Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, Sunni Islam’s most senior religious figure, has died during a visit to Saudi Arabia.

The 82-year-old Egyptian, who had previously undergone heart surgery, suffered a heart attack as he boarded a flight early Wednesday morning, Egyptian television said.

He was admitted to the Amir Sultan hospital in Riyadh where doctors proclaimed him dead.

Tantawi - who headed al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s highest seat of learning -  was known for his controversial ban of the niqab, which he said had no basis in Islam.

He also wrote a number of books, including a 15-volume, 7,000-page encyclopedia on the interpretation of Quran.

His body is likely to be sent back to Cairo on Wednesday evening, local television said.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2010/03/20103109518872958.html

The Jordanian government has borrowed $100 million from the Jordan Islamic Bank, following the successful performance of Islamic banking during the latest global financial crisis.

Mohammad Abu Hamour, the Jordanian finance minister, signed the loan agreement on behalf of the government on Monday.

He said that the credit would be used for buying wheat and barley to enhance the country’s strategic stockpile of the two basic commodities.

“Our decision to turn to Islamic banks for borrowing came in the light of the success scored by Islamic banking during the world financial crisis,” the minister said.

Abu Hammour said that his ministry had set up panels for appraising the feasibility of borrowing through the issuance of Islamic bonds, the sukuk.

The minister added his ministry had come up with a plan to handle the record deficit in Jordan’s public budget which was expected to reach 1.5 billion dollars in fiscal 2010.

According to regional and international studies, Islamic banks were the least affected by the crisis that rocked the world economy in the last quarter of 2008 – compared with big losses incurred by conventional banks.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/03/201038144043623779.html

Amy Spitalnick | March 9th, 2010

J Street Director of Policy and Strategy Hadar Susskind released the following statement today:

J Street joins Vice President Biden in condemning Israel’s announcement of new East Jerusalem construction that only serves to hinder Middle East peace efforts, particularly as the Israelis and Palestinians begin proximity talks. As Vice President Biden said, this is “precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now.”

Continued construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank only diminishes the chances of achieving a viable two-state solution to the conflict.

Yesterday’s announcement of proximity talks marked an important step forward, following a concerted American effort to engage the parties. Today’s announcement therefore marks a disappointing inflaming of tensions and undermining of trust – and is particularly surprising given Vice President Biden’s present visit to Israel aimed at underscoring the US-Israel relationship and the American commitment to a two-state resolution of the conflict.

We echo Vice President Biden’s call for all parties to refrain from unilateral actions that may inflame tensions and prejudice the outcome of peace talks. If we are to achieve a true resolution to the conflict – and secure Israel’s future as a Jewish, democratic homeland – all sides must demonstrate their commitment to the diplomatic and constructive engagement needed to succeed.

http://www.jstreet.org/blog/?p=895

By Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondent

Tags: Haaretz TV, Israel news

About 5,000 left-wing activists and Palestinians gathered Saturday to protest the eviction of four Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem.

Protesters carried Palestinian flags and chanted “Stop the destruction of homes” and “There is no sanctity in an occupied city.”

Despite the heavy police presence, the demonstration has remained peaceful.

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For the past six months, a group of independent left-wing activists have demonstrated every Friday in the East Jerusalem neighborhood, protesting the takeover of Palestinian homes by groups of Israeli settlers.

Last week, the demonstrators asked Jerusalem police for permission to hold a large rally in the street leading to a contested house, to protest against the settlers and show solidarity with the Palestinian residents of the neighborhood.

The police refused to authorize the rally and instead approved a much smaller gathering at a soccer field situated 300 meters from the home. The demonstrators said that the field is surrounded by a wall, it cannot be seen from the outside and is entirely cut off from the area near the contested home, which is the main focus of the protest.

Supreme Court justices were highly critical of the Jerusalem police decision this week after they refused the request by demonstrators.

“The police are taking the right to demonstrate 30 years backward,” Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch said during deliberations.

The justices ruled that 300 demonstrators would be allowed to approach the contested house at the conclusion of the rally.

Jerusalem District police commander, Aharon Franko, was asked to appear before the justices and said that the the contested house is in “one of the most explosive locations.” He explained that “not a day goes by when there are not confrontations, fighting and stone throwing.”

Police said that closing off the street, as the demonstrators would like, would make it difficult for worshippers to make their way to the nearby tomb of Simon the Just (Shimon HaTzadik).

At the start of Saturday’s rally, Palestinian director and playwright Samih Jabarin criticized demonstrators who arrived at the rally carrying Israeli flags with the word “peace” on them, saying the only solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one bi-national state.

However, one of the rally’s organizers said, “It is important to clarify that we have people of all stripes here, supporters of a bi-national state and supporters of two states for two peoples. But we are all united against the ‘Judaization’ of East Jerusalem.

The Palestinians, who want to make East Jerusalem the capital of a future state, say the property belongs to them.

Some 200 right wing activists held a counter demonstration nearby, although police managed to keep the peace between the two groups of protesters, Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

Earlier Saturday, three men were injured in clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in the northern West Bank village of Burin.

The clashes erupted when soldiers stopped a group of Palestinians trying to approach a Jewish settlement, an Israeli military spokeswoman said.

Palestinians residents said the settlers were trying to bathe in a water cistern in their village.

Palestinians hurled rocks at the soldiers who responded with tear gas and rubber-coated steel pellets.

Tensions have been high in the West Bank since Israel declared last month it would add two contested shrines there to its national heritage list
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=170358
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/03/2010362141312196.html
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3858637,00.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1154448.html

OSKAR GARCIA Associated Press Writer

March 5, 2010

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The nation’s largest Muslim advocacy organization filed a complaint with police in a Las Vegas suburb, saying seven Muslim men from southern California were detained and told they were acting suspiciously while praying in a shopping center parking lot.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said Friday it filed the complaint this week against the Henderson Police Department because it did not understand what was suspicious about the men.

“Our main concern is the police department looking at praying and the way they looked as probable cause for investigating those men,” said CAIR spokeswoman Munira Syeda. “They did nothing illegal.”

Henderson police spokesman Todd Rasmussen said the complaint was received and internal affairs would investigate, but he declined comment on the incident.

Rasmussen said the department would inform the group of the outcome of its complaint, but said it did not have a timeline for an investigation.

The group said the men, whom it identified as being of various ethnic backgrounds including Middle Eastern and south Asian, were performing one of five required Muslim daily prayers in the lot while stopped to buy gas and food Dec. 20 during a road trip.

Two police cars arrived as the men returned to their car and they were held for 40 minutes while three officers questioned them, checked their backgrounds and searched their car, Syeda said.

Syeda said the men were not blocking traffic or preventing other cars from parking. Afterward, the men were let go.

CAIR attorney Ameena Qazi said in a letter to Henderson police that during the incident, one of the officers commented that the men hypothetically might have been saying “I hope that I kill a police officer today” during their prayer.

Qazi said in the letter that the officers also told the men that they were not trained well enough to know how to appropriately respond to Muslim religious behavior, and asked the men how they should handle similar situations in the future.

The letter also said that police indicated they came up with a possible “hit” with the Terrorist Screening Center during their investigation of the seven men. Rasmussen said Friday he could not confirm a possible match.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Qazi said that the extent of the possible match was unclear and could have been in name only. She said studies have shown numerous inconsistencies with the database and its use.

“I have no doubt that there are people who are on the list and meant to be there that shouldn’t be and I have no doubt that there are people whose names are being confused with those on the watch list,” Qazi said.

The FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center maintains the U.S. government’s terrorist watchlist, a database of information on known and suspected terrorists.

FBI officials reached Friday referred questions to a screening center official, who was not immediately available for comment.

A CAIR attorney said in a statement that the group was seeking discipline against the officers involved, changes to officer training and compensation for the emotional distress of the men.

“The scope and length of the stop was not reasonable under the circumstances, nor did it serve any legitimate investigative purpose,” Qazi wrote.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-henderson-police-muslims,0,6079181.story

Two British Muslim women were not allowed to board a flight to Pakistan after refusing to undergo a full body scanning at a British airport, the Express reported on Thursday, March 4.

“Two female passengers who were booked to fly out of Terminal Two refused to be scanned for medical and religious reasons,” said a Manchester Airport spokesman.

“In accordance with the government directive on scanners, they were not permitted to fly.”

Britain has installed full-body scanners at airports following a failed attempt in December by a young Nigerian to blow up a plane over Detroit, US.

The scanners, also known as nude-body scanners, display naked images of a passenger to allow security staff to identify hidden weapons and explosives.

But the two Muslim women refused to undergo the full-body scanning.

“Body scanning is a big change for customers and we are aware that privacy concerns are on their minds, which is why we have put strict procedures in place to reassure them that their privacy will be protected,” the spokesman said.

“There are large posters at the airport spelling out those procedures so everyone should be aware of the outcome if they refuse to be scanned.”

The Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) has criticized the scanners as a violation of religious teachings on decency not only in Islam but in all faiths.

Discrimination

But civil liberties groups criticized the airport officials’ decision to ban the Muslim women from taking their flight.

“People shouldn’t have to sacrifice their health, their faith, their dignity, or their privacy in order to fly,” Alex Deane, director of Big Brother Watch, told the Courier Mail.

“People with health and religious concerns shouldn’t be forced to go through these scanners if they have good reason not to.”

Deane warned that the incident could form the basis of a legal case to challenge the use of the full-body scanners at airports.

“Foolishly, the Government has ignored both issues and ignored privacy concerns to boot. They are in the wrong on this.”

The full-body scanners have been under fire from human rights groups and religious leaders.

Britain’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has warned that the scanners violate privacy laws and breaches race and religious discrimination legislation.

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1235340167007&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout

By  Dina Rabie, IOL Staff

WASHINGTON -– The silence in the great hall of the Congress was deafening as imam Abdullah Antepli started delivering the opening prayer for the House of Representatives on Wednesday, March 3.

“Asalam alaikum… peace be with you,” Antepli, the Muslim chaplain at Duke University, told the attendees who stood and bowed their heads in respect.

“O God of all nations, look with favor upon this esteemed Congress. Guard these important decision-makers with your divine light,” he said.

“Be the source of strength and comfort. Enable them to serve you and glorify your names by serving the citizens of this great nation and to the entire humanity regardless of their gender, ethnicity or religion.”

This was only the third time a Muslim religious leader was invited to deliver the opening prayers of the Congress since the tradition began in 1789 with the first Continental Congress.

“It was such a humbling moment,” Antepli, who joined Duke University as its first ever Muslim chaplain in 2008, told IslamOnline.net.

He believes that inviting him to deliver the Congress opening prayer sends a message at a time Muslims and Islam are at the center of attention in America.

“The news that a Muslim imam is delivering opening prayer for the Congress came as a breath of fresh air,” says Antepli.

“It lifted some of the burden off the hearts and minds of many Muslims who have been wounded by post 9/11 realities in the US.”

Though there are no official figures, America is estimated to be home to nearly 7-8 million Muslims.

Many believe they have become sensitized to an erosion of their civil rights since 9/11 attacks.

Proud

Members of the Muslim community and leaders of Muslim organizations came to attend Antepli’s prayer.

Congressman David Price of North Carolina praised Antepli, the founder and executive board member of the Muslim Chaplains Association and a member of the National Association of College and University Chaplains.

“Throughout his two years as Muslim chaplain in Duke University he has done great achievements in terms of spreading understanding and diversity,” he told the session.

“It is a great honor to have him here delivering the opening prayer.”

The Congress hall was full of members of the Muslim community and leaders of Muslim organizations who came to attend the prayer delivered by Antepli.

Aisha Yasin says she was thrilled to know a Muslim is going to give the prayer this time.

“It is quite amazing,” she told IOL correspondent who attended the ceremony.

“It is a great feeling to have a Muslim imam delivering such tradition deeply rooted in the American history.”

Dr. Mohamed El Sanousi, director of community outreach and communications for the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), was equally impressed.

“It is very significant for the community to have this sense of pride to feel included in the society,” he told IOL.

“It gives a message that despite all that is happening, and what is written in the media about Muslims, still there is hope,” said the community leader.

“Muslims are part of the fabric of the American society and will not be ignored.”

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1235340133777&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout

Geert Wilders, the Dutch politician who has been accused of inciting hatred against Muslims, has scored major gains in local elections, making him a serious challenger for power in a June national election, preliminary results show.

In the first test of public opinion since the collapse of the country’s coalition government last month, Wilders’ Freedom Party (PVV) led in the city of Almere and was second in The Hague.

Two recent national opinion polls show that the PVV, which campaigns against Muslim immigration as its main platform, would win the most seats in the June 9 election.

Such a result would make it difficult for the Christian Democratic party of Jan Peter Balkenende, who is now heading a caretaker government, to forge a strong coalition without Wilders.

‘Silent majority’

In Almere, the PVV won 21 per cent of the vote to Labour’s 18 per cent, initial results showed.

In The Hague, the PVV had 8 seats, second to Labour with 10 seats. Turnout in the elections was put at 56 per cent.

“The leftist elite still believes in multi-culturalism, coddling criminals, a European super-state and high taxes,” Wilders told cheering supporters at a rally in Almere after polling ended on Wednesday.

“But the rest of the Netherlands thinks differently. That silent majority now has a voice.”

Wilders, who has faced death threats, was under tight security at his rally on Wednesday. 

People had to pass through metal detectors and security officers patted everyone down for concealed weapons.

The PVV has been pitching its policies to a nation of 16 million, including nearly one million Muslims, that is turning increasingly inward as the economy struggles and social tensions rise.

The popularity of Wilders, who compares Islam to fascism and the Quran to Adolf Hitler’s book Mein Kampf, has dented the image of the Netherlands as a country that has often portrayed itself in the past as a bastion of tolerance.

Andre Krouwel, professor of political science at Vrije University in Amsterdam, said: “You can see there’s a lot of discontent in the electorate.

“Clearly Wilders is going to use these results as a stepping stone for national elections.”

Afghanistan issue

Balkenende saw his coalition collapse on February 20 after his centre-right Christian Democrats failed to persuade their Labour partners to extend the Netherlands’ military mission in Afghanistan.

He has said the nearly 2,000 Dutch troops serving with Nato in Afghanistan were now likely to withdraw this year as planned.

The collapse was the fourth for a cabinet led by Balkenende in eight years.

The Labour party, led by Wouter Bos, the former deputy prime minister, appeared to have benefited in the local elections from its stance over Afghanistan.

Bos said: “The Labour Party is back. We were declared dead and buried, but with our struggle, humility and ideals we have come back.”

Wilders is due to arrive in Britain on Friday to screen his anti-Islamic film Fitna at the UK parliament.

He was invited to show the film by Lord Rannoch of the UK Independence Party and Baroness Cox, a former Conservative peer.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/03/20103492847982214.html

IslamOnline.net & Newspapers

A Canadian government decision to expel a Muslim student from a school for refusing to remove her niqab (face-veil) angered the sizable Muslim minority which considered the move discriminatory.

“To deny a person the chance of integration just because they follow what they believe is correct for them is wrong,” Salam Elmenyawi, president of the Muslim Council of Montreal, told the Montreal Gazette on Wednesday, March 3.

Quebec’s human rights commission is considering a case by a Muslim student who was expelled from Saint Laurent school in Montreal for wearing niqab.

The girl, whose identity remains a mystery, was studying French as a part of a government-sponsored integration program.

Elmenyawi insists that the issue could have been solved quietly through negotiation.

“It’s this idea of manufacturing cases of hysteria over reasonable accommodation,” he said, slamming the decision as discriminatory.

“I’ve been personally consulted by Concordia and other universities in cases like this, and have always been able to find a solution.”

While hijab is an obligatory code of dress for Muslim women, the majority of Muslim scholars agree that a woman is not obliged to wear the face-veil.

Scholars believe it is up to women to decide whether or not to cover their faces.

Misconceptions

Muslim students regretted the decision.

“There’s this misunderstanding that if you cover your face, you cannot interact with society,” Asma Qureshi, 24, a first-year recreation therapy student at Concordia University, told the Gazette.

She refused the argument that niqab poses an obstacle to studying and communications.

For instance, she noted, surgeons wear face masks, as did many people during the last year’s H1N1 scare.

“As long as you’re not imposing it on others, isn’t it their choice?”

Manal Karime, 21, a second-year finance student, said covering one’s face is a personal decision.

“We don’t want to make problems, but we value our beliefs much more than everyone around us.”

Karime, who wears hijab and does not cover her face, believes allowing girls to study in veils would not harm anybody.

“Have a big smile on your face, welcome them and understand,” she urged non-Muslims.

Muslims make up nearly two percent of Canada’s some 32.8 million people and Islam has become the number one non-Christian faith in the country.

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1235340107796&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout

The head of the Dubai police is planning to seek the arrest of the prime minister of Israel and the head of the country’s secret service, Mossad, over the killing of a Hamas leader.

Dhahi Khalfan Tamim told Al Jazeera he would ask the Dubai prosecutor to issue arrest warrants for Binyamin Netanyahu and Meir Dagan this week.

Tamim said he was “almost certain” Israeli agents were involved in the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a Hamas commander, at a Dubai hotel in January.

Israel has has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in al-Mabhouh’s murder.

The police chief said Mossad had “insulted” Dubai and Western countries whose fraudulent passports were used by suspects in the assassination.

Investigation expanding

And a UAE newspaper reported that Dubai had also asked the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to look into prepaid credit cardsissued by the Meta Financial Group’s MetaBank which the suspects used.

Citing an FBI source, The National newspaper said the investigation would look into any Israeli involvement in the killing.

Quoting Dubai police, the newspaper said: “Thirteen of the 27 suspects used prepaid MasterCards issued by MetaBank, a regional American bank, to purchase plane tickets and book hotel rooms.”

MetaBank said it followed proper procedures when it issued the cards.

Authorities told the bank that the suspects appeared to have used stolen passports to get employment with US companies, MetaBank said in a statement on Tuesday.

Dubai police have published details of 26 suspects together with passport photographs, and claim to have DNA evidence of the identity of at least one of the killers.

As a consequence of the assassination, UAE officials say they will prevent Israeli citizens travelling on foreign passports from entering the country.

Dubai police last Sunday issued a statement saying the “killers used the drug succinylcholine to sedate al-Mabhouh before they suffocated him” and that “assassins used this method so that it would seem that his death was natural”.

Al-Mabhouh’s killing has led investigators to Britain, Ireland, Australia and Germany – countries whose passports the assassins allegedly used.

Source: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/03/201033465170139.html