On March 17, 2006, the weekly magazine of the Israeli daily Haaretz published an intellectual profile of Tunisian-born reformist thinker Lafif Lakhdar, which was titled "The Roots of Jihad." In the interview section of the profile, Lakhdar, a veteran activist, 1 analyzes the roots and goals of Islamism and Islamist movements, and presents his vision of reform in the Arab and Muslim world. Lakhdar, a former columnist for the Saudi-owned London daily Al-Hayat , was fired on the instructions of ...
Introduction In the wake of the fall of the Saddam regime in April 2003, Iraqis experienced a burst of freedoms that had been denied them during the decades of oppressive dictatorship. Within a very short period, there appeared no less than 165 new publication of various sorts - dailies, weeklies, monthlies, and periodicals (though fewer than 100 remained after a year) - as opposed to the four government papers, all of them more or less identical, that appeared in Saddam's time. This freedom of ...
In the aftermath of the controversy over the cartoons of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, the Internet edition of the Norwegian daily Dagbladet interviewed Kurdish Iraqi Islamist Mullah Krekar. In it, Krekar expounded his views on relations between Islam and the West. Krekar, whose real name is Najm Al-Din Faraj Ahmad, came to Norway as a refugee in 1991, where he established the Islamist Ansar Al-Islam organization. He is currently slated for deportation from Norway. The following are excerpts from ...
Following the February 21, 2006 MEMRI TV clip featuring Syrian-born American psychiatrist Dr. Wafa Sultan on Al-Jazeera TV (in a debate with Islamist sheikh Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli) - The New York Times published a front-page profile on her titled "For Muslim Who Says Violence Destroys Islam, Violent Threats." As of March 13, this clip has been viewed on the MEMRI TV website over 3,000,000 times. TO VIEW THIS CLIP, GO TO http://memritv.org/clip/en/1050.htm ; FOR MORE ON WAFA SULTAN, VISIT: and ...
The following are excerpts from an address by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which aired on Jaam-e Jam 2 TV on February 11, 2006. TO VIEW THIS CLIP, VISIT: http://memritv.org/clip/en/1034.htm . Mahmoud Ahmadinejad : "The affront to the honor of the Prophet of Islam is in fact an affront to the worship of God, and to the seeking of truth and justice, and an affront to all the prophets of God. Obviously, all those who harm the honor of the prophet of Islam..." Crowd : "Death to Denmark. " ...
The following are excerpts from an address by Hamas leader Khaled Mash'al at the Al-Murabit Mosque in Damascus. The address was delivered following the Friday sermon at the mosque, and was aired on Al-Jazeera TV on February 3, 2006. To view this clip, visit: http://memritv.org/clip/en/1024.htm . TO VIEW OTHER CLIPS ON HAMAS VISIT: http://memritv.org/clip/en/151.htm . "We Say to This West... By Allah, You Will Be Defeated" Khaled Mash'al: "We apologize to our Prophet Muhammad, but we say to him ...
In the aftermath of the November 9, 2005 terrorist bombings in Amman, Jordan, various articles appeared in the Arab media criticizing political justification of terrorism in Arab countries, which, they state, prevents the Arabs from taking anti-terrorism measures. One writer explained that the Amman bombings were unconnected in any way to the war in Iraq or to the Palestinian problem; another accused the Arab media of misrepresenting terrorism in the Arab countries and thus leading the Arab ...
The following are excerpts from a rally of Iranian pilgrims in Mecca, aired on Iran's Channel 1 and Al-'Alam TV, on January 9, 2006. The speaker addresses the crowd in front of a backdrop showing the World Trade Center and an American flag in flames. TO VIEW THIS CLIP, VISIT: http://memritv.org/clip/en/991.htm . Crowd : "Israel is the enemy of Allah." Man : "May the hands of the infidels be chopped off." Crowd : "May the hands of the infidels be chopped off." Man : "May the hands of the ...
Introduction On October 19, 2005, Saddam Hussein and seven of his co-defendants went on trial before the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal for crimes committed in July 1982 in the town of Dujail. The tribunal was established by the Iraqi Governing Council on December 10, 2003, to adjudicate crimes committed by Iraqis inside and outside Iraq, including in Iran and Kuwait, between July 1968, when the Ba'th Party came to power, and May 1, 2003, which coincided with the fall of the Saddam regime. The ...