Dr Kaukab Siddique | Editor-in-Chief Ramadan 5, 1425/ October 20, 2004 #103
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Scroll down to independent report on how ISNA, a Washington-supported group, misled Muslims on Ramadan.
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The Best in Modern Islamic Thought:

NATIONALISM vs ISLAM

[During Ramadan, New Trend will offer its readers excerpts from the writings of Allama Iqbal, Syed Qutb, Mohommed Ali Jinnah, Abul 'Ala Maudoodi, Ali Shariati, Dr. Omar 'Abdel Rahman and others. We begin with Iqbal.] Original in Urdu language:
"In taza khudaun main burra sub say watan hay 
jo pairhan iss ka hay, woh muzhab ka kafan hay

yeh boot keh tarashida-e-tehzeebe nawi hay
gharat gur-e-kashana-e-nabawwi hay
bazoo tra tawheed ki quwwat say qawi hay
Islam tra daes hay, too Mustafwi hay
 
Nazara-e-dairina zamanay ko dikha day
Aye Mustafwi, khak main iss buut ko mila day!"
[Translation:
"Of these new 'gods’, the biggest is nationalism
That garb which it uses to dress up in, is the funeral cloth of religion

This idol hewn and sculpted by the new civilization
Desecrates and destroys the abode of the Prophet.
[O Muslim] Your strength lies in the power of Tawheed
Your country is ISLAM. Your nationality is MUSTAFWI.

Show the world the glory of the ancient vision
O Mustafwi, smash this idol and reduce it to dust."

[From Iqbal’s poem titled "wataniat" (nationalism) in the collection titled Baang-e-dara.]
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Strategic Studies
[CAIR or SCARE?]

Victim Status, Protected Minority? What’s Wrong with the CAIR/ISNA’s Plans for the Muslims of America?

By Kaukab Siddique, Ph.D

"Is it not to Allah that sincere devotion is due? But those who take for friends and guardians others than Allah say: 'We only serve them in order that they may bring us nearer to Allah.’Truly Allah will judge between them in that wherein they differ. But Allah guides not such as are false and ungrateful." [The Qur’an 39:3]

In a country of 260 million, not one Muslim has been killed and only a handful have been injured by the American people after 9.11. A few people were also killed in armed robberies or inner city murders and these are sometimes dubiously linked to post-9.11 violence. A few mosques have been attacked, but these have usually been random acts of vandalism by a few thoughtless youths. The mosques attacked were deserted at the time of attack and were owned by rich communities with little or no support among their neighbors. More than a 1,000 mosques flourish in America.

Considering the daily barrage of concealed and open propaganda against Islam on TV and radio, the "hate Islam" project has failed miserably. The enemies of Islam have spent billions to incite the American people against Muslims. The results have been meager. If the American people had taken the propaganda to heart, not one Mosque could have continued to function.

In fact the American people have embraced Islam in growing numbers after 9.11. The media have inadvertently introduced Islam to masses of Americans as no amount of Muslim effort could have done. Even the totally negative publicity has created a great urge to know Islam.

In that context, the role of CAIR, an offshoot of ISNA [Islamic Society of North America], has been extremely harmful for the Muslims of America. CAIR has done damage in a number of ways:
  1. It has worked steadily to create the impression that Muslims are a "minority" and the rights of this "minority" are under attack.
  2. CAIR pretends that the American people hate Muslims and are constantly attacking Islam and Muslims. Like the Jewish ADL, CAIR lists every little offense against Muslims which takes place anywhere in this huge country.
  3. It would seem from CAIR’s output that Muslims are in America are victims or potential victims.
  4. CAIR’s self-serving publicity flies in the face of American realities. There is very little religious bigotry here among the masses of American people. Anyone who has traveled by air within the United States will have seen SOMALI WOMEN in hijab working in America’s airports [supposedly the places most sensitive in the list of targets of terrorism.].
  5. The net result of CAIR’s efforts is that America’s Muslims, especially immigrants, are scared to death and think that they may be subjected to atrocities at any time.
  6. Islam under CAIR has become a defensive project, with constant whining and fawning going on, about how good Muslims are, and how all they want to do is to pray, fast, give zakat and go for Hajj. Discussion of Jihad and support for Muslims in Palestine, Kashmir, Chechnia, Sudan, Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq is no longer permitted in ISNA/CAIR gatherings.
  7. Hypocrisy is typical of Muslims connected to CAIR. They make an ongoing effort to show that like America’s rulers, they too believe that Muslims fighting anywhere in the world are terrorists and we have nothing to do with them and cannot even talk about them.

THE DETERIORATION OF MOSQUES: CAIR’s ROLE

One would expect that as civil rights cases come up in a certain area, the mosque community in that area would mobilize Muslim support, reach out to the media, hire attorneys and make sure the rights of the alleged offenders are safeguarded.

Such mobilization would increase the autonomy of each mosque and help to create self-dependence. Instead we see CAIR working to centralize control of all such issues. When something happens, however minor, the mosques are encouraged to rush to CAIR for help instead of carrying out a local solution. Thus DEPENDENCE and HELPLESSNESS are becoming characteristics of many mosques.

THE REAL ISSUE in AMERICA: GOVERNMENT OPPRESSION

CAIR tries, often successfully, to divert American Muslims from the reality that Muslims are being oppressed by the government, not by the people of America. Where the government has to be faced, CAIR is either silent or actually sides with the government.

SINISTER ASPECTS OF CAIR:

For years, Zionist Jews like Emerson and Pipes have been telling the American government that CAIR and associates are supporters of Islamic movements in Palestine . The government has ignored the Zionist attacks. It would appear that the government considers CAIR what CAIR appears to be: an outlet for government propaganda into the Muslim community.

CAIR Directors seem to have high security clearance when most other Muslims are suspect.

CAIR Directors do not reveal their salaries. In recent years there have been indications that CAIR has received funding from Saudi Arabia [evidently with the approval of the U.S. government].

CAIR has not presented the funding facts even to its own supporters and has not discussed the legitimacy of such funding.

At key points in Muslim activities, CAIR takes a very defensive posture on events in the Muslim world, though it is not necessary for it to do so, to the extent of commenting on sectarian violence in Pakistan.

Only a few days back, CAIR endorsed ISNA’s move to start the month of Ramadan in a fashion which violated the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh) and was based on "evidence" which could not stand scrutiny.

I urge CAIR to disband itself and save the Muslims of America from seeing themselves as victims and a minority. Islam has come to America to establish justice and truth: not to become a minority.
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CHE GUEVARA's DAUGHTER FEARS U.S. INVASION OF CUBA: CONDEMNS U.S. ROLE in IRAQ

[a few excerpts from The Independent of London.]

Aleida Guevara, the daughter of the legendary revolutionary Che Guevara, was in London to speak about the growing threat of US military aggression against Cuba.

Bumper stickers across Florida proclaim "Iraq today, Cuba tomorrow". In the lead-up to the elections President George Bush cannot afford to ignore the vocal anti-Castro American Cuban vote in Florida. Jeb Bush, his brother and state Governor, has said: "After its success in Iraq, Washington should finish with the regime of Castro."

This, Dr Guevara insisted at the third European Social Forum held in London's Alexandra Palace yesterday, was more than rhetoric. In May the Bush administration issued a dossier by the Commission For Assistance to a Free Cuba, dedicated $59m (£33m) to regime change and sanctioned the use of planes broadcasting propaganda just outside Cuban airspace.

The dossier, the Cuban Solidarity Campaign said yesterday, does not speak of peaceful regime change but of military action. The Cubans have responded by placing their armed forces on high alert. Dr Guevara said: "If it was not such a serious threat, I would find it funny. The things he [Mr Bush] is saying are so silly and unbelievable. In that dossier it says that when they take power in Cuba they are going to vaccinate every child under five when in reality we are the ones who could give the US vaccinations. If it was not for the fact that the threat is so real and the evidence is there in Iraq, we would find it funny."

The fact the blockade which has blighted Cuba for 44 years has been tightened, angers Dr Guevara. Only recently she battled to get medicine from the US for a four-year-old boy with meningitis. He died before they smuggled it into Cuba.

Dr Guevara asked Britons to prevent her country becoming another Iraq. "[Iraq] is one of the greatest crimes being committed at the moment. It is quite embarrassing for humanity that this sort of thing is going on. I would say to British society they cannot be complicit in this war. They have got to call a stop to it."
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[The rebel view of the situation in Darfur, Sudan is being published here for information only, not for endorsement.]

Dafur Leaders Speak on Eri-TV; Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing by Bashir Regime Charged

by Thomas C. Mountain [Hawaii, USA]

Three internationaly accredited leaders of the Dafur and Sudanese peoples movements were interviewed in depth in the first of a two part program on Eritrean television (Eri-TV) on Friday, Oct. 8, 2004. The Dafur leaders, who have been recognized as representing the Dafur peoples by both the Sudanese government and African and Arab governments for the Sudanese peace negotiations organized to take place in Cairo, included representatives from the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), the Sudan Peace and Liberation Movement (SPLM), as well as a representative of the Sudanese National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

All of the speakers agreed that ethnic cleansing and genocide have been, and continue to be carried out in Dafur by the National Islamic Front (NIF) government headed by President Bashir in Sudan. Dr. Sharif Harir spoke on behalf of the SLM, Mr. Idris Ibrahim Azraq spoke on behalf of the SPLM and Dr. Elsharif Khedir represented the NDA.

The program opened with an overview of the history of the problems in Dafur, with both representatives of the Dafur movements using the word "marginalized" to describe the actions of the Khartoum government historicaly in Dafur since Sudanese independence in the mid 1950's. They pointed out that little in the way of investment was made in the region by the Sudanese government and that this led to protests and other actions by the people of Dafur. While agreeing that the policy of the Sudanese government under the NIF of Bashir was based on genocide and ethnic cleansing in southern Sudan for the past twenty years or more, this policy was not implemented until more recently in Dafur, according to the Dafur representatives.

Dr. Harir spoke at length on the history of Dafur and how historically Dafur was an independent entity, in effect an African Kingdom for centuries, until finally overcome by overwhelming British military might in 1917 and subsequently incorporated into the British colony of Sudan. Mr. Azraq spokeon how the eight major ethnic groups in Dafur have played an important role in the Sudanese economy, both in agricultural production in Dafur and as seasonal labor in the southern, eastern and even northern regions.

Both of the Dafur representatives described how the so called "janjaweed" were of Arab ethnicity and were being used by the NIF government in Khartoum to conduct ethnic cleansing for the purposes of expanding what is traditionaly known of as the "Arab belt" into areas previously considered African. Dr. Khedir of the NDA charged that the NIF government was behind the janjaweed and had been moving many of them into southern and even eastern Sudan to hide them from the ongoing investigation by the international community into the crisis in Dafur. This charge was supported by both the Dafur representatives who charged that the janjaweed had always been acting as agents of the Bashir government and that many of their members had recently been incorporated into the Sudanese military and even the police in an attempt to conceal their identity.

The program on Dafur on Eri-TV was conducted in English and was apparently aimed at the international community in an effort to present what the internationaly accredited representatives of the Dafur people had to say about what was going on in their homeland. The second part of the program will conclude on Tues, Oct. 12. on Eri-TV, available on satellite dish through Globecast.com.
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Ramadan 1425 began on Saturday, Oct. 16

INDEPENDENT WITNESSES SAY ISNA-ICNA MISLED MUSLIMS on START OF RAMADAN

[New Trend presents a report by Dr. Omar Afzal, of Ithaca, New York, who is not part of Jamaat al-Muslimeen or of ISNA. He heads the CCOI which only deals with crescent sightings.]]

ISNA, ICNA and Shura Council Blunder Again

The Committee for Crescent Observation International affirms its decision that the Ramadan crescent moon was NOT SEEN anywhere in North America on Thursday evening. Insha-Allah Ramadan will begin from Saturday, and not Friday as ISNA, ICNA and Shura Council have declared.

Austin, TX sighting was absolutely unacceptable because the crescent moon was NOT SEEN anywhere west of Austin, especially in Arizona and California. The horizon everywhere west of Austin was extremely clear. Hundreds of Muslims looked for the moon and reported seeing NONE. Only ISNA Fuqaha could accept Austin sighting VALID though:
  1. The moon was seen only by a man and a woman;
  2. just 2-3 minutes after sunset;
  3. for 2-3 minutes, and then it disappeared;
  4. It was not a crescent, but a straight line;
  5. It was to the right of the sun.
ISNA’s own experts rejected this Shahadah (See below). But ISNA uses every trick in its sleeves to synchronize the Ramadan and Eidain dates in N. America with the Middle Eastern countries.

If a moon was not seen west of Austin for thousands of miles it is concrete and irrefutable evidence that Ramadan moon was NOT SEEN in Austin. ISNA Fiqh Council and Shura Council have misled the Muslims in North America again as they have been doing in the past and asked Muslims to fast on the last day of Sha’ban.

Following are quotes from two of the ISNA’s own consultants:
Khalid Shaukat (Moonsighting.com)

ISNA's ANNOUNCEMENT: Based on reported crescent sighting in Austin, Texas by two witnesses, the Islamic Shura Council of North America and the Fiqh Council of North America declare Friday, October 15th the first day of Ramadan. I voiced my opinion that this witness is not credible but ISNA made the decision.

Mohib DURRANI (Hilal Sighting.com)

10:50 pm EDST, 14 Oct 2004:A Second Telephone call was made to the person in Austin, Texas, and only the sister was available, and she mentioned that she is not sure if the curvature of the apparent sighting was up or down. The sister had mentioned in the 8:30 pm report that the apparent sighting was to the right of the Sun that was already set. She had seen the apparent sighting around three (3) minutes after sunset, for a maximum of about two (2) minutes and was about two (2) finger widths above the horizon,....

8:30 pm EDST, 14 Oct 2004 There was an Apparent Sighting around 7:00 pm (West Austin, Texas) which was confirmed as NOT THE HILAL. The sister and her husband had seen a thin white line which was curved so that the ends were pointing down. The curvature was from 9-to-12-to-3-O'Clock positions for the sister and from 10-to-12-to-2-O'Clock for the husband. An actual Hilal would have its ends pointing away from the Sun and hence would be pointing upwards and not downwards. Hence this Austin Texas report is NOT OF A HILAL.

The Greenwich Royal Observatory has a site which can calculate and evaluate the level of visibility of the new moon anywhere in the world. The site is a very simple to use the link is given below: http://websurf.nao.rl.ac.uk The Greenwich Royal Observatory through their calculations (webSurf facility) indicate that there is no place on earth where the new moon will be visible on Thursday 14th October 2004.
Results:
Mecca (Saudi Arabia): THU - not visible, FRI - easily visible
LONDON (UK) THU - not visible, FRI - may need optical aid
Rabat (Morocco): THU - not visible, FRI - easily visible
New York (USA): THU - not visible, FRI - easily visible
Johannesburg (S. Africa): THU - not visible, FRI - easily visible
Melbourne (Australia): THU - not visible, FRI - easily visible
Oslo (Norway): THU - not visible, FRI - not visible, SAT - easily visible
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Zionist Jew Pumped 20 bullets into 13 Year old Palestinian Girl

Only the Zionists Kill Like That!
by William Hughes
[The writer is a long time human rights activist. He lives in Baltimore and occasionally contributes to New Trend.]

"Only Capone Kills Like That!" - George "Bugs" Moran

On Feb. 14, 1929, seven men, believed to be associated with the Northside gang of George "Bugs" Moran, were lined up against the rear wall of a Clark St. garage and machine gunned to death. The massacre was orchestrated by Al "Scarface" Capone, who had been feuding with Moran for supremacy of Chicago's lucrative criminal enterprises. Capone denied any personal involvement, since he was in Florida at the time of the ghastly event. On hearing the news of the mass slaughter, Moran who had himself luckily escaped the Clark St. carnage, said: "Only Capone kills like that!"

Moran's cogent quote came to my mind on hearing of the circumstances surrounding the death on Oct. 5, 2004, of an unarmed 13-year-old Palestinian school girl, Iman al-Hams, by members of the Israeli Occupation Army (IOF). NBC Nightly News, on Oct. 12th, ran an account of the brutal killing. That was highly unusual in itself. Normally, any news which is in anyway critical of Israel is immediately dispatched down the "Memory Hole" without seeing the light of day. Even Tom Brokaw, a Zionist sympathizer, who introduced the al-Hams' segment, seemed taken aback by its viciousness. After watching the NBC TV clip, I, too, was appalled. I also had a hard time accepting the fact that my country is underwriting this kind of state sponsored terrorism. Try $3 billion plus a year in freebies to Israel and over $100 billion, since 1948 (wrmea.com).

The word "complicity" is also relevant here. Absent the U.S.'s massive financial and military arms subsidies to Israel, and our rubber stamping, since 1967, of its illegal occupation of the lands of the Palestinians, I wonder: Would al-Hams still be alive today? Would, too, all the other uncounted crimes associated with Israel's unlawful occupation have occurred? (http://www.endtheoccupation.org/index.php). Before the Israeli state was sanctioned, in 1948, by the U.N., with the support of the U.S., America didn't have any enemies in the Mideast and the Palestinians were living in peace on their ancient lands. Now, no American is safe anywhere on the face of the globe ("The Sorrows of Empire," Chalmers Johnson); and, millions of Palestinians have been cruelly exiled by the IOF (http://www.un.org/Depts/dpa/ngo/history.html). When, if ever, are Americans going to connect the dots between Zionist wrongdoing in the Middle East and our personal and national vulnerability to terrorist attacks? When are we going to put the interests of our Republic first? When?

The only thing I know for sure about this latest act of Israeli barbarism, the wasting of the life of al-Hams, is that none of Israel's lackeys in the U.S. Congress, such as Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) or Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-CT), will raise any objection to it. These characters can be counted on by Tel Aviv to maintain their vows of silence with respect to al-Hams' inexcusable killing, as they have about Israel's deliberate and murderous attack on June 8, 1967, on the USS Liberty (http://www.ussliberty.org); the unforgivable treason of the spy, Jonathan Pollard ("The Jonathan Pollard Spy Case," Court TV's Crime Library, Denise Noe); and the indefensible killing of American peace and justice activist, Rachel Corrie, in Israeli-Occupied Rafah, on March 16, 2003. She was ran over twice by a monster-sized Israeli bulldozer, while attempting to prevent a Palestinian home demolition (http://www.rachelcorrie.org).

According to a published report, "al-Hams was shot around 20 times as she walked past an Israeli military outpost en route to school in Rafah, a refugee camp on Gaza's border with Egypt ...Unidentified soldiers from the outpost told Israeli media that after the initial volley killed the girl, their commander went out and fired into her body repeatedly. The accounts were consistent with Palestinian eyewitness testimony...Military sources said the company commander has been suspended pending the results of an investigation into the Oct. 5 slaying" ("Israeli Officer Suspended Over Gaza Girl's Killing," Reuters, Dan Williams, Oct. 13, 2004). BBC News reported on Oct. 11, 2004, re: al-Hams, that soldiers from the Givati brigade platoon, in the Tel Sultan neighborhood, told Israeli television: "(The officer) was hot to take out terrorists and shot the girl to relieve pressure..."

Another news account of the killing of al-Hams, indicated that after she was shot and had fallen to the ground, the company commander of the outpost "approached the body and fired two bullets at her head before switching his gun to automatic...Doctors found more than 20 bullets in her...'He pumped her full of holes. We were in shock, we grabbed our heads. We couldn't believe what he was doing. Our hearts ached for her...' Yesterday, an army source said an investigation has begun, but it was 'too early to speak of criminal charges.' The soldiers were so disgusted by the slow pace of an army investigation that they approached the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth to demand the officer's dismissal" ("Dead Palestinian Girl 'Riddled with Bullets,'" The Guardian, Conal Urquhart, 10/11/04).

Investigation! Dismissal! Criminal charges! Punishment! Sure, Americans have heard those words before about Israeli outrages from Israeli apologists, as have the British, and nothing is ever really done about them. The family of Tom Hurndall, age 22, a peace activist from Great Britain, who was shot, in April, 2003, at Rafah, by the Israelis and reduced to a "vegetative state," is still waiting for the truth from the Israeli authorities. Hurndall was trying to "protect children under fire from Israeli soldiers."

James Miller's family, too, is looking for answers. He was a 34-year-old TV cameraman from England, who was gunned down by the IOF, in May, 2003, also at Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, while "filming bulldozers destroying homes." And, then there is the case of Iain Hook, another British subject ("The Invisible Death of Iain Hook," Ira Chernus, 11/25/02, commondreams.org). He was working for the UN, in Jenin, which had just been subjected to a two week merciless Israeli assault ("Searching Jenin," Ramzy Baroud, Ed.), when "he was shot by an Israeli sniper on Nov. 22, 2002." His fellow U.N. workers labeled his killing, "cold-blooded murder." The British families have accused the Israeli authorities of "fabricating evidence, suppressing investigations and covering-up deliberate killings" ("Families Seek Truth Over Israeli Deaths," The Guardian, Chris McGreal, 10/20/03).

Tom Hurndall's grieving mother, Jocelyn, called the Israeli government, "a deeply immoral regime which is cruel beyond human understanding." I think she's absolutely right. I believe the family of al-Hams, and all the other victims over the years of the Zionist Death & Mayhem Machine, would agree fully with that opinion. A vast majority of Americans would also agree, too, and demand and end to the excesses of Zionist Israel, if they knew the full truth about the so-called, "Only democracy in the Middle East" (http://www.ifamericansknew.org).

Finally, when I ponder how the innocent Iman al-Hams, only 13 years of age, died at the hands of the Israelis, on Oct. 5, 2004, while on her way to school, I feel compelled to say: "Only the Zionists kill like that!"

© William Hughes 2004

William Hughes is the author of "Saying 'No’ to the War Party" (IUniverse, Inc.).
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2004-10-23 Sat 07:14ct