The Rule of Law...

"Who knows what might have happened?" she said. "It need not have been an armed stand off. They could have stopped the plane from taking off, and brought in negotiators from the Foreign Office. Can you allow people from other countries to put the police in a situation where they can't enforce British law?"

"this matter was of national significance to the Jewish community... any police action could significantly impact on community confidence in the police."

"He apologised for a judicial process," Mr Maynard said. "This case was not a stunt; it was an effort to bring Almog to justice in a place where he would have a fair trial, because he has complete immunity in Israel. To have it thwarted, and then to have an apology, is incredible."

Read the whole article

Al-Aqsa Landslide Sounds the Alarm

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — A landslide at part of Al-Aqsa Mosque esplanade has sounded the alarm over the ongoing Israeli excavations near Islam's third holiest shrine.

Worshippers witnessed a crater at the esplanade as they were en route to the Friday prayer, Al-Aqsa Online reported Saturday, February 16.

The crater is two meters in length and 1.5 meters in width.

"I was cleaning the mosque's esplanade for the Friday prayers," said Ashraf Al-Sharyati, the driver of the mosque's cleaning vehicle.

"Suddenly, some bricks fell down at 10:00 a.m., creating a crater. We covered the big hole with wooden plans for worshippers' safety."

The landslide occurred near Al-Selsela (Chain) Gate and Qatibai Water Fountain at the mosque's western side.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the Muslims’ first Qiblah [direction Muslims take during prayers] and it is the third holiest shrine after Al Ka`bah in Makkah and Prophet Muhammad's Mosque in Madinah, Saudi Arabia.

Its significance has been reinforced by the incident of Al Isra'a and Al Mi'raj — the night journey from Makkah to Al-Quds and the ascent to the Heavens by Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him).

The holy place represents the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict as Jews claim that their alleged Haykal (Temple of Solomon) exists underneath Al-Haram Al-Sharif.

Israeli Diggings

Palestinians blamed the Israeli diggings adjacent to Al-Aqsa for the earth moving.

"The diggings and tunnels Israel is building beneath and around Al-Aqsa Mosque are the cause of the new landslide," said Al-Aqsa Foundation for Reconstruction of Islamic Sanctities in an online statement.

"The Jewish tunnels network have reached Al-Selsela Gate."

The Islamic Movement in Israel also blamed the Israeli diggings for the landslide, calling on Muslim countries to step in to stop Israeli excavations near the holy mosque.

The movement's leader Sheikh Raed Salah has warned that Israel plans to build a colossal synagogue at the heart of Al-Haram Al-Sharif and contiguous to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli bulldozers started last February demolishing the wooden bridge leading to Al-Aqsa Mosque's Al-Maghariba Gate and two underground rooms, sparking widespread protests in the Palestinian lands and Muslim countries.

Archeologists warn that leveling the mound upon which the wooden bridge is built would threaten the foundation of Al-Aqsa Mosque and open the way for more Israeli excavations.

A part of the road leading to one of the mosque’s main gates collapsed in February of 2004 due to the destructive Israeli digging work.

Death Penalty for Detainees

Military prosecutors have decided to seek the death penalty for six
Guantánamo detainees who are to be charged with central roles in the Sept. 11,
2001, terror attacks on the United States, government officials who had been
briefed on the charges said.

More

Next Stop: Mexico City

Women Only Buses

Turkey: Hijab Ban Lifted

ISTANBUL: Turkey's Parliament took a major step on Saturday toward lifting a ban against women's head scarves at universities, setting the stage for a final showdown with the country's secular elite over where Islam fits in the building of an open society.

Turkish lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of a measure supported by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to change Turkey's Constitution in a way they say would guarantee all citizens the right to go to college regardless of how they dress.

Turkish authorities imposed the ban in the late 1990s, arguing that the growing number of covered women in colleges threatened secularism, one of the founding principles of modern Turkey.

Secular opposition lawmakers voted against the change, with about a fifth of all ballots cast. Crowds of secular Turks backed them on the streets of Turkey's capital, Ankara, chanting that secularism — and women's right to resist being forced to wear head scarves by an increasingly conservative society — was under threat and demanding that the government step down.

"This decision will bring further pressure on women," said Nesrin Baytok, a member of Parliament from the opposition secular party, during the debate in Parliament. "It will ultimately bring us Hezbollah terror, Al Qaeda terror and fundamentalism."

More

Turks protest over headscarf plan

By Sarah Rainsford

BBC News, Istanbul


The issue is highly controversial in a mainly Muslim country. Thousands of Turks have rallied in Ankara to protest against a government plan to allow women to wear the Islamic headscarf in Turkish universities.

The protestors fear such a move would usher in a stricter form of Islam in Turkey, which is a secular state.

Turkey's parliament is expected to approve a constitutional amendment to ease the ban next week.

The ban on the headscarf in higher education was imposed in the 1980s, and has been enforced for the past decade.

A huge crowd gathered at the mausoleum of Ataturk - the man who founded Turkey as a modern, secular republic.

Fearing the gains of his revolution are in danger, the protestors came waving Ataturk's image on banners and carrying the national flag.

Political symbol

The government - which is led by devout Muslims - is pushing a reform that would allow women to wear the religious headscarf to university.

The scarf has been banned outright in private and state universities for almost two decades.

The government argues the ban deprives thousands of women of a higher education.

But Turkey's powerful, secular establishment sees the headscarf as a symbol of political Islam - a threat to their secular way of life, and to the political system here.

Those opposed to the reform include the military, Turkey's judges and university rectors.

They fear it is just the first step to allowing religious symbols into all aspects of public life.

The constitutional amendment is likely to be passed by parliament, where the government has the support of the main nationalist party.

But such is the controversy that the changes are almost certain to be contested in the constitutional court.