Woman academic to lead UK Muslim prayers, believes in reinterpreting Quran
LAHORE/PESHAWAR: Another clerics’ council declares suicide attacks un-Islamic
Washingfton: Glance at Islamic terror money
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
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Woman academic to lead UK Muslim prayers, believes in reinterpreting Quran
Also: interview with Amina Wadud , professor of Islamic studies at
By Natalie Hancock
BBC News,
Muslim scholar Professor Amina Wadud, who has led prayers in
The move is controversial as the tradition is that imams - always men - hold mixed services. Some believe it is against Islam for a woman to do so.
But organisers heralded it as a "leap forward" for "theological destiny".
Chairman of the Muslim Educational Centre Oxford (MECO) Dr Taj Hargey, who is organising Friday's conference, argued that the prayer service would be a step in the right direction.
"We believe Islam is a gender-equal religion," he said.
"There is a record that the Prophet Mohammed allowed a woman to lead a mixed-gender congregation, but this precedent has been ignored.
Amina Wadud is professor of Islamic studies at
A comprehensive Interview with Amina Wadud conducted in March 2002 is being presented as a companion article on NewAgeIslam.com. Please see: http://www.newageislam.com/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=889 )
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Even in Christianity Catholics still don't accept female priests
Mokhtar Badri
Muslim Association of
"Women have led prayers in
But Mokhtar Badri, vice-president of the Muslim Association of Britain, is opposed to the sermon.
"With all respect to sister Amina, prayer is something we perform in accordance to the teachings of our Lord," he said.
"It has nothing to do with position of women in society. It is not to degrade them or because we don't think they are up to it.
"This is something divine not human. We have to do it in the way it has been ordained by God to do it.
"Women can lead prayers before other women but for this very specific point, in this situation before a congregation of men and women, a man must lead."
Protest planned
He added: "I also don't think this is a subject confined to Islam. Even in Christianity Catholics still don't accept female priests."
When Ms Wadud led a service in
There are also expected to be objections to Friday's sermon at the Oxford Centre in
But Dr Hargey is undeterred.
"People thought it was a bad idea to give women the vote," he said.
"When Emmeline Pankhurst chained herself to the railings in protest there was uproar, but things move on.
"This is about theological self-empowerment - women as well as men have the right to determine their own theological destiny."
Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/7673845.stm
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Taliban: ready to lay down guns
Last Modified: 16 Oct 2008
By: Nick Paton Walsh
After a punishing military campaign against them,
They're calling it their "war on terror", a war against the Taliban with thousands of dead, hundreds of thousands of refugees on the move, and countless casualties.
But this is not
After weeks of fighting, the Pakistan Taliban today said it was ready to lay down its arms and talk, but the Pakistani army is continuing its operations.
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Another clerics’ council declares suicide attacks un-Islamic
From the Daily Times,
Oct 16, 2008
LAHORE/PESHAWAR: The Muttahida Ulema Board of Punjab (MUBP), a provincial council of clerics, declared suicide attacks illegal in Islam and condemned countrywide acts of terrorism against innocent people.
Briefing reporters after the inaugural meeting of the board at Aiwan-e-Auqaf, MUBP Chairman Sahibzada Haji Fazal Karim said: “We strongly condemn those who are causing anarchy and terrorism in the name of religion.”
Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said the Taliban carry out ‘Fidai’ (sacrificial) attacks against the
Talking to BBC on Wednesday, he said suicide was forbidden in Islam, but sacrifice was not. “Attacks are justified against those who rain bombs on people on the instructions of Americans and are displacing them from their houses,” Khan said. “Those who had issued the decree should have visited the tribal region of Bajaur and the Swat valley,” the spokesman said.
Seventeen clerics from various schools of thought, including Allama Sher Ali and Mufti Sarfraz Ahmad Naeemi, participated in the
He said the clerics had demanded the government protect “ideological and geographical boundaries of the country” and also endorsed during the meeting a set of recommendations on hate literature in line with the ‘guiding principles’ it agreed on in September 1997. staff report/agencies
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Afghanistan : Pakistan
Gul a former head of
"
"I know the Taliban, I have worked with them for a long time, and can say they would never talk to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, they consider him a mere traitor and puppet," Gul said.
Taliban would be prepared to parley with the Americans but only on certain conditions, he said. First, that such talks are held publicly; that the
The
"Barrack Obama wants to outdo his rival, and that is not a good sign," Gul said, referring respectively to the Democratic Party's presidential candidate his Republican Party rival John McCain.
"That means they want to continue following the same line of action that they have during the last seven years. And I am afraid this is going to bring disaster," Gul continued.
The implications of this situation for the fight against terrorism and the security of the country's nuclear arsenal are dire, he said.
"The risk is real; there could be a civil war, even a revolution along the lines of the Iranian one. Personally, I hope for a revolution but a soft one, like that the one born in
Something along these lines has occurred in
Musharraf committed the inexcusable error of aligning himself with the
Gul described Zardari as a "civilian dictator" who he claimed has adopted the same policies and autocratic leadership style as Musharraf. "It is very necessary that Parliament should call the shots, as a collective body, as a sovereign body under the democratic system," Gul stated.
"His role as President of Pakistan is as the constitutional head. Everything else should be given to the parliament and the Prime Minister and the Cabinet," Gul stressed.
Discussing anti-Taliban operations in northwest
The more the Americans step up their cross-border operations, the more the Afghans will identify with the Taliban, Gul warned.
Many villagers in northwest
"The nation does not look upon this as
He advised NATO forces in
"The reconstruction of the country is impossible without peace. Peace has to come first," Gul concluded.
Cairo, 16 Oct. (AKI) - Attacking American and Israeli websites by hacking and sabotage is allowed under Islamic law and is a form of 'Jihad' or holy war, top Muslim scholars have decreed.
The religious edict (fatwa) issued by a committee from the highest authority in Sunni Islam, Egypt's Al-Azhar University in Cairo, was published on the website of the Islamist Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood movement on Thursday.
"This is considered a type of lawful Jihad that helps Islam by paralysing the information systems used by our enemies for their evil aims," said the fatwa.
"This Jihad is not different from the armed one. In fact, it might be more important if you consider the global dimensions of the Internet.
"Whoever wins this war will become the strongest in the realm of information," the fatwa continued.
The Muslim Brotherhood praised the fatwa, which comes in response to dozens of questions from radicals asking to be allowed to destroy Israeli and
Last week, the news website of Dubai-based Arabic TV network al-Arabiya was attacked by suspected Shia hackers, who posted a burning Israeli flag to the site.
Beneath the flag, a message in Arabic and English read: 'Serious Warning - if attacks on Shia websites continue, none of your websites will be safe.'
Source: http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.0.2595019598
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Islamic Banks Withstand Mortgage Crisis
"The Islamic bank has a fantastic year, the underlying trend of Islamic banking businesses within ABC is very good," said Smith. (Reuters)
"The Islamic bank has a fantastic year, the underlying trend of Islamic banking businesses within ABC is very good," a senior official of the Arab Banking Corporation told the Reuters Islamic Finance summit on Monday, February 4.
Duncan Smith, the head of the Corporation's Islamic operations, said a focus on regional business and efforts to ensure products complied with
The bank's 2007 earnings from conventional non-Islamic departments fell to $125 million from $202 million in 2006.
The ongoing American subprime mortgage crisis, which is making international headlines, was sparked off last year when a steep rise in the rate of foreclosures caused more than 100 lenders to fail or file for bankruptcy.
The crisis had a domino effect on the
Global banks have written down more than $80 billion in credit market losses since October alone as defaults on subprime mortgages triggered a credit crisis that threatens to tip the
None of
He said holders of sukuk or Islamic bonds have been shielded from the worst effects of the subprime mortgage meltdown.
Instead of interest, Islamic banks operate on the principle of sharing risk and reward among all parties in a business venture.
Growing
"Sukuk has now become a very popular product," said Nor Mohammad. (Reuters)
Economists say the global credit crunch triggered by the subprime crisis has spurred greater interest in
"There is a feeling that the way Islamic finance is structured ― the lack of freedom in leveraging, the need for real assets ― that there will be some who will find Islamic financing interesting," said the Malaysian official.
He said interest in financial instruments that comply with Islamic prohibitions against investing in sectors such as alcohol, pornography and gambling was starting to emerge in
"Sukuk has now become a very popular product," Mohamed Nor stressed, adding that officials from Hong Kong had consulted with
Rasheed al-Maraj, the governor of
"Maybe Islamic banking will be a safe bet for them," he said.
"I think opportunities exist in the
Giant banks like
A Deutsche Bank executive told Reuters that it was helping US and Canadian firms to sell Islamic bonds in
Having about 76 percent of the world's Islamic bonds,
The Islamic banking industry, which began almost three decades ago, has made substantial growth and attracted the attention of investors and bankers across the world.
There are an estimated 300 Islamic banks and financial institutions worldwide whose assets are predicted to grow to $1 trillion by 2010.
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Iraqi Christians in Danger
Author: Wameeth (
October 13, 2008
Dear Friends,
Again the terror hit Iraq, today it is targeting the defenceless Iraqi Christians, it was not enough that our Parliament made a deal to remove paragraph 50 of elections law, that preserve the rights of Iraqi minorities in having fair representation in government, but a new campaign to force the few of Iraqi Christians living in Mosul to leave their houses,by killing them and forcing them to change their religion, wearing veils, and paying gezia (Islamic taxes on non Muslims.)
This is done by a group of people who are working to give Islam false image, destroying our work as Iraqi Muslims to live for peace and to reconstructs our country.
Some say they are paid by Al-Qaida, others accuse the Kurds, and radical Sunni parties in
But in the end we reached the days when there is a fatwa from some radical people to prevent Christians from going to hospitals, this is a crime against Islam before anything else, as no law of God or human prevent the sick or injuries from receiving treatment.
11 Christian were killed during this week, one was a doctor (his body was cut to pieces), a pharmacist, engineer, and a 15 year old boy.
We as activists need to work together to stop such crimes that destroy religion good faith in living together, and attack the weak, the peaceful and defenceless.
Source: http://www.mideastyouth.com/2008/10/13/iraqi-christians-in-danger/
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Jihad Watch head lashes out at Islamic extremism
By: Kelsey Gunderson
The Daily Cardinal, October 16, 2008
Robert Spencer spoke to students about his thoughts on Islamic extremism as students argued back at the Union Wednesday.
Author Robert Spencer spoke to students at the Union Wednesday about his political views toward Islamic extremism. Many students spoke out against Spencer and engaged in heated arguments.
The College Republicans of UW-Madison hosted Robert Spencer, head of Jihad Watch, to voice his views against Islamic extremism Wednesday at Memorial Union.
Spencer’s presentation, “Jihad: What Muslims Say it Means and Why it Matters,” instigated students to speak out in a question and answer session.
Spencer said he believes the Islamic religion is not peaceful one and many Islamic groups in the
“Whether or not these people are interpreting Islam incorrectly or represent only a tiny minority of extremists, it is still happening,” Spencer said.
Several students argued against Spencer’s view, saying extremists in other religions such as Judaism and Christianity could potentially cause the same problems.
During the question and answer session, a UW-Madison student asked why Spencer seemed unconcerned with the politicization of religion in the
“I do not think it is the same thing,” Spencer responded. “They are working with the political process, not undermining the constitutional government … I have never found any Christian preacher saying they are going to overthrow the government and make Christianity supreme.”
Spencer criticized various members of Islamic groups in the
Spencer also assessed Islamic values by arguing they deny fundamental American values, such as freedom of speech and equal rights for all.
“If one group is allowed to shut down something that they think is offensive, then that group obviously has hegemony over the others and we no longer have a society in which everybody enjoys equality before the law,” Spencer said.
Multiple students questioned Spencer’s intentions by claiming he cannot legitimately support the American freedom of equality if he does not support Islamic rights.
One student questioned Spencer’s motives, claiming he did not have tolerance or understanding of minority rights.
Spencer said he is concerned about peace, justice and human rights for all and believes these rights can be protected if the Islamic movement is put to an end.
Source: http://www.dailycardinal.com/article/20893
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No One Talked About Jihad in the Last Great Debate
October 15th, 2008
Support Pajamas Media
Granted: Our leaders, both Democrats and Republicans, have allowed the American economy to fail. The pain this has caused and will continue to cause is incalculable. Maybe we, the People should fire everyone in the House and the Senate, hang Wall Street out to dry, and start from scratch--only we can't, that game is rigged against us.
Maybe this dreadful economic failure was the "October surprise" that Obama's people kept promising. A handful of policy pundits have opined that the Arab Oil Cartel and possibly George Soros had a hand in this economic meltdown. I wouldn't be surprised but I'd need to see the smoking gun on this one.
But then there was the matter of the camel in the room. Neither candidate seemed to notice the "rough beast whose hour has come round." Three debates--and neither Obama nor McCain seriously wrestled with the imminent danger of Islamic jihad, Obama because he does not see it that way, McCain because he has chosen not to make an issue of what is possibly the Mother of all issues.
As McCain would say: My friends,
All over our country, Muslim students and leftist professors are being funded to showcase the Big Lies of Palestinian Victim hood and Israeli Evil. And above all, to hate
In addition, Muslim students are demanding and receiving separatist Halal kitchens in college; heretofore, they shared the kosher facilities with Jewish students but no longer, at least not at
All this is accompanied by charges of "Islamophobic racism."
As I sat down to share my thoughts about this final debate, I received an email from blogger known as "YidwithLid." He did a quick piece of research about one of the men whom Obama, in this last debate, said would be advising him when Obama is in the White House: Senator Richard Lugar. Although Obama has said he is pro-Israel, according to my Blogger informant, Lugar is one of the most anti-Israel Senators.
"When, on May 22, 1998, the Senate, by a vote of 90 to 4, passed the Iran Missile Proliferation Sanctions Act, imposing sanctions on foreigners who help Iran's missile program, Mr. Lugar fetched up among the four senators who voted against the measure.
On July 24, 2001, the Senate voted 96 to 2 to renew the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act to help deny
On April 6, 2001, 87 members of the Senate sent President Bush a letter saying Yasser Arafat should not be invited to meet with high-level officials in
On April 18, 2002, when the Senate, by 88 to 10, voted to ban the import to America of Iraqi oil until
In a July 10, 2003, editorial headlined "Ayatollah Lugar," has already reported on how Mr. Lugar watered down the Iran Democracy Act that was introduced by Senators Brownback, Schumer, Kyl, Inouye, and others."
Obama was relaxed, urbane, and eloquent; he seemed to be enjoying himself. But Obama kept smiling, even smirking, each time McCain caught him in a lie. I am not sure whether such smiling is sheer arrogance on Obama's part or whether it suggests that this is how he has learned to deal with attacks, pretending that they don't matter, that he's not hurt.
McCain displayed true principle, especially when he talked about his non-ideological ("no litmus test") requirements for Supreme Court nominees, and the fact that he voted for both Breyer and Ginsberg for the highest court in the land. And yet, his heart was not that of a fighter, willing to go that extra distance to draw blood.
Let me close by quoting a member of one of the many Focus groups shown on television tonight. "We are not electing the best debator. We are electing the President of the
Let's try to remember that when we cast our votes.
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AdWatch: Anti-Obama group raises pastor in ads
By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY
TITLE: "Obama's Wrong Values"; "Obama's Awful High Tax Policies"; "Hillary Clinton Rips Barack Obama" and "Obama's Patriotism Problem."
LENGTH:
PAID FOR BY: Our Country Deserves Better PAC, a Sacramento, Calif.-based group formed to campaign against Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
AIRING: PAC claims ads are airing in
ANALYSIS: The ads are the work of an independent group and are not produced by Republican candidate John McCain's campaign. The exact size of the ad buy is uncertain because it has not yet been reported to federal election officials.
The group's goal is to use provocative images to "question the leadership, character and judgment of Barack Obama," according to PAC spokesman Joe Wierzbicki.
Wierzbicki said the group does not believe McCain's campaign has been strong enough in its attacks against Obama.
The images and allegations are provocative and, in some cases, unfounded. Many have been circulating in e-mails and on Blogs, but have not yet been raised by McCain.
Clips from a controversial sermon delivered by Obama's former pastor Jeremiah Wright are used in two ads to charge that Obama doesn't share average Americans' values.
Another ad questions Obama's patriotism with a video clip in which he does not hold his hand to his heart during the national anthem. A third accuses Obama of sympathizing with Islamic militants. The ad does not support the statement.
The PAC was formed in August by
SCRIPT EXCERPTS: "Obama's Wrong Values": Announcer: "Barack Obama seems to have different values than most Americans. ... Obama's campaign received $33,000 in illegal donations from Palestinians living in the
"Obama Awful Tax Policies": Announcer: "In 2007, Barack Obama was ranked by National Journal magazine as the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate. ... He says he'll raise Social Security taxes. And Obama even opposed a temporary repeal of the taxes you pay on gasoline."
"Hillary Clinton Rips Barack Obama": Deborah Johns, conservative activist: "We must oppose Obama. He's says he'll play nicey-nice with Islamic militants who want to kill Americans both here at home and abroad."
"Obama's Patriotism Problem": Kaloogian: "If
KEY IMAGES: Clips of Wright declaring "God damn America!" in a sermon; Obama standing with his hands folded in front of him during what appears to the singing of the national anthem; Clinton declaring "Shame on you, Barack Obama!" at a news conference.
Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hU0EWZcx3NAS1qa1M6s7Q4Ux7E8QD93RVE5G0
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MILF warned vs raising MOA to world body
By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
Oct 17/2008
Instead, Pimentel urged both the MILF and the government to exert "mutual efforts" to restart the peace talks.
“Since both sides remain committed to the peace process, they should seize the initiative to go back to the negotiating table as soon as possible instead of adopting a wait-and-see attitude,” he said in a statement.
To start the process, Pimentel said the government might propose the establishment of a Bangsamoro federal state within a federalized
“If there is a logical course of action that the government should take, it is to make the establishment of a Bangsamoro federal state as part of a federalized
"The federalism proposal will address the long-time aspiration of our Muslim brothers and sisters for a homeland where they will enjoy full autonomy and lead a way of life according to their Islamic faith and preserve their distinct cultural identity,” he pointed out.
Pimentel is the main proponent at the Senate of the proposed shift to a federal system from the current presidential form of government.
Pimentel said the government should "forcefully" pursue this federalism proposal instead of tinkering with the so-called “disarmament, demobilization and rehabilitation” or DDR scheme, which has been rejected by the MILF.
While the DDR approach might have worked in
In the meantime, the senator advised the government to maintain its existing ceasefire agreement with the rebels.
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Glance at Islamic terror money
By The Associated Press
A look at the ways analysts say al-Qaida and other Islamic terrorist groups get money and how it has changed over time:
_ Soviet war in
Many Islamic terror groups have their origins in the Soviet war in
_ Al-Qaida's early years:
A
A 2004
_ Post-Sept. 11 attacks:
Crackdowns on banks and other financial institutions by the
The groups continue to rely heavily on wealthy donors and Islamic charities in the oil-rich Gulf, especially in
The groups have also benefited from the drug trade in
_ Related groups and sympathizers:
Spanish officials have said illegal drug sales funded the
British officials say the terrorists who carried out the 2005
Analysts say individual terrorist attacks are cheap but it costs much more to support large-scale terrorist networks like the ones al-Qaida and the Taliban have on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Hosted by Google
Copyright © 2008 the Associated Press
Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i413kNiPiDTDj3HcUhRfTBnitZsQD93RRB0G1
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Analysts: al-Qaida has funds despite economic woes
By SEBASTIAN ABBOT
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Al-Qaida, which gets its money from the drug trade in
One reason is that al-Qaida and other Islamic terrorists have been forced to avoid using banks, relying instead on less-efficient ways to move their cash around the world, analysts said.
Those methods include hand-carrying money and using informal transfer networks called hawalas.
While escaping official scrutiny, those networks also are slower and less efficient — and thus could hamper efforts to finance attacks.
"It would be inconceivable that large amounts of (terror-linked) money would transit through the formal financial system, because of all the controls," said Ibrahim Warde, an expert on terrorist financing at The Fletcher School at
The question of where al-Qaida and its sympathizers get their money has long been crucial to efforts to prevent terrorist attacks. A 2004
After the attacks, the
Al-Qaida and the Taliban have benefited from the drug trade's growth in
Opium cultivation has fallen slightly this year but is still about 20 times higher than in 2001, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.
Former
In addition, wealthy donors and Islamic charities in the oil-rich Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia, continue to be "one of the most significant sources of illicit financing for terrorism," said Matthew Levitt, a former Treasury Department terrorism expert now with The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
The Saudis have long insisted they are doing all they can to rein in terror financing, and
But, under a system known as "zakat," wealthy Muslims are required to give a portion of their money to the poor. Much of that is given to Islamic charities, and
Levitt said the covert nature of terrorist financing makes it difficult to determine a direct correlation between rising oil revenues and the amount of cash al-Qaida has on hand.
But "it stands to reason that if there is more oil revenue, there will be more revenue for all kinds of things licit and illicit," he said.
Al-Qaida and other extremist groups have gloated in recent weeks about the West's financial woes, painting the crisis as either divine punishment for supposed wrongs or the last gasps of a dying empire.
An American al-Qaida member, Adam Gadahn, said in a video released this month that "the enemies of Islam are facing a crushing defeat, which is beginning to manifest itself in the expanding crisis their economy is experiencing."
Members of the militant Palestinian group Hamas and hard-liners in
Despite the apparent glut in potential money for terrorist groups, Levitt believes anti-terrorism efforts have hampered their ability to transfer money where they want.
Levitt points to several messages from senior al-Qaida leaders in
But Warde and other analysts are not convinced al-Qaida is really hurting.
"Anybody who is involved in fundraising of any sort is never going to say we have enough money, so I think it is a silly argument to say that because there is this intercept ... it is proof that everything we've done has succeeded brilliantly," said Warde.
Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5htLHVLki8iQwDt5uNAL79VWBgwwQD93RP4781
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From CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman
Eight of them, all Moroccans, were arrested early Thursday. They are suspected of providing cover for five fugitives from the
Later Thursday, police arrested four more people -- three Moroccans and an Algerian -- in their prison cells for similar charges. Additional details about those four were not immediately released.
The operation was conducted on orders of Judge Baltasar Garzon, an investigating magistrate at
The suspects range in age from 23 to 56. Four are from Tangiers, just across the Mediterranean from mainland
The
In the days and months that followed, police arrested a number of suspects in and around
Authorities have long suspected that they had help getting out of the area with the assistance of a secretive group of accomplices.
The main
Since the bombings, Spanish police have arrested dozens of Islamic terror suspects, who are accused of activities ranging from plotting attacks to providing financing to recruitment.
Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/10/16/spain.arrests/
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Tension high on a tour through
By Kim Linekin
It's my last of 12 days in the
Today I'm going by myself to
Why were I, a Jew and a film critic with no political experience save for a couple of Take Back the Night marches at UVic, in this deeply troubled place? It was simple, really. I'd been to Israel, but Art's invitation to see what was happening on the other side of the Wall—from the comfort of his spacious Ramallah apartment—seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Everything I'd seen so far had been fascinating, and some of it fun: the ramshackle zoo in Qalqilya, the kids' arts camp in Jenin, the thriving microbrewery in the Christian
However, after reading that two international observers were killed in
We drive for an hour before hitting the first checkpoint. There are checkpoints all over the
An hour later, we hit a long lineup for another checkpoint. Our driver turns and takes another road. Soon he's pulling over and turning the van around again. And again. I'm convinced we're lost. Some of the passengers get off in a tiny village that is definitely not
A Muslim woman sitting in the back comes to my rescue. She understands "toilet" and takes me to one, even hands me tissues from her purse. I crouch over a hole to hell. Afterward, she explains in the most broken of English that we're not lost; the roads were unexpectedly closed by the Israeli military, but we're almost there now. I love her like a sister.
We reach
Mohammed is also panicking when I meet him—his cell phone was stolen by one of his students. He's too preoccupied to show me around, so he introduces me to his mother-in-law, Nawraz, and sister-in-law Nisreen, Muslim women swathed in elegant head scarves and sunglasses. They're businesslike, asking me what I want to see. They say they'll take me to the
We walk through the bustling downtown core. I find out that Nawraz runs a women's charitable society and that Nisreen works for an NGO but wants to get into PR, because she thinks Palestinians need to tell their side of the story better.
We enter the
Nawraz pulls me into an alley. She wants to show off some restored heritage apartments that are available rent-free to Palestinians, part of an initiative by the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee to keep them in the
We round a corner and come upon the Tomb of the Patriarchs. I'm not keen to go inside, but my guides insist. First, another checkpoint. I want to stare daggers at the soldiers, but something inside me feels sympathetic toward them too.
We go into the Muslim side. I'm not Jewish enough to want to see the Jewish side. My Orthodox friends in
It's mid-afternoon. I haven't eaten lunch and am starting to feel sick.
Nawraz and Nisreen show me a road that Palestinians are allowed to walk up but not down. I spy settlers in the distance and get chills. Nawraz picks up a newspaper with a photo of a soldier turning an Arab toddler away from a checkpoint or a closed road. "The Jews are more scared of us than we are of them," she says. "They're even scared of our children. They know they shouldn't be here—it's not a nice feeling living in someone else's home." I'm finally hearing how she really feels. "We will fight back once in a while," she says. "And if it takes 100 years, they will be dismissed." -
Access: Shared taxis leave the Ramallah bus station as soon as they fill up, and go everywhere in the
Source:http://www.straight.com/article-166059/tension-high-hebron-tour