Archive for the ‘Boogeyland’ Category
Fight against Anti-Islamism
 |
|
||||||
| The Council of Europe is set to fight against anti-Islamism as a priority policy for the first time. Anti-Islamism has been included in the text as a dangerous inclination that has to be fought against upon the insistence of Turkey at the historic summit that 46 Council members attended. The conclusion draft of the summit included the notion of “Islamophobia”. The inclusion of this notion in the European organizations’ documents for the first time is described as the success of Turkey. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan prioritized the issue on the agenda during his speech at the summit on May 16 and asked the Council to adapt effective mechanisms against anti-Islamism.
With Turkey’s support again, member states of the Council asked for the encouragement of inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue to develop universal tolerance and reconciliation in the final declaration. A decision envisioning the Council to appoint a coordinator regarding this issue and a Local Administration Congress to take effective action has also been stated in the action plan. Analysts evaluate the decision as the crucial success of Turkey. Even an ordinary Muslim is perceived as a “potential terrorist” in the West following the September 11 attacks in the US as analysts pointed out and the summit decisions will contribute to overcoming this issue. The 3rd Council of Europe summit has for the first time mentioned “Islamophobia” in the 9th paragraph of the Warsaw Declaration that was accepted on Tuesday, May 17. The Council has reached the following decisions regarding the issue: Condemnation of any kind of intolerance and discrimination based on gender, race and religious beliefs in particular, including Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, the fight against these within the framework of the Council of Europe and the use of effective mechanisms and rules to combat these problems. Thus, anti-Islamism as well as anti-Semitism will be dealt with within the framework of legal proceedings. The Council reports will include anti-Islamist movements. The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) will closely monitor these movements. The Commission will record in which country anti-Islamism increases or how it is reflected. |
|||||||
| 18.05.2005 | |||||||
Bush apologizes to Iraq over Quran shooting
BAGHDAD – President Bush has apologized to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and promised prosecution of a U.S. soldier accused of using a copy of the Quran for target practice, Iraq said on Tuesday.
Bush apologized in a telephone call on Monday with Maliki, who told him the incident had humiliated and angered Iraq’s largely Muslim population, the cabinet said in a statement.
“The American president apologized on behalf of the United States … promising to present the soldier to the courts,” it said.
A U.S. soldier has been disciplined and sent home after a bullet-riddled copy of the Muslim holy book was found at a shooting range near Baghdad on May 11. Tribal leaders also accused the soldier of writing offensive language inside the book.
U.S. military commanders in Iraq held a ceremony to formally apologize and present a new Quran to tribal leaders in the area where the incident took place. The No. 2 U.S. commander has also met Iraqi leaders to apologize.
The military has described the incident as “serious and deeply troubling” and stressed that U.S. soldiers respect Islam and the Koran.
There has been no violent backlash in Iraq, as has sometimes occurred elsewhere in the Muslim world after the Islamic faith is perceived to have been insulted, but the Iraqi government has called for the soldier to be severely punished.
Iraq’s government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Bush’s apology was not enough.
“We need to try this soldier since he committed a grievous crime. This is what the Iraqi government wants. It is not satisfied with just an apology,” he said.
The Iraqi cabinet said the U.S. military should also educate its soldiers to respect Islam and Muslim holy sites.
The incident has been deeply embarrassing for the U.S. military, which has been working hard to improve its image among Iraqis and forge alliances with tribal leaders to fight Sunni Islamist al-Qaida militants.
