ISLAMOPHOBIA; A WAY TO MUSLIM HOLOCAUST

Appeared in The Sunday Times International Sunday April 10, 2011

Islamophobia: A Way to Muslim Holocaust

By Hameed Abdul Karim

‘85% of American Muslim community leaders are an enemy living amongst us’

-U.S Representative Peter King (R-NY)

A video making the rounds on the internet claims that Muslims and Islam will take over Europe in the near future. Muslims, it said, would outnumber the non-Muslims and Sharia will replace western liberal values. The narrator, in a sepulchral voice, announced that it was too late to turn the clock back because the birth rates of Muslims far exceeded those of the natives.

THE HIZMET MOVEMENT

Thursday 14 November, 2013 

The Hizmet Movement

Hameed Abdul Karim

‘Be so sympathetic and tolerant that your bosom becomes as wide as the ocean. Be inspired with faith and love your fellow human being. Let there be no troubled souls to whom you do not offer a helping hand and about whom you remain unconcerned’

-          Fethullah Gulen

OMG, ITS TONY BLAIR

Tuesday 23 July 2013

OMG, Its Tony Blair!

Hameed Abdul Karim

For those of us who think we have seen and heard just about everything we had another ‘think’ coming when we heard Tony Blair support the army coup in Egypt. There he was on Aljazeera grinning away from ear to ear in the smile made famous by Christopher Lee in Dracula movies, the only difference is that Lee had to make an effort to bring about that frightening smile, but to our Tony Blair it comes natural. No effort needed there. 

THUS SPOKE THE HYPOCRITE

Tuesday 9 July, 2013

Thus Spoke the Hypocrite

Hameed Abdul Karim

When Barack Obama visited Africa the people there did not give him the kind of welcome you would expect when a village kid who has made it good in the big city comes a calling. Probably that was what the first black US president had expected, but he was to be disappointed.

Nelson Mandela’s family did not see it fit to allow him a hospital visit as the anti-apartheid icon battled for his life. Before his departure Obama had said he was hoping to see his ‘inspiration’ Nelson Mandela.  So the spin was that he did not want to visit the great man because he did not want to disturb his ‘peace and comfort’.   

Boston Bombing: Sting Operation Gone Wrong?

Thursday 6 June, 2103

Boston Bombing:

Sting Operation Gone Wrong?

Hameed Abdul Karim                      

In the recent past the FBI had carried out quite a few sting operations netting in would be ‘terrorists’ with the guile and ‘open cheque’ resources at its command.

This raises a question. Was the Boston bombing a sting operation that went wrong? A lot of issues that have cropped since the bombing give rise to this speculation.

It is now indisputably established that both the CIA and the FBI were well aware of what Tamerlane Tsarnaev was up to prior to the bombing. The Russians had alerted them well in advance and indeed the FBI had confessed that they had flagged him for a year or so and found the information against him provided by the Russians was not reliable. Tamerlane Tsaranev had been cleared by both the CIA and the FBI!

LET EGYPT BE EGYPT

Wednesday 2 January, 2013 

Right of Reply

Responding to Tom Friedman of NYT: Egypt: The Next India Responding or the Next Pakistan’

Let Egypt be Egypt

Hameed Abdul Karim

Edward Said had said that any Westerner in politics or media can never discuss the Middle East without the usual prejudice against Islam or Muslims. It seems that Thomas Friedman of the New York Times too falls into this category when he compares Egypt with India and Pakistan in his article titled ‘Egypt: The Next India or the Next Pakistan’ (Ceylon Today 25 December, 20102). Why on earth couldn’t he draw a parallel with Turkey instead of Pakistan is confusing.

It’s true that Pakistan is a bad advertisement for both Islam and democracy. But India is no better.  With over 25% of ‘honourable’ members of parliament having criminal records, India certainly is not a good sort of thing that Friedman can quote to help lift the flag of democracy for the world to see. Moreover, we have the frightening prospect of Narendra Modi becoming Prime Minister in the not too distant future. It was under his watch that over 2000 Muslims were slaughtered and their economies devastated in an orgy of communal violence in his home state of Gujarat in 2002. Modi and his cronies picked up prime properties owned by Muslims and to this day Muslims languish in refugee camps in their home state as Internally Displaced Persons (IDP’s). They are not allowed to return to their areas of residence where once their homes stood and no prospect of any hope, much less compensation. Their fate is similar to that of the Palestinians. And ironically Ariel Sharon became Israeli premier after he personally supervised the slaughter of Palestinian refugees in Shabra and Shatilla. The number of dead in these two atrocities is not too dissimilar. 

CHICKENS COMING HOME TO ROOST?

                               

                                        Appeared in Lakbimanews Sunday 30 December, 2012

Chickens Coming Home to Roost?

Hameed Abdul Karim

Watching Barack Obama on TV, wiping a tear in his left eye as he spoke in his usual Harvard eloquence at the memorial service for the little children who died in the dreadful terror in Newtown Connecticut, reminds those of us who have seen the movie ‘Godfather’ of Marlon Brando giving out a short but heart rending sob on hearing of his son Sonny’s assassination in the movie ‘Godfather’. Obama’s lump in the throat speech must, of a necessity, move us all who still claim to be human for indeed this was a tragedy beyond comprehension.

So was it Obama the politician that was crying or was it the human in him that was moved to tears? That’s a tough question, maybe even rude and insensitive. But hard questions have to be asked. Here is a president who for the first time in history had ordered the extra judicial murders of US citizens without batting an eyelid.

US ELECTIONS: COMI-TRAGEDY

Monday 15 October, 2012

US Elections: Comi-Tragedy

Hameed Abdul Karim 

For sheer entertainment and suspense there’s hardly anything to beat the US elections.  There are the tantrums and the hyperboles of the candidates that make you wonder if this is serious business or just another bout of fun and frolic. You will see supporters of both candidates cheering and whooping with every punch line either candidate makes. Makes you wonder if you are watching another Hollywood movie.

And for sure there is a Hollywood mix in it all. We had the ageing Clint Eastwood doing the talking to an empty chair, pretending he was talking to President Barack Obama. It went down well with Romney’s supporters. Makes you wonder if Eastwood is on the road to senility assuming he’s not already ‘made it’ there. Comedians had a field day with the Eastwood’s histrionics. After that show of theatrics he has been kept away from the circus. Maybe he has done his bit for the grand old party.

THE LONDON BOMBINGS AND DOUBLE STANDARDS

The London bombings and double standards Hameed Abdul Karim

We live in a topsy-turvy world bereft not only of moral standards that our forefathers cherished so much but also of reason. Look at it this way - when the French killed thousands of their fellow countrymen for collaborating with the Nazis they were quickly labeled brave men - men with a mission. But Hitler’s propaganda machinery called them terrorists. The French- and the rest of the ‘free world’ eulogized them so much that till today their memories are sanctified and recorded for posterity and hardly an independence day passes by without some media or government spokesmen making an honourable mention of their sacrifices for France. That’s fine.

RESPONDING TO CHINA, PAKISTAN AND THE IRNAIAN BOMB'

Saturday 311 March 2012

‘Responding to China, Pakistan and the Iranian Bomb’

Hameed Abdul Karim

According to Western public discourse there are two types of Muslim. One is a ‘fundamentalist’ the other is a ‘moderate’ Muslim. The former is one who wants to be independent from Western hegemony and the latter is one who cozies up to the Western agenda, wittingly or unwittingly. But now there is a new kid on the block. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Rand Corporation Muslim. ‘Who the heck is he’, you might ask and quite rightly so. Well, for starters he or she is a Muslim or, more appropriately, one who wears the ‘Muslim’ name tag and one who is trained and financed by America’s Rand Corporation to dilute Islam to a point where its adherents will no longer be a stumbling block to the empire’s plans for total world hegemony. And Manzoor Ahamed, writing under the title ‘China, Pakistan and the Iranian Bomb’ (Ceylon Today’ Sat.  24 March, 2012) fits the description of a ‘Rand Muslim’ like a glove going by his vilification of Pakistan’s much maligned nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan  who  gave his country its ‘Islamic bomb’.

NO NEED TO BE SHOCKED

              

 Saturday 14 January, 2012

No Need to be Shocked

Hameed Abdul Karim

The media is awash with the pictures of US marines urinating on dead Taliban fighters and commentators and anchor personnel use the word ‘shocking’ to describe this stomach turning act of  US barbarism. But judging by past exposures of Americans’ cruelty and sadism from My Lai in Vietnam to Nicaragua in South America to Abu Graib in Iraq this should not come as shock or surprise.

What can you say of a nation that has been at war with one country or another for the last hundred years at least, killing millions, maiming many more and destroying property worth billions when its apologists come out with statements like ‘this is not consistent with America’s core values’ and to trivialise the latest scandal to hit the empire as an aberration and not the altruism the empire stands for?

IS ISRAEL PAINTING ITSELF INTO A CORNER?

2222222       Follow us on the social networks Appeared in 'Ceylon Today' on 24 November 2011       Follow us on the social networks

Is Israel Painting Itself into a Corner?

Hameed Abdul Karim

No amount of spin the hasbara types in Israel put on the news can redeem the ‘Jewish’ state from international opprobrium. This was clearly evident in the UNESCO vote where no less than 107 countries voted in favour of Palestine‘s inclusion into the world body.  Even France, which is close ally of Israel, couldn’t help voting in favour of the Palestinians, much to the annoyance of Nobel Peace Laureate Barack Obama who castigated Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy at the G20 Summit for his insolence in towing a line the empire did not support. UK couldn’t summon the courage to defy the empire so it quietly abstained from voting as did a few other US satellite states.

GLOATING OVER GADDAFI'S GRUESOME MURDER

Sunday 06 November 2011

Gloating over Gaddafi’s Gruesome Murder

Hameed Abdul Karim

In days gone by we were taught to respect the dead even if they happened to be evil like Gaddafi was. Anyone’s death is supposed to remind us of our own inevitable end. But obviously in the post modern world that we are living in, with its materialism and failing economies, there is no space for such human values.

No Western leader exemplified this sad state of affairs more than US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton as they competed with one another for the best gloat over Gaddafi’s gruesome murder.   Clinton beat them all when she said over CBS TV ‘We came, we saw, he died’ in a pathetic attempt to paraphrase Julius Caesar whilst laughing away in jubilation over the  latest murder of yet another third world leader. Sickeningly, her host couldn’t hide her glee either as she too joined in the fun laughing away like a kid who had been given a box of candies by Santa Claus. And this on a TV network that brags about journalistic values and all the hogwash that goes along with such snow-white claims.  So much for an unbiased American media!  

But there was a slip. CBS was conducting a formal interview with Clinton when her aides interrupted the recording to convey the ‘breaking news’ of Gaddafi’s murder. As she, her aides and the TV crew joked about Gaddafi’s murder the reporter slipped in a question. ‘Did your recent surprise visit to Libya have anything to do with Gaddafi’s death?”  ‘No’ replied Clinton. Then she rolled her eyes adjusted her jacket and confessed ‘I am sure it did’.

THE UNANSWERED QUESTION OVER THE COLLAPSE OF BUILDING 7 ON SEPT 11

This article appeared in the Sunday Times 11 September 2011 but due to space constraints certain sections were omitted. I am including those sections and have lighted them in yellow. Please spread this around. Thanks. 

Sunday 11 September, 2011

]

The Unanswered Question over the Collapse of Building 7 on Sept. 11

Hameed Abdul Karim

Most of those who believe the official 9-11 version do not know there was another building that collapsed on that fateful day. This is Building no 7 or the Salomon Brothers Building. On the very afternoon of 9-11 this 47 storey skyscraper came tumbling down like a pack of cards in just 7 seconds.

Under public pressure the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) came out with a version that claimed the building collapsed due to heat generation which supposedly melted the steel structures. Later they changed the version and agreed with family members of those who died on 9-11 that the building had collapsed in a free fall which is more in line with claims of more than 1300 engineers and architects who believe the collapse of Building No.7 was due to a controlled demolition job. But there is one flaw in this report. The NIST did not attempt to explain how Building 7’s free fall descent could have occurred.

CAUSES AND LESSONS FROM THE BRITISH RIOTS

Appeared in
The Island

Monday August 15, 2011.

http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=32444

By Hameed Abdul Karim

Riot policeman stand guard in Tottenham, north London, late Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011, after two patrol cars were attacked by members of a community where a young man was shot dead by police on Thursday took to the streets to demand "justice." Officers had been attempting to carry out an arrest under the Trident operational command unit, which deals with gun crime in the black community, according to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. (AP)
Long years ago I talked with a British educationist and asked him why it cost so much for a foreign student in the UK and so little to a British citizen and whether it wouldn’t be a good idea to increase fees for them and correspondingly reduce the fees for a foreign student. What he told me had remained in my head ever since. He said if the government were to do that there would be a revolution in England.

Well, it looks like that’s exactly what happening in England right now. No it’s not a revolution but certainly the resentment has now hit the streets and it’s such a shame to see the quaint old buildings go up in flames. But on the other hand Imagine how a youth would feel when he hears his helpless father bemoaning the cuts in social spending and how much more it’s going to cost him to put food on the table and to educate his children.

THREE OPTIONS FOR ISRAEL

10 July, 2011

Three Options for Israel

Hameed Abdul Karim

A Russia Today report said there was a surge in anti-Israel sentiment in Europe and that Europeans were demanding that their governments stop turning a blind eye to Israel’s violation of human rights and international law.  This change of attitude is a reflection of the failure of traditional ‘main stream media’ in the face of challenges of social media sites as well as new channels that have appeared on the international scene. Israel’s monopoly of the world media is a thing of the past and nobody elucidated this reality more than Hilary Clinton who confessed ‘we are losing the media war and Al-Jazeera, Russia Today and China’s CCTV is winning. You could include Iran’s Press TV into the equation. The operative words in Clinton’s despair should be ‘media war’ and ‘losing’. 

ANNAPOLIS: GANGING UP ON IRAN

14 December, 2007




Opinion

Annapolis: Ganging up on Iran?

The Annapolis circus has ended. Its objective was achieved. And the objective was anything but peace for the Palestinians. The whole charade was to give George Bush the good guy image after polls showed a further dip in his ratings. The idea was to project him as a man of peace so that when he attacks Iran, the corporate media can portray him as a good guy trying to save the world from Iran. The build up against Iran will continue to develop on all fronts as the days go by. There isn’t going to be any let up in the hostile propaganda against Iran. And they are going to throw everything they’ve got. Never mind the American intelligence report about Iran not having any programme of manufacturing a nuke bomb as a deterrent to Israel’s vast nuclear arsenal.

THE STORIES THE EMPIRE TELLS

Believe it or not: The stories the Empire tells

Point of view

By Hameed Abdul Karim

Sunday May 08, 2011

Times 2 http://www.sundaytimes.lk/110508/Timestwo/t2_11.html

First it was the Gulf of Tonkin and many years down the line it was the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) that Saddam Hussein was supposed to have built up with a capability to bomb London in a matter of minutes, according Tony Blair. In between there have been many other lies that have resulted in the deaths of thousands of non-Whites and massive destruction of their property by the US Corporate Empire and her satellite nations such as Britain. All these 'enterprises' brought in billions of dollars to individuals and families running the US arms and security industry.

IS THE 'FUTURE' COMING TO EGYPT

Is the 'future' coming to Egypt?   Sunday March 13, 2011

By Hameed Abdul Karim

Virtually the whole world stood up and applauded the Egyptian youth on their successful campaign to rid themselves of their tyrant president Hosni Mubarak except for the Christian Right in the U.S. and Fox News. But their rejection should give the Egyptians all the more reason to be more cautious especially when euphoria comes to an end and when they begin to tackle the diverse issues that confront them.