Thoughts on international Gaza protests

[Anarchists Against the Wall about to stage a die-in outside an air force base in Israel. The sign reads "The blood of children is on your hands"]

From Indonesia to the US, the protests against the criminal war in Gaza have not stopped over the past 10 days. Maybe it is the magnitude of brutality and injustice that is driving people to the streets. They remind me of the marches before the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Hopefully, the Gaza marches will have a more significant effect.

Out of the hundreds of marches, three have particularly caught my attention (for different reasons): those in UK, France and Israel.

This comment in the The Guardian captures some of my thoughts on the UK protests. It is great to see huge protests in London supported by political and entertainment celebrities; however, the photos and news footage I've seen makes it obvious that the vast majority of the crowd is Muslim. What's wrong with that? That means that either 1) the message is not getting out to the non-Muslim public and/or 2) they do not feel comfortable taking part in the demonstrations. Excerpts from Comment below:

My quibble is more with some aspects of the demo itself. Wandering around and taking pictures I didn't hear anything antisemitic, which was a relief. A bunch of "rudeboys" with their faces covered by bandanas performed like monkeys for the television cameras as usual. The atmosphere was generally light, even while charged with emotion. Not many cheered when George Galloway was introduced (thank God for small mercies).

I had an uncomfortable feeling I couldn't articulate until I was leaving via Charing Cross tube. It was crowded inside as we made our way to the trains. Two girls started to chant "We are Hamas" (I'm not, thank you very much) but were almost immediately drowned out by "Free free Palestine" before I had the chance to get annoyed. And then it came: Allah hu Akbar, Allah hu Akbar on repeat. Our fellow white travellers said little.

And therein lies my problem. I came to the march to express solidarity with Palestinians and express my anger at Israel's bombings. I didn't come to express solidarity with Hamas, nor want to come to a religious march. If I wanted to hear "God is Great" I could have gone to a mosque or a gurudwara. But I didn't. People can say what they want – freedom of speech etc – but I think this encapsulates a broader problem.

British Muslim organisations have broadly failed to capitalise on the widespread support for Palestinians in the UK, compared to the United States, by constantly bringing religion into a dispute essentially about land.

A similar issue comes up in France, except it is compounded by the heavily biased anti-Muslim media coverage there. My thrill at the large number of people marching turned into disappointment and fury when I saw the images of store fronts burning. However, this website offers some clarification and insight(excerpt of translation below courtesy of A.S.):

The media has been careful to hide photos, preferring to linger on the schemes of certain thugs that have nothing to do with the peaceful approach of the thousands of protesters present and who contributed to the success of this historic demonstration.

A similar media bias exists in Israel; however, this is not stopping thousands of Arab and Jewish citizens from taking to the streets (and the air force bases) to demand an end to the insane war. Even left-wing Zionist groups have joined the calls for a cease fire (as noted here) which is a significant change of events (historically, Zionist parties from extreme right to extreme left rally around the army in times of war).

As massive as the Israeli protests were, they were barely covered in Israeli media, as Rela Mazali (member of JVP) notes:

To read the English internet version of Haaretz of January 4th, you wouldn't know that some ten thousand marchers had protested their government's policy and attack on Gaza the night before in Tel Aviv or that earlier that day, many tens of thousands (some estimates have quoted 70 to 100 thousand), Jews and Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, marched their protest through the Arab town of Sakhnin in the Galilee. They're not part of the reality constructed by Haaretz's English website. On January 4th, one headline—topping an item picked up from Associated Press read: "Protesters across Europe urge Israel to end attacks on Gaza Strip" with no mention of domestic protests. Haaretz, mind you, is the newspaper often cited as a central example of Israel's relatively critical and truthful media.

Al Jazeera English did a much better job at covering the protest - article here.
More on protests in Israel here, here and here. Of course, Palestinian citizens of 'Israel' continue to be harassed and intimidated, but they continue to ensure their voices are heard loud and clear. More here

I do have some thoughts on the US protests (watching and reading from a far); however, I'll wait to hear yours first...

Muslim women denied French citizenship

Why? "Insufficient assimilation" !

The 32-year-old woman, known as Faiza M, has lived in France since 2000 with her husband - a French national - and their three French-born children.

Social services reports said the burqa-wearing Faiza M lived in "total submission to her male relatives".

Faiza M said she has never challenged the fundamental values of France.

Her initial application for French citizenship was rejected in 2005 on the grounds of "insufficient assimilation" into France.

She appealed, and late last month the Conseil d'Etat, France's highest administrative body which also acts as a high court, upheld the decision to deny her citizenship.

BBC News

What ever happened to "Liberity, Equality and Fraternity"?!

I would be very interested to see the criteria the French courts use to judge "assimilation". Length of skirt? Number of boyfriends? Color of eyes?

Outcry after French Court Ruling

PARIS - The bride said she was a virgin. When her new husband discovered that was a lie, he went to court to annul the marriage -- and a French judge agreed.

The ruling ending the Muslim couple's union has stunned France and raised concerns the country's much-cherished secular values are losing ground to religious traditions from its fast-growing immigrant communities.

The decision also exposed the silent shame borne by some Muslim women who transgress long-held religious dictates demanding proof of virginity on the wedding night.

In its ruling, the court concluded the woman had misrepresented herself as a virgin and that, in this particular marriage, virginity was a prerequisite.

But in treating the case as a breach of contract, the ruling was decried by critics who said it undermined decades of progress in women's rights. Marriage, they said, was reduced to the status of a commercial transaction in which women could be discarded by husbands claiming to have discovered hidden defects in them.

The court decision "is a real fatwa against the emancipation and liberty of women. We are returning to the past," said Urban Affairs Minister Fadela Amara, the daughter of immigrants from Muslim North Africa, using the Arabic term for a religious decree.

The outcry has been unrelenting since word of the April 1 decision in the closed-door trial in Lille was made public last week by the daily newspaper Liberation. In its judgment, the tribunal said the 2006 marriage had been ended based on "an error in the essential qualities" of the bride, "who had presented herself as single and chaste."

Justice Minister Rachida Dati, whose parents also were born in North Africa, initially shrugged off the ruling -- but the public clamor reached such a pitch that she asked the prosecutor's office this week to lodge an appeal.

What began as a private matter "concerns all the citizens of our country and notably women," a statement from her ministry said.

The appeal was filed Tuesday and three judges could hear the case sometime this month, said Eric Vaillant of the appeals court in Douai, near Lille.

The hitch is that both the young woman and the man at the center of the drama are opposed to an appeal, according to their lawyers. The names of the woman, a student in her 20s, and the man, an engineer in his 30s, have not been disclosed.

The young woman's lawyer, Charles-Edouard Mauger, said she was distraught by the dragging out of the humiliating case. In an interview on Europe 1 radio, he quoted her as saying: "I don't know who's trying to think in my place. I didn't ask for anything. ... I wasn't the one who asked for the media attention, for people to talk about it, and for this to last so long."

The issue is particularly distressing for France because the government has fought to maintain strong secular traditions as demographics change. An estimated 5 million Muslims live in the country of 64 million, the largest Muslim population in Western Europe.

Read on here. Wow...What is your opinion on this?

Post-Ramadan Lull?

I don’t think many of us realize how lucky we are to be practicing Islam in the US. The ease with which we are able to practice our religion is something we take for granted. Think about how easy Ramadan was. Sure, the days were long this year round, but food was readily-available for iftar. We had alarm clocks to wake us up for suhoor. Most of us live ridiculously close to multiple masajid and have access to eminent scholars.

We only have to look to other countries to see how much struggle some of our brothers and sisters endure to practice this beautiful deen. I’m posting a excerpts from some articles I found touching during Ramadan.

Ramadan 'alarm clocks' tread risky path in Indian Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India (AFP) - In the pitch-dark early hours, men beating drums walk the narrow lanes of Indian Kashmir to wake people from their beds for a hearty pre-dawn feast ahead of a day of Ramadan fasting.

The human alarm clocks are the only ones who dare venture out at night in the revolt-hit region, where nocturnal pedestrians run the risk of a tough grilling or even a bullet from nervous Indian security forces. …

But the tradition goes back years, perhaps centuries, and the drum beaters say the Ramadan job is a vital source of income. …

"My heartbeat increases when I approach a security bunker. You never know, but I think now they (the Indian soldiers) are aware of the tradition." …

During the early years of the insurgency, the Indian army did not take too well to cries of "Wakhta-e-Sahar" -- often accusing the drum beaters of alerting militants ahead of security raids.

"It takes them time to comprehend what I am doing, but now they understand I am not out there for fun," Gulzar Lone, another wake-up man, said of the Indian security forces.

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Food price hikes weigh on Malaysian Muslims this Ramadan

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - It's Ramadan in Malaysia and the days of the Muslim fasting month usually mean fairy lights, dinner tables groaning with dishes, and an upbeat mood.

But this year many householders such as 45-year-old Siti Nora are upset and frustrated as sharp increases in the price of staple foods have meant that "breaking fast" is a much more meagre affair. …

"Definitely, the hike in prices will dampen our merry mood as we Muslims prepare for Eid al-Fitr celebration," she said, referring to the festival which marks the conclusion of Ramadan this weekend.

The cost of basic items such as chicken, eggs, flour and condensed milk have all risen by up to 50 percent thanks to a price creep which began last year and has spiked in recent weeks.

"A 250 gram pack of butter is now priced at 2.80 ringgit, up from 1.80 ringgit last year," she said, adding that her monthly grocery bill has jumped to at least 500 ringgit (147 dollars) from 300 ringgit (33 dollars) before.

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Paris Ramadan radio raps Muslim ignorance of Islam

PARIS (Reuters) - It's late of a Ramadan evening in Paris, the iftar dinners are finished and Muslims from around France are calling Ahmed el Keiy to ask questions about Islam.

"Can I wear perfume during Ramadan?" a young girl asks. "How about hair gel?" a boy wants to know.

El Keiy, a lawyer-turned-journalist, devotes his nightly radio phone-in show to Islam during the holy month and wants to discuss big ideas.

But his listeners keep asking about details.

"Why do we get so many questions about how to practice Islam?" he asks listeners and three imams invited to the cramped studio of Beur FM, a popular station for "beurs" -- the French-born sons and daughters of North African immigrants.

"Nobody teaches us religion," says one caller named Nacera. "Our parents were illiterate," caller Najet adds, "so you see people who don't know how to say their prayers properly, or exactly what to do during Ramadan."

France has Europe's largest Muslim minority. Thanks to a long tradition of relations with the Arab world, it is home to many Muslim intellectuals -- both foreign and French -- and experts on the Islamic world.

But in the poor areas where many of the country's 5 million Muslims live, ignorance prevails.

Illiterate elders follow a sketchy folk Islam, many imams preach at Friday prayers without any training and many young people construct a do-it-yourself religion.

Most of the 1,200 imams in France have no formal training and one-third do not speak French.