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Dr Kaukab Siddique | Editor-in-Chief Rajab 13,1430/ July 6, 2009, # 33


5 Important items about OUR AMERICA. Please scroll way down.


Second Anniversary of Red Mosque-Jamia Hafsa tragedy in Islamabad. Scroll way down.
Islamic women are the core of the ummah. See below Dr. Kaukab Siddique's interview with Umm Hasan, the woman who led the women's seminary. This interview was taken before the tragedy and helps us to understand the issues which led to the war now going on in Pakistan.


A comprehensive Hadith of Prophet Muhammad, peace be on him
[Sent by Sis. Aqsa.]

Narrated by An-Nawwas ibn Sam'an
Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said, "A creature is not to be obeyed when it involves disobedience to the Creator."
Jami' Al-Tirmidhi. Hadith 3696. It is transmitted in Sharh as-Sunnah.


From Imam Badi Ali, [North Carolina], National Islamic Shoora, Jamaat al-Muslimeen:

Spotlight #1

Think about it: There is no place in the world without Muslims. It's a natural support network through which our Islamic message can be projected. We can reach any corner of the world. Why are we not doing it? False "leaders" are busy dividing the Muslims. Remember, we are ONE Ummah, from Pakistan to America, from Norway to Nigeria, from Xinkiang to Indonesia.

Spotlight #2

Why do Muslims project their enemy's message? Recently, during the publicity against Iran, Israeli terrorist Shimon Peres was in Kazakhstan preaching peace and claiming that he is willing to meet King Abdullah anywhere for peace, be it in Jerusalem or in Riyadh. No Muslim is going to be fooled by Peres' message because we all know he is a hypocrite and a liar. However, when Muslims very naively start talking peace and interfaith, we are inadvertently picking up the propaganda of the enemy. Our lands are occupied, our people are being killed. What's the relevance of "peace!"

Spotlight # 3

According to the New York Times, Russia has decided to let the U.S. transport its weapons and supplies across its lands to fight the Islamic resistance in Afghanistan. Whatever differences USA and Russia might have, they are united against the Islamic powerhouse of resistance in Afghanistan. Thus it's a mistake for any Islamic movement to see Russia as an ally. They have done in Chechnya what USA did in Iraq. They also betrayed Iraq.


Jamaat al-Muslimeen [News]
P.O. Box 10881
Baltimore, MD 21234

Outreach #1: Jamaat Literature Given to 200 People at Philadelphia's 43rd street Masjid
To Join Jamaat al-Muslimeen in Philadelphia:
Contact Br. Aquil or Br. Tariq
Phone: 215-900-3828 or 215-900-1135

July 3, 2009: The 43rd street masjid had a larger than usual crowd owing to the holiday. After Juma' salat, Jamaat al-Muslimeen volunteers gave important literature to 200 people. The literature included a report on the case of Black Panther leaderJack Johnson at whose appeal case after 39 years, the court had lost the date! Other items were: French President Sarkozy's attack on Islamic dress, analysis of President Obama's interview in which he called for total destruction of Islamic resistance ["extremism"], U.S. drone attack on a Muslim funeral, links for Urdu songs showing mass support for Taliban in Pakistan, a note about the passing of Pak Islamic leader Mian Tufail Muhammad, and Karzai's admission that Taliban are winning.

The literature went like hot cakes. The crowd was very mixed: Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Malaysian, African American, Sudanese, Somalis and even a couple of Euro-Americans.


Outreach #2. Distributing Report on Dr. Shabazz Amazing Trip to Ethiopia. Contrast with ICNA

June 26, 2009: At a mosque run by ICNA in Queens, New York, the khutba was about praise for Michael Jackson. After the Juma' a sister distributed a report about the extremely successful trip by Dr. Abdulalim Shabazz to a university in Ethiopia. The contrast was stark. ICNA looking for cheap popularity, Jamaat al-Muslimeen urging Muslims to think and to connect with Africa.


Theme of Jamaat al-Muslimeen's Shoora Meeting: July 25, 2009

The National Islamic Shoora announced July 5 that the theme of the Shoora meeting will be:
"Muslims' Crucial Role in a Fast Changing World."

Delegates have confirmed, inshallah, from: New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington, DC, North Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Colorado and California. The Shoora will be presided over by Dr. Kaukab Siddique [ ksidd37398@aol.com ].


Letter: Ethiopia's Muslim "Rock Star" in Education: Slight Corrections on Dr. Abdulalim Shabazz' trip to Ethiopia

With regards to your wonderful article on the graduation exercises of 2020 Open University College in Adamu, Ethiopia on 23 May 2009, here are some slight corrections/additions: Professor Bumedin Abdulwahab Ali is a mathematician and he taught mathematics for 7 and a half years at Morehouse College, where he was a very popular, effective and in great demand teacher. Yes, it may appear unbelievable, but all 3000 members of the graduating class had jobs before they received their diplomas. The motto of the University College is "Education for All", and it appears from what we see and have seen that Professor Bumedin and his able helpers are doing just that for the people of Ethiopia. Finally, this leader in educating excellently all his students is easily recognized in the streets of Ethiopia because of his work and his many appearances on Ethiopian TV. Indeed, he is somewhat of a "Rock Star" in education. He is a humble lover of his people, a deep lover of teaching, and he recognizes the generous, essential help of Allah. Thus, his rapid success is no mystery.

Abdulalim Shabazz [ DrAAS.info ]


Sent by Dr. Ismail Zayid, Canada.
Vice President Biden indicated that the U.S. is opening the way for Israel to strike Iran. He pretended that Israel is a sovereign country and can do what it wills. [Don't laugh: We are just reporting Biden's comment.] This is worth reading. Please scroll all the way down.


China Slaughters Unarmed Muslim Demonstrators: Chinese Tanks used in Muslim Province [July 5]

Unarmed Muslim protestors came out in Urumqi following the murder of two Muslim workers by Chinese supremacists. The murders in late June did not elicity any legal action by the Chinese authorities as has happened many times before. These murders were the last straw and the Muslim population came out in their thousands to protest. The Chinese rushed in armed police and then military forces with tanks. They shot down Muslim demonstrators indiscriminately. The enraged demonstrators then attacked Chinese supremacist properties and automobiles, setting many on fire. The Chinese military went on the rampage and slaughtered hundreds of Muslims.
The Chinese are controlling the information. This is the way it came out, minimizing the massacre:

"July 6: Chinese authorities announced today that some 140 people had been killed and over 800 wounded in protests that roiled Urumqi, the capital of China's far western Xinjiang province, on Sunday. According to the official news agency Xinhua, Urumqi police chief Liu Yaohua told a press conference that the number of dead was still rising and that there had also been extensive damage to property."

[New Trend comment: China probably forgot that this is the era of Islamic resurgence. China won't be able to get away with such terrible crimes against humanity. China might have to pay all the way from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines to Pakistan, the Middle East and Africa. The Chinese have flooded the Muslim province of Xinjiang with Chinese Han supremacists not unlike what Israel did with Jews in Palestine.]


Israel Kidnaps African American woman leader Attempting to Deliver Relief Goods to Children in Gaza

U.S. Department of State Middle East Digest 01 Jul 2009 briefing on the kidnapped passengers (with the U.S. State Department). The sheer stupidity of the answer boggles your mind.

QUESTION: Erin Connors from Press TV. Former congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and members of the Free Gaza Movement were intercepted by the Israeli army when they were on a humanitarian mission over there. What's being done about that? Are they on their way home? Will they be deported? What's the next step there, and will their supplies ever get to where they're going?

IAN KELLY: On that last question, I don't know the answer, actually. I think I have to refer you to the Government of Israel. We can confirm that the Israeli navy did arrest those on board this - the ship which is known as Spirit. We can't comment on any of the individuals or the number of individual American citizens on board because of Privacy Act concern.

Can you *imagine* what would happen if Iran intercepted a vessel and/or incarcerated a former congressperson and Nobel Prize winner?


Greta Berlin
Free Gaza Movement
357 99 284 102
www.freegaza.org
www.flickr.com/photos/29205195@N02


Letter: ling all Africans: Re Cynthia Mckinney

Cynthia McKinney is in an Israeli Jail
The following phone numbers are associated with their Consulate
212 499 5000
5600
5300

Tell them what time it is

James McIntosh [New York]


[Ed. note: She has just been released, July 6, but the Israeli atrocity must still be protested.]


Letter: ai cult Supporting Zionist Moves Against Iran

Note the "Samimi" origin of the e-mails supporting the "protesters" who lost the election by eleven million votes and otherwise supporting US and Zionist intrigues in Iran.

The Samimis are a well-known clan of the traitor Iranian-origin Baha'i cult who were sent packing along with their patron the Shah in 1979 and have been plumping for a restoration of the monarchy and/or a state subservient to US Imperialism and Zionism ever since.

They enjoy friendly and mutually supportive relations with the Jewish state and appear on Jewish calendars such as those released by the ADL ("Anti-Defamation League") in recent years. The Baha'i world headquarters are located on Mt. Carmel in Haifa, Palestine. They claim to not be involved in politics but have persistently and openly lent themselves to Imperialist intrigues in the Middle East and elsewhere.

al-Ustadh Husayn Farajallah Zaki Al-Kurdi
Chicago


Strategic Studies
An outline by Dr. Kaukab Siddique
Obama Deeply Frustrated and disappointed by the Solid Unity of the Iranian People behind the "Line of the Imam."
Plus a note on the Ahmadenejad vs Rafsanjani confrontation


Disappointment in Iran: The post election disturbances revealed the U.S.-Israeli hand. The U.S. was waiting to pounce. President Obama was cautious when the big rallies against Ahmadinejad began. He seems to have been advised that the opposition led by Mousavi had the upper hand. The westernized Iranian groups were noisy and sounded ambitious. Obama thought the situation was ripe and he need not say anything. Iran would fall into his lap like a ripe plum.

Once more the CIA appears to have blundered on Iran.

Ayatollah Khamene'i spoke with great wisdom to the Iranians and they understood. Unfortunately Mousavi did not understand and carried on with attempts to gather crowds, with little success. He got one crowd of 5000 and then one of 300 and that was it. The Islamic forces had won in the streets too with hardly any bloodshed.

Obama now felt frustrated and condemned the Islamic government, to no avail. The disappointment felt by the Zionist president of America could be seen on the TV screens of America. The ones most supportive of Obama were shrill and sometimes hysterical. Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann and Wolf Blitzer were now behaving as O'Reilly and Glenn Beck used to act out during the Bush presidency.

Why is America unhappy? Iran has done everything it could to help America, just short of giving up its own independence. Iran stood by the U.S-U.N. sanctions on Iraq when Saddam defied the imperialists. Iran, through the Northern Alliance, helped the U.S. defeat the Taliban and corner Al-Qaidah in 2001. Then the U.S. attacked Iraq and again Iran helped the U.S. by its sheer passivity, by joining the demonization campaign against Saddam and then by funding the Shi'ite groups working for the U.S.

It was one Iranian strategic blunder after another. Iran saw the tactical results and was pleased. Both the Taliban-al-Qaida and Saddam were down and Iran was standing tall. That was indeed the depth of Iranian inability to see the strategic results. It was also a deep violation and negation of the teachings of Islam.

The Americans now wanted to work with Iran to control the entire Muslim world. Discreet meetings turned into open contacts. The Iranian foreign minister visited Iraq, subjugated by the U.S., and poured a BILLION dollars into the puppet regime installed by the U.S.

Iran did not realize that U.S. foreign policy is controlled [some would say, dictated] by Israel and by Jewish Americans. Israel made a big thing of the nuclear program in Iran. It was a game meant to incite the U.S. and the European governments against the Iranians who have not even one nuclear weapon and won't have the capacity to get one for at least five more years.

The Israelis apparently convinced the Bush administration that if Iran were to lose Hizbullah as the source of its influence in the Arab world, Iran would work with the U.S. but from a weakened position. Hence the Israeli onslaught on Hizbullah and the destruction of the economy of Lebanon. Unfortunately for Israel, Hizbullah put up unexpectedly strong resistance. Israel failed to destroy Hizbullah and received global condemnation for its aggression.

In the dying days of the Bush administration, Israel went after Hamas and destroyed the entire Gaza enclave. Again, it failed to destroy Hamas in spite of the lack of heavy weapons in the hands of Hamas.

The destruction of Gaza seemed to have Obama's approval. He didn't say a word of disapproval as Israel went about its terroristic attacks. It was a SEAMLESS TRANSITION of imperialism from Bush to Obama.

After the twin Israeli failures, it looked like Obama was in a fix. Iran stood tall and Israel hecame a dirty word globally. Hence Obama made his seemingly open minded statements about talking to Iran if only it would unclench its fist.

In that context, the Iranian elections came as a "godsend" for Israel and the U.S. Mousavi had lost but had received millions of votes. Iranians usually squabble over a contest and know how how to differ without fighting. But into this mix jumped the westernized fringes of Iran's America-linked enclaves. As if at a signal, America's notoriously Zionist media went on a binge of Ahmadinejad-bashing. Right away the comparisons with Hitler came up [who too was elected!], a sure sign of the Jewish hand behind the propaganda.

It was meant to be a coup. That became very clear when America and its Iranian supporters started attacking Ayatollah Khamene'i and comparing their own disturbances to the revolution of 1979! This was a serious attempt to put an end to the Islamic core in Iran. It failed miserably because the revolution still has huge support among the working classes and the women. Can one hope that Ahmadinejad will think of Imam Khomeni's teachings now more than ever not to have any relations with the U.S.? Remember he called it The Great Satan!


A Note on the Class Conflict in Iran. Re: Ahmadenejad vs Rafsanjani

People often forget that most of the ORIGINAL leadership of the Islamic revolution inspired by Imam Khomeini was decimated by a terrorist group known as MKO. About 75 leaders were killed in ONE night.
After that the elected President and Prime Minister were also assassinated by the same group. [MKO had/has widespread support in the U.S. Congress.]

The leadership thus more or less fell into the hands of Rafsanjani, Mousavi, Khatami etc. [Imam Khomeini had spoken against Muta' {temporary marriage}, one of the abominations of Shi'ism, but Rafsanjani went back to the pre-revolution traditional Shi'ite view of muta']

Rafsanjani represents the VERY rich merchant class. His thinking on international matters is foggy. During the Iran-Iraq war, after Iraqi forces were drven out of Iran, he kept up the rhetoric of war and Iranian forces then entered Iraq. He and others like him assured Imam Khomeini that Iraqi Shi'as would rise up and join Iran. They did not. Iraqi nationalism was very strong. Thousands of Iranian youths were killed trying to storm Basra. Thus the revolutionary forces of Iran were weakened while the well-to-do traditional religious people gained both economically and socially as well as politically.

Ahmadinejad is not acceptable to the Rafsanjani types because he is on the KHAT-e-IMAM [the line of Imam Khomeini]. He lives a very simple life and has tremendous support among the working classes. He has criticized the corruption in Rafsanjani's camp much to Rafsanjani's chagrin.

This election reflected the determination of the religious establishment to oust Ahmadinejad. When the opposite happened, they became bitter and started making wild accusations. It was this situation which the GHARABZADAH [westernized] enclaves in Iran tried to use. They thought they could ride the reactionary religious groups' uproar to strike at the foundations of the revolution, which is Islam.

The U.S. and western powers and the westernized Iranians have been implacable in their desire to somehow destroy the revolution. Every mistake by the revolutionaries is magnified and used to its maximum.

I saw this right in the beginning of the Islamic victory when I interviewed Imam Khomeni in Qum [before he moved to Tehran]. Some copies of my book about those times might still be available with Amazon. It includes a very rare photo of the Imam which I took at the home he was staying in Qum. The book is called KHOMEINI'S IRAN. Only days into the revolution, U.S. media were "predicting" that the revolution would fizzle out!

Kaukab Siddique, Ph.D
Associate Professor of English & Mass Communication


Lest We Forget: Reminder of a Zionist Terrorist Crime

Reminder from: ILM-publication Yahoo! Group

Title: 4th of July in Palestine....

Date: Saturday July 4, 2009
Time: 3:00 am - 4:00 am
Repeats: This event repeats every year.
Notes: 4th of July in Palestine....
In the early hours of the 4th of July 2006 the zionist entity bombed the university of Gaza.


David Irving Set to Speak in 17 US Cities in July

http://www.focal.org/speaks/index.html

David Irving will be in the western USA in July, addressing meetings in 17 cities, including Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Costa Mesa, and Kansas City. His topic will be "Hitler, Himmler and 'Enigma': Re-writing World War II history using Nazi messages decoded by the British Secret Service." The best-selling British historian will also have available copies of his prison memoir, which tells of his headline-making arrest and harrowing prison ordeal in Austria, 2005-06.


War News: Afghanistan
Senior British Commander Killed in Taliban Attack
4,000 U.S. Marines Launch offensive in Helmand province backed by British and Karzai troops


July 6, 2009: AFP is reporting 7 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan today in various Taliban guerrilla activities. Four of them were killed in Kunduz which is in the north and where they were training Karzai's troops.
July 5, 2009: Two British troops were killed inTaliban attacks near Lashkargah, the northern part of Helmand province. The guerrilla fighters used a ine in the first attack and in the second, a mujahid hit a British vehicle with an rpg.

July 1, 2009: At the start of a U.S.-NATO offensive in Helmand province, the Taliban blew up this sophisticated British armored vehicle, the Viking, [see graphic below] killing the commander of the Welsh Guards [1st batallion] and one other British soldier and wounding 4. The Lt. Colonel is the most senior Brit killed since the Falkland war. British power structure is in mourning today.

June 30: In Paktika province, a U.S. soldier soldier, probably drunk, wandered outside his base. He was grabbed by some civilians and allegdly "sold" to the Taliban. [New Trend observers say, this soldier managed to bring food to Afghan children in a weird kind of way.]


Daily Mail Graphic, UK, July 4.

By July 6, the U.S. offensive has gained only the little town of Khan Neshin in south western Helmand province. As the marines advanced, the Taliban withdrew in guerrilla maneuvers. At one point SIX Taliban held up the U.S. advance. Unable to advance, the marines called in an air strike. A 500 pound bomb was dropped on the Taliban position killing all six. Hit and run Taliban attacks have killed one U.S. marine and wounded 17.


Woman Bomber Hits Karzai troops: June 30: At the Afghan-Pakistan border, Torkhum check point, [on the Afghan side] when Karzai troops wanted to check a burqa clad woman, she threw a grenade and then blew herself up killing 5 Karzai troops. Unfortunately 5 civilians were also killed in the explosion. Afghan news first said it was a man hiding in a burqa but later reports confirmed that it was a mujahid woman.


War News: Pakistan

June 14-July 6, 2009: The Pakistani offensive against the Islamic fighters in South Waziristan has failed. After 22 days of bombing and shelling, the U.S.-backed military has been unable to advance. Taliban have also returned to Swat, Dir and Buner where new fighting is reported. Pak army says it killed an aide of Maulvi Fazlullah. The homes of 21 Taliban have been burned down by the army in Swat. The army says 3 troops were killed and 6 wounded in the latest clashes.

[Editor's note: If the Taliban's homes are being burned down, what happens to the army's claim that Pak Taliban are outsiders! This sounds like Israel in occupied Palestine, burning people's homes.]


Pak Army Copter Shot Down: 41 Troops Killed
July 4, 2009: On the Orakzai-Khyber agency border, Pak Taliban brought down a Pak MI17 helicopter killing 41 Pak military forces including the pilot. Pak Taliban representative named Muhammad called news agencies from the Darra Adam Khel area to confirm that it was their revenge for the assault on South Waziristan.
According to Urdu daily Khabrain, Pak army wanted to claim that it was a mechanical failure but then admitted that the MI17 was coming under ground fire when it crashed.


Protest Rallies Across Pakistan Condemn Suffering of Masses: 150% increase in prices. No electricity for the poor.

July 3, 2009: Protest rallies were held in Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Islamabad, Mansehra, Karachi, Jacobabad, Kandkot and various cities in the province of Sind including Hyderabad, Badin and Thatta. The protests were organized by Jamaate Islami at a call from Ameer of JI Syed Munawar Hasan to highlight the suffering of the masses.

Protestors condemned the extended cut offs of electricity in every city during the intense heat of summer. Speakers blamed the government for the increases in prices of consumer goods and gasoline ["petrol"] as well as lawlessness and police atrocities.

Many Pakistanis think the ruling clique in Islamabad is deliberately depriving the people of electricity to keep them focused on their own misery.


Obama: Day 164
U.S. Drone Attacks Islamic School and 2 villages in Pakistan: 17 Civilians Killed 27 wounded

July 3: South Waziristan: U.S. drone attacked two villages, Kokut Khel and Mantui on Friday morning [the day of prayer] killing 17 civilians wounding 27. The missiles fired by the U.S. completely demolished an Islamic school in Mantui After the attack a representative of Baitullah Mehsud named Noor Syed called news agencies and said that three of those killed were Taliban and the rest were civilians. He added that such attacks cannot weaken us.


Obama: Day 161
Iraq: The Withdrawal which Wasn't

June 30: The Obama administration declared with much fanfare that it has kept its promise to withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30. American troops, 131,000 of them, have simply decided to stay inside their garrisons which surround major Iraqi cities. In fact this "stay inside" tactic is saving U.S. troops from more losses. Even then the U.S. lost 15 troops in June, including 4 on the day of the "withdrawal."

The puppet al-Maliki "government" held a parade to celebrate the occasion but very few people noticed that the parade was held WITHIN the heavily guarded "green zone."

U.S. General Odierno admitted that U.S. troops had withdrawn from western cities more than 8 months back [as New Trend was the first to note.].

The situation now is that most of central south Iraq is under Shi'ite control. However the Shi'ites are in serious murderous conflict with each other. In June they blew each other's civilians up in random bombings for which no one took credit.

Western Iraq, from Ramadi to Tal Afar is under the control of President Saddam's supporters, including the resistance fighter al-Douri. Some pockets of al-Qaidah remain in western Iraq. [A part of Baghdad is in Al-Qaida control believe it or not.]

The biggest chunks of Iraq under al-Qaida [formally known as Islamic State of Iraq] are the Mosul area [400 miles north west of Baghdad] and Diyala province.

On July 6, several police officers brought in from Baghdad, were killed by snipers in Mosul.

The situation in Kirkuk is very tense and has given al-Qaida a chance to put down its roots.

Thus the correct situation of U.S. troops in Iraq is that they are STUCK in IRAQ and will need some bold steps by Obama to bring them home, which doesn't seem likely till 2011. Thus the war will continue.


[Think about it: Did the Nazis ever stop Jewish children from having crayons?... Editor New Trend]

Letter from an Israeli Jail
By Cynthia McKinney

This is Cynthia McKinney and I'm speaking from an Israeli prison cellblock in Ramle. [I am one of] the Free Gaza 21, human rights activists currently imprisoned for trying to take medical supplies to Gaza, building supplies - and even crayons for children, I had a suitcase full of crayons for children. While we were on our way to Gaza the Israelis threatened to fire on our boat, but we did not turn around. The Israelis hijacked and arrested us because we wanted to give crayons to the children in Gaza. We have been detained, and we want the people of the world to see how we have been treated just because we wanted to deliver humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza.

At the outbreak of Israel's Operation Cast Lead [in December 2008], I boarded a Free Gaza boat with one day's notice and tried, as the US representative in a multi-national delegation, to deliver 3 tons of medical supplies to an already besieged and ravaged Gaza.

During Operation Cast Lead, U.S.-supplied F-16s rained hellfire on a trapped people. Ethnic cleansing became full scale outright genocide. U.S.-supplied white phosphorus, depleted uranium, robotic technology, DIME weapons, and cluster bombs - new weapons creating injuries never treated before by Jordanian and Norwegian doctors. I was later told by doctors who were there in Gaza during Israel's onslaught that Gaza had become Israel's veritable weapons testing laboratory, people used to test and improve the kill ratio of their weapons.

The world saw Israel's despicable violence thanks to al-Jazeera Arabic and Press TV that broadcast in English. I saw those broadcasts live and around the clock, not from the USA but from Lebanon, where my first attempt to get into Gaza had ended because the Israeli military rammed the boat I was on in international water ... It's a miracle that I'm even here to write about my second encounter with the Israeli military, again a humanitarian mission aborted by the Israeli military.

The Israeli authorities have tried to get us to confess that we committed a crime ... I am now known as Israeli prisoner number 88794. How can I be in prison for collecting crayons to kids?

Zionism has surely run out of its last legitimacy if this is what it does to people who believe so deeply in human rights for all that they put their own lives on the line for someone else's children. Israel is the fullest expression of Zionism, but if Israel fears for its security because Gaza's children have crayons then not only has Israel lost its last shred of legitimacy, but Israel must be declared a failed state.

I am facing deportation from the state that brought me here at gunpoint after commandeering our boat. I was brought to Israel against my will. I am being held in this prison because I had a dream that Gaza's children could color & paint, that Gaza's wounded could be healed, and that Gaza's bombed-out houses could be rebuilt.

But I've learned an interesting thing by being inside this prison. First of all, it's incredibly black: populated mostly by Ethiopians who also had a dream ... like my cellmates, one who is pregnant. They are all are in their twenties. They thought they were coming to the Holy Land. They had a dream that their lives would be better ... The once proud, never colonized Ethiopia [has been thrown into] the back pocket of the United States, and become a place of torture, rendition, and occupation. Ethiopians must free their country because superpower politics [have] become more important than human rights and self-determination.

My cellmates came to the Holy Land so they could be free from the exigencies of superpower politics. They committed no crime except to have a dream. They came to Israel because they thought that Israel held promise for them. Their journey to Israel through Sudan and Egypt was arduous. I can only imagine what it must have been like for them. And it wasn't cheap. Many of them represent their family's best collective efforts for self-fulfilment. They made their way to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. They got their yellow paper of identification. They got their certificate for police protection. They are refugees from tragedy, and they made it to Israel. Only after they arrived Israel told them there is no UN in Israel.

The police here have license to pick them up & suck them into the black hole of a farce for a justice system. These beautiful, industrious and proud women represent the hopes of entire families. The idea of Israel tricked them and the rest of us. In a widely propagandized slick marketing campaign, Israel represented itself as a place of refuge and safety for the world's first Jews and Christian. I too believed that marketing and failed to look deeper.

The truth is that Israel lied to the world. Israel lied to the families of these young women. Israel lied to the women themselves who are now trapped in Ramlea's detention facility. And what are we to do? One of my cellmates cried today. She has been here for 6 months. As an American, crying with them is not enough. The policy of the United States must be better, and while we watch President Obama give 12.8 trillion dollars to the financial elite of the United States it ought now be clear that hope, change, and "yes we can" were powerfully presented images of dignity and self-fulfilment, individually and nationally, that besieged people everywhere truly believed in.

It was a slick marketing campaign as slickly put to the world and to the voters of America as was Israel's marketing to the world. It tricked all of us but, more tragically, these young women.

We must cast an informed vote about better candidates seeking to represent us. I have read and re-read Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's letter from a Birmingham jail. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever imagined that I too would one day have to do so. It is clear that taxpayers in Europe and the U.S. have a lot to atone for, for what they've done to others around the world.

What an irony! My son begins his law school program without me because I am in prison, in my own way trying to do my best, again, for other people's children. Forgive me, my son. I guess I'm experiencing the harsh reality which is why people need dreams. [But] I'm lucky. I will leave this place. Has Israel become the place where dreams die?

Ask the people of Palestine. Ask the stream of black and Asian men whom I see being processed at Ramle. Ask the women on my cellblock. [Ask yourself:] what are you willing to do?

Let's change the world together & reclaim what we all need as human beings: Dignity. I appeal to the United Nations to get these women of Ramle, who have done nothing wrong other than to believe in Israel as the guardian of the Holy Land, resettled in safe homes. I appeal to the United State's Department of State to include the plight of detained UNHCR-certified refugees in the Israel country report in its annual human rights report. I appeal once again to President Obama to go to Gaza: send your special envoy, George Mitchell there, and to engage Hamas as the elected choice of the Palestinian people.

I dedicate this message to those who struggle to achieve a free Palestine, and to the women I've met at Ramle. This is Cynthia McKinney, July 2nd 2009, also known as Ramle prisoner number 88794.


Cynthia McKinney is a former U.S. Congresswoman, Green Party presidential candidate, and an outspoken advocate for human rights and social justice. The first African-American woman to represent the state of Georgia, McKinney served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, from 1993-2003, and from 2005-2007. She was arrested and forcibly abducted to Israel while attempting to take humanitarian and reconstruction supplies to Gaza on June 30th. For more information, please see http://www.FreeGaza.org


Archive
NT Editor Dr. Siddique's Interview with Umm Hasan, Principal of Jamia Hafsa, Islamabad, Pakistan . April 10, 2007

Why Did Islamic Women Decide to Risk their Lives to Defy General Musharraf in his Stronghold?

New Trend: Sis. Umm Hasan, I decided to interview you after I saw that the forces opposed to Islam are busy trying to discredit Jamia Hafsa on the Internet. It is obvious that your Islamic university is having a tremendous impact on the situation in Pakistan, located as you are in the capital of Pakistan. BBC interviewed you ....

Umm Hasan: BBC gave a totally distorted picture of our struggle. It said that we wanted to use violence and throw acid on the faces of women who do not wear Islamic covering. That would be totally unislamic and against Shari'a [Islamic Law]. BBC tried to defame us.

New Trend: I have also heard that your university [Jamia] is facing a threat of military action by General Musharraf which could happen at any time. Is that true?

Umm Hasan : Yes, Musharraf has prepared a strike force known as Triple One. It is heavily armed. We only have lathis [wooden staves] to defend ourselves, but we will defend ourselves. We have heard that a special gas has been prepared by Musharraf's forces which would put people to sleep.

NT: I don't think that will be easy for Musharraf. I have read that Islamic volunteers from all over the country are coming to your defense and many have assembled in Lal Masjid which is in the same complex as Jamia Hafsa. But how did all this start? Why are the young women in your care coming out to fight?

UH: Women of Islam have been terrorized by General Musharraf for much too long. We won't take it any longer. We are sick and tired of his anti-Islam policies and actions. To give you some idea, our university was attacked first by Musharraf in the year 2004 during the night of August 16-17. In the police rampage, our young women were terrorized and attacked by the SWAT teams of Musharraf.

NT: That is indeed shameful!

UH: Then in 2005, in the aftermath of the London bombing of 7/7, after 11 days, Tony Blair called on Musharraf to attack the Madrassas. Hardly had Blair spoken, then on the very next day, July 19, Musharraf's Special Forces raided Jamia Hafsa. They were shelling us with tear gas and firing plastic bullets at the girls.

NT: You mean right there in Islamabad? What a dastardly act! The general is a bloody coward!

UH: In this attack, Musharraf's forces injured 150 of our girls. One of them had to spend three months in a clinic. When Musharraf learned that a number of our students were in hospital and were being given oxygen, he ordered that the oxygen be turned off.

NT: What an accursed coward!

UH: The raids of 2004 and 2005 emboldened Musharraf so much, he decided to start demolishing mosques in Islamabad. Hamza masjid was actually demolished along with 8 others. We received notice that Jamia Hafsa, along with another 80 [eighty] mosques and religious schools and establishments, were to be demolished and that we should leave. This was the immediate cause of the uprising of our young women and the occupation of a small library as the symbol of our resistance.

NT: I have read that the occupation of the library and the young women's open defiance of the regime had good results. The government announced that it would rebuild Masjid Hamza and stop the demolition process. Then why did your struggle continue? I have heard that the young women kidnapped a "madam" who was running a prostitution den.

UH: Let me explain!

NT: Isn't that a violation of law and due process of law? [Benazir Bhutto's] Peoples Party is making a big noise, calling on Musharraf to crack down on Jamia Hafsa for this "violation of law."

UH: There is no "rule of law" in this country. No woman can appeal to the police for help. Any woman who falls into the hands of the police is liable to be raped or at least assaulted.

NT: What happened in the case of this "madam?" I read somewhere that her name is "Shamim Naqvi" [a Shi'ite].

UH: She is known as "Auntie Shamim." Our girls had been watching her activities for over a month. The neighbors are sick and tired of her procurement of women for men in the government and the crime and noise which goes along with it. She was very confident of her power. She told anyone who objected to the presence of thugs in her area and the activities related to procuring women that she has protection right from the top and that no one will dare to touch her and survive. She was openly working as a procuress. She was increasing her business with government support, even sending girls to other cities.

NT: Then what happened?

UH: Our Islamic girls went to talk to her and begged her to stop her activities, gave her the teachings of Allah and His messenger, pbuh. The Islamic girls reminded her of the Hereafter. Instead of relenting, at this advice she became very angry and took out a knife. She cut one of our Islamic girls. Then the young women picked her up and brought her over. She was kicking and screaming and used her mouth to bite two of the girls. She left tooth marks. She was not hurt and was brought without injury,

NT: All praise belongs to Allah! And then?

UH: She was told that Islamic women mean her no harm and only want to stop her shameful and sinful activities of procurement of women for government officials. At first she threatened and said that she has "long hands" and we will not survive. However, when she realized that the Islamic women were not going to let go easily, she repented and wrote a full confession of her misdeeds.

NT: Who were her clients?

UH: She did indeed have long hands. She gave us the list of her "customers." Among her clients or customers are Shaikh Rasheed and his nephew Rasheed Shafiq.

NT: You mean the Shaikh Rasheed who is the closest publicist of Musharraf? He is Railway Minister perhaps, isn't he? The one who keeps giving press statements about how great Musharraf is ? Are you sure?

UH: The very same. Top government women are also involved in this corruption.

NT: Such as?

UH: Nilofar Bakhtiar and Zubaidah Jalal.

NT: You might get into a lot of trouble. You are mentioning top people including Shaikh Rasheed by name. He is a powerful man, very close to Musharraf. Aren't you afraid?

UH: We have been taking names right from the time "Auntie Shamim" confessed. We want the people of Pakistan to know how corrupt and degraded this government is. Thus when Musharraf tries to get these people "elected," Pakistanis will know who is being "voted" into power. Musharraf is going for new "elections."

NT: You are challenging the power structure. Your girls have long sticks [lathis]; the government has machine guns and tanks. Why do you feel so strong? Who is on your side?

UH: Allah and His messenger, sal Allaho alaihi wassalam, and the believers.

NT: How many young Islamic women are holding on to the library?

UH: 150

NT: What's the total enrollment of Jamia Hafsa?

UH: We have a total of 6,000 female students. Of these, 3,000 are at the middle school and matric level. The rest are at the university level. In addition to regular courses, we teach Hifz Qur'an and at the senior level we teach Fiqh [Islamic Jurisprudence] and Study of Hadith.

NT: How many of the students are on campus at this time?

UH: About 1,500.

NT: How many teachers?

UH: 175.

NT: Since when have you been the Principal?

UH: Since we began in 1991.

NT: Thank you for the interview. I'll come back to you with more questions. May Allah keep you safe and strong in Islam.


Our America: next 5 items only

Legally blind ba-hijab Muslim student delivers commencement address at prestigious US College in Massachusetts

Courtesy: CIS [Canadian Islamic Congress.]

(June 29, 2009) – On June 5, Mona Minkara stood before 600 fellow members of the class of 2009 at graduation from Wellesley College and delivered the commencement address.

Mona Minkara is legally blind.

"It's an honor," said Minkara. "I hope disabled students around the country can realize you can make it even though you might be blind, or deaf, or whatever your story might be."

A devoted Muslim who has worn the hijab head cover since sixth grade, she sometimes felt different and isolated from other schoolmates due to her blindness and minority status. But that didn't crush her drive to succeed.

"It's made me stronger and taught me to be who I am," said Minkara.

At Wellesley, Minkara has served as president of Al-Muslimat, Wellesley's Muslim student group, where she has focused on interfaith outreach.

A chemistry and Middle Eastern studies double major, Monkara will continue this summer at Wellesley as a researcher with assistant professor of chemistry Mala Radhakrishnan through a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

The daughter of Lebanese immigrants Fida El-Jamal and Samer Minkara of Hingham, Mass., Minkara spoke Arabic before learning English. Her sister Sara, who also has vision problems, has followed in her footsteps and is a junior at Wellesley.

A devoted Muslim who has worn the hijab head cover since sixth grade, she sometimes felt different and isolated from other schoolmates due to her blindness and minority status. But that didn't crush her drive to succeed.

Since 1875, Wellesley College has been a leader in providing an excellent liberal arts education for women who will make a difference in the world. Its 500-acre campus near Boston is home to 2,300 undergraduate students from all 50 states and 68 countries.

"I hope one day I can give back to others because so many people have helped me, especially my parents," said Minkara, whose mother strongly encouraged her to apply to Wellesley, one of the eight colleges that accepted her.

Source: www.wellesley.edu


With thanks to Sis. Rabia
Black Male Teachers [South Carolina]

Do you know any Black males who are seniors in high school who want to go to college out of state for "FREE" ? Several Black Colleges are looking for future black male teachers and will send them to universities/colleges for 4 years FREE.

The 'Call Me MISTER' program is an effort to address the critical shortage of African American male teachers particularly among South Carolina's lowest performing public schools . Program participants are selected from among under-served, socio-economically disadvantaged and educationally at-risk communities.

The program is a collaboration between Clemson University and four historically black colleges in South Carolina : Benedict College, Claflin University, Morris College and South Carolina State University.

The project provides:
Tuition for admitted students pursuing approved programs of study at participating colleges.
An academic support system to help assure their success.. A cohort system for social and cultural support.

Visit http://www.callmemister.clemson.edu/index.htm for more details and the online application or call (800) 640-2657.


Please join us and help pass the word.

20th Pastors for Peace Cuba Caravan

Beans & Rice Dinner

Speaker: Claudia de la Cruz

Suggested Donation: $5 per person

Friday, July 10, 2009: 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.

The Meeting House (In the Oakland Mills Village Center)

5885 Robert Oliver Place

Columbia, Maryland 21045

This event is open to the public

Join us to welcome the "caravanistas" on their way to Cuba. They will challenge the U.S. blockade by bringing humanitarian aid, solidarity, and friendship to our friends in Cuba. The speaker, Ms. Claudia de la Cruz is an experienced community organizer, who has dedicated her life to the promotion of peace with justice around the world. The "caravanistas" will spend the night of July 10th in our homes in Howard County. Please let us know if you can provide a bed or a space for a sleeping bag in your home!

For more information, contact: Leslie at 410-381-4899 or Francine at 410-992-7679; Email: FrancineMSW@aol.com or check our web site at: www.friendsoflatinamerica.org


With thanks to Sis. Ajir Khadija
GSU Professor Resigns over "Bomb" Comments to Muslim-American Student
Atlanta, Georgia, July 1, 2009
The director of the Middle East Institute at Georgia State University, Dona J. Stewart, has resigned citing the university's failure to address incidents of anti-Muslim bias by a senior faculty member, Dr. Mary Stuckey. In August 2008 a Muslim-American doctoral student, Ms. Slma Shelbayah, was repeatedly asked if she was 'carrying any bombs' underneath her Islamic headscarf, or hijab. Ms Shelbayah was also employed as a Visiting Instructor of Arabic in the Middle East Institute. She holds a Bachelor and Masters degrees from Georgia State University.
In her resignation, Dr. Stewart cited retaliatory actions taken by the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Lauren Adamson and her office after Ms. Shelbayah requested that the incidents cease. The dean's office demanded that Dr. Stewart remove Ms. Shelbayah from her visiting instructor position, cancelled Ms. Shelbayah's registration in her classes, demanded Ms. Shelbayah choose between her job and higher education and declared Ms. Shelbayah ineligible to lead a study abroad program to Egypt previously approved by the president of the university. Dr. Stewart refused to meet the Dean's demands, believing they violated Ms. Shelbayah's constitutional rights and lacked due process. As a result, Dr. Stewart was subjected to numerous hostile comments and retaliatory actions by the dean that has impaired her ability to fulfill federal grant commitments.
No disciplinary action was taken towards the senior faculty member. The EEOC is currently investigating formal complaints files by Stewart and Shelbayah.
Dona Stewart is a former Fulbright scholar to Jordan. In 2006 she received GSU's Exceptional Service Award and is the 2009 faculty recipient of the Sparks Award that recognizes GSU's 'unsung heroes'. She has led the Middle East Institute since 2002.
Slma Shelbayah, 25 years old, is a former television reporter. In 2002, Ms. Shelbayah began her studies at GSU as an accelerated undergraduate student, finishing a Journalism BA degree in 2 years. She continued her Masters degree in Applied Linguistics. In 2007, she was hired as a Visiting Instructor in the Middle East Institute and the following year Ms. Shelbayah was accepted into the Communication PhD program at GSU.
For further information contact:
Attorney James E. Radford Dona J. Stewart, Ph.D. Slma Shelbayah
Parks, Chesin and Walbert, P.C. (404) 918-2306 678-429-8111
75 Fourteenth Street, Atlanta, GA, 30309 donastewart@hotmail.com sshelbayah@yahoo.com
(40..., JRADFORD@PCWLAWFIRM.COM www.gsu.edu/mideast


Violence Against Women: Very Common in America

18-year-old shot, killed in California

College student's boyfriend, 21, charged with murder

By Nadine Parks
The Post and Courier
Monday, July 6, 2009

When Ayesha Thomason graduated from Goose Creek High School in 2008 and moved to California for college, her family couldn't have imagined she would be killed less than a year later.
Thomason, 18, was shot the morning of June 16 at her sister's home in Oakland, Calif., and died about an hour later. Her boyfriend, Jesse James Blue, 21, is charged with murder, the Oakland Tribune reported.

Ayesha Thomason
Blue and Thomason were students at Merritt College in Oakland. They had been dating about six months.
Thomason's mother, Amalia Thomason of Goose Creek, said her daughter was a Muslim, and the couple had disagreed about religion, among other issues. Thomason tried to end the relationship, she said.
Ayesha Thomason was a former member of the Goose Creek High School track team, and she took flying lessons in Moncks Corner before she moved out of state. She dreamed of becoming a pilot, her mother said.
"She had a spirit that people were drawn to," Amalia Thomason said.
The teenager was buried in Oakland. Driscoll's Mortuary of San Francisco handled the arrangements.
Survivors include her mother and father, Leon Thomason of Goose Creek; a brother, Jeremiah Thomason of Goose Creek; and two sisters, Patricia Thomason of Goose Creek and Athena Gonzalez of Oakland.
Obama: Day 166


Biden: U.S. won't stop Israeli strike on Iran

By Haaretz Service
July 5, 2009

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Sunday that the Obama administration would not stand in Israel's way should the latter chooses to take military action to eliminate Iran's nuclear threat.

Israel has the right to determine its own course of action with regard to the Iranian nuclear threat regardless of what the Obama administration chooses to do, Biden told ABC reporter George Stephanopoulos.

When asked whether the Obama administration would restrain Israeli military action against Iran, Biden responded:

"Israel can determine for itself - it's a sovereign nation - what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else."

Stephanaopoulos posed the question three times, and each time Biden repeated that Israel was free to choose its actions.

"If the Netanyahu government decides to take a course of action different than the one being pursued now, that is their sovereign right to do that. That is not our choice."

During the interview, Biden hinted that President Barack Obama was looking to take a harder line toward Iran over the latter's contentious nuclear program.

He said that Obama's offer for dialogue with Tehran remained on the table, but rejected the notion that the U.S. would make concessions for such negotiation to take place.

"The ball's in their court," Biden said. "If they choose to meet with the P-5 under the conditions the P-5 has laid out, it means they begin to change course. And it means that the protestors probably had some impact on the behavior of an administration that they don't like at all."

Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Sunday, when asked about Biden's comments, that the U.S. position on Iran and a military strike involves a political decision.

"I have been, for some time, concerned about any strike on Iran. I worry about it being very destabilizing, not just in and of itself but unintended consequences of a strike like that," Mullen said on CBS' Face the Nation.

"At the same time, I'm one that thinks Iran should not have nuclear weapons. I think that is very destabilizing," he said.

2009-07-07 Tue 19:22:26 cdt
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