Now even Donald Luskin is sounding apocalyptic.
Normally he’s a cheerful, optimistic sort of fellow when it comes to capitalism and the American economy. But after watching the new administration’s ineffectual and damaging responses to the economic crisis, Mr. Luskin offers the opinion that this will be worse than the Great Depression.
Crankdom is certainly spreading — it’s not nearly so lonely an occupation as it was five or six months ago.
It’s now generally acknowledged that we are facing a financial catastrophe. The only question is: how bad will it get?
In any case, we are about to witness the end of one era and the beginning of a new one. What will the dislocation be comparable to?
- The American Civil War?
- The English Civil War?
- The Russian Revolution?
- The French Revolution?
- The fall of Byzantium?
- The fall of the Roman Empire?
- The fall of Babylon?
Stick around. We’ll soon learn the answer.
Thanks to Abu Elvis, C. Cantoni, Insubria, JD, KGS, Steen, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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Balkans: Economic Growth Not Before 2011, Vienna Experts
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, MARCH 5 — Due to transition process, Southeast European countries are especially subjected to consequences from international economic and financial crisis, Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies experts assessed in Chamber of Commerce in Austria, reports weekly Ekonomist. Global financial crisis will result in decrease of activities of economies in Southeast Europe during this year, stagnation in 2010 and economic growth not before 2011, they assessed. The expert for the Balkans Vladimir Gligorov expects numerous rebalances of the budgets in the Balkan countries due to difficult influx of tax funds, whereat reduction could be between 10 to 15%. “Based on the data in the first two months in 2009 it can be said that the crisis deepens compared to first quarter of last year”, Gligorov said, pointing out as an example the January decrease of industrial production in Serbia by 17%. Gligorov said that import decreases faster than export, implying that import is reduced by 40% in Croatia and Serbia. He assessed that International Monetary Fund will be stronger engaged in the Balkan region, adding that the Serbian government already announced to request USd 2 billion loan from IMF, and it expects financial aid from the EU, WB and international institutions. Scientific Director of Vienna Institute Michael Landesman said that the negative balance in Southeast Europe is a result of the fact that in the past in these countries “import exploded” which was mainly financed by credits and revenues from money transfers of the diaspora and foreign direct investments. Institute data show that Croatia (5.4 from GDP) and Albania (53.5% from GDP) had the biggest state debt by the end of 2008. Landesman said that countries that have fixed rates of their national currencies as Baltic states could fight against crisis by import reduction. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Even Worse Than the Great Depression
by Donald Luskin
Over the last couple years I loved to ridicule all the scaremongers who always said this, that or the other thing is “the worst since the Great Depression.” I stand by my ridicule, for the most part — those prophets of doom were mostly broken clocks who look right now just by sheer luck. But there’s no question now that things have gotten quite bad in the economy and the markets.
So let me do the preachers of Armageddon one better. Today’s stock market isn’t just the “worst since the Great Depression,” like they’re so fond of saying. No, it’s even worse than the Great Depression.
Take a look at the chart, below…
| [Return to headlines] |
Habitat for Humanity Homes Built by Hollywood Start to Crumble
RESIDENTS of a model housing estate bankrolled by Hollywood celebrities and hand-built by Jimmy Carter, the former US president, are complaining that it is falling apart.
Fairway Oaks was built on northern Florida wasteland by 10,000 volunteers, including Carter, in a record 17-day “blitz” organised by the charity Habitat for Humanity.
Eight years later it is better known for cockroaches, mildew and mysterious skin rashes.
A forthcoming legal battle over Fairway Oaks threatens the reputation of a charity envied for the calibre of its celebrity supporters, who range from Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt to Colin Firth, Christian Bale and Helena Bonham Carter.
The case could challenge the bedrock philosophy behind Habitat for Humanity, claiming that using volunteers, rather than professional builders, is causing as many problems as it solves.
April Charney, a lawyer representing many of the 85 homeowners in Fairway Oaks, said she had no problems taking on Habitat for Humanity, despite its status as a “darling of liberal social activists”. She said the charity should have told people that part of the estate had been built on a rubbish dump.
One man pulled up his floorboards to find rubbish 5ft deep under his kitchen. Other complaints include cracking walls and rotting door frames that let in rats and ants. Many residents have complained of mildew and mysterious skin rashes.
One resident said her children were suffering from skin complaints. “The intentions are good, but when the politicians and big-shot stars have left we’re stuck with the consequences. This house looks pretty but inside it either stinks or sweats,” she said.
Judy Hall, the charity’s local development director, said recently that it had been dealing with about 30 complaints. She added that skilled work was carried out by professionals.
Some residents dismiss their neighbours’ worries. Diennal Fields, 51, said people did not know how to look after their homes: “It’s simple stuff: if there is mildew, don’t get a lawyer, get a bottle of bleach.”
| — Hat tip: Abu Elvis | [Return to headlines] |
Habitat for Humanity Homes Faulted in Florida
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When Habitat for Humanity built the Fairway Oaks development here seven years ago, Mary Zeigler thought, “This is a blessing.” In just 17 days, an army of 10,000 volunteers, including former President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter, built 85 low-cost houses, one of the nonprofit group’s biggest “blitz build” projects.
“I could have something to call mine,” recalled Ms. Zeigler, now 63, sitting in the coolness of her house’s central air conditioning. In a lifetime of work, she had never been able to afford her own home.
Seven years later, Ms. Zeigler is one of more than 50 Fairway Oaks homeowners who have problems with their houses and say they fear that the blitz construction was shoddy and that their land, adjacent to two former town dumps, is unstable or contaminated.
“My pride is gone,” Ms. Zeigler said, pointing to cracks in her house’s ceiling and its concrete slab foundation. “I’ve got a 25-year mortgage, and I’ve got stuff that needs to be addressed or I’m just paying my mortgage in vain, because I won’t have a house in 25 years because it will be falling apart.”
The Fairway Oaks owners took their complaints to Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, and of 56 who answered a survey for Legal Aid, 41 reported cracked concrete slabs, 22 had cracked walls and 48 said their houses were infested with insects or rodents, presumably because of the cracks. Others reported mold or mildew, nails popping out of plasterboard and other problems. The Habitat for Humanity local affiliate, HabiJax, maintains that the land at Fairway Oaks is stable and that most problems there are housekeeping issues, not structural. City inspectors this month examined six houses and found no violations. But in a vulnerable population, the perceptions have a life of their own. A project built with sweat equity and good will has had unintended consequences, and costs.
Jacksonville, in the northeast corner of the state, is a struggling former paper-mill town with one of the nation’s highest rates of home foreclosures. Rumors about contamination at the Fairway Oaks property began long before HabiJax got involved.
In the early 1990s the land held a blighted public housing complex, built on land that had been used, in isolated pockets, as a dump. After complaints by residents, the Environmental Protection Agency tested the soil for contamination. The E.P.A. concluded that the land was safe but noted that two buildings had been demolished because of soil settling, possibly caused by debris decomposing under the soil. A later soil test found elevated levels of arsenic, but the Florida Department of Health determined there was no significant health risk.
Ronnie A. Ferguson, president of the Jacksonville Housing Authority, said the two buildings had been damaged by water runoff, not because of soil instability associated with buried debris.
As the complex deteriorated, the housing authority offered the land to HabiJax for one dollar. For HabiJax, the land fit their mission, said Mary Kay O’Rourke, the HabiJax president. The project would remove a public blight and replace tax-subsidized housing with homes for people who could not otherwise afford them.
The first residents, mostly single women who had never owned homes, bought in for $500 down, 300 hours of sweat equity, and no-interest mortgages of around $45,000 to $61,000. Monthly payments, including insurance, are generally less than $300. HabiJax ran bus tours to show off the new community.
But when homeowners started having problems, several of them said the organization was aloof and unresponsive…
| — Hat tip: Abu Elvis | [Return to headlines] |
Habitat for Humanity: Roiled by Harassment Claims
As Founder’s Supporters Rally, New Allegations Emerge
AMERICUS, Ga. — Since Habitat for Humanity fired its founder and president, Millard Fuller, for sexual harassment six weeks ago, his supporters throughout the giant nonprofit housing organization have campaigned to reinstate him.
Calling the accusation unsubstantiated and the punishment excessive, Fuller’s allies have created a Web site and an online petition signed by more than 3,600 donors and volunteers who work in many of Habitat for Humanity’s 2,300 independent affiliates around the world. They have conducted weekly prayer vigils in Americus, organized symbolic work stoppages at Habitat construction sites and urged major contributors to withhold gifts.
Yesterday, Habitat’s international board of directors unanimously reaffirmed Fuller’s dismissal at the beginning of a three-day meeting in Cape Town, South Africa. Despite that vote, supporters said they will continue to push for Fuller’s rehiring.
But the outpouring of sympathy for Fuller, 70, has also had a reverse effect. After years of silence, several former employees and close associates of Fuller — including three ordained ministers — have come forward to say they have inside knowledge of numerous prior allegations of sexual misconduct and workplace harassment by him, beginning before he founded Habitat for Humanity here in 1976.
The seven-member executive committee of Habitat for Humanity’s board of directors removed Fuller as president on Jan. 31 after an accusation that he inappropriately touched and made suggestive comments to a female employee during a ride to the Atlanta airport in 2003. The committee also fired his wife, Linda Fuller, who had helped him run the organization for 29 years.
The question posed by Fuller’s defenders is how an organization that describes itself as a Christian ministry could dishonor a man who gave away a personal fortune and built a movement to help low-income families buy decent homes.
The question posed by his accusers is how an organization devoted to the dignity of all people could, for many years, hush up allegations that its leader was demeaning women on his staff.
The controversy threatens not only to sully the reputation of one of the nation’s most prominent charities but also to embroil its most famous volunteer, former president Jimmy Carter, who lives nine miles west of here in Plains, Ga.
Carter declined through a spokeswoman to comment on the allegations. But according to the Fullers and Habitat board members, the former president tried twice in the past year to broker an agreement to keep the latest accusation quiet and allow Fuller to retire honorably with his $79,000 annual salary for life.
Carter also rose to Fuller’s defense on the only previous occasion when sexual harassment charges against him became public. In 1990-91, five women who were current or former employees of Habitat told the board of directors that he had subjected them to unwanted sexual advances — including kissing them on the mouth and touching their buttocks — as well as vindictive behavior when he was rebuffed.
Board members said they came close to firing Fuller. But they said that after Carter warned in a confidential letter that a “national scandal” could ensue, the directors allowed Fuller to work for a year from an outside office and then restored his duties as chief executive…
| — Hat tip: Abu Elvis | [Return to headlines] |
How the US Forgot How to Make Trident Missiles
PLANS TO refurbish Trident nuclear weapons had to be put on hold because US scientists forgot how to manufacture a component of the warhead, a US congressional investigation has revealed.
The US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) “lost knowledge” of how to make a mysterious but very hazardous material codenamed Fogbank. As a result, the warhead refurbishment programme was put back by at least a year, and racked up an extra $69 million.
According to some critics, the delay could cause major problems for the UK Trident programme, which is very closely tied to the US programme and uses much of the same technology. The US and the UK are trying to refurbish the ageing W76 warheads that tip Trident missiles in order to prolong their life, and ensure they are safe and reliable. This apparently requires that the Fogbank in the warheads is replaced.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Local Organizations Say Feminist Group’s Statement is Damaging
Groups including the Network of Religious Communities, Western New York Peace Center and the Erie County Coalition Against Family Violence say a statement by the New York president of the National Organization For Women is damaging to women and to Muslims.
“To associate something that’s going to happen to 1,300 women this year in this country with one religion not only does a disservice to her faith, but it also does a disservice to women who suffer abuse at the hands of men of many faiths and no faith,” Mihou says. The Network of Religious Communities is calling upon people to focus attention on domestic violence, rather than Islam.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Thoughts of Storm Troopers Filling Spy Case
Legal scholars, the blogopshere and the twitterati have been scratching their heads for a week following the Obama administration’s assertion that it might “withdraw” (.pdf) classified documents at the center of a closely watched spy case.
Some are wondering whether the feds will use storm-trooper-like tactics to physically remove the data from the case. Others suggest the Obama administration’s threats portend a constitutional showdown between the judicial and executive branches.
[…]
The classified data the administration is threatening to withdraw from the spy case shows that the U.S. government eavesdropped without warrants on the 2004 telephone conversations of two lawyers for a now defunct Saudi charity called the al-Haramain Islamic Foundation that the United States had designated as a terror group.
Without the classified documents, the aggrieved lawyers cannot establish a legal basis to earn them a day in court.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Vaccine Maker’s Snafu Sparks Pandemic Scare
Officials say release of live virus should not be allowed to happen
An Illinois-based vaccine manufacturer is being investigated after an experiment gone very wrong led scientists to discover the company had released a contaminated product feared capable of starting a world-wide avian flu pandemic.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Baby Vika’s Parents Acquitted — Acted Out of Necessity
Family hid Belarussian girl for 20 days
GENOA — It took the single judge sitting in Genoa in this first stage of the legal process only about 20 minutes to close the case of Vika, the allegedly abducted Belarussian girl, and acquit the Cogoleto family, which fostered her for the summer holidays.
Charges of abducting a minor were dropped against stand-in parents Chiara and Alessandro Giusto, grandfather Aldo and the “two Marias”, as grandmothers Maria Elena Dagnino and Maria Bondi are known, for hiding Vika at a spiritual retreat in Valle d’Aosta. The prior in charge of the retreat, Francis Darbellay, and the Cogoleto parish priest, Danilo Grillo, were also acquitted. All were acquitted on the grounds that there was no charge to answer since they had acted “out of necessity”. The ruling, which will be followed by a full statement of grounds, backs up the Giusto family’s claim that “Vika was being abused at the Belarussian orphanage. We had to save her, whatever the cost”.
The public prosecutor Paola Calleri, who had requested eight months’ imprisonment, will appeal because she believes the sentence sets a precedent in the minefield that is fostering. For 20 days from 7 to 27 September 2006, the Giustos hid Vika from Carabinieri and Interpol as the Belarussian authorities blocked travel to Italy by Chernobyl children. When Vika was traced, she was sent home by an order of the juvenile court. Alessandro Giusto was in court at Genoa yesterday morning with two statements in his pocket, one for a conviction and one for acquittal. After the ruling, he said: “Although we knew we would pay a very high price, we obeyed our consciences and saved the life of a ten-year-old girl, rescuing her from a living hell and making sure she was given to a foster family that would look after her with affection”.
The Giustos have an 18-month-old son: “Vika is our first daughter”, said Alessandro, “and we will never cease from our struggle to be able to embrace her again. For her, we are mummy and daddy”. Custody of the girl, who is now 12, has been awarded to the family that adopted her brother and has two other children. “Wonderful people”, say the Giustos, for whom justice will be done only when they can see Vika again. Mr Giusto called the trial “paradoxical” and accused the Italian legal system of “incredible harassment of honest people”. Maria Elena Dagnino said: “Vika is a political prisoner. Her brother was able to come to Italy on holiday but she has never been out of Belarus again”. Belarus did not appear as co-plaintiff. Investigations conducted by magistrates in Minsk ended with the dismissal of all charges against the director of the orphanage.
Erika Dellacasa
English translation by Giles Watson
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Cyprus: Real Estate, Foreigners Shun Property
(ANSAmed) — NICOSIA, FEBRUARY 20 — Cyprus property sales to foreigners in 2008 fell sharply by 41% to 6,636 from 11,281 sales in 2007, taking the level back to 2005 levels when property sales amounted to 6,485, according to Land Registry data. The situation, as the Financial Mirror reports, is even worse in the new year, since according to preliminary data for January 2009, property sales to foreigners is down 72% to 131. Paphos is the worst hit with property sales to foreigners declining on average 54% to 2,273 units in 2008 from 4,971 in 2007. The free Famagusta area follows with a 48% decline to 1,285 from 2,480 while the other areas are all showing declines averaging 20%. Specifically, property sales in 2008 to foreigners in Nicosia fell to 390 from 483 in 2007, in Larnaca to 1,605 from 1,950 and in Limassol, where there is a very strong Russian community and interest, property sales fell to 1,083 units in 2008 compared to 1,397 in 2007. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Fear of Ethnic Riots
With forty shootings and three dead, the gang-war in Copenhagen is causing concerns that it would escalate into ethnic riots.
MS-NBC published a report on the gang wars. Politiken reports on thegovernment’s anti-gang package, which includes deportation of criminal immigrants. The shootings have meanwhile forced the closure of a library, culture center and sports hall on Blågårdsgade (Blågård street), and stopped deliveries by a meal-on-wheels company (see here and here)
In the past, btw, immigrant gang Black Cobras stopped riots, noting that it’s bad for business. Riots brought in the police, who conducted more thorough searches.
Below I’ve summarized several articles on this subject…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Muslim Leader Calls for Religious Tolerance
Rome, 4 March (AKI) — The leader of Indonesia’s largest Islamic organisation, Hasyim Muzadi, has called for greater religious tolerance and understanding at an interfaith conference held in the Italian capital, Rome, on Wednesday. Muzadi, president of Nahdlatul Ulama, was at the conference organised by the Indonesian and Italian governments and a Catholic charity on Islam and coexistence.
The conference, entitled “Unity in Diversity: The culture of coexistence in Indonesia”, was designed to improve dialogue with Indonesia, which is regarded by many as a model for a moderate Muslim country.
“Today’s meeting lays a fundamental basis for balancing faith and tolerance,” Muzadi told Adnkronos International (AKI).
Muzadi, whose organisation boasts more than 14 million members, joined intellectuals, religious and government officials, at the Rome conference.
“Fundamentalism creates conflict between religions, while liberalism creates confusion. Because this it is important that each religion has its own faith,” he told AKI.
Indonesia is the world’s most populous nation with 200 million Muslims. Siti Musdah Mulia, president of the Indonesian Conference on Religion for Peace, said it was important to remember that only one in five Muslims in the world come from an Arab country.
Stefania Craxi, undersecretary for foreign affairs and president of the Catholic charity, Sant’Egidio, said Indonesia was an important symbol in the Islamic world.
Craxi is due to visit the Indonesian capital Jakarta during 2009 after the country’s forthcoming presidential elections.
Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini and his Indonesian counterpart Nur Hassan Wirajuda were to give speeches at the conference’s opening session.
Indonesia is an archipelago with more than 17,000 islands and 240 million people from 45 ethnic groups who practise all of the world’s major religions.
However, more than 85 percent of the country’s inhabitants are Muslim.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Malta: Italian Company Wins Cittadella Masterplan Contract
(ANSAmed) — VALLETTA, FEBRUARY 20 — An Italian company has been awarded a 264,000 euro contract to draw up a masterplan for Gozo’s Cittadella (Citadel). Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono said the company ‘Politecnica Ingegneria e Architettura’ has already engaged a number of foreign and local experts in different disciplines. It is holding meetings with interested stakeholders and organisations ahead of a broader cosultation period. The masterplan will be concluded by August 2010. She said the first phase of the drawing up of the masterplan will see the collection and evaluation of data regarding different aspects of the Cittadella. Conservation of the site and its cultural and ecological assets are among the topics being studied. These include issues of a geo-technical nature related to the stability of the monument, the condition and restoration of the Cittadella’s fortifications and its internal built-up fabric, archaeology, identification, recording and protection of flora and fauna. The masterplan is also addressing issues related to tourism and amenities for visitors, land use, social and economic issues, traffic management, services and infrastructure and proposals for an adequate management structure. The project is being co-financed by the European Economic Area, with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein as the donor countries. Also currently under way is a 7 million euro multi-year for the consolidation of the bedrock and restoration of the bastion walls. This project is being co-financed by the European Union and co-ordinated by the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs and the Ministry for Gozo. A tender for a photogrammetic survey is being evaluated and another tender for the services of a geo-technical consultant is being prepared. A bid will then be issued for the restoration and consolidation of the bastion walls. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia-Slovenia: Cooperation in Field of European Businesses
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, MARCH 6 — The prime ministers of Serbia and Slovenia, Mirko Cvetkovic and Borut Pahor respectively, signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the two governments on technical cooperation in the field of European businesses, reports Tanjug news agency. After the signing ceremony, Cvetkovic pointed out that Pahor’s visit had a symbolic meaning as well, since Serbia was the first country he had come to since his appointment to the post. Cvetkovic thanked Slovenia for the support it had been giving to Serbia’s European commitment and the country’s wish to join the white Schengen list as soon as possible. Pahor underlined that the fact that he had chosen Serbia as his first destination proved that Slovenia viewed the country as an important factor for the stability of the region. He expressed hope that with all the efforts the Serbian authorities and the European Union were making, Serbia would manage by the end of the year to fulfill all the conditions that were required for the liberalsation of the visa regime. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia-Slovenia: Belgrade, Ljubljana Announce Town Twinning
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, MARCH 6 — The mayors of Belgrade and Ljubljana, Dragan Djilas and Zoran Jankovic respectively, announced today a further improvement of all-field cooperation between the two cities, as well as the signing of a town twinning agreement, reports Tanjug news agency. At a press conference in the Serbian parliament building, Jankovic pointed to the successful many-field cooperation between the inhabitants of the two cities, and said that after the Friday visit of a Slovenian delegation, headed by Premier Borut, their cooperation would get even better in future, particularly in respect of economy. I hope that the cooperation we will agree upon in the next couple of days will contribute to the further enhancement of the two-way cooperation, and I also hope that we will sign an agreement on the twinning of the two cities, the mayor of Ljubljana said. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: the EU Equality Law That Will Let ‘Upset’ Atheists Sue Companies That Hang Up Crucifixes
Organisations which hang crucifixes on walls could be sued if they upset atheists under equality laws proposed by the European Union.
Any group offering a service to the public, including hospitals, charities, businesses and prisons, would be at risk.
Legislation may also allow Christians to bring an action against a hotel if it displayed something they deemed offensive — such as a poster for the 1979 Monty Python film The Life Of Brian.
There are already laws banning harassment in the workplace, but the new Brussels regulations are designed to offer people protection from providers of goods and services.
However, they are so broad that critics say they could lead to a spate of civil cases by anyone claiming their dignity has been violated by the ‘hostile environment’ of an organisation.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia: President, Fierce Fight Against Organised Crime
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, MARCH 5 — Serbian President Boris Tadic said that the “most fierce and most complex” fight would be launched against organised crime in this decade, reports Tanjug news agency. Opening the 6th ministerial conference on border security cooperation in South-East Europe, Tadic pointed out that Serbia would engage all of its national resources to fight organised crime. “Our efforts gave results in the very first months of the government’s work, but this battle will not mean anything if the neighbouring countries do not fight crime with the same intensity as well”, President Tadic said. According to him, the decriminalisation of the South East Europe society is not possible without the support of the EU, its institutions and capacities. Serbia’s objective to join the EU is no more important than its goal to destroy the crime in our country, to build our infrastructure, or to achieve the rule of law, he said. “Only once we have achieved these aims shall we want to become a member of the EU, but in order to achieve all this, we need the EU to help us”, Tadic said. As he pointed out, the societies in the region are faced with a profound reform process, which also implies a reform of the system of value, both in respect to the citizens and the institutions of the state.(ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia: Foreign Countries Allowed to Acquire Property
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, MARCH 5 — Serbia’s Constitutional Court evaluated that the constitutional provision of the Law on the Elements of Property Law Relations which enacts that foreign countries can acquire property in buildings, appartments and construction sites for the purposes of diplomatic and consular premises, reports Tanjug news. The court refused to accept several initiatives for starting the procedure to determine the unconstitutionality of this provision. Constitutional Court Judge Marija Draskic stated that the disputed provision envisages that foreign countries, organizations and UN Specialized Agencies, are allowed to purchase buildings and appartments for the purposes of diplomatic and consular premises, as well as building sites for the construction of those facilitites, with a previous approval from the federal organ authorized for legal affairs. The Constitution of Serbia envisages that foreign civil and legal entities are equallized with the domestic entities on the market and that they can acquire real estate property pursuant to the law or the international agreement. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Cooperation: Agreement Between Palermo and Tunisia
(ANSAmed)- PALERMO, FEBRUARY 27 — As part of the Italy-Tunisia 2009/2013 partnership programme, a cooperation agreement was reached today between the Accademia Nazionale della Politica, a policy association based in Palermo, and the Tunisian government, represented by the Minister for Public Function and Administrative Development, Zouhaier M’Dhafer. The agreement, to be officially signed in Tunisia in three weeks, includes exchanges and collaborations in various sectors, from cultural to agro-industrial policies, renewable energy, and tourism. “With the Academy”, affirmed the Tunisian minister Zouhaier M’Dhafer, in these days in Palermo, “we have made a verbal agreement that contains numerous common initiatives from organizing seminars, to professional training, environmental protection, and social policies”. “Thanks to this agreement”, said Bartolo Sammartino, president of the National Academy for Policy and former AN regional parliamentarian, “we intend to promote projects between the two countries and better utilize EU funds, which amount to 30 million euros for common initiatives”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU Funds for Projects in Southern Mediterranean
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, MARCH 4 — More financial support from the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Commission for projects on dialogue between different cultures. Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories are among the countries involved this year, as well as in 2010. The objective of the initiative is to support cultural cooperation between EU countries and third countries which have made association and cooperation agreements with the European Union. Public or private bodies may apply for up to half of the necessary funds for a project, from 50,000 euros to a maximum of 200,000 euros by May 1. The EU agency’s initiative is part of the 2007-2013 cultural programme on neighbourliness, dedicated to countries which have ratified the Unesco Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions and which have signed an association or partnership agreement with the European Union. With a total budget of 400 million euros for the 2007-2013 period, the programme will enable around 230 different initiatives to be co-financed each year.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU: Tajani Meets Tunisian Minister, Boost to Coast Motorways
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, FEBRUARY 20 — A meeting in Brussels today between the European Commissioner for Transport, Italy’s Antonio Tajani, and Tunisia’s Minister of Transport, Abderrahim Zouari, has concentrated on giving a boost to coastal motorways in a pilot programme due to benefit from a regional Euro-Mediterranean project. Other matters on the agenda, a note says, was a joint effort for connecting Africa to the trans-European transport network. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Regions: Sicily, Lombardo Meets Moroccan Ambassador
(ANSAmed) — PALERMO, FEBRUARY 26 — The president of the Sicily Region, Raffaele Lombardo, today received the Moroccan ambassador to Italy, Mohammed Nabil Benabdallh, accompanied by the general consul, Youssef Balla, at Palazzo d’Orleans. A note explains that the meeting focused on several economic questions which are particularly important for trade between Sicily and Morocco, especially regarding agriculture, technological and cultural development. “Sicily and Morocco” said Lombardo “cooperate closely thanks to the geographical and cultural vicinity that forms a bond between us and the Moroccan people. We are ready to continue this collaboration, making available the knowledge and experience of our entrepreneurs in the sectors we believe are most strategic”. Ambassador Benabdallh, the note concludes, said he appreciates Sicily’s autonomy and has invited president Lombardo to visit Morocco. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Gaza: Unione Forense Requests UN Investigative Commission
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 6 — The Unione Forense per i Diritti Umani (Forensic Union for the safeguarding of Human Rights) has launched an appeal to the UN and to Libya as holder of the rotating presidency of the Security Council, to set up an investigating commission into the war in the Gaza Strip. “Today we submitted to the Libyan Ambassador in Rome an appeal for the establishment of an independent investigative commission on possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the recent crisis in Gaza,” reads a note issued by Mario Lana, President of the Unione. “A previous request with the same scope was rejected in recent weeks due to negative vote from Canada and the abstention of the European nations,” continued Lana, “but during the international conference, which was held in Algiers from February 28 to March 1, we created a committee to exert greater pressure on the authorities to reopen possibility of forming an investigating commission and to create an ad hoc court to express a judgement.” “Libya,” the lawyer pointed out, “holds the presidency of the UN Security Council and can operate to promote the reestablishment of the rule of law in the Middle East, while bearing the new political situation in the United States in mind. Barack Obama’s victory could favour a peaceful solution in the region or at least impose some fundamental conditions.” (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Islam: Kairouan, History Art and Light in 2009 Capital
(by Angela Virdò) (ANSAmed) — TUNIS, MARCH 5 — Sent by the Ommayyadi dynasty to conquer the Maghreb in 670 BC, Arab general Oqba Ibn Nafi tripped on a gold cup that had been lost in Mecca, and as soon as he picked it up, water sprang from the earth. Thus, legend has it, is how Islam’s fourth holy city Kairouan in Tunisia was founded. It has been proclaimed capital of Islamic culture for 2009. From March 8 until June pilgrims and visitors can relive the last thirteen centuries from the time when Roman Africa became Ifriqya, and continued its history with the Islamic civilisation. To celebrate the city which Unesco declared a world heritage site in 1988, Tunisia is putting on art exhibitions, literature and poetry competitions, round tables and shows. The celebrations begin with a homage to the mystical art of the Sufis, with demonstrations of the holy chants, which accompany the whirling dances of the dervishes, and an exhibition of ancient Arabic manuscripts followed by a course in restoration and preservation techniques. An art show will include dozens of paintings and drawings by Tunisian and foreign artists, prominent among whom is Paul Klee, who visited Tunisia at the beginning of the 1900s and left several famous oil paintings and watercolours of Kairouan: in particular the “Gate of Kairouan”, which shows the fascination that the light and colours of the city held for the Swiss artist. The history of Kairouan in Islam will be covered during seminars and round tables, and is an important part of the expansion of Islam. It was from Kairoun in fact that general Tarak Ibn Ziad departed in 712 AD, leading his army to conquer Spain. Just over one hundred years later, in 828, it was the turn of Assad Ibn El Fourat to cross the Mediterranean to conquer Sicily, which would remain under the rule of Kairouan until 1090. Islamic architecture will be discussed during seminars and round tables, in a city that can boast the precision and elegance of its Great Mosque, which was commissioned by the Aghlabite dynasty in the 9th century, in a style comparable in western art to Romanesque. With its past influences like the 414 columns in the prayer room which come from Roman and Byzantine sites such as Carthage and Sousse, each one differing from the others. Seven visits to the Great Mosque are equal to a pilgrimage to Mecca for Muslims, and are one of the five pillars of the Islamic religion. The fourth holy city after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, Kairouan has some important cultural places such as the Bir Barouta monument built in 1676 by Ottoman emperor Mohammed Bey in the place where general Nafi stumbled upon the golden cup. Believers say that the well discovered in 670 is connected to the Zem Zem spring in Mecca. Just as the with the coins thrown into the Trevi fountain, they say that whoever drinks the water from Bir Berouta will one day return to Kairouan. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: Leila Ben Ali President Arab Women’s Organisation
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, MARCH 3 — Leila Ben Ali, the wife of the president of Tunisia, has been appointed as president of the Organisation of Arab Women, beginning in March and for a period of two years. Sarra Kanoun Jarraya, minister of women’s and family affairs, said in a press conference that she will do more for women’s rights in the coming two years using her positive experience in the national sphere. She continued by promising coordination between specialised Arab organisations and a boost to economic, social, cultural and sportive activities “in order to consolidate the position of Arab women in several sectors”. These programmes, she noted, “show Tunisia’s devotion to solidarity, dialogue, protection of women’s rights as part of the development and modernisation of the Arab community”. During Tunisia’s 2-year presidency the minister mentioned that the country will organise the fourth session of the High Council of the Organisation of Arab Woman (June 2009), the seventh special session of its executive council and the third congress of the Organisation. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: Sicily on Show With Art, History and Cooking
(ANSA) — TUNIS, MARCH 6 — Sicily is back on show in Tunisia with ‘Saperi e Sapori’, (Cultures and Flavours), a week of literature, history and art, but also cooking and the area’s typical products and its speciality, artistic ceramics, which after ten centuries still show the influences that a period of Arab occupaion has left on the land. Now in its fifth year, from March 9 to 15, the show is to rerun the history shared across both sides of the Mediterranean, following ‘the salt routes, thirty centuries of white gold’, with the participation of Sebastiano Tusa, Head of Marine Archeology for the Sicilian region, and Enrico Caruso, the president of the Centre for Phoenician, Punic and Roman Studies, and Giacomo d’Ali from the University of Palermo. This year’s literature showcase is dedicated to Vitaliano Brancati. The author’s works, from ‘Don Giovanni in Sicilia’, a satire of Sicilian maschismo, to ‘Bell’Antoniò, his most famous novel, will be on show at the Casa Sicilia, an old Arab residence in the heart of the Medina in Tunis. Alongside the texts will be the screenplays adapted from his work that so heavily influenced Italian cinema of the 1950s, including ‘Guardie e Ladri’ by Monicelli and ‘Viaggio in Italia’ by Rossellini. Accompanied by the Terra group, Mario Incudine will present the show ‘Abballalaluna’ at the city theatre in Tunis, and in the Casa Sicilia an exhibition will remain open until March 22 containing works by the sculptor Mariano Brusca, watercolours by Marcella Tuttobene and salt jewels by Daniela Neri as well as ceramics by Caltagirone, Patti and San Vito Lo Capo. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Gaza: 400 NGOs Accuse Israel of War Crimes at ICC
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 6 — “On January 22 2009, over 400 non-governmental organisations from all over the world, represented by a team of 40 lawyers, registered an official condemnation to the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), concerning Israel’s aggression against the people of Gaza between December 27 2008 and January 18 2009.” The report comes from a statement issued by French lawyer, Gilles Devers, representative of the NGOs to the Court in the Hague and who will be in Italy on Monday to present the initiative. “The official condemnation has been registered in relation to war crimes and crimes against humanity, in line with the definitions of the Statute of Rome, which established the ICC, and refers specifically to the leaders in Israel and to all the officers who actively took part in these criminal actions,” the statement continues, explaining that the official condemnation was drawn up on the basis of all general information, accessible to the greatest number of people, and will be supplemented by reports from the UN, from NGOs and the many eye-witness reports gathered on site.” (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel: White House Mum on Jerusalem Attack
Departs from practice of immediately condemning terrorism against Israelis
JERUSALEM — Officials in Jerusalem are quietly scratching their heads in wonderment as to why the White House did not release an official statement condemning yesterday’s tractor terrorist rampage here, the third attack of its kind in recent months.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Defense: Turkish Industries Sign Contracts With Foreign Firms
(ANSAmed) — ABU DHABI, FEBRUARY 24 — Turkish defense indutries firms participated in an international defense industry fair in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and signed contracts with foreign firms. The Ninth IDEX International Defense Exhibition and Conference began in Abu Dhabi on Sunday and will end on Thursday, as Anatolia agency reports. Turkey’s Roketsan firm reached a rocket launcher system manufacturing deal with Al Jaber firm. The project is worth 90 million USD. Turkey’s National Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul also participated in the signature ceremony. A part of the rocket launcher system will be produced in Turkey, and a part of it will be manufactured in the UAE. The system will be integrated and assembled in the UAE. Roketsan executives said that their company would also sign an agreement with Burkan firm in the first half of 2009 to jointly manufacture rockets. Also, Turkey’s Yonca-Onuk partnership signed a deal with Critical National Infrastructure Authority to sell 34 rapid intervention boats. The project is worth 100 million Euros. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s largest defence exhibition and conference IDEX is the ultimate event for government officials and military personnel to source technology and equipment for all defence environments: land, sea and air. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Defence: US Approves 30 Fighter Jets Sale to Turkey
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, FEBRUARY 26 — The U.S. Air Force said on Tuesday that it has approved a USD 797 million modified contract, that allows US based Lockheed Martin to sell fighter jets to the Turkish government, as the financial website Reporter.Net wrote. Under the deal, Lockheed will sell 14 F-16C fighter aircraft and 16 F16 D jets. The Pentagon originally approved the sale of 30 fighter jets, engines, radar and electronic warfare equipment, a deal valued at USD 2.9 billion if all options are exercised, in September 2006. The U.S. military frequently acts as an intermediary for weapons sales to overseas governments. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Dubai Thinks of the Future, Goes Back to Pearl Cultivation
(by Alessandra Antonelli) (ANSAmed) — DUBAI, FEBRUARY 17 — Having been a strategic centre for the gathering and trading of pearls in past centuries, Dubai, today a rich oil emirate with economic policies aimed at diversification, is bidding to recoup this chapter from its past. The most recent stage in its campaign has been the organising of the first World Pearl Forum, a global summit gathering the top operators in the sector to discuss “a collective strategy for growth” for an industry currently worth 1.5 billion dollars and with double-figure short-term growth potential despite global financial turbulence. “Like any other crisis-hit sector, at times like these the luxury goods sector is seeing buyers concentrate on classic items with an attractive price/quality ratio”, said Gaiti Rabbani, director of the pearls and precious stone division of the Dubai Multi Commodity Centre (DMCC). Dubai created the Dubai Pearl Exchange back in 2007 as a trading platform with the idea of promoting a renaissance in the peal sector and of reclaiming for the Emirate the central place it once occupied in the network of pearl trade and exchange. Then, precisely one year ago, the ‘Pearls of Arabia’ project was announced: six square kilometres of pearl industry structures created on ‘Antartica’, one of the thirty artificial isles forming the ‘World’ archipelago. A space to exhibit, and to sell, the best selections, the most exclusive jewellery and lines of pearls created especially for Dubai. Historically, the world’s most precious pearls have been gathered in the Arabian Gulf, above all in the waters around Bahrein, thanks to the unique mixture of fresh and salt water surrounding the island. With the discovery of oil, pearl gathering went into decline, but the Gulf states are now attempting to re-instate a pearl sector which promises sizeable economic margins and that, as Rabbani says: “is yet to reach its potential in the region”. The Gulf produces around 15% of the world’s finished pearl products, a significant piece in an industry that is somewhat fragmented worldwide across various key geographical areas of production and distribution, such as Hong Kong and Japan. The World Pearl Forum, which takes place today and tomorrow at Palm Jumeirah, will thus set itself the target of establishing relations of synergy between different international operators in the sector, from producers to designers, in the absence of a world body regulating and coordinating production and trade across the globe. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Test-Fires New Missile
Iranian media reported on Sunday that Iran had test-fired a new missile, but differed over its range and purpose.
The state-run Press TV said a long-range missile had been tested. But the semi-official Fars News Agency said it was an air-to-surface missile with a range of 110 km designed for use by military aircraft against naval targets.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq: War Reparations, 13 Billion Dollar to Kuwait
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, FEBRUARY 24 — To date, Kuwait has received 13.3 billion dollars in reparations from Iraq for its invasion and occupation of the country in 1990-91, according to a press released issued by the tiny Gulf emirate this morning. Citing the annual report for the public body for war reparations, (EPR), daily newspaper al-Qabas has specified that the amount indicated is just that received up until the end of 2008, and that the Baghdad government still has to hand over “tens of billions of dollars”. Since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq in 2003, Baghdad has been calling on Kuwait and the international community to cancel the request for reparations on the part of the wealthy Gulf emirate. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Jordan: Mobile Unit for Women’s Rights Culture
(by Luciana Borsatti) (ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 5 — Training courses for judges and lawyers, direct information campaigns targeting women, and even mobile units travelling from town to town to encourage victims of domestic violence to report their situation, will all be part of a project, in which Italian NGO, the Italian Consortium of Solidarity (ICS) will participate in Jordan. The project has just obtained financing from the European Institute of Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), along with another 9 local NGOs. The project, which is about to begin in collaboration with local partner Mizan, aims to promote the effective application of the UN convention to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW), which was formally implemented in recent months in Jordan. Barbara Lilliu, the coordinator of the project says that one of the critical issues to be faced will be trials for honour crimes, where in the majority of cases the guilty party gets away with a lenient sentence, where judges grant extenuating circumstances to men who are believed to have been motivated by honour, even though they are guilty of homicide,. For this reason, training is needed for judges and prosecutors in the legal principals upheld by the convention. But the main focus of the project, underlined Barbara Lilliu, are lawyers, whose who have the most contact with society and are best able to spread a new culture of rights. They will be the ones to start a series of training courses and campaigns to raise awareness targeted directly at women, which will cover a large part of Jordan. “The use of a mobile unit is also expected, in order to carry out the project,” continued Lilliu, “which will go from town to town and will give those who have been the victims of violence the opportunity to have legal counselling on how to report their cases. We will also prepare informational material on the convention and on Jordanian law”. Direct contact with women will be fundamental, as they are the main victims of domestic violence in the country. Last month in a conference in Amman supported by Queen Rania of Jordan, it was learned that the National Institute of Forensic Medicine registered 600 cases of abuse on women in 2008. A study carried out by the Minister of Social Development highlighted that 80% of domestic violence victims are married women. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Real Estate: Sharjah Rejects Foreign Ownership
(ANSAmed) — DUBAI, FEBRUARY 23 — The new building and real estate code currently being examined in Sharjah has upheld the prohibition of land or real estate ownership by foreigners, as reported in today’s Emirates Business. Shajah benefits from the economic abundance and glowing tourism of nearby Dubai, and though one of the most conservative and inflexible Emirates, it attracts a large quantity of expatriates due to living costs well below those of its fellow Emirate. The new law, however, shows once more the traditionalist attitude held by Sharjah, even in the economic sphere, and is tantamount to a crackdown on non-local real estate brokers. In order to get a license to work in the Emirate, the latter will have to be citizens of Sharjeh and not be involved in any other sort of entrepreneurial activity. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UAE: Kate Moss and Wilbur Smith at Dubai’s Literary Festival
(ANSAmed) — ROMA, 27 FEB — Sixty-five writers from 20 countries, including Britain and the United States, are participating in the four-day Emirates Airline International Festival of Literature (EAIFL), said festival director Isobel Abulhoul as reported by Middle East Online. Festival participants include American Pulitzer Prize winner Frank McCourt, veteran BBC war correspondent Kate Adie as well as authors Louis de Berniere, Kate Mosse, and Wilbur Smith who is due to launch his new novel Assegai during the festival. Also taking part is Saudi female writer Rajaa al-Sanea, who authored the widely published controversial novel, ‘Girls of Riyadh’, which recounts the live lives of four girls in the ultra-conservative kingdom. A giant cut-out of a book was opened onstage as part of the launch, and children dressed as some of the world’s most beloved fictional characters stepped out through its pages, in tribute to the world of literature. The fictional characters later led a parade around various venues of the event, with flag-bearers representing the nationalities resident in Dubai. Sponsored by Sheikh Majid bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Culture and Art Authority. It will continue until Sunday 1st March. (ANSAmed).
2009-02-27 18:42
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan: Report Stresses Worsening Human Rights Situation
New York, 6 March (AKI) — A new report highlights a worsening human rights situation in Afghanistan marked by a rise in civilian casualties, setbacks for women, mounting attacks on freedom of expression and crimes going unpunished.
“Afghans have continued to suffer significant rights deficits that pose serious challenges to the enjoyment of their human rights and to the country’s long-term prospects for peace, stability, democracy, development and the rule of law,” said the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights’ annual report on Afghanistan.
“Gross human rights violations remain a serious threat to continuing efforts to transform Afghan society,” the report continues.
“A culture of impunity prevails, and is deeply entrenched; this is manifested in the lack of political will to advance the transitional justice process to address past abuses as well as the absence of accountability for current human rights violations.”
The report criticises Afghanistan’s “weak, corrupt and dysfunctional judicial system” and tribal justice mechanisms that do not meet international standards for fair trials.
“Justice is effectively denied to the vast majority of Afghans,” the report states.
It urges the government to take action to address this situation which “has also eroded people’s confidence in government and public institutions.”
It urges pro and anti-government forces to ensure greater respect for the protection of civilians, including women and children.
Turning to the situation of women, the report notes that violence against women such as rape, ‘honour killings’, early and forced marriage, sexual abuse, and slavery remain widespread, despite constitutional guarantees.
The report calls for the protection of women and girls in both the private and public sphere and policies and concrete programmes to ensure this.
The report also notes curbs on freedom of expression last year, with threats and intimidation directed against non-governmental organisations and the media, including the killing of journalists.
It also condemns the Afghan government’s use of the death penalty in 2008, which ended a de facto moratorium that had lasted from 2004 to October 2007.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Malaysia: Christians Launch Petition for Use of the Word “Allah”
Support is expected from Muslims, in addition to Jews and Christians around the world. The petition can also be signed via the internet, at the address www.PetitionOnline.com/sabahan/petition.html. The diocese of Kuala Lumpur continues its legal battle against the government, to use the word “Allah” in Catholic publications.
Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) — A group of Christians in Sabah has launched a petition drive to force the government to lift its ban on the use of the word “Allah,” which according to the interior ministry should be used only by Muslims.
The campaign was launched last March 4, and will continue until March 29. In a few days, the website has gathered thousands of signatures, including from local Muslims and Hindus. In April, the signatures that have been collected via the internet and on paper will be presented to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
The author of the campaign is Jeffrey Kitingan, brother of the deputy prime minister of Sabah, Joseph Pairin Kitingan. Sabah and Sarawak, the Malaysian provinces on the island of Borneo, are the area with the largest concentration of Catholics. Out of 900,000 faithful in all of Malaysia, at least 600,000 live in Sabah and Sarawak.
Ronnie Klassen, a businessman and one of the other organizers of the campaign, says that he hopes the online version will bring support from the international community and from the Vatican. This, he says, is “an issue that is very dear to all Christians as it is to members of the two other Abrahamic faiths, Judaism and Islam.”
Anyone can sign the petition by going to this address: www.PetitionOnline.com/sabahan/petition.html.
The problem emerged at least two years ago, when the security ministry banned the use of the word “Allah” (God) in the Malay language insert in the Catholic weekly “Herald,” citing “reasons of security” and of “possible confusion” among Muslims, which “could harm public order.” The Catholic Church has used the word “Allah” to refer to God for centuries.
The ban also applies to publications, songs, and ceremonies in all other Christian Churches. There is confusion in the government, and subservience toward groups of Muslim voters. The security ministry recently revisited and reconfirmed its decision against the “Herald.” In the same way, the interior ministry last February 16 gave permission to use the word “Allah,” as long as it is clearly displayed that the publication is “for Christians only.” But at the end of February, it backtracked on the permission and reaffirmed the ban, threatening to take measures.
The archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur has taken the government to court, insisting that the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion. The first hearing in the case was held last February 27, and was adjourned until May 28.
Referring to the recent events, Klassen says: “We feel hurt, insulted and ridiculed by a government that only believes in its righteousness.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Pirate Attack in Philippines
Pirates have attacked a fishing boat in the southern Philippines, killing three crewmen and taking two others hostage as they fled with the vessel.
The pirates opened fire on the unidentified vessel late Thursday off the island of Basilan before they boarded it and killed the three crewmen.
Authorities have not yet named any suspects in the case, but the area is a known stronghold for Muslim extremist groups like the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf.
| — Hat tip: KGS | [Return to headlines] |
Zimbabwe: Tsvangirai Demands Inquiry Into Crash That Killed His Wife
Police arouse MDC suspicions by placing truck driver who caused collision in ‘protective custody’
Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, left hospital in Harare yesterday and flew to Botswana for further treatment as his party called for an independent inquiry into Friday’s fatal crash that killed his wife.
US authorities have confirmed to officials from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) that the truck that hit the premier’s car, causing it to roll three times, was carrying Aids drugs donated by the American government. It was driven by a local contractor.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
How Rotten Apples in Government Endanger America
This news report appeared this past Friday in the Detroit News and while it is a disturbing story as it stands, what was left out of the story was an even bigger story- how a corrupt INS official enabled a once illegal alien to become an FBI special agent and then an employee of the CIA!
[…]
Among those who gave Bailey gifts and received favors from Bailey were immigration attorney Namir Daman, who was earlier sentenced to three years’ probation; LaShish Restaurants owner Talal Chahine, a fugitive believed to be living in Lebanon; and Leon’s Family Dining restaurants owner Samir Leon, who has not been charged with a crime, according to court records filed Friday.
Talal Chahine is indeed a fugitive. He was the person who arranged the marriage fraud than enabled a woman by the name of Nada Nadim Prouty to acquire resident alien status by engaging in a marriage fraud after her student visa under which she had been admitted to the United States in 1988 expired. Having acquired lawful immigrant status as a result of that marriage fraud, she ultimately became a United States citizen and then went on to secure a job with the FBI as a special agent! She had a gun, a badge and a security clearance that she apparently put to good use, accessing databases on informants and investigations into Hezbollah, a pernicious terrorist organization. She similarly accessed databases at the CIA when she left the FBI for a job with the CIA. The problem is that in government, it is not enough that you possess the requisite security clearance before you access sensitive files and databases, you must also have the “need to know.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Upstate Assemblyman Gregory Ball Finds Dead Goat With Menacing Note Signed by M-13 Gang Outside Home
A dead goat with a menacing note around its neck — signed by a notorious Central American gang — was left outside an upstate lawmaker’s house.
Cops are investigating the bizarre Putnam Lake incident — which Assemblyman Gregory Ball is taking very personally but doesn’t think the MS-13 gang orchestrated.
The hand-written note accompanying the goat’s corpse appeared to refer to Ball as “a [expletive] American” — possibly suggesting the author was opposed to the legislator’s tough stance on illegal immigrants.
But Ball said he doubts MS-13 was actually behind the threat because the Spanish in the note was misspelled.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
An Islamic World in Crisis, Anti-Americanism and the Fight Against Israel
by Samir Khalil Samir
Arab and Muslim countries are trying to find ways to reassert their dignity and uphold human rights but are increasingly turning inward, inching closer to Islamism and its calls for Sharia and caliphate. US support for Israel and corrupt Arab states fuel fundamentalism. The Islamic world is thus still waiting to reconcile its religion with modernity.
Beirut (AsiaNews) — Fundamentalism is growing in the Arab and Islamic worlds. Increasingly it is seen as a solution to their problems, this according to a world survey that was reported by AsiaNews (cf Islamic countries reject al Qaeda, but also American policy, AsiaNews, 4 March 2009). The results show that a majority of people in eight predominantly Muslim countries reject al-Qaeda and attacks on civilians but also oppose US policies in the Middle East and the world.
1. No to bombs or murderers
The study indicates that “a very large majority, between 67 and 89 per cent, condemn the use of bombs and killing for political and religious purposes; more than 70 per cent are against attacks on civilians (specifically Americans).”
This means that common sense is still alive and well in the Islamic world. But it is food for thought that at least 30 per cent of respondents are in favour of “bombs and murderers” who strike at civilians.
2. No to US military bases
Answers to the second question show that a large majority supports al Qaeda’s goal to “push the US to remove its bases and its military forces from all Islamic countries,” including 87 per cent of Egyptians, 64 per cent of Indonesians, and 60 per cent of Pakistanis.”
Such attitudes towards the United States are not unexpected. Many wonder why the Americans should have military bases around the whole world. I too do not know why. No country, or almost no country—not Italy, not Japan, not Great Britain—has bases with territorial concessions around the world.
This can only be because the United States claims to be the ‘world’s policeman’ with the right to act anywhere.
Any nation would feel hurt by this: 87 per cent does in Egypt, so does 84 per cent in Indonesia and 60 per cent in Pakistan.
What gives the United States this right? By virtue of its might; and this makes the Americans unpopular, even if they do not get it.
3. Sharia and the caliphate
The study also vetted attitudes towards Islamic law and unity, asking how desirable were the “strict application of Sharia Law in every Islamic country” and, in the long run, the unification of “all Islamic countries into a single Islamic state or Caliphate.” Many like it: 65 per cent in Egypt; 48 per cent in Indonesia and 76 per cent in Pakistan and Morocco.
Both the strict application of Sharia and the establishment of a caliphate are very serious issues, but they are also a sign of the crisis that is affecting the Islamic world.
The caliphate was abolished on 3 March 1924. Since then the Islamic world has seen itself as rudderless and sought something to fill the vacuum without finding it. The Muslim Brotherhood was created in 1928 for that purpose. Many other groups have set up their own ‘caliphate’ in a token attempt to carve out some territorial enclaves, ostensibly under the rule of Islam. Unfortunately, this is not a solution for all it does is project a need for unity. Instead we must realise that in this day and age a single Islamic state is not possible. It makes no sense.
Religion does not dominate the world. There is a plurality of interests even in the most Islamised countries. Case in point: AsiaNews has reported that Saudi and Egyptian leaders have called on fellow Arabs to form a united front to resist Iranian expansionism and oppose its interference in the Palestinian issue, which in their view is an ‘Arab issue’ (cf Saudi minister calls for joint strategy to confront “Iranian challenge” AsiaNews, 4 March 2009). In doing so they draw a line between what is Arab and what is Iranian with the Islamic element taking the backseat. Of course, the Sunni-Shia divide could be the main reason, but still that will not change the fact the world is not ruled by religion, or religion alone. Seeking one Islamic state for all is absurd.
I am not the only one saying so; history is my witness. Arab states have never been able to achieve unity; no two Arab states have successfully merged. Egypt tried to create a United Arab Republic first with Libya, then Syria and Iraq, but failed.
In Arabic a proverb says “Ittafaqa l-’Arab ‘ala allâ yattafiqû“, which means “Arabs agree to disagree.”
The only time when they do agree on something is when they are agree on going against (and losing to) someone else (like Israel).
4. Searching for a lost dignity
The desire for unity among Muslims is an absolute, but it is an error to think that unity lies in a single state. Something else is needed.
There is the Organisation of the Islamic Conference with its 57 member-states, but it is not very effective.
Muslims should not seek political unity, an area where their interests are divergent, but should look for it at another level, that of principles and normative values.
As for the strict application of Sharia, that too is a dream. It is but an attempt to find dignity and international stature in a way that includes religion. Why? Because all of our countries feel humiliated; they elicit very little respect. Some are very rich but are beset by rampant corruption. Others are ruled by dictators, violence, etc. We Arabs are not proud of our countries and we are looking for something that would allow us to hold our heads high, proud to say, “I am and Egyptian,” “I am Saudi;” “I am Libyan.”
Implementing Sharia seems like a solution because then we can call ourselves “real Muslim.” Such a trend is spreading, fast (cf. Fareed Zakaria, “Learning to Live With Radical Islam,” Newsweek, 28 February 2009), encouraged in part by Western governments, because, increasingly, people around the world are thinking that some form of Sharia is a price worth paying for peace. It is something that is happening in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but also in Great Britain, Spain and even Italy.
This will mean closing many girls’ schools; a ban on mixed schooling, even for children; no more music; a family law that is unjust for women, etc.
Sharia covers all aspects of life but it was established in another time when things were different. It does not take into account changes in outlook, culture and ethics.
There is a desire for ethical improvement and better principles, and Islam seems the solution.
The reality is different. Where Sharia is enforced people see that it is not a solution. Iranians know that; after an early enthusiasm for its reintroduction, many became disillusioned with it.
Reintroducing Sharia is the wrong thing to do. Instead what we must do is reassert broader ethical principles that respect an Islamic perspective, but one that is distinct from the many cultures that make up the Muslim world.
How can Islam’s uniqueness be reconciled to the plurality of cultures and the diversity of political and economic choices made by Islamic states? This is the real question that is never answered or answered ineffectually.
Deep down no one is dreaming about the caliphate or Sharia, even if the latter appear to offer some justice, honesty and democracy. It is these values that people dream about and it is they which are missing in our countries.
5. Feeling bad about the West, feeling good about Bin Laden
The survey found that “Western values” are widely rejected; by 88 per cent in Egypt, 76 per cent in Indonesia, 60 per cent in Pakistan and 64 per cent in Morocco.
It is odd that values should be rejected because they are Western in origin. All this is symptomatic of a malaise in the Islamic world, which is still searching for its own identity, independent and not subordinate to that of others.
I hope we can find this identity without being against someone else, which is an attitude usually related to adolescence (when teenagers assert their identity in opposition to others). Indeed we have been trying to find ourselves for a long time, for decades actually.
We must go back to our recent past to do this. We must rediscover the early part of the 20th century, when our grandparents chose to take what was good in the West, not only its technology but also its quest for human rights, equality, democracy, freedom of thought and speech. These are values born in the West but which are universal in scope, not specifically Western, but which impressed great Egyptian thinkers like Imam Muhammad ‘Abdoh, Sheikh Abd al-Razeq, Minister Taha Hussein, and many others.
At the same time, let us not forget that there are other universal values, which might be scorned by the West, like moral values, respect and love for the poor and the old. We need a synthesis.
6. What about Bin Laden then?
The fifth question looked at positive or negative feelings towards Bin Laden. The highest support for him was in Egypt (44 per cent), followed by the Palestinian territories (56 per cent). In Indonesia 14 per cent view him positively; that number is 25 per cent in Pakistan; 27 per cent in Morocco; 27 per cent in Jordan; 9 per cent in Turkey; and 4 per cent in Azerbaijan.
What does all of this mean? It means that for many Muslims, Bin Laden is “a good Muslim,” someone who is convinced that he is putting into practice Islam.
In the West one often hears that “Bin Laden” has nothing to do with Islam.” But in the Islamic world he is seen as someone who is trying to really apply Islam. Those Muslims who like him the least are those who have experienced other ways of life, in Turkey and Azerbaijan, two highly secularised countries.
Feelings about Bin Laden are also negative in many Arab countries (17 per cent in Egypt, 20 per cent in the Palestinian territories; 21 per cent in Morocco; 20 per cent in Jordan).
Overall, we can see that views about al-Qaeda’s leader are conflicted but relatively similar across the board. It goes to show how important fundamentalism and Islamic terrorism are.
It also shows that what might be viewed as a bane on the world in one place is seen as the “defender of Islam” in many Arab countries.
7. US and Israeli policies
Finally, a last point with regards to the United States and its policies towards Israeli expansionism. In Egypt 86 per cent of the respondents believe that US policy favours Israel’s expansion; in Turkey they are78 per cent; in Morocco, 64 per cent; in Pakistan 52 per cent; in Indonesia, 47 per cent; and Azerbaijan, 43 per cent. In the Palestinian territories the proportion reaches 90 per cent and even in peaceful Jordan it stands at 84 per cent.
And it is true. Irrespective of what US leaders may want US policy favours Israeli expansionism. The new US administration will thus have to take this into account because US policies are fuelling anti-US resentment and strengthening anti-Western terrorism.
On the other, about 59 per cent of Palestinians believe that US policy is in favour of the “creation of an independent and economically viable Palestinian state.” Elsewhere in the surveyed countries, only 30 per cent agree. Still it is something.
At the end of its mandate, the Bush Administration reiterated its support for a “two peoples, two states” solution. In its first moves Obama Administration has done the same (or at least, let us hope so). But if the Americans really want two states, they must actually be two and legitimate. Israeli expansion at the expense of the Palestinians is not legitimate. As long as it goes on, a Palestinian state will not see the light of day and war will continue for centuries.
This ambiguity makes it hard to be friends with the United States. In our countries people are attracted by America but also turned off by it.
The new administration has an opportunity to wipe the slate clean of these ambiguities; it can redefine America’s close relationship to Israel, which hitherto has meant ignoring the rights of others. If this does not happen, it bodes ill for everyone. The Americans will be fought and peace will remain distant. This is an issue that the Arab and Islamic worlds must confront. Not that many Arabs are truly willing to give their life for Palestine or come to its defence, but the Palestinian question remains for all an unbearable injustice. What is needed is not a courageous decision in favour of the Arabs, but one in favour of justice and peace, so as to avoid double standards.
Conclusion: healing the wounds
What the survey shows is that Islamic fundamentalism is growing at all levels. For more and more people it is a solution to the troubles facing the Arab and Muslim worlds. Yet the same troubles are a consequence of Islamism, i.e. Islamic fundamentalism. For this reason there is no solution other than closing the book on fundamentalist Islam and opening another one in which Islam is open to modernity and democracy.
Sadly our governments, even if they do not want to turn Islamist, have no models to use as reference points. Something new might be developing in Dubai. Here an effort is being made to project an image that reconciles Islam and modernity. But it is a small country, a young country, with a largely foreign-born population, and which does not have to tackle problems of poverty.
It is worth pointing out facts about Egypt, a country increasingly undergoing Islamisation. Although its leaders are not Islamist, they have built an authoritarian regime that has become unbearable to many.
What might happen to Egypt gives scary thought to many people because it is mot populous Arab country (almost 80 million), a leader in the Arab world, and one of the few Arab countries to have relations with Israel. Here too fundamentalism is expanding, growing in reaction to the country’s elites, whose power is almost absolute.
Islam is being used as a tool against the ills that afflict us. But these ills exist, not because “we are not Muslim” but because in our countries there is no justice, democracy, and respect for human rights. In fact Muslims want human rights but we do not know how to put them into practice them. Instead whilst we ponder about them, we turn to Sharia, which denies them, at least in part.
It is time we remove this ambiguity.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Arabic: 9/11 a Turning Point in Study of Arabic, Experts
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, FEBRUARY 26 — The attacks on September 11 2001 marked “an important turning-point” in the history of Arabic language studies in the western world, and especially in the United States, according to delegates at the International Conference on the modernisation of the Arabic language and its role in relation to other languages, taking place in Algiers. “Until September 11” said Walid El Anati, a professor at the University of Petra in Jordan, “with a few exceptions, Arabic did not interest Western governments or their populations. The political and social consequences of that day have pushed many Americans to study the language in order to understand the Muslim religion better.” Arab and American researchers found that “for 66% of students the spread of English does not impact negatively on the importance of Arabic”, and “38% are convinced that the study of Arabic will help their employment prospects”. The ‘Arabisation’ of the internet is fundamentally important for the researchers at the Conference. Only 3% of Internet content is related to the Arab culture, according to the latest study carried out by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. The reason for this, explained Mohamed Boultif of the Algerian University of Msila “is the dominance of the English language, as well as the lack of financial support and interest on the part of Arab-speaking nations, and the extremely difficult nature of the language”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Jez fjordman, you wrote way too much. Suffice it to say that you just can’t get to the moon on a pop-bottle rocket…..
Gregory, you’re on the wrong thread.
Those who believe that Adolf Hitler was sent by God and that Mein Kampf was divinely inspired will find the proposed EU laws very useful. At last they will be able to stop the continual attacks on Adolf Hitler and all his beliefs.
“An Islamic World in Crisis, Anti-Americanism and the Fight Against Israel
by Samir Khalil Samir”
What a gem this is. I hope it doesn’t get lost in the sheer volume of stuff.
The writer is that unicorn, a moderate Arab with introspective abilities about Islam while not condemning the West, encouraging both Muslims and westerners toward a middle ground. He includes some things the West might consider, like removing needlessly irritant American army bases from around the world (simultaneously relieving US military overextension) so a win win if it can be done signaling strength of purpose and focus rather than weakness. Another doable item may well be a clear American veto on Israeli expansion which would inconvenience only a minority extremist faction in Israel.
His encouragement for Muslims/Arabs to follow their grandparents ands meld the best of the West with Islamic principles, not sharia (and the belief that there is a best)is charming to say the least.
While giving unvarnished figures showing the attitude of the Muslim/Arab street that varies according to country to issues such as Bin Laden and Israel, he coaxes moderation.
This has gone into my “Best of” file, under best case by a true moderate and intelligent Arab of non-hysterical grievances that might be addressed to cut Bin Laden’s Public Relations advantage.
It is bizarre that the West that invented advertising methods cannot win the PR war against backward cultures living in caves. (Similarly Israel with its much vaunted smarter than everyone else population can’t out media blitz backward Palestinians?)
Why are we losing the war of words?