Filed under: Magazine/ Culture, May Volume I - 2009, World | Tags: Gillani, Jilani
Showing great respect to the renowned Sufi Master, Ghausul Azam, Abdul Qadir Jilani, participants joined in the recitation of Holy Quran, Naat, the completion of Qasidah Ghausia and dhikr.
Everyone was elated that the descendent of Ghaus Azam of Baghdad had been elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan.
All are expecting him to follow in the way of his blessed ancestor with firmness and steadfastness.
The Food and Drug Administration issued a final rule late last month that requires manufacturers of over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers and fever reducers to revise their labeling to include warnings about potential safety risks, such as internal bleeding and liver damage, associated with the use of these popular drugs.
Products covered by the FDA action include acetaminophen, and a class of drugs known as the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAIDs include aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, and ketoprofen. Acetaminophen is in a class by itself. The revised labeling applies to all OTC pain relievers and fever reducers, including those that contain one of these ingredients in combination with other ingredients, such as in cold medicines containing pain relievers or fever reducers.
“Acetaminophen and NSAIDs are commonly used drugs for both children and adults because they are effective in reducing fevers and relieving minor aches and pain, such as headaches and muscle aches, “ said Charles Ganley, M.D., director, FDA’s Office of Nonprescription Drugs in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “However, the risks associated with their use, need to be clearly identified on the label so that consumers taking these drugs are fully aware of the potential harm they can cause. It is important that they know how to take these medications safely to reduce their risk.”
Under the final rule, manufacturers must ensure that the active ingredients of these drugs are prominently displayed on the drug labels on both the packages and bottles. The labeling also must warn of the risks of stomach bleeding for NSAIDs and severe liver damage for acetaminophen.
Since 2006, some manufacturers have voluntarily revised their product labeling to identify these potential safety concerns. However, the voluntary changes to labeling do not address all of the labeling requirements in the new rule. For example, the new rule includes a warning on products containing acetaminophen that instructs consumers to ask a doctor before they are taking the blood thinning drug warfarin. The new rule requires all manufacturers to relabel their products within one year of April 29.
Safety data reported in medical literature indicate that people sometimes take more acetaminophen than the labeling recommends. Others unknowingly take multiple products containing acetaminophen at the same time. Exceeding the recommended dosage of acetaminophen may increase the risks for severe liver damage. Alcohol use can also increase the risk of liver damage with acetaminophen.
The risk for stomach bleeding may increase in people who use NSAIDs and who are taking blood-thinning drugs (anticoagulants) or steroids. Stomach bleeding risks also increase for people who take multiple NSAIDs at the same time, or in people who take them longer than directed. Alcohol use can increase the risk for stomach bleeding with NSAIDs use.
An FDA Advisory Committee meeting will be convened on June 29 & 30, 2009, to discuss further steps the FDA could take to reduce the risk of liver damage associated with acetaminophen overdoses.
Source: FDA.
By Raheemah Atif
Islamic Post Staff Writer
(IP) –Islamic financial institutions are weathering the economic storms by most accounts, according Professor Ibrahim Warde of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, who compared the increase in Islamic economic institutions and their unique financial products with the dramatic resurgence of Muslim women wearing their traditional head scarves.
Although much of the Middle Eastern financial structure is part and parcel of the western conventional finance, which includes involvement with interest-related dealings, 2007 saw growth in the Islamic financial sector worldwide in an upwards spike of $900 billion dollars, Professor Warde explained. Accompanying this rapid growth, Islamic scholars who are knowledgeable in the detailed science of Islamic economics are in sharp demand as banking companies on both sides of the Atlantic, and beyond, seek more precise definitions and explanations of the demands of the Islamic law system upon financial transactions.
Islamic bonds, or sukuk, have been among the most prolific of financial products over the last two years. A bond is a loan to an investment group or company, who then rents the money to a business that may need capital for various reasons. The price of the bond is repaid in a specified time period, with the additional profit of the “rental fee” paid to the person who originally purchased the bond. The critical feature of Islamic investment is that it is illegal to “sell” debt. Sukuk is now being re-examined by Shari’a financial scholars to assure its current form is fully in compliance with the dictates of the Islamic law.
Throughout the Muslim world, homes are being sold by means of Islamic financial transactions, i.e., in accordance with the Shari’a legal requirements. Dr. Muzzammil H. Siddiqi, stated, by way of advertising his services, that Muslims should, wherever possible, opt to utilize Islamic banks for home financing since it is now readily available. The murabahah transaction (as it is called) is the Islamic transaction for home buying or other types of large purchases, where the bank would actually purchase the property for the buyer, and attach its fees onto the purchase price. The buyer will then pay, in installments, the price agreed upon by the bank and the buyer for the purchase – without riba, or interest on the installments.
The University Bank of Ann Arbor, Michigan, which has done nearly $80 million dollars in Islamically approved residential and business mortgages for Muslims in 15 states, was recently recognized by the American Bankers Association for its service to its Muslim clients. The bank was also rated “Outstanding” by the FDIC (Federal Depositors Insurance Corporation) for community service and for its commendable reinvestment in the community. It features Shari’ah compliant ‘Deposits of University Bank and Mortgage Alternative’ (MALT) products, and also has an investment division that offers SC (Shari’a compliant) Mutual Funds, or investing groups, to its Muslim and non-Muslim customers. While the stock market recorded one of its worst weeks, and General Motors slid towards bankruptcy, the University Bank recorded one of its best periods ever, completing 11 home sales to Muslim clients, with four more closings expected the following week. The New York Times reported that Steven Ranzini, president of University Bank, recognizes a fringe benefit of serving the Muslim community, in that clients who navigate through the process to acquire a home via a Shari’a compliant mortgage, has done so based upon his own religious convictions that the client is not very likely to default as it would be considered almost a sin to do so. In the words of Mr. Fariz Huzair, who recently purchased a home in Michigan, “In my heart, I’m doing this because it’s the command of my Creator …you have a standard you’re supposed to live up to.”
Afghan lawmakers agreed to withdraw draft legislation for new family laws that had been initiated by minority Afghan Shiites.
(IP) –After an ensuing clamor from the United Nations, governments and media worldwide called a new family law bill discriminatory towards women, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon told the Canadian Broadcasting Centre (CBC) that he was informed by his counterpart in Afghanistan that the draft “has been halted and will be revised.”
Canada has invested some $3 billion dollars in the Afghan War, and while some Canadians decried the added attempt to reshape local Afghan customs, the majority of Canadians joined the wider international community in condemning the laws which they say could lead to abusive practices amongst Shiites who form roughly 15% of the population.
The Shiite minority in Afghanistan had reportedly called for a version of family law distinct from that of the Muslim majority.
Critics claim the bill left room for forced marital relations. But the version signed by Karzai says a wife can refuse marital relations on the basis of “lawful or logical excuses or with permission of her husband,” influential Shiite parliamentarian Sayed Hussein Alimi Balkhi told Agence France Press (AFP). Another change, according to AFP, allows the woman to leave home without permission “for any lawful purpose within the boundaries accepted by custom,” said Balkhi, who was involved in drawing up the law. Also according to AFP, other demands –such as a separate family court and short-term marriages– had already been rejected.
The controversial legislation encouraged a woman to stay at home with the primary occupation of raising a family. Canadian psychologist, Dr Henry Makow took offense at the extent of the outcry over the bill asserting in his article “NATO Spooked by Afghan Laws Upholding Patriarchy:” “We don’t have the right to force our values on other cultures… How would we like if they [Afghans] forced our women to give up their careers, raise their children and keep house?”
(IP)– “Al Qaeda has not taught us religion and they have nothing for us. Now, we have an all-inclusive government and hope for lasting peace,” Reuters reported Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed to have stated.
The press conference in the president’s home addressed an alleged call by Osama bin Laden for local extremists to continue opposing the government and peace process and to depose the elected president.
This and similar calls are contrary to Islamic tenets which command adherence to peace treaties and shun violent rebellion against an elected government.
The 12-minute audio recording purporting to be the voice of bin Laden entitled “Fight on, champions of Somalia,” was claimed by Voice of America news to have been released to the media by Al Qaeda accompanied by a photograph of Osama bin Laden and a map of Somalia in the background.
But the Qaeda affiliated Al Shabab group in Somalia are not widely considered champions. Local officials report Shabab recruitment of youth to have fallen and the majority of Somali people “sick” of Al Qaeda-type antics.
More clashes were reported in the town of Wabho involving fighters from the al-Shabab group and its rival the, Ahlus Sunna Wal Jamaat, who reportedly attacked the Shabab-held village.
Clashes sparked by extremists seeking to impose their interpretation of Islam on the population are not unusual.
The Somali government also recently attacked a base belonging to the militant group.
Sources: Reuters, VOA
Filed under: Business/Economy, International, May Volume I - 2009, World | Tags: G20, IMF
By Noora Ahmad
Islamic Post Staff Writer(IP) –A major goal of boosting the power and influence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other global lending institutions was accomplished at the G20 financial summit last month by doubling, and in some cases quadrupling lending capacity to assist nations weighed down by financial woes. A total of $850 billion was allocated by G20 nations in support of increased lending, along with an additional $250 billion culled from special drawing rights (SDRs) –a currency belonging to the IMF and not overseen by any regulating agency.
The Wall Street Journal printed an article entitled The G20’s Funny Money which lambastes SDRs as “bits of paper printed by IMF officials in the basement,” which nonetheless could commit the U.S. taxpayer to come to their support. In explaining how the SDRs work, the Journal notes that so far Congress has had to be consulted and that the last decision to increase the issuance of the pseudo-currency, taken by the Clinton Administration in 1997, had been blocked by the Congress. The Journal then quotes Ted Truman, a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, who he believes an actual allocation could be made by the US Treasury Secretary with only consultation with Congressional leaders, not a vote.
While SDRs are backed by the yen and the euro in addition to the dollar, management of the IMF’s currency will not be at the discretion of the countries in ownership of those currencies. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, the international business editor of the Daily Telegraph, cites the clause calling for the issuance of $250 billion in SDRs as “a revolution in the global financial order.” He writes: “In effect, the G20 leaders have activated the IMF’s power to create money and begin global ‘quantitative easing.’ In so doing, they are putting a de facto world currency into play. It is outside the control of any sovereign body.” The BBC reports IMF managing director Dominique Strauss Kahn as having noted “that this was the first step to the IMF becoming a lender of last resort or, in effect, the world’s central bank.”
While no specific targets (besides Mexico) were mentioned in the G20 declaration on Delivering Resources Through The International Financial Institutions for the $850 billion in increased loans via development banks, roughly half of the $250 billion is set to “go directly to emerging market and developing countries.” In conclusion, the declaration on increased lending stated: “Emerging and developing economies, including the poorest, should have greater voice and representation.” This refers primarily to the emerging economies of Brazil and India, according to the BBC.
Other new administrative policies include the US potentially losing its veto power in the World Bank and IMF. More Western countries could find their voting rights “severely reduced,” again, as reported by the BBC. Even “the convention that an American heads the World Bank and a European heads the IMF will also now be abandoned, the G20 leaders say,” the BBC also stated.
An IMF statement after the summit listed other assumed duties:
“Economic forecaster. IMF economic forecasts were now the central reference point for countries planning how to respond to the cris
“Policy advisor. The IMF had become a partner for governments to discuss policies and help them analyze what policy responses to the crisis would work.
“Economic surveillance. The IMF will monitor policy implementation by governments around the world.”
Sources: BBC, LPAC, IMF, G20, Wall Street Journal
Filed under: International, May Volume I - 2009, World | Tags: Balkans, Bosnia, Serbia
(IP) –Serbia recently marked the 10th anniversary of NATO’s bombing campaign over Kosovo with commemorations honoring the victims and a nationalist gathering denouncing the West with accusations of war crimes.
In Serbia, Milosevic’s party is back in power and familiar nationalistic rhetoric still predominates, Nenad Pejic reports for Radio Free Europe. “The government line on the NATO air strikes has not changed over the last decade: the attacks were illegal; the deaths of Serbian civilians were not justified; the country’s sovereignty was violated; and so on. You never hear mention of the hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians who had been chased out of the region by Serbian forces. As the editor of a Belgrade online newspaper put it recently, the official speeches spend all their time remembering that Serbia was bombed but never mention why Serbia was bombed,” Mr. Pejic states.
The article “Serbia’s Decade of Denial” continues mentioning Belgrade’s announcement of plans to indict those it says are responsible for the deaths of soldiers during the withdrawal from Sarajevo in May 1992. Predictably, this announcement provides no explanations for the previous month’s shelling done by Serbian forces of the city. When the ICJ ruled in 2007 that Bosnia had not proven that Serbia was guilty of genocide during the war, Serbian media widely reported the story. But media failed to report that the court said Serbia had failed to do everything it could to prevent the genocide.
“Mladic remains at large and Serbia remains in denial about the massacre of Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica. Schoolchildren are taught about crimes committed against Serbs, but not about crimes committed by Serbs,” Pejic writes.
Reporting for Reuters in the eastern Bosnian town of Foca –which is best known for wartime atrocities and harboring war crimes fugitives– Daria Sito-Sucic notes that the local Serb Mayor Zdravko Krsmanovic is trying to turn the town into a center for sports and tourism. “Serving his second term as mayor, Krsmanovic said [the] 12 indicted war crimes suspects from Foca, once dubbed Bosnia’s ‘black hole’ by Western officials, had surrendered or been arrested in recent years. [Therefore] he has built a sports center and is trying to attract rafters to the spectacular river that runs nearby to help bring in badly needed money and jobs.”
Recently, Russia Today reported Serbia is preparing indictments against Bosnian officials, including Haris Silajdzic, who represents the Bosnian Muslims in the office of the presidency in Bosnia-Herzegovina because of an ambush by the Bosnian army of Serb soldiers that allegedly took place after a ceasefire had been signed. Serbian political analyst Gostimur Popvic says two incidents of this nature “happened in front of representatives of the United Nations and that the United Nations had given their word that the attacks wouldn’t happen, [so] there is also the question of the responsibility of the United Nations.”
Bosnia & Herzegovina is “again retracing the same battle against stereotypes, bias and revisionist history,” writes the former Bosnian Ambassador to the United Nations, Muhamed Sacirbey, in his book A Convenient Genocide, in a Fishbowl. “We are definitely on the defensive, but this time we do not have the same visible platform and urgency that the destruction of flesh and concrete arouses. This time the ethnic cleansing is being completed by the cleansing of history of that which would define accountability, if not culpability, of the West for the current state of events in Bosnia & Herzegovina.”
As tensions simmer, some fault the Dayton Accord which while creating an armistice to stop the bloodshed, maintained in power the same people who had created the ethnic-religious hatred that fomented the war. Thus, as Russia Today notes, while Muslims and Croats aspire to a more centralized state, Bosnian Serbs still seek autonomy –a return to what was known as the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a self-proclaimed state led by former president Radovan Karadzic within the internationally recognized territory of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “The impasse has delayed the closure of the office of the international peace overseer since 2006,” RT claims.
Sources: RFE/RL, VOA News
(IP) –At the Strasbourg-Kehl Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), heads of state members of the military organization “agreed to a number of new initiatives for Afghanistan, including a significant expansion of the training and support effort for Afghan National Security Forces, enhanced engagement with neighbouring countries and a more integrated approach to working with the International Community and the Afghan Government to implement the Afghan National Development Strategy (ANDS),” according to a NATO statement.
“Enhancing Afghan Government leadership, including at the provincial and district levels, is needed to speed the delivery of justice, basic services and employment opportunities, especially in the agricultural sector,” continued the statement. “The NATO leaders recognized that to do this work will require a greater civilian component to the forces being sent to Afghanistan.”
In attendance at the summit were 26 nations.
NATO confirmed that Heads of State and Government agree that, as a member of the broader International Community, NATO will “support Afghan-led efforts to reconcile with those who renounce violence, accept the Constitution, and have no links to Al-Qaeda.” This stance was elaborated upon by US Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton during a press conference. Secretary Clinton was asked by the Dutch Telegraaf to clarify the difference between reconciliation with more moderate elements and “negotiating with terrorists” –a stance which was firmly negated by the previous US administration. Mrs Clinton replied as follows: “It is our best estimate that the vast majority of Taliban fighters and members are people who are not committed to a cause so much as acting out of desperation. And therefore, an offer of not only reconciliation, but a chance for them to be reintegrated into Afghan society, to perhaps have employment, to get help with their property in terms of preparing it for agricultural production, we think that there are a number of people who are currently in the Taliban who would accept such an offer.”
However “It has to be proven that they are willing to walk away from the Taliban. We did see quite a bit of this in Iraq, where people who had taken up arms against the United States and against the coalition and against the elected Iraqi Government decided to walk away from their involvement in return for the position in society and a job that was offered to them. And I think that this is very likely the course that we can take with respect to members of the Taliban, too,” concluded Secretary Clinton.
Her statement came shortly after US President Barack Obama announced the adjusted US policy for Afghanistan, noting his concern for “the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan who have suffered the most at the hands of violent extremists.”
President Obama accurately predicted that NATO would be in agreement with more public diplomacy being added to the Afghan effort, along with more troops.
Sources: NATO, State Dept., WhiteHouse.gov
(IQOU PRESS RELEASE) –American Muslims are filing a $50 million lawsuit against the Fox Broadcasting Corporation for slander and defamation of character. Fox News has committed media terrorism: increasing the spread of hate crimes against American Muslims. This hate campaign of Fox News has been unending, its most recent attack, once again, accusing the Muslims of the Americas (MOA) of crimes and association with criminals about which they have no knowledge or connection. Fox News, subsidiaries, and associated news agencies, continue to attempt to link MOA members with the likes of “Shoe-Bomber” Richard Reid, “DC Sniper” John Allen Muhammad, and even with such infamous events as the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Their news reporting amounts to nothing more, or less, than a deliberate smear campaign. With consistency, the Fox network keeps repeating the same misinformation and slander in order to leave a lingering impression of misgiving in the minds of uninformed citizens whom may be dependent on Fox for honest reporting.
“This is an act of media terrorism and generates hate and lies against US citizens,” says MOA Spokesman Muhammad Hasib A. Haqq. “It’s a real shame to know that these people [Fox News] consider Muslims their enemies and aim to bring about a clash between Muslims and Christians, by any means necessary, even lies. It’s cruel instigation.”
Hasib A. Haqq elaborated that the most recent slander brought about by Fox News has already resulted in attacks on the persons and property of Muslims in the United States. “But this lawsuit is not just for us,” Mr A. Haqq says. “It is being initiated for all peace-loving Americans. Stop the hate campaigns. Stop inciting people to override the authorities. Stop pushing people to violence against their Muslim neighbors.”
MOA has insisted that if the so-called “links” alleged are credible, then the broadcasting corporation should submit the proof of their claims to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for review. In particular, Fox News should provide the authorities with the backing for their statement made regarding Vice Chancellor of the International Quranic University and Imam of the Muslims of the Americas, His Eminence, El Sheikh Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani, in which they wrongfully asserted: “Gilani is the man American reporter Daniel Pearl was trying to interview in Pakistan when he was kidnapped and beheaded. The Sheikh was taken into custody and later released by Pakistani authorities; he denies any involvement in Pearl’s murder.” This one statement contains cleverly threaded misinformation that boldly omits assertions of the Vice Chancellor’s innocence which have been made publicly available through the US State Department and the FBI. Instead of presenting accurate information, Fox News leaves the reader to wrongfully presume links between the IQOU Vice Chancellor and Chief Editor of the Islamic Post, El Sheikh Mubarik Gilani, and the heinous kidnapping of a fellow journalist.
MOA is grateful to the two above mentioned federal agencies who, on multiple occasions, have confirmed the innocence of the Vice Chancellor in the face of these baseless accusations. It has been well-documented by the State Department that El Sheikh Gilani’s name was being used in a setup by an individual named Omar Sheikh to lure Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl into a trap. US State Department Regional Security Officer Randall Bennett, in a June 2007 statement, said that when Daniel Pearl made him aware of his assignment, “The fact that his [the IQOU Vice Chancellor’s] name had not come up, and his organization had not come across my desk in any reporting, led me to be concerned that he [Daniel Pearl] was being drawn into something that was inappropriate.” Mr Bennett continued: “[Omar Sheikh] had very carefully plotted and planned this kidnapping of Danny [Daniel Pearl]. He had set it up where he had given Danny information and promised this interview with Sheikh Gilani, which Sheikh Gilani, as it turned out, had no idea his name was even being used.” FBI Special Agent Kathy Diskin, who was also assigned to the 2002 Pearl kidnapping case, stated: “I had the opportunity to sit down and interview with Sheikh Gilani. And when 15 minutes went into the interview, our feelings were that Sheikh Gilani was not involved in this.”
If Fox News cared about accuracy and non-biased reporting, their story would have at least been supplemented with the relevant information from the above US officials involved in the case. Instead, bringing shame to the name of honorable journalism, Fox News disregarded the innocence of El Sheikh Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani, who had never seen Daniel Pearl or been involved with the likes of terrorists. The news network chose instead to lead its audience toward flawed conclusions based upon their empty inflammatory accusations and fabricated evidence.
Since 2002, Fox News has even tried repeatedly to link the Vice Chancellor of International Quranic Open University with crimes in the US, despite the fact that the Imam of the Muslims of the Americas has focused his efforts on coordinating relief teams to lead the response to natural disasters over the last few decades, and founded a number of organizations for MOA members to assist their fellow American citizens. El Sheikh Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani is the leading voice in the Islamic world against extremist and fanatic ideologies which cause violence and dissention between people, and he has never had any connections with terrorist organizations.
“Their [Fox’s] campaigns defeat the vitriol of Lord Haw-Haw, who broadcast propaganda in English for Nazi Germany during World War II,” says MOA Spokesman Muhammad Hasib A. Haqq, referring to the broadcasts of William Joyce (nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw) which were well known for their jeering, sarcastic and menacing tone. “The Fox News Broadcasting network is becoming the most notorious for generating and spreading hate. There seems to be no end to it,” Mr A. Haqq says.
Day and night, Fox News is fast losing its journalistic credibility. This network went opposite to the industry standard to accelerate its adoption by cable companies, paying up to $11 per subscriber to increase their availability; whereas, most networks are paid by cable companies to sign on. Before the second Iraq war, their campaign of accusing Iraq of having weapons of mass destruction –which assertion the whole world now knows was false- did not come to an end until they pushed American forces against Iraq.
The Muslims of the Americas has proved to be of the most peace loving communities in the United States. In order to lead lives free from drug and crime infested cities, members of the MOA established their own serene villages in suburban areas of the US. Many of the senior members of their community are Vietnam veterans who have been recognized as heroes, a number of whom have received the Purple Heart Medal and medals of valor along with other awards in the defense of their country. Yet, these same individuals and charitable community members are being constantly maligned.
A notice of litigation to Fox News has been served.
(IP) –It is doubtful that when former US President George W. Bush went forward with the roadmap to peace in the Middle East –the center focus of which is a two-state solution and the re-creation of a Palestinian state– that Mr Bush anticipated opposition from fellow Christians.
The Institute for the Study of Christian Zionism, however, is not surprised. The group, consisting “of pastors, academics, students, interested laypersons and a Rabbi” say they are “disturbed by the growing influence of Christian Zionism on the political scene in America,” and say the “ideology” of Christian Zionism is a “major factor in the stalled peace process in Israel / Palestine.”
As Israeli politicians from the right expressed their opposition over current President Barack Obama’s support for a two-state solution, members of the aspiring American lobby group, Unity Coalition for Israel (UCI) were sending emails to President Obama and other members of his staff, questioning “the wisdom” of the new US administration, according to Press TV reports.
Michael Freund of the Jerusalem Post defines UCI as “an umbrella group representing over 200 Christian and Jewish organizations across the US,” and claims the lobby group has “the ability to bring together millions of American Christians on Israel’s behalf.”
Mr Freund also wrote in another piece for the Jerusalem Post that “the sudden burst of Christian pro-Israel activity did not emerge out of thin air, of course. It is the result of a lot of vision and hard work.” He continues: “Working through constituent groups such as Bridges for Peace and Christian Friends of Israel, the [UCI] coalition has… become a leading voice for Israel in the halls of power in Washington.”
Yet and still, the struggle for global support in the occupation of Palestine and subsequent war against Hamas continues, and not all Israelis are in agreement with the stalled peace process. Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions –based in Jerusalem with its own chapters in the United States writes unabashedly: “It is our role as proponents of human rights, international law, decolonization, the integrity of cultures and a just peace in Israel/Palestine and elsewhere to highlight the injustice and unsustainability of Israel’s Occupation both on the ground and globally, the quicker to bring it to an end.”
By Samia Abdul-Haqq
Islamic Post Senior Correspondent
For Pakistan & Afghanistan
(IP)– May 6, 2009– Once again, the United States Army is being pushed into a war as a result of false propaganda. The last example of this was the war in Iraq where false enemies were created. Again and again the US government claimed that there were weapons of mass destruction. Despite the fact that Iraq did not pose any threat to the security of the United States, and there were no weapons of mass destruction to be found, this false propaganda resulted in bloody war between the United States and Iraq, in which the United States came out a loser and thousands of soldiers left Iraq suffering from mysterious diseases.
The same perpetrators of world terrorism are weaving the thread of discord, in order to interfere once again, into Pak/Afghan politics. They now allege that a handful of Taliban are about to take over Pakistan’s nuclear assets and Islamabad’s as well.
The correspondents of the Islamic Post and writers of this article are making a documentary proving that the Taliban are a creation of the CIA. The writers will be visiting the Northern Areas of Pakistan, with camera crews, once clearance is obtained.
It is a matter of fact that the services of three Pakistanis were used by the CIA in the creation of the Taliban. Those three Pakistanis were sent loaded with millions of dollars to Kandahar, Afghanistan. These individuals were Asif Ahmad Ali (former Foreign Minister in Bhutto’s government), Mullah Fazl Rehman and Retired General Nasirallah Babar. They founded the Taliban on behalf of the CIA. The purpose of creating the Taliban was to divide Afghanistan between Pashto and Persian speaking people: The old rule of divide and conquer.
Many in Pakistan say the Taliban only want Islamic law in their respective areas. They have no desire to take over Islamabad or nuclear devices. They are not even capable of doing so, for they are only a few thousand people who don’t want colonialism in their area.
On interviewing El Sheikh Syed Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani, the leading sufi of the Qadri Order and founder of Abdul Qadir Gilani Institute of Sufic Sciences, he commented, “Of course they’re creating a lot of problems in their tribal regions but they’re not so organized and armed to take over Pakistan, or its nuclear facilities or Islamabad. It seems ridiculous on the part of anybody to say that Pakistan’s nuclear assets are in danger. This is only raised by those afraid of Pakistan having nuclear assets.”
The Pakistani Government is hopeful that through dialogue they will achieve peace.
El Sheikh Syed Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani, further commented about the tribal leader Sufi Muhammad and his followers, in Swat, North Pakistan:
“They neither represent Islam nor the Sufi Ideology. Though they want Islamic Shariah in their tribal region, they forget that the Holy Last Messenger (sas) took 23 years to enforce Islamic Law. As a Sufi should know, the first lesson is that Mankind is the Family of God. Sufi Muhammad should answer – under what law does he allow suicide bombings, and against whom – against his own Muslim brethren? He denounces Pakistan and its constitution. In addition to suicide bombings, they are destroying shrines of Holy Sufic Saints – a favorite activity of Wahhabis- followers of Muhammad Bin Abdul Wahhab.” As documented in his book, The Two Faces of Islam, author Stephen Shwartz recounts the regularized attack of the Wahhabis, on the holy city of Karbala and the tomb of Hussain, grandson of the prophet (sas) and the destruction of holy tombs and burial grounds.
One must be aware that the elements in Swat, North Pakistan appear to be fighting for Wahhabism on a global level. Unfortunately they are very well established with safe havens in the United States and England under the guise of Salafis. They are associated with Darus Salaam Publishers who are distributors of Ibn Abdul Wahhab’s doctrine. The Salafis command a large number of Students belonging to the extreme form of Wahhabism, and if their activities are not checked, they will cause a lot of problems for the American Muslims.
Sheikh Gilani stated that it is his directive that “American Muslims defend their homeland against the extremist Wahhabi onslaught which may not come from outside. I thank Almighty Allah that at least USA is a country in which Muslims can freely practice their religion and organize rallies and processions to celebrate the birthday of the Holy Last Messenger (peace be upon him) along with their Christian brethren and live freely; these would not be allowed in either Saudi Arabia or in Pakistan.
The American People have come to realize that the key to world peace lies in Christian/Muslim unity, and the process has started under the auspices of the United Muslim Christian Forum. Some of the events, news and pictures can be seen in this issue of the Islamic Post.
This correspondent worries about the government and the threat of going to war. Both governments should be warned not to repeatedly fall prey to false propaganda. The world is fully aware that such propaganda is only meant to push the United States into a full-scale war against Pakistan, of which the only loser will be the United States, in loss of life, finances and integrity.
Filed under: International, May Volume I - 2009, National, World | Tags: Opinion
By Noora Ahmad
Islamic Post Staff Writer
(IP) –US President Barack Obama stood before the Turkish Parliament recently conveying the mission of his administration to “bridge misunderstandings” between the West and the Muslim world. “We seek broader engagement based on mutual interest and mutual respect. We will listen carefully, we will bridge misunderstandings, and we will seek common ground. We will be respectful, even when we do not agree. We will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over the centuries to shape the world –including in my own country. The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans.”
“This is not where East and West divide; this is where they come together,” the President pointed out about Turkey, a secular nation whose citizens are majority Muslims. This statement also describes the millions of Muslims who reside in the United States, the majority of whom were born Muslim American. East and West have met, and thrived, in many Western countries as well, despite those who feel threatened at the prospect.
While comments like those from President Obama, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams –who recently applauded “a number of fairly senior people” in British society for drifting towards an understanding of sharia, or Islamic law– others like Netherlands MP Geert Wilders, chairman for Party for Freedom in that country, are simultaneously trying to stop the flow towards common ground. Wilders, on his most recent tour of Britain and the United States voiced his fears regarding Muslim converts and the spread of Islam with numerous comments that were not well researched, including his assertion: “There might be moderate Muslims, but there is no moderate Islam.”
Noah Feldman, an adjunct senior fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), writes in his article, “Why Sharia?” that the mere mention of Islamic law is “radioactive,” especially in the case of Rowan Williams who drew no end of criticism for suggesting that certain rules in sharia be placed on equal footing with various laws of Judaism that have been allowed in domestic affairs of Jews living in the United Kingdom.
Fueling the controversy, another CFR writer, Laura Vriens, in her recent article, “Islam: Governing Under Sharia,” offered misinformation for those already concerned about the rights of women in an Islamic society. “Despite official reluctance to use hadd punishments [sic], vigilante justice still takes place. Honor killings, murders committed in retaliation for bringing dishonor on one’s family, are a worldwide problem,” writes Vriens, discarding the fact that vigilantism is not a part of the Islamic legal and judicial system. Hadd is a verb signifying punishment issued via a judge in an Islamic court of law; it is not vigilantism. Adultery has spawned both Muslims and non-Muslims to wrongfully take the law into their own hands and illegally murder the alleged culprits. Yet, in Islam four eyewitnesses to the act of adultery or an unforced confession are necessary before any punishment is meted out. Nevertheless, these arguments are largely moot under a non-Islamic government as the lesser punishments remain voluntary on the culprit and heavier punishments do not apply in a non-Islamic society.
To clarify this, while most Muslims adhere to the moral and religious code found in sharia while residing in non-Islamic countries, the status of a Muslim living in a non-Islamic country is different from one who lives in an Islamic state, and the sharia does not enforce certain punishments in that case. Nevertheless, using orientalist texts, ignorance and fear, a good many continue to promote false information about Islam and its governing system, which they derive out of context at best and blatantly distort at worst. Situations in history which applied to those living under the rule of the Islamic empire –which became known as the Ottoman Empire in the latter years before its demise– are being used for such distortions.
One legal term which was applied during the Islamic empire is dhimmi. A dhimmi is a non-Muslim who chooses to remain under an Islamic government. The term indicates a person who has agreed to pay a tax that will afford them protection from foreign threats along with the Muslim citizens of the state, while relieving them of military duty from which others are not exempt. These days, the word dhimmi is widely misconstrued and is being used in unscholarly circles as a sort of insult or slur to apply to any non-Muslim who is sympathetic to Muslims on the whole, or who advocates for Muslims to be treated with respect. Such detractors loudly proclaim that common ground between Muslims and their non-Muslim neighbors and government will lead to an eventual sharia takeover wherein all others will be deprived of their rights. On the contrary, some would say history proves modern democracy to have derived from Islam, because when the Islamic system was flourishing, Europe was suffering under feudal oppression.
In the Middle Ages, when Islam was at its peak, the laws of Islam were never forced upon the non-Muslims living in Islamic territories. For example, in one of the classic texts of Islamic jurisprudence by Abul Hasan Ahmad Al-Qudoori (362 AH- 428 AH), Mukhtasar, it is stated clearly that non-Muslims are even allowed to continue the trade of alcohol amongst themselves. While Islam contains strong injunctions against intoxicants and Muslims who adhere to sharia do not indulge in alcoholic beverages whether they reside in Muslim or non-Muslim countries, non-Muslims are not made to adhere to these rules under Sharia. Imam Qudoori relates this legal judgment by stating: “Wine is to the non-Muslim what juice is to a Muslim.” Just as juice is lawful to a Muslim, alcohol is lawful to a non-Muslim.
Any peace-minded person will recognize the merit of these statements. The element of cohesiveness among religions was reiterated by President Barack Obama at the conclusion of his visit to Turkey: “One of the great strengths of the United States is –although as I mentioned, we have a very large Christian population– we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation; we consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values.”
The Imam of the Muslims of the Americas (MOA), El Sheikh Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani is a great teacher of patriotism and love of one’s country and reminds the Muslims living in the West not to be incited by those who encourage hate, whoever they may be, and whatever words or actions such people take to invoke intolerance. This universal advice is sufficient.
(IP)– The Administrative Tribunal of Paris recently suspended the French Ministry of Defense decision to fire Aymeric Chauprade, the author of Chronology of the Clash of Civilizations. The book reportedly questions the official version of events surrounding the 9/11 attacks.
The introduction to Mr Chaupraude’s book discussed an orchestrated conspiracy that involved Israel and the Bush Administration.
Chauprade explained his initial termination of employment from his job at the French Military College in Paris, where he was teaching geopolitics, to have been the result of him speaking about a subject that was considered off limits. “I touched upon a taboo – the theory of a conspiracy plot. Apparently there is only one possibility in an accidental world. And all the wars have sprung from this.”
The book’s introduction highlights a theory that the twin towers were blown up and did not collapse after the plane collision. Chauprade’s lawyer Antoine Beauquier notes the theories included in the book contest the official theory of Muslim responsibility. “He did scientific work,” said Mr Beauquier.
Mr Chauprade said to have been planning a lawsuit against the Ministry of Defense. The Ministry reportedly refused to comment on the affair.
Source: Russia Today
Filed under: Business/Economy, Interfaith, International, May Volume I - 2009, National, Religion, World
(IP)– This month, regulatory bodies are reviewing the excessive interest, or usury, being charged by credit card companies. After being pursued in an antitrust case for “non-compliance” to European Commission rules regarding cross border fees, MasterCard settled out of court. While, according to European Union regulators, the credit card company agreed to reduce fees that raise costs for retailers, the New York Times reports MasterCard said the reduction was simply provisional and that it would continue a broader battle over the level of the fees in court. Here at home, United States lawmakers moved, in turn, to provide people with credit card debt relief from abusive rate and billing practices, as reported by Market Watch. A new Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights would restrict retroactive rate increases on existing balances, double-cycle billing, and “due-date gimmicks,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, who has spearheaded the legislation. Market Watch further noted, “The proposals approved by a House subcommittee are similar to final rules passed late last year by the Federal Reserve and other regulators… [In addition] a Senate committee approved its own set of credit card restrictions.”
This issue at stake for the European Commission and American lawmakers and regulators is the age-old question of controlling the flow of usury –the excessive rate of return charged by banks and lending institutions on interest-based loans. Financial experts recently criticized the wildfire spread of usury as being one of the major factors that led to the current economic crisis.
Usury had been strictly regulated in most countries until the late 1600s when usurious practices were first officially sanctioned by a head of state, William of Orange in Britain, who supported the establishment of the Bank of England –a private institution at the time. The practice of high rates of return gradually spread, but the institution was nevertheless widely viewed with distaste. Because it is easy for anyone –but particularly poor people and those in desperate circumstances– to find themselves in a reciprocating pattern of debt due to compound interest and the like, usury has been taken as a form of oppression. In this sense, secular and religious norms are in agreement. The major religions have been against such banking practices since their inception.
The First Council of Nicaea in 325, forbade clergy from engaging in usury which, at the time, meant interest of any kind. Pope Clement V made the belief in the right to usury a heresy in 1311. Islam has always forbidden interest, whether by modern definitions of usury or not, and continues to uphold the same prohibition. The Torah also carries prohibition of usury.
But in 2009, after many centuries, usurious practices seem to have overwhelmed religious awareness, as creditors consistently offer credit cards, mortgages and loans at extremely high rates of interest to people who are known to be unable to repay the principle, let alone the interest. The global economy has been headed toward its present state for many years, with few preventive measures having been taken against such forms of predatory business. Beginning in the 1960s deregulation of usury began to occur in the United States, and individual states initiated their own individual practices and laws regarding what were deemed usurious and illegal and what was not. In some states, debtors have been known to be charged in excess of 300% interest in extreme cases.
Author Thomas Geoghegan, was interviewed recently on DemocracyNow! regarding his work which recently appeared in Harper’s Magazine entitled “Infinite Debt: How Unlimited Interest Rates Destroyed the Economy.” In this excerpt from the interview, Mr Geoghegan explains in a simplified form how the “real economy,” or manufacturing, was in essence destroyed over time by the financial sector.
“If you’re able to charge 30 percent or, in a payday lender case, 200 or 300 percent, you don’t care so much if the loan —in fact, you actually want the loan not to be repaid. You want people to go into debt. You want to accumulate this interest. And this addicted the financial sector to very, very, very high rates of return compared to what investors were used to getting in the real economy, the manufacturing sector, General Motors, which would give piddling five, six, seven percent returns.
“So the capital in this country began to shift in the financial sector. That’s why the financial sector began to bloat up. That’s why we ended up, by 2006, having a third of all profits going into the banks and the financial firms and not into the real economy.”
If Mr Geoghegan’s “real economy” is based in the manufacturing and sale of physical goods, the financial sector would then be a virtual economy –one whose primary method of trade and profit are loans that, having scant basis in monetary gold or silver, are based upon the trustworthiness (credit) of the financial institution granting the virtual money.
But the hardship endured by honest people struggling to make a variety of monthly payments is not make-believe. The interest (sometimes called late fees) on car payments, business loans, credit cards, mortgages, student loans, and even hospital bills and cell phones is generally billed first and compounded with each failed due date until the full debt could become impossible to repay. The creditor is often able to recover the original debt, even with a decent profit, but the debtor doesn’t always get out of the clear. If not, before the creditor writes off the remaining debt on company taxes, the institution may then sell the remaining balance to a third party collection agency. At this point, the debtor must pay the transferred balance plus any additional collection fees (more interest).
While some loan practices are being reviewed by US lawmakers in favor of the consumer, a range of consumer, community and civil rights groups recently objected to the leading bill in Congress set to deal with the issue of payday loans. Consumers Union, Americans for Fairness in Lending and six other groups say the Payday Loan Reform Act of 2009, would actually protect the “predatory payday loan business model and will stall or stop the significant progress that has been made at the state level to curb usurious lending.” In a letter to members of Congress, the groups state “Although this bill shares the same title as H.R. 2871 in the last Congress, it will have the exact opposite impact on consumers.” The Washington Independent alleges the new bill to be “loophole-ridden” and faults lobbyist influence.
The Center for Responsible Lending says interest rate caps are the only solution to a worsening predatory situation, and will cost taxpayers nothing. “Payday loans carry annual interest rates of around 400 percent. They trap people in debt to the extent that the average borrower has nine payday transactions a year,” the Center reported. “[While] Barack Obama has… proposed a combination of cutting taxes and encouraging spending to aid in economic recovery… predatory lenders are stripping cash from the earnings of working people who fall into this same demographic –at astounding rates.”
This may not bode well for an already struggling US economy.
Filed under: Interfaith, International, May Volume I - 2009, Politics, World | Tags: christian zionism, zionism
(IP) –The Independent’s reporter, Donald MacIntyre, states in his article, “Israeli’s Told to Fight ‘Holy War’ in Gaza,” “Many Israeli troops had the sense of fighting a “religious war” against Gentiles during the 22-day offensive in Gaza, according to an Israeli soldier. The soldier testified that the “clear” message of literature distributed to troops by the rabbinate was: “We are the Jewish people, we came to this land by a miracle, God brought us back to this land and now we need to fight to expel the Gentiles who are interfering with our conquest of this holy land.” Reuters, the Jerusalem Post, the UK Times, Haaretz, and the BBC noted similar reports about the espousing of a holy war against the Muslim and Christian Arabs of Palestine.
Even with the new Benjamin Netanyahu administration, elected after the strikes against Gaza began, a historian of Israeli expansionism, Rev Dr Stephen R Sizer, wrote that Israel is being steered “very definitely to the Right and away from an integrated society and peace with the Palestinians.” He further noted, “Barack Obama is going to have his work cut out to keep the Two State solution alive.”
Far from moving towards a peaceful solution, Israeli authorities are planning to “evacuate and demolish 1,700 homes in East Jerusalem during the current year,” the head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah told Arab News. Arab News also reported the head of the Islamic Higher Committee in Jerusalem, Sheikh Ikremah Sabri’s, elaboration on the new demolition project: “More than 5,500 Israeli housing units were under construction in occupied Jerusalem and 73,000 in the West Bank in order to accommodate more than one million” settlers.
The debate on the legality of such projects spilled into the global arena after millions worldwide protested the bombing of Gaza earlier this year. Reporting on the suppression of the local media giving voice to such protests, Ma’an News stated that a woman and journalist were among those beaten by Israeli troops during a press conference held by the parents of critically wounded American peace activist Tristan Anderson. “Mr. Anderson had an Israeli tear-gas canister shot at his head in Ni’lin … his skull shattered and several surgeries have left him semi-conscious in a Tel Aviv hospital. His parents arrived shortly after Tristan was hospitalized,” wrote Ma’an News. The raid, allegedly ordered by Israeli Minister of Internal Security Avi Ditchter, came early in the media event and prevented Anderson’s parents from addressing the crowd. This is the second case of an American peace activist suffering at the hands of the colonists to have been widely publicized. The first was Rachel Corrie who was bulldozed in 2003 while using a bulwark in front of a Palestinian home in an attempt to stop its destruction.
Christian Zionists?
In February, Israeli media shocked millions of Muslims and Christians by satirizing the miracles of Jesus (the Second to Last Messenger of Islam), the chastity of his Virgin mother Mary and also trying to belittle the Holy Last Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him). According to the BBC, a Vatican statement said “the show had ridiculed Mary and Jesus ‘with blasphemous words and images’ that amounted to a ‘vulgar and offensive act of intolerance.’” The comedy hour came “to teach a lesson” to a Christian religious figure who had made the mistake of denying the Holocaust. Jerusalem Christians were also prevented by Israeli authorities this year from commemorating their traditional Easter rites.
This begs the question whether there is room in a ‘holy war’ against Christians and Muslims for Christ? Christians who support Zionism say, ‘Yes.’ Christian Zionists adhere to the belief that Jesus (peace be upon him) will not return to the Earth until Armageddon takes place, which in turn occurs after the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel, which includes a new Temple in Jerusalem at the site of the Holy Sanctuary (Haram Sharif) right under the golden Dome of the Rock, which is one of the three most holy sites in Islam.
However, the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel has more to do with awaiting a Messiah foretold in the Torah. According to Christianity and Islam, that Messiah appeared in the form of Jesus Christ, who was widely rejected at that time and even now, which is why Christians who do not support Zionism adamantly say, ‘No,’ to a war between any of the major religions.
Rev Sizer writes in his book Zion’s Christian Soldiers: “The problem with all this speculation about a future Temple in Jerusalem is simply this – from a Christian perspective – it is heresy. There is absolutely nothing in the New Testament about the need for another Temple in Jerusalem – just the reverse…” Sizer concludes: “How tragic that, while the good news of Jesus is intended to bring peace and reconciliation with God and healing between nations, some Christians are fueling religious hatred, and are bent on inciting an apocalyptic war.”
Such a war would pit Christians and Muslims –who share their common values upon the doctrine of Jesus– against each other.
Sources: Stephen Sizer.org, Ma’an News, Arab News, BBC.
Filed under: Front Page News, International, May Volume I - 2009, World | Tags: Human Rights Council
(IP) –“The US is seeking election to the [United Nations Human Rights] Council because we believe that, working from within, we can make the council a more effective forum to promote and protect human rights,” said US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, in a recent statement. “We hope to work in partnership with many countries to achieve a more effective Council,” Ms Rice concluded.
The Human Rights Council (UNHRC) was created in 2006, but Bush Administration officials chose to steer wide of involvement with the body. In another break from past legacies, prior to Ambassador Rice’s announcement, the Obama Administration sent a message to Pentagon senior staff to cease using the terms “Long War or Global War On Terror” in keeping with the more diplomatic overtures coming out of Washington since the January inauguration. The Defense Department email was obtained by the Washington Post.
Furthermore, in a formal filing with the federal District Court for the District of Columbia, the Department of Justice (DOJ) withdrew the term “enemy combatant” and submitted a new standard for holding detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility. The DOJ insisted the current definition does not rely on the President’s authority as Commander-in-Chief independent of Congress’s specific authorization but “draws on the international laws of war.”
Furthermore, the filing submits that “individuals who supported al Qaeda or the Taliban are detainable only if the support was substantial.”
The brief was filed in habeas litigation brought by numerous detainees at Guantanamo who are challenging their detention under the Supreme Court’s decision last summer in Boumediene v. Bush.
The Department of Justice also submitted a declaration by Attorney General, Eric Holder stating that, under executive orders issued by President Obama, the government is undertaking an interagency review of detention policy for individuals captured in armed conflicts or counterterrorism operations as well as a review of the status of each detainee held at Guantanamo. The outcome of those reviews may lead to further refinements of the government’s position as it develops a comprehensive policy.
“As we work towards developing a new policy to govern detainees, it is essential that we operate in a manner that strengthens our national security, is consistent with our values, and is governed by law,” said Attorney General Holder. “The change we’ve made today meets each of those standards and will make our nation stronger.”
Shortly after the DOJ filing, UN human rights investigators announced the launching of a year-long global investigation into secret places of detention. They note the use of such facilities has increased since the Global War on Terror was declared after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States. The investigators say their probe will look at so-called rendition flights used by the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA, in the United States to secretly transfer suspects to third world countries for interrogation. The UN probe also will examine the policies of secret detention as practiced by other nations around the world.
The probe comes on the heels of a February report on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism by UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counterterrorism, Martin Scheinin, whose investigation was perceived as broadly critical of rendition activities. Speaking to reporters after presenting the report, Mr Scheinin said that UN human rights investigators will be looking into possible human rights violations committed by the US during the “War on Terror” and that the investigation will not be relaxed because of a change in administrations, as reported by Reuters.
Mr Scheinin said regarding the investigation: “The increased powers of intelligence services to conduct measures that seriously interfere with individuals’ rights, as well as the increasing relevance of intelligence for legal and administrative actions, make it essential that adequate accountability mechanisms are put in place to prevent human rights abuses. Under international human rights law, states are under a positive legal obligation to conduct independent investigations into alleged violations of the right to life, freedom from torture or other inhumane treatment, enforced disappearances or arbitrary detention, to bring to justice those responsible for such acts, and to provide reparations where they have participated in such violations. States retain this positive obligation to protect human rights where they grant privileges within their national territory to another State, including to intelligence services.”
Last year, the Jurist news agency reported Mr Scheinin to have urged the UN to restructure or eliminate the existing terrorist “blacklisting” system. The United States House of Representatives recently passed a bill to address these issues as well.
“With others, we will engage in the work of improving the UN human rights system to advance the vision of the UN Declaration on Human Rights,” Secretary Hillary Rodham-Clinton related in a statement regarding the upcoming vote for the UNHRC seat. The Declaration states that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security and that all –regardless of race, gender, colour, sex, language, religion or political opinion –are equal before the law. Renewed commitment of the United States to the Declaration and the UNHRC has been welcomed worldwide. Members are currently elected to a three-year term, but the Council is scheduled to undergo a formal review of its structure and procedures in 2011 “which will offer a significant opportunity for Council reform” noted the State Department in a press release.
On September 10, 2001, precisely one day before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told senior staff that the Pentagon was wasting $3 billion a year by not outsourcing many non-combat duties to the private sector. “At bases around the world, why do we pick up our own garbage and mop our own floors?” he asked. Soon after, this fortuitously-timed shift in the way the military wages war would bring immense profits to Texas-based military contractor Halliburton, an oil industry service company whose former CEO was former Vice President Dick Cheney. Armed with lucrative no-bid contracts, Halliburton/KBR, its affiliates, and sub-contractors would soon provide most of the infrastructure that supports the war in Iraq. But, ultimately, the company would face allegations of corruption, negligence, fraud, and corporate crime.
In the new book entitled, Halliburton’s Army: How a Well-Connected Texas Oil Company Revolutionized the Way America Makes War (Nation Books; February 9, 2009; $26.95), journalist Pratap Chatterjee conducts a highly detailed investigation into Halliburton and its former subsidiary KBR’s activities in Kuwait and Iraq, uncovering much new information about its questionable practices and extraordinary profits.
“The rewards and punishments of Cheney and Rumsfeld’s revolution in military affairs have been profound,” Chatterjee writes, “not least for the soldiers who are now supplied with hot food and showers around the clock. For the Pentagon generals, it has meant that they can do far more with far fewer soldiers….Accompanying this new industry is the potential for bribery, corruption, and fraud. Dozens of Halliburton/KBR workers and their subcontractors have already been arrested and charged, and several are already serving jail terms for stealing millions of dollars….The bulk of workers, however, will not see anything close to that, as the pay for Asian workers probably averages $1000 a month…. These men and women make up Halliburton’s Army, which employs enough people to staff one hundred battalions, a total of more than fifty thousand personnel who work for KBR under a contract that is now projected to reach $150 billion. Together with the workers who are rebuilding Iraq’s infrastructure and the private security divisions of companies like Blackwater, Halliburton’s Army now outnumbers the uniformed soldiers on the ground in Iraq.”
An extensive interview with the books author, Pratap Chatterjee, was quite revealing. The following are exerpts from the original interview conducted by Mike Shea that appeared in Texas Monthly.
What first attracted you to Halliburton as a book-worthy topic? […]I realized Halliburton is about transforming the way the U.S. goes to war in the twenty-first century. Halliburton’s job is to make soldiers as comfortable as possible by doing all the dirty work—erecting tents, cooking food, cleaning toilets—so that they go to war without the hardship that previous soldiers faced. Today a soldier is more likely to put on weight than to return looking gaunt and famished.
Is this Halliburton-serviced military an improvement on the traditional model? In many ways, yes. In the book, I quote Major Tim Horton [at Camp Anaconda, in Iraq]. He points out that if the average soldier gets $100,000 worth of training, then the military has to spend another $100,000 to train every replacement soldier. “What if we spend an extra $6,000 to get them to stay and save the loss of talent?” he says. “There are some creature comforts in this Wal-Mart and McDonald’s society we live in that soldiers have come to expect. They expect to play an XBox, to keep in touch by e-mail. They expect to eat a variety of foods . . . Our soldiers need to feel and believe that we care about them, or they will leave.
How important was Dick Cheney’s tenure as CEO to Halliburton’s monopolization of the government services industry during the Bush administration? Everything and nothing. The correct short answer is that he had really very little to do with hiring the company, in my opinion, but the longer answer is that his job at Halliburton can be seen in the context of the revolving door between high-level government officials and the military oligopolies whose sole client is the Pentagon.
Your publisher calls the book “a devastating bestiary of corporate malfeasance and political cronyism.” Is that PR hyperbole or is Halliburton’s history truly that odious? Every one of Halliburton’s senior managers is ex-government, often from the very department that they are now providing outside contractor services to.
What does the future hold for Halliburton: growth or scandalous Enron-like collapse? Halliburton and KBR are now separate companies, after KBR was spun off completely in 2007. Halliburton, which became a pure energy services company, was doing phenomenally well —notably well for a company that went through bankruptcy.
Filed under: Interfaith, May Volume I - 2009, National, Religion, Science, World | Tags: H1N1
US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has announced the United States federal government declaration of a public health emergency due to the swine flu outbreak. Secretary Napolitano asserts the declaration is part of a standard operating procedure, which was also done for the 2009 presidential inauguration and for flooding. The influenza strain “is obviously a cause for concern … but it is not a cause for alarm,” President Obama has noted.
Health and Religion.
Knowledge is coming to the forefront that people who work with swine, especially those with intense exposures, are at increased risk of infection with the influenza virus if the animals carry the strain that is also able to infect humans. It is believed to be spread between humans through coughing or sneezing of infected people and touching something with the virus on it and then touching their own nose or mouth. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also declared that swine flu cannot be spread by pork products, since the virus is not transmitted if it has been cooked “to an internal temperature of 160°F” as this process “kills the swine flu virus as it does other bacteria and viruses.”
Nevertheless, Muslim, Christian and Jewish holy books all prohibit the consumption of pork, which is a staple in the Southern Unites States and south of the border as well, although the majority of residents in these areas are widely known to be religious:
Old Testament: “ As for any beast that is a splitter of the hoof but is not a former of the cleft and not a chewer of the cud, they are unclean for you. Everyone touching them will be unclean.” –Leviticus 11:26
Holy Qur’an: “Forbidden to you for (food) are: dead meat, blood and the flesh of the swine and that which hath been invoked the name other than Allah.” –Holy Qur’an 5:4
It is also worthy of note that Jesus (peace be upon him) has been recorded as stating in the New Testament: “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill them.” –Matthew 5:17. However, this is disputed by followers of Paul, who exclude themselves from the law based upon his teachings.
Filed under: Business/Economy, Front Page News, Interfaith, International, May Volume I - 2009, World | Tags: Islamic Finance
The Vatican recently claimed banks should look at the ethical rules of Islamic finance to restore confidence amongst their clients during this time of global economic crisis.
“The ethical principles on which Islamic finance is based may bring banks closer to their clients and to the true spirit which should mark every financial service,” the Vatican’s official newspaper L’Osservatore Romano said.
Author Loretta Napoleoni and Abaxbank Spa fixed income strategist, Claudia Segre, say in the article that “Western banks could use tools such as the Islamic bonds, known as sukuk, as collateral.” Sukuk may be used to fund the “car industry or the next Olympic Games in London,” they said. They also said that profit share, gained from sukuk, may be an alternative to interest. They underlined that sukuk system could help automotive sector and support investments in the area of infrastructure. The Islamic sukuk system is similar to bonds of the western system; however, money is invested in concrete projects and profit share is distributed to clients instead of interest earned.
L’Osservatore Romano’s editor, Giovanni Maria Vian, said that “the great religions have always had a common attention to the human dimension of the economy,” Corriere della Sera reported.
Source: Brussels Journal.
Staff Writer Jamaal A. Waahid contributed to this report.
By Jameelah Kareem
Islamic Post Staff Writer
News agencies are reporting U.S. lawmakers will continue sending some Guantanamo Bay detainees to a rehabilitation program in Saudi Arabia. General Mansoor al Turki, interior ministry spokesman for the Saudi government, told CNN, “Such a re-education program will help the police to make sure these people get rid of the ideology that penetrated their brains [and to] make sure, when they leave prison, [they] can lead [a] normal life.”
There are approximately 240-250 detainees left at Guantanamo, most with little to no evidence of terrorist involvement. Nevertheless, a reform program is still seen as appropriate and the Care Rehabilitation Center in Riyadh, which focuses solely on ‘religious education,’ claims a 95% success rate. While the two Saudis who were said to have gone back to Al Qaeda, Said Al-Shihri and another man, bring that rate down by only about one percent (218 processed with 9 rearrests), there are more pressing questions regarding whether ‘religious education’ of the Saudi Arabian government is rehabilitating, or debilitating, for their Islamic morality.
The first thing which weakens Islamic principles of men is the common teaching of Wahhabism, which originates in Saudi Arabia, that it is not necessary to follow the Holy Last Messenger, Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of God be upon him. Although there is a general outward appearance of flowing robes, the code which is largely followed is tribal custom. There is no harm in local customs as long as they do not transcend the laws of decency and human brotherhood. When these laws are bypassed, as is happening in many so-called Islamic countries, the result is an extremist stance that results in violent acts and the oppression of women justified with false interpretations of Islamic texts.
One of the publishing houses which caters to the raising of an intolerant mindset is Darussalam Publications which uphold distortions of Islam, even mistranslating the traditions of the Holy Last Messenger, peace be upon him, to suit their ends (See Darussalam Publications: Enjoining Wrong, Forbidding Right, Islamic Post January Volume I.)
Another primary source of misinformation is the translation and commentary of the Holy Qur’an by Yusuf Ali, which is the main Qur’anic text available in the West, in particular, as millions of copies are donated freely to mosques, Islamic centers, campuses and libraries. Freedom House’s Center for Religious Freedom cites no less than $75 billion dollars leaving the Saudi monarchy in donations to locations abroad. These monies are used for mosque-building assistance and salaries for those who agree to preach Wahhabism in their locales. For those who accept this assistance, the Yusuf Ali translation, Wahhabi books and literature are all mandatory to be placed therein and the teachers are given them as textbooks.
Majlis Ulema of South Africa published a book in the 1980s titled Errors of Yusuf Ali in which was listed 16 major mistakes in translation and commentary. Majlis Ulema asserts that in his erroneous commentary, Yusuf Ali promoted that following the Holy Messengers of Islam is unneccessary. If following the broad minded tolerance of the Holy Last Messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his interpretation of Qur’an (which is, in fact, his lifestyle) is not mandatory, but optional, it surely leaves room for a different, fallacious interpretation. This is the interpretation which originates from the Saudi Arabian government and religious bodies. Sending people who have already been accused of extremism to Saudi Arabia for reformation may not be the correct route to take.
A reformer is a scholar, not one who rejects the scholars for his own vain interpretation of Islam. It is also imperative that scholars know the entire text of Holy Qur’an, and above all, possess thorough understanding of the occasions for which various sections and lines of Holy Qur’an were revealed, including the abrogated verses, and those that replaced them. This can only be done by someone who has spent his life studying the science of the traditions of the Holy Last Messenger (peace be upon him) and knows them by memory, as well as the Holy Qur’an itself. Also he should be well versed in the historical events that precipitated revelations.
He must also be well acquainted with the character of the Holy Last Messenger (peace be upon him) and his Holy Companions and also the enemies and allies of the believers. Foes and friends existed outside the Islamic community and also within. As is today, there were many hypocrites who had apparently followed the religion, but only with a view to riding on the power of Islam. Needless to say, being fluent in classical Arabic and the shades of meaning used by Hijazi Arabs of the time is absolutely essential. Finally, the scholar to be must be infused with knowledge of God, awareness of Him, and a profound dislike to commit errors or do what the Almighty dislikes. To embrace all these qualities and profound knowledge can prove very challenging. Because of their love of and spiritual connection to the Holy Last Messenger (peace be upon him), his descendants have, throughout history, become the finest and most prolific scholars of Islam.
Therefore, not every Tom or Abdullah can pick up Holy Qur’an offhand, and begin to explain the text therein according to his own opinion. Muslims and non-Muslims alike are impressed upon to seek knowledge of Islam, its Messenger (peace be upon him), history, language and culture to enhance his or her understanding of Islam’s Divine text, which was sent for the entire human race. This can be done by sitting for lessons with a scholar of Islam or, failing this, reading his books and discourses. In Islam, it is only the deviates and arrogant people who say they will only follow Holy Qur’an or Hadith (authenticated, recorded traditions of the Holy Last Messenger, peace be upon him) while dismissing the work of scholars who spent their lifetimes studying and writing on the same in detail.
All this being said, there are very specific circumstances which occasion jihad, or defensive warfare, in the Holy Qur’an and Islam, just as there are injunctions for the same in the Bible. It is not befitting for those who are not scholars of the Word of God, whether they be Muslim or non-Muslim, to misinterpret such injunctions for any reason, least of all to advocate wanton bloodshed. On numerous occasions Wahhabi teachings have been found to be lacking in this regard.
However, for some, extremism provides opportunities. According to Newsweek: “There have also been concerns that Bush administration holdovers were deliberately playing up the [recidivism] cases in recent weeks in an effort to undercut Obama. One former senior U. S. counter-terrorism official noted to Newsweek that the Pentagon waited until the day after Obama signed his executive order mandating the closure of Guantanamo to confirm Mr Al-Shihri’s renewed Al Qaeda ties.”
Last month Russia announced new military initiatives. One involves the U.S. air base near Bishkek that American forces have used to supply military operations in Afghanistan. The Kremlin stated its $2 billion loan for the Bishkek base, as well as a $150 million aid grant, at the same time that Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said his country will be asking American forces to leave the base. The U.S. military was given six months to vacate Bishkek in late February.
All of the initiatives strengthen military ties with states that were once part of the former Soviet Union.
In another initiative, Russian President Medvedev and his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, agreed to create a new joint air-defense system involving five air force and 10 missile units. Russia’s Kommersant business newspaper reports Mr. Lukashenko’s agreement was conditioned by demands for Russian weapon subsidies and Russian orders from Belarusian defense industries.
In a third move Mr Medvedev secured the agreement of neighboring Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to create a rapid reaction force as part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO. The agreement confronts what the Russian president termed a wide range of challenges and threats: crime, terrorism and drug trafficking.
Victor Ivanov, head of the Russian Federal Narcotics Control Service did, however, express an openness to participate with the United States in eradicating the spreading illicit drug economy in the region. In an interview with the government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Mr Ivanov stated, “To reduce this danger, we are vitally interested in working with the new American Administration.”
Cooperation with the US is seen as a necessity, as LPAC News reported, due to the spread of drug crops and trafficking from southern Afghanistan to the whole area along the border with the Central Asian countries. Mr Ivanov called for convening a conference under UN auspices on Peace and Prosperity in Afghanistan, as a “first step.” All tribes, areas, and political forces “prepared for a constructive dialogue” should be invited, Ivanov said, proposing a special role for Russia, as a country “whose forces have not participated in this seven-years long war.”
The United States has reciprocated interest in cooperating with the Kremlin to deal with the crisis in Afghanistan. The U.S. State Department said that Washington is “looking forward” to working with Russia on Afghanistan. “It’s in both of our countries’ interest to try to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan and bring about more economic development and security in the country,” said State Department Spokesman Robert Wood.
Mr Wood was responding to a statement given to reporters by Mr. Medvedev in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Medvedev was quoted as saying: “We hope the new U.S. administration will have greater success than the previous one in resolving the Afghanistan issue. …We are ready to work on the most complicated issues.” The Russian president also commented that the “number of radicals is not declining” there.
President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan, in turn, commented that he supports U.S. President Barack Obama’s plans to solve the Afghanistan crisis, and emphasized the importance of regional cooperation. “We offer to solve the problem through the involvement of regional states,” he said.
Russian envoy to NATO, Dmitry Ragozin, said on Echo Moskvy radio station, that cooperation is being re-established with NATO, and warned that were NATO to be defeated in Afghanistan, this would threaten Russia. –Sources: VOA, LPAC, U.S. State Dept.
Filed under: Front Page News, March Volume 2009, National, World | Tags: Geert Wilders
By Bashirah A. Malik
Islamic Post Staff Writer
“I am a strong an advocate of First Amendment free speech. However, this is not about free speech, but rather an issue of propriety, timing and venue,” Common Dreams quoted Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) as saying regarding the viewing of the film Fitna on Capitol Hill.
Fitna is a controversial film about the Holy Qur’an by Dutch Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders. The film made headlines and prompted angry protest across the Muslim World last March. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said at the time that the film wrongly equated Islam with violence and served “no purpose other than to offend.”
Mr Wilders’ visit to Washington to host the screening of the film came just after a Dutch court ordered prosecutors to put the right-wing politician on trial for making anti-Islamic statements. Common Dreams reports Mr. Wilders was denied entry by the British government in his attempts to promote the film there. Only 40 members of Congress came to the viewing on Capitol Hill. The Dutch government disavowed Mr. Wilders visit to the US and believes the release of the film “serves no purpose other than to cause offense.”
In 2007, Wilders apparently sought to incite Muslims by ranting against Holy Quran as a “fascist book,” calling for the sacred Islamic text to be banned, and comparing the Holy Quran to Adolf Hitler’s book Mein Kampf.
In a statement, the Amsterdam appeals court “ordered the prosecution of member of parliament Geert Wilders for inciting hatred and discrimination, based on comments by him in various media on Muslims and their beliefs.” The three judges in the case stated that they had weighed Wilders’ anti-Islamic rhetoric against his right to free speech, and ruled he had even gone beyond normal leeway given to politicians.
After the ruling, Wilder stated, ‘I had not expected it [this ruling].’ Gerard Spong, a prominent lawyer who joined Islamic groups in pushing for Wilders’ prosecution told reporters, “This is a happy day for all followers of Islam who do not want to be tossed on the garbage dump of Nazism.”
The court’s ruling reverses a decision made last year by the public prosecutor’s office, which said Mr. Wilder’s comments had been made outside parliament as a contribution to the debate on Islam in Dutch society and that no criminal offense had been committed. Because Wilders has not yet been charged, it is not clear what maximum penalty he could face if convicted.
Filed under: Front Page News, March Volume 2009, World | Tags: israel, Palestine
N. Begum Ahmad
Islamic Post Staff Writer
It doesn’t appear as if Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu will back down from the expansionist Likud party stance, despite opposing views from the US State Department. Just before visiting Israel on her tour of the Middle East early this month, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton emphasized to Egyptian Television her commitment to “a two-state solution, a comprehensive peace,” for Israel and the occupied territories.
However, upon arrival, Secretary Clinton and accompanying US delegates found themselves seated across from Mr Netanyahu and his choice of advisors for the meeting which included Uzi Arad, the former director of intelligence for the Mossad, who was banned from visiting the US due to suspicion of espionage activities inside the country. Mr Arad’s presence at the meeting has been interpreted by political analysts as mildly antagonistic.
The Israeli Ambassador to the US, Sallai Meridor, resigned the following day after being asked by Netanyahu to leave the meeting while Arad remained.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardliner Likud party won the right to form the next Israeli government after a close battle with Tzipi Livni’s Kadima party. One vote shy of beating Ms Livni, Netanyahu was nevertheless appointed to rule Israel. However, the main differentiating factor between the two parties, that regarding the Palestinian question, had been abandoned before the race was over.
In the latter part of January, Foreign Minister Livni told 60 Minutes she agreed with the proposal of a two-state solution that would contain Israel and give Palestine borders: “[CBS reporter Bob] Simon: Can you really imagine evacuating the tens of thousands of settlers who say they will not leave? Livni: It’s not going to be easy, but this is the only solution. Simon: But you know that there are settlers who say, ‘We will fight. We will not leave. We will fight.’ Livni: So this is the responsibility of the government, of the police to stop them, as simple as that. Israel is a state of law and order.” However, Think Progress noted from a Haaretz report that after Mr Netanyahu made it clear that he would not be bound by the current government’s “commitments to withdraw” from the West Bank, Livni’s stance changed abrubtly: “I will advance only an agreement that represents our interests. Maintaining maximum settlers and places that we hold dear such as Jerusalem — not a single refugee will enter.”
Indeed, the occupied territories carried a great deal of weight in this year’s elections. As the Christian Science Monitor (CSM) reported, the outgoing Israeli government was “getting high marks from the Israeli public for its pounding offensive in Gaza.” But, apparently the pounding was insufficient. “Polls show that the conservative opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party have opened up a bigger lead, based on a public concern that the offensive left the Hamas regime intact while failing to free an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit,” continued CSM.
But Prime Minister- designate Netanyahu did not close that big of a gap in the end, as the final vote tallied Likud (Netanyahu) at 27 and Kadima (Livni) a point higher at 28. Despite claims of being the only Middle East democracy, votes do not always make the final decision in Israel’s parliamentary system. President Shimon Peres made the final decision that the winner would be Mr Netanyahu, who must now be able to form a coalition government. Parliamentary democracies have been widely debated over time. Some schools attest that the system is used by third world countries and former British colonies making the transition to a full democracy.
The fledgling Zionist democracy is another matter entirely. Having been founded on the pretense of expansion, it seemed relatively important that a party win this year which would not waver on that stance. Given the current climate, and no end in sight to the continued shelling of the Gaza Strip, Likud gaining the upper hand was nothing short of predictable. The party platform of Likud states: “The Palestinians can run their lives freely in the framework of self-rule, but not as an independent and sovereign state.”
It remains to be seen how President Barack Obama’s support of a two-state solution will gain ground, especially when negotiations will be held with one who openly stated the American tragedy of 9/11 was of great benefit. “We are benefiting from one thing, and that is the attack on the Twin Towers and Pentagon, and the American struggle in Iraq,” the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv quoted Mr Netanyahu as telling a Bar Ilan university audience last April. The prime minister designate reportedly added that these events “swung American public opinion in our favor.”
Uzi Arad, who served as a foreign policy advisor during Netanyahu’s previous term (1996-1999), is expected to be named head of the Israeli National Security Council once the government is formed. Uzi Arad was linked in 2005 to Lawrence Franklin, a former U.S. Air Force Reserve colonel who pled guilty to passing information about U.S. policy towards Iran to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the foremost pro-Israel lobbying organization in the U.S, while he was working for the Defense Department. Israel denies allegations of the link.
By Abdul Wali Johnson
Islamic Post Staff Writer
“Myanmar must immediately stop the systematic persecution of the Rohingya [Muslim] minority,” said Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director, Sam Zarifi, in a recent open letter to the Myanmar government. The letter was also sent to surrounding governments with a request to assist Rohinyas. The flight of Muslims from Myanmar reached a “critical stage over the last two months,” according to Mr Zafiri, after the Thai military “forcibly expelled approximately 1,000 Rohingyas arriving in southwest Thailand by boat.”
The Rohingyah, a mostly Muslim ethnic group, are descendants of dark skinned Arab sailors, from Southern Arabia and Iran, who visited the South East Asian coastal cities of Burma (now Myanmar) from as early as the 8th century and the local inhabitants. Their offspring were called Cula, which literally translates as “black”. They migrated to Arakan (now called Rakhine State), in the north, around 957AD when Burma was invaded by the Mongoloids.
Through their history, they were persecuted by the leaders of Burma because they were considered to be “untouchables” and they are still, to this day, forced to perform free labor at the behest of the governing junta.
The slavish history of the Rohingya began with the annexation of Arkan with Burma in 1784. Since 1937, when Burma was separated from British India, they have been victims of bloody genocidal operations in 1942, 1978, and 1991/92, causing large migrations to Bangladesh.
In the pogrom of 1942, two hundred thousand Rohingya men, women and children were massacred. All the Rohingyas of 36 villages were slaughtered.
However, the atrocities are still continuing; the suffering enduring from generation to generation. While the Indian and Indonesian authorities have rescued hundreds of Rohingyas fleeing Myanmar by sea, nobody knows when the stories of their blood and tears will come to an end. Amnesty International also called on Bangladesh and Malaysia, as well as the other governments of nations surrounding Myanmar, to help provide search and rescue for the hundreds missing and feared drowned and to prevent more loss of life.
Filed under: March Volume 2009, World | Tags: African Union, Libya, Qaddafi, Qadhafi
By Abu Rashid Qadri
Islamic Post Staff Writer
(IP)- “Our parties are tribal parties – that is what has led to bloodshed,” Colonel Muammar Qaddafi was quoted as stating at the final press conference of the African Union Summit. In a session closed to the public, the Libyan leader was voted in as the new head of the 53-nation African Union. The colonel was immediately confronted by the unstable conditions in Madagascar and with growing cries to prosecute Sudan’s president for war crimes. Not to be deterred, Mr Qaddafi made it known that his main intent is to forge ahead and establish a “United States of Africa,” transforming the continent into a single, borderless, nation-state ruled by a single government.
Extensive financial help has been given by the oil-rich nation to help lift neighboring countries, and Muammar Qaddafi’s political influence is growing on the continent. Nevertheless, speculation tends to cling to Mr Qaddafi from many quarters due to his ties, as a socialist country, with the former Soviet Union, and alleged terrorist acts of its nationals in the past.
A number of African leaders certainly do not agree with Qaddafi’s ambitions for Africa, nor are they in favor of him holding this high profile position. Yet, the rules for the intergovernmental organization dictate that the post rotates among Africa’s regions. This year was set to go to a North African leader and Mr Qaddafi was the only one present.
Some leaders criticized his human rights record and view of democracy and to the AFP. “He has a deplorable idea of democracy. He thinks it’s necessary to crush the opposition. In his country, there is no opposition, human rights are not respected,” Hermann Yameogo of Burkina Faso, whose father Maurice Yameogo was the country’s leader, then known as Upper Volta, in the early 1960s. A rights group in the Republic of Congo is also worried about the choice of Qaddafi to lead the Pan-African body. “For us, this selection sends a bad message,” said Christian Mounzeo, head of the Meeting for Peace and Human Rights, “[Given] the state of human rights and the exercise of authoritarian power in his country.”
Amongst Africans, opinions differ. Wongani Makhala, an IT worker in Malawi had this to say to the BBC: “I think he is a compassionate man; after all he did eventually release those Bulgarian nurses accused of infecting Libyan children with HIV.” Amos Marube, a journalism student in Nairobi, Kenya told the BBC: “He [Qaddafi] wants to unite the continent – but here in Kenya we are already so divided by tribalism. Regionally East Africa isn’t really unified either. If African countries are unable to unite nationally and regionally, I can’t see how Qaddafi would be able to unite us as a continent. “I’m an admirer of Qaddafi as a leader though. I would describe his leadership ‘positive dictatorship’ and he has done some great things for Libya.”
Although not in agreement with any form of dictatorship, Libya seems to have redeemed itself abroad to a great degree. Libya formally denounced terrorism in August 2003 in a letter to the UN Security Council, and began paying damages amounting to tens of millions of dollars to the victims of violent political crimes allegedly committed by its nationals. UN sanctions against Libya were lifted the following month, to the joy of the agricultural sector, which mostly consists of desert and must import food to avoid the starvation of ordinary Libyans. Three years later former U.S. President George W. Bush rescinded Libya’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism and reestablished diplomatic efforts in the country.
Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations, was in attendance at the Summit and cautioned those present to use diplomacy and to stay within constitutional guidelines when searching for solutions to problems confronting them. However, most heads of state had departed by the time the compromise was struck that allowed Mr. Qaddafi to declare a victory.
Mr. Qaddafi admitted there are deep divisions in the African Union about his idea, the United States of Africa, but in a speech to the closing Summit session, he outlined a long-term vision of a fully united Africa, under one flag. “It is a government of the union. It is an authority, a government. There will be secretaries,… coordinators for various policies, like defense and foreign affairs and defense policies and foreign policies that are divergent and we will coordinate everything and our defense policies for Africa,” the Libyan president said.
While meetings of African leaders usually run two days, the Summit in Addis Ababa dragged into a fourth day with members deadlocked over AU chairman Qaddafi’s proposal for a central administration with sweeping powers. Only a handful of heads of state were in the room to hear the Libyan leader’s closing remarks. But most of Africa’s big powers, such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa, are sticking to the position that it will not be a government with sovereign powers for the foreseeable future.
African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping says even the small step of changing the name of the permanent secretariat from a commission to an authority, as agreed at the Summit, could take years, because it requires a charter amendment that must be ratified by two-thirds of the member states. African diplomats and observers say that the name change gives opponents of the plan the time they need to delay it indefinitely.
Researcher Noora Ahmad contributed to this report. Sources: VOA, State Dept.
By Bashirah A. Malik
Islamic Post Staff Writer
A farmer from China’s impoverished northwestern Xinjiang region was turned away by authorities in Beijing after he went there demanding compensation for a failed compulsory crop plan.
Hakim Siyit, a farmer from Yengisar County in Xinjiang’s western Kashgar area, claims that a compulsory “long bean” production plan was put into effect in 2007 for Yengisar county in Xinjiang’s western Kashgar region, resulting in heavy financial losses for farmers when harvest supply grossly overshot demand. Later that year the plan was repeated with similar results. In all, Siyit says, the farmers of Yengisar County suffered nearly $50 million Yuan (U.S. $7.3 million) in lost profit, loans that they could not repay, and equipment they could no longer use.
In China the majority of her impoverished citizens make a living farming. China has in place a “compulsory production plan”. The plan is for the Communist government to control what crop a farmer plants on their farm. Conversely, China’s compulsory crops plan is nothing new. It is very similar to the Soviet Union’s communist leader Josef Stalin’s collectivization plan introduced in the late 1920s. When his idea of collective farming failed to attract farmers, mostly poor peasants; Stalin resorted to forcefully implementing his plan, by murder and wholesale deportation of farmers to Siberia. The immediate effect of forced collectivization was reduced grain output and almost halved livestock, thus producing major famines in 1932 and 1933. Millions died of starvation in one of the most fertile regions in the world of farming.
However, according to China’s law on the Popularization of Agricultural Technology, any entity causing loss to farmers through the forced adoption of technology is required to repay total damages. Siyit, a member of the mostly Muslim Uighur ethnic group made his way to China’s State Council in Beijing last September to lobby on behalf of his fellow farmers. His effort got him taken to the Public Affairs Office of Xinjiang in Beijing where he was detained against his will and forced to return home with empty promises.
For over two years, Siyit and several other farmers have unsuccessfully attempted to file a complaint against the planning policies of Yin Xiaoliang, secretary of the communist party’s Yengisar County Branch. “Being the secretary, he should have known that the supply would be much higher than the demand, and there would be a lot of waste,” stated Siyit. The Yengisar regions 12 villages have a combined population of 240,000. “If only the secretary had organized it so that one village would grow long beans, another would grow tomatoes, another peppers, and another eggplants…” stated Siyit.
A government official with the Disciplinary Inspection Committee of Kashgar County, who did not provide his name, said he was aware of the farmers’ petition. “Originally we considered going to Yengisar country together with an agricultural business management group were to investigate the case. But when they asked permission [from deputy secretary of the prefecture’s party committee Zhang Jian], he stopped us. We were told ‘You shouldn’t go, let the county leader investigate first,’” the official said. Basically the matter still remains in doubt.
Siyit plans to continue his fight, despite the hardships he has faced, so that he can bring justice to the farmers of Yengisar County. “I just wanted to go [to Beijing] for the benefit of people, hoping to get a good answer. The fact that I did not know Chinese cost me a lot…It was as if I could not speak and I could only weep for my complaints,” he stated.
Early this month, Russia released the first of three volumes documenting the Soviet Union’s catastrophic famine of the early 1930s due to misguided Communist policies.
By Umm Murtaza
Islamic Post Staff Writer
The Israeli navy recently seized a ship intent on gaining access to the heavily guarded Gaza Strip. After capture, the ship was towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod.
The humanitarian vessel, which sailed from the Lebanese port, Tripoli, was dubbed the “brotherhood ship” and carried aid from mainly Arab and Lebanese charities for Gaza. There were approximately 60 tons of supplies aboard, including medicine, food, toys and books. Among the twenty some-odd passengers was a Syrian catholic priest, a Greek catholic priest Hillarion Cappuccion, a Muslim cleric and several Arab journalists.
Israeli authorities stated the vessel was not authorized, however, to enter Gaza and that the ship tried to “sneak” into the guarded waters of the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reported Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak as saying. Israel states the blockade of Gaza is a response to repeated Hamas attacks on southern Israel, also that they were led to believe the ship was a “threat to security” possibly smuggling weapons “into and out of the Gaza Strip,” the New York Times reported. Lebanon’s Prime Minister Fouad Siniora stated that the boat had nothing to do with smuggling weapons and condemned the Israeli actions as a “blatant attack”.
Free Gaza organizers helped in Cyprus to get the boat inspected by local authorities before sailing for Gaza.
It is said that the Israeli Navy opened fire prior to boarding and, after gaining access, beat some of the passengers. The Israelis deny charges stating that “no guns were fired.” However, before the phone connections were cut, gunfire could be heard in the background via telephone and the subsequent reports were aired by the stations of the journalists on board.
Israel maintains strict control of Gaza’s access to the outside world. They insist that they will not permit cash, steel or any other substance that could be used to make weapons for use against Israelis by Hamas. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora stated: “The same Israel that commits massacres against innocent civilians in Lebanon and Gaza is not ashamed to assault a ship carrying humanitarian supplies.
Maan Bashour, a pro-Palestinian Lebanese involved with the organization of the trip told Associated Press “There will be more boats”, “We will keep sending them”.
On March 9, the convoy Viva Palestina of the Free Gaza Movement crossed without incident into Gaza at 3.30 p.m. “We have broken the barriers, we have opened closed borders, we have defied the odds, we have overcome the challenges across thousands of miles and three continents. We are here to be with you, to embrace you, to share your tragedy with you,” read the statement.
(IP)- One of the most controversial and violent components of the war in Iraq, is going the way of the dinosaur.
The U.S Government contract with Blackwater Worldwide –regarding security services in Iraq– is expired. There are no specific plans to renew. The decision comes from Iraqi government officials, on the heels of a new security agreement that sharply curbs American power in Iraq. The agreement took effect on January 1 2009, after the expiration of the U.N Security Council resolution (in 2008).
When asked about the details of the contract and its expiration, State Department spokesman Robert Wood was vague.
“We’re in touch with the Iraqis to try and work out… the modalities of this. But you know, as we noted, we informed Blackwater… that we did not plan to renew the company’s existing task force orders for protective security details in Iraq.”
Iraqi officials were more to the point. “The contract is finished and will not be renewed by order of the Minister of the Interior”, says an interior ministry spokesman.
Blackwater’s history in Iraq is permeated with violent confrontations and loss of civilian life. Between 2005 and 2007, Blackwater security staff was involved in 195 known shooting incidents. In 163 of those cases, Blackwater personnel fired first; 25 staff members have been fired for violations of Blackwater’s drug and alcohol policy, and 28 more for weapons-related incidents.
The company’s most noted offenses include an incident in 2007, when Blackwater employees shot and killed 17 Iraqis. According to an FBI report, 14 of the victims were killed without cause. Adding insult to injury, the Pentagon issued a statement that same year, declaring that Blackwater contractors in Iraq are not subject to civilian criminal laws.
In November 2008, The State Department prepared to issue a multimillion-dollar fine to Blackwater Worldwide, for shipping hundreds of automatic firearms to Iraq without the necessary permits. Some of the weapons were believed to have ended up on the country’s black market.
In the fallout, Blackwater recently changed its name to Xe, and founder Erik Prince dropped out of day to day operations to sit as chairman of the company.
Despite Xe/Blackwater’s contract expiration, there are no plans to completely do away with private military contracts. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed this fact during a recent interview. “How we provide security and safety for those performing civilian functions is a very difficult question”, Clinton says. “I certainly am of the mind that we should, insofar as possible, diminish our reliance on private security contractors. Whether we can go all the way to banning, under current circumstances, seems unlikely, but we ought to be engaged in a very careful review of where they should and shouldn’t be used, and under what circumstances. And that’s what we’re doing right now.”
The Washington Independent questioned whether private contractors DynCorp and Triple Canopy would want Iraqi contracts now that the Iraqi government put a provision in the Status of Forces Agreement stipulating that all contractors fall under its legal jurisdiction.
By Noora Ahmad
Islamic Post Staff Writer
(IP)– Economist Michael Kirsch declared last month the “false market” of globalization, the “corrupt” existing “speculation-based” international financial system to be “bankrupt,” and “the entire world system of globalization [to be] dead.”
If this is the case, as the Executive Intelligence Review (EIR) contributor believes, there are monetary entities clinging on to the coffin.
Market Superstition?
The World Bank released the World Development Report (WDR) 2009 earlier this year and called it: “Reshaping Economic Geography,” in which WDR Director Indermit S. Gill proposed that, by uncontrollable forces, “Markets favor some places over others.” However, such theories tend to lend more to “the delusion of globalization, and the superstition that the ‘magic of the marketplace’ determines value,” at least according to Mr Kirsch. He also laments the economic summits held late last year which gave more power to the International Monetary Fund, a global lending institution similar to the World Bank. This move helped pile on more of the same types of policies, causing economies to dip further, and quite drastically, while again lining the pockets of speculators.
Mr Gill stated, “The world’s most geographically disadvantaged people know all too well that [market] growth does not come to every place in the world,” as reported by the World Bank. But, Kirsch insists “there is no sane reasoning behind it.” “How could the market know the right price?” he said. “The market only knows the names of the speculators who have been using it to destroy the economies of nations over the last 40 years.”
Using the example of the recent conflict with Russia and the Ukraine over natural gas prices, Mr Kirsch quoted Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as having stated that oil prices are “determined by the market and not by administrative decisions.” Kirsch calls that a fallacy. “This way of speaking reflects the belief that there is an inherent value, which the market knows and bestows upon a commodity; if you want to change the price, bad things will happen to your country. With what other belief would such barbaric behavior [of withholding heating fuel from the Ukraine in the dead of winter] be justified?”
But superstitions and food prices are an even more dangerous mix. In the face of the persistent international food crisis, WDR 2009 encourages mass migration into urban areas and away from agricultural centers because, as previously stated, “Markets favor some places over others.” Where the lending institution would profit from urbanization is an abundance of infrastructure lending to help facilitate migrations. The lending packages also include ‘conditionalities,’ which average 111 per nation and “undermine democracy,” according to a statement given to the London Observer by former Chief Economist of the World Bank Joseph Stiglitz. The World Bank’s rationale for mass migration from the food-producing countryside are: “No country has attained high income status without urbanizing,” and, “Growth seldom comes without the need to move closer to densely populated areas.” However, urban areas were also afflicted with the most food riots over the past six months.
Bypassing these issues, the World Bank warns that “Rural poverty rates are almost everywhere higher than in cities,” and, “Prosperity demands mobile people and products.” However, abandoning food security and flocking to urban areas, or even other countries, to work for international companies for a pittance is slavery to some, but continuing prosperity for others.
During the time period when hunger protests were still making headlines, the Financial Times suggested a more logical approach to bring income to rural-dwellers: Governments should dedicate more land to production and better the access to financing for growers who are taking their food to market, especially those selling gourmet and organic foodstuffs to a larger market. More recently, U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama emphasized the importance of agriculture by promoting the building of gardens at U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) facilities all over the world last month, in order to set an example for global communities.
“There must be a return to the American system’s concept of the role of government in guiding the implementation of needed scientific principles,” said Mr Kirsch. “Anything less, any mental pollution, such as a mystical belief in the magic of [Karl] Marx’s stages of capitalism, or the inclination to respect and protect ‘market forces’ as if they were part of nature, means sure death for the world economy.” which is now struggling to overcome the symptoms of globalism, which has already destroyed itself.
