COMMENT: Mosque in Manhattan —Dr Syed Mansoor Hussain One of the fears expressed by the opponents of this project that such a centre will eventually become a hotbed of Islamic extremism is entirely misplaced. If and when the centre is up and running, it will probably become one of the most closely watched places of worship in any part of the country The planned Islamic centre in Manhattan near ‘Ground Zero’ has become quite controversial. The facts are straightforward. The planned centre will, among other things, include a mosque. The project has passed all local zoning laws and has been … Continue reading Mosque in Manhattan

COMMENT: The beast called the ‘army’ —Shahzad Chaudhry The military remains the most robust national institution despite our plight of the recent years in all other matters of the state. We should refrain from weakening the institution by defamation, and uncalled for efforts to belittle its positive contributions What do you do with such an entity? When the Swat-Malakand operation was launched in 2009, and there were some quick successes, the world began to take notice of those successes — far more efficient and effective than any that NATO/ISAF had been able to undertake in their nine-year long presence and … Continue reading The beast called the ‘army’

COMMENT: Pakistan Telecom and IT sectors —Muhammad Aftab The IT sector has become one of the most innovative and vibrant industries, advancing at a pace of 30 to 50 percent a year. The IT firms serve the financial, textile and telecom sectors and government departments Pakistan will maintain “a steady, progressing, profitable and high quality telecom market, where consumers interest is given the top priority, while keeping in view the business profitability”. This is the latest projection for the telecom industry that has recorded the highest growth in whole of the economy. Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA), the industry regulator, in … Continue reading Pakistan IT sectors

The New Anti-Semitism: Replace Jew with Muslim Posted on 21 August 2010 by Rousseau LOONWATCH The anti-Muslim movement is gaining momentum Danial Luban examines the people and ideas behind the growing anti-Muslim hysteria. What he finds is a mixture of crusader-inspired nuts and right wing politicians willing to compromise sanity for electoral success. The New Anti-Semitism by Daniel Luban After Abraham Foxman waded into the “Ground Zero Mosque” controversy,opposing [1] plans to construct an Islamic community center a few blocks from the World Trade Center site, the Anti-Defamation League chief was assailed by critics who charged that the ADL was … Continue reading Replace Jew with Muslim – OUCH!

For Imam in Muslim Center Furor, a Hard Balancing Act Craig Ruttle/Associated Press Feisal Abdul Rauf in May. A professor of Islamic studies says the imam “is in the eye of a storm for which he’s not suited at all.” By ANNE BARNARD Not everyone in the Cairo lecture hall last February was buying the imam Feisal Abdul Rauf’s message. As he talked of reconciliation between America and Middle Eastern Muslims — his voice soft, almost New Agey — some questioners were so suspicious that he felt the need to declare that he was not an American agent. Parsing the … Continue reading Feisal Abdul Rauf – An American Imam

Chris Rodda Senior Research Director, Military Religious Freedom Foundation; author, “Liars For Jesus” // <![CDATA[ function hide_user_promo_bubble_second_stage() { var bubble = $("user_promo_bubble"); bubble.style.display = "none"; } function hide_user_promo_bubble() { var bubble = $("user_promo_bubble"); var myAnim = new YAHOO.util.Anim(bubble, { opacity: { to: 0 } }, 1, YAHOO.util.Easing.easeOut); myAnim.animate(); setTimeout("hide_user_promo_bubble_second_stage()", 1100); } function handle_promo_username(params) { var bubble = $("user_promo_bubble"); var img = $("user_promo_bubble_image"); var anchor = $("user_promo_bubble_link"); if (params.has_photo == "true") { img.src = "http://images.huffingtonpost.com/profiles/&quot; + params.user_id + "-tiny.png"; } else { img.style.display = "none"; Dom.addClass(anchor, "wide"); } anchor.innerHTML = "Shared by " + params.user_name; anchor.href = "http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/&quot; + params.user_name; bubble.style.display … Continue reading U.S. Soldiers Punished by Taliban

Dejected Robert Spencer Crows over being Exposed in Chicago Tribune Spencer with fellow anti-Muslim writer Bostom during happier days.  (Bostom too has accused Spencer of fake scholarship since). Robert Spencer is indeed a strange breed. He has curiously thin skin for someone who is a career bigot and hatemonger. He freely throws punches (that mostly miss) but cries to the heavens when any are thrown back (maybe because they usually land). I mean if you are going to put yourself out there as a bigot, you may not want to cry yourself to sleep every time someone calls you out … Continue reading Robert Spencer Exposed in Chicago Tribune

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF Is there any doubt about Osama bin Laden’s position on the not-at-ground-zero mosque? Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times Nicholas D. Kristof On the Ground Share Your Comments About This Column Nicholas Kristof addresses reader feedback and posts short takes from his travels. Go to Columnist Page » Osama abhors the vision of interfaith harmony that the proposed Islamic center represents. He fears Muslim clerics who can cite the Koran to denounce terrorism. It’s striking that many American Republicans share with Al Qaeda the view that the West and the Islamic world are caught inevitably in … Continue reading Taking Bin Laden’s Side

Seth Wenig/Associated Press Passers-by confronted Abu Rahman, right, Matt Sky, and Julia Lundy, who demonstrated for religious tolerance at the site of a proposed Islamic center near ground zero in Lower Manhattan. By SCOTT SHANE WASHINGTON — Some counterterrorism experts say the anti-Muslim sentiment that has saturated the airwaves and blogs in the debate over plans for an Islamic center near ground zero in Lower Manhattan is playing into the hands of extremists by bolstering their claims that the United States is hostile to Islam. Opposition to the center by prominent politicians and other public figures in the United States … Continue reading U.S. Anti-Islam Protest Seen as Lift for Extremists

HuffPo: Why Christians Should Support the ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ loonwatch Counterterrorism experts have said that the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” controversy and the anti-Islam protests benefit Islamic extremists “by bolstering their claims that the United States is hostile to Islam.”  But Muslims should not fall into the trap of thinking of all Americans as a monolithic group, just as they themselves do not want to be viewed that way.  In fact, some of the most vocal supporters of the Islamic cultural center include Jews, such as Rabbis in the Manhattan community and stalwarts like Jon Stewart, Glenn Greenwald, Amy Goodman, … Continue reading Christians Should Support the ‘Ground Zero Mosque’