The Muslim News - Brief World

Issue 247, Friday 27 November 2009 - 10 Dhu al-Hijjah 1430

Brief World

‘Honour to have served my God’ says Jew charged with murdering Palestinian
An ultra-Orthodox Jewish-American extremist was charged on Nov 12 with shooting to death two Palestinians and trying to kill others with explosive devices and poison said he had no regrets and was sure God approved of his actions. The indictment said Jack Teitel, a West Bank settler, began his rampage of violence with the slaying of a Palestinian taxi driver in 1997, also included bomb attacks against a dovish Israeli professor and messianic Jews who venerate Jesus. “It has been a pleasure and an honour to have served my God,” Teitel told reporters in court. He also said he had “no regrets” and had “no doubt” that God approved. 37-year-old originally from Florida is facing 14 charges including two counts of murder and three of attempted murder, as well as illegal possession of weapons and explosives and incitement to racism.

Goldstone dares US on Gaza report
The author of the UN report, which accused Israel of war crimes during its siege on Gaza, has challenged the US to justify its claims that his findings are flawed and biased. Richard Goldstone said that he had not heard from the US Administration about the flaws they claim to have identified in the report. “I have yet to hear from the Obama Administration what the flaws in the report that they have identified are.”

Nasrallah slams Obama Israel ‘bias’
The Leader of the Lebanese group Hizbullah has accused US President Barack Obama, of “absolute bias” in favour of Israel and of disregard for the dignity of Arabs and Muslims.
In a televised speech on Nov 11, Hassan Nasrallah said Obama has gone further than his predecessor, George Bush, in supporting the Jewish state adding that the high expectations that followed Obama’s election had been “shattered”. He said Obama’s initial statements calling on Israel to freeze settlement building and then backtracking was a “tactic” agreed on by both Israel and the US, and that the demand had been “a ploy to pass the time and gain Arab sympathy”.

West Bank Rabbi says non-Jews can be murdered
A Jewish rabbi from the Israeli-occupied West Bank has endorsed the killing of any non-Jew, including children and babies, who pose a threat to Israel. In The King’s Torah, Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira suggested, “If a gentile endangers the existence of Israel, it is allowed to kill him. Also if he is completely not to blame for the situation that has been created….Children should not be exempt from this fate. There is a reasonable explanation for killing infants if it is clear that they will grow up to hurt us, and in this situation, the strike should be directed at them.” The book includes endorsements from leading Jewish spiritual authorities in the West Bank.

Leaked memo reveals UK after reconciliation with Taliban
A leaked memo reveals that the British Government has been seeking reconciliation with the Taliban Council based in Quetta, Pakistani. The memo obtained by the German magazine Stern and by Hasht-e Sobh, a newspaper in Kabul, proposes that “reconciled” Taliban should be removed from the UN sanctions list. The proposed plan calls for a reintegration of Taliban foot soldiers, their commanders and shadow governors. The sections bear no name of the author or the recipient or the exact date but the document was sent to the Afghan Government within late October. The Foreign office has refused to comment on the memo.

Mini dress expulsion reversed
In Brazil a student expelled for wearing a mini-dress can return to the classroom after Bandeirante University reversed its decision to expel her. The Dean of Bandeirante, a private university in suburban São Paulo, announced the reversal in a statement on Nov 9.
On Oct. 22, students ridiculed and cursed Arruda for her short pink dress. She was forced to put on a professor’s white coat and was escorted away by police officers amid insults by students.

Urumqi riot death penalty appeals quashed
On Friday Oct 30, the Higher People’s Court of Xinjiang in China upheld sentences for 21 men who, in six trials, were convicted of murder and other crimes in the deadly July 5 riot in Urumqi, including death penalty to nine convicts. The death sentences will take effect after review and approval by the court. The court rejected appeals of Gheni Yusup, Ahmatjan Moming, Han Junbo and 12 others who were convicted of murder and other crimes. ¬The court also reviewed and approved the penalties of six others who did not lodge appeals against the first-instance trial verdicts.

‘Islam is violent’ says President Obama’s new pastor Carey Cash
More than a year after he was forced to disown his Chicago pastor, President Obama has begun to attend services led by a Christian chaplain who views Islam as a violent faith.
Obama has been an irregular church attendee since becoming President, but has expressed a fondness for Carey Cash, the navy chaplain at the Camp David presidential retreat who has been criticised for proselytising in the military and his mistrust of Islam.
The White House insists that the Rev Cash has not become Obama’s new pastor, but it appears that the President has heard more sermons by him than any other minister since taking office. In a 2004 book describing his deployment to Iraq the year before, Cash calls Islam violent, a faith that “from its very birth has used the edge of the sword as a means to convert or conquer those with different religious convictions.”

Dubai plans to appoint female muftis in 2010
Dubai plans to appoint female muftis by the end of next year in an unprecedented step that could trigger opposition from Muslim conservatives, the National newspaper reported Nov 4. Six women being selected for a training program that starts early next year, the newspaper quoted the emirate’s grand mufti Ahmad al-Haddad as saying. Last year, Egypt appointed its first female Islamic notary with the ability to perform marriages and divorces. Since 2006, Morocco has trained female guides who advise Muslims, especially in prisons.

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