By Nilofar Suhrawardy

NEW DELHI – Investigations being conducted on theft from navy offices, earlier reported last year, hit headlines last week (June 23) as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided 19 locations in four cities. The raided places in New Delhi, Kolkata, Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneshwar included premises of eight serving navy and army officers, a retired naval officer, and three bureaucrats in the defense ministry. While CBI denied reports of having searched certain offices in army and navy headquarters, it acknowledged that a large network of officials is involved in this case. “We have got hold of incriminating documents indicating a larger conspiracy and a wide network of defense officials involved in leaking sensitive information,” a CBI official said. The premises of arms dealer Abhishek Verma, who is also believed to be involved in sale of French Scorpene submarines to the navy, were also raided last week.

Raids were conducted on the basis of certain leads provided by investigation indicating that defense officials were giving out sensitive information in exchange for “gratifications.” “So far the documents and other evidence found during the raids has indicated that top defense officials were bribed with cash, electronic gadgets and other gifts in return for information provided by them,” a CBI official said.

The navy had last year conducted a probe when it was alleged that nine people were involved in leaking classified information relating to its planned purchase of a wide array of sophisticated equipment from the war room or Directorate of Naval Operations. Three officers – Captain Kashyap Kumar along with Commanders Virender Rana and Vinod Kumar Jha – were dismissed from naval service in October 2005 when a probe revealed they had sold classified information for commercial benefits. Kumar, described as its “mastermind,” headed the Directorate of Naval Operations, at the time of its leak. The government handed over the case to CBI on February 18 following allegations that middlemen involved in the war-room leak case were also linked with the Scorpene deal. CBI filed a case on April 6 under the Official Secrets Act and the Indian Penal Code. Developments led to the arrests of five people in April, including Commanders Rana & Jha (who were earlier dismissed), retired Lt. Cdr. Kulbhushan Parashar, Mukesh Bajaj and Rajrani Jaiswal.

One of the accused, Lt. Cdr. Ravi Shankaran, a nephew of navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash, according to CBI is an arms dealer and an alleged recipient of the sensitive information stolen from the war room. When allegations against Shankaran surfaced, Prakash offered to resign, but the government turned down his request. Shankaran is absconding with no information about his whereabouts. On CBI’s request, Interpol has also issued a red corner notice against Shankaran, who at a point was thought to be in London.

The officers who faced the scanner last week included Commodore S.S. Bhiman, Commanders S.M. Hanchihal, A.K. Pandey and A.K. Patnaik, defense ministry under-secretaries Sushil Bagachia, Prem Shankar Mehra and R.S. Dodani, as also a lieutenant colonel and a major, neither of whom was named.

With CBI under increasing pressure from several quarters to act on the naval war leak and its possible connection with the Scorpene case, in the coming days, more raids and revelations are likely to hit the headlines. At present, the issue has given opposition parties enough reason to target the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government. Questioning the time taken by CBI to conduct raids, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani said: “We have been continuously saying that the naval war room leak case and the Scorpene deal are interconnected but the government maintained that there was no foul play. If that was the case, why did the CBI conduct raids a few days ago at places including those of people whose names have also been linked to the scam?” Demanding an explanation from the prime minister, Advani also said: “Why this delayed action? Was it an effort to give time to the accused to destroy evidence? After the raids, the CBI had said that the war room leak case was part of a larger conspiracy. I demand that the prime minister explain what that larger conspiracy is.” He was speaking at a party function organized to observe 31st anniversary of Emergency as “Save Democracy Day.”

Along the same line, former defense minister and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leader George Fernandes said: “CBI’s action, belated though it is, has fully indicated the firm and consistent stand taken by NDA in this matter.” He has also demanded explanation from the government on several questions, including the navy’s claim that certain “foreigners” are involved in this leak. “Who are these foreigners? Why has the government not named them so far? Why hasn’t it taken any action against them so far?” Fernandes also wants to know: “Why was the government sleeping for nearly a year before initiating any action in the matter?” “Will the government at least now break its silence on the ‘larger conspiracy,’ of which the leak is said to be a part?”

Dr. Henry Kissinger, who wrote: “Depopulation should be the highest priority of U.S. foreign policy towards the Third World.”

Research on population control, preventing future births, is now being carried out secretly by biotech companies. Dr. Ignacio Chapela, a University of California microbiologist, discovered that wild corn in remote parts of Mexico is contaminated with lab altered DNA. That discovery made him a threat to the biotech industry.

Chapela was denied tenure at UC Berkeley when he reported this to the scientific community, despite the embarrassing discovery that UC Chancellor Berdahl, who was denying him tenure, was getting large cash payments – $40,000 per year – from the LAM Research Corp. in Plano, Texas.

Berdahl served as president of Texas A&M University before coming to Berkeley. During a presentation about his case, Chapela revealed that a spermicidal corn developed by a U.S. company is now being tested in Mexico. Males who unknowingly eat the corn produce non-viable sperm and are unable to reproduce.

Depopulation, also known as eugenics, is quite another thing and was proposed under the Nazis during World War II. It is the deliberate killing off of large segments of living populations and was proposed for Third World countries under President Carter’s administration by the National Security Council’s Ad Hoc Group on Population Policy.

National Security Memo 200, dated April 24, 1974, and titled “Implications of world wide population growth for U.S. security & overseas interests,” says:

“Dr. Henry Kissinger proposed in his memorandum to the NSC that “depopulation should be the highest priority of U.S. foreign policy towards the Third World.” He quoted reasons of national security, and because `(t)he U.S. economy will require large and increasing amounts of minerals from abroad, especially from less-developed countries …

Wherever a lessening of population can increase the prospects for such stability, population policy becomes relevant to resources, supplies and to the economic interests of U.S.

Depopulation policy became the top priority under the NSC agenda, Club of Rome and U.S. policymakers like Gen. Alexander Haig, Cyrus Vance, Ed Muskie and Kissinger. According to an NSC spokesman at the time, the United States shared the view of former World Bank President Robert McNamara that the “population crisis” is a greater threat to U.S. national security interests than nuclear annihilation.In 1975, Henry Kissinger established a policy-planning group in the U.S. State Department’s Office of Population Affairs.

The depopulation “GLOBAL 2000” document for President Jimmy Carter was prepared.

It is no surprise that this policy was established under President Carter with help from Kissinger and Brzezinski – all with ties to David Rockefeller. The Bush family, the Harriman family – the Wall Street business partners of Bush in financing Hitler – and the Rockefeller family are the elite of the American eugenics movement.

Even Prince Philip of Britain, a member of the Bilderberg Group, is in favor of depopulation:

“If I were reincarnated I would wish to be returned to earth as a killer virus to lower human population levels” (Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, leader of the World Wildlife Fund, quoted in “Are You Ready for Our New Age Future?” Insiders Report, American Policy Center, December 1995).

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has been proposing, funding and building Bio-Weapons Level 3 and Level 4 labs at many places around the U.S. even on university campuses and in densely populated urban locations. In a Bio-Weapons Level 4 facility, a single bacteria or virus is lethal. Bio-Weapons Level 4 is the highest level legally allowed in the continental U.S.

For what purpose are these labs being developed, and who will make the decisions on where bio-weapons created in these facilities will be used and on whom? More than 20 world-class microbiologists have been murdered since 2002, mostly in the U.S. and the UK. Nearly all were working on development of ethnic-specific bio-weapons (see Smart Dust, Roboflies &).

Citizens around the U.S. are frantically filing lawsuits to stop these labs on campuses and in communities where they live. Despite the opposition of residents living near UC Davis, where a Bio-Weapons Level 4 lab was planned, it had the support of the towns mayor.

She suddenly reversed her position after a monkey escaped from a high security primate facility on the campus where the bio-weapons lab was proposed. Residents claimed that if UC Davis could not keep monkeys from escaping from their cages, they certainly could not guarantee that a single virus or bacteria would not escape from a test tube.

The AWOL monkey killed the project (see Smart Dust, Roboflies).

Population is a political problem. The extreme secrecy surrounding the takeover of nuclear weapons, NASA and the space program and the development of numerous bio-weapons labs is a threat to civil society, especially in the hands of the military and corporations.

The fascist application of all three of these programs can be used to achieve established U.S. government depopulation policy goals, which may eliminate 2 billion of the worlds existing population through war, famine, disease and any other methods necessary.

Two excellent examples of existing U.S. depopulation policy are, first, the long-term impact on the civilian population from Agent Orange in Vietnam, where the Rockefellers built oil refineries and aluminum plants during the Vietnam War. The second is the permanent contamination of the Middle East and Central Asia with depleted uranium, which, unfortunately, will destroy the genetic future of the populations living in those regions and will also have a global effect already reflected in increases in infant mortality reported in the U.S., Europe, and the UK.

Country declares June “Turkish-American Friendship Month”

The Broward County Board of Commissioners has proclaimed the month of June to be “Turkish-American Friendship Month” in Broward County, and a collection of classical Turkish Islamic art is currently on display in the lobby of the Broward County Government Center at 115 South Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale.

The free exhibit—which has been on display and open to the public since June 2—will last through June 23 and is the result of cooperation between Broward County and the local Anatolia Cultural Center, who are co-sponsors of the collection. It was assembled by the Turkuaz Fine Arts Center of Ankara, Turkey.

Artwork featured in the exhibit include works by contemporary Turkish calligrapher Ms. Muhsine Duygu, “an internationally-acclaimed artist who has exhibited her works in a number of American metropolitan areas, as well as internationally,” according to the Anatolia center’s executive director Mustafa Yucekaya.

Approximately 100 pieces are on display at the government building, including a variety of traditional art forms. Calligraphy, illumination, marbling, and miniature work are all included.

A formal opening ceremony for the exhibit took place on the morning of Tuesday, June 6 with Fort Lauderdale Vice Mayor Christine Teel, the Broward County Board of Commissioners, a number of public officials, representatives of the Turkish-American community and Ms. Duygu all in attendance.

Yucekaya, a fresh-faced young man with boyish looks under thin-framed glasses, greeted the declaration of the official month as “fantastic news” for the local Turkish-American community. “It recognizes this art exhibit as furthering diversity and understanding among different communities in Broward County,” he said.

In their official declaration on the exhibit and the month, the County Board of Commissioners stressed the diversity of the county’s 1.7 million residents—“ a microcosm of the United States of America, with a diverse population representing many races, religions, nationalities and cultures”—and the merits of the exhibit.

“This unique art collection, assembled by internationally acclaimed artist and art historian Muhsine Duygu, seeks to familiarize Broward County residents with a style of art known for its refinement and aesthetic and spiritual qualities,” reads the declaration.

“The Turkish Islamic Arts Exhibition has been assembled to communicate the artistic and historic aspects of Turkey’s rich heritage and culture.”

“The United States and Turkey have been strong allies for nearly half a century, united in the belief that democracy, freedom and stability are fundamental to our mutual interests and to world peace.”

“Broward County embraces the belief that cultural exchanges among nations and groups of people ultimately leads to better understanding, friendship and amity,”

For more information on the exhibit, the Anatolia center or its events—which include a monthly Turkish coffee night and regular religious celebrations—call 954-956-8828 or visit www.anatoliaculturalcenter.org. The site currently features a full and informative rundown on the background of the various kinds of classical Turkish/Islamic arts featured in the exhibit. The exhibit had been on display at the cultural center from May-June prior to moving to the government building.

More information on the exhibit can also be found on the County’s official website at www.broward.org

Art and Islam have not been strangers throughout the religion’s 1400 year history. Islamic arts have been vibrant parts of every Muslim culture. Arabic calligraphy is one of the oldest traditional Islamic arts, though different handwriting styles developed in beautifully divergent ways throughout the Muslim world. Miniature painting came to the Muslim world through the Chinese Mongol invasion in the 1200s.

Islam-hater strikes again in Boca Raton—or tries too

FAU President refutes criticism, says ‘Muslim speakers posed no threat’ 

The Palm Beach Post reported on May 11 that Florida Atlantic University president Frank Brogan told his school’s board of trustees there was no threat posed by Muslim speakers at a recent FAU Muslim Students Organization event in April.

This despite an inflammatory online article about the event posted by local Islam-hater Joe Kaufman entitled “An Annual Hatefest” on his obscure website sponsored by fellow anti-Islam conservative demagogue David Horowitz.

Both the site and Kaufman have become regular annoyances for the Muslim community and other groups in the area, and have been declared extremists in the media for supporting a group calling for the indiscriminant killing of Muslims and their peculiar style of attempted web vigilantism post 9/11.

Most recently, a January St. Petersburg Times article by staff writer Sara Rosenbaum questioned if Kaufman and Horowitz’ circle of fear-pandering blogs weren’t more of a cause for hate than a reaction against it. It pointed to recent Kaufman articles that lead to death-threats against local religious leaders in Tampa for preparation of a Muslim recreational camp.

At FAU this May, a faculty member brought up Kaufman’s most recent article at a May board meeting.

Brogan said that while no views expressed at the April 22 “Believe It or Not You Were Born a Muslim” event should be attributed to the school, things said at the event were also “open to interpretation,” The Post reported.

A longtime educator and state politician, Brogan is a Cincinnati native who went on to earn his master’s degree in education from FAU, worked as a teacher and school administrator in the state and was eventually elected the state’s Commissioner of Education in 1994. From 1999 to 2002, Brogan served as the Republican assistant governor of Florida under Jeb Bush. That year he resigned the job to take up his new position as president at FAU.

Kaufman, himself a failed local politician and 35-year-old legal assistant who lives in Tamarac, said speakers at the April event “denounced non-Muslim religions, verbally attacked Jews, and proclaimed a future worldwide dominance of Islam,” the article by Post staffer Kimberly Miller stated.

But Brogan, while not directly responding to the article or to anything said by speakers at the event in question, said no danger was posed by the speakers. “Universities are host to incredibly divergent schools of thought, not only among faculty and students, but among people invited to come to the universities,” Brogan said. “It is unfortunate that there are from time to time people who suggest that because we host these types of things that we take on an extremist point of view,” The Post reported.

He also told the Post that the university is under watch by national and state security groups which would alert him if a scheduled speaker at the school posed any actual threat. He shared the local Muslim group’s concern about how the school and student group were being portrayed in online article, though.

“People do have the right to speak,” Brogan told the Post. “As the host site for speakers on a myriad of provocative issues, in no way, shape or form does that mean we support those views.”

Kaufman has tried repeatedly to show the Islamic Center of Boca Raton as a terror-sponsoring group, as well as virtually every Muslim student association (often called MSAs) at every college in the area, as well as just about every single area mosques. Most MSAs in South Florida—and in the country—are simply undergraduate concerns with rotating executive committees made up of a new crop of students every semester or two. They usually organize a small number of informational or religious-based events each semester, with the specific ideology of the group varying to reflect whatever mindset is prevalent amongst active students at a given time, some more liberal, some more conservative.

The presence of hatefully anti-Western leaning MSAs—usually groups that are short-lived unless they forgo standard election procedures or other university club norms, and who fail to realize the irony of their anti-western stance as western college students—has never been dominant as a factor in the area. Such groups have become virtually non-existent or completely muted since the events of Sept. 11th, 2001.

Summer events roll on at Islamic Center of Boca Raton

7th Annual Summer Camp, New Boy Scout Troop, Aikido Classes, Lectures included

“An exceptional, fun-filled educational program in a nurturing Islamic environment,” is how organizers at the Islamic Center of Boca Raton (ICBR) are describing the center’s seventh annual Summer Youth Camp, beginning on Monday, June 19, through Firday, July 21. The five week day camp will be held from Monday to Friday between 9 AM and 2 PM for children and teens ages 4-14.

Camp fees are $60 per week with discounts given for siblings. Each group age will have on a daily basis a class in Islamic studies, arts & crafts, and get to play together. Other activities will include swimming, playing on the playground and sharing in numerous larger group activities. A field trip has been scheduled for every Thursday.

Parents with boys 6 and up are also encouraged to register their son to the ICBR Boy Scout troupe for $10.80 per year to earn merit badges for activities conducted at the summer camp.

The new mosque Boy Scout program was kicked off with a Sunday May 21 training session for all cub and troop masters, den leaders and volunteers.

The program is intended to help build character, train in the responsibilities of participating in citizenship, and develop personal fitness for the community’s boys and young adults, say organizers. It is divided into a Cub Scout Pack for younger children from 1st-5th grade, and a Boy Scout Troop for 6h graders-18 year olds.

“The boys will learn character and responsibility and being part of the scouts will give you the opportunity as a parent to share activities with your son,” reads a message from organizers. Forms for the scout troop can be found at httep://www.scouting.org/forms/index.html.

The center has also been hosting a busy summer weekend schedule including Friday Aikido for children ages 5-10, Arabic classes for youth and adults ages 16 and older, and community lectures on Islamic topics with speakers such as Mokhtar Maghraoui, Salah Nomani, and Houcine Chouat. Recent topics have included “The Love for the Messenger,” “The Legal Authority of the Sunnah,” and “Social Nurturing & Development within an Organizational World – an Islamic Perspective.”

These and other events are ongoing at the center throughout the summer.

A set of three week-long summer day camps, also including activities and field trips, is already underway at the Nurul Islam Academy in Broward County throughout June-July.

More information on the ICBR Summer camp and other center events can be found at http://www.icbr.org or by emailing masjid@icbr.org. For Nurul Islam’s summer activities call 954-434-3288.

Local CAIR participates in interfaith activities

CAIR Office seeks staffer

As of May 17, the South Florida office of CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, was looking for a summer staffer for their Pembroke Pines office, according to the office’s executive director Altaf Ali. The group sought a college student looking for a summer job to fill the position with responsibilities including office duties such as taking phone calls, organizing office files, typing correspondences and contacting various officials.

CAIR volunteer Raid Khan was also received some press attention on May 12, declared a National Day of Prayer, when he offered a “prayer in Islam through song” at the city of Plantation Mayor’s Interfaith Prayer Breakfast at Temple Kol Ami Emanu-El.

The event was presented by the Plantation Clergy Association and the Greater Plantation Chamber of Commerce to mark the national event.

Khan is a local Muslim youth leader and aspiring poet and rapper from the city’s West Indian Muslim community. His participation was mentioned in a South Florida Sun-Sentinel article on the day which contributed to this report.

About 230 people were in attendance at the breakfast, which featured a number of singing and music performances from each of the city’s houses of worship in attendance.

Other participants included the Rev. Robert Deshaies of St. Benedict’s Episcopal Church, Plantation Mayor Rae Carole Armstrong, the Rev. David Massey of Plantation Presbyterian, Edward Maline of Temple Kol Ami Emanu-El, Cantor Sharon Hordes, Rabbi Andrew Jacobs of Ramat Shalom Synagogue, the Rev. Edwin Nicklas of Our Savior Lutheran Church, and the Rev. Robert Tenglin of Covenant Village. And a benediction was given by Monsignor Noel Fogarty of St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church.

Other events were also held throughout the area to mark the day drawing hundreds of participants from churches and chaplains throughout the area. The predominant theme at the events was one of patriotism and faith through song.

In other local CAIR news, Ali was featured in a Sun-Sentinel’s letters to the editor page on May 20, in the article “CAIR-FL: MUSLIM COMMUNITY MOURNS TEEN, TOO.” There, Ali responded to a letter that had claimed that Muslims had not reacted to the death of local Jewish teen as a result of a suicide bombing attack in Israel this past April.

Daniel Wultz, 16, was killed during a family visit to Tel Aviv when a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated about 10 pounds of explosives at a restaurant there. Ten others died in the attack and dozens were wounded. He was flown home for burial in May.

Ali wrote to the Sun-Sentinel saying:

Re the Tuesday letter, “Where is outrage over teen’s death?”: Contrary to the author’s assertion, “once again, our Muslim brothers here in South Florida have missed an opportunity to show some humanity by publicity,” our response was not of publicity, it was one of sorrow and repudiation.

I share part of a letter written to Rabbi Yisroel Spalter and Dr. Laurence Kutler Director of David Posnack Hebrew Day School.

“On behalf of the Muslim community in Florida, I would like to sincerely express our condolences and sorrow. We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing away of Daniel Wultz.

“As I followed the story in the media about Daniel, I could not help but be touched by what I learned of his character, his faith in God and most impressively his desire to serve and become a rabbi. For a young person such as Daniel to have such aspirations, he must have had positive influences in his life such as his parents, his family and the institution of his education at the David Posnack school.

“We repudiate acts of violence in the strongest possible terms. Islam strictly condemns religious extremism and the use of violence against innocent lives. There is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism. Targeting civilians’ life and property through suicide bombings or any other method of attack is haram — forbidden — and those who commit these barbaric acts are criminals, not `martyrs.’ All acts of terrorism targeting civilians are haram (forbidden) in Islam. It is also haram for a Muslim to cooperate with any individual or group that is involved in any act of terrorism or violence.

“It is our hope that Daniel did not die in vain. Our community hopes that we work together striving for peace, harmony and justice. These are the common characteristics of the people of the Abrahamic Faith.”

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Imam Nur Abdullah steps down as leader of Islamic Foundation

ST. LOUIS, MO—Sheikh Muhammad Nur Abdullah has stepped down as imam of the Islamic Foundation of Greater St.Louis. He has been leading the community for the past 16 years. The well-known imam plans to devote his time to writing books on Islamic topics.

He had asked for a sabbatical from the Islamic Foundation’s governing board as it could not afford to pay for it and did not want to leave the community without a religious leader.

Imam Nur Abdullah, who is originally from Sudan, told the St. Louis Dispatch, “ “I’m not leaving the community. This community is a part of me … I am part of every brick in this mosque.”

Imam Nur Abdullah serves in several national positions including as member of the Fiqh Council of North America and as the president of the Islamic Society of North America. He is an alumni of the Islamic University in Madina and the Umm Al Qura University in Makkah.

Interfaith leaders of St. Louis praised him for his outreach efforts.
Howard Nelson, who represents the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the Interfaith Partnership of Metropolitan St.. Louis board, told the St. Louis Tribune, Imam Abdullah was the first Muslim he had ever met when their paths crossed at a seminar about dismantling racism. Within a day, the two were good friends, he said. “He’s one of the good guys of the world,” Nelson said.

“If the imam asks me to do something, and it was humanly possible to do it, I’d do it,” he added.

Construction begins for $2 million mosque
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA—Construction began last Friday with a ceremony at the site of a mosque being built by the Islamic Center of Inland Empire. The growing Muslim community currently prays in a small home located on the same property.

The 12,900 square foot facility, costing an estimated $2 million, is expected to be completed within a year. It will feature a dome, cathedral ceilings, library, multipurpose rooms, patios and a main prayer hall.

Shakeel Syed, executive director of the Anaheim-based Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, said the center should be a place where positive relationships among all faith groups are fostered, the Daily Bulletin reported.

‘‘This house of God must embrace all people; it must also be a sanctuary to all people,’’ he said.

The Rev. Patrick Kirsch of St. Peter and St. Paul Catholic Church in Rancho Cucamonga, said Christian and Muslim communities, as well as other faiths, can live in harmony with one another.

‘‘Our presence (at the reception) speaks to the need to come together,’’ he said.

Volunteers to build New Hampshire’s first mosque

MANCHESTER, NH—The Islamic Society of Greater Manchester intends to build a mosque on volunteer support. And it is not just Muslims who are volunteering to chip in for the noble job. The Greater Manchester Interfaith Council is rallying people of all faiths to help build New Hampshire’s first mosque. The state is home to about 5,000 Muslims, most of whom are refugees.

“There are a lot of folks out there in the interfaith community that can give, that can share, that can give time to help out,” says Geroge Reed, treasurer of the interfaith council “There might be people out there with chainsaws and bulldozers who might be willing to help out on the weekends.”

The project certainly fits with the Christian creed, Reed said: “If the need is known, the need is supplied.”

Nermin Cejvan runs his own company, Stone Castle Construction in Deerfield. A Bosnian refugee who came to New Hampshire 12 years ago, Cejvan recently volunteered to serve as the site manager for the mosque construction.

He’s spent every spare moment since then on the site, supervising hundreds of volunteers who want to help.

“There are probably 10 different languages being spoken,” Cejvan said.

Mehboobul Hassan, president of the Islamic Society of Greater Manchester, told the Union Leader that he envisions a world in which religion helps to unite people and not divide them. If the Interfaith Council’s service project catches on, that would be a good start here in Manchester, he said.

“It is not by accident that I chose a Jewish firm to be the architect, a Christian firm to do the engineering, and Muslims to design the mosque,” Hassan said. “I believe in those things.”

Muslim youth camp construction to begin in July

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA— Construction will finally begin on 114 acres of federal land near North Liberty for the a youth camp run by Muslims. The project had been delayed after local residents expressed apprehensions about Muslims. With all fears set to rest, the construction and inauguration is eagerly anticipated.

The Muslim Youth Camps of America, based in Cedar Rapids, will be using the land for a recreational youth camp in summers, while allowing non-profit groups to use the space during the off-season. Building the new camp is expected to take five years, with the camp’s largest buildings to be built in the last three years, said Man-zoor Ali, president of Muslim Youth Camps of America to the Press Enterprise newspaper.

The building schedule is part of MYCA’s lease with the Corps of Engineers.

“We are following the schedule according to them,” Ali said. “We hope to start the first construction phase in July and we’ll see how we progress.”

Under the agreement, the camp will host up to 60 campers, about half as many as first proposed. MYCA programs will be open to all youth, not just those who are Muslim, between the ages of 10 and 17.

Saudi Arabian Super-Achiever delivers UCLA Student Commencement Address
A hard-charging political science major from Saudi Arabia delivered the student address at the June 16 commencement exercises for UCLA’s College of Letters and Science.

Manal Quota, an honor student with a distinguished record of political involvement and community service, share the dais with, among other dignitaries, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa,.

“Manal brought to UCLA an enormous spirit, and her accomplishments are extraordinary,” said Marc Mayerson, assistant dean of social sciences and head of the speaker selection committee. “She is truly an international citizen and scholar. In her we see the best of our common cause and humanity.”

Quota, 20, expressed surprise at her selection.

“I came out of the audition and called my friend saying, ‘There was no way I got it,’” she said. “It was such a shock to be selected, and I’m just so honored.”

“Americans tend to be much more interested in domestic affairs and not so aware of the issues going on in the rest of world,” she said. “In the places I have been to, I have found that there people are interested in the world around them, while also paying a close eye to domestic affairs.”

The youngest child of an accounting professor and housewife who still live in Saudi Arabia, Quota transferred to UCLA as a junior from Santa Monica College, a community college where she studied political science and was active in extracurricular activities.

But it was at UCLA where Quota, who has been living with two older siblings in the Palms neighborhood of West Los Angeles, really hit her stride. She tutored a second-grader in Watts and worked with underprivileged children in Burbank. She joined another student activist in putting together a two-day exploration of human trafficking for 50 undergraduate-level students from universities across California. She interned with Amnesty International and volunteered with UNICEF. She also participated in Bruin Leaders Project, a student-run leadership training group on campus.

“UCLA is a great campus where so many students are willing to get involved and really give their time to great causes,” she said. “Students at UCLA are really looking for a way to help and make a difference, and I have found that more here than anywhere else I have been.”

Last month, Quota’s efforts netted her a Chancellor’s Service Award, a distinction given for exemplary community service. Recipients wear special regalia during graduation. She also received a certificate of special recognition from Rep. Brad Sherman, D-San Fernando Valley, a UCLA alumnus.

Quota, who hopes to attend graduate school after taking a year off to work, didn’t let her service activities get in the way of making strides as a scholar and researcher. The political science major with a passion for African studies served for two quarters as a research assistant. One of the professors she helped even acknowledged her services in his recently published book. She served as a member of the editorial staff of Aleph, the campus journal for undergraduate research and wrote a scholarly article that appeared in an online undergraduate journal in the field of international relations. Last month, these efforts netted her the Vice Provost’s Recognition Award for Undergraduate Research Participation.

During the summer and last fall, Quota served as a correspondent for the Arab News, the Middle East’s leading English-language daily. Quota was even part of the initial class of students and teachers who launched UCLA’s Undergraduate Student Initiated Education Program. As part of the program, which prepares undergraduates to teach a one-unit course on a subject of their own selection, Quota taught eight UCLA undergraduates — several of them fellow seniors — a quarter-long course on the Rwandan genocide.

All the while, Quota never lost sight of her studies. Having participated in UCLA’s Honors Collegium program, a more demanding educational track designed for especially ambitious undergraduates, she is graduating with honors.

Ultimately, the graduating senior whose name translates in Arabic as “striving for something and then getting it,” hopes to study international development or international affairs at the graduate level with the ultimate goal of landing a position in a nongovernmental organization.

Lutheran School of Theology Establishes Christian-Muslim Center

The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago will inaugurate a Center of Christian-Muslim Engagement for Peace and Justice in the fall, according to a press release.

On Sept. 21, Christians, Muslims and people of other faiths will have the opportunity to build relationships with one another. The Center is an outgrowth of LSTC building relationships with the Muslim community in Chicago for over two decades.

“The Center allows LSTC to move with strength in this area – both in the classroom and beyond,” said LSTC president James Kenneth Echols. “It will be a resource for the whole people of God.”

The Center’s first conference, “Christians and Muslims Together: Owning Our Pasts-Visioning the Future,” will be held at LSTC and the Chicago Cultural Center Sept. 21-23. Periodically the Center will host guest speakers, conferences and workshops where members of both faith communities can meet one another in an atmosphere of mutual respect to address issues of concern.

“This is a critically important issue in ministry today,” said Mark Van Scharrel, vice president for advancement. “Even in small Midwestern towns we interact daily with people of various faiths. Those doing ministry need to have a place to gain respect, understanding and appreciation of other faiths. This Center at LSTC has very practical applications.”

LSTC and the Center will work with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to create a consultative panel similar to the ELCA’s panel on Jewish-Lutheran relations.

“Our goal is to move beyond just crisis-to-crisis intervention,” said Harold S.Vogelaar Chair of Christian-Muslim Studies and Interfaith Relations. “There is no substitute for sustained face-to-face learning. Knowledge gained ‘from’ rather than ‘about’ others can often help to ease or even erase those barriers that so often divide us.”

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To our readers:

Our newspaper is dedicated to presenting different facets of the Muslim life to keep our community better informed.

In our community there is a big evil that attempts to separate and cause dissension between the so-called Suni and so-called Shia communities. This is based mostly on ignorance of the individual and the scheming of the enemies of Islam. As a result you have Muslims fighting and hating each other for no reason other than someone told them to hate. The plain fact is too many Muslims simply don’t know each other.

For this reason, The Muslim Observer will frequently publish articles from different religious leaders, including Shia, Sunni, and others. These articles are in no way endorsed by The Muslim Observer and may, or may not represent the views of this newspaper.

They are meant to merely inform us about the different communities that comprise our religion so we can better know and understand our fellow Muslims. We hope they will be helpful to the greater community and cause us to have more unity.

As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome. Write us at opinions@muslimobserver.com.

As Salaam Alaikum

(Al Hajj) Abdullah Bey El-Amin

By Imam Abdullah El-Amin
To each is a goal to which Allah turns him; then strive together (as in a race) Towards all that is good. Wheresoever ye are, Allah will bring you Together. For Allah Hath power over all things.
Baqara:148

ALLAH, the Almighty, has equipped the human being with the power to “strive as in a race” to do good, or to do evil. To do these deeds, He desires us to utilize the tools He has equipped us with–one of these tools is our inner drive. Without it, action is difficult.

I had a conversation recently with a person who was under the impression that the word “competitive” denoted a character that was not altogether positive. I found out, during the course of this conversation, that many people in their quest to be right feel that any kind of aggressive behavior is against positive human behavior. They feel it is not being humble enough. As a result, they suppress a trait that was designed by ALLAH to be used for good, and deprive themselves, their families, and their community of something that can be used to enhance us.

It is true that a person that uses their competitive nature because they are envious and jealous of their fellow man does not contribute as much to society as they would if they utilized that nature in the service of the creation, as ALLAH desires. Sure, their works do some good, but they alienate people as well and cause unnecessary confusion in the community.

“Striving as in a race” does not necessarily mean each person striving for the same thing, either. Each of us is different and has unique qualities bestowed on us by our Creator. Some of us are teachers, doctors, plumbers, street sweepers, brain surgeons and rocket scientists. ALLAH wants you to take what He has given us and “strive as in a race” with all other human beings to do good with our unique gifts.

The more you compete, the stronger your competitive spirit gets; so when you sweep that street or hallway, or perform that delicate heart surgery, and you are striving and racing to see how much good it produces, your moral nature grows and you become more and more competitive…but all for the good.

Of course it is imperative to keep your focus on being pleasing to ALLAH. We don’t want to be competitive in selling drugs, or being lazy–seeing how little you can do. During slavery in this country it did not pay for the slaves to be productive. You had no gain if you worked hard. Even today some people say a good job is where you do nothing. This is not the way for a human being to grow. There is no gain because this type of mentality suppresses your competitive drive and you become comfortable just sitting and doing nothing. ALLAH doesn’t like that. We are not donkeys or cows that just sit and eat whatever grass is available. We were created to be productive.

I have a golfing buddy I’ve been playing with for many years and believe me that competitive spirit is there every time we play. If it wasn’t, the game would not be fun or exciting and you almost certainly wouldn’t win. You have to desire to be good, or at least the best you can be. Then you get respect.

So let us look at every facet of our lives, whether at work, play, or personal relationships. Look deeply at what ALLAH has created in us and use it ONLY FOR HIS SERVICE. You’ll be amazed at the rate you will grow and prosper

As Salaam Alaikum

(Al Hajj) Abdullah Bey El-Amin

By Nilofar Suhrawardy, Muslim Media News Service (MMNS)

NEW DELHI – Despite India and United States having devoted three days (June 12-14) to talks on Indo-US Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement in New Delhi, they were not marked by any significant announcement or statement. Agreed to in July 2005 in Washington, the agreement was inked formally this year in March during President Bush’s India visit.

Yet, for the deal to reach implementation, approval of the United States Congress, the Indian Parliament and that of Nuclear Suppliers Group is needed. If the deal comes through, the US will offer India nuclear fuel and technology. To receive the same, India will have to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and place the former under international inspections.

While at one level, the deal is being viewed as “historic” spelling a major breakthrough for Indo-US ties, at another its credibility is being questioned. If in American quarters, the primary objection rests on India being a non-signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), in India questions have been raised on the country subjecting its nuclear facilities to international inspection.

India remains against the US desire for a cap on its future nuclear tests and on becoming a signatory to NPT. “We have made it clear that we already have a unilateral moratorium on nuclear tests. There is no need to make it legally binding by inserting a clause into the proposed Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation Agreement,” an Indian official said. This stand of India also holds relevance in the context of suggestions emerging in Washington that the proposed India-US nuclear cooperation would be nullified if India conducts a nuclear test in the future. The US Congress also needs to approve an amendment in its nuclear legislation, which prohibits nuclear trade with any country that is not a signatory to NPT. These issues the focus of Indo-US negotiations last week.

In May, the Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran met his American counterpart in London and handed over an Indian counter-draft of the “123 Agreement” or the bilateral agreement on peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The US had handed its initial draft in March during Saran’s Washington visit. The three-day talks aimed to work out operational modalities of a nuclear cooperation agreement based on these drafts. While Richard Stratfor, the Director of Department of Energy, led the US delegation, S. Jaishankar Joint Secretary (America- External Affairs Ministry) headed the Indian. US Ambassador to India David Mulford also participated.

Elaborating on what was achieved during the talks, an Indian official said: “The two negotiating teams … were able to narrow their differences on a number of draft provisions of the proposed agreement. The officials of the two sides now have a much better appreciation of their respective legal and political positions. Pending issues will now require internal consultations on both sides with a view to jointly formulating a draft, which meets with approval of both sides.” In a crux, with there being “pending” issues, the talks at most helped “narrowing” certain differences but not in removing them. Describing the talks as “positive and constructive,” a US embassy spokesman said: “This was the first round of technical talks and each side has to go back, look at the drafts and figure out the next steps.” There is also a view that such negotiations are deliberately being planned to delay the deal from actually being finalized.

Nevertheless, exuding confidence about the deal taking shape as earlier agreed upon last year in July and this year in March, between Bush and Singh, Mulford said (June 16): “There is no need for suspicion regarding the agreement. It remains the same… We are now negotiating detailed aspects of the bilateral agreement necessary to implement the deal and to seek the necessary change in law in the US Congress.” Mulford’s comment holds significance as Indian critics have repeatedly voiced apprehensions of the deal being amended to make its passage possible through the US Congress.

If Washington has been recently witness to several prominent senators voicing their support for the deal, opposition voiced to it from no less prominent authorities cannot be ignored. Describing the deal as a “formula for destroying American non-proliferation goals,” around 37 Nobel laureates have urged the US Congress not to approve the deal “in its current form.” In their opinion, as the deal “weakens the existing non-proliferation regime without providing an acceptable substitute,” the US Congress should withhold its approval.

Taking an absolutely different stand, Senator Pete Domenici (R-New Mexico) argued: “We have spent 32 years negotiating with India over terms they will not accept. Without this partnership, we could spend another 30 years negotiating while India’s program expands without scrutiny.” Yet, this also implies that for the deal to come into effect, the Congress must amend its law and NSG its rules, which means more negotiations and greater debate at these levels.

Till then, the deal’s significance remains confined to paper. And negotiations being indulged in to push the deal forward may perhaps be labeled as just exercises in cosmetic diplomacy!

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By Farish A. Noor, Muslim Media News Service (MMNS)
This week marks a significant date as far as Malaysian-American relations are concerned: During the two decades that Malaysia was under the governance of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the country’s relations with the West was somewhat frosty. Despite the ongoing close relations between the security services of Malaysia and its western counterparts, Malaysia – along with Singapore – steadfastly stood against the imposition of what was termed then ‘Western values’. Malaysia’s Mahathir and Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew insisted that Western notions of human rights and democracy had little relevance in a part of a world where Asians (to quote at least one prominent ASEAN leader) were somehow not ‘genetically’ suited to Western codes and standards of democracy…

Things were set to change with the onset of the so-called ‘war on terror’ in the wake of the attacks on the USA on 11 September 2001. Overnight, Malaysia – along with the rest of ASEAN – was suddenly on the map of American technocrats and securocrats again, and the region was designated the ‘second front’ in the ‘war on terror’. Since then the governments of ASEAN have been racing to be the first at the door of the White House, with leaders like Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand and Gloria Aroyyo of the Philippines in particular coveting the title of America’s No.1 non-NATO ally.

Perhaps the most surprising outcome was the sudden elevation of Malaysia as a key strategic partner of the USA in the war against its enemies. Following the departure from office of Prime Minister Mahathir in 2003, the new establishment under Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has sought to improve ties with the USA at no inconsiderable cost. That the two countries would like to come closer is hardly a surprise considering that exports to the USA amount to around a quarter of Malaysia’s export earnings, while Malaysia happens to be the 10th trading partner of the United States. The scene was thus set for a marriage of convenience bringing the two economies together.

This week sees the warming of US-Malaysian ties even further. On the Malaysian island of Penang American and Malaysian representatives are meeting to work out the terms of a mutual free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries. At present annual bilateral trade between the two countries amounts to around US $44 billion, and is set to rise even higher by 2010 should the FTA go through.

There are however some important snags that stand in the way of both governments: The American representatives are keen to focus on two areas in particular: access to the Malaysian auto market and a commitment on the part of the Malaysian government to curb the infringement of copyright laws in the country.

Here is where the Badawi government finds itself painted in the corner.

Prime Minister Badawi came to power on a wave of reform promises, chief of which was to ensure greater transparency and accountability to governance.

He promised to crack down on cases of corruption as well as to look into the alleged abuses and misconduct of the Malaysian police. Yet thus far none of the reform measures have taken root or shown evidence of having an effect.

The few cases where those accused of corruption have been taken to court were cited as marginal to the real problem of institutionalised corruption and linkages between political parties, the government and the private sector. In the area of reform of the police, the Badawi government has failed to secure the support of the chiefs of police to initiate even the mildest of reform measures.

Taking into account the current political stalemate in the country, analysts wonder if Prime Minister Badawi can actually deliver the terms demanded by the FTA, and whose interests it will eventually serve in the long run. Local economists and trade unionists in the country warn that any attempt by the US and its automobile industries to edge into the domestic automobile market in Malaysia will spell the doom of the national carmaker Proton, which is already facing pressure from Chinese and Japanese auto producers. At present the American representatives are demanding that American car makers also be given access to the Malaysian market and that import tariffs be lowered to make American (and other foreign cars) competitive in Malaysia. Just how the beleagured Proton company will survive under such circumstances is an open question.

The biggest political hurdle that Badawi will have to face, however, is the demand for transparency and competitiveness in the open tender of government projects. Long-term observers of Malaysian politics have long since recognised that Malaysia’s fragile ethnic consensus is based on a form of discriminatory economic preferential treatment that has always favoured the majority Malay community. Despite talk of reform and transparency, even the Badawi establishment has had to fall back on its traditional ethnic Malay vote base to secure power and remain in government.

But should the American representatives get their way, such ethnic preferential treatment would no longer be practicable in Malaysia, which in turn jeopardises the political base of the ruling UMNO party that Badawi himself is president of. Ironically, by bringing Malaysia into the free global economy as he has, Badawi may have introduced to Malaysia’s coccooned system a host of external variable factors that may well interrupt the cosy consensus upon which Malaysian politics has been based for half a century.

The American-backed FTA is certainly not designed to serve the interest of ordinary Malaysian or American workers (as it may well lead to the practice of dumping and out-sourcing instead), but it will invariably open up the Malaysian economy to the rigours and discipline of the global market. Badawi in turn may find himself captive to external variable factors hiterto unaccounted for: He may end up being the Prime Minister who opened up the Malaysian economy to the world, or alternatively as the Prime Minister who allowed the world to come in and plunder the country.

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Click here to read a report based on the leaked memo apparently from Khalilzad to the US State Dept.

Problems described include corruption (as evidenced by a government minister’s building having 24 hour power when the rest of Baghdad suffers with electricity for about 15% of the time in 115 degree nights), increasing animosity toward Iraqi staff working for the embassy even by Green Zone guards, the need of Iraqi embassy staffers to go to extreme lengths to hide their employer’s identity, ethnic cleansing throughout Baghdad, the rise of neighborhood guard groups with sovereignty and no affinity even to traditional power brokers in Iraq, and more.

Deeply disturbing.