Demonstrating students denounce prophet cartoons [Archives:2006/923/Local News]
SANA'A, Feb. 22 ) The Sana'a University teachers syndicate, in cooperation with the General Students' Union, held a rally Tuesday, Feb. 21. The rally included students and denounced the Danish caricatures insulting the prophet Mohammed (pbuh), which were republished by other European newspapers.
Many speeches were made at the rally to denounce and disapprove of insult to the prophet. The speeches assured that the caricatures were a series of campaigns fueling hatred and abhorrence, as well as inciting alienation and collision between civilizations. [DP-this originally said: inciting 'collusion' between civilizations, which means conspiracy between civilizations, which can't be incited. If the writer wants to say that world civilizations colluded (meaning conspired to do this), then change it back, but as it read originally, it didn't make sense]
Demonstrators called for continuing public boycotts and forming national committees to boycott the goods of all countries that offended the prophet. The demonstrators affirmed that all protests should be civilized, peaceful and free of violence.
The head of the Students' Union confirmed that the rally was meant to encourage the spirit of resistance and enhance awareness of threats targeting Islamic nations in this critical period. The Students' Union leader requested Yemen's government and all other Arab and Islamic governments to withdraw their ambassadors from countries that insulted the prophet and cancel all forms of cooperation with them. The student leader also called for forming a joint Arab-Islamic market to activate the boycott, as Arab and Islamic markets are the biggest consumers.
Al-Zindani collects millions to sue Yemeni journalists
Sheikh Abdulmajeed Al-Zindani, head of the opposition Islah party's Shoura Council and Al-Iman University head, confirmed that European insult to the prophet is due to their ignorance of his value. He added that researchers and Orientalists who studied his profile made fair judgments about him.
Additionally, Al-Zindani disclosed formation of a public legal committee to defend the prophet, adding that it has collected YR 5 million in fees for lawyers who will sue Yemeni journalists who republished the offensive caricatures. Al-Zindani declared that republishing the caricatures repeated the insult. He said that they will see to it that anyone insulting the prophet will stand trial, explaining that it is the judiciary that has the right to condemn those republishing the caricatures.
In a press release, journalist Al-Jaradi, Journalists Syndicate information committee secretary, called on Al-Zindani to use the money to indict the U.S. Administration, whose soldiers tore the Qur'an and threw it in the dirt. Al-Jaradi told News Yemen network that Al-Zindani should do that instead of suing Yemeni journalists who republished the caricatures out of good will to defend the prophet. He added, “If the journalists were wrong, many scholars have asserted that they were free of bad intentions, a matter that was met by an understanding, which led the judiciary to free them.”
Al-Jaradi said he is sure that many Al-Iman University scholars are wondering about Al-Zindani's insistence in this matter. Al-Jaradi stressed the necessity of the presence of an establishment specialized in issuing fatwas in Yemen, which should be done through competent individuals capable of issuing fatwas.
——
[archive-e:923-v:14-y:2006-d:2006-02-23-p:ln]
