1st Muslim-Jewish Forum in North London Now Made Muslims and Jews United Against Hate Crimes!

Stamford Hill neighbourhood of Hackney, north London, where Europe's largest concentration of Haredi Jews and a substantial Muslim minority share the same streets, community leaders of both faiths said they stood united. "The Jewish community and the Muslim community are facing difficult times at the moment, but it is not a case of them or us. We are all in the same boat," Munaf Zeena, chairman of the North London Muslim Community Centre, told Al Jazeera. "We have a big Jewish community here, and they have been victims in Paris. I think we have a responsibility to make sure that those who feel uncomfortable or unsafe feel supported. It is our role to give them that moral support and to stand by them in every way we can." Rabbi Herschel Gluck, a veteran international conflict mediator and founder of the Muslim-Jewish Forum, a local initiative established in 2000, said Jews and Muslims were "not just living side by side". "There is a palpable feeling of warmth when one sees members of the other community in the street or going about our business," Gluck told Al Jazeera. "It is not just that we tolerate each other. We actually engage constructively as very good neighbours with each other." Gluck said the idea for the forum, the first Muslim-Jewish interfaith organisation of its kind in the world, grew out of his involvement in peace and reconciliation work in conflict zones, including the Middle East, Kashmir, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Sudan.http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/01/uk-jews-muslims-team-hate-150127091540305.html

NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING FOR THE FALLEN ELITE COPS IN THE PHILIPPINES

SHARE A MOMENT OF SILENCE TO PRAY FOR PEACE Today, Friday, January 30 is National Day of Mourning for the fallen elite cops in the Philippines. Our prayers and condolences to the grieving families, friends and supporters. May we invite all Filipinos worldwide to share a Moment of Silence to Pray for Peace. A CALL TO PRAY FOR PEACE: Lord, whatever is happening in our country right now, let the power of Your light transcend in our daily life and work! Heal us as a nation and keep us focus on faith, hope and love. Let Your glimpses of light shower us with words to enlighten everyone who is suffering emotionally, physically and spiritually right now! Let Your white light crushed the shadows of darkness around us! Let Your light reminds us that nothing is perfect in this world! But rather, show us the way of dealing with our life to give us the happiness that we need as a nation. Let the power of Your light show us Your faithfulness to us, that whatever is happening in our world, we know that You are always on our side! Let Your presence make us be "still" in prayers! In the Silence of our Prayers, make your light illuminate us, as You take away our fears, cleanse our soul and invigorate our body! As Your light moves in nature, let us feel Your peace within our soul. Our Lord, our light, our life, thank you for this moment of silence. Thank you for making us Pray and thank you for your presence in our prayers. With gratitude to your faithfulness to us, we share with others our life that you gave us. In this moment of silence, we strengthened our Faith to you by offering this Prayer for Peace to all our brothers and sisters who are now suffering and grieving. We trust in your mercy oh Lord that justice will be served in due time, in Your time, in God's time. We love You and we believe in You because You are our Lord! Amen!

Anti-Semitism in France is rising after the Charlie Hebdo Massacre

The January 7th Charlie Hebdo massacre that was followed by the January 9th shooting at a Kosher market, both in Paris, were just the latest. In 2012, a man opened fire at a Jewish school in Toulouse. In 2014, a pro-Palestinian French youth set fire to cars, vandalized Jewish stores and attacked two synagogues. And at the end of last year, a group robbed a Jewish family specifically because they were Jewish and raped a 19-year-old girl. It’s not new. France is notorious for anti-Semitism, but now it’s turned terrifying. The French government has been sending guards and police officers to Jewish schools just in case. It’s become so bad, that French Jews are leaving everything behind. In 2014, 7,000 French Jews emigrated to Israel, the most from any one country last year. https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/the-complicated-choice-to-raise-my-kids-jewish-108682204292.html

NEWS! Church of England Consecrates First Woman Bishop!

More than two decades after the Church allowed women to become priests, 48-year-old mother-of-two the Reverend Libby Lane became Bishop of Stockport in a ceremony at York Minster, a Gothic cathedral in northern England. The protest came as John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, asked the congregation whether Lane should be consecrated as Bishop. As the congregation chorused its approval, a lone man's voice shouted above them: "No, not in the Bible." When Sentamu asked the question again, there was no dissent and the ceremony went ahead. During the service, which ended in applause, Sentamu and other bishops ceremonially laid their hands on Lane and prayed for her. Earlier, Lane had spoken of what she hoped her consecration would achieve for women. "If my appointment encourages a single young woman to lift her eyes up a bit and to realize that she has capacity and potential and that her environment or those around her don't need to dictate what is possible for her, then I'd be really honored" she said in an interview published by the Church. http://news.yahoo.com/turmoil-church-england-consecrates-first-woman-bishop-104827218.html

CATHOLIC NEWS: Vatican condemned Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris bec it is both an attack against people & press freedom

The gunmen asked for the names of the cartoonists before murdering them, and afterwards killed an injured police officer in cold blood. The magazine, which has depicted Pope Benedict XVI in the past holding a condom, pokes fun at all political and religious targets, but has been threatened for mocking Islamic-inspired violence. A spokesman for the Bishops’ Conference of France has expressed his “profound emotion and horror” at the atrocities. Spokesman Mgr Olivier Ribadeau Dumas said “nothing can justify” such violence. Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth wrote in a tweet: “My prayers are with the victims of the tragic events in Paris and their loved ones who will be receiving terrible news today.http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/01/07/vatican-condemns-charlie-hebdo-massacre/

ISLAM NEWS: List of Incidents that caused outrage in the Muslims world

Danish cartoons In 2006, cartoons published in the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten, and reprinted in the Norwegian paper Magazinet, depicted Mohammed in an unflattering light, including one that showed him wearing a bomb in his turban. The cartoons sparked outrage among Muslims and resulted in protests across the Middle East, as well as threats of retaliation against those involved in the drawings. Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador from Denmark; Libya closed its embassy in Copenhagen. Mozart Opera in Berlin pulled After the Danish cartoon uproar, a leading Berlin opera house pulled Mozart’s ‘‘Idomeneo’’ because of fears that it could lead to dangerous reactions. In one scene, King Idomeneo ‘‘presents the severed heads not only of the Greek god of the sea, Poseidon, but also of Mohammed, Jesus, and Buddha.’’ Swedish drawings About 18 months later, Swedish artist Lars Vilks displayed a rough sketch at a Stockholm seminar that showed Mohammed’s head on a pig’s body. The leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq announced a reward for the killing of Vilks as well as another Swedish newspaper editor who published the cartoon. The Met pulls three paintings In a precautionary move, the Metropolitan Museum of Art pulled three early paintings of the prophet before the images were unveiled in its Islamic collection, according to the New York Post. ‘South Park’ censorship ‘‘South Park,’’ known for its brazen depictions of Jesus, Scientologists, Catholics, and Jews, attempted to feature Mohammed in 2010. The show had done this two times before, but this attempt was stalled. After receiving threats from extremist groups, Comedy Central bleeped out all references to Mohammed, and all images of the prophet were censored. Molly Norris and ‘Everybody Draw Mohammed Day’ In 2010, Seattle-based cartoonist Molly Norris proposed that everybody create a drawing depicting Mohammed, as a response to death threats against those involved in the ‘‘South Park’’ segment that attempted to depict the prophet. Norris drew a variety of objects, including a box of pasta and coffee cup, likening those to the prophet. After her announcement of ‘‘Everybody Draw Mohammed Day,’’ the then-leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Anwar al-Awlaki, said Norris has been put on an execution hit list. ‘Innocence of Muslims’ A 14-minute, low-budget YouTube video released in 2012 led to protests across the Muslim world. This video depicted Mohammed as a womanizer, child molester, homosexual, and a thug. The demonstrations led to dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries, and there were some reports that the clip provoked the 2012 terrorist attack in the Libyan city of Benghazi that left a US ambassador dead. WASHINGTON POST http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2015/01/08/when-depictions-prophet-mohammed-outraged-muslims/un7cUy1VRKJUDtetxGba6M/story.html?p1=Article_InThisSection_Bottom

BUDDHISM NEWS: Estimated 6,000 OBCs in Maharashtra, India are set to convert to Buddhism

There is a massive religious conversion taking place in Maharashtra, India on the New Year. While there has been a ghar wapsi, or reconversion effort, in place in India recently, the OBCs are going in a completely different direction. Rather than working to convert to Hinduism as the ghar waspi is attempting to have people do, they are actually converting to Buddhism.What Are OBCs? The OBCs are a group from India that is defined by the government as being the Other Backward Class. In the larger caste system, these are the individuals that are considered to be educationally and socially disadvantaged. These OBCs face a great deal of discrimination when it comes to getting a well-paying job as well as getting any form of education that would benefit them for social mobility. Historically speaking, they have been purposely excluded from being helped and uplifted by the social elite and upper class in the caste system. These are just some of the reasons that members of this group have decided to redefine themselves according to their past. A Historical Basis: These individuals from the Maharashtra area of India have decided to convert to Buddhism. For them, though, they see it as a simple means of returning to their roots. After all, they have recently found evidence that suggests that they are actually descended from Nagvanshis, a group of Buddhists that were said to be descended directly from emperor Ashoka, a notable Buddhist. The leaders of this reconversion effort have said that they have been cheated over and over again by the system of Hinduism that was forced upon them. Now they have filed to make their conversion official so that they are free to pursue what they see as a better course of life. http://www.worldreligionnews.com/issues/why-are-6000-indians-converting-to-buddhism-in-the-new-year

HINDUISM NEWS: Nothing offensive to Hinduism in Aamir Khan’s ‘PK’ movie - Delhi High Court

Delhi High Court said there was nothing offensive in Aamir Khan’s film ‘PK’ and there was no substance in allegations that it has defamed and maligned Hindu culture and religious practices. A bench, comprising Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice R S Endlaw, said there was nothing wrong in the movie and a detailed order would be passed on merits. “What is wrong in the movie? You cannot take offence at everything. We do not find any substance in the allegations made in the petition. We will pass an order on merits,” the bench said. During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain told the court that a similar plea has already been dismissed by the Supreme Court. He said there was a provision to appeal against the certification of the movie. http://www.financialexpress.com/article/miscellaneous/nothing-offensive-in-aamir-khans-pk-movie-says-delhi-high-court/27097/