Thursday 28 October 2010

From London to Qom for Islam

Posted on October 28, 2010 by rehmat1|

Last week, speaking at the Global Peace and Unity Event in London (UK), Lauren Booth (born 1967), sister-in-law of the Islamophobe former British prime minister Tony Blair, currently UN special envoy to Middle East, said: “What I wanted to share with you today is that I am Lauren Booth and I am a Muslim”.

The British journalist Lauren Booth, who currently works with Iran’s Press TV said that she converted to Islam after her spiritual journey the city of Qom. She told The Mail on Sunday newspaper that she now wears a hijab whenever she leaves her home and had not ruled out adopting the burqa. She said she prays five times a day, visits her local mosque “when I can”, and has given up pork and alcohol.
“I haven’t had a drink in 45 days, the longest period in 25 years,” she said. “The strange thing is that since I decided to convert I haven’t wanted to touch alcohol, and I was someone who craved a glass of wine or two at the end of a day.”

Lauren Booth said that she had been sympathetic to Islam ever since working in Palestine. She was a vociferous opponent of the Iraq War and has publicly accused Tony Blair of being pro-Israel. Two years ago, she joined a group of activists on a ship from Cyprus that sailed to Gaza to highlight the Israeli blockade of the territory.

According to British daily The Sunday Times (February 22, 2004), more than 14,000 White Brits have converted to Islam after becoming disellusioned with western values. These converts include academics, journalists, politicians, singers, billionaires and members of royalty. Some of them have converted for marriage but most of them for the beauty of Islam.

Another famous British journalist, Kristiane Backer, the attractive and popular German star of MTV Europe, was introduced to the religion through love (when dating Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan) but converted after her break-up. Imran Khan eventually married Jemima Goldsmith, daughter of British billionaire and pro-Israel Jewish member of House of Lord, James Goldsmith in 1995. Jemima Khan’s brother Zac Goldsmith is the new Tory MP for Richmond Park for whom both Jemima and her ex-husband Imran Khan campaigned.

Although Backer prays and practices Islamic modesty, Backer also portrays a modern image of Muslim women and refuses to wear face or hair covers. She only wore “hijab” during her 2006 pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca. Kristiane Backer has written her memoir, titled ‘MTV to Mecca: How Islam changed my Life’, in which she explains her spiritual journey to Islam.

Booth, who had moved to France with her husband and two daughters in 2004, returned to Britain after her husband suffered a sever brain injury following a motorcycle accident in April 2009.
Watch Lauren Booth’s interview of Dr. Norman Finkelstein on Press TV below:



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