AHA
Foundation to release report on Freedom of speech November 25th,
2010
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November
8, 2010
We will be releasing a report on November 25th regarding the
immense pressure of political Islam on the freedom of expression in
the West. The report demonstrates how through means of actual
physical violence, threats and intimidation, legal action, and
political pressure, political Islamists are targeting freedom of
expression.
Follow the AHA Foundation's Facebook feed ( 
) or the website for more details.
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| Ayaan: Proposal that Islam is Tolerant is
Fallacious, Dangerous |
October
26, 2010
Though
most Muslims are tolerant and peace-loving, Islam itself is not a
religion of tolerance, Ayaan Hirsi Ali asserted at the National
Press Club on October 25: "Islam is more than a religion, it does
have a spiritual dimension, but there is another dimension to
Islam--a political dimension."
Though
an atheist, Hirsi Ali has advocated for the conversion of Muslims
to Christianity. Clarifying her position on Monday, she said she
supported "opening up the competition." "Given the fact that this
is almost a losing battle because we are not taking them (Muslims)
on ... and given the fact that there are very moderate Christians
who offer that combination of a spiritual satisfaction with
modernity and the respect and sacredness of life, liberty and human
rights, I think it would be wrong and neglectful not to involve
Christians to go after that demography of 1.57 billion Muslims who
today, I think, many of them are seeking a concept of God and are
now only getting Allah."
Read more here.
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| GW University starts female-only swim
hours |
October 18, 2010
At
George Washington University, the Muslim Students' Association and
the University opened up "Sisters' Splash," a female-only hour at
the pool.
Every
week, GW plans to close the HelWell pool to men and will cover the
glass door with a dark tarp, giving female Muslim students the
chance to swim at their leisure.
Students
such as Saudi Arabian native Zainah Khan are pleased with the
gender segregation measure.
The
University also hired a female lifeguard to be on duty for each
week's event. Aliya Karim, the social chair of the MSA's women's
group, said the organization made the effort to coordinate the
swimming hour so fellow Muslims would feel comfortable in the
pool.
"Personally,
I would only want to go when just girls are there," Karim, who is
also a [George Washington University newspaper] Hatchet
photographer, said. "Religious values always define us," Noor said.
"Although I wouldn't really mind, it would be satisfying to me
religiously to swim only with girls."
Valdez
Williams, the operations manager of the gym, said the University
helped the MSA coordinate the weekly swim hour because GW wanted to
make the girls feel comfortable. Williams said the University would
try to schedule one hour each week for the female students to have
private access.
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| Certain US based Islamist groups moving from
ideology to action |
November
2, 2010
Followers
of the outspoken United States-based groups Revolution Muslim and
the Islamic Thinkers Society are moving from ideology to violent
action, a review of recent terror indictments by the Investigative
Project on Terrorism shows.
Read
more here.
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FBI agent concerned over Islamic fundamentalists
in U.S.
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October 23, 2010
FBI
officials who arrested a Jordanian man plotting to blow up a Dallas
skyscraper offer a different portrayal of the apologetic young man
who spoke politely to a judge during his two day sentencing
hearing.
FBI
officials told the Associated Press that 20-year-old Hosam Smadi
believed he was committing an act on the scale of the September
11th attacks and would get away with it.
After
the successful prevention of the attack, one question still bothers
agents assigned to the case: "How many Hosam Smadis are out there
that we don't know about? If a person like that lives in Italy,
Texas, where are the others?" asked one agent.
Read more here.
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Questionable appointments at DHS
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October 21, 2010
Homeland
Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's appointment of
"de-radicalization" expert Mohamed Elibiary to the Homeland
Security Advisory Council earlier this month has thus far drawn
little attention from Congress or the media, despite his record of
criticizing successful terrorism prosecutions and praising Islamist
ideologue Sayyid Qutb.
Elibiary
recommended the writings of Qutb, who is credited with inspiring
the Muslim Brotherhood and terrorist groups like al Qaida and
Hamas, as offering "the potential for a strong spiritual rebirth
that's truly ecumenical allowing all faiths practiced in America to
enrich us and motivate us to serve God better by serving our fellow
man more".
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Grandmother and boyfriend charged with
kidnapping for allegedly taking 13-year-old granddaughter to
Islamic compound
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October 25, 2010
While
her son was at a bachelor party in September, a Coldwater
(Michigan) woman and her long-time boyfriend went to the man's
Jackson home and took his 13-year-old daughter, Sarah Smith:
without permission from Sarah's father, they then headed toward
Coldwater, where Annette Smith and Palmore have a trailer in an
Islamic compound, Mary Smith testified.
Read more here.
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| NPR Ends Williams' Contract After Muslim
Remarks |
October 21, 2010
NPR
News has terminated the contract of longtime news analyst Juan
Williams after remarks he made on the Fox News Channel about
Muslims.
Watch the full debate here.
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| Oklahoma voters ban judges from considering
Islamic law when deciding cases |
November
2, 2010
Oklahoma
voters have approved a measure that would forbid judges from
considering international law or Islamic law when deciding cases:
State Rep. Rex Duncan, the sponsor of the measure, called it a
"pre-emptive strike" designed to close the door on activist judges
"legislating from the bench or using international law or Sharia
law."
Read more here.
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Irish
FGM bill due shortly
|
November 4, 2010
The
text of the new Irish Criminal Justice Female Genital Mutilation
Bill is being finalised, the Minister for Health has
confirmed.
While
female genital mutilation is not thought to be widely practised in
Ireland, it has been estimated from the 2006 Census that more than
2,500 migrant women living here have been subjected to it,
according to AkiDwA, the African and migrant women's network. The
group says that legislation would send out an important signal
internationally against the practice.
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| Religious demands rise in French state schools:
study |
November
5, 2010
Muslim
school students and parents in France are increasingly making
religious demands on the state school system that teachers should
rebuff by explaining the country's secular principles, according to
an official report created by the High Council for
Integration.
"It
is becoming difficult for teachers to resist religious pressures,"
said the report.
Teachers
often faced objections when they taught courses about world
religions, the Holocaust or France's war in Algeria, or discussed
events related to Israel and the Palestinians or American military
actions in Muslim countries. "Teachers regularly find that Muslim
parents refuse to have their children learn about Christianity,"
according to the report, as "some think it amounts to
evangelization"; and "Anti-Semitism surfaces during courses about
the Holocaust, such as inappropriate jokes and refusals to watch
films" about Nazi concentration camps, the report said, with
"tensions often [coming] from pupils who identify themselves as
Muslims."
Read more here.
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Informal "Honor Police" Use Taxis as Patrol Cars
in Norway
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November 1, 2010
In
Norway, informal "Honor Police" use taxis as patrol cars: "Our
experience is that many of the girls are afraid to take a taxi,"
says Gunnar Svensson of the Oslo Police.
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| German government to criminalise forced
marriages |
October
27, 2010
The
German government agreed Wednesday to make forced marriages a
specific, punishable criminal offense, punishable by up to five
years in prison.
Under
current legislation, a forced marriage can only be prosecuted under
the technicality of coercion; each year, around 1,000 female
victims of forced marriages approach outreach centres in Germany,
according to advocacy group Terre des Femmes.
Read more here.
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Survey reveals Muslim attitudes to
polygamy
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October 26, 2010
SingleMuslim
dot com, an online interactive community of more than 500,000
members seeking potential marriage partners, recently polled its
members to find out what they think about polygamy: the results
revealed Tuesday show that 26 per cent of people who completed the
survey believe that polygamy is legal with Islam and that all
Muslims have the right to practise polygamy if they choose to (73
per cent of respondents to this question were male, with just 27
per cent of female respondents selecting this view).
Read more here.
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Woman dies after becoming human fireball in
street in Bradford (UK)
|
October 16, 2010
A
young Pakistani woman in Bradford (UK) who was believed to have
been pregnant burnt to death after she was set alight in a quiet
cul-de-sac.
Neighbours
say the victim was four or five months pregnant arrived in the
country earlier this year and was rarely seen outside her
home.
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| Edinburg's hidden numbers of forced marriage
victims |
October 13, 2010
Dozens
of women in Edinburgh could be secret victims of forced marriages
every year, it emerged today; the warning comes with the release of
the first report by the Direct Approach network, a partnership
between police and organisations representing ethnic minority
women.
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| British charity is planning a campaign to help
professionals to spot people at risk |
October
25, 2010
A
charity supporting victims of forced marriage and "honour-related"
violence is planning a campaign in Bradford to help professionals
to spot signs of risk: the initiative, aimed at teachers, police
officers, health officials and those working in social services,
youth work and housing, is organised by Karma Nirvana which runs a
helpline.
Read more here.
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| Ontario
(Canada) Court says niqabs at trial to be
decided case by case |
October 14, 2010
Ontario's
highest court has set out a framework allowing judges to decide on
a case-by-case basis if women can wear religious head coverings
that obscure their faces while testifying.
The
Ontario Court of Appeal also lays down the bottom line on the
issue: "If, in the specific circumstances, the accused's fair trial
right can be honoured only by requiring the witness to remove the
niqab, the niqab must be removed if the witness is to
testify."
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| Geert Wilders trial faces restart after judges
dismissed |
October 22, 2010
The
trial of Geert Wilders on charges of inciting racial hatred against
Muslims will have begin all over again after the controversial
Dutch anti-Islam politician won an appeal to have his judges sacked
for bias: the trial took a new twist after allegations emerged that
a judge may have tried to pressure one of the defence witnesses,
retired Professor of Arabic studies Hans Jansen, at a dinner
party.
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| German university launches training for
imams |
October 13, 2010
A
pilot program at the University of Osnabrueck (Germany) started in
early October to train imams--not only in the German language but
also to steer them to preach about Islam in a way consistent with
Germany's democratic values and religious tolerance.
It
comes at a time of growing concern about some young German Muslims
becoming radicalized in extremist mosques and turning to
terrorism.
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| Brothers arrested over string of recent 'honor
killings' in Lod (Israel) |
October 21, 2010
Two
brothers from Ramle, Ramadan and Khaled Musrati, were arrested
yesterday on suspicion of involvement in four recent murders in the
city of Lod (Israel).
Police
suspect the two were hired hit men in a string of so-called 'honor
killings,' offering their services to locals who wanted to attack
their family members.
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Is
Islam a religion of peace?
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October
6, 2010
Ayaan
Hirsi Ali argues against the argument that Islam is a religion of
peace in a debate organized by Intelligence Squared. With Douglas
Murray, Ayaan debated Zeba Khan and Maajid Nawaz.
Watch the lively debate here.
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Author
Salman Rushdie comments on appearance of Cat Stevens at large DC
Rally
|
October
31, 2010
Author
Salman Rushdie has commented on Yusuf Islam's cameo at the Stewart
rally in Washington.
Read more here.
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Non-Western
news of interest
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Agony for girls as culture of silence fuels FGM
in Kenya
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November 2, 2010
A
conspiracy of silence and traditional beliefs continue to fuel the
circumcision of girls - some of them nursery school children - in
Tana River County in Kenya. There, uncircumcised girls are
perceived as children, and therefore unmarriageable, which has
propelled women to the fore in ensuring their daughters undergo the
rite, despite the practice being outlawed.
Read more here.
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Saudi school girls warned against wearing 'tight
clothes'
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October 25, 2010
Saudi
Arabia has warned its school girls against wearing tight clothes on
the grounds they are against school rules and Islamic tenets.
In
a statement published in local newspapers on Monday, The Ministry
of Education said it had noticed some female students at schools
across the Gulf Kingdom were wearing tight dresses "that showed
most body details". "The schoolgirl's dress must be in line with
Islamic tenets, it must not be transparent or sticking to the body
in a way that will highlight her organs, there should not be any
resemblance to the boy's dress as our prophet (peace be upon him)
had cursed men who imitate women and women who imitate
men".
Read more here.
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Sharia: VC bans hugging of female students in
Niger
|
October
27, 2010
In
line with the provision of the Islamic legal code, the Vice
Chancellor of the Niger State government-owned Ibrahim Badamasi
Babangida University, Lapai, Professor Ibrahim Adamu Kolo, has
outlawed hugging of female students in the university.
Kolo
said that anyone caught "embracing or hugging" any female students
would be severely dealt with.
Read more here.
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How
you can support the AHA Foundation
|
The AHA Foundation is committed to protecting the rights and
freedoms of women in the West against militant Islam.
The three main activities of the Foundation are to:
1)
Investigate
2)
Inform
3)
Influence
Through research, the dissemination of knowledge and outreach, the
Foundation aims to combat several types of crimes against women,
including the abridgement of the education of girls, female genital
mutilation, forced marriages, honor violence, and honor
killings.
As part of its mission, the AHA Foundation aims to persuade
politicians and policy-makers to make it a priority to enforce
existing laws that protect women's rights and, where necessary, to
create special legislation to protect the rights and freedoms of
women in the West against militant Islam.
The Foundation is opposed to the adoption of dual legal systems to
adjudicate family disputes in religious families and supports the
separation of all religions and the State.
The AHA Foundation is a 501 (c) 3 organization and all donations
are tax-deductible.
If you are interested in supporting the work and mission of the
AHA Foundation, you may do so here. We thank you for your
support. You may also follow the Foundation on Facebook ()
and Twitter ( )
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AHA
Foundation report on circumstances affecting Muslim girls and women
in the United States
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In
December 2009, the AHA Foundation has released a report titled
"What do we know? Facts and
Figures on the circumstances affecting Muslim girls and women in
the United States".
According to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, founding member of the AHA
Foundation, "This report shows that honor-based violence in the
name of fundamentalist Islam is a phenomenon not limited to Western
European countries, but also occurs in the United States. We must
take a very strong stand against it."
Following almost a year of information collection and analysis, the
AHA Foundation has found that forced marriages, female genital
mutilation, and acts of honor violence and honor killings take
place in the United States more often and with a greater degree of
severity than is commonly assumed.
Acts of violence are often dismissed as isolated, unfortunate
events even when they fit into a broader pattern of abuses of
women's rights in the name of fundamentalist Islam and tribal
customs.
You may view the report (PDF format) by clicking on this link:
http://www.theahafoundation.org/system/include/resources/files/AHA2009WhatDoWeKnow.pdf
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___________________________________________________________
The AHA Foundation is committed to protecting the rights and
freedoms of women in the West against militant Islam. For more
information, please visit www.theAHAfoundation.org
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