Tuesday, December 20, 2011
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MEMRI: Mufti of Jordan-Based Palestinian Liberation Army To West: We Will Restore the Caliphate; You Will Pay the Jizya Or We Will Bring the Sword to Your Necks
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MEMRI: Mufti of Jordan-Based Palestinian Liberation Army To West: We Will
Restore the Caliphate; You Will Pay the 'Jizya' Or 'We Will Bring the Sword to Your Necks'
Special Dispatch |4372|December 20, 2011
Palestinian Media Studies Project
Sheikh Nader Al-Tamimi, Mufti of Jordan-Based Palestinian Liberation Army,
To West: We Will Restore the Caliphate, You Will Pay the 'Jizya' – Or 'We Will Bring the Sword to Your Necks'; In October 2000 On Al-Jazeera, Called For Biological Warfare Against U.S., and Said: All Muslims 'Must Attack Common Enemy, America Is Against Us All... I Issue a Religious Ruling Now, and I Am a Mufti'; I Support Strike Against America 'In the Heart Of Their Land'
In video footage posted December 15, 2011 on the Internet, Sheikh Nader
Tamimi, mufti of the Jordan-based Palestine Liberation Army, stated "The Americans and Zionists will end up in the garbage bin of history" and added, addressing the West: "Either you pay the jizya poll tax, or else we will bring the sword to your necks" (to view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/3238.htm),
Previously, in October 2000, Sheikh Al-Tamimi stated, in a discussion on
Al-Jazeera, that "two people in a small room in the center of the U.S. can invent a biological weapon and explode it" there. He stated that he "supported" blowing up the "oppressing countries – like the U.S. and the West" and added that "all the Muslim people must attack the common enemy; America is against us all" and that the Islamic world needs "10 million bin Ladens" (to view this clip on the MEMRI Facebook page, visit http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=691136754339&saved)
For more from the MEMRI Palestinian Media Studies Project, visit
http://www.memri.org/palestinianmediastudies.
The following are excerpts from his recent address and from his 2000
discussion on Al-Jazeera:
The Internet, December 15, 2011
'Either You Pay The Jizya, Or Else We Will Bring the Sword to Your Necks'
Sheikh Al-Tamimi: "In the Levant, we are involved in a fierce battle, and we
will bring about a change in Syria and in the Levant in its entirety. The infidels divided the Levant into four states, and we will reunite them into a single state. The Safavid enterprise that led to Iran occupying Iraq, along with the Americans and the Zionists, will end in the garbage bin of history. The Caliphate in the path of the Prophet will return.
[…]
"We await the caliph who will address the leaders of the U.S. and Europe and
say: From the Emir of the Believers from Jerusalem…"
Crowd: "Allah Akbar."
Al-Tamimi: "To the rulers of the West, this is the religion of Allah. Either
you pay the jizya poll tax, or else we will bring the sword to your necks…"
Crowd: "Allah Akbar."
Crowd member: "Say: 'Allah Akbar.'"
Crowd: "Allah Akbar."
[…]
Crowd member: "The people wants the restoration of the Caliphate."
Al-Tamimi along with crowd: "The people wants the restoration of the
Caliphate. The people wants the restoration of the Caliphate."
From the MEMRI TV Archives: Al-Jazeera TV, October 20, 2000
"Two People in a Small Room In the Center of the U.S. Can Invent a
Biological Weapon And Explode It In the U.S."
Sheikh Al-Tamimi: "With regard to the balance of power, they talk all the
time, I want to tell you that if you want, two people in a small room in the center of the U.S. can invent a biological weapon and explode it in the U.S. as the American secretary of defense himself said, not me.
"They caught a group that wanted to blow up Washington. They found one with
a [cigarette] pack, and when the Secretary of Defense spoke, he said: 'Half of this box – the cigarette pack in his pocket – could kill half of Washington.' He said that two [people] could manufacture it in a small laboratory.
"Therefore, the U.S. does not have monopoly on this weapon. Besides, nuclear
(weapons) exist today in Pakistan, which is our [strategic] depth. Today, we have countries that manufacture…"
"If They Continue Oppressing, By Allah, People Will Rise Up Against Them and
Blow Up Their Oppressing Countries – Like the U.S. and the West... Yes, I Support It Being Done"
Tamimi: "In other words, it is already no one's monopoly, and their
countries can be blown up; if they continue oppressing, by Allah, people will rise up against them and blow up their oppressing countries – like the U.S. and the West – and therefore there is no point in saying things like we must submit and be defeated and that there is no balance of power. The purpose of such talks is for us to continue to be submissive.
"Now Israel hopes that the Intifada will stop, because it motivated the
feelings of people who can die a martyr's death anywhere they may be. What is America doing? It fears for its fleets and men…"
Program host: "You mean you support attacking… That is, you said before that
they will be struck in the heart of their land. Do you support such a strike?"
Al-Tamimi: "It is not me who said it. It is the American Secretary of
Defense himself who said it. He said that two people could do it. I wouldn't do it. Yes, I support it being done. Yes.”
Host: "Do you support for example, striking… We heard not long ago that one
of the commanders of Jihad in Yemen blew up…"
"All the Muslim People Must Attack the Common Enemy; America Is Against Us
All... I Issue a Religious Ruling Now, And I Am a Mufti" The Islamic World Needs "10 Million Bin Ladens"
Al-Tamimi: "My brother, our God said, 'Kill them where you find them and
take them out from where they look you out.' All the Muslim people must attack the common enemy. America is against us all. America must realize this. I issue a religious ruling now, and I am a mufti.
"I say: The clerics have decided, in consensus, that when the enemy conquers
Muslim land, or takes a Muslim prisoner, the Jihad becomes a personal commandment for every Muslim man and woman, to the point where it is permitted for a woman to leave her home [to wage Jihad] without her husband's permission, and for a child without his father's permission. Everyone joins in the battle.
"Now the people of Palestine are not capable [of doing this] alone, and
therefore every Muslim on the face of the earth, if he does not fight the Jihad, let us see what happens to him according to Islamic law: His fate is that he will not enter Paradise, because the text states absolutely, as Allah said, 'Do you reckon that you will enter Paradise while Allah has not yet caused to be known those of you who fight the Jihad.'
"Oh my brothers, from Jakarta to Tangier, listen: By Allah, if you do not
wage Jihad in accordance with your abilities, you will not enter Paradise even if you fast and pray. Anyone who finds an enemy target anywhere must strike at it, he must strike at it everywhere, so that the enemy will sense that there is a nation, not just demonstrations."
Host: "That is, do you want to say, as some claim, that the Islamic world
needs a million bin Ladens?"
Al-Tamimi: "And 10 million bin Ladens…"
Host: "Ah, we need bin Ladens."
"What Did Bin Laden Do? He Said: 'I Will Strike The West... I Will Strike
the Jews'... This Is A Religious Ruling, So What Is There For Me To Talk About? Anyone Capable Of Doing So Must Strike"
Al-Tamimi: "What did bin Laden do? He said: 'I will strike the West that
occupies my country. I will strike at the Jews.' Has he become a terrorist?! I don't know the man, but I have heard him. He lives as that journalist from [the London daily] Al-Quds [Al-Arabi], brother Abd Al-Bari 'Atwan, said: 'I traveled to him and he lives in a cave, although he has millions and maybe a billion.' He says 'I want to fight the Jihad for the sake of Allah.' This must burst forth from the nation, and not from the (rulers) palaces and corruption.”
Host: "In brief, you are saying there must be a strike at American interests
everywhere?"
Al-Tamimi: "This is a religious ruling, so what is there for me to talk
about? Anyone capable of doing so must strike at the target. He must strike at it – otherwise everybody will sin."
Please remember the environment before printing.
For assistance, please contact MEMRI at memri@memri.org.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent,
non-profit organization that translates and analyzes the media of the Middle East. Copies of articles and documents cited, as well as background information, are available on request.
MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may only be used with
proper attribution. |
Friday, December 23, 2011
We Will Restore the Caliphate
Cyber Warfare
| Sunday, December 18, 2011 |
| Iran embarking on ambitious $1b. cyber-warfare program |
| Iran embarking on ambitious $1b. cyber-warfare program By YAAKOV KATZ The Jerusalem Post 12/18/2011 04:02 http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=249864 Program seeks to boost Tehran's offensive, defensive capabilities; fearing cyber attacks, IDF recently established its own cyber task force, division within C4I Directorate. Tehran has embarked on an ambitious plan to boost its offensive and defensive cyber-warfare capabilities and is investing $1 billion in developing new technology and hiring new computer experts. Iran has been the victim of a number of cyber attacks in recent years, some attributed to Israel. The most famous attack was by a virus called Stuxnet which is believed, at its prime, to have destroyed 1,000 centrifuges at the Natanz fuel enrichment facility by sabotaging their motors. Iran recently confirmed that a new virus called Duqu had been detected in its computer systems, although the extent of the damage is unknown. While Stuxnet was aimed at crippling industrial control systems and may have destroyed some of the centrifuges Iran uses to enrich uranium, experts say Duqu appeared designed to gather data to make it easier to launch future cyber attacks. Last week, the Spanish-language TV network Univision aired a documentary which included secret footage of Iranian and Venezuelan diplomats being briefed on planned cyber attacks against the United States. The documentary claimed that the diplomats, based in Mexico, were involved in planning cyber attacks against US targets, including nuclear power plants. Fearing cyber attacks, the Israeli government recently established a cyber task force that will be responsible for improving Israeli defenses and coordinating the development of new software and capabilities between local defense and hi-tech companies. The IDF has also drafted a multi-year plan that is supposed to lead to a major boost in military capabilities over the coming five years. “We are not where we want to be when it comes to our defenses,” a senior Israeli official said recently. The IDF recently organized the units that deal with cyber-warfare, establishing offensive capabilities and operations within Military Intelligence’s Unit 8200 and defensive operations within a new division within the C4I Directorate. The new division within the C4I Directorate is run by a colonel who took up his post over the summer. The officer is the former commander of Matzov, the unit that is responsible for protecting the IDF networks and a Hebrew acronym for “Center for Encryption and Information Security.” Matzov writes the codes that encrypt IDF, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and Mossad networks, as well as mainframes in national corporations, such as the Israel Electrical Corp., Mekorot, the national water company, and Bezeq. Chairman of the Israel Electric Corporation Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yiftach Ron- Tal recently warned that Israel was not adequately prepared to defend and confront the threat it faces to its military and civilian infrastructure. “Israel is under a threat and we could already have experienced a silent infiltration that will be activated when the enemy wants,” Ron-Tal said. “We need to be prepared for the possibility that critical infrastructure will be paralyzed.” |
Sunday, December 18, 2011
|
Iran embarking on ambitious $1b. cyber-warfare program
|
Iran embarking on ambitious $1b. cyber-warfare program
By YAAKOV KATZ The Jerusalem Post 12/18/2011 04:02 http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=249864
Program seeks to boost Tehran's offensive, defensive capabilities; fearing
cyber attacks, IDF recently established its own cyber task force, division within C4I Directorate.
Tehran has embarked on an ambitious plan to boost its offensive and
defensive cyber-warfare capabilities and is investing $1 billion in developing new technology and hiring new computer experts.
Iran has been the victim of a number of cyber attacks in recent years, some
attributed to Israel. The most famous attack was by a virus called Stuxnet which is believed, at its prime, to have destroyed 1,000 centrifuges at the Natanz fuel enrichment facility by sabotaging their motors.
Iran recently confirmed that a new virus called Duqu had been detected in
its computer systems, although the extent of the damage is unknown. While Stuxnet was aimed at crippling industrial control systems and may have destroyed some of the centrifuges Iran uses to enrich uranium, experts say Duqu appeared designed to gather data to make it easier to launch future cyber attacks.
Last week, the Spanish-language TV network Univision aired a documentary
which included secret footage of Iranian and Venezuelan diplomats being briefed on planned cyber attacks against the United States. The documentary claimed that the diplomats, based in Mexico, were involved in planning cyber attacks against US targets, including nuclear power plants.
Fearing cyber attacks, the Israeli government recently established a cyber
task force that will be responsible for improving Israeli defenses and coordinating the development of new software and capabilities between local defense and hi-tech companies.
The IDF has also drafted a multi-year plan that is supposed to lead to a
major boost in military capabilities over the coming five years.
“We are not where we want to be when it comes to our defenses,” a senior
Israeli official said recently.
The IDF recently organized the units that deal with cyber-warfare,
establishing offensive capabilities and operations within Military Intelligence’s Unit 8200 and defensive operations within a new division within the C4I Directorate.
The new division within the C4I Directorate is run by a colonel who took up
his post over the summer. The officer is the former commander of Matzov, the unit that is responsible for protecting the IDF networks and a Hebrew acronym for “Center for Encryption and Information Security.”
Matzov writes the codes that encrypt IDF, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency)
and Mossad networks, as well as mainframes in national corporations, such as the Israel Electrical Corp., Mekorot, the national water company, and Bezeq.
Chairman of the Israel Electric Corporation Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yiftach Ron-
Tal recently warned that Israel was not adequately prepared to defend and confront the threat it faces to its military and civilian infrastructure.
“Israel is under a threat and we could already have experienced a silent
infiltration that will be activated when the enemy wants,” Ron-Tal said. “We need to be prepared for the possibility that critical infrastructure will be paralyzed.” |
Hamas Fatah Meet
| Saturday, December 17, 2011 |
| Hamas, Fatah officials to meet in Cairo Sunday |
| Hamas, Fatah officials to meet in Cairo Published today (updated) 17/12/2011 15:30 http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=445673 GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – Two delegations representing Hamas and Fatah are scheduled to meet in Cairo on Sunday to evaluate what has been achieved on the ground since the heads of both parties met a month ago. Fatah leader president Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal met a month earlier in the Egyptian capital, declaring that the meeting had brought them together and eliminated any differences. Fatah lawmaker Faisal Abu Shahla said Abbas and Mashaal were planning to hold another meeting in the future, but he did not provide any details about when or where it would be held. On Dec. 20, other Palestinian factions will meet in Cairo, and two days later PLO members will also hold a meeting, Abu Shahla said. Meanwhile, a meeting between the various smaller factions were being held at the offices of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine leader Rabah Muhanna in Gaza City, a Ma'an correspondent reported. 'Last chance' Palestinian political groups have called the upcoming meetings in Cairo the last chance for implementation of a reconciliation deal between Fatah and Hamas, which was signed in May. Seven months later, the factions say nothing has moved on the ground to implement the terms of the deal that would end four years of divided government in Gaza and the West Bank. Factions heading to Cairo on Monday stressed that this could be the last opportunity for the deal to end the division and set the path to national elections. The delegations in Cairo are funding their own expenses for the first time, begging the question of whether Egypt's sponsorship of the talks could founder if they drag on further. Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas leader and head of the government in Gaza, says one of the biggest sticking points has been the issue of political prisoners who remain in Palestinian prisons in the West Bank. Speaking this week at the inauguration of a new school in Gaza City, Haniyeh stressed "the need to take practical steps to prove the sincerity of intentions and depart from" empty rhetoric. He added that Hamas was awaiting the outcome of the meetings in Cairo. |
Hamas, Fatah officials to meet in Cairo
Published today (updated) 17/12/2011 15:30
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=445673
Published today (updated) 17/12/2011 15:30
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=445673
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – Two delegations representing Hamas and Fatah are
scheduled to meet in Cairo on Sunday to evaluate what has been achieved on
the ground since the heads of both parties met a month ago.
scheduled to meet in Cairo on Sunday to evaluate what has been achieved on
the ground since the heads of both parties met a month ago.
Fatah leader president Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal met a
month earlier in the Egyptian capital, declaring that the meeting had
brought them together and eliminated any differences.
month earlier in the Egyptian capital, declaring that the meeting had
brought them together and eliminated any differences.
Fatah lawmaker Faisal Abu Shahla said Abbas and Mashaal were planning to
hold another meeting in the future, but he did not provide any details about
when or where it would be held.
hold another meeting in the future, but he did not provide any details about
when or where it would be held.
On Dec. 20, other Palestinian factions will meet in Cairo, and two days
later PLO members will also hold a meeting, Abu Shahla said.
later PLO members will also hold a meeting, Abu Shahla said.
Meanwhile, a meeting between the various smaller factions were being held at
the offices of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine leader Rabah
Muhanna in Gaza City, a Ma'an correspondent reported.
the offices of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine leader Rabah
Muhanna in Gaza City, a Ma'an correspondent reported.
'Last chance'
Palestinian political groups have called the upcoming meetings in Cairo the
last chance for implementation of a reconciliation deal between Fatah and
Hamas, which was signed in May.
last chance for implementation of a reconciliation deal between Fatah and
Hamas, which was signed in May.
Seven months later, the factions say nothing has moved on the ground to
implement the terms of the deal that would end four years of divided
government in Gaza and the West Bank.
implement the terms of the deal that would end four years of divided
government in Gaza and the West Bank.
Factions heading to Cairo on Monday stressed that this could be the last
opportunity for the deal to end the division and set the path to national
elections.
opportunity for the deal to end the division and set the path to national
elections.
The delegations in Cairo are funding their own expenses for the first time,
begging the question of whether Egypt's sponsorship of the talks could
founder if they drag on further.
begging the question of whether Egypt's sponsorship of the talks could
founder if they drag on further.
Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas leader and head of the government in Gaza, says one of
the biggest sticking points has been the issue of political prisoners who
remain in Palestinian prisons in the West Bank.
the biggest sticking points has been the issue of political prisoners who
remain in Palestinian prisons in the West Bank.
Speaking this week at the inauguration of a new school in Gaza City, Haniyeh
stressed "the need to take practical steps to prove the sincerity of
intentions and depart from" empty rhetoric.
He added that Hamas was awaiting the outcome of the meetings in Cairo.stressed "the need to take practical steps to prove the sincerity of
intentions and depart from" empty rhetoric.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Boosters insisted the Egyptian revolution would yield a liberal democracy. Islamists’ electoral success vindicates the pessimists.
By Amr Bargisi and Samuel Tadros|
December 9, 2011 7:00 AM
When the Egyptian revolution came, we stayed home.
We are young, liberal Egyptian activists who have dedicated our lives to bettering our country. But from the moment in January the crowds took over Tahrir Square calling for President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, we urged observers, particularly Western idealists already hailing the triumph of the new Egypt, to be cautious. We reminded them of Edmund Burke’s truism: Bringing down a tyrant is far, far easier than forming a free government.
It would be difficult to form such a government, we reasoned, in a society where the elite, with near unanimity, had just explained a series shark attacks in the Sinai as part of a Mossad-coordinated ploy to damage tourism. A free government must be based on universal rights, not least the right to freedom of conscience for all its citizens, and yet a Pew poll from December 2010 showed that 84 percent of the sampled Egyptian Muslims endorsed the death penalty as the appropriate punishment for Muslim apostates. For an entire country to change in one month, we argued throughout February, you need nothing short of magic.
Pessimists, naysayers, wet blankets, Mubarak cronies, apologists for the regime—we were called all these names, despite the fact that we’ve spent our adult lives within the opposition. Here was a new generation armed with iPhones and Twitter accounts that would ensure the success of liberal democracy in the region’s largest state, the enthusiasts promised. When Mubarak finally bowed to the pressure of the protesters in the streets, commentators wrote fairy-tale endings to the Egypt story, rushing off to cover the next blossoming flower of the Arab Spring. In the months that followed, no matter how far the Egyptian economy plummeted, how badly the security situation on the border with Israel deteriorated, or how many were killed in criminal, sectarian, or political violence, the narrative was maintained: Though painful, these were the necessary labor pangs of democracy.
Last week, the moment of truth finally came—or so we hope—with the results of the first phase of parliamentary elections. The Islamist parties won big: 40 percent of the electorate voted for the Muslim Brotherhood, and another 25 percent went for the Salafists, hard-line Islamists. Though forced by law to nominate at least one woman on their party lists, the Salafists had the photos of their female candidates replaced by a pictures of flowers in campaign ads, because they believe a woman’s face should not be shown publicly. The closest runner-up was the self-styled “liberal” Egyptian Bloc, which got 15 percent of the vote only because it secured the support of the Coptic minority. (The bloc’s founder is a famous Christian businessman.) The Islamist parties will likely win even bigger in the next two phases of the election, scheduled to take place in the coming few weeks, because these votes will be held almost entirely in the countryside, where political Islam dominates. (The first phase also included urban districts, where non-Islamists perform better.)
***
For us, nothing is more painful than being correct. Our vindication comes at the price of our country’s potential collapse into Islamist totalitarianism, or, even worse, total chaos. We desperately need a combination of sobriety, urgency, and prudence to prevent that from happening.
We must begin by deconstructing the Tahrir mythology. Namely: The Mubarak regime was pure evil; that it was brought down by “liberal” nonviolent activists; and that the Islamists had nothing to do with the revolution and emerged—suddenly—only to hijack it.
The Mubarak regime was no liberal democracy, but it also wasn’t the Gulag. It was an aging authoritarian regime that had opted for a path of economic reform when Ahmed Nazif took over as prime minister in 2004, but miserably failed to cope with the changes economic reform had on the political level. Moderately freer markets meant more media, which meant that while the political repression and corruption of the regime were less heinous than in the past, they were getting more exposure than ever. This, along with Mubarak’s senility and nepotism, created an ever-increasing sense of outrage among Egypt’s growing middle class.
While living standards were improving substantially, Egyptians not only had higher expectations of the government, but they also were falling prey to an obsessed belief that corruption is the root of all evil. Corruption has always been present in the modern Egyptian state, as anyone who has read Tawfik El Hakim’s 1932 novel The Diary of a Prosecutor Among Peasants knows. But with the help of many of the country’s journalists, this obsession was translated into outright hostility to free-market policies. Terms like “businessman” or “privatization” became almost libelous. This marked the rise of a Jacobin discourse on “social justice” (adala Igtima’iya), creating a lot of buzz around labor movements and Occupy Wall Street-type leftist groups. It escaped Western observers that in a country with the lowest price of bread in the world—the result of enormous government subsidies—the loudest chant in Tahrir Square was “Bread, Freedom, Social Justice.”
The early Tahrir Square crowd was comprised of leftists and various other groups that were in it for different reasons. Consider, for example, the fanatic soccer fans known as the Ultras. Known for engaging in fights with security forces after every Egyptian soccer game, the Ultras would not waste a chance to get back at the police in a much less controlled environment than the Stadium. At Tahrir, they had a major role in attacking the police and destroying the police stations. In the revolution’s aftermath, the Ultras led the mob in the rampage of the Israeli Embassy.
Other than the fact that a few dozen human-rights activists were present in Tahrir, there was nothing remotely liberal about the uprising. But that didn’t stop Western journalists from applying the term: Every Egyptian male without a beard was a John Stuart Mill, every female without a veil a Mary Wollstonecraft. Suddenly, Trotskyites were liberals, and hooligans nonviolent protesters.
The idea that there were no Islamists involved in the revolution is pure nonsense. The Muslim Brotherhood officially declared its decision to join the protests on Jan. 23, and its members were instrumental in the success of the revolution in the subsequent days and weeks. What’s more, over the past decade Islamist groups, particularly the Salafists, have been taking advantage of Egypt’s increasing media and Internet freedom to further influence the political discussion. Wondering where the all these Salafists came from? Go to YouTube, type in any possible Arabic term, from financial investment to marriage counseling, and see the sheer number of results that show a Salafist leader preaching, most often in a clip from the religious satellite channel. The message is always the same: A return to a purer form of Islam guarantees salvation in this life and the next.
These two tendencies—the Jacobin and the Islamist—are not mutually exclusive in Egypt. The average Egyptian easily bought into both arguments, believing that the reason for all their ills was the Mubarak regime’s economic program, and that the only solution was a return to the golden age of Islam. Though institutionally immunized against Islamism through a strict system of surveillance, the military completely internalized the popular anti-capitalist discourse, hence its ultimate decision to offer its services to the revolutionaries, abandoning Mubarak in his time of need.
Into that mix comes anti-Semitism. Egyptian anti-Semitism is not simply a form of bigotry: It is the glue binding the otherwise incoherent ideological blend, the common denominator among disparate parties. The Zionist conspiracy theory was not merely a diversion applied by the Mubarak regime, as some suggest. It is a well-established social belief in Egypt, even among self-proclaimed liberals. Consider, for example, Yehya El-Gamal, a leading expert on constitutional law and chairman of the Democratic Front Party who was appointed deputy prime minister after the revolution. Though a staunch opponent of the Islamists, El-Gamal told Al-Ahram, the leading state-owned newspaper, that “Israel and the U.S. are behind flaming the sectarian conflict in Egypt” in the wake of the deadly clashes between Coptic demonstrators and military forces last October.
***
These facts, though hard to swallow, were clear well before the revolution. This is why, when we joined the Egyptian Union of Liberal Youth in 2009, we decided to focus our energy on a long-term program to build a genuine liberal movement from scratch. We realized early on that activism without serious, concrete ideas capable of winning the hearts and minds of our fellow Egyptians would be meaningless. Thus, we designed a platform of legal, economic, and social programs tackling all aspects of life in Egypt, from taxes to anti-Semitism. Our plan comprises research, lobbying, campaigning, and an effort to translate the great books of Western classical liberalism into Arabic. If Egypt was going to have any hope of becoming a liberal democracy, we had to face—and battle—the destructive totalitarian ideals that have taken hold of Egyptian society.
To begin a serious discussion on what can be done in our country, Egyptians must acknowledge that the Tahrir uprising was no liberal revolution. Western observers must realize that this is not a stark morality play, but political decision-making between alternatives that are all bad. As the government borders on bankruptcy and the security situation deteriorates (the natural-gas pipe line to Israel and Jordan was bombed nine times since February), the first priority should be defending the very existence of the Egyptian state, now solely represented by the military. This is certainly an awkward position for advocates of limited government, as we are. But if the military falls, nothing will stand between the Egyptians and absolute anarchy.
Western policy-makers and Egyptians who care about the country’s future should not push too hard for a total face-off between the military and the Islamists, which may develop into a civil war, nor should they seek to weaken the military to the extent that it is totally subdued by the Islamists. Finally, as the Islamists try to transform the legal and economic infrastructure of the country to their benefit, true liberals must be prepared to tackle them on every move, with detailed and convincing programs, not merely rhetorical speeches and empty polemics on talk shows. Islamism offers a coherent worldview; if liberalism cannot rise up to the same level, it will always be doomed to fail.
The gravest danger is for us to fall prey to complacency and believe that an Islamist government will either moderate or fail to deliver, and that the Egyptians will vote for someone else in the next elections. The very possibility of next elections is dependent on our capacity to avoid the total anarchy scenario. And the Islamists are not going to moderate. No matter how pragmatic the Muslim Brotherhood is, they will face a constant challenge by Salafists from the right to adhere a strict standard of religious purity. If the Islamists, now hugely popular, do fail to deliver, genuine liberals must be at the ready to offer voters a clear alternative. The Mubarak regime was remarkably successful in steering the economy in its latter years, but its inability to justify its existence politically led to its demise. There is no reason why the exact opposite—a failing economy but successful politics—cannot come to the service of the Islamists.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Have you read about this in the newspaper? Probably not, nor will you read it.
Cancelled flight from Atlanta to Houston AW
- This is frightening
I, Gene Hackemack, received this email from my good friend Tedd Petruna, a diver at the NBL facility [Neutral Buoyancy Lab], at NASA Houston, whom I used to work with. Tedd happened to be on this same Flt. 297, Atlanta to Houston.
In my opinion, the Muslims are all getting
very brave now... read Tedd's story below.
PS: Can you imagine, our own news media now are so politically correct that they are afraid to report that these were all Muslims.... unbelievable. Thank God for people like Tedd Petruna.
"One week ago, I went to Ohio on business and to see my father.... On Tuesday, the 17th, I returned home.
If you read the papers the 18th you may have seen a blurb where a Air Tran flight was cancelled from Atlanta to Houston due to a man who refused to get off of his cell phone before takeoff.
It was on Fox. This was NOT what happened.
what did happen is:
I was in 1st class coming home. 11 Muslim men got on the plane in full attire. 2 sat in 1st class and the rest peppered themselves throughout the plane all the way to the back. As the plane taxied to the runway the stewardesses gave the safety spiel we are all so familiar with. At that time, one of the men got on his cell and called one of his companions in the back and proceeded to talk on the phone in Arabic very loudly and very aggressively.
This took the 1st stewardess out of the picture for she repeatedly told the man that cell phones were not permitted at the time. He ignored her as if she was not there.
The 2nd man who answered the phone did the same and this took out the 2nd stewardess. In the back of the plane at this time, 2 younger Muslims, one in the back, isle, and one in front of him, window, began to show footage of a porno they had taped the night before, and were very loud about it. Now - they are only
permitted to do this prior to Jihad. If a Muslim man goes into a strip club, he has to view the woman via mirror with his back to her.... (don't ask me..I don't make the rules, but I've studied).
The 3rd stewardess informed them that they were not to have electronic devices on at this time. To which one of the men said "shut up infidel dog!" She went to take the camcorder and he began to scream in her face in Arabic. At that exact moment, all 11 of them got up and started to walk the cabin.
This is where I had had enough! I got up and started to the back where I heard a voice behind me from another Texan twice my size say "I got your back." I grabbed the man who had been on the phone by the arm and said "you WILL go sit down or you Will be thrown from this plane!" As I "led" him around me to take his seat, the fellow Texan grabbed him by the back of his neck and his waist and headed out with him.... I then grabbed the 2nd man and said, "You WILL do the same!" He protested but adrenaline was flowing now and he was going to go....
As I escorted him forward the plane doors open and 3 TSA agents and 4 police officers entered. Me and my new Texan friend were told to cease and desist for they had this under control....
I was happy to oblige actually. There was some commotion in the back, but within moments, all 11 were escorted off the plane. They then unloaded their luggage.
We talked about the occurrence and were in disbelief that it had happened, when suddenly, the door open again and in walked all 11!! Stone faced, eyes front and robotic (the only way I can describe it). The stewardess from the back had been in tears and when she saw this, she was having NONE of it! Being that I was up front, I heard and saw the whole ordeal.
She told the TSA agent there was NO WAY she was staying on the plane with these men. The agent told her they had searched them and were going to go through their luggage with a fine tooth comb and that they were allowed to proceed to Houston. The captain and co-captain came out and told the agent
"we and our crew will not fly this plane!" After a word or two, the entire crew, luggage in tow, left the plane. 5 minutes later, the cabin door opened again and a whole new crew walked on.
Again.... this is where I had had enough!!! I got up and asked "What the hell is going on!?!?" I was told to take my seat. They were sorry for the delay and I would be home shortly. I said "I'm getting off this plane". The stewardess sternly told me that she could not allow me to get off. (now I'm mad!) I said "I am a grown man who bought this ticket, who's time is mine with a family at home and I am going through that door, or I'm going through that door with you under my arm!! But I am going through that door!!" And I heard a voice behind me say "so am I". Then everyone behind us started to get up and say the same.
Within 2 minutes, I was walking off that plane where I was met with more agents who asked me to write a statement. I had 5 hours to kill at this point so why the hell not. Due to the amount of people who got off that flight, it was canceled. I was supposed to be in Houston at 6 pm. I got here at 12:30 am.
Look up the date. Flight 297 Atlanta to Houston. If this wasn't a dry run, I don't know what one is. The terrorists wanted to see how TSA would handle it, how the crew would handle it, and how the passengers would handle it.
I'm telling this to you because I want you to know. The threat is real. I saw it with my own eyes."
- Tedd Petruna
Cancelled flight from Atlanta to Houston AW
- This is frightening
I, Gene Hackemack, received this email from my good friend Tedd Petruna, a diver at the NBL facility [Neutral Buoyancy Lab], at NASA Houston, whom I used to work with. Tedd happened to be on this same Flt. 297, Atlanta to Houston.
In my opinion, the Muslims are all getting
very brave now... read Tedd's story below.
PS: Can you imagine, our own news media now are so politically correct that they are afraid to report that these were all Muslims.... unbelievable. Thank God for people like Tedd Petruna.
"One week ago, I went to Ohio on business and to see my father.... On Tuesday, the 17th, I returned home.
If you read the papers the 18th you may have seen a blurb where a Air Tran flight was cancelled from Atlanta to Houston due to a man who refused to get off of his cell phone before takeoff.
It was on Fox. This was NOT what happened.
what did happen is:
I was in 1st class coming home. 11 Muslim men got on the plane in full attire. 2 sat in 1st class and the rest peppered themselves throughout the plane all the way to the back. As the plane taxied to the runway the stewardesses gave the safety spiel we are all so familiar with. At that time, one of the men got on his cell and called one of his companions in the back and proceeded to talk on the phone in Arabic very loudly and very aggressively.
This took the 1st stewardess out of the picture for she repeatedly told the man that cell phones were not permitted at the time. He ignored her as if she was not there.
The 2nd man who answered the phone did the same and this took out the 2nd stewardess. In the back of the plane at this time, 2 younger Muslims, one in the back, isle, and one in front of him, window, began to show footage of a porno they had taped the night before, and were very loud about it. Now - they are only
permitted to do this prior to Jihad. If a Muslim man goes into a strip club, he has to view the woman via mirror with his back to her.... (don't ask me..I don't make the rules, but I've studied).
The 3rd stewardess informed them that they were not to have electronic devices on at this time. To which one of the men said "shut up infidel dog!" She went to take the camcorder and he began to scream in her face in Arabic. At that exact moment, all 11 of them got up and started to walk the cabin.
This is where I had had enough! I got up and started to the back where I heard a voice behind me from another Texan twice my size say "I got your back." I grabbed the man who had been on the phone by the arm and said "you WILL go sit down or you Will be thrown from this plane!" As I "led" him around me to take his seat, the fellow Texan grabbed him by the back of his neck and his waist and headed out with him.... I then grabbed the 2nd man and said, "You WILL do the same!" He protested but adrenaline was flowing now and he was going to go....
As I escorted him forward the plane doors open and 3 TSA agents and 4 police officers entered. Me and my new Texan friend were told to cease and desist for they had this under control....
I was happy to oblige actually. There was some commotion in the back, but within moments, all 11 were escorted off the plane. They then unloaded their luggage.
We talked about the occurrence and were in disbelief that it had happened, when suddenly, the door open again and in walked all 11!! Stone faced, eyes front and robotic (the only way I can describe it). The stewardess from the back had been in tears and when she saw this, she was having NONE of it! Being that I was up front, I heard and saw the whole ordeal.
She told the TSA agent there was NO WAY she was staying on the plane with these men. The agent told her they had searched them and were going to go through their luggage with a fine tooth comb and that they were allowed to proceed to Houston. The captain and co-captain came out and told the agent
"we and our crew will not fly this plane!" After a word or two, the entire crew, luggage in tow, left the plane. 5 minutes later, the cabin door opened again and a whole new crew walked on.
Again.... this is where I had had enough!!! I got up and asked "What the hell is going on!?!?" I was told to take my seat. They were sorry for the delay and I would be home shortly. I said "I'm getting off this plane". The stewardess sternly told me that she could not allow me to get off. (now I'm mad!) I said "I am a grown man who bought this ticket, who's time is mine with a family at home and I am going through that door, or I'm going through that door with you under my arm!! But I am going through that door!!" And I heard a voice behind me say "so am I". Then everyone behind us started to get up and say the same.
Within 2 minutes, I was walking off that plane where I was met with more agents who asked me to write a statement. I had 5 hours to kill at this point so why the hell not. Due to the amount of people who got off that flight, it was canceled. I was supposed to be in Houston at 6 pm. I got here at 12:30 am.
Look up the date. Flight 297 Atlanta to Houston. If this wasn't a dry run, I don't know what one is. The terrorists wanted to see how TSA would handle it, how the crew would handle it, and how the passengers would handle it.
I'm telling this to you because I want you to know. The threat is real. I saw it with my own eyes."
- Tedd Petruna
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Iran military shoots down US drone in eastern province
By REUTERS AND JPOST.COM STAFF12/04/2011 17:05
Talkbacks (53)
TEHRAN - Iran's military said on Sunday it had shot down a US reconnaissance drone aircraft in eastern Iran, a military source told state television.
"Iran's military has downed an intruding RQ-170 American drone in eastern Iran," Iran's Arabic-language Al Alam state television network quoted the unnamed source as saying.
RELATED:
Iran: Price of crude would double if oil exports blocked
"The spy drone, which has been downed with little damage, was seized by the Iranian armed forces."
Iran's response to the downed US drone's violation of its airspace will not be limited to the country's borders, a military source told state television.
"The Iranian military's response to the American spy drone's violation of our airspace will not be limited to Iran's borders any more," Iran's Arabic language Al Alam television quoted the military source as saying, without giving details.
Iran shot down the drone at a time when it is trying to contain foreign reaction to the storming of the British embassy in Tehran on Tuesday, shortly after London announced that it would impose sanctions on Iran's central bank in connection with Iran's controversial nuclear enrichment program.
"Iran's military has downed an intruding RQ-170 American drone in eastern Iran," Iran's Arabic-language Al Alam state television network quoted the unnamed source as saying.
RELATED:
Iran: Price of crude would double if oil exports blocked
"The spy drone, which has been downed with little damage, was seized by the Iranian armed forces."
Iran's response to the downed US drone's violation of its airspace will not be limited to the country's borders, a military source told state television.
"The Iranian military's response to the American spy drone's violation of our airspace will not be limited to Iran's borders any more," Iran's Arabic language Al Alam television quoted the military source as saying, without giving details.
Iran shot down the drone at a time when it is trying to contain foreign reaction to the storming of the British embassy in Tehran on Tuesday, shortly after London announced that it would impose sanctions on Iran's central bank in connection with Iran's controversial nuclear enrichment program.
Britain evacuated its diplomatic staff from Iran and expelled Iranian diplomats in London in retaliation, and several other EU members recalled their ambassadors from Tehran.
The attack dragged Iran's relations with Europe to a long-time low.
Washington and EU countries have been discussing measures to restrict Iran's oil exports since the United Nations nuclear watchdog issued a report in November with what it said was evidence that Tehran had worked on designing an atom bomb.
Iran says its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.
In related news, Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese website al-Intiqad on Sunday posted what they claim to be pictures of Israeli spy devices that IAF aircraft destroyed on Friday after they had been discovered in southern Lebanon.
Two people were injured Friday during an explosion in the southern Lebanese towns of Srifa and Deir Kifa, Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star reported.
The report suggested that the explosion may have been caused by an IDF drone, but also speculated that it was a result of a cluster bomb.
Jerusalem has alleged that Iran has heavily armed Hezbollah by transferring weapons through Syria.
The attack dragged Iran's relations with Europe to a long-time low.
Washington and EU countries have been discussing measures to restrict Iran's oil exports since the United Nations nuclear watchdog issued a report in November with what it said was evidence that Tehran had worked on designing an atom bomb.
Iran says its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.
In related news, Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese website al-Intiqad on Sunday posted what they claim to be pictures of Israeli spy devices that IAF aircraft destroyed on Friday after they had been discovered in southern Lebanon.
Two people were injured Friday during an explosion in the southern Lebanese towns of Srifa and Deir Kifa, Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star reported.
The report suggested that the explosion may have been caused by an IDF drone, but also speculated that it was a result of a cluster bomb.
Jerusalem has alleged that Iran has heavily armed Hezbollah by transferring weapons through Syria.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Article that was originally posted in The Jerusalem Post
11/25/2011 02:58
The film shows images of 9/11, the Beslan school terror attack and Hamas militants spliced with interviews of commentators speaking alarmingly about the peril of radical Islam. One of the animations in the film shows the spires of the famous Notre Dame cathedral in Paris replaced with minarets, another has a mosque built on the site of the former World Trade Center in New York City.
“The European countries are shaken by radicalism – not Islam the religion – and it is distorting countries,” Shulman told the council via satellite afterward.
Shulman, who could not attend in person because he was observing the shiva mourning period for his mother, said the opening of Europe’s borders to immigrants resulted in it being forced to “abandon its traditions of thousands of years.”
Vladimir Sinelnikov, the documentary’s co-creator, also spoke about the dystopia depicted in the film.
“It was important that Shulman participate,” said Vladimir Sinelnikov. He was not only a pocket but a coauthor and his heart is aching what is happening in the world today.”
The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress is an affiliate of the World Jewish Congress. Billionaire Alexander Machkevitch, who officially stepped down earlier this month, founded the body 10 years ago.
After the meeting EAJC Secretary General Michael Chlenov distanced the organization from the movie screened at its council’s meeting.
“We should distinguish between the EAJC and the movie,” he said. “One is the work of the head and another of the heart. What was demonstrated is the latter.”
He added: “If you ask me, WWIII has not broken out, but the potential is there.”
Earlier in the day Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sent a letter welcoming members of the EAJC to Jerusalem.
“I’ve been impressed by the congress’s bolstering of Jewish identity among Jewish communities in Eastern Europe and Asia,” the Prime Minister’s Office said. “You’ve managed to tie these communities to Israel in a praise worthy manner.”
Shulman was unanimously elected by the delegates from the FSU. His only opposing candidate, Vladimir Herzberg, a retired physicist from Beersheba who has launched several unsuccessful bids to head the Jewish organizations, received no votes.
“To me, democracy is incompatible with money,” Herzberg told the council. “I didn’t pay anything to take part in these elections and even had I paid anything I wouldn’t get anything. If I were the best president I would do a better job.”
New world war has begun, says new Jewish group head
By GIL SHEFLER11/25/2011 02:58
“World War III has begun,” according to the newly elected president of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) Vadim Shulman.
The affluent businessman who holds Israeli, Ukrainian and Russian citizenship was voted in unanimously to helm the Jewish advocacy group by its General Council in Jerusalem on Thursday.
During the meeting, a documentary he co-created called The Mosque of Notre Dame of Paris was screened.
The affluent businessman who holds Israeli, Ukrainian and Russian citizenship was voted in unanimously to helm the Jewish advocacy group by its General Council in Jerusalem on Thursday.
During the meeting, a documentary he co-created called The Mosque of Notre Dame of Paris was screened.
The film shows images of 9/11, the Beslan school terror attack and Hamas militants spliced with interviews of commentators speaking alarmingly about the peril of radical Islam. One of the animations in the film shows the spires of the famous Notre Dame cathedral in Paris replaced with minarets, another has a mosque built on the site of the former World Trade Center in New York City.
“The European countries are shaken by radicalism – not Islam the religion – and it is distorting countries,” Shulman told the council via satellite afterward.
Shulman, who could not attend in person because he was observing the shiva mourning period for his mother, said the opening of Europe’s borders to immigrants resulted in it being forced to “abandon its traditions of thousands of years.”
Vladimir Sinelnikov, the documentary’s co-creator, also spoke about the dystopia depicted in the film.
“It was important that Shulman participate,” said Vladimir Sinelnikov. He was not only a pocket but a coauthor and his heart is aching what is happening in the world today.”
The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress is an affiliate of the World Jewish Congress. Billionaire Alexander Machkevitch, who officially stepped down earlier this month, founded the body 10 years ago.
After the meeting EAJC Secretary General Michael Chlenov distanced the organization from the movie screened at its council’s meeting.
“We should distinguish between the EAJC and the movie,” he said. “One is the work of the head and another of the heart. What was demonstrated is the latter.”
He added: “If you ask me, WWIII has not broken out, but the potential is there.”
Earlier in the day Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sent a letter welcoming members of the EAJC to Jerusalem.
“I’ve been impressed by the congress’s bolstering of Jewish identity among Jewish communities in Eastern Europe and Asia,” the Prime Minister’s Office said. “You’ve managed to tie these communities to Israel in a praise worthy manner.”
Shulman was unanimously elected by the delegates from the FSU. His only opposing candidate, Vladimir Herzberg, a retired physicist from Beersheba who has launched several unsuccessful bids to head the Jewish organizations, received no votes.
“To me, democracy is incompatible with money,” Herzberg told the council. “I didn’t pay anything to take part in these elections and even had I paid anything I wouldn’t get anything. If I were the best president I would do a better job.”
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Reprint from a News Group
Struggle Against Israel is a Religious War
"..Hamas regards the struggle against Israel and the Jews
as part of a broader religious war waged between the Islamic and
Western civilizations. It is the latest and most fateful phase of the
relentless onslaught waged by Western imperialism and culture against
Islam since the time of the Crusades. Both the capitalist West and the
Communist East are regarded as one entity in this context because of
their support for Zionism. Thus Hamas depicted the 1991 Gulf War as a
war of the `crusaders [Western] coalition' against Islam in order to
complete what Zionism had been unable to do." [Meir Litvak, "The Islamization
of the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict: the case of Hamas" (01/01/1998) - Middle
Eastern Studies referencing Hamas Charter, article 15; Handbills Nos.
10, 31, 63. ]
"In addition, the Jews were sometimes portrayed as instruments of the
West, or alternatively as the power which controls and manipulates the
West. The US, for instance, was described as a servant of Israel and
as seeking to subjugate the Arabs according to the Jewish plan."
(Litvak referencing Handbills Nos. 10, 24, 71, 72; `al-bayan al-thani
lil-harakat al-islamiyya', FM, March 1991)
"Such a view had been formulated by the Egyptian Muslim Brethren
already in the 1930s, and it is shared by most modern Islamist
movements. Hasan al-Banna described Zionism as a threat and a
challenge to the Muslim world, but also as a beneficial experience
(manha), which exposes the decadence in the Islamic world and offers
it a chance of self-purification." (Litvak)
(For the Muslim Brethren's perception, see Richard Mitchell, The
Society of the Muslim Brotherhood (Oxford, 1969), pp.227ff.; `Abd
al-Fattah al-`Uwaysi, Tasawwur al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin li-qadiyat
Filastin (Cairo, n.d.); `Filastin fi fikr al-imam al-shahid Hasan
al-Banna,' Liwa al-Islam, 7 Feb. 1989)
The Muslim Brotherhood, out of which came Yasser Arafat is an Islamic
organization which sought to "emulate the pure Islamic society created by
the Wahhabi Ikhwan." (Dore Gold, "Hatred's Kingdom" 2003)
"God is our objective, Quran (his spelling) is our constitution; the
Prophet is our leader; struggle is our way, and death for the sake of God
is the highest of our aspirations." (Muslim Brotherhood Creedo)
While Wahhabism was among the most extreme forms of Islam, and Wahhabis
considered non-Wahhabis "polytheists" and had no compulsion against
killing them, it was of necessity that Osama bin Laden made concessions to
fight alongside them against the Christians and the Jews. There are
examples of this. In Khartoum in 1991 there was a coference of Islamist
leaders from 55 countries of many different factions, even nominally
secular activists and against a follow-up conference in 95 with such
divergent Islamic groups as the Algerian Front Islamique du Salud (FIS),
Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hizballah, and pro-Iranian Shiite
groups. Bin laden established new relationships at these conferences. The
Saudis provided funding for some of these groups. (Reference: Dore Gold
("Hatred's Kingdom") and Shimon Shapira, "Hizballah Between Iran and
Lebanon" (Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 2000))
Oil is the driving force, the money that fuels the organizations, whose
intent it is to kill Christians and Jews and comes from the Saudi
government with profits going to the U.S. and British oil cabal, in which
George Bush is also a benefactor.
"Many Egyptian members of the Muslim Brotherhood (where it had it's
beginnings) who had been driven out of Egypt by Nasser's regime found
refuge in Saudi Arabia, and some received stipends from the Saudi
government. Palestinian Muslim Brothers followed. Abu Jihad (Khalil
al-Wazir), who before becoming one of the founders of the Fatah (Arafat's
Fatah Movement) had been a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, left
Egyptian-controlled Gaza to teach in Saudi Arabia. Yasser Arafat, who,
though not formally a Muslim Brother, had fought as a sympathizer with
their units in 1948, applied for a Saudi visa in 1957, but then decided to
move to Kuwait. (Decades later, Saudi Arabia would again become a refuge
for the Muslim Brotherhood. When the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood split,
after it was crushed by President Hafez al-Assad in 1982, at least one of
its factions took refuge in Saudi Arabia. Sudanese Muslim Brothers also
came to the Saudi kingdom for political asylum. The number of Muslim
Brotherhood refugees who fled to Saudi Arabia reached the thousands.) Some
of the Egyptian Muslim Brothers who arrived in Saudi Arabia in the late
1950s became promient at the Islamic University of Medina, which was
founded in 1961, following consultations between many of these foreign
fundamentalists, the Wahhabi ulama, and other Saudi authorities." (Gold)
Saudi Arabia, with two of the holiest sites in the Muslim world is also
where radical Islamists are united in their opposition to Jews and
Christians. All Muslims are exposed to extremism at one time in their life
when they make the sacred pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
"In 628 Muhammad entered into a truce with his adversaries in Mecca,
thereby guaranteeing his followers the right to perform the pilgrimage. It
was a cultural tradition the new faith had proved unable to render
moribund. In Muhaammad's mind the truce was a temporary necessity in order
to gain peaceful access to Mecca, placating followers whose traditional
reverence for Mecca remained strong. Muhammad also wished to bring certain
Meccans over to his side..... (Charles Sutherland, "Diciples of
Destruction: The Religious Origins of War and Terrorism" 87 Prometheus
Books)
"Despite the truce, effectuated principally to restrain his own restive
followers, and with his position consolidate dand his military forces
prepared, Muhammad reciprocated the graciousness of the people of Mecca by
successfully cutting off their trade routes and leading an army against
them. He was quickly victorious, seized the city, and celebrated his
triumph by personally smashing the 360 idols in the Meccan sanctuary,
proclaiming, "Truth has come and falsehood has vanished." Unmentioned were
the lies of truce that had allowed the "truth" to come. Muhammad's victory
over Mecca was marked by uncommon restraint and little persecution, but
despite swift military success Muhammad's evangelism of the citizenry
encountered protracted resistance. In order to avoid prolonged
hostilities, Muhammad negotiated with city leaders, agreeing that if they
submitted to Islam he would make pilgrimage to Mecca a requirment of the
new religion. This assured a continuation of the present pilgrimage and
tourist traffic and even promised a great increase in it. The pagan Kaaba
would be transformed into the holiest of Muslim shrines. Muhammad
accordingly prescribed that all Muslims should endeavor to make at least
one pilgrimage to Mecca during their lifetimes, more if possible. The
pilgrimage was called the Hajj. The merchant community quickly realizedthe
material possiblities of this devine arrangement, and submitted to the new
theology with an understanding of its economic if not its celestial
rewards. Thus did Mecca adopt the Islamic faith. Muhammad had made an
offer they couldn't refuse." (Sutherland)
And that is how it has always been. Pagan beliefs and some Jewish and
Christian customs and enough promises of things to come, to win over local
populations along with the greatest promise of all, of a better after-life
than the one most people had (and still have) in this one, and then also a
great expectations of what could be plundered by Muhammad's counquering
army - as it spread over the rest of the world as far as it could reach,
was enough to win over a lot of converts, and still is. The promise today
comes with the priviso that adherents must return to a pure observance of
Islam as dictated by new warlords like Osama bin Laden and radical Islamic
clerics.
Hank Roth
http://pnews.org/
Struggle Against Israel is a Religious War
"..Hamas regards the struggle against Israel and the Jews
as part of a broader religious war waged between the Islamic and
Western civilizations. It is the latest and most fateful phase of the
relentless onslaught waged by Western imperialism and culture against
Islam since the time of the Crusades. Both the capitalist West and the
Communist East are regarded as one entity in this context because of
their support for Zionism. Thus Hamas depicted the 1991 Gulf War as a
war of the `crusaders [Western] coalition' against Islam in order to
complete what Zionism had been unable to do." [Meir Litvak, "The Islamization
of the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict: the case of Hamas" (01/01/1998) - Middle
Eastern Studies referencing Hamas Charter, article 15; Handbills Nos.
10, 31, 63. ]
"In addition, the Jews were sometimes portrayed as instruments of the
West, or alternatively as the power which controls and manipulates the
West. The US, for instance, was described as a servant of Israel and
as seeking to subjugate the Arabs according to the Jewish plan."
(Litvak referencing Handbills Nos. 10, 24, 71, 72; `al-bayan al-thani
lil-harakat al-islamiyya', FM, March 1991)
"Such a view had been formulated by the Egyptian Muslim Brethren
already in the 1930s, and it is shared by most modern Islamist
movements. Hasan al-Banna described Zionism as a threat and a
challenge to the Muslim world, but also as a beneficial experience
(manha), which exposes the decadence in the Islamic world and offers
it a chance of self-purification." (Litvak)
(For the Muslim Brethren's perception, see Richard Mitchell, The
Society of the Muslim Brotherhood (Oxford, 1969), pp.227ff.; `Abd
al-Fattah al-`Uwaysi, Tasawwur al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin li-qadiyat
Filastin (Cairo, n.d.); `Filastin fi fikr al-imam al-shahid Hasan
al-Banna,' Liwa al-Islam, 7 Feb. 1989)
The Muslim Brotherhood, out of which came Yasser Arafat is an Islamic
organization which sought to "emulate the pure Islamic society created by
the Wahhabi Ikhwan." (Dore Gold, "Hatred's Kingdom" 2003)
"God is our objective, Quran (his spelling) is our constitution; the
Prophet is our leader; struggle is our way, and death for the sake of God
is the highest of our aspirations." (Muslim Brotherhood Creedo)
While Wahhabism was among the most extreme forms of Islam, and Wahhabis
considered non-Wahhabis "polytheists" and had no compulsion against
killing them, it was of necessity that Osama bin Laden made concessions to
fight alongside them against the Christians and the Jews. There are
examples of this. In Khartoum in 1991 there was a coference of Islamist
leaders from 55 countries of many different factions, even nominally
secular activists and against a follow-up conference in 95 with such
divergent Islamic groups as the Algerian Front Islamique du Salud (FIS),
Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hizballah, and pro-Iranian Shiite
groups. Bin laden established new relationships at these conferences. The
Saudis provided funding for some of these groups. (Reference: Dore Gold
("Hatred's Kingdom") and Shimon Shapira, "Hizballah Between Iran and
Lebanon" (Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 2000))
Oil is the driving force, the money that fuels the organizations, whose
intent it is to kill Christians and Jews and comes from the Saudi
government with profits going to the U.S. and British oil cabal, in which
George Bush is also a benefactor.
"Many Egyptian members of the Muslim Brotherhood (where it had it's
beginnings) who had been driven out of Egypt by Nasser's regime found
refuge in Saudi Arabia, and some received stipends from the Saudi
government. Palestinian Muslim Brothers followed. Abu Jihad (Khalil
al-Wazir), who before becoming one of the founders of the Fatah (Arafat's
Fatah Movement) had been a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, left
Egyptian-controlled Gaza to teach in Saudi Arabia. Yasser Arafat, who,
though not formally a Muslim Brother, had fought as a sympathizer with
their units in 1948, applied for a Saudi visa in 1957, but then decided to
move to Kuwait. (Decades later, Saudi Arabia would again become a refuge
for the Muslim Brotherhood. When the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood split,
after it was crushed by President Hafez al-Assad in 1982, at least one of
its factions took refuge in Saudi Arabia. Sudanese Muslim Brothers also
came to the Saudi kingdom for political asylum. The number of Muslim
Brotherhood refugees who fled to Saudi Arabia reached the thousands.) Some
of the Egyptian Muslim Brothers who arrived in Saudi Arabia in the late
1950s became promient at the Islamic University of Medina, which was
founded in 1961, following consultations between many of these foreign
fundamentalists, the Wahhabi ulama, and other Saudi authorities." (Gold)
Saudi Arabia, with two of the holiest sites in the Muslim world is also
where radical Islamists are united in their opposition to Jews and
Christians. All Muslims are exposed to extremism at one time in their life
when they make the sacred pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
"In 628 Muhammad entered into a truce with his adversaries in Mecca,
thereby guaranteeing his followers the right to perform the pilgrimage. It
was a cultural tradition the new faith had proved unable to render
moribund. In Muhaammad's mind the truce was a temporary necessity in order
to gain peaceful access to Mecca, placating followers whose traditional
reverence for Mecca remained strong. Muhammad also wished to bring certain
Meccans over to his side..... (Charles Sutherland, "Diciples of
Destruction: The Religious Origins of War and Terrorism" 87 Prometheus
Books)
"Despite the truce, effectuated principally to restrain his own restive
followers, and with his position consolidate dand his military forces
prepared, Muhammad reciprocated the graciousness of the people of Mecca by
successfully cutting off their trade routes and leading an army against
them. He was quickly victorious, seized the city, and celebrated his
triumph by personally smashing the 360 idols in the Meccan sanctuary,
proclaiming, "Truth has come and falsehood has vanished." Unmentioned were
the lies of truce that had allowed the "truth" to come. Muhammad's victory
over Mecca was marked by uncommon restraint and little persecution, but
despite swift military success Muhammad's evangelism of the citizenry
encountered protracted resistance. In order to avoid prolonged
hostilities, Muhammad negotiated with city leaders, agreeing that if they
submitted to Islam he would make pilgrimage to Mecca a requirment of the
new religion. This assured a continuation of the present pilgrimage and
tourist traffic and even promised a great increase in it. The pagan Kaaba
would be transformed into the holiest of Muslim shrines. Muhammad
accordingly prescribed that all Muslims should endeavor to make at least
one pilgrimage to Mecca during their lifetimes, more if possible. The
pilgrimage was called the Hajj. The merchant community quickly realizedthe
material possiblities of this devine arrangement, and submitted to the new
theology with an understanding of its economic if not its celestial
rewards. Thus did Mecca adopt the Islamic faith. Muhammad had made an
offer they couldn't refuse." (Sutherland)
And that is how it has always been. Pagan beliefs and some Jewish and
Christian customs and enough promises of things to come, to win over local
populations along with the greatest promise of all, of a better after-life
than the one most people had (and still have) in this one, and then also a
great expectations of what could be plundered by Muhammad's counquering
army - as it spread over the rest of the world as far as it could reach,
was enough to win over a lot of converts, and still is. The promise today
comes with the priviso that adherents must return to a pure observance of
Islam as dictated by new warlords like Osama bin Laden and radical Islamic
clerics.
Hank Roth
http://pnews.org/
Friday, November 25, 2011
An Article posted from another email account:
Daniel Greenfield
Islam, the Religion of Slavery
Posted: 09 Nov 2011 08:07 PM PST
The slow collapse of Dubai, a desert mirage built on oil money, human
misery and the greed of Western businesses, reminds us once again of
the fate of all slave economies in the end. But for all the
skyscrapers in Dubai, the glittering avenues built by slave labor and
the abundance of luxury American and European automobiles-- the story
of Dubai and Saudi Arabia is very much an old story in a Muslim
Middle East, of fat prosperous sheiks clutching their ill gotten
gains to themselves and ruling over harems and companies of slaves,
until the end comes.
Like Muslim Brotherhood derived terrorists using the latest Web 2.0
social media as part of a quest to drive humanity back into the dark
ages, the Gulf States are a very old story with the external gilt and
glitz of modernity. While the Muslim world may employ the tools and
utilities of the 21st century, even mimic its terminology, it has
never left its own dark ages... and its dominant religious and social
movements are all geared toward making sure that it never does.
And while above the skyscrapers gleam in Dubai's night sky, below are
the armies of foreign workers, some prosperous Western Dhimmis
driving luxury cars who come to do all the higher labor that the
native Emiratis lack the ability or will to do, and outnumbering them
are the labor gangs of Asian, Indian and Middle Eastern workers who
erect the edifices designed by Western architects to fool Western
investors into believing that the backward totalitarian sheikdom is
actually a modern free republic.
As with any fairy tale, behind the glamour lies an ugly truth. A
truth that goes back to the dates back to Mohammed. That stretches
from slave caravans to slave ships. From England to America and
through Turkey to Russia, the roots of slavery can be found in the
Muslim slave trade.
The African continent was bled of its human resources via all
possible routes. Across the Sahara, through the Red Sea, from the
Indian Ocean ports and across the Atlantic. At least ten centuries of
slavery for the benefit of the Muslim countries (from the ninth to
the nineteenth)... Four million slaves exported via the Red Sea,
another four million through the Swahili ports of the Indian Ocean,
perhaps as many as nine million along the trans-Saharan caravan
route, and eleven to twenty million (depending on the author) across
the Atlantic Ocean.
The Impact of the Slave Trade on Africa, Elikia M’Äôbokolo
The silent genocide is little spoken of, because it is an
inconvenient interruption of the modern liberal historical narrative
in which industrialized European powers exploited the unfortunate
peoples of what is now the Third World. But Muslim slavery was indeed
a genocide, one that stretched on for a thousand years of horror,
misery and cruelty. That helped lead into the European era of slavery
as well... but what is often forgotten is that before Europeans were
slaveholders, they along with Africans, were slaves of Islam.
Many centuries before European slave ships began raiding African
coasts, Muslim slave ships were raiding European coasts and sending
their armies deep into the heart of Europe. While it is European
slavery that is best known, it is Muslim slavery that came long
before it and lasted long after it into the present day. The guest
workers who labor on Dubai's mirage of skyscrapers and luxuries die
by the thousands with no civil or human rights, cheated out of wages,
imprisoned at a whim and viewed as subhuman by their Emirati
masters-- are the latest extension of a tradition of Muslim slavery
stretching for over a millennium.
Without slavery it is likely that Islam would have never survived
long enough to become the worldwide menace that it is today.
Mohammed, himself a slaveowner, exploited slavery to gain power in
two ways.
First, Mohammed attracted men to join his cause by allowing them to
raid caravans and towns, seizing goods and carrying off men, women
and children into slavery. The men would be sold to labor, the women
would be raped and then perhaps taken as concubines or forcibly
married, as Mohammed himself did on more than one occasion. The
children would be raised in slavery.
By treating non-Muslims as subhuman property, Mohammed was able to
create an important financial incentive for men to join him in his
wars to conquer the region-- as well as demonstrating to those who
refused to convert and join him just what would happen to them and
their families if they refused to bow to him. By invalidating the
marriages of captured women, Mohammed simultaneously legalizing both
rape and adultery under the banner of Islam.
Back when Mohammed was essentially running a biker gang with a
religion, his dehumanization of non-Muslims turned anyone who had not
become a Muslim into human loot to satisfy their greed and appetites.
Had Mohammed not done this, he would have ended up as nothing more
than another nomad cultist with delusions of grandeur. But by trading
in human chattel, his religion gained "followers" who wanted loot and
slaves, more than they wanted "Allah".
Second, Mohammed promised freedom to slaves who came to join him.
This allowed him to expand the ranks of his followers further, while
posturing as morally being opposed to slavery. This cynical maneuver
in which Mohammed and his followers turned non-Muslims into slavery,
yet promised freedom to slaves who agreed to become Muslims is often
cited by Muslims who are looking to promote Mohammed as being opposed
to slavery.
In fact Mohammed very much favored slavery, he simply understood that
turning his army into a magnet for escaped slaves whom he could
transform into free men through his omnipotent religious impramptur,
would swell his ranks and diminish those of his enemies. Mohammed
himself owned slaves, and raped and abused them. And today slavery
remains far more widespread in the Muslim world, while it has become
extinct in Christian and Jewish countries.
Of all these slave routes, the "slave trade" in its purest form, i.e.
the European Atlantic trade, attracts most attention and gives rise
to most debate. The Atlantic trade is the least poorly documented to
date, but this is not the only reason. More significantly, it was
directed at Africans only, whereas the Muslim countries enslaved both
Blacks and Whites.
The Impact of the Slave Trade on Africa, Elikia M’Äôbokolo
While the European slavery was more labor oriented, with racial
justifications used to maintain a slave economy-- Muslim slavery has
traditionally been more luxury oriented. The Europeans may have seen
slavery as a convenient means of production, Muslims traditionally
saw slaves as a luxury in and of themselves. That is why slavery in
the European world was more limited to developing economies with a
labor shortage and high transportation costs such as the Americas,
while in the Muslim world it is traditionally the most prosperous
countries with a surplus of the wealthy who collected the most slaves.
The Zanj Rebellion in 9th century Iraq in which half a million slaves
rebelled against the Muslim Empire of the Abbasid Caliphate virtually
prefigures the state of affairs in present day Dubai and Saudi
Arabia. And indeed Dubai and Saudi Arabia may well face the same if
enough of their abused workers ever turn a riot into an outright
uprising, that will likely have to be crushed with borrowed US troops
acting on behalf of the Saudis and Emiratis.
Unlike European slavery where the number of slaves related to
production, Muslim slavery places no limits on slavery because it is
as much a luxury as a means of production. That is also why slavery
became extinct in European colonies, as much on economic as on moral
grounds, but can never go extinct in the Muslim world, because the
moral grounds and personal example for the maintenance of slavery was
provided by Mohammed himself, and Muslim slavery is not rooted
exclusively in the rationale of production, but in the sense of
Muslim superiority.
Slavery may be odious in the free world, but the Muslim world is by
no means free. And the social nature of an un-free world is a world
of masters and slaves. In a society of masters and slaves, the best
way to demonstrate your freedom is by owning slaves.
While the prosperous citizens of a free nation demonstrate their
accomplishment through hard work, in a master-slave society the
prosperous demonstrate their prosperity through public laziness and
self-indulgence. In a master-slave society, freedom means the freedom
to do nothing, the freedom to have a slave do it for you instead. And
that is Dubai, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in a nutshell... in which
foreign workers make up much of the population and do everything. A
Briton to manage your investments, an American to pump your oil, a
Filipino maid for your second wife to boss around, a Ukranian to
include in your harem and a Thai to work at your construction site.
That is a Muslim's idea of paradise and the dream of Dubai. It is the
mindset behind Muslim slavery and it is why Muslim slavery continues
into the present day.
One cannot reform Islam, without first reforming Muslims. Yet where
does one begin reforming the culture of slavery, the ethos of the
master and slave that is so deeply embedded into Islam that it in
fact is Islam? Muslims describe themselves as the Slaves of Allah,
because that is the deepest form of loyalty they can imagine.
Islam is the Master-Slave dynamic of the Middle East writ large into
a religion, with Muslims viewing themselves as the slaves of Allah,
and everyone else as their slaves. Within Islam, the higher status
Saudis who style themselves the keepers of Mecca and the birthplace
of Mohammed, feel free to enslave other Arab Muslims. Arab Muslims in
turn enslave African and Asian Muslims, whom they consider racially
inferior. And these in turn move to Europe where they view Europeans
and other resident non-Muslims as inferior to them, as slaves.
Islam in short is nothing more than slavery in religious form,
relying on the sort of crude punishments you would dispense to a
slave, and the sort of crude rewards you would offer to a slave--
namely the chance to enslave and abuse others, and sample forbidden
luxuries. Islam is a religion of slavery for a religion of slaves.
It is no wonder then that the modern day Jihad in built on slavery,
funded by the royal families of the Gulf States, using the oil
revenues produced by the oil pumps that they would never sully their
own fat fingers with, with the aim of destroying and enslaving the
civilized world that stands between them and world power. The Wahhabi
mosques rising up across the world, their minarets and crescents, are
the banners of a worldwide call to slavery. For mankind to fall to
its knees and bow toward Saudi Arabia, to the Masters of Mecca, the
paymasters of Al Queda and a thousand other Muslim terrorist groups
around the world all clamoring for their own states and territories
as part of a new Muslim Empire.
The question is will we dare to resist them?
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