islamic-video.com

6/3/2006 7:00:00 PM GMT
 

The Muslim Safety Forum (MSF) voiced concern over yesterday’s shooting of a man during a raid by UK police, demanding the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) launch an independent investigation into the incident, according to IRNA news agency.

At least 300 policemen, with arms and some of them wearing protective chemical, biological and radiological suits and acting with the advice of biochemical experts, carried out one of the largest raids in the British capital since London bombings shook the transport network in July last year.

"The public view armed anti terror raids with much apprehension and suspicion" after a Brazilian was killed last year at Stockwell station in south London and accusations of a subsequent police-cover-up, Azad Ali, Chair of the MSF, noted.

MSF, moreover, stated that the person was seriously wounded and that it is requesting "full and prompt disclosure of information of the operation to ally community fears."

A 23-year-old man was shot during a raid in Forest Gate, east London, according to Metropolitan Police, who refused to give further details other than the that the man was taken to hospital and later arrested.

Another 20-year-old man was arrested at a central London police station in the raid.

MSF held talks with the Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson, and expressed its deep concerns, saying it was informed the raid was “a pre-planned intelligence led operation with other law enforcement agencies and that the incident was referred to the IPCC“, according to IRNA.

"We hope that the lessons of Stockwell will have been learned and that the police will work more robustly in disseminating factual information and ally any opportunities for right wing elements of Islamophobic rumour mongering," Ali added.

"We have asked specifically that the IPCC take lead and remain in full control of this incident and establish quickly why a firearm was discharged," he said.

Peter Clarke, head of the anti-terrorist branch of London's Metropolitan police, claimed that the raid was conducted in response to information about a threat from firearms or "hazardous substances."

But a police spokeswoman said that nothing yet can confirm whether the men were suspected of planning to build a chemical weapon.

Also the police said officers inspecting the site have not found any weapon or device.

6/5/2006 3:00:00 PM GMT
 

Software developers at Damascus-based Afkar Media are working on a strategy game that tells the story of the early years of Islam’s history from the viewpoint of four different nations - Bedouins, Arabs, Persians, and Romans, according to The Christian Science Monitor.

Set to be released in September, “Al-Quraysh” is just one of several new games developed in the Middle East with the idea that video games, like other media, have a great impact on children’s minds.

The makers hope that "Al-Quraysh," named after Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) tribe, would help improve the image of Islam, clarify Western misconceptions and stoke pride among young Muslims.

"Al-Quraysh is going to help people in the West better understand the people who are living in the East," says Radwan Kasmiya, the executive manager of Afkar Media. "We want to show that this civilization was a sort of practical and almost heavenly civilization."

Mr. Kasmiya also says that Muslims could learn from “Al-Quraysh”.

"I get very embarrassed by the way we are showing our civilization," says he says. "There were rational laws that were governing Muslims at that time. This allowed this civilization to last for a long time and to accept the other civilizations that they came in touch with. It was not a conservative or sectarian civilization. But people have stopped taking the ideas behind the laws, and are taking the laws themselves. They do not understand the essence of the laws."

Afkar Media has released two games that portray the struggle of the Palestinian people. One game, called "Under Siege," was mainly developed to combat the trend in Western video games that Arabs and Muslims are terrorists. The makers of the game say the game show that Palestinian resistance fighters are fighting is self-defense.

"Most video games on the market are anti-Arab and anti-Islam," says Kasmiya. "Arab gamers are playing games that attack their culture, their beliefs, and their way of life. The youth who are playing the foreign games are feeling guilt. On the outside they look like they don't care, but inside they do care. But we also don't want to do something about Arabs killing Westerners."

Both "Al-Quraysh" and "Under Siege," that cost about $100,000, have been funded and released by publishing house Dar al-Fiqr.

"People believe that only their heritage will help this nation," says Hasan Salem, a director at Dar al-Fiqr. "We believe that this nation needs a new vision, new people, new blood to study, read, and then think about Islam. We believe in this line, not the old line that only reads old books and believes in the past."

6/5/2006 6:30:00 PM GMT
 

An independent body probing the situation in Thailand’s largely Muslim south warned that violence could surge if the government doesn’t change its tough policy, Reuters reported.

The National Reconciliation Commission, formed last year and led by former premier Anand Panyarachun, slammed both parties responsible for violence in southern Thailand, where more than 1,300 people died since early 2005.

But it urged the Thai government, which sent hundreds of troops to the Muslim-majority far south, to establish a powerful committee to find solutions.

"The use of violence to solve problems is not only misguided, but it has aggravated the situation," Anand said in a press conference before submitting a final fact-finding report to the government.

"The only way for Thai society to end this risky circle of violence is reconciliation," he said.

Anand also said that part of the problem in Thailand’s three southern Muslim-majority provinces was Muslim discontent at the abuse of power committed by police and other officials.

"Economic hardship, poverty and injustice have spawned conditions conducive to an anti-government campaign waged in and outside the country. They are being cited as reasons for resorting to violence," he said.

"We have found that religion has not been the cause of violence, although it is related in the sense that it is being used by some groups to justify violence.

"If this state of conditions does not improve, violence will erupt to the extent worse than spates of arson we saw in the second half of 2005," Anand said.

The former Prime Minister also said that Muslim civilians bore the brunt of violence.

“I believe the relations between the state and people would reach a worrying stage as Muslims would distrust the government as they are unsure whether the government is behind the violence,” he added.

Anand also urged the government to establish a fund to compensate families of Muslim victims who died due to the government's abuses.

“We are quite confident these proposals could help solve problems in the long run. But it depends on how the government would respond to our proposals and on whether it can change the way it is used to doing things," Anand said.

Muslims accuse the mainly Buddhist Thai authorities of a litany of abuses in the southern region where 80 percent of the population are Muslim, ethnic Malay and non-Thai speaking.

Thailand's three southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat were all an independent Muslim sultanate before being annexed a century ago.

6/8/2006 5:00:00 PM GMT
 

The Canadian Muslim community expressed shock over the weekend arrests of 17 Muslim men and youths, according to Reuters.

Over the last several days, Canadian police arrested 12 Muslim men and five juveniles, who are allegedly accused of planning to blow up landmark locations in southern Ontario.

According to court documents, the men, all from Ontario, face charges ranging from "conspiracy to carry out a terrorist activity, to training for terrorist purposes, to bomb-making and illegally importing guns and ammunition."

Many of the accused have attended prayers at the al-Rahman Islamic Center for Islamic Education in Ontario, which has been mostly deserted after the arrests.

"I was shocked, it (the alleged criminal element) should not be here. This is a religious place," said the owner of a nearby store, who said he attended the mosque about once a week.

The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations put out a statement expressing relief that the arrests stopped “potential terror attacks”.

But other Islamic groups warned of a possible backlash against Canada’s 600,000 Muslims, who make up an estimated 2% of Canada's population of 33 million.

The Toronto Islamic Foundation said that it might be the beginning of religiously motivated reprisals against Canadian Muslims.

"A backlash is a given," said Fatima Rakie, 24, a Canadian-born woman of Lebanese descent. "People are aggravated with us already. They will think all Muslims are extremists. But all religions have their extremists."

Vandals smashed the windows of a Toronto area mosque on Saturday night. Police said they were investigating the incident, which helped prompt a nationally televised "community meeting" Sunday involving Muslim leaders and police, with both sides urging tolerance and cooperation.

6/9/2006 10:55:00 AM GMT
 

A Gallup survey of Islamic societies showed that most Muslim women feel their religion is being disrespected in the West, Access News reported.

The poll, released Tuesday by the Gallup organization, interviewed more than 1,000 Muslim women from eight Islamic states: Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

The findings of “What Women Want: Listening to the Voices of Muslim Women" showed that most Muslim women admire Western political freedom and gender equality.

But the majority of those interviewed said they resented “moral decay” in Western societies, according to Dalia Mogahed, executive director of Muslim studies at the Gallup Organization.

One 22-year-old Moroccan woman said she resented "the disrespect of women by men" in the West, Mogahed said.

The survey found that Hollywood movies made Muslims view the United States as a center of promiscuity, pornography and public indecency.

According to Mogahed, many Muslims also felt that their religion was being disrespected or was "under attack."

Respondents said Westerners should stop degrading the Islamic religion and that the Western society should stop viewing Muslims as inferior. They said a greater respect of Islam by non-Muslims in the West is needed to improve American-Islamic relations.

Mogahed also said that most Muslim women said they should have the right to vote, drive, work outside the home and to lead and serve in government.

"There is a consciousness of deserved rights," she said.

However, she said that Muslim women were hopeful that social changes would come.

"Optimism among Muslim women was higher than men," she said. "Things are getting better. The future is brighter."

The Gallup organization conducted another survey that asked more than 1,000 American adults about their view of the Muslim world.

When asked about what they respect about the Islamic world, they said: “nothing” or “I don’t know”, according to Eric Nielsen, a spokesman for Gallup.

Lynn Olson, director of organizational development for Sisters Cities International, which works to build relationships among countries, said hearing about Americans’ lack of knowledge on the Islamic world was shocking.

"In Western culture, we think that right and normal is us," Olson said. "We have no perception of other cultures that have different views of the world."

Olson, who described the findings as “insulting”, said Americans need more education about other cultures.

Tuesday’s findings were the first phase of the survey, which Gallup expects to finish in late 2006. The polling organization plans to interview Muslims in 39 countries with large numbers of Muslim people.