INTER ALIA, THE SALAFI EMPIRE
Enrique Ferro
Tunisian Salafis attack pro-Palestine march
Published Saturday, August 18, 2012
Hardline Salafis attacked a peaceful pro-Palestine protest on Friday evening in the Tunisian city of Gabes.
Hundreds of people were marching in support of the Palestinian demand for statehood on the occasion of International Quds Day but were attacked, witnesses said.
In a telephone interview with UPI a protester said that about 30 people affiliated with the hardline Salafi movement “attacked participants in the march with sticks and batons on the pretext that they are Shia, and not allowed to display their beliefs in the town of Abu Lubaba Ansari.”
The witness, who requested anonymity, said that clashed between Salafis and the participants in the rally continued for more than an hour in the absence of security forces - resulting in a number of injuries.
The witness added that Salafis attacked participants with sticks and stones, and also burnt the Palestinian flag and hoisted black banners reading “there is no god but Allah.”
They also chanted slogans, including: “There is no god but Allah, and Shias are the enemies of God," and others calling for the killing of Shias.
Tunisia has witnessed a number of aggressive moves moves by the Salafi movement in the past week.
On Thursday night the closing ceremony of the second session of the al-Aqsa festival in the city of Bizerte was interrupted by attacks in which five people were injured.
The festival was attended by Samir Kuntar, a Lebanese resistance figure formerly detained in Israel.
Militant Salafis stormed the concert hall and threatened the audience with swords and sticks on the pretext that Kuntar is Shia, despite him coming from a Druze background.
Extremist demonstrations in the name of Islam have become an increasing trend in Tunisia and security forces have been accused of turning a blind eye to such attacks.
(UPI, Al-Akhbar) http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/tunisian-salafis-attack-pro-palestine-march
Arrigoni’s Murder Trial In Gaza: Answers Not Just A Verdict
By Ramzy Baroud
30 August, 2012
Countercurrents.org
There
was once a young man from a very small Italian town called Bulciago who
wished to change the world. As soon as he finished his exams, he began
his quest. He travelled near and far, and when he arrived in Jerusalem
in 2002, he knew he had found his calling.
In 2008, that young man, Vittorio Arrigoni, sailed the high seas on a small boat. His purpose was to help end the siege imposed on a long-suffering population living in the tiny Gaza Strip. In a journal entry that was recently published in a much anticipated book, Freedom Sailors, Arrigoni wrote:
“History is us; History is not cowardly governments; with their loyalty to whoever has the strongest military; History is made by ordinary people.
Vittorio’s history sees ‘ordinary people’ as actors who can change the world: courageous sailors who can challenge great military powers, doctors dashing through borders and saving lives, writers, teachers, speakers, musicians and people from all backgrounds.
Vittorio’s middle name was Utopia, but his was hardly a utopian undertaking. It was very much real, and Vittorio was himself charting the way for others. Once in Gaza, he was determined to see his mission through to the very end, despite having many compelling reasons to leave. In September 2008, he was injured by the Israeli navy as he accompanied Palestinian fishermen in Gaza’s territorial waters. A month later he was arrested – or more likely, kidnapped – by the Israeli military, and subsequently deported. A month later he returned, just in time to report on the so-called Operation Cast Lead. This was a one-sided war on Gaza between December 2008 and January 2009, following the failure of the siege to achieve Israel’s political objectives. The 22-day war killed over 1,400 people and wounded thousands more.
Vittorio was there to witness it all. As many turned the war off and on through their remote controls, Vittorio was accompanying ambulances in middle of the night, comforting the wounded, weeping with the bereaved, calling on the world to help, and surviving the war himself.
He sent daily dispatches to Italian media, blogged on his website and wrote to friends the world over. His book, Restiamo Umani (Stay Human) offers a glimpse into the courageous man’s experiences. In his first entry, he wrote as an Italian activist. By the end, he was a Palestinian man besieged in Gaza.
In the eyes of some, he was dangerous. A US-based far-right website called for his murder. It was not Vittorio the person that alarmed Israel, but the notion of what he and others like him symbolized – a challenge to the predictability of a conflict between a powerful oppressor and a powerless but defiant oppressed. As far as Israel was concerned, an idealist from a northern Italian town had no business being in Gaza, where people are indefinitely caged in an open air prison. Neither Vittorio nor any other international activist was supposed to disturb the inhumane experiment.
Yet, Vittorio’s story had a most unexpected twist. On April, 2011, he was kidnapped and murdered. His murderers were Palestinians from Gaza, commanded by a mysterious Jordanian character whose origins and motives remain unclear. It was a horrifying, anti-climactic end to a story that was never intended to turn so wrong.
Continued: http://www.countercurrents.org/baroud300812.htm
A Salafi Tide Threatens Tunisia
By: Nizar Maqni
Published Monday, June 18, 2012
Tunis - To the Tunisian populace, the emergence of a Salafi movement, with ideas outside the rhetoric of the most prevalent ideologies, seemed to be an anomaly. Head of the leading party al-Nahda, Rashid Ghannouchi, however, saw it as “the birth of a new culture.”
Despite the sudden appearance, the phenomenon has hit Tunisia with force. The Interior Ministry states that thousands of citizens are “Salafis.” They present a new faction of society, because their allegiances are “across borders” and not related to the political system in Tunisia.
They believe their mission will reform society, based on the deeds of al-salaf al-salih [the pious forefathers].
“They call for an understanding of the Quran and the Sunnah [teachings and deeds of the prophet] corresponding to the interpretation of the Islamic nation’s salaf [forefathers], the prophet’s companions, their followers, and their followers’ followers, believing they represent the authentic Islamic way,” according to Osoul wa Tarikh al-Firaq al-Islamiya (The Origins and History of Islamist Groups) by Islamist movements historian Mustafa Ibn Muhammad Ibn Mustafa.
The Salafi movement is nothing but religious. It believes that all answers lie with al-salaf al-salih [the pious forefathers].
They call for jihad to reform the nation and save it from the backwardness caused by the “disbelief” left behind by Western colonialism in Islamic societies.
They call for 'jihad' to reform the nation and save it from the backwardness caused by the “disbelief” left behind by Western colonialism in Islamic societies.Tunisia witnessed this violently on four occasions following the success of the 14 January 2011 revolution which toppled Zine el Abidine Ben Ali.The first armed confrontation between a Salafi group and the Tunisian army took place in Al-Rouhiyah region, leading to the death of a colonel and two soldiers and of two armed militants. The search continues for a third that got away.
A high-ranking Tunisian security officer told Al-Akhbar that information gathered indicates that the situation is grave, especially on the border with Algeria. There is evidence of a similar threat on the border with Libya, after the discovery of a dangerous weapons leak on that side.
This was the second incident. A cell was caught smuggling arms from Libya. It was confronted by the anti-terrorism unit and the national army. Following an exchange of fire, 20 wanted Tunisians were arrested.
This new situation is transforming Tunis into a new base for jihadi action affiliated with the Salafi Call Society. One example is the Tunisian fighters who were arrested by the authorities in Syria. Allegedly, they confessed that they arrived in Syria by way of Libya, following the call for jihad against the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in Tunisian mosques.
They said that going through Libya was easy. They also managed to find financing for their mission.
Those detained came from all regions of Tunisia, from Benzart to Ben Guerdane (in the far south). They met in Libya, from where they headed to Turkey then to Syria.
The families of the detainees expressed their disbelief that their sons had gone to Syria. The security official believes this is an indicator that “recruitment operations are happening in secret. Trips to Libya are under many pretexts, including job opportunities.”
“The infiltration of cells has spread into Libya and the southern tip of Algeria,” the official adds. He indicates that the smuggling of arms into Syria could be happening in great quantities as various hideouts have been discovered, the biggest of which was in Al-Kaf, close to the Algerian borders.
Another security official says that “there are serious worries about the eruption of the situation in the summer and the upcoming month of Ramadan.”
“There is information about plans for major operations against tourism and commercial sites and public facilities inside Tunisia. The information actually indicates that weapons are being smuggled from Algeria to carry out these missions,” he explained.
The official’s statements followed a warning by the Internal Security Unions following Salafi attacks in the Jendouba region against security and public facilities. The warning maintained that the Salafis are preparing for attacks in Tunisia.
The security source revealed that drug dealers and jihadi arms smugglers are cooperating together. He believes that smuggling arms and drugs happens through the same roads, well known by smugglers from the mafia who look at post-revolutionary Tunisia as a new market.
The smuggling of arms into Syria could be happening in great quantities as various hideouts have been discovered.During a Tunisian television interview, the prime minister’s consultant was asked about “government inaction” against the Salafi threat. “We are dealing with a complex phenomenon in a complex manner,” he said.“Do you want us to deal with them in a security manner and see explosions and the escalation of the security situation in the country?” he asked.
The question suggests that the government is seriously worried about a large-scale terrorist operation. The government is attempting to solve the issue through dialogue, trying to pull the Salafis into the peaceful political process. The Salafis, especially the jihadis see this as a Western heresy.
At least, this is what Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri said in an audio message calling for a “revolt” against the government of al-Nahda, calling it an ally of the United States.
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition. http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/salafi-tide-threatens-tunisia
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All (War) Roads Lead to Mecca
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Cross-posted from Asia Times
This was undoubtedly BIG. Everyone and his neighbor were there. The Emir of Qatar, President Morsi from Egypt, President Gul from Turkey, Palestinian Authority's Mahmud Abbas, Hamid Karzai The Afghan, Prime Minister Zardari from Pakistan, Marzouki the new Tunisian leader, King Abdullah from Jordan, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad himself. All 57 member-states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) - representing no fewer than 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide.
Arab News couldn't resist waxing poetically. What about ...
"In Makkah, last night the Holy Kaaba and the Grand Mosque was bathed in bright lights. The giant Clock Tower glowed in green lights on a clear, moonless night. As the muezzin's heart-warming voice reverberated in the mountainous city at Isha, the world's leaders, sitting in the Al-Safa Palace next to the Grand Mosque, repeated Allah-o-Akbar after him."Allah Akbar indeed -- and then straight to the business in which these "leaders" excel; squabbling among themselves -- and suspending Syria from the OIC. So much for the idea sponsored by "the Islamic world's respected leader, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah" of how to "unify and strengthen the crisis-riven Muslim world."
The real nitty-gritty -- off limits to everyone -- was what the Saudis, the Iranians and the Turks actually discussed behind those Mecca doors after the heart-warming-voiced muezzin went to bed. For show, the Mecca notables passed three resolutions. They suspended Syria; recognized Palestine as a sovereign state (once again, note that Palestine was treated as just a side issue); and defended the cause of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar (the military in Naypyidaw are not exactly quaking in their boots).
The Custodian's show
What the "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" seems to have perpetrated is a savvy, Washington-style PR coup. He was evidently advised to seat Ahmadinejad to his left and the Emir of Qatar to his right. The graphic message; this triumvirate -- two Sunni Wahhabi powers, one Khomeinist Shi'ite -- is deciding the future of the Middle East. We -- Wahhabis -- are not bent on destroying those infidel Shi'ites.
Not so fast. My colleague Kaveh Afrasiabi has argued Tehran may have fallen into a trap; they were expecting a real effort of mediation and political dialogue instead of the meeting's priority -- to suspend and eventually expel their ally Syria (See Saudis use summit to isolate Syria, Iran, Asia Times Online, August 15, 2012).
Behind all the syrupy shenanigans, the fact is the House of Saud and Tehran didn't -- and couldn't -- possibly agree on anything; this was more like a "let's keep talking" -- the Mecca version of the good ol' US-USSR red telephone. The "Custodian" called for "solidarity, tolerance and moderation"; hard to see any of this as the House of Saud -- and Qatar -- weaponize runaway gangs and an array of beheading-happy Salafi-jihadis in Syria.
The OIC as a whole defended Syria's "unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity," exactly as the House of Saud and Qatar are doing all they can to undermine all of the above. Here's the OIC as an extension of the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council (other GCC members being Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates). Quite a few countries -- from Southeast Asia to Africa -- are very uncomfortable with the whole thing, but in the end deferred to the "Custodian."
The "Custodian" also wants to set up a "center for dialogue" in Riyadh. The verdict is open whether this center will examine who's really responsible for what is now practically all-out war between Sunnis and Shi'ites all across the Ummah. Imagine a center like this coming to the conclusion that the protests in Bahrain were legitimate; as legitimate as the protests in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. And as legitimate as what happened last year in Cairo's Tahrir Square (everyone remembers the House of Saud's sheer horror at its ally Hosni Mubarak being defied by scores of young urbanites).
The "Custodian" also said, "The Islamic nation is living in a state of sedition and disunity that led to bloodshed of its people in this holy month in many parts of our Islamic world."
On sedition -- fitna, in Arabic -- it's unthinkable the "Custodian" and his pampered House of Saud princes are not familiar with the Yinon plan[1] and countless others, whose divide-and-rule basis is exactly to incite a never-ending Sunni-Shi'ite war, with a cast of subdivisions including Muslims against Christians, Arabs against Persians, Turks against Persians, Arabs against Turks and, why not, Kurds against Turks.
That's exactly what is happening as the major -- intended or unintended -- blowback of Syria's proxy war.
Why not have it both ways?
So the "Custodian" seems to have sold the notion that Iran and the GCC are talking -- even if practically at each other's throats. But the House of Saud agenda remains extremely tricky; it may not dream of a smashed Iran, but certainly a very weakened Iran, either by years of Western sanctions or by a potential Israeli attack. It's no secret the GCC badly wants Israel to attack Iran; it then could reap the benefits of inwardly delighting over a weakened regional Shi'ite power while publicly condemning Israel's unilateral aggression.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/All-War-Roads-Lead-to-Me-by-Pepe-Escobar-120817-147.html
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Armenians in Syria fear likely Muslim Brothers’ rule
YEREVAN - Hürriyet Daily News
Syrian Armenians who fled to Armenia says they fear that the Muslim Brotherhood could seize power in Syria. ‘If the Brotherhood takes over in Syria, all Christians will have to leave the country’ says a member
Members of Syrian Armenian community who fled from violence in Syria gathered for a Sunday service in the garden of the Armenian Mother See’s Holy Echmiadzin Cathedral, 20 kilometers from the Armenian capital of Yerevan, on Aug 19.
“If the Muslim Brotherhood takes over in Syria, all Christians will have to leave the country,” Narbey N., a Syrian Armenian who recently fled to Armenia, told the Hürriyet Daily News. He also said that rebels in Syria shouted slogans such as: “Alawites [members of the Muslim sect to which al-Assad belongs] to coffins, Armenians to Beirut.”
The Daily News spoke to a group of Syrian Armenians gathered for a Sunday service in the garden of the Armenian Mother See’s Holy Echmiadzin Cathedral, 20 kilometers from the Armenian capital of Yerevan, on Aug. 19. They did not want to give their surnames to protect their safety.
The migrants are anxious about the future of Syria, but say they have left behind their family members and property, and insist that they will return to the country despite the dangers awaiting them. Armenians regard Syria as their second homeland after Anatolia, and their greatest anxiety stems from the possibility of the al-Assad regime falling and the Muslim Brotherhood coming to power.
“I hope the al-Assad regime does not fall, and that the country will not be taken over by the Muslim Brotherhood. Currently there are no attacks aimed at the Christian population, but their coming to power would be a catastrophe for Christians. In that case, all the Christian communities, including Armenians, would have to leave Syria. The U.S. and other Western states have already lost their Christian values and do not care about us, in the face of such political issues,” Narbey N. said. He believes the Armenian community is experiencing a second catastrophe that could possibly equal the 1915 tragedy, when hundreds of thousands were massacred or forced to migrate by the Ottoman Empire.
‘Alevites in Syria also under threat’
Continued: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/armenians-in-syria-fear-likely-muslim-brothers-rule.aspx?pageID=238&nID=28876&NewsCatID=352
What happens when they start killing Christians?
2 points on reddit
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What really scandalizes us is that the Western world is encouraging this rise of sectarian violence just to topple the [al-Assad] regime. Mother Agnes Miriam, Syria
NATO and Saudi supported Free Syrian Army democracy warriors are attacking and killing Christians in Syria. Reports indicate that various Christian denominations are special targets for kidnapping, violence and intimidation. (Image) For example:
"Syrian rebel forces have trapped over 12,000 Greek Catholics in a village near the Lebanese border, causing shortages of food, medicine and other urgent supplies." CNA, August 25
The Greek Catholics in the village of Reblah may suffer the same fate as Christians in Qusair who were forced to seek refuge in Lebanon recently after their village lost supplies for days thanks to the Free Syrian Army (FSA). The residents were told to leave or face annihilation. They chose to leave.
Mother Agnes Miriam of the Melkite Catholic monastery near Homs provided important first hand reporting on the fate of Syria's 10% Christian population (July at 3:30 and August 2012). She noted that FSA fighters destroyed six Christian churches in the city of Homs. Due to this and other attacks, up to 90% of the Christian population were forced to flee for their lives without their possessions.
Regarding the FSA, Mother Agnes asked, "Why choose Christian zones as a target?"
United States and NATO Support for those Attacking Christians
On December 11, 2011, Pepe Escobar reported that 600 troops and weapons were shipped from Libya to help topple the Syrian government. This was just part of the NATO-Saudi-Qatari sponsored flow of foreign fighters into Syria. This was well before Hillary Clinton's February warning that arming FSA rebels would risk arming terrorist elements among the rebels.
Regrettably, Clinton's statement was dripping with the cynicism of realpolitic. She and the president knew that the core commanders of the NATO supported Libyan rebels sent to Syria consisted of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIGF). LIGF was a declared ally of al Qaeda well before the Arab Spring movement started in 2011 (Al Qa'ida's Foreign Fighters in Iraq, U.S. Military Academy). She also knew that Saudis and Qatar were sponsoring Wahhabi fighters, the most extreme of the anti-Christian Muslim religious zealots.
Libyans and other foreign Islamic extremists flocking to Syria are welcomed at a special NATO-Saudi-Qatari "nerve center" in Adana, Turkey
(near Aleppo, Syria). Just a few miles from embattled Aleppo, Syria,
the center directs "vital military and communications aid to Syria's rebels" as they kill and maim to advance their cause.
Ironically, FSA tactics mirror those used to condemn Saddam Hussein: the use of human shields in military operations. The rebels moved into Syria's three largest cities, attacked local authorities (with very limited support from residents), and incurred the inevitable military response of the ruling government. The rebels can't win a battle in the open field. By using the urban population as a shield, the FSA avoids the risks of an open battle with the regime. (Image: Monastery of St. James)
Blessed are the peacemakers?
Political leaders in the United States embrace Christianity as an article of political faith. Few prominent leaders are without a specific religion and an endorsement by their local pastor, priest, etc. They display their faith in public and talk about how it rules their life. Yet:
- George Bush, the self-proclaimed Christian president, showed little regard for the fate of Iraqi Christians after the illegal invasion and occupation;
- Barak Obama failed to take into account the suffering of Syrian Christians when he sent Hillary Clinton all over the world to gain assistance for the Syrian rebels; and
- Under both presidents, Congress failed to do anything more than hold a brief hearing or two where the issue was raised.
Being a Christian in the Middle East carries special challenges. You are an identified minority. You are subject to special laws that limit your rights. Worse, during times of conflict or even times of peace, your community may be subject to intense discrimination and violence. It is not a comfortable path. It is a commitment based on deep faith and loyalty to the teachings of Jesus.
Politicians claim to follow Jesus but rarely walk the path. They must be called to account. Either act on your faith or stop lying. Stop using your religion to get elected and forget everything about it once in office. These politicians should read Jesus' teachings on peace, expand the principles to all people, and shun intimidation and violence as the first tool of foreign policy.
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www.themoneyparty.org http://www.opednews.com/articles/What-happens-when-they-sta-by-Michael-Collins-120827-751.html
Syrian Christians in 2-week blockade by rebel fighters, residents desperate
Published: 25 August, 2012, 17:01
REUTERS / Khaled Al Hariri
TAGS: Conflict, Crime, Religion, Human rights, Opposition, War, Syria
An estimated 12,000 people have spent two weeks blockaded in the Christian town of Rableh, Syria, near Homs in the south. Experiencing a shortage of food and medical supplies, residents could not leave as rebel snipers were shooting at them.
The town, close to the border with Lebanon, was liberated by Syrian
government forces on Friday, according to Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen
satellite channel. These reports are yet to be verified. Sixty militants
were reportedly eliminated.
For about two weeks Syrian rebels
maintained blockade of the mostly-Christian town, refusing entry to
food and medical supplies, according to the Aid to the Church in Need
Catholic charity, which tried to deliver supplies to the city.
“We
have organized ourselves so we can stand by each other and we are
sharing everything so we can survive. We need all the help we can get.
Please help us,” a local priest told the Caritas, a Lebanon-based Catholic humanitarian organization, during a phone call from Rableh.
After
a two-week blockade the basic necessities were reportedly running out
in the town because the bridges around the settlement had been blown up
and roads were made impassable.
Snipers were waiting for
those who thought about leaving the town in search for food. Those who
dared to leave in search for food were shot at. Three men who made
attempts to leave the disaster zone were shot dead, informed the
charity’s representative Father Waldemar Cislo from Beirut.
There
were motorcyclists who made an attempt to carry bread into the village,
but they were also shot at, though managing to escape the firing line
unhurt.
Electric power supply has also been disrupted in the
area as the conflict between the Bashar Assad government’s forces and
the rebel militants intensified.
Those Syrians who finally made it to the other side of the border described the situation back home as critical.
“Some
people are starting to feel the hunger, children’s milk is running out,
[there are] no canned goods, even children’s diapers no longer exist,” they said.
Both Syrian and Lebanon Catholic authorities have also been calling for urgent help to the people in Rableh.
Aid
to the Church in Need, previously active in Damascus, Aleppo and Homs
(Syria), and Caritas (Lebanon) had formed a small – about 800
kilograms – emergency aid delivery consisting mostly of food, medicine
and milk powder, hoping to get it to the town if militants agreed to let
it pass, but troops made it to the scene first.
Electric power supply to Rableh has already been restored, reports Al-Mayadeen satellite channel.
According
to the UN estimates the total number of Syrian refugees has already
exceeded 200,000 as the fighting continues between the government and
rebel forces.
The government of President Bashar al-Assad said
the country’s capital has been freed from the militants and the mop-up
operation in the financial hub of Aleppo is getting close to the end.
Syria’s neighbors report of a refugee exodus from the country.
Turkey
has claimed 3,500 refugees crossed the Turkish-Syrian border in the
last 24 hours alone. According to Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency
Management Directorate official, Ankara has received 78,000 Syrian
refugees on its territory.
Another Syrian neighbor, Jordan,
reports a record 2,200 people coming from Syria overnight to find refuge
in the Zaatari camp in the north of the country, informed the spokesman
for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, Adrian Edwards.
As of now, there are no independent sources of information to deny or confirm the Syrian refugee statistics.
Still, many Syrian civilians deny the very idea of fleeing abroad.
"If you go as a refugee you won't get any respect," a 20-year-old student in Bustan al-Qasr settlement, not far from the frontline, told Reuters. “For most people here, self-respect is the most important thing,” he explained.
The UN estimates the death toll of the 17-month conflict in Syria exceeds 18,000 victims from both sides.
http://rt.com/news/syrian-rebels-blockade-christians-549/
Terrorist Bilhaj Ahmad, from Tunis, trained
on the know-how of weapons in Libya, and arrested in Syria
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Terrorist Bilhaj Ahmad, from Tunis, trained on the know-how of weapons in Libya, and arrested in Syria
Foreign Mercenary & Terrorists Groups Continue Killings and doing Terrorist Acts against Syrians.
One of these terrorist is Mohamad Ali Bilhaj Ahmad, Tunisian nationality, who admitted his membership in an armed terrorist group along with terrorists from Turkmenistan, Tunis, Libya, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Terrorist Bilhaj Ahmad ,interviewed yesterday by Syrian TV, narrated the story of his trip from Tunis to Libya, where he was trained on the know-how of weapons including Kalashnikov, RBG, PKC and Dushka machineguns , Egypt, where he met some of al-Qada terrorist organization members.
Terrorist Bilhaj Ahmad, member of the Tunisian al-Nahda ruling Party, spoke of his trip to Istanbul and Antioch in Turkey as well as of his meetings there with some other terrorists of Turkish and Syrian nationalities.
Terrorist Bilhaj Ahmad spoke of his sneaking from Turkey into Aleppo Countryside, northern Syria, where he met with other terrorists including three Tunisians, a Libyan, two Kuwaitis, and with the rest from Saudi Arabia and Syria.
The terrorist was arrested by the Syrian competent authorities while in hiding inside Syria.
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Aug 27, 2012
Syria: Libyan Terrorist Relates Details of How Terrorists are Trained in Libya with Funding from Arab Gulf Countries and Sent to Syria
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| Libyan terrorist Ibrahim Rajab al-Farajani in Syria |
http://libyasos.blogspot.be/2012/08/syria-libyan-terrorist-relates-details.html
Killed in Syria “Abo-Albara’a” one of the most
dangerous Libyan terrorists
Terrorist Abo-Albara’a, Libyan mercenary and shame of Libya, is dead: Rests In Hell – Il Terrorista Abo-Albara’a, mercenario libico e vergogna della Libia, è morto: Riposi All’Inferno
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Killed in Syria “Abo-Albara’a”, a dangerous Libyan terrorist.
Killed in Syria one of the most dangerous Libyan terrorists: Abo-Albara’a”, one of the most dangerous libyan terrorists mercenaries in action against Col. Gaddafi, was from the city of Sabratha.
He was heading a brigade of Libyan mercenary rats in Syria, but he has been killed together all of them by Syrian regular Armed Forces.
#NewLibya don't need BOOKS, SCHOOLS, HISTORY - ONLY DRUGS, ALCOHOL. WEAPONS ...a boarding school, were sparse, but school staff said the attackers also damaged as many as 1,000 books they found on the premises and destroyed a tree that the attackers said people had been worshipping in contravention of Islamic teachings.
Muslim extremists attack Libyan school, mosques
TRIPOLI, Libya – An estimated 200 heavily armed Islamists destroyed 30 graves at a historic Turkish school in Tripoli's old city early Wednesday and an unspecified number of other mosques also were attacked, further signs that Libya's government is facing a major challenge from extremists less than a month after the first elections in this country in 50 years.
Details of the destruction at the Othman Pasha Madrassa, a boarding school, were sparse, but school staff said the attackers also damaged as many as 1,000 books they found on the premises and destroyed a tree that the attackers said people had been worshipping in contravention of Islamic teachings.
The attack at the school, which was founded in the 19th century by a Turkish official who is now buried there along with members of his family, was another in a string of assaults that have targeted mosques and other sites associated with Sufism, a mystical brand of Islam that some conservative Muslims consider heretical.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/30/4770473/muslim-extremists-attack-libyan.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy
Libya’s Sufism being bulldozed to the ground
Published: 26 August, 2012, 11:38
Edited: 28 August, 2012, 02:48
Libyan Islamist hardliners use a bulldozer to raze the mausoleum of Al-Shaab Al-Dahman near the center of Tripoli (AFP Photo / Mahmud Turkia)
TAGS: Arms, Conflict, Crime, Religion, Human rights, Libya
Religious sectarian tensions are reaching record levels in post-Gaddafi Libya, with two Sufi religious sites attacked and destroyed in just two days by Salafi activists.
An armed group of people including government security personnel have bulldozed the Al-Shaab Al-Dahman mosque, containing many graves, in the center of Tripoli on Saturday over allegations that a Sufi Muslim sect has been engaging in “black magic”.
Libya’s government has condemned the attack and also voiced concern at the authorities’ involvement in the demolition.
"What is truly regrettable and suspicious is that some of those who took part in these destructive activities are supposed to be members of the security forces and from the revolutionaries,” the president of Libya's newly-elected National Congress, Mohamed al-Magariaf, told reporters.
It is unclear how many security forces personnel were involved in the bulldozing. Authorities tried to stop the demolition, but after a small clash with the armed group, the police decided to cordon off the area while the destruction took place to prevent any violence erupting.
Continued: http://rt.com/news/libya-sufi-sites-bulldozed-579/
Libya Sufi shrines attacked 'by Islamist hardliners'
This photo of Sufi shrine in Tripoli being attacked with a digger was sent to the A shrine in the Libyan capital Tripoli venerating a Sufi Muslim saint has been partly destroyed - the latest in a series of attacks blamed on ultra-conservative Salafi Islamists.
Tripoli residents said men with bulldozers attacked the shrine of al-Shaab al-Dahmani, unimpeded by police.
The attack came a day after hardliners were accused of damaging the tomb of a Sufi scholar in the city of Zlitan.
Hardline Salafists regard the shrines as idolatrous.
On Friday, a group attacked the tomb of 15th-Century scholar Abdel Salam al-Asmar in Zlitan, about 160km (100 miles) south-east of Tripoli. The Reuters news agency said its dome had collapsed.
Video footage showed chunks of masonry littering the floor, bullet holes pockmarking the walls and ornate Islamic tiling destroyed.
People in Tripoli say they saw bulldozers destroy part of the al-Shaab al-Dahmani mosque and Sufi shrine.
One, a student named Abdurrahman, told the BBC: "There's a large group of Salafists - they are the one with the bulldozers, and some military police are also present.
"They seem to be overseeing the process, rather than preventing it... There are some bystanders who seem to approve".
He said the Salafists were also handing out pamphlets issued by a Saudi Arabian mufti from the hardline Wahhabi school of Islam.
'A crime'The destruction in Zlitan follows two days of clashes between rival local tribes which left at least three people dead.
Omar Ali, an official from the Zlitan military council, told Reuters: "The extremist Salafis took advantage [of the fact] that security officials were busy calming down the clashes and they desecrated the shrine."
Libya's Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagur tweeted: "The destruction of shrines and mosques is a crime. Those who commit these crimes will be held responsible."
In November last year, the bodies of two Muslim clerics were removed from the Sidi Nasr shrine and mosque in Tripoli and reburied according to the principles of the hardline Wahabi school of Islam.
There has recently been an international outcry over the destruction of centuries-old shrines in Timbuktu, Mali.
The Sufi sites were attacked by the al-Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine group which seized the city in April.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19380083
Religious sectarian tensions are reaching record levels in post-Gaddafi Libya
Libyan Islamist hardliners use a bulldozer to raze the mausoleum of Al-Shaab Al-Dahman near the center of Tripoli (AFP Photo / Mahmud Turkia)
TAGS: Arms, Conflict, Crime, Religion, Human rights, Libya
Religious sectarian tensions are reaching record levels in post-Gaddafi Libya, with two Sufi religious sites attacked and destroyed in just two days by Salafi activists.
An armed group of people including government security personnel have bulldozed the Al-Shaab Al-Dahman mosque, containing many graves, in the center of Tripoli on Saturday over allegations that a Sufi Muslim sect has been engaging in “black magic”.
Libya’s government has condemned the attack and also voiced concern at the authorities’ involvement in the demolition.
“What is truly regrettable and suspicious is that some of those who took part in these destructive activities are supposed to be members of the security forces and from the revolutionaries,” the president of Libya’s newly-elected National Congress, Mohamed al-Magariaf, told reporters.
Continued: http://globalciviliansforpeace.com/2012/08/28/religious-sectarian-tensions-are-reaching-record-levels-in-post-gaddafi-libya/
Sabyasachi Chatterjee:
Turkey's Erdogan Muslim Brotherhood government seems to be very happy infesting Iskandaron (Hatay) province with Jihadists, especially Jabhat Al Nusra fighters, whom are part of Al Qaeda, Levant branch, they're Takfiri
People in the area started complaining of these fighters enjoying their time, gathering, preparing for battles, training and other things in this peaceful province, part of Syria which was illegally annexed to Turkey by France which was occupying Syria then.
COMMENT : Shia genocide: what’s in a name? — Dr Mohammad Taqi
For all intents and purposes, the Shia of Pakistan constitute a
social collectivity that has been under a systematic assault by
non-state actorsIs it Shia genocide or is it the genocide of the ethnic Hazaras of Quetta? What about the Gilgiti, Balti and Peshawari Shia then, or the Pashtun Shia of the Turi and Bangash tribes? Is it genocide at all? Why call it genocide when the state is allegedly not involved or supporting the perpetrators? And so continues the debate over the semantics of mass murder. As much as the killers are calm, cool, collected and calculated; the response is disjointed, if any at all, and the responders disparate and bickering.
Last year, I had noted in these pages that human rights activists, for various reasons, balk at calling the wholesale killings of the Pakistani Shia as genocide. But it is not just the nomenclature. The fact is that the two major international human rights organizations, viz Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are constantly remiss in reporting in a timely manner the atrocities perpetrated against the Pakistani Shia. For example, the recent massacre of the Shia at Babusar Top was widely reported by the international media and condemned even by the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, but not so much as a denunciation has been issued by these two outfits. I understand that it might not be a grand scheme to not record and report the systemic slaughter of the Shia underway in this country but it certainly is disconcerting to note such omissions. The two groups have a dismal record of reporting the four-year siege of the Shia of upper Kurram and their deaths in thousands. If the idea of highlighting an issue is to chronicle it in a ‘country report’ the following year, then clearly there is a level of dysfunction in these outfits that should raise a flag.
Continued: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\08\30\story_30-8-2012_pg3_2
Saudis Wahhabis Arrest Shia Women at Prophet's Mosque in Medina
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Saudi Arabian security forces have arrested a number of Shia Muslim women in the courtyard of Masjid al-Nabawi (the Prophet's Mosque) in the holy city of Medina.
The Shia women were praising Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his household on Friday morning when the mosque’s guards detained them and confiscated their religious books, which are banned in the kingdom, the Arabic-language Saar news website reported.
On August 14, at the emergency summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the holy city of Mecca, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia called for the establishment of a center in Riyadh to promote dialogue between members of the various schools of Islamic jurisprudence in order to strengthen Muslim unity.
However, Friday’s arrests show that the Saudi Arabian government has still not granted its Shia citizens freedom of religious expression.
Continued: http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&id=339620
"The men died from being attacked with sickles. One died on the spot yesterday and another this morning," East Java provincial police spokesman Hilman Thayib said on Monday.
Six people were also injured, while 39 homes were set alight during the clash.
Around 500 villagers many armed with machetes attacked a group of Shia students in the town of Sampang in East Java Province on Sunday.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has condemned the attack and called for firm action against the assailants to prevent further violence.
The attack was not the first incident of violence against Shia Muslims in the region.
In late December, 500 Shias were forced to flee their village after a mob attack in Nangkernang, according to human rights watchdog.
Rights groups say Indonesia has become less tolerant in freedom of religion over the past decade and the government is turning a blind eye to the problem.
PG/JR/SS/AZ http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/08/27/258454/two-shia-muslims-killed-in-indonesia/
The Pakistani group first published the video titled “Revenge” last Thursday night on the Wahhabi terrorist Seminary Jamia HafsaUrdu forum and then distributed the film on other Wahhabi-Nasabi jihadist forums.
In the video, the Shia victims, Shaheed Haseeb Zaidi and Maulana Nooruddin, with their hands tied behind their backs were accompanied by four masked members of the group.
The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi terrorist group is believed to be linked to Pakistan’s Taliban and most militant attacks on Pakistani Shias are conducted by the group.
The notorious group is regarded as al-Qaeda’s muscle in terror attacks and has an extensive network in Pakistan.
This is while unknown gunmen killed at least three Shia Muslims from Hazara community and injured two others in southwestern Balochistan province of Pakistan.
The incident occurred when the assailants opened fire at a taxi on Spini road of Quetta town on Monday.
The gunmen fled the scene following the attack and no group has yet claimed the responsibility for the offensive.
AO/MA http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/08/27/258357/two-shia-muslims-beheaded-in-pakistan/
Pakistan govt to keep 11yo Christian girl in jail 'for own safety'
Published: 26 August, 2012, 17:21
Members of the Action Committee for Human Rights chant slogans in the support of Rimsha Masih (AFP Photo / Rizwan Tabassum)
TAGS: Conflict, Crime, Religion, Scandal, Hate crimes, Protest, Politics, Human rights, Law, Pakistan
Pakistani police blocked a bail request for the minor who reportedly suffers from Down’s syndrome, claiming her release would endanger her life and that of her family. The girl is accused of blasphemy for allegedly burning a Koran.
The detention of Rimsha Masih has sparked outrage and divided Pakistani society. Christian rights groups have demanded her release along with amendments to the penal code, while enraged Muslims call for the girl to be burned alive.
The Pakistani Interior Ministry has reportedly asked the Islamabad police to reject Rimsha’s bail request on the basis that there was a serious threat to the girl’s life and the lives of her family.
Her family members are thought to have been taken into protective custody.
An interior ministry official speaking on condition of anonymity told BBC Urdu that Rimsha would be safer in custody until the matter has been resolved and the public has “cooled down.” He added that the situation could easily spiral out of control if rushed.
In spite of reports that the girl was so traumatized she could barely speak, Islamabad police sent a preliminary report to the Interior Ministry saying the girl had admitted to burning the sacred book. A medical board had also been set up to ascertain the state of Rimsha’s mental health.
The All Pakistan Christian League held a protest in Karachi on Saturday, calling for police to drop the charges of blasphemy set against the 11-year-old and the launching of a judicial inquiry into why a minor with mental impairments was arrested in the first place.
They also called for the amendments to the penal code, chanting “Stop killing innocent people in the name of blasphemy”, “Abolish the blasphemy law” and “Talibanization not acceptable”.
The controversial case has highlighted long-standing protests over the country’s blasphemy laws, under which a person can be jailed for life for an infraction.
The girl is reportedly suffering trauma in custody and has been unable to say much to the police.
Rimsha Masih was taken into custody last week in the Christian area of Islamabad after an enraged crowd demanded that she be punished.
It is unclear whether or not she actually burnt pages of the Koran, given that some reports say that she was just found with pages of the holy book in her bag.
Several Christian families fled the neighborhood as a result of the unrest.
Tensions have escalated drastically recently between Muslims and Christian in Pakistan. Two days ago the body of an 11-year-old Christian boy was discovered in Punjab. The boy’s lips and nose had been sliced off and his body showed evidence of being burned.
An investigation is now underway to find out whether accusations of blasphemy had been made against the boy.
http://rt.com/news/pakistan-jail-christian-girl-593/
Pakistani Christian boy tortured, mutilated, burnt
Published: 24 August, 2012, 11:52
Edited: 24 August, 2012, 21:05
Human Liberation Commission of Pakistan activists shout slogans during a protest against alleged anti-Christian violence (AFP Photo/Arif Ali)
TAGS: Crime, Religion, Accident, Politics, Human rights, Terrorism, Pakistan
With the hysteria over the arrest of a Christian girl with Down’s syndrome on a charge of blasphemy yet to blow over, the brutally tortured body of an 11-year-old Christian boy has been found in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
The body of Samuel Yaqoob, was discovered with his lips and nose cut off, his stomach removed and his legs mutilated. According to police the body was later burned and could hardly be recognized.
Relatives identified the corpse from a distinctive mark on the boy’s forehead.
Yaqoob, a resident of the Christian Colony of Faisalabad, had been missing since August 20, last seen on his way to a local market. His mutilated remains were found on Eid-Ul-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the month-long Muslim fast of Ramadan.
Detectives are investigating
whether accusations of blasphemy had previously been filed against the
minor. Yaquub was believed to be an orphan, but The Telegraph reports
that his mother was quoted in the local press denying any allegations
were made.
"We neither received any phone call for ransom nor were we told that Samuel had committed blasphemy," she said.
When a Christian group is suspected of transgressing the blasphemy laws, the consequences can be brutal, reports the World Public Forum NGO.
The death of the 11-year-old comes a week after a young Christian girl with Down’s syndrome was charged with blasphemy after reportedly burning pages of a Koran.
Rifta Masih was beaten by local Muslims after they witnessed her allegedly torching pages of the sacred book when cooking. Several hundred Christians have fled their homes following the incident in fear of violence after local mosques reported the alleged incident over loudspeakers, and hundreds of Muslims taken to the streets.
In Pakistan, those accused of blasphemy are subject to instant imprisonment and most are denied bail to prevent mob violence. As a rule, the accused are placed in solitary confinement for their own protection against harassment from inmates or guards.
Those that have been acquitted from the charges, often leave the country, one of the strictest enforcers of Sharia law in the world, reports the Washington Post. In Pakistan, slandering Islam or its holy book is punishable by death.
There have been no executions for blasphemy, though Asia Bibi, a mother of five and a Christian, was sentenced to death two years ago. Bibi has not been executed as of yet, and may be pardoned of her death sentence.
Christian minister Shahbaz Bhatti and Pakistani government politician Salmaan Taseer were both assassinated for opposing the blasphemy laws in connection with Bibi’s case.
Last month, a man accused of desecrating a Koran was dragged from a police station by a mob and beaten to death.
According to Human Rights Watch researcher Ali Dyan Hasan, "The [country’s blasphemy] law creates this legal infrastructure which is then used in various informal ways to intimidate, coerce, harass and persecute."
http://rt.com/news/boy-torture-pakistan-christian-440/
Libya S.O.S.
See, Islamists are terrorists in Europe BUT in #Syria they're 'freedom fighters.'
" The justice minister of Belgium said that she has been told by the state security that Saudi Arabia is funding around 10 schools in Belgium that are teaching radical Islam."
‘Islamist terrorism is the biggest threat in Europe’
Published: 30 August, 2012, 10:28
Edited: 30 August, 2012, 14:45
French members of the French National Police Intervention Group (GIPN) arrest a suspected radical Islamists group member, on April 4, 2012, in the French northern city of Roubaix, as part of dawn raids in several French cities. (AFP Photo/Denis Charlet)
(94.1Mb) embed videoTAGS: Religion, Europe, Terrorism, Tesa Arcilla, Security
Islamist terrorism and the radicalization of young Muslims has taken center stage in Europe. With schools, universities and even sport clubs becoming hotbeds of Islamism, experts argue that some European countries have willingly allowed it.
Claude Monique, an expert on counterterrorism and extremism and the
director of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center,
told RT that while European intelligence was engaged in battling a
bigger threat – communism and the former Soviet Union – it ignored what
has become a defining threat of the modern age.
RT: Terrorism
in Europe: We’ve seen acts of terror from Breivik in Norway to Mohamed
Merah in Toulouse, and we have also seen riots based on ideology. Based
on what you’ve seen so far, where is the biggest threat coming from?
Claude Moniquet:
I think that we have three different threats today in Europe. The
biggest one clearly is still Islamist terrorism. Why it is the biggest?
Because we have a large number, thousands of people involved – not in
special interest actions but in extremist actions, and are able to
become terrorists in the future. We don't have thousands of such people
on the right wing, for instance.
So we have thousands of
people who have a very clear political and religious agenda. We have a
radicalization process which is ongoing for years now, so I think
clearly, Islamist terrorism is the biggest threat in Europe.
After
this, we have two different threats. The first one is right-wing
terrorism like Breivik, but if we accept the Breivik case, we didn't
have real large-scale act of terrorism from the right wing for 20 years.
And the last threat would be the left-wing terrorism. Which
for the moment doesn't exist in Europe, but it existed 20 years ago – we
have clear signs that in Italy, in Greece, we have some anarcho-Marxist
groups at work, but very small and on a very low scale
RT:
Different though their ideologies may be, these three groups are
extremes. You mentioned the radicalization process, and how difficult it
is to intercept. Where is the radicalization process actually
happening? Are we talking about schools, universities, mosques, prisons?
How do we identify it?
CM:
Radicalization is going on through different channels. First of all, it
is going on in areas, in the cities, in municipalities, in the sports
facilities, in the gym clubs, in the football clubs, of course in
schools.
So that is the base. After this you have different ways or different places, like prison of course, and universities.
Most
of the radicalization is done at a young age and it's done in the
streets, it's done in the municipalities, in some schools. When people
come to university for instance, those who are radicalized are already
radicalized, and the others will probably not be radicalized. It's a
minority, we must understand that clearly, radicalization could be a
concern of maybe ten to 15 percent of the young Muslims in Europe.
Continued: http://rt.com/news/islam-radicalization-terrorism-europe-826/
How the CIA Helped The Muslim Brotherhood Infiltrate the West
by Jerry Gordon (August 2011)
Muslim Brotherhood and founder Hasan al-Banna
In April of 2007, then House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer had an encounter with Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood representatives in Cairo. Fox News reported:
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer met with the Muslim Brotherhood’s parliament leader, Mohammed Saad el-Katatni, twice on Thursday — once at the parliament building and then at the home of the U.S. ambassador to Egypt, said Brotherhood spokesman Hamdi Hassan.
U.S. Embassy spokesman John Berry would only confirm that Hoyer, who represents Maryland, met with el-Katatni at U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone’s home at a reception with other politicians and parliament members.
[. . .]
But Berry said U.S. government policy does not bar meetings with Brotherhood members of parliament and Hoyer's talks with el-Katatni were not a change in U.S. policy toward the group.
Continued: http://www.newenglishreview.org/custpage.cfm/frm/94452/sec_id/94452
Female suicide bomber in Muslim cleric attack identified as actress
Published: 30 August, 2012, 14:12
Edited: 30 August, 2012, 23:01
TAGS: Religion, Russia, Terrorism, Prime Time Russia, Egor Piskunov, Neil Harvey, Security
The female suicide bomber responsible for killing Dagestani Muslim spiritual leader Sheikh Said Afandi and six others has been identified as a 30-year-old Russian woman, reportedly an actress who converted to radical Islam.
Aminat Saprykina was charged with the suicide mission by Rustam Aselderov, who was allegedly just appointed leader of a north Caucasus militant group, Kommersant reported, citing police sources.
Saprykina posed as a pilgrim who wanted to convert to Islam. According to reports, she convinced the Sheikh’s inner circle to immediately grant her an audience with Afandi, bypassing the long line of people waiting to see the spiritual leader. Saprykina claimed she wanted to convert to Islam; she detonated a bomb as she neared the Sheikh, killing Afandi along with his wife and five other people who came to see him, including an 11-year old boy.
RT’s Nadezhda Kevorkova, who is currently in the area, reported that Saprykina arrived at the Afandi’s house with children, and pretended to be pregnant. There is no information available on the children she came with, Kevorkova said.
Saprykina came from a striking background, having graduated from an acting program at a Dagestani university and worked for a Russian theater in Makhachkala. She was also a member of a local breakdancing group, Kommersant said. Saprykina has turned toward radical Islam, and was allegedly being influenced by local militant groups. She had reportedly been married four times to different members of the groups. Three of the men are dead, and another one is currently serving a prison sentence.
Special security forces identified her as a possible suicide bomber last year, but were unable to ascertain her location. She had attempted to perpetrate other suicide attacks, but backed out each time after her cover was blown, Russian media reported.
Police were able to identify her corpse through DNA testing after her body parts were found in the Sheikh’s house.
Day of mourning
Continued: http://rt.com/news/afandi-dagestan-suicide-bomber-897/
That this article appeared in al Jazeera is remarkable, as aJ has become one of the most decisive imperialist pawns in the region. But like the Times and many other MSM they play the policy of op-eds even against their line in order to make more credible their editorial lies, which unlike the dissident views are massive.
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The PA has "very little more to offer" to Israel and the US is the deciding factor in its "survivability or demise".
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Jordan Prime Minister Fayez al-Tarawneh
has "threatened to criminalise calls for boycotting the elections",
hinting that if people do not register to vote, they could open
themselves up to government prosecution [EPA]
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If the outcome of the so-called "Arab Spring" has been the accession to power of the Muslim Brothers in Egypt and a similar Islamist movement in Tunisia, and the strengthening of sectarian and tribalist jihadists in the guise of "fighters for democracy" in Libya and Syria (the temporary defeat of the Bahraini and Yemeni peoples' uprisings notwithstanding), the recent admission of Hamas to the ranks of forces that not only do not threaten American interests in the region, but also would like to work to enhance them is a notable transformation. Qatar has been the mover and shaker in this battle to extend and upgrade the informal international legitimacy that Hamas has in the eyes of the people of the region and Third World allies to the official level of Arab and Western governments. That Hamas, with Qatari support, was the first Islamist party in the Arab world that won a solid electoral victory in 2006 did not serve to grant it the legitimacy it deserved in the eyes of the United States, the most formidable anti-democratic force in the region and the world. Instead, it galvanised the US, Israel and the collaborationist Palestinian Authority to stage a coup against it to deprive it of that victory. Having understood that the electoral strategy failed to have Hamas replace Fateh at the helm of the PA, Qatar and the top leadership of Hamas realised that the "Arab Spring" offers important new opportunities in this regard.
Slowly but surely, Hamas was pulled out of Syria and is being fully taken out of the Iran-Syria-Hezbollah alliance that threatens US-Israeli-Saudi strategy in the region, not only by transferring its top leadership from Damascus to Qatar, but also through a major rehabilitation effort of Hamas in Jordan, whose King Abdullah had exiled members of the Hamas leadership in 1999 on the orders of the US and Israel. Jordanian electoral politics |
The Times epitomizes the efforts of the American establishment to whitewash the Muslim Brotherhood and others in order to present them as the human face of Islamism and therefore acceptable to become the next/current US stooges in the Middle East...
Don’t Fear All Islamists, Fear Salafis
By ROBIN WRIGHT
Published: August 19, 2012
Connect With Us on Twitter
For Op-Ed, follow @nytopinion and to hear from the editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, follow @andyrNYT.
THIS spring, I traveled to the cradle of the Arab uprisings — a forlorn street corner in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, where a street vendor, drenched in paint thinner, struck a match in December 2010 that ignited the entire Middle East. “We have far more freedoms,” one peddler hawking fruit in the same square lamented, “but far fewer jobs.” Another noted that Mohamed Bouazizi, the vendor who set himself on fire, did so not to vote in a democratic election but because harassment by local officials had cost him his livelihood.
As the peddlers vented, prayers ended at the whitewashed mosque across the street. Among the faithful were Salafis, ultraconservative Sunni Muslims vying to define the new order according to seventh-century religious traditions rather than earthly realities. For years, many Salafis — “salaf” means predecessors — had avoided politics and embraced autocrats as long as they were Muslims. But over the past eight months, clusters of worshipers across the Middle East have morphed into powerful Salafi movements that are tapping into the disillusionment and disorder of transitions.
A new Salafi Crescent, radiating from the Persian Gulf sheikdoms into
the Levant and North Africa, is one of the most underappreciated and
disturbing byproducts of the Arab revolts. In varying degrees, these
populist puritans are moving into the political space once occupied by
jihadi militants, who are now less in vogue. Both are fundamentalists
who favor a new order modeled on early Islam. Salafis are not
necessarily fighters, however. Many disavow violence.
Continued: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/20/opinion/dont-fear-all-islamists-fear-salafis.html?_r=3&hp
Troubling Israeli Religious Fundamentalism
By Stephen Lendman (about the author)
Become a Fan (167 fans) -- Page 1 of 4 page(s)
Troubling Israeli Religious Fundamentalism
Extremist Israelis advocate mass murdering Arabs.
by Stephen Lendman
Islamic fundamentalism is vilified in the West. Extremist Jews are largely ignored. In Israel they're dangerous. They influence government policy. They seek control of Israel's rabbinical system.
Last January, Haaretz reported that ultra-Orthodox Shas party members used "improper methods bordering on the criminal (to get) its people appointed to key offices."
Israeli Haredim are ultra-Orthodox extremists. They believe their way is the only way. Others are heretics. Israel Shahak's (1933 - 2001) "Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel" explained its pervasive, destructive influence on Israeli politics, the military and society.
He called all forms of bigotry morally reprehensible, saying:
"Any form of racism, discrimination and xenophobia becomes more potent and politically influential if it is taken for granted by the society which indulges in it."In Israel, he added:
"The support of democracy and human rights is....meaningless or even harmful and deceitful when it does not begin with self-critique and with support of human rights when they are violated by one's own group."
"Any support of human rights for non-Jews whose rights are being violated by the 'Jewish state' is as deceitful as the support of human rights by a Stalinist"."
Shahak was a holocaust survivor. He discussed Jewish fundamentalist history. He examined its variations and explained dangerous messianic ones. They espouse Jewish superiority. Gentiles are inferior.
Fundamentalist Rabbi Abraham Kook (1865 - 1935) was significant. He preached Jewish supremacy, saying:
"The difference between a Jewish soul and souls of non-Jews - all of them in all different levels - is greater and deeper than the difference between a human soul and the souls of cattle."
He helped create the settler movement. His son, Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook, founded the extremist Gush Emunim. Its slogan is "The Land of Israel, for the people of Israel, according to the Torah of Israel."
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Troubling-Israeli-Religiou-by-Stephen-Lendman-120823-805.html 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
How Are
US Religious Fundamentalists Any Different Than Middle Eastern
Ones?
By Shirin Sadeghi
August 25,
2012 "Information
Clearing House" ----
In the American media, the
news from Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, Afghanistan and elsewhere
generally runs along the same themes: scary, violent and
religious nutsos. But isn't it time the US media and the
American public agreed that America isn't much different?
America has just as many religious fundamentalists and nut jobs,
and they are making public statements just as often - if not
more often - than the religious fundies elsewhere.
Are we to believe that a fundamentalist in a suit is less scary
than a fundamentalist in a beard, even if both are spouting
hatred against women?
Missouri Republican Congressman Todd Akin's recent comments about how women can't become pregnant from what he called "legitimate rape" was just the latest in a long line of pronouncements from American leaders with strong religious backgrounds who believe they are an authority on women's needs and health. Akin is no different than the numerous Iranian clerics who've said such ridiculous things as women who have extramarital sex "cause earthquakes," or the Egyptian cleric who first said that a husband and wife cannot be completely naked while having sex. (This was then modified by scholars, and it was agreed that the most important thing is that no one look at the vagina at the scene of the sex act.) Or the fatwa after fatwa about men and women working together, schooling together and all the rest (sounds a lot like segregation, doesn't it America?).
In the early days of the Taliban, before they began their habit of bombing girls' schools, they too, started out with making ridiculous comments about women and sexuality. It's only just escalated to the violence we've become familiar with.
Continued: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32282.htm#.UDuyQEwaaCM.facebook
--
“They have succeeded in dominating us more
through ignorance, than through force”.
Simon Bolivar
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Voltaire
"The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed" - Steve Biko