Sultan Abdulhamid, Theodor Herzl and Palestine

“If Mr. Herzl is your friend, as you are my friend, tell him not to take a further step in this matter. I do not wish to sell even a tiny portion of land, because this country does not belong to me. It belongs to my people. My nation has watered this fatherland with its blood … The men of my Syrian and Palestinian contingents have all become martyrs at Plevna. All of them, without exception, have remained on the battlefield and did not return. I do not wish to give up any part of the Ottoman state. Let the Jews keep their millions … I cannot allow surgery on a living body.”

The Portuguese are rediscovering their country’s Muslim past

Historians and archaeologists are showing just how integral Islam is to the country’s identity. by Marta Vidal Lisbon, Portugal – After fleeing war in his native Iraq, 33-year-old Mustafa Abdulsattar risked his life on a perilous boat trip from Turkey to Greece. Once in Greece, he was offered resettlement in Portugal, a country he knewContinue reading “The Portuguese are rediscovering their country’s Muslim past”