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Safar 24, 1428/ March 14, 2007 #22
Scroll all the way down
to photo of crowd mourning African Muslim children from Mali who
were killed in a fire in the Bronx, New York.
LATEST WAR NEWS:
AFGHANISTAN: Helmand Province: March 7-13. NATO offensive seems to have
failed after Operation Achilles began with 5500 U.S., British, Dutch
and Kabul troops. There were only two fire fights and in each a British
soldier was killed. Taliban commander Mullah DadAllah said to reporters:
Our Faith will win over overwhelming NATO fire power. Chechen and
Palestinian mujahideen are with the Taliban in this battle, he said.
March 11. In Kandahar province, Karzai's troops fell into a Taliban
ambush and 9 Karzai officers were killed. The Karzai rulers admitted
that Helmand province has been in Taliban hands for more than a year.
PAKISTAN: General Musharraf struck at the independence of the Judiciary
by arresting and suspending Iftikhar Choudhary, Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court. Lawyers are demonstrating in major Pak. cities. The Chief
Justice had stopped Hindu influence in Punjab by banning kite flying on
Basant. He was getting ready to rule on the hundreds of people the
Mush regime has "disappeared" or given to U.S. He also had to rule
on Mush's legitimacy to stand for "re-election."
In North Waziristan Pak troops thwarted an Islamist attack by using
helicopter gunships. Three Islamic fighters were killed while one
Pakistani officer was killed and two wounded. In an audacious attack,
Islamic fighters hit military HQ in Miramshah with mortar fire. During
the night of March 10-11, the entire town of Bannu was awakened by
three powerful rocket fire explosions sent in by Islamists. [It's a
military town.]
The U.S. deported 72 PAKISTANIS on March 6. They were dropped at
Rawalpindi airport and given $100 each. One of them, Gul Maula, who
had been in the U.S. for 32 years, left behind a business worth millions.
Another Pakistani, Shaikh Zahorr, who had been in the U.S. for 18 years,
was kept in a dirty prison cell fr 5 months before being deported.
IRAQ: Heavy fighting continued in March. In February, 80 U.S. troops
were killed. Another 31 have been killed in March bringing the total
to 1395. A Republican Congressman who returned from Iraq on March 12
said that Shi'ite troops have joined hands with the U.S. in Fallujah
and Ramadi along with some Iraqi Sunnis.
[The resistance is 80% Sunni, 20% Al-Qaidah from other countries,
include Sudan, U.S. sources now admit.]
THIS IS WHERE MASAUD KHAN HAS BEEN SENT: Innocent Pakistani-American
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/1454224
U.S. Opens New Prison To Hold Mostly Arab Muslims
The Washington Post is reporting the Justice Department has quietly
opened a new prison unit in Terre Haute, Indiana designed to hold mostly
Arab Muslim prisoners. The jail operates under special rules restricting
the ability of prisoners to communicate with the outside world. All
telephone calls and mail are monitored, the number of phone calls are
limited and visits are restricted to a total of four hours per month. All
prison conversations must be conducted in English unless otherwise
negotiated. The Iraqi-born doctor Rafil Dhafir from upstate New York is
among the prisoners being held. He is serving a 22-year sentence for
violating the Iraqi sanctions by sending aid to Iraq through his charity
Help the Needy. Five members of the so-called "Lackawanna Six" are also
being held in the Indiana prison. Only two non-Muslims are being held at
the jail.
SIRAJ WAHHAJ:
ISNA's MAN who Helped Put Shaikh Omar 'Abdel Rahman in Prison
On his "Mana Matters" Email He Does not Tell Readers that he is
ISNA's Central Man
FROM ISNA's WEB SITE:
Imam Siraj Wahhaj, a long standing member of ISNA, emphasized that
Islam's mission to humanity "is to call to the path of God, with
'wisdom and beautiful preaching'."
ONCE AGAIN NEW TREND's ANALYSIS WAS CORRECT:
U.S., Iran, Syria, met in BAGHDAD!
While just about everyone was saying attack on Iran is Imminent,
NT saw US-Iran Intersection
Tehran Times. March 11
Saturday's one-day conference was also seen as an ice breaker for the
United States and Iran after nearly 28-years of diplomatic estrangement.
Khalilzad said he exchanged views with Iranian delegates "directly and
in the presence of others" at the gathering.
He declined to give details of the contacts — calling them only
"constructive and businesslike and problem-solving".
The chief Iranian envoy, Abbas Araghchi, said he restated his country's
demands for a clear timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces,
which he insisted have made Iraq a magnet for extremists from across
the Muslim world.
"Violence in Iraq is good for no country in the region," said Araghchi,
deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, at a
post-meeting news conference.
From Dr. Anwarul Haque, Islamabad, Pakistan
16th March:
Rachel Corrie Day
Please read her letters below and see the courage of this great woman
who sacrificed her life in defending Palestinians against Israeli and
Global Terrorism.
Please write articles and poems, make Dua and forward this message to
your friends, relatives and other honest and truthful persons.
Thanks...... ....
Rachel's war
This weekend 23-year-old American peace activist Rachel Corrie was
crushed to death by a bulldozer as she tried to prevent the Israeli
army destroying homes in the Gaza Strip. In a remarkable series of
emails to her family, she explained why she was risking her life.
February 7 2003
Hi friends and family, and others,
I have been in Palestine for two weeks and one hour now, and I still
have very few words to describe what I see. It is most difficult for
me to think about what's going on here when I sit down to write back
to the United States. Something about the virtual portal into luxury.
I don't know if many of the children here have ever existed without
tank-shell holes in their walls and the towers of an occupying army
surveying them constantly from the near horizons. I think, although
I'm not entirely sure, that even the smallest of these children
understand that life is not like this everywhere. An eight-year-old
was shot and killed by an Israeli tank two days before I got here,
and many of the children murmur his name to me - Ali - or point at
the posters of him on the walls. The children also love to get me
to practice my limited Arabic by asking me, "Kaif Sharon?" "Kaif Bush?"
and they laugh when I say, "Bush Majnoon", "Sharon Majnoon" back in
my limited arabic. (How is Sharon ? How is Bush? Bush is crazy. Sharon
is crazy.) Of course this isn't quite what I believe, and some of
the adults who have the English correct me: "Bush mish Majnoon" ...
Bush is a businessman. Today I tried to learn to say, "Bush is a
tool", but I don't think it translated quite right. But anyway, there
are eight-year-olds here much more aware of the workings of the
global power structure than I was just a few years ago.
Nevertheless, no amount of reading, attendance at conferences,
documentary viewing and word of mouth could have prepared me for
the reality of the situation here. You just can't imagine it unless
you see it - and even then you are always well aware that your
experience of it is not at all the reality: what with the difficulties
the Israeli army would face if they shot an unarmed US citizen, and
with the fact that I have money to buy water when the army destroys
wells, and the fact, of course, that I have the option of leaving.
Nobody in my family has been shot, driving in their car, by a rocket
launcher from a tower at the end of a major street in my hometown. I
have a home. I am allowed to go see the ocean. When I leave for school
or work I can be relatively certain that there will not be a heavily
armed soldier waiting halfway between Mud Bay and downtown Olympia
at a checkpoint with the power to decide whether I can go about my
business, and whether I can get home again when I'm done. As an
afterthought to all this rambling, I am in Rafah: a city of about
140,000 people, approximately 60% of whom are refugees - many of
whom are twice or three times refugees. Today, as I walked on top
of the rubble where homes once stood, Egyptian soldiers called to
me from the other side of the border, "Go! Go!" because a tank was
coming. And then waving and "What's your name?". Something disturbing
about this friendly curiosity. It reminded me of how much, to some
degree, we are all kids curious about other kids. Egyptian kids
shouting at strange women wandering into the path of tanks.
Palestinian kids shot from the tanks when they peak out from behind
walls to see what's going on. International kids standing in front
of tanks with banners. Israeli kids in the tanks anonymously -
occasionally shouting and also occasionally waving - many forced
to be here, many just aggressive - shooting into the houses as we
wander away.
I've been having trouble accessing news about the outside world here,
but I hear an escalation of war on Iraq is inevitable. There is a
great deal of concern here about the "reoccupation of Gaza ". Gaza
is reoccupied every day to various extents but I think the fear is
that the tanks will enter all the streets and remain here instead
of entering some of the streets and then withdrawing after some hours
or days to observe and shoot from the edges of the communities. If
people aren't already thinking about the consequences of this war
for the people of the entire region then I hope you will start.
My love to everyone. My love to my mom. My love to smooch. My love to
fg and barnhair and sesamees and Lincoln School. My love to Olympia.
Rachel
February 20 2003
Mama,
Now the Israeli army has actually dug up the road to Gaza , and both
of the major checkpoints are closed. This means that Palestinians who
want to go and register for their next quarter at university can't.
People can't get to their jobs and those who are trapped on the other
side can't get home; and internationals, who have a meeting tomorrow
in the West Bank , won't make it. We could probably make it through if
we made serious use of our international white person privilege, but
that would also mean some risk of arrest and deportation, even though
none of us has done anything illegal.
The Gaza Strip is divided in thirds now. There is some talk about the
"reoccupation of Gaza ", but I seriously doubt this will happen,
because I think it would be a geopolitically stupid move for Israel
right now. I think the more likely thing is an increase in smaller
below-the-international-outcry-radar incursions and possibly the
oft-hinted "population transfer".
I am staying put in Rafah for now, no plans to head north. I still feel
like I'm relatively safe and think that my most likely risk in case of
a larger-scale incursion is arrest. A move to reoccupy Gaza would
generate a much larger outcry than Sharon 's assassination-
during-peace- negotiations/ land grab strategy, which is working
very well now to create settlements all over, slowly but surely
eliminating any meaningful possibility for Palestinian
self-determination. Know that I have a lot of very nice Palestinians
looking after me. I have a small flu bug, and got some very nice
lemony drinks to cure me. Also, the woman who keeps the key for the
well where we still sleep keeps asking me about you. She doesn't speak
a bit of English, but she asks about my mom pretty frequently - wants
to make sure I'm calling you.
Love to you and Dad and Sarah and Chris and everybody.
Rachel
February 27 2003
(To her mother)
Love you. Really miss you. I have bad nightmares about tanks and
bulldozers outside our house and you and me inside. Sometimes the
adrenaline acts as an anesthetic for weeks and then in the evening
or at night it just hits me again - a little bit of the reality of
the situation. I am really scared for the people here. Yesterday, I
watched a father lead his two tiny children, holding his hands, out
into the sight of tanks and a sniper tower and bulldozers and Jeeps
because he thought his house was going to be exploded. Jenny and I
stayed in the house with several women and two small babies. It was
our mistake in translation that caused him to think it was his house
that was being exploded. In fact, the Israeli army was in the process
of detonating an explosive in the ground nearby - one that appears to
have been planted by Palestinian resistance.
This is in the area where Sunday about 150 men were rounded up and
contained outside the settlement with gunfire over their heads and
around them, while tanks and bulldozers destroyed 25 greenhouses -
the livelihoods for 300 people. The explosive was right in front of
the greenhouses - right in the point of entry for tanks that might
come back again. I was terrified to think that this man felt it was
less of a risk to walk out in view of the tanks with his kids than
to stay in his house. I was really scared that they were all going
to be shot and I tried to stand between them and the tank. This
happens every day, but just this father walking out with his two
little kids just looking very sad, just happened to get my attention
more at this particular moment, probably because I felt it was our
translation problems that made him leave.
I thought a lot about what you said on the phone about Palestinian
violence not helping the situation. Sixty thousand workers from Rafah
worked in Israel two years ago. Now only 600 can go to Israel for jobs.
Of these 600, many have moved, because the three checkpoints between
here and Ashkelon (the closest city in Israel ) make what used to be
a 40-minute drive, now a 12-hour or impassible journey. In addition,
what Rafah identified in 1999 as sources of economic growth are all
completely destroyed - the Gaza international airport (runways
demolished, totally closed); the border for trade with Egypt (now
with a giant Israeli sniper tower in the middle of the crossing);
access to the ocean (completely cut off in the last two years by a
checkpoint and the Gush Katif settlement). The count of homes
destroyed in Rafah since the beginning of this intifada is up
around 600, by and large people with no connection to the resistance
but who happen to live along the border. I think it is maybe official
now that Rafah is the poorest place in the world. There used to be
a middle class here - recently. We also get reports that in the past,
Gazan flower shipments to Europe were delayed for two weeks at the
Erez crossing for security inspections. You can imagine the value of
two-week-old cut flowers in the European market, so that market
dried up. And then the bulldozers come and take out people's vegetable
farms and gardens. What is left for people? Tell me if you can think
of anything. I can't.
If any of us had our lives and welfare completely strangled, lived with
children in a shrinking place where we knew, because of previous
experience, that soldiers and tanks and bulldozers could come for
us at any moment and destroy all the greenhouses that we had been
cultivating for however long, and did this while some of us were beaten
and held captive with 149 other people for several hours - do you think
we might try to use somewhat violent means to protect whatever
fragments remained? I think about this especially when I see orchards
and greenhouses and fruit trees destroyed - just years of care and
cultivation. I think about you and how long it takes to make things
grow and what a labour of love it is. I really think, in a similar
situation, most people would defend themselves as best they could.
I think Uncle Craig would. I think probably Grandma would. I think
I would.
You asked me about non-violent resistance.
When that explosive detonated yesterday it broke all the windows in
the family's house. I was in the process of being served tea and
playing with the two small babies. I'm having a hard time right now.
Just feel sick to my stomach a lot from being doted on all the time,
very sweetly, by people who are facing doom. I know that from the
United States , it all sounds like hyperbole. Honestly, a lot of the
time the sheer kindness of the people here, coupled with the
overwhelming evidence of the wilful destruction of their lives,
makes it seem unreal to me. I really can't believe that something
like this can happen in the world without a bigger outcry about it.
It really hurts me, again, like it has hurt me in the past, to
witness how awful we can allow the world to be. I felt after talking
to you that maybe you didn't completely believe me. I think it's
actually good if you don't, because I do believe pretty much above
all else in the importance of independent critical thinking. And I
also realise that with you I'm much less careful than usual about
trying to source every assertion that I make. A lot of the reason
for that is I know that you actually do go and do your own research.
But it makes me worry about the job I'm doing. All of the situation
that I tried to enumerate above - and a lot of other things -
constitutes a somewhat gradual - often hidden, but nevertheless
massive - removal and destruction of the ability of a particular
group of people to survive. This is what I am seeing here. The
assassinations, rocket attacks and shooting of children are atrocities
- but in focusing on them I'm terrified of missing their context. The
vast majority of people here - even if they had the economic means to
escape, even if they actually wanted to give up resisting on their
land and just leave (which appears to be maybe the less nefarious
of Sharon's possible goals), can't leave. Because they can't even
get into Israel to apply for visas, and because their destination
countries won't let them in (both our country and Arab countries).
So I think when all means of survival is cut off in a pen (Gaza)
which people can't get out of, I think that qualifies as genocide.
Even if they could get out, I think it would still qualify as
genocide. Maybe you could look up the definition of genocide
according to international law. I don't remember it right now.
I'm going to get better at illustrating this, hopefully. I don't
like to use those charged words. I think you know this about me.
I really value words. I really try to illustrate and let people
draw their own conclusions.
Anyway, I'm rambling. Just want to write to my Mom and tell her that
I'm witnessing this chronic, insidious genocide and I'm really scared,
and questioning my fundamental belief in the goodness of human nature.
This has to stop. I think it is a good idea for us all to drop
everything and devote our lives to making this stop. I don't think
it's an extremist thing to do anymore. I still really want to dance
around to Pat Benatar and have boyfriends and make comics for my
coworkers. But I also want this to stop. Disbelief and horror is
what I feel. Disappointment. I am disappointed that this is the base
reality of our world and that we, in fact, participate in it. This is
not at all what I asked for when I came into this world. This is not
at all what the people here asked for when they came into this world.
This is not the world you and Dad wanted me to come into when you
decided to have me. This is not what I meant when I looked at Capital
Lake and said: "This is the wide world and I'm coming to it." I did
not mean that I was coming into a world where I could live a comfortable
life and possibly, with no effort at all, exist in complete unawareness
of my participation in genocide. More big explosions somewhere in the
distance outside.
When I come back from Palestine , I probably will have nightmares and
constantly feel guilty for not being here, but I can channel that into
more work. Coming here is one of the better things I've ever done. So
when I sound crazy, or if the Israeli military should break with their
racist tendency not to injure white people, please pin the reason
squarely on the fact that I am in the midst of a genocide which I am
also indirectly supporting, and for which my government is largely
responsible.
I love you and Dad. Sorry for the diatribe. OK, some strange men next
to me just gave me some peas, so I need to eat and thank them.
Rachel
February 28 2003
(To her mother)
Thanks, Mom, for your response to my email. It really helps me to get
word from you, and from other people who care about me.
After I wrote to you I went incommunicado from the affinity group for
about 10 hours which I spent with a family on the front line in Hi
Salam - who fixed me dinner - and have cable TV. The two front rooms
of their house are unusable because gunshots have been fired through
the walls, so the whole family - three kids and two parents - sleep
in the parent's bedroom. I sleep on the floor next to the youngest
daughter, Iman, and we all shared blankets. I helped the son with
his English homework a little, and we all watched Pet Cemetery, which
is a horrifying movie. I think they all thought it was pretty funny
how much trouble I had watching it. Friday is the holiday, and when
I woke up they were watching Gummy Bears dubbed into Arabic. So I
ate breakfast with them and sat there for a while and just enjoyed
being in this big puddle of blankets with this family watching what
for me seemed like Saturday morning cartoons. Then I walked some way
to B'razil, which is where Nidal and Mansur and Grandmother and Rafat
and all the rest of the big family that has really wholeheartedly
adopted me live. (The other day, by the way, Grandmother gave me a
pantomimed lecture in Arabic that involved a lot of blowing and
pointing to her black shawl. I got Nidal to tell her that my mother
would appreciate knowing that someone here was giving me a lecture
about smoking turning my lungs black.) I met their sister-in-law,
who is visiting from Nusserat camp, and played with her small baby.
Nidal's English gets better every day. He's the one who calls me, "My
sister". He started teaching Grandmother how to say, "Hello. How are
you?" In English. You can always hear the tanks and bulldozers passing
by, but all of these people are genuinely cheerful with each other,
and with me. When I am with Palestinian friends I tend to be somewhat
less horrified than when I am trying to act in a role of human rights
observer, documenter, or direct-action resister. They are a good
example of how to be in it for the long haul. I know that the
situation gets to them - and may ultimately get them - on all kinds
of levels, but I am nevertheless amazed at their strength in being
able to defend such a large degree of their humanity - laughter,
generosity, family-time - against the incredible horror occurring
in their lives and against the constant presence of death. I felt
much better after this morning. I spent a lot of time writing about
the disappointment of discovering, somewhat first-hand, the degree
of evil of which we are still capable. I should at least mention
that I am also discovering a degree of strength and of basic ability
for humans to remain human in the direst of circumstances - which I
also haven't seen before. I think the word is dignity. I wish you
could meet these people. Maybe, hopefully, someday you will.
In Memoriam
~ Rachel Corrie ~
1979 - 2003
:::ACTION ALERT FROM RACHEL'S PARENTS:::
Dear Friends,
On the third anniversary of Rachel's killing in Gaza, here are three
things that we urge you to consider doing today, or as soon as possible:
1) From New York:
"The "Rachel's Words" initiative is made up of a broad spectrum of
groups and individuals who believe that Rachel's words and her message
of human rights and justice should be heard. We hope that Rachel's
Words will open the door for other equally important and silenced
voices. We resist the pervasive climate of fear and challenge to
free speech that is increasingly prevalent in our society. Rachel
wrote about issues that concern us all. People must have the
opportunity to hear her message and decide for themselves what
they think. Nobody's agenda should stand in the way of that."
To endorse this initiative, please go to this link--and to the "About"
or "Endorsement" headings http://www.rachelswords.org/ about
If you, your family, or your group are spending any time today or in
upcoming days returning to Rachel's e-mails and words, please list
this under "Actions" at http://rachelswords.org/actions
2) The U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation has called for a day
of action today, March 16th. Please go to their website to learn about
their Caterpillar campaign and more that you can do:
http://endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1190
3) While the U.S. Government is on record stating that the report of
the Israeli military investigation into Rachel's killing did not meet
the standard of "thorough, credible, or transparent, " the U.S. has
taken no steps to investigate this killing of an American citizen by
a foreign military. Our family's often frustrating efforts to demand
accountability from both the U.S. and Israeli governments continue.
This week, family members are in Washington DC meeting with members
of Congress. Please help us. Pick up the telephone and call your
representative and Senators in the U.S. Congress and tell them that
more must be done and that after three years it is an outrage that
members of the Corrie family must still walk the halls of Congress
seeking support simply to learn the truth. If you live in
Washington State, please make a special call to Senator Murray's
office noting that for three years she and her staff have drug
their feet and have refused to take any leadership whatsoever in
this matter-leadership that other members of Congress tell us they
look to a senior senator to provide when a citizen of their state
is so gravely impacted.
Thank you for your continuing care and support.
Cindy and Craig Corrie.
:::ACTION ALERT FROM TRUE MUSLIMS ACROSS THE WORLD
As Muslims we stand for truth, absolute truth and noting but truth. We
are for justice, honesty, peace and humanity. Islam is diagonally
opposite to terrorism. All terrorism of all sorts is committed by
the worst enemies of Islam and through their jaundiced media, they
ascribe to these to Muslims and Islam. Yesterday Abraham (Ibrahim)
fought against the tyrants, Moses (Moosa) fought against Pharaoh
and Jesus (Issa) fought against the economic terrorism of then
Zionists. The fight between Islam and terrorism is from ever to
forever till the day of Judgment! Rachel Corrie did what a Muslim
is supposed to do. We salute her and dedicate 16th March as Rachel
Corrie Day and 16th September as Shatilla and Sabra Day when over
3000 un-armed women were put to death by Sharon . We urge all Muslims
and all those who stand for justice and truth to observe these days
by writing about these incidences, holding seminars and praying for
the departed souls and giving the lesson of truth, courage and
justice to all human beings. We as Muslims must enlighten the
world through the light of Qur'an (The final and ever protected
edition in its original language of all divine books) and model
of the last and the final true messenger of Allah Ta'lah.
Muhammad (PBUH). Through these we will be able to remove the
darkness of ignorance, injustice, terrorism and greed.
Your brother in Islam
Anwar Ul Haque
An Evening of Halal Fun--UmmahSavers Strikes Again!
By Hajure Fontaine (with Tazkiya Smith)
March 2 marked yet another successful and fun-filled event hosted by the
UmmahSavers, an independent Muslim youth group, based in the Washington,
DC metropolitan area. The event took place at Bailey's Crossroads, VA at
Ultrazone. The playing area, or arena, was illuminated by black lights and
kept dark, so that everything around a player glowed, including his or her
clothes.
As brothers and sisters arrived, they were briefed on the rules of the
game: each participant could either defend her base from the other teams,
or go on the offensive, searching the twist and turns of the large
two-story game area for opponents to blast. Then, the participants formed
squads. Each squad tried to score as many points as possible. At the end
of each round, the winner was announced.
It was a nice turn out, with attendees ranging in age from 7 to 32,
including many who traveled all the way from Baltimore to support the
event. Bringing the Muslim community of all ages together to interact,
socialize, and simply share in a healthy, interactive experience was truly
a blessing. Attendees said they had a great time.
The UmmahSavers' mission is to create an environment conducive to
improving relations between Muslim youth from various communities. Efforts
to involve and engage our community with each other in a relaxed social
setting are rare. The UmmahSavers aim to host bi-monthly events to keep
people in contact; the organization plans to increase the frequency of
events in the near term.
Previous activities hosted by the UmmahSavers include: several bowling
events, white water rafting, billiards, and game nights. The UmmahSavers
plan to work within the community, staffing soup kitchens and helping the
needy, via an organization called Operation Giveback.
For further information or to donate to UmmahSavers activities for Muslim
youth, please contact:
ummahsavers@yahoo.com
(703) 955-49829
or see our website:
http://myspace.com/ummahsavers
2007-03-15 Thu 15:30:04 cst
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