Haveeru reports that English teacher Jinto Thomas is being deported for the “crime” of having an “anti-Islamic passage” in a test that reads:
— “All of us are human persons. We are created by God. There are numerous religions in the world. Christianity is the largest religious in the world. There around 2,500,000,000 Christians in the world. The second place goes to Islam. There are about 1,3000,000,000 Muslims.”
British media are reporting on the activities of Indian Muslim cleric Zakir Naik who has been permitted to enter the United Kingdom for evangelist activities on his interpretation of Islam.
Religious extremist Zakir Naik has repeatedly called for denying human beings their universal human rights of freedom of conscience, calling those who leave Islam as “traitors.” The London Times has quoted Zakir Naik as stating that “People who change their religion should face the death penalty.” On May 30, 2010, Zakir Naik was speaking at a Maldives event where a man publicly renounced Islam in the form of a question to Zakir Naik, and Zakir Naik again called for the death penalty for those Muslims who leave Islam and who propagate another faith. The man asking Zakir Naik the question was taken into custody in the Maldives and is expected to be prosecuted.
In a widely broadcast video, Zakir Naik has called for the death penalty for those who leave Islam and promote another religion as “apostates.” In the broadcast, Zakir Naik states “if a Muslim becomes a non-Muslim and propagates his/her new religion, then it is as good as treason. There is a ‘death penalty’ in Islam for such a person. In many countries, the punishment for treason is also death. If an army general discloses his army’s secrets to another country, then there is a ‘death penalty’ or life imprisonment for such a person according to the laws of most of the countries. In the broadcast, Zakir Naik also states that the death penalty for leaving Islam (“apostasy”) should also apply to “non-Muslim countries.” Zakir Naik also challenges other “Islamic scholars” who believe in such death penalty for “apostates” to extend such defiance of religious freedom not just to Muslim majority nations, but to the entire world. Zakir Naik states “If these scholars are really righteous people then they must welcome their own principle (of death for apostates) in the non-Muslim countries as well.”
London Times: “Muslim preacher of hate is let into Britain” — Zakir Naik
— London Times: “Zakir Naik, an Indian televangelist described as a ‘hate-monger’ by moderate Muslims and one Tory MP, says western women make themselves ‘more susceptible to rape’ by wearing revealing clothing.”
— “Naik, who proselytises on Peace TV, a satellite television channel, is reported to have called for the execution of Muslims who change their faith, described Americans as ‘pigs’ and said that ‘every Muslim should be a terrorist‘”
— “In a recent lecture, he said he was ‘with’ Osama Bin Laden over the attacks on ‘terrorist America’, adding that the 9/11 hijackings were an inside job by President George W Bush.”
— quotes Zakir Naik: “Beware of Muslims saying Osama Bin Laden is right or wrong. I reject them … we don’t know. But if you ask my view, if given the truth, if he is fighting the enemies of Islam, I am for him. I don’t know what he’s doing. I’m not in touch with him. I don’t know him personally. If he is terrorising the terrorists, if he is terrorising America the terrorist … I am with him. Every Muslim should be a terrorist.”
— quotes Zakir Naik: “People who change their religion should face the death penalty”
Various media are reporting on violence involving a flotilla of ships in international waters headed towards Gaza described as “aid ships.” The reports describe Israeli helicopters and military halting the flotilla in international waters, and soldiers boarding one of the ships in the flotilla, the Turkish Mavi Marmara ship, during which shots were fired. The IDF reports that the Mavi Marmara ship held “extremists” that sought to attack an Israeli commando who boarded the ship, and took the Israeli commando’s gun away.
The media has had wide ranging reports on the casualties and the causes from 10 to 20 killed, and 60 injured, including injured Israel soldiers. Reports on the tolls include: RT video has reported , Turkey’s NTV states, and The Daily Telegraph.
BBC reports that Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister “Danny Ayalon said it was a ‘premeditated and outrageous provocation’ and the activists on board were intent on violence;” Ayalon described the flotilla as an “armada of hate and violence in support of Hamas organization was a premeditated and outrageous provocation. The organizers are well-known to their ties to global Violent Extemism, Al-Qaeda, and Hamas…”
A Turkish news agency reported that X-ray of items brought on board the ship showed no weapons. In media reports, the Israel government claims that violence only occurred on the ship Mavi Marmara.
The Associated Press reported that the U.S. President Obama administration spokesman Bill Burton stated that it “deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries sustained” and that U.S. administration officials are “currently working to understand the circumstances surrounding this tragedy.”
