Wafaa' Al-Natheema وفاء النظيمة

The Cancer Cure and The Doctor Who Invented It

2011-10-27T12:09:00.004-04:00

Criminalizing the Doctors Who Cure Cancer Patients

Dr. Burzynski's Story

Murdoch and Vaccines

2011-10-16T01:25:00.014-04:00

Exposure of Crimes Reveals a Much Larger Story

This Alan Golding documentary gives background which can allow people to judge the credibility of Murdoch’s reporter for themselves:

Please distribute widely to doctors, nurses and pharmacists who care and especially to mothers!

This is an excellent article on the subject matter of Murdoch and Vaccines:

http://coto2.wordpress.com/2011/07/17/murdoch-and-vaccines-exposure-of-murdochs-crimes-expose-a-much-larger-story/

Iraqi-Australian Singer - مغني عراقي من ملجأ ببغداد

2011-09-02T22:14:00.003-04:00

نتمنى له ولأخيه الموفقية وزيارة العراق

How Many Bin Ladins Do We Have?

2011-05-02T11:57:00.013-04:00

Please Watch This Interview with Benazir Bhutto till its end

So the USA "Finally" Killed Osama on Sunday, May 1?

Again? Another boogeyman?

And What a Great Timing!

Right after Obama Gave his Sarcasm Speech Clearing the Dispute about his Birth Certificate and During the Arab World's Turmoil to Occupy People Away from the Covert Operations and Crimes That Are Being Committed by the USA in These Countries !!

In other words, Obama gave three punches to his opponents; killing Bin Laden was the strongest of All.

April 26 is International Seed Day (ISD)

2011-04-26T06:27:00.001-04:00

INEAS wishes all ISD Endorsers, farmers, organic food advocates,

scientists and activists a
Merry Seed Day
hoping that this seed campaign reaches many African and Asian countries in 2011

http://www.ineas.org/in/ev/seed-day.htm

We thank you for distributing this greeting widely

Positive Reports:

1. On behalf of 60 family farmers, seedbusinesses and organic agricultural organizations, the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) filed suit in March 2010 against Monsanto Company to challenge the chemical giant's patents on genetically modified seed

http://www.pubpat.org/assets/files/seed/OSGATA-v-Monsanto-Complaint.pdf

2. From ISD endorser and farmer Morgana Washington:

"With any luck, we will be putting in our first seeds on the 26th. The weather here in upstate NY has been cruel as far as seed setting is concerned. But we are going to do it on the 26th, as the temp.'s seem to be stabilizing enough for the ground temp. to come up in our cold frame. Then we will lay out our NEW garden from which we hope to mostly feed ourselves in 2011. We are using organic and heirloom seeds as a thumbing of the nose to the eco-terrorist corporatocracies like Monsanto, Syngen et al.

Our only worries are how much radionuclides the plants will absorb, but since gardening under cover is not an option for us, we will accept the risks to ourselves and eat our own food.

Happy planting everyone!" Morgana

3. Since April 18, the Institute of Near Eastern & African Studies (INEAS) have been phoning women, farmers, agriculture experts and activists in India and Iraq to alert them about International Seed Day (ISD), its mission, the phenomena of seed patenting and genetically modified seeds (GMS). Bringing awareness to the public and forming an international committee of lawyers, scientists, farmers, journalists and activists that collectively alert, exchange information, take action, protest and defend against the monopoly and bio piracy of the agribusiness corporations is essential and long overdue.

Again
Merry Seed Day

USA Bombs Libya on March 19, the Anniversary of the War on IRAQ

2011-03-19T20:35:00.014-04:00

On March 19, the 8th Anniversary of the War on IRAQ, the USA and British submarines launches 112 Tomahawk cruise missiles on Libyan air defenses. All for the sake of democracy!

A call for a serious boycott of the USA-UK-France-Israel block is IMPERATIVE. An immediate action must be taken NOW!

To commemorate the 8th anniversary of the war on IRAQ, the Baghdad airport battle on April 7 - 9, 2003 is remembered

Written by Jeff Archer

From his book, "The Mother of All Battles: The Endless U.S.-Iraq War"

http://malcomlagauche.com/id8.html

----------------------------

The U.S. preoccupation with the impending threat of Iraqi nuclear weapons was just another form of misinformation to rattle the American public. A few months after Desert Storm, the U.N. sent a secret team of nuclear inspectors to Iraq to try to discover how close Iraq was to producing its first nuclear weapon prior to the conflict. The experts were nuclear designers from the U.S., Russia, Britain and France.

Iraq’s nuclear program had already been scrutinized by U.N. inspectors, but this group was more advanced in its knowledge of nuclear weapons because it was comprised of design experts. The designers’ assessment was the most accurate that had been reported: “Iraq was at least five years away from developing its first crude nuclear weapon, if it desired to do so.” This message was opposite of that of George Bush, who created worldwide hysteria by saying Iraq was within months, or even weeks, of having a nuke ready to goLike father, like son again was the rule of the day a dozen years later as Bush II spoke in detailed terms of Iraq’s impending nuclear threat and a “mushroom cloud over New York City.”

Few journalists mentioned the 1991 report, or that Iraq’s nuclear weapons capability was totally destroyed in the bombing of Desert Storm.In the buildup to Desert Storm, no one seemed concerned about U.S. nuclear weapons. Many were shocked to learn that the U.S. used radioactive projectiles, made from spent uranium, against the Iraqis. When Desert Storm ended, several hundred tons of spent uranium were sitting in the desert in Kuwait and southern Iraq. Late in 1991, the British Atomic Energy Authority issued a secret report on the use of spent uranium in Desert Storm.According to the document, uranium was used in tens of thousands of armor-piercing rounds fired at Iraqi vehicles by U.S. aircraft and U.S. and British tanks. According to Lt. Colonel Vincent Macchi, a combat commander in Desert Storm, “Every attack aircraft in the air and on the ground carried them.”

The Atomic Energy Authority went on to say that there was enough uranium in the deserts of Kuwait and Iraq to potentially cause 500,000 deaths. It added that the sheer volume of uranium did indicate a significant problem.Depleted uranium is a derivative of the U-235 type used in weapons-grade materials. The less-radioactive, yet still dangerous, substance is then made into bullets, bombs or missiles that are extremely hard and heavy. The projectile then can easily cut through virtually any kind of armor.When it pierces heavy armor, the outer surface of the round pulverizes, dispersing uranium dust that burns at very high temperatures. The depleted uranium rounds incinerated thousands of Iraqi tank crews. Lt. Colonel Macchi said the projectiles were “the best tank killers we’ve ever seen. The trouble is, we’ve never used DU (depleted uranium) before and we had no idea what that aftereffect would be.”

In August and September of 1991, a team of experts from the British Atomic Energy Authority visited the area of contamination and discovered that shell fragments, uranium dust, and other debris were left behind from the barrage of hi-tech shells used during Desert Storm. They concluded that there was enough low-yield radiation to present a “serious and ultimately lethal hazard to large population masses.”

In November 1991, the International Atomic Energy Committee issued a report to Gulf area diplomats with high security clearances that discussed the waste. One senior diplomat concluded: “Our air, our water, the soil, the food chain … everything … has been poisoned. My government supported the military intervention against Iraq, but now many of us wish we had opposed it.”

The U.S administration tried to keep the information about DU away from the American public. Most people had never heard of the new weapon and the U.S. government hoped that any information would just fade away, however, something occurred that made it difficult to push the information aside. A few months after the end of Desert Storm, several hundred U.S. soldiers contracted a mysterious disease that confounded the doctors. Many theories came forth about the maladies — oil well fires, possible chemical weapons, handling of fuels, etc. Only after many U.S. military people came forward was the subject of radiation poisoning brought up.Initially, a few hundred U.S. Gulf War veterans complained about bleeding gums and liver disorders. Within a few months, the number exceeded 100,000. Many maintained that spent uranium was the cause of their sicknesses, yet the U.S. government lent no credence to this diagnosis. If it had, the government would have admitted that the hazardous materials were used en masse during Desert Storm.The resulting contamination from the use of spent-uranium projectiles is horrific. After Desert Storm, thousands of Iraqis died in mysterious manners of which the causes point to the leftover spent uranium. In areas which the U.S. bombed heavily, there were more incidents than in areas which did not receive massive bombing. Children were (and still are) suffering and becoming deformed because of the spent uranium.The March 2003 invasion brought even more DU to Iraq, possibly 10-times as much. The cycle began again. Some places are so immersed in DU that locals state they felt the heat from the exploded armaments months after they were dropped.Not only Iraq suffered from these projectiles.

In the 1999 bombing of Serbia, many similar missiles and bombs were used. On the ground, the results are identical to those in Iraq.Despite the visits of many scientific teams to Iraq that have concluded that DU is a tragedy of a great scale for the Iraqis, three U.S. administrations refused to address the issue. They all said that DU is benign and have constantly stated that DU had nothing to do with U.S. war veterans who became ill or died. The number of U.S. casualties possibly caused by DU is now in the hundreds of thousands. When the recipients brought up the issue with the U.S. government, they were rebuffed and told that DU is not dangerous and is not the cause of their illnesses, despite scientific research stating the opposite.The U.S. did not use nuclear weapons in Iraq in 1991 or Serbia in 1999. However, there are thousands of tons of nuclear radioactive material in both countries. There are hundreds of websites on the Internet that have very informative and astute information about the use and effects of DU. Just punch in “depleted uranium” in a search engine and you will be able to research the issue in much greater detail.There are always some instances that have occurred in the ongoing U.S. war against Iraq that leave one with a feeling of not having gotten to the bottom of the story.

Many times, research will provide the answers, but some things still stick out as unfinished business.One of these quandaries was the taking of Saddam International Airport (later renamed Baghdad International Airport by the U.S.) in early April 2003. Much of the news from the U.S. and British mainstream press said the airport fell with ease and few U.S. casualties. However, there were gaps in the reporting as well as contradictory statements. Initially, most press agencies or publications reported heavy fighting when the U.S. arrived at the airport. Then, there was silence. About four days later, we heard about the airport’s fall to the U.S. But, was it all as easy as the press stated?Russian agencies carried stories of fierce fighting in which many U.S. soldiers were killed. Some Arab news agencies spoke of a bloody battle with heavy casualties on both sides. These reports varied greatly from those coming out of the U.S. and Britain.In July 2006, an article written by Captain Eric May, a 14-year veteran of the U.S. Army, published by the Lone Star Iconoclast, alleged that the Battle of Baghdad, which began at Saddam International Airport, was far more devastating to the U.S. forces. This was no conspiracy theorist looking for publicity. Additionally, he held knowledge that few writers about Iraq have: keen expertise in the areas of military tactics and U.S. military intelligence.

Captain May made another allegation that was not mentioned in the mainstream press. He thought that the outnumbered U.S. military used a neutron bomb at the airport to stop the Iraqi troops.Captain May entered the U.S. Army in 1977 and served for 14 years. He eventually received advance intelligence education and he spent years in deciphering messages, mainly from the former Soviet Union.In 1990, he returned to civilian life and taught languages (Latin, Greek and Russian) at Mt. Carmel High School in Houston, where he was once named teacher of the year. In 1995, he changed careers and became a freelance executive speech writer for many prominent companies. At the same time, he contributed articles to Houston NBC-affiliate KPRC-TV.

In addition, he wrote for two Houston daily newspapers: The Houston Post and The Houston Chronicle. On August 26, 2006, I interviewed Captain May. He brought out some very interesting points about the battle at the airport that received little or no publicity in the U.S.

JA: Please tell us what prompted you to begin your questioning of the Battle of Baghdad, primarily the battle for the airport.

CM: I had just come back from teaching a martial arts class on Friday, April 4, 2003. That would have been the morning of April 5 in Baghdad. Immediately, what I saw on CNN, about 9 p.m. Central time, was that Baghdad had been surrounded. We had dedicated the military forces to enveloping and making it succumb piece-by-piece, maybe sending in the 101st Airborne. Then, all of a sudden, there was a report of explosions and CNN started to act like they were all rattled and didn’t know it was coming. Given that I was a prior service and intelligence public affairs officer, I knew very well that meant unexpected contact. Pretty soon, they were saying there were huge explosions from the airport, and the next thing you know, they’re casting over to imbed Walter Rogers from CNN. As he’s broadcasting from Baghdad Airport, you can hear artillery hitting around his Humvee and you can hear small arms fire hitting it: a distinct ping, ping, ping. That pretty much told me they were getting fired up bad. That was when it was still pre-dawn in Baghdad. By dawn, Lt. Col. Terry Ferrell, the 3/7 Cavalry Group commander appeared on TV during CNN evening coverage and he broke down into tears when he trying to say everything was okay at Baghdad Airport. That made it clear to me that the 3/7, the scout unit, the cavalry squadron that attended the 3rd Infantry Division, the U.S. Army division that had surrounded Baghdad, had wound up in a close fight in the Baghdad Airport. That’s what I picked up at the time.

By the next day, CNN was saying there was substantial contradiction in facts from various media reports. Arab media were putting out 200 U.S. dead at the airport. Russian Intel put out that dozens were dead and a real fight had developed. U.S. media were putting out that Jessica Lynch had been rescued.

JA: How do you account for foreign media reporting about a bloody battle and U.S. media being silent about the airport while highlighting the rescue of Jessica Lynch?

CM: To me, at this point, it was a done deal. The Battle of Baghdad was essentially blocked out from April 5 all the way through April 8. On April 9, you had the pull-down of the Saddam statue which represents a pretty efficient ending of the Battle of Baghdad. But, it really was a propaganda ending. The pull-down was a staged event and I’ve heard that the few Iraqis there were not even Iraqis.

JA: Why have you taken such passion about the Battle of Baghdad?

CM: The propaganda cover-up of the Battle of Baghdad, what we call BOBCUP (Battle of Baghdad Cover-up) was so conspicuously against the United States principles of information, which is what we follow in the Department of Defense Public Affairs operations, was so egregiously out of line, it was then that I self-mobilized my mission of conscience because, basically, it was apparent to me at that point, that we were under dictatorship. Suppressing the events of an entire battle and keeping it suppressed long after the battle was over … you know, you could have said, "Well, we didn’t want to tell the Iraqis where our troops were," or something else. But, you can’t say that months and months and months and years after the event.Baghdad was the beginning. I’ve finished a successful career; in and out of the active Army and in and out of the reserves. My last gig was that of a general staff officer. I’ve been around. Baghdad brought me out of the observation and analysis of this war to a participant in what we call the "info war." The war to get real information to the public.

JA: Please describe the conditions that make an "info war."

CM: What became apparent to me is that the willingness they have to close down any kind of information that doesn’t fit into the big plan. Make it apparent that the whole system of government that we grew up studying in books — the three systems to keep government honest — has really become a unipolar government where you have an imperial executive — we call it King George and the Bush League — who rule the country. The media translate it like a propaganda ministry. Your other two parts of the triangle, the legislative and the judicial branches of government, are really there just for dressing up. They’re just there to make it look like a democracy, but it’s not. (Note: to non-U.S. readers, the term "bush league" in the U.S. represents a low-class entity. Captain May used the term doubly: Bush is the president’s name and fits right in with the Bush League.)

JA: You, like a few other people who can think, predicted in writing the outcome of the invasion. Please elaborate.

CM: I’ve been publishing war analyses for the Houston Chronicle since 1992 predicting this quagmire. In retrospect, now that things have turned out the way they have, it seems obvious what I wrote on April 3, 2003, as we were nearing Baghdad. I wrote in the Houston Chronicle that this would be called "The Quicksand War”: it would turn into quicksand. Now, that looks so transparently obvious. But, I can remember when I submitted it to my editor, he laughed at me and said I was really going to blow my reputation on this one because the U.S. Army was going to reach Baghdad the next day and prove I was wrong. As with so many people who never served a day in uniform, he just automatically knew that once you got there and knocked the other guy’s capital down, they gave up. But, for somebody who’d been in the military at that time in three different decades, and who had studied the art of war for three decades, the idea that a war is over because you take a capital? I read Napoleon. Also, that’s what people were saying on the way to Moscow.

JA: What is your opinion about the Iraqi resistance at that time? Few people knew that it had been organized before the U.S. invasion.

CM: When we go into the Battle of Baghdad cover-up, that’s part of what was getting covered up. I was getting from Iraqi resistance reports that they were preparing a resistance movement and I picked up on this as the Battle of Baghdad was occurring. Groups like the Saddam Fedayeen were involved, not just the Iraqi military.Teaching indigenous populations how to conduct guerilla warfare is like saying you have to teach teenagers on a date alone how to have sex. They’re inevitably going to find out what everything’s for if you just leave them alone. Anytime you start a guerilla war, you get involved in attacking and holding a country, the most brilliant work of that campaign is going to come from the people who are trying to get even for your initial attack.The resistance was planned and according to my research, they were publishing an underground newsletter as early as the Battle of Baghdad itself. Covering up a battle and covering up military reality are only temporary advantages, but they bring long-term problems. The administration became invested in saying that it had a successful war with conclusive results. As a result, the entire paradigm was askew. It went in with the wrong policy in the military sense. Once you deny military reality enough, it screws up your military.

JA: Please explain in detail what you consider the info war and on what kind of battlefield will it be fought.

CM: It’s clear that we are in an info war. When Eisenhower warned of the military-industrial complex, he could have said, in Orwellian terms, the military-industrial-media complex. The info wars are staged by such things as the manipulation of the capture of Saddam. I remember various media outlets grumbling about it because the story given by the U.S. administration was kind of falling apart. With every story we discuss, information has been manipulated. If you listen to Rumsfeld, he will always say, "We need to win the propaganda war and we need to win the informational war." Informational warfare is nothing but info war. But, nobody wants to admit info war is going on because then it becomes clear that we have a treasonable condition of affairs.

JA: How can the numbers of U.S. killed in the Battle of Baghdad be covered up? How can they make four or five hundred soldiers disappear?

CM: That formed the first level of my investigation into the Battle of Baghdad. After watching CNN on April 4, 2003, I spent a couple of weeks doing TV analysis. Then, I decided I would go to Fort Stewart in Georgia, which is the home base for the Third Infantry and the 3/7 Cavalry. When I got there, I immediately confirmed the existence of the Battle of Baghdad with the chaplain, who also told me the constitution was in the tank. They were covering up what they wanted. They control what the public feels, sees and does. I realized there was a cover-up going on at the home base. Later in the summer, it came out that wives at the home base were being harassed and they were being given pharmacological psychotropic cocktails. There was a news blackout. When they (Third Infantry Division) finally did get back, they came back kind of on the midnight train.There were many more wounded than the hospital could accommodate. They were sleeping in open fields. The reason for that, I believe, is that they were trying to keep everybody who was at the Battle of Baghdad all located at one Army post so they could control all the information.Among the survivors and their dependents, there was an attempt to coerce silence. I like to say they were thugged up and drugged up. In January 2004, I had a freelance journalist from upstate New York start working with me to try to get the story. She found out that there were about 100 backdoor visits, which means the casualty officer would come and inform the widows of what happened. They were taking women and getting them out of town, off the post.She came up with a number of about 100 war widows. About one out of three soldiers is married. That kind of went well with what I had thought: about 300 to 500 killed in action. Very quickly, after she began investigating, she got a death threat.Maybe we have 500 dead. That sounds like an immense pile. What happens is that you get 500 coffins that go to 500 different train terminals and 500 disparate cities and small towns. Nobody sends out a card saying there are 499 other ones. Everybody who gets one knows they have a dead G.I. But, nobody thinks their dead G.I. was part of a massive battle. It’s the elephant of truth. Every blind person gets one feel. Everyone gets one pat on the elephant without realizing there’s an immense beast there.Covering up dead body counts is not hard to do at all. All you do is fail to report in any kind of cohesive order that there has been a massive battle. They proved that again by the fact that the fight of Fallujah, both of them, were covered up.It’s easy to understand what happened with Fallujah. The same as the Battle of Baghdad. What the public got told was nothing like the carnage that was going on. The U.S. death count was held down. There’s no way you have street-to-street close urban combat dismounted and have only two guys a day getting killed. It doesn’t happen that way. We had regimental operations going on in Fallujah.

JA: If George Bush declared victory on May 1, 2003, why is there still fighting in Baghdad?

CM: The one thing we should understand is we have a Battle of Baghdad going on right now. It’s being covered up. It’s being hidden as a substratum under the greater story, which is the Israeli war on Lebanon.As an example of what happens when you broadcast propaganda instead of history, the truth gets lost. The American public was told we took Baghdad far easier than we did and that meant clear sailing, when it really didn’t. Now, the American public has been deluded. It’s like a magic trick: once you follow the magician, you’re lost. The magician has control of you. The media is a magic trick. That TV is a box and the magic trick that comes out of it tells us that we’re reinforcing our troops around Baghdad so we can take Baghdad back. The screaming question should be, "What the hell? You mean we lost Baghdad?" We’ve been losing Baghdad since we got there.

JA: Have you spoken to any Iraqi participants of the Battle of Baghdad?

CM: A couple of journalists who were in Baghdad proper talked to the people returning from the battle. The most extreme thing I picked up is that the Battle of Baghdad was started at the airport with the U.S. forces being overwhelmed. It wound up being a six-hour firefight at close quarters and my surmise is that our side was running out of ammo and somebody decided to go nuclear. That seems to be universally acknowledged by everybody on all sides, except the American.Evidently, what happened was the U.S. G.I.s buttoned up inside their armor, which cuts down the transmission of radiation, and some sort of nuclear devices were used at Baghdad Airport. Since then, American battle doctrine has been revised to allow commanders to do exactly the kind of things that I’m inferring from my sources that were done at Baghdad Airport. In other words, they retroactively retrofitted the doctrine.The nuclear threshold is a very fuzzy thing in this war anyway. We already went over using D.U. (depleted uranium). That already, arguably, makes it a nuclear war. Of course, you see why Battle of Baghdad One had to be covered up. How the hell do you go into a war where you say you’re going to remove an evil madman because he has weapons of mass destruction and you bring them with you?JA: In your opinion, did the U.S. do anything positive in removing Saddam Hussein and his government?CM: You remember the first year of the war, the commentators were saying to the naysayers, "Well, what do you mean? Are you saying they’d be better off if Saddam was still in charge?" That was something that shut everybody up because, one year into this, everybody was still believing the myth that we freed the Iraqis. At this point, the reason why nobody asks if they’d be better off with Saddam in power is that it has been so transparent to anybody, except a Republican clone, that they were much better off when Saddam was in power.

JA: Do you think the truth will ever come out to the mainstream about the Battle of Baghdad?

CM: The mainstream seems to be irrelevant. They’ve condemned themselves. They find they formed a Faustian pact when they were all going to get behind a war that was for oil and Israel. They agreed to become an imbedded asset. What could be more shameful than to be imbedded? They’re not a media supplying relevant information. They’re a propaganda operation providing rationalization.That’s what leaves us with the term "info war." Now, the relevant and important information comes out through what you might call the "underground media." Call it alternative media or what you want. What is means is that two guys, like you and me, who both have enough expertise to be on any of the network shows, talk about what we talk about. We can’t get on their TV, so we do it through this alternative medium. The best interviews that can be conducted are available outside the mainstream media. The ability of the people who are not plugged into the mainstream media system to do quality work means that the system will inevitably fail.I compare it to the Catholic hierarchy after the creation of the printing press. The Internet, to us, has become our info war printing press. Information cannot be totally controlled. If you say, "I’m a gatekeeper and I’m plugging up this big old door," the Internet makes it such that information seeps out of the cracks.What we call media, I call collaborators. All collaborators, throughout history, suffered the same fate. They lost all reputation and dignity after the victory by the right side. It’s only at the point when the media have been exposed that the real history of the Iraq war will be written. You’re writing one now. Eventually, there will be acknowledgement of the Battle of Baghdad and the Battle of Fallujah. These things are being kept under wraps now because the very frail Bush League still maintains control of the equally frail imbedded media. That cannot endure.

* * *

Is it possible that the U.S. military used a neutron bomb against the Iraqi troops during the battle for the airport? Because the airport came under U.S. control, the world may never know. Some actions created bases worthy of further questioning. Shortly after the battle ended, many trucks laden with soil came to the scene and replaced dirt that had been dug up by the U.S. military in the airport. Then, the airport was off limits and did not open for nine months.

Reports did come out of Baghdad that there may have been an extraordinary event that quickly ended a fierce battle. According to Steven Salinsky in an article named “Arab and Muslim Jihad fighters in Iraq,” published by the Middle East Media Research Institute on July 27, 2003:

A Yemini volunteer said: “I was attached to a group of Arab volunteers in a residential neighborhood in western Baghdad a few days before its fall. When the American forces entered Saddam Airport, we were transferred willingly near there and found Iraqi forces belonging to the Republican Guard and infantry forces, which perhaps belonged to the Fedayeen, fighting ferocious battles several hundred meters from our position.

“The Iraqis fought fiercely in the battle at the airport, and the Americans moved under an aerial umbrella of fighter planes, helicopters and heavy bombing with missiles and giant bombs. It was a sight from hell, and hundreds of Iraqis and Arab volunteers were martyred.

This eyewitness report corroborates the scenario that the use of a neutron or other type special bomb would create in battle. In an article called “Iraq’s Secrets Are Tumbling Out,” published in the May 7, 2004 edition of the Indian Press, Saeed Naqvi wrote

A few days earlier, the colorful minister for information, Mohammed Sahaff, had threatened a “unique way” in which U.S. troops around Baghdad Airport would be “handled.” Two floors of the passenger areas were under American control. But Iraqis were still in occupation of VIP and service buildings. This is where the control valves were for water supply to the main passenger area where the Americans were. At night, petrol was pumped into the first floor. The ground floor of the passenger terminal was flooded with water. An 11 KV current passed through the water. The first floor was then set on fire causing the U.S. soldiers to rush downstairs — to be electrocuted. Heaven knows how many were killed.

To flush out the Iraqis from the remaining airport buildings, a neutron bomb was allegedly used. This enhanced radiation bomb spares buildings but reduces humans to ash. Iraqi Republican Guards, witness to this macabre display, informed the Ba’athist military leadership about the lengths to which the U.S. could go … Was this the reason why Baghdad Airport remained closed until nine months after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s statue on April 9, 2003?

On February 6, 2004, www.indybay.org ran an article by David Martinez titled, “Rumors and Rifles.” According to Martinez:

The first concerns the battle for the Baghdad airport. As you will remember, it was a fierce and bloody conflict, and at the end the Americans prevailed. But exactly HOW they won is being much speculated upon.

People say that there was a very loud explosion heard, and then after that, all resistance ceased. Then, eyewitnesses say, trucks were seen removing loads and loads of topsoil, as if it had been contaminated. And the families of the slain have asked for their relatives’ remains, to no avail. A British journalist told me he has seen photos of the corpses, and they are something akin to melted.

So, people think that the Americans used a small neutron bomb, a device that killed humans, but left buildings intact. It allowed the military to kill people without damaging real estate. A lot of folks here think that one of these was dusted off and used to wipe out the Iraqi fighters at the airport.

The media of various countries, such as Russia, India and some Arab nations, as well as journalists of the alternative sector, covered this story, but, no Western mainstream media approached the subject. Most of the reporting of the possible use of a neutron bomb by the U.S. against the defenders of the airport ceased about a year after the incident.

All that changed in April 2007. Someone close to the battle came forth and made the same allegations of those who had written about the use of a neutron bomb. Saifeddin Hassan Taha al-Rawi, the former commander of Iraq’s Republican Guard, was interviewed by Al-Jazeera News about the battle. Only al-Rawi’s back was visible in the interview and his face was covered because he is still on the run from the U.S. military. He is on the infamous set of playing cards the U.S. devised in 2003 as the Jack of Clubs. There is a one million dollar price tag on him.

According to an Al-Jazeera article of April 9, 2007, called “U.S. Accused of Using Neutron Bombs:”

Al-Rawi told Al-Jazeera that U.S. forces used neutron and phosphorus bombs during their assault on Baghdad Airport before the April 9 capture of the Iraqi capital.

“The enemy used neutron and phosphorus weapons against Baghdad Airport. There were bodies burnt to their bones,” he said. “The bombs annihilated soldiers but left the buildings and infrastructure at the airport intact,” he added.

Various sources, from those who fought in the battle, to citizens in neighborhoods close to the airport, described a common scenario of fierce fighting, a huge noise accompanied by a massive flash, and an almost instant end to the fighting. Al-Rawi mentioned two weapons: a neutron bomb and a phosphorus bomb. The results of both fit the description of the melted bodies seen at the airport. In Fallujah, the U.S. used phosphorus bombs against the civilian population. At first, the allegations were denied, but, once pictures began to emerge from Fallujah showing melted Iraqi bodies, the U.S. administration admitted the use of phosphorus bombs, albeit the confession said they were only used to light up the battlefield.

We may never know the truth about the battle for Baghdad Airport because no Iraqis with cameras took pictures of the bodies of the dead. But, in Fallujah, pictures were taken and distributed so the world could see the melted corpses.

There is another possibility: fuel-air bombs, sometimes called fuel-air explosives (FAE). A common description of these weapons is “an atomic blast without the radiation.” This is not technically true, but the results resemble such an impact.

After Desert Storm, many Iraqi bodies were found that either were melted or incinerated to a pile of ashes. They were the recipients of fuel-air explosives. International rules of war state they can only be used to clear an area of the battlefield, such as a mine field, but not against personnel.

Despite the lethality of FAE, the public knows little about the weapon. Most people have heard of a neutron bomb or a phosphorus bomb, yet FAE, which are just as lethal, if not more so, remain unknown.

On March 12, 2002, the Weekly Standard published an article written by Victorino Matus called “Sucking the Oxygen Out of a Cave.” Matus explained:

Here’s how your average fuel-air bomb works: A warhead containing a canister of aerosol liquid such as ethylene oxide or an explosive powder is dropped on a target. “A small initial explosive charge bursts this canister at a predetermined height, allowing the contents to form a concentrated explosive vapor-cloud. This cloud is then ignited by a second larger charge, to generate an intense fireball and blast overpressure … Even if the FAE fails to detonate completely, it will generate a widespread burning effect,” says Jane’s (Defence Weekly). “The temperature can be as high as 3,000 degrees Celsius — more than twice that generated by a conventional explosive. The blast wave can travel at approximately 10,000 feet per second.”

Here is how the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) describes the effect of an FAE:

The (blast) kill mechanism against living targets is unique and unpleasant … What kills is the pressure wave, and more importantly, the subsequent rarefaction (vacuum), which ruptures the lungs. If the fuel deflagrates but does not detonate, victims will be severely burned and will probably also inhale the burning fuel. Since the most common FAE fuels, ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, are highly toxic, undetonated FAE should prove as lethal to personnel caught within the cloud.

We probably will never discover what the U.S. used against the Iraqi military in the battle for the airport. The effects of a neutron bomb and FAE are similar: instant death and melted bodies. Both produce a huge fireball, as described by witnesses, and a deafening sound.

Those who consider that the neutron bomb was the weapon of choice point out a factor that may sway the argument toward the atomic projectile. After the battle ceased, surrounding neighborhoods were measured for radiation levels. Those nearest the airport displayed elevated magnitudes of radiation. The levels decreased proportionately when checked in areas farther from the airport.

The thousands of tons of spent uranium in Iraq will poison the environment for millennia. Many groups have inspected the areas in which depleted uranium was used. It is no longer speculation, but fact.

The use of a neutron bomb is still open to debate, but many common statements by observers point in that direction. Either way, Iraq has been inundated with nuclear material from U.S. and British military actions. Both used nuclear weapons against Iraq.

One aspect of the battle for the airport that is never mentioned in the West is the participation by Iraq’s president. Iraq Screen published an article shortly before Saddam Hussein’s assassination in 2006. The author interviewed an Iraqi officer of the Republican Guard who participated in the battle for the airport in Baghdad in April 2003. The officer recalled:

While I was busy shooting with my colleagues, all of a sudden, we found Saddam Hussein with a number of his assistants inside the airport, we were really surprised because we did not expect such a thing, but Saddam went forward and took an RPG and put it on his shoulder and began to shoot by himself. We gathered around him and begged him to stay aside and leave us fighting because if we would be killed, we are common officers, but if he is killed, we would lose our leader. Saddam turned to us and said, "Look, I am no better than any one of you and this is the high time to defend our great Iraq and it would be a great honor to be killed as a martyr for the sake of Iraq."

IRAQI Professor Executed by American Forces

2011-03-11T18:16:00.016-05:00

Press Statement Regarding the Execution of a Professor at the University of Tikrit College of Medicine

The Department of Culture and Information of the Association of Muslim Scholars Issued a Press Statement on the Execution of One Professor of Medicine at the University of Tikrit.

PRESS RELEASE
American occupation forces committed a brutal crime, to add to its long records of gross violations against Iraqis, by killing a professor at the University of Tikrit College of Medicine.
On Monday, March 7, eye witnesses from the victim’s family confirmed that the occupation forces carried out an air strike on the Allazaka village of Hawija southwest of Kirkuk, and raided the house of Dr. Iyad Ibrahim Mohammed, Professor at the college of Medicine at University of Tikrit, and shot him dead in front of his family, and proceeded to arrest his brother stating that the occupation forces took the body of a university professor and his brother to one of its bases in Salahuddin province, without providing any real reasons for this heinous crime.

Since 2003, the American barbaric forces has committed thousands of similar, brutal crimes and violations affecting various segments of Iraqi society, added to the arrest of tens of thousands of innocent citizens. The Association of Muslim Scholars condemns this atrocious crime, which demonstrates the extent of recklessness that has characterized the occupation forces while falsely claiming that they are advocates of Human Rights in the world. The Association holds the occupation forces and the current government fully responsible for this and other similar crimes and gruesome violations.

Source: http://www.heyetnet.org/eng/iraq-news/5864-occupation-forces-murder-university-academician.html

___________________________
Note by Wafaa' Al-Natheema: It has been estimated that since the occupation in 2003, more than 400 university professors and hard-core scientists have been murdered directly or indirectly by the occupation forces. This Spanish group enlists 304 Iraqis in a document updated in August 2010: http://www.iraqsolidaridad.org/2010/docs/Aca_02_8_2010.pdf
while this list enlists over 450 murdered Iraqis: http://www.brussellstribunal.org/pdf/academicsBT151108.pdf

تصريح صحفي بخصوص إعدام أستاذ بكلية الطب بجامعة تكريت
اصدر قسم الثقافة والاعلام في هيئة علماء المسلمين تصريحًا صحفيًا بشأن إعدام قوات الاحتلال الأمريكية لأحد اساتذة كلية الطب بجامعة تكريت

تصريح صحفي

ارتكبت قوات الاحتلال الأمريكية أمس جريمة وحشية جديدة تضاف إلى سجلها الأسود المليء بالجرائم والانتهاكات الصارخة ضد العراقيين، بقتلها أستاذا بكلية الطب بجامعة تكريت . وأكد شهود عيان من أهالي الضحية أن قوات الاحتلال المسعورة نفذت أمس الاثنين إنزالا جويا على قرية (اللازاكة ) التابعة لقضاء الحويجة جنوب غرب مدينة كركوك، واقتحمت منزل الدكتور ( إياد إبراهيم محمد ) أستاذ كلية الطب بجامعة تكريت، وأطلقت عليه النار أمام عائلته فاردته قتيلا في المكان، كما أقدمت على اعتقال شقيقه ..موضحين أن قوات الاحتلال أخذت جثة الأستاذ الجامعي وشقيقه معها إلى إحدى قواعدها بمحافظة صلاح الدين، دون معرفة الأسباب الحقيقية لهذه الجريمة النكراء . يذكر أن قوات الاحتلال الأمريكية الهمجية اقترفت منذ احتلالها الغاشم لهذا البلد الجريح عام 2003آلاف الجرائم المماثلة والانتهاكات الصارخة التي طالت مختلف شرائح المجتمع العراقي إضافة إلى اعتقال عشرات الآلاف من المواطنين الأبرياء . إن هيئة علماء المسلمين إذ تدين هذه الجريمة البشعة التي تدلل على مدى الاستهتار الذي وصلت إليه قوات الاحتلال التي تدعي زورا وبهتانا أنها الراعي لحقوق الإنسان في العالم، وتحمل الهيئة قوات الاحتلال والحكومة الحالية المسؤولية الكاملة عنها وعن مثيلاتها من الجرائم والانتهاكات الشنيعة. ا

Things to Remember During Struggle

2011-02-27T22:57:00.019-05:00

"It is not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it."

Lena Horne

Actress and singer (USA)

"No work or love will flourish out of guilt, fear, or hollowness of heart, just as no valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now."

Alan Watts

Philosopher and Budhism Scholar (UK, USA)

"The most potent weapon in the hand of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed"

Steven Biko

African Resister (South Africa)

"In the age of Facebook, Google and Twitter, the media manipulators are able to conjure up popular movements, often focusing on the removal of individual leaders who have disobeyed orders and served the needs of their people or otherwise worn out their welcome. The application of economic blockades (“sanctions”) has facilitated the process of misdirecting people’s anger into fixating on individuals or groups whom the imperialists find troublesome or inefficient. Marcos of the Philippines, Mobutu in the Congo and Egypt’s Mubarak had to go because they could no longer do their jobs as repressive, self-indulgent collaborators and had to be replaced by more suitable personnel." Husayn Al-Kurdi, activist, writer (USA)

"We need more light about each other. Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, love creates patience, and patience creates unity."

Malcolm X, political leader and activist (USA) (d. February 21, 1965)

"The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses." Malcolm X

"A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble. " Mahatma Gandhi (India)

"We can do anything we want to if we stick to it long enough."

Helen Keller (USA)

SWAT قوات سوات تهاجم المتظاهرين في الموصل

2011-02-27T00:56:00.005-05:00

هجوم على المتظاهرين في يوم الجمعة 25 شباط 2011

وقتل أربعة منهم

تقرير قناة الجزيرة عن مظاهرات العراق اليوم

2011-02-25T18:24:00.004-05:00

Details: Iraqi Revolution on Friday, February 25

2011-02-25T12:15:00.002-05:00

تفاصيل عن الثورة العراقية اليوم الجمعة 25 شباط

آلاف المتظاهرين في الديوانية يطالبون بإقالة أعضاء مجلس المحافظة

Thousands of demonstrators in Diwaniya city (South of Iraq) demand the resignation of the Provincial Council's members.

استقالة محافظ البصرة اليوم الجمعة

The governor of Basra city (south of Iraq) resigned today

في حوالي الساعة الخامسة والنصف مساء بتوقيت بغداد عاد بث قناة الرافدين على الإنترنت (صوت وصورة)ا

سقوط شهداء وجرحى في محافظة صلاح الدين

Several demonstrators in Salahuddine Province were killed and wounded by the puppet government's bullits

مقتل متظاهرَين آخرَين في كركوك بسبب نيران الشرطة ليصبح العدد الكلي ثلاثة منذ صباح اليوم الجمعة بالإضافة الى عشرات الجرحى

Two other demonstrators in Kerkuk (north of Iraq) were killed by police gun to make the total killed three demonstrators and tens of wounded youth today, Friday alone

مقطع فيديو من الفلوجة اليوم حيث تظاهر الألوف من الشباب

Short video showing thousands of demonstrators today in Falluja city (middle of Iraq)

http://www.youtube.com/user/IraqeRevolution#p/a/u/0/VxFF69pCspk

انسحاب خمس ضباط وخمسة عشر منتسب من الجيش والتحاقهم بالمتظاهرين في الموصل

Today in Mosul, 15 members of the army plus five officers joined the demonstrators

توقف بث قناة الشرقية على الإنترنت اليوم في السابعة مساء بتوقيت بغداد

أخبار عاجلة من العراق

2011-02-25T05:12:00.005-05:00

أخبار عن الإنتفاضة الكبرى في العراق

تغلق السلطات العراقية قناة الديار وتعتقل صحفي ومحامي قناة البغدادية

تفقد قناة الرافدين البث التصويري على الإنترنت والصوت يستمر في التقطع

ثمانية قتلى في تظاهرات الموصل

متظاهرو البصرة يزيحون الحواجز الكونكريتية

أكثر من عشرين جريحا في ساحة التحرير ببغداد ومنع سيارات الإسعاف من الوصول اليهم

قناة الجزيرة اليوم تركز على تظاهرات القاهرة وبنغازي

IRAQI Demonstrations on Saturday, February 19

2011-02-19T18:12:00.018-05:00

Where is World Media?

أين الإعلام العربي والعالمي ؟

Today, Saturday, February 19 - Demonstrations in Baghdad, Sumawa (South) and Sulaymania (North), Yet Major and Alternative Media Did Not Cover Them All; only a limited coverage to Sulaymania's demonstrations and some in Baghdad!

An Iraqi man phoned al-Rafidain TV about 6pm USA's eastern time informing the program host of demonstrations taken place in Sumawa, but with complete absence of media. Viewers heard unclear chantings by the demonstraters from the caller's mobile phone, which shortly got disconnected. Clearly the puppet government is making sure to control such phone calls from being complete. I am not sure whether the program was live or recorded! Putting in mind that 6 pm USA's eastern standard time is 2 am in Sumawa.

In Baghdad, hundreds of orphans (the beautiful flowers of IRAQ) demonstrated in the Mansour area, while thousands of demonstrators piled up near the main gate of the infamous Green Zone.

More details about what is happening in Iraq can be found in this Arabic article from al-Jazeera and a video clip by Aamer Al-Kubaisy:

الآلاف من المتظاهرين تظاهروا اليوم السبت أمام الباب الرئيسية للمنطقة الخضراء في بغداد بالإضافة الى تظاهرات في السماوة والسليمانية .ا

عدا التظاهرات التي حصلت أمام المنطقة الخضراء وتلك التي شارك فيها أيتام العراق ، كل التظاهرات الأخرى في بغداد حول تحسين الخدمات ومحاسبة المسؤولين ماهي إلا إضاعة للوقت والجهود وابتعاد عن المحور الرئيسي ؛ مصيبة العراق الكبرى والتي هي الإحتلال الأمريكي - البريطاني - الصهيوني - الإيراني .ا

http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A7050A1F-AF2C-4CC9-BD99-E7201EC61FF2.htm?GoogleStatID=9

http://www.youtube.com/user/aamirkubaisy#p/a/u/0/kyUzb7Uyw7c

الشكر لعامر الكبيسي وقناة الجزيرة على تغطية بعض مما يجري في العراق .ا

يجد متكلمي ومتكلمات اللغة العربية تقارير مفصلة على القنوات العراقية التالية :ا
قناة البغدادية : http://www.albaghdadia.com/livehigh

قناة الرافدين : http://www.alrafidain.tv/Live.aspx

قناة الشرقية : http://www.alsharqiya.com/stream

أخبار عاجلة من العراق - إنتحار في الموصل وهروب محافظ الكوت

2011-02-16T15:51:00.004-05:00

إنتحار في الموصل وهروب محافظ الكوت وأخبار عاجلة أخرى

تظاهرات في الكوت : هروب المحافظ وقتلى وجرحى
http://www.almansore.com/Art.php?id=22655

بو عزيزي العراق
انتحار شاب عراقي في الموصل وطلب السلطات بالتكتم على الخبر
لاحظوا أطفاله الورود

http://aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9F50F01F-0C4E-4CA5-8452-1C12E654E509.htm?GoogleStatID=9

أخبار عاجلة من العراق

http://www.facebook.com/Iraqe.Revolution

تقارير مفصلة على الإنترنت من قناتي البغدادية والرافدين
http://www.albaghdadia.com/livehigh
http://www.alrafidain.tv/Live.aspx

تقرير : خروج سبع تظاهرات في العراق
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqRGdW0-8I4

تظاهرة الجالية العراقية في مصر
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8_IgxSMDJo

عرب الأحواز (إيران) يباركون الشعب المصري

2011-02-11T17:41:00.024-05:00

من أكبر المناطق المحتلة في العالم العربي والمنسية كليا هي الأحواز التي احتلتها إيران منذ ثمانين عاما (أي قبل الإحتلال الصهيوني لفلسطين) وعانى أهلها الكثير من إضطهاد الحكومات الإيرانية المتعاقبة . أصدرت اليوم الجبهة الديمقراطية الشعبية لعرب الأحواز البيان أدناه مهنئة فيه الشعب المصري على إنجازه في تغيير النظام ومعلقة مع هذا التغييرالسياسي الآمال الكثيرة للدول العربية .ا

---------------------
بيان
الجبهة الديمقراطية الشعبية للشعب العربي في الأحواز :ا
مبروك يا شعب مصر العظيم

الجبهة الديمقراطية الشعبية لعرب الأحواز تبارك شعب مصر العظيم ثورته العملاقة التي قضت على طاغية المنطقة ومثل الخيانة في الدول العربية ورمز العمالة للصهيونية . نتمنى للشعب المصري الشقيق العبور سريعا وبسلام وسلاسة من هذه المرحلة الإنتقالية التي وصلها بعد تضحيات جسام و التعاون مع الجيش وبدء الحوار مع أبطال الثورة الشعبية المصرية وقياداتها المرابطة في ميدان التحرير خلال 17 يوم لنقل السلطة للمدنيين حتى يبقى الجيش جاهزا لأداء واجبه الوطني للدفاع عن مصالح مصر وحدودها ويبقى درعا لأمته ولشعبه ولمصره مثلما كان.ا

نأمل نحن في الجبهة ويأمل شعبنا الأحوازي الثائر ألا يسمح شعب مصر العظيم بالتدخلات المغرضة لإيران وأعوانها ولا يغفل أياديها اللاعبة في مصر حتى لا تبعده إيران عن أهداف أمته بإدخال عناصرها بالحكم القادم . كما ونأمل ان تكون القضية الأحوازية على رأس علاقات الأشقاء المصريين القادمة بالنظام الإيراني المتعجرف المتخلف، ويكون لمصرموقف من تدخلات ايران الدموية في العراق واليمن والبحرين .ا

يا شعب مصر العظيم، ان شعبنا الأحوازي الأبي الثائر يحيي فيكم الروح النضالية التي استرجعتم من خلالها الكرامة والعزة واللحمة لقوانا العربية المشتتة، انتم الذين اصبحتم المثل الأعلى لثوارنا في الأحواز التي تقارع أعداء شعبنا، قوى الإحتلال الإيراني الغاشم . ونأمل ان تكون مصر بعد اليوم المحرك المؤثر في المنطقة لطرح قضاياها بشفافية بعيدا عن المراوغات السياسية وأن تكون الأحواز حاضرة في خطاب الشعب المصري وقضيتها مطروحة في الجامعة العربية وفي المراكز الدولية .ا

الجبهة الديمقراطية الشعبية للشعب العربي في الأحواز
‏11‏/02‏/2011

هوس الفحولة والتفحيل

2011-01-13T14:36:00.022-05:00

الكل ، ذكور وإناث ، تكتب وتنادي "أبناء الوطن" أو"أبناء الشعب" في حين أن بناته منسيات وكأن ذِكرهُن غير مُشرّف أو مائع على الرغم من كونهن نصف المجتمع وهُنَ من يولدن نصفه الآخر

ولكن يصر الناس ، ذكورا وإناثا ، في مقالاتهن وبياناتهم

وخطبهم على استخدام تعابير فحولية

مثل "أبناء الشعب" و "رجال أعمال" وكأن النساء

ليس لهن أعمال ولسن جزءً من الشعب!ا

ومايزال الكثير من النساء اللواتي يطلقن على أنفسهن تعابير أو تسميات مثل ’مساعد أستاذ‘ أو ’مديرمفوض‘ وغيره من صيغ التفحيل !ا

يرجى الإنتباه والكف عن هوس التفحيل وتطبيق أكثر شمولية ومرونة في كتاباتكن وكلامكم وتصرفاتكم - كن

وإلا لا تبعثوا لي بها رجاء

مع الشكر الجزيل

IRAQ’s Miraculous Orphan Story قصة اليتيمة غفران

2010-12-03T15:55:00.012-05:00

قصة اليتيمة غفران مشعان علي

IRAQ’s Orphans - A Miraculous Story

by Richard Sullivan*

In September and October of 2009, Wafaa’ Al-Natheema, founder and director of INEAS completed two walkathons between Massachusetts and Vermont to raise funds for Iraqi orphans. As a result, our Institute raised $2453 [http://www.firstgiving.com/ineas], which was distributed to 16 orphans in Baghdad represented by two charitable organizations, Life for Relief & Development and Al-Ethar Humanitarian Center. The project helped orphans who lost both their mother and father and proved to be a successful. The donation of $100 per family was sufficient to buy food, clothes, school supplies, a blanket or a fan (depending on the season) and a toy for the child.

We are grateful to Israa Al-Qaysi, Sundus Saleh and Auf Al-Rawi from Life for Relief & Development and to Nuha Ali from Al-Ethar Center for their wonderful work to help these needy families.

But this year, we were unable to launch another fundraising project. Instead, Wafaa’ donated a very modest amount for eight orphans in Baghdad, who received school supplies through Life for Relief and Development. One of the orphans, a four-year old girl Ghufran, was unique in that her story was miraculous. In fact Wafaa’ called it a ‘prophets story’

In 2006, Ghufran’s mother and father as they sat to eat a meal, US forces attacked their area. The first missile fell on the father and killed him; the second hit the mother, but did not kill her. Instead she lost her sight and wounded her head and abdomen. At that time, the mother was six-month pregnant. Her cousin immediately took her to Madinatul Tib Hospital. For more than two months, the mother was in a comma, and then woke up shortly before the doctor’s procedure to deliver the baby! At first, doctors did not believe that the baby would survive, but when found alive, the specialist operated on the mother who gave birth to a baby girl. The blind mother inquired from her cousin about the baby’s features and whether her ears were normal or not. The baby was healthy. Her mother named her Ghufran, breastfed her once and then died fifteen days later.

4-year old Ghufran

The doctor inquired whether the mother’s cousin was able to buy her baby formula and feed her instead of her mother’s milk. She agreed, took the baby home and began taking care of her. The doctor made such a recommendation because the mother was very sick. Her cousin, the caregiver, assigned her sister to look after the sick mother at the hospital until she passed away two weeks later.

Four years later (in October 2010), Wafaa’ Al-Natheema phone interviewed Ghufran’s guardian and recorded Ghufran’s voice as she counted the numerals. The interview can be made available upon request by writing to the Institute of Near Eastern & African Studies (INEAS) at the following addresses: info@INEAS.org and INEAS@aol.com

The story of Ghufran’s parents and beautiful Ghufran herself deserves not only worldwide media attention, but a movie (fiction and/or documentary) to be made narrating its details.

We welcome your support in the forms of suggestions, projects and/or donations to help Ghufran and her guardians.

_________________
* Retired professor of political science and a member of INEAS's board of directors.

Hanaa' Al-Shaibani

2010-11-30T04:05:00.018-05:00

Hanaa' Al-Shaibani - First Iraqi Member of the PLO to die for the Palestinian Cause

Iraqis remember my aunt as a martyr - the first Iraqi member of the PLO

to die for the Palestinian cause

What a beautiful picture, face and "piercing gaze" by a woman who died at the age of 28 for the Palestinian cause!

The story of Hanaa' Al-Shaibani was written by her niece, Dima Shaibani, and published on Aljazeera site at this address:

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2010/11/201011883848566888.html

Many thanks to Dima

March is a women month, Hanaa' Al-Shaibani should be commemorated

Above comment is made by Wafaa' Al-Natheema

Read Al-Jazeera Article Below

As a young girl I remember rummaging through a box of old family photographs from 1940s and 1950s Iraq. There was one of my grandparents on their wedding day and others of exuberant young girls in pearl necklaces and smirking boys in ironed shorts. Everyone seemed to be smiling - hinting at a more carefree era in Iraq's history.

But one particular photograph jumped out at me. It was of a young woman with a piercing gaze. This, I was told, was my aunt and the more I asked about her, the more fascinated I became.

Hers is a story of a spirited young woman growing up in 1950s Iraq; of a woman who entered the predominantly male world of politics and committed herself with revolutionary zeal to the Palestinian cause; of a woman who chose the path of resistance and who died in circumstances that remain unclear to this day.

I pieced her story together from the still-tender memories of family and friends, although it was not always easy to make sense of the fragments I was told.

Determined and fearless

Hana al-Shaibani was born on August 27, 1942. She was the only girl in her family, having two older and two younger brothers. Her father, a politician and journalist, doted upon her and played a large role in shaping the woman she grew up to be.

In 1956, Iraq's Ba'ath party started to grow in popularity. Its slogans proclaiming liberty, Arab socialism and unity attracted the younger generation, including Hana. Although she was only 14 years old, she enrolled as a member of the party - juggling her education with her political activities. During her university years, she worked for the Ba'ath party during the day and attended classes in the evening.

In 1958, following the overthrow of Iraq's monarchy, Hana rose through the ranks and was chosen to lead the party's female members. She was just 16. Two years later, she was selected as one of three representatives of the Iraqi Ba'ath party to attend the Arab National Ba'ath Party Conference, held that year in Beirut. Still just a teenager, she had already achieved more than most women from her region could ever imagine.

By all accounts, she was determined and fearless. One of the most memorable family stories tells of the time in 1959 when she left the house to join a protest rally against the autocratic rule of the then prime minister, Abdel Karim Qassim. The atmosphere was tense and a number of the organisers of the rally would later be killed. But Hana was resolute in her decision to attend.

Sensing trouble, she hid the gun she carried beneath her skirt as she walked down the stairs. Her father pleaded with her not to go. He explained that as a patriot he understood her sense of duty, but added that his love for her transcended all else. Hana replied: "Papa, you were once a patriotic man and when you were called upon to fight, you did. Please understand, so that I may go with your blessing rather than without." Her father could not stop her.

Finding her calling

Despite coming from a middle class family, Hana chose to work in factories and on farms so that she could better interact with the people and understand their plight. She seemed to attract the underdog and would give a large portion of her salary to a family who lived in a poorer district of Baghdad.

But in a predominantly male workplace she also had to be tough. She demanded and won the respect of her male colleagues, and became known as someone who would fight any injustice and never compromise her ideals.

In 1961, Hana was disappointed to hear reports of corruption within the Ba'ath party. She was deeply affected by the allegations and, feeling that she could not make any real change, left the party. She knew this would make her enemies.

This was around the time that the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) was formed. The new revolutionary movement had set up bases in Jordan and Lebanon in its aim to liberate Palestine through armed struggle. As a passionate Arab nationalist, it was a cause Hana held dear and she soon found her calling.

Wasting no time, she travelled to Lebanon and Jordan, where she attended seminars and conferences run by the PLO and met with Yasser Arafat, the PLO chief, and other leading figures in the movement.

When factions splintered from the main body of the PLO, Hana found common cause with a new group called the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), which she believed was more ideologically driven. When she flew back to Baghdad, she told her brothers that she was moving to Jordan and had joined the DFLP.

Dreaming of death

In Jordan, she immersed herself in the Palestinian community, disguising her Iraqi origin. She took on the alias Amal and spoke in a Palestinian accent, believing that people would be more inclined to talk to her if they believed she was Palestinian and that she would, therefore, be better placed to help them.

She lived in a refugee camp, wrote articles for the DFLP newsletter and helped women develop skills that would assist them in finding work. But she began to feel uneasy - she felt guilty for keeping her work with the DFLP a secret from her mother and started to doubt whether the group was really making a difference. While she remained committed to the cause, her friends have speculated that had she returned to Baghdad at that time she might have left the group.

March 1970 was the Muslim holy month of Muharram when Shia Muslims mourn the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein. When in Iraq, she would often attend the ritual ceremony mourning his death. In the Palestinian refugee camp, she listened to the radio broadcast of the commemoration with two comrades and during the stirring lamentations told them that she had dreamed of being dead and imagined how her mother would feel if she returned home in a coffin.

The dream proved prescient. Just a few days later on 'ashura', the day when Shia mourning culminates, Hana died. It was March 17, 1970 and she was just 28 years old.

To this day there are different versions of how she died. What they all agree on is that she was in the town of Irbid, in northern Jordan. One story has her dying during a routine DFLP training exercise, when she was accidentally struck by live ammunition. A variation on this suggests that she accidentally dropped her gun, which fired on impact with the ground, killing her. A detail common to all accounts is that when her body was identified in the morgue, the only sign of death was a bullet or shrapnel hole through her heart.

The price of freedom

The family was devastated. The Iraqi government proclaimed her a martyr - the first Iraqi member of the PLO to die for the cause. She came home as she had dreamt - her coffin draped in the Palestinian flag. Thousands came to pay their respects. As her coffin was carried to the cemetery, women scattered chocolates and sweets over it.

That was 40 years ago now, but to me as an Arab woman, Hana remains an enduring inspiration. She fought for a cause she believed in and refused to sit on the sidelines. She lived in the Middle East at a time when it seemed more progressive.

Many refer to her as a martyr, a fighter and a source of pride for Iraqis. But never was she labelled a 'Muslim', 'Sunni' or 'Shia'. It is only in today's wretched times that such labels seem to have become fixed in the minds of people and the media.

I cherish the photograph of my aunt that I found so many years ago. The same picture was made into a poster after her death and displayed on walls across Iraq with a quote from her printed below. It said: "Death is inevitable. However, we should reject death if it was given for no price. And the most precious price is freedom ...."

Source: Al Jazeera

To Children, Teenagers & Women

2010-10-23T22:12:00.026-04:00

الى الأطفال والطفلات والمراهقات والنساء

We live in a vicious male dominated world whereby millions of children, teenagers and women worldwide face physical abuse and sexual harm in the form of slavery, sex trade, pornography and rape.

نسكن في عالم الرجال العنيف الذي فيه يواجه ملايين من الأطفال والمراهقات والبنات والنساء في العالم أنواع من الأذى الجسدي والجنسي المتمثلة بالعبودية والمتاجرة والإستغلال الإباحي والإغتصاب .ا

Therefore it is only right to train to be more confident and courageous and to be physically strong. This requires time and patience, but not hard to accomplish.

لذا من المهم أن يتدربن ليكُنّ أكثر وثوقاً وشجاعة وأن يكُنّ أقوى جسديا . هذا يتطلب وقتا وصبرا ولكن تحقيقه ليس صعباً .ا

These are some of the video clips that give you information about some of the world's leading martial artists. In this part, the two martial artists are from Thailand:

هذه بعض المقاطع من أفلام تعطي معلومات عن بعض من مشاهير الدفاع عن النفس . في هذا الجزء (الأول) لهذه السلسلة التثقيفية ، رياضيّا الدفاع عن النفس هما من تايلاند .ا

Thailand's Most Renowned Martial Artist: Yanin Vismistananda

يانين فِسْمِسْتانَنْدا هي أشهر رياضية لفنون الدفاع عن النفس في تايلاند

(training for the film) (التدريب ما قبل الفلم)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGjUyu9c8Ng

(Chocolate: Film Trailer) (دعاية الفلم)

Chocolate: Film Scene منظر من فلم شوكولاتة

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q23wS0Nxl9k

(Performing at a TV show) (عرض تلفزيوني)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3DrMJ428EI

(simple instructions by Jaa Panom (known in the west as Tony Jaa)

Thailand’s leading martial artist and actor

(إرشادات بسيطة من قبل بطل فنون الدفاع التايلندي والممثل جا بانُم المعروف بالغرب توني جا)

Tai Chi - China's Relaxing Form of Marshal Arts

2010-09-27T18:19:00.007-04:00

"Sweat is the best cardiovascular agent known to man"

Stanford Cardiologist

If you live in a place where you can take Tai Chi classes, PLEASE begin taking them as soon as possible.

It doesn't matter how young or old you are !

Tai Chi improves concentration, allows for relaxation, reduces

stress and enables individuals to have peace of mind

Here are some instructions before you find a class near you

الأعظمية في الثاني من آب - عاجل ويتطلب المساعدة

2010-08-03T09:05:00.016-04:00

الأعظمية في يوم الإثنين الثاني من آب

اليوم الرابع من حملة الإعتقالات

تقرير وصل عبر الإيميل

ماذا تجني الحكومة من كل هذه التصرفات؟

البقاء في الحكم؟

وهل هذه تصرفات تؤكد إبقاء أي كان في الحكم ، فما بال أقلية غير مرغوب بها؟

لليوم الرابع على التوالي ورغم رفع حضر التجوال عن المدينة الا أن الحصار المطبق مازال محكماً باستثناء مدخل واحد من ساحة الدلال .ا

عمليات الإعتقال مستمرة لتشمل المسنين والشباب ممن يشهد لهم بالسيرة الحسنة والسلوك القويم .ا

القوات الحكومية تعد أصحاب المحلات بدفع تعويضات في حال ابقاء المحلات مفتوحة اثناء جولة قيادة عمليات بغداد .ا

عدد المعتقلين يرتفع إلى 1000 معتقل فيما يتم الإفراج عن 25 معتقل فقط .ا

تصرفات الجنود الوحشية تتسرب إلى وسائل الإعلام وأنباء عن سلب ونهب أثناء التفتيش .ا

قصة الشريط المصور عبر المنطاد تثير نقمة أبناء الأعظمية ومخاوفهم من نوايا مقصودة لعودة التخندق والاحتراب الطائفي .ا

الأحداث القائمة في الأعظمية تهدف الى إثارة اعمال عنف تمتد الى أغلب المناطق السنية لتكون مبرراً لإعلان حكومة الطوارئ وبالتالي تجاوز عقدة الانتخابات .ا

ورمضان آت بصيامه وصعوباته مع كل هذه المحن في منتصف الحر الشديد !!ا

عاجل جدا - حملة اعتقالات تداهم الأعظمية

2010-08-01T04:20:00.012-04:00

شواهد من داخل أسوار الأعظمية
تقرير وصل عبر الإيميل في اليوم الثاني من الأحداث

قرار المنع وغلق الأعظمية جاء بعد نصف ساعة من حدوث الجريمة، وهو الوقت الكافي لخروج منفذي الهجوم من مداخلها الثلاثة (الطبقجلي – عنتر – الدلال).ا

عند خروج منفذي الهجوم بدأت القوات الأمنية بإطلاق النار بشكل عشوائي أدى إلى مقتل أربع مدنيين أبرياء، وأثار الرعب في نفوس الأطفال والنساء.ا

القوات الحكومية تهدد بحرق الأعظمية ما لم يسلم الجناة أنفسهم !! ويرددون "خلي يفيدكم علاوي والهاشمي".ا

حملة الدهم والإعتقالات استهدفت بيوت أبناء الصحوة ومشاركين بارزين في احتفالات الأعظمية بفوز القائمة العراقية، وقد تم تعذيب المعتقلين موقعياً بتكسير العظام قبل نقلهم إلى السجون وقد نقل بعضهم محمولين بـالبطانيات نتيجة الضرب المبرح .ا

مواطنون من أهالي الأعظمية يتهمون القوات الحكومية بتدبير العملية لتبرير دهم واعتقالات قد تؤدي إلى إشعال الفتنة الطائفية.ا

أهالي الأعظمية يتهمون الحكومة بالوقوف وراء العملية لخلق مبررات إلغاء نتائج الانتخابات ، والحيلولة دون تدخل المجتمع الدولي لإجبار المالكي على تسليم السلطة.ا

أغلقت المحلات التجارية كافة، وحالت القوات الأمنية دون تصريف أصحاب المطاعم والأفران ومحلات البقالة لبضائعهم وبالتالي تعريضها للتلف.ا

قنينة الماء الكبيرة أصبحت بـ (3500) دينار بدلاً من (1500)، وكيلو الطماطم بـ (2000) بدلاً من (1000)، ويتم تداول هذه البضائع في المحلات الصغيرة داخل الأزقة كسوق سوداء.ا

التيار الكهربائي قطع بشكل تام والمولدات الخاصة نفد وقودها في ظل الحصار ، وسكان الأعظمية يعانون من درجات الحرارة المرتفعة ولا سيما الأطفال وكبار السن والمرضى.ا

دائرة الكهرباء كانت قد حفرت خنادق أمام البيوت لمد الشبكة الأرضية على أمل ردمها صباح الجمعة وتفاجأت بالحصار الذي أوقف أعمالها وتسبب في زيادة معاناة المواطنين كون الحفر تمثل حواجز أمام المارين، كما أنها خطرة على الأطفال.ا

مجلس محافظة بغداد يتدخل لتأمين الماء والكهرباء للمنطقة المنكوبة بعد تزايد الحالات المرضية (هبوط الضغط والاختناق القصبي) وتعذر السيطرة في مستشفى النعمان على الموقف.ا

تراكم الأزبال والنفايات وتوقف كافة أعمال الصيانة والخدمات.ا

العيادات الطبية الخاصة تقدم الخدمات العلاجية مجاناً لإسعاف الحالات الطارئة.ا

Munir Allahwerdi: منير عيسى نوري - السيرة الذاتية

2010-07-21T17:23:00.002-04:00

Munir Allahwerdi was born on March 15, 1926 in Basra, IRAQ. He was one of the early founders of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra (INSO), which began its activities in the 1940s.

ولد منير عيسى نوري في 15 آذار 1926 بمدينة البصرة في العراق . كان منير أحد المؤسسين الأوائل للفرقة السمفونية الوطنية العراقية التي كانت بداياتها في عقد الأربعينيات .ا

The following clip features an interview with Munir in Arabic. The clip is a small part of a one-hour interview recorded in Vienna by Wafaa' Al-Natheema on February 11, 2010:

أدناه مقطع قصير من مقابلة مع منير باللغة العربية ، وهو جزء من حوار دام ساعة سجلته وفاء النظيمة في فيينا بتاريخ 11 شباط 2010 .ا

Israel Will Not Celebrate Its Centennial

2010-06-08T12:47:00.029-04:00

Why Israel Will Not Celebrate Hundred Years?

By Wafaa' Al-Natheema

All world's empires no matter how vast crumbled after a prolonged disunity, corruption, lack of conscience, a bank of enemies and after committing oppression and savagery.

Israel, which was created on the bases of genocide and terror is one such power. Although it is a mistake to compare it with any other preceding empires or powers, like the Greek, Roman, Russian or British, it is still a power heading sooner or later to disappearance.

I've discussed with some Iraqis the fact that Israel will never celebrate its centennial, but they mostly disagreed with my prediction. In fact, they don't realize that just by the mere fact that they think Israel will not vanish and is in full control of the USA, they give it more life and prolong its age further. The psychology of fear and defeat is what I mean.

I enlist here why Israel will not celebrate its cenntenial:

1. It was created based on a borrowed ideology, 'Zionism', which was introduced by Christian Europeans at least two centuries before Theodor Herzl (b. May 2, 1860). From English scholar Francis Kett in 1585 to another English advocate, Thomas Draxe in 1608, and from Thomas Brightman (1552-1607) to Joseph Mede (1586-1638); all advocated and published statements that Jews should be restored to the land of Israel. Borrowed ideologies are not long lasting and require force, propaganda and even terrorism to flourish. Till now Zionism has not flourished and been equated with Nazism.

2. Zionists used terrorism to kill thousands of Palestinians and wipe out tens of villages. That is a gloomy beginning and a can-worm opener for animosity and retaliation. Humanity's subconscience will not forget these horrors. Based on the notions of "a reaction for every action" and Karma, the violence will continue until Israel vanishes.

3. A tiny state consisting of immigrants with a cocktail of backgrounds, cultures and languages who only lived with each other for 60 years makes it difficult to achieve unity, a creation based on a religious (Jewish) affiliation is no recipe for survival, never mind a lasting society. It has no written, well-respected constitution and has been far from being democratic and inclusive. It antagonizes and discriminates against not just Moslem Arabs, but even Christian and Jewish Arabs and other easterners and Africans.

4. Israel was created and lasted based on charitable money donated by Europe and the USA. The support of the former has lessened and the economical deterioration of the USA will soon affect its financial support. Added to the scandals by Jewish financial lenders and investors are all formulas for failure. The Madoff and the Holyland-Olmert scandals are two of many that occurred and will happen.

5. It is a poor state geographically, historically (a 62-year old) and agriculturally. Because of its violent nature and lust for wars to ensure fake unity and survival, even tourism has been seriously affected and will even worsen. International Boycotts have been organized numerous times against Israeli products and politics and will increase. Worldwide sympathy and solidarity for Palestinians have increased many folds.

6. Israel continues to steal water from its neighbor Jordan and takes it for granted as if its own. The needy Jordanians will not keep quiet for long. Recently it has even stolen oil from Iraq's Kurds. Theft has been one of Israel's main characteristics. Stealing and lying are no formulas for sustainability.

7. Its citizens are mostly seen in the media as soldiers, killers or as, they pride themselves, spies, assassins and trainers of militias and mercenaries like when they trained Ethiopians, Kurds and others.

8. A state with no worldwide famous artists and athletes will not be able to build bridges with the rest of the world and gain sympathy or have fans especially when in the news it is usually viewed in confrontation, conflicts and wars. Jews who become famous worldwide are usually citizens of the USA or Europe who present their contributions in languages other than Hebrew. In fact, there has been not one friendly and/or handsome Israeli face on TV for decades!

9. Jewish Zionists are emotional and can easily fall in irrationalities and embarrassing situations, more than their opponents. Those who think that Zionists are united, careful and calculating are naive, in fact wrong. Israel's politicians take orders from USA leaders too and do them favors: The war on Lebanon in 2006, the siege on Gazza and the recent massacre of Turks were all events that served USA interest at least indirectly by shifting world's attention away from its failures in Afghanistan and especially in Iraq.

10. Israel's twisting of history events is known to a large number of citizens worldwide. The rest will not be fooled for a long time. In the last four years, even students in Europe and the USA began to seriously challenge and embarrass Israeli politicians whenever they speak publicly. Zionists' arguments have all been repetitive like a crooked musical record, i.e 'Jew-hating', 'anti-Semitic', 'promise land', 'holocaust', 'terrorist Hamas', and soon they will receive a deaf ear from world's citizens. They have no capabilities to invent new lies and stories. Technology will make it even harsher for them to hide the truth.

Here are important and must be viewed reports and videos that prove some of the points mentioned above:

The Names and Pictures of Israel's Recent Victims

Lovers of Zion: Christian Zionism

I am Israel

Olmert called Chief Suspect in Holyland Scandal

Testimony by Eyewitness Irish-American, Ken O'Keefe

Hanin Zoabi, Arab Knesset Member on Flotilla Ship

لجنة الكنيست توصي بتجريد حنين زعبي من امتيازاتها البرلمانية

Another "Anti-Semite Bigot" Had to Apologize

For Palestinians: Roger Waters (Pink Floyd)

Inspiring Video - Shame on Singer Elton John

رسالة الحسن البصري - حكمة جميلة جدا

2010-05-29T01:20:00.001-04:00

International Seed Day (ISD)

2010-04-26T23:14:00.003-04:00

April 26 is International Seed Day

Zen - The Best of Alan Watts

2010-04-24T23:43:00.004-04:00

If the above is not clickable, please access the wonderful talk here:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8369451941424242688#docid=-2309502165382017424

You can also search the title of this post on youtube and you will find many worthwhile programs and talks by Alan Watts

Alan Watts (1915-1973) who held both a master's degree in theology and a doctorate of divinity, is best known as an interpreter of Zen Buddhism in particular, and Indian and Chinese philosophy in general. He authored more than 20 excellent books on the philosophy and psychology of religion, and lectured extensively, leaving behind a vast audio archive. With characteristic lucidity and humor Watts unravels the most obscure ontological and epistemological knots with the greatest of ease.

Arshad Zibary أرشد الزيباري

2010-03-25T18:16:00.006-04:00

Dedicated to Humans مهداة الى البشر

2010-03-19T00:30:00.006-04:00

Very Uplifting & Uniting . . .

Especially dedicated to humans on March 19, the 7th anniversary of the ruthless war on IRAQ by the USA-UK-Iran-Israel Collaborative

مهداة الى البشر في 19 آذار ، الذكرى السابعة للقصف البربري على العراق ومن ثم احتلاله من قبل الإتحاد الأمريكي البريطاني الإيراني الإسرائيلي المشترك .ا

Please make sure you watch the clip in its entirety and pay attention to the water content!

الرجاء مشاهدة الفلم الى آخره مع التركيز على فحوى الماء

Words from London

2010-02-02T19:24:00.019-05:00

Reflections . . . .

I am escaping my environment to seek the unknown. I am a goal keeper, yet goalless. I am an activist, yet have no energy. I am a health addict and organic food advocate who rarely get sick, but recently have been getting sick so easily. I am so courageous, yet have no courage to collect myself. I have been defending the oppressed, discrimianted against, stereotyped and disadvantaged since my teenage years, yet can't defend myself!

I escape the present to the past because the present is DDD - disappointing, dim and depressing, not to mention it is on the news and on everybody's mind while the past has been forgotten, so there is uniqueness in visiting it.

London has not been an energizing city for me. It sucks my energy and creativity. Her effect on me reminds me of New York's, but with one difference; the latter has a brighter, less-shy sun.

I apologize to all if I will not be engaged in important causes and not be an ardent participant in them. I feel a tank sitting on my heart and a revolution in my mind. Yet I am tranquil. The most enjoyable thing I do is silence. So I don't socialize.

I have decided to focus on my films in 2010. This way, I will write, correspond and speak much less.

If you want to reach me, please avoid doing so in writing. I shall not read emails. I look forward to hearing your voice.

عبد الكريم هاني في حديث عن الماضي

2009-12-23T23:22:00.001-05:00

Naomi Klein & Vandana Shiva at Copenhagen Climate Change Summit

2009-12-15T21:13:00.013-05:00

About Prophet Muhammed Bin Abdullah

2009-12-14T00:41:00.019-05:00

"It is impossible for anyone who studies the life and character of the great Prophet of Arabia, who knew how he taught and how he lived, to feel anything but reverence for that mighty Prophet, one of the great messengers of the Supreme. And although in what I put to you I shall say many things which may be familiar to many, yet I myself feel, whenever I reread them, a new way of admiration, a new sense of reverence for that mighty Arabian teacher."

Annie Wood, later Annie Besant

'The Life and Teachings of Mohammed,' Madras, 1932

Annie Besant

"I wanted to know the best of the life of one who holds today an undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind.... I became more than ever convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet the scrupulous regard for pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle. When I closed the second volume (of the Prophet's biography), I was sorry there was not more for me to read of that great life."

Mahatma Gandhi

Statement published in 'Young India,' 1924

"My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world’s most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the secular and religious level. ...It is probable that the relative influence of Muhammad on Islam has been larger than the combined influence of Jesus Christ and St. Paul on Christianity. ...It is this unparalleled combination of secular and religious influence which I feel entitles Muhammad to be considered the most influential single figure in human history."

Michael Hart

'The 100, A ranking of the Most Influential Persons In History,' New York, 1978

On Islam, Sarojini Naidu stated:

"“It was the first religion that preached and practiced democracy, when the call for prayer is sounded and worshipers are gathered together, democracy of Islam is embodied five times a day, when the peasant and king kneel side by side and proclaim: ‘God alone is Great’.. I have been struck over and over again by this indivisible unity of Islam that makes man instinctively a brother”

Biography of Annie Besant: http://womenshistory.about.com/od/freethought/a/annie_besant.htm

Biography of Sarojini Naidu: http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-heroes/sarojini-naidu.html

Osho and Pythagoras

2009-12-12T16:05:00.009-05:00

"I am not a politician. That is the ugliest thing that can happen to a man"

OSHO

"As long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings, he will never know health or peace."

Pythagoras

Abdul Bari Atwan on Palestinian Resistance

2009-12-03T07:59:00.006-05:00

أعيادنا غير مباركة . . . لا نستحق الإحتفال

2009-11-26T13:32:00.075-05:00

عيد الشكر في الولايات الأمريكية وعيد الأضحى في العالم الإسلامي

وفاء النظيمة

يحتفل الناس في شمال أمريكا اليوم الخميس بعيد الشكر وهو يرمز الى الشكر على ما حصلوا عليه من كرم الضيافة من قبل الأمريكيين الأصليين حين وصلوا الى أرضهم من أوروبا . عند وصولهم الى شمال أمريكا مات منهم البعض من العطش والجوع والأمراض وأنقذ الآخرين بكرم ورعاية من (الذين يطلق عليهم خطأ بالهنود الحمر أي) الأمريكيين الأصليين ، حيث وفروا لهم اللبس والأكل وأماكن للسكن ولكنهم لم يدركوا بأن أولاءك البيض الأوربيين كانوا آتين غزاة ، فبعد وقت قصير تآمروا ضد من أبقاهم أحياء وضيفهم الطعام والمسكن وقتلوهم بل وأبادوهم جماعيا . كانت أول وجبة أكلوها من أيدي الأصليين هي الديك الرومي المشوي .ا

في عام 1491 كان عدد الأمريكيين الأصليين مائة مليون نسمة ، ولكن بعد عشر سنوات تقلص عددهم الى عشرة ملايين فقط ، أي أن الأوروبيين ارتكبوا أكبر مجزرة وإبادة جماعية في تاريخ البشرية . ورغم ذلك يتجرأ مرتكبوا هذه المجزرة في الوقت الحالي على التأشير بإصبعهم واتهام الآخرين بانتهاك حقوق البشر وإيجاد مكاتب ومنظمات لمتابعة وعقاب كل من ينتهك حقوق الإنسان في العالم ولكن لا يفعلون ذات الشيء لأنفسهم كأن مثلا يعوضون الأمريكيين الأصليين بعض من خسارتهم أو يعطوهم حقوق امتلاك قطعة أرض يحصلون فيها على الحكم الذاتي ويستقلون عن البيض الدخلاء .ا

عيد الشكر المحتفى به اليوم في أمريكا الشمالية يتضمن التجمع العائلي وحضورالأصدقاء المقربين حول مائدة مليئة بالطعام الشهي وغير اللذيذ إعتمادا على الأذواق ، حيث تتضمن المائدة الديك الرومي المشوي وأحيانا الخنزير المشوي أيضا مع البطاطا الحلوة والخضروات المسلوقة وصلصة الكرانبري (فاكهة تشبه النبق العراقي شكلا ولكنها حامضية وحمراء) بالإضافة الى الحلويات .ا

في هذا العيد (وحتى في عيد ميلاد المسيح) تذبح سنويا الملايين من طيور الديك الرومي من أجل احتفال البشر بعيد سخيف يرمز في الحقيقة الى مجزرة جماعية يشكر مرتكبيها سنويا الأمريكان الأصليين رمزيا فقط على كرمهم والحظ الذي حالفهم باحتكار أرضهم ويحمدون فيه الله الذي مكنهم من النجاة وفي رأيهم الذي ساعدهم على ارتكاب هذه المجزرة ، والمضحك في الأمر أنهم وللتغيير ينيطون أفعالهم العدوانية والقتل الجماعي بالله وليس الشيطان مثلا لأن ذلك يجعل فعلتهم أكثر قدسية . فلم يكف ذبح ملايين البشر الذي قاموا به قبل قرون ، بل يعيدون ذكراه سنويا بذبح الملايين من الحيوانات .ا

حضرت في العام الماضي تجمعا لبعض الناشطين الأصليين في يوم عيد الشكر ولكنه لإحياء الذكرى المؤلمة لما جرى لهم من قتل وتدمير . في هذه الذكرى يلقون الكلمات ويشاركون بمسيرة حول أحد مواقعهم التاريخية الشهيرة هنا في ولاية ماستشوستس ، ولقد سجلت بعض من هذه الخطب التي أدتها مواطنة أمريكية أصلية كانت قد زارت القدس وقارنت بين مجزرة الأمريكان الأصليين واليهود وأبدعت فيها . بالإمكان مشاهدتها هنا :ا

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRV8X578-NM

وعن سيرة ذبح الحيوانات فلا يمكن أن أنسى عيد الأضحى المحتفل به في العالم الإسلامي . يوم غد الجمعة هوأول أيام العيد . كلما يجادلونني بأن قتل مئات الألوف من الخرفان في كل سنة من موسم الحج هو لغرض إطعام الفقراء أشمئز وأغضب وأقول مع نفسي حسنوا حالة الفقراء ماديا ودعوهم يختارون مايأكلونه هم ولا حاجة للذبح الجماعي وسفك الدماء تحت هذه الحجة ، وياما في أيام الحج تقتل عشرات الخرفان وتترك أجسادها هنا وهناك بدون أن يحصل عليها الفقراء . ولماذا لا يعطى الفقراء المال ويترك لهم الخيار في شراء مايريدون؟ فهذا بالتأكيد سيقلل بدرجة كبيرة من عدد الحيوانات المسكينة المذبوحة والتي يهدر دمها أيضا لطلب الأجر والطمع بالجنة ، ويالها من جنة إذا كان الطريق اليها تضحية الحيوان وسفك دمه .ا

أهمية هذا العيد الإسلامي هوالإحتفال بإكمال المسلمين لموسم الحج حول الكعبة ، تلك الرقعة التي توحد المسلمين والتي فيها وقبل 1400 سنة أنهوا خلافهم وعدم اتفاقهم بوقت قصيروبدون اقتتال عندما جمعهم محمد حولها . إذن لماذا تشوه هذه الصورة الحكيمة بالدماء بحجة إطعام الفقراء والطمع في الجنة ، ألا تكفينا جنة الأرض ، نريد المزيد ونقتل ونسفك الدماء من أجلها ؟

والمقرف في الأمر أن العادات والمناسبات الإجتماعية في العالم الإسلامي صارت معظمها تتحلى بقتل الخرفان أو الدجاج وسفك الدماء : فشراء بيت جديد ، طهور الفحول ، الأعراس ، ولادة طفلة / طفل ، النجاح في الإمتحان ، شراء سيارة جديدة والمآتم هي من بين الكثير من هذه المناسبات .ا

تضحية الحيوانات ليست ممارسة من قبل المسلمين فقط بل من معظم التابعين لديانات أخرى ، ولكن هذا لا يجعلها حقا أو حلالا . في الصور أعلاه مشاهد بشعة لعيد تضحية آخر في نيبال الهندوسية وتعجبت لهذا العيد المنافي للديانة التي تقدس البقرة ، حيث يتم ذبح آلاف من الجاموس . احتفل بهذا العيد يوم الثلاثاء الماضي واستمر لمدة يومين وانتهى في يوم الأربعاء وفيه قتل عشرين ألف جاموسة ومائة وخمسين ألف عنزة وديك وبطة في هيكل العبادة وآلاف أخرى في المناطق المجاورة . كرنفال القتل هذا يحتفل به كل خمس سنوات وتقوم الحكومة بتمويله . وتبرير هذا الجنون بل والجنوح هو لإسعاد إلهة القوة ، وفي هذه المقالة الإنجليزية يمكن قراءة أقوال الفخر والعزة والشرف للقصابين الذين قاموا بمهمة قتل الحيوانات :ا

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5il3fYpzD50SFMBWqjD9SGYFTeMuA?index=2

في العالمين العربي والإسلامي هناك عشرات الألوف من المشردين والمشردات تحت الخيام يواجهون البرد والمعاناة وأرملات حرب بدون عون وأطفال أيتام بدون ثياب وأمان وفي العراق باالذات يتعرض الأطفال الى العبودية والتعذيب في السجون والبيع والقتل لأجل المتاجرة بأعضاءهم . وفي هذا البلد أيضا سيتم إعدام نساء عراقيات بعضهن بريئات في أول يوم العيد كضحية للكره والسياسة القذرة والإنتقام ورغم ذلك يبعثون التهاني بمناسبة عيد صار قتل الخرفان أحد محاوره المهمة ومنذ احتلال الأوروبيين البيض لهذا البلد صارقتل الناس فيه أيضا محللا . لذا قررت بألا أحتفل بهذا العيد ولا أبعث التهاني أو أرد عليها .ا

فأعيادنا غير مباركة ولا نستحق الإحتفال .ا

××××××××××

حقوق الطبع محفوظة لوفاء النظيمة ، لايسمح بنشر هذه المقالة بدون أخذ الإذن
____________________________________________

تعقيبات على المقالة :ا

"Salam, Wafaa's article about adhiyah is very interesting. The late Shaikh Muhammad al-Ghazali of Egypt (if I am not mistaken), recommended to perform hajj ifraad, so that you do not have to sacrifice qurban, as at that time (late 60s) there was not enough facility to preserve the meat of the qurban, such as freezing or canning it. I suggested long ago to send money to Bosnia rather than meat."

Amin Samad

---------------------------------------------

الأخت وفاء النظيمة المحترمة

عجبت من مقالك هذا من انك تخالفين احدى الشعائر الإسلامية والتي نصت عليها السنة النبوية من احياء هذه الشعيرة ذكرى لتحقق رؤية سيدنا ابراهيم عليه السلام حينما صدق الرؤيا التي رآها في منامه ورؤيا الأنبياء صادقة اذ حقق الرؤيا بذبح وحيده اسماعيل قبل ان يرزقه الله باسحاق من بعد ابراهيم ولكن السكين عميت ولم يتحقق الذبح و كما يقول الله عز وجل في كتابه الكريم ( فلما تله للجبين قلنا يا ابراهيم قد صدقت الرؤيا ففديناه بذبح عظيم) اعتقد تقريبا هذه آلآية فعسى ان لا اكون اخطات بها او مايشبه هذا الكلام في سورة الصافات كما اعتقد. لقد قام الرسول الكريم بالأضحية سنويا عادة بكبشين احدهما عنه وعن اهل بيته والآخر يضحي به عن سائر فقراء المسلمين اللذين لم يستطيعوا الأضحية واعتقد هي واجبة مرة بالعمر و لكن الأمام ابو حنيفة جعلها اشبه بالواجبة لمن استطاع أن يضحي، اتمنى ان لا تضللي بهذه الآراء التي يطرحها لربما اليهود و النصارى او غيرهم من اعداء الأسلام من المغرضين لزعزعة عقائدهم تحت شعار الرفق بالحيوان و ماشابة، لا اعلم على وجه الدقة كم يذبح يوميا في مجازر كل بلد لتغطية احتياجات السكان من استهلاك اللحوم و الطيور و لربما يوازي ما يذبح من قبل المسلمين، و كلما يذبح خلال ايام العيد في ديار المسلمين فهو لإ طعام اهل البيت والأصدقاء و الفقراء و قد قال الفقهاء بان لحم الأضاحي يوزع ثلث للذي قدم ألأضحية والثلث آلآخر لأصدقاء المضحي والثلث الأخير للفقراء اللذين لربما لم يذوقوا اللحم خلال سنه لغلاءة في معظم البلدان. ارجو ان تفكري في هذا الأمر متمنيا ان لا تتزعزع ثقتك بالسنة النبوية الشريفة ولك مني افضل السلام .ا

معتز الجميل

---------------------------

عزيزي معتز :ا

أنا على علم بقصة ابراهيم وتضحية الخروف بدلا عن إبنه ، ولكن هذه واقعة قديمة أمدها أكثر من أربعة آلاف سنة ومرتبطة أكثر مع اليهودية قدما ، كما إن عادة الذبح والتضحية للرب وكما ذكرت في المقالة ليست فقط في الإسلام . والنقطة الأخرى الأهم هي أن من أحد حسنات الإسلام التي تعلو اليهودية والمسيحية هو أنه دينا معاصرا لهذا فمن المفروض أن يرتكزعلى المنطق أكثر من غيره من الأديان الآتية قبله ، والمنطق والحكمة هنا كالآتي :ا

أولا _ تزامن محمد مع واقعة أحدث تخللتها الحكمة والمنطقية ألا وهي حل الخلاف وبسهولة بين الأطراف المتخاصمة حول الكعبة ، لذا فالرمز والسبب الجديد للحج الى الكعبة والحكمة المستوحاة من هذه التجربة التي توحد الملايين أفضل بكثير من حدث التضحية العتيق والمفعوم بالذبح والدماء .ا

ثانيا _ عندما حلل ذبح الخروف في قصة إبراهيم فهذا للواقعة إياها ولا يعني أننا نعمل منها عادة سنوية للأبد ونسفك الدماء بسبب ما حصل منذ آلاف السنين .ا

ثالثا _ الرفق بالحيوان واحترام الكائنات الحية لاعلاقة مطلقة له باليهودية أو اليهود حتى تخشى من تأثري بهم ، بل هو موجود في كل الأديان ولكن ممارسا من قبل أناس أكثر من غيرهم .ا

رابعا _ من الأفضل أن يكون الإسلام مفعوما بالحكمة والحجج العلمية مما أن يكون ذا طقوس بالية تخريبية كذبح الحيوانات ، وعلى فكرة فأنا هنا لم أنتقد طقوس الذبح الدينية فحسب ، بل أيضا في الأعياد الوطنية (كما في عيد الشكر في الولايات الأمريكية) والمناسبات الإجتماعية كالأعراس وشراء البيت والطهور وغيرها .ا

خامسا _ عندما كتبت "أعيادنا " ، فقصدت بالضمير "نا" البشر عامة وليس المسلمين فقط .ا

سادسا _ ليس بالضرورة أن تكون مساعدة الفقراء عن طريق تضحية كائن حي وسفك دمه وبهذه الأعداد المخيفة .ا

مع خالص تحياتي

وفاء

". . . . Because I am Jewish"

2009-11-24T17:53:00.004-05:00

American Jewish Sephardim

2009-11-13T09:59:00.007-05:00

No Place at the (Ashkenazi) Jewish Table

By David Shasha

I was recently reading a JTA article on the Forbes list of wealthiest Americans. It seems that 139 out of the 400 richest Americans are Jews. That makes just about 35% of the total. Given that Jews make up about 2% of the total US population, this statistic tells us something about the American Jewish community.

Exactly what it tells us is open to debate, but what cannot be debated is the aggressiveness with which American Jews have taken their place at the table.

What exactly is this “table” and why should we care about it?

The proverbial “table” is where people go to get heard. It is where they go to stand up and be counted. The “table” is a consolidation of media influence, political influence, cultural influence – well, you get the idea.

Now, it is always a touchy matter to speak about “Jewish power” in the United States. One of the problems is the constant accusatory refrain of “Anti-Semitism.” One does not want to be indicted of attacking Jews by pointing out that the power they have is way beyond their numbers as members of the US population.

There is a sense that this is all about merit and that merit cannot be qualified. It is the simply the innate superiority of the American Jews that makes them succeed as they do.

When pondering this, I received a few e-mails about a conference this past weekend sponsored by a new Jewish advocacy group called J Street. J Street has already made a huge splash in the media – particularly the Jewish media – where it has found itself on the receiving end of some vicious attacks and slanders.

You see, J Street is an Israel advocacy organization that has been designed to act as a Left-Wing foil to the standard groups such as AIPAC, the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations and the Orthodox Union; all of which are very much to the Right of Center.

For many decades American Jews have been led by a set of institutions that have made Israel advocacy the central tenet of their agenda. Despite the attempts to deny any Jewish conspiracy by partisans like Alan Dershowitz and Elie Wiesel who claim to know nothing of the strong-arm approach of the AIPACs and the others, American Jews know very well what they can and cannot say about Israel.

Just like the great aggressiveness of Jewish businessmen and financiers in the marketplace, so too are the Jewish institutions monolithic and deeply protective of their turf. Not a day goes by when some person is not trapped in the web of the massive tentacles of this institutional Jewish world. Quietly, but effectively, we see a steady stream of Israel-“haters” paraded before us. This week it has been the UN-appointed investigator Richard Goldstone and the Human Rights activist Mia Farrow; both of whom have spoken out in ways that the Jewish groups feel are deleterious to Israel. For this, such people are forced to have their names dragged through the muck and mire of Jewish advocacy. Just do the Google search to see what I mean.

When J Street began to have some traction in this closed-off institutional world, the naysayers began to unload their bile. Opinion pieces in major news outlets were coupled with insider wheeling and dealing to derail the J Street juggernaut. It is in the very pedestrian details of the process that the system of Jewish self-policing takes place. Calls and e-mails to the “right” people serve to build a pressure bubble that begins to eat away at the forward progress of the institutional support for the group.

But as I was mulling over the internal war that is waged daily inside the Jewish institutional world, it became clear to me that this war was being conducted solely as an internal Ashkenazi issue.

Now – as always – presenting the specter of Ashkenazi tyranny is enough to set off massive sparks of fury in the Jewish world. Unlike the way that American Jews approach their task, non-Ashkenazim are trapped in a situation where they are prevented from analyzing the biases and prejudices of the Ashkenazim. What is good for the goose is not acceptable for the gander.

The Jewish advocacy plan is based on identifying those non-Jews whose interests and actions are antithetical to Jews. The primary weapon in this plan is the use of Anti-Semitism as a tool to mark those identified as the “enemy.” The established agenda of the Jewish institutions is clearly set to the point where anyone dealing with the Jewish world knows what it really is. In this highly schematic world, those who present views contrary to those held by Jewish institutions are marked as “Anti-Semites.”

A recent example of this reality involving Sephardic concerns is of note: When the recent book on the Yemenite Babies scandal by Shoshana Madmoni-Gerber was published, I asked one of our readers if they would read it and write a review for the newsletter. When we were discussing the issue, this individual informed me that while he was reading the book in some public place, some of the people around him called him an “Anti-Semite” and “enemy of the Jewish people.”

Some freedom of speech in the Jewish community!

Here we have a simple attempt by someone to learn about what many would think to be an important episode in Israeli-Zionist history – one that has continued to be suppressed and left unresolved – and the reaction to it – the reading of a book! – is something rather extreme.

This is the standard way of dealing with things in the Jewish world.

Others – non-Jews – can be criticized and attacked, but any critical discussion of Jewish matters is off-limits. Hysteria ensues and mayhem breaks out.

And here we come back to J Street.

In reviewing the list of names of those speaking at the J Street conference, I could not find a single American Sephardic Jew. Indeed, the only Sephardic Jews on the list of speakers were Shlomo Ben-Ami and Amir Peretz, both Israeli Sephardim known for their dovish positions. They were scheduled to speak on a panel devoted to internal Israeli social issues – the word “Sephardi” did not appear in the title of their panel. More than this, the word “Sephardi” did not appear in the J Street program at all.

To contextualize this panel further, the two politicians were scheduled to present with an Ashkenazi member of the Meretz party – a party notoriously biased against Arab Jews. In addition, the panel was to be moderated by yet another Ashkenazi Meretz member. So the context of the panel is quite clear – the Ashkenazim are not only represented, but are able to act as the control mechanism. None of this will be an issue for people like Ben-Ami and Peretz – after all, they are Israeli and have learned all too well that Ashkenazim run everything. It is something that has been ingrained into the very innermost part of their being.

But what I think is even more important than the actual details of the J Street conference is the widespread closed-door policy of Jewish institutions to Sephardi inclusion.

Objections will of course be raised on a number of different levels to my assertion:

There will be those who will point to Sephardi minority status as the reason for such exclusion. Those who point to this fact – which is actually true in demographic terms – will not be able to withstand the larger Jewish dilemma. If Jews are themselves a minority that demands inclusion, how can these same Jews deny inclusion to a minority within their midst? This point has ramifications in terms of the internal Israeli debate over Palestinian Arab inclusion which has its own relation to the Sephardi question – but that is another issue.

And then there will be those who will point to the few Sephardim who actually exist in the Jewish institutional world. Without becoming personal about the matter, the very few Sephardic institutions with a national profile have created a number of conflicts for Sephardi advocacy.

These institutions have been forced to internalize the Ashkenazi Jewish agenda and set that agenda as their own. In a complex web of self-deceit and negative cultural assimilation, such organizations and individuals refuse to acknowledge a Sephardi reality that exists independent of the Ashkenazi world.

It is the smart way to go.

As we have learned over many years of Sephardi life in America, if you can’t beat them, join them. In this case, the framework of Sephardi life is to be calibrated in terms of the Ashkenazi agenda – whatever version of that agenda is chosen. Mostly it has been an uncritical Israel advocacy and the promotion of Jewish Orthodoxy. The idea is to show that Sephardim are loyal warriors in the American Jewish cause and will do whatever it takes to assure that the Ashkenazi agenda is actualized. There is no static between a Sephardi agenda and an Ashkenazi one. To make this point even clearer, the Sephardic tradition is often presented institutionally as rooted in the European civilization rather than the Arabic one.

As I have repeatedly stated, the actual roots of Jewish culture in Spain are Arabic and not Latin. By the time the so-called Ladino language took hold among Sephardic Jews – around the 14th century – the “Golden Age” of Sephardic Jews was over. Without denying that great scholars and literary figures emerged in Christian Spain, it must be acknowledged that the basic template of Sephardic identity was predicated on Arabic culture.

Now this point is one of great contention because a key tenet of the Ashkenazi agenda – be it Left-Wing like J Street, or Right-Wing like AIPAC – is that Jews are not Arabs. Arab existence has become magnified for the current Jewish world as the penultimate evil. “Smart” Sephardim not only reject Arab identity, but work diligently to undermine any socio-historical connection between the groups.

Aside from the damage this does to the organic Sephardic identity, it has another important role to play in contemporary Sephardic life: By rejecting the Arab component of Sephardic identity, Sephardi leaders are more easily able to integrate themselves in the world of Ashkenazi Jewish institutions.

This is not a negligible factor.

Without the approval of the American Jewish kingmakers, Sephardim are left without the massive support – financial and logistical – that Jewish institutions can provide. At the highly fruitful nexus of Jewish money, power and influence is the exclusive world of Jewish institutional life. A minority like the Sephardim – regardless of the individual wealth of some of its members – could not think to compete with the well-organized American Jewish machine.

Decades ago this critical issue was addressed in the Brooklyn Sephardic community by Isaac Shalom who used his own not-inconsiderable clout to force the community to accept the power of the Ashkenazim as a tacit fact of life. The community was forcibly torn away from its historical culture and led to the Ashkenazi “promised land.” Rather than adopt the pedagogical approach of Hakham Matloub Abadi – a name that became more and more obscure as the years went by – Shalom began a process that led to the importation of the Ashkenazi leadership model into the community.

So when Arab Jews were airlifted to Israel in the 1950s, American Sephardim were off becoming Ashkenazim. Such a socio-cultural shift did not only impact the American Sephardim, but undermined the ability of Israeli Sephardim to make their way in a less-than-welcoming landscape.

While the Labor government in Israel was decimating and humiliating Sephardi immigrants – providing instead their largesse and sympathy to their European brethren – American Sephardim were celebrating the great “victory” of the Jewish state – not at all realizing that the “Jews” were Ashkenazim and that their own brethren – the Arab Jews – were being persecuted and undergoing a merciless cultural annihilation.

This process has led to a complete blindness to what it means to be Sephardic in America. American Sephardic institutions and the members and leaders of those institutions have thrown Sephardic heritage under the bus. In the most critical area – that of education – Sephardim have nothing traditional to provide their own children with knowledge of their rich heritage. Given the set of priorities that were created many years ago, Sephardim do not even participate in public service – giving that honor to the Ashkenazi professionals who they hire to staff and run their schools and non-profit institutions.

For this, there is a “blame the victim” mentality that permeates the Jewish community that is sometimes adopted by self-hating Sephardim themselves.

To add to the closed-door world of the Ashkenazi-only institutions, Sephardi activists are bombarded with accusations of “Why don’t you just do it yourselves?” Between the proverbial rock and hard place, there is really nowhere for a Sephardi to go.

Locked out of the Ashkenazi institutions – no matter what their political orientation – the Sephardi has no institutions of her own. Pointed in the direction of the few Sephardic institutions that currently exist – Sephardic in name only! – the individual Sephardi loses before they even begin.

This is the sad and pathetic dynamic that exists inside the Jewish world at present.

And why should anyone even care about the matter?

Here we return to the idea of Arab culture and what this means.

The binary split between Jew and Arab is taken as axiomatic by everyone – not just Jews. Even Arabs have acculturated to the Ashkenazi-Zionist paradigm of eternal hatred between the two monolithic groups.

When the country of Dubai seeks to open its doors to the outside world, the first thing it does – pace the American Jewish agenda – is to invite in Jewish organizations in order to “Kosher” itself. Accepting as fact that Arabs are Anti-Semites, Dubai feels a burning need to “prove” that it is not Anti-Semitic by calling in the usual suspects and getting them to buy into the scheme.

Can the leadership of an Arab country like Dubai not recall a time where Jews lived in the Arab-Muslim world? Seemingly not! The Dubai government brought CHABAD representatives and other groups such as the American Jewish Committee – Ashkenazi groups with their own ethnocentric perspective on the East.

Now this is all a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Excluding Sephardim from the Jewish institutional world means that there will be no Sephardim of note to invite to places like Dubai and the J Street conference.

Including self-hating Sephardim in Jewish institutions will further serve to marginalize Sephardim and ensure that they are not able to find a place at the Jewish table. To better understand the great importance of the Jewish table, speak to the government of Dubai, members of the US Congress, Palestinian intellectuals like Sari Nusseibeh or others who seek to build bridges with the Jewish world. They can tell you who butters their bread.

The Jewish table is indeed monolithic. Those seated at it are all Ashkenazim. To justify their rule over non-Ashkenazim such Jews point to the fact that they are the majority and that Sephardim should pull themselves up by their bootstraps – just like the Ashkenazim did!

The problem here lies in the concept of the “Tyranny of the Majority” that the Ashkenazim have spent many years fighting against. As I have said many times, the irony of this seems to be lost on the Ashkenazim. For the Ashkenazim they are the only minority – there are no other minorities besides them. As a minority, the Ashkenazi Jews have made very successful use of their own persecution as a means to deflect accusations of their persecuting others.

While discussing the matter of the J Street conference with one of our newsletter readers, I was presented one of the standard arguments against what I have called “The Levantine Option.” As this newsletter reader presented the idea with another conference attendee, he was coldly rebuked in no uncertain terms. It seems that in Israel advocacy circles, even on the Left, the idea of Jews and Arabs sharing a culture is a fate worse than death.

“The Levantine Option” is a political construct meant to help resolve the difficulties engendered by the Israel-Arab conflict through the adoption of a cultural approach that would be inclusive of the native culture of the Arab Middle East which, prior to the founding of the State of Israel, was shared by all inhabitants of the region. Those who reject “The Levantine Option” point to new realities on the ground that make the idea look naïve and foolish.

What seemed odd about this particular rejection of the idea was the fact that the person doing the rejecting was herself attending the purportedly “liberal” J Street conference and was studying Arabic at her university.

None of this came as a surprise to me. I have become all-too-accustomed to such rejection in the course of doing my work over the past two decades. And I would not at all disagree with the way in which the current reality is presented. Indeed, over the course of less than a single century, a rich civilization that took thousands of years to create has been decimated. It would be foolhardy to think otherwise.

While Euro-American civilization continues to seek ways to bridge differences and acculturate to other worlds and cultures, the Middle East continues to break off into tribal parochialisms that seem anachronistic given the recent past of the region. Jewish writers and intellectuals like Yehuda Burla, Haim Nahum Effendi, and Yitzhak Shami found themselves perfectly at home in Arabic mores and literary culture in the first part of the 20th century – not exactly ancient history; while contemporary Israelis and Arabs find themselves delving further and further back into the ancient pasts of their peoples.

It is therefore somewhat disconcerting to be promoting the progressive ideals of what was once called the Arabic Nahda (renaissance), created to deal with the challenges of the Modern age, against the atavistic strains of the new tribalisms that would have been unintelligible to my grandparents.

This dilemma puts into question the very notion of “progress” and the direction that we have chosen to take in the Jewish world.

Have we been moving backward or forward? And why is it that seemingly well-intentioned Liberals would so passionately reject an idea that reflects the most progressive way of seeing things?

As could be expected, based on the current inflexibility of a Jewish institutional world that marches in complete lockstep with a very limited ideological agenda, J Street has been widely demonized even as many American Jews look for a valid alternative to the Stalinism of the Jewish status quo.

But even within J Street – as is the case with the other Left-Wing Jewish groups – there is no real diversity. Arabs are viewed as alien creatures and Sephardim are not welcome to the table as equal members of the Jewish community. Again, the J Street agenda is ideologically driven and rejects the sort of inclusion that will lead to true progressive reform.

By ignoring the work of activists like Ella Shohat, Sami Shalom Chetrit, Smadar Lavie, Shaoshan Madmoni-Gerber, Ammiel Alcalay, Jordan Elgrably and the present writer – all of whom are currently living and working in the US – J Street and other Ashkenazi Jewish groups are not only denying true inclusion, but are preventing American Jews from learning about an idea like “The Levantine Option” which flies in the face of the rigid orthodoxies of an Jewish world that is clearly floundering even as it has set a table which it exclusively owns and controls.

Such a discursive principle based on exclusion – of people and ideas – is unseemly, but more importantly it closes off options and possibilities to resolve the conflicts and problems that we face as Jews. It promotes a “Dialogue of the Deaf” which is based on a parochial monolingualism where all the participants speak the same language and refuse the involvement of others not like them.

For those who understand the complexities of Jewish history, such forms of monolingualism and cultural exclusion have often served to undermine our values and interests as a people. That American Jews have regrettably chosen to adopt these harmful principles while continuing to play the race card is a reprehensible matter that should not continue to remain off-limits to our critical discussion.

© Copyrights, David Shasha and the Zennobia.blogspot.com, 2009
Permission must be obtained before publishing this article.

David Shasha is the director of the Center for Sephardic Heritage in Brooklyn, New York. The Center publishes the weekly e-mail newsletter Sephardic Heritage Update (SHU) as well as promoting lectures and cultural events. To sign up for the newsletter visit the Sephardic Heritage Google Group at http://groups.google.com/group/Davidshasha

Helping IRAQI Orphans

2009-09-30T17:54:00.007-04:00

On the weekend of September 18-20, I completed a walkathon from Massachusetts to Vermont to raise funds for IRAQI orphans.

We still have not reached our modest goal of raising $2500,

so I appreciate your help in this worthy cause.

I am working to organize another walkathon next week.

I greatly appreciate it if you distribute the link below to your list and/or

make a donation:

http://www.firstgiving.com/ineas

Thank you!

Thoughts and Sayings We Need to Hear

2009-08-31T22:39:00.008-04:00

"We’re not up against people because they’re white. But we’re against those who practice racism. We’re against those who drop bombs on people because their color happens to be of a different shade than yours. And because we’re against it, the press says we’re violent. We’re not for violence. We’re for peace. But the people that we’re up against are for violence. You can’t be peaceful when you’re dealing with them."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRNciryImqg (Superb speech*)

-Malcolm X

May 19, 1925-February 21, 1965

* Does not include quote above

----------------------------------------------

"Get up, Stand Up for Your Right"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zTxUxFjLB0

Bob Marley

February 6, 1945 – May 11, 1981

-----------------------------------------------

"Everybody learns so quickly when those blue eyes sail out of the North, you

better nail everything down"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rlqjxst6xU&feature=channel_page

George Carlin

May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008

----------------------------------------------

" Heal The World . . . Make it a Better Place for You and for Me*"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W61Q-EZ8R7M

Michael Jackson

August 29, 1958 - June 25, 2009

* Music Composition by Michael Jackson

***

The Threat of the USA-UK-Iran-Israel (UI) Collaborative

2009-07-21T21:22:00.048-04:00

Conversion to Shiism and Iran's Financial Support

by Wafaa' Al-Natheema

In Response to Ali Jawad's Article in the Palestine Chronicle

[It would be appreciated if this article is forwarded to Joel Beignin, Nissim Rejwan,

Peter Sluglett, Robert Fisk, Juan Cole, Patrick Cockburn and to all those who are

considered or think they are expert journalists, professors or writers on

the subject matters of Islam, Arab affairs and Iraq.

Equally appreciated is forwarding this article to pro-Iran Arabs with the understanding that

the author does not suggest an anti-Iran campaign, but rather an understanding of the truth

about Iran's indecent role within the Arab world since the 1920s]

Please DO NOT COPY, PASTE and FORWARD the content of this article to your email list. Just forward its link with appreciation

Arabs are now in extreme danger if they continue being indecisive and disunited about issues affecting their wellbeing and future. One of these issues is their disagreement on Iran. Also to resist and successfully challenge the UI powerful collaborative, Arabs’ resistance must be a collaborative effort as well and the public’s attitude and media coverage by focusing on one segment of Arab resistance or comparing between its various factions (be that Iraqi, Lebanese or Palestinian) must cease.

Ali Jawad's article, “Myth of Sectarianism in the 'New Middle East'” (included below) is a good example. It has many good points, but his narrative presents only part of the truth about Iran. While I fully agree with Jawad's point, "Today, the political tensions of the Middle East are driven minimally by indigenous inter-sectarian factors. The systematic and organized attempt - by imperialists and their regional clients - to amplify the myth of an ongoing, all-out sectarian war is precisely in order to cover for the evident absence of actual rifts between the peoples of the Middle East," I find his views about Iran's role in the region and its campaign to Shiitize and divide Arabs are not-well argued. They are not 'alleged' as he stated in his article. Iran's money and the work of its religious leaders to convert Moslems, especially Arabs, to Shiism are real and on the rise in the Arab world.

I am reminded of Arabs' emotionality and naiveté when I read Ali Jawad’s paragraph, “Largely due to this self-destructing polarization, admiration for Iran on the Arab street has skyrocketed. In the world of Arab satellite channels, live phone-ins on political talk shows are flooded by voices of solidarity with Iran and total contempt for “sell-out” Arab leaders. Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, Bashar Al-Assad and Ismail Haniyeh are viewed as the symbols of remaining Arab dignity, and their indisputable popularity, heads and shoulders above the rest, is evidenced in every poll.” This is certainly not the opinion of the vast majority of Iraqi Arabs, neither it is the opinion of Turkmans and other minorities who have tasted first hand the savagery of Iranian conducts in Iraq. It is quite humorous to consider leaders such as Nasrallah and Al-Assad as the symbols of Arab remaining dignity when they both were capable to strike Israel and come to their Gazans' resecue in this year's massacre, but chose not, instead all what they did in return was sloagans and orations. This is aside from their previous and many incidents that prove otherwise.

Unfortunately the Moroccan and Saudi Kings and Egyptian presidents have no clean slate either and have had shameful policies and actions, no doubt about that. Therefore whenever they make statements or have concerns, almost always theirs are considered alleged, propaganda or invalid. The same argument can be made about Saddam Hussein. Nothing he said or did was appropriate enough or true for his enemies, his Arab colleagues and counterparts, Iraqis or the media. His concern about Iran and its leaders’ expansionist policies and hatred toward Arabs was not due to his or Iraqis' imagination or love for wars as some like to argue. The Iranian threat toward Arabs and Arab lands has been a reality and in fact has increased many folds since the Iran-Iraq war. This statement should not be interpreted as advocating for or justifying the Iran-Iraq war. Iran's expansionist ambitions for Arab lands are comparable to those of the Zionists. Had the author followed closely how Iranians had been confiscating Arab lands since 1920s and how they've been treating the Ahwazi Arabs in Iran and Iraqi and Palestinian Arabs in Iraq, he wouldn't have written his article and the Palestinian Chronicle wouldn't have published it.

Providing financial assistance to needy Arab families in return for their conversion to Shiism by Iran is actually geared to divide Arabs and eventually Moslems. This is happening in Syria (and I personally witnessed it), in Jordan and Lebanon as well as in some Gulf States, Egypt, Libya, Sudan and Morocco. Even as early as 1981, I have witnessed Shiite conversion attempts in the UK and USA by an originally Iranian Iraqi family through its large network. Therefore the author of the article should have well investigated the matter before making inaccurate statements and using the "alleged" word.

No group thus far and despite the hatred, wars and Guantanamo have been able to kill Islam and put an end to it. So in order to defeat Moslems tactfully, the opponents of Islam; the neoconservative and evangelist Christians, Zionist Jews and even Iranians (who have been working together despite that the Khomeini revolution propagated anti-western and anti-Zionism slogans) need to accomplish the following two missions simultaneously:

1. Anti-Arab policies and killing.

2. Enhancing divisions amongst Moslems by slowly chewing off the Sunni majority, "the big problem," knowing this majority is 90% of the one billion Moslems. The Shiite minority is therefore utilized intentionally and unintentionally to accomplish this task. The best way to kill Islam is to divide its followers and enhance fighting from within its Umma (population). All external pressures, wars and killings have thus far failed, but these inner conflicts, if accelerate, will eventually put an end to Islam and its power, whatever left of it.

Why these policies against the Arabs?
Not because Arabs are divided and weak as some argue, not because they don't know how to work and are “filled with wrongdoings,” or that they invaded Iranians 1500 years ago, and not because of Arabs' so-called terrorism (which they knew nothing about until 1979 when Al-Qaeda was created and funded by the CIA and when Khomeini was brought to power in the same year again by the West), but because Arabs are the backbone of Islam: Language wise (the Quran is in Arabic), they were the ones who spread Islam and are the ones who still maintain it closest to its origin, they control most of the essential locations with religious significance to all Moslems (Mecca, Medina, Karbala and Najaf) and because they are rich with resources and have shown serious resistance to the US-Industrial western interests and considerable development and reforms all through the end of the 1980s despite the Iran-Iraq war. It was no coincidence that communism was clearly replaced by Islam in 1989-1990 as THE ENEMY and the heaviest bombing campaign in modern history on Baghdad took place (immediately after) in January 1991. By creating Al-Qaeda, the USA achieved the killing of both of its so-called enemies; Moslems and Communists.

Why IRAQ first? The adversaries of the Islamic world focused on attacking Baghdad in 1258 CE because it was the center of advancement, richness and power, and in the 20th and 21st centuries again when they bombed Baghdad. In 1991 and then in 2003, they bombed IRAQ not because:

1. Saddam Hussein was a threat,
2. of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, and not because,
3. Iraq was smaller than Iran and therefore an easier target and can be better controlled!

But because regionally Iraq was the only Arab country to bomb Tel Aviv and the rest of Israel by means of technology and accurate scud missiles, which caused tremendous havoc and destruction in Israel, and that internationally Iraq's Arab leader was the only Arab, in fact the first in the world, who challenged the US dollar and began in November 2000 to use the Euro in oil transactions. Also because Iraq's (75%) majority Arabs (in comparison to other Arabs) are the most rich, educated, resourceful, steadfast, independent, are most supportive of other Arab and African countries/causes (especially the Palestinian cause) and simultaneously have been the top among Arabs in terms of resisting western ways of life (especially western companies and interests including giant junk food business), who maintained their culture with a well-intact Arabic language, and who have been living in one of the richest lands on earth, be that manuscripts, ancient ruins, history, artifacts, gold, uranium, copper, oil, water, dates, palm trees, wheat, barley, professionals and hard-core scientists. Though Iraqi Arabs (compared with other Arabs) have been the least articulate verbally (and so the reason for being behind in public relations, promotion and media), they have been the most doers. We have witnessed the intensive campaign to rob Iraq from all its treasures and to eliminate its scientists and professors following the USA-UK-Iran-Israel occupation.

Iraqis in general and their Arab majority in particular have withstood eight years of Iran-Iraq war, the 1991 war with tons of uranium bombs and twelve years of sanctions. Yet all of the above didn't kill and put an end to them. So the USA had to invade Iraq and kill Iraqis by the hundreds of thousands, imprison and torture them by the thousands and displace four millions of them to make sure the job gets done. By destroying the strongest pole of the Arab world, the Zionists, the industrial westerners and Iranians have been roaming freely in the region killing its people and robbing its resources as we've seen done in Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan and other parts of the Arab world. In fact, the current conflicts and silenced crimes in IRAQ are not between Shiites and Sunnis as the politicians and the media like to portray, they have been mainly anti-Arab; killing, imprisoning, torturing and displacing them. Indeed non-Arabs in Iraq have highly suffered as well, but the main target of the occupation has been the Arabs (Moslems of all sects, and to a lesser extent Christians and Yezidis) with focus on Sunnis; the most devastated of all. The vast majority of the prisoners in Guantanamo are ARABS as well. Recent reports indicate that most of these prisoners are in fact innocent! The non-Arab Moslem prisoners in Guantanamo are near entirely Sunnis from Afghanistan and Pakistan. It was no coincidence to witness the elimination of the strongest, and most influential and well-connected Sunni Arab leaders: Saddam Hussein and Rafiq Al-Hariri.

Iranians are participating alongside the USA, Israel and the Kurds in the killing and imprisonment of Arabs. In light of the industrial west's population control ambitions for earth, Sunni Moslems are considered a threat by the mere fact that they constitute 90% of the one billion Moslems.

Palestinians and other Arabs, including the author of the article, Jawad Ali, need not to interpret the Iranian support of Hezbollah and Hamas as a sign of innocence and sympathy toward Arabs and their causes because this "support" is part of the plan to create division, enhance favoritism amongst Arabs and increase their dependency on Iran and the industrial west. To clarify this further:

1. Since the war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006, there has been a complete media censorship or abandonment of Iraqi resistance! Favoritism and poor comparison between factions of Arab resistance have even infected public opinion and the media with statements highlighting the superiority of the resistance of Hezbollah and Hamas when compared with the Iraqi resistance. But knowing that both Hamas and Hezbollah have been funded by Iran, the very same entity that participated in the invasion of Iraq; imprisoning and killing of Arabs in Iran and Iraq (including Palestinian Iraqis), and collaborating alongside Pakistan with the CIA to sell innocent Arabs and Afghans for the Guantanamo project, one can well understand the Iranian agenda behind the financial aid. Despite Iran's financial support, both Hezbollah and Hamas put together have not inflicted any comparable damage on Israel to that inflicted by the Iraqi resistance since 2003 on the USA, a leading world power and superior to Israel. In fact, the Iraqi resistance has not been resisting only US forces, but also UK forces, Iranian militias, Israeli Mossad, Kurdish Peshmergeh, some of the armies of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and thousands of foreign mercenaries while Hezbolla and Hamas have been resisiting one known enemy. Many of us were puzzled by the ineffectiveness and passiveness of Hezbollah during the recent barbaric attacks on neighboring Gaza!!

2. Since the Lebanon-Israel war, the world's mainstream media have focused on Hezbollah and Hamas as victorious, resisters or terrorists (adjectives that denote seriousness and grab attention). This is a typical recipe to occupy the world away from the destruction caused by the USA-UK atrocities worldwide and away from those who have been courageously resisting the USA-UK occupation. Because of this recipe, one sees many more anti-Israel and anti-Zionist peace groups and NGOs advocating, organizing events, making donations and/or protesting against Zionists than against the USA-UK occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq. Following this recipe, individuals who eagerly worked to see the Iraq’s anti-sanction movement in the 1990s weakened and corrupted penetrated most major peace groups in the USA. The above-mentioned tactics and events have been utilized for the purpose of shifting public's attention away from the criminal actions perpetrated by the USA and other industrial western governments.

3. One of the MAIN reasons for the creation of Israel was to occupy the Arabs away from resisting British colonialism and dominance. Israel still functions for this matter; whenever the tied is high on the USA in Afghanistan or in Iraq, a big event is created in the region either committed by or in relation to Israel or Iran to overshadow the USA-UK criminal actions and/or their defeat. Israel and Iran have been utilized for that matter. Both governments collaborated with the USA, but secretly in the case of Iran while giving the impression that its policies are anti-Zionist and anti-American. The bombing of Lebanon in 2006, the cry out about the Iranian atomic bomb, the consecutive siege of Gaza, the many elections (within six years) in Iraq and the so-called withdrawal of USA forces from Baghdad are among these attention-occupying events.

The unity of Arab resistance is therefore a must in order to create wider and stronger affects on the USA and UK and their creation, Israel. But this unity cannot be achieved when Iran is funding two of the three major Arab resistance factions (Hamas and Hezbolla) while killing and torturing the third (Iraqi resistance), when the Palestinians have been fighting amongst themselves and when various Iraqi resistance factions have not been collaborating well with each other.

The unity of the Iraqi resistance is a pre-requisite for the unity of Arab resistance. Such unity will not only free IRAQ from the occupation, but to free and eventually unite Arabs. Iraqi Arabs are the only Arabs able to accomplish this task. After all, about 95% of Iraqi resistance is Arabs. The opponents of Arabs and Moslems know well this reality. That is why they have been collaborating to kill, displace, bribe and torture Iraqi Arabs.

The USA-UK-Iran-Israel collaborative (UI) has been working diligently to divide the Arab resistance (Iraqi, Lebanese, Palestinian and others) by killing and taming the most challenging; the Iraqi resistance, dubbing it 'terrorist' and completely depriving it from media coverage and financial support while financially supporting the less challenging resistance of Hezbollah and Hamas, and granting them continuous media coverage. Because this collaborative is well aware that any financial support from the USA, UK or Israel would be rejected by Arabs or if accepted by any resistance group would make them lose credibility and trust, therefore Iran has been utilized to accomplish this task for them, which is the best scenario knowing it is an Islamic country. In addition to financially supporting Hamas and Hezbollah, Iran is granting financial support to needy Arab families to convert them to Shiism and gain their loyalty. By supporting Hamas and Hezbollah, Iran is propagating support for Arab resistance, where in reality it is supporting the less challenging segment of Arab resistance (Hezbollah and Hamas), which has been confronting Israel not the more powerful USA while participating with the USA in the killing and displacement of Iraqi Arabs and in attempting to destroy the Iraqi resistance, which constitutes the greatest challenge. In other words, Iran is reviving two birds with one stone: One - to divide Arabs and their resistance through favoring and supporting some resistance groups over others, and two - to eventually divide Moslems by increasing Shiite conversions and creating conflicting loyalists.

In 2003, following the occupation of Baghdad, Paul Bremer, the governor of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), made sure that Iranians and Kurds are the majority in parliament, main political parties, ministries and embassies despite them being together only 20% of the Iraqi population. He specifically ensured that Shiite religious leaders are to govern Iraq. It is time for non-Iraqi Arabs to pay attention to these highly significant events and begin shoveling the right cards and prioritize.

The Islamic world and Islam will become part of the endangered species without the presence of Arabs; a reality not well recognized by Moslems including Arabs, but the opponents of Moslems understand it well.

Wafaa' Al-Natheema, who maintains this blog, does not subscribe to any political party or practice any religion since all religions and political parties are the products of men to serve their interest first and foremoset.

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04/28/2009

Myth of Sectarianism in the 'New Middle East'

By Ali Jawad

One of the lasting legacies of the failed US-led war on Iraq is without doubt the rise of sectarianism in the general discourse on Middle Eastern politics. Sectarianism has been pitched as the ‘modern’ story of the Middle East, yet its driving causes and true nature remain subject to sweeping and misplaced generalizations, particularly in the Western media. The subsequent rooting of a sectarian political discourse in understanding the dynamics of the Middle East, flavoured by myths and fallacies, primarily serves to further the interests of imperialist and colonialist powers in the region. At another level, this discourse seeks to insulate discredited Arab leaders (i.e. Moderate “allies”) from the grievances of their own peoples as invented threats posed by an “other” are hyped up to disorientate the power of the masses.

In this regard, the recent scathing attack launched by the Egyptian Public Prosecutor (EPP) against Hezbollah, despite being somewhat expected, was revealing insofar as its sectarian dimension is concerned. Buried in between a long list of accusations against a “Hezbollah cell” uncovered in Egypt, the EPP stated the accused were "planning to carry out hostile operations within the country (Egypt) and attempting to spread Shiite thought in Egypt”.

During recent times, it has become fashionable for Middle Eastern premiers and oil-kings to protest against an ethereal threat posed by Shiism. The summoning of the “spread of Shiism” pretext, as seen above in the case of Egypt, is essentially used as a political tool. Further, the Egyptian line of attack in this respect is by no means an anomaly. In mid-March of this year, the kingdom of Morocco severed diplomatic ties with Iran accusing Tehran of “cultural infiltration” and attempts to “implant the Shiite Muslim ideology” in the country. In the emirate kingdoms of Bahrain and Kuwait, allegations of Iranian interference in the former, and charges claiming the formation of an insidious “Kuwaiti-Hezbollah” in the latter, are similarly propped up and dealt with within a strictly sectarian context.

Politically, the use of sectarianism in the present Middle Eastern context serves several purposes, which can broadly be divided into local, regional and international dimensions. To identify these dimensions, it is necessary to probe below the surface of this worn out, yet doggishly resurgent, charge of Arab leaders against the threat posed by “Shiism” in order to reveal the causative factors behind this renewed focus on sectarianism.

First, by positing a so-called “threat” posed by a Shiite sectarian agenda, Arab leaders conveniently conceal and deflect attention from the deeply entrenched socio-economic disparity that exists between Shiite communities and their counterparts in several Gulf nations. In countries like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Shiites are forced to locate themselves on the peripheries of society under the juggernaut of systemic discrimination. Further, an environment of heightened sectarianism also provides an effective red herring for these kingdoms to silence demands calling for fairer representation and accordance of rights.With respect to Shiite communities and their development in the Arab and national contexts, this factor presents a massive hurdle in the way of reform. As an example, the case of Lebanon underlines the central importance that the ability to pressure the central government plays in effecting change. Until the late Seventies of the last century, i.e. more than three decades after the National Pact (al-Mithaq al-Watani) was signed, Shiites found themselves relegated to the outer rims of Lebanese society. Downtrodden and ignored by the state, Lebanese Shiites bottled up their grievances within a sub-national narrative. In this milieu of resignation, the dynamism brought in by the charismatic Shiite leader, Sayyed Musa Al-Sadr, relied primarily on matlabiyya (a politics of demand) to transform the fortunes of Lebanese Shiites. Thus, the present-day hyping up of sectarian polemics by Arab leaders in the Gulf, acts as a significant stumbling block in the way of urgently needed, and long overdue reform of internal political and socio-economic structures. Demands for fair representation and equal rights that ought to be accorded by virtue of citizenship are instead silenced through the use of a sectarian deception.

Second, by reinforcing an image of a whole-scale invasion of the “Shiite” school of thought in traditionally majority-“Sunni” areas (or what was termed the Shii tide; al-madd al-Shii), Arab leaders promote an inherently confrontational and other-excluding relationship between the two major religious sects of Islam. This strategy thus aims to provoke a “religious” reaction hence providing credibility to the statements of highly unpopular and discredited leaders.It has to be noted that this strategy has not only failed so far, but has done so miserably. Contrary to what Arab leaders like Mubarak hoped for, Sunni and Shia religious figures have stood by each other and together lambasted Arab leaders for their criminal silence and treachery towards the Palestinian cause. Notably, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was accused of “apostasy” and “grand treason” by more than two-hundred Sunni religious scholars in the wake of the brutal war on Gaza.

Third, in logical continuity from the previous point, Arab leaders like Mubarak who suffer from serious popularity deficits amongst their peoples, attempt to revitalize and give credibility to their sinking images by marketing themselves as safe keepers of “Sunnism”. The “spread of Shiism” accusation made by the EPP thus makes the case that the highly unpopular Mubarak in fact plays the role of a gatekeeper who faithfully ensures that the “Sunni” identity of Egypt is preserved. At this level the strategy has again been met with ridicule from the Egyptian public. In a radio interview, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mahdi Akef, termed the allegations levelled against Hezbollah as unfounded and utterly baseless. The secretary general of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Jordan, minced less into his words when he praised the actions of Hezbollah as a “national, legitimate, and pan-Arab duty and an attempt to bolster the Islamic resistance in the Gaza Strip". Instead of taking Mubarak for his word, public focus in Egypt has shifted to the involvement of Israeli intelligence in the operation targeted at Hezbollah. This factor by itself provides sufficient proof to the Egyptian and Arab streets that the actions of Hezbollah were in fact limited to supporting the resistance in Palestine, rather than the whimsically invented charge made by the EPP citing “spread of Shiism” in Egypt amongst others.

Fourth, the “spread of Shiism” pretext at the regional level is not sold merely as a sectarian phenomenon, but one that occurs in the backdrop of a growing Shiite presence in Middle Eastern politics. Shiite so-called “expansionism” is pitched as an extension of a wider political agenda, or what the Saudi Prince Turki Al-Faisal chooses to call “Iranian obstructionism”. Giving saliency to this aspect interlocks with the interests of the US and Israeli governments as was wittily articulated by an Arab writer who described the Egyptian government’s policy with the words: “Rescue! The Shiites are coming!” By openly declaring an anti-Shiite (read: anti-Iranian, anti resistance) platform, these Arab leaders seek to provide reassurance to the US and Israel that they continue to remain useful and relevant on the Middle Eastern chessboard.

Fifth, one of the more troubling usages of sectarianism in the present Middle East has been the enframent of political and national struggles within the mould of a sectarian identity-politics. The so-called “Moderate” Arab leaders in Cairo, Riyadh and Amman pass off differing stances as sectarian-qua-sectarian agendas. More accurately, political stances that clash with US-inspired “moderate” scripts of how things ought to play out in the Gulf, are pointed to as manifestations of the intrusion of a Shiite tidal wave under direct orders from an aspirant Shiite regional hegemony i.e. Iran.

Fuelling the fires of sectarianism in this way has meant that even pre-eminent struggles and causes in the Arab world have not remained impervious from the burdens of a sectarian-politics discourse. According to leading officials in Egypt, Gaza is seen as a ‘mini Islamic Republic of Iran’, and Hamas an abiding servant of the Iranian agenda. In order to discredit the path of resistance, the likes of Egypt and Saudi Arabia have chosen to mark it off as an Iranian-Shiite conspiracy, which if left unchecked will extend to devour the entire Arab homeland.

Largely due to this self-destructing polarization, admiration for Iran on the Arab street has skyrocketed. In the world of Arab satellite channels, live phone-ins on political talk shows are flooded by voices of solidarity with Iran and total contempt for “sell-out” Arab leaders. Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, Bashar Al-Assad and Ismail Haniyeh are viewed as the symbols of remaining Arab dignity, and their indisputable popularity, heads and shoulders above the rest, is evidenced in every poll.

Finally, there remains the relation between imperialism and the rise of sectarian rhetoric in the Middle East i.e. the elephant in the room. It is said that sectarianism can be narrated “only by continually acknowledging and referring to both indigenous and imperial” histories and imperatives.

Iraq has been the theatre on, and from, which the image of an ongoing sectarian struggle for the heart of the Middle East has been propagated. In the wake of the collapse of Baghdad in 2003, leading Arab intellectual Dr. Azmi Bishara took to the podium at UC Berkeley and said:

“Of course we don’t buy what they say about their sensitivity to democracy […]; what they call ‘building a democratic Iraq’, because I hear the accent. This is not […] the language of democrats. You don’t go to a country to build a democracy by splitting the country into three major religions (sects) […]; this is not pluralism, this is a recipe for civil war.”

The ‘Balkanization’ of the Middle East has for long been an unswerving desire of imperialist powers. The oft-quoted words of Oded Yinon about the "far-reaching opportunities" presented by the "very stormy situation [that] surrounds Israel," published in 1982 by the World Zionist Organization, are instructive in this regard: "The dissolution of Syria and Iraq into ethnically or religiously unique areas such as in Lebanon is Israel's primary target on the Eastern front. Iraq, rich in oil on the one hand and internally torn on the other is guaranteed as a candidate for Israel's targets. Its dissolution is even more important for us than that of Syria. Iraq is stronger than Syria. In the short run, it is Iraqi power which constitutes the greatest threat to Israel.”

Today, the political tensions of the Middle East are driven minimally by indigenous inter-sectarian factors. The systematic and organized attempt - by imperialists and their regional clients - to amplify the myth of an ongoing, all-out sectarian war is precisely in order to cover for the evident absence of actual rifts between the peoples of the Middle East. Why the likes of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Morocco are not waiting around for second invitations to jump on to this sectarian bandwagon should in itself provoke a lot of questioning. Not in the least surprising, and another reason to look into this subject more critically, has been the failure of Western media from putting forth these simple and straight-forward questions.

Sectarianism constitutes an important chapter in the ‘divide and conquer’ strategy. Whilst it could be said that the US viewed the Middle East through a more ethnic prism in the past, it is clear that the sectarian divide has provided the way forward. The declaration of the “New Middle East” agenda during the Bush administration, and its failure in infancy during the 2006 war on Lebanon, essentially served to overload the sectarian aspect in a bid to foster the right conditions for the implementation of this agenda.

So-called “moderate” Arab leaders shamefully find themselves not only aligned with the most rightist, racist coalition in Israel (which continues to steal more Palestinian land by the day), but they in fact work hand in hand with the Zionist entity to conspire against resistance movements. Netanyahu and Liebermann have taken it upon themselves to scare the world into insanity, under the pretext of an imminent Iranian nuclear weapon capability. Mubarak, Abdullah and cohorts on the other hand, are pioneering the project of spreading fear against a sinister Iranian-led “Shiite” agenda aimed at taking over the Arab heartland which, needless to state, is implemented by resistance movements such as Hezbollah and Hamas.

Sadly, for the imperialists and discredited Arab leaders, the masses no longer buy such crackpot machinations. In the Middle East, we are now witness to a post-sectarian phase; the unity and solidarity that exists between its' peoples - in identifying the key challenges that face this region - is palpable in whichever direction you turn. Western discourse on the Middle East however, remains fixated on talk of civil wars, sectarian strife and religious tension.

The failure of the US (and other Western powers) to move away from a sectarian discourse in accounting for the dynamics of the Middle East, and the failure to impress this reality upon regional Arab clients, will predictably have significant repercussions. There are several very real issues that need to be resolved in this region, and they have precious little to do with the myth of sectarianism. Political agendas can not forever be implemented in the shadow of sectarianism. The sooner the White House realizes this, the better.

- Ali Jawad is a political activist and a member of the AhlulBayt Islamic Mission (AIM); http://www.aimislam.com/. He contributed this article to Palestine Chronicle.com.

IRAQI Mother Commits Suicide for Selling Her Baby

2009-07-08T12:02:00.027-04:00

By Afif Sarhan

الترجمة العربية أدناه

Mariam Muhammad, 35, couldn’t stand coming back home and find out that her husband, in an exchange for few hundreds of dollars, had given her nine-month-old boy away. She found devastated, and despite having two other kids to look after, the lovely mother committed suicide as a way to run from her recent living condition where a family was forced to sell her son to feed the other ones.

During two weeks, Mariam’s husband, was trying to convince her that the best way for them to move on with their lives was selling the baby after they lost everything during sectarian violence in 2006.

When sectarian violence started to spread, they were victims from militias who forced them out of their rented home. They could not take anything from inside, but tried to collect their life. Also, her husband lost his job as salesman when the owner was forced by militants to fire him. The only money he had was also stolen by the militants when they invaded his house. Regardless the mother was against the selling of her baby and threatened with a divorce if he kept insisting on the matter.

Unfortunately when she was out trying to make some money by working as housekeeper in Baghdad, her husband took advantage over the situation and sold the boy for the amount of 300 sterling pounds.

Mariam committed suicide by ingesting a large amount of pesticide. With help from friends who were sharing with them the same shelter on the outskirts of the capital, she was driven to a local hospital, but when they arrived, she had already passed away.

“She was a very dedicated mother to her children but couldn’t stand the idea of having a child gone because of the incapability of her husband to get a job,” said a close friend who preferred to be kept in anonymity.

“During three days since her son, Adel, was sold to a trafficking gang, she didn’t eat or talk with anybody and the only thing we found was a picture of her kids laying beside her bed where she also drank all pesticide bottle,” she added.

Iraqi children’s black market has been increasing and raised concerns from aid agencies and local police who said has been working to trace the responsible of this illegal operation.

© copyrights Afif Sarhan, Wafaa' Al-Natheema & Institute of Near Eastern & African Studies (INEAS), 2009

****************

أم عراقية تنتحر لبيع ابنها

ترجمة وفاء النظيمة

لم تقو مريم محمد (35 عاما) العودة إلى المنزل والبقاء على قيد الحياة بعد أن أدركت أنّ زوجها قد قبض بضع مئات من الدولارات لقاء بيع ابنهم البالغ من العمر تسعة شهور. شوهدت مريم مدمّرة نفسيا ، وعلى الرغم من كونها أم لإثنين آخرين بحاجة الى رعاية ، انتحرت للخلاص من الظروف المعيشية التي كانت تواجهها آنذاك والتي بسببها اضطرت العائلة الى بيع إبنها لإطعام الأطفال الآخرين.ا

حاول زوجها لمدة اسبوعين لإقناعها بأن أفضل طريقة للمضي قدما هو بيع الطفل بعد أن فقدوا كل شيء بسبب أعمال العنف الطائفية في عام 2006.ا

عندما بدأت أعمال العنف الطائفية في الإنتشار، حيث كانوا من ضحايا العصابات وأجبروا على الخروج من منزلهم المستأجر ، لم يكن بمقدورهم أخذ أي شيء من داخل البيت ، ولكن حاولوا لمّ شمل حياتهم. مضافا لهذا فقدان زوجها لوظيفته كبائع لأن مالك المحل هدد من قبل مسلحين وأجبر على طرده من العمل. ثم سرق المسلحون المال الوحيد الذي كان يمتلكه عندما احتلوا منزله. وبالرغم من كل ذلك فلم ترض الأم لبيع طفلها وهددت بالطلاق في حال إصراره على مسألة بيعه.ا

ولسوء الحظ عندما كانت خارج البيت لكسب بعض المال من خلال العمل في بغداد، استغل زوجها الفرصة وباع الصبي بمبلغ 300 جنيه استرليني.ا

انتحرت مريم وذلك بأخذ كمية كبيرة من المبيدات. بمساعدة الأصدقاء الذين كانوا يتقاسمون معهم نفس الملجأ حول العاصمة ، أخذوها إلى أحد المستشفيات المحلية ، ولكن حين وصلوا كانت قد فارقت الحياة.ا

قالت صديقة مقربة وفضلت عدم ذكر اسمها بأن مريم "كانت أمّا في غاية الحرص على أطفالها لكنها لم تحتمل فكرة فقدان طفلها بسبب عجز زوجها للحصول على وظيفة". وأضافت بأنها "لثلاثة أيام منذ يوم بيع ابنها عادل إلى عصابة التهريب ، توقفت عن الأكل والحديث ، والشيء الوحيد الذي وجدناه قرب سريرها التي فيه شربت زجاجة المبيدات هو صورة لأطفالها" .ا

أثار تزايد السوق السوداء لبيع أطفال العراق مخاوف مؤسسات المعونة والشرطة المحلية التي تعمل على ملاحقة المسؤولين عن هذه العملية غير القانونية.ا

حقوق النشر محفوظة لوفاء النظيمة وعفيف سرحان ومؤسسة الدراسات الشرقية والأفريقية 2009. لا يسمح بإستنساخ ونشر أي جزء من هذه المقالة بدون أخذ الإذن من الكاتب و المسؤولة عن الموقع .ا

Speaking in New Delhi, India on IRAQ's Order 81 P1 & P2

2009-06-30T19:45:00.008-04:00

A Tale of Two Trains

2009-06-29T08:42:00.002-04:00

The Two Americas

by Mazin Qumsiyeh

In my first week back in North America, I was reminded that there are two Americas: a decent caring one and one of delusion. This is as if there are two trains heading to different destinations. The hypocrisy train has big PR budgets, has a huge lobby that managed to get most of the politicians in its pocket and speaks of constant threats to poor Israel (and "democracy"). Its agents in the media like Wolf Blitzer (who used to be a Zionist lobbyist before he became a CNN anchor) push openly for confrontation with Iran after they pushed for confrontation with Iraq. They now interview protesters in Iran who are opposed to the government but will not present the other side. The same cabal refuses to even interview one Palestinian protester fighting a far more repressive apartheid government of Israel. That is the train that has many starry-eyed passengers, a train in which double standards and contorted logic are used to justify ethnic cleansing and distracts attention from other realities with lies and new conflicts. This is the train whose willing and unwilling soldier passengers marshal on the path of destruction thinking they have no choice.

Subservient/obedient academics on panels in Toronto in the last three days at the conference on mapping models for the future in Israel/Palestine provided excellent examples. Many stated things like this (some with blinking eyes, others apparently sincerely believing this stuff): that refugees have no right to return to their homes and lands, that religion makes a nationality, that Jews are unique and special, that the victims need to assure those who robbed them of their lands that they are safe and guilt free, that if you advocate for equality and justice then you are an anti-Semite (or anti-peace at best), that if you are for a one-state solution then you are advocating endless conflicts, that if you speak for boycotts and won't collaborate with apartheid elites then you are hateful, and much more. What is bizarre is that some of those folks are considered the moderates (there were protesters passing out flyers with even worse attitudes). These people recline onto their train chairs ignoring mountains of evidence and experiences of failure in the past. They lack self-introspection and are unable or unwilling to question where their train is heading even as the warning signs of the approaching cliff are everywhere.

The other train is finally beginning to get its engine revved up and voices of conductors are beginning to speak truth to the powers to be. They invite deluded passengers from the other train to find out what is going on and some do switch trains but others hurl insults. In the conference at York, voices were heard from both trains. Abstracts for the talks are posted at http://www.yorku.ca/ipconf/speakers.html On the subject of Palestine, it cannot be any clearer despite the valiant attempts by defenders of Zionism to hide it: you are either with morality and justice or you are with apartheid, ethnic cleansing and oppression. In the conference at York, the best speech I heard was by George Bisharat which I hope I can share with you soon (and which should be translated into Arabic). In the meantime, perhaps a taste of the thinking is George's article "Maximizing Rights: The One State Solution to the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict" http://www.bepress.com/gj/vol8/iss2/art1/

The question that kept coming to my mind is why can't we live together. Why do some believe in "solutions" based on segregation and ghettos in the guises of endless peace process industry which may lead to "two states".

Mazin Qumsiyeh is professor at Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities and author of the book "Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human Rights and the Israeli-Palestinian Struggle"

سيبقى يوم الـ27 من حزيـــــــران في الأذهان

2009-06-26T23:07:00.017-04:00

سيبقى في الأذهان
على مر العصور والأزمان
يوم الـ 27 من حزيـــــــران

د. بلسم عبد الكريم هانئ

كثيرة هي الأيام الدامية التي مرت علينا، وكثيرة ضحاياها في عراقنا المبتلى بحقد وتآمر الأعداء والحاقدين.. حتى صار يصعب على المرء إحصاء هذه الأيام أو إحصاء العراقيين الذين توارت أجسادهم فيها.. فقد تحول العراقيون مع الأسف مذ أحاطتنا أميركا برعايتها الكريمة الى مجرد أرقام في سجل آلة الموت التي تديرها.. أرقام تتناقلها وكالات الأنباء في نشراتها الإخبارية عن انفجار هنا وانفجار هناك هز العراق بصوته من جهة، وبعدد ضحاياه من الجهة الأخرى .ا

المؤلم في هذه الأخبار حقيقةً، هو تغطية خبر انفجار اليوم على انفجار الأمس في مسلسل الإنفجارات الذي اعتاد العالم والناس على متابعة أحداثه على أرضنا.. فما عاد يحرك فيهم ساكناً أو يثير فيهم غضباً.. وكأنه يجري في عالم الأفلام والدمى التي لا تستحق منهم الإلتفات لها أو محاسبة المتسببين بها .ا

ولكن مهما انشغل العالم عن هذه الأخبار، وصم الآذان عن الآهات والآلام التي تملؤها، مهما اعتاد على سماع أخبارها وعود النفس على نسيانها أولاً بأول ، فإن لهذه الأيام آثارها المدمرة على العراقيين الذين لن ينسوا غصتها مدى الحياة.. ولكلٍ منها تفاصيله التي ستبقى عالقة في أذهان عوائل وأصدقاء ومعارف ضحاياه الكثيرين ولم يكن يوم الـ 27 من حزيران 1993 إلاّ واحداً من هذه الأيام التي حاولت سلسلة الأحداث الدامية التي دارت رحاها في بلادنا الغالية محوه من الذاكرة العراقية .ا

إنه يومٌ تحنّى فيه ثرى العراق بدماء ثمانية من الأبرياء الذين توهم الأمريكان لفرط غباءهم إمكانية نسيانهم بعد أن صرح سياسييهم بأن الصاروخ الذي كان يستهدف مبنى المخابرات العراقية قد قصر من مداه وأصاب الحي السكني القريب منه، فقتل بعض ساكني هذه الدور .ا

هكذا وبكل بساطة ينفذ مدعي الحرية والديمقراطية والسلام مخططاتهم بالكلام، ليتولى المنافقون بعدها توجيه اللوم لمن زرع مبنى المخابرات بين الأحياء السكنية، محاولاً لفت أنظارنا عن جريمة الأعداء وفعلهم الخسيس بإدخالنا في دوامة المستهدف والمصاب التي تنسينا الإلتفات الى أصل الجريمة ومحاسبة منفذيها.ا

ولكن لم يكن الحال كذلك في هذا اليوم بالذات، فقد شاءت الأقدار أن تكون فنانتنا الكبيرة ليلى العطار، من بين الضحايا الثمانية الذين سقطوا فيه.. بعد أن هدم الصاروخ بيتها وقضى على حياتها وحياة زوجها، وأصاب ابنتها الصغرى إصابةً أفقدتها إحدى عينيها، وأبقت على الأخرى شاهداً على قساوة أعداء العراق، وعلى كبر جرائمهم التي ستنكشف تباعاً ،فمهما حاول الزمن إجبار العراقيين على نسيان ضحاياهم التي لا زالت رحى الغدر تطحنهم في دورانها اليومي الذي لم يعرف التوقف الى الآن، تبقى الأسماء الرنانة لامعةً في ذاكرة الناس مهما مر الزمن أو تقادمت أيامه .ا

وما إسم فنانتنا ليلى بأصغر من أن يبقى لامعاً في الأذهان لأن لوحات ليلى التي لونت العالم بريشتها ستبقي اسمها حياً، يلون بألوانه البراقة ذاكرة العالم بكبر جرائم الولايات الأمريكية مع العراق والعراقيين؛ إسمها الذي قرنه البعض برسم صورة بوش الأب على مدخل فندق الرشيد لتدوسها أقدام العراقيين وضيوفهم من كل بقاع العالم.. ولسنا في مجال تأييد أو تفنيد هذا الإقتران، لأن ضحكة الأقدار في هذا الموضوع بالذات قد دفعت العالم الى معرفة قدر بوش في نظر العراقيين، وأسمعت قهقهتها حتى من به صمم .ا

فبعد أن داس العراقيون على وجه بوش الأب بأحذيتهم منذ الـ 1993 وحتى الإحتلال ، جاء حذاء الزيدي الذي طار بوجه بوش الإبن ليركز في الأذهان حقيقة مستوى بوش في نظر العراقيين الذين يتحاشون ذكر مفردة الحذاء أمام أحد دون أن يقرنوها بكلمة (تكرم) أو (أجلك الله) لكنهم لا يترددون في رفع نفس الحذاء في وجه هذا الـ أحد إذا ما فكر بإهانتهم او سحق كرامتهم .ا

فليرحمك الله يا ليلى وليرحم زوجك ومن سقط معكما في ذلك اليوم المشؤوم.. ولتهنئي في مرقدك في ثرى العراق الذي لم تبخلي عليه بألوانك ودمك .ا

ليرحمك الله وليبقي اسمك لامعاً على مدى الأيام والسنين، ليروي للعالم حقيقة مستوى الولايات الأمريكية في نظر العراقيين الذين توهمت استقبالهم لها بالورد والرياحين .ا

_________

بلسم عبد الكريم طبيبة أسنان ، ناشطة وإعلامية

اللوحة أعلاه للفنانة ليلى العطار

الشكر الجزيل لميسلون فرج لتزويد صورة اللوحة

حقوق النشر محفوظة للكاتبة ووفاء النظيمة . لايسمح النشر بدون إذن الكاتبة ووفاء النظيمة .ا

مذكرات سجين : "هذه مأساة شعب وليست مشكلة شخصية "ا

2009-06-15T16:45:00.022-04:00

هل تمهد الإعدامات السرية طريق السلطة الديمقراطية في العراق ؟

الجزء الثالث والأخير

د. مثنى عبدالله

تم إرجاعي الى الزنزانة الإنفرادية بعد ان تحسنت حالة اطرافي السفلى بعض الشيء ، حيث تبين بان الزنزانة الكبيرة التي كنت فيها ماهي الا فترة نقاهة للسجناء الذين يتعرضون الى تعذيب شديد يتسبب في اعاقة مؤقته لأعضائهم الجسدية. بدأت جلسات التحقيق معي مرة اخرى بحضور ذلك الرجل الذي لايجيد اي شيء من العربية ومرافقه المترجم العراقي وشلة الحرس الخاص به والذين يجيدون إجادة تامة كل وسائل التعذيب الجسدي والنفسي . كان البرنامج التحقيقي حافلا بالفعاليات التعذيبية التي مررت بها في المعتقلات الأمريكية ونظيرتها العراقية حيث عمليات الصعق الكهربائي وصب الزيت الحار على بعض الأماكن الحساسة في الجسد الى المثقاب الكهربائي (الدريل) وشعلة الأوكسجين التي تستخدم في لحيم الحديد لكن اقسى ماتعرضت له هو عملية الحقن بفيتامين (سي) تحت الجلد والذي يؤدي الى الشعور بالحكة الشديدة في الجسم حتى تصل الى درجة البكاء. استمر التحقيق معي لأيام عديدة وكان هدفه الإعتراف على لاشيء ، أو الاعتراف بأوهام يريدونها أن تكون حقيقة ، حتى وصل بي الحال أمام كل ذلك الضغط النفسي والجسدي ان اطلب منهم كتابة مايريدون وساقوم بالتوقيع عليه كاعتراف مني ، أو يملوا علي مايريدون كتابته , لكن محققي نهض من مقعده وتحث بلغته التي ترجمها لي مترجمه الشخصي قائلا لمن بمعيته من العراقيين لافائدة من هذا الكافر انه لايريد الإعتراف وعليه فان قرار الاعدام بحقه هو الحل . إذن لم يبق بيني وبين التخلص من هذا الذل والعذاب الجسدي والنفسي سوى أيام معدودة . إنه الحلم الذي يتمناه كل من هم حولي في هذا المكان . مع مجيء الموت ينشغل تفكير الإنسان بمصير أهله وأخوته وأولاده خاصة عندما يعلم بقدومه اليه بعد دقائق او ساعات ، ومعه يشعر بوطأة الألم الفادح عندما يتذكر بأن احلامه وسعيه وجهاده من أجل أن يحيا حياة عزيزة قد ذهبت أدراج الرياح في لحظة ، لكنه عندما يوازن كل ذلك بما يتعرض له الآن فانه يفضل أن يخسر كل مابناه لأن الخسارة لتي يعيشها الآن هي خسارة معنوية لايمكن تعويضها ، إنها خسارة في الكرامة الشخصية والإعتبار الانساني . أعادني سجاني الى زنزانتي الإنفرادية لكن صورة أبناءي ووالدتي المسنة كانت هي التي تطغي على ذهني في تلك اللحظة . نظر الي سجاني من خلف القضبان وهو يقول لي سوف يحضر لك السيد هذه الليلة كي تستغفر ربك على يديه وتتوب وتلاقي ربك طاهرا ثم غادر بعد ان اقفل باب الزنزانة .ا

مضى يومان على حضور السيد لي كي يعلمني التوبة من حب الوطن وإن الاحتلال تحرير ، وإن الطائفة (...) هي الإسلام الحقيقي الذي يجب ان أتبعه ، لكن قرار الإعدام لم ينفذ بي لحد الآن . إنتصف الليل فسمعت أصوات السجانين تثير الضجيج داخل السجن وهم يوقضون السجناء فتصورت بان لحطة إعدامي قد حانت حيث جرت العادة بان يكون الإعدام أمام السجناء الاخرين خاصة عندما يتم التنفيذ بطريقة مبتكرة كالتي رأيناها سابقا ، لكن سبب الضجيج كان أمرا آخرا حيث تم إخراجنا للقيام بتنظيف السجن إستعدادا للزيارة الدورية التي تقوم بها القوات الامريكية ، والذين حضروا عند الفجر تقريبا . إقترب الضابط الخفر حيدر من زنزانتي برفقة عنصر أمريكي ومترجم ، حيث كان الضابط حيدر يتحدث مع الأمريكي عني قائلا بأنني إرهابي أحرض طلابي في الجامعة ضد القوات الامريكية . بصق الأمريكي في وجهي وطلب من الضابط حيدر إخراجي من الزنزانة ثم طلب مني ان أمثل دور الحمار ثم ركب على ظهري كي اجول به في ممرات السجن ، وأعود به الى باب الزنزانة ثم تبول على ظهري قبل ان يغادر وهو غارق في الضحك مع الضابط والمترجم .ا

مضت الأيام ببطء قاتل حتى أبلغني سجاني ذات ليلة بأن تنفيذ الإعدام بي سيتم يوم غد صباحا ، مر الليل سريعا سمعت فتح اقفال ابواب عدد من الزنازين وصوت سجان ينادي على بعض السجناء ، فتيقنت بأني لست الوحيد الذي سيلاقي مصيره اليوم . فتح علي باب زنزانتي وقادني بضعة خطوات الى نهاية الممر فوجدت ستة رجال وأمراة واحدة ، حيث تم تقسيمنا الى مجموعتين كل مجموعة من أربعة أشخاص ، وربطت أيدينا مع بعض . كانت الوجوه صفراء قاحلة من اي حياة ، والشفاه متدلية بيضاء ، كانت تعلو الجباه رهبة الموت . هبطت المرأة بقامتها فجأة الى الأرض لعدم قدرتها على الوقوف ، فهبطنا معها كون ايدينا مربوطة بيدها ، فهرع الينا احد الحراس شاتما لنا وهو يحاول استنهاض المراة من الأرض . تم فتح باب السيارة ذات الزجاج المظلل ، وقبل سوقنا الى داخلها تم عصب أعيننا واحدا بعد الاخر. إنطلقت السيارة بنا مسرعة الى المجهول تحمل أجسادنا الميتة سريريا ويجلس معنا أثنان من الحراس المسلحين بالبنادق الرشاشة بينما كانت تطلق صفيرها كي يتم فسح المجال لهم للمرور. كان الطريق طويلا بعض الشيء حيث أستمر المسير بما يقارب الساعة ثم انحدرت الى طريق ترابي عندما احسست بان السيارة تسير على طريق غير مستو . توقفت وفتحت الباب الخلفية لها ثم تم انزالنا منها وتم نزع العصبة عن أعيننا ، وفتحت أقفال معاصم أيدينا فوجدت بأن سيارة اخرى كانت قد رافقتنا حيث نزل منها ستة أشخاص مدججين بالأسلحة. كانت رائحة نتنة قد أخترقت رئتي حتى جعلتني راغبا في الاستفراغ لولا فراغ معدتي من الأكل . جلت ببصري فوجدت حائط بستان نخل قديم تهدم بعضه ومجموعة كلاب تنبح حول بعض الاشياء . تم اقتيادنا الى قرب حائط البستان فوجدنا بقايا هيكل عظمي لإنسان ، وعظام أخرى مرمية هنا وهناك ، وجثة تبدو حديثة القتل حيث لازال الشعر يغطي بعض اطراف الجمجمة وفردة حذاء باحدى القدمين بينما كانت الكلاب متجمعة على منطقة البطن مما يؤكد بان هذه المنطقة هي المذبحة التي يتم تغييب الكثير من السجناء فيها . تم أيقافنا وظهورنا تجاه الحائط وكان الفرق بين كل واحد والآخر بحدود ثلاثة امتار بينما جثت المرأة السجينة على ركبتيها , لعدم قدرتها على الوقوف واتجه الرماة واقفين أمامنا وهم يصوبون اسلحتهم تجاهننا . لحظات ولعلع صوت الرصاص وفجأة توقف لكن الروح لم تزل في جسدي بينما السجين المجاور لي راح يتلوى قرب قدمي والدماء تسيل منه لكنني مازلت واقفا على الرغم من انني شعرت ببعض الدماء تتناثر على وجهي . لم أعرف مالذي جرى هل الرامي اخطأ تصويبي ؟ ام أنني اصبت اصابات غير قاتلة؟ ومامصدر الدماء التي تناثرت على وجهي؟ ترى هل هي دماءي أم دماء الشخص الذي قتل بجانبي؟ هل أنا في الوعي أم اللاوعي؟ تلفت قليلا فوجدت ثلاثة سجناء آخرين مازالو على قيد الحياة مثلي . قطع أسئلتي التي كنت اسائل بها نفسي صوت أحدهم وهو يتجه نحوي ويقول لي هيا يا ابن(......) اصعد الى السيارة بعد ان أمسك بي من كتفي بينما تركت الجثث على حالها قرب الحائط . غادرت بنا السيارة مسرعة بعد ان ربطت أيدينا نحن الأربعة الباقين ببعض وعصبت أعيننا . أدخلني سجاني الى الزنزانة وانا لااعرف ما الأمر لكنه قبل ان يغادر قال لي اليوم رأيت الموت بعينك لكنك سوف تذوقه غدا فاعترف هذا اقصر طريق لك وغادر . لكنني لم افهم لماذا تم قتل أولاءك وتركنا نحن؟ هل هو جزء من الإرهاب النفسي للضغط علينا كي نعترف ؟ وهل الذين تم قتلهم اليوم لم يعد لهم اي مبرر للوجود بالنسبة لهولاء القتلة؟ بقيت تلك الصورة في ذهني وأمام عيني عندما كان السجان يقلب السجناء الذين تم قتلهم صباح اليوم بحذائه كي يتاكد من موتهم, بل انه تمادى في ذلك عندما كان يضغط بحذاءه بقوة على صدورهم ثم يرمي اطلاقة من مسدسه على راس كل واحد منهم. لاادري لماذا تمنيت ان تكون تلك السيدة السجينة هي الأخرى لم تقتل وتعود معنا لعل أمرا ما يبقيها على قيد الحياة وتعود الى اولادها وبيتها في يوم ما لكن الامر انتهى وهي الآن وجبة اخرى الى تلك الكلاب الضالة مع القتلى الاخرين .ا

لم يمر سوى يومين حتى جلست مرة اخرى أمام محقق آخر حيث بدأ كلامه متوعدا لي ومهددا إياي بأن الإعتراف أسهل وسيلة للنجاة من التعذيب عارضا علي مؤهلاته في التحقيق مع الأسرى العراقيين في ايران وكيف انه حصل على اعترافاتهم بأقصر الأوقات وكيف هشم جماجم بعضهم وقلع عيون اخرين منهم ثم سالني هل ستعترف قلت نعم قال عن ماذا قلت عن كل ماتريد ياسيدي . رفع عن عيني العصابة وابتسم ابتسامة المنتصر ووضع أمامي بضعة اوراق وقال اجب عن هذه الاسئلة . من الذي يمولكم ؟ من هم المجموعة التي تعمل معها؟ اين قادة البعث الكافر؟ من هو المسؤول عن بغداد من القاعدة؟ اين تلتقي بهم؟ اين هي اوكارهم؟ اين.....اين.....من هو ....من هو ....؟؟؟ فقلت له ياسيدي انا استاذ محاضر بعقد مؤقت مع الجامعة ولا أعرف أيا من هؤلاء لكني على استعداد كي اكتب ماتريد ، فاشتاط غضبا وبصق بوجهي ثم نادى على السجان وقال له اصلخ جلده أمامي ، فتكالب علي ثلاثة اشخاص لم أع ِ بعدها شيئا سوى أنني مرمي على الأرض والدماء تسيل من كل مكان في جسدي ، وعندما فتحت عيني قال لي سوف أجلب كل أهلك اليوم وأعمل بهم كل الذي تعرفه ثم صرفني الى الزنزانة مع سجاني . حمدت الله لأنني قلت لزوجتي وأولادي بأن يغادروا البيت فورا عندما تم اقتحام بيتي لأنني كنت اتوقع بأن يساومونني على زوجتي او اولادي لكن صدمتي كانت كبيرة جدا عندما أستدعيت للتحقيق في اليوم التالي فوجدت والدتي تلك المرأة االسبعينية من العمر وقد تم اعتقالها بعد ان عجزوا عن العثور على زوجتي واولادي ، فنظرت في وجهي وتطافرت الدموع من عينيها ولم تستطع النطق بحرف واحد عندما دفعها السجان الى خارج غرفة التحقيق . ابتسم المحقق وهو يقول ألم اقل لك بأني قادر على جلب كل أهلك ان لم تعترف . اليوم جلبت أمك وغدا زوجتك واختك ، قلت انا مستعد للإعتراف بما تريدون . استمرت جلسات التحقيق معي وكانت كل فصول التعذيب بحضور والدتي التي كان يغمى عليها كلما شرعوا في استخدام أساليبهم التعذيبية معي . ها قد مر اسبوعان والتحقيق مستمر معي ووالدتي في السجن وهي التي لاتعرف حتى كيف تخرج من بيتها على مر سنين طوال فقد زهدت الدنيا منذ أمد بعيد ولم يعد لها فيها سوى مسبحة تستغفر بها الله وسجادة تتعبد عليها . نعم كان وجود والدتي نهاية اكبر ضغط نفسي مارسوه ضدي ، وبداية انهيار تام لمعنوياتي حيث قررت ان اطلق العنان لخيالي واكتب لهم كل مايريدون من افعال لم افعلها وجرائم لم أرتكبها كي ينهوا حياتي لعل فيها نهاية لمأساة والدتي في هذا السجن الحقير وان تعود الى بيتها لكن يبدو أن مكانتها عند الناس كبيرة وعند الله اكبر فلقد تشبث بعض جيرانها من الطائفة الأخرى وليس من طائفتها ، ببعض المتنفذين من رجال دين السلطة الذين يحكمون عراق اليوم لإطلاق سراحها . قادني سجاني الى غرفة لم أرها سابقا لاحظت شخصا كث اللحية يتحدث العربية بصعوبة مع آخر ضخم الهامة ذا لحية طويلة وتعلو رأسه عمامة كبيرة يجلس أمامه ، علمت فيما بعد بأنه شخصية دينية معروفة في بغداد . التفت الرجل المعمم الي بينما نادى الآخر السجان كي يجلب والدتي . لحظات وكانت والدتي معي في نفس الغرفة . نهض الرجل المعمم مرحبا بوالدتي ومعتذرا عما حصل لها وأخبرها بأن جيرانها قد اتصلوا به متوسلين توسطه في اطلاق سراحها وانه جاء كي يأخذها بنفسه الى بيتها ، بينما مال علي جانبا مخبرا إياي بأني سوف اخرج ايضا بعد انتهاء بعض الاجراءات.ا

غادر الرجل برفقة والدتي بينما بقيت أنا رهينة في السجن كي يبدأ فصل جديد من المساومات معي . "إن كنت ترغب في الخروج من السجن فعليك دفع مبلغ مقداره خمسون ألف دولار أمريكي ،" هكذا قال لي الضابط حيدر الذي زارني في زنزانتي عصر ذلك اليوم ، وان سرعة خروجك تعتمد على سرعة دفع المبلغ . إذن فالموضوع ليس أكثر من مساومات مادية مقابل حياة آلاف من الأبرياء الذين تأكل أجسادهم الكلاب قرب جدار البستان الآن ، وليس أكثر من حقد وضغينة طغت على الأبصار والبصائر ، وإن العراق كبلد ووجود وهوية لاعلاقة له بكل مايجري بل أنه أبعد مايكون في اجندات هؤلاء القوم ولكي تتم الصفقة كاملة قبل ان أخرج ولعدم مقدرتي على دفع المبلغ المطلوب لعدم توفره لدي ، فقد أجبرت على كتابة وكالة عامة مطلقة تم بموجبها تحويل ملكية داري السكنية الى شخص لا أعرفه حيث وضع إسمه من قبلهم في الوكالة العامة ، وتم خروجي من السجن بعد ان تمت جميع إجراءات تحويل الملكية .ا

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الكاتب أكاديمي وباحث سياسي عراقي

حقوق النشر محفوظة للكاتب ووفاء النظيمة . ممنوع نشر هذه المسلسلة بدون إذن الكاتب ووفاء النظيمة .ا

للإطلاع على الجزء الثاني ، الرجاء انقري / انقر على الرابط التالي :ا

http://zennobia.blogspot.com/2009/06/blog-post.html

مذكرات سجين : عندما يفقد الرجال عقولهم وضمائرهم

2009-06-05T19:20:00.002-04:00

هل تمهد الإعدامات السرية طريق السلطة الديمقراطية في العراق ؟

الجزء الثاني

د. مثنى عبدالله

في وطني الحبيب العراق ذاك السجن العائم فوق بحيرات الخير والثروات ، بلاد الرافدين وبابل وحمورابي وسرغون الأكدي المحاط الآن بهالة الديمقراطية الزائفة وصفقات العهر بين المحتل الأمريكي وأعوانه ، بينما تكتب قصص ألف ليلة وليلة من التعذيب الوحشي بين سجين وسجان في أكثر من 600 سجن سري مزروع في أرضه الطاهرة حتى فاقت أعداد أضرحة الأنبياء والأولياء الصالحين الراقدين في أرضه على كثرة عددهم والتي يفاخر بهم أبناءه ، قادني سجاني معصوب العينين من زنزانتي التي لا أكاد أستطيع أن أمد فيها أطرافي السفلى لضيقها والتي لاشيء فيها يطل على الحياة سوى كوة صغيرة في بابها تمتد لي من خلالها يد تحمل صحن (حساء) بسيط ثلاث مرات يوميا ، كنت لا أقوى على المشي بعد تعرضي الى تعذيب جسدي مركز دام ثلاثة ايام متواصلة تضمن ضربا مبرحا مقصودا على منطقة المفاصل في أطرافي السفلى بالعصا الكهربائية والعادية كي امون مهيئا لأول جلسة تحقيق تفصيلي ، فما كان من سجاني الا أن طرحني ارضا وسحبني من ياقة البجامة التي كنت ارتديها حتى أدخلني غرفة التحقيق ثم حملني من تحت ذراعي ليجلسني على كرسي خمنت بان أمامه منضدة ثم بصق في وجهي بهدوء وخرج بعد أن أغلق الباب خلفه. قطع سكون الغرفة ذات الرائحة النتنه دخول شخص قوي الخطوات جلس أمامي عندما تزحزحت المنضدة التي بيني وبينه وتبعته خطوات أخرى لأشخاص آخرين دخلوا الغرفة واحسست بانهم جلسوا خلفي تماما .ا

انهالت الأسئلة علي لبيان معلوماتي الشخصية ثم أسئلة أخرى لبيان مواقفي وآراءي ومعتقداتي السياسية والفكرية وذلك لعدم وجود فعل جرمي بل هي عملية اجتثاث فكري بحت . ماهو موقفك من المرجع الفلاني؟ وايران؟ والأمريكان؟ والاحزاب الموجودة الآن؟ ولماذا تقول في محاضراتك على الطلاب في الجامعة بان الامريكان محتلون؟ لماذا لاتؤمن بانه تحرير؟ لماذا انت من الطائفة ال(....)؟ هل لديك الاستعداد لتبديل طائفتك والإنتماء الى الطائفة ال(..)؟ ماذا كان عملك في السفارة العراقية عندما كنت تعمل دبلوماسيا؟ لماذا تركت الوظيفة عندما حصل التحرير؟ من هم الذين كانوا في السفارة تابعين للمخابرات العراقية؟ هل لديك علاقة بحزب البعث؟ من تعرف من الإرهابيين (المقاومة)؟ وعشرات الأسئلة الأخرى التي توالت علي كتوالي الصفعات والركلات التي كنت أتلقاها على رأسي ووجهي والتي كانت تسقطني ارضا في كل مرة لتوفر عنصر المفاجاة حيث ان عصب عيني أفقدني القدرة على ايجاد رد فعل نفسي وجسدي أواجه به هذه الصفعات وأتمالك توازني . بعد مايقارب الثلاث ساعات من التحقيق غادر الشخص الذي حقق معي ورفعت العصبة عن عيني لأجد ثلاثة شباب تتراوح أعمارهم بين 18-25 سنة تقريبا ، فتحت الباب ليتقدم أحد الاشخاص فيقدم لهم وجبة طعام متنوعة بينما وضع أمامي صحن الحساء المعتاد الذي تركته على حاله حتى دخل أحدهم مسرعا وابلغ الثلاثة بان السيد قد وصل ثم وضع العصبة على عيني على عجل وغادر . سمعت حركة نهوضهم المستعجلة وطويهم الصحف التي كانوا قد أفترشوها لتناول الطعام عليها ثم تقدم أحدهم مني وتأكد من وضع العصبة على عيني بصورة جيدة وهو يكيل لي مختلف انواع الشتائم والسباب ويصفعني بصورة متكررة على مؤخرة راسي ثم استقر خلفي تماما حتى لامس جسده ظهري.ا

لم يكد يمضي وقت طويل حتى فتحت الباب وكانت الضجة تشير الى دخول عدد من الأشخاص وليس شخصا واحدا ، أقترب الجميع مني ، كان المتحدث يتحدث بلغة غير عربية لكن شخصا اخرا كان يقوم بالترجمة عنه . كم مجرما لديكم اليوم ؟ خمسة سيدنا . كلهم تكفيريون؟ نعم سيدي وصداميون . هل هذا واحد منهم؟ هذا سيدنا صاير مناضل يحرض الطلاب بالجامعة أثناء المحاضرة ويقول بأن العراق محتل وليس محررا والجماعة سجلوا صوته بالمحاضرة وكان مسجون عند الأمريكان قبل ما نلقي القبض عليه . لم يكد ينهي كلامه حتى انهالت علي الضربات والركلات من كل جانب حتى سقطت أرضا فتكاثرت علي ضربات العصي والكابلات الكهربائية حتى شعرت بأن الدماء قد سالت على صدري من فمي وأنفي ، عندها بدأت الأسئلة المعتادة التي سمعتها من المحقق السابق تتكرر علي مرة اخرى ، وتتوقف بين حين وآخر كي يتم تعريضي لنوبة جديدة من التعذيب المتكرر وذلك بأن يمسكني مجموعة منهم ثم يتم ادخال أنبوبة مطاطية (صوندة) في فمي ثم الى المريء حتى اكاد أختنق من كثرة الغثيان ، ثم يتم ايقافي بشكل مقلوب ويبدأ الضرب المبرح على راحتي قدماي بالفلقة ، أو تعريض اذني الى أصوات عالية جدا لا أعرف مصدرها بعد ان يضعوا شيئا ما في أذني ، حتى قطع أسئلته قائلا لافائدة منه الان ضعوه في التابوت حتى الصباح وهو يتادب ويعرف كيف يتكلم ويعترف ثم نراه غدا. تم إخراجي من الغرفة بسرعة سحبا على البلاط واتجهوا بي الى مكان اخر حيث تم رفع العصبة عن عيني فوجدت نفسي في غرفة كبيرة ملقاة على ارضها العديد من الاشياء حبال وسلاسل حديدية وهراوات متعددة وبقع دماء صغيرة وكبيرة يتجمع عليها الذباب وتوابيت مرصوفة بصورة شاقولية جنب احد الجدران ، فاجأني السجان وهو يقول لي هذا قبرك هذه الليلة يابن(...) ثم أدخلني في أحداها واوقفوني فيها ثم أعاد الغطاء وتعاون مع أثنين أخرين كي يربطوا الغطاء على التابوت الواقف بحبل غليظ ثم أغلقت الباب ، كانت أطرافي لاتقوى على حمل جسدي الهزيل وكانت رائحة الموت وبقع الدماء في التابوت تخترق رئتي كسكاكين وتهيج معدتي الخاوية على الغثيان بدون جدوى . كان من المستحيل علي التململ ولو بقياس مللمتر واحد ولهواء الداخل لي من الثقوب الصغيرة في التابوت لايكاد يملء حجيرة واحدة من حجيرات رئتي والدماء المنسابة على صدري من التعذيب قد تجمدت وبدأت رائحتها تمزق انفي.ا

كنت أسمع توسلات السجناء الآخرين في التوابيت المرصوفة قربي وطرق ايديهم عليها ، كان بعضهم يبكي بصوت عال والآخر يدعوا الله بصوت جهوري , وصوت امرأة تصرخ وتقسم بالله بانها لاتعرف مكان (خالد) ولامع من يعمل ، ولا من مجيب فلا يوجد أحد في الغرفة لكن الصمت قاتل بالنسبة للسجين فيضطر للكلام مع ربه أو نفسه ، خاصة عندما يتعلق بين الموت والحياة ويصبح الفرق بين العقل والجنون والموت والحياة مجرد خيط رفيع. كانت أقدامي لاتحملني على الوقوف ونعشي لايسمح لي حتى بالتململ حتى اصبحت أحس بأن جسدي قد أصبح بثقل الجبل، كنت أتمنى أن يسرق ألمي هذا نوم عميق أو فقدان وعي فالأمر سيان عندي في هذه اللحظة فكلاهما رحمة من الله لكن أنين أحدهم كان ناقوسا يقرع داخل جمجمتي ، كان يتسا ءل بحرقة لماذا هو الآن هنا؟ مالذي فعله؟ لماذا افنى حياته دفاعا عن الوطن في ايام المحن في الحرب لمدة ثمان سنوات؟ لماذا هو تعب وشقى ثم تتم مجازاته بهذه الطريقة؟ لماذا تتحكم هذه القاذورات وأشباه الرجال بالرجال الذين افنوا حياتهم من اجل الوطن؟ كان صوته وتساؤلاته مطارق تدق في رأسي وتحفز بقايا خلايا دماغي على التفكير ايضا بنفس الطريقة!! ثم أجهش بالبكاء المر. ماأصعب الشعور بالغبن والظلم عندما يجري انتزاعك من عرشك المعنوي ثم تلقى على قارعة الطريق ويصبح مصيرك مرهونا بيد أراذل القوم ، كان يتوسل قائلا : " أرجوكم أنا اللواء الركن (......) بيتي في منطقة اليرموك محلة(....) زقاق(....) دار رقم (....) إن كان سوف يكتب الله لأحدكم الفرج والخروج من هذا القبر فاستحلفكم بالله أن تبلغوا أهلي بأني هنا في سجن الكاظمية منذ تسعة أشهر وليحاولوا التوسط لي هنا وهناك ، وابلغوهم بأنهم قطعوا ثلاثة من أصابع يدي وقلعوا جميع اظافري ويهددوني الآن بقلع عيني ولاذنب لي سوى انني قاتلت في الحرب العراقية الايرانية ويتهموني بأني أرهابي" . كان الألم قد مزق قدماي حتى باتت السيطرة على عدم خروج فضلات جسدي من المحال وبدأت اشعر بأن قدماي قد انتفختا وان ضغط الدماء فيهما يكاد يتفجر.ا

أعادت الحياة لي رشقة ماء بارد فوجدت نفسي مطروحا على الأرض وأربعة وجوه كثة اللحى تحدق في وجهي ، وغطاء تابوتي مفتوح وجملة أسمعها من بعيد على الرغم من أن المتحدث قريب جدا مني وهو يقول : " لازال حيا.." . كنت قد فقدت الإحساس تماما بقدماي حتى ظننت بأنهما قد قطعتا . حملني هؤلاء من يدي وقدمي الى غرفة صغيرة فتطلع الجالس فيها في وجهي ثم قال خذوه الى المستوصف بعد أن سمع صراخي من الألم ، فالقوا بي في سيارة مظللة الزجاج وغادرت المكان. لم يمض وقت طويل حتى توقفت السيارة وفتحت الباب فاذا هو بيت بسيط فحملني آخرين الى داخل البيت وأدخلوني الى غرفة كبيرة نسبيا كان فيها اكثر من سبعة اشخاص مطروحين أرضا بينما كان شاب في الثامنة عشرة من العمر تقريبا يصرخ بأعلى صوته من الألم والدماء تسيل على أطرافه السفلى من مؤخرته ، بينما كان إثنان يتجادلان في كيفية نقله الى المستشفى لأن الطبيب الذي يعتمدون عليه في المستشفى غير موجود الآن لأنه كان خفرا ليلة أمس ولايمكن الإعتماد على غيره ، ثم اتجه احدهم الى الشاب محاولا اسكاته بالقوة بينما كان الشاب يصرخ بأنهم اغتصبوه وادخلوا قنينة في مؤخرته ، وهو ويقول " والله لاأعلم اين أبي ولاأعرف عنه شيئا ، أرجوكم اقتلوني وخلصوني". تم إخراجه من الغرفة بسرعة بينما أخذ الآخر يهددنا بنفس المصير إن لم نعترف في التحقيق ، وانهم سوف يجلبون عوائلنا كي يفعلوا بهم مافعلوه بالشاب المصاب . نظر الي المدعو أبو حسنين وتفحص قدمي عن بعد ثم قال ليس في حالته خطورة ثم مال على أذن سجاني فوشوش له ببعض الكلمات ثم أنتقل لمعاينة الآخرين وتبين أنه ليس طبيبا بل ممرضا يمارس زرق الأبر وتضميد الجراح .ا

تمت إعادتي الى السجن ، لكن هذه المرة الى زنزانه أكبر كان فيها اكثر من عشرين شخصا تقريبا ، فهمت بعدها بأن وضعي فيها كان بمشورة من ابو حسنين الذي ابلغهم بان من الضروري اعطائي مكانا اكبر، كي استطيع ان أمد قدمي علهما يعودا الى سابق عهدهما بعد ان تعذر علي المشي بسبب الالتهاب الحاد. كان أبشع مافي هذه الزنزانة هي الحرب النفسية التي مورست ضدنا فيها . كان السجانون يأتون الينا وياخذون أرقام هواتف ذوي السجناء وعوائلهم كي يتصلوا بهم موهمين إياهم بأن ابناءهم سوف يخرجون من السجن بأقرب وقت ان تم دفع المال ، بل أن بعضهم كان يقوم بتسجيل احاديث السجناء وسلامهم الى اهاليهم كي يسمع الاهل ويسرعوا في دفع الأموال . كانت المبالغ المطالب بها كبيرة جدا في ذلك الوقت و تصل الى آلاف الدولارات وبعد أن يتم دفع المال من قبل أهالي السجناء يجري إعدامهم وإلقاء جثثهم في اماكن بعيدة ثم يتصلون بأهالي الضحايا مرة اخرى كي يرشدوهم الى أماكن جثث ابناءهم مقابل دفع مبالغ مالية ايضا. ولكثرة عددنا في هذه الغرفة صار السجانون يستصعبون فتح باب الزنزانة بين فترة وأخرى لقضاء حوائجنا ، مما جعلهم يطبقون علينا أسوء نظام لم يعرفه سجن في التاريخ على مر العصور وفي مختلف الأزمان حيث طلب منا ان نتغوط ونتبول في نفس الصحون التي نتناول بها طعامنا وفي نفس الغرفة التي كنا نحتجز فيها مما حدى بنا الى ان نمتنع عن تناول الطعام لأسباب نفسية . بعدها مباشرة جاءت الأوامر بمعاقبة السجان المسؤول عن توزيع الطعام للسجناء الذين لايوجد في صحونهم غائط عندما يحين موعد توزيع الطعام ، ثم يأتي الضابط ليشرف على تناولنا الطعام مع الغائط. لكن الليل كان أبشع شيء في هذه الزنزانة . كان السجانون يأتون ليلا كي يختاروا بعض من صغار السن ويجبرونهم على ارتداء الملابس الداخلية النسائية أمامنا جميعا مع وضع مساحيق التجميل لهم والطلب منهم الرقص والغناء حتى يأتي المدعو (نقيب حيدر) ضابط خفر السجن ثملا يكاد لا يستطيع المشي من كثرة ماتناول من المشروب ، ويجلس على كرسيه المخصص في وسط الغرفة ليختار أحد هولاء الشباب قائلا له "أريد أن أزني باختك هذه الليلة ولكونها غير موجودة فاريدك ان تتقمص شخصية أختك كي أزني بك ، فقل لي الآن ما أسمها كي أسميك باسمها ، وكيف هو شكل صدرها وشعرها و.........." ثم يبدأ بتقبيله ويلامس المناطق الحساسة بجسده ثم يطلب من الحراس بعد ان ينتهي هذا الفصل البائس بنقله الى غرفته حيث يتم أغتصابه من قبل الضابط وحراسه معا وبالتناوب وقد أستمرت هذه العملية القذرة مع احد الشباب لعدة ليالي حتى صحونا فجر أحدى الأيام على صراخ صديقه (طارق) الذي كان بنفس عمره تقريبا والذي تم اعتقاله معه ، وهو يطلب منا أن نصحو لنرى (علي) جثة هامدة وقد تهشم رأسه والدماء تسيل بغزارة منه حيث ضرب رأسه منتحرا بجدار الغرفة وبقوة شديدة بعد دقائق من انتهاء الفصل الماجن معه في غرفة الضابط حيدر وإرجاعه الى السجن .ا

الختام في الجزء الثالث

الكاتب أكاديمي وباحث سياسي عراقي

حقوق النشر محفوظة للكاتب ووفاء النظيمة . ممنوع نشر هذه المسلسلة بدون إذن الكاتب ووفاء النظيمة .ا

للإطلاع على الجزء الأول ، الرجاء انقري / انقر على الرابط التالي :ا

http://zennobia.blogspot.com/2009/04/blog-post.html

Are They Investors Against Genocide?

2009-05-19T09:19:00.000-04:00

By Hussein Al-Kurdi

"Investors Against Genocide" are an adjunct of the "Save Darfur" campaign to perpetrate actual "genocide" against Sudan, the rest of Africa and the remainder of the world, which is still available for conquest and plunder. They are calling for "divestment" from anything which invests in Sudan-related enterprises because Sudan is one of the countries standing in the way of their enterprise. They are using the agitprop techniques from the old divestment anti-apartheid "movement" which participated in what turned out to be the replacement of the old regime with one more efficient and suitable to their interests in the "Republic of South Africa", which is now their "indigenous" chief lackey for the continent, as was their intent.

The guise of "humanitarianism," "liberty" and even concern for "genocide" against Black people (!) is deployed as the effective mechanism for rallying support for their re-conquest of Africa, defeat of the Arab Nation and subjugation of the Islamic Ummah.

They, the actual perpetrators of systematic genocide against the aforementioned, pretend that those "horrid Black African Muslims" in Sudan are committing a "genocide" against some non-Muslim Black Sudanese in Darfur in order to fool people into helping facilitate their destruction and division of Sudan, as part and parcel of their march to conquer one and all and maintain all in bondage to them, including even the "whites" and "Christians" of this world.

Run by bankers and financial groups via corporations and governments, the plan is to rob, cheat, steal and conquer. All death and destruction carried out in this cause are a price they are more than willing to pay (in other people's lives). "Kill Native Americans and steal the land" applies to all, with Arabs, Africa and the Muslims now bearing the brunt of the ongoing campaign. This is also a continuation of the "Crusades" which have now been going on for over ten centuries.

Note: The letter above by Husayn Al-Kurdy was written on April 17, 09 in response to the the statement by the "Investors Against Genocide" http://investorsagainstgenocide.net/ Please visit the website and be aware of this group.

The Desired Entity

2009-05-18T15:57:00.000-04:00

The Desired Entity

by Malak Hamdan

I am the ocean that feeds your brutal hunger but will drown your desperate sole.

I am the rain that nourishes your dried lifeless soil but will sink your evil goal.

I am the sun that stops the bitter ice but will burn your blooded hands.

I am the air that keeps salvation alive but will suffocate your desire for destruction and land.

I am the cradle of civilization,

I am the essence of beauty,

I am the spirit of courage,

I am, I am, I am IRAQ.

العرب في مطار أربيل

2009-05-11T01:00:00.000-04:00

الى فخامة رئيس الجمهورية : العرب في مطار اربيل

علياء الأنصاري

عندما كنا صغارا، حملنا هموم الوطن في حنايا القلب، وفرشنا جفون العين لتغفو تلك الهموم بسلام تحت أهدابها، ومن بين تلك الهموم، كان الهم الكردي! وناضلنا كي يُرفع الكابوس عن أحلام صبايا العراق (عربها وكردها وتركمانها و....)، ومازلنا نرفض ان نفكر بغير العراق، وبغير مفردة العراقيين.ا

ولتعلم يا سيدي فخامة رئيس جمهورية العراق، بأني كنت من الذين افترش الأمل آمالهم، وغنت الفرحة في اوبرا احزانهم، عندما تم أعلان (مام جلال) رئيسا للعراق، لاني أحبك رجلا مناضلا، كرس حياته لأجل وطنه وابناء شعبه، واستحق بجدارة ان يتولى أمرهم ويقودهم نحو الفلاح ، لذلك كنت رئيسا للعراق!ا

ولتعلم يا فخامة رئيس جمهوريتنا، بأن ابنتي البالغة من العمر ستة عشر عاما، تصر على ان تخبرني كلما رأت وجهك البشوش على شاشة التلفاز (أني أحب هذا الرجل، لأني أشعر بطيبته مرسومة على ملامح وجهه)! وهكذا نحن العراقيون، تربينا على ان نحب، وأن نعلق على حبنا بصدق، كما تربينا ان نرفض الظلم بصدق، وأن نعبر عن أنفسنا بصدق! لذلك سأكتب لك اليوم فخامة رئيس جمهوريتنا ما حدث لي ولزملاءي في مطار أربيل بصدق! وإن كان صدقا مغلفا بالحزن واللوعة!ا

عندما حطت الطائرة على ارضنا في اربيل يوم الجمعة الموافق 24 / 4/ 2009، تزاحمنا ليصل الشاطر فينا قبل غيره الى (كاونتر) الضابط المسؤول عن دخولنا ، واذا بصوت يوقف الحركة فينا، وهو ينادي: (العرب من هنا)!، تبادلنا النظرات (نحن العرب) ، ولا أكتمك سرا فخامة الرئيس ، رفضنا الحركة! تطلعنا الى بعض الأجانب الذين كانوا معنا، تراصوا في صف قصير، تم التحديق في جوازاتهم بدقة وسرعة، ثم دخلوا معززين مكرمين، لنتحرك نحن والقهر يتحرك معنا لنقف في طابور طويل (لأن عدد العرب في الطائرة كان أكثر) ، ليدخل شخص واحد الى غرفة فيها مكتب عليه كامبيوتر ويجلس خلفه ضابط ، يطلب من الشخص ان يجلس قبالته ويوجه اليه اسئلة : الاسم، تاريخ الولادة، سبب القدوم الى اربيل، اين ستذهب، عنوان السكن. ثم يفحص الهوية التي يطلبها من المسافر ويسجل كل ذلك في الجهاز الذي امامه ليقدم بعد فاصل التحقيق (اسمح لي ان اسميه فاصلا)، ورقة مكتوب عليها (بطاقة الراغبين بالسياحة)، ويختمها ويسلمها للمواطن الذي يلفت انتباهه عبارة مكتوبة هل أخبرك فخامة الرئيس باحساسي آنذاك ، للحظات كنت أتصور نفسي في مطار عمان!! وان الهواء في رئتي يعلن استنكاره عن ممارسة عملية الشهيق والزفير. يا ترى هل ستوافق يا فخامة رئيس جمهورية العراق، على ان نضع بوابات خاصة في مطار بغداد لعبور (الأكراد) بعد ان نجري معهم فاصلا تحقيقا!! فاذا كنت ترفض ذلك ، فكيف قبلت به لابناءك العرب!! اعتقد ونحن نتحدث عن عراق جديد، عراق ديمقراطي موحد، عراق الاخوة والمحبة والتسامح ، عراق الوحدة الوطنية ، عراق واحد من زاخو الى الفاو، علينا أن نفكر بشعب العراق لإقناعهم بهذه الشعارات قبل ان نفكر بإقناع الآخرين بها!!ا

انا بانتظار يا فخامة الرئيس رد على مقالتي لأني أخشى ان ازور اربيل في الأشهر القادمة بجواز سفر واقامة!! كما أخشى ان أكون عاجزة عن اجابة نظرات صغيرتي التي تحلم بالحب والسلام على ارض وطنها وتصدق كل ما يقال منكم – انتم الكبار – لأنها لم تجرب بعد غير الصدق! لا أرغب في أن تفقد ابنتي حبها لكم أنتم يا من ترسمون المستقبل لها ولزملاءها، لأن الحب في قلوب هؤلاء ، السلام ، التسامح ، الأمل ، هو كل ما نملك ، فلا تجعلوه يغدوا سرابا!ا

رفقا – فخامة الرئيس – بالأمل في قلوب صغارنا، فهو كل ما تبقى لنا!!ا

Bent Alrafedain Org. (BROB) علياء الأنصاري

Alyaa Al Ansari Director of Bent Alrafedain

Organization (BROB) Flat 4, 2nd floor – 40 St.

Uwad's Building, Hilla – Babylon City, Iraq

Phone: +964 30220123 Mobile: +964 7801373577 +964 7702418247

E-mail: alyaa@brob.org http://www.brob.org/

أطفال العراق ضحية العنف والأمراض والإغتصاب

2009-05-05T09:43:00.000-04:00

آفات إجتماعية مخيفة في ظل حكومة المالكي الضعيفة
د.عمر الكبيسي

أحداث وأطفال العراق ضحية العنف والتهجير والأمراض والإدمان والإغتصاب والدعارة

حكومة الإحتلال المالكية في تصريحها للعربية نت يوم الخميس في 12آذار 2009 تعترف بانها على علم ببيع فتيات عراقيات صغيرات السن لمنظمات الإتجار موجودة وتستدرك هذه الحكومة معرفتها بالموضوع بالقول انها ستحاول ردع هذه الظاهرة ! هذا التصريح العتيد جاء على خلفية تسليم الناشطة ينار محمد وهي رئيسة لمنظمة عراقية مهتمة بحقوق النساء ملفا كاملا موثقا بالتفاصيل والأرقام للجهات المختصة يتضمن معلومات عن عراقيات قاصرات في السن يتم بيعهن بمبالغ مالية لشركات لغرض ان يستغل التمتع بهن لفترة محددة ثم يتركن بعدها في اسواق النخاسة.ا

كما نشرت مجلة (التايمز)الأمريكية في عدد حديث لها تقريرا يرصد جانبا جديدا عن قضية الإتجار بفتيات عراقيات في بيوت الليل والدعارة وان فتيات دون ال12 سنة عمراً يتم بيعهن لمنظمات الإتجار حيث يسوقن الى دول اخرى بشكل غير قانوني. كذلك أكدت رئيسة منظمة الأم للسلام سعاد الخفاجي إنتشار ظاهرة إغتصاب الأطفال في المجتمع العراقي داخل العراق في ظل غياب ملاحقة السلطات الأمنية لمرتكيبها ودعت وزارة العمل والشؤون الإجتماعية للخروج من عزلتها لمجابهة الكارثة وأشارت ان دخول الأطفال المشردين في المدارس أدى الى انتشار ظاهرة تعاطي الحبوب المخدرة ومشاهدة الافلام الماجنة تمهيداً لإفسادهم والممارسة الجنسية معهم وتحدثت عن انتشار الافلام الإباحية في ساحات الباب الشرقي والمربعة والبصرة بشكل علني ولا يوجد أي رادع في ظل غياب المراقبة والعقوبة للجناة فيما يتردد مدراء المدارس والمعلمون من إشكالية المجابهة في ظل الظروف السائبة السائدة.ا

دراسات ميدانية وطبية ونفسانية وتحقيقات إعلامية عديدة من داخل العراق تكلمت عن تفاقم ظواهر اجتماعية مخزية للدولة وخطيرة على المجتمع وقيميه السائدة تتعلق بظاهرة استعمال وتعاطي الحبوب والمخدرات بين الشباب والأحداث وتزايد حالات الشذوذ الجنسي والانتحار والجريمة والإغتصاب والأمراض الجنسية بين الأحداث وبأعمار صغيرة !.فيما تمتلئ المواقع الإعلامية بمئات الصور واللقطات لمشاهد انتشار الأقراص الحاسوبية والأفلام الجنسية الشاذة ومحلات بيعها جنبا الى جنب مع الحبوب المنشطة للجنس وحبوب التعاطي ومع الآسف ولغرض إكمال استهداف القيم تباع الى جانبها الكتب الدينية وحتى الفتاوى التافهة سواء كتبا أو نشريَّات أو تسجيلات صورية وصوتية. لم يعد الأمر سراً على الدولة او الحكومة او الوزارات العراقية المعنية مما يضعها وجها لوجه في خانة الإهمال والتقصير والتسيب بل في حالة الإتهام والتقصد والتعمد !.ا

لنتأمل جلياً وبشكل واضح معاناة أولادنا وبناتنا (أكبادنا تمشي على الأرض) من خلال آخر إصدارات هيئة الأمم ومنظماتها حول قضية معاناة الطفل العراقي بعد مرور أكثر من ست سنوات على الغزو الأمريكي ودول التحضر والديمقراطية التي ساندته وجاءت معه بحجة أقامة العراق الجديد التقريرالذي قدمه ’بان كي مون‘ سكرتير الامم المتحدة في مجلس الأمن يوم 29 آذار 2009 والتقرير الآخر الصادر في 17 شباط 2009 من منظمة حماية الطفولة (اليونسيف) والتي يمكن إيجاز أهم ما يعني ويعكس حالة الأطفال العراقيين فيها بما يلي:ا

1.العراق واحد من الدول العشرين الأولى في العالم في افتقاد الاطفال للحقوق الأساسية في مجال التعليم والرعاية الصحية والتعرض للإستغلال والإهانة والتعذيب والإعتقال والعمل بسن مبكرة بأعمال لا تناسب أعمارهم واستغلال التعليم بثقافة التطرف الديني خاصة في تعليم الفتيات في جنوب العراق.ا

2. وجود أكثر من 2 مليون طفل محروم من التعليم والدوام المدرسي ووجود اكثر من 838 طفل حتى اواخر كانون الاول عام 2008في السجون والمعتقلات المتاح زيارتها التابعة للحكومة ولقوات التحالف بظروف صعبة بظمنها حالات اغتصاب ناهيك عن التعذيب والاهانة كما عثرت منظمة يونامي اثناء تفقدها لأحد معتقلات الفلوجة على 29 طفلاً حشروا في زنزانة واحدة من ضمن 38 طفلاً معتقلاً وفقاً للتقرير.ا

3. تمارس قوات الحكومة وقوات التحالف وشركات الحماية عمليات الهجوم والإستيلاء على المدارس والمنظمات حيث تستولي قوات الإحتلال على اكثر من 70 مدرسة في ديالى وحدها لتستخدم لأغراض عسكرية. وفي هذا الصدد استنكر الممثل الدائم لروسيا في الامم المتحدة فيتالي نشوركين قبل ايام فقط تساقط الاطفال باعداد كبيرة كضحايا مستهدفة للصراع العسكري والعنفي في افغانستان والعراق بسبب مهاجمة المدنيين على يد قوات اجنبية محتلة واستنكر أطروحة إعتبارهم خسائر جانبية.ا

4.أكدت (اليونسيف) بتقريرها أيضاً على حالة الإهمال المستمر للحالة التعليمية والصحية في جميع أنحاء العراق وبضمنها وبشكل ملحوظ محافظات مايسمى بإقليم كردستان وأكدت على أهمية وخطورة تهديد أكثر من 800 ألف طفل في الشهور المقبلة بسبب فقدان لقاح الحصبة وظهور الآلاف الحالات منها في النجف ونيسان والمحافظات الشمالية حالياً .ا

5.إفتقاد المدارس الى متطلبات الرعاية الصحية وندرة الماء الصالح للشرب والتصريف الصحي السليم مما يجعل الأطفال عرضة لإنتشار الأمراض المعدية.ا

6.إنتشار الفقر والفاقة وحرمان الأطفال من المدارس وانتشار ظاهرة التسول ووجود اعداد كبيرة من الشحاذين حيث تم احصاء اكثر من 900 طفل شحاذ في محافظة التاميم وحدها معظمهم من النازحين والأيتام وتم تسجيل حالات انتحار لثلاثة فتيات دون ال13 سنة عمراً في مدينة السليمانية خلال شهر واحد .ا

7. تتزايد حالات سوء التغذية بين الأطفال ففي منطقة الرضوانية التي تقع ضمن حدود العاصمة العراقية وجد ان 20% من الآطفال دون الخامسة من العمر يعانون من سوء التغذية وبحدود 3% فقط منهم يتوفر لهم ماء صالح للشرب .ا

بالأمس قصَّ لي أحد السياسيين في تاريخنا المعاصر وهو وزير سابق قبل عقود لوزارة العمل والشؤون الإجتماعية إنه وبالصدفة وخلال وجوده في السفارة العراقية في عمان لسبب شخصي ومراجعته لدائرة القنصل فيها شاهد إمراة عراقية تستفسر من القنصل المندهش عن كيفية تسهيل معاملة بيعها لبناتها الثلاثة القاصرات دون ال 16 سنة لكون زوجها المتوفي يحمل جنسية غير عراقية!؛ فيما راعني منظر شابة عراقية راجعت في المستشفى الذي اعمل فيه زميل اختصاصي بأمراض الكلى كي تعرض له إمكانية بيع أحد كليتيها بسبب حاجتها الماسة وحين أسمعني الخبر تقدمنا اليها بإمكانية مساعدتها مالياً وتجنب التفكير بالتبرع لكونها شابة وغير متزوجة ولايمكنها التبرع لمخالفة العرض للسلوك المهني للزرع ؛ رفضت ذلك وأبت أن تستلم ما يمكن أن يساعدها على تجاوز ضرفها الصعب إباءً واستكبارا.ا

مما تقدم لم يعد من شك أن وضع الطفل العراقي صحياً وبيئيأ وتعليمياً واجتماعياً وسلوكياً ونفسياً ومعنوياً ومادياً مأساوي وخطير على مرور حقبة من الزمن ليست قصيرة وعلى امتداد أكثر من جيل او جيلين من فترة الطفولة التي يعاني منها أكثر من 30% من معدل التعداد السكاني للعراقيين وهي الفترة العمرية الأكثر تأثيراً في بناء الشخصية ومعالم المستقبل للعراقي الجديد الذي أريد له وكما يبدو خطط له ليكون كما وصفه المتابعون في داخل العراق المنكوب او في دول النزوح والهجرة.ا

إذا كانت هناك إرادات دولية هيأت وخططت لقضية غزو العراق وإحتلاله وفقاً لأجنداتها ومصالحها الدولية الأنية والمستقبلية واختلقت لشعوبها وشعوب دول اخرى حالفتها في مشروع إحتلال العراق مبررات كاذبة وخادعة ؛فبأي عذر وبأي مبرر سيتشبث عملاء الإحتلال وأعوانه من القادمين معه او المتعاونين والمستفيدين منه والمستغلين لوجوده ممن يدعون العراقية والوطنية والإرثية الدينية لهذا البلد الذي نهبوه وسروقوه ودمروه وفرقوه ونخروا في أهله وبنيته وثرواته ، بل نخروا في قيميه وأخلاقه الى درجة أصبح فيه أطفال العراق يباعون ويشترون وأحداثه يغتصبون ويتسولون وفتياته وصباياه يهتكون ويستغلون بإبتذال في أسواق النخاسة وبيوت الدعارة.ا

والأتعس من ذلك والأدهى أن يتبجح المسؤولون ولا يستحون ويكذب الوزراء ولا يصدقون فيما يفخر جمهور اعضاء البرلمان والمنطقة الخضراء ويتبجحون فيما هم يقضمون ويلفحون ولا يكتفون!ا

حقا إن مخاطبتهم بما ينعتون به من ألقاب ومناصب جريمة! فبعد كل الذي اقترفوه بحق أطفالنا من جرائم وكوارث ناهيك عن نساءنا وشيوخنا ورجالنا ، حكام المنطقة الخضراء ليسوا إلا عصابة نهب وسلب ؛ جعلوا من منطقة القصر الجمهوري بفعل شركات حمايتهم الأجنبية وقوات الإحتلال وجنودها ووكلاءها منطقة فساد ودعارة وقوادة بعد ما كانت منطقة رئاسة وسلطة وقيادة ، وبدلا من ثقافة الفتوة والكتائب والطلائع أسسوا لثقافة الأفلام والإغتصاب والبدائع وبدلا من ثقافة الأمومة والماجدات تبنوا ثقافة اليتم والعهر والمومسات! مالكم كيف تحكمون ؟

عمان 2 مايس 2009

Happy International Seeds Day - April 26

2009-04-26T03:12:00.000-04:00

Around the world, we are celebrating

biodiversity, mother earth,

organic food and

patent-free seeds

Let us advocate for farmers' rights and the revoking of Iraq's Order 81

"Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it"

Chinese Proverb

The Arabs العرب

2009-04-15T08:48:00.000-04:00

Arabs

What has been said of them?

What are their sayings and actions?

Compiled by Wafaa' Al-Natheema

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica (Vol. 2, page 285, 11th edition);

"Physically the Arabs are one of the strongest and noblest races of the world"

Baron de Larrey, surgeon-general to Napoleon on his expedition to Egypt and Syria, writes:

"Their physical structure is in all respects more perfect than that of Europeans; their organs of sense exquisitely acute, their size above the average of men in general, their figure robust and elegant, their colour brown; their intelligence proportionate to their physical perfection and without doubt superior, other things being equal, to that of other nations."

Baron de Larrey continues to state that Arabs are;

"Simple and abstemious in their habits, they often reach an extreme yet healthy old age; nor is it common among them for the faculties of the mind to give way sooner than those of the body."

In his book "The Newer Knowledge of Nutrition," Elmer Verner McCollum (page 406) quotes the above mentioned statements to argue that such perfection in body was due to Arabs' protein-and-Calcium-rich diet: http://books.google.com/books?id=it9AAAAAIAAJ

This has drastically changed in the past forty or so years due to the introduction of processed and chemically infested food by the industrial west, and more recently because of the influx of genetically modified food plus the West's Depleted- Uranium bombs and destruction!

It is long overdue for Arabs and other easterners to boycott western food and to grow and cook their own food; fresh and organic.

لاتستوحش طريق الحق لقلّة سالكيه

الإمام علي بن أبي طالب

"Fear not the path of truth for the lack of people walking on it."

Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib

"When you shoot an arrow of truth, dip its point in honey"

Arabic Proverb

Learn about genetically modified food, patent seeds, Order 81 and the crimes committed by the agriculture giant companies in the USA and Europe here:

Information & events http://www.INEAS.org/events.htm

Press Release http://www.INEAS.org/20090426_PR.pdf

The Fall . . . The Rise . . . Then the Glory

2009-04-08T23:46:00.000-04:00

The Fall

April 9

Images of demonstrations on April 9th in various Iraqi cities in

2005 and 2007 to commemorate the fall of Baghdad.

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The Rise

"Tomorrow, my heart will heal and sing the rhythms of Dijla & Furat*, date palms and dreams"
Maysaloun Faraj

We will rise . . We will work and campaign together for health and rejuvination . . We will end unjust laws and occupation. We will have color again in our mind. We will begin on April 26 International Seeds Day (ISD) to mobilize a worldwide movement educating about patent seeds and the negative effects of genetically modified food and the dictatorship of Order 81, which was signed by Paul Bremer, the administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) on April 26, 2004.

To understand what we plan to do, please watch the following 8-minute informative interview in Arabic and English with Dr. Vandana Shiva:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-B1yU278zk

We hope you join our efforts to challenge the agribusiness giants and to revoke Order 81

We are inviting you to rise with us on April 26

International Seeds Day

Organizations, activists and people from various professional and linguistic backgrounds will observe April 26 as International Seeds Day (ISD) advocating for patent-free seeds, organic food and farmers' rights. ISD will be an educating day for the public about genetically modified food and its health hazardous effects as well as the monopoly of the agribusiness giants over the agriculture in Africa and Asia such as Afghanistan, India and Iraq. It will be a day of solidarity with farmers in countries devastated by war (Afghanistan, Iraq & others) and of resistance.

Join us to endorse and publicize April 26 as International Seeds Day and/or organize an event on April 26

Send your endorsement to INEAS@aol.com with your full or your organization's name, website and location (city/country)

"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do
only a little." (Edmund Burke 1729-97)

Why April 26?

Order 81 was signed on April 26, 2004 by Paul Bremer, the administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq to control Iraq's agriculture. The Order was a declaration of war against farmers. Article 14 of this law states "Farmers shall be prohibited from re-using seeds of protected varieties," Order 81 mends Iraq's original law No. 65 on patents, created in 1970. The most significant part of Order 81 is the subject of 'Plant Variety Protection' (PVP), which ensures not the protection of biodiversity, but rather the protection of the commercial interests of USA and European major seed corporations. In order to qualify for PVP, seeds have to be 'new, distinct, uniform and stable'. Therefore, the sort of seeds being encouraged to grow by corporations such as World Wide Wheat Company (WWWC), Monsanto and others will be those registered under PVP.

This is an ongoing project and will continue beyond April 26

The Glory!

Coming soon . . .

Please visit this blog after April 26!

"Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it."

Chinese Proverb

* The Tigris & Euphrates

مذكرات سجين : أوامر التعذيب والإغتصاب أمريكية

2009-04-07T21:35:00.002-04:00

هل تمهد الإعدامات السرية طريق السلطة الديمقراطية في العراق؟

د.مثنى عبدالله
ناشط سياسي عراقي

هل يعقل ان يعم الحب في زمن الكوليرا والطاعون ؟ أو ان تبرعم أزهار الديمقراطية في عتمة الخوف القابع فوق الجفون ؟ وهل يمكن ان يستمر الزيف والتزوير الى مالانهاية في افواه حكام القتل واللصوصية ومليشيات الموت وهم يدعون ليلا ونهارا بأنهم جاؤوا لتخليص البلاد من الدكتاتورية ؟ هذه الاسئلة وغيرها أثارتها فينا الصحافة البريطانية في تحقيقها عن غرف الموت السرية في سجن الكاظمية في بغداد ، لكن الحقيقة سوف تبقى ناقصة في ظل غياب شهود الإثبات ، وفي لجة الدعاية الامريكية للنموذج الديمقراطي العراقي - العربي المدفوع ثمنه المعلن ب 300 مليون دولار لقنوات فضائية عربية مشبوهة ، وأشباه مفكرين ومحللين سياسيين اتخذوا من الدعارة السياسية وسيلة للإرتزاق في زمن مطلوب فيه شرعنة الإحتلال وتجميل الوجوه العميلة القبيحة ، والتغاظي عن قتل مئات الآلاف من الأابرياء بدم بارد في كافة انحاء العراق .ا

لم يبزغ الفجر بعد ومازال حظر التجوال ساريا ، عندما اقتحمت دارنا مجموعة مؤلفة من اثني عشر شخصا ، بعد ثمانية ايام من اطلاق سراحي من سجن المطار التابع للقوات الامريكية حيث امضيت فيه سنتين وثلاثة اشهر ، متهما بمقاومة قوات الاحتلال الامريكية . كان بعضهم يرتدي ملابس مايسمى الحرس الوطني الحكومي ، والآخرين ملابس مدنية ، يستقلون سيارات حكومية واخرى مدنية ، وفي وسط الصراخ والشتائم التي توالت علينا منهم عرفنا انهم يبحثون عني ، حيث تم اقتيادي من داخل البيت بملابس النوم ، وتقدموا بي نحو شخص معمم كان يجلس داخل أحدى السيارات ، فاخرج من حقيبته صورة لي طابقها مع وجهي فقال نعم هو ، لم يتم كلمته حتى انهالت علي الضربات من كل جانب ، وتم عصب عيني وتقيد يدي ورجلي ، والقي بي في الصندوق الخلفي للسيارة ، وماكادت السيارة تتحرك حتى سمعت وابلا من الرصاص ، لم استطع سوى التكهن بأنه وسيلة لإرهاب المواطنين الذين تجمعوا في باب دورهم صباح ذاك اليوم لمشاهدة الحدث ، كي لايتجرأ أحد لاخذ رقم أحدى السيارات او التعرف على وجوه المقتحمين.ا

لم تمض سوى ثلاثة ارباع الساعة تقريبا حتى توقفت السيارة التي تقلني وفتح الصندوق الخلفي لتمتد لي عدد من الايدي فتحملني الى حيث لاادري ، حينها شعرت بلطمة قوية على وجهي اسقطتني ارضا ، ثم امتدت الي مرة اخرى لتنزع عن عيني قطعة القماش التي عصبوا بها عيني ، عندها تلاقت عيني بعينيه ، فصاح بي مستهزئا أهلا وسهلا بالمناضلين ، اين ستذهب اليوم مني ، لقد اشتريناك منهم ، فاذا كنت آمنا لديهم في السجن سنتين ، فانت اليوم في الشعبة الخامسة ، الا تعرف الشعبة الخامسة في استخبارات صدام ، نعم انت اليوم ضيفها ، ثم صاح بأعلى صوته (سيدنا هذا جاهز) . لم تمض سوى لحظات حتى تقدم مني شخصان كانت بيد احدهما هراوة غليظة والاخر كان يحمل كيبل كهربائي ، واقتادوني الى غرفة كانت آثار الطلقات لم تزل على جدرانها ، وبقع دماء تكومت فوقها اكوام من الذباب ، كانت نافذتها الخارجية تطل على نهر دجلة ، وكان يتدلى من السقف حبل غليظ ، وفي وسطها طاولة اشبه بطاولة المنضدة عليها مساند لتثبيت اليدين والقدمين ، يلتصق بسطحها السفلي جهاز كهربائي تم ربطه بالكهرباء ، وفي ركن الغرفة كانت منضدة صغيرة رتبت فوقها العديد من الأشياء المختلفة الاستخدام ؛ مكواة كهربائية ، مثقاب كهربائي ، مطرقة ، ومفك يدوي. اتجه احدهم لغلق الباب بينما أنهال الآخر بالضرب علي بالكيبل في جميع الاتجاهات ، عندها سقطت ارضا فهجم الإثنان علي فخلعوا ملابسي عني ، وانهالوا علي ضربا بكل شيء ، فتفجرت الدماء من جميع انحاء جسدي ، حتى شعرت بان الغرفة دارت امام عيني وانقلبت فوقي ولم اعد اشعر بشيء بعد ذلك. لا أدري كم هو الوقت الذي استغرقته وانا فاقد الوعي ، لكن الماء الذي القي في وجهي اعاد الحياة لي مرة اخرى ، فوجدت نفسي ملقى على المنضدة الوسطية وقد كبلت يداي وقدماي على سطحها . وبعد مضي لحظات شعرت بأن الماكنة الكهربائية المربوطة بالمنضدة قد بدأت العمل ، ولكون المنضدة كانت من جزئين فقد بدأ كل جزء يسير بالاتجاه المعاكس للاخر ، مما أدى الى سحب الاطراف السفلى الى الاسفل والأطراف العليا الى الأعلى ، حتى بدأت اشعر وكأني سوف اقسم الى نصفين من وسطي ، لم اتمالك نفسي أمام الألم الرهيب حتى صرخت صرخة من شارف على الموت ، تم ايقاف الكهرباء فعاد نصفي المنضدة الى بعضهما البعض ، فتقدم مني احدهم قائلا ، اذا كنت مستعدا للاعتراف فلن ترى هذه الماكنة مرة اخرى ، اما اذا كنت غير مستعد لذلك فاقسم جسدك الى نصفين . تم اقتيادي الى غرفة اخرى ، وجلست امام منضدة كانت مفروشة بالاوراق بغير انتظام و يجلس على طرفها الآخر شخص كث اللحية يتحدث العربية بصعوبة تشير بأنه ليس عراقي الأصل . باغتني فورا ، هل ستعترف ؟ قلت بم ؟ قال من هم الذين عملت معهم ؟ ما أسماءهم وعناوينهم ؟ من الذي كان يمول أعمالكم ؟ وعشرات الاسئلة على هذه الشاكلة ، ثم ترك ورقة بيضاء امامي وقال اكتب . قلت ياسيدي سنتان يحقق معي الامريكان ولم يجدوا دليلا ضدي ، لم يدعني اكمل حتى قال سأنزع اليوم جلدك عن عظمك ، فأعادوني الى نفس الغرفة مرة اخرى ، التي اصبحت احد ضيوفها الدائميين على مدى ثلاثة اشهر قضيتها في هذا السجن .ا

لم يكن قد مضى على وجودي في المكان سوى ثلاثة ايام ، عندما فتحت باب الزنزانة ، ودخل السجان وهو يدعونا باستهزاء لحضور حفل الليلة ، لم افقه ماقال ، لكنه قيدني مع زميلي الآخر وقادنا الى غرفة اخرى . دخلت اليها فوجدت الكثير من السجناء يجلسون أرضا بينهم الشيخ والشاب والحدث ، بينما كان رجل في الثلاثين من العمر ، ينتصب واقفا أمام الجميع وقد قيدت يداه . تم جلب بقية السجناء حتى امتلات الغرفة ثم اغلقت الباب ، فتقدم احدهم وهو يحمل بيده هراوة غليظة بدأ يلوح بها أمامنا وهو يتحدث شاتما لاعنا ليشرح لنا كيف ان هذا الرجل الواقف أمامنا الان هو من الطائفة ال(......) ، ولم يستطع الأمريكان الحصول على اعتراف منه بانه عمل مع المقاومة العراقية لكنهم حصلوا على اعترافه بذلك ، وهو سيلقى جزاءه اليوم امامنا . تم وضع الحبل المتدلي من السقف حول عنق الرجل ، وأوقفوه على صفيحة دهن فارغة لايتجاوز ارتفاعها اربعين سنتمترا ، ثم دحرج احدهم الصفيحة من تحت رجليه ، ولكون الحبل طويلا ولاتوجد مسافة بعيدة تحت قدمية فقد سقط على الارض متدليا بالحبل لكنه لم يمت وراح يصرخ صراخا مدويا ، ويرفس بقدميه كما الذبيحة ، لكنهم انهالوا عليه ضربا بالهراوات حتى تضرج بدمه وفارق الحياة ، عندها طلبوا منا جميعا ان نبصق على وجهه جميعا ، وقبل ان نغادر الغرفة تم اختيار خمسة افراد منا كنت احدهم ، كي نحمل الجثة الى خارج القاعة ، حيث تبين ان هناك خندقا طويلا على الساحل الغربي لنهر دجلة المحاذي للسجن ، عمله الجيش العراقي السابق للتموضع فيه بغية التصدي للعدوان الامريكي ايام الغزو ، ثم طلب منا رمي الجثة في الخندق والقاء التراب عليه.ا

عدنا الى الزنزانات المخصصة لنا ونحن نمشي على غير هدى ، بينما كان السجانون يكيلون لنا الشتائم ويتوعدونا بنفس المصير غدا او بعد غد ، لكنني لم اكن اصدق اطلاقا بان هذه الجريمة ستكرر يوميا عندما سمعت ذلك من زميلي الذي يشاطرني نفس الزنزانة وهو يصف لي التفنن اليومي بالقتل ، حتى تيقنت في الليلة التالية من صدق كلامه عندما دعينا مرة اخرى الى نفس الغرفة التي كانوا يطلقون عليها أسم ’ملهى الطاحونة الحمراء‘ . كانت الضحية هذة المرة رجلا تجاوز الخمسين من العمر ، عمل ضابطا في الجيش العراقي السابق وكان آمرا لإحدى الوحدات العسكرية وقد افرجت عنه القوات الامريكية بعد اعتقال دام ثلاثة سنين وهذا ماسمعناه منه . كان على الضحية ان يقدم نفسه قبل الإعدام ، وبعد ان انهى كلامه برز احد السجانين اليه وقام بوضع حذاءه على كتفه قائلا له باستهزاء "هذه نجمة اخرى لك مني فقد رفعنا رتبتك اليوم الى رتبة أعلى ياسيدي و تكريما لبطولتك وشجاعتك" وتقدم الآخر منه وهو يخيره بين الموت شنقا او رميا بالرصاص باعتباره عسكري لكن ثالثهم أقترح عليه القتل بالكهرباء على الطريقة الامريكية وفورا تم جلب جهاز اشبه بجهاز شحن بطارية السيارة وتم ربط يده في طرف وقدمه بالطلرف الاخر ، وربط الجهاز بالكهرباء ، وماهي الا لحظات حتى أخذ الرجل يتدحرج على الأرض في كل الاتجاهات ، ويشخر شخيرا عاليا ويزبد فمه وانفه حتى فارق الحياة بعد ان أسودت يداه وقدماه ، ثم طلب منا كالعادة أن نبصق في وجهه قبل االمغادرة.ا

كنت في شك تام من ان القوات الأمريكية على علم بما يجري هنا عندما حدثني زميلي السجين من انهم يترددون بين الحين والآخر على هذا الموقع ، لكن نداء السجان علينا للخروج لتنظيف ارضيات السجن بمناسبة قدوم الامريكان جعل الحقيقة واضحة امام عيني ، كما انه نبهنا الى عدم التحدث معهم باي شيء ، والذي سيتحدث معهم بالانكليزية سيتم قطع لسانه ثم استدرك قائلا عموما هم لن يأتوا اليكم ليروكم بل سيذهبوا الى قاعة السجينات كي يقضوا احلى الأوقات مع رفيقاتكم في النضال ثم ينصرفوا . كان صراخ السجينات وعويلهن ودعوات كبيرات السن منهن على الجنود الامريكيين التي سمعناها في تلك الليلة دليلا على ان القوات الأمريكية شريكة فعلية في الجريمة التي ترتكب في هذا السجن بعيدا عن الانظار.ا

كان يوم الرابع عشر من كانون الاول عام 2007 شاهدا على ابشع جريمة في هذا السجن ، وهي وصمة عار في جبين الإحتلال وأعوانه وكل من سار في ركبهم وأعانهم بلسانه او بيده حيث دخلنا غرفة الإعدامات فوجدنا اربعة عشر شخصا مقيدي الايدي مكممي الافواه يصطفون على حائط الغرفة ، وعندما جلسنا على الارض نهض احد السجانين واقفا امامنا قائلا بانهم خلية مقاومة يريدون ارجاع العراق الى الدكتاتورية وسنقبرهم اليوم مع الدكتاتورية . فانهال بالضرب عليهم بالهراوات والكيبلات ، ثم بدوا بتعليقهم بالحبل المتدلي من السقف واحدا بعد الاخر ، كانت أرجلهم تمس الارض وهم متدلين بالحبل من رقابهم عندما يدفعون الصفيحة من تحت ارجلهم ويبقون يرفسون وهم مختنقين دون ان يموتوا . ثم ينهون حياتهم بطلقة في الرأس او بضربة هراوة على الاعضاء التناسلية . لكن أبشع مارأيناه عندما صعد أطول من فيهم وهو شاب في مقتبل العمر ، قوي البنية ، عندما تم دفع الصفيحة من تحت قدمية انتصب واقفا على الارض لكن رقبته معلقة بالحبل ولازالت الروح فيه وجسده يقاوم الموت ، عندئذ قفز اثنان من السجانين على كتفيه كي يزيدوا من ثقل جسده الى الأسفل فتوتر الحبل وضغط بقوة على رقبته حتى فارق الحياة وعلى أثره تقيء الجميع وفقد البعض الاخر وعيه ونحن ننظر الى الأجساد المتكومة بعضها فوق البعض . لكنهم لم يوعزوا لنا بالانصراف هذه المرة بل قال احدهم " لديكم عمل شعبي اليوم ، عليكم ان تنقلوا هذه الجثث الى الخندق على ضفة النهر فورا " . وفي خلال ساعة من الوقت أضحت الجثث متكدسة في الخندق ، ثم طلبوا منا أن نجمع بعض الأخشاب والأعشاب الملقاة هنا وهناك ونرميها فوقهم ، ثم تقدم أحدهم بصفيحة نفط ونثرها عليهم ، فأوقد النار في كومة الأجساد والأخشاب وأمر السجانين بصرفنا الى الزنزانات المخصصة لنا .ا

التتمة في الجزء الثاني

حقوق النشر محفوظة للكاتب ووفاء النظيمة . ممنوع نشر هذه المسلسلة بدون إذن الكاتب ووفاء النظيمة .ا

Let the Numbers Speak

2009-03-26T11:22:00.000-04:00

by Souad N. Al-Azzawi

Associate Professor

March 26/2009

I pride myself in being a scientist and a researcher. I built my academic career on theories and numbers. As a teacher, I teach my students that everything is based in science - everything has reason. For this reason, I am always frustrated with myself when I find I am overwhelmed with feelings on specific topics.

One such topic is the occupation of my country, Iraq. On this subject I find that I cannot always be dispassionate. I cannot be the researcher and observer and discuss it without feeling or emotion as I am sometimes expected to do. I find myself doing research on the damages caused by the war and occupation, and my head buzzes with anger, my eyes burn with tears of desperation at the state of my country.

Six years after the attack and the pain is as fresh and cutting as it was in March 2003. This year, I decided, I would view it as a scientist. I would not attack the subject with emotion. I would let the numbers speak for themselves. This year I will sit back and play the part of the analyst- the researcher- on this topic that is closest to my heart.

Six years into the occupation…

- 72 months of destruction
- $607 Billions spent on the war
- 2 Million Barrels of oil being sold per day
- 2 Million Displaced Iraqis inside of Iraq
- 3 Million Iraqis forced to leave the country
- 2615 professors, scientists, and doctors killed in cold blood
- 338 dead journalists
- $13 Billion misplaced by the current Iraqi government
- $400 Billion required to rebuild the Iraqi infrastructure
- 3 hours average of electricity daily
- 24 car bombs per month
- 7 major mafias running the country
- 4260 Americans dead
- 10,000 cases of cholera per year
- 50 of my friends dead
- 22 of my relatives dead
- 15 abductions of close relatives and people I know and love
- At least 1.3 million Iraqis dead since 2003.

Six years into the occupation and somehow, the numbers are not looking better. Year after dismal year, the numbers of dead and displaced grow as we continue to reap the rewards of an American occupation on our country.

So the numbers speak for themselves. Six. Six months is what it took for most Iraqis to realize no good could come of this war and occupation. Six years is what it has taken the rest of the world. Six years, six million Iraqis displaced inside and outside of Iraq- well over a million Iraqis dead or dying inside of the country.

As a scientist, as a researcher- it is a disaster that will never be sufficiently documented with numbers or words. As a researcher, the numbers are so astounding that we go back and recalculate to make sure they are real. As an Iraqi, it is enraging. The numbers and statistics fill me with a rage and shame that make my heart throb and my blood boil. It’s a rage towards all who are silent and uncaring, and a shame at the little we all are doing.

Dr. Souad N. Al-Azzawi, Associate Professor, Baghdad, Iraq, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee (26 March 2009). She is a former Vice-President of Mamoun University of Scientific Affaires; former professor of environmental engineering at Baghdad Univ., recipient of the 2003 Nuclear-Free Future Award for her work on environmental contamination after the Gulf War in Iraq. She published 50 Papers in hazardous Waste management and Radiological Pollution from the use of Depleted Uranium Weapons in Iraq.

Viva Palestina

2009-03-22T22:19:00.000-04:00

George Galloway & Hugo Chavez

If You Have Been Downcast and You are the Caring Type,

the Following Youtube Clips May Lift You Up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TZeJU1ap20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5bEzK_yr1Y&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaaqnrwx2n8&feature=related

Many thanks go to

George Galloway, attorney Sabah Al-Mukhtar
and all those who donated their time and money to take

the needed aid to the Palestinians in Gaza.

Similar aid caravans must be deployed to IRAQ

in the near future.

We also thank President Hugo Chavez for doing the right thing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1W52u3aDsY&feature=related

(in English & Spanish)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDr4naCBOqQ&feature=related

(in Arabic)

We'll patiently wait for Arab and Moslem

leaders and politicians around the world

to do the right thing.

Wafaa' Al-Natheema
Walaa' Ali
May Roberts
Rita Cohen-Sharaf
George Michael
Richard Sullivan

From South India - A Critic of Obama

2009-03-22T20:24:00.000-04:00

PLEASE SEE DISCLAIMER in THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE

Obama's Foreign Policy

by George Kurian

There is a chimpanzee in the White House. He is extremely clever and has even been to the Harvard Law School. Yet I do not trust him. I do not care how he handles the American economy. He probably is as clueless about how to repair it as is everyone else. It is American foreign policy that upsets me. He promised to change it but all we have seen so far is “ plus ca meme”. We will leave Iraq in the distant future, he says, but we will keep American servicemen there for a short while longer unless……Why can’t he leave Iraq to anarchy and to God? It appears he too would like to look after all the American interests in the region that begin with a capital O. His Imperial Highness sends drones to blast Pakistani villages without so much as a bleat of permission from the Pakistani government. Would he dare try that with India? If this is not crass bullying I do not know what it is. He refuses to recognize the democratically elected Hamas – just like his predecessor - and refused to use the terms Gaza or Genocide when Israel was committing bloody murder and war crimes of the worst kind..

So I have deliberately called the President of the United States of America a chimp. It will make no difference to him because he is not ever going to hear about it or me. He is the cow and I the fly on its rump. I might be petulant. But unlike Rupert Murdoch who was forced to apologize for a cartoonist’s allegedly unintentional gaffe (It looked pretty much to me that the cartoonist had purposely used the Chimpanzee incident for its racial overtones), I refuse to feel sorry for calling the liar in the White House an ape. The reason that I can do this without worrying about political correctness is because I am darker than he is, my nose is squatter and my lips are thicker and I belong to that South Indian underclass that one of the protagonists in Arvind Adige’s White Tiger described as “negroes” to whom no one needed to pay any attention.

I am happy to belong to this group because I am in enlightened company. E V Ramaswamy Naicker, Annadurai and Kamaraj and the erudite Chidambaram were/are all shades of dark brown or black. The most recent of my tribe to make the news has even more ‘Dasu’ (refer to the Rig Veda for an explanation of this term) features than I do. The only other thing is that he won two Oscars this year and a host of other awards, has been called a genius and the Mozart of Madras and most importantly he converted at the age of twenty to Islam, which by popular opinion is the worst religion in the world. He is A. R. Rahman (Oh what will the Hindu Nationalist press do? All the Indian Oscar celebrities were mossies!)

Cartooning and caricature do have rules. They are complex because they have to factor in political power, media coverage and good old fashioned goodness. A general rule of thumb is to desist from making fun of someone down the ladder in the pecking order of power. If I call Obama a gorilla it does not affect him – for the above stated reasons. If the white cartoonist alludes to his facial resemblance to a chimp, it affects his brothers and sisters of the skin, as they are still the lowliest of the low despite this last lucky break in the US elections. Obama is only the beginning of dismantling racism in that country. The white cartoonist has his superior status, works for a paper with wide circulation and reputation. What does the poor black man on the street have against that?

There was another cartoon in the not-so-distant past that caused an upheaval. It was a cartoon of the Prophet (peace be upon him). The Danish government did not see fit to do anything till their exports to the Arab countries were in danger of being boycotted. But by then the cartoon had passed from white owned paper to white owned paper. The Western media defended freedom of expression and even put the offensive picture on TV screens. Funny that they did not do that to the chimp cartoon. Worse, many of the European powers jail people who deny the holocaust or make holocaust denial a crime. What happens to freedom of expression in this case? The topic of the offensive anti-Moslem cartoon slipped into a breakfast conversation with two priests. One was an American white and the other was an Indian born Australian. I remember the American defending the freedom of expression stoutly with a very stern expression on his face. It occurred to me, on reflection, that this was white arrogance at its height. If cartoons are good for us they are good for the rest of the world.

In contrast to this was the attitude of the playwright and producer of Jerry Springler, The Opera . This musical full of offensive words and alludings of sex between Jesus and Mary Magdalene (This combo seems to sell like hotcakes in the West) caused the resignation of a Christian employee of the BBC which decided to put it on one of their programs. The playwright was interviewed on the BBC. He said he wrote the opera to make fun of what he called the “Christian Myth”. He was then asked if he would do the same about another religion and he said “no” because it was unfair to make fun of something about which he knew nothing or very little. His statement seemed closer to the golden rule of the so-called Christian myth than the statement of my friend the American Christian priest .

George Kurian is an Indian gastroenterologist living in South India. He is anti-apartheid and anti-Zionism.

Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in the article reflects only that of the author.

The author was asked to remove the word "Chimpanzee," but he replied as follows:

" I would not like to take off the word chimpanzee. I can say it because I am more like an ape than he especially at certain angles. One of my colleagues looked at a photograph of mine and told me I was proof of Darwin's theories!! The reason is this. There are restrictions in the West about calling a blackman an ape. Yet, they did not restrain themselves drawing a cartoon of the Prophet. I am thinking of sending this letter to the American priest and all the white Americans that I know. They must understand that they cannot fight the cultural battles of the world using their standards alone. So do keep the word in. You can blame me and say that I refused to change. "

Dr. Omar Al-Kubaisy's Speech خطاب د عمر الكبيسى أمام البرلمان الأوربي

2009-03-20T10:14:00.000-04:00

السادة أعضاء البرلمان الأوربي المحترمين
السيدة رئيسة الجلسة المحترمة
السيدات والسادة الحضور

اسمحوا لي أن أتقدم إليكم بالشكر الجزيل للإخوة الذين وفروا لنا هذه الفرصة التي سنحت لشرف اللقاء بكم لكي أتكلم لكم وانقل إليكم صورة واضحة وأمينة عن الوضع الصحي والحالة الإنسانية المؤلمة التي يعيشها شعبنا العراقي المنكوب وهو وضع مأساوي لا يطاق يدعو جميع أحرار العالم والمهتمين بحياة البشر في هذا الكون الشاسع للإسهام بالفعل الجاد والقول الحق والوقفة الهادفة من اجل إنقاذ الإنسان والحفاظ على ابسط مقومات عيشه في توفير الحياة الهانئة والحرية الكريمة والسكن الآمن والعمل المثمر في قدرة ذهنية وطاقة جسدية وسلامة بدنية بلا معاناة وألم ومشاق وتمييز خصوصا عندما يتعايش هذا الإنسان في ارض وبلد كالعراق الذي حباه الله بثروات طبيعة من ماء ونفط ومعادن ثمينة وارض خصبة غناء كفيلة بتحقيق العيش الكريم.ا

أنا من ارض مابين النهرين العريقة التي كانت تسمى ارض السواد من كثرة رخاءها وزحمة سكانها ووفرة العيش فيها، ومن شعب عريق بالحضارة والإسهام بالعطاء للعالم بالحرف والقلم والقوانين منذ الآلاف السنين, كما قرأتم في التاريخ القديم.ا

العراق أيها السادة بخيره وعطاءه اجتذب إليه بمرور الزمن شعوبا وأعراقا مختلفة فكان لمكوناته هذه تشكيلة شعب موزائيكية، سكنته قوميات وديانات وأعراق متعددة بأمن وسلام وتآلف واستقرار مع انه جابه موجات غزو عديدة ومحاولات اجتياح كبيره طمعا بثرواته وموقعه على مر العصور وخرج منها بدفاع مستميت من اجل البقاء منتصراً واحدا موحدا.ا

يخاطبكم طبيب استشاري متمرس بإمراض القلب، خدم في الدولة العراقية لأربعة عقود من الزمن في مجال اختصاصه وعايش حكومات متعددة وأنظمة سياسية متعاقبة تعرفوها، ليس له انتماء حزبي ولا سياسي معين ويشهد له شعبه وطلابه وزملاءه في العراق بالعطاء في مجال الطب والصحة في الخدمات الطبية العسكرية والمدنية مهنيا وأكاديميا، واختص وتدرب في مستشفيات أوربا في انكلترا وايطاليا وايرلندا وفرنسا وهنا في بلجيكيا في اختصاص أمراض القلب في فترات حرجة من الحرب الطويلة والحصار الخانق ونقل احدث ما توصلتم إليه من تقنيات وبحوث في اختصاص أمراض القلب ليستفيد منها مرضى العراق وأطباؤه في زمن كان العراقيون يعانون فيه من ويلات حصار تقني وعلمي واقتصادي طاله لأكثر من 13عام، وشهد عملية غزو العراق ورأى بعينيه يوم 9و10من نيسان عام 2003 كيف اجتاحت دبابات الغزو واحرق ونهب وسلب اكبر مركز لجراحة القلب في وسط بغداد أمام أنظار العالم كله ليترك مفتوحا للنهب لأيام عديدة بحماية الغزاة.ا

في هذا المركز كنا نجري (8) ثمان من عمليات القلب المفتوح لمرضى وأطفال العراق، وقد ساهم أطباء أوربيون من انكلترا وسويسرا وفرنسا وايطاليا واسبانيا وألمانيا في العمل الطوعي والإنساني في هذا المركز، وأنا أتذكر نداء زميل جراح من جنوب فرنسا حين كانت بغداد ومنطقة المركز تتعرض لقصف جوي كثيف أثناء الغزو يناديني بالهاتف بالخروج مع زملائي من المركز للنجاة لان المركز من ضمن الأهداف، كما تأكد له من الصور المباشرة حيث سبق أن عمل معنا فيه، وحينما كانت دموعي تنسكب وأنا أشاهد مركز القلب يحترق واستصرخ الغزاة لحماية المركز.ا

كان قائد المجموعة التي أشرفت على العملية من على ظهر الدبابة يقول كف عن دموعك سنبني لكم مستشفى أعظم واكبر واحدث.ا

سادتي أعضاء البرلمان الأوربي والحضور الأفاضل حينما علم زملائي وطلبتي الأطباء في العراق باني سأكون بينكم، حملني اتحادهم الذي شكلوه مؤخرا والذي يضم أكثر من 350 طبيبا أن انقل إليكم بأمانة وحرص ما يحملوه من هموم ومعاناة بسبب الوضع الصحي المتفاقم بالعراق ورسالتهم لدي، وصلتني قبل يومين من حضوري هنا.ا

تركت العراق بعد أن استمريت بالعمل فيه مع زملائي لإعادة العمل بجزء مما تبقى من المركز لغاية يوم 5 مارس 2005 بعد أن استلمت رسالة تهديد بالتصفية والموت مع عشرة من أطباء القلب إن لم نترك العراق قبل هذا الموعد, لازالت أشباح حروفها وطريقة كتابتها تبعث في الرعب والألم.ا

قبل الغزو أيها السادة و بالرغم من ظروف الحصار القاسية كان لدينا في العراق 18 كلية طب وست كليات لطب الأسنان وأربعة للصيدلة وعشرات من كليات ومعاهد ومدارس التمريض ومعاوني ومساعدي الأطباء، إن أول كلية للطب في بغداد افتتحت عام 1927 وكان أول عميد لها لفترة طويلة الطبيب الانكليزي سندرسن كاتب المذكرات الذهبية عن فترة خدمته الطبية لعقود في العراق بعنوان عشرة آلاف ليله وليله في العراق وكان لدينا أكثر من 39000 سرير طبي بمستشفيات تعليمية رصينة و مستشفيات مدن و أقضية و نواحي ومراكز طبية وكان لدينا أكثر من34000 طبيب مسجل 20% منهم اختصاصيون وكنا نخرج أكثر من ألف طبيب سنويا وكان لدينا دراسات طبية تخصصيه عليا لأكثر من 30 اختصاص تمنح البورد العراقي لأكثر من 250 طبيب سنويا.ا

قامت هذه الكوادر وبكفاءة عالية بواجبها تجاه جرحى ومعوقي حرب طويلة كان العراق فيها محاصرا علميا.ا

الدستور التأسيس لدولة العراق منذ العشرينيات يكفل للمواطنين حق التعليم والعلاج الحكومي مجانا بكل مراحل التعليم ولكل اختصاصات الطب العلاجي والوقائي.ا

وعمت البلاد خدمات هذه المؤسسات جميع أنحاء العراق من الريف والقرى والمدن في جميع المحافظات لأن نظام التعليم في العراق بريطاني الأسلوب منذ نشأته، تدرك وتعرف مستوى أطباء العراق وكفاءتهم ومستوى التعليم الطبي والصحي فيه وتشكل نسبة كبيره منهم اليوم كفاءات منتشرة في أوروبا وبريطانيا، كما قيمت بإيجاب منظمة الصحة الدولية واليونسكو واليونيسيف والصليب الأحمر والمنظمات الأخرى ما حققه العراق في مجال برامج التلقيحات والتطعيمات وطب الأسرة والصحة العامة وصحة الأطفال وتأهيل المعوقين وتنظيم النسل وانخفاض نسب الوفيات دون الخامسة وحديثي الولادة منذ عام 1980 مما أجهض انتشار الأوبئة والأمراض المعدية كالكوليرا وشلل الأطفال و السحايا والخناق و التدرن، كما كان العراق السباق في المنطقة بالسيطرة على انتشار مرض الايدز الجنسي ومكافحة الإدمان وتناول المخدرات وبرامج الصحة المدرسية ومراكز حماية الأطفال والأمومة وبناء المراكز التخصصية لإمراض العقم والسرطان والقلب والجهاز العظمي والغدد والنظائر المشعة و الأعصاب والعيون والشلل و التأهيل و الأطراف الصناعية والتسمم و التداوي بالأعشاب والوخز بالإبر والعيون.ا

كذلك نجاح مشروع الحصة الغذائية وبرنامج صرف علاج الأمراض المزمنة والعيادات الشعبية والتامين الصحي والاستفادة من معاهدة النفط مقابل الغذاء والدواء في التخفيف من آثار الحصار المفروض على العراق على الخدمات الطبية قبل الاحتلال، كما كان أسلوب استيراد الأدوية والمستلزمات الطبية منذ السبعينيات في القرن المنصرم أسلوبا ناجحا في استيراد الدواء الأمين والفاعل والرصين من الشركات الدوائية الرصينة العالمية والمتعددة الجنسية المعروفة وكذلك كان الدواء المصنع محليا بنفس المواصفات وتخضع جميع الأدوية والعقاقير المستوردة والمصنعة لتقييم نوعي وتسجيل مركزي كفؤ ولغرض الحماية من نكبات الدواء الجانبية تم حصر استيراد الدواء بالمؤسسة الاستيرادية لوزارة الصحة وبإشراف علمي لهيئة انتقاء كفوءة.ا

السادة أعضاء البرلمان الأوربي المحترمين:ا
الزميلات والزملاء الأفاضل:ا

ما الذي أحدثه غزو العراق بعد نيسان عام 2003 ونحن نمر بذكراه السادسة البغيضة في الوضع الصحي و الإنساني في العراق:ا

لكي اختصر الكلام ولضيق الوقت ستوزع لكم كراسات باللغة الانكليزية تنقل إليكم صورة واضحة بالأرقام تعكس وضع بلدي الصحي، وهذه الأرقام ليست من نسج الخيال ولكنها أرقام من دراسات ومتابعات منظمات ومؤسسات وجمعيات عالمية ومهنية وإنسانية مشار إليها إزاء كل رقم ومعلومة.ا

أما على الأرض والواقع فستوزع لحضرتكم أقراص مصوره لغيض من فيض من العراق موثقة لمشاهد تعكس معاناة شعبي من هول القصف والتخريب والدمار للبنية الأساسية والعنف والإرهاب والقتل الذي استهدف المواطنين وأطباءه وكفاءاته وعلماءه والتهجير القسري داخل وخارج العراق ومعاناة المرأة والأرامل واليتامى وانتشار الجريمة والأمراض والأوبئة وتجارة الدواء الفاسد والمخدرات ومخيمات المهجرين وحالهم ومجازر الإحتلال في حديثة والزنجيلي والمحمودية والقصف العشوائي للمساكن والأحياء السكنية وتصفية المواطنين بحجة القضاء على الإرهاب والعنف مع الإنكار الكامل لحق العراقيين في المقاومة والتخلص من الاحتلال البغيض الغاشم والغير مبرر، مع إن كافة الشرائع والقوانين الدولية تكفل للشعوب حق المقاومة بكل الأساليب المتاحة، ولكني سأكتفي بالذكر نحن بلد فيه:ا

هاجر أكثر من 70 % من أطباؤه .1
2. فقد أكثر من 5500 من علماءه وكفاءاته بين قتيل وسجين ومهجر.
3. 70% من المستشفيات دون مستوى الأداء اللازم وما بقى بين مهدم أو مداهم أو مسروق.
4. 90% من الدواء المتواجد في الصيدليات غير مقيم وغير مسجل أو فاسد أو ملوث يجلب بالسوق السوداء عبر الحدود من شركات وهمية تنتشر فيه أعداد بآلاف من صيدليات و مذاخر غير مجازة تدار بأشخاص ليسوا صيادلة.
5. تستخدم فيه المستشفيات كأماكن للتصفية الجسدية العرقية والطائفية وإرهاب المليشيات.
6. وزارة الصحة تدار ضمن محاصصة طائفية تحدد هوية الوزير والمدراء العامين وتسيطر عليها أحزاب ومليشيات دينية وطائفية ويعمها فساد مالي وإداري كبير ووفق تقارير هيئات النزاهة، طالت أكثر من 2 بليون دولار بسبب العقود الوهمية والارتشاء.
7. لا دور رقابي أو تصحيحي يذكر للنواب الأطباء في البرلمان بل ربما يكون لتداخلاتهم دورا سلبيا في حجم وطبيعة الفساد المالي والإداري.
8. انتشار الأمراض النفسية والإدمان على المخدرات وتنشيط زراعة الخشخاش والأفيون.
9. التلاعب بقوائم الأدوية الأساسية واستبدال مفرداتها.
10. انتشار الأوبئة وعدم مصداقية الإحصائيات أو افتقادها كالكوليرا والحصبة والخناق وداء القطط وتفاقم حالات التدرن ومرض الايدز.
11. فقدان سلامة الغذاء المستورد.
12. ارتفاع نسب وقوع مرض السرطان وطبيعة الحالات المسجلة حديثا وزيادة حالات الأمراض والتشوهات الخلقية بسبب تفاقم مضاعفات التلوث الإشعاعي وحرق الغابات والأشجار وتلوث الأنهار بالصرف الصحي و بالأخص بالوسط والجنوب بسبب استخدام اليورانيوم المنضب والفسفور الأبيض والقنابل العنقودية ومحاولات منع الإجراءات العلاجية والمسوح لمعرفة أماكن التلوث واستخدام وسائل التطهير منها.
13. انتشار الألغام في مواقع الحروب السابقة والقنابل الغير منفجرة وبالأخص في البصرة ومناطق الحدود.
14. فقدان التعاون والانسجام مع المنظمات الإنسانية والطوعية كجمعية الصليب والهلال الأحمر وغيرها والفساد المالي في جمعية الهلال الأحمر العراقية.
15. نقص الأدوية والمستلزمات و التخصيصات المالية لم تتجاوز 4 % من تخصيصات الميزانية في أحسن الحالات وبسبب الفساد المالي المستشري.
16. افتقاد الماء الصالح للشرب لأكثر من 70 % من السكان ونقص الكهرباء وافتقاد الصرف الصحي.
17. أعلى نسب لوفيات الأطفال وحديثي الولادة.
18. في العراق بعد الاحتلال: أكثر من مليون وثلاثمائة ألف قتيل
أكثر من خمس ملايين مهجر.
أكثر من 4 مليون دون مستوي الفقر
ما يقارب مليونين أرمله
خمسة ملايين يتيم
نقص غذائي لأكثر من 8 مليون.
أكثر من 400،000 سجين وموقوف
أكثر من 28% بلا عمل (بطالة)

الاستنتاج:ا

هناك استهداف واضح لصحة الإنسان العراقي وسلامته ومسخ هويته والمس في عملية تعليمه وتربيته من اجل القضاء على إمكانيات العراق وثروته العلمية ضمن مخطط يستهدف إضعاف العراق وتقسيمه واستنزاف ثرواته ينفذ من خلال ابتداع عمليه سياسيه ومؤسسات خدمية بنيت على أساس المحاصصة العرقية والطائفية التي تتعارض مع الكفاءة والنزاهة و الإعمار.ا

السادة اعضاء البرلمان الاوربي المحترمين: ان الاحتلال والغزو والقتل والإرهاب والتخويف والتهديد لا يقضي على موجة العنف المتفاقم بسبب اضطهاد الشعوب وان الحروب الغير المبرره لا تصنع الحريات ولا تقيم الديمقراطيه وان كل مابناه الاحتلال من عملية سياسة يدعي انها شرعية ثبت انها فاشلة فحكومة العراق تصنف بانها الافشل في العالم والاكثر انغماسا بالفساد المالي والاداري . ولهذا فانا نهيب بكم بالعمل على خروج الاحتلال من العراق باسرع وقت واتاحة الفرصة للشعب العراقي وللارادة الدولية لتحقيق المصالحة الوطنية الحقيقية بين القوى الوطنية الخيرة ومكونات شعبنا واطيافه ليكون الحل عراقيا واقليميا ودوليا وليس بالقوة والغزو والتهديد. ان القوانين الدولية تلزم قوة الاحتلال بالتعويض العادل عن كل ما ارتكبته من اضرار بعد الاحتلال برعايته.كما نامل ان تتم مسائلة ومحاكمة عناصر الادارت السياسية التي خططت ونفذت الغزو على العراق بلا مبرر . ان وقفتكم مع ارادة وطموح شعبنا العراقي المنكوب مطلوبة واساسية للتعبير عما تحملوه من رسالة انصاف ومساندة مع الشعوب المقهورة ومعارضة وايقاف للحروب الفتاكة والمشاريع الاحتلالية والامبريالية في العالم وانها لن تسهم الا بالمزيد من العنف والتوتر وعدم الاستقرار السياسي والاقتصادي الذي يهدد العالم حاليا بازمات خانقة وتهدد الانسانية والشعوب بما حققته من انجازات .ا

واخيرا تقبلوا منا ومن شعبنا اجزل كلمات الشكر والثناء كما اتقدم لجماعة محكمة بروكسل التي ساعدت في اتاحة هذه الفرصة بالشكر والثناء.ا

الدكتور عمر الكبيسى

India and Dutch Piracy

2009-03-09T23:25:00.000-04:00

By Wafaa' Al-Natheema

The profound power gap between (and rights of) easterners and westerners on our planet is mind blowing. There is now one more incident to add to the infinite list of events indicating the power struggle between them. I found out about this case during my visit to India in February (2009): The Dutch authorities committed piracy in December 2008, but the world did not know about it. They confiscated an Indian ship carrying generic medicine on its way to Brazil. The seizure of Losarton Potassium from the ship in transit is a case of deliberate lawlessness by the European Union.

The Dutch authorities seized the generic medicine on grounds of alleged Intellectual Property (IP) violations even though there were no indications that the drug was meant for the the European Community markets. According to India’s statement to the WTO General Council, “Losartan Potassium, used in treatment of hypertension, is a perfectly IP legitimate generic drug in both India and Brazil.” Generic drugs are protected by law in both Brazil and India.

To better understand this case, the following 3-minute clip is strongly recommended to watch. It is from an interview with Dr. Vandana Shiva (on February 9, 09), a scientist and activist who founded Navdanya http://www.navdanya.org/ in 1987:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Kr9beehxI

DuPont, mentioned in the interview, is the company that owns the patent drug (to lower blood pressure) in the Netherlands.

After editing the clip above, I searched the Internet for articles to learn more details about this incident. The end result was that I found over hundred articles about Somali pirates and how westerners have been successfully combating them, yet in comparison I found less than a dozen links about this Dutch Piracy case mostly by non-mainstream media or in unpopular websites, some of which I include in the list of sources.

The limited number of (or lack of) Internet sources in English (and in other languages) detailing this incident in mainstream media reminded me of the time when I was searching for reports on Iraqi children fortunate to receive free heart surgeries in Algeria (in April/May 2008). My search led me to less than a dozen links covered mostly by non-mainstream media and in unpopular websites. Instead, I found more than sixty articles published by mainstream media and popular websites highlighting Iraqi children’s heart operations done in Israel:

http://zennobia.blogspot.com/2008/06/iraqi-children-in-algeria-and-israel.html

Indians are considering other transit routes. In fact they should go further as to pass restrictive laws or call for a ban on the imports of patent medicine from the EU. It is long overdue for Africans and Asians to collaborate with each other, create protective laws and cease their obsession with the industrial west.

Sources

1. http://www.livemint.com/2009/01/30002200/India-Brazil-to-take-on-EU-ov.html

2. http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/02/03/concern-erupts-over-wto-system-and-medicines-shipments-trips-talks-rekindling

3. http://www.livemint.com/2008/12/12000018/Shipments-seizure-India8217.html

4. http://indiainthewto.wordpress.com/category/wto-dispute-settlement

5. http://n2.nabble.com/Re:-Can-India,-Brazil-take-on-EU-over-regulation--td2300981.html

6. http://spicyipindia.blogspot.com/2009/01/whats-big-fuss-over-dutch-seizing-dr.html

7. http://profit.ndtv.com/2009/01/30173024/India-Brazil-jointly-protest.html

8. http://in.news.yahoo.com/20/20090130/1426/tbs-india-brazil-jointly-protest-drug-se.html
9. Dr. Vandana Shiva of http://www.navdanya.org/

Obama's Jewish White House Staff

2009-02-19T15:58:00.001-05:00

"New" White House Staff:

David Axelrod - Senior Advisor to the President - Jewish

Larry Summers - Economic Advisor to the President - Jewish

Paul Volcker - Economic Advisor to the President - Jewish

Peter Orszag - Head of Budget - Jewish

Rahm Emanuel - Chief of Staff - Jewish
Ronald Klain - Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States - Jewish
Tim Geithner - Treasury Secetary - Jewish

Obama's stance agreeing that Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel

is unique.

No Arab and Moslem staff, yet some in the Arab and Islamic

worlds have been optimistic and naively applauded him!

Do You Know What This is Called?

2009-01-08T23:03:00.000-05:00

In 1918, there were 574,000 Muslims and 70,000 Christians in Palestine, and only 56,000 Jews. Thus Jews were 8% and non-Jews were 92% of the population. By 1946, the Muslim and Christian percentage had dropped to 69% and the Jewish had risen to 31%.

Nearly three million IRAQIS have been killed since 1991 from USA bombs and international sanctions.

In 1491, there were 100 million Americans. Because of the influx of Judeo-Christian Europeans, ten years later there were only 10 million Americans. They became known as Indians or native Americans or American Indians, yet the Europeans became THE Americans.

That is called GENOCIDE

Harold Pinter's Quote

2009-01-07T03:08:00.000-05:00

“The majority of politicians ... are interested not in truth but in power. ... To maintain that power it is essential that people remain in ignorance. ... What surrounds us therefore is a vast tapestry of lies.”

This was part of Pinter's statement at the ceremony to receive his Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005. Pinter was referring to U.S. policy from Guantanamo to Iraq.

A Letter from Palestine

2009-01-05T19:40:00.000-05:00

My very dear friends, those who have been thinking of us, praying for us and acting for us. Bless you all.

You do not know how important your solidarity is and how we value your deep understanding of the truth of our situation and your exposure of the lies that accompany one of the most brutal acts in modern history.

One and a half million Gaza residents living in one of the most crowded areas in the world, have been under siege and blockade for several months, depriving them of the most essential needs and threatening their children with starvation, malnutrition and inadequate medical services. If this is not a war crime, we do not know what is (except that we are not in a state of war but a people under occupation!) To further subjugate the Gaza residents to relentless bombardment from air, sea and land is unprecedented in modern history.

Israel claims that it is defending the security of its people. Is it not high time for the world to realize that Israel is merely defending the spoils of its aggression and the accomplished facts it has been imposing on our people and our land by brute force? Is it not high time for the world to realize that security and peace can never come about by perpetrating injustice by the awsome machinery of war and destruction. Human beings across the ages have given up thier lives and have offered tremendous sacrifices to break the yokes of oppression. The result has always ended with the victory freedom . War machinery has been able to kill bodies, break bones, destroy homes, devastate land , but it has never been able to break the human spirit aspiring for freedom.

We thank you again dear, dear friends and hope that very soon our messages will be to congratulate one another on the truimph of wisdom and compassion over shortsightedness and brutality!

With lots of love
Rima Tarazi
Pianist & Composer