Myrtus

Israel & Palestine be damned, world peace be damned and down with morality unless you listen to what Dr Qanta Ahmed has to say

Dr Qanta Ahmed is a Muslim woman who has so much more to offer to the world than just heart and I sincerely thank her and commend for trying to bring morality back:

"Like most things in life, morality unfortunately is a little more complex than some would have you believe. Presently, morality is sinking into oblivion deep into the Eastern Mediterranean and all that remains is some soggy, discarded flotsam bobbing up and down in a magnifying pandemonium of hysterical, biased tropism."

From a woman's perspective, I personally reject noisemakers such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Wafa Sultan and the likes, who pretend to fight for women's rights and against Islamic terror.  To me they are nothing but a bunch of hatemongering self-serving talking heads that have absolutely nothing to contribute to the common good of mankind.

For that same reason I always refused to take sides on the Israel/Palestine issue and reject our pathetic self-serving politicians who insist on ruling our world with manipulating people into blind emotion and wild fury, keeping the fires burning, while holding the world community hostage and forcing the issue to become the center our universe, or more or less as a convenience store or drug dealer they can always run to if they need a fix to feed their bad habit.  All of them can collectively move over to make room for Dr Qanta Ahmed, who does an amazing job offering crucial insights and reasoning on not just what's actually wrong with our world today, but how to fix it as well. 

I recommend you read the entire article, but here's the part that speaks to me most:

At one stage, a spokesperson for Hamas appeared on the BBC citing that Gazans have no need for aid, adding " we do not need to fill our bellies". Well, the world thinks otherwise. In his astonishing defiance revealed by a casual, throwaway comment, the spokesperson revealed the prime goal of the Flotilla's mission, as he perceived it: to run the gauntlet against the blockade, not to alleviate material needs of his suffering electorate. The Flotilla was a bald and blatant political move designed to humiliate and provoke.

His remarks reveal the extent to which Palestinians are now objectified political pawns, rather than a people. While we are comfortable with the longstanding objectification of Palestinians by Israelis as the 'other' in the form of a security threat (after all Israel must balance a constant struggle to determine the needs of a terrorized Israeli citizenship over the needs of an exploding ever-younger ever impoverished, increasingly radicalized Gaza population) we fail to encounter our own sinister objectification of the Palestinians which we accomplish so effectively all by ourselves. This objectification is not only held by their revolving, corrupt leadership, but also by an objectifying Muslim world. We the Muslims need the Palestinians to remain locked in their plight so that they might continue to serve as the Ummah's scotoma (a blindspot) which literally prevents us from seeing our own more immediate distresses, distresses which might demand our attention and perhaps even require societal interventions . We would be lost, disarmed, and stunned without an external locus for our rage which is so piercingly trained on Gaza and the West Bank, so piercing in fact that Darfur barely warrants a sidelong glance.

Does this exonerate Israel? No. Does this implicate Muslims? You bet.

Let me continue the self-flagellation.

During this same period of Flotilla Face-Offs with the IDF, Pakistan, my nation of matrilineal and patrimonial heritage has witnessed the extraordinary massacre of 120 moderate, pacifist Muslims, followers of the Ahmadiyyah movement that subscribes to peaceful, pluralistic Islam. Specifically, they embrace non-violence, condemning violent jihad. They were massacred, in cold blood, in worship, by fellow citizens, fellow Pakistanis, fellow Muslims. Most of the murdered were elderly, and male. Hundreds more were injured, some of whom are still dying this week. Emergency services did not arrive for over two hours. Pakistani police stood back, apparently allowing the carnage to occur, supposedly too afraid to engage. Awaiting special operations commandos to intervene, in their uncertainty, perhaps their tacit tolerance, Pakistani police became silent accomplices to the massacre. Many of the pacifist Muslim worshipers died of uncomplicated hemorrhagic shock within mere minutes of advanced medical care.

Where has been the subsequent national and international outrage at the death of these Muslims? Where is the Muslim world now? Where are the Muslims calling for War Crimes to be investigated within the inert and increasingly fractious Pakistani 'leadership'? We, the Muslims find ourselves suddenly voiceless, tongue tied, jaded and unmoved, yet somehow Gaza stokes our bald fury.

So, against this deafening silence, when six passengers on the ship were regrettably killed during a confrontation with the Israeli Defense Force, this bloodshed became sufficient to call for investigations of war crimes by an elected government in charge of their military at work enforcing a public, long standing naval blockade, one which has been tacitly accepted in the region, irrespective of the ethics of this blockade. It wasn't just a member of the IDF, who was thrown overboard in the on board skirmish it would seem, it was morality.

Obama sticks it to Muslim Extremists

You all know how Muslim Extremists were rooting for Obama to win the presidential election.  Who knows, probably being silly expecting special treatment because of his Muslim heritage or something like that.

So Obama wins the election and what's the first major decision he makes?

He picks Rahm Israel Emanuel as his White House Chief of Staff, a Jewish man who in is known in Arab circles first and foremost as a Zionist lobbyist and "the son of a former Zionist terrorist".

Of course they're not too happy with this at all.

Now Al Qaeda says: Oh the gloves are off alright, bring it on......n-word!

Ayman al-Zawahri calls Barack Obama a “House Negro”: NO QUARTER

Al-Zawahri also called Obama — along with secretaries of state Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice — “house negroes.”

Speaking in Arabic, al-Zawahri uses the term “abeed al-beit,” which literally translates as “house slaves.” But al-Qaida supplied English subtitles of his speech that included the translation as “house negroes.”

Obama's got Islamic cool

Well, he could have fooled me, but according to Amir Taheri, Muslims/Arabs love Obama. 

He's the one they've been waiting for.

No, really.  I'm not kidding! 

See what Taheri has to say about Obamania in Arabia in the following article:

MUSLIMS IDENTIFY WITH BARACK OBAMA - New York Post

'OBAMA! Inshallah!" - Obama! Allah willing! That slogan, scribbled on walls in Gaza, indicates the hopes that Barack Obama has inspired among Arabs.

While Obama has tried to push his origins into the background, his "Islamic roots" have won him a place in many Arabs' hearts.

One columnist, Mohamed Al-Menshawi, hails Obama as "the candidate with Muslim roots" and as the "harbinger of solidarity between Americans and the Muslim world."

Another, Al-Jazeera's Aala al-Bayoumi, notes: "Had it not been for Obama, Arabs would not even bother to follow the US presidential race." What makes the difference is Obama's "Islamic and African roots."

Marwan Bishara hails Obama's "radical politics": "For the US to vote in an African-American progressive liberal would certainly mark a departure from the hyper and violent conservatism of the Bush-McCain camp," he writes. An Obama presidency "would be better for both the US and the Arab world."

Obama especially appeals to pan-Arab nationalists angry at the United States for having ousted Saddam Hussein. Obama's promise to leave Iraq gives pan-Arabs their only chance (albeit slim) to destroy the new Iraqi democracy.

While radical Arabs, including the Hamas leadership, favor Obama, most Arab officials are wary of him. They fear his inexperience and leftist connections might destroy all that has been gained in Iraq, provoke a bigger mess in Afghanistan, trigger a war with Pakistan and open the way for Khomeinist hegemony in the region.

Note that Obama wouldn't be the first politician with Muslim roots to lead a major non-Muslim country. Carlos Menem, a Muslim of Syrian descent, served as Argentina's president from 1989 to 1999. But he dropped his Arab-Islamic first name and adopted his baptismal Christian name before entering politics.

Obama, by contrast, has retained his Arabic-Islamic names. (Barack means "blessed" and Hussein means "beautiful.") His family name is Swahili, an East African lingua franca based on Arabic. Arab commentators note that his siblings also all have Arabic Muslim names. His sister is called Oumah, Arabic for "the community of the faithful his older daughter, Malia, bears the name of a daughter of the Caliph Othman, who commissioned the compilation of the first edition of the Koran. That Obama's stepfather was also a Muslim (from Indonesia) strengthens the empathy that many Arabs feel for him.

The Syrian regime has also indicated its preference for Obama, not least because President Bush forced it to end its 29-year military occupation of Lebanon. Buthaina Shaaban, an adviser to President Bashar al-Assad, has welcomed Obama's call for radical change in US policy. She writes, "The change suggested by Obama is essential not only for the US but for the entire human family."

Also enthusiastic for Obama is the Lebanese Hezbollah. The party's No. 2, Sheik Naim al-Kassim, went as far as inviting Americans to vote Obama as a step toward peace with Islam. (The party disowned his comments as "personal opinion.") Pro- Hezbollah columnist Amal Saad-Ghorayeb has no doubt that Arabs should welcome an Obama presidency because "African-Americans are more sympathetic to Arabs because they, too, are oppressed."

Hussein Shobokshi, a liberal Saudi commentator, predicts that "Obama's ascent to power in America would mark an important moral transformation in the superpower and is a healthy indicator of the long-awaited improvement in the international arena." He envisages a new system in America in which "nongovernmental institutions will participate in the political decision-making process in an effective manner," while "capitalism will undergo fundamental adjustment."

Another liberal writer, Diana Makkled, sees Obama's success as a sign that America is still the place where dreams are realized. That a man with a Muslim-African background might become president "could only take place in the US, not in the banana republics we live in," she writes.

Arabs welcomed and widely commented on Colin Powell's assertion that, even if Obama were a Muslim, it should not be held against him.

Some columnists have also noted Obama's close ties to a number of Palestinian radicals, including Rashid Khalidi and the late Edward Said, as signs that the senator would change US Middle East policy in the Arabs' favor. Strengthening that impression was an interview the Rev. Jessie Jackson granted to several Arab media outlets, including Al-Jazeera and the popular Internet newspaper Elaph, in which he promised an end to the United States' allegedly pro-Israel policy.

Not all Arab commentators are struck by Obamania, however. His flip-flops on issues - including the future of Jerusalem, withdrawal from Iraq and dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat - have prompted some to counsel caution.

Tareq Al-Houmayed, editor of the daily Asharq Alawsat, warns Arabs not to expect too much: "Every American president would be governed by American interests. Obama's understanding of politics is not important here."

Abdulrahman al-Rashed, a Saudi commentator, also notes that no president can radically alter US global policies. He advises Arabs to neither have exaggerated hopes nor be dispirited when Obama tells the Israelis "more than they hoped to hear" to win Jewish support.

Amir Taheri's latest book, "The Persian Night: Iran Under the Khomeinist Revolution," is due out next month.

Don't be Fooled by Good Reviews

I think Barry Rubin is one of the best political analysts out there on mideast politics.  The man really knows his stuff (I often read his articles), but I wish he were slightly more centered and objective in his overall reviews on the region for the sake of promoting peace and understanding....sort of like he does here in his latest article :

http://www.gloriacenter.org/index.asp?pname=submenus/articles/2008/rubin/6_16.asp

Don't be Fooled by Good Reviews
Barry Rubin
June 16, 2008

Golda Meir once said that a bad press was better than a good epitaph. In other words, pragmatic considerations must take precedence over public relations.

Sometimes it seems as if contemporary Israeli governments have forgotten that concept. Yet in general, especially where it counts, this principle continues to prevail in Israel.

Not so in the Arab world. There, maintaining a rhetoric of war, militancy, and refusal to compromise--as proof of the regime's impeccable Arab nationalist and Islamic credentials--has always been a powerful factor in governance. This method has great benefits by mobilizing popular support for dictators and a high cost because it blocks their making peace and leads them into costly foreign adventures.

For rulers, the good news is that they remain perpetually behind the steering wheel; the bad news, at least for their citizens, is that the vehicle never gets anywhere good. But this is not to say that the masses are mere dupes in this process. Tempting as it is to say, dictators bad; people good, the fact is that even if the masses don't (in the words of George Orwell's classic on modern dictatorship, 1984) love the ruling Big Brother, they at least like what Big Brother says.

What Big Brother, and all his helping little brothers, says, however, has changed internationally if not locally. The old script, still used in Arabic, was very macho: We'll fight forever, spill oceans of blood, and win completely in the end.

The new script, available only in English, is: we're poor victims who want peace and. In tune with current world thinking, this generates much sympathy.

But the resulting public relations' victories avail them not.

First, let's ask: what, in material terms, has the shift in Western opinion and media coverage actually cost Israel? It's easy to say Israel has been restrained from triumphs by Western pressure as a result of this change. Yet that situation dates back to the early 1970s, before the public relations' blitz, and has more to do with geopolitics than public opinion.

One can argue that there have been some costs to Israel (beneficial advantages from the European Union) and some benefits to the other side (more money to the Palestinian Authority). There's been a lot of personal discomfiture for Israelis treated as pariahs and Jews abroad dismayed by waves of hatred and misunderstanding.

Yet this has amounted to relatively little material disadvantage for Israel and not much real benefit for its adversaries. After all, there's still no Palestinian state, Palestinians are more divided than ever, Hamas is isolated, there's not much pressure on Israel for concessions, the Israeli presence on the Golan Heights remains, Israel's economy thrives, Israel's relations with the major European countries are good, the international campaign against Iran's nuclear drive is as strong as can be expected, and so on.

In short, the radical Arab nationalists, Islamists, Arab regimes, and Palestinian movement have squandered their public relations' victories in the West. The main reason for this is their extremist goals. They are like a bettor who wins at the gambling table but never cashes in his chips since defeat makes him more determined and success makes him over-confident.

If, for example, Palestinian leaders had wanted a deal to get an independent state or Syria had preferred to get back the Golan Heights in exchange for full peace they would have succeeded. A good press and favorable Western opinion, reflected through government policies, would have helped them make a better deal. As it is, however, they are merely enabled to continue their endless struggle with a smile on their faces.

A second way they have lost is by failing to be constructive. Aid given Palestinians was thrown away rather than used to build a productive stable society. The same principle applies to many Arab countries, with a partial exception for high-income, low-population Gulf Arab oil-producing states. Fickle fortune doesn't favor one forever. If you don't grab an advantage it flies away. The moving finger writes and having writ moves on, as Omar Khayyam put it. And sometimes, within a very short time, the very same finger that once praised you gives you, so to speak, the finger.

Third, specific actions undermine temporary popularity. Such events as September 11, the London subway bombings, the Islamist specter, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's demagoguery turn off the Western audience.

Finally, what Arab nationalists and Islamists often cite as their strongest card that time is on their side--because of high birth rates, which also mean lower living standards, or due to Israel's impending miraculous collapse--is among their worst mistakes. You could call it the vulture strategy, wait around in hope your adversary will die. They go on fighting and suffering--postponing peace, progress, and prosperity--while Israel, despite costs, prospers and its people live much better lives.

Rather than being used as part of an integrated strategy to obtain the best possible deal, public relations' successes act as morale builders to keep fighters going in the belief that victory is inevitable. In short, the more sympathetic stories about suffering victim Palestinians, the stronger the impetus to continue policies ensuring Palestinians continue in that status.

One reason for this malady is that most Arabs and Muslims are misled by a history often characterized by the cycle famously described by the historian Ibn Khaldoun. City-centered civilizations grown rich and decadent were destroyed by warlike tribes who reveled in battle. Sheep-like peasants were preyed on by nomadic warriors who raided them like wolves, killing and pillaging.

This was before, however, developed societies built technology, organization, discipline, and identity which gave them real military superiority beyond the strong right arm of individual hero warriors who courted death in battle. Now would-be conquerors sacrifice all for a future that'll never come. A strategy based on loving death and hating life reaps the commensurate result.

Jews know well from history that it is wrong to say "sticks and stones" are physically damaging while "words will never hurt me." Experience has shown that one day, blood libel; next day, pogrom. Yet Golda Meir was in fact right: progress trumps propaganda; quality triumphs over quantity; building beats destroying; and pragmatism is superior to ideologically-based wishful thinking.

Having a nice scrapbook of press clippings doesn't equal victory. Indeed, it can spell defeat.

---

Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), with Walter Laqueur (Viking-Penguin); the paperback edition of The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan); A Chronological History of Terrorism, with Judy Colp Rubin, (Sharpe); and The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley).

Beyond Fitna

Iran's response to Geert Wilders' Fitna has been launched online today.  It's a real doozie!  Yawwwwwn

Click here: NGO

tehran times : “Beyond Fitna” hits Internet today

TEHRAN -- The documentary “Beyond Fitna” will be posted on the Internet today.

The film, which was directed by a group of Iranian filmmakers and produced by the Islam and Christianity Nongovernmental Organization, is a response to Dutch politician Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam documentary “Fitna”.

The film honors all monotheistic religions and gives a response to the anti-Islam propaganda of Western extremists, the NGO’s spokesman, Mohammad Karimi, told IRNA on Tuesday.

He said that the documentary was produced under the supervision of a group of religious scholars and Iranian professional documentarians in the English, Persian, and Arabic languages.

Amir Normandi's latest art collection - Uncirculated Stamps

Once again, Amir does a great job bringing the message across.  You can view his entire stamp collection here.