In letter, Abdullah al-Shami, who is on hunger strike, complains of bone aches and says he can “barely” stand
Al Jazeera has obtained a letter by imprisoned journalist Abdullah al-Shami, in which he talks about his deteriorating health caused by a 81-day hunger strike against his detention.
The correspondent for the Doha-based media network’s Arabic news channel, who has been held without charge by Egyptian authorities since August 14, wrote that he suffered from bone aches and could “barely” stand.
The letter, which was dated on April 6, was addressed to fellow detainee Mohamed Soltan and was given to Al Jazeera by al-Shami’s wife, Gehad Khaled.
Al-Shami says his family, friends and fellow prisoners had “put pressure” on him to stop his hunger strike but that he was “determined, willing and hard-headed” about his freedom.
He said he was confident that both he and Soltan would be released one day and that when that happened, they would visit the West Indies together.
In another letter, the journalist, who is being held at Tora prison in Cairo, said he would not end his hunger strike until he gained his “full freedom”.
His brother Mohamed, who last met Abdullah in March, said he had lost 30kg while in detention.
Al Jazeera says it is deeply concerned about al-Shami’s health.
There are three other Al Jazeera journalists being held by Egyptian authorities.
Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, who work for the network’s English channel, are falsely accused of providing a platform to an outlawed group.
They have been held for more than a 100 days and on Wednesday a court adjourned their trial until April 22.
UK-based rights group Amnesty International said in a statement on Wednesday that the three journalists were “prisoners of conscience” and called for their immediate and unconditional release.
Al Jazeera strongly rejects the charges and demands the immediate release of its staff.
The people of Somaliland were shocked by the hasty congratulation message of Kulmiye led government in Hargiesa to the selection of Abdi Weli, as leader of Puntland, an autonomous region of Somalia.During his campaign, Abdi Weli vowed to invade Somaliland’s eastern regions.
Abdi Weli, who is leading tribal enclave, claims parts of Somaliland based on clan. He believes that Harti clans in eastern Somaliland must join Puntland, which according to him is a kingdom of Harti kinsfolk.Weli is bribing and brainwashing some of Somaliland’s Harti fugitives using the dirty money that he gained during his premiership in Transitional Government of Somalia, where he was accused for corruption.
Abdi Weli, according to the UN Monitoring Group report, was criticized for endemic corruption alongside other three high-ranking officials in Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia including former President Sheikh Sharif and the Parliament Speaker. Former Prime Minister Mohamed Farmaajo was, also, accused in the report. Both Abdi Weli and Farmaajo vehemently denied but the stain and accusation are still alive in the minds of the people of Somalia.
Somalia, including Puntland, is at the top of the world’s most failed states because of such corrupted leaders, who fill-up their pockets instead of serving some of the poorest people on earth.
Abdi Weli, who is disconnected from the reality, is planning to unite all the Harti tribesmen under Puntland administration, which means that Puntland will take over parts of Ethiopia and Somaliland. Currently Puntland invades Somaliland and will do the same to Ethiopia.
This policy of invading legitimate countries based on ethnicity was adopted in Somalia after independence. Somalia invaded Ethiopia in 1977, in order to take over Ethiopia’s eastern parts dominated by Somali speaking community. Such policy called “Somaliwayn”.
The government of Somalia is not accepting secession of Somaliland, as an independent nation, because Somaliland is part of Somali-speaking community in east Africa and loosing Somaliland means the end of “Somaliwayn” policy.
Abdi Weli is ready to trigger war with Somaliland as he declared during his campaign. On undeclared visit, Abdi Weli visited Badhan town, which is located inside Somaliland, which led Somaliland authorities to seal-off its border with Somalia.
In his latest misleading acts, Abdi Weli accused Somaliland of having links with Al-Shabaab terrorists without providing material evidence to support the accusation.
Al-Shabab bombed Somaliland presidential palace, Ethiopian embassy and UNDP head office in Hargiesa – Capital of Somaliland.Somaliland is part of war-on-terror and arrested many Al-Shabab members.
Somaliland Intelligence Agency provided critical security information, which helped the UK authorities to fool terrorist attempt in London during 2007.Somaliland collaborates with other regional authorities on security and intelligence information.
Such baseless accusation against Somaliland undermines the international community efforts to solve the longstanding instability of ex-Somali Republic. It undermines the current talk between Somaliland and Somalia in Turkey, in which both countries are deciding on their future political relations.
Last week, Puntland policeman killed two UN aid workers at the day light, which led the UN to shift all its employees to Somaliland.
Somaliland submitted their concerns over Puntland’s untrue accusation to the government of Somalia in Mogadishu.
Somaliland will not allow Abdi Weli to illegally infiltrate into Somaliland border with Somalia again, and Puntland will be responsible for any security instability that could result from such unfriendly situation created by Puntland.
Brief History of Land of Punt
Puntland has twisted the history of Land of Punt to tribal enclave, where the area was turned into crime territory. The human trafficking, where small wooden boat intended to carry lighter cargo used to smuggle thousands of people into Yemen and Arabian Gulf. Thousands of Somalis and Ethiopians lost their life in this risky trip. There are famous Puntland leaders who are involved in such dirty business. Piracy is another lucrative business, although it is declining recently, but still there are cases of piracy reported. Recently Hollywood released movie named ‘Captain Philip’ about the Puntland Piracy. The director carefully selected the actors who were mainly from Puntland.
By naming their state “Puntland,” the leaders of that self-declared autonomous northern Somalia evoke a storied history. The Land of Punt was a key trading partner of ancient Egypt from roughly 2,500 BCE to 1000 BCE. Punt provided rare goods for the Egyptian elite, including aromatic gums (especially myrrh and frankincense), gold, ivory and wild animals, but around 1000 BCE connections were lost, after which the Land of Punt faded into legends, its exact location lost.
Despite heaps of evidence and decades of debate, scholars are not certain where or even what ancient Punt was and where it was.
The exact location of Punt is still debated by historians. Most scholars today believe Punt was located to the southeast of Egypt, most likely in the coastal region of what is today Somaliland, Djibouti, Eritrea, and North East Ethiopia.
The Land of Punt, also called Pewenet, or Pewene by ancient Egyptians was an Egyptian trading partner. The region is known from ancient Egyptian records of trade missions to it.
During Queen Hatsheput the Land of Punt was ruled by King Parahu and Queen Ati, the only known leader of Land of Punt. However, today’s tribe enclave called Puntland twisted the history including Abdi Weli are nothing but leaders of tribe enclave and bogus self-styled leaders who don’t represent the people.
Hatshepsut “maintains the fiction that her envoy” Chancellor Nehsi, who is mentioned as the head of the expedition, had travelled to Punt “in order to extract tribute from the natives” who admit their allegiance to the Egyptian pharaoh. In reality, Nehsi’s expedition was a simple trading mission to a land, Punt, which was by this time a well-established trading post
as I mentioned Scholars have long sought to locate the Land of Punt. Ancient Egyptian sources show that it was reached by sailing down the Red Sea. A location is thus suggested, probably in present day Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somaliland and Djibouti.
However, what the current selected leaders of Puntland are claiming is twisting the history. Note that modern Puntland lies at the extreme margin of the general area hypothesized as the possible Land of Punt.
Today’s piracy enclave of Puntland is not part of Land of Punt as per the below map which shows that self-declared autonomous region of Puntland is not located in the same place as the ancient Land of Punt. Puntland is not alone in being misplaced from its namesake. Several African countries are named for illustrious kingdoms that were situated elsewhere. Map of Land of Punt http://www.igmi.org/ancient/immagine.php?cod=14390
Also, the map shows the location of SULT DEL MIGIURTIN (Majeerteeniya) after independence to be named Majeerteeniya / North East Province of Somali Republic and later after the collapse of central government of Somalia, the region was declared as semi-autonomous region of Puntland. This is the true color of Puntland and it has no relation with Land of Punt, and the last recognized and known King of Land of Punt was King Parahu.
Moreover, the map shows the clear territorial border of Somaliland, Djibouti and Somalia.
Conclusion
Somaliland is peaceful country and promotes peace and harmony in the region. Somaliland is cooperative towards achieving stable and prosperous Horn of Africa.However, Puntland’s illegal attempts to create instability in far east of Somaliland will have painful consequences, knowing that the strong Somaliland Army are at the border between Somaliland and Somalia, which is not far from the main cities of Puntland.Any attempt to violate the international Somaliland-Somalia border will receive strong response.
Article 14: The President of the Republic, Head of Government enforces this status. (General Civil Service)
PRESS RELEASE
Policy witchhunt involving teachers suspected of association with the opposition or with the union continues to insidious and intensity. More than 83 teachers have seen their salaries suspended for more than five months in violation of all procedures and the statusof civilservants. And today after the suspensions of pay after mutations sanctions after the harassment, the Ministry of Education launched a proposal of 63 radiation and in violation of all rules and administrative procedures on the one hand with the complicity and complacency of the Minister of Labour and Administrative Reform on the other.
Among teachers, all officials about to be written off include:
Farah Abdillahi Miguil, Professor, Secretary General of SYNESED and founding member of the Collective “Save Education”
Abdillahi Adaweh Mireh Inspector of Education, founding member and spokesperson of the Collective
Youssouf Moussa Youssouf Abdi said Macho, Educational Consultant and founder member of the Collective
Ismael Omar Omar, Professor and founding member of the Collective
In this “cleansing”, the young Minister of Education benefits all levels of support complacent and complicit colleagues ministers. The unstated objective of this repression is to nullify any kind of assertion of rights, dignity and freedom.
The ruling from the single party uses a well-oiled method for 37 years. In order to nip in the bud any idea of advocacy, reform and challenge the system, it freezes wages, even attack any gainful activity undertaken by any independent person …
The SYNESED denounces and condemns the repeated human rights and dignity suffered Djibouti teachers and called the President of the Republic, guarantor texts with, take its responsibilities relating to sectarian civil servants and especially teachers .
The house standing committee has grilled the Governor of the Somaliland Central bank Mr. Abdi Dirir Abdi today, the central bank boss was told to brief the house standing committee on the what measures he has put in place to the raising value of the US dollar and weakens the Somaliland shilling in the past two weeks which has continued to exert pressure on some sectors of the local economy.
The vice chairman of the house standing committee on finance, Hon Ahmed Dualeh MP later emerged to brief the media on the agenda of the meeting said, “ As you’re aware of the Somaliland shilling has in the past two weeks continued to lose ground against the US dollar, despite this being the end of the month, when the demand for the local currency is always high and the concerns by money traders who expect the local currency to depreciate further, that’s why we summoned the Central Bank Boss to brief us on the on the what kind of the interventions the bank has place to stem a further slide of the local currency .
The Central Bank Boss briefing the house committee said, “We have in place the legal and regulatory framework capable of ensuring the efficient and equitable operation and which are all fundamental to the management of the economy.
Nevertheless we have also deployed mobile money trucks in a bid to steady the exchange rate, the Somaliland shilling has continued to trade at between 6,600/- and 7000/- a US dollar since January, this year, a steady range that has helped to stabilize prices of imported goods and services in the local economy.
The two U.N. workers shot dead in central Somalia were working on the links between money transfer systems and piracy, the U.N. anti-drugs and crime agency said Wednesday.
Former British police officer Simon Davis, 57, and his French colleague, 28-year-old researcher Clement Gorrissen, were fatally shot by a man in uniform just after their arrival at the airport in Galkayo on Monday.
“The two men, who often worked together, were on mission in Somalia to offer technical advice and to help build local capacities in the specialized field of illicit money flows,” the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime said.
UNODC gave no details of the circumstances of the attack, nor on its motive, which remains unknown.
It said the two experts had been working to ensure that the remittance networks, which replace banks in Somalia, could be used by ordinary citizens but not by criminals. Many Somalis rely on remittance companies to receive money from relatives in the diaspora.
Davis served with the Metropolitan police force, specializing in tracking financial movements, before joining UNODC in 2012. He also worked closely with the British government in the area of fighting piracy.
In addition, Davis provided training to law enforcement officials in the Horn of Africa, UNODC said.
Gorrissen first worked for UNODC in 2010 as part of the Global Program against Money Laundering, Proceeds of Crime and the Financing of Terrorism.
In May 2011 he researched illicit money flows for the Contact Group on Piracy. He was a key contributor to the highly regarded report “Pirate Trails: Tracking the Illicit Financial Flows from Pirate Activities off the Horn of Africa”.
No one has claimed the attack in Galkayo, a town that straddles the self-proclaimed autonomous regions of Galmudug and Puntland. Shebab Islamists, who have been influential in the area around Galkayo, expressed their satisfaction at the killings but denied being behind them.
Galkayo is not under the control of the central government in Mogadishu and is a stronghold of the networks of pirates who stage attacks off the coast of Somalia. Several foreigners have been kidnapped in and around the town in recent years.
The 2013 report on financial transfers and piracy estimated that ransom payments totaling between $339 million and $413 million (245 million and 300 million euros) were made to pirates between April 2005 and December 2012, with between 30 and 50 percent of the total remaining in the hands of pirate chiefs.
Clan militia, pirate networks and criminal gangs control large chunks of Somalia, which has not had an effective central government since 1991.
Somalilanders, though living in a diplomatically unrecognized country, are not written off the face of the earth. They are here and they intend to remain here as responsible members of the international community, respecting its peers and being fully respected, in return, for what they are.
Furthermore, Somaliland should be doubly rewarded for its herculean achievements in economic development, democratic practices, peace and stability and multi-sector development in almost all pivotal spheres without the blessing of bi-lateral trade agreements with anybody or the monetary support of international financial organizations such as the IMF. In the face of adversity, Somaliland leapt out of the shambles of near total destruction in the late eighties to become a much stronger, more determined phenomenon that never ceases to amaze the world up to this day. It managed to build and hold together a nation in a region whose stability is as treacherous as quicksand, whose safety precariously balanced on a hair-breadth string over an ominous bottomless pit of uncertainties.
In this light, the outside world, IFJ, CPJ and all the other ..Js included, should see Somaliland. I am sure this would have lent the right weight to their off-the-cuff, impulsive accusations which betray a stark absence of impartiality, accuracy and fair dealing not befitting organizations that purportedly represent professional journalism.
Elsewhere
Elsewhere in the world respectable media houses, Journalism associations and media councils see to it that reporters follow ethical guidelines. They make sure that reporters look out for themselves, for their colleagues, for their employers and for the public and observe correct, responsible, professional practices. They protect members from unintentional mistakes and equip them with requisite skills to differentiate right and wrong, fact and opinion.
Elsewhere in the world, IFJ, CPJ and others actively encourage the draft and ratification of media laws and the formation of media councils that they regulate. The organizations recognize the need for law and order. They know that in the absence of a law to keep journalists and their subjects from each other’s throats, neither can decently and confidently live in the presence of the other. Mutual respect and the rule of law is developed this way – and respected.
Elsewhere, there are laws that regulate who qualifies for the profession and who does not. Once accreditation is ascertained the responsible journalist enjoys all the rights and benefits of his profession in the eyes of the law and the public. He/She reports on facts and figures fully knowing his/her critical, very important use for society as a reporter, informer, educator, builder, developer, arbitrator and researcher. The more so in fragile, developing countries than in societies that have developed overlapping protective shields against the hell-bent elements in the profession.
Reporters report and do not invent stories. They neither edit matter to tailor it to their likes and dislikes nor do they embellish it or alter it in any way detrimental to the core essence of the subject matter, event or research. Reporters keep out of their stories. They remain outside but subtly draw you into understanding what is being reported. Reporters leave you to judge for yourself. They do not tell you what to do or how to do it.
In other words, a report a good, ethical journalist produce aims to be objective, impartial, fair, factual, timely, and relevant – and far from a subjective, greed-driven, partisan, caustic versions of what it should have been.
No responsible journalist takes up a pen, a camera or cassette recorder to coerce victims to cough up hard cash. Neither does he actively twist and fabricate facts to intentionally hurt or blackmail a subject to extend him favors, extend him concessions, garner contracts, provide him secrets or elevate relatives to higher positions and heftier pay packages. Or else …
In Somaliland
Professional journalism is dying in the hands of ruthless executioners that pose as journalists. In Somaliland, organizations actively encourage erring journalists to go on the rampage. The good and ethical practitioner is demoralized; the blackmailer is egged on to more and more brazen fabricated ‘reports’ to cow victims to submission.
In Somaliland, there is no active, workable media law or Code of Ethics governing the practice. Neither is there an arbitration council. And yet, the country has one of the most thriving, most vibrant media houses in the region.
Among the Somaliland media, however, there are, expectedly, the few that are in the profession for personal gains. How they realize that is anybody’s guess. Any of you can name the ‘few’.
It should have been the responsibility of SOLJA – through which eyes the IFJ and CPJ and others of like genre view Somaliland – to temper the vagaries of those lending the profession such a bad name. They should have spoken out in public against those that were not practicing ethically correct journalism.
Organizations such as SOLJA, IFJ and CPJ should have been on the side of the wronged to prevent or limit the occurrence of arbitrary arrests, cumbersome lawsuits, unfair castigation of public officers, business people, fellow journalists, instigation if unrest and instability, encouragement of clan rivalries, misrepresentation of facts, and violence borne of such and similar activities. The organizations must be aware that their good names can be tainted by so-called reporters that are quick to blame everybody but themselves.
There is no sign of these august organizations when everybody’s rights are so callously, so heinously being trampled upon and the rule of law flaunted in the hands of extortionist hackers posing as journalists. No sign of them at all.
It is better to help the sick alive. One does not treat the dead. No amount of eulogies can bring it back to live.
SOLJA, IFJ, CPJ and others only spout forth their standard, hollow ‘condemnations’ after somebody, somewhere reacts in self-defense. By doing so, they expose their disregard for all decency and the rule of law. By doing so, they scoff at all the loftier principles of journalism: accuracy of facts, impartiality, thorough research into alleged misbehavior and the like. In conclusion, we ask said organizations, with all due respect, to salvage what is left of their reputations and stop misleading the more impressionable among media practitioners in Somaliland and elsewhere in the developing world. Instead, they must actively work with both authorities and the media world to develop mutual respect for law and order, and for one another based on adherence to basic human rights precepts. Defamation, libel, seditious coverage, graft, extortion, blackmail and adulteration of facts must, in no time, in no circumstances, be encouraged. The highest standards must always be cultivated and sought among journalists specially so among the more fragile societies in the world.
•Massive vigils outside BBC HQ, Paley Center and Columbia Journalism School
On Tuesday, 8 April 2014, journalists from across the world commemorated the 100th day imprisonment of Al Jazeera English journalists.
At the historic Paley Center in New York City, Owen Watson, Al Jazeera English’s executive producer for newsgathering in the Americas, opened the press conference with strong calls for the immediate release of Al Jazeera journalists in Egypt. Colleagues from the Associated Press, ABC News, The New York Times, Committee to Protect Journalists and sister-channel Al Jazeera Arabic joined him in solidarity.
Jon Williams, foreign editor of ABC News, stated, “This is not Al Jazeera’s fight. This is our fight as journalists.”
Abderrahim Foukara, Al Jazeera Arabic’s Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief, made note of fellow colleague Abdullah al-Shami, who has been detained since August of last year with no charges pressed. al-Shami is currently on this 78th day hunger strike.
At Columbia School of Journalism, a Freedom of Press Symposium was held in partnership with the Dart Center, the Columbia Global Freedom of Expression and Information Project and the Columbia Global Centers l Middle East. The event highlighted the imprisonment of the Al Jazeera journalists while reflecting on press freedom and the changing geo-political landscape across the Middle East.
In London, Heather Allan, Al Jazeera English head of news gathering, participated in the BBC’s Safety of Journalists Symposium, hosted by BBC Global News and CFOM, the Centre for Freedom of the Media at the University of Sheffield, in cooperation with the BBC College of Journalism.
Participants endorsed a statement which called for increased safety and protection of journalists, but also called for the release of the Al Jazeera staff: “Today also marks 100 days since the arrest and detention in Egypt of three respected and highly professional Al Jazeera journalists: Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed. No credible evidence has been produced to justify their imprisonment and prosecution. A number of other journalists have also been held in Egypt for extended periods without adequate access to justice. We call for the release of all those individuals and the freeing of more than 200 other journalists around the world who are now held behind bars only because they were doing their jobs. Journalism is not a crime; it is essential for a free and open society.”
Journalists across the BBC also took part in the social media #FreeAJStaff campaign, posting photos and messages of support for all four arrested Al Jazeera staff.
Al Anstey, managing director of Al Jazeera English, welcomed the support: “We are very grateful for the immense support of our staff to mark 100 days in prison, and from right around the world since they were detained in Egypt. The response has been amazing, from the one-minute silence outside New Broadcasting House organised by the BBC, to the press conference in New York. The response to their detention has been outstanding. Over 40,000 people have been actively involved in the campaign, events have been held in over 30 countries and in every continent, there have been over 900 million impressions of the FreeAJStaff hashtag, and there have been repeated calls for an end to the detention of our journalists from governments as well as media organisations from all corners of the globe. The campaign is focussed on the release of our four staff, but is fundamentally a stand in the defence of journalism itself, and a call for people everywhere to have a right to be heard and the right to know what is really going on in their world,” said Anstey.
Since 29 December 2013, there have been calls for the release of all Al Jazeera staff detained in Egypt from the White House, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the European Union. Similarly public calls of support for the #FreeAJStaff campaign have been made from prominent media personalities like Christiane Amanpour from CNN, ITN’s Mark Austin, Channel Seven Australia’s Mark Ferguson, SKY news correspondent Sam Kiley and the BBC’s Lyse Doucet. Various media freedom and human rights groups have issued statements ranging from the Committee to Protect Journalist, the International Press Institute, Amnesty International and Foreign Correspondents’ Association of East Africa.
Somaliland Journalists Association (SOLJA) is strongly condemned the storming, take over and closure of Haatuf Media Group head office in Hargeisa on the afternoon of Monday.
SOLJA is against the armed police officers with complete anti-riot who ordered reporters, editors & other staff out of the premises and shut down the main doors to the media giant that owns and prints Haatuf a Daily Newspaper in native Somali language and Somaliland times a weekly English language paper that is favorite of most foreigners in the country.
As despotic, tyrannical and retrospective of the gains made in the freedom of press together with the regulations governing the media industry in the last few years in reconstructing the country.
It is obviously clear that the current regime negates the fundamental rights and freedoms spelt out in the Bill of Rights in a very unique way that never experienced before. Recurring suppression of freedom of press that is regularly unleashed against our members must come to an end. Without healing of the wounds inflicted as a result of the closure of previous media outlets namely HCTV and HUBAAL we are again being subjected to intimidation and coercion that grossly prejudices our obligations notwithstanding due process of the legal systems established in the country. Also we asserted that the manifest in the Government’s action of forcefully taking over private property is disrespect to Laws & morality generally.
SOLJA advises the state to explore meaningful alternatives instead of resorting to intimidate & use force to invert the gains achieved so far during the post reconstruction of the nation and further counseled authorities to quash its orders of shutting down Haatuf altogether before masses turn against the rulers.
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA and TANZINA VEGAAPRIL 8, 2014
A Critic of Islam Facing growing criticism, Brandeis University said Tuesday that it had reversed course and would not award an honorary degree to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a campaigner for women’s rights and a fierce critic of Islam, who has called the religion “a destructive, nihilistic cult of death.”
“We cannot overlook that certain of her past statements are inconsistent with Brandeis University’s core values,” the university said in a statement released eight days after it had announced that Ms. Hirsi Ali and four other people would be honored at its commencement on May 18.
The university said that the president of Brandeis, Frederick M. Lawrence, discussed the matter with Ms. Hirsi Ali on Tuesday, and that she “is welcome to join us on campus in the future to engage in a dialogue.” Universities consider it important to make a distinction between inviting a speaker who may air unpopular or provocative views that the institution does not endorse, and awarding an honorary degree, which is more akin to affirming the body of a recipient’s work.
Attempts to reach Ms. Hirsi Ali late Tuesday by email and telephone were unsuccessful.
At first, it was bloggers who noted and criticized the plan to honor Ms. Hirsi Ali, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Within a few days, a Brandeis student started an online petition against the decision at Change.org, drawing thousands of signatures. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights and advocacy group, took note, contacting its members though email and social media, and urging them to complain to the university.
On Tuesday, a student newspaper, The Justice, reported on the controversy, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations sent a letter to Dr. Lawrence, referring to Ms. Hirsi Ali as a “notorious Islamophobe.”
“She is one of the worst of the worst of the Islam haters in America, not only in America but worldwide,” Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the group, said in an interview on Tuesday. “I don’t assign any ill will to Brandeis. I think they just kind of got fooled a little bit.”
In its statement, Brandeis said, “For all concerned, we regret that we were not aware of” Ms. Hirsi Ali’s record of anti-Islam statements, though those comments have been fairly widely publicized.
“You would think that someone at Brandeis would have learned to use Google,” said Rashid Khalidi, a professor of Arab studies at Columbia University, who said he thought Brandeis had arrived at the right position: not awarding a degree, but welcoming Ms. Hirsi Ali to speak.
Having drawn fire for inviting Ms. Hirsi Ali, Brandeis may now take criticism from other camps, whether for disavowing Ms. Hirsi Ali’s views, or for giving in to Muslim activists.
Even some of Ms. Hirsi Ali’s critics say they understand her hostility to Islam, given her experiences, though they think she goes too far. A native of Somalia, she has written and spoken extensively of her experience as a Muslim girl in East Africa, including undergoing genital cutting, a practice she has vigorously opposed, and her family’s attempts to force her to marry a man against her wishes.
She moved to the Netherlands as a young woman, and she was later elected to the Dutch Parliament. She wrote the screenplay for “Submission,” a 2004 film critical of the treatment of Muslim women. Shortly after its release, the director, Theo van Gogh, was murdered on an Amsterdam street by a radical Islamist, who pinned to the victim’s body a threat to kill Ms. Hirsi Ali as well.
“She has her very real personal story, she has her views, and she’s free to say what she’d like to say,” said Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute, an advocacy group. “But for an institution like Brandeis to choose to honor someone like this is really disappointing.”
In 2007, Ms. Hirsi Ali gave an interview to The London Evening Standard that was, by her own telling, the most unvarnished public expression of her views to that point, including the “cult of death” comment. She advocated the closing of Islamic schools in the West and said that “violence is inherent in Islam” and that “Islam is the new fascism.”
Later that year, in an interview with the publication Reason, she said, “I think that we are at war with Islam,” and said it must be defeated. “It’s very difficult to even talk about peace now,” she said. “They’re not interested in peace.”
Western leaders like George W. Bush and Tony Blair were striking a very different tone, insisting that they were at war with terrorist factions, not Islam as a whole.
Brandeis said last week that it intended to confer honorary degrees on five recipients, including Ms. Hirsi Ali. One of the recipients is Jill Abramson, the executive editor of The New York Times.
Although teff has been a staple of traditional Ethiopian cooking for thousands of years, this gluten-free grain is quickly climbing to super-grain status in our country. (Watch out, quinoa.)
Teff is a gluten-free whole grain that, despite its size (about the size of a poppy seed), is mineral-rich and high in protein. In fact, the Whole Grains Council estimates that Ethiopians get about two-thirds of their dietary protein from teff. And long-distance runners from Ethiopia have credited their energy and health to the grain.
One serving of dry teff (a quarter-cup) offers 7 grams of protein, 4 grams of dietary fiber, 25 percent of your daily recommended magnesium, 20 percent of your daily iron and 10 percent of your daily calcium, Vitamin B6 and zinc.
Teff has a mildly nutty flavor and is incredibly versatile. When cooked on a stovetop with water, it creates a creamy product similar to porridge or cream of wheat that would be a nice twist on the usual hot breakfast cereal options. It also works wonderfully in stews, adding both thickness and texture.
In Ethiopia, teff is ground into a flour and fermented to make injera, a spongy, sourdough flatbread that is soft, porous and thin like a pancake. Traditional Ethiopian restaurants serve injera with all meals as an edible serving plate topped with meats, vegetables and sauces.
As America embraces this ancient grain, teff can be found in gluten-free recipes for pancakes, breads, crepes or waffles and is showing up in products such as cereal, snacks, wraps and more.
Nutrition facts:
Nutrient-packed bran and germ make up the majority of the teff grain, which is why the nutrient content is so high compared with more common grains. Teff offers the most calcium (1 cup of cooked teff offers 123 milligrams, which is equivalent to half a cup of cooked spinach). And most grains don’t offer Vitamin C, but teff is an excellent source.
Plus, according to the Whole Grains Council, teff is high in resistant starch, a newly discovered type of dietary fiber that can benefit blood-sugar management, weight control and colon health.
Recipe: Southwest teff burgers
This recipe is a spin on the standard veggie burger. Teff serves as a binding agent, and roasted sweet potatoes, black beans, oats, onions and scallions make up the rest of the dish. The burgers are loaded with Southwest flavor from fresh cilantro, lime juice, garlic, cumin, agave nectar and jalapeño pepper. They are baked (more healthful than pan-frying), making them slightly crisp on the outside and slightly moist inside.
Serve the burgers with whole-wheat or gluten-free buns and your favorite toppings. They’re also great served on a salad or in a “lettuce sandwich.” Or simply dip them in guacamole.
Gordon, a master of public health professional and a master certified health education specialist, is creator of the healthful recipe site EatingbyElaine.com. Find her on Twitter at @EatingbyElaine.
Teff has a mildly nutty flavor and is incredibly versatile. When cooked on a stovetop with water, it creates a creamy product similar to porridge or cream of wheat that would be a nice twist on the usual hot breakfast cereal options. It also works wonderfully in stews, adding both thickness and texture.