Cynthia Mckinney: People of the world must end Israeli impunity
I am outraged at Israel’s latest criminal act.
I mourn with my fellow Free Gaza travelers, the lives that have been lost by Israel’s needless, senseless act against unarmed humanitarian activists.
But I’m even more outraged that once again, Israel’s actions have been aided and abetted by a U.S. political class that has become corrupted beyond belief due to its reliance on Zionist finance and penetration by Zionist zealots for whom no U.S. weapons system is too much for the Israeli war machine, and the silence of the world’s onlookers whose hearts have grown cold with indifference.
I recently visited the offices of IHH, the Turkish humanitarian organization that sponsored one of the Freedom Flotilla boats, and that was targeted by the Israelis for its murderous rampage.
Reports are still coming in as to the full extent of the senseless Israeli violence.
Of course, I expect Israel’s apologists in the press and in the United States government to shift into high gear to support Israel’s lying machine.
Take note of their names.
The 12,000 internet squatters/written word grenade throwers, hired by the Israeli Foreign Ministry to defend Israel and attack peace activists online, are already busy spreading their orchestrated disinformation in cyberspace.
Be very careful what you read and believe from special interest press and the internet. You could be reading one of Israel’s hired hacks.
As a news diversion from what Israel has just done, I suspect that we can also expect to see a lot of historical footage of war’s atrocities on television: today is Memorial Day in the United States, a day long ago set aside to remember the sacrifices of U.S. war dead.
I encouraged and supported U.S.S. Liberty veteran Joe Meadors’s participation in the Freedom Flotilla.
Unfortunately, the fate of the U.S.S. Liberty innocents on the high seas, while in international waters, has now been visited upon the participants in the Freedom Flotilla, in large measure because of the Congressional- and Presidential-level cover-up of the 1967 Israeli attack on that U.S. surveillance ship.
Combined with the failure of just about every other effort to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, and crimes against the peace. Belgium and Spain changed their domestic laws of universal jurisdiction after Israeli appeals to do so.
The entire musical chairs gang of rotating Israeli leadership are war criminals.
During my imprisonment in Israel for attempting to take crayons to the children of Gaza, I called Israel a failed state. If Israel is threatened by unarmed, humanitarian activists to the point of massacring them, then Israel is a failed state. Israel is a failed nuclear state.
Obama’s most recent granting of an additional $205 million for Israeli “missile defense” is unconscionable, when in the same week, reports revealed for the first time, Israel’s offer of nuclear weapons to apartheid South Africa.
Just last week, a paper bearing the signature of former Israeli Prime Minister, Shimon Peres, was released by South Africa, revealing that in 1975, Israel could offer South Africa nuclear weapons “in three sizes.”
South Africa’s then-Minister of Defense, P.W. Botha, was South Africa’s signatory to the letter.
This information would make the entire Obama Administration look sadly farcical as it points an accusing finger at Iran, except that U.S. obeisance to the Israeli bloodthirst is deadly serious. With deadly outcomes.
Earlier this month, Israel was granted admission to the Organization of Economic and Community Development (OECD), a direct affront to ongoing Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) efforts across the world.
Once again, Israel has thumbed its nose at the global community–with bloody results–because it can.
I am proud to serve on the Bertrand Russell Tribunal on Palestine.
Its next sitting will be in London, where we will examine corporate complicity in Israel’s crimes against Palestine.
The Tribunal will sit from November 5 – 7. Please put this on your calendar.
We all must do what we can, where we are to end wars against the people at home and wars against human rights abroad.
Finally, a friend just sent a message to me saying that the Israelis had lost their minds.
Sadly, based on the past, the Israelis could very well conclude that they can do anything–imprison me for trying to take love to the children of Gaza and kill humanitarian activists trying to do the same–because they know, in the end, they’ll get away with it.
Instead, I would suggest that we are the ones who have lost our minds, our souls, our spirits, and our human dignity if we allow the Israelis to get away with murder–again–and we do nothing.
I am calling on the people of the United States to change course now.
On this Memorial Day 2010, I am stunned and outraged beyond belief while mourning the dead of the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza.
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*Cynthia Ann McKinney (born March 17, 1955) is a former United States Representative and the 2008 Green Party nominee for President of the United States. McKinney served as a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2003 and 2005 to 2007, first representing Georgia’s 11th Congressional District and then Georgia’s 4th Congressional District. She is the first African-American woman to have represented Georgia in the House.
Source: Green Party of the United States http://gp.org/cynthia/display.php?ID=36
Canadian democracy is a large tent
By Hussein Hamdani
Thirty years ago this week the people of Quebec voted by a wide margin of 60% to 40% to reject sovereignty association with Canada. That was great news for Quebec and for Canada. We are stronger when united. In 1995, Quebecers had another referendum and it came down to the wire; 50.6% voted to stay in Canada, and 49.4% voted to separate. That night, a defeated Jacques Parizeau told his supporters that the separatists lost because of “money and ethnic votes”. The Francophone found their scapegoat: the ethnics. His bigotry was immediately condemned, and he resigned the next day.
It’s clear that Quebecers continue to have a real difficulty dealing with ethnic minorities. Today, their xenophobia appears targeted against Muslim women who wear the niqab – the full face covering.
In March, the Charest government introduced Bill 94 to require that the face must be visible during a person’s interaction with the government’s employees, including government departments, agencies, school boards, health and social services and day care. Requests for accommodation should be denied (whether or not the request is reasonable). Even if a veiled woman agrees to unveil in front of another woman, this is not sufficient, she must be willing to unveil herself in front of men, otherwise, she should be denied government service.
In Quebec, less then two dozen women wear the niqab – of whom only 10 turned up last year at the Montreal office of the provincial health board out of 118,000 visitors. Clearly, this is not an overwhelming wave. Nonetheless, this bill bans niqabis from working for, or even receiving services from, government and the broader public sector. These taxpayers may be denied all schooling, including French language instruction, and all non-emergency health care, including regular check ups. An excellent paper on the deficiencies of the bill can be found at the Tessellate Institute site www.tessellateinstitute.com.
Quebec is totally out of step with the rest of Canada, but especially Ontario. The difference revolves around the role of government in the lives of the people. French Canada believes that the state has a right to insist on a measure of shared values. It will make “reasonable accommodations” with minority rights, but assumes that the (big brother) government has the right to determine what qualifies as “reasonable.” Ontario and English Canada believes that the individual has rights which the state can never alienate. The government must recognize the rights of citizenry.
Most of us support English Canada’s position. We do not like the idea of the government telling people what they can and not wear, what they can believe and what they cannot believe. I do not encourage Muslim women to wear the niqab – it’s hard to converse with someone who wears one, and it cannot be conclusively justified by the faith. However, I think criminalizing women who wear it, or shunning them from receiving public services like health care is pejorative and discriminatory.
Canadians are enriched with Quebec as part of the dominion. But Francophone Quebecers need to understand that they too are enriched by the presence of people with diverse cultures, religions, clothes and food. Cities like Hamilton and Toronto excel where other cities around the world have failed: in the ability of bringing a wide variety of people together to live peacefully and respectfully. Quebec could learn a thing or two about living in an inclusive society from their Ontario neighbours.
Canadian democracy is a large tent with lots of room for all kinds of people, even a dozen or two veiled women. This bill is anti-democratic and xenophobic. It only harms unnecessarily.
*Freelance columnist Hussein Hamdani lives in Burlington, and works as a lawyer in Hamilton.
Toronto opens its doors this weekend
(May 27, 2010) – This weekend, the City of Toronto presents the annual Doors Open Toronto — one weekend, once a year — when 150 buildings of architectural, historic, cultural and social significance open their doors to the public for a city-wide celebration.
The program allows visitors free access to properties that are either not usually open to the public, or would normally charge an entrance fee. Many locations have organized guided tours, displays and activities to enrich the visitor experience.
From heritage landmarks to modern structures, hidden gems, green roofs, places of worship, halls of learning, boardrooms, bedrooms, breweries, lighthouses, mansions, museums, theatres, national historic sites, centres of rail travel, cemeteries, factories, banking halls, architects’ offices and more.
One of the featured buildings is the Islamic Foundation of Toronto, one of the oldest Muslim organizations in Canada.
It was established in 1969, when an old 3000 square foot building was purchased at Rhodes Avenue and converted into a mosque.
The 2.3 acres land, where the Islamic Center currently stands, was purchased in 1984. It was a giant leap towards the vision of an institution beyond a neighborhood mosque – a center that would provide quality programs in areas of religion, education and social services for the residents of Greater Toronto area and bring them closer.
IFT, for the 6th consecutive year is chosen by the City of Toronto to be showcased to the general public. Over the course of 2 days, approximately 1,500 citizens of Toronto, curious about Islam visit Foundation.
The first Doors Open Day (La Journée Portes Ouvertes) took place in France in 1984. The idea soon spread to neighbouring countries, including the Netherlands, Sweden, the Republic of Ireland, Belgium and Scotland. In 1991, these events were united as European Heritage Days at the initiative of the Council of Europe. In 2003, all 48 signatory states of the European Cultural Convention participated in European Heritage Days.
In 2000, the City of Toronto launched the first Doors Open event in North America. In 2002, the Ontario Heritage Trust launched Doors Open Ontario, the first province-wide event of its kind in Canada. The Doors Open concept continues to spread across North America with events now being held in Newfoundland, Alberta, Massachusetts, Western New York State, New York City and Denver.
Putting minority rights in context
By Asghar Ali Engineer
Discriminatory practices against religious minorities in Muslim-majority countries are an ongoing issue. For example, in Saudi Arabia non-Muslims cannot build places of worship, nor can they bring their religious scriptures into the country without having them confiscated by Saudi customs. And in some other Muslim-majority countries, Christians and Hindus have been discriminated against and randomly attacked.
These practices are not reflective of the rights that non-Muslims should have in countries in which Muslims comprise the majority of the population. The imperative of Muslims to treat minorities in their midst justly has been enshrined since the early days of Islam in two Islamic concepts, dhimmitude and jizya, which have been widely-practiced until relatively recently.
The term dhimmi historically refers to an individual or group whose security and responsibility Muslims are responsible for. For example Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians and other religious minorities were considered dhimmis. Since Muslims were required to pay an obligatory Islamic alms tax from which dhimmis were by definition exempt, non-Muslims were required to pay jizya, a compensation tax, instead, in exchange for exemption from military service and for protection. However, this practice is no longer practiced in any Muslim country.
The concepts of dhimmitude and jizya, let us remember, are contextual in nature. It is understandable that they, like the concept of slavery, no longer fit in a modern context. Though the Qur’an encouraged the freeing of slaves and elevated the act of freeing one to a high moral level, it stopped short of calling for an outright abolition of it – yet no Muslim today would support the practice.
For the time in which they were practiced, the concepts of dhimmitude – a status that isn’t even mentioned in the Qu’ran – and jizya were quite progressive, but they understandably fall short in today’s world.
Furthermore, there was no concept of a democratic state or citizenship as we understand these now. The Qur’an provided rules for the initial formation of a society based on similar precepts, but these were unsurprisingly based on religious principles, be they Jewish, Christian or Islamic. Rather than criticise these concepts by applying modern standards of democracy and citizenship to them, we should recognise that they had their time and place.
In today’s world, the concept of dhimmitude and jizya must be replaced with equal citizenship and common taxation for all. The concept of a “subject”‘ has been replaced by that of citizen. And discrimination against religious minorities is not permissible under international law, as all nations are bound by the UN Declaration of Charter of Human Rights which outlaws such practices.
God always intended for a multi-religious society to exist in peace, for the Qur’an says, “Had Allah willed He could have made you one community. But [He did not] that He may try you by that which He hath given you” (5:48). Furthermore, freedom of conscience (“There is no compulsion in religion” in verse 2:256) and justice are important principles that every Muslim should make the basis for his or her actions towards followers of other faiths, and which should inform public policies in Muslim-majority states.
Therefore, in those Muslim states where minorities are subject to discriminatory practices, Muslim jurists that advise on political and legal matters should remember these principles and encourage fair and equal treatment of both majorities and minorities. Any jurist arguing for the implementation of laws or taxes that discriminate based on religion should try to creatively respond to the changes that are taking place around us.
In today’s world, discrimination on the basis of religion should no longer exist. And to ensure that this is the case, we have to promote and protect each other’s rights. Religious majorities should ensure that there is no injustice done to minorities – and minorities, in turn, should engage with the majorities in their societies to bring about positive change and ensure justice.
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* Asghar Ali Engineer is an Islamic scholar from India working for inter-religious understanding and peace, and was awarded the 2004 Right Livelihood Award in Sweden. This article is part of a series on Islamic law and non-Muslim minorities written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) www.commongroundnews.org
Muslims in North America have lost a leader in education
(May 24, 2010) – Muslims in North America lost a visionary and inspiring leader in education.
Dawud At-Tauhidii passed away on Sunday, May 23rd after battling cancer for two years.
Tauhidi had dedicated his life for Islamic education in North America.
For more than two decades, Tauhidi was involved in various aspects of Islamic education – as a teacher, researcher, administrator and curriculum developer.
His most recognized work was the Tarbiyah Project, a ground breaking effort that aims at translating Islamic values into practical and implementable programs that enable Muslim students to live Islam.
“I mourn brother Tauhidi not only as an educational leader and a pioneer in Islamic character education, but also as a dear brother whom I worked with for over 5 years when the school I was principal of was chosen as a pilot program for the Tarbiyah Project,” said Safaa Zarzour, current ISNA Secretary General and former principal of Universal School of Bridgeview, Illinois.
“He was such a selfless and dedicated soul that you could not help but to admire and respect him,” he added.
A native of Philadelphia, Tauhidi, who embraced Islam in 1972, studied at Lehigh University and later studied Arabic at the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1980, he graduated from Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt with a degree in Usul ad-Din and taught at the Islamic Community Center School in Philadelphia.
In 1983, Tauhidi completed his master’s degree in Islamic Studies at the University of Michigan and in 1985 completed his doctoral candidacy examinations in the same field.
During that time, he served as a teaching assistant, research assistant and studied toward a second master’s degree in Teaching Arabic as a Second Language.
His research interests included “Towards a Model of an Islamic Philosophy of Education”, “Educational Institutions in Early Islam”, “The Affective Domain in Second Language Acquisition”, “Statistical and Lexical Studies of the Qur’anic Lexicon”, “Semantic Structures and Worldview of the Quran”, and other topics.
Since 1985, he was actively involved in establishing Islamic schools in North America and was a founding member of the Council of Islamic Schools in North America (CISNA).
In 1985, he co-founded the Michigan Islamic Academy in Ann Arbor, MI, where he served as its founding Principal, serving for three years.
In 1988, he helped form the Michigan Education Council and co-founded Crescent Academy International, a college-preparatory, Islamic school in suburban Detroit, where he served as Director since 1988.
Tauhidi was experienced in the planning and establishment of schools, policy development, school administration, curriculum development, Teaching Arabic as a Second Language, holistic education, character education, public relations, computer programming, multimedia and graphic design, and fundraising for Islamic schools.
During the past twelve years, Tauhidi worked on developing an integrated curriculum for Islamic education, known as the Tarbiyah Project.
The aim of this project is to provide a more effective paradigm for teaching today’s Muslim children based on a holistic and integrated approach to education known as the Integrated Learning Model (ILM2).
Tauhidi is survived by three sons and two daughters.
(Source: ISNA)
Prof. Hind Al-Abadleh: Reuniting faith and the environment
By Pauline Finch
The first time I saw Anglicans and Muslims interacting, even collaborating for one another’s mutual benefit, wasn’t in real life. No, you guessed it; I was watching “Little Mosque on the Prairie.” But amid the laughter and goofiness of it all, there were sparks of wisdom and a shared passion for life that have stayed with me ever since.
Perhaps it’s a great leap of logic and faith to move from a TV program to a large rambling red-brick church on a busy corner in downtown Kitchener, where St. John the Evangelist stands. Like so many 19th-century inner city churches, it’s much bigger than the active, yet numerically declining congregation it now holds. Like the struggling Anglicans of the fictitious small town of Mercy, however, St. John’s members are curious, proactive, open to change, and deeply aware of the increasingly diverse cultures of the neighbourhood in which they worship every Sunday.
In striking contrast to a past generation or two, as 21st-century Christians, they care more about exchanging real conversation and ideas — not just polite pleasantries — with people of other faiths. Many wish there were more opportunities to do so, not only around issues of religion, but around common causes that affect us all.
When I recently spotted a fascinating article by Wilfrid Laurier University professor, Dr. Hind Al-Abadleh (Scientist Views Climate Change through the Lens of Faith – CIC Friday Magazine, Jan. 8, 2010 – reprinted from www.IQRA.ca Dec. 9, 2009) one of those connecting “aha moments” happened.
As a member of St. John’s newly formed environmental group Green Passion, one of my tasks for 2010 was to find an Earth Sunday speaker (unfortunately, David Suzuki wasn’t available…) But as I read further into what Hind Al-Abadleh had to say about the God-given mandate of humanity to care for this planet as stewards, rather than selfishly consume it into oblivion, I realized that the perfect guest speaker was right on our doorstep, in Kitchener’s twin city of Waterloo.
When the other Green Passion members read the same article, we were unanimous. Our anticipation grew by leaps and bounds when she said yes! After some sorting back and forth with dates, May 9 – Mother’s Day — became the final choice. If we’d been asked to plan a worship event simultaneously encompassing motherhood, thanksgiving for Earth’s abundance, stewardship of our natural environment, and interfaith dialogue, the response might have been, “impossible … too much all at once!” But on May 9, the seemingly impossible happened with ease, right from the moment Dr. Al-Abadleh and her family (mom Leila, sister Iman, brother Mohamed) joined us for a 10 a.m. service called Matins.
Not only were we marking the international celebration of Mother’s Day; it was also the traditional Anglican observance of Rogation Sunday (when newly-planted crops are blessed and prayed for), our congregation’s chosen observance of Earth Day, and the first occasion in long memory when the sermon was presented by a member of our sister faith of Islam. Amazingly, Dr. Al-Abadleh covered these vast but related subject areas with wisdom, understanding, conviction and grace, illuminating her passion for environmental care with profound and inspiring verses from the Qur’an
As a professor of environmental chemistry at Wilfrid Laurier University, she deals on a daily basis with the accumulated physical effects of human influence (both positive and negative) on our planet’s atmosphere, water systems and land-masses. Sadly, it’s the negative evidence that continually reminds us what a huge price we’ve paid for our material wealth and high-consumption lifestyles.
Even as she spoke that day, crude oil continued to gush into the Gulf of Mexico from a sunken deep-sea drilling platform whose poorly regulated pollution “safeguards” had failed miserably. And we know that this won’t be the last such incident. As I write now, ten days later, oil continues to hemorrhage into the sea, ravaging this sensitive marine ecosystem for decades to come.
In the face of steadily worsening news about climate change, oil spills and shrinking natural resources, one can feel overwhelmed and powerless, but Dr. Al-Abadleh’s vision is about connecting faith and facts to make positive change, even if just one small step at a time – and you don’t have to be a professional scientist to do it.
Inspired by environmentalist Dr. David Suzuki and numerous references to earth-stewardship found in the Qur’an, she has devoted much of her personal and professional life to showing how science and religion can work together at the grassroots level for the healing and preservation of Earth’s endangered environment.
The Qur’an, she noted, repeatedly points out that we are not masters of creation; we were not given a divine entitlement to subdue, exploit, or consume at will everything the earth provides. Rather, we humans are God’s stewards, collectively responsible for maintaining ecological balance in the created world.
In fact, everything around us is a sign of God’s ongoing creative presence, to which we should respond by giving thanks and consuming in moderation. But when we ignore that core principle by greedily seeking excess rather than sufficiency, creation is thrown out of balance, along with our relationship to God. Using different images and contexts, Judaism, Christianity and other world faiths also express the vital importance of good stewardship, but perhaps (in my comparative experience, at least) nowhere is it phrased more explicitly, poetically, or frequently than in the Qur’an.
Dr. Al-Abadleh pointed out that the Qur’an is especially forthright in teaching humans how to act upon their natural feelings of awe and wonder in the face of cosmic phenomena and the sheer beauty of our planet. But we must “see” these myriad signs of God’s presence with more than physical eyes; we must also follow through in acts of faith, with an attitude of respect and reverence for all living things and the seemingly inanimate materials that sustain life. And in this, as God told Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) lies true righteousness for all “the children of Adam.”
It was a point well taken, judging by the rapt attention coming from pews of devout Anglicans in just one Kitchener church, who in microcosm reflected the genuine concern and commitment of our Christian denomination worldwide.
As we moved into an informal question-and-answer session over refreshments in the church hall, our guest speaker was surrounded by displays about recycling, alternate energy (even a working solar collector), green-roof architecture, climate change and –most importantly – people. Of the several dozen who stayed to learn more, a number were actually retired scientists and technicians, which made the dialogue with Dr. Al-Abadleh even more exciting. But the best question of all was, “when can you come back?”
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Pauline Finch is an occasional contributor to the Friday Magazine (Canadian Islamic Congress) and a member of St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church in Kitchener, Ont. where she helped found the faith-based environmental working group, Green Passion. She graduated from Huron College, London Ont. in 2008 with a Master of Divinity degree and is interested in inter-faith dialogue and experiences. Source: www.CanadianIslamiccongress.com Friday Magazine
Environmentalism building global bridges
By Joseph Mayton
In late March, global landmarks such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the CN Tower in Toronto, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum and Egypt’s pyramids all stood in darkness, along with more than 4,000 cities in 128 countries that officially switched off their electricity to pledge their support for the planet. Earth Hour 2010 was the world’s largest global climate change initiative.
The desire to create a new global community focused not on political action but on environmental responsibility is uniting environmental experts, organisations and activists from the West and the Middle East. As one environmentalist at a recent conference in Cairo on the emergence of solar power told me, “We all live on the same planet.”
We usually think of defence, security and economics as the key issues between the West and the Middle East, but preserving and protecting our planet may prove to be what actually links us together.
For example, Egypt had a strong presence during this year’s Earth Hour, with hundreds of people heading to the pyramids to promote pro-environmental action in the face of climate change. At the appointed hour, the lights at the pyramids went off and people across the country stopped to think about international efforts to save the planet and how many of us take it for granted.
When it comes to environmentalism, goals are easy to pinpoint and are overwhelmingly the same: combating climate change, reducing greenhouse gases, protecting the world’s ecosystems and marine life, ending reliance on oil and cracking down on companies who fail to meet internationally recognised environmental needs.
And where political activism has largely been unable to bridge international divides, environmentalism is succeeding. For instance, in Middle East politics religion is all too often used as a source of division or strife, especially when it comes to its contested role in politics.
Environmentalism, however – here in the Middle East as in the West – serves far more often as a unifying force: when a Muslim talks about the need for sustainable alternative energy solutions, for example, a Christian or Jew can identify similar needs.
This is perhaps why some political activists who were focused on political change, democracy and human rights have recently become environmentalists. They had a sense of mission, but the frustration in working toward solutions and consensus on these issues was too much. They have left street demonstrations behind and now work with the same vigour on creating a better place for people to live.
Ziad Hussein is one of those former political activists who supported a number of causes in his native Lebanon but has made environmentalism his future. He currently lives in California and works with grassroots organisations such as Greenpeace, an independent global organisation campaigning for environmental protection and peace to protect forests from destruction.
His work, he says, will be translated back to Lebanon in the near future, where he hopes to galvanise – and unify – his fellow citizens around protecting Lebanon’s own ecosystems.
He pointed to his friends and colleagues in Lebanon who hear of how the environment has become a crucial public issue. Their own national symbol, the Cedar tree, is dying. Without efforts to protect and save these trees, they could “go the way of the dodo”. Hussein says that through his conversations with Lebanese leaders and activists, he hopes to inspire grassroots mobilisation to educate local and national government leaders about the need for passing new environmentally friendly laws and regulations.
“A lot of people say there is this huge schism between the East and West, but I have yet to experience this in the work I am doing in California. We all have the same goals and they are easy to bring back to the Middle East,” he added.
At Earth Hour, a quick glance at the participants demonstrated that people of all nationalities and cultures were interconnected in their shared concern for the world.
Unlike almost any other movement, environmentalism is proving to be a worthy mutual goal, one truly transcending borders, cultures and people in the Middle East, the West and beyond.
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Joseph Mayton is the Editor-in-Chief of the Bikya Masr (bikyamasr.com) news organisation. This article first appeared in The Kansas City Star and was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews). www.commongroundnews.org
Quebec’s Bill 94 is not the solution, according to the Tessellate Institute
(May 17, 2010) – The bill before the Quebec legislature that would require the niqab be removed when a person deals with government employees and access government services in that province should not be passed, according to the Tessellate Institute (TTI).
The policy briefing from the Institute, authored by Katherine Bullock and Ayesha Haque, argues that Bill 94 would lead to isolation of women who choose to wear the niqab.
“We conclude that Bill 94 will isolate, not integrate, Muslim women wearing niqab, into Quebec society,” according to the briefing.
“We further argue that other Canadian provinces should not follow suit.”
TTI is a private, not-for-profit, research institute that aims to provide Canadian policymakers and the general public academically-rigorous research about policy relevant issues, particularly on topics pertaining to ethnic and religious minorities.
In March 2010, the Quebec Minister of Justice, Madame Kathleen Weil, introduced Bill 94 (“An Act To Establish Guidelines Governing Accommodation Requests Within The Administration And Certain Institutions”) to require that the face be visible during a person’s interaction with the government’s employees, including government departments, agencies, school boards, health and social services and daycare.
“Bill 94 violates their right to freedom of conscience and equal treatment as citizens of Quebec,” state the authors of the report.
Madam Weil, Premier Jean Charest and the Minister for the Status of Women proclaimed their commitment to maintaining gender equity and secularism.
Public support on this issue was tremendous since Bill-94 directly confronted one recent case of reasonable accommodation in which a Muslim woman wearing a niqab was asked to remove her face veil in order to continue in French class.
However, the Tessellate Institute argues that the bill would violate the recommendations of a recent government commission.
“Bill 94 violates the recommendations of the Bouchard-Taylor report, which was commissioned by the Quebec government in 2007 to provide guidelines on how to broach issues of minority integration into Quebec.”
See Policy Brief here: http://www.tessellateinstitute.com/policy-briefs/
How one Palestinian village started a movement
By Sara Reef
Most of the media coverage surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict focuses on stories of violence and despair. Little is known about the growing Palestinian-led non-violent movement that has united rival Palestinian factions, including Fatah and Hamas, and encouraged hundreds of Israelis to cross into the West Bank and Gaza for the first time to join this non-violent effort.
A new feature documentary film Budrus, produced by the Washington, DC and Jerusalem-based organisation Just Vision, documents non-violent Israeli and Palestinian civilian efforts to resolve the conflict. It tells the story of Budrus, the village where this movement was born.
The founder of this movement, Ayed Morrar, also a Palestinian community organiser in Budrus – just northwest of the West Bank city Ramallah – brought women to the heart of the struggle in cooperation with his daughter, Iltezam Morrar. In 2003, in response to the separation wall/fence slated to expropriate part of their land, both father and daughter initiated a non-violent movement that is still continuing today. The movement aims to stage non-violent protests to change the route of the separation wall/fence off of Palestinian-owned lands.
The film captures images of Palestinians’ weeping over lost olive trees, Israeli border police struggling over whether to use violence against Israeli peace activists, and Palestinian youth being chastised because their rock throwing at Israeli soldiers threatens to turn a peaceful movement into a violent confrontation.
Some of the most moving scenes show Palestinian women are jumping away from bulldozers, and a female Israeli soldier establishing a rapport with Palestinian women in Budrus. While this film captures the story of this village in particular, its larger goal is to show that change can be accomplished in the Middle East through peaceful means.
Budrus made its world premiere debut at a gala screening at the Dubai International Film Festival in December 2009. The evening concluded with a keynote speech by Queen Noor Al-Hussein of Jordan. She praised the film, stating that Budrus “gives an enormous amount of hope… It’s a story which will have an impact and can help bring [about] change.”
Budrus received the Panorama Audience Award Second Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2010 after premiering to sold-out audiences. The film is currently being screened in Canada and will soon be shown in Europe.
This feature documentary was directed and produced by award-winning filmmaker Julia Bacha and co-produced by Palestinian journalist Rula Salameh and filmmaker and human rights advocate Ronit Avni. Skillfully mixing footage from multiple sources and conducting interviews with Israelis and Palestinians, Budrus captivates viewers throughout its entire 82-minute dialogue in Arabic, English and Hebrew.
Just Vision was launched in 2003 to ensure that Israeli and Palestinian civic leaders are taken seriously as partners in the quest for peace and are visible, valued and influential in their field. Budrus is the second film by Just Vision. Its first award-winning film Encounter Point told the true story of everyday leaders who refuse to sit back and watch the Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalate, and who choose instead to promote non-violent solutions to the conflict.
At times Budrus may be difficult to watch for those emotionally invested in Israeli or Palestinian society because it displays negative aspects of both communities. Part of its charm, however, is that it challenges audiences to re-examine some of the stereotypes they may hold about this conflict. As Iltezam Morrar says, “I now know not all Israelis are the same.”
Hopefully, this attitude spreading amongst Israelis and Palestinians – as well as Budrus’s message of non-violence – will bring us one step closer to resolving this conflict.
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* Sara Reef is Project Manager at Intersections International, specialising in cross-cultural communications. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) www.commongroundnews.org
Toronto’s Muslims step forward to help Special Olympics Athletes
(May 12, 2010) – Toronto’s Muslim community has stepped forward to send Special Olympic athletes from Toronto to the 2010 Summer National Games
Muslim organizations, businesses and professionals of the Greater Toronto Area raised $16,000 to sponsor Team Ontario for the 2010 Games.
On Sunday May 9, the Islamic Foundation of Toronto hosted a special cheque presentation ceremony and luncheon in honour of the Special Olympics Athletes of Team Ontario.
“We wish to thank the sponsors and organizers of the event as well as those who attended on a Mothers’ Day afternoon,” according to Special Olympics Ontario.
“Many thanks to the Islamic Foundation of Toronto and its members for hosting our celebration and particular thanks to Waris Malik, the Fundraising Co-ordinator of the Toronto Community Council who made all of this possible.”
Taking place in London, Ontario, the National Special Olympics Summer Games will run from July 11-18, 2010.
The Games are a qualifying event for the 2011 World Special Olympics Summer Games to be held in Greece.
The event was attended by a number of dignitaries including Toronto’s Chief of Police, William Blair, Deputy Chief of Police, Tony Warr, Federal Member of Parliament, Derek Lee, Provincial Member of Parliament, Bas Balkissoon, Toronto City Councillors, Raymond Cho and Chin Lee, members of the Ontario and Toronto Council for the Special Olympics, as well as, community and youth leaders.
Also in attendance at the luncheon were 16 qualifying athletes, accompanied by their parents and coaches.
The event was highlighted by a keynote speech from athlete Vincenzia Stalk.
“I am proud to represent Toronto at the Games and I thank all the sponsors for making it possible for me and my team to go to National Games,” said Ms. Stalk.
Chief Blair, Deputy Chief Warr, along with several other dignitaries expressed heartfelt appreciation for the Muslim community’s support for the Special Olympics.
A plaque was presented by Councillor Cho to commemorate the event.
The Special Olympics is a worldwide movement to empower athletes with disabilities.
“All we ask from the athletes is for them to try their best when they participate in the Special Games. Sincere efforts for the righteous cause never go to waste,” said Sheikh Hasan, Imam of the Pickering Islamic Centre.
