International Affairs

QALANDIA, West Bank, Aug 31 (IPS) – The future of East Jerusalem and of Palestinian access to it has again been brought under the spotlight. Thousands of Palestinians were turned away at West Bank checkpoints leading into Jerusalem by Israeli security forces as they tried to attend Friday Ramadan prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque. IPS witnessed dozens of heavily armed Israeli …

As the new crescent moon ushers in Ramadan, the President extends his best wishes to Muslim communities in the United States and around the world. Each Ramadan, the ninth month on the lunar calendar, Muslims fast daily from dawn to sunset for 29 or 30 days. Fasting is a tradition in many religious faiths and is meant to increase spirituality, …

Dr Nazreen Nawaz (Hizb ut-Tahrir) interviewed about the murder of Marwa Sherbini in a German court, attitudes towards Muslims in the West and the reaction of Muslim governments.

OTTAWA — The Canadian Islamic Congress condemns the brutal murder last week of a pregnant Muslim woman in a German courtroom and the silence of Canada’s news media in failing to report on this hate-motivated crime. Marwa Sherbini, 32, was fatally stabbed on July 1 by a racist attacker in a Dresden courtroom before shocked onlookers — including her husband …

On Tuesday American troops withdrew from Iraq’s cities to their barracks in accordance with an agreement the George W. Bush administration and the Iraqi government signed hours before a UN mandate permitting US presence in Iraq expired. The June 30 withdrawal was a milestone indeed, some analysts may say, given the fears many people entertained when the United States invaded …