Jamaat al-Muslimeen and Code Pink Protested outside the
AIPAC Convention in Washington, DC.
Among the slogans chanted:
Zionism is Racism.
Israel is an Apartheid State.
Spend here, not in Israel
[Via Sis. Nadrat.]
An Israeli Pope?:
Hundreds of mosques have been damaged or demolished in Syria
by the Alawites of Assad.
More than ONE HUNDRED MOSQUES have been destroyed in
Palestine by the Zionist Jews.
The Pope was silent. Now an attack on a church in Pakistan
has stirred him up.. What kind of god does the Pope worship?
His office is calling for military action against
Muslims.
All places of worship should be sacred.
By the way, all 225 Assyrian Christians detained in Syria
have been released. Does he know?
In Syria, the Islamics are advancing on TelTamer in the
north east and Latakia in the west. Is it a surprise that
Kerry is openly calling for talks with Assad while the
Islamics are in the suburbs of Damascus?
Look at our comment on FoX Tv's one hour long attack on the
Islamics. Sissi is their favorite. Look at the goodies the
Egyptian tyrant is getting.
Scroll to end.
Outreach
New Trend's Humble Web Site Still doing Well
Hits only in the month of February [Thank you Br. Rich!]
61638
Visitors in February
11900
Hits PER DAY average in February
2201
Visitors PER DAY in February
425
Spotlights and Guidance
Imam Badi Ali
How to Work within the Community and the New Generation of
Muslims.
Nine year old Osama heard young people back biting. He
told them not to speak ill of others. They told him it is
none of your business.
If you find someone doing good or behaving well, praise
them.
Teaching a mule to sing is a waste of time and
effort.
Always surround yourself with good people.
Fix the ladder before using it. Make sure it is firmly in
place.
A hotel is a dangerous place from which preach to the
world. More and more we find newsmen and others telling us
all kinds of things about nations from the confines of a
hotel.
Remind people of their life objective: to WORSHIP Allah.
With that clear, people will not pay attention to obstacles
and side roads.
A good leader is one who makes problems interesting and
their solutions challenging.
A good leader is one who brings people together as a
team and brings out their energy and skills.
In my experience, you have to be fired up and get others
fired up to achieve the Ummah's objectives.
[Imam Badi Ali is a Palestinian American and leads a large
Muslim community in North Carolina.]
Research & Analysis
by Dr. Kaukab Siddique [Pennsylvania]
Is It True That Hadith Were Not Written in the time of the
Prophet, pbuh?
Were Qur'an and Hadith transmitted by same people or
different ones?
Question from Sis. N. in Detroit
I am originally from Iran, moving to real Islam, Qur'an and
Hadith. I read a good book by Fazlur Rahman (Chicago
University) but it confused me on some points. He writes,
Hadith was written in third century after the Prophet. New
Trend's web site says follow Qur'an and Hadith. I am
confused please explain why Hadith was not written in time
of the Prophet ?
ANSWER by Kaukab Siddique:
Dr. Fazlur Rahman was inflced by Christian missionaries and
Jewish orientalists. He tried to confuse the Muslims of
Pakistan, with the support of the military government, but
was defeated and fled to America where he was immediately
given a senior position at Chicago University to teach
Islam.
Both the Qur'an and the Hadith were written down in the time
of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The Qur'an is the word of
Allah revealed to Muhammad (peace be on him). The Hadith is
the commentary, explanation, implementation of the Qur'an by
Muhammad (pbuh). Both are interlinked and essential to each
other. No authentic Islamic scholar has ever tried to say
that Hadith is not necessary or was written later.
The people who wrote down the Qur'an, on bits and pieces of
materials, were the SAHABA or companions of the Prophet
(pbuh). Paper and printing were not available at that time.
So, people could not go around with printed and bound copies
of the Qur'an. Even the collation and putting together of
the Qur'an was done by the SAHABA so that the Qur'an became
a BOOK between two covers after the Prophet (pbuh) passed
away. This great work was done under the supervision of Abu
Bakr, Umar, Osman and Ali (may Allah be pleased with them
all) who were the first four rightly guided Caliphs of
Islam.
The same SAHABA also wrote and transmitted the Hadith and
made sure that nothing was falsely attributed to the Prophet
(pbuh).
The QUR'AN was also MEMORIZED by the Sahaba. In fact few of
them had it in writing but many of them knew it from memory.
The cross checking of memory with writing was carried out to
make sure that the Qur'an as revealed to the Prophet, pbuh,
was transmitted to future generations.
The HADITH was also memorized by the SAHABA and transmitted
to future generations. Any scholar of Hadith had to MEMORIZE
the HADITH from the written collections of the Sahaba and
then RECITE IT FROM MEMORY to his/her teacher. Thus an
accurate record of the Prophet's, pbuh, life and teachings
was enshrined in the scholarship of the Muslim world.
In the era after the SAHABA various kinds of sects arose
which tried to disseminate their own versions of the Qur'an.
Some of them claimed that Hazrat Ali (r.a.) had received
suras of the Qur'an from the Prophet, pbuh, which no one
else had. The scholars of the line of Ali (r.a.) and Fatima
(r.a.), such as Imam Jafar and Imam Baqir, were able to
repudiate these claims because they had the Qur'an both by
memory and in writing.
Similarly attempts were made to invent "Hadith." This was a
very serious effort by Kings and emperors who wanted
religion to justify their tyranny and to creatre a "tame
Islam." The problem was aggravated by the fact that various
SAHABA had migrated to various cities, and after they passed
away, various people could claim that they had heard Hadith
from them.
It was in that context that great scholars like Imam Bukhari
stepped forward to ENSURE that fabrications did not enter
the corpus of Hadith. I think that these scholars were a bit
too strict and as a result they sometimes designated as
"weak" even those Hadith which were authentic but which
would not pass the test of extremely severe scrutiny.
Imam Bukhari and other imams are the ones Dr. Fazlur Rahman
was abusing when he claimed that Hadith was written in the
third century after the Prophet. Fazlur Rahman really was
quite ignorant of Hadith and hence recklessly fell into the
trap set for him by Christian missionaries and Jewish
orientalists.
WAS HADITH WRITTEN in the TIME OF THE PROPHET (pbuh)? Yes,
the evidence is overwhelming. Here is one sample from a
prominent companion of the Prophet, pbuh, Abdullah ibn Umru
ibn al-Aas. It is authenticated by two distinct and separate
compilers of Hadith, Abu Dawud in his Sunan (chapter kitabut
al-ilm) and Darimi in his Musnad (chapter on Rukhs fi
kitabut al-ilm):
"Whatever I heard from the messenger of Allah, peace be on
him, I would write it down so as to be able to memorize it.
Then some in the Quraish (tribe) said to me: You write down
whatever you hear though the messenger of Allah is a human
being and speaks both in anger and in joy. On hearing that I
stopped writing and then I mentioned this to the messenger
of Allah. He pointed with his finger to his mouth and said:
Write on! By Him in whose Hand is my being, no word comes
out of this mouth but the Truth."
Abdullah ibn Umru (r.a.) collected the Hadith he had written
in the presence of the Prophet (pbuh) in a book titled
Al-Sadiqa. Abdullah said: "There are two things I love in
life: Al-Sadiqa and al-Wahat." He explained: "Al-Sadiqa is
that manuscript which I heard and wrote from the messenger
of Allah and Wahat is that land which (my father) Umru ibn
al-Aas donated to the cause of Allah and which I take care
of." [Darimi's Sunan.]
The compendium Tahzeeb al-Tahzeeb tells us that on the death
of Abdullah, r.a, the manuscript of Al-Sadiqa was secured by
his grandson Shuaib bin Muhammad and then transmitted to the
next generation by his son also named Umru. THE HADITH
WRITTEN BY Abdullah, r.a., DIRECTLY FROM THE PROPHET, pbuh,
AND AT HIS COMMAND, are to be found in the collections of
Hadith which we have under this chain of narration:
"From Umru son of Shuaib from his father from his
grandfather." As Hadith is a very strict discipline, some
classical scholars wanted to classify the collection as
Mursal because they thought the grandson should have SAT
DOWN IN FRONT OF THE GRANDFATHER AND RECITED THE WHOLE
COLLECTION TO HIM FROM MEMORY! However, some of the greatest
scholars of Hadith, like Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, accept the
authenticity of Al-Sadiqa.
What makes Al-Sadiqa's authenticity irrefutable is that it
was also transmitted by OTHER STUDENTS of Abdullah (r.a.)
who had nothing to do with his grandson.
So, don't let anyone tell you that Hadith was not written in
the time of the Prophet, pbuh.
FINALLY, spend a couple of months in trying to understand
this verse of the Qur'an. It will help you to understand why
the Hadith is essential and ALWAYS goes with the Qur'an:
"The Prophet is closer to the believers than their own
selves, and his wives are their mothers. [33:6 ]
Our America
Houston, Texas
Love of the Prophet Muhsammad, pbuh, and Faithfulness to
him.
Peaceful Ways of Rebutting the Abuse.
Imam Ali Siddiqui spoke on 3/15 at the Masjid Ghouse Azam,
FM 1960, Houston, TX just after Sunday School and Zuhr
prayer to a group of students, teachers, and parents. He
spoke on the subject of "Love of the Prophet and
Faithfulness to him."
Quoting from Quran, surah al-Ahzab verse 6: the Prophet is
closer to the believers than themselves and his wives are
their mothers. Then he asked them to pinch themselves with
right hand on the left arm. Then he asked them if it hurts?
Then he told them thst Rasool Allah (pbuh) is closer than
before you feel the pain. Then he challenged them, if they
are also closer to Prophet (pbuh)?
Reciting At-Tahyeyat he told them it is a dialogue between
Rasool Allah(saw) and Allah where Allah greets Muhammad
(saw) and Rasool Allah accepted it: "as Salaamu Alaina",
salaam on us inclucive of all believers of present and
future." In other words, Rasool Allah included us in a very
special and important moment in his mission and life: A
meeting with Allah. This dialogue is part if our daily
Salat, a reminder of this meeting and a reminder of care for
us by Rasool Allah. Now the challenge is for us: "What is
the nature of our love for Prophet Muhammad (saw)? he asked.
He spoke about 25 minutes and left with a suggestion:
Next time if anyone from the shiateen publish a book to
dishonor him, or make a cartoon to ridicule him, drown out
this hate with a public demonstration of our love for him by
sending Darood and Salaam on him. He concluded with singing
a short Salawat on him.
The audience were very attentative and touched by the
presentation. They all gathered around him shaking his hand
and appreciating his talk.
[SAW is short for salAllahu alaihi wassalam --- editor]
Jamaat al-Muslimeen Activity in Washington, DC:
Document to 175 Muslims after Juma' The Best Yet.
March 13: At the biggest Islamic Center in Washington, DC,
on Massachusetts Ave., an 8 page document was given to 175
Muslims. This center attracts a great variety of
nationalities because embassies from around the world are
within a 3 mile radius. Only a few bureaucrats in suit and
tie, seemingly from Egypt, refused the document. These were
the main articles given out:
Mass media and Muslims by Imam Badi Ali
&
Musings on the Chapel Hill Murders by Asqfish
&
&
Lynne Stewart ceremony & sorrow for Ahmed Abdel
Sattar in New York by Sis. Nadrat Siddique
Jamaate Islami Pakistan women led by Dr. Durdana
mobilizing against westernization.
Greetings exchanged with Iranian brothers praying on the
sidewalk.
Washington, DC
IS Recruiting Young People: 17 Year Old Arrested
From wire services
March 4: Over the past year, the militant group ISIS has
made a strategy of recruiting westerners. U.S. law
enforcement officials have made efforts to thwart that
system - and they've had their hands full lately.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday federal officials
took a 17-year-old Virginia high school student into custody
over the weekend who they believe helped recruit another
older person to join ISIS.
The Post says: "The teen helped arrange the man's travel, in
part by using online contacts that led to the Islamic State
overseas."
On the same day, federal agents also indicted a 21-year-old
California man who was arrested last year for attempting to
use a fraudulent passport to travel overseas and join the
militant group.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Monday
roughly 180 Americans have left the U.S. and traveled to
Syria to fight alongside ISIS - only about 40 have come
back.
"Probably one of the most sophisticated groups we've seen,"
Counterterrorism expert Clarke Jones said.
ISIS has relied heavily on social media to attract new
recruits, especially young people. But at least one of those
social media networks is fighting back.
Twitter reportedly recently suspended more than 2,000
accounts related to ISIS, as the company does not allow its
users to post violent threats.
ISIS responded to that crackdown Monday. The group
threatened to wage a "real war" on the social media
giant.
Ferguson, Missouri
Questioning the Vigil for Police + Why Zionist Suspicions of
Black People?
by Sis. Aisha [New York City]
New York City - Saturday (3/7/15), Two Black men, one of
them lighter-skinned with a "Middle Eastern" beard, were
caught on synagogue security cameras taking pictures of each
other in front of a synagogue. At a second synagogue, they
asked to come in during prayer time saying that they had
never seen a Jewish prayer being made. The two men were
asked to leave in both instances.
Zionist Jew Assemblyman Dov Hikind was contacted and has
asked (probably demanded) the NYPD get involved and question
these men. Although they have done nothing criminal, because
of the Middle Eastern appearance and the fact that they were
taking pictures, this has made the White Jews anxious. It
was noted that the men drove away in a blue Honda with
Delaware license plates.
By Monday (3/9/15), the police stated that no criminal
charges would be filed against the two men. The suspects
were identified and it was discovered that they were from
Connecticut. They were meeting friends in Brooklyn and had
time to spare. It was during this time that they decided to
walk around while taking pictures. The men spoke to police
voluntarily and it was determined that they had no ties to
any terror groups.
These Flatbush Brooklyn Jews are very unfriendly towards
Blacks/Latinos. They have a shomrim security patrol that is
notorious for beating up Black youth just for walking in
their neighborhoods.
(courtesy of CBS New York)
The Coloreds Show Solidarity With Killer Cops
On Thursday, two Ferguson, Missouri officers were shot in
what many are calling an ambush. As expected from the Black
Community, unfortunately, there was a show of unity with the
very group responsible for all of the chaos, nationwide. The
family of Michael Brown, the 18 year old murdered by
Ferguson officer Dorren Wilson, and 50 protesters against
police crimes held a prayer vigil for the two injured
officers. Michael Brown's Family stated that violence
against police will not be tolerated.
I understand that The Brown Family has lost a son but, this
movement is bigger than they are. Now, reports are saying
that the two officers hot may not have been the intended
targets and that it may have been the protesters themselves
at Thursday's rally. But, if the police were shot in
retaliation for Michael Brown's murder, it would not just be
for his murder but for the countless murders and acquittals
or no indictments of murderous cops! Any directive being
uttered from the Brown's family mouth is coming from that
boot licking, shifty-eyed attorney, Sharpton-appointee
Crump, who has done absolutely nothing to help the Brown
Family's cause. Crump, like other Black attorneys, is
looking for a payday for when he initiates a lawsuit against
Ferguson, Missouri for the wrongful death of Michael
Brown.
These lapdogs are told to quiet the masses and they use
their clients to help them do it!
The police department have no respect for non-White
communities. They are the gatekeepers for White Supremacy
and have proved each and every time. The history of law
enforcement began, sometime ago, with the capture and return
of runaway slaves. The term "cracker" was used by Blacks in
southern states, such as Georgia, because White men would
often patrol rural areas cracking bullwhips while looking
for runaway slaves. Many of these members of law enforcement
were Irishmen. The Irish were White indentured servants and
were sold along with African slaves.
If you've noticed, many police officers are poor whites who
have the least and so being White means everything to them
and they have never had a problem oppressing those
non-Whites who are more educated or wealthier. In their
minds, their whiteness makes them superior, regardless. This
is why officers or state troopers are more likely to stop a
Black driver of an expensive car to remind the Black
bourgeoisie that White power trumps Black success
worldwide.
This is why I don't understand ANY prayer vigil being held
for cops who are shot. I am not callous, just observant with
a good memory. These cops only feel their own pain. Blacks
who cross picket lines to show solidarity with the enemy do
not understand White Supremacy and how it works. Then,
again, what is their point of reference directing them to
behave in this fashion? When Muslims do this, they can
easily be called out as having left the fold of Islam,
according to the Holy Qur'an. Any progressive movement
against oppression in this country has to be carried out by
people who see Allah (God) as the true Reckoner and who are
unapologetic in their efforts to stop these murderous
cops!
(Source Yahoo! News)
Newport Beach, California
The 'Jewish Soap' Fable
by Mark Weber
http://www.ihr.org/leaflets/soap.shtml
One of the most lurid and slanderous Holocaust claims is the
story that the Germans manufactured soap from the bodies of
their victims. Although a similar charge during the First
World War was exposed as a hoax almost immediately
afterwards, it was nevertheless revived and widely believed
during the Second. More important, this accusation was
"proved" at the main Nuremberg trial of 1945-1946, and has
been authoritatively endorsed by numerous historians in the
decades since. In recent years, though, as part of a broad
retreat from the most obviously untenable aspects of the
"orthodox" extermination story, Holocaust historians have
grudgingly conceded that the human soap tale is a wartime
propaganda lie
[Mark Weber is a long time friend of New Trend. This
astounding article on established Zionist propaganda is
typical of his research.]
Boston
A warrior retires: Non-Muslim Political Prisoners Suffered
Much before Muslims Became the Targets
African-American, Native Americans, Puerto Ricans Suffered
US "Justice"
by Sis. Karin Friedemann
On Friday March 13, 2015 former Black Panther and political
prisoner Kazi Toure celebrated his 65th birthday in a cozy
gathering at First Church in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.
He looked very sharp wearing a silky black jacket with a red
Chinese dragon on the back and a leather top hat over his
long dreadlocks. Many young children of activists were in
attendance at the event, as well as some old timers related
to the struggle for liberation including Jimmy Barrett. The
walls were covered with posters of liberation icons like
Ramona Africa.
Sis. Karin in Boston
The gathering began with an African celebration called a
"libation." A young woman poured water from a glass into a
dish below, while mentioning the names of ancestors and role
models whose spiritual energy they wanted to invite into
this gathering. People around the room also invoked names
such as Harriet Tubman and Leonard Peltier. This set the
mood for a very meaningful evening.
The first speaker was Eddie Cortez, a Puerto Rican former
political prisoner who spent many years in the penitentiary
for "seditious conspiracy." He spoke about Oscar Lopez
Rivera, the longest serving Puerto Rican political prisoner,
who has served 35 years. Obama freed the Cuban 5. Why won't
he free Oscar Lopez Rivera? On December 14, 2014, for the
first time, the Puerto Rican governor came to visit Rivera
in Terre Haute. But nothing further has happened. No US
Congress has ever addressed the issue of Puerto Rico as a
Commonwealth vs. as a free country, even though every Puerto
Rican church and political party supports freedom.
He mentioned Leonard Peltier, who has served 36 years,
Sundiata Acoli, who has been in prison for 40 years, and
Jaan Laaman, Kazi Toure's co-defendant. In 1979 he and Kazi
Toure helped to organize the Amandla Festival of Unity to
support an end to apartheid in Southern Africa, which
featured musician Bob Marley. Laaman was sentenced to 53
years in 1984 for bombing government buildings.
"How much punishment is enough?" Cortez asked. He then told
a cute story about how prisoners managed to smuggle in
birthday cakes by organizing a group to distract the
guards.
"We need to change the face of America," he said. "We need
our own system, not socialism or communism. What we need is
creativity in the face of oppression."
Next, Palestinian activist Dr. Lana Habash spoke about the
need for clarity against Zionist hasbara within current
political activist movements. "It's not complicated, it's
just wrong."
She spoke about Amer Jibran, who was very active locally in
Boston against Zionism against US wars of aggression. He led
a high profile confrontation against the yearly Israeli
Independence Day celebration, which used to draw 10,000
people. He was deported in 2004 but remained politically
active in Jordan. In 2014 the Mukhabarat, Jordanian
intelligence, used ropes to enter his home and kidnap him.
He was held for two months without charge. Then in August
2014 the Jordanian State Security Court charged him with a
list of terror offenses related to Hezbollah, which
basically amounted to speech and were based on forced
confessions.
"Amer's writings were never against Jordan but against
Israel and US wars," Lana said. "We must reject definitions
of terrorism. The political prisoner is our oxygen. They
represent who we are, who we must be, and the task ahead. We
must carry on the struggles they went to prison for."
Next spoke Ray Levasseure, another of Kazi's co-defendants.
He said he met Kazi when our country was at war with South
America and there was the struggle against apartheid in
South Africa. Both of them were "packing," he said. They
meant serious business. He said he was surprised to be here
today, especially looking at 65 in the rear view mirror. He
was underground sometime already when Kazi started getting
his feet wet. He spent 20 years in ADX prison for activities
related to the United Freedom Front (UFF). 13 of those years
were spent in solitary.
Governor Deval Patrick denounced UMass for letting Ray give
a talk. The police lobbied against him and prevented his
speech about Black Panther Party related political prisoners
in America.
Born of French-Canadian immigrants, Ray was imprisoned for
an anti-apartheid bombing of a South African office in New
York City. Nobody was hurt because that was not the
intention. He noted that the government is more concerned
about property destruction against military installations
than they are about bloodshed.
Ray mentioned Tom Manning, another of their co-defendants,
who is still in prison for bombing US military installations
for UFF. He also knew Oscar Lopez Riveras from prison. Tom
is having a lot of medical problems and as a result cannot
walk. Medical problems are devastating to anyone, but when
experienced in the Supermax segregation unit, the suffering
is incomparable. Tom has had many surgeries. He needs to use
a walker but could not do so because of problems with his
shoulders. Dr. Lana Habash led a campaign for him to get
shoulder replacement surgery, which happened 2 months ago.
He is now in the early steps of rehab. If all heals well, he
will be out of his wheelchair and onto crutches for the
first time in six years. Tom suffered many brutal beatings
in prison. Ray talked about how important it is to send a
letter, make a phone call, especially for professionals like
Dr. Habash to step in and do something.
He mentioned a long-time prisoner, who has been forgotten.
He just needed a couple magazine subscriptions. He is now
serving time with Imam Jamil al-Amin. Ray met him during his
pre-trial detention decades ago. They were given one hour a
day out of their cages to walk up and down the tier. The
prisoners began to befriend each other. It was an amazing
time because so many revolutionary movements were going on.
During these tier walks, Ray met members of the Irish
Republican Army, Palestinian and Mexican groups, Puerto
Rican, Black Panthers, etc. Kazi has told me similar prison
friendship stories.
There are so many disparate groups, each with their own
little defense committee. Everybody knows about Mumia but
they don't know about Kojo Bomani or Grayling Brown. Inside
of the prison, these political prisoners bonded and watched
each others' back, but on the street supporters can't get
along because of too many different agendas. Filiberto, who
was murdered by the FBI in his home in Puerto Rico, issued a
call for a conference for all political prisoners but
Freedom Now collapsed and the Jericho Movement has not
achieved what Filiberto had in mind. We need to work for a
larger sense of unity, Ray concluded.
Musical entertainment from a rapper called Optimist then
ensued, with a band called Foundation Movement.
Silver Spring, Maryland
President Obama---Selma-and the Meaning of America
[Greatly respected friend of New Trend, leading African
American intellectual ,questions the establishment's
Optimism--- Editor NT]
By Dr. Wilmer J. Leon, III
"In one afternoon fifty years ago, so much of our turbulent
history - the stain of slavery and anguish of civil war; the
yoke of segregation and tyranny of Jim Crow; the death of
four little girls in Birmingham, and the dream of a Baptist
preacher - met on this bridge. It was not a clash of armies,
but a clash of wills; a contest to determine the meaning of
America." President Barack Obama - March 7, 2015
On March 7, President Obama stood in Selma, AL at the foot
of the Edmund Pettis Bridge to commemorate the 50th
anniversary of the events of "Bloody Sunday" where over 600
civil rights protesters were attacked by Alabama State
Troopers and local police. Some, such as Congressman John
Lewis (D-GA) were beaten within inches of their lives.
"Bloody Sunday" was just another historical example of
American terrorism perpetrated by whites or European
Americans against African Americans. Forty-six years earlier
African Americans were targets of terror during the "Bloody"
or "Red Summer of 1919". In 1921 African Americans in the
Greenwood District in Tulsa, OK were victims of European
American terror as whites over reacted to a false claim that
an African American young man assaulted a white woman. This
is the meaning of America.
As with any historical analysis, context is very important.
It's no coincidence that "Bloody Sunday" took place on the
Edmund Pettis Bridge. Sheriff Jim Clarke was carrying on the
bigoted legacy of his predecessors. Who was Edmund Pettis?
Pettis was a staunch racist. He was a lieutenant in the
Alabama Volunteers. After the Mexican-American War he moved
to California where he participated in paramilitary violence
against Yukis and other Native Americans. He later became a
General in the Confederate Army (1861-1865) and after the
Civil War he became the Grand Dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux
Klan. He also served as U.S. Senator from Alabama
(1897-1907).
President Obama was correct in saying, "It was not a clash
of armies, but a clash of wills; a contest to determine the
meaning of America." It was a clash of wills...between those
Americans who subscribed to the racist tenets of the U.S.
Constitution such as the three-fifths compromise, the
fugitive slave provision and continuation of the importation
of slaves into America until 1808 versus those Americans who
believed in liberty and justice for all. Between those
Americans who supported a U.S. Supreme Court that sanctioned
American racism with decisions such as Dred Scott v. Sanford
and Plessy v. Ferguson versus those Americans who only
wanted to and continue to fight for equal access and an
equal opportunity to purse the American Dream. This
historical context forces one to ask, what is the meaning of
America? How is it that one group of Americans, those of
white or European decent, can continue to subjugate other
groups of Americans?
President Obama continued, "And because of men and women
like John Lewis...Diane Nash... and so many more, the idea
of a just America, a fair America, an inclusive America, a
generous America - that idea ultimately triumphed." How so?
Many of the marchers in 1965 were savagely beaten by those
who were sworn to "protect and serve". All they wanted then
and continue to fight for today are the rights guaranteed to
every American citizen.
The 1965 Voting Rights Act has been gutted. I'm not sure how
the idea of a fair and inclusive America triumphed when the
first African American president is disrespected at every
turn by members of Congress who have sworn to uphold and
protect the Constitution. America was not fair and inclusive
then and it is not fair and inclusive now.
President Obama continued, "What happened in Ferguson may
not be unique, but it's no longer endemic, or sanctioned by
law and custom; and before the Civil Rights Movement, it
most surely was." - It is endemic, it is regularly found.
Today, young African American men like Patrick Dorismond,
Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo, John Crawford III and Victor White
III are not in streets being bitten by police dogs; they are
in the streets being shot down by the police like dogs.
These extrajudicial actions are sanctioned by law and custom
as the judicial system fails to indict the police officers
who kill them and Americans have become too accustomed to
it. True, it's not sanctioned by law but that matters not if
their killers are not indicted and held accountable for
their actions.
Again, President Obama, "We do a disservice to the cause of
justice by intimating that bias and discrimination are
immutable, or that racial division is inherent to America."
American history proves that it is. We do a greater
disservice to the cause of justice by acting as though
racial division is not inherent to America. The artificial
construct of race was created by whites in America and as
referenced earlier in this piece has been ingrained into
America's culture. Racism was written into the American
Constitution. It is as American as cherry pie.
Obama went on to state, "If you think nothing's changed in
the past fifty years, ask somebody who lived through the
Selma or Chicago or L.A. of the Fifties. Ask the female CEO
who once might have been assigned to the secretarial pool if
nothing's changed. Ask your gay friend if it's easier to be
out and proud in America now than it was thirty years ago."
Yes, there has been change, for some but the movement was
about improving the circumstance of the collective not the
individual. Three things to consider, first, yes, other
oppressed groups such as women and the gay community have
benefitted from the Civil Rights Movement and that's a
wonderful thing. But Selma was not about women's rights or
gay rights. It was about civil and voting rights for Black
people. Period, full stop, end of sentence.
Second, many of the same people who were poor in Selma in
1965 are poor in Selma today and there are more of them. Go
to Watts or South Central, L.A. or the Southside of Chicago
- those people are still poor and struggling. According to
the Washington Post the black-white economic gap hasn't
budged in 50 years. "Even as racial barriers have been
toppled and the nation has grown wealthier and better
educated...the economic disparities separating blacks and
whites remain as wide as they were when marchers assembled
on the Mall in 1963."
Here's the third thing, ask the female CEO about her success
or ask individual African Americans and you will find many
stories of achievement? The struggle has always been about,
the collective not the individual - the masses are still
struggling. For example, per the Washington Post, the black
unemployment rate has consistently been twice as high as the
white unemployment rate for 50 years. The gap in household
income between blacks and whites hasn't narrowed in the last
50 years. In fact, the wealth disparity between whites and
blacks grew even wider during the Great Recession. Also, the
black poverty rate is no longer declining. Black children
are far more likely than whites to live in areas of
concentrated poverty.
As we celebrate Selma 50 years hence, remember the words of
Langston Hughes, "There's never been equality for me, Nor
freedom in this "homeland of the free." Touting the
achievements of the individual at the expense of the
collective is neo-liberal fantasy.
[Jamaat al-Muslimeen placed Nestle on its boycott list owing
to its big support for Israel --- NT editor]
Poisoning The Well? Nestlé Accused Of Exploiting Water
Supplies For Bottled Brands
A new documentary film takes food giant Nestlé to task for
its water bottling practices. Critics say the multinational
is busy extracting ground water for its bottled brands and
leaving locals, often in poor corners of the world, with the
dirty remains.
In the villages of
Sindh, Pakistan, obtaining clean local water is a precious
achievement.
ZURICH
filthy water. Who's to blame? He says it's bottled
water-maker Nestlé, which dug a deep well that is depriving
locals of potable water. "The water is not only very dirty,
but the water level sank from 100 to 300 to 400 feet,"
Dilwan says.
The testimony is a key moment in the new documentary film
"Bottled Life" by Swiss filmmaker Urs Schnell and journalist
Res Gehriger. The film opens in Swiss theaters on Jan. 26.
The village councilor interviewed in the film says Nestlé
refused the village's request for clean water to be piped
in.
The notoriously bad drinking water in Pakistan and elsewhere
is the reason for the success of the Pure Life brand. A good
10 years ago, the Swiss food company began adding minerals
to ground water and bottling it. Today, Pure Life Purified
Water Enhanced With Minerals is the largest water brand in
the world - "a jewel in our portfolio," according to John
Harris, head of Nestlé Waters.
In response to questions put to it by Tages Anzeiger,
Nestlé communicated in writing that it had built two water
filtering facilities that were providing over 10,000 people
in Pakistan's Sheikhupura with clean drinking water.
Construction of a further facility was planned for 2012. The
company said they had also built two schools in
Sheikhupura.
Nestlé is not the only company to create a huge business
with big profit potential by bottling ground water -- Danone
and Coca-Cola do it too. However, the way Nestlé goes about
it, as depicted in the film, is in stark contrast to the
image the company seeks to project. Nestlé likes to see
itself as a global problem solver out not only for profits
but to "create shared values." In 2007, when Schnell and
Gehriger began working on the movie,
Nestlé spokesman Francois-Xavier Perroud called it "the
wrong film at the wrong time." Several times between 2007
and 2009 the company denined requests for interviews with
company managers. It also refused to allow visits to
bottling facilities.
The company's present spokesperson, Melanie Kohli, told the
Tages Anzeiger that Nestlé had reached the conclusion that
the project would reflect a one-sided and unfair view of
company activity and those who worked for Nestlé. "
Consequently
we declined to work with the filmmakers. Our carefully
considered decision was the right one at the time."
Tracking the company's record, from Ethiopia to Nigeria
Undeterred, journalist Gehriger visited a refugee camp in
Ethiopia where, in 2003, Nestlé had installed a water
treatment facility for $750,000. Two years later, the
company pulled out. Since then the facility has not been
functioning properly, and water shortages have returned.
In Lagos, Nigeria, Gehriger discovered that families have to
spend up to half their household budget on water in
canisters, and that only those who can afford it drink Pure
Life. Then there are the communities in the U.S. state of
Maine who are fighting Nestlé because it pumps ground water
and spring water in huge quantities - which it can do
legally: whoever owns land can pump as much water as they
like.
Nestlé pumps several million cubic meters annually and
transports the water in tanker trucks to bottling plants.
"They're using our water to make profits, a litre doesn't
even cost them a cent," one woman complains. "They're
selling the water we use to flush toilets and wash our hands
as expensive spring water," says another. But since Nestlé
brings the communities tax dollars, officials welcome the
company, which is supported by an armada of lawyers and PR
people.
Heroic Defense of Tikrit by 500 Islamic Fighters Against
30,000 Iraqi troops, Shi'ite Militias and Iranian forces.
Diversionary Attack on Ramadi.
Second week of the massive assault on Tikrit: March 9, 10,
11, 12, 13, 14, 15.
Out of the 500 ISIS mujahideen who began the defense of
Tikrit, only about 150 are still there. The remaining 350
who were defending the outlying villages have been
withdrawn. Only a score were killed. The number of 150 is
from American sources [reported by Reuters].
Since March 12, the Shi'ite armada led by an Iranian general
has not been able to advance at all. An Iraqi military
source gave this reason:
"The military source said the insurgents still held the
presidential complex and at least three other districts in
the center of Tikrit, holding up further army advances with
snipers and bombs." [Reuters] The source added that ISIS has
blown up a bridge which led from north to south.
BBC has stopped giving news of the Tirkrit because it's the
same thing every day: The Shi'ites cannot advance.
Several thousand Shi'ite troops have been killed. [As AFP
reported, published in New Trend of March 8, entire convoys
filled with the bodies of Shiite troops have been returning
from the battlefield.]
This great defensive victory for the mujahideen has ruined
the reputation of the Iranian general Suleimani who was
leading the attack and was sure of victory.
The Iraqi air force has been active in bombing ISIS but was
ineffective when the fighting became very close.
The US air force has been more effective as its bombing
raids around Baiji blocked fresh Islamic reinforcements from
being brought in.
Meanwhile ISIS has launched diversionary attacks on that
part of Ramadi which still is under Shi'ite military
occupation.
In the villages around Tikrit, Shi'ite militias have burned
the homes of the population. This is the city of the Iraqi
hero President Saddam Hussain.
Syria
Mujahideen of IS advancing to Tel Tamer: Fighters of
al-Nusra in Latakia:
Assad & US bombing heavily
March 15. Islamic State [IS] forces are steadily advancing
towards Tel Tamer in north east Hasakeh province on the
Turkish border.
Unable to stop the advance, the Communist YPG group appealed
to the US to bomb the IS forces. Today the bombing began but
results are not clear.
Marxists from Europe are flocking to YPG areas in northern
Syria to fight IS. One of them, a 19 year old woman from
Germany killed defending Tel Tamer and her funeral was held
in Germany today.
Al-Nusra and allied Islamic groups are advancing in Latakia
province and northern Aleppo province. In a successful
ambush in Latakia countryside, they killed a commander of
Bashar al-Assad's forces and 7 of his troops.
Assad's air force is busy bombing the suburbs of Damascus,
specially Douma, Ghouta and Jobir. The civilian casualties
are heavy with first reports indicating 22 killed and more
than 100 injured. The dead include 6 women and 3
children.
Assad's helicopters again dropped barrel bombs on villages
held by Islamic opposition outside the cities of Hama and
Homs inflicting a few casualties in each attack, almost all
civilians.
[Source Syrian Obersrvatory for Human Rights.]
Media: Fox TV's one hour Attack on ISIS
Guess who is Fox Hero?
Did you see this hour long program on FOX against ISIS? It
is one thing to disagree, criticize and condemn but this is
total fabrication. Mass killings, slavery, rape, you name
it. But wait a minute, no one has cell phones or cameras
there? NOT ONE PHOTO of the "atrocities." Are Americans that
gullible?
And guess who is FOX's hero? General Sissi, the mass
murderer of Egypt, the one who killed 1500 unarmed
demonstrators, injured 25000 and arrested 20,000. And this
was not even a war. So FOX interviews General Sissi and
guess what: he wants to unite all the tyrants, dictators and
kings against ISIS.
The Copts fought for him and stood by him and 21 of them
were killed by ISIS in Libya. Sissi's jets then bombed the
city near where this happened and killed 50 civilians.
Egypt
Investors pledge billions to Egyptian junta at Sharm
el-Sheikh conference
By Alex Lantier
14 March 2015 [World Socialist web site]
[With thanks to Sis. Aamira in Philadelphia.]
Global investors and political officials gathered yesterday
in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh for the
opening of a three-day Egypt Economic Development
Conference, pledging to invest billions of dollars in the
bloody military junta of General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Hundreds of top officials and CEOs attended, including US
Secretary of State John Kerry, Italian Premier Matteo Renzi,
and Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng.
The conference amounted to a political endorsement by
finance capital of the Sisi junta's bloody repression of the
working class, whose demands for bread and equality drove a
revolutionary upsurge that toppled US-backed Egyptian
dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011. It exposed the reality
behind the claims of US and world imperialism to be carrying
out wars and interventions in the Middle East, Africa,
Ukraine and elsewhere in behalf of "human rights" and
"democracy."
The event followed by less than a week the first execution
in Egypt of the nearly 1,400 Islamists condemned to death in
summary trials held last year by the Sisi regime.
In his opening address to the conference, Sisi boasted that
Egypt had a long-term economic development strategy based on
free market economics and private investment. "Egypt has
been and will always be the first line of defense against
the dangers faced by the region," he said. "You will find
Egypt, as well as the entire region, safe and secure."
With Washington leading military interventions against
Islamist forces across the region, notably in Iraq and Syria
against the Islamic State (ISIS), Sisi promoted the Egyptian
army as an anti-Islamist force, having ousted Egypt's
Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, in a bloody coup in
2013.
"The stability of Egyptian society is stability for the
region as a whole. Egypt is a model of tolerant morals, a
country that denounces extremism and violence," he
declared.
As officials and media commentators hailed Sisi for
returning "stability" to Egypt, the Persian Gulf sheikdoms
of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates pledged
to invest $12.5 billion. Transnational corporations,
including British Petroleum, General Electric and Alsthom,
lined up for lucrative energy and industrial contracts,
including the development of the giant West Nile Delta (WND)
gas field, the construction of gas-fired power plants in
Suez City, and an extension of the Cairo subway.
BP called the project a "vote of confidence in Egypt's
investment climate and economic potential."
Major international banks and corporations are creating jobs
in Egypt only because they assume that ongoing political
terror will guarantee low wages and high profits. Egypt's
"investment climate," praised by BP, is one in which
workers' protests for back wages or wage increases are
brutally attacked by security forces, which have detained
and tortured tens of thousands of prisoners and shot
thousands of peaceful protesters in the streets of
Cairo.
Hundreds of strikes and workers' protests under the Sisi
junta last year culminated in the shooting of seven workers
and jailing of eight last September, when police broke up a
protest demanding back wages at the Abod textile factory in
Alexandria. Workers' protests continue, however, amid
deafening silence in international media.
On Thursday, AP reporters spoke to Tarek Tabl, a 52-year-old
construction engineer leading one of a series of workers'
protests outside government offices in Cairo, shortly before
police attacked and dispersed the protest.
Workers at Tabl's firm are demanding back wages that have
not been paid for five months. "This is only going to
escalate," he said. "I'd rather kill myself than go home and
face my kids."
Tabl criticized investments that went to privatize the
construction firm where he works, leading to mass layoffs.
"This is the type of investment that is producing only
unemployment and chaos," he declared.
What attracts investors to Egypt are the super-profits that
can be drawn from a work force facing relentless repression
in an economy where monthly wages can be as low as 1,000 to
1,700 Egyptian pounds ($131 to $220).
"This part of the world is blessed with a stunning amount of
commercial potential," Kerry said at an American Chamber of
Commerce event Friday morning before traveling to Sharm
el-Sheikh. He said US firms, which invested $2 billion in
the Sisi junta last year, stood ready to help the Egyptian
economy.
Kerry met with Sisi, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and
Jordan's King Abdullah for discussions on the regional
political situation before speaking at the Sharm el-Sheikh
conference. There, he praised the role played by Egypt in
the "war on terror," which includes the bombing of Islamist
forces that have taken control of portions of Libya since
the NATO-led war in 2011 that toppled Colonel Muammar
Gaddafi's regime.
The calculations involved in the conference were perhaps
most bluntly laid out by Italian Prime Minister Renzi, who
said he viewed both Sisi's war on Islamism and the
prevention of a new revolutionary upsurge of the Egyptian
workers as key strategic interests of European
imperialism.
"Your war is our war, and your stability is our stability,"
Renzi told Sisi at the Sharm-el-Sheikh conference. "The
issue is not about Egypt or the region only, but also about
Italy and the rest of the world."
Renzi's comments point to the class conflicts that are
developing under the surface not only in Egypt, but
internationally. He is well aware of explosive opposition in
the Italian and European working class to the European
Union's austerity policies, which similarly aim to impose
free market policies and poverty wages on workers. Renzi is
bluntly warning that a new revolutionary uprising in Egypt
could spread not only throughout the Middle East, but also
to the United States and Europe.
A further indication of the social physiognomy of
transnational corporate elites is provided by the investment
law passed by the Sisi junta earlier this month. It is
designed primarily to give investors immunity from
prosecution for various types of criminal behavior.
Its signature measure is a provision preventing corporate
executives from going to jail for criminal behavior by their
corporations. The initial stages of the Egyptian revolution
in 2011 saw widespread demands by workers for the
prosecution of criminal behavior by corporate executives and
leading officials at state-owned enterprises.
"We cannot keep prosecuting company CEOs in cases where the
company is accused of wrongdoing and sending them to jail,"
Mohamed El-Sewedy, the head of the Federation of Egyptian
Industries, told Ahram Online. He added that he was
satisfied with the final draft of the law.
The law also sets up a single General Authority for
Investment (GAFI), which will act as a rubber stamp for
investment projects. Investors can require the government to
process an application to liquidate their investments,
should they decide to leave Egypt, in 120 days.
The law also establishes new, looser regulations for real
estate sales, following court rulings upholding challenges
to the legality of several high-profile land deals.
The conference at Sharm el-Sheikh is a warning not only to
the Egyptian, but also to the international working class.
The issues of social equality and the struggle against class
oppression that led to the revolutionary uprising against
Mubarak in 2011 were posed in Egypt, but they could not be
resolved within the borders of one country. Workers in Egypt
and around the world, including in the wealthiest countries,
face the same challenge: progressive social change can come
only through a revolutionary struggle of the working class
for socialism.
Capitalism has reached a social and political dead end,
offering nothing but escalating wars and attacks on the
living standards of the masses. The easy embrace of the Sisi
junta by Western officials is a warning that the military
methods for suppressing internal opposition employed by Sisi
are being prepared not only in Egypt, but
internationally—including in Europe and America.
