The Centre For Social Cohesion

The Centre for Social Cohesion this morning hosted Dr Wafa Sultan at a meeting of opinion-formers in Westminster.

Wafa Sultan is a Syrian-born psychiatrist who now lives in the United States. She leapt to international prominence in February 2006 after an outspoken interview on Al-Jazeera (click on link to watch). The clip was swiftly disseminated and viewed by over a million people on the internet in the following weeks alone. Dr Sultan – who in her interview tackled, and trounced, a cleric who tried to stop her from expressing her opinions – fast became a spokesperson for women and independent thinkers across the Muslim and Western world.

When calling for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory at this coming Saturday's 'Enough' Rally in London, how many demonstrators present there will be aware or even interested that many Palestinians in Gaza want the Israelis to return?

As MEMRI reports:

It gives considerable pleasure to be able to report that Saturday’s ‘Enough coalition’ rally turned out to be a washout. The march against ‘Israeli occupation’ which the organisers believed would bring tens of thousands of people out onto the streets of London had to make do with a few thousand odd stragglers.

Among them were the terrorist-supporters and wannabe-terrorists, holocaust-deniers and anti-semitic conspiracy theorists who this blog has made mention of in the past. Though saying so says much about our times, it is nevertheless a notable success that – even with so many ‘celebrity’ endorsements – so few people wanted to walk down the street with this crowd.

Three closely connected unresolved issues hold the key to peace abroad today and with that a resolution of the tensions currently posing the gravest threat to social cohesion at home.

The first such issue arises from the huge resurgence in Islam over the last quarter century. With benefit of hindsight, some may claim this resurgence was bound to have occurred with the passing of western colonialism and imperialism. But in reality it was as unexpected and un-inevitable as the sudden collapse of the Soviet Union was when it happened.

‘The noble Lord Hannay … will understand better than most the importance of a united position around the UN principles. Our policy has not changed. We expect Hamas to adhere to the principles set by the Quartet in January 2006. These are to renounce violence, recognise Israel and accept all previous agreements and obligations, as set out in the road map. I hope that it does that and that it takes the opportunity for dialogue and progress, but a political dialogue is impossible as long as Hamas dedicates itself to violence and destruction.’

Thus remarked Baroness Royall of Blaisdon earlier this month in the House of Lords, winding up for the government there a debate on Palestine and the Occupied Territories.

The Islam Channel has been fined £30,000 by Ofcom, the media regulator, for breaking the UK's broadcasting code.

Ofcom said the channel had been wrong to allow presenters who were standing in an election to use their own television shows to promote their campaigns.

It also said that the channel had often failed to provide balance in its reporting - citing one example where a report on Jerusalem's disputed status contained only Palestinian points of view.

Yesterday saw the publication of a report on the Middle East by a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee.

Media accounts of it have largely focussed on one of its principal recommendations. This is that the Government ‘should urgently consider ways of engaging politically with moderate elements within Hamas as a way of encouraging it to meet the three Quartet principles’.

Al-Qaeda supporters have voiced their anger at Al Jazeera Network for airing an audiotape of Osama bin Laden that made him appear “unusually” humble.

In the video, bin Laden admitted that al-Qaeda's organisation in Iraq had made mistakes and called for unity among Muslims.

Should Saudi Royals be treated as moral outcasts?

Definitely not argues Amir Taheri in an op-ed in today’s Times. Entitled ‘They’re like camels – uncongenial, but trustworthy’, his piece bears the subtitle: ‘It’s absurd to treat the Saudi royals as moral outcasts’.

The occasion of it is the arrival in Britain yesterday on a two-day official state visit that starts today of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia who has travelled here with an entourage of some 600 fellow Saudi royals and advisors.

Mr Taheri bases his comparison between the visitors and camels on an Arab proverb that he quotes at the very end of his piece and which runs: ‘The camel is not the most congenial of travel companions, but it is the most trustworthy’.