EU-DIGEST

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"A European caliphate?
Would Islam really manage to convince us Europeans to give up alcohol and segregate the sexes?

o Robert Fowke

What would happen if Islam manages to convert Europe? An improbable turn of events but not completely inconceivable.

The problem is that religions adapt and mutate as they cross cultural boundaries. For instance, when Catholic missionaries converted the Aztecs to Christianity they were obliged to tolerate a cult of death involving sugared skulls deriving from worship of the goddess Mictecacihuatl; this despite Jesus never saying anything at all about sugared skulls. And the Christianity of Catholic Europe was itself far removed from early Middle-Eastern Christianity. The practice of modern American evangelicals is even further removed from the source. Cultures get hold of a new religion and twist it into a shape which suits. If Islam were ever to take hold in the densely populated countries of Europe it would undergo a similar process of adaptation. It may be instructive to consider what this process might entail."

Labels: EU, Islam

The Cordoba Great Mosque

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Europe's Muslim Legacy

In a fascinating book, God's Crucible: Islam and the making of Modern Day Europe, by David Levering Lewis one will quickly agree with the author that it took two ingredients to make Europeans believe in themselves as the center of civilization. One was the creation of the vast Holy Roman Empire by Charlemagne. The other was the development of the Muslim culture in what is now known as the region of Andalusia, Spain. The Arabs called it al-Andalus with the Great Mosque as the most striking physical example of this Muslim foothold in Europe. What probably was even more impressive, leaving a lasting mark on Europe were the Muslims intellectual and cultural achievements. Hundreds of mosques, thousands of palaces, scores of libraries were build in Córdoba alone. Towards the end of the ninth century, those libraries had acquired hundreds of thousands of manuscripts. Nothing else on the continent of Europe could compare. Just imagine the university of Córdoba was established more than one hundred years before the one in Bologna, Italy, considered today as the first European university.

Al-Andalus was already a truly regional cosmopolitan agglomeration of cities, when the rest of Europe was still a feuding environment of country estates and small towns. Towards the end of the millennium, Córdoba had a population of more than 90,000, many times the size of any town in the territories occupied by Charlemagne. Those Andalusian cities also became a great ethnic melting pot of Jews, Muslims, Christians, Arabs, Berbers, Germanic, Slavs, and countless other cultures. These eventually spread throughout the continent and transformed a barbaric Europe into a more enlightened and modern European society.

Maybe Europe's far right politicians, including Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, French "Front National" leader Jean-Marie le Pen and Belgian far-right politician Filip Dewinte should take the time to read God's Crucible: Islam and the making of Modern Day Europe, by David Levering Lewis. Who knows, they might realize al-Andalus showed Europe that what must empower man should always be compassion not hate.

Labels: Andalusia, Christianity, Cordoba, EU, Europe, Filip Fewinte, Geert Wilders, Islam, Jean-Marie le Pen, Spain

For the complete report from The Media Line click on this link

The Muslim World and the Global Financial Crisis - by Terry Lacey

By the time a new President is elected the United States will be a different country in a different world. There will be no going back and no return to business as usual. What began as the sub-prime housing market crash has become a generalized banking crash, leading to a world financial crisis, and then into a world economic recession. There is no avoiding the impact of this series of financial and economic downturns and the associated stock market crashes and wild currency fluctuations. However for the developing economies of Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, and even for Africa, these changes represent new opportunities as well as short-term problems. These events are symbolic of a changing global balance of power where the United States and Europe have to adjust to the rising economic power of Asia, the Middle East and the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China). This is a crisis of capitalism and even the greatest advocates of the free market are forced to face reality that when capitalism fails it has to be bailed out by the state. It is capitalist when it goes up and socialist when it comes down.

This does not mean, as suggested by the Indonesian Vice President Kalla, that sharia banking can suddenly present the comprehensive alternative to capitalism. The reality is that so far Islamic finance has been very integrated into global capitalist structures, with little emphasis on extending the more radical and unique profit and loss sharing concepts to poorer Muslims in poorer countries.

Labels: Global Economy, Islam, Sharia banking

For the complete report from EuropeNews click on this link

Netherlands: William of Orange, a practicing Muslim

A report about a Leiden historian who claims that William of Orange was a practicing Muslim (NL) has spread like wildfire on the (Dutch speaking) internet. According to the report historian 'Tjalling Wenselaar' claims that William of Orange should appear in the history books as Yusuf Ibrahim of Orange Nassau. William's conversion to Islam, occurring in the spring of 1582, was 'strategic'. "In return for his conversion to Islam and Islamisizing the Dutch provinces, the Moorish khalif Abdul Abu Uzrim promised William military aid in in fight against the Spanish," according to Wenselaar. Since William was killed shortly afterward and his son loved wine and pork too much, it did not bring about the Islamization of the Netherlands. The Oranges tried to erase all traces of the conversion of their ancestor.

Labels: EU, Islam, Netherlands

"The planet is our common home, Christians and non-Christians"  

"Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew: 'The planet is our common home, Christians and non-Christians'
Culture - 25-09-2008 - 18:26
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

Patriarch Bartholomew came to Parliament yesterday (24 September) with a message of peaceful and fruitful coexistence: between religion and politics, between Christians and Muslims. We are all 'children of the same God', he said. When we spoke to him after his speech, he emphasised that there is 'room for everyone' in Europe, including Turkey, with coexistence producing 'mutual enrichment'."

Labels: Christianity, Islam

Pointless Navigation

"The Europeans Are Going To Lose Europe

In 1683, during the siege of Vienna, Islam seemed poised to overrun Christian Europe. Today, it appears a new siege has begun, a form of “soft jihad”, subtle enough to seem to most politically correct multiculturalists, as harmless and in fact enriching for European culture. Concerning the article below. I don’t claim to understand the German mindset but Islam seems to appeal to the German mind because Islam is totalitarian in nature and because it promises to consummate the unfinished 'great patriotic deed' of the Holocaust. Many Germans generally seem to dislike America for the very same reasons they embrace Islam."

Labels: EU, Islam

Middle East Forum

"Which Has More Islamist Terrorism, Europe or America?

by Daniel Pipes
Jerusalem Post
July 3, 2008

'Since 9/11, there have been over 2,300 arrests connected to Islamist terrorism in Europe in contrast to about 60 in the United States.' Thus writes Marc Sageman in his influential new book, Leaderless Jihad: Terror Networks in the Twenty-First Century (University of Pennsylvania Press)."

Labels: EU, Islam, Terrorism, US

For the complete report from the Daniel Pipes report click on this link

Europe or Eurabia? - by Daniel Pipes

The future of Europe is in play. Will it turn into "Eurabia," a part of the Muslim world? "Will it remain the distinct cultural unit it has been over the last millennium? Or might there be some creative synthesis of the two civilizations? The answer has vast importance. Europe may constitute a mere 7 percent of the world's landmass but for five hundred years, 1450-1950, for good and ill, it was the global engine of change. How it develops in the future will affect all humanity, and especially daughter countries such as Australia which still retain close and important ties to the old continent. I foresee potentially one of three paths for Europe: Muslims dominating, Muslims rejected, or harmonious integration."

Labels: EU, Immigration, Islam

For the complete report from the New Statesman click on this link

What Islam did for Europe - by Jason Webster

Until very recently, suggestions that western civilisation owed much to Islam were rejected out of hand. "Europe", according to the orthodox model, was born out of a marriage of classical and Judaeo-Christian cultures. The missing element in this formula - the Islamic component - was ignored. During the first half of the 20th century a number of Arabists challenged this view, but their opinions made little popular headway. Today, however, thanks largely to the current friction between Islam and the west, new efforts are being made to understand and interpret the influence oriental culture has had, mostly via Spain, on its occidental cousin.

Labels: EU, Islam

Middle East Forum:

"Europe or Eurabia?

by Daniel Pipes
Australian
April 15, 2008

The future of Europe is in play. Will it turn into 'Eurabia,' a part of the Muslim world? Will it remain the distinct cultural unit it has been over the last millennium? Or might there be some creative synthesis of the two civilizations?

The answer has vast importance. Europe may constitute a mere 7 percent of the world's landmass but for five hundred years, 1450-1950, for good and ill, it was the global engine of change. How it develops in the future will affect all humanity, and especially daughter countries such as Australia which still retain close and important ties to the old continent."

Labels: EU, Islam

For the complete report from the csmonitor.com click on this link

When free speech offends Muslims

"Everybody favours free speech in the slack moments when no axes are being ground," 20th-century American journalist Heywood Broun once wrote. The real test of mettle is allowing free speech to thrive while axes aggressively grind. Just ask Canadian publisher Ezra Levant and author Mark Steyn.

"For a government bureaucrat to call any publisher or anyone else to an interrogation to be quizzed about his political or religious expression is a violation of 800 years of common law, a Universal Declaration of Rights, a Bill of Rights, and a Charter of Rights. This commission is applying Saudi values, not Canadian values."

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation recently did something it was too craven to do two years ago. During a news segment regarding the HRC, Canada's public broadcaster aired – briefly, fleetingly – the Danish cartoons. This is heartening. Much of the Canadian – and Western – left has seemed far too eager in recent years to buckle in the face of, and even sympathize with, Islamist extremism. Let's hope these cases bring about an understanding of what's at stake.

Labels: Canada, EU, Islam, Muslims

For the complete report from the The Guardian click on this link

Intimidation and censorship are no answer to this inflammatory film

Too many Dutch and international leaders have leapt to deplore Wilders' film without first excoriating those who threaten him with death. Particularly egregious is a statement by the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, which, in explicitly condemning the film (but not the death threats), actually says "the right of free expression is not at stake here". That's a truly idiotic claim. Mr Ban has no right to make it on our behalf.

The second question is whether Fitna should be banned by law, as the ambassadors of 26 Islamic countries have recently urged the Dutch government to do. Unlike the murder issue, I accept that this is a matter for legitimate debate in a democracy, but my answer remains an unequivocal "no". The film is inflammatory but not, I think, across the line to incitement - and so far, the Dutch justice ministry seems to agree. Wilders' own position here is ludicrously self-contradictory.

Labels: EU, Islam

For the complete report from the OttawachCitizen click on this link

The lost history of the Crusades - by Robert Sibley

Western guilt over, and apologies for, the Crusades ignores one crucial fact: The West actually lost.Like many postmodern westerners, the politician suffers from a peculiar psychic disturbance -- western-guilt syndrome -- that regards the history of the West as an unmitigated horror show of slaughter, conquest and imperialistic domination. The Crusades are cast as among the darkest of dark episodes in the history of European civilization. Too bad it's wrong. "The crusades are quite possibly the most misunderstood event n European history," says historian Thomas Madden. "The Crusades were in every way a defensive war. They were a direct response to Muslim aggression -- an attempt to turn back or defend against Muslim conquests of Christian lands." The West may now dominate the Islamic world, but that has only been the case since the late 18th century, when a young general, Napoleon Bonaparte, conquered Egypt and temporarily imposed French rule. This initial European penetration into one of the heartlands of Islam was "a terrible shock" to Muslims, says historian Bernard Lewis. Until then, they had thought of themselves as the victors in the Crusades.

Labels: Islam, The Crusades

Need to Know - PostGlobal: PostGlobal on washingtonpost.com

"Dialogue of the Deaf: Europe's Muslim 'Problem'

By Jørgen S. Nielsen

Copenhagen, Denmark - In Europe we are anxiously awaiting public reaction to the controversial public showing of a film attacking the Koran, produced by the Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders. This comes on top of trouble already brewing over the republication of the notorious Muhammad cartoons in several Danish newspapers. More than two years after the cartoons’ original publication, it seems we are back where we started, with protests simmering and sometimes descending into violence in various parts of the Muslim world."

Labels: EU, Islam, Muslims

For the complete report from the Guardian.co.uk click on this link

Christianity - Easter: Pope Baptizes Prominent Italian Muslim

Italy's most prominent Muslim, an iconoclastic writer who condemned Islamic extremism and defended Israel, converted to Catholicism Saturday in a baptism by the pope at a Vatican Easter service. An Egyptian-born, non-practicing Muslim who is married to a Catholic, Magdi Allam infuriated some Muslims with his books and columns in the newspaper Corriere della Sera newspaper, where he is a deputy editor. He titled one book ``Long Live Israel.''

As a choir sang, Pope Benedict XVI poured holy water over Allam's head and said a brief prayer in Latin.``We no longer stand alongside or in opposition to one another,'' Benedict said in a homily reflecting on the meaning of baptism. ``Thus faith is a force for peace and reconciliation in the world: distances between people are overcome, in the Lord we have become close.''

Labels: Christianity, EU, Islam

For the complete report from the Deutsche Welle click on this link

Bin Laden Threatens Europe Over Mohammed Cartoons

In a new message, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden warned Europe of a "reckoning" for publishing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. Intelligence officials said there was no indication when a possible attack might occur. Bin Laden's audio message, heard over a video image of him holding an AK-47 automatic rifle, coincided with the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War. It was posted on al Qaeda's Web site on Wednesday, March 19, which is also the day observed in the Muslim world as Mohammed's birthday. The militant leader said publishing the controversial caricatures of the Muslim prophet was a greater offense than the "bombing of modest villages that collapsed over our women and children," in a reference to the invasion of Iraq by US and European forces.

Note EU-Digest: Mr. Bin Laden who calls himself a Muslim would do himself and the world some good in reading what the Qur’an (القرآن ‎ al-qur'ān) says about violence. Any Muslim who accepts Mr. Bin Laden as the spokesperson for Islam is probably just as crazy and fanatical as he is. Mr. Bin Laden has got the blood of many innocent civilians, including large numbers of Muslims on his hands. Finding him (if he is still alive) and bringing him to justice is essential.

Labels: Bin Laden, Europe, Islam, Muslims

For the complete report from the Telegraph click on this link

Europe idle as US battles meltdown - by Ambrose Evans - Pritchard

It is the first time since the Great Depression that the US Fed has stepped in directly to absorb credit losses, crossing a line deemed unthinkable just months ago. The dramatic late-night move on Sunday required dredging up Article 13 (3) of the Federal Reserve Act, which allows the Fed to shower money on almost anybody it wishes by a vote of five governors in "unusual and exigent circumstances".Jean-Michel Six, chief Europe economist at Standard & Poor's, said the Europeans were in no mood to rescue America. "There is monetary war going on. The ECB view is that Fed is a victim of its own mistakes and should pay for its past crimes. Frankly, they don't see why they should be cutting rates when inflation (3.3pc) is accelerating," he said.

There are now echoes of October 1987 when the German Bundesbank (and therefore Europe) refused to ease monetary policy, even though the dollar was in freefall and Wall Street was fragile. The spat was the backdrop to the Black Monday crash.

Note EU-Digest: The ECB is on the right track, the problems of the US economy are of the US her own making. If the ECB cuts the interest rates in Europe, inflation would rise and Europe's economy would also spiral into disaster.

Labels: Britain, Christianity, Energy, EU, EU Economy, euro, France, Gas Supplies, Healthcare, Iraq war, Islam, Italy, Romance, Russia, Sarkozy, Sex Appeal, Turkey, US, US Economy

For the complete report from the Middle East Online click on this link

Living in a secret location with 24-hour bodyguards, Dutch far-right MP Geert Wilders faces even tougher security after his film on Islam prompted an increased terror alert even before its release. The 44-year-old politician with a striking mane of blonde hair thrives on the publicity he gets calling for an end to immigration from Muslim countries and for Turkey to be kept out of the European Union.Wilders started his political career in the rightwing liberal VVD party. He became a deputy in 1998 but left the VVD in September 2004 saying it was not rightwing enough. He created his own Freedom party before elections in 2006. The party's hardline position on immigration helped the Wilders' group win nine seats in the 150 member parliament.

Wilders is married to a Bulgarian whom he admits "sometimes does not agree with my ideas". He lists his hobbies on his website as reading and writing.

Labels: EU, Geert Wilders, Islam, The Netherlands

Stop Wilders

EU-Digest Report

The Netherlands: Stop Wilders Committee formed in the Netherlands by Dutch Citizens

Anyone who does not agree with the anti-Koran movie Fitna by Dutch right-wing parliamentarian Geert Wilders in the Netherlands can now indicate that by wearing an anti-Wilders T-Shirt reports the Dutch Telegraaf newspaper.

The organizers of this protest campaign are non-Muslims who have no sympathy for any type of extremism in the Dutch society and who feel that the road chosen by Wilders to express his personal feelings about Islam is not correct and will only lead to more violence. The organizers of the protest noted, "We want to provide an outlet for ordinary people who are upset about the Wilders movie. Wilders, because of his public privileged position is able to walk around as "an elephant in a China cabinet" on this issue, while the silent majority in the Netherlands, which does not agree with the airing of his movie, is forced, to stay silent.

For additional information about the campaign see also http://wwww.stopwilders.com The organizers of the campaign are planning to start handing out the anti-Wilders T-Shirts in all the major Dutch cities during the coming days.

Labels: Fitna, Geert Wilders, Islam, The Netherlands

Geert Wilders

For the complete report from Radio Netherlands click on this link

The Netherlands - Europe should explain Wilders to world - by Erik Hesen

Dutch MP Alexander Pechtold wants the Netherlands to form a common front with other European countries to explain to Muslims around the world why the anti-Qur'an film by right-wing MP Geert Wilders has not been banned. The leader of the democrat party D66 wants the Dutch government to do more to spell out what democracy and freedom of expression exactly stand for in Europe. The debate surrounding Mr Wilders' anti-Islam movie focuses too much on the Dutch context, according to Mr Pechtold. "The cabinet constantly warns Mr. Wilders about the film's consequences. We should address ourselves more to other countries. Here we are accustomed to democracy and freedom of expression but not everyone abroad is. Elsewhere fundamentalists seize on these sort of films to preach hatred against the West. We have to explain what our fundamental rights represent. Maybe the prime minister should explain the matter on Al Jazeera. Or Mr Ahmed Aboutaleb [the deputy minister for social affairs], who speaks Arabic. Maybe things won't be so bad, because we are dealing with them now. It's hard to say. It all depends on how foreign regimes will exploit the movie. Foreign regimes often have double agendas. Iran's authorities are using this incident to try and counter economic sanctions. The thing to do, therefore, is to reach people directly, bypassing governments, to explain what democracy entails. I really regard democracy as an export product. We shouldn't just pursue economic interests but also strive to make people aware of our democratic values." Mr Pechtold stresses, however, that it's Mr Wilders' own responsibility to decide whether or not to broadcast the film. The Public Prosecutor only can determine whether the film breaches any constitutional rights once it has been shown. Mr Wilders appears undeterred by all the commotion. He dismissed the prime minister's warnings accusing the cabinet of capitulating to Islam, something he vowed he will never do.

Note EU-Digest: Mr. Pechtold is right. Freedom of expression and tolerance is the issue, not what is being said. Blackmail is not acceptable.

Labels: EU, Geert Wilders, Islam, Musllim, Netherlands

For the complete report from The Brussels Journal click on this link

The First Muslim-Born Leader of the West - Europe preparing itself for Muslim takeover - by Thomas Landen

If I had been asked two months ago “Which Western country runs the greatest risk of electing a Muslim-born leader and how soon do you think this is going to happen?” I would have bet on the Netherlands somewhere in the next decade. Today, it looks as if the first Western country with a Muslim-born leader might very well be the United States next year, when President Barack Hussein Obama enters the Oval Office.

Two weeks ago, in an attempt to explain Europe’s enthusiasm for Mr. Obama, the left wing German weekly Der Spiegel pointed out that the Illinois senator is the most “European” of all the candidates in the U.S. presidential race. “Many in Europe would like nothing more than a ‘European’ America […] Obama personifies Europe’s hopes for a modern America: black, socially minded and gentle,” the German magazine wrote. As if Europe is black, socially minded and gentle… Last week, Algemeen Dagblad, a newspaper in the Netherlands, asked the 150 members of the Dutch House of Representatives how they would vote in the U.S. elections if they could. Mr. Obama got 58 votes, Mrs. Clinton 40, while a mere 23 Dutch parliamentarians – fewer than those who said they had no opinion – would vote Republican. America, sadly, does not even seem to have noticed that there is a problem. It called Mr. Romney to account for his Mormonism but has yet to ask Mr. Obama for his views on Islam.

Labels: EU, Islam, Obama

For the complete report from Egypt Today click on this link

Homosexuality is not a comfortable, much less a popular, topic among Muslims. Broach the subject in the Middle East, and you’re likely to hear a response like the one Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave US audiences last year: “In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals, like in your country.” At best, society adopts a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ approach – do what you will, just don’t advertise it. A controversial new documentary, A Jihad for Love, is shattering that taboo by interviewing homosexual Muslims, including an Egyptian gay man ‘outed’ by his arrest during the 2001 Queen Boat raid and an Egyptian lesbian still hiding her sexuality from society. Filmmaker Parvez Sharma had dual motivations: first, to challenge the mindset that Muslim and gay are mutually exclusive, and second, to challenge the Western world’s own Islamophobia.

Born and raised in India, 34-year-old Sharma is currently touring the world, screening his 81-minute documentary in Canada, South Africa and Europe. Released in September 2007, A Jihad for Love is his first venture and an emotional opus; it cost $2 million and took six years to complete, with filming in four continents, 12 countries and nine languages.Hendricks’ research included interpretation of the Qu’ran in a modern context and studies of inconsistencies in the hadith. He eventually came to the conclusion that consensual homosexual relationships were permissible in Islam. Hendricks now travels around the US giving workshops to Muslims about homosexuality in Islam and offering a critical look at hadith (sayings of Prophet Muhammad [PBUH]), from which most of the condemnations of homosexuality come.

Labels: Egypt, Gays, Islam

For the complete report from the SFGate click on this link

God's Crucible' examines how Islam shaped Europe (David Levering Lewis) by Lisa Montanarelli

In "God's Crucible," Levering Lewis explores Islam's seminal role in shaping Europe. From 711 to 1492, emerging Europeans shared a landmass with a far more sophisticated Islamic civilization. This Muslim world transmitted its own innovations and much of classical culture to Europe. Yet traditional "Western Civ" courses skip blithely from Rome to the Renaissance, barely footnoting Islam. "God's Crucible" opens with the Muslims' meteoric conquests. For the first six centuries of the Common Era, denizens of the Arabian Peninsula stood on the sidelines as imperial Rome and Iran exhausted themselves in "history's longest demolition derby," leaving a Fertile Crescent power vacuum. After Muhammad died in 632, the newly converted Muslims roared out of Arabia "motivated as much by the spoils of war as by religious zeal ... ancient greed soldered to a new ideology." They gave their adversaries a choice: convert to Islam, don't convert and pay a head tax, or fight. Upon hearing these terms, many potential foes sheathed their swords. Within 15 years of the Prophet's death, Muslims had vanquished Persia, whittled down Byzantium and built an empire whose size rivaled imperial Rome's at its height.

Labels: Islam, Religion

For the complete report from Radio Netherlands click on this link

Belgium ?Netherlands: Right-wing groups launch anti-Islamisation campaign - by Vanessa Mock

Far-right groups are calling for a ban on the building of new mosques as part of a new campaign to stop the spread of radical Islam in Europe. Belgium's far-right Vlaams Belang party teamed up with radical groups from Austria and Germany on Thursday to launch a Charter to 'fight the Islamisation of West-European cities'."We are not opposed to freedom of religion but we don't want Muslims to impose their way of life and traditions over here because much of it is not compatible with our way of life," Vlaams Belang's Filip Dewinter told Radio Netherlands Worldwide. "We can't accept head scarves in our schools, forced marriages and the ritual slaughter of animals." Aside from Austria's Freedom Party (FPö), there was a notable absence of other political heavyweights during the press conference in the Flemish city of Antwerp. A spokesman for Italy's Allianza Nazionale said he was unaware of the Charter, though his party too was looking at the issue of the new mosques. Dutch right-wing maverick politician Geert Wilders, who is currently producing a film about the danger of the Koran, also stayed away. But Mr Dewinter seems unruffled by the paltry political support: "This movement may be small today but I am convinced it will grow into something major." News of the Charter was greeted with dismay in Antwerp's Borgerhout, a multi-cultural neighbourhood counting over 90 nationalities. "It's pure provocation," shrugged Said El Fetri, a Moroccan shopkeeper. "I have Belgians, East Europeans, Jews and Muslims coming in and out of my shop, there are no problems with integration here." Standing next to his counter of Halal meat, he added: "I am a Muslim but that doesn't mean that I don't live by the rules of this country." However, another local shopkeeper, Mohammed, was gloomier: "I've lived here for almost 40 years. Me and my children are perfectly integrated but these kinds of campaigns worry me. In ten years' time, it won't be possible for us to live side by side like this anymore."

Note EU-Digest: Even though these kinds of provocative expressions and declarations by populist right wing groups, represented by Wilders, Dewinter and other like minded politicians are deplorable, they are acceptable within Europe's laws related to the freedom of expression. A possible way to combat these right wing movements is initially to call for massive peaceful demonstrations, in every major city of Europe. to support integration and multiculturalism . This, in addition to starting a well coordinated long term campaign of dialog on these issues at schools, universities, religious centers, in the press, and on TV and Radio. Best of all, the voters should make sure that these right-wing politicians are kept from winning in elections, by voting against them. Europe, on the other hand, should not allow any Grand Mufti to threaten Europeans about the risks involved if they allow people like Wilders or DeWinter to use or abuse the European Citizen's right of free speech. In that case we must remind these Muftis that in Europe we have a democratic society, where free speech and womens rights are paramount parts of the system and cover every citizen, including European Muslims.

Labels: Belgium, DeWinter, EU, Extreme Right, Free Speech, Geert Wilders, Islam

For the complete report from the New York Times click on this link

Germany - Gay Muslims Pack a Dance Floor of Their Own - by NICHOLAS KULISH

Six men whirled faster and faster in the center of the nightclub, arms slung over one another’s shoulders, performing a traditional circle dance popular in Turkey and the Middle East. Nothing unusual given the German capital’s large Muslim population.But most of the people filling the dance floor on Saturday at the club SO36 in the Kreuzberg neighborhood were gay, lesbian or bisexual, and of Turkish or Arab background. They were there for the monthly club night known as Gayhane, an all-too-rare opportunity to merge their immigrant cultures and their sexual identities. European Muslims, so often portrayed one-dimensionally as rioters, honor killers or terrorists, live diverse lives, most of them trying to get by and to have a good time. That is more difficult if one is both Muslim and gay. “When you’re here, it’s as if you’re putting on a mask, leaving the everyday outside and just having fun,” said a 22-year-old Turkish man who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear that he would be ostracized or worse if his family found out about his sexual orientation.

One of the regular D.J.’s, Ipek Ipekcioglu, 35, said she got her start rather suddenly, when one of the founders of SO36 walked up to her and said: “You’re Turkish, right? You’re lesbian, right? Bring your cassettes and D.J.” Ms. Ipekcioglu spins everything from Turkish and Arabic music, to Greek, Balkan and Indian, a style she calls Eklektik BerlinIstan. She has been a full-time professional D.J. for six years and performs all over the world.

Labels: EU, Gay Community, Germany, Islam, Muslims

For the complete report from Insight click on this linkMr. Obama raised as a Muslim by his stepfather in Indonesia

In two best-selling autobiographies—"The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" and "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance"—Mr. Obama, born in Honolulu where his parents met, mentions but does not expand on his Muslim background, alluding only to his attendance at a "predominantly Muslim school." His father was black and came from Kenya. Mr. Obama’s mother, the daughter of a farmer, came from Wichita, Kansas. Mr. Obama's parents divorced when he was two years old. His father returned to Kenya. Later, Mr. Obama's mother married an Indonesian student and the family moved to Jakarta. Mr. Obama returned to Hawaii when he was 10 to live with his maternal grandparents. The sources said the background check concerned Mr. Obama's years in Jakarta. In Indonesia, the young Obama was enrolled in a Madrassa and was raised and educated as a Muslim. Although Indonesia is regarded as a moderate Muslim state, the U.S. intelligence community has determined that today most of these schools are financed by the Saudi Arabian government and they teach a Wahhabi doctrine that denies the rights of non-Muslims.The young Obama was given the name Hussein by his Muslim father, which the Illinois Democrat rarely uses in public.

On the role of government in economic affairs, Obama has written: "We should be asking ourselves what mix of policies will lead to a dynamic free market and widespread economic security, entrepreneurial innovation and upward mobility. We should be guided by what works." Speaking before the National Press Club in April 2005, he defended the New Deal social welfare policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt, associating Republican proposals to establish private accounts for Social Security with social Darwinism.In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Obama spoke out against government indifference to growing economic class divisions, calling on both political parties to take action to restore the social safety net for the poor.mShortly before announcing his presidential campaign, Obama told the health care advocacy group Families USA: "I am absolutely determined that by the end of the first term of the next president, we should have universal health care in this country." Note EU-Digest: The fact that Mr. Obama has had a foreign education and knowledge of Islam can only be helpful to America in case he would be elected President.

Labels: Elections, Islam, Obama, US

For the complete report and to review related links from The Huffington Post on the wearing of headscarfs click on this link

Islamic Like Me: When The Veil Is A Threat - Danielle Crittenden

My series about my adventures in a Saudi burka generated a lot of fascinating comments by Huffposters. Yesterday I replied to those who insisted that our Western culture was more sexually oppressive than the burka. Today I'll deal with the frequently-made-observation by readers: If a woman wants to wear a burka in a democratic society, what's it to us?" Go to the link to the Huffingtom Post at the beginning of this EU-Digest report to read all four parts of Danielle Crittenden series and the subsequent debates. Also to see a video of her experience, which appeared in Canada's National Post.

Labels: Burka, Islam, Religion

For the complete report from the Washington Post/The Boston Globe click on this link

In a Europe torn over mosques, French city offers accommodation - by Molly Moore

CRETEIL,France - On a recent Friday, 200 Muslim worshipers crowded into a former carpentry workshop in Creteil for noon prayers. The men knelt on red carpets in a first-floor hall, the women squeezed into the tiny administrative office upstairs.But next June, Creteil Muslims are scheduled to move into a new, $7.4 million mosque with room for more than 2,500 worshipers. The nearly finished building, with its 81-foot minaret, stands on a knoll overlooking the town's picturesque lake, within sight of City Hall and the local police station. The mosque will make Creteil something of an exception in Europe. From London to Cologne to Marseille, governments and residents are fighting the rise of minarets on their skylines in campaigns that underscore cultural, religious, and ethnic divides within a continent undergoing its most dramatic demographic change in half a century. Islam is now Europe's second-largest religion after Christianity, and its fastest-growing. But Creteil's city government is helping Muslims build and finance what will be one of France's largest new mosques.

Labels: EU, Islam, Religion

For the complete report from the Tehran Times click on this link Tehran hosts Int’l Conference on Islamic Finance

Sharif University of Technology, west of Tehran, played host to the International Conference on Islamic Finance Proceeding Monday. Attended by a host of domestic and foreign officials and experts, the get-together aimed to explore avenues to use huge financial resources of Muslim states, to introduce policies on Islamic finance, to hold training courses for managers, and to share achievements and experiences of industrial organizations.Seyyed Hamid Purmohammadi, deputy minister of economic affairs and finance for banking and insurance affairs, for his part, said Iran was the first country that passed riba-free (usury-free) banking law in 1983 and established Islamic banking system.

Today and tomorrow he conference will be followed by two workshops entitled “Hedging in Islamic Finance” and “Sukuk: Principles, Structure & Performance”.

Labels: Banking, Economics, Iran, Islam

For the complete report from Expatica click on this link

Ex-Muslims gather in The Hague on 9/11

The heads of several European committees for former Muslims are due to sign a 'European Declaration of Tolerance ' in The Hague on September 11. With the declaration, the ex-Muslim committees of Britain, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden want to draw attention to what they say is "the lack of freedom of religion within Islamic culture." In its press release on Thursday, the Dutch committee of ex- Muslims said September 11 - the anniversary of the terror attacks on the United States - was chosen symbolically to condemn terror and the intolerance of political Islam.

Labels: EU, Ex-Muslims, Islam

For the complete report from the Radio Netherlands Worldwide click on this link

'Dutch left must be more articulate in Islam debate' - by Michel Hoebink

Dutch Parliamentarian Geert Wilders and other right-wing Islam critics in the Netherlands imply that 'pure' Islam contradicts democracy and human rights. A moderate or liberal Islam, does not exist in their view. The PvdA, the party with the largest Muslim following in the country, failed for a long time to counter this right-wing rhetoric with its own articulate view. It aligns itself with the liberal Islam that according to its right-wing opponents does not exist. The model for this new approach is the Malaysian Muslim thinker Farish Noor, who flew in last weekend from Berlin to talk to prominent Labour party members such as Integration Minister Ella Vogelaar and Secretary of State Ahmed Aboutaleb of Social Affairs. Farish Noor believes that the moral principles of the Koran are valid for eternity, but that verses such as those calling for the discrimination of women and corporal punishment are no longer valid and have to be understood in their historical context. Noor is shocked by the state in which he finds the Netherlands.

"Right-wing politicians and Islam critics imply that Muslims have to choose between fundamentalist Islam on the one hand and democracy and human rights on the other. Progressive Muslims like myself offer an alternative: We try to show Muslims and the rest of the world that you can be a Muslim and a democrat at the same time. By supporting us the Labour party can break down the right-wing monopoly in the Islam debate and create space for young Muslims to participate in modern life while maintaining their Muslim identity. Are you Muslim and gay? Then the Labour party should support your right to be both at the same time.

"This does not mean that the party should turn its back on traditional Muslims. The party should protect the right of traditional Muslims to be themselves as long as they abide by the ground rules of secular democracy. Religious schools are not a problem but we cannot tolerate imams who tell their audience to beat up gays. Hate speech should be the limit."

Labels: EU, Islam, The Netherlands

For the complete report from ZNet click on this link

Secularism and Islam: the Turkish experience

Most Turks - including, apparently, many of those who vote for the AKP - are proud of their country’s secular tradition. Earlier this year, when Gul’s presidential candidacy was initially proposed by the AKP, large numbers of them were led to believe that this tradition was somehow under threat. Their suspicions were not entirely unfounded. For instance, a dozen years ago Gul had talked about wishing “to end secularism” - although, not long afterwards, he had also spoken of wanting to see the “Islamic headscarf and the miniskirt walking hand in hand”.

However, it wasn’t so much his utterances that his opponents picked on: they appeared to be piqued by the fact that his wife, Hayrunisa, sports such a headscarf. As do millions of other Turkish women. And, of course, there are large numbers who don’t. Anyhow, back in May there were massive anti-Gul demonstrations in Ankara and Istanbul. In Turkey the president is elected by parliament, and an opposition boycott led the Constitutional Court to annul Gul’s election, because it deemed the assembly inquorate. The decision was handed down after the military made it clear where it stood via a message posted on its website. With only a little bit of exaggeration, it has been described as the world’s first internet coup.

Labels: EU, Islam, Secularism, Turkey

For the complete report by the American Thinker click on this link

Europe's de-Christianization : Who Is Allah? - by Soeren Kern

Europeans love to mock the salience of religion in American society, but they won't be laughing for very long. The de-Christianization of Europe in the name of "tolerance" is rapidly driving the spiritually shiftless continent into the arms of Islam. And now, amidst the postmodern theological confusion that defines contemporary Europe, even Catholic clergy are jumping on the Islamomania bandwagon.

Indeed, just because Christianity, Judaism and Islam are called "monotheistic" faiths, it does not follow that Christians, Jews and Muslims pray to the same God. So for those pre-postmoderns who believe that words still mean something, a quick survey of archaeology, history and theology-accompanied by a dose of common sense-can answer the question of whether the Allah of Islam is really the God of the Bible.

The irony is that the real danger from Islam stems not so much from ordinary Muslims as it does from sickly Europeans who have subverted their Judeo-Christian heritage in search of secular hedonism. Because they live only for the moment, they are willing submit to anything, including Islam, as long as it doesn't interfere with the pursuit of pleasure today. It has been more than 50 years since the late Christian apologist C.S. Lewis first warned about Western Civilization's disastrous lurch into post-Christianity. But even he would be surprised to see how quickly Islam is filling the religious and cultural vacuum that is post-Christian Europe. It's not that Europeans haven't been forewarned. It's that they couldn't care less.

Labels: Christianity, EU, Islam

For the complete report from islam-watch.com click on this link

"Why I Left Islam" by Ali Sina

"I am often asked, Why I left Islam? As absurd as it may be, some Muslims cannot even allow themselves to think that leaving Islam is an option, or even possible. They rather think that those who leave Islam are paid Jewish agents than accept the fact that people have freedom to think and some may even think that Islam is not for them. The following are my reasons: Until few years ago I used to think that my faith in Islam was not based on blind imitation but rather was the result of years of investigation and research. The fact that I had read a lot of books on Islam, written by people whose thoughts I approved of and delving into philosophies that were within my comfort zone, emphasized my conviction that I had found the truth. All my biased research confirmed my faith. Just like other Muslims I used to believe that to learn about anything one has to go to the source. Of course the source of Islam is the Quran and the books written by Muslim scholars. Therefore, I felt no need to look elsewhere in order to find the truth, as I was convinced that I have already found it. As Muslims say "Talabe ilm ba'd az wossule ma'loom mazmoom". The search of knowledge after gaining it is unnecessary.

Now I realize this was a mistake. What if we want to learn the truth about one of these dangerous cults? Is it enough to depend only on what the cult leader and his deluded followers say? Wouldn't it be prudent to widen our research and find out what other people have to say about them? Going to the source makes sense only in scientific matters, because scientists are not "believers". They do not say something because they have blind faith. Scientists make a critical analysis of the evidence. It is very much different from religious approach that is based entirely on faith and belief."

Labels: EU, Islam

For the complete report from the Deutsche Welle click on this link

Abdullah Gül: The Man Who Would be Turkey's President

"The constitution will be my guide," Gül said during the announcement of his second bid to become Turkey's new president last week. "The Republic of Turkey is a democratic, secular and social state based on the rule of law. My primary objective will be to protect and further strengthen these principles…"

In the first round of voting, Gül received 341 votes from the 550-seat house, 26 short of the two-thirds majority of 367 needed in the first round. The second round of voting is scheduled for Friday.

Labels: Elections, EU, Islam, Turkey