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Dr Kaukab Siddique | Editor-in-Chief Shaban 3,1435/June 1, 2014 # 22

Breaking News
Syria: Iranian General Killed in Action Against Mujahideen.
2,000 Civilians killed in Aleppo by Assad's Air Force in May Alone.
On June 1
Iran held the funeral of General Abdollahi Eskander killed in action in heavy fighting near Damascus.

On May 31:
Islamic Front blew up a Syrian army stronghold in the Zahrawi market area of Aleppo. Regime admitted 20 troops killed.

On May 30:
Assad's tank and artillery units with jet fighters and helicopters launched a new offensive in the Deraa area near the southern border. With mujahideen now in control of more than half of Deraa city and extensive territory up to the Israeli occupied border, the Syrian military fears loss of important military installations in the northern part of Deraa. Several thousand Hizbullah Shi'ites are part of the offensive.

France has arrested Mehdi Nemanouche, 29, for the May 24 attack on a Jewish Museum in Brussels in which he killed 4 Jews including two Israelis. The French say that this French Muslim had been in Syria for a year and had a symbol of ISIL with him when arrested along with his weapon. ISIL is considered very extreme. [More than 700 French mujahideen are feared to be in Syria, as the French put it.]

One of the 4 martyrdom attackers who carried out strikes on Syrian troops in Idlib [see previous issue of New Trend] has been identified by the US as an American Muslim. Please scroll down to report and photo of the fighter with his cat and a banner of al-Qaida.

Breaking News: Afghanistan
May 31

US Exchanged five Taliban Gtmo Prisoners with a US soldier captured by the Taliban. The exchange was carried out through the link of the Emir of Qatar where the five have arrived. They were civilian leaders of the Taliban government, not combatants. Mullah Umar, top leader of the Taliban, declared it a victory for the Taliban. President Obama was in an emotional embrace with the parents of the soldier.

Republicans are foaming at the mouth in anger and have condemned the exchange.

"Our" man striking at Islamics
Libya's Sisi

A General in Libya is trying to overthrow Islam oriented Parliament: Good article by Ramzy Baroud. Scroll to end

See Sis. Aisha's great article on Homo power and Christianity's retreat. Please scroll. Homo offensive is backed by Zionist media.

Fake Elections are favorites of dictators and occupiers:

May 31: Egypt's military extended elections into a third day while it ferried Christian copts, Hosni Mubarak's paid "voters" and peasants from the countryside to vote for Sisi. The drama failed though US media have declared it a fairly fair election. Please scroll down for two items.

General Sisi's forces killed 5000 unarmed pro-Ikhwan demonstrators, injured 25000 and arrested more than 20000 before holding "elections."

Next "elections" will be in a couple of days by Syria's Bashar Assad. He has had 150,000 people killed.

India has held elections in Kashmir under the biggest occupation army in the world.

Occupied Palestine and West Bank group: Israeli dissident analyzes latest US move. Please scroll.

What does Islam say about psychological and mental abuse of women? Please scroll.

Muslim prisoners in Elmira, New York, say Egyptian "chaplain" is denying them their rights. See way down.

Outreach to 104 at al-Haqq masjid.
Jamaat al-Muslimeen activity for Baltimore's African Americans

On May 30, six pages of Jamaat al-Muslimeen's literature were given after juma' salat to 104 Muslims at Baltimore, Maryland's, biggest African American mosque located in the heart of the inner city.

This mosque was run by W.D. Muhammad group many years but after being taken over by orthodox Sunni Muslims has flourished and now has a large congregation.

Almost 95% of the Muslims here are African American. The remaining are Arab shopkeepers and merchants.

The attitude here was towards JAM's literature was more positive than any we have seen. People were not leaving till they got their copy. These were the six pages:
    2. &
    3. &
  3. Who are Boku Hsram in Nigeria? Why are Muslim lackeys of the government in USA attacking them? A devastating critique by Sis. Nadrat.. Kidnaped girls story tool of imperialism by Ms. Ameejill. Video of Nigerian army's slaughter of unarmed Muslims. [JAM Virginia].

  4. Narrative about age of Ayesha, r.a., is not a hadith.

  5. Heavy Syrian fighting. Mujahideen entered Damascus suburb. Advances in Idlib and Aleppo.

  6. Link for Islamic uprising in Mali + Iran hiring Afgsan Shias to support Syria's tyrant.


Q & A
The Tragic Suffering of Muslim Women

If a girl is married prepuberty then decides she doesn't want to consummate the marriage. How can she leave it? The husband often pays a huge bride price which her family can't repay. Plus she has lived with his family. It usually ends up with forced sex. This happens in Niger. When the imam was asked he just said Islam allows it.

It's not even as good as being a prostitute, at least they get to keep the money! How was this type of marriage repudiated in the time of the Prophet. How was abuse prevented?

Salaam
Shoaib
, [England]

Response by Br. Kaukab Siddique:

The Prophet, pbuh, prevented such abuses of Islamic Law by making sure the community was fully aware of Allah's rights for women. Men could not get away with any abuses. A marriage based on control by parents was not acceptable. The Prophet, pbuh, himself, did not take Ayesha, r.a., as his wife for several years because he was not able to give her the marriage gift.

So we have the role model, but the Ummah has gone bad. This is best put in the words of Ali, r.a., the 4th Caliph. Ali, r.a., was asked:

"Why did people obey Abu Bakr and Umar and they do not obey you?"

His reply:

"Because Abu Bakr and Umar ruled over people like me and Sa'ad and Usman and Talhah and others, and I am ruling over people like you." [1]

Much of the Muslim masses today do not know what are the rights of women in Islam. The problems in Niger and most other Muslim countries are serious.
Basic causes:
  1. Poverty

  2. Illiteracy.

  3. Ideas of "inward unity" in defensive response to colonialism and European dominance.

  4. The educated elites are alienated from the masses owing to their mental submission to the West.

  5. Political awareness is near zero. Look at how many Egyptians, structurally in an advanced country, are celebrating General Sisi's "victory."

Improvements and exceptions should be noted:
  1. Peaceful Islamic movements like Jamaate Islami and Ikhwan al-Muslimeen plus Hamas and Turkish supporters of Erdogan have a higher level of awareness of women's rights as compared to most Muslims. These however are much better than 15 years back but not quite up to the level of the Prophet's, pbuh, teachings.

  2. The jihad movements have a higher level of equality and awareness than the peaceful movements. This happens because the devastating attacks of the anti-Islamic forces make it imperative for mujahideen to work closely with women. Even in a rigidly male oriented society like Afghanistan, single women who had lost their men in battle hid fighters in their homes, carried ammunition for the fighters and transported food. American occupiers killed some women fighters who were shooting bazookas at them.

  3. Westernized Muslim women. They often have good understanding of their rights as Muslims but are not able to influence the Muslim ummah because of their own life style and sense of superiority.

Propaganda war against Islam: Western media, particularly the Zionists, are looking for "dirt" in the Muslim world. If they can find a negative story anywhere, they will make it a global issue. Look at how they turned Malala, who was working with US and Pakistani intelligence, into a crusader for women's education, thus leaving out and ignoring COMPLETELY the work being done by Jamaate Islami for women's education. Malala was even feted at the White House.

Palestinian, Iraqi and Chechen women as well as many Bangladeshis who stand against the West are simply ignored. They are "non-persons" for the West.

Notice how the uprising of women in the Red Mosque and Jamia Hafsa in Pakistan was totally ignored. Women in hijab who fight back are a terrible problem for the West.
.
Notice how Kashmiri women have been ignored. They have stood up to and suffered tremendously at the hands of a huge Indian occupation army.

Islamic women in Libya played an important in the struggle to end Qaddafi's regime. They too have been ignored in the West.

The suffering of women in Syria has no equal. The major media in America have not shown pictures of any Syrian women brutalized by the criminal regime of Bashar Assad. The monstrous crimes of the Alawites in Syria have few, if any, equals in Muslim history. America's main interest is to assure that the Islamic forces in Syria do not win, or if they win they should be infiltrated by the one group America favors. But the Syrian women are quite clear about their rights in Islam.

Years back the situation was reversed when Iran's revolutionary women were portrayed as backward and exploited by men because they wore hijab.

The West is looking for and wants to video tape women who are in hijab but are politically naïve or irrelevant

The Islamic uprising in Africa is in its initial stages. Somalia, northern Nigeria, parts of Sudan and Mali are taking the lead. Will women benefit from the uprising remains to be seen. The West will probably kill the first generation of fighters but the Islamic wave is quite strong..If Boku Haram are successful, they will influence Niger, inshallah.

1, Ifadat al-Akhbar bi-Bara'at al-Abrar by Muhammad ibn al-'Arabi at-Tabbani, vol.2., p.96., quoted in English by Dr. Assad Nimer Busool in The Life of 'Umar Ibn al-Khattab, p.92, Chicago.

WHAT DOES ISLAM SAY ABOUT ABUSE?
By asqfish May 30, 2014 building a peaceful home Islam muslims Surah Hujaraat WHAT DOES ISLAM SAY ABOUT DOMESTIC ABUSE wife beating
Information primarily taken from the seminar at: http://almadinainstitute.org/seminars/the-scars-you-dont-seehow-to-stop-abuse-before-its-too-late/

Abuse can be physical which is obvious by the scars and injuries but the subtle and more damaging in the long run is the emotional abuse. Allah forbids both kinds of abuse. Prophet Muhammad was a living example of a life devoid of both kinds of abuses.

Emotional abuse is not permitted in Islam as commanded by Allah in the Quran (see ayahs from Surah Hujaraat below)
Islamic perspective: we should not inflict harm on anyone for any reason; we should follow the example of Prophet Muhammad pbuh. The only time when he inflicted pain was in battle when Muslims were being harmed or threatened.

Most people are unaware of our own faults of emotional abuse:

[49:11] Yusuf Ali

O ye who believe! Let not some men among you laugh at others: It may be that the (latter) are better than the (former): Nor let some women laugh at others: It may be that the (latter are better than the (former)

When we make fun of others it is because we think they are inferior to us in some way and that may be coming from arrogance, which allows them to laugh at others.

49:11 nor defame nor be sarcastic to each other,

Defaming is the beginning and may end with ghiabah.

49:11 Nor call each other by (offensive) nicknames:

You may call someone lazy; slob or a jerk and we may say it without thinking of the effect on others. Allah is naming each of these behaviors and prohibiting them. These are harmful to others and to us as it is feeding our ego and inflating our arrogance.

49:11 Ill seeming is a name connoting wickedness, (to be used of one) after he has believed: And those who do not desist are (indeed) doing wrong.

[49:12] Yusuf Ali

O ye who believe! Avoid suspicion as much (as possible): for suspicion in some cases is a sin: And spy not on each other behind their backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, ye would abhor it... But fear Allah: For Allah is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.

These are all forms of emotional abuse check yourself first!

Are we guilty of such behavior or are we victims of such behavior?

THE EFFECT ON CHILDREN: are children witnessing this behavior if they are witnessing violence physical emotional or verbal, children are afraid, and usually blame themselves. Especially if it is related to the child, something that the abused parent did nor did not do, or about events that lead to the failure of the child's performance in school of hifz etc.

Sometimes in the heat of the abuse between two parents the children intervene and sometimes even stand between the parents, particularly boys. Sometimes teenage boys may fight back, in trying to protect the mother from the abusive father.

Most teenagers in youth jails are from such events In the Middle East women in the jails are one who after a long period of abuse could not take it any more and have resisted the abuse by trying to hurt or kill the abusive husband. (Movie: The burning bed is based on that).

Ques: what do we do if our kids don't listen to us? Then we have to discipline them by threatening them and spouses also e.g. how do I make my wife do what I want her to do, such as wear hijab etc.

ANSWER: Here we have to look at the Prophetic model. He was such a radical change agent, he changed people who were steeped in sin and violence these were people who would bury their girls alive and cover them with dirt while they were crying.

Prophet Muhammad pbuh changed these people so much that these very people who were so cruel have become such beautiful people that they have been promised jannah.

What did he do?

It was the way that he simply lived Islam by being a good model. He always responded to people in such a good manner that it shook people, through his model he affected change it is also very difficult and needs a lot of sabr and taqwa and commitment to adopt the lifestyle of the Sunnah of the Prophet.

PRINCIPLES:

Allah tells us in the Quran that he gives us a choice and he tells us the consequences of each choice.

We have been given us this free will, this is makes us Ashraf al Makhlokaat.

He says even in religion there is no compulsion "la iqraaha fid deen"

The Prophet affected a lot of change but he could not get some of the people close to him to change Allah tells him "your job is to convey not convince"

Allah also says you are not going to be able to guide people only Allah will guide.

It is very hard to see someone close to you making bad choices it could be major bad choices and some minor bad choices.

We do not have the right to control others even our children. If we force people they will push back. If you get into a power struggle with your kid he may outlast you in resistance and then you may resort to name-calling and then abuse.

The secret is to accept. To know that the only thing I can do is to control myself.

We have to accept the decision-making abilities of another individual, which is age appropriate. Don't expect a baby or teen to make adult decisions.

Give your children choices limited choices as long as both options are acceptable to you. You can also start to train children by allowing them to make choices and you have to respect their preferences.

In your home you should already limit what they can choose such as x rated or violent TV channels etc. Consequences of opposition by the children should not fall under abuse.

What are the tell tale signs of abuse in a family?

Does your child feel intimidated by you, does your child flinch. Does the child avoid the other parent? That they will be put down?

Then there is some abusive behavior happening there.
It is very difficult if you are living in fear to protect your children.

You have to look around you and become aware of what is happening around you and its effect on your child. If not such children have severe trust issues, anxiety, and depression, even PTSD. They have relationship problems, as they grow older.

They learn that in these relationships one is either a victim or an abuser. They may play the opposite role, or play both roles. It is a vicious cycle and can be passed down from generation to generation as they copy that model.

This will go on unless someone says I choose not be in a relationship where I am mistreated (or has deep emaan in the word of Allah and will get out the circumstances to remain true to Allah)

ISSUE: If you have been mistreated as a child, emotional verbal or physical or sexual abuse and you grow up and we have clear teachings about how to treat our parents with BIR (utmost good) thus such a child is wary of this parent because he has all these memories of abuse by that parent and the parent denies that he ever mistreated this child. How do I fulfill my responsibility as a Muslim to my parents, as I am struggling with trust issues and the fallout of the abuse, as a child and I don't know how I can stand this as an adult?

This is an issue that needs to be addressed by the Scholars.

Half of the people in a community have suffered abuse.

One solution is to know that there are different ways we can be respectful and have such a respectful relationship at the distance, a polite but not close relationship.

QUESTIONS:

Question: Husband is narcissistic, and is abusive emotionally. Should counseling be directed to both items or only to the abusive behavior?

Answer: The counselor is the one to assess, diagnose and decide how to bring it into the counseling. Most counselors will not label and will focus on change of behavior and coach people how to treat each other in a healthy way. Sometimes people do not know a healthy way. A lot of times people resort to abusive behavior when they feel helpless or cannot get results.

Question: Some people become more religious and apply religious edict to use abuse and is a control tactic.

Answer: We know that violence is not permitted in Islam and Prophet Muhammad pbuh who was described, as a living Quran never committed violence in his life. The ayah which is most abused in this respect by both an inadequate translation and inappropriate explanation is 4:34 Some men say if the wife disobeys any wish of his this is nashooz and feel obliged to beat their wife.

Nashooz: is defined as when the integrity of the marriage is being threatened: e.g. wife may be engaging with men in a way that is threatening to the marriage and men can also engage in nashooz. Three steps, third step is interpreted in many ways, regardless of how it is interpreted, even the scholars who take the words it literally say it may be 'tapping and in no way is violence. In case of domestic violence they are applying violence without the steps. The Prophet had marriage problems; he never raised his hand or his voice.

What every Muslim must do is to educate themselves about Islam so if someone tells us that abuse is permitted

Hadith says: a Muslim is one from whose tongue and hands another Muslim is safe"

Question: Are men victim of domestic violence and how can men respond to that.

Answer: usually men are exposed to emotional and verbal abuse. Do women put down their husbands or yell at them? One needs to say this is not acceptable. We need an elder or Imam to intervene and learn new ways of interacting.

Question: How does the economy affect domestic violence? How can the family economic pressure cause abuse or how does one shield it from that.

Answer: Poverty does not cause domestic violence. We know a large part of the world lives under the poverty level and are not abusive in their domestic life.

However we must use spiritual resources when one is under pressure. Refer to the ayahs that tell us that Allah is going to test us with our money and with our children etc. and improve our connection with him. We should surround ourselves with people who will remind us of Allah.

Violence goes up when economy is bad, as people do not have good coping skills.

Question: why do abused people stay with the abusers or return to the abuser.

The abusee may love the abuser as they may have married them for good qualities, and especially when you have kids, or people are pressured by a parent or an imam or they do not have anywhere opt go and all the backlash that happens to a woman who leaves her marriage. When a person exits the relationship, then the abuser does not have control anymore then the violence can get worse as he loses control and may physically come after her and or may threaten to have her deported.

Do abusers have a potential sign at the time of choosing a spouse?

Answer: Warning signs and characteristics:
You can't always know:

Take your time to get to the know the person in a variety of circumstances, and how he treats others, at home, at work, with his mother and sister and other women? Does he give orders, is he the jealous type or blames someone else for happenings.Young women may perceive abusive behavior as love as he wants to know where I am who my friends are and wants to track my where abouts: that is a red flag.If the person who has grown up in an abusive home he is at higher risk then do premarital counseling where a professional is helping to assess if this person is leaning towards abuse.If the person has injured someone or has ever injured an animal has a high-risk for abuseTrust your gut, if you feel he is not a safe person get a third persons opinion.If a person feels he is a controlling and feel thing will change after marriage that is not so.Do abusers change:Yes all can change e.g. Umar ibn Khattab. How can we know if people can change?First step is to admit that one recognize the symptoms andRecognize that we have a choice and go up to the person one is controlling and admit and promise to changeAnd increase our spiritual practices.Get professional help.

End seminar

Please forgive me for mistakes, may Allah accept.

Our America
Homosexual Power Violating Religious Rights of Americans.
Why Christianity cannot resist this Abomination?
by Sis. Aisha [Jamaat al-Muslimeen New York City]
Source: Yahoo News

Denver, Colorado - A seven Judge panel for the Civil Right's Commission in Denver, Colorado has just ruled that devout Christian baker, Jack Philips, must bake cakes for Gay married couples. The Commission stated that Philips violated the civil rights of Gay married couple, David Mullins and Charlie Craig.

According to Commissioner Raju Jarum, "I can believe anything I want, but if I'm going to do business here, I'd ought to not discriminate against people." Jack Philips, who owns Masterpiece Cakeshop, has stated, "I will stand by my convictions until somebody shuts me down."

Many so-called Conservative politicians initiated an earlier fight to include protections for those who opposed homosexuality based on religious views. I guess, they were unsuccessful? I never hear these Conservatives vehemently opposing these rulings although, Gay marriage is illegal in Colorado! May be these Conservatives are afraid of losing their political seat or of being outed! Many of these politicians have dirty little secrets they'd like to keep secret like being a closeted Gay person.

Just as you stated in New Trend, awhile back, these pro-Gay court rulings will affect the Muslim businesses, as well! I am not surprised that these White liberals are misusing Civil Rights laws to include a lifestyle that many have moral objections to because this is America. The Great Satan as the Ayatolla Khomeini called it. By forcefully legitimizing a morally reprehensible lifestyle it leaves very little reason for anyone to object to it.

Every few weeks they take a poll to determine the new number of Americans who have become desensitized to homosexuality in America to the point where they don't object to Gay adoptions, marriages, tv shows, public displays of affection, etc.

Black people become incensed when these White Gays compare their struggle to any racial struggle for surviving and thriving in America! For the following reasons:

Only Allah has control over how you look in the womb. We cannot control how light or dark we look!Whether or not to have sex or who to have sex with is a choice that we can and do make as adults. We are not animals who have no choice but, to procreate as Allah has ordered them to do. We human beings are held in higher esteem and have been given the blessing of free will! Although, there are human beings who give in to their carnal desires like animals do!

On May 21, 2014, the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) became the first league to honor Gay culture. there will be designated games where teams will wear rainbow jerseys. The WNBA is being used as a litmus test for introducing homosexuality into American sports leagues. NFL players have already voiced their opposition to homosexuality. Many WNBA players are also Christian. But, will some of them refuse to wear that rainbow jersey or refuse to play at all in any form of protest?

What is strange is that many women, including those in the WNBA, have tried to get away from the Gay-thing. Historically, many male chauvinists have questioned the sexual-orientation of girls who like sports, especially if they are good players. They resent lesbian athletes like Billie Jean King and Brittney Griner. Unfortunately, the only way straight women combat this stereotype is to cake their faces in make-up or wear sexually revealing clothes. If you don't go this route many, including lesbians, will assume you are a lesbian just because you choose to be self-confident and have higher self-esteem!

The Muslim community needs to worry about itself and how to thrive, in spite of this homo promotion. Christians have predicted this promo homo campaign coming for decades but have failed to prevent it or combat it now that is in full swing! Why? Because Christians like Pat Robertson or Jimmy Swaggart, who oppose homosexuality, are also staunch White supremacists which is against Biblical teachings. They've made a mockery of it. However, Christianity and the Bible have been twisted to support egregious behavior throughout the world! It makes any legitimate argument they may have moot. This also why Muslims cannot be allies with these kinds of racist Christians.

Any successful opposition to homosexuality would have to come from an Islamic standpoint with the Qur'an and Authentic Hadith as the foundation. Neither source has ever been altered by man just as Allah intended. Al-humdulillah. Some Americans are beginning to wake up to this nonsense and defy it. Let's see how it plays out, for now!

With thanks to Imam Ali Siddiqui
Counterpunch .WEEKEND EDITION MAY 23-25, wowed
Israel, the Palestinians and Obama stew In Their Own Juices
by URI AVNERY

According to press reports, President Barack Obama has decided to let Binyamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas "stew in their own juice."

That sounds fair.

The United States has tried very hard to make peace between Israel and Palestine. Poor John Kerry has devoted almost all of his considerable energies to getting both sides to meet, to talk, to reach compromises.

At the end of nine months, he found out that it was a false pregnancy. No baby, not even a fetus. Nothing at all.

So American leaders are justified in feeling angry. Angry at both sides. Neither of them has shown any willingness to sacrifice its interests in order to do a favor to Obama or Kerry. Ungrateful, these Middle Easterners.

So it seems that the reaction is justified. You don't want to fulfill our wishes? Go to hell. Both of you.

The important word in these sentences is "both".

But "both" is based on a lie.

When one says that "both" did not behave as expected, that "both" did not make the "necessary hard decisions" that "both" should stew in their own juice, one consciously or unconsciously assumes that they are equal. Nothing is further from the truth.

Israel is immeasurably stronger than Palestine in every material respect. One resembles a sleek American skyscraper, the other a dilapidated wooden shack.

Palestine is under occupation by the other half of "both". Palestinians are totally deprived of all elementary human and civil rights. Average income in Israel is 20 times higher than in Palestine. Not 20%, but a staggering 2000%. Militarily, Israel is a regional power, and in some respects a world power.

In this reality, speaking of "both" is at best ignorant, at worst cynical.

The very presentation of this picture of "both" is tantamount to acceptance of the Israeli narrative.

What does it mean for "both" to stew in their own juice?

For Israel, it means that it can continue to build new settlements on Arab land in the occupied West Bank without foreign interference. It can make life in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip ever harsher, in the hope that more and more Palestinians will prefer to leave. Arbitrary killings of civilians by occupation troops occur every few days.

Some of us realize that this course is leading to disaster in the form of a bi-national state, in which an ever-growing disenfranchised Arab majority will be ruled by the Jewish minority. That is called apartheid. But most Israelis don't see it.

Israelis are happy, and never happier than this week. In a modern repetition of the Biblical David-and-Goliath story, the Tel Aviv Maccabi basketball team beat the formidable Real Madrid team for the European championship. National pride has risen to Olympic heights. (In a childish race, President Peres and Prime Minister Netanyahu each tried to waylay the winning team on its way to the popular reception in Rabin Square, in order to bask in reflected glory.)

So Israel can stew happily, the more so since the US continues to pay us their annual three billion dollar tribute, provide us with arms and use their UN veto power to protect us from international censure.

For the Palestinian side of "both", stewing in their own juice means something very different.

The effort to achieve Fatah-Hamas reconciliation proceeds slowly and can break down at any moment. It depends on Abbas' success in forming a Unity Government composed of impartial "technocrats" and Hamas' willingness to give up its sole rule in the Gaza Strip.

Almost all Palestinians want unity, but ideological differences run deep (though in practice the differences are now much shallower). But even if some kind of unity is achieved and recognized by the international community against Israel's wish, what can the Palestinians actually do without violence?

They could, with the help of Saudi Arabia and the military junta in Egypt, establish some direct contact between the West Bank and Gaza and break the Israeli blockade on the Strip.

They can apply for admittance to some more international agencies and for more positive resolutions of the UN General Assembly, where the US veto does not apply but whose decisions have very little concrete effect.

They can encourage European countries and the international BDS movement to reinforce the boycott of the settlements or of Israel itself.

Altogether, not very much. The stewing period will enlarge even more the imbalance of power between "both" parties.
If the stewing lasts long enough, the "moderate" leaderships of Fatah and Hamas will be swept away, and Palestinian violence will raise its head again.

Conclusion: "Bothness", which looks so fair and impartial, is in effect a policy of 100% support for the Israeli Right.

Will this strengthen anti-Israeli sentiment abroad?

Two weeks ago, a US Jewish organization dropped a bombshell: in every country around the world there exists anti-Semitism, from 91% in the West Bank to 2% in Laos. (One may wonder where Laotians find Jews to hate.)

Every fifth person on earth harbors anti-Semitic prejudices. More than a billion human beings!!!

The organization which invested so much money to finance such a world-wide poll is the (Anti-)Defamation League. I put the "anti" in brackets, because its proper name should be the Defamation League. It is a kind of Thought Police in the service of the right-wing American Jewish establishment.

(Many years ago, when I was a Member of the Knesset, I was invited to give talks at 20 high-class American universities. The hosts were the Jewish chaplains who belong to the Bnei Brith (Beit Hillel) order. At the last moment, 19 talks were canceled. In a secret letter, the Defamation League had told the chaplains that "though MK Uri Avnery cannot be called a traitor..." etc. etc. In the end, all the talks took place under the auspices of Christian chaplains.)

The publication of the devastating results of the poll exposed a curious fact: news about the rise of anti-Semitism is received by many Jews with something strangely like joy.

I have often wondered about this phenomenon. For Zionists, the answer is simple: the terms anti-Semitism and Zionism, like Siamese twins, were born at the same time. Anti-Semitism has always driven Jews to Israel, and still does (lately from France).

For other Jews, the source of the joy is less obvious. Jews in Europe have been surrounded by anti-Semites for so long, that the sight of them seems normal. Discovering them again and again gives Jews a comfortable feeling of familiarity.

And there are, of course, the innumerable employees of the League and the other Jewish organizations, whose livelihood depends on the exposure of anti-Semites.

The interpretation of the poll itself is, of course, complete bullshit (sorry). People who expressed misgivings about Israeli policy were listed as anti-Semites. So are all inhabitants of the occupied territories who do not like their occupiers. Muslims in general, who see Israel in a negative light, are of course racists. A similar poll about anti-Russian racism may well achieve the same results in Ukraine.

A similar initiative is this week's congress of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists.

Jewish jurists may sound almost like a tautology. Every Jewish mother wants to boast of "my son, the doctor" or "my son, the lawyer". In the US and many other countries, Jewish lawyers and judges seem to be in the majority.

This meeting has a specific aim: to convince the UN to abolish UNRWA, the UN agency concerned with Palestinian refugees. It was created after the 1948 war, during which some 750,000 Palestinians fled or were driven out of the territory that became Israel. Their descendents, who are also recognized as refugees, amount now to some six to seven million.

UNRWA feeds these refugees, protects them and educates them. It is true that it is a unique institution, expressing the bad conscience of the UN. It seems that the refugees from no other country have such a specific organization to care for them.

Now the Jew-Ju's (if I may call them so) are mounting an attack, directly guided by Israel, to abolish this organization altogether. I suppose that the aim is to disband the Palestinian refugee camps which exist in several countries around Israel - Sabra and Shatila spring to mind - and disperse the refugees all over the planet, where they will be less of a pain in the neck for the Netanyahu government.

All this in the name of fairness and equality. Israelis and Palestinians can "both" stew in their own juice.

Very different juices, though.

URI AVNERY is an Israeli writer and peace activist with Gush Shalom. He is a contributor to CounterPunch's book The Politics of Anti-Semitism.

[With thanks to Bangladeshi scholar Shah Abdul Hannan.]
Egypt
Egypt's Illegitimate President: General Sisi
By Stephen Gowans

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the former head of the military that overthrew Egypt's legitimately elected president Mohammed Morsi in a 2013 coup d'état, is almost certain to win a landslide victory in today's presidential election. Sisi's victory, however, won't be due to a groundswell of popular support. In fact, a Pew Research poll conducted in April found that only a narrow majority of Egyptians support him. [1] Instead, Sisi will win because he has banned the main opposition, the Muslim Brotherhood, the organization from which the legitimate president, Morsi, sprang. Just as importantly, Morsi supporters are boycotting the vote, reasoning that they already have a legitimate president, even if he has been illegally locked away in the regime's prisons. [2] So, with the only substantial opposition viciously suppressed, and Morsi supporters staying away from the polls, a Sisi landslide victory is a virtual certainty. But it will confer no legitimacy on the Egyptian strongman.

Under Sisi's leadership, the military government has massacred thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets in protest against the coup. It has also jailed tens of thousands of other Morsi supporters, banned demonstrations, and discouraged dissent by locking up journalists who oppose the military take-over.

If you've forgotten how closely Sisi cleaves to the model of the brutal authoritarian tyrant that Western governments and media profess to abominate, think back to last summer. Here are New York Times reporters Kareem Fahim and Mayy el Sheik describing one Sisi-led massacre:

The Egyptian authorities unleashed a ferocious attack on Islamist protesters early Saturday, killing at least 72 people in the second mass killing of demonstrators in three weeks and the deadliest attackby the security services since Egypt's uprising in early 2011.

The tactics — many were killed with gunshot wounds to the head or the chest — suggested that Egypt's security services felt no need to show any restraint.

In the attack on Saturday, civilians joined riot police officers in firing live ammunition at the protesters as they marched toward a bridge over the Nile. By early morning, the numbers of wounded people had overwhelmed doctors at a nearby field hospital. [3]

Carried out by Muamar Gadaffi, a brutal crackdown on this scale would have been enough to raise alarms of an impending genocide and calls for humanitarian intervention. When it happens in Egypt, it's mentioned in the back pages of some (though not all or even most) newspapers and forgotten the next day.

In October, "Clashes between protesters and security forces...left at least 51 people dead and more than 246 injured...as supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi rallied to press for his reinstatement despite a months-long crackdown on their ranks. Activists from Mr. Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood said the police used live ammunition to subdue the pro-Morsi crowds." [4] By the end of October, an estimated 1,000 Morsi supporters had been shot dead by security forces and 6,000 herded into prisons. [5] Today, it's acknowledged that the regime has "killed more than a thousand of Mr. Morsi's ... supporters at street protests and jailed tens of thousands of others." [6]

Sadly, the crackdown isn't limited to pumping live ammunition into the skulls of the ousted president's backers. In March, an Egyptian court sentenced hundreds of Morsi supporters to death, finding them all guilty of killing a single police officer at a demonstration. The judgment was so flagrantly political that it moved the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, to denounce it. "The mass imposition of the death penalty after a trial rife with procedural irregularities is in breach of international human rights law," the commissioner concluded. [7] This evident repression of Morsi supporters was duly noted by some Western media, though never denounced as an outrage, and quickly forgotten. We needn't wonder how the same event would have been treated had it occurred in Syria.

Egypt's military government also launched an assault on journalists who failed to toe the regime's line on theappropriate attitude to the Muslim Brotherhood—now banned as a "terrorist" organization. (Additionally, the April 6 movement, considered the most effective left-leaning protest group, has been outlawed on espionage charges. [8]) A reporter who steps over the line is liable to be tossed into jail and tried with crimes against the state, a fate that befell 20 Al-Jazeera employees. [9] The jailing of journalists for what they report by a state that isn't an ally of Washington would be thoroughly denounced by Western officials and deplored by Western media. Carried out by Egypt's military rulers, it's quietly noted, then forgotten.

What, then, accounts for the blatant double-standard?

As the Wall Street Journal's Adam Entous explains, "Washington has long viewed its military ties with Cairo, backed by more than $40 billion in military aid since 1948 along with annual military exercises and extensive officer exchanges, as an anchor of one of its most important relationships in the Arab world." [10] Which is to say that Egypt—or more specifically, its military—does Washington's bidding. Notably, Syria, North Korea, Venezuela and Zimbabwe, reject US domination and pursue independent paths. When the leaders of these countries use their state's repressive apparatus to quell opposition (often encouraged by dollops of "pro-democracy" funding funnelled by Western governments to opposition forces through NGOs), they are demonized.

Apart from underpinning Egypt's role as an agent of US influence in the Arab world, Washington's military aid program to the country—surpassed only by aid to Israel—is a source of handsome profits to US military contractors. Every year US taxpayers fork over $1.3 billion to the Egyptian military to submit large orders for weaponry and equipment to US arms manufacturers. [11] In concrete terms, the bullets Egyptian soldiers used to mow down Morsi supporters were purchased by US taxpayers.

Adding to Cairo's value as a US ally is that fact that it grants the Pentagon virtual carte-blanche access to its territory.

Most nations, including many close allies of the United States, require up to a week's notice before American warplanes are allowed to cross their territory. Not Egypt, which offers near-automatic approval for military overflights...American warships are also allowed to cut to the front of the line through the Suez Canal in times of crisis, even when oil tankers are stacked up like cars on an interstate highway at rush hour. [12]

Accordingly, Sisi's brutal rise to power is tolerated by Western governments and his undemocratic and illiberal methods passed over in near silence by the Western media, because he can be counted on to maintain Egypt as a reliable agent of US influence in the Arab world, provide valuable services to the US military, and fatten the bottom lines of US arms manufacturers with weapons orders. None of this is to say that Morsi wouldn't have performed the same valuable services. The reality of US domination would have structured the decision-making environment to hem Morsi in and limit his room for manoeuvre. But it's doubtful he could have been counted on to be as reliable a servant as Sisi, who trained at the US Army War College, and has extensive connections to the US military. Hence, rather than denouncing Sisi, Western politicians and media mobilize the energies of social justice-advocates against countries whose leaders reject the international dictatorship of the United States and refuse to provide valuable services to the Pentagon, not against those that do.

Caught up in mass media-manipulated campaigns of indignation against targets of US imperialist designs, the beautiful souls of the left ignore the deplorable activities of the West's faithful local agents in the Arab world, from the hereditary tyrannies of the Gulf states to the blood-stained US-backed strongman in Cairo, while at the same time protesting the resistance of the Syrian government and its Hezbollah ally against Western efforts to crush an independent Arab political project. Immersed in a fantasy world structured by the mass media's promotion of Western foreign policy agendas, they line up with the US-aligned Arab royal dictatorships against the only organized Arab forces prepared to resist domination by the United States and its Zionist client.

While dispassionately documenting Sisi's affronts against liberal democratic ideals, the Western media have not demonized him, as they invariably do leaders of governments who refuse to act as ductile agents of US power. Even so, Sisi's actions would certainly warrant the same media treatment meted out to the West's favorite international villains were he standing on his feet against US domination, rather than kneeling before it as a loyal servant. If Western conceptions of democracy and human rights mean anything, Sisi would long ago have occupied center stage in the West's pantheon of demons. That he is allowed to fly under the radar—despite cancelling democracy, murdering protesters, executing political opponents, and jailing journalists—reveals much about US foreign policy, the Western media that support it, and social-justice advocates who are deceived by it.
  1. "One Year after Morsi's Ouster, Divides Persist on El-Sisi, Muslim Brotherhood," Pew Research Global Attitude Project, May 22, 2014. http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/05/22/one-year-after-morsis-outer-divides-persist-on-el-sisi-muslim-brotherhood/

  2. David D. Kirkpatrick, "In Egyptian Town, Cheers for Sisi but Murmurs of Discontent," The New York Times, May 25, 2014.

  3. Kareem Fahim and Mayy el Sheik, "Crackdown in Egypt kills Islamists as they protest", The New York Times, July 27, 2013/

  4. Matt Bradley, "Egyptian clashes leave at least 51 dead", The Wall Street Journal, October 6, 2013.

  5. Tamer El-Ghobashy and Matt Bradely, "Egypt arrests Brotherhood official ahead of Morsi trial", The Wall Street Journal, Oct 30, 2013.

  6. David. D. Kirkpatrick, "Egypt's new strongman, Sisi knows best", The New York Times, May 24, 2014.

  7. Nick Cumming-Bruce, "U.N. expresses alarm over Egyptian death sentences", The New York Times, March 25, 2014.

  8. David D. Kirkpatrick, "Uproar in Egypt after judge sentences more than 680 to death", The New York Times, April 28, 2014.

  9. Tamer El-Ghobashy, "Egypt to charge Al Jazeera journalists", The Wall Street Journal, January 28, 2013.

  10. Adam Entous, "U.S. defense chief mans hot line to Cairo", The Wall Street Journal, The Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2013.

  11. Eric Schmitt, "Cairo military firmly hooked to U.S. lifeline", The New York Times, August 20, 2013.

  12. Thom Shanker and Eric Schmitt, "Ties with Egypt army constrain Washington", The New York Times, August 16, 2013.



Egypt
The real Situation behind the Sham Election of General Sisi.

The Muslim Brotherhood
Cairo: May 28, 2014

Our America [Prison system]
Courtesy Jericho Movement via Amijill Whitlock in Baltimore

Report on the Muslim Chaplain at Elmira
from Abdullah Majid and Mahmud Abdul Khabir Al-Matin
BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHIM
All Praise Be To Allah

Indeed, all praise is due to Allah. We praise Him and seek His help and forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah from our souls' evils and our wrong doings. He whom Allah guides, no one can misguide, and he whom He misguides, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no God except Allah. And I bear witness that Muhammad (S.A.W) is His messenger.

I would like to bring to the attention of the greater Ummah at large in the bigger sijjin (prison) what is/has been going on here in Elmira prison with the Muslims who are striving to practice our religion. Since my arrival at Elmira C.F. four and a half years ago, I have observed the manner in which the Muslim Chaplain Sayyid Afify (Egyptian) has carried himself in conducting the affairs of the Muslims. After much thought and contemplation given to this matter, I have come to the conclusion that this individual displays all of the signs our Prophet describes regarding the munafiq (hypocrite).

I'm sure he is by no means the only one, and is not unique in this regard. However, I am addressing the circumstances as they are pertaining to where I am presently being held. To begin, while he attempts to disguise it, he is very ethnocentric and has an antipathy and aversion toward those of us of the African diaspora. He tries to be subtle with it but the contempt is rather apparent, to me anyway. Having said that, this is not the primary reason for my writing this, as the problem goes beyond his personal disdain.

The issues of substance and concern to the brothers here have to do with Afify's management, or should I say mis-management, of our affairs. They are in order:
  1. Baitul-mal Fundraiser,
  2. Construction and Implementation of Islamic Instruction and
  3. Access to our Masjid other than Jumu'ah.
Our fundraiser (Oils Sales) is for the purpose of purchasing books, tapes, tape players, prayer rugs, etc., as well as purchase of additional food items for Ramadhan and the two "Ids." Apparently he seems to think that the fundraiser belongs to him and is a part of his little "Fiefdom" here at Elmira. He seems to be unaware and ignorant of the history of who and how the Muslim fundraiser was established, as are many of the brothers today.

In spite of his inability to operate it so that it is viable and able to serve the needs of this Ummah, he stubbornly refuses to relinquish the daily operations of the fundraiser to more capable hands under the "pretext" there are no brothers trustworthy enough to do the job. As a result of this man's myopia the Ummah continues to suffer year in and year out. While his statement of untrustworthy brothers has a ring of truth to it not "all" of the brothers steal. And Allah has given us the furqan (criteria) on how to address a matter of this nature. Secondly, one would think he comes from a country with a lofty government run by pious individuals, rather than the autocratic, kleptomaniacal group of "thugs" presently in power. Theft and corruption is not unique to Black folks per se, as he implies. While he has promised time and time again that he is willing to make adjustments in the manner in which he has been operating our fundraiser, whenever members of the Majilis bring this to his attention he becomes hostile and belligerent or disappears for several days at a time. He has also expressed and shown very little interest in assisting the brothers in developing and maintaining a viable education program for this Ummah.

He has also adamantly refused brothers access to the Masjid other than for Jumu'ah, i.e., for classes etc. Regarding the Masjid being open for use by the brothers, Afify has come up with every imaginable excuse as to why it can't be opened at this time. Every year he promises that during Ramadhan he will come in so the brothers can have access. To date, for the four (4) Ramadhans since I've been here, he has yet to keep his word. It was suggested that we start first on weekends in the mornings. The reason being that most of the brothers have no work or programs then, so this would seem like the most logical time to work with brothers who are in serious need of help.

Needless to say, it is doubtful that he intends to seriously fulfill his commitment. Afify's most recent folly was to have two of the brothers on the Majilis as well as myself placed in Special Housing Unit (S.H.U.) based on fabricated charges of trying to "overthrow" him as the Imam (his words, not mine). I should point out that I am not on the Majilis by choice. And contrary to what Allah says in Sura 4:59, he has gone to the Taghut for "justices." So much for who he takes as Auliya. Thus far, one brother was given a year in S.H.U. and the other brother and I are still waiting on final resolutions. (Majid was also given a year in SHU.) I am asking at this time, and I believe I speak for the overwhelming majority here at Elmira prison, that brothers of the African diaspora make inquiries as well as come into the prison and offer Ashura to this individual.

Unfortunately, we have some very unscrupulous individuals who hide behind the fact that these sijjins are located in remote areas of the State. And they are able to get away with what they do without scrutiny from the outside Ummah. Furthermore, it is suggested in the future when these Chaplains are chosen there be more input from Masjids in the communities from which the vast majority of us come (Urban areas in the State). Individuals should not be allowed to "pimp" this Din for a paycheck or a Green Card, as some are doing now. And the brother(s) working out of Central Office (Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, DOCCS, Albany) need to be put on notice as well. That if they can't handle the responsibilities the job entails, then they need to step aside and allow someone to fill the post who will not compromise themselves or this Din for a "few pieces of silver."

I pray that my words will fall on some receptive ears and brothers will look into this matter with an earnest mind set to correct these kinds of egregious injustices being done to a part of the Ummah. With that, I pray Allah continue to bless, guide and extend His Rahman and Rahim on you all.

As-Salaamu Alaikum
Abdullah Majid #83A0483
Elmira Correctional Facility
P.O. Box 500
Elmira, New York 14902-0500

Syria
70 US Muslims said to be in Syria. One was a martyrdom operator.
Courtesy: Al-Jazeerah
1st american suicide bomber
An American fighting for a rebel group in Syria carried out a deadly suicide bombing in the first such case in the war, US officials have said.

"The American citizen involved in the suicide bombing in Syria is believed to be Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha," the US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement on Friday.

The statement provided no other details about him.

There are already fears over foreigners fighting in Syria, with no end in sight for a three-year war that has left more than 160,000 people dead.

Florida Senator Bill Nelson told reporters in Miami that the American suicide bomber was from Florida.

Opposition forces had identified the man, who carried out a May 25 truck bombing outside a restaurant in the government-held northwestern city of Idlib, as Abu Hurayra al-Amriki. They said he was a US citizen. The name al-Amriki means "the American".

The truck bombing was one of four by suicide bombers who attacked the area in Idlib province during that day. It is unknown how many people died because of Abu-Salha's bombing.

Foreign fighters

Opposition rebels from the al-Nusra Front, which is fighting to overthrow the government of President Bashar al-Assad, said Abu-Salha's truck was filled with 16 tonnes of explosives to destroy Idlib's al-Fanar restaurant, where Syrian troops were said to gather.

Unlike some other foreign fighters in Syria, the American suicide bomber was not known to have posted messages on Twitter or other social media websites, the Reuters news agency said.

Asaad Kanjo, an opposition activist based in the town of Saraqeb in Idlib province, said he heard that Abu-Salha had arrived in Syria a few months ago and tore up his American passport upon arrival.

"From what I heard, I believe he was an American of Arab origin. People said that he spoke Arabic with a foreign accent, and he used to speak classical Arabic,'' Kanjo said.

Earlier in May, FBI director James Comey said dozens of Americans were joining Syria's civil war.

Haftar Leads a Coup in Libya
A General's Odd War on the Muslim Brotherhood
by Ramzy Baroud, May 31, 2014

On 16 May, Libya's rogue general Khalifa Haftar staged several bloody attacks against other Libyan militias in the name of eradicating terrorism by leading a paramilitary force evasively named the Libyan National Army. His well-equipped brigades were rapidly joined by officers from national army bases in the eastern parts of the country.

Units from the air force also joined in, along with tribal gunmen and other militias, particularly the strong and notorious Zintan militia. The well-coordinated attacks, named Operation Karama, or Dignity, resulted in heavy casualties.

When Karama Is Not Dignity

Then, with unprecedented audacity, on Thursday he struck the parliament, sending Libyan lawmakers from the General National Council (GNC) fleeing for their lives. Among his demands: the dismissal of the parliament and the judiciary to take control of the country's affairs until the next elections scheduled for 25 June. The man is supposedly a proponent for a democratically elected civilian government, a contradiction that is becoming quite common in post-'Arab Spring' Middle East.

During the attack on the parliament and the seizure of government buildings, Haftar's forces were backed by warplanes and helicopters. The show of force was massive, even for post-rebellion and NATO-led war Libya where guns are available in abundance. Needless to say, Haftar is not a rogue general acting alone. He is supported by former Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, and has strong, rich Libyan and Arab backers. His long history of relations with the CIA is neither "misleading" or "old news" as suggested by a recent article in the UK's Guardian newspaper. But what is his story? And will he succeed in becoming the Libyan equivalent of Egypt's General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi?

The February 'Coup'

Haftar has been actively pursuing a similar media discourse to that of Egypt's Sisi, who seized power after overthrowing the democratically elected government of Mohammed Morsi in July 2013. Sisi had masked his action in a lexicon that is predicated on a very simple logic: associating the Muslim Brotherhood with terrorism, and vowing to crush the "terrorists" who are supposedly threatening Egypt's national security. In a series of interviews, including one with US network Fox News, Sisi warned of the danger of Islamic terrorism coming from eastern Libya, and called for US military support. The "national security" argument is helping Sisi shift the focus from urban centers where Egyptian youth has staged daily and nightly protests demanding the restoration of democracy to the periphery - as in Hamas in Gaza, militants in Sinai, terrorists in Libya, and even Sudan.

Haftar is also out to crush the Islamists, but the problem is that Libya's Muslim Brotherhood is hardly the dominant political force in that country. Haftar knows well that Islamic-leaning parties in Libya are not all one and the same. Yet, he seemed keen on emphasizing the Brotherhood as a target behind his ongoing war. He told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper in an interview published in May that he intends to "purge" Libya of Muslim Brotherhood members. They are a "malignant disease that is seeking to spread throughout the bones of the Arab world". He even formed a Libyan counterpart of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

The Libyans are certainly not Haftar's target audience. Their contention is with the security chaos that has afflicted their country due to warring militias following the NATO-backed victory over Muammar Gaddafi. In fact, Haftar is himself leading some of these militias, and his "army" has contributed to the political uncertainty and violence in Libya. The former Libyan general is clearly attempting to exploit Egypt's woes to his advantage, but is also vying for attention from various western governments - especially Washington that until now seems rather reluctant to criticize Haftar's attempted coup.

In fact, Washington's indecision is similar to its silence when Haftar had attempted to stage the first coup last February, but failed. Afterwards, in a televised speech, Haftar denounced the government, and announced his own "initiative", a roadmap of sorts that saw the disbanding of parliament. Few took him serious and top government officials mocked his coup attempt. One described it as "ridiculous". But consequently, many discovered the name Haftar, and some became keenly interested to learn more.

Did the Americans Know?

Ashour Shamis is a former partner of Haftar. Both were members of the US-funded Libyan National Army in the 1980s. In a recent interview with the Guardian he remarked, "I don't think something like this can happen in Libya and the Americans would not know about it." According to Shamis, the Americans "want to see how much momentum Haftar has and how far he goes." Indeed, Haftar is doing a great deal to get Washington's attention, which has somewhat divested from Libya since the killing of its ambassador there and three others in September 2012.

To win favor with Washington, Haftar's list of enemies also includes Ansar al-Sharia, which along with other militias in Benghazi was accused of plotting the attack against the US embassy. But it shouldn't be too difficult for Haftar to gain Washington's trust. In fact, he already has. It is no secret that Haftar has had strong backing from the US Central Intelligence Agency for nearly three decades.

The man has been branded and rebranded throughout his colorful and sometimes mysterious history. He fought as an officer in the Chadian-Libyan conflict, and was captured alongside his entire unit of 600 men. During his time in prison, Chad experienced a regime change (both regimes were backed by French and US intelligence) and Haftar and his men were released per US request as he was moved to another African country. While some chose to return home, others knew well what would await them in Libya, for reasons explained by the New York Times on 17 May, 1991.

"For two years, United States officials have been shopping around for a home for about 350 Libyan soldiers who cannot return to their country because American intelligence officials had mobilized them into a commando force to overthrow Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the Libyan leader," NYT reported. "Now, the Administration has given up trying to find another country that will accept the Libyans and has decided to bring them to the United States."

Haftar was then relocated to a Virginia suburb in the early 1990s, where he settled very close to the CIA headquarters in Langley. The news is murky about his exact activities living near Washington DC, except for his ties to Libyan opposition forces, which of course operated according to US diktats.

In his thorough report, published in the Business Insider, Russ Baker traced much of Haftar's activities since his split from Gaddafi and adoption by the CIA. "A Congressional Research Service report of December 1996 named Haftar as the head of the (National Front For The Salvation of Libya) NFSL's military wing, the Libyan National Army. After he joined the exile group, the CRS report added, Haftar began "preparing an army to march on Libya". The NFSL, the CSR said, is in exile "with many of its members in the United States".

It took nearly 15 years for Haftar to march on Libya. It also took a massive war that was purported to support a popular uprising. Although he clearly attempts to brand himself as a potential Sisi, Haftar, per Baker's description, is the Libyan equivalent of Iraq's Ahmed Chalabi, a discredited figure with strong allies in Washington DC, Chalabi was sent to post-Saddam Iraq to lead the "democratization" process. Instead, he helped set the stage for the calamity under way there.

It is no wonder why Haftar's return was a major source of controversy. Since the news of his CIA affiliation was no big secret, his return to Libya to join the rebels in March 2011 caused much confusion. Almost immediately, he was announced by a military spokesman as the rebels' new commander, only for the announcement to be dismissed by the National Transitional Council as false. The NTC was largely a composition of equally enigmatic characters that had little presence within Libya's national consciousness. Haftar found himself as the third man on the military ladder, which he grudgingly accepted.

The Right Man for Libya?

Haftar's legacy has been linked to military coups as early as 1969, when he, along with a few soldiers, helped Gaddafi overthrow King Idris. Between then and the last two coups, he was, and perhaps still is, affiliated with the CIA. But Libya is gripped by extreme violence and is hostage to the whims of militias, some tribal, others affiliated with small towns and large cities - Misrata, Zintan and so on - and others are loosely affiliated with government ministries. In times of such befuddling strife, some people might be ready to accept feeble alternatives. Despite his dubious legacy, Haftar might oddly enough appear to some as Libya's strong man.

As expected, many are not convinced. Powerful militias are also lining up against Haftar. Misrata's 235 militia brigades are ready to fight. They have already deployed near Tripoli. If this showdown is allowed to carry on, a bloody civil war will be awaiting Libya, one that might prove even bloodier and lengthier than the NATO-led war against Gaddafi. This time around, however, neither NATO nor the US seem willing to get involved again, at least not until one warring camp proves worthy of their support. In all cases, Libya's suffering is likely to linger.

Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is a media consultant, an internationally-syndicated columnist and the editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is My Father was A Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story (Pluto Press)

2014-06-01 Sun 20:01:42 cdt
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