chinu, darn that Bush guy. Look at all the changes his policies have caused to happen in the ME...why if it were not for George W these ME islam countries would have continued on happily 1500 years behind the rest of the modern world. :-)
Sheikh Yehiya Al-Najar, Undersecretary at Yemen's Ministry of Religious Endowments, said that in order to dry up the sources of extremism Yemen would be closing 24,000 religious schools not under government supervision. (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, 3/16/05)
In its March 13, 2005 session, the Bahrain government approved a bill to teach democracy and human rights as required subjects in the middle and high schools. (Al-Hayat, London, 3/14/05)
The Egyptian Education Ministry is implementing an experimental program for spreading human rights in over 20 public middle and high schools. Clubs to advance human rights, social participation, and respect for the other have been established in the schools for pupils aged 12-16. Over 45 teachers taking part in the experiment have participated in an Education Ministry workshop on human rights. (Al-Ahram Al-Masaai, Egypt 3/15/05)
On April 17, 2005, Kuwait will host Arab Women's Day activities. (www.elaph.com, 3/16/05)
The Arab Association for Human Rights in Syria condemned a three-year sentence handed down March 13 by Syria's high court for state security to a young man charged with belonging to the Islamic Liberation Party. A communiqué released by the association demanded that the Syrian authorities rule to enable activity by political parties because the absence of authorized parties has led to the detention of over 20,000 Syrian citizens. The association also demanded a general pardon for all political prisoners in Syria. (www.elaph.com, 3/13/05)
The Bibliotheca Alexandria's second annual Arab Reform Conference began on March 13, with the participation of 360 intellectuals from 17 Arab countries and 141 organizations for human rights and for the advancement of democracy, growth, and reform. (Al-Ahram, Egypt, 3/14/05)
87% of respondents in a survey by the SAS center in Jeddah for monitoring Saudi public opinion said that they supported women's participation in the upcoming local council elections. (www.elaph.com, 3/15/05)
Nationwide celebrations of the ancient Iranian fire festival turned into violent demonstrations against the regime last night when celebrators were stormed by Iranian security who opened fire and attacked them with weapons, leading to dozens of casualties and arrests. (Peykeiran.com; Isna; Irna; Aftab-e Yazd, Iran 3/15/05, 3/16/05)
Kuwaiti Religious Endowments Minister Dr. Abdallah Al-M'atouq said that a fatwa would be issued March 19 clarifying that the question of women's participation in parliament was controversial amongst the Ulema and that the ruler would decide on the matter. This fatwa will contradict a 1985 Ministry of Religious Endowments fatwa that was renewed in 1998, stating that women could not be MP's. (Al-Hayat, London, 3/15/05)
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