Paris attacks: the French 9/11?

paris-attacks-the-french-911-5196-articles.html by Waseem Shehzad December, 2015 While absolutely abhorrent, the Paris attacks, as others elsewhere, must be viewed beyond the self-serving statements of Western policymakers. Intensifying the same failed policies will not yield different results. The November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris have been compared to the events of 9/11 in New York. There may be some validity in such comparisons though perhaps not in the manner in which most people think. The attacks of 9/11 have been turned into the defining moment of human history. Every tragedy in the West must now meet the 9/11 standard. Thus, the Madrid train bombings of March 11, 2004 (191 dead, more than 2,000 injured) were called the “Spanish 9/11”; London’s subway bombings of July 7, 2005 (56 dead and 700 injured) were called the “British 9/11” and now we have the “French 9/11” (132 dead and nearly 200 injured). The next bombing in whatever European city will earn the title of “…9/11” with the name of the country inserted at the beginning. Of course missing from this discourse is the July 22, 2011 terrorist attack by Anders Behring Breivik, the Christian terrorist who murdered 77 youth in Oslo, Norway. He was not branded a terrorist, only a rightwing extremist. Absent also from all these names and slogan-mongering is any mention of the horrors visited upon other people, especially Muslims in their homes, villages and towns in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Palestine, Somalia, and Yemen. In the last 15 years, militaristic Western regimes have murdered millions of Muslims and several Muslim countries — Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and now Syria — have been destroyed. Similarly, Muslims are the greatest victims of terrorism yet Western countries make such a fuss when a few hundred of their citizens are killed. This is not meant to justify the crimes that Muslims commit but it is important to keep things in perspective. Human life is precious regardless of who is the victim. There are good Muslims as well as bad just as there are good Jews and there are bad Jews. And there are good Christians as well as bad Christians. There are also good and bad atheists. Terrorism in perspective

No religion or non-religion has monopoly over violence or terror. We also do not buy into the canard that “not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims,” as the Loon Watch website accurately captured through its delightful headline, “All Muslims are Terrorists, except the 94% that aren’t” (January 20, 2010). Using FBI statistics, Loon Watch showed that between 1980 and 2005, Muslims accounted for a mere 6% of all terrorist acts in the US; Jewish groups were involved in 7%, Latinos in 42% while others accounted for 16% of all acts of terrorism. Yes, there are Jewish terrorist groups in the US. They go by such names as the Jewish Defence League (banned as a terrorist organization in the US, but not in Canada!), Jewish Armed Resistance, and Jewish Action Movement. There are also Christian terrorist groups like the Ku Klux Klan, Mormon extremists, Vietnamese Organization to Exterminate Communists and Restore the Nation, May 19 Communist Order, and the Fourth Reich Skinheads. One would never learn about this by watching Fox News or CNN. Even supposedly respectable news outlets — the New York Times, Washington Post etc. — only amplify acts perpetrated by Muslims anywhere in the world while completely ignoring similar crimes by Jewish terrorists or White supremacists in the US. In fact, those crimes are not called acts of terror at all. Here is a quick example. On November 21, the Italian police thwarted a plot by the mafia to kill the country’s justice minister who had vowed to introduce tougher drug laws. Italy said the mafia plot was not “an act of terrorism,” merely a crime! What constitutes terrorism? Only when Muslims are involved. Writing in the New Yorker magazine (August 10, 2012), Professor Steve Coll revealed, “In partnership with a team of researchers at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Public Policy, some of my colleagues at the New America Foundation collated and analyzed three hundred and two cases of domestic terrorism during the decade after the September 11th attacks. The numbers do not correspond with the public’s fear or understanding.” He went on, “The entire decade-long domestic death toll from terrorism (that is, where a political or ideological motive was apparent) was thirty.” Yes, a grand total of 30 people were killed over a 10-year period in terror related violence in the US! Let us compare these 30 deaths (that is three deaths/year) in a decade of terror-related violence with some other statistics. There were 12,664 murders in the US in 2011, the latest year for which the FBI provided detailed breakdown. Of these, 8,583 were caused by firearms. Thus, an American is 422 times more likely to be murdered in the street, the home, or shopping mall than by a terrorist act. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says nearly 4,000 Americans die due to drowning each year, the majority of them young children aged 1–4 years. In the first half of 2015, lightning killed 20 Americans (weather.com, July 17, 2015). The Consumer Product Safety Commission has revealed that Americans are as likely to be killed by falling television sets or furniture as they are by a terrorist act. Anyone for banning those killer couches? By far the greatest threat to Americans is the proliferation of firearms. Yet, there is a strong gun lobby that would not allow any restriction on the sale of firearms. In the US, there are 98 guns for every 100 people. It is the most heavily armed country in the world and the most violent. Let us return to Professor Coll’s findings. He wrote, “Of the three hundred domestic terrorism cases studied, about a quarter arose from anti-government extremists, white supremacists, or terrorists animated by bias against another religion. And all of the most frightening cases — involving chemical, biological, and radiological materials — arose from rightwing extremists or anarchists. None arose from Islamist militancy” (our emphasis). He then went on to ask this very pertinent question, “Why do these statistics seem so poorly publicized? Is the media a symptom of this problem or a cause?” Politicians’ reaction Equally bizarre is the reaction of most politicians. President Francois Hollande announced that French reaction to the terrorist attacks would be harsh and said he would intensify the war against ISIS. He also dispatched France’s only aircraft carrier, Charles De Gaulle, to the Mediterranean to join the fight. The reality, however, is that Western regimes and their regional puppets have been financing, training, and arming these very terrorists under the rubric of supporting “moderate” rebels. They are so consumed by hatred of President Bashar al-Asad of Syria that they are prepared to embrace organ-eating terrorists to overthrow him. Well, the ISIS terrorists — or evil, as the Western rulers are now calling them — have struck back. Some American politicians have also joined the fray. Donald Trump, who is seeking the Republican Party’s nomination for president, said he would shut down all mosques in the US and force every Muslim to wear a special ID tag. Trump is a vagabond; he has made similar racist comments about Mexicans, African Americans, etc. President Barack Obama tweeted back after Trump’s racist remarks, “Perhaps ignorant racists should wear special ID badges too.” And Obama offered to have one made for him! Let us readily admit that the Paris attacks were acts of terror; the victims were innocent civilians. But were the victims of similar bombings in Beirut a day earlier (November 12) that were also claimed by ISIS terrorists, killing 43, any less worthy of sympathy? What about the 224 people killed aboard the Russian plane that was brought down over Sinai soon after it took off from the Egyptian holiday resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on October 31? A bomb planted in the plane’s luggage hold resulted in its being blown up in midair. A group affiliated with the takfiri terrorists claimed responsibility for that attack as well. British intelligence apparently knew about the bomb plot but did not inform the Russians! Russian casualties (224) exceeded those of Paris (132). And if we compare these figures in overall population terms, Lebanon’s 43 civilians killed and twice as many injured far exceed the losses of the other two. Lebanon’s population is merely four million compared to Russia’s 300 million and France’s 66 million. The contrasting Western media reporting of these terrorist acts was also revealing. In Russia’s case, the overriding narrative was that it was a blowback for Russia’s attacks on takfiri positions in Syria. The Beirut attacks were justified as being against the Hizbullah and, therefore, deserved. False flag operations? Some commentators have also said the Paris attacks were a false flag operation. They point to the fact that security drills were underway on November 13. Without subscribing to conspiracy theories, there is something odd about the fact that during each major terrorist attack, there is some kind of a military drill underway. This was the case during the 9/11 attacks; the London 7/7 attacks and now the Paris attacks. Did the terrorists know about each of these military drills in advance to plan their attacks? There is something even stranger underway. In the 9/11 attacks, we were told by no less a person than the New York City Police Chief Ray Kelly that the passport of one of the alleged hijackers, Mohamed Atta, was found in the rubble of the World Trade Centre. While on the one hand, we were told the fire was so intense that it melted the steel frames of the buildings causing their collapse, and on the other a terrorist’s passport somehow survived the inferno and gently landed in the street. Equally intriguing was that a terrorist on a suicide mission would take his passport with him. The same passport theory was floated in the Paris attacks: a Syrian passport was found near the body of one of the terrorists who blew himself up with a suicide vest! These terrorists must be really stupid to be carrying passports while on a suicide mission. Yet they were sophisticated enough to evade detection by planning such an elaborate plot that must have involved hundreds of people. This is what the Zionist website Debkafile claimed on November 14. Closely linked to the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, it described the multiple attacks as being aimed at French President Francois Hollande. Debkafile also chastised “France’s Director-General for Internal Security (DGSI) and Director-General for External Security (DGSE) for their refusal to pick up the slightest clue to the massive preparations afoot for a horrendous, wide-scale terrorist outrage against their capital city.”

It then conveniently informed us, “at least 200 operatives at various levels were completely in the picture and directly involved in at least two months of advance planning.” How did Debkafile know all this? Was the Israeli Mossad involved in these terrorist acts in some capacity or planted this information to control the narrative? Even the assertion that ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks came from SITE, a website run by Rita Katz. She is an Iraqi-born Jewish woman who worked as a Mossad agent for more than 10 years in Israel before moving to the US. Most al-Qaeda and ISIS claims come through her website. How much credibility can her self-serving (i.e., serving Israel) claims have? In his commentary under the heading “Paris — Who made the terror?”(November 14), Denis G. Rancourt quotes Paul Craig Roberts, a senior official in the Ronald Reagan regime, “Some people are so naive and stupid as to think that no government would kill its own citizens. But governments do so all the time. There are an endless number of false flag attacks, such as Operation Gladio. Operation Gladio was a CIA/Italian intelligence operation that relentlessly bombed innocent Italians, such as those waiting in a train station, murdering hundreds, and then blaming the violence on the European communist parties in the post-WWII era in order to block the communists from electoral gains.” Even more egregious than Operation Galdio was Operation Northwoods, concocted by the CIA together with Admiral Lyman L. Lemnitzer, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. The plan involved hijacking and blowing up American passenger planes killing hundreds of Americans and blaming these terrorist acts on the Cuban government. These terrorist acts were then to be used as a pretext to attack Cuba to overthrow the government of President Fidel Castro who had come to power two years earlier. President John F. Kennedy rejected the plan. Some commentators have said this was one of the reasons for Kennedy’s assassination. Powerful figures in government do plan terrorist acts and kill their own citizens. And if the president does not approve it, then the president must be killed. We must, however, return to the issue of the West’s military aggression in the Muslim world. There was no al-Qaeda before the US got involved in Afghanistan by claiming to help the mujahideen. Zbignew Brezezinski, Jimmy Carter’s National Security Advisor, admitted that it was a small price to pay by having the Taliban and al-Qaeda emerge if that resulted in the defeat of the Soviet Union. There was no al-Qaeda in Iraq before the US invaded and destroyed that country, and there was no ISIS before the US-Zionist-Saudi-Turkish-instigated attack on Syria. The West’s wars on terror have actually increased terrorism. Further, the West and its Zionist ally are using these terrorists to destabilize the entire region primarily for one reason: to protect Zionist Israel and to ensure its supremacy in the region. There is bound to be blowback from such policies even if innocent people have to pay the price. Unfortunately, the price invariably is paid by innocent Muslims, in the Muslim majority countries as well as by those living in the West.

Paris, Saudi camel and the Zionist monkey!

December, 2015 Amid all the hype, tough talk and name calling following the Paris attacks, two names are conspicuous by their absence: Wahhabi Arabia and Zionist Israel. The role these two entities play is worth a closer look. We begin this column with an apology to our readers. We are taking liberties with metaphors, but so what? The common metaphor is the “elephant in the room” but when referring to the Saudis — better known as Najdi Bedouins — we feel the camel is a more suitable beast. After all, the last time an elephant was in the Arabian Peninsula was when Abrahah’s army came to attack Makkah planning to destroy the Ka‘bah. Abrahah had come from Yemen where he was governor of the Abyssinian king. Where Abrahah got the elephant from is unknown but it is certainly not a beast of the desert; the camel is, hence our reference to it.

Let us move to the Paris attacks that claimed more than 130 lives. The French government as well as other Western governments have made scandalous allegations against innocent Muslims but two names are conspicuously absent from the list of culprits: Saudi Arabia and Zionist Israel. Why? If serious about tackling a problem, one must go to its source. The takfiri terrorists are the product of the mindset nurtured by Wahhabism that has its roots in Saudi Arabia. Yet few if any officials in Europe or elsewhere have mentioned this. Such lapses raise questions about whether these regimes are serious in tackling the problem. One can see why this might be the case. Saudi Arabia is used as a cash cow by all these regimes — in France, Britain, the US, etc. — by selling it billions of dollars worth of weapons. As long as the arms industries continue to rake in billions from Saudi Arabia, its criminal activities can be overlooked. In fact, such terrorist activities help spur growth in arms sales by creating fear and instability in many parts of the world.

There is another factor at work that has been largely ignored. Most Muslims in Europe lead a marginalized existence. Racism is rampant. This is as true in France and Belgium as it is in Britain. Muslims, even those born and raised there live in ghettoes. Not only racist groups target them, even the police forces are extremely hostile to Muslims, akin to the treatment of African Americans in the US. Thus, the Muslims’ sense of alienation is deep and profound. This not only breeds resentment but also makes them easy prey to extremist ideologies offering simplistic but ultimately destructive solutions. The French attackers appear to have come from the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek, an extremely depressed area of the Belgian capital. The police describe it as a “no go” area.

Why have these ghettoes emerged and who is responsible for the situation not only in Belgium but also in France, Britain and a host of other European countries? Surely Muslims cannot be blamed for their plight. This is the direct result of the policies pursued by politicians. Further, there is a deliberate policy to paint expatriate Muslims as “the other.” Whose interest does it serve? In these countries as well as in others, Zionist influence is quite pervasive. Not only in the media but also at the official level, they exercise enormous influence in shaping government policy. It has been a longstanding policy of the Zionists to present Muslims as “the enemy” because they oppose Zionist aggression in and occupation of Palestine. While the Zionists cannot outnumber the Muslims in these countries, they target them through demonization. It is revealing that the Zionists have linked up with extremist rightwing groups in Europe. Such extremist groups also hate the Jews but for the Zionists that is fine. They also hate those Jews who stand up for truth and justice. Thus, Muslims are under attack from two sides: the extremist rightwing terrorists and Zionist thugs. Unfortunately most European governments support such policies because they serve their broader agenda of wars in the Muslim world. Unless there is a change in policy, Muslims especially in Europe will continue to pay the price. In turn, there will be other terrorist attacks feeding the anti-Muslim frenzy.

Bani Saud and Bani Isra’il: colonial creations

by Zafar Bangash November, 2015 The similarities in origin and policies of the two clans—Bani Saud and Bani Isra’il—are so close that it is difficult to tell them apart. Both are staunch enemies of Islam and Muslims. he British colonialists have inflicted immense damage on the world of Islam. Nothing, however, compares in destructiveness to the imposition of the two illegitimate entities on the holiest places of Islam: the Najdi Bedouins (aka Bani Saud or the House of Saud) in the Arabian Peninsula, especially the Hijaz, and the Zionists in Palestine. One does not have to look far to see the scale of damage inflicted by the two viruses. If the Zionists have vandalized al-Masjid al-Aqsa and al-Haram al-Sharif in al-Quds (Jerusalem), the Najdi Bedouins have demolished historical sites in Makkah and Madinah. They have caused other damage as well: creating fitnah in the Muslim world by spreading the toxic ideas of Wahhabism and imposing them by force in the Arabian Peninsula. Spending $100 billion since 1975, they have propagated these poisonous ideas to other parts of the Muslim world as well. The result has been catastrophic: the poison of sectarianism has seeped so deep into Muslim psyche that it has resulted in mass killings and blowing up of masjids.

These crimes are compounded by the gross incompetence and callousness of Bani Saud in mismanaging the affairs of Hajj. There have been repeated disasters over the years, none more lethal than the twin tragedies that struck this year. First, a massive crane collapsed in al-Masjid al-Haram killing 115 people. This was followed by the stampede at Mina that killed thousands of others. The Najdi Bedouins refuse to provide an accurate figure of deaths beyond what they announced on September 26 — 769 killed and 934 injured. Figures compiled from data provided by other countries whose citizens have died add up to 1,633 dead and hundreds, perhaps thousands still missing and unaccounted for. Hundreds have been buried without their families’ permission or even proper identification so that their loved ones would know where their final resting place is. The Najdi Bedouins simply do not care; that is why they refuse to update their figures. They blame the pilgrims for the deaths or claim it was an “act of God” refusing to accept any responsibility. Muslims, including many governments, allow Bani Saud to get away with such crimes because of a basic misunderstanding. The Haramayn — the two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah — are the most sacred sites in Islam (the third is al-Masjid al-Aqsa). Many Muslims naively assume that the sacredness of the two holy cities somehow extends to the rulers as well. It is such flawed thinking that has prevented Muslims from addressing the problem of Bani Saud seriously.

The Haramayn are the common heritage of the Ummah. They cannot be left in the hands of people that have no regard for human life or the sacred places of Islam. Further, most members of the Najdi Bedouin clan are moral degenerates. It is an insult to Islam to have such people in control of Islam’s holiest places. Their occupation of the Haramayn is on par with the Zionist occupation of al-Masjid al-Aqsa. Both are British creations whose specific aim was to undermine Islam. A brief look at history would clarify this. The idea of creating the Zionist entity in Palestine preceded that of Bani Saud’s “elevation” as British puppets in the Arabian Peninsula. In November 1917, then British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour, responding to Lord Rothschild’s letter, said that the British government viewed with favor the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine provided it did not adversely affect the rights of the indigenous Arab population. Like most European politicians of his time Balfour was an anti-Semite. His promise to Rothschild was meant merely to transfer the “Jewish problem” from Europe to Palestine while securing their financial help in the war.

Bani Saud, from the backwaters of Najd, were latecomers to the game of British intrigue. The British were already thinking of planting a trusted “Mussalman agent” in Makkah and Madinah. The Consul General in Jeddah, James Ernest Napoleon Zohrab, had suggested in a message to the British Foreign Office in 1902 precisely such a step. The aim was to know what went on there. Sharif Husain, vali (governor) of the Ottoman Turks, administered the Hijaz at the time, but his loyalty had already been purchased by the British. The Ottoman paper, The Hijaz, had duly noted the “devilish plans” the British had for the area (Safar 25, 1333ah/1914ce). Both Sharif Husain and ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Saud, head of Bani Saud, vied for British favor. The Najdi Bedouins proved more ruthless; they were brigands and thieves while Sharif Husain led a sedentary life in Makkah and had gone soft. His forces were no match for the murderous thugs of Ibn Saud. Since their occupation of the Haramayn in 1925–1926, Bani Saud have indulged in horrific crimes and perpetrated many sacrilegious acts. Under their control, Hajj has become a series of disasters. This year’s deaths in Mina have surpassed all previous horrors. Bani Saud are simply not capable of managing the affairs of Hajj nor are they fit to be in control of the Haramayn. Like Bani Isra’il, they must be dislodged from the holiest sites of Islam.

Palestine, Syria, Yemen and the Bani Saud

by Zafar Bangash November, 2015 The Bani Saud have launched their crusades in Syria and Yemen because they want to impose governments that would be subservient to them. In Palestine, they have abandoned the Palestinians to the non-existent mercies of the Zionists.

The Zionists’ intensified attacks against innocent Palestinians at a time when Bani Saud are doing the same in Syria and Yemen should not surprise us. Palestinians have endured Zionist occupation for nearly 70 years. Their land has been stolen, their homes demolished, and millions have been turned into refugees scattered around the world. They continue to suffer the daily humiliation of occupation. People under occupation would naturally struggle to throw off their occupiers. In Syria, Bani Saud have spread their poisonous propaganda of takfirism (declaring other Muslims as kafirs) resulting in the killing of more than 200,000 people. The takfiris have also indulged in such pre-Islamic practices as organ-eating and cannibalism. The name Hind bint Utbah (wife of Abu Sufyan), is known to Muslims. In the Battle of Uhud, she ripped open the body of the martyred Hamzah, uncle of the Prophet (pbuh), and chewed his liver. Have the takfiris, who claim to be Muslims, not indulged in similar conduct in Syria? If Bani Saud have financed and armed the takfiri terrorists in Syria, they have unleashed their firepower directly against the people of Yemen. They have relentlessly bombed the entire infrastructure of Yemen destroying power generating stations, water purification plants as well as historic buildings dating back thousands of years. For the Najdi Bedouins, history has no relevance unless it relates to their primitive clan from Dar‘iyyah. After all, Bani Saud have bulldozed all the historical sites of Islam in Makkah and Madinah without so much as a whisper of protest from their court preachers who are quick to scream bid‘ah at anything that does not conform to their primitive views! When they launched their murderous assault on Yemen last March, they alleged that the Ansarallah fighters in northern Yemen were a threat to Makkah and Madinah and planned to take over these sacred cities. Perhaps they thought the rest of the world is as ignorant of geography as they are. Makkah and Madinah are more than 1000km north of the Yemeni border. The Ansarallah fighters had gone south to Sana‘a and Aden.

The truth is that the Ansarallah/Houthi-led movement in Yemen wants an independent Yemen free from the domineering attitude of their northern neighbor while the Najdi Bedouins want to impose their own puppet on the country. They are unlikely to succeed. The same policy is being pursued in Syria with equally unsatisfactory results. Since Russia’s involvement in the fight against the takfiri terrorists, the US-Saudi-Zionist-Turkish policy in Syria is unraveling. This leads to the question: why are the Najdi Bedouins are so determined to get rid of Bashar al-Asad in Syria and vanquish the Ansarallah-Houthis in Yemen but have adopted deathly silence over the Zionist killing of Palestinians? They have spent tens of billions in Syria and Yemen but have not given even one riyal to the Palestinians for self-defence.

Some Muslims speculate that Bani Saud are one of the tribes of Bani Isra’il. They have put on the garb of Islam but are in reality not Muslims. We will not indulge in such speculation but narrate instead what the noble Messenger (pbuh) said about the Najdi Bedouins 1,400 years ago. In a hadith narrated by ‘Abdullah ibn Umar (ra) in Sahih al-Bukhari, the Prophet (pbuh) mentioned the following, “O Allah! Bless for us our Sham [geographical Syria/Levant]; O Allah! Bless for us our Yemen.” They [Muslims in attendance] said, “And our Najd?” He (pbuh) said, “O Allah bless for us our Sham; O Allah! Bless for us our Yemen.” They said, “O Messenger of Allah! And our Najd?” And as if the third time around he (pbuh) said, “There [in Najd] will occur tremors, sedition, and with it shall arise the generation of Satan.” The words used in the Arabic text are qarn al-shaytan, which are often literally translated as the horn of Satan; in this context, however, the Arabic word qarn refers figuratively to a generation (of people) who would do the bidding of Satan while wearing the guise of Islam. This is further corroborated by another hadith, also from Sahih al-Bukhari, in which Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri (ra) narrates the Prophet’s (pbuh) words about the types of Muslims from the tribe of Bani Tamim who were “obsessed” with the “technical” (ritualistic) performance of salah and siyam but were far removed from the din of Islam. The Wahhabi high priest, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab was from the tribe of Bani Tamim and his own brother, Sulayman, told him that he was the one being cited as the “generation of Satan,” which the Prophet (pbuh) had mentioned in his hadith. Do we need to say any more about Bani Saud? Zafar Bangash is Director of the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought

From Masjid al-Haram to Masjid al-Aqsa…

by Zafar Bangash October, 2015 Two sacred mosques in Islam—Masjid al Haram in Makkah and Masjid al-Aqsa in al-Quds (Jerusalem)—are under threat. The global Muslim Ummah must take serious note of these challenges and take appropriate steps. The most sacred mosque in Islam—al-Masjid al-Haram—and the first qibla of the Muslims—al-Masjid al-Aqsa—are under threat: one under the occupation of the Bani Saud, the other under their Zionist kissing cousins, the Bani Isra’il. While Muslim attention is diverted to the ongoing wars in Syria and Yemen, they have been unable to pay adequate attention to what is underway in the two holy sanctuaries. In Makkah and al-Madinah, the Najdi Bedouins (Bani Saud) are busy demolishing anything that stands in their way to build obscene Western style steel, concrete and glass structures turning these holy cities into cheap replica of Las Vegas or Los Angeles. They have no regard for Islamic history or Islamic heritage sites. Their demolition crimes are compounded by their callous disregard for the safety and security of hujjaj during each Hajj. This year’s twin tragedies have brought home to Muslims the utter incompetence of the Bani Saud.

Further to the north in Al-Quds (Jerusalem), the Bani Isra’il have been busy pushing their way into Masjid al-Aqsa. Illegal Zionist squatters from North America and Europe (aka Jewish settlers), they have no regard for Muslim rights—religious, political or social. The pushy Zionists have an enabling regime in Tel Aviv headed by the war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu. The heavily armed Zionist squatters have the full backing of the even more heavily armed Zionist occupation army when they invade and desecrate the holy sanctuary. The Masjid al-Aqsa, the Dome of the Rock and a number of madrassas are located on the holy sanctuary. These are sacred to Muslims and are valiantly being protected by Palestinians with little or no help from anybody. The Zionists have made no secret of their desire to destroy the Masjid al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock to build their mythical third temple in their place. For decades, they carried out excavations underneath the holy site hoping to find some “traces” of the earlier temples but the real reason was to bring down the structures. They found nothing; there was nothing to discover. There have been no traces of the earlier temples but the Zionists have never been constrained by historical facts. In recent years, they have become much more belligerent by attacking the holy sanctuary directly. The Zionists demand the “right” to worship on the holy sanctuary even though Jewish religious law expressly forbids trespassing this sacred space. They have no right to be there.

For Muslims the challenges are clear. The three most sacred sites in Islam—Makkah, al-Madinah and Al-Quds—face a relentless onslaught from thieves and husslers. The current of regimes in the Muslim world will not lift a finger to defend Muslim rights or Islam’s historical sites. The exceptions are the Islamic Republic of Iran and such revolutionary movements as Hizbullah in Lebanon and Ansarallah in Yemen. Together with these, the global Islamic movement must raise its voice and mobilize the Ummah for the defence of its sacred sites. It will not help to protest or even cry once they are destroyed. The time to act is now!

Bani Saud unfit to manage Hajj affairs

by Zafar Bangash October, 2015 The Saudis cannot be left to manage the affairs of Hajj. They are unfit physically and mentally to discharge this great responsibility. It should be taken over by a group of learned scholars backed by properly trained professionals. The massive casualties during this year’s Hajj have far surpassed similar casualties in previous years. They have rekindled debate about the Bani Saud management—or mismanagement—of Hajj and its related activities. They started even prior to formal Hajj ceremonies when on September 11, a large construction crane collapsed into Masjid al-Haram causing 115 deaths and 398 injuries. Strong winds and rainstorm were blamed for the tragedy without addressing the question of why the most sacred mosque in Islam has been turned into a huge construction site with tens of cranes dotting the skyline assaulting the spiritual ambience in such a grotesque way. The hujjaj had not yet overcome the shock of the Haram deaths when an even greater calamity struck at the Jamarat site in Mina on September 24. Initially, the Saudis mentioned 310 deaths gradually revising it upward to 717 dead. The last official figure released by the Saudi regime is 769 dead and some 934 people injured. These bear no resemblance to reality. For instance, on September 28, Pakistani diplomats said Saudi officials had given them photographs of 1,100 dead pilgrims from which to identify their own citizens. Indian diplomats have also corroborated these figures.

What this indicates is that the Saudis have indirectly admitted that at least 1,100 pilgrims died. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on September 28 that the bodies of over 700 African pilgrims had been buried in Saudi Arabia. He mentioned this in the context of Tehran’s demand that the bodies of its pilgrims be returned to Iran. President Hassan Rouhani cut short his trip to the UN General Assembly in New York and returned to Tehran the same day to receive the bodies of Iranian pilgrims but the Saudis created a hurdle and failed to live up to their obligations. The head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, Saeed Ohadi said that 464 Iranian pilgrims had been killed in the stampede at Mina. This is the largest number of casualties of any country. Earlier, he had said that a total of 228 Iranians were confirmed dead with 27 wounded and 248 Iranians still unaccounted for. Among those missing were about 200 Iranian diplomats that prompted Ali Akbar Velayati, former foreign minister and advisor to the Rahbar on International Affairs, to say that the Mina tragedy was highly “suspicious”. He said that the Saudi regime works closely with the Zionist regime and hinted that the diplomats could have been kidnapped. The Rahbar, Imam Seyyed Ali Khamenei issued a strongly worded statement warning the Saudis of a “harsh” response from the Islamic Republic if the bodies of Iranian pilgrims were not returned immediately.

The questions everyone is asking are: how many pilgrims have died and what responsibility does the Saudi regime bear? Also, how did the tragedy occur? It is unacceptable for the Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abd al Aziz al-Sheikh to declare that this was an “Act of God” and the officials bear no responsibility. The Saudi Health Minister Khalid al-Falih has also tried to blame the pilgrims by saying they “did not follow instructions.” The latest casualty figure, as gleaned from a statement by the Saudi Deputy Health Minister Hamad bin Muhammad al-Duweili is 4,173 dead and hundreds perhaps several thousand still missing. True to form, other Saudi officials immediately denied the report without saying what the actual figure was. Foreign diplomats have complained of lack of information and access to hospitals or other facilities to get a true picture of their pilgrims’ plight. How did the tragedy—not the first in Saudi-controlled Arabia—occur beyond the self-serving statements of Saudi officials blaming pilgrims? Reports from survivors at the stampede site have mentioned the arrival of Saudi deputy Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman. The security forces immediately blocked off two streets to allow the Saudi ‘royal’ and his huge entourage to pass through. Also, all exit gates from the Jamarat site were blocked resulting in pilgrims being forced to return the same way they had entered causing a massive crush as other pilgrims were coming in. Who gave the order to shut off the exit routes and why? King Salman bin Abd al Aziz has ordered an inquiry into the stampede. What credibility would such an inquiry have when the Saudi grand mufti has already exonerated officials with the flourish that it was an “Act of God”. The Saudi health minister went even further; he blamed the pilgrims. Perhaps the pilgrims had a death wish!

There is a long list of such tragedies under Saudi control. On November 4, 1979, the Saudi regime brought French and Moroccan commandos to attack and killed 230 people, mostly Saudis that had sought refuge inside al-Masjid al-Haram. They carried out another slaughter on July 31, 1987, when Saudi security forces shot and killed 402 Iranian pilgrims for participating in the bara’at min al mushrikeen march in Makkah. Allah has expressly forbidden even arguments in the precincts of the Haram much less killing anyone (2:197). The other horrific episode was the death by suffocating of 1426 pilgrims in a tunnel on April 17, 1990 when the Saudis block off its exit. The reason? Some prince was passing nearby! These recurring tragedies raise serious questions about the administration and management of Hajj. Unfortunately there is lack of understanding among many Muslims about the Haramayn—the two holy cities of Makkah and al-Madinah. They do not belong to the Najdi Bedouins. They are the common heritage of the entire Muslim Ummah, hence they should be administered by a competent authority of ulama from all schools of thought. Muslim professionals specializing in crowd control, traffic management and flow should assist them. Additionally, Muslims specializing in urban planning should plan the cities of Makkah and al-Madinah as well as how Mina and Arafat are to be developed. The current Saudi practice of building massive structures without regard to pilgrims’ safety and security must stop immediately. Such structures have only added to the problem. The greatest problem, however, is the illegal occupation of the Haramayn by the Najdi Bedouins. If they do not give up their control voluntarily, then the global Islamic movement has to take other measures to rescue the two holy cities from their clutches. Nothing less would do, for the safety of the hujjaj as well as the larger Muslim Ummah.

Hujjaj deaths due to Saudi incompetence

by Zafar Bangash October, 2015

The Bani Saud have once again shown they are totally incompetent and callous. The horrific deaths of 4,173 pilgrims in Mina on September 24 is proof of their crimes. They should be put on trial for crimes against humanity. The Saudi regime has become synonymous with death and destruction, especially for the hujjaj (pilgrims). Those planning to go for Hajj or Umrah often go mentally prepared for some disaster to strike. While such awareness is part of a Muslim’s belief, this year the traditionally incompetent and callous Saudis surpassed their own pathetic record. It was reflected in the horrific death of some 4,000 pilgrims in Mina on September 24. This is by far the worst disaster to strike the hujjaj in living memory. While the Saudi regime and its apologists have admitted to more than 770 deaths, the real death toll is 4,173, according to Hamad bin Muhammad al-Duweili, Deputy Health Minister of Saudi Arabia, as reported on September 29 although the Saudi regime quickly denied the figure. When the news first emerged, the Saudi regime mentioned a figure of 310 deaths, not 300 or 350. Perhaps the 310 figure was meant to lend authenticity to their claim. Informed observers were convinced this figure would soon be surpassed but nobody had imagined it would reach 4,000, much less exceed it.

Eyewitnesses have narrated the sequence of events. The disaster occurred at 9 am local time. Pilgrims traditionally try to complete the first day of stoning ritual as early as possible to be able to shower and change from the ihram (two pieces of unstitched cloth) that they don for the three days of Hajj, into regular clothes. During the three days in ihram, they cannot shower or change clothes. They set out from Mina to Arafat and spend the day there in supplications and ibadat. Before offering Maghrib salat, they begin the short journey to Muzdalifah to offer Maghrib and Isha salat together and then spend the night there under the open sky. The pilgrims also collect pebbles for the next three days of stoning the devils in Mina. Immediately after Fajr salat, they head back to Mina for the first of the three-days of stoning of the Shayateen (devils). Rush on the first day of stoning the biggest Shaytan is heaviest because every pilgrim is heading for the same ritual. This is also the day that disasters frequently occur. Saudi Health Minister Khaled al-Falih blamed the pilgrims for the tragedy. “If the pilgrims had followed instructions, this type of accident could have been avoided,” he said, without explaining what those instructions were apart from blocking their passage. What happened and why has been pieced together from eyewitness accounts. They reported that two streets leading to the stoning site were blocked off. Saudi policemen closed all the gates except one leading to the stoning site creating a bottleneck. Further, the policemen held their arms creating a human chain further restricting the area for pilgrims to move in the scorching heat (it was 46 degrees centigrade in Mina!). Also, pilgrims were directed into small alleys through which other pilgrims, also directed by Saudi policemen, were coming to the stoning site. The Saudi regime and the police have not explained why the other gates were closed. There have been reports (in the Lebanese daily Al-Diyar, for instance, as well as from Nigerian pilgrims) that Saudi deputy Crown Prince and Defence Minister Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s presence in Mina caused the tragedy. He was travelling with a security detail of some 350 personnel. A video has also emerged of his presence there just prior to the stampede. Whenever a Saudi ‘royal’ appears anywhere, the surrounding streets are immediately blocked off. The policemen do not give any reason why they are blocking the streets nor do they bother to inform pilgrims further back not to keep moving toward the bottleneck. Pilgrims remain in the dark about what is happening. While the Saudi regime called the story of blocking streets for ibn Salman as “inaccurate”, it did not deny his presence in Mina. Further, it is customary for the king to receive ‘dignitaries’ in Mina [Hajj is supposed to obliterate all distinctions of class or status yet the Bani Saud reinforce it by their antics]. Whenever any ‘dignitaries’ are moved through Mina, traffic is blocked for them. This naturally causes problems for pilgrims because they cannot move to their intended destination. Muhammad bin Salman has become a symbol of disaster for the Saudis as well as pilgrims. It is under his command as defence minister that the Saudi regime has continued its murderous assault on Yemen even in the sacred months—Dhul Qa‘adah and Dhul Hijjah and the attacks are likely to continue in Muharram. Even the mushriks of Makkah of the Prophet’s (saws) time had more regard for the sacred months but not the uncouth Bedouins from Najd. This year’s Hajj has been an unmitigated disaster from the beginning. It started with the crane disaster in al-Masjid al-Haram, the most sacred site in Islam, on September 11 when a huge construction crane collapsed killing 115 people and injuring 398 others. This was followed on September 17 by a fire in a 1,500-room hotel in Aziziya where mercifully no pilgrims died but several suffered burns and other injuries. This was followed by the largest disaster in living memory of Hajj pilgrims: more than 4,000 pilgrims dead and hundreds injured. Several hundred, perhaps a thousand are still missing and unaccounted for including hundreds of Iranian diplomats. The Saudis have refused to provide any information about them leading Dr Ali Akbar Velayati, advisor on foreign affairs to the Rahbar, Imam Seyyed Ali Khamenei, to call the Mina deaths “suspicious.”

For several years now, the Saudi regime has embarked on a furious construction binge in the name of “providing better facilities” for hujjaj. What they mean by better services in unclear but if the disasters are anything go by, the hujjaj would be better off without such “services”. The Masjid al Haram in Makkah resembles a huge construction site these days. It will remain this way for the foreseeable future under the Najdi Bedouins that have embarked on a 30-year construction spree (more like demolition derby) that will allow nothing to stand in its way: mountains or historical sites dating back to the early days of Islam are being dynamited or bulldozed. The Najdi Bedouins consider nothing sacred except their own primitive artefacts. There are giant cranes everywhere, their long arms hanging over the Haram courtyard like the scaffolding of a hangman’s noose. And it was one of these cranes that brought death to more than 100 pilgrims inside the Haram on September 11. The crane tipped over and collapsed inside the Haram crushing the pilgrims to death. The most sacred space on earth was splattered with blood, an act of supreme sacrilege. The regime’s official explanation was that there were strong winds and the contractor, the Bin Laden Group (does that ring a bell?) did not adhere to proper operating procedures. Who is responsible for their supervision? The regime has ordered members of the group not to leave the kingdom until an inquiry is completed. Its other projects have also been suspended.

The regime has said one million riyals ($270,000) compensation would be paid to each dead victim’s family and half that amount to the injured. Is that enough compensation; more importantly, could these deaths have been avoided? The Saudi regime would say, as they have done in the past over such tragedies, it is God’s Will. But what about those that make decisions about the kind of work that has been undertaken and the giant cranes that assault the spiritual ambience of the Haram? The decision to expand the Haram was made in 2008. It is a $200 billion project that would span 30 years. Yet even such lavish outlays would not alleviate the problem of pilgrim congestion because the entire approach is flawed. Even non-Muslim architects working on the project have pointed this out without visiting Makkah or Madinah. Anyone with even limited understanding of crowd management would point out that the first requirement is to have open space for people to be able to move. Building huge structures, as the Saudis have done all around the Haram and in Mina, only add to the problem. The steel, concrete and glass structures being built around the Haram consist of five- or even seven-star hotels, huge shopping plazas where western gadgets, jewellery, fast food and other junk items are sold. These structures are owned by members of the ruling family. They did not purchase the land from the original owners; they simply confiscated it. Further, these structures are not being built with their money. The ever-obliging court ulama have issued fatwas—what else is new—that they can take money from the Bait al Maal because they are providing services to the pilgrims! This is grand larceny compounded by the fact that rich pilgrims are gouged by attracting them to stay in these over-priced hotels. The idea being promoted is not to have a spiritual experience but to indulge in the worst kind of materialism and showmanship. The purpose of Hajj is to shun materialism and obliterate class differences but the Saudis are pushing Muslims in the opposite direction. The theft of land and resources is one dimension of the problem. More serious is the fact that historical monuments are or have been wiped out. This is a loss that can never be recovered.

The house of the Prophet’s beloved wife Khadijah (ra) in Makkah has been razed and replaced with public toilets. How can the Najdi Bedouins get away with such disrespect and why do the Muslims remain silent? Dar al Arqam at the foot of Mount Safa, where the Prophet (saws) taught his companions for 12 years, has been treated with a little less indignity; it has been levelled and replaced with the Hilton Hotel. Nearly 95 per cent of Makkah’s 1,000-year-old buildings have been destroyed during the past 20 years, according to the Gulf Institute in Washington DC. The Najdi Bedouins’ vandalism destroying Islamic heritage sites is unparalleled. Unfortunately most Muslims have paid scant attention to such destruction. The vast majority have remained ignorant of this fact as well as their significance. Those Muslims that have some awareness have either been silenced by buying them off or the more vocal ones have been marginalized. Inside the Arabian Peninsula, they are thrown in jail; outside, the Najdi Bedouins pay huge sums to buy media outlets or their loyalty so that they would not raise such issues. Facts, however, are stubborn things. Such information is seeping out. The Independent of London has been particularly good about it. There are also occasional articles in other newspapers such as the New York Times. This needs to be highlighted more frequently in order to mobilize global opinion against such destructive practices. Once destroyed, Islamic heritage sites cannot be replaced. Muslims that have had an opportunity to perform Hajj—and it is becoming increasingly difficult because of over-pricing as well as the Saudis’ imposition of a quota system completely contrary to the teachings of the Qur’an—have experienced other problems. Deaths of pilgrims have become a common occurrence. Last month’s deaths in Haram when the crane collapsed as well as the deaths in Mina were not the first and will not be the last. The Najdi Bedouins’ incompetence is compounded by their callousness and absolute bloody-mindedness. The Qur’an categorically states that there should be no lewd speech, wicked conduct or quarrelling during pilgrimage (2:197) yet the Najdi Bedouins have slaughtered hundreds of pilgrims in Makkah during Hajj. On Jul 31, 1987, more than 400 Iranian hujjaj many of them women, were mercilessly gunned down or trampled to death when Saudi soldiers opened fire on them. What was the pilgrims’ crime to deserve such fate? They were participating in the Bara’at min al-mushrikeen march as commanded by Allah in the noble Qur’an (9:03). There have been other horrific events. On January 12, 2006, 346 pilgrims were killed at the foot of the Jamarat Bridge when they came to perform the stoning of the Shaytan rites. More than 1,000 others were injured. The stampede occurred only a few days after 76 hujjaj were killed when the building they were staying in collapsed. Such stampedes are common as evidenced by the fact that two years earlier, another 250 pilgrims were crushed to death. And in February 2011, 145 pilgrims, most of them Pakistani women, were crushed to death at the same site for stone throwing rites. The September 24 deaths have surpassed all these disasters with its death toll of 4,173 and counting. In 1990, there was a similar disaster in a tunnel between Makkah and Mina. More than 1400 pilgrims suffocated inside when the Saudi policemen blocked the exit from the tunnel because some prince and his entourage were passing by. In the 25-year period, it seems nothing has changed. As part of their explanation about the Mina disaster, the Saudi regime also indulged in racism. Yes, the Najdi Bedouins are quite racist. They accused the African pilgrims of not following “instructions”. The regime’s spokesmen have not explained what instructions were issued and how they failed to abide by them. Eyewitnesses have said they were forced into narrow congested alleys. There was movement in both directions. Surely, the pilgrims did not choose to go into those alleys to be suffocated; they were ordered to go in there. Again, the regime has not explained why the gates were closed and why pilgrims were forced into the alleys. Eyewitness accounts lend credence to reports of the arrival of Muhammad bin Salman in Mina. This would account for the gates’ closure and indeed closure of several nearby streets so that ‘his royal highness’ could pass without hindrance. This is typical of Saudi behaviour. Even when the disaster struck, it took more than two hours for rescue teams to arrive. The few Saudi policemen with protruding bellies just stood there, looking at the carnage without lifting a finger to help the injured. Other pilgrims helped those that were injured and gave them water to drink.

There was only a small contingent of rescue workers that came and instead of helping the injured to save their lives, they started picking up the dead bodies. This reflects their complete lack of management and rescue skills. The standard operating procedure after any accident, such as a road accident, is to tend to the injured and leave the dead alone. The dead cannot be helped but if the injured do not get timely help, they may also die. This is precisely what happened in Mina: the Saudi rescue teams busied themselves with picking up bodies of the dead. The aftermath of the disaster has been marred by equally callous behaviour of the Saudis. Dead bodies were dumped into trucks as if they were garbage. Little effort was made to ensure proper name tags on bodies for easy identification later. Egyptian pilgrims have confirmed that the Saudi policemen insultingly demanded of them to go and identify some bodies to determine whether they were Egyptians. People looking for loved ones or friends were provided little help. The regime set up a telephone helpline but those that called have reported that it was a waste of time. They got little or no information. Pilgrims made the rounds of hospitals and the morgue outside Mina in search of loved one but were given no information. Even Muslim countries’ consular officials found the Saudis quite unhelpful. As a consequence of the latest disaster to strike the pilgrims, there are renewed calls for taking the management of Hajj affairs from the hands of the Saudi regime. These should be administered by a committee of competent ulama from different Muslim countries, as suggested by Hizbullah Secretary General Shaykh Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah. The Rahbar, Imam Seyyed Ali Khamenei of Iran declared three days of mourning and said the Saudi regime must accept full responsibility for the latest disaster. He also demanded that the Saudi regime should offer an apology for its failure to protect the pilgrims.

Sayyed Nasrallah to Saudi Invaders: Yemeni People will Triumph, You’ll be Defeated

Marwa Haidar Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah lashed out at Saudi Arabia over its war on Yemen, stressing that the failure of Riyadh’s foreign policy is the real reason behind the Kingdom’s attack against its neighbor. Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan NasrallahIn a televised speech aired on al-Manar TV, Sayyed Nasrallah called on Saudi Arabia to halt its military attack on Yemen, saying there’s still a chance for the Kingdom to change its mind over the assault. In this context, the Lebanese resistance leader stressed that the only solution for the Yemeni crisis is political, “or else the invaders will be defeated.” Meanwhile, his eminence said that the problem in Yemen is not because Saudi Arabia wants to defend a government or a president; it is rather because Saudi Arabia has lost its influence in Yemen. “If the aim of the war on Yemen is to save the Yemeni people, then why did Saudi Arabia abandon the Palestinian people for long decades?” Sayyed Nasrallah meanwhile said that the latest developments in Yemen prove “that Arab states have never considered Israel an enemy.” “Saudi Arabia has opposed the revolution which had overthrown Hosni Mubarak. Why didn’t they form a coalition to strike Egypt?” “Baseless Pretext” Hezbollah leader meanwhile elaborated the pretexts used by the Saudi Arabia to justify it war on Yemen, saying they are "baseless" pretexts. “Pretext that Yemen represents a threat to Gulf states is baseless,” Sayyed Nasrallah said, adding that “one of the most big lies Saudi Arabia has been propagating is that Iran is occupying Yemen.” The major mentality of Saudi Arabia is that it does not recognize the rights of the peoples of the region, his eminence said.

Failed Policy “Where are the achievements of Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy since 30 years ago?” Sayyed Nasrallah wondered, stressing that the failure of Riyadh’s policy “is prompting the people of the region to resort to Iran.” Sayyed Nasrallah furthermore accused the Saudi Arabia of being inciting the Iraqi Dictator, Saddam Hussein to wage the war against Iran in the last century. He added that Riyadh has been behind the terrorist crimes committed by the Takfiri suicide bombers in Iraq and Syria. “What did you do for Iraq? You had funded the war waged by Saddam Hussein against Iran. You supported Saddam Hussein as he was committing genocide against Iraqi people. You had also supported George Bush in his war on Iraq. And when the Iraqi people resisted the US occupation you had supported al-Qaeda-linked groups and Takfiri militants, and ISIL is your latest crime.” “The Saudi intelligence was sending the booby-trapped cars and funding the suicide attacks on the Iraqi cities. You have sent the Takfiri monsters to Syria not to save the Syrian people, but to subdue Syria. However Syria will remain free and independent,” Sayyed Nasrallah said referring to Saudi Arabia. Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that it’s the Yemeni people's right to defend their country against the Saudi airstrikes. The invaders have been defeated throughout history, Sayyed Nasrallah said, noting that the airstrikes alone don’t determine the looser and the winner of a battle, and that there is still the ground battle which has the final word. Dialogue, STL, Presidential Vote On the other hand, Hezbollah S.G. stressed that the dialogue between the resistance party and the Future movement is still going on, noting that the move is a national interest. “We will go on with the dialogue with Future movement since it is considered a national interest.” Concerning the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is tasked with probing the 2005 assassination of former Premier Rafiq Hariri, Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that all its trials and rules do not concern Hezbollah. “We are not concerned with all events related to the STL, and what was said during its sessions has no legal value.” Responding to claims that Iran is hindering the preidnetial elections in Lebanon, Sayyed Nasrallah said: “Iran has not interfered in the presidential elections, and will not do so. Tehran is not responsible for the current deadlock.” His eminence however, stressed that Saudi Arabia is hindering the presidential vote. “Saudi FM, Saud al-Faisal, he who is vetoing the election of the candidate who has the majority within the Christians in Lebanon.”

You’re 36, you’re beautiful, and you’re mine!

by Abu Dharr February, 2015 The Islamic revolution in Iran turns 36 this month. To survive in a cruel world dominated by greedy barons and vultures is a remarkable achievement. Islamic revolutions don’t come easy. Islamic revolutions are not the products of political negotiations. And Islamic revolutions are not cheap. This basic understanding has escaped the aging leaders of Islamic movements in Arab and non-Arab countries. This has been a difficult lesson to learn. What attests to this are the past four to five years of upheavals, internecine warfare, and mass arrests and detentions of Islamic activists from the Islamic sunrise in Indonesia to the Islamic sunset in Morocco and Algeria. Libya is a failing state; Somalia is a failed state; Tunisia is an unfulfilled state; Egypt is a frustrating state; Sudan is a fledgling state; Turkey is a fluctuating state; and Iraq and Syria are factionalized states. We can go on and on describing such states as Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria just to name a few. But there is one state that stands out; and that state is the Islamic State in Iran. This Islamic resourceful ingenuity has withstood the test of time. Enemies came at it from all directions. There were the internal seculars and sectarians, there were the external Zionists and imperialists; there were wars and assassinations. You can say that the same forces that have been at work against the Islamic movements in Egypt (the deep state), in Tunisia (the secular parties), in Libya (the combination of seculars and sectarians), in Turkey (the military), etc; all these and others were busy hatching their plots and deploying their forces to defeat the Islamic Revolution in Iran and they were all defeated, hands down!

Even the sanctions and economic warfare could not change the course of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. The Islamic Revolution continues to build its infrastructure not giving in to shoddy upper class lifestyles or to the gratification that comes from the contemptible consumerism across the Gulf in Dubai, Doha, Dammam and other markets of materialistic acquisitions and indulgences. Granted, there are individuals and even identities within Islamic Iran who want to “break loose” from the distinct discipline and societal self-restraint that are requisites of an Islamic practical paradigm. The Qur’an and the Prophet (pbuh) teach us that every society shall have its malcontents, mutineers, and munafiqs. The Islamic Revolution in Iran triumphed over the large-scale threats it endured from them with patience and purpose. Not only was the Islamic Revolution successful in affixing Islam to Iran, it went a step further and secured a forward Islamic base in Lebanon. Hizbullah is the natural extension of Islamic Iran onto the borders of occupied Palestine. For anyone who is not afraid to listen to the truth, Hizbullah — the projection of the Islamic Revolution hundreds of miles away — is the only force that has put the fear of God into the Zionist occupation. Zionist civilian and military personnel are scared stiff of Hizbullah and the Islamic resistance. Some of us may need a memory boost: prior to the Islamic Revolution and Hizbullah, the Arabian regimes and their client, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), were flourishing failures who limped from one setback and defeat to another. Then came the no-nonsense Islamic combatants, hailing from a history that understands martyrdom and jihad to show the cowards of Zion midday stars and nocturnal nightmares.

When the Arabian rulers were sleeping at the wheel, these re-embodiments of the sacrifices of Badr and Uhud, Siffin and Karbala’ engaged and gripped the Zionists hiding behind their technological military with a fierce and uncompromising military confrontation that eventually kicked the Israelis out of Lebanon (in 2000), and sapped their morale and arrogance in the heroic defense of Lebanon (in 2006). Imam Khomeini (may he be engulfed in His mercy) as is Imam Khamenei would be proud of these Muhammadi-Husayni warriors who have inflicted serious psychological and military blows upon the Zionist felons and Israeli brigands — those who stole the Holy Land. The spirit of the Islamic Revolution lives on in the valiant warriors and fearless fighters of Hizbullah and the Islamic resistance. The Israelis in the past month after their premeditated attack that killed several brave Hizbullahis near Quneitrah, Syria are worried as they for sure remember Sayyid Hasan Nasrullah’s words from last year when he said that the Golan shall become another confrontational front against the brutal Zionist occupiers. These Hizbullahi personnel were not at the front line of confrontation to “shoot the breeze.” They were there — as they previously were in South Lebanon and Ghazzah — to work out a plan that will draw the snobbish Israeli military into a bleeding confrontation. Thanks to the Hizbullahi legacy of shahadah, the self-admiring Israeli military is mired in bewilderment as to how, when, and where the response of Hizbullah will be?! Last summer, the Israelis were confounded when they saw the fighters of Hamas pop up from beneath the ground and open fire on them from behind, and from one side or another. What if Hizbullah fighters were to pop up from their tunnels beneath the Lebanese-Palestinian borders and commence guerrilla warfare in al-Jalil (the Galilee)? The Israeli head-honchos are particularly alarmed and petrified to have killed an Iranian general who was in the company of those Hizbullahis. Little do the Israelis know, but they are — through their meddling in the internal affairs of Syria and Iraq — setting the stage for a massive people’s war against their military occupation of Palestine. Syria as a civil society has been destroyed. Iraq as a civil society has been devastated. There is no sturdy infrastructure left in either Syria or Iraq. Over 60 million Syrians and Iraqis, due to Zionist inspired policies and strategies, no longer have a society to speak of. The Zionist/imperialist strategy is turning into a stratagem. The unintended consequence of turning Syria and Iraq into failed states will rebound in militarizing their populations. Why would the Syrians and Iraqis, after the virtual destruction of their societies, want to rebuild them when the source of all their problems — the Zionists — can and will destroy them all over again. The virtual destruction of Syria and Iraq is the first step toward the liberation of Palestine. We know that behind the scenes, the Arabian regimes are cheering for Israel. They can’t tolerate an Islamic victory over Zionist aggression and occupation. A pathogen dwells deep down inside their inner-self: it is called chronic failure and spasmodic defeat. They make up for their failures and defeats by rank hypocrisy and insipid statements. We address ourselves now to the Arabian officials borne of defeatism and surrender: 1. Hizbullah is a godsend, betrothed to an Ummah that is still feeling its way. 2. The reputation of Hizbullah is excellent, first rate, and exceptional (don’t allocate a media budget in the hundreds of millions of dollars to extinguish the light of Allah – swt). 3. We remind you, as your red-light-district nights may have taken a toll on you, that Hizbullah kicked the rear of the Zionists and their foot-soldiers out of Beirut in 1982. Hizbullah liberated Lebanon from Zionist occupation in 2000 and Hizbullah incapacitated your idol the Zionist offense force in the Summer of 2006. What did you — the night creatures of Riyadh and Dubai — do for the Lebanese when they were occupied? And for the Palestinians when they are still occupied? What are your accomplishments: Camp David? Oslo? Or is it your pleading and begging the Zionists and imperialists to protect you from Islamic Iran? 4. The Islamic Revolution and the Islamic resistance are noble followers of Imam Husayn (a) who fought the tyrant Yazid. Whose side are you on? Since Karbala’ we have endured persecution, discrimination, and all types of innuendo. Even today you officials in Arabia — high on Zionism and imperialism — never tire of accusing us of “bid‘ah,” “dalalah,” and even “kufr”! We have no time for your nonsense. There is an enemy who has occupied al-Quds and the Holy Land. We dare you to stand with us against that enemy. 5. Was it not we, the followers of the Prophet, the supporters of Imam ‘Ali, and the champions of Imam Husayn (a) who channeled missiles to our Palestinian brothers through Sudan into Egypt so that our Sunni brothers in Hamas and Islamic Jihad are able to defend themselves and potentially go on the offensive against the Zionist military muggers and civilian criminals? Where were you when all of this was happening? In the hotspots of southern Spain? The casinos of Europe, or the red-light districts of Bangkok and Singapore? 6. If this “Sunni-Shi‘i” bug is so entrenched in you, then go ahead and initiate your equivalent of Hizbullah who will take on the Zionist occupation. Or are you beholden to the Zionist interest and are incapable of even accommodating the thought? The Islamic Revolution gave us Hizbullah. The Saudi volition gave us takfiris. Hizbullah fights the Zionists; the takfiris fight the Muslims. Go figure. Thirty-six years is enough time for anyone to wake up; wouldn’t you say? “Then, let all compete as [are willing to] compete for things of high account…” (Qur’an 83:26).

Islamic revolution at 36

by Zafar Bangash February, 2015 How the Islamic revolution in Iran has survived for 36 years despite unrelenting aggression from imperialist and Zionist powers is inspirational. It is the commitment of the people of Iran to Islam and the taqwa of its muttaqi leadership. Given so much turmoil in the world, especially in the Muslim East (aka the Middle East), there is one country in the region — Islamic Iran — that stands out as a beacon of light and stability. Despite decades of illegal Western-imposed sanctions that are still in place, external invasion and massive internal sabotage, it is truly remarkable that the Islamic State is not only standing but making good progress. Other countries would have collapsed long ago. What accounts for Iran’s stability and progress? It would be wrong to assume that just because it is endowed with huge oil and gas wealth, it is able to weather the storm. After all, other oil producers — Iraq, Libya, even Syria and Saudi Arabia — are gripped by turmoil. Iraq has been devastated by repeated invasions and sanctions. Islamic Iran, too, has been subjected to this kind of aggression, ironically even from Iraq, yet it stands strong. Libya is completely broken; there is no government to talk of. Syria is engulfed in a war instigated and financed from abroad. It has been able to withstand this grand conspiracy thanks to the support it has received from Hizbullah (Iran’s ally) and Iran itself. And the artificial Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, despite being described as an “island of stability” by US President Barack Obama (January 28) — Saudis beware, remember Jimmy Carter’s fateful words about declaring the Shah’s regime as an “island of stability” in late 1977 — is teetering on the brink. Its survival is no longer assured and it is not only because it just lost a king or that the new one is also old and suffers from dementia. Its internal contradictions are catching up.

What accounts for Iran’s stability and progress? It can be summed up in one word: Islam. Iran has embarked on the Islamic path to address the needs of its people as well as establish a system in which the downtrodden and the oppressed are treated fairly. True, Islamic Iran is not perfect; there never has been or will be a perfect state but it is far better than almost all others. Unlike Saudi Arabia or Pakistan, Iran’s adherence to Islam is not superficial. There is a genuine commitment to live up to Islamic ideals. It is evident in the simplicity of its leaders, starting with the Rahbar, Imam Seyyed Ali Khamenei, that trickles down all the way to the lowest level. Taqwa (the active self-consciousness of Allah’s (swt) power-presence) flows from the top; when the leaders are muttaqi, they inspire those below to emulate their example. And wealth is not concentrated in the hands of a rapacious few at the top. In every other Muslim society, taqwa exists largely among the poor, downtrodden masses (or whatever their understanding of it) but it does not spread to those at the top. Instead, there is concentration of wealth in their hands at the top. This creates resentment and, therefore, instability in society. It is not surprising that few Muslim societies have any stability; Turkey and Malaysia can be cited as exceptions but in a limited sense.

Two other remarkable aspects of Islamic Iran are its total independence from foreign influence or interference, and no external debt. Measured on any scale, these are absolutely outstanding achievements. Western predatory powers do not tolerate any country exercising independent judgment; they use their massive military muscle to beat the recalcitrant country back into line. They have tried this with Islamic Iran as well for nearly four decades but have failed miserably. Similarly, by not being part of the international financial system — Iran is not a member of the Bank of International Settlements, an institution dominated by international banksters and thieves — it has skillfully avoided the capitalist financial fraud perpetrated regularly to impoverish others while accumulating wealth in the hands of the few. Only adherence to true Islamic principles enables people to withstand such pressure. Iran is the embodiment of such values and a model for other Muslims to emulate, if only they can take off their sectarian blinkers.