Middle East

"Unlike Christianity, Islam does not teach that Jesus was crucified, although his people tried to crucify him. Islam holds that he was instead elevated into heaven by Divine command. So Jesus' final resting-place on earth was never an issue for Muslims -- but the resting-place of his mother was. And thus Pakistani Muslims proudly claim the village of Murree as the site of Mary's tomb."

"Those who see negotiations as the only viable way to peace in Israel and Palestine have to join forces and coordinate efforts. But this needs the effective and pro-active encouragement of the international community. The international community recently and effectively played exactly such a role and should be encouraged by its success to expand its efforts in this regard."

"Voice of the US leadership and their allies in Europe, automatically qualifies as the voice of the ‘international’ community. We never hear the voice of Africa, South America, India and the 1.2 plus Billion Muslims, all of them collectively making up at least 50% of world’s population. But the likes of Bush and Blair scream that automatically equates to the voice of the international community. Here democracy is hanged. Neither the majority voice of the world’s total population, nor the majority vote in the UN General Assembly reflecting majority voice of all the world’s nations, qualifies as the voice of international community."

"The Israeli government has made a decision to launch a large-scale media and diplomatic campaign against Iran and its president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in preparation for launching a military strike and to pressure the European countries to end negotiations with Iran and turn its nuclear file over to the Security Council."

"In a typical news report from Baghdad, airing on “All Things Considered” early this month, NPR correspondent Anne Garrels presented the U.S. government line as the only one worth mentioning. During the Dec. 2 broadcast, she described recent American offensives and then told listeners: “The military says its actions have resulted in numerous terrorists killed or detained, as well as the discovery of a large number of weapons caches.”

"...by turning a blind eye to the draconian nature of Musharraf's reign, the rewards for the neo-con establishment far exceed the imperatives of a free society. They recognise that the arbitrary nature of their unilateralism as the only game to play allows military leaders such as Musharraf to follow suit."

"New Delhi repeatedly rejects any territorial division and changes to the LoC while Islamabad consistently refuses to accept the status quo as a final outcome. The two positions leave little room for manoeuvring."

"Even a Muslim with a very elementary understanding of Islam and Islamic law knows that only the Caliph or an Imam who is accepted by the people as their leader can call Muslims to war in the name of God. The authority of Caliphate and Imamate cannot be usurped by just anyone, regardless of how noble their intent, or their cause."