{"id":5720,"date":"2006-09-18T18:01:45","date_gmt":"2006-09-18T18:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/viamedia\/2006\/09\/asianews.html"},"modified":"2006-09-18T18:01:45","modified_gmt":"2006-09-18T18:01:45","slug":"asianews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2006\/09\/asianews.html","title":{"rendered":"AsiaNews"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do go to AsiaNews for stories – they post about 5 or 6 a day on matters Asian  – several today in which you’ll be interested.<\/p>\n

An overview of reactions:<\/a><\/p>\n

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On behalf of the World Union of Muslim Ulemas, Qatari Muslim scholar, Yusuf al-Qaradawi has called for day of anger this Friday. Interviewed by al-Jazeera<\/em>, Al-Qaradawi said that Benedict XVI did not apologise and so the world\u2019 Muslims should express their anger in an hour-long demonstration and sit-in inside mosques at the end of the prayer before Ramadan starts without attacking any church, place of worship or anyone\u2019s else property. He also urged ambassadors of Muslim countries to make a formal written protest to the Holy See and boycott all ceremonies at the Vatican.<\/p>\n

In Egypt some lawmakers have called for suspending diplomatic relations with Vatican. <\/p>\n

In Palestine Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri stated that what the Pope said yesterday do not even appear to be \u201capologies\u201d. <\/p>\n

Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham followed suite saying that Pope Benedict XVI provided a \u201cgood but not enough\u201d explanation for his recent remarks. <\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Pope Benedict\u2019s remarks on Islam were in line with what he called a US-Zionist \u2018crusade\u2019 against Islam that began with the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and continued with the Muhammad cartoons and statements by some western politicians. The most important part of this project is to sow conflict between religions to reach their satanic objectives. Khamenei urged the faithful to include the \u2018Great Satan\u201d, that is the United States, in their protest against the Pope.<\/p>\n

Some Jordanian Muslim and Christian<\/strong> lawmakers were part of the fifty or so protesters who took part in a sit-in organised by 14 trade unions in Amman that slammed Zionism. In their view, the Pope\u2019s words \u201cfuel a vicious campaign of hatred launched by international Zionism against our nation and future.\u201d A Christian member of parliament<\/strong>, Awdeh Kawass, said that the Pope\u2019s criticism was \u201cinsulting to all Arabs, both Muslim and Christians, and that his explanations are insufficient.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Saudi daily Al-Youm<\/em>, Benedict\u2019s remarks are not a \u201csimple error\u201d, but show \u201ca total agreement with extreme rightwing ideas in the US about the clash of civilisation\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I was hoping this would die down as of, you know…today. But if Friday’s a "Day of Anger…"<\/p>\n

In Lebanon:<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cLet us first read what the Pope actually said,\u201d urged Ali el-Amin, Shia mufti of Tyre. Such a view of the controversy that surrounds Benedict XVI\u2019s Regensburg speech reflects the prevailing attitude in multi-faith Lebanon. Even Hezbollah has limited itself so far to express surprise for remarks that \u201care contrary to the reality of the Muslim religion\u201d, whereas the deputy chairman of the Higher Shia Islamic Council has called for dialogue and the rejection of violence.<\/p>\n

In Christian quarters, reactions in the Muslim world are seen as politically motivated. For Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir the Pope\u2019s remarks have been misunderstood. \u201cThe motivations behind the criticism are political,\u201d he said. Benedict XVI \u201cdid not directly talk about Islam. \u201cChristians and Muslims have an interest of working together, especially in Lebanon\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Pakistan:<\/a><\/p>\n

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Benedict XVI\u2019s clarification yesterday of what he said at Regensburg University is \u201ca positive and courageous step\u201d and should put an end to the negative reactions in the Muslim world. It shows a \u201cgenuine desire on the Pontiff\u2019s part for harmony of religions\u201d, this according to an official statement released today by Mgr Lawrence J. Saldanha, archbishop of Lahore and chairman of the Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference of Pakistan.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

India:<\/a><\/p>\n

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Indian Muslim religious leaders \u201cwelcomed with joy\u201d Benedict XVI\u2019s clarification with regard to its controversial September 12 speech at Regensburg University, calling it a \u201csign of religious tolerance and peace\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very happy that the Pope has tendered an apology. It a great sign of religious tolerance and peace from the Pope. We respect him for this,\u201d said Indian Union Muslim League in Kerala Chairman Panakkad Syed Mohammedali Shihab Thangal.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Iran:<\/a><\/p>\n

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For days, the mullah Ahmad Khatami has repeated clamorous statements against the pope, who \u201chas not even read the Koran\u201d, who \u201cbacks the policies of Bush\u201d, and so on. But only 200 people participated in a rally held yesterday by the theological schools of Qom (the birthplace of Khomeini). This could be a sign of weakness or else, perhaps, an impact of the statement by Cardinal Bertone, reported on the front pages of all Iranian newspapers. The press is talking about the \u201capology\u201d of the pope to Muslims. <\/p>\n

Another sign of detachment from anti-pope rhetoric is the stand taken by the ex-president, Mohammed Khatami, who has suspended judgment on the speech of Benedict XVI in Regensburg until he reads it himself. Even the current Iranian president Ahmadinejad has prudently called for \u201cIslamic theological analysis\u201d into the papal address.<\/p>\n

In reality, the Shiite clergy in Iran is using the polemic about the pope for its new upsurge in victimization. The Iranian year 1384 (2205 \u2013 2006), which started shortly after the controversy of the Muhammad cartoons, has been dedicated by the authorities in Teheran to the figure of the prophet of Islam. For some months, the Iranian regime has been availing itself of every opportunity to present itself as the victim of \u201cIslamophobia\u201d, partly not to lag behind in the race to lead international Islamism and partly to alienate people from economic problems and domestic politics.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do go to AsiaNews for stories – they post about 5 or 6 a day on matters Asian  – several today in which you’ll be interested. An overview of reactions: On behalf of the World Union of Muslim Ulemas, Qatari Muslim scholar, Yusuf al-Qaradawi has called for day of anger this Friday. Interviewed by al-Jazeera,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nAsiaNews - Via Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2006\/09\/asianews.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AsiaNews - Via Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do go to AsiaNews for stories – they post about 5 or 6 a day on matters Asian  – several today in which you’ll be interested. 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The Catholicism comes from her side. Amy grew up in a number of places - Indiana - Washington, DC - Lubbock Texas - Arlington, Virginia - DeKalb, Illinois - Lawrence, Kansas - and Knoxville, Tennessee, where the family settled in 1973. She attended Knoxville Catholic High School, then the University of Tennessee where she majored in history. She received an MA in Church History from Vanderbilt University, where she wrote a thesis on the changing role of women in 19th century American Protestantism, and the ways Scripture was used to justify those changes. She worked as as a teacher in Catholic high schools and a Parish Director of Religious Education and started writing for the diocesan press - the Florida Catholic - in 1988. Amy has written columns for Our Sunday Visitor and Catholic News Service at times over the past twenty years. Her articles have been published in venues ranging from Our Sunday Visitor to the New York Times to Commonweal. She has written 17 books. 18, if you included the as yet tragically unpublished novel. Amy has five children, ranging in age from 26 to 4 and was married to Michael Dubruiel, who died unexpectedly in February 2009. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/author\/awelborn"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5720\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}