Today's Top Islamic News (DAILY)

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Lockerbie bomber claims US had part in his conviction
Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:35:23 GMT
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Megrahi is at Tripoli Medical Center in Libya where he is being treated for prostate cancer.
In an effort to clear up his name, the Lockerbie bomber, Libya's Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, claims that a key witness in his conviction was paid up to two million dollars in a deal approved by the US.

The Libyan published new documents in his website on Friday that showed the US Department of Justice was also involved.

Megrahi insists on saying that he was not guilty in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people.

Megrahi abandoned an appeal against his conviction for the bombing after Scotland freed him last month on compassionate grounds as he is terminally ill with prostate cancer.

Megrahi was convicted in January 2001 at an extraordinary Scottish court convened in the Netherlands. He mounted an unsuccessful appeal in 2002. In 2007, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) sent his case for a subsequent appeal.

His lawyers said the documents released on the website were not produced at the trial but would have been used in an appeal, AFP reported.

According to the documents, the US Department of Justice was asked to pay two million dollars to Tony Gauci, the Maltese shopkeeper who sold clothing found to have been in the suitcase that contained the bomb.

US authorities were also asked to pay Gauci's brother, Paul, one million dollars for his role in identifying the clothing, although he did not give evidence at the trial.

The previously secret payments were uncovered by the SCCRC, which investigates possible miscarriages of justice.

The commission found the information about the request for payments in the private diaries of detectives in the case, but not in their official notebooks.

AGB/MD

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Friday, Oct 02, 2009

Abu Dhabi: Don't look now but Islamic banking and finance is becoming big.

How big, you ask? Moody's credit rating agency estimates the global sector is worth around $700 billion (Dh2.57 trillion).

It has been more than a year since the fall of Lehman pothers and the onset of the global financial crisis, but Islamic banks seem to be doing well.

Analysts have tracked the industry's staggering 15 to 20 per cent growth rate since at least the early part of the decade, a pace that has declined only slightly in the past year.

Mohammad Berro, chief executive officer of Al Hilal Bank , sat down for a pief chat with Gulf News about the state of the sector as well as that of his bank's - as the youngest in the UAE and perhaps the first governmental experiment in introducing a different form of Islamic banking.

Gulf News: Have you grown more conservative as a bank as a result of the events of the past year?

Berro: As a bank, we have maintained the same levels of conservatism because we were launched after the onset of the crisis.

As a banker, have you grown more conservative then?

Yes. I think the global intertwining of relationships today is so clear and so strong. Before, you were probably analysing things on a smaller scale, in a local or a regional circle. You did not look at the global implications of a certain transaction or a client or a certain investment decision. Now you have to take into consideration the impact of a certain crisis on a certain economy on your local credit or investment decision.

It wasn't as clear that the domino-effect of something happening in another part of the world can affect even a small local investment& that the failure of Lehman pothers would affect someone in Malaysia. That's something that no one, in my opinion, took into consideration. And that's why you have to remain conservative.

What do you say to critics of Islamic banking, that structurally, many of its products resemble those offered by conventional banks?

I don't think it's a fair comparison. The benchmark is the customer and market needs, not the existing standard of practice.

I would ask the critics of Islamic banking: 'What are the gaps that Islamic banks have vis-?-vis the market requirements, economic growth, or consumer requirements?' I think that even if those gaps have not been closed, they have been shrunk significantly.

Al Hilal bank , for example, is setting a new standard for Islamic banking. It is saying Islamic banking can be modern, it can be creative, it can be competitive and young. There will come a time when we [Islamic banks] will simply become 'the banks.'

Today, they [conventional banks] are called 'the banks' and we are called 'Islamic banks' because they are the norm and we are the exception. I think there will come one day when we will become the norm and they will become the exception.

But many large conventional banks have launched Islamic banking divisions

That proves the strength of Islamic banking, and the need for Islamic banking to the point where those global conventional banks are opening windows for Islamic banking. To the consumer, I say: 'Why do you want to go through a window when you can enter comfortably through the door?'

What about the criticism that the Islamic banking sector lacks central regulation?

I disagree. I think we are as regulated as any other bank. Regulation does not differentiate between Islamic and conventional banks. Any Islamic bank today in any country is part of the system of that country.

But on a Sharia-compliance level?

OK, from a Sharia perspective, I think there is a balance. This is one of the advantages of Islamic banking, which is derived from Islam. There is always room for fatwa, which means there is always room for improvement, adaptability and compliance. It's not rigid, it's not one size fits all. And I think this is a strength.

One of disadvantages is the lack of standardisation. In my opinion, I think we will come to a point where we will find a common standard on the very fundamental basics& We will still differ on some details that will not clash with the core fundamentals but rather accommodate different economies and products.

I think this is the strength of Islam that is pought to the strength of Islamic banking. This is something that we have been leveraging through our Sharia boards to improve and compete locally and globally.

How do you view what some call a conflict of interest in that the Sharia boards of Islamic banks are hired and paid by those banks to determine the compliance of their products?

I do not see [a conflict of interest], in the same way that auditors of banks are paid by the banks to perform audits. You can never find a purely independent auditor. So, from a Sharia perspective I do not see how the Sharia boards are any different.

How much potential in the Arab world do you see for Islamic banking, and more specifically, your bank?

We have a plan of expansion, but it's not very prioritised yet because of the lingering effects of the financial crisis. The Arab world, actually the Islamic world, is a core part of our expansion plans. We were created to be a global player, at least in the Islamic world.

We are still in the process of building our infrastructure and [creating] a very strong operating model from which we can expand and copy the process.

How do you think the failure of regional companies, such as Saudi Arabia's Saad and Algosaibi groups, to pay their debts have affected the sector?

This is a normal problem, in my opinion, that companies go bankrupt. It becomes abnormal, it becomes a lesson to be learnt from when it becomes a trend. I don't think it's a big deal. I think we're over-exaggerating the fact of this issue that is happening today if it's only happening in isolation.

How do you think the West views Islamic banking?

I think our challenge is to change the perception. I think in the West there is a perception about Islam which directly affects Islamic banking. In my opinion Al Hilal is proof of otherwise. I think the way we look, act, talk, bank will have an effect on changing that perception.

But I think the perception in the west is slowly changing. As we've discussed you can see global conventional banks opening Islamic banking arms.

By Ahmed A. Namatalla, Staff Reporter

© Gulf News 2009. All rights reserved.

Source: Zawya

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Friday, Oct 02, 2009

Abu Dhabi: Don't look now but Islamic banking and finance is becoming big.

How big, you ask? Moody's credit rating agency estimates the global sector is worth around $700 billion (Dh2.57 trillion).

It has been more than a year since the fall of Lehman pothers and the onset of the global financial crisis, but Islamic banks seem to be doing well.

Analysts have tracked the industry's staggering 15 to 20 per cent growth rate since at least the early part of the decade, a pace that has declined only slightly in the past year.

Mohammad Berro, chief executive officer of Al Hilal Bank , sat down for a pief chat with Gulf News about the state of the sector as well as that of his bank's - as the youngest in the UAE and perhaps the first governmental experiment in introducing a different form of Islamic banking.

Gulf News: Have you grown more conservative as a bank as a result of the events of the past year?

Berro: As a bank, we have maintained the same levels of conservatism because we were launched after the onset of the crisis.

As a banker, have you grown more conservative then?

Yes. I think the global intertwining of relationships today is so clear and so strong. Before, you were probably analysing things on a smaller scale, in a local or a regional circle. You did not look at the global implications of a certain transaction or a client or a certain investment decision. Now you have to take into consideration the impact of a certain crisis on a certain economy on your local credit or investment decision.

It wasn't as clear that the domino-effect of something happening in another part of the world can affect even a small local investment& that the failure of Lehman pothers would affect someone in Malaysia. That's something that no one, in my opinion, took into consideration. And that's why you have to remain conservative.

What do you say to critics of Islamic banking, that structurally, many of its products resemble those offered by conventional banks?

I don't think it's a fair comparison. The benchmark is the customer and market needs, not the existing standard of practice.

I would ask the critics of Islamic banking: 'What are the gaps that Islamic banks have vis-?-vis the market requirements, economic growth, or consumer requirements?' I think that even if those gaps have not been closed, they have been shrunk significantly.

Al Hilal bank , for example, is setting a new standard for Islamic banking. It is saying Islamic banking can be modern, it can be creative, it can be competitive and young. There will come a time when we [Islamic banks] will simply become 'the banks.'

Today, they [conventional banks] are called 'the banks' and we are called 'Islamic banks' because they are the norm and we are the exception. I think there will come one day when we will become the norm and they will become the exception.

But many large conventional banks have launched Islamic banking divisions

That proves the strength of Islamic banking, and the need for Islamic banking to the point where those global conventional banks are opening windows for Islamic banking. To the consumer, I say: 'Why do you want to go through a window when you can enter comfortably through the door?'

What about the criticism that the Islamic banking sector lacks central regulation?

I disagree. I think we are as regulated as any other bank. Regulation does not differentiate between Islamic and conventional banks. Any Islamic bank today in any country is part of the system of that country.

But on a Sharia-compliance level?

OK, from a Sharia perspective, I think there is a balance. This is one of the advantages of Islamic banking, which is derived from Islam. There is always room for fatwa, which means there is always room for improvement, adaptability and compliance. It's not rigid, it's not one size fits all. And I think this is a strength.

One of disadvantages is the lack of standardisation. In my opinion, I think we will come to a point where we will find a common standard on the very fundamental basics& We will still differ on some details that will not clash with the core fundamentals but rather accommodate different economies and products.

I think this is the strength of Islam that is pought to the strength of Islamic banking. This is something that we have been leveraging through our Sharia boards to improve and compete locally and globally.

How do you view what some call a conflict of interest in that the Sharia boards of Islamic banks are hired and paid by those banks to determine the compliance of their products?

I do not see [a conflict of interest], in the same way that auditors of banks are paid by the banks to perform audits. You can never find a purely independent auditor. So, from a Sharia perspective I do not see how the Sharia boards are any different.

How much potential in the Arab world do you see for Islamic banking, and more specifically, your bank?

We have a plan of expansion, but it's not very prioritised yet because of the lingering effects of the financial crisis. The Arab world, actually the Islamic world, is a core part of our expansion plans. We were created to be a global player, at least in the Islamic world.

We are still in the process of building our infrastructure and [creating] a very strong operating model from which we can expand and copy the process.

How do you think the failure of regional companies, such as Saudi Arabia's Saad and Algosaibi groups, to pay their debts have affected the sector?

This is a normal problem, in my opinion, that companies go bankrupt. It becomes abnormal, it becomes a lesson to be learnt from when it becomes a trend. I don't think it's a big deal. I think we're over-exaggerating the fact of this issue that is happening today if it's only happening in isolation.

How do you think the West views Islamic banking?

I think our challenge is to change the perception. I think in the West there is a perception about Islam which directly affects Islamic banking. In my opinion Al Hilal is proof of otherwise. I think the way we look, act, talk, bank will have an effect on changing that perception.

But I think the perception in the west is slowly changing. As we've discussed you can see global conventional banks opening Islamic banking arms.

By Ahmed A. Namatalla, Staff Reporter

© Gulf News 2009. All rights reserved.

Source: Zawya

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Colombia says 'no' to US bases
Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:44:31 GMT
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Amid reports of a deal reached for the establishment of US military bases in Colombia, the country's foreign minister says there is no need for more American personnel.

In an effort to reassure other South American countries, Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez told the BBC that Colombia seeks only "information, technology, intelligence" in the form of military cooperation with the US.

"We don't need personnel, we need more information, technology, intelligence - that's the key issue… Those who fight best in Colombia are our own soldiers. We don't need American soldiers to do this."

"We are not going to have American bases in Colombia. Today we have 71 military personnel from the US," Bermudez said.

His remarks come as South American nations feel threatened by what is considered as 'suspicious intentions' of their northern neighbor.

He, however, said while it is important for his country to stay in good relation with its neighbors, especially Venezuela, Colombia appreciates US help.

The minister said the US has been helping Colombia in fighting "narco-traffickers and terrorists."

MSD/MD

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CAIRO – Unlike their fellow Muslims across China, the Muslim minority in Hong Kong is enjoys the right to work, educate and practice faith.
"We are free," Mufti Mohamed Arshad told renowned writer Robert Fisk of The Independent on Saturday, October 3.

"We are independent.”

The renewed British reporter landed in the Chinese island to get a glimpse of the Muslim life in this remote corner of China.

Asking about the nearest mosque, he was first directed to a Sikh temple.

“Somehow the Muslims of Hong Kong remain even more alien to this unique place than the Brit financiers and brokers and the memorials to a lost empire,” said Fisk.

The British reporter was later guided to visit the Masjid Ammar and Osman Ramju Sadick Islamic centre.

“I find a brace of outrageously polite children learning the Qur’an, reciting the "sura" while sitting on a high-pile rug.”

At the wall there was a Chinese script written with Arabic characters with Chinese squiggles in the middle.

Fisk notes that the Islamic words often have a meaning in Chinese.

"Allah comes out in translation from Chinese as "True God", "Islam" as "Pure Truth",” he said.

There is between 20,000 and 100,000 Muslims in Hong Kong.

The majority of Muslims are Hui people (Chinese Muslim), with the rest mainly from Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Middle Eastern and African countries.

Lucky Muslims
The status of Hong Kong Muslims is quite different from that of Muslims all across China.

"There, an imam cannot even address the people of a mosque in which he is not the preacher,” Imam Sulieman Wang of the centre said.

“Chinese Muslims wanted to hold demonstrations over Gaza, but this was not allowed by the state.

“We say we are very angry but we can do nothing. We can't demonstrate in China."

The imam said that the Chinese system of education also bars Muslims from better understanding their faith.

“The bitter protests among the Uighur population was ethnic rather than religious.”

China has now 20 million Muslims, about half of them being from the Hui ethnic group.

Muslims are also the majority of the northwestern Xinjiang Province, which has been the subject of massive crackdowns.

At least 190 people were killed and 1,700 wounded when Chinese security forces suppressed Uighurs protesting discrimination and religious and cultural controls in their region last July.

Fisk said that Hong Kong Muslims are luckier than their fellows across China.

“They are lucky to have this freedom,” he said.

“In fact, just about anybody in Hong Kong is lucky. So are the Muslims. Save for Lebanon and Malaysia, I can't imagine a Muslim land where they would be freer. Which either tells you something about Hong Kong. Or rather too much about the Muslim world.”

Source: IslamOnline

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CAIRO – MI5, the United Kingdom's counter-intelligence and security agency, argues that British Justice Minister Jack Straw’s links to the umbrella Muslim Council of Britain are cause for concern. “Jack’s a bit too close to the MCB,” a senior security figure told The Times on Sunday, October 4.
“There is a concern that proximity to them may colour his judgment.”

A secret MI5 report on Islamic extremism in Blackburn, produced by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC), argued that Straw, the local MP, has close ties with people linked to the MCB.

“…the JTAC document does raise some potential concerns over some individuals who are key figures in the town,” said the security official who has seen the report.

“It’s a small pond and by definition they are figures Jack would know or know of.”

The JTAC report cited Ahmed Sidat, a former MCB member and the chairman of the Cumberland Street mosque, as a long-time supporter of Straw.

The mosque, Lancashire’s oldest, allegedly invited in the past leaders with radical views.

The report also cited Junade Feroze, who is serving 22 years in prison after pleading guilty in a bomb plot in 2004.

At the time of the arrest, Straw said he knew Feroze’s father, Mohammed.

Britain has a sizable Muslim minority or more than two millions, mostly of Asian backgrounds.

Muslims make up nearly 20 percent of Straw’s constituents.

The Times claimed that during a visit in 2006, then US secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was shocked by the influence of Muslims in the constituency.

Unapologetic Straw

MI5 is reportedly not happy that Straw is taking a different line on the Muslim umbrella group from that of the government.

“He sometimes appears to suggest they are the only game in town,” said the security figure.

The government formally severed links with MCB, a coalition of some 400 organizations and the largest Muslim umbrella group in Britain, earlier this year.

The Muslim group has been critical of many aspects of the government’s foreign policy, including the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and reaction to the Israeli war on Gaza.

The Times said a heated dispute erupted between Straw and then communities secretary Hazel Blears when the MI5 report was circulated among ministers.

A spokesman for Straw defended the justice minister’s relations with the MCB, a coalition of some 400 organizations and the largest Muslim umbrella group in Britain.

“He has good relations with the MCB and is unapologetic about that,” he asserted.

“He fights against Islamophobia and always will.”

British Muslims have been in the eye of the storm since the 7/7 terrorist bombing attacks.

Many complain of maltreatment by police for no apparent reason other than being Muslim.

A Financial Times opinion poll showed that Britain is the most suspicious nation about Muslims.

Source: IslamOnline

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CAIRO — The International Boxing Association, which awards world and subordinate championships, said Muslim boxers will be allowed to play in the 2012 Olympics while observing their religious dress code. “At the moment there is nothing preventing women boxers from wearing full Islamic dress," an IBA spokesman told the Sunday Times on October 4.
The 2012 summer Games in London will be the first time women allowed to box under the Olympic banner.

The International Olympic Committee said women will compete at three weights; flyweight (48 - 51kg), lightweight (56 - 60kg) and middleweight (69 - 75kg), with 12 boxers taking part in each category.

Many Muslim nations are considering sending female boxers, including many donning hijab, to the Olympics.

Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations.

Hijab and Sports Sports in Islam Hijab, Why? "Obviously, religious requirements should be taken into account and we want to be as inclusive as we can,” said the IBA official. The issue of hijab in sports was thrust into the spotlight in the West recently.

Last January, an American high-school Muslim star runner was pulled out from a local competition for wearing hijab.

An 11-year-old Canadian kid was also thrown out from a national Judo tournament for wearing hijab.

In March 2007, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the game's ultimate regulators, said hijab is forbidden in soccer games.

Peace Ambassadors

A group of veiled Afghan boxers are already preparing to contest the 2012 Olympics qualifications.

“In a country ravaged by 30 years of war and run by a conservative male-dominated society, these female boxers are Afghanistan’s most improbable ambassadors for peace,” Oxfam, a London-based charity sponsoring the Afghan female boxers team, told the Times.

“We are proud to support these athletes who challenge preconceived notions about Afghan women through peace building.”

The Afghan national female boxing team includes about 25 boxers with ages ranging between 14 and 25.

They are now involved in grueling training sessions at Kabul’s Olympic stadium under their coach Fadir Sharify, a former professional boxer who has persuade the families that it is not inappropriate to take to the ring.

Mirwais Wardak, who runs Fighting for Peace, the Kabul boxing program, said the team is a big step forward for Afghan woman, challenging stereotypes about how women should behave.

UK Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell, who lobbied for women’s boxing to be recognized as an official Olympic sport, hopes to see the Afghan female boxers reach the London Olympics.

“The fact that these women have formed a boxing team in a country where women are routinely harassed for taking part in sport should be applauded,” said Jowell.

“Their courage deserves to succeed.”

Source: IslamOnline

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PADANG, Indonesia: The death toll from Indonesia’s massive earthquake will likely double as officials on Saturday reached rural communities wiped out by landslides that buried more than 600 people under mountains of mud, most of them guests at a wedding celebration.
Virtually nothing remained of four villages that had dotted the hillside of the Padang Pariman district in Indonesia’s West Sumatra just three days ago, said officials.

Hundreds of doctors, nurses, search and rescue experts and cleanup crews arrived at the regional airport from around the globe with tons of food, tents, medicine, clean water, generators and a field hospital. But with no electricity, fuel shortages and telecommunication outages the massive operation was chaotic.

Deliveries came on C-130 cargo planes from the United States, Russia and Australia. Japanese, Swiss, South Korean and Malaysian search and rescue teams scoured the debris.

Roughly 400 people were at a communal wedding in Pulau Aiya village when Wednesday’s 7.6 magnitude quake unleashed a torrent of mud, rock and felled palm trees, said Rustam Pakaya, the head of Indonesia’s Health Ministry crisis center.

“They were sucked 30 meters deep into the earth,” he said. “Even the mosque’s minaret, taller than 20 meters, disappeared.” Twenty-six bodies were pulled from the rubble-strewn brown earth in nearby Lubuk Lawe and Jumena, but 618 bodies remained far beyond the reach of residents who worked without outside help because roads had been severed, he said.

The number of fatalities in the disaster will jump to more than 1,300 if all those people are confirmed dead. The government’s death toll on Saturday held steady at 715, most reported in the region’s badly hit capital of 900,000, Padang, where aid efforts are concentrated.

On Friday, survivors buried under a collapsed hotel in Padang sent a cell-phone text message to a relative saying he and some others were alive. But, disappointed rescue workers were unable to locate anyone at the Ambacang Hotel where as many as 200 people were staying. ¬

Source: Arab News

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CAIRO – Rounded up randomly, abused and tortured behind bars for no reason but being a Muslim, police harassment is haunting the Muslim minority in the Hindu-majority India, reported The Hindu on Monday, October 5. “Muslim youths with no criminal records are picked up illegally by policemen in plainclothes taken to farmhouse etc. and kept for days on end and tortured brutally,” Muslim leader Harsh Mander said.
Muslim community leaders from across India came together for a three-day national meeting to discuss the status of the Muslim minority in modern India.

They found that the minority is haunted by the fear of being harassed by law enforcement authorities.

Many Muslims complained that they are detained, abused and tortured to confess to terror crimes.

They cited that they could be sent behind bars and abused for no reason but being relatives to people suspected in terror activities.

Many Muslims told the gathering that they can be subjected to similar allegations of terror links, detention, torture and prolonged and biased trials.

Indian Muslims also accuse authorities of boosting stereotypes about their religion.

There are some 140 million Muslims in Hindu-majority India, the world's third-largest Muslim population after those of Indonesia and Pakistan.

Indian Muslims have suffered decades of social and economic neglect and oppression.

They have been decrying for years that they comprise only a tiny percentage of police, army officers, public servants and public university students.

They register lower educational levels and, as a consequence, higher unemployment rates than the majority Hindus and other minorities like Christians and Sikhs.

Fight Prejudice

The Muslim meeting suggested the formation of a high-power judicial commission to look into alleged terror charges and complaints of police harassment.

“Those that seem doubtful or fabricated should be handed over to a special investigation team,” the meeting recommended.

“It should complete its task in a year so that prolonged detention of persons against whom there is little convincing evidence is not prolonged.”

The attendees also called for prosecution of police officers fabricating evidence in terror cases and compensating the victims.

They further pressed for better representation of Muslims in the police, judiciary and civil administration.

The meeting also suggested the issuance of a law to fight communal violence.

“Strong action should be taken under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code against organisations which indulge in hate campaigns and communal propaganda.

“The requirement of prior sanction of the State government before a complaint is registered under this Act should be waived.”

Muslim leaders also proposed the enactment of a law against communal discrimination.

“The Prime Minister should nominate a 10-member committee to undertake a nationwide campaign against communalisation of society, akin to the literacy campaign and temple entry campaigns of the past.

“This committee should also study and document these social processes of structural discrimination, some of which came to light in the national meet.”

Source: IslamOnline

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PARIS – With a welcoming, warm smile, spontaneity and modesty, new UNESCO chief Irina Bokova welcomed IslamOnline.net into her office in the UN agency’s Paris headquarters.
Eager to hear about reactions to her election from in the Arab and Muslim worlds, and sorry for the bitterness created by her defeat of Egyptian rival Farouq Hosni, the Arab-Muslim candidate of Africa and the Arab world, she tried to reinforce on clear message during the 45-minute interview.

“No. I do not think so,” Bokova said emphatically when asked if she was the candidate of the north who defeated the candidate of the south.

“I was the candidate of Bulgaria, a country that does not the known standards for a country of the north. Bulgaria was never a colonizer.”

Bokova defeated the Egyptian culture minister to become the UN's cultural head, in what some described as a conspiracy against the candidate of the south who was the favorite in earlier voting rounds.

Hosni himself has accused UNESCO of being "politicized."

“Until the third round of voting, I was just the candidate of Bulgaria. I was not even the sole candidate of Europe,” contended Bokova.

“After the third round I was able to secure the majority of votes, which were not all from countries of the north.”

Bokova said the countries of the north had only 12 votes in the 58-member UNESCO Executive Council, which elected the new director general.

“So winning 31 votes was actually a victory for the third world and other countries and I, therefore, do not consider myself the candidate of the north.”

Rich Arab/Muslim Culture
Bokova, the UNESCO’s first female chief and the first from the former Soviet bloc, vocalized her admiration of the Arab and Muslim culture and civilization.

“Culture plays a very major role in the Arab and Muslim world,” she told IOL, noting that this dates back thousands of years ago.

“I know this world very well through its huge heritage and museums that stand witness to it.”

Bokova, who was serving as Bulgaria’s UNESCO representative, asserted that during her tenure in Paris she enjoyed the exhibitions organized by the Arab World Institute in Paris to showcase the wealth and richness of the Arab and Muslim culture.

“I’m convinced that one of my duties as UNESCO director general is shedding more light on the wealth and richness of this major civilization,” she maintained.

“I’m optimistic about this and we can do several programs in this regard.”

Bokova refuted claims that she was supported by the influential Jewish lobby to give Israel a better chance to pursue its Judaization of Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem).

“I was never hostage to such lobbies during my election,” she stressed.

“As for Jerusalem, I would just remind you that the city is already on UNESCO's World Heritage List, which means that any changes violate international treaties and charters on protecting world heritage.”

She also cited resolutions adopted by UNESCO in 1968 calling on Israel not to change the realities in the holy city under the pretext of excavations.

Israel and its powerful lobby in UNESCO reportedly feared having an Arab/Muslim UNESCO chief at a time it is speeding up plans to judaize the holy city, home to Islam’s third holiest shrine.

Islamophobia
The UNESCO’s chief reiterated her call for a world that respects cultural diversity which means being more tolerant with the other.

Underscoring the UN agency’s efforts to build bridges between different cultures and peoples, Bokova stressed the need to fight all forms of racism.

“Islamophobia is a dangerous phenomenon and must be confronted just like all other forms of racism,” she told IOL.

“As the UNESCO director general I’m personally ready to working on curbing this phenomenon.”

Bokova is drawing on her personal experience in co-existing with Muslims in her home country Bulgaria.

“In Bulgaria we have a Turkish Muslim minority as well as Bulgarian Muslims who have long co-existed with the rest of the population,” she explained.

“I come from a small village where Muslims constituted 80 percent of the population. I spent my childhood and school vacations in this atmosphere,” she recalled.

“I used to visit my grandmother who was living in the Muslim neighborhood, so my personal life had that taste of multi-culture and respect for the other.”

Bokova credits the Turkish minority for Bulgaria’s time-honored relations with the Muslim world, particularly Turkey.

“Our relations are not just based on common past but common destiny as well.”

The new UNESCO chief concluded that her interview with islamOnline.net was part of her efforts to send a clear message to the Arab and Muslim world.

“I have deep personal and cultural bonds with the Arab world. I have no predispositions whatsoever because I know this world and its culture.

“I’m stretching my hand out to work together and clear all misunderstandings.”

Source: IslamOnline