Salmiya

It is absolutely true (but difficult to believe) when the Iranian President Ahmadinejad claimed on Monday in an interview with NBC that nuclear weapons belong to the 20th century. But what about female suicide bombings of pilgrims? Also on Monday this week at least 25 people died in three(!) suicide attacks against Shi'a pilgrims in Baghdad on the occasion of the Kadhimiya mourning. Three years ago, almost 1000 died in a stampede on a bridge across the river Tigris when rumors were suddenly spread that suicide bombers were among the pilgrims. This is clearly not 21st century but can be compared only with the darkest periods of the Middle Ages. I have my deep problems with the faintest understanding for Iraqis still fighting Americans in their country instead of doing everything to overcome the obvious reasons why they are there after all. But what about sectarian fights between Sunni and Shi'a, urging women(!) to wearing dynamite under their loose-fitting robes in order not to...

Participants at the latest Doha Debate on April 29th, 2008 have strongly defended Islam's image after repeated accusations that it had been damaged by the Sunni-Shia conflict in Iraq. The motion that the Sunni-Shia conflict is damaging Islam’s reputation as a religion of peace was defeated by 61%-39%. From the Doha Debate webpage: In a series of robust exchanges, there was strong disagreement about the effects of violence between Islam's two largest denominations. Juan Cole, Professor of History at the University of Michigan, said recent polls showed that Americans believed Islam contained more violent extremists than other religions and sectarian fighting must have contributed to that impression. “People in the United States are beginning to see Muslims as inherently violent,” he said. This perception, he argued, enabled the major powers to exploit Islam's splits “and embark on a policy of divide and rule.” Seconding the motion, General Ali Shukri, an adviser to the late K...