Saudi Arabia: a woman critizises Muslim clerics in TV poetry contest

Hissa Hilal performing on Millions Poet. She is guaranteed a prize of at least Dh1 million. Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage

And of course she has received death threats from Islamists:

It was a startling voice of protest at a startling venue. Covered head-to-toe in black, a Saudi woman lashed out at hard-line Muslim clerics’s harsh religious edicts in verse on live TV at a popular Arabic version of “American Idol.”

Well, not quite “American Idol”: Contestants compete not in singing but in traditional Arabic poetry. Over the past episodes, poets sitting on an elaborate stage before a live audience have recited odes to the beauty of Bedouin life and the glories of their rulers or mourning the gap between rich and poor.

Then last week, Hissa Hilal, only her eyes visible through her black veil, delivered a blistering poem against Muslim preachers “who sit in the position of power” but are “frightening” people with their fatwas, or religious edicts, and “preying like a wolf” on those seeking peace.

via Protesting in verse: A Saudi woman criticizes Muslim clerics’ in a TV poetry contest – latimes.com.

Iran: more arrests of regime critics

More censorship in Iran. Image via Wikipedia

It seems that some of the activists for democracy detained by the Iranian regime some days ago, belonged to Iran Proxy, which:

has used twitter and their website in the fight against web filtering. In an interview with Radio Farda, a representative of the group said they have been working for six years in an ‘underground’ fight against censorship.

Its main blogger has been arrested accused of “carrying some human rights activities”:

(Ultra-conservative newspaper) Keyhan reported that the leader of the group is a blogger named “Seyed Hussein Ronaghi Melki” whose pennames are Babak Khoramdin or Babak blogger.

Meanwhile, Iranian reformist websites “announced [fa] that Mehdi Aboutorabi, founder of Persian Blog, a leading blog provider in country in the country, and supporter of Moussavi, had also been arrested”.

Rafsanjani’s grandson has also been arrested when he arrived in Tehran airport from abroad. He is accused of taking part in the post-elections’ protests, held last year.

(via)

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• Targeting Rafsanjani’s Family (andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com): A few weeks ago, Lahouti was interviewed by BBC Persian, and he criticised the Government’s harassment of his mother and grandfather.

Philippines: Police hunts Indon training militants

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Not only Umar Patek and Heru Kuncoro are in the Philippines.

Indonesian officials have asked the Philippine authorities to track down an Indonesian fugitive wanted in connection with several beheadings who is now helping to train militants in an insurgency-wrecked Philippine region, security officials said yesterday.

Sanusi, like many Indonesians using only one name, has been monitored in Mindanao, two Philippine intelligence officials said.

He fled to the region after being accused of ordering militants in 2007 to behead three people in the eastern Indonesian town of Poso, where Islamist militants had launched a series of bloody attacks on Christians and government workers.

Sanusi has emerged as a key operative of Jemaah Islamiyah.

He is believed to have helped fund and organise religious and combat training for new Indonesian militant recruits in Mindanao, where local guerrillas are fighting to create an independent Muslim state.

via TODAYonline | World | Philippines hunts Indon training militants.

India: officials demand Christians to stop sharing their faith as "it offends Hindus"

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Conditions for Christians in the Indian state of Karnataka continue to worsen after the Communal Violence Bill of last year.

Under this legislation, officials have demanded Christians stop distributing literature as well as share their faith because “it offends the Hindus,” according to Energy Publisher, an international news and analysis agency.

EnerPub reported an incident in regards to this on March 15, where “police went to the Cathedral of Karwar and warned the Vicar General to stop the spreading of Christian literature and Christian religious pictures.

via Conditions worsen for India’s Kamataka Christians; pastor severely beaten | CentrePoint News.

A pastor was also beaten on March 10th when 10 Hindu extremists entered his home during a prayer meeting, according to the link.

The worst thing is that religious violence is done always in the name of one God (or several), who is considered as almighty, so if He wanted to defend Himself he was going to do it without any human interference.

From my point of view, this is a pretext, an excuse to violence and power.

Related: Is the State Govt supporting Christian persecution? (Answers for the Faith).

Philippines: Muslims rally in Mindanao against ‘Islamophobia’

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Thousands of Filipino Muslims, many of them women and the youth chanting “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is Great), launched a series of rallies since Sunday in Mindanao to warn against and denounce the rising tides of anti-Islam and anti-Muslim sentiments sweeping Europe and the United States.

Mass actions were staged in Cotabato City on Sunday with thousands of participants, and in Marawi City on Monday morning, and in the afternoon in this city at Rizal Park.

Speakers, many of them from ulama groups as well as professionals, slammed the pervasive religious discrimination in many EU member countries.

They took turns pointing to anti-Islam acts in Switzerland (the banning of minarets), prohibition of wearing of hijab (scarves) and niqab or burka (face-covering) in France, Germany, and the Netherlands; publication of offensive caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Allaihi Wassalam in Sweden and Norway, among other acts of bigotry.

Aleem Zainal Abedin Saleh in Marawi City recalled the cold-blooded murder by a German citizen in Dresden, Germany, of three-month pregnant Marwa al-Sherbini, 32-year-old Egyptian national, because of her hijab. (carried out by a Nazi who had a deranged mind… But no protest about honor killings, carried out by “devout” Muslims).

In the US, anti-Islam discrimination continues to grow after 9/11, despite the reaching out of American Muslims who are facing strong opposition in some states over the building of new mosques.

via Muslims rally in Mindanao against ‘Islamophobia’ | Manila Bulletin.

Do they know that 85% of Al-Qaeda’s victims are Muslims? Seems killing someone is not as bad as forbidding him/her to wear a burka for equality and security reasons (how many criminals had used the burqa to commit a crime so the police can’t identify them?).

Somalia: another Christian killed, his wife threatened with death

He was killed by Al-Shebaab because of his Christian activity in the area. His wife was threatened with death (we know where you live and we’re going to kill you the way we killed your husband), so she fled with their 2-year-old son to Nairobi, Kenya.

(via).

Yemen: women protests ban on child marriages

Thousands of women demonstrated outside parliament Sunday to oppose legislation banning the marriage of girls under 17. The protesters held up banners proclaiming “don’t ban what Allah made permissible,” or “stop violating Islamic sharia law in the name of rights and freedoms.” Proposed amendments to the civil status law stalled in parliament last August after severe opposition to a government proposal that would ban girls under 17 and males under 18 from marrying. Child marriages are common, especially in rural areas, where girls as young as eight have been married off.

via “Stop violating Islamic sharia in the name of rights and freedoms!”.

I don’t think Nojoud thinks (1, 2, 3) the same as these women.

From Yemen Times:

Afghanistan: PM travels to China

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai travels to China this week eyeing investment from his mighty neighbor that has shown more interest in helping to rebuild his war-torn nation than military involvement.

More than eight years after the Taliban regime was toppled by US-led forces, Karzai will also seek to strengthen ties with China, increasingly seen as a key player in maintaining stability in Afghanistan after US troops pull out.

During the trip — his first to China since re-election last year — Karzai will hold separate talks with his counterpart President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶).

Karzai will present the Chinese leadership with a plan for reconciliation with the Taliban during his visit from tomorrow to Thursday, but financial issues are likely to dominate talks, his spokesman Waheed Omar said.

…Experts say stronger relations between Afghanistan and its neighbors are an important factor in the success of US President Barack Obama’s strategy for the troubled country.

Obama aims to start withdrawing US troops next year. In the meantime, he has sent in military reinforcements to step up the fight against the Taliban.

In February, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen stressed how vital it was to reinforce ties with countries such as China, India and Pakistan.

via Taipei Times – archives.

There were rumours that China was sending weapons to Iran, weapons that ended in the hands of the Taliban three years ago. In this page, there seems to be a good deal of information about the Chinese links with the Taliban and Bin Laden.

Of course, since all of that happened, the Uighur revolt took place, so maybe they see the Talibans as a threat too now.

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• How Pakistani Assistance is Undermining Afghanistan (time.com)
• Karzai holds talks with insurgents (telegraph.co.uk)