Harvard scholars respond to Martin Kramer’s support of a eugenics program against Palestinians loonwatch Prof. Martin Kramer advocated starving out Palestinians so that they cannot reproduce, a view that some have called “genocidal” Prof. Martin Kramer, a right wing loon (who unlike the garden variety loon has a Harvard affiliation), advocated starving out the population of Gaza so that they could not reproduce–a view which flirts with genocide and is a form of eugenics.  We covered his hate-filled words earlier on our site.  I am a firm believer in Godwin’s Law and very rarely like using Nazi comparisons, but I … Continue reading Harvard scholars stand up to Neo-Nazi!

Chief of Mecca’s Virtue Commission, who Says Women & Men Can Mix, Keeps His Job IslamToday / Agencies A senior member of the Saudi religious police repeated on Wednesday his support for Muslim men and women mixing, and denied that his stance against strict separation rules had got him fired. Sheikh Ahmed al-Ghamdi (pictured), the Islamic scholar who heads the Mecca branch of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, told Al-Arabiya television that a widely circulated news report that he had been sacked by the head of the organisation over his views was not true. … Continue reading Chief of Mecca’s Virtue Commission Says Women & Men Can Mix – Keeps His Job!

Obama Invites Muslim Entrepreneurs from Around the World to Washington Summit IslamToday / Agencies US president Barack Obama will lay a key plank of his strategy to mend ties with the Islamic world next week when he hosts a summit to boost economic development in Muslim nations. In a step the White House hopes will help shift relations beyond decades of talk about terrorism and conflict, a senior official said Mr Obama will bring entrepreneurs from 50 countries to Washington on Monday and Tuesday to spur economic ties. The event — entitled “A New Beginning: The Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship” … Continue reading Sheikh Obama Invites Muslim Entrepreneurs to Washington

Al-Qaradawi Criticises South African Muslims for Denying Women Access to Mosques IslamToday / Agencies Qatar-based Islamic scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi yesterday criticized the practice of denying women access to mosques by Muslims in South Africa and said that he was surprised that women were not allowed to attend any of his lectures in Johannesburg during his recent visit there. He lamented that the same tradition, which he called “un-Islamic”, exists among the Muslims of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The South African Muslims in the Johannesburg area are mainly of South Asian descenmt, and their practice of Islam often reflects practices forund … Continue reading Its Kufr to deny Women access to Mosques!

A Number of Muslim Women are Poised to Become British MPs IslamToday / Agencies A large number of Muslim women candidates have a good chance of being one of the first British Muslim women MPs. Among them are: 1. Salma Yaqoob: parliament candidate for the new Hall Green constituency. 2. Shabana Mahmood: fighting Clare Short’s old seat in Birmingham Ladywood. 3. Nusrat Ghani: the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Birmingham Ladywood 4. Yasmin Qureshi: who inherits a big Labour majority in Bolton South. 5. Rushanara Ali: who could well take the Bethnal Green seat back for Labour. 6. Maryam Khan: the … Continue reading British Muslim Women are Poised to Become MPs?

Caspian pipeline knots tighten By Robert M Cutler MONTREAL – Two events coincided this week to point towards further complications in Euro-Caspian energy geo-economics. Azerbaijan has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Georgia and Romania to promote liquefied natural gas (LNG) transportation across the Black Sea, and has separately announced the possibility of postponing a decision on the start-up of production from the offshore Shah Deniz Two natural gas field until 2017 (press reports cite various years from 2016 to 2018). The LNG MoU results directly from an energy conference held earlier this year in Batumi, Georgia, where there … Continue reading Caspian pipeline knots tighten

Vietnam’s guarded US embrace By The Hanoist Fifteen years after normalizing diplomatic relations, military cooperation between the United States and Vietnam is evolving bit by bit. Both sides would like to counter China’s military buildup and historic desire to dominate the region – including the strategic South China Sea where a quarter of the world’s trade transits and where Vietnam, China and other countries contest two island chains believed to contain rich mineral deposits. While US motives are relatively clear – to deepen contacts with the Vietnamese military and establish areas of cooperation – the Hanoi side is often tied … Continue reading Vietnam’s guarded US embrace