Karadzic appears at UN war crimes tribunal

1 July 2008

By MIKE CORDER

Video

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic appeared at the U.N.'s Yugoslav war crimes tribunal for the first time Thursday, telling the judge he would defend himself against charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Appearing older and thinner than during the Bosnian war and shorn of the long white hair and bushy beard that once disguised him, Karadzic refused to enter pleas on the 11 charges against him or have his full indictment read to him.

He told the court he would act as his own lawyer.

"I have an invisible adviser but I have decided to represent myself," he calmly told presiding judge Alphons Orie.

Karadzic, who smiled at times during the hearing, listened intently as Orie read a summary of the indictment in which prosecutors allege Karadzic masterminded atrocities, including the Srebrenica massacre and siege of Sarajevo during Bosnia's 1992-95 war.

"I am not interested in having someone else read the indictment to me," he said. "I would rather receive the new indictment that has been announced and have sufficient time to study it and then have my initial appearance for that and enter my plea."

Prosecutor Serge Brammertz confirmed that he was planning to amend the indictment but gave no further details.

Orie scheduled a new hearing on Aug. 29 at which Karadzic will have to enter pleas. If he does not, the court will enter not guilty pleas for him.

Karadzic then identified himself by stating his name, date and place of birth. He also gave his most recent address as his family home in Pale, Bosnia, but also gave the address of the apartment in Belgrade where he was living under an assumed name before his address.

When Orie asked him if his family knew where he was being held, Karadzic replied "I do not believe there is anyone who does not know that I am in the detention unit."

When Orie asked him if his family knew where he was being held, Karadzic smiled and replied "I do not believe there is anyone who does not know that I am in the detention unit."

Further Reading:
`United States tried to assassinate me': Karadzic to United Nation court

Arab leaders condemn anti-Islam film

30 March 2008

Damascus-Leaders of the Arab states on Sunday strongly condemned Dutch film blaspheming Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and Holy Quran, calling for boycott of Dutch products.

The leaders the Arab League, holding a Summit in Damascus, called for adopting an international law which prohibits insult to divine religions.

Addressing the Summit, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir urged Muslims to boycott the Dutch products as a measure against blasphemy.

He underscored the need for respecting all religious beliefs by world people.

Muslim countries have condemned the film made by the far-right MP Geert Wilder, which was posted online on Thursday.

The film sets verses from the holy Quran against a background of violent images from terror attacks.

Called "Fitna," the film also features one of the Danish cartoons whose publication sparked violent protests in several countries two years ago.

There was strong condemnation both inside and outside the Netherlands.

Iran called the film heinous, blasphemous and anti-Islamic and appealed to European governments to block further distribution.

Pakistan, Indonesia and Bangladesh were among those to protest the release of the anti-Islam film.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference also added its voice to the growing criticism of the anti-Islam film.

The OIC said in a statement that the film defamed and denigrated "the Holy Quran, causing insult to the sentiments of more than 1.3 billion Muslims in the world".

"The film was a deliberate act of discrimination against Muslims" that aimed to "provoke unrest and intolerance," the organization said.

The OIC has 57 member states over four continents and is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations.

In its statement, it urged the international community to condemn the showing of the film and asked the Dutch government to prosecute the filmmaker under Dutch law.

The European Union also said the 15-minute film posted Thursday on a London-based Website inflames hatred.

"Mutual tolerance and respect are universal values we should uphold. We believe that acts, such as the film, serve no other purpose than inflaming hatred," the EU said in a statement.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also condemned the film, calling it "offensively anti-Islamic" while urging calm.

"There is no justification for hate speech or incitement to violence," he said in a statement.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said Thursday that the film equates Islam with violence.

"We reject this interpretation," Balkenende said in a statement.

"The vast majority of Muslims reject extremism and violence. In fact, the victims are often also Muslims."

Australian foreign minister on Sunday added his voice to the chorus of condemnation of an anti-Islam film, calling it "highly offensive".

Stephen Smith said the film equated Islam with acts of terror and other violence.

Anne Frank Foundation: Right-Wing Violence Soaring in Holland

22 August 2007

By Cnaan Liphshiz

Extreme right-wing violence in the Netherlands soared by 75 percent last year, according the annual Anne Frank Foundation report on extremism, which was released yesterday.

In its joint report with Leiden University, the foundation counted 67 incidents of extreme right-wing violence in 2006, compared to 38 reported the previous year.

The report's co-author told Haaretz that anti-Semitic hate crimes - which constituted 13 percent of all cases - are often falsely represented as anti-Zionist.

According to Willem Wagenaar, 2006 saw 35 anti-Semitic instances out of a total of 265 hate crimes. The overall number of racial offenses dropped by 10 percent from the previous year, which saw 41 anti-Semitic attacks.

"The distinction between crimes that stem from anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism is hard to make," says Wagenaar, who is an expert on the extreme right in the Netherlands. "We're seeing neo-Nazi criminals relabeling their anti-Semitic crimes as anti-Zionist. The reason is that racial crimes mandate harsher sentences, so the criminals hide behind that false label of anti-Zionism.

"For example, one group of extreme-right youths, who were found guilty of torching both a synagogue and an Muslim school, claimed they had set the synagogue on fire to protest Israel's policy."

The report lists two cases of arson of Jewish property and eight cases of threats throughout the country. Other offenses included vandalism, defamation and bullying and other forms of intimidation.

About a quarter (23 percent) of all hate crimes in 2006 were directed at Muslim immigrants.

Let's call God Allah

14 August 2007

by Mohammed Abdelrahman & Nicolien den Boer

The Bishop of Breda, Tiny Muskens, wants people to start calling God Allah. He says the Netherlands should look to Indonesia, where the Christian churches already pray to Allah. It is also common in the Arab world: Christian and Muslim Arabs use the words God and Allah interchangeably.

Speaking on the Dutch TV programme Network on Monday evening, Bishop Muskens (pictured) says it could take another 100 years but eventually the name Allah will be used by Dutch churches. And that will promote rapprochement between the two religions.

Retiring
Muskens doesn't expect his idea to be greeted with much enthusiasm. The 71-year-old bishop, who will soon be retiring due to ill health, says God doesn't mind what he is called. God is above such "discussion and bickering". Human beings invented this discussion themselves, he believes, in order to argue about it.

More than 30 years ago Bishop Muskens worked in Indonesia and, there, God was called Allah, even in Catholic churches. The Dutch should learn to get on spontaneously with different cultures, religions and behaviour patterns:

"Someone like me has prayed to Allah yang maha kuasa (Almighty God) for eight years in Indonesia and other priests for 20 or 30 years. In the heart of the Eucharist, God is called Allah over there, so why can't we start doing that together?"

In the Arab world God is called Allah. The long history of Christianity in the Arab world led to the development of a rich Christian-Islamic theological vocabulary, which makes God a normal equivalent to Allah. Both Muslims and Christians use the word in the Middle East.

ar-Rabb
Apart from Allah, the term ar-Rabb (the Lord) is also widely used, although this appears far more often in the Arabic version of the Bible than in the Qur'an. In the Islamic context, references to ar-Rabb are normally found in the possessive form, such as Rabbi (My Lord). Interestingly, the word Allah was already in use by Christians in the pre-Islamic period.

Bishop Muskens proposal will undoubtedly receive a warm welcome from the Islamic community in the Netherlands. Particularly as it follows last week's remarks by Geert Wilders about banning the Qur'an and, shortly before that, former Muslim Ehsan Jami's comparison of Muhammad with Osama bin Laden.

Attention
Perhaps this is the reason Bishop Muskens' remarks have received so much attention in the Dutch press. The bishop actually said exactly the same several years ago. He also suggested abolishing Whit Monday as a national holiday in favour of an Islamic religious day.

In the past, Bishop Muskens has offended many Muslims. In 2005 he said Islam was a religion without a future because it had too many violent aspects. The bishop is also responsible for a number of controversial remarks. He caused uproar in the Netherlands when he said the poor had a right to steal bread if they were hungry. And he put the Vatican's back up with an appeal for the use of condoms in the fight against AIDS.

Member of Netherlands’ Parliament Calls for Quran Ban

Geert Wilders, leader of the far-right Freedom Party, called for the ban in a letter published in De Volkskrant newspaper. Story

Pro-Palestinian rally on Holland's Liberation Day draws thousands

Atta Allah Hanna (right), Bishop of the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem and the Holy Lands, waiting for the start of a pro-Palestinian conference in Rotterdam on Saturday. (AP)

May 6,2007

By Cnaan Lifshitz

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protestors gathered in Rotterdam on Netherlands's Liberation Day Saturday to demonstrate against Israel, drawing parallels between the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during World War II and Israel's occupation of the West Bank.

Keynote speaker former Dutch prime minister Dries Van Agt addressed the protestors and voiced his regret over Holland's "biased" pro-Israeli stance and boycott of the Hamas.

PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who was denied entry to Belgium and Holland, addressed protestors on a TV screen via a satellite connection.

Another Hamas representative, PA Sports Minister Basem Naim, cancelled his participation after he was not allowed to disembark at Brussels' international airport.

"The European and Dutch boycott of Hamas is wrong and even stupid," Van Agt said. "We automatically pardon the occupier and sanction the occupied nation."