Após a controvérsia dos cartoons dinamarqueses

On February 5, 2006, at the height of the tension following the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten's publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, Muslim protesters torched Denmark's embassies in Beirut and Damascus. While many in the West looked on with bewilderment, protests spread across the Muslim world, and stores in Muslim areas removed Danish products from their shelves. Even as the cartoon crisis captured headlines around the world, most people outside Denmark remain unfamiliar with the forces propelling it. Like the Salman Rushdie affair before it and the furor over Pope Benedict XVI's remarks at Regensburg University after it, the cartoon controversy had less to do with genuine outrage over the depiction of Islam's prophet and more to do with the ambitions, first, of a small group of radical imams and, later, of jousting Middle Eastern powers. Now that the dust has settled, what is the legacy of the crisis, not only for Denmark but also for the Western world? [...]

Ver artigo no The Middle East Quarterly

Segurança social britânica pagou operações de ‘reconstrução da virgindade‘ a mulheres muçulmanas

Women are being given controversial "virginity repair" operations on the NHS, it emerged last night.

Taxpayers funded 24 hymen replacement operations between 2005 and 2006, official figures revealed.

And increasing numbers of women are paying up to £4,000 in private clinics for the procedure apparently under pressure from future spouses or in-laws who believe they should be virgins on their wedding night.

Doctors said most patients are immigrants or British of ethnic origin. [...]

Ver notícia no Daily Mail

Activistas dos direitos dos animais atacam supermercados ASDA por venderem a 'cruel' carne Halal

A giant supermarket chain came under fire for its decision to sell Halal meat from animals that have not been stunned before their throats are cut.

Animal rights activists expressed outrage at the move by Asda to put the meat on sale for the first time next month.

Asda admitted that that its decision would cause controversy but said it was being trialled in one store in response to customer demand.

A spokesman for Asda told trade magazine The Grocer the meat would only be sold through a third-party concession at the Small Heath store in Birmingham and would not carry the Asda own label.

Ver notícia no Daily Mail

Ahmadinejad: não há homossexuais nem opressão das mulheres no Irão

When not dodging direct questions, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was defiant in his answers at a forum Monday at Columbia University, maintaining that his country seeks nuclear power only for peaceful purposes, that continued research is necessary to determine the facts of the Holocaust, that Iran is not supporting insurgents in Iraq and that women in his country are treated equally.

Despite fears from some that the controversial leader would go unchallenged in his comments, Columbia President Lee Bollinger quickly took the Iranian president to task in his opening statements, calling him "a petty and cruel dictator" and pointing to a number of well-documented instances in which the Iranian regime has executed children, oppressed women and imprisoned and tortured homosexuals, academics and journalists. [...]

Ver notícia no abcNews

As falhas da justiça alemã abrem o caminho a uma sociedade muçulmana paralela

A recent ruling in Germany by a judge who cited the Koran underscores the dilemma the country faces in reconciling Western values with a growing immigrant population. A disturbing number of rulings are helping to create a parallel Muslim world in Germany that is welcoming to Islamic fundamentalists.

She didn't know it, nor did she even expect it. She had good intentions. Perhaps it was a mistake. In fact, it was most certainly a mistake. The best thing to do would be to wipe the slate clean.

Last week, in the middle of the storm, Christa Datz-Winter, a judge on Frankfurt's family court, was speechless. But Bernhard Olp, a spokesman for the city's municipal court, was quick to jump in. Olp reported that the judge had been under emotional stress stemming from a murder that had been committed in her office 10 years ago, and that she was now planning to take a break to recuperate. He also mentioned that she was "outraged" -- not about herself or her scandalous ruling, but over the reactions the case has triggered. [...]

Ver notícia no Der Spiegel

Peça de teatro medieval ameaçada pelo politicamente correcto do século XXI

Since the 14th century, actors and actresses have taken to the streets of York to depict the great moments in Biblical history from the Creation to the last judgment of Christ.

But the medieval Mystery Plays are threatened by a 21st century curse ? of political correctness.

The city council is planning a "multicultural reinterpretation" of the plays as part of a bid for up to £120,000 of Heritage Lottery Fund cash.

Precisely how the age-old stories featuring Adam and Eve and Jesus Christ and his apostles will be "revitalised" for a multi-cultural society has yet to be revealed. However, it has been admitted that refugees and actors from foreign countries could be asked to participate.

Traditionalists are outraged that the plays, which are usually performed from wagons in the street, could be re-written for PC reasons. [...]

Ver notícia no Daily Mail