Dear Readers,
Please find below a selection of Qantara.de's most recent articles.
Best wishes,
Lewis Gropp
Editorial staff Qantara.de
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POLITICS
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***Assassination of Benazir Bhutto: Democracy in Pakistan Needs
Western Support***
The tragic assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto
highlights the central crisis of Pakistani society: Democratic change
in the country still needs the support of the West, says Thomas
Bärthlein
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-900/i.html
***America's War on Terror: What Went Wrong?***
The failure of the United States's global policy since 9/11 can be
measured in the chasm between the dreams of 2001 and the reality of
2007. Paul Rogers takes stock of six years of "war on terror"
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-901/i.html
***EU Accession Talks: Membership Process under Pressure***
This week two new chapters in Turkey's EU membership negotiations
were opened, but with the French taking over presidency of the EU for
the second half of the year resistance to Turkey's entry looks set to
increase in 2008. Daniela Schröder has the details
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-899/i.html
****Europe and Human Rights: Sarkozy's Devalued "Diplomacy of
Values"***
During last year's presidential campaign, Nicolas Sarkozy made a lot
of noise about the new course he intended to steer; a course based on
a "diplomacy of values". Since his election, however, the credibility
of his concept has been eroded by a series of events. A commentary by
Michaela Wiegel
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-898/i.html
***The Saudi Arabian Legal System: Firm Alliance between Rulers and
Scholars***
When a woman who had been raped was sentenced to imprisonment and
strokes of the lash in Saudi Arabia in November, the Saudi leadership
found itself confronted with a wave of criticism. But how realistic
are demands for reform? The Islam scholar Guido Steinberg examines
the Saudi legal system
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-897/i.html
***Political Repression in Tunisia: Twenty Years of Suffering***
Tunisia's President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali came to power on the back
of a coup d'état twenty years ago. While the people of Tunisia are
relatively well off in economic terms, they have absolutely no
political rights. Mohammed Abbou, a member of the Tunisian
opposition, takes stock
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-896/i.html
***Israeli Magazine on Palestinian Trauma: The Nakba in Hebrew***
The first magazine published by Jewish Israelis to focus solely on
the Palestinian Nakba has recently come out in Israel. Granted an
enthusiastic reaction from left-wing liberals, it has so far been
ignored by the right wing. Joseph Croitoru reports
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-894/i.html
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SOCIETY
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***Jesus in Islam: Rasul Allah – The Messenger of God***
There are many differences between Islam and Christianity, but also
similarities; Jesus has a significant role for Muslims too. Aiman
Mazyek on the Islamic prophet known as Isa in the Koran
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-718/i.html
***Afghanistan as a Travel Destination: A Mixture of Hospitality,
Humour and Brutality***
A plethora of new books on Afghanistan have recently been released on
the German and English-language markets. Two of them, surprisingly,
deal with travel and tourism in the land of the Hindu Kush. Martin
Gerner introduces the books
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-717/i.html
***Visit to Salafist Mosque: The Law Comes From God***
Salafists practice a literal interpretation of the Koran. For
outsiders it is difficult to receive access to a congregation. Our
reporter Albrecht Metzger succeeded in visiting a Salafist mosque in
Aachen
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-716/i.html
***The Pomaks: Caught in a Three-way Tug-of-War***
The Pomaks are Bulgarians who converted to Islam during the Ottoman
occupation of the country. In the course of the 20th century, they
have been used as pawns in the conflicts between Bulgaria, Greece,
and Turkey. According to political scientist Emil Mintchev, the
solution to their problem lies in the EU
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-715/i.html
***Armenians in Syria: Half a Home***
At the same time as the massacre of the Armenians around 1915, the
Ottoman army drove hundreds of thousands of Armenians into the Syrian
desert. Today, some 80,000 descendants of survivors live in Syria.
Charlotte Wiedemann has visited them
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-714/i.html
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CULTURE
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***The Tuareg Band "Tinariwen" from Mali: From Armed Struggle to
Music***
Only when the governments of Mali and Niger negotiated peace
agreements with the Tuareg, did the musicians of the band Tinariwen
swap their Kalashnikovs for guitars and focus on music. Naima El
Moussaoui met their guitarist Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-310/_nr-490/i.html
***Cultural Heritage Endangered in Mauritania: The Koran on Gazelle
Skin***
Secular and religious texts have been collected in private libraries
in the caravan city of Chinguetti since the twelfth century. Now
climate change and termites are threatening this valuable heritage.
Marc Engelhardt reports from Mauritania
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-310/_nr-489/i.html
***Muslim Superheroes: The Arab Hulks***
In the comic book The 99, Muslim superheroes fight for a better world
– and offend conservatives. Sonja Zekri reports
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-310/_nr-488/i.html
***Samir El-Youssef: "The Illusion of Return": A Palestinian
Triptych***
Samir El-Youssef, a Palestinian writer living in London, has written
a masterful new novel. The Illusion of Return is a philosophical
reflection on exile and the idea of return. A review by Volker
Kaminski
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-310/_nr-487/i.html
***
This is the newsletter of the online magazine "Qantara.de –
Dialogue with the Islamic World"; Qantara.de is sponsored by Deutsche
Welle, the Goethe Institute, the Federal Center for Political
Education and the Institute for Foreign Relations; the portal is
funded by the German Foreign Office.
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Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm
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Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf
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MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.
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Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm
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Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm
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Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/
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MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari
http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm
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German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm
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Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm
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VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/
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-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190
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