Happy Eid Al-adha 2006

Soon in the Middle East...?

A dictator created then destroyed by America

by Robert Fisk

Published: 30 December 2006

Saddam to the gallows. It was an easy equation. Who could be more deserving of that last walk to the scaffold - that crack of the neck at the end of a rope - than the Beast of Baghdad, the Hitler of the Tigris, the man who murdered untold hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis while spraying chemical weapons over his enemies? Our masters will tell us in a few hours that it is a "great day" for Iraqis and will hope that the Muslim world will forget that his death sentence was signed - by the Iraqi "government", but on behalf of the Americans - on the very eve of the Eid al-Adha, the Feast of the Sacrifice, the moment of greatest forgiveness in the Arab world.

But history will record that the Arabs and other Muslims and, indeed, many millions in the West, will ask another question this weekend, a question that will not be posed in other Western newspapers because it is not the narrative laid down for us by our presidents and prime ministers - what about the other guilty men?

No, Tony Blair is not Saddam. We don't gas our enemies. George W Bush is not Saddam. He didn't invade Iran or Kuwait. He only invaded Iraq. But hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians are dead - and thousands of Western troops are dead - because Messrs Bush and Blair and the Spanish Prime Minister and the Italian Prime Minister and the Australian Prime Minister went to war in 2003 on a potage of lies and mendacity and, given the weapons we used, with great brutality.

In the aftermath of the international crimes against humanity of 2001 we have tortured, we have murdered, we have brutalised and killed the innocent - we have even added our shame at Abu Ghraib to Saddam's shame at Abu Ghraib - and yet we are supposed to forget these terrible crimes as we applaud the swinging corpse of the dictator we created.

Who encouraged Saddam to invade Iran in 1980, which was the greatest war crime he has committed for it led to the deaths of a million and a half souls? And who sold him the components for the chemical weapons with which he drenched Iran and the Kurds? We did. No wonder the Americans, who controlled Saddam's weird trial, forbad any mention of this, his most obscene atrocity, in the charges against him. Could he not have been handed over to the Iranians for sentencing for this massive war crime? Of course not. Because that would also expose our culpability.

And the mass killings we perpetrated in 2003 with our depleted uranium shells and our "bunker buster" bombs and our phosphorous, the murderous post-invasion sieges of Fallujah and Najaf, the hell-disaster of anarchy we unleashed on the Iraqi population in the aftermath of our "victory" - our "mission accomplished" - who will be found guilty of this? Such expiation as we might expect will come, no doubt, in the self-serving memoirs of Blair and Bush, written in comfortable and wealthy retirement.

Hours before Saddam's death sentence, his family - his first wife, Sajida, and Saddam's daughter and their other relatives - had given up hope.

"Whatever could be done has been done - we can only wait for time to take its course," one of them said last night. But Saddam knew, and had already announced his own "martyrdom": he was still the president of Iraq and he would die for Iraq. All condemned men face a decision: to die with a last, grovelling plea for mercy or to die with whatever dignity they can wrap around themselves in their last hours on earth. His last trial appearance - that wan smile that spread over the mass-murderer's face - showed us which path Saddam intended to walk to the noose.

I have catalogued his monstrous crimes over the years. I have talked to the Kurdish survivors of Halabja and the Shia who rose up against the dictator at our request in 1991 and who were betrayed by us - and whose comrades, in their tens of thousands, along with their wives, were hanged like thrushes by Saddam's executioners.

I have walked round the execution chamber of Abu Ghraib - only months, it later transpired, after we had been using the same prison for a few tortures and killings of our own - and I have watched Iraqis pull thousands of their dead relatives from the mass graves of Hilla. One of them has a newly-inserted artificial hip and a medical identification number on his arm. He had been taken directly from hospital to his place of execution. Like Donald Rumsfeld, I have even shaken the dictator's soft, damp hand. Yet the old war criminal finished his days in power writing romantic novels.

It was my colleague, Tom Friedman - now a messianic columnist for The New York Times - who perfectly caught Saddam's character just before the 2003 invasion: Saddam was, he wrote, "part Don Corleone, part Donald Duck". And, in this unique definition, Friedman caught the horror of all dictators; their sadistic attraction and the grotesque, unbelievable nature of their barbarity.

But that is not how the Arab world will see him. At first, those who suffered from Saddam's cruelty will welcome his execution. Hundreds wanted to pull the hangman's lever. So will many other Kurds and Shia outside Iraq welcome his end. But they - and millions of other Muslims - will remember how he was informed of his death sentence at the dawn of the Eid al-Adha feast, which recalls the would-be sacrifice by Abraham, of his son, a commemoration which even the ghastly Saddam cynically used to celebrate by releasing prisoners from his jails. "Handed over to the Iraqi authorities," he may have been before his death. But his execution will go down - correctly - as an American affair and time will add its false but lasting gloss to all this - that the West destroyed an Arab leader who no longer obeyed his orders from Washington, that, for all his wrongdoing (and this will be the terrible get-out for Arab historians, this shaving away of his crimes) Saddam died a "martyr" to the will of the new "Crusaders".

When he was captured in November of 2003, the insurgency against American troops increased in ferocity. After his death, it will redouble in intensity again. Freed from the remotest possibility of Saddam's return by his execution, the West's enemies in Iraq have no reason to fear the return of his Baathist regime. Osama bin Laden will certainly rejoice, along with Bush and Blair. And there's a thought. So many crimes avenged.

But we will have got away with it.

Saddam Hussein: A Man or a Monster?

Saddam Hussein during his first appearance before the Iraqi Special Tribunal

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikrit

صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي

(April 28, 1937 – December 30, 2006)

A man who allegedly, was given large amounts of money from America;
to use his own people like a genocide experiment.

Giving him the notoriety as the “Butcher of Baghdad !”

A man who allegedly, took large amounts of money from America
to maintain and pump Iraqi oil fields.

He did not maintain, pocketed the money?

A man who allegedly threatened Israel,
so his country of Iraq, was eventually invaded.

A man whose former employer made and example of him, by hanging him at the beginning of Eid Al-adha?

President Bush's Statement on Execution of Saddam Hussein

For Immediate Release

Office of the Press Secretary

December 29, 2006

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

Today, Saddam Hussein was executed after receiving a fair trial -- the kind of justice he denied the victims of his brutal regime.

Fair trials were unimaginable under Saddam Hussein's tyrannical rule. It is a testament to the Iraqi people's resolve to move forward after decades of oppression that, despite his terrible crimes against his own people, Saddam Hussein received a fair trial. This would not have been possible without the Iraqi people's determination to create a society governed by the rule of law.

Saddam Hussein's execution comes at the end of a difficult year for the Iraqi people and for our troops. Bringing Saddam Hussein to justice will not end the violence in Iraq, but it is an important milestone on Iraq's course to becoming a democracy that can govern, sustain, and defend itself, and be an ally in the War on Terror.

We are reminded today of how far the Iraqi people have come since the end of Saddam Hussein's rule - and that the progress they have made would not have been possible without the continued service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform.

Many difficult choices and further sacrifices lie ahead. Yet the safety and security of the American people require that we not relent in ensuring that Iraq's young democracy continues to progress.

Bush unless you forgot?

Resistance confronts IOF invading force in Nablus

December 29, 2006

Nazareth – Israeli radio reported on Friday that an Israeli force which penetrated the northern West Bank city of Nablus came under Palestinian resistance fire.

The Palestinian resistance opened fire and used explosive devices against the invading force, no casualties were reported amongst the invading soldiers according to Israeli radio.

Israeli incursions into Nablus have become a frequent occurrence and Palestinian resistance have to rely on whatever light weapons and homemade explosive devices to face such incursions.

Israeli radio also reported that five Palestinians were arrested Thursday night in various parts of the West Bank.

Bear Witness

Bear witness that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah, and bear witness that the prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings be upon him is the slave, and final messenger of Allah.





Source: This Life and The Next

Rice asked Israel to strengthen Fatah and choke Hamas

December 29, 2006

Nazareth – American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman in Washington this month that Israel must "choke off" Hamas, the Hebrew newspaper Ma'ariv reported.

She added that it is necessary to strengthen Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas in advance of a possible all-out war between militias of the rival Hamas and Fatah factions.

Israeli media reported Thursday that the government approved a shipment of a large number of weapons and ammunition for Abbas's Presidential Guard militia of about 5,000 elite fighters, but he has denied the report.

Mubarak Treachery More Resound with Israel

'Weapons from Egypt cross Israel to shore up embattled Fatah'

December 29, 2006

Occupied Jerusalem: Egypt has sent a large shipment of weapons through Israeli territory to shore up forces loyal to the embattled Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli security officials said yesterday - an extraordinary show of support by both countries for his efforts to renew peacemaking with Israel.

Israel approved the transfer of 2,000 automatic rifles, 20,000 ammunition clips and 2 million bullets on Wednesday, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the shipment had not been officially confirmed by Israel, the Palestinians or Egypt.

Abbas, locked in a power struggle with anti-Israel Hamas fighters, has long sought to beef up the arsenal available to security services under his control.

The Haaretz said Olmert and Abbas settled the details of the shipment at their first summit, held in occupied Jerusalem on Saturday.

At midday yesterday, witnesses saw a truck belonging to the pro-Fatah National Security force carrying what appeared to be sealed boxes of weapons.

When the truck attempted to make a quick detour, one box fell, scattering a pile of automatic guns on the road, the witnesses said. Security men in the truck quickly recollected the weapons.

Israeli journalist reveals the secrets of the assassination of Arafat by Ariel Sharon

December 29, 2006

Bethlehem - Ma'an – The recently deceased Israeli writer, Uri Dan, who was close to Ariel Sharon, the former Israeli Prime Minister, published a book in France in which he accused Sharon of assassinating the former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat by poisoning him. Dan confirmed in his book that Arafat's health began to deteriorate at in April 2004 after Sharon ended a phone call with American President George Bush who gave him the green light to deal with Arafat.

Another writer, Amnon Kabilok, wrote a revision of the book which is entitled 'Sharon,' in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. He inquired how Uri Dan knew about the sickness of Arafat and its causes and symptoms months in advance of the deceased's symptoms appearing.

Amnon said that while scanning a book by Uri Dan, he received the news that the author of that book has passed away. He also said that he struggled to get a copy of the book, which he finally obtained with the help of a French friend.

Earlier, Amnon Kabilok had spoken with his French friend about the death of Yasser Arafat and the attempt to murder Khalid Mash'al, the head of the Hamas political department. He said that his French friend could not believe his expectations that Arafat may have been assassinated. Then he told him that he found a book by a man who was very close to Ariel Sharon, (Uri Dan) revealing the secrets of the assassination of Arafat and the famous phone call between Sharon and Bush in which Sharon told the American president that he is no longer committed to not liquidating Arafat.

Insanity on Parade

Insanity on Parade:
Via Peace for Palestine
Shadows and Distortions

Thursday, May 18, 2006

....As a Jewish American, I do not want this tied to my history. This ballast, this anchor now inextricably linked to my ancestor's struggles, my dead relatives' stories. How dare we as American Jews allow this to happen. How dare we. How dare we support the ethnic cleansing in Palestine. How dare we argue over oppression hierarchy. How dare we march against the war in Iraq and keep our mouths shut on Israeli policies in the West Bank and Gaza. How dare we let lobby groups such as AIPAC drench our collective histories in soups of militarism, imperial domination, and snarly relationships with US weapons manufacturers and fascist politicians.

And here, as I sit in a quiet Berkeley café, I know I don't have to travel 10,000 miles to see the effects of a Nakba. It is all around us, this wrinkled, drunken beast of ethnic cleansing, its atomic particles buzzing in our ears and whispering the names of Ohlone, Miwok, Pomo, Kashaya, Yuki, Wintun. The Nakba in 1492 that spread like cancer from the far corners of the northern "American" continent is ongoing and entrenched. "Where did the Indians go?" my daughter asked me recently. When I explained that they were killed or moved to other areas of the country so that this building, or that street, or those houses could be built for the gun-carrying white settlers (I put it in more delicate terms), she turned and without skipping a beat, said "oh, just like in Palestine."

And so we go about our lives here in the occupied United States, five hundred years and millions of ghosts later, as half a world away, Palestinian children sit in the sweltering heat at the checkpoints, their flags whipping in the sandy wind and their grandparents' iron keys ringing softly as though, they too, wait to once again fulfill their right of intention and identity.

read the complete insanity here.

Nora Barrows-Friedman is the Senior Producer and co-host of Flashpoints on Pacifica Radio. She can be reached at norabf@gmail.com.

Links:

Flashpoint Archive May 2006

Shadows and Distortions: The Nakba in Palestine Audio

An American, Perspective on Afghanistan?

Introduction

The following quotations and picture’s where found while looking for a picture of Mullah Mohammed Omar, as well, as the audio remark made by Patton from an American web site.

The other note’s and information to the background of these men are research done by the blog Administrator.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

October 2001

Taliban supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar:

"The situation where we are now, there are two things: either death or victory. To those who are fighting and bombarding us, they should understand the Afghan man is a fighter willing to die for jihad."

Note:

For a man who served as the head of state of a nation of 25 million people, remarkably little is known about him. By his own account, Omar has never flown on an airplane and has left his native Afghanistan only once, to travel briefly to the tribal areas of neighboring Pakistan. Omar has given few interviews, rarely met with non-Muslims, and there are few known pictures of him.

June 1944

General George S. Patton:

"I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his..."


Patton Speech - George C. Scott
(General George Patton's speech as delivered by George C. Scott in the movie Patton.)

Patton considered anyone who was not of Northern European ancestry to be dirty and uncivilized:

We entered a synagogue which was packed with the greatest stinking bunch of humanity I have ever seen. Either these Displaced Persons never had any sense of decency or else they lost it all during their period of internment by the Germans... My personal opinion is that no people could have sunk to the level of degradation these have reached in the short space of four years.—George S. Patton, "After the Holocaust: Rebuilding Jewish Lives in Post War Germany."

Note:

I showed this remark of Patton’s opinion of Jewish Holocaust survivor’s, for the expressed purpose of is racist ideals.

Kilroy was here

Foreign troops will flee Afghanistan - Taliban chief

December 29, 2006

Kabul: Foreign troops will be forced out of Afghanistan in the face of Taliban attacks, the Islamic group's leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, was reported as saying in a rare message on Friday.

In the supposed message from Omar, sent to the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) news agency to mark the Muslim festival of Eid Al Adha, Omar said "aggressor forces" in Afghanistan and Iraq were facing defeat.

He said, "I am confident that the enemy will run away in degradation and embarrassment ... Afghans have always expelled their enemies by force and no enemy or aggressive force has left Afghanistan at its own will".

Over 4,000 people have been killed in Afghanistan this year, the bloodiest since US-led forces ousted the Taliban government in 2001.

Omar, who has a $10 million U.S. government bounty on his head, disappeared shortly after the Taliban were ousted.

UN Resolutions Concerning Israel/Palestine

This section provides the major UN resolutions dealing with the Arab-Israeli conflict.

• 
  UN General Assembly Resolution 194
• 
  UN Security Council Resolution 242
• 
  UN Security Council Resolution 338

For a comprehensive list of United Nations Resolutions relating to the Arab-Israeli conflict, visit: the United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine (UNISPAL)

Source

Where do you go when the news makes you want to throw up your hands?

Above: (MaanImages)

"Stand here on these streets…"

Peres holds "backdoor" talks with Rejoub, Nusseiba

December 28, 2006

Occupied Jerusalem - Israeli first vice premier Shimon Peres held a series of in-camera meetings with Jibril Al-Rejoub, advisor to PA chief Mahmoud Abbas, and Sirri Nusseiba, rector of Al-Quds Open University, Hebrew media reported.

The reports said that Rejoub, who is the former head of the PA preventive security apparatus in the West Bank, and Nusseiba, who previously was in charge of the Jerusalem file and who proposed an initiative that annulled the Palestinian refugees' right of return, traveled to Spain a couple of days ago for the meetings.

They said that the meetings would end on Thursday but could not pinpoint the exact issues discussed in view of secrecy of the meetings, which might end in a joint declaration on Thursday evening.

The secret meetings coincide with Abbas' declaration in Cairo on Wednesday that he proposed "backdoor" talks between the PA and Israel over major issues in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Abbas told a press conference at conclusion of his Cairo visit that he offered the idea during talks with Israeli premier Ehud Olmert, who promised to study it, and added that the USA did not reject the idea.

How Far Will U.S./ Israeli Government Propaganda Get You?

Are you a sheep?

Think for yourself!

Bad guy of 2006: President Bush Poll Says

AP Poll: Bush, Britney get thumbs-down

December 28, 2006

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON -Bad guy of 2006: President Bush. Good guy of 2006: President Bush. When people were asked in an AP-AOL News poll to name the villains and heroes of the year, Bush topped both lists, in a sign of these polarized times.

Among entertainment celebrities, Oprah Winfrey edged out Michael J. Fox as the best celebrity role model while Britney Spears outdistanced Paris Hilton as the worst.

Bush won the villain sweepstakes by a landslide, with one in four respondents putting him at the top of that bad-guy list. When people were asked to name the candidate for villain that first came to mind, Bush far outdistanced even Osama bin Laden, the terrorist leader in hiding; and former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who is scheduled for execution.

The president was picked as hero of the year by a much smaller margin. In the poll, 13 percent named him as their favorite while 6 percent cited the troops in Iraq.

On the question of celebrity role models, a pop singer's bad behavior claimed worst honors.

When asked to choose from a list of names, nearly three in 10 adults, or 29 percent, bestowed the honor of worst celebrity of the year on Spears.

The 25-year-old pop singer and mother of two young sons recently filed for divorce from Kevin Federline, her husband of two years. She then followed with highly publicized nights out with party girls Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, including photographic evidence of Spears wearing no underpants, which raised questions about her fitness as a parent.

Spears apologized on her Web site, saying she probably went "a little too far" with her newfound freedom.

Second-worst celebrity billing went to Hilton, 18 percent. The 25-year-old celebutante was arrested for drunken driving in Los Angeles in September while, she has said, she was on a late-night hamburger run.

Mel Gibson, 50, was third-worst celebrity with 12 percent, surely the result of his anti-Semitic tirade at police in Malibu, Calif., during his arrest on suspicion of drunken driving. He later apologized and said he harbored no animosity toward Jews.

In the best celebrity role model category, 29 percent of adults chose talk-show host Winfrey.

The philanthropist and entertainment mogul contributed $40 million toward the establishment of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, which is scheduled to open next month.

Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, finished second with 23 percent. He recently was criticized by conservatives for political ads that showed his body shaking as he urged support for a ballot measure promoting stem cell research and for the Democratic Senate candidate over the Republican.

Actor George Clooney, who's been advocating for refugees in the war-ravaged Darfur region of Sudan, finished third with 12 percent.

Eight percent chose Angelina Jolie over boyfriend Brad Pitt, 2 percent. Newlyweds Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes tied at 2 percent.

Rounding out the worst celebrity role model category were Cruise, 9 percent; former "Seinfeld" star Michael Richards, 6 percent; Nicole Richie, 5 percent; Federline, 4 percent; Lohan, 3 percent; and Jolie, 2 percent.

Jolie and Cruise were the only celebrities to land on both the best and worst lists. But more people named Jolie best celebrity role model, and more people named Cruise worst.

Bush was the choice of 43 percent of Democrats for villain, and 27 percent of Republicans for hero.

The telephone poll of 1,004 adults was conducted Dec. 19-21 by Ipsos, an international polling firm. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
___

On the Net:
Ipsos: http://www.apipsosresults.com

Thumb's down for Bush

Last Day's of Saddam Hussein

Saddam may face hanging as soon as Saturday: White House



A US senior official, who wished to remain anonymous, said that ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, seen here 21 December 2006, to be executed perhaps as early as Saturday.(AFP/POOL/File)

December 28, 2006

CRAWFORD, United States (AFP)-The White House expects ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to be executed perhaps as early as Saturday, a senior official said on condition of anonymity.

The official cited information from US authorities in Baghdad that "it's not going to be tonight our time, or tomorrow their time, it's going to be maybe another day."

"It's the government of Iraq's decision," the official said, as US President George W. Bush and top national security aides mulled an overhaul of his Iraq war-fighting strategy.

Asked whether the execution could spark violence by lingering Saddam loyalists, the official replied that "they start violence for any reason they can come up with."

Update:

Pentagon: U.S. Forces Ready for Violence

December 29, 2006

The Pentagon said Friday that U.S. forces in Iraq are braced for any violence that may follow the execution of former President Saddam Hussein. Read more...


Note: While there is conflicting reports to who has Saddam, because early reports said he was in the Iraqi custody, the U. S. State Department insists he is still in their custody. (12/29/06)

Saddam Faces Execution Within Hours


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Letter from President Saddam Hussein

The Presiding Judge of the Second Trials Panel

الى رئيس الهيئة الثانية
After your repeated, deliberate offenses against the defense lawyers and against the so-called "defendants", including restraining them in order to prevent them from saying the truth and from clarifying the realities, while at the same time you allow other titles and parties to make slanders, such as the statement of the "lawyer" of the civil plaintiff who argued claiming that there are ten billion dollars which have been seized by the Americans, as if these amounts belong personally to officials of our government or leadership, perhaps that Saddam Hussein is the one who has the largest share or the heaviest scale, as he tried to portray that to the public opinion –may disappointment and fie be upon him -. When I tried to illustrate the truth and I raised my hand three times, I was not given a chance to speak. For this, I would like to inform you that my spirit is disgusted at such continued abuses from you and from others, and that I cannot accept them. The spirit of Saddam Hussein has taught many how to be proud, honored and I have raised these values in them, so I reject haughtily attending only to be prejudiced by nobodies, traitors and sub collaborators. Based to the above, I request to exempt me from attending the sessions of this new mockery. It is up to you to take whatever measures you may deem.

Success is granted by Allah.
Allah is the Greatest
Fie be upon despicable


Saddam Hussein
President of the Republic
and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
4 December 2006

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saddam offers self as sacrifice

Letter: Saddam blames US, Iran for inflaming country’s sectarian bloodshed, calls on Iraqis to unite.

December 27, 2006

BAGHDAD - Ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein said in a letter released Wednesday that he would go to the gallows as a "sacrifice" and called on his former Iraqi subjects to unite against their enemies.

Saddam, in a letter written to the Iraqi people from his cell before his appeal against a death sentence failed, said: "I sacrifice myself. If God wills it, he will place me among the true men and martyrs."

Defence counsel Khalil Dulaimi said in Jordan that Saddam had written the letter in November when he was first sentenced to death and that it had been released to the public after the news that his appeal had failed.

"Its release was delayed by the length of the procedures imposed by the Americans," Dulaimi said, by way of explanation.

On Tuesday, a panel of appeals court judges confirmed Saddam's conviction for crimes against humanity and ordered that he be hanged within 30 days.

In what might therefore be his final message, Saddam blamed his old enemies the United States and Iran for the bloodshed engulfing Iraq, which is in the grip of a sectarian war between Sunni and Shiite factions.

"The enemies of your country, the invaders and the Persians have found your unity a barrier between you and those who are now ruling you. Therefore, they drove their hated wedge among you," he declared.

"O faithful people, I bid you farewell as my soul goes to God the compassionate," he wrote. "Long live Iraq. Long Live Iraq. Long live Palestine. Long live jihad and the mujahideen. God is great."

Links:

US urged not to hand over Saddam

Don't kill Saddam, Vatican urges

Saddam to hang at dawn: officials

Iraqi TV says Saddam Hussein executed

Saddam Hussein: A Man or a Monster?

Maverick British MP denounces Saddam's hanging as illegal blunder

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Update:

Saddam Hussein hanged, says Al Hurra TV station

December 30, 2006

By Mariam Karouny

BAGHDAD (Reuters) -U.S.-backed Iraqi television station Al Hurra said Saddam Hussein had been executed by hanging shortly before 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) on Saturday.

Arabic satellite channel Arabiya also reported the execution had taken place.

The former Iraqi president ousted in April 2003 by a U.S.-led invasion was convicted in November of crimes against humanity over the killings of 148 Shi'ite villagers from Dujail after a failed assassination bid in 1982.

An appeals court upheld the death penalty on Tuesday and the government rushed through the procedures to hang him by the end of the year and before the Eid al-Adha holiday that starts on Saturday, coinciding with the haj pilgrimage to Mecca.

The government had kept details of its plans shrouded in secrecy amid concerns it could spark a violent backlash from his former supporters with Iraq on the brink of civil war.

The execution will delight Iraq's majority Shi'ites, who faced oppression during Saddam's three-decade rule, but may anger some in his resentful Sunni minority.

Some Kurdish leaders had sought a delay so they too could see justice for the man they accuse of genocide against them.

Saddam's conviction on November 5 was hailed by President Bush as a triumph for the democracy he promised to foster in Iraq after the invasion almost four years ago.

With U.S. public support for the war slumping as the number of American dead approaches 3,000, Washington is likely to welcome the death of Saddam, despite misgivings among many allies about capital punishment.

But the hanging could complicate efforts by Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to heal Iraq's sectarian divisions with violence spiralling out of control and threatening to pitch the country into full-scale civil war.

Once the belligerent strongman of the Middle East, Saddam's power crumbled when U.S. tanks swept into Baghdad in April 2003. He fled and was captured in December that year by U.S. soldiers who found him hiding in a hole near his hometown of Tikrit.

During his three decades in power, Saddam was accused of widespread oppression of political opponents and genocide against Kurds in northern Iraq. His execution means he will never face justice on those charges.

Defiant to the end, Saddam insisted during his trial that he was still the president of Iraq.

He said in a letter written after his conviction in November that he offered himself as a "sacrifice.

"If my soul goes down this path (of martyrdom) it will face God in serenity," he wrote in the letter.

(Additional reporting by Alastair Macdonald, Ibon Villelabeitia, Claudia Parsons in Baghdad and Suleiman Khalidi in Dubai)

Saddam hanged but no let-up in Iraq violence

A frame grab from Al Iraqiya television shows a piece of cloth being placed around former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's neck moments before his execution in Baghdad December 30, 2006.

Saddam buried in Awja

Immigration to Israel falls

Israel has always relied on Jewish immigration to secure its long-term survival [AP]

December 28, 2006

Immigration to Israel fell to its lowest in 18 years in 2006, new figures show.

Israeli officials attributed this to a drop in the number of Jews arriving from former Soviet states, although immigration from North America also edged higher, Israeli officials said on Wednesday.

Some 21,000 Jews made "aliya", the Hebrew word for immigrating to Israel, according to the Jewish Agency, which promotes immigration to Israel.

The 2006 figure was the lowest since 13,000 in 1988.

A total of 22,657 people moved to Israel in 2005.

Falling ex-Soviet immigration

The agency blamed the falling number on the falling number of Jewish immigrants from countries that made up the former Soviet Union.

More than one million people moved to Israel from the former USSR in the 1990s.

The number for 2006 was 7,300 - about 23 percent down on 2005.

"These people are no longer running away from something," said Michael Jankelowitz, a spokesman for the Jewish Agency.

The agency played down suggestions that the war with Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia movement, during the summer had a negative impact on immigration - which had grown recently after a sharp drop following the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000.

The government places great significance on immigration amid concerns in Israel that without an influx of foreign Jews the country's Arab minority, which has a higher birth rate, could eventually outnumber the Jewish population.

Jews constitute 76 per cent of Israel's population of just over 7 million people, while Arabs make up nearly a fifth.

Forecasts down

Forecasts earlier this year were for immigration to grow to 24,000, but Jankelowitz said expectations were not met because the government had not brought as many Jews from Ethiopia as originally planned.

With the decline in numbers of immigrants from elsewhere, the Jewish Agency has made particular efforts to bring immigrants from Europe and North America.

That means trying to persuade people to move on ideological grounds rather than as a way to flee economic hardship or repression.

Aliya from North America rose to 3,200 in 2006 from 2,900 in 2005 and just 1,700 four years ago.

Immigration from Britain rose to 720 this year from 481 last year. About 2,900 came from France, slightly down on 2005.

"We would love bigger numbers but we have to live in reality," Jankelowitz said.

On Wednesday, about 220 North Americans landed in Israel.

Another group landed from London. No figures were immediately available for the number of people emigrating from Israel in 2006.

source

Gaza awaits its dawn

Egyptian mediation may signal a way out of the current Palestinian crisis, writes Khaled Amayreh from West Bank

Cartoon by Fathi

21 - 27 December 2006

Egyptian mediation appears to have succeeded in at least containing a spiraling conflict between Fatah and Hamas militias in the Gaza Strip. Egyptian officials worked through the night to get the two sides to agree to a ceasefire that would end the latest round of inter-Palestinian fighting which has claimed as many as 16 lives.

The agreement stipulates the withdrawal of all armed militants from the streets of Gaza and an end to all forms of incitement. A joint operations room will be established to respond quickly to any outbreaks of violence.

Hamas and Fatah forces began withdrawing around midnight, giving cautious optimism that the bloody confrontation would come to an end. Fresh skirmishes, however, were reported Wednesday morning, when two Palestinian security cadres were killed and two others injured after an anti-tank missile was fired at a police station in downtown Gaza.

An earlier ceasefire agreement, brokered by leaders of Palestinian factions not involved in the fighting, including Islamic Jihad and several leftist groups, failed to hold.

Both PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniya welcomed the agreement, and Egyptian mediators have made it known that they will publicly name whichever party violates the ceasefire.

Abbas, who has not yet met with Haniya since the clashes began, said "we hope all will abide by this agreement." Abbas and Haniya earlier called on the warring sides to stop the fighting.

"I call on all sides to show restraint and calm, not to resort to arms and to end the tension," Haniya said in a speech delivered on Tuesday evening. "Hamas members are our sons, Fatah members are also our sons. Our people must be united in the face of the occupation and aggression and must never be dragged into internal fighting. I say that despite the wounds of the past few days."

Abbas called on "everyone, without exception, to adhere to a ceasefire and to end the killings and all other operations in order to maintain national unity".

On Tuesday, six Palestinians were killed in street fighting. A number of Fatah and Hamas operatives and leaders were also briefly kidnapped. None of the hostages were hurt and by Wednesday morning all had been released.

Luckily violence has not spread to the West Bank, with the exception of a minor incident in Hebron where elements affiliated with the Palestinian Intelligence Apparatus (Fatah) abducted a Hamas-affiliated paramedic from a local hospital. Cameras installed outside the hospital caught the kidnappers on film and the hostage was released a few hours later.

Despite the gravity of events in Gaza, fears of a wider civil war are exaggerated. The Palestinian public remains adamantly opposed to any widening of the conflict. The vast bulk of ordinary Palestinians, even those who support Fatah and Hamas in elections, would refuse to be drawn into any extended fighting between the two factions.

In the West Bank the prospect of civil war is even less than in the Gaza Strip, a result of extended family and clan ties superseding political affiliations.

Hamas has no significant military presence in the West Bank, where the Israeli occupation army is in control. The possibility of a bloody showdown between Fatah and Hamas in the West Bank is therefore remote, at least for the time being.

It is clear, nonetheless, that as long as the political crisis between Hamas and Fatah remains unresolved, and external parties, such as the US, continue to agitate the situation by giving money and arms to one side, there can be no guarantee that fresh clashes will not occur.

Many Palestinians hope that recent bloody events in Gaza, the killing of so many Palestinians by Palestinians, will prompt Palestinian society, especially Fatah and Hamas, to indulge in some soul-searching and find a way to prevent the reoccurrence of such a state.

"This is disgraceful, disgusting and shameful," said a taxi driver in Hebron. "They are killing each other ...and for what? For nothing."

"This is what they are doing to each other before statehood, so imagine what they will do when there is a state," said another taxi driver.

It is unclear what bearing the clashes in Gaza will have on Mahmoud Abbas's decision to call for early presidential and legislative elections in the occupied Palestinian territories. Hamas has rejected Abbas's call as illegal and unconstitutional, denouncing the move as a prescription for civil war.

Some observers believe that Abbas will be prompted to suspend or postpone the elections indefinitely while others hope that the bloody clashes will pressure both sides to work more sincerely toward political reconciliation, probably in the form of a national unity government. If not, both sides stand to alienate the public, who are unlikely to forgive or forget scenes of Palestinians killing one another.

The events of the past few days have also shown that strong, pro-active Arab mediation, such as Egypt's, will be needed to get the two mutually-distrusting sides to move forward.

There is no doubt that the root cause of the Hamas- Fatah confrontation in Gaza is Israel's suffocating blockade that has pushed many to the edge, both economically and psychologically.

Indeed, as an Israeli writer wrote in Ha'aretz newspaper a few months ago, the Israelis, and the Americans, have been experimenting with Gaza's 1.4 million tormented inhabitants to see how they will react when placed in a pressure cooker for so long.

Rainbow Grocery boycott Israeli goods movement rises from grave

Activists tell why:




What is Rainbow Grocery?

Update:

http://www.sfimc.net/news/2007/01/1733624.php

Open Letter to Rainbow Grocery Cooperative

We shop at Rainbow because we believe in what it stands for - an independent worker-run coop which has refused to be beholden to corporate America and which came out of the movement of the ‘60s for good food, ecology, social justice and peace.

As members of the international community we are deeply moved by the plight of the Palestinians. Gaza is being called the largest concentration camp ever to exist, Palestinian children are being shot by the Israeli Defense Forces, people are starving and walled into ghettos by a 400-mile wall around them and by checkpoints and roadblocks. Israeli war crimes during the war against Lebanon shocked the world and brought international protest. We are calling for a boycott of Israeli goods as a way of voicing our objection to the US-Israeli backed wars of aggression in the Middle East and around the globe.

As regular shoppers at Rainbow, we have been asking the store to reconsider its position in support of a boycott of Israeli goods and are getting stonewalled. Some of us have asked for a list of Israeli products and been treated rudely. Some of us have written letters stating our support for a boycott but we have gotten no response. Many significant organizations around the world support a boycott of Israeli goods including Israeli Committee against Home Demolitions; Green Party of US; Congress of South African Trade Unions; the National Lawyers Guild; Canadian Union of Public Employees and more. Rainbow shoppers are asking for an open debate on this question. Why won’t Rainbow respond?

We have heard that when Rainbow discussed a boycott in 2003, the opposition threatened to poison the bulk bins. Is this what Rainbow is afraid of? That those anti-boycott forces will commit acts of terrorism against them if they boycott? Among us are Jewish people and we abhor such terror tactics reminiscent of the Zionist Irgun/Stern Gang in Israel which used violence, blackmail and extortion to get its way.

What is Rainbow’s commitment to the community? If such a threat occurred, why wasn’t it made public? Keeping something like this quiet would protect rather than expose those who made such a threat to life even in this country. Your customers have a right to know about threats to our safety. You have a responsibility to tell us.

Is Rainbow’s financial success from a small coop on Mission Street to a major Bay Area store affecting the decision to boycott, a fear that taking such an action might affect the store’s profits? If not, then what are the reasons? Are opposing groups pressuring you privately?

These are timely questions which deserve to be answered given the urgency to stop the genocide against Palestinian people by the brutal Israeli government with its partner Bush.

The world stopped the apartheid government of South Africa by boycotts and other actions. It’s time for all of us who support justice to oppose the Israeli government and join the international call for a boycott of Israeli goods. Which side will Rainbow be on?

Please contact Rainbow Grocery at:

415.863.0620

http://www.rainbowgrocery.org

and RBIG at:

rainbowbig@earthlink.net

with comments.



Signed by:

Dolores Helman

E. A. Ooms

Esperanza Derian

Gene Herman

George Williams

Janice Rothstein

Jean Pauline

Bob Ness

Charlie Hinton

David DeNeef

Kerry McCabe

Lou Gold

Maggie Leigh

Nell Myhand

Paul Larudee

Rose Marie Castro

Sonia Siegal

Tom Brown

Lori Nairne

Gwyn Kirk

Corey Weinstein

Jeanette Cool

Rebecca Katz

Cynthia M. Chang, L.AC, OMD

Emily Katz Kishawi

Michael Lyon

Catherine Powell

Eyad Kishawi

Synthia Green

Ari Lev Fornari

Zulma Oliveras

Ivan Olson

Aaron Shuman

Barbara Lubin

Alexei Folger

Arla S. Ertz

Shirley Yee

Joyce Umamoto

Millie Barnet

Ken Umamoto

Wayne G. Miller

Allegra Alessandri Pfeifer

Jess Ghannam

Richard Pitt

Mary Ratcliff

Willie Ratcliff

Jeffrey Blankford

Mesha Monge-Irizarry

Donna Wallach

Dave Welsh

Muslim Hands for the Needy in Lebanon and Gaza

There are two huge humanitarian crises looming in Lebanon and Gaza. The fact that the current conflict has seen more children than soldiers killed in Lebanon shows the true horror of this war and the blatant disregard for civilian life. The number of dead, injured and homeless in that country continues to rise daily with no prospect of a lasting peace in sight. Meanwhile, Israeli offensives continue apace in Gaza with daily civilian deaths and human suffering on an unimaginable scale, all barely reported by the media as events in Lebanon dominate.

Gallery: Relief Work in Lebanon and Palestine

visit their Web Site for more information and how you can help.

"[Israeli attacks are] a violation of humanitarian law… it's horrific… I did not know it was block after block of houses… it's bigger, more extensive than even I could imagine."

Jan Egeland (UN Relief Coordinator)

Haniyeh to take part in Hajj pilgrimage, as guest of Saudi king

December 28, 2006

Gaza - Ma'an - Sources within the office of the Palestinian prime minister in Gaza have, on Thursday morning, announced that Prime Minister Isma'il Haniyeh will depart to Saudi Arabia to take part in the Hajj pilgrimage and rituals.


Haniyeh will be accompanied by the deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Ahmad Bahar, and the ministers of foreign affairs and the interior, Mahmoud Zahhar and Sa'id Siyam.

King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia has sent a private royal plane to the Al-Areesh airport in Egypt to transport the Palestinian delegation to the holy land of Saudi Arabia.

Prime Minister Haniyeh expressed his appreciation for the generosity of the Saudi king, wishing the country "further progress and flourishment".

An American and Muslim Speaks About Women Being Attacked in America

December 27, 2006

by Housewife4Palestine

I have not posted here in a while and I may not be welcome with my comments but:Muslim women attacked in America.

Women in America should expect to all be treated the same. There should be no preferential treatment to a woman who wears a veil or just because she wears a veil! That is un-American. Women in America are expected to earn respect and stand beside men and suffer the same type of attacks there men do.

The notion that a woman who is determined not to fit in or conform, should get special consideration for wearing a veil is not common sense. In fact it would be counter-intuitive.

A woman in America will not be treated diff because she is of a diff religion. The religion of the woman plays a secondary position to her ability to articulate herself in the American society. The concept of attacking a Muslim women because she is in a burhka are partial veil has nothing to do with her heritage, religion, etc…

There are many, many Muslim women in Atlanta where I live and I have never seen anyone or experienced anyone maltreating them in anyway, ever.

In fact in my field (IT) most Muslim woman have rcvd respect because they can articulate their intelligence, get their point across, hold their own weight in an argument, and not back down when they are in the right.

Here are some basic assumptions and risks to be considered by Muslim women who prefer to live and work in the modern western type of society:

1. You are welcome.

2. As you adapt to western society and technologies you will lose some of your heritage.

3. Your opinions, thoughts, ideas, art, arguments will be respected and it will solely up to you to articulate them and defend them.

4. We all have stereotypes and prejudices. Put them in the same bag as we do and carry them around.

5. You as a woman and a free thinker will be respected until you prove otherwise.

6. We do not expect you to conform to everything in the western world and no one should tell you what to conform to and not to conform to.

7. And hopefully a few funny ones for you:

a. a Muslim woman will never be the worst driver on the road. Trust me on this one.

b. a Muslim woman will never be the worst dressed woman in a grocery store or super market.

c. American men will listen to what you say immediately because of any accent you may have lingering.

Peace be with you and I hope you post my comments as a regular post vs. a hidden comment. I would like to hear some feedback.

I regret and disappointed the hear the fact that Muslim woman have been attacked in America and I pray to God that this was not because of their appearance or perceived religion.

Moon

Reply:

This comment was sent to me after I wrote the story of Muslim women being attacked in America.

Where they made very valued points and I appreciate what they had to say, something that needs to be reminded here that there is many Muslim American’s that have been in America for quite some time; way before 9/11. Otherwise, they did not show up yesterday just getting off the boat or plane. Some of the remarks made to Muslim women especially, is with the idea this is so. Muslims from many parts of the world in America have been responsible member’s of society even to go as far as making numerous contributions.

As for Muslim women being attacked because of their dress or religion seems to be the case by these Islamophobic’s. As I will readily agree in equality for all and I to hope one day that the bag of problems is tossed away for all and no one has to carry one.

I will give three examples; one case occurred from a woman I know very well, she was trying to park her car with her husband in the passenger seat. When she finally did, her husband had gotten out and was walking to their apartment. When she got out a young man saw her and began to verbally abuse her, with such remarks as that she should go back to her country of origin and dictate driving laws, which she knew very well. For one, the woman who is Palestinian was also born in America. I will also admit this man was found to be drunk.

Her husband like many husbands because they are away from home working, was finding it hard like many people who have commented to me; how hard it is to believe this is happening until they saw it with their own eyes.

Two women who lived in the apartment who was very friendly to the Muslim woman came out and even got the license plate of the man as he fled the scene of the attack and actually was over whelmed to hear the woman raise her voice in protection.

Another case is a Muslim woman who was trapped in her vehicle with the doors locked and windows up because a man tried to force the doors open and even attempted with verbal abuse to finally spit on her windshield. Not knowing what to do she turned on the washer and wipers to clean the spittle off. This made the man angrier and he did it once more.

She was so frightened and did not know what to do other then what she did, when the man did not succeed in getting inside the vehicle he finally left.

Finally, a woman who chose one morning to drive her husband to work, where almost killed when a trash truck put down the metal bars used to picked up trash dumpster's and tried to ram the side of the car with the husband yelling in protest to stop; almost killed the Muslim couple.

I will remark that in Islam as well as everyday life is not second, but and intricate part of daily life for any Muslim. Hopefully, most people practicing a more valued system, their wouldn't be the violence and crimes that seems to be so prevalent today.

One remark in perspective as to Palestinian personality for example, they are usually exceptally friendly hardworking people. Would do anything for anyone that they can. Contrary to some people’s ideas because of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, Palestinians do not have a violent nature to the contrary. They are family and friends orientated and have a reputation of honesty. In addition, even in the gloomiest situation they always try to find the sunlight.

The final remarks, I must admit I smiled and chuckled some, because I always say one thing about a Muslim woman; no one knows when we have a bad hair day and yes we are very cautious driver’s because it would be very sad if anyone got hurt.

Peace be with you also.

Note:

A short time after this article was posted; I had an Anonymous comment with numerous pornography links, which I will not post here.

Oh Grandfather, Can You Tell Me a Story?

A Wall of Land Theft, Not Security

Hajj pilgrims throng Saudi Arabia

Pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the five pillars of Islam [AFP]

December 26, 2006

More than one million Muslims undertaking hajj, the annual week-long pilgrimage, have arrived in Saudi Arabia, according to Saudi authorities.

The official Saudi Press Agency [SPA] quoted the Hajj Commission as saying that 1,526,603 people had arrived in the kingdom by Sunday to take part in the pilgrimage which begins officially on Thursday.

More than two million pilgrims are expected to undertake Hajj this year.

More than 9,600 medical personnel have been mobilised and 21 field hospitals set up at Mecca and Medina, Islam's two holiest places, for this year's pilgrimage, Saudi Arabia's health ministry said.

The Hajj Supreme Committee said 202 pilgrims have died since arriving in the kingdom, mainly the elderly or infirm.

Blaze

In Mecca on Monday, a fire in a hotel left a number of pilgrims suffering from smoke inhalation.

The SPA quoted General Mansur al-Turki, an interior ministry spokesman, as saying that "13 pilgrims suffering from smoke inhalation were admitted to hospital, where their condition is stable".

The SPA also said that on Tuesday, prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, who heads the Hajj Supreme Committee, will inspect security arrangements at Mecca.

Earlier this month Saudi Arabia agreed to admit more than a thousand Iraqi pilgrims stranded at the border where they were denied because they did not have the correct visas for hajj.

At dawn on Friday the pilgrims will make their way to Mount Arafat where they will typically spend the day in prayer.

Later pilgrims return to Mina to celebrate Eid al-Adha, the Feast of the Sacrifice, on Saturday.

Pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the five pillars of Islam and undertaking it is considered an obligation for Muslims at least once during their lives, if they can afford to do so.

Source

Israelis build new settlements for those evacuated from Gush Katif

December 26, 2006

Jerusalem - Ma'an - Israeli sources have said that the Israeli ministry of defense has approved the building of a new residential complex in the northern Jordan Valley. The complex will contain thirty houses in which Israeli families of those evacuated from Gosh Katif settlements in Gaza last year will be living.

The regional council for the Jordan Valley said, "We have received the papers and licenses to start the works needed, the work will be started within two weeks."

Links:

New settlement for West Bank agreed

Hamas condemns Israeli decision to establish a new settlement in the Jordan valley

Jordan to host a meeting to renew talks regarding Palestinian unity government

President Abbas and King Abdullah IIof Jordan (MaanImages)

December 26, 2006

Bethlehem - Ma'an – A spokesperson for the Palestinian government, Dr Ghazi Hamad, has on Monday evening affirmed that Prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh received a phone call from his Jordanian counterpart, Ma'roof Al-Bakhit, officially inviting him to visit Jordan.

Dr Hamad told Ma'an that, "Al-Bakhit has called Prime Minister Haniyeh and invited him to visit Jordan and meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to deal with the latest developments in the Palestinian arena. Prime Minister Haniyeh responded positively and arrangements for the visit will follow."

Earlier on Monday, a high-ranking source told Ma'an that the Jordanian government invited Haniyeh to visit Jordan and take part in a tripartite meeting comprising himself, Abbas and King Abdullah II of Jordan. The meeting will endeavor to bridge the domestic Palestinian gap so as to contain the crisis and investigate the possibility of forming a unity government.

The same source expected the Jordanian mediation to succeed in laying the foundations for an Abbas-Haniyeh agreement to resume the unity dialogue.

"A Country Called Palestine"

Interview with George Galloway

George Galloway talks about Israel/ Palestine and situation that occurred in Lebanon.

Muslim Woman Attacked in America

December 26, 2006

by Housewife4Palestine

Something that was brought to my attention by a cousin yesterday, on how the majority of attacks against Muslims that are occurring in America seem to be towards women and she wondered why because it is becoming a big issue among Muslim woman.

The amount of attacks seems to be growing into epidemic proportions and as the static’s may not show all of these attacks because many are not being reported mainly with the fear of repercussions towards many Muslims who are living in America on the cloud of fear of these repercussions.

One question that seems to be a puzzle in many women’s minds is why them?

Most Muslims especially those who wear full Islamic dress and should be highly respected for doing so, are the main targets.

I was thinking, when I spoke to her that is because Muslim women more appear like what American’s are viewing in the news and the old adage that they are the weaker sex.

Many Muslim men dress in Western attire and seem to be able to come and go relatively hidden from view. While I do not have any information at this time for those men who choose to wear Islamic attire as being harmed also.

The reports of these attacks tend to be people of many walks of life in America, but the majority are people of low morality with ill regard’s for human life.

There is a growing saying among American Muslims that it is hard to tell who the enemy is.

If you are asking are Muslims being killed in America, the answer is yes.

Other incidents that seems to be the growing norm in America, is Muslim women being approached for questions that is puzzling many American’s; what is the truth towards what is really gong on with the global issue’s and what we as a people are really like.

Most people come away appreciating us as Muslim’s and many have expressed we are a very kind good people. That the propaganda treadmill in America while it may be fusing hatred, is also creating doubts.

Further Reading:

An American and Muslim Speaks About Women Being Attacked in America