On 3 February 2009 some westernized Iranian emigres published an open letter to the Bahais of the world tendering their apologies for the alleged persecution of their coreligionists in Iran over the past 150 years [http://tafsirakhbar.blogspot.com/11 February 2009]. Why have they singled out the Bahais alone for their compassion? Why don't they speak about the plight of the minority nationalities and the sizeable sect of the Sunnites who have been deprived of their group identity and group rights?
The Bahai phenomenon in Iran has a close parallel in the Qadiani phenomenon in the Indian subcontinent. Both originated as heresies and both were in due course supported and patronized by the western imperialists. It may be asked why do they face hostility in their native countries while they enjoy full freedom and security abroad. The answer is that these movements are insidiously directed towards subverting the integrity of the mainstream Islam and disrupting the unity and solidarity of the true believers. Their beliefs, practices and procedures are entirely different from those of the mainstream Islam. Muslims feel greatly offended by such heretic phenomena.
However, there is a way of removing tensions between heretic minorities and the orthodox majority in Muslim societies. First, heretics should discard the label of Muslim, as this is greatly provocative when in fact they by no stretch of imagination conform with the theory and practice of original Islam. Second, they should cease to be allies and agents of the western and Israeli imperialism clandestinely engaged in disrupting the unity of the faithful Muslims. And lastly, they should become invisible wherever they are located in a hostile environment. If they confine themselves to the pursuit of mundane objectives and refrain from ideological crusades they can guarantee their own freedom and security and at the same time let others rest in peace.#
Thursday 12 February 2009
Wednesday 4 February 2009
Palestinians Divided
Palestinians Divided
On the Arab political stage actors have come and gone from time to time but the typical Arab mindset and behavioural patterns have a remarkable continuity. The latest manifestation of this continuity has come out of the deliberations of the foreign ministers of eight Arab States held recently in Abu Dhabi. The points of agreement among the participants may be summed up as follows:
1. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has been reconfirmed as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. This implies that rival factions have either to be isolated and wiped out or else someone be entrusted with the task of bringing them back under PLO's tutelage.
2. In the short run the latter course of inter-Palestinian reconciliation has been preferred and the task is assigned to the FakhamaturRa'is of the biggest Arab country.
3. More important than the bolstering of the PLO as against rival factions and an initiative towards an inter-Palestinian reconciliation is the Arab leaders' determination to resist the intrusion of non-Arab Muslim states in intra-Arab affairs. That simply refers to the verbal support extended by the Iranian leaders to the beleagured Gazans and the newly generated warmth towards the Arab cause among the Turks.
Now let me examine these developments a little closely. Once upon a time the heroic PLO had, no doubt, singlehandedly established itself as the sole representative of the Palestinians. But its legitimacy and authority has over the years progressively eroded thanks to the capitulationist policy of Anwar Sadat, Yasir Arafat and the late King Hussain. After Arafat the PLO further demonstrated its subservience to the west as well as Israel only to make them more intransigent. It is no wonder, therefore, that the legitimacy and authority of the PLO has been challenged by powerful and conscientious Palestinian groups. I think nothing will be achieved by PLO's capitulation to American-Israeli imperialism except that the latter's design of creating a Palestinian Bantustan under Israeli tutelage may become a reality.
Now the second point of agreement among the pro-American Arab leaders on restoring Palestinian unity so that the PLO is rehabilitated as a player in future negotiations is also doomed to failure. With progressive erosion of PLO's legitimacy it might very well go the way of the Kuomintang in China under Chiang. The PLO is no longer either a leading light or a revolutionary force as it survives on the support of America, Israel and the pro-western Arab regimes. It is by no means going to play a decisive role in the determination of Palestinian future which now rests entirely with the Americans, Israelis and their Arab collaborators.
Coming to the last point, I would say that the real objective of the recent gathering in Abu Dhabi appears to be to forge a united front against the alleged intervention of the non-Arab Muslim leaders and regimes in Arab affairs, as if the Palestinian cause were solely an Arab cause and of no concern to the Muslim peoples and governments outside the Arab world. If this line is pursued any further non-Arab Muslims may very well become indifferent to the Arab cause. Are these people unwittingly playing the game of American-Israeli imperialism?
About the alleged Iranian role in the Arab East I have read such comments in the Arabic press as that Iran has now become a devil of Arab politics. Whatever happens whether in Iraq or the Lebanon or Gaza or elsewhere has an Iranian hand behind it!. This betrays a deficient understanding of the Iranian regime, its motives and its political game. Not the capture of the Arab world but enhancement of their own status and prestige in the eyes of Arab and non-Arab Muslims appears to be real cause of their recent outbursts. Look how the west has isolated them and made them a pariah among nations. Similarly, about Turkish verbal support to the Palestinians the Egyptian establishment paperboys wrote that the Turkish Republicans were now out to assume the mantle of the former Ottoman Empire in the Middle East! Are they afraid of Iran and Turkey more than they are afraid of Israel?
Divisions between Arabs and Arabs, divisions between Palestinians and Palestinians and divisions between the Arabs and non-Arabs, are likely to whittle down and eventually neutralise the Palestinian struggle for self-determination in a portion of Palestine that may be left to them in a possible settlement. Then the Israeli dream of creating a Palestinian Bantustan under Israeli tutelage will become a reality. Long live Arab unity! and long live the FakhamaturRa'is! #
On the Arab political stage actors have come and gone from time to time but the typical Arab mindset and behavioural patterns have a remarkable continuity. The latest manifestation of this continuity has come out of the deliberations of the foreign ministers of eight Arab States held recently in Abu Dhabi. The points of agreement among the participants may be summed up as follows:
1. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has been reconfirmed as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. This implies that rival factions have either to be isolated and wiped out or else someone be entrusted with the task of bringing them back under PLO's tutelage.
2. In the short run the latter course of inter-Palestinian reconciliation has been preferred and the task is assigned to the FakhamaturRa'is of the biggest Arab country.
3. More important than the bolstering of the PLO as against rival factions and an initiative towards an inter-Palestinian reconciliation is the Arab leaders' determination to resist the intrusion of non-Arab Muslim states in intra-Arab affairs. That simply refers to the verbal support extended by the Iranian leaders to the beleagured Gazans and the newly generated warmth towards the Arab cause among the Turks.
Now let me examine these developments a little closely. Once upon a time the heroic PLO had, no doubt, singlehandedly established itself as the sole representative of the Palestinians. But its legitimacy and authority has over the years progressively eroded thanks to the capitulationist policy of Anwar Sadat, Yasir Arafat and the late King Hussain. After Arafat the PLO further demonstrated its subservience to the west as well as Israel only to make them more intransigent. It is no wonder, therefore, that the legitimacy and authority of the PLO has been challenged by powerful and conscientious Palestinian groups. I think nothing will be achieved by PLO's capitulation to American-Israeli imperialism except that the latter's design of creating a Palestinian Bantustan under Israeli tutelage may become a reality.
Now the second point of agreement among the pro-American Arab leaders on restoring Palestinian unity so that the PLO is rehabilitated as a player in future negotiations is also doomed to failure. With progressive erosion of PLO's legitimacy it might very well go the way of the Kuomintang in China under Chiang. The PLO is no longer either a leading light or a revolutionary force as it survives on the support of America, Israel and the pro-western Arab regimes. It is by no means going to play a decisive role in the determination of Palestinian future which now rests entirely with the Americans, Israelis and their Arab collaborators.
Coming to the last point, I would say that the real objective of the recent gathering in Abu Dhabi appears to be to forge a united front against the alleged intervention of the non-Arab Muslim leaders and regimes in Arab affairs, as if the Palestinian cause were solely an Arab cause and of no concern to the Muslim peoples and governments outside the Arab world. If this line is pursued any further non-Arab Muslims may very well become indifferent to the Arab cause. Are these people unwittingly playing the game of American-Israeli imperialism?
About the alleged Iranian role in the Arab East I have read such comments in the Arabic press as that Iran has now become a devil of Arab politics. Whatever happens whether in Iraq or the Lebanon or Gaza or elsewhere has an Iranian hand behind it!. This betrays a deficient understanding of the Iranian regime, its motives and its political game. Not the capture of the Arab world but enhancement of their own status and prestige in the eyes of Arab and non-Arab Muslims appears to be real cause of their recent outbursts. Look how the west has isolated them and made them a pariah among nations. Similarly, about Turkish verbal support to the Palestinians the Egyptian establishment paperboys wrote that the Turkish Republicans were now out to assume the mantle of the former Ottoman Empire in the Middle East! Are they afraid of Iran and Turkey more than they are afraid of Israel?
Divisions between Arabs and Arabs, divisions between Palestinians and Palestinians and divisions between the Arabs and non-Arabs, are likely to whittle down and eventually neutralise the Palestinian struggle for self-determination in a portion of Palestine that may be left to them in a possible settlement. Then the Israeli dream of creating a Palestinian Bantustan under Israeli tutelage will become a reality. Long live Arab unity! and long live the FakhamaturRa'is! #
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