Islamic Societies Review WEEKLY

Saturday, March 23, 2013

OBAMA IN ISRAEL: A PRESIDENT AT LARGE

Saturday, March 23, 2013 No comments

BY DAVID REMNICK

A couple of weeks ago, my colleague Philip Gourevitch and I interviewed Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, at a New Yorker event on stage, at Joe’s Pub. We hoped for a round-the-world survey of expansive and off-the-cuff honesty, but, as it turned out, there was only so much candor that diplomatic propriety would allow. Rice, from Syria to Rwanda, strictly adhered to the made-in-Washington talking points. She even pronounced herself “happy” that she was still U.N. Ambassador, even after losing a bid to succeed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. (I am sure she was “happy” beyond words to have been the hate-object of a cynical gaggle of right-wing senators who exacted some post-election revenge on the President by punishing her for the disaster in Benghazi.) It was frustrating but not unexpected. You had to admire Rice’s discipline—and even how, at the end of the discussion, she robbed some French fries from a guy in the audience who was eating, flagrantly, at the lip of the stage.

You also had to admire the watchfulness of the White House. About thirty minutes after leaving the theatre, I got out my phone to catch up on my messages. There was one from a White House official who had noticed that I’d been “quoted” on Twitter saying that President Obama was not likely to spend any political capital in his second term to help bring about a Palestinian state. The quote was extracted from a question I had asked Rice about what might happen in the Middle East. Was a two-state solution really dead? Would the Obama Administration—with all it faced in the world—risk anything to initiate a renewed peace process?

Friday, March 22, 2013

McMecca: The Strange Alliance of Clerics and Businessmen in Saudi Arabia

Friday, March 22, 2013 No comments

The Saudi government is demolishing some of the oldest sections of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, according to a report by The Independent this week , which includes photos of the wreckage. The mosque is one of Islam's most important religious sites, to which all Muslims face while praying. The sections being destroyed date back to the Ottoman and Abbasid period and are the last remaining parts of the compound that are more than a few hundred years old. "One column which is believed to have been ripped down is supposed to mark the spot where Muslims believe Muhammad began his heavenly journey on a winged horse, which took him to Jerusalem and heaven in a single night," The Independent reports.

Though the Saudi government argues that the demolition is part of a plan to expand the Grand Mosque complex to accommodate the growing number of pilgrims to the site, it seems strange that the theocratic government, controlled by extremist Wahhabi clerics, would so wantonly destroy Islamic holy sites.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Morocco's Liberal Facade

Thursday, March 14, 2013 No comments

Rabat, Morocco -- In the early hours of February 17, Morocco's military penal court sentenced 25 criminals in a high-profile trial seen as a litmus test of Morocco's human rights record and position on the contested territory of Western Sahara. The trial's process in a military court was so controversial that two weeks later, Morocco's King Mohammed VI bowed to pressure from his human rights council and agreed that civilians should not be tried anymore in a military court except in certain circumstances.

The Rabat courthouse, Morocco's only martial court, conjures an era when torture, forced disappearances and public executions without due process were routine in the kingdom. The same court held trials in 1971 following a bloody coup d'état attempt against the government of King Hassan II. Meanwhile, hundreds of suspects had been summarily executed or imprisoned without trial. During this same era, Morocco's protective strategy in Western Sahara was heavy-handed and militarized.

The recent trial was considered an issue of both national security and international reputation for Moroccans. Twenty-five men faced charges for murder of military personnel, desecration of corpses and criminal gang activity in November 2010 outside Laayoune, the capital of Western Sahara. Morocco's de facto rule of the territory since 1975 is strongly opposed by Algeria and the Polisario Front, a Sahrawi independence movement operating in Algeria. Many Moroccans believe the territory is a legitimate part of Morocco and issue of national integrity.

The eight-day trial progressed amid heavy security and dozens of guards toting guns and tear gas cans. Yet the defendants were free of handcuffs and sat a few feet from the victims' families. Permitted to wear their traditional Saharan cotton garments and shout political slogans throughout the trial, the defendants presented their cases to the judge and jury without interruption for hours on end. Such leniency and respect for criminals in a Moroccan court is unprecedented, especially in such a prominent case. Meanwhile, police allowed protests and demonstrations to occur day and night outside the court.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

The Silent Salafists Of Indonesia-Post Arab Spring

Wednesday, March 13, 2013 No comments

By Vinay Kumar Pathak

The Salafi political activism in the post Arab Spring Muslim World could have been a source of inspiration for the local Salafi movements in Southeast Asia in particular Indonesia, the world’s most populated Muslim country. Yet the winds of the Arab Spring never did blow across Indonesia although certain socio political and economic realities were similar between the Arab world during the Arab Spring and Indonesia during the period of the New Order (1966-98) under Soeharto. However the end of authoritarianism lead to the era reformasi, which was integral in the democratization of Indonesia. Ever since the fall of Soeharto, Indonesia has continued on this path of democratization that also includes accommodating various voices including that of Islamist movements.

At the same time socio religious movements such as the Muhammadiyah and the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) continue to be pivotal in balancing the role of State and religion in the country. Hence, an imperative reason why the Arab Spring did not resonate with the Islamist factions and most importantly with the people was because Indonesians to begin with have largely accepted the values of Pancasila, they have access to important socio religious institutions such as the NU and the Muhammadiyah which are lacking in the Arab world and the socio political and economic climate of the Arab world and Indonesia was very different during the period of the Arab Spring (2010-2012).

Monday, March 11, 2013

Christians, police clash in Pakistan after Muslim mob burns homes of minority religious group

Monday, March 11, 2013 No comments

LAHORE, Pakistan — Hundreds of Christians clashed with police across Pakistan on Sunday, a day after a Muslim mob burned dozens of homes owned by members of the minority religious group in retaliation for alleged insults against Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.

Christians are often the target of Pakistan’s harsh blasphemy laws, which rights activists say are frequently used to persecute religious minorities or settle personal disputes. Politicians have been reluctant to reform the laws for fear of being attacked by religious radicals, as has happened in the past.

Saturday, March 09, 2013

Three killed in Cairo as violence rages after Port Said verdict

Saturday, March 09, 2013 No comments

Three protesters have been killed and reportedly 65 injured in Cairo as outraged crowds protest both in the Egyptian capital and the city of Port Said over the latest verdict on the deadly Port Said stadium riot in February 2012.

Security sources have reported that the protester died from the effects of tear gas. Meanwhile, Ahram Online puts the number of dead at three, saying an 8 year-old boy was among them. It says the other two were killed by birdshot during the clashes.

The number of injured also differs with the majority of sources reporting about 15 people and Reuters putting the figure at 65.

The verdict, broadcast live from the courtroom, was initially cheered by fans of Cairo's Al-Ahly team.

"First we were happy when we heard the 21 death sentences," one fan told AFP news agency.

"We were cheering and didn't hear the rest of the verdict. Then we were very angry."

An Egyptian court has confirmed Saturday the death sentences for 21 football fans involved in the fatal riots in Port Said in 2012, in which most victims were supporters of the Cairo team.

It also sentenced five other suspects to life in jail and 10 others to 15-year terms, including the city’s security chief Esam Samak.

US and Europe in 'major airlift of arms to Syrian rebels through Zagreb'

Saturday, March 09, 2013 No comments

The United States has coordinated a massive airlift of arms to Syrian rebels from Croatia with the help of Britain and other European states, despite the continuing European Union arms embargo, it was claimed yesterday.

Decisions by William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, to provide non-lethal assistance and training, announced in the past week, were preceded by much greater though less direct Western involvement in the rebel cause, according to a Croat newspaper.

It claimed 3,000 tons of weapons dating back to the former Yugoslavia have been sent in 75 planeloads from Zagreb airport to the rebels, largely via Jordan since November.

The story confirmed the origins of ex-Yugoslav weapons seen in growing numbers in rebel hands in online videos, as described last month by The Daily Telegraph and other newspapers, but suggests far bigger quantities than previously suspected.

Goodbye Chavez

Saturday, March 09, 2013 No comments

Inside the casket, the former leader was wearing olive green military dress, a black tie and his signature red beret. He had a red sash across his torso, with the word ‘militia’ on it – the name of the 120,000-strong force which he created.

The government estimated the turnout figure to be around the 2 million mark in a country with a population of 29 million. Many kept a nighttime vigil.

Chavez’s body was transported seven hour procession on Wednesday from the hospital where he died to its current resting place. The official funeral took place on Friday, but the announcement that he is to be embalmed has surprised many, only hours before it was planned to occur. Maduro said that the demand to see the deceased leader was far too great to ignore.

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell adamant that al-Qaida suspect Suleiman Abu Ghaith be interrogated at Guántanamo

Saturday, March 09, 2013 No comments

The White House clashed with Republicans on Friday over the decision to prosecute Osama bin Laden's son-in-law in a civil court in New York rather than holding him at Guantánamo.

The Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, accused Barack Obama of putting his desire to close Guantánamo ahead of the country's security needs. The decision denied the intelligence community the opportunity to interrogate Suleiman Abu Ghaith to obtain information about possible harm to the US, McConnell claimed.

But the White House spokesman Josh Earnest brushed aside McConnell's claim. "With all due respect, that's not the assessment of the intelligence community," Earnest said.

The row came as Abu Ghaith appeared in a US federal court on Friday to plead not guilty to a charge of conspiring to kill Americans. During a 15-minute arraignment hearing at the southern district court in lower Manhattan, close to where the September 11 attacks took place in 2001, Abu Ghaith spoke only to confirm that he understood his rights.

Friday, March 08, 2013

Mo Sabri: I Believe in Jesus

Friday, March 08, 2013 No comments

“This ain’t a song about bottles in the club / This is about a role model filled with love. / A teacher, a preacher, with guidance from above.” So begins the rap song “I Believe in Jesus” by Mo Sabri, a Muslim from Johnson City, Tennesee.

Sabri introduces the song’s music video with:

The angels said, ‘O Mary, indeed God gives you good tidings of a word from Him, whose name shall be the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary.’ (Quran 3:45)

Here’s a hip video, by a nice young gentleman wearing a starched shirt and a tie, about a radical commitment to following Jesus with one’s life, not just in words. Sabri’s isn’t a mushy attempt to paint Jesus as just a “nice guy” like the rest of us.

Instead Sabri sings about human weakness and sin, and our need for Jesus. He identifies Jesus as:

The son of a virgin, they say it is illogical,

probably improbable, but God made it possible.

Gabriel told Mary that her son would be phenomenal,

His voice was always audible, the opposite of prodigal,

He overcame the obstacles, people attacking him.

He was a walking hospital, with heathen he was compassionate.

He healed the sick, raised the dead. Shout out to Lazarus.

I’m talkin’ about Jesus of Nazareth.