Tuesday, September 30, 2003

Washingtonpost.com, Guantanamo Bay Prison Interpreter Arrested for False Statements : "Federal agents at Boston Logan Airport arrested an interpreter from the Guantanamo Bay prison camp for making false statements earlier this week after finding classified computer discs about the jail's operations in his baggage as he returned from a foreign trip, U.S. officials "
Beliefnet: A Joke Becomes a Muslim's Chance to Proselytize Jews"Unlike Jews for Jesus, Ghounem has no sponsors and no missionaries; he relies solely on the Internet for outreach. His Web site, which has had more than one million visitors since it was launched three years ago, has attracted about 200 "converts" who use it as a support group. It also provides a forum for Ghounem to address misconceptions about Islam, like the idea that Islam was spread by the sword, that the Quran is anti-Semitic and that Jews and Muslims worship different gods." Discussion on jewsforallah.com
Yahoo! News - Canada Author Causes Stir with 'Trouble with Islam'The application of the term "Islamo-fetishist" caught my attention here, as well as the author's interest in 'ijtihad' - something I write about in Islam in the Digital Age.
BBC NEWS | England | London | UK Muslims condemn honour killings, 30 September 2003 I included this article in relation to this blog because of the email feedback it received.

Sunday, September 28, 2003

albawaba.com: On intifada's third anniversary: Palestinian factions vow to continue resistance "The intifada started on September 29, 2000 when bloody clashes broke out at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in east Jerusalem, Islam's third holiest site. At least 3,497 people have been killed during the uprising, including 2,612 Palestinians and 822 Israelis."

albawaba.com: Qatar leads IT connectivity in the Middle East, 26 September 2003 as discussed in Islam in the Digital Age
Cyberdissent: The Internet in Revolutionary Iran Paper by Babak Rahmi, originally published by the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal: "Abstract: This paper argues that the internet, as an advancing new means of communication, has played an important role in the ongoing struggle for democracy in Iran. While outlining its history in Iran amidst an ambiguous state response to its rapid development since 1993, the paper also attempts to show how the internet has opened a new virtual space for political dissent. The paper claims that the internet is an innovative method for resistance in that it essentially defies control and supervision of speech by authoritarian rule seeking to undermine resistance."
AP/NJ.com, Suspected al Qaeda members nabbed in Pakistani Internet cafe, 27 September 2003 "Intelligence agents arrested two suspected al Qaeda militants in a Pakistan Internet cafe after catching them sending e-mails to fellow terrorists, officials said yesterday."
CBS 2: World Wire: CBS, Al-Jazeera broadcasts tape said to be al-Qaida deputy saying America targeting Islam, 28 September 2003. "An audiotape attributed to al-Qaida deputy Ayman al-Zawahri and broadcast on Al-Jazeera satellite television Sunday accused the United States of trying to abolish Islam."
HindustanTimes.com, Women muftis issue fatwa on parlours, 28 September 2003 : "Dar-ul-Iftah, a collegium of muftias (women muftis or religious teachers) formed for the first time in the country in Hyderabad this week, has issued a fatwa, declaring that patronising beauty parlours is unIslamic."
CNN.com - Edward Said dies, scholar and voice for Palestinian cause - Sep. 25, 2003: Author of ''Orientalism', 'Covering Islam' and 'The Question of Palestine' dies
BBC NEWS, The Islamic revival in Egypt Not about the net specifically, but a snapshot of events in Cairo.
Daily Times. Op-ed: Angels dancing on the point of a pin, n.d. On the status and veracity of fatwas (and their producers).
Windy City Media Group, Gays in Azerbaijan Struggle with Tradition, Not Religion, 17 September 2003 "Both Anar and Zaur prefer to go to one of the dozens of Internet cafes that populate the city, and talk to people online for 2000 manat (about 40 cents) per hour. Even in cyberspace, you have to be careful. There are no local gay sites, and the two men have honed their cyber-gaydar. “You learn to hear code,” when exchanging messages online, says Anar. There are also several dating sites that accept men-for-men ads."

Wednesday, September 24, 2003

The Register, India blocks Yahoo! Groups, 24 September 2003 Co-incidental to the MSN story (below), now the Indian government blocks all Yahoo! Groups (!!) on the basis of one case: "The Indian government's Computer Emergency Response Team imposed a blanket ban, citing postings in the 'kynhun' group as justification. The forum carries postings by the secessionist group the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council, one of 14 organizations banned in India (The ban was imposed in November 2000). "
MSNBC, In Egypt, artists bemoan censorship but see conservative society as the real censors, 22 September 2003 "Foreign movies are readily available uncut on satellite TV, over the Internet or as bootleg videos or DVDs on the streets of Cairo. But few Egyptians can afford them."
NY Daily News - World and National Report - Gitmo spy probe nets 2nd suspect, 24 September 2003: "When he was nabbed, the translator [Al-Halabi] had with him a laptop containing 180 messages to be delivered to Syria and two handwritten messages from detainees with details about U.S. intelligence-gathering and military flights in and out of the base, authorities said."
Daily Star (Lebanon), Israeli official touts UAE as model for Arabs, 24 September 2003 Israeli delegation visits UAE (at the invitation of the IMF/World Bank).
Daily Star (Lebanon), Hizbullah, suicide bombers and selling the Arab side, 24 September 2003 David Ignatius writes, after attending an Hizbullah conference on the topic of 'martyrdom': "Suicide bombings are working. They have enraged and frightened a powerful adversary. Israel’s problem isn’t simply the bombs, but the long line of people who want to be bombers."
Aljazeera.Net - Malaysia cracks down on Islamic opposition, 23 September 2003 PAS members' detention is extended - including Nik Adli, son of 'PAS spiritual leader' Nik Aziz Nik Mat.
BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Iraq council 'to ban Arab networks' "The US-appointed Governing Council in Iraq has decided to ban two leading Arabic news channels from the country for allegedly inciting violence, according to reports."
BBC NEWS | Technology | Anger at Bangladeshi snooping plans, 23 September 2003 "Plans to allow the authorities in Bangladesh to monitor e-mails and telephone conversations have provoked outrage among human rights experts and telecoms analysts."
Reuters, CIA paid Mullahs to spread moderate message - book, 23 September 2003: "The CIA paid Mullahs and created fake Islamic religious leaders to preach a moderate message and counter anti-American sentiment in the Arab world after the Sept. 11 attacks, a new book said on Monday." The book is 'The CIA at War' by Robert Kessler, which also contains details of how (allegedly) the CIA hid satellite phones in rifes, and placed 'secret' programs in laptops for these 'mullahs' ...

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Nigeria goes surfing with wheels
Network Africa's Vsat technology, allowing net access via bus (the wheeled variety).

Thursday, September 18, 2003

Palestinian Media Watch (PMA), PA Uses Twin Tower Image to Mock USA, 16 September 2003 Interpretation of Palestinian media (including net coverage) from PMA, based in Israel (click for details)
MEMRI, Palestinian Authority Friday Sermons, 16 September 2003 Transcripts of the most recent sermons: "Three Friday sermons broadcast on Palestinian Television during August and September 2003 focused on issues such as the praising of Shahids (martyrs) and Shahada (martyrdom) and the description of the U.S. as the primary enemy of the Palestinians." MEMRI is the Middle East Media Research Institute (details), cited/discussed in Islam in the Digital Age.
al-Bawaba, ''Hi'' in Arabic means US propaganda...?, 27 August 2003 "The high-profile "Hi" magazine has hit newsstands in Arab countries. It is a monthly Arabic-language publication produced with an accompanying internet site by a private US company in consultation with the State Department. Its official goal is to promote the idea of "America" in the framework of Washington's efforts to improve its perception in the Middle East, according to the State Department." [just picked up this story, but it remains relevant - have yet to see a copy of the magazine; the website is suitably 'glossy']
Cryptome, Osama bin Laden Re-Issues a Fatwa to Kill Americans, 15 September 2003 Link to a discussion about the veracity of 'fatwas', and the existence of 'disinfo' sites.
Washington Post, A Confessed Bomber's Trail of Terror: Uzbek Details Life With Islamic Radicals, Turn Back to Violence, 17 September 2003 This is an important article in relation to this blog, providing a discussion on the use by a Uzbek bomber of his training in computers, and use of the Internet to track down a al-Qaeda linked network.
Christian Science Monitor, Who's radicalizing Indonesia's schools?, 16 September 2003 This discusses networking by Jemaah Islamiyah and related organisations:

""Ten years ago we didn't have this rhetoric of jihad, the focus on US behavior in the world. This is largely a consequence of the post-Sept. 11 environment,'' says a longtime researcher of Indonesian Islam. "You can say this youthful radicalism is just rhetoric - they won't ever actually go on a jihad - but it's still alarming."

"This scholar, who asked that his name not be used, says free distribution of texts sponsored by Saudi charities has contributed to the spread of some radical ideas in Indonesia, but far more important are internet news coverage and chat-rooms on the US war on terror."


The Register, PGP makes email encryption easier, 17 September 2003"PGP Corporation today introduced simpler email encryption in which the burden of securing email messages is shifted from the client to the network."
Islam Online, Pakistanis Turn To Mystics To Evade Worldly Pressures, 17 September 2003 "Faced with growing economic hardships, political instability and plethora of social problems, Pakistanis are fast turning to saints and shrines in pursuance of peace of mind as well as emotional and spiritual guidance, with solutions to problems like social injustice not in sight." The importance of 'pirs' in contemporary Pakistan - evidence of pir related websites would be appreciated.
Islam Online, Houses Before Mosques: Iraqi Scholars, 17 September 2003 "As the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq forced hundreds of Iraqi families to sleep rough, Sunni and Shiite scholars supported the construction of housing blocks on the land of the once al-Muthna airport in the heart of Baghdad, where a grand mosque was to be built." Online confirmation of Shi'a-Sunni scholars response to the Baghdad housing crisis.
BBC, Where box cameras never say die, 17 September 2003 Evidence of the 'digital divide', or simply a preference for reliable technology?

Sunday, September 14, 2003

Jihad Unspun - Ashes to Light, 11 Sepember 2003 Origins of the Jihad Unspun website revealed by its publisher Khadija Abdul Qahaar.
The Advertiser, Lafayette, Louisiana, Local activist sees greater interest in Islam, 11 September 2003 "Muslims have also taken to educating the public about Islam, with Web sites like www.islam-guide.com, an Internet version of a book titled 'A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam.'"
The Register, Scientologists loses copyright case, 8 September 2003 Complex case relating to copyrighted 'secret' Scientology material. Not an 'Islam' story, but relates to religion and the web, which is a subtext to this blog:
IMRA - Thursday, September 4, 2003 Al-Qaeda : The 39 principles of Holy War: "Performing electronic Jihad - Al-Salem attributes paramount importance to the Internet as a component for Jihad. He calls believers to join the Jihad by participating in Internet forums to defend the Islam and
Mujahideen, to preach Jihad and to encourage Muslims to learn more about
this sacred duty. The Internet provides an opportunity to reach vast, target
audiences and respond swiftly to false allegations. Computer experts are
asked to use their skills and experience in destroying American, Jewish and
secular websites as well as morally corrupt web sites."
IMRA - Thursday, September 4, 2003 Al-Qaeda : The 39 principles of Holy War "In fact, one of the 39 principles of Al-Qaeda's Jihad, which has recently been exposed in a private study by Israeli researcher Col. Jonathan D. Halevi, explicitly illustrates a how-to chapter on Performing the Electronic Jihad . These people are not riding donkeys, rather these 21st century Jihadists have their fingers dancing on computer keyboards across the globe."
StraitstimesSaudi clerics against giving women more freedom - September 12, 2003 "Prominent Saudi clerics and academics have issued a statement warning against calls for equality and increased rights for women, saying such efforts aim to make Muslim women more like 'infidel' Western women."
Reuters, GN Online: Adult movies proliferate in Iraq, shocking clerics, 12 September 2003: "Outside the cinemas on Saadoun Street, groups of men loiter around posters of scantly clad women, whose bodies are crudely super-imposed with underwear drawn in coloured pen." This issue crosses over into regional net use too.
TECHNOLOGY-AFRICA: Internet Creates a New Class of Users, 12 September 2003 "Statistics show that only 3 out of 1,000 people have computers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most Africans cannot afford computer on a continent where 350 million, or over 50 percent of the population, live on less than one U.S. dollar a day."
MSNBC, Hamas suicide bombers martyrs -Malaysian Islamist, 11 September 2003 discusses comments from Abdul Hadi Awang, the president of Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS - discussed in my Virtually Islamic book.
GN Online: Online education becomes popular, 31 August 2003 On the expansion of online education in Abu Dhabi
News24, Crackdown on Brotherhood, 11 September 2003: "The Egyptian authorities have launched a new crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood to thwart any protests they may stir up among university students returning to campus, Islamists and analysts say."
Newsday.com - Saudis: Barbie A Doll to West, But Not to Islam, 11 September 2003: "The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, as the religious police are officially known, lists the dolls on a section of its Web site devoted to items deemed offensive to the conservative Saudi interpretation of Islam.

"Jewish Barbie dolls, with their revealing clothes and shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol of decadence to the perverted West. Let us beware of her dangers and be careful," said a message posted on the site."
Arab News, Imam Sues State for Interference in Sermons, 11 September 2003: "Ibrahim Al-Kholi, imam at a mosque in the Cairo suburb of Helwan, asked the courts to order the Ministry of Religious Affairs to stop interfering in his sermons.

"Kholi, a professor at the Al-Azhar Islamic University, said he would donate any award to the Palestinian Authority in support of Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem."
Star Online, Hi-tech system for Islamic religious rulings, : "Innovasia Sdn Bhd and the Islamic University College of Malaysia's Institute of Research and Management of World Fatwa (Infad) have signed a memorandum of agreement to develop a Fatwa Management System that would research and manage such religious rulings from fatwa-issuing bodies around the world."

Wednesday, September 10, 2003

September 11th Remembered Daryl Cagle's Pro Cartoonists Index feature.
Understanding Iraq's resistance | csmonitor.com, 10 September 2003: "Islamist websites and Internet chat rooms suggest that Iraq has emerged as a powerful recruiting tool for Islamist militancy."
MEMRI: Al-Qa'ida Website, Back On-Line Publishes Book About its War on the U.S. and Bombing in Saudi Arabia, September 9 2003. Here are the excerpts (translated) from the book "The Raid of the 11th of Rabi' Al-Awwal – The Eastern Riyadh Operation and Our War on America and Its Agents" posted on the 'al-Qaeda' website (down at the time of writing).
WorldNetDaily: Al-Qaida: Riyadh attack 'opening shot': "Website says fighting Muslim regimes same as battling U.S." This is based on a MEMRI report, although the site in question was down at the time of blogging.
NEWS.com.au | The modern face of militant Islam (September 10, 2003) This report emphasises the impact on the net on Iman Samudra:

"Bali bombing mastermind Iman Samudra, who was sentenced to death today, is the modern face of militant Islam - a computer expert inspired by the Internet to wage a holy war ...

"Police have described him as a computer expert who always carried a laptop. Fellow Bali bomber Amrozi, who is also under a death sentence, has described him as brilliant and fluent in English and Arabic.

"Samudra spent two and a half years in Afghanistan and six more in Malaysia in the 1990s. In both countries he learned how to use a variety of weapons - and also how to use the Internet.

"Police have said Samudra's burning desire to wage jihad in his home country arose from his frequent electronic chats with fellow Muslims."

Read more on these issues in my books Islam in the Digital Age and Virtually Islamic.

"
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | 'I became the profane pervert Arab blogger', September 9 2003: If you haven't read Salam Pax before, then start with this article: "My name is Salam Pax and I am addicted to blogs. Some people watch daytime soaps, I follow blogs. I follow the hyperlinks on the blogs I read." Well, I know the feeling! Now Salam Pax has a book out (The Baghdad Blog). I assume this an edited version of the blogs - if so, it should make for essential reading.
MSNBC, Rethinking Islam interviews Hossein al-Khomeini and Iyad Jamaleddine.
Baghdad Burning "Girl blog from Iraq" is what it says on the label. This blog is highly recommended, especially for policy makers: it really brings home the nature of 'everyday life' in Baghdad. 'Everyday' usually means 'mundane', perhaps 'tedious'. Add 'terrifying' to that equation when talking about Baghdad.

Monday, September 08, 2003

SGHIPHOP.com As discussed below, this is the Singaporean Muslim hip hop site in question.
AP/CP Technology News, South Korea's LG Electronics unveils mobile phone for devout Muslims, September 8 2003 "Hoping to expand its market share among the world's 1.1 billion Muslims, South Korea's LG Electronics on Monday unveiled a new mobile phone that includes an electronic compass to show the direction of Mecca in Saudi Arabia."
Reuters | UK Muslim group lauds "magnificent" 9/11 hijackers, 8 Sept 03 Reaction to al Muhajiroun's statements, which can be found on their website
Perkins Library > IAS > Middle East > Iraq Internet Resources A good selection of link materials from a broad range of perspectives.
BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Muslims' mobile call to prayer, 6 September 2003 "A mobile phone company in the United Arab Emirates is giving Muslims the option of receiving the call to prayer on their telephones." Not exactly a new phenomenon, but a new service for UAE.
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Organ music 'instils religious feelings', 8 September 2003 "People who experience a sense of spirituality in church may be reacting to the extreme bass sound produced by some organ pipes."

Thursday, September 04, 2003

Reuters, Need a Prayer? Just SMS Ganesh in India, 3 September 2003 Hinduism story, but the technology has other applications.
AP/eTaiwanNews.com/Saudi extremists said to be fighting in Iraq, 1 September 2003: "Despite official denials, there have been signs for months that Saudi Muslim extremists have traveled to Iraq to take on U.S.-led forces.

"Internet memorials to those who died fighting the Americans have popped up and Saudis are quietly swapping tales said to be from the front lines. "
Muslim Wake Up, MainFast-Food-Islam: How Wahhabism Feeds Our Intellectual Retardation, 28 August 2003 Discussing the state of certain 'Islamic' religious literature (on and off line) and its ideological background: " ... the production of this childish religious literature, literature that quotes endlessly verses from a crude translation of the Qur’an, the medieval rulings of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal and Ibn Taimiyah, and loads of Sahih Muslim and Sahih Bukhari, continues to sell in the various Islamic bookstores which populate the web. Most of these bookstores have established a successful Internet market and sell this literature for a very inexpensive price." I particularly liked their perspective on how these books could be composed, using Alim software.
The Iranian: Deev digression of the week: Persian rap from Deev, entitled "Dastaa Baalaa" expressing his opinion on the Iranian government.
Religion.info > Islam et Internet: activistes et sources d'autorité Review (in French) of Islam in the Digital Age by Jean-François Mayer, University of Fribourg.
BBC NEWS | Wales | Baghdad diary Welsh policeman's online diary
Aksiyon, İslam'ın dijital çağı, 18 August 2003 Extensive article on 'Digiislam' by Sema Sak, includes interview with myself (in Turkish).

Tuesday, September 02, 2003

Timothy Thomas, Al Qaeda and the Internet: The Danger of “Cyberplanning” (Parameters, Spring 2003) From earlier this year, but I don't recall blogging this document from the US Army War College Quarterly before.
Australian, Bomb blast hunt nets Saudi fanatics, 2 September 2003 Careless email by alleged bombers in Najaf internet cafe: "Two Saudi men linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qa'ida terrorist network and suspected of murdering Iraq's most respected Shi'ite leader last week were arrested after sending an email from an internet cafe announcing "the dog is dead", a source close to the investigation said."
Australian, Bashir's influence faded by links to terrorism, 2 September 2003 "One confessed JI member told the Bali bombing trials that he had heard that Bashir told young followers that stealing from non-Muslims through internet and ATM fraud was acceptable under Islam."
BBCi, Egyptians tackle taboos through net, 2 September 2003 Rise in access levels - unofficial estimates state 6 million users online in Egypt: "The massive boom in internet use in Egypt has been hailed by both business and government, but looks set to have far-reaching repercussions on the country's society."
Australian IT, New virus targets September 11, 2 September 2003 Fears of a new virus and talk of a 'evil mastermind' developing new disruptive activities.
Australian IT, Al-Jazeera launches English website, 2 September 2003 This should have happened about five months ago, but the original pages were hacked. I've yet to take a detailed look at the new English Al-Jazeera pages, although main headlines appear the same today. This should provide some competition to sites such as al-bawaba.
Wired, Digital Rift Needs Global Help, August 31, 2003 Significant re. Islam in the Digital Age: "The first World Information Technology Forum, or WITFOR, agreed that international cooperation was needed so that poor countries were not left out of the flow of knowledge driving much of the modern economy."
The Register, US sponsors Anonymiser - if you live in Iran, 28 August 2003 "A pact between the U.S. government and the electronic privacy company Anonymizer, Inc. is making the Internet a safer place for controversial websites and subversive opinions -- if you're Iranian." Otherwise ...
CBS, Indonesia Cleric Guilty Of Lesser, 2 September 2003 Abu Bakar Bashir receives 'lesser' sentence.