Sunday, January 03, 2010
Canada is hosting an organization that glorifies jihad and recruiting for terrorist organizations, by Iba Bouramine
All these years of cultural relativism, of accommodation and political correctness on radical Islam Canadian bear fruit. By dint of imagining that all the radicals are equal, we focus on the wrong targets. Radical Islam is rising and we do not even need to look to find them, they appear! One of the most radical movements of the Islamic world, Hizb ut-Tahrir has just moved openly in Canada. This movement is a kind of conduit for organizations like al Qaeda. He plays the role of agency recruitment and training for organizations Terros which themselves apply jihad in its most violent and also seeks, among other things, terrorism to advance the cause. For decades the Hizb ut-Tahrir acted secretly in the United States, organizing meetings and conferences under the name of organizations-screens. But things have changed. He became more rebellious and do more cache to spread its ideas in North America.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is an international movement which has the goal of restoring an Islamic state or caliphate-world - which encourages Muslims to support jihad. Its particularity is to provide resources to terrorism. The movement recruited and indoctrinated individuals unstable then we find in organizations 'act' like al-Qaida. One of these former members is Kahlid Sheikh Mohammad, an organizer of the attacks of September 11. There was also Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Hambali, head of Jemaa Islamiya terrorist group and Asif Muhammad Hanif and Omar Khan Sharif recruited by Hamas to carry out attacks in Tel Aviv.
Hizb ut-Tahrir was founded in 1952 by Sheikh Yaqiuddin Al-Nabhan, a man whose worldview was shaped by the Muslim Brotherhood, but found that the Brotherhood had become too moderate! After participating in the coup that failed in Egypt and Jordan, the Hizb ut-Tahrir was considered so radical it was banned throughout the Middle East. He then moved to Europe and after the fall of communism, it has spread in Central Asia.
It is difficult to estimate the number of its members. He certainly has grown since the attacks of September 11, said Madeleine Gruen, a principal analyst for the NEFA Foundation. In 2003 it was estimated that the movement had ten to one hundred thousand members worldwide. Today, this movement, active in forty countries, nearly one hundred thousand members not only in Indonesia and "several hundreds of thousands" in the world, according to Mrs. Gruen.
In the U.S., Hizb ut-Tahrir were hundreds of members. His ideology is a mixture of orthodox Islam, Marxism-Leninism, anti-Semitism and opposition to liberal democracies. Even if it arises in non-violent movement, the Hizb ut-Tahrir advocates, "the same vision and goals that al-Qaida," according to experts like Madeleine Gruen observes that the Hizb ut-Tahrir expands recruitment activities on a much broader basis.
Even if he does not organize terrorist acts, Hizb ut-Tahrir glorifies jihad and accuses of terrorist organizations like Hamas do not be so hard on Israel. In a brochure posted on its website July 1, the organization said that if the caliphate there, all of Palestine "would be cleared of occupants Jews" and brought "into the fold of the Islamic state."
HTA is also obsessed with the alleged nefarious U.S., President Obama and the capitalist system. This can be seen casting a glance at the titles of articles posted on its website.
The spokesman of Hizb ut-Tahrir emphasize that their organization is not engaged in terrorist activities and affirmed that the United States and Paskistan want to delete because they fear his fight for justice for Muslims .
Bullshit meet the criticisms. "Freedom and justice sought by hypertension can be achieved by violence, as it is to overthrow democracies." This was particularly backed the director of Center for Eurasian Policy Hudson Institute. Zeyno Baran.
Testifying before a Senate committee, Baran said: "It is unlikely that the Hisz ut-Tahrir is involved in terrorism. The terrorist action is not part of its mission. But this movement serves as training camps ideological and political Islamists. I have described as "a conveyor belt to terrorism".
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Labels: Canada, Iba Bouramine, Islam, Ontario, Pakistan, Religion and fanaticism, United States
Friday, December 04, 2009
Bolivia - Nurses forced to wear the veil, by Iba Bouramine
"It forces us to commit ourselves to be hidden if we want to be employed in this hospital," said an employee of the new hospital "Islamic Republic of Iran" opened November 24 in La Paz with Bolivian President Evo Morales and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
By order of the director, the entire female staff of the institution must submit to the measure, reports La Prensa de La Paz. This news caused a stir in the country. The opposition to Evo Morales addressed the Head of State "sold" and letters to the editor of the daily overflow of outraged letters. "We respect the Iranian laws in Iran, but the Bolivians apply other laws that we will enforce," he finally said Ramiro Tapia, Minister of Health. Financed by the Iranian government, the facility will start operations in January 2010.
Source: Courrier International, November 27, 2009
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Labels: Bolivia, Iba Bouramine, Iran, Religion and fanaticism
Sunday, November 15, 2009
A New Mosque in Nicaragua Fires Up the Rumor Mill, by Iba Bouramine
MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- With just 300 or so Muslims in all of Nicaragua, it became an instant mystery here when a big new mosque suddenly seemed to spring up recently in a residential neighborhood.
Like, who paid for it?
The ever-present Managua rumor mill quickly turned to the government of Iran. Its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a Muslim, and Nicaragua's leftist leader, Daniel Ortega, a Catholic, say they share a revolutionary kinship. As part of a grandiose effort to show that Iran is a global superpower, Mr. Ahmadinejad and his government promised in 2007 and 2008 to invest up to $1 billion in this impoverished country of 5.7 million, including a new city and deep-water port in a remote jungle on the Atlantic Coast.
Never mind that local Nicaraguan officials say they haven't heard a word on the port project ever since an Iranian-led delegation was confronted 18 months ago by angry villagers. Or that virtually none of the other announced investments have materialized.
The geopolitical chatter surrounding the gold-domed mosque, which opened in September after more than a year of construction, continues. "Did Iran put up the money? That's the question everyone asks," says Ismat Khatib, a native Nicaraguan lawyer and businessman who is of Palestinian descent. One Managua-based diplomat says it is believed Iran subsidized it.
But Mr. Khatib, who is treasurer of the Nicaraguan Islamic Cultural Association, which oversees the mosque, insists that the Iranian government contributed not a single córdoba. In fact, he says the only thing it actually promised to donate was a large, special rug for the mosque's prayer room -- and that it never arrived.
"This is the real version," says Mr. Khatib. "You can end the mystery with this."
Not quite. Speculation also surrounds who has been praying at the mosque, or la mezquita, which offers services five times a day, beginning at 4:30 a.m.
"All the Taliban," declares William Martinez, a 24-year-old barber at Le Moustache, a hair salon across the street. Natalie Melendez, a clerk at the Veo Veo video-rental store on the corner, offers a different account. "There are two types of people who use the mosque," she says, matter-of-factly. "The Arabs and the Iranians."
Muslims, particularly Palestinians, have been emigrating to Nicaragua for decades and have established a number of businesses here, especially in the fabric trade. But because their numbers are so small, their faith remains foreign to most Nicaraguans, who are largely Catholic or evangelical Christian. Many here refer to all Muslims or Middle Easterners as Turks, and seem to know next to nothing about their religious beliefs.
"They pray to the god of the moon so they only gather at night," says Ms. Melendez.
In an interview, Fahmi M. Hassan, a Palestinian fabric merchant and president of the Islamic cultural association, sought to dispel some of the myths surrounding the new mosque, which he says cost about $600,000.
Mr. Hassan -- who says Nicaragua's Muslims mostly are transplanted Palestinians, Jordanians and Pakistanis -- scoffs at rumors that Iran paid for the mosque. He says the Iranian Embassy in Managua angered the Muslim community here when it tried about a year ago to compete with his Islamic association by creating a similar entity with a nearly identical name -- the Nicaraguan Islamic Cultural Center.
"No one went," he says, noting that Nicaragua's Muslims are of the Sunni branch of the Islamic faith while most Iranians are of the smaller Shiite branch. Conflicts between the two main Islamic sects date back to the religion's earliest days and a dispute over who should succeed the prophet Muhammad as Muslim leader.
Mr. Hassan says the Iranian center closed after a few months. But he still counts Iran's ambassador to Nicaragua, Akbar Esmaeil Pour, as a friend. In fact, he says, the diplomat occasionally came to Managua's old mosque -- located in a small house a few blocks away from a busy strip of fabric stores -- to pray. Mr. Pour declined to be interviewed.
So who did pay for the mosque?
Mr. Hassan says the primary funder was a Pakistani-born businessman who lives in Honduras.
After seeing how tiny the old mosque was, the man offered to help finance a new prayer center on a piece of land purchased several years ago by local Muslims, Mr. Hassan says. "He paid around $350,000 and the rest was paid by the [Muslim] community in Nicaragua."
He identified the donor as Yusuf Amdani. Asked for Mr. Amdani's contact details, Mr. Hassan suggested using Google to find him.
Reached by telephone in Honduras, Mr. Amdani, who is chief executive of Grupo Karim's, a textile-and-construction company based in Honduras and Mexico, said, "There's no mystery about the mosque."
He confirmed Mr. Hassan's account, saying his company, which also financed the only mosque in Honduras, agreed to pay for the new Managua prayer center, although he scaled back the original plans. He also says he didn't pay for an adjoining annex that includes a school and an apartment for the imam, and suggested the Iranian government may have helped fund that.
"I wouldn't doubt if they gave some money to help them out," he says. "I would say they must have."
Mr. Khatib says his family paid for the annex.
On a recent visit to the mosque, a Wall Street Journal reporter was stopped by security guards at the front gate and, without explanation, was denied access to an afternoon ceremony. Just then, two local Nicaraguan businessmen drove up in a car and attempted to enter.
They publish a Managua tourist map and were hoping to discuss with Mr. Hassan including the new mosque in next year's edition. Unfolding the map, Julio Gonzales noted that the current one has a cathedral, but no mosque and said that many tourists have been asking where the new one is.
"He's very busy," said a man inside the front gate. "He'll have to call you back." Turning to leave, Mr. Gonzales took another look at the mosque. "Good building," he said in English.
Maybe so, but it turns out that this one shares something in common with many construction projects the world over -- a dispute with the contractor.
José Ocon, who built the mosque for Mr. Amdani, says he's owed $15,000 because of some last-minute changes to the dome he made at the local Muslim community's request -- increasing its height and adding a row of windows.
He says he called Mr. Hassan and said, "I need to get together to discuss the extras that you all requested."
The builder says Mr. Hassan replied, "What extras?"
Mr. Hassan says he doesn't know anything about the contractor's claim. Mr. Khatib says it's Mr. Amdani's problem since he agreed to pay for the mosque. Mr. Amdani says he'll look into the matter.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ocon recalled that at one point during construction, a local newspaper called him and asked if he was building a new Iranian Embassy. "I said, 'No, I was making a mosque.'"
Write to Steve Stecklow at steve.stecklow@wsj.com
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Labels: Iba Bouramine, Islam, Nicaragua, Religion and fanaticism
Monday, September 07, 2009
International links linger after 'Toronto 18' member imprisoned, by Iba Bouramine
BRAMPTON -- He has been called the Terrorist Mr. Fix-It. Aabid Hussein Khan was an avid al-Qaeda supporter who recruited young Muslims and arranged their passage to Pakistan for terrorist training.
Although he lived in central England, Khan travelled often, including to Toronto, where he intended to rent an apartment for recruits on their way to Pakistan's network of weapons training camps.
"He was always spoken of in the sense of one who could facilitate travel to places for training and was particularly hopeful of having a place near Toronto, where his wife lived," said Mubin Shaikh, who informed on Khan's associates in Toronto for the RCMP.
Now in a British prison, Khan is considered a key figure in a terrorist network that spanned a half-dozen countries, including Canada. He is also one of a growing number of friends, associates and co-conspirators within that network who have been convicted of terrorist crimes following a series of overlapping investigations.
Three years after Canadian police arrested 18 Toronto-area men and accused them of plotting terrorist al-Qaeda-inspired attacks in Southern Ontario, the suspected ringleaders have not yet had their day in court.
But related trials in Britain, the United States and elsewhere have already ended with convictions, and yesterday Saad Khalid was sentenced in a Brampton court to 14 years for his involvement in the Toronto bomb plot.
Khalid was the first of the "Toronto 18" to plead guilty, and the second to be sentenced following last year's conviction of a juvenile, but convictions are accumulating outside Canada as well.
In Atlanta, Ehsanul Islam Sadequee was convicted last month. Another Atlanta man, Syed Haris Ahmed, was found guilty in June. U.S. District Court Judge William Duffey Jr. wrote that the pair had met at least one of the Canadian suspects in Toronto to discuss training in Pakistan and potential terrorist targets.
In London meanwhile, Khan was convicted along with two other British men last August. When he was arrested in 2006, after returning to Britain from Pakistan, police found a video allegedly showing some of the Toronto suspects training at a camp in Ontario. The Atlanta, British and Toronto men were referred to as "co-conspirators" during the U.S. trial, and their online chats (seized from Khan's computer hard drive) were introduced into evidence.
"There were powerful international linkages," Jack Hooper, who was the deputy director of operations at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service at the time of the investigations, said in an interview.
Defence lawyer David Kolinsky, who represents one of the Toronto suspects, said the convictions would not affect the cases of the nine accused still awaiting trial in Brampton.
The jurors must base their verdict solely on the evidence presented in court, and the links between the Toronto suspects and those already convicted were neither strong nor relevant, he said. "The Crown is going to try to introduce meetings of those individuals into evidence and try to prove that as some part of a conspiracy. It might have an impact on the case but I don't see that happening at the trial."
The Canadian investigation was launched by CSIS and targeted Toronto-area youths the agency believed had adopted an al-Qaeda-type extremist ideology. The RCMP began its own investigation, called Project Osage, in 2005 and paid Mr. Shaikh and a second agent named Shaher Elsohemy to infiltrate the group.
While Canadian authorities were following the Toronto suspects, a British investigation called Operation Praline and an FBI investigation known as Northern Exposure were examining the activities of men with suspected links to the Ontario group. Police in Denmark, Bosnia and Bangladesh were also involved.
The police probes targeted small groups of young men who were allegedly using the Internet to discuss plans for paramilitary training and terrorist attacks. Some of them had also met face to face in Toronto and Pakistan. Evan Kohlmann, who testified as an expert witness at the Atlanta trial and attended the London trial as an observer, described the suspects in Toronto, Atlanta and the U.K. as "teammates."
As they became increasingly radical, Mr. Kohlmann said, the youths decided they needed training, which is where Khan came in. Also known as Abu Umar, Khan told the group he could arrange for them to visit camps in Pakistan run by Jaishe Mohamed and Lashkar Tayiba, the terrorist group behind the recent Mumbai attacks.
In his online chats, Khan discussed renting an apartment in Toronto that would be used by recruits going to and from the camps in Pakistan. The two Atlanta men eventually visited Toronto to discuss the training plans. Sadequee and Ahmed took a bus to Toronto in February, 2005 to met three men, including a member of the Toronto 18 group, said a "findings of fact" released last month by the U.S. judge.
"Specifically, they discussed and agreed upon a plan for members of the group to travel to Pakistan to obtain paramilitary training," he wrote. They also discussed "strategic locations" in the United States that could be potential targets for terrorist attacks, such as military bases, oil storage facilities and refineries.
The judge wrote that the Americans later filmed dozens of videos of Washington, D.C., landmarks and sent some of them to Khan, and that "one of the purposes of transmitting the Washington, D.C., videos to Khan was to assist in planning attacks in the United States."
Meanwhile, the Toronto group began building detonators and making plans for a series of bombings in Southern Ontario, according to a "statement of uncontested facts" released by the Crown.
The bombs were to be placed in three rented U-Haul vans and detonated remotely at about 9 a.m. in mid-November 2006 at the Toronto Stock Exchange, the CSIS regional office beside the CN Tower and at a military base off Highway 401 between Toronto and Ottawa, it said.
One of the accused told Mr. Elsohemy, the undercover agent, the bombings would be the "battle of Toronto" and described how "glass will be shattered on the streets, cars will be flipped and streets will be damaged." He said, "there will be blood, glass and debris everywhere."
The purpose of the attacks was to pressure Canada to withdraw from Afghanistan and "screw" Stephen Harper, the government and the military, the statement said.
A suspect also told the agent he had suggested the group film a video that would make it look like "al-Qaeda was the one who did it" and proposed they use the name "al-Qaeda organization in Canada," the statement of facts said.
The alleged ringleader of the bomb plot allegedly intended to leave for Pakistan the day before the Toronto attacks, and then make his way to Afghanistan, where he thought he would be "considered a leader."
But no attacks ever occurred. Khan, Sadequee, Ahmed and the Toronto suspects were arrested in 2006. A Swedish associate in Bosnia known as Maximus, and a Moroccan known as Terrorist007, were also arrested and have since been convicted.
At the trials in London and Atlanta, Khan was portrayed as, if not the leader, at least a central figure in the international network. The judge in the Atlanta case called him a recruiter for Pakistani terrorist groups. The evidence of Mr. Kohlmann, the evidence in the trials in London and Atlanta and the findings of fact by Judge Duffey have not been introduced or tested as evidence at a trial of any of the Toronto 18 in court in Brampton. Mr. Shaikh, the RCMP agent, said an interview Khan was "spoken of as one who had extensive connections" with like-minded youths in Europe, North America and South Asia. "I was shown a CD on which he was in Afghanistan participating in hostilities," he said.
Khan testified he had "strong Islamic beliefs" and had been using computers since a young age to follow the struggles of Muslims around the world. "I felt upset and angry," he said.
Later, he began engaging in online discussions about Muslim issues and jihad but prosecutors said that progressed to talk about training and terrorist attacks. Khan visited Pakistan repeatedly and said he came to Toronto in March 2005 to settle an inheritance and marry.
The Crown Prosecution Service in Britain said Khan was the leader of a British cell that had accumulated a library of terrorist information such as guides on making explosives and step-by-step instructions on how to make a suicide vest.
"Aabid Khan was very much the ‘Mr. Fix-It' of the group," the prosecution service said in a statement following Khan's conviction. "He preyed on vulnerable young people and turned them into recruits to his cause, using Internet chat rooms to lure them in then incite them to fight. He arranged their passage to Pakistan for terrorism training, and talked about ‘a worldwide battle.' "
Labels: Canada, Iba Bouramine, Religion and fanaticism, Terrorism, Toronto
Friday, June 12, 2009
Sweden Islamic suicide, by Iba Bouramine
Sweden has decided to commit suicide, she is not alone in this tired old Europe and undermined by too many safeguards against virtually all the risks, including that of being responsible for oneself. Europeans gave the soul in freedom and the state has removed the most important freedoms, that of being oneself. The state has so decided by hosting hundreds of thousands of Muslims fundamentally hostile to Sweden as in any Western democracy. Some may charge for this reckless or misguided, but that it is maintained against the wish of the majority of Swedes prove that it is a deliberate policy of national suicide.
The Swedish state, as everywhere in the West suffers from a fundamental flaw that we can call tunnel vision, or the inability to acknowledge the detrimental effects of a given policy. Immigration policy 'objectives seemingly noble and useful hosting refugees fleeing the conflict, reunification of families, ethnic diversity seen as an opportunity or wealth, solution to the crisis of birth etc. Like a doctor who uses a recipe blindly without taking into account the reaction of the patient, the technocrats to implement their country horse medicine without regard to side effects and toxicity.
Politicians, self-righteous and technocrats know they are destroying their own country slowly, and this seems to them a morbid satisfaction. Derived mainly from the left and convey ideas in fashion on the causes of conflict and the problems of the third world, they see themselves as aid workers who contribute to the rapprochement between peoples. Sweden without any colonial past is seen as responsible, however the misfortune of the third world. This responsibility is never explained, there is no valid argument to support, it is not rational, it is mainly the complex of guilt peoples inhabiting the rich North.
This feeling of guilt is supported by the State, ie by politicians supported by the self-righteous and technocrats. He was immediately stripped of its emotional dimension, streamlined and embedded as a component of our identity. This successful transformation, it becomes possible to establish it as a basis for policy and international assistance that much more dangerous immigration.
The establishment formed by the self-righteous, politicians and technocrats can not call into question a policy, it was wrong at its base. The arrogance and dictatorship of the good feelings prevented the establishment enjoys then the punishment inflicted on the guilty, the host country. Indeed, the feeling of guilt underlying the existence of a fault or a crime, which must be atoned for, and what better than being punished by those against whom the crime (imaginary) was committed. That is why the serial rape, racist attacks against the Swedish original, riots, vandalism, destruction of public property are not punished and the perpetrators rarely apprehended. Islamist immigrants do not lose time to test their victims, the weakness of the authorities and the police, the support of the Left and the anarchists confirm their struggle against the society. Allah is great, he confused the enemy and makes certain his defeat!
Thus the complex of guilt combined with Western fantasies about achievements of Muslims in the battlefield where the very survival of the West is weighed. Muslims generally and Islamists in particular, know that they are waging a war without thank you for the domination of Islam. Westerners in turn dare not even admit that a war was declared, those who dare to call her immediately stigmatized.
The morbid guilt complex carefully maintained by the West slowly and surely leads to suicide. Sweden, like the Netherlands and England, has to let go for less than a generation the country will be delivered to Islamic fascism. The arrogant and self-elites refuse to acknowledge through their blunders and their responsibility, the left is well known does not commit an error, no error but rather the people who had committed in putting the left in power!
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Labels: Iba Bouramine, Islam, Religion and fanaticism, Sweden
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Did Jesus ever lied?, by Iba Bouramine
Jesus lied in John, Chapter 7.
In John, chapter seven, there is talk of a banquet which the disciples go. Jesus said he will not go to the party, but then went there on the sly.
In french, we have the translation Sower:
The world has no reason to hate you, but me it hates me because I testify that his actions are bad. So, go to the feast, for my part, I'm not going to [b] because the time has not yet come for me. After having said this, he remained in Galilee. But when his brothers were gone for the feast, he gave him, but secretly, without showing.
And b we note that "Some manuscripts have: I'm not going."
And Louis Segond, actually:
Mount you, in this celebration, for me, I did mount, because my time is not yet completed. After having said this, he remained in Galilee. When his brothers were fitted to the party, it climbed as himself, not publicly, but as in secret.
Bayard in the translation is even more pronounced:
Rendez-vous at the party, I will not go, the opportunity is not there yet. (...) Yet, once his brethren to the party, he went there too, not in broad daylight, but as in secret.
In English version VIN:
Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. You go to the Feast. I am not [yet] going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.” Having said this, he stayed in Galilee. However, after his brothers had left for the feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.
The "yet" was added. Some try to explain it by saying that Jesus said he did not go with those who came to invite him.
The King James Version offers another explanation. The passage is phrased as if Jesus first mentioned the "feast" (feast) as the afterlife or something like:
Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast: for my time is not yet full come. When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee. But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.
The American Standard Version does not "yet":
Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because (K) My time has not yet fully come. "9Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee. 10But when His (L) brothers had gone up to the feast, then HeHimself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret.
Jesus lied about his return
It puts into the mouth of Jesus words concerning the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven and the return of the messiah. For example in Luke:
Then they see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to happen, straighten up and raise your heads, because your delivery approach. - Luke 21:32 (emphasis added)
Jesus told his disciples that they will return, as many will be still alive when he returns:
For the son of man comes in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then travel to each according to his conduct. Verily I say unto you: There are a few of those here who point not taste death until they see the son of man coming in his kingdom. Mat. 16:27-28. (Trad. Darby)
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Labels: Iba Bouramine, Religion and fanaticism, Science and theory
Monday, April 13, 2009
Algeria - "The people kabyle is based not recognize as its President Bouteflika", by Iba Bouramine
"The people kabyle is based not recognize as its President Bouteflika"
The presidential elections have just taken place in Algeria gave results with the only surprise is the act of power lies in the participation rate in Kabylia. With the slogan of the boycott made by all political forces that have a real anchor, the people kabyle has adhered closely to the record.
The participation figures announced by the Minister of Interior no relation to reality, especially when one knows what the climate of violence and unrest polling day took place. Multiplying by ten the real rate of participation in these elections in Kabylie, the Algerian authorities to ridicule a little more while generating unanimous disapproval and condemnation of the Country Kabyles.
MAK pays tribute to all those who refused to go to the polls for not wanting to betray the memory of martyrs of the "black spring" the wounds of our disabled by bullets, and by remaining faithful to decades struggles and sacrifices made by many generations of Kabyles for their values, their dignity and freedom.
As in 1980 and 2001, history was written in letters of gold all these young people who braved the danger of physically preventing death on 9 April 2009 the forces of repression from many vote in place of the citizens in our cities and our villages. Particularly between Tuvirett and Aqvu.
MAK shall witness opinion on Algeria and falsification of official figures from the 2009 presidential Kabylie.
THE PEOPLE KABYLE IS NOT ENTITLED TO RECOGNIZE BOUTEFLIKA AS ITS PRESIDENT
Kabylia participate willingly in the presidential elections on the day it will have its regional autonomy, and justice for the murderers of his children.
And democracy as secularism must prevail again in Algeria.
Labels: Algeria, Iba Bouramine
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Great Britain - Great anti-Sharia demonstration in London. "Une loi pour tous !", par Iba Bouramine "One law for all", by Iba Bouramine
The British know that the protests we have seen in Ontario in 2005 after a government commission has recommended the introduction of Sharia law. This attempt failed thanks to the efforts of the Toronto Homa Arjomand who orchestrated an international campaign to combat it. In Britain, the former Muslim Maryam Namazie who coordinates the campaign.
Recently, the Globe and Mail shamelessly opened its pages to a review of the Islamist Sheema Khan, who called - again! - for the introduction of sharia law in Ontario. Across the West, obsessed with Islamic Sharia, they never let go.
A law for all! ...legal pluralism, it's racism!
Hundreds of people from all backgrounds and ethnicities gathered on Saturday 7 March 2009 in Trafalgar Square for a rally against the sharia. This event was to celebrate the International Year of Women, and many women were present to take a stand against this system of unjust and discriminatory laws.
After several eloquent speeches, the rally ended and the event began. Many curious have proclaimed their approval, and many of them chose to join the march. This illustrates how widespread the dissatisfaction with politics islamophile Labor. There is a larger groundswell of opposition to sharia law among citizens and the political elite should pay attention to the fact that the barbarism of Sharia will never be tolerated in Britain, and that parties who are the lawyers and the government does now, are doomed to political failure.
It is really amazing that people are forced to protest against Sharia law in Britain in the 21st century. This is the terrible reflection of the policy of a government that has claimed so long as it modernized Britain. It seems that the idea of modernization meant a return to an era of medieval barbarism.
The march ended at Conway Hall and was followed by a public meeting. The most positive message that is out of this day was that of a left that had awakened, begins to question the idea of multiculturalism, and to the extent of the damage that this ideology has led to 'social harmony and the institutions of Britain. See the sacred cow of multiculturalism be rejected by some of its former supporters is a very positive development. It was said at that meeting that multiculturalism is a big step towards a society of apartheid and that this can not be canceled only by a single law that applies equally to all.
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Labels: Iba Bouramine, Islam, Religion and fanaticism, Sharia, United Kingdom
Friday, March 06, 2009
Darfur: MSF strongly protests further expulsion, medical programs forced to halt, by Iba Bouramine
People of Darfur held hostage to political and judicial agendas
MSF calls upon Government of Sudan to repeal decision and allow vital assistance to people of Darfur to resume
This morning, the Sudanese authorities in Khartoum demanded the immediate expulsion of a second section of the international medical organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The decision, brutal and sudden, follows the expulsion Wednesday of another section of the organization. MSF is appalled by this order, which clearly holds the needs of the population of Darfur hostage to political and judicial agendas. The organization protests the order in the strongest of terms and appeals to the government to repeal these decisions and allow MSF to resume independent and impartial humanitarian assistance immediately.
“The order to expel MSF from Darfur is a dramatic turn of events that will have unprecedented consequences for the people of the region. Much of the population of Darfur is totally dependent on international humanitarian aid,” says Dr. Christophe Fournier, International President of MSF. “The sudden halt of our medical programs, including vital surgical, nutrition, and basic healthcare programs, in large areas of Darfur will have an immediate and devastating impact on the population.”
The vast needs of the population left unaddressed by the expulsion of so many aid organizations leaves a huge void in assistance, impossible for any remaining agency to adequately fulfill. The basic needs of hundreds of thousands of people will now go unmet, be they medical, food, water and sanitation. Outbreaks of meningitis in Kalma camp and Niertiti – where an estimated 130,000 people are in urgent need of vaccination – risk going completely unanswered.
The remaining sections of MSF working in Darfur are committed to continuing to provide medical care in the areas where they are working. However, this is a far cry from addressing the extent of the needs throughout Darfur.
“The ability to provide independent humanitarian assistance in Darfur has been drastically diminished over the past year, but the actions of the Government of Sudan this week risk to cut off humanitarian assistance for displaced and local populations in large areas of Darfur,” adds Christophe Fournier. “The needs of the population are falling prey to political and judicial ends, which is wholly unacceptable. We appeal to the government to immediately repeal its decision and allow for independent and impartial humanitarian assistance for the people in Darfur.”
MSF firmly reiterates that the organization is completely independent of the International Criminal Court and does not cooperate with or provide any information to it.
MSF has been working in Sudan since 1979 and in Darfur since 2003. While MSF has now been expelled from delivering critical healthcare in five areas of West and South Darfur, including Feina in Jebel Mara, Kalma, Muhajariya, Niertiti and Zalingei, MSF teams continue to provide care in West Darfur in Golo and Killin, and in North Darfur in Kebkabiya, Kaguro, Serif Umra, Shangil Tobaya and Tawila. Prior to the expulsion, more than 100 MSF international staff and approximately 1,625 MSF Sudanese staff worked tirelessly to deliver essential medical aid to hundreds of thousands of people throughout Darfur.
Link
Labels: Darfur, Doctors Without Borders, Iba Bouramine, Sudan
Thursday, March 05, 2009
How to come out as an atheist, by Iba Bouramine
I look at my search engine results quite a bit and have noticed that several people find my blog by typing in the phrase, “How to come out as an atheist” so I’ve decided to write a bit from my own experience for those who are seeking inspiration.
Step One: Realize you’re an atheist. This may seem to be a given but for the longest time people will have the knowledge that they don’t believe in a god and still label themselves otherwise. You’re an atheist. If you can’t share this with anyone yet, refer to yourself as one privately.
Step Two: Tell a trusted friend, mentor or family member (preferably someone who isn’t too religious himself). This is a test - not for the person you’re telling (well, maybe a little) but to see how well you handle his reaction. Having your friend accept you is the best possible outcome but isn’t guaranteed. If you meet rejection or criticism, don’t be discouraged. You’ll meet much more in the coming years. If you don’t get the reaction you hoped for try coming out to someone else. People will always surprise you.
Step Three: Join an atheist/humanist/skeptical/freethinker meet-up group in your area. If there isn’t one in your area, consider joining atheist-friendly forums like the Richard Dawkins Foundation or the James Randi Educational Foundation. You should definitely join Atheist Nexus where you’ll find tons of like-minded individuals and causes to suit your tastes. You can start your own group, post in the forums or write your own blog entries.
Step Four: Get used to the controversy. A good way of doing this is starting your own blog and receiving negative feedback online which is much less intimidating than someone belching out fiery hallelujahs in your face. Eventually it won’t affect you and you’ll learn that the sort of people who write the most vitriolic responses are not people you’d have in your life in any fashion anyhow.
Step Five: You should have the cojones now. You don’t have to introduce yourself to people by saying, “Hello. My name is Kate Holden and I’m an atheist. What now, punk?” but if the subject is being discussed you should have no shame in sharing your world views. I’ll admit that at my last job I used the term ‘not religious’ as I worked with highly religious people in a small conservative bible-belt town and felt my job would be in jeopardy if I came out to them. That’s pretty much the exception, though.
Step Six: Remember that you’re not alone. Participating in meet-up groups and forums will help you feel like you’re a part of something, especially if you live in an area of the world where being an atheist is particularly bad for your social status. And if all else fails, come out to me. I’ll accept you.
Link
Labels: Creationism, Iba Bouramine
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
How the West was duped, by Iba bouramine
When Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini announced on Valentine's Day 1989 the death sentence on Salman Rushdie for writing The Satanic Verses, and others associated with its publication and translation, it was his last major pronouncement as the radical religious leader and founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Khomeini died in June 1989. His notorious edict as the opening salvo of the Islamist war against the West, however, still remains lethal in censoring free speech and driving fear into the hearts of anyone daring to submit Islam and Muslim history to critical scrutiny.
It would be fair to say the West did not know what to make of Khomeini's incitement to murder 20 years ago. Or of Rushdie who was forced to hide under British protection from those who might kill him for the $5.2-million bounty on offer.
The edict against Rushdie was lifted officially by Khomeini's successors in 1998. But to the ever-lasting shame of many around the world, the edict sparked a debate over the propriety of any expression, such as Rushdie's book, that could be viewed as insulting Islam.
This debate is far from over and it continues to cast a chilling spell over freedom of expression that could well be characterized as the essential value of the secular West. Khomeini's success in confounding the West came from a simple, yet ingenious tactic of dressing his politics in the garment of religion.
Instead of repudiating Khomeini's politics, and that of the Islamists, the West contorted itself, with its policy of official multiculturalism, to accommodate the vulgar and neo-barbaric politics aggressively promoted as religion.
Complicit
Twenty years on and it would be fair to say the West has become somewhat complicit in the politics unleashed by Khomeini, and pushed relentlessly by Islamists ever since, to silence and punish critics of Islam and Muslim history.
The profound irony here is that Muslims can only be politically liberated by subjecting Islam to unfettered critical inquiry as was done with Christianity. Only then they may recover their faith as a matter of personal conscience, instead of being suffocated by an Islam perverted into a tool of totalitarian politics ever since the early years of Arab-Muslim history.
Within the Muslim world any effort to engage in such a task, that eventually demolishes the totalitarian control of the power holders over Islam, carries with it mortal risks. Khomeini's edict against Rushdie was to set a forbidding example.
Only in a relatively free and secure environment could anyone, especially Muslims, engage in the task of salvaging Islam's pristine message of monotheism and God's mercy in a world of unending struggle between good and evil. It is also through such efforts, and by not appeasing Islamists, that a mutually respectful and genuine coexistence of non-Muslims and Muslims might be constructed.
But when the West concedes to Islamists in the mistaken belief that subjecting Islam and Muslim history to intensive criticism amounts to "hate speech" and must not be allowed, then freedom is undermined and totalitarianism in the Arab-Muslim world gets further entrenched.
Muslims need to become free of totalitarian Islam and the least the West can do in support is not concede an inch of its own hard-won freedom in quest of false peace with Islamists.
Link
Labels: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iba Bouramine, Salman Rushdie
The director of Channel 4 receives death threats for broadcasting a documentary on gay Muslims, by Iba Bouramine
Muslim leaders have attacked Channel 4 for a television documentary that shows how the Muslim gays and lesbians suffer under Islamic law.
Its director has received death threats because homosexuality is forbidden by the Koran.
The leaders of the station are now preparing for a backlash. The digital channel More 4 will broadcast A Jihad For Love tonight.
The program lifts the lid on the struggle of gays and lesbians Muslims face with their faith and sexuality.
The documentary shows not only Muslims dare gay kiss, hold hands and discuss marriage, but he speaks also reports on the atrocious suffering they suffer under Islamic law.
And it reveals death threats and punishments that are gays in these countries, including Egypt and Iran.
Indian filmmaker Parvez Sharma, who spent six years making the documentary, revealed: "I've had death threats on my blog after this film. Some countries have even banned. " Islamic leaders in the United Kingdom have attacked the documentary, saying it would offend, provoke anger and shock.
Link
Labels: Iba Bouramine, Religion and fanaticism, United Kingdom
Monday, February 09, 2009
Canada - Islamist Sheema Khan calls for Sharia courts. Again!, by Iba Bouramine
Sheema Khan, Islamist by his own words, the founder of CAIR-CAN, would like to see the issue of Sharia discount on the agenda. It is a true obsession ... After a first unsuccessful attempt to introduce sharia law in Ontario in 2005, which was blocked by the international campaign launched by the Toronto Homa Arjomand, is that Sheema Khan fights back!
Also note the approach of Mrs Khan: Muslims need sharia because of the malice of Canadians! In fact, she seeks to spread the ideology of Saudi Arabia in Canada. It was his purpose in life. Ms. Khan, if you want to live under sharia law, why do not you move in a Muslim country?
In the U.S., the FBI has cut all contact with CAIR because of its links with the terrorist organization Hamas.
The atheist Pat Condell: Stop sharia law in Britain. The first clip on the subject was censored by YouTube, and then republished. He produced it afterwards:
In December 2006, the Environics polling firm interviewed 500 Muslim adults across Canada on issues related to their experience of life in Canada.
The majority think they are better treated here than in any other Western country, that the quality of life of Muslim women is better here than anywhere else (including most Muslim countries), that Canadians are less hostile to 'Islam as European citizens, and they are willing to adopt Canadian customs.
Yet 44% of Canadian Muslims believe that Canada should accommodate their beliefs, while 81% of the population believe that immigrants should adopt Canadian values. In particular, 53% of Muslims believe that Sharia should be recognized as the legal basis for resolving family disputes, while the overwhelming majority of the population as a whole does not agree.
Among those surveyed, 55% Muslim and 59% of Muslims aged 18 to 29 have indicated their preference for Shariah. These figures suggest that the question of the use of Sharia in Canada is far from dead, even if the courts of arbitration of Shariah are considered illegal in several provinces.
Here the underlying question: Why this growing affinity for sharia? Since 9 / 11, Muslims in Canada have experienced an increase in discrimination. This has a direct impact on identity and how a minority perceives its acceptance by the majority. The acerbic, sometimes racist, the controversial debate on sharia law in Ontario has forced many Muslims to focus on sharia as part of their identity, with the result that a plurality wants to respect the Islamic principles in the law the family.
Making illegal Islamic Courts will not remove the problem. In the absence of court supervision informal sharia, it risks being confused with the situation prevailing in Britain.
Link
Labels: Canada, Iba Bouramine, Islam, Religion and fanaticism, Sharia, United Kingdom
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
US: Steps to End Torture Set a New Course, par Iba Bouramine
(Washington, DC) - US President Barack Obama's executive order to end the use of torture sets a new course for US counterterrorism policy, Human Rights Watch said today. Obama's decision to issue this order within two days of becoming president signals the high priority the new president places on establishing legal and effective counterterrorism policies.
"For years, the Bush administration claimed, ‘We do not torture,' yet approved methods like waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and prolonged exposure to cold," said Jennifer Daskal, senior counterterrorism counsel at Human Rights Watch. "President Obama's order rejecting such practices is a major step toward restoring America's moral authority around the world."
The executive order on torture issued today sets a government-wide single standard of humane interrogation, ends the use of secret CIA "black sites" for detention, and mandates that the International Committee of the Red Cross be granted access to all detainees held by the US outside of the ordinary criminal or immigration system.
Under the order, all government agencies are required to apply the Army field manual on interrogation - which has been used by the military since 2006 - without exception. The order also prohibits the reliance on any of the Bush Justice Department's legal opinions on interrogation or detention.
"This executive order makes meaningful the US commitment not to torture detainees," Daskal said. "President Obama has rejected the abusive practices of the last seven-and-a-half years."
The order also creates an interagency task force, led by the attorney general, to evaluate the interrogation practices allowed by the Army field manual, "and, if warranted, to recommend any additional or different guidance for other departments or agencies."
Human Rights Watch said that any new interrogation manual should apply a single standard across all government agencies. The manual should be public and include an exhaustive list of approved techniques that all follow the "Golden Rule" standard.
"Today, Obama made huge strides to put US counterterrorism policies on a legal and effective course," said Daskal. "He should now categorically reject the illogical claim that the standard for humane and effective treatment somehow varies across agency."
The order does not address the legality of what is known as rendition to torture - the practice of illegally transferring a person to a country where he or she faces torture or persecution - and instead leaves review of that practice to the task force as well. The best known case is that of Maher Arar, a dual Canadian-Syrian citizen arrested at New York's John F. Kennedy airport in September 2002, flown to Jordan, and then driven across the border to Syria, where he was detained in a tiny cell for almost a year and tortured repeatedly.
Human Rights Watch said that Obama repeatedly condemned the practice of rendition to torture on the campaign trail, and urged him to put an end to this illegal practice as well.
An executive order on Guantanamo, also issued today, sets January 2010 as a date certain for the prison's final closure, suspends the use of military commissions, and puts in motion a review of the detainees' files.
Another order creates an interagency task force to review detention and interrogation policies going forward. A fourth order mandates a review of the fate of Saleh al-Marri, a Qatari who was on the eve of trial for credit card fraud when he was declared an "enemy combatant" and transferred to a naval brig in South Carolina in 2003. He has been there ever since.
"At the end of the review period, we hope and expect that Obama will either return al-Marri to federal court or order his release," said Daskal.
Link
Labels: Human Rights Watch, Iba Bouramine, United States
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Central African Republic: Civilians Need Protection, by Iba Bouramine
(New York) - While the government and rebel groups take steps toward ending the civil war in the Central African Republic (CAR), civilians in the northwestern part of the country are being abused at the hands of a variety of armed groups, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today.
The 23-page briefing paper, "Improving Civilian Protection in the Central African Republic," released following a round of peace talks that began on December 5 in the capital, Bangui, urged the government to make civilian protection the highest priority and to adopt measures to protect civilians better in insecure areas in the country's lawless northwest. It also urged the United Nations and regional groups to support this effort.
"The people in this area are at the mercy of uncontrolled armed groups and gangs of armed bandits," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The government should be making every effort to protect them, beginning with expanding military patrols and making clear that attackers will not get away with their crimes."
In 2008, Human Rights Watch documented attacks against civilians in the region by rebels from the Popular Army for the Restoration of the Republic and of Democracy (Armée populaire pour la restauration de la République et la démocratie, APRD) and by elements of the Chadian National Army (Armée Nationale du Tchad, ANT).
Human Rights Watch also documented violent abuses by loosely organized bandits, known as zaraguinas, who are a huge threat to civilians in the northern part of the country.
The government's regular Central African Armed Forces (Forces Armées Centrafricaines, FACA) has been ineffective in protecting civilians from these armed groups, largely because it lacks the capacity, but also because of the way it operates. Many units are confined to Bangui, and when they go to the danger zones, they do not conduct regular patrols and generally venture no further than a few kilometers from the towns in which they are based. In some instances documented by Human Rights Watch, government forces did not give civilians effective warning of impending military operations and used indiscriminate lethal force, killing civilians during military operations.
"The mere deployment of security forces that are poorly armed, badly trained, or are not strategically mobilized to safeguard civilians is clearly failing to achieve the necessary protection," Gagnon said. "If the government sends out well-trained, well-equipped soldiers beyond the capital and the immediate vicinity of army bases, it will be able to protect civilians more effectively."
Last year, the FACA assumed primary responsibility for security in the northwest from the government's elite Presidential Guard, which had summarily executed and seriously abused civilians while conducting counterinsurgency operations in the region from 2005 to 2007. Human Rights Watch reported on these abuses in a September 2007 report, "State of Anarchy: Rebellion and Abuses Against Civilians".
The withdrawal of most Presidential Guard units from the northwest reduced government attacks against civilians in the region. But the individuals known to be responsible for the worst human rights abuses during 2005-2007 have yet to answer for their crimes.
"The lack of accountability is one of the major impediments to protecting human rights and establishing the rule of law in the Central African Republic," said Gagnon. "The government is required to investigate and prosecute those responsible for rights violations, and failure to do so can lead to even more serious abuses."
While the government bears primary responsibility for improving civilian protection, regional and multinational organizations may be in a position to enhance those efforts. Both the United Nations and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) have sent missions to the Central African Republic, including peacekeeping troops, which can augment government efforts to improve civilian protection in the northwest by conducting patrols in insecure areas.
The United Nations Peace-Building Support Office in the Central African Republic (Bureau d'appui des Nations Unies pour la consolidation de la paix en République centrafricaine, BONUCA) can help counter impunity by monitoring judicial proceedings and facilitating practical aspects of investigations such as transportation and forensics.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) can also support efforts to ensure accountability for international crimes by encouraging domestic judicial processes. If the government is unable or unwilling to hold those responsible for war crimes to account, the ICC may have jurisdiction.
Background
The country's current president, François Bozizé, came to power in 2003 after deposing Ange-Félix Patassé in a coup d'etat. Bozizé was elected president in 2005 elections that were considered free and fair but that excluded Patassé. Shortly thereafter, rebellion broke out in Patassé's home region in the northwest.
The main rebel group there, the Popular Army for the Restoration of the Republic and Democracy (Armée Populaire pour la restauration de la République et la Démocratie, APRD), largely consisted of elements of Patassé's Presidential Guard. A separate rebellion in the northeastern part of the country, led by the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (Union des forces démocratiques pour le rassemblement, UFDR), consisted mainly of soldiers who helped bring Bozizé to power but later turned against him for failing to compensate them adequately for their support. A third group, the Democratic Front of the Central African People (Front démocratique du peuple centrafricain, FDPC), was led by Abdoulaye Miskine, a Chadian with close ties to the Libyan government.
On June 21, 2008, the Popular Army and the Union of Democratic Forces signed a peace accord that extended a general amnesty to all parties to the conflict (except individuals accused of war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, or any offense within the jurisdiction of the ICC) and prepared the groundwork for an internationally mediated Inclusive Political Dialogue (Dialogue Politique Inclusif) between the government, former rebel factions and civil society groups. An opening round of peace talks was held in Bangui from December 5 to 20.
Link
Labels: Central African Republic, Human rights, Human Rights Watch, Iba Bouramine
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Teachers 'beat and abuse' Muslim children in British Koran classes, by Iba Bouramine
Muslim children are being beaten and abused regularly by teachers at some British madrassas - Islamic evening classes - an investigation by The Times has found.
Students have been slapped, punched and had their ears twisted, according to an unpublished report by an imam based on interviews with victims in the north of England. One was “picked up by one leg and spun around” while another said a madrassa teacher was “kicking in my head - like a football”, says the report which was compiled by Irfan Chishti, a former government adviser on Islamic affairs.
Almost 1,600 madrassas operate in Britain, teaching Arabic and the Koran on weekday evenings to about 200,000 children aged from four to their mid-teens.
While there is no hard evidence to indicate how many are involved in the physical abuse of children, The Times has uncovered a disturbing pattern in one town - Rochdale - through interviews with mainstream school teachers, Muslim parents and the children themselves.
One woman told The Times that her niece Hiba, 7, was slapped across the face so hard by her madrassa teacher that her ear was cut. It later became inflamed and she had to have emergency medical treatment.
When the teacher refused to apologise, Hiba's aunt, Jamila, insisted that her niece should be moved to another madrassa. “I have absolutely no respect for religious teachers who behave like this,” she said.
Another girl described how, at the age of 12, she was hit by her madrassa teacher whenever she mispronounced a word or forgot a verse of the Koran.
When Imam Chishti, a religious education teacher who also runs the Light of Islam Academy in Rochdale, decided to carry out his own investigation into the problem he was shocked by how even the victims had grown to accept the abuse. “They all joked about it,” he said. “There's a culture that accepts it.”
Imam Chishti said that part of the problem was that some madrassa teachers were ignorant of British law. Corporal punishment was banned in state schools in 1986 and in all schools in 1998. Under current law teachers acting in loco parentis may use only “reasonable punishment” such as a smack, providing it does not cause any marks or bruising.
But the abuse discovered by The Times investigation goes far beyond what could be termed “reasonable force”. One particularly brutal form of punishment practised in some madrassas is known as the Hen, in which the victim is forced to hold his ears while squatting with his arms fed through his legs.
The magnitude of the problem in Rochdale has led primary school head teachers to break the silence surrounding the problem. Several disclosed that they had asked social services to investigate complaints of physical abuse in madrassas made by pupils but that the victims' parents refused to press charges against the perpetrators either because they felt that physical abuse was normal practice or they feared being ostracised by their community.
Tina Wheatley, deputy head of Heybrook Primary School, said: “If a child comes in with an injury of any sort and it's non-accidental, then schools will refer it to parents, then also to child protection.”
But she said that social workers were often faced by parents who refused to take action against the abusers. “When child protection turns up at the parents' [home], parents don't want to take it any further. There are a lot of head teachers in this area who have spoken to the authorities. It's so sensitive,” she said.
Sandra Hartley, head teacher at Brimrod County Primary School in Rochdale, where 93 per cent of pupils are Muslim, said that she feared that some Muslim parents regarded physical beatings as normal because they had been subjected to the same treatment when they were children.
“You know, it's very much accepted that children are experiencing that type of coercion, unfair treatment and sometimes physical abuse,” she said. “Parents knowing that this is happening and not wanting to move their child from that type of extra-curricular activity is very much the pattern that we have here.”
The Times has also learnt that Rochdale police and social services have met local Muslim leaders six times this year to discuss child protection issues after investigations prompted by claims of physical abuse at madrassas.
Terry Piggott, the executive director of Rochdale Borough Council, admitted that it was difficult for the authorities to take action.
“Because of the rapid turnover of volunteer teachers at madrassas - and the fact that many are part-time - it makes it difficult to regulate and monitor the people who are working with local young people,” he said in a statement.
The problem is not confined to Rochdale. Ann Cryer, Labour MP for the Yorkshire constituency of Keighley which has a large Muslim population, said that mainstream teachers had complained to her about the punishment their students faced at madrassas. She added her voice to those from Muslim community calling for madrassas to be brought within the regulatory framework.“I think we should have some sort of review at a very high level as to how madrassas are being [run] ... they seem to be a law unto themselves,” she said.
Madrassas and similar religious classes are not subject to any regulation nor are their teachers required to be vetted by the Criminal Records Bureau. Many madrassas are not even known to the authorities because they are run on an ad hoc basis by people in their own living rooms. Even those attached to a mosque which is registered with the Charities Commission are not monitored.
Ms Cryer called for the authorities to be given powers to perform “spot checks” on madrassas and shut down any in which children are being abused.“As the Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities grow so do the number of madrassas and therefore the risk to children increases every year,” she said.
The Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board (Minab) - a government approved organisation established in 2006 - has set up a minimum standard for mosques which includes guidelines to safeguard child welfare. However, membership is purely voluntary and Minab has yet to recruit a single mosque.
A spokesman for the board, Yousif Al-Khoei, admitted that some mosques were run by teachers who may be abusing children.
“There is of course a minority of madrassas which have a village mindset who may be practising it but you have to look at it from both angles,” he said. “No community is perfect.”
The Minister for Community Cohesion, Sadiq Khan, urged his fellow Muslims to turn in those responsible for violence against children.
“We need to have religious leaders saying in clear and religious messages that it's unacceptable and that there's no place in Islam for child abuse. It's pure village culture mentality,” he said. “Everybody should expose this. The neighbours who know about it should expose it, the teachers [at mainstream schools] should expose it. We need a culture which says that whistleblowing on these things is a badge of pride not a badge of shame.”
He added: “We are hiding behind the defence of cultural sensitivities and our children are not being protected.”
The Department for Children, Schools and Families said: “We're crystal clear that all organisations, including faith-based, must abide by children protection and safeguarding laws.
“Any actions that go beyond reasonable punishment are absolutely unacceptable and must be dealt with the courts. We urge anyone who is aware of such incidents to report them to the police and relevant authorities.”
Link
Labels: Children, Iba Bouramine, United Kingdom
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