African Union holds key to Rafah Crossing: "Will they use it?"

On October 29, 2009, the National Association of Muslim American Women (NAMAW), a US based NGO and member of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinians, sent an appeal to all of the members of the African Union requesting that the African Union take jurisdiction over the Rafah Crossing, and provide the necessary military and security support to insure that the crossing is operated safely, and efficiently.

The African Union, which has adopted the UN Rome Statute as a guide for its own set of human rights laws, has the authority to take jurisdiction from Egypt, since Egypt is a member of the African Union, and bound by its human rights laws, and is subject to the African Union’s authority. It is clear that by keeping the crossing closed, and denying Palestinian’s humanitarian aid, including food, medicines and medical supplies, and also building materials and equipment, that Egypt is in violation of Articles 6 and 7 of the Rome Statute that prohibits genocide and crimes against humanity. Egypt is also blatantly violating the African Union’s human rights laws and principles.

It is clear from even a cursory review of the Rome Statute that both Israel and Egypt are in almost certainly in violation of article 6, which prohibits genocide. The Statute describes genocide as “acts committed to destroy, in whole or part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group ...” The statute includes such acts as “ killing members of the group, causing serious bodily harm or mental harm to members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”

They are also likely in violation of Article 7, “Crimes against Humanity” which is described by the Rome Statute as “acts committed as part of a widespread or systemic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.” According to the Rome Statute such acts include, but may not be limited to murder, extermination, torture, rape, persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender or other grounds...”

Under the above mentioned definition, the Rome Statue also criminalizes apartheid, and “other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering or serious injury to body, or physical health.”


Whereas much is being made of Israel’s history of alleged war crimes and refusal to abide by UN resolutions in respect to Palestine, and especially in respect to its continued and illegal economic siege on Gaza, little has been said about the fact that Israel’s embargo could not succeed if Egypt, a supposedly Muslim and Arab nation/state, was not providing full support and cooperation, making it possibly a co-conspirator with Israel in the conduct of these crimes.

Since there is little hope that either the EU or US will use their considerable influence over Israel, to lift the illegal embargo, it is clear that the only hope now is for the people of the Muslim and Arab world to come together to insist that Egypt end its possibly criminal cooperation with Israel, and act according to international law by opening the Rafah Crossing.

There must also be greater pressure applied by the international Muslim religious authorities who can call for Muslim and Arab boycotts of Egyptian goods, along with boycotting Israeli goods, should Egypt also thumb its nose at the African Union.

Muslim, Arab and African people are shocked by Egypt’s stubbornness in respect to permanently re-opening the Rafah Crossing, and many suspect that this stubbornness is being driven by a new lucrative industry that has sprung up in Egypt that is dependant upon illegally confiscated aid and goods intended for Gaza, along with bribes paid by activists who want to enter the strip for humanitarian causes, and also bribes paid by journalists.

Egypt has begun to auction off the goods intended for Gaza that it confiscates from tunnels under the guise of searching for weapons. If the goal is to prevent the re-arming of Gaza, why is food and equipment confiscated and why can’t these confiscated items be delivered by Egyptian security to the Gazans? Previously Egypt burned and even allowed donated foods to rot, rather than to allow the people of Gaza to receive and benefit from the humanitarian aid, illegally confiscated by Egypt at the borders and also in the makeshift tunnels. This shows that it is Egypt’s clear intent to deny the people of Gaza the sustenance and medical aid required for their survival, and that this denial is based purely upon the Egyptian, US, PA and Israeli desire to undermine the elected government, and to overthrow Hamas.

Hopes are high, that since Libya’s leader Muammar Qaddhafi, known for his fiery speeches in support of the Palestinian’s ongoing struggle, is the present head of the AU, that the Union will use its power and authority to end the illegal siege on Gaza by permanently re-opening the Rafah crossing, and possibly bringing charges of genocide and crimes against humanity against Egypt in its own criminal court. The AU can also recommend to the International Criminal Court, that an investigation immediate into Egypt’s wrong doing get underway, while giving jurisdiction over the crossing, which is in Africa, to the African Union.

With winter and the cold weather approaching quickly, it is of the utmost importance that adequate shelter, clothing, food and medical care be made immediately available for the people of Gaza. The African Union holds the key to the Rafah Crossing; let’s pray that they will use that key to save the lives of the people of Gaza.

There is a she camel in Palestine

In the Qur’an there is a very interesting and telling account about a she-camel and a prophet named Salih who God sent to warn a certain people about a coming punishment that would result from their continued injustices unless they stopped committing their crimes, repented and reformed. The leaders of that town of course laughed at, and mocked that prophet, since he was someone they knew, and could hardly imagine being a prophet. They knew his family, his background, and whereas they respected his family, they had no real regard for him. He was simply a man, like other men in their eyes. He was not distinguished in any way that makes him notable among other men who were not prophets. He worked no miracles, and as far as we know, he had no book of signs to share, just a simple warning that went ignored. Of course this prophet did not merely deliver the message and take cover, or leave town. He preached and taught in the city for years prior to the impending j! udgment of which he warned. Yet, the leaders of the town not only ignored his warnings, they mocked his prophecies, calling them "tall tales." They even defied God by carrying out the very act that had been specifically prohibited by God, through His prophet, which was the killing of the she-camel. God had inspired the prophet Salih to advise the leaders of the town that this one special camel should be treated in a certain way. In reading the story, one immediately recognizes that the instructions regarding this camel were not unique, or extraordinary. There was no burden being placed upon the people to provide for the she-camel as God had commanded. God had instructed the prophet to simply advise the people that the she-camel was a sign from God, and should be granted her rights. "How?" The people wondered, could such an animal be a sign from God? What message is communicated through a pregnant female camel, a lowly beast of burden, who is distinguished from the others onl! y by her physical qualities, her color, or race, since she cannot work or benefit anyone in the same way that other camels earn their keep. God’s command was that she not be burdened, that she be allowed to graze undisturbed, and that she receive her turn for watering, and care as did the other camels, since she is destined to give birth, new life, and along with it new hope. Immediately upon receiving the message about the she-camel, the people of Salih hamstrung the she-camel in defiance. The prophet Salih recognized at that point that no more preaching was necessary, so he left the town, and soon after his departure, God’s punishment came to bear upon the Thamud.

The story begins in the Qur’an, in Chapter 7, verse 73, where it says: " To the Thamud people (We sent) Salih, one of their own brethren. He said "Oh you people worship God, you have no other God but him. Now has come unto you a clear sign from your Lord. This she-camel of God is a sign to you, so leave her to graze in God’s earth, and let her come to no harm, or you shall be seized with a grievous punishment."

"And remember how He made you inheritors after the Ad people and gave you habitations in the land. You build for yourselves palaces and castles in open plains, and carve out homes in mountains, so bring to remembrance the benefits of God, and refrain from evil and mischief on the earth.

The leaders of the arrogant party among the people said to those who were reckoned powerless-those among them who believed: "Know you indeed that Salih is a prophet from his Lord? They said, "we do indeed believe in the revelation that has been sent through him."

The arrogant party said: "For our part we reject what you believe in. Then they hamstrung the she-camel, and insolently defied the order of their Lord, saying: "Oh Salih, bring about your threats, if you are a prophet of God."

So the earthquake took them unaware, and they lay prostrate in their homes in the morning. So Salih left them, saying: "Oh my people, I did indeed convey to you the message for which I was sent by my Lord. I gave you good counsel, but you love not good counselors."

The Qur’an explains the symbolism of the She-camel for us saying: " We sent the she-camel to the Thamud to open their eyes, but they treated her wrongfully. We only send the signs by way of fear, and warning from evil " (17:59). Qur’anic scholar Abdullah Yusef Ali explains this for us saying, "signs, miracles, and portents are sent by God as warning, to strike fear into the hearts of evil doers and reclaim them to the right path."

We might ask ourselves what exact crimes the Thamud were committing that led to the she-camel being sent to them as a warning sign, with God’s commandments to treat her justly. Abdullah Yusef Ali believed that the she-camel challenged the Thamud in their areas of weakness, which included greed, and arrogance, and disrespect for the rights of the poor, and those whom they believed had no value or worth equal to their own assumed value. Yusef Ali writes: " The story of this wonderful she-camel is variously told in tradition. What we are told in the Qur’an is that 1. The she-camel was a sign or symbol, which the prophet Salih used for warning to the haughty oppressors of the poor 2. There was scarcity of water, and the arrogant or privileged classes tried to prevent the access of the poor or their cattle to the springs, while Salih intervened on their behalf 3. Like water, pasture was considered a free gift, in this spacious earth of God, but the arrogant ones ! tried to monopolize the pasture 4. This particular she-camel was made a test case to see if the arrogant ones would come to reason 5. The arrogant ones, instead of yielding to the reasonable rights of the people, hamstrung the poor she-camel and slew her, probably secretly. The cup of iniquities was full, and the Thamud people were destroyed by a dreadful earthquake, which threw them prone on the ground and buried them and their houses and fine buildings."

To better understand the character of the Thamud, we need only read the narrative in the Qur’an, which chronicles their conversation and actions. In Chapter 26, verses 142-159 we read," Behold their brother Salih said to them, "Will you not fear God? I am to you an apostle worthy of all trust. So fear God and obey me. No reward do I ask of you for it; my reward is only from the Lord of the worlds. Will you be left secure in the enjoyment of all that you have here? Gardens and springs and cornfields and date palms with branches near breaking with the weight of fruit? And you carve houses out of rocky mountains with great skill. But fear God and obey me, and follow not the bidding of those who are extravagant and who make mischief in the land and mend not their ways. They (the Thamud) said: " Thou art only one bewitched! Thou art no more than a mortal like us. Bring us a sign if you are telling the truth. He (Salih) said: " Here is a she-camel, she has a right! of watering, and you have a right of watering, severally on a day appointed. Touch her not with harm, lest the penalty of a great day seize you. But they hamstrung her, then did they become full of regrets. But the penalty seized them. Verily in this is a sign, but most of them do not believe. And verily thy Lord is He the exalted in Might, Most Merciful."

There is a she-camel in Palestine. She is a Palestinian people who are being denied their rights. She is a people being hamstrung, and slaughtered by an arrogant and defiant entity that refuses to recognize the rights of all human beings, regardless of their race or religion to basic human rights, which include the right to life, dignity and sustenance, food and water, and medical care. There is a she-camel in Palestine, and she is being slaughtered while the world turns up its nose at her and asks what value she has upon which to base her claim that she has a right to live. What right can she have to share the resources, or to enjoy the rights conferred upon the chosen, by the owner of the land, who is God, since she has no identity, no definition, no government, no allies, no treasury, no fine homes, no inheritance, no oil. We cannot recognize her. Still, she is there and she is being hamstrung. She is pregnant with potential, and promise of a future, but ! we cannot see what rests in her belly, and there is no one to claim ownership, or to love her pending birth. There is a she-camel in Palestine, "And verily thy Lord is He, the exalted in Might, most Merciful."

US/Israeli war on terrorism is a war against the US Constitution and citizen rights

The US/Israeli war on terrorism is a war on the US Constitution and citizen rights
Anisa Abd el Fattah


Zionist columnist, and seeming Islamophobe Diana West wrote an article published by the Washington Times earlier this month, implying that due to my previous association with a pro-Palestinian think tank named UASR, that I am an Hamas operative living and working in the US on behalf of Hamas. West claimed that UASR's former Executive director Ahmed Yousef fled the US, fearing indictment in the Fawaz Damra case, suggesting not only that Yousef is a criminal of some sort, but that my association with Yousef implies that I am too. Ahmed Yousef, a US educated PH.D, is a Palestinian who was born and raised in the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza. He presently serves as Senior Advisor to the PA Foreign Minister.

West's article also mentioned Dr. Mousa Abu Marzook, a Palestinian, and a member of the Hamas politburo in Damascus. Marzook, was one of the founders of UASR four years prior to his association with Hamas. He did not begin his association with Hamas until after he had ended his relationship with UASR. After being detained in the US during the Clinton administration without charge, he was released from custody after Israel was unable, and unwilling to charge Marzook with any crime. Marzook was later deported from the US and released into the custody of Jordan. It was in respect to the Marzook case, which was heard in a New York district court under the jurisdiction of the present US Attorney General Michael Mukasey, that a US District court judge Kevin Duffy, wrote that it is the duty of the judiciary to act in concert with the foreign policy objectives of the Executive branch. This was the first neo-conservative challenge to the US Constitution's separation of powers doctrine, and also the first judicial attack on the idea of an independent judiciary, a hallmark of the Bush administration.

Fawaz Damra, who Diana West attempted to use as the the lynch pin, along with guilt by association to condemn Ahmed Yousef, is a Palestinian cleric who was detained, and later charged during Bush administration witch hunting, with lying on his immigration application. He was deported for checking a box on his immigration application, saying that he had never had any association with illegal, or terrorist organizations while in his native country. Damra had completed the application, and immigrated legally to the US prior to Clinton's illegal Executive order, classifying Hamas a terrorist organization. Clinton issued this order, even though the Geneva Conventions, in quite clear and unambiguous language protects the rights of people living under illegal military occupation to self defense, and resistance, even violent resistance. While the American Jewish community argued that the Geneva Conventions were created to protect Jewish life only, most scholars of international law agree that the Geneva Conventions aim to protect the lives, and property of all people, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity or nationality.

The United States is a party to the Conventions, having both signed and ratified the Conventions, having done so with the protection of US military and civilians during periods of armed conflict in mind. Unfortunately, no legal challenge has ever been presented to the Clinton order, asking if it is possible for a sitting president to issue an Executive order that not only violates international law, but that also criminalizes, and at the least violates treaties that the US is party to. Note that the violation of treaties signed by previous US administrations was also a tactic employed by the Bush administration, and even more ironic, it is one of the conditions that the US placed upon Hamas, that it recognize all previous PLO signed agreements and treaties.

Bill Clinton's willingness to violate the Geneva Conventions in order to remove the rights of Palestinians to defend themselves against what was already a brutal and vicious Israeli genocide and attempted ethnic cleansing, was part of his policy of US “unconditional support” for Israel. His criminal executive order effectively criminalized Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups, making Israeli targeted assassinations legal, since it was deemed part of the strategy and one of the tactics employed by Israel in its fake war against terrorism. By issuing his illegal Executive order, Bill Clinton sought to remove the human and divine rights of the Palestinian people by not only making acts of resistance against the Israeli occupation criminal, but also membership in any organization that had ever sought to defend or to protect Palestinian life against illegal Israeli aggression, and war crimes that were being carried out almost daily in Palestine with impunity.

While the implications and effects of Clinton's Executive order criminalizing Hamas are well known in respect to the rights of Palestinians to organize to defend their lives, and to resist the genocide being carried out by Israel with unconditional US support, and financing, few understood how that Executive order would effect the lives of American citizens here in our own country, who oppose the current US policy towards Palestine, and US unconditional support for Israel.

After West's article was published, my life, and even perhaps the lives of my family have been in jeopardy. Helicopters routinely fly around my home, almost daily someone is at my door, using various tactics to learn who lives at my address and at what time we are home or not at home. We receive constant telephone calls where people hang up after hearing my voice, or where they ask for various family members by name, in an attempt to determine who is at home, and when. We receive veiled death threats in the mail almost daily. These include offers for cemetery plots, and funeral insurance, etc. My son was forced to leave college because of being robbed and threatened almost daily on his trips to and from campus. When we advised the University about the threats to his safety they refused to do anything to help, and so he withdrew.

My family and I have been followed, and we have had strange incidents take place where our personal property has been vandalized. Perhaps the most startling and troubling offenses have taken place over the past few weeks, where we have been very obviously followed, approached by strangers with requests to identify ourselves, and just this weekend our telephone was temporarily disconnected late at night for no apparent reason. When we left home to go out for dinner, a car that set suspiciously at the end of our street made it quite clear that whoever was in the car was watching, and also following us. My bank illegally over drafted my account by refusing to make funds available even though the funds were deposited, causing checks to bounce, and adding fees until the account could not be redeemed. When the Zionist in America said that no one who opposed them would be allowed to have a home, a job,or peace, they meant that they would use their operatives to torment and to harass any American citizen that would dare to criticize Israel, or to challenge Israel's authority over our government and rights.

Praise God that we are not a timid people, and we are not living in fear. We do not believe that these people have any power over life and death, and we have put our trust in God, and God is sufficient. My reason for mentioning these incidents is merely to allow readers to understand that our government, and not only the Bush administration has been involved in an illegal war on dissent and resistance that is not limited to Iraq, or Afghanistan, and that began long before 9/11. It has not been limited to foreigners and illegal immigrants. It is also to point out that the criminal conspiracy against rights in our country includes possibly journalists, and others who hold what appear to be the most non threatening positions in our society, including schools, universities, libraries, and post offices, as examples.

The Jewish Defense League, the Jewish Organization, the Kahane settlers movements, which are funded by synagogues and churches here in the US, even though they are also deemed terrorist organizations, but not by Executive order, operate freely and openly in the US. Their mission is to harass, intimidate and to gather information on Americans who are pro-Palestinian and who criticize Israel, and to use that information as secret evidence and to prompt law enforcement to assist them in their efforts to deprive citizens of rights and to harass. Articles have also been published recently, after the suspected murder of the pro-Palestinian activist Riad Hamad in Texas, that our government, as part of Clinton's doctrine of unconditional support for Israel, gave the Israeli Mossad the go ahead to carry out targeted assassinations in the US, of pro-Palestinian US citizens. The Bush administration has been accused of giving Israeli communications and intelligence officers the go ahead to illegally wiretap US homes, and to carry out illegal surveillance on citizens for these same purposes. Can anyone explain what the Israeli intelligence has to do with Iraq or Afghanistan, if indeed these are the theaters for the war on terrorism?

That part of the so-called war on terrorism that is being carried out here in the US, began before 9/11. It is part of the war on terror declared by Benjamin Netanyahu, prior to, yet possibly including 9/11, that sought to accelerate the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestine, using unconditional US support, and our government institutions on behalf of Israel. Our government was used to round up, detain, interrogate and torture Palestinian and other Arab and Muslim foreigners living in the US who were either politically active, or orthodox in their practice of Islam, seeking information about back home, and also to prevent them from letting Americans know the truth about what Israel does in Palestine. Its aim in the US, is also to shut down US citizen dissent and opposition to US unconditional support for Israel, and to criminalize all criticism of Israel as either anti-Antisemitism, or material support for terrorism, and to use secret evidence as a pretext for harassment, intimidation, illegal wiretapping, surveillance and even murder of US pro-Palestinian, anti-war and anti-Zionist activists. Most secret evidence by the way, has historically been provided by the media.

It should be president elect Barack Obama's first priority to end this travesty of justice and the betrayal of the public trust that it represents. In his determination to restore our Constitution and the rights and liberties of American citizens that have been trampled upon by previous administrations who have seemingly collaborated with a foreign government to undermine the US Constitution, president elect Obama must reconsider US “unconditional” support for Israel and what that means, especially in respect to the rights of US citizens.

This article's emphasis on the US aspect of the war on terrorism is not to belittle the importance of the human and civil rights of none citizens that have also been trampled upon even though they are guaranteed under separate but equally legitimate doctrines of law. Rather it is merely an attempt to bring attention to the impact that the war on terrorism is having on the lives of American citizens here in the US, who like other Americans in our country's past, suffered similar government abuses, and injustices in their struggle for equal rights, protection under the law, and who won.

Palestinian reconciliation should be guided by Palestinian basic Law

If anyone were to ask what has been the most complicating aspect of the Palestine/Israel conflict, most observers would perhaps say that the complete departure from international law as a context for all negotiations and agreements has kept this dispute alive for 60 years. It is the deliberate attempt to resolve issues that are as much legal as they are political, by negotiating the wants and desires of either side, agreements that in some cases actually violate international laws, that has made past agreements mostly meaningless, difficult to understand, unjust and never adhered to. Indeed many might argue that without a legal basis or context, most of the negotiated agreements such as the failed Oslo Accords were counter intuitive and could never have succeeded, since the entire premise of a negotiated settlement that would seek to rewrite or to undermine international law would at some point be rejected by a majority of people whose concept of justice has been shaped by centuries of legal philosophy, and no where is this more true than in the Arab/ Muslim world.

Whereas very few of the Arab or Muslim countries have adopted Shariah or Islamic law as their primary law, Muslims without doubt have internalized Islamic legal philosophy and our ideals of right and wrong, what is just and unjust, and what is good and bad are shaped by the Qur'an, the Seerah of the prophet Muhammad (sa) and also by hadith litertaure. The Islamic legal philosophy is so much a part of the Muslim and Arab culture, that when confronted with choices to be made between secular civil laws and Islamic laws, many will adopt the Islamic way with full conviction that the choice they have made is both right and just, in spite of the fact that the secular civil law might have given them some advantage. To atheists and those who do not believe that there is an overarching moral authority that sets laws for humanity, this idea may sound abstract, or even superstitious. Yet, when considered objectively, it becomes somewhat obvious that such faith in what are perceived as the laws of God are no more superstition ridden than belief in laws made by men who believe in God, or to abide by laws that have been inspired by religious or other sacred scriptures such as the Ten Commandments, Talmudic law, or even the legal philosophies of men like Thomas Aquinas. In other words, there is no escaping the fact that our modern ideas of law, and its objectives and ways are not necessarily modernized by a departure from our traditional beliefs. Modernization of law might be our acceptance of the idea that law and justice are not merely intellectual creations that lend themselves to utility and expediency. For our laws to have meaning for us, and to compel us, they must satisfy our sense of justice so that once defined, our laws become our way of life. When adhered to they become our guides, our inspiration, and also our guards against our passions and our imperfections.

It may not matter that groups of people have different laws, if we can agree that on some level, laws that are accepted by a majority of people as a legitimate law, and adopted by those people as their law, should be respected, and always taken into consideration. It seems that to do otherwise will cause us to continue to repeat the mistakes of the past that should have taught us by now, that no amount of imposition, whether it be through secular education, public censure and condemnation or isolation and criminalization, can remove the natural laws of justice from the heart of the human being, even if we are able to distort these laws with relativism, or to inject into the heart such dangerous poisons as racism, supremacism and Darwinism, which by definition is a fear of extinction due to imperfection.

When two groups that each have their own legal codes by which they live find themselves in a legal and political dispute, choosing a law to guide negotiations and to serve as a context for any subsequent agreements is necessary in my view. Both parties engaged in negotiations should first agree upon which law will be adopted as the guide for what is legal, not legal and legitimate or illegitimate in respect to identifying an authority, and the rights of that authority. This might be especially important when there are also political questions to be resolved. Since politics is primarily concerned with the distribution of power in relationships between people, we cannot escape the suggestion that any negotiations that involve politics must have a clearly defined and accepted legal dimension, and description of legitimate authority. The Palestine/Israel conflict is a prefect example of how we fail when we ignore the unique legal culture of groups, and their laws.

In respect to the Palestinian internal dispute between Hamas and Fatah, there is a need to recognize that Hamas is an Islamic organization. It has presented its ideals and activism to the international Muslim community through the prism of Islamic law and culture, and is accepted and loved by most Muslims, Arabs and others based upon this presentation. This means that Hamas is legitimized not only by the majority votes of the Palestinian people, who voted Hamas into political power. Hamas is also legitimized by popular international support of people of various religions, ethnicities and political affiliations, and it is accepted by these supporters as an Islamic organization, since it has never swayed in its claim of Islamic authenticism. It's demand that the world recognize the natural right of all people to resist genocide and to resist being ethnically cleansed from the land, and also to the right to exist is an appeal for legality, and not for merely political power.

Negotiations between Hamas and the secular Fatah movement, guided by the secular Egypt, that is already playing the role of Israeli facilitator in the illegal economic siege on Gaza imposed by Israel, will be complicated just as negotiations between the secular liberal Fatah and the Talmudic Judaic society that calls itself Israel have complicated and perplexed every opportunity for peace between Palestine and Israel.

In my humble opinion, Hamas and Fatah, before seeking to reach any substantive agreement on reconciliation, must assert the relevance and the legitimacy of their own Basic Law, and the tenets of that law, including the legal timing for the end of Abbas's term as President, without exception. The negotiations should not become a pretext for undermining the Basic Law, the very same Basic Law that confers legitimacy upon Hamas, not only as a political party, but also as an organized Palestinian resistance, organized for the purpose of liberating the Palestinian lands under illegal occupation, and defending those lands that are not, and most importantly the Palestinian people themselves. International law and the Palestinian Law, which does not violate in any way the Islamic law, nor insults the Islamic sensibilities and legal culture of the Muslim people, should be the guiding laws and context within which a Palestinian reconciliation is realized.

Just as over the years, Israel has used the arbitrary nature of negotiated settlements to stave off peace until it achieves the advantage in facts on the ground, and until it has beaten down its adversary's spirit for resistance and made opposition appear hopeless, negotiated agreements about power sharing and reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah have this same potential for abuse unless they are guided by the Palestinian Basic law, and Islamic legal culture. Any terms of reconciliation or power sharing that offends the moral and legal sensibilities of the Palestinian people and the international Muslim community are not likely to succeed.

The believing people must always keep in mind the promise found in the Qur'an in Chapter 24, verse 55, where God says,

“ God has promised to those among you who believe and work righteous deeds, that He (God) will of a surety, grant them in the land, inheritance as He granted it to those before them. That He (God) will establish in authority their religion, (law and culture) the one which He (God) has chosen for them. And that He (God) will change their state, after the fear in which they lived, to one of security and peace; “They will worship God alone, and not associate anything with God. If any do reject faith after this, they are rebellious and wicked.”

So establish regular prayer and give regularly in charity, and obey the prophet that you may receive mercy.

Never think that the unbelievers are going to frustrate God's plan on earth. Their abode is the fire, and it is indeed an evil refuge.”

Israel must abide by ceasefire agreement and end illegal siege of Gaza

The Arab news is reporting that Hamas and Israeli diplomats met in Egypt this weekend to discuss the cease fire that came into effect approximately one month ago. It seems important to mention here that almost no one believed that the cease fire would last this long. Its success so far is due to the good graces of both the Palestinian resistance factions and Israel. Both sides have had to ignore some obvious violations of the cease fire agreement that was limited to Gaza and that does not include the West Bank.

In respect to Palestinian expectations and terms of the agreement, Israel’s refusal to end the year’s long economic siege of Gaza as agreed, poses the greatest threat to continued cooperation and calm. The Palestinian resistance factions made it clear during cease fire negotiations that their willingness to negotiate a cease fire did not result from anxiety over casualties caused by Israeli missiles or Israel’s routine and illegal military incursions. The Palestinian leadership in Gaza says it is compelled only by the desire to feed its people and to restore their human rights to have adequate food, water and health care. These are rights that are guaranteed under the Geneva Conventions and that are being illegally violated by Israel, aided by those countries who have with impunity denied the Palestinians these rights by cooperating with Israel to make the siege successful.

The siege is part of Israel’s grand strategy to ethnically cleanse Palestine. That alone should be sufficient cause for the countries of the world to stand against Israel, first in its application of the siege, and now in its violation of the cease fire agreement which states that the Rafah crossing, along with the other crossings into Gaza would be opened, thus ending the siege.

To those who would suggest that Israel’s other option is to carry out an all out military attack on the 1.5 million civilians who reside in Gaza, they should be advised that 1.5 billion Muslims will not allow it, and neither will millions of Arabs. If, as many pundits and analysts have detected, that the patience of Arabs and Muslims and other conscientious people, including many Jews, has worn thin in respect to continued Israeli violence against the Palestinians, there are no guarantees that Israeli military action will lessen demands to end the illegal Israeli siege. In fact it is likely that a return to violence will result in an even greater international outcry against Israel, the continued illegal occupation and the siege.

For their part, the resistance factions should perhaps continue to keep their end of the agreement and not return too quickly to missile attacks or other military acts of resistance in an effort to force Israel’s hand, or to punish Israel. As strange and counter intuitive as it may sound, the best approach for the Palestinians at this juncture might be to increase their appeal to the international community to call Israel to end its siege on Gaza, and to end the illegal occupation of Palestine. This will require increased diplomatic efforts in Africa, the Arab and Muslim world and Europe, and South America. These countries and peoples have leverage over the US that might outweigh the influence of American Jews and the Zionist Christians that have poisoned US foreign policy towards Palestine. Whereas it might be hard for any US policy maker to understand what benefit there might be in taking up the rights of Palestinians, they may be more sensitive to the moral appeal for justice, and human rights made by countries and peoples with whom the US desires trade and good relations.

Why oppression is worse than slaughter; Commentary on Qur'an, chapter 2, verse 217

God says in the Qur’an, in chapter 2, verse 217, the following:

“They ask thee concerning fighting in the prohibited month say: “Fighting therein is a grave offense. But graver it is in the sight of God to prevent access to the path of God, to deny Him (God) , to prevent access to the Sacred Mosque, and to drive out its members. Tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter.

Nor will they cease to fight you until they turn you back from your faith if they can. If any of you turn back from their faith and die in unbelief their works will bear no fruit in this life and in the hereafter they will be companions of the fire and will abide therein.

The recent cease fire negotiated between Hamas and Israel is perhaps the most potentially important signed agreement between Israel and any group of Palestinians since the beginning of the Palestine/Israel conflict 60 years ago. Those who know the history of Israel’s founding know that Israel is an idea that took shape in blood. The Nakba or great catastrophe, along with the Dier Yasin massacre are examples of the brutal tactics that were employed against the Palestinian people from almost the first day of Israel’s so called independence. Whereas history has been revised to make it appear as though Israel came into being innocently and due to international altruism towards the Jewish people, the truth is that Israel, by necessity had as its original and founding intent, to displace the indigenous Palestinian people from Palestine by any means. It is apparent now that it was always the intent of the Western powers to assist Israel in that task.

It is not secret, nor is it difficult to understand why Israel has sought to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people from Palestine and to kill them. It was necessary to displace or to eliminate the Palestinian people because Israel was founded with dual objectives, both of which required ethnic cleansing in order to succeed. According to its ideological founder Theodore Hertzel, Israel was to be established as a safe haven for a Jewish people who for centuries had suffered from various types of humiliation and democide (murder by governments) in Europe. For the West, Israel’s founding represented another attempt at achieving Western hegemony over the Arab Muslim world, and control of its resources through colonization, a goal that was sought after long before the British mandate or the UN partition of historic Palestine. The occupation of South Africa by Dutch Boers was the template for occupation and displacement of Black and Arab peoples in Africa and the Middle East. The destruction of the Ottoman Caliphate and subsequent secularization and supposed democratization of Turkey, and some parts of the Arab Muslim world had already been accomplished before Israel’s founding, setting the stage for the implantation of European colonies in the Muslim world.

Of all of the attempts at establishing Western colonies in the Arab Muslim World and Africa, the South African project is eerily similar to project Israel, and more so than any other colonization of the Arab Muslim world, or other parts of Africa or Asia. Aside from the establishment of a Jewish state in the Muslim world, the aim of colonization generally seems to have been the secularization of the Arabs by removing Islam from power in the region through the destruction of the Ottoman Caliphate, and to seize control of the regions natural resources, all to be accomplished with the cooperation of the puppet Arab regimes and monarchies. This should put the Bush administration’s democratization project and New Middle East scheme into perspective for those not familiar with Europe’s century’s long history of migration and misadventures in the Arab Muslim world and Africa under the cover of democratization, secularization, and free markets. Theodore Hertzel who was a European Zionist, and a secular Jew, understood Europe’s appetite for the Middle East and Africa, and in his treatise on the Jewish State, he makes it clear that in exchange for Europe’s money and protection, the Jewish State would forever serve the West as a military outpost against the spread of Islam into Europe and the West. Hertzel said that Israel would accomplish through ethnic cleansing, what Europe had failed to accomplish in the Crusades. This should make it clear that Israel was created for the purpose of ethnic cleansing, and to symbolize Western Judeo/ Christian Zionist domination of the region, its people and natural resources, and ultimately the world.

Not surprisingly, neither Israel, nor South Africa represents the first destructive collaboration between the Zionist Church and the secular state resulting in another type of exploitation of African resources. The African slave trade which was a product of European religious dogma, racial supremacism and greed, was protected and facilitated by the same type of Zionist interpretation of the Old Testament of the Bible that is employed by people like John Hagee, Pat Robertson, Rod Parsley and other so called Evangelicals today. The literal and highly politicized ideas taught by the historic Zionist European Church included the idea that whites or Europeans were racially superior to non whites and that by virtue of Jesus’ shed blood, the European Christian had become the News Jews, chosen people and heirs to the throne of David, thereby the divinely decreed and rightful masters of the world. Africans were depicted as sub human, without souls, and cursed by God to forever serve the white master who had descended from Noah’s favored son, while Blacks were depicted as the descendants of Noah’s cursed son Cush. Cush was supposedly cursed to servitude, according to the Old Testament, because he had laughed at his drunken father’s nakedness. This is the very same type of false Biblical interpretation of non authenticate texts, namely the Old Testament, that provided moral cover for the apartheid regime established in South Africa by Dutch Boers who claimed to be Jews and heirs to a promised land, and the European Jews represented by Theodore Hertzel who made the same claim about Palestine, and who have established an apartheid regime in Palestine, and the historic American slave traders and owners of this country’s past.

The similarities between South Africa and Israel don’t end with this controversial claim of supremacism. The brutal ethnic cleansing, the apartheid system that aimed at separating the so called European Dutch Jews from the Africans, and the Bantustans that were created to form a new homeland for the displaced South Africans have been duplicated almost exactly by the Israeli’s in Palestine who also claim to be Jews. The Dutch Boer’s Promised Land was not surprisingly near the diamonds and minerals and other natural resources of Africa, while the promised land of the so called Israeli Jews is located in a region of the world that is rich in oil and natural gas.

These similarities and ironies might explain better than any historian could, that the Israel project had dual purposes and both required the ethnic cleansing of the coveted land. From the religious perspective Jewish Talmudic law prohibits the cohabitation of Jews and Gentiles, and prohibits equal rights or any type of equality between Jews and Gentiles since they consider themselves the chosen people of God, which is the basis of Jewish supremacism, which is what Jewish Zionism is. The Christian Zionist Church has adopted the Talmud as a legal authority over the Church, along with the Jewish Old Testament, since they believe that by virtue of the crucifixion, they are also Jews, or chosen people who are obliged to honor and obey the contemporary Pharisees of Judaism who preside over the 21st century synagogue with the laws of the Old Testament and also the guidance of the Talmud.

Western colonialism in the Arab Muslim world and Africa is a history of both oppression and slaughter, carried out for dual purposes that include the satisfaction of Judeo/Christian religious sensitivities, and the greed of the resource poor Western governments.

Hamas/Israeli cease fire as first step towards liberation of both Palestine and Israel

The Qur’an suggests to us in Chapter2, verse 217, that the oppression resulting from project Israel is worse than the slaughter. The present Israeli/Hamas cease fire addresses both the oppression, and the slaughter, yet has made the alleviation of the oppression a greater priority. This decade’s long oppression has reached its climax in the imposition of the siege on Gaza that has led to deaths from curable illness, starvation and also from Israeli military attacks. This oppression includes the psychological trauma, and mental illness that is being created in the populations of both peoples, through what is obviously collective punishment in Gaza, and worse, a form of mass torture being carried out against Palestinians with impunity right before the eyes of the UNSC, and also the international courts, and the supposedly civilized world, that has caused Israel to be among the most hated and distrusted places in the world, and its people most despised.

What is not so obvious is the fact that the occupation is also destroying Israel. Israel’s citizens, who include Arab Christians as well as Muslims, Africans, South Asians and others, separate from the militant European Jewish settler’s movement, are equally victims of the Judeo/Christian fanaticism and racism that is threatening the entire world. In a noted tradition that is accepted as authentic by many schools of Islamic jurisprudence, it is suggested that the Muslim believer must have as a goal, not only saving the innocent from wicked oppressors, but we must also seek to save the oppressor. The hadith explains this type of salvation as liberation from being an oppressor, saying we are to liberate oppressors from oppressing. The Qur’an seems to support this idea, saying in one verse that the believer must recognize, and oppose the serious danger of the oppression that inflicts suffering not only upon the innocent, but also on the oppressors and perpetrators of violence and crime.

What is at stake?


To understand this comparison between oppression and slaughter better we should examine closely God’s explanation in the Qur’an. The Qur’an says,” Graver” than slaughter is, “to prevent access to the path of God, to deny God, to prevent access to the Sacred Mosque, and to drive out the people of the Mosque.” In all of these instances the oppressive power is denying access, and driving the people out of a place where they have a right to be. Also, we know from the hadith that the entire world can be considered a place of worship (honor of God) or mosque, including our homes and our homelands, but only when they are free of idols, secure, stable and freed from all types of gross impurity.

The noted verse says that to prevent access to the path of God is graver in the sight of God than slaughter. Such prevention of access can perhaps be explained as creating an environment that is not conducive to the study of religion, or the practice of faith. This could be something as simple as making it impossible for a person to survive without committing sins like stealing, selling drugs, or prostitution, etc. And /or it could be as complex as creating such material, psychological and spiritual hardships that a previously believing people begin to question God’s existence, His love for His creation, and His power to save and sustain us, which could be explained as tests beyond what the people can bear.

The verse 217 also makes it clear that the intent of the oppressor, whether obvious to any of the parties to the conflict, is to cause believers to abandon their belief in One God, in His sovereign right to govern what He created, and His unique ability to protect us when we are obedient and disobedient, and to guide us to salvation and liberation, and what is best in this life and the afterlife.

Even at a distance from Palestine, it is hard to read that everyday Israel is violating the cease fire with more killing, while refusing to abide by the other terms of the agreement that call for opening the crossings thereby ending the brutal and illegal economic siege that is being inflicted on Gaza. It seems that Israel is persistent in its killing and its oppression. Still, in my humble opinion, it is incumbent upon the Palestinian Christian, and Muslim believers to stick to the terms of the cease fire. The Qur’an says in such circumstances that we must put our trust in God, and that He is our witness, who stands as surety for our oaths, and who protects us from the cunning and violence of our adversaries if we are sincere in our intent and purpose.

May God help, protect and guide.

Who do we talk to?

The ongoing debate over whether or not the US should negotiate with Iran, Syria and Hamas is not really a debate about US security. It is rather a debate about who is right, those who feel that the US should ride shot gun through the Middle East for Israel, staring down and blowing up everyone that Israel doesn’t like, or feels threatened by, or who disagrees with AIPAC or the other Jewish American organizations that are dictating US foreign and also our domestic policies, or those who feel that Israel as an ally has no greater meaning than any other country as a US ally, and that US interests, and not Israeli interests should be our first and only policy priorities.

Considering that most of us realize, probably during adolescence, that we must talk to one another, even when we dislike one another, it seems strange that the leaders of one of the world’s most powerful, and technologically advanced countries would be arguing about whether or not we should use diplomacy or be limited only to war as a means to settle disputes. God spoke to Satan, even after Satan had sinned, and misled Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden. Jesus spoke to Satan even as his faith was being tested by God in the desert. Perhaps these metaphors symbolize the truth that words are a form of power when spoken as truth, which could be why God used words, such as revealed books, more often than lightening strikes, tornadoes and earthquakes to get his points across. For those who don’t believe in God, the metaphor might symbolize the idea that people, and not weapons are the true powers on earth, since God has subjected all things in the earth to His stewards, except other human beings. Human beings belong exclusively to God.

It’s too bad that we have not been allowed to understand what the human being really is, and our potential inherent power, which is the spirit of God manifest within each of us. If we did understand such things, there would be no arguments about talking to enemies rather than merely killing them. We would understand that the consequence of talking is far more powerful and empowering than the consequences of killing which is absolutely debilitating and destructive for all involved. Israel is learning this the hard way. No matter how many Palestinians they kill, they have not been able to successfully cleanse Palestine of Arabs and Muslims. What they have managed to become is one of the most hated and distrusted countries on earth, and even with the trillions of dollars and military weapons and aide they receive they have no equivalent achievements to boast of.

Of course it would be foolish to expect mere human beings to act like God. I only mention God and Jesus since they represent absolute Godly perfection, and the lesser human perfection. It seems strange that the neo-cons, who give the appearance that they are a God loving people, closely aligned with the religious right, who supposedly know, understand and live the Bible to a greater degree than any of us so-called infidels, goyim living in husks and sinners, have ignored these very basic but meaningful truths about God and Jesus, and their dialogues with their enemies Perhaps this is due the fact that there were no billions of dollars at stake for either Jesus or God, and no government appointments, political power, or an Israeli lobby to fear.



In my humble opinion, neither Barak Obama, nor Hillary Clinton have demonstrated that they understand the real meaning and power of diplomacy as a standard methodology, used those who desire righteousness in the ongoing battle of good versus evil. Neither will admit, even though US intelligence stated emphatically that Iran's nuclear program was destroyed, while Iran says that no program ever existed, that there is no Iranian nuclear weapons program. Neither have been able to say that Israel must abide by the laws, same as we expect of any country. neither can say that Israel must end its ethic cleansing and genocide in Palestine, and its illegal occupation. Why wont the presidential candidates or even our President and Secretray of State demand a mutual cease-fire between Israel and Palestine? Could it be because they believe that with time, Israel will simply kill off the Palestinians and no cease fire is needed?

Moses, who led the slaves to freedom from captivity in Egypt, spoke to Pharaoh and continued to call him to repentance, and God. He never spoke of killing Pharaoh, even though Pharaoh often spoke of killing of Moses. Knowledgeable and wise men and women understand that when we have reached a point where taking life is our only option that we have failed in some way and that we will be held accountable for the price of that spilled blood. We must remember that every human being belongs to God, and He is taking a toll, and also taking an account.

Hamas, Syria, Palestine, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Iran are all organizations and groups of people. They are not ideas. They have a different view of life than some other people, but they also have a view of life that is shared by billions of other people, people who have a right to exist and to hold a view different than the neo-con, and Israeli worldview. Ther lives, like all other life is sacred to God, and should also be sacred to us. Israeli and Jewish is not superior. The idea of superiority was introduced to the world by Satan, and it caused God not only to cast him out the Garden, but also to doom Satan to eternal damnation and destruction. Should we imitate him?

If change is to come, it will require more than mere political changes. We must open our hearts and ears to new and different ideas. Like God and Jesus, we must listen, and to ask questions, even when we feel we know the answer. Imagine the arrogance of one imperfect human, saying to another imperfect human that he or she cannot speak to them until they make certain adjustments in their thinking, or behavior. Let’s pray that on the Day of Judgment that God will not have adopted the neo-con non-engagement policy, because if He does, we will all be lost. In fact, we need not imagine that the day of Judgment fits John Hagge’s tormented description of Armageddon, where only he and Israeli Jews (only those who reject Judaism and accept Hagee’s Jesus) will be raptured. Every day is a Day of Judgment because the die is cast with each day’s passing, and God is judging us and punishing and rewarding us each day.

We cannot change the world without changing ourselves. Having humility and learning to hear and speak again to the rest of humanity might be a perfect place to start the process of chaging ourselves, since once we really hear what they have to say we might realize that when it comes to the bottom line, we are all saying the same thing, but perhaps in different ways.

Deja Vu in Palestine

In the mid-nineties after Hamas was established and was working as pretty much the sole provider of social and other services in Palestine, the US and Israel decided that to accomplish their final takeover of what remained of Palestine, they must stage a negotiations process. They did not want to culminate years of brutal occupation by adding an even more brutal genocide to the occupation saga. For their taste, the occupation should end through a negotiated land for peace process that would give Israel most of what it wanted, and the Palestinians just enough of what they could get, that no one would complain anymore that Israel had been less than fair with the people whose land they had illegally occupied for so many years. After all, if the Palestinians were willing to compromise, and it could be made to appear that Israel had also compromised, who could argue that anything unjust, or unfair had taken place.

It’s much like the land deals made between the US settlers and the Native Americans. How often were the Native Americans reminded that their leaders had sold much of the land for beads, guns and firewater, and entered into various agreements that ultimately led to the Native American fate, which was genocide and reservations? Who cared if it was absolutely absurd that negotiations between the white settlers and the Native American would even take place? Most Native Americans probably didn’t even understand English well enough to actually negotiate anything of substance, and there is no proof anywhere that a majority of Native Americans ever agreed to turn nearly all of their land and natural resources over to the settlers, and to voluntarily be placed on reservations. Why would they ever agree to such things? We could argue that they had no idea about the gold, the oil, and the value and importance of the natural resources they owned. We might also argue that rights to fish and hunt and to live undisturbed may have been more meaningful to them at the time, than undeveloped land. What we can’t argue, with any amount of logic or legal and moral thinking to support our argument, is that what ever took place was fair, or just.

The suffering of the Native Americans at the hands of their foreign occupiers is legendary. Billion dollars per year gambling casinos cannot compensate for the massacres, the lies, and the dirty tricks. How much would we have to pay or give back to compensate for the extermination of millions of Native Americans the fake negotiated agreements, and coerced and dishonest peace treaties, shady land exchanges and sales of priceless real estate for beads and booze that stain our US story.

The United States has recognized the evils of the European settlers of this land, their special Indian laws, and deals. We have attempted to wash the Native American blood from our hands with money and apologies that have gone a long way towards relieving our national conscience of the horrors, both real and imagined. Unfortunately there is nothing that we can do to heal the hearts and minds of the Native Americans, who are still struggling to regain their since of humanness and value in spite of our overbearing history, and nationalist pride.

The Oslo peace process was nothing more than an attempt to buy Palestinian land with beads and booze. The only differences between what took place in the US, and what was supposed to take place in Palestine are the geographic location and the race of the victims. Yasser Arafat and his Fatah and PLO were nothing more than drunken Indians, who were willing to give away Palestine in exchange for personal power and prestige, and wealth. Shortly after the US and Israel brought the PLO out of exile from Tunisia, it established a security force that was supposed to bring order to the West bank and Gaza. The first job of the security force was to round up and to arrest all Hamas members, since Israel and the US were planning an election for Yasser Arafat, and he was to have no competitors. Welcome to Palestinian democracy!

Following Arafat’s suspect victory at the Palestinian polls, the news media East and West declared him the legitimate representative for the Palestinian people. This charade took us all the way to Camp David where the big lie failed, resulting in a Palestinian uprising that left thousands of Palestinians dead and prospects for peace shattered by the stark realization that the US and Israel could not be trusted. The Palestinian people realized at that moment that it was not the Israelis that had lacked a peace partner, it was the Palestinians. It was also the Palestinians, and not the Israel’s who simultaneously realized that the PA was created to lend democracy to Israel, to be used as part of its political charade that was intended to lend legitimacy to a failed Camp David peace initiative that was intended to wrestle Jerusalem from Arafat, and to pen the Palestinians on refugee camps, dispersed strategically throughout what was historically Palestine. The reservations would have been called Palestine; its capital would have been Abu Dis. There would be no right of return for the Palestinians living in exile throughout the world, and there was no real solution offered for the millions of Palestinian refugees.

Today, God, history, or fate, whichever one we believe is a superior power, has returned us to the past. Again, the Palestinian leadership is separated between Hamas and Fatah, each on different territory. The US and Israel are making the same choices because they are the only choices available to the types of people who are scripting US and Israeli policies in respect to the Middle East. It doesn’t seem to matter that their very limited vision and dishonest and self-serving objectives are hurting an entire world of people in and outside of the Middle East. Biblical myths, the shameless exploitation of human tragedies, murder and mayhem can only get you so far. Israel, the US and now the EU, who has newly joined this gang of thieves in earnest with its publicly declared support of Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah, will one day get the message that reached Arafat at Camp David. That message is that Palestine is not merely a Palestinian issue. The Al-Aqsa mosque, Jerusalem, and the very nature of the gross injustices of this brutal and illegal occupation cause it to be much more than just another episode of European conquest and colonization.

It is the international and universal nature of this dispute, along with the moral questions it gives rise to, and the potential loss of any respect for law that lessen tremendously the likelihood of Israel’s and the Quartet’s success. As for the Arab governments who have played along, knowing what actually awaits the Palestinians should Israel and its supporters succeed, they should understand that their futures are tied to Palestine’s. If Palestine fails, they also fail, since as one tribe falls, so do they all, eventually. Déjà vu only lasts until we realize that we have seen this all before, and then it ends with a choice to change courses, or to continue down the familiar path.


The New York Times writer, Thomas Friedman wrote some days ago that oil had been discovered in Israel, and that this oil is ingenuity and professional; expertise and entrepreneurial zeal. Oil has also been found in Palestine, and it is symbolized as resistance to occupation, a will to live and survive, and a determination and resolve to be free, and to realize long sought after dreams of sovereignty and prosperity. Palestinian oil is fueling a paradigmatic change that can literally change the world, by ending a certain history, while beginning a new future for us all. Part of Palestine’s guiding vision appears to be an end to the era of European conquest and colonization that has drenched the world in innocent blood, and bad karma. It is symbolized as an end to Déjà vu in Palestine, a new path for the Palestinian people, and also the world.

Moral voice of America calls for end to Israeli occupation of Palestine

The world demands an end to illegal occupation, racism, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid in Palestine!




Anisa Abd el Fattah

On June 10 and 11, 2007, the people of the United States will gather in Washington DC, the nation’s capital, demanding an end to the 40 year long illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine, and the ethnic cleansing, genocide and apartheid that characterizes this illegal enterprise.

While the governments of the free world continue to betray their trusts to uphold international law, to protect the weak and defenseless against oppression and illegal acts of aggression, genocide and ethnic cleansing, the people of the world are gathering in the major cities throughout the world to demand freedom, and justice for Palestine. It will take more than an opportunistic, and politicized outcry against the situation in Darfur, to mask the blatant hypocrisy and complicity of the EU, the United States, and other governments in the crime of the 20th century, which is the continued and illegal occupation, and genocide in Palestine. We must all ask ourselves how the US government can see so clearly, and feel so passionately about the supposed genocide in Darfur, while it has provided the Israeli with military armaments, and financial support for ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Palestinian people for years, violating international, and even US law by so doing.

The message being sent by world government hypocrisy, and double standards, and their own racism and culpability, is that if you don’t have oil, the governments of the world couldn’t care less about your rights, or your lives, or the law. And even worse, that racial supremacism, and colonialism is still acceptable in the world against the peoples of Africa and the Middle East, especially if you are Arab or Christian, or Muslim.

On June 10 and 11 the people of the US will speak out against racial supremacism, colonialism, ethnic cleansing, genocide and apartheid in Palestine. June 10 and 11th 2007, the balance of power in this conflict will change. The people of Palestine will no longer stand alone to be victimized by the so called “governments of the free world” and their lackeys. June 10 and 11 2007, in Washington DC, the voice of moral America will cry out in solidarity with Palestine in its demand for freedom, justice and an end to the illegal occupation, racial supremacism, apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide that is all part of a racist and imperialist attempt to re-colonize the Middle East and Africa.

The moral voice of America will also demand an end to the illegal economic boycott of Palestine, that is part of the Zionist campaign to ethnically cleanse Palestine, and the genocide, and colonization that is taking place there, supported by the US, the EU and other governments, including many of the Arab governments. We pray that the strength of this moral outcry in America, which is a part of the larger and stronger international outcry, will soon lead to freedom for the Palestinian people. We also pray that the crimes of the 20th century against these people will be ended, and as a result, and for the first time in 40 years, there will be a real chance for peace for the peoples of both Israel and Palestine.

Moral voice of America calls for end to Israeli occupation of Palestine

The world demands an end to illegal occupation, racism, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid in Palestine!




Anisa Abd el Fattah

On June 10 and 11, 2007, the people of the United States will gather in Washington DC, the nation’s capital, demanding an end to the 40 year long illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine, and the ethnic cleansing, genocide and apartheid that characterizes this illegal enterprise.

While the governments of the free world continue to betray their trusts to uphold international law, to protect the weak and defenseless against oppression and illegal acts of aggression, genocide and ethnic cleansing, the people of the world are gathering in the major cities throughout the world to demand freedom, and justice for Palestine. It will take more than an opportunistic, and politicized outcry against the situation in Darfur, to mask the blatant hypocrisy and complicity of the EU, the United States, and other governments in the crime of the 20th century, which is the continued and illegal occupation, and genocide in Palestine. We must all ask ourselves how the US government can see so clearly, and feel so passionately about the supposed genocide in Darfur, while it has provided the Israeli with military armaments, and financial support for ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Palestinian people for years, violating international, and even US law by so doing.

The message being sent by world government hypocrisy, and double standards, and their own racism and culpability, is that if you don’t have oil, the governments of the world couldn’t care less about your rights, or your lives, or the law. And even worse, that racial supremacism, and colonialism is still acceptable in the world against the peoples of Africa and the Middle East, especially if you are Arab or Christian, or Muslim.

On June 10 and 11 the people of the US will speak out against racial supremacism, colonialism, ethnic cleansing, genocide and apartheid in Palestine. June 10 and 11th 2007, the balance of power in this conflict will change. The people of Palestine will no longer stand alone to be victimized by the so called “governments of the free world” and their lackeys. June 10 and 11 2007, in Washington DC, the voice of moral America will cry out in solidarity with Palestine in its demand for freedom, justice and an end to the illegal occupation, racial supremacism, apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide that is all part of a racist and imperialist attempt to re-colonize the Middle East and Africa.

The moral voice of America will also demand an end to the illegal economic boycott of Palestine, that is part of the Zionist campaign to ethnically cleanse Palestine, and the genocide, and colonization that is taking place there, supported by the US, the EU and other governments, including many of the Arab governments. We pray that the strength of this moral outcry in America, which is a part of the larger and stronger international outcry, will soon lead to freedom for the Palestinian people. We also pray that the crimes of the 20th century against these people will be ended, and as a result, and for the first time in 40 years, there will be a real chance for peace for the peoples of both Israel and Palestine.

The True American Narrative and Mission

An article that appeared in the American Conservative magazine by Michael Vlahos called "The Fall of Modernity," at http://www.amconmag.com/2007/2007_02_12/feature.html suggests that the US is loosing the war on terrorism, a war that is now admittedly a war against Islam. The author suggests in the article that we are loosing this war because our national narrative, our American story, failed us as a moral guide. He says that this lack of a moral compass turned us into the very evil that we had sworn to destroy.

Vlahos plants the assumption in his article that the neo-conservative narrative is the American narrative. It is clear by his description of the so-called American narrative, that indeed the author decided that the Zionist drivel and lies force fed to the American people over the past century,and most recently by Zionists cloaked as neo-conservatives, is in fact our national narrative. It is not

Neo-conservatism is not the American narrative, it is in fact derived from the Trotsky-ite faction of Soviet Communism, as neo-conservatives would admit themselves. The older neo-conservatives such as Norman Podhoretz and Irving Kristol were "red diaper babies," born into families that believed in a messianic mission to spread Communism globally, starting with teh Soviet Union. Now they have re-branded the same messianic madness from "Soviet Communism" for "American Democracy" but the results are the same. Just as Soviet Communism was a great tragedy for the Slavic peoples, so the rebranded neo-conservative messianic ideology of "spreading American Democracy" is a tragedy for Americans, as evidenced by the the unnecessary and inexplicable deaths of our children in Iraq, the waste and abuse of US taxpayer money in the trillions of dollars, and the fact that the US, once one of the world's most beloved, and charitable nations, is now one of the world's most cruel and hated.

The ideas and actions that led us into this unenviable situation did not result from any real understanding of America's moral mission as described by the great men and women of American history, most notably the revolutionaries and abolitionists, represented by the likes of our first President George Washington who urged Americans to "avoid foreign entanglements", and abolitionists such as Sojourner Truth, and Frederick Douglas. Neither do our Declaration of Independence or Constitution attest to the neo-con world view. The late 18th century was a rough and bloody world, but they saw fit to explicitly outlaw torture as "cruel and unusual punishment," EVEN IN THE CONDUCT OF WAR.

Our failure has resulted from doublespeak utilized by neo-conservatives, whereby the virtuous ideals and language of American liberation and revolution were used to explain immoral Zionist schemes to carry out criminal wars against humanity and peace, and to justify inhumane acts such as torture, motivated by the vanity and lusts of armchair generals. It is the result of the actions of a cowardly Congress that was bribed into silence and that adopted fake religious zealotry and fanaticism as its cause for everything accept humanness, honesty,peace and truthfulness. A Congress that rather than protect our Constitution, sought upon every opportunity to undermine it, and who made their country a pawn. What American could mistaken this as a mission borne of our history, and religious and political culture, which is a culture crafted by puritans,revolutionaries and abolitionists?

We have been deceived, and just as Adam and Eve were forced out of the garden for their disobedience to God resulting from Satan's deceptive lies, so too the US is losing its stature as one of the world's modern paradises, and for the same reasons. The author of the article is right in this respect. We have lost the war on terrorism because it is not our moral mission to destroy other faiths and cultures. It is not our moral mission to torture people, to starve innocents, demolish their homes, kill and massacre people and assist others in doing so to help them steal land they have no moral, or legal right to. We starved more than 500,000 Iraqi children to death prior to 9/11, claiming that it was to overthrow one man, our former ally Saddam Hussein, and then Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright infamously admitted, "It was worth it." Did we think that God would reward us for that because they were not Jewish, or Christian, or because they were Arabs? We gave Israel money and weapons to kill unarmed refugees, innocent women and children, and to tear down their homes because these people dared to fight back for their survival against a cruel and inhumane and illegal occupation. We called them terrorists, and passed laws to justify killing them through wars, and deprivation of medical care and food, and hope, and now that we feel we have broken them, we are eager to begin negotiations with them. We claim intolerance for racism, while we are complicit in the murder of millions of Arabs and other brown people, who are being killed. We say they want to destroy us because they hate who we are, and our way of life, when the exact opposite is true.

The United States, by most accounts is a primarily Christian country in character and not a Judeo/Christian country. This Christian character does not result from our Christian practices, which are now sadly non-apparent. The US Christian character is a by product of the moral concepts that guided our sensitivities and thereby the promulgation of a civil and positivist law, that while not religious, incorporates to a great degree the moral concepts and teachings of the Bible. The new testament of the Bible is the true American narrative, yet like most things that are non-Jewish, the New testament has been abandoned by the Church because Jews complained that it is "anti-Semitic." To remedy this problem, there are now renditions of the Holy Scriptures suggesting that Judas was a gnostic operating according to a secret suicidal pact with Jesus, wherein Jesus would be killed, and raised into heaven, and Judas rewarded for the role he played as traitor, with a promise that his people would rule the world. Any familiar themes apparent here?

The lie, that the US is a "Judeo/Christian" country, is a lie that was cooked up to present the Jewish law, or rather the Talmud as a legitimate authority in the US, to be imposed here,and subsequently upon the entire world, as a reward to the people of Judas for his great treason, recast as a great sacrifice. The pseudo Christians who have promoted this lie, say that Christian Gentiles are actually "New Jews" who are bound by the Old Covenant, as well as the New Covenant through Jesus. The Old Covenant was based upon sacrifice as atonement for sin, while the New Testament says that it is by God's Grace that mankind is saved. They explain the crucifixion of Jesus as an act of suicide, wherein the Jews and Romans were passive participants, catapulted into their roles by Jesus' stubborn insistence to preach the word of God, disobeying the Jews who had cautioned Jesus to stop violating their laws, and criticising their leaders for their sins, and transgressions and hypocrisy. Now the media trys to convince us that the Christian Zionist church is guiding America. They want us to believe that in fact the Zionist narrative is the American narrative. It is not, and Christian Zionists are not guiding America, they are following the Jewish Zionist neo-conservatives, who are destroying America.

The Biblical narrative is a powerful story of God's mercy, and God's love for all of humanity as taught by Jesus. It is a narrative that suggests to us that the moral American mission is to convey the good news of God's promise of forgiveness of sins, prosperity in this life, and eternal life in His presence for those who refuse to worship the world, and instead worship the God who created it. America, one of the richest, most powerful nations in the world, was to feed the world, and cure its diseases. We were to inspire and uplift the world, and lead, not bully and dominate and dictate to the world. We were to be just, and stand for justice, and not be blind, but seeing right from wrong. That is the meaning of being guided from darkness to light. Justice cannot be blind and be just! We were to build, not destroy, and we were to love and not hate. We were to be peacemakers, and not warmongers, murderers of innocents, and torturers. We were not to undermine God's righteous order by empowering the evil and wicked, and tormenting and persecuting the truth tellers, and the people of faith, the poor, and the weak. Instead of undertaking America's moral mission, we undertook the mission of Satan. We joined his synagogue and became devils, and as a result God has forsaken us, and caused us to be humiliated, and defeated. The Talmud is not the American narrative, and the neo-conservatives are not the prophets of this or any other era.

"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not right; being filled with all unrighteousness,fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder,debate,deceit,malignity;whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, spiteful, proud, boasters,inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable and unmerciful, who knowing the judgement of God, and that they who commit such things are worthy of punishment, not only do the same, but have pleasure in those who do such such acts. Therefore, thou art inexcusable, Oh man, whosoever thou art that judges, for wherein thou judges another, thou condemns thyself, for thou that stands as judge is doing the same crime. Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that does evil, of the Jew first, and also the Gentile...for there is no respect of person with God" (Romans 1:24-32, and 2:1-29).
Posted by Let Freedom Ring at 10:15 PM 0 comments

Who will save the West from itself?

American collaboration with Israel and the rest of the Western powers in the ongoing genocide in Palestine is criminal and wrong. The only thing more disgraceful is that all of the Western powers, and also the UN, will convene here in the US to discuss a solution to the suppossed problem created when the Palestinians elected a Hamas dominated government. Is Hamas the cause of the problems that plague the Middle East? Why didn't these same powers convene to discuss what the world should do in response to the American people electing a Republican or Democrat government? Both have done little more than fleece the American taxpayer, kill our children in illegal wars, and give our daughters plenty of contraception,or abortion, and our old men Cialis. Well, actually they have done more. They have also created chaos in one of the most important regions of the world, while simultaneously killing millions of innocent civilians (many more than Hamas)and calling them, "collateral damage." This meeting is as ridiculous as the White House event, wherein the newly elected German Chancellor came to the US to call for Western unity in condemning Iran for saying that there are discrepancies in the holocaust history. While she was condemning Iran, some weirdo was waiting to be heard in an Italian court, where he planned to challenge the Church's claim that Jesus existed as a historical figure. Can you imagine, she wanted the Western world to unite against Iran for challenging holocaust exaggerations. She couldn't care less about a legal challenge to the existence of Jesus. Even though she leads one of the great Christian nations, she didn't call for Western unity in defense of Christ. She called for Western unity in defense of the holocaust story, and Jewish pride.

The media is reporting that the ultra Zionist Benjamin Netanyahu and his ilk are telling the Western nations that they must come together in defense of everything Israeli and Jewish since anti-Semitism is supposedly on the rise. They say anti-Semitism is threatening again as in World War II, to manifest as another holocaust. What garbage. What about the genocide being perpetrated by Israel and the Western powers against the Palestinian people? Who should unite in their defense? Perhaps Israel should ask "why" anti-Semitism is growing, and the US should perhaps ask why anti-Americanism is also growing, along with growing discontent right here in the states.

The US made a big mistake when it turned our intelligence gathering, and foreign policy making over to the Israeli government and their counterparts operating here in the US, including AIPAC. They have killed more than 3000 American children, and maimed and tormented many more, in a plot that is so ridiculously stupid that no one can even talk about it. Their war on terrorism, their war in Iraq, their pre-emptive strike doctrine, their torture, their lies, and their other crimes against humanity like the genocide in Palestine are an embarrassment to the Western world, or should be. They have perhaps squandered billions in US taxpayer money, and stolen billions more, skimming off of American pension funds, and have been stealing from reconstruction projects in Iraq. They have derailed the credibility of the US government, and destroyed American prestige and influence in the world. Now they want us to send 40 thousand more of our children into Iraq to die, and also to attack Iran either along with them, or in their defense. This all seems just fine with our so-called representative government that gets bigger, and less representative of American sentiment, and more representative everyday of the Jewish sentiment, which is morally skewed, self absorbed, violent and also self destructive.

So the big question today is, "who will save the West from itself?" Who will save us from the people who call themselves Western "leaders" yet they have forsaken their obligation to their own people, countries and children in order to appease a foreign power that has given us nothing but headaches. This foreign power, while demanding our money, our children's lives, and also our honor and our pride, has also sought to undermine our Constitution. Our "ally" has left us nothing, not even the illusion of independence and power. They have enslaved the American worker, who now works more hours per day for less money than almost any other worker in the industrialized world, yet can't get affordable health care, housing, or a pension. They have poisoned our people with drugs and pornography and sexual addictions and crime. They have broken up our families, and caused fear and suspicion to weaken our communities. These are the people who will convene in Washington to decide the fate of the Arab and Muslim world, beginning with Palestine. These are the people who will decide what to do about Hamas, as though Hamas is what is plaguing the world. Who will save Palestine from us, and who will save us from ourselves?

If we are lucky, the people of the United States will stop shopping, and start listening. If we are lucky we will stop eating, and try to understand what is happening to our country, and what is being done in the world in our names. Whereas our government is a joke, we, the people, can salvage the great American experiment simply by upholding our Constitution, and demanding that it be adhered to. We must save ourselves, from ourselves, by turning to the past and giving new life to our Constitution. It is an idea and a testament to independence, freedom and equal rights. It is the threads that stitched together the souls of these 50 states, and though often strained, had never been completely torn except once, resulting in a civil war. Will we wait for our country to become like Iraq or Palestine? Occupied, drained and stripped of its resources, its wealth, and power, and like the Palestinians, will we start killing one another to curry favor from enemies? Wake up America!