India: The Mumbai Attacks

I wonder exactly what benefits the kidnappers and murderers in Mumbai feel will come to Muslims in India or anywhere else from their abominable acts.

This will lead to more persecutions of Muslims in India and abroad, more restrictions on movement and more harassment of innocent Muslims by government authorities. Oh, and more more insults to our religion and to our Prophet. Because if you go around committing the most heinous acts while loudly and wrongly proclaiming that you do it for the sake of Allah, for Islam and for “the Muslims” then the enemies of Islam will naturally assume that our religion is based upon a philosophy of unfettered barbarism rather than belief and obedience to God. The many acts of mercy and charity carried out quietly by Muslims individually or in groups every day are overshadowed by these bloody crimes against humanity.

While most Americans have a favorable view of India and of Hindus, many probably are not aware that Muslims are a minority there and are discriminated against in a host of ways. Many are impoverished and unable to get access to the medical care or education that are available to others in this great “democratic” country. Over the past 30 years there have been Hindu riots responsible for the deaths of thousands of Muslims (esp in Gujarat). Many Americans are probably also unaware that just recently, Hindu rioters murdered, raped and committed acts of arson against Christians in the Indian States of Orissa and Karnataka. Clearly, not all Hindus are “nice” people, but the sufferings of Muslims in this majority Hindu country will not be eased by the tragedy that is now unfolding.

The terrorist attacks in Mumbai will benefit extremist Hindus along with militant anti-Islam elements in Europe, Asia and the United States. This bloody “gift to the Ummah” will have many unhappy returns for countless innocent people, Muslim and non-Muslim, for years to come.

Indian Forces Battle Pockets of Militants

KEITH BRADSHER and SOMINI SENGUPTA (New York Times)

As the crisis in Mumbai approached its third day, Indian commandos battled stubborn resistance by militants on Friday, seeking to end the bloody assault on India’s financial and entertainment capital that has shaken the nation and raised perilous regional tensions with Pakistan.

Shortly before night settled over the stricken city, the police said the death toll had reached 143 with the discovery of 24 bodies in the luxury Oberoi hotel, where guests were set free on Friday. Some had barricaded themselves in their rooms as security forces re-asserted control of the building, watching events outside on television news channels. But police and military officers did not explain why the operation to flush out a handful of assailants in other places had taken so long….

Saudi Arabia: Underground Female Rock Band Gains Popularity

As Taboos Ease, Saudi Girl Group Dares to Rock

ROBERT F. WORTH (New York Times)

They cannot perform in public. They cannot pose for album cover photographs. Even their jam sessions are secret, for fear of offending the religious authorities in this ultraconservative kingdom.

But the members of Saudi Arabia’s first all-girl rock band, the Accolade, are clearly not afraid of taboos….

Egypt: Woman Wins right to Officiate at Weddings, Divorces

The objections to a woman serving as a marriage registrar centered around custom, rather than religion. Amal Soliman won over 10 male candidates because she was the most qualified.

Muslim woman defies male dominance

Farah El Alfy (Al Jazeera)

Amal Soliman, a 32-year-old Egyptian woman, has endured intimidation and ridicule in the year since she applied for a job as the Muslim world’s first mazouna, or female marriage registrar, but she says her victory has been worth the fight….

USA, CA: Muslim American Punk

Islamic punk? Oh, yes, it does exist …

The Koran, punk rock and lots of questions

Erika Hayasaki (LA Times)

Egypt: 100s of Teens Arrested for Sexual Harassment

One person’s “flirting” is another’s “sexual harassment”. Apparently conditions in Cairo have deteriorated to the extent that the authorities finally decided to take action. A fact not made clear in this article is that there has been a disturbing pattern of PHYSICAL harassment, groping, etc. committed against women in Egypt. And contrary to the mythology, women wearing hijab are not exempted from these assaults. Clearly, the behavior in question involves more than just “flirting.”

Cairo Police Arrest 400 Teens for ‘Flirting’ in Sexual Harassment Crackdown

Australia: Report Alleges Imams Put Pressure on Women to Remain in Abusive Marriages

A report has been released that accuses poorly educated imams in Victoria of denying women’s rights. Not only are some imams ignoring women’s rights according to Australian law — they are not according them rights generally recognized under Sharia.

Local Muslim clerics accused

Barney Zwartz (The Age)

SOME Muslim religious leaders in Victoria are condoning rape within marriage, domestic violence, polygamy, welfare fraud and exploitation of women, accord

Afghanistan: Female Students and Teachers Suffer Acid Attacks

Primitive Taliban sympathizers resort to terror and disfigurement to keep girls to stay away from school.

Acid Attacks Keep Afghan Girls Away from Classes

NOOR KHAN and HEIDI VOGT (Associated Press)

No students showed up at Mirwais Mena girls’ school in the Taliban’s spiritual birthplace the morning after it happened.

A day earlier, men on motorcycles attacked 15 girls and teachers with acid.

The men squirted the acid from water bottles onto three groups of students and teachers walking to school Wednesday, principal Mehmood Qaderi said. Some of the girls have burns only on their school uniforms but others will have scars on their faces…

China: Government Forcing Abortion on 6-months Pregnant Muslimah

The only reason that the Chinese government has not followed through (yet) with their intent to forcibly abort the 6-month old fetus is the publicity the case has drawn worldwide.

China trying to force 6-months pregnant woman to abort

Tim Johnson (McClatchy Newspapers)

A Muslim Uighur woman who’s more than six months pregnant remained under watch in a hospital in China’s far northwest Friday awaiting a forced abortion by authorities who don’t want her to have a third child.

A nurse who’s tending to the woman at a hospital in Yining, near China’s border with Kazakhstan , said physicians had delayed the abortion because of international queries about her case….

US: Army Veteran Recalls Captivity in Nazi Slave Camp During World War II

This article about the memories of an American World War II veteran imprisoned at a satellite camp near Buchenwald was very moving. Anthony Acevedo’s parents had lived in the US and been deported to Mexico. He returned to enlist in the army. He was posted as a medic and after his capture he recorded kept a diary in which he recorded the names and fates of his comrades. This is an amazing and emotional read.

WW II vet held in Nazi slave camp breaks silence: ‘Let it be known’

Wayne Drash, Thelma Gutierrez and Sara Weisfeldt (CNN)

Anthony Acevedo thumbs through the worn, yellowed pages of his diary emblazoned with the words “A Wartime Log” on its cover. It’s a catalog of deaths and atrocities he says were carried out on U.S. soldiers held by Nazis at a slave labor camp during World War II — a largely forgotten legacy of the war.

“He died in my arms. He wouldn’t eat. He didn’t want to eat,” says Acevedo, now 84 years old. “He said, ‘I want to die! I want to die! I want to die!’ “

US: Rahm Emanuels Father — Son Will Not Be Cleaning the White House “Like an Arab”

manuel to be Obama’s chief of staff

(Associated Press & Jerusalem Post)

… In an interview with Ma’ariv, Emanuel’s father, Dr. Benjamin Emanuel, said he was convinced that his son’s appointment would be good for Israel. “Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Israel,” he was quoted as saying. “Why wouldn’t he be? What is he, an Arab? He’s not going to clean the floors of the White House….”

USA, MI: First Female Muslim Elected to State legislature

Michigan Legislature getting 1st female Muslim

DAVID N. GOODMAN (Associated Press)

Michigan is getting its first female Muslim legislator, thanks in large part to her Jewish boss, the incumbent.

Rashida Tlaib, a lawyer, community activist and daughter of Palestinian immigrants, easily won a House seat in Tuesday’s general election after emerging from an eight-way Democratic primary with 44 percent of the vote in August….

USA: Muslim Students Reflect on the Election

Among Young Muslims, Mixed Emotions on Obama

Paul Vitello (NY Times)

… Like just about all the Muslim students who gathered Wednesday night at … [New York University's] … Islamic Center on the day after the election, Miss Akoglu described a mixture of delight and frustration at the successful campaign of the nation’s first black president-elect.

He had run a great race, broken so many barriers, done so much right. Yet the persistent rumor that Mr. Obama was a Muslim had led his campaign to do things that the students found hurtful, they said. The campaign had dismissed a Muslim staff member for seemingly flimsy reasons. A campaign worker had shuttled two young Muslim women wearing head scarves out of the line of sight of TV cameras at a rally.

And the candidate known for his way with words had never said the words they waited for.

“In my community, people were saying to me, ‘Who do we support?’ ” said Meherunnisa Jobaida, a journalism student from Queens. “The person who is making the stereotype? Or the person who is not defending us?… ”

Egypt: News Woman Finally Allowed to Return to the Air Wearing Hijab

Egyptian life: On TV, in a veil

(BBC News)

Egyptian television presenter Ghada El Tawil was allowed back on air last week after a six-year absence, in which she won the legal right to wear an Islamic headscarf, known as hijab, on screen….

… When I covered my hair, I didn’t lose my ability to read the news. I can’t see the point of the ban, can you?

USA: Obama For the Win

Turns out the two Obama fanatics in my family (mother and step-mother) were right: Obama did go all the way, and Americans turned out to vote in unprecedented numbers. I can still hardly believe it, but I am grateful.

Eight years of Bush’s wars, lies and cronyism (helluva job, Brownie), and the travesty of justice known as Guantanamo, are enough. Inauguration Day can’t come too soon.

That said, one thing I still do not understand: What possessed McCain to choose Palin as a running mate? She was a joke. I know quite a few people who had seriously considered voting for McCain, but changed their minds because of the reality that Palin could end up in the Oval Office.

That’s okay, though. McCain’s Palin gaff, combined with his hawkish views and support of Bush’s policies helped propel Obama to victory.

I can’t wait to see what comes out of the first 100 days of the new administration. I don’t know if Obama can deliver on all he promised, but I think he has a better understanding of the issues facing Americans and the world. I wish him success.

USA, CA: Orange County Jail to Provide Hijabs for Female Muslim Detainees

Muslim’s suit over scarves in Calif. jail settled

GILLIAN FLACCUS (Associated Press)

A Southern California county will allow jailed Muslim women to wear headscarves after settling a lawsuit with a woman who claims that deputies violated her religious freedom by making her remove her hijab.

The settlement agreement signed by the county last week and released Monday specifies that Muslim women must be provided a private area to remove their headscarves after arrest and must be provided with county-issued headscarves to cover themselves when they are in the presence of men…