March 2017
Hawaii judge extends order blocking Trump's Muslim Ban 2.0
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Hawaii Federal Judge Derrick Watson extended his order blocking President Trump’s travel ban to six Muslim majority countries Wednesday, as the state’s attorney general denounced the executive order as a “Muslim ban”. Hawaii's attorney general Douglas Chin told the judge the controversial measure issued by President Trump on January 27 and then revised on March 6 was like a “neon sign flashing ‘Muslim ban, Muslim ban’” that the government had not turned off. Read More
Canadian parliament passes motion against rising Islamophobia
By Abdus-Sattar Ghazali: The Canadian parliament has passed a landmark anti-Islamophobia and religious discrimination motion that calls on politicians to condemn anti-Islamic behavior and rhetoric. It called on the government to recognize the need to "quell the public climate of fear and hate". The vote on Friday (March 24) follows months of fierce debate in Canada, including protests from both the motion's supporters and detractors. The non-binding motion was passed by 201 votes to 91. Read More
German lawmaker accused of links with anti-Erdogan Gulen movement
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: In a new low point in Bonn-Istanbul relations, Turkey has linked Michelle Müntefering, a German lawmaker for the Social Democratic Party (SPD), with the supporters of self-exiled Turkish cleric Gehullah Gulen accused of master-minding the abortive coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July 2016. Müntefering was reportedly told by the Federal Criminal Police Office that her name appeared on a list of alleged Gulen supporters handed to German authorities by Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT), according to the German news agency DPA. Read More
EU-Turkey rift escalates as Germany says Gulen was not behind anti-Erdogan abortive coup
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The rift between the European Union and Turkey is escalating as President Erdogan has accused the EU countries of persecuting Muslims like Jews were during World War II while the spirit of fascism was running wild on the streets of Europe. The EU-Turkey rift was sparked on March 11when Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, was barred from landing in the Netherlands to attend a rally of Turkish immigrants. About 400,000 people with ties to Turkey live in the Netherlands. Read More
Dutch Election and the presumed Muslim Problem
By Habib Siddiqui: The Dutch had their election last Wednesday in which the anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim extremist party – the Freedom Party (PVV) - came out a distant second winning 20 seats in the 150-seat parliament. Its leader Geert Wilders ran on a "de-Islamification" platform, calling for Islamic schools to be closed and the Qur’an and burqa to be banned. Wilders said he was still expecting to see a "European spring" for his supporters. The Dutch election on Wednesday had been billed as a litmus test for populism in Europe after last year’s British vote to leave the European Union and the election of US President Donald Trump. Read More
Travel Paranoia
By Habib Siddiqui: How paranoid can one become? Consider the latest laptop ban. Last Tuesday, the U.S. and U.K. banned people flying from much of the Middle East and North Africa from carrying laptops, tablets and other large electronic devices in the airplane cabin because of concerns about terrorism.While the ban notice states this is not a public regulation but it does request that the Middle Eastern airlines comply within 96 hours of its release, on Tuesday at 3 a.m. Eastern time. Correspondingly, for any airline refusing to obey the order, the U.S. is prepared to work with the FAA to take certificates away to prevent the airline from flying into the United States. Read More
Muslim Ban 3.0: Laptops, tablets banned on Middle East-US flights
By Abdus-Sattar Ghazali: The United States has banned laptops, e-readers, cameras, tablets, printers, electronic games, and portable DVD players on flights from eight Muslim countries. Passengers on flights originating in eight Muslim countries are now prohibited from carrying any electronic device bigger than a mobile phone, the Department of Homeland Security said. The move comes days after President Donald Trump's second bid to curb travel from a group of Muslim-majority nations was blocked by the courts. Read More
Federal judges in Hawaii and Maryland block Trump's Muslim Ban.2
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Federal judges in Hawaii and Maryland have blocked President Donald Trump's Muslim Ban 2.0. In their ruling both judges cited Trump's statements about Muslims during the presidential campaign. A federal judge in Hawaii Wednesday (March 15) ordered a temporary restraining order nationwide, hours before it was set to go into effect on Thursday.Another federal judge in Maryland Thursday morning specifically blocked the 90-day ban on immigration for citizens of six Muslim countries. Read More
Muslim Ban 2.0 is blocked by federal judge in Hawaii
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: In a stunning blow for the Trump administration, a federal judge in Hawaii Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order to block President Trump’s revised executive order on travel and refugees from taking effect Thursday, March 16.Today’s ruling was the second frustrating defeat for Trump’s Muslim travel ban, after a federal court in Seattle halted an earlier version of the executive order last month. Read More
The Muslim Ban and the ethnic cleansing of America
By Hamid Dabashi: The Muslim ban did not happen in one day - and it means more than one thing. The Muslim ban did not happen last January or later in March. It happened a long time ago - day after day, piece after piece, one slander after another, systematically, consistently, with liberal laughter and conservative malice alike. The Muslim ban was Trump's triumphant finale of a chorus long echoed in the sinuous xenophobic labyrinth of a nation always in denial of its own foreign origin, too eager to imagine and identify itself as "white" to demonise and expel from the shadow of its own fears all its colourful differences. Trump's Muslim ban is integral to his long-term plan to make the US a solely white, Anglo-Saxon and Protestant 'nation'. Read More
AIPAC Gave $60K to Architect of Trump’s Muslim Ban
By Eli Clifton: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has been noticeably quiet about the Trump administration’s slowness to denounce the spike in anti-Semitic attacks and bomb threats, its nomination of an ambassador to Israel who described J Street as “worse than kapos,” and its ties to ethno-nationalists like White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon and senior adviser Stephen Miller. But AIPAC has done more than just tolerate the U.S. tilt toward extreme and often xenophobic views. Newly released tax filings show that the country’s biggest pro-Israel group financially contributed to the Center for Security Policy, the think-tank that played a pivotal role in engineering the Trump administration’s efforts to impose a ban on Muslim immigration. Read More
Fresh bid to declare nuclear-armed Pakistan a terrorist state
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Republican Congressman Ted Poe has introduced a legislation in the House of Representatives proposing that the nuclear-armed Pakistan should be declared a state sponsor of terrorism. Interestingly, Congressman Ted Poe was a co-sponsor of a similar bill in September last year which died in the congress. The other sponsor of the anti-Pakistan bill was Congressman Dana Rohrabacher who has a history of making anti-Pakistan moves in Congress but has not always been successful in achieving his objectives. “Not only is Pakistan an untrustworthy ally, Islamabad has also aided and abetted enemies of the United States for years,” said the Republican from Texas who heads the House’s sub-committee on terrorism and non-proliferation. Read More
When dissent is unpatriotic: Muhammad Ali Jr. detained at airport for 2nd time in 4 weeks
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Agents from the Department of Homeland Security held up the son of boxing legend Muhammad Ali at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Friday (March 10) as he was making his way to South Florida, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz reported on Twitter. Florida Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was on the same flight, posted a photo on Twitter with Ali Jr. after he was allowed to board and wrote: "On way home on DOMESTIC FLIGHT Muhammad Ali Jr. detained AGAIN ... Religiously profiling son of 'The Greatest' will not make us safe." “We’re talking about somebody who has no criminal record,” she said. “He’s an American citizen. He was doing nothing other than traveling and who happens to be a Muslim-American.” Read More
Six U.S. States challenge Trump's Muslim Ban 2.0
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: At least six U.S. states are challenging President Donald Trump's Muslim Ban 2.0 executive order that bars new visas for people from six Muslim countries and temporarily shuts down the U.S. refugee program. On March 8, the state of Hawaii filed suit, arguing the new federal order will harm Muslims living in the state. As of March 10, five other states have joined together in a combined challenge to the latest order from Trump. Read More
The night mare of Stephen Bannon
Arthur Kane Scott: Stephen Bannon has emerged as the Darth Vader of the Trump administration not only in domestic but also international affairs. His agenda is broadly grounded, on what Naomi Kline described as the “shock doctrine,” a process of excoriating and attacking democratic institutions, in particular the press, as a way of undermining their credibility, so that centralization of power in the White House can accelerate way beyond the notion of an “Imperial Presidency.” His political goal is a coup d’état drawn from the Right. Read More
Hawaii is first to sue over Trump’s Muslim Ban 2.0
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Hawaii Wednesday (March 8) became the first US State to challenge President Donald Trump’s new Muslim Ban order rolled out on Monday. The State of Hawaii lawyers have called the travel ban nothing more than "Muslim Ban 2.0" and asked a federal judge to temporarily block the order. Read More
Donald Trump rolls out Muslim Ban 2.0
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: President Donald Trump Monday (March 6, 2017) issued a new Muslim ban executive order that will temporarily halt entry to the U.S. for people from six Muslim nations who are seeking new visas, though allowing those with current visas to travel freely. According to the Associated Press, Trump’s new order aims to address legal issues with the original order, which caused confusion at airports, sparked protests around the country and was ultimately blocked by federal courts. “President Donald Trump on Monday signed a new version of his controversial travel ban, aiming to withstand court challenges while still barring new visas for citizens from six Muslim-majority countries and shutting down the U.S. refugee program,” the AP said. Read More
Mr. Trump – Stop tweeting and behave like a president
By Dr. Habib Siddiqui: Last week, President Donald Trump appeared before a joint session of the Congress – the Senate and the House of Representatives, and delivered his first speech. It was an exceptional speech delivered by a man who is known more for his nasty and vitriolic remarks or comments than anything good or decent. Beset by the lowest approval ratings of any new commander-in-chief of modern times, Trump made a profound effort to court voters who didn't support him with an offer to lay down the battles of the past and to unite to tackle the difficult problems facing the USA today. Read More
Musharraf’s Four-point Formula: The Devil in the Details
Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai: “Four-point Formula does not want to resolve the Kashmir dispute but to dissolve it.” Ambassador Yusuf Buch. Abba Eban, an international diplomat is reported to have once said, “History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they exhaust all other alternatives.” That wisdom was apparent when, in 1995, Mian Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan reportedly told India’s then Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral at Male: “we cannot take Kashmir by force, and you cannot give it peacefully; we have to find a way to span the distance.” Read More
German Chancellor visits Cairo amid severe human rights violations by Egyptian Junta
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The German Chancellor Angela Markel visits Cairo amid reports of severe human rights violations by the Egyptian Junta led by Field Marshal Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi who overthrew President Mohammad Morsi, the first democratically President of Egypt in 2013. German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Egypt Thursday (March 2) where she met with e-Sisi before travelling to Tunisia on Friday to meet with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, to discuss how to reduce the flow of refugees to Europe from North Africa. Rather than focusing on migration and counterterrorism, human rights organizations are urging the Chancellor to raise concerns with el-Sisi about his clampdown on civil society organizations in Egypt, which has escalated dramatically since the end of 2016. Read More
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