Latest IRENICA

Vigil to highlight Freedom of Religion and plight of Baha’i prisoners in Iran – at St. Mungo Museum, Glasgow – Saturday August 28th 3pm-10pm Many of you will know that the Baha’i community in Scotland is doing all it can to raise awareness of the cruel fate of the seven prominent Baha’is who have...
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Ekklesia, Aug.20, www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/12902 Archbishop Elias Chacour, who is both a Palestinian and a citizen of Israel, has told a large gathering in Edinburgh that a just and peaceful future in Israel and Palestine depends upon education. The average age in the area he lives, said the Archbishop, is 14 years, and many young people have been...
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The Economist, Aug.19, www.economist.com/node/16847296?story_id=16847296&fsrc=rss THE government of Yemen and its people are vociferously anti-Israel. Three of the country’s members of parliament were on the aid flotilla to Gaza that was lethally raided by Israeli commandos at the end of May. They were later given a hero’s welcome home. Yemenis rarely protest publicly against their...
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Matthew Hay Brown, Baltimore Sun, Aug.18, weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/faith/2010/08/us_muslim_leaders_condemn_holo.html A group of American Muslim leaders who recently returned from visiting the notorious Nazi concentration camps at Dauchau and Auschwitz have roundly condemned Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism.  Their public statement came after a trip organised earlier this month (August 2010). The visit was was led by Rabbi Jack Bemporad...
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Baha’i World News Service, Aug.15, news.bahai.org/story/789 The harsh prison sentences handed down to seven Iranian Baha’i leaders who are absolutely innocent of any wrongdoing is a judgment against an entire religious community, the Baha’i International Community said today. Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, whose Defenders of Human Rights Center represented the Baha’i defendants, said she was...
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Symon Hill, Ekklesia, Aug.15, www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/12853 Civil liberties have been severely restricted in the UK over the last decade, which anyone who values free expression should find worrying. But we should be worried regardless of whether the people affected are Christians. Jesus has not taught his followers to be concerned only for people who agree with...
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Some harassed libertarians say you should be free not to observe Ramadan in Morocco. The Economist, Aug.12, www.economist.com/node/16793362?story_id=16793362 The law in several countries, mostly in the Persian Gulf but also in the Maghreb and parts of Indonesia, provides for stiffer penalties for those who break fast in public, ranging from fines to flogging. Take article...
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Ekklesia, Aug.13, www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/12841 The National Council of Churches USA, its Interfaith Relations Commission and Christian participants in the National Muslim-Christian initiative, have issued a statement to mark Ramadan calling for respect rather than bigotry.  It follows a growth in anti-Muslim sentiment in parts of the country, and controversy surrounding the proposal for a mosque as...
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Michael Kinnamon, NCCUSA News, Aug.13, www.ncccusa.org/news/MK.cordovamosque.html Cordova House and Mosque at Ground Zero is a gesture of neighbourliness and healing.  For thousands of families, Ground Zero in southern Manhattan is holy ground. Thousands lost someone they love in the terror attacks of 11 September 2001, and hundreds of thousands know someone who was directly...
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Ekklesia, Aug.9, www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/12807 A Manchester mosque has given £52,000 to help develop a United Reformed Church inspired community centre.  The Rev Ed Cox, church leader, said: “The investment symbolises the strength of inter-faith relationships in our community. The relationship between the church and the mosque began with plans to develop a joint youth club which,...
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