[Biggest
Islamic
web site in the
U.S.]
P.O. Box 356, Kingsville, MD 21087.
Phone: 410-435-5000.
Disclaimer: Views expressed are not necessarily
shared by editorial committee.
Responses (positive or negative) up to 250 words are welcome.
Names will be withheld on request.
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IMPORTANT INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
May 15: Eighteen people (mostly Mexicans) died of
suffocation inside a
trailer while being smuggled from Mexico into
Texas. One of those trapped
inside made a 911 call on his cell phone but the
South Texas police
dispatcher did not have a Spanish translator.
This tragedy should make people
of conscience think of what is happening on the
southern borders of the U.S.
SOMETHING IS SERIOUSLY WRONGED WHEN ON THE BORDER
OF THE RICHEST COUNTRY IN
THE WORLD, there is one of the POOREST COUNTRIES
IN THE WORLD. Muslims should
wake up and do their duty to create greater
awareness about the struggle of
the Mexican and Central American peoples.
May 14. IRAN's PRESIDENT KHATAMI has admitted
that Iran has been holding
secret talks with the U.S. in Geneva for the last
TWO years.
May 15. In Karachi,
Pakistan,
19 Shell gas
stations and 2 Caltex gas stations
were attacked with small bombs, meant more to
injure than to kill. Observers
say, the attackers seem to be trying to end
businesses linked to Britain and
the
U.S.
May 16. New Trend is getting reports from Jordan
and
Iraq
that looting in
Baghdad is being orchestrated by the U.S. and it
is still going on. The U.S.
has reportedly brought in Kuwaitis, as well as
Shias loyal to the U.S.,
linked to Chalabi, to do the looting. Our reports
say that U.S. troops are
also taking away huge amounts of valuables from
Iraq.
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LOCAL NEWS:
ATTEMPT TO REFORM MASJID al-RAHMA
The largest mosque in Baltimore, Maryland,
located on the west side of the
city is known as Masjid al-Rahma and is run by
the Islamic Society of
Baltimore (ISB) mostly
Indo-Pakistani
and Arab
immigrants. For years there
have been complaints that ISB is hooked into the
secular society of America
and the mosque is not run for the cause of Islam.
Although 300 to 600 people come for juma'
prayers, and the numbers go
up to 1,500 on
Eid,
the actual membership of ISB
has dwindled below 150 and
is reported now to be only 88, if our reports are
correct. In other words,
the people come only for prayers and do not see
the mosque's leadership as
strong and motivational enough to get their
support.
One of the worshipers at the mosque, and a
long time member, Br. Salim
Khatib, has started an effort for reform of the
mosque's leadership and
organizational pattern. He has drawn up a
petition which has been signed by
70 people.
The PETITION makes some telling points. Here
are TWO of the most
important points of criticism:
1. LACK OF EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP RESULTING IN
DETERIORATION of the
SPIRITUALITY OF THE COMMUNITY.
2. EMPHASIS on BUILDING THE FACILITY rather than
BUILDING IMAN.
Br. Salim Khatib has selflessly worked to get
the people running ISB to
see the need for reform. Till now the leaders of
ISB, secularized, very rich,
linked to the American power structure, see no
need to listen to Br. Salim
Khatib. New Trend thinks his voice should be
heard and, inshallah, we'll keep
the community informed of this sincere effort at
reform
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Montreal Perspectives
By Jalaluddin S. Hussain
WRAPPED AROUND SHARON'S FINGER
Son and Father: who is more loyal to
Israel?
Amongst all the columnists of daily,
The New York Times
,
I find Thomas l.
Friedman most credible, interesting and
informative. I read him regularly
particularly because his views carry a lot of
weight both with the readers
and with the politicians of both Republican and
Democratic shades.
His column of 11 May entitled: "Fathers and
Sons", contained a lot of
material to think about. While he agrees that
"President
Bush
(the father)
will go down in history as the most pro-Israel
president of all time, about
the son Dubya, the current President, he aptly
observed: He "will be
remembered as the president who got so wrapped
around the finger of Ariel
Sharon that he indulged Israel into thinking it
really could have it all -
settlements, prosperity, peace and democracy -
and in so doing helped to
contribute the slow erosion of the
Jewish
state."
Friedman is also rightly
critical of Sharon and believes that he has "
thrown up all sorts of delaying
tactics". He regrets that Mr. Sharon is following
one of the iron rules of
Middle East politics: When I am weak how can I
compromise? When I am strong
why should I compromise? It seems the bottom line
is, Sharon does not seem
ready for a compromise and the new "Road Map to
Peace" proposal seems doomed
to failure.
Jaggi Singh: he did it again!
After spending nearly a month in Israel and the
Palestinian
territories,
Jaggi Singh the famous
Canadian
peace activist
and anti-Corporation lobbyist,
returned to Montreal and got a rousing welcome in
the month of January last.
He made headlines across Canada in December 2002
when he entered the Occupied
Territories, defying the Occupied Terriroties,
defying a Tel Aviv court
order that forbade him from setting foot in
either West Bank or Gaza. Singh
made a connection between his journey to the
Middle East and his ongoing work
with the activist organization: "No One Is
Illegal", of Montreal. This
organization addresses the plight of refugees in
Canada and abroad. "No One
Is Illegal" tackles the refugee situtio in
general adn in Palestine in
particular.
McGill's Islam Awareness Day
The Muslim students of McGill University
organized the Islam Awareness Day in
February 2003. The normally sparse Shatner
Building ballroom, located in the
heart of McGill campus, was neatly lined with
tables and displays,
encompassing every aspect of Muslim faith, from
the Holy Quran
to Islamic
calligraphy, from women's rights to explanatory
DVDs. The Day was organized
by the Muslim Students Association of McGill to
"foster mutual understanding
between Muslims and non-Muslims", in the words
its President, Isam Faik. More
than 200 students attended the celebrations.
Canadian
media
is biased against Islam - mostly
that is
The McGill Daily, an independent students
magazine of McGill university
discussed an interesting question in its April 3,
2003, issue: Is the
Canadian Media anti-Islamic? After
investigating the murky waters of
anti-Muslim bias in Canada's newspapers, it made
some of the following points:
- Yes, many of the elements of print and
electronic
media
in Canada are
biased against Muslims. The coverage in the
Canadian
media
has been mostly
unfair, ignorant and outright
racist.
- Karim H. Karim a professor at the Carleton
University School of Journalism,
is of the opinion that many journalists who write
on Islamic or
Muslim-related subjects, are biased and their
writings are slanted against
the Muslims. He has elaborated his views in his
latest books: "Islamic Peril:
Media and Global Violence".
- This year's (2003) edition of Canadian Islamic
Congress (CIC) Media Watch
Report, which evaluates anti-Islam contents in
the Canada's eight largest
dailies, point specifically to the use of
problematic terms like "Muslim
Extremists", "Islamic Militants" and "Muslim
Fundamentalists".
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2003-05-16 Fri 20:31ct