Islamic Voice A Monthly English Magazine

September 2006
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Cover Story

OIC Appeals for Protection of Al Aqsa Mosque
Jeddah


The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which groups 57 Muslim countries made an appeal to the international community to compel Israel to protect and respect the Islamic holy places. In a statement issued on the occasion of the 37th anniv-ersary of the heinous arson on the Al Aqsa Mosque, it also warned that any damage to the blessed Al Aqsa Mosque and other holy places will undermine global international peace and security. According to the statement issued by the OIC: “This year’s anniversary of Al Israa and Mi’raj (the Night Journey and the Ascension of the Prophet-Pbuh) coincides with the 37th anniversary of the evil attempt to burn the blessed Al Aqsa Mosque at a time when new and dangerous Israeli violations threaten the buildings and sanctities through excavations carried out by the Israeli occupation authorities under-neath the Mosque’s walls. Israel also allows Israeli extremists to access the mosque and to violate the sanctity of the destination of the Prophet’s (Pbuh) Night Journey, the first prayer direction (Qibla) and the third holy mosque. This anniversary also comes at a time when the city of Al Quds Al Sharif is living in difficult conditions as a result of the stifling siege imposed by Israel through military checkpoints and the Apartheid Wall that is suppressing the holy city, denying worshippers access to their religious places. On this occasion, the OIC reaffirms that Al Quds and the safety of its sacred places are particularly important for the security and peace in the region. Israel is fully responsible before the Muslim world in particular and the international community in general for ensuring the protection of all of the holy places under its occupation. In the face of Israeli aggressions against the blessed Al Aqsa Mosque, OIC appeals to the international community to compel Israel to protect and respect the Islamic holy places, and warns that any damage to the blessed Al Aqsa Mosque and the other holy places will have for Muslims and believers around the world, dire and unpredictable consequences on international peace and security.”

Muslims in US Earn Less, Post 9/11
New York


Wages and weekly earnings of Arab and Muslim men living in the United States fell by 10 per cent following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, a new study shows. In addition, the adverse affects of September 11 on wages were greater in areas that reported high rates of hate crime related to religious, ethnic or country of origin bias, according to an upcoming study scheduled to be published in the Spring 2007 edition of the Journal of Human Resources.


“I was surpr-ised,” said Robert Kaestner, study co-author and Professor of Economics at University of Illinois, Chicago. “We see an immediate and significant connection between personal prejudice and economic harm,” he added. The study measured changes in wages of first and second-generation immigrants from countries with pre-dominantly Arab or Muslim populations between September 1997 and September 2005 and compared them to changes in wages of first and second-generation immigrants with similar skills from other countries.