By Abdul Hannan Siwani Nadvi
The discussion on proposed Central Madrasa Board 2008 is going on in Muslim community. Urdu newspapers and some online English journals are giving its full attention by publishing articles, recommendations of Ulems, and blights of this board against independent Madrasas in India.
One million question that, why government is keen interest in interfering in Independent Madrasas, while a network of Madrasas are playing its role very smoothly in spreading the initial education and awareness to Muslim community. Is this one not a good step that a Minority community, instead to make noise and to wait reservation from government, is teaching its communities without government’s help?
Are Ulemas and Muslim’s efforts in providing a platform of education to their community by establishing their own schools and without the fund of government shouldn’t be exhilarated? Is this not strength hands of government in the fields of education?
Actually, During NDA government a committee headed by L.K. Advani, prepared a report, in which said that Madrasas are the nursery of terrorism and are a threat of internal security of the country. On the base of this report, Mr. Murly Manohar Joshi (an accused in demolition of Babri Masjid) appointed to prepare a plan under the label of Modernisation of Madrasas to check its movements and to change its syllabus according government’s needs. Defeating of NDA in Parliamentary election destroyed the dream of Hindutva ideology who was looking a golden opportunity to wipe out the Madrasas which always been an eye-sore for the forces who want to capture on India under Hindutva slogan.
It was hoped that UPA government will not touch this issue, but in the garb of secularism, Mr. Arjun Singh raised this issue again and open a way of anger in Muslim community. Now, Mr. Kapil Sibbal is trying to make a balance concerning on this Central Madrasa Board.
For this purpose a meeting called on 03-October 09 by Mr. Kapil Sibbal to discuss and to collect Muslim’s opinion on this Board. No doubt that, Muslim MPS, Ulemas and Muslim scholars, unanimously rejected UPA government’s proposal. Adverse objections and heat of angers of Muslims in this meeting, forced Mr. Sibbal to announce that Muslim community will be taken into full confidence before tabling this bill into parliament.
First, I discuss on some but most important articles of this proposed Central Madrasa Board, which after years would change the map of all Independent Madrasas in India.
1. This board will trigger the differences among various Muslim sects and religious schools in Muslim community. Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahl-i-Hadith, Shafai, Shia, Dawoodi Bohra all are given a seat. One scholar from traditional Madrasa system will be appointed as well. Is only one scholar of each sect is enough to check Madrasas syllabus, grants, administrations and quality of education? For example, in India majority of people are the followers of Deobandi sects. Is only one Deobandi scholar who will be the member of board and an employ of government will solve all issues related to Deobandi sects across India. Education systems in Deoband or in Darululoom Nadwatul Ulema or in other Madrasas are very different. How this board will maintain the balance between all religious schools and on subjects as well.
2. According proposed Madrasas Central Madrasa Board 08 syllabus and other text books will be revised after the recommendations of a syllabus committee appointed by Madrasa Board. Is here any guaranty could be given that Madrasas main syllabus after the recommendations of syllabus committee would not be touched and its theological status would be remained work under proposed Madrasa Board till long times.
3. In areas of work, these beautiful words are written in Proposed Central Madrasa Board draft. “Conceptualize and initiate programme for the consolidation of the inclusive society, marked by religious and cultural diversity, through proper interfaith understanding in society”. Will Mr. Sibbal himself explain that how it would be possible in multi-religious and in multi-cultural society and how it will be placed in the country by the Madrasas are running under government while the situation of Bihar, Bengal and UP Madrasa board is before us, where teachers are always found on strike to get their due salaries, on the other hand, students come only to get certificates for applying jobs.
4. According this bill, if any dispute be found between Central government and Madrasa board, Central government’s final decision will be acceptable to all. With existing of such sections and even when central government is being run by other party such as BJP, will this board remained to work according its direction? How Madrasa Board will keep itself away from the interference of governments in its syllabus or in administration or in the content of Madrasas in future?
These are some articles of Central Madrasa Board bill are acknowledged above just for an example. The content of these articles shows that in future Madrasa board administration and its syllabus gradually will turn into government’s hand, where it will do what it will want, and in finally Independent Madrasas will lose its religious identity. By this conspiracy and in the name of modernization of Madrasas Muslims will be deprived from their religious and historical education as they driven out from Modern education, politics and from the field of developments in modern India, although they governed on India for decades and fought against British to get back their country.
Recently, a group of Muslim scholars met Mr. Sibbal assuring their support in making Central Madrasa Board. I have one question to all Muslims who support Central government’s move on Madarsa Board that why we not express our disquiets on Madrasa Board while our modern Universities such as Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia are crying on its situation. If these universities get full support of government and get back their minority status, Muslim students will never be behind than any others in the fields of education. In today’s India, a plenty of small schools are being run under Muslim’s supervision and these are in need of computers and modern technologies, why government is not making any plan to help such schools.
Diversity of nations, distinctions of various kinds of languages and costumes of society enlighten this glob, where rich and poor, middle and corporate class, religious and political groups, doctors and engineers, historians and film makers, educated and illiterates, thieves and dacoits, winners and looser, police and ordinary men, dancers and magicians, Ulemas and Pundits, politicians and law makers strengthen it and bring their efforts to live a better life. Declaring them the production of only one institution would be a proof of mentally illness.
Those who have a bit of understanding capability will never allow to anybody to go Medical universities to get technical education. Why Mr. Kapil Sibbal is not trying to understand this simple logic? Why he doesn’t want to know that Madrasas are religious institutions alike other Medical and Law Universities? Madrsas is part and parcel of Muslim society which can’t survive without it.
There are objectives and aims before Madarsas also, its syllabus is being prepared according its objectives, Committee comprising on great Islamic scholars and Ulemas check the syllabus time to time. Qura’an, Hadieth, History, Tajweed (correct pronunciation of Qura’anic verses), Tafseer (interpretation of holy scriptures), Fiqah (Islamic Jurisprudence), Shariah (Islamic law), Ahadeath (life and decisions of the holy Prophet on various issues brought before him by the faithful), Riazi (mathematics) are the subjects being taught in these Madrsas.
In all modern institutions above subjects are not being taught, if these subjects will be prohibited in Madrasas, as government is planning so where Muslims get the education which tell them that how they can live honestly.
Muslims want that government first solve all other issues have become an obstacle in the way of their development, solve the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University, and Jamia Millia Islamia, implement 10% reservation to Muslims as Justice Ranga Nath Mishra commission has recommended, open schools in Muslim localities and order government machineries to give the attention on Muslim’s areas also in providing electricity, hospitals and roads.
After all, despite getting some support from Muslim scholars, Mr. Sibbal still in quest of successes and the sword of Central Madrasa Board is still hanging on Independent Madrasas.
This is the responsibility of all Muslims, MPS to oppose this bill whether they belong from any schools to save their own independent Madarsas with advising central government to look on other aspects if it insists on upgrading education systems of Muslim community.
(Abdul Hannan Siwani Nadvi could be contacted on abdul_hannan_hannan@yahoo.co.in)
Monday, December 14, 2009
Chidambaram’s Miracle Of 72 Hours
By Gladosn Dungdung
It has been in practice of the human beings that when a baby cries, the mothers’ heart beats faster, she gets worried and put her all efforts to comfort the baby. But have you ever read any fiction, heard the story from your grandparents or seen a mother feeding her baby, getting toys and buying clothes for her/him only when (s)he stops crying? If not, at least, you can get the holy ideas of parenting from our corporate Home Minister P Chidambaram, who keeps telling to the Adivasis these days that the government (parents) will do everything for them (kids) only when they stop resistance. He has taken for guaranteed that all the Adivasis living in the forests are Maoists or at least their supporters therefore he tells them, “Abjure violence and give me 72 hours” to do the miracle for readdressing the historic socio-economic, cultural and developmental injustices done to them for the centuries.
It amazes me that how the holy idea of miracle of 72 hours impressed Chidambaram and made him so passionate about it? As far as the ‘miracle of 72 hours’ is concerned, it has ensured the pain, suffering and endless sorrow for millions of Indians. The Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Mode created a hell for the Muslims in those 72 hours, where more than 2000 Muslims were killed, thousands were attacked and many of them lost their shelters. Similarly, the terrorist attacks of 26/11 shook the Mumbai for 72-odd hours, created fear, insecurity and uncertainty in the lives of the millions of people across the country. However, P Chidambaram does not bother about whatever happened in the past and he just wants to create heaven for the Adivasis within 72 hours if he is given by the Maoists (he ratified that Maoist have come Messiah for the Adivasis).
Frankly speaking, the Chidambaram’s miracle of 72 hours does not convince me, precisely, because he is playing a mighty double standards game. Suddenly, he took U turn on the issue of Operation Green Hunt (OGH), when there was immense pressure for withdrawal of the OGH, from the civil society organizations like the Citizens Initiative for Peace (CIP). On November 7, 2009, Chidambaram denied and even blamed to the media by saying, "There is no operation Green Hunt. It is a figment of imagination and creation of the media.” “Show me one government official saying this and I will take action", he dared. Ironically, on December 4, 2009, Dantewada-based DIG anti-Naxal operations SRP Killuri unmasked Chidambaram by telling to the media, “As of today, Operation Green Hunt is underway in districts like Bijapur and Dantewada.” Unfortunately, Chidambaram neither took any action against his officer (as per his earlier promise) nor stopped to the media for misusing (according to him) the right to freedom of expression.
Secondly, how can one believe in the miracle of 72 hours when the victims of Bhopal Gas tragedy did not get justice even after 25 long years despite thousands of deaths (according to the government 3500 deaths and non-government sources confirm 20000 to 25000 deaths) and millions of sufferers, not a single person was punished? Similarly, the victims of anti-Sikh riots 1984 are still waiting for justice and protest in the streets of Delhi all most every year. And 30 millions displaced masses of India including150000 displaced of Hirakud Dam (1948) the Nehru’s Temple (Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, once said, dams are the “temple[s] of modern India.”) yet to be rehabilitated (though the Indian government does not care about them).
Thirdly, the government authorities are blaming to the Maoists for everything. For instance, there are several state governments failed in ensuring the forest rights to the Adivasis according to the Forest Rights Act 2006, now blame to the Maoists for their failure. Similarly, in the failure of so-called development projects and justice delivery only the Maoists are alleged. Do the Maoists not allow the government to give land pattas (entitlement papers) to the Adivasis? Do we say that every Adivasis would have been prosperous if the Maoists would not have born in India? Can Chidambaram tell us why the corporate houses comfortably run their factories in those areas where the police can not even walk? Can he explain us why the roads of the state capitals and districts headquarters of many states are extremely bad despite huge expenditure made on these? Do the Maoists not let the government to build good road in the capital cities? Can he tell us why the benefits of the welfare schemes meant for the poor do not reach them? Of course, no one can deny the Maoist menace but can we blame them for everything?
The fact of the matter is the state has completely failed in upholding the constitution and fears of backlash therefore the operation green hunt has been launched in Chhatisgarh and will be extended to the state of Jharkhand once the Assembly election is over, which is quite evident from the statements of Chidambaram given in the Parliament on December 3. He said, “Attempt was to restore civil administration and the follow it up quickly with development. The security forces being used only to reassert authority in areas where it lost control.” The statements clearly indicate about the security forces being used to regain the control in the Adivasis regions though he may not use the phrase ‘operation green hunt’, which would be materialized in the large scale from January onward, surely result as the mass torture, assault and killing of thousands of the Adivasis in the name of the Maoists, which needs to be strongly opposed by the people of the civil society who believe in the Human Rights of each and every one.
Obviously, Chidambaram’s miracle of 72 hours is not really miracle to redress the grievances of the Adivasis but it is a strategy to get the sympathy of the civil society for the operation green hunt. He is essentially batting for the corporate with the intention to get the Adivasis’ land clear and hand it over to the corporate houses. He would also ensure the landing of the global investors, which would lead the India’s economy from 7 to 9 percent; of course, that makes no sense to the Adivasis. The Chidambaram’s miracle of 72 hours can only create hell for the Adivasis not the heaven indeed. “If you are to suffer, you should suffer in the interest of the country,” this is what Jawaharlal Nehru, the architect of the modern India told to the Adivasis (victims) of the Hirakud Dam (Orissa) in 1948, which clearly means the Adivasis must have to suffer in their own country and the sunglasses (mostly invaders) are only born to enjoy their lives. Perhaps, Chidambaram’s miracle of 72 hours is to make sure the suffering of the Adivaisis continues.
Gladson Dungdung is a Human Rights Activist and Writer from Jharkhand. He can be reached at gladsonhractivist@ gmail.com
Sources: www.countercurrents .org
It has been in practice of the human beings that when a baby cries, the mothers’ heart beats faster, she gets worried and put her all efforts to comfort the baby. But have you ever read any fiction, heard the story from your grandparents or seen a mother feeding her baby, getting toys and buying clothes for her/him only when (s)he stops crying? If not, at least, you can get the holy ideas of parenting from our corporate Home Minister P Chidambaram, who keeps telling to the Adivasis these days that the government (parents) will do everything for them (kids) only when they stop resistance. He has taken for guaranteed that all the Adivasis living in the forests are Maoists or at least their supporters therefore he tells them, “Abjure violence and give me 72 hours” to do the miracle for readdressing the historic socio-economic, cultural and developmental injustices done to them for the centuries.
It amazes me that how the holy idea of miracle of 72 hours impressed Chidambaram and made him so passionate about it? As far as the ‘miracle of 72 hours’ is concerned, it has ensured the pain, suffering and endless sorrow for millions of Indians. The Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Mode created a hell for the Muslims in those 72 hours, where more than 2000 Muslims were killed, thousands were attacked and many of them lost their shelters. Similarly, the terrorist attacks of 26/11 shook the Mumbai for 72-odd hours, created fear, insecurity and uncertainty in the lives of the millions of people across the country. However, P Chidambaram does not bother about whatever happened in the past and he just wants to create heaven for the Adivasis within 72 hours if he is given by the Maoists (he ratified that Maoist have come Messiah for the Adivasis).
Frankly speaking, the Chidambaram’s miracle of 72 hours does not convince me, precisely, because he is playing a mighty double standards game. Suddenly, he took U turn on the issue of Operation Green Hunt (OGH), when there was immense pressure for withdrawal of the OGH, from the civil society organizations like the Citizens Initiative for Peace (CIP). On November 7, 2009, Chidambaram denied and even blamed to the media by saying, "There is no operation Green Hunt. It is a figment of imagination and creation of the media.” “Show me one government official saying this and I will take action", he dared. Ironically, on December 4, 2009, Dantewada-based DIG anti-Naxal operations SRP Killuri unmasked Chidambaram by telling to the media, “As of today, Operation Green Hunt is underway in districts like Bijapur and Dantewada.” Unfortunately, Chidambaram neither took any action against his officer (as per his earlier promise) nor stopped to the media for misusing (according to him) the right to freedom of expression.
Secondly, how can one believe in the miracle of 72 hours when the victims of Bhopal Gas tragedy did not get justice even after 25 long years despite thousands of deaths (according to the government 3500 deaths and non-government sources confirm 20000 to 25000 deaths) and millions of sufferers, not a single person was punished? Similarly, the victims of anti-Sikh riots 1984 are still waiting for justice and protest in the streets of Delhi all most every year. And 30 millions displaced masses of India including150000 displaced of Hirakud Dam (1948) the Nehru’s Temple (Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, once said, dams are the “temple[s] of modern India.”) yet to be rehabilitated (though the Indian government does not care about them).
Thirdly, the government authorities are blaming to the Maoists for everything. For instance, there are several state governments failed in ensuring the forest rights to the Adivasis according to the Forest Rights Act 2006, now blame to the Maoists for their failure. Similarly, in the failure of so-called development projects and justice delivery only the Maoists are alleged. Do the Maoists not allow the government to give land pattas (entitlement papers) to the Adivasis? Do we say that every Adivasis would have been prosperous if the Maoists would not have born in India? Can Chidambaram tell us why the corporate houses comfortably run their factories in those areas where the police can not even walk? Can he explain us why the roads of the state capitals and districts headquarters of many states are extremely bad despite huge expenditure made on these? Do the Maoists not let the government to build good road in the capital cities? Can he tell us why the benefits of the welfare schemes meant for the poor do not reach them? Of course, no one can deny the Maoist menace but can we blame them for everything?
The fact of the matter is the state has completely failed in upholding the constitution and fears of backlash therefore the operation green hunt has been launched in Chhatisgarh and will be extended to the state of Jharkhand once the Assembly election is over, which is quite evident from the statements of Chidambaram given in the Parliament on December 3. He said, “Attempt was to restore civil administration and the follow it up quickly with development. The security forces being used only to reassert authority in areas where it lost control.” The statements clearly indicate about the security forces being used to regain the control in the Adivasis regions though he may not use the phrase ‘operation green hunt’, which would be materialized in the large scale from January onward, surely result as the mass torture, assault and killing of thousands of the Adivasis in the name of the Maoists, which needs to be strongly opposed by the people of the civil society who believe in the Human Rights of each and every one.
Obviously, Chidambaram’s miracle of 72 hours is not really miracle to redress the grievances of the Adivasis but it is a strategy to get the sympathy of the civil society for the operation green hunt. He is essentially batting for the corporate with the intention to get the Adivasis’ land clear and hand it over to the corporate houses. He would also ensure the landing of the global investors, which would lead the India’s economy from 7 to 9 percent; of course, that makes no sense to the Adivasis. The Chidambaram’s miracle of 72 hours can only create hell for the Adivasis not the heaven indeed. “If you are to suffer, you should suffer in the interest of the country,” this is what Jawaharlal Nehru, the architect of the modern India told to the Adivasis (victims) of the Hirakud Dam (Orissa) in 1948, which clearly means the Adivasis must have to suffer in their own country and the sunglasses (mostly invaders) are only born to enjoy their lives. Perhaps, Chidambaram’s miracle of 72 hours is to make sure the suffering of the Adivaisis continues.
Gladson Dungdung is a Human Rights Activist and Writer from Jharkhand. He can be reached at gladsonhractivist@ gmail.com
Sources: www.countercurrents .org
Anti-Semitism up, Islamophobia down
By Gilad Atzmon
According to new research conducted by Bielefeld University hatred towards Muslims decreased over the past year while hatred of Jews is growing. Israelis must be concerned. The sudden drop in European Islamophobia doesn't fit into the Zionist global plan in which Muslims are cornered and ostracised as reactionaries while Israel is dropping bombs in the name of democracy and liberalism. According to the leading Israeli paper Ynet, "the level of resentment against most minorities declined – sexism considerably, Islamophobia slightly. There were only two exceptions: homophobia and anti-Semitism."(1)
Interestingly enough Ynet reports that "the percentage of people who believe 'that there are too many Muslims' in their country is especially high in those countries that actually have a low percentage of Muslims living in them." One possible explanation may that within European countries benefiting from a large Muslim population, the fear of Islam is actually dissipating. This is not at all surprising given the fact that both Islamic and Christian cultures share very similar universal values and ethical precepts. Unlike Jewish ideology that maintains a certain level of tribal, cultural and social segregation and supremacy, Muslim communities seem to collectively merge into the working classes through the work place, education and economy.
According to the research very many Europeans are concerned with Jewish domination and power. "One-quarter of Europeans (24.5%) believe that "Jews have too much influence", and nearly one-third (31%) agree that "Jews in general do not care about anything or anyone but their own kind." Bearing in mind the embarrassing fact that 50% of MPs in Britain's shadow cabinet are Conservative Friends of Israel we can safely assume that, unlike our politicians, the voters out there are largely waking up to the danger of Zionist infiltration.
Ynet also has some 'good news' to report. "61.9% say that Jews "enrich our culture", especially in the Netherlands, Britain and Germany." The fact that Jews and ex Jews (in particular) enrich European life is indeed hard to ignore, yet setting aside Lord Cashpoint Levy and Uri 'Spoon Bending' Geller, it seems as if, amongst those Jews who contribute to European cultural life, not many openly identify with Israel and its crimes.
As much as Israel uses every possible means to drag us all into an endless war against Islam, the Europeans are coming to terms with the devastating reality of Zionist murderous brutality. Some 45.7% of the Europeans either "somewhat or strongly" agree that "Israel is conducting a war of extermination against the Palestinians." In case someone fails to understand the meaning of it all, I will say it plainly: almost half of the Europeans accept that Israel employs genocidal tactics. They basically agree that Israelis are the Nazis of our time. According to Ynet, about 37.4% agree with the following statement: "Considering Israel's policy, I can understand why people do not like Jews."
Zionism was there to create a civilized loveable Jew. Not only has it failed, thanks to Israel and Zionism, the resentment towards Jews seem to be greater than ever. The meaning of it all is rather obvious. Israel and its supporting lobbies failed to internalise the real universal meaning of the Holocaust: 'love thy neighbour'. Instead of ethnic cleansing, starving and dropping white phosphorous, Israel should have learned to live amongst others.
If Europe is as democratic as it claims to be, this clear, escalating animosity towards Israel, Zionism and their relentless lobbies will mature eventually into a political shift.
-- Gilad Atzmon (gilad.co.uk) is an Israeli-born writer and jazz musician living in London. He had previously served in the Israeli military but he is currently an anti-racism campaigner. His latest CD is In Loving Memory of America.
(1) A clarification is needed here: 'anti-Semitism' is a misleading notion. When people refer to 'anti Semitism' what they really mean is 'anti Jewish feelings'. The notion of 'anti-Semitism' is there to give a false impression that Jews are a racial group. The truth of the matter is obvious, Jews are neither a race nor have they established a racial continuum. In fact no one resents Jews for their racial belonging or ethnicity. Anti Jewish feelings is in most cases a political and ethical reaction to Jewish tribal politics, Zionism, Israel, Israeli lobbying, global Zionist affairs, Jewish ideology, Jewish supremacy, Israeli war crimes and so on.
Source: Middle East Online
According to new research conducted by Bielefeld University hatred towards Muslims decreased over the past year while hatred of Jews is growing. Israelis must be concerned. The sudden drop in European Islamophobia doesn't fit into the Zionist global plan in which Muslims are cornered and ostracised as reactionaries while Israel is dropping bombs in the name of democracy and liberalism. According to the leading Israeli paper Ynet, "the level of resentment against most minorities declined – sexism considerably, Islamophobia slightly. There were only two exceptions: homophobia and anti-Semitism."(1)
Interestingly enough Ynet reports that "the percentage of people who believe 'that there are too many Muslims' in their country is especially high in those countries that actually have a low percentage of Muslims living in them." One possible explanation may that within European countries benefiting from a large Muslim population, the fear of Islam is actually dissipating. This is not at all surprising given the fact that both Islamic and Christian cultures share very similar universal values and ethical precepts. Unlike Jewish ideology that maintains a certain level of tribal, cultural and social segregation and supremacy, Muslim communities seem to collectively merge into the working classes through the work place, education and economy.
According to the research very many Europeans are concerned with Jewish domination and power. "One-quarter of Europeans (24.5%) believe that "Jews have too much influence", and nearly one-third (31%) agree that "Jews in general do not care about anything or anyone but their own kind." Bearing in mind the embarrassing fact that 50% of MPs in Britain's shadow cabinet are Conservative Friends of Israel we can safely assume that, unlike our politicians, the voters out there are largely waking up to the danger of Zionist infiltration.
Ynet also has some 'good news' to report. "61.9% say that Jews "enrich our culture", especially in the Netherlands, Britain and Germany." The fact that Jews and ex Jews (in particular) enrich European life is indeed hard to ignore, yet setting aside Lord Cashpoint Levy and Uri 'Spoon Bending' Geller, it seems as if, amongst those Jews who contribute to European cultural life, not many openly identify with Israel and its crimes.
As much as Israel uses every possible means to drag us all into an endless war against Islam, the Europeans are coming to terms with the devastating reality of Zionist murderous brutality. Some 45.7% of the Europeans either "somewhat or strongly" agree that "Israel is conducting a war of extermination against the Palestinians." In case someone fails to understand the meaning of it all, I will say it plainly: almost half of the Europeans accept that Israel employs genocidal tactics. They basically agree that Israelis are the Nazis of our time. According to Ynet, about 37.4% agree with the following statement: "Considering Israel's policy, I can understand why people do not like Jews."
Zionism was there to create a civilized loveable Jew. Not only has it failed, thanks to Israel and Zionism, the resentment towards Jews seem to be greater than ever. The meaning of it all is rather obvious. Israel and its supporting lobbies failed to internalise the real universal meaning of the Holocaust: 'love thy neighbour'. Instead of ethnic cleansing, starving and dropping white phosphorous, Israel should have learned to live amongst others.
If Europe is as democratic as it claims to be, this clear, escalating animosity towards Israel, Zionism and their relentless lobbies will mature eventually into a political shift.
-- Gilad Atzmon (gilad.co.uk) is an Israeli-born writer and jazz musician living in London. He had previously served in the Israeli military but he is currently an anti-racism campaigner. His latest CD is In Loving Memory of America.
(1) A clarification is needed here: 'anti-Semitism' is a misleading notion. When people refer to 'anti Semitism' what they really mean is 'anti Jewish feelings'. The notion of 'anti-Semitism' is there to give a false impression that Jews are a racial group. The truth of the matter is obvious, Jews are neither a race nor have they established a racial continuum. In fact no one resents Jews for their racial belonging or ethnicity. Anti Jewish feelings is in most cases a political and ethical reaction to Jewish tribal politics, Zionism, Israel, Israeli lobbying, global Zionist affairs, Jewish ideology, Jewish supremacy, Israeli war crimes and so on.
Source: Middle East Online
The hypocrisy of Al-demoqratia
By Ramzy Baroud
So this is how democracy works?
In 2004, France banned headscarves and school principals chased after young "defiant" Muslim girls who continued to cover their heads in school. Now, following a national referendum, Switzerland has banned the construction of minarets, because minarets also somehow symbolize oppression. Thanks to the dedicated action of the far-right Swiss People's Party, the Alpine skies will be free from the snaking menace, which would spread intolerance and taint the splendor of Swiss architecture.
In between these two peculiar events, the targeting of Muslims in Western countries and the subjugation of entire Muslim nations all over the world has never ceased. Not for a day.
Moreover, the collective targeting of small or large Muslim communities in Western countries, and the deliberate abuse and degradation of Muslim individuals and Islamic symbols (from the Holy Koran to the Prophet Mohammed) has also never ceased.
Bizarrely, most of these actions have been done through "democratic" channels and justified in the name of democracy, on the basis of upholding the principles of secularism and Western values.
Many thoughts come to mind here; all unreservedly angry.
I remember when the word "democracy" used to resonate so loudly among Arabs and Muslims around the world. The more they were denied it, the more they yearned for it. University campuses in Cairo, Gaza and Karachi took their student union elections so very seriously. Innocent blood was spilled in clashes around campuses as students desperately tried to express their right to vote, to speak out and to assemble.
Those were the days, when al-demoqratia, Arabic for democracy, was the buzzword in the Middle East and beyond. Even Palestinian political prisoners held their elections, ever so faithfully, surrounded by highly fortified towers and under the deriding gaze of armed men in the unforgiving heat of the Naqab desert.
Arab and Muslim masses were keen on democracy to the extent that there was a near consensus that democracy, although a Western conception, could be distinguished from the many ills invited by Western interventions, imperialism and wars that scarred and continued to impair the collective Muslim psyche.
An entire school of Muslim thought was in fact established around the concept that democracy and Islam are very much compatible. Such a notion goes back to Egypt's Azharite scholar Rifa'a al-Tahtawi, who argued in the first half of the 19th century that the principles of European modernity were compatible with Islam.
"Al-Tahtawi's work influenced the philosopher Muhammad Abduh [1849-1905], another Azharite who is often described as the founder of Islamic modernism, which is captured in his statement that in Europe he found Islam without Muslims, while in Egypt he found Muslims without Islam," wrote German anthropologist, Frank Fanselow.
If one sets his prejudices aside to ponder this for a moment, one would realize the intellectual valor it takes to consider and even embrace commonalities with the very powers that have instilled so much harm and fear.
Even in their darkest, least proud moments, Muslim intellectuals and nations displayed impressive open-mindedness. They are hardly ever credited for that.
More recently, in Egypt, people tried hard to vote, in the face of beatings, public humiliation and imprisonment. In Palestine in 2006 the price was even higher - starvation. Gaza continues to endure under a medieval Israeli siege, ultimately because of an election.
Muslim communities in the West have long been considered the luckiest; after all, they live in the abodes of democracy. They drink from the fountain of rights and freedoms that never runs dry.
However, these idealized assumptions missed the fact that Western democracy was conditional. And unconditional democracy can only be a farce.
Much has been said to explain the West's faltering on its own commitment to democracy. No, the tragedy of September 11, 2001, is hardly the defining moment that created the growing chasm that made the West fearful of Islam. Despite all that has taken place since then - the constant spewing out of right-wing hatred, evangelical fanatic preaching and all the rest - America is still more tolerant than Europe. Nor was the growing anti-Muslim sentiment in Europe a response in solidarity to America's woes.
Honestly, the French are not fond of Americans, nor are the Germans necessarily that passionate about the Swiss. But this didn't stop a German Christian Democratic state interior minister, Volker Bouffier, from making a "recommendation" to Muslim communities in his own country: "Naturally the Muslims in Germany have a right to build mosques. But they should make sure not to overwhelm the German population with them."
How do you overwhelm people with minarets? Is this a post-post-post-modernistic logic that we are yet to be informed of?
There are only four minarets in the entire country of Switzerland, a country with a population of approximately 7.6 million people. How overwhelming can that be? And aren't religious freedom and the freedom of collective and individual expression basic rights guaranteed by democratic values?
But this is hardly about a 4.8-meter tall minaret in the northern Swiss town of Langenthal. It's about the fact that the one who suggested the structure is a Muslim furniture salesman by the name of Mutalip Karaademi. He didn't know, of course, that his modest idea of adding a minaret to the community's mosque would generate a nationwide referendum, and an international "controversy".
Karaademi was not trying to "Islamificate" the Swiss. He just wanted his community to have a place for worship (as opposed to the unused paint factory it currently uses for prayer), to be able to express its collective identity without fear. Ironically enough, the Muslim community in Langenthal is mostly Albanians, refugees who fled Kosovo seeking escape and deliverance.
What a strange paradox: Muslims escaping to the West, physically and figuratively, only to find double standards, self-negation and, at times, pure hypocrisy.
For now, however, a new consensus is forming: democracy can be invoked and used against Muslims only, and not for Muslims. It can be manipulated to deny them their identity in Europe and their freedom in Palestine, to ensure their subjugation in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and to meddle in their internal affairs everywhere else.
Al-demoqratia, indeed.
-- Ramzy Baroud is an author and editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His work has been published in many newspapers, journals and anthologies around the world. His latest book is, The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle (Pluto Press, London), and his forthcoming book is, My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza The Untold Story (Pluto Press, London), which is now available for pre-orders at Amazon.
Source: AJP
So this is how democracy works?
In 2004, France banned headscarves and school principals chased after young "defiant" Muslim girls who continued to cover their heads in school. Now, following a national referendum, Switzerland has banned the construction of minarets, because minarets also somehow symbolize oppression. Thanks to the dedicated action of the far-right Swiss People's Party, the Alpine skies will be free from the snaking menace, which would spread intolerance and taint the splendor of Swiss architecture.
In between these two peculiar events, the targeting of Muslims in Western countries and the subjugation of entire Muslim nations all over the world has never ceased. Not for a day.
Moreover, the collective targeting of small or large Muslim communities in Western countries, and the deliberate abuse and degradation of Muslim individuals and Islamic symbols (from the Holy Koran to the Prophet Mohammed) has also never ceased.
Bizarrely, most of these actions have been done through "democratic" channels and justified in the name of democracy, on the basis of upholding the principles of secularism and Western values.
Many thoughts come to mind here; all unreservedly angry.
I remember when the word "democracy" used to resonate so loudly among Arabs and Muslims around the world. The more they were denied it, the more they yearned for it. University campuses in Cairo, Gaza and Karachi took their student union elections so very seriously. Innocent blood was spilled in clashes around campuses as students desperately tried to express their right to vote, to speak out and to assemble.
Those were the days, when al-demoqratia, Arabic for democracy, was the buzzword in the Middle East and beyond. Even Palestinian political prisoners held their elections, ever so faithfully, surrounded by highly fortified towers and under the deriding gaze of armed men in the unforgiving heat of the Naqab desert.
Arab and Muslim masses were keen on democracy to the extent that there was a near consensus that democracy, although a Western conception, could be distinguished from the many ills invited by Western interventions, imperialism and wars that scarred and continued to impair the collective Muslim psyche.
An entire school of Muslim thought was in fact established around the concept that democracy and Islam are very much compatible. Such a notion goes back to Egypt's Azharite scholar Rifa'a al-Tahtawi, who argued in the first half of the 19th century that the principles of European modernity were compatible with Islam.
"Al-Tahtawi's work influenced the philosopher Muhammad Abduh [1849-1905], another Azharite who is often described as the founder of Islamic modernism, which is captured in his statement that in Europe he found Islam without Muslims, while in Egypt he found Muslims without Islam," wrote German anthropologist, Frank Fanselow.
If one sets his prejudices aside to ponder this for a moment, one would realize the intellectual valor it takes to consider and even embrace commonalities with the very powers that have instilled so much harm and fear.
Even in their darkest, least proud moments, Muslim intellectuals and nations displayed impressive open-mindedness. They are hardly ever credited for that.
More recently, in Egypt, people tried hard to vote, in the face of beatings, public humiliation and imprisonment. In Palestine in 2006 the price was even higher - starvation. Gaza continues to endure under a medieval Israeli siege, ultimately because of an election.
Muslim communities in the West have long been considered the luckiest; after all, they live in the abodes of democracy. They drink from the fountain of rights and freedoms that never runs dry.
However, these idealized assumptions missed the fact that Western democracy was conditional. And unconditional democracy can only be a farce.
Much has been said to explain the West's faltering on its own commitment to democracy. No, the tragedy of September 11, 2001, is hardly the defining moment that created the growing chasm that made the West fearful of Islam. Despite all that has taken place since then - the constant spewing out of right-wing hatred, evangelical fanatic preaching and all the rest - America is still more tolerant than Europe. Nor was the growing anti-Muslim sentiment in Europe a response in solidarity to America's woes.
Honestly, the French are not fond of Americans, nor are the Germans necessarily that passionate about the Swiss. But this didn't stop a German Christian Democratic state interior minister, Volker Bouffier, from making a "recommendation" to Muslim communities in his own country: "Naturally the Muslims in Germany have a right to build mosques. But they should make sure not to overwhelm the German population with them."
How do you overwhelm people with minarets? Is this a post-post-post-modernistic logic that we are yet to be informed of?
There are only four minarets in the entire country of Switzerland, a country with a population of approximately 7.6 million people. How overwhelming can that be? And aren't religious freedom and the freedom of collective and individual expression basic rights guaranteed by democratic values?
But this is hardly about a 4.8-meter tall minaret in the northern Swiss town of Langenthal. It's about the fact that the one who suggested the structure is a Muslim furniture salesman by the name of Mutalip Karaademi. He didn't know, of course, that his modest idea of adding a minaret to the community's mosque would generate a nationwide referendum, and an international "controversy".
Karaademi was not trying to "Islamificate" the Swiss. He just wanted his community to have a place for worship (as opposed to the unused paint factory it currently uses for prayer), to be able to express its collective identity without fear. Ironically enough, the Muslim community in Langenthal is mostly Albanians, refugees who fled Kosovo seeking escape and deliverance.
What a strange paradox: Muslims escaping to the West, physically and figuratively, only to find double standards, self-negation and, at times, pure hypocrisy.
For now, however, a new consensus is forming: democracy can be invoked and used against Muslims only, and not for Muslims. It can be manipulated to deny them their identity in Europe and their freedom in Palestine, to ensure their subjugation in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and to meddle in their internal affairs everywhere else.
Al-demoqratia, indeed.
-- Ramzy Baroud is an author and editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His work has been published in many newspapers, journals and anthologies around the world. His latest book is, The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle (Pluto Press, London), and his forthcoming book is, My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza The Untold Story (Pluto Press, London), which is now available for pre-orders at Amazon.
Source: AJP
Zionist control of Britain’s government: 1940-2009
By William A. Cook
“After so many years of setting the tone, bribing UK politicians and controlling the BBC they (Zionists) are used to being untouchable.” - (Gilad Atzmon, “Britain Must de-Zionist Itself Immediately,” Nov. 17, 2009, MWC News).
This week the British people listened to the Daily Mall’s Peter Oborne present, on Channel 4, his devastating account of the Jewish lobby’s control of their government. Now we know that virtually all the principal politicians in the UK of both parties, like their brothers across the lake in our House and Senate, take “contributions” from the Israeli lobby machine ensuring that the Anglo-American mid-east policies follow the dictates of the Israeli government. Gilad Atzmon responded to this report in his article “Britain must de-Zionise itself immediately,” noting that this control has been in place for so many years the lobby feels “untouchable.”
How many years are “many” one might ask? In 1941, the High Commissioner of Palestine, Harold MacMichael, Senior Palestine Mandate officer for the British Mandate forces in Palestine, sent the following “Top Secret” “Memorandum on the Participation of the Jewish National Institutions in Palestine in Acts of Lawlessness and Violence” to the Secretary of State, dated October 16th, a report prepared by The Palestine Police, Criminal Investigation Department:
The memorandum illustrates—indeed, brings into full limelight—the fact that the Mandatory is faced potentially with as grave a danger in Palestine from Jewish violence as it ever faced from Arab violence, a danger infinitely less easy to meet by the methods of repression which have been employed against Arabs. In the first place, the Jews … have the moral and political support … of considerable sections of public opinion both in the United Kingdom and the United States of America … all the influence and political ability of the Zionists would be brought to bear to show that the Jews in Palestine were the victims of aggression, and that a substantial body of opinion abroad would be persuaded of the truth of the contention.
Quite obviously, MacMichael understands that the Mandatory has little power at home over the zealous actions of the Zionists as they manipulate public and political opinion even as they expand their terrorism against the British Mandate government in Palestine. This is an untenable position to be in, responsible for government control and security of those under its authority, i.e. Palestinians as well as Jews, and knowing that the Jews are set on driving the British out of Palestine, and knowing that the home government can offer little help.
The Zionists and their “gangs,” a euphemism for well equipped and well trained military forces, launched a full scale terrorist rebellion against the British by robbing banks, indiscriminate killing of British police, and the assassination of British minister-resident Lord Moyne in 1944. By the end of World War II things got even worse: “The Haganah carried out anti-British military operations—liberation of interned immigrants from the Atlit camp; the bombing of the country’s railroad network; sabotage raids on radar installations and bases of the British police mobile force; sabotage of British vessels … and the destruction of all road and railroad bridges on the borders.” All of this terrorism was conducted against the Mandate Government while the home government remained silent under the pall of Israeli Zionist propaganda (Meir Pa’il, “From Hashomer to the Israel Defense Forces: Armed Jewish Defense in Palestine,” World War II). www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/source/History/resist.htm.
But recording the acts of terrorism does not do justice to the conditions the Mandate government faced. MacMichael describes the reality of the forces aligned against the police in Palestine.
A second matter which deeply impressed me is the almost Nazi control exercised by the official Jewish organizations over the Jewish community, willy nilly, through the administration of funds from abroad, the issue of labor certificates in connection with the immigration quota, the forced contributions to funds and the power of the Histadruth. … The community is under the closed oligarchy of the Jewish official organizations which control Zionist policy and circumscribe the lives of the Jewish community in all directions…
Perhaps one of the most frightening observations MacMichael makes comes at the very end of his dispatch: “As matters now stand it seems to me inevitable that the Zionist Juggernaut which has been created with such intensity of zeal for a Jewish national state will be the cause of very serious trouble in the Near East.” Prophetic words indeed.
The memorandum provided by the Palestine Police Department includes approximately 50 0 pages of seized documents from the Jewish Agency and related organizations. These documents reveal the intention of the Zionists that controlled operations in Palestine as they worked to force into existence a Jewish State. “We regard it as our duty to caution you against any attempt to decide on an anti-Zionist solution … We regard it as a duty to utter another warning. Do not postpone the political solution for ten years … The Jews are a nation. The land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel. The Jewish State will be established. It is better that it should be established with your help and for your benefit, than against you” (The Jewish Resistance Movement, March 25th, 1946, Rhodes House Archives).
The Mandate Criminal Investigation Department was headed by Richard Catling. Catling’s memorandum begins with an understanding of the “intricate Jewish political, social and economic structure in Palestine.” A series of appendices chart these structures marking in passing that “… the Palestine Royal Commission Report of 1937 understood ‘The Agency (Jewish) is obviously not a governing body; it can only advise and cooperate in a certain wide field.’ But allied as it is with the Vaad Leumi, and commanding the allegiance of the great majority of the Jews in Palestine, it unquestionably exercises, both in Jerusalem and in London, a considerable influence on the conduct of government.” Catling’s frustration with the actual control of the Jews over British policy in Palestine glares through this document: “This powerful and efficient organization amounts in fact, to a government existing side by side with the Mandatory Government…”
The Zionist controlled Jewish Agency actively undermined the legal authority in Palestine even as it operated to undermine support for that government in Britain, placing UK forces in harms way as they attempted to fulfill their authorized responsibilities in Palestine. It also demonstrates the determination of the Agency’s leadership in undermining the very nation that gave it a means of establishing a “homeland” in Palestine through the Balfour Declaration. The wording of that declaration is rarely presented in its full form: “His Majesty’s government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.” The declaration did not intend to establish a Jewish State. Indeed, the wording, “national home,” was used intentionally instead of “state.” Additionally, the first draft referred to the principle ‘that Palestine should be’ reconstituted ‘as the national home of the Jewish people.’ In the final text, the word ‘that’ was replaced with ‘in’ to avoid committing all of Palestine to the Jews only.
Now perhaps we can answer the question, “How many years has the British government been under the control of the Zionist influence?” Three score and ten, the biblical age. Perhaps it’s time that Britain is reborn, free from the shackles that bind it to this corrupt power that flouts international law, wantonly commits crimes against humanity, and in brazen arrogance tells the Nations United to shove its demands to comply with the civilized communities of the world.
(Note: Sir Richard C. Catling’s files have been released to this writer by the chief Archivist of the Rhodes House Library of the Bodleian Libraries at Oxford University. Some of the material presented above comes from the “Introduction” of a yet to be published book due out this coming spring.)
-- William A. Cook is a Professor of English at the University of La Verne in southern California and serves as editor and writer for multiple Internet publications. His published books include Tracking Deception: Bush Mid-East Policy, Hope Destroyed, Justice Denied: The Rape of Palestine, and The Chronicles of Nefaria, a novella. Visit: www.drwilliamacook.com.
Source: Middle East Online
“After so many years of setting the tone, bribing UK politicians and controlling the BBC they (Zionists) are used to being untouchable.” - (Gilad Atzmon, “Britain Must de-Zionist Itself Immediately,” Nov. 17, 2009, MWC News).
This week the British people listened to the Daily Mall’s Peter Oborne present, on Channel 4, his devastating account of the Jewish lobby’s control of their government. Now we know that virtually all the principal politicians in the UK of both parties, like their brothers across the lake in our House and Senate, take “contributions” from the Israeli lobby machine ensuring that the Anglo-American mid-east policies follow the dictates of the Israeli government. Gilad Atzmon responded to this report in his article “Britain must de-Zionise itself immediately,” noting that this control has been in place for so many years the lobby feels “untouchable.”
How many years are “many” one might ask? In 1941, the High Commissioner of Palestine, Harold MacMichael, Senior Palestine Mandate officer for the British Mandate forces in Palestine, sent the following “Top Secret” “Memorandum on the Participation of the Jewish National Institutions in Palestine in Acts of Lawlessness and Violence” to the Secretary of State, dated October 16th, a report prepared by The Palestine Police, Criminal Investigation Department:
The memorandum illustrates—indeed, brings into full limelight—the fact that the Mandatory is faced potentially with as grave a danger in Palestine from Jewish violence as it ever faced from Arab violence, a danger infinitely less easy to meet by the methods of repression which have been employed against Arabs. In the first place, the Jews … have the moral and political support … of considerable sections of public opinion both in the United Kingdom and the United States of America … all the influence and political ability of the Zionists would be brought to bear to show that the Jews in Palestine were the victims of aggression, and that a substantial body of opinion abroad would be persuaded of the truth of the contention.
Quite obviously, MacMichael understands that the Mandatory has little power at home over the zealous actions of the Zionists as they manipulate public and political opinion even as they expand their terrorism against the British Mandate government in Palestine. This is an untenable position to be in, responsible for government control and security of those under its authority, i.e. Palestinians as well as Jews, and knowing that the Jews are set on driving the British out of Palestine, and knowing that the home government can offer little help.
The Zionists and their “gangs,” a euphemism for well equipped and well trained military forces, launched a full scale terrorist rebellion against the British by robbing banks, indiscriminate killing of British police, and the assassination of British minister-resident Lord Moyne in 1944. By the end of World War II things got even worse: “The Haganah carried out anti-British military operations—liberation of interned immigrants from the Atlit camp; the bombing of the country’s railroad network; sabotage raids on radar installations and bases of the British police mobile force; sabotage of British vessels … and the destruction of all road and railroad bridges on the borders.” All of this terrorism was conducted against the Mandate Government while the home government remained silent under the pall of Israeli Zionist propaganda (Meir Pa’il, “From Hashomer to the Israel Defense Forces: Armed Jewish Defense in Palestine,” World War II). www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/source/History/resist.htm.
But recording the acts of terrorism does not do justice to the conditions the Mandate government faced. MacMichael describes the reality of the forces aligned against the police in Palestine.
A second matter which deeply impressed me is the almost Nazi control exercised by the official Jewish organizations over the Jewish community, willy nilly, through the administration of funds from abroad, the issue of labor certificates in connection with the immigration quota, the forced contributions to funds and the power of the Histadruth. … The community is under the closed oligarchy of the Jewish official organizations which control Zionist policy and circumscribe the lives of the Jewish community in all directions…
Perhaps one of the most frightening observations MacMichael makes comes at the very end of his dispatch: “As matters now stand it seems to me inevitable that the Zionist Juggernaut which has been created with such intensity of zeal for a Jewish national state will be the cause of very serious trouble in the Near East.” Prophetic words indeed.
The memorandum provided by the Palestine Police Department includes approximately 50 0 pages of seized documents from the Jewish Agency and related organizations. These documents reveal the intention of the Zionists that controlled operations in Palestine as they worked to force into existence a Jewish State. “We regard it as our duty to caution you against any attempt to decide on an anti-Zionist solution … We regard it as a duty to utter another warning. Do not postpone the political solution for ten years … The Jews are a nation. The land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel. The Jewish State will be established. It is better that it should be established with your help and for your benefit, than against you” (The Jewish Resistance Movement, March 25th, 1946, Rhodes House Archives).
The Mandate Criminal Investigation Department was headed by Richard Catling. Catling’s memorandum begins with an understanding of the “intricate Jewish political, social and economic structure in Palestine.” A series of appendices chart these structures marking in passing that “… the Palestine Royal Commission Report of 1937 understood ‘The Agency (Jewish) is obviously not a governing body; it can only advise and cooperate in a certain wide field.’ But allied as it is with the Vaad Leumi, and commanding the allegiance of the great majority of the Jews in Palestine, it unquestionably exercises, both in Jerusalem and in London, a considerable influence on the conduct of government.” Catling’s frustration with the actual control of the Jews over British policy in Palestine glares through this document: “This powerful and efficient organization amounts in fact, to a government existing side by side with the Mandatory Government…”
The Zionist controlled Jewish Agency actively undermined the legal authority in Palestine even as it operated to undermine support for that government in Britain, placing UK forces in harms way as they attempted to fulfill their authorized responsibilities in Palestine. It also demonstrates the determination of the Agency’s leadership in undermining the very nation that gave it a means of establishing a “homeland” in Palestine through the Balfour Declaration. The wording of that declaration is rarely presented in its full form: “His Majesty’s government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.” The declaration did not intend to establish a Jewish State. Indeed, the wording, “national home,” was used intentionally instead of “state.” Additionally, the first draft referred to the principle ‘that Palestine should be’ reconstituted ‘as the national home of the Jewish people.’ In the final text, the word ‘that’ was replaced with ‘in’ to avoid committing all of Palestine to the Jews only.
Now perhaps we can answer the question, “How many years has the British government been under the control of the Zionist influence?” Three score and ten, the biblical age. Perhaps it’s time that Britain is reborn, free from the shackles that bind it to this corrupt power that flouts international law, wantonly commits crimes against humanity, and in brazen arrogance tells the Nations United to shove its demands to comply with the civilized communities of the world.
(Note: Sir Richard C. Catling’s files have been released to this writer by the chief Archivist of the Rhodes House Library of the Bodleian Libraries at Oxford University. Some of the material presented above comes from the “Introduction” of a yet to be published book due out this coming spring.)
-- William A. Cook is a Professor of English at the University of La Verne in southern California and serves as editor and writer for multiple Internet publications. His published books include Tracking Deception: Bush Mid-East Policy, Hope Destroyed, Justice Denied: The Rape of Palestine, and The Chronicles of Nefaria, a novella. Visit: www.drwilliamacook.com.
Source: Middle East Online
Israel allocates millions of dollars to settlements
The Israeli cabinet has approved a proposal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allocate millions of dollars in extra funds to "national priority zones" in the West Bank.
The cabinet voted on Sunday to approve the proposal to include settlements in the list of communities designated as national priority zones, which entitles them to credits worth $41 million, AFP reported.
In its vote, the cabinet also decided to create a commission that will decide within 30 days on whether to include other communities inside Israel in the priority list, said a government official.
The move, which came just weeks after Israel imposed a ten-month moratorium on new buildings in the West Bank settlements, defies a call by Palestinians for a complete halt on settlements considered by the International community as illegal.
Netanyahu, however, claimed the plan to change Israel's map of national priority areas does not signify a permanent stance on the future of these areas.
"We will determine the future of settlements only within the framework of a permanent agreement [with Palestinians]," he said, according to Army Radio.
Israel has repeatedly been called to halt the construction of illegal settlements including the so-called "natural growth" in existing settlements in the West Bank.
Tel Aviv, however, claimed that it is not constructing 'new' settlements but only building new units in the existing settlements.
Source: Press TV
The cabinet voted on Sunday to approve the proposal to include settlements in the list of communities designated as national priority zones, which entitles them to credits worth $41 million, AFP reported.
In its vote, the cabinet also decided to create a commission that will decide within 30 days on whether to include other communities inside Israel in the priority list, said a government official.
The move, which came just weeks after Israel imposed a ten-month moratorium on new buildings in the West Bank settlements, defies a call by Palestinians for a complete halt on settlements considered by the International community as illegal.
Netanyahu, however, claimed the plan to change Israel's map of national priority areas does not signify a permanent stance on the future of these areas.
"We will determine the future of settlements only within the framework of a permanent agreement [with Palestinians]," he said, according to Army Radio.
Israel has repeatedly been called to halt the construction of illegal settlements including the so-called "natural growth" in existing settlements in the West Bank.
Tel Aviv, however, claimed that it is not constructing 'new' settlements but only building new units in the existing settlements.
Source: Press TV
Turkey becomes powerful Muslim country
Bangalore: After years and years of our campaign, Turkey has finally heeded our Voice and turned to Islam — bidding goodbye to the White “Christian Club” (European Union) to which it will never get admission.
After embracing its Muslim neighbours Turkey has gained its stature not only among its co-religionists but even among the anti-Muslim Whites.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has raised the stature of Turkey which has started playing key role in the Islamic world.
His support to Iran and its right to nuclear power and giving full backing to the re-election of President Ahmedinejad will be a shock to the zionist Israel. Yet another big achievement is Turkey’s move to embrace the Kurds with whom it had years of fierce battle.
The most important is Turkey turning against the zionist Israel with which it had a long association because of Kemal Pasha, the founder of the modern Turkey who turned it against Islam and did a lot to destroy its Muslim identity.
After embracing its Muslim neighbours Turkey has gained its stature not only among its co-religionists but even among the anti-Muslim Whites.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has raised the stature of Turkey which has started playing key role in the Islamic world.
His support to Iran and its right to nuclear power and giving full backing to the re-election of President Ahmedinejad will be a shock to the zionist Israel. Yet another big achievement is Turkey’s move to embrace the Kurds with whom it had years of fierce battle.
The most important is Turkey turning against the zionist Israel with which it had a long association because of Kemal Pasha, the founder of the modern Turkey who turned it against Islam and did a lot to destroy its Muslim identity.
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