Agreement alarms secular elite, which fears Islamist rule
Der Spiegel Jan 25, 08 4:54 PM CST
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Turkey is expected to do away with a 2-decade-old ban on women wearing head scarves at the nation’s universities as early as next week. The prospect alarms the country’s secular elite, who see the country on a slippery slope to Islamist rule, Der Spiegel reports. “The logic is one of fear,” explains the director of a Turkish think tank.
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Right-wing pol vows to air anti-Muslim film
Guardian (UK) Jan 21, 08 5:02 AM CST
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The Dutch government expects violent protests in response to an anti-Muslim film—said to include images of the Koran being shredded—that a right-wing lawmaker has vowed to make public this month. Geert Wilders, one of nine members of an extremist party in the Dutch lower house, aims to expose the Koran as a “source of inspiration for intolerance, murder and terror,” the Guardian reports.
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'Historic' spring summit seeks to mend rift after 2006 controversy
Associated Press Jan 2, 08 11:59 AM CST
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Catholic and Muslim leaders plan a "historic" meeting at the Vatican this spring, reports the AP, a year and a half after Pope Benedict's controversial comments about the Prophet Muhammad. Benedict proposed the meeting in response to an open letter from 138 Muslim scholars that urged interfaith dialogue based on common belief in a single god.
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Dutch fireworks-safety ads draws outrage
Guardian (UK) Dec 24, 07 12:28 PM CST
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Dutch fireworks-safety ads spoofing Islamic terrorists have drawn criticism for their light take on suicide bombings and portrayal of negative Muslim stereotypes, the Guardian reports. The group depicted in the government-sponsored ads—LAAF, or the “Liberation Army Against Freedom”—is seen getting fireworks delivered as illicit arms, holing up in a cave, and practicing improper firework safety in their efforts to show "our true power.”
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Wireless routers set up at 70 holy sites for ancient Islamic ritual
Wi-Fi Planet Dec 22, 07 3:06 PM CST
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Muslim pilgrims had free access to Wi-Fi for the first time during the Hajj, which ended yesterday in Saudi Arabia. The short-term service, provided by two telecom firms, had 70 access points around holy sites and took only two months to assemble. Pilgrims say that online access helped them seek guidance without tracking down busy muftis, or legal experts, for information on Hajj rites, Wi-Fi Planet reports.
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Militants aiming to disrupt Muslim ritual nabbed
Al Arabiya Dec 22, 07 6:27 AM CST
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As millions of Muslims completed the annual Hajj pilgrimage yesterday, Saudi police said they'd arrested a group that had been planning attacks, Al Arabiya reports. An official said the al-Qaeda suspects, detained at cities across the country, had been intent on disrupting the ritual and causing "security confusion." Mecca itself was not believed to have been the terror plot's target.
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Fear of regime change drives new policing of women's dress, media
Christian Science Monitor Dec 20, 07 1:09 PM CST
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Iran is engaged in its most serious crackdown on "un-Islamic" behavior in years, the Christian Science Monitor reports, with masked police rounding up and humiliating everyone from drug dealers to immodestly dressed women. But the impulse for the crackdown isn't Islamic conservatism, the paper concludes; it's a fear of American-sponsored regime change.
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OPINION
Snarky summary has implications prez should take seriously
Los Angeles Times Dec 17, 07 2:46 PM CST
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President Bush recently scorned a reporter’s “Psychology 101,” but one mind-minded professor says he could benefit from a few lessons. Bush should start by trying “pattern matching,” Jonathan Haidt writes in the LA Times , with no little humor: If he’d stop equating Islam with fascism and instead think of terrorists as plain old criminals, it might improve his foreign policy scorecard.
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Gibbons doesn't regret going to Sudan, blames herself for ordeal
Guardian (UK) Dec 9, 07 10:34 AM CST
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"I had no idea at all that I'd done something wrong," Gillian Gibbons tells the Guardian in an interview about her incarceration in Sudan for letting her class name a teddy bear Mohammed. But the teacher's ordeal hasn't soured her on Khartoum, which she calls a "wonderful place," and neither is Gibbons trying to bandy blame.
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Brit lords mediated; she'll be free today
BBC Dec 3, 07 2:42 AM CST
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A teacher who was sentenced to 15 days in jail in Sudan for allowing a classroom teddy bear to be named Muhammad has won a full pardon and will be freed today, the BBC reports. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir granted the pardon to Gillian Gibbons, 54, after meeting with two British Muslim lords who traveled to Sudan to plead her case.
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British Muslim lawmakers optimistic as they arrive in Sudan
BBC Dec 1, 07 10:27 AM CST
(Newser)
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British Muslim lawmakers came to Sudan today to push for the early release of the teacher whose class set off a national furor by naming a teddy bear Muhammad, the BBC reports. The move raised hopes that Sudan leaders can free her to a Muslim delegation without angering protesters calling for her death. "We have it from the top that Sudanese authorities will cooperate in relation to her release," said one of the Brits.
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Teddy bear case turns uglier as thousands protest in Khartoum
Times (UK) Nov 30, 07 11:24 AM CST
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An armed mob thousands strong protested in front of the presidential palace in Khartoum today, demanding the execution of the British teacher who allowed her students to name a teddy bear "Mohammed." Meanwhile, Britain's first Muslim MP is flying to Sudan to push for the teacher's early release, the London Times reports.
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Officials will 'confront' musicians
BBC Nov 30, 07 5:21 AM CST
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In its latest bid to protect traditional Islamic morality from encroaching Western influences, Iran announced it will crack down on rap music it considers "obscene." Rap music in Farsi focusing on social, political and sexual themes is growing increasingly popular on the black market. An official recently condemned rappers for using vulgar words. It's not clear if all rap is being targeted or only particular songs or musicians.
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Mayor rips 'counterproductive' police plan
Los Angeles Times Nov 15, 07 6:22 AM CST
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Following a frenzy of controversy, the Los Angeles police department is scrapping its much-criticized plan to "map" Muslim communities. The department had hoped to pinpoint isolated Muslim communities in an attempt to identify problem hot spots. Critics said the plan was a form of religious profiling, and that it would be virtually impossible because the census does not collect religious information.
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