In May 2004, MEMRI's TV Project reported on an interview that Syrian Member of Parliament Dr. Muhammad Habash conducted with Iran's Al-Alam TV, in which he criticized the U.S. for imposing a culture of violence and hatred on the world. On December 19, 2004, Dr. Habash sent a statement to the Damascus office of Al-Arabiyya TV, and subsequently called in to an Al-Arabiyya news show, to express his indignation at being denied entry to the U.S. just a few days earlier. Dr. Habash criticized the ...
Introduction In October 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law the Global Antisemitism Review Act of 2004. Under this act, the U.S. will "continue to strongly support efforts to combat antisemitism worldwide through bilateral relationships and interaction with international organizations such as the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the European Union, and the United Nations." In addition, the State Department is directed to appoint a special envoy to ...
The recent campaign in the United States resulting in the election of President Bush was followed closely and intensely in the Iraqi press. The introduction of freedom of the press after Saddam's removal has allowed a diversity of views to be heard, and the views regarding the re-election of President Bush are no exception. Notwithstanding criticism of the Bush administration, editorials expressed undeniable admiration for a system that produced a winner and a loser without one shot being fired ...
Introduction Iran's nuclear policy enjoys a national political consensus: Both the conservatives and the reform-seekers agree that Iran is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, and that the Iranian nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. 1 Moreover, Iran maintains that it has fully complied with its international obligations regarding nuclear activities. Yet reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA ) have stated that Iran has failed to cooperate ...
The events of September 11, 2001 stirred global interest in Islam: What is this religion, in whose name these terrorists claimed to be acting? The televised images of Muslim masses thronging streets across the Muslim world to celebrate the destruction of the World Trade Center have made this question all the more pressing. This paper is designed to introduce the reader to the phenomenon of radical Islam, or Islamism, and to place it in its proper historical and religious context. Following a ...
Introduction Days following the release of the September 11 Commission report this summer, Sheik Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari, the former dean of the faculty of Shariah at the University of Qatar and a leading Arab reformist, wrote an article in the London Arabic daily Al-Hayat on August 2, 2004, asking, "Why won't we Arabs take the opportunity of the appearance of the September 11 commission's report to ponder why destructive violence and a culture of destruction have taken root in our society? Why ...
The attack on a school in Ossetia, Russia in early September 2004 which killed hundreds of people, many among them children, brought on a flurry of reactions in the Arab and Muslim media. Some columnists condemned the use of terror and the harming of innocent civilians, others criticized the Russian forces' failed rescue attempt, and a few even blamed Jewish elements of being involved in the affair. In addition, many articles argued that the terrorists do not represent Islam and that Islam does ...
Introduction The following are clips from MEMRI's TV Project on support for suicide attacks. They include TV segments from leading Muslim religious figures such as Sheikh Tantawi, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sudayyis, Imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, and Sheikh Qaradhawi, one of the prominent leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood Movement. Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi On New TV (Lebanon), August 19, 2004 the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi was ...
A journal titled "Al-Jundi Al-Muslim" (The Muslim Soldier), which is published by the Religious Affairs Department of the Saudi armed forces, published an antisemitic article in its "Know Your Enemy" section. The article was written by Ma'ashu Muhammad and was titled "The Jews in the Modern Era." The following are excerpts from the article: 'The Majority of Revolutions, Coups D'etat, and Wars … are Almost Entirely the Handiwork of the Jews' "The majority of revolutions, coups d'etat, and wars ...
