent. For example, in the Maliki school it is mentioned in the Matn ar-Risla of Ibn Abi Zayd al-Kairawani that “The father may give his virgin daughter in marriage without her permission, even though she is an adult. And if he desires he may ask her.”

There’s nothing honourable about killing a woman – The National Newspaper

Two dishonourable events have recently victimised beautiful young women. One is the the case of 20-year-old Noor al Maleki, who died in a hospital in Arizona from injuries she sustained when her father ran over her with his car. She was “too westernised”, he had decided.

The other is the case of Fayez Ezzo, who was released from a Syrian prison last month after the court decided the two and a half years he already spent behind bars was enough punishment for murdering his sister in cold blood. Her name was Zahra Ezzo, and she was 16 years old when her brother stabbed her to death for “dishonouring” the family.

Most Czechs, Slovaks would ban construction of minarets | Prague Monitor

Most people in the Czech Republic and Slovakia would ban a possible construction of minarets, the daily Lidove noviny (LN) reports Wednesday, referring to a poll conducted by the NMS agency simultaneously in both countries.

Saba Net – Yemen news agency

ADEN, Dec. 13 (Saba)- Aden University and Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation (NOIC) held talks on Sunday on the Dutch support for Women Center for Research and Training at Aden university.

Who has ‘religion’? « The Immanent Frame

More and more Americans say they have no formal religious affiliation. National surveys, scholarly findings, and media coverage make that clear. Those identifying with “no religion”—often termed “nones,” “no religionists,” or the “unchurched”—jumped from 8.2 percent of the public in 1990 to just over 15 percent in 2008.

This trend causes some observers to cry out in alarm and others to rejoice. But the transition is far more complicated than a mere movement from faith to non-belief implies.

Muslim numbers soar in Latin America’s Islamic resurgence – Scotsman.com News

Muslim numbers soar in Latin America’s Islamic resurgence

Published Date: 07 December 2009
By Alfonso Daniels in Sao Paulo
“ALLAH Akbar” blares from the loudspeakers as hundreds of Muslims file into the mosque for prayers. Outside, halal meat stores line the street as in Damascus, Cairo or Baghdad, but this is the working-class neighbourhood of Bras in Sao Paulo, Brazil – the heart of Islam’s Latin American rebirth.

Dutch
Dit is voor Marokkanen thuis – maar wel anders – Trouw

Waar voelen Marokkaanse Nederlanders zich het meeste thuis? De Groningse Femke Stock onderzoekt hun ‘thuisgevoel’. Volgens het SCP bejegent de Nederlander Marokkaanse medeburgers vriendelijker dan voorheen. Zo ervaren de allochtonen dat niet, signaleert Stock. Een gesprek.

ScienceGuide – ‘Wilders terecht vervolgd’

PVV-politicus Geert Wilders moet 20 januari 2010 voor de rechtbank in Amsterdam verschijnen omdat hij opzettelijk moslims heeft beledigd en een haatprediker is, zo staat in de aanklacht. “Die dagvaarding is volkomen terecht”, stelt Oldenhuis. “De samenleving is zelfs verplicht op te treden, want in zijn teksten brengt Wilders fundamentele rechten, zoals de vrijheid van meningsuiting in het geding.”

Het klinkt voor velen paradoxaal, maar zulke rechten moeten, ook als het grondrechten zijn, wel worden begrensd, zo stelt prof. Oldenhuis. “Gebeurt dat niet, dan kan het ertoe leiden dat anderen in hun bestaan worden bedreigd. Dat is precies wat hier aan de hand is. De eigen vrijheid die Wilders wenst te hebben gunt hij niet aan een ander.”

Meryem Kanmaz: ‘Ik was een Vlaams meisje in Brussel, een vreemde stad’ — brusselnieuws.be

“Een beweging impliceert een collectieve identiteit, een wij. Wij Turken, wij Brusselaars. Van ‘wij moslims’ is echter geen sprake in België. Wel zegt een minderheid, uit verdediging na 9/11: ‘Laten we onze etnische identiteit overboord gooien, naar buiten komen als Belgische moslims.’ Voorlopig is het nog een kleine groep, maar als de polarisering groot blijft, gaat ze er wel in slagen haar discours te doen aanslaan bij een groot deel Marokkanen en Turken. Alweer de verdedigingsreflex.” Meryem Kanmaz is doctor in de politieke en sociale wetenschappen.

Uitdelen korans valt verkeerd – Binnenland – Telegraaf.nl [24 uur actueel, ook mobiel] [binnenland]

Uitdelen korans in Afghanistan valt verkeerd
DEN HAAG – Tot woede van de PVV en de SGP in de Tweede Kamer heeft Nederland ruim tweehonderd korans aan het Afghaanse leger gegeven. Ook minister Eimert van Middelkoop (Defensie) is er niet gelukkig mee, liet hij dinsdag weten.

In de bijstand? Baard afknippen! | Nieuws uit Amsterdam

De Amsterdamse sociale dienst (DWI) heeft terecht een boete van 200 euro opgelegd aan een moslim bijstandsontvanger omdat hij had geweigerd om vrouwen een hand te geven en om zijn baard af te knippen, zo heeft de rechtbank donderdag bepaald.

Onderzoek naar kindermishandeling tijdens Koranles – Binnenland – de Volkskrant

De gemeente Den Haag heeft aangifte gedaan bij het Openbaar Ministerie van 49 gevallen van mishandelingen van kinderen in Haagse moskeeën tijdens Koranlessen.

De mishandeling kwam aan het licht tijdens het reguliere onderzoek van tienjarigen door de jeugdgezondheidszorg. Ondanks gesprekken met de verantwoordelijke moskeebesturen, die maatregelen hadden toegezegd, kreeg jeugdzorg nog steeds gevallen van mishandeling onder ogen.

Elsevier.nl – Nederland – Moskeeleiders frustreren onderzoek naar lijfstraffen

Moskeeleiders frustreren onderzoek naar lijfstraffen

donderdag 17 december 2009 10:28

Moskeeën in Tilburg en Amsterdam houden werknemers van het Verwey-Jonker Instituut, die onderzoek doen naar de omstreden koranscholen, buiten de deur. In opdracht van minister Eberhard van der Laan (PvdA, Integratie) wordt kindermishandeling tijdens de lessen onderzocht, maar de moskeebesturen werken niet mee.

De Standaard Online – Moskee Beringen wil luidsprekers aan minaret

Het schepencollege van Beringen wil nog deze week een beslissing nemen over luidsprekers aan de Fatih-moskee.
De geloofsgemeenschap van de Fatih-moskee in het Limburgse Beringen heeft bij het stadsbestuur een aanvraag ingediend om de gelovigen te mogen oproepen tot het gebed. Ze willen daarvoor luidsprekers hangen aan de buitenkant van de moskee, zodat de muezzin – die de gelovigen oproept tot het gebed – ook in de straten hoorbaar is. . De Fatih-moskee in Beringen is een van de weinige Belgische moskeeën met een minaret.

1 comment.

Closing the week 50

Posted on December 12th, 2009 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

Most popular at Closer this week:

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE

Anthropology
Getting from topics to problems | Savage Minds

First generalize your topic. What is that thing that you find so fascinating about your topic, and can you find it in other topics?

Second find the differences between the particular cases covered by your generalized, comparative topics.

Third put a question mark on it. The simplest way to do this is what accounts for […] differences

Fourth, remove proper nouns. Now that you have added the question mark, remove all proper nouns.

The things Dutch windows tell « Standplaats Wereld

As anthropologists we all know that inanimate objects are cultural artifacts and that they are more telling than one can imagine. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. What does your window tell us about you?

‘ilm al-insaan ??? ???????: Iran and the FB Revolution

From Hamid Dabashi’s Social Networking and the Making of a Civil Rights Movement, Nov. 2009, on social networking as the new print media in the formation of Imagined Communities, the relevance of new forms of communication, and the activation of networks used initially for mundane, daily purposes into political mobilization tools.

In Harmonium » Some thoughts on Anthropology as a “Science”

there is an interesting problem which has dogged the history of the discipline itself: what do we actually mean by the term “Science”?

tabsir.net » Like a Virgin, but not for the very first time

Virginity, at least when it comes to the female of the species, is one of the most critical ethical melting points of societies in which females are burdened with a symbolic honor that denies their own control over their own bodies. The Virgin Mary in Christian theology remains a virgin, since the heavenly father of Jesus had no earthly form with which to impregnate her. Much is made in the media today about honor killings in Mediterranean societies, and in areas where more conservative forms of Islam merge with patriarchal ideology, like Pakistan and Afghanistan. Since the self righteous males who guard their sisters hymens but frequently dally with the hymens of other men’s sisters or daughters are not likely to go feminist and vote pro-choice, women must either remain strict virgins (and hope that they are not one of those women who are born with perforated hymens quite naturally) or find some chicken blood. But now the Japanese and Chinese have a more sanitary solution: a kit that allows a woman to insert an artificial hymen in only five minutes.

Grant McCracken: When did “several” become “multiple?”

And I think we know what’s happening here. Police spokespeople like to dress their remarks in extra dignity and they do this by reaching for their “best” vocabulary. People become persons or perpetrators. Guns become firearms. And they are not fired; they are “discharged.” The victim has multiple wounds. It just sounds more official, more commanding, more large and in charge. Don’t worry. Your city is safe with us.

In the case of “I phoned him multiple times,” the speaker signals a certain impatience. As if there is an absolute limit to the number of times we should have to phone someone and that limit has been reached. Damnit!

Why should we want to sound more official, more in control? Why should we want to sound more bureaucratic. Especially when the rest of the culture is becoming both more informal and more playful. Why, exactly, would we want to resemble police spokespeople. I have no answers here. Only vexing, cultural questions.

Is existentialism nationalism? « Cultural Meanings

Is existentialism nationalism? The “turbulent priest” and Danish People’s Party parliamentarian Søren Krarup argues that it is. The following is a translation of an article he published in Politiken on 10th November 2009. He draws on Kierkegaard to argue that a change of system has taken place in Denmark, and that the rest of Europe will follow where Denmark leads – down the path of xenophobic ethnic nationalism. There are some comments and explanations of terms in the notes. A more detailed analysis will follow soon.

European politics
Immigration: the test case | Nick Saville | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Talk of immigration is on the rise: a new survey claims most voters feel immigration is bad for Britain; Gordon Brown has made a speech declaring his intention to tighten up policy in the area; and while recently released figures indicate that net migration has in fact fallen by a third, so more people left Britain than came in over the last 12 months, there are still people who complain about the number of people entering Britain.

Some argue that the hot air generated around the issue means hard facts are overlooked in favour of pandering to opinion polls. Policymakers often fail to look at the complexities of the migration process. Today, as part of a reformed immigration strategy, the different groups seeking to enter or settle in Britain are confronted with a range of formal assessments, including English language and Life in the UK tests. These tests take place at different stages of the “journey to citizenship”, as the Home Office likes to call it.

But do these tests help or hinder Britain?

Swiss ban on minarets was a vote for tolerance and inclusion / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com

The recent Swiss referendum that bans construction of minarets has caused controversy across the world. There are two ways to interpret the vote. First, as a rejection of political Islam, not a rejection of Muslims. In this sense it was a vote for tolerance and inclusion, which political Islam rejects. Second, the vote was a revelation of the big gap between how the Swiss people and the Swiss elite judge political Islam.

CJO’s Avenger212 » Blog Archive » The Hypocrisy of Al-Demoqratia

Muslims escaping to the West, physically and figuratively, only to find double standards, self-negation and, at times, pure hypocrisy.

For now, however, a new consensus is forming: democracy can be invoked and used against Muslims only, and not for Muslims. It can be manipulated to deny them their identity in Europe and their freedom in Palestine, to ensure their subjugation in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and to meddle in their internal affairs everywhere else.

Al-demoqratia, indeed.

Europe: Integrating Islam – Council on Foreign Relations

Introduction

Since 9/11, Western Europe’s growing Muslim population has been the focus of debate on issues ranging from immigration policy to cultural identity to security. Several incidents in recent years have increased tensions between some Western European states and their Muslim populations: the 2004 Madrid and 2005 London attacks, the 2004 ban of the head scarf coupled with recent calls to ban the “burqa” in France, the 2005 Paris riots, the 2006 Danish cartoon incident, and several high-profile murders.

Despite signs that Muslims are beginning to succeed in business and academia in countries such as France and Germany, many analysts say most of Western Europe’s Muslims are poorly integrated into society. They cite closed ethnic neighborhoods, high crime rates in Muslim communities, calls for use of sharia law in Europe, the wearing of the veil, and other examples as evidence of a conflict with European values. Reacting to the November 2009 vote to constitutionally ban minarets in Switzerland, Oxford University scholar Tariq Ramadan wrote in the Christian Science Monitor: “Over the last two decades Islam has become connected to so many controversial debates … it is difficult for ordinary citizens to embrace this new Muslim presence as a positive factor.” Fears over a possible major demographic shift toward Islam as well as ongoing Muslim assimilation problems highlight the continuing divide between Europe and its Muslim population.

Middle East
Pickled Politics » Review: What’s Really Wrong With the Middle East

Let us establish something first. There is something wrong with the Middle East. There are indeed, several things wrong, and Brian Whitaker’s book, ‘What’s Really Wrong With the Middle East’ manages, with great insight and a perfectly pitched tone, to collate the most illuminating set of factors that contribute to this state. The title seems to have annoyed some Arabs, who predictably do not appreciate ‘outsiders’ airing their dirty laundry, and also irked non-Arabs who predictably do not think it is their place to tell Arabs what it wrong with them.

But before I go any further, I must declare an interest. The author conducted several interviews with writers, bloggers, academics and journalists etc from the Middle East and I made a short contribution to a section on racism in the Arab World. This technique, in my view, makes the book a much more riveting work for all the personal anecdotes and front of line accounts exemplifying the various maladies from which Middle Eastern societies suffer. They are more than just ‘amusing incidents’ as Shloto Byrnes observes in the New Statesman. Instead of the usual top down approach to isolating the region’s ills, Brian Whitaker digs deeper to uncover the endemic causes of inequality and political stagnation. The book cuts to the chase by avoiding government and official sources of regurgitated propaganda and focusing on issues such as education, corruption, patriarchy and how religion informs politics and identity.

An Arab Woman Blues – Reflections in a sealed bottle…: Suffocating Suffixes…

Was reading the latest from the West Bank where Jewish settlers attacked a mosque in the village of Yasuf, torching the mosque’s library and spraying death threats with ” get ready to pay the price, we will burn you all.” (source)

Now the article, and that is not the only one nor the first time, calls these culprits hardline Jews. Fair enough.

Christians who aggress Muslims are also called hardline Christians.

Adjectives like hardline, extremist, ultra-orthodox, fundamentalist, occasionally fanatical…almost always precede; qualifying those particular groups, designating them apart from the rest of mainstream Jews and Christians. Again, fair enough.

Dutch (and one in German)

Bruggenbouwers » Homo’s dankzij moslims hét symbool van verdraagzaam Nederland

Niet alleen Marokkaanse jongeren maar ook gesluierde moslima’s hebben ervoor gezorgd dat Nederlanders de laatste jaren steeds meer zijn uitgedaagd om een keuze te maken over de toekomst van Nederland. De onvoorwaardelijke steun van homo’s door met name Geert Wilders en zijn PVV heeft hierin een belangrijke rol gespeeld. De ‘gewone homo’ is hierdoor – zo lijkt het wel – het geweten van de natie geworden. In zekere zin zou je dus kunnen zeggen, meent Sanders, dat dankzij de islam de homo-emancipatie een belangrijke impuls heeft gekregen. Tegelijkertijd gaf de columnist toe dat – dankzij de komst van de inmiddels bijna één miljoen moslims in Nederland – homo’s het soms weer erg moeilijk hebben met het openlijk belijden van hun geaardheid.

Mediacourant.nl » » Mohammed Enait loopt weg bij Pauw & Witteman

Advocaat en moslimfundamentalist Mohammed Enait is vrijdagavond boos weggelopen uit de uitzending van Pauw & Witteman op Nederland 1. Enait vond dat talkshowhost Jeroen Pauw tijdens het interview ‘monocultureel’ te werk ging. “Je leeft in een grachtengordel en weet niet wat gebeurt in deze samenleving. Dat is jouw probleem“, riep Enait verontwaardigd. Pauw vond dat de Surinaams-Nederlandse jurist zich niet zo op moest winden. “Hé, luister vriend. Je bent een provocateur.“

Allah, de man die voor iedereen het vlees komt snijden. | De Dagelijkse Standaard

Het hele integratie debat lijkt verworpen tot de woorden “Allah”en “Islam”.
Waar integratie over dossier zou moeten gaan als:
De aanpak van de groeiende groep criminelen uit Oostbloklanden, toename van geweld in wijken
met Antilliaanse en Surinaamse bewoners en het groeiende aantal suïcidale vrouwen met een Surinaamse- Hindoestaanse afkomst.
Lijkt het nu alsof “Islam” de heleboel dekt en “Allah” weer het vlees komt snijden.

Lucaswashier » Blog Archive » Karel de Gore

Kunnen we dan nu misschien weer normaal gaan doen? Van mij hoeft niemand respect te hebben voor welke godsdienst dan ook. Mensen die hun leven inrichten naar een voorbeeld uit een boekje, of dat nu de Bijbel, de Koran, de Srimad Bhagavatan, Dianetics of 100 Manieren om slank te blijven is, beperken zich in hun zelfontplooiing. Maar dat voortdurende gelul over Mohammed de pedo hangt me de strot uit. Het is niks meer dan laffe uitlokking. Wees dan een vent en sla een imam op zijn bek bij het uitgaan van de moskee.
Maar het woord islamofoob zegt het al. Het zijn bange schijtluizen.

Minarettenverbod Zwitserland voornamelijk gewenst door religieuzen | .god.voor.dommen

Wat vrijwel niet aan de orde gekomen is in de Nederlandse media is dat Zwitserland overwegend religieuzer is dan de omringende landen. Als we kijken naar de officiële statistieken blijkt ongeveer 42% katholiek, 35% protestant, 4% moslim en een magere 11% ‘niet-praktiserend’. In de laatste categorie bevinden zich de atheïsten, maar ook de agnosten (voor zover die echt een aparte groep vormen), de ‘ietsisten’ en natuurlijk de mensen die vol goede moed naar Derek Ogilvie luisteren.

swissbanWanneer de gegevens aangaande religiositeit per kanton uitgezet worden tegen het aantal stemmen voor het grondwettelijk verbod op het bouwen van minaretten, zo heeft de website FiveThirtyEight uitgezocht, dan ontstaat de grafiek links.

De schijn van islamitische dominantie – Wij Blijven Hier!: Het schrijversplatform van moslims

Voor moslims in dit land is een belangrijke taak weggelegd en wel deze: Moslims moeten enige terughoudendheid betrachten en de schijn van ‘islamitische’ dominantie in het Nederlandse straatbeeld zien tegen te gaan.

Prof. Dr. Jamal Badawi over ‘Vrouwenrechten in Islam’ | News on the Net

De woorden ‘Islam’ en ‘vrouwonvriendelijk’ worden niet zelden in één zin uitgesproken. De vrouw zou in de religie een minderwaardige positie innemen, met de hoofddoek als symbool van onderdrukking. Maar is dit werkelijk het geval? Professor Dr. Jamal Badawi, werkzaam als ‘Professor Emeritus’ aan de St. Mary’s University in Halifax (Canada) zal op vrijdag 11 december een gemengd publiek van moslims en niet-moslims hierover toespreken in Rotterdam.

nrcnext.nl » Columnisten » Gejodeld

De column van Geert Wilders over het Zwitserse minarettenverbod, op de site van EenVandaag, had een prachtige eerste zin. ‘Het liefst had ik deze column gejodeld’, stond er. Ik denk dat Geert hier recht uit het hart sprak. Jodelen betekent namelijk – en nu hanteer ik de officiële definitie – ‘het afwisselend met borststem en kopstem zingen van reeksen betekenisloze klanken’.

Beter had ik zijn retoriek niet kunnen omschrijven.

IKON

Welk godsdienstig belang is er mee gemoeid wanneer de IKON een politieke partij beticht van het inspelen op onderbuikgevoelens? Die vraag stelde PVV-kamerlid Martin Bosma afgelopen donderdag aan minister Plasterk n.a.v. een nieuwe IKON-radiorubriek met de titel ‘Beste PVV-stemmer…’ . Daarin worden prominente Nederlanders uitgenodigd om een brief te schrijven aan iemand die straks PVV wil gaan stemmen.

Wie man Minarette groß rausbringt « BILDblog

Nachdem die Schweizer in einer Volksabstimmung am Wochenende beschlossen haben, per Verfassung den Bau von Minaretten zu verbieten, wird auch in Deutschland wieder über das Verhältnis zum Islam und seinen Symbolen diskutiert.

Als Illustration des Konfliktes scheint sich vor allem ein Motiv anzubieten: Das Minarett der Yavuz-Sultan-Selim-Moschee in Mannheim vor dem Turm der Liebfrauenkirche. Auf der Seite 2 der “Süddeutschen Zeitung” zum Beispiel sah das gestern so aus:

0 comments.

Closing the week 49 – Featuring Sinterklaas & Black Pete: A Racist Dutch Tradition

Posted on December 5th, 2009 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

Most Popular on Closer this week:

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE

Featuring Sinterklaas & Black Pete: A Racist Dutch Tradition
Question of the Month – Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State University

Question of the Month: Who is Black Peter?

Harry Connick Jr., Blackface, and Recognizing White Privilege : Asian-Nation : Asian American News, Issues, & Current Events Blog

There are two interesting sociological points to note here. The first is the apparent differences in racial attitudes between the U.S. and Australia. That is, even though many Americans still are rather ignorant of the racial significance and racist legacy of blackface and still wear it from time to time (especially around this time of year, Halloween, as seen in the photo on the right), for the most part, I will presume that most Americans understand that blackface is offensive (or at least the reactions and criticisms to it are much more intense).

With that in mind, it is notable to see that in Australia, this sensitivity and recognition of blackface do not exist to the same level. In fact, despite the Australian government’s recent official apology to the aborigine population for centuries of racism, in general the racial attitudes of the Australian public seem to be a few decades behind that of the U.S. in terms of racial understanding.

This diminished level of cultural knowledge comes through in the responses by Anand Deva in defending his group’s skit with the usual refrain, “It wasn’t meant to be offensive, it was just a joke.” What he and other Australians do defend the skit don’t understand is that whatever the intent, the result was that it definitely came across as racist and offensive.

Secondly, the reason why they don’t understand why it was offensive is because as Whites in a White majority society, they have the position of being able to make fun of non-Whites while claiming that they did not intend it to be offensive. That, my friends, is the quintessential definition of White privilege.

Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet (II) | In Search of Dutchland | Rina Mae

The combination of the small Black Peter and horse-riding Saint Nicholas, represents the triumph of good over bad, Christian over heathen, and later; Christianity over Islam. They’re caught in a relationship of dualism. Val Plumwood describes dualism as: ‘(…) dualism (…) results from a certain kind of dependency on a subordinated other. This relationship of denied dependency determines a kind of logical structure, in which the denial and the relation of domination/subordination shape the identity of both the relata.’ (Plumwood in Gravenberch, 1998).

Zwarte Piet in a wider context of Dutch racism and its colonial history

Zwarte Piet in a wider context of Dutch racism and its colonial history. Through the combination of this academic paper and a video by the same name, I have attempted to problematize Sinterklaas’ “helper,” Zwarte Piet (literally “Black Peter”). Piet, a dimwitted character almost always played by white people with their faces painted black, represents an offensive caricature of a black slave, and, when placed next to the saintly and wise Sinterklaas figure, expresses a binary relationship that reinforces the ideas of white supremacy. Through interviews representing a broad spectrum of Dutch society, I have attempted to trace the historical background and current conceptions of Zwarte Piet to build an argument calling for the removal of a character no longer admissible in The Netherlands’ multi-ethnic society.

Jolly Black Slaves // Current

The Dutch celebrate ?Saint Nicholas Day? in much the same way that Americans celebrate Christmas?only our elves are replaced by their ?Black Petes.? Every December, white Dutch citizens paint their faces black, cover their heads in curly wigs, and carry on a tradition that has long passed its admissibility in The Netherlands? multi-ethnic society. Inspired by David Sedaris? ?Six to Eight Black Men,? this film provides a first-hand look at one of the most shocking and offensive traditions still in practice today.

On the Resistance against Black Pete

Collectively in Holland is simply decided: resistance against Black Pete does not exist. The Saint Nicolas propaganda machine works intense. We will all celebrate and enjoy this `typical Dutch’ celebration (three quarters of Europe celebrates it). Because “it is great children’s party”.

Islam in Europe: It’s beginning to look a lot like a multicultural Christmas

In the Netherlands, the Christian Democratic party (CDA) is upset that municipalities are removing the Christian cross from Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas), in order to make him ‘multi-ethnic’ and a ‘universal figure’.

Black Skin, White Masks Revisited. Contemporary Post-Colonial Dilemmas in the Netherlands, France and Belgium

Several problems beset the immigrant communities and academic scholarship in Belgium,France, and the Netherlands. The current politicization of higher education—who gets tenure or governmental financial support for what kind of social science research—results in timid criticism of existing public policies. The greatly differential integration models used in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France have resulted in different ways of collecting data and analyzing the ‘other.’ This article addresses how divergent discourses about the ‘other’ have been constructed over time: according to the French assimilationist model, ethnic minorities do not (officially) ‘exist’; the Netherlands, until recently, embraced a ‘tolerant’ multi-cultural model that conceptualized ethnic minorities as ‘units’ that could be measured and classified according to gradual progress and development; meanwhile Belgium, due to its linguistic divisions, has created another hybrid. This article, in dialogue with Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks, argues that the social sciences and existing paradigms in these three countries will need to be de-colonized in order to facilitate de-colonization and anti-racist practices in everyday life.

Sinterklaas beyond black and white « Standplaats Wereld

Another friend offered me a different opinion. She said: “You didn’t grow up here, you’ve never left your shoes by the door waiting for the Sint’s gift, you’ve never fed Americo with hay or carrots and you’ve never sung the foolish songs. You’ll never understand its enchantment.” This idea made me look to the Sint with new eyes. My friend is also talking about culture, but not as a closed list of “things”. Culture, here, is alive, is an experience that produces enchantment. Beautiful image! Experience points to openness and change: the same cultural “things” can be a bit different every time they are enacted again and they can be lived and interpreted differently by different people. Enchantment is not accessible to rational thinking but it has to do with shared feelings and memories. It goes far beyond ideas of what is right and wrong, correct and incorrect. Culture, in her view, is not a bag full of trash that we are condemned to carry for the rest of our lives, but a way of experiencing the world, with all its paradoxes, differences, incorrectness and embarrassing histories.

kagablog » unmasking the black face of traditional dutch fun

I too have come to realise that the figure of Zwarte Piet is a negative image that has a dark past. However I also realise that most Dutch people are in favour of this tradition and become sensitive when it is criticised. Unlike Krauss and Bauer, I am Dutch and I grew up with Zwart Piet. To me Zwarte Piet (Zwarte is Dutch for black and Piet is the Dutch spelling for Pete, see image 1.2 for a representation) was part of my own tradition of celebrating Christmas. Piet is a servant of Sinterklaas (Saint Nicolas). Together they mysteriously ‘visit’ the Netherlands at the end of November until December 6; during this time they appear sporadically to check on children’s behaviour and leave treats during the night in shoes which have been placed strategically by a chimney, accompanied by carrots, poems and letters to the ‘good saint’. As a child I loved the celebration: the excitement, the joy, the sweets and of course the presents. Unlike Krauss and Bauer I can identify with this celebration and what it means to Dutch people even though I object just as strongly as they do, to the image of Zwarte Piet.

Hajj
Muslim women search for a space at hajj | ajc.com

One of the main rites at Islam’s annual hajj centers on the bravery and determination of a woman.

American Muslim pilgrim, Kameelah Wilkerson, 34, throws pebbles at a stone wall representing the devil in Mina, near Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, Nov. 29,

According to Muslim tradition, Hagar, the consort of the patriarch Abraham, ran between two hills searching for water for her dying young son after they were abandoned in the desert here. Then God brought forth a spring that still runs to this day. Every year, pilgrims at hajj re-enact her desperate search, jogging seven times between two spots in Mecca marking the hills.

It’s a story that thrills Shahidah Sharif, an American Muslim on this year’s pilgrimage. But something about the rite galls her: While male pilgrims are urged to rush between the two places, women are told by many clerics to do it slowly, because they are “weaker” and will tire or because jogging is considered immodest.

‘Preserving’ journey of faith for life

While many pilgrims were raising their hands in prayer, others were lifting cameras and mobile phones, photographing scenes from Haj. A number of pilgrims were keen to take advantage of their presence in Makkah and the holy sites to document life’s most sacred journey.

Political Campaigns

Alliance for Kurdish Rights » Iran: Death Sentence for Zeynab Jalalian Confirmed by the Supreme Court

Reports coming from Iran indicate that the death sentence of Zeynab Jalalian, a female Kurdish political prisoner, has been confirmed by the Iranian Supreme Court.

Zeynab was arrested in May 2008 in Kermanshah and held by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Intelligence Office ever since. On January 2009 Zeynab was found guilty by the Kermanshah Revolutionary Court of being a member of a Kurdish opposition party, in a trial that lasted only a few minutes. She was declared an “enemy of God” and sentenced to death, despite the fact that her legal file doesn’t include allegations of participating in an armed struggle against the Islamic Republic.

Change for Equality

Atefeh Nabavi, 28, is the first woman to receive a prison sentence in relation to charges brought against her for participating in protests following the Presidential elections in June, 2009. She was arrested, charged and sentenced for participating in a protest that drew millions on June 15, 2009. She is among the many unknown and ordinary citizens who were arrested for their participation in protests and only because they demanded accountability from officials with respect to their votes.

BBC News – Concert backs ‘Gandhi of Sahara’

Spanish artists, singers and actors have staged a concert in support of a Western Sahara activist on hunger strike on the Spanish island Lanzarote.

Aminatou Haidar, nicknamed the “Gandhi of Sahara” after seeking independence for the disputed region, was refused re-entry to Morocco on 15 November.

Representation of Women
Chloe – El Gatit

On August 26, 2000 the New York Times reported on Asiyah Andrabi, a “conservative Muslim and radical feminist” who “makes her demands for equal rights for women from behind the all-enveloping burqa.” Andrabi, who is also described as a militant fighting for the liberation of Kashmir, seems to compound what the writer evidently sees as the irreconcilable contradiction between feminism and Islam, women’s rights and the veil, Muslim women and militancy. The representation of Muslim women as militant or potentially violent is rare. The idea of Islam as threatening is usually reserved for Muslim men, while women are perceived as an object of pity or empathy. Underlying Laura Bush’s statement is this more familiar paradigm of women as victims of fundamentalist Islamic tradition, implicitly brown women in need of rescue by civilized people throughout the world.

This paper examines representations of Muslim women, looking at the way interpretations of the Muslim woman are often limited to what is seen as the symbolic and ideological aspect of their presence in the texts, and examining the wider question of the veil, which unavoidably enters the realms of religious debate, cultural theory and literary criticism. It will focus primarily on two texts which can be classified as postcolonial: Hanif Kureishi’s The Black Album (BA) and Ama Ata Aidoo’s Changes: A Love Story. In studying these texts and their representation of Muslim women, I am concerned not so much with the concept of “writing back” which is often a common theme in post-colonial discourse but with the way both writers speak out of and to their respective audiences.

‘Arab women need not apply’ – The National Newspaper

Yuval Steinitz, the finance minister, told a conference on employment discrimination this month that the failure of Arab women to participate in the workforce was damaging Israel’s economy. Eighteen per cent of Arab women work, and only half of them full time, compared with at least 55 per cent of Jewish women.

He attributed the low employment rate to “cultural obstacles, traditional frameworks and the belief that Arab women have to remain in their home towns”, adding that such restrictions were characteristic of all Arab societies.

But researchers and women’s groups pointed out that employment of Arab women in Israel is lower than almost anywhere else in the Arab world, including such employment blackspots for women as Saudi Arabia and Oman.

Syria moving away from equality: report – The National Newspaper

Women in Syria are facing a deliberate campaign by religious conservatives, supported by the government, to cut down their social freedoms, according to a new report published by a leading Syrian rights group.

The Syrian Women Observatory (SWO) said there had been a “backwards” movement in women’s rights in the country during the past two years and that proposed new legislation, if passed, would further erode already limited legal protection.

BBC News – Syrian Islamic revival has woman’s touch

Syria appears to be undergoing a religious revival, most visible in the growing numbers of women wearing the hijab, or Islamic headscarf, and in part led by conservative women preachers.

The most influential conservative female religious figure in Syria, 70-year-old Munira Qubaisia, is said to have at least 75,000 followers, and they are growing in number.

Her preachers, known as Anseh, tend to come from the educated upper classes. They arrive at their meetings in expensive black cars, well dressed and well spoken, with an air of authority that leaves audiences spellbound.

Whatcha Got Under that Burqa? Is this Ad Empowering or Insulting? – elan: The Guide to Global Muslim Culture

Remember when old white dudes used to sit around in places like 19th century Egypt and pontificate on questions like “why are the Muslim people so backwards?” and “I wonder what that woman looks like under that veil? I bet she’s a real tiger in the bedroom.” This, my friends, is what people much smarter than me (take Edward Said for instance) would call “Orientalism”. But if you think Orientalism died out in the 19th century, watching the new advertisement by Liaison Dangereuse, a German lingerie company, will show you otherwise. The exoticization of Muslim women is still very much alive and well.

In the ad, a beautiful young woman is seen getting dressed. She comes out of the shower (with smoky black eyeliner already magically applied) and puts on some very sexy lingerie. Oh la la. Then she proceeds to walk around her house in nothing but the lingerie and high heels, which is what we women do to feel sexy, obviously. Finally, and here’s the kicker, we see her as she is stepping out of her home and onto the street. She is wearing (drum roll please) a burqa. “Sexiness is for everyone,” the tagline reads.

Morocco budgets money for fund for divorced women (Magharebia.com)

Morocco’s Parliament has voted to push forward with creating a long-discussed fund to support divorced women and their families.

The Family Solidarity Fund, which was planned for in the 2003 Family Code, will finally be set up under an amendment to the 2010 Finance Act.

“The provisions of the Family Code must be enforced, since MPs passed the laws years ago,” said MP and leader of the Party of Justice and Development, Mustapha Ramid, on November 23rd.

The fund will provide money for divorced women and mothers whose husbands fail to pay alimony, and will then recover the money from men who refuse to make payments. For the time being, the fund will be financed with tax money.

Threats won’t stop Moroccan aiding unwed mothers | Top News | Reuters

A decade of social reforms has granted more freedoms to Moroccan women, yet most who give birth outside marriage are still treated like criminals, abandoned by family and friends.

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan rips through traditional views about women in Islam | TwoCircles.net

Director of the New Delhi-based Centre for Peace and Spirituality, editor of the monthly Al-Risala journal and author of almost two hundred books, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is one of India’s best known Islamic scholars. In this interview with Yoginder Sikand, he talks about issues related to Islam and women.

You have written extensively on the issue of Islam and women. Contrary to many traditional ulema, you argue the case for gender equality in Islam. How does your approach differ from that of most traditionalist scholars?

The American Spectator : Niqab, the Pseudo-Islamic Face-Veil

Countries from Italy to Sweden are debating the right of women to wear the niqab. Canada is the latest country to enter the fray, with the Muslim Canadian Congress desiring to ban it. Is such a ban possible in the U.S., where its prevalence is evident in certain urban centers, like Philadelphia?

Qantara.de – ‘Gender Jihad’ in the Service of Women’s Rights

‘Gender Jihad’ in the Service of Women’s Rights

The 44-year-old US writer Asra Nomani is viewed as a prominent representative of “Gender Jihad”. For the former Wall Street Journal reporter, there is no contradiction between Islam and feminism. She spoke to Alfred Hackensberger

Internal politics
Fix Your Deen

This book is the result of a lengthy collaboration between scholars of Egypt’s prestigious Al-Azhar University and Islamic Hotline or El-Hatef El-Islami organization. Put simply, far too simply, its aim is to contest the growing number of intolerant and/or simply mistaken legal opinions that often go unchallenged in Muslim communities today. Deeply rooted in the legal tradition of ikhtilaf writings, yet utilizing modern means of communication, The Response applies the wisdom of the classical jurists to the complex realities of the contemporary Muslim world.

What can the present work add to the overcrowded and, it seems, increasingly stagnant debate on “how to live as a Muslim in the modern world”? This book’s importance lies in refocusing our attention on the flexibility and coherence of the works of Sunni Islam’s traditional legal authorities, a point that, while eloquently made in Professor Muhammad Ra’fat ‘Uthman’s introduction, informs the reasoning behind all the legal opinions (fatawa) contained here. Of course, the same kind of reasoning was exercised by the classical jurists, for whom “difference” (ikhtilaf) was perceived as a sign of God’s mercy (rahma).

Sadly, the jurists’ initial courage – their respect for difference, even for ambiguity – is now often forgotten, as the search for a single, monolithic reading to solve all problems regularly results in discussions breaking down into mere polemic.

FT.com / Middle East – Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood split

A senior leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has acknowledged that government repression has widened the rifts within the organisation as conservative voices fearful for its survival battle with reformists over the merits of political participation.

This internal turmoil could be the most critical in the 80-year history of the officially banned party, some analysts say. The Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest opposition group, is debating its strategy for next year’s parliamentary elections.

Former Guantanamo detainee now al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula’s Mufti – The Long War Journal

A former Guantanamo detainee has emerged as a leading ideologue and theologian for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula – one of the strongest al Qaeda affiliates in the world.

Ibrahim Suleiman al Rubaish was captured by Pakistani authorities in late 2001 and then handed over to American officials who transferred him to Guantanamo. Rubaish was held there until Dec. 13, 2006, when he was transferred to Saudi Arabia and placed in the Saudi rehabilitation program for jihadists. At some point, Rubaish escaped from Saudi Arabia by fleeing south to Yemen.

FREEradicals – Jihadism in Germany: An Update

The BfV speaker at the symposium highlighted the following trends:

* An increasing number of ‘home-grown’ cells
* The rising number of converts involved in jihadist activities
* The increasing attractiveness of jihadism to Muslims of Turkish descent, who – for years – had been considered ‘immune’ to the jihadist message

The last point was backed up by an excellent speaker from the Hamburg state office, who provided extensive data on the ethnic affiliations and socio-economic characteristics of Hamburg-based jihadists, as well as Germany’s leading expert on Islamist terrorism, Guido Steinberg of the German Institute for Security and International Affairs.

For German policymakers, of course, the ‘Turkish factor’ is the biggest headache. Muslims of Turkish descent represent the vast majority of the Muslim population in Germany. If jihadism starts spreading among German Turks, Islamist terrorism could become a huge political and social issue in addition to being a security problem.

Misc.

The WIP Contributors: Paint It Black: Women in Iraq Pay for Liberation

For a long time she resisted, but four years ago Amal started to wear the hijab – her bright and shining youth draped in black. She is a 25-year-old Iraqi woman, and she is sad. Amal remembers when her life was freer, happier, and easier, when she didn’t need to cover her hair whenever she sought to step outdoors.

Amal was once my neighbor in Iraq. My childhood friend is depressed, but she is not the only one since most of her sisters – the women of Iraq – have been forced to wear the hijab and more. Cajoled, shamed and threatened, the women of Iraq have been draped in black. Iraqi men have seen to that.

Southern California InFocus – Islam and the Internet

Now fast forward a thousand or so years to our current ‘Internet Age,’ which makes communicating and spreading the message of Islam as fast as the speed of light.

The Internet is the most successful modern-day da’wah tool in the history of Islam. Authentic Islamic information is available with just a few strokes of the keyboard. Translations of the Holy Qur’an are available for download on Islamic Web sites in just about every language known to man.

And every action, word, and deed that Prophet Muhammad lived can easily by accessed on the Internet with just a couple of clicks on the mouse.

Muslim Punk Rock in America: Mashup of Piety, Politics – TIME

In their small but burgeoning scene — there are only a handful of Muslim punk bands in the U.S. and Canada — rebellion is an act of piety. Strident as their sound can seem, it is, in spirit, in harmony with other rebellious voices that are rising amid the breakdown of authority in the Islamic world. Whether they’re the voices of Muslim feminists going back to read the Koran and the Hadith as documents of liberation, gay Muslims working out a theology that embraces homosexuality or even the millions of Muslim youths trusting Islamic chat rooms — which one British Muslim leader has dismissed as “Sheik Google” — over the local imam, they, like Muslim punks, are expressing a growing dissent with the Islamic world’s mainstream theologians.

ANSAmed

The call to prayer from minarets rung out yesterday across the entire Islamic world, involved in the last hours of the Feast of Sacrifice (Eid Al-Adha) and the height of the pilgrimage to the holy sites of Mecca, while surprise and in some cases anger spread among Muslim TV commentators and internet users when pan-Arab media announced to the Islamic world the news that the Swiss referendum for a ban on minarets had received support from almost 60% of voters. On the popular site for Islamic news Islamonline, the jurisconsult and rector of an Islamic university in the United States, Taha Alwani, polemically asked ”why the Swiss are afraid of minarets but show not the least concern when they buy oil from Islamic countries, when their companies do business in Arab-Muslim capitals, or when they decide to hold Muslim money in their banks.”

Burka Furor Mirrors France’s Self-doubts: Scholar – IslamOnline.net – News

As the debate rages on in the western European country on burka, a leading Muslim scholar has said that France’s efforts to ban the loose body-covering reflects growing self-doubts inside the society.

“This is a society that has doubts about itself,” Tariq Ramadan told a parliamentary panel mulling a burka ban Wednesday, December 2, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“For me, this commission is born of a real self-doubt, and suddenly they’re looking at one element, at the most extreme slice.

“The problem won’t be solved like that.”

chris uggen’s weblog: in the land of the hideous, the somewhat-less-than-loathsome man is king

OKCupid, an online matchmaking site, offers data on gender and perceived attractiveness that I might use in my spring deviance course (via boing). The figures might help me make a Durkheimian society of (hot) saints point about the relative nature of beauty and a Goffman point on stigma affecting social interaction, while providing another illustration of the taken-for-grantedness of heteronormativity.

Turkey, Islam, and the EU » Contexts

Contrary to the “clash of civilizations” thesis, social scientists have found that Islam and democracy are not inherently in conflict. Controversy over Turkey’s application to the European Union highlights how concerns over cultural difference impact EU policy decisions. Despite claims to the contrary, Turkey is more similar to Europe than many assume.

Soul-Searching in Turkey After a Gay Man Is Killed – NYTimes.com

For Ahmet Yildiz, a stocky and affable 26-year-old, the choice to live openly as a gay man proved deadly. Prosecutors say his own father hunted him down, traveling more than 600 miles from his hometown to shoot his son in an old neighborhood of Istanbul.

Dutch
De ware dhimmi’s « Kattekliek

Na de intocht van een kruisloze Sinterklaas in Antwerpen (zaterdag j.l.) komt het mijterkruis nu ook in Nederland volop in het nieuws. De Amsterdamse Sinterklaas heeft een soort amsterdammertje op zijn mijter. En in het plaatselijk suffertje alhier zag ik, dat ‘onze’ Sint het met een verticale streep moet stellen. Zo is het in veel gemeentes. Het CDA heeft daar deze week kamervragen over gesteld.

Angst om te kwetsen
Wie zit er nu achter deze ‘ontkruising’ van de goedheiligman in de lage landen? De moslims? De meeste gematigde moslims trekken zich niets aan van dat kruis; ze vieren gewoon de traditie van dit land mee. En orthodoxe moslims vinden de goedheiligman, mét of zonder kruis, ‘haraam’ (verboden). Er is wellicht een kleine groep die hier tussenin staat en die wel klaagt. Maar dat is nog niet direct een reden om daar ook in mee te gaan.

Sinterklaas is in het land! « Noodzakelijk kwaad

Nu de dagen lengen is het ook weer tijd voor het Sinterklaasfeest. Maar hoe staat de islamitische medemens daar nu in? Uw verslaggever hield een rondje.

PVV vraagt opheldering over record aan Zwarte Pieten in Amsterdam | Chimsky

PVV-Kamerlid Sietse Fritsma heeft Kamervragen gesteld aan premier Balkenende en integratie-minister Van der Laan over het schokkende bericht dat Sinterklaas met een record aan Zwarte Pieten onze hoofdstad komt terroriseren.

In de vragen gaat hij onder meer in op de desastreuze gevolgen die deze tsunami aan Zwarte Pieten kan hebben op de onschuldige zieltjes van onze kinderen, en vraagt hij om opheldering over het feit dat Sinterklaas en Herman van Veen onder één hoedje lijken te spelen.

Verzet tegen de karikatuur Zwarte Piet

Van een gewelddadige geschiedenis waarin zwarte mensen alleen maar iemands knecht konden zijn, en absoluut geen rechten hadden, hebben we in de 21e eeuw een volksfeest waarin de knecht pérse zwart moet zijn, en geen andere kleur mag hebben. Hoe bizar is dat? En hoe leg je dat uit aan de mensen die gevochten hebben voor de rechten van zwarte burgers?

Zwarte Piet was vroeger blank | Hoax

na de oorlog ging Zwarte Piet steeds onbeholpener praten en kreeg hij kroeshaar en dikke lippen. Volgens historicus van der Zeijden zouden hier best wel eens een verborgen racistische boodschap in kunnen zitten:

“Sinterklaas is ook de spiegel van de samenleving. Na de oorlog ging Zwarte Piet onbeholpen praten en kreeg kroeshaar met dikke lippen. Dat kan best met het koloniale verleden te maken hebben. In de hoofden van mensen is de knechtenrol meer voor zwarten dan voor blanken.”

Moslim: handen af van kruis op mijter van sint – Midden Twente – Regio – TC Tubantia

Past het kruis op de mijter van Sinterklaas nog wel in de huidige multiculti tijd? Landelijk is daarover een discussie losgebarsten. In de Tweede Kamer zijn er zelfs al vragen over gesteld. Erkan Coskunsu (33) vindt het een onzin-discussie. De Hengeloër is zelf moslim, maar hij is heel stellig in zijn reactie: handen af van de sint en z’n mijter! „Dat kruis hoort er gewoon op.”

Al@din: Hoe komt Sinterklaas aan Zwarte Piet? – DePers.nl

Over de oorsprong van Zwarte Piet bestaan verschillende theorieën, waaronder de volgende:

Omdat iedereen veronderstelt dat Sint-Nicolaas uit Spanje komt, wordt aangenomen dat hij de bij Spaanse edelen gebruikelijke Moorse bedienden heeft overgenomen.

Een andere theorie luidt: in de tijd dat Nicolaas in Myra woonde, kocht hij op de slavenmarkt een Ethiopisch jongetje, Piter, afgeleid van Petrus.

Ook zijn er legenden waar Piet de duivel of de dood symboliseert.

Als laatste noemen we de Germaanse god Wodan. Wodan reed op zijn witte paard door de lucht en werd altijd vergezeld van twee zwarte raven. De raven luisterden, net als Zwarte Piet, aan de schoorsteen om Wodan over de goede en de slechte daden van de stervelingen te vertellen.

Statemagazine – statement – Sinterklaasje, kom maar binnen zonder knecht – Article

Gezellig! Het is weer zover, nog eventjes en dan kunnen kinderen weer vol spanning hun felbegeerde cadeautjes uitpakken. Sla de krant open, zet de tv aan of open de deur en je komt ze weer tegen, Sinterklaas met zijn honderden knechten. Niet iedereen zit op hem te wachten. Zo is er in de hiphopwereld een duidelijk tegengeluid te horen.

Het kruis van de Sint | .god.voor.dommen

Het kruis van de Sint maakt weer heel wat los. In Amsterdam (en Antwerpen) moest het verdwijnen van de mijter van de Sint, wat tegen het zere been is van het CDA die er Kamervragen over stelde. Van mij mag het kruis blijven, opdat kinderen ook in de toekomst weten dat mannen in jurken met kruizen en bewuste leugens onlosmakelijk met elkaar verbonden zijn.

Historiën » Sint Nicolaas op bezoek

anaf ongeveer 1850 verschijnt ineens zwarte Piet. Voor die tijd had Sint geen knecht, maar wel een paard. Op de tentoonstelling wordt hier even op ingegaan. Waar kwam Piet ineens vandaan? Was het vanwege de mode in die tijd? Omdat een (zwarte) knecht als exotisch werd beschouwd? Jan Schenkman, een onderwijzer en auteur uit de tweede helft van de negentiende eeuw heeft alle Sinterklaasgebruiken opgeschreven in een boekje. Hij liet zwarte Piet ook duidelijk afbeelden. Dit boekje heeft tot op de dag van vandaag het beeld bepaald van Sinterklaas zoals wij dat nu kennen. Schenkman beschreef het Sinterklaasfeest zoals wij dat nu vieren. Het Sinterklaasfeest heeft echter wel een tijdje onder vuur gelegen.

Nederlandse Islamitische Omroep » Archief » Sinterklaasfeest na vrijdaggebed

In de Turkse Ayasofya Moskee in Hengelo wordt er rondom het vrijdaggebed een Sinterklaasfeest georganiseerd. Aanleiding is de recente discussie in de regionale krant Tubantia waarin rapper Erkan Coskunsu zich positief uitliet over het kruis op de mijter van de Sint. Coskunsu nam contact op met het bestuur van culturele vereniging voor de Islam in Hengelo en vroeg of het feest ook in de moskee kon worden gehouden.

Joost Niemöller » Amsterdam islamiseert… (met update)

Twee mensen blij vandaag in Amsterdam. Stadsdeelvoorzitter Marcouch te Slotervaart met een nu geheel van ieder christelijk kruis gestripte Sinterklaas en Fatima Elitak die vanuit een vergadering twittert over haar grote nieuwe macht. Aan de ene kant islamiseert Nieuw West, aan de andere kant Oost. Het gaat lekker in Amsterdam.

0 comments.

Closing the week 48

Posted on November 29th, 2009 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

Most popular on Closer this week:

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE

Why Conservatives failed the test on Islamic schools – Education News, Education – The Independent

Conservative Party officials made two basic errors in their attack on two schools said to be run by a radical Islamic group, it emerged yesterday.

During Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday and in briefings afterwards the Conservatives claimed there was no evidence that the schools had been registered or inspected by Ofsted, the education standards watchdog; they also said the schools had received money from an anti-terrorism fund. But yesterday the claims were beginning to unravel. The most obvious mistake was the allegation that they appeared not to have been registered or inspected.

Immigration and “impact” — Crooked Timber

Henceforth, research in the UK will be funded not just for its intrinsic quality but also for the benefits it is expected to bring to the wider society. Ministers and higher-education funding bureaucrats have been keen to point out that they don’t simply mean economic benefits and commercial spinoffs. No, they also want to reward research which makes a difference to public policy. Of course, I’d love it to be the case that senior politicians and civil servants read work in political philosophy and theory and, convinced by good arguments, adjust their ideas accordingly. But the cynic in me says that this isn’t what happens. Rather, the attitude that politicians have to research is to latch onto it when it supports the view they already hold and to ignore (or punish) it when it tells them something uncomfortable. Research that supports tighter border controls (or harsher drug laws) will have “impact” and research that favours more immigration or legalizing weed won’t. And the money will follow.

Why do fewer Arab women have jobs in Israel than Saudi Arabia? – Haaretz – Israel News

Why do fewer Arab women have jobs in Israel than Saudi Arabia?
By Himmat Zoabi

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz appears to have been unaware of some important facts when he said at a recent conference on discrimination that Arab society in Israel is partially responsible for the low levels of employment for Arab women.

Hijab Style: Hijab Style Exclusive: Interview with Irna Mutiara

Hijab Style Exclusive: Interview with Irna Mutiara

Yesterday I posted some of Irna Mutiara’s designs here, which were on the runway at Jakarta Fashion Week. Today, Hijab Style brings you an exclusive interview with Irna about her work in the Indonesian Islamic fashion industry

“It’ll just happen, whenever God knows you’re ready.” – washingtonpost.com

Last November, after 6 1/2 years together, Hagir Elawad’s boyfriend finally proposed. It was what she’d been so badly wanting, she says — “until it happened.”

DUBAI: Now, she can look pious in hijab and cool in her shades | Babylon & Beyond | Los Angeles Times

Put on a pair of gold encrusted BQ shades — the world’s first sunglasses especially tailored for piously dressed women in the Persian Gulf.

French rapper Diam’s is keeping it real with Islam – The National Newspaper

Rapper Diam’s has sold millions of CDs documenting the poverty and racism blighting urban France. But fame took its toll when she was hit by depression. Now recording again, she puts her recovery down to her Muslim faith. Colin Randall, foreign correspondent, reports from Paris

Al Jazeera English – Middle East – Pilgrim embarks on ‘lifelong dream’

The annual pilgrimage to Islam’s holy city of Mecca is mandatory for healthy Muslims at least once in a lifetime, if they can afford it.

For 42-year-old pilgrim Maryam Abdalla of Kenya, a mother of three and nurse at a government hospital, the journey has not been an easy one.

But after seven years of planning and praying, Abdalla says she is content with the feeling that she has accomplished one of her life-long dreams.

Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow reports.

Muslim women seek even playing field in football | Football – Times Online

“It’s completely a matter of tradition and choice here — football and religion don’t cross each other,” Ozan Soykan, the liaison officer for the Turkish FA, said. “Women’s football is growing in popularity, just as men’s football is. Female spectators are increasing at games and in primary schools, it’s quite natural for six or seven-year-old girls to be playing among boys.”

CBC News – Canada – For Muslim women, respect cuts both ways

When you think of Buenos Aires you’re more likely to envision Catholic churches and Virgin Marys, not so much minarets and Muslims. But, much to my surprise, South America’s largest mosque can be found in Palermo, one of Buenos Aires’s most fashionable districts.

The King Fahd Islamic Cultural Centre is an enormous structure surrounded by sweet smelling jasmine flowers and heavy-duty security.

I hadn’t come to Argentina to go to mosque but out of a mixture of journalistic curiosity and tribal obligation I decided to pay a visit.

Ahmed Rehab: Hijab Case: Why Bigoted Battery Makes For A Hate Crime

Hijab Case: Why Bigoted Battery Makes For A Hate Crime
The Fort Hood massacre committed by Major Nidal Hassan was a national tragedy that took us all by surprise. It was quickly and widely condemned by the American Muslim community who were as shell-shocked and dismayed as anybody else, and who were additionally concerned about a potential backlash against those who happen to share Hassan’s faith, though not his crime.

It is no surprise that the usual culprits who have built careers out of inciting hysteria against Muslims saw this tragedy as an opportunity on a golden platter. The hate blogs and radio talk shows were quickly abuzz with familiar voices trying hard to extend Hassan’s guilt to every Muslim and the faith they practice .

Unfortunately, there are always the vigilante Joes and Janes out there who consume this stuff with little critical scrutiny and, in some cases, act upon it.

Such was the case a few days ago at a local grocery store in Tinley Park, Illinois.

Amal Abusumayah, a 28-year-old American mother of four young girls, was going about her usual shopping when she was randomly treated to a dose of derogatory comments about her faith and ethnic heritage; the offending woman, later identified as 54-year-old Valerie Kenney, referenced Fort Hood.

Amal tried to ignore the comments and proceeded to check out at the counter when she felt a sharp pull on her hijab — or headscarf.

Amal was “shaken up” and felt violated but did not know what to do. She followed the woman to the parking lot and called the police. She was not sure if she wanted to press charges that night, but later decided that it was something she owed to her daughters. They, like Amal, were born and would grow up in this country — as American as anybody else.

Hijab Style: Hijab Style Exclusive: Interview with Irna Mutiara

Hijab Style Exclusive: Interview with Irna Mutiara

Yesterday I posted some of Irna Mutiara’s designs here, which were on the runway at Jakarta Fashion Week. Today, Hijab Style brings you an exclusive interview with Irna about her work in the Indonesian Islamic fashion industry

‘Muslim suffragettes’ fight for mosque vote – Scotsman.com News

MUSLIM women have launched an audacious campaign to win the vote at Scotland’s biggest mosque.

Hijabtrendz.com| Hijab Style, Hijab Fashion, Hijab Style Blog, Muslimah Fashion, Hijab How to, Hijab Blog, Hijab Styles, Islamic Fashion, Abaya » Blog Archive » Getting searched by the secret service

Getting searched by the secret service

I’m not sure if it’s because of the hijab, but I do believe it must have been a factor in my getting searched by the President’s Secret Service.

When I was covering politics as a radio reporter, I was sent a few times to cover President George W. Bush when he was in Chicago. Coincidentally each time I was sent I was searched more than any of the other journalists in attendance.

How do I know this? Well because I asked my colleagues.

Ghada’s World: People Leaving Islam

I am posting this video on why Kimdonesia left Islam. I have never met the girl, but I thought her reasons were valid. There have been times when I have felt very much the say way, but I tend to be a very liberal thinker. Since my conversion to Islam, I have never thought as my family as infedials. We have a lot of different beliefs systems in my family for Christainity to Wiccan (Witch Craft) to Islam. Allah (God) has always has a strong place within my life, I have always prayed to a God, and there was a point in my life where I did question about my belief in a God.

There is no honour in ‘honour killing’ – ?? ??? ?? ???????

Depending on which school of thought one adheres to, Islam made room not only for the normal marriage but also for other associations between men and women, which may be consummated for various reasons including pleasure.

These arrangements may not be popular in certain Muslim communities nowadays but this does not change the fact that Islam is more tolerant of male-female relationships than meets the eye or than some would have us believe. Hence, the issue becomes not one of dishonour and immorality but of disobedience and control.

As humans, we tend to seek repositories in life to deposit issues in, and we behave towards those repositories in different ways, depending on the issues that we deposit in them. So, a wall or a building becomes holy because we deposit part of our reverence for the divine in these structures. Or, we may project evil into a group of people and seek to eradicate them. For a woman to become the repository of virtue for her family, she becomes an icon, and icons are images that we impose on a surface that never live up to our unreasonable expectations.

Dutch
hoeiboei: De expansie van de islam en de toekomst van Nederland

Er is weinig creativiteit voor nodig om te bedenken dat in de huidige tijd het omgekeerde heeft plaats gehad van wat er gebeurd is na de verovering van Mekka: de migratie is weer centraal komen te staan, en is uitgegroeid tot de belangrijkste strategie om de macht van de islam te vergroten. Het belang van bloedige strijd is verminderd. Migratie is sinds een kleine halve eeuw weer het effectiefste hulpmiddel van de expansie zoals het dat ook was in de eerste acht jaar (622-630) na de migratie naar Medina en voor de verovering van Mekka in 630.

Hoe christelijk is het om zich achter de PVV van Geert Wilders te scharen? – Trouw

Zoals de islam een licht ontvlambare, djihadistische kant kent (denk aan Al-Kaida, of de Taliban), heeft ook het christendom een onverdraagzame, militante zijde.

SGP: Dijksma deed dom en dwaas – Trouw

Dijksma zei: „Op school moet je mogen zijn wie je bent. In die zin is de school niet alleen de plek die fysieke veiligheid biedt; ook de geestelijke vrijheid dient er te worden beschermd. Op alle scholen zeg ik daarbij. Ook de islamitische en streng christelijke. Als kinderen daar bijvoorbeeld te horen krijgen dat het niet goed is om vrienden te zijn met mensen die niet gelovig zijn, kan dat niet door de beugel.” Dat kon Dijksma niet maken, vindt de SGP : „Met het op één hoop gooien van christelijke en islamitische scholen zet zij het christelijk onderwijs in een kwade reuk.”

nrc.nl – Opinie – Islamonderzoeker is geen overheidsdienaar

In de laatste tien jaar heeft het beleid, als gevolg van de aanslagen in Amerika en Europa en de problemen met jongeren in verschillende Europese steden, zich toegespitst op criminaliteit- en radicaliseringpreventie, veiligheid, en een grotere controle op het doen en laten van moslims. Radicalisering onder jonge moslims, confrontaties tussen bewoners in wijken en tal van andere kwesties worden primair beschouwd als integratieproblemen. Europese staten streven ernaar de islam te beteugelen en aan te passen aan nationale omstandigheden. Deze ‘domesticering van de islam’ is een beleidsprioriteit geworden in vrijwel alle landen van Europa.

Vanuit beleidsoogpunt is het misschien begrijpelijk dat overheden primair geïntegreerd zijn in integratievraagstukken en dat zij instrumenten willen ontwikkelen ter voorkoming van radicalisering en criminaliteit, maar onderzoekers moeten niet blindelings deze weg volgen, maar hun eigen onderzoeksagenda ontwikkelen.

nrc.nl – Opinie – Onderzoek naar moslimradicalisme is ook onafhankelijk onderzoek

Sunier’s kritiek impliceert een zware beschuldiging, namelijk dat radicalismeonderzoek niet onafhankelijk is. Onafhankelijkheid is één van de kernwaarden van wetenschappelijk onderzoek. Dit wordt ook geïllustreerd door het feit dat in de gedragscode van de Vereniging van Nederlandse Universiteiten (VSNU) onafhankelijkheid een van de belangrijkste criteria is. Het is dan ook meer dan verbazingwekkend dat Sunier geen enkel argument voor zijn aanklacht aanvoert. Louter het feit dat men in opdracht van de overheid onderzoek doet naar moslimradicalisme, is voor hem genoeg om de onafhankelijkheid van onze studies ter discussie te stellen. Laat ik daarom een aantal punten duidelijk maken

Expertdiscussies » Richten moslimonderzoekers zich teveel op radicalisme?

Wat vindt u? Is al die aandacht voor radicalisme onwetenschappelijk? Schept dat een verkeerd beeld van moslims? Of is er niets aan de hand en ontsluit radicalismeonderzoek vooral ook de gevallen die niet aan die definitie voldoen?

0 comments.

Closing the week 47

Posted on November 22nd, 2009 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

Most popular on Closer this week

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE

Anthropology / Research
Mind Hacks: I only read it for the articles

When the swimsuit issue was the magazine with more articles, the guys said they valued having more articles to read and chose that one. When the bikini babes appeared in the publication with more sports, they said wider coverage was more important and chose that issue.

This, as it turns out, is a common pattern in studies of this kind, and crucially, participants are usually completely unaware that they are post-justifying their choices.

Remember Bhopal « Anthromodernity

It has been 25 years of denial, deceit, and injustice. The people who were injured when 40 tonnes of toxic waste, methyl isocyanate, leaked out from the US owned Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India has still not been compensated. Union Carbide was found to be faulted for the lack of safety at the factory which caused the disaster, and up to date the company refuses to take responsibility for their actions. I and many with me think that these actions are distasteful.

Plutocracy of blood? Afghanistan post-election « Islam, Muslims, and an Anthropologist

This model is something that the Afghan people have been, without real consultation, asked to test, accept and live with. Eight years of suffering have offered the great majority nothing tangibly better than the poverty they were used to, the violence, killing and rape they suffered before, as well as both a lack of security and real future.

From the Annals of Anthroman: The End of an Oprah

With all of these pots on the fire, Winfrey is probably betting on the fact that she’ll be even more influential after they shutter the doors to her studio show. I wouldn’t doubt it.

tabsir.net » We Are All Moors

The latest book by Anouar Majid, We Are All Moors: Ending Centuries of Crusades against Muslims and Other Minorities (University of Minnesota Press, 2009) provides a provocative thesis, suggesting that we examine the issue of Muslim minorities in contemporary Europe through the prism of history, specifically the treatment of the Moors (los Moros) in Spain. Here is a sample of his argument (from pp. 3-4).]

Indeed, anyone watching the events unfolding in Europe and the United States in recent years cannot help but be struck by the confluence of the two overriding concerns of these two continental states: the mounting anxiety over coexisting with Muslims and the seemingly unstoppable waves of illegal and nonassimilable immigrants. All sorts of explanations have been offerd about these twin elements fueling the global crisis — bookshelves are filled with books about Islam, minorities, and questions of immigration — but no one seems to be reading the intense debate over immigration and minorities who resist assimilation as the continuation of a much older conflict, the one pitting Christendom against the world of Islam. We are often being asked to ponder “what is wrong with Islam” and “what is wrong with the West,” as if these two abstract, ideological entities suddenly bumped into each other in their travels and were jolted by the shock of discovery. The West encountered an archaic Islam stuck int he primitivism of pre-modern cultures, whereas Muslims discovered a dizzying, fast-dissolving secular West that is guided by the fleeting fantasies of materialism.

ASA Globalog :: Why don’t more people make their own money?

What can anthropology offer someone who wants to understand money better?

Social Networking in Iran « media/anthropology

Inaugurating our new regular online-only feature Social Text invited pieces from scholars of Iran, new media, and visual culture, and asked them to think through the contradictory promise of technology.

Muslims and integration into something
Dutch government increases requirements for marriage migration and civic integration
Politics of Burka and Niqab Heat Up in Canada | Womens eNews

The Muslim Canadian Congress is lobbying to ban the burka and niqab, but authorities say apparel is a matter of individual expression. Young women who have adopted the clothes say they like the modest attire.

Middle school tests Va. Muslim girl’s decision to wear head scarf – washingtonpost.com

Boldly modest declaration of faith
For a Fairfax County teenager, middle school represents a major test of her decision to wear a head scarf as a sign of her devotion to Islam

Smar Abuagla is 13 years old and a typical American teenager. She also happens to wear a head scarf at school. In her own words, she describes how she arrived at this decision and how her classmates have come to regard her.

Last year when she made this walk to the bus stop on the first day of school, she was wearing black skinny jeans and a short-sleeved T-shirt; her hair was in braids. But this year she’s a different Smar. In addition to looser, more modest clothing, her hair is completely hidden under a head scarf.

Meet MMW’s Fatemeh Fakhraie – elan: The Guide to Global Muslim Culture

Editor, writer, blogger, and now textbook author, Fatemeh Fakhraie is known for her smart critiques, keen analysis and unique perspective. But how did she get started as a writer? Where does she hope her career will go? elan steals a moment from the busy schedule of the woman behind Muslimah Media Watch to learn about her professional goals, the women she admires and her aspiration of becoming the next pleasant, pantsuit-wearing Wilhelmina Slater.

Debates
Arab Times :: Same-sex marriages organised in Kuwait

Two same-sex marriages were allegedly conducted in Kuwait recently, reports Al-Seyassah daily. According to the source, two Kuwaiti men got married in Salmiya, which coincided with another wedding ceremony between two women in Kheitan that lasted for three hours, adding both ceremonies took place in the presence of several homosexuals. The source wondered why this phenomenon is fast growing and publicized at a time when the country is embroiled in a grilling process over the inclusion of music in the schools curricula.

The WIP Contributors: The “democratic evolution” of the Kurdish Question:Turkish and Kurdish Mothers Campaign for Peace

“We mothers, whose hearts are burning, have come together so that there will be no more pain. We do not want our children to die.” These words belong to Nurten Ekinci, a woman who lost her son during his military service. Another woman, Sakine Arat, lost three children after they joined the pro-Kurdish terrorist organization, the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). “This war does not benefit anyone,” she says. “It has lasted for years, and it needs to end.”

Broaching Birth Control With Afghan Mullahs – NYTimes.com

The mullahs stared silently at the screen. They shifted in their chairs and fiddled with pencils. Koranic verses flashed above them, but the topic was something that made everybody a little uncomfortable.

“A baby should be breast-fed for at least 21 months,” said the instructor. “Milk is safe inside the breast. Dust and germs can’t get inside.”

It was a seminar on birth control, a likely subject for a nation whose fertility rate of 6 children per woman is the highest in Asia. But the audience was unusual: 10 Islamic religious leaders from this city and its suburbs, wearing turbans and sipping tea.

After Neda: “Now I Have Left Iran, I Can Cry Out To Break The Silence” – Neda soltan – Jezebel

In an interview with yesterday’s Guardian, Makan discusses his relationship with Neda, her political involvement, and the attempts by the government to suppress the truth following her violent death. Neda’s death was one of 80 reported during the protests against the presidential elections, but unlike the others, Neda died live on camera, in a clip that quickly traveled around the world, turning Neda into a symbol of reform-minded Iranians’ struggle. According to eyewitness reports, Neda was shot by a member of the religious militia. Her face, and the face of her death, became a central image in the protests, a rallying point for people all over the globe. But as the Guardian notes, “symbols destroy lives.” And Neda’s was not the last.

In the days following Neda’s murder, Makan spoke out to foreign news stations, before suddenly disappearing.

The Dutch government implements new admission and civic integration measures with respect to family migration, in particular marriage migration. Targeted measures prior to and after arrival should lead to fewer people with unfavourable prospects starting the process of family migration. Promotion of participation and the combating of fraud are central in this approach. It will improve the starting position of new family migrants, relieve society’s resilience, benefit integration and prevent children from growing up in a disadvantaged position from the start. This is written by Minister Van der Laan for Housing, Communities and Integration and Minister Hirsch Ballin and State Secretary for Justice in a letter to the Lower House, to which the Dutch Government has agreed.

nrc.nl – International – Integration in the Netherlands ‘largely successful’

The heated Dutch debate about ethnic minorities and their integration could leave the impression that immigration in the Netherlands has been a complete failure. But a government report released this week says some progress has been made in the past ten years.

World Jewish Congress

A hundred mosques and synagogues throughout North America and Europe took part in the second edition of twinning. The annual event involves meetings between local Muslim and Jewish congregations aimed at launching joint activities. The New York-based Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, founded by Rabbi Marc Schneier, has been organizing the event, which this year focused on saving the environment, protecting immigrants, combating anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, and fighting poverty. The Islamic Society of North America, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the World Jewish Congress and the Canadian Association of Jews and Muslims supported the initiative.

News | Switzerland will not hear sound of Muslim prayer

Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz on Tuesday told voters that the call of the muezzin, or Muslim imam who calls people to prayer, would not sound in Switzerland, as he campaigned against a referendum motion seeking to ban the building of minarets.

“Muslims should be able to practice their religion and have access to minarets in Switzerland too. But the call of the muezzin will not sound here,” said Merz in a video broadcast to the nation.

The Swiss are due to vote on Nov. 29 on the motion launched by right wing groups to ban the construction of minarets

The mediatization of the “Islam debate” in The Netherlands and its agenda-setting capability | The World According To Tina Ehrami

This paper argues how the mediatization of issues related to the religion of Islam and its manifestations in the Dutch society effected the public debate and how political actors who portrayed themselves as experts, or who were portrayed by the media as experts used this political wave to put their issue on the political agenda.

t r u t h o u t | Women and the Struggle for Democracy in Iran: A Discussion With a Nobel Laureate

“The Iranian women’s movement is not simply demanding equal rights alone. It is demanding a larger universal reality, which is democracy.” – Shirin Ebadi, October 9, 2009

BBC NEWS | Africa | Saharan activist ‘facing court’

Saharan activist ‘facing court’
Aminatou Haidar on Hunger strike in Lanzarote
Aminatou Haidar’s supporters say the hunger strike has left her weak

A Western Sahara activist on hunger strike in Spain’s Canary Islands has been told to appear in court on public order charges, her supporters say.

The Feminist School

Unfortunately, although near five months have passed since the elections ,detainment of prisoners still continues , last month Hangameh Shahidi was released on bail only after months of imprisonment and Vahideh Molavi , Raheleh Asgarizadeh and Somayeh Rashidi who had been arrested on Nov.4th were released on third party guaranty .

Negar Sayeh is Still in Solitary Confinement

Negar Sayeh , journalist and in charge of Mousavi’s youth election headquarters in district no. 19 , was arrested on the last days of November . She is still kept in solitary confinement ,according to her mother has been allowed to call home only once , while they were allowed to meet her in prison once as well .

The Haifa Wehbe apology tour – The Majlis

First, Beyonce caused an uproar in Egypt with her insolent sex party.
Haifa Wehbe

Now Lebanese crooner Haifa Wehbe is in trouble for referring to black Nubians as “monkeys” in one of her most recent songs. A group of Nubian lawyers submitted a complaint to Egypt’s public prosecutor and asked that the song be banned.

Wehbe has apologized profusely; she insists the offending lyric was written by an Egyptian songwriter, who said “Nubian monkey” was “an innocent term for a popular children’s game.” (Good rule of thumb: Comparisons between black people and monkeys are never a good idea, even if you’re Haifa Wehbe or the New York Post.)

Dr Amina Wadud: For a Progressive Islam | The Jakarta Post

The Islamic scholar, author, imam and activist — Dr Amina Wadud — started life as Mary, a Methodist child of the US borderline Southern State of Maryland in 1952.

Descended from Berber, Arab and African slaves who once answered the Islamic call to prayer, generations later Wadud would be born to an open-minded Methodist pastor.

She grew up witnessing African Americans sawing off the shackles of racial inequality during an often brutal period of US history.

As a 16-year-old, Wadud would have watched in horror the assassination in Memphis of Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

Perhaps it was this monumental tragedy in the formative years of an African American, who had tasted too often racism’s bitter fruit that led her in later life to work toward justice and equality with the foundation of that equality, housed in Islam’s sharia which translates as justice.

It’s Time to End Gender Segregation in Mosques « Muslim Reverie

The Qur’an teaches gender equality, and yes, women and men are different in many ways, but rather than limiting ourselves to roles based upon gender expectations, we should emphasize on celebrating and appreciating our differences. If we do not actively oppose the sexism and misogyny in our communities, it will persist and only move one step closer to becoming permanent.

Dutch

Bruggenbouwers » Aïcha en Kathleen in gesprek over het Offerfeest

Voor moslims én christenen is Abraham de gemeenschappelijke stamvader van het geloof. Beide religies kennen het verhaal van Abrahams’ offer. Maar welke betekenis geven zij hieraan? Aïcha en Kathleen willen vanuit hun geloofstraditie en -beleving betekenis geven aan dit verhaal. Aïcha Bouharras is een jonge Marokkaanse moslima en educatieve medewerker bij het Internationaal Comité. Kathleen Hoebregts is christen en werkzaam als pastor bij KAV Limburg. Ze gaan samen op zoek naar de diepere betekenis van het offer van Abraham.

Thijl Sunier wil voorbij integratiedenken « Standplaats Wereld

Het integratiebeleid ten aanzien van migranten met een islamitische achtergrond heeft zich in de laatste tien jaar als gevolg van de aanslagen in Amerika en Europa en de problemen in wijken van verschillende Europese steden toegespitst op criminaliteit- en radicaliseringpreventie, veiligheid, en een grotere controle op het doen en laten van moslims. Europese staten streven ernaar de islam te beteugelen en aan te passen aan nationale omstandigheden. Deze ‘domesticering van de islam’ is een beleidsprioriteit geworden in vrijwel alle landen van Europa.

Frontaal Naakt. Ongesluierde opinies, interviews & achtergronden » Islam kent mededogen

Het klopt dat je niet de letterlijke gulden regel tegenkomt in de Koran, maar wel vele variaties erop die op hetzelfde neerkomen en er staat wel tachtig keer dat God vergevend en barmhartig is, wat uiteraard impliceert dat van de mens wordt verwacht dat óók te zijn. Bovendien staat de gulden regel wel in een gezaghebbende hadith, volgens welke de Profeet stelt dat ‘niemand een gelovige is tenzij hij zijn naaste toewenst wat hij zichzelf wenst’.

0 comments.

Closing the week 46 – Featuring Fort Hood and Nidal Hasan

Posted on November 14th, 2009 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere.

Most popular on Closer this week:

If you want to stay updated and did not subscribe yet, you can do so HERE

Featuring Fort Hood shooting and Nidal Hasan
Fort Hood Shooting Is Proof That [Insert Your Favorite Cause Here] « MediaElites

The shooting at Fort Hood yesterday should be all the evidence the [MSM/wingnuts/gun nuts/PC police] need to finally [close our borders/make tighter gun laws/end the wars/racially profile]. I have had it with [liberal elites/the NRA/Neocons] telling me this country has no problem with its [Muslims/guns/border security/mental health of our military]. It is high time [real Americans/real patriots/We The People/the few sane people left in this idiot country] take action.

Is Ft. Hood Like Columbine? By Columbine’s Dave Cullen – NurtureShock Blog – Newsweek.com

The Ft. Hood perpetrator appears pretty transparent. The “obvious” factors include:

* His religion
* His ethnicity
* The ridicule he endured for each
* His profession as a soldier
* His profession as a psychiatrist
* His exposure to guns
* Relentless exposure to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in his patients
* Opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
* Imminent deployment there

We have heard a lot of facts related to each of those factors already. I expect that most will turn to be true. Historically, we get the what right pretty fast. But we have a terrible record on why.

The Meaning of Fort Hood – The Opinionator Blog – NYTimes.com

The attempt to sort out the meaning of the murderous actions of Maj. Nidal Hasan has consumed numerous blog cycles since Thursday. Does Hasan’s rampage signal an internal jihadi threat we’re ill-equipped to thwart, or was it just another meaningless moment of American lone-gunman violence?

Ft. Hood and the Clash of Civilizations: Security vs political correctness revisited | Marc Lynch

Since the Ft Hood atrocity, I’ve seen a meme going around that it somehow exposed a contradiction between “political correctness” and “security.” The avoidance of Nidal Hassan’s religion out of fear of offending anyone, goes the argument, created the conditions which allowed him to go undetected and unsanctioned in the months and years leading up to his rampage. American security, therefore, demands dropping the “political correctness” of avoiding a confrontation with Islamist ideas and asking the “tough questions” about Islam as a religion and the loyalty of Muslim-Americans.

This framing of the issue is almost 100% wrong. There is a connection between what these critics are calling “political correctness” and national security, but it runs in the opposite direction.

Focusing on Fort Hood Killer’s Beliefs Is an Easy Out to Avoid the Deeper Reasons for the Massacre | | AlterNet

It’s hard to pinpoint what’s the most shocking thing about Army Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan’s shooting rampage in Fort Hood, Texas.

I’ll start with this: There’s nothing all that groundbreaking about it.

Condemnations by Muslims
What Does Islam Have to Do with Fort Hood?

this idea that blacks/gays/Latinos/insert religious persuasion must take responsibility for whatever evil other blacks/gays/Latinos/insert religious persuasion do

The Tragedy of Nidal Hasan’s Fort Hood Shootings: Media Discipline & Muslim Condemnations | MuslimMatters.org

My frustrations were exacerbated, both by some of the news coverage (though I have something positive to say about their initial reporting) and by the Muslim community’s reactions. In contrast to the initial reporting and punditry, I believe that Muslim community’s handling of the issue leaves much to be desired.
Clearly, condemning the killing of unarmed people in a non-combat situation is the right thing to do.

However, why do we have to do it as Muslims?

This is an issue of common humanity.

Muslims in Western Armies
Indigo Jo Blogs » Hypocrisy of praising Nidal Hasan

I’ve always wondered what this guy was doing in the Army myself; I woudn’t advise any Muslim in his right mind to join the armed forces in any western country. Since the outbreak of the Bush Wars, I have even turned down jobs which have involved dealing with the military. How anyone can stomach living on base with people hostile to their religion and even race is beyond me.

In Light of Ft. Hood Shootings (Nidal Hasan): Growing Religious Influence in the Military & PTSD | MuslimMatters.org

Instead of pointing fingers at the imaginary Muslim fifth column, it is more relevant to discuss what would push a man to commit a treacherous act, not to justify it, but rather to prevent another serviceman from committing a similar act, perhaps a Jew or an atheist or other non-Christian, someone similarly frustrated and harassed, as Nidal allegedly was.

onwards, muslim soldiers? – City of Brass

The bottom line is that the Qur’an provides enough rationale to either permit or forbid a muslim from being in the military, depending on the interpreter’s bias (and sure enough muslim scholars in the West tend to rule muslims may serve, whereas scholars from muslim nations find the opposite). Ultimately, it falls upon the muslim’s own conscience as to whether they can serve their nation.

Kamran Pasha: A Muslim Soldier’s View from Fort Hood

Richard shared my views, and when Hasan attempted to rationalize suicide bombing in a conversation, Richard told him in no uncertain terms that suicide is forbidden in the Qur’an (4:29). An argument ensued, and then an Islamic scholar who was present told Hasan that Richard was right. Suicide cannot be defended under traditional Islamic law, regardless of efforts by some modern scholars to rationalize it. Hasan was unhappy to hear this point of view, and the men decided to change the topic.

I asked Richard whether he believed that Hasan was motivated by religious radicalism in his murderous actions. Richard, with great sadness, said that he believed this was true. He also believed that psychological factors from Hasan’s job as an army psychiatrist added to his pathos. Hasan had spent months listening to horror stories from returning soldiers about their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it had hardened his position on these wars. The news that he would be deployed overseas to Iraq, to a war that he rejected, may have pushed him over the edge.

But Richard does not excuse Hasan. As a Muslim, he finds Hasan’s religious perspectives to be fundamentally misguided. And as a soldier, he finds Hasan’s actions cowardly and evil. Hasan was not being sent into combat – he would have been working in a secure office in the Green Zone far away from the life and death dangers that Richard and his fellow combat veterans face every day. For Richard, a Muslim convert and patriotic soldier, Hasan’s actions were those of a sinner and a villain, one who will be held accountable by the U.S. justice system in this world, and by Allah in the Hereafter.

Listening to Richard’s perspective, I felt many emotions. Sorrow that good men and women like him will now have to defend their patriotism from those who want to use one madman’s actions to target an entire community. Pride that Muslim soldiers like Richard continue to do their duties with honor, despite the two worlds they are forced to straddle.

Muslim Americans Must Obey U.S. Laws; Nidal Hasan Disobeyed Islamic Doctrine | loonwatch.com

There is, according to these anti-Muslim bigots, a conspiracy by Muslim Americans to overtake the country from within. The tactics to do so can be non-violent (”Stealth Jihad”) or overtly violent (such as 9/11 or the Fort Hood Massacre), but the goal is the same: to overthrow the U.S. government, rip the Constitution to shreds, and enact Sharia (Islamic law) in the West. It is for this reason, you–the average American Joe–need to fear your Muslim neighbor.

The Covenant of Security

But experts of the Islamic legal tradition say differently. The Islamic religion commands believers to obey the laws of the land they live in, even if it be one ruled by nonbelievers. Muslim jurists consider citizenship (or visa) to be a covenant (aqd) held between the citizen (or visa holder) and the state, one which guarantees safe passage/security (amaan) in exchange for certain obligations (such as obeying the laws of the land); covenants are considered sacredly binding in Islam. The Quran commands:

The BBC have an article interviewing a Muslim who is training to join the British Army. The soldier’s comments illustrate the dilemma that Muslims will face if deciding to join the army: you’ll be accommodated, get your halal food and place to pray, as long as you’re also willing to shoot down your brethren in faith.

Support
Breaking News! Imam al-Awlaki: Nidal Hassan Did the Right Thing – Islamic Awakening Forums

Nidal Hassan is a hero. He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people. This is a contradiction that many Muslims brush aside and just pretend that it doesn’t exist. Any decent Muslim cannot live, understanding properly his duties towards his Creator and his fellow Muslims, and yet serve as a US soldier. The US is leading the war against terrorism which in reality is a war against Islam. Its army is directly invading two Muslim countries and indirectly occupying the rest through its stooges.

An Officer & a Gentleman

Major Nidal Hasan M.D.

An officer and a gentleman was injured while partaking in a preemptive* attack.

Get Well Soon Major Nidal

We Love You

We do NOT denounce this officer’s actions,we do however apologize for the following acts committed by our country:

Bay of Tonkin

The East Timor Massacre by USA Supported Suharto

1902 Samar Massacre in the Philippines by the USMC

1,000,000 Dead Iraqis

Afghani & Pakistanis Killed by the USA

Starvation of Africa & Rape of it’s Resources by the USA

Support of the Brutal “Israeli” Occupation Entity

Etc. Etc.

Debating
Short Open Letter to Anwar al-Awlaki « other|matters

Shaykh, I disagree with you that Nidal Hassan is a hero. He is not anything close to being a hero.

If he had this alleged problem with being a Muslim and American soldier, he should have resigned. He should have gone AWOL. If his plan was to kill American soldiers, then he is obviously a fool for having spent so many years in the military to do what he did. Further, if his plot was to kill American soldiers, he is an even bigger fool because it will not stop any wars and — if anything — it will result in the death of more Muslims.

But, he is not a hero or a fool.

The American Muslim (TAM)

If he was harassed because of his religion, if he had an unhappy family life, if he wanted out of the military, if he had had a change of heart and did not want to serve in Afghanistan or Iraq – none of this changes the fact that what he did was criminal. He could have asked for conscientious objector status. Even if the Army was not following their own protocol and refused to let him resign his commission, he could have gone to jail rather than go overseas, or he could have gone AWOL and taken his chances – at least that would not have hurt so many others. Maj. Hasan betrayed his country, he betrayed his military oath, he betrayed his medical oath, he betrayed his religion.

Another shooting in America « Peace, Bruv

Any Muslim in the US army must at some point feel the need to reconcile between his faith, the brotherhood of Islam that his faith entails, and the fact that the institution he is serving is day in day out fighting against his brothers in faith.

If i was the head of the army, i wouldn’t take a chance on recruiting a Muslim soldier who today joins the army when he is lax with his faith, then tomorrow his mind clicks, his loyalties rearrange, and its God at the top and not Queen and country.

The Hypocrisy of Those who Support Nidal Hasan | MR’s Blog

It is shocking to see Muslims praising and calling Nidal Hasan a hero. According to to their own leaders and teachers, Nidal Hasan is a kafir. Anyone who joins the US military is no longer a Muslim. In fact Nidal Hasan is a murtad. Now all of a sudden he is a mujahid in prison. He is a hero. He is worthy of being praised.

Media

Did Nidal Malik Hasan Telegraph His Shooting Spree? « MediaElites

We should really, really keep in mind the possibility that Nidal Hasan may not be as uncommon a name as the average American might assume. Still, an interesting comment was made by a “NidalHasan” on May 20, 2009 on a document published on the document hosting service, Scribd.com. The document was titled, “Martyrdom in Islam vs. Suicide Bombing.” Regarding the content of the document, “NidalHasan” wrote the following:

There was a grenade thrown amongs a group of American soldiers. One of the soldiers, feeling that it was to late for everyone to flee jumped on the grave with the intention of saving his comrades. Indeed he saved them. He inentionally took his life (suicide) for a noble cause i.e. saving the lives of his soldier. To say that this soldier committed suicide is inappropriate. Its more appropriate to say he is a brave hero that sacrificed his life for a more noble cause. Scholars have paralled this to suicide bombers whose intention, by sacrificing their lives, is to help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers. If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard that would be considered a strategic victory. Their intention is not to die because of some despair. The same can be said for the Kamikazees in Japan. They died (via crashing their planes into ships) to kill the enemies for the homeland. You can call them crazy i you want but their act was not one of suicide that is despised by Islam. So the scholars main point is that “IT SEEMS AS THOUGH YOUR INTENTION IS THE MAIN ISSUE” and Allah (SWT) knows best.

Emphasis was added. Again, the name could have been a complete coincidence, but it’s hard to ignore at the moment, considering the psychological insight offered in the comment above and how the bolded portion raises a few hairs on the back of the neck when you consider that a Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly killed and injured a total of 43 people at Fort Hood today. If you are a different Nidal Hasan currently googling your name and freaking the fuck out and you were the guy who made this comment, let us know.

Pickled Politics » Double standards over Fort Hood attack

To recap: a deranged lone gunman at a US military base, who happened to be a soldier there and a Muslim, shot several army soldiers and wounded others. Apparently, before he started shooting he shouted ‘Allah Hu Akbar’ (God is great). But there is no proof that he was influenced by al-Qaeda or any other terrorist groups.
And yet […]

The Islamopundits
Multiculturalism kills | The Spectator

More evidence of America’s Jihad Denial Derangement Syndrome. It turns out that fellow students of the army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan who murdered 13 and wounded dozens more in a jihadi attack on Fort Hood had complained to the faculty about his anti-American propaganda – but were too afraid to file a formal complaint for fear of being accused of prejudice

Michelle Malkin » The massacre at Fort Hood and Muslim soldiers with attitude

Those of you with long memories will remember all those who came before Hasan. Here is my column from March 2003 on Muslim soldiers with attitude:

Sgt. Asan Akbar, a Muslim American soldier with the 326th Engineer Battalion, had an “attitude problem.”

According to his superiors and acquaintances, Akbar’s attitude was bitterly anti-American and staunchly pro-Muslim. So how did this devout follower of the so-called Religion of Peace work out his attitudinal problems last weekend?

Jihad at Fort Hood – by Robert Spencer | FrontPage Magazine

Major Hasan’s motive was perfectly clear — but it was one that the forces of political correctness and the Islamic advocacy groups in the United States have been working for years to obscure. So it is that now that another major jihad terror attack has taken place on American soil, authorities and the mainstream media are at a loss to explain why it happened – and the abundant evidence that it was a jihad attack is ignored.

The Muslim Brotherhood and Fort Hood – by Jamie Glazov | FrontPage Magazine

Yes. The murders by Malik Nadal Hasan at Ft. Hood, TX are not a ‘lone wolf incident’ as being described by most media organizations. Hasan had been taught the ideology that is being advocated by hundreds of Islamic scholars and Imams in the U.S. We as a country can continue to deny there are numerous Islamic leaders and their supporting organizations such as CAIR, ISNA, MSA, and MANA, to name a few, who advocate killing innocent men, women, and children whom they allege ‘oppress Islam.’

Hot Air » Blog Archive » An Army officer’s outrage over Fort Hood

Yet here we have Nidal Hasan, who explicitly “associated with” Anwar al-Aulaqi, a figure that American intelligence suspects of operational involvement in 9/11, who yelled “Allah akbar!“ as he shot more than 50 people and killed 14 of them, and who repeatedly told his colleagues that the US had declared war on his faith and that suicide bombings could be justified. Does the media connect the dots the way they attempted with conservatives who espoused such radical thinking as federalism? No.

Misc.
If I were Taliban’s Advisor | Truth Spring

Listen up Government of Pakistan. If I were a Taliban advisor, this is what I would advise them;

Somatosphere: The Berlin Wall as metaphor and diagnosis

A more thorough discussion of the anthropological literature on postsocialism–as it relates to issues of medicine, health and science will have to wait, but at the moment I’d like to highlight a couple of interesting articles which examine the Berlin Wall specifically as a construct in psychological discourse. In “The Berlin Wall on the Therapist’s Couch” and “Constructions of the Berlin Wall: How Material Culture Is Used in Psychological Theory,” sociologist of science Christine Leuenberger has written about the psychological sciences in Germany have used the Wall as a means of understanding the basis of individual distress and as a metaphor for social malaise.

Teaching Anthropology: Tell me about your mother: how Jewish is she?

Interesting article at the NY Times about the legal battle brewing in the U.K. over determinations of “Jewishness” in school admission processes: “Who is a Jew?” is the central question. And the courts have tripped over the thorny issue of the inherent discrimination in the us/them reality of some religious faiths. When does religious faith become ethnic identification? For orthodox Jews ( at least those in decision-making positions at some schools): not when your mother has converted and not when she has converted Progressively. Ethnic discrimination foul, according to the British Courts.

Op-Ed Contributor – 20 Years of Collapse – NYTimes.com

TODAY is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. During this time of reflection, it is common to emphasize the miraculous nature of the events that began that day: a dream seemed to come true, the Communist regimes collapsed like a house of cards, and the world suddenly changed in ways that had been inconceivable only a few months earlier. Who in Poland could ever have imagined free elections with Lech Walesa as president?

However, when the sublime mist of the velvet revolutions was dispelled by the new democratic-capitalist reality, people reacted with an unavoidable disappointment that manifested itself, in turn, as nostalgia for the “good old” Communist times; as rightist, nationalist populism; and as renewed, belated anti-Communist paranoia.

The Queen’s College

Neda Agha-Soltan Graduate Scholarship

Neda Agha-Soltan

The College is delighted to announce that, thanks to two generous gifts, it has been able to establish a graduate scholarship in Philosophy in memory of Neda Agha-Soltan, the 27-year-old Iranian philosophy student who was killed in Tehran on 20 June during the protests over the outcome of the 2009 Iranian presidential election.

Commenting on the scholarship, the Provost, Professor Paul Madden, said, ‘Oxford is increasingly losing out to its competitors in the race to recruit top graduate students. Donations such as those that have enabled us to create the Neda Agha-Soltan Scholarship are absolutely vital for us to continue to attract and retain the best young minds.’

The scholarship provides the amount of money required to pay the College’s graduate fee. All students accepted by the College for the M.St., B.Phil. or D.Phil. in Philosophy are eligible for consideration for the Scholarship, but preference is given to those of Iranian nationality or extraction.

The first holder of the scholarship is Arianne Shahvisi, who has just joined the College and is studying for an M.St. in the Philosophy of Physics. Arianne writes that ‘It is a great honour to be the first student to receive the scholarship in the memory of Neda Agha-Soltan, which is particularly meaningful to me, being a young woman of Iranian descent, also studying philosophy. In accepting the scholarship, I extend my sincere condolences to the Agha-Soltan family, and hope that in succeeding in my studies at Oxford, I can do justice to the name of their brave and gifted daughter.’

Life sentence for killer of ‘veil martyr’ Marwa al-Sherbini – Times Online

A Russian-born German who stabbed to death an Egyptian woman in a courtroom was given Germany’s highest possible sentence for murder yesterday — 15 years’ jail with no chance of early parole.

The case enraged the Arab world, in particular Egypt, with street demonstrators and commentators blaming Germany for encouraging Islamophobia. The victim, Marwa al-Shirbini, 31, a pharmacist, has been hailed as a “veil martyr” because she stood up against the assailant, Alexander Wiens, 28. A fatwa has been pronounced on Wiens and the trial in Dresden was held under extraordinary security, with the courthouse cleared and 200 armed police encircling the room.

“We find you bear a particularly heavy burden of guilt,” said Judge Birgit Wiegand. The phrase is German legal language indicating that Wiens will not be considered for early release. Fifteen years constitutes a life sentence.

Living out her faith | StarTribune.com

In her home country of Morocco, Aicha Ech Channa has been condemned for her work. But Wednesday in Minneapolis, she received praise and the $1 million Opus Prize.

A former social worker, Ech Channa is the founder of an organization that helps unwed mothers, an effort that Islamic extremists decry.

She is the first Muslim to win the Opus award. The annual humanitarian award from the Minnetonka-based Opus Prize Foundation goes to unsung heroes for their faith-based acts of compassion.

Creationism, Without a Young Earth, Emerges in the Islamic World – NYTimes.com

Creationism is growing in the Muslim world, from Turkey to Pakistan to Indonesia, international academics said last month as they gathered here to discuss the topic.

Dutch

De Koude oorlog en de islam – Trouw

Even leek Nederland in de zorgeloze jaren negentig terecht te zijn gekomen in een wereld van vrijheid en blijheid, waarin het Nederlandse poldermodel ten voorbeeld strekte voor de wereld. Die opleving is was van korte duur geweest. De gevoelens van ongemak over globalisering en de multiculturele samenleving die al in de jaren negentig aanwezig waren, namen het afgelopen decennium sterk toe.

De polarisatie die de opkomst van de islam in Nederland teweeg heeft gebracht lijkt zo gezien een welkome nieuwe tweedeling. Met de islam is opnieuw een macht gekomen om je tegen af te zetten en je eigen identiteit tegenover te stellen. Dat gebeurde ook in Amerika, vooral onder president Bush.

De nieuwe vijand is wel minder grijpbaar en afgebakend dan de Sovjet-Unie en het communisme in de tijd van de Koude Oorlog. Nederlanders kunnen niet zo helder positie kiezen in dit nieuwe spanningsveld en dat moeten ze ook niet doen. De wereld is diffuser geworden en een scherpe tweedeling is niet zo gemakkelijk te maken als toen. Verlangen naar de Koude Oorlog is prima, maar voor de toekomst biedt het geen perspectief.

De Standaard Online – Het water is veel te diep

De sterkte van beide boeken is dat ze de intellectuele en sociale diversiteit binnen de moslimgemeenschappen laten zien, en dat ze evoluties die vaak als een bedreiging worden gezien, duiden als een normale politieke dynamiek. Een aantal kernpunten van de joods-christelijke mantra — dat de islam uniek is en kwaadaardig, dat alle vrouwen er onderdrukt worden en enkel vrij kunnen worden als ze die Koran verscheuren — worden duidelijk weerlegd, ja zelfs wat belachelijk gemaakt.

De zwakte ligt in de manier waarop er gepraat wordt over die verlichte tegenstander. Die wordt voorgesteld als machtiger, onredelijker en, o ironie, homogener dan hij is. Zoveel aandacht er is voor de verschillen tussen jihadistische en dociele salafisten, voor de nuances binnen het islamitische feminisme en de internationale context waarbinnen een en ander plaatsvindt, zo weinig is er voor de posities aan de andere kant. Cliteur, Hirsi Ali, Doornaert, Scheffer, Barnard, Wilders of Dedecker: het is allemaal één pot nat. De verschillen tussen de vrijzinnige, de conservatieve, de nationalistische, de christendemocratische of de liberale filosofieën: onbelangrijk. Provocatieve columns staan op gelijke hoogte met beleidsteksten, een wat feller verwoord citaat geldt al snel als een algemene teneur.

Opvallend is, bijvoorbeeld, dat geen van de drie boeken reageert op analyses die meer het centrum opzoeken.

De beschavingsmachine.

Epo, 168 blz., 16 .

SAMI ZEMNI

Het islamdebat,

Epo, 224 blz., 20 .

NADIA FADIL (e.a.)

Een leeuw in een kooi.

Meulenhoff/Manteau, 232 blz., 19,95 .

0 comments.

« Previous Page — Older » « Newer — Next Page »

Blogosphere

Pages

Categories

General

Dutch [Muslims] Blogs

Non-Dutch Muslims Blogs

General Islam Sites

Islamic Scholars

Social Sciences Scholars

Women's Blogs / Sites

Ritueel en religieuze beleving Nederland

Muslim News

Moslims & Maatschappij

Arts & Culture

Misc.

'Fundamentalism'

Islam & commerce

2

Morocco

[Online] Publications

Religious Movements

Site Meta

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Beste en slechtste nieuwsbericht

Blogentries

Share this:

Lezers van Closer kiezen het beste/slechtste nieuwsbericht/blogentry over islam/moslims/multiculturele samenleving. Ga HIERHEEN.

Lezers van Closer kiezen het beste/slechtste nieuwsbericht/blogentry over islam/moslims/multiculturele samenleving. Ga HIERHEEN.

Lezers van Closer kiezen het beste/slechtste nieuwsbericht/blogentry over islam/moslims/multiculturele samenleving. Ga HIERHEEN.

Share this:

Nieuwsberichten.

Beste nieuwsbericht:

Slechtste nieuwsbericht:

Blogentries

Beste blogentries

Slechtste blog

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: