Rafiq A. Tschannen is a Swiss national. He converted to Islam and joined the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community at the age of 16 after reading the German translation of the Holy Qur'an. He worked in 15 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, first as Finance Director in the private industry and later as Chief Executive Officer of NGOs and International Governmental Organizations. He is now devoting his time to The Muslim Times as Editor for Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Palestine and Switzerland and as Associate Chief Editor.
Feb 11,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – RAMI G. KHOURI Aleppo today is frightening almost beyond description and comprehension. One of the world’s ancient centres of civilisation is bombed and sieged, its inhabitants tortured and starved to death, and hundreds of thousands of fleeing refugees do not know if they will […]
By Reuters – Feb 11,2016 – JORDAN TIMES A Palestinian schoolgirl walks past the remains of a house destroyed during the 2014 Israeli aggression as she returns to her home on a winter day in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday (Reuters photo) GENEVA — The UN human […]
The US has backed anti-government rebels and more than a dozen countries are involved in the civil war Lizzie Dearden @lizziedearden 29 comments Bashar al-Assad has resisted international calls to step down EPA Bashar al-Assad has vowed to retake the whole of Syria by force, even as diplomats continue increasingly […]
Jakarta. International human rights advocacy group Human Rights Watch urged President Joko Widodo’s administration to lift a ban on the Ahmadiyah religious community placed by local authorities in Subang, West Java. The New York-based watchdog said Subang district officials and Muslim clerics issued a letter that bans all Ahmadiyah activities […]
Mosque of Ahmadiyah community is being banned from any religious activities by the Bekasi government. TEMPO/Dian Triyuli Handoko HOMEEDITORIAL WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY, 2016 | 16:34 WIB TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The expulsion of Ahmadiyah followers from Bangka has shown once again the weakness of the state when it comes to protecting minorities. […]
IMMIGRATION SATIRE Müslüm: Integration through comedy By swissinfo.ch http://tp.srgssr.ch/p/inline?urn=urn:swi:video:41947798 EMBED CODE FEB 10, 2016 – 11:00 Swiss-Turkish comedian Müslüm is using humour to raise awareness of the issues surrounding immigration in a new television series. (SRF/swissinfo.ch) Swiss public television, SRF1, is airing new series this spring looking at the country’s […]
By Gaby Ochsenbein FEB 10, 2016 – 11:00 Opinions are divided over whether students should be allowed to pray in state schools (Keystone) The decision to make prayer rooms available for Muslims in two Swiss state schools is viewed by some as a pragmatic solution. Others believe prayer rooms have […]
ALI IBRAHIM Published — Thursday 11 February 2016 Fighters from Chechnya are on both sides of the conflict; on one side they guide Russian aircraft to their targets and on the other they fight Daesh extremists in Syria and Iraq to participate in their absurd war, which has damaged the […]
By AFP – Feb 11,2016 – JORDAN TIMES Palestinians check the rubble of their house after it was demolished by Israeli authorities on Wednesday in the West Bank village of Jeftlek, in the Jordan Valley near Jericho. Israel often demolishes buildings constructed without the required Israeli permits in Area […]
By Omar Obeidat – Feb 11,2016 – JORDAN TIMES Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour meets with journalists and chief editors of local dailies at the Prime Ministry on Wednesday (Petra photo) AMMAN – The government on Wednesday said that allowing Syrians to join the labour market would not “by any […]
Feb 10,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – MICHAEL JANSEN Turkey is using the ongoing build-up of Syrians fleeing fighting around Aleppo, on the Syrian side of its border to achieve three objectives. The immediate objective is to maintain Ankara’s recently adopted policy of allowing Syrians to enter Turkey only if they […]
Feb 10,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – Fausto Fernández Borge The history of civilisation shows to what extent, ever since Homo sapiens appeared in Africa, approximately 150,000-200,000 years ago, this exceptional being has been intrinsically universalistic: namely, one who is willing to set aside personal or familial interests in favour of cooperation […]
In the Second World War, Allied leaders planned for the post-war world – a ‘United Nations’ – years before the conflict ended. We must do the same for the Middle East. Robert Fisk @indyvoices Monday 8 February 2016 183 comments Government troops walk past Isis flag in recaptured Syrian town […]
A new study has suggested that belief in all-powerful Gods is absolutely vital for the development of civilisation Divine: amateur photographer Jeremy Fletcher took the image of a God-like cloud as he strolled beside The Wash at sunset Photo: KNS Group By Sarah Knapton, Science Editor 7:27PM GMT 10 Feb 2016 […]
Interview Conducted by Walter Mayr WWW.SPIEGEL.DE DPA/Guardia di Finanza An image provided by Italy’s Guardia di Finanza showing the rescuing of a refugee boat in the Mediterranean last April Italy is adament that the rest of the European Union must do its part to solve the […]
Getty Images The Alternative for Germany was born as an anti-euro movement. But it has since positioned itself far to the populist right. Despite its efforts at maintaining respectability, the party’s extremist flank is wide open. The settling of accounts with Frauke Petry, head of Germany’s right-wing populist Alternative for […]
Palestinian human rights activists are calling on Oscar nominees not to accept travel vouchers supplied by the Israeli government as part of the gift bag that will be given to the nominees in the acting and directing categories. A statement from the Israeli ministry of tourism boasted that its initiative […]
UAE’s five newly appointed women ministers: Jameela Salem Al Muhairi as Minister of State for General Education (top left), Shamma AlMazrui as Minister of State for Youth Affairs (lower left), Ohood Al Roumi as Minister of State for Happiness (center), Najla Al Awar as Minister of Community Development (top right), […]
By AFP – Feb 09,2016 – JORDAN TIMES In this February 5, 2016 file photo, Syrians walk towards the Turkish border at the Bab Al SalamA border gate, Syria (AP photo) PARIS — The siege of Aleppo has taken the West even further from achieving its key goals […]
Feb 09,2016 – JORDAN TIMES EDITORIAL As if Syrian refugees’ plight were not already unbearable, a grim dimension is added to it: the estimation that no less than 10,000 Syrian children who entered Europe are still unaccounted for, their whereabouts unknown. According to the EU criminal intelligence agency Europol, these […]