The Goldstone Report and the Bible

Going through the Bible the other day, I came across a passage that reminded me of the unbridled attacks launched by the Israeli government and its supporters against the Goldstone Report. The report, authored by a commission headed by the eminent South African Jewish jurist Richard Goldstone, accuses both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes during the Gaza War of 2008-2009.

President Shimon Peres has stooped to calling Goldstone a "small man". I would counter that such language makes my countryman Peres (we were both born in modern-day Belarus) sound like a small man.

The Bible passage I was referring to is Amos 5: 7-15. In citing it here, I am trying to remind the political leadership of Israel of the Biblical values of justice and truth which they have, in this instance, allowed to fall by the wayside. My favourite part of this passage is "Hate what is evil. Love what is good. Do what is fair in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God who rules over all will show you his favour." These are values that all of us should seek to live by.

As Nicholas Kristof points out, there are "two Israels", or even "many Israels". Let us hope that the one that triumphs in the long run is not Netanyahu's Israel or Lieberman's Israel, but rather the Israel that wants to live side by side with its neighbours in a just peace.

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Now playing: "Peace Train" by Cat Stevens

Syria trying to attract Belarusian pilgrims

Syria has expressed its interest in attracting Belarusian Christian tourists. According to the Syrian ambassador to Belarus, Dr Farouk Taha, "Syria is the cradle of the Christian culture and religion: there are a lot of religious monuments which are very important for the believers there."

Taha wants the Belarusian travel industry to promote Christian religious trips to Syria.

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Now playing: Dexter Gordon - Willow Weep For Me
via FoxyTunes

BD Islamic University facing medical shortages

We in Canada often complain about the shortage of medical staff in the country. I have myself witnessed the ridiculous waiting times that result from the relatively low number of doctors and nurses who work in Quebec.

As this fascinating map and the accompanying data show, Canada has 470 people per doctor, whereas the US has only 390 (I know that millions lack access to medical care there, but here I'm talking about supply, rather than distribution). My native Belarus has 220 people per doctor, which means that Canadian-style waiting times are virtually unknown there.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, has 3,800 people per physician. That means that Canada has eight times as many doctors per unit population as Bangladesh.

The Dhaka Daily Star reports that the medical centre of the Islamic University, located in the Kushtia District, currently has only ten doctors and nine nurses for the 12,000 students, faculty and staff at the university. The rate of 1,200 people per doctor is still much better than the Bangladeshi average. To make matters worse, though, two of the doctors are currently on leave. The medical centre has only two pharmacists, which often results in "peons and computer operators" being press-ganged into pharmacy duty to deal with the sheer numbers of patients in need of medication.

The medical centre has asked the vice-chancellor of the university, M. Alauddin, for additional staff, and is currently reduced to "waiting for steps in this regard".

I wonder if Alauddin has the financial wherewithal at hand to be able to fulfill the request.

There are many people in Bangladesh who are much more vulnerable than Islamic University students. Consider helping if you can.

Russian church considers Russians and Ukrainians "one people"

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus (i.e., Russia, Ukraine and Belarus) has declared Russians and Ukrainians to be "one people".

Speaking in Arkhangelsk, Kirill remarked,

From the point of view of basic values, we are one people. Certainly, from an ethnic point of view, from the point of view of language, one can speak [of differences]... but, when it comes to basic values, we are one body.

Kirill also spoke about "the historic commonality which was formed during the thousands of years of our common history", and added that "no thoughtful politician in Russia or Ukraine can ignore this fact." Despite all of the above, Kirill called for respect for the sovereignty of both Ukraine and Russia.

So is this the Russian Orthodox Church stepping into politics of its initiative, or is it rather fulfilling the demands of the Russian authorities?

In a recent Naša niva article, Jan Zaprudnik writes that he found highly dubious leaflets being distributed in Orthodox churches in Turaŭ (Turaw) and Žytkavičy (Zhytkavichy), one of which claims that Ukraine was "invented" by Bismarck, of all people.

It's truly sad to see how the church is allowing itself to be the handmaiden of Russian imperialism once again.

Belarusian bishop stabbed

The Orthodox Christian bishop of Mahiloŭ and Mścisłaŭ (Mahilyow and Mstsislaw), Safron, was stabbed by a supposedly deranged person while performing a church service in Mahiloŭ on 23 August. The bishop was wounded in the arm and the stomach.

Following the attack, Safron was hospitalised and underwent surgery. His life is reportedly not in danger.

The 37-year-old suspect was caught by worshippers and has been charged with "intentional causation of heavy physical injury". He had been under observation at the Mahiloŭ Regional Psychiatric Hospital.

This is scary news, given that many of my relatives live in Mahiloŭ, belong to the Orthodox Church and attend services. On the other hand, this seems to be a complete one-off.

Visitor profiles, 15 July to 14 August 2009

Welcome to the nineteenth installment of Notes on Religion visitor profiles!

The most recent month (15 July to 14 August 2009):

This month, Notes on Religion received 464 visits.

Visitors came to Notes on Religion from every inhabited continent, alhamdu lillah. The largest number of visitors (32%) came from the United States. Italy was next with 12%, while Canada came third with 8%. In sha' Allah, I'll quote all monetary amounts (if any are discussed) in US dollars along with Canadian dollars over the coming month.

In the US, the largest number of visitors (18%) came from California.

A plurality of visitors this past month (41%) were referred to Notes on Religion by Google. The most common Google search terms that brought visitors to the blog were 'natasha aliyeva' and 'neo nazi beheading'.

The most popular browser this month was Firefox (45%). 88% of the visitors were Windows users.

Since the founding of the blog (15 March 2007 to 14 August 2009):

The total number of visitors during these two years was 9,920. The average number of visitors was eleven per day.

The largest number of visitors (45%) came from the United States. The second-highest number (14%) came from Canada. The United Kingdom came third with 7%.

In the US, the largest number of visitors (15%) came from California.

The majority of visitors (55%) was referred to the blog by Google. The most common search term entered by visitors who were referred to Notes on Religion by Google was 'russian neo nazi beheading'.

The most popular browser was Internet Explorer (47%). 91% of the visitors were Windows users.

On equality in the mosque

As some of you know, Katie and I have recently returned from a two-month trip to Europe. One thing that I love to do while travelling is to discover mosques where I can perform the Friday prayer. In Muslim countries, there are always well established mosques on hand. In non-Muslim ones, depending on how long a Muslim minority has been established there, there are either mosques that look like mosques, or there are buildings converted into mosques from other uses (such as a former cinema I found in Philadelphia), or temporary prayer facilities at university campuses. What's common between all of these places of worship is the welcome they extend to the Muslim worshipper and the sense of brotherhood that almost always emanates from them.

So imagine my surprise when, in Luton, England, I was told that, to the best of my interlocutor's knowledge, mosques there have no "arrangements" for women worshippers. He said there might be something at the university, but, at that stage, it was too late to check. It's always something of a shock to the system to find yourself amid the ultra-conservative Muslims of Luton. Never did I think, though, that the community, which has been in Britain for two or three generations, would continue the common South-Asian practice of excluding women from the mosque. Especially since Luton itself features Islamic schools with female students and women teachers.

My mosque in Dhaka has a women's section, albeit, from what I hear, a small, crowded one, with no view of the men's prayer halls. So Katie was able to attend the mosque in Bangladesh in 2006, but not in Britain in 2009.

After Britain came Belarus. Minsk, my native city, is home to a long-standing Tatar community, present there for over 500 years. There was a mosque in Minsk for most of this time but, tragically, it was first expropriated and then blown up by the city authorities under Communist rule. Since 1997, however, a new mosque has been under construction (very much a stop-go process; the small Belarusian Muslim community is short on funds). The building site features a make-shift structure that serves as a temporary mosque while construction continues. It's actually quite beautiful inside, and includes a women's section, although, again, a small one. Katie and I prayed at this mosque when we were in Minsk; the other places we went to in Belarus didn't have mosques, as far as we knew.

The big shock came in Turkey. Ostensibly, Turkish Islam is all smiles and all kindness. The Turkish Muslims we know are genuinely warm and kind-hearted people, ma sha' Allah. However, something about the way Islamic institutions are managed in Turkey is badly broken. In Istanbul, the mosque where I went for Friday prayer most weeks (because it was located close to the apartment we were staying in) had no women's section.

So one day, Katie and I went off in search of a place where the two of us could perform Friday prayer together. We went to two different mosques in another neighbourhood, and the results were even more surprising. It turned out that both those mosques did have women's sections, BUT those sections were taken over by men during Friday prayers. Thus, of the 35 congregational prayers a week, women could pray at the mosque 34 times. However, they were obliged to stay away for just one prayer, which just happened to be the most important one of the week. Compounding the double standards (if not outright hypocrisy) is the fact that, in one of those mosques, the Friday sermon was about the importance of family, while the prayer featured verses from the Qur'an about the importance of Friday prayer. Hello?

So it was quite comical (sadly so) to see an official from Diyanet, the Turkish governmental agency in charge of Islamic institutions, saying, after a mosque designed by a female architect opened, that Turkey should build more such mosques. That mosque is the first in Turkey designed by a woman, and the first to feature a women's prayer hall equal in size to the men's one. The joke lies in the fact that there is no move underway by Diyanet to admit women into the mosques which currently bar them from taking part in Friday prayer, even though they already have women's sections.

On our way home to Montreal, Katie and I stopped by the Muslim prayer rooms at Atatürk International Airport in Istanbul to perform the fajr prayer. The women's prayer room was spacious and well equipped, but infested with cockroaches. Not surprisingly, I didn't see any cockroaches in the men's one. Katie was glad to leave Turkey, and I don't blame her.

So now we're in Perrysburg, Ohio, visiting my in-laws. Katie and I got married at the mosque here, the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo (see picture), in 2005. This is probably the most equitable of all purpose-built mosques I've seen anywhere in the world when it comes to ensuring women's access to prayer facilities. The prayer hall is simply divided down the middle with a low barrier; men have half the space, while women have the other. The barrier is high enough to ensure modesty, yet not high enough to create a sense of segregation. Men and women have equal access not just to the prayer space, but to the other elements of the mosque, such as the high dome and the stained-glass windows, that give it beauty and help in the contemplation of the Divine.

As Jimmy Carter reminded us last month, "it is simply self-defeating for any community to discriminate against half its population." It is high time for us Muslims around the world to start paying much more attention to the Prophet's (peace be upon him) injunction: "Do not prevent the maid-servant of God from going to the mosque" (Bukhari).

[This post was written in Perrysburg.]

My article on Belarus in Eurozine

My article on what I see as a national inferiority complex in Belarus, based on a speech I gave in Mahiloŭ (Mahilyow) on 11 June, has been picked up by Eurozine.

Among other things, it contains a reflection on the public role of religion in the country.

[This post was written in Istanbul.]

Belarus sets up morals council

Here's something that's interesting and has the potential to be very scary: a Public Council on Morals was established in Minsk on 8 July. Its members include official representatives of the Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, as well as Jewish and Islamic organisations, along with writers, artists and academics. According to Metropolitan Filaret, the chief cleric of the Belarusian Exarchate, President Alaksandar Łukašenka (Aliaksandr Lukashenka) "has expressed his understanding of the church's concern about the moral state of society". Once again, we have the Orthodox Church happily playing second fiddle to Łukašenka in exchange for government favours.

Mikałaj Čarhiniec (Mikalay Charhinets), the head of the government-sponsored Union of Writers of Belarus, is to serve as the first head of the Council.

Hieorhij Marčuk (Heorhiy Marchuk), a member of the Union of Writers and the new Council on Morals, said that the Council would gauge public opinion on "controversial" books and art, and would advise the government on how to deal with books and art that "contradict society's traditional values". He denied that the Council would be in the business of censorship, however.

According to Marčuk, the Council is planning to combat the "profanation of the biblical commandments, history and patriotic feelings." So patriotism, then, is equivalent to the commandments of the Bible? Plus, I do wonder what Marčuk understands by the profanation of history. More than likely, he's referring to the Soviet view of WWII, which has acquired the status of gospel under Łukašenka. I guess if you write a novel questioning the official view as presented in what seems to be a new Belarusian WWII movie every year, I guess you'd better watch out.

Marčuk also added that the Council was planning to organise discussions on things like "the role of Christianity in the artist's work" and "relations between religion and secular morals", which certainly sound like reasonable and interesting topics to discuss. Another one of the Council's planned discussion topics, though, is "certain subjects connected with the place of the good character in modern Belarusian literature". Huh? OK, so there we have it: if you write about "good characters" defending the native land with Orthodox-Christian-patriotic zeal, you're fine. Other types of literature and art, it seems, are going to be made unwelcome in Łukašenka's Belarus.

Here's the thing: a council of this sort, were it a true civil society initiative, would have been a welcome development. If it were actually a forum where writers, artists and religious figures could freely discuss art, religion, the public role of the artist, the role of morality in life, and so on, that would be fine; it would even have the potential to produce some sort of synthesis that would contribute to our everlasting quest for meaning. This Public Council on Morals, though, is a creature of the government, and it shows every sign of being one of two undesirable things. Either it is an effort to scare independent Belarusian writers and artists into towing the government line, or it is simply a bone thrown by Łukašenka to the religious bodies, especially the Orthodox Church, in a further attempt to legitimise his regime through religion. I think the latter is actually more likely to be true. Either way, this just goes to show how much needs to change in Belarus.

[This post was written in Istanbul.]

Moscow patriarch dies

Patriarch Aleksiy II of Moscow and All Russia has passed away at the age of 79. Born Aleksei Ridiger in Tallinn to a Baltic German father and a Russian mother, Aleksiy rose through the ranks of the Russian Orthodox Church with the backing of the KGB. His role in the pre-Gorbachev era consisted of helping the Soviet state keep the Church under its firm control. He was elected Patriarch in 1990. Aleksiy was an outspoken supporter of Orthodox unity, but was much more ambivalent towards the unity of the Christian churches (BBC).

In particular, he clashed with the Catholic Church over the issue of the latter's proselytisation of Russians, claiming all Russia and Ukraine to be the "canonical territory" of the Russian Orthodox Church. Alexiy also provided Church backing for the process of integration between Belarus and Russia launched by Aliksandr Lukašenka and Boris Yeltsin.

My mother on the niqab

To celebrate the first anniversary of Notes on Religion, I asked several people to contribute articles on religion-related issues that they find important.

To start off the series, here's an article by my mother, Maria Tchooudkhouri (Chowdhury), who lives in Toronto, where she works as a pharmacy technician. She was born near Čavusy, Belarus, and has lived in Ukraine, Bangladesh and Kuwait. She has an MSc in geography from the Belarusian State University in Minsk. My mother runs a Russian-language blog on life in Toronto, called "Toronto through My Eyes".

When Culture Is Mistaken for Religion

By Maria Tchooudkhouri

When I walk to work, sometimes I meet a woman dressed fully in black, her face fully covered, not even her eyes showing. Her hands in black gloves hold her young child.

Another picture is from TV. A church somewhere in North America. Colourfully dressed people singing, then starting to dance, to clap, some of them jumping, twisting and screaming.

What is common between these two cases, besides people being religious?

The people in them are following the cultural, ethnic traditions of their respective ancestors, mistaking cultural elements with religious norms. Thinking that those elements are the norms.

In the deserts of the pre-Islamic Middle East, women had to carefully cover themselves from the burning sun, harsh wind, sand and dust to preserve their beauty. When Islam was introduced, the teaching of modesty in clothing was interpreted according to local cultural tradition.

With the spread of the religion, cultural elements from the Middle East were adapted far beyond the region. Covering the face became a symbol of religiousness for some people. Some Muslims and non-Muslims alike think that, if a woman is fully covered, she is a more "real" Muslim than those with open faces, not to mention those who wear non-traditional chlothes.

But let's not forget -- religion teaches us modesty, and not a rejection of our identity. Our face is our identity, given to us by God. We have the right, and probably even the obligation, not to hide it.

Editor's note: Notes on Religion does not necessarily agree with the views expressed by guest authors.

Alexander Nevsky's remains arrive in Minsk

The remains of St Alexander Nevsky (d. 1263) have arrived in Minsk. The Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Vladimir of Tashkent and Central Asia accompanied the remains to Belarus. A "round-the-clock adoration of the relic" is taking place at the St Euphrosyne of Polack (Polatsk) Church in Minsk.

Nevsky is the Orthodox patron saint of soldiers and diplomats (Белорусские новости).

My article in Eurozine

My article on the imprisonment of the Belarusian journalist Aliaksandar Zdźvižkoŭ over his reprinting of the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and the subsequent vilification of Muslims in some quarters of the usually liberal Belarusian opposition, which first appeared in the Belarusian magazine ARCHE in the January-February 2008 issue, has now been reprinted (in English translation and in shortened form) in Eurozine, which is an online magazine that publishes translations of articles first published by a network of European cultural magazines.

Do let me know what you think about the article!

Visitor profile, 15 March to 14 April 2008

Welcome to the thirteenth installment of Notes on Religion visitor profiles!

This month (15 March to 14 April 2008):

This month, Notes on Religion received 58 visits, that is, 23% less than the number received the previous month. The average number of visitors during this period was two a day.

Visitors came to Notes on Religion from Asia, Australasia, Europe and North America. By far the largest number of visitors (48%) came from the United States. Canada and the United Arab Emirates tied for second place with 12%. In sha' Allah, I'll quote all monetary amounts (if any are discussed) in US dollars along with Canadian dollars over the coming month.

In the US, the largest number of visitors (29%) came from New York.

In Canada, 57% of the visitors' ISPs were in Quebec.

Most visitors this month (59%) were referred to Notes on Religion by Google. The most common Google search term that brought visitors to the blog was 'natasha aliyeva'.

The most popular browser this month was Internet Explorer (47%). 81% of the visitors were Windows users.

Since the founding of the blog (15 March 2007 to 14 April 2008):

The total number of visitors during the year and one month was 1,394. The average number of visitors was four per day.

The largest number of visitors (39%) came from Canada. The second-highest number (31%) came from the United States. The United Kingdom came third with 5%.

Quebec accounted for 57% of the visitors' ISPs within Canada.

The biggest proportion of visitors (42%) was referred to the blog by Blogger. The most common search term entered by visitors who were referred to Notes on Religion by Google was 'natasha aliyeva'.

The most popular browser was Internet Explorer (51%). 92% of the visitors were Windows users.

Belarusian journalist imprisoned for Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) caricatures

Aliaksandr Źdźvižkoŭ (whose name is also spelled Alexander Sdvizhkov in English), the former editor of the defunct Belarusian opposition newspaper Zhoda (Agreement), has been sentenced to three years in prison by the Minsk City Court for reprinting the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) which first appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

After having the cartoons reprinted, Źdźvižkoŭ was quoted as saying "We did the right thing by speaking out against Islamic hysteria." I have to say, whipping up hysteria by attacking what is sacred to someone else is a funny way of "speaking out against... hysteria." In particular, Źdźvižkoŭ didn't seem to remember that Belarus has its own community of around 30,000 Muslims who were exhibiting no "hysteria" over the cartoons, and that printing the cartoons in Zhoda (especially given the negative depiction of the Prophet contained in most of them) would be needlessly, gratuitously offensive to Belarusian Muslims.

As it happened, Ismail Varanovič, the head of the Spritual Directorate of the Muslims of the Republic of Belarus, sued Źdźvižkoŭ for "inciting hatred" against the Muslim community. However, he now claims that the government and, in particular, the Committee of Religious and Ethnicity Affairs, put him up to it. More that that, they made him understand that it was their express desire that he sue Źdźvižkoŭ.

Varanovič says that he felt sorry for Źdźvižkoŭ at the trial, which was held behind closed doors, and even tried to help him by telling the court that he had come to think that Źdźvižkoŭ's actions represented not an incitement to hatred, but rather a mere illustration to the story of the cartoon controversy. According to Varanovič, Źdźvižkoŭ apologised to him personally, and to the Muslim community in general, for his actions.

So it seems that the Belarusian Muslim community was led into something not of its own choosing, and was used by the government in its own game against Źdźvižkoŭ. This theory is supported by the fact that the prison term that Źdźvižkoŭ was sentenced to -- three years -- is the most severe of all so far received by people found guilty in the cartoon controversy in any country.

So why is it that the Belarusian authorities were after Źdźvižkoŭ? Two reasons have been raised in the independent and opposition press. Some say that the Belarusian government wanted to impress rich(er) Muslim countries with their defence of Islam in order to attract investments from them. However, the theory that sounds more likely to be true is that the authorities wanted to move Źdźvižkoŭ out of the way for a while because his newspaper, Zhoda, had endorsed Aliaksandr Kazulin, a Social-Democratic candidate for the Belarusian presidency. In addition, the action taken against Źdźvižkoŭ can serve as a warning to what is left of the independent Belarusian media to be more careful in what they say -- not about Islam, but about President Lukašenka. This theory rings true not just because of various actions against journalists undertaken by the Belarusian government in the past, but also because Zhoda was shut down following a threat from Lukašenka to do so.

So where does this leave the Belarusian Muslims? Unfortunately, they have faced a certain degree of scapegoating from the Belarusian opposition, which is not normally known for anti-Muslim positions. Thus, the deputy leader of the Belarusian Popular Front, Alieś Michalievič (Mikhalevich), has asked Metropolitan Filaret, the Exarch of the Russian Orthodox Church in Belarus, to intervene with the authorities in order to get Źdźvižkoŭ's sentence softened. In his appeal, Michalievič claims that Źdźvižkoŭ has been made to suffer for "expressing his Christian convictions", and asks sarcastically whether the "the law of the Shari'a" is in force in Belarus. To which one may reply that one does not need to look as far as the Shari'a to find condemnation of libel and hate speech of the kind that the cartoons represented.

One pro-opposition journalist has even warned that Belarusians should beware of the transformation of our country into "Belarusistan". In his view, Źdźvižkoŭ understood this danger, but went overboard in his response. At best, the journalist's statement regarding the "present threat" posed by Belarusian Muslims reflects a hastily put together reaction that ignores the simple facts that the Muslim community has lived peacefully in what is now Belarus for over 600 years and, that Muslim scholars were writing religious treatises in Belarusian centuries ago, and that further, Muslims constitute less than 1 percent of the population of Belarus. These sorts of responses from respected segments of the opposition intelligentsia are irresponsible and seem to imply an attempt to align pro-Western Belarusian views with those of extreme right-wing Western European politicians. What does not make sense in this equation, however, is that those xenophobic politicians try to court public support by attacking immigrants or their children (which is, in itself, wrong), while Belarus, as I said above, has what can be quite justifiably considered an indigenous Muslim population.

So what is needed here are liberal voices, ones that understand that freedom comes with responsibility, and that we Belarusians are one people who must continue building our country for all of us together, whether we are Orthodox Christians, Catholics, Muslims, Jews, or what have you. Fortunately, there are some who have been speaking out in just such a vein.

Since becoming a "normal European country" is one of the biggest dreams of the Belarusian opposition, I'd like to suggest that turning on minorities at the slightest hint of imagined provocation is not the way to achieve that dream.

A handful of Belarusians takes part in Hajj

A small number of Belarusians and foreigners residing in Belarus are taking part in the Hajj this year. The first time Belarus sent a Hajj delegation after independence in 1991 was in 1998. The largest number of Belarusian pilgrims so far -- over ten people -- went on Hajj in 2002.

There are thought to be over 30,000 Muslims in Belarus (BELTA).

The standard quota for non-Saudi Muslims is one Hajji per 1,000 Muslims, so Belarus ought to be sending 30 people or more each year. I think it's financial difficulties that make this figure hard to reach.

Visitor profile, 15 November to 14 December 2007

Welcome to the ninth installment of Notes on Religion visitor profiles!

This month (15 November to 14 December 2007):

This month, Notes on Religion received 82 visits, that is, 12% more than the previous month. The average number of visitors during this period was three a day.

Visitors came to Notes on Religion from every inhabited continent, alhamdu lillah. The largest number of visitors (44%) came from Canada, and the United States came second with 32%. The UAE came a distant third with 6%.

Within Canada, 17% of the ISPs were in Quebec.

The largest number of visitors this month (40%) was referred to the blog by Google. The most common Google search terms that brought visitors to Notes on Religion were 'rashed chowdhury blog' and 'saeed bin maktoum al maktoum married'.

The most popular browser this month was Firefox (56%). 99% of the visitors were Windows users.

Since the founding of the blog (15 March to 14 December 2007):

The total number of visitors during these nine months was 1,092. The average number of visitors was four per day.

The largest number of visitors (37%) came from Canada. The second-highest number (31%) came from the United States. The United Kingdom came third with 6%.

Quebec accounted for 65% of the visitors' ISPs within Canada.

The biggest proportion of visitors (48%) was referred to the blog by Blogger. The most common search term entered by visitors who were referred to Notes on Religion by Google was 'ishaq nizami'.

The most popular browser was Internet Explorer (53%). 93% of the visitors were Windows users.

Lukašenka in hot water over anti-Semitic comments

Belarus and Israel are in the middle of a diplomatic spat over controversial comments made recently by Belarusian President Aliaksandr Lukašenka (Lukashenka) about Belarusian and Israeli Jews.

Speaking to Russian journalists in Minsk on 12 October, Lukašenka declared,

If you have been to Babrujsk [Babruysk], did you see what state the city is in? It was scary to walk into it, it was a pigsty. It was largely a Jewish city; you know how Jews act towards the place they live in. Take a look at Israel; I have been there, for one.... Under no circumstances do I want to hurt them, but they do not really make sure that the grass is mowed like in Moscow, among the Russians, or Belarusians. What a city it was.... We fixed it up, and we say to Israeli Jews: Come back, guys. I told them: Come back with money.

Five days later, the Israeli ambassador to Belarus, Zeev Ben-Arie, protested in no uncertain terms, saying that "in these comments, one can hear echoes of a myth that I had hoped had long been buried by the history of enlightened mankind, about poorly dressed, dirty, foul smelling Jews, an anti-Semitic myth." Ben-Arie also said he hoped that "Belarusian cities would reach the level of Israel's municipal services and social services in general."

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni accused Lukašenka of anti-Semitism, saying

It is the responsibility of world leaders to battle anti-Semitism, which rears its ugly head in various places around the world, not promote it. Anti-Semitism reflects first and foremost on the community in which it appears, and on its leaders.

On 18 October, the Belarusian ambassador to Israel, Ihar Liaščenia (Liashchenia), issued a statement reminding Israelis that "during the last five or six centuries, Jews in our region did not feel as protected and safe anywhere as they did in the Belarusian lands.... This good attitude towards Jews, which has become traditional, persists in modern Belarus as well."

Regarding Babrujsk, Liaščenia remarked that the residents of the city,

with the help of the state, were trying to host the republic-wide harvest festival in a decent manner. The renewed, rebuilt city of Babrujsk is, among other things, a homage to many generations of members of the Jewish community whose native city this was.

"Belarus and anti-Semitism are mutually exclusive ideas," Liaščenia concluded (Белорусские новости).

One can't envy poor Liaščenia his duty of restoring calm after Lukašenka's gaffe. After all, Lukašenka managed to squeeze three typical anti-Semitic stereotypes into one statement: that Jews are allegedly dirty, that they allegedly have no attachment to the place they live in, and that they are simultaneously rich. That Liaščenia managed to turn Lukašenka's words around and portray the restoration of parts of Babrujsk as a homage to Jews is a credit to his quick thinking, or that of others in his embassy or the Belarusian foreign ministry.

Liaščenia is right on one thing. Belarus has historically been a highly tolerant place towards minorities (for instance, there were mosques in operation in Belarus centuries ago, while even in modern-day Greece and Slovenia, the very existence of mosques is a controversial issue). It remains tolerant to this day. However, as Lukašenka's words show, we Belarusians (yes, I am one) have some way to go towards living up to the image of tolerance we always congratulate ourselves with.

Dubai sheikh marries Belarusian waitress

Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum al-Maktoum, 30, a member of the ruling family of Dubai, has married Natasha Aliyeva, a 19-year-old Belarusian trainee waitress he met at Hotel Minsk. Their simple Islamic wedding was preceded by a courtship that lasted less than a month.

The couple met after Sheikh Saeed arrived in Belarus to take part in a shooting championship and moved into the presidential suite of Hotel Minsk. He asked for a glass of orange juice to be sent up to him, and the juice was brought by Aliyeva. The sheikh was immediately smitten, and asked her out. Prior to the wedding, Aliyeva converted from Christianity to Islam, the religion not just of her new husband, but also her Azerbaijani-born father, Muslim Aliyev.

According to Nina Shakhnut, one of Aliyeva's high-school teachers, "Natasha has really aristocratic looks and such charm. I can see what the prince sees in her."

Aliyeva's mother, Liliya, was at first reluctant to let her daughter marry Sheikh Saeed: marriage to him would mean adapting to "a faraway country, strange people, polygamy." Indeed, Sheikh Saeed already had a wife and five children; Aliyeva was to become his second wife. Eventually, Aliyeva's mother relented, and the wedding went ahead.

According to the sheikh's new mother-in-law, he is "an honest, intelligent and tactful man with an excellent education. His fortune doesn't interest me. I'm not a woman to exchange my daughter for money. I don't believe Natasha cares for his fortune either."

That fortune is quite substantial: Sheikh Saeed reportedly has assets worth ₤8 billion (Canadian $16.9 billion / US $16.3 billion).

The newly-married couple have now departed for Cyprus, where Sheikh Saeed is taking part in another shooting competition. Natasha's sister Galina is moving to Dubai with them, to act as interpreter for the newlyweds.

Sheikh Saeed's late father, Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al-Maktoum, was the emir of Dubai between 1990 and 2006. Asked by Belarusian journalists whether he would one day himself become the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Saeed answered, "Is it important? Money and power come and go. Belief is the only thing that remains for ever" (Daily Mail).

Happy national holidays to Canada, Belarus, and the US

Early July features the national holidays of three countries to which I am connected in one way or another: Canada, Belarus and the United States.

Canada celebrated Canada Day on 1 July, and a long weekend continues here today (for some). This was the 140th anniversary of Confederation. Belarus is due to celebrate its Independence Day on 3 July, which is the 63rd anniversary of the liberation of Minsk from German forces during World War II. Finally, the US is due to mark its Independence Day, the 231st anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, on 4 July.

Happy national holidays to everyone from these countries!