How to end 'Islamophobia'

IN THE UMMAH

How to End 'Islamophobia'
The latest survey of American Muslims won't reassure their fellow citizens.

BY TAWFIK HAMID
Friday, May 25, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT

Islamic organizations regularly accuse non-Muslims of "Islamophobia," a fear and disdain for everything Islamic. On May 17, this accusation bubbled up again as foreign ministers from the Organization of the Islamic Conference called Islamophobia "the worst form of terrorism." These ministers also warned, according to the Arab News, that this form of discrimination would cause millions of Muslims in Western countries, "many of whom were already underprivileged, " to be "further alienated."

 

Complete article: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010123

 

Thomas Braun, Lima, Peru

Clueless Martin Indyk or clueless Israel government ??

A very interesting inteview with ex ambassador Martin Indyk, at the CFR Web site.

 

It is interestring because of what he does not know, which is indicative of American diplomatic knowledge of the Middle East in general, or of the appalling state of the Israeli government. He is asked:

 

 

Why doesn't Israel send its troops into Gaza and clean them out?

His reply:

It may eventually lead to that; in fact, it probably will. But since the intifada broke out in October 2000, Israel has been very reluctant to send its army into the cities and refugee camps of Gaza. But in April 2002, [former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon sent the army into the West Bank where it remains to this day, and basically destroyed the infrastructure of terror there quite effectively. It did not do this in Gaza, and hasn't yet; the reasoning as I understand it is that the suicide bombings were not coming from Gaza, they were coming from the West Bank. The cost in terms of Israeli soldiers' lives and the lives of Palestinian civilians would be very high in the kind of cleanup operation that you're talking about.

Increasingly, cabinet ministers in Israel are talking privately and even publicly about going in, cleaning it out, and withdrawing in favor of NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] forces, or some other international forces, that are capable of coming in behind Israel's withdrawal and exercising control there. I personally find this fascinating because four years ago I thought that was the best solution in Gaza, and advocated a trusteeship for Gaza and the West Bank, in which international forces would intervene under a UN mandate, and basically create the conditions and oversee the building of the institutions of government for an independent Palestinian state in a transition arrangement. The Israelis at the time, except for those on the far left, thought this was a terrible idea. But the Israelis learned from the experience in Lebanon over last summer, where they did not exactly go in and clean out Hezbollah, but nevertheless when they withdrew, a more robust international force was put in place in southern Lebanon, which moved Hezbollah away from the border and made it more difficult for Hezbollah to operate against Israeli settlements in the northern part of Israel.

If Israeli Ministers are really considering that, they are nuts. In the first place, no international force will have the intelligence capability of the IDF and none are willing to do it anyhow. Secondly, what Israel learned from Lebanon, or should have learned, is that we got a disaster because we started a war without thinking of how to finish it. Nobody with half a brain would repeat that fiasco. In general, all of his ideas sound like a utopian nightmare, unrelated to the reality of chaos in Gaza. A Nato or American or UN force in the West Bank and Gaza would look something like a coalition force in Iraq or a Nato force in Afghanistan. Who wants that? If the Israeli government does it, and you come to me complaining about my bad prophetic abilities, I will respectfully ask that you read the first part of that sentence again.

Ami Isseroff

Sex in Egypt: Adult Breastfeeding Setback

Sex life in the Middle East took a decided turn for the worse recently. Convervative officials at Al-Azhar university interfered arbitrarily with the academic freedom of an Al-Azhar cleric, Ezzat Attiya, the head of Al-Azhar's Department of Hadith. Attiya had issued a very forward looking Fatwa that ruled that adult men could breast-feed from female work colleagues as a way to avoid breaking Islamic rules that forbid men and women from being alone together. Yummy! "The work family that nurses together, stays together" seems to sum up his views.

 

His ruling was intended to allow women to work in close proximity to men, a practice generally forbidden in Islam. Breastfeeding of a child is considered to establish a family bond in Islamic law, such that children nursed by the same mother cannot marry. Attiya argued that if a man nursed from a co-worker, it would establish a family bond between them and allow them work side-by-side without raising suspicion of hanky-panky.

 

A sad day for academic freedom in the Middle East! A veritable Nakba for hanky-panky in Egypt. Not since Rabbi Ovadia Yossef ruled that the urine of women is kosher have we seen such an intelligent religious ruling.

 

Ami Isseroff

ElBaradei: World heading for clash with Iran; Israel: There's time

The international community is "heading towards confrontation" with Iran over it's nuclear program, stated Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Thursday. The warning came after the Wednesday report by IAEA that Iran is expanding its program, and that the agency's knowledge of its activities are decreasing.

Israel responded to the IAEA report by saying that thought the Iran's persistence in its nuclear program was a "source of concern," there was yet no evidence in the report saying Iran's activities had reached "industrial" levels.

 

Complete article: http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Security/11415.htm

 

Thomas Braun, Lima, Peru 

Insanity

{It would appear, the U.S. and Israel are repeating the same old worn out mistakes of the past.

1) US helps Saddam during the 1980's war between Iran and Iraq, alternating between helping Iraq and then Iran and then Iraq. Administration official were divided. Which monster was the greater threat? Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush was in the group which supported Iraq. US administration helped Saddam acquire chemical and biological weapons either directly or indirectly, though the administration knew Saddam was using them on the Iranians and on his own people, the Kurds. (See: "The Secret History of how the White House Illegally Armed Iraq: Spider's Web," Alan Friedman)

Administration publicly condemns Saddam for using these savage methods but reassures him privately through back channels. Saddam becomes a greater monster than he was previously. He invades Kuwait August 2, 1990 during George Herbert Walker Bush's presidency. U.S. intervention to extricate Sadaam from Kuwait begins January 16, 1991. Now the son, President George W. Bush, is bogged down in Iraq, in part thanks to his father's poor judgment.

2) US administration along with our Wahhabi friends in Riyadh (the Saudis) come to the aid of Mujahideen insurgents in Afghanistan fighting Soviets. We provided them Stinger missiles and other advanced weapons. Mujahideen becomes a great monster thanks in large part to our help and repays us for our generosity, September 11, 2001. I guess it's that old saw, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Who is the bigger monster, Hamas terrorists or Fatah terrorists? At least the Hamas terrorists are forthright about their genocidal intentions. Fatah terrorists cloak their genocidal intentions behind a "two state solution." What good purpose is served by inserting ourselves into this internecine feud?}

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200705/FOR20070525a.html

Attempts to Bolster Abbas Could Bring Down PA, Critics Say
By Julie Stahl
CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief
May 25, 2007

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Amid a fast-deteriorating security situation in Gaza and parts of Israel adjacent to the Palestinian-ruled territory, new voices of criticism were heard Thursday questioning the wisdom of the decision by the United States - backed by the Israeli government - to train, arm and fund one of the two rival Palestinian factions.

They said that while the move may be well-intentioned, it could backfire and end up hastening the demise of the Palestinian Authority (P.A.) itself.

The U.S. and Israel have been backing P.A. Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and members of his Fatah faction in its rivalry with Hamas, which won an overwhelming victory in parliamentary elections early last year.

Fatah joined Hamas in a "unity" government in February in an attempt to break an international financial boycott targeting Hamas and to end inter-Palestinian clashes. But more than 50 Palestinians have been killed over the last week in the latest round of a bloody power struggle between the two in the Gaza Strip.

The U.S. and Israeli administrations consider Abbas a "moderate," because he says he favors a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while Hamas wants an Islamic Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza, and all of Israel.

Washington's special envoy Gen. Keith Dayton is developing a plan to strengthen Abbas' forces, and Congress has agreed to an administration request to give $59 million in large part for non-lethal equipment and training to bolster forces loyal to Abbas.

Israel has already allowed a shipment of thousands of weapons and ammunition to cross the border into Gaza to bolster Abbas' forces, although according to reports it did draw the line at allowing higher caliber rifles and heavy machine guns into the Palestinian area.

The Israeli daily Ha'aretz Thursday reported that Israel has okayed an American request to allow members of Abbas' presidential guard to train near P.A.-ruled Jericho in the West Bank. Others are to receive training in Egypt.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokeswoman, Miri Eisen, said Thursday the Americans believed that building a force that can be in control in Gaza was a logical step.

The question remained, however, whether such a plan could be implemented, she said, adding that up until now, Abbas had not delivered on any of his promises to deliver security.

Palestinian affairs expert Khaled Abu Toameh said supporting Abbas to enable him to topple Hamas could, in the end, destroy the entire P.A.

"If anyone thinks that [Abbas] is going to wage a major crackdown on Hamas or Islamic Jihad, that's not going to happen," Abu Toameh told a briefing of journalists and diplomats at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) think tank on Thursday.

Abbas has at least 40,000 armed men at his disposal in Gaza and still has done nothing to prevent 100-200 Hamas fighters from launching rockets at Israel, said Abu Toameh, senior Palestinian affairs correspondent for the Jerusalem Post. Abbas was not doing so, he said, because if he did, he would be branded a "collaborator" with the enemy.

'Under pressure'

Abu Toameh painted a picture of a P.A. under increasing pressure from various quarters.

Elements in Hamas, headed by Damascus-based leader Khaled Mashaal, had never accepted the P.A. and wished to bring about its collapse, he said.

Another Palestinian element, headed by the still-exiled Fatah figure Farouk Kaddoumi - at one time styled as the PLO's "foreign minister" - disapproved of the way the P.A. has handled matters and wants to return to the military option, he said.

A third factor not helping the P.A., according to Abu Toameh, is the West.

"The U.S. and European attempts to bring down the Hamas government, whether directly or indirectly, will also bring down the entire Palestinian Authority and this is exactly what's going to happen," he said.

The West has spearheaded a boycott of the P.A., because since its election victory, Hamas has refused to recognize Israel, abandon terrorism and abide by previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements.

But Abu Toameh said that if Hamas feels backed into a corner, it will do everything it can to bring Fatah down with it.

The Palestinians don't need more guns, he said - there are enough of those already. What they need is good governance, democracy and freedom.

Abu Toameh said the key reason Hamas won the January 2005 election was because of voters' unhappiness about widespread corruption in the Fatah-ruled P.A.

They would elect Hamas again tomorrow, Abu Toameh said, because nothing has changed in Fatah and because Palestinians feel Hamas has not yet been given a chance to prove itself a better administrator.

When Fatah lost the elections, the international community should have told Fatah that this was a result of their corruption and should have encouraged Fatah to reform, rebuild and prepare a new list of representatives to offer the electorate next time, he said.

Dan Diker, policy analyst at the JCPA, said the U.S. had made wrong choices in the way it deals with the Palestinians - based, he said, on incorrect assumptions.

"The Americans made a terrible error in judgment in backing the so-called moderates," he said in an interview.

The "moderates" were so corrupt that by backing them, the U.S. has "inadvertently" torpedoed the very independence it has been promoting for the Palestinians, he said.

Diker said the problem was not a new one but went all the way back to the 1993 Oslo Accords, which launched the process of setting up the P.A. and providing self-rule to the Palestinians.

The accords were the bad idea of a left-wing Israeli government and had then been sold to President Clinton, who wanted a foreign policy victory and to be seen as a Mideast peacemaker, he said.

Sderot Survival Tips

Tips for Survival in Sderot

The Color Red alert gives you anywhere between five seconds' warning -if the Kassam is being fired from close to the border, for example from Beit Hanun - to 30 seconds if it is being fired from further away, i.e., from close to the Gaza coast. The rockets usually come in pairs, or threes, interspersed over 30 to 60 seconds.

The trick is to know, at all times, where you are relative to the Gaza Strip, where the rockets come from. You need this information so that you will know which building to run to when you hear a Color Red alert.

If you're facing north, Gaza is on your left, and you need to hug the eastern side of a building, to keep the structure between you and the rockets. If you get this calculation wrong, you are exposing yourself to a direct hit.

If you're facing south and Gaza is on your right, the same applies. You may think this is obvious, but many a newcomer gets confused when the siren rings out.

Sderot is not as easy to figure out navigationally as, let's say, Tel Aviv. It's simple in "the city that never stops": the sea is on one side, and the town is on the other. Sderot is turning into a city that never sleeps. Fear is everywhere, even at the fire station, where the Tel Aviv crew try hard to hide it.

One thing you can try, if your wits are about you, is to watch where the sun is on its path from east to west. If it's morning, find the sun, and that's east, so you can figure out where Gaza is. If it's evening, the sun is in the west. If it's midday, look at your shadow: If it's behind you and to the right, Gaza is to your left.

Even trickier is what to do when you're driving and the siren sounds. Here the answer is unanimous: Get out of the vehicle and run to the nearest shelter or wall. If there is no building, lie down on the road and cover your head. Just don't stay in your car.

The main reason not to stay in your car is that rocket shrapnel - and every Kassam has ball bearings or bolts in its warhead - can tear through your gas tank and blow up your car. Remember to always have your window slightly open, so that you can hear the Color Red alert and the Kassam shriek.

"Everybody knows what to do when you hear an alarm - but in the end it really is a gamble, like poker or roulette," Sheetrit says.

"Some people even gamble with their lives and do nothing when they hear the alarm. Most people who have been wounded or killed by Kassams in Sderot were outside when they were hit. The Home Front Command sent soldiers here a while back and they went into each and every home here and explained to everyone what they need to do to protect themselves.

"Everybody knows, but it doesn't always help. It's not organized, and when you're caught by an alarm and the rockets start landing, it really is every man for himself. Some people survived because they didn't find shelter in time, as the shelter they were heading to was hit," he says.

Scary words from the city's fire chief, who turns off his air conditioning and sleeps with his windows open at night, so that he can hear the Color Red sirens.

--Wendy in Washington

Imagine if the Israelis arrested a Muslim or a Christian for entering Jerusalem

The article states:

 

Saudi officials have arrested a man in Mecca for being a Christian, saying that the city, which Muslims consider to be holy, is off-limits to non-Muslims...

 

"The Grand Mosque and the holy city are forbidden to non-Muslims," Col. Suhail Matrafi, head of the department of Expatriates Affairs in Mecca, told the Saudi daily Arab News. "The new fingerprints system is very helpful and will help us a lot to discover the identity of a lot of criminals," he said.

 

Praise be to Allah, who invented fingerprints, so that we may catch Christian criminals. Talk about your racist exclusivist state...

 

Saudis Arrest Christian for Entering Mecca
By Michael Freund 

The Jerusalem Post, May 25, 2007

Saudi officials have arrested a man in Mecca for being a Christian, saying that the city, which Muslims consider to be holy, is off-limits to non-Muslims.

Nirosh Kamanda, a Sri Lankan Christian, was detained by the Saudi Expatriates Monitoring Committee last week after he started to sell goods outside Mecca's Great Mosque.

After running his fingerprints through a new security system, Saudi police discovered that he was a Christian who had arrived in the country six months earlier to take a job as a truck driver in the city of Dammam. Kamanda had subsequently left his place of work and moved to Mecca.

"The Grand Mosque and the holy city are forbidden to non-Muslims," Col. Suhail Matrafi, head of the department of Expatriates Affairs in Mecca, told the Saudi daily Arab News. "The new fingerprints system is very helpful and will help us a lot to discover the identity of a lot of criminals," he said.

Similar restrictions apply to the Saudi city of Medina. In a section entitled, "Traveler's Information," the Web site of the Saudi Embassy in Washington states that, "Mecca and Medina hold special religious significance and only persons of the Islamic faith are allowed entry."

Highway signs at the entrance to Mecca also direct non-Muslims away from the city's environs.