Vol. 45, no.

August 2016

Crescent
International

The newsmagazine of the

Islamic movement

Contents .
Reflections Zafar Bangash

Indias caste system:

religious apartheid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Editorials

Brexit and the failed Turkish coup . . . . . 3

P.O. Box 747

Gormley, ON L0H 1G0
CANADA
Tel: (905) 887-1119/8913

Effective strategy needed

for Kashmir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Abu Dharr

Editorial Board:

Zafar Bangash
Muhammad al-Asi
Afeef Khan

The sultan and the Shaytan . . . . . . . . . . 5

Yemens resistance is about
reclaiming sovereignty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Turkeys coup attempt exposes
many unsavoury creatures . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Affiliated with:

What prevents implementation

of the Iran deal? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Dangerous to be black in America! . . . 23
Defying curfew, Kashmiris confront
Indian occupiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Being Muslim and travelling in
Europe of 2016 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Special Reports

Takfiris and their enablers:

Muslims and non-Muslims . . . . . . . . . . 28
Radical Wahhabisms new
playground: Nigeria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Turkeys coup in dollars and cents . . . . 12

The Institute of Contemporary Islamic

Thought (ICIT)
Toronto, London,
Pretoria, Karachi

Saudi hostility to Islamic

Iran intensifies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Commentary Catherine Shakdam

Cover Stories

ISSN 0705-3754
LCM 77031986

Shawwal Dhu al-Qadah 1437

US strikes Turkey through

the Gulenist cult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

News/Analysis

Theresa May: Margaret Thatcher 2? . . 16

Islam/Fundamentals

Shirk cannot be dressed up

to prevent Gods justice . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Letters to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

From the Editors desk...

Light at the end of Libyas dark tunnel?

Libya lies in shambles, thanks to the Western dogooders who bombed the North African country
in 2011 leading to the lynching of Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi in October 2011. Since then, the
country has been gripped by violence with various warlords, all sponsored from the outside,
controlling their own patch of territory.
There is no safety or security of life. Kidnappings, extortion and killings are rampant. Oil
smuggling is also going on in a massive way.
The Libyan dinar has fallen drastically in value
and mass poverty grips the people.
Recent reports from Libya say that Seif alIslam Qaddafi, son of the late Libyan ruler, has
been released from prison in Zintan. In August
2015, a Tripoli-based court had sentenced him to
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August 2016

death. The sentence was not carried out. In fact,

Seif never attended court since he did not fall
under the authorities in Tripoli.
Now the reports say that Seif al-Islam may be
the person who can rescue Libya from its present
predicament. As a tribal society, only a Qaddafi
may be able to bring them under the same tent.
The elder Qaddafi had repeatedly warned that if
he were overthrown, Libya would descend into
chaos and terrorists would take over. The West
did not pay heed.
After five years of bloodletting and unending
cycles of reprisals, the tribal leaders of Libya
themselves have come to the conclusion that
Seif may be able to bring peace.
How the wheel of fortune turns in the world!
1

zafar bangash reflections

Indias caste system: religious apartheid

India is probably the most violent country in the world
yet it has successfully managed to project an image of
nonviolence. This has much to do with Mohindas Karamchand Gandhi, erroneously referred to as Mahatma, or
holy man. There was nothing holy about Gandhi; he was
a complete fraud. He indulged in strange habits including
sleeping naked with girls to exercise self-control. How
successful he was we do not know but his claim to nonviolence cost a lot of innocent Muslim lives both during and
after the partition of British colonial India into the independent states of Pakistan and India.

We need not sidetrack ourselves with Gandhis eccentricities, including his habitual drinking of his own urine
mixed with cow dung, which an average person would
find quite revolting. There are other pressing issues that
need attention. India is a caste-ridden society. For those
not familiar with this system, it is religiously sanctioned
apartheid. The caste system is like a pyramid at the top
of which sit the Brahmins, a tiny minority that consider
themselves superior to everyone else by virtue of birth.
At the bottom reside more than 200 million Dalits (aka
Untouchables). Yes, they are literally untouchable.
They cannot eat from the same plate or drink from the
same glass as Brahmins or members of other castes; otherwise these would become unclean.

Dalits are forced to do the dirtiest jobs including cleaning toilets, sweeping streets, and removing the carcasses
of dead animals. The overwhelming majority of Indians
do not have access to flush toilets. In India a raised platform with a bucket at the bottom serves as a toilet. Dalits
are forced to clean others filth. They cannot marry into
other castes even though so-called upper-caste Hindus
routinely rape Dalit girls. Other minorities including
Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians also suffer Hindu racism
and persecution.

When the Congress Party ruled India, it was easy to

camouflage Hindu racism. Indias first Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru was Western educated and projected
an image of modernity. He even appointed Bhimrao
Ambedkar, a Dalit lawyer, to draft Indias first constitution, in theory abolishing the caste system. That the
Brahmin Caste to which Nehru belonged did not care
much about the constitution was conveniently ignored.
Today, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a right-wing
fascist party whose ideology is rooted in Nazism, rules
India. Its storm troopers are the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a bunch of murderous thugs who
make no secret of their plans to turn India into a Hindu
state. Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians are threatened
2

with death if they do not covert to Hinduism, claiming

they were originally all Hindus.

These fascists have other strange habits. They consider

the cow to be sacred and holy (calling it their mother) and, therefore, forbid anyone from killing or eating its
meat. While cow meat consumption is forbidden in several Indian states, India has no compunction exporting its
meat and earning some $4 billion in annual revenues.

In recent weeks, a new anti-Dalit campaign has erupted,

especially in Narendra Modis home state of Gujarat.
Four Dalits were stripped naked, beaten up mercilessly,
and paraded in Una after being accused of killing and
then skinning a cow. Despite protesting their innocence
the victims maintained they skinned the cow after it
had died of natural causes the self-styled gau rakshaks
(cow protectors) were not convinced.
These mass murderers consider the BJPs rise to power
in 2014 as a license to attack and kill Dalits. With the
BJP in power, 47,064 cases of crimes against Dalits were
registered, up from 39,408 in the previous year and
33,655 in 2012. Modi himself is on record describing Dalits as mentally retarded children and their menial
scavenging as a spiritual experience!
How does Hindu India get away with such horrendous
crimes? Modi is welcomed in world capitals with nary a
mention of the crimes being perpetrated against millions
of innocent people. The India-doting West sees India as a
market of 300 million people with surplus cash to purchase Western goods. A few hundred million people
oppressed or even murdered is a small price, or so the
thinking goes in the West.
India has also successfully marketed yoga, transcendental meditation, hashish and pot smoking, and group sex.
In the 1960s, the British pop group, the Beetles, gave
such nonsense an enormous boost. One Beetle, George
Harrison, became a disciple of Maharishi Mahish Yogi.
The hippie generation followed suit. There also emerged
the fraudsters called Rajnishis in Oregon where group
sex was again common. For many young people in the
West, sex and drugs was the road to nirvana.

Hindu India has successfully cashed in on it. Dalits, Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians have had to pay the price.
Zafar Bangash is Director of the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought (ICIT).
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August 2016

EDITORIAL S

Brexit and the failed Turkish coup

Two unrelated events, separated by three weeks have had a

profound impact on global politics. Britons voting to leave
the European Union (EU), dubbed Brexit, and the failed coup
attempt in Turkey, have altered the global political landscape
dramatically. The Brexit vote will not only lead to unraveling
of the European Union but also to the diminution of Britain
as a major global player. What was pompously called the
United Kingdom (UK) is neither united nor will it retain its
present geographical shape, small as it is. Scotland, Northern
Ireland and perhaps Wales will go their separate ways leaving
a rump of England. It will become another Netherlands or
Belgium in size and perhaps clout. Notwithstanding the
monarchy doting subjects in such far-flung places as Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, her Majesty will leave far
fewer subjects for Prince Charles to contend with at home if
he were ever to become king!
These developments have already handed Germany the
leadership of Europe, the prevention of which was a primary
objective of the other Europeans primarily Britain and
France who had ganged up and waged two world wars, all
aided and abetted by the US. The ghost of Adolph Hitler must
be toasting in his grave. Brexit has also dealt a blow to US
influence in Europe that had used Britain as a Trojan horse.
The other winner of the Brexit vote is Russia. Not surprisingly, one could hear vodka bottles being popped up in the
Kremlin. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, now the undisputed leader of Europe, has already announced that Russia
should not be isolated (this was the American plan) and that
Europe needs to engage Moscow.
The other development the failed coup attempt in
Turkey is equally significant. Quite aside from its internal
ramifications and what direction Turkish politics may take at
home, the failed coup attempt has opened new possibilities in
the region. One is improvement in relations between Ankara
and Moscow. This will now receive a boost. Even before the
coup, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had formally
apologized to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. This did
not sit well with Washington. Turkey is a NATO member and
considered a strategic US ally but there are strong suspicions
that the coup plotters had some support from Washington. At
the very least, the continued harboring of Fethullah Gulen in
the US will further sour relations between the two countries.
This is a situation that Russia will definitely find attractive.
Similarly, the Islamic Republic of Iran took a bold and
forthright stand against the coup even before the outcome was
known. Islamic Iran has itself paid a heavy price for coups. It
opposes all such moves as a matter of principle. True, there
are differences between Tehran and Ankara over how the situation in Syria should be handled but the Islamic Republic
has not allowed this to cloud its judgment of the coup. Nor did
it indulge in finger pointing or name calling. Instead, it stood
with the elected government of Turkey. Erdogan cannot
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August 2016

The voting distribution that led to Brexit shows that a

majority of voters in Scotland and Northern Ireland would
prefer to stay in the European Union. And this may lead
to regional referendums over whether to secede from the
United Kingdom altogether. Should any of these be successful, it would signal the end of the vaunted British
colonialism that has not only persisted after the collapse
of the British Empire between the two world wars, but has
been a thorn in the side of Muslims, particularly in the
Muslim East and the Indian subcontinent. However, even
if such an eventuality does take place, the United States,
which has assumed Britains historical colonial role,
will continue to be a formidable crusading adversary for
Muslims as evidenced by its failed coup attempt in Turkey.
ignore this. He must remember who stood with him at the
most critical juncture and who sat on the fence (the Saudi
regime, for instance) until the situation became clear.
Even before these momentous developments, there were
unmistakable signs of realignment in the region. A new, informal bloc was emerging comprising Russia, China, Iran and
the Central Asian Republics. If Turkey becomes part of this
grouping, it will have even greater impact.
Following the failed coup and improvement in relations
between Russia and Turkey, there is an increased possibility
3

EDITORIAL S

that Ankaras role in trying to overthrow the government of

Bashar al-Asad would diminish. Even if there is no change at
the strategic level, physical limitations will force Turkey to
make changes. Its hands are already full at home. Sorting out
the mess in the military will consume much of the governments time. While the coup may have failed, it would be
wrong to assume that the troubles for Erdogan or his ruling
AKP party have come to an end
Two other points are relevant. Firstly, there are reports that
the Saudis also had a hand in the coup. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeirs name has surfaced as a backer of the
coup. At the very least, the Saudi regime sat on its hands until

the coup was completely crushed. It took Saudi king Salman

two days to call Erdogan. Could it have escaped notice in his
inner circle?
Second, what direction would Turkeys relations with the
Zionist regime take now? Before the coup, Erdogan had made
up with the Zionists, even with an obnoxious character like
Benjamin Netanyahu. Will Erdogan now revise his calculations given that his nemesis, Fethullah Gulen, who is being
harbored by the US, has close Zionist connections? Only time
will tell how Erdogan adjusts his policies but one thing is certain, following these two events Brexit and the failed coup
in Turkey the global landscape has altered dramatically. g

Effective strategy needed for Kashmir

The hapless people of Kashmir are once again at the receiving

end of Indian brutality. Since the latest uprising, sparked by
the killing of Burhan Wani on July 8, scores of people have
been killed and thousands injured. In a new tactic, the Indian
military occupation forces are using rubber-coated steel pellets that have blinded hundreds of people. Photos of badly
punctured eyes, faces, skulls and bodies have appeared in the
social media.
Reaction to the latest bout of Indian bloodletting is also all
too familiar. The government of Pakistan has condemned
such killings and brutalities; India has parroted its traditional
line: Kashmir is its internal matter and Pakistan should
keep out. There have been protests in different parts of the
world including Britain, Canada, and other places. Different
cities of Pakistan have also seen mass protests. Unfortunately,
there has been little reaction elsewhere, much less condemnation of Indian crimes against the Kashmiris.
For the record, Kashmir is not an internal matter of India
regardless of how often and how loudly the Hindu rulers of
Delhi parrot this line. It is disputed territory whose future
must be determined according to the wishes of the people
through a referendum. There are several United Nations Security Council resolutions affirming this. When the problem
first arose in 1947, Indian rulers including Indias first Prime
Minister Jawaharlal Nehru promised to respect the wishes of
the people. But once India had tightened its military grip on
the state, it back-peddled from this pledge arriving at the nonsensical claim that Kashmir is an integral part of India.
One can continue to reiterate what the historical background to the dispute is, and there may be some utility in this,
but what is important is to think of other ways to help the people of Kashmir. First, it must be recognized that the UN is not
going to implement its own resolutions. The UN is not an
independent body; it serves the interests of dominant powers.
These powers whether the US, Britain, France or Russia
are not interested in helping the Kashmiri people at the
expense of antagonizing India.
4

Unfortunately, Pakistans diplomacy has failed in communicating effectively the significance of the Kashmir dispute. Even its allies in the region the Arabian regimes and
others that call upon Pakistan for help when they are in
difficulty, have done little beyond lip service for the Kashmiris. Not much, however, can be expected from these
clownish Arabian rulers.
Friends of Kashmir around the world must think of more
creative ways to increase the cost of Indias illegal occupation. There are many nonviolent but effective ways to make
India pay. It can start with a boycott of Indian goods worldwide. There are millions of Muslims residing in Europe and
North America. They can launch a campaign to boycott Indian goods. There are many non-Muslim peace activists that
are just as concerned about the plight of suffering humanity.
They can be mobilized in support of the Kashmiri people.
Similarly, student groups at university campuses should be
mobilized for Kashmir in the same way as they have been in
support of Palestine.
Second, the ugliness of Indias caste system needs to be
exposed. It is nothing but religiously sanctioned apartheid. If
political and social apartheid in South Africa was exposed and
ultimately defeated, why not confront Hinduisms religious
apartheid in like manner?
Third, Bollywood actors and actresses regularly appear at
various events in Western countries. There should be protests
held at such events to highlight the cause of Kashmir. True,
inside Pakistan, there are also groups that are enamored with
Bollywood culture but we need not detain ourselves with
these opportunists whether among the political elite or in the
media. They are part of the problem, not the solution.
Finally, the people of Kashmir must be made aware that
they are not alone. They should not lose hope in a better
future even if the present is grim and dark. Social media can
be used for this purpose.
What is required is a commitment to truth and justice and
a determination to carry it through to the end. g
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abu dharr

The sultan and the Shaytan

The worlds officialdom has concentrated its efforts on strive for freedom, independence, and self-determinasapping the Muslims energies and depleting the hopes tion wherever they may be.
the committed Muslims have been nursing for centuries
This is truly turning out to be a war of imperialist hopes of an Islamic land they can call their country, Zionist aggression against the budding future Islamic
of an Islamic government they can identify with as civilization. The American neoconservatives among othbelonging to them, and a commonwealth based on ers had a strain in them that attempted to weed out
shared Islamic principles and common Islamic goals. moderate Islamists from radical Islamists. These neoHence, we have come to realize, in light of the imposed cons counted al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun (the Muslim
wars, contrived Islamic factions, and the convergence Brotherhood) within the ranks of the moderate
of practically all intelligence agenIslamists, and by extension the
cies and military units, that diehard
AKP and President Recep Tayyip
enemies of Islamic self-determinaErdogan. In the calculations and
This political species
tion do not sleep. These avowed eneexaminations of the Islamists
[Israeli right-wingers]
mies have their sleeping cells and
worldwide these neocons considdeep state implanted in virtually all
ered the Ikhwan and their offshoots
was convinced that
Islamic geographies. The latest
to be a type of political Islam that is
there are no Islamic
manifestation of these fifth columable to ultimately make peace with
nists is their attempt at a military
an American imperialist governmoderates. All Muslims
coup in Turkey. The information
ment and an Israeli Zionist regime.
with an Islamic political
available from within Turkey points
This type of neocon thinking may
mind are extremists and
to a trail of treachery extending
have been buttressed by the Saudi
from Anatolia to America headed
royals
who have claimed to have
terrorists! They come in
by, of all people, a Sufi Fethulthese types of Islamists under contwo varieties: Sunni and
lah Gulen. These mercenaries and
trol. The Pentagons Paul Woltheir imperialist and Zionist sponfowitz chimed in by making public
Shii. The Sunni brand
sors could not live with a secular
statements
to the effect that (secuhas the Ikhwan as its
Turkish government run by a party
lar) Turkey should be a role model
major and worrisome
with Islamic tendencies. The all-out
for the rest of the politically aspirwar against Islamic self-determinaing Muslims around the world.
component. The Shi i
tion will not spare even the kind of
Turkey is a member of NATO and
type has the Islamic
Turkish Muslim officials who are
therefore a sidekick to the Europlaying politics with their counterAmerican imperium. Turkey coorrevolutionary Republic
parts inside and outside of Turkey.
dinates its policies to a certain
as its major and
Events like these refresh our
degree with the Zionist colonizers
worrisome component.
memory. It was only a few years
of Palestine. On the watch of Erdoago that political and military pergan and his inner circle, the Turksonnel began to run their mouths
ish armed forces coordinated joint
about a Fourth World War. Between the Second World military exercises with the Israeli colonialists. This was
War and the Fourth World War these officials consid- the political conviction and military strategy until the
ered the Cold War to be the Third World War.
Arab Spring (2010).
And guess what! The enemy in this worldwide war is
On the other hand there was another political strain,
Islam, by which they mean Islamic self-determination. strongly supported by the Israeli right-wingers, running
Some of them went on to describe this new world war as through the wits of Zionist-imperialism. This political
continuing for generations while others said it would species was convinced that there are no Islamic modercontinue for over a hundred years. A collection and ates. All Muslims with an Islamic political mind are
analysis of their statements divulge the following extremists and terrorists! They come in two varieties:
Islamic enemies: the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Sunni and Shii. The Sunni brand has the Ikhwan as its
regimes that have not been totally and thoroughly sub- major and worrisome component. The Shi i type has
dued by the imperialist-Zionist duo (Iraq, Libya, Syria), the Islamic revolutionary Republic as its major and
and then all Islamic organizations and movements that worrisome component. This Zionist-imperialist twoCrescent International

August 2016

abu dharr

headed monster could not agree on how to characterize

Islamic self-determination, so it concocted the scandalous Arab Spring. The two-headed Zionist-imperialist monster sought to crack Islamic self-determination
through this controlled Arab Spring. In the process
the Ikhwan quickly climbed the pecking order of power
in Tunisia, Egypt, and Morocco. They tried to scale the
heights of officialdom in Jordan and Syria but without
the success of their brethren in North Africa. The rumblings of this Arab Spring were felt in other Muslim
countries as well such as Pakistan and Bangladesh
among others. While all of this was dramatically developing with high hopes everywhere, not much attention
was given to the munafiqs whose rituals are Islamic but
whose fidelity was Zio-imperialist. These types of
Sufis and salafis were yet to be activated. During
the past month they were activated in Turkey. This time,
though, so far, the Turkish Sisi failed and the Turkish
Mursi survived.
Notice Washingtons hypocrisy: it condemned the
coup attempt in Turkey after that attempt failed
while it issued a similar statement after the coup in
Egypt almost three years to the day! But what does a
statement do? The coup generals in Egypt are still there
and Washington is as supportive of them as they would
be of the generals in Turkey had they succeeded in their
putsch. Isnt Washington busy trying to overthrow an
elected government in Venezuela? Didnt Washington
overturn a democratically elected government in Iran
more than half a century ago (Mohammad Mosaddeq)?
And what about overthrowing the elected government
in the Ukraine?
The Turkish Sufi (Fethullah Gulen) whose permanent retreat is the USA, a Sufi who had CIA connections
to make it possible for him to reside in his American
hideaway contrary to Sufi transparency and populism
(Gulen lives in seclusion of Turkish and Muslim masses), declared that he had nothing to do with the mutiny!
Could he or would he have the Sufi safa of character
to say that his sponsors, the CIA and/or Mossad, are
involved in this fiasco? Perish the thought. If our memory serves us right, it was the Washington Post that
divulged information of a symbiotic relationship
between Gulen and the CIA when the CIA had 130 of its
operatives functioning during the time of the Soviet
Union in Central Asia under the cover of Gulens
schools there! It appears that the farther Erdogan
moves away from Israel, the closer Gulen moves toward
the Zionist entity! We cannot forget the Israeli commando attack on the Mavi Marmara (May 31, 2010) when
Gulen stated that Erdogan should have obtained Israeli
permission to have the ship sail to Ghazzah!
We are not here to whitewash Erdogans very seri6

ous and potentially deadly mistakes. Erdogan managed

to bring a degree of economic prosperity to Turkey; and
at one time even a political degree of fortune. But then
things began to spiral downward. Turkey went from a
policy of zero enemies to a policy of zero friends. When
small people make mistakes, their mistakes are small.
But when significant people make mistakes, their mistakes are significant. The substantial slipup by Erdogan
is his involvement in Syria. It is this policy that opened
up the gaps through which his enemies came rushing in.
Will there ever be a common enemy that will force
the committed Muslims to put aside their differences
and close ranks? That common enemy exists but it has
been hiding in the shadows of regimes and parties in
Islamic countries. The Zionist American empire is shedding its Saudi fig leaf. Make no mistake about it: this is
not a war between Islam and Christianity. The Pope in
Rome is as much averse to global hegemony as are committed Muslims all over the world. The convergence of
power and wealth in the closing of ranks among the
worlds elites will come to naught.
The sole superpower has no soul. It is incapable of
maintaining law and order in the world because it has
no corresponding morality and discipline in its own
self. Zionist America is self-destructing. It fails to learn
from the ancient empires and it fails to learn from
recent empires.
A final thought: Saudi Arabias rulers are political
partners and fraternal friends with the ruling classes in
both Egypt and Israel regardless of the oceans of differences that separate the peoples in these three countries.
Why cant the leaders of the Islamic movements with
the oceans of agreements among their masses of people
(Islam) find common ground, shared objectives, and a
working relationship?
The time has come for the Ikhwan and their equivalents with their many mistakes to reciprocate the spirit
of togetherness with Islamic Iran and its lesser mistakes. Defeating the Shaytan on the exterior requires
defeating the Shaytan on the interior.
This [was Allahs purpose] and also [to show]
that Allah renders vain the artful schemes of
those who deny the truth [pertaining to His
power and authority] (8:18).

Abu Dharr

AbuDharr is the pen-name of a senior Islamic movement

intellectual who contributes this monthly column,
discussing key issues concerning the global Islamic
movement. For his introduction to this column, see
www.muslimedia.com/archives/abudharr.html.
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August 2016

commentary

catherine shakdam

Yemens resistance is about reclaiming

sovereignty
In recent comments to the media, Yemens Permanent
Representative to the United Nations, Khaled alYemany claimed that Yemens rebellion would be
crushed by years end, putting an end to the violence the
impoverished country has suffered since late-March
2015. While such bravado might be understood as a sign
that the Saudi-led coalition has managed to finally
erode the Resistances determination, one would be well
advised to look at developments on the ground rather
than heed pro-Saudi officials political ranting.
If we are to truly grasp Yemens reality, and thus understand what powers and dynamics have moved, shaped,
and prompted the people to behave in the manner they
have done, we ought to learn Yemens terminology. We
ought to gain a true perspective in order to see and
understand events from the Yemenis point of view and
not from that of the Western powers, or Riyadhs hegemonic desires.

Those rebels that the mainstream media habitually

and almost contemptuously refer to as nefarious Shii
dissidents are in fact Yemens Resistance movement.
They are Yemens sons and daughters. They represent
Yemens popular legitimacy, the only legitimacy worth
having if we are in fact to stand by those democratic
standards the West so vociferously claims to champion.

If the Houthis have raised the banner under which

Yemen has gathered, this one tribal factions faith has
little to do with its political stand especially if we are
to consider that Zaydiism is actually particular to
Northern Yemen. To put it simply, Zaydiism is an integral component of Yemen! For the media to suddenly
emphasize only this characteristic is to underscore the
profoundly sectarian nature of Western politics,
notwithstanding Saudi Arabias desire to criminalize
those school of thoughts that it views as a threat to its
own obscurantist ideas called Wahhabism.

But Yemens Resistance movement does not play by

Saudi Arabias sectarian handbook. Yemens Resistance
cannot be reduced to an adjective, or a label since its
very strength lies in its pluralism. A patchwork of political persuasions, religious currents, and tribal factions,
Yemens Resistance quite simply resembles the very
people it has vowed to protect unapologetically, defiantly, and assertively.

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August 2016

And though many still might disagree with the direction

the Yemenis have chosen to take, we would do well to
remember that any negation of a peoples sovereignty
renders democratic claims null and void.

It is interesting to note how Yemens desperate bid for

political independence has completely failed to register in
the imagination of a Western public that claims to stand
by those for whom liberty rings a calling worthy of all
sacrifices. It is equally revealing to witness the arrogance
and sense of self-entitlement of Western regimes in
reality Saudi Arabias masters that have dismissed
Yemens Resistance movement as a temporary hiccup on
the road to so-called political emancipation and maturity. This countrys impoverished people have managed by
the sheer strength of their will power and determination
to resist a coalition of military superpowers.
From the onset of this colonialist war launched 16
months ago, Yemen was projected as a weakling, destined to remain under the heel of wealthy heavily-armed
Saudi Arabia. The Peninsula oil giant, the Arabian overlord that others have learned to obey for fear of being
smitten, thought Yemen too would surrender meekly. All
physical evidence also pointed in that direction: Yemen is
the poorest country in the region; at least two million
Yemenis work in Saudi Arabia as labourers who could
be thrown out at the blink of an eye. The Najdi Bedouins
respect no law, Islamic or otherwise; they operate on the
basis of whim. They can be extremely cruel to the weak
consider the manner in which they behead innocent
domestic maids after spurious allegations through a
medieval judicial system that is a blot on the name of
justice itself. Yet, they meekly surrender to the powerful
and mighty (the US and Zionist Israel, for instance).

Poor Yemen would not dare to challenge the Najdi

Bedouins for fear of being further impoverished. This
was the thinking in Riyadh when the direct military
assault was launched on Yemen in March 2015. Yemenis, however, are made of very different material: they
are not the ones to bow before what they do not recognize as legitimate. Yemen never exactly learnt to submit
to imperialism.
Maybe the time has come for the only free people of the
(continued on p. 31)

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COVER S TORIES

Turkeys coup attempt exposes many

unsavoury creatures
By Zafar Bangash

As coups go, the July 15 attempt by a

faction of the Turkish military to overthrow the government of President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan was a pretty
botched-up affair. The coup-makers followed the steps that are normally associated with successful coups: takeover
of the state television to announce that
the military has taken control of government; blocking traffic on two bridges
linking the western and eastern parts of
Istanbul, and for good measure, bombing the parliament building, not once
but nine times! This may have been a
fatal mistake for it alienated even those
lawmakers that were opposed to Erdogan. Istanbul airport was surrounded by
tanks and all flights in and out of the
country suspended.
There were several problems with
this latest coup attempt in Turkey. The
army chief, General Hulusi Akar was
not part of the plot; he was taken
hostage as were a number of other senior generals at the Military Headquarters in Ankara. President Erdogan was
on holiday in Marmaris and, therefore,
out of reach of the coup plotters
although it perhaps reflected either lack
of proper planning or overconfidence
that the coup would succeed even as he
was left alone.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and a
number of ministers were holding a
late-night cabinet meeting in Ankara
when the coup was launched but they
were not arrested. Reports from Ankara
say they were prepared to die. The most
serious mistake may perhaps have been
that the coup plotters did not take into
account the private television channels
that the government was able to use to
call on the people to come out into the
streets to resist the coup. The Imams in
thousands of masjids across Turkey also
urged the faithful to flood the streets in
opposition to the coup. Further, Erdogan immediately went on Facebook
Crescent International

August 2016

Turkeys elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, center, and former Turkish
President Abdullah Gul, right, pray during the funeral of a victim of the coup
attempt in Istanbul on 7-17-2016. What was happening in previous years and
even in the days leading up to the coup attempt is now coming into greater
focus. It could be that the incident in Nice, France was a diversionary tactic to
distract public attention from what was to ensue the next day, not that the immediate Turkish coup plotters had anything to do with the French truck shooting,
but the hands behind them in Washington, Paris, Tel Aviv, Riyadh, and Abu
Dhabi can leverage such events anywhere they want. Secondly, the Taksim
Square (Gezi Park) protests of 20132014 and last years corruption scandal
against Erdogan and some of his appointees both appear to be soft coup attempts
that failed to achieve their purpose, hence the military-style coup undertaking
that took place shortly after Erdogans rapprochement with Russian President
Vladimir Putin and upcoming reconciliation with the Asad government in Syria.
However, just so that Erdogan does not rest on his laurels, this may have been a
dry run or warm-up coup, with the real one in the wings.
using the hotel internet service calling
on the people to come out into the
streets. He vowed to appear in a public
square shortly.
Once the government knew that not
all the generals were involved in the
coup plot, they immediately began to
mobilize resistance. Police in Istanbul
acted with alacrity in fighting off soldiers. A number of police officers were
killed at the Istanbul Police headquarters. Within hours, in a bold move that

was not without risk to his life, Erdogan

flew into Istanbul airport to appear
amid a throng of supporters. The coups
fate was sealed. Soldiers assigned to
coup duty started to surrender in public.
It was a spectacle to watch policemen
arresting soldiers, some stripped to
their underwear.
Reports have emerged that the coup
plotters were already under investigation. Fearing arrest, they thought they
should strike first to preempt any such
9

COVER S TORIES

Turkish forces loyal to President Erdogan quashed an attempted military coup

after crowds of ordinary Turks answered his call to take to the streets in support
of their elected government. They came out in droves, many ready to sacrifice
their lives, boarding moving tanks and standing down the coup soldiers, all of
whom were eventually disarmed by the people and arrested by the police. The
initial reports of Erdogans plane looking for asylum in Germany, which were
ultimately peddled by the mainstream media, were traced to US government
sources who used social media to plant the misinformation, letting the 24/7
media cycle run with it from there on. The plan to initiate the coup at night and
immediately fill social media with misinformation was meant to dishearten the
public so that by the morning the whole thing would have been a fait accompli.
However, in this case the use of media ended up being a double-edge sword as
Erdogans use of private media got the truth out, mobilizing the masses to
preserve their elected government.
move. They harboured the illusions that
once they announced the coup, other
sections of the armed forces would join
them as part of institutional solidarity.
To be sure, there was and is discontent
in the country over Erdogans increasingly authoritarian streak as well as several failed policies not the least of which
is his tearing up of the peace agreement
with the Kurds as well as his meddling
in Syria that has gotten nowhere, not to
mention thousands of deaths in the wartorn country. There has been blowback
from the Syrian fiasco with terrorists
striking in Turkey as well, the latest of
which was the June 29 attack on Istanbul airport that resulted in nearly 60
deaths. It was another blow to Turkeys
already faltering tourist industry. All
10

these, however, were not sufficient to

force the people to abandon the government they had elected. Besides, people
have bitter memories of previous coups;
they are simply not prepared to go
through such nightmares again.
There have been large-scale arrests
throughout the country totalling more
than 9,000, according to the Interior
Ministry. These include military personnel as well as judges, police officers,
university professors, and state governors. At least 85 generals and admirals
are among those arrested. Two names in
particular have come to the fore: former
air force chief General Akin Ozturk
who allegedly was the ringleader, and
General Adem Huduti, commander of
Turkeys 2nd Army. Ozturk had served

as military attach in Tel Aviv from

19982000. He retired last year but
retained his seat on the Turkish Military
Council. This has led to speculation that
the Zionist regime was also involved in
the plot. The former general, however,
has denied involvement saying he was
not even aware of the coup plot much
less being its leader, according to two
private broadcasters Haberturk and
NTV, quoting what they said was the
former generals testimony to the prosecutors. I am not the person who
planned or led the coup. Who planned it
and directed it, I do not know, staterun news agency Anadolu quoted
Ozturk as saying.
Soon after the coup fizzled out even
though it left 300 dead including 145
civilians, Erdogan said it was part of the
plot by a parallel system, hinting at
Fethullah Gulen and his Hizmat movement. Prime Minister Yildirim was
more direct; he named Gulen who is
based in Pennsylvania since 1999. The
Education Ministry has withdrawn the
licenses of 21,000 teachers linked with
the Gulenist movement that runs at least
1,000 schools across Turkey. The
Gulenist movement is virtually a state
within a state; its members are embedded in the armed forces, the police, the
judiciary as well as universities.
Erdogan announced that the coup
plot was an opportunity to cleanse the
armed forces and the system of these
treasonous elements. He also demanded
that the US extradite Gulen to Turkey
to face treason charges. The American
Secretary of State John Kerry while
saying Washington would look into any
request from Ankara, demanded proof
of Gulens involvement and said all
evidence would be evaluated by the US
to see if it meets Americas requirements. Kerry said he wanted evidence
not allegations.
We fully anticipate that there will
be questions raised about Mr. Gulen,
Kerry said on July 16. And obviously
we invited the government of Turkey, as
we always do, to present us with any
legitimate evidence that withstands
scrutiny and the United States will
accept that and look at it and make judgCrescent International

August 2016

ments about it appropriately. Kerry

was clearly non-committal. The US
would make appropriate judgments
about evidence presented by a NATO
ally. Yildirim warned that any country
standing by Gulen will not be a friend of
Turkey and will be considered at war
with Ankara.
Erdogan was not in a conciliatory
mood. He said whenever Washington
had demanded that Turkey hand over a
terror suspect, Ankara had complied. He
expected Washington to do the same, a
wish unlikely to be fulfilled. Instead,
Kerry said the US was willing to help
with any inquiry into the coup attempt.
It needs recalling that there was a
similar episode in 2001 when the shoe
was on the other foot. Following the
9/11 attacks, then President George W.
Bush demanded that the Taliban government in Afghanistan hand over
Osama bin Laden to the US, accusing
him of being the mastermind of the
attacks. Quite aside from the fact as to
how a man in poor health sitting in
some remote cave in Afghanistan could
carry out such a feat, the Taliban said
they were willing to consider the
request if Washington would offer some
proof. Bush shot back, You will get the
proof when we arrive in Kabul. The
rest, as they say, is history.
While there may be internal reasons
for the coup and they cannot be dismissed lightly there are external factors as well. In recent weeks, Erdogan
had started to make amends with Russia. He issued a formal apology to Russia for the downing of a Russian plane
over Syria last November. Russian President Vladimir Putin responded by lifting some sanctions. The two leaders are
due to meet later this month. Erdogan
and Yildirim also hinted at improvement in relations with Syria. These
developments did not sit well with
Washington that wants pliant regimes,
not those that think or act independently. According to reports from Turkey,
the pilot responsible for shooting down
the Russian plane has now been arrested. He is also said to belong to the
Gulenist cult.
Reaction to the coup attempt in the
Crescent International

August 2016

COVER S TORIES
media as well as from various capitals is
also instructive. Even before the coup
had been put down, the Islamic Republic of Iran issued a strongly worded
statement condemning the attempt and
came out strongly in support of Erdogan. Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the era of coups
was over and that peoples wishes
should be respected. Elsewhere in the
region only Sudan and Qatar supported
Erdogan. The Doha-based al-Jazeeras
coverage was pro-Erdogan and against
the coup attempt.
Other networks, whether Western or
regional, appeared to be pro-coup. For
instance, BBC Arabic, Saudi-owned elArabiya TV, Rupert Murdoch- and
Walid bin Talal-owned Sky News Arabic, as well as Britains ITN diplomatic
editor were all running pro-coup stories.
They could not contain their glee at
what they described as the end of
Erdogans rule whom they denounced
as authoritarian. Perhaps the military
would have been less authoritarian! The
US television network, NBC claimed
that Erdogan had fled and sought political asylum in Britain. Others cited Germany as his final destination. Clearly,
these channels and outlets were running
ahead of themselves.
This would not, however, have been
possible without the anti-Erdogan line

laid down by their regimes. In the initial stages of the coup, there was deathly silence from Washington, London,
and Paris. Perhaps a statement from the
US Embassy in Ankara provided a hint
of official American thinking. In its
emergency message to US citizens in
Turkey, it called the putsch an uprising and urged them to exercise
extreme caution. The US also banned
all flights to and from Turkey. The
common understanding of an uprising is that people, not the military,
stage it. Yet here was the US embassy
turning this word on its head.
In Britain, the Guardian and the
Independent, both considered to be leftleaning papers were unabashedly procoup. Even Robert Fisk who is widely
viewed as being more reasonable and
better informed than others openly stated that while the army was unsuccessful
this time, it would have better luck next
time. He wanted another coup, reflecting his anti-Erdogan position so clearly.
For all his faults and there are many
Erdogan was and is the elected president of Turkey with massive support of
the people.
Why would the so-called champions
of democracy in the West be such strong
advocates of military regimes rather than
of leaders elected by the people? It
speaks volumes about their true nature. g

A trial will determine whether former air force chief, General Akin Ozturk
(photo on right was taken on 7-22-2016), was the ringleader.
11

COVER S TORIES

Turkeys coup in dollars and cents

By Ahmed Motiar

Turkeys ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was first elected to
office in 2002. It has retained its grip on
power in successive elections although
last year, it lost its parliamentary majority in the June elections only to regain a
strong majority in the November elections. The AKP has also empowered its
Anatolian support base of small- and
medium-sized businessmen. The vast
majority of Turks, hitherto excluded
from the political and economic process
by the overbearing Kemalists a tiny
group of secularists ensconced in important state institutions have been given
a stake in the affairs of the country.
Given below are some statistics that
shed light on what the AKP has achieved
in its 14 years in power and why the vast
majority of people support it.
1. Between 2002 and 2012, the
Turkish economy registered a
growth of 64% in real Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) and
43% increase in GDP per capita.
2. When the AKP assumed power in
2002, Turkey had a debt of $23.5
billion to the IMF. By 2012, this
was reduced to $0.9 billion.
President Erdogan decided not to
sign a new deal for loans with the
IMF. Turkeys debt to the IMF
was thus declared to be completely paid off and he
announced that the IMF could
now borrow from Turkey!
3. In 2010, five-year credit default
swaps for Turkeys sovereign
debt were trading at a record low
of 1.17%, below those of nine EU
member countries and Russia.
4. In 2002, the Turkish Central Bank
had $26.5 billion in reserves. This
amount reached $92.2 billion in
2011. During Erdoans leadership, inflation fell from 32% to
9.0% in 2004.
5. Under Erdogans government, the
number of airports in Turkey
increased from 26 to 50.
12

A graphic of Turkeys GDP rise during AKPs dominance over the past 15 years.
The good thing is that the GDP has quadrupled, meaning that more people are
participating in Turkeys prosperity and that more of the wealth is circulating
among those who were formerly disenfranchised. Before the AKP won their
first elections, power was shared within the Kemalist elite, which sliced out the
biggest part of the power and wealth pie for themselves. Erdogan opened the
highest circles of power to those who would have had no access before his
administration. The bad part is that from 20002012, Turkeys external debt
grew from $116 billion $337 billion. This means that the AKP is starting lots of
great projects and building Turkey, but it is doing so on credit. Unfortunately,
Turkey does not have the industrial base to pay back this debt, and what is
happening in the construction sector is a bubble akin to the bubbles and busts
that are endemic to debt-ridden capitalist economies.
6. From 20022011, 13,500km of
expressway were built.
7. For the first time in Turkish history, high speed railway lines were
constructed, and the countrys
high-speed train service began in
2009. In 8 years, 1,076km of railway tracks were built and
5,449km of railway renewed.
8. Erdogan put greater investments
into the healthcare system than
any of his predecessors. As part
of the reforms, the Green Card
program, which provides free
health benefits to the poor, was
introduced.
9. Erdogan increased Education

spending from 7.5 billion lira in

2002 to 34 billion lira in 2011, the
highest share of the national
budget given to one ministry and
the number of universities in
Turkey nearly doubled from 98 in
2002 to 186 in October 2012.
10. In 1996 US$1=222 Liras and in
2016, $1=2.94 Liras (even after
recent turmoil).

The failed coup has had a traumatic

impact on Turkey. A large number of
people have been affected. There have
been large-scale arrests and dismissals.
While it is important that Turkish
authorities adhere to the rule of law and
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August 2016

not indulge in vengeance against opponents, real or imagined, statements from

Western officials clearly betray disappointment at the failure of the coup. As
the coup attempt was underway, Western officials maintained a deadly silence
against an elected government that is
also a member of NATO.
Now they are issuing dire warnings
to Turkey. Among them was one from
the EU Foreign Policy chief, Frederica
Mogherini on July 18 saying Ankara
must not act in a manner that would
damage the constitutional order. We
were the first during that tragic night
to say that the legitimate institutions
needed to be protected, she was quoted by Reuters (July 18) as saying upon
arrival at an EU foreign ministers meeting, which was also to be attended by
US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Mogherini was not being completely
honest; the Europeans and Americans
were initially silent hoping the coup
would succeed. Once it became clear,
the coup had failed, these same rulers
came out swinging in support of the
rule of law.
We are the ones saying today rule
of law has to be protected in the country
[Turkey], she said in Brussels. There
is no excuse for any steps that take the
country away from that. Fair enough
but a military regime would hardly have
taken the country toward a constitutional order. She also said, The democratic
and legitimate institutions needed to be
protected. Today, we will say together
with the ministers that this obviously
doesnt mean that the rule of law and
the system of checks and balances does
not count.
Mogherini added, On the contrary,
it needs to be protected for the sake of
the country itself. So we will send a
strong message. And what was that
strong message? Unless Turkey acceded
to European demands, its application for
membership in the EU would be jeopardized. Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders was more direct. He said he
was concerned about the arrests of
judges and also about Erdogans suggestion of reintroducing the death penalty
for plotters. That, Reynders said, would
Crescent International

August 2016

COVER S TORIES

One of the reasons for the AKPs long stint in power is the economic growth
and empowerment of Anatolia. Most of the population has shared in this
growth, which has not been isolated to regions like Istanbul, Ankara, and the
Western coast, but has been spread over other cities like Konya, Kayseri (shown
above over the course of 25 years), and Malatya. Turkeys trying to free itself
from debt slavery to the West is another reason for the coup attempt.
pose a problem with Turkeys ties with
the European Union. He went on, We
cannot imagine that from a country that
seeks to join the European Union. We
must be very firm today, to condemn the
coup detat but the response must
respect the rule of law.
Belgium is a tiny country in Europe
but it still suffers from an imperial hang-

over. Abolishing capital punishment, as

Turkey did in 2004 before it could open
the formal process of accession negotiations with the EU, is a prerequisite for
holding talks on membership.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc
Ayrault intoned, We cannot accept a
military dictatorship but we also have to
be careful that the Turkish authorities do
13

not put in place a political system which

turns away from democracy The rule
of law must prevail We need authority but we also need democracy.
Erdogan, however, was not concerned about such threats. He said EU
membership, that is dangled as a carrot,
is not important for Turkey anymore. If
the EU did not start serious negotiations
in 11 years, why should it suddenly
change its stance? They do not consider
Turkey to be sufficiently Europeanized;
it is a Muslim country and, therefore,
not suitable for membership in the EU.
To get a glimpse into how widespread the Gulenist network was in

COVER S TORIES
Turkey, here are some numbers that
indicate people linked with it in various
departments and ministries, who have
since been dismissed. They had even
penetrated the prime ministers office.
21,000 private teachers have had
their licences revoked;
15,000 have been suspended from
the Education Ministry;
8,000 police officers have been
detained or suspended;
6,000 soldiers have been detained;
1,500 staff at the Ministry of
Finance have been dismissed;
2,745 judges have been dismissed;
Education board has demanded

the resignation of 1,577 deans;

492 have been sacked from the
Religious Affairs Directorate;
399 have been stripped of responsibilities from the Ministry of
Family and Social Policies;
257 have been fired from the
prime ministers office;
100 intelligence officials have
been sacked;
47 district governors have been
dismissed;
30 provincial governors have been
dismissed; and
20 news websites have been
blocked. g

US strikes Turkey through the Gulenist cult

By Ahmet Aslan

Middle East history is replete with

CIA-engineered coups. It is a wellknown fact that when the Washington
imperialists concludes a certain government no longer serves their interests,
and if other options are no longer feasible, they stage a coup to get rid of the
source of the problem. This is precisely
what happened on the night of July
15/16 in Turkey. The self-proclaimed
Turkish scholar Fethullah Gulen gave
his followers embedded in the army the
green light to initiate a coup against
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
the AKP government.
Gulen and his Hizmet movement is
a surreptitious cult and have been
deceitfully disguising themselves under
the mask of moderate Islam. Therefore, it has been puzzling for many outsiders to understand how a religious
group can stage such a sophisticated
coup that was about to topple one of the
most powerful governments in the
region. Due to Turkeys destructive role
in Syria and Iraq, Crescent International has been critical of Erdogan and the
AKP government but we have also been
noting the malicious nature of the
Gulenist movement that is more danger14

ous and destructive than any other political group in Turkey.

Further, whether one likes it or not,
Erdogans AKP enjoys mass public support and thus it represents the will of the
Turkish people. However, the Gulenist
cult has no public backing and aimed to
impose its unscrupulous agenda on the
people. Thus it must be approached
with utmost caution.
The malicious nature of the Gulenist
cult comes firstly from their Machiavellian interpretation of religion that
equates divine commitment with possession of power by any means and considers justifiable any form of vile act
that supposedly helps the cult to fulfill
its insatiable desire for power. In order
to achieve their ultimate goal, the
Gulenists have adopted the way of infiltration into crucial administrative, legislative, and military institutions of
state. Under utmost secrecy members of
the group who are often recruited from
the time they are in high school or university, are ushered into the most sensitive posts through nepotism, fraud, and
even intimidation. According to the
Turkish Intelligence Agency (MIT),
perhaps the only government body that
has remained largely out of the reach of
the Gulenists, since the 1990s almost

70% of the most sensitive state posts

have been filled by the Gulenists.
Statements of senior members of
the Gulenist cult who after the failure
of the coup have turned against the
group and become informants, say the
most crucial drive for cult members is
to maintain their disguise at any cost. In
order to achieve this, members are told
they can breach any rules of Islamic
law such as drinking alcohol, abandoning prayers, or fasting, etc. They have
been instructed to curse even their
group and the leader in order to avoid
detection. Going against the rules of
Islam becomes easy for followers of the
group because they consider their
leader Fethullah Gulen to be the awaited Messiah (Mehdi). Thus they obey
his orders as they would obey divine
rules. His followers often refer to him
as qutb al-aqtab (leader of the universe). Such a worldview, accompanied
by military grade discipline and
unyielding ambition makes them a formidable force.
Second, since the Gulenists have no
higher objective than to seize power,
they can easily form alliances with powerful entities that may help them to
achieve their ultimate goal. In this
regard it is no secret that the Gulenists
Crescent International

August 2016

COVER S TORIES

When stories of the failure of the coup began leaking out in the media, Gulen
was quick to say that Erdogan staged the coup in order to expand his purge
of Turkish civil servants. What he is not saying is that two years before he
escaped to the US in 1999, he was secretly brought in by the Bill Clinton
administration in 1997 on a CIA Gulfstream jet. Coincidentally, this was
around the same time that the CIA overthrew the Erbakan administration in
Turkey. Another thing he has kept mum about is that the CIA has been funnelling in Gulen operatives along with its own agents through NGOs funded by
George Soros and the Clinton Foundation among others. Many of these operatives had taken up positions in Turkish think tanks and academic institutions,
so as to be able to mold public opinion in a direction consistent with US and
American Islam objectives. Hence the purge of thousands of deans and
professors at Turkeys universities.

have strong ties with the Zionists and

the CIA and other entities within the US
government. Gulen escaped to the US in
1999, when one of his video recordings
was leaked to the media and consequently he was accused of being the
leader of an Islamist group that aims to
replace Turkeys secular system with an
Islamic government. In the recording
he instructed his followers on how to
behave in crucial state institutions that
they infiltrate The existing system is
still in power. Our friends who have
positions in legislative and administrative bodies should learn its details and
be vigilant all the time so that they can
transform it and be more fruitful on
behalf of Islam in order to carry out a
nationwide restoration. However, they
should wait until the conditions become
Crescent International

August 2016

more favourable. In other words, they

should not come out too early.
Since then he has resided in Pennsylvania and managed his clandestine
Hizmet movement from there. One
piece of clear evidence that points to
Gulens connections to the CIA is that in
order to back his I-140 visa application,
Gulen obtained reference letters from
George C. Fidas, the then Director for
Outreach in the Office of the Assistant
Director of Central Intelligence for
Analysis and Production, and Morton
Abramowitz, former US ambassador to
Turkey. Further, Graham Fuller who
was the former vice-chair of the National Intelligence Council and CIA Station
Chief in Turkey, wrote a letter to the
FBI in 2006 to advise that Gulen, who
was facing deportation, was a moder-

ate Muslim and not a threat to national

security. Interestingly, Fuller was the
CIA Station Chief when the 1997 military coup took place against Necmettin
Erbakans Welfare Party and he was
believed to have overseen the coup on
behalf of the CIA. Gulen and his followers were vocal supporters of the
1997 coup.
Another important evidence for the
CIA-Gulen connection is Osman Nuri
Gundes memoirs. Gundes was the head
of MIT in Istanbul region and retired
from the agency in 1986. He then served
as chief intelligence adviser to Turkish
Prime Minister Tansu Ciller. In his
memoirs, Gundes states that the Gulen
movement has provided cover for the
CIA in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan since
the mid-1990s. But the most important
evidence is that Gulen has been residing
in the US and it is impossible for him to
organise a complicated military coup
without the blessing of the US security
apparatus and government.
Although Erdogan has maintained
close cooperation with the US, he has
never accepted to become a US puppet.
Erdogan is too proud to succumb to any
power as he considers himself to be the
heir to the mighty Ottoman sultans.
Consequently, he treated the US as a
partner, not a master, in regional affairs
so long as it also served his agenda.
Despite ebbs and flows in this relationship, the US was content to work with
him as a stable regional ally until the
Syrian crisis. Despite the fact that
Turkey fully supported the US agenda
to topple the government of Bashar alAsad, when the crisis got out of control,
thanks to the rise of the terrorist group,
ISIS/ISIL and the increasing strength of
Kurdish separatists in the region, Turkish and US interests started to diverge.
Despite Turkeys concerns, Washington considers the Kurds as an effective force against ISIS and has supported them. Further, Turkey has been
developing independent relations with
Russia and Iran that has annoyed the
US. The tension in relations between
the two countries was clearly visible
during Erdogans visit to the US in
March 2016. The Turkish president
15

received a very cold reception from the

Obama administration and the mainstream US media referred to him as a
dictator. This was perceived as an indication that the US is no longer interested in working with Erdogan and his end
was imminent. Soon after the visit, the
US initiated the coup against Erdogan
through the CIAs most important operative in Turkey: the Gulenist cult.
It is no coincidence that the Incirlik
Airbase, the main US base in Turkey
and run jointly by Turkish and US air
forces, was one of the headquarters of
the coup. Planes took off from Incirlik
Airbase to provide logistical support for
the coup attempt. Further, it has been
revealed that some of the key military
leaders of the coup had been secretly
meeting US officials in the same base
prior to the coup. In this regard Suleyman Soylu, Turkeys Minister of Labour
and Social Security, openly blamed the
US for orchestrating the coup. The

NEWS/ANALYSIS
Turkish public and the AKP government
firmly believe that the US was behind
the coup.
The Gulenists initially planned to
launch the coup at 3:00am on July 16,
but an MIT agent operating in one of the
HQs of the coup, informed the agency
about the plan at 3:00pm on July 15.
When the Gulenists found out about this,
they rescheduled the coup to 10:00 pm.
This was a fatal misstep for the
putschists as the coup attempt lost the
benefit of synchronised action. That is
why when a large number of military
Special Forces that were not informed
about the change of time, went to capture or kill Erdogan in a hotel in Marmaris at 3:00am, Erdogan was en route
to Istanbul to confront the putschists. If
they had captured or killed Erdogan it is
almost certain that the coup would have
been successful. Once Erdogan reached
Istanbul with strong support of the masses, the police and a section of the mili-

tary, he quickly quelled the rebellion.

Whether one likes or dislikes Erdogan, it must be acknowledged that
despite some of his serious mistakes, he
is a very popular leader in the eyes of the
Turkish public and it is due to this popularity that he is still alive. The coup was
carefully planned and executed by one
of the most deceitful cults in human history that also had strong backing of the
US. The only reason it failed is that the
perpetrators could not accurately assess
the extent of public support for Erdogan.
It is now up to Erdogan to accept US
hegemony and succumb to Washingtons diktat or seek alternative allies
against the machinations of the Great
Satan. Erdogans phone conversion with
Russian President Vladimir Putin soon
after the failed coup attempt gives indication of Erdogans next move but the
full effects of the event can only be
assessed accurately once the dust settles
somewhat. g

Theresa May: Margaret Thatcher 2?

By Umar Shahid

In Theresa May, Britain has the reincarnation of Margaret Thatcher. Like

Thatcher, May is also brusque, extremely antagonistic toward the poor in general and immigrants in particular, as
well as anti-Muslim although she
resides in a constituency with a heavy
Muslim population (Maidenhead and
Windsor). And like Thatcher, she is
endowed with a formidable set of teeth
that can chew through metal cable in the
wink of an eye. Compared to a pitbull,
few have escaped unscathed coming
into contact with her. She takes a bite
out of them before letting go.
She became prime minister on July
13 in the wake of David Camerons resignation following the Brexit vote of
June 23. Like Cameron, May had also
wanted to stay in the European Union
(EU) but kept a low profile during the
campaign. Despite this, she got the
prime ministerial post and now occu16

pies 10 Downing Street even though a

clear majority of Britons voted to leave
the EU. Leaders of the Leave camp
decided not to seek the party nomination for leadership. The former London
mayor Boris Johnson as well as former
Justice Secretary Michael Gove both
opted out. Nigel Farage, a clownish
politician and leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) with a single
seat in parliament after years of trying
to secure one, also announced his resignation from party leadership saying he
had done his job! Johnson was accommodated by May in the new cabinet as
Foreign Secretary. The lunatics have
taken over the mental hospital.
The path to Mays ascension was
cleared when Energy Secretary Andrea
Leadsom pulled out of the leadership
contest. In a newspaper interview about
May, Leadsom had claimed the experience of motherhood was an important
quality for a prime minister. Since May
does not have any children, that disqual-

ified her for the job, according to Leadsom. The comments raised a storm forcing her to pull out.
The British establishment as well as
the financiers in the City of London
favored May. The Zionists led by
Rupert Murdoch also wanted May as
leader as did the war party. Mays husband, Philip John May is a major shareholder in the leading American
weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The US now has an insider not only
in the British boardroom but also in the
bedroom. The war party has full control
of Britain. Even the pretense of civility
is discarded.
After graduating from Oxford, Theresa May had worked for many years in
the Bank of England learning the wizardry of financial manipulation. Perhaps
it was there that she honed her anti-people skills seeing the poor as a burden on
society. The state and its resources are
meant to serve the aristocracy.
Commenting on Mays selection to
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August 2016

NEWS/ANALYSIS

Former conservative British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, left, and her
post-Brexit counterpart, current Prime Minister Theresa May. In point of truth,
the Iron Lady did not play a substantially different role than Tony Blair played
with George W. Bush. She acquired the conservative, hard-nosed reputation
largely because she was playing second fiddle to then US President Ronald
Reagan, who deftly associated the collapse of the Soviet Union with policies of
privatization, trickle-down, and deregulation at home. Marching orders will
still come from Washington and Theresa May is not expected to rock the boat,
either with a Donald Trump or Hilary Clinton administration.

succeed Cameron, Frankie Boyle wrote

in the Guardian (July 12), Andrea
Leadsom, a sort of defrosted Theresa
May, said that she was withdrawing in
the national interest, but the suspicion
will remain that she was ordered to
stand aside by some blasphemous, tentacled demigod addressing her through
a screaming mirror. You would have
thought that having two women competing for the job would have gone
down well with the Tory cabinet, rekindling fond childhood memories of the
trial-by-combat phase of their nanny
selections, but May was seen as the
safer pair of hooves. She immediately
vowed to unite Britain my guess is
against the poor.
Being the daughter of a Church of
England vicar perhaps a notch higher
than being the daughter of a grocer
(Thatcher) in class-conscious Britain
may have helped Mays elevation as
well. She had already earned her spurs
as a tough, ruthless Home Secretary disCrescent International

August 2016

playing special aversion to immigrants.

Even British citizens were not spared
her ruthlessness. She barred them from
bringing spouses and children into the
UK unless they earned in excess of
18,600 ($24,000).
The Joint Council for the Welfare of
Immigrants in a study conducted in
cooperation with Middlesex University
found that an estimated 15,000 children
had been affected by the minimum
income requirement since its implementation in 2012 by May as Home Secretary. Many parents are suffering from
anxiety and depression as a result of the
separation and the pressure of meeting
the financial threshold. This also directly impacts their children, said the Joint
Council for the Welfare of Immigrants.
Similarly, the Divided Families Campaign accused May of pandering to the
rich, making family reunification a
privilege for only the wealthy. She also
has no time for human rights.
But she takes the helm of British

affairs at a time when the country faces

serious risk of disintegration. The Scotts
who voted overwhelmingly to stay in
the EU have announced that they would
revive their campaign to leave Britain to
stay in the EU. Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland and
leader of the Scottish National Party
that had led the move for Scottish independence, said after the Brexit vote that
the result had put Scottish interests at
risk and it would look for ways to protect them.
Aware that Britain could unravel
before she even got a handle on the job,
Theresa May rushed to Scotland on July
15 to hold talks with First Minister
Nicola Sturgeon in Edinburgh on the
future of the EU and the British union.
The meeting lasted 45 minutes. May
described it as positive saying she
wanted the Scots to be fully engaged
in Brexit talks. Sturgeon also described
the discussion as constructive. How
constructive would become apparent
when the details are known but she has
said she wants to explore all options
including independence to maintain
Scotlands relationship with the EU.
There may also be trouble brewing
in Northern Ireland as well where the
Good Friday agreement under which
the Irish were free to move about the
soft border with the Irish Republic,
would be in jeopardy now. There is
speculation that Northern Ireland may
opt to join their cousins next door. The
vote in Northern Ireland was also overwhelmingly in favor of staying in the
EU. This could be realized by joining
the Republic of Ireland that is a member
of the EU.
The self-proclaimed Great Britain
is increasingly beginning to look not
only as not so great, but decidedly small
and largely irrelevant. Britain had
always acted as Americas handmaiden
in Europe. The Brexit vote has also
dealt a blow to American domination of
European affairs. For the better part of
last century, Britain and France had
acted in unison to prevent the rise of
Germany as the dominant power in
Europe. America was always there to
offer a helping hand. Two world wars
17

later and tens of millions killed on both

sides, the creation of the European
Common Market and enlarging it into
the European Union were meant finally
to put Germanys ambitions to rest. All
this was working according to script
until the Brexit vote. With Britain out of
the way, there is nothing stopping Germany from assuming its role as the
undisputed leader of Europe.

NEWS/ANALYSIS
It is instructive to note that German
Chancellor Angela Merkel has already
announced that Russia should not be
isolated (this was the American plan)
and that Europe needed to engage
Moscow. This would be music to President Vladimir Putins ears. He has
always wanted to detach Europe from
the stifling embrace of America. The
Brexit vote has come as a godsend.

One must, however, give credit

where it is due. The Brits had always
been accused of lacking humor. With
May as prime minister, they can finally
issue a May Day call as Britannia sinks
into the English Channel. Historys
perennial troublemakers have finally
got a dose of their own medicine.
The world will never be the same
again, after Brexit. g

Saudi hostility to Islamic Iran intensifies

By Waseem Shehzad

While there is a long history to the

Najdi Bedouins hostility toward the
Islamic Republic of Iran, in recent
months, it has turned extreme. This has
forced Bani Saud into indulging in
behavior that borders on the scandalous.
Take the most recent example of the
Najdi Bedouins open embrace of the
terrorist group, the Mujahideen-e Khalq
Organization (MKO) better known as
the munafiqeen.
The former Saudi intelligence chief,
Turki al-Faisal attended a conference
organized in Paris by the terrorist group
MKO on July 9 and 10. Faisal joined
such other terrorist supporters and sympathizers as Newt Gingrich, the former
speaker of the US House of Representatives. Gingrich is a nasty character
whom even many American rightwingers do not want to touch with a ten
foot pole. Faisal was in right company.
Al-Faisal not only supported the terrorist group but also called for the overthrow of the Islamic government in
Iran. Your legitimate [sic] struggle
against the [Iranian] regime will achieve
its goal, sooner or later, he said in his
speech. I, too, want the fall of the
regime [sic], he added. The Saudi
media gave extensive coverage to alFaisals Paris speech. It was also carried
in full by the Washington Times (July
13), a rightwing rag published in the
American capital. It is almost certain
that the Saudi embassy paid a hefty fee
to have al-Faisals anti-Iran diatribe
18

printed. This was an open declaration of

war against the Islamic Republic.
The Najdi Bedouins have been supporting an assortment of terrorist groups
in the region including the Daish takfiris (aka ISIS/ISIL). The takfiris receive
funding, weapons as well as religious
justification for crimes against humanity
from Bani Saud and their court preachers. The takfiris are a bunch of mass
murderers that have no regard for human
life. The latest example of their shining
behavior was the beheading of a 12year-old boy in the back of a pick-up
truck near Aleppo. The wounded boy,
with a drip attached to his arm, was
accused of being an informant for the
Syrian government. Despite pleas of
innocence, the US-Saudi-backed murderers showed no mercy. They slit the
poor boys throat as he screamed and
writhed in pain until the blood was
drained out of his emaciated body. This
makes the Najdi Bedouins accomplices
to crimes against humanity.
The munafiqeen that al-Faisal
embraced in Paris have made no secret
of their plans to overthrow the legally
established Islamic government in Iran.
The group has used terrorism as the
main instrument of its modus operandi
killing hundreds of senior Iranian officials in bombings and other terrorist
acts since the success of the Islamic
Revolution in early-1979.
The Saudis are resorting to wellknown terrorists as they have also
done in Iraq, Yemen, and Syria. This
shows that they use terrorism and terror-

ists to further their aims against regional

Islamic countries, an Iranian Foreign
Ministry source was quoted by Irans
state news agency IRNA as saying. This
may be an understatement; the Bani
Saud are Bedouins from the backwaters
of Najd. They not only lack manners but
also any traces of iman.
The noble Quran testifies to this
fact. At the time of preparation for the
Tabuk expedition in 9AH, the noble
Messenger (r) had called upon the people to mobilize and donate whatever of
their possessions they could for this
most serious challenge against the heavily armed Romans. In addition to the
munafiqeen of which there were still
many in Madinah led by the well known
munafiq, Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn
Salul, there were also the Bedouins.
They too made excuses not to join the
campaign. Allah () shines light on
their true nature in Surah al-Fath of the
noble Quran,
Those of the Bedouins who
stayed behind will say to you [O
Prophet], [The need to take
care of our] chattels and our
families kept us busy: do, then,
[O Prophet] ask Allah to forgive
us! [Thus], they will utter with
their tongues something that is
not in their hearts (48:11).

In the next surah (al-Hujarat), the

Almighty Lord again exposes them by
challenging their claim to having iman.
The ayah reveals,
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August 2016

NEWS/ANALYSIS

Former Saudi intelligence chief, Turki al-Faisal (left), greets Maryam Rajavi,
head of the National Council of Resistance in Iran (NCRI, better known as the
MKO or munafiqeen) at their annual convention in Paris, 7-9-2016. During his
speech to the attendees at the conference, which was attended by the most virulent Islamophobes from the US (among them Newt Gingrich, Howard Dean,
John Bolton, and Rudy Guiliani), al-Faisal said, Of course, despite this isolationist and interventionist foreign policy [how can it be both?], the first and
foremost victims of Khomeinism have been the Iranian people themselves
not only the political activists opposed to his all-encompassing, authoritarian,
and totalitarian ideology, but also to the ethnic and religious minorities of
Kurds, Arabs, Azaris, Turkmans, Baloch, Sunnis, Ismailis, Bahais, Christians
and Jews of Iran against the clerical Twelver religio-political elite of the Revolution And you, Maryam Rajavi, your endeavor to rid your people of the
Khomeinist cancer is an historic epic that, like the Shahnameh, will remain
inscribed in the annals of History. Is he talking about Arabia or Iran?
The Bedouins say, We are
securely committed [to Allah].
Say [unto them, O Prophet],
You have not [yet] made a
faith commitment; you should
[rather] say, We have [only]
aquiesced for [true] faith
has not yet entered your
hearts (49:14).

There can be no doubt about the

dubious nature of the Bedouins and
their allies, the munafiqeen, after these
piercing words of the noble Quran that
exposes their treacherous nature. History, it is said, repeats itself. If the
Bedouins and the munafiqeen were
allied against the noble Messenger (r)
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August 2016

1,400 years ago, why would they not

oppose the committed Muslims today?
The Najdi Bedouins and their court
preachers lay more emphasis on the
hadith of the Prophet (r) than the teachings of the Quran. Though this is a
clear deviation from Quranic principles
as well as Prophetic Sunnah, it would
help to narrate a hadith of the noble
Messenger (r) about what he said
regarding the people of Najd. Narrated
by Abdullah ibn Umar (d), it is recorded by al-Bukhari,
The Prophet (r ) mentioned the
following, O Allah! Bless for us
our Sham [geographical Syria/
Levant]; O Allah! Bless for us

our Yemen. They [the Muslims

in attendance] said, And our
Najd? He said, O Allah! Bless
for us our Sham; O Allah! Bless
for us our Yemen. They said, O
Messenger of Allah! And our
Najd? and as if the third time
around he said, There in Najd
will occur tremors, sedition, and
with it shall arise the generation
of Satan.

Many scholars have noted that

despite being asked repeatedly, the
noble Messenger (r) did not pray for or
bless Najd. Instead, he prophesied that
the region would be the epicenter of a
great fitnah. Despite their great emphasis on hadith, the Najdi Bedouins and
their court preachers simply ignore this
hadith and if it is mentioned in their
books, it is greatly distorted mangling
its meaning beyond recognition. Their
court preachers and paid agents distort it
to mean that the Prophet (r) was referring to the emergence of Shaytan from
there. What greater Shaytan could there
be than the fitnah of Wahhabism that
has emerged from there and caused such
havoc in the Ummah?
And it is worth recalling that the two
places the noble Messenger (r) specifically blessed al-Sham (Syria/Levant)
and Yemen are today facing the most
heinous crimes emanating from the distorted minds of the Najdi Bedouins. Can
there be any greater proof of their enmity to Allah () and His Prophet (r)? It
should, therefore, not surprise us that
Bani Saud would target and attack committed Muslims today.
From the first day of the success of
the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979,
the Najdi-led regime in the Arabian
Peninsula (aka Saudi Arabia) has
been on a warpath against the Islamic
Republic. Initially, their hatred was
expressed in hypocritical tones and doublespeak; now it is openly belligerent.
But their actions expose them more than
the harm they can cause to Islamic Iran.
At one level, the Najdi Bedouins
fears are justified: their fraudulent
claim to being leaders of the Muslim
world was exposed once Imam
19

Khomeini established the Islamic

Republic in Iran. Further, the government in Iran is not only based on the
principles of Islam but also enjoys the
support of the masses. This also exposes Bani Saud as medieval obscurantists
that have no regard or respect for the
wishes of the people.
The Najdis hostility to Islamic Iran,
however, has become extreme. It
reflects paranoia of the highest order.
There is great fear and loathing of
Islamic Iran among the alcohol- and
flesh-loving Saudi royals. While claiming to be custodians of the Two Holy
cities of Makkah and Madinah, the
Najdi Bedouins are far more comfortable in the company of the Zionists in
Tel Aviv and the prostitutes of Paris and
Rome. Their control of the Haramayn

NEWS/ANALYSIS
(Makkah and Madinah) is an open challenge to Islamic values and principles
and an insult to all Muslims.
The Najdi Bedouins open embrace
of the Zionists in Occupied Palestine
and the munafiqeen (MKO) is not surprising. It should awaken Muslims from
their deep slumber to the true nature of
these barbarians. Allah () commands
His beloved Prophet (r) in the noble
Quran in the following words,
O Prophet! Strive hard against
the deniers of Allahs power
presence [in human affiars],
and the munafiqeen [dual-loyalists], and be unrelenting
toward them. Their destiny
shall be Hell and how vile a
journeys end (9:73).

And a few ayat later in the same surah,

the Bedouins are condemned in even
more harsh terms,
The Bedouins are more rigid in
[their] refusal to acknowledge
Allahs power presence and in
[their] nifaq [than the settled
people] and more liable to
ignore the ordinances that
Allah has bestowed from on
high upon His Apostle but Allah
is all-knowing, wise (9:97).

Can anything be clearer than the

divine words of Allah () about the
deviant nature of the Najdi Bedouins
and their fellow travelers, the
munafiqeen? Both are surely destined to
hellfire as Allah () has ordained. g

What prevents implementation of Iran deal?

By Tahir Mahmoud

One year after the nuclear deal between

Iran and the P5+1 group of countries
was signed in Vienna and more than six
months after all nuclear-related sanctions were removed, the deal still sputters toward implementation. It is not Iran
that is holding up its implementation; it
has fulfilled its part of the bargain fully
by capping its nuclear program and
opening its facilities to intrusive international inspections. The other side, especially the US, is dragging its feet on
what is referred to as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Such US foot dragging has led even
the usually calm and composed Foreign
Minister of Iran, Dr. Mohammad Javad
Zarif to express disappointment at the
way the US is conducting itself. In an
interview with the Islamic Republic of
Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) news agency
on the first anniversary of the deal (July
14), Dr. Zarif while extolling the virtues
of the JCPOA said the US would get a
low grade for its commitment to
implementation. If we want to give a
grade to the JCPOA, it will definitely
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August 2016

get a very good score considering the

time frame and international circumstances, but if we want to give a grade to
the way that the Americans implemented [the agreement], they will probably
receive a low score, Dr. Zarif said. He
was the lead negotiator in talks with the
six countries.
In their public statements, American
officials make soothing noises about
their seriousness to implement the deal
but in practice, they fall far short. True,
there are some segments of the US
establishment and society that are
opposed to the deal. The Republicandominated US Congress wants to sabotage the deal. The Republicans and their
Zionist masters were opposed to the
deal from the beginning and tried hard
to prevent it from being finalized.
Unsuccessful in that bid, they are now
busy sabotaging it. The Najdi Bedouins
(aka Bani Saud or the House of Saud)
are also part of the conspiratorial gang.
The US Congress has imposed several bouts of new sanctions and is doing
everything in its power to derail it. This
will not be easy since the deal is not
only with the US but with five other

countries including the four remaining

members of the UN Security Council.
The Congress, however, has passed a
number of laws that aim to derail the
deal altogether. There is also concern
that a new president, to be elected in
November, may put his/her own spanner in the deal.
From Irans perspective, the really
frustrating part is that most major banks
are unsure of the American position and
are thus not prepared to deal with Iran.
While US banks are not in the picture
because the US forbids any transactions
with Iran involving the dollar, European
banks are also not sure what punitive
measures they may face from the US if
they were to get major exposure in
underwriting deals with Tehran. So far,
most banks are prepared to underwrite
deals worth about $100 million but this
is a paltry sum compared to what Irans
requirements are.
Dr. Zarif alluded to this in his IRIB
interview when he said a number of
[European] banks are still in fear of US
regulations, but we believe that such
fear is a psychological fear emanating
from conservative nature of monetary
21

NEWS/ANALYSIS

The JCPOA is a deal on paper, and not anywhere close to being a deal in fact.
What often gets lost in the realpolitik world of competing interests is the fact
that the US Congress, the White House, the EU, Tel Aviv, and Riyadh are all on
the same team. Hence any desire to try and vindicate, or even separate, President Obama from the backstabbing activities of the Republicans in Congress or
the Israelis, is misguided, especially on the part of those who regard this president to have a soft spot for Muslims. What they ought to focus on is what he
has been saying and implying from the very beginning of his administration
about Islamic Iran being a rogue member of the world community, and what
he has done with regard to destabilizing the country through support he has
authorized for ISIS and all of those who are trying to overthrow the anti-Zionist government of Syria. He must have authorized the coup attempt against
Erdogan, just as he did against the legitimate elected government in the
Ukraine. It is these kinds of things that say a lot more about what feelings are
in his heart about Muslims than som fleeting notions about legacy.
and banking institutions and not from
regulations that prevent cooperation
with Iran. The net effect is that Iran is
unable to get access to finances that it
would in normal circumstances. The
Islamic Republic has also not had
access to all its frozen funds, again due
to the murky nature of US regulations.
Other Iranian officials have been
equally critical of the lack of progress
on the nuclear deal. For instance, the
former foreign minister and advisor on
foreign affairs to the Rahbar Imam
Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Dr. Ali Akbar
Velayati on the first anniversary of the
nuclear deal said, The Americans did
not abide by their obligations under the
JCPOA. Sanctions [imposed on Iran]
22

have not been lifted completely and certain conditions set by the Rahbar in the
JCPOA have not been observed. He
demanded that US President Barack
Obama should pledge in writing that his
administration would remove sanctions
imposed on Iran by Washington. But,
said Dr. Velayati, he has not met this
condition yet. He reiterated Irans
commitment to the JCPOA obligations,
saying, But, Western sides have not
lifted the sanctions yet.
A more ominous warning came from
Dr. Ali Larijani, speaker of Irans Majlis
and an influential member of the Iranian
establishment. He said in Tehran on July
20 that the concerted disruptive moves
afoot in the US have reached a point that

leaves Iran with no option but to take

retaliatory action. In order to show that
Iran is serious, Dr. Larijani directed the
Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to
be prepared for resumption of the suspended reprocessing activities, should
the deal fall through. Along the same
lines, Dr. Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the
Atomic Energy Organization said that
Iran could resume its nuclear activities
immediately if the other side failed to
live up to its side of the bargain. As time
goes by, it is becoming increasingly
clear that the West does not appear to be
serious about its commitments, even
those given in writing.
The UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon threw his own spanner in the
works it is not clear at whose behest
when in his July 12 report to the
Security Council, he made references to
issues that are way beyond the scope of
the JCPOA. These included Irans missile program, its policies toward Yemen
and its participation in a defence exhibition in Baghdad. Ban should know better that Irans missile program is not
covered by the JCPOA. Also, UN Security Council Resolution 2231 adopted
on July 20, 2015 provides for the termination of the provisions of previous
Security Council resolutions on the
Iranian nuclear program and establishes
specific restrictions that apply to all
states without exception. They are not
Iran specific.
Bans report to the Security Council
claimed that Irans ballistic missile
launches are not consistent with the
constructive spirit of the JCPOA.
While admitting that it was up to the
Security Council to determine whether
Irans missile launches violated
SC Resolution 2231 adopted last year
as part of the nuclear agreement, Ban
went on to make other spurious
demands. I call upon Iran to refrain
from conducting such ballistic missile
launches since they have the potential
to increase tensions in the region. Ban
was clearly speaking outside his mandate. Both Russian ambassador Vitaly
Churkin and US ambassador Samantha
Power the latter no friend of Iran
chided Ban for his intemperate remarks
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August 2016

and the indiscreet and irrelevant contents of his report.

The outgoing UN chiefs remarks
were lapped up by the anti-Muslim and
Iranophobic Zionist-dominated media.
The Zionist-infested think tanks also
used Bans remarks to intensify their
anti-Iran campaign. Despite failing to
live up to his part of the deal, US President Barack Obama does not want to
walk away from it. He wants to leave
this as his legacy despite his many foreign policy failures. The heightened
anti-deal campaign is meant to prepare
the ground for the new arrival in the
White House to scuttle or reopen negotiations on the deal.
Chastened by the Russian and American ambassadors, Ban backpedaled on
his remarks. On July 19, he made soothing noises to limit the damage caused by
his intemperate remarks. He said, One
year on, I remain certain that the JCPOA
is the best way to ensure the exclusively
peaceful nature of Irans nuclear program
and to realize the great aspirations of the
Iranian people. I call for the JCPOA to
be implemented in a comprehensive
manner, based on mutual respect and
mutual benefit, and which would facilitate greater cooperation to achieve international peace and security.
Who is preventing implementation

NEWS/ANALYSIS
of the JCPOA in a comprehensive manner? Certainly, it is not Tehran but Ban
does not have the courage to put the
blame where it belongs. Were he to utter
the truth, he would be dispatched from
his post before his term comes to an end.
Meanwhile frustration is building up
in Tehran. As a vibrant society, there has
always been vigorous debate in Iran
over the efficacy of the nuclear deal.
Those opposed to the deal put their
scepticism aside to see whether the
other side would live up to the bargain.
A year later, the result is not very
encouraging. True, the lifting of
nuclear-related sanctions has enabled
Iran to sell greater quantity of oil on the
international market but it has still not
reached its pre-sanctions level. Further
and more frustratingly, its frozen assets
have not been returned in full. Much of
this has to do US sanctions on Irans
dealing in dollars.
The Islamic Republic does not wish
to deal in dollars; it would prefer to deal
in euros or the Chinese Yuan. The difficulty is that with nearly 60% of global
reserve currency being in US dollars, it
is difficult to bypass the greenback altogether. Financial managers in the Islamic Republic of Iran must think of creative ways to bypass the dollar. They
can enter into barter deals these have

been tried with some countries. They

can also deal in other currencies or a
basket of currencies to avoid undue risk.
The best way to overcome all these
problems is to implement in earnest the
resistance economy that the Rahbar has
repeatedly emphasized. That is the best
guarantor of Islamic Irans independence and integrity. Even proponents of
the deal now admit that American
obstructionism has an altogether different purpose: to force the Islamic Republic to abandon its principled policy and
accept US hegemony. These include
withdrawal of support from the Palestinians as well as Hizbullah. American
policy is driven by only one obsession:
defence of the illegitimate Zionist entity
at all costs.
This understanding needs to be
internalized fully in the Islamic Republic to develop appropriate defence
mechanisms against it. Nearly 40 years
of sacrifices after the success of the
Islamic Revolution should not be abandoned for the sake of a few million or
billion dollars. The blood of the tens of
thousands of shuhada demands no less.
This message should be communicated
to all segments of the Iranian society.
Allah () has promised that He will
help those who stand up for divine principles and help His cause (47:07). g

Dangerous to be black in America!

By Khadijah Ali

It is open season on blacks in America.

Amid rising anger in the African American community over the indiscriminate
police shootings of blacks, an episode
on July 18 in North Miami, Florida
merely reinforced this grim reality.
Charles Kinsey, a African American
behavioral therapist, who works with
people with disabilities, rushed to help a
patient an autistic man who had
wandered off the facility and was sitting
in the middle of the road.
Kinsey tried to persuade his patient
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August 2016

to return to the facility while someone

called the police telling them a man was
threatening to shoot himself, or so the
North Miami Assistant Police Chief
Neal Cuevas claimed, according to the
Miami Herald newspaper. The police
arrived on the scene and ordered Kinsey
and the patient to lie on the ground.
Kinsey complied putting his hands in
the air and told the police he was
unarmed. He also told them that his
patient was autistic and had a toy truck
in his hand. Mobile phone video confirms what Kinsey told the police.
While trying to persuade the autistic

man also to comply with orders, the

police shot Kinsey three times in the
leg. Assistant Police chief Cuevas confirmed no weapon was found on Kinsey
or the autistic man.
The offending police officer has
been put on administrative leave
pending the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement investigation of the incident. Why are the police so triggerhappy when it comes to African Americans? Would they have shot Kinsey if he
were white? Absolutely not, as was evident from another episode when about
one hundred militiamen in Oregon
23

NEWS/ANALYSIS

Charles Kinsey, left, is clearly unarmed, but that does not appear to be sufficient reason not to get shot if youre black.
brandished heavy weapons and threatened to shoot the police if they tried to
intervene. Ammon Bundy, son of a
notorious criminal Cliven Bundy, led
the July 45 incident in Burns, Oregon.
The heavily armed militiamen marched
into a federal building and occupied
Malheur Wildlife Refuge Headquarters
in Burns protesting against the prosecution of two local ranchers. Did the
police intervene or threaten to shoot
unless the mob complied; did they use
tear gas or pepper spray to disperse the
mob? Perish the thought. Instead, the
police extended full protection to the
heavily armed militiamen even as they
threatened to attack them if they intervened. The police warned people to stay
away from the building as they try to
bring a peaceful end to the standoff.
While the heavily armed white militiamen were occupying a federal building and threatening to attack the police
in Oregon, in other parts of the country
the police were busy killing blacks. On
July 5, two white officers in Baton
Rouge killed a 37-year-old black man,
Alton Sterling. That shooting, captured
on mobile phone video, provoked widespread protests about police treatment of
the black community. The following day
(July 6), another black man, 32-year-old
Philando Castile, was killed in Minnesota when a police officer pulled him over.
Sterling and Castile became victims
number 558 and 559, respectively, of
police killings in 2016. In the same peri24

od last year, 465 blacks were killed

while the figure for the year 2015 was
1,150. This year is turning out to be
more deadly.
What were Sterlings and Castiles
crimes, if any? Two Baton Rouge
policemen confronted Sterling outside
the Triple S Mart for selling CDs to the
convenience store. After arresting him,
they pinned Sterling to the ground and
then one of them shot and killed him.
Ordinarily, selling CDs would not even
result in arrest much less a shooting
death, unless of course the person happens to be black.
Castile was pulled over for allegedly
having a broken taillight on his car. His
fiancee and four-year-old daughter were
in the back seat of the car. The policeman asked him for identification and as
Castile tried to reach for it, he was shot
four times in the stomach. His fiance,
Diamond Reynolds videotaped the execution. Shortly thereafter, it was on the
internet and resulted in widespread
protests across the country.
It was at one such protest the following day in Dallas that a sniper shot and
killed five Dallas police officers. The
sniper was 25-year-old Micah Xavier
Johnson, a military veteran who had
served in Afghanistan. A police search of
his home found notes in which he had
scribbled how to shoot and move.
During the Dallas shooting, it is reported
that the police were in negotiations with
him and Johnson expressed anger at the

police shooting of blacks. The police

sent a robot bomb into the building to
kill Johnson, unlike the white militia
occupying a federal building in Oregon!
It is clear that being black in America is now a crime and is dangerous to
African Americans very survival.
Black anger is neither irrational nor
instantaneous; it has been building up
over a long list of police shootings of
unarmed blacks.
Teenager Michael Brown was killed
by a white police officer in Ferguson,
Missouri, in August 2014. Not surprisingly, these led to demonstrations across
the US. At protests in the following
weeks and months, thousands marched
for justice, not just for Michael Brown,
but for 12-year-old Tamir Rice, Eric
Garner, Walter Scott, Laquan McDonald, Sandra Bland, Freddie Gray and
countless others whose names and the
circumstances of their shootings never
made the headlines.
Tamir Rice was on a swing playing
with a toy gun in a park on November
22, 2014 when someone called the
Cleveland police claiming a person was
pointing a gun at people. Two police
officers arrived on the scene and within
a minute, they shot the 12-year-old boy.
While an investigation of the shooting
was carried out, a grand jury refused to
charge the offending officer.
Walter Scott was shot and killed in
North Charleston on April 5, 2015 by
patrolman Michael Slager even as Scott
was running away from him thus posing
no risk to anyone. Slager said he felt a
rush of adrenaline before he shot the
victim. Chicago Police Officer Jason
Van Dyke pumped 16 bullets in 13 seconds into Laquan McDonald on October 20, 2014. The victim was barely 10
feet from the officer who claimed the
police had received reports of a person
carrying a knife. Only after repeated
calls by independent investigators for
the police to release video footage of the
shooting captured on one police cruisers dashboard camera, was it released
to the public on November 24, 2015
over 13 months after the shooting. Van
Dyke was charged with first-degree
murder after the videos release but was
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August 2016

granted bail on November 30.

Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old black
woman was pulled over for a minor traffic violation on July 10, 2015. State
trooper Brian Encinia arrested her alleging she had assaulted him and threw her
in a jail cell in Waller County, Texas
where she was found hanged three
days later. Her death was classified as
suicide. A bystanders cell phone
video of the incident led to Encinia
being placed on administrative leave for
failing to follow proper traffic stop procedures. Several police investigations
found no wrongdoing by Encinia but in
January 2016, a grand jury indicted him
for perjury. It was only then that the
Texas Department of Public Safety dismissed him.
The case of Freddie Gray and Eric
Garner are even more shocking. Gray

NEWS/ANALYSIS
was arrested in Baltimore and thrown
into a police cruiser on April 12, 2015.
His neck was broken but no attention
was paid to him. He died in the cruiser.
So far three officers have had all
charges dropped, a fourth has had a mistrial and the fifths trial in ongoing.
Eric Garner was arrested in Staten
Island, New York on July 17, 2014
accused of selling loosies (selling single cigarettes from a pack, and thus not
paying tax!). He denied the charge but
officer Daniel Pantaleo put a chokehold
on him and pushed him to the ground.
After releasing the chokehold, Pantaleo
pushed Garners face into the ground
while four other officers pounced on
him. Despite repeatedly screaming, I
cant breathe, they did not let go.
When Garner lost consciousness,
officers turned him onto his side. Gar-

ner remained lying on the sidewalk for

seven minutes while the officers waited
for an ambulance to arrive. Even when
the ambulance arrived, no CPR was
administered either by the emergency
medical team or the police. Garner was
pronounced dead at the hospital about
an hour later.
The medical examiner concluded
that Garner was killed by compression
of neck (choke hold), compression of
chest and prone positioning during
physical restraint by police. He ruled
Garners death a homicide, meaning
death caused by the intentional actions
of another person or persons but is not
necessarily an intentional death or a
criminal death. On December 3, 2014,
the Richmond County grand jury decided not to indict Pantaleo.
Need one say more? g

Defying curfew, Kashmiris confront

Indian occupiers
By Zia Sarhadi

Stone-throwing youth some with faces

covered, heavily armed Indian troops
firing live bullets, tear gas shells, and
rubber-coated steel pellets at protesters,
and using thick bamboo sticks to club
women, men, and children are what
characterize life in Kashmir today.
Round the clock curfew, defiance by the
people, and hospitals under siege by
Indian troops dragging the wounded out
of beds are some of the other features of
life in this troubled land.
The latest eruption occurred in the
aftermath of the killing of Burhan Wani,
the 22-year-old popular leader of Hizbul
Mujahideen by Indian occupation
forces in the remote village of Kokernag
(south Kashmir region) on the night of
July 8. Two of his associates were also
killed in a brief gun battle with occupation forces.
The Indian occupiers chortled at
their success. Wani had evaded arrest
for many years since he joined the
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August 2016

group at the young age of 15 and quickly rose through the ranks for his daring
and exploits as well as inspirational
messages on the social media. He had
become the most recognized face of the
Kashmiri resistance struggle as well as
leader of Hizbul Mujahideens operations, one of the best-known groups
fighting against the occupiers.
What the Hindu occupiers and their
Muslim accomplices in Kashmir had
not anticipated was the reaction of the
people. Clearly, anger was bubbling
beneath the surface that the brutally
oppressive occupiers misread as a sign
of peoples submission and acquiescence to occupation. Wanis killing
proved the spark that ignited their pentup rage. Thousands of people poured
into the streets, especially in the capital
Srinagar in defiance of the curfew braving bullets, tear gas shells, and rubber
pellets that have become a favorite tool
of the occupation forces. Hundreds of
young men have been shot in the eyes
resulting in getting their sockets blown

out. More than 200,000 people attended

Wanis funeral on July 9, again in defiance of the curfew. The people have
renewed their demand for freedom.
Each day this week has brought a
new surge of resistance by young, rockthrowing protesters in jeans and bandanas defying curfews to face down
Indian troops firing live ammunition,
pellet guns, and tear gas, reported the
Associated Press (AP) from Srinagar on
July 13. Officials worry that theyve
unwittingly revived a rebellion that may
be hard to control.
Within the first week, at least 43
people were shot dead and thousands
wounded including hundreds that had
their eyes blown out. Even the former
chief minister of state, Omar Abdullah,
a puppet of Delhi, was forced to call for
optometrists to be sent to the state otherwise hundreds of youth would lose
their eyesight. Abdullahs call is likely
to fall on deaf years in Delhi as it is
ruled by the Hindu Nazis, aka the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headed by
25

NEWS/ANALYSIS

Hundreds of thousands of Kashmiris defy curfew and attend the janazah of

one of their own, cut down much too early in life by Indian occupation forces,
Burhan Wani, leader of Hizbul Mujahideen, Srinagar, 7-9-2016. Burhan was
especially popular among the internet savvy youth because he maintained a
solid presence there, posting photos, tweets, and making Facebook posts. Thousands of fans followed his social media presence, and through this medium, he
inspired many young Kashmiris to join the struggle for liberation.
the Muslim-hating Narendra Modi.
We were not expecting this huge
public reaction, a top security official
engaged in counterinsurgency operations told the AP. He insisted on
anonymity telling the news agency he
was not authorized to speak to reporters.
However, he conceded, It [peoples
uprising] is disturbing.
Pakistan, which has a huge stake in
the future of Kashmir, reacted angrily to
the killing of civilians. The extra-judicial killing of Kashmiri leader Burhan
Wani and scores of other innocent
Kashmiris is deplorable and condemnable, Foreign Office Spokesman
Nafees Zakaria said on July 11. He
added, Such acts are a violation of the
fundamental human rights of the Kashmiris and cannot deter the people of
Jammu and Kashmir from their demand
for the realization of the right to selfdetermination. Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry also spoke to
envoys from the US, Britain, China, and
26

France as well as a number of ambassadors of Muslim countries. On July 13,

the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
offered his good offices to mediate
between India and Pakistan to contain
the crisis from escalating. He put a
caveat: this was subject to both countries agreeing to such mediation efforts.
While Pakistan welcomed the UN
chiefs offer, India as usual dismissed it,
calling its killing of Kashmiris an
internal matter. Pakistan rejects such
a position emphasizing that Kashmir
remains disputed territory. There are
several UN Security Council resolutions that call for holding a referendum
on Kashmir to determine the wishes of
the people.
The Kashmir dispute as it has come
to be known cannot be properly understood without a reference to the unfinished business of partition of British
colonial India into the dominion states
of Pakistan and India on August 14 and
15, 1947 respectively. Kashmir was left

unresolved through British intrigue

even while its demographics, culture,
and geography made it a natural part of
Pakistan.
When the Hindu Maharaja (ruler)
Hari Singh hesitated in declaring Kashmirs accession to Pakistan, the people
rose up in revolt. The maharaja fled the
state capital Srinagar and with Delhis
connivance, was forced to sign a conditional instrument of accession to India.
Even the conditional instrument of
accession is mired in controversy.
Nobody has seen the instrument to this
day. India claims it possesses the instrument. Based on this claim, India landed
its troops in Srinagar in October 1947 to
restore what it called peace and calm.
At the same time, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru pledged that as
soon as calm was restored, the peoples
wishes would be determined through a
plebiscite (referendum). Nehru gave a
similar pledge to the UN while calling
for a ceasefire in Kashmir. When the UN
supervised ceasefire went into effect,
India was in occupation of two-thirds of
Kashmir while Pakistan controlled the
rest. This is where the situation is to this
day. The ceasefire call and pledge to
respect the Kashmiris wishes was a
ruse. India was losing the war and Nehru
feared that if it continued, the entire state
would be in Pakistans control.
The Kashmiris residing on the Pakistani side have had no problems or difficulties. They are quite happy with
their situation. It is the Kashmiris under
Indian occupation that are totally fed up
and want out. In order to demonstrate
their abhorrence of Indian military
occupation, they have staged numerous
uprisings. In 1989, for instance, they
staged an uprising lasting nearly 20
years. Indian troops and paramilitary
forces numbering some 700,000 have
been ruthless in attempts to crush the
peoples aspirations. More than 100,000
people have been killed; tens of thousands of people have disappeared or
have been tortured to death in detention.
To cap it all, the unruly Hindu paramilitary forces have also raped thousands
of Kashmiri women, some as old as 70.
Even young girls have not been spared;
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August 2016

the youngest girl raped was just seven

years old.
Kashmir is the most heavily militarized region in the world. There are
300,000 Indian troops and paramilitary
units in Srinagar. With a population of
one million, this means there is one soldier for every three civilians. India,
which claims to be the largest democra-

NEWS/ANALYSIS
cy in the world, has given carte blanche
to unruly mobs in uniform. Not one soldier has been charged with rape of any
woman or torturing people to death.
Instead, they are provided legal cover
through various laws enacted in Delhi.
The people of Kashmir refuse to put
up with such brutality or humiliation. To
demonstrate their strong desire for free-

dom, they have staged numerous uprisings. The latest eruption occurred in the
aftermath of Burhan Wanis coldblooded murder by Indian troops. There will
be no peace and, therefore, prosperity
for people of the region unless the
worlds longest festering Kashmir dispute is resolved according to the wishes
of the people. g

Being Muslim and travelling in Europe of 2016

By Tahir Mustafa

Brexit, the cancellation of Austrian

presidential elections, the wave of terrorist attacks worldwide including in
Europe, the economic crisis, and the
EUs imperialist meddling in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
region is shifting Europe toward the
right. In this type of atmosphere, being
a Muslim and travelling on the European continent requires some savvy.
Every year, when for a few weeks
visiting my parents back home in
Europe, my family and I encounter blatant or implied racism and xenophobia.
Today even implied xenophobia is getting more blatant. From intense stares
on the public transport system to outright rudeness with a flavour of disdain
for immigrants, one has to learn how
to deal with it. This article aims to provide some practical advice.
First, not all EU citizens are racist.
One must not commit the mistake of
overgeneralization even if one reads
that the Council of Europe is alarmed by
the public manifestation of racism in the
EU. There are millions of EU citizens
combating racism on a daily basis and
facing hardships for doing so. Islamically this would be an act of injustice to
paint innocent people with the broad
racism brush. Also, by generalization
one will be giving credence to the rightwing narrative. In addition, it will make
basic interaction with the people cold,
somewhat tense, and awkward.
Second, speak English if you need
to. If you are a citizen of the EU who has

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August 2016

been living away from the continent for

a long time and your German, French,
Spanish, or Italian is not what it used to
be, simply speak English. It helps eliminate the perception of an unwanted
immigrant. In the summer season you
will be viewed as a tourist and not another immigrant who is misusing the social
welfare system. Even though it was
PEGIDA leader Tom Balazs who was
fined by a Dresden court for defrauding
Germanys social welfare system, the
local EU media did a good job caricaturing immigrant residents. Unfortunately,
in the EU unlike in North America, a citizen who is clearly of immigrant background rarely gets praised for his/her
language skills. Often one is corrected
in quite a patronizing manner. If you
want to avoid this nonsense, put the
tourist hat on, speak English.
Thirdly, people will pay extra attention to you if you look Middle Eastern
and for everything the Italians are loved
for in Europe, you will be scolded. If
you are loud in a caf or late for a meeting, dont be surprised if someone
reminds you that in Europe you must
not talk loudly, and be on time. Unless
of course you are Italian; then if you are
loud, you are considered outgoing,
and if you are late, you are a
relaxedand an easygoing person.
Fourth, do not misinterpret and negatively judge people through the shallow
Saudi minded Islam. Just because a
person has many tattoos does not mean
he or she is a drug addict, a hippy, or
homeless. You are in a society that due
to unfortunate historical reasons lives

outside of the scriptural paradigm. In

fact, experience has often showed that
guys with tattoos and those who listen to
reggae music are actively looking for
spirituality or are on the same page with
their Muslim compatriots in combating
racism, Islamophobia, and imperialism.
Fifth, the beard is no longer a problem. The lumberjack beard is now in
fashion, so no need to trim your beard if
you dont want to in order avoid attention. And if you are wearing baggy
pants, you are a hipster to most nearby,
not a Muslim.
Sixth, when in doubt about what part
of Europe to visit, choose Italy. If you
are a Muslim of Middle Eastern or Levantine background and you are a bit
paranoid about rising racism in Europe,
but still want to take a holiday in the
EU, in Italy you are at home. It is the
place where a Turk can easily pass for a
Sicilian and a Lebanese for a local
Roman. Italy will save you from many
unwanted stares.
Seventh, my deepest respect to Muslim sisters. While, we the males, can
somewhat avoid discrimination through
linguistic or fashion camouflage, our
sisters bear todays flag of Islam, the
hijab. That is why most Islamophobic
policies worldwide begin by targeting
the hijab. So man up and dont let your
mother, sister or wife face the challenge
alone. Try wearing a kufi or a keffiyeh
with your aqeeq ring or use a bismillah
when boarding a bus or a subway to
share the unfortunate experience Muslim females face daily in the transforming Europe. g
27

SPECIAL REPORTS

Takfiris and their enablers: Muslims and

non-Muslims
By Yusuf Dhia-Allah

In the last ten days of Ramadan, Muslims traditionally engage

in increased acts of ibadah and spiritual activities. This year,
however, the final days were marred by horrific violence in
disparate parts of the Muslim world. From Istanbul to Dhaka,
and from Baghdad to Madinah, Qatif and Jeddah, there were
mind-boggling acts of terror and violence unleashed against
innocent people. On July 23, a similar terrorist act in the heart
of Kabul targeted Afghanistans Hazara Shii community
killing more than 80 and injuring several hundred others. The
most horrific act was perpetrated on July 3 (28th of Ramadan)
in the Karrada neighborhood of Baghdad where nearly 300
people were killed by a suicide bomber. People were out
shopping for Eid al-Fitr as the month-long fast was nearing its
end when they were targeted by this dastardly crime.
Instead of celebrating Eid al-Fitr, Muslims in Baghdad
and the surrounding localities mourned their dead holding
candle-light vigils. The takfiri terrorist group, Daish (aka
ISIS/ISIL) claimed responsibility for the Baghdad attack as it
did for Istanbul and Dhaka. Whether these terrorist acts are
interrelated is not the issue; the common thread between them
is the mindset that considers killing innocent human being as
justifiable for whatever demented reason they may have.
Who are the takfiris, where did they come from, and how
can they indulge in such horrific acts while calling themselves
Muslims? Does Islam permit the killing of innocent people,
whether Muslim or not?
As if Muslims did not have enough problems already
mass poverty and hunger, gross inequalities; terrible injustices;
and incompetence and mismanagement of the rulers they
are now faced with a new, ugly phenomenon called terrorism.
Individuals and groups have taken it upon themselves to act as
accusers, prosecutors, judges and jurors and not only denounce
others they disagree with as kafirs but also become executioners. Often, they do not even know whom they are killing:
completely innocent people are blown to pieces.
Their favorite mode of operations is to plant bombs in
crowded places, or become suicide bombers by exploding
their vests. Is suicide permitted in Islam? Obviously, there are
people leading them to commit such crimes. This will be considered shortly but we must first ask the question: who has the
authority to declare war? Islam has very specific rules; not
every individual is entitled to assume this responsibility. The
declaration of war is a very grave responsibility not to be
taken lightly. Only a legitimately established Islamic authority can do so. There are specific circumstances in which this
can be done. And fight in the cause of Allah against those
that have waged war against you, but do not commit
aggression for verily, Allah does not love aggressors,
28

A child is pilloried in the draconian ISIS-controlled territory for, according to the sign posted on his body, eating
in Ramadan without a shari excuse, circa 2014.
declares the noble Quran (2:190).
Islam lays great emphasis on the sanctity of human life
and the Quran states quite clearly that the killing of even one
human being without just cause (such as for committing murder or spreading sedition in society) is like killing the whole
of humanity (5:32).
Similarly, there are many hadiths that prohibit one Muslim
from calling another Muslim a kafir. Abu Dawud narrates
from Abdullah ibn Umar (d), the following hadith of the
noble Messenger (r), If a Muslim calls another Muslim a
kafir, then if the accused is a kafir, then let it be so [that is, the
accusation will stand]; otherwise, he [the accuser] himself is
a kafir (Book of Sunnah, Vol. 3, p. 484). Along the same
lines, another hadith narrated in al-Bukharis Book of Ethics,
from Abu Dharr (d) reported that the noble Messenger (r)
said, No man accuses another man of being a sinner, or of
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August 2016

SPECIAL REPORTS

being a kafir, but it reflects back on him if the accused is not

what he is accused of (Book of Ethics, Book 78, Chapter 44).
Together with the act of takfir, there is another, equally
dangerous trend that has emerged in recent years: that of
killing those who are branded kafirs. There is absolutely no
permission for such conduct in Islam. History bears witness
that Muslims ruled many lands from Grenada to India where
the overwhelming majority was non-Muslim but there was
not even a hint that Muslims should kill them because they
are not Muslims. So how have some people calling themselves Muslims arrived at the conclusion that it is permissible
to kill fellow Muslims after branding them as kafirs?
True, in Islamic history we had the phenomenon of the
Khawarij but as the name suggests, they were considered
outsiders to the din of Islam. Their conduct was extremely
destructive leading to the martyrdom of Imam Ali (d) at the
hands of one these deviants. No Islamic scholar ever extolled
such conduct as virtuous.
Today, unfortunately there are people masquerading as
scholars who provide religious justification for such
deviant behavior. This is done at the behest of their masters.
The perpetrators are often ignorant of Islamic principles, otherwise they would not indulge in such horrific acts. These
scholars for dollars, or court clergy, would do anything to
appease their masters. Their demented thinking has created a
situation where acts of terror are being perpetrated and justified in the name of Islam.
The chief culprit in this crime against Islam is the Saudi
regime dominated by the Najdi Bedouins. Not only do their
court preachers provide religious justification where none
exists for such abhorrent conduct but the regime has actively
promoted such groups. For instance, in 2013, a letter marked
Top Secret was sent by Abdullah ibn Ali al-Rumayzan,
director at the Saudi Interior Ministry to General Saud alThunayyan at the Clandestine Office in the Interior Ministry.
Al-Rumayzan said that a deal had been struck with rapists,
murderers, and drug smugglers in Saudi prisons who had
been sentenced to death. In lieu of commuting their sentences,
these criminals were to be sent for Jihad in Syria! English
translation of the original Arabic is provided below (the letter
itself appears in the accompanying graphic),
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Ministry of the Interior
Follow-up

Number: H/J/1/1466
Attachments:
Date: 25/5/1433AH

(Top Secret)

The Honorable Gracious General Saud

al-Thunayyan, Blessed by God
The Clandestine Office, the Interior Ministry

May the peace and blessings of God be yours.

In reference to the Royal Courts fax number 112 dated
19/4/1433AH pertaining to the detainees held in the

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August 2016

Rapists, murderers, and drug smugglers are the foot soldiers for the kinds of jihad commissioned by philanderers
who become princes, gamblers who become royals, and
drunkards who become kings.
Kingdoms prisons, who are accused of crimes punishable by death in accordance with the Islamic Shariah
execution method: the sword we report to you
that we have been in contact with these defendants.
They stand guilty of drug smuggling, murder, and rape.
Their nationalities are as follows: 105 Yemenis, 21
Palestinians, 212 Saudis, 96 Sudanese, 254 Syrians, 82
Jordanians, 68 Somalis, 32 Afghans, 194 Egyptians,
203 Pakistanis, 23 Iraqis, and 44 Kuwaitis.

We reached an agreement with them to have the due

shari punishment waived, along with a stipend to be
paid to their families and next of kin who will be
banned from leaving Saudi territory in exchange for
the detainees agreement to prepare, train, and become
qualified to be sent for jihad in Syria.
29

Kindly accept my greetings,

The Managing Facilitator of the
Ministry of the Interior
Abdullah ibn Ali al-Rumayzan

SPECIAL REPORTS

a copy to his eminence the Chairman of the

Committee to Enforce the Maruf and Disallow
the Munkar
a copy to General Intelligence1

Commentary

continued from p. 7

Arabian Peninsula the Yemenis to take the war to

the Najdi Bedouins. A number of Saudi soldiers and
even senior officers have been killed in skirmishes with
the intrepid Ansarallah fighters. On July 21, a missile
was fired at a Saudi military base in Najran, Yemeni
territory that was illegally occupied by the Najdi
Bedouins in 1934. Perhaps the Yemenis should reclaim
their territory that has been illegally occupied by the
Bedouins. This may lead to the banishment of the primitive savages back to their desert dwellings in Najd and
could even start the process for the liberation of the
entire people of the Arabian Peninsula.
For the many political efforts officials have made in
pursuit of bringing peace to Yemen talks have been
underway in Kuwait since last April without making
much headway because of the ludicrous demands of the
Saudi puppets they ignore a fundamental point. The
talks are not aimed at finding a just solution to the
Yemeni crisis. They demand the political capitulation of
the Resistance and of those principles that Ansarallah
holds dear and refuses to part with: freedom, independence, and territorial integrity.

And yes, the Western corporate media and their regional mouthpieces have periodically spoken of the imminent breakthrough and tentative peace agreements,
meaning that the Houthis Ansarallah fighters would
soon be defeated, this is mere wishful thinking. Watching coverage of the likes of CNN and al-Jazeera one gets
the impression as if the Houthis are alien to Yemen.
This is deliberate and meant to rationalize imperialism
as the latest manifestation of political salvation. Such
ranting, however, remains completely divorced from
Yemens reality.
Peace in Yemen, it must be emphasized, remains a distant dream, almost a mirage if we consider the implications of its terms absolute surrender to Riyadhs tutelage. This the Ansarallah fighters will never countenance. This is not to say that peace is impossible, only

Crescent International

August 2016

It is quite revealing that throughout its miserable existence, the Saudi regime has never helped the Palestinians
overthrow the yoke of Zionist occupation. In fact, Bani Saud
are on kissing terms with their Zionist cousins with much
intermingling of blood as well between them. Their alliance
has now become public knowledge with officials from the
two regimes openly embracing each other at various forums.
Bani Sauds venom and hatred is reserved exclusively for
Muslims they disagree with. And since that constitutes the

that its premise would have to be modified if ever there

is to be hope of bringing about change. It must be borne
in mind that Yemen did not ask for this war. Yemen neither threatened the Najdi Bedouin-ruled Kingdom, nor
did it challenge its territorial integrity as some have
deceptively alleged. Yemen is fighting against a pernicious foreign invader, hell-bent on laying waste not just
state infrastructures, but also the entire population.

Despite 16 months of the most brutal military onslaught

by a coalition of countries led by Saudi Arabia, the people of Yemen have heroically withstood their ground.
True, they have paid a heavy price but freedom and
independence demand no less. They have now taken the
fight to Saudi Arabia, calling on the Kingdom to return
territory that was once part of Yemen.

Early last month, ABNA published a news report in

which it spoke of the Resistances campaign in Saudi
Arabias southwestern province of Jizan. According to
Yemens Defense Ministry, Yemens Ansarullah movement and allied army units carried out the attack in
the Saudi province of Jizan, it read.

If Jizan is portrayed today as a Saudi province, its

history firmly anchors it within Yemens true territorial
reach. Jizan was bought by Saudi Arabia alongside
Nasir and Najran provinces. The aim was to keep
Zaidiism and the promises of political independence at
bay. The three provinces are also of course rich in natural resources.

If the rest of the world has yet to read the proverbial

writing on the wall, the Resistance quite clearly verbalized its intentions vis--vis Saudi Arabia when it
engaged its military on the Najdis home turf. The military conflict can no longer be envisioned unilaterally
since Yemen has now taken the war back across the
Saudi border. This would better position it to reclaim
the lands that were stolen by the Najdi Bedouins.
The question that must be asked is: will Saudi Arabia
survive Yemens wrath now that it has been challenged
and the people awakened?

31

SPECIAL REPORTS

overwhelming majority of Muslims in the world, it means the

Najdi Bedouins are at war with Islam and Muslims. In the
past, the Najdi Bedouins were able to hoodwink innocent
Muslims into believing that they are pious because of their
control of the two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah (the
Haramayn). Their own conduct, however, has exposed them
to be frauds and unfit to administer the Haramayn.
The picture of the takfiris would not be complete without
a reference to the support they receive from the West. While
publicly proclaiming to be fighting them the reality is that
Western regimes through their intelligence agencies are intimately involved in supporting, arming, and training the takfiris. This was graphically exposed in June 2015 when a
Swedish Muslim was put on trial in London, England for joining a terrorist group in Syria. His defence counsel asked that
a representative of the British intelligence agency appear in
court to testify why the agency was supporting the same
group that his client was accused of joining? The British government promptly dropped all charges.
The British are not the only culprits. All Western intelligence agencies as well as the Zionists are up to their necks in
the conspiracy to support the terrorists against innocent Muslims. ISIS is the present-day reincarnation of the Taliban of
the 1990s. Terrorism, then as today, is aimed at those who are
watching to socially condition their behavior not at the
immediate victims who either get blown up, murdered, or

maimed. A large number of this audience is Muslims who

only have a cultural and ritual attachment to Islam, and hence
are easily conscripted into the Wests secular humanism
(which only has a private space for religion at best or rejects
religion altogether at worst), especially as they see their own
scholars rubber-stamping the crimes of rapists, murderers,
head-choppers, and organ-eaters. The main objective of the
imperialist and Zionist choreographers of terrorism in our
world today is to demonstrate to those watching that Islam as
a state, as a system, as a compendium of laws and morals, as
a societal infrastructure, and as a medium to deliver social
justice to the oppressed and dislocated masses is inconsistent
with civil society.
To illustrate this in the graphic detail that is beamed into
everyones living rooms 24/7, the most heinous anti-humanity
crimes have been manufactured for the purpose of affixing
upon them the label of Islam, Muhammad, and the Muslims.
For good measure, just to keep it real, some willing Muslim
actors (who are already on tenuous footing with their own
people due to their oppression and profligacy, and hence open
to any kind of suggestion so long as it ensures their survival
at the helm of power and command) have been thrown into
this script. This is the main reason why the Arabian rulers
puppets all of them have been employed to sponsor the
takfiri offshoots of their tried and true progenitors in al-Qaeda
and the Taliban, who together served their purpose well. g

Radical Wahhabisms new playground: Nigeria

By Catherine Shakdam

While most media outlets have remained focused on Nigerias

finances, pinning the countrys troubles on corruption, its
poor economic prospects, and lack of social justice, they have
failed to read the proverbial writing on the wall: rampant radicalization and Wahhabism that call for a cultural and religious genocide against those they disagree with. Unknown to
many, Nigeria has faced a violent religious repression under
the guiding hand of Wahhabist Saudi Arabia, the last victim of
radicalization, the next domino to fall on the road to religious
absolutism. Again, if such developments have failed to make
the headlines, the repercussions they entail are too vast to
ignore anymore.
Nigerias long descent into the belly of radicalism took a
most violent turn in December 2015, when the military chose
to raid the Kaduna-based Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN)
led by its charismatic leader Shaykh Ibrahim Zakzaky. He has
spoken against rampant despotism, injustice, and religious
repression. A prominent religious scholar adhering to the Jafari
school of thought a recognized school of thought in Islam
Shaykh Zakzaky as leader of the Islamic Movement of
Nigeria has been a strong advocate for interfaith cohesion and
32

justice. A true son of Islam, Shaykh Zakzaky spoke truth in the

face of oppression, motivated not by personal ambitions but by
a desire to end widespread corruption, poverty, and violence
that have ravaged the country for decades.
Last December, news broke out that Shaykh Zakzakys
hometown of Kaduna had been the target of a military attack.
The dramatic chain of events that ensued can be traced back
to December 11, 2015 and the Global Campaign to Return to
Palestine Conference. Shaykh Zakzakys 18-year-old son
Hamad attended the conference and spoke against Zionism.
Upon his return to Nigeria on December 12, Hamad was murdered in the military assault on Shaykh Zakzakys compound.
In the days that followed much innocent blood was shed.
A news report published by Nigeria Watch read, In a scenario reminiscent of what happened with Boko Haram in
2009, troops opened fire on members of the sect [sic] at a
function they had gathered for. Three of Shaykh Zakzakys
sons had been killed in a similar attack by the Nigerian Army
in July 2014 [during Quds Day rally] and this time around the
Islamists have also denied they were planning any attack on
the chief of army staff.
Of this massacre only a few words appeared in the Western
media. In the face of such brutality and vicious sectarian attack
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August 2016

SPECIAL REPORTS

had no choice, Oyebade

explained, Of course,
because of the report I got
that they [Shiis] are mobilizing, I had to order that the
Gyallesu [Shaykh Zakzakys
residence] and Husseiniya
[shrine] be brought down.
In the long list of crimes
committed against Nigerias
Shii community, and most
particularly the IMN, the
Zaria massacre was most
gruesome. It not only
claimed innocent lives but it
also spoke of a disturbing
alliance between the military
and Boko Haram, al Qaedas
The massacre in Zaria, and the subsequent imprisonment on spurious charges of the
sister-in-arms.
leader of the IMN, Shaykh Ibrahim Zakzaky, happened because control of the Islamic
The IMN insists on justice
narrative is gradually passing into the hands of principled Muslims who are doing a
being served and truth being
better job of articulating the issues that drive the narrative unlike those who file away
told. But both commodities as
the issues in a cabinet that just has an Islamic label on it.
it were, are not part of Nigerias agenda especially when
its ruling elite continue to
dance to the tune of Washingcarried out by the Nigerian military against unarmed civilians ton and Wahhabism the very ideology and its key sponsor
including many women and children, most Western officials that gave birth to terror. A statement issued by the IMN legal
kept mum. If not for the political courage of a few individuals, team points to the states moral decay as it works to dismiss
it is likely Kadunas terror would have remained hidden.
genocide as an unfortunate event. It reads,
Ringing the alarm on Nigeria, Eldar Mamedov, adviser in
the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament
The Judicial Commission of Inquiry inaugurated by the
noted, While Western politicians are very vocal, and rightly
Kaduna State Government on the 29th day of January
so, in their condemnation of Christian persecution in many
2016 on the clash between members of the Islamic
Muslim-majority countries, reaction to the extreme violence
Movement in Nigeria and the Nigerian Army submitted
against Shiite communities is much more muted.
its report to the Kaduna State Government on the 15th
The decision to raid the Shii community in Zaria and
day of July 2016. In his remarks at the submission of
arrest its leader Shaykh Ibrahim Zakzaky was made by Major
the report, the Chairman of the Commission Hon. JusGeneral Adeniyi Oyebade, commander of the First Division
tice Mohammed Lawal Garba stated that,
of the Nigerian Army. Oyebade, who had been promoted to
major general in 2013, ordered the crackdown based on a
They (IMN) had appeared, they were representreport that the motorcade of the chief of staff, Lieutenant
ed by counsels at the initial stage of the proGeneral Tukur Yusuf Buratai, was attacked by Shii protesceedings, but for no reason known to the comtors. The report, which accused Shiis belonging to Shaykh
mission, the counsels decided to opt out. I said
Zakzakys Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) of attempting
for no reason known to the commission because
to strike Buratais vehicle with a fire bomb, characterized the
there was no formal communication to the comprotest on December 12 as an assassination attempt, wrote
mission on why they decided not to continue
Yuram Weiller for ScanNews.
their appearance before the commission.
A hired gun, General Oyebade did what the higher comHowever, there were newspapers and online
mand ordered him to do; a mercenary sold out to Wahhabism,
publications that [suggested] they did not want
General Oyebade added to the many crimes that over the
to appear. Because of that we had to apply for
years have plagued Nigeria, without ever making it to the
extension of time and at the end of the day we
news. Zaria massacre, it needs to be said, holds a mirror to
have been able to produce a report of the comNigerias devolution into a terror state. Justifying the masmissions assignment. I have the instructions
sacre of members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria as if he
and mandate of Femi Falana, SAN to respond
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August 2016

33

SPECIAL REPORTS

to the remarks made by the Chairman of the

Commission while submitting his report to the
Kaduna State Government.
The Legal Team of the IMN believes that it
is disingenuous for the Chairman of the Commission to claim that he is not aware of the reasons for the withdrawal of the Legal Team of
the IMN (comprising of Femi Falana, SAN,
Festus Okoye Esq and Maxwell Kyon Esq)
from further participation in the proceedings of
the Commission and the reasons are:
1. On the 8th and 9th of February 2016 the
Legal Team of the Islamic Movement in
Nigeria met with the Inspector General of
Police and the Director General of the
Department of State Services (DSS) to get
the express permission and authorization of
the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) Sheik Ibrahim Zak Zaky for purposes of their appearance and participation
before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry
and same was denied.
2. On the 11th day of February 2016, the Legal
Team of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria
(IMN) wrote to the Secretary of the Judicial
Commission of Inquiry intimating him of its
inability to submit memorandum/da as the
Legal Team was denied access to the Leader
of the Movement Sheik Ibrahim Zak Zaky.
3. On the same 24th day of February 2016, a
member of the Legal Team, Maxwell Kyon
Esq. appeared before the Judicial Commission and clearly stated that the Legal Team
appeared out of respect to the Commission
considering the fact that it has been denied
access and opportunity to meet with and
conference with the leader of the Islamic
Movement in Nigeria and cannot in the circumstances provide meaningful representa-

Islamic books
available on-line:

www.ibtbooks.com
The Islamic Book Trust,

Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia

34

tion and or put up any meaningful appearance before the Judicial Commission.
4. On Monday the 29th day of February 2016,
Maxwell Kyon Esq. appeared before the
Judicial Commission and informed the
Commission that nobody has seen the leader
of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria and that
the facilitation the Commission promised
has not yielded any positive result.
5. On the 9th day of March 2016 Festus Okoye
Esq. and Maxwell Kyon Esq. appeared before
the Commission and gave a detailed exposition of the efforts that the Legal Team made
and continued to make up to the said 9th of
March 2016 to be granted access to the leader
of the Islamic Movement. It was on the basis
of this that the Commission directed that
Counsel to the Commission to liaise with the
Attorney General of the Federation and the
Attorney General of Kaduna State to facilitate
access to the leader of the Movement.
6. On the 7th day of March, 2016 the Commission wrote to the Attorney General of the
Federation and the Attorney General of
Kaduna State and served copies of the said
letters on the Legal Team of the IMN on the
8th day of March 2016 and urged collaboration and facilitation of access of the Legal
Team representing the IMN and Counsel to
the Commission to see the detained leader of
the IMN between now and Friday 11th
March, 2016 and to report back at the next
sitting of the Commission scheduled for
Monday, 14th March, 2016.
7. On the 14th day of March 2016 the Counsel
to the Commission reported to the Commission that they had written to the Attorney
General of the Federation and the Attorney
General of Kaduna State but they had difficulties in getting the Attorney General to act
on the said letter and the Commission
adjourned to the 21st day of March 2016.
8. On the same 14th day of March 2016, in a
clear attempt to blackmail the Legal Team of
the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, the Commission directed its Secretary Dr. Bala Babaji to issue a Press Statement stating that The
Commission notes that IMN has been represented by Counsel and is satisfied that the
said Counsel has been properly briefed by
the IMN to appear before us. The Commission has strived hard to afford all parties to
be fairly represented and treated with justice
and fairness in all its deliberations. The
Commission intends to proceed with its
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August 2016

SPECIAL REPORTS

deliberations on Monday, March 21, 2016

by taking the Memorandum submitted by
the Army. The Commission will furthermore
issue to the public its schedule of appearances and presentations in due course. Counsel to the IMN are to submit their memorandum no later than March 21, 2016.

Our Reaction to the Submission of Report by the Commission [is suumarized with the following]:
a. The Judicial Commission of inquiry showed its limitations and complete lack of power in compelling
the Department of State Services (DSS) to allow the
Legal Team access to the Leader of the Islamic
Movement in Nigeria and compelling the Service to
release him conditionally or unconditionally to testify before the Commission.
b. The Judicial Commission was aware that the
Kaduna State Government had made up its mind on
the immediate and remote causes of what it calls the
unfortunate incident of 12th and 13th of December
2015 by framing charges of culpable homicide,
rioting, unlawful assembly, possession of charms,
and unlawful restraint against 251 members of the
Islamic Movement in Nigeria.
c. The Commission never extended invitation to the
over 251 members of the Islamic Movement in
Nigeria that are detained in the Kaduna Prison
awaiting trial to testify before the Commission.
These are the direct victims of the incident and over
50 of them are still carrying bullets and bullet
wounds in their body [sic] and a number of them
have died in detention as a result of injuries sustained by them during the clash.
d. In the light of the above, the Legal Team could not
in good conscience continue participation in a judicial process with a pre-determined outcome.
e. The Legal Team of the Islamic Movement was fully
aware that the Commission was engaged in subterfuge and blackmail when its Counsel Mallam
Yusuf Ali, SAN informed the Commission that he
was yet to facilitate access to the leader of the
Islamic Movement only for the Commission to
claim on the same day that The Commission notes
that IMN has been represented by Counsel and is
satisfied that the said Counsel has been properly
briefed by the IMN
f. The Counsel to the Commission Mallam Yusuf Ali,
SAN did inform the Commission that he met with
the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria in
detention and he informed him of his willingness to
testify before the Commission yet the Commission
was powerless in getting the Department of State
Services to allow the leader of the Islamic Movement to testify before it.

Crescent International

August 2016

g. The Legal Team of the Islamic Movement (IMN) did

not have the locus to give evidence on behalf of a
client who the Commission was powerless to facilitate access to or compel his release and attendance.
h. The Legal Team insists that it would have been an
exercise in futility to continue participation and
appearance before the Judicial Commission of
Inquiry that deliberately refused to exercise the powers conferred on it by law to compel the release and
appearance of one of the parties when the said party
was being held by one of the parties to the dispute.
i. The Legal Team of the Islamic Movement (IMN) on
the instructions of the Leader of the Islamic Movement has since activated other constitutional and
legal avenues of redress and will continue to use the
instrumentality of the law to see that justice is done
and that due process and the rule of law continues
to be the guiding principle of our democracy.

Respected, loved and admired by Nigerias many religious

communities, Shaykh Zakzaky remains a symbol of hope and
resistance to all the oppressed people even while he remains
incarcerated at the hands of an oppressive system. It has
become further tainted by its unholy alliance with Wahhabism. g

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35

ISL AM/FUNDAMENTALS

Shirk cannot be dressed up to

prevent Gods justice
In this part of his tafsir, Imam Muhammad al-Asi continues his analysis of
Surah al-Nisa, the fourth surah of the Quran.
No good comes, as a rule, out of their secret confabulations saving such as are devoted to financial
justice, or equitable dealings, or setting a correct
social course among people: and to him who does
this out of longing for Allahs goodly acceptance We
shall in time grant a mighty reward.
But as for he who, after guidance has been
vouchsafed to him, cuts himself off from the Apostle and follows a path other than that of the committed Muslims, him shall We leave to that which
he himself has chosen, and shall cause him to
endure Hell: and how evil a journeys end!
Verily, Allah does not forgive the ascribing of
divine authority to anyone beside Him, although
He forgives any lesser sin to whomever He wills: for
those who ascribe divinity to any beside Allah have
indeed gone far astray. In His stead, they invoke
only lifeless symbols, thus invoking none but a
rebellious Satan, whom Allah has rejected for having said, Verily, of your servants I shall most certainly take my due share, and shall lead them
astray, and fill them with vain desires; and I shall
command them and they will cut off the ears of
cattle [in idolatrous sacrifice]; and I shall command
them and they will corrupt Allahs creation!
But all who take Satan rather than Allah for their
master do indeed, most clearly, lose all.
He holds out promises to them, and fills them
with vain desires, yet whatever Satan promises
them is but meant to delude the mind. Such as these
have Hell for their goal: and they shall find no way
to escape therefrom.
Yet those who commit [to Allah] and do righteous deeds We shall bring into gardens through
which running waters flow, therein to abide beyond
the count of time: this is, in truth, Allahs promise
and whose word could be truer than Allahs?
It may not accord with your wishful thinking,
nor with the wishful thinking of the followers of
earlier revelation, [that] he who does evil shall be
requited for it, and shall find none to protect him
from Allah, and none to bring him support,
Whereas anyone be it man or woman who
does [whatever he can] of good deeds and is a committed Muslim withal, shall enter Paradise, and
36

shall not be wronged by

as much as [would fill]
the groove of a datestone. And who could be
of better din than he who
cedes his whole being to Allah and is a doer of good
withal, and follows the millah of Ibrahim, who was
independent [of all false powers] seeing that
Allah exalted Ibrahim with His love?
For, to Allah belongs all that is in the heavens
and all that is on earth; and, indeed, Allah encompasses everything (4:114126).

This lesson builds on the previous ones and is a continuation

of the events that have unfolded. The Jew, a legal citizen of
Madinah, was declared not guilty of the specific offense
that some erstwhile Muslims tried to pin on him. The course
of justice as administered by Allahs Prophet (r) resulted in a
fellow Muslim renouncing Islam. Bashir ibn Ubayriq left
the fold of Islam and took an antagonistic position against
Muhammad (r). This fall from Islam into jahiliyah may be
expected when devout Quranic Muslims are more concerned
with obeying Allah () than with retaining ego- or clan-centered Muslims in their ranks.
This is the area in which Satan tugs at the exposure and
vulnerabilities of masjid-going Muslims. In this social, military, legal, and political course of development, Allah ()
expresses the eternal Quranic fidelity, loyalty, and conformity statement, Verily, Allah does not waive the crime of
shirk, but He does relinquish any other type of sin
Allah () tells the committed Muslims that nothing productive comes out of secret dialogues, especially those which
facilitate conspiracy and collusion, as was the case above
when some Muslims colluded to implicate a Jew for something he did not do. But there is an exception to this rule, and
so Allah () tells those who have dedicated themselves to
Him that the only type of confidential meeting He favors is
the one concerned with social, financial, and economic justice
among people.
Finally, Allah () explains that people are not to be sized
up by their verbal devotion but rather by their labor output,
their hard work, and their working together for what is right
and resourceful. Muslims, Christians, Jews, and all other people of scripture are to be gauged less by their words and imagination than by their works and profusion. Justice is a matter
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ISL AM/FUNDAMENTALS

of things done, right or wrong, and not about words

expressed, right or wrong. The world, the universe, and existence itself are contingent on and function according to this
truth. If the laws of existence were subject to the wishful
thinking and psychotic beliefs of human beings, especially
those whose self interest annuls their attention to the rights
and needs of others, then there would be chaos on earth and
in the heavens. To a large extent, because man has been given
a choice in whether or not he commits to Allahs () social
law, we can see the destructive impact of his wishful thinking
on the malfunction of the world as we know it.
No good comes, as a rule, out of their sequestered
meetings saving such as are devoted to financial
justice, or equitable dealings, or setting a correct
social course among people: and to he who does this
out of longing for Allahs goodly acceptance We shall
in time grant a supercharged compensation (4:114).

In this sequence of ayat, the Quran places a prohibition on

surreptitious meetings (najwa). The ayah is unequivocal in
notifying the Prophet (r) and the committed Muslims around
him that there were other Muslims in their ranks who were discussing some issue on their own, away from the Islamic leadership, and for the purpose of executing a confidential plan
a plan that, if executed, would put the larger Islamic body
politic in danger. In the open atmosphere of the first Islamic
society in the first Islamic State in Madinah, the Muslims were
educated, encouraged, and entrusted to come to Muhammad
(r) and present their particular proposal or problem. If the
issue was of a personal nature, the Muslim individual would
try to discuss it in confidence with the Prophet (r). However,
if the issue had to do with the course of social action or a public affair, then the Muslim individual would present it publicly
for everyone else there to become involved.
One apparent reason for this kind of public behavior is to
prevent the emergence, inside an Islamic society, of coteries
and cliques with personal priorities and breakaway tendencies. It may also help to reduce the possibility of Muslims
developing their own internal thoughts insofar as this mentality of secrecy seeks not to solicit the active participation of
the rest of the Muslims in any discussions and deliberations.
This prohibition on secretive, select, and private rendezvous
contributes to a more solidified Islamic public mind, which is
composed of the input of all Muslims, regardless of background or level of education, and represents the open and
accessible venue for them to contribute their unique thoughts.
Clandestine conferences are banned by this discourse. In
an Islamic social atmosphere, the masjid serves as the meeting
of minds, the convergence of opinions, the fermenting of feelings, and the determination of strategy. The masjid was not
intended for nonpersonal prayers, detached duas, or segregated congregations, as is vogue in todays world. Islamic society
in the image of this Quran is an open society, a forthright
society, a trusting society, a faithful society, and a communicaCrescent International

August 2016

tive society. All matters of public interest, social issues, and

military affairs were brought into the masjid unless they
were what is called nowadays state secrets or national security issues, or what is otherwise referred to as classified
information. The two areas that are off limits for public discussion in the masjid contain matters pertaining to state
secrets or an individuals privacy. In the unsealed and
unobstructed Islamic society, only those with evil on their
minds will take their internal thoughts into clandestine meetings to think of how to implement the covert decisions reached
therein. It is not surprising to find that the most active members of these cloak-and-dagger meetings were the munafiqs.
An Islamic society that arises out of this Quran has to be
confident enough to bring its concerns into the civic space to
be presented to the larger Muslim public mind, with such
presentation being supervised by credible and trustworthy
Muslims who are qualified to be true public servants when the
occasion merits it. In a transparent Islamic society, Muslims
come to their hub the masjid and express their thoughts
on social and public issues without legal impediments, free of
formality obstructions, and released from any type of psychological hindrance.
The only exceptions countenanced by Allah () to these
secluded conclaves are those, that are devoted to financial dispersals, or equitable dealings, or setting a corrective social course among people This may happen in the
case of what is called anonymous charity, where individuals
get together on their own to help another member in society
pay his debt, own a home, settle his family, or satisfy any
other need that requires a financial contribution from others.
Muslims are also allowed to convene privately to put an end
to a misunderstanding or dispute between other Muslims.

Imam al-Asis
unique khutbahs
now on-line
Every week for the last 33 years, Imam Muhammad
al-Asi has led jumuah prayers outside the Washington
Islamic Center, in protest at its subservience to despotic, pro-Western and anti-Islamic Muslim governments.
Now his passionate and insightful
khutbahs can be accessed on-line:

www.islamiccenterdc.com
37

ISL AM/FUNDAMENTALS

There is no prohibition for such an act of social reconciliation

if what facilitates it is the non-public meeting of volunteers
and those skilled at resolving conflicts. These types of meetings away from the public eye for the purpose of helping
other people out, helping other people meet their financial
obligations, helping other people reconcile with each other,
and otherwise helping other people without the social stigma
that sometimes may attend such deeds are not considered
to be conspiratorial in nature. They cannot be deemed to
exhibit a breakaway tendency, and they do not violate the
esprit de corps of the masjid-centered and authority-conscious Muslims provided all this is done to please Allah
and to move the Muslims ahead on a course to Allah ()
and to him who does this out of longing for Allahs
goodly acceptance We shall in time grant a significant recompense. These meetings hidden from public awareness, if
and when they do legitimately take place, are not meant to
boost anyones ego, to raise the status of a clique of people,
and to accommodate any type of personal gain. If someone is
seeking a reputation by calling such a meeting he does not
qualify for the blessings of this type of conclave.
The absence of a bona fide Islamic social order creates a
vacuum that is filled by influential najwas. The Quran takes
the committed Muslims into this area of human activity that
many people do not want to breach. There are, to be sure, very
influential inner circles of people who prefer to remain behind
the scenes, anonymous, and underground despite all the
power, wealth, and global clout they have. Or perhaps, it
could be said that by virtue of their wealth and power, they
can remain virtually unnoticed. They have many corresponding channels of influence: international finance, world politics, global agendas, social programs, and occasional
unpublished conferences and meetings. This is the concept of
najwa gone amok and institutional at the same time. Some of
their ideas and identities eventually make it into the mainstream such as the New World Order, the Secret Brotherhood,
the Bilderbergs, globalization, etc.
The prohibition of najwa included in this ayah applies to,
among others, what is known as Freemasonry the beliefs
and practices of a group of linked national and international
organizations open to men over the age of 21, united by a
common code of morals and certain traditional secrets.
Modern Freemasonry began in 18th-century Europe. On the
surface of it, Freemasons do much charitable work, but have
been criticized, almost since their inception, for their secrecy,
their male exclusivity, and their alleged use of influence within and between organizations (for example, the police or local
government) to further each others interests. It is said that
they have approximately six million members.
Freemasons apparently believe in God, whom they refer
to as the Great Architect of the Universe. Historical information suggests that Freemasonry is descended from a medieval
guild of itinerant masons, which existed in the 14th century,
and by the 16th, was admitting men unconnected with the
building trade. The term freemason may have meant a full
38

member of the guild or one working in freestone, that is, a

mason of the highest class. There were some 25 lodges in
17th-century Scotland, of which 16 were in centers of masonic
skills such as stone-masonry. Factual and reliable information
about the group, its history, its plans, and its membership is
hard to come by, so it is difficult to say how modern
Freemasonry became what it is. Nonetheless, it is said that the
present order of Free and Accepted Masons originated with the
formation in London of the first Grand Lodge, or governing
body (1717), and during the 18th century, spread from Britain
to the US, continental Europe, and elsewhere. In France and
other European countries, Freemasonry assumed a political
and anti-clerical character; it has been condemned by the papacy, and in some countries was suppressed by the state.
To get a better handle on the magnitude of the najwa
described in these ayat, consider the names of the following
American presidents who were members of the Masonic
najwa: Washington, Monroe, Jackson, Polk, Buchanan,
Andrew Johnson, Garfield, Taft, Harding, Truman, Ford, and
both Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt. Other well-known
American Masons include John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin,
Paul Revere, Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie,
Douglas MacArthur, J. Edgar Hoover, and Hubert Humphrey.
Belonging to the global club of these Freemasonic najwa affiliations are such influential personalities as Winston Churchill,
Cecil Rhodes, Horatio Nelson, Duke Arthur Wellington, John
Moore, Simon Bolivar, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Franz Joseph
Haydn (who provided the melody to Deutschland uber Alles),
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Hohann Wolfgang von Goethe,
Voltaire (Francois-Marie Arouet), Giuseppe Mazzini, Mikhail
Bakunin, Aleksandr Kerensky, Aleksandr Pushkin, Benito
Juarez, and Jose de San Martin.
Such are the types of individuals who join secret societies
and have their own agendas. They have to hold their meetings
in secret because they know that thinking, moral, and justicecentered people will reject their ideas and the plans based
upon them. In the God-defined society of Islam there are no
such behind-the-scenes fraternities or underground lodges.
The masjid is where individuals and societies open up to each
other to move their common condition forward with the best
possible accommodation of legitimate opinions that are based
on the understanding of the Quran and the best possible
adaptation to the Prophet (r). g

Crescent International

August 2016

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Crescents in-depth coverage of

global events
I am a long-time subscriber of Crescent
International magazine. Over the years,
I have come to appreciate the depth and
breadth of coverage it offers. It provides
me an understanding that is often completely missing from what passes off as
the Western corporate media. Elsewhere, it is either noise or distortion, but
no real news. Only Crescent offers the
kind of in-depth analysis that equips one
to present a coherent picture of what is
really going on.
Recently, I had a pleasant experience. After Eid al-Fitr, we were at a
friends house for dinner. On such occasions, Muslims often turn to Muslim
world affairs. Of the 15 or so guests,
only one person made sense of what was
being discussed. Others simply rattled

off what they had heard on CNN, Fox

News or al-Jazeera. As the discussion
heated up, the other guests were completely stumped. One of them asked,
where do you get your news and how do
you know so much? To my surprise, the
brother said he is a Crescent subscriber
and has been reading it for a long time.
I told the gathering that I too was a
Crescent subscriber. We had a good
laugh but it was obvious that those present were impressed by our knowledge of
global affairs, thanks to Crescents coverage of events. Please keep up the good
work. I make it a habit to introduce
Crescent to my friends. I would strongly
recommend others also to do the same.
Ahmed Abdul Rahman
Los Angeles, CA, US

Zionist hysteria over Quds Rally

Every year, Muslims and justice-seeking people participate in Quds Day rallies all over the world. Toronto is one of
the major cities where Quds rallies
attract a very large number of people,
supporters and otherwise. This year was
no exception. Thousands attended the
rally that was and has always been completely peaceful except for the Jewish
Defence [Offense] League (JDL) thugs
who indulge in violence.
The Zionists have gone berserk over
the success of Quds Day rallies in

Toronto. From blackmailing officials,

the Zionists have now started making
scandalous allegations against some of
the speakers. Like the illegitimate entity
they support, the Zionists, as compulsive liars, are not ashamed to make false
allegations. They will fail in this as they
have in preventing the Quds Day rallies
from being held. People are no longer
prepared to put up with Zionist racists
and bigots.
Ahmed Mohamad Ali
Toronto, ON, Canada

Trump and Clinton: pity America!

The American political system is completely broken. Tens of millions of people feel totally disenfranchised. The
political system has thrown up a racist
and bigot in Donald Trump who pretends to be an outsider but made his billions from this system. Opposing him is
Hillary Clinton, a vicious woman who is
Crescent International

August 2016

likely to wage even more wars that have

already made America so hated globally. Most Americans feel trapped; they
have nowhere to turn. Even Bernie
Sanders turned out to be a cruel hoax.
Pity the American people!
John Vanderbilt
Carbondale, IL, US

Mleeta

Thank you for carrying the report on

Mleeta, where a museum has been
opened for the heroic deeds of Hizbullah fighters who gave a fitting response
to Zionist aggressors (CI, July 2016). I
had visited Mleeta in 2012 and was
amazed at the ingenuity of Hizbullah
fighters. The lesson I came away with
was that if people are committed to
Islamic principles and prepared to
make sacrifices for them, Allah ()
will crown them with victory.
Zainab Abu Zahra
Montreal, PQ, Canada

Bahrain, Yemen

The people of Bahrain and Yemen are

the victims of Saudi aggression. In
Bahrain, the illegitimate Khalifa
regime is oppressing the majority Shii
population. It is backed by the Saudi
regime. In Yemen, the Saudis are leading the charge against the aspirations
of the poor but determined people of
the country. We pray for the success of
both: the people of Bahrain and those
in Yemen. They must not lose heart;
Allah () will definitely help them in
their legitimate struggle for rights and
dignity.
Mansour Ali
Dearborn, MI, US

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email:
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