August 18, 2012
Source:The Therapy Book
This consultation from Brussels seeking public approval for introducing GM animals into European countrysides has been quietly put out, no doubt in the hope that most of us will be so entranced by the Olympics, we won’t see it. However, we now have until the end of August to respond to it.
European consultation on GM animals
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued a consultation on environmental risk assessment of genetically modified GM fish, insects, birds, and mammals (including pets, wild and farm animals) in the European Union (EU).
This consultation is intended to pave the way for the introduction of many different types of GM animals into the European countryside, rivers or seas, their use in factory farming, and even their introduction as pets into people’s homes.
If you are concerned about this, see the “what you can do” section on this page.
EFSA’s remit is to assess risks in the food chain, it therefore has no competence to assess the impacts on other species of releasing these GM animals into the environment.
What is included in the EFSA consultation?
The consultation includes:
GM fish. The section on GM fish is designed to facilitate the introduction of GM salmon produced by the company Aquabounty. There are major concerns that these fish could damage wild salmon populations if they escape into the environment. Other GM fish species are expected to be introduced if GM salmon is approved.
GM insects.The section of the consultation on GM insects has been heavily influenced by the UK company Oxitec, which is developing genetically modified mosquitoes and agricultural pests, with funding from the Swiss multinational agricultural company Syngenta. Oxitec has a patent which lists more than 50 species of insect it wishes to genetically modify and release into the environment. Syngenta wants to market GM insects for use by farmers in Europe and worldwide: one of the main proposed applications is to combine them with GM pest-resistant crops (Bt crops) to try to slow the spread of resistance to these crops. In the longer term potential commercial applications include pesticide-resistant bees.
GM birds. GM chickens are being developed which are supposed to slow the spread of bird flu in factory farms. These birds raise many concerns, including the possibility that they will make the risk of bird flu worse.
GM mammals. The consultation also covers GM mammals, including farm animals such as cows, pets such as cats, and wild animals such as rabbits, all of which could cause harm if they are released or escape into the environment. Products from some of these animals, such as milk from GM cows, may end up in the food chain. Genetically modifying mammals often causes suffering because many attempts fail resulting in aborted fetuses or stillbirths.
You can read more about some of these applications elsewhere on this website: GM fish, GM insects and GM and cloned animals. GeneWatch will add a copy of its response to the EFSA consultation here, when it is completed.
What you can do
There are five things you can do if you are concerned about the proposals in the EFSA consultation:
Contact your MP
Contact your MEPs
Respond to the consultation (by end August 2012)
Contact your local supermarkets
Let other people know.
Contacting your MP and MEPs
You can contact your MP and members of the European Parliament (MEPs) if you are concerned about the EFSA consultation and proposals to introduce GM fish, insects, birds, farm animals and pets into the air, land and sea in Britain.
Things you could point out to them include:
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) does not have the remit or competence to assess environmental harms should any of these GM animals be released or escape into the British countryside or seas.
The consultation ignores the problems there will be keeping a GM-free food supply if these proposals go ahead. There are no plans in the consultation to trace where GM fish or cattle eggs or sperm will end up, or to prevent GM caterpillar eggs from entering the food supply on cabbages or other crops.
The most effective thing to do is to ring your MP’s constituency office and ask to make an appointment to see him or her, but you can also write a letter or send an email. Contacting your MEPs is important too because the European Parliament should have a say about EFSA’s work.
You can find your MP on the They Work for You website or on the UK Parliament website. You can also email your MP and your MEPs directly from the Write to Them website.
Responding to the consultation
The deadline for responses to the EFSA consultation is 31st August 2012.
The EFSA consultation is very poorly written. For example, what is covered and some definitions are different in each section (for fish, insects and mammals and birds) and the structure of the report assumes it is possible to separate the effects of a GM animal on one species from another, as if multiple species did not interact in the environment. Many scientific references are missing.
If you want to comment on the consultation you can only do this online on the EFSA website here and you must make short comments line by line.
However, you do not have to submit comments on the whole document. If you want to make only one comment you could comment on the Background lines 165 to 168, by pointing out that EFSA is not competent to assess environmental risks as it has no remit or expertise in this area.
Contacting your local supermarkets or other food shops
You can write to, email or phone your local supermarkets, or call in and ask to see the manager. Things you can ask them are:
What is their policy on selling GM foods?
What is their policy on selling meat, milk or dairy products from animals fed on GM feed?
What is their policy on selling meat, milk or dairy products from GM animals, such as chicken and cows, if these products enter Britain in the future?
What is their policy on selling vegetables, fruit or other crops which may contain GM insect eggs or caterpillers, should GM insects be used in British agriculture in the future?
Your local food shops might also appreciate being told about what is going on.
Letting other people know
Please share this article to your Facebook page or Twitter feed or any other social networking site, and email it your friends.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Muslims win influence in Mali politics
August 26, 2012
by AFP
Source:muslimvillage.com
Bamako -The creation of a religious affairs ministry in Mali shows the growing influence of Muslims in politics in the secular nation which has lost over half its territory to Islamic extremists, observers said.
“Religion enters government,” wrote the private ‘Indicateur du Renouveau’ newspaper on Wednesday, after a government shake up by transition President Dioncounda Traore to better deal with the nation’s mounting crises.
The new portfolio will be led by Yacouba Traore, a member of the country’s Islamic High Council (IHC) which has been negotiating with the armed Islamist groups.
According to the newspaper this “confirms the importance of the religious debate and the rise of Islamism in society” marking a “victory for the IHC which has always demanded the creation of this department”.
More victories
It is not the first political victory for the council, which in 2011 succeeded in getting a controversial new family law revised, cutting out sections which would have given greater freedoms and rights to women.
An initial version adopted by the National Assembly in 2009 had removed phrases that a woman must obey her husband, increased the legal age of marriage and gave greater rights to women in case of divorce or inheritance.
However this sparked angry protests in the nation which is 90% Muslim and the law was sent back to parliament for revision.
“It is an open secret. The Religious Affairs Ministry is a request from the ICH,” the main Islamic organisation in Mali, said sociologist Ali Samake.
On 12 August, about a week before the president unveiled the new unity government, the ICH held a rally for peace in Bamako which attracted up to 50,000 people.
Support
Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra, who held onto his position despite calls for his resignation from much of the political class, appeared on the flanks of ICH president Mahmoud Dicko in a sign of his support for the Muslim leaders.
In political circles, some say the controversial Diarra was saved due to his support from the influential religious group.
The ICH has also taken a leading role in negotiating with the extremists who occupied the north of the country in late March in the chaos following a coup d’etat in Bamako in which president Amadou Toure was ousted.
The armed Islamist groups have openly allied with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim) and are enforcing strict sharia law.
“We are already an Islamic state and the Taliban of Afghanistan are our model,” spokesperson Senda Ould Bouamama of Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith) said in an interview with Swiss and Belgian newspapers published on Monday.
by AFP
Source:muslimvillage.com
Bamako -The creation of a religious affairs ministry in Mali shows the growing influence of Muslims in politics in the secular nation which has lost over half its territory to Islamic extremists, observers said.
“Religion enters government,” wrote the private ‘Indicateur du Renouveau’ newspaper on Wednesday, after a government shake up by transition President Dioncounda Traore to better deal with the nation’s mounting crises.
The new portfolio will be led by Yacouba Traore, a member of the country’s Islamic High Council (IHC) which has been negotiating with the armed Islamist groups.
According to the newspaper this “confirms the importance of the religious debate and the rise of Islamism in society” marking a “victory for the IHC which has always demanded the creation of this department”.
More victories
It is not the first political victory for the council, which in 2011 succeeded in getting a controversial new family law revised, cutting out sections which would have given greater freedoms and rights to women.
An initial version adopted by the National Assembly in 2009 had removed phrases that a woman must obey her husband, increased the legal age of marriage and gave greater rights to women in case of divorce or inheritance.
However this sparked angry protests in the nation which is 90% Muslim and the law was sent back to parliament for revision.
“It is an open secret. The Religious Affairs Ministry is a request from the ICH,” the main Islamic organisation in Mali, said sociologist Ali Samake.
On 12 August, about a week before the president unveiled the new unity government, the ICH held a rally for peace in Bamako which attracted up to 50,000 people.
Support
Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra, who held onto his position despite calls for his resignation from much of the political class, appeared on the flanks of ICH president Mahmoud Dicko in a sign of his support for the Muslim leaders.
In political circles, some say the controversial Diarra was saved due to his support from the influential religious group.
The ICH has also taken a leading role in negotiating with the extremists who occupied the north of the country in late March in the chaos following a coup d’etat in Bamako in which president Amadou Toure was ousted.
The armed Islamist groups have openly allied with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim) and are enforcing strict sharia law.
“We are already an Islamic state and the Taliban of Afghanistan are our model,” spokesperson Senda Ould Bouamama of Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith) said in an interview with Swiss and Belgian newspapers published on Monday.
The place of politics in religion
August 22, 2012
by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani
Translated by Zameelur Rahman
Source:muslimvillage.com
It has become well-known of Christians that they distinguish between religion and politics by their well-known dictum “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s”. It is thus as though religion has no relationship with politics and politics has no connection with religion. This concept has slowly advanced to its ugliest form in recent times in the name of “secularism” (al-’almaniyah) or “secularisation” which expelled religion from all matters of life until it did away with it completely.
Truly this concept in reality is one category from the categories of polytheism whereby religion’s authority in the material world is not recognized and the authority of religion is restricted only to rituals and worship which one practices in his private [life] or in his place of worship. It is thus as if God is not god except in [matters of] worship and ritual, and as far as worldly matters are concerned, they have another god. And refuge is [sought] from Allah.
For this [reason] Muslims firmly rooted [in their religion] will continue to reject this deviant concept in every age and place because there is no scope for it in Islam which safeguards the creed of monotheism in its most accurate expression and its most perfect form, and which assigned divine rules in all affairs of life along with all that they contain of politics and economics. Therefore, it is incumbent on the people of knowledge to reject this concept and refute it knowledgeably and satisfactorily. And indeed they have undertaken this task, and all praise is due to Allah.
However some Muslims in our time[1] who undertook [the task] of refuting secularism have gone too far in this until they fell into a subtle mistake, that changed the focus and caused many errors in this field; that is, they made politics and the establishment of an Islamic government the primary objective and highest aim of all the rules of religion, and it is as though the rules of worship etc. are not aimed at [anything] besides one goal which is the establishment of an Islamic government, and it is as though worship and religiosity (diyanah) are all means in the attainment of this primary objective; to [the extent] that they diminished the importance of worship and made it an exercise and training for the fundamental target, which is the establishment of a theocratic government (al-hukumat al-ilahiyyah).
Due to this cogitation, two dangerous causes of corruption emerged:
First: since worship became a means in the establishment of a theocratic government, it is not regarded as an objective in itself, and by its [performance] is intended a gradual progression to the fundamental target. Thus, if the conditions demanded that these means be sacrificed by choosing other means to [attain] that important objective then indeed from the results of this cogitation is that there is nothing preventing sacrificing them because they are not the objective.
Second: one does not have a relationship with means besides a basic ordinary relationship [which falls] within the domain of necessity, and naturally he will regard it as a transitory passing stage, and will not regard it as his life target and the goal of his efforts, and will not progress in it and excel therein with the sensations of [spiritual] experience, delight and tranquillity within him.
In the words of the esteemed scholar and great preacher Mawlana Shaykh Sayyid Abu ‘l-Hasan ‘Ali al-Nadwi (Allah Most High protect him) in his refutation of some of the writings of the deceased teacher, Sayyid Abu ‘l-A’la Mawdudi, “Indeed those who obtain their religious information from the source of this interpretation of Islam alone, and limit their study of Islam to these books alone, their relationship with Allah will be rendered restricted and limited, and [will congeal] into dry, rigid formalism (jamidatun rasmiyyah), empty of internal states which the believer is required to adjust [himself] to. This is particularly when the emphasis that the root goal of sending Prophets and the end target of their teachings and the utmost of their actions is the production of change in this limited worldly life, and bringing about change for the better, and establishing human civilisation on proper foundations, appears [many] times repeatedly [in these books]; and when the focus on this aspect appears with ferocity and irascibility, enthusiasm and passion, and in a manner that makes conceptions of divine love, lordly pleasure and otherworldly success, meagre; it is natural and something that concurs with reason and is consistent with [logical] analogy that he departs the vehicle of effort and work from the road of faith in the unseen, yearning for the Afterlife, seeking Allah’s pleasure and devotion to His love, that road which the Prophets instituted, to the path of seeking rule, glory, dominance, and achieving rule and subsequently the materialist galaxy.” (Al-Tafsir al-Siyasi li ‘l-Islam, p. 107, published by Nadwat al-’Ulama Lucknow, 1399 AH/1979 AD)
In sum, these authors in their eagerness to refute secularism, and their focus on the political aspect of the Shari’ah, made all of Islam a political ideology, instead of making politics religious. The truth is that politics is a branch of the branches of religion, just as business and economics is a branch thereof, and indeed the rules of religion pertain to politics, just as they pertain to business. However nothing of politics and business is the root goal of the message of Islam, nor a fundamental objective of its rules and teachings. Thus, just as the connection of the rules of the Shari’ah to business do not entail that business becomes the objective of religion, similarly the rules of the Shari’ah pertaining to politics do not imply that politics be made the fundamental objective of Islam.
Hakim al-Ummah Shaykh Ashraf ‘Ali al-Thanawi (Allah Most High have mercy on him) drew attention to this point in a brief [but] firm statement, all of which is insightful, so we will quote it here, translating it from Urdu to Arabic. He says (Allah Most High have mercy on him):
“Allah Most High said: ‘those who, if We establish them in the land, establish regular prayer and give regular charity, enjoin the right and forbid wrong: with Allah rests the end and decision of all affairs.’ (Qur’an 22:41). It is clear from this verse that the essential objective is religiosity (diyanah) and nothing of politics and jihad is the fundamental objective — it is only a means to establish religiosity. And for this reason, spirituality and the rules [regulating] religiostiy were given to every one of the Prophets (upon them be peace) without exception, while politics and jihad were not given to all of them. Jihad and politics were given to some of them when the need and interest [of their communities] demanded [them], and indeed that is the condition of means, since they are not given except for a necessity.
“It is possible that a doubt will arise here in the minds of some, which is that another verse of the Noble Qur’an indicates the opposite of this, that religiosity is a means, and establishment (tamkin) in the earth and politics are the objectives, and this is His statement (Most High): “Allah has promised, to those among you who believe and work righteous deeds, that He will, of a surety, grant them in the land, inheritance [of power], as He granted it to those before them; that He will establish in authority their religion — the one which He has chosen for them” (24:55). Since this verse makes belief and good deeds preconditions to the establishment [of Islam] on earth from what is apparent thereof of establishment and politics being the objective.
“The response is that Allah Most High promised in this verse establishment and power, and conditioned them on faith and good deeds, whereby establishment is qualified upon them, so politics and power are promised [to the believers conditional upon] faith and good deeds. It does not follow [however] from it being promised that it becomes the objective, for otherwise Allah Most High said in another place: “If they had observed the Torah and the Evangel and that which was revealed unto them from their Lord, they would surely have been nourished from above them and from beneath their feet” (Qur’an 5:66). So He promised expansion in provision [conditional] upon the observance of the Torah, Evangel and the Qur’an. Can then one say that expansion in provision is the objective of religion? No, rather it is promised. Thus, it is established that a promise does not entail that it becomes the objective. Similarly in the verse of establishment [i.e. 24:55], establishment is promised [conditional] upon faith and good deeds, so they are a consequence of them by the decision of it being qualified upon them, but that is not the objective of religion, nor a target of it.
“Thereby it becomes clear that politics is a means from the means and the objective is spirituality. The implication of this is not that politics is not sought after altogether. I only intend thereby to specify the place of politics in religion in that it is not the objective, as opposed to spirituality, for indeed this is the essential objective.” (Ashraf al-Sawanih 4:28-9, published in Multan)
by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani
Translated by Zameelur Rahman
Source:muslimvillage.com
It has become well-known of Christians that they distinguish between religion and politics by their well-known dictum “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s”. It is thus as though religion has no relationship with politics and politics has no connection with religion. This concept has slowly advanced to its ugliest form in recent times in the name of “secularism” (al-’almaniyah) or “secularisation” which expelled religion from all matters of life until it did away with it completely.
Truly this concept in reality is one category from the categories of polytheism whereby religion’s authority in the material world is not recognized and the authority of religion is restricted only to rituals and worship which one practices in his private [life] or in his place of worship. It is thus as if God is not god except in [matters of] worship and ritual, and as far as worldly matters are concerned, they have another god. And refuge is [sought] from Allah.
For this [reason] Muslims firmly rooted [in their religion] will continue to reject this deviant concept in every age and place because there is no scope for it in Islam which safeguards the creed of monotheism in its most accurate expression and its most perfect form, and which assigned divine rules in all affairs of life along with all that they contain of politics and economics. Therefore, it is incumbent on the people of knowledge to reject this concept and refute it knowledgeably and satisfactorily. And indeed they have undertaken this task, and all praise is due to Allah.
However some Muslims in our time[1] who undertook [the task] of refuting secularism have gone too far in this until they fell into a subtle mistake, that changed the focus and caused many errors in this field; that is, they made politics and the establishment of an Islamic government the primary objective and highest aim of all the rules of religion, and it is as though the rules of worship etc. are not aimed at [anything] besides one goal which is the establishment of an Islamic government, and it is as though worship and religiosity (diyanah) are all means in the attainment of this primary objective; to [the extent] that they diminished the importance of worship and made it an exercise and training for the fundamental target, which is the establishment of a theocratic government (al-hukumat al-ilahiyyah).
Due to this cogitation, two dangerous causes of corruption emerged:
First: since worship became a means in the establishment of a theocratic government, it is not regarded as an objective in itself, and by its [performance] is intended a gradual progression to the fundamental target. Thus, if the conditions demanded that these means be sacrificed by choosing other means to [attain] that important objective then indeed from the results of this cogitation is that there is nothing preventing sacrificing them because they are not the objective.
Second: one does not have a relationship with means besides a basic ordinary relationship [which falls] within the domain of necessity, and naturally he will regard it as a transitory passing stage, and will not regard it as his life target and the goal of his efforts, and will not progress in it and excel therein with the sensations of [spiritual] experience, delight and tranquillity within him.
In the words of the esteemed scholar and great preacher Mawlana Shaykh Sayyid Abu ‘l-Hasan ‘Ali al-Nadwi (Allah Most High protect him) in his refutation of some of the writings of the deceased teacher, Sayyid Abu ‘l-A’la Mawdudi, “Indeed those who obtain their religious information from the source of this interpretation of Islam alone, and limit their study of Islam to these books alone, their relationship with Allah will be rendered restricted and limited, and [will congeal] into dry, rigid formalism (jamidatun rasmiyyah), empty of internal states which the believer is required to adjust [himself] to. This is particularly when the emphasis that the root goal of sending Prophets and the end target of their teachings and the utmost of their actions is the production of change in this limited worldly life, and bringing about change for the better, and establishing human civilisation on proper foundations, appears [many] times repeatedly [in these books]; and when the focus on this aspect appears with ferocity and irascibility, enthusiasm and passion, and in a manner that makes conceptions of divine love, lordly pleasure and otherworldly success, meagre; it is natural and something that concurs with reason and is consistent with [logical] analogy that he departs the vehicle of effort and work from the road of faith in the unseen, yearning for the Afterlife, seeking Allah’s pleasure and devotion to His love, that road which the Prophets instituted, to the path of seeking rule, glory, dominance, and achieving rule and subsequently the materialist galaxy.” (Al-Tafsir al-Siyasi li ‘l-Islam, p. 107, published by Nadwat al-’Ulama Lucknow, 1399 AH/1979 AD)
In sum, these authors in their eagerness to refute secularism, and their focus on the political aspect of the Shari’ah, made all of Islam a political ideology, instead of making politics religious. The truth is that politics is a branch of the branches of religion, just as business and economics is a branch thereof, and indeed the rules of religion pertain to politics, just as they pertain to business. However nothing of politics and business is the root goal of the message of Islam, nor a fundamental objective of its rules and teachings. Thus, just as the connection of the rules of the Shari’ah to business do not entail that business becomes the objective of religion, similarly the rules of the Shari’ah pertaining to politics do not imply that politics be made the fundamental objective of Islam.
Hakim al-Ummah Shaykh Ashraf ‘Ali al-Thanawi (Allah Most High have mercy on him) drew attention to this point in a brief [but] firm statement, all of which is insightful, so we will quote it here, translating it from Urdu to Arabic. He says (Allah Most High have mercy on him):
“Allah Most High said: ‘those who, if We establish them in the land, establish regular prayer and give regular charity, enjoin the right and forbid wrong: with Allah rests the end and decision of all affairs.’ (Qur’an 22:41). It is clear from this verse that the essential objective is religiosity (diyanah) and nothing of politics and jihad is the fundamental objective — it is only a means to establish religiosity. And for this reason, spirituality and the rules [regulating] religiostiy were given to every one of the Prophets (upon them be peace) without exception, while politics and jihad were not given to all of them. Jihad and politics were given to some of them when the need and interest [of their communities] demanded [them], and indeed that is the condition of means, since they are not given except for a necessity.
“It is possible that a doubt will arise here in the minds of some, which is that another verse of the Noble Qur’an indicates the opposite of this, that religiosity is a means, and establishment (tamkin) in the earth and politics are the objectives, and this is His statement (Most High): “Allah has promised, to those among you who believe and work righteous deeds, that He will, of a surety, grant them in the land, inheritance [of power], as He granted it to those before them; that He will establish in authority their religion — the one which He has chosen for them” (24:55). Since this verse makes belief and good deeds preconditions to the establishment [of Islam] on earth from what is apparent thereof of establishment and politics being the objective.
“The response is that Allah Most High promised in this verse establishment and power, and conditioned them on faith and good deeds, whereby establishment is qualified upon them, so politics and power are promised [to the believers conditional upon] faith and good deeds. It does not follow [however] from it being promised that it becomes the objective, for otherwise Allah Most High said in another place: “If they had observed the Torah and the Evangel and that which was revealed unto them from their Lord, they would surely have been nourished from above them and from beneath their feet” (Qur’an 5:66). So He promised expansion in provision [conditional] upon the observance of the Torah, Evangel and the Qur’an. Can then one say that expansion in provision is the objective of religion? No, rather it is promised. Thus, it is established that a promise does not entail that it becomes the objective. Similarly in the verse of establishment [i.e. 24:55], establishment is promised [conditional] upon faith and good deeds, so they are a consequence of them by the decision of it being qualified upon them, but that is not the objective of religion, nor a target of it.
“Thereby it becomes clear that politics is a means from the means and the objective is spirituality. The implication of this is not that politics is not sought after altogether. I only intend thereby to specify the place of politics in religion in that it is not the objective, as opposed to spirituality, for indeed this is the essential objective.” (Ashraf al-Sawanih 4:28-9, published in Multan)
Brazil court supports consumers’ resistance to GMO in food items
24/08/2012
Source: moneylife
“It appears another victory has been declared in the battle against Monsanto and GMO ingredients,” comments Nation of Change
A Brazilian court has demanded that multi-billion dollar food giant Nestle label all of its products as genetically modified that have over 1% GMO (genetically modified organisms) content. The ruling reportedly coincides with Brazilian law which demands all food manufacturers alert consumers to the presence of GMOs within their products. This has been reported by Anthony Gucciardi, Nation of Change, which is a non-profit organisation with the motto of progressive journalism for positive action.
Mr Gucciardi reports that instead of grovelling to Brazilian officials and mega biotechnology groups, the Brazilian business wire reports that the court determined the Brazilian government to be illegally working with the food industry entity known as ABIA. Furthermore, the court stated that consumers have the basic right to know what they are putting into their mouths especially when it comes to GMO ingredients.
“It appears another victory has been declared in the battle against Monsanto and GMO ingredients,” comments Anthony Gucciardi, Nation of Change. This confirms the long-standing consumers’ resistance and that of activists to GM ingredients in food in India and abroad, the latest being Brazil.
The Brazilian court issued a fine of $2,478 per product that was found to violate the ruling after finding the presence of GMO ingredients in Nestle’s strawberry Bono cookies, according to Nation of Change.
The injunction also requires that the information on the label must contain the graphic sign designating GM food (a ‘T’ in lowercase, inserted in a triangle with yellow background), accompanied by the term ‘transgenic’, as reported by Jornal DCI, Sao Paulo. The injunction was given in the civil action filed by the Public Prosecutor of Sao Paulo (SP-MP). The analysis found genetically modified products in the composition of ‘Bono’ cookies, strawberry flavour, manufactured and marketed by Nestle. Although more than half of the soyabean used in manufacturing the biscuit are transgenic, this is not declared on the product packaging, as was determined in the civil investigation.
According to Natural Society, where the same activist has written a year ago, in an act of defiance against bloated biotech companies like Monsanto, Peru has officially passed a law banning genetically modified ingredients within the nation for a period of 10 years. Peru’s Plenary Session of the Congress made the decision despite previous governmental pushes for GM legalization. Anibal Huerta, President of Peru’s Agrarian Commission, said the ban was needed to prevent the danger that can arise from the use of biotechnology.
While writing in Natural Society, earlier this year, Mr Gucciardi has commented that in the United States, the government continues to ignore and deny the concerns surrounding genetically modified crops and ingredients, instead streamlining the approval process for Monsanto’s new modified creations.
The safety of GMOs in the food chain has been questioned by environmental groups, with concerns such as the possibilities that GMOs could introduce new allergens into foods, or contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance. The battle against genetically modified seed companies like Monsanto is continuing and is watched by avid journalists and activists alike.
Source: moneylife
“It appears another victory has been declared in the battle against Monsanto and GMO ingredients,” comments Nation of Change
A Brazilian court has demanded that multi-billion dollar food giant Nestle label all of its products as genetically modified that have over 1% GMO (genetically modified organisms) content. The ruling reportedly coincides with Brazilian law which demands all food manufacturers alert consumers to the presence of GMOs within their products. This has been reported by Anthony Gucciardi, Nation of Change, which is a non-profit organisation with the motto of progressive journalism for positive action.
Mr Gucciardi reports that instead of grovelling to Brazilian officials and mega biotechnology groups, the Brazilian business wire reports that the court determined the Brazilian government to be illegally working with the food industry entity known as ABIA. Furthermore, the court stated that consumers have the basic right to know what they are putting into their mouths especially when it comes to GMO ingredients.
“It appears another victory has been declared in the battle against Monsanto and GMO ingredients,” comments Anthony Gucciardi, Nation of Change. This confirms the long-standing consumers’ resistance and that of activists to GM ingredients in food in India and abroad, the latest being Brazil.
The Brazilian court issued a fine of $2,478 per product that was found to violate the ruling after finding the presence of GMO ingredients in Nestle’s strawberry Bono cookies, according to Nation of Change.
The injunction also requires that the information on the label must contain the graphic sign designating GM food (a ‘T’ in lowercase, inserted in a triangle with yellow background), accompanied by the term ‘transgenic’, as reported by Jornal DCI, Sao Paulo. The injunction was given in the civil action filed by the Public Prosecutor of Sao Paulo (SP-MP). The analysis found genetically modified products in the composition of ‘Bono’ cookies, strawberry flavour, manufactured and marketed by Nestle. Although more than half of the soyabean used in manufacturing the biscuit are transgenic, this is not declared on the product packaging, as was determined in the civil investigation.
According to Natural Society, where the same activist has written a year ago, in an act of defiance against bloated biotech companies like Monsanto, Peru has officially passed a law banning genetically modified ingredients within the nation for a period of 10 years. Peru’s Plenary Session of the Congress made the decision despite previous governmental pushes for GM legalization. Anibal Huerta, President of Peru’s Agrarian Commission, said the ban was needed to prevent the danger that can arise from the use of biotechnology.
While writing in Natural Society, earlier this year, Mr Gucciardi has commented that in the United States, the government continues to ignore and deny the concerns surrounding genetically modified crops and ingredients, instead streamlining the approval process for Monsanto’s new modified creations.
The safety of GMOs in the food chain has been questioned by environmental groups, with concerns such as the possibilities that GMOs could introduce new allergens into foods, or contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance. The battle against genetically modified seed companies like Monsanto is continuing and is watched by avid journalists and activists alike.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Will Syria's Kurds benefit from the crisis?
10 August 2012
By Jonathan Marcus
source:BBC News Magazine
In any assessment of the potential winners and losers from the political chaos in Syria, the country's Kurdish minority could be among the winners.
The Kurds make up a little over 10% of the population. Long marginalised by the Alawite-dominated government, they are largely concentrated in north-eastern Syria, up towards the Turkish border.
Aaron David Miller, a distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC, believes that the Kurds could be one of the main beneficiaries of the demise of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
"Syria is coming apart, and there's not much chance it will be reassembled with the kind of centralised authority we saw under the Assads."
For the Syrian Kurds, whom he describes as "part of the largest single ethnic grouping in the region that lacks a state", there is "an opportunity to create more autonomy and respect for Kurdish rights".
"They have the motivation, opportunity, and their Kurdish allies in Iraq and Turkey to encourage them. But what will hold them back is Turkey's determination to prevent a mini-statelet in Syria along with the Kurds own internal divisions," he says.
"It is unlikely," he believes, "that Syria's Kurds will be able to establish a separate entity in Syria. Nor will the United States, nor the international community accept that."
"At the same time, the several dimensions of the Kurdish problem - the Iraqi Kurds' growing determination to remain a separate entity; Turkish determination to avoid another mini-Kurdistan along the Syrian-Iraqi border; and the issue of the PKK, the armed Kurdish insurgents fighting the Turkish Army - will create a real flashpoint."
There in a nutshell is the scale of the problem.
The Kurds' future in Syria will have an important bearing upon what sort of country it is going to become.
Turkish worry
But the fate of the Syrian Kurds also has ramifications well beyond the country's borders. These processes are already under way.
Fawaz Gerges, professor of Middle Eastern Politics at the London School of Economics, told me that "the Syrian Kurds have already seized the moment and are laying the foundation for an autonomous region like their counterparts in Iraq".
"The exit of Assad's forces from the Kurdish areas has complicated the crisis and deepened Turkey's fears that its borders with Iraq and Syria will be volatile for years to come," he says.
"The Kurdish factor in the Syrian crisis will prove to be as significant as the Kurdish question in Iraq."
Prof Ofra Bengio, head of the Kurdish Studies programme at the Moshe Dayan Centre at Tel Aviv University, agrees.
"The Kurdish dimension is likely to become a potent factor in the near future because of the weakening of each of the states in which they live, because co-operation among the states for curbing the Kurds is non-existent, and because the Kurds have made headway in the United States and in the West, where they proved their loyalty and lack of religious extremism.
"In a word, the West might like to support them."
If a Kurdish spectre is stalking the region then it is probably Turkey that has most reason to be worried.
Even as Ankara has watched developments in Syria with unease, its own struggle with guerrilla fighters of the Kurdish PKK has flared up again - Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davotoglu insisting that the Syrian government is encouraging the PKK, to get its own back for Turkey's insistence that President Assad must go.
But it is even more complicated than this. The dominant Kurdish faction inside Syria is a close ally - some say even an off-shoot - of the PKK. It has little love for the mainstream Syrian opposition championed by the Turks.
Colonial borders
Whilst fighting the PKK on one front, Turkey is desperately trying to curb the political ambitions of Syria's Kurds by political means.
Indeed the ramifications of the Kurdish issue go even further. Prof Gerges insists that the Kurdish question "is here to stay".
"It transcends national borders and has the potential to redraw the Sykes-Pico agreement, which, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, established existing nation-state boundaries.
Kurds in Syria have long complained of discrimination by the government
"Although it is too early to talk about the emergence of a greater Kurdistan, an imagined community of Kurds resonates deeply among Kurds across Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran."
It is in this sense the upheavals associated with the "Arab Spring" take on their full regional significance.
The Sykes-Picot Agreement (named not surprisingly after the two negotiators, Mr Georges Picot and Sir Mark Sykes) was a secret understanding made between France and Britain in 1916 for the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire.
The agreement led to the division of Turkish-held areas of the Levant into various French and British administered territories which eventually gave rise to the modern-day states of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and ultimately Israel.
Fawaz Gerges asserts that the events in Syria and their potential repercussions risk over-turning this familiar world; a broader re-ordering of the region in which Kurdish aspirations are just one part of a very complex picture.
"Many of the problems in the contemporary Middle East are traced to that colonial-era Sykes-Picot map, which established the state system in the region. The Palestine and Kurdish questions are cases in point."
"National borders do not correspond to imagined communities. Although the state system has established deep roots in the Middle East in the last nine decades, the current uprisings have starkly exposed the fragility of the colonial system imposed on the region.
"My take is that the great powers, together with their local partners, will fight tooth and nail to prevent the redrawing of the borders of the state system in the Middle East.
"For once the map is re-drawn, where would the limits be? There would be a real danger of perpetual instability and conflict," he says.
Sowing chaos?
The Kurds of Syria, of course, are not in quite the same position as their brothers in Iraq and would find it much harder to break away.
Noted Syria expert Joshua Landis of the University of Oklahoma says that while Syria's Kurds are a compact minority they are not a majority even in the north eastern border area with Turkey - where they constitute some 30-40% of the population.
They have sometimes tense relations with local Sunni Arab tribes who see this as an integral part of Syrian territory, reinforced by the fact that this is an area rich in oil resources vital to the Syrian economy.
Prof Landis argues that what is going on in the Kurdish north-east offers a useful pointer to President Assad's "Plan B" should his control over key cities like Damascus and Aleppo crumble.
He says that the "embattled president withdrew government forces from the north-east because he couldn't control it and wanted to focus on the most important battles in Aleppo and Damascus".
"But in the back of the president's mind, there may be the thought that empowering the Kurds is a way of weakening the Sunni Arab majority and underlining the risks of fragmentation should his government fall. It's a strategy of playing upon divisions to sow chaos," he said.
This way, says Prof Landis, "the Syrian Army - which is rapidly becoming an Alawite militia, whilst still the strongest military force - may lose control over large swathes of the country, but will remain a vital factor in determining the political outcome in Syria".
It is a bleak prospect.
Prof Landis asserts that President Assad "may lose Syria, but could still remain a player, and his Alawite minority will not be destroyed".
"That's the future of Syria," he says, with little enthusiasm. "It's what Lebanon was and what Iraq became."
By Jonathan Marcus
source:BBC News Magazine
In any assessment of the potential winners and losers from the political chaos in Syria, the country's Kurdish minority could be among the winners.
The Kurds make up a little over 10% of the population. Long marginalised by the Alawite-dominated government, they are largely concentrated in north-eastern Syria, up towards the Turkish border.
Aaron David Miller, a distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC, believes that the Kurds could be one of the main beneficiaries of the demise of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
"Syria is coming apart, and there's not much chance it will be reassembled with the kind of centralised authority we saw under the Assads."
For the Syrian Kurds, whom he describes as "part of the largest single ethnic grouping in the region that lacks a state", there is "an opportunity to create more autonomy and respect for Kurdish rights".
"They have the motivation, opportunity, and their Kurdish allies in Iraq and Turkey to encourage them. But what will hold them back is Turkey's determination to prevent a mini-statelet in Syria along with the Kurds own internal divisions," he says.
"It is unlikely," he believes, "that Syria's Kurds will be able to establish a separate entity in Syria. Nor will the United States, nor the international community accept that."
"At the same time, the several dimensions of the Kurdish problem - the Iraqi Kurds' growing determination to remain a separate entity; Turkish determination to avoid another mini-Kurdistan along the Syrian-Iraqi border; and the issue of the PKK, the armed Kurdish insurgents fighting the Turkish Army - will create a real flashpoint."
There in a nutshell is the scale of the problem.
The Kurds' future in Syria will have an important bearing upon what sort of country it is going to become.
Turkish worry
But the fate of the Syrian Kurds also has ramifications well beyond the country's borders. These processes are already under way.
Fawaz Gerges, professor of Middle Eastern Politics at the London School of Economics, told me that "the Syrian Kurds have already seized the moment and are laying the foundation for an autonomous region like their counterparts in Iraq".
"The exit of Assad's forces from the Kurdish areas has complicated the crisis and deepened Turkey's fears that its borders with Iraq and Syria will be volatile for years to come," he says.
"The Kurdish factor in the Syrian crisis will prove to be as significant as the Kurdish question in Iraq."
Prof Ofra Bengio, head of the Kurdish Studies programme at the Moshe Dayan Centre at Tel Aviv University, agrees.
"The Kurdish dimension is likely to become a potent factor in the near future because of the weakening of each of the states in which they live, because co-operation among the states for curbing the Kurds is non-existent, and because the Kurds have made headway in the United States and in the West, where they proved their loyalty and lack of religious extremism.
"In a word, the West might like to support them."
If a Kurdish spectre is stalking the region then it is probably Turkey that has most reason to be worried.
Even as Ankara has watched developments in Syria with unease, its own struggle with guerrilla fighters of the Kurdish PKK has flared up again - Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davotoglu insisting that the Syrian government is encouraging the PKK, to get its own back for Turkey's insistence that President Assad must go.
But it is even more complicated than this. The dominant Kurdish faction inside Syria is a close ally - some say even an off-shoot - of the PKK. It has little love for the mainstream Syrian opposition championed by the Turks.
Colonial borders
Whilst fighting the PKK on one front, Turkey is desperately trying to curb the political ambitions of Syria's Kurds by political means.
Indeed the ramifications of the Kurdish issue go even further. Prof Gerges insists that the Kurdish question "is here to stay".
"It transcends national borders and has the potential to redraw the Sykes-Pico agreement, which, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, established existing nation-state boundaries.
Kurds in Syria have long complained of discrimination by the government
"Although it is too early to talk about the emergence of a greater Kurdistan, an imagined community of Kurds resonates deeply among Kurds across Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran."
It is in this sense the upheavals associated with the "Arab Spring" take on their full regional significance.
The Sykes-Picot Agreement (named not surprisingly after the two negotiators, Mr Georges Picot and Sir Mark Sykes) was a secret understanding made between France and Britain in 1916 for the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire.
The agreement led to the division of Turkish-held areas of the Levant into various French and British administered territories which eventually gave rise to the modern-day states of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and ultimately Israel.
Fawaz Gerges asserts that the events in Syria and their potential repercussions risk over-turning this familiar world; a broader re-ordering of the region in which Kurdish aspirations are just one part of a very complex picture.
"Many of the problems in the contemporary Middle East are traced to that colonial-era Sykes-Picot map, which established the state system in the region. The Palestine and Kurdish questions are cases in point."
"National borders do not correspond to imagined communities. Although the state system has established deep roots in the Middle East in the last nine decades, the current uprisings have starkly exposed the fragility of the colonial system imposed on the region.
"My take is that the great powers, together with their local partners, will fight tooth and nail to prevent the redrawing of the borders of the state system in the Middle East.
"For once the map is re-drawn, where would the limits be? There would be a real danger of perpetual instability and conflict," he says.
Sowing chaos?
The Kurds of Syria, of course, are not in quite the same position as their brothers in Iraq and would find it much harder to break away.
Noted Syria expert Joshua Landis of the University of Oklahoma says that while Syria's Kurds are a compact minority they are not a majority even in the north eastern border area with Turkey - where they constitute some 30-40% of the population.
They have sometimes tense relations with local Sunni Arab tribes who see this as an integral part of Syrian territory, reinforced by the fact that this is an area rich in oil resources vital to the Syrian economy.
Prof Landis argues that what is going on in the Kurdish north-east offers a useful pointer to President Assad's "Plan B" should his control over key cities like Damascus and Aleppo crumble.
He says that the "embattled president withdrew government forces from the north-east because he couldn't control it and wanted to focus on the most important battles in Aleppo and Damascus".
"But in the back of the president's mind, there may be the thought that empowering the Kurds is a way of weakening the Sunni Arab majority and underlining the risks of fragmentation should his government fall. It's a strategy of playing upon divisions to sow chaos," he said.
This way, says Prof Landis, "the Syrian Army - which is rapidly becoming an Alawite militia, whilst still the strongest military force - may lose control over large swathes of the country, but will remain a vital factor in determining the political outcome in Syria".
It is a bleak prospect.
Prof Landis asserts that President Assad "may lose Syria, but could still remain a player, and his Alawite minority will not be destroyed".
"That's the future of Syria," he says, with little enthusiasm. "It's what Lebanon was and what Iraq became."
Crisis in Syria boosts Kurdish hopes
18 August 2012
By Orla Guerin
Source:BBC News Magazine
With Syrian forces focused on the fighting in the big cities, Kurdish leaders say they now control half of their region in the north-east. Travelling undercover, the BBC's Orla Guerin found many already looking forward to autonomy in a democratic Syria.
With gold-rimmed glasses, a neat black moustache and a pinstripe shirt, the middle-aged man who came to meet us could have been a bank manager.
He was unmarried, he explained, and had no children. He wanted us to know that was a choice, not a twist of fate.
"As a Kurd I am not free," he said. "I couldn't father a child who was also a prisoner."
Instead of becoming a husband and a father, he became a guerrilla fighter, and an activist.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
We Kurds are in charge here. We'll have no problems.”
Amer Syrian Kurd in Qamishli
He has spent 15 years fighting for self-rule for the Kurds. These days he feels it is getting a lot closer.
In parts of Syria's Kurdish north-east, that is how it seems.
Under a hot sun, we travelled through dusty villages and towns, passing hillsides where shepherds still tend their flocks.
And we found something missing - the dark shadow of the security forces.
After a wave of protests in late July, President Bashar al-Assad loosened his grip on the Kurdish region, probably so that he could try to tighten it elsewhere.
Kurdish leaders say they now control about half their territory. Kurdish flags have replaced Syrian ones. Kurdish language schools have opened.
And though the government's security forces are not gone completely, they are lying low.
Over glasses of tamarind juice in the city of Qamishli, a former law student turned politician summed it up. "These days," said Amer, sitting cross-legged on the carpet, "the police wouldn't show up even if someone was killed."
On our undercover journey through the region, bumping into the Syrian military was not part of our plan.
But we had a telling close encounter as we filmed outside a courthouse. Our local guide had assured us it was safe.
"We Kurds are in charge here," he said. "We'll have no problems."
Then a young Syrian soldier emerged from inside. In a vest, and sandals, he was not dressed for combat. He stood in silence, looking a bit scared of us.
A moment later a plain-clothes Syrian official strode into view - the type of man who could have detained us or dispatched us to Damascus. But he was more interested in hurrying us away.
Schools teaching the Kurdish language have opened across in north-east Syria
Travel among the Kurds and you get enmeshed in a web of hospitality. It seems every door is open, every hand is outstretched.
And over plates of figs and grapes, and cups of cardamom-flavoured coffee, every family has a story of suffering to tell.
In the home of Said Hameh, we sat in a circle on the floor, in the Kurdish way. "Just to gather here like this would have been impossible a month ago," he said. "We couldn't dare talk to a journalist."
Recalling how the regime had fired him from his teaching job, Said beat the patterned rug in frustration with his fist.
He and many others want the government erased from the region altogether.
"They are not killing us," he said "but we are not completely free. Freedom means more than just existence. If I go somewhere, I could still be arrested."
The Kurds insist they want peaceful change, but they are ready for a fight if it comes to it. District by district, they have been setting up armed self-defence units. And a militia has sprung up, though it is media-shy.
"Those guys are everywhere, but they are not under our control," said Saleh Mohamed, the softly spoken leader of the Kurdish Democratic Union - the most powerful party here.
He also denies having operational links to the guerrillas of the Kurdish Workers' Party, or PKK, who have been fighting for self-rule across the border in Turkey for decades.
Mohamed is a veteran of the struggle for Kurdish rights, with the CV to prove it.
I asked how long he had spent in prison. "Not long," he said, with a laugh.
"Just two or three months a year - every year - since 2003. And it was the Middle East-type of prison with the underground rooms for torture."
Mohamed talked about the past and the future of his ancient people with an unhurried air. "I believe our struggle is beginning to have results," he said, voicing a feeling shared by many Kurds.
It is unclear what will emerge from the broken jigsaw of Syria but the Kurds are already benefiting from the chaos. They are pushing for autonomy in a new Syria.
But ultimately many yearn for Greater Kurdistan - an independent state for all the Kurds.
By Orla Guerin
Source:BBC News Magazine
With Syrian forces focused on the fighting in the big cities, Kurdish leaders say they now control half of their region in the north-east. Travelling undercover, the BBC's Orla Guerin found many already looking forward to autonomy in a democratic Syria.
With gold-rimmed glasses, a neat black moustache and a pinstripe shirt, the middle-aged man who came to meet us could have been a bank manager.
He was unmarried, he explained, and had no children. He wanted us to know that was a choice, not a twist of fate.
"As a Kurd I am not free," he said. "I couldn't father a child who was also a prisoner."
Instead of becoming a husband and a father, he became a guerrilla fighter, and an activist.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
We Kurds are in charge here. We'll have no problems.”
Amer Syrian Kurd in Qamishli
He has spent 15 years fighting for self-rule for the Kurds. These days he feels it is getting a lot closer.
In parts of Syria's Kurdish north-east, that is how it seems.
Under a hot sun, we travelled through dusty villages and towns, passing hillsides where shepherds still tend their flocks.
And we found something missing - the dark shadow of the security forces.
After a wave of protests in late July, President Bashar al-Assad loosened his grip on the Kurdish region, probably so that he could try to tighten it elsewhere.
Kurdish leaders say they now control about half their territory. Kurdish flags have replaced Syrian ones. Kurdish language schools have opened.
And though the government's security forces are not gone completely, they are lying low.
Over glasses of tamarind juice in the city of Qamishli, a former law student turned politician summed it up. "These days," said Amer, sitting cross-legged on the carpet, "the police wouldn't show up even if someone was killed."
On our undercover journey through the region, bumping into the Syrian military was not part of our plan.
But we had a telling close encounter as we filmed outside a courthouse. Our local guide had assured us it was safe.
"We Kurds are in charge here," he said. "We'll have no problems."
Then a young Syrian soldier emerged from inside. In a vest, and sandals, he was not dressed for combat. He stood in silence, looking a bit scared of us.
A moment later a plain-clothes Syrian official strode into view - the type of man who could have detained us or dispatched us to Damascus. But he was more interested in hurrying us away.
Schools teaching the Kurdish language have opened across in north-east Syria
Travel among the Kurds and you get enmeshed in a web of hospitality. It seems every door is open, every hand is outstretched.
And over plates of figs and grapes, and cups of cardamom-flavoured coffee, every family has a story of suffering to tell.
In the home of Said Hameh, we sat in a circle on the floor, in the Kurdish way. "Just to gather here like this would have been impossible a month ago," he said. "We couldn't dare talk to a journalist."
Recalling how the regime had fired him from his teaching job, Said beat the patterned rug in frustration with his fist.
He and many others want the government erased from the region altogether.
"They are not killing us," he said "but we are not completely free. Freedom means more than just existence. If I go somewhere, I could still be arrested."
The Kurds insist they want peaceful change, but they are ready for a fight if it comes to it. District by district, they have been setting up armed self-defence units. And a militia has sprung up, though it is media-shy.
"Those guys are everywhere, but they are not under our control," said Saleh Mohamed, the softly spoken leader of the Kurdish Democratic Union - the most powerful party here.
He also denies having operational links to the guerrillas of the Kurdish Workers' Party, or PKK, who have been fighting for self-rule across the border in Turkey for decades.
Mohamed is a veteran of the struggle for Kurdish rights, with the CV to prove it.
I asked how long he had spent in prison. "Not long," he said, with a laugh.
"Just two or three months a year - every year - since 2003. And it was the Middle East-type of prison with the underground rooms for torture."
Mohamed talked about the past and the future of his ancient people with an unhurried air. "I believe our struggle is beginning to have results," he said, voicing a feeling shared by many Kurds.
It is unclear what will emerge from the broken jigsaw of Syria but the Kurds are already benefiting from the chaos. They are pushing for autonomy in a new Syria.
But ultimately many yearn for Greater Kurdistan - an independent state for all the Kurds.
Turkey: A Baffling 24 Hours
August 9, 2012
by Claire Berlinski
Source: Gatestone Institute
I confess freely that I'm finding it difficult to make sense of recent events in Turkey, and I submit that anyone offering a confident analysis is exaggerating either his access or his analytic acumen. There is obviously a great deal happening; but the people who understand it aren't talking, and the people who are talking don't understand it.
Here is what we do know: This morning, there was a terrorist attack in Izmir that claimed the life of a Turkish soldier and injured eleven more. A remotely-controlled land mine exploded as a military bus was passing on a road in the Aegean town of Foça. The attack is believed to be the work of the PKK, and has many of the PKK's signature hallmarks. To judge from reports on Twitter, Izmir citizens were--predictably--appalled, enraged and terrified.
The location of the attack was significant. Izmir is in Western Turkey, and while PKK attacks are not unknown here, they are not common. Civilians were targeted by bombs in Kuşadası and Çeşme in 2005, and in Güngören, in Istanbul 2008--although the authorship of the latter bombing is unclear. In 2010, a bomb targeting police forces exploded in Istanbul's Taksim Square (it is impossible to set off a bomb in Taksim Square without endangering civilian lives, so in no way can this be considered a purely military target, and given that Turkey's army is a conscript army, I am not sure this distinction is in any case meaningful.) Last year saw a deadly bombing in Çankaya, Ankara, and a bizarre, but mercifully thwarted, attack on an Izmit ferry. But the PKK assumed responsibility for neither--the former was assumed to be the work of a PKK splinter group, the latter, a lunatic.
So why Izmir, and why now? It is hard to believe that Istanbul is better protected than Izmir; Istanbul would have been the more spectacular target were the aim to show, "We can hit you anywhere." Some speculate that it is because Izmir swings to the right on the issue of negotiations with the PKK to a much greater degree than those in Istanbul. Izmir is also an opposition CHP stronghold--but whether this is significant I don't know.
Meanwhile, there is something close to a news blackout about the battle of Åžemdinli, in the Southeast. Some reports are trickling out, and while I don't know what to make of them, I am certain the news isn't good:
As intense fighting between government forces and militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) continue unabated in the southeastern province of Hakkari, Bianet reporter Nilay Vardar has travelled to the heart of the conflict zone to relate the developments there which mainstream media has given only superficial coverage to. ...
The moment we stepped into downtown Åžemdinli, everyone began pointing toward the plumes of smoke rising from Mt. Goman and Mt. Efkar as if to say "Look, they do not believe us."
Everyone was anxious to tell me their stories because there were virtually no journalists from the mainstream media in town. Ä°dris Emen from the daily Radikal had been there for three days, not to mention the local reporters who could not get their voices heard.
They kept asking why no journalists had come, and thus everyone was in a hurry to get their stories across just as a journalist had arrived from Istanbul.
Locals were so inured to clashes in the area for 35 years that the sounds of constant artillery fire and low flying helicopter gunships were no strangers to them. The only difference was that this was the first time around that a battle had lasted for so long.
Yesterday, the same reporter, Nilay Vardir, observed that
[t]he clashes are raging over an area 600 square kilometers wide, including Mt. Goman and Mt. Efkar across the district center.
Over 500 villagers were forced to evacuate their homes in the days that followed the eruption of the conflict.
The PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) has run "identity checks" on many village roads, and even on the road to Yüksekova. The "identity cheks," which are cited as the main reason that ignited the conflict, are a means for the PKK to assert its presence, according to what I have heard.
"Hit and run" turns to "hit and stay?"
BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) [My note: the party is something like Sein Fein to the PKK's IRA] Deputy Esad Canan who accompanied us in our car during our trip from Yüksekova to Şemdinli said the PKK had revised its tactic from "hit and run" to "hit and stay," allowing it to establish "area control" in Şemdinli.
Canan also said the officials' muted response to the issue was due to the state's loss of control in the area.
"We [were not allowed to] enter through the borders of our district with the mayor, and this shows the state is hiding something," he said in regards to their aborted attempt to enter a neighborhood in downtown Åžemdinli.
The clashes are raging over an area 600 square kilometers wide, including Mt. Goman and Mt. Efkar across the district center.
Over 500 villagers were forced to evacuate their homes in the days that followed the eruption of the conflict.
The ongoing clashes are the most protracted ever, he also added.
"We are just like back in the 1990s. There is a de facto 'OHAL' (state of emergency)," Canan said.
Deputy Canan also elucidated on the reasons as to why the conflict had broken out now and why in Åžemdinli in particular:
"Åžemdinli is where the PKK launched its first raid in 1984 in tandem with Eruh; it bears symbolic significance. Secondly, it [represents] a reaction against the state's claim to have finished the PKK off and Prime Minister ErdoÄŸan's rhetoric of intervention against the formation of a Kurdish [entity] in Syria," Canan said.
"The PKK is telling the state to pay attention to Åžemdinli rather than picking on Syria," former Hakkari Deputy Hamit Geylani also explained, as he kept us company at an "iftar" meal where we dined together with all the other reporters in the district.
No explanations, merely allegations
The question of exactly how many troops and PKK members lost their lives in the conflict is still shrouded in mystery. Reports indicate that 10 soldiers died until now, including in the attack in downtown Hakkari. There is talk of bodybags being picked up from hospitals.
Further claims are also abound that the troops who died were mercenaries and that the Turkish Armed Forces had mistakenly killed 17 soldiers. All this is nothing but hearsay, however, as authorities have barred all access into the region.
The PKK announced that it had lost four guerillas. Families keep arriving in Åžemdinli to pick their funerals up, but officials deny them access into the area for reasons of security.
As freelance journalist Frederike Geerdink noted on August 3,
'A new tactic', says Murat Karayilan, commander of the Kurdish armed movement, the PKK, via a Kurdish news agency. No, says the Turkish army, it's a big anti PKK operation. Fact is that in the South-east of Turkey an unusually long battle is being fought between the army and the PKK. The fighting has been going on now for eleven days.
Usually [such] confrontations are short: the PKK attacks an army post or police station or explodes a mine, after which they quickly go back into hiding. The army, in its turn, bombs PKK camps in the mountains on the Turkish-Iraqi border. Battles that last for days, like now in the Åžemdinli region, are unusual.
Whether the PKK, like Karayilan says, has really changed tactics, must nevertheless be doubted, says analyst Gareth Jenkins. He works in Istanbul for the American Institute for Central Asia and the Caucasus. Jenkins: 'The PKK can't really hold territory; they don't have the military means for that'.
But that it is a one-sided, long lasting attack on the PKK, like the army says, isn't very convincing either: the military's power is so much greater that such an operation shouldn't have to last eleven days.
The fighting started when eleven days ago the PKK put up roadblocks in the area, stopped cars and checked people's identities. That triggered the army action. Jenkins: 'I think the PKK changed tactics already about a year ago. Then Kurdish groups declared so-called 'democratic autonomy', and ever since the PKK wants to show they ultimately call the shots in the area.'
The recent PKK bombing of the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline, on July 30, suggests another dimension of the conflict: The explosion not only interrupted Iraqi oil transfers, but suggested that the PKK remains willing to target Turkey's strategic assets, integrally tied to its energy infrastructure.
Yesterday, the Turkish interior minister, İdris Naim Şahin, claimed that half of the PKK terrorists killed in the southeast were carrying Iranian, Iraqi, Armenian and Israeli identification. The day before, the same minister claimed that there was "no difference" between a terrorist who employed mortars and bullets in Geçimli and one who "writes articles in Ankara"--a comment that suggests the dismal effect this conflict, if unabated, will have on prospects for democratization and freedom of expression in Turkey. Prime Minister Erdogan today agreed, suggesting that those responsible for the escalation of violence were--of course--the press. ""Know that every sentence you write about [the terrorists]," he said,"is the element of propaganda they are looking for but can not find. And know that we keep track of that." What precisely this means is unclear, but it is surely connected to the lack of reporting we're receiving from the Southeast. It is no small irony that it is now possible for those of us living in Istanbul to receive more news from Mars than from Hakkari.
While obviously it is absurd to suggest that the PKK is comprised of Armenians and Israelis, the idea that Assad is providing assistance to them isn't--on the face on it--at all implausible. It seems to me unlikely that Iran is actively assisting them; they've got enough problems of their own with the PJAK that I can't imagine they'd want to stir up that hornet's nest--but who knows. Now, I stress that I am speculating here, but it does seem obvious that were I Assad, I'd want the Turkish military and the Turkish intelligence services completely tied down with its own domestic uprising; and I'd hope to foment as much public backlash in Turkey against the AKP's foreign meddling as possible.
That said, from various credible reports it sounds as if Assad's forces are so confused at this point that they're hard-pressed to find their own backsides with both hands. I have heard from journalists I trust that Assad's forces are bombing and strafing at random while missing obvious targets such as the FSA headquarters. This does not sound to me like a regime in a position to pull off a complicated act of internal subversion in Turkey. But again, I stress, I am speculating, based on very limited real knowledge--as is almost everyone with an opinion about this region.
Meanwhile, Turkey's rapprochement with Iran is all but officially over. This morning, Iran announced that it had suspended arrangements for visa-free travel for Turkish citizens. (As one Turkish journalist remarked on Twitter, "Break up is official: Iran suspends visa privileges for Turks. Will officials exchange letters and gifts?" "Americans," I replied, "feel like the previous girlfriend who tried to warn Turkey, but everyone dismissed her as 'just bitter.'" This got a few laughs, but I suspect it also captures the truth just a bit too well for comfort.)
Two days ago, on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's website, Iranian Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Seyed Hassan Firouzabadi warned Turkey that "it will be its turn" if it continued to "help advance the warmongering policies of the United States in Syria." It would not, Firouzabadi said, be "an appropriate precedent, that neighboring countries of Syria contribute to the belligerent purposes of the Great Satan, the United States. If these countries have accepted such a precedent, they must be aware that after Syria, it will be the turn of Turkey and other countries."
Foreign Minister DavutoÄŸlu was clearly not best pleased by these comments. "There are disagreements between Turkey and Iran over the Syrian crisis for which the Syrian regime bears the whole responsibility," he replied. "It is our right to expect Iran to assume a constructive attitude in the face of the blood of Muslims spilled in Syria in the holy month of Ramadan. Blaming Turkey or other countries would produce no positive result ... and I have made perfectly clear to Salehi that Iranian officials should seriously filter their statements before making them."
Rumors here are circulating that DavutoÄŸlu is in bad odor in Ankara, his foreign policy vision having failed to deliver upon so much as a single one of its rosy promises. It is not clear how seriously these rumors should be taken: I for one cannot remember the resignation of a high-level Turkish politician over anything short of a leaked sex tape; political failure appears no obstacle to political advancement in Turkey. That said, immediately following his warning to Salehi, DavutoÄŸlu departed with unusual haste to Myanmar to address the plight of the long-suffering Rohingya Muslims. Given that DavutoÄŸlu's immediate neighborhood--and at least seven districts of his homeland--are in flames, this does seem an odd place for him to be. It isn't unusual in Turkey for attention to be diverted from domestic discontents by some spectacular display of humanitarian interest in a far-away, long suffering Muslim people (the last time, it was Somalia), but this is particularly bizarre. So who knows what machinations are playing out in Ankara.
by Claire Berlinski
Source: Gatestone Institute
I confess freely that I'm finding it difficult to make sense of recent events in Turkey, and I submit that anyone offering a confident analysis is exaggerating either his access or his analytic acumen. There is obviously a great deal happening; but the people who understand it aren't talking, and the people who are talking don't understand it.
Here is what we do know: This morning, there was a terrorist attack in Izmir that claimed the life of a Turkish soldier and injured eleven more. A remotely-controlled land mine exploded as a military bus was passing on a road in the Aegean town of Foça. The attack is believed to be the work of the PKK, and has many of the PKK's signature hallmarks. To judge from reports on Twitter, Izmir citizens were--predictably--appalled, enraged and terrified.
The location of the attack was significant. Izmir is in Western Turkey, and while PKK attacks are not unknown here, they are not common. Civilians were targeted by bombs in Kuşadası and Çeşme in 2005, and in Güngören, in Istanbul 2008--although the authorship of the latter bombing is unclear. In 2010, a bomb targeting police forces exploded in Istanbul's Taksim Square (it is impossible to set off a bomb in Taksim Square without endangering civilian lives, so in no way can this be considered a purely military target, and given that Turkey's army is a conscript army, I am not sure this distinction is in any case meaningful.) Last year saw a deadly bombing in Çankaya, Ankara, and a bizarre, but mercifully thwarted, attack on an Izmit ferry. But the PKK assumed responsibility for neither--the former was assumed to be the work of a PKK splinter group, the latter, a lunatic.
So why Izmir, and why now? It is hard to believe that Istanbul is better protected than Izmir; Istanbul would have been the more spectacular target were the aim to show, "We can hit you anywhere." Some speculate that it is because Izmir swings to the right on the issue of negotiations with the PKK to a much greater degree than those in Istanbul. Izmir is also an opposition CHP stronghold--but whether this is significant I don't know.
Meanwhile, there is something close to a news blackout about the battle of Åžemdinli, in the Southeast. Some reports are trickling out, and while I don't know what to make of them, I am certain the news isn't good:
As intense fighting between government forces and militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) continue unabated in the southeastern province of Hakkari, Bianet reporter Nilay Vardar has travelled to the heart of the conflict zone to relate the developments there which mainstream media has given only superficial coverage to. ...
The moment we stepped into downtown Åžemdinli, everyone began pointing toward the plumes of smoke rising from Mt. Goman and Mt. Efkar as if to say "Look, they do not believe us."
Everyone was anxious to tell me their stories because there were virtually no journalists from the mainstream media in town. Ä°dris Emen from the daily Radikal had been there for three days, not to mention the local reporters who could not get their voices heard.
They kept asking why no journalists had come, and thus everyone was in a hurry to get their stories across just as a journalist had arrived from Istanbul.
Locals were so inured to clashes in the area for 35 years that the sounds of constant artillery fire and low flying helicopter gunships were no strangers to them. The only difference was that this was the first time around that a battle had lasted for so long.
Yesterday, the same reporter, Nilay Vardir, observed that
[t]he clashes are raging over an area 600 square kilometers wide, including Mt. Goman and Mt. Efkar across the district center.
Over 500 villagers were forced to evacuate their homes in the days that followed the eruption of the conflict.
The PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) has run "identity checks" on many village roads, and even on the road to Yüksekova. The "identity cheks," which are cited as the main reason that ignited the conflict, are a means for the PKK to assert its presence, according to what I have heard.
"Hit and run" turns to "hit and stay?"
BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) [My note: the party is something like Sein Fein to the PKK's IRA] Deputy Esad Canan who accompanied us in our car during our trip from Yüksekova to Şemdinli said the PKK had revised its tactic from "hit and run" to "hit and stay," allowing it to establish "area control" in Şemdinli.
Canan also said the officials' muted response to the issue was due to the state's loss of control in the area.
"We [were not allowed to] enter through the borders of our district with the mayor, and this shows the state is hiding something," he said in regards to their aborted attempt to enter a neighborhood in downtown Åžemdinli.
The clashes are raging over an area 600 square kilometers wide, including Mt. Goman and Mt. Efkar across the district center.
Over 500 villagers were forced to evacuate their homes in the days that followed the eruption of the conflict.
The ongoing clashes are the most protracted ever, he also added.
"We are just like back in the 1990s. There is a de facto 'OHAL' (state of emergency)," Canan said.
Deputy Canan also elucidated on the reasons as to why the conflict had broken out now and why in Åžemdinli in particular:
"Åžemdinli is where the PKK launched its first raid in 1984 in tandem with Eruh; it bears symbolic significance. Secondly, it [represents] a reaction against the state's claim to have finished the PKK off and Prime Minister ErdoÄŸan's rhetoric of intervention against the formation of a Kurdish [entity] in Syria," Canan said.
"The PKK is telling the state to pay attention to Åžemdinli rather than picking on Syria," former Hakkari Deputy Hamit Geylani also explained, as he kept us company at an "iftar" meal where we dined together with all the other reporters in the district.
No explanations, merely allegations
The question of exactly how many troops and PKK members lost their lives in the conflict is still shrouded in mystery. Reports indicate that 10 soldiers died until now, including in the attack in downtown Hakkari. There is talk of bodybags being picked up from hospitals.
Further claims are also abound that the troops who died were mercenaries and that the Turkish Armed Forces had mistakenly killed 17 soldiers. All this is nothing but hearsay, however, as authorities have barred all access into the region.
The PKK announced that it had lost four guerillas. Families keep arriving in Åžemdinli to pick their funerals up, but officials deny them access into the area for reasons of security.
As freelance journalist Frederike Geerdink noted on August 3,
'A new tactic', says Murat Karayilan, commander of the Kurdish armed movement, the PKK, via a Kurdish news agency. No, says the Turkish army, it's a big anti PKK operation. Fact is that in the South-east of Turkey an unusually long battle is being fought between the army and the PKK. The fighting has been going on now for eleven days.
Usually [such] confrontations are short: the PKK attacks an army post or police station or explodes a mine, after which they quickly go back into hiding. The army, in its turn, bombs PKK camps in the mountains on the Turkish-Iraqi border. Battles that last for days, like now in the Åžemdinli region, are unusual.
Whether the PKK, like Karayilan says, has really changed tactics, must nevertheless be doubted, says analyst Gareth Jenkins. He works in Istanbul for the American Institute for Central Asia and the Caucasus. Jenkins: 'The PKK can't really hold territory; they don't have the military means for that'.
But that it is a one-sided, long lasting attack on the PKK, like the army says, isn't very convincing either: the military's power is so much greater that such an operation shouldn't have to last eleven days.
The fighting started when eleven days ago the PKK put up roadblocks in the area, stopped cars and checked people's identities. That triggered the army action. Jenkins: 'I think the PKK changed tactics already about a year ago. Then Kurdish groups declared so-called 'democratic autonomy', and ever since the PKK wants to show they ultimately call the shots in the area.'
The recent PKK bombing of the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline, on July 30, suggests another dimension of the conflict: The explosion not only interrupted Iraqi oil transfers, but suggested that the PKK remains willing to target Turkey's strategic assets, integrally tied to its energy infrastructure.
Yesterday, the Turkish interior minister, İdris Naim Şahin, claimed that half of the PKK terrorists killed in the southeast were carrying Iranian, Iraqi, Armenian and Israeli identification. The day before, the same minister claimed that there was "no difference" between a terrorist who employed mortars and bullets in Geçimli and one who "writes articles in Ankara"--a comment that suggests the dismal effect this conflict, if unabated, will have on prospects for democratization and freedom of expression in Turkey. Prime Minister Erdogan today agreed, suggesting that those responsible for the escalation of violence were--of course--the press. ""Know that every sentence you write about [the terrorists]," he said,"is the element of propaganda they are looking for but can not find. And know that we keep track of that." What precisely this means is unclear, but it is surely connected to the lack of reporting we're receiving from the Southeast. It is no small irony that it is now possible for those of us living in Istanbul to receive more news from Mars than from Hakkari.
While obviously it is absurd to suggest that the PKK is comprised of Armenians and Israelis, the idea that Assad is providing assistance to them isn't--on the face on it--at all implausible. It seems to me unlikely that Iran is actively assisting them; they've got enough problems of their own with the PJAK that I can't imagine they'd want to stir up that hornet's nest--but who knows. Now, I stress that I am speculating here, but it does seem obvious that were I Assad, I'd want the Turkish military and the Turkish intelligence services completely tied down with its own domestic uprising; and I'd hope to foment as much public backlash in Turkey against the AKP's foreign meddling as possible.
That said, from various credible reports it sounds as if Assad's forces are so confused at this point that they're hard-pressed to find their own backsides with both hands. I have heard from journalists I trust that Assad's forces are bombing and strafing at random while missing obvious targets such as the FSA headquarters. This does not sound to me like a regime in a position to pull off a complicated act of internal subversion in Turkey. But again, I stress, I am speculating, based on very limited real knowledge--as is almost everyone with an opinion about this region.
Meanwhile, Turkey's rapprochement with Iran is all but officially over. This morning, Iran announced that it had suspended arrangements for visa-free travel for Turkish citizens. (As one Turkish journalist remarked on Twitter, "Break up is official: Iran suspends visa privileges for Turks. Will officials exchange letters and gifts?" "Americans," I replied, "feel like the previous girlfriend who tried to warn Turkey, but everyone dismissed her as 'just bitter.'" This got a few laughs, but I suspect it also captures the truth just a bit too well for comfort.)
Two days ago, on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's website, Iranian Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Seyed Hassan Firouzabadi warned Turkey that "it will be its turn" if it continued to "help advance the warmongering policies of the United States in Syria." It would not, Firouzabadi said, be "an appropriate precedent, that neighboring countries of Syria contribute to the belligerent purposes of the Great Satan, the United States. If these countries have accepted such a precedent, they must be aware that after Syria, it will be the turn of Turkey and other countries."
Foreign Minister DavutoÄŸlu was clearly not best pleased by these comments. "There are disagreements between Turkey and Iran over the Syrian crisis for which the Syrian regime bears the whole responsibility," he replied. "It is our right to expect Iran to assume a constructive attitude in the face of the blood of Muslims spilled in Syria in the holy month of Ramadan. Blaming Turkey or other countries would produce no positive result ... and I have made perfectly clear to Salehi that Iranian officials should seriously filter their statements before making them."
Rumors here are circulating that DavutoÄŸlu is in bad odor in Ankara, his foreign policy vision having failed to deliver upon so much as a single one of its rosy promises. It is not clear how seriously these rumors should be taken: I for one cannot remember the resignation of a high-level Turkish politician over anything short of a leaked sex tape; political failure appears no obstacle to political advancement in Turkey. That said, immediately following his warning to Salehi, DavutoÄŸlu departed with unusual haste to Myanmar to address the plight of the long-suffering Rohingya Muslims. Given that DavutoÄŸlu's immediate neighborhood--and at least seven districts of his homeland--are in flames, this does seem an odd place for him to be. It isn't unusual in Turkey for attention to be diverted from domestic discontents by some spectacular display of humanitarian interest in a far-away, long suffering Muslim people (the last time, it was Somalia), but this is particularly bizarre. So who knows what machinations are playing out in Ankara.
London’s Militarised Olympic Games Conjures Up Orwell’s 1984
July 15, 2012
by Finian Cunningham
Source:Global Research
The London Olympics are fast taking on the appearance and tone of a full-scale land, sea and air military operation rather than an international sporting event.
With surface-to-air missiles stationed on top of residential apartment blocks, Royal Navy battleships on alert and Royal Air Force fighter jets and helicopters patrolling the skies over Britain’s capital there is a foreboding sense of a nation at war instead of an occasion of internationalist fraternity that the ancient Games are supposed to embody.
The Games begin in just under two weeks. The latest development is the announcement by Britain’s Ministry of Defence that 3,500 extra troops are to be deployed to ensure security at the 30 venues hosting sporting events. This is in addition to the 13,500 military personnel already assigned to protect members of the public and sports teams from the risk of terrorist attack.
British General Sir Nick Parker, overseeing the security arrangements, has said that one of the contingencies being planned for is dealing with a “9/11 type event”.
The total troop deployment in and around London represents 7,000 more personnel than is currently on British operations in Afghanistan.
This figure is in addition to the 10,000 extra police officers and a division of 10,000 private security guards. It was the disclosure that G45, the private security firm with the Olympics contract, could not fulfill its manpower requirements to cover the Games that prompted the latest enlisting of additional soldiers.
The militarization of the Olympics was conveyed inadvertently by a spokesman for the Ministry of Defence when he said: “Many of the people whom the public will meet at the point of entry to any Olympic event will now be a serving member of the armed forces.”
Boris Johnson, the maverick Mayor of London, said in a statement: “The mayor takes the issue of Olympics security extremely seriously, and having the finest and bravest service men and woman in the world at our disposal during the Games should be a source of great comfort.”
The Royal Navy’s largest battleship, HMS Ocean, will be moored on the Thames at Greenwich, providing a logistical command centre during the event. It will also provide a base for Lynx helicopters manned with snipers to make round-the-clock sorties over the capital.
Royal Marines on patrol boats and inflatable dinghies are also assigned on the iconic river that snakes its way through London’s historic landmarks.
The RAF will also be patrolling the skies over the capital with Puma helicopters and Typhoon fighter jets operating out of RAF Northolt in West London and Ilford in East London.
But the most controversial deployment has been the installation of surface-to-air missile batteries in residential apartment blocks in the impoverished, rundown East End of London. Residents recently lost a court battle to prevent the Rapier SAM batteries being installed.
The mainly working-class local communities objected to the militarization of their neighbourhoods. They also questioned the safety for residents in the event of the weapons being used to bring down aircraft suspected of carrying out terror attacks. One local man said: “What’s going to happen if our houses get showered with debris?”
The military invasion of poor neighbourhoods for the four-week duration of Olympics has served to rankle already ill feeling towards the colossal spectacle. East London areas such as Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest lie in the shadow of some of the purpose-built venues. The staging of the Olympics, including the massive security operation, is reckoned to come to a total cost between $20 and $40 billion, much of which will be footed by the taxpayer. This is at time of swingeing austerity cuts by the British government amounting to a total of $140 billion axed from public spending.
Socially deprived communities in London’s East End have borne the brunt of government cutbacks required to balance Treasury books thrown into disarray from lavishing billions of dollars on bailing out corrupt private banks.
With unemployment and deprivation being felt keenly in areas like London’s East End, not many of the residents there will be able to afford the admission to the Olympics, with tickets fetching as much as $3,000.
Given the juxtaposition of this glitzy event and its garish corporate sponsorship alongside the sprawling grim poverty for many Londoners – amid the backdrop of full-scale military operations and surveillance – there is an eerie sense of George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984.
Orwell’s classic story of an authoritarian police state was set mainly in London, which had become the capital of Airstrip One, a province of the American super-state, Oceania. The impoverished majority of the populace, the “proles”, had to content themselves with seedy pubs and the faint hope of winning a weekly lottery, while the “inner circle” lorded over the masses. The proles were kept in their place of servitude by emergency powers and a permanent state of war. There is also more than a suspicion in Orwell’s 1984 that the supposed state of war and incoming attacks from anonymous enemies were a contrivance by the elite to instill fear in the masses.
With the British government’s lead participation in America’s "global war on terror” (commonly referred to as GWOT) and evidence that British intelligence colluded in the so-called 7/7 London underground terror bombings in 2005, Orwell’s 1984 looks increasingly like life imitating art.
The novel was published in 1949, one year after the last Olympics were staged in London. Those Games were held in the aftermath of World War II when much of London’s skyline would have still shown the devastation of the German Luftwaffe’s Blitzkrieg.
In 2012, London will also resemble a war zone, owing to the spurious “war on terror” that the British government and its American allies have embarked on in the pursuit of domestic and foreign dominance.
by Finian Cunningham
Source:Global Research
The London Olympics are fast taking on the appearance and tone of a full-scale land, sea and air military operation rather than an international sporting event.
With surface-to-air missiles stationed on top of residential apartment blocks, Royal Navy battleships on alert and Royal Air Force fighter jets and helicopters patrolling the skies over Britain’s capital there is a foreboding sense of a nation at war instead of an occasion of internationalist fraternity that the ancient Games are supposed to embody.
The Games begin in just under two weeks. The latest development is the announcement by Britain’s Ministry of Defence that 3,500 extra troops are to be deployed to ensure security at the 30 venues hosting sporting events. This is in addition to the 13,500 military personnel already assigned to protect members of the public and sports teams from the risk of terrorist attack.
British General Sir Nick Parker, overseeing the security arrangements, has said that one of the contingencies being planned for is dealing with a “9/11 type event”.
The total troop deployment in and around London represents 7,000 more personnel than is currently on British operations in Afghanistan.
This figure is in addition to the 10,000 extra police officers and a division of 10,000 private security guards. It was the disclosure that G45, the private security firm with the Olympics contract, could not fulfill its manpower requirements to cover the Games that prompted the latest enlisting of additional soldiers.
The militarization of the Olympics was conveyed inadvertently by a spokesman for the Ministry of Defence when he said: “Many of the people whom the public will meet at the point of entry to any Olympic event will now be a serving member of the armed forces.”
Boris Johnson, the maverick Mayor of London, said in a statement: “The mayor takes the issue of Olympics security extremely seriously, and having the finest and bravest service men and woman in the world at our disposal during the Games should be a source of great comfort.”
The Royal Navy’s largest battleship, HMS Ocean, will be moored on the Thames at Greenwich, providing a logistical command centre during the event. It will also provide a base for Lynx helicopters manned with snipers to make round-the-clock sorties over the capital.
Royal Marines on patrol boats and inflatable dinghies are also assigned on the iconic river that snakes its way through London’s historic landmarks.
The RAF will also be patrolling the skies over the capital with Puma helicopters and Typhoon fighter jets operating out of RAF Northolt in West London and Ilford in East London.
But the most controversial deployment has been the installation of surface-to-air missile batteries in residential apartment blocks in the impoverished, rundown East End of London. Residents recently lost a court battle to prevent the Rapier SAM batteries being installed.
The mainly working-class local communities objected to the militarization of their neighbourhoods. They also questioned the safety for residents in the event of the weapons being used to bring down aircraft suspected of carrying out terror attacks. One local man said: “What’s going to happen if our houses get showered with debris?”
The military invasion of poor neighbourhoods for the four-week duration of Olympics has served to rankle already ill feeling towards the colossal spectacle. East London areas such as Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest lie in the shadow of some of the purpose-built venues. The staging of the Olympics, including the massive security operation, is reckoned to come to a total cost between $20 and $40 billion, much of which will be footed by the taxpayer. This is at time of swingeing austerity cuts by the British government amounting to a total of $140 billion axed from public spending.
Socially deprived communities in London’s East End have borne the brunt of government cutbacks required to balance Treasury books thrown into disarray from lavishing billions of dollars on bailing out corrupt private banks.
With unemployment and deprivation being felt keenly in areas like London’s East End, not many of the residents there will be able to afford the admission to the Olympics, with tickets fetching as much as $3,000.
Given the juxtaposition of this glitzy event and its garish corporate sponsorship alongside the sprawling grim poverty for many Londoners – amid the backdrop of full-scale military operations and surveillance – there is an eerie sense of George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984.
Orwell’s classic story of an authoritarian police state was set mainly in London, which had become the capital of Airstrip One, a province of the American super-state, Oceania. The impoverished majority of the populace, the “proles”, had to content themselves with seedy pubs and the faint hope of winning a weekly lottery, while the “inner circle” lorded over the masses. The proles were kept in their place of servitude by emergency powers and a permanent state of war. There is also more than a suspicion in Orwell’s 1984 that the supposed state of war and incoming attacks from anonymous enemies were a contrivance by the elite to instill fear in the masses.
With the British government’s lead participation in America’s "global war on terror” (commonly referred to as GWOT) and evidence that British intelligence colluded in the so-called 7/7 London underground terror bombings in 2005, Orwell’s 1984 looks increasingly like life imitating art.
The novel was published in 1949, one year after the last Olympics were staged in London. Those Games were held in the aftermath of World War II when much of London’s skyline would have still shown the devastation of the German Luftwaffe’s Blitzkrieg.
In 2012, London will also resemble a war zone, owing to the spurious “war on terror” that the British government and its American allies have embarked on in the pursuit of domestic and foreign dominance.
Israeli gas, Iranian Missles, and the Russian Price Tag
Aug 17, 2012
by Rotem Sella
Source: Gatestone Institute
In the on-going debate over an Israeli attack on Iran, attention has largely focused over the last few weeks on Israel and America, for good reason. But what about Russia?
A very senior person in the Israeli gas industry tells me: "The Russians have been poking around here for a while. Everyone knows about the Russian interest in controlling the European energy market. Do they want to buy from us, or delay our efforts? I don't know. But they are here."
In early July, the Israeli energy and infrastructure news website "Thastiot" claimed that during Vladimir Putin's much publicized visit to Israel, Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to form a junior company to Gazprom – the Russian oil and gas giant—which would help develop Israel's biggest gas field, the recently discovered reserves in the eastern Mediterranean, the so-called "Levyatan" (Leviathan) reserves.
"Eventually Israeli gas will be exported to the far east," Ohad Marani, CEO of IDLC energy which is already drilling the Myra, said to me. For him, the question is purely economic. "In the Far East we will see three times what we see in Europe. While we won't be able to keep the whole margin, it's surely better than any European option, which would involve an expensive pipe."
The senior industry veteran with whom I spoke is not quite sure. Yes, the Far East has unlimited demand ("The Japanese are lessening their reliance on nuclear, and the Chinese can never have enough") but the European market remains relevant and we have this massive amount of gas already discovered or to be discovered. The US geological survey (USGC) estimates that gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean amount to 345 trillion cubic feet while Russian gas reserves in Siberia are estimated at 643 tcf.
Big business! With lots of Russians having come and gone to Israel on this question, one wonders about the relationship between the gas deal and Russian involvement on the Iran question.
The same week Putin visited Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Eurasia monitor published that:
"the government agency that oversees Russia's arms exports and imports… confirmed that Iran is suing Russia for damages to the tune of some $4 billion in the Court of Arbitration in Geneva for cancelling in 2010 a contract to sell five divisions of the S-300 long-range antiaircraft missile system worth an estimated $800 million to $1 billion."
By some estimates the worth of the Levayatan gas-field might be 15 billion dollars say Gilad Alper, the gas industry analyst at the Excellence Investment house. It trades today at a price of 3 billion dollars.
Another way to look at it: Levayatan contains 473 billion cubic meters of gas. Gazprom exported 150 billion cubic meters of Gas to Europe in 2011, at a price of 384$ per thousand cubic meters – revenue of 57.6 billion dollar—this year Gazprom raised the price to 415$, an 8% increase that will generate another 4.6 billion dollar of revenue to Gazprom. What would be the cost of keeping Israeli competition neutralized? Would it be worth the cancellation of an 800 million dollar deal? Could Russian action over the missile sale and Israeli gas reserves indicate that they have come to terms with the Israeli point of view?
Prominent Americans like David Petraeus have been saying non-stop that Israel does not have the capability to destroy Iranian Nuclear capacities, and surely not Iran's ambition to go nuclear. But if Israel can indeed delay the project while in the meantime having taken out of the picture one of Iran's most important allies, then things might look very different from the office of Prime Minister Netanyahu. Everyone knows that Russia intends to play the 'spoiler' in the International arena. But this spoiler frequently has a price tag.
by Rotem Sella
Source: Gatestone Institute
In the on-going debate over an Israeli attack on Iran, attention has largely focused over the last few weeks on Israel and America, for good reason. But what about Russia?
A very senior person in the Israeli gas industry tells me: "The Russians have been poking around here for a while. Everyone knows about the Russian interest in controlling the European energy market. Do they want to buy from us, or delay our efforts? I don't know. But they are here."
In early July, the Israeli energy and infrastructure news website "Thastiot" claimed that during Vladimir Putin's much publicized visit to Israel, Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to form a junior company to Gazprom – the Russian oil and gas giant—which would help develop Israel's biggest gas field, the recently discovered reserves in the eastern Mediterranean, the so-called "Levyatan" (Leviathan) reserves.
"Eventually Israeli gas will be exported to the far east," Ohad Marani, CEO of IDLC energy which is already drilling the Myra, said to me. For him, the question is purely economic. "In the Far East we will see three times what we see in Europe. While we won't be able to keep the whole margin, it's surely better than any European option, which would involve an expensive pipe."
The senior industry veteran with whom I spoke is not quite sure. Yes, the Far East has unlimited demand ("The Japanese are lessening their reliance on nuclear, and the Chinese can never have enough") but the European market remains relevant and we have this massive amount of gas already discovered or to be discovered. The US geological survey (USGC) estimates that gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean amount to 345 trillion cubic feet while Russian gas reserves in Siberia are estimated at 643 tcf.
Big business! With lots of Russians having come and gone to Israel on this question, one wonders about the relationship between the gas deal and Russian involvement on the Iran question.
The same week Putin visited Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Eurasia monitor published that:
"the government agency that oversees Russia's arms exports and imports… confirmed that Iran is suing Russia for damages to the tune of some $4 billion in the Court of Arbitration in Geneva for cancelling in 2010 a contract to sell five divisions of the S-300 long-range antiaircraft missile system worth an estimated $800 million to $1 billion."
By some estimates the worth of the Levayatan gas-field might be 15 billion dollars say Gilad Alper, the gas industry analyst at the Excellence Investment house. It trades today at a price of 3 billion dollars.
Another way to look at it: Levayatan contains 473 billion cubic meters of gas. Gazprom exported 150 billion cubic meters of Gas to Europe in 2011, at a price of 384$ per thousand cubic meters – revenue of 57.6 billion dollar—this year Gazprom raised the price to 415$, an 8% increase that will generate another 4.6 billion dollar of revenue to Gazprom. What would be the cost of keeping Israeli competition neutralized? Would it be worth the cancellation of an 800 million dollar deal? Could Russian action over the missile sale and Israeli gas reserves indicate that they have come to terms with the Israeli point of view?
Prominent Americans like David Petraeus have been saying non-stop that Israel does not have the capability to destroy Iranian Nuclear capacities, and surely not Iran's ambition to go nuclear. But if Israel can indeed delay the project while in the meantime having taken out of the picture one of Iran's most important allies, then things might look very different from the office of Prime Minister Netanyahu. Everyone knows that Russia intends to play the 'spoiler' in the International arena. But this spoiler frequently has a price tag.
Hamas to help Egypt find Sinai terrorists
Aug. 17, 2012
Source:UPI
GAZA, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Hamas said it is dedicated to helping Egypt find the those responsible for killing 16 Egyptian border guards in the Sinai Peninsula.
The announcement came Thursday as rumors surfaced that Hamas and Egypt formed a joint security committee to investigate the Aug. 5 attack, The Jerusalem Post reported.
"We are doing everything we can to help Egypt in gathering information and carrying out other security measures to reveal the identity of the perpetrators of the massacre," said Ehab Ghissin, spokesman of the Hamas-run Interior Ministry.
Hamas and Egyptian authorities are working together "on all levels" to solve the case and bring the perpetrators to trial, Ghissin said.
Source:UPI
GAZA, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Hamas said it is dedicated to helping Egypt find the those responsible for killing 16 Egyptian border guards in the Sinai Peninsula.
The announcement came Thursday as rumors surfaced that Hamas and Egypt formed a joint security committee to investigate the Aug. 5 attack, The Jerusalem Post reported.
"We are doing everything we can to help Egypt in gathering information and carrying out other security measures to reveal the identity of the perpetrators of the massacre," said Ehab Ghissin, spokesman of the Hamas-run Interior Ministry.
Hamas and Egyptian authorities are working together "on all levels" to solve the case and bring the perpetrators to trial, Ghissin said.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
The most damning vaccination study not publically disclosed to date
August 15, 2012
by: Paul Fassa
(NaturalNews) There have been reports from epidemiological studies confirming suspicions that those who are vaccinated often don't do as well with long-term health as those who are vaccination free.
Those epidemiological studies (statistical surveys) have shown that bad health is more common among the vaccinated who survive without serious injury than children not vaccinated.
But how and why has not come under controlled animal lab studies until Japan's Kobe University animal lab study of 2009.
This study was reported and peer reviewed in the PLOS One Open Journal at the end of 2009, but has not received much if any public attention. It was brought to public's attention very recently by homoeopathist and health writer Heidi Stevenson's article on her Gaia Health blog. (Source below)
Japanese study summary
Here's the conclusion quoted from the Kobe University study's journal report:
"Systemic autoimmunity appears to be the inevitable consequence of over-stimulating the host's immune 'system' by repeated immunization with antigen, to the levels that surpass system's self-organize criticality." (Emphasis added.)
The initial purpose of this independently funded study was to understand how autoimmune diseases develop from autoimmunity. It was not an effort to prove vaccination safety or danger.
The researchers used mice that were bred to avoid autoimmune diseases and injected them with solutions that contain antigens. Antigens generate antibodies to protect against invading disease pathogens. Antibodies can turn against the host if they become self generated, causing autoimmune diseases.
A vaccination injects cultured vaccine antigens of weakened or dead viruses to create an immune response of antibodies to that antigen, supposedly for creating immunity to that particular disease.
It's not very unusual for cytokine storms (immune system overreactions) to overwhelm one who has been vaccinated. Vaccine adverse reactions have caused injuries of permanent disability, autism spectrum disorders, or death more often than publicly disclosed.
The Kobe researchers injected the mice that were bred to not develop autoimmune diseases repeatedly with antigens, much like vaccinations are administered to infants and children, to study how an immune system could turn on itself to create autoimmune diseases.
They were pushing the mice's immune systems to see if and when they would no longer bend, but break. They used Staphylococcus entertoxin B (SEB) as their injected antigens.
The study report did not mention including any toxic adjuvants or preservatives such as mercury, aluminum, or formaldehyde used in vaccines. Antigens were used without the toxic additives normally used in vaccinations.
After seven injections the mice recovered each time with their immune systems intact. But after the eighth injection, problems with key immunity cells began arising.
Damaged cells were observed microscopically and showed signs of early autoimmunity. Their immune systems had started to self generate antibodies for autoimmune reactions after repeated antigen inoculations. (Source below)
Conclusion
This study should put to rest the notion that "greening" vaccines, that is removing or withholding vaccines' normal toxic additives, would make the childhood vaccination schedule of close to 40 vaccinations by 18 months of age more agreeable.
The Kobe animal trials demonstrated how autoimmune reactions were created as a consequence of repeated antigen only inoculations with long enough breaks between each injection to allow complete recoveries.
Autoimmune diseases have increased in quantity and variety as childhood vaccination schedules increased and more vaccines were made available for naive recipients. Even infectious diseases that vaccines are supposed to immunize against have appeared among the vaccinated more often than publicly admitted.
The very basis of creating immunity with even "greened" vaccinations is worse than false, it is actually unhealthy.
Sources for this article include:
Heidi's article: http://gaia-health.com
The Japanese study's journal report: http://www.plosone.org
Antigens explained: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigen
Recommended vaccination schedule for children to age six: http://aapredbook.aappublications.org
About the author:
Paul Fassa is dedicated to warning others about the current corruption of food and medicine and guiding others toward a direction for better health with no restrictions on health freedom. You can visit his blog at http://healthmaven.blogspot.com
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036806_vaccination_studies_side_effects_immune_system.html#ixzz23i5e0XLX
by: Paul Fassa
(NaturalNews) There have been reports from epidemiological studies confirming suspicions that those who are vaccinated often don't do as well with long-term health as those who are vaccination free.
Those epidemiological studies (statistical surveys) have shown that bad health is more common among the vaccinated who survive without serious injury than children not vaccinated.
But how and why has not come under controlled animal lab studies until Japan's Kobe University animal lab study of 2009.
This study was reported and peer reviewed in the PLOS One Open Journal at the end of 2009, but has not received much if any public attention. It was brought to public's attention very recently by homoeopathist and health writer Heidi Stevenson's article on her Gaia Health blog. (Source below)
Japanese study summary
Here's the conclusion quoted from the Kobe University study's journal report:
"Systemic autoimmunity appears to be the inevitable consequence of over-stimulating the host's immune 'system' by repeated immunization with antigen, to the levels that surpass system's self-organize criticality." (Emphasis added.)
The initial purpose of this independently funded study was to understand how autoimmune diseases develop from autoimmunity. It was not an effort to prove vaccination safety or danger.
The researchers used mice that were bred to avoid autoimmune diseases and injected them with solutions that contain antigens. Antigens generate antibodies to protect against invading disease pathogens. Antibodies can turn against the host if they become self generated, causing autoimmune diseases.
A vaccination injects cultured vaccine antigens of weakened or dead viruses to create an immune response of antibodies to that antigen, supposedly for creating immunity to that particular disease.
It's not very unusual for cytokine storms (immune system overreactions) to overwhelm one who has been vaccinated. Vaccine adverse reactions have caused injuries of permanent disability, autism spectrum disorders, or death more often than publicly disclosed.
The Kobe researchers injected the mice that were bred to not develop autoimmune diseases repeatedly with antigens, much like vaccinations are administered to infants and children, to study how an immune system could turn on itself to create autoimmune diseases.
They were pushing the mice's immune systems to see if and when they would no longer bend, but break. They used Staphylococcus entertoxin B (SEB) as their injected antigens.
The study report did not mention including any toxic adjuvants or preservatives such as mercury, aluminum, or formaldehyde used in vaccines. Antigens were used without the toxic additives normally used in vaccinations.
After seven injections the mice recovered each time with their immune systems intact. But after the eighth injection, problems with key immunity cells began arising.
Damaged cells were observed microscopically and showed signs of early autoimmunity. Their immune systems had started to self generate antibodies for autoimmune reactions after repeated antigen inoculations. (Source below)
Conclusion
This study should put to rest the notion that "greening" vaccines, that is removing or withholding vaccines' normal toxic additives, would make the childhood vaccination schedule of close to 40 vaccinations by 18 months of age more agreeable.
The Kobe animal trials demonstrated how autoimmune reactions were created as a consequence of repeated antigen only inoculations with long enough breaks between each injection to allow complete recoveries.
Autoimmune diseases have increased in quantity and variety as childhood vaccination schedules increased and more vaccines were made available for naive recipients. Even infectious diseases that vaccines are supposed to immunize against have appeared among the vaccinated more often than publicly admitted.
The very basis of creating immunity with even "greened" vaccinations is worse than false, it is actually unhealthy.
Sources for this article include:
Heidi's article: http://gaia-health.com
The Japanese study's journal report: http://www.plosone.org
Antigens explained: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigen
Recommended vaccination schedule for children to age six: http://aapredbook.aappublications.org
About the author:
Paul Fassa is dedicated to warning others about the current corruption of food and medicine and guiding others toward a direction for better health with no restrictions on health freedom. You can visit his blog at http://healthmaven.blogspot.com
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036806_vaccination_studies_side_effects_immune_system.html#ixzz23i5e0XLX
Friday, August 10, 2012
Some Thoughts About : Taqlid, Shirk and The Islamic Nation
August 9, 2012
Ramadan 22,1433- after ten thirty at night.
Written by: Sheila Quinn
Source: A New Era
Bismillah, Ir Rahman, Ir Raheem.(In the name of The God, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful)
This blog is my online column. I usually write about political things on this blog. But today, I feel I need to make an exception. Although, what I am writing about isn't political- it is very much current events.
Well... These are some thoughts about: The Islamic Nation, The Islamic Faith and Muslims. We have just started the last third of the month of Ramadan. I am very mentally active. During this month of Ramadan I have spent some time on the internet... sharing information about Islam with others and acting as an advocate of my Muslim brothers and sisters. At one point I came across a clip in which a Muslim brother claimed that taqlid is an essential part of The Islamic Faith. I listened to everything he said- and found many things that he said to be nonsensical. One of the things that he said was that every Muslim was involved in taqlid. I told him that this is wrong. I am a Muslim, but I am not involved in taqlid. I also said that Allah says in some of the ayat(verses)in The Qur'an that anyone who was involved in taqlid was involved in shirk (a.k.a. blasphemy/giving partners to the One God.)
Today I got a response from him. I mentioned in my comment that there are ayat(verses) in the Qur'an that says that taqlid is shirk. Did this individual ask me for reference as to what ayat I was talking about? No, he didn't. What he did do was to be confrontational and argumentative with me. He basically said that taqlid wasn't shirk because every Muslim, including the Sahaba (Companions of Prophet Muhammad) were involved in it. Is he a "scholar"? perhaps... I wouldn't be surprised if many so called "Muslim scholars" who have a university degree in Islamic Shariah did agree with him.
Now, why am I being outspoken on an issue that many "scholars" would find to be unacceptable? There are two reasons. The first reason is that I am a seeker of truth. I came to The Islamic Faith as a seeker of truth and I understand The Islamic Faith as a seeker of truth. What is the truth? The Qur'an is the truth! As a Muslim I take everything that Allah says in The Qur'an with tremendous respect and acceptance. If the Qur'an says one thing and the scholars say another thing who should I believe? As Allah's slave I should believe The Qur'an - not the scholars! As a seeker of truth I am very skeptical about things that I read and are told to me. I perceive all human beings to be fallible creatures who are limited in both knowledge and wisdom. Although scholars are supposed to be experts who have more knowledge in a subject than most people do-that doesn't mean that they are infallible beings who don't make mistakes. I am outspoken about this issue because I must speak the truth...no ands, ifs or buts about it.
The second reason is that I am a slave of Allah's (of The Creator's). As His slave I am obligated to obey Him and His Messenger- Prophet Muhammad. In order to obey my creator I must speak out against that which I know -without a doubt- to be wrong. There are a couple of hadeeth of Prophet Muhammad where he orders us to speak out about what is wrong. Also in The Qur'an Allah orders us to speak the truth. One place is in Sura (chapter) "Asr" ("Time Through the Ages")# 103. An english translation of what is said in Asr is: "By the time, verily man is in loss, except such as have faith, and do righteous deeds, and in the mutual enjoining of truth, and of patience and of constancy."
Taqlid is not only wrong- but it is shirk. Allah says so in The Qur'an. What is some of the evidence of this? Well...part of the evidence is in Sura (chapter) "Ar-Rum" (The Romans). In Ayain (verses) 31-32 there is evidence. An english translation is; "Turn ye in repentance to Him, and fear Him: establish regular prayers, and be not ye among those who join gods with Allah; those who split up the religion and become sects. Each party rejoicing in that which is with itself!" These ayain is just part of the evidence that taqlid is shirk. Any Muslim who is involved in taqlid is not following Prophet Muhammad; and anyone who is following Prophet Muhammad is not involved in taqlid!
Those who are involved in taqlid remind me of Christians who believe in the trinity. Christians who believe in the trinity insist that they are monotheists when - in fact- they are polytheists. Same thing with those who are involved in taqlid. They insist they are following Prophet Muhammad -when in fact, they are ignoring his words and the words of the one who sent him.
What does this have to do with The Islamic Nation? The Islamic Nation is a ship that is sinking. What is causing it to sink? What is causing it to sink is: taqlid, mathahab (madthabs), fatwa and ijtihad.
Ramadan 22,1433- after ten thirty at night.
Written by: Sheila Quinn
Source: A New Era
Bismillah, Ir Rahman, Ir Raheem.(In the name of The God, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful)
This blog is my online column. I usually write about political things on this blog. But today, I feel I need to make an exception. Although, what I am writing about isn't political- it is very much current events.
Well... These are some thoughts about: The Islamic Nation, The Islamic Faith and Muslims. We have just started the last third of the month of Ramadan. I am very mentally active. During this month of Ramadan I have spent some time on the internet... sharing information about Islam with others and acting as an advocate of my Muslim brothers and sisters. At one point I came across a clip in which a Muslim brother claimed that taqlid is an essential part of The Islamic Faith. I listened to everything he said- and found many things that he said to be nonsensical. One of the things that he said was that every Muslim was involved in taqlid. I told him that this is wrong. I am a Muslim, but I am not involved in taqlid. I also said that Allah says in some of the ayat(verses)in The Qur'an that anyone who was involved in taqlid was involved in shirk (a.k.a. blasphemy/giving partners to the One God.)
Today I got a response from him. I mentioned in my comment that there are ayat(verses) in the Qur'an that says that taqlid is shirk. Did this individual ask me for reference as to what ayat I was talking about? No, he didn't. What he did do was to be confrontational and argumentative with me. He basically said that taqlid wasn't shirk because every Muslim, including the Sahaba (Companions of Prophet Muhammad) were involved in it. Is he a "scholar"? perhaps... I wouldn't be surprised if many so called "Muslim scholars" who have a university degree in Islamic Shariah did agree with him.
Now, why am I being outspoken on an issue that many "scholars" would find to be unacceptable? There are two reasons. The first reason is that I am a seeker of truth. I came to The Islamic Faith as a seeker of truth and I understand The Islamic Faith as a seeker of truth. What is the truth? The Qur'an is the truth! As a Muslim I take everything that Allah says in The Qur'an with tremendous respect and acceptance. If the Qur'an says one thing and the scholars say another thing who should I believe? As Allah's slave I should believe The Qur'an - not the scholars! As a seeker of truth I am very skeptical about things that I read and are told to me. I perceive all human beings to be fallible creatures who are limited in both knowledge and wisdom. Although scholars are supposed to be experts who have more knowledge in a subject than most people do-that doesn't mean that they are infallible beings who don't make mistakes. I am outspoken about this issue because I must speak the truth...no ands, ifs or buts about it.
The second reason is that I am a slave of Allah's (of The Creator's). As His slave I am obligated to obey Him and His Messenger- Prophet Muhammad. In order to obey my creator I must speak out against that which I know -without a doubt- to be wrong. There are a couple of hadeeth of Prophet Muhammad where he orders us to speak out about what is wrong. Also in The Qur'an Allah orders us to speak the truth. One place is in Sura (chapter) "Asr" ("Time Through the Ages")# 103. An english translation of what is said in Asr is: "By the time, verily man is in loss, except such as have faith, and do righteous deeds, and in the mutual enjoining of truth, and of patience and of constancy."
Taqlid is not only wrong- but it is shirk. Allah says so in The Qur'an. What is some of the evidence of this? Well...part of the evidence is in Sura (chapter) "Ar-Rum" (The Romans). In Ayain (verses) 31-32 there is evidence. An english translation is; "Turn ye in repentance to Him, and fear Him: establish regular prayers, and be not ye among those who join gods with Allah; those who split up the religion and become sects. Each party rejoicing in that which is with itself!" These ayain is just part of the evidence that taqlid is shirk. Any Muslim who is involved in taqlid is not following Prophet Muhammad; and anyone who is following Prophet Muhammad is not involved in taqlid!
Those who are involved in taqlid remind me of Christians who believe in the trinity. Christians who believe in the trinity insist that they are monotheists when - in fact- they are polytheists. Same thing with those who are involved in taqlid. They insist they are following Prophet Muhammad -when in fact, they are ignoring his words and the words of the one who sent him.
What does this have to do with The Islamic Nation? The Islamic Nation is a ship that is sinking. What is causing it to sink? What is causing it to sink is: taqlid, mathahab (madthabs), fatwa and ijtihad.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Thousands of Gazans stranded after Egypt border closure
9 Aug 2012
Salma Shukrallah
Source: Ahram Online
The Sinai border attack that left 16 Egyptian border guards dead and several more injured has not only shocked Egyptians, but Palestinians as well, many of whom were left stranded in Egypt after Egyptian authorities shut the border with the Gaza Strip in the immediate wake of Sunday's attack.
The Rafah border crossing, which links Egypt and the besieged coastal enclave, was tightly sealed following the violence, which was – allegedly – carried out by Gaza-based militants.
Optimism on the part of Gazans that the ongoing siege of the strip – that continues to be partially enforced by Egypt – would be eased after the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi became president soon faded in the wake of the attack.
"For more than ten days now, we had been able to enter Egypt more easily without the tough security checks that we had to go through before, but now the border is completely closed," said 40-year-old Palestinian Gamal Daher, who is currently unable to return to his home.
"Palestinians flying into Egypt to get back to Gaza are still treated horrifically; they are kept in detention with no proper bed for up to three days before being escorted to the border. Their only crime is being Palestinian," Gaza-based solidarity activist and Free Gaza Movement member Adie Mormech told Ahram Online.
According to estimates, there are more than 4,500 Palestinian travellers either stranded outside Gaza or stuck inside, unable to catch their flights to Saudi Arabia and thus forfeiting thousands of dollars in lost transportation costs.
Seventeen-year-old Mohamed Khaled, who came to Egypt for an operation for an injury sustained during Israel's 2008/09 war on Gaza, was also left stranded in Egypt after the hospital told him they were not taking patients until after Ramadan.
This is Khaled's fourth trip to Egypt to seek medical help after having been turned down three times before by Egyptian physicians. This has not only meant hefty transport costs, Khaled laments, but he has also been left with nowhere to go, since the border is often closed without warning.
During the 18-day uprising that led to Mubarak's ouster, Khaled had been forced to stay in a rented apartment in a district of Cairo. He was unable to leave his temporary Cairo residence, fearing that he would be targeted as a Palestinian after pro-Mubarak elements propagated the false rumour that Palestinian resistance faction Hamas was behind the violence in Tahrir Square.
Similarly, 20-year-old Mahmoud Yassin, who is also currently stranded in Cairo, said that after the attacks, fingers of blame were again pointed at Palestinians.
"Now when I tell someone in Cairo that I'm Palestinian, I'm blamed for the killing of the Egyptian soldiers…they would angrily ask me why we did the attack," said Yassin, who entered Egypt only hours after Sunday's Sinai attack to seek medical help for wounds caused by rocket shrapnel from a 2008 Israeli assault.
Attacks against Egypt’s security forces have repeatedly been blamed by officials on Islamist militants entering the country from Gaza. Such accusations have stirred considerable Egyptian hostility towards Palestinians, and more so against Islamist faction Hamas.
Hamas, for its part, has strenuously denied any responsibility or knowledge of the attack, and has announced plans to assist Egyptian security agencies in guarding the border and halting any potential terrorist threat from its side. Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007 (after sweeping 2006 legislative elections), also held mass prayers for the slain Egyptian border guards.
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, meanwhile, a loose affiliate of Hamas, released a statement on Tuesday blaming Israel for the criminal act. The statement also condemned the media for its quickness to blame groups based in Gaza.
The Brotherhood has not been alone in its suspicions. The National Front for Justice and Democracy, an Egyptian revolutionary youth group, also released a statement pointing out that Palestinians had the most to lose from the attacks, warning that they should not be dragged into internal conflicts.
Daher told Ahram Online that many Palestinians currently in the border city of Rafah are being randomly arrested since Sunday's violence, regardless of whether or not they had the appropriate travel documentation. Moreover, many Gazans now fear they will soon be suffering an even more acute shortage of basic commodities in light of the post-attack border closure.
Gazans have long suffered from the crippling effects of the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the territory, especially the lack of sufficient building material to rebuild the thousands of homes systematically destroyed by Israel in recent years.
"The lack of building materials has pushed many Palestinians in Gaza to recycle the remains of their torn-down homes to build new ones," said Yassin.
Adding to this fear, Egypt's state-owned Arab Contractors company, under the supervision of the Egyptian military, has, since Tuesday, been destroying the subterranean tunnels linking Gaza to Egypt.
The system of tunnels between Gaza and Egyptian Rafah has long represented the primary channel by which food and other vital commodities have been brought into Gaza since the blockade was first imposed in 2006.
Egypt's complicity in the blockade under Mubarak had been a controversial issue in Egypt, largely contributing to popular ire against the former regime. Yet even after last year's revolution, the border remained tightly sealed to commercial traffic.
Although the Rafah crossing was opened to limited passenger traffic in April of last year, this, too, has ground to a halt following Sunday's attack and the subsequent border closure.
Salma Shukrallah
Source: Ahram Online
The Sinai border attack that left 16 Egyptian border guards dead and several more injured has not only shocked Egyptians, but Palestinians as well, many of whom were left stranded in Egypt after Egyptian authorities shut the border with the Gaza Strip in the immediate wake of Sunday's attack.
The Rafah border crossing, which links Egypt and the besieged coastal enclave, was tightly sealed following the violence, which was – allegedly – carried out by Gaza-based militants.
Optimism on the part of Gazans that the ongoing siege of the strip – that continues to be partially enforced by Egypt – would be eased after the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi became president soon faded in the wake of the attack.
"For more than ten days now, we had been able to enter Egypt more easily without the tough security checks that we had to go through before, but now the border is completely closed," said 40-year-old Palestinian Gamal Daher, who is currently unable to return to his home.
"Palestinians flying into Egypt to get back to Gaza are still treated horrifically; they are kept in detention with no proper bed for up to three days before being escorted to the border. Their only crime is being Palestinian," Gaza-based solidarity activist and Free Gaza Movement member Adie Mormech told Ahram Online.
According to estimates, there are more than 4,500 Palestinian travellers either stranded outside Gaza or stuck inside, unable to catch their flights to Saudi Arabia and thus forfeiting thousands of dollars in lost transportation costs.
Seventeen-year-old Mohamed Khaled, who came to Egypt for an operation for an injury sustained during Israel's 2008/09 war on Gaza, was also left stranded in Egypt after the hospital told him they were not taking patients until after Ramadan.
This is Khaled's fourth trip to Egypt to seek medical help after having been turned down three times before by Egyptian physicians. This has not only meant hefty transport costs, Khaled laments, but he has also been left with nowhere to go, since the border is often closed without warning.
During the 18-day uprising that led to Mubarak's ouster, Khaled had been forced to stay in a rented apartment in a district of Cairo. He was unable to leave his temporary Cairo residence, fearing that he would be targeted as a Palestinian after pro-Mubarak elements propagated the false rumour that Palestinian resistance faction Hamas was behind the violence in Tahrir Square.
Similarly, 20-year-old Mahmoud Yassin, who is also currently stranded in Cairo, said that after the attacks, fingers of blame were again pointed at Palestinians.
"Now when I tell someone in Cairo that I'm Palestinian, I'm blamed for the killing of the Egyptian soldiers…they would angrily ask me why we did the attack," said Yassin, who entered Egypt only hours after Sunday's Sinai attack to seek medical help for wounds caused by rocket shrapnel from a 2008 Israeli assault.
Attacks against Egypt’s security forces have repeatedly been blamed by officials on Islamist militants entering the country from Gaza. Such accusations have stirred considerable Egyptian hostility towards Palestinians, and more so against Islamist faction Hamas.
Hamas, for its part, has strenuously denied any responsibility or knowledge of the attack, and has announced plans to assist Egyptian security agencies in guarding the border and halting any potential terrorist threat from its side. Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007 (after sweeping 2006 legislative elections), also held mass prayers for the slain Egyptian border guards.
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, meanwhile, a loose affiliate of Hamas, released a statement on Tuesday blaming Israel for the criminal act. The statement also condemned the media for its quickness to blame groups based in Gaza.
The Brotherhood has not been alone in its suspicions. The National Front for Justice and Democracy, an Egyptian revolutionary youth group, also released a statement pointing out that Palestinians had the most to lose from the attacks, warning that they should not be dragged into internal conflicts.
Daher told Ahram Online that many Palestinians currently in the border city of Rafah are being randomly arrested since Sunday's violence, regardless of whether or not they had the appropriate travel documentation. Moreover, many Gazans now fear they will soon be suffering an even more acute shortage of basic commodities in light of the post-attack border closure.
Gazans have long suffered from the crippling effects of the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the territory, especially the lack of sufficient building material to rebuild the thousands of homes systematically destroyed by Israel in recent years.
"The lack of building materials has pushed many Palestinians in Gaza to recycle the remains of their torn-down homes to build new ones," said Yassin.
Adding to this fear, Egypt's state-owned Arab Contractors company, under the supervision of the Egyptian military, has, since Tuesday, been destroying the subterranean tunnels linking Gaza to Egypt.
The system of tunnels between Gaza and Egyptian Rafah has long represented the primary channel by which food and other vital commodities have been brought into Gaza since the blockade was first imposed in 2006.
Egypt's complicity in the blockade under Mubarak had been a controversial issue in Egypt, largely contributing to popular ire against the former regime. Yet even after last year's revolution, the border remained tightly sealed to commercial traffic.
Although the Rafah crossing was opened to limited passenger traffic in April of last year, this, too, has ground to a halt following Sunday's attack and the subsequent border closure.
Syria rebels claim upper hand as battle for Aleppo grinds towards stalemate
8 August 2012
Martin Chulov
Source:The Guardian
The day started in Salahedin just as it had for the past fortnight, with rebels under fierce assault from a nearby ring road and the Syrian Air Force blitzing them from the skies.
Just before daybreak, however, the frontline – thus far seemingly solid – began to wobble. Rebels briefly withdrew as the regime pushed forward with men and tanks. This, it seemed, was the start of the battle for Aleppo, an inexorable showdown for which the whole city had been nervously preparing.
Then, only several hours after daybreak, the regime retreated and the weary guerillas returned to their sandbags. Government claims to have conquered the enemy stronghold were false, as were the rebels' later claims to have breached regime lines. Nothing seems to be going to script in this war.
All the might that the forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad can muster is now camped just over a large bank of land to the east of Salahedin, the suburb of Aleppo that has become the focal point of the conflict. All the men the guerrilla force can assemble are holed up in crumbling buildings, the closest of them only 200m from the nearest regime tank.
Yet the decisive battle that most in Aleppo seemed to have feared is slowly giving way to another – even more dreaded – reality. Stalemate, with neither side willing or able to advance. A new sense is beginning to settle in that neither Salahedin, nor the rest of Syria's second city, will see an end to the fighting any time soon.
Despite its superior numbers and weaponry, the army appears in no hurry to bring the uprising here to an end. The siege that has crippled the city is likely to get far worse.
"This will be a second Baba Amr," said Sheikh Salim al-Hoss, as he rested under a mulberry tree in a commandeered schoolyard just outside Aleppo. "They are going to wear us down. They think they have time on their side."
Hoss was sitting with members of a military council, who were all breaking their daily Ramadan fast on Tuesday night, largely in silence. Snipers had killed two young rebels from their unit in the late afternoon and the rush to bury them before sunset seemed to have numbed the men.
The effect on one of the dead men's fathers was more profound. He stood trembling and bewildered later in the evening as he received condolences in a hastily erected mourning tent. A tear ran down his face as lines of wellwishers reached for his hand.
Just before noon he had spoken to his 24-year-old son, Ala'a Tamur, by phone in between battles on Salahedin's main frontline. Just before dinner he buried him.
"Be proud you have a martyr, uncle," one of the men's colleagues told the boy's bereft father. The 73-year-old stared and nodded.
Street 15 in Salahedin now resembles Leningrad in its darkest days, and the suburb itself is in far worse shape than when the Guardian last visited on Saturday. Most streets on the eastern side are now impassable by car. Broken sewage and water pipes and food leftovers have formed a festering stew over the few surfaces that aren't littered with the flotsam and jetsam of war. And Salahedin has a new arrival – flies, which swarm around anything organic. They are so thick in some parts that rebels look for detours to avoid them. As they do they need to avoid trampling on the only other thing that seems to be living at ground zero of the battle for Syria – kittens.
Rebels have taken in many of them, and it's not uncommon to find a gnarled, sweaty guerrilla sleeping on the floor of a commandeered flat with an abandoned kitten asleep on his chest.
Two men sleeping in what passes for a first aid clinic in one part of Salahedin had to throw their new pets aside late on Wednesday, when a wounded rebel appeared like a ghost in their darkened doorway. He fell on a foam mattress clutching his left side. "A sniper, haram," he said. "I was going to meet the defector."
"Press hard [on the wound], press until it hurts," one bystander said. The men instead offered caresses and comforting words, then bundled him into the back of a 4x4, which rushed him away.
Snipers continue to filter into Salahedin despite the almost impossible journey to get here. "We had four in this quarter alone today," said a rebel from Damascus, who himself defected three months ago. "There would be many more if they could find a way."
Recent senior defectors, among them two colonels from Aleppo who made their way to a nearby town on Tuesday, claimed that the fear of large numbers of defections if a ground attack was launched was shaping regime tactics.
"If they send the army in, they will throw off their clothes and leave," one of the men said. They want to sit back and bomb, just like they did in Homs."
The defectors also claimed that jets would bomb Aleppo and the eastern hinterland between 3am and 5am. On cue, the jets arrived. The fulfilled prediction means the two officers will now be asked to help devise tactics to repel the assault.
Whoever can prevail in a war of attrition will prevail in Aleppo and likely in the overall uprising. Though battle-weary and at times despairing, and still underprepared, the rebel forces appear to have the stamina to see the fight to a conclusion.
Whether the people of Aleppo share their commitment is yet to be determined. The few cars moving on the largely empty streets were mostly carrying refugees. Those who remain have little reason to fully embrace the uprising that is now affecting all of them.
As the Guardian left Aleppo late on Wednesday, our car was flagged down by a smiling rebel standing next to a thin 23-year-old. He had defected an hour before from the air force intelligence headquarters in the west of the city. Among Syria's pervasive security apparatus, none strike more fear into citizens.
The defector, Khaldoun al-Shabibi, said that the tables were, however, turning. "They are terrified in there," he said. "Every time there is gunfire anywhere near the building they shoot crazily at anything outside.
"It was never like that before. It's a sign that things are changing."
Martin Chulov
Source:The Guardian
The day started in Salahedin just as it had for the past fortnight, with rebels under fierce assault from a nearby ring road and the Syrian Air Force blitzing them from the skies.
Just before daybreak, however, the frontline – thus far seemingly solid – began to wobble. Rebels briefly withdrew as the regime pushed forward with men and tanks. This, it seemed, was the start of the battle for Aleppo, an inexorable showdown for which the whole city had been nervously preparing.
Then, only several hours after daybreak, the regime retreated and the weary guerillas returned to their sandbags. Government claims to have conquered the enemy stronghold were false, as were the rebels' later claims to have breached regime lines. Nothing seems to be going to script in this war.
All the might that the forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad can muster is now camped just over a large bank of land to the east of Salahedin, the suburb of Aleppo that has become the focal point of the conflict. All the men the guerrilla force can assemble are holed up in crumbling buildings, the closest of them only 200m from the nearest regime tank.
Yet the decisive battle that most in Aleppo seemed to have feared is slowly giving way to another – even more dreaded – reality. Stalemate, with neither side willing or able to advance. A new sense is beginning to settle in that neither Salahedin, nor the rest of Syria's second city, will see an end to the fighting any time soon.
Despite its superior numbers and weaponry, the army appears in no hurry to bring the uprising here to an end. The siege that has crippled the city is likely to get far worse.
"This will be a second Baba Amr," said Sheikh Salim al-Hoss, as he rested under a mulberry tree in a commandeered schoolyard just outside Aleppo. "They are going to wear us down. They think they have time on their side."
Hoss was sitting with members of a military council, who were all breaking their daily Ramadan fast on Tuesday night, largely in silence. Snipers had killed two young rebels from their unit in the late afternoon and the rush to bury them before sunset seemed to have numbed the men.
The effect on one of the dead men's fathers was more profound. He stood trembling and bewildered later in the evening as he received condolences in a hastily erected mourning tent. A tear ran down his face as lines of wellwishers reached for his hand.
Just before noon he had spoken to his 24-year-old son, Ala'a Tamur, by phone in between battles on Salahedin's main frontline. Just before dinner he buried him.
"Be proud you have a martyr, uncle," one of the men's colleagues told the boy's bereft father. The 73-year-old stared and nodded.
Street 15 in Salahedin now resembles Leningrad in its darkest days, and the suburb itself is in far worse shape than when the Guardian last visited on Saturday. Most streets on the eastern side are now impassable by car. Broken sewage and water pipes and food leftovers have formed a festering stew over the few surfaces that aren't littered with the flotsam and jetsam of war. And Salahedin has a new arrival – flies, which swarm around anything organic. They are so thick in some parts that rebels look for detours to avoid them. As they do they need to avoid trampling on the only other thing that seems to be living at ground zero of the battle for Syria – kittens.
Rebels have taken in many of them, and it's not uncommon to find a gnarled, sweaty guerrilla sleeping on the floor of a commandeered flat with an abandoned kitten asleep on his chest.
Two men sleeping in what passes for a first aid clinic in one part of Salahedin had to throw their new pets aside late on Wednesday, when a wounded rebel appeared like a ghost in their darkened doorway. He fell on a foam mattress clutching his left side. "A sniper, haram," he said. "I was going to meet the defector."
"Press hard [on the wound], press until it hurts," one bystander said. The men instead offered caresses and comforting words, then bundled him into the back of a 4x4, which rushed him away.
Snipers continue to filter into Salahedin despite the almost impossible journey to get here. "We had four in this quarter alone today," said a rebel from Damascus, who himself defected three months ago. "There would be many more if they could find a way."
Recent senior defectors, among them two colonels from Aleppo who made their way to a nearby town on Tuesday, claimed that the fear of large numbers of defections if a ground attack was launched was shaping regime tactics.
"If they send the army in, they will throw off their clothes and leave," one of the men said. They want to sit back and bomb, just like they did in Homs."
The defectors also claimed that jets would bomb Aleppo and the eastern hinterland between 3am and 5am. On cue, the jets arrived. The fulfilled prediction means the two officers will now be asked to help devise tactics to repel the assault.
Whoever can prevail in a war of attrition will prevail in Aleppo and likely in the overall uprising. Though battle-weary and at times despairing, and still underprepared, the rebel forces appear to have the stamina to see the fight to a conclusion.
Whether the people of Aleppo share their commitment is yet to be determined. The few cars moving on the largely empty streets were mostly carrying refugees. Those who remain have little reason to fully embrace the uprising that is now affecting all of them.
As the Guardian left Aleppo late on Wednesday, our car was flagged down by a smiling rebel standing next to a thin 23-year-old. He had defected an hour before from the air force intelligence headquarters in the west of the city. Among Syria's pervasive security apparatus, none strike more fear into citizens.
The defector, Khaldoun al-Shabibi, said that the tables were, however, turning. "They are terrified in there," he said. "Every time there is gunfire anywhere near the building they shoot crazily at anything outside.
"It was never like that before. It's a sign that things are changing."
Egypt's President fires Intelligence Chief
2012-08-09
Source: Downsum
Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi has fired his spy chief Murad Muwafi in a major shake-up of military and intelligence ranks extending to the head of the Republican Guard and the governor of North Sinai.
Wednesday's decision comes several days after a deadly ambush in Sinai killed 16 soldiers, prompting an unprecedented military crackdown in the peninsula, but Morsi's spokesman did not say whether the attack had prompted the changes.
Morsi also ordered Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the defence minister, to replace the head of military police Hamdi Badeen, his spokesman Yassir Ali said in a televised statement on Wednesday.
Morsi appointed Mohammed Rafaat Abdel Wahad Shehata as the interim head of General Intelligence.
Earlier on Wednesday, Muwafi, himself a former governor of North Sinai, issued a rare public statement saying that his agency had forewarning of the weekend attack that killed the soldiers.
But he said the intelligence did not specify where the attack would take place and he had passed it on to the "relevant authorities," adding that his powerful agency's role was only to collect information.
The shuffle extended to Abdel Wahab Mabruk, the governor of North Sinai where the attack took place.
Morsi is likely to have reached the decisions with the military, which ruled the country between president Hosni Mubarak's ouster in February 2011 and Morsi's inauguration as his successor in June.
The head of the Presidential Guard, the director of Security in Cairo and the director of Central Security Forces were also fired.
Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Cairo, said that it was clear that Morsi was trying to take control of the situation.
She said the dismissals were not just about Sunday night's border attack, but that it was also about the funerals on Tuesday of the 16 soldiers, which the president and the prime minister did not attend because of security reasons.
"That's something that really upset a lot of people here who saw it as a national tragedy. He's definitely trying to show them who's boss."
The dismissed officials were not appointed by Morsi but rather by either the Supreme council of Armed Forces or Mubarak, said our correspondent.
"There has been this struggle between these agencies and the new president ... who is trying to say that this is a new era. An era where there will be accountability, as opposed to the years under Mubarak where there was a spy chief that survived many terror attacks including ones similar to this one in the Sinai," she said.
Air strikes in Sinai
The developments coincided with air strikes in the Sinai region close to the border with Gaza, which the state-run Ahram news website said left more than 20 people dead.
The air strikes on positions in the town of Sheikh Zouaid on followed the deaths of 16 border guards at the weekend in an attack by gunmen whose identities are yet to be determined.
Witnesses in Sheikh Zouaid, about 10km from Gaza, said they saw two military jets and heard sounds of explosions. Other witnesses in a nearby area said they saw three cars hit.
"We have succeeded in entering al-Toumah village, killed 20 terrorists and destroyed three armoured cars belonging to terrorists. Operations are still ongoing," an army commander told the Reuters news agency.
The strikes followed clashes between armed men and security forces at several security checkpoints overnight in the Sinai region.
Armed men opened fire on checkpoints in al-Arish and in the nearby town of Rafah on the border with Gaza, according to a reporter for Reuters and state media.
Six people were injured in the attacks late on Tuesday night, including two police officers, three army soldiers and one civilian, sources told Al Jazeera. The civilian is said to be in critical condition.
A cement production company in Sinai, which belongs to the military, was also attacked. Two gunmen suspected in that attack have reportedly been arrested.
Exchanges of gunfire continued late into the night, state news agency MENA said, adding that security forces had closed the road where the assault took place.
'Armed tribes stronghold'
Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal, reporting from the city of al-Arish, said: "Over 48 hours since that audacious and shocking attack on the Egyptian military post here in Sinai, it seems that the army has decided to hit back if you will."
"We've have heard that helicopters from the airforce, and ... tanks and other personnel carriers moved towards an area in Sinai which is essentially being seen as the stronghold of many of the armed tribes and armed assailants," he said.
"The military it seems has decided to strike back against the people they believe were behind these attacks."
Egyptian security officials say it is the first time that the army has fired missiles in Sinai since the 1973 war with Israel to recapture the peninsula.
Lawlessness in the rugged desert region bordering Israel has spread since the fall of Mubarak in an uprising 18 months ago and the political instability that has followed.
Source: Downsum
Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi has fired his spy chief Murad Muwafi in a major shake-up of military and intelligence ranks extending to the head of the Republican Guard and the governor of North Sinai.
Wednesday's decision comes several days after a deadly ambush in Sinai killed 16 soldiers, prompting an unprecedented military crackdown in the peninsula, but Morsi's spokesman did not say whether the attack had prompted the changes.
Morsi also ordered Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the defence minister, to replace the head of military police Hamdi Badeen, his spokesman Yassir Ali said in a televised statement on Wednesday.
Morsi appointed Mohammed Rafaat Abdel Wahad Shehata as the interim head of General Intelligence.
Earlier on Wednesday, Muwafi, himself a former governor of North Sinai, issued a rare public statement saying that his agency had forewarning of the weekend attack that killed the soldiers.
But he said the intelligence did not specify where the attack would take place and he had passed it on to the "relevant authorities," adding that his powerful agency's role was only to collect information.
The shuffle extended to Abdel Wahab Mabruk, the governor of North Sinai where the attack took place.
Morsi is likely to have reached the decisions with the military, which ruled the country between president Hosni Mubarak's ouster in February 2011 and Morsi's inauguration as his successor in June.
The head of the Presidential Guard, the director of Security in Cairo and the director of Central Security Forces were also fired.
Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Cairo, said that it was clear that Morsi was trying to take control of the situation.
She said the dismissals were not just about Sunday night's border attack, but that it was also about the funerals on Tuesday of the 16 soldiers, which the president and the prime minister did not attend because of security reasons.
"That's something that really upset a lot of people here who saw it as a national tragedy. He's definitely trying to show them who's boss."
The dismissed officials were not appointed by Morsi but rather by either the Supreme council of Armed Forces or Mubarak, said our correspondent.
"There has been this struggle between these agencies and the new president ... who is trying to say that this is a new era. An era where there will be accountability, as opposed to the years under Mubarak where there was a spy chief that survived many terror attacks including ones similar to this one in the Sinai," she said.
Air strikes in Sinai
The developments coincided with air strikes in the Sinai region close to the border with Gaza, which the state-run Ahram news website said left more than 20 people dead.
The air strikes on positions in the town of Sheikh Zouaid on followed the deaths of 16 border guards at the weekend in an attack by gunmen whose identities are yet to be determined.
Witnesses in Sheikh Zouaid, about 10km from Gaza, said they saw two military jets and heard sounds of explosions. Other witnesses in a nearby area said they saw three cars hit.
"We have succeeded in entering al-Toumah village, killed 20 terrorists and destroyed three armoured cars belonging to terrorists. Operations are still ongoing," an army commander told the Reuters news agency.
The strikes followed clashes between armed men and security forces at several security checkpoints overnight in the Sinai region.
Armed men opened fire on checkpoints in al-Arish and in the nearby town of Rafah on the border with Gaza, according to a reporter for Reuters and state media.
Six people were injured in the attacks late on Tuesday night, including two police officers, three army soldiers and one civilian, sources told Al Jazeera. The civilian is said to be in critical condition.
A cement production company in Sinai, which belongs to the military, was also attacked. Two gunmen suspected in that attack have reportedly been arrested.
Exchanges of gunfire continued late into the night, state news agency MENA said, adding that security forces had closed the road where the assault took place.
'Armed tribes stronghold'
Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal, reporting from the city of al-Arish, said: "Over 48 hours since that audacious and shocking attack on the Egyptian military post here in Sinai, it seems that the army has decided to hit back if you will."
"We've have heard that helicopters from the airforce, and ... tanks and other personnel carriers moved towards an area in Sinai which is essentially being seen as the stronghold of many of the armed tribes and armed assailants," he said.
"The military it seems has decided to strike back against the people they believe were behind these attacks."
Egyptian security officials say it is the first time that the army has fired missiles in Sinai since the 1973 war with Israel to recapture the peninsula.
Lawlessness in the rugged desert region bordering Israel has spread since the fall of Mubarak in an uprising 18 months ago and the political instability that has followed.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Michigan Representative Introduces Prison Privatization Bill, Top Donor Is Private Prison Exec
Posted at 9:16 am
by Zaid Jilani
Source: Republic Report
In Michigan, State Rep. Jon Bumstead (R) introduced a bill that would send the state back down the path of prison privatization. House Bill 1574 would re-open a private youth prison that was operated by GEO Group (then Wackenhut) that was shut down in 2005 and allow it to house adult inmates. The bill would once again give GEO the right to operate the prison.
This proposal has faced fierce protests from civil liberties and civil rights groups, which note that the prison was one of the most expensive to operate in the state when it was previously operated by GEO, and that it was also notorious for abuse of prisoners.
One thing that has not been significantly highlighted in the renewed debateover the bill is what factor other than sincere belief in the merits of private prisons may have motivated Bumstead. Nine days before he introduced the bill, he received a $500 contribution from Cloid Shuler, a GEO Group executive based in Florida. This makes Shuler tied with one other individual as Bumstead’s top individual donor, giving about 2 percent of his total campaign funds in this election cycle. Bumstead was recently asked about the contribution from Shuler. He replied, “they could have come to a fundraiser, I don’t know.” Considering that Shuler lives 1400 miles away, it would’ve been a long trip.
Although the bill has stalled in the legislature, Bumstead stands by it. He will, however, be facing a primary challenge on August 7th, where he will no doubt be using GEO Group’s money to try to keep himself in office.
by Zaid Jilani
Source: Republic Report
In Michigan, State Rep. Jon Bumstead (R) introduced a bill that would send the state back down the path of prison privatization. House Bill 1574 would re-open a private youth prison that was operated by GEO Group (then Wackenhut) that was shut down in 2005 and allow it to house adult inmates. The bill would once again give GEO the right to operate the prison.
This proposal has faced fierce protests from civil liberties and civil rights groups, which note that the prison was one of the most expensive to operate in the state when it was previously operated by GEO, and that it was also notorious for abuse of prisoners.
One thing that has not been significantly highlighted in the renewed debateover the bill is what factor other than sincere belief in the merits of private prisons may have motivated Bumstead. Nine days before he introduced the bill, he received a $500 contribution from Cloid Shuler, a GEO Group executive based in Florida. This makes Shuler tied with one other individual as Bumstead’s top individual donor, giving about 2 percent of his total campaign funds in this election cycle. Bumstead was recently asked about the contribution from Shuler. He replied, “they could have come to a fundraiser, I don’t know.” Considering that Shuler lives 1400 miles away, it would’ve been a long trip.
Although the bill has stalled in the legislature, Bumstead stands by it. He will, however, be facing a primary challenge on August 7th, where he will no doubt be using GEO Group’s money to try to keep himself in office.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Misrepresenting the Syrian Revolution
2 Aug 2012
By Leila Nachawati for ISN Security Watch
Source: ISN Security Watch
If one wishes to frame the current conflict in Syria in black and white terms, then it is a conflict between those who are comfortable with the status quo and those who are not. People from different religions -- Christians, Shia and Sunni Muslims, Alawi, Druze, Ismaili -- and ethnic groups -- Palestinians, Iraqis, Kurds, Assyrians, Armenians -- may be found on either side of the divide. And although the Alawi community (to which the ruling Assad family belongs) has long dominated the government and key military positions, people from each group have benefited from a system of institutionalized corruption and injustice. The uprising that started in March 2011 challenges that system as a whole, regardless of the religious elements. If one wishes to reduce the conflict down to its essence, one should focus on this aspect rather than any religious or ethnic overlays.
Despite the violence the regime has displayed -- and its attempt to exploit sectarian, ethnic and religious elements to present itself as necessary to maintain cohesion -- the goal of the Syrian revolution remains the same: to overthrow the regime and make way for a country where justice, freedom and dignity are respected. However, now that the country has entered a stage where the days of the Assad regime may be numbered, we are witnessing an international tendency to assess the situation with analysis that disregards the political and sociological aspects and instead focuses on religious and sectarian elements. What should be noted is that these analyses are directly dependent on each country´s geostrategic interests.
(Over-)Simplifying a complex reality
Religious and sectarian readings fall short of capturing the reality of a complex and diverse Syrian society where co-existence has persisted for decades, despite attempts to turn groups of population against one another. A Syrian journalist (name known to the author) told the ISN that sectarian clashes will happen "and it should not surprise anyone, given Assad's support in the past for radical groups - in Lebanon and Iraq – and the way he has promoted sectarianism as a way to keep people divided and frightened."
She also noted that some small, destructive cells "can have a disproportionately big impact, but this does not mean that the revolution has become sectarian as such. In fact the revolutionary camp is careful - in every address, statement and declaration - to make reference to there being room for every Syrian group in the future Syria."
According to Syrian blogger Yassin Swehat, a very complex reality is being increasingly simplified and therefore dramatically diverging from the narrative of activists on the ground. In an interview with the ISN, Swehat argued that this demonstrates the inability of many in the international community to see Syrians “as anything more than tribes and religious communities who follow irrational impulses and are deprived of all historic, economic and socio-political context.”
Geostrategic interests at stake
Every geostrategic power has something to gain from the depiction of Syrian society as divided and fragmented. Unlike other uprisings in the region, the Syrian revolution has, it could be argued, no real allies. Russia and China, for example, have been quite consistent in their support for the Syrian regime. By supporting Assad - who claims to be fighting Islamist terrorist gangs and a Western conspiracy against the country - Russia and China have nevertheless displayed their own power ambitions. Through military aid (and by replicating the narrative propagated by pro-Assad sources) they seek to present themselves as an alternative to the influence of the United States and its allies.
Iran continues to support the Assad regime for similar reasons. By portraying the Syrian uprising as Western-, Israeli- and Saudi-backed,’ Iran’s narrative aims to promote Shia hegemony across the region. At a press conference on 28 July, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Akbar Salehi announced that "whoever thinks there will be a regime change in Syria is being very naïve." And when asked about whether Iran would resort to the mutual self-defense pact formed with Syria to protect the Assad regime, an explicit denial was noticeably absent.
Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, needs a narrative to counter Iran’s. Riyadh supports the Free Syrian Army by portraying it as part of a religious struggle between the Sunni faith and the allegedly anti-religious Assad regime. At the same time, the Saudi regime is fearful of the Syrian revolution being framed as a liberation movement – a sentiment that could spread to Saudi Arabia, where the legitimacy of the ruling monarchy is increasingly being questioned. The most profitable scenario, therefore seems to be a military struggle in which neither the regime nor the Free Syrian Army succeed -- a struggle that would wear Syrians out and weaken the country as a whole.
Counter-intuitive as it may seem Israel may once have had a good ally in Syria. Instead, deterioration of central authority in Syria could re-activate conflict over the Golan Heights and make attacks on Israeli-held territory more likely. A long struggle and a weakening of Syria would therefore also be the most positive scenario for Israel. Viewing the Assad regime as ‘a lesser evil’ is seemingly apparent in the US’ public stance, which shifted from being openly critical to more lenient following a meeting between President Barack Obama and Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak in February 2012.
The US’ and European Union´s most recent statements regarding Syria reveal the disconnection between international interests and the true needs and demands of Syrians. Both powers seem eager to support retired Brigadier Manaf Tlass as the politician to lead a post-Assad Syria. A pillar of the Syrian establishment, Tlass is the son of former Defense Minister Mustafa Tlass. A fact worth noting is that the elder Tlass was in office during the 1982 Hama massacre, an event which reportedly left more than 10, 000 dead. The younger Tlass is a member of Bashar al-Assad's inner circle and closely associated with the abuses of the Assad regime. Indeed his defection and announcement that he intends to preserve state institutions was received with scorn by activists.
The most complete revolution
Despite the loss of human life, the hundreds of thousands displaced or forced to flee and the devastation being wreaked on the country, prolonging the armed confrontation seems to be the most positive scenario from the viewpoint of certain geostrategic powers. Delegitimizing the revolution and diluting its proclamations of freedom and justice in favor of religious and ethnic framings are not useful for Syrians but suit outside powers.
Despite attempts to hijack it, the Syrian revolution continues. Defections increase as the Syrian army becomes increasingly desperate and violent, killing more than a hundred civilians a day. Thousands continue to demonstrate all over the country, especially on Fridays: these days continue to be given a different name every week to honor the cities, the victims and the values of the revolution. Syrians continue to question the regime as a whole as an oppressive system, beyond any religious components.
For Syrian activist Sara Ajlyakin, "this is the most radical and complete revolution because it is against the regime in its entirety. Syrians are fighting alone against its figures, its extensions, its capital. Cosmetic change is not possible. If the revolution succeeds the regime will fall entirely" she told the ISN.
By Leila Nachawati for ISN Security Watch
Source: ISN Security Watch
If one wishes to frame the current conflict in Syria in black and white terms, then it is a conflict between those who are comfortable with the status quo and those who are not. People from different religions -- Christians, Shia and Sunni Muslims, Alawi, Druze, Ismaili -- and ethnic groups -- Palestinians, Iraqis, Kurds, Assyrians, Armenians -- may be found on either side of the divide. And although the Alawi community (to which the ruling Assad family belongs) has long dominated the government and key military positions, people from each group have benefited from a system of institutionalized corruption and injustice. The uprising that started in March 2011 challenges that system as a whole, regardless of the religious elements. If one wishes to reduce the conflict down to its essence, one should focus on this aspect rather than any religious or ethnic overlays.
Despite the violence the regime has displayed -- and its attempt to exploit sectarian, ethnic and religious elements to present itself as necessary to maintain cohesion -- the goal of the Syrian revolution remains the same: to overthrow the regime and make way for a country where justice, freedom and dignity are respected. However, now that the country has entered a stage where the days of the Assad regime may be numbered, we are witnessing an international tendency to assess the situation with analysis that disregards the political and sociological aspects and instead focuses on religious and sectarian elements. What should be noted is that these analyses are directly dependent on each country´s geostrategic interests.
(Over-)Simplifying a complex reality
Religious and sectarian readings fall short of capturing the reality of a complex and diverse Syrian society where co-existence has persisted for decades, despite attempts to turn groups of population against one another. A Syrian journalist (name known to the author) told the ISN that sectarian clashes will happen "and it should not surprise anyone, given Assad's support in the past for radical groups - in Lebanon and Iraq – and the way he has promoted sectarianism as a way to keep people divided and frightened."
She also noted that some small, destructive cells "can have a disproportionately big impact, but this does not mean that the revolution has become sectarian as such. In fact the revolutionary camp is careful - in every address, statement and declaration - to make reference to there being room for every Syrian group in the future Syria."
According to Syrian blogger Yassin Swehat, a very complex reality is being increasingly simplified and therefore dramatically diverging from the narrative of activists on the ground. In an interview with the ISN, Swehat argued that this demonstrates the inability of many in the international community to see Syrians “as anything more than tribes and religious communities who follow irrational impulses and are deprived of all historic, economic and socio-political context.”
Geostrategic interests at stake
Every geostrategic power has something to gain from the depiction of Syrian society as divided and fragmented. Unlike other uprisings in the region, the Syrian revolution has, it could be argued, no real allies. Russia and China, for example, have been quite consistent in their support for the Syrian regime. By supporting Assad - who claims to be fighting Islamist terrorist gangs and a Western conspiracy against the country - Russia and China have nevertheless displayed their own power ambitions. Through military aid (and by replicating the narrative propagated by pro-Assad sources) they seek to present themselves as an alternative to the influence of the United States and its allies.
Iran continues to support the Assad regime for similar reasons. By portraying the Syrian uprising as Western-, Israeli- and Saudi-backed,’ Iran’s narrative aims to promote Shia hegemony across the region. At a press conference on 28 July, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Akbar Salehi announced that "whoever thinks there will be a regime change in Syria is being very naïve." And when asked about whether Iran would resort to the mutual self-defense pact formed with Syria to protect the Assad regime, an explicit denial was noticeably absent.
Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, needs a narrative to counter Iran’s. Riyadh supports the Free Syrian Army by portraying it as part of a religious struggle between the Sunni faith and the allegedly anti-religious Assad regime. At the same time, the Saudi regime is fearful of the Syrian revolution being framed as a liberation movement – a sentiment that could spread to Saudi Arabia, where the legitimacy of the ruling monarchy is increasingly being questioned. The most profitable scenario, therefore seems to be a military struggle in which neither the regime nor the Free Syrian Army succeed -- a struggle that would wear Syrians out and weaken the country as a whole.
Counter-intuitive as it may seem Israel may once have had a good ally in Syria. Instead, deterioration of central authority in Syria could re-activate conflict over the Golan Heights and make attacks on Israeli-held territory more likely. A long struggle and a weakening of Syria would therefore also be the most positive scenario for Israel. Viewing the Assad regime as ‘a lesser evil’ is seemingly apparent in the US’ public stance, which shifted from being openly critical to more lenient following a meeting between President Barack Obama and Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak in February 2012.
The US’ and European Union´s most recent statements regarding Syria reveal the disconnection between international interests and the true needs and demands of Syrians. Both powers seem eager to support retired Brigadier Manaf Tlass as the politician to lead a post-Assad Syria. A pillar of the Syrian establishment, Tlass is the son of former Defense Minister Mustafa Tlass. A fact worth noting is that the elder Tlass was in office during the 1982 Hama massacre, an event which reportedly left more than 10, 000 dead. The younger Tlass is a member of Bashar al-Assad's inner circle and closely associated with the abuses of the Assad regime. Indeed his defection and announcement that he intends to preserve state institutions was received with scorn by activists.
The most complete revolution
Despite the loss of human life, the hundreds of thousands displaced or forced to flee and the devastation being wreaked on the country, prolonging the armed confrontation seems to be the most positive scenario from the viewpoint of certain geostrategic powers. Delegitimizing the revolution and diluting its proclamations of freedom and justice in favor of religious and ethnic framings are not useful for Syrians but suit outside powers.
Despite attempts to hijack it, the Syrian revolution continues. Defections increase as the Syrian army becomes increasingly desperate and violent, killing more than a hundred civilians a day. Thousands continue to demonstrate all over the country, especially on Fridays: these days continue to be given a different name every week to honor the cities, the victims and the values of the revolution. Syrians continue to question the regime as a whole as an oppressive system, beyond any religious components.
For Syrian activist Sara Ajlyakin, "this is the most radical and complete revolution because it is against the regime in its entirety. Syrians are fighting alone against its figures, its extensions, its capital. Cosmetic change is not possible. If the revolution succeeds the regime will fall entirely" she told the ISN.
Burma’s burning
Jul 29th, 2012
By Muhammad Saad Khan
Source: My Bit for Change
Burma is burning and most of us are conveniently silent ….
Some believe that death toll is not high enough to condemn the killings because few dozens have been murdered and few women have been raped; not a big deal because they were muslims. Some others say that we are far away from Burma, so leave them alone and try to solve our own problems first while some are confused to believe the atrocities did actually happen or not.
Media (international and local) is silent because it has not received the dictation from its real masters to show ethnic cleansing of Muslims as a breaking news. Media didn’t even recognize the problem unless Amnesty International reported it. And all of those who want to keep mum are blaming social media for raising voice for the oppressed. Those who are against any check and balance on their own ‘freedom of expression’ want to have checks on social media, so that the issues like Burma are never highlighted anywhere. They are blaming the social media networks like facebook and twitter for propagating fake pictures, while forgetting their own fake stories and fake programs. The problem with electronic media is their capital influx, which they get from multinationals and governments and due to which they cannot go beyond a certain limit set by their sponsors.
Social media on the other hand has given voice to general public. Common people can use twitter, facebook and youtube to express their views and get their views across. Although in countries like Pakistan, internet access and social media usage is still limited, it is good enough to send a few shockwaves across the country. True that social media doesn’t have the access to reliable information some times and anything can get viral without authentication; the problem is not as severe as traditional media which feeds in sponsored news and deliberately corrupt the mindsets. Anything wrong if gets viral on social media, immediately a rebuttal is launched and most of the time people correct themselves.
But why do we need to speak against Muslim genocide in Mayanmar (Burma). The reason is simple, we need to speak up against all oppression, or we can be the next target. If I don’t speak against drones today, a drone can bomb my house tomorrow. Its not a matter of choice now, its an obligation.
Will merely highlighting the issue stop these atrocities? Of course not! But raising our voice is the first and least we can do, so let’s do it. It may not be enough to stop the genocide, but surely its enough to gain the momentum, pile up the courage and cry halt. It will give us strength to do more and definitely will weaken the oppressor.
It is a legitimate question that we should not be silent over the problems prevailing in our own country. We have lawlessness, bombings and target-killings coupled with economic crisis in our country. Therefore when people say that lets sort out our own mess first, it sounds logical. But my take on this is that we need to have a collective approach. We cannot address issues one by one because a long list of issues will pop up when one is resolved. This is a continuous battle, between the oppressed and the oppressor. We have to choose on which side we are standing and then continuously play our role in a collective manner. Cherry picking selective items won’t serve the purpose.
Another question which is asked by our liberal elite in same context is ‘what’s this fuss called Muslim Ummah’ ? Well Muslim Ummah doesn’t mean a bunch of rulers or a few traitors. It’s about the masses of Muslims whose hearts beat together. If any Muslim anywhere in the world is suffering, all Muslims feel the pain and if someone claims to be Muslim but not feeling the pain he should recheck his belief.
So, if Bangladeshi government led by Haseena Wajid is not feeling the pain of displaced muslims of Burma, it doesn’t mean that Muslims of Bangladesh or the world are not concerned. If OIC is silent, it is because most of the people sitting in OIC are not true representatives of Muslim Ummah. The role of UNO is also shameful. It has multiple standards for different religions and regions. Muslims being killed never get their attraction unless ‘oil’ is involved.
So in short, Buddhists, who are known to be peaceful so much so that they won’t crush an ant, are killing muslims, raping women burning villages. Thousands have been displaced so far and forced to live in concentration camps. The military of Burma is fully involved in ethnic cleansing of Muslims. The numbers are not important, what’s important is that Muslims are being oppressed and we should remember the word of Allah in Quran which says :
How is it that you do not fight in the way of Allah and in support of the helpless – men, women and children -who pray: ‘Our Lord, bring us out of this land whose people are oppressors and appoint for us from Yourself, a protector, and appoint for us from Yourself a helper’?. (ch 4 v 75)
So, if we can’t fight for our brothers and sisters, we can raise our voice at least; therefore, raise it now as its already too late.
By Muhammad Saad Khan
Source: My Bit for Change
Burma is burning and most of us are conveniently silent ….
Some believe that death toll is not high enough to condemn the killings because few dozens have been murdered and few women have been raped; not a big deal because they were muslims. Some others say that we are far away from Burma, so leave them alone and try to solve our own problems first while some are confused to believe the atrocities did actually happen or not.
Media (international and local) is silent because it has not received the dictation from its real masters to show ethnic cleansing of Muslims as a breaking news. Media didn’t even recognize the problem unless Amnesty International reported it. And all of those who want to keep mum are blaming social media for raising voice for the oppressed. Those who are against any check and balance on their own ‘freedom of expression’ want to have checks on social media, so that the issues like Burma are never highlighted anywhere. They are blaming the social media networks like facebook and twitter for propagating fake pictures, while forgetting their own fake stories and fake programs. The problem with electronic media is their capital influx, which they get from multinationals and governments and due to which they cannot go beyond a certain limit set by their sponsors.
Social media on the other hand has given voice to general public. Common people can use twitter, facebook and youtube to express their views and get their views across. Although in countries like Pakistan, internet access and social media usage is still limited, it is good enough to send a few shockwaves across the country. True that social media doesn’t have the access to reliable information some times and anything can get viral without authentication; the problem is not as severe as traditional media which feeds in sponsored news and deliberately corrupt the mindsets. Anything wrong if gets viral on social media, immediately a rebuttal is launched and most of the time people correct themselves.
But why do we need to speak against Muslim genocide in Mayanmar (Burma). The reason is simple, we need to speak up against all oppression, or we can be the next target. If I don’t speak against drones today, a drone can bomb my house tomorrow. Its not a matter of choice now, its an obligation.
Will merely highlighting the issue stop these atrocities? Of course not! But raising our voice is the first and least we can do, so let’s do it. It may not be enough to stop the genocide, but surely its enough to gain the momentum, pile up the courage and cry halt. It will give us strength to do more and definitely will weaken the oppressor.
It is a legitimate question that we should not be silent over the problems prevailing in our own country. We have lawlessness, bombings and target-killings coupled with economic crisis in our country. Therefore when people say that lets sort out our own mess first, it sounds logical. But my take on this is that we need to have a collective approach. We cannot address issues one by one because a long list of issues will pop up when one is resolved. This is a continuous battle, between the oppressed and the oppressor. We have to choose on which side we are standing and then continuously play our role in a collective manner. Cherry picking selective items won’t serve the purpose.
Another question which is asked by our liberal elite in same context is ‘what’s this fuss called Muslim Ummah’ ? Well Muslim Ummah doesn’t mean a bunch of rulers or a few traitors. It’s about the masses of Muslims whose hearts beat together. If any Muslim anywhere in the world is suffering, all Muslims feel the pain and if someone claims to be Muslim but not feeling the pain he should recheck his belief.
So, if Bangladeshi government led by Haseena Wajid is not feeling the pain of displaced muslims of Burma, it doesn’t mean that Muslims of Bangladesh or the world are not concerned. If OIC is silent, it is because most of the people sitting in OIC are not true representatives of Muslim Ummah. The role of UNO is also shameful. It has multiple standards for different religions and regions. Muslims being killed never get their attraction unless ‘oil’ is involved.
So in short, Buddhists, who are known to be peaceful so much so that they won’t crush an ant, are killing muslims, raping women burning villages. Thousands have been displaced so far and forced to live in concentration camps. The military of Burma is fully involved in ethnic cleansing of Muslims. The numbers are not important, what’s important is that Muslims are being oppressed and we should remember the word of Allah in Quran which says :
How is it that you do not fight in the way of Allah and in support of the helpless – men, women and children -who pray: ‘Our Lord, bring us out of this land whose people are oppressors and appoint for us from Yourself, a protector, and appoint for us from Yourself a helper’?. (ch 4 v 75)
So, if we can’t fight for our brothers and sisters, we can raise our voice at least; therefore, raise it now as its already too late.
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