Posts for Oct 20th: Evo Morales, Iranian universities, Taliban in South Korea, Saudi schoolgirls, Bomb in Pakistan, Hector Aleem, Indonesian Churches Attacked, Egyptian fundamentalism, Islam & Catalonia, Gadaffi in Europe

Latest posts on T&P:

1. Iran: Bolivian President Evo Morales on trade visit to "boost trade ties". Morales, who arrived on Sunday night, is to discuss an earlier agreement on projects worth 1.1 billion dollars over the next five years, and another 287-million-dollar investment by Iran in Bolivia.
   Morales’ second visit to Iran in two years was scheduled to last three days, the news network Press TV reported.
2. Iran: Govt forbids Universities from offering "Western subjects".“Expansion of 12 disciplines in the social sciences like law, women’s studies, human rights, management, sociology, philosophy….psychology and political sciences will be reviewed,” said Abolfazl Hassani, from the education ministry. These sciences’ contents are based on Western culture. The review will be the intention of making them compatible with Islamic teachings.”
3. South Korea: Govt fears Taliban are gaining foothold in the country. A man who was arrested when entering the country, said, during an interrogation that he was there to bomb US bases. But the problem is that the man had been entering 17 times during 5 years with a fake passport! They ask some pertinent questions, like if North Korea helped him in any stage of his endeavours.
4. Saudi Arabia: Schoolgirls warned against wearing "tight clothes". "”The schoolgirl’s dress must be in line with Islamic tenets…it must not be transparent or sticking to the body in a way that will highlight her organs…there should not be any resemblance to the boy’s dress as our prophet (peace be upon him) had cursed men who imitate women and women who imitate men.”
5. Spain: Conference on "Islamic feminism". "There are currents within Islamic feminism. Moderate and radical, but they all flatly refused to talk about the veil, hijab-(and banning) because, they say, “is an excuse to distract from other substantive issues.” Some carry it always, some never, some “sometimes, because it is a symbol of submission,” argues Marie Laure. But most Muslims believe that Islamic feminism is “a threat” to their traditions and religion. Women as Masuma Assad (Union of Muslim Argentinian Women) for whom Islamic feminism “is aimed at the destruction of Islam to uphold the principles of secularism in Islamic societies".”
6. Pakistan: Bomb blast at Sufi shrine killls four. The actual death toll is 8. "Sufi worshippers, who follow a mystical strain of Islam, have increasingly been the target of bloody attacks by Islamist militants in Pakistan".
7. Hector Aleem's trial for blasphemy: Mullahs gather outside the court. Hector Aleem is being tried in Pakistan for blasphemy against Mohammed, Islam’s prophet. On October 21st and 25th, the days of the hearings, some Mullahs were assembled in the main entrance of the court at Rawalpindi to chant slogans calling for his death and against Christianity and to shout “Allah Akbar“. His family has made some videos from a mobile phone.
8. Indonesia: 700 churches attacked in past decade. "The violence also increases the indifference of the civil authorities and police, who shrug off the violence".
9. Egypt: Islamic fundamentalism rising, govt suspends 12 TV channels. They were promoting religious hatred, violence and quack medicine.
10. Spain: pro-independency Catalonian entity wants to show the "bonds that historically have existed between Islam and Catalonia". "Muslims should vote for pro-independency parties, as they rely on us to get votes. But what they do not know is that, when they let us vote, we’ll all vote for Islamic parties because we do not believe in left and right. This will make us win local councils and from there with the great powers of Catalan autonomy, Islam will begin to be implemented" (Abdelwahab Houzi, Salafist Imam, Lérida, Catalonia).
11. Europe should convert to Islam, Gadaffi says.MUAMMAR Gaddafi sparked a backlash yesterday after calling on Europeans to convert to Islam, and demanding billions of euros to stop migration leading to a “black Europe”.

Hector Aleem needs your help

I wrote two days ago about Hector Aleem's current problems. Yesterday I received a mail from the responsible of the Free Hector Aleem group (I forgot to ask him if he could be named publicly) on Facebook to thank me for the post and to ask me to post this message:

Christian human rights activist and director of NGO Peace Worldwide, Hector Aleem, was taken into custody in January 2009 because a militant Islamic group accused him of sending a ‘blasphemous’ text message from his cell phone. If convicted, he faces the death penalty under Pakistani law.

Prior to the 55-year-old’s arrest, Aleem was threatened by Islamic groups with assassination attempts and lawsuits because he objected to the illegal destruction of a church by Islamabad’s capital development authority (CDA). Muslim leaders threatened to kill him and his sons, and to forcibly convert his daughters to Islam.

Although a heart patient, Aleem has not been allowed to consume his medication and he has been denied visitation in prison. He was denied bail because Islamic mobs filled his trial courtroom and threatened to kill the judge, Aleem, and Aleem’s lawyer.

Aleem is the recipient of a peace award by Pakistan’s Prime Minister.

A Facebook group set up for him consists of freedom-loving members, from all around the world and of all different beliefs, or lack thereof, united for Hector Aleem’s right to freedom, dignity, and fair due process. For instance, one letter received by the Aleems read "You are Christian and it is a good deed to kill you. My Allah will be very happy if I kill you." (See here and here.)

It has been over a year since Hector has been incarcerated. His family urgently needs you and your friends to raise funds for Hector as soon as possible. The breakdown for these funds are as follows:

- Because no lawyer wants to take Hector’s (locally unpopular) case, only one lawyer agreed to represent him for a relatively high price of $2,500. Unless he receives this amount by the end of this month, he will not represent Hector!

- Hector requires medication in prison. He also needs clothing and hygienic supplies. His family, living for over a year without their father’s support, are also in need for housing, hygienic, and nutritional items. They have had little to eat – not even the most basic food items you would typically have on the table. The family estimates that they would need approximately $250 to cover these expenses for Hector and themselves.

These seem like large amounts. However, please donate any amount you can, even if it’s a few dollars. Many small donations quickly add. Even a few dollars can go a long way in Pakistan!

Please donate via PayPal by following this link:https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=C2QLRGNXL46V8&lc=CA&item_name=Free%20Hector%20Aleem&currency_code=CAD&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donateCC_LG%2egif%3aNonHosted

(If you prefer to send payments via snail mail, please contact freedom4hector@gmail.com and I will provide you with a mailing address.)

Hector’s family has agreed to make every effort to store and reproduce receipts from your generous donations.

Let’s help Hector and show the authorities that humanity will not acquiesce to their mistreatment of Hector and other religious minorities.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or any of Hector’s family members (listed as administrators of the group). While your donation is important, your trust is just as important.

Please remember to send the donation link to all your friends!

Thank you all!

 That's right, thanks to all the people who can help him.