Australian-Egyptians back anti-Mubarak protests

Protesting Egyptians are not deterred by bloodshed on the streets and they will continue fighting until embattled president Hosni Mubarak is ousted, says a spokesman for Australia's Egyptian community.At least 125 people are known to have died in six days of protests against Mr Mubarak's government, and fighter jets and helicopters buzzed protesters in the streets of Cairo overnight in an apparent show of force from the regime.Australian Egyptian Friendship Association spokesman Omar Mustafa expects more blood will be spilled in coming days as the situation intensifies.But he says spirits remain high and although people are scared of both looters and the ruling regime, thousands more are joining the fight.

"I was just on the phone with a friend of mine who unfortunately lost an eye but he covered it and is still protesting on the streets - people are not leaving the streets," he told ABC News Online.

"A friend of ours is the cameraman for Al Jazeera in Egypt and he got shot many times with rubber bullets. He didn't want to leave but he had to, and has since come back on the streets.

"There are no police or firefighters or ambulances in the streets anymore, so if you can imagine a place like that when a fire breaks out, no-one can put it out for you.

"So when there are thugs running around the streets you have two options: you can give them what you have or you can fight them, and that's what the people are doing."

Mr Mustafa says his entire family is currently either protesting or protecting property in Cairo and he is desperately trying to return home to join them.

"Of course I want to be with my fellow Egyptians. We can do here as much as we want but our real place now is to be amongst our fellow Egyptians and fight for our cause," he said.

"I want to march the streets, protect my property and be with my family. I want to hopefully celebrate this dictator falling in a few days.

"I started speaking to my family again yesterday because our self-acclaimed president has cut all means of communication to the other side.

"We're not talking social networks; we're talking no internet, no mobile phones, no landlines.

"They started working two days ago and now you can reach people on mobiles every now and then, and that's how we're getting news from them."

Mr Mustafa has called Mr Mubarak a criminal and attacked his appointment of the first vice-president since he came to power.

"He's committed so many crimes, stolen so much of the Egyptian people's money, he's participated in so much corruption," he said.

"He's a very stubborn man and has this authority addiction.

"People are asking him to leave but he instead sacks the government and calls his two best friends to come and help him. He's made one of them his vice-president and the other prime minister.

"The people have been patient for so long and now they've spoken. And when they say 'no', it means no."

Regime change

Although Mr Mustafa says he there is no ideal candidate to step into the president's shoes, he is certain there will not be a power void.

"This man has lied to Egyptians for so long and he's been scaring them with the idea that if his regime goes the only alternative is the Muslim Brotherhood - and that's completely wrong," he said.

"We know there isn't enough support from the Egyptian people to do that.

"There are politicised people, there are perfect leaders for the country. Any of them can takeover or someone new can as well.

"Egypt is a country with a population of almost 100 million people, mostly educated, so I don't think it's going to be a problem finding someone to take over."

But Bishop Suriel, from the Coptic Orthodox Church in Melbourne, believes Coptic Christians in Egypt are concerned about the influence the Muslim Brotherhood might have on any new governmental arrangements.

"We are concerned about any extremist group that may take hold," he said.

"It will not be good news for all of Egypt or for the Christians of Egypt for any extremist group that may have their own political agenda.

"That will cause havoc and a lot of distress for Egyptians and for the Coptics and we are against any extremist group that may take hold of the country. We hope and we pray that this does not happen."

Silence from Muslim- Americans

AMID THE uproar earlier this month over the assassination of Salmaan Taseer, the secularist governor of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Muslim-American organizations have been largely silent. At a time when mainstream Muslim leaders have been trying to demonstrate their embrace of religious tolerance and pluralism to their fellow Americans, few have had a word to say about this People’s Party leader whose denunciation of Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy law led to his death at the hands of a Muslim zealot
a zealot who has since been celebrated by fundamentalists around the globe.
The most notable silence is on the part of the Islamic Circle of North America. Operating in this country for about 40 years, this organization has ideological ties to the Jamaat-e-Islami, one of Pakistan’s main Islamist political parties. The Jamaat explained away the assassination of Taseer on the grounds that it could have been avoided if the government had simply removed him from office. Though the Islamic Circle of North America does not necessarily take orders from its Pakistani parent, it appears unwilling to challenge the views of its overwhelmingly immigrant membership from Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh — many of whom seem to have little sympathy for the slain politician’s secularist views.

Nor is this the first instance of such silence. Last May, when the Pakistani Taliban slaughtered 93 members of a persecuted Muslim sect, the Ahmadiyya, the Islamic Circle of North America held its annual convention in Hartford. Speakers continually reminded the several thousand attendees that “Islam is a religion of peace,’’ yet one of us in attendance heard not a word about the killings all weekend. Other Muslim-American organizations, none of which has such direct and exclusive ties to Pakistan and the region, had even less excuse for their silence.

While Muslim-American leaders are constantly reminding their followers to exercise their rights as Americans, they also embrace the view that Muslims here are part of the worldwide community of fellow believers — the ummah. As such, these organizations are riven by numberless fissures that run along linguistic, ethnic, racial, and doctrinal lines. Their leaders are preoccupied with not saying or doing anything that would cause such fissures to develop into major ruptures.

So while many Muslim-Americans may abhor what happened in Pakistan, others may agree with friends and relatives back home that Taseer’s killing was justified, or at least to be tolerated. In between are Muslims who are conflicted about such events but who get little guidance from leaders who seem to lack either the wisdom or the courage to speak with moral clarity. Some of these leaders are not the pluralists they claim to be. Others have simply grown accustomed to avoiding the difficult choices facing them and instead, especially since 9/11, would rather mobilize and unify their fractious members by pointing to a common enemy — whether it is the FBI, the Patriot Act, or Islamophobes.

The situation is not hopeless, however. It is certainly noteworthy that all the leaders and organizations that have been silent about Taseer’s assassination have been equally vocal and explicit in their denunciation of the slaughter of Coptic Christians in Egypt on Jan. 1. They clearly understood that the killing of Christians by Muslims is not something about which they could remain silent. Now these leaders must confront the reality that in contemporary America, genuine religious pluralism requires them to be just as outraged when Muslims kill Muslims.

In the name of Muslim unity, many Muslim-American leaders and organizations have been less than coherent when it comes to violent extremism. As a result, they have confused their members as to what true religious toleration and pluralism require, and consequently feed the very suspicions of those inclined to doubt the possibility of Muslims fully assimilating to the American way of life. This is a profound disservice to the many Muslim-Americans who are doing just that.

Peter Skerry is professor of political science at Boston College and nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Gary Schmitt is resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute

Muslim dignitaries visit Auschwitz to pay respects

In a bid to fight anti-Semitism and bridge cultural rifts, a large delegation of Muslim dignitaries visited Auschwitz in Poland on Tuesday to pay tribute to the millions of Jews and others who were systematically killed in the Holocaust.The group of some 150 people included representatives from Morocco, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq, as well as rabbis, Holocaust survivors and Christian representatives. Several European dignitaries also were part of the group, including the former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

"Muslims have to stand up with Jewish friends because in Europe, anti-Semitism is rising. And where there is anti-Semitism, Islamophobia is not far away," said British Mufti Abduljalil Sajid.

Sajid said he knew of the Holocaust from books and movies but that it was his first visit to Auschwitz. "I wanted to see it with my own eyes  and teach others about the evil of hate," he said. "This should never happen again, to anybody."

Israel Meir Lau, a former chief rabbi of Israel and himself a Holocaust survivor, said he was happy that such a large number of Muslim leaders were seeking to deepen their understanding of the Holocaust.
A response to Holocaust deniers

The trip was organized by UNESCO, the educational and cultural arm of the United Nations, as well as Paris City Hall and a new anti-racism group called the Aladdin Project. It comes at a time when some in the West voice unease over Islam's growing clout in the underbelly of their communities and with anti-Israel statements by political leaders such as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The Grand Mufti of Bosnia, Mustafa Ceric, surveys the former Nazi death camp on Tuesday. Prominent Muslims joined Jews and Christians at Auschwitz in a gesture of interfaith solidarity. The Grand Mufti of Bosnia, Mustafa Ceric, surveys the former Nazi death camp on Tuesday. Prominent Muslims joined Jews and Christians at Auschwitz in a gesture of interfaith solidarity.

It also comes amid the recent upheaval that toppled a regime in Tunisia and is threatening the regime of Egypt's longtime president, Hosni Mubarak, with whom Israel has painstakingly built strong ties.

Anne-Marie Revcolevschi, head of the Aladdin Project, said it was important to have the Muslim representatives on hand.

"The reason is clear," she said. "Because it's primarily from some of these countries where the speeches and documents that trade in Holocaust denial, hatred and anti-Semitism come from."

She noted the participation of Karim Lahidji, the head of the Iranian League of Human Rights and a former top lawyer in Tehran, saying: "No one will miss out on how his presence is important."

The Paris-based Aladdin Project was created two years ago to raise awareness about the Holocaust and to fight racism, Islamophobia and intolerance. Its website offers primers about Judaism for non-Jews and about Islam for non-Muslims, and highlights the historic ties between their communities.

Envoys from Egypt, Tunisia, Iran and Algeria had to cancel for various reasons, including the current political upheaval in the Mideast.

The visit comes after Thursday's commemoration of the 66th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Nazi Germany's most notorious death camp built in occupied Poland where 1.1 million Jews, Gypsies and others were murdered

American Official Involved in Pakistan Shooting Identified

Though the U.S. State Department and Pakistani officials are at odds over the identity of a U.S. consular employee accused of killing two Pakistani men, private security officer Raymond Davis was involved in the incident,
Davis, a "technical adviser" to the U.S. government whose record shows experience in the U.S. Special Forces, is accused of shooting two men who were apparently attempting to rob him Thursday in Lahore. A third Pakistani man was killed when a vehicle struck him while reportedly racing to the American's aid.
Pakistani officials named Davis as the accused American to Muslim News, in reports and in court documents Thursday, but State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the name had been misreported.
A source close to Davis told Muslim News today he was involved in the incident. Court documents filed in Lahore list Davis as charged with murder. A trial will determine whether the killing was intentional, accidental or in self-defense.

After denying the man's name is Raymond Davis, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley would not say who accused government employee is, in what capacity he worked for the embassy or why he was apparently carrying a firearm.

"I can confirm that an employee at the U.S. consulate in Lahore was involved in an incident today," Crowley said Thursday. "It is under investigation. We have not released the identity of our employee at this point."

Davis runs Hyperion Protective Consultants, LLC, a company that provides "loss and risk management professionals."

Since it is not known in what capacity Davis was working for the government, it is not clear whether he is entitled to diplomatic immunity.

The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on this report.

Jordan's powerful Muslim opposition warns that Arabs will topple US-allied Mideast leaders

The leader of Jordan's powerful Muslim Brotherhood warned Saturday that unrest in Egypt will spread across the Mideast and Arabs will topple leaders allied with the United States. Hammam Saeed's comments were made at a protest outside the Egyptian Embassy in Amman, inspired by massive rallies in neighbouring Egypt demanding the downfall of the country's longtime president, Hosni Mubarak. About 100 members of the fundamentalist group and activists from other leftist organizations and trade unions chanted "Mubarak, step down" and "the decision is made, the people's revolt will remain." Elsewhere, a separate group of 300 protesters gathered in front of the office of Jordanian Prime Minister Samir Rifai, demanding his ouster. "Rifai, it's time for you to go," chanted the group.
Jordan's protests have been relatively small in size, but they underline a rising tension with Jordan's King Abdullah II, a key U.S. ally who has been making promises of reform in recent days in an apparent attempt to quell domestic discontent over economic degradation and lack of political freedoms.
But as a monarch with deep support from the Bedouin-dominated military, Jordan's ruler is not seen as vulnerable as Mubarak or Tunisia's deposed leader. Even the Brotherhood — a fiery critic of Jordan's moderate government — has remained largely loyal to the king, who claims ancestry to Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
Many believe it's unlikely King Abdullah will bow to demands for popular election of the prime minister and Cabinet officials, traditionally appointed by the king.
Saeed said Arabs have grown disgruntled with U.S. domination of their oil wealth, military occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and its support for "totalitarian" leaders in the region.
"The Americans and (President Barack) Obama must be losing sleep over the popular revolt in Egypt," he said. "Now, Obama must understand that the people have woken up and are ready to unseat the tyrant leaders who remained in power because of U.S. backing."
Saeed did not specifically name King Abdullah. But he said Jordan's prime minister "must draw lessons from Tunisia and Egypt and must swiftly implement political reforms."
"We tell the Americans 'enough is enough'," he said.
Rifai has in the last two weeks announced a $550 million package of new subsidies for fuel and staple products like rice, sugar, livestock and liquefied gas used for heating and cooking. It includes a raise for civil servants and security personnel.
Still, Jordan's economy struggles, weighed down by a record deficit of $2 billion this year, rising inflation and rampant unemployment and poverty.

Thousands greet Tunisian Islamic leader’s return

Thousands turned out Sunday to welcome Islamic leader Rached Ghannouchi after more than 20 years in exile, as he eyed a political future for his Ennahda movement after the fall of Tunisia’s regime. “God is great!” Ghannouchi cried out, raising his arms in triumph as he walked into the arrivals hall of Tunis airport, with thousands of cheering supporters crowding around him before driving off to visit his family. The crowd intoned a religious song in honour of the Prophet Mohammed, as supporters held up olive branches, flowers and copies of the Koran.
“I am so happy to be bringing him back home. I never thought I would see my brother again alive in Tunisia,” his sister, Jamila, told AFP.

There were also dozens of people protesting his arrival at the airport, holding up placards that warned against Islamic fundamentalism.

The 69-year-old said he was elated as he checked in for his historic flight at London’s Gatwick airport, where he posed with a Tunisian flag and embraced relatives before boarding for a country that he has not seen since 1989.

“When I return home today I am returning to the Arab world as a whole,” he told reporters, adding that Ennahda (Awakening) now planned to register as a political party and take part in the country’s first democratic elections.

The interim government installed in the north African state after the fall of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on January 14 has granted unprecedented freedoms and allowed key exiles to return despite bans from the old regime.

Ghannouchi, a former radical preacher who says he now espouses moderate ideals similar to Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), was persecuted in Tunisia ever since founding his Islamic movement in 1981.

He still officially has a life sentence hanging over his head for plotting against the president, although the new government has drawn up an amnesty law for convicted activists like Ghannouchi that now has to go before parliament.

“There is still confusion regarding the political situation…. The interim government is changing its ministers every day, it’s not stable yet and its powers are not clear yet,” Ghannouchi told reporters before leaving on Sunday.

Mobile phones make youths shameless: Muslim body

A faction of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Monday passed a resolution opposing use of mobile phones by youths, particularly girls, as it make them "shameless"."Parents should ensure that their wards, especially girls, do not use mobile phones as it makes them 'behaya (shameless)'," stated the resolution passed by AIMPLB (Jadid) stated at its national convention here."Muslim families should strictly follow this," AIMPLB (Jadid) national president Maulana Taukir Raza Khan said. However, he said, education for girls is very important.The organisation also demanded implementation of the recommendations of Ranganath Mishra and Sachar committees, which suggested reservations for Muslims in job and education.

Shia, Sunni get own Muslim cemetery in GTA

A Shia-Sunni Muslim cemetery  the first of its kind in the GTA  is in the works in Richmond Hill and could be operational by fall.The Shia and Sunni communities in the GTA bought the 14-hectare site at the southwest corner of Bethesda Sideroad and Leslie St., from Beth Olam Cemetery Corp., for $6.8 million, says Abdulhuq Ingar, who represents the Sunnis’ Islamic Society of Toronto. “It is a great opportunity for us, Sunni and Shia to work together,” says Ingar, who estimates that about 80 per cent of Muslims in the GTA are Sunnis and 20 per cent are Shia. “We can coexist, we can work together and become a model,” he says. “It is Canadian values which have brought us together Canadian values which have inspired us and allowed us to have this Muslim cemetery for which we are thankful.”

The fact that the vendors were Jewish “adds more gravy to the dinner,” he says. “They were greatly helpful.”

The cemetery will cost about another $2 million in development and overhead costs, says Sabi Ahsan, a Shia Muslim who helped coordinate the deal, which he described as a “positive accomplishment” for the Shia and Sunni communities. The land had “become surplus” for the Beth Olam group, he says, which has other cemeteries.

The Shia and Sunni Muslims will operate independently as part of the Toronto Muslim Cemetery Corp. and will share resources to minimize costs and maintain the property.

Both Sunni and Shia Muslims have been looking for suitable cemetery plots in the GTA for years but zoning and cost have posed problems.

Before any gravesites can be sold — at a cost now estimated at $700 per plot — the corporation has to have a cemetery licence (it was licensed by the former owners but this has to be transferred) and the site plan has to be submitted to and approved by the Town of Richmond Hill, says Ahsan. He expects the licence transfer to happen before the end of February.

Up until now there has only been one very small dedicated Shia Muslim cemetery in Markham, about half a hectare in size.

The new cemetery will accommodate the needs of the estimated community of more than 300,000 Muslims for at least 25 years, probably longer, said Ahsan. But until authorities approve the site plan, the corporation won’t know exactly how many plots there will be, he said.

Most Muslims have been buried in sections of non-denominational cemeteries in the GTA, according to certain key requirements such as being buried within 24 hours of their death and having their body washed and buried in a shroud with their face turned toward Mecca.

But because of traditional cemeteries’ operating hours, meeting some of those requirements has been problematic.

Australian-Egyptians back anti-Mubarak protests

Protesting Egyptians are not deterred by bloodshed on the streets and they will continue fighting until embattled president Hosni Mubarak is ousted, says a spokesman for Australia's Egyptian community.At least 125 people are known to have died in six days of protests against Mr Mubarak's government, and fighter jets and helicopters buzzed protesters in the streets of Cairo overnight in an apparent show of force from the regime.Australian Egyptian Friendship Association spokesman Omar Mustafa expects more blood will be spilled in coming days as the situation intensifies.But he says spirits remain high and although people are scared of both looters and the ruling regime, thousands more are joining the fight.

"I was just on the phone with a friend of mine who unfortunately lost an eye but he covered it and is still protesting on the streets - people are not leaving the streets,"

"A friend of ours is the cameraman for in Egypt and he got shot many times with rubber bullets. He didn't want to leave but he had to, and has since come back on the streets.

"There are no police or firefighters or ambulances in the streets anymore, so if you can imagine a place like that when a fire breaks out, no-one can put it out for you.

"So when there are thugs running around the streets you have two options: you can give them what you have or you can fight them, and that's what the people are doing."

Mr Mustafa says his entire family is currently either protesting or protecting property in Cairo and he is desperately trying to return home to join them.

"Of course I want to be with my fellow Egyptians. We can do here as much as we want but our real place now is to be amongst our fellow Egyptians and fight for our cause," he said.

"I want to march the streets, protect my property and be with my family. I want to hopefully celebrate this dictator falling in a few days.

"I started speaking to my family again yesterday because our self-acclaimed president has cut all means of communication to the other side.

"We're not talking social networks; we're talking no internet, no mobile phones, no landlines.

"They started working two days ago and now you can reach people on mobiles every now and then, and that's how we're getting news from them."

Mr Mustafa has called Mr Mubarak a criminal and attacked his appointment of the first vice-president since he came to power.

"He's committed so many crimes, stolen so much of the Egyptian people's money, he's participated in so much corruption," he said.

"He's a very stubborn man and has this authority addiction.

"People are asking him to leave but he instead sacks the government and calls his two best friends to come and help him. He's made one of them his vice-president and the other prime minister.

"The people have been patient for so long and now they've spoken. And when they say 'no', it means no."

Regime change

Although Mr Mustafa says he there is no ideal candidate to step into the president's shoes, he is certain there will not be a power void.

"This man has lied to Egyptians for so long and he's been scaring them with the idea that if his regime goes the only alternative is the Muslim Brotherhood - and that's completely wrong," he said.

"We know there isn't enough support from the Egyptian people to do that.

"There are politicised people, there are perfect leaders for the country. Any of them can takeover or someone new can as well.

"Egypt is a country with a population of almost 100 million people, mostly educated, so I don't think it's going to be a problem finding someone to take over."

But Bishop Suriel, from the Coptic Orthodox Church in Melbourne, believes Coptic Christians in Egypt are concerned about the influence the Muslim Brotherhood might have on any new governmental arrangements.

"We are concerned about any extremist group that may take hold," he said.

"It will not be good news for all of Egypt or for the Christians of Egypt for any extremist group that may have their own political agenda.

"That will cause havoc and a lot of distress for Egyptians and for the Coptics and we are against any extremist group that may take hold of the country. We hope and we pray that this does not happen."