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Rajab 25, 1428/ August 9, 2007 #62
New Trend ahead of the curve, even ahead of the New York
Times, about U.S. bombing of Afghan civilians: With thanks
to Sis. Carolyn, our Christian friend
Hajji Mir Gul held Bashir Ahmed, his 2-year-old grandson,
at the British base in Sangin. NATO doctors had removed
shrapnel from the boy's abdomen and warned that he might
not survive.
British Criticize U.S. Air Attacks in Afghan Region
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/09/world/asia/09casualties.html?hp
SANGIN, Afghanistan A senior British commander in
southern Afghanistan said in recent weeks that he had asked
that American Special Forces leave his area of operations
because the high level of civilian casualties they had
caused was making it difficult to win over local people...
Bismi l Lahi r Rahmani r Raheem
Obama vs. Osama
by Na'im AbdurRafi
That's the match-up we want. For America. For the world. For
the kids who signed for education and must give arms and legs.
And for the unborn.
For the sake of discussion let's assume there is an Osama. And
that he is the legitimate face of the jihad. Certainly there
is a jihad. How could there not be with Beck, Hannity, and
Savage inspiring a crusade? Why else did Sergeant Akbar roll
those grenades? (Assuming he did.)
I saw the planes on television—and I visited Ground Zero. I
believe the wildfires are raging. And the bridges are
collapsing. A good friend worked in the Katrina aftermath.
So I believe it happened. I was flooded out of my home in
upstate New York. It's been happening.
And Obama can stop it. He can win for America and the world.
And Osama will win too.
When you go to the table everybody's got to win. That's what
should have happened after 9/11. "Okay, you made your point.
We get it. What can we do to settle this thing?"
I think Obama understood all along. He has always been
against the war. He knew the deal.
Certainly he understands now. He has said he would talk.
(Actually the talks should start now. Obama would and should
get the credit--and the presidency.)
And Obama has said he would invade Pakistan. Translation:
"Hey, Osama, come to the table."
"No problem," responds Osama. "I know the Qur'an. Just been
waiting for the invitation."
And what do the Muslims want? That's easy:
-
Stop killing us as you have been doing for decades—just
because we are Muslims;
-
Stop the proxy wars implemented by renegades from Islam
posing as leaders in the "Muslim World";
-
Stop pandering to the youth as a means of promoting Western
"freedom" where Islam is firmly rooted. That's sedition. Duh.
And tell Israel to relax, for God's sake. "Look out Moishe.
Muslim power go' get yo' mama." (Thank you, Julius Lester.)
Relax, Moishe. Read the Qur'an. Yo' mama is safe with Osama.
(And yo' mama is safe with Obama.)
Learn more at http://deencom.com
May Allah Most High guide and protect us.
August 2007.
[The writer is a prominent Muslim writer and poet from
upstate New York.]
Extraordinary Letter to New Trend from Pakistan
Abdul Rashid Ghazi [shaheed] was like a brother to him:
Islamic revolution in Pakistan is coming, reader says
Dear Brother,
Asalam O Alekum
Your mails are very welcomed and I am thankful for this favor.
My life's best and memorable part is that which I have spent
being in contact with Brother Ghazi, who in my opinion has
performed the greatest Jihad as Imam Hussain.
Now Pakistan is turning. Inqilaab is not too far away.
Maulana Abdul Aziz is also like brother to me as I
also call him Bhai, ( my father is his legal advisor and
counsel ). Maulana is in high sprit and his morale is also
high. He is now hope of millions of Muslims. I believe that
sacrifice of shuhada of Lal Masjid will achieve its
goal and we all will witness Inqilaab.
Sajawal Hashmat
OUR AMERICA: Three items from New Trend's
Media Monitor
August 8: We mourn the execution style murder of three
students and serious injury to one in Newark, New Jersey.
Violence in America has taken on pandemic proportions. The
overall egocentric culture teaches love of wealth and things,
develops desire for physical and financial power and
minimizes respect for elders, values and religion.
Christianity has become a mere "feel good" cult which gives
no sense of direction or purpose to young people.
The cult of drugs, weapons and sex is rampant. It is being
deliberately and systematically directed at young people. We
urge readers in the Black community to write to BET and TV 9
to protest the degradation of humanity these TV channels are
disseminating. One recent movie more or less provided the
scenario for the Newark murders
As the arrest of a 15 year old and a 31 year old [August 9]
in the crime shows, violent power action affects a whole
range of people all the way from early teens to near middle
age. The race factor is never too far from the hatred and
insensitivity displayed in these crimes.
If Only Pakistanis were to Listen to Bush!
August 9, 2007: During his press conference President Bush
pointed out that the imposition [by General Musharraf] of
Emergency Rule in Pakistan is not being contemplated. He was
emphatic that there is "good intelligence sharing" between
Pakistan and the U.S. He added that he and Musharraf have
the same concern about "extremists and radicals." About
intelligence sharing, Bush said "we talk to Pakistan
continually" so there is no question of unilateral action
by the U.S. He was responding to the concern about his
earlier statement that "we" would take action against
Pakistan if "actionable intelligence" were available about
the presence of Osama bin Laden and others, somewhat like
the position taken by Barack Obama.
Bush explained that "we" means the U.S. and Pakistan
governments working together. He added that he wants "free
elections" in Pakistan.
{ Ed. note: Musharraf's regime plays a trick on Pakistanis
which always works: He pretends that Pakistan is acting
against "terrorists" because it is in Pakistan's interest
to do so. The U.S. cannot do anything in Pakistan, he claims.
Naive Pakistanis, bravely nationalistic, are taken in by this
disinformation. The fact is that Musharraf cannot do anything
unless it is approved by Washington. Democracy is
meaningless in Pakistan. It will be "American democracy" or
"military democracy."}
[Now don't laugh at this: Bush concluded by saying: "We don't
torture." He really wants Guantanamo to be closed down,
he said.]
The Pakistani opposition should concede that Musharraf has
some "slick operators" who can fool just about any
politician. Top of the line are Choudhury Shujaat Hussain
and Mushahid Hussain, "leaders" of the political party
fabricated by Musharraf known as Muslim League [Q}, under the
pretense that it represents Qaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah!
Shujaat was also used to misdirect the people of Jamia Hafsa.
Owais Ahmed Ghani, Governor of Baluchistan, who was in
the U.S. in the last two weeks, is excellent. He even has a
beard, dresses like a Pakistani and speaks excellent English.
He proudly told American audiences that Pakistani intelligence
was responsible for the murder of Islamic leader Abdullah
Mehsud recently [New Trend reported his funeral in South
Waziristan]. Ghani is proud that although Karzai was not able
to kill Mehsud in spite of heavy NATO presence in Helmand
province, he was caught and killed by Pakistani special
forces as soon as he entered Baluchistan [Zhob area].
Afghanistan According to Bush and Karzai: Joint
Press Statements
August 6: At the end of his visit with President Bush, Karzai,
the ruler of Kabul, declared that there is no danger to his
government from the Taliban. He claimed that the Taliban are
"a force that's defeated, it's a force that is frustrated."
He claimed that the Taliban are "killing children." [He says
this every time he visits the U.S. When he goes back, he puts
out feelers asking the Taliban to negotiate with him.] Karzai
tells fabricated stories about martyrdom operators. He thinks
they are "brainwashed." We are fighting "evil," he proclaims.
"They are buying and selling suicide bombers" he claimed.
Karzai's stories are becoming less and less believable.
Observers in Afghanistan admit, most of southern, southwestern
and eastern Afghanistan are now in Taliban hands. The NATO
forces do not move without heavy weapons and air cover.
President Bush was even more interesting. He came up with the
weird claim that the U.S. is killing Afghan civilians because
Taliban use them as "human shields." The President seems to
have the idea that Taliban are not Afghans, have no families,
and come from "outside" to torment the Afghan people. Karzai
thinks that NATO and U.S. troops are not occupiers. After all
his regime depends on them.
Karzai and Bush claimed that they would break the back of the
Taliban. Haven't the Taliban heard that before from the
British and the Canadians and the Australians? How long will
these "leaders" keep fooling the American people.
New Trend observers say that Karzai cleverly puts the blame
on the Taliban for poppy cultivation and export to the west.
All the highways and transportation systems in Afghanistan
are controlled by NATO and the U.S. air force. There is no
way that the drug trade could come out of Afghanistan without
the consent of NATO, Pakistan and Iran.
Islam in America.
The Lack of Accountability among Muslim Fundraisers.
We have received the following rare, courageous letter in the
context of the fund raiser held at ADAMS Center, Virginia,
on July 29 supported by Mahdi Bray and "Imam" Magid to
collect funds for Asma Hanif's women's project. The show had
Native Deen singers as its highlight, a group supported
by the State Department and various U.S. embassies. Mauri
Saalakhan, who is notorious for always being there when
money is being collected, like the fly buzzing around dirt,
went to the extent of justifying, in writing, Native Deen's
State Department-sponsored trip. What is happening to our
Muslim communities when opportunists like Mauri Saalakhan,
Mahdi Bray, "Imam" Magid, Native Deen etc can project
themselves as leaders to squeeze money out of the Ummah?
[Investigator's comment.]
Re: Fund Raising Activity / Conflict of Interest:
ADAMS Center on July 29, 2007
I applaud New Trend magazine for the consistent efforts made
to investigate fundraising activity in the Muslim community.
I was appalled to learn about the conflict of interest between
organizers of the recent fundraiser for homeless Muslim women
and staff of Asma Hanif. We need to hold groups accountable
that do public fundraising in our communities for activities
that fade away from the public view as soon as the money is
collected.
Case in point, in the days leading up to the recent
fundraiser held at ADAMS Center for homeless Muslim women,
emails were sent several times a day requesting the
community to buy tickets for this event.
However, not a single email has been sent to the community
since to give an account of how much was actually raised
and how that money will be distributed! More troubling
is the fact that the organizers of the event made phone calls
requesting donations to pay for a shelter but no
accountability of funds collected has been made public to the
community. Looks like the carpetbaggers have descended on
our community to play on our sympathies!
The sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) enjoins each Muslim to
avoid suspicious actions that create fitnah in the
community. Groups that expect the public to donate large
sums of money should also expect to be report back to the
community and be held accountable for the money they
collect. Keep up the good work, New Trend, and keep the
pressure on these groups to be open, public, and accountable!
Umm Muhammad [Washington, DC]
Letter: Reader Says New Trend Misunderstood Native Deen:
Joshua Salaam is a Good Family Man
I know Bro. Joshua personally and many times he has publicly
stated his anger with America's foreign policy. If you look
again at some of his posts you will see this. I know Joshua
personally as a great family man with the utmost respect for
women. Many Muslim men think that taking care of children,
cooking and cleaning is the woman's duty, but not Joshua. I
have personally seen him taking care of his children and
their mother in the most caring and respectful way.
In addition to this, there is absolutely no link between
Native Deen's goal of spreading Islam to youth who already
look up to American rappers and the disgusting antics of the
Bush Administration. The author of this article doesn't
realize the situation our Muslim youth in these countries,
where they idolize everything American and think that to be
"cool" means imitating Eminem, 50 cent, etc. The Qur'an
states that Allah will not change a condition of a people
until they change what is in themselves. Our youth are being
lost and all we are talking about is politics.
If we want real change to happen, we need to fill the mosques
with our youth. This is Native Deen's goal and was the
methodology of the Prophet (SAW). The Prophet (SAW) would
teach the youth of Mecca using the support of his uncle but
never once changed his message of tawheed. Joshua Salaam has
never supported the overseas activities of the Bush
Administration and I heard him personally condemning the
actions of these governments publicly - once during a
performance. His only intention was to reach the youth in
these countries with a positive Islamic message. The youth
are the future of Islam and we need to do all we can to save
them. I encourage you to watch the videos of the trips to
Palestine, Africa and the Middle East that they have on the
website and see how Native Deen inspired the youth in that
part of the world.
Ahmad Landa
Letter: Re: Native Deen:
Why we should not be singing and clapping along
Your article on how most of us have been so drowned in the
frivolities of this world so much so that it is as if we are
in a perpetual state of slumber is indeed true. Your last
line "Think of Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Jamia Hafsa, the
Red Mosque, Babri Masjid, Kashmir, Somalia, Sudan, Malcolm X,
Imam Jamil, 90 years for Masaud Khan, a blind Hafiz-e-Qur'an
in prison year after year, and you won't be singing along and
cheering and clapping and wasting your money on 'white
elephant' million dollar projects" got me thinking that most
of us are accountable. Remember Rasoolullah's [pbuh] hadith
about the ummah being a body in which a part hurts and
the entire body hurts with it.
The good thing is we are waking up from our sleep but it is
happening slowly. InshAllah the woke ones will actively
participate in the job of waking more and so it may be an
exponential rise. I just think the state of "I am not the
one in prison so there's really not much I can do help the
innocent Muslims who are held in bondage" is where most
Muslims are. We forget there's no "I" in UMMAH. Yes it is
true the least we can do is think it's wrong but do we have
to be stagnated at that level of iman? The blatant
answer is NO!
Just think about this: if your blood brother was the one
truly held in unjust captivity would you be asleep? Again the
answer is NO.
So if the bond of deen is supposed to be as strong or in some
cases stronger than that of blood, shouldn't we be wide awake.
So I write this challenging [yes challenging; Umar ibn
al Khattab, r.a., asked us to race each other in good deeds]
all the readers of NT that we need to wake up for good and
answer the call for efforts to support the oppressed.
[By the way that's the reason I enthusiastically await every
next NT release. It is one of the very few magazines that see
oppression for what it is when it happens and speaks
against it].
Just remember if we don't wake up now for Palestine,
Afghanistan, Iraq, Jamia Hafsa, the Red Mosque, Babri Masjid,
Kashmir, Somalia, Sudan, Malcolm X, Imam Jamil, 90 years for
Masaud Khan, a blind Hafiz-e-Qur'an in prison year after year,
who will? wa salamualaekum wa rahmatullah!
Jubril [Pennsylvania].
DAMN THE DUTCH! BOYCOTT ALL OF THEIR PRODUCTS!!!!
by Sis. Labeebah
An abusive Dutch man urged a BAN on the Qur'an! Sis.
Labeeba, an African-American Muslimah, teacher and activist,
urges the Muslim world to BAN ALL BUSINESS with the Dutch.
She has a point. The Dutch, a virulently close minded
nation, are known for their hatred of Islam and Muslims. They
are closely allied to Israel and have occupation troops with
NATO in Afghanistan. Let us not forget that the worst
massacre the Serbs carried out against Bosnian Muslims was
made possible by the Dutch at Srebrenica. The Dutch were
supposedly guarding the Muslim population but they did
NOTHING when the Serbs went in and slaughtered unarmed people
by the thousands.
More recently, a leading Dutch film producer, with the
support of a notorious Islam hater from Somalia, Hirsi Ali,
produced a desecration of Islam and the Qur'an under the
guise of a movie. When a Moroccan Muslim could not stand the
abuse of Islam and killed the movie maker, the Dutch
population went into action and burned numerous mosques and
Islamic schools in Holland.
So that Muslims know the kind of blind hatred emanating from
Holland, here is the article Sis. Labeebah has sent.
Dutch MP Calls for ban on Qur'an
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FAEC4703-83E2-44DA-9DA4-1A7702C354C1.htm
America's Desperate Egyptian Puppet Puts Peace Loving
Opponents on Trial
By Yvonne Ridley in Cairo
While Israel holds the Palestinian people under military
occupation and Americans under political occupation it seems
they also have also seized occupation of the legal system in
neighbouring Egypt.
There can be no other reasonable explanation for the latest
insane actions of Egypt's leader Hosni Mubarak whose long
distance relationship with democracy is only matched by his
record on human rights and justice.
If evidence is needed then look no further at the 226 members
of the Muslim Brotherhood who are awaiting military trial as
I write this column or the 792 who have been detained without
charge by the security forces since last spring.
The Muslim Brotherhood is a non-violent organisation which
promotes peaceful politics and, in addition, expresses
solidarity with the Palestinian people including Hamas. And
that is the problem; it is the Muslim Brotherhood's attitude
to Israel which has induced the US to order Mubarak to
eliminate "the problem".
Hamas, as we know, is regarded as a terrorist organisation by
the Bush Administration and the hugely powerful Zionist lobby
in Washington.
Therefore in the simplistic, black and white world of the
Bushies, anyone who shows solidarity with Hamas must be
a terrorist.
As a direct result of the nursery school politics of the
neo-cons, last month, hidden away in the Egyptian desert, a
black comedy was being played out in a military court which
saw some of Egypt's finest academics and business elite in
the dock.
Facing trumped up charges and a judicial system so warped and
twisted by Mubarak, scores of senior members of the Muslim
Brotherhood were crowded into courtroom cages.
I was denied access as a British journalist to witness the
unfolding farce but as I stood outside in the burning desert
sun I was not alone - the former US Attorney General Ramsey
Clark and several other leading human rights campaigners had
also been refused access ... may be in the daft belief if we
couldn't see the injustice we might go away quietly.
Mubarak is a desperate man, clinging on to the last vestiges
of power in a white knuckle drama we have seen played out so
many across the globe by American-controlled dictators who
have oppressed their own people without mercy.
This latest disgraceful chapter in the ruling life of Mubarak
opened on January 28 in the Cairo Criminal Court when the
judges ruled all charges brought by the Egyptian Government
against the detained members of the Muslim Brotherhood were
groundless and politically motivated.
Eager to please his US masters (America gives more dollar aid
to Egypt than to any other country in the world apart from
Israel) Mubarak had the whole lot re-arrested to be tried in
a military court ... on exactly the same charges they had
been cleared in the civilian court no less than THREE times.
They are back in the dock again on August 5 when some trumped
up little tinpot judge will pronounce judgment handed to him
by Mubarak some month's ago. (Perhaps it is just as well I
wasn't allowed in his courtroom,)
Rulings of military justice are final and can't be challenged.
Well that's one way of silencing your political opponents and
knocking out vocal critics of the Zionist State, isn't it?
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other concerned
groups have condemned the actions, but what does Mubarak care?
Well actually he should care. I can smell revolution in the
air on the streets of Cairo, and not just from the supporters
of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Ordinary Egyptians are fed up with the tinpot dictator who
has restricted their freedoms and liberties in a bid to
smother any dissenting voices.
By any peaceful means necessary, there is a growing
resistance to bring down Mubarak and his brutal regime.
The youth are turning to the internet using blogs to fuel the
dissent - some have even joined the Brotherhood behind bars
for their work.
Others are campaigning, petitioning, marching and protesting.
I turned up at one such event in central Cairo the other
night and as I stared into the eyes of the military who
returned the gaze from behind their crash helmets, I could
see their hearts were no longer in the job of oppressing and
bullying fellow citizens.
The iron-like grip Mubarak once had on his people is fast
disappearing. The fear has been replaced by anger towards the
injustices against every dissenting voice.
But it is Mubarak's attempt to use and abuse the courts to
stop the Brotherhood advancing further into Egypt's
mainstream politics which has irreparably damaged him.
The country's strongest opposition group operates openly
despite being officially banned. The Brotherhood won nearly
one fifth of the seats in the lower house of parliament in
2005, its members running as independents to bypass the
53-year-old ban on the group.
Mubarak's latest actions to settle political scores and
stifle freedom will be his undoing. He has called the actions
of the Muslim Brotherhood a threat to national security, but
it is the President himself who is the greatest liability.
As far as dictator's go Mubarak has much in common with
America's other tyrants - he is not too bright, has psycho
tendencies and is unable to tolerate any criticism.
I believe he has the shelf life of many U.S. puppets ... in
other words his days are numbered. Who remembers the Shah,
and off course we will not forget Saddam in a hurry either?
But when Mubarak does fall, and fall he will, then the
Egyptian people must be allowed to take control of their own
future and carve out their own style of democracy without
outside interference.
And then, and only then, will the days of the Pharaohs be
truly consigned to history.
America's Oppressed Muslims Dealt Another Blow:
Sabri Benkahla gets 10 Years for Allegedly "Lying."
He was Acquitted of Earlier Charges but Government Tried
him Again and got him 10 Years!
[A young, innocent American Muslim has been sentenced. The
reporting in the mainstream media gives little idea of the
travesty of justice committed. New Trend has highlighted some
of the sentences to help readers understand the real story.
The comments about Dr. Ali Timimi are totally false.]
[Excerpts.]
Paintballer Sentenced in Terror Case
By MATTHEW BARAKAT
The Associated Press
Tuesday, July 24, 2007; 7:13 PM
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A man once accused of aiding the Taliban
with a U.S. group that trained with paintball guns was
sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison for lying to
authorities about training with militants in Pakistan.
Prosecutor Gordon Kromberg argued that Benkahla stymied an
FBI investigation by giving a grand jury misleading
information about his contacts on a 1999 trip to a training
camp run by a group called Lashkar-e-Taiba, which the U.S.
has since designated a terrorist organization and Kromberg
said has links to al-Qaida.
Defense lawyers argued that prosecutors were bitter
because the 32-year-old Benkahla, born and raised in the
U.S., had been acquitted of giving aid to the Taliban and
that they were setting a perjury trap by hauling him in front
of the grand jury in 2004. They said investigators had no
real hope of learning anything new from Benkahla.
"They still felt they had to get Mr. Benkahla in some way,
and this was the way to do it," attorney John Keats said.
Kromberg countered that the FBI had a keen interest in
learning more about those who attended Lashkar camps because
they have served as breeding grounds for al-Qaida operatives.
"The information Mr. Benkahla has in his head is far more
important than the sentence he will receive,"
Kromberg said.
Benkahla's case is one of about a dozen linked to what
prosecutors called a "Virginia jihad network" of young U.S.
Muslim men who played paintball as a means of training for
holy war and who worshipped at the now-defunct Dar al-Arqam
mosque in Falls Church. The group's spiritual leader, Ali
al-Timimi, is serving a life sentence for soliciting treason
by urging followers after the Sept. 11 attacks to go to
Afghanistan and take up arms alongside the Taliban.
Benkahla's lawyers argued that prosecutors unfairly linked
him to the paintball group; he had played paintball only
once and was studying overseas in Saudi Arabia when the
paintball group was most active.
"I'm shocked at what has happened and feel betrayed" by the
rulings that led to such a stiff sentence, Benkahla told the
judge. He said he had been studying overseas "because I
wanted to help bridge the gap between the East and West."
The courtroom was packed with Benkahla's family, friends and
supporters. Many erupted in tears when marshals took Benkahla
into custody. His mother was led out of the courtroom wailing
"I want to go to jail with him" and his father shouted, "I
want to kiss my son."
2007-08-10 Fri 18:36:45 cdt
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