Thursday, March 30, 2006

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Islam, I'm staying free





Amir Normandi is the one of the very few Muslim artists I know who speaks out against oppression in the face of the oppressors. Perhaps it is because he lives in America and enjoys the freedoms of that democracy.

But, some days the crevasse between Islam and the West seems so wide, it feels impossible to bridge. How can we, creators and writers from the West, meet our peers in Islam and talk freely, without fear?

From an historical and artistic point of view, the passion and the warmth of the culture in the Arabian Peninsula is part of our collective heritage. Unfortunately today, radical Islam stands between Muslims in Islamic lands and the rest of us. Radical Islam forces silence. Honest feelings expressed against the religious and civilian Islamist authorities are denied. Fear of the physical consequences commands submission.

Effectively, all in the Muslim world live in a world of doublethink: say one thing, but deep inside, is something else. It is not by chance that the word, “Inshallah” functions as the verbal cream that absolves believers of personal responsibility for anything.

All Muslims are separated from Christians and Jews, because radical-Islam hates anyone who does not submit to Islam as determined by the radical vanguard. Witness the apostate in Afghanistan sentenced to death for insulting Allah. The judge has now ruled “insufficient evidence” against this man but how long will it take for local religious fanaticism to kill him?

Walfa Sultan brilliantly says, "I don't hate Islam as much as Islam hates me." So far I feel that Islam hates me more than I am - yet - scared of Islam.

What is the meaning of this sickness that is dividing our world and killing in its name everyday? Muslims in Islamic nations cannot speak out or scream because the radical Islamic authorities do not tolerate confrontation.

So what can we do other than just watch the violence and ignore the threats?

Do we not believe in “We the people…?”, or at least, “Peace, order and good government…?” We certainly believe that all authorities must be confronted when necessary.

After long and bitter experience, we base our civil society and discourse on a secular rule book. Neither religion nor religious beliefs hold any power or authority over or are allowed to dictate to our civil or religious lives or the lives of our friends.

This Islamic sickness is a serious threat that neither our Muslim neighbours nor we can ignore. We need to fix that.


From a spiritual perspective our belief systems treasure humanity and all forms of life: from the beauty and necessity of the nature of stars to insignificant microbes. All from a creator or, who knows, perhaps not from a creator.

After months of observing the cartoon story developing and as an artist, standing with my Danish peers for freedom, it has been extraordinary watching frenzy unfold.

It is now well documented that this "frenzy" was fraudulently created with command and control out of SA and Egypt. This is part of the operational phase of radical Islam: the process of Western intimidation through violent terrorist acts and threats in the West.

The Danish imam who was the leader behind the cartoon operation, Abu Laban has close ties with terrorist groups, and was also a collaborator with Al Zawahari / Gamaa Islamiya. He was working on pamphlets for him in early nineties. Zawahari, al Qaeda # 2 now, was chased out of Egypt when the government cracked down hard on the Muslim Brotherhood radical elements such. They worked together in Denmark.


The spokesperson for the Abu Laban team was terminated from his teaching assignment when he was in training, because he had violently beaten a ten-year-old boy who was playing innocently with a little girl. This is a serious criminal offense. Thanks to the Danish justice system and ‘other factors’, he is today still teaching in Denmark not far from the school where the crime was committed.

The Abu Laban's group and likely all the other activist cells have ties with terrorists, whether with Hamas or the Islamic leadership in Egypt and Saudi Arabia or others.

Is it possible that the blogsphere dialogue between the West and the East, particularly with the Middle Eastern bloggers and writers can so expose those who would intimidate believers and non-believers alike that we can again use our hard-won rules for a democratic civil society to eliminate those 7th C zealots from our midst?

Unfortunately, this dialogue is still limited: religion and fear seem to stand firmly in the way.

We live in a dangerous world when religion trumps the politics and values of our civil life. We need to fix that too.

Diane


“The man behind the controversial French documentary thinks that Abu Laban and Ahmed Akkari are extremists disguised as moderates.”
By Thomas Lauritzen, Paris

He is rather reluctant to say the words because he has the greatest respect for the Danes - but Mohammed Sifaoui feels that it is necessary to tell us that we are “naive”.
“All you good and well-meaning people at Politiken, in the rest of Denmark and Europe, you hurt your and moderate Moslems’ cause when you let extremists call the tune,” he says.
“They’re not bombers - they’re worse”
And for Sifaoui there’s no doubt the Danish Imams such as Ahmed Akkari and Abu Laban are just that, extremists but disguised as moderates.
“Actually, I was sort of seduced by Abu Laban the first day. He seemed both friendly and tolerant. But it was lucky that I stayed with them for some days, because then all of the extremist ideology was revealed,” Sifaoui says about his travels in Denmark this February which, i.a., revealed Ahmed Akkari’s famous ‘bomb threat’ against the Social Liberal politician Naser Khader…”. Read the rest here.

Many Thanks to Agora


Sunday, March 12, 2006

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Help save Mohammed Al-Asadi's life

Mohammed Al-Asadi, editor-in-chief of the Yemen Observer, in jail. YO Photo
An Appeal from Jail from Mohammed al-Asadi, Editor-in-Chief. By Mohammed Al-Asadi
Feb 14, 2006

Report: Press Climate Deteriorating in Yemen
By Observer Staff,
Mar 12, 2006

"SANA'A - In a new report, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) warns of a “dangerous escalation” in the government’s suppression of independent and opposition media in Yemen.
In the report, “Attacks, Censorship, and Dirty Tricks,” the CPJ says that at least two dozen journalists have been assaulted, jailed or sued over the past two years. And in the past year, Yemeni authorities shut down at least seven newspapers..."


'Of Course I’m Afraid’, an Interview with Mohammed Al-Asadi
By Rod Nordland - Newsweek magazine
Feb 19, 2006

SANA'A – Mohammed Al-Asadi, the Editor-in-Chief of the Yemen Observer, remains in jail concerning accusations related to the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).

In an interview from his jail cell Al-Asadi spoke to reporter Rod Nordland from the US-based Newsweek magazine, discussing press freedom, religion and calls for his execution. The transcript from Newsweek follows below.

NEWSWEEK: Is this your first time in jail?
Mohammed al-Asadi: It's the first time ever I've been a prisoner, or even in front of a judge.

How are the accommodations?
I'm in a temporary prison, awaiting a hearing, so it's not so bad. It's a basement, and we have to buy everything we need, even bottled water. There are 15 of us sharing one big room and one toilet, but the others aren't common criminals. A couple are journalists, because it's the prison of the prosecutor for press and publications...


Yemen Exploits Cartoon Controversy to Close the Yemen Observer
JAWA
February 09, 2006
Fighting the Wrong War: Not in the Prophet’s Name
By YemenObserver Staff
March 11, 2006
Lawyers Wrangle and Yemen Observer Demanded to Compensate for Insults
By Sanaa, NewsYemen
March 8, 2006

"SANA’A – Yemen is focusing on the wrong people in targeting Mohammed Al-Asadi and the Yemen Observer in the accusations of insulting the Prophet (PBUH), according to a leading academic.
Dr Abdullah Al-Faqih, Professor of Politics at Sana’a University and head of the Change Forum, an independent NGO working to promote political dialogue, appealed to they Yemeni people arguing that they are “fighting the wrong war” in targeting the newspaper.

"Yemen’s battle is not with Al-Asadi but with poverty, illiteracy, underdevelopment, and diseases," he said.
Dr Al-Faqih, in an interview with the Observer, wrote an appeal for real justice to be made, calling the trial a ‘witch hunt.’
His statement follows below.
“It is inconceivable to think that a newspaper like the Yemen Observer would intentionally seek to insult Muslims or their Prophet (PBUH) in any manner..."


FREE MUHAMMAD AL-ASADI
By Michelle Malkin ·
March 10, 2006

Yemeni Lawyrers demands death penalty
By Sandmonkey,
March 10, 2006

Campain to save a life
By Blueslord - Infidel Bloggers Alliance
March 09, 2006

Help Save A Man's Life: Yemen editor faces capital punishment for printing cartoons. (Updated)
Freedom Zone
March 09, 2006

Yemen editor 'faces death calls' The trial adjourned until 22 March.
BBC -March 8, 2006


Knowing the Defender from the Offender
By Shaker Lashuel*, YemenObserver
March 6, 2006
* Shaker Lashuel is a freelance Yemeni writer based in the U.S. He has written on the Yemeni-American community and Yemen related issues. He is a teacher working for the New York City Department of Education.


Danish Cartoons International
Hjörtur Gudmundsson - The Brussels Journal
March 2, 2006

"According to the Danish online newspaper eJour, 143 newspapers in 56 countries around the globe, including Christian and Muslim ones, have so far republished one or more of the Muhammad cartoons, first published by the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten in September. (See the twelve cartoons here, halfway the page) A list of the countries can be found here. 13 newspapers in 9 countries, including Egypt, had published one or more of the cartoons before the Norwegian Christian newspaper Magazinet republished them on January 10.
Editors have either been sacked or jailed for publishing the cartoons. In Algeria two editors have been jailed and in Indonesia a number of them were fired...


Journalists in Yemen and Algeria arrested over prophet cartoons
CPJ - Committee to Protect Journalists -New York
February 13, 2006