Look Out For Shia-Sunni War
By Bashir Goth
Washington Post/Postglobal,4Oct. 2006=
Somalia/United Arab Emirates - Given the abhorrent sectarian strife in Iraq, one might envision federalism as the only reasonable way to stop the bloodshed and pinch down violence to its roots. But dividing the country into oil rich Shiite south and Kurdish north with a Sunni dominated waste land in the West and northwest will be a recipe for a more explosive situation. Oil will fuel a long struggle for survival.
One must also consider the ethnic and religious groups such as Assyrians, Turkmen, Armenians, Persians, Christians and Jews that could lose their identity and political rights within a federal Iraq.
The source of the current violence is unclear. It is hard to believe that citizens of the same country could commit such unprecedented crimes against each just in the name of revenge or in a power struggle. The only plausible explanation is that what is happening in Iraq is a war by proxy of neighboring regional powers. It is known that the rule of Iraq was in the hand of Sunni Arabs since the Umayyad dynasty. The Kurds had also their day in power through the Ayyubids whose rule extended from Iraq through the Levant countries to Egypt.
READ MORE Washington Post
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Friday, September 29, 2006
Community Censorship Plagues the House of Islam
By Bashir Goth
Even worse than the official censorship is censorship imposed by the community, which then becomes self-censorship. Friends, colleagues and even ordinary acquaintances all impose strict censorship rules on me under the guise of being concerned about my personal safety or honor. They demand that I tone down my strong views about sensitive issues.
Freedom of the press in the Muslim world cannot be separated from freedom of expression in general. Journalists, due to their conspicuous public role, risk their lives everyday. They have been targeted and killed in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine, Somalia, Sudan and other countries. The Muslim world is not a friendly place for freedom of speech at all.
Journalists, creative writers and artists all share the same fate. The writer in a Muslim society is in shackles. Every time I put pen to paper it is a struggle against the tyranny of community-imposed self-censorship. Nowhere is Rousseau's statement that "Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains," truer than in the House of Islam.
Read More Washingpost/Postglobal,
More Commentaries ussneverdock,antimedia,pickledpolitics, Democracy-project,
time,
tailrank and Censor Watch.
By Bashir Goth
Even worse than the official censorship is censorship imposed by the community, which then becomes self-censorship. Friends, colleagues and even ordinary acquaintances all impose strict censorship rules on me under the guise of being concerned about my personal safety or honor. They demand that I tone down my strong views about sensitive issues.
Freedom of the press in the Muslim world cannot be separated from freedom of expression in general. Journalists, due to their conspicuous public role, risk their lives everyday. They have been targeted and killed in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine, Somalia, Sudan and other countries. The Muslim world is not a friendly place for freedom of speech at all.
Journalists, creative writers and artists all share the same fate. The writer in a Muslim society is in shackles. Every time I put pen to paper it is a struggle against the tyranny of community-imposed self-censorship. Nowhere is Rousseau's statement that "Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains," truer than in the House of Islam.
Read More Washingpost/Postglobal,
More Commentaries ussneverdock,antimedia,pickledpolitics, Democracy-project,
time,
tailrank and Censor Watch.
Why No Action in Darfur? Race
By Bashir Goth
Looking at the prolonged suffering of the people of Darfur, one wonders why the world fails to act? There is a nagging explanation that comes to the African's mind: The question of race.
Back in July 2004 the two chambers of the U.S. Congress passed a resolution declaring the atrocities in Darfur genocide. Since then the world has been making a lot of sympathetic noise but taken no tangible action to pacify Darfur. Apart from the African Union's under financed and ill-equipped peacekeeping force, the world has been turning a deaf ear to what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian disaster.
Read More Washingtonpost/postgloal
By Bashir Goth
Looking at the prolonged suffering of the people of Darfur, one wonders why the world fails to act? There is a nagging explanation that comes to the African's mind: The question of race.
Back in July 2004 the two chambers of the U.S. Congress passed a resolution declaring the atrocities in Darfur genocide. Since then the world has been making a lot of sympathetic noise but taken no tangible action to pacify Darfur. Apart from the African Union's under financed and ill-equipped peacekeeping force, the world has been turning a deaf ear to what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian disaster.
Read More Washingtonpost/postgloal
Politics Precedes Religion
By Bashir Goth
Looking at the Middle East and the Muslim world in general one can see that Pope Benedict's tongue in cheek apology didn't go down well. One of the renowned scholars, Sheikh Yousef Al Qaradawi, said in his popular Al Jazeera Television program that he thought the Pope had not apologized. Qaradawi had even called on Muslims to hold a day of " anger" on Friday, the last Friday before the start of Ramadan.
Read more WashingtonPost/Postglobal
By Bashir Goth
Looking at the Middle East and the Muslim world in general one can see that Pope Benedict's tongue in cheek apology didn't go down well. One of the renowned scholars, Sheikh Yousef Al Qaradawi, said in his popular Al Jazeera Television program that he thought the Pope had not apologized. Qaradawi had even called on Muslims to hold a day of " anger" on Friday, the last Friday before the start of Ramadan.
Read more WashingtonPost/Postglobal
Thursday, September 21, 2006
September 18, 2006 - 15:56
Editorial - Sister Leonella, yet another humanitarian murdered
By Bashir Goth.
"I forgive", she said, "I forgive". True to her nature of kindness, altruism and a heart devoid of rancor and vengeance, Sister Leonella Sgorbati, had with these words taught a lesson to her cowardly killers in her last breath of life.
She was adamant to the last minute to emphasize that the criminal action of a few lost souls were not going to rob her of her love for humanity and the beauty of forgiveness. She refused her goodness to be defeated by evil and her humanitarian mission to be overshadowed by cruelty. She lived as an angel of mercy and died as a saint.
Just like her countrywoman Annalena Tonelli before here, sister Leonella Sgorbati viewed her killers as misguided and disturbed individuals who needed her help and being on her deathbed the only help she could offer was to embrace them and protect them despite their despicable action.
Like Annalena, Sister Leonella had for many years cared for the orphaned children, the mental patients, the infirm elders, the sick and abandoned individuals and the marginalized children of God. She chose her Spartan life in Somalia to a life of plenty in her own country. She found her paradise in caring for the sick and the destitute in one of the most dangerous places and culturally one of the most ungrateful people on earth.
As a martyr she lived and as a martyr she died. And heaven knows that she will reap the good she sowed on earth in the life after.
She forgave her killers because unlike us ordinary human beings she saw that evil could only be defeated by goodness. But we ordinary human beings know that there are certain evil men that cannot be transformed by any amount of good. We, therefore, demand these hapless and mean human beings be brought to justice and punished for their heinous crime.
It is time for the Islamists of Mogadishu to stop shifting the blame and act responsibly to bring these culprits to justice. It is time for them to prove to the world that Islamic justice is not only about flogging delinquents and burning music videos but also protecting and respecting human life regardless of race and religion.
It is about time that they show the world that those foreigners who care for our poor and our sick are holier and deserve God’s mercy more than any self proclaimed cleric who sees nothing but evil come from people of other religions.
Also on Awdalnews Network
Editorial - Sister Leonella, yet another humanitarian murdered
By Bashir Goth.
"I forgive", she said, "I forgive". True to her nature of kindness, altruism and a heart devoid of rancor and vengeance, Sister Leonella Sgorbati, had with these words taught a lesson to her cowardly killers in her last breath of life.
She was adamant to the last minute to emphasize that the criminal action of a few lost souls were not going to rob her of her love for humanity and the beauty of forgiveness. She refused her goodness to be defeated by evil and her humanitarian mission to be overshadowed by cruelty. She lived as an angel of mercy and died as a saint.
Just like her countrywoman Annalena Tonelli before here, sister Leonella Sgorbati viewed her killers as misguided and disturbed individuals who needed her help and being on her deathbed the only help she could offer was to embrace them and protect them despite their despicable action.
Like Annalena, Sister Leonella had for many years cared for the orphaned children, the mental patients, the infirm elders, the sick and abandoned individuals and the marginalized children of God. She chose her Spartan life in Somalia to a life of plenty in her own country. She found her paradise in caring for the sick and the destitute in one of the most dangerous places and culturally one of the most ungrateful people on earth.
As a martyr she lived and as a martyr she died. And heaven knows that she will reap the good she sowed on earth in the life after.
She forgave her killers because unlike us ordinary human beings she saw that evil could only be defeated by goodness. But we ordinary human beings know that there are certain evil men that cannot be transformed by any amount of good. We, therefore, demand these hapless and mean human beings be brought to justice and punished for their heinous crime.
It is time for the Islamists of Mogadishu to stop shifting the blame and act responsibly to bring these culprits to justice. It is time for them to prove to the world that Islamic justice is not only about flogging delinquents and burning music videos but also protecting and respecting human life regardless of race and religion.
It is about time that they show the world that those foreigners who care for our poor and our sick are holier and deserve God’s mercy more than any self proclaimed cleric who sees nothing but evil come from people of other religions.
Also on Awdalnews Network
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Editorial: Sleeping with a devil in Islamic clothing
By Bashir Goth
Peace is sweet but peace without dignity and freedom is no peace at all. The Islamists who took the power in Mogadishu told the people to have peace, go about their business, eat and drink, conjugate and have many children, go to the mosque and pray five times a day, send their children to Madrasses where they get brainwashed and chant Koran interpreted in a satanic way by Wahhabist/Salafist clerics and give praise to Allah that the warlords who kept them hostage for 15 years have gone.
They compare their conquest of Mogadishu to that of Prophet Mohammed's conquest of Mecca from the Quraishite pagans. They believe that they are acting on God's behest and that the Almighty guides their guns. We tell them that they are not the army of Mohammed and that they are not in anyway nearer to Allah than a woman dancing to music in a beautiful wedding or tantalizing people's inner feelings with her melodious voice. We tell them that prophet Mohammed didn't ban music and dance and did not in anyway deny people to enjoy the pleasures of life. He is the one who told Aisha to send a singing girl for an Ansari wedding and who allowed Aisha to watch African dancers on an Eid day in Mecca. Mohammed is he who said that "God did not send me to be harsh, or cause harm, but He sent me to teach and make things easy."
The warlords used brute force to coercion people and the Islamists use brute religion to dehumanize people. They ban music not because it is against religion but because it is beyond their realm of control. They close cinema houses and theatre not because they spread vice but because they want to keep the people in the dark. They hide women not because Islam orders their mummification but because Islamists suffer from a masculinity problem. They think he who is not a master of his wife cannot be a master of others. Power and tyranny is their ultimate goal and tyranny should first crush and subdue the weak so the strong could tremble. Anyone who wants to see where the Islamists would like to lead Somalia should only see how they treat women, music and ideas. These three elements constitute the beauty, spirit and future of any nation. In a story published by the Islamist Qaadisiya website on the graduation of 140 women who completed a course on cooking and handicrafts at a center called Asma Bint Omair Center, reflects a glimpse of what is in store for women. Only pictures of the Islamist officials who attended the ceremony and row after row of food was shown. It seems as if the photographer tried to accentuate his frustration by showing many food items, as he was not allowed to show the faces of women for whom the ceremony was held. READ MORE on Awdalnews, MEMRI,Joels Trumpet,
By Bashir Goth
Peace is sweet but peace without dignity and freedom is no peace at all. The Islamists who took the power in Mogadishu told the people to have peace, go about their business, eat and drink, conjugate and have many children, go to the mosque and pray five times a day, send their children to Madrasses where they get brainwashed and chant Koran interpreted in a satanic way by Wahhabist/Salafist clerics and give praise to Allah that the warlords who kept them hostage for 15 years have gone.
They compare their conquest of Mogadishu to that of Prophet Mohammed's conquest of Mecca from the Quraishite pagans. They believe that they are acting on God's behest and that the Almighty guides their guns. We tell them that they are not the army of Mohammed and that they are not in anyway nearer to Allah than a woman dancing to music in a beautiful wedding or tantalizing people's inner feelings with her melodious voice. We tell them that prophet Mohammed didn't ban music and dance and did not in anyway deny people to enjoy the pleasures of life. He is the one who told Aisha to send a singing girl for an Ansari wedding and who allowed Aisha to watch African dancers on an Eid day in Mecca. Mohammed is he who said that "God did not send me to be harsh, or cause harm, but He sent me to teach and make things easy."
The warlords used brute force to coercion people and the Islamists use brute religion to dehumanize people. They ban music not because it is against religion but because it is beyond their realm of control. They close cinema houses and theatre not because they spread vice but because they want to keep the people in the dark. They hide women not because Islam orders their mummification but because Islamists suffer from a masculinity problem. They think he who is not a master of his wife cannot be a master of others. Power and tyranny is their ultimate goal and tyranny should first crush and subdue the weak so the strong could tremble. Anyone who wants to see where the Islamists would like to lead Somalia should only see how they treat women, music and ideas. These three elements constitute the beauty, spirit and future of any nation. In a story published by the Islamist Qaadisiya website on the graduation of 140 women who completed a course on cooking and handicrafts at a center called Asma Bint Omair Center, reflects a glimpse of what is in store for women. Only pictures of the Islamist officials who attended the ceremony and row after row of food was shown. It seems as if the photographer tried to accentuate his frustration by showing many food items, as he was not allowed to show the faces of women for whom the ceremony was held. READ MORE on Awdalnews, MEMRI,Joels Trumpet,
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Somaliland: the only hope remaining in Africa's Pandora's Box
By Bashir Goth
A Somali anecdote says that the elders of a clan had agreed to call for a council meeting.
"Call all the elders," one of them said, to which a little boy who was up in the tree under which the meeting was to be held responded:
“Don’t call only the elders; call the intelligent people of the clan?” Realizing the sagacity of his words, the elders decided to include him in the meeting.
Over the last 15 years, Somaliland has been like that little boy, calling African elders to heed the voice of sagacity and wisdom on its issue, while African leaders have been blocking their ears and turning their backs to it.
Often described as “ Africa’s Best Kept Secret”, Somaliland is the youngest and best example of an African homegrown democracy. Its statehood, however, goes back into the dawn of Africa's postcolonial history when Somaliland emerged as an independent and sovereign state from the British rule in 1960 as part of Africa ’s wind of change.
Amid the euphoria of nationalism spearheaded by Africa's liberation fathers of the day, Somaliland gave up its hard won independence to unite with Italian Somalia as the precursor of a greater Somalia, which included bringing all the Somali territories in the Horn of Africa under one national flag.
Read full story on Awdalnews;
Wardheernews; Qarannews
By Bashir Goth
A Somali anecdote says that the elders of a clan had agreed to call for a council meeting.
"Call all the elders," one of them said, to which a little boy who was up in the tree under which the meeting was to be held responded:
“Don’t call only the elders; call the intelligent people of the clan?” Realizing the sagacity of his words, the elders decided to include him in the meeting.
Over the last 15 years, Somaliland has been like that little boy, calling African elders to heed the voice of sagacity and wisdom on its issue, while African leaders have been blocking their ears and turning their backs to it.
Often described as “ Africa’s Best Kept Secret”, Somaliland is the youngest and best example of an African homegrown democracy. Its statehood, however, goes back into the dawn of Africa's postcolonial history when Somaliland emerged as an independent and sovereign state from the British rule in 1960 as part of Africa ’s wind of change.
Amid the euphoria of nationalism spearheaded by Africa's liberation fathers of the day, Somaliland gave up its hard won independence to unite with Italian Somalia as the precursor of a greater Somalia, which included bringing all the Somali territories in the Horn of Africa under one national flag.
Read full story on Awdalnews;
Wardheernews; Qarannews
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