Headlines:

• Spain's Muslim Business Owners Feel Squeezed By New Zoning Proposals
• Will America Ever Leave Afghanistan?
• Pakistan to Host Two-Day Forum of Islamic Countries
• Indian State of Maharashtra Bans Beef

Details:

Spain's Muslim Business Owners Feel Squeezed By New Zoning Proposals

Spain's Mediterranean coast is home to the country's biggest Muslim community. And in one town there, local politicians have proposed new zoning laws that have people pondering what it means to be Spanish, or Muslim, or both. Ruling conservatives in the town of Tarragona want to limit the number of kebab shops and Internet cafes in the town center, keeping them 500 yards apart to "protect traditional Spanish businesses" and prevent what they call ghettos. But just what is a traditional Spanish business? "You tell me! My tomatoes are Spanish, and so are the potatoes I sell," says Nouari Benzawi, an Algerian immigrant who runs a kebab shop and halal grocery store. "Please explain this to me!" he exclaims, stomping around his shop, pointing out Spanish products. "Do I need to sell pork to be a traditional Spanish business? Do I need to sell wine?" He doesn't sell these items, for religious reasons. Benzawi, 52, is a Muslim who has lived in Spain for 20 years. He is married to a Spaniard and holds a Spanish passport. "My business is legal," Benzawi says. "I pay my taxes. I don't sell contraband. So what are they so worried about? This is called discrimination." Authorities have said the new zoning laws, if passed, would not force the closure of existing businesses, but would regulate how and where new ones can open. Benzawi believes the proposal unfairly targets a certain type of business that is often owned or run by immigrants like himself. Spain has a relatively small Muslim population, at about 2 percent of the total. The largest concentration is along the Mediterranean coast, in the region of Catalonia. In some coastal towns, including Tarragona, Muslims comprise about 10 percent of the population. [Source: NPR]

Are we witnessing the beginning of the new Spanish Inquisition? What is next after zoning proposals-eating pork and drinking alcohol? Before Muslims were driven out of Spain several hundred years ago, they were forced to eat pork to prove their loyalty to the Spanish state. All indications are that history is about to repeat itself.

Will America Ever Leave Afghanistan?

Since the war in Afghanistan formally ended at the close of 2014, hardly a week goes by without another report of the Obama administration considering revising its troop withdrawal timeline or that the current mission in Afghanistan is far from its putative non-combat advisory role. Indeed, during a surprise trip to the country, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said the administration is considering slowing down its troop withdrawal timetable. Yet, during his State of the Union Address, President Obama noted that Afghan forces "have now taken the lead" and touted America's support for Afghanistan's so-called "first democratic transition." As the combat mission in Afghanistan ended last year, the president lauded the effort, asserting that the international coalition has "helped the Afghan people reclaim their communities, take the lead for their own security, hold historic elections and complete the first democratic transfer of power in their country's history." The administration has continually sought to portray post-2014 U.S. involvement in Afghanistan as an effort to train and advise Afghan forces to take the lead in securing the newly democratic Afghanistan. While the Obama administration publicly touts the success of the Afghan mission and the end of the war, deliberations over the contours of the post-2014 U.S. presence continue. All of this dissembling begs the question: is America's longest war really over. All indication are that this not the case and for what? Remarkably, the United States has spent more on reconstruction in inflation-adjusted dollars during its 13 years in Afghanistan than it did on the Marshall Plan, which helped rebuild Europe after World War II. The United States can expect very little return on its investment in Afghanistan, particularly in the short term. While the administration considers slowing its troop drawdown and hawks on Capitol Hill and in the media call for a conditions-based withdrawal, it is time to look beyond military solutions to Afghanistan's problems, formulate a new strategy for bringing peace to Afghanistan, and bring America's longest war to a true close. [Source: The National Interest]

America's reluctance to leave may stem from a variety of reasons such as the return of the Taliban to powers. However, it just could be, that if America was to pull out completely, the world would quickly realize that America achieved nothing in Afghanistan-only humiliation of epic proportions.

Pakistan to Host Two-Day Forum of Islamic Countries

Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Thursday announced that for the first time in Pakistan a two-day "Think Tanks Forum of the Islamic Countries" will be held on March 7-8 in Islamabad, under the joint auspices of the Pakistan-China Institute (PCI), the Turkish Asian Centre for Strategic Studies (TASAM), the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) and Pakistan's Senate Committee on Defence. Senator Mushahid Hussain is Chairman of the organising committee of the think tanks forum, which Pakistan is hosting for the first time. Previously held every two years in Istanbul, Cairo, Baku, Baghdad and Tehran, the subject of this year's forum is "Addressing Multi-Dimensional Security Challenges in the Islamic Countries" and will focus on themes addressing security challenges (such as terrorism, extremism and cyber security); cooperation in defence, politics and economy; dialogue among Muslims to promote unity; as well as promoting a soft power image of Muslim countries as a whole. [Source: Daily Times]

Will the Islamic countries discuss America's role in fomenting sectarianism, extra-judicial killings, covert assassinations, supporting militants to overthrow regimes, promoting disunity across the Muslim world etc.? If not, then it will be another forum to protect American interests at the expense of the Muslim ummah.

Indian State of Maharashtra Bans Beef

India's western state of Maharashtra, home of the country's financial capital Mumbai, has introduced a draconian beef ban, which would allow for up to five years imprisonment for sale or possession of the meat. The comprehensive beef ban, backed by the state's new Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party administration, is one of the toughest attempts yet to prevent beef-eating in India, where many members of the Hindu majority, especially those of the upper castes, revere cows as sacred. Many Indian states have laws that ban or regulate the slaughter of cows, though not all states that ban cow slaughter also ban the sale of beef products, in effect allowing the meat to be consumed if it is brought in from other states. However, Maharashtra's law not only bans the slaughter of cows and sale of beef, but the possession of the meat, which is now to be formally considered as contraband. It also imposes the toughest punishment - of up to five years in prison - for violations. The law, passed two decades ago by Maharashtra's state legislature, was only given the necessary assent of India's president, Pranab Mukherjee, on Monday. Hindu nationalist groups, vocal advocates of the ban, rejoiced at the new restrictions, with Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra's chief minister, tweeting: "Our dream on the ban of cow slaughter becomes a reality now." But critics said the restrictions would prevent members of India's Muslim and Christian minorities - and other groups that have no such taboo around eating beef, including some low-caste Hindus - from accessing an important and affordable source of protein. [Source: Financial Times]

What a strange week for Muslims in India. On the one-hand some Muslims leaders welcome BJP alliance with a Muslim Kashmiri party, while other leaders reject BJP's decision to ban the eating of their Hindu god. Will the Muslims of India finally wake up and take action against their inept leaders that can no longer protect their interests?