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The United States is alienating Muslims worldwide and losing the “the war of ideas” because of adopting faulty policies and what is perceived as “self-serving hypocrisy”, a Pentagon report has revealed. While Washington’s efforts to explain its policies have failed, improved public relations efforts cannot sell faulty policies, said the toughly-worded report, conducted by the Defense Science Board. “Muslims do not hate our freedom, but rather they hate our policies,” said the Pentagon advisory panel.


“The overwhelming majority voice their objections to what they see as a one-sided support in favour of Israel and against Palestinian rights. Thus, when American public diplomacy talks about bringing democracy to Islamic societies, this is seen as no more than self-serving hypocrisy,” added the report.

Forty-three countries and several international organisations will attend the first global anti-terror conference in Riyadh from Feb. 5-8, 2005. “We have invited all countries that have suffered from terrorism to the conference and all have agreed to take part,” said Prince Turki ibn Muhammad, assistant under-secretary for political affairs at the ministry. The conference aims at exchanging information and experience in the fight against terrorism. It will also address measures to help tackle money laundering as well as drug and arms smuggling. Prince Turki said Israel’s obstinacy in dealing with the Palestinian issue as well as the international community’s apathy to the issue had contributed to the spread of violence and terrorism in the Middle East.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan will open a seminar on “Confronting Islamophobia: Education for Tolerance and Understanding” at United Nations Headquarters in New York on December 7, 2004. The seminar will be the second in a series entitled, “Unlearning Intolerance”, organised by the Educational Outreach Section in the Outreach Division of the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI).

The series aims to examine different manifestations of intolerance and explore ways to promote respect and understanding among people. There will be panel discussions offering different perspectives on Islamophobia today, on the role of education in fostering tolerance and understanding, and on ideas for confronting Islamophobia more effectively. These discussions will be webcast live at http://www.un.org/webcast

The Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi Bench has issued a stay order against performing Haj and Umra at government expense and ordered the authorities not to use state money for the purpose. Justice Ali Nawaz Chauhan issued the stay order on a petition by Dr Aslam Khaki who contended that going on Haj and Umra at government expense was illegal, unconstitutional and un-Islamic because state money could be used only for the welfare of needy and helpless people. Granting the stay order, Justice Chauhan said only Khuddamul Hajaj and the Pakistani government’s medical mission was eligible to perform Haj and Umra at state expense, and nobody else. However, the court issued an instant stay order where Haj and Umra at government expense would not be allowed this year.

Visually impaired worshippers in the Grand Mosque in Makkah will now be able to read the holy Quran under a project aimed at providing copies of the holy book using the Braille alphabet. The Presidency of the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s (Pbuh) Mosque said it has finalised a project that allows for the first time, the distribution of copies of the Qur’an printed in Braille. The copies will be made available at various locations inside the Grand Mosque. Abdul Rahman Al-Aqla, director of publications at the Presidency, said the first copies would be posted at King Abdul Aziz and Al-Umrah gates, two of the main gates most used by pilgrims and visitors.

Not less than 40 people have committed suicide within the last six months in the Ibb region of Yemen, an increase of 100 percent over the last two years, according to an official Yemeni report. The majority of those who have committed suicides are women, and within a matter of two weeks, there were not less than 16 cases of this crime. The reasons attributed to this tendency include poverty, including unemployment, and multiplicity of births in many families, and high increase in the population . Other reasons include the expenditure of families on the narcotic leaves known as Qat, purchase of guns, and domestic violence.

One of the most popular politicians in the Netherlands said his country’s democracy is under threat and called for rejecting immigration from non-western nations in the wake of the killing of a Dutch filmmaker, allegedly by a Muslim radical.


“We are a Dutch democratic society. We have our own norms and values,” said Geert Wilders in his first interview to the foreign media, since the slaying of filmmaker Theo van Gogh on November 2, who had produced a television drama critical of how women are treated in some Muslim societies. The filmmaker was shot and stabbed to death, allegedly by a 26-year-old Dutch-Moroccan citizen.Muslims make up about six per cent of the Netherlands’ 16 million people. “ We should not import a retarded political Islamic society to our country,” said Wilders, who has been a member of Parliament since 1998.

The Prince Abdullah Mosque in Kingdom Tower in Riyadh is the highest in the world, as the mosque, donated by Saudi businessman Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal, is located 180 meters above sea level. The elegant mosque stands out as an annex to Spazio restaurant, which is located on the 77th floor of Kingdom Tower, an outstanding landmark in the capital. “The mosque was constructed in response to the request of our clients,” Sami Issa, director of the restaurant said. It is designed in the form of a dome, covering an area of 500 square meters, with a separate prayer hall for women.

International Committee for Red Cross (ICRC) has called for greater respect for basic tenets of humanity. “We are deeply concerned by the devastating impact that the fighting in Iraq is having on the people of that country,” said Pierre Krähenbühl, Director of Operations of the ICRC. “As hostilities continue in Falluja and elsewhere, every day seems to bring news of yet another act of utter contempt for the most basic tenet of humanity: the obligation to protect human life and dignity. The taking of hostages, whether Iraqi or foreign, is forbidden in all circumstances. If these rules or any other applicable rules of international humanitarian law are violated, the persons responsible must be held accountable for their actions,” stated ICRC.

Thousands of Muslims in the United States flocked over the Eid holidays to see the animated film, “Muhammad (Pbuh): The Last Prophet”, in some 92 theatres across the country. In New York, Muslim men, women and children hustled into theatres in Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan throughout the day. The 90-minute movie, which recounts the story of the birth of Islam, was financed by a Saudi real estate investor, Muwaffak Alharithy. Alharithy hired famed Hollywood animated filmmaker Richard Rich, to make the film at a cost of some $12 million.

The Jewish-Muslim friendship day in Paris recently called for establishing a Jewish-Muslim friendship society. Organised under the theme: “For a Muslim-Jewish Friendship”. The event saw the nomination of Rabbi Michel Serfaty, the creator of an initiative called “Arabic and Hebrew: Both Are Written from Right to Left,” to head the new society. The gathering brought together a host of leading French Muslim and Jewish figures, chiefly Dalil Boubakeur, Head of Paris Grand Mosque, and Roger Cukierman, President of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France. “This is a historic day as we stand a golden opportunity to heal the Muslim-Jewish rift in France,” Boubakeur said. “ But let’s look at the future, working in tandem to build bridges of friendship between current Muslims and Jews,” said Cukierman.

Half of Jewish Israelis put more credence in reports by Jewish journalists than Arab journalists, and a quarter think Arab reporters should be subject to stricter censorship, according to a survey on press freedom equality that was presented at Knesset today.

The survey, conducted by the Dahaf Institute among a cross-section of Jews and Arabs, found that 54 percent of Jews prefer reports by Jewish journalists. Some 39 per cent of the public (45 per cent Jews, 7 per cent Arabs) favour preserving the censorship rules for Arab journalists, 23 percent support easing the policy, and 24 percent favor stricter rules.

Pakistan would honour noted writer John L. Esposito of the Georgetown University in Washington on its Republic Day on March 23, 2005, with Hilal-e-Quaide Azam for his contribution to understanding between Christian and Muslims. Esposito who heads the University’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding has authored several books on contemporary issues pertaining to Muslims and Islam. However, his greatest contribution lies in editing and compiling the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Muslim World published by the Oxford University Press.

The French Interior Ministry recorded 135 acts and 375 threats of anti-semitic (read anti-Jewish) attacks this year compared with 125 acts 465 threats last year in France. In response to the statistics, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called upon the Jews in France to ‘move to Israel as early as possible’ in response to the sharp rise in anti-semitic attacks. Several French dailies including the respected Le Figaro and France-Soir condemned the Sharon’s call.
(Source : Allan C. Brownfield in Washington Report on Middle East Affairs)

The American Government funds the Holocaust Museum with $40 million while the Statue of Liberty, the symbol of freedom and liberty in the New York harbour was recently restored with private contributions. The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts receives less than $34 million from the Government funds. Several writers are questioning as to why the American taxpayer’s money should be used to perpetuate the memory of atrocities against Jews in Hitler’s Germany while the Statue of Liberty suffers from the official apathy.

(Holocaust is a term from modern Jewish lexicography that refers to Hitler’s atrocities against Jews in Germany prior to the second World War.)

The People’s Daily of China has reported presence of 30 female imams in Ningxia province of China inhabited by Hui Muslims. The Daily quoted Jin Meihua who leads the prayer Wunan Mosque of Wuzhong city. Meihua said last year she passed the exam held by the Ningxia Islamic Association and became one of the imams in Wuzhong. The article said the female imams lead prayers and preach in women-only mosques.

The seventh general conference of the World Islamic Call Society (WICS) opened here the participation of about 500 Muslim figures from over 50 countries. Held under the theme “We have not sent you forth but a mercy for mankind”, the four-day conference discussed a host of cultural and intellectual issues in addition to a number of papers on important issues occupying the Muslim world.

This year’s slogan “Mercy for Mankind” tackles two major issues. First is the concept of mercy in Islam to address accusations labeled against Islam of violence and condoning terror. The second is the universality of Islam’s message. Dr. Mohamed El-Sharief, WICS Secretary-General, WICS said that the Society was established in Tripoli in 1970 and has branches in more than 30 countries across the globe. Currently, over 250 Islamic institutions and organizations make up the general assembly of the WICS.