Karzai Wins Afghan Vote: Commission

KABUL -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai won last month's presidential election outright in the first round election officials said on Wednesday, September 16, but his victory is not secure until claims of massive vote fraud are resolved. "Based on the preliminary results that we have announced today, Hamid Karzai is at the front of the queue," Daud Ali Najafi, an official with the Independent Election Commission (IEC), told reporters.

The IEC figures put Karzai on track to win a second term with 54.6 percent of the vote while his main challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, got 27.8 percent.

The total number of ballots cast was 5,918,741 from a total of 15,295,016 registered voters.

Turnout was 38.7 percent with threats of violence by Taliban apparently keeping people away from the polls.

Abdullah has shown no sign of conceding the vote, alleging state-engineered fraud and urging a run-off, raising fears of protests by his supporters.

"We do not accept these results at all," his campaign spokesman Sayed Aqa Fazel Sancharaki told Agence France Presse (AFP).

"We have announced time and again that as long as all suspicious and fraudulent votes are not addressed and the final findings of the ECC are not announced, any results from the IEC are not important."

Preliminary

Najafi, the IEC, asserted that it was “impossible” to announce the final results on Thursday as earlier scheduled.

"This is just the preliminary results, we will have final results when we investigate the (fraud) claims."

Karzai is already on a collision course with his international backers over the controversial vote.

“We have calculated 1.5 million suspicious votes," said Dimitra Ioannou, the deputy head of the European Union Election Observation Mission to Afghanistan.

She told reporters that 1.1 million of the suspicious votes were cast for Karzai and 300,000 for Abdullah.

"Massive fraud was taking place at polling station level and when all these ballot boxes arrived at the tally centers, instead of being quarantined and investigated, they were accepted as good results."

The UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) has also ordered a recount at 2,500 polling stations, a process which will likely take weeks.

Most of the questionable ballots are in Karzai's strongholds and if the recount pushes the incumbent's lead below 50 percent, the IEC would have to hold a run-off between the two leading candidates.

Analysts and observers have warned that time is running out to organize a second round, with the onset of harsh winter in two months making the logistics difficult.

This could create a dangerous political vacuum in a nation where more than 100,000 US and NATO-led troops are stationed to battle a resurgent Taliban bent on toppling the West-installed government.

The political limbo is stoking fears of instability and concern among Western donors that a future government may lack a clear mandate.

Source: IslamOnline

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German Parties Eye Muslim Votes

DUISBURG – German parties are slowly waking up to the ballot box potential of the country’s sizable Muslim minority, realizing that their higher birth rates will give Muslims more political influence in future. "We have an ever increasing proportion of voters with immigrant backgrounds so every party now has an interest in appealing to them," Soeren Link, who represents the Social Democrat (SPD) in the state assembly of North Rhine-Westphalia, told Reuters on Wednesday, September 16.

The main parties in Duisburg, traditionally a SPD stronghold, are targeting the Turkish community with special campaign events and posters and adverts in Turkish.

"We neglected immigrant voters for too long,” notes Thomas Mahlberg, a lawmaker of conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrat (CDU).

About one in five Germans has an immigrant background and the biggest single minority is Turkish.

“But we've woken up now and are starting to win them over," says Mahlberg.

But the task is not easy.

Not only is the "Christian" in their name a barrier for many of Germany's 4 million Muslims, but Merkel also panders to her traditional voters by insisting minarets should be no higher than church steeples.

Many Muslims have also been put off by conservative rhetoric, especially last year's campaign by CDU Hesse state premier Roland Koch.

A recent poll by DATA 4U showed 55.5 percent of Germans with Turkish background would vote for the SPD, 23.3 for the Greens and only 10.1 percent for the CDU.

"Despite having religious, conservative views, Germans with Turkish roots reward the SPD and Greens at polls due to their integration policies," notes Joachim Schulte, head of Data 4U.

An SPD-Greens government eased German citizenship rules in 2000.

The SPD's long ties with trades unions also play a role as most Turks who came to West Germany in the 1950s and 1960s and contributed to its economic boom worked in plants with unions.

Alienated

But many German Muslims feel forgotten and ill-inclined to vote in this month's election.

"I haven't got a job, nor have my mates,” said Ismet Akgul, 19, standing with friends outside an amusement arcade in Duisburg’s Marxloh suburb.

“Politicians don't care," he complained.

"Firms see a foreign name on an application form and chuck it in the bin."

About 60 percent of the population in Marxloh suburb has immigrant, in most cases Turkish, roots.

At around 16 percent, unemployment here is nearly double the national average.

"I worry about what chances my daughter will have and that's bad for everyone," said Lale Ceran, mother of a four-year-old.

"You can't treat immigrants as patients who need medicine," said Zuelfiye Kaykin, who heads the meeting centre at Merkez mosque, the country’s biggest mosque.

Wearing a smart trouser suit and no hijab, she says Muslims need to know they have a stake in the community before they will show an interest in politics.

"There's little motivation to get involved in politics as we are not seen as full members of the German family."

Source: IslamOnline

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Brazil Wants to Learn Arabic

BRASILIA — Learning the Arabic language is gaining significant momentum in Brazil, where more and more people are keen to know the foreign language millions worldwide speak, and understand the Arab culture that is increasingly popular in the Latin American nation. “We were surprised when students started to pay visits to our schools asking for Arabic,” Pedro Augusto Medeiros, owner of CLB Language Institute in Brasilia, told IslamOnline.

“After numerous information calls, we decided to look after a teacher.”

Enrolment in Arabic classes across Brazil has been significantly growing in the past few years.

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Many language schools like Medeiros’s have raised their interest in offering Arabic classes after an increase in students searching for a place to learn the language, which was rarely available in educational centres previously. In Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Brasilia and Goiania, numerous schools and centres are offering Arabic language courses.

Teachers are hired among Brazilians born in Arabic countries like Lebanon, Syria and Palestine.

Classes vary from US $200 to $300 per semester but could reach as high as US $700 in some institutes.

“In the first class we opened last summer only 10 students were attending,” asserts Medeiros.

“But today, one year latter, we have four classes with more than 20 students each,” he added.

“I believe that it is enough proves that Arabic language interest is more than expected.”

Business

One main reason spurring many to seek learning Arabic is the recent growing business increase between Brazil and Arab countries.

“Brazil exports tons of meat, sugar, coffee, rice, ores, iron, steel and vehicles every year to Arab countries and each day it becomes more necessary that business experts be aware of this language,” says Gilberto Alencar, specialist in foreign trade and member of the business chamber in Brasilia.

“Those who dominate the language will have more chances.”

Many in Brazil want to learn Arabic as much as other languages key for their businesses as English, Spanish and Chinese.

Alencar says he is a case in point.

“I studied Arabic for three years and although I can speak slowly and write with difficulties, I can say that many doors opened for this reason.”

Julia Oliveira Duarte, 25, also was keen learn Arabic so that to have a push in her carrier.

“There is no doubt that Arabic is getting a large space in the international commerce,” said Duarte, who recently graduated from international trader college.

“Learning the language will open the doors for any professional that wants to run an international carrier.”

Duarte already joined an Arabic class six months ago.

“I’m aware that I need many more months to be able to use the language to gain space professionally, but it is a matter of time.”

Business with Arab countries is increasing and my future chances to get a good job are elevating too.”

Popular Culture

Not only for business. Arabic language is booming thanks to the popularity Arab culture has in Brazil.

“Arab culture has been part of Brazilians’ life for centuries,” said Talita Golveia Brandao, spokesperson for the regional secretary of tourism.

“It is getting a large space in many areas that previously was inexistent.”

Golveia affirms that besides the business topic, Brazilians get excited to know more about the Arabic culture and knowing the language is one way to it.

Everything from Arab food to Arab art is also popular among Brazilians.

“People are keen to understand such language and are happy to pay for it.”

She believes that Brazilians and Arabs are close in their nature, and this is one reason for the tendency of learning Arabic.

“We see some violence in some Arab countries, but it has nothing to do with their real personality that is very close to ours: friendly and receptive; qualities that help in the increase of interest in Arabic language,” she added.

The majority of Muslims in Brazil, estimated at around one and a half million, are descendants of Syrian, Palestinians and Lebanese immigrants who settled in Brazil in the neenth century during the World War I and in the 1970s.

Bianca Vieira da Silva, 28, has her very special reason for learning Arabic.

She is to get married to a Lebanese living in Brazil and will go to live with him in Beirut.

“I joined Arabic classes hoping that when I get there I can communicate with his family and have an easier life.

“I love the Arab culture and it has been a pleasure to learn the language. Maybe one day I will dominate the language, but until then, I will be glad to play with my friends with the new sentences I learnt.”

Source: IslamOnline

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Israel Criminal State: Israelis

CAIRO — As Tel Aviv struggles to contain the international aftermath of the UN damning report over the deadly offensive in Gaza Strip, an inner storm is evolving with Israeli rights and political activists slamming their own country as a criminal state and calling for punishing it. "It's time that the Israel and international societies start to treat Israel like a criminal state and a serial violator of international laws and Palestinian rights,” left-wing activist Yonatan Pollak told Yediot Ahronot daily on Wednesday, September 16.

Contrary to outraged official Israeli response to the UN fact-finding mission report issued Tuesday, which accused Israeli army of war crimes and crimes against humanity during Operation Cast Lead, Israeli rights activists welcomed the report and called for accountability.

Pollak, who testified before the Goldstone committee, affirmed that the official claims of bias are unfounded and called for stern international sanctions against “criminal” Israel.

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The international society should “impose on it a boycott, sanctions and the withdrawal of investments, just as was the case with the apartheid regime in South Africa." Majd Bader, of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, said the report should be a wake up call for Israel.

“Israel should wake up and take it upon itself to investigate the claims," said Bader.

Balad party chairman, Jamal Zahalka, believes that in the light of the report, Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak should be sent to International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague immediately.

"The conclusion from the report," he added, "is that there should be an international trial for those responsible for war crimes in Gaza starting with the defense minister, the IDF chief of staff, down to operational commanders.

"It is not possible that someone who causes the death of more than 1,000 civilians will not pay the price."

Some 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the Gaza onslaught eight months ago.

While Israel claims 300 civilians were killed, a Gaza observer group has said over 900 of the dead were innocent civilians.

Frantic Campaign

The salvos opened at home come as Israel launched a frantic diplomatic campaign to prevent the UN report from being brought before the Security Council and from there to the ICC. "The goal is to avoid a slippery slope which would lead Israel to the International Criminal Court in The Hague," a senior Israeli staffer told Haaretz.

The Hague-based court investigates war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed on the territory of, or by a national of a state.

A coalition of 350 European and Arab civil society organizations has already filed a lawsuit with the ICC against Israel over war crimes in Gaza.

On September 29, the UN Human Rights Council, which appointed Goldstone, will be convening in Geneva for a special session on the report.

Israeli officials said they expect Arab states will begin to prepare a draft resolution which will call for the report to be transferred to the UN Security Council.

In their worst-case scenario, the Security Council could decide to transfer the matter to the ICC, which could issue international arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials who were involved in the military onslaught.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avidgor Lieberman, President Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have already started telephoning their counterparts around the world to handle the report ramifications.

They will focus on the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France - but will also give priority to members of the European Union, because of their influence in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The Israeli leaders will ask their counterparts to express disagreement with the report and to oppose any use of it as the basis for anti-Israel resolutions.

"It will be a long diplomatic and legal campaign," said a senior Israeli staffer handling the Goldstone report.

"We will involve our friends around the world, especially the United States, to prevent Israel's isolation."

Source: IslamOnline

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Iraqi Shoe-Thrower Released

BAGHDAD: An Iraqi reporter who shot to worldwide fame when he hurled his shoes at then US President George W. Bush was released from prison on Tuesday.

Muntadar Al-Zeidi, whose outburst during a news conference last December chimed with the feelings of many Iraqis toward the former US leader, was met outside the jail by parliamentarians who support him, his brother Uday Al-Zeidi said.

Al-Zeidi later flew to Syria on a private jet en route to Greece where he will undergo medical treatment. “He is in an undisclosed place because we fear for his life,” his brother said.

Al-Zeidi was sentenced to three years in jail but his sentence was later reduced to one year.

“Today I am free again but my home is still a prison,” he told reporters shortly after his release, a swipe at the continued US military presence in Iraq.

Al-Zeidi said he was tortured after arrest. He said guards beat him with cables, metal tubes and gave him electric shocks.

Al-Baghdadiya television showed footage of Al-Zeidi arriving at its station surrounded by guards. He was wrapped in an Iraqi flag and wore black sunglasses. On arrival, the staff at his TV station slaughtered at least three sheep in his honor.

“The occupation invaded us under the pretext of liberation. It divided brothers, neighbors, made our houses endless funeral tents and our streets cemeteries,” he said.

Millions of people across the world saw online or TV footage of Al-Zeidi throwing his shoes at Bush.

Many viewers, including in the United States, applauded the journalist’s bravery. Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez called him courageous. A Libyan group headed by Muammar Qaddafi’s daughter gave him an award. Fathers from other Arab nations offered Al-Zeidi their daughters as brides.

Source: Arab News

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‘Israel Committed War Crimes in Gaza’

UNITED NATIONS: Israeli forces committed war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity during their assault on the Gaza Strip eight months ago, the head of a UN fact-finding rights mission said on Tuesday.

Richard Goldstone told reporters that his four-member probe panel “concluded that actions amounting to war crimes and possibly in some respects crimes against humanity were committed by the Israel Defense Forces.”

Israel reacted quickly, saying in a statement issued by its diplomatic mission in Geneva that it did not cooperate with Goldstone’s investigation. “Its mandate was clearly one-sided and ignored the thousands of Hamas missile attacks on civilians in southern Israel that made the Gaza operation necessary,” the statement said.

Goldstone, a noted South African jurist, recommended that the UN Security Council call on Israel to investigate possible crimes committed by its forces. The probe should be “independent and in conformity with international standards” and establish a committee of human rights experts to monitor any such proceedings.

If Israel fails to do so, then the 15-nation council should refer the situation in Gaza to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the summary said.

“The rocket and mortar attacks (by Hamas) caused terror in the affected communities of southern Israel, causing loss of life and physical and mental injury to civilians, as well as damage to buildings and property,” it also said.

Goldstone said Israel’s blockade of Gaza, which began prior to the assault, amounted to “collective punishment” for the 1.5 million Gazans, most of whom rely on aid to survive. The summary said that Israel’s Gaza operation was directed at the people of Gaza as a whole, not just Hamas members.

His report said Israeli forces “humiliated, dehumanized and carried out an assault on the dignity of the people in Gaza, through the use of human shields, unlawful detentions, unacceptable conditions of detention ... obscenities and racist slogans.”

It said the use of human shields is a war crime and that a court could find that the blockade of Gaza, which Israel continues to enforce, is itself a crime against humanity. Goldstone’s report also criticized Israel for firing white phosphorus incendiary shells over the UN compound in Gaza and its “intentional strike” on the Al-Quds hospital using high explosive artillery shells and white phosphorus.

The report said an Israeli soldier held by Hamas since June 2006, Gilad Shalit, has prisoner-of-war status and should be treated humanely according to the Geneva Conventions.

Following the release of the report, Amnesty International said the United Nations must act and bring those responsible to justice.

The UN Human Rights Council should endorse the report and ask UN chief Ban Ki-moon to refer it to the UN Security Council, said Donatella Rovera, who headed Amnesty’s investigation into the turn-of-year conflict.

“The UN Security Council and other UN bodies must now take the steps necessary to ensure that the victims receive the justice and reparation that is their due and that perpetrators don’t get away with murder,” she added.

Meanwhile, US envoy George Mitchell sought a deal on the thorny issue of West Bank settlements on Tuesday as he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in a bid to pave the way to resume stalled peace talks.

Source: Arab News

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Ahmadinejad Casts Doubt on 'Nuclear' Talks With U.S.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expresses readiness to negotiate on a wide range of global issues but reiterates that Tehran will not hold talks on its "inalienable [nuclear] rights."

"We are ready to hold talks on international cooperation and ways to resolve ongoing economic and security problems in the world as we believe that such issues cannot be settled without collective participation," Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with the British ambassador to Tehran, Simon Gass, on Sunday.

The West accuses Tehran of seeking nuclear weaponry. However, Iran insists its program is a civilian one and has called for the removal of weapons of mass destruction around the globe.

President Ahmadinejad, meanwhile, urged the West to make reform in its attitude toward the Iranian nation.

"We will never negotiate our inalienable right since it regards access to peaceful nuclear technology as its lawful and definite right," added the president.

His remarks came after White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the US would engage Iran but to discuss the country's nuclear program.

The US move was preceded by a package of proposals by Tehran, aimed at solving global issues.

Source: Press TV

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UNDP Offers Hope to Gaza’s Farmers

UNDP Offers Hope to Gaza’s Farmers Date : 16/9/2009 Time : 21:33

GAZA, September 16, 2009 (WAFA)- This month, the United Nations Development Programme/Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (UNDP/PAPP) began the first phase of their project 'Urgent Support to the Agriculture and Electricity Sectors in the Gaza Strip'.

The project's aim is to enhance the resilience of the Gaza Strip residents through supporting agro-productivity and livelihoods-based interventions, rehabilitation of destroyed agriculture facilities, in addition to enhance access to basic services through rehabilitation of damaged electricity networks and enhancing the delivery of power supply in the Gaza Strip. Specifically, agriculture work will focus on restoring open fields and greenhouses, providing equipment for fishermen, assisting poultry farms through provision of inputs, and rehabilitating and reconstructing 39 ground water wells.

The project comes as a response to the urgent needs of the Palestinian population following the late Israeli military assault on the Gaza Strip, which inflicted large scale damages on infrastructure including agriculture and electricity facilities. The project was designed to immediately restore damaged agriculture, and will also tackle employment and livelihoods where many of the activities will be carried out through labour intensive schemes and long-term job creation opportunities, particularly through the agriculture sector component.

Funded by the Islamic Development Bank, eight million USD will go towards the agriculture component, and another 5 million will help restore electricity facilities through the procurement and installation of new equipments and spare parts.

UNDP/PAPP is working closely with seven local NGOs on the ground in Gaza to implement the project, which is expected to complete August 2010.

Source: AJP

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Palestinians' Living Standards Can be Reversed if Restrictions on Movement, Access Eased

Palestinians' Living Standards Can be Reversed if Restrictions on Movement, Access Eased Date : 16/9/2009 Time : 21:18

NEW YORK, September 16, 2009 (WAFA)- There is a realistic chance that the downward trend in Palestinians' living standards can be reversed in the near future, at least in the West Bank, provided that restrictions on movement and access continue to be eased, said an International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Staff report for the meeting of The Ad Hoc Liaison Committee to be held in New York on September 22, 2009.

Security reforms by the Palestinian Authority (PA), including the reestablishment of law and order in major West Bank cities, were complemented by the relaxation of restrictions on movement and access in expanding private sector activity.

However, Gaza's situation remains difficult, despite some easing of Gaza's blockade. Provided remaining restrictions in the West Bank are lifted in the remainder of the year, real GDP in the West Bank is projected to rise by about 7 percent in 2009, which would represent the first substantial increase in living standards since 2005. However, assuming only a limited easing of its blockade, Gaza's real GDP per capita would decline further, although at a slower pace than in 2008.

The PA has continued with institution-building and prudent fiscal policies. These policies, along with progress in public expenditure management and good governance, have bolstered private sector confidence.

Discipline in containing growth in public sector wage rates and employment has continued, and utility subsidies are being phased out. However, the war in Gaza has imposed a substantial burden on the budget. While total donor aid during January to August 2009 was generous, in line with the original 2009 budget, over half of it was disbursed as late as in July and August. The Gaza war and delays in donor aid has worsened an already difficult liquidity situation and led to substantial government borrowing from commercial banks as well as arrears accumulation in the first half of the year. It is particularly important for the PA to keep budgetary expenditures in line with the 2009 budget target, notably by restraining non-wage spending.

There is a need to secure adequate and timely donor assistance to finance the budget deficit in the remainder of 2009 and 2010. External recurrent financing requirements for September to December 2009 are projected at about $0.4 billion, including emergency spending for Gaza. This amount is in addition to a minimum of $1.1 billion required for public investment and reconstruction in the Palestinian territories for 2009–10. Continuation of fiscal retrenchment, combined with lower projected emergency spending for Gaza, will result in a substantial reduction in the recurrent budget deficit from $1.5 billion in 2009 to $1.2 billion in 2010.

Close cooperation between the three parties, the PA, the government of Israel, and donors, is critical to ensure the success of reforms and a sustained rise in living standards. Perseverance by the PA in the implementation of the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan, supported by adequate and timely donor assistance, is essential to support higher growth and a steady move toward fiscal sustainability. Risks to the economic outlook would be substantially reduced by a breakthrough in the peace process and the lifting of restrictions on trade not only within the Palestinian territories, but also between the territories and Israel. Indeed, especially given the absence of a functioning seaport and airport, the elimination of these restrictions is essential for an expansion in the West Bank and Gaza's external trade, which in turn is key to a sustained rise in real GDP per capita beyond 2009.

Source: AJP

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Netanyahu, Mitchell Fail to Strike Deal on Settlements

Netanyahu, Mitchell Fail to Strike Deal on Settlements Date : 16/9/2009 Time : 20:49

TEL AVIV, September 16, 2009 (WAFA)- Israel and the United States remain locked in a stalemate over continued construction in West Bank settlements after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. peace envoy George Mitchell failed to come to an understanding on the matte, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

Netanyahu's bureau issued a statement characterizing the meeting as 'good' though it did not say if progress was made at all during the talks between the two men.

The U.S. and Israel are at odds over the scope of a settlement freeze. The Americans are demanding that Israel commit to cease all construction for a period of one year. The Israelis say they are willing to commit to a maximum freeze of six months.

Mitchell and Netanyahu agreed to hold another meeting on Friday upon the envoy's return from his trip to Jordan, Lebanon, and Qatar.

Source: AJP

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Number of Israelis on Unemployment Benefits Jumped 37% in 2009

Number of Israelis on Unemployment Benefits Jumped 37% in 2009 Date : 16/9/2009 Time : 19:44

TEL AVIV, September 16, 2009 (WAFA)- The number of Israelis receiving unemployment benefits rose by 37 percent in 2009, according to a report released by the National Insurance Institute (NII) on Wednesday released a report, Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

According to the report, over the past year there was an average of 80,000 Israelis receiving monthly unemployment benefits, as opposed to 60,000 last year.

The rise is linked to the global economic crisis and the rapid growth of newly fired people that came as a result.

The monthly stipends total NIS 2.3 billion, in contrast to NIS 1.87 billion last year, the report found. The numbers represent an increase of 22.5 percent over last year.

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