Why Do People Become Islamic Extremists?

What makes someone become an Islamic extremist? Is it poverty? Lack of education? A search for meaning? Haroon Ullah, a senior State Department advisor and a foreign policy professor at Georgetown University, shares what he discovered while living in Pakistan.

World Watch Monitor – The Rise of Islamic Extremism in Central Asia and the Caucasus

Summary

Islamic extremism in Central Asia and the Caucasus will further increase in the next few years, predicts a new report by Anna Münster, a Fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House.

US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014, and expected regime changes in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan threaten to destabilise the region, providing radicals with a platform from which to operate, claims Growing Islamic Extremism in Central Asia and the Caucasus – Situation and Outlook.

The notion of Islam growing as a response to disillusionment is referenced several times, as is the existence of solidarity between Muslims in Central Asia and the Caucasus who feel victimised by the West and believe themselves to be subjected to a “grand conspiracy against the Muslim world”.

Perhaps most notably, Münster highlights a deliberate “closing of the eyes” to human rights abuses in Uzbekistan, where Western governments have vested interests. Here, Munster says Islamists have been subjected to brutality and torture in prisons – “even those who never engaged in violent actions and were [incarcerated] simply for possessing a Hizb ut-Tahrir leaflet”.

Torture is often “systematic” and “deeply disturbing”, she writes, while the “extension of government control over life, including religious life, has been reminiscent of Soviet times, though the use of new technologies and events of the Arab Spring may present a stark warning to today’s repressive governments”.

Plead for the release of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian, condamned for alleged blasphemy

Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian in Punjab is awaiting execution by hanginf after being (most probably falsely) accused of blasphemy towards the prophet Mohammad. You may find HERE more details about this case.

The Pakistani blasphemy law is the most used means to persecute the Christian minority in this Islamic republic.

Extremists – both kinds – UPDATED

I have just received from a friend the following comics and I wanted to share them with you, because I find them very relevant for the times we live.

(Source: HERE)

Ridiculous Russia – Lutherans Accused of Extremism by (Post)Soviet Militia in Kaluga

This article was published by F18News on: 23 March 2010

RUSSIA: Lutheran extremists?

By Felix Corley and Geraldine Fagan, Forum 18 News Service

After initially denying it, Officer Senichev (who refused to give his first name) of Kaluga Police in central Russia admitted to Forum 18 News Service that eleven armed officers with dogs had interrupted the 28 February Sunday morning service of St George’s Lutheran congregation. “We had a call on the hotline that extremist literature was there. We’re obliged by law to investigate all such calls.” He was unable to specify which Russian law requires the police to respond to anonymous calls.

Obama in Cairo – A New Beginning – UPDATE!

Obama in Cairo

Source: Der Spiegel

Presedintele Obama a tinut astazi, joi 4 iunie 2009, un important discurs la Universitatea din Cairo. El a fost descris ca oferta unui ‘nou inceput’ in relatiile dintre crestini si musulmani. Textul integral al discursului poate fi gasit AICI.