Read also this article:
THE ISLAMIST THREAT US Rips European Integration Failures A United States official on Wednesday said that Europe's inability to integrate its sizeable Muslim minority represented a risk to American security. Europe, meanwhile, is desperately searching for a strategy to confront the problem. DPA Europe's failure to integrate its Muslim population is a threat to US security, says a US official. The alienation and isolation of Europe's substantial Muslim minority does not just present a potentially explosive problem for the continent, a United States State Department official said on Wednesday. Europe's inability to integrate its immigrant population also represents a threat to US security, he warned. US Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Daniel Fried told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington that high unemployment among Muslims in European countries combined with widespread discrimination and integration problems have created fertile ground for Muslim extremism. "Many, perhaps most Muslims in Western Europe are outside the mainstream in several respects. They are a minority, and even the third generation is still predominantly viewed as 'foreign,'" Fried said, according to the transcript of his statements posted on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Web site. "In many countries, this is compounded by legal institutions that struggle with the challenge of free speech that is exploited by extremists, thus leading to the phenomenon sometimes called 'tolerance of intolerance.' Add a deeply negative perception of US foreign policy among Western Europe's Muslims, and relative freedom of movement across the Atlantic, and you have a particularly dangerous mix." Fried's warning was echoed by Henry Crumpton, the State Department's counterterrorism coordinator, who pointed out that much of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in the US were planned in Europe. "Five years later and despite many counterterrorism successes, violent Islamic extremism in Europe continues to pose a threat to the national security of the Untied States and our allies," Crumpton said. The trans-Atlantic upbraiding comes as Europeans are taking an intense look at integration and vocally lamenting their seeming inability to accept foreigners seamlessly into their midst. Germany recently has been wringing its hands over excessive violence in a high school in the Berlin neighborhood of Neukölln. The teachers at the school, 83 percent of whose student body is comprised of immigrants, recently went public with the increasing violence and aggressiveness in the classrooms. A number of German states have also recently considered adopting tests to determine the attitudes of potential citizens to the German constitution. The Netherlands, France and Denmark have likewise been confronting major difficulties with integrating their foreigner populations -- many of whom are part of the 15 to 20 million Muslims who live in Western Europe. French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy last month proposed a EU- wide contract that immigrants would be forced to sign requiring them to learn the language of their new home country. Latest Post: 08/25 By Charles Martel II German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble is currently planning a so-called "integration summit" with representatives of Germany's Muslim community. Though a date has not been set, Schäuble said in a Thursday interview with the Berliner Zeitung that something urgently needs to be done. He said that while all levels of government must do what they can, immigrants themselves must also realize that "they have to integrate." "Those who continue shirking their obligation to integrate and who don't want their children to live as Germans made a mistake when they came to Germany," Schäuble, of the governing conservative Christian Democrats, told Berliner Zeitung. "We will not achieve integration if the parents of children born here don't realize that they bear a responsibility for raising and integrating their children into German society." Schäuble's party on Wednesday also demanded that immigrants who do not take part in integration courses be punished with cuts to their social insurance payments or a refusal to renew their residency permits. If nothing is done, warned one conservative politician, a number of immigrant neighborhoods in German cities could become foreigner ghettos. In his comments on Wednesday, Fried did concede that only 1 to 2 percent of Muslims living in Western Europe were extremists. But he warned that extensive opposition to US policies in the Middle East, particularly US support for Israel and the invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq, had pushed many European Muslims into the arms of extremists. Both US officials told the Senate committee that Europe understood the gravity of the problem. "But despite this shared perception of the threat, there is disagreement over the most effective means to counter the threat," said Crumpton. "Some European countries continue to argue that terrorism is merely -- or mainly -- a criminal problem." cgh/Reuters/AFP --- In [email protected], indah nuritasari <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > > > - > > > More US Hispanics drawn to Islam > Amy Green Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor > Date: 09/28/2006 > > (ORLANDO, FLA.)With her hijab and dark complexion, Catherine Garcia doesn't look like an Orlando native or a Disney tourist. When people ask where she's from, often they are surprised that it's not the Middle East but Colombia. That's because Ms. Garcia, a bookstore clerk who immigrated to the US seven years ago, is Hispanic and Muslim. On this balmy afternoon at the start of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, she is at her mosque dressed in long sleeves and a long skirt in keeping with the Islamic belief in modesty. "When I was in my country I never fit in the society. Here in Islam I feel like I fit with everything they believe," she says. > > Garcia is one of a growing number of Hispanics across the US who have found common ground in a faith and culture bearing surprising similarities to their own heritage. From professionals to students to homemakers, they are drawn to the Muslim faith through marriage, curiosity and a shared interest in issues such as immigration. > > The population of Hispanic Muslims has increased 30 percent to some 200,000 since 1999, estimates Ali Khan, national director of the American Muslim Council in Chicago. Many attribute the trend to a growing interest in Islam since the 2001 terrorist attacks and also to a collision between two burgeoning minority groups. They note that Muslims ruled Spain centuries ago, leaving an imprint on Spanish food, > music, and language. > > "Many Hispanics ... who are becoming Muslim, would say they are embracing their heritage, a heritage that was denied to them in a sense," says Ihsan Bagby, professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky. The trend has spawned Latino Islamic organizations such as the Latino American Dawah Organization, established in 1997 by Hispanic converts in New York City. Today the organization is nationwide. > > The growth in the Hispanic Muslim population is especially prevalent in New York, Florida, California, and Texas, where Hispanic communities are largest. In Orlando, the area's largest mosque, which serves some 700 worshipers each week, is located in a mostly Hispanic neighborhood. A few years ago it was rare to hear Spanish spoken at the mosque, says Imam Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida. > > Today there is a growing demand for books in Spanish, including the Koran, and requests for appearances on Spanish-language radio stations, Mr. Musri says. The mosque offers a Spanish-language education program in Islam for women on Saturdays. "I could easily see in the next few years a mosque that will have Spanish services and a Hispanic imam who will be leading the service," he says. > > The two groups tend to be family-oriented, religious, and historically conservative politically, Dr. Bagby says. Many who convert are second- and third-generation Hispanic Americans. The two groups also share an interest in social issues such as > immigration, poverty, and healthcare. Earlier this year Muslims joined Hispanics in marches nationwide protesting immigration-reform proposals they felt were unfair. > > In South Central Los Angeles, a group of Muslim UCLA students a decade ago established a medical clinic in this underserved area. Today the nonreligious University Muslim Medical Association Community Clinic treats some 16,000 patients, mostly Hispanic, who see it as a safe place to seek care without fear for their illegal status, says Mansur Khan, vice chairman of the board and one of the founders. > > Although the clinic doesn't seek Muslim converts, Dr. Khan sees Hispanics taking an interest in his faith because it focuses on family, he says. One volunteer nurse founded a Latino Islamic organization in the area. Another Hispanic woman told Khan she felt drawn to the faith because of the head covering Muslim women wear. It reminded her of the Virgin Mary. > > The trend is a sign that Islam is becoming more Americanized and more indigenous to the country, Bagby says. As Republican positions on issues such as immigration push Muslim Hispanics and blacks in a less conservative direction, Islam could move in the same direction. Muslim Hispanic and black involvement in American politics could demonstrate to Muslims worldwide the virtues of democracy, eventually softening fundamentalists. He believes the Osama bin Ladens of the world are a > small minority, and that most fundamentalists are moving toward engagement with the West. > > "The more Hispanics and other Americans [who] become Muslim, the stronger and wider the bridge between the Muslim community and the general larger American community," Bagby says. "Their words and approach have some weight because they are a source of pride for Muslims throughout the world." > > Garcia left Colombia to study international business in the US. Always religious, she considered becoming a nun when she was younger. But her Catholic faith raised questions for her. She wondered about eating pork when the Bible forbids it, and about praying to Mary and the saints and not directly to God. > > In the US she befriended Muslims and eventually converted to Islam. Her family in Colombia was supportive. Today she says her prayers in English, Spanish, and Arabic, and she eats Halal food in keeping with Islamic beliefs. "It's the best thing that happened to me," says Garcia in soft, broken English. "I never expected to have so many blessings and be in peace like I am now." > > (c) Copyright 2006 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved. > > > > --------------------------------- > Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com. Check it out. > > > > > -- > "alam terkembang ayat ilahi" > visit www.west-sumatra.com > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ > - Dengarkan Mutiara Qalbu Live tiap Minggu sore 6:00 - 7:00 PM EST di Radio Imsa > atau via Telebridge dial-in Number: (605) 772-3200, access code: 1045291# > - Perlu dukungan Imsa?, gunakan saja Helpdesk http://www.imsa.us/support > - Malam minggu nggak kemana-mana?, dengarkan "Salam Sahabat" di Radio Imsa > mulai pukul 9:00PM EST - tengah malam, http://www.imsa.us/radio/listen.m3u > - Pesan Cookbook sekarang juga, kumpulan resep hasil karya Imsa sisters, silahkan > lihat keterengan lebih lanjut di http://www.imsa.us > - Jangan lupa tiap Sabtu pagi, Imsa sisters mengudara di Radio Imsa dengan berbagai > Macam talk show tentang kerumah tanggaan dan lain-lain, catat waktunya mulai > pukul 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST. > -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~--- > > > > > > > test'; "> > > --------------------------------- > Want to be your own boss? Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business. > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Reading only, http://dear.to/ppi 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
