http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Friday, August 31, 2012
British doctor travels to Syria to provide medical help on her holiday
British doctor travels to Syria to provide medical help on her holiday
A British doctor has used her summer holiday to travel to war-torn Syria and provide medical help to victims trapped in the conflict.
Dr Craven said the hospital depended on the 'exceptional' local staff, who have been working for several months without a break Photo: REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
By Ruth Sherlock, Paris
Rachael Craven, 42, usually works as anesthetist for the National Health Service in Bristol. But she has spent the past two weeks in a war zone, treating casualties in a secret hospital that is being run by humanitarian aid agency Medicine San Frontier inside northern Syria.
Operating without the permission of the Syrian government and fearing it could come under attack by regime artillery the hospital is in the guise of a civilian home.
“Luckily it is not like a house in the UK that is furnished with carpets. This had marble floors; the kitchen is a sterilisation room and the living and reception rooms have been turned into the operating theatres and recovery rooms,” said Dr Craven. “The courtyard is the emergency room”.
She was part of a team of local doctors and foreign staff that worked around the clock to treat the constant stream of patients. Snatched moments of rest were taken on the exposed hospital rooftop.
“We slept on the roof. Accommodation is a premium in northern Syria because of the influx from Aleppo. Any house has three or four families staying with them already,” said Dr Craven. “We were at risk of shelling but so far it is a relatively safe area. I think a bigger is when the rain starts!”
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The hospital was nearly always full, with patients sometimes spilling out on mats laid on the balconies. “Every few days we would have a mass casualty event. Either when a battle had taken place near us and we saw a lot of rebel casualties, or after shelling attacks where the victims were civilians,” said Dr. Craven.
Close to the end of her stay an artillery barrage hit a village bazaar where locals had been gathering supplies: “The local field clinic took care of most of the casualties in the market, but it was an hour before anybody checked the nearby basement where fifteen children had been playing. Shrapnel had come in through the ground level windows.
“The children were all from one extended family and were from two to 18 years old. Five were killed outright; a few were taken to a local clinic and the rest were brought to us. One was dead on arrival, another died with us, we were able to do surgery on two, and two were sent to Turkey,” said Dr. Craven.
For the past seven years Dr Craven has been using her annual leave to volunteer with MSF in some of the world’s most galling humanitarian tragedies and dangerous conflict zones. She has worked in Congo, Indonesia, Haiti after the earthquake and in Libya in the city of Misurata when it was besieged.
Syria was one of the most difficult operations yet. The whole medical team and hospital equipment had first to be smuggled across an international border and there no escape route should the hospital come under attack.
“There was one occasion when there was a push by government forces and we were aware that a set of tanks were heading very close to us. We were on standby to evacuate, but we had a patient who was critical and could not be transferred. It is not something they really cover in medical training in the UK, the decision of where take a patient into theatre and so commit the rest of your team to stay [in a dangerous situation].
“Every day you had a mental tally in your head of which patients would have to come with you is you had to evacuate. We had one ambulance and one car that we could use,” said Dr. Craven.
Working conditions were extremely difficult, with the medical staff having to adapt to a back-to-basics approach. “You can’t have ventilators and other similar equipment because of things like electricity. It was not uncommon for the operating theatre to be plunged into darkness and then you lose your oxygen and that is dangerous. You need solid simple tools,” said Dr. Craven.
Dr Craven said the hospital also depended on the “exceptional” local staff, who have been working for several months without a break, often treating victims that are their friends or relatives, and on the “amazing spirit” of villagers near the hospital: “If we were ever shot of blood the imam would put out a message at evening prayer and there would be a queue of volunteers”.
Now back at work at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, Dr Craven said that she was likely to use her remaining two weeks of holiday to return to Syria: “It brings a whole new perspective on life and work at home”.
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
A British doctor has used her summer holiday to travel to war-torn Syria and provide medical help to victims trapped in the conflict.
Dr Craven said the hospital depended on the 'exceptional' local staff, who have been working for several months without a break Photo: REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
By Ruth Sherlock, Paris
Rachael Craven, 42, usually works as anesthetist for the National Health Service in Bristol. But she has spent the past two weeks in a war zone, treating casualties in a secret hospital that is being run by humanitarian aid agency Medicine San Frontier inside northern Syria.
Operating without the permission of the Syrian government and fearing it could come under attack by regime artillery the hospital is in the guise of a civilian home.
“Luckily it is not like a house in the UK that is furnished with carpets. This had marble floors; the kitchen is a sterilisation room and the living and reception rooms have been turned into the operating theatres and recovery rooms,” said Dr Craven. “The courtyard is the emergency room”.
She was part of a team of local doctors and foreign staff that worked around the clock to treat the constant stream of patients. Snatched moments of rest were taken on the exposed hospital rooftop.
“We slept on the roof. Accommodation is a premium in northern Syria because of the influx from Aleppo. Any house has three or four families staying with them already,” said Dr Craven. “We were at risk of shelling but so far it is a relatively safe area. I think a bigger is when the rain starts!”
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The hospital was nearly always full, with patients sometimes spilling out on mats laid on the balconies. “Every few days we would have a mass casualty event. Either when a battle had taken place near us and we saw a lot of rebel casualties, or after shelling attacks where the victims were civilians,” said Dr. Craven.
Close to the end of her stay an artillery barrage hit a village bazaar where locals had been gathering supplies: “The local field clinic took care of most of the casualties in the market, but it was an hour before anybody checked the nearby basement where fifteen children had been playing. Shrapnel had come in through the ground level windows.
“The children were all from one extended family and were from two to 18 years old. Five were killed outright; a few were taken to a local clinic and the rest were brought to us. One was dead on arrival, another died with us, we were able to do surgery on two, and two were sent to Turkey,” said Dr. Craven.
For the past seven years Dr Craven has been using her annual leave to volunteer with MSF in some of the world’s most galling humanitarian tragedies and dangerous conflict zones. She has worked in Congo, Indonesia, Haiti after the earthquake and in Libya in the city of Misurata when it was besieged.
Syria was one of the most difficult operations yet. The whole medical team and hospital equipment had first to be smuggled across an international border and there no escape route should the hospital come under attack.
“There was one occasion when there was a push by government forces and we were aware that a set of tanks were heading very close to us. We were on standby to evacuate, but we had a patient who was critical and could not be transferred. It is not something they really cover in medical training in the UK, the decision of where take a patient into theatre and so commit the rest of your team to stay [in a dangerous situation].
“Every day you had a mental tally in your head of which patients would have to come with you is you had to evacuate. We had one ambulance and one car that we could use,” said Dr. Craven.
Working conditions were extremely difficult, with the medical staff having to adapt to a back-to-basics approach. “You can’t have ventilators and other similar equipment because of things like electricity. It was not uncommon for the operating theatre to be plunged into darkness and then you lose your oxygen and that is dangerous. You need solid simple tools,” said Dr. Craven.
Dr Craven said the hospital also depended on the “exceptional” local staff, who have been working for several months without a break, often treating victims that are their friends or relatives, and on the “amazing spirit” of villagers near the hospital: “If we were ever shot of blood the imam would put out a message at evening prayer and there would be a queue of volunteers”.
Now back at work at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, Dr Craven said that she was likely to use her remaining two weeks of holiday to return to Syria: “It brings a whole new perspective on life and work at home”.
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Riyadh vows $ 1 bn aid for Sanaa
Riyadh vows $ 1 bn aid for Sanaa
Protesters gather in the streets of Sanaa in this Aug. 19, 2012 file photo to demand the removal of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh's relatives from the military and police. GCC countries are raising more funds to help rebuild Yemen's economy of Yemen. (AP)
GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will announce $1 billion in aid to support Yemen at a donor conference in Riyadh on Tuesday.
The money to be released by the state-owned Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) will deposited with the Yemeni central bank, said a Reuters report quoting Yemeni Planning and International Cooperation Minister Mohammed Al-Saadi.
The SFD initiative aims to support the stability of the currency and strengthen the Yemeni government’s efforts to face economic challenges. Yemen hopes to receive similar support from other countries to help stabilize its currency and rebuild its economy.
A spokesman for the GCC General Secretariat said yesterday, “A two-day international donor meeting on Tuesday to raise aid for Yemen, a nation dealing with political transition, food shortages and poor infrastructure, would discuss reconstruction, humanitarian needs and ways to strengthen security and stability.” This conference is being held at a crucial time — a time when Yemen has no means to provide food and medication to its starving population, he added.
The GCC spokesman said a high-ranking delegation headed by Yemeni Prime Minister Mohammed Salem Basindwa would represent Yemen at the Riyadh conference and many regional and international organizations would also be present.
The GCC spokesman said GCC nations are close allies of Yemen, which is also a member of the UN, the Arab League, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Assurances of support from Gulf states and the international community led to the change of guard in that country, he added.
Over 44 percent of Yemen’s 25 million people will face a food shortage next year and the UN reports five million Yemenis are considered “extremely food insecure.” The UN estimates more than 267, 000 Yemeni children face life-threatening levels of malnutrition and a large number of the population are displaced and homeless.
Yemen and its development partners will hold a Friends of Yemen meeting in New York on Sept. 27, during which further financial aid would be announced. The spokesman applauded the international community’s backing of stability and development in Yemen, as well as Saudi support of the Yemeni government.
Yemen is undergoing a political transition after a yearlong uprising unseated Ali Abdullah Saleh and left the economy of the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country in a shambles. In May, Saudi Arabia pledged $4 billion in aid for Yemen at the Friends of Yemen meeting held in Riyadh.
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Protesters gather in the streets of Sanaa in this Aug. 19, 2012 file photo to demand the removal of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh's relatives from the military and police. GCC countries are raising more funds to help rebuild Yemen's economy of Yemen. (AP)
GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will announce $1 billion in aid to support Yemen at a donor conference in Riyadh on Tuesday.
The money to be released by the state-owned Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) will deposited with the Yemeni central bank, said a Reuters report quoting Yemeni Planning and International Cooperation Minister Mohammed Al-Saadi.
The SFD initiative aims to support the stability of the currency and strengthen the Yemeni government’s efforts to face economic challenges. Yemen hopes to receive similar support from other countries to help stabilize its currency and rebuild its economy.
A spokesman for the GCC General Secretariat said yesterday, “A two-day international donor meeting on Tuesday to raise aid for Yemen, a nation dealing with political transition, food shortages and poor infrastructure, would discuss reconstruction, humanitarian needs and ways to strengthen security and stability.” This conference is being held at a crucial time — a time when Yemen has no means to provide food and medication to its starving population, he added.
The GCC spokesman said a high-ranking delegation headed by Yemeni Prime Minister Mohammed Salem Basindwa would represent Yemen at the Riyadh conference and many regional and international organizations would also be present.
The GCC spokesman said GCC nations are close allies of Yemen, which is also a member of the UN, the Arab League, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Assurances of support from Gulf states and the international community led to the change of guard in that country, he added.
Over 44 percent of Yemen’s 25 million people will face a food shortage next year and the UN reports five million Yemenis are considered “extremely food insecure.” The UN estimates more than 267, 000 Yemeni children face life-threatening levels of malnutrition and a large number of the population are displaced and homeless.
Yemen and its development partners will hold a Friends of Yemen meeting in New York on Sept. 27, during which further financial aid would be announced. The spokesman applauded the international community’s backing of stability and development in Yemen, as well as Saudi support of the Yemeni government.
Yemen is undergoing a political transition after a yearlong uprising unseated Ali Abdullah Saleh and left the economy of the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country in a shambles. In May, Saudi Arabia pledged $4 billion in aid for Yemen at the Friends of Yemen meeting held in Riyadh.
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Morsi sparks controversy with anti-Assad comments in Tehran
Morsi sparks controversy with anti-Assad comments in Tehran
In a major speech at Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran, President Morsi says Syrian regime has lost legitimacy, makes conciliatory comments about 'sister' Islamic Republic of Iran
Dina Ezzat , Tehran, Alahram
In this photo released by the official website of the Iranian presidency office, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, second right, welcomes Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi for the opening session of the Nonaligned Movement, NAM, summit, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012.(Photo:AP)
Related
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President Mohamed Morsi entered Tehran's Summit Conference Hall on Thursday morning to hand over the presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The fact that Morsi chose to accept the Iranian invitation to be in Tehran, with which Cairo has not had full diplomatic relations for three decades, was itself a revolutionary move.
What was indeed more revolutionary was Morsi's speech to the opening session of the NAM summit, the 16th since its establishment during the Cold War.
At the beginning of his speech Morsi made his by now common Islamist reference, "May God's peace be upon his Prophet Mohamed."
He added, "And may the peace of God be on the holy family of the Prophet." This reference to the 'family of Prophet Mohamed' might have been designed to send a positive message to his predominantly Shia hosts who are said to have been offended by remarks he made during a July visit to Saudi Arabia, another Sunni power in the Middle East, which indicated a Sunni-Shia polarisation between Egypt and Saudi Arabia on one hand and Iran on the other.
Then Morsi went further and paid the most unusual tribute in a political speech at an international summit to the Sahaba (close associates) of Prophet Mohamed: Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and Ali.
The reference to Ali, the most holy member of the Prophet Mohamed's family in the eyes of Shias, could have been perceived by Morsi's Shia audience in the conference hall as flattering had it not come after references to Abu Bakr, Omar and Othman, who are abhorred by Shias and whose role in early Muslim history is not even mentioned in the history books of Iranian schools.
A non-traditional reference was also made by Morsi when referring to Egypt's role in the launch of the NAM in the 1950s. "At the time Nasser was expressing the will of the people (of Egypt) to defy colonisation," Morsi said.
The fact that this first ever civilian, Islamist and freely elected Egyptian president, who comes from the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood, who was an opponent of the Mubarak regime – despite short intervals of cooperation – makes a reference to Nasser is again something that goes beyond the predictable. However, the style of the reference is not necessarily free of all pejorative implications, at least to the ears of an average Nasser admirer.
The norm has been that Nasser is referred to in this context as "Leader Gamal Abdel-Nasser, one of the champions of the march against colonisation."
Beyond his references to Ali and Nasser, Morsi's speech included other non-traditional comments.
The president's references to the Palestinian cause broke away from the usual déjà vu statements about the right of Palestinians to statehood – and it certainly made no reference to the now notorious "two-state solution."
Instead, Morsi made some coherent statements about Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people – things that had almost completely dropped out of official Egyptian discourse on the Palestinian issue.
On Syria, Morsi's speech all but equated the Assad regime with the Israeli occupation of Palestine when he referred to "the struggle for freedom by the Palestinian and Syrian peoples."
Furthermore, Morsi said the Assad regime "had lost all legitimacy" and it was not enough to show sympathy towards the Syrian people, but the time had come to act upon this sympathy.
Morsi's statements on Syria certainly went way beyond the liking of his Iranian hosts who remain committed to the Assad regime, and caused the Syrian delegation to leave the conference hall.
Indeed, Iranian officials almost never speak of a "Syrian revolution" but of "unrest in Syria."
Morsi also went beyond the expected when he called the Iranian president "my dear brother" upon turning over the presidency of summit from Egypt to Iran. Interestingly, he called Iran "the sister Islamic republic of Iran."
Moreover, Morsi made the traditional references to the role of the NAM in pursuing a more peaceful and less discriminatory world in which the UN Security Council is freed from the veto hegemony of the five permanent members, and the UN General Assembly is made more effective in running world affairs.
Morsi also observed his self-made tradition of referring to the unity of "the Egyptian people and its glorious army" during the 25 January Revolution.
Also maintained was Morsi's tradition of following his reference to "Egypt is a civil state" – this time around he added "in every sense of the word" – with the phrase Egypt is "a national, constitutional, democratic and modern state."
Morsi arrived in Tehran for the NAM summit on Thursday morning. He is scheduled to return to Cairo later in the day after a five-day trip that started in and was largely spent in Beijing, where he explored avenues for wider economic and trade cooperation.
In a major speech at Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran, President Morsi says Syrian regime has lost legitimacy, makes conciliatory comments about 'sister' Islamic Republic of Iran
Dina Ezzat , Tehran, Alahram
In this photo released by the official website of the Iranian presidency office, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, second right, welcomes Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi for the opening session of the Nonaligned Movement, NAM, summit, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012.(Photo:AP)
Related
Iran, Egypt leaders discuss Syria conflict, ties
Iran starts NAM summit under sharper UN nuclear scrutiny
Egypt-Iran rapprochement: Prospects and challenges
Iran, not the NAM, animates the Tehran summit
Iran urges developing nations at NAM summit to oppose sanctions
President Mohamed Morsi entered Tehran's Summit Conference Hall on Thursday morning to hand over the presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The fact that Morsi chose to accept the Iranian invitation to be in Tehran, with which Cairo has not had full diplomatic relations for three decades, was itself a revolutionary move.
What was indeed more revolutionary was Morsi's speech to the opening session of the NAM summit, the 16th since its establishment during the Cold War.
At the beginning of his speech Morsi made his by now common Islamist reference, "May God's peace be upon his Prophet Mohamed."
He added, "And may the peace of God be on the holy family of the Prophet." This reference to the 'family of Prophet Mohamed' might have been designed to send a positive message to his predominantly Shia hosts who are said to have been offended by remarks he made during a July visit to Saudi Arabia, another Sunni power in the Middle East, which indicated a Sunni-Shia polarisation between Egypt and Saudi Arabia on one hand and Iran on the other.
Then Morsi went further and paid the most unusual tribute in a political speech at an international summit to the Sahaba (close associates) of Prophet Mohamed: Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and Ali.
The reference to Ali, the most holy member of the Prophet Mohamed's family in the eyes of Shias, could have been perceived by Morsi's Shia audience in the conference hall as flattering had it not come after references to Abu Bakr, Omar and Othman, who are abhorred by Shias and whose role in early Muslim history is not even mentioned in the history books of Iranian schools.
A non-traditional reference was also made by Morsi when referring to Egypt's role in the launch of the NAM in the 1950s. "At the time Nasser was expressing the will of the people (of Egypt) to defy colonisation," Morsi said.
The fact that this first ever civilian, Islamist and freely elected Egyptian president, who comes from the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood, who was an opponent of the Mubarak regime – despite short intervals of cooperation – makes a reference to Nasser is again something that goes beyond the predictable. However, the style of the reference is not necessarily free of all pejorative implications, at least to the ears of an average Nasser admirer.
The norm has been that Nasser is referred to in this context as "Leader Gamal Abdel-Nasser, one of the champions of the march against colonisation."
Beyond his references to Ali and Nasser, Morsi's speech included other non-traditional comments.
The president's references to the Palestinian cause broke away from the usual déjà vu statements about the right of Palestinians to statehood – and it certainly made no reference to the now notorious "two-state solution."
Instead, Morsi made some coherent statements about Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people – things that had almost completely dropped out of official Egyptian discourse on the Palestinian issue.
On Syria, Morsi's speech all but equated the Assad regime with the Israeli occupation of Palestine when he referred to "the struggle for freedom by the Palestinian and Syrian peoples."
Furthermore, Morsi said the Assad regime "had lost all legitimacy" and it was not enough to show sympathy towards the Syrian people, but the time had come to act upon this sympathy.
Morsi's statements on Syria certainly went way beyond the liking of his Iranian hosts who remain committed to the Assad regime, and caused the Syrian delegation to leave the conference hall.
Indeed, Iranian officials almost never speak of a "Syrian revolution" but of "unrest in Syria."
Morsi also went beyond the expected when he called the Iranian president "my dear brother" upon turning over the presidency of summit from Egypt to Iran. Interestingly, he called Iran "the sister Islamic republic of Iran."
Moreover, Morsi made the traditional references to the role of the NAM in pursuing a more peaceful and less discriminatory world in which the UN Security Council is freed from the veto hegemony of the five permanent members, and the UN General Assembly is made more effective in running world affairs.
Morsi also observed his self-made tradition of referring to the unity of "the Egyptian people and its glorious army" during the 25 January Revolution.
Also maintained was Morsi's tradition of following his reference to "Egypt is a civil state" – this time around he added "in every sense of the word" – with the phrase Egypt is "a national, constitutional, democratic and modern state."
Morsi arrived in Tehran for the NAM summit on Thursday morning. He is scheduled to return to Cairo later in the day after a five-day trip that started in and was largely spent in Beijing, where he explored avenues for wider economic and trade cooperation.
Islam to reach America via picture
Islam to reach America via picture-arabnews
AFIFA JABEEN QURAISHI
The first scene of a movie inspired by the book If I Should Speak by Riyadh-based American novelist Umm Zakiyyah is complete and the result can easily be compared with Hollywood productions. The shots are cinematic and the actors look real. For those who are in the unawares, Umm Zakiyyah is an internationally acclaimed author of the If I Should Speak (IISS) trilogy and best sellers Realities of Submission and Hearts We Lost. If I Should Speak is currently being translated into Arabic by International Islamic Publishing House and is used in schools and universities in the Kingdom.
The film is being directed by Adnan F. Siddiqui, owner of SKOZ films, and produced by Alberto Tihan, a Toronto-based actor, writer and now, producer, who played the lead in the feature film Searching for Angels, directed by Nadeem Soumah.
At the heart of the movie, like the book, is the desire to present Islam in its true light and to use the popular medium of film as a Da’wah tool. Arab News chats up with Umm Zakiyyah (UZ) and Tihan (AT) to find out more about the exciting new project:
AN: What does the movie aim at and how is it different from the book?
UZ: The movie aims at giving viewers an entertaining glimpse into the life of an American college student who stumbles upon Islam through rooming with Muslims and completing a religion class assignment on the faith. The overall goal is to present the human side of Christian-Muslim relationships and the spiritual struggles involved when an American learns the truth of Islam.
At this stage, it differs little from the book itself, and the target audience is both a Western and Arab audience. We believe both groups would enjoy learning about Christian-Muslim relations in the West.
AN: As a debut producer, how has your experience been?
AT: It was an incredible journey. Adnan and I worked on the If I Should Speak proof-of-concept for a while now and so we’re really happy to finally have it shot; all efforts came to fruition. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to apply some of the self-educated knowledge to it and I fell in love with producing. We have fans of the book coming to my personal blog and show their love and support, so that's a very warming and satisfactory feeling. Producing is an art of its own, and I hope to learn and practice it for as long as I can
AN: How did the idea of making your best-seller book into a movie happen?
UZ: Director Adnan contacted me, initiating the project, and after that others grew interested in the project and got involved.
AN: How did you come to work on this project?
AT: Initially, Adnan spoke to the author of the book, Umm Zakiyyah, to direct the film. He then approached me to help him with the casting, since I knew a few actors. However I ended up scouting locations, handling auditions, contracts and equipment rentals to the point that eventually I earned myself the producer credit.
AN: Out of all your books, why was IISS selected for the movie?
UZ: To be honest, this selection was not my decision. But I imagine IISS was chosen particularly because it is the most popular and most widely read of my books. When I was discussing the decision with the director, he expressed interest in my novel Hearts We Lost also, but we both agreed that If I Should Speak, due to the simplicity of the plot and storyline, is best fit for the big screen. Hearts We Lost is now being looked at for a television mini-series.
AN: Is this a proper feature film or a short film? What was the location of the shooting?
AT: By industry standards, it's almost like a short film. But we’re hoping to get the green light from the investors so we can turn the project into a very "proper" feature film. Especially with the support we've had from fans, we know there's a demand for the film.
The script demanded for a college residence, however, due to budget constraints, that was not an option to us. Therefore we used a residential apartment as the main location and we completely transformed the room. We did so much work on the room. It probably looks better than a college residence.
AN: Some would question how does the movie, which features women in un-Islamic clothing, and the business of movie-making itself not being a readily accepted Da’wah method, spread the message of Islam?
UZ: Certainly, the concern for keeping within Islamic guidelines of women’s dress is definitely valid. However, what often surprises me about this oft-repeated question is that it assumes that non-Muslim women are required to don abayas and veils. Even in the Qur’an, all the verses discussing hijab are specific to Muslims. In fact, the entire reason for the Islamic dress code for Muslim women is, according the Qur’an, “so that they should be known [as believers]…” (33:59). Thus, if the non-Muslim women actresses are dressed modestly, I’m unsure what people mean by “women in un-Islamic clothing.” I also don’t understand why it wouldn’t be viewed as an excellent da’wah tool for non-Muslim actresses to play part in a movie aimed at educating others about Islam.
As for the business of movie-making not being readily accepted as a da’wah method, I don’t think this is an accurate observation. In my experience, movie-making is definitely accepted as a Da’wah method, and eagerly so. Muslims’ widespread disapproval of the movie business is based on popular movies and how these films generally portray licentious material. But as I was growing up in America, I always heard Muslims express a desire for movies to be used in a positive way.
AN: When will the movie complete?
AT: The investors have requested some footage to view (to see what it can look like) before taking part of the financial structure and we are very fortunate to have the author by our side, since she is heavily involved in the funding process. Although development stage is the most cost-effective, it is also the longest. But we’re confident to have a high-quality proof-of-concept for the investors, which can be easily compared with Hollywood pictures, so we might just enter production phase in early Spring/Summer of 2013.
AN: How involved are you in the movie-making process?
UZ: I’m not involved directly, but prior to commencing the project, the director and I discussed at length my own concerns about making my book into a major film and the limitations I felt should be set for the movie. He also keeps me updated on the progress and readily accepts my input. However, because this is ultimately his field and not mine (as I’m a novelist, not a filmmaker), when it comes to anything that inspires my uncertainty or ambivalence, I trust his judgment.
AN: Please give us an insight into the funding of the movie.
AT: Creating a film’s (unique) financing architecture can get quite complicated, considering production financing involves multiple parties (from Investors to distributor's Pre-Sales and Gap Financing). It’s never just one person handing out all the money. However we’re now in talks with the author and the investors about obtaining a significant percentage in private equity, which will facilitate the funding enormously. But there are other financing options available so we’re exploring all our options now. Once we obtain 100 percent of the budget we’re be able to start shooting.
To know more about the film and its actors, visit and like their Facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/IfIShouldSpeakMovie, follow them on Twitter @iissmovie and get updates through Tihan’s blog:
http://albertotihan.wordpress.com/the-producer/if-i-should-speak/
Email: afifa.quraishi@arabnews.comhttp://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
AFIFA JABEEN QURAISHI
The first scene of a movie inspired by the book If I Should Speak by Riyadh-based American novelist Umm Zakiyyah is complete and the result can easily be compared with Hollywood productions. The shots are cinematic and the actors look real. For those who are in the unawares, Umm Zakiyyah is an internationally acclaimed author of the If I Should Speak (IISS) trilogy and best sellers Realities of Submission and Hearts We Lost. If I Should Speak is currently being translated into Arabic by International Islamic Publishing House and is used in schools and universities in the Kingdom.
The film is being directed by Adnan F. Siddiqui, owner of SKOZ films, and produced by Alberto Tihan, a Toronto-based actor, writer and now, producer, who played the lead in the feature film Searching for Angels, directed by Nadeem Soumah.
At the heart of the movie, like the book, is the desire to present Islam in its true light and to use the popular medium of film as a Da’wah tool. Arab News chats up with Umm Zakiyyah (UZ) and Tihan (AT) to find out more about the exciting new project:
AN: What does the movie aim at and how is it different from the book?
UZ: The movie aims at giving viewers an entertaining glimpse into the life of an American college student who stumbles upon Islam through rooming with Muslims and completing a religion class assignment on the faith. The overall goal is to present the human side of Christian-Muslim relationships and the spiritual struggles involved when an American learns the truth of Islam.
At this stage, it differs little from the book itself, and the target audience is both a Western and Arab audience. We believe both groups would enjoy learning about Christian-Muslim relations in the West.
AN: As a debut producer, how has your experience been?
AT: It was an incredible journey. Adnan and I worked on the If I Should Speak proof-of-concept for a while now and so we’re really happy to finally have it shot; all efforts came to fruition. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to apply some of the self-educated knowledge to it and I fell in love with producing. We have fans of the book coming to my personal blog and show their love and support, so that's a very warming and satisfactory feeling. Producing is an art of its own, and I hope to learn and practice it for as long as I can
AN: How did the idea of making your best-seller book into a movie happen?
UZ: Director Adnan contacted me, initiating the project, and after that others grew interested in the project and got involved.
AN: How did you come to work on this project?
AT: Initially, Adnan spoke to the author of the book, Umm Zakiyyah, to direct the film. He then approached me to help him with the casting, since I knew a few actors. However I ended up scouting locations, handling auditions, contracts and equipment rentals to the point that eventually I earned myself the producer credit.
AN: Out of all your books, why was IISS selected for the movie?
UZ: To be honest, this selection was not my decision. But I imagine IISS was chosen particularly because it is the most popular and most widely read of my books. When I was discussing the decision with the director, he expressed interest in my novel Hearts We Lost also, but we both agreed that If I Should Speak, due to the simplicity of the plot and storyline, is best fit for the big screen. Hearts We Lost is now being looked at for a television mini-series.
AN: Is this a proper feature film or a short film? What was the location of the shooting?
AT: By industry standards, it's almost like a short film. But we’re hoping to get the green light from the investors so we can turn the project into a very "proper" feature film. Especially with the support we've had from fans, we know there's a demand for the film.
The script demanded for a college residence, however, due to budget constraints, that was not an option to us. Therefore we used a residential apartment as the main location and we completely transformed the room. We did so much work on the room. It probably looks better than a college residence.
AN: Some would question how does the movie, which features women in un-Islamic clothing, and the business of movie-making itself not being a readily accepted Da’wah method, spread the message of Islam?
UZ: Certainly, the concern for keeping within Islamic guidelines of women’s dress is definitely valid. However, what often surprises me about this oft-repeated question is that it assumes that non-Muslim women are required to don abayas and veils. Even in the Qur’an, all the verses discussing hijab are specific to Muslims. In fact, the entire reason for the Islamic dress code for Muslim women is, according the Qur’an, “so that they should be known [as believers]…” (33:59). Thus, if the non-Muslim women actresses are dressed modestly, I’m unsure what people mean by “women in un-Islamic clothing.” I also don’t understand why it wouldn’t be viewed as an excellent da’wah tool for non-Muslim actresses to play part in a movie aimed at educating others about Islam.
As for the business of movie-making not being readily accepted as a da’wah method, I don’t think this is an accurate observation. In my experience, movie-making is definitely accepted as a Da’wah method, and eagerly so. Muslims’ widespread disapproval of the movie business is based on popular movies and how these films generally portray licentious material. But as I was growing up in America, I always heard Muslims express a desire for movies to be used in a positive way.
AN: When will the movie complete?
AT: The investors have requested some footage to view (to see what it can look like) before taking part of the financial structure and we are very fortunate to have the author by our side, since she is heavily involved in the funding process. Although development stage is the most cost-effective, it is also the longest. But we’re confident to have a high-quality proof-of-concept for the investors, which can be easily compared with Hollywood pictures, so we might just enter production phase in early Spring/Summer of 2013.
AN: How involved are you in the movie-making process?
UZ: I’m not involved directly, but prior to commencing the project, the director and I discussed at length my own concerns about making my book into a major film and the limitations I felt should be set for the movie. He also keeps me updated on the progress and readily accepts my input. However, because this is ultimately his field and not mine (as I’m a novelist, not a filmmaker), when it comes to anything that inspires my uncertainty or ambivalence, I trust his judgment.
AN: Please give us an insight into the funding of the movie.
AT: Creating a film’s (unique) financing architecture can get quite complicated, considering production financing involves multiple parties (from Investors to distributor's Pre-Sales and Gap Financing). It’s never just one person handing out all the money. However we’re now in talks with the author and the investors about obtaining a significant percentage in private equity, which will facilitate the funding enormously. But there are other financing options available so we’re exploring all our options now. Once we obtain 100 percent of the budget we’re be able to start shooting.
To know more about the film and its actors, visit and like their Facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/IfIShouldSpeakMovie, follow them on Twitter @iissmovie and get updates through Tihan’s blog:
http://albertotihan.wordpress.com/the-producer/if-i-should-speak/
Email: afifa.quraishi@arabnews.comhttp://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Islam spread by the message of love and not by the sword
Islam spread by the message of love and not by the sword
Indonesian Muslims offer Eid Al-Fitr prayers at the historic Sunda Kelapa port in Jakarta. (AFP)
ARAB NEWS
IT is a common misconception with some non-Muslims that Islam would not have millions of followers all over the world, if it had not been spread by the use of force.
The following points will make it clear, that far from being spread by the sword, it was the inherent force of truth, reason and logic that was responsible for the rapid spread of Islam.
Islam has always given respect and freedom of religion to all faiths. Freedom of religion is ordained in the Qur'an itself:
"There shall be no compulsion in (acceptance of) the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong." (Qur'an 2:256)
The noted historian De Lacy O'Leary wrote: "History makes it clear however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated."
If Islam was spread by the sword, it was the sword of intellect and convincing arguments. It is this sword that conquers the hearts and minds of people. The Qur'an says in this connection:
"Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best." (Qur'an 16:125)
The facts speak for themselves: Indonesia is the country that has the largest number of Muslims in the world, and the majority of people in Malaysia are Muslims. But, no Muslim army ever went to Indonesia or Malaysia. It is an established historical fact that Indonesia entered Islam not due to war, but because of its moral message. Despite the disappearance of Islamic government from many regions once ruled by it, their original inhabitants have remained Muslims. Moreover, they carried the message of truth, inviting others to it as well, and in so doing endured harm, affliction and oppression. The same can be said for those in the regions of Syria and Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, North Africa, Asia, the Balkans and in Spain. This shows that the effect of Islam on the population was one of moral conviction, in contrast to occupation by western colonialists, finally compelled to leave lands whose peoples held only memories of affliction, sorrow, subjugation and oppression.
Muslims ruled Spain (Andalusia) for about 800 years. During this period the Christians and Jews enjoyed freedom to practice their respective religions, and this is a documented historical fact.
Christian and Jewish minorities have survived in the Muslim lands of the Middle East for centuries. Countries such as Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan all have significant Christian and Jewish populations.
Muslims ruled India for about a thousand years, and therefore had the power to force each and every non-Muslim of India to convert to Islam, but they did not, and thus more than 80 percent of the Indian population remains non-Muslim.
Similarly, Islam spread rapidly on the East Coast of Africa. And likewise no Muslim army was ever dispatched to the East Coast of Africa.
An article in Reader's Digest 'Almanac,' yearbook 1986, gives the statistics of the increase of the percentage of the major religions of the world in half a century from 1934 to 1984. This article also appeared in The Plain Truth magazine. At the top was Islam, which increased by 235 percent, while Christianity had increased by 47 percent. During this fifty-year period, there was no "Islamic conquest" yet Islam spread at an extraordinary rate.
Today the fastest growing religion in America and Europe is Islam. The Muslims in these lands are a minority. The only sword they have in their possession is the sword of truth. It is this sword that is converting thousands to Islam.
Islamic law protects the privileged status of minorities, and that is why non-Muslim places of worship have flourished all over the Islamic world. Islamic law also allows non-Muslim minorities to set up their own courts, which implement family laws drawn up by the minorities themselves. The life and property of all citizens in an Islamic state are considered sacred whether they are Muslims or not.
It is clear, therefore, that Islam did not spread by the sword. The "sword of Islam" did not convert all the non-Muslim minorities in Muslim countries. In India, where Muslims ruled for 800 years, they are still a minority. In the US, Islam is the fastest growing religion and has over six million followers.
In his book The World's Religions, Huston Smith discusses how the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) granted freedom of religion to the Jews and Christians under Muslim rule:
The Prophet had a document drawn up in which he stipulated that Jews and Christians "shall be protected from all insults and harm; they shall have an equal right with our own people to our assistance and good offices," and further, "they shall practice their religion as freely as the Muslims."
Smith points out that Muslims regard that document as the first charter of freedom of conscience in human history and the authoritative model for those of every subsequent Muslim state.
— Courtesy of www.islamreligion.com
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Indonesian Muslims offer Eid Al-Fitr prayers at the historic Sunda Kelapa port in Jakarta. (AFP)
ARAB NEWS
IT is a common misconception with some non-Muslims that Islam would not have millions of followers all over the world, if it had not been spread by the use of force.
The following points will make it clear, that far from being spread by the sword, it was the inherent force of truth, reason and logic that was responsible for the rapid spread of Islam.
Islam has always given respect and freedom of religion to all faiths. Freedom of religion is ordained in the Qur'an itself:
"There shall be no compulsion in (acceptance of) the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong." (Qur'an 2:256)
The noted historian De Lacy O'Leary wrote: "History makes it clear however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated."
If Islam was spread by the sword, it was the sword of intellect and convincing arguments. It is this sword that conquers the hearts and minds of people. The Qur'an says in this connection:
"Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best." (Qur'an 16:125)
The facts speak for themselves: Indonesia is the country that has the largest number of Muslims in the world, and the majority of people in Malaysia are Muslims. But, no Muslim army ever went to Indonesia or Malaysia. It is an established historical fact that Indonesia entered Islam not due to war, but because of its moral message. Despite the disappearance of Islamic government from many regions once ruled by it, their original inhabitants have remained Muslims. Moreover, they carried the message of truth, inviting others to it as well, and in so doing endured harm, affliction and oppression. The same can be said for those in the regions of Syria and Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, North Africa, Asia, the Balkans and in Spain. This shows that the effect of Islam on the population was one of moral conviction, in contrast to occupation by western colonialists, finally compelled to leave lands whose peoples held only memories of affliction, sorrow, subjugation and oppression.
Muslims ruled Spain (Andalusia) for about 800 years. During this period the Christians and Jews enjoyed freedom to practice their respective religions, and this is a documented historical fact.
Christian and Jewish minorities have survived in the Muslim lands of the Middle East for centuries. Countries such as Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan all have significant Christian and Jewish populations.
Muslims ruled India for about a thousand years, and therefore had the power to force each and every non-Muslim of India to convert to Islam, but they did not, and thus more than 80 percent of the Indian population remains non-Muslim.
Similarly, Islam spread rapidly on the East Coast of Africa. And likewise no Muslim army was ever dispatched to the East Coast of Africa.
An article in Reader's Digest 'Almanac,' yearbook 1986, gives the statistics of the increase of the percentage of the major religions of the world in half a century from 1934 to 1984. This article also appeared in The Plain Truth magazine. At the top was Islam, which increased by 235 percent, while Christianity had increased by 47 percent. During this fifty-year period, there was no "Islamic conquest" yet Islam spread at an extraordinary rate.
Today the fastest growing religion in America and Europe is Islam. The Muslims in these lands are a minority. The only sword they have in their possession is the sword of truth. It is this sword that is converting thousands to Islam.
Islamic law protects the privileged status of minorities, and that is why non-Muslim places of worship have flourished all over the Islamic world. Islamic law also allows non-Muslim minorities to set up their own courts, which implement family laws drawn up by the minorities themselves. The life and property of all citizens in an Islamic state are considered sacred whether they are Muslims or not.
It is clear, therefore, that Islam did not spread by the sword. The "sword of Islam" did not convert all the non-Muslim minorities in Muslim countries. In India, where Muslims ruled for 800 years, they are still a minority. In the US, Islam is the fastest growing religion and has over six million followers.
In his book The World's Religions, Huston Smith discusses how the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) granted freedom of religion to the Jews and Christians under Muslim rule:
The Prophet had a document drawn up in which he stipulated that Jews and Christians "shall be protected from all insults and harm; they shall have an equal right with our own people to our assistance and good offices," and further, "they shall practice their religion as freely as the Muslims."
Smith points out that Muslims regard that document as the first charter of freedom of conscience in human history and the authoritative model for those of every subsequent Muslim state.
— Courtesy of www.islamreligion.com
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Iranian general admits 'fighting every aspect of a war' in defending Syria's Assad
Iranian general admits 'fighting every aspect of a war' in defending Syria's Assad
By Lisa Daftari
FoxNews.com
Sept. 22, 2011: Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy march during a parade to commemorate the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war in Tehran. (Reuters)
Iran, in continuing to support the Syrian government’s crackdown against protestors, publicly stated that it is sending military personnel from its elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to Syria.
“Today, we are involved in fighting every aspect of a war, a military -- one in Syria, and a cultural one as well,” Gen. Salar Abnoush, a Revolutionary Guard commander said in addressing a group of volunteer trainees Monday, as reported by Daneshjoo News Agency, an online pro-regime student-run media platform.
Though many have pointed for quite some time to the symbiotic relationship between Tehran and Damascus, including Iran’s training of Syrian cyber police and sending tactical support and cash, the statement appears to be the Iranian regime’s first public account of military participation in Syria.
More than 23,000 Syrians, including many women and children, have been massacred in over 17 months of uprising against the Bashar al-Assad regime.
Public acknowledgment of Iran’s manpower support and military involvement in Syria comes at a time when international pressure against Syria is at its peak and the Syrian regime’s massacre against its civilians is most violent. Syrian military defections are on the rise, and many soldiers are often unwilling to fire at protesting crowds.
“Today, Syria is resisting as our front’s surrogate, and we all have a responsibility to support it and to not let the line fall,” Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency quoted Mullah Hussein Taeb as saying. Taeb is a well-known suppressor of the 2009 Iranian uprisings, as head of intelligence for the Revolutionary Guard, and right-hand man to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Earlier this month, Syrian rebels in Damascus captured 48 Iranians, who they believed were members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. The Iranian government replied that the 48, including some retired members of the Revolutionary Guard, were on pilgrimage visiting a Shiite shrine.
The acknowledgement Monday coincides with Iran hosting a six-day Non-Aligned Movement summit this week to oppose the sanctions and Western isolation that are aimed at punishing the Islamic Republic for its nuclear agenda.
Iranian officials hope to unify participants of the 120-nation summit, including new Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi, the first Egyptian leader to visit Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, to stand behind the Iranian regime’s ongoing proliferation program.
A second item on the agenda will be a detailed game plan for Syria presented by the Iranian government.
Iran is still eager to host talks between al-Assad’s government and the opposition, according to Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission. Boroujerdi is currently in Syria and met with regime officials Sunday, according to the Iran's state-owned broadcasting service Press TV.
Many Iranians feel betrayed by their government helping Syria at a time when their own economy is in dire decline.
“The people of Iran are more upset about the financial help that the regime gives Syria, when our own people did not receive the proper help and rescue during the recent earthquake,” said Marjan, a former journalist living in Iran. “We don’t have enough hospitals beds to care for all the victims, and then we hear the government is sending ambulances to Syria.”
Many social media groups and campaigns focus on the solidarity between the Iranian and Syrian people, both wanting to break free of dictatorships.
“The future of our country and the future of Iran’s government are two separate things,” writes one political blogger in Persian. “If this regime continues to do whatever it takes to keep Assad in power, not only must we live in famine, even our children will have to pay.”
Another Iranian activist writes to Fox News in an email: “The Iranian people are against aiding Assad’s government. The Iranian regime believes that if they keep Assad in power, it will strengthen their own reign at home. They are mistaken.”
In February, documents revealed that the Iranian government had given the Syrian regime more than $1 billion to help relieve pressures of an international oil embargo and other restrictive measures on travel and trade through its central bank. Currently, the U.S., Turkey, European Union and Arab League have imposed crippling sanctions on Syria’s trade, banking and oil exports in order to deter its massacring of citizens.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/08/28/iranian-general-admits-fighting-every-aspect-war-in-defending-syria-assad/#ixzz24vZzlRlz
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
By Lisa Daftari
FoxNews.com
Sept. 22, 2011: Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy march during a parade to commemorate the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war in Tehran. (Reuters)
Iran, in continuing to support the Syrian government’s crackdown against protestors, publicly stated that it is sending military personnel from its elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to Syria.
“Today, we are involved in fighting every aspect of a war, a military -- one in Syria, and a cultural one as well,” Gen. Salar Abnoush, a Revolutionary Guard commander said in addressing a group of volunteer trainees Monday, as reported by Daneshjoo News Agency, an online pro-regime student-run media platform.
Though many have pointed for quite some time to the symbiotic relationship between Tehran and Damascus, including Iran’s training of Syrian cyber police and sending tactical support and cash, the statement appears to be the Iranian regime’s first public account of military participation in Syria.
More than 23,000 Syrians, including many women and children, have been massacred in over 17 months of uprising against the Bashar al-Assad regime.
Public acknowledgment of Iran’s manpower support and military involvement in Syria comes at a time when international pressure against Syria is at its peak and the Syrian regime’s massacre against its civilians is most violent. Syrian military defections are on the rise, and many soldiers are often unwilling to fire at protesting crowds.
“Today, Syria is resisting as our front’s surrogate, and we all have a responsibility to support it and to not let the line fall,” Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency quoted Mullah Hussein Taeb as saying. Taeb is a well-known suppressor of the 2009 Iranian uprisings, as head of intelligence for the Revolutionary Guard, and right-hand man to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Earlier this month, Syrian rebels in Damascus captured 48 Iranians, who they believed were members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. The Iranian government replied that the 48, including some retired members of the Revolutionary Guard, were on pilgrimage visiting a Shiite shrine.
The acknowledgement Monday coincides with Iran hosting a six-day Non-Aligned Movement summit this week to oppose the sanctions and Western isolation that are aimed at punishing the Islamic Republic for its nuclear agenda.
Iranian officials hope to unify participants of the 120-nation summit, including new Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi, the first Egyptian leader to visit Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, to stand behind the Iranian regime’s ongoing proliferation program.
A second item on the agenda will be a detailed game plan for Syria presented by the Iranian government.
Iran is still eager to host talks between al-Assad’s government and the opposition, according to Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission. Boroujerdi is currently in Syria and met with regime officials Sunday, according to the Iran's state-owned broadcasting service Press TV.
Many Iranians feel betrayed by their government helping Syria at a time when their own economy is in dire decline.
“The people of Iran are more upset about the financial help that the regime gives Syria, when our own people did not receive the proper help and rescue during the recent earthquake,” said Marjan, a former journalist living in Iran. “We don’t have enough hospitals beds to care for all the victims, and then we hear the government is sending ambulances to Syria.”
Many social media groups and campaigns focus on the solidarity between the Iranian and Syrian people, both wanting to break free of dictatorships.
“The future of our country and the future of Iran’s government are two separate things,” writes one political blogger in Persian. “If this regime continues to do whatever it takes to keep Assad in power, not only must we live in famine, even our children will have to pay.”
Another Iranian activist writes to Fox News in an email: “The Iranian people are against aiding Assad’s government. The Iranian regime believes that if they keep Assad in power, it will strengthen their own reign at home. They are mistaken.”
In February, documents revealed that the Iranian government had given the Syrian regime more than $1 billion to help relieve pressures of an international oil embargo and other restrictive measures on travel and trade through its central bank. Currently, the U.S., Turkey, European Union and Arab League have imposed crippling sanctions on Syria’s trade, banking and oil exports in order to deter its massacring of citizens.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/08/28/iranian-general-admits-fighting-every-aspect-war-in-defending-syria-assad/#ixzz24vZzlRlz
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
George Galloway paid £80k for joining 'pro-Syria' TV channel
George Galloway paid £80k for joining 'pro-Syria' TV channel
Bradford West MP presents fortnightly show for al-Mayadeen, allegedly funded by Syria and Iran
THE Respect MP George Galloway has joined an Arabic TV station that is allegedly funded by Iran and Syria. Galloway is set to earn almost £80,000 a year from his latest broadcasting venture, reports The Times.
Galloway, who once described President Assad's regime as "the last bastion of Arab dignity", has started presenting a fortnightly show, A Free Word, for the Beirut-based broadcaster al-Mayadeen.
According to the Register of Members’ Interests, Galloway will earn £3,000 an episode – or a yearly income of £78,000 - on top of his MP’s salary. The TV station will also cover the cost of regular trips to Lebanon to pre-record the programme.
Galloway, who represents Bradford West in the Commons, also presents a weekly slot on the Iranian state-owned media corporation Press TV but the job is currently unpaid.
Al-Mayadeen is "completely independent" according to station director Ghassan bin Jiddo. "We do not speak in the name of Iran or the Syrian regime," he says.
But since the channel’s launch in June, several critics have accused it of being pro-Syria and there has been speculation about its backers, with one local media analyst claiming it is funded by Iran as well as by a cousin of President Assad. Several station executives are said to have links with the Assad regime as well as the pro-Syrian Lebanese militia, Hezbollah.
Galloway has already used his show to denounce the motives of international powers who support the anti-Assad uprising. In one programme he described the West's leaders as modern Crusaders, saying: "I am with the Syrian people’s legitimate demands but I will never support the destruction of Syria. I will never support the invitation to the Crusaders to come back to Syria."
Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, told the Times Galloway should be held to account. "Firstly, what are the editorial policies of this channel and the agenda of its owners?" he asked. "Secondly, what is this Arabic channel expecting from Galloway and why, as a British MP, is he doing it? Are there many British voters watching?" ·
Read more: http://www.theweek.co.uk/politics/48700/george-galloway-paid-%C2%A380k-joining-pro-syria-tv-channel#ixzz24t72LPU4
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Gaza not ‘liveable’ by 2020 barring urgent action: UN
Gaza not ‘liveable’ by 2020 barring urgent action: UN
Palestinian women hold posters depicting their jailed relatives during a protest calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jail at the headquarters of the Red Cross in Gaza City on Monday. (Reuters)
REUTERS
Tuesday 28 August 2012
GAZA: Gaza will no longer be “liveable” by 2020 unless urgent action is taken to improve water supply, power, health, and schooling, the United Nations’ most comprehensive report on the Palestinian enclave said on Monday.
“Action needs to be taken now if Gaza is to be a liveable place in 2020 and it is already difficult now,” UN humanitarian coordinator Maxwell Gaylard told journalists when the report was released yesterday.
Five years into an Israeli blockade supported by Egypt, and living under one-party rule, Gaza’s population of 1.6 million is set to rise by 500,000 over the next eight years, say the authors of the UN’s most wide-ranging report on the territory.
Gaza has one the youngest populations in the world, with 51 percent of people under the age of 18.
“Action needs to be taken right now on fundamental aspects of life: water sanitation, electricity, education, health and other aspects,” Gaylard said.
Since 2007, Gaza has been under the control of the Islamist Hamas organization, an armed political movement, which rejects permanent peace with Israel. They fought a three-week war in January 2009, and Israel is resisting international pressure to lift its blockade, which it says prevents arms reaching Hamas.
Gaza has no airport and no sea port. The border is tense, with frequent clashes over rocket or mortar fire from Gaza and air strikes by Israel. Gaza rockets hit Israeli land on Sunday, damaging a factory in the town of Sderot, east of the enclave.
Israel partly eased restrictions in mid-2010, and Gaza’s crippled economy began to revive from rock bottom. Real GDP is estimated to have risen by 28 percent in the first half of 2011 as unemployment fell to 28 percent in 2011 from 37 percent.
But the report, involving expertise from more UN agencies and making projections further into the future than before, said growth over the next eight years would be slow, since Gaza’s current isolation renders its economy essentially non-viable.
The people in the narrow coastal strip live mainly on UN aid, foreign funding and a tunnel economy, which brings in food, construction materials, electronics and cars from Egypt.
But the smuggling trade is no solution. Robert Turner, director of operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said Gaza by 2020 will need 440 more schools, 800 more hospital beds and over a 1,000 additional doctors.
Gaylard called on international donors to increase their aid to a population, which is 80 percent aid dependent. “Despite their best efforts the Palestinians in Gaza still need help,” he said. “They are under blockade. They are under occupation and they need our help both politically and practically on the ground.” Israel in fact withdrew from Gaza in 2005, removing troops and settlers after 38 years of occupation.
A lack of clean drinking water is the greatest immediate concern, said Jean Gough of the UNICEF. The report projects a 60 percent increase in the enclave’s water needs, while urgent action is already needed to protect existing water resources.
By 2016, Gaza’s aquifer may become unusable, she said. Palestinians are already drilling deeper and deeper to reach groundwater and there is a need for more desalination plants. A seawater plant costing about $350 million is planned.
The UN says only a quarter of Gaza wastewater is treated. The rest, including raw sewage, goes into the Mediterranean Sea.
Gaylard said Gaza needs peace and security to improve the lives of its people. “It will certainly have to mean the end of blockade, the end of isolation and the end of conflict.” There is as yet no sign of an end to the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
w
Analysts say much may depend on the future of relations with the new Egypt, whose Islamist leaders are sympathetic to Hamas but also committed to the 1979 peace treaty with Israel. Hamas is also supported by Iran, which is extremely hostile to Israel.
Aside from its tunnel network, Gaza imports via Israel. UN figures show, for example, that 46,500 tones of building materials came into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel in September 2011, while 90,000 tones came via the tunnels.
It also gets electricity and fuel from Israel.
Rebuilding homes and factories smashed in the winter war of 2009 is Gaza’s biggest task, and construction is the source of most of its growth in employment in the past two years.
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Palestinian women hold posters depicting their jailed relatives during a protest calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jail at the headquarters of the Red Cross in Gaza City on Monday. (Reuters)
REUTERS
Tuesday 28 August 2012
GAZA: Gaza will no longer be “liveable” by 2020 unless urgent action is taken to improve water supply, power, health, and schooling, the United Nations’ most comprehensive report on the Palestinian enclave said on Monday.
“Action needs to be taken now if Gaza is to be a liveable place in 2020 and it is already difficult now,” UN humanitarian coordinator Maxwell Gaylard told journalists when the report was released yesterday.
Five years into an Israeli blockade supported by Egypt, and living under one-party rule, Gaza’s population of 1.6 million is set to rise by 500,000 over the next eight years, say the authors of the UN’s most wide-ranging report on the territory.
Gaza has one the youngest populations in the world, with 51 percent of people under the age of 18.
“Action needs to be taken right now on fundamental aspects of life: water sanitation, electricity, education, health and other aspects,” Gaylard said.
Since 2007, Gaza has been under the control of the Islamist Hamas organization, an armed political movement, which rejects permanent peace with Israel. They fought a three-week war in January 2009, and Israel is resisting international pressure to lift its blockade, which it says prevents arms reaching Hamas.
Gaza has no airport and no sea port. The border is tense, with frequent clashes over rocket or mortar fire from Gaza and air strikes by Israel. Gaza rockets hit Israeli land on Sunday, damaging a factory in the town of Sderot, east of the enclave.
Israel partly eased restrictions in mid-2010, and Gaza’s crippled economy began to revive from rock bottom. Real GDP is estimated to have risen by 28 percent in the first half of 2011 as unemployment fell to 28 percent in 2011 from 37 percent.
But the report, involving expertise from more UN agencies and making projections further into the future than before, said growth over the next eight years would be slow, since Gaza’s current isolation renders its economy essentially non-viable.
The people in the narrow coastal strip live mainly on UN aid, foreign funding and a tunnel economy, which brings in food, construction materials, electronics and cars from Egypt.
But the smuggling trade is no solution. Robert Turner, director of operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said Gaza by 2020 will need 440 more schools, 800 more hospital beds and over a 1,000 additional doctors.
Gaylard called on international donors to increase their aid to a population, which is 80 percent aid dependent. “Despite their best efforts the Palestinians in Gaza still need help,” he said. “They are under blockade. They are under occupation and they need our help both politically and practically on the ground.” Israel in fact withdrew from Gaza in 2005, removing troops and settlers after 38 years of occupation.
A lack of clean drinking water is the greatest immediate concern, said Jean Gough of the UNICEF. The report projects a 60 percent increase in the enclave’s water needs, while urgent action is already needed to protect existing water resources.
By 2016, Gaza’s aquifer may become unusable, she said. Palestinians are already drilling deeper and deeper to reach groundwater and there is a need for more desalination plants. A seawater plant costing about $350 million is planned.
The UN says only a quarter of Gaza wastewater is treated. The rest, including raw sewage, goes into the Mediterranean Sea.
Gaylard said Gaza needs peace and security to improve the lives of its people. “It will certainly have to mean the end of blockade, the end of isolation and the end of conflict.” There is as yet no sign of an end to the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
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Analysts say much may depend on the future of relations with the new Egypt, whose Islamist leaders are sympathetic to Hamas but also committed to the 1979 peace treaty with Israel. Hamas is also supported by Iran, which is extremely hostile to Israel.
Aside from its tunnel network, Gaza imports via Israel. UN figures show, for example, that 46,500 tones of building materials came into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel in September 2011, while 90,000 tones came via the tunnels.
It also gets electricity and fuel from Israel.
Rebuilding homes and factories smashed in the winter war of 2009 is Gaza’s biggest task, and construction is the source of most of its growth in employment in the past two years.
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
LACK OF SUFFICIENT SERVICES IN GAZA COULD GET WORSE WITHOUT URGENT ACTION, UN WARNS
LACK OF SUFFICIENT SERVICES IN GAZA COULD GET WORSE WITHOUT URGENT ACTION, UN WARNS
Gaza's problems in water and electricity, education and health will only get worse over the coming years unless remedial action is taken now, a senior United Nations official warned today.
"Gaza will have half a million more people by 2020 while its economy will grow only slowly. In consequence, the people of Gaza will have an even harder time getting enough drinking water and electricity, or sending their children to school," said the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the occupied Palestinian territory, Maxwell Gaylard.
Mr. Gaylard's comments came as he, together with Jean Gough of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Robert Turner of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), launched a new UN report that summarizes trends in Gaza and forecasts for the year 2020.
According to the report, Gaza's population will increase from 1.6 million people today to 2.1 million people in 2020, resulting in a density of more than 5,800 people per square kilometre.
"The substantial population growth rate will thus add some 500,000 people to a living area which is restricted and already heavily urbanized. Fundamental infrastructure in electricity, water and sanitation, municipal and social services, is struggling to keep pace with the needs of the growing population," it states.
"By 2020, electricity provision will need to double to meet demand, damage to the coastal aquifer will be irreversible without immediate remedial action, and hundreds of new schools and expanded health services will be needed for an overwhelmingly young population," the report adds. "Tens of thousands of housing units are needed today."
In addition, Gaza's economy is expected to grow modestly and people will likely still be worse off in 2015 compared to the mid-1990s, despite fast economic growth last year.
"The challenges will only become more acute, particularly if the current political status quo continues. Even if the political situation were to improve dramatically over the next years, the issues identified in this study would still need to be addressed as a matter of urgency," the report notes.
Today, Gaza is an essentially urban economy, isolated and kept alive through external funding, the illegal tunnel economy, and the ingenuity and persistence of its people.
"An urban area cannot survive without being connected," said Mr. Gaylard, who added that a return to economic progress and prosperity could only materialise through trade, communication and contact with the world beyond Gaza.
Gaza remains subject to severe restrictions on imports, exports and the movement of people, by land, air and sea, as a result of the blockade Israel imposed on the area for what it called security reasons after the Hamas group, which does not recognize Israel's right to exist, ousted the Fatah movement in the Strip in 2007.
"The viability of a future Palestinian state depends on a proper connection between the West Bank and Gaza, providing access to the Mediterranean for the entire occupied Palestinian territory," the report states.
In a related development, some half a million Palestinian children will benefit from a $21.6 million <"http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=1422">donation by the Government of the Netherlands to UNRWA. The funds will support the agency's education and health programmes, as well as its regular relief, infrastructure and camp improvement initiatives.
Of the $21.6 million, $5.7 will be allocated to UNRWA's 2012 Emergency Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory, which will support programmes in the West Bank and Gaza aiming to mitigate the effects on refugees of the deteriorating situation they face.
"We are grateful for these contributions to both our core programming and our 2012 Emergency Appeal," said UNRWA's Commissioner-General, Filippo Grandi. "At a time of great economic difficulty for our donors, the strong Dutch support for both human development and humanitarian programming is especially appreciated and will go a long way to helping UNRWA deliver its important developmental programmes as well as humanitarian aid to those in the greatest of need."
Gaza's problems in water and electricity, education and health will only get worse over the coming years unless remedial action is taken now, a senior United Nations official warned today.
"Gaza will have half a million more people by 2020 while its economy will grow only slowly. In consequence, the people of Gaza will have an even harder time getting enough drinking water and electricity, or sending their children to school," said the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the occupied Palestinian territory, Maxwell Gaylard.
Mr. Gaylard's comments came as he, together with Jean Gough of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Robert Turner of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), launched a new UN report that summarizes trends in Gaza and forecasts for the year 2020.
According to the report, Gaza's population will increase from 1.6 million people today to 2.1 million people in 2020, resulting in a density of more than 5,800 people per square kilometre.
"The substantial population growth rate will thus add some 500,000 people to a living area which is restricted and already heavily urbanized. Fundamental infrastructure in electricity, water and sanitation, municipal and social services, is struggling to keep pace with the needs of the growing population," it states.
"By 2020, electricity provision will need to double to meet demand, damage to the coastal aquifer will be irreversible without immediate remedial action, and hundreds of new schools and expanded health services will be needed for an overwhelmingly young population," the report adds. "Tens of thousands of housing units are needed today."
In addition, Gaza's economy is expected to grow modestly and people will likely still be worse off in 2015 compared to the mid-1990s, despite fast economic growth last year.
"The challenges will only become more acute, particularly if the current political status quo continues. Even if the political situation were to improve dramatically over the next years, the issues identified in this study would still need to be addressed as a matter of urgency," the report notes.
Today, Gaza is an essentially urban economy, isolated and kept alive through external funding, the illegal tunnel economy, and the ingenuity and persistence of its people.
"An urban area cannot survive without being connected," said Mr. Gaylard, who added that a return to economic progress and prosperity could only materialise through trade, communication and contact with the world beyond Gaza.
Gaza remains subject to severe restrictions on imports, exports and the movement of people, by land, air and sea, as a result of the blockade Israel imposed on the area for what it called security reasons after the Hamas group, which does not recognize Israel's right to exist, ousted the Fatah movement in the Strip in 2007.
"The viability of a future Palestinian state depends on a proper connection between the West Bank and Gaza, providing access to the Mediterranean for the entire occupied Palestinian territory," the report states.
In a related development, some half a million Palestinian children will benefit from a $21.6 million <"http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=1422">donation by the Government of the Netherlands to UNRWA. The funds will support the agency's education and health programmes, as well as its regular relief, infrastructure and camp improvement initiatives.
Of the $21.6 million, $5.7 will be allocated to UNRWA's 2012 Emergency Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory, which will support programmes in the West Bank and Gaza aiming to mitigate the effects on refugees of the deteriorating situation they face.
"We are grateful for these contributions to both our core programming and our 2012 Emergency Appeal," said UNRWA's Commissioner-General, Filippo Grandi. "At a time of great economic difficulty for our donors, the strong Dutch support for both human development and humanitarian programming is especially appreciated and will go a long way to helping UNRWA deliver its important developmental programmes as well as humanitarian aid to those in the greatest of need."
TRIPOLI, Libya: Top Libyan officials implicated in mosque desecrations - World Wires - MiamiHerald.com
TRIPOLI, Libya: Top Libyan officials implicated in mosque desecrations - World Wires - MiamiHerald.com: "TRIPOLI, Libya -- Members of the Libyan government and its military have been implicated in the destruction by Islamists over the weekend of several mosques affiliated with the Sufi branch of Islam, an indication that the government that replaced Moammar Gadhafi after a months-long NATO bombing campaign is having difficulty controlling its extremist elements."
France confirms it is working to establish buffer zone within Syria
France confirms it is working to establish buffer zone within Syria
France has confirmed that Western states were working with Turkey to establish buffer zones within Syria as the international community scrambled to formulate a response to the rapidly worsening crisis in the country.
A Syrian boy rides a bicycle as smoke rises over the Syrian city of Aleppo after missiles fired from a fighter jet hit petrol tankers in the Bab al-Nayrab district Photo: REUTERS
By Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent and Damien McElroy in Gaziantepe, Turkey
As government forces launched a devastating aerial and artillery assault on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, Francois Hollande, the French president, declared on Monday night that he and his international partners were closer than ever before to a formal intervention in Syria.
"We are working … [on] the initiative of buffer zones proposed by Turkey," Mr Hollande said. "We are doing so in co-ordination with our closest partners."
Indicating the formation of a twin-pronged Western strategy, Mr Hollande also became the first international leader to urge the Syrian opposition to form a provisional government, promising to grant it immediate recognition once it is formed.
With refugees pouring across Syria's borders, and Turkey struggling to respond to rapidly increasing influx, the long-discussed issue of a buffer zone to protect civilians in northern Syria has acquired a new sense of urgency.
Thousands of refugees massed in makeshift accommodation on the Syrian side of the Turkish border yesterday as Anakar sealed its crossings, claiming its camps were full.
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With as many as 80,000 refugees spread across camps in southern Turkey, the numbers who have fled violence in Syria has almost doubled in a month.
Turkish requests for a buffer zone, which would provide a haven not just for civilians but also for Syrian rebels operating along both sides of the border, have been so far rebuffed by the United States.
It remains far from clear how a buffer zone would be policed, although it has always been assumed that Turkey and Arab States would take the lead and that there would be no deployment of Western forces.
Pressure for a more robust response from the international community has grown after the bloodiest month of the uprising so far claimed more than 4,000 lives, according to opposition groups.
With rebel fighters and government forces fighting each other to near stalemate in the northern city of Aleppo, President Bashar al-Assad has switched his attention to Damascus.
Last week, he launched his bloodiest offensive yet in the capital, with government forces launching an assault that killed hundreds of people in Daraya, on the southwestern outskirts of the city, according to opposition statistics.
Activists say many of the dead were killed in summary executions and survivors yesterday spoke of soldiers bayoneting dozens of people as they swept victoriously through the town.
Opposition fighters declared that they had partially avenged the "massacre" in Daraya after successfully shooting down a helicopter gunship over Damascus.
Video footage filmed by the rebels showed the helicopter catch fire after being struck before spinning out of control and plummeting to the ground in a ball of fire.
In recent weeks rebels have been hapless in the face of regime aerial attack, both by helicopter gunships and fighter-jets that have shown little distinction between civilian and insurgent targets.
Rebel hopes of capturing either Aleppo or Damascus may well depend on finding a systematic strategy of dealing with the aerial threat. That prospect appears a long way off, with opposition fighters admitting that they had brought down the helicopter more by luck than design.
"It was flying overhead the eastern part of the city and firing all morning," an activist identifying himself as Abu Bakr told the Reuters news agency. "The rebels had been trying to hit [it] for about an hour; finally they did."
The felling of the helicopter, while undoubtedly morale boosting, brought only fleeting respite for the rebels.
Ignoring the international condemnation triggered by the mass killings in Daraya, government forces have switched their focus from the west to the east of the city as part of a campaign to reassert total control over Mr Assad's capital.
The full gamut of the regime's arsenal was deployed, with fighter planes striking closer to the heart of Damascus than ever before as the army maintained a relentless barrage of shelling and helicopter attacks on a string of eastern suburbs.
At least 62 people were killed in the assault, opposition activists said, with shells striking a row of flats in Jobar, the district where the helicopter had been shot down earlier in the day.
As in Daraya, there were reports of summary executions as government forces advanced. Footage released by opposition campaigners showed 20 corpses on the floor of a mosque in the neighbouring district of Zamalka, among them three children.
The new bloodshed came as volunteers recovered dozens more bodies in Daraya, where the opposition claims that between 300 and 600 people were killed during a five-day battle for the town last week.
One survivor, who gave his name as Abu Firas, said that more than 100 people were killed as soldiers went door-to-door hunting for residents who had escaped the days of shelling that preceded their sweep through the town.
"Some they lined up and shot in front of their wives and sisters," Abu Firas said, adding that he had survived by hiding on top of a cupboard. "I saw them kill three men with knives attached to their guns and there are many others dead with stabbing wounds."
Ban Ki-Moon, the United Nations secretary general, yesterday demanded an immediate investigation into the killings, which he called "an appalling and brutal crime".
Sunday, August 26, 2012
9.5 Million Muslim Students Receive Education Scholarship in India
9.5 Million Muslim Students Receive Education Scholarship in India
ARAB NEWS
New Delhi: Over 9.5 Million Muslim children in India have benefited under the Pre-matric Scholarship Scheme since its launch in 2008-09, the State Press Information Bureau (PIB) said. The Ministry of Minority Affairs had set up the education scholarship scheme in 2008-09. The total number of Muslim students who benefited from it up to the end of India's 11th Five-Year Plan as per the information given by the Minister of State for Minority Affairs Vincent H Pala is 9.5 Million.
For the year 2012-13, the funds allocated for this scheme have been increased by 50% to US $162.2 Million (INR 9,000M) from 108.12 Million (INR 6000M)in 2011-12 to cover more minority students under the scheme, the PIB report said.
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
ARAB NEWS
New Delhi: Over 9.5 Million Muslim children in India have benefited under the Pre-matric Scholarship Scheme since its launch in 2008-09, the State Press Information Bureau (PIB) said. The Ministry of Minority Affairs had set up the education scholarship scheme in 2008-09. The total number of Muslim students who benefited from it up to the end of India's 11th Five-Year Plan as per the information given by the Minister of State for Minority Affairs Vincent H Pala is 9.5 Million.
For the year 2012-13, the funds allocated for this scheme have been increased by 50% to US $162.2 Million (INR 9,000M) from 108.12 Million (INR 6000M)in 2011-12 to cover more minority students under the scheme, the PIB report said.
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Egypt reopens Gaza crossing
Egypt reopens Gaza crossing
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
Sunday 26 August 2012
CAIRO: Egypt decided on Saturday to reopen a border crossing with Gaza it had mostly kept closed since a militant attack killed 16 of its soldiers on August 5, the official MENA news agency reported.
It said the Rafah border crossing, the Palestinian territory’s only passage which bypasses Israel, would return to opening six days a week, like before the attack.
Egypt allowed only a trickle of Palestinians to use the crossing to enter Gaza after the attack in Sinai that the military said took place under the cover of mortar fire from Gaza.
The attack on an army outpost came as Egypt’s new president, the Islamist Muhammad Mursi, was seen as making overtures to Gaza’s Islamist Hamas rulers, who had strained relations with his overthrown predecessor Hosni Mubarak.
It prompted an unprecedented military campaign in the Sinai peninsula, a haven for the Islamist militants believed to have carried out the attack, and a crackdown on smuggling tunnels between Egypt and Gaza.
Security officials said on Saturday that military engineers have blocked 120 tunnels since the start of the operation.
Egyptian officials have charged that some of the 35 gunmen who stormed the army post had crossed from Gaza through the network of smuggling tunnels that run under the border.
But Gaza’s Hamas rulers have said no Palestinians are suspected of involvement in the attack.
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
WAMY seeks further measures to help Myanmar Muslims
WAMY seeks further measures to help Myanmar Muslims
Residents collect bricks from buildings damaged by Muslim-Buddhist clashes in Sittwe in this in this June 16, 2012 photo. (AP)
GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN
Sunday 26 August 2012
RIYADH: The World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) has asked Muslim and Arab countries to take further measures to help Muslims in Myanmar, insisting that Gulf states should assume a “pioneering role” in the drive.
“As the Muslims around the world cheerfully celebrated Eid Al-Fitr, the Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar are being subjected to appalling atrocities, finding their life still in danger,” said Dr. Saleh Al-Wohaibi, WAMY’s secretary-general, here yesterday.
Al-Wohaibi, who launched a WAMY’s relief and rehabilitation program for the Muslims of Myanmar, applauded the efforts of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who ordered $50 million in aid to the Rohingyas. “The Saudi assistance and the efforts made by the Saudi leaders in cooperation with the international community will go a long way in alleviating the suffering of Muslims in that country,” said the WAMY chief.
Referring to the relief efforts of the WAMY, he pointed out that this Islamic organization would spend $1.5 million in the first phase of its program. “The WAMY is coordinating with several aid organizations including the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to extend all possible help to Muslims in Myanmar,” said Al-Wohaibi, adding that the Rohingya Muslims have recently been exposed to grave human rights abuses including ethnic cleansing, murder, rape and forced displacement.
He pointed out that the WAMY offices, as well as other Islamic NGOs around Mynamar, had been contacted for the relief and rehabilitation plan. Several volunteers will be sent to that country, if the Myanmar government allows them to enter into the country, he added. He said that the WAMY strongly condemns the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims as well as the brutal acts and flagrant violations of human rights against them with the aim of coercing them to leave their homeland.
Al-Wohaibi, while urging the international community to take immediate action to protect Muslims in that country, renewed his call to all Islamic and Arab countries to adopt a strong stance to put an end to the killing of Muslims in Myanmar. “If there is no strong stance against this tragedy afflicting Muslims in Myanmar, be sure that there will be a repeat of the same ugly episode again,” he added.
Al-Wohaibi expressed concerns that the international community has been by and large ominously quiet about the events in Myanmar. More than 2,000 Rohingya Muslims have been murdered thus far in the conflicts that broke out in the region. He also lamented that the mainstream media in the West have been largely silent about the massacre of Muslims in Myanmar.
Along with the media, Western governments have also blatantly turned a blind eye to the suffering of the Rohingya Muslims. Even renowned Burmese political activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was recently invited to Norway to collect her 21-year old Nobel Prize, preferred not to speak about the affliction of her fellow citizens. Al-Wohaibi, however, thanked the Myanmar government for inviting an OIC fact-finding delegation to visit the country rocked by sectarian violence.
For their part, Amnesty has also accused Burmese security forces as well as ethnic Rakhine Buddhist residents of assaults, unlawful killings of Muslims and the destruction of property. “Most cases have meant targeted attacks on the minority Rohingya population and they bore the brunt of most of that communal violence in June and they continue to bear the lion’s share of the violations perpetrated by the state security forces,” Amnesty researcher Benjamin Zawacki told the BBC in a recent program.
Meanwhile, Myanmar has set up a 27-member commission to investigate the killings. The commission will be headed by a retired religious affairs ministry official and include former student activists, a former UN officer and representatives from political parties and Islamic as well as other religious organizations.
The commission is tasked with proposing solutions to the longstanding hatred between the two communities and is to submit its findings by Sept. 17.
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Residents collect bricks from buildings damaged by Muslim-Buddhist clashes in Sittwe in this in this June 16, 2012 photo. (AP)
GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN
Sunday 26 August 2012
RIYADH: The World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) has asked Muslim and Arab countries to take further measures to help Muslims in Myanmar, insisting that Gulf states should assume a “pioneering role” in the drive.
“As the Muslims around the world cheerfully celebrated Eid Al-Fitr, the Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar are being subjected to appalling atrocities, finding their life still in danger,” said Dr. Saleh Al-Wohaibi, WAMY’s secretary-general, here yesterday.
Al-Wohaibi, who launched a WAMY’s relief and rehabilitation program for the Muslims of Myanmar, applauded the efforts of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who ordered $50 million in aid to the Rohingyas. “The Saudi assistance and the efforts made by the Saudi leaders in cooperation with the international community will go a long way in alleviating the suffering of Muslims in that country,” said the WAMY chief.
Referring to the relief efforts of the WAMY, he pointed out that this Islamic organization would spend $1.5 million in the first phase of its program. “The WAMY is coordinating with several aid organizations including the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to extend all possible help to Muslims in Myanmar,” said Al-Wohaibi, adding that the Rohingya Muslims have recently been exposed to grave human rights abuses including ethnic cleansing, murder, rape and forced displacement.
He pointed out that the WAMY offices, as well as other Islamic NGOs around Mynamar, had been contacted for the relief and rehabilitation plan. Several volunteers will be sent to that country, if the Myanmar government allows them to enter into the country, he added. He said that the WAMY strongly condemns the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims as well as the brutal acts and flagrant violations of human rights against them with the aim of coercing them to leave their homeland.
Al-Wohaibi, while urging the international community to take immediate action to protect Muslims in that country, renewed his call to all Islamic and Arab countries to adopt a strong stance to put an end to the killing of Muslims in Myanmar. “If there is no strong stance against this tragedy afflicting Muslims in Myanmar, be sure that there will be a repeat of the same ugly episode again,” he added.
Al-Wohaibi expressed concerns that the international community has been by and large ominously quiet about the events in Myanmar. More than 2,000 Rohingya Muslims have been murdered thus far in the conflicts that broke out in the region. He also lamented that the mainstream media in the West have been largely silent about the massacre of Muslims in Myanmar.
Along with the media, Western governments have also blatantly turned a blind eye to the suffering of the Rohingya Muslims. Even renowned Burmese political activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was recently invited to Norway to collect her 21-year old Nobel Prize, preferred not to speak about the affliction of her fellow citizens. Al-Wohaibi, however, thanked the Myanmar government for inviting an OIC fact-finding delegation to visit the country rocked by sectarian violence.
For their part, Amnesty has also accused Burmese security forces as well as ethnic Rakhine Buddhist residents of assaults, unlawful killings of Muslims and the destruction of property. “Most cases have meant targeted attacks on the minority Rohingya population and they bore the brunt of most of that communal violence in June and they continue to bear the lion’s share of the violations perpetrated by the state security forces,” Amnesty researcher Benjamin Zawacki told the BBC in a recent program.
Meanwhile, Myanmar has set up a 27-member commission to investigate the killings. The commission will be headed by a retired religious affairs ministry official and include former student activists, a former UN officer and representatives from political parties and Islamic as well as other religious organizations.
The commission is tasked with proposing solutions to the longstanding hatred between the two communities and is to submit its findings by Sept. 17.
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
The Fiqh of Halal and Haram Animals
The Fiqh of Halal and Haram Animals
"Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine....." (Surah al-Ma'idah, V: 53).
The Fiqh of Halal and Haram Animals
By Shaykh (Mufti) Muhammad Ibn Adam (HA)
Question: Can you give me a list of animals that are Halal and Haram according to the Hanafi School?
Answer: In the Name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
Islam is a religion of mercy and compassion. It only commands and prohibits that which is in the best interests of the human being. The human mind however, due to it being very limited and restricted, may not be able to understand the logic behind every ruling. It may not be able to comprehend properly why a particular ruling is given, but Allah Most High- the Merciful and All-Knowing- is the best to decide what is beneficial and harmful for us, for He is the one who created us.
Allah Most High blessed humanity with His beloved Messenger (Allah bless him & give him peace), as a light and light-giving. The Sacred Law (Shariah) of Islam that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) came with from Allah differentiated between a living and a dead animal. Dead animals were declared unlawful (haram). Certain animals that were harmful to the welfare of humans were also prohibited, such as pigs, dogs, cats and wild animals. Thus, the animals that have been prohibited for consumption by Shariah is due to the fact that they are harmful for human consumption, whether we realize and understand this or otherwise.
After understanding the above, it should be noted that each of the four Sunni Schools of Islamic law (madhhabs) have their own principles (based on the guidelines of the Qur'an & Sunnah) with regards to which animals are lawful (halal) and which are unlawful (haram) for consumption.
Below are the basic principles of permissibility and impermissibility in the Hanafi School with regards to animal consumption, as mentioned in the classical books of Hanafi jurisprudence. (Culled from: al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, 5/289-291, Bada'i al-Sana'i, 5/35-39 and Radd al-Muhtar, 304-308)
1Animals that have been clearly and explicitly prohibited in the Qur'an or Sunnah are without doubt Haram, such as a swine, donkey, etc.
2Animals that are born and live in water are all Haram with the exception of fish. All types of fishes are Halal, with the exception of that which dies naturally in the sea without any external cause. However, if a fish was to die due to some external cause such as cold, heat, being thrown to the shore by the water, colliding with a stone, etc, then it would be Halal.
Allah Most High says:
"Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine....." (Surah al-Ma'idah, V: 53)
In the above verse, Allah Almighty forbade the meat of all dead animals without differentiating between sea-animals and land-animals. Thus, all sea-animals would also be included in this general prohibition. However, fish has been exempted from this general ruling due to the explicit mention of its permissibility by the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace).
Sayyiduna Abd Allah ibn Umar (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him eternal peace) said: "Two types of dead meat and two types of blood have been made lawful for our consumption: The two dead meats are: fish and locust, and the two types of blood are: liver and spleen." (Sunan Abu Dawud, Musnad Ahmad and Sunan Ibn Majah)
Moreover, there is no mention in the Sunnah literature that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) or his Companions (Allah be pleased with them all) ever consumed the meat of a sea-animal besides the fish, hence if it was permitted, it would have at least been consumed once in order to show its permissibility. (Dars Tirmidhi, 1/280)
As far as the fish which dies naturally in the sea without an external cause (samak al-tafi) is concerned, Sayyiduna Jabir ibn Abd Allah (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: "What the sea throws up and is left by the tide you may eat, but what dies in the sea and floats you must not eat." (Sunan Abu Dawud, no: 3809 & Sunan Ibn Majah)
Sayyiduna Ali (Allah be pleased with him) forbade the selling of naturally dead fish (floating fish) in the markets. (Bada'i al-Sana'i, 5/36 and al-Ikhtiyar)
In light of the above, all sea-animals are Haram except for fish. It will be permitted to eat a fish even without slaughtering it according to the rules of Shariah. However, a fish that dies naturally without an external cause and begins to float on the surface of the water (Samak al-Tafi) is also considered Haram.
3The third principle is that, amongst the land-animals, those that have no blood in them are considered Haram, such as a hornet, fly, spider, beetle, scorpion, ant, etc.
Allah Most High says:
"...for he (the Prophet) commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil; he allows them as lawful what is good (and pure) and prohibits them from what is bad (and impure)..." (Surah al-A'raf, V: 157)
Thus, animals that don't contain blood such as spiders and others are considered to be from "what is impure" because a sound natured person would detest their consumption.
The only exception is that of a locust, for the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) clearly permitted its consumption, in the Hadith of Sunan Abu Dawud and Musnad Ahmad quoted earlier.
Similarly, Ibn Abi Awfa (Allah be pleased with him) was asked concerning the consuming of a locust and he said: "I fought with the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) in six or seven battles, and we used to eat it (locust) with him. " (Sunan Abu Dawud, no: 3806)
4The forth principle is that those land-animals who have blood in them but the blood does not flow, in other words animals that do not have flowing blood, are also considered Haram, such as a snake, lizard, chameleon, etc.
5 The fifth principle is that all types of pests (hasharat al-Ardh) are also considered Haram, such as a mouse, hedgehog, jerboa, etc.
The reasoning behind the prohibition of these animals is the same verse of Surah al-A'raf quoted above, in that they are considered impure (khabith) for consumption.
6 The sixth principle is, land-animals who have flowing blood in them and they survive on grass and leaves, and do not prey on other animals (i.e. non-predatory terrestrial animals) are all considered Halal, such as a camel, cow, goat, buffalo, sheep, deer, etc, although there is a slight difference of opinion within the Hanafi School with regards to the consumption of horse-meat, as will be discussed later. Also, a donkey is exempted from this general ruling, in that its meat in considered Haram for consumption.
Allah Most High says:
"And cattle (an'am), He has created for you, from them you derive warmth, and numerous benefits, and of their (meat) you eat." (Surah al-Nahl, V: 5)
And:
"It is Allah Who made cattle for you, that you may use some for riding and some for food." (Surah al-Mu'min, V: 79)
In the above two verses, Allah Most High uses the term "al-An'am" (cattle) which refers to non-predatory animals, according to the unanimous agreement of all the linguistics.
As far as the consumption of horse-meat is concerned, Imam Abu Hanifa (Allah have mercy on him) considers is somewhat disliked (makruh tanzihan) due to its honour and due to the fact that a horse is needed in Jihad. Imam Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad (Allah have mercy on them both) consider it Halal, and it is said that Imam Abu Hanifa also retreated to this opinion. Thus, it would be permitted to consume horse-meat, although better to avoid.
With regards to the meat of a donkey and mule, Allah Most High says:
"And (He has created) horses, mules, and donkeys, for you to ride and use for show; and He has created (other) things of which you have no knowledge." (Surah al-Nahl, V: 8)
So, in regards to all other non-predatory animals, Allah Almighty mentions that He has created them for consumption (as we have seen in the verses mention earlier). However, with regards to donkeys and mules, He mentions that they are for riding and adornment (zeenah). Had consumption of these animals been Halal, Allah Almighty would surely have mentioned it.
Moreover, Sayyiduna Abd Allah ibn Umar (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) forbade the meat of donkeys on the day of the battle of Khaybar." (Sahih al-Bukhari, no: 5202)
Sayyiduna Abu Tha'laba (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) prohibited the eating of donkey's meat. (Sahih al-Bukhari, no: 5205)
Sayyiduna Anas ibn Malik (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that a person came to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) and said: "The donkeys have been (slaughtered and) eaten." Another man came and said: "The donkeys have been destroyed." The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) ordered a caller to announce to the people: "Allah and His Messenger forbid you to eat the meat of donkeys, for it is impure." Thus the pots were turned upside down while the (donkey's) meat was boiling in them." (Sahih al-Bukhari, no: 5208)
With regards to the mules, Sayyiduna Khalid ibn al-Walid (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) forbade the meat of horses, mules and donkeys." (Musnad Ahmad, 4/89, Sunan Abu Dawud, no: 3790, Sunan Nasa'i and Sunan Ibn Majah)
However, the fuqaha mention that the ruling on a mule would be that of its mother. If the mother is a donkey, then it would be definitely Haram. If the mother is some Halal animal such as a cow, it would be completely Halal, and if the mother is a horse, then the rules of eating horse-meat would apply. (See: Radd al-muhtar)
7 The seventh principle is that all terrestrial predatory animals and beasts, i.e. animals that hunt with their teeth, are considered Haram, such as a lion, cheetah, tiger, leopard, wolf, fox, dog, cat, etc.
8 The eighth principle is that all birds of prey, i.e. those that hunt with their claws/talons, are considered Haram, such as a falcon, eagle, kite, hawk, bat, etc.
The proof for both these principles (seven and eight) is the famous Hadith of Sayyiduna Abd Allah ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) prohibited the eating of all fanged beasts of prey, and all the birds having talons." (Sahih Muslim, no: 1934)
Hence, all beasts and birds of prey, beasts that hunt with their teeth and birds who hunt with their talons/claws, are unanimously considered Haram.
9 The ninth principle is that birds who do not hunt with their claws and do not prey on other animals, rather they merely eat grains and crop, are all considered Halal, such as a chicken, duck, pigeon, dove, sparrow, crow, etc.
Sayyiduna Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (Allah be pleased with him) says: "I saw the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) consuming (the meat of) chicken." (Sahih al-Bukhari, no: 5198)
10 The tenth principle is that if a Halal animal only consumes impure things to the extent that it creates bad odour in its meat and milk, then it will be Makruh to consume its meat and drink its milk. However, if it consumes other things along with the impure, or if it does not create bad smell in its meat and milk, then the meat and milk will be totally Halal. (Radd al-Muhtar, 6/340)
It is stated in al-Fatwa al-Hindiya:
"A chicken will only be considered a jallalah (hence makruh) if the majority of what it eats is impure, and that it penetrates into the meat in such a way that it creates a bad smell." (See: al-fatawa al-Hindiyya, 5/289)
11 The last principle is that if one parent of an animal is Halal and the other Haram, consideration will be taken of the mother.
aThus, if the mother is a Halal animal, the offspring would also be Halal, such as a mule whose mother is a cow.
bIf however, the mother is a Haram animal, the offspring would also be Haram, such as a mule whose mother is a donkey.
The above were eleven general and broad principles with regards to the consumption of animal meat, according to the Hanafi School of thought. It should be noted here that the meaning of Halal is merely that one may eat of the animal, but there are separate rules with regards to slaughtering and hunting these animals, for which one may refer to previously posted articles or the books of Fiqh. Failure to comply with these rules may well render a Halal animal Haram.
In light of the above general principles, the following is a list of Halal and Haram animals in the Hanafi School: (Both these lists of animals are not exclusive)
Animals whose meat is Halal:
1Camel
2Goat
3 Sheep
4 Buffalo
5 Stag
6 Rabbit
7Cow (including mountain cow)
8Wild-ass (The prohibition in the Hadith is of domesticated donkeys)
9 Fish (of all types, including prawns according to those who consider prawns to be a form of fish. Others however, don't permit its consumption, for they don't consider prawns to be from the fish family. For details, see an earlier post).
10 Deer/Antelope/Gazelle
11Duck
12Heron (grey or white wading bird with long neck and long legs and (usually) long bill).
13 Nightingale
14 Quail
15Parrot
16Francolin
17Locust
18Partridge (heavy-bodied small-winged South American game bird)
19 Lark (North American yellow-breasted songbirds)
20Sparrow
21Goose
22Ostrich
23Dove
24Pigeon
25Stork
26Rooster
27Chicken
28Peacock
29Starling
30Hoopoe (any of several crested Old World birds with a slender down-curving bill, known in Arabic as Hudhud- that was sent by Sayyiduna Suleyman (peace be upon him).
Animals whose meat is Haram:
1Wolf
2Hyena
3Cat
4Monkey
5Scorpion
6Leopard
7Tiger
8Cheetah
9Lion
10Jerboa
11Bear
12Swine/pig
13Squirrel
14Hedgehog
15Snake
16Tortoise/Turtle
17Dog
18Crab
19Jackal
20Donkey (domesticated)
21 Lizard (The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) forbade the eating of a Lizard. Recorded by Imam Abu Dawud in his Sunan from Abd al-Rahman ibn Shibl (Allah be pleased with him). Hadith no: 3790)
22Fox
23 Crocodile
24Weasel
25 Elephant (Radd al-Muhtar, 6/306)
26Falcon
27Hawk
28Kite
29 Bat
30Vulture
31Mouse
32Rat
33All insects, such as a Mosquito, Fly, Wasp, Spider, Beetle, etc.
And Allah Knows Best
[Mufti] Muhammad ibn Adam
Darul Iftaa
Leicester , UK
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
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