Headlines:
- Bangladesh a Nation Divided
- Backstabbing the Backstabber
- Holy Sites under Attack
- New Wave of Attacks on Muslims in America
- Muslims Report Discrimination in Prisons as Fear of Extremism Grows
- UK Conservative Leadership Election Polls and Odds: Gove Out of the Race
- Pakistan Builds Checkpoints, Plans Fence on Afghan Border
- Obama intensifying European defences against Russia
- New York Times highlights discord among NATO members
- Dallas shooter of police at anti-police demonstration had served in the US Army Reserve
Bangladesh a Nation Divided
At least 20 hostages, including 18 foreigners and two policemen, died in Friday night’s attack in a popular cafe, in Dhaka. Sheikh Hasina was quick to point to terrorism at a time when no confirmation was given for the motives of the attackers. Since then ISIS has been stated to have claimed the attack, however the government now denies they had any hand in this with Asaduzzaman Khan, the Home Minister stating that the attackers “are all Bangladeshis. They are from rich families, they have good educational background.” This attack is just one of the many that have occurred in the past 6 months. With many attacks being the nature of vigilante justice. It evident to see that Bangladesh is a country in political turmoil where its elite have set a course for the country that does not agree with the nature of the population as was evident by the governments attempt to remove Islam as the religion of the nation and the uproar at the hanging of Motiur Rahman Nizami, the Jamaat-e-islami leader back in May.
Backstabbing the Backstabber
After the UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced his resignation, the Conservative party started its search for a new leader. For many it was ex-London mayor Boris Johnson who was backed for the position. After going against many of his party’s position on the EU, he found himself in pole position to take the helm. But it appears he was stabbed in the back by his own “partner in crime,” MP Michael Gove. Michael Gove was found to have called him incompetent amongst other things forcing Johnson out of the race. It quickly becomes clear from such events that each individual was aiming to build their own careers. This is a recurrent trend in political parties across the West and is a symptom of the individualistic culture embedded in the West. It is no wonder why many in the west have become disenchanted with politics as it aims to benefit the politicians as opposed to the subjects of politics.
Holy Sites under Attack
Four security officers were killed and five others wounded in a suicide attack outside one of Islam’s holiest sites, Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry said. The bombing at the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina was the third attack to hit Saudi Arabia on Monday, following blasts in the cities of Jeddah and Qatif. Photos of Medina posted on social media showed smoke billowing from a fire outside the mosque. The Saudi Monarchy continues pounding targets in Yemen, whilst in Syria it refuses to remove the Assad regime and provides only light weapons to select rebel groups, despite possessing the weaponry that would make a difference in the country.
New Wave of Attacks on Muslims in America
As ISIS steps up its attacks abroad, Muslims are increasingly being targeted here in the U.S. The United Arab Emirates has even warned its citizens traveling in the U.S. to avoid wearing traditional clothing. In Avon, Ohio, body camera video shows police moving in on 41-year-old Ahmed al-Menhali at a hotel. A staffer claimed al-Menhali was on his cell phone acting suspiciously, so she texted her sister to dial 911. “Hi, my sister works at a Fairfield Inn. She is a desk worker,” the staffer’s sister told the 911 operator. “She said there is a male in a full head dress with multiple disposable phones pledging his allegiance or something to ISIS.” Police searched and questioned al-Menhali, but found he had done nothing wrong. As he was released, he collapsed. The city’s mayor and police chief issued a public apology. “It is a very regrettable circumstance that occurred for you,” the police chief said. “You should not have been put in that situation like you were.” The American ambassador to the United Arab Emirates also expressed regret over the situation: al-Menhali, an Emirati national, was wearing a traditional white kandura, or ankle-length robe, and headscarf at the time of the incident, according to the Associated Press. It’s the latest in a string of perceived anti-Muslim incidents over the past week in the U.S. In Florida, 25-year-old Taylor Anthony Mazzanti was arrested for allegedly punching a man in the face and the head outside the mosque attended by Orlando shooter Omar Mateen. In Minneapolis, two Muslim men were shot on their way to a mosque. That suspect is still on the loose. In Brooklyn, New York, surveillance video shows two Muslim teenagers assaulted outside a mosque over the weekend. But the New York Police Department says the incident may have been a fight over a female.Back in Cleveland, Julia Shearson is with the local council on American-Islamic Relations. “We’ve documented a dramatic, unprecedented increase in the number of attacks – both against property and against the Muslim community,” Shearson said. In a statement, Marriott Hotels said it deeply regrets the incident and will be “following up to discuss diversity and inclusion training” for personnel at The Fairfield Inn where the incident happened. [Source: CBS News]
Thanks to the likes of Trump and other politicians, bigotry towards Islam is sweeping America. America’s promotion of secularism and pluralism abroad appears increasingly hollow, especially as the US faces unprecedented problems related to Islamophobia and race relations at home. This duplicity will surely undermine America’s standing abroad and blight the mantle of western civilization in the eyes of people around the world.
UK: Muslims Report Discrimination in Prisons as Fear of Extremism Grows
Over the past year, a spate of headlines has warned of the threat of Islamist extremism infecting the prison system, with claims by senior politicians that high security jails have become terrorist training camps. However, new research has found no evidence to support this, and warns that a preoccupation with radicalisation is warping perceptions of prisoners’ behaviour and relationships. Similarly, ex-offenders contend that institutional Islamophobia results in prison officers perceiving Muslim prisoners who adhere to their faith as inherently suspicious. The number of Muslims in prison in England and Wales has more than doubled in the past 12 years to just over 12,000 in December 2015 (about 14% of the prison population). But this is not attributable to either the growth of the UK Muslim population (4.8% are Muslim according to the 2011 census), nor terrorism offences. Bill McHugh, justice director of not-for-profit criminal justice consultancy, PublicCo, suggests the rise is down to magistrates’ ignorance of and prejudice towards Islam. “I used to see families in court who felt it was the offender not the offence that was being judged,” he says. “They’re associated with terrorism when they’re up for shoplifting.”
Only 130 Muslim prisoners – just over 1% of the total – are convicted Islamist terrorists. Last year the justice secretary Michael Gove commissioned a review on how to tackle extremism in prisons, amid concerns that 1,000 Muslim inmates were at risk of radicalisation. Ryan Williams, a religious studies academic at Cambridge University’s prison research centre, who has examined the role of Islam in three UK maximum security prisons, says concerns about radicalisation often reflect a failure to understand prison culture and its impact on inmates’ behaviour. In a draft paper presented at the Canadian Sociological Association annual conference, last month, he wrote that there is a muddling of “issues around extremism, religious identity, and the specific conditions that bring about certain interpretations and enactments of Islam.
Within prisons, everyday Muslim practices of praying, reading the Qur’an, or even reading commentary from Muslim scholars about God’s creation and evolutionary theory can raise concerns over extremism.” The findings reflect research by Maslaha, a social enterprise that works to improve conditions in Muslim communities, in the UK and internationally and the Transition to Adulthood Alliance, which looked at the experiences of young Muslim men incarcerated in lower category prisons and young offender institutions in England. A group of Muslim ex-offenders from Leicester in their early 20s interviewed for the report, Young Muslims on Trial, published in March, say their friendships and the everyday practice of their faith were misinterpreted negatively. Tell Mama, an organisation that monitors anti-Muslim attacks, which usually deals with 40-45 reports a month, says it received 33 within 72 hours of the Brexit result. And police logged a fivefold rise in race-hate complaints including Islamophobic incidents in the following week. Amad believes the inflammatory rhetoric around Islamist extremism in prison and wider society has overshadowed the positive impact Islam can have on offenders’ rehabilitation. “I remember seeing people in custody [who] on the outside would be the most gangster person ever and they’d come to custody and they’ve grown a big beard on their face. They’ve got a prayer hat on all the time. They’ve become like a model citizen because they’ve found religion.”
Ministers and commentators who believe prisons pose an Islamist terror threat sometimes cite a landmark 2011 study of Whitemoor high security prison, where more than 50% of prisoners are now Muslim. It identified tensions relating to extremism and radicalisation, and found conversions to Islam were high. But comparatively little attention has been paid to the other findings, such as Muslim prisoners reporting feeling alienated and targeted, and faith offering them meaning, hope and dignity. The researchers, led by Alison Liebling, professor of criminology and criminal justice and director of at the University of Cambridge’s prisons research centre, found that religion appealed to many prisoners serving long and often indeterminate sentences where restrictions had been placed on meaningful activities. Responding to the latest research, a Ministry of Justice spokesman says: “Islamist extremism is one of the biggest threats facing this country. The MoJ and National Offender Management Service are already taking forward urgent work in this area.” He adds that a summary of the findings of the Gove-commissioned report will be published “in due course”. [Source: The Guardian]
UK’s Islamic extremism is a media fueled frenzy intended to tarnish the entire Muslim community in Britain. The real threat to the UK’s cohesiveness is secular fundamentalism, which is at war with all of religions not just Islam.
UK Conservative Leadership Election Polls and Odds: Gove Out of the Race
Justice Secretary Michael Gove has been knocked out of the running to be Conservative leader, leaving Home Secretary Theresa May and energy minister Andrea Leadsom as the final two contenders. Gove was backed by 46 MPs but it was nowhere near enough to beat Leadsom, who had the support of 84 colleagues. May was way in front, with 199 votes, more than both of her rivals combined. The final choice will be made by party members. Gove’s loss came after a poll showed that the party risked losing support with him at the helm. Forty-one per cent of 1,000 Tory voters questioned by Survation said they would be less likely to vote for the party with the Justice Secretary in charge, with only nine per cent saying they would be more likely to do so. The result illustrates why supporters of May – who is also the bookies’ favourite, with odds of 1/5 – wanted Gove to be her challenger rather than Leadsom, says the Daily Telegraph. Leadsom’s odds slipped after the first round of voting put her a distant second to May, says Business Insider. This morning, punters were being offered odds of 4/1 against her winning. Gove was a longshot at 14/1. “Although front-runners have historically struggled to win this contest, the early signs are that political punters expect Theresa May to prove an exception to the rule,” a spokesman for bookmaker William Hill told the site. But the support of MPs will not be enough for May, who can only win if the rank and file back her as leader. Earlier this week, Tory grandee Ken Clarke, in a seemingly unguarded moment, let slip that he thought she was a “bloody difficult woman”. Commentators were quick to point out the epithet would do her no harm with voters, who elected a “bloody difficult woman” – Margaret Thatcher – three times in the 1970s and 1980s.
Early indications are that the British establishment is rallying around May who never supported the Leave campaign. This implies that a U-turn on Britain exiting the EU is being seriously contemplated.
Pakistan Builds Checkpoints, Plans Fence on Afghan Border
Pakistan plans to fence its long, porous border with Afghanistan after construction of checkpoints at all established crossings is completed, a top government adviser said Tuesday. Tariq Fatemi, a close aide to the prime minister on foreign policy, said in Islamabad that “border management mechanisms” were being implemented not to close the frontier but to facilitate “an orderly and documented” cross-border movement, and to ensure safety and security of the two countries. “For this purpose, we are establishing proper, well-organized and professionally manned check posts,” Fatemi said. “We also intend eventually to have the Pakistan-Afghanistan border fenced. We believe that good fences make good neighbors. It is the absence of a well-defined border that is at the root of many of our problems.” Pakistan has been constructing checkpoints at several locations on the 2,600-kilometer border, known as the Durand Line. Activity at the main Torkham crossing this month triggered deadly clashes between border forces of the two countries. The fighting left several soldiers dead and dozens more wounded on both sides. The latest and previous border tensions have all stemmed from Afghanistan’s historic opposition to the 1893 demarcation by former British rulers of the Indian subcontinent. Pakistan, however, maintains it inherited the frontier after gaining independence from Britain in 1947 and believes the Durand Line is an international border. [Source: Voice of America]
Building check posts to shore up the porous border and prevent terrorist attacks on Pakistani mainland is bound to fail. The problem is America’s permanent presence in Afghanistan and not the porous border. Unless the Pakistani leadership recognizes this, terror attacks will continue. The only real solution is to unify Pakistan and Afghanistan under a single political system— Khilafah Rashidah upon the method of the Prophethood– only then will both countries be free of western interference and enjoy peace.
Obama intensifying European defences against Russia
Despite the America’s use of Russia in its war in Syria, America is leading NATO to intensify Europe’s defences against the Russian Federation. Reuters is reporting that NATO “decided to move four battalions totaling 3,000 to 4,000 troops into northeastern Europe on a rotating basis to display its readiness to defend eastern members against any Russian aggression. Obama said at the NATO conference being held in Warsaw, Poland, “We need to bolster the defense of our allies in central and eastern Europe, strengthen deterrence and boost our resilience against new threats, including cyber attacks.” (Reuters) Ironically, the ‘Warsaw Pact’ had previously been the name of the Communist military alliance opposed to NATO.
According to the same Reuters article, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded that it was absurd for NATO to talk of any threat from Russia and it hoped “common sense” would prevail at the Warsaw summit.
Russia has yet to understand that America considers it a subordinate power to be dictated to and used as America wishes. Where it wants, America uses it, and where it wants, America increases hostilities against it. Those who serve the Capitalist superpower do so for the pleasure of the superpower and at their own cost.
New York Times highlights discord among NATO members
The New York Times reveals tensions between NATO members, in an article on Friday, headlined, “NATO unity tested by Russia shows some cracks”.
America’s purpose in increasing defences against Russia is to drive a wedge between Europe and the Russian Federation. America has been able to use Eastern European nations for its purposes. Polish foreign minister Witold Waszczykowski said just before the summit, “We have to reject any type of wishful thinking with regard to a pragmatic cooperation with Russia as long as it keeps on invading its neighbours” (Reuters). Meanwhile, the New York Times lists Italy, France and Germany as trying to build more positive relationships with Russia. Additionally, Reuters reports that it was French concerns about sole American control that led to NATO taking over the US-built missile shield.
America fears positive relations between Europe and Russia. Its policy, inherited from Britain before it, is to keep the Euro-Asian continental mass divided. At the same time Eastern Europe fears being crushed between Western European and Russian interests as has happened in its past.
The end of the Cold War was the perfect opportunity for peace throughout the world, if America had really been serious about peace. But the reality is that the secular Capitalist ideology seeks only materialistic exploitation at the expense of true human prosperity.
Dallas shooter of police at anti-police demonstration had served in the US Army Reserve
Capitalism has failed to bring harmony to American society, with astonishing violence and gun crime not seen anywhere else in the world. Only the latest incident of this is the attack on Thursday during a demonstration in Dallas, USA, that killed five policemen and wounded another seven.
The demonstration was part of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement that protests the racist treatment of African-Americans by the police. Reuters is reporting that a gunman, whose killing by police brought the attack to an end, had previously served in the US Army Reserve. While the U.S. military is heavily dependent on recruitment of ‘Blacks’ (i.e. African-Americans), America’s police forces have remained largely ‘White’ (i.e. European-American).