Pi Magazine August 2014

pi Issue: 77

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UK lower house passes Etihad to sponsor Voices of Young emergency data law England cricket teams British Muslims

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August 2014

World leaders fail Gazans again

KILLING THE INNOCENT !

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The barbaric murderous act of killings by the Israeli government of innocent Palestinians has been mainly children, women and the elderly with target bombings of medical hospitals, disable centres, schools and mosques using poisonous gas and illegal weapons to wipe out defenceless civilians. y rtified b

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I Editorial

thePassion

www.pi-media.co.uk I August 2014

By Daoud Kuttab

Award Winning Palestinian Journalist

Public outraged over Gaza, but Arab governments stay silent

While the conflict on Gaza is physically limited to the Israeli army and Gaza-based resistance movements, the war and its aftermath will have a much larger geopolitical impact. The PalestinianIsraeli conflict has a way of unifying warring groups and opposing parties, especially among countries that have witnessed injustice and people who feel for the underdog.

In the Arab world, impromptu demonstrations have taken place in most Arab capitals in support of the people of Gaza. Around the world in locations as far away as South Africa, Chile, Indonesia, Japan and London, demonstrations have taken place in solidarity with the Palestinians.

South Africans have begun a campaign demanding the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador. On social media, various groups have organized global hashtag campaigns such as #gazaunderattack that have trended across the world.

The Arab media, which has been divided over issues such as Egypt and Syria, appears united in representing the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and exposing the Israeli actions as an assault on a trapped and besieged population.

But while the public has been largely unified in expressing solidarity with the Palestinians, the positions of governments have varied based on their stance toward the Muslim Brotherhood. Nowhere was this discrepancy reflected more clearly than in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, where a number of prominent politicians and pundits have made negative remarks about Hamas and its actions. Some of the region’s major countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who are opposed to the Muslim Brotherhood, have been relatively silent on the situation in Gaza, aside from their humanitarian organizations providing medical and other support to Gazans.

Egypt’s lackluster cease-fire offer, made known to Hamas only through the media, was another reflection of this divide between governments and people. Egyptians have largely expressed solidarity with Gaza, despite Egyptian courts declaring Hamas an illegal organization. The administration of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has refused to connect directly with the Islamist movement.

Ironically, the Egyptians have been communicating with Islamic Jihad but

have refused to deal with Hamas, which they blame for the military and political chaos that befell Egypt following the ouster of former President Mohammed Morsi.

Some Arab media outlets have interpreted Egypt’s bland offer as a trap, an attempt to further delegitimize Hamas. Israel, which quickly accepted it, wasted little time in noting that Israel and Egypt see eye to eye on Hamas.

The reluctance of major regional countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt to take a bold mediator position to end the assault on Gaza has given other regional parties an opportunity to step in. Turkey as well as Qatar, which has good relations with Hamas, Israel and the United States, are trying to take up the role that Egypt usually plays, but both have been rebuffed by Israel.

The United States has also tried to mediate the conflict, even though its administration has made it clear that it supports Israel’s right to defend itself.

The absence of any credible mediators that can help put an end to the violence has opened a window of opportunity to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Although Abbas is seen as having little influence on Hamas and others who differ from him ideologically, he might be able to bridge the gap between Hamas and Israel due to his relations with Egypt and the United States.

The war on Gaza seems to have overshadowed major regional conflicts, including the continued rule of the Sunni Islamists in Iraq and the swearing in of President Bashar al-Assad for a third seven-year term in Syria, as well as the problems in Libya and Yemen.

Gaza might be small and besieged, but its influence is much wider than its geography and numbers.

Write to: Editor, PI Media, PO Box 159, Batley, West Yorkshire, WF17 1AD or email: info@pi-media.co.uk - www.pi-media.co.uk - mob: 07506 466 385 This Magazine contains Ayaat of the Qur’an and Hadith of the Prophet (SAW), please ensure you handle it with respect & care - Sukran -

Views expressed in the Passion column are of the contributers and not necessarily of PI

Imam gets apology over ‘jihad’ insult www.pi-media.co.uk

I August 2014

A national newspaper has apologised after describing a well-known Nottingham imam as a “jihad cleric”.

The Daily Star said Dr Musharraf Hussain, chief executive and chief

NEWS

imam at the Karimia Institute in Bobbers Mill, had urged British Muslims to wage holy war against non-Muslims. It had also given the impression that Muslim Hands, of which Dr Hussain is a board member, shared these views.

The paper has now published an apology accepting that the allegations were untrue.

Dr Hussain said: “I was extremely surprised and disappointed to read the article, since this was contrary to my views and my work which I have tirelessly done over the past two decades.

“Not only was it inaccurate, but a misrepresentation of my beliefs. I have put myself on the line to criticise ‘jihadis’ and ‘terrorists’ many times as I have been working for peace.”

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Cameron unveils £1.1bn military package

Prime Minister David Cameron has announced a £1.1-billion investment package for military spending to battle “unseen enemies,” including cyber attacks and terrorism.

Cameron said £800 million will be invested in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and £300 million will be used on military technology such as unmanned drones and next generation radars for Typhoon jets.

Funds will come from cuts to government’s austerity measures.

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LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS

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I August 2014

USA / UK - Terrorism sentences expose British injustice Special Report

Joy of pair’s release tempered by injustice that they suffered

The sentencing of Babar Ahmad and Talha Ahsan by a US court after they pleaded guilty under plea bargain agreements to charges of terrorism is a damning indictment of the British justice system, its subservience to American interests and its differential treatment of Muslim suspects.

In return for a reduced sentence totalling twelve and a half years imprisonment the pair accepted guilt for running the Azzam.com website, as a fundraising and recruiting vehicle for the Taliban which was resisting the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. Talha Ahsan was sentenced to time already served of about 10 years and released into the custody of US immigration officials pending possible deportation.

Ahmad was indicted on the flimsy basis that one of the servers used by the offending website was located in Connecticut, allowing US prosecutors to claim that an offence had been committed on US soil. His extradition was only sought by the US in 2004 after prosecuting authorities in

Britain decided there was insufficient evidence to charge him with any offences under British law.

Ahmad was violently beaten by police during his arrest and in 2009 won £60,000 in compensation after London’s Metropolitan Police admitted subjecting him to a “serious, gratuitous, and prolonged attack”.

The allegations of terrorism against Ahsan were even more tenuous and revolved around him processing orders for videos that promoted jihad for Azzam.com.

When Ahsan was extradited to the US together with Ahmad in October 2012, critics accused the government of discrimination in not refusing the extradition request on the grounds that he suffers from Asperger Syndrome, the same medical condition which prompted the Home Secretary Theresa May to block the extradition of computer hacking suspect Gary Mckinnon less than two weeks later.

Until agreeing to the plea bargains the pair had always maintained their

innocence and insisted that they be tried by a British court. It is evident that they only accepted the plea bargains because of the impossibility of receiving a fair trial in the United States and the expectation that the time already served in custody would be included in their sentences - indeed Ahmad’s eight-years’ incarceration in the UK is the longest any British suspect has been held without trial in the UK in modern history.

The plea bargain also opens the door for Ahmad to serve the sentence in the UK nearer to his loved ones in a prison regime far more humane than the heavily-criticised ‘supermax’ prisons he faces in the US. IHRC believes that the cases highlight how the prosecution of disproportionately large number of Muslims is being outsourced to Washington under the controversial Extradition Act which allows for British citizens to be extradited to the US without any prima facie evidence of their guilt being presented. Their number include Abu Hamza alMasri, Adel Abdel Bari and Khaled al-Fawwaz who had himself spent 14 years in a British jail without trial awaiting extradition.

IHRC chair Massoud Shadjareh said: “The fact that Talha Ahsan and Babar Ahmad look set to be coming home soon is welcome news.

However their protracted ordeals are an object lesson in the structural prejudice and discrimination faced

by Muslims in the UK criminal justice system.”

Islamic charity investigated over links to TV company

The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into an Islamic charity over “related party transactions” with an unnamed TV company.

The London-based charity Markaz el Tathgheef el Eslami, also known as the Centre for Islamic Enlightening, had an income of

£49,000 and total funds of £545,000 in the year to September 2012, the last for which it filed accounts.

The Commission said it will investigate “issues connected with related party transactions” between the charity and a company which it says “appears to run a TV station and is in voluntary liquidation”.

The Commission said the inquiry “will examine the financial administration and governance of the charity and whether the trustees have complied with and fulfilled their duties and responsibilities as trustees under charity law, particularly with regard to related party transactions”.

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I August 2014

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UK lower house passes emergency data law www.pi-media.co.uk

I August 2014

Britain’s lower house of parliament have passed a piece of emergency legislation to track mobile phone and internet data and give police and security services access to such information.

The House of Commons voted 498 to 31 in favor of the so-called Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Bill.

LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS

Under the law, mobile networks and internet services will be able to keep information on communications between people for potential future investigation.

The legislation must be approved in the upper chamber of the British parliament, the House of Lords. It may also be reviewed at six-month intervals.

Cage bank accounts closed In Case Y o Missed It u

Barclays and the CoOperative Banks have shut down CAGE’s business accounts without notice or explanation, in addition to the personal accounts of specific CAGE staff as well as The Charity Commission has launched an investigation into two of CAGE’s largest mainstream donors, Two of CAGE’s directors are being investigated by their professional regulatory bodies for the first time in their respective careers.

CAGE has stressed they urgently require your assistance, CAGE spokesperson said “We are under extreme pressure since our business bank accounts were closed down, our work continues to go from

strength to strength, but without your help we may not be able to keep our head above the water for very long.

For over a decade, CAGE has been at the forefront of exposing the role of the UK government in rendition and torture and has been a persistent and vocal critic of UK counter-terrorism laws and policies.

Following the arrest of Outreach Director Moazzam Begg in February 2014, there now appears to be a concerted effort to shut down CAGE. To help Cage please go to www.cageuk.org

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The bill is backed by UK Prime Minister David Cameron. Home Secretary Theresa May has said that the new law will help police in their investigations and will help prevent crimes from taking place.

The British government insists that the legislation does not increase existing surveillance powers, but ensures that communications companies do not delete information that may be needed later for investigation purposes.

However, opponents have accused the lawmakers supporting the bill of making a mockery of parliamentary democracy.

The move came after a European Union court in an April ruling said that data companies were not required to keep records of phone calls, texts and internet data, and that governments that force them to store data violated the right to privacy and the right to protection of personal data.

Britain accused of covering up CIA flights

Lawyer representing people allegedly flown on CIA flights to Libya and tortured has accused Britain of covering up details of its involvement. Britain says its records are incomplete because of water damage. Cori Crider, a lawyer from charity Reprieve which is investigating CIA flights through the Britain-administered island of Diego Garcia, said that the loss was strikingly convenient.

The US, which has a large military base on the Indian Ocean island, admitted using it in 2002 for its extraordinary rendition program.

Foreign Office Minister Mark Simmonds said logs of flights landing and taking off from the island in 2002 are “incomplete due to water damage.” Crider says “the government might as well have said the dog ate their homework.”

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LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS

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No-go areas in Leicester for Muslim women wearing niqab www.pi-media.co.uk

Muslim women who wear a full veil say there are no-go areas in Leicester which they feel frightened to visit – even in a car.

They claim they are subjected to abuse every day and that it is getting increasingly difficult to avoid such incidents in the city centre.

The revelations are contained in a new book by two criminology

lecturers at the University of Leicester.

More than 100 Leicester-based Muslim women were interviewed over a 12-month period for the book, called Islamophobia, Victimisation and the Veil.

One woman who took part in the study told the Leicester Mercury: “People feel free to have a pop at us

every day.

“They swear, stare, spit and tell us to go home. They call us terrorists.”

The woman, who did not want to be named, said: “There are areas in Leicester we don’t go to, even in a car.

“It is also becoming more difficult to wear the niqab in the city centre.

I don’t go in any more unless I really have to.”

A niqab is a veil which covers part or most of the wearer’s face, leaving the eyes visible.

The woman added: “I am as British as anyone. We follow the football and the tennis at home. My boys try to make a joke of it calling me ‘Ninja mum’.

“We had thought that if we ignore it, it would go away. It hasn’t.”

The book was written by Dr Irene Zempi and Neil Chakraborti.

Dr Zempi wore a niqab for a month to understand what her interviewees experienced.

UK security services complicit in torture of British man British intelligence services have been accused of complicity in the torture of a British citizen currently held in Ethiopia, but who also received harassment years before his imprisonment.

Ali Adorus was arrested and then detained while on a family visit to Ethiopia in 2013. According to a petition submitted to the United Nations High Commission by his lawyer he has since been on the receiving end of abuse by Ethiopian authorities which includes electrocution, hooding and beatings.

This case was brought to light because of an investigation by human rights group CAGE. Mr Adorus was also forced to sign a confession in Amharic - a language he does not know - that was based on information that could only have come from British intelligence

In Case You Missed It

sources.

Ali Adorus who possibly faces the death penalty in Ethiopia has been denied medical care by Ethiopian authorities despite the serious risk of testicular cancer recurrence. Even though British authorities in Ethiopia are aware of his plight, little, if any meaningful action has been taken.

Asim Qureshi, Research Director of CAGE said: “The case of Ali Adorus shows a worrying pattern of victims of MI5 harassment in the

UK being detained and tortured overseas.”

“Sadly, the facts of the case show that the UK has failed to protect him from torture despite his deteriorating health and his multiple appeals for help.

More worrying is the fact that the British seem to have provided information to the Ethiopians torturers, a complete breach of our government’s international obligations.’

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Call for Europe to end volunteer recruitment for Israeli army

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Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) has called upon the British government and other European governments to put an end to the activities of Zionist organisations which recruit volunteers to work for the Israeli army. AOHR UK pointed out that these activities have increased significantly during the latest Israeli attack on Gaza.

AOHR UK revealed that these organisations work within the EU zone in a very public manner and have never been investigated by government anti-terrorist units despite the existence of evidence that they recruit Europeans to serve in the Occupied Lands. These recruits have on occasion been required to engage in activities which endangered the lives of Palestinians such as has been the case in Gaza.

AOHR UK stressed the importance of dismantling these

organisations because they pose a great danger to the lives of both recruits and Palestinians who live under occupation and demanded that those running these organisations be brought to justice.

According to an AOHR statement issued on the 10th of March 2014, the most prominent of these organisations are Sar-El, Aish Malach, Mahal-IDF, and Friends of the Isareli Defense Forces in addition

to charity societies which collect donations for the Israeli army in the EU and the US. Sar-El has launched a campaign to collect donations for the Israeli attack on Gaza. According to AOHR UK, Sar-El has branches in more than 30 countries and most volunteers come from the US through the Volunteers for Israel organisation, from France through Volontarit, and from the UK.

Pentagon seeking $60 billion war request Lawmakers were gobsmacked by a request from the Obama administration for $60 billion in war funding next year, with several accusing the Pentagon of seeking a “slush fund” to use for other purposes.

“The American taxpayer is fed up and broke,” said Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.). “I don’t know why you need this money, it’s just a slush fund anyway.”

Even though the war in Afghanistan is scheduled to end in December, Pentagon officials said they would need $60 billion in

wartime funding next year.

Although Work said it would only cost $11 billion for US troops’ post2014 missions in Afghanistan, the administration has requested $53.4 billion for related costs.

That would include money to support the Afghan forces and NATO coalition partners, bring home and reset equipment and personnel, “classified operations,” and a “vast range of support activities” in the region.

Another $5 billion would go towards the president’s new counterterrorism partnership fund,

and $1 billion to reassure US allies in Europe, given recent Russian moves in Ukraine.

Lawmakers demanded more information about the president’s $5 billion counterterrorism fund, which would include $2.5 billion to train and equip foreign military forces, $1.5 billion for a Regional Stabilization Initiative for the Syrian conflict, $500 million for military training and equipping of vetted Syrian opposition forces, and another $500 million for crisis response. www.pi-media.co.uk

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WORLD NEWS

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Court rules Dutch state liable for 300 Srebrenica deaths The Netherlands is liable for about 300 of the more than 8,000 deaths in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, a Dutch court ruled, pinning some of the blame for Europe’s worst massacre since World War Two on the Dutch state.

A district court in The Hague said Dutch peacekeepers in Srebrenica, a Bosnian Muslim enclave in Bosnian Serb-held territory, could have known that the 300 men who had sought refuge in their base in the village of Potocari would be murdered if deported from the Dutch compound.

The court said the Netherlands was not liable for the deaths of those who had fled into the forests surrounding Srebrenica, where many of the men and boys were later buried in mass graves.

The ruling could set a precedent with implications for future peacekeeping deployments by the Netherlands or other countries.

During the Bosnian war, the Dutch battalion Dutchbat had been deployed to protect Srebrenica, which had been designated a safe haven by the United Nations, but

surrendered to the much larger Bosnian Serb army commanded by Ratko Mladic, who is on trial for war crimes at an international court in The Hague.

The case was brought by the Mothers of Srebrenica, a group representing surviving relatives of the victims. They had failed in their bid to have a court find the United Nations responsible for the massacre.

“At the moment that the men were sent away, Dutchbat knew or should have known that the genocide was

taking place and therefore there was a serious risk that those men would be killed,” said judge Peter Blok.

The failure of Dutch soldiers to protect the Muslim men and boys of Srebrenica has left a deep scar in Dutch politics, contributing to the resignation of the Dutch government in 2002.

The three-year Bosnian war, in which at least 100,000 people were killed, was the bloodiest of a series of conflicts that accompanied the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Photographer highlights plight of Italian Muslims

An Italian award-winning photographer, Nicolo Degiorgis, has demonstrated the contrast of the peace of prayer with the tension of

politics in his new book, Hidden Islam, which focuses on how Muslims pray in Italy.

The photographer highlights the problem Italian Muslims face in finding a suitable place for worship, leaving them with no choice but to pray in garages, gyms and shops.

“In Italy the right to worship, without discrimination, is enshrined within the constitution.

There are 1.35 million Muslims in Italy and yet, officially, only eight mosques in the whole country,” Martin Parr wrote in introduction to

Nicolo Degiorgis’s book.

“One consequence is that the Muslim population have accumulated a huge number of makeshift and temporary places of worship. These are housed in a variety of buildings including lock ups, garages, shops, warehouses and old factories,” he added.

The book, which received an award at the Rencontres d’Arles photography festival, points to Treviso, where local worshippers have been prevented from turning a building they purchased into a mosque by the authorities.

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US Congress approves $351m in aid to Israel’s Iron Dome www.pi-media.co.uk

WORLD NEWS

Bosnian bodies found in mass grave laid to rest

A US Senate panel approved an increase in US financial aid to Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system.

The Senate Appropriations defence subcommittee agreed to allocate $351 million to finance the anti- missile system during fiscal year 2015 beginning on October 1, compared to $235 million in 2014.

President Barack Obama requested $179 million to support the system in 2015.

The US spent $700 million since 2011 to support developing the antimissile system designed to counter

short and medium range rockets and artillery shells.

The 2015 loans which include another $270 million to support other anti-missile systems need the approval of the Senate by September.

The US House of Representatives approved a similar amount in May. In total, the US has agreed to spend $30 billion on military aid in Israel between 2009 and 2018.

In 2014, Israel received $3.1 billion in military aid. www.pi-media.co.uk

The remains of hundreds of Bosnian victims of the 1992-95 war have finally been laid to rest after they were discovered in a mass grave.

The victims – 283 Bosnian Muslims and one Bosnian Croat – were buried last month after a ceremony in Prijedor, in the northwest of the country. The corpses were uncovered at Tomasica last year.

Denisa Duratovic said she was burying ten family members. “For 22 years I’ve been searching for the bodies of my loved ones,” she said. “The mass grave in Tomasica has revealed the truth and ended our searching.

“If these things had not happened, grandfathers would be together with their grandsons, mothers with their sons and sisters with their brothers. Those who did this should be ashamed.”

Witness accounts suggest around 1,000 people were tossed into the gruesome death pit but later dug up and reburied elsewhere as part of a systematic bid to conceal evidence of atrocities.

UN to form new peacekeeping force in CAR The United Nations says the world body will form a new peacekeeping force for the Central African Republic (CAR).

UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous said that the new force, comprising of some 2,500 troops, will work to provide better security in the violence-hit country.

“I believe it will contribute in a powerful way to strengthen security,” Ladsous noted.

The force, including troops from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Morocco among other countries, will be deployed in two months.

Ladsous also expressed hope that more countries would dispatch their troops, but added this “will not happen overnight.”

The Central African Republic descended into chaos last December, when Christian armed groups launched coordinated attacks against the Seleka group, which had toppled the government in March 2013.

On December 5, France invaded its former colony after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution giving the African Union and France the go-ahead to send troops to the country.

The UN has described the displacement of the Muslims of the CAR as ethnic-religious cleansing.

In March 2014, UN UnderSecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos said almost all of more than 100,000 Muslims once residing in the capital Bangui had fled the violence perpetrated by Christian militiamen.

French and African peacekeepers are on the ground in the country, but they have been unable to stop the violence and even in some occasions have been accused of killing Muslim. www.pi-media.co.uk

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I WORLD NEWS

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I August 2014

Global opposition to US surveillance, drones strikes growing: Poll In Case You Missed It

A new poll finds widespread global opposition to US surveillance programs and its deadly drone strikes throughout the world, as well as a decline in the view that the US respects the personal freedoms of its own people.

In nearly all of the 44 countries polled, majorities oppose monitoring by the US government of emails and phone calls of foreign leaders or their citizens, according to the Pew Research Center poll.

Disclosures by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden have exposed widespread domestic and international surveillance by the NSA, triggering political condemnation in the US and around the world.

“There is a lot of opposition to the US intercepting the communications of leaders and ordinary citizens,” said Richard Wike, director of global attitudes research at Pew. The poll showed that the NSA

spying revelations have hurt America’s global reputation. The impact was particularly strong in Germany and Brazil, where Snowden’s revelations indicated that the NSA had spied on the leaders of those two countries.

The poll also found opposition to America’s use of drone strikes to target “suspected terrorists” is growing around the world. In 39 of 44 countries surveyed, majorities or pluralities oppose such drone strikes.

Deadly drone attacks have

become a signature tactic of the Obama administration’s so-called war on terrorism. The administration has carried out strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere, often resulting in the death of innocent civilians in those countries.

Opposition to American drone attacks is particularly strong in the Middle East. In Jordan for example, 90 percent of those surveyed oppose the tactic, up from 87 percent opposed last year.

Yemen face serious food crisis: UN A United Nations (UN) report says that more than 40 percent of Yemen’s population - about 40 million people - faces an acute food crisis.

According to the Comprehensive Food Security Survey, conducted by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rate in most parts of Yemen is serious and at emergency levels in other areas.

Nearly 70 percent of the people in the country’s northern governorate of Sa’ada and about 10 percent of the residents of the eastern Al Mahra are food-insecure. In all, about five million Yemenis face food insecurity.

The survey also suggested that the rate of chronic malnutrition among children under the age of five is greater than the international “critical” benchmark.

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund has

also said that a great number of Yemeni children are showing signs of stunting.

“Of the estimated 4.5 million children under the age of five, more than 2 in 5 are stunted while almost 13 per cent are acutely malnourished,” Acting UNICEF Representative in Yemen Jeremy Hopkins said.

“Stunting (or stunted growth) is what happens to a child’s brain and body when they don’t get the right kind of food or nutrients in their first 1,000 days of life. The damage is irreversible.

That child will never learn, nor earn, as much as he or she could have if properly nourished in early life,” the UN body explained.

Reduced Umrah, Haj visa quotas to remain for 2015 www.pi-media.co.uk

I August 2014

Reduced quotas for the number of visas issued to pilgrims for Umrah and Haj will remain in place for 2015, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Haj has reportedly confirmed.

WORLD NEWS

The number of visas for foreign Muslims was halved and the local quota was cut by 20 percent during construction work at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, Islam’s holiest

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site.

Saudi Arabia is spending about $20 billion renovating and extending the Grand Mosque. It says it will eventually be able to accommodate 2.2 million pilgrims at a time, as well as doubling capacity at the Mataf from 48,000 per hour to 105,000 per hour.

About 6 million people are expected to visit the site during this Umrah and Haj season.

Ministry of Haj spokesman Hatem Al Qadi said the decision to keep pilgrim numbers low would help maintain health and safety during the construction period, which is expected to be several years.

He also reiterated a plea for pilgrims to wait at least five years before again performing Haj – one of the Five Pillars of Islam that requires Muslims to visit Makkah at least once in their lives.

US court partly overturns Guantanamo prisoner’s conviction The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has partially overturned the conviction of a prisoner at the notorious US-run Guantanamo prison.

The court vacated Ali Hamza al Bahlul’s conviction for solicitation of others to commit war crimes and providing material support for terrorism, but upheld his conviction for conspiracy to commit war crimes.

The court also ruled that the solicitation charge against Bahlul “is plainly not an offence traditionally triable by military commission,” essentially saying that the commission does not have the authority to review such offence.

One of the seven judges was ready to overturn all the charges against Bahlul.

Three of the judges argued that the court should have ruled on the conspiracy charge on broader constitutional grounds so that the issue could be settled for other

Guantanamo prisoners.

“The Government offers little domestic precedent to support the notion that material support or a sufficiently analogous offense has historically been triable by a military commission,” Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson wrote in an opinion.

Karen’s opinion did make it clear for the first time, that two legal tools commonly used against al-Qaeda prisoners — charges of material support for terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism — could not be applied if the alleged violations took place before passage of the 2006 law, the Los Angeles Times reported.

A military commission had previously convicted Bahlul of all three charges. He had been sentenced to life in prison.

Bahlul was arrested in Pakistan in December 2001 and sent to Guantanamo the next year. He has spent 12 years in the US-run prison so far.

U.S. signs $11 billion arms sale to Qatar

The United States signed an agreement with Qatar to sell the Gulf Arab ally Apache attack helicopters and Patriot and Javelin air-defense systems valued at $11 billion.

The agreement was signed at the Pentagon by U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Qatar’s defense minister, Hamad bin Ali al-Attiyah.

It was the biggest U.S. arms sale so far this year, according to media reports.

Sri Lankan Muslim leader warns of radicalisation

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Sri Lanka’s Muslim minority could become radicalised and turn to foreign Islamic groups for support because of violent attacks on them

by Buddhist hardliners, the island nation’s main Muslim leader and justice minister said.

Last month, at least three people were killed and 75 seriously injured in violence between Buddhists and Muslims in two southern Sri Lankan coastal towns best known as tourist draws, with Muslim homes set ablaze.

Increasing violence over the past two years against Muslims, who

www.pi-media.co.uk I August 2014

make up about 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s population, mirror events in Myanmar, which has also seen a surge of attacks by members of its majority Buddhist community against Muslims.

More than 70 percent of Sri Lanka’s 20 million people are Buddhists.

“A community pushed against the wall like this will suddenly become a fertile ground for outside forces,” Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem, who is also leader of the country’s main Muslim party, told foreign journalists.

He did not elaborate on what he meant by “outside forces” but added: “It’s a real time bomb, the way things are happening. This is what we are really worried about. We don’t want to go that far. We have to be as restrained as possible.”

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government faced international criticism for not responding more vigorously to the violence in the towns of Aluthgama and Beruwela, a charge echoed by Hakeem.

“The government’s so called ‘enforced inhibition’ is something we can’t accept ... They have to apply the law even- handedly when it comes to these issues,” Hakeem said.

“Islamophobia in the West is copied and edited to suit the local context” to unleash violence against Muslims, he said.

Mosques and Muslim-owned businesses have come under attack and women have been forced to remove their head scarves in some parts of the country, local media and police have said.

Many independent analysts say well-coordinated violence against Sri Lanka’s Muslims and Christians appears to have tacit state backing as those involved in previous attacks have yet to be punished. The government denies any collusion.

UN Security Council raises concern over situation in Yemen

In Case You Missed It

The UN Security Council expressed “grave concern” about the deteriorating situation in northern Yemen, calling for swift implementation of existing ceasefire agreements, Xinhua reported.

“The members of the Security Council further demanded that all armed groups and other parties involved in the current violence disarm; and urged the existing ceasefire agreements to be swiftly

implemented,” said in a statement.

Expressing the deep regret at the high number of casualties caused by the violence, the Council encouraged all parties, in line with the National Dialogue outcomes, to take steps and participate peacefully in the transition.

The Council expressed support to President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi as he leads the political transition and encouraged continued efforts to

find a peaceful political solution to the conflict in the north.

More than 300 people were killed last month in clashes between the army and Shiite rebels in Yemen’s northern provinces of Amran and al-Jouf following the collapse of the latest truce.

The government and Shiite rebels signed two ceasefire deals in June, but failed to abide by the deals. www.pi-media.co.uk

India’s supreme court sets rules for shariah courts

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I August 2014

WORLD NEWS I 19

India’s Supreme Court rejected a petition seeking to ban Shariah courts, but stressed that they had no legal powers over Muslims and their decisions could not be enforced.

India’s 150 million Muslims follow their own laws governing family life and other personal issues such as marriage and divorce, with Shariah courts used to rule on such matters and mediate in disagreements.

The top court said that Islamic judges, who interpret religious law, could only rule when individuals

submitted voluntarily to them and their decisions, or fatwas, were not legally binding.

“Shariah courts are not sanctioned by law and there is no legality of fatwas in this country,” C.K. Prasad said as he read out the judgment from a two-judge bench.

The different personal laws followed by India’s religious minorities are a sensitive political issue. The new Hindu nationalist government is committed to bringing in a common legal code for all.

The chief of Saudi Arabia’s religious police has called on members to focus their attention on Islamic extremists amid rising concern of a terrorist attack.

The voluntary members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia) are renown for arresting residents who disobey the kingdom’s strict conservative Islamic laws, such as when unmarried men and women are seen in public together, as well as arresting women who drive.

But with increased violence in the region, including the Sunni rebel attacks in Iraq, Haia chairman Sheikh Abdullatif Al Asheikh told staff

members at a meeting in Madinah to refocus their attention on Muslims spreading extremist ideas in the kingdom, Arab News reported.

“Your mission is no longer confined to monitoring shops that remain open during prayer times or instructing women to adhere to modest dress codes,” Al Asheikh was quoted as saying.

“The mission has now become much more significant as we attempt to eradicate extremist ideas and confront, including using force, those who promote the principles championed by terrorist groups.”

Al Asheikh said the work of the Haia would play a crucial role in

Vishwa Lochan Madan, who petitioned the Supreme Court to disband Shariah courts, told AFP on Monday that his demand had been rejected.

“The Supreme Court observed that Shariah courts have no legal sanctity. But if people still want to approach these courts, it’s their will,” he said.

He filed his petition in 2005 and cited a case in which a woman was told to leave her husband and children and live with her father-inlaw who had raped her.

“No religion is allowed to curb anyone’s fundamental rights,” the court added in its judgment while taking note of the case.

Qasim Rasool Niyazi, from the Muslim Personal Law Board, said the Supreme Court ruling vindicated his group’s contention that Shariah courts were not a parallel judiciary.

They issue notices which are not legally binding, he explained. “It is just like an arbitration,” he told the NDTV channel, adding that qadis (Islamic judges) were required to follow the law of the land.

Saudi religious police to hunt out extremists

ensuring the security of the country.

Saudi authorities also are working to beef-up security at airports amid the rising violence in the region.

Airport security officers will now carry weapons and passenger security measures have been stepped up, according to local media.

The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) also is discussing new search and inspection methods for passengers.

Four Saudi security officers and five men accused of being terrorists were killed recently during a raid near the Yemeni border.

By Courtney Trenwith - AB

Islamic watchdog cautious over pork-testing kit 20I WORLD NEWS

www.pi-media.co.uk I August 2014

In Case You Missed It

Scientists in Malaysia are developing a kit that they claim can trace pork in food in under a minute, purporting to offer reassurance to consumers of halal foods - but the country’s Islamic watchdog has issued a note of caution.

Islamic body Jakim has approved the new gadget, which is currently under development at the University of Selangor, but has said the tool is fine for preliminary testing - and insisted it would still rely on lab

results on food before issuing officials rulings on whether the products were halal.

The development of the kit is of particular pertinence after Mondelez International found itself at the centre of claims in Malaysia that two of its Cadbury products contained pork DNA. Jakim suspended its halalcertification before discovering it was a false alarm.

The kit could empower and reassure consumers but it does raise

some concern over the impact on food manufacturers.

In the confusion surrounding Mondelez earlier this year, it was the initial reports that tainted the company’s reputation in Malaysia.

Even after fresh tests were carried out clearing the firm’s name, an Islamic consumer body said it would maintain its call for a boycott of the Cadbury products. The news also sparked a domino-effect in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia where products were pulled off shelves for testing.

When the Cadbury products got the all-clear, the Islamic Development Department said the problem may have arisen from the products being “exposed to porcine DNA after leaving the factory”.

Unfortunately, adding “may contain traces of pork” won’t quite work on food labels in Malaysia.

If the gadget were to bleep when a product was tested, indicating there were pork traces in the food - it could prompt a consumer to start spreading the news before the product is officially tested - and as in the case of Mondelez - could turn out to be a false reading.

France suspends halal prison meals

France’s highest administrative body has suspended a plan to provide Halal meals for Muslim inmates in one prison in the country’s east.

The council of state ruled that providing Halal meat at SaintQuentin-Fallavier prison in the city of Grenoble was impractical “owing to its financial cost and high needs for organisation”.

France’s Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, who had been contesting the plan since 2013, argued it would infringe on France’s rules on secularism that ban religious expression in public places.

France’s highest appeals court will make the final decision in the case.

The plan, which could have proved a test case for other prisons,

was brought to an administrative tribunal in Grenoble after the request of a Muslim inmate last November.

The administrative tribunal said that the failure to provide halal meals

would infringe on the right of Muslim prisoners to freely practice their religion, according to a report by The Local and AFP. www.pi-media.co.uk

I August 2014

WORLD NEWS I 21

EU states need plan to fight racism, says rights agency www.pi-media.co.uk

The European Commission on Racism and Intolerance has called for action from EU members to tackle racism and intolerance following the electoral success of far right parties.

EU members should adopt national action plans to combat the rise in extreme nationalism and hate speech, the European Commission on Racism and Intolerance has reported.

The commission’s annual report,

published Thursday, noted that hate speech “continues to be a major problem across Europe” and said it will examine measures taken by EU member states to address the phenomenon, including the possibility of criminalizing certain forms of expression against vulnerable groups such as Roma, migrants, Muslims and Jews.

National plans should fight racism and discrimination by communicating

“a positive image and the advantages of a diverse society,” the commission, a human rights body of the Council of Europe known as the ECRI, said.

This year’s European elections were marked by a rise of the far right, with 24 seats gained by the Front National in France, three seats for the Greek Golden Dawn Party, three to the Hungary’s Jobbik Party and the first neo-Nazi MEP from Germany.

Such parties are also represented in national parliaments and even contribute to coalition governments.

Highlighting asylum seekers and refugees, the report noted that “asylum policies have become more restrictive in some countries and drastic measures – including border fences – have been taken to keep migrants out.” Refugees have also been subject to hate campaigns.

“ECRI urges European governments to ensure that all persons in their territory can access basic human rights regardless of their immigration status,” Chairman Christian Ahlund said. “We are asking them to establish mechanisms whereby irregular migrants are able to report abuses freely.”

More than six million children affected by the Syria conflict desperately need humanitarian aid, the U.N.’s children’s agency said, with the number in need rising by a third in a year.

UNICEF is warning that despite the spiraling numbers the organization may have to consider cutting some vital services because of a lack of funding.

Some 6.6 million children now need help in the region, the agency says, a figure that has gone up by a third, or about two million, since June 2013.

“That’s an astonishing number and it’s one that is rising very, very fast,” UNICEF spokesman Simon Ingram told reporters in Geneva.

The organization has so far only received 37 percent of the $770 million (566 million euros) it needs to cover its services until the end of the year for Syrian children both inside the country and living as refugees in neighboring countries.

UNICEF is especially worried -- given the hot start to the summer in the region -- that it may soon have to halt water and sanitation services in Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan, which

along with Turkey are hosting the lions share of the Syrian refugees in the region.

Ingram stressed the potentially dire consequences of such a move in places where diseases could easily spread.

Of particular concern is polio, with thirty-six cases of the crippling and potentially fatal disease discovered in Syria this year. Two cases have been detected in Iraq, according to the U.N..

Since the Syria conflict erupted more than 162,000 people have been killed and millions displaced.

More than 6 million’ Syrian children need aid

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I SPORT

www.pi-media.co.uk I August 2014

Qatar moves closer to hosting 2019 World Athletics Championships

Qatar moved a step closer to hosting another major sporting tournament as it aims to win the right to stage the 2019 World Athletics Championships, the third-largest sports event in the world.

An official delegation representing the Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF) and Qatar Olympic Committee travelled to Monaco to attend a seminar at the headquarters of the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) in which the requirements for hosting the athletics event in five years were laid out.

Doha is competing with rival candidate cities Barcelona (Spain) and Eugene (United States of America) to win the right to host the event.

At the two-day event, officials from the three cities were told they would be required to accommodate 13,000 officials, volunteers, accredited broadcasters and media and stage 47 athletics events, which

will be broadcast around the world.

Dahlan Jumaan Al Hamad, President of the QAF, who is also Vice President of the IAAF, was quoted as saying: “Over many years of working together as trusted partners the QAF and IAAF have developed a strong collaboration through the successful staging of major international athletics events in Qatar including the annual Doha IAAF Diamond League, the 2010 World Indoor Athletics Championships and the 2006 Asian Games. Together many strides have been taken to advance athletics in Asia and across the Middle East but the ambition to host the IAAF World Championship in 2019 in Doha is a natural next step.”

IAAF General Secretary Essar Gabriel added: “The IAAF is proud and excited to have three excellent cities – Doha, Barcelona and Eugene – teaming up with our federations coming from three continents joining

us on this journey to select the host for the 2019 World Championships, the most important athletics competition in the IAAF calendar.

The final bids will be submitted to the IAAF on September 25, the IAAF Evaluation Commission will visit each candidate city in October and a final decision will be made by the IAAF Council at its meeting in Monaco on November 20.

The move comes as the Gulf state again moved to stem criticism of the decision to award it hosting duties of the 2022 World Cup. Qatar’s World Cup 2022 Supreme Committee communications director Nasser Al Khater commented on continuing allegations of corruption during the bidding process for the World Cup in 2022 during an interview in Brazil with Al Jazeera television.

“First of all it is actually an investigation into the bidding process of 2018, 2022 World Cup, Qatar is part of that, Russia 2018 is part of that, the whole process is part of that, everybody involved is part of this investigation.So it is unfortunate that people single out Qatar every time they discuss it, which is absolutely not the case,” Al Khater said.

“We’ve been true to what we have said in the past, our statements that we always put up – [that we] have held ourselves to the highest ethical standards. We believe in it, we are confident of it and we are confident of how we’ve behaved.”

Etihad inks sponsorship deal with England cricket teams Etihad Airways and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced a three-year partnership deal which will see the Abu Dhabi carrier become the first ever official airline partner of the England cricket teams.

The sponsorship agreement will see all England national teams across men’s, women’s, age-group

and disability cricket, fly with Etihad, a statement said.

As part of the partnership, the airline will benefit from a comprehensive range of commercial rights which will include access to England players for promotional appearances, advertising at six international cricket grounds in England and Wales, tickets and

hospitality packages, the statement added.

Encompassing England’s domestic international and overseas cricket tours from 2014-2016, the agreement will also include winter training camps in Abu Dhabi and a joint community-based cricket initiative. www.pi-media.co.uk

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I August 2014

Algerian Football Team and Mesut Ozil donates World Cup earnings to Gaza

Germany and Arsenal superstar Mesut Ozil is to donate his World Cup winnings to the children of Gaza following his country’s triumph in the global spectacle.

As the conflict in the Middle East rages following a failed ceasefire, Ozil is set to give the £237,000 bonus he received for helping Germany win the final, and the

£118,000 he received for Germany’s semi-final win, to the occupied territory. He is however yet to confirm the actual beneficiaries of his largesse.

Ozil is of Turkish descent and a practising Muslim who recites the Quran before games. He controversially opted not to fast during the tournament, which fell in

Galatasaray appoint Italy’s former head coach

Cesare Prandelli, the former head coach of the Italian national football team, has officially become the new boss for Turkish giants Galatasaray after he signed a two-year-contract with the “Lions” in Istanbul.

Prandelli said in the signing ceremony at Turk Telekom Arena that Galatasaray would beat archrivals Fenerbahce to win the 20th domestic league title next season under his stewardship.

“We want the fourth star - marking the 20th title - and to advance through the Champions League,” Prandelli said after signing the contract.

Fenerbahce shares the same number of Turkish league titles as Galatasaray, having won it 19 times.

The Italian head coach will enjoy a fixed payment of €2.3 million for

each year.

He will also have a bonus of $1 million if Galatasaray win the league title and $2 million if it scoops the UEFA Champions League title.

The post at the Istanbul club has been vacant since mid-June when the contract of another Italian head coach, Roberto Mancini, was terminated just nine months after he took up the post.

Galatasaray’s ex-boss Mancini had won the Turkish Cup and came second in the league competition last season.

Prandelli resigned from his post as head coach for Italy - which he had been holding since 2010 - due to an early exit from the 2014 FIFA World Cup after losing to South American side Uruguay 1-0 at the last game of group stage.

the holy month of Ramadan in which Muslims fast from dawn until sunset.

According to the Middle East Monitor, Ozil caused controversy when he declined to shake a Fifa official’s hand because of his support for Israel.

Arsenal’s club-record signing (£42.5 million) has quickly settled to life in England, winning the FA Cup with the Gunners before playing an integral role in Germany’s march to victory in Brazil.

In addition to Ozil’s act of generosity, other Muslim representatives at the World Cup have also sent their prize money to the occupied coastal enclave.

After reaching the second round of the tournament, Algeria donated their £5.25m prize money to the people of Gaza.

Algeria striker Islam Slimani announced that the entire squad would donate the money to the territory because “they need it more than us”, according to a report in the Daily Mail.

Demba Ba joins Turkish side Besiktas

Demba Ba has left Chelsea to join Turkish side Besiktas.

The striker, who joined Chelsea from Newcastle United for £7m in January 2013, is expected to take the No 9 shirt for the top-flight Turkish side.

The 29-year-old Senegalese international will leave Stamford Bridge after falling further down the pecking order behind Fernando Torres and new £32m signing Diego Costa.

He scored 14 goals in 51 appearances for the London side.

Seen But Not Heard

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I FEATURED

www.pi-media.co.uk

I August 2014

Voices of Young British Muslims

Young muslims face the issue of identity and citizenship. This is because muslims attract a lot of media attention globally. In an extremely fast-moving and technologically advanced world, the media is not portraying a goodimpression of muslims worldwide.

Similarly, as exemplified in the UK, they demonise the British muslim youth labelling them as extremists, however their not being heard.

We need a society where we understand the needs of one another across cultural and faith boundaries.

Up and down the country, we work alongside each other, yet we have little understanding of each others ways. There is no framework where muslim youth can be heard and where their views are voiced.

However, the media can find that British muslim youth are keen and eager to engage positively to Britain if they take notice of them more positively.

So much is written about the

Muslim Youth in the media, but we rarely hear their voices. The writings focus on extremism and terrorism. In the recent decade, media coverage has included coverage of individuals in towns and cities of Leeds, Leicester, Bradford, Dewsbury, Oldham and Burnley. The muslim youth in these cities and towns need more opportunities to voice their opinions about what ‘fitting’ in means to them in British society and the media needs to play a fairer role in finding out more about them and portraying the right image for this sub-group.

What makes matters worse is the muslim community is equally unsupportive and do consider the traditional rather than the contemporary issues. In the last decade, many madrasahs have advanced considerable with children to ensure the recitation of the Quran and the formality of prayers is to a high standard. Though many madrasahs are missing a crucial

Part One

opportunity to connect to the muslim youth by simply listening to their concerns. In understanding them, madressahs can play a key role in alleviating the social challenges that the muslim youth face in Britain today.

There is so much evidence to say that Muslim youth are suffering from social and emotional disorders.

Research tells us that this seems to be higher among lone-parents, low income families and among families where there is no educational qualification but the government services are not understanding their needs because their not finding out.

Muslim health challenges need to take into consideration the culture of the community they inherit. Since more and more young people are being affected by mental and social disorders such as depression, it is even more important that these services are designed and customised to meet the cultural and religious needs of this target youth

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I August 2014

group. What is happening is muslim youths are ignoring these services because they feel government services are unable to meet their needs. These service providers do not listen and so are not aware of the cultural and religious influences on muslim minds. They lack the services skills to support and personalise services to muslim youth. As the governments sits unaware and in judgement, the youth increasing fall into smoking pot, experiencing drugs and committing crime which impacts their mental health. Ignoring the voice of the youth is not helping.

Thankfully, some youth still have the respect for their parents and will not smoke pot near them.

So they find street corners in their neighbourhood. Removing of government funding and closures of youth clubs in recent years is exasperating the count of youth hanging out in these corners therefore putting pressure on police.

Hanging around in street corners

FEATUREDI 25

means that Muslim youth are more likely to be questioned by the Police.

Research informs us that if a larger group of whites ‘hang-out’ then they won’t have the label of being drug dealers. Yet, the problem here is muslim youths have this stereotype when they hang around in the street and then it becomes a selffulfilling prophecy. The media and communities perceive them as a threat to the neighbourhood and so the youth become detached from the mainstream society.

Worse still, young people become concerned about their reputation in their communities because of the clothes they wear, judging them without making conversations with them. Madressahs, schools, colleges, universities and community groups need to work collectively to overcome these problems.

Currently, muslim youths can get in touch with Muslim Youth Helpline which was set up in 2001. These servicers provide culturally sensitive

... There is so much evidence to say that Muslim youth are suffering from social and emotional disorders. Research tells us that this seems to be higher among lone-parents, low income families and among families where there is no educational qualification but the government services are not understanding their needs because their not finding out.

services and they are manned by male and females. They provide a confidential counselling service and can be reached by telephone, email, internet and face to face but often they are not located in the youth’s neighbourhood.

There needs to be a frank open discussion with the muslim youth on: Relationship Mental health Religion Offending and rehabilitation Sexuality and sexual health.

The Muslim Youth Helpline support the muslim youth on these contemporary matters but inevitably every community has to provide accessible personalised services to meet the needs of the muslim youth in their locality.

By Mr G Dabhad Batley, West Yorkshire www.improvetuition.org

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