Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Anti-Semitism Rears Its Ugly Head in Muslim Press in Jakarta--leave it to someone in Germany to do so: Funny how we don't view White Christians as Dangerous, given them being in charge and all

presumably non-serious white anti-Semitic propagandistic message is from here

The implication in the comments below the article in this post is that white Christians are good, and can only ever be subordinate to the Jew; and that Jews can only ever be assumed to be white. This is assumed even while that has never been historically true--ever. The fallacious idea--a potent one for fascists and oppressed anti-Semites alike--is that (white) Jews REALLY rule, but (white) Christians just APPEAR to rule. This is often what is said about women, and Black people, and the poor, of course.

Patriarchal media--and men themselves--tell us that men don't rule women; women rule men by being all seductive and shit--forgetting, neatly, that it is men that rape and harass and traffic women and girls, not the other way around; white media--and whites themselves--often tell us that whites don't rule Black people, it's Black people, after all, who get into colleges without the grades to back up the admission letters, forgetting, of course, that the matter of getting into colleges is often set by 'who you know' and 'who has money', and Black people, relative to whites in the U.S., have never had more money or more social capital: so generations of wealthier whites get in because their parents did--and not at all because of the grades; media owned, operated, and profited off of by the wealthy tell us that the poor are the greatest thieves of federal tax dollars in the U.S., not the rich, who steal by not even paying taxes, and who steal outright, in every way conceivable--by historically and currently taking land, taking resources, and taking lives.

This is why we cannot organise against the most powerful: because oppressed people always see the most powerful as never being the ones truly in charge; instead we focus on each other as the enemy. Sad. Sad. Sad. See below.

As long as white Christian het men in the U.S. who rule, are seen never to be in charge, how can they be appropriately held to account? As long as political ideologies-in-practice like, oh, say, male supremacy, white supremacy, Christian supremacy, and heterosexism cannot and will not even be NAMED, how can we organise effectively against white Christian het male supremacy? It is still being globalised and it does shape public and private policy around the world--without ever being named by the dominant cultural media.

What follows is an article and two comments from The Jakarta Post. Please click on the title below to link back.

What the death of Osama bin Laden means

Muhamad Ali, Riverside, California | Wed, 05/04/2011 11:02 PM | Opinion
As I watched US President Barack Obama announcing the death of Osama bin Laden with his body buried at sea after Saudi Arabia refused to accept it, I posted my reactions through my Twitter account.

“An ideology is hard to kill with the death of its advocates like Bin Laden, but his death can help reduce his global leadership.”

I tweeted further: “Osama and many terrorists have used Islam to sustain their ideologies and actions, but they don’t represent around 1 billion Muslims in the world.”

However, the death has meant different things to different people around the globe. Many in the US and elsewhere have welcomed and celebrated Bin Laden’s demise as a victory over the leader of number-one terrorist network al-Qaeda.

Obama thinks “we can all agree this is a good day for America”. Obama and Hillary Clinton pointed out that “justice has been served” for the victims of 9/11 in particular, and Americans in general. Many say “the world is now safer”.

American Muslim leaders, including that of CAIR (Council of American-Islamic Relations) welcome the death, because “Osama was a mass murderer”.

Muslim Senator Keith Ellison said Bin Laden was responsible for mass killings in the US, Pakistan, Iraq, Kenya, Tanzania and more, and had caused fear and suffering for many.

Some in the US have expressed their ambivalence toward the death: The killing of a man without trial is clearly not correct for them. Some would expect Bin Laden to have been captured alive.

Some, including self-proclaimed Christians, said “they do not rejoice the death of a human being, no matter how monstrous he was”.

“Judgment and punishment are up to God,” Christian author James Martin wrote. Although he prays that Bin Laden’s departure may lead to peace, as a Christian, he is asked to pray for Bin Laden and at some point forgive him, a command that comes from Jesus.

In Indonesia, when people are preoccupied with domestic problems, including how to deal with the spread of the Negara Islam Indonesia (NII, the Indonesian Islamic State) ideology, including in schools and colleges, mixed responses have been voiced in the media: Many have welcomed the death, whereas others, including the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) moderate leader Said Aqil Siradj implicitly welcomed it but added that the Allied Forces in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Libya could also be regarded as terrorists, radicals and uncivilized.

The US, he implied, should not demonstrate double standards, but serve justice in dealing with terrorism.

Some Islamist leaders have said Bin Laden’s death will not eliminate al-Qaeda. Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) president Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq said the death would have no direct impact in Indonesia because none of Bin Laden’s family has investments here.

He added that violence came from injustice and poverty, so violence would not stop if justice and prosperity were absent.

Another PKS leader commented that al-Qaeda was based on an ideology and had a developed organization and recruitment system and therefore terrorism remained a threat.

Some liberal progressive activists commented that it would be better if Bin Laden were captured alive so he could stand trial and people could hear what he had to say.

Progressive activists commented only a little. One simply observed that when a friend is killed the loss is mourned, but when an enemy is killed, it is rejoiced.

They seem to agree with an analyst that the loss of a symbolic, semi-charismatic leader whose own survival burnished his legend was significant, but that radicalism and violence were not about to end.

Many questions have been raised, including about the future of terrorist ideology: Will terrorism decline? Will the death of Osama bin Laden bring a new world order? How should the world leaders address the root causes of terrorism and reduce its spread in many parts of the world, including Indonesia?

The fatwas or edicts reportedly from Bin Laden have been read and translated into many languages. The edicts issued in 1996, 1998, 2004 and later years contained a global call to war waged against the US and mention some of the reasons for Bin Laden’s ideology of terror: Because of the US presence in the holy sites Mecca and Medina, the unqualified US support of Israel and of the US attacks on Iraq and other “Muslim soil”.

Bin Laden urges the Muslim world to kill American crusaders and Jews, combatants and civilians as well as whoever is in support of them.

For those who show support or sympathy, Bin Laden constitutes a symbol of resistance against the US power. Some observers like Middle Eastern historian Bernard Lewis have argued that Bin Laden was a model for anti-globalization, anti-Westernization and anti-modernism.

Other scholars comment that terrorists as fundamentalists have lived as by-product of modernity.

But the appeal of Bin Laden cannot be overstated because many fatwas were issued to reject such calls. Most Muslims have rejected terrorism, the killing of civilians and the use of violence.

The struggle and discursive debate among Muslim leaders and groups have intensified between those who agree with the ideas but not the violent tactics; those who reject violence and terrorism without qualification; those who sympathize with terrorists and those who commit similar acts of terror in London, Bombay, Manila, Bali, Jakarta and other places.

A survey conducted by Pew Research Center on Muslim publics around the world a few months prior to Bin Laden’s death indicates little support for the al-Qaeda leader. In the Palestinian territories, which he used as rationale for his war, only 34 percent expressed confidence in him to do the right thing in world affairs.

In 2011, about 26 percent of Indonesians supported Bin Laden, compared to 22 percent of Egyptians and 13 percent of Jordanians. These numbers dropped from the figures in 2003 and 2005. This explains why there have been fewer reactions to Bin Laden’s death in the Muslim world than in the US.

Now that Bin Laden has been officially confirmed dead, some people have remained concerned about the perpetration of his ideology.

Others have raised more ethical, philosophical questions about just war, patriotism based on killing, the value of human beings, violence to end violence, soft power and hard power, and the like. Others have pointed to addressing the root causes of terrorism and its circumstances.

The death of a world terrorist seems to have been welcomed by many, albeit in different ways, but this is not sufficient to make this complex world a safer place to live.

The writer is an assistant professor in Islamic studies, Religious Studies Department, University of California, Riverside.

Two disturbing comments were posted at the time I visited. Here they are:
Ahmad G. Ikram, Germany | Wed, 04/05/2011 - 16:05pm
Obama wants to win the next general elections. His advice come from the Jewish lobby, which has now accepts him as a good Christian. His Cairo Declaration some 2 years ago was a farce. Now he is clearly pro-Israel. Obama can perhaps win the next elections and improve his bad image in the US.

No president in the United States can win the elections, if he is not working closely with the powerful Jewish lobby. (Former President Jimmy Carter some two years ago told the plain truth in the CNN).

Moreover, the assassination method reminds me of the Israeli Army, Mossad or Zionists. [The current chief of the CIA is a Jew (Leon Paneta). He would be nominated the new Secretary of Defence in some weeks.] They kill the enemies in this way. The method of assassination has violated the dictum of Christian Agape (Love) for the enemies as well as the International Law. The man, who was assassinated was an inmate from a US Jail and the blood, which was shown in the bungalow of Osama in Abbotabad was probably the blood of this an US-Inmate.

Edo E., Jakarta | Wed, 04/05/2011 - 19:05pm
Yes, Ahmad, Osama has been dead for years, the question is: why now? My first thought was: the freezer, where they kept his corpse, went out of order and the body began irreparably to decompose. So the US-elite had to invent a mission, kill all enemies and throw the real (?) corpse into the sea. A picture of Bin Laden's alleged corpse has already been found of being a manipulated fake.

The Talmudic lobby (disguising as "Jews" to label every attacker as anti Semite) in the US controls the media, the big banks, the US-government, Wall Street and owns the Fed. These misanthropic monsters support Israel as long as it is useful for them, thus there will never be peace in the Near East. And they inflame the "clash of civilizations" to get rid of their 2 big enemies: Islam and Christendom, them being the laughing third party (the same since WW I). Interestingly enough, the latest news say that Bin Laden was "unarmed" when attacked. Together with the "leaked" pictures of Guantanamo, one can see the pattern: to make more Muslims hate the West, especially the USA. The Talmudists are pure evil.

And here's my response to those two commenters:
JulianReal, United States | Wed, 04/05/2011 - 23:05pm
To the commenters: Given that every U.S. president has been Christian, and given that all media is controlled by white Christians, and given that Christianity rules in the U.S., why it is you think Jews (who are not all white, by the way) possess a propagandistic secret power to rule the Western world--and to rule over white Christians, when historically that's never been the case: ever. You'd think if Jews did rule, that somewhere in the Judeo-Christian world Christians wouldn't appear to be on top each and every time. Do you really believe white Christian men, like George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and Dick Cheney, were and are powerless people? (They're all Christian.) What would happen, I wonder, if Muslims and Jews realised that it is only white Christian men calling the shots and ruling the West?

P.S. And, if the "Jewish lobby" is so all-powerful, how come we've never had a Jewish president? Doesn't that kind of tell you maybe the "white supremacist Christian lobby" is even MORE powerful?

When are these stories of terrorism going to get coverage on CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC?

Photo: Havasupai gathering to halt uranium mining in Grand Canyon/copyright Brenda Norrell

The photo above and all that is below is from Brenda Norrell at Censored News. I hope she's in charge of a one of the last few news media conglomerates soon. Then maybe we'll find out about the unreported terrorism committed by the U.S. government leaders and corporate heads against Indigenous people across the globally and locally. Please click on the title below to link back. Thank you so very much, Brenda. And thank you to all the Indigenous activists who go unnamed by corporate news media.

Notes from the Fifth World: Protecting Mother Earth

Censored News

--US theft of Navajo water rights hits snag in Congress
--Zapatistas march in silence San Cristobal, May 7
--Wounded Knee, SD, Environmental Film Forum May 7
--Protect Glen Cove, Day 18
--'Lets Rape Mother Earth' American Indian leaders testify in DC
--Elderly activists use wire cutters to break into Navajo base to protest nuclear industry
--Protect Grand Canyon from uranium mining
--Haiti farmers burn Monsanto genetically modified seeds, Navajo Nation farm keeps using them
--UN OBSERVER & International Report seeks to begin publishing again

US theft of Navajo water rights hits snag in Congress
The plan to dupe Navajos out of their Arizona water rights, and their future, has hit a snag. Non-Indian attorneys were recently able to convince the Navajo Nation Council to approve the theft of Navajo water rights in Arizona. The US is using water rights settlements with Indian Nations to steal American Indian water rights all across the west. As former Navajo Chairman Peter MacDonald points out, the Winters Doctrine assures Navajos and other Native Americans of expansive water rights. It is a fact that the US doesn't want American Indian Nations to pursue in federal court. Meanwhile, the US wants the rights to Colorado River water in Arizona, and rivers throughout the west, for cities, power plants and corporate profits. The US has non-Indian attorneys working for Indian Nations to secure the theft of their water rights.
  
Kathy Helms reports in the Gallup Independent, "The proposed $800 million Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Agreement approved by the Navajo Nation last November is 'too expensive' and will not be introduced to Congress in its current form, according to court documents."
Helms quotes a report dated April 19 from Arizona Superior Court Special Master George A. Schade Jr., stating that parties to the settlement were informed March 24, by U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., that the proposed settlement is too expensive. "Navajo Nation water rights attorney Stanley Pollack stated in the report that Kyl is unwilling to introduce legislation to authorize the settlement in its current form given the current political and fiscal climate in Washington." (Read more in the May 2, 2011 Gallup Independent)

Zapatistas march in silence in San Cristobal May 7, 2011
Subcomandante Marcos: The indigenous Zapatistas will march in silence in the city of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas on May 7 to exercise our constitutional rights. After ending the march in silence, we will speak our words in Spanish and in our native languages, and after that we will return to our communities, villages and homes. In our silent march we will bring banners and signs with messages saying “Stop Calderón’s war,” “No more blood,” and “We have had it up to here.” We ask that you convey these words to the family members of the 49 boys and girls who died and the 70 others who were injured in the tragedy at the ABC daycare center in Hermosillo, Sonora, to the dignified Madres de Ciudad Juárez, to the Baron and Reyes Salazar families from Chihuahua, to the family members and friends of the victims in this arrogant war, to the human rights defenders of citizens and immigrants, to all of those who come together for the National March for Justice and against Impunity. Read statement in English/Espanol: http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/05/zapatistas-march-in-silence-may-2011.html

Also see:
Frontera NorteSur News: Zapatistas join Drug War Protest:
http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/fns-news-zapatistas-join-drug-war.html

Wounded Knee Environmental Film Forum May 7, 2011
An Environmental Awareness Film Forum will be held on Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 1pm at the Wounded Knee District School in Manderson, SD. Three films will be screened, followed by Guest Speakers to present updates on the environmental protection work they are involved in. The films include Water Is Life by Art Is Action, which is an 8 minute show that chronicles the impacts of uranium mining to the drinking water and health conditions on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and that examines the dwindling drinking water supply in this area; the 28 minute film Poison Wind by 220 Productions, which shares the voice of the Navajo Nation and other tribal peoples in the southwestern United States who are impacted by uranium mining; and a work in progress by Prairie Dust Films which documents support for and opposition against uranium mining in Nebraska and in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  
More:
http://www.oweakuinternational.org/Owe_Aku_IJP/Film_Forum.html and
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/04/wounded-knee-sd-environmental-film-and.html

Protect Glen Clove, Day 18, May 1, 2011
It was a very social Sunday. Internationally acclaimed actor Michael Horse and his partner Pennie Opal Plant from Gathering Tribes Art Gallery in Berkeley paid us a visit and donated much needed supplies. Artists from Oakland donated two spray-painted banners. A limo pulled up to the gate, full of DJs from a local radio station, who visited and brought us fruit. Then a trio of Mormons appeared–after being informed that proselytizing to our participants was forbidden, they joined us for a short while.

Doug and Clayton Duncan from Robinson Rancheria and Gary Thomas of the Elem Pomo Roundhouse shared the story of the massacre of their ancestors at Bloody Island and offered songs. Their family members sang healing songs and danced in honor of the women, accompanied by prayers offered by a Taino Elder from Puerto Rico. More: http://www.protectglencove.ogr/


'Lets Rape Mother Earth' Indian leaders testify on energy in DC

Testimony in DC by Tex Hall, Ben Shelly and others: http://naturalresources.house.gov/Calendar/EventSingle.aspx?EventID=229900
Dine' Citizens against Ruining our Environment points out Navajo President Ben Shelly's bizarre testimony (at Censored News.) Shelly released a press statement promoting the planned Desert Rock Power plant. Tex G. Hall, Chairman Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation of the Fort Berthold Reservation, wants more oil and gas drilling into Mother Earth. Hall says the US has too much "unnecessary red tape and bureaucratic delays" to carry out the destruction he desires for dollars. During the testimony in DC, Michael Connolly, Campo Band of Mission Indians, spoke out for renewable energy. The Chickasaw encouraged biofuel. Testimony includes statements from Crow Tribe in Montana and Ute Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation.  
During the climate summits in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and Cancun, Mexico, in 2010, there were no US elected Native American leaders present to join Bolivian President Evo Morales in his global efforts to protect Mother Earth and assure the rights of Nature. The UN climate summit will be in South Africa in Nov/Dec 2011. Join the efforts of President Morales, Bolivia and the global Indigenous and grassroots movement: http://pwccc.wordpress.com/

Elderly activists break into Navy base with wire cutters to protest nuclear industry
Elderly activists break into Navy base with wire cutters, sit and pray to protest nuclear industry, sentenced to prison

Fr. Steve Kelly, who was in Tucson to protest US torture, is once again dancing to the slammer. Steve had spent so much time in prison for protesting the nuclear industry, and literally trying to beat nuclear weapons into plowshares, I asked him how he could choose, and endure, so much time in prison.

Steve said enthusiastically, "Oh, there's never enough time!" His face lit up, and he told me how he continued his protest in prison, which meant being put into solitary confinement. There, he kept busy writing letters and of course praying. I asked him if they gave him paper for all those letters. He said that he makes do by writing in the margins of those he receives. The next day he quietly stepped across the line at Fort Huachuca Army base, with Fr. Louis Vitale, our friend from the Western Shoshone nuclear protest and arrests, and the two of them were arrested. They were protesting the torture training at Fort Huachuca Army Intelligence Center in southern Arizona, and US torture at Abu Ghraib. --Two of the heroes I've been honored to meet. --Brenda Norrell, Censored News

Read more: CounterPunch Bill Quigley: Two Grandmothers, Two Priests and a Nun go to a Nuclear Base: http://www.counterpunch.org/quigley03292011.html

Protect the Grand Canyon from uranium mining
For the past two years, the Grand Canyon has been protected from the ravages of uranium mining. 
Now, the temporary mining moratorium is set to expire, and the Grand Canyon's fragile ecosystem, stunning beauty, and vital water supply are threatened by 1,100 new mining claims that have been filed within 5 miles of this priceless "crown jewel."

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is considering a 20 year ban on mining to protect the Grand Canyon's entire 1-million acre watershed. But there are other proposals on the table, and industry lobbyists are encouraging BLM to open the floodgates for the uranium mining rush. It's essential that we urge the BLM to protect the Grand Canyon.

Join me in defending the Grand Canyon. Submit a public comment to BLM to protect the Grand Canyon from uranium mining:
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/grand_canyon_mining/?r_by=-4026599-38PDmDx&rc=mailto1

Haiti burns Monsanto seeds, Navajo Nation farm keeps using them
Haitians burned 400 tons of Monsanto seeds, with 10,000 earthquake-devastated farmers refusing to plant the genetically modified seeds. Meanwhile, the Navajo commercial farm, Navajo Agricultural Products Industries, continues to use Monsanto genetic hybrid corn for planting, as promoted on its website.  
NAPI's produce, Navajo Pride, is sold commercially and is among the genetically altered products now sold on grocery shelves in supermarkets, trading posts, etc. Navajo corn is sold as feed corn, ultimtely becoming part of beef and chicken. The corn is sold as Navajo Pride Popcorn.

In interviews, Navajos point out the history of genocide with foods, from the introduction of white flour at the prison camp at Bosque Redondo, to the USDA commodities of grease and empty starch, to the trading posts packed with lard, Spam and potato chips. Now genetically modified foods can be added to this.  
The NAPI farmland, on Navajo Nation land near Farmington, N.M., is also the site of a Raytheon Missiles  plant. 
Haitians burn Monsanto seeds:
http://www.truth-out.org/the-new-earthquake-manifest-haiti-monsantos-destiny66930
Navajo Agricultural Products using Monsanto genetic hybrids
http://www.navajopride.com/article.php?method=News&Sid=Corn

UN OBSERVER human rights news from the Hague
Good news from Paul Rafferty, who had to temporarily cease publication of the UN OBSERVER & International Report at the Hague, for financial reasons.
Paul is now searching for a sponsor to resume the online and print publication.
Sponsors please contact Paul Rafferty, publisher, prafferty@thehagueobserver.com or Brenda Norrell, human rights editor, at brendanorrell@gmail.com

Also see:
Japan's Radioactive Nightmare Hits Home for Navajos
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/04/japans-radioactive-nightmare-hits-home.html
Earthcycles and Censored News plan Native Youth Media Workshop for summer of 2011
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/04/navajo-youth-media-workshop-june-2011.html
Protect Glen Cove
http://www.protectglencove.org/