Dear Readers,
Please find below a selection of Qantara.de's most recent articles.
Best wishes,
Lewis Gropp
Qantara.de
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POLITICS
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***Turkish Parliament Adopts Headscarf Reform: Is Freedom Now at Hand
– or the Religious Police?***
The Turkish parliament has lifted the headscarf ban in Turkish
universities. The Kemalist opposition sees this as a threat to basic
democratic values, and intends to appeal to the supreme court.
Susanne Güsten in Istanbul looks at the background to the issue
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-930/i.html
***Interview with Geert Mak: A Basic Mood of Xenophobia in the
Netherlands***
The right-wing populist Geert Wilders is causing an uproar in the
Netherlands with his plans to make a film about the Koran. A new
caricature debacle is not in the offing this time, however, says
publicist Geert Mak. Nevertheless, a nervous mood prevails. Interview
by Daniel Bax
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-927/i.html
***Syria Crushes the Opposition: Fear of "Gentle Revolutionaries"***
The Syrian regime has been waging war on the opposition for several
weeks in fear that it could endanger the position of President Bashar
Al Assad – by supporting Washington in its efforts to effect regime
change from outside. Kristin Helberg reports
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-926/i.html
***Interview with Catherine Kintzler: "Sarkozy's 'Positive Laicism'
Is a Political Error"***
With his idea of a "positive laicism" the French president Nicolas
Sarkozy has called into question his country's traditionally strict
separation of religion and state. The philosopher Catherine Kintzler
tells Rachid Boutayeb that she is critical of Sarkozy's position, and
explains why she believes the principle of laicism ensures religious
freedom
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-925/i.html
***The Islamism Debate: God's Counterculture***
Political discourse without Islamist groups would be unthinkable in
many Islamic-dominated countries. But what is Islamism actually? Is
it more than a fanaticism of losers? And how should the West deal
with the "moderate Islamists"? Answers from Sonja Zekri
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-924/i.html
***New Drive against Dissidents: The Greek Tragedy That Is Syria***
The appearance of the Lebanese singer Fairuz in Damascus is a
political issue. Should one pay the Syrian rulers the honour of
singing for them? The controversy plays out against the backdrop of
the arrests of prominent Syrian dissidents. Jan Marron with the
details
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-923/i.html
***German Troops in Afghanistan: Half-hearted on the Hindu Kush***
Germany's Minister for Defence has announced the deployment of a
rapid reaction force in Afghanistan. According to Peter Münch,
however, in the medium term, the German government will also no
longer be able to refuse deployment to the south either
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-922/i.html
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SOCIETY
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***Religious Criticism: Oh God!***
The criticism of religion has a great tradition in philosophy and
art. Not every form of mockery is enlightening, however. When
directed only at the religion of the others, it becomes bigotry. A
commentary by Robert Misik
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-732/i.html
***The Archbishop's Sharia: Faith Market before the Courts***
The Archbishop of Canterbury created a furor by voting for the
application, within limits, of the Sharia. The idea is not a new one,
however. Critics maintain that for some time England has been under
pressure to combine aspects of the Sharia with civil law. Gina Thomas
reports
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-730/i.html
***Portrait of Mohamed Sifaoui: Criticising Radical Islam***
The Algerian publicist Mohamed Sifaoui is considered an expert in
radical Islamist networks and ideologies. His television documentary
'Undercover in al-Qaida' turned him into a target for
fundamentalists, forcing him to go into hiding for a while. Margit
Hillmann met the journalist in Paris
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-729/i.html
***Muslims and Christians in Indonesia: Interreligious Dialogue in a
Time of Tension***
In Indonesia, political and economic crisis have led to increasing
tension between Christians and Muslims. Arian Fariborz has been
finding out how churches are reacting to the increasing wave of
Islamisation in the country
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-727/i.html
***Abdul Ghaffar Khan: Pioneer of Nonviolence***
He was a contemporary of Indian pacifist Mahatma Gandhi and always
preached an Islam of nonviolence: Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the man who was
venerated by the Pashtuns as "King of Chiefs" died 20 years ago in
Peshawar. A portrait by Nasim Saber
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-728/i.html
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CULTURE
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***The Documentary "Football Under Cover": Soccer under the Veil***
The film "Football Under Cover" turned out to be the surprise tip of
this year's Berlin Film Festival. It tells the story behind the
meeting between a multicultural women's soccer club from Berlin and
the Iranian national women's team. Ariana Mirza reports on the film
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-310/_nr-503/i.html
***The 40th Cairo Book Fair: Competition between Center and
Periphery***
The Cairo Book Fair is still the biggest event of its kind in the
Arab world. Though the Gulf States are barely represented in terms of
literary works, major projects in the fields of translation and
literature promotion are drawing attention. Mona Naggar reports
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-310/_nr-502/i.html
***"A Jihad for Love" – a documentary by Parvez Sharma: Islam's
Most Unlikely Storytellers***
Parvez Sharma spent six years traveling throughout the Muslim world,
Europe and North America documenting the lives of gay and lesbian
Muslims – many of them devout – who struggle to reconcile their
faith with their sexuality. Marianna Evenstein caught up with the
Indian filmmaker
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-310/_nr-500/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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"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190
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