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Elian, Afshin
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2 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
The people want a free Republic of Iran
During Friday prayers former Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said the character of the Islamic state as a republic was endangered. However, Afshin Elian, an Iranian-born professor of social science at the University of Leiden, believes that Islam is incompatible with a republic. Writing in the conservative news magazine Elsevier he says: "The Iranian population have already made it clear that they do not wish to live under the purely political form of Islam. They want a republic, a free republic. For this the Islamic revolution is losing all its children. The revolution is a republican revolution, which certainly violates the laws of the Sharia. Many people went down the streets past the University of Tehran to prayers, men and women side by side. In the eyes of the Ayatollahs that went against the will of Allah. Men and women are not allowed to pray side by side. ... What do the people want? Do they want to reform Islam. The events in Iran are extraordinary, no, they are unbelievable."
» full article (external link, Dutch)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Iran
The West must show support for homosexuals
The president of Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, has announced that all homosexuals who do not leave the country voluntarily will be beheaded. The political weekly Elsevier appeals to the West to give an international demonstration of support for homosexuals. "Not all things arouse the same amount of anger and indignation in the West. The gross violation of homosexuals' rights, for instance, is not the kind of cause that the West wants to support, not because Western politicians are against homosexuals but simply because they consider this issue less important. Cultural differences are taken more into account here. It is seen as other nations' right, particularly Muslim nations, to regard homosexuals as inferior. ... If this is true, is Europe prepared to appeal to the UN Security Council? And is Europe prepared to give the president of Gambia an ultimatum? I fear that [Western politicians] will not do these things."
» full article (external link, Dutch)
More from the press review on the subject » Minorities, » Social movements, » Weltanschauung, » Africa, » Europe
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