Sunday, February 8, 2015

Austria Threatens to Close Saudi-Backed Interfaith Dialogue Center


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Austria Threatens to Close Saudi-Backed Interfaith Dialogue Center

by Soeren Kern  •  February 8, 2015 at 5:00 am
Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann has expressed public outrage over the refusal of the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue to speak out against the flogging of Raif Badawi, a Saudi human rights activist and blogger who has been sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for "insulting Islam."
"Saudi Arabia practices a form of Sharia law that is one of the most brutal systems in the world... Does the Austrian Foreign Ministry really want to give such a state the opportunity to build an international propaganda center in Austria?" — Editorial, Die Presse.
"An inter-religious dialogue center that remains silent when it is time to speak out clearly for human rights is not worthy of being called a dialogue center. It is a silence center." — Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann.
"If the center wants to remain only an economic center with a religious fig leaf, then Austria should no longer be a part of it. In any event, Austria will not allow itself to be threatened or blackmailed." — Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann.
Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann (left) has expressed public outrage over the refusal of the KAICIID to speak out against the flogging of Raif Badawi (right), a Saudi human rights activist and blogger who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for "insulting Islam."
The Austrian government has threatened to close a controversial Saudi-sponsored religious dialogue center because of the latter's failure to condemn the flogging of a Saudi human rights activist and blogger.
Saudi Arabia has responded to the threat by issuing a counter-threat to move the permanent headquarters of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries [OPEC] out of the Austrian capital of Vienna.
The dust-up began in mid-January, when Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann expressed public outrage over the refusal of the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue [KAICIID] to speak out against the flogging of Raif Badawi, a Saudi human rights activist and blogger who has been sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for "insulting Islam."

Turkey's Bad Joke: Crocodile Tears for Victims of Holocaust

by Burak Bekdil  •  February 8, 2015 at 4:00 am
It all looks nice. It isn't.
On Muslim Brotherhood channels based in Turkey, Egyptian clerics and commentators called for the murder of Egypt's President Abdel Fatteh al-Sisi and the journalists who support him.
Under the nice wrappings of Holocaust Remembrance Day, there is an entirely different Turkey.
Perhaps he thinks the Holocaust, too, happened because of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The Speaker of Turkey's Parliament, Cemil Cicek, in his speech on Holocaust Remembrance Day, linked rising anti-Semitism to Israeli actions. (Image source: Haberler video screenshot)
For a few moments, one could think there are two countries in the world that go by the name "Turkey." Then reality quickly corrects the mistaken belief.
"We hope that every person develops an understanding of the Holocaust, which constitutes one of the darkest moments in human history, and will consider the importance of working together so that such a tragedy, and the conditions that made this inconceivable crime possible, will never re-emerge," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a written statement on January 27. How nice and thoughtful. But there were more Turkish niceties.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was among the participants in Poland at the ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, on Holocaust Remembrance Day. And Turkey donated a modest sum of 150,000 euros this year as its contribution to the long-term preservation and restoration of the concentration camp.

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