From Bilin to Tel Aviv, outrage at killing of Jawaher Abu Rahmah

Joseph Dana, The Electronic Intifada, 3 January 2011

(Joseph Dana is a Media Coordinator of the Popular Struggle
Coordination Committee.)

""I am in shock, we are in shock," Hamde Abu Rahmah told me as we stood outside the small cemetery in Bilin where 36-year-old Jawaher Abu Rahmah was buried on Saturday. One day earlier, on 31 December, Jawaher was killed after inhaling US-made tear-gas fired by Israeli soldiers at demonstrators in the occupied West Bank village. Jawaher's brother Bassem was killed by Israeli occupation forces in a similar manner in 2009.....

A symbol of resistance

Jawaher Abu Rahmah's death is the latest evidence of Israel's full-scale war against the defenseless Palestinian people living under occupation.

Bilin has become an international symbol of Palestinian nonviolent resistance because of its six-year struggle against the Israeli wall in the West Bank. In 2007, villagers celebrated a small victory when the Israeli high court ruled that the route of the wall in Bilin was illegal and requested the army to change its path. However, the wall's route has not been changed and as a result the protests have continued......

They vowed that the unarmed protests will continue despite knowing that the violent repression of the Israeli military will continue as well. The protesters of Bilin and other villages understand that both history and justice are on their side. They have embraced the tactic of unarmed resistance and have opened their struggle to any one willing to join in respect and solidarity, even to an increasing number Israeli Jews. Their moral clarity should be a model for international civil society, which now more than ever needs to support the popular Palestinian struggle."

Obama Should Read WikiLeaks on Afghanistan

by Ray McGovern, January 04, 2011

"Perhaps President Barack Obama should give himself a waiver on the ban prohibiting U.S. government employees from downloading classified cables released by WikiLeaks, so he can get a better grasp on the futility of his Afghan War strategy.

For instance, if Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has hidden from him Ambassador Karl Eikenberry’s cables from Kabul, he might wish to search out KABUL 001892 of July 13, 2009, in which Eikenberry reports that......

Facades of Empire

Washington’s present course in Central Asia can be much more logically understood if the real goals of the violence are to achieve what an empire requires in terms of military bases, natural resources, strategic interests and further enrichment of the super-wealthy.

This is to explain, not to defend. And, in case you’re wondering, my view is that these goals are both morally indefensible and unachievable in the longer run.

Combine them, however, with back-home political interests – Democrats fearful of being called out by Republicans and the Right as weak on defense and soft on terror – and you have a better sense of why the Afghan War drags on.

Americans have been generally inclined to give the government and its official explanation for war the benefit of the doubt – but only for so long. Many are now coming around to the realization they’ve been had.

According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey of Americans conducted from Dec. 17 to 19 (immediately after Obama’s public reassurances), 63 percent of the respondents expressed opposition to U.S. involvement in Afghanistan – an all-time high.

For those who think Afghan opinion also matters, recent polling conducted by the BBC, ABC, and other news organizations shows that, in provinces where there is the most fighting, the proportion of people approving of attacks on U.S. troops has risen from 12 to 40 percent in the last year.

Since Gen. Petraeus loves metrics for gauging the progress of his counterinsurgency strategies, he might want to put those numbers into one of his PowerPoint displays about his success at winning hearts and minds......"

Exposing the real Tunisia

A recent wave of unrest belies the myth of a Tunisian miracle, and offers a stark warning

Soumaya Ghannoushi
The Guardian, Tuesday 4 January 2011

"......Journalists have fared no better. No other Arab country has imprisoned more journalists since 2000. The Committee for the Protection of Journalists has declared the regime to be one of the world's 10 worst enemies of the press. Tellingly, the only images of the current protests have been captured on mobile- phone cameras and released on the web, as no foreign reporters are allowed into the country. Only North Korea can compete with Tunisia in this regard.

Ben Ali may have brought the stability desired by his foreign backers, but it was the stability of the dead, of graves and cemeteries.

Amid the wreckage of political life, Tunisia's general grapples with two phenomena of his own making. The first is the rise of violent anarchist groups associated with al-Qaida, which have emerged in the vacuum generated by his eradication policy. The second is rage at corruption, unemployment and government repression, which has erupted in the past few weeks.

Events in Tunisia are symptomatic of what lies ahead. Arab rulers have striven to kill politics in all its forms. But as they do away with organised mainstream parties and associations, they will find themselves, like Ben Ali, face to face with a younger generation mobilised by feelings of frustration and humiliation, and yearning for revenge. And when all vessels of movement and expression are shut off, explosions and eruptions become the only possibility left."

Al-Jazeera Cartoon

Modifying Yemeni Law......
To Make Saleh "President for Life."


Just Another Arab Dictator....So, What is New?

مع بعض على الحلوة والمرة ...لا لأحداث الاسكندرية

مع بعض على الحلوة والمرة ...لا لأحداث الاسكندرية

Courtesy of Arabs48.com

Head of Iran Delegation with Asia1: Egypt’s Aid Blockade, Pro-Israeli Move

(Click on cartoon by Carlos Latuff to enlarge)

Al-Manar

"04/01/2011 Head of the Iranian delegation with the Asia to Gaza Solidarity Caravan, (Asia 1) says Egypt's decision to block Iranian humanitarian aid from reaching the Gaza Strip is a pro-Israeli effort.

We expected Egyptian officials to cooperate and accept Iran's humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza, since this is a humane effort to exhibit solidarity with the people of Gaza, Hassan Rooyvaran was quoted by Press TV on Monday.

Cairo had previously announced that it would allow the passage of Asia 1 aid convoy to El Arish port only if 20 Iranian activists stopped accompanying the caravan. The Egyptian government has also refused entry to several other non-Iranian activists to Egypt as well.

The Asia 1 aid convoy carrying food and medical supplies to the besieged Palestinians in Gaza entered the coastal strip through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Monday.

The convoy had travelled 7,000 kilometers, but was stuck in Latikia, in northwest Syria, for more than a week awaiting Egypt's permission. The aid convoy started its journey in the Indian capital, New Delhi. It had passed through Iran, Turkey, Lebanon and Syria to reach Egypt and finally the Gaza Strip.

Rooyvaran reiterated that Cairo's opposition to Iran's humanitarian aid is against the wave of solidarity with the impoverished people of Palestine. “We condemn Egypt's action and regard its decision to block the delivery of any type of aid to the people of Gaza in line with policies of the Zionist regime,” he continued. "

Great Satire by Israeli TV show

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll

This new poll asks:

Do you believe that foreign parties are involved in the bombing of the church in Alexandria (Egypt)?

With over 1,000 responding so far, 81% said yes.

Al-Jazeera Cartoon: Second Anniversay of the Gaza Invasion

Bahrain FM: British Colonialism Is Not Colonialism

By Ikhras.com

"Sheikh (“Shake” as James Zogby says) Mouhamed Bin-Mubarak Al-Khalifa, the Foreign Minister of Bahrain (which James Zogby describes as “a beacon of democratic reform”), said the British presence in Bahrain in the 19th and 20th Centuries was not “colonialism”, and the British were there for the “protection” and “security” of Bahrain.

His description of the relationship between Bahrain (his family really) and the British Empire at the time came during a talk, hilariously described as a “lecture”, at an event hosted by the Bahrain Historical and Archaeological Society (BHAS).

Undoubtedly, the British politicians who listened to the Sheik’s “lecture” received his comments on British colonialism with amusement, and the same disbelief that characterized Ariel Sharon’s reaction to George Bush Jr’s description of him as a “man of peace.”

The absurdities that evening at the Bahrain National Museum, the venue for the event, did not end with the Sheikh’s remark about British colonialism, or the description of his talk as a “lecture.” In recognition of his “cultural role” and “diplomatic achievements”, The BHAS bestowed upon “His Highness” an honorary membership. The President of the BHAS rose to the occasion and described this clown as a “distinct personality…cultural pioneer…someone with an open mind toward diplomacy, with a political vision that secured Bahrain’s place on the world map.”

Needless to say Arabs, just like the rest of the world, view the British presence in Bahrain, and the region at the time as a colonial power. The “lecturer” that evening may have confused the “protection” and “security” of his family, not to mention the establishment of its rule, with the protection and security of Bahrain.

The dominant Western power may have changed since the heyday of the British Empire, but the ruling dynasties in Bahrain, and the Arab Gulf States, today maintain a similar relationship with the US. The similarity between these client-regimes’ relationship with the previous British Empire, and the US today must be on the minds of these rulers, and we wouldn’t be surprised if their current day reality as pliant tools of the West was on the mind of this “political visionary” when he uttered his ridiculous remarks.

It should also be noted that in the Arab world such events as the one where these remarks were made are viewed as nothing more than state-organized spectacles."

Interim Forever: Lieberman's Peace Plan?

By Uri Avnery
Palestine Chronicle

"'I have three answers,' the Jew told the rabbi when his neighbor sued him for not returning a borrowed jar.

"First, I never borrowed a jar from him. Second, the jar was broken. Third, I returned it to him long ago."

Avigdor Lieberman’s Peace Plan shows a similar kind of logic.

Peace plan? Lieberman? Oh yes. Contrary to everything you thought, Lieberman wants peace, indeed is yearning for peace. So much so that he has spent days and nights working out an entire Peace Plan of his own...."

Predictions, 2011

by Justin Raimondo, January 03, 2011

"....Iraq pullout, canceled – This will never be announced, but before long the media is bound to wake up and ask: whatever happened to our much-vaunted “withdrawal” from Iraq? Perhaps not in such a peremptory manner, but, nevertheless, the continuing, substantial US presence is already causing Prime Minister Maliki to press his American “allies” for a more definite day on which to schedule their going-away party, and the complete inability of his government to maintain its own territorial integrity, as well as ensure a minimal level of security and stability, is likely to motivate US policymakers to hedge their “withdrawal” plans.
This will end in a mutual agreement – haggled over for months by the US and its Iraqi sock puppets, and finally firmly insisted on by the former – that the US presence is to be “temporarily” extended, although, of course, the “support mission” will remain ostensibly unchanged.

Afghanistan “surge,” Karzai out – The war in Afghanistan will take a new turn: yet another “surge” will be announced, great “progress” will be hailed, and – naturally – the whole charade will end in a US “victory,” albeit not enough of one to allow US troops to leave. You don’t have to be Nostradamus to predict that US casualties will increase – they are already at their highest level since the start of the war – but one consequence of the “surge” is that US politicians – and the news media – will begin to take notice of this uptick in the death rate, and we will see increasing calls by politicians on the right as well as the left to declare “victory” and bring the troops home......."

New Year's Resolutions, by Dave Brown

Syria: gambling making a quiet comeback

First casino to open for 25 years celebrated its first week in business with a New Year's Eve party

Lauren Williams in Damascus
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 2 January 2011

"It is 2am and the money is flowing. The sound of chips landing on the tables chimes with house music filling the room and the roll of the ball along the roulette wheel.

A shout goes out and the young lady's number has come up. Under a tacky painted replica of the Sistine Chapel, replete with gaudy gold leaf and paisley carpets, the new generation of gamblers are living the high life.

Bow-tied waitresses in miniskirts deliver high-ball rums to men in suits while heavily-painted women sip champagne from their positions on the sidelines.

It isn't Las Vegas. This is downtown Damascus.

In a move that is certain to divide religious communities, the first casino to open for 25 years celebrated its first week in business with a New Year's Eve party where entry cost £300 per reveller.

It is the only fully-fledged casino to open in the region, outside Lebanon.

Gambling in Syria is technically illegal....."

Woman Death Shows Israel Using Most Dangerous Tear Gas, UN Condemns

(Jawaher Abu Rahmah, Killed by Israel's Tear Gas, 1-1-2011)


(Her Brother, Bassem Abu Rahmah, Killed by Israel's Tear Gas in April 2009)

Al-Manar

"03/01/2011 Questions are surfacing about Israel's use of tear-gas grenades, as security officials investigate the recent killing of a protester at the weekly demonstration near the separation fence at the West Bank village of Bil'in.

A 36-year-old woman, Jawaher Abu Rahmah, died on Saturday morning. The medical report filed in the Ramallah hospital where Abu Rahmah was taken shows that her death was caused by respiratory failure resulting from the inhalation of tear gas.

Haaretz newspaper obtained the medical report on Sunday from Jawaher's brother, Ahmed Abu Rahmah.

Jawaher Abu Rahmah was the sister of Bassem Abu Rahmah, who was killed in April 2009 when Israeli soldiers fired a tear-gas grenade at his chest at a demonstration at the fence in Bil'in. Ahmed Abu Rahmah has three surviving brothers; their father died five years ago. "My entire family is ruined," he said on Sunday. "The whole house feels a sense of catastrophe."

The Israeli occupation forces use crowd-dispersal tear gas known as CS, which was developed half a century ago in Britain and the United States. It is used by armies and police forces around the world. In recent years, a number of studies have cast doubts about this type of gas; there have been reports of several deaths caused by the inhalation CS tear gas.

Daniel Argo, an Israeli doctor who regularly takes part in the demonstrations against the separation fence, says recent eye and lung injuries, as well as skin diseases, can be associated with the use of CS tear gas....."

'US media protect war system interests'

Interview with Gareth Porter, an investigative journalist and historian and Dahlia Wasfi, a justice and political analyst

Press TV

"A new study, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, confirms reports that US and British forces used depleted uranium ammunitions during the US invasion of Iraq in 2004. The study concludes that the high rate of birth defects and cancer diagnoses in the Iraqi city of Fallujah is caused by these weapons. Washington, however, denies the claims.

Press TV has interviewed Gareth Porter, an investigative journalist and historian in Washington DC and Dahlia Wasfi, a justice and political analyst in Wilmington to further discuss the issue.....

Press TV: Where do you see it going from here. If the US is really responsible for this, what will it take to make them pay for what is going on now in Iraq?

Porter: First of all of course we have to have a mass media communication system in the US, serving the American public and reporting this. Thus far, to my knowledge, no US-based major news organization has reported the results of this study in this environmental health journal despite the fact that the Telegraph and the Guardian, two major news organizations in the UK have just reported it, it has not yet appeared in the American news media and this, I am afraid, is another case where the US news media have very strong tendencies to protect the interests of the war system rather that the intercuts of peace and really dealing with justice and problems related to wars. There are so many cases that one cannot begin to cite the examples of it, but this is a problem that we have to deal with in the US, we have news media that shy away from dealing with the questions of war crimes, not completely, there are exceptions to that.

I can tell you, having focused on this extensively both during the Iraq war and the Afghanistan war and the Vietnam War, that US news media have an aversion to taking on the question of war crimes. They report, very often, some of the evidence that something very wrong is going on but systematically they shy away from actually talking about violations of the laws of war, in wars that the US troops carry out in foreign countries....."

تفكيك مصر طائفياً

تفكيك مصر طائفياً
عبد الباري عطوان

"عمليات تفتيت وتفكيك الدولة 'القطرية' العربية لم تعد تقتصر على الجغرافيا، مثلما هو حادث حالياً في السودان واليمن والعراق، بل بدأت تمتد الى الديموغرافيا ايضاً، وبهدف تمزيق النسيج الاجتماعي والبشري، من خلال اتباع أساليب الاغراق في حروب او مواجهات طائفية او عرقية، والعمل الاجرامي الذي استهدف كنيسة الاسكندرية، وراح ضحيته اكثر من عشرين شخصاً، ليلة رأس السنة لا يمكن النظر اليه الا من هذا المنظور.
مصر مستهدفة اكثر من غيرها، لانها دولة محورية في العالم العربي، وتشكل الثقل البشري والحضاري، وعنصر التأثير الأقوى في محيطها، ولهذا تتعاظم محاولات الاجهاز عليها، بعد تكبيلها بمعاهدات سلام مهينة اخرجتها من محيطها، وجمدت دورها القيادي والريادي، وجعلتها تكتلاً بشرياً ضخماً بدون قضية وطنية حقيقية في منطقة تعتبر الاكثر التهاباً وغلياناً في العالم بأسره.
ردود الفعل الرسمية التي تنطوي على الكثير من السذاجة السياسية والفكرية، كشفت عن مصدر الخلل الكبير الذي ينخر جسد المؤسسة الحاكمة، ويدفع بالبلاد الى سيناريو عنف مرعب لا يمكن التكهن بنتائجه لما ينطوي عليه من اخطار جمة.
فالحكومة المصرية، سارعت، وبعد ساعات محدودة من وقوع التفجير، وقبل بدء اي تحقيقات، بتصدير الازمة الى جهات خارجية، وتوجيه اصابع الاتهام بطريقة مباشرة او غير مباشرة الى تنظيم 'القاعدة' بالوقوف خلف هذه الجريمة.
تنظيم 'القاعدة' او بعض الجماعات المحسوبة عليه، قد لا يكون بريئاً من مثل هذه الاعمال، بل واعلن مسؤوليته عن ما هو اكبر منها (هجمات الحادي عشر من ايلول/سبتمبر) ولكن هذا التنظيم، حتى لو كان يقف خلف هذا العمل الاجرامي، فانه ما كان لينجح في تنفيذه بدون ادوات محلية، وفي ظل مناخ عام يسهل اعماله ومخططاته.
لا بد من الاعتراف، اعتراف النخبة الحاكمة في مصر على وجه التحديد، بان الازمة داخلية صرفة ومتفاقمة، فالبلد يعيش حالة من الاحتقان الداخلي، والشحن الطائفي، تقابلهما قراءة خاطئة، وغير علمية، سواء بطريقة متعمدة، او بسبب الجهل، لمعرفة اسباب هذا الاحتقان، لوصف العلاج العملي الناجع على المستويين القصير والبعيد المدى في الوقت نفسه.
***
الازمة في مصر ثقافية وسياسية واقتصادية وامنية وتعليمية واعلامية، بل واخلاقية ايضاً، ومحاولة كنسها وإخفائها تحت سجاد سرير السلطة هي من الاسباب الرئيسية لتفاقمها.
الاختراق الحقيقي لمصر ليس من قبل الجماعات المتطرفة فقط، وانما بالدرجة الاولى من قبل العدو الاسرائيلي، ففي الوقت الذي نسيت فيه الحكومة المصرية امنها الداخلي، وركزت طوال السنوات الثلاثين الماضية على حماية الامن الاسرائيلي، حتى لو وصل بها الامر الى توظيف الجنود المصريين لتأمين الحدود الاسرائيلية باطلاق النار بهدف القتل على المتسللين الافارقة الباحثين عن لقمة خبز، كانت اسرائيل في المقابل ترد الجميل الى مصر بزرع شبكات التجسس لاختراق الامن القومي المصري، وتحريض دول منابع النيل في العمق الافريقي لتفكيك معاهدات توزيع مياهه، وتهديد الامن المائي المصري.
فعندما تزوّر الحكومة المصرية الانتخابات في وضح النهار، وتمارس عمليات اقصاء سياسي فاضح لقوى المعارضة الاخرى المؤمنة بالنظام، والمتعايشة معه، والرافضة لاساليب العنف كأداة للتغيير، والمتمسكة بالحوار وأدب الخلاف تحت قبة البرلمان، فان عليها ان تتوقع الاسوأ. فقمع المعارضة واخراجها بطريقة مهينة من العملية السياسية، وابعادها عن ممارسة حقها الدستوري في المشاركة في دوائر الرقابة وصنع القرار، ستؤدي حتماً الى نزول بعضها الى تحت الارض، والعمل في الظلام.
لقد نسي دهاقنة النظام ومنظروه في مصر، ان العنف الطائفي والسياسي كان موجوداً في البلاد قبل ظهور تنظيم 'القاعدة' بعقود، بل لا نبالغ اذا قلنا ان هذا التنظيم وصل الى ما وصل اليه بسبب سيطرة العنصر المصري على مقدراته، وتحويل مساره العقائدي والايديولوجي الوجهة التي نراها حالياً.
فالقيادات العسكرية والفكرية في تنظيم 'القاعدة' هي مصرية بالاساس، والنواة الاصلية لجماعات استأصلها النظام، مثل حركة الجهاد الاسلامي، والجماعة الاسلامية، والتكفير والهجرة، ولم يتحول تنظيم 'القاعدة' من تنظيم محلي يريد اخراج القوات الامريكية من الجزيرة العربية بعد انتهاء دورها 'بتحرير الكويت' الى تنظيم عالمي يفتتح فروعاً في مختلف انحاء العالم الا بفضل شخصيات قيادية مصرية مثل الدكتور ايمن الظواهري، ومحمد عاطف (ابو حفص المصري)، وسيف العدل، ومصطفى حامد، ومصطفى ابو اليزيد وغيرهم الكثير.
***
تكرار العبارات التقليدية في الصحف ومحطات التلفزة المصرية والعربية، حول الوحدة الوطنية وضرورة تعزيزها، والاخاء المسيحي الاسلامي، والمؤامرات الخارجية، كلها عبارات جميلة بل ومطلوبة، ولكن شريطة ان لا تبعدنا عن الازمة الحقيقية واسبابها وجذورها، وهي حالة الانهيار التي تشهدها مصر حالياً على اكثر من صعيد بسبب التحالف الانتهازي بين عصابات رجال الاعمال والمجموعة الحاكمة، واستخدام النظام وقواه الضاربة من اجل تحقيق مصالح القطط السمان على حساب الفقراء المسحوقين وهم الاغلبية.
الاجهزة المصرية استخدمت الاساليب نفسها التي استخدمتها وتستخدمها جميع الانظمة الديكتاتورية العربية، في الاقدام على اعتقال مجموعة من الاشخاص فور وقوع الجريمة بتهمة التورط في عملية التفجير لامتصاص النقمة الشعبية والظهور بمظهر المسيطر على الاوضاع الامنية، ولكن مثل هذه الاساليب لا يمكن ان تعفي هذه الاجهزة، والمسؤولين الكبار خاصة، من التقصير في حماية دور العبادة المسيحية، في ظل تحريض طائفي بلغ ذروته، وفي وقت حساس جداً من العام وكل الاعوام، وهو احتفالات اعياد الميلاد ورأس السنة.
نضم صوتنا الى جميع الاصوات التي ادانت هذه الجريمة من مختلف انحاء العالم، والعربي والاسلامي على وجه الخصوص، فالاشقاء المسيحيون، هم جزء اصيل من ثقافتنا وهويتنا العربية الاسلامية، ويجب ان يحميهم المسلمون اولاً، ويوفروا لهم الامن وحرية العبادة مثلما فعل رسولنا وقائدنا وقدوتنا محمد بن عبدالله 'صلى الله عليه وسلم'، ولكن هذه الادانة يجب ان لا تعمينا عن رؤية مخططات التفتيت والتفكيك التي تستهدف جميع بلداننا، وعن الاعداء الحقيقيين الذين يقفون خلفها، واولهم اسرائيل.
مصر العظيمة فقدت بوصلتها منذ ان وقعت في مصيدة سلام مغشوش، بل مسموم اخرجها من دورها القيادي والريادي، واول خطوة لاخراجها من ازماتها هو باستعادتها لهذا الدور الذي خطفه الآخرون منها، وهمشوها بالشكل الذي نراه حالياً... نقولها وفي حلوقنا مرارة العلقم.
"

Alexandria's (Egypt) Reception of 2011, by Emad Hajjaj

Networks of Empire and Realignments of World Power

Imperial states build networks which link economic, military and political activities into a coherent mutually reinforcing system. This task is largely performed by the various institutions of the imperial state.

By James Petras

"Thus imperial action is not always directly economic, as military action in one country or region is necessary to open or protect economic zones. Nor are all military actions decided by economic interests if the leading sector of the imperial state is decidedly militarist.

Moreover, the sequence of imperial action may vary according to the particular conditions necessary for empire building. Thus state aid may buy collaborators; military intervention may secure client regimes followed later by private investors. In other circumstances, the entry of private corporations may precede state intervention.....

Imperial Networks: The Central Role of Collaborators....

History has demonstrated that the lowest cost in sustaining long term, long scale imperial domination is by developing local collaborators, whether in the form of political, economic and/or military leaders operating from client regimes. Overt politico-military imperial rule results in costly wars and disruption, especially among a broad array of classes adversely affected by the imperial presence.

Formation of collaborator rulers and classes results from diverse short and long term imperial policies ranging from direct military, electoral and extra-parliamentary activities to middle to long term recruitment, training and orientation of promising young leaders via propaganda and educational programs, cultural-financial inducements, promises of political and economic backing on assuming political office and through substantial clandestine financial backing.....

The US empire, passively facing economic competitors displacing the US in vital markets and engaged in prolonged and unending wars which drained the treasury, attracted a cohort of mediocre policymakers who lacked a coherent strategy for rectifying policies and reconstructing the state to serve productive activity capable of ‘retaking markets’. Instead the policies of open-ended and unsustainable wars played into the hands of a special sub-group (sui generis) of militarists, American Zionists. They capitalized on their infiltration of strategic positions in the state, enhanced their influence in the mass media and a vast network of organized “pressure groups” to reinforce US subordination to Israel’s drive for Middle East supremacy.

The result was the total “unbalancing” of the US imperial apparatus: military action was unhinged from economic empire building. A highly influential upper caste of Zionist-militarists harnessed US military power to an economically marginal state (Israel), in perpetual hostility toward the 1.5 billion Muslim world. Equally damaging, American Zionist ideologues and policymakers promoted repressive institutions and legislation and Islamophobic ideological propaganda designed to terrorize the US population. Equally important islamophobic ideology served to justify permanent war in South Asia and the Middle East and the exorbitant military budgets, at a time of sharply deteriorating domestic socio-economic conditions.....

...It is a matter of time before existing client regimes in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and Mexico will face major upheavals, due to the precarious bases of rule by corrupt, stagnant and repressive rulers.

The process of decay of the US Empire is both cause and consequence of the challenge by rising economic powers establishing alternative centers of growth and development. Changes within countries at the periphery of the empire and growing indebtedness and trade deficits at the ‘center’ of the empire are eroding the empire. The existing US governing class, in both its financial and militarist variants show neither will nor interest in confronting the causes of decay. Instead each mutually supports the other: the financial sector lowers taxes deepening the public debt and plunders the treasury. The military caste drains the treasury in pursuit of wars and military outposts and increases the trade deficit by undermining commercial and investment undertakings. "

Palestine National Orchestra makes debut in Israel

[While world artists from Elvis Costello to Eurethmics are culturally boycotting Israel due to its racist , colonial policies , occupation and war crimes, The Palestinian National Orchestra is normalizing with the apartheid state under the pseudo slogan "Today an orchestra, tomorrow a state."]
HAIFA, Israel (AFP) -- The Palestine National Orchestra has made its debut in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Israeli city of Haifa under the banner of "Today an orchestra, tomorrow a state."

The 40-member orchestra launched its inaugural tour on Friday in the West Bank city of Ramallah, moved on the next day to East Jerusalem and on Sunday night to Haifa, which has a large Palestinian community.

"Today an orchestra, tomorrow a state," Suhail Khoury, director of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music named after the US-Palestinian intellectual who died in 2003, wrote in the programme.

"Today we are witnessing the birth of the Palestine National Orchestra at a time when the Palestinian struggle for independence is passing through one of its most critical and difficult moments," he wrote.

"We musicians truly believe that a state is not only about buildings and roads, but most importantly it is about its people, their values, their arts and their cumulative cultural identity."

If anti-Semitism did not exist, Zionists would have to invent it: Maidhc O'Cathail

[Zionist bombed the Iraqi Jewish Community in Iraq in order to force them to flee Iraq, does that sound familiar ?]

EGYPT: Hundreds protest to denounce terrorist attack on Coptic Christians

[We can blame the Mossad, CIA, Corrupt regimes and on and on...When will Arab masses be held responsible for their slumber, inaction and pathetic indifference ?  500 protest the bombing only ?? a typical bus in Cairo carries that many people during rush hour and this is the best they can do ? in any self respecting society the majority is the one that should go down in the street and demand equality and protection for the minorities this goes for Arab states and "Israel" as well.]

Hundreds of Egyptians took part in a demonstration Sunday morning to condemn the church explosion that took the lives of 21 Coptic Christians in the coastal city of Alexandria in the early hours of 2011. 

In the suburb of Shubra, downtown Cairo, some 500 Muslim and Coptic activists, politicians and other civil society leaders led a protest to show solidarity with the Egyptian Coptic minority and to denounce Saturday's deady assault. 
 
Marchers shouted the slogans, "A Muslim and a Copt hand in hand to create a new dawn," and "Not a police state, not a religious state, we want Egypt to be a secular state," as they carried banners showing the crescent along with the cross, which has been a historical symbol of unity between Egyptian Muslims and Copts. 

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - Tunisia's unemployment crisis

"Tunisians take to the streets for the second week. The protesters say they have been pushed to the brink by the high levels of unemployment in Tunisia. Is it just about the economy or are deeper issues driving the protests?"

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - Egypt's Coptic Christians

"What is the Egyptian government doing to protect the its country's Coptic Christians? Is it really trying to bridge the Christian - Muslim divide?..."

Church Bombing Fuels Sectarian Rift

Analysis by Cam McGrath

"CAIRO, Jan 2, 2011 (IPS) - It was a tragic year for Egypt’s minority Coptic Christian community that began with a drive-by shooting at a church in southern Egypt, and ended in deadly clashes near Cairo after authorities halted construction of a church. As 2010 came to a close, Copts ushering in the New Year with a midnight mass in the northern Egyptian city of Alexandria wondered if 2011 would be any better.

It took less than 20 minutes to get an answer....

But few Copts are buying it. Most believe the government is painting the church bombing as a foreign plot to hide its own failure in preventing homegrown attacks on Christians.

"Even if Al-Qaeda was involved, the attack could not have succeeded without local help and negligence by security forces," charges Amgad Boutros, a Cairo pharmacist. "If threats were made against the church, why were cars allowed to park in front of it during the service?".....

It wasn’t always like this," recalls Boutros. "When I was growing up, Muslims and Christians would go out together and attend each others’ festivities. But now everyone stays with their own kind, and religious symbols and slogans - which were not that important to us before - are seen everywhere."

Analysts say changes began in the early 1970s after then president Anwar Sadat amended Egypt’s secular constitution to make Sharia (Islamic law) the principal source of legislation. The move coincided with the rise of political Islam and a growing religious consciousness that polarised society along sectarian lines.

One major flashpoint is an antiquated law restricting the construction of churches...."

تفجير الإسكندرية: دعوات لحوار مجتمعي جاد و"عدم دفن الرؤوس في الرمال" (فيديو)

عرب 48 ووكالات

Many Photos of The Sectarian Terror Bombing in Alexandria

WikiLeaks: Israel Preparing for “Large Scale War” in Middle East

Al-Manar

"02/01/2011 Israel's army chief told a US Congress delegation in late 2009 he was preparing for a large war in the Middle East, probably against Hamas or Hezbollah, leaked US diplomatic cables showed Sunday.

"I am preparing the Israeli army for a large scale war, since it is easier to scale down to a smaller operation than to do the opposite," Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi was quoted as saying in a cable from the US embassy in Tel Aviv.

The document, dated November 15, 2009, was quoted Sunday in Norwegian by Oslo-based daily Aftenposten, which said it had obtained WikiLeaks' entire cache of 251,187 leaked US embassy cables.

"The rocket threat against Israel is more serious than ever. That is why Israel is putting such emphasis on rocket defence," Ashkenazi told the US delegation led by Democrat Ike Skelton, the cable showed.

Ashkenazi is also quoted saying Israel next time will not accept "any restrictions on warfare in populated areas," and insisted the occupation army had allegedly never intentionally attacked civilian targets."

مستقبل عباس بعد تسريبات ويكيليكس

عوض الرجوب-الخليل

"كشفت إحدى البرقيات التي سربها موقع ويكيليكس ويعود تاريخها إلى 16 نوفمبر/تشرين الثاني 2009، أن مسؤولين إسرائيليين يساورهم الشك حول مستقبل الرئيس الفلسطيني محمود عباس، وأنه لن يصمد سياسيا حتى نهاية عام 2011.

ويرى محللون أن التاريخ يعيد نفسه، فالرئيس الراحل ياسر عرفات تعرض لضغوط هائلة واتهامات مماثلة، فانعكس ذلك صراعات داخل السلطة وحركة فتح، فأقصى عددا من القيادات بينها نبيل عمرو ومحمد دحلان وجبريل الرجوب، وعباس نفسه الذي عاد رئيسا بعد رحيل عرفات.

واليوم بدأ المشهد يتكرر، حسب محللين، فالضغوط هائلة والموقف الإسرائيلي نفسه، وداخليا تتزايد الخلافات بين الرئيس عباس ومحيطيه، فأقصى نبيل عمرو وتوفيق الطيراوي، والآن محمد دحلان
....
من جهته يرى المحلل السياسي عبد الستار قاسم أن سياسة إسرائيل ثابتة وليست متغيرة و"تلعب في المشهد الفلسطيني الذي يعاني من جواسيس على مستوى قيادات في فصائل متعددة".

البحث عن بديل

ورأى أن إسرائيل وأميركا تبحثان منذ فترة عن رئيس في السلطة الفلسطينية "لأن أبو مازن ضعيف، ومن يحيطون به لا يصلحون لحد كبير، لأنهم بنوا سمعة سيئة لأنفسهم عبر الزمن، وإسرائيل وأميركا تريدان شخصا قويا يتمتع بمسموعات جيدة وبقدرة كبيرة على التأثير".

وأضاف أنهم "كانوا يظنون أن سلام فياض يمكن أن يكون البديل، لكن ثبت أنه غير قوي، ولولا وجود الأموال بيديه لن يجد من يسير معه، وهم لا يريدون هذا".

وتوقع استمرار الرئيس في موقعه "لأنهم ما زالوا في طور البحث عن بديل" مستبعدا أن يجدوا له بديلا خلال 2011
...."

Gazan youth issue manifesto to vent their anger with all sides in the conflict

An anonymous group of students has created a document to express their frustration born of Hamas's violent crackdowns on 'western decadence', the destruction wreaked by Israel's attacks and the political games played by Fatah and the UN

Ana Carbajosa
The Observer, Sunday 2 January 2011

".....This is the first time that a group of young Palestinian cyber-activists has agreed to meet a journalist since launching what it calls Gaza Youth's Manifesto for Change. It is an incendiary document – written with courage and furious energy – that has captivated thousands of people who have come across it online, and the young university students are visibly excited, but also scared. "Not only are our lives in danger; we are also putting our families at risk," says one of them, who calls himself Abu George.

Gaza Youth's Manifesto for Change is an extraordinary, impassioned cyber-scream in which young men and women from Gaza – where more than half the 1.5 million population is under 18 – make it clear that they've had enough.....

On Facebook, the group calls itself Gaza Youth Breaks Out. When the cyber-activists wrote the manifesto three weeks ago, they gave themselves a year to gather enough support before thinking about further steps. But their text has travelled around the world at an unexpected speed and has harvested thousands of supporters, many of them human rights activists, who say they are ready to help.

Now, the authors are dealing with the impact of a document that could be a turning point in the life of the Strip. "We did not expect this to be so big," one of them admits. Eight people – three women and five men – wrote the text. They are normal students, from the more secular elements of Gazan society.....

These youngsters do not represent anybody except themselves, but their call for change has resonated strongly, not only abroad but also inside Gaza. Their Facebook page already has thousands of friends – including, they say, many from the Strip.

The causes of frustration are legion.....

Going out, meeting friends in cafés – let alone clubs or discotheques – or attending cultural events has become an increasingly complicated task as Hamas cracks down on western "decadence"......

The Manifesto

"Fuck Hamas. Fuck Israel. Fuck Fatah. Fuck UN. Fuck UNWRA. Fuck USA! We, the youth in Gaza, are so fed up with Israel, Hamas, the occupation, the violations of human rights and the indifference of the international community!

"We want to scream and break this wall of silence, injustice and indifference like the Israeli F16s breaking the wall of sound; scream with all the power in our souls in order to release this immense frustration that consumes us because of this fucking situation we live in...

"We are sick of being caught in this political struggle; sick of coal-dark nights with airplanes circling above our homes; sick of innocent farmers getting shot in the buffer zone because they are taking care of their lands; sick of bearded guys walking around with their guns abusing their power, beating up or incarcerating young people demonstrating for what they believe in; sick of the wall of shame that separates us from the rest of our country and keeps us imprisoned in a stamp-sized piece of land; sick of being portrayed as terrorists, home-made fanatics with explosives in our pockets and evil in our eyes; sick of the indifference we meet from the international community, the so-called experts in expressing concerns and drafting resolutions but cowards in enforcing anything they agree on; we are sick and tired of living a shitty life, being kept in jail by Israel, beaten up by Hamas and completely ignored by the rest of the world.

"There is a revolution growing inside of us, an immense dissatisfaction and frustration that will destroy us unless we find a way of canalising this energy into something that can challenge the status quo and give us some kind of hope.

"We barely survived the Operation Cast Lead, where Israel very effectively bombed the shit out of us, destroying thousands of homes and even more lives and dreams. During the war we got the unmistakable feeling that Israel wanted to erase us from the face of the Earth. During the last years, Hamas has been doing all they can to control our thoughts, behaviour and aspirations. Here in Gaza we are scared of being incarcerated, interrogated, hit, tortured, bombed, killed. We cannot move as we want, say what we want, do what we want.

"ENOUGH! Enough pain, enough tears, enough suffering, enough control, limitations, unjust justifications, terror, torture, excuses, bombings, sleepless nights, dead civilians, black memories, bleak future, heart-aching present, disturbed politics, fanatic politicians, religious bullshit, enough incarceration! WE SAY STOP! This is not the future we want! We want to be free. We want to be able to live a normal life. We want peace. Is that too much to ask?""

A Repost of An Important Article: Creating an "Arc of Crisis": The Destabilization of the Middle East and Central Asia

Ralph Peters' Map of a Redrawn Middle East - Note similarity to Bernard Lewis' Map of a Redrawn Middle East

The Mumbai Attacks and the “Strategy of Tension”

by Andrew Gavin Marshall
Global Research, December 7, 2008

""The recent attacks in Mumbai, while largely blamed on Pakistan’s state-sponsored militant groups, represent the latest phase in a far more complex and long-term “strategy of tension” in the region; being employed by the Anglo-American-Israeli Axis to ultimately divide and conquer the Middle East and Central Asia. The aim is destabilization of the region, subversion and acquiescence of the region’s countries, and control of its economies, all in the name of preserving the West’s hegemony over the “Arc of Crisis.”

The attacks in India are not an isolated event, unrelated to growing tensions in the region. They are part of a process of unfolding chaos that threatens to engulf an entire region, stretching from the Horn of Africa to India: the “Arc of Crisis,” as it has been known in the past.

The motives and modus operandi of the attackers must be examined and questioned, and before quickly asserting blame to Pakistan, it is necessary to step back and review:

Who benefits? Who had the means? Who had to motive? In whose interest is it to destabilize the region? Ultimately, the roles of the United States, Israel and Great Britain must be submitted to closer scrutiny......

Balkanizing the Middle East

In 1982, Oded Yinon, an Israeli journalist wrote a report for a publication of the World Zionist Organization in which he advocated, “The dissolution of Syria and Iraq into ethnically or religiously unique areas such as in Lebanon [which] is Israel's primary target on the Eastern front. Iraq, rich in oil on the one hand and internally torn on the other is guaranteed as a candidate for Israel's targets. Its dissolution is even more important for us than that of Syria. Iraq is stronger than Syria. In the short run, it is Iraqi power which constitutes the greatest threat to Israel.”

In 1996, an Israeli think tank with many prominent American neo-conservatives, issued a report in which they advocated for Israel to “Work closely with Turkey and Jordan to contain, destabilize, and roll-back some of its most dangerous threats,” among them, to remove Saddam Hussein from power....

In 2006, the Armed Force Journal published an article by retired Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Peters, which called for the redrawing of the borders of the Middle East. He first advocated the breakup of Iraq, and that, “Saudi Arabia would suffer as great a dismantling as Pakistan,” and that, “Iran, a state with madcap boundaries, would lose a great deal of territory to Unified Azerbaijan, Free Kurdistan, the Arab Shia State and Free Baluchistan, but would gain the provinces around Herat in today’s Afghanistan.”

Describing Pakistan as “an unnatural state,” he said, “Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier tribes would be reunited with their Afghan brethren,” and that it “would also lose its Baluch territory to Free Baluchistan. The remaining “natural” Pakistan would lie entirely east of the Indus, except for a westward spur near Karachi.” He even made up a helpful little list of “losers” and “winners” in this new great game: as in, who gains territory, and who loses territory. Among the losers are Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the West Bank and Pakistan. And Peters made the startling statement that redrawing borders is often only achieved through war and violence, and that “one other dirty little secret from 5,000 years of history: Ethnic cleansing works.”......

Conclusion

Ultimately, the aims of the Mumbai attacks are to target Pakistan for balkanization. The question of who is responsible – either the ISI, largely rogue of Pakistan’s civilian government and under the authority of Anglo-American intelligence; or separate Indian terrorists, likely supported by the same Anglo-American intelligence community – while important, is ultimately a secondary consideration in comparison to the question of Why?

The Who, What, Where, and When is a show for public consumption; masked in confusion and half-truths, designed to confuse and ultimately frustrate the observer – creating a sense of unease and fear of the unknown. The WHY, on the other hand, is the most important question; once you discover the why, the who, where, what, and when begin to fall into place, and create a full picture......"

Terrorist attack church in Alexandria

Contributed by Molly

[This is most terrible and distressing development. A war is being waged on our Christian brothers/sisters that can only benefit the imperial colonial forces of the US.]

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt – A powerful bomb, possibly from a suicide attacker, exploded in front of a Coptic Christian church as a crowd of worshippers emerged from a New Years Mass early Saturday, killing at least 21 people and wounding nearly 80 in an attack that raised suspicions of an al-Qaida role.

The attack came in the wake of threats by al-Qaida militants in Iraq to attack Egypt's Christians. A direct al-Qaida hand in the bombing would be a dramatic development, as the government of President Hosni Mubarak has long denied that the terror network has a significant presence in the country. Al-Qaida in Iraq has already been waging a campaign of violence against Christians in that country.

2011 As Seen by Mr. Fish; Help!

Bombs make no moral distinctions where they fall

By Robert Fisk

"To Mannheim for its annual film festival and I am gripped by Armadillo, a documentary on a Danish NATO unit in Afghanistan, real bullets whizzing past one of the bravest directors of photography in the world, real soldiers falling wounded, one with a Wilfred Owen pallour of death on his face.

But he survives. Others don't. After storming a Taliban position, the Danes find at least three Afghans, apparently still alive. There is a crack of gunfire and they are dead. "We eliminated them in the most humane way possible," one of the Danes says afterwards, right there on the soundtrack.

I am stunned. The words "war crimes" are in my mind.....

Were some of the other Mannheimers "just like us", decent men and women who risked life for freedom, who responded to daily bombing in a way remarkably similar to that of Londoners in the 1940-41 Blitz, who wrote "Business as usual" on their shops?.....

Some of these men were war criminals in a most deliberate way, decimating entire peoples. But they also killed wounded soldiers, just as we did in Normandy. And in Afghanistan. And we knew, of course, when we bombed Mannheim, that we would kill a Heinz, a Ruth, a Berta and an Anna amid the destruction of the city's factories.

War crimes? Of course, we can all make moral assessments. Eliminated in the most humane way... The Taliban are not as bad as the Nazis. But they are much worse than the Danes. Isn't that right? What is this life?"

Tunisia's inspiring rebellion

Demonstrations in Tunisia suggest that revolt and regime change are still possible in the Arab world

Nesrine Malik
guardian.co.uk, Friday 31 December 2010

" There are few moments in the political atmosphere of the Middle East that fill me with genuine pride. While eyes have long been fixed on opposition movements in Iran and Egypt, suddenly Tunisia has provided one of the most inspiring episodes of indigenous revolt against a repressive regime.

Following the self-immolation of an unemployed man, riots and demonstrations have swept through the country.

Lebanese journalist Octavia Nasr wrote on Thursday: "I never thought this day would come. Certainly not in Tunisia. To be quite honest, out of the Middle East region, I thought such a rebellious act would come from Egypt where the opposition to President Mubarak's regime is so fierce and vocal that public demonstrations of anger and dismay have become a routine."

Despite distressing reports of security forces shooting demonstrators dead, the events are heartening, not necessarily as a harbinger of transformation in the region, but as an indication that it is possible. Change is sometimes more likely to happen when people know what it looks like, when the first person dares to points to the emperor and say that he is naked.......

Not that outpourings of passion are rare on Arab streets, but they are usually related to the latest events in Palestine, some random perceived insult from the west – or football. It's the rage of an easily slighted dignity, and it's rarely directed against the primary local culprit: the government itself......

Even if nothing comes of the Tunisian revolt, it is proof that the resignation is not an inevitability, that it is not hardwired into our DNA, that the "Arab malaise" is not terminal."

Israelis Resist Their Own Arabs

By Mel Frykberg

RAMALLAH, Jan 1, 2011 (IPS) - A number of recent incidents discriminating against Israel’s Palestinian minority has prompted Israeli Knesset (parliament) members to debate whether Israel is becoming increasingly racist.

Ronit Sela from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (Acri) has no doubts. "Israel’s democracy is under threat as an increasingly large racist element raises its collective head. A number of racist occurrences have taken place in a climate conducive to racism. This wouldn’t have happened prior to the current right-wing Israeli government," Sela told IPS.

Recently an organisation called Jews for a Jewish Bat Yam (a suburb near Tel Aviv) held a protest against "assimilation of young Jewish women with Arabs living in the city or in nearby Jaffa."....

Haneen Zoabi, an Israeli-Arab member of the Knesset who participated in the ill-fated Mavi Marmara attempt to break the siege of Gaza in May, expressed outrage that some Israeli parliamentarians were feigning shock at recent developments.

"Three months ago the Knesset approved a law that villages with populations smaller than 500 residents could remain Jewish to ‘maintain their cultural identity’. Furthermore, there have been approximately ten laws passed during the last year aimed against the Arab minority," Zoabi told IPS.

"Israel has double standards. Some Knesset members accused the rabbis of being racist despite the loyalty oath they supported and passed several months earlier. This calls for the Israeli citizenship of the Palestinian minority to be dependent on swearing allegiance to Zionism and Israel’s Jewish character despite this conflicting with their rights as an ethnic minority," she said.

"These rabbis authored the letter despite the fact they are Israeli public servants and on the government payroll. We wrote to the justice minister and got a legal injunction asking the minister to look into the matter. We have received no reply and nothing has been done about it," added Sela.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not rebuked the rabbis. The fact that public servants are able to incite to this degree, despite there being no major changes in Israel’s judiciary in the country’s 62-year history, speaks volumes about the current political climate in Israel," Sela told IPS.

Adalah, has meticulously documented the discrimination against Palestinians with Israeli citizenship.

This includes over 30 laws ranging from the law of return applying only to Jews; the ease with which Palestinians can be stripped of their citizenship; under-representation in the judiciary and politics; under-funding of Arab education and social services; higher rates of unemployment; and inadequate access to land and planning rights."

Emad Hajjaj's First Cartoon for 2011

The Decaying Arab Officialdom....
And the Passage of Time.

Happy New Year to You Too! Palestinian dies of Israeli tear gas

A Palestinian woman has died after inhaling tear gas fired by Israeli troops at demonstrators protesting the controversial Israeli separation wall in the occupied West Bank.

Press TV

"Palestinian medics say the 36-year-old Jawaher Abu Rachman lost her life at the Ramallah medical center after suffering intense tear gas inhalation during the non-violent rally in the village of Bilin, reported the Palestinian news agency Ma'an.

Medics added that Rachman, whose two brothers had also been killed during anti-barrier protests in the past, did not respond to treatment and died overnight.

At least 10 other people, among them international activists, were injured on Friday when Israeli troops fired tear gas to disperse anti-wall protesters in a village near Ramallah.

Following the death of Rachman, Palestinian lawmaker Mustafa Barghouti called for an international campaign to pressure Tel Aviv to stop using tear gas against civilians.

Barghouti asked the doctors to document "the crimes committed by Israel" and pursue international legal action......"

War and peace in Quran and Bible

Riz Khan
Al-Jazeera



"One of the widest perceptions in the Western world, especially after the attacks of September 11, is that Islam's holy book, the Quran, promotes conflict, violence and bloodshed.

Muslims argue that many of the verses of the Quran – such as the one asking the Prophet Muhammad and his followers to "slay them [unbelievers] wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out" – are taken out of context.

Muslim scholars say that the scriptures have been intentionally misused by Muslims and non-Muslims alike to advance political agendas.

Critics say that the texts promote extremism, and that Islam has left a trail of blood across world history.

Recently, Philip Jenkins, one of the world's leading religion scholars, conducted a study comparing the texts of the Quran and the Bible, and found that "the Bible contains far more verses praising or urging bloodshed than does the Quran."

Riz speaks with Philip Jenkins and Shaker Elsayed, the imam of Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Centre in the US and former secretary general of the Muslim American Society."