1.
Myanmar
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Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also known as Burma, is a sovereign state in South East Asia bordered by Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand. About one third of Myanmars total perimeter of 5,876 km, forms an uninterrupted coastline of 1,930 km along the Bay of Bengal, the countrys 2014 census revealed a much lower population than expected, with 51 million people recorded. Myanmar is 676,578 square kilometres in size and its capital city is Naypyidaw and its largest city and former capital city is Yangon. Early civilizations in Myanmar included the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states in Upper Burma, the Pagan Kingdom fell due to the Mongol invasions and several warring states emerged. In the 16th century, reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty, the country was for a period the largest empire in the history of Mainland Southeast Asia. The early 19th century Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Manipur. The British invaded Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century and the became a British colony. Myanmar became an independent nation in 1948, initially as a nation and then, following a coup détat in 1962. For most of its independent years, the country has been engrossed in rampant ethnic strife, during this time, the United Nations and several other organisations have reported consistent and systematic human rights violations in the country. In 2011, the junta was officially dissolved following a 2010 general election. While former military leaders still wield enormous power in the country, there is, however, continuing criticism of the governments treatment of the Muslim Rohingya minority and its poor response to the religious clashes. In the landmark 2015 election, Aung San Suu Kyis party won a majority in both houses, Myanmar is a country rich in jade and gems, oil, natural gas and other mineral resources. In 2013, its GDP stood at US$56.7 billion, the income gap in Myanmar is among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of the economy is controlled by supporters of the former military government. As of 2016, according to the Human Development Index, Myanmar had a level of human development. The renaming remains a contested issue, many political and ethnic opposition groups and countries continue to use Burma because they do not recognise the legitimacy of the ruling military government or its authority to rename the country. The countrys official name is the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Countries that do not officially recognise that name use the long form Union of Burma instead, in English, the country is popularly known as either Burma or Myanmar /ˈmjɑːnˌmɑːr/. Both these names are derived from the name of the majority Burmese Bamar ethnic group, Myanmar is considered to be the literary form of the name of the group, while Burma is derived from Bamar, the colloquial form of the groups name
2.
Opposition to Islam
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Criticism of Islam has existed since its formative stages. Early written criticism came from Christians, before the ninth century, later the Muslim world itself suffered criticism. Criticism of Islam in the West was renewed after the September 11 attacks, objects of criticism include the morality of the life of Muhammad, the last prophet according to Islam, both in his public and personal life. Issues relating to the authenticity and morality of the Quran, the Islamic holy book, are discussed by critics. Figures in Africa and India have described what they perceive as destruction of indigenous cultures by Islam, the earliest surviving written criticisms of Islam are to be found in the writings of Christians who came under the early dominion of the Islamic Caliphate. One such Christian was John of Damascus, who was familiar with Islam, the second chapter of his book, The Fount of Wisdom, titled Concerning Heresies, presents a series of discussions between Christians and Muslims. John claimed an Arian monk influenced Muhammad and viewed the Islamic doctrines as nothing more than a hodgepodge culled from the Bible, writing on Islams claim of Abrahamic ancestry, John explained that the Arabs were called Saracens because they were empty of Sarah. They were called Hagarenes because they were the descendants of the slave-girl Hagar, other notable early critics of Islam included, Abu Isa al-Warraq, a 9th-century scholar and critic of Islam. Ibn al-Rawandi, a 9th-century atheist, who repudiated Islam and revealed religion in general, Al-Maarri, an 11th-century Arab poet and critic of Islam and all other religions. Also known for his veganism and Antinatalism, in the early centuries of the Islamic Caliphate, the Islamic law allowed citizens to freely express their views, including criticism of Islam and religious authorities, without fear of persecution. As such, there have been several notable critics and skeptics of Islam that arose from within the Islamic world itself, in tenth and eleventh-century Syria there lived a blind poet called Al-Maarri. He became well known for a poetry that was affected by a pervasive pessimism and he labeled religions in general as noxious weeds and said that Islam does not have a monopoly on truth. He had particular contempt for the ulema, writing that, In 1280, maimonides, one of the foremost 12th century rabbinical arbiters and philosophers, sees the relation of Islam to Judaism as primarily theoretical. Maimonides has no quarrel with the monotheism of Islam. He also considered Islamic ethics and politics to be inferior to their Jewish counterparts, maimonides criticised what he perceived as the lack of virtue in the way Muslims rule their societies and relate to one another. In his Epistle to Yemenite Jewry, he refers to Mohammad, in Dantes Inferno, Muhammad is portrayed as split in half, with his guts hanging out, representing his status as a schismatic. Some medieval ecclesiastical writers portrayed Muhammad as possessed by Satan, a precursor of the Antichrist or the Antichrist himself, the Tultusceptrum de libro domni Metobii, an Andalusian manuscript with unknown dating, shows how Muhammad was tricked by Satan into adulterating an originally pure divine revelation. The story argues God was concerned about the fate of the Arabs
3.
Religious nationalism
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Religious nationalism is the relationship of nationalism to a particular religious belief, dogma, or affiliation. This relationship can be broken down into two aspects, the politicization of religion and the influence of religion on politics, in the former aspect, a shared religion can be seen to contribute to a sense of national unity, a common bond among the citizens of the nation. Another political aspect of religion is the support of an identity, similar to a shared ethnicity, language. Ideologically-driven religious nationalism may not necessarily be targeted against other religions per se, indeed, religious nationalism may articulate itself as the binary of secular nationalism. Thus, there was a rise of religious nationalism in the wake of the end of the cold war. In such a scenario, appealing to a sense of Islamic identity, as in the cases of Pakistan and Indonesia. Thus, appeals to religion as a marker of ethnicity creates an opening for more strident, many ethnic and cultural nationalisms include religious aspects, but as a marker of group identity, rather than the intrinsic motivation for nationalist claims. Christian nationalists focus more on politics, such as passing laws that reflect their view of Christianity. In the United States, Christian nationalism tends to be conservative, in Poland, nationalism was always characterized by loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church. Groups like the National Revival of Poland use slogans like Wielka Polska Katolicka and protest vigorously against legalization of gay marriage, conservative religious groups connected with Radio Maryja are often accused of harboring nationalist and antisemitic attitudes. Religious nationalism characterized by communal adherence to Eastern Orthodoxy and national Orthodox Churches is found in states of Eastern Europe. Many Russian Neo-Fascist and Neo-Nazi groups, such as the Russian National Unity, pakistani nationalism is very closely associated with Muslim heritage, the religion of Islam and pan-Islamism as described in Two-Nation Theory. It also refers to the consciousness and expression of religious and ethnic influences that help mould the national consciousness, Religious Zionism is an ideology that combines Zionism and observant Judaism. Before the establishment of the State of Israel, Religious Zionists were mainly observant Jews who supported Zionist efforts to rebuild a Jewish state in the Land of Israel. Given the extensive linguistic, religious, and ethnic diversity of the Indian population, indians may identify with their nation on account of civic, cultural, or third-world nationalism. In the Korean peninsula the Donghak movement and its leader, Choe Je-u, were inspired by Korean Catholic missionaries, however, they condemned the Western learning preached by missionaries and contrasted it with the indigenous Eastern learning. They started a rebellion in 1894 in Jeolla province in southwestern Korea, the rebellion was eventually crushed by Chinese and Japanese troops, resulting in 300,000 fatalities. It is comparable to the millenarian Taiping revolution led by Hong Xiuquan, the Donghak movement served as a template for the later Daejonggyo and Jeungsan-gyo movements, as well as for other religious nationalist movements
4.
Buddhism
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Buddhism is a religion and dharma that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. Buddhism originated in India sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, from where it spread through much of Asia, two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars, Theravada and Mahayana. Buddhism is the worlds fourth-largest religion, with over 500 million followers or 7% of the global population, Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices. In Theravada the ultimate goal is the attainment of the state of Nirvana, achieved by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path, thus escaping what is seen as a cycle of suffering. Theravada has a following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Mahayana, which includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon, rather than Nirvana, Mahayana instead aspires to Buddhahood via the bodhisattva path, a state wherein one remains in the cycle of rebirth to help other beings reach awakening. Vajrayana, a body of teachings attributed to Indian siddhas, may be viewed as a branch or merely a part of Mahayana. Tibetan Buddhism, which preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth century India, is practiced in regions surrounding the Himalayas, Tibetan Buddhism aspires to Buddhahood or rainbow body. Buddhism is an Indian religion attributed to the teachings of Buddha, the details of Buddhas life are mentioned in many early Buddhist texts but are inconsistent, his social background and life details are difficult to prove, the precise dates uncertain. Some hagiographic legends state that his father was a king named Suddhodana, his mother queen Maya, and he was born in Lumbini gardens. Some of the stories about Buddha, his life, his teachings, Buddha was moved by the innate suffering of humanity. He meditated on this alone for a period of time, in various ways including asceticism, on the nature of suffering. He famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree now called the Bodhi Tree in the town of Bodh Gaya in Gangetic plains region of South Asia. He reached enlightenment, discovering what Buddhists call the Middle Way, as an enlightened being, he attracted followers and founded a Sangha. Now, as the Buddha, he spent the rest of his teaching the Dharma he had discovered. Dukkha is a concept of Buddhism and part of its Four Noble Truths doctrine. It can be translated as incapable of satisfying, the unsatisfactory nature, the Four Truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism, we crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, incapable of satisfying and painful. This keeps us caught in saṃsāra, the cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha
5.
Islamophobia
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Islamophobia or Muslimophobia refers to fear, prejudice, hatred or dislike directed against Islam or Muslims, or towards Islamic politics or culture. The introduction of the term was justified by the assessment that anti-Muslim prejudice has grown so considerably. The causes and characteristics of Islamophobia are still debated, some people also question the validity of the term. The academics S. Sayyid and Vakil maintain that there are societies where virtually no Muslims live, in German, Islamophobie and Islamfeindlichkeit are used. The Scandinavian term Muslimhat literally means hatred of Muslims, the word Islamophobia is a neologism formed from Islam and -phobia, a suffix used in English to form nouns with the sense ‘fear of ——’, ‘aversion to ——’. The compound form Islamo- contains the thematic vowel -o-, and is found in earlier coinages such as Islamo-Christian from the 19th century, Islamophobia reintroduces and reaffirms a global racial structure through which resource distribution disparities are maintained and extended. In 1996, the Runnymede Trust established the Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia, chaired by Gordon Conway, the Commissions report, Islamophobia, A Challenge for Us All, was published in November 1997 by the Home Secretary, Jack Straw. In the Runnymede report, Islamophobia was defined as an outlook or world-view involving an unfounded dread and dislike of Muslims, the symposium was an early attempt to bring insights from critical race theory, postcolonial and decolonial thought to bear on the question of Islamophobia. The presentations from the symposium were turned into a volume, Sayyid. Thinking Through Islamophobia, Global Perspectives New York, Columbia University Press, nonetheless, he argued that the term is here to stay, and that it is important to define it precisely. The exact definition of Islamophobia continues to be discussed with academics such as Chris Allen saying that it lacks a clear definition, several scholars consider Islamophobia to be a form of xenophobia or racism. A2007 article in Journal of Sociology defines Islamophobia as anti-Muslim racism, similarly, John Denham has drawn parallels between modern Islamophobia and the antisemitism of the 1930s, so have Maud Olofsson, and Jan Hjärpe, among others. Others have questioned the relationship between Islamophobia and racism. Jocelyne Cesari writes that academics are still debating the legitimacy of the term and questioning how it differs from terms such as racism, anti-Islamism, anti-Muslimness. On occasion race does come into play, diane Frost defines Islamophobia as anti-Muslim feeling and violence based on race or religion. Islamophobia may also target people who have Muslim names, or have a look that is associated with Muslims, according to Alan Johnson, Islamophobia sometimes can be nothing more than xenophobia or racism wrapped in religious terms. The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance defines Islamophobia as the fear of or prejudiced viewpoint towards Islam, Muslims and it has also been defined as fear of Muslims and Islam, rejection of the Muslim religion, or a form of differentialist racism. The concept of Islamophobia as formulated by Runnymede was also criticized by professor Fred Halliday on several levels
6.
Persecution of Muslims
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Persecution of Muslims is the religious persecution inflicted upon the followers of the Islamic faith. This page lists incidents in both medieval and modern history in which Muslim populations have been targeted by non-Muslim groups, in the early days of Islam at Mecca, the new Muslims were often subjected to abuse and persecution by the pagan Meccans. Some were killed, such as Sumayyah bint Khabbab, the convert to Islam. Even the Islamic Prophet Muhammad was subjected to abuse, while he was praying near the Kaaba, Aqaba Bin Muiitt threw the entrails of a sacrificed camel over him. Abu Lahabs wife Umm Jamil would regularly dump filth outside his door, accordingly, if free Muslims were attacked, slaves who converted were subjected to far worse. The Muslim leader, Al Hakim of Cairo blew up the ancient and magnificent Constantine Church of the Holy Sepulcher in 1009 and it was also partly a response to the Investiture Controversy, which was the most significant conflict between secular and religious powers in medieval Europe. Also of great significance in launching the crusade were the string of victories by the Seljuk Turks, on 7 May 1099 the crusaders reached Jerusalem, which had been recaptured from the Seljuks by the Fatimids of Egypt only a year before. On 15 July, the crusaders were able to end the siege by breaking down sections of the walls, over the course of that afternoon, evening and next morning, the crusaders killed almost every inhabitant of Jerusalem. Although many Muslims sought shelter atop the Temple Mount inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Tancred claimed the Temple quarter for himself and offered protection to some of the Muslims there, but he was unable to prevent their deaths at the hands of his fellow crusaders. According to Fulcher of Chartres, Indeed, if you had been there you would have seen our feet coloured to our ankles with the blood of the slain, but what more shall I relate. None of them were alive, neither women nor children were spared. Muslims were indiscriminately killed, and Jews who had taken refuge in their Synagogue were killed when it was burnt down by the Crusaders. The island of Sicily was conquered by the Aghlabids by the 10th century after over a century of conflict, the Normans conquered the last Arab Muslim stronghold by 1091. Another tax on levied them for a time was the augustale, Muslim rebellion broke out during the reign of Tancred as King of Sicily. Lombard pogroms against Muslims started in the 1160s, Muslim and Christian communities in Sicily became increasingly geographically separated. The island’s Muslim communities were mainly isolated beyond a frontier which divided the south-western half of the island from the Christian north-east. Sicilian Muslims, a population, were dependent on royal protection. When King William the Good died in 1189, this protection was lifted
7.
Islamophobia in the media
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Islamophobia in the media refers to the occurrence or perception thereof that several media outlets tend to cover Muslims or Islam-related topics in a negative light. Islamophobia itself is an irrational or unreasoned fear of Islam and Muslims, some researchers point to the Iranian Revolution in 1979 as a starting point for Islamophobia in the United States. It may be due to the influence of political Islam around the same period. Others find Islamophobia present in the United States far earlier and argue that Americans were using the fear of Islam as a concept in defining America. Some also believe that the phenomenon of Islamophobia is a defense mechanism. In 2011, the Center for American Progress published Fear, Inc, the Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America. The report found that seven charitable foundations spent $42.6 million between 2001 and 2009 to support the spread of anti-Muslim rhetoric and this image is one of a rational, progressive West at constant and irreconcilable odds with an irrational, backward East. In his study, Vultee asserts, The discourse Fox creates with its audience helps to set a foundation for polarized commentary, as part of his investigation, Vultee analyzed the contents of foxnews. com from 2007 to 2009. There is a threat, of course, in Afghanistan and Iraq. And even as the West watches, they have us as the worlds largest religion. Fox News does not necessarily create the pieces of this puzzle, in their analysis of various polling data, the researchers note, Empirical evidence for such a possible interaction between media coverage and latent anti-Muslim feelings is mounting. And as we reported earlier, those trusting Fox News the most also tend to believe that Islamic values are incompatible with American values and that percentage is lower for those who most trust CNN or public television/new. Peter Oborne of The Independent wrote that such as The Sun tend to highlight crimes committed by Muslims in an undue. According to Nathan Lean, editor-in-chief, Aslan Media and a researcher at Georgetown University, professor Humayun Ansari said that politicians and the media are still fuelling Islamophobia. Shafi Khan, a friend of the students at the 2015 Chapel Hill shooting, said that politicians, such as Bobby Jindal. Vox Mediaeditor Max Fisher claimed that Fox News is only a component of the Islamophobia on U. S media. Fox News has also had to retract false claims about Muslims, according to Elizabeth Poole in the Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic Studies, the media has been criticized for perpetrating Islamophobia. Such portrayals, according to Poole, include the depiction of Islam and Muslims as a threat to Western security, benn and Jawad write that hostility towards Islam and Muslims are closely linked to media portrayals of Islam as barbaric, irrational, primitive and sexist
8.
Swiss minaret referendum, 2009
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The federal popular initiative against the construction of minarets was a successful federal popular initiative in Switzerland to prevent the construction of Mosque minarets. In a November 2009 referendum, an amendment banning the construction of new minarets was approved by 57. 5% of the participating voters. Only three of the twenty Swiss cantons and one half canton mostly in the French-speaking part of Switzerland opposed the initiative, the minaret at the mosque of the local Turkish cultural association in Wangen bei Olten is the initial motivation for the initiative. The Swiss government recommended that the amendment be rejected as inconsistent with basic principles of the constitution. But after the results were tabulated, the government immediately announced that the ban was in effect, as of the date of the 2009 vote, there were four minarets in Switzerland, attached to mosques in Zürich, Geneva, Winterthur and Wangen bei Olten. These existing minarets are not affected by the ban, the Swiss minaret controversy began in a small municipality in the northern part of Switzerland in 2005. The contention involved the Turkish cultural association in Wangen bei Olten, the project faced opposition from surrounding residents, who had formed a group to prevent the towers erection. The Turkish association claimed that the building authorities improperly and arbitrarily delayed its building application and they also believed that the members of the local opposition group were motivated by religious bias. The Communal Building and Planning Commission rejected the associations application, the applicants appealed to the Building and Justice Department, which reverted the decision and remanded. As a consequence of that decision, local residents and the commune of Wangen brought the case before the Administrative Court of the Canton of Solothurn, on appeal the Federal Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the lower court. The 6-metre -high minaret was erected in July 2009, from 2006 until 2008, members of the Swiss Peoples Party and the Federal Democratic Union launched several cantonal initiatives against the erection of minarets. The initiatives were held to be unconstitutional by cantonal parliaments and therefore void, in 2007, in response to the political defeats described above, the Egerkinger committee launched a federal popular initiative against minarets. The committees proposed amendment to article 72 of the Swiss Federal Constitution read, in Switzerland, federal popular initiatives are not subject to judicial review, as they amend the federal constitution. Federal initiatives are still bound by law, however. Promoters of popular initiatives have 18 months to collect at least 100,000 signatures, if they succeed, the initiative is put before the Swiss citizenry in a national vote. Both federal and cantonal initiatives are common in Switzerland, resulting in many votes each year. The Egerkinger committee is made up of members of the Swiss Peoples Party, the committee opines that the interests of residents, who are disturbed by specific kinds of religious land uses, are to be taken seriously. Moreover, it argues that Swiss residents should be able to block unwanted, the committee alleges, inter alia, that the construction of a minaret has no religious meaning
9.
Counter-jihad
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Counter-jihad or Counterjihad is a political current consisting of organizations, bloggers and activists all linked by a common belief that the West is being subjected to takeover by Muslims. While the roots of the movement go back to the 1980s and it has been variously dubbed pro-Israel, anti-Islamic or Islamophobic, or far-right. While the roots of the movement go back to the 1980s, the authors of Right-Wing Populism in Europe, Politics and Discourse describe the movement as heavily relying on two key tactics. The second key tactic is to attack individuals and organizations that purport to represent moderate Islam. painting them as secret operatives in a grand Muslim scheme to destroy the West. In this process, the threat is characterized by the removal of Christian or Jewish symbols, the imposition of Islamic traditions. The construction of mosques in particular is seen as continued reinforcement of the separation of the Muslim population from the wider populous. As strong as the practices of Muslims in descriptions of the counter jihad are images of a powerless Europe in decline and sliding into decadence. A lack of trust in regional, political and economic elites, with a particular focus against the European Union. One of the first organizations of the Counter-jihad movement, the 910 Group was founded in 2006 and announced on Gates of Vienna, “a principal blog of the CJM since 2004. ”Its stated purpose was to defend “liberties, human rights, and religious and political freedoms are under assault from extremist groups who believe in Islamist supremacy. In October 2007 a second summit Counterjihad Brussels 2007, was hosted by the Belgian, Flemish-nationalist party Vlaams Belang in the European Parliament building in Brussels, ten times the number of left-wing protesters staged a counter-demonstration. The 2012 conference in Denmark, was alleged by its organisers, there have been no CJM conferences since 2013, pointing to a decline in the movement. Blogs such as Gates of Vienna, Jihad Watch, Atlas Shrugs, Politically Incorrect, notable figures include, the editors of these blogs, respectively Edward Ned May, Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller, Stefan Herre, and Paul Beliën. Notable writers in the Counter-jihad movement are Bat Yeor, David Horowitz, think tanks such as the International Free Press Society and the David Horowitz Freedom Center have had an important role in providing funds and establishing international links. In time, a network of formal organisations has been established, with its main centres in Europe, a transatlantic umbrella organisation SION was established in 2012. The International Free Press Society lists representatives from many parts of the spectrum on its board of advisors. Eurabia theorist Bat YeOr is on the board of advisors, while owner of the blog Gates of Vienna, Edward S. May, serves as outreach co-ordinator on its board of directors. The U. S. -based Stop Islamization of America is led by Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, the group seeks to rouse public fears by consistently vilifying the Islamic faith and asserting the existence of an Islamic conspiracy to destroy American values. There are numerous affiliated Stop the islamisation of, and Defense Leagues in several European countries, among them Stop Islamisation of Denmark, Stop Islamisation of Norway, and the English Defence League
10.
Quran desecration
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The term Quran desecration is defined as insulting the Quran—which Muslims believe to be the literal word of God, in its original Arabic form—by defiling or defacing copies. Intentionally insulting the Quran is regarded by Muslims as blasphemous, most traditional schools of Islamic law require wudu before a Muslim may touch the Holy Quran. Muslims must always treat the book with reverence, which may even extend to excerpts of text. Disposal of worn copies is also of concern to Muslims, because the Quran contains no specifics on how to dispose of a worn or defective text, different and conflicting methods of disposal have been adopted in different regions by different sects. According to Arab News, Muslims are forbidden to recycle, pulp, or shred worn-out copies of the text, instead, respect for the written text of the Holy Quran is an important element of religious faith in Islam. Desecrating a copy of the Quran is punishable by imprisonment in some countries and has been punishable by death in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, a US military investigation confirmed four instances of Quran desecration by US personnel, and fifteen instances of desecration by Muslim prisoners. According to CBC News, The statement did not provide any explanation about why the detainees might have abused their own Holy books. In May 2005, a report in Newsweek, claiming that it was U. S. interrogators who desecrated the Quran at the Guantanamo Bay base, in 2007, Nigerian Christian teacher Christianah Oluwatoyin Oluwasesin was stabbed to death after allegations that she had desecrated a Quran. He later cancelled the plans, however, on March 20,2011, in response, Muslims in Afghanistan rioted and 12 people were killed. In February 2012, protests broke out in parts of Afghanistan over the improper disposal of Qurans at the US military Bagram Air Base. Protesters shouted Death to America and burned US flags, at least 30 people were killed and hundreds injured. Also 6 U. S. soldiers were killed after members of the Afghan National Security Forces turned their weapons on them, the violence started in Ramu Upazila in Coxs Bazar District and later spread to other areas of Bangladesh. Saudi Arabia destroys Qurans of pilgrims that fall short of state standards, the preferred method is by burning, to avoid soiling the pages. Irans news agency, IRIB, reported on April 8,2013, in Pakistan, protesters set the American flag and effigy of the US pastor Terry Jones on fire, condemning the 9/11 plan, according to an April 14,2013 article in The Nation. In October 2013, a Turkish woman was arrested on suspicion of blasphemy and inciting religious hatred after allegedly stepping on Holy Quran, proposals to recycle old Qurans in Pakistan have met with opposition. The perpetrators also left a photo of Jacques Hamel, the Catholic priest murdered during the attack, flag desecration Afghan protest over burnt Koran, BBC,25 October 2009
11.
Bosnian genocide
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The ethnic cleansing campaign that took place throughout areas controlled by the Bosnian Serbs targeted Muslim Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats. In the 1990s, several authorities asserted that ethnic cleansing as carried out by elements of the Bosnian Serb army was genocide and these included a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly and three convictions for genocide in German courts. In 2005, the United States Congress passed a resolution declaring that the Serbian policies of aggression, to date, only the Srebrenica massacre has been found to be a genocide by the ICTY, a finding upheld by the ICJ. In 2001, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia judged that the 1995 Srebrenica massacre was genocide, in the unanimous ruling Prosecutor v. They targeted for extinction the forty thousand Bosnian Muslims living in Srebrenica, in 2007, the court found insufficient evidence to conclude on alleged genocidal intent. The killings outlined above may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, in the case of Tolimir, the International Criminal Tribunal has concluded that genocide was committed in the enclave of Žepa, outside of Srebrenica. The genocidal intent of the Bosnian Serb leadership can be inferred from all the evidence, including the evidence set out in paragraphs 238 -245. On 26 February 2007, however, in Bosnia and Herzegovina v. However, Karadžić and Mladić are charged, separately, with, Count 1, Genocide. – Municipalities, Bratunac, Foča, Ključ, Kotor Varoš, Prijedor, Sanski Most, Vlasenica, initially dismissed by the Trial Chamber on 28 June 2012, this count was unanimously reinstated on 11 July 2013 by the Appeals Chamber. Count 3, Persecutions on Political, Racial and Religious Grounds and they are also charged with Murder, Deportation, Inhumane Acts, Spreading Terror among Civilians, Unlawful Attacks on Civilians, and Taking of Hostages. On 26 February 2007, the International Court of Justice found Serbia to be innocent of genocide as committed at Srebrenica in July 1995. His acquittal means that, to date, no official or army officer of Serbia-Montenegro, on 30 May 2013, the ICTY acquitted and ordered the immediate release of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, two close aides of Slobodan Milosevic. Stanisic was the Chief of the Serbian State Security Service while Simatovic was in charge of the operations arm of the State Security Service. On 27 June 2005, during the 109th Congress, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. The resolution, as amended, was passed with a majority of 370 – YES votes,1 – NO vote. The resolution is a bipartisan measure commemorating 11 July 1995 –2005, the tenth anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre. The Senate version, S. Res.134, was sponsored by Senator Gordon Smith with 8 cosponsors and was agreed to in the Senate on 22 June 2005 without amendment and with unanimous consent. S. S. A trial took place before the International Court of Justice, following a 1993 suit by Bosnia and Herzegovina against Serbia, moreover, the Court found that Serbia has not committed genocide nor conspired to or incited the commission of genocide
12.
Islamophobic incidents
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The following is a list of a number of recent incidents characterized as inspired by Islamophobia by commentators. Note that Islamophobia became a term in ideological debate in the 2000s. In Bosnia, Christian Serb and Croat militias carried out attacks on the Muslim Bosniak community. According to the ICRC data on the Bosnian Genocide,200,000 people were killed,12,000 of them children, up to 50,000 women were raped, and 2.2 million were forced to flee their homes. Many attacks on religious buildings and symbols took place in such as Foča. On 22 April 1992, Serbs blew up the Aladža Mosque, below is a list of 1 incidents in Bulgaria that could be considered Islamophobic, In recent years, other attacks have been reported against Muslims in Quebec, including vandalism and hate graffiti. This attacks provokes fear and anxiety of the escalation against Muslims, the French Collective against Islamophobia reported an explosion in the number of physical attacks on women wearing the niqab. Kenza Drider, a protester against the law, said, Im insulted about three to four times a day, most say, Go home, some say, Well kill you. One said, Well do to you what we did to the Jews, I feel that I now know what Jewish women went through before the Nazi roundups in France. When they went out in the street they were identified, singled out, after the Charlie Hebdo shooting in January 2015, there were reports of attacks on mosques and Muslim citizens throughout the country. After days of rioting and violence, it was estimated that 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed,2500 injured and 223 missing, sian expanded on these views in 2013s Mistaken Identities, Forced Conversions, and Postcolonial Formations. On the 26 August 2007 fans of the English football club Newcastle United directed anti-Muslim chants at Egyptian Middlesbrough F. C. striker Mido, an FA investigation was launched He revealed his anger at The FAs investigation, believing that they would make no difference to any future abuse. Two men were arrested over the chanting and were due to appear at Teesside Magistrates Court. KFOR-TVs coverage of the bombing informed viewers that a member of the Nation of Islam had taken credit for the bombing, even though the network cautioned that it might be a crank call, it repeated the claim throughout the days coverage. According to a prepared by the Arab American Institute, three days after the bombings, more than 200 serious hate crimes were committed against Arab Americans. The same was true in the days following September 11, there were also suggestions on the radio that all Arab Americans should be put in internment camps. In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, hate crimes against people of Middle-Eastern descent increased from 354 attacks in 2000 to 1,501 attacks in 2001, although Price described his victims as Arabs, only one was from an Arab country. The same was true in the days following September 11 and he was released only following the intervention of the Indian embassy
13.
Violence against Muslims in India
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Violence against Muslims in India is a part of religious violence in India. Over 10,000 people have killed in Hindu-Muslim communal violence since 1950 in 6,933 instances of communal violence between 1954 and 1982. The causes of violence against Muslims are varied. Other scholars believe that the violence is not widespread but that it is restricted to urban areas because of local socio-political conditions. Violence against Muslims is frequently in the form of mob attacks on Muslims by Hindus, most incidents have occurred in the northern and western states of India, whereas communalist sentiment in the south and east is less pronounced. These patterns of violence have been well-established since partition, with dozens of studies documenting instances of violence against minority groups. Over 10,000 people have killed in Hindu-Muslim communal violence since 1950. In 1989, there were incidents of violence throughout the north of India. Praveen Swami believes these periodic acts of violence have scarred Indias post independence history and have also hindered Indias cause in Jammu, in anti-Muslim riots in India there are three Muslims killed for one Hindu. The economic competition between Hindus and Muslims also results in planned riots where Muslim businesses are specifically targeted, in 1989, the north of India saw an increase in orchestrated attacks on Muslims, and the BJP had further success in the local and state elections. The social anthropologist Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah concludes that the violence in Bhagalpur in 1989, Hashimpura in 1987, according to Ram Puniyani, the Shiv Sena were victorious in the elections due to the violence in the 1990s, and the BJP in Gujarat after the 2002 violence. Hindu nationalists use the historical subjugation of India by Muslims as an excuse for violence and their view is that these conquerors had raped Hindu women and destroyed places of worship. They feel that, since the Partition, Indian Muslims are allied to Pakistan and are possible terrorists and, therefore, the higher fertility rate among Muslims has been a recurring theme in the Hindu Rights rhetoric. They claim that the birth rate among Muslims is part of a plan to turn the Hindus into a minority within their own country. Another reason given for these outbreaks of violence is the mobility of the lower castes caused by the expansion of the economy. The violence has become a substitute for class tensions, Muslims are viewed as suspect and their loyalty to the state is questioned because of the ill-will still prevalent after the violence during partition. The Shiv Sena were complicit in the violence in 1984 in the town of Bhiwandi, in both of these instances, Sena had help from the police and local officials. Violence has been incited by Sena in 1971 and 1986, according to Sudipta Kaviraj, the Vishva Hindu Parishad are still engaged in the religious conflicts which began in the medieval times
14.
Persecution of Muslims in Myanmar
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Muslims have lived in Burma since the 11th century CE. The first Muslim documented in Burmese history was Byat Wi during the reign of Mon, the two sons of Byat Wis brother Byat Ta, known as Shwe Byin brothers, were executed as children either because of their Islamic faith, or because they refused forced labour. It was clearly recorded in the Glass Palace Chronicle of the Kings of Burma that they were no longer trusted, during a time of war, King Kyansittha sent a hunter as a sniper to assassinate him. The Burmese king Bayinnaung imposed restrictions upon his Muslim subjects, in 1559 CE, after conquering Bago, Bayinnaung banned Islamic ritual slaughter, thereby prohibiting Muslims from consuming halal meals of goats and chicken. He also banned Eid al-Adha and Qurbani, regarding killing animals in the name of religion as a cruel custom, in the 17th century, Indian Muslims residing in Arakan were massacred, providing harmful and actual persecution. These Muslims had settled with Shah Shuja, who had fled India after losing the Mughal war of succession, initially, the Arakan pirate Sandathudama who was the local pirate of Chittagong and Arakan, allowed Shuja and his followers to settle there. But a dispute arose between Sandatudama and Shuja, and Shuja unsuccessfully attempted to rebel, Sandathudama killed most of Shujas followers, though Shuja himself escaped the massacre. King Alaungpaya prohibited Muslims from practising the Islamic method of killing cattle, King Bodawpaya arrested four prominent Burmese Muslim Imams from Myedu and killed them in Ava, the capital, after they refused to eat pork. According to the Myedu Muslim and Burma Muslim version, Bodawpaya later apologised for the killings, as of 1921, the population of Muslims in Burma was around 500,000. During British rule, Burmese Muslims were seen as Indian, as the majority of Indians living in Burma were Muslims, thus, Burmese Muslims, Indian Muslims and Indian Hindus were collectively known as kala. The term Kala roughly translates to black and used as racially pejorative way to describe them, after World War I, there was an upsurge in anti-Indian sentiments. There were several causes of anti-Indian and anti-Muslim sentiments in Burma, in India, many Buddhists had been persecuted by the Mughal empire. There was significant job competition between Indian migrants, who were willing to do unpleasant jobs for low income, and the native Burmese, the Great Depression intensified this competition, aggravating anti-Indian sentiment. In 1930, anti-Indian riots were sparked by an issue at the Yangon port. After Indian workers at the port went on strike, the British firm Stevedores tried to break the strike by hiring Burmese workers, realizing theyd lose their jobs, the Indian workers returned to work, and Stevedores then laid off the recently hired Burmese workers. The Burmese workers blamed Indian workers for their loss of jobs, at the port, at least 200 Indian workers were massacred and dumped into the river. Authorities fired upon armed rioters who refused to lay down their weapons, the riots rapidly spread throughout Burma, targeting Indians and Muslims. In 1938, anti-Muslim riots again broke out in Burma, moshe Yegar writes that the riots were fanned by anti-British and nationalistic sentiments, but were disguised as anti-Muslim so as not to provoke a response by the British
15.
Islamophobia in the United Kingdom
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Islam is the second largest religion in the United Kingdom, with results from the United Kingdom Census 2011 giving the UK Muslim population in 2011 as 2,786,635,4. 4% of the total population. The vast majority of Muslims in the United Kingdom live in England,2,660,116,76,737 Muslims live in Scotland,45,950 in Wales, and 3,832 in Northern Ireland. In 2014 the total population of Muslims in Great Britain was estimated to have increased to 3,115,000, across England and Wales the Muslim population numbered 3,047,000 or 5. 4% of the total population. In 2011 it was reported that the United Kingdom could have as many as 100,000 converts to Islam, Islam is the fastest growing religious confession in the UK and its adherents have the lowest average age out of all the major religious groups. Between 2001 and 2009 the Muslim population increased almost 10 times faster than the non-Muslim population, the majority of Muslims in United Kingdom belong to the Sunni denomination, while smaller numbers are Shia and Ahmadi. In terms of heritage, the largest groups of British Muslims are Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. Smaller groups are Indians, Arabs, Kurds, and Africans, the first group of Muslims to migrate to the UK in significant numbers, in the 18th century, were lascars recruited from the Indian subcontinent to work for the British East India Company. Due to the majority being lascars, the earliest Muslim communities were found in port towns, naval cooks also came, many of them from the Sylhet Division of British India. He is also reputed for introducing shampoo and therapeutic massage to the United Kingdom, the Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking was the first purpose built mosque, built in 1889. In the same year Abdullah Quilliam installed a mosque in a terrace in Liverpool, the first mosque in London was the Fazl Mosque established in 1924, commonly called the London mosque. The growing number of Muslims resulted in the establishment of more than 1,500 mosques by 2007, the publication of Salman Rushdies novel The Satanic Verses in 1988 caused major controversy. Muslims in Britain condemned the book for blasphemy, on 2 December 1988 the book was publicly burned at a demonstration in Bolton attended by 7,000 Muslims, followed by a similar demonstration and book-burning in Bradford on 14 January 1989. The Muslim population of England and Wales has grown consistently since the 1950s, the settlements with large number of Muslims are Bradford, Luton, Blackburn, Birmingham, London and Dewsbury. There are also high numbers in High Wycombe, Slough, Leicester, Derby, Manchester, Leeds, there are also relatively large concentrations in the Scottish cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. In addition, it is possible to find areas that are almost entirely Muslim. In 2015 Muhammad was the most commonly given name for boys in England and Wales. Initial limited mosque availability meant that prayers were conducted in small rooms of council flats until the 1980s when more, some synagogues and community buildings were turned into mosques and existing mosques began to expand their buildings. Most people regard themselves as part of the ummah, and their identity is based on their religion rather than their ethnic group, cultural aspects of a Bengali Islam are seen as superstition and as un-Islamic
16.
Bijeljina massacre
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The Bijeljina massacre involved the killing of between 48 and 78 civilians by Serb paramilitary groups in Bijeljina on 1–2 April 1992 during the Bosnian War. The majority of those killed were Bosniaks, members of other ethnicities were also killed, such as Serbs deemed disloyal by the local authorities. The killing was committed by a paramilitary group known as Mirkos Chetniks and by the Serb Volunteer Guard. The SDG were under the command of the Yugoslav Peoples Army, in September 1991, Bosnian Serbs proclaimed a Serbian Autonomous Oblast with Bijeljina as its capital. A poorly organized, local Bosniak Patriotic League paramilitary group had established in response to the Bosnian Serb proclamation. On 31 March, the Patriotic League in Bijeljina was provoked into fighting by local Serbs, on 1–2 April, the SDG and the JNA took over Bijeljina with little resistance, murders, rapes, house searches, and pillaging followed. These actions were described as genocidal by the historian Professor Eric D. Weitz of the City College of New York, Professor Michael Sells of the University of Chicago concluded that they were carried out to erase the cultural history of the Bosniak people of Bijeljina. Around 3 April, Serb forces removed the bodies of those massacred in anticipation of the arrival of a Bosnian government delegation tasked with investigating what had transpired. Post-war investigations have documented the deaths of a little over 250 civilian of all ethnicities in the Bijeljina municipality during the course of the war. After the massacre, a campaign of ethnic cleansing of non-Serbs was carried out, all mosques were demolished. Many deaths in Bijeljina were not officially listed as civilian war victims, Milošević was indicted by the ICTY and charged with carrying out a genocidal campaign that included Bijeljina and other locations, but died during the trial. Republika Srpska leaders Biljana Plavšić and Momčilo Krajišnik were convicted for the deportations, radovan Karadžić, the former President of Republika Srpska, is currently on trial for the massacre and other crimes against humanity committed in Bijeljina. At the end of the war, fewer than 2,700 Bosniaks still lived in the municipality from a population of 30,000. The Serbs of Bijeljina celebrate 1 April as City Defense Day, according to the 1991 census, the municipality of Bijeljina had approximately 97,000 inhabitants. The demographic proportions were approximately 59% Bosnian Serbs, 31% Bosniaks, the town of Bijeljina itself had 36,414 inhabitants,19,024 of whom were Bosniaks, while the Serbs were the second largest ethnic group in the town. In 1990 and 1991, Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina had proclaimed a number of Serbian Autonomous Oblasts with the intent of later unifying them into a homogeneous Serb territory. As early as September or October 1990, the JNA began arming Bosnian Serbs and that same year, the JNA disarmed the Territorial Defense Force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. By March 1991, the JNA had distributed an estimated 51,900 firearms to Serb paramilitaries and 23,298 firearms to the SDS, throughout 1991 and early 1992, the SDS heavily Serbianized the police force in order to increase Serb political control
17.
Cave of the Patriarchs massacre
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On February 25,1994, Goldstein opened fire on a large number of Palestinian Muslims who had gathered to pray inside the Ibrahimi Mosque at the Cave of the Patriarchs compound in Hebron, West Bank. It took place on February 25,1994, during the religious holidays of both Jewish Purim and Muslim Ramadan. The attack left 29 people dead, several as young as twelve, Goldstein was overpowered, disarmed and then beaten to death by survivors. Goldstein was widely denounced in Israel and by communities in the Jewish diaspora, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin condemned the attack, describing Goldstein as a degenerate murderer, a shame on Zionism and an embarrassment to Judaism. Some Jewish settlers in Hebron lauded him as a hero and viewed his attack as a strike and his. Following statements in support of Goldsteins actions, Kach movement was banned by the Israeli cabinet, six weeks later, Hamas carried out two suicide bombings against Israeli citizens, in retaliation. In the 1970s, Baruch Goldstein, who was born and lived in Brooklyn, after emigrating to Israel in 1983, he served as a physician in the Israeli Defense Force, first as a conscript, then in the reserve forces. Following the end of his duty, Goldstein worked as a physician and lived in the Kiryat Arba settlement near Hebron. Kahane was assassinated in 1990 by Arab terrorist El Sayyid Nosair in New York City, Goldstein was elected to Kiryat Arba city council and in this capacity assisted in establishing a memorial park dedicated to Kahane. In October 1993, inside the Ibrahimi mosque, acid was poured over the floor, leaving giant holes in the carpets, from the evidence of the sanctuary guards, Goldstein was identified as the culprit. Four years before the massacre, an agent of Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security service, the agent ascribed to Goldstein the statement, There will be a day when one Jew will take revenge on the Arabs. In Hebron, as elsewhere in the West Bank, tensions ran very high after the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993, an unprecedented number of terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians and Jewish settlers in the West Bank took place during 1993 and early 1994. A few Israeli settlers in Hebron and Kiryat Arba area were killed by Palestinian terrorists during that time, as the settlements main emergency doctor, Goldstein was involved in treating victims of Arab-Israeli violence prior to that incident as well. He expressed anti-Arab feelings far before the massacre, Israeli press reports stated that Goldstein refused to treat Arabs, even those serving in the IDF, this was also reflected in comments by his acquaintances. He was known to refuse to treat Druze soldiers who served in the West Bank, however, these anonymous claims were refuted by a number of sources, including Dr. Manfred Lehman and Dr. Chaim Simons, quoting the Shamgar Commission report. 25 February 1994 coincided with the Jewish festival of Purim, on the eve of the massacre, Goldstein listened to a reading in the Hall of Abraham of the Scroll of Esther, and spoke to others of the need to behave like Esther. Some consider it not coincidental that he carried out the execution as Purim was celebrated. Ian Lustick thinks it likely Goldstein thought of Yasser Arafat as a modern day Haman, both Jews and Muslims were permitted to access their respective parts of the compound
18.
2002 Gujarat riots
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The 2002 Gujarat riots, also known as the 2002 Gujarat violence and the Gujarat pogrom, was a three-day period of inter-communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The burning of a train in Godhra on 27 February 2002, according to official figures, the riots resulted in the deaths of 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus,2,500 people were injured non-fatally, and 223 more were reported missing. Other sources estimate that over 2000 people died, there were instances of rape, children being burned alive, and widespread looting and destruction of property. In 2012, Modi was cleared of complicity in the violence by a Special Investigation Team appointed by the Supreme Court of India, the SIT also rejected claims that the state government had not done enough to prevent the riots. In July 2013 allegations were made that the SIT had suppressed evidence and that December, an Indian court upheld the earlier SIT report and rejected a petition seeking Modis prosecution. In April 2014, the Supreme Court expressed satisfaction over the SITs investigations in nine cases related to the violence, other observers have stated that these events had met the legal definition of genocide, and called it an instance of state terrorism or ethnic cleansing. On the morning of 27 February 2002, the Sabarmati Express, several of the passengers were Hindu pilgrims, returning from Ayodhya after a religious ceremony at the site of the demolished Babri Masjid. Under controversial circumstances, four coaches of the train caught fire, in the resulting conflagration,59 people, including 25 women and 25 children, were burned to death. The government of Gujarat set up a commission to look into the incident, following outrage among the victims families and the media over Shahs alleged closeness to Modi, retired Supreme Court judge G. T. Nanavati was appointed chairman of the two person commission. After spending six years going over the details of the case, maulvi Husain Haji Ibrahim Umarji, a cleric in Godhra, and a dismissed Central Reserve Police Force officer named Nanumiyan were presented as the masterminds behind the operation. As of March 2014, the commission had yet to submit its final report, in February 2011, the trial court convicted 31 people and acquitted 63 others based on the murder and conspiracy provisions of the Indian Penal Code, saying the incident was a pre-planned conspiracy. The death penalty was awarded to 11 convicts, twenty others were sentenced to life imprisonment, maulvi Umarji, presented by the Nanavati-Shah commission as the prime conspirator, was acquitted along with 62 others accused for lack of evidence. The Union government led by the Indian National Congress party in 2005 also set up a committee to probe the incident, the committee concluded that the fire had begun inside the train and was most likely accidental. However, the Gujarat High Court ruled in 2006 that the matter was outside the jurisdiction of the government. The Concerned Citizens Tribunal concluded that the fire had been an accident, historian Ainslie Thomas Embree stated that the official version of the attack on the train, that it was organized and carried out by people under orders from Pakistan, was entirely baseless. Following the attack on the train, the Vishva Hindu Parishad called for a statewide bandh, the government did not attempt to stop the initial outbreak of violence across the state. Independent reports indicate that the state BJP president Rana Rajendrasinh had endorsed the strike, then-Chief Minister Narendra Modi declared that the attack on the train had been an act of terrorism, and not an incident of communal violence. False stories were printed by local newspapers which claimed that Muslim people had kidnapped and raped some Hindu women
19.
Innocence of Muslims
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Innocence of Muslims is an anti-Islamic short film that was written and produced by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. Two versions of the 14-minute video were uploaded to YouTube in July 2012, videos dubbed in Arabic were uploaded during early September 2012. Anti-Islamic content had been added in post-production by dubbing, without the actors knowledge, the protests have led to hundreds of injuries and over 50 deaths. Fatwas calling for the harm of the participants have been issued and a Pakistani government minister offered a bounty for the killing of Nakoula. The film has sparked debates about freedom of speech and Internet censorship, the video titled The Real Life of Muhammad, uploaded on July 1,2012, has a running time of 13,03 in 480p format. The video Muhammad Movie Trailer was uploaded on July 2,2012, the New York Times stated, The trailer opens with scenes of Egyptian security forces standing idle as Muslims pillage and burn the homes of Egyptian Christians. Then it cuts to scenes depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a child of uncertain parentage, a buffoon, a womanizer, a homosexual, a child molester. Most references to Islam have been overdubbed, added after the filming over the spoken lines. The films 80 cast and crew members have disavowed the film, The entire cast and crew are extremely upset and we are deeply saddened by the tragedies that have occurred. The script was written about life in Egypt 2,000 years ago and was titled Desert Warrior and it was a story about a character called Master George. Several actors were brought in to overdub lines and they were directed to say specific words, such as Muhammad. Hiding from the attack, a doctor and his family take shelter in their home where the doctor takes up a pen and begins writing on a whiteboard, BT is overdubbed as Islamic terrorists. The young woman asks what X is and he tells her that she needs to discover that for herself. The video continues with scenes set in the past, some scenes depict the main character referred to in overdubbing as Muhammad. In one scene, the Muhammad characters wife, Khadija, suggests mixing parts of the Torah, in another scene, the Muhammad is seen speaking to the donkey known as Yafur in Islamic tradition. The movie was written and produced by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, using the pseudonym of Sam Bacile, Nakoula claimed that he was creating an epic, two-hour film, but no such film has come to light. The project was promoted by Morris Sadek by email and on the blog of the National American Coptic Assembly, posters advertising the film used the title Innocence of Bin Laden. The films original working title was Desert Warrior, and it told the story of tribal battles prompted by the arrival of a comet on Earth
20.
Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
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The newspaper announced that this was an attempt to contribute to the debate about criticism of Islam and self-censorship. Muslim groups in Denmark complained, and the issue led to protests around the world, including violent demonstrations. Islam has a tradition of aniconism, and it is considered highly blasphemous in most Islamic traditions to visually depict Muhammad. This, compounded with a sense that the cartoons insulted Muhammad and Islam and they presented a dossier containing the twelve cartoons from the Jyllands-Posten, and other information some of which was found to be falsified. As a result, the issue received prominent media attention in some Muslim countries, leading to protests across the world in late January, some groups responded to the outpouring of protest by endorsing the Danish policies, launching Buy Danish campaigns and other displays of support. The cartoons were reprinted in newspapers around the world both in a sense of solidarity and as an illustration in what became a major news story. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen described the controversy as Denmarks worst international relations incident since the Second World War, the cartoons and the reaction to them aggravated already-strained relations. The Danish tradition of high tolerance for freedom of speech became a focus of some attention. Critics of the cartoons described them as Islamophobic, racist, or baiting and blasphemous to Muslims, others saw them as a manifestation of ignorance about the history of Western imperialism, double standards, and stereotyping. Three artists declined Bluitgens proposal out of fear of reprisals, one artist agreed to assist anonymously, he said that he was afraid for his and his familys safety. The story gained some traction, and the major Danish newspapers reported the story the following day, the supposed refusals from these first three artists to participate was seen as evidence of self-censorship out of fear of violence from Islamists, which led to much debate in Denmark. The Danish news paper Politiken stated at February 12,2006, the author refused, and nobody has ever been able to confirm whether the incident is properly described. At an editorial meeting of Jyllands-Posten on 19 September, reporter Stig Olesen mooted the idea of asking the members of the newspaper illustrators union if they would be willing to draw Muhammad and this would be an experiment to see the degree to which professional illustrators felt threatened. Flemming Rose, culture editor, was interested in the idea,12 drawings had been submitted—three from newspaper employees and two which did not directly show Muhammad. The editors thought that some of the illustrators who had not responded were employed by newspapers and were thus contractually prohibited from working for Jyllands-Posten. Carsten Juste has said that the survey lacked validity and the story fell short of sound journalistic basis, on 30 September 2005, Jyllands-Posten published an article entitled Muhammeds ansigt incorporating the cartoons. The article consisted of the 12 cartoons and a text, in which Rose wrote, Modern. They demand a position, insisting on special consideration of their own religious feelings
21.
Murder of Marwa El-Sherbini
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Marwa Ali El-Sherbini, was an Egyptian woman and German resident who was killed in 2009 during an appeal hearing at a court of law in Dresden, Germany. She was stabbed by Alex Wiens, an ethnic German immigrant from Russia against whom she had testified in a case for verbal abuse. El-Sherbinis husband, who was present at the hearing, tried to intervene and he too was repeatedly stabbed by Wiens and was then mistakenly shot and wounded by a police officer who was called to the court room. Wiens was arrested at the scene and subsequently tried for murder. Wiens was sentenced to life imprisonment, the death of El-Sherbini immediately resulted in international reactions, with the most vocal responses coming from predominantly Muslim nations. In response to anti-German sentiments and public protests in Egypt and other countries, Wienss trial for murder and attempted murder occurred under strict security measures and was observed by national and international media, diplomats and legal experts. Marwa El-Sherbini was born in 1977 in Alexandria, Egypt, to the chemists Ali El-Sherbini, in 1995, she graduated from El Nasr Girls College, where she had acted as a student speaker. El-Sherbini went on to study pharmacy at Alexandria University, obtaining a degree in pharmaceutical sciences in 2000. From 1992 to 1999, she was a member of the Egypt national handball team, in 2005, El-Sherbini moved with her husband, Elwy Ali Okaz, to Bremen, Germany. El-Sherbini worked at the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus in Dresden, together with others, El-Sherbini founded a registered voluntary association with the aim of establishing an Islamic cultural and education centre in Dresden. At the time of her death, El-Sherbini was three months pregnant, expecting her second child, Alex Wiens was born in 1980 in Perm, Russia. After leaving school, he completed a training programme as a warehouseman. In 2003, he immigrated to Germany and gained German citizenship as a result of his ethnic origin, in Germany, he worked as a builder and caretaker, but had been living on welfare benefits for the long-term unemployed at the time of the murder. In November 2009, at the time of sentencing, Wiens was 28 years old, unmarried, on 21 August 2008, Wiens and El-Sherbini met at a public playground in Dresdens Johannstadt district, where Wienss niece and El-Sherbinis son were playing. During a quarrel over whose child should be using the playgrounds swing, El-Sherbini who was wearing an Islamic headscarf, was called Islamist, terrorist and slut. El-Sherbini called the police on a mobile phone and within a few minutes four police officers arrived in two vehicles at the scene. El-Sherbini and Wiens were questioned, El-Sherbini was subsequently driven away in one of the police vehicles, Wiens was charged with criminal defamation and given a penalty order to pay a fine of €330. After formally objecting and refusing to pay the fine, Wiens was tried at the court of Dresden
22.
Murder of Du'a Khalil Aswad
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Du’a Khalil Aswad was a 17-year-old Iraqi girl of the Yazidi faith who was stoned to death in an honor killing. It is believed that she was killed around 7 April 2007, the rumor that the stoning was connected to her alleged conversion to Islam prompted reprisals against Yazidis by Sunnis, including the 2007 Mosul massacre. Some reports claim that Aswad was murdered for having converted to Islam to marry an Iraqi Sunni Muslim boy and it is disputed whether or not she actually converted to Islam, some reports say the Sunni boyfriend has denied that she had. Other sources instead indicate that Aswad was killed in punishment for being absent from her one night. Either way, the police handed Dua into the custody of a local Yezidi sheikh, some news agencies reported that Aswad was being sheltered by a Yazidi tribal leader in Bashika in fear of her life until her family persuaded her that she had been forgiven and could return home. Other reports indicate that she was given asylum by a local Muslim Sheikh. It is not known whether the members of her family that convinced her to return home were responsible for her death. It is not clear from the video whether she was ambushed returning to her home, or if the mob stormed her home. Estimates of the number of range from hundreds to one thousand to two thousand men. The incident took place in Bashika, a town in Ninawa Governorate, Aswad was taken to the town square, according to reports she was stripped naked to symbolize that she had dishonored her family and religion. After her death in the square, Aswads body was tied behind a car. She was buried with the remains of a dog, to disrespect her, eventually, her body was exhumed and sent to the Medico-Legal Institute in Mosul so that tests could be performed to see whether she had died a virgin. A protest in Arbil against Aswads killing attracted hundreds of Kurds who called for an end to honor killings. It is believed Aswads murder sparked, or was used as a pretext for, the same day also witnessed another reprisal attack claimed by Ansar al-Sunna by a suicide carbomb attack targeted the village of Tel Isqof killing 25 Yazidis and Assyrian Christians. Both her murder and the reprisal were condemned by Amnesty International, authorities in Northern Iraq have arrested four people in connection with the killing. Stoning of Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow Genocide of Yazidis by ISIL Murder of Farkhunda Femicide Honor killing Video of the stoning
23.
Muslim Massacre (video game)
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Muslim Massacre, The Game of Modern Religious Genocide is a controversial 2008 amateur computer game by former Something Awful forum member Eric Vaughn under the screen name Sigvatr. It is a shoot em up video game. Muslim Massacre was created by Something Awful forums poster Eric Sigvatr Vaughn, in describing the game, Vaughn explained the game as something along the lines of metaphorically destroying the stereotypical depiction of a Muslim. The game had an ad on its front page reading Don’t be a liberal. Players control an American soldier armed with a pistol who has been parachuted into the Middle East, the player can also pick up special weapons such as a shotgun, a machinegun, hand grenades and a rocket launcher, supplied by an overflying plane. To progress to the bosses, the player must kill all the Muslims who appear on-screen during each stage. Some Muslims are dressed as civilians while others are depicted as stereotypical terrorists wearing a suicide vest and he noted that as opposed to banning it, people who do not like it should boycott it, while parents should supervise what their children play. Kotakus Michael McWhertor called it a shooter, calling its visual style. He felt that it alluded to shooting games such as Contra and Ikari Warriors, ultimately stating that it doesnt play particularly well, gameSetWatchs Simon Carless gave it a resounding eh. The game has been downloaded over 100,000 times as of April 11,2008, the game, while being released for some time beforehand, gained controversy around the seventh anniversary of the September 11 attacks in 2001. TechRadars Adam Hartley said that the game was vile, childish, tedious and he also stated that it incites violence toward Muslims and is trying to justify the killing of innocent Muslims, urging both the British government and Internet providers to shut the web site down. Spence was concerned with the game, commenting that the web site has brought to the attention of police. A Queensland Police spokesman announced that the game was examined, where no offence was detected and they referred the matter to Canadian authorities. Viewer comments on the web site of the Arabic television channel Al Arabiya were mixed, some condemned it, the web site was blocked in some Arab states. He criticized Vaughn for exacerbating poor Muslim relations, referencing the controversy over the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy and he also bemoaned how ratings boards such as the British Board of Film Classification had no oversight of Internet games. Arab News Aijaz Afaqui referenced violence in American-made video games and the use of Muslim terrorists as enemies in them and he added that it violated sedition provisions of counter terrorism laws, as well as other laws that prevent the incitement of violence against sections of Australian society. The AG responded by saying that it was up to the Australian Federal Police to investigate whether it did so and he added that he had no faith in the ACMA, citing a case where a radio station had to undergo cultural training, which he found to be ineffectual. Regarding the game itself, Eric Vaughn called it fun and funny, after the controversy, Vaughn took down the game, leaving an apology and a retrospective on his actions on the web site
24.
National Socialist Underground murders
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The National Socialist Underground murders were a series of xenophobe murders by the German Neo-Nazi group National Socialist Underground. NSU perpetrated the attacks between 2000 and 2007 throughout Germany, leaving ten dead and one wounded. Primary targets were ethnic Turks but also Kurds, though the victims also included one ethnic Greek, most of the victims were small business owners, including doner kebab vendors and greengrocers. They were murdered in daylight with gunshots to the face at close range with a silenced CZ83 pistol, according to the parents of a Turkish victim who worked in an internet café, the police originally suspected foreign organised criminals. Policewoman Michèle Kiesewetter was also shot and killed and the officer on patrol with her was critically wounded. Other crimes, including an attack, may have been committed by the group. German authorities identified three suspects, Uwe Böhnhardt, Uwe Mundlos, and Beate Zschäpe as responsible for the murders, according to the acting Attorney General of Germany, Rainer Greisbaum, the suspects had Neo-Nazi links. Böhnhardt and Mundlos were found dead by police after they robbed a bank on 4 November 2011, Zschäpe surrendered on 11 November 2011. She will probably face charges of murder, attempted murder, arson, Zschäpe said she was only willing to testify if she was considered a state witness, with mitigation of sentence. The police discovered an alleged hit-list of 88 names that included two prominent members of the Bundestag and representatives of Turkish and Islamic groups, the serial murders were previously called Bosphorus serial murders by German authorities with the derogatory term Kebab Murders being frequently used by the yellow press. Enver Şimşek was a 38-year-old business man with Turkish roots who operated several flower stalls in southern Germany and he was the first victim in the series. One of the used to kill Şimşek was used in nine more murders. On 13 June 2001, Abdurrahim Özüdoğru was killed by two shots in the head with the weapon already used in the murder of Enver Şimşek. On 27 June 2001 between 10,45 and 11,15 a. m, Süleyman Taşköprü, aged 31, died in his greengrocers shop in Hamburg-Bahrenfeld after being shot in the head three times. This was two weeks after the murder, and the same guns as in the first case were used, a CZ83. On 29 August 2001 Habil Kılıç became the fourth victim, Kılıç, aged 38, who was married and had a daughter, was shot at point-blank range in his greengrocers shop in Munich-Ramersdorf. This was the first of two murders in Munich, turgut, who had been living illegally in Hamburg, was in Rostock on a visit and had been asked by an acquaintance to open up a doner kebab shop that day. Because of Turguts link to Hamburg, Rostock police made the connection to the victim, Süleyman Taşköprü
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