Malaysia: TV station pulls Ramadan commercials aimed at non-Muslims

Just consider what would have been the international reaction if a Christian-majority country would have shown on TV ads aimed at non-Christians telling them what they should or shouldn’t do during religious celebrations. I guess even Ban Ki-Moon would have protested:

“While the station retracted the advertisements within 48 hours of first screening them and issued a public apology, this episode is telling of the dominant interpretation among members of the Malay bourgeoisie there about the value of Ramadan,” writes Bahrawi. “Ending each advertisement is a condescendingly moralizing message that puts the onus of betterment on the culturally ‘other’ when the focus should be an improvement of the self.

“In one, non-Muslims are explicitly told: “Do not be loud or obnoxious.”

“In another, it was: “Do not be greedy and eat in public.”

“More than spell out the exclusive nature of Islam, the advertisements are revelatory of the inability of Malaysia’s ultra-Malay elites to overcome ethnic tensions with the minority Chinese,” writes Bahrawi. “Ramadan or not, the advertisements suggest that their rose-tinted view of Malaysia is one colored by race-tinted glasses.”

via Malaysian TV station pulls Ramadan commercials aimed at non-Muslims – Beliefnet News.

Related articles

• These Malaysian adverts miss the point of Ramadan | Nazry Bahrawi (guardian.co.uk)
• ‘Racist’ Ramadan adverts pulled in Malaysia (telegraph.co.uk)
• Malaysian TV station cuts ads that offended non-Muslims (independent.co.uk)

US: Fla. imam seeks identity of informant used in Pakistani Taliban terror finance case

Edgar Hoover building - headquarters. Image via Wikipedia

The attorney for a Florida Muslim cleric accused of supporting terrorists wants to learn the identity of a key FBI informant in the case.

Evidence shows the informant recorded numerous conversations with the cleric, 76-year-old Hafiz Khan. Khan’s attorney says in court papers that learning the informant’s identity is critical in preparing his defense. The informant helped drive Khan to appointments and assisted him in dealing with government programs such as Medicare.

The FBI recordings form the backbone of the U.S. case against Khan and his two sons. They are each charged with four terrorism support-related crimes and have pleaded not guilty. The charges each carry potential 15-year sentences. Three others are still at large in Pakistan

Prosecutors say they funneled at least $50,000 to the Pakistani Taliban terror group.

via Fla. imam seeks identity of informant used in Pakistani Taliban terror finance case – The Washington Post.

Pakistan: media portray death of Catholic politician as result of family feud

As they can’t deny the fact that Mr Bhatti was murdered, they are lying about why he was killed: because of his opposition to the Pakistani “blasphemy law”. But of course, that wouldn’t be convenient for Pakistani stablishment, would it?

The media in Pakistan are trying to explain the murder of a leading Catholic politician as the result of a family quarrel rather than a political assassination, according to a lawyer who is tracking the case.

Tahir Naveed, who is monitoring the investigation into the death of Shahbaz Bhatti, reports that media outlets are portraying the death of Pakistan’s former religious-affairs minister as the product of a personal dispute. That explanation is inadequate, Naveed says, because “Shahbaz had no personal enemies.”

via Catholic Culture : Latest Headlines : Pakistani media portray death of Catholic politician as result of family feud.

Related articles

• Pakistan: Police arrests a man in investigation over Shahbaz Bhatti’s murder (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
• Pakistan: Al Qaida branch planned murder of Shabhaz Bhatti (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
• Pakistan: Ministry for Religious Minorities restored (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)

Ireland: ‘Fatwa’ sheikh with links to Irish Muslims is refused visa

These are good news:

Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, when Mohammed was still living... Image via Wikipedia

A CONTROVERSIAL religious leader with close links to Ireland’s largest Muslim organisation has been banned from entering the country, the Irish Independent has learned.

The Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service refused to approve an entry visa for Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian cleric who has defended suicide bombing and advocated the death penalty for homosexuals.

Sheikh al-Qaradawi (84) is head of the European Council of Fatwa and Research (ECFR), a private Islamic foundation whose headquarters is in the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland (ICCI) in Clonskeagh, Dublin.

Immigration officials are understood to have blocked his entry to the country after Mr Al-Qaradawi described suicide-bombing attacks on Israelis as “martyrdom in the name of God”.

via ‘Fatwa’ sheikh with links to Irish Muslims is refused visa – National News, Frontpage – Independent.ie.

Afghanistan: Taliban use of IEDs reaches record high in Afghanistan

The announcement that the mission will finish by Sept 2012, has been probably the cause of this boom in their use:

US IED detonator. Image via Wikipedia

The devices have been the insurgents’ preferred weapon for several years, but their use rose 14 per cent year-on-year, in the second quarter of 2011.

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) caused the majority of Nato casualties in 2010 and their indiscriminate use has been blamed by the United Nations for contributing to record civilian casualties.

From April to June, 3,845 exploded or were found, according to the Pentagon’s Joint IED Defeat Organisation (JIEDDO). Coaliton killed and wounded from the bombs rose 15 per cent yearly to 1,248 over the same period.

In June, use of roadside bombs was 25 per cent higher than average.

Most of the bombs are of homemade explosive, but attempts to block the import of ammonium nitrate fertiliser used in its manufacture have failed to stop the increase in devices.

via Taliban use of IEDs reaches record high in Afghanistan – Telegraph.

Related articles

• Taliban use of IEDs reaches record high in Afghanistan (telegraph.co.uk)

India: Muslim extremists disrupt prayer meeting, beat convert to Christianity

Map of India, showing region of West Bengal. Image via Wikipedia

Alliance of Civilizations?

A gang of 50 Muslim extremists disrupted a prayer meeting at a Christian woman’s home in West Bengal, an Indian state that borders Bangladesh. Threatening to burn down the home, the group told Selina Bibi, a convert from Islam to Christianity, that she must leave the area or return to Islam.

The woman, who was baptized a Protestant in March, had been stripped and beaten by local Muslims following her conversion.

25% of West Bengal’s population is Muslim; nationwide, the figure is 13%.

via Catholic Culture : Latest Headlines : India: extremists disrupt prayer meeting, beat convert to Christianity.

Philippines: Bomb blast rocks Cotabato while conversations are ongoing with MILF

Map of the Philippines with Cotabato highlighted. Image via Wikipedia

A bomb exploded yesterday evening at the residence of a gun store owner in the southern Philippines, where a homemade bomb killed two people and wounded 10 others four days ago, officials said today.

Lawyer Cynthia Guani-Sayadi, city administrator, said the explosion occurred around 8 p.m. Saturday outside the house of JV Martinez along De Mazenod Street in the southern city of Cotabato occurred but no casualty was reported.

“The explosive was left outside Martinez residence. He was not around that time,” said Sayadi.

Martinez is the owner of a gun store along the city’s Quezon Avenue where a bomb went off Tuesday killing two people and wounding 10 others.

“He (Martinez) already gave his side to the police. He told investigators that he has no idea why his shop was attacked. But we know that he has several grudges,” said Sayadi.

via Bomb blast rocks Cotabato – Home » Other Sections » Breaking News.

Nonetheless,  Philippine President Benigno Aquino is in talks with MILF’s leader Murad Ibrahim. We have to remember that MILF’s objective is to create an Islamic state in Mindanao.