Israel attacks Gaza aid fleet (19 people were killed and dozens injured)

Israel attacks Gaza aid fleet
Available at: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/201053133047995359.html

Al Jazeera’s report on board the Mavi Marmara before communications were cut. Israeli forces have attacked a flotilla of aid-carrying ships aiming to break the country’s siege on Gaza. At least 19 people were killed and dozens injured when troops intercepted the convoy of ships dubbed the Freedom Flotilla early on Monday, Israeli radio reported.

The flotilla was attacked in international waters, 65km off the Gaza coast. Avital Leibovich, an Israeli military spokeswoman, confirmed that the attack took place in international waters, saying: “This happened in waters outside of Israeli territory, but we have the right to defend ourselves.” Footage from the flotilla’s lead vessel, the Mavi Marmara, showed armed Israeli soldiers boarding the ship and helicopters flying overhead.

Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal, on board the Mavi Marmara, said Israeli troops had used live ammunition during the operation.

Aftermath of Israel’s attack on Gaza flotilla

The Israeli military said four soldiers had been wounded and claimed troops opened fire after demonstrators onboard attacked the IDF Naval personnel with live fire and light weaponry including knives and clubs”. Free Gaza Movement, the organisers of the flotilla, however, said the troops opened fire as soon as they stormed the convoy. Our correspondent said that a white surrender flag was raised from the ship and there was no live fire coming from the passengers. Before losing communication with our correspondent, a voice in Hebrew was clearly heard saying: “Everyone shut up”.

Israeli intervention

Earlier, the Israeli navy had contacted the captain of the Mavi Marmara, asking him to identify himself and say where the ship was headed. Shortly after, two Israeli naval vessels had flanked the flotilla on either side, but at a distance.
Organisers of the flotilla carrying 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid then diverted their ships and slowed down to avoid a confrontation during the night. They also issued all passengers life jackets and asked them to remain below deck.

Al Jazeera’s Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Jerusalem, said the Israeli action was surprising. “All the images being shown from the activists on board those ships show clearly that they were civilians and peaceful in nature, with medical supplies on board. So it will surprise many in the international community to learn what could have possibly led to this type of confrontation,” he said.

Meanwhile, Israeli police have been put on a heightened state of alert across the country to prevent any civil disturbances. Sheikh Raed Salah,a leading member of the Islamic Movement who was on board the ship, was reported to have been seriously injured. He was being treated in Israel’s Tal Hasharon hospital. In Um Al Faham, the stronghold of the Islamic movement in Israel and the birth place of Salah, preparations for mass demonstrations were under way.

Protests

Condemnation has been quick to pour in after the Israeli action. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, officially declared a three-day state of mourning over Monday’s deaths. Turkey, Spain, Greece, Denmark and Sweden have all summoned the Israeli ambassador’s in their respective countries to protest against the deadly assault. Thousands of Turkish protesters tried to storm the Israeli consulate in Istanbul soon after the news of the operation broke. The protesters shouted “Damn Israel” as police blocked them.

“(The interception on the convoy) is unacceptable … Israel will have to endure the consequences of this behaviour,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

Ismail Haniya, the Hamas leader in Gaza, has also dubbed the Israeli action as “barbaric”. Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists, including a Nobel laureate and several European legislators, were with the flotilla, aiming to reach Gaza in defiance of an Israeli embargo.

The convoy came from the UK, Ireland, Algeria, Kuwait, Greece and Turkey, and was comprised of 800 people from 50 nationalities. But Israel had said it would not allow the flotilla to reach the Gaza Strip and vowed to stop the six ships from reaching the coastal Palestinian territory.

The flotilla had set sail from a port in Cyprus on Sunday and aimed to reach Gaza by Monday morning. Israel said the boats were embarking on “an act of provocation” against the Israeli military, rather than providing aid, and that it had issued warrants to prohibit their entrance to Gaza. It asserted that the flotilla would be breaking international law by landing in Gaza, a claim the organisers rejected.

(Note (s): What we can do besides our Doa’?

(i) Write to your MP: http://www.facebook.com/l/9d315;www.writetothem.com/

(ii) Write/Call the BBC: The complaints line is down so call their foreign desk instead at 02086249111, or go to http://www.facebook.com/l/9d315;https://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/forms/

(iii) Protest: London: outside 10 Downing Street, 2pm Monday 31st May, Manchester: Outside the BBC, Oxford Road, 5pm, Sheffield: Outside the Town Hall, Town Centre, 12 noon

(iv) Write to Foreign Office: private.office@fco.gov.uk, AINAGCorrespondence@fco.gov.uk, haguew@parliament.uk

(v) Write to the Prime Minister or Foreign Secretary
David Cameron, Prime Minister https://email. number10. gov.uk/Contact. aspx
William Hague, Foreign and Commonwealth Office MSU.PublicIn@ fco.gov.uk

“Peace will not come out of a clash of arms but out of justice lived and done by unarmed nations in the face of odds.” Mahatma Gandhi

ZULKIFLI HASAN
DURHAM

Free Palestine Demonstration at Trafalgar Square, London

Investment Dar battle with Blom adds sharia risk – Moody’s

Investment Dar battle with Blom adds sharia risk – Moody’s

by Shaheen Pasha Available at: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/589134-investment-dar-battle-with-blom-adds-sharia-risk—moodys

A legal wrangle between Kuwait’s Investment Dar and Lebanon’s Blom Bank has raised sharia risk in the Islamic finance industry, ratings firm Moody’s said in a research note on Wednesday. Blom Bank sued Dar for $10.7 million in a British court last year, seeking the principal it invested plus a 5 percent return, as was structured in an Islamic deal it concluded with the company in 2007.

Dar said it would not pay as the fixed return constituted interest which it said was not sharia compliant and broke the company’s own charter.

A judge ruled that while Dar should repay the principal, it had an arguable defence regarding the extra profit. While the case has not yet concluded, legal experts and Islamic bankers have been debating its significance for the industry.

Moody’s senior credit officer Khalid Howladar said that the ratings firm will closely the watch the case as the final outcome may set a precedent. In the note, Howladar wrote: “Such precedent when coupled with legal opinions will likely form part of our rating analysis of such instruments and institutions.”

He added that the case highlights the need for the industry to improve its due diligence when structuring such Islamic transactions. He said that Moody’s may require clear documentation demonstrating that sharia risk has been addressed before it rates sukuks and Islamic institutions in the future. Documentation may include disclosure of approvals from company sharia boards and a signed waiver in the contract disallowing a sharia related defence. (Reuters)

“The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live.” Leo F. Buscaglia

Best Regards
ZULKIFLI HASAN
DURHAM, UK

London

Malaysia establishes programs to train on Islamic banking

Malaysia establishes programs to train on Islamic banking

Available at: http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093337724&src=MOEN

(MENAFN – Khaleej Times) The Central Bank of Malaysia and the Malaysian government have established programmes to educate central banks in other parts of the world on regulating Islamic financial systems.

The local universities in Malaysia will also offer programmes to educate and train bankers on Islamic financial products, Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of Bank Negara, Malaysia said while addressing one of the sessions at the sixth World Islamic Economic Forum here on Thursday.

Emphasising that Islamic financial products are innovative and competitive she said about 50 to 70 per cent Islamic financial products are used by non-Muslims in Malaysia while multinationals have issued sukuk bonds from the Malaysian bond market and this is a testament to the success of Islamic financial products.

Humphrey Percy, Chief Executive Officer, Bank of London and the Middle East said even though the global Muslim population was about 1.6 billion only 14 per cent use banks while Islamic finance represents less than one per cent of global
 finance systems.

He said Islamic financial institutions are faced with several challenges which have to be addressed before their financial products can be marketed at global level.

The challenges include lack of education on Islamic financial products in Western countries and the narrow range of products offered in Islamic financial markets with few instruments that hedge and manage risks, Humphrey argued.

“Another major challenge is the lack of standardisation of terms among countries offering Islamic financial instruments,” he said. He said London was an emerging Islamic financial market and the largest in Europe but currently there is little room for growth as most central banks in Europe do not have the ability to regulate Islamic financial instruments.

John Sandwick, specialist in Islamic Wealth and Asset Management, Switzerland said that $65 trillion worth of funds are under wealth management funds and of this amount only $ 2.5 trillion are owned by Muslims with most of the wealth being invested in deposits, bonds, stocks and real estate and less than two per cent in equity.

He pointed out that the Swiss banking system handles about $200 billion worth of funds but the country does not have an Islamic finance system.

He said traditional methods of wealth management are part of the problem as most of the wealth in the Muslim world was invested in real estate which has lost its some of its value due to the global economic crisis.

“These funds could have been invested in sukuk and other Islamic financial instruments but these are not available in most European nations,” he said.

Khalled Abdullah-Janahi, Vice Chairman Ithmar Bank, Bahrain agreed that there is a need to educate regulators and bankers on Islamic financial products. There is also a need to regulate investors and depositors to direct their fund managers to invest in Islamic financial products.

Mumtaz Khan, Chief Executive Officer of Maybank MEACP Pte Ltd Singapore said in order to move Islamic financial products forward, there was a need to put in place a new world order with more equitable distribution of wealth.

“The Group of 20 is one of the platforms for the new world order but there are only three Muslim nations in this group; Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Indonesia. The global financial system is still defined by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank’’, Mumtaz recalled.

“The Islamic Development Bank is not a key player in the G20 or the G8. There is a need for the WIEF, IDB and Malaysia to be part of the G20 as many Islamic institutions based in Malaysia have strong ties with the West, Islamic nations, India and China. This group will be able to bring Islamic finance to the same global level as other global financial players,” he said.

“The difference between school and life? In school, you’re taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you’re given a test that teaches you a lesson.” Tom Bodett

Best Regards
ZULKIFLI HASAN
DURHAM, UK

Lake District National Park, Cumbria, England

A role for sports in Islamic finance?

A role for sports in Islamic finance?

By Rushdi Siddiqui, Special to Gulf News Available at: http://gulfnews.com/business/markets/a-role-for-sports-in-islamic-finance-1.630735

Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, made an extraordinary comment last month, “… we are conducting feasibility studies to evaluate the costs and benefits of a bid [for the 2020 Olympics].” Qatar submitted a bid to host the 2022 World Cup, and bid committee Chairman, Shaikh Mohammad Khalifa Al Thani, said, “… A World Cup in Qatar will be a new World Cup, bringing people and different cultures together in the name of football…”

I’ve been involved in sports for 40 years tennis, bicycling and basketball and, after reading such comments, a question comes to mind: what role should Islamic finance play in ‘local’ sports, besides offering Islamic mortgages for villas and apartments in, say, Dubai Sports City or ‘guidance’ on appropriate attire and logo/emblem?

Sports builds friendship bridges across cultures, countries and faiths by uniting people, be it the Olympics or World Cup, and Islamic finance needs to be involved in a variety of capacities. It will not only be part of the necessary brand building exercise by showing the progressive side of this embryonic industry and encourage more media stories from the business section to the main section but also show leadership in addressing local health issues with sports.

GCC Sporting Events

In the GCC/Malaysia, which are hubs for Islamic finance, there are international sporting events — such as in tennis and golf, Formula One and Asian Games which are attended by bankable customers. However, are the Islamic banks major (or even minor) sponsors? Do Islamic banks support any of the local or regional teams and star athletes with their name on their stadiums or jerseys, as commonly found in, say, US and UK? The young and old, rich and poor follow sports passionately, hence, an opportunity to not only affiliate Islamic banks to international ‘halal’ entertainment, but also recruit and add to customer base.

Naming rights

A Dubai metro train station having naming rights from an Islamic bank, while interesting, may not have the same impact as naming, as say, KFH, DIB or Al Hilal Football Stadium. Regional banks have acquired companies, via proprietary capital allocation, including high end car company (Aston Martin), in the G-20 countries — either via Islamic financing or with an Islamic tranche, where target companies are within the permissible precepts of Islamic Sharia.

In the west, leisure sport companies like Callaway, Wilson (subsidiary of Amer Sports), with Callaway in the S&P Islamic equity indexes, are not national security issues [may be local icons], and have changed hands a few times. Hence, an interesting Islamic finance acquisition consideration, with the possibility of also listing on a GCC exchange.

Unlike technology or finance companies, challenging business to understand, sports companies are an easier explanation. Obviously, a thorough vetting, under the watchful eye of the Sharia Board on operations, non-compliant subsidiary ownership/revenue, athlete endorsement will be necessary. With sporting companies come athletes, like Nike’s entourage of Tiger Woods and David Beckham, who are corporate brand-building ambassadors.

Best examples

One of the best examples of a global athlete (in good standing) is the Chinese basketball superstar Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets who raised the profile of basketball and his endorsed products in China. In basketball and football, retired Muslim international superstars like Kareem-Abdul Jabbar and Hakeem Olajuwon, and Zinedine Zidan are still global brand names, and Islamic banks should reach out to build sports academy in the region for the local youth and expatriate community.

Take this one step further and have exhibition games from teams in the National Basketball Association and the National Football League in the US, Premier League, games in UAE, Qatar, Bahrain or Malaysia, and Islamic banks take part in funding for such ‘delegations.’

Olympic sukuk

Imagine a consortium of Islamic banks, from GCC, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan and Turkey, issuing and listing a Triple A, multiple currency, long dated benchmark size UK Olympic and Brazilian World Cup Sukuk, that is, beginning of real standardisation! It would show the sukuk market’s resilience and reach, deployment of petro-liquidity for legacy projects for indebted countries looking for ‘sports’ funding, and make Islamic finance an important part of the global financial intermediation.

It would build bridges of two way commerce to new geographies: funding opportunity in, say, natural resource-rich South America looking for liquidity, with liquidity looking for diversified opportunity. Shaikh Mohammad spoke of the ‘feasibility study’ on making a bid for the Olympics, and Islamic banks need to be part of the study.

A good beginning is supporting selected Olympic sports and activities in the country, strategic acquisition of sports companies and obtaining appropriate brand ambassadors, in addition to having the collateral benefit off an enhanced image with cross sell appeal, potential recruits, new customer base, plus raise profile of local health issues with sports.

“Sports is the toy department of human life.” Howard Cosell

Best Regards
ZULKIFLI HASAN
DURHAM, UK

Brussels, Belgium

Regulatory Framework of Shari’ah Governance System in Malaysia, GCC Countries and the UK

Assalamualaikum,

Dear Readers,

Alhamdulillah and I am very grateful to share with you my recent article entitled “Regulatory Framework of Shari’ah Governance System in Malaysia, GCC Countries and the UK” in the special issue of the Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies on Islamic Finance (2010 March, Vol. 3 No.2). The Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies is a refereed journal published by the Centre for Islamic Area Studies of Kyoto University. I presented this paper during the Kyoto-Durham Workshop on Islamic economic that took place in Kyoto, Japan last July. This article will also be published by Routledge in a book edited by Asutay, Kosugi and Sairally entitled “New Horizons in Islamic Studies” Series this year, InsyaAllah.

For full article, click here: REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OF SHARIAH GOVERNANCE SYSTEM IN MALAYSIA GCC AND UK

Enjoy Reading!

….Uniquely, it is a sine qua non for the significant differences of Shari’ah governance system
particularly from the regulatory overview as Malaysia represents model in mixed legal jurisdiction, GCC in Islamic and mixed legal environment and the UK in non-Islamic legal environment…… Hasan, (2010: 82).

Best Regards
ZULKIFLI HASAN
DURHAM, UK

With Dr. Mehmet Asutay, Professor Kosugi Yasushi, Mr. Hylmun Izhar and Professor Abdul Ghafar Ismail at Kyoto University.