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Formerly "Hudson Institute, New York" Latest Articlesby Soeren Kern • February 3, 2012 at 5:00 am
The southern Italian island of Sicily is about to become the proud new owner of a multi-million euro mega-mosque. The mosque, to be built in the medieval town of Salemi in southwestern Sicily, is being paid for by the oil-rich Persian Gulf Emirate of Qatar. Supporters of the mosque hope it will become a reference point for Muslims in Sicily as well as the rest of Italy. Construction of the mosque reflects the growing influence of Islam in Italy, which is now home to an estimated 1.5 million Muslims.
Abbas Blocks Young Leadership, Ensuring Hamas Victory by Khaled Abu Toameh • February 3, 2012 at 4:30 am
Fatah leaders in the West Bank announced this week that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is their only candidate for the presidential election expected to take place in May 2012. The announcement enraged several disillusioned Fatah officials, some of whom called on the 76-year-old Abbas not to seek re-election so as to pave the way for the emergence of young and fresh faces. Although Abbas made it clear over the past few years that he had no plans to run in another election, his aides in Ramallah are now saying that he does not plan to retire in the near future. Abbas and his veteran colleagues in the Palestinian Authority and PLO believe they have a monopoly over the Palestinian issue and the decision-making process. They are convinced that they know better than anyone else what is good and bad for the Palestinians. Any young leader who dares to challenge them or question their wisdom is quickly denounced as a 'traitor" and "fifth columnist."
by Anna Mahjar-Barducci • February 3, 2012 at 3:30 am
Relations between Brazil and Iran are shaky. In an interview with the Brazilian paper Folha de Sao Paulo, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, who has worked as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's top media adviser, declared that the Brazilian President, Dilma Rousseff, is distancing herself from Iran. Javanfekr actually accused Rousseff of having ruined the relations between Iran and Brazil that former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula managed to build. "The Brazilian president has been striking against everything that Lula accomplished. She destroyed years of good relations," Javanfekr said. In another interview with the state-run Iranian agency, IRNA, Javanfekr said: "Brazil's new president has newly taken over the post and should be given enough time to gain a better understanding of Iran-Brazil relations and the previous administration's efforts to strengthen ties."
Turkey Warns Europe Against Mounting Racism, Islamophobia by AK Group • February 3, 2012 at 3:00 am
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday warned of rising racism and Islamophobia in Europe as he once again denounced a recent French bill outlawing denial of Armenian genocide. The French bill is a "serious manifestation of an insidious danger in Europe", Erdoğan said at a meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, in Ankara. "There is an undeniable racist approach, a racist mentality ... hidden behind this bill." Turkey reacted furiously last week when the French Senate approved the law, which threatens with jail anyone in France who denies that the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turk forces amounted to genocide. Turkey would not remain silent to rising racism and Islamophobia in Europe, Erdoğan said, calling on friends of Turkey in Europe to urgently address the problem. "Turkey is a not a country that will bow to insidiously growing racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia in Europe," he said. "I would like to sincerely warn our friends in Europe that the situation in France is a serious manifestation of an insidious danger."
A Victory Over Bigotry at Friends by Alan M. Dershowitz • February 2, 2012 at 2:30 pm
The Friends Seminary in New York, which made the God-awful mistake in judgment of twice inviting Gilad Atzmon to meet with its students, has now acknowledged that it was wrong to do so and has promised never again to allow that bigot to set foot on its premises. It has also promised to invite me and representatives of the Anti-Defamation League to address its students about the dangers of the sort of anti-Semitic hatred spewed by Atzmon. This dispute was never about Atzmon himself. He is just one of a number of hate mongers that crawl out from beneath the rocks of the internet. His claims that Jews may have killed "Goyim" to use their blood, his doubts about the Holocaust, his incitement to burn down synagogues as "reasonable", his claims that Jews try to control the world and are responsible for most of its evils—these are the screwball rants of pathological anti-Semites that are and should be ignored. The issue was always about the lack of judgment showed by the Friends Seminary, which legitimated this hate speech to its students by inviting Atzmon.
New York Times Backs Islamist Movement Without Even Looking at It by Supna Zaidi • February 2, 2012 at 5:00 am
It seems strange that a newspaper as well-respected as the New York Times would publish an article, "In Police Training, a Dark Film on U.S. Muslims," by Michael Powell that calls a documentary, The Third Jihad, Islamophobic without discussing its contents -- preferring instead to paint NYC law enforcement as Islamophobes for simply watching the film, and its producers as pro-Israeli bigots.
"Is That Not Surrender to Saudi Fundamentalism?" by Mohshin Habib • February 2, 2012 at 4:45 am
An official of the Saudi Youth Welfare Presidency quickly denied media reports that the organization had allowed women to enter stadium to watch the handball championship, being held in Jeddah -- according to the Arab News. The Director of the Presidency's, Jeddah office, Ahmed Rawzi, declared that any women present at the game were reporters, not spectators. On 28 January 2012, another government-run Saudi newspaper, Al-Sharq, reported that for the first time in Saudi Arabia, women would be allowed to watch soccer matches in one of the country's stadium that will only be completed in Jeddah in 2014. The newspaper quoted an unnamed official who allegedly said that the new stadium would include a family section with private cabins and balconies for women.
China: Zhu Yufu's Sham "Incitement" Trial; No Verdict by Human Rights in China • February 2, 2012 at 4:00 am
Zhu Yufu, 59, a Hangzhou dissident who previously served seven years in prison (1999-2006) for his role in founding the China Democratic Party, was tried by the Hangzhou Municipal Intermediate People's Court today for "inciting subversion of state power." The hearing lasted for two hours and forty minutes. The court did not hand down a verdict. Zhu's wife Jiang Hangli told Human Rights in China (HRIC) that her husband has aged significantly after 11 months in custody, and his hair and beard have turned white. She said that the police allowed only two family members—her and their son, Zhu Ang—to attend the trial. According to Jiang, the judge continuously interrupted Zhu during his self-defense statement and did not let him finish. Jiang believes in her husband's innocence, but also that the defense arguments, though persuasive, would not help because the authorities have made up their minds to convict Zhu. Other sources told HRIC that the authorities prevented other Hangzhou dissidents from attending the trial, including Lü Gengsong and Mao Qingxiang, placing others under tight surveillance and forbade them from leaving home.
Newt Gingrich's Non-Zany Space Policy by Taylor Dinerman • February 2, 2012 at 3:20 am
If anyone thinks that the Obama administration space policy has been successful, he should simply read this tweet from the well-known astrophysicist and Director of New York's Hayden Planetarium, Neil Degrasse Tyson: "Has the first person to set foot on Mars been born yet, you ask? Yup. In Beijing." If the next President does decide to build a space-based missile-defense system, he will, as usual, be faced with a huge political uproar from people who, in a disconnect of logic, somehow believe that if the US is undefended, no-one will then wish to attack it. He will also be faced by the question of how to deploy a large number of orbital interceptors at a reasonable cost. But if the US is to stay defended, it is necessary to deploy them quickly -- at the very most within four years. In an interview in December 2011, Republican Presidential candidate, Governor Mitt Romney, called his fellow Republican Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's ideas on space policy "zany"-- in particular two concepts Gingrich has embraced over the years: "mirrors to light highways at night" and a lunar colony.
Britain Bans Iran's Press TV - Finally by Shiraz Maher • February 2, 2012 at 3:15 am
The British broadcasting regulator, Ofcom, has finally done what it was long urged, and banned Press TV, the Iranian state broadcaster. The station is a rolling English language news channel owned by state-controlled Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), headquartered in Tehran. The station was long accused of being little more than a mouthpiece for the Iranian regime and broadcasting outright propaganda. The station protested but could barely sustain its deceit when the Green Movement emerged in 2009 to protest the electoral fraud which resulted in Ahmadinejad's re-election. Press TV's director of news, Roshan Muhammed Salih, angry declared:
In the same breath, however, he continued:
Turkey Rejoices as 'Genocide' Bill Put on Hold in France by AK Group • February 2, 2012 at 3:00 am
Turkey has hailed a motion by French legislators to halt a bill criminalizing denials of Armenian genocide claims after they produced the 60 signatures required to stop the draft from becoming law. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan extended "wholehearted thanks" to the French senators who appealed the law, and voiced hope France's Constitutional Council would quash the legislation. "I have no doubt the Constitutional Council will eventually make an appropriate decision," President Abdullah Gül said, adding that he was "not expecting the French from the very beginning to let their country be overshadowed" by the resolution. Ankara had reacted furiously last week when the French Senate approved the law that penalizes anyone in France who denies the 1915 killings of Armenians amounted to genocide with jail time and a fine.
Hizb-ut-Tahrir: Sharia Law 'by Force' Enabled by the UK and the US by Shiraz Maher • February 1, 2012 at 5:00 am
Last week the government of Bangladesh announced that it had foiled a potential military coup led by the radical Islamist group Hizb-ut-Tahrir ["Party of Liberation"]. Brigadier General Muhammed Masud Razzaq told a press conference in the capital, Dhaka, that 16 members of the Bangladeshi Army – including retired and active Officers – had conspired to dismiss the government of Sheikha Hasina after she made the country's constitution more secular. He described those involved as "fanatics... with extreme religious beliefs." Two retired officers, Lt. Col. Ehsan Yusuf and Major Zakir, have been arrested, although the main perpetrators are believed to be operating from abroad. Hizb-ut-Tahrir is an Islamist party whose members seek to revive an Islamic state, or Caliphate. They are deeply opposed to democracy, and believes in adopting violent jihad as the cornerstone of their foreign policy – with the aim of subjugating the entire world to Islam. Founded in 1953 in Jerusalem, the movement now operates around the world, with an international leadership in Lebanon directing its activities.
Venezuelan Socialism: iPhones and Dollars by Anna Mahjar-Barducci • February 1, 2012 at 4:00 am
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez angered Venezuelans again. This time, it was Chavez's young daughter, Rosines, who was responsible for the new scandal. The 14-year-old posted a picture of herself online holding a handful of U.S. dollars -- an event that caused immediate outrage. The reason, as explained by the Venezuelan media, is that along the years the Venezuelan government has severely cut down the trading of U.S dollars. "[Chavez] limited the annual amount of dollars Venezuelans can buy; those who need more foreign currency for business or for travel, must dig deep into their pockets to buy dollars at exorbitant prices in the country's black market," wrote the media outlet Merco Press. The Chavez family, however, is apparenty not suffering from these restrictions
Yerevan Wants Turkey Out of Karabakh Solution Process by AK Group • February 1, 2012 at 3:00 am
If Turkey wants to help, it should stay out of the process to solve the Karabakh issue, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan has said, in response to Turkish officials' remarks that France should drop its leadership of the Minsk Group, a panel that has been seeking a solution to the political and territorial dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia for the last two decades. "If Turkey is sincere in its desire to help the process, it should stay out of it," Nalbandyan was quoted as telling the Armenian media by the Anka news agency on Monday. Nalbandyan's words follow remarks from Turkey's senior officials, led by President Abdullah Gül and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, that France, after its Senate passed a bill that criminalizes denying the "Armenian genocide," has lost its impartiality on the matter and should drop its leadership of the Minsk process, led by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE.
Muslims Declare Jihad on Dogs in Europe by Soeren Kern • January 31, 2012 at 5:00 am
A Dutch Muslim politician has called for a ban on dogs in The Hague, the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Islamic legal tradition holds that dogs are "unclean" animals, and some say the call to ban them in Holland and elsewhere represents an attempted encroachment of Islamic Sharia law in Europe. This latest canine controversy -- which the Dutch public has greeted with a mix of amusement and outrage -- follows dozens of other Muslim-vs-dog-related incidents in Europe. Critics say it reflects the growing assertiveness of Muslims in Europe as they attempt to impose Islamic legal and religious norms on European society. The Dutch dustup erupted after Hasan Küçük, a Turkish-Dutch representative on The Hague city council for the Islam Democrats, vehemently opposed a proposal by the Party for the Animals (Partij voor de Dieren) to make the city more dog friendly.
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