JAMAL: OUR MAN IN PALESTINE

Sunday 22 July, 2012

Jamal:  ‘Our’ Man in Palestine

Hameed Abdul Karim

It’s not every day that you see a foreigner greeting another foreigner with the words ‘Ayubowan’ with clasped hands and all in a foreign land. But that’s how Jamal Soliman greeted the Palestinian secretary of Dr. T. Jayasinghe, our affable ambassador in Palestine, when Mahinda Hattaka and I visited our embassy in Ramallah.

Jamal Soliman is our ambassador’s driver and translator and PR man all rolled into one. Tall, handsome and built like an ox, with features similar to British actor John Gleese; he is quite as jovial as his look alike and never at a loss for words to give you a laugh. Quite a guy this Jamal!

A RESPONSE TO 'MILITARY RULE IN GLOBAL CONTEXT'

WEDNESDAY 18 JULY 2012

Let Me Dream

A Response to ‘Military Rule in Global Context’

Hameed Abdul Karim

Kazim Anwarul Masud’s article (Ceylon Today Saturday 14 July, 2012) titled ‘Military Rule in Global Context’, though thought provoking in some aspects, gives you the impression that the writer is championing America’s globo cop role and using Pakistan chronic state of affairs to justify his stand. This, among other pro-American and pro-India statements, is made clear when he repeats the American claim that it was Al-Qaeda who carried out the 9-11 attack in the heart of the Empire’s financial hub. 

Up until today no impartial inquiry has been conducted to establish this claim beyond any doubt, as is required in civilized society. When Barack Obama parroted this spurious claim saying that Osama bin Laden had claimed responsibility for 9-11, no lesser a person than the much respected Prof. Noam Chomsky called Obama a liar because he said Osama bin Laden had made no such claim.

Dr.Jayasinghe: The Doyen of the Palestinian Community

                                                                       

     Sunday 17 June, 2012

Dr. Jayasinghe: The Doyen of the Palestinian Community

Hameed Abdul Karim

On one day of our visit to Palestine we were stuck without transport and so we called Dr. Jayasinghe, our representative in Palestine, and explained our situation. He told us not to worry and that he will ‘do something’. A while later he called us and said someone will come to pick us up in about fifteen minutes. 

That ‘someone’ turned out to be the landlord of the house in which the Sri Lankan embassy is situated. He happens to be quite a wealthy man with considerable clout. On the way he told us he had visited Sri Lanka on one occasion and was quite taken up by the hospitality of her people. Talking about Dr. Jayasinghe he told us that he would do anything for him even if he called him in the middle of the night.  “I love the man like a father’ he said. Such is the high esteem in which Dr. Jayasinghe is held in the Palestinian community.

IF BRADLEY MANNING WERE CHINESE

Friday 15 June, 2012

If Bradley Manning Were Chinese…..

Hameed Abdul Karim

For weeks on end the international media was full of sentimental stories of Chinese ‘dissident’ Chen Guancheng. His escape from house arrest was dramatised to make it look like it was a scene from the Hollywood blockbuster ‘The Great Escape’. Cheng was our new Steve McQueen. But unlike McQueen, who had to go back to jail, Cheng had a happy ending. He is now in the US studying law.

That was not all. There were stories of his family members and how they were running scared of the terrible Chinese government. Their lives were in danger and at any moment any one of them could be shot dead. Suspense hung in the air like a floppy hat.

RESPONDING TO 'PAK HINDUS' PLIGHT CAUSES CONCERN IN US'

Saturday 19 May 2012

Responding to ‘Pak Hindus’ Plight Causes Concern in US’

Hameed Abdul Karim

Forcible conversions to any faith are tantamount to oppression. More so in Islam, because the Qur’an says ‘there is no compulsion in religion and that truth is clear from error’. So when Muslims anywhere in the world read Manzoor Ahmed’s piece in Ceylon Today (Sat. 5^th May 2012) titled ‘Pak Hindus’ Plight Causes Concern in US’ they were sure to be embarrassed and ashamed of their co-religionists’ conduct in Pakistan where Ahmed alleges that a Hindu girl by the name of Rinkel Kumari was abducted and forcibly converted to Islam.

But when you check up the controversy you will find that Manzoor Ahmed has exaggerated the story to suit his agenda of Pakistan bashing based as he is in New Delhi and following the line of attack set out by the ruling Brahmins of India. You see that all the time on Indian TV channels like NDTV.

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.

ANOTHER OUTRAGE ANOTHER APOLOGY

LANKAWEB

Another Outrage – Another Apology
Posted on May 2nd, 2012

Hameed Abdul Karim

Leon Panetta had to face the cameras yet again to issue yet another of his recycled apology when Obama’s warriors were caught once again with yet another outrage in Afghanistan. This time personnel of the 82^nd airborne division were featured posing with the mangled remains of dead Afghans. But guess what? There was no ‘shock and awe’. It seems like the world has been anesthetized with the empire’s massive propaganda machinery that has worked round the clock to dehumanise its victims. Like the empire’s previous victims in Vietnam or Korea or Kampuchea or the many Latin American countries, the killing of Afghans or for that matter the Pakistani’s, Palestinians or the Iraqi’s cause no revulsions in the world. It seems they were destined to die, as deserving victims, at Obama’s hands like as if in accordance with some macabre scriptural prophecy.