Muslims decry violence against Uighurs

Siraj Wahab
ALKHOBAR: A large section of Muslims yesterday offered special prayers for the well-being of their co-religionists in Urumqi and Kashgar in China’s far-west Xinjiang province. They expressed shock at the violence that is being meted out to Uighurs by Han Chinese in a region that Muslims know as East Turkestan. They prayed for peace to prevail in the region and expressed complete solidarity with the besieged people.

“The images that are coming out of Urumqi are very painful. Club-wielding Han Chinese, who are being resettled in the region, are roaming the streets. I have seen television images of Uighur women cowering in fear at the impending attacks.

“We knew not everything was all right in the Muslim-dominated province of China, but we were oblivious to the scale of the anti-Muslim sentiment there,” said Amin Nasser Kashgari, who works as a subcontractor for a water utility firm in Dammam. Amin Kashgari’s forefathers belonged to Kashgar, which is close to Urumqi and which has also been the focus of the recent troubles.

“These are very dark days for the Uighur people. It is a repressive regime in China. Remember what they did to their own people at Tiananmen Square. Uighurs are not Chinese. They speak their own language. They have their own distinct culture. This is certainly not to the liking of the Han Chinese who are being resettled in the predominantly Muslim region... Violence has been simmering in the region for a long time,” he pointed out.

Saad Muhammad Al-Qahtani, who offered Friday prayers along with a large group of faithful at a prominent mosque in Alkhobar, said China enjoyed a good reputation among Saudis. “We all know they are a hard-working people, that they are in line to become the world’s next superpower. However, this repression against Muslims in China has unnerved me. What I see and hear is beyond words. Some people in our family circle have suggested that what is happening there is certainly no different than what is happening in Palestine. It is just that the media is not fully aware of what is happening in China,” he said.

“Witnesses quoted by Arabic television channels have confirmed that demonstrators were shot and beaten to death by Chinese police, and some were even crushed under armored vehicles,” claimed an agitated Al-Qahtani. Jameel Muhammad Hotani, a young science student at a local university, said chat rooms frequented by Arabs were vociferously discussing the Uighur issue. “There is a lack of awareness about the region. Whatever information is available is available through the Western news agencies. They are basically talking about only the current troubles. There is no mention of the roots of the problem,” he said. According to Saudis of East Turkestani origin, what is happening in East Turkestan is nothing less that what is happening in Palestine. “Just as Israel is busy usurping Arab land and ‘Judaizing’ Jerusalem, China is usurping East Turkestan. In the 1940s and 1950s and 1960s China brought in millions of Han Chinese to settle them on Uighur land. A lot of these Han Chinese were basically criminal elements and they have wreaked havoc in the region,” said Abdul Qader, Jameel Muhammad’s brother.

The Hotani brothers trace their ancestry to Hotan in East Turkestan. They said their father and grandfather were among the Uighur elite. They were part of the East Turkestani government. When China flooded East Turkestan with Han Chinese, most of the Uighurs who had the resources fled the region. “It was in mid-1940s that our parents landed in Saudi Arabia. They were among so many Uighurs who were offered Saudi hospitality,” said Qader. They urged China to heed international opinion and end all violence. “We call on the Chinese government to ensure the safety of everyone living in East Turkestan,” Qader added. The violence in East Turkestan prompted Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Secretary-General professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu to issue two statements in the last three days. He expressed deep concern at the deteriorating situation in Uighur Autonomous Region of China and in particular the loss of life in great number among the civilians and the loss of property.

Ihsanoglu deplored the climate of fear that the Uighur people are obliged to live in. He called upon the Chinese government to provide protection for the civilian population and to allow them to return to their normal life.

“It is my belief that the chronic problem facing the Uighur people could not be solved through security measures alone.”

Source : Arab News

Israeli media denounced for insulting the Prophet

Ghazanfar Ali Khan, Arab News

RIYADH: GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah yesterday denounced the derogatory remarks made about the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in an Israeli television program. “These ugly remarks made against the Prophet is part of a malicious campaign against Muslims launched by the Jewish state,” he said in a statement on the sidelines of a GCC foreign ministers’ meeting.

Al-Attiyah accused Israeli Channel 10 of organizing a blasphemous campaign against Islam and Christianity, saying that “this outrageous act is nothing but part of a series of ferocious attacks made by the state-sponsored Israeli media on the Islamic value system, teachings and sanctities.”

The GCC ministers met under the chairmanship of Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah of Oman and discussed a range of regional and international issues, including Palestine, Lebanon, Somalia, Darfur, Iran and Iraq. The peaceful use of nuclear technology was also addressed.

The GCC ministers, however, reiterated their demand to make the Middle East a nuclear arms-free zone. All the six foreign ministers attended the 110th ministerial session at the GCC General Secretariat. Prince Saud Al-Faisal led the Kingdom’s delegation to the session.

Referring to the Israeli television, which carried a clip of Israel’s version of the reality show “Survivor” in which a contestant insults the Prophet, the GCC chief called on the international community and the United Nations to take immediate measures to stop the defamation of prophets and religions. The clip’s broadcast comes days after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert issued a public apology for two segments that aired on Israeli Channel 10, in which Christianity was also mocked.

Referring to the need to exert more efforts to bring the Middle East peace process back on tracks, the GCC foreign ministers called on all parties to revitalize it in a way that will serve the interests of the Palestinian people and eventually help set up their independent state.

In his opening remarks at the meeting, Omani Minister Abdullah welcomed the call of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for greater unity and solidarity at the Arab economic summit in Kuwait recently.

The ministers also praised “the efforts of the Bahraini leadership, which played a major role in defusing a crisis with Iran” following a spate of verbal attacks in which Ali Akbar Nateq Nuri, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, claimed Bahrain had been Iran’s “14th province”. The remark was an affront to Bahrain’s sovereignty.

The ministers also praised the efforts made by Qatar in establishing peace in Darfur. The ministers said in a statement that they share a common vision that will contribute to helping the Arab action that seeks to ensure peace in Palestine and elsewhere.

GCC warns Iran against making hostile remarks

By Ghazanfar Ali Khan, Arab News

RIYADH: The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) yesterday called on Iran to refrain from hostile remarks against its Arab neighbors, while also proposing a joint fund for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

The recent provocative statement from a prominent Iranian conservative and high-level adviser, Ali Akber Nateq Nouri, who called Bahrain Iran’s 14th province, and the situation in war-ravaged Gaza Strip, especially in the light of the election victory of right-wing Benjamin Netanyahu, were the focus of discussions among GCC foreign and finance ministers who met here yesterday.

“Statements made from time to time by Iranian officials infringe on the sovereignty and independence of the Gulf states, especially Bahrain, and represent a flagrant aggression on the Arab identity of Bahrain,” said the GCC statement.

“The GCC is looking forward to the Iranian government to condemn and prevent the repetition of such odd voices, which increase tension and do not help to restore security and stability in the region,” the statement added.

Iran moved late last week to defuse the row, saying it respects the sovereignty of Bahrain. Bahrain has halted negotiations with Iran over a major gas import deal following Nateq Nouri’s comments. The deal, however, has not officially been canceled.

The GCC ministers also discussed the efforts required to rebuild the war-torn Gaza Strip and also ways to promote the Middle East peace process after Netanyahu forms Israel’s next government.

The ministers called on all Arab states to come together to help the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip — a densely populated urban area of 1.5 million people — rebuild after the recent Israeli offensive. Officials said $1.25 billion has been pledged by Saudi Arabia and Qatar. “The membership of this common program for the reconstruction of Gaza shall be open to all Arab countries and operated by a panel of the member nations,” it said.

The program, which seeks to mobilize efforts and generate funds for the reconstruction of Palestine, will be operated in cooperation with the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank.

“The goal is for the program to be implemented fast and minutely planned and also for it to respond to the needs of our Palestinian brethren in Gaza as soon as possible,” Oman’s minister in charge of foreign affairs, Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, told reporters.