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1 Muharram,1436/October 26, 2014 Issue # 43, Newsletter # 1573
Hadith of the Week
Abi Bakra, Allah be pleased with him, narrates about Prophet
Muhammad, pbuh):
He said : Your blood, your goods and your honor are as much
protected and safe (forever) as is this day (of Arafa) in
this month (of Hajj). Be aware and those of you who are here
(today) should pass this on to those who are not here.
(Sahih of Imam Bukhari)
Obituary
Legendary Islamic leader Professor Golam Azam just Passed
away in Prison
by Shamim Siddiqi
Inna Lillahe was Inna elahey Rajeoon
A luminary of the Islamic Movement of the subcontinent has
passed away to meet His Lord with flying colors and left
behind eternal marks of devotion and dedication on the rock
of time for generations to come to follow his foot
prints.
A valiant Muslim has died in prison for no fault of his own
except struggling in the way of Allah towards establishing
His authority on this earth. It is the Fellah [success] of
both the worlds.
Mohtram Professor Ghulam Azam Merhoom was a legend of the
Islamic Movement in true sense of the term. He joined the IM
before me quite in early fities of the last century. He was
groomed by another legendary of Tehreek-e-Islami Mohtram
Choudhry Ali Ahmad Saheb Merhoom, the then Amir of JI East
Pakistan.
Since then, he sacrificed his entire life, devoted his total
talents and energeis for the promotion of the Movement in
every nook and corner of EP/BD and became a brilliant
trustworthy model for all of us. He learned Urdu which he
opposed during his Jahiliyah time as he used to say and went
through the entire literature of Maulana Maudoodi Merhoom in
depth. I had very good undersatnding with him and we all
worked at all fronts under his friendly leadership with
total devotion and dedication.
It is a cursae for Bangla PM Hassina to keep him in jail
upto his last moment. His death, I am sure, will not go in
vain. It will produce many Ghulam Azams to fight the secular
forces of BD and galvanize the Movement to greater and
greater heights in masses till Islam becomes the law of the
land. He will be rememberd like TUTU Mian of the first IM of
Bengal.
May Allah be pleased with him as he was pleased with his
fate in prison of Zalim rulers of his time. May Allah give
Tawfeeq to all the workers of Jamaate Islami Bangladesh to
be emboldened by his his death in captivity and commit to
carry on the Islamic Movement to its logical success in
Bangladesh.
Shamim Siddiqi
www.dawahinamericas.com
Health Notes
About your kidneys.
Nature cure and natural methods of treatment
10 Common Habits That Damage Your Kidneys:
Kidney disease is one of the costliest illnesses in the
world and managing kidney disease is very expensive. Each
year, lots of people die of kidney disease all over the
world, and the number of people suffering from chronic renal
failure,and need dialysis or kidney transplantation to stay
alive keep increasing. Statistics have it that, worldwide,
more than millions patients are waiting for kidney
transplants,but only a few thousands will receive
transplants because of shortage of suitable organ donors.
Patients usually felt surprised when they are diagnosed of
Kidney Failure.
Experts have found the explanation from your daily life
habits. Here are the top habits which lead to your kidney
failure:
-
Not emptying your bladder early: Maintaining a full
bladder for a long time is a quick way of causing bladder
damage.That the urine stays in the bladder for a long time
can cause the bacteria breeding in urine to multiply
quickly.
Once the urine refluxes back to ureter and kidneys, the
bacteria can result in kidney infections, then urinary tract
infection, and then nephritis, even Uraemia. So, no matter
how busy you are, remember to drink a lot of water and
urinate regularly. Once you form the habit of holding back
urine, it will ultimately damage your kidneys.
-
Not drinking enough water: The main functions of the
kidneys are to regulate erythrocyte balances and eliminate
metabolic wastes in urine. If we do not drink enough water,
the blood will be concentrated and the blood flow to the
kidney will not be adequate, thus the function of
eliminating toxins in from blood will be impaired.
-
Taking too much salt: 95% sodium we consume through food
is metabolized by the kidneys.
Exceeding the salt intake will make the kidneys work harder
to excrete the excess salt and can lead to decreased kidney
function. This excess sodium will cause water retention,
causing oedema. Oedema usually elevates blood pressure and
increases the risk of developing kidney disease. The daily
salt intake should be controlled within 6g per day.
-
Not treating common infections quickly and properly:
Common infections, such as pharyngitis, tonsillitis, common
cold etc., usually trigger or aggravates kidney damage. They
do this by causing an acute attack of acute
glomerulonephritis or chronic nephritis. So, you will see
that people who get kidney disease for the first time or
whose illness condition becomes worse usually present in
hospitals with a history of cold or sore throat.
If after having cold, symptoms like blood in urine,
swelling, headache, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, poor appetite
appear,
you should consult your doctor immediately, to assess your
kidney functions, and start treatment if compromised.
-
Eating too much meat: Eating too much meat and protein
can increase the metabolic load of the kidney.
For those suffering from proteinuria, meat consumption too
may aggravate protein leakage, worsening renal pathological
lesion. It is suggested that protein intake should be
0.8g/kg per day. This means that a person with 50 kg should
consume 40g of protein per day. Meat consumption per day
should be limited within 300g.
-
Not eating enough: This is equally as dangerous as eating
too much, both of them will lead damages to your digestive
organs where is full of mucosal tissues. Mucosal tissues
relates closely to your immune system. This is why many
kidney failure patients are diagnosed with "autoimmune
kidney damages".
-
Painkiller abuse: The use of analgesics for a prolonged
duration may reduce the flow blood and greatly affect kidney
function. In addition, patients with analgesic-induced renal
failure are more likely to suffer from bladder cancer. Use
analgesics only when it's absolutely necessary, learn to
rest instead of taking to the bottles. If you have been on
pain killers for a long term, it's about time you had a test
to access you renal function done.
-
Missing your drugs: Hypertension and diabetes have been
shown to precipitate or accelerate kidney damage,
so if you are diagnosed as having any of these diseases
don't live your life in denial, USE YOUR DRUGS. This will
ultimately help control your condition while also helping to
preserve your kidneys.
-
Drinking alcohol: Drinking alcohol may cause the
deposition of uric acid in renal tubules, causing tubular
obstruction and increasing risks of kidney failure.
-
Not resting enough: In our society, hypertension as a
severe threat to life is largely due to stress. A common
symptom of stress is insomnia. Blood pressure may increase
by an average of 2-5mg/Hg because of insomnia. Chronically
elevated blood pressure can cause damage to kidney
capillaries giving rise to kidney problems. Thus, we need to
develop a good attitude to life and strike a good balance
between work and rest to protect your kidneys and live a
healthy life.
At the early stage of kidney diseases, there are usually no
the special symptoms, so lots of patients are not diagnosed
until the acute attack appears or the illness condition
develops into the late stage. So you should endeavor to do
kidney function test from time to time to assess how healthy
your kidneys are. Never ignore the soreness of waist,
swelling of the feet, changes in urine color or volume,
increase in night urination, pallor, high blood pressure and
other such symptoms. Once found, you should go and see your
doctor immediately.
Letters
How did Shi'ism Begin?
Thank you for an interesting account of history of how
Shiahism began.
The account starts suddenly with "When the shias realized
there was no armed force to defend Medina, they entered the
city and besieged the mosque and the home of Usman, r.a"
I feel the writer should have first explained who these
shiah people were, where they came from and why they wanted
to kill the Caliph. The article seems truncated.
Kindly publish a paper that introduces the problem of
shiahism from its beginning.
Respectfully,
Mir Salim Ullah, Malaysia
Response from Kaukab Siddique:
Leaders through family line and claimed appointment by Allah
[!] are not Islamic.
My article focused on the tragic murder of the Third Caliph
Usman, r.a., which for the first time shed Muslim blood by
people with Muslim names. The issue of why Shi'ism appeared
is much deeper and beyond the scope of one article.
Here I will pinpoint the most important idea behind
Shi'ism.
Shi'ism is based on the idea of hereditary rule, the son
succeeding the father. It can also be called family rule.
The people who came to be known as Shias believed that
though the Prophet, pbuh, did not have a son, Ali, r.a., was
like a son to him and was married to his daughter Fatima,
r.a.,
Although Ali, r.a., was himself too pious to claim the
caliphate, there were aspects of his behavior which
indicated that he thought he did have a better right to the
caliphate than anyone else.
Those who wanted to use Ali,r.a., to overthrow the caliphate
were encouraged by the visit of Fatima, r.a., Ali's, r.a.,
wife to the first Caliph, Abu Bakr, r.a., in which she
demanded that the Prophet's inheritance of the garden of
Fadak should be handed over to her. Abu Bakr, r.a.,
explained to her that there is no inheritance from the
prophet, pbuh, and quoted authentic hadith. Also, his
daughter Ayesha, r.a., the Prophet's, pbuh, wife too did not
receive inheritance because of the rule that prophet did not
leave inheritance. He stressed that she would continue to
receive the stipend from Fadak which the prophet, pbuh, gave
her.
Fatima, r.a., being the pious woman she was, accepted the
hadith and went home, though she was visibly unhappy.
Abu Bakr, r.a., the great Calph, later went to her home and
stood in the sun though he was old, and would not leave
until Fatima, r.a., forgave him for any mental anguish she
might have felt.
Fatima's, r.a., demand and unhappiness were weaved into ugly
stories and slanders against the rightly guided caliphs till
the stories peaked to the claim that Umar, r.a., had
threatened to break the door of her home and set fire to the
house!
Fabrication of slanders and projection of ugly stories has
become typical of Shiism though the rules of hadith show
these are fake. . Under Usman, r.a., the Islamic armies
became so successful that the only way public opinion could
be turned against him was through the publication and
distribution of gossip.
The shias taught that Allah Himself had appointed Ali, r.a.,
as the rightful Caliph and all other Caliphs were
"usurpers." Such teachings violate the Qur'an which teaches
leadership through SHOORA [mutual consultation] and consent.
Leadership through appointment by Allah is only for prophets
which certainly does not apply to Ali, r.a.
[To be continued.]
Juma' Khutba
Islamic New Year 1436: Message of Striving & Struggle. Ebola
and Healthy Lifestyle: Teachings from Hadith vs Racism &
Zionism.
On October 24, 2014, Br. Kaukab Siddique gave the juma'
khutba at Masjid Jamaat al-Muslimeen in Baltimore,MD.
The masjid was packed with African American, African,
Pakistani, Bengali and Arab Muslims. . The main points of
the khutba are summarized here for countrywide
distribution.
Narrated Abu Huraira, r.a: The Prophet said, "There is no
disease that Allah has created, except that He also has
created its treatment." [Sahih Bukhari Volume 7, Book 71,
Number 582: ]
Narrated Abu Huraira, r.a: Allah's Apostle said: "The cattle
suffering from a disease should not be mixed up with healthy
cattle, : "Do not put a patient with a healthy person)"
[Sahih Bukhari: Volume 7, Book 71, Number 665]
-
The new Islamic year begins on Saturday or Sunday. As the
Qur'an has taught, 2:189, it should be after the sighting of
the new crescent.
-
We must be aware of the Islamic calendar because all our
history is related to the Islamic calendar.
-
Our calendar was started by Umar, r.a., the second
rightly guided Caliph of Islam and he began it from the
hijra or the Prophet's, pbuh, journey with his life in
danger from Makka to Madina. Hijra or a flight away from
evil is a central concept in Islam, 3:195. It includes the
physical movement and also the mental journey from evil to
good.
-
Hijra is connected to jihad, or struggle against the
forces of kufr, nifaq and shirk. For instance see the
Qur'an, 9:73. Almost every chapter of the Quran,
particularly all the longer chapters, teach jihad, be it
armed struggle in some contexts and use of abilities, wealth
and time against injustice in others.
-
The anniversary of Umar, r.a., who started the calendar
is also on Mohurram 1. The hadith says, there would be no
prophet after Muhammad, pbuh, but if there had been one, it
would have been Umar,r.a. [Sunan of Tirmidhi.]
-
Also the start of Mohurram is the anniversary of the
Caliphate of Usman, r.a., known for his modesty, generosity
and humbleness. He is the compiler of the Qur'an, which he
brought together in one volume from the scattered pages in
the possession of numerous Companions of the Prophet, pbuh,
cross referenced with the memories of those who had
memorized it and compared with the one copy which was with
the daughter of Umar, r.a., Hafsa, r.a.
Part II After salutations to Muhammad, pbuh, and his
family:
-
As aware Muslims, it is our responsibility not to let the
ummah be led astray by the constant drama of lies and
deception being played out on the corporate/Zionist
media.
-
Thousands have died of the Ebola epidemic in three west
African countries. Why are proper health facilities not
extended to those countries, considering that they have
close relations with the USA?
-
Only ONE person has died of Ebola in America and the
media have spread an epidemic of fear and panic here. The
regime here has been able to take care of Americans who
contracted Ebola. Isn't there an element here of putting
African human beings below American human beings? It is
indeed a very weak argument that those Americans who
received proper medication got something which is still
experimental. When lives are in great danger, the medicine
should be mass produced and given to the African people.
-
We must adopt the Islamic lifestyle to be able to deal
with these sudden eruptions of diseases. Some of the
teachings of hadith are very practical and simple. Wash your
hands five times a day for the obligatory prayers. Also,
washing hands before and after meals is Sunnah.
-
Quarantine is not a new procedure. It was taught 1400
years ago by the Prophet, pbuh, and is documented in Sahih
Hadith.
-
Notice that these terrible diseases start in countries
which are most open to European and American influences,
Before this, there was the AIDS epidemic which too rampaged
through African countries most open to the West: South
Africa, Uganda and Kenya. It was genocide!
-
Most of Africa is Muslim and is unaffected by these
outbreaks though they are starting to affect the big cities
which have intercourse with the West.
-
The world is literally a global village now owing to
Internet & airlines. If we ignore the world, we'll be taken
by surprise.
-
We must learn to RELY on ALLAH. It is called TAWWAKUL.
Do not be stressed out, do not be anxious. We belong to
Allah and unto Allah are we returning.
-
One hadith which Imam Jamil taught about was: DO NOT BE
ANGRY. The Prophet, pbuh, said it three times. This stress
syndrome which afflicts America is often connected to
irrational anger. Imam Jamil even in prison is "cool" as
compared to us.
-
The media are fully controlled by corporate interests
and Zionist operatives. See how they swing between Ebola and
ISIS. Before that it was focusing for weeks on the missing
Malaysian plane. Two days back they started behaving as if
Canada is going down because two of Canada's soldiers were
killed.
-
All this propaganda against ISIS is a bunch of lies.
There is no evidence against ISIS. Anyone who tries to set
up an Islamic caliphate will be treated the same way.
-
The western powers are aghast that the false borders set
up between Syria and Iraq by an Englishman and a French man,
Sykes-Picot, are being erased by the Islamic State, IS,
-
Look at Africa: All these "countries" have been created
by the European powers, so that Europeans can divide and
rule and plunder Africa.
-
Seek guidance from the Qur'an and the authentic
Hadith.
Du'a: [Supplication]
O Allah give victory to the Islamic battle formations around
the world, be it in Syria and Iraq, or in Afghanistan,
Somalia and Nigeria.
Spotlights and Guidance
Imam Badi Reflects on the Tragic Situation in Palestine &
the Muslim World
-
Assume your responsibility toward Palestine, defend
al-Aqsa and confront injustice.
-
Remember that Palestine will be free from the river to
the sea. The clash is coming, it is imminent, and the ummah
should be prepared for it.
-
The objective of occupation is occupation.
-
Jihad and struggle are natural and legal response to
occupation.
-
Lack of response is nothing but betrayal and
cowardice.
-
The Zionists and their friends need to remember that the
Palestinian people will become mightier and gain their
rights in spite of their suffering.
-
With acts of faith and courage we will change history,
inshaAllah.
-
Superpowers are using sophisticated bombs to kill the
poor, the ill and the hungry. Why not use this wasted wealth
to help the poor, cure the sick and feed the hungry?
-
Stereotyping is evil. Media are using stereotyping and
are blind to the harm they are doing.
-
The media and all good Americans should pay attention to
Palestine, A total denial of Palestine is a form of
terrorism and racism.
Imam Badi Ali is a Palestinian American who leads a large
congregation in Greensboro, North Carolina
Pakistan
Critical Review of Pakistani Politicians and their Overseas
Supporters.
Munir Khalili writes in chaste Urdu. He is not linked to any
political party party or religious group. He notes that the
sit in carried on for week after week in Islamabad by Imran
Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri have disappointed Pakistanis who
expected a change in Pakistan's political climate. The
gathering aimed at the corruption and wrong doings of the
government led by Nawaz Sharif gradually because a nightly
entertainment and dance/song party.
He pinpoints overseas Pakistani supporters of the sit in.
These long distance supporters are themselves conservative,
religious people but they misunderstood what Imran and Qadri
were doing. Pakistan's situation for the great majority of
the people is so grim and dismal that any sign of hope, even
from adventurers makes people optimistic.
Not only have the sit ins failed in their proclaimed mission
of revolution and transformation, they are now creating
great disillusionment. Now we see, Khalili notices, that in
elections in the city of Multan [central Punjab], Imran's
party cleverly, indirectly, supported one of the most
corrupt politicians.
Even Jamaate Islami blundered here and probably in the
effort to oppose the regime, supported the wrong side, thus
ignoring Islamic principles.
Pakistanis need columnists like Khalili to give readers the
unvarnished truth.
http://www.munir-khalili.blogspot.ae/2014/10/breaking-status-quo.html
Kashmir
Kashmir Beyond Platitudes: The Responsibility to Protect;
Kashmir: An occupied people
by Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai
Secretary General, World Kashmir Awareness
Oh let the sun beat down upon my face, stars to fill my
dream / I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where
I have been / To sit with elders of the gentle race, this
world has seldom seen / They talk of days for which they sit
and wait and all will be revealed"... --lyrics by Jimmy Page
from the song Kashmir, performed by Led Zeppelin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNERxbBtT5Q
Why, after 67 years of dispute, is the question of Kashmir,
land of the "gentle race," still lurking in the shadows of
international relations, still unresolved, despite its
seemingly relative unimportance to global interests in
matters of resources and international trade?
Reasons for the conflict over Kashmir are argued among
contenders on a number of points, more often than not to
serve globalist interests rather than the fundamental needs
or desires of the Kashmiris themselves. Why, after 67 years,
the problem continues to fester is the challenge those who
talk of peace, stability, and democratic rights must sooner
or later confront.
The most pertinent evidence of that conflict is that India
has in recent years had as many as 700,000 military and
paramilitary forces stationed on a piece of land no larger
than the state of Tennessee. By comparison, during the
height of the Iraq war, in October 2007, U.S. Troop strength
was only a little over 166,000. Iraq compares in size to the
state of California. Obviously, the number of troops
stationed in Kashmir is highly significant. There is no war
taking place there. There is no imminent external threat of
a foreign invader, with troops amassed at its border. Why so
many troops?
India frequently justifies its military presence, first, by
asserting that Kashmir is an 'integral part' of India, and,
second, that Pakistan, just across the border, is a threat.
Both are nuclear-armed, and cross-border skirmishes occur
periodically among a handful of troops stationed along the
UN-established Cease-fire Line. However, to whatever extent
such a threat exists, such an enormous volume of troops is
well beyond whatever need there might be to resist such
incursions. The best way to make sure that there is no such
infiltration is to let the United Nations be allowed to
monitor the Cease-fire Line.
"The barrier itself consists of double-row of fencing and
concertina wire eight to twelve feet (2.4-3.7 m) in height,
and is electrified and connected to a network of motion
sensors, thermal imaging devices, lighting systems and
alarms. They act as "fast alert signals" to the Indian
troops who can be alerted and ambush the infiltrators trying
to sneak in. The small stretch of land between the rows of
fencing is mined with thousands of landmines." Wikipedia
The truth is that the people of Kashmir themselves have
always been hostile to the presence of India's troops on
their soil and have resisted to such oppression, and over
hundred thousand Kashmiris have died within the past 22
years alone. Long standing agreements in place have in fact
afforded the Kashmiri people the right to determine their
own destiny.
What we have, then, is a case of a large country bullying a
small nation into submission in violation of not only their
right to sovereignty but international agreements and two
dozen UN resolutions giving them the right to determine
their own political fate. The purpose of so many troops
stationed in this small country is for no other purpose but
blatant oppression. Their presences make Kashmir the largest
army concentration anywhere in the world.
You would think that the international community would be up
in arms over such abuse, particularly in view of the fact
that the Kashmiris have shown an iron determination to
resist tens of thousands of killings, and thousands of
rapes, disappearances and torture inflicted upon the
population at the hands of these foreign occupiers.
In a more idealistic mood and swept up in the rhetoric of
election campaigning, on October 30, 2008, on the eve of his
election, President Barack Obama did, in one his rare
moments of candor on the issue, address the problems of
Kashmir. "We should probably try to facilitate a better
understanding between Pakistan and India, "he announced,"
and try to resolve the Kashmir crisis." It wasn't long after
Obama's newly anointed status, however, that Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton was in New Delhi shuffling cards,
engaging in toasts, and making deals on Boeing aircraft.
Little more, if anything, was ever said about Kashmir. Trade
between India and the U.S. has since become a $100 billion
dollar business, with growth estimated in the near term as
high as $500 billion.
Given such platitudes, while American foreign policy is
supposed to be grounded on moral values, democratic ideals
and universal principles, it would appear that wherever the
crowd of commercial interests get VIP status, such ideals
and principles are easily set aside, relegated to the back
of the room, where it's standing room only. Money talks;
ideals walk. Situation ethics is the name of the play.
It is quite conspicuous that the world powers feel awkward
and unequipped to intervene in any international conflict
because the country concerned is too powerful and does not
listen to morals and ethics when everyone has his wallet on
the table. In addition, India's refusal to accept
international assistance for the recent flood seems to shut
the door on any kind of international dialogue regarding
Kashmir. The Kashmiris are shut in, and the outside world
out.
Doesn't the world community recognize such double standards?
How is international credibility and trust engendered by
such behavior? For whom does this bell toll but for last
vestiges of all that we hold dear, while the corrupt and
cynical become more emboldened, and does it not sow the
seeds of hatred and deeper more lasting conflict among those
who suffer because of it?
"Bigger nations should not be able to bully smaller ones...
people should be able to choose their own future," President
Barack Obama said, when he spoke to the United Nations
General Assembly on September 24, 2014. "Too often, " he
added, "we have failed to enforce international norms when
it's inconvenient to do so."
It would have been nice if he had mentioned Kashmir in the
same breath. However, speeches by a U.S. President on
foreign policy usually engage issues that are relative to
immediate concerns and objectives, and he seemed much more
interested in pointing fingers at Russia for supporting the
separatist fight in Ukraine and the need to impose
sanctions. "America and our allies will support the people
of Ukraine as they develop their democracy and economy." he
said. "We will reinforce our NATO allies, and uphold our
commitment to collective defense. We will impose a cost on
Russia for aggression, and counter falsehoods with the
truth."
So while the U.S. imposes sanctions on Russia for
interfering in stability and peace in a country more than
5,000 miles away which is of no strategic pertinence to
American safety or freedoms, it engages in trade with India
and says nothing about India's failure to enforce
"international norms" where it is apparently inconvenient to
do so. India's transgressions in Kashmir are clearly far
more relevant to the issue of international norms, given
their history, than anything now occurring in Eastern
Europe.
If, in Indian Prime Minister Modi's address to the same
United Nations forum in September 2014, he proposed that "We
should put aside our differences and mount a concerted
international effort to combat terrorism and extremism, "
then perhaps he ought to look rather carefully into the
mirror of his own country's actions in Kashmir. He went so
far as to say, "As a symbol of this effort, I urge you to
adopt the Comprehensive Convention on International
Terrorism....We should work together to ensure that all
countries observe international rules and norms."
A grand statement, to be sure, but it has little credibility
in the face of persistent policies by India against the
defenseless people of Kashmir. Nevertheless, we accept Prime
Minister Modi's challenge, "Our efforts must begin here - in
the United Nations." The point of departure for resolving
Kashmir dispute has to be the same - to go back, yes, back
to the United Nations which has prescribed the resolution of
the Kashmir problem through a democratic method of a free
and fair plebiscite.
Perhaps the Prime Minister might indeed demonstrate his
sincerity by also withdrawing troops from Kashmir. The
presence of such a large number inevitably provokes
unnecessary incidents of violence which further enflames the
populace, serves as an excuse for lockdowns and curfews that
last days at a time, and makes absolutely no sense at all,
particularly now that the country has been deeply burdened
with unimaginable social and economic losses as a result of
the worst flood that Kashmir has ever experienced in its
recorded history. The soldiers stood by, equipped with
substantial resources, making selective rescue operations,
and left the Kashmiris -- many just teenagers in small
makeshift rafts -- to fend for themselves.
And how do the world powers, the U.S. among them, justify
the inclusion of India as a permanent member of the UN
Security Council when all the world sees that it is in
violation of the UN's own charter? This makes the mockery of
the international obligations.
On the other side of this coin, we have Pakistan, which also
controls one third of Kashmir. The two countries have traded
barbs and bullets over possession of this land for over six
decades.
Mr. Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Ministry of Pakistan articulated
his country's policy on September 26, 2014 during his speech
at the United Nations, "The core issue of Jammu and Kashmir
has to be resolved. This is the responsibility of the
international community. We cannot draw a veil on the issue
of Kashmir, until it is addressed in accordance with the
wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir."
But his advisor, Mr. Sartaj Aziz was extremely cautious and
reluctant even to accept this principle policy of Pakistan.
He was unenthusiastic and apathetic when he said on
September 28, 2014, that the timing of a meeting between
Hurriyat leaders and Pakistani High Commissioner Abdul Basit
was "probably not right." The problem apparently was that
talks on a broader level between India and Pakistan had not
been initiated, and that setting such an agenda with the
Kashmiri resistance movement was premature. He was equally
apologetic and repentant by saying "I think if the request
(from India) had come earlier.....then probably it could
have been reconsidered." Obviously, if Pakistan wants to be
taken serious by the world powers, then she has to have a
strategic vision and unified approach for the Kashmir
dispute. Its policy must be based on solid foundation and
not on a shaky one.
Isn't it also time that Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary
General of the United Nations brings the situation in
Kashmir to the attention of the Security Council under the
provision of the Article 99 of the United Nations Charter.
It is here in the region of South Asia that the two nuclear
powers have been eyeball to eyeball for the last four weeks?
The Article 99 authorizes the Secretary General to 'bring to
the attention of the Security Council any matter which in
his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international
peace and security'.
Indeed, the United Nations doctrine of the principle of
'responsibility to protect,' the international understanding
to intervene to stop atrocities from taking place, was
adopted at the 2005 World Summit. All the heads of State and
government at the 2005 World Summit, without reservation,
committed to the doctrine, and subsequent unanimous
adoptions of General Assembly and Security Council
resolutions reaffirmed the principle.
"Sometimes known as 'R2P' - the doctrine holds States
responsible for shielding their own populations from
genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and related crimes
against humanity, requiring the international community to
step in if this obligation is not met.
Ms. Vannina Maestracci, spokesperson of Ban Ki-Moon, the
Secretary General of the United Nations said on October 9,
2014 that the Secretary General "encourages the governments
of India and Pakistan to resolve all differences through
dialogue and to engage constructively to find a long-term
solution for peace and stability in Kashmir."
"Encouragement" to India and Pakistan through numerous
resolutions have been taking place for the last 67 years.
Perhaps it is time that the authority entrusted to the
United Nations be taken a little more seriously.
Lastly, the world powers and the saner elements in both
India and Pakistan need to realize that the bilateral talks
between India and Pakistan have always remained barren. And
trilateral dialogue between Governments of India, Pakistan
and the leadership of Kashmir -- without any precondition
from any side -- is the only way to resolve the issue of
Kashmir once for all. Participation of Kashmiri leadership
in the dialogue process is the sine qua non that will help
to achieve the lasting peace and tranquility in the region
of South Asia.
War News
Egypt: General Sissi's troops Guarding Pipeline to Israel
Slaughtered. Saudi Consulate too.
October 24: Near Al-Arish, northern Sinai, a martyrdom
operator hit Egyptian dictator Sissi's troops gathered at a
checkpoint. It was a direct hit: 31 of the troops were
killed in the huge explosion and 28 injured. The same day, a
hit and run attack killed 3 more Egyptian tropps in Al-Arish
itself.
Also on October 24, masked men set fire to two cars
belonging to the Saudi consulate in Suez. [Reuters]
General Sissi has declared a national emergency and three
days of mourning. The General is supported by Saudi Arabia
and Israel directly, and by the US indirectly.
Over the last two years, his special forces killed more than
2,000 unarmed demonstrators opposing Sissi's coup against
the rightfully elected president Muhammad Morsi. Another
10,000 peaceful demonstrators have been injured by Sissi's
troops. Several thousand more have been imprisoned, many of
them sentenced to death.
The people of Egypt seemed totally helpless but now a
mujahideen group named for the liberation of Jerusalem, and
being advised by the Islamic State, has struck the hardest
blow at the dictator.
Syria: Why are US Air Strikes Unable to Stop Islamic
State?
Here is What Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi did.
with thanks to Jamaat a Muslimeen, Virginia
ISIS implements countermeasures to dodge coalition strikes
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/isis-implements-countermeasures-dodge-coalition-strikes
Kobane: Most of it is in Mujahideen hands.
As of October 26. the Islamic State mujahideen have captured
most of the city of Kobani [aka Ain al-Arab]. Only the
corridor into Turkey with a small Kurdish enclave remains,
safeguarded by US air strikes. Three brigades of FSA Syrians
controlled by western powers helped to stiffen the defense
but could not make a significant difference.
Another 1500 FSA are being transported to the corridor into
Kobane but have not reached as yet. Peshmarga from Iraq are
also coming. Under US pressure, Turkey seems to have okayed
these reinforcements.
US bombing continues but the story is almost over with a
terrible defeat for the Communist Kurds, ypg, backed by US
air power, [The BBC has lost interest in the story.]
October 22: Bashar Assad's information minister stated that
the regime has been providing military and logistical
support to the Communist Kurdish defenders of Kobane.
AFP
Homs Neighborhood Under Siege: Prisons, Mass Graves filled
with Assad's victims.
by Sis. Karin Friedemann
The Al-Waer neighborhood in Homs, an area full of refugees
from other neighborhoods of Homs, is experiencing ongoing
fierce shelling after the violent attack led by Assad forces
and Shiite militias a week ago, in order to control the
city.
Al-Waer neighborhood is currently a haven to more than three
hundred thousand civilians. It has become a daily target for
the missiles, artillery and explosive barrel bombs from
Assad forces and allied sectarian militias. Within 3 days
last week, more than 24 civilians were killed, most of them
women and children.
A Turkish foreign ministry spokesman denounced the Iranian
regime for siding with Assad, saying, "Iran should remain
silent out of shame over its support for Damascus which is
the true terrorism," according to the Anatolia News
Agency.
The western media is focusing only on "Kobanî," a Syrian
town near the Turkish border where armed Kurds, including
many women fighters, are battling against ISIS.
"US air strikes have hit ISIS targets near the town in
recent days but do not appear to have stopped the militants'
advance," reports the Independent.
However, activists in Homs, condemning the silence of the
international community, insist that "people's lives in
Al-Waer are as precious as those of Kobanî." The residents
of Al-Waer have been suffering under siege for more than a
year. The activists insisted that the international
community should intervene to save civilians regardless of
their race or origins.
This author interviewed 22 year old Mahmoud Allouz in Homs
about the situation. The young man, who identifies with the
Free Syrian Army said that "Homs is the capital of the
Syrian revolution."
He explained that the first neighborhood in Homs to be
destroyed in 2011 by Assad was Baba Amr. The military
campaign continued for months in the southern countryside.
The violent battles were "dominated by the help of the
Lebanese Hezbollah after [Baba Amr] was destroyed," stated
Allouz. "They want to serve their project [of] sectarian
Shiite fighting. They brutally destroy and commit crimes.
There are fighters from Iran who are also taking part in the
ranks of the Assad regime."
Although anti-government rebels fought long and valiantly,
as of May 2014, the city of Homs is now completely under
control of the government, whose snipers continue to shoot
civilians including children in a sadistic manner like
Zionists. For example, some video footage was recently
released of a dead or dying person, who was just laying in
full view on the road, but because of all the sniper
shooting, no one could go collect him. Assad's soldiers take
these videos as trophies to brag about their
accomplishments.
Al Waer neighborhood "gets the daily massacres," said
Allouz. However, "The countryside north of Homs is still
under the control of the rebels," he explained. When asked
about the rumored opium fields, Allouz stated that they are
located mostly in the middle of Syria and are now under the
control of ISIS.
"Who do you think ISIS are?" I inquired.
Allouz stated that they are a "takfiri criminal gang" whose
murders are "working in favor of the Assad regime." He
observed that ISIS is more interested in fighting other
rebels than against the regime. "More [ISIS] battles were
against the FSA, trying to control the positions held by FSA
and the oil fields and assaults on civilians... They are
battling the Free Syrian Army, and slaughtering Syrian
civilians as does the Assad regime."
I asked him, "Do you think ISIS is a local movement or are
they foreign employees?"
He answered that the gang is not being paid by any country
but is "self-financing" through seizure of oil fields, theft
of territory and stealing money. They are "trying to lure
poor people with money to join them, placing ideas in their
mind" about committing "criminality and murder."
Al Jazeera put ISIS into context, reporting this week that
Mexican drug cartels have murdered exponentially more people
than ISIS including 57 journalists and almost 300 Americans
visiting Mexico. They have beheaded hundreds of people and
displayed mutilated corpses in public squares and on social
media in order to intimidate detractors. It is truly
astonishing how Americans are more concerned about criminal
gangs in Syria than violence happening next door.
When asked about the city of Hama, Mahmoud Allouz said it
has not been destroyed like Homs. "In the countryside of
Hama, there are battles. But the city of Hama is under the
control of the Assad regime, and there are many cases of
arrests and [human rights] violations."
However, the following day, there are reports of renewed
fighting in Hama.
Shocking photos have been leaked of the regime's 215
Intelligence Branch in Damascus, where detainees are sent to
die. Many are summarily executed without any formal charges
or military trial.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202582749801415&set=pcb.10202582751401455&type=1&theater
The Violation Documentation Center in Syria shows satellite
photography of the regime's detention centers near Damascus,
documenting the growth of cemeteries and "irregular
digging." The report states that "many of the locals
testified about the burying operations that required
bulldozers and about the arrival of big refrigerated lorries
(fruits and vegetables refrigerator trucks)." This led to
the VDC's confirmation of mass graves.
http://www.vdc-sy.info/index.php/en/reports/1380463510#.VE2FgbDF_eX
[New Trend Editor comment: The 20 year old FSA man being
interviewed here knows his own city well but by making
random comments against ISIS he can fuel bad blood between
the two groups. He is being irresponsible. New Trend
certainly does not endorse differences between the fighting
groups but does not want to censor Sis. Karin's report.]
Syria: Assad's air force puts in biggest effort to bomb
civilians. About 300 killed, including women, children.
From Monday October 20 to October 25, the Syrian regime's
air force carried out 533 air strikes on civilian
populations in areas controlled by Islamic forces. The areas
hit are all the way from Quneitra to Dera to Damascus to
Aleppo to Idlib and Deir ez-Zor. Nearly 300 civilians were
killed in the attacks, including scores of women and
children.
Photo of one of Assad's jet bombers launching a missile.
Assad's military supported by Hizbullah and Shia militias
tried to advance on the ground particularly against Aleppo
but was successfully resisted by al-Nusra and other Islamic
groups. Both sides suffered a steady list of dead and
wounded. It appears that the Alawites have captured the town
of Monek in central Syria.
US Air Force bombed oil wells and related facilities
controlled by ISIS. Some oil outlets were severely damaged
and at least 32 civilians were killed.
Iraq: US Bombing: IS Advances: Iraqi-Kurdi Moves. Slaughter
of Iraqi troops.
-
October 25:
-
A martyrdom operator from IS hit Iraqi forces
near Baghdad, killing 10 troops. In the north, fighting is
going on in Zumar where Kurdish Peshmarga have advanced with
cover from US air force bombing raids
Iraqi forces with US air support are mobilizing to advance
towards Mosul.
-
October 23:
-
The new Iraqi Prime minister, chosen with the
support of the US and Shia religious authorities, visited
Iran and received promises of total support.
-
October 23:
-
Islamic State, IS, mujahideen captured the
village of Zraiyat Nimr. Iraqdi troops supported by Sunni
tribal fighters were slaughtered and their bodies littered
the streets. The remaining Iraqi troops escaped by
helicopter. [Reuters report.]
-
October 22:
-
a force of 300 Islamic State mujahideen moved
towards Mount Sinjar. They captured the surrounding
villages. Mt. Sinjar is defended by 1200 Yazeedi troops.
Yazeedi commander Al-Shaikh Khayri, brought in from Germany
where many Yazeedis live, was killed in the fighting.
[AFP]
Yemen: US-Shia Houthis-Secular Regime Unite against
al-Qaida: Ambushed.
October 24: Shia Houthis militia, said to be armed by Iran,
and in coordination with the secular regime in Sanaa and the
US moved southwards to tackle al-Qaida which controls most
of the south east.
At Rada, the advancing Houthi force was ambushed by al-Qaida
and suffered heavy losses [not disclosed]. Meantime further
south, a US drone attacked Islamic fighters killing 10.
Afghanistan: An Extensive visit to Wardak province under
Taliban rule.
On October 24, BBC TV showed a detailed report on an entire
province being ruled the Taliban under the command of Mullah
Umar. Wardak is south west of Kabul. Looks like it is a good
example of Sharia law. There is complete peace, law and
order, education, justice and economic development.
There are numerous schools run by the Taliban, including one
with 1500 students. The only thing lacking are schools for
girls.The Taliban have learned how not to concentrate their
fighters in any one area and hence they avoid attacks by US
drones which are patrolling overhead every day.
Kabul is not far from Wardak and the threat of Taliban
attack has turned the capital into a fortress constantly on
the alert.
[New Trend Editors comment: BBC does this kind of honest
report on Muslims once in a while which retains its
credibility. New Trend readers should go to the BBC web site
and check the archive for October 24.]
Our America
Why is Imam Hasan still in Prison:?
Via Jeff in Columbus, Ohio
Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan is a staunch activist and
revolutionary who is on Ohio's death row for challenging and
protesting inhumane prison
conditions and policies at the Southern Ohio Correctional
Facility (SOCF) in Lucasville, the infamous maximum-security
prison where violence—assaults, rapes, stabbings, and
murders—were the norm.
In 1993 the prison authorities were forcing all prisoners to
take a
mandatory TB test (Mantoux tuberculin skin test). This test
contained
phenol, an alcoholic substance which is forbidden for those
of the Islamic
faith to either consume or have injected under their
forearm. Instead of
adhering to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling which asserts that
prisoners have a right to an alternative test that does not
infringe upon their First
Amendment beliefs, the prison authorities were unsympathetic
toward their
beliefs. Knowing that alternatives were available, in an
attempt to galvanize outside attention and support, some
Muslims spontaneously opted to stage a peaceful protest. It
inadvertently got out of hand and a full-scale rebellion
ensued when non-Muslims began to attack prison guards due to
the long- standing insults and abusive treatment guards had
inflicted upon them.
In the aftermath of the SOCF uprising, scores of
"eyewitnesses"
appeared out of nowhere, accusing Imam Hasan of
masterminding the
insurrection and ordering the execution of a white prison
guard. Inmates
whose credibility normally would be in doubt, were presented
as highly
trustworthy. Without a shred of physical evidence to prove
any of the
preposterous allegations against him, the State was able to
secure Imam
Hasan's conviction. This should come as no surprise when one
considers
the fact that he was tried in Cincinnati, a city sweltering
in racism and
Imam Hasan is an innocent man, and we should consider it our
moral
and patriotic duty to make sure his life is not cut short.
His exoneration is
our freedom, in that it frees our conscious of the shameful
guilt that would
forever trouble our minds had we remained neutral and not
reach out to this freedom fighter. Our collective voice will
send a disquieting signal to the criminal (in)justice system
that it cannot ignore both exculpatory evidence and expert
testimony that point towards his innocence.
Courageous people like Imam Hasan are rare occurrences.
He
represents an endangered species of men who we cannot allow
to fall into
extinction. Will he live or will we allow his life to be
ended tragically and
prematurely like that of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and
countless others?
Our actions hold part of the answer.
Those ready and willing to learn more about Imam Hasan's
case, and
how they can help, can reach him at the address below.
Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan, R130-559
878 Coitsville-Hubbard Road
Ohio State Penitentiary
Youngstown, Ohio 44505
NEW YORK: A racial element to Ebola+Man Attacks policemen
with hatchet
by Sis Aisha [Jamaat al-Muslimeen, New York City]
There was breaking news tonight, 10/23/2014, about a White
doctor, Craig Spencer, being the first case of Ebola in New
york City. He traveled to and from New Guinea, West Africa.
Spencer has traveled through the New York City public
transportation system, used cabs, and enjoyed time bowling
along other activities! Today, he had a 103 degree fever and
was subsequently removed from his Harlem Heights apartment
and taken to Bellevue Hospital. A Latino maintenance worker
was given orders to disinfect the entire building where this
doctor lived. Residents of Dr. Spencer's building have
stated that there are still no signs on his door indicating
that he has Ebola. Spencer is a gentrifier and lives in a
Black neighborhood in Harlem. The negative changes stemming
from White gentrification of Black areas is the
glorification of Halloween and homosexuality.
It is very strange how: White doctors go to Africa to
"treat" Ebola patients but, run back to the United States
for treatment after they've contracted the disease
themselves!
They claim that the disease is ONLY spread through the
exchange of bodily fluids, just like AIDS, but they are
quarantining people who have the most minimal contact with
these infected people! There are photos of Dr. Spencer
wearing protective gear in Africa!
Thousands of Africans have died from Ebola but, people are
easily cured in the Western world! Dr. Craig Spencer is a
member of Doctors Without Borders. Many politicians are
urging the U.S. to close its doors to West African countries
but, why aren't African leaders wise enough to rid itself of
all the U.S. Embassies and Christian missionary groups
working there under the guise of spreading the Word?
Europeans have NEVER wished Africa well. Human bodies can be
littered all over the desert and the Europeans' biggest
mission is to save Africa's animal kingdom!
Ebola surfaced in Africa around the same time AIDS did, over
30 years ago. Many suspect that Ebola is also
bio-warfare.
Second Story:
A man was killed by police in Jamaica, Queens after using a
hatchet to attack police! Reports are that his blog had
snippets of verses from the Holy Qur'an. However, they do
not believe that he was solely inspired by so-called
Islamist rhetoric. There were other quotes from various
sources against White imperialism and oppression. Zale H.
Thompson attacked four cops hitting two of them. One was hit
in the arm and the other in the head. the other two officer,
who were not hit, started shooting and killed Thompson. They
also shot a female bystander in the back. She is being
treated at a Queens, NY hospital. Thompson was discharged
from the Navy for misconduct.
This attack comes on the heels of the October 21st killing
of one Canadian soldier and the injuring of another in a hit
and run incident by Martin Rouleau Couture in Canada. He is
being referred to as a radicalized Muslim. The New York
Police Department was on heightened alert because of this
attack in Canada.
Salaam,
Sis. 'Aisha
Viewpoint and Analysis
Canada, At War for 13 Years, Shocked That 'A Terrorist'
Attacked Its Soldiers
By Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept
22 October 2014 In Quebec on Monday, two Canadian soldiers
were hit by a car driven by Martin Couture-Rouleau, a
25-year-old Canadian who, as The Globe and Mail reported,
"converted to Islam recently and called himself Ahmad
Rouleau." One of the soldiers died, as did Courture-Rouleau
when he was shot by police upon apprehension after allegedly
brandishing a large knife. Police speculated that the
incident was deliberate, alleging the driver waited for two
hours before hitting the soldiers, one of whom was wearing a
uniform. The incident took place in the parking lot of a
shopping mall 30 miles southeast of Montreal, "a few
kilometres from the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean,
the military academy operated by the Department of National
Defence."
The right-wing Canadian government wasted no time in seizing
on the incident to promote its fear-mongering agenda over
terrorism, which includes pending legislation to vest its
intelligence agency, CSIS, with more spying and secrecy
powers in the name of fighting ISIS. A government
spokesperson asserted "clear indications" that the driver
"had become radicalized."
In a "clearly prearranged exchange," a conservative MP,
during parliamentary "question time," asked Prime Minister
Stephen Harper (pictured above) whether this was considered
a "terrorist attack"; in reply, the prime minister gravely
opined that the incident was "obviously extremely
troubling." Canada's Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney
pronounced the incident "clearly linked to terrorist
ideology," while newspapers predictably followed suit,
calling it a "suspected terrorist attack" and"homegrown
terrorism." CSIS spokesperson Tahera Mufti said "the event
was the violent expression of an extremist ideology promoted
by terrorist groups with global followings" and added: "That
something like this would happen in a peaceable Canadian
community like Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu shows the long reach
of these ideologies."
In sum, the national mood and discourse in Canada is
virtually identical to what prevails in every Western
country whenever an incident like this happens: shock and
bewilderment that someone would want to bring violence to
such a good and innocent country ("a peaceable Canadian
community like Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu"), followed by
claims that the incident shows how primitive and savage is
the "terrorist ideology" of extremist Muslims, followed by
rage and demand for still more actions of militarism and
freedom-deprivation. There are two points worth making about
this:
First, Canada has spent the last 13 years proclaiming itself
a nation at war. It actively participated in the invasion
and occupation of Afghanistan and was an enthusiastic
partner in some of the most extremist War on Terror abuses
perpetrated by the U.S. Earlier this month, the Prime
Ministerrevealed, with the support of a large majority of
Canadians, that "Canada is poised to go to war in Iraq, as
[he] announced plans in Parliament [] to send CF-18 fighter
jets for up to six months to battle Islamic extremists."
Just yesterday, Canadian Defence Minister Rob Nicholson
flamboyantly appeared at the airfield in Alberta from which
the fighter jets left for Iraq and stood tall as he issued
the standard Churchillian war rhetoric about the noble fight
against evil.
It is always stunning when a country that has brought
violence and military force to numerous countries acts
shocked and bewildered when someone brings a tiny faction of
that violence back to that country. Regardless of one's
views on the justifiability of Canada's lengthy military
actions, it's not the slightest bit surprising or difficult
to understand why people who identify with those on the
other end of Canadian bombs and bullets would decide to
attack the military responsible for that violence.
That's the nature of war. A country doesn't get to run
around for years wallowing in war glory, invading, rendering
and bombing others, without the risk of having violence
brought back to it. Rather than being baffling or shocking,
that reaction is completely natural and predictable. The
only surprising thing about any of it is that it doesn't
happen more often.
The issue here is not justification (very few people would
view attacks on soldiers in a shopping mall parking lot to
be justified). The issue is causation. Every time one of
these attacks occurs — from 9/11 on down — Western
governments pretend that it was just some sort of
unprovoked, utterly "senseless" act of violence caused by
primitive, irrational, savage religious extremism
inexplicably aimed at a country innocently minding its own
business. They even invent fairy tales to feed to the
population to explain why it happens: they hate us for our
freedoms.
Those fairy tales are pure deceit. Except in the rarest of
cases, the violence has clearly identifiable and
easy-to-understand causes: namely, anger over the violence
that the country's government has spent years directing at
others. The statements of those accused by the west of
terrorism, and even the Pentagon's own commissioned
research, have made conclusively clear what motivates these
acts: namely, anger over the violence, abuse and
interference by Western countries in that part of the world,
with the world's Muslims overwhelmingly the targets and
victims. The very policies of militarism and civil liberties
erosions justified in the name of stopping terrorism are
actually what fuels terrorism and ensures its endless
continuation.
If you want to be a country that spends more than a decade
proclaiming itself at war and bringing violence to others,
then one should expect that violence will sometimes be
directed at you as well. Far from being the by-product of
primitive and inscrutable religions, that behavior is the
natural reaction of human beings targeted with violence.
Anyone who doubts that should review the 13-year orgy of
violence the U.S. has unleashed on the world since the 9/11
attack, as well as the decades of violence and interference
from the U.S. in that region prior to that.
Second, in what conceivable sense can this incident be
called a "terrorist" attack? As I havewritten many times
over the last several years, and as some of the best
scholarship proves, "terrorism" is a word utterly devoid of
objective or consistent meaning. It is little more than a
totally malleable, propagandistic fear-mongering term used
by Western governments (and non-Western ones) to justify
whatever actions they undertake. As Professor Tomis Kapitan
wrote in a brilliant essay in The New York Times on Monday:
"Part of the success of this rhetoric traces to the fact
that there is no consensus about the meaning of
'terrorism.'"
But to the extent the term has any common understanding, it
includes the deliberate (or wholly reckless) targeting of
civilians with violence for political ends. But in this case
in Canada, it wasn't civilians who were targeted. If one
believes the government's accounts of the incident, the
driver waited two hours until he saw a soldier in uniform.
In other words, he seems to have deliberately avoided
attacking civilians, and targeted a soldier instead - a
member of a military that is currently fighting a war.
Again, the point isn't justifiability. There is a compelling
argument to make that undeployed soldiers engaged in normal
civilian activities at home are not valid targets under the
laws of war (although the U.S. and its closest allies use
extremely broad and permissive standards for what
constitutes legitimate military targets when it comes to
their own violence). The point is that targeting soldiers
who are part of a military fighting an active war is
completely inconsistent with the common usage of the word
"terrorism," and yet it is reflexively applied by government
officials and media outlets to this incident in Canada (and
others like it in the UK and the US).
That's because the most common functional definition of
"terrorism" in Western discourse is quite clear. At this
point, it means little more than: "violence directed at
Westerners by Muslims" (when not used to mean "violence by
Muslims," it usually just means: violence the state
dislikes). The term "terrorism" has become nothing more than
a rhetorical weapon for legitimizing all violence by Western
countries, and delegitimizing all violence against them,
even when the violence called "terrorism" is clearly
intended as retaliation for Western violence.
This is about far more than semantics. It is central to how
the west propagandizes its citizenries; the manipulative use
of the "terrorism" term lies at heart of that. As Professor
Kapitan wrote yesterday in The New York Times:
Even when a definition is agreed upon, the rhetoric of
"terror" is applied both selectively and inconsistently. In
the mainstream American media, the "terrorist" label is
usually reserved for those opposed to the policies of the
U.S. and its allies. By contrast, some acts of violence that
constitute terrorism under most definitions are not
identified as such — for instance, the massacre of over 2000
Palestinian civilians in the Beirut refugee camps in 1982 or
the killings of more than 3000 civilians in Nicaragua by
"contra" rebels during the 1980s, or the genocide that took
the lives of at least a half million Rwandans in 1994. At
the opposite end of the spectrum, some actions that do not
qualify as terrorism are labeled as such — that would
include attacks by Hamas, Hezbollah or ISIS, for instance,
against uniformed soldiers on duty.
Historically, the rhetoric of terror has been used by those
in power not only to sway public opinion, but to direct
attention away from their own acts of terror. At this
point, "terrorism" is the term that means nothing, but
justifies everything. It is long past time that media
outlets begin skeptically questioning its usage by political
officials rather than mindlessly parroting it.
Article by:
Intercept journalist and founding editor: Glenn Greenwald.
(photo: ABC News)
2014-10-26 Sun 19:29:29 cdt
NewTrendMag.org
