THE MUSLIM WORLD

Zakir Naik, the Indian Muslim preacher banned by the home secretary from entering the UK for his "unacceptable behaviour" is to challenge the ruling in the courts.

Zakir Naik, a 44-year-old television preacher, had been due to give lectures in Sheffield on June 25 and Wembley Arena the following day.

The Islamic Research Foundation, based in Mumbai, said he was seeking a judicial review in the High Court.

Naik who owns the Peace TV channel, is the first person who has been excluded from the UK since Ms May became home secretary last month. The decision has sent the shock waves all across the Muslim world. The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) even termed the decision as a demonstration of double standard.

The Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) said in a statement: "It is deeply regrettable that the British Government has bowed to pressure from sectarian and Islamophobic pressure groups by preventing the entry of Dr. Zakir Naik, who has been visiting and delivering talks in the UK for the past 15 years."

"Dr. Zakir Naik is undoubtedly an opponent of terrorism and as such has often spoken out against all acts of violence and violent extremism", added the IRF statement.

“He has unequivocally condemned the killing of civilians and is one of the world's regular noted orators on this topic. In the wake of the exclusion order and based on legal advice, Dr. Naik intends to bring the matter before the High Court... and request a judicial review to have the exclusion order overturned", it said.

Britain's new Home Secretary Theresa May while declaring the ban yesterday had said, she was banning Naik from entering the country as the "numerous comments" he made were evidence of his "unacceptable behaviour".

"Coming to the UK is a privilege not a right and I am not wiling to allow those who might not be conducive to the public good to enter the UK," May told The Daily Telegraph. "Exclusion powers are very serious and no decision is taken lightly or as a method of stopping open debate on issues."
The leading British news agency opines that the home secretary can stop people entering the UK if she believes there is a threat to national security, public order or the safety of citizens. That includes banning people if she believes their views glorify terrorism, promote violence or encourage other serious crime. However, somebody cannot be banned just for having opinions that other people would find offensive.

A study conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has cast doubt over Israel's survival beyond the next 20 years. The study was published in several journals around the world on June 17.
The CIA report predicts "an inexorable movement away from a two-state to a one-state solution, as the most viable model based on democratic principles of full equality that sheds the looming specter of colonial apartheid while allowing for the return of the 1947/1948 and 1967 refugees. The latter being the precondition for sustainable peace in the region."

The study, which has been made available only to a certain number of individuals, further forecasts the return of all Palestinian refugees to the occupied territories, and the exodus of two million Israelis — who would move to the US in the next 15 years.

"There is over 500,000 Israelis with American passports and more than 300,000 living in the area of just California," International lawyer Franklin Lamb said in an interview with Press TV recently, adding that those who do not have American or Western passport, have already applied for them.

saudi King Abdullah on June 14 unveiled Saudi Arabia's first car, which was manufactured by engineers at King Saud University (KSU) in Riyadh. The car is named Ghazal 1.

The car is designed to match the climate of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, said an Arab News report.

Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari told the king, students of the university's Faculty of Engineering were working on the project for the last two years.

He described the making of Ghazal 1 as a turning point in the Kingdom. “It also shows that we have capable people who can transform ideas into products of high economic value,” he said. “This is a national strategic product and KSU holds its patent rights and intellectual property rights,” he added.
Professor Said Darwish of KSU's industrial engineering department said the car model was based on tests of category development (wheelbase) in collaboration with several major companies such as Motorola, Mercedes and Magna Canada.

The students were given full freedom to design. Ghazal 1 is 4.8 meters long with a width of about 1.9 meters.

"This car is designed for use on all roads and terrain, even in difficult conditions, while the car interior is designed to provide comfort for passengers," Darwish said.

He disclosed plans for the production of 20,000 cars annually. Ghazal is a desert deer, which is one of the fastest animals that can combine elegance with life in a harsh environment.

Muslim governments on June 16 pressed the United Nations to step up investigations of Western countries to root out what they call “Islamophobia” — defined by them as discrimination against people of the Muslim faith.

Delegates from Islamic countries, such as Egypt, Iran and Pakistan, drafted new guidelines for the UN's freedom-of-religion investigator that say Western diplomats aim to shield Islam from commentary Muslims might deem derogatory.

During a debate in front of the UN Human Rights Council, they also charged that the UN's anti-racism investigator — in a report he tabled about his activities — had not focused enough on what they called the rising incidence of discrimination against Muslims in Western countries.

According to the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the anti-racism investigator should focus on what it called “contemporary” racism, “particularly in Western societies.”
The group said Islamophobia was growing “particularly in the countries of the North.”

Egypt and Libya also charged that Muslims were targets of racism and discrimination in Western countries.

“People of foreign descent, such as Africans, Arabs, Muslims and Asians, do face derogatory stereotyping and stigmatization in an environment of victimization and xenophobia and, at times, violence,” said Ahmed Ihab Gamaleldin, the Egyptian delegate.

From Ottawa, Canada called for a “constructive approach” to ensuring the right of freedom of religion.

But the OIC is likely to see their new guidelines for the freedom-of-religion investigator approved, since Muslim countries and allies — such as Cuba, Russia and China — form a voting bloc in the Geneva-based body that overshadows that of the Western democracies.

Once passed, the new mandate is likely to see Western countries come under increased UN pressure to prevent criticism of Islam, even if that means overriding traditional freedom-of-speech protections.

One provision calls on the UN investigator to “work closely with mass media organizations to ensure that they create and promote an atmosphere of respect and tolerance for religious and cultural diversity,” according to the draft that Pakistan tabled on behalf of the OIC.

Many human-rights groups have argued that Islamic countries seek enhanced “protections” against religious discrimination in order to justify crackdowns in their own countries against apostates and others deemed to be working against the Islam religion.

“UN Watch is alarmed by the Islamic bloc's attempt to turn an international shield for religious freedom into a sword for religious-motivated state censorship,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based watchdog group. “It's part of a larger campaign to invert the real danger of Islamist extremism into an imagined narrative of Western victimization of Islam and its adherents.”

The Islamic University of Rotterdam (IUR) received accreditation for its Master of Education for Moral Guide Programme on May 20, 2010, allowing it to enter the Dutch Higher Education System. It is now preparing applications for its other programmes, including the Bachelor of Islamic Sciences, Master of Islamic Sciences, and Master Imam Education. The University was founded in 1997, and also offers language, artistic, and musical training. Their accreditation is the culmination of an application process begun in 2003.

According to Tural Koç administrative head of the IUR Students taking the Masters programme in "Islamic Spiritual Counselling" are now able to qualify with a state-recognised degree. This, Koç believes, shows that the university is well on its way to fulfilling its aim of creating a Muslim academic elite in the Netherlands.

It is a goal that the Islamic University has been pursuing since taking up residence in the centre of Rotterdam in 2003. Its close proximity to a Reformed church and a Catholic church is a reminder that educational, health and social institutions were traditionally organised according to confession in the Netherlands.

(Source: Jan Felix Engelhardt's report in www.qantara.de)

Muslim governments on June 16 pressed the United Nations to step up investigations of Western countries to root out what they call “Islamophobia” — defined by them as discrimination against people of the Muslim faith.

Delegates from Islamic countries, such as Egypt, Iran and Pakistan, drafted new guidelines for the UN's freedom-of-religion investigator that say Western diplomats aim to shield Islam from commentary Muslims might deem derogatory.

During a debate in front of the UN Human Rights Council, they also charged that the UN's anti-racism investigator — in a report he tabled about his activities — had not focused enough on what they called the rising incidence of discrimination against Muslims in Western countries.

According to the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the anti-racism investigator should focus on what it called “contemporary” racism, “particularly in Western societies.”
The group said Islamophobia was growing “particularly in the countries of the North.”

Egypt and Libya also charged that Muslims were targets of racism and discrimination in Western countries.

“People of foreign descent, such as Africans, Arabs, Muslims and Asians, do face derogatory stereotyping and stigmatization in an environment of victimization and xenophobia and, at times, violence,” said Ahmed Ihab Gamaleldin, the Egyptian delegate.

From Ottawa, Canada called for a “constructive approach” to ensuring the right of freedom of religion.

But the OIC is likely to see their new guidelines for the freedom-of-religion investigator approved, since Muslim countries and allies — such as Cuba, Russia and China — form a voting bloc in the Geneva-based body that overshadows that of the Western democracies.

Once passed, the new mandate is likely to see Western countries come under increased UN pressure to prevent criticism of Islam, even if that means overriding traditional freedom-of-speech protections.

One provision calls on the UN investigator to “work closely with mass media organizations to ensure that they create and promote an atmosphere of respect and tolerance for religious and cultural diversity,” according to the draft that Pakistan tabled on behalf of the OIC.

Many human-rights groups have argued that Islamic countries seek enhanced “protections” against religious discrimination in order to justify crackdowns in their own countries against apostates and others deemed to be working against the Islam religion.

“UN Watch is alarmed by the Islamic bloc's attempt to turn an international shield for religious freedom into a sword for religious-motivated state censorship,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based watchdog group. “It's part of a larger campaign to invert the real danger of Islamist extremism into an imagined narrative of Western victimization of Islam and its adherents.”

Muslim governments on June 16 pressed the United Nations to step up investigations of Western countries to root out what they call “Islamophobia” — defined by them as discrimination against people of the Muslim faith.

Delegates from Islamic countries, such as Egypt, Iran and Pakistan, drafted new guidelines for the UN's freedom-of-religion investigator that say Western diplomats aim to shield Islam from commentary Muslims might deem derogatory.

During a debate in front of the UN Human Rights Council, they also charged that the UN's anti-racism investigator — in a report he tabled about his activities — had not focused enough on what they called the rising incidence of discrimination against Muslims in Western countries.

According to the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the anti-racism investigator should focus on what it called “contemporary” racism, “particularly in Western societies.”
The group said Islamophobia was growing “particularly in the countries of the North.”

Egypt and Libya also charged that Muslims were targets of racism and discrimination in Western countries.

“People of foreign descent, such as Africans, Arabs, Muslims and Asians, do face derogatory stereotyping and stigmatization in an environment of victimization and xenophobia and, at times, violence,” said Ahmed Ihab Gamaleldin, the Egyptian delegate.

From Ottawa, Canada called for a “constructive approach” to ensuring the right of freedom of religion.

But the OIC is likely to see their new guidelines for the freedom-of-religion investigator approved, since Muslim countries and allies — such as Cuba, Russia and China — form a voting bloc in the Geneva-based body that overshadows that of the Western democracies.

Once passed, the new mandate is likely to see Western countries come under increased UN pressure to prevent criticism of Islam, even if that means overriding traditional freedom-of-speech protections.

One provision calls on the UN investigator to “work closely with mass media organizations to ensure that they create and promote an atmosphere of respect and tolerance for religious and cultural diversity,” according to the draft that Pakistan tabled on behalf of the OIC.

Many human-rights groups have argued that Islamic countries seek enhanced “protections” against religious discrimination in order to justify crackdowns in their own countries against apostates and others deemed to be working against the Islam religion.

“UN Watch is alarmed by the Islamic bloc's attempt to turn an international shield for religious freedom into a sword for religious-motivated state censorship,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based watchdog group. “It's part of a larger campaign to invert the real danger of Islamist extremism into an imagined narrative of Western victimization of Islam and its adherents.”

The Islamic University of Rotterdam (IUR) received accreditation for its Master of Education for Moral Guide Programme on May 20, 2010, allowing it to enter the Dutch Higher Education System. It is now preparing applications for its other programmes, including the Bachelor of Islamic Sciences, Master of Islamic Sciences, and Master Imam Education. The University was founded in 1997, and also offers language, artistic, and musical training. Their accreditation is the culmination of an application process begun in 2003.

According to Tural Koç administrative head of the IUR Students taking the Masters programme in "Islamic Spiritual Counselling" are now able to qualify with a state-recognised degree. This, Koç believes, shows that the university is well on its way to fulfilling its aim of creating a Muslim academic elite in the Netherlands.

It is a goal that the Islamic University has been pursuing since taking up residence in the centre of Rotterdam in 2003. Its close proximity to a Reformed church and a Catholic church is a reminder that educational, health and social institutions were traditionally organised according to confession in the Netherlands.

(Source: Jan Felix Engelhardt's report in www.qantara.de)

A project to place two Muslim areas in Birmingham under surveillance has been dramatically halted after an investigation by the Guardian newspaper revealed it was a counterterrorism initiative.

Bags are being placed over hundreds of cameras which were recently installed in the neighbourhoods of Washwood Heath and Sparkbrook, to reassure the community that their movements are not being monitored until a public consultation takes place.

Announcing that the cameras would not be turned on, West Midlands police and Birmingham city council apologised for not being "more explicit" about the funding arrangements of the project, which stipulated they should be used to combat terrorism.

But officials insisted the £3m project could still go ahead if the consultation showed support for the cameras. The programme could also be shelved altogether, which would require police and the council to take down the cameras.

Under the initiative, Project Champion, the suburbs were to be monitored by a network of 169 automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras – three times more than in the entire city centre. The cameras, which include covert cameras secretly installed in the street, form "rings of steel" meaning residents cannot enter or leave the areas without their cars being tracked. Data was to be stored for two years.

There was no formal consultation over the scheme, which includes an additional 49 CCTV cameras. The few local councillors who were briefed about the cameras appearing in their constituencies said they were misled into believing they were to tackle antisocial behaviour, drug dealing and vehicle crime.

Tanveer Choudhry, a Liberal Democrat councillor for Springfield ward, said they should be "taken down immediately" rather than mothballed. "What the community wants to see is the cameras removed and a full investigation into how they were put up in the first place without consultation."

There were angry public meetings in the city last week, after the Guardian disclosed the cameras were paid for by the Terrorism and Allied Matters (Tam) fund, administered by the Association of Chief Police Officers. Its grants are for projects that "deter or prevent terrorism or help to prosecute those responsible". Police sources said the initiative was the first of its kind in the UK that sought to monitor a population seen as "at risk" of extremism.

A second British soldier has been reported to have been jailed for being absent without leave after refusing to be sent to Afghanistan. Rifleman Lee Moxon was sentenced to two years in a military prison for desertion at a court martial in Colchester, east of London, according to the Metro newspaper on June 25.

The 26-year-old soldier was said to have been absent without leave for a second time “because he feared what would happen to him when his regiment went back to war after losing 30 men on the last tour.”

At the court martial, judge advocate Emma Peters was quoted saying that Moxon, who previously went absent after his partner had a miscarriage, was “too immature to fact things sensibly.”
In April, Lance Corporal Joe Glenton lost an appeal against his sentence after becoming the first British soldier to publicly refuse to return to Afghanistan.

After previously serving one term in Afghanistan, Glenton made headlines last year after he handed himself in and wrote to Prime Minister Gordon Brown saying that he believed the Afghanistan war would fail and British troops should be withdrawn.

"It is my primary concern that the courage and tenacity of my fellow soldiers has become a tool of American foreign policy," the 27-year old lance corporal said.

"The war in Afghanistan is not reducing the terrorist risk – far from improving Afghan lives, it is bringing death and devastation to their country,” he also warned.

Efforts are under way to establish a major center for cultural dialogue in the historic location of Hudaibiya, near Makkah, reports the Saudi Arabian daily Arab News.

Governor of Makkah, Prince Khaled said Hudaibiya, which witnessed the historic peace treaty between Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the Quraish, would be developed to become a social and intellectual meeting place outside Makkah. The Hudaibiya Treaty, which was signed in 628AD, set the stage for Islam’s expansion in the world.

The governor watched a presentation about the project, which underscored the historical importance of Hudaibiya being the meeting place of people from time immemorial. The new project is expected to attract people from within the Kingdom and abroad to exchange views and expertise.
The proposed centre would host conferences and lectures throughout the year. It will have an exhibition center, a media production center, a public dialogue hall and restaurants.

“This is an important project to be established in an important place to highlight Islamic civilization,” said Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, adding that the project would be carried out in an architectural fashion that is typical of Makkah with a modern edge.

The center will be named after Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who is a strong advocate of cultural dialogue.

On March 24, 2008, King Abdullah announced an initiative to hold dialogue between the followers of different religious faiths. He made the historic announcement while receiving delegates of the sixth cultural dialogue between the Islamic world and Japan in Riyadh.

The initiative led to the convening of a World Dialogue Conference in Madrid, Spain on July 16, 2008, which was followed by another conference in the United Nations with the heads of state and delegates from 80 countries participating.

Addressing the dialogue conference in New York, King Abdullah called for a global alliance to fight terrorism, the enemy of all religions.

King Abdullah also established the King Abdul Aziz National Dialogue Center in Riyadh, which held a number of dialogue forums to discuss pressing issues such as education, unemployment, status of women and health services.