Yale University has removed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad from an upcoming book about how they caused outrage across the Muslim world, drawing criticism from prominent alumni and a national group of university professors. Yale cited fears of violence. Yale University Press, which the university owns, removed the 12 caricatures from the book "The Cartoons That Shook the World" by Brandeis University professor Jytte Klausen. The book is scheduled to be released next week. A Danish newspaper originally published the cartoons - including one depicting Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban - in 2005. Other Western publications reprinted them. The following year, the cartoons triggered massive protests from Morocco to Indonesia. Rioters torched Danish and other Western diplomatic missions. Some Muslim countries boycotted Danish products. Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry. "I think it's horrifying that the campus of Nathan Hale has become the first place where America surrenders to this kind of fear because of what extremists might possibly do," said Michael Steinberg, an attorney and Yale graduate. "I think it's intellectual cowardice," Ambassador John Bolton said Thursday. "I think it's very self defeating on Yale's part. To me it's just inexplicable." In a statement explaining the decision, Yale University Press said it decided to exclude a Danish newspaper page of the cartoons and other depictions of Muhammad after asking the university for help on the issue. It said the university consulted counterterrorism officials, diplomats and the top Muslim official at the United Nations. "The decision rested solely on the experts' assessment that there existed a substantial likelihood of violence that might take the lives of innocent victims," the statement said.
A London mosque was named today as having a 20-year history as a recruiting ground for extremists. The Queen's Road mosque in Walthamstow was frequented by the leader of the airline gang that was convicted on Monday of attempting to blow up seven transatlantic flights. Abdulla Ahmed Ali used the mosque, which is controlled by the Tablighi Jamaat sect, to meet associates. Two decades ago, the same mosque was hosting talks by followers of Omar Bakri Mohammed, one of the first Islamic clerics in Britain to preach jihad. Bakri Mohammed, who now lives in Lebanon, set up the al-Muhajiroun which he used to radicalise young men. His followers included two Britons responsible for a suicide bomb attack on Tel Aviv in 2003.
A special Serbian court has sentenced four radical Muslims from a the volatile Sandzak region of the country to up to eight years in prison each for planning terrorist attacks on targets in the Balkans. The four men were sentenced on charges of terrorism, illegal possession of weapons and alleged links with unidentified foreign terrorist groups, following an eight-month trial. The four men were arrested in police raids in 2007 in the Sandzak region, which borders Kosovo. They are from predominantly Muslim town of Novi Pazar and adhere to the fundamentalist Wahabi interpretation of Islam followed by Osama bin Laden and many Al-Qaida members. The group formed a cell in 2007 that planned to carry out terrorist acts in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia, judge Milan Ranic stated, explaining the court's verdict. The group's objective was to spread fear among citizens and to gain religious power. The group was in close contact with other Wahabis from Bosnia, Albania and Syria and had in their posession a large quantity of terrorism prosyletising materials, according to the court indictment. Twelve Wahabis were sentenced in July to a total 60 years in jail for terrorism, conspiracy and planning terrorist attacks in Serbia, including a plot to assassinate local mufti Muamer Zukorlic, who the group considered to be an American spy and betrayer of Islam.
Athens accused Macedonian government of inciting fanaticism among its nation and distancing it from the EU and NATO accession instead of focusing on some constructiveness in the negotiations over the name dispute, Kanal 5 television reports. The media remarks that Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis declared that the government of Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski is trying to write the history by stealing someone else’s one. According to Bakoyannis, the government pushes Macedonian nation towards fanaticism and intolerance, and distances it from its European-Atlantic future, Kanal 5 reports. The minister added that the negotiations enter into a new stage and there is a need to do the best to achieve the best result possible.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has expressed satisfaction with the efforts made by the leaders of the two communities in Cyprus to reach a solution of the Cyprus problem. The Italian Prime Minister hosted a working dinner Tuesday evening in Cypriot President Demetris Christofias’ honor, who is paying an official visit to Italy. “Prime Minister Berlusconi stressed the firm ties between the two countries, their common European and Mediterranean character”, the press release says. It is also added that “the Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction with the effort made by the leaders of the two communities at the negotiating process and their willingness to insist on that effort”. The press release notes that President Christofias reaffirmed his commitment to continue the negotiating process in order to reach an overall solution of the Cyprus problem. President Christofias continues his official visit in Italy. Today, he will visit Perugia, where he will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate of communication systems in international relations by the University for Foreigners of Perugia. He will also visit the Town Hall (Palazzo Prior). A ceremony will be held there during which the Mayor of Perugia will hand over to the Cypriot President the Seals of the Town. President Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat have been engaged in direct negotiations since September 2008 with a view to reach a settlement of the question of Cyprus, divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third.
The Balkans will be one of the priorities of the Spanish presidency of the European Union that begins in January 2010 and while Madrid refuses to recognise Kosovo as independent, this is not foreseen as a problem by Spanish foreign minister Miguel Moratinos. Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February 2008. Twenty-two EU member states recognise Kosovo as independent, but Spain is one of the five that do not. According to Kosovo media reports on September 9 2009, Moratinos – speaking in Vienna the previous day in a presentation of Spain’s priorities for its EU presidency – said that on the question of Kosovo "we respect different points of view". "We all want to promote peace and stability by moving toward a European future for the countries of the Balkans," Moratinos said in an interview with Radio Free Europe. Disagreements among EU member states about Kosovo's independence would not pose any problems, Moratinos said.
Institute on Religion, Law & Lawyer's Work; The Fordham University Orthodox Christian Studies Program. Featured speakers: George Demacopoulos, Fordham University Associate Professor of Theology, Co-Founding Director, Orthodox Christian Studies Program; Emanuel Demos, Esq., General Counsel, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America; Ruti G. Teitel, New York Law School, Ernst C. Stiefel Professor of Comparative Law, Human Rights Watch, Europe, Steering Committee; RSVP by 9/15/2009, or at the door; E: lawreligion@law.fordham.edu | P: 212.636.7699 | http://law.fordham.edu/lawreligion. Admission is free.