Iran top leader digs in heels on election
Reporting from Tehran-- Iran's supreme leader vowed Wednesday that he would neither reconsider vote results nor bow to public pressure over the disputed reelection of his ally, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as state-controlled broadcast outlets intensified a media blitz against the West.Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's ultimate political and military authority, decried "lawlessness" after demonstrators took to the streets to dispute Ahmadinejad's reelection in a June 12 vote that they and many independent analysts say was suspiciously out of sync with previous voting patterns and Iran's demographics."Once lawlessness becomes a norm, things will be complicated and the interests of people will be undermined," Khamenei said after a meeting with lawmakers, according to state television."Everyone should respect the law," he said. "Even in the case of the recent incidents, I have been, still am and will continue to be insisting on the implementation of the law. . . . Certainly, neither the system nor the people will yield to pressure under any circumstances."Using batons, tear gas and large contingents of uniformed and plainclothes security forces, Iranian authorities for now appear to have beaten back their greatest domestic challenge in 30 years as a dispute over the election sharply divided both society and the political establishment into two camps: supporters of Ahmadinejad and those backing his main election challenger, Mir-Hossein Mousavi. More
China South America: Twenty-nine countries protest reintroduction of US Dairy Export Subsidies
Twenty-nine countries at the World Trade Organization criticized the United States on Wednesday for reintroducing export subsidies on US dairy products, calling the handouts a dangerous retreat into protectionism and warning of "subsidy wars."
Brazil, speaking on behalf of 23 developing countries, told a WTO meeting that Washington was promoting a "murky protectionism" that weakens the global trading system at a time when global commerce is already shrinking at a record pace.
Source
Brazil, speaking on behalf of 23 developing countries, told a WTO meeting that Washington was promoting a "murky protectionism" that weakens the global trading system at a time when global commerce is already shrinking at a record pace.
Source
Dutch TV show exonerates bin Laden
Dutch TV show exonerates bin Laden
A Dutch TV jury has found Osama bin Laden not guilty of the September 11 attacks.
In the conclusion Wednesday night to the show Devil's Advocate on Dutch public broadcaster Nederland 2, the jury of two men and three women, along with the studio audience, ruled that there was no proof bin Laden was the mastermind behind the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in 2001.
The Netherlands, home to Big Brother creator Endemol, is known for being on the cutting edge of format-based television.
But even for Dutch standards, Devil's Advocate, from Amsterdam production house AVRO, pushes the envelope.
The show features star defence attorney Gerard Spong standing up for some of the world's worst criminals.
In the latest show, Spong was able to convince the jury that bin Laden's connection to September 11 was a product of "Western propaganda".
The jury also ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove bin Laden was the real head of terrorist network Al Qaeda.
The jury did rule, however, that bin Laden is a "terrorist who has misused Islam".
The show is certain to provide further ammunition in the already heated Dutch debate over immigration and the country's large Muslim minority.
The Netherlands saw a sharp rise in anti-immigration and anti-Islamic sentiment after the 2004 murder of Dutch director Theo Van Gogh by a Muslim extremist.
Spong has been at the centre of the debate, supporting legal action against anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders.
- Reuters
A Dutch TV jury has found Osama bin Laden not guilty of the September 11 attacks.
In the conclusion Wednesday night to the show Devil's Advocate on Dutch public broadcaster Nederland 2, the jury of two men and three women, along with the studio audience, ruled that there was no proof bin Laden was the mastermind behind the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in 2001.
The Netherlands, home to Big Brother creator Endemol, is known for being on the cutting edge of format-based television.
But even for Dutch standards, Devil's Advocate, from Amsterdam production house AVRO, pushes the envelope.
The show features star defence attorney Gerard Spong standing up for some of the world's worst criminals.
In the latest show, Spong was able to convince the jury that bin Laden's connection to September 11 was a product of "Western propaganda".
The jury also ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove bin Laden was the real head of terrorist network Al Qaeda.
The jury did rule, however, that bin Laden is a "terrorist who has misused Islam".
The show is certain to provide further ammunition in the already heated Dutch debate over immigration and the country's large Muslim minority.
The Netherlands saw a sharp rise in anti-immigration and anti-Islamic sentiment after the 2004 murder of Dutch director Theo Van Gogh by a Muslim extremist.
Spong has been at the centre of the debate, supporting legal action against anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders.
- Reuters
Catholics suffered most as result of WW2
A Brazilian archbishop dropped a bombshell on Friday when he said Catholics and gypsies had been more persecuted than Jews during World War II.
"The Jews talk about six million people killed. But how many Catholics were victims of the Holocaust? They were 22 million in all," Archbishop Dadeus Grings, from Porto Alegre in southern Brazil, told advertising magazine Press & Advertising.
The archbishop also contended that while "Jews say they were the main victims of the Holocaust, the biggest victims were the gypsies, because they were exterminated."
The Jewish federation of the state of Rio Grande do Sul was quick to fire back, stressing that "this was not the first time Dadeus referred to the Holocaust in a distorted way.
"To diminish the Holocaust is an attack against the millions of people killed in a war unleashed by fanaticism and intolerance," the group added in a statement. Story
"The Jews talk about six million people killed. But how many Catholics were victims of the Holocaust? They were 22 million in all," Archbishop Dadeus Grings, from Porto Alegre in southern Brazil, told advertising magazine Press & Advertising.
The archbishop also contended that while "Jews say they were the main victims of the Holocaust, the biggest victims were the gypsies, because they were exterminated."
The Jewish federation of the state of Rio Grande do Sul was quick to fire back, stressing that "this was not the first time Dadeus referred to the Holocaust in a distorted way.
"To diminish the Holocaust is an attack against the millions of people killed in a war unleashed by fanaticism and intolerance," the group added in a statement. Story
Pakistan: Bush’s policy helped promote terrorism: Nawaz
LAHORE, (The News): PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif said former US President Bush’s policy had helped promote terrorism by backing General Pervez Musharraf, the former military ruler and president of Pakistan.
“ Mr Bush gave blind support to Mr Musharraf and he turned a blind eye to all the atrocities at home that Mr Musharraf committed in his eight year dictatorial rule. He never was keen that Pakistan should get back to the democratic path,” Sharif told Financial Times.
He said that Obama’s policy was only slightly different from the disastrous one pursued by George W. Bush.
“Mr Obama has now come up with a new policy with little changes, very minor changes as compared to the last policy”.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=73485
“ Mr Bush gave blind support to Mr Musharraf and he turned a blind eye to all the atrocities at home that Mr Musharraf committed in his eight year dictatorial rule. He never was keen that Pakistan should get back to the democratic path,” Sharif told Financial Times.
He said that Obama’s policy was only slightly different from the disastrous one pursued by George W. Bush.
“Mr Obama has now come up with a new policy with little changes, very minor changes as compared to the last policy”.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=73485
Zionism is not the savior of the Jewish People
Zionism is a very heated discussion here on the Vine, with Israel in the news almost everyday with a new strategy against the war on terrorism and the known organization Hamas. but wait for a sec and look back at the original establishment of this new ideology or savior of the Jewish people and returning them to the promised land ( many say Zionism is the idea of giving Jews a right to have a country and yes i agree its that as well but much more as well.)
Zionism was not always around or part of the Jewish people or faith, but in the 1900s a few men thought it would be a good idea, maybe even divine to establish a home land for the Jewish people. I wont go into further detail because i want the reader to realize that, Zionism was just an idea by a few men.
These men were not men among the Jewish high Rabbi community, not men of scriptural or religious knowledge of the Jewish faith and people.
Zionism is not the savior of the Jewish people, its the ideology of making a home for the Jewish people. Jews are not more Jewish is they accept Israel, or less Jewish if they don't.
A Jew is truly Jewish when they follow their scriptures and books and obey the guidelines of God through their scriptures.
The Zionist Ideology has nothing to do with the Judaic teachings of the many prophets sent to the Jews as recorded by their scriptures, for example Adam, Noah, Suleiman, Abraham, Moses (peace be unto them ) to name a few, and to relate Zionism as part of Judaism is irrelevant, because only the Messiah would lead the Jews to the promised land, the day that God forgives the Jews and returns them to the promised land.
The Zionist ideology has contributed more harm to the Jewish people then good, a point I agree with many orthodox rabbis who repeat this.
A very important note.
Zionist today are many, and I know that many of them are good hearted people, not because they are Zionist or its the Zionist thing to do, but because they are still human beings.
My message is simple.
Enough is enough with military actions, walls gotta come down, more people must step up for peace through charity work, put the guns down and give each other hand.
60 years of war and military means have brought nothing but Shame to all of us. As long as their is conflict in Jerusalem and The holy land, Its a big shame to all three faith, Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, and our prophets would be ashamed of us as well. How can we call our selves among the believers when we authorize such measure of negotiations or means of democracy ? When will we realize that
Only through peaceful measure, we can accomplish Peace.
Full Post
Zionism was not always around or part of the Jewish people or faith, but in the 1900s a few men thought it would be a good idea, maybe even divine to establish a home land for the Jewish people. I wont go into further detail because i want the reader to realize that, Zionism was just an idea by a few men.
These men were not men among the Jewish high Rabbi community, not men of scriptural or religious knowledge of the Jewish faith and people.
Zionism is not the savior of the Jewish people, its the ideology of making a home for the Jewish people. Jews are not more Jewish is they accept Israel, or less Jewish if they don't.
A Jew is truly Jewish when they follow their scriptures and books and obey the guidelines of God through their scriptures.
The Zionist Ideology has nothing to do with the Judaic teachings of the many prophets sent to the Jews as recorded by their scriptures, for example Adam, Noah, Suleiman, Abraham, Moses (peace be unto them ) to name a few, and to relate Zionism as part of Judaism is irrelevant, because only the Messiah would lead the Jews to the promised land, the day that God forgives the Jews and returns them to the promised land.
The Zionist ideology has contributed more harm to the Jewish people then good, a point I agree with many orthodox rabbis who repeat this.
A very important note.
Zionist today are many, and I know that many of them are good hearted people, not because they are Zionist or its the Zionist thing to do, but because they are still human beings.
My message is simple.
Enough is enough with military actions, walls gotta come down, more people must step up for peace through charity work, put the guns down and give each other hand.
60 years of war and military means have brought nothing but Shame to all of us. As long as their is conflict in Jerusalem and The holy land, Its a big shame to all three faith, Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, and our prophets would be ashamed of us as well. How can we call our selves among the believers when we authorize such measure of negotiations or means of democracy ? When will we realize that
Only through peaceful measure, we can accomplish Peace.
Full Post
Genesis of Muslim Fanaticism by Dr. Syed Ehtisham
I have refrained from using the term “Fundamentalism” for a very good reason. Every Muslim is, by definition, a fundamentalist, in as much as he/she believes in, and tries to practice the fundamental teachings of Islam as much as possible. Obviously, a great majority of Muslims are not fanatics. They only have had the mis-fortune of being identified with a group of extremists by ill informed or biased public media subservient to vested interests.
. Prophet of Islam pledged to protect non-believers and asked them to pay a nominal Tax in lieu of military service. He declared that persons of faith, Christian, Jew, and Zoroastrian if they did good deeds would go to paradise. He discouraged gender discrimination and ordained human rights, which were quite revolutionary for the time.
Roots of “Muslim Fanaticism” can be traced back 1300 years to Abbasid caliphate. They had wrested power from Umayyad, in the name of the prophet’s family, and were apprehensive of the influence of the family whom the people venerated. In order to secure their survival, the caliphs prevailed upon a leading cleric to introduce the concept that Muslims should love, respect and honor only Allah, that the prophet being only a man like any other should be taken at his word only as far as the message (Quran) was concerned and that Muslims were not obliged to follow Hadith (Prophets sayings). By corollary, all the teachings of tolerance, peace, justice and equality went by the board. A ruler was to be obeyed in all respects, if he did not interfere with the practice of fundamentals of Islam.
This was a subtle and fairly successful attempt at undercutting and undermining the prophet’s family, whose leading male members were called Imams.
Ordinary Muslims could not stomach the strictures and continued to venerate the prophet’s family, the first four caliphs and his companions. Academicians sifted through the body of Hadith separating the ones prejudicial to the spirit of Hadith or bereft of common sense, with poor context and reference and interpreting Quran in the light of prophets Hadith and example of life (Sunnah).
Mainstream Islam had already divided into Sunnis (the majority) the adherents of The Quran and Sunnah and Shias (twenty percent, adherents of Ali, the fourth and the last caliph to be elevated to the office by consessus of Muslims). Extremists were on fringes and remained so for about a millennium till Abdul Wahab, a rather way ward cleric, shunned even by his father and brothers, tried to revive the intolerant, exclusionary (excluding nearly all Muslims and believers of other faiths) dogma. No body took any notice of him till he developed a symbiotic relationship with the house of Saud, who was vying with the ruler of Mecca (by the name of Shareef who claimed direct descendence from the prophet) in betraying fellow Muslims, the Turks, to the British and the French.
Wahabism, as the creed came to be known, was limited to Saudi Arabia. Saudis lived a Spartan life; one cannot spread out into luxury on dates and charity of Pilgrims.
Discovery of oil gave Arabs wealth beyond dreams of avarice. They started living it up, indulging in song, wine and women. When Wahabis objected they were paid off and given ample funds to export their creed to the rest of Muslim world.
Defeat of Turkey in WWI ranks with expulsion from Spain, failure of the 1594 siege of Vienna and 1857 war of independence in India as a defining event of the decline of Muslims; they had relinquished their hold on education, research, commerce, and industry. They slid further into the morass of depression and introspection and crept ever closer to fanaticism. Instead of analyzing causes of their decline they blamed non-adherence to true Islam for their sorry state.
This is not with standing many valiant reformers, educationists, and rebels who tried to revive the fortunes of fellow Muslims.
De colonization followed WWII. Muslim countries became independent – essentially in name only- they had no power, little education, commerce, or industry. Three “sovereign” nations Egypt, Syria, and Jordan supported by rest of the Arab world, failed to thwart the attempt of stateless Jews at colonization of Palestine. There were, of course, good reasons for Jewish victory. Egyptian army had guns, which failed to shoot. Syrians were worse and Jordan’s king was in league with the Jews.
The 1951 Coup de tat brought Nasser to power in Egypt. It was the time of Non-aligned movement. Nehru, Soekarno and Tito stood tall. Nasser joined them. In 1956 he wrested control of Suez Canal from the Anglo-French company, stood eyeball to eyeball with English and French and made them blink. France, Britain and Israel attacked, easily overwhelmed the Egyptian forces, but had to retreat ignominiously at the behest of Russian and American leaders. We took out a procession to protest the aggression in Karachi and went to the Pakistan Prime ministers house. All Muslim countries basked in Nasser’s glory, but did little to promote education, industry, commerce or freedom of expression and thought, democracy or good governments. Dictators came and went, kings fell and were restored, corruption and dishonesty became rampant.
Come 1967, Israel again defeated the combined Arab force and dealt another crushing blow to Muslim Psyche.
1971 civil war in the then East Pakistan culminated in ignominious surrender of Pakistan Army to arch rival India. That was televised through the world. That was another horrendous demoralizing event.
In 1973, Egyptian Army gave a more credible performance than any Arab country’s forces had for a thousand years, surprising Israelis and eliminating more than half of its Air/tanks force within forty-eight hours. (The feat was exceeded in 2006 by Hezbollah of Lebanon who with stood the might of Israeli armed forces and made them sue for cease-fire). Moshe Dayan, Israeli defense minister was reported to have said that nothing could stop Egyptian march into Tel Aviv. Inexplicably, Egypt halted its advance.
Muslims were trampled upon everywhere, be it Kashmir, Palestine, India, Algeria, Ethiopia, or East Pakistan.
It would be surprising if fanaticism festering for centuries would not finally break open. Its time came when Zia of Pakistan over threw ZA Bhutto. He had messianic delusions of restoring glory days of Islam. Zia, not an intellectual by any means, was nevertheless a very shrewd operator and saw the opportunity of redemption when Russians went into Afghanistan, and seized it both hands. The country on the brink of economic collapse, was flooded with US dollars. Zia a pariah after executing Bhutto, was lionized by western leaders (much like Musharraf after 9/11). Arms poured in, Mujahideen and Al Qaeda were trained by Pak-American forces and CIA spent hundreds of millions in perception management. USA fully avenged Vietnam defeat and drove Soviet Union out of Afghanistan with the help of Mujahideen, Al Qaeda and Pakistan, as they themselves had been driven out of Vietnam by Vietnamese with the help of China and Russia.
But Al Qaeda under the aegis of Osama bin Laden another messianic leader came to haunt Americans. They spread their wings, fought in Bosnia, Sudan, Algeria and developed sizable following in Pakistan, Indonesia and other Muslim countries.
Big powers use all available agents, regardless of their moral and religious persuasion. USA had no compunction in going to bed with Osama Bin Laden or Saddam Hussain. But after the end had been achieved, both were discarded and predictably behaved like jilted lovers. World trade towers were initially hit in 1993. American Embassies were attacked in Pakistan and Africa, a US navel ship was suicide bombed and American/western/Israeli interests targeted all over the world before 9/11 catastrophe.
Given wisdom is that Al Qaeda operatives perpetrated the dastardly deed. USA forces went after the organizers of the outrage and successfully demolished Al Qaeda structure, driving Taliban into caves or extinction and installing a puppet regime in Kabul. Of necessity they left the rest of the country to warlords or remnants of Taliban.
God save us from men of messianic vision. Bush wanted to rid the world of terrorism and spread liberty and democracy into bargain. He chose not Saudi Arabia, where all the Al Qaeda and Taliban funds came from or Iran, which openly defied it, but Iraq, which was secular and openly hostile to fanatics seemingly finished the job his father had (wisely) left undone. With great fanfare he even announced “Mission Accomplished on board a US ship.
Not being overly bright or surrounded by people known for their insight, he did not plan for long occupation or an exist strategy.
Terrorism does not exist, grow and multiply in a vacuum. Largely due to self inflicted wounds, taken advantage of by western imperialist interests, devastated by an uninterrupted chain of disasters spanning over the last five hundred years, Muslim psyche has been unrecognizably distorted, and this together with West’s neo-imperialistic campaigns, has spawned the hydra-headed monster of terrorism which feeds on hatred, injustice, poverty, illiteracy, and fanaticism. Attacking Afghanistan, going into Iraq demolishing Palestinian houses, arresting operatives here and there or freezing bank accounts, do not amount to more than cutting off one Hydra head. Two will sprout in its place.
My submission is that it is not a problem of Muslims alone. All humans in the world are in the line of fire. Extremist, intolerant and benighted version of Islam has taken hold of the imagination of Muslims from Indonesia the USA.
Let us look at a few worst affected countries. Israelis for all their power live under siege, not sure if they or their children would come back from work or school unhurt or even alive.
More than four thousand young Americans are already dead in Iraq; tens of thousands have been maimed. Cost in men and material is immeasurable. Civil liberties, Human rights, the very constitution of the country has been compromised, all in the name of self-inflicted paranoia. Over a million Iraqis have lost have lost their lives, more than four million have been injured and one in eight is in miserable exile. The country, once the most advanced in education, technology and health care, has been bombed to stone age. They can only bask in the reflected glory of a journalist who, risking his limb and life, threw a shoe at bush.
Terrorism is a state of mind brought on, not only by fanaticism, but also in a greater measure by desperation. Palestinians, Iraqis, and Al-qaida cannot take on their respective foes head on, so they send suicide bombers, which are morally no different from air bombing and cause corresponding “collateral damage”.
There are legitimate grievances, national devastation, poverty, illiteracy, exploitation of resources, virtual colonization, neo- imperialistic domination by global corporations which own western governments and treat third world governments as virtual serfs, and many other injustices which have to dealt with before terrorism can be brought to heel. Sheer brute force is certainly not the answer.
. Prophet of Islam pledged to protect non-believers and asked them to pay a nominal Tax in lieu of military service. He declared that persons of faith, Christian, Jew, and Zoroastrian if they did good deeds would go to paradise. He discouraged gender discrimination and ordained human rights, which were quite revolutionary for the time.
Roots of “Muslim Fanaticism” can be traced back 1300 years to Abbasid caliphate. They had wrested power from Umayyad, in the name of the prophet’s family, and were apprehensive of the influence of the family whom the people venerated. In order to secure their survival, the caliphs prevailed upon a leading cleric to introduce the concept that Muslims should love, respect and honor only Allah, that the prophet being only a man like any other should be taken at his word only as far as the message (Quran) was concerned and that Muslims were not obliged to follow Hadith (Prophets sayings). By corollary, all the teachings of tolerance, peace, justice and equality went by the board. A ruler was to be obeyed in all respects, if he did not interfere with the practice of fundamentals of Islam.
This was a subtle and fairly successful attempt at undercutting and undermining the prophet’s family, whose leading male members were called Imams.
Ordinary Muslims could not stomach the strictures and continued to venerate the prophet’s family, the first four caliphs and his companions. Academicians sifted through the body of Hadith separating the ones prejudicial to the spirit of Hadith or bereft of common sense, with poor context and reference and interpreting Quran in the light of prophets Hadith and example of life (Sunnah).
Mainstream Islam had already divided into Sunnis (the majority) the adherents of The Quran and Sunnah and Shias (twenty percent, adherents of Ali, the fourth and the last caliph to be elevated to the office by consessus of Muslims). Extremists were on fringes and remained so for about a millennium till Abdul Wahab, a rather way ward cleric, shunned even by his father and brothers, tried to revive the intolerant, exclusionary (excluding nearly all Muslims and believers of other faiths) dogma. No body took any notice of him till he developed a symbiotic relationship with the house of Saud, who was vying with the ruler of Mecca (by the name of Shareef who claimed direct descendence from the prophet) in betraying fellow Muslims, the Turks, to the British and the French.
Wahabism, as the creed came to be known, was limited to Saudi Arabia. Saudis lived a Spartan life; one cannot spread out into luxury on dates and charity of Pilgrims.
Discovery of oil gave Arabs wealth beyond dreams of avarice. They started living it up, indulging in song, wine and women. When Wahabis objected they were paid off and given ample funds to export their creed to the rest of Muslim world.
Defeat of Turkey in WWI ranks with expulsion from Spain, failure of the 1594 siege of Vienna and 1857 war of independence in India as a defining event of the decline of Muslims; they had relinquished their hold on education, research, commerce, and industry. They slid further into the morass of depression and introspection and crept ever closer to fanaticism. Instead of analyzing causes of their decline they blamed non-adherence to true Islam for their sorry state.
This is not with standing many valiant reformers, educationists, and rebels who tried to revive the fortunes of fellow Muslims.
De colonization followed WWII. Muslim countries became independent – essentially in name only- they had no power, little education, commerce, or industry. Three “sovereign” nations Egypt, Syria, and Jordan supported by rest of the Arab world, failed to thwart the attempt of stateless Jews at colonization of Palestine. There were, of course, good reasons for Jewish victory. Egyptian army had guns, which failed to shoot. Syrians were worse and Jordan’s king was in league with the Jews.
The 1951 Coup de tat brought Nasser to power in Egypt. It was the time of Non-aligned movement. Nehru, Soekarno and Tito stood tall. Nasser joined them. In 1956 he wrested control of Suez Canal from the Anglo-French company, stood eyeball to eyeball with English and French and made them blink. France, Britain and Israel attacked, easily overwhelmed the Egyptian forces, but had to retreat ignominiously at the behest of Russian and American leaders. We took out a procession to protest the aggression in Karachi and went to the Pakistan Prime ministers house. All Muslim countries basked in Nasser’s glory, but did little to promote education, industry, commerce or freedom of expression and thought, democracy or good governments. Dictators came and went, kings fell and were restored, corruption and dishonesty became rampant.
Come 1967, Israel again defeated the combined Arab force and dealt another crushing blow to Muslim Psyche.
1971 civil war in the then East Pakistan culminated in ignominious surrender of Pakistan Army to arch rival India. That was televised through the world. That was another horrendous demoralizing event.
In 1973, Egyptian Army gave a more credible performance than any Arab country’s forces had for a thousand years, surprising Israelis and eliminating more than half of its Air/tanks force within forty-eight hours. (The feat was exceeded in 2006 by Hezbollah of Lebanon who with stood the might of Israeli armed forces and made them sue for cease-fire). Moshe Dayan, Israeli defense minister was reported to have said that nothing could stop Egyptian march into Tel Aviv. Inexplicably, Egypt halted its advance.
Muslims were trampled upon everywhere, be it Kashmir, Palestine, India, Algeria, Ethiopia, or East Pakistan.
It would be surprising if fanaticism festering for centuries would not finally break open. Its time came when Zia of Pakistan over threw ZA Bhutto. He had messianic delusions of restoring glory days of Islam. Zia, not an intellectual by any means, was nevertheless a very shrewd operator and saw the opportunity of redemption when Russians went into Afghanistan, and seized it both hands. The country on the brink of economic collapse, was flooded with US dollars. Zia a pariah after executing Bhutto, was lionized by western leaders (much like Musharraf after 9/11). Arms poured in, Mujahideen and Al Qaeda were trained by Pak-American forces and CIA spent hundreds of millions in perception management. USA fully avenged Vietnam defeat and drove Soviet Union out of Afghanistan with the help of Mujahideen, Al Qaeda and Pakistan, as they themselves had been driven out of Vietnam by Vietnamese with the help of China and Russia.
But Al Qaeda under the aegis of Osama bin Laden another messianic leader came to haunt Americans. They spread their wings, fought in Bosnia, Sudan, Algeria and developed sizable following in Pakistan, Indonesia and other Muslim countries.
Big powers use all available agents, regardless of their moral and religious persuasion. USA had no compunction in going to bed with Osama Bin Laden or Saddam Hussain. But after the end had been achieved, both were discarded and predictably behaved like jilted lovers. World trade towers were initially hit in 1993. American Embassies were attacked in Pakistan and Africa, a US navel ship was suicide bombed and American/western/Israeli interests targeted all over the world before 9/11 catastrophe.
Given wisdom is that Al Qaeda operatives perpetrated the dastardly deed. USA forces went after the organizers of the outrage and successfully demolished Al Qaeda structure, driving Taliban into caves or extinction and installing a puppet regime in Kabul. Of necessity they left the rest of the country to warlords or remnants of Taliban.
God save us from men of messianic vision. Bush wanted to rid the world of terrorism and spread liberty and democracy into bargain. He chose not Saudi Arabia, where all the Al Qaeda and Taliban funds came from or Iran, which openly defied it, but Iraq, which was secular and openly hostile to fanatics seemingly finished the job his father had (wisely) left undone. With great fanfare he even announced “Mission Accomplished on board a US ship.
Not being overly bright or surrounded by people known for their insight, he did not plan for long occupation or an exist strategy.
Terrorism does not exist, grow and multiply in a vacuum. Largely due to self inflicted wounds, taken advantage of by western imperialist interests, devastated by an uninterrupted chain of disasters spanning over the last five hundred years, Muslim psyche has been unrecognizably distorted, and this together with West’s neo-imperialistic campaigns, has spawned the hydra-headed monster of terrorism which feeds on hatred, injustice, poverty, illiteracy, and fanaticism. Attacking Afghanistan, going into Iraq demolishing Palestinian houses, arresting operatives here and there or freezing bank accounts, do not amount to more than cutting off one Hydra head. Two will sprout in its place.
My submission is that it is not a problem of Muslims alone. All humans in the world are in the line of fire. Extremist, intolerant and benighted version of Islam has taken hold of the imagination of Muslims from Indonesia the USA.
Let us look at a few worst affected countries. Israelis for all their power live under siege, not sure if they or their children would come back from work or school unhurt or even alive.
More than four thousand young Americans are already dead in Iraq; tens of thousands have been maimed. Cost in men and material is immeasurable. Civil liberties, Human rights, the very constitution of the country has been compromised, all in the name of self-inflicted paranoia. Over a million Iraqis have lost have lost their lives, more than four million have been injured and one in eight is in miserable exile. The country, once the most advanced in education, technology and health care, has been bombed to stone age. They can only bask in the reflected glory of a journalist who, risking his limb and life, threw a shoe at bush.
Terrorism is a state of mind brought on, not only by fanaticism, but also in a greater measure by desperation. Palestinians, Iraqis, and Al-qaida cannot take on their respective foes head on, so they send suicide bombers, which are morally no different from air bombing and cause corresponding “collateral damage”.
There are legitimate grievances, national devastation, poverty, illiteracy, exploitation of resources, virtual colonization, neo- imperialistic domination by global corporations which own western governments and treat third world governments as virtual serfs, and many other injustices which have to dealt with before terrorism can be brought to heel. Sheer brute force is certainly not the answer.
Muslim Hajj estimated at 3 million
The tradesman Nagib Smaidi and his wife Soraia, from the city of Taubaté, in the interior of the southeastern Brazilian state of São Paulo, traveled to Saudi Arabia just before Christmas.
In the suitcase Nagib took large and light colored towels and Soraia the long dresses worn by Muslim women. As is the asked by the Islamic religion, Nagib is going to wrap himself in the towels and Soraia will cover her whole body, except for the face and hands, to visit the holy places in Saudi Arabia where the prophet Abraham went in the past.
The couple is part of the group of Brazilian Muslims who are going to make, at the beginning of next year, the pilgrimage to Mecca, holy city in Islam.
Every year between two and three million people from the whole world travel to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj. The next Hajj will be on the 7th of January, followed by a four-day holiday. On these days the Muslims repeat the rituals made by Abraham about two thousand years before the birth of Jesus Christ.
The Brazilian Muslims normally travel in groups. The sheikhs Mohamad Amame and Yasser Hussein, from São Paulo, for example, organized a group of about 40 people. The majority of the members of the group are travelling to Mecca for the first time and are about 50 years old or more. This is the first time the sheiks organize the trip.
The pilgrimage is a re-enactment of the journey made by Abraham after building, where Mecca is located today, the Kaaba. According to the Muslim religion, the Kaaba was erected by the prophet by divine order to become a place of adoration.
It is still in the original place, but was rebuilt many times throughout the years. The peregrines, as well as praying before the Kaaba, go to other holy places such as Mount Arafat, visited by Abraham in his time for being the place where, according to Islam, Adam and Eve met.
"The peregrination is a form of coming closer to God, to turn yourself to God," said sheikh Jihad Hassan Hammadeh, vice-president at the World Assembly of Muslim Youth.
This, according to the sheikh, is the second holiday in the year for the Muslims. The other is at the end of Ramadan, period in which the followers of the Islamic religious fast from sunrise to sunset.
Article
In the suitcase Nagib took large and light colored towels and Soraia the long dresses worn by Muslim women. As is the asked by the Islamic religion, Nagib is going to wrap himself in the towels and Soraia will cover her whole body, except for the face and hands, to visit the holy places in Saudi Arabia where the prophet Abraham went in the past.
The couple is part of the group of Brazilian Muslims who are going to make, at the beginning of next year, the pilgrimage to Mecca, holy city in Islam.
Every year between two and three million people from the whole world travel to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj. The next Hajj will be on the 7th of January, followed by a four-day holiday. On these days the Muslims repeat the rituals made by Abraham about two thousand years before the birth of Jesus Christ.
The Brazilian Muslims normally travel in groups. The sheikhs Mohamad Amame and Yasser Hussein, from São Paulo, for example, organized a group of about 40 people. The majority of the members of the group are travelling to Mecca for the first time and are about 50 years old or more. This is the first time the sheiks organize the trip.
The pilgrimage is a re-enactment of the journey made by Abraham after building, where Mecca is located today, the Kaaba. According to the Muslim religion, the Kaaba was erected by the prophet by divine order to become a place of adoration.
It is still in the original place, but was rebuilt many times throughout the years. The peregrines, as well as praying before the Kaaba, go to other holy places such as Mount Arafat, visited by Abraham in his time for being the place where, according to Islam, Adam and Eve met.
"The peregrination is a form of coming closer to God, to turn yourself to God," said sheikh Jihad Hassan Hammadeh, vice-president at the World Assembly of Muslim Youth.
This, according to the sheikh, is the second holiday in the year for the Muslims. The other is at the end of Ramadan, period in which the followers of the Islamic religious fast from sunrise to sunset.
Article
Israel may face war crimes trials over Gaza
The international criminal court is considering whether the Palestinian Authority is "enough like a state" for it to bring a case alleging that Israeli troops committed war crimes in the recent assault on Gaza.
The deliberations would potentially open the way to putting Israeli military commanders in the dock at The Hague over the campaign, which claimed more than 1,300 lives, and set an important precedent for the court over what cases it can hear.
As part of the process the court's head of jurisdictions, part of the office of the prosecutor, is examining every international agreement signed by the PA to decide whether it behaves - and is regarded by others - as operating like a state.
Following talks with the Arab League's head, Amr Moussa, and senior PA officials, moves have accelerated inside the court to deliver a ruling on whether it may be able to insist on jurisdiction over alleged war crimes perpetrated in Gaza, with a decision from the prosecutor's office expected within "months, not years".
Source
The deliberations would potentially open the way to putting Israeli military commanders in the dock at The Hague over the campaign, which claimed more than 1,300 lives, and set an important precedent for the court over what cases it can hear.
As part of the process the court's head of jurisdictions, part of the office of the prosecutor, is examining every international agreement signed by the PA to decide whether it behaves - and is regarded by others - as operating like a state.
Following talks with the Arab League's head, Amr Moussa, and senior PA officials, moves have accelerated inside the court to deliver a ruling on whether it may be able to insist on jurisdiction over alleged war crimes perpetrated in Gaza, with a decision from the prosecutor's office expected within "months, not years".
Source
Jailing Kids for Cash
by: Amy Goodman, Truthdig. com
Hillary Transue was sentenced to three months in juvenile detention.
Hillary Transue was sentenced to three months in juvenile detention. Transue made a web page mocking her assistant principal. (Photo: Niko J.
Kallianiotis / The New York Times)
As many as 5,000 children in Pennsylvania have been found guilty, and up to 2,000 of them jailed, by two corrupt judges who received kickbacks from the builders and owners of private prison facilities that benefited. The two judges pleaded guilty in a stunning case of greed and corruption that is still unfolding. Judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan received $2.6 million in kickbacks while imprisoning children who often had no access to a lawyer. The case offers an extraordinary glimpse into the shameful private prison industry that is flourishing in the United States.
Take the story of Jamie Quinn. When she was 14 years old, she was imprisoned for almost a year.
Jamie, now 18, described the incident that led to her incarceration:
"I got into an argument with one of my friends. And all that happened was just a basic fight. She slapped me in the face, and I did the same thing back. There [were] no marks, no witnesses, nothing. It was just her word against my word.
"
Jamie was placed in one of the two controversial facilities, PA Child Care, then bounced around to several other locations. The 11-month imprisonment had a devastating impact on her. She told me: "People looked at me different when I came out, thought I was a bad person, because I was gone for so long. My family started splitting up ... because I was away and got locked up. I'm still struggling in school, because the schooling system in facilities like these places [are] just horrible.
"
She began cutting herself, blaming medication that she was forced to take: "I was never depressed, I was never put on meds before. I went there, and they just started putting meds on me, and I didn't even know what they were. They said if I didn't take them, I wasn't following my program." She was hospitalized three times.
Jamie Quinn is just one of thousands that these two corrupt judges locked up. The Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center got involved when Hillary Transue was sent away for three months for posting a Web site parodying the assistant principal at her school. Hillary clearly marked the Web page as a joke. The assistant principal didn't find it funny, apparently, and Hillary faced the notoriously harsh Judge Ciavarella.
As Bob Schwartz of the Juvenile Law Center told me: "Hillary had, unknown to her, signed a paper, her mother had signed a paper, giving up her right to a lawyer. That made the 90-second hearing that she had in front of Judge Ciavarella pretty much of a kangaroo court." The JLC found that in half of the juvenile cases in Luzerne County, defendants had waived their right to an attorney. Judge Ciavarella repeatedly ignored recommendations for leniency from both prosecutors and probation officers. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard the JLC's case, then the FBI began an investigation, which resulted in the two judges entering guilty-plea agreements last week for tax evasion and wire fraud.
They are expected to serve seven years in federal prison. Two separate class-action lawsuits have been filed on behalf of the imprisoned children.
This scandal involves just one county in the U.S., and one relatively small private prison company. According to The Sentencing Project, "the United States is the world's leader in incarceration with 2.1 million people currently in the nation's prisons or jails—a 500 percent increase over the past thirty years." The Wall Street Journal reports that "[p]rison companies are preparing for a wave of new business as the economic downturn makes it increasingly difficult for federal and state government officials to build and operate their own jails." For-profit prison companies like the Corrections Corporation of America and GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut) are positioned for increased profits. It is still not clear what impact the just-signed stimulus bill will have on the private prison industry (for example, the bill contains $800 million for prison construction, yet billions for school construction were cut out).
Congress is considering legislation to improve juvenile justice policy, legislation the American Civil Liberties Union says is "built on the clear evidence that community-based programs can be far more successful at preventing youth crime than the discredited policies of excessive incarceration.
"
Our children need education and opportunity, not incarceration. Let the kids of Luzerne County imprisoned for profit by corrupt judges teach us a lesson. As young Jamie Quinn said of her 11-month imprisonment, "It just makes me really question other authority figures and people that we're supposed to look up to and trust.
"
---------
Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
Amy Goodman is the host of "Democracy Now!," a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 700 stations in North America. She was awarded the 2008 Right Livelihood Award, dubbed the "Alternative Nobel" prize, and received the award in the Swedish Parliament in December.
Source
Hillary Transue was sentenced to three months in juvenile detention.
Hillary Transue was sentenced to three months in juvenile detention. Transue made a web page mocking her assistant principal. (Photo: Niko J.
Kallianiotis / The New York Times)
As many as 5,000 children in Pennsylvania have been found guilty, and up to 2,000 of them jailed, by two corrupt judges who received kickbacks from the builders and owners of private prison facilities that benefited. The two judges pleaded guilty in a stunning case of greed and corruption that is still unfolding. Judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan received $2.6 million in kickbacks while imprisoning children who often had no access to a lawyer. The case offers an extraordinary glimpse into the shameful private prison industry that is flourishing in the United States.
Take the story of Jamie Quinn. When she was 14 years old, she was imprisoned for almost a year.
Jamie, now 18, described the incident that led to her incarceration:
"I got into an argument with one of my friends. And all that happened was just a basic fight. She slapped me in the face, and I did the same thing back. There [were] no marks, no witnesses, nothing. It was just her word against my word.
"
Jamie was placed in one of the two controversial facilities, PA Child Care, then bounced around to several other locations. The 11-month imprisonment had a devastating impact on her. She told me: "People looked at me different when I came out, thought I was a bad person, because I was gone for so long. My family started splitting up ... because I was away and got locked up. I'm still struggling in school, because the schooling system in facilities like these places [are] just horrible.
"
She began cutting herself, blaming medication that she was forced to take: "I was never depressed, I was never put on meds before. I went there, and they just started putting meds on me, and I didn't even know what they were. They said if I didn't take them, I wasn't following my program." She was hospitalized three times.
Jamie Quinn is just one of thousands that these two corrupt judges locked up. The Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center got involved when Hillary Transue was sent away for three months for posting a Web site parodying the assistant principal at her school. Hillary clearly marked the Web page as a joke. The assistant principal didn't find it funny, apparently, and Hillary faced the notoriously harsh Judge Ciavarella.
As Bob Schwartz of the Juvenile Law Center told me: "Hillary had, unknown to her, signed a paper, her mother had signed a paper, giving up her right to a lawyer. That made the 90-second hearing that she had in front of Judge Ciavarella pretty much of a kangaroo court." The JLC found that in half of the juvenile cases in Luzerne County, defendants had waived their right to an attorney. Judge Ciavarella repeatedly ignored recommendations for leniency from both prosecutors and probation officers. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard the JLC's case, then the FBI began an investigation, which resulted in the two judges entering guilty-plea agreements last week for tax evasion and wire fraud.
They are expected to serve seven years in federal prison. Two separate class-action lawsuits have been filed on behalf of the imprisoned children.
This scandal involves just one county in the U.S., and one relatively small private prison company. According to The Sentencing Project, "the United States is the world's leader in incarceration with 2.1 million people currently in the nation's prisons or jails—a 500 percent increase over the past thirty years." The Wall Street Journal reports that "[p]rison companies are preparing for a wave of new business as the economic downturn makes it increasingly difficult for federal and state government officials to build and operate their own jails." For-profit prison companies like the Corrections Corporation of America and GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut) are positioned for increased profits. It is still not clear what impact the just-signed stimulus bill will have on the private prison industry (for example, the bill contains $800 million for prison construction, yet billions for school construction were cut out).
Congress is considering legislation to improve juvenile justice policy, legislation the American Civil Liberties Union says is "built on the clear evidence that community-based programs can be far more successful at preventing youth crime than the discredited policies of excessive incarceration.
"
Our children need education and opportunity, not incarceration. Let the kids of Luzerne County imprisoned for profit by corrupt judges teach us a lesson. As young Jamie Quinn said of her 11-month imprisonment, "It just makes me really question other authority figures and people that we're supposed to look up to and trust.
"
---------
Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
Amy Goodman is the host of "Democracy Now!," a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 700 stations in North America. She was awarded the 2008 Right Livelihood Award, dubbed the "Alternative Nobel" prize, and received the award in the Swedish Parliament in December.
Source
Anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim attitudes rise in Europe
Anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim attitudes rise in Europe
Anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim attitudes have been rising nearly in tandem in several European countries, apparently reflecting concerns over immigration, globalization and economic ills, according to a new international survey.
Anti-Jewish feelings were particularly strong in Spain, Poland and Russia - with negativity up significantly since 2006, according to the Pew Research Center's polling. Anti-Muslim views were also strong in those three countries, as well as in Germany and France.
"There is a clear relationship between anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim attitudes," said the report from Pew, released Wednesday. "Publics that view Jews unfavorably also tend to see Muslims in a negative light."
Negative views of Muslims were also strong in several Asian countries: Half or more of the Japanese, Indians, Chinese and South Koreans surveyed said they had negative impressions of Muslims.
Negative feelings about Jews were somewhat less strong, from 32 percent in India to 55 percent in China, with Japan and South Korea falling in between.
The survey also underscored rising concerns in several predominantly Muslim countries, including Indonesia, about a struggle for dominance between Islamic fundamentalists and those favoring modernization.
In Europe, negative views of Jews and Muslims were strongest among older people, the less educated and those of the political right.
In some countries, including Germany, negative feelings toward Jews had risen along with favorable feelings - fewer people were left undecided.
Moreover, positive views toward Jews outweighed negative ones in every European country surveyed but Spain.
Still, 46 percent of the Spanish held negative opinions of Jews, as did 36 percent of Poles and 34 percent of Russians. The three countries on average were 6 points more negative than in 2006.
"There may be some backlash toward minority groups going on in Europe as a consequence of the EU's expansion and globalization," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center. As for the Spanish, "I think they're on the cutting edge of globalization - with Muslim immigrants" in large numbers.
In contrast to the other countries, 77 percent of Americans held favorable views toward Jews, compared with 7 percent unfavorable. Britain stood out among Europeans, with 73 percent favorable toward Jews, compared with 9 percent unfavorable.
Views of Muslims tended to be more negative than those of Jews.
Fully half of the Spanish and Germans surveyed had unfavorable opinions of Muslims, as did nearly half the Poles and 32 percent of Russians.
One in four British and American respondents had negative views of Muslims.
There seemed to be a closer correlation with immigration and economic trends in the most negative societies than with the size of resident Jewish or Muslim populations. Germany and France have large Muslim populations, while Poland has a small one. Spain has a tiny Jewish population.
"Some of this ethnocentricity is obviously related to attitudes toward immigration, which is a big issue," Kohut said.
In predominantly Muslim countries, negative views of Jews were particularly high: 96 percent in Jordan and 97 percent in Lebanon.
Large numbers of Muslims - including majorities in Turkey and Tanzania, and nearly half of Indonesians - said that Islamic fundamentalists and modernizers were locked in struggles for dominance in their countries.
Support for terrorism continued a six-year decline, particularly in countries that have suffered from terror attacks. In Lebanon, the view that suicide bombing was always or sometimes justified plummeted from 74 percent in 2002 to 32 percent. But significant minorities still endorse such tactics in Lebanon, Jordan and Nigeria.
Skepticism over U.S. motives was strong in Pakistan, where tensions are high over U.S. pressure for a crackdown on Qaeda and Taliban militants, and in Turkey, which has continuing frictions with the United States over Iraq.
The survey was conducted in March and April in 24 countries, with average samples of about 1,000 respondents in each. Statistical margins of error ranged from 2 to 4 percentage points.
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