Editorial - Silencing the watchdog
By Bashir Goth
After banning music, concerts, cinemas, home videos, mixed gender singing in wedding ceremonies and even watching international sports on satellite television, the Islamist clerics in Mogadishu have now decided to deprive the Somali people of their last window of freedom, the free press.
In an attempt to create a supine media that applauds their onslaught on the freedoms of the people, the Wahhabist-oriented Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) have proposed draconian regulations aimed at purging the press of telling the truth. The war-weary and famine ravaged Somali people could not help but to turn a blind eye to the Islamists initial encroachments on their personal freedoms. Well, yes, singing is the nemesis of hunger in Africa, it alleys fear at times of war and entertains the hungry at times of famine, but the Somali people may have thought that relinquishing their right to sing might not be that disastrous if the Islamists were going to bring them real peace and real food. READ MORE On Awdalnews Network.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Sex is a Massive U.S. Industry
By Bashir Goth
Somalia/United Arab Emirates - Americans are not the only ones obsessed with sex and politics. Sex has forever been the bane and blessing of humankind. It is the cause of man's fall. Kingdoms have been turned to dust because of sex. There have been epic conflicts and thousands of ship launched for the sake of a woman. Both female and male sexual organs have been worshipped at times. Holy places often bear the structure of female reproductive organs or are decorated with representations of them. Great works of literature such as Shehrazade's Thousand Nights and the Kama Sutra have been woven around sexual escapades. READ MORE on Washington Post/Postglobal
By Bashir Goth
Somalia/United Arab Emirates - Americans are not the only ones obsessed with sex and politics. Sex has forever been the bane and blessing of humankind. It is the cause of man's fall. Kingdoms have been turned to dust because of sex. There have been epic conflicts and thousands of ship launched for the sake of a woman. Both female and male sexual organs have been worshipped at times. Holy places often bear the structure of female reproductive organs or are decorated with representations of them. Great works of literature such as Shehrazade's Thousand Nights and the Kama Sutra have been woven around sexual escapades. READ MORE on Washington Post/Postglobal
Thursday, October 05, 2006
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
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
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
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