US pastor burns Quran to urge Iran clergyman release

Terry Jones speaks with reporters after earlier delivering the news September 9, 2010 that Korans will not be burned at the church in Gainesville, Florida. AFP Photo

A controversial Florida pastor has burned copies of the Quran and a depiction of the prophet Mohammed to protest the imprisonment in Iran of a Christian clergyman Youcef Nadarkhani.

The burning, attended by 20 people and streamed live over the Internet, was carried out by pastor Terry Jones' church in Gainesville, Florida on Saturday, The Gainesville Sun said, and video of the burning was uploaded to YouTube by the pastor's supporting group "Stand Up America Now." The Pentagon had urged Jones to reconsider, expressing concern that American soldiers in Afghanistan and elsewhere could be put at greater risk because of the act, according to the newspaper, but Jones insisted to go ahead with the protest in the name of the release of the Christian pastor in Iran.

Nadarkhani was arrested in October 2009 and condemned to death under Islamic sharia law for converting to Christianity when he was 19.

Now 34, he is a pastor of a small evangelical community called the Church of Iran. Iran's supreme court in July 2011 overturned the death sentence and sent the case back to the court in Nadarkhani's hometown of Rasht, in Gilan province.

His retrial took place at the end of September 2011 with no verdict made public.

Several Western countries, including the United States, Britain, Germany and France, condemned the death sentence and said they feared it could be carried out soon.

In March 2011, the US pastor's assistant burned a copy of the Quran and broadcast the ceremony on the Internet, with the images inciting violence in northern Afghanistan, in which at least 12 people were killed. Moments after the burning on Saturday, the Gainesville fire department issued the church a citation for violating the city's fire ordinances, the report said (MIAMI - Agence France-Presse)

Headscarves to be allowed in elective classes, minister says

Education Minister Ömer Çelik announces that female secondary and high school students will be permitted to wear headscarves in elective religion classes, on the condition that they wear it only during these courses and in accordance with its requirements

Female secondary and high school students will be permitted to wear headscarves in elective religion classes that will be introduced as part of a controversial new education reform bill, Education Minister Ömer Dinçer has said.

“Female students in imam-hatip schools can attend this course with headscarves, provided that [they wear it] only during [this] class and in accordance with its requirements,” Dinçer told daily Hürriyet.

Students in other schools can also attend the elective religion courses in headscarves on the condition that they wear it only during these courses, he said.

A wide range of other elective courses will also be introduced in addition to the two new elective religion courses, the “Quran” and the “Life of Our Prophet, His Majesty,” Dinçer said, adding that a council of teachers at each school would then select which of those elective courses to offer.

“I would like to [underscore] that the [claims] that 9-year-olds will begin vocational training and be directed [toward a certain field] at primary schools are neither in line with the law and the pedagogical sciences nor with the pronouncements of our ministry and the developments across the world,” Dinçer said, addressing criticism that the new reforms would lead pupils toward vocational training at a premature age.

Branch teachers

Classroom teachers will run courses during the first four years of school, while specialized branch teachers will take charge of classes for the remaining eight years of mandatory education, according to the minister.

“Children who have passed their 60th month by the end of September will be able to enroll in the first grade of primary school in June and until their 72nd month. There is work underway, however, to allow for children between 61 and 66 months not to be registered, depending on their guardians’ permission and their level of physical development,” he said.

Dinçer also advised parents to wait until relevant changes to existing regulations go through.
Touching on the prime minister’s comments that private teaching centers preparing students for the university entrance exam would no longer be necessary once the test is eliminated, Dinçer said the centers would not be closed by law but that demand for such institutions would dwindle once their raison d’être disappears.

“We are still working to develop more flexible arrangements with respect to university admissions in addition to creating adequate capacity to meet [students’] demand for universities after high school,” he said.

The High School Placement Exam (SBS) will also become redundant when efforts to reduce the number of different types of high schools and to diversify and update their programs reach fruition, he said. (hurriyetdailynews)

German government moves to block Quran distribution

Angela Merkel's ruling Christian Democratic Union Party recently began a campaign to prevent an Islamic group from distributing copies of the Quran on the street in Germany, private broadcaster NTV reported on its website.

Ibrahim Ebu Nagi, a Salafi Muslim of Palestinian descent, began his “Lies!” campaign to distribute Islam's holy book in Oct. 2011. The campaign has distributed over 300,000 books in 35 German cities, and is funded largely by Turkish families living in Germany.

German politicians have initiated a counter-campaign to end the distribution, saying the “Quran in every house" campaign should be stopped. The Islamic organization’s move threatens religious freedom, a member of the Christian Democratic Union Party said. (hurriyetdailynews)