Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi

Marc Asnin / Redux for TIME

On Sept. 24, TIME editors Romesh Ratnesar and Michael Elliott met with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

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Given your experience in dealing what the United States offered
in return for giving up your [nuclear] program, what advice would you
give to a country like Iran? And what advice would you give to the
United States in dealing with Iran’s nuclear ambitions?

America has the responsibility to reward and encourage such countries
who take such decisions, so that they will be able to use nuclear
energy or nuclear power in peaceful means. (Watch the video of TIME’s interview with Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi.)

Upon the advice of our American friends, and others, when they told
us to maybe get in touch with Pyongyang and Iran, and encourage them
and talk to them so that they would not go to the use of nuclear energy
for military purposes, divert the potentials of the capability they
have for peaceful means, the actions or the answers from those such
countries was, What did Libya gain in the trade?

Are you saying that Iranians and North Koreans don’t think that Libya got enough benefits for giving up its program?

Indeed that’s what they said to us. Indeed.

Libya spoke to both the Iranians and the North Koreans on this topic?

Yes, indeed. Of course, I mean we have conveyed to them the wish of the
friends, that they got in touch with us, mainly in the interest, the
wish that they would take the peaceful road.

You’re chairman of the African Union at the moment. You referred
to President Obama in your speech yesterday as the “son of Africa.” Do
you feel a kinship with President Obama? And what would you like the
United States to do in Africa?

Indeed this kinship is there, is existing.

Regarding the second part of the question, Africa, I mean there are
good intentions, legitimately speaking, particularly with international
governing toward Africa — some sort of sympathy.

In the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people you
have advocated a one-state solution. Many people criticize that kind of
idea as something that would lead to the end of Israel as a Jewish
state, a homeland for the Jews. Do you believe that Israel has a right
to exist as a Jewish state?

I am keen and anxious for the safety of both the Jews and the Palestinians.

The position that we are in, the road that the world is going on,
would lead to the destruction of the Jews. Because generally speaking,
Jews as a community are limited, their number is limited, all over the
world. We know that they’re not that big. Unfortunately, they were
persecuted by all nations. They were persecuted by the Romans and King
Edward I. And we all know the Holocaust during Hitler’s time. Once
seeing the history like that we can only but sympathize with them as
Jews. The Arabs actually were the ones who gave them the safe haven and
the protection along all these areas when they were persecuted. (See pictures of the rise of Gaddafi.)

As recent as ’48 or ’49 — I was a little boy at the time but I can
still remember — the Jews were there in Libya. There was no animosity,
no hatred between us. They were merchants, moving from one place to the
other, traders … and they were very much respected and very much
sympathized with. I mean, they did their own prayers and we saw them.
They spoke Arabic, wearing Libyan uniforms, Libyan clothes.

So that’s why I said, the way things are going, in the end they
would — it will be the eradication of them, or the extinction of such a
community. And I believe that the whole world is plotting against them,
against the Jews. They want to get rid of them, the world wants to. And
things that happened in the past indicate or give witness to this idea
or this notion. It was the Holocaust in Europe. We all know that, this
is a fact. (Read TIME’s 1981 cover story about Libya.)

So what is the answer?

The answer is as follows: That we have to serve God, or guarantee the
safety of the Jews. And this can be done by them accepting the
Palestinians, recognizing the Palestinians, accepting that fact that
they should live with the Palestinians in one state, together.
Unfortunately, the Jews are fighting or struggling against their own
friend — the Arabs. The Arabs did not do the Holocaust, and the Arabs
are not the Romans who persecuted them or massacred them. The only way
open for them is to accept the Arabs and to accept to live with them,
to co-exist with them. Because the establishment of a pure Hebrew state
is not in their own interest. That would be a target. Their protection
comes from being part of the Arab scene. Mixing with the Arabs. I
believe that the youth supports me, supports my idea … Investors
would prefer this mixing with the Arabs, being with the Arabs, living
with the Arabs, co-existing with the Arabs. But they have to accept
refugees that were kicked out in 1948. This is a fundamental thing, a
basic thing. Otherwise, war will continue, the struggle will continue.

Some Americans still view you, and view Libya, with some
suspicion, despite the normalization of relations. How can that
impression be changed and do you think it ever will change?

This is the result of accumulation of so many years of strained
relations between our two peoples and our two countries. It was
propaganda .
.. against us. It was very much exaggerated, this
information campaign, this sustained campaign against us. But if I may
… Over the process of years it will thaw out. I mean, just gradually
through contact, through dialogue, through investment.

I know that the Lockerbie case has come to a legal end,
but there are people in the United States who would still say, in 2003,
Libya accepted responsibility for its officials but it would be
wonderful if it was a heartfelt expression of remorse and an apology
for what happened. That might help thaw the ice.

It was always said that it is not us who did that and they don’t accept
the fact that they have a responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing. And
all the nonaligned nations used to support the Libyan claim. But we go
through the resolutions adopted by … more than 150 countries, both of
the resolutions of the Arab League, all of the resolutions adopted by
the African Union, all of the organizations … conflict resolutions.

But of course, Americans, Libyans, the whole world express sympathy
or regret over such tragedies. No one would be happy over such
tragedies, no one would welcome such a tragedy, indeed, of course. Do
the American people feel happy, are the American people happy over the
killing of the Libyan citizens in 1986? And is the world happy about
the Gaza massacre? By the same token none of us are happy over the
tragedy of Lockerbie. Up to now, if you visit the house that was bombed
in the American raid, you will find a picture of my daughter, a picture
of the daughter of Jim Swire, in a frame there, and everybody goes
there. Our children are all victims. I mean, these pictures, just to
say the fact that we are all fathers of victims.

Tell us about your impressions of America.

We didn’t see anything because of the security measures.

Is there any place in America that you have always wanted to see?

America is so afraid of terror and terrorism to the point that they
don’t allow people to move around freely and see what they wish to see.
I really wish to see the whole of America, if it is possible.

Thursday,24 September 2009, 14:48 hrs

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Bangalore: In a
sensational scientific discovery, India’s maiden lunar mission
Chandrayaan-1 has found evidence of water on the moon.

“The moon has distinct signatures of water,” top American scientist Carle Pieters confirmed Thursday.

“The evidence of water molecules on the surface of the moon was found
by the moon mineralogy mapper (M3) of the US-based National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA) on board Chandrayaan-1,” M3 principal
investigator Carle Pieters said in a paper published in the journal
Science.

M3 was one of the 11 scientific instruments on board the lunar
spacecraft that was launched Oct 22, 2008 by the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO). The mission was aborted Aug 30 after Chandrayaan-1
lost radio contact with Earth.

Crediting ISRO for its role in the findings, Pieters said: “If it were
not for them (ISRO), we would not have been able to make this
discovery.”

ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair had told the media Wednesday that he
could not yet confirm the presence of water on the moon, but “before
the end of this week, we will let you know”.

However, confirming the finding and terming it a major discovery,
Pieters said the discovery of water on the lunar surface would
reinvigorate studies of the moon and potentially change thinking on how
it originated.

“Hydroxyl, a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen
atom, were discovered across the entire surface of the Earth’s nearest
celestial neighbour,” claimed Pieters, a planetary geologist at Brown
University in Rhode Island.

Though the abundance of the hydroxyl molecules are not precisely known,
about 1,000 parts per million could be in the lunar soil, the paper
noted.

“Harvesting one ton of the top layer of the moon’s surface will yield
as much as 32 ounces (907 grams) of water,” scientists involved in the
discovery said.

As lead author of the M3 findings, Pieters said more evidence of water was found in the moon’s high latitudes.

“It greatly expands current thinking about where water in any form was presumed to be located,” she pointed out.

The findings give rise to interesting new questions about where the water molecules come from and where they may be going.

Scientists have speculated that water molecules may migrate from
non-polar regions of the moon to the poles, where they are stored as
ice in ultra-frigid pockets of craters that never receive sunlight.

“If the water molecules are as mobile as we think they are — even a
fraction of them — they provide a mechanism for getting water to those
permanently shadowed craters. This opens a whole new avenue (of lunar
research), but we have to understand the physics of it to utilise it,”
Pieters noted.

The NASA payload found water molecules and hydroxyl at diverse areas of
the sunlit region of the moon’s surface, but the water signature
appeared stronger at the moon’s higher latitudes.
Two NASA spacecrafts — the
Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) on the Cassini
spacecraft and the High-Resolution Infrared Imaging Spectrometer on the
EPOXI spacecraft also confirmed the data on the discovery of water by
M3.

“This is a very, very important finding… If somehow water was found
on the moon, you could use that water right out there. You could
extract it,” said Amitabha Ghosh, space scientist at NASA.

“Right now, we don’t know what temperature it is, and whether there is a cost effective way of extracting it,” he added.

“The moon has distinct signatures of water,” top American scientist Carle Pieters confirmed Thursday.

“The
evidence of water molecules on the surface of the moon was found by the
moon mineralogy mapper (M3) of the US-based National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) on board Chandrayaan-1,” M3 principal
investigator Carle Pieters said in a paper published in the journal
Science.

M3 was one of the 11 scientific instruments on board the
lunar spacecraft that was launched Oct 22, 2008 by the Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO). The mission was aborted Aug 30 after
Chandrayaan-1 lost radio contact with Earth.

Crediting ISRO for
its role in the findings, Pieters said: “If it were not for them
(ISRO), we would not have been able to make this discovery.”

ISRO
chairman G. Madhavan Nair had told the media Wednesday that he could
not yet confirm the presence of water on the moon, but “before the end
of this week, we will let you know”.

However, confirming the
finding and terming it a major discovery, Pieters said the discovery of
water on the lunar surface would reinvigorate studies of the moon and
potentially change thinking on how it originated.

“Hydroxyl,
a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, were
discovered across the entire surface of the Earth’s nearest celestial
neighbour,” claimed Pieters, a planetary geologist at Brown University
in Rhode Island.

Though the abundance of the hydroxyl molecules
are not precisely known, about 1,000 parts per million could be in the
lunar soil, the paper noted.

“Harvesting one ton of the top layer
of the moon’s surface will yield as much as 32 ounces (907 grams) of
water,” scientists involved in the discovery said.

As lead author of the M3 findings, Pieters said more evidence of water was found in the moon’s high latitudes.

“It greatly expands current thinking about where water in any form was presumed to be located,” she pointed out.

The findings give rise to interesting new questions about where the water molecules come from and where they may be going.

Scientists
have speculated that water molecules may migrate from non-polar regions
of the moon to the poles, where they are stored as ice in ultra-frigid
pockets of craters that never receive sunlight.

“If
the water molecules are as mobile as we think they are — even a
fraction of them — they provide a mechanism for getting water to those
permanently shadowed craters. This opens a whole new avenue (of lunar
research), but we have to understand the physics of it to utilise it,”
Pieters noted.

The NASA payload found water molecules and
hydroxyl at diverse areas of the sunlit region of the moon’s surface,
but the water signature appeared stronger at the moon’s higher
latitudes.

Two NASA spacecrafts — the Visual and Infrared
Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) on the Cassini spacecraft and the
High-Resolution Infrared Imaging Spectrometer on the EPOXI spacecraft
also confirmed the data on the discovery of water by M3.

“This
is a very, very important finding… If somehow water was found on the
moon, you could use that water right out there. You could extract it,”
said Amitabha Ghosh, space scientist at NASA.

“Right now, we don’t know what temperature it is, and whether there is a cost effective way of extracting it,” he added.

Source: IANS

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Islam and Education

Islam is the religion of peace, and it is one of the most sacred and trustworthy religions and in Islam to seek knowledge is a sacred duty, it is obligatory on every Muslim, male and female. The first word revealed of the Qur’an was “Iqra” READ! Seek knowledge! Educate yourselves! Be educated.

This importance of education is basically for two reasons. Education makes man a right thinker. Without education, no one can think properly in an appropriate context you. It tells man how to think and how to make decision. The second reason for the importance of education is that only through the attainment of education, man is enabled to receive information from the external world. It is well said that

“Without education, man is as though in a closed room and with education he finds himself in a room with all its windows open towards outside world.”

The reflective book of Holy Quran is so rich in content and meaning that if the history of human thought continues forever, this book is not likely to be read to its end. Every day it conveys a new message to the humanity. Every morning, Quran Recitation gives us new thoughtful ideas and bound us in the boundaries of ethics.

Islamic Education is one of the best systems of education, which makes an ethical groomed person with all the qualities, which he/she should have as a human being. The Western world has created the wrong image of Islam in the world. They don’t know that our teachings are directly given to us from Allah, who is the creator of this world, through our Prophets. The students of an islamic school are well groomed, ethical, educated and best citizens than that of other schools.

The Muslims all over the world are thirsty of acquiring quality education. They know their boundaries and never try to cross it. It is the West, which has created a hype that the Muslim are not in a path of getting proper education. They think that our education teaches us fighting, about weapons, etc., which is so false. This is true that there are certain elements, which force an individual to be on the wrong path, because as we will mould a child, they will be like that, but it doesn’t mean that our religion teaches improperly to us.

Posted by IslamicThoughts at 11:03 PM

Labels: Islam and Education, Islamic School, Qur’an, Qur’an Recitation

1 comments:

IftikharA said…

The demand for Muslim schools comes from parents who want their children a safe environment with an Islamic ethos.Parents see Muslim schools where children can develop their Islamic Identity where they won’t feel stigmatised for being Muslims and they can feel confident about their faith.Muslim schools are working to try to create a bridge between communities. There is a belief among ethnic minority parens that the British schooling
does not adequatly address their cultural needs. Failing to meet this need could result in feeling resentment among a group who already feel excluded. Setting up Muslim school is a defensive response. There are hundreds of state and Church schools where Muslim pupils are in majority. In my opinion, all such schools may be designated as Muslim community schools. There is no place for a non-Muslim child or a teacher in a Muslim school because bilingual Muslim children need bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods.

September 17, 2009 7:07 AM

(AP) – 10 hours ago

RESTON, Va. — On Friday afternoons, the people coming to pray at this building take off their shoes, unfurl rugs to kneel on and pray in Arabic. The ones that come Friday evenings put on yarmulkes, light candles and pray in Hebrew.

The building is a synagogue on a tree-lined street in suburban Virginia, but for the past few weeks — during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan — it has also been doubling daily as a mosque. Synagogue members suggested their building after hearing the Muslim congregation was looking to rent a place for overflow crowds.

“People look to the Jewish-Muslim relationship as conflict,” said All Dulles Area Muslim Society Imam Mohamed Magid, saying it’s usually disputes between the two groups in the Middle East that make news. “Here is a story that shatters the stereotype.”

Magid, who grew up in Sudan, said he did not meet someone who was Jewish until after he had moved to the U.S. in his 20s, and he never imagined having such a close relationship with a rabbi. But he said the relationship with the Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation has affected him and his members. Beyond being tolerant, the synagogue and its members have been welcoming.

He said one member of the mosque told him, “Next time I see a Jewish person I will not look at them the same.”

Rabbi Robert Nosanchuk, who leads the Reform congregation of about 500 families, said the relationship works both ways.

“You really only get to know someone when you invite them into your home … you learn to recognize their faces. You learn the names of their children,” Nosanchuk said.

The actual prayers are held in the building’s social hall, which is used by the synagogue for a range of activities from educational programs to dance classes and receptions.

Both the synagogue and the mosque have a history of sharing space with other religious groups. People coming to Friday night services at the synagogue sometimes park in an adjoining church’s parking lot; on Sundays, sometimes churchgoers park behind the synagogue.

And the mosque has rented space from others since it was founded in 1983. Members have prayed in a recreation center, a high school, an office building and, for a long time, a church. As the mosque has grown, however, it has needed more space. In 2002 the community opened its own building in Sterling, Va. It holds 900 people for prayers, but the community has satellite locations to accommodate more people: a hotel, a banquet hall and even a second synagogue, Beth Chaverim Reform congregation, in Ashburn, Va.

The community began renting space at the two synagogues in 2008. They began holding daily prayers at the Ashburn synagogue and prayers on Friday afternoons, the week’s main prayer service, at the Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation.

This is the first year, however, they have rented space at the synagogue for the daily prayers for Ramadan, which began at the end of August. More than 100 people come to the daily services, which are held from 9 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. except for Friday, when the services are in the afternoon. The society pays the synagogue $300 a day.

The partnership isn’t entirely new. The two communities have held occasional events together going back a decade: dialogues and community service. Still, some members of both communities were unsure of how things would work at first.

“When they rented the place, I was surprised, but then after that when I came here and saw how nicely everything is set up and how well done it is … I am very happy with it,” said mosque member Ambreen Ahmed.

Now, mosque members sometimes greet the rabbi with the Hebrew greeting “Shalom”; he’ll answer back with the Arabic equivalent, “Salaam.” Nosanchuk spoke at Friday afternoon prayers recently. The imam spoke at Friday evening Shabbat services.

Both groups say the relationship won’t be over when Ramadan ends in North America over the weekend. The rabbi and imam are talking about possibly even making a joint trip to the Middle East, and Friday prayers will still be held at the synagogue.

Magid says some mosque members, in fact, have permanently moved from the mosque to the synagogue.

“Where have you been?” he asked one man who used to pray regularly at the mosque.

“You saw me in the synagogue,” the man replied.

“All the time?” the imam asked.

“It’s cozy, it’s nice. Your parking lot is overcrowded … and I like to be there,” the man said.

The imam joked maybe the man should stay for the Sabbath service.

Said the imam: “That shows you how comfortable they have become.”

Associated Press videographer Tracy Brown contributed to this report from Washington.

• All Dulles Area Muslim Society: http://www.adamscenter.org/
• Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation: http://www.nvhcreston.org/

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

India’s first Islamic bank to start in Kerala by 2010

Why Boycott Israel?

The Palestinian people are experiencing
their 42nd year of military occupation. The siege by the Israeli army
and the economic blockade have devastated their daily lives so that
‘normal’ life is impossible.

Israel operates an entrenched
system of racial Apartheid against its own non-Jewish inhabitants and
has been illegally occupying Palestinian land in the West Bank, Gaza
Strip, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights since 1967. It has sought
to further annex these lands and has systematically transferred its own
civilian population into these occupied territories in contravention of
international law. Israel continues to build the illegal Apartheid
wall, annexing vast swathes of Palestinian land in the West Bank and
creating Palestinian ghettos, despite the ruling of the International
Court of Justice that it is illegal.

180 Palestinian
organisations and unions, in response to Israeli onslaught, have called
for a campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Apartheid
Israel.

This website is maintained by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Supported by:

Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods

British Committee for the Universities of Palestine

Buy Palestinian! Zaytoun

Boycott Israel — latimes.com

Boycott Israel
An Israeli comes to the painful conclusion that it’s the only way to save his country.

By Neve Gordon

August 20, 2009

Israeli newspapers this summer are filled with angry articles about the push for an international boycott of Israel. Films have been withdrawn from Israeli film festivals, Leonard Cohen is under fire around the world for his decision to perform in Tel Aviv, and Oxfam has severed ties with a celebrity spokesperson, a British actress who also endorses cosmetics produced in the occupied territories. Clearly, the campaign to use the kind of tactics that helped put an end to the practice of apartheid in South Africa is gaining many followers around the world.

FOR THE RECORD:
Israel: An Op-Ed article on Thursday supporting a boycott of Israel said that the organization Oxfam had severed ties with one of its celebrity spokespersons, a British actress who also endorsed cosmetics produced in the occupied territories. Oxfam has not severed ties with the actress, who is American, not British. —

Not surprisingly, many Israelis — even peaceniks — aren’t signing on. A global boycott can’t help but contain echoes of anti-Semitism. It also brings up questions of a double standard (why not boycott China for its egregious violations of human rights?) and the seemingly contradictory position of approving a boycott of one’s own nation.

It is indeed not a simple matter for me as an Israeli citizen to call on foreign governments, regional authorities, international social movements, faith-based organizations, unions and citizens to suspend cooperation with Israel. But today, as I watch my two boys playing in the yard, I am convinced that it is the only way that Israel can be saved from itself.

I say this because Israel has reached a historic crossroads, and times of crisis call for dramatic measures. I say this as a Jew who has chosen to raise his children in Israel, who has been a member of the Israeli peace camp for almost 30 years and who is deeply anxious about the country’s future.

The most accurate way to describe Israel today is as an apartheid state. For more than 42 years, Israel has controlled the land between the Jordan Valley and the Mediterranean Sea. Within this region about 6 million Jews and close to 5 million Palestinians reside. Out of this population, 3.5 million Palestinians and almost half a million Jews live in the areas Israel occupied in 1967, and yet while these two groups live in the same area, they are subjected to totally different legal systems. The Palestinians are stateless and lack many of the most basic human rights. By sharp contrast, all Jews — whether they live in the occupied territories or in Israel — are citizens of the state of Israel.

The question that keeps me up at night, both as a parent and as a citizen, is how to ensure that my two children as well as the children of my Palestinian neighbors do not grow up in an apartheid regime.

There are only two moral ways of achieving this goal.

The first is the one-state solution: offering citizenship to all Palestinians and thus establishing a bi-national democracy within the entire area controlled by Israel. Given the demographics, this would amount to the demise of Israel as a Jewish state; for most Israeli Jews, it is anathema.

The second means of ending our apartheid is through the two-state solution, which entails Israel’s withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders (with possible one-for-one land swaps), the division of Jerusalem, and a recognition of the Palestinian right of return with the stipulation that only a limited number of the 4.5 million Palestinian refugees would be allowed to return to Israel, while the rest can return to the new Palestinian state.

Geographically, the one-state solution appears much more feasible because Jews and Palestinians are already totally enmeshed; indeed, “on the ground,” the one-state solution (in an apartheid manifestation) is a reality.

Ideologically, the two-state solution is more realistic because fewer than 1% of Jews and only a minority of Palestinians support binationalism.

For now, despite the concrete difficulties, it makes more sense to alter the geographic realities than the ideological ones. If at some future date the two peoples decide to share a state, they can do so, but currently this is not something they want.

So if the two-state solution is the way to stop the apartheid state, then how does one achieve this goal?

I am convinced that outside pressure is the only answer. Over the last three decades, Jewish settlers in the occupied territories have dramatically increased their numbers. The myth of the united Jerusalem has led to the creation of an apartheid city where Palestinians aren’t citizens and lack basic services. The Israeli peace camp has gradually dwindled so that today it is almost nonexistent, and Israeli politics are moving more and more to the extreme right.

It is therefore clear to me that the only way to counter the apartheid trend in Israel is through massive international pressure. The words and condemnations from the Obama administration and the European Union have yielded no results, not even a settlement freeze, let alone a decision to withdraw from the occupied territories.

I consequently have decided to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement that was launched by Palestinian activists in July 2005 and has since garnered widespread support around the globe. The objective is to ensure that Israel respects its obligations under international law and that Palestinians are granted the right to self-determination.

In Bilbao, Spain, in 2008, a coalition of organizations from all over the world formulated the 10-point Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign meant to pressure Israel in a “gradual, sustainable manner that is sensitive to context and capacity.” For example, the effort begins with sanctions on and divestment from Israeli firms operating in the occupied territories, followed by actions against those that help sustain and reinforce the occupation in a visible manner. Along similar lines, artists who come to Israel in order to draw attention to the occupation are welcome, while those who just want to perform are not.

Nothing else has worked. Putting massive international pressure on Israel is the only way to guarantee that the next generation of Israelis and Palestinians — my two boys included — does not grow up in an apartheid regime.

Neve Gordon is the author of “Israel’s Occupation” and teaches politics at Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba, Israel.

Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times