Headlines:
- US: Anti-Islam Rally Outside Muslim Centre in Phoenix, Arizona
- Anti-Muslim Hostility on the Rise: European Muslim Body
- Saudi FM: Terrorism Divides Muslim world
- Poll Finds Strong Support for Drone Strikes Amongst Americans but also a Decline in America’s Ability to Shape Outcome
US: Anti-Islam Rally Outside Muslim Centre in Phoenix Arizona
The contest to draw a cartoon figure insulting Islam is scheduled to take place outside an Islamic Community Center in north Phoenix. “We’re just out utilising our First Amendment,” said the contest’s organiser, Jon Ritzheimer. Ritzheimer said he does not support Islam spreading so widely across the US, which is what prompted him to host the Freedom of Speech Rally. He has previously organised several anti-Islam rallies, reported ABC News. Ritzheimer has also said he takes no responsibility over any act of violence that might occur on the day and warns people to prepare for a “much-anticipated attack”. A message on the Facebook page for the event titled the ‘Freedom of Speech Rally’ read: “This will be a PEACEFUL protest in front of the Islamic Community Center in Phoenix AZ. This is in response to the recent attack in Texas where 2 armed terrorist, with ties to ISIS, attempted Jihad. “This Islamic Community Center is a known place that the 2 terrorist frequented. People are also encouraged to utilize their second amendment right at this event just in case our first amendment comes under the much anticipated attack.” Meanwhile, the president of the Islamic Community Centre of Phoenix said, “They’re not looking for an intellectual conversation. They’re looking to stir up controversy and we’re not going to be a part of it.” [Source: International Business Times]
Freedom of speech is a rallying cry for religious bigots and Muslim haters in America to insult and vilify Islam without facing any legal repercussions. The same freedom of speech is not extended to Muslims who want to criticize American foreign policy and practice their religion freely. The same hypocrisy is observed when America invades Muslim lands to promote freedom, but instead tyranny prevails. Muslims clearly remember freedom loving Americans torturing Muslims in Abu Ghraib, Bagram and other places.
Anti-Muslim Hostility on the Rise: European Muslim Body
Anti-Muslim hostility is on the rise on a global scale, the European Muslim Initiative for Social Cohesion, a non-governmental body, said in its meeting at the European Parliament in Brussels Tuesday. The meeting was organized to discuss the increase in Islamophobic incidents amid anti-immigration attitudes across Europe. “It’s indisputable that there has been a rise in anti-Muslim hostility on a global scale,” Prof Bulent Senay, vice president of the initiative, said. According to the initiative, anti-terrorism concerns and an escalation in anti-immigration attitudes across Europe have converged on the stereotypical image of Islam as the primary security threat for European societies. “The line between what is secular law and what is religious activity has to be drawn somewhere,” Senay added. Dr. Jean Marie Heydt, permanent representative of the European Social Education Training Association, another non-governmental body, said, “There’s an obligation to protect people; [But] we have to find a balance between respect for freedoms and security.”Europe is witnessing an increase in far-right parties along with a series of Islamophobic attacks. Arson attacks on mosques took place across Sweden in December last year, followed by protests condemning such attacks. The German far-right movement Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West, or PEGIDA has also emerged. [Source: The Journal of Turkish Weekly].
The rise of Islamophobia in Europe is nothing new. Hatred of Islam is in the DNA of European societies. One has to look no further than Spain’s treatment of its Muslim population a few centuries ago to see the full extent of their hatred towards Islam. Under the rule of In 1556 Philip II in Spain, “Pragmatica” was instituted, which was a severe form of persecution of Muslims. It targeted those Muslims that hid their faith under the veneer of Christianity and were known as Moriscos. Moriscos were required to learn Castilian within three years, after which King Philip II banned the Arabic language, prohibited Muslim dress, required Moriscos to abandon Muslim names and adopt Christian names, ordered the destruction of all books and documents in Arabic script, and decreed that Morisco children would be educated only by Catholic priests. Today, under the guise of fighting terror European governments have started to implement similar measures.
Saudi FM: Terrorism Divides Muslim world
Acts of terrorism and the practice of Islamic extremism aim to divide Muslim world, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Wednesday at a meeting of Organization of Islamic Cooperation countries (OIC) in Kuwait. “We have been committed in confronting the challenges of extremism and violence,” Jubeir said in one of the meeting’s opening statements. “Terrorism, extremism and sectarianism aim to divide the Muslim world,” he added, citing the current conflict in Yemen as a “reflection of the suffering of the global Muslim community.” [Source: Al Arabiya]
Is it not ironic that Jubeir completely forgot to mention the extremism stems from the extreme form of Wahabism that the Saudi State had incubated and propagated for the past 200 years. Saudi’s were instrumental in taking up arms against Ottoman state and dividing the Ummah, just as today there are the forefront of exporting the extremist ideology that ISIS subscribes to.
Poll Finds Strong Support for Drone Strikes Among Americans but also a Decline in America’s Ability to Shape Outcome
A majority of Americans still support strikes by unmanned drones on enemy targets around the world, despite criticism that the attacks have taken the lives of innocent people, according to a Pew Research Center report released Thursday. The report also found weakening confidence in the American military’s ability to achieve its goals in Afghanistan. Although there are differences that split Americans along political lines, the Pew research found overall support for supported drone strikes, at 58 percent, up slightly from 56 percent in 2013. Of the rest, 35 percent said they don’t support drone strikes and 7 percent said they were unsure. Numbers for how many civilians die in drone strikes are hard to come by, because the US government doesn’t keep track. But the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) calculates that since 2004, close to 1,000 civilians have died in drone strikes in Pakistan, more than 100 in Yemen and 50 in Somalia, where armed rebel groups have staged attacks against government and civilian targets. Drones became a major part of President Barack Obama’s continuation of his predecessor’s campaign against armed groups in the three countries. But the poll found that, overall, confidence in the American military’s ability to achieve its goal in Afghanistan has weakened since 2011. In the latest survey, 56 percent of American say the US will be or has been successful in achieving its goals there, while just 36 percent said it had mostly failed. They also don’t have high hopes for Afghanistan’s ability to hold up against the Taliban without US support. Although combat operations ended at the end of last year, 10,000 American soldiers remain in the country, advising and training local troops. They are set to remain there through the end of 2015, but their complete removal looms. “Fully 68% of Americans say it is either very unlikely (35%) or somewhat unlikely (33%) that Afghanistan will be able to maintain a stable government after US forces leave the country,” the report says. “About a quarter (24%) say it is somewhat likely Afghanistan will be able to maintain a stable government and just 5% say this is very likely.” [Source: Al Jazeera]
Despite America’s overwhelming military might, the US is unable to fashion political outcomes in its favor. More and more Americans are noticing a marked decline in America’s ability to fashion stable political solutions abroad, especially in the Muslim world.