The conflict in France between Islam and secularism has so far centered around the hijab, the headscarf that Muslim women and girls wear. It has become symbolic of a larger challenge to France’s secular society: “A French school yesterday expelled a 12-year-old girl who refused to remove her headscarf in class, a family acquaintance said. […]
Archives for 2003
British Muslim held in north Iraq
“A student from Manchester University who has been on Stop the War marches in London and Tony Blair’s Sedgefield constituency has been arrested in northern Iraq amid concerns that he may have been fighting coalition forces in Iraq.” This from The Observer via The Guardian. “Urslaan Khan, 21, originally from the prosperous Teesside town of […]
Media dhimmitude re AMECA protest
The Chicago Tribune carries a story today on the demonstration by the American Middle East Christian Association (AMECA) against the Ramadan assignment given in a California public school. You may have read about it here last Tuesday. The Trib story is a classic media treatment. Although it says that “a 7th-grade world history teacher in […]
Pakistan responsible for resurgence of Taliban
Just as India’s BSF charges that Pakistani intelligence is working with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, Abdullah Al Madani of Gulf News writes that in fact, “Pakistan, through its madrassah, fundamentalist parties, and Inter-Services Intelligence, ISI, is helping the Taliban remnants return to power, repeating exactly what was done in the mid-1990s.” And all this despite […]
Pakistan working with Al-Qaeda, Taliban?
India’s Border Security Force is charging that “the Inter Services Intelligence of Pakistan is backing Northeast-based militant groups having camps in Bangladesh with the help of al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorist organisation.” This comes from India’s Manorama Online. “‘The Northeast-based terrorist outfits, including the ULFA, NDFB and other groups, are aided by the ISI in their […]
The Qur’an requires fighting infidels (and U.S.)
What would make a “middle-class university student from Jordan” decide to go to Iraq and become a soldier, even though he was never in the military before? He says it was the Qur’an. This comes from a story in the San Francisco Chronicle, with thanks to LGF. “In a rare interview with a foreign fighter […]
Mullah Omar spotted; Pakistan turns “a blind eye”
Mullah Omar?* “Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said Taliban supremo Mullah Mohammed Omar was spotted last week in Pakistani city of Quetta and charged Islamabad with ‘turning a blind eye’ to terrorism in its border areas.” (Thanks to Fanabba.) “‘We have received information that Mullah Omar was seen praying in a mosque ten days ago,’ […]
The supply of suicide bombers exceeds demand
This Economist article would like us to think that enthusiasm for jihad among British Muslims is waning: “These days, though, long-faced Islamists are surprisingly subdued. ‘Even the collections and the preaching feel more restrained,’ moans an Afghan war veteran.” Nonetheless, buried at the end of the piece is this detail: “the supply of bombers exceeds […]
Dhimmitude in Pakistan: Police arrests Christian for “blasphemy,” lets attackers go
Pakistan’s Daily Times reports: “Shadhra Town police arrested a Christian labourer Anwar Masih for blasphemy on Friday, after a case was registered by his acquaintance Naseer Ahmad, who converted to Islam about three months ago. While registering the case against Mr Masih, the police ignored the fact that his accuser gathered other people and attacked […]
Indonesia: The politics of religious pluralism
Muhamad Ali, a lecturer at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) in Jakarta, writes on religious freedom in Indonesia in the Jakarta Post: “Religion has become part of not only private but also public life in Indonesia as elsewhere. The question about how the state should deal with religious pluralism remains unresolved and therefore needs […]