February 2015
White House hosts anti-terrorism summit By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The White House held a three-day anti-terrorism summit dubbed as "Countering Violent Extremism Summit," from Tuesday to Thursday (Feb. 17-19). Addressing the summit on Wednesday, President Barack Obama said the United States is not at war with Islam. He told the summit that he wants to discredit the belief that Americans and Westerners in general are at odds with Muslims. He said this narrative helps extremists radicalize and recruit young Americans and others. American Muslim leaders have warned that the White House conference to ‘counter violent extremism’ is well intentioned but risks stigmatizing and endangering Muslims in America. They say whatever the summit’s intentions, it will reinforce a message that American Muslims are to be hated and feared, a spark in what they consider to be a powder-keg of Islamophobia in the media and online. Speaking at the summit on Wednesday, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) denounced the United States' targeting of Muslim populations and argued that by failing to prosecute hate crimes against Muslim communities the U.S. government is only furthering extremists' cause. Read More
When terrorism is not terrorism By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The seven-million strong American Muslim community was shocked and terrified by the execution-style murder of three Muslim students at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Tuesday, February 10. The students, Deah Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, 21 and her sister Razan Abu-Salha, 19, were shot by 46 year old Craig Stephen Hicks who turned himself in to the authorities. On Friday February 13, President Barack Obama made his first comments about the three young Muslims who were brutally killed, saying no one in America should ever be targeted "because of who they are, what they look like or how they worship." In a statement Obama said that the FBI would determine whether federal laws were violated in "the brutal and outrageous murders" of the three in the university town of Chapel Hill. His comments came after criticism from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over Mr Obama's silence on the case. Read More
“I can't breathe” By Arthur Kane Scott: I have randomly developed a global list and what strikes me most is the universality of situations where the slogan “I can’t breathe” persists. It’s an existential reality for many including Mother Earth, women, children, the homeless, the poor, peoples of color, the elderly. As frightening the list may be, it hardly scratches the surface. It raises the moral issue of what needs to be done, and why humanity remains so slow to respond by continuing to ignore the deep suffering of so many is puzzling. Read More
Obama's provocative remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: President Obama personally added a reference to the Crusades in his speech this week at the National Prayer Breakfast hoping to add context and nuance to his condemnation of Islamic terrorists by noting that people also committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ, the New York Times quoted presidential aides as saying. The White House has defended President Obama's remarks after he was widely lambasted by conservatives for bringing up acts done in Christianity's name amid a discussion of modern-day terrorist threats, The Hill reported. Read More
Kashmir: Setting the Stage for the Settlement Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai: A sincere and serious effort towards a just settlement of the Kashmir dispute must squarely deal with the realities of the situation and fully respond to the people's rights involved in it. A peace process mounted on its fragile platform is bound to collapse. Indeed, any process that ignores the wishes of the people of all five zones of the State of Jammu & Kashmir and is designed to sidetrack the United Nations will not only prove to be an exercise in futility but can also cause incalculable human and political damage. Read More
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