Gaza War Discussed at NAMF
Reported by Asma Warsi
A panel discussion on the Gaza War was held at North American Muslim Foundation a.k.a. NAMF Islamic Centre in Scarborough, on March 27th. To represent the Jewish point
of view, Col. Yaen Vered had joined the panel. He is the Deputy Director General of Amal Schools and Colleges Network, Director General of Nitzan and Emissary of Jewish
National Fund, Canada, Brother Hicham Safieddine, a freelance journalist based in Toronto, and a PhD candidate of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Toronto, represented the Palestinian side. Omar Qayyum and Shehryar were the moderators of this event.
To start the discussion, Mr. Vered informed the audience about the plight of Jewish population in the Arab lands where they had been deprived of their rights to live in
peace and their lands had been confiscated by the Arab governments. He described the pain and suffering of his community that they had to go through just because of their religion. Safieddine relived the listeners of the horrors in the Gaza war. “Zionists are uncomfortable with honest opinions,” he blamed. “They talk about anti-semanticism, but ignore the crimes committed against Palestinians in the Gaza war, such as the use of white phosphorous, targeting the UN schools and shelters and fires by drones. “Negotiations failed. Human rights violations committed by the Israeli government and forces don’t make things better,” he told in frustration.
Col. Vered held his position by citing the land capture from Jews in 1917, 1929 and in 1939 by the Arab rulers. “Hamas is doing some good things like opening schools and hospitals,” he said. “But we can not let them rain rockets on our people. They fight against civilians, not military,” he emphasized. “If Hamas had not bombed Israeli cities, towns and markets, we didn’t have to go and fight Hamas.”
In his rebuttal, Hicham mentioned about the siege of the Gaza border to even food and medical supply by the Israelis. He said that Palestinians are fighting the occupation. Their farms, lands and homes have been confiscated, and the fight is based on political goals. “Who started the war?” He asked. “Breaking of the ceasefire was from Israel,” he snapped. “Peace process has been undermined,” he said.
Mr. Vered cleared his position by telling that the siege was also from the Egypt side and as the war was going on, it was natural that Israel couldn’t have opened the border. Each side blamed the other one for the sufferings of the two nations. The session was followed by a question and answer period from the audience.
At the end, the moderators thanked both speakers for their time and the night came to an end. There was one mishap, though, at the end, when Br. Safieddine refused to shake
hands with Mr. Vered. Upon that, people were very uncomfortable and there was a commotion from the audience (on both sides). Thus, a night that was supposed
to bring understanding about the situation ended on a sour note.
Mosque Gets Apology From Mayor For Taxes
Quebec’s biggest mosque got a $21,288 tax break last week after Brossard ‘s mayor quashed water, sewage and parking-lot fees the city had levied on the Muslim community’s property since its opening in 2005.
Churches and other places of worship in Brossard don’t have to pay the fees, so neither should mosques, Jean-Marc Pelletier wrote in a letter of apology to the directors of the Islamic Community Centre of the South Shore.
Built four years ago, the 25,000- square-foot, copper-domed mosque sits on a 100,000-square-foot lot on Grande Allée Blvd., south of Milan Blvd.
Pelletier told The Gazette he has ordered the city’s tax manager to investigate whether Muslims were discriminated against. Last year, the city stopped billing the mosque for property taxes.
NDP Demand Repatriation Of Canadian Citizen Abdelrazik
OTTAWA - New Democrat Foreign Affairs Critic Paul Dewar is calling on the government to live up to its international obligations and immediately repatriate Abousfian Abdelrazik.
“It’s time to end six years of misery for this Canadian citizen and bring him home,” said Dewar. “The only obstacle standing between Mr. Abdelrazik and his flight home to Canada is this Conservative government.”
In a statement, Mr. Abdelrazik spoke about his time in limbo in Sudan. “I was thrown into prison because Canada asked; I was imprisoned and beaten and almost died. I was tortured,” stated Abdelrazik. “I miss my children in Canada; they grew up, and my ex-wife died. My teenage daughter is an orphan now, and still the Harper government does not let me go home”.
Government officials recognize Canada’s obligation to issue travel documents for Mr. Abdelrazik and as recently as December 23, Passport Canada stated that it would issue a passport for Mr. Abdelrazik if a ticket was purchased for him. Despite these assurances and despite his being cleared of any wrongdoing by Canadian officials, the Conservatives continue to block Mr.
Abdelrazik’s return home.
Canada wants a peaceful resolution of Kashmir — PJF
Toronto, March 19th, 2009 – Canada takes the issue of a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue very seriously and it regularly presses India to respect human rights of Kashmiris, says Canada’s Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon.
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in a letter thanked Mr. Mushtaq A. Jeelani, Executive Director of Peace and Justice Forum (PJF), for his letter to the Prime Minister concerning the unresolved Kashmir issue and India’s failure to live up to its promise
of a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy towards human rights violations in Indian- administered Jammu and Kashmir.
Minister Cannon says: “The Government of Canada takes the issue of a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Kashmir very seriously and continues to encourage the governments of India and Pakistan to move forward with the ongoing Composite Dialogue process, focused upon the resolution of key issues, including Jammu and Kashmir.” “Canada also engages in dialogue with like-minded partners to promote sustainable peace in South Asia, including the members of the G8,”he added.
On the issue of systematic human rights abuses against civilians in Kashmir, Honourable Cannon
writes: “Your [PJF’s] letter also addresses reports of egregious violations of human rights in Kashmir. Through the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi, Canada has established an ongoing dialogue with the Government of India on human rights issues.” He assured that “Canada regularly presses India to ensure that human rights, including the rights of Kashmiris, are respected...” Minister Cannon concludes with further assurance, “please be assured that we will continue to engage with the Government of India in this regard.”
Muslim island must give up polygamy as price of being part of France
PARIS: The mostly Muslim Indian Ocean island of Mayotte has overwhelmingly voted to integrate fully with France, a move that will bring financial benefits to residents but also outlaw practices such as polygamy and early marriages.
More than 95 per cent of voters said “yes” to becoming the 101st department of France, instead of its present status of an “overseas community”, the Interior Ministry announced.
The change means that the 216,300 or so inhabitants of Mayotte will progressively receive access to social benefits. President Nicolas Sarkozy hailed the “historic moment … a dream borne by several generations”. However, he also noted the path to gaining the same rights as the mainland French was gradual, over 25 years, and that transforming Mayotte into a department would be a success only if it did not “upset the economic and social balances” of the island.
The change will force residents to raise the minimum age for women to marry from 15 to 18 and outlaw polygamy, the Interior Ministry said. Becoming a French department will give residents more funds from Paris. Currently, they have the right to only two of eight social benefits, for the disabled and the aged.
Mayotte is 10,000 kilometers from Paris and 1500 kilometers from Reunion, another French overseas department, like Martinique and Guadeloupe. The French Government recently contended with more than a month of sometimes violent strikes in Guadeloupe and Martinique, triggered by lower salaries and higher prices than in mainland France.
Legal Fight Over Hijab May Be A Canadian First
A court battle in which a woman is fighting for the right to wear a religious veil while testifying had lawyers arguing Friday whether the eyes credibility of a witness on the stand.
The woman, an alleged sexual assault victim, wears the niqab - a Muslim veil which covers the entire face except for the eyes. While lawyers for the men accused of assaulting the woman argue seeing her face as she testifies is a fundamental right, the woman’s legal counsel says the courts routinely observe and protect religious rights.
The case, unfolding in Ontario Superior Court, is believed to be the first of its kind in Canada.
No Entrapment, Court Rules In Terror Case
Paid police mole Mubin Shaikh did not entrap a youth into an alleged homegrown terror cell, a judge ruled in a Brampton court. Justice John Sproat did not read out his 53-page ruling but did deliver his “bottom line ruling.” “There has not been any entrapment and there has not been any abuse of process,” Sproat told the court. “It’s clear the application must be dismissed.”
Shaikh’s status at a terrorist training camp in December 2005 came under unusual scrutiny, given the unprecedented nature of this landmark case involving 14 men and four youths. The suspects, known as the Toronto 18, were charged in the summer of 2006 with belonging to a cell plotting to detonate truck bombs in downtown Toronto.
Imams Unable To Grasp Needs Of Western Muslims:-Report
Imams are out of touch with the needs of Western Muslims, and divorced from the struggles their congregants face in secular society, according to a new report from a leading Canadian scholar.
Many religious leaders don’t offer constructive advice about how to reconcile traditional beliefs with the challenges of integration in Western societies, concludes the study, which is based on focus groups with 60 lay Muslims in Ottawa , Washington and Britain .
“My ultimate fantasy would be to find an imam who gives a sermon in a Friday mosque, who happens to be someone who goes out to work from 9 to 5, takes the bus, is dealing with his kid who is picking up a marijuana joint at the age of 13,” one interviewee
said, “and not speaking to me about the battles that we won 1,200 years ago.
“Karim Karim, director of Carleton University's School of Journalism and Communication, is the author of the report published by the Institute for Research on Public Policy.
Phoney Immigration Consultants Are Criminals: NDP
OTTAWA – New Democrat MP and Immigration Critic Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina) called on the Harper Conservatives to crack down on unscrupulous immigration consultants and corrupt agencies that take advantage of vulnerable people and cheat them out of money and false promises. In the House of Commons, Chow directed her question to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Jason Kenney, and said that the Parliament’s Immigration Committee should act instead of more talk and more public relations campaigns.
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