A Retired Asst Professor of Pediatrics currently working in Canada.
Authorities are placating extremists, writes Tom Allard in Indonesia. Ulil Abshar Abdalla is one of Indonesia’s most perceptive intellectuals, a Harvard-educated Islamic reformer and an adviser to the President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. When asked what has happened to Islam in Indonesia since the September 11 attacks, he says: ”I think […]
BBC: Settlers set fire to West Bank mosque after Israel demolishes illegal structures in Migron A mosque in a Palestinian village north of Jerusalem was attacked overnight, residents say. Two tyres were set on fire and thrown into the mosque in the village of Kasra, near the West Bank city […]
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The National Command Post for Idul Fitri reported that hundreds of people died in road accidents related to the annual homecoming exodus. “According to data from the police traffic corps, 433 people died in road accidents,” National Command Post head Hotma Simanjuntak said as quoted by […]
Testriono, Jakarta (The writer is a researcher at the Center for the Study of Islam and Society at the State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta) I recently met some friends through social media who were elementary or junior high students when the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. Most […]
Jakarta Globe Not all Muslims celebrated Idul Fitri with jubilance and excitement. For members of the Ahmadiyah minority sect, this year’s celebration is marked by heartache and fear. Firdaus Mubarik, a spokesman for the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI), told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday that approximately 600 Ahmadis in Sukadana […]
Tropical plants may contain the basis of new and effective treatments for ovarian cancer, according to researchers at the Universities of Strathclyde and Portsmouth. The scientists are developing a programme for testing plant extracts for the ability to stop cells from ovarian tumours growing. In initial tests, several plant extracts […]
Saturday the power of a society will be tested – a society that has finally come alive and grown up after decades of slumber. As the social protest enters its eighth week and the demonstration planned for Saturday is set to be the greatest in Israeli history, it’s time to […]
Source: The Rio Times RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A leading figure in Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement (the MST, or Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra), was assassinated last Thursday evening in the Northern state of Pará. Valdemar Oliveira Barbosa was shot to death by two gunmen while riding his bicycle through […]
Jakarta Globe: Alexandria. In a Catholic church located in the shadow of Mount Vernon, the estate of George Washington, the first US president, a group of Muslim faithful roll out their prayer rugs each week and kneel to pray to Allah. Polls show that Islam in the United States is […]
BERITAJAKARTA.COM — About 240 thousands of Muhammdiyah members have done Eid prayer today, Tuesday (8/30). Eid prayer was implemented in 120 Mosques and Mushalas (Muslim worship room) which spread in five areas of Jakarta and Bekasi. Chief of Jakarta DPW Muhammadiyah, Agus Suradika stated that the implementation of Eid prayer […]
Panca Nugraha, The Jakarta Post, North Lombok Peace and unity are beautiful. This message has been consistently maintained by residents of Karang Pangsor hamlet at Pemenang district in North Lombok regency, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). It is demonstrated by Jami’ul Jamaah Mosque, which was built in collaboration by followers of […]
How will Germany vote? What about Japan? Ynet maps out global interests ahead of Palestinian UN bid On September 20th, the Palestinian Authority will submit its statehood bid at the United Nations General Assembly; the process will culminate with the UN’s 193 member states voting on recognizing a Palestinian state. […]
After a group of settlers attacked a mosque in one of the villages of Ramallah in the West Bank, the Israeli army put checkpoints at the entrances of the closest settlement and checked the identity of every person going in or out of the settlement. On grounds of fear of […]
Initiative launched by Israeli playwright Joshua Sobol, Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali claims ‘Palestinian state living in peace with Israel is both an Israeli and a Palestinian interest’ A newly established cooperation between Israeli playwright Joshua Sobol and Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali has led to a petition calling on […]
Eid a time of Jubilation in the Muslim World: http://www.demotix.com/news/808176/eid-ul-fitr-exodus-out-indonesia http://www.demotix.com/news/807413/mall-jakarta-crowded-people-end-ramadan
British soldiers in Afghanistan have been banned from wearing skull-and-crossbones badges on their uniforms that declare ‘Death To The Taliban’ and proclaim membership of a ‘Taliban Hunting Club’. The unofficial stick-on badges are now a cult accessory among British troops fighting Taliban insurgents. But senior Army officers visiting Helmand province […]
An unprecedented public inquiry into the conduct of British soldiers in Iraq is expected to contain damning criticism of senior army officers and their legal advisers, and highlight the failure of commanders to ensure orders were passed down. The inquiry’s report into the September 2003 death of Baha Mousa, a […]
The Baha Mousa report is not the only one to look into the question of the “systemic” abuse of Iraqi prisoners. A second inquiry is to open later this year, examining disputed allegations that up to 20 men were tortured and murdered in British custody after a gun battle in […]
Indonesian Muslim youths keep faith amid reform According to a recent survey by Germany’s Goethe-Institute, the bulk of youths in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country share remarkably traditional values about faith and family, despite a decade of social and political change since the fall of the Suharto dictatorship. More than […]