Recent strident trends in Israeli nationalist ideology mask a more complex and potentially fruitful dialogue on the future of Zionism Antony Lerman guardian.co.uk, Friday 25 June 2010 11.59 BST Article history Former Israeli defence minister Moshe Arens in 1999, announcing that he would challenge Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for leadership of the Likud party. Arens has recently floated the heretical idea of a ‘one-state solution’. Photograph: Havakuk Levison/Reuters Israel may show all the signs of being a typical westernised, post-ideological society. But in response to growing international pressure over recent years and with the country’s centre of political gravity drifting … Continue reading The debate within the Jewish state

By Shamim-ur-Rahman dawn.com According to a media release of the KSE Mr Hague participated in a financial services roundtable and was impressed with the overview. — File Photo KARACHI: British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Thursday visited the Karachi Stock Exchange and expressed satisfaction over efforts at maintaining stability in the financial sector in Pakistan. According to a media release of the KSE Mr Hague participated in a financial services roundtable and was impressed with the overview. Speaking on the occasion he discussed the UK government’s plan to invest 665 million pounds in Pakistan. He solicited views of the participants … Continue reading UK plans to invest £665m in Pakistan

Time for BJP to reinvent itself By Kuldip Nayar dawn.com Activists from India’s main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) take cover behind a barrier as police use a water cannon to disperse them during a protest in New Delhi June 18, 2010. Hundreds of activists on Friday protested against the rise in fuel prices, BJP activists said. – Photo by Reuters. Clenched fists in a rightist party do not make it a different entity. I imagine this is what some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders were trying to do when they stood in a row with their clenched fists after … Continue reading BJP should reinvent itself

Pakistan’s unsung genius dawn.com The picture was taken on my visit to CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research) in Geneva, Switzerland a couple of years ago. CERN is home to the world’s highest energy particle accelerator and has been the subject of considerable media attention as it collides particles travelling at very nearly the speed of light to recreate the very early moments of the Big Bang. Imminent scientific discoveries are expected and with them, a significant development in our understanding of the laws of nature. Perhaps the last major breakthrough in the world of particle physics came in the … Continue reading Dr Abdus Salam – Pakistan’s unsung genius

Anti-Muslim Billboard: “Islam Rising…Be Warned” Posted on 24 June 2010 by Emperor loonwatch.com The fearmongering continues, courtesy of a Christian Action Network (CAN) advertisement. (hat tip: Abdullah) Some take offense to billboard warning drivers about Islam By Jackie Faye COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) – A billboard along Interstate 26 is catching a lot of eyes, and viewers are calling our newsroom about it. Some think it’s offensive, and others just want to know what it means. On a stretch of highway from Orangeburg to Columbia, one sees advertisement on billboards scattered along the side of the road. But this billboard stands … Continue reading Pat Robertson wants to kill YOU!

Tennessee: Mosque Vandalized Once Again Posted on 24 June 2010 by Emperor loonwatch.com A mosque has been targeted by vandals once again in Tennessee. Sign Vandalized at future mosque site by Mark Bell A sign marking the future site of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro was found vandalized for the second time in less than six months Wednesday, according to an Islamic Center spokesperson. “At this time we’re going to release one statement and that is that this has been a very unfortunate incident and we are just trying to be good neighbors,” said Carmie Ayash. Abdou Kattih called the … Continue reading Mosque Vandalized Once Again

Exposing David Wood: Of Mosques and Men, Pt. 1 Posted on 24 June 2010 by Garibaldi of loonwatch.com David Wood is a Christian apologist who attempts to save Muslim souls through his organization Acts 17 Apologetics and http://www.answeringmuslims.com. In the past Wood and his entourage, including ex-Ahmadi Muslim Nabeel Qureshi have targeted the Dearborn Arab Festival in Michigan for proselytism. At the 2009 Arab Festival, David Wood made a controversial, and some claim one sided video that received over a million hits on YouTube which showed them getting kicked out of the festival. They claim that they were just engaged … Continue reading Reverend Mullahaha David Wood!

Working-class Protestants are lashing out and leadership is needed to address racism before someone is killed Tim Brannigan guardian.co.uk, Thursday 24 June 2010 12.30 BST Article history The sound of broken glass: Sorin Ciurar, 20, at his house in Belfast, which was attacked in a spate of racist incidents against Romanian families in 2009. Photograph: Niall Carson/PAThe latest race attacks in Northern Ireland are as depressing as they are predictable. Isolated families in loyalist areas having their homes ransacked, their belongings destroyed and their lives threatened is a phenomenon now occurring with sickening regularity. In the latest incidents, a mob … Continue reading Ethnic minorities make easy scapegoats in Belfast

Iran’s ‘blogfather’ on trial in Tehran Hossein Derakhshan, the Iranian blogger and Cif contributor, is accused of producing propaganda against the Islamic regime Brian Whitaker guardian.co.uk, Thursday 24 June 2010 16.29 BST Article history Hossein Derakhshan, a prominent Iranian blogger and occasional contributor to Comment is free, finally went on trial in Tehran yesterday. Derakhshan, who has been imprisoned since his arrest in November 2008, is accused of “propaganda against the Islamic regime, propaganda in favour of anti-Iranian regime political groups, managing and running lurid and immoral websites and co-operating with hostile governments,” according to the Fars news agency. Known … Continue reading Hossein Derakhshan on trial in Tehran

Caste is still the tie that binds in India Primitive practices around caste and marriage are still finding support – even in urbanised, educated India Kaushik Barua guardian.co.uk, Thursday 24 June 2010 16.00 BST Article history A leading Indian matrimonial website found that more than 99% of its users chose to mention caste when searching for a partner. Photograph: Raminder Pal Singh/EPAIn villages across northern India, the most dangerous choice young people could make is one most of us take for granted – choosing their own partner. In the rural hinterlands, the khap panchayats, traditional community organisations, mete out their … Continue reading Caste holds back Indians