FEATURED PHOTOS AND STORIES

January 13, 2020

Two new flags will be flying high at the Olympic Games in Rio.

For the first time, South Sudan and Kosovo have been recognized by the International Olympic Committee. Kosovo, which was a province of the former Yugoslavia, will have 8 athletes competing; and a good shot for a medal in women's judo: Majlinda Kelmendi is considered a favorite. She's ranked first in the world in her weight class.

(South Sudan's James Chiengjiek, Yiech Biel & coach Joe Domongole, © AFP) South Sudan, which became independent in 2011, will have three runners competing in the country's first Olympic Games.

When Will Chile's Post Office's Re-open? 

(PHOTO: Workers set up camp at Santiago's Rio Mapocho/Mason Bryan, The Santiago Times)Chile nears 1 month without mail service as postal worker protests continue. This week local branches of the 5 unions representing Correos de Chile voted on whether to continue their strike into a 2nd month, rejecting the union's offer. For a week the workers have set up camp on the banks of Santiago's Río Mapocho displaying banners outlining their demands; framing the issue as a division of the rich & the poor. The strike’s main slogan? “Si tocan a uno, nos tocan a todos,” it reads - if it affects 1 of us, it affects all of us. (Read more at The Santiago Times)

WHO convenes emergency talks on MERS virus

 

(PHOTO: Saudi men walk to the King Fahad hospital in the city of Hofuf, east of the capital Riyadh on June 16, 2013/Fayez Nureldine)The World Health Organization announced Friday it had convened emergency talks on the enigmatic, deadly MERS virus, which is striking hardest in Saudi Arabia. The move comes amid concern about the potential impact of October's Islamic hajj pilgrimage, when millions of people from around the globe will head to & from Saudi Arabia.  WHO health security chief Keiji Fukuda said the MERS meeting would take place Tuesday as a telephone conference & he  told reporters it was a "proactive move".  The meeting could decide whether to label MERS an international health emergency, he added.  The first recorded MERS death was in June 2012 in Saudi Arabia & the number of infections has ticked up, with almost 20 per month in April, May & June taking it to 79.  (Read more at Xinhua)

LINKS TO OTHER STORIES

                                

Dreams and nightmares - Chinese leaders have come to realize the country should become a great paladin of the free market & democracy & embrace them strongly, just as the West is rejecting them because it's realizing they're backfiring. This is the "Chinese Dream" - working better than the American dream.  Or is it just too fanciful?  By Francesco Sisci

Baby step towards democracy in Myanmar  - While the sweeping wins Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy has projected in Sunday's by-elections haven't been confirmed, it is certain that the surging grassroots support on display has put Myanmar's military-backed ruling party on notice. By Brian McCartan

The South: Busy at the polls - South Korea's parliamentary polls will indicate how potent a national backlash is against President Lee Myung-bak's conservatism, perceived cronyism & pro-conglomerate policies, while offering insight into December's presidential vote. Desire for change in the macho milieu of politics in Seoul can be seen in a proliferation of female candidates.  By Aidan Foster-Carter  

Pakistan climbs 'wind' league - Pakistan is turning to wind power to help ease its desperate shortage of energy,& the country could soon be among the world's top 20 producers. Workers & farmers, their land taken for the turbine towers, may be the last to benefit.  By Zofeen Ebrahim

Turkey cuts Iran oil imports - Turkey is to slash its Iranian oil imports as it seeks exemptions from United States penalties linked to sanctions against Tehran. Less noticed, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the Iranian capital last week, signed deals aimed at doubling trade between the two countries.  By Robert M. Cutler

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Entries in US (16)

Friday
Sep102010

Islam vs. the West – Scapegoat or reality check? (Perspective) 

As yet another day of somber remembrance dawns in the US, a day of joyous celebration dawns in Pakistan. Today is September 11, 2010. A sad reminder of the lives lost in New York and the first day of Eid-ul-Fitr in Pakistan, celebrating the end of the month of fasting, known as Ramadan.  

Although entirely un-intentioned, it is an ironic twist in the continuing saga of Islam versus the West that what this day represents for these two countries has fallen on this particular date. But nine years later, this tussle between world religions and world politics, that has come to re-define global nationhood, has taken a bizarre turn.

It seems it is no longer just Pakistan, the “trusted ally” of the US that has issues of religious and cultural identity. The US itself has suddenly been thrust into the middle of an identity crisis. The construction of the Islamic Centre - now the Islamic Cultural Centre - at Ground Zero and the Quran-burning clergyman in Florida have suddenly awoken ordinary Americans to a harsh reality – should their country be an America with Islam or without?

When the twin towers mercilessly collapsed, it was too soon and too painful a time for Americans to make amends. Invading Afghanistan and subsequently Iraq, was a more succinct form of payback. But the blowback from both these invasions, catapulted ordinary Americans into a place they were loath to ever enter – international politics.

As loss of American life in the war-zones increased, (rather than any other life), positive perceptions about Islam presumably decreased dramatically, at least among the small-town, right-wing conservatives.

But the “protection” of the citizens of Afghanistan and Iraq, who all just happened to be Muslims, was the new cause celeb of the US, as were the millions of naturalized American Muslims living quiet and peaceful suburban lives.

The fact that Americans have been worried about the infiltration of extremist terrorists onto their soil, is justified on the grounds of their 9/11 experience. But the fact that the physical manifestations of this terror has been faced by countries other than the United States, namely Pakistan and Afghanistan, belies that fear.

Barring the Times Square threat by Faisal Shahzad earlier this year, so-called Muslim extremists have led to an estimated and heavily disputed death toll of at least 200,000 Afghans and Iraqis, over the last five years in these countries. In Pakistan, over 2000 civilians have been killed by US Drone attacks alone. Another 11,000-12,000 civilian and military personnel have been killed throughout the country as a result of terrorist attacks.

It is ironic that all this violence has taken place away from US soil and has been suffered by Muslims, albeit on the pretext of US politics and “Western liberalism”. It is we who live in constant fear, but the threat of Quran-burning is to US forces in Afghanistan? How much more detached can politics and warfare be from reality?

There is apparently no accurate count of the number of Muslims in the United States, as the U.S. Census Bureau does not collect data on religious identification. In a nation identified so aggressively by its secularism, the fact that it is now part of a debate that threatens to separate religions rather than bind them, is more worrying for Muslims.

In this age of instant communications and breaking news, the Florida Quran-burning scandal would never have made it to the radar of Americans had it not been for the international media pouncing on it. Unfortunately, they gave Pastor Jones, exactly what he was looking for, the global attention towards one attention-seeking individual with a murky past. One wishes the media had treated the issue with caution and perhaps the Pastor would have retreated quietly into the shadows without doing any harm.

The Ground Zero controversy, is also one that has come at a time when the US is making a desperate bid to cover its tracks post Bush era. Obama’s noble gesture to make amends with the Muslims of the world, after having bombarded many into oblivion, is turning out to be more of a half-hearted attempt to save face, rather than take a stand on whether it is Islam that the US wants to tackle, or terrorism.

This confused state of mind is indicative of the real battle that Islam now has to face. Terrorism is now a precursor to the wider issue of whether the world has, any space left for secularism. For many Western nations, it is immigration policies and cultural immersion measures that will be more likely to dictate who gets to say what, where and to whom, rather than counter-terrorism strategies. Europe has already shown its state of mind with its hijab and minaret controversies. Now supposedly, it’s the US’s turn to jump on to the bandwagon.

As a Pakistani and as a Muslim, it seems a heartless tragedy as I witness the destruction of my country through terror attacks, floods, vile leadership and a complacent citizenry. It is hardly a joyous time for us in Pakistan this year, as we try to mourn our own losses and a withering sense of self-esteem. It is ironic that Americans do not see this. Instead, they are so ably playing into the hands of their own politics.

The threat of a “violent” Islam is still very much on the eastern shores. Debating on issues of public space and civil liberties on the basis of religion, may just attract the type of attention, the US has stayed so well away from till now. More than that is the fact that laying the foundation of any debate on religion, is bound to culminate in disaster. Who better to know this than us in Pakistan?

 

-HUMNEWS contributor Themrise Khan is a freelance social development consultant based in Karachi.

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