"The Tent Of Occupation"

I read an article by Robert Fisk on Counterpunch a few days ago. For those who don't know, Robert Fisk works for The Independent. He has lived in the Middle East for a long time. He currently reports from Baghdad. He's pretty good at what he does :)
Heres the article:
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They live beneath old fly-blown tents in the car-park of the Mustafa mosque and their canvas-roofed kitchen stands next to a pool of raw sewage, but the refugees from Fallujah will not return home.

First, because many have no homes to go to; second, because they are - with the encouragement of local clerics - listing a series of demands that include the withdrawal of all American soldiers from the city, the maintenance of security by Fallujans themselves, massive compensation payments and the return of money and valuables which those who have just visited Fallujah say were stolen by American troops.

And they are very definitely not going to vote in the 30 January elections. Squatting on the floor of his concrete-walled office in his black robes to eat a lunch of chicken and rice, Sheikh Hussein - he pleads with me not to print his family name - insists that his people are not against elections.

"We are not rejecting this election for the sake of it," he says. "We are rejecting it because it is the 'tent' of the occupation. It is the vehicle for the Americans to ensure that [interim President Iyad] Allawi gets back in. And we are still under occupation."
A bearded and bespectacled academic is sitting beside the sheikh, Dr Abdul-Kader of the department of Islamic Science at Baghdad University, who gravely reminds me of the civilian dead of Fallujah. "There were hundreds," he says. "We found bodies in homes and graves in the gardens of homes."

The sheikh's closest relatives live in Fallujah; his own Sunni mosque lies at the centre of the camp in Baghdad where 925 of Fallujah's 200,000 refugees are living. But he says he has travelled twice to his family's homes and tells a disturbing story of what he found. "The first time I visited after the Americans occupied the city, our main house was standing. It had survived. All the things inside, beds, furniture, rugs, were safe. But when I went back a week later, it had been destroyed. Many other houses were in the same state.
"They survived the American-resistance battles intact but were then destroyed afterwards. Why? People there told me they saw movie cameras and that the Americans fired shells into the empty houses and that they were making some kind of film."

Tales of American theft in Iraqi cities are not new. Amnesty International has listed numerous incidents in which US troops took money from homes or from the clothes of arrested men. The US authorities acknowledged one case of large-scale pilfering by a young American officer south of Baghdad in 2003 but said that he had been moved out of Iraq and would be "too difficult" to trace.

The stories of looting in Fallujah are only adding to the refugees' sense of grievance. And to the over-enthusiastic demands for compensation. "We will settle for $5bn (£2.7bn) to $10bn," Sheikh Hussein says. "This is for the destruction in Fallujah, the shedding of blood and the killing of innocents; history will write of this. The Americans started off by killing native Americans and still they kill people they look down on." Everyone in the room, including a student of computer sciences from Fallujah who has so far listened in total silence, vigorously nod their heads.

"One day," the sheikh continues, "I was stopped and taken to an American base and questioned by the CIA, and they said, 'You are a religious man and we want advice'. I said, 'What I want to tell you is not to enter the cities because the people are waiting for a chance to attack you. They will make you suffer in different ways. Pull out your troops to the deserts, far away from the gunfire of the resistance, though that stretches a long way'. But they were very, very stupid. They didn't take the chance to go out. They stayed to force us to have elections so they could get out and leave their agents in power. I say this; the American troops will retreat suddenly, or they will find themselves prisoners inside the trap of Iraq.

"You know, you Westerners laugh at us Easterners, especially when we say, 'If Allah wills'. But the Prophet - peace be upon him - once said that the Iraqis would be scourged, that they would not receive a single dirham or a grain of rice in the hand, and this happened in the economic embargo of the 1990s.

"Then America came here after 9 April, 2003, with all its power and soldiers, so proud of getting rid of Saddam Hussein. But now the morale of these soldiers is rotting each day. They have psychological problems. My advice to them is to leave. They have a choice to make: they must leave or they will be forced out."

Fighting continues each night in Fallujah despite American claims of victory and to be "breaking the back" of the insurgency. As the sheikh puts it, not without some humour: "The Americans move in the streets during the day from 6am to 6pm but they do not move when the muqawama (resistance) imposes its own curfew on them between 6pm and 6am."
Outside in the windy car-park, the tents flap and the refugees queue to take soup from a 4ft-deep cauldron of yellow, scummy soup. Bags of dates have broken open and spilled on to the concrete.

It is Fallujah in miniature. Twenty teachers from the city are now running a camp school for 120 children. Doctors see patients in the sheikh's private home. A great-grandfather in the camp says he cannot go back to his city while the Americans are there. And when I ask him if he will vote, he laughs at me. "The Americans must leave Fallujah unconditionally," the sheikh says. "They have done too much harm there to be accepted."

I suggest that Fallujah's troubles started the day the 82nd Airborne killed 18 protesters outside a local school just after the fall of Baghdad in 2003. Dr Abdul-Kader admonishes me. "It started even before that," he says. "Fallujah people suffered under Saddam and they liberated their own city. They did not do so to live under occupation."

Rania Al-Baz Saga Finally Ends

I read an article about Rania Al-Baz in the ArabNews in April last year. Little did I know her story was going to last almost a year. Anyway, its finally over and for those who didn't know about Rania, heres the scoop.

Rania Al-Baz is a presenter on Channel 1, Saudi TV. She was brutally attacked by her husband, Muhammad Al-Fallatta, an out-of-work singer. According to Rania’s mother, Al-Fallatta was angered that his wife answered the telephone and proceeded to beat her. “Rania told me that when he saw her on the telephone he looked angry and was coming to hit her like he had done so many times before”. “She begged him not to hit her. His reply was: ‘Hit you? I’m not going to hit you, I am going to kill you.’

I don't want to be graphic but, according to Rania and her maid, Al-Fallatta knocked Rania down to her knees, then sat on her thighs so that her legs were bent behind her. He then began choking her while punching her in the face, nose, eyes and mouth. He then grabbed a handful of her hair and started banging her head on the floor. When she got up to run, he grabbed her from behind and began smashing her face on the wall until she lost consciousness.


Rania- Before and After

He left her unconscious for a couple of hours while he showered and changed then bundled her up in a sheet and put her in the family van. When Rania regained consciousness, she found herself in the van and thought he was taking her to Obhur (beach) to bury her. When he heard her moaning and trying to speak, he panicked and pulled into Bugshan Hospital. He dumped her at the emergency room entrance at 2:30 in the morning, telling nurses that she was the victim of a car accident and was dead. He then left quickly saying he was going to bring other victims of the accident.

Doctors said she sustained 13 fractures to her face and stood a 70% chance of a full recovery but needed numerous operations. In one operation, cartilage was removed from her ear and transplanted into her nose to replace the cartilage that was shattered there during the attack. A nail was drilled into her skull through her nose to keep it open and allow her to breathe.

Reading about incidents such as this, makes my blood boil. I don't want to sound all feminist but for those who don't know, this is a very big problem in Saudi Arabia which had never been discussed openly in the Kingdom until now. Since Rania has come out publicly with her story initiatives are now taken to solve the problem. I don't expect much from the Saudi government though.


Muhammad Al-Fallatta

By the end of April Al-Fallatta, who was charged with attempted murder, surrendered to the police. But the charge was later reduced to wife 'battery'.

Rania says that she didn't want to leave her husband because she was afraid she wouldn't get custody of her children if she got divorced. (In Islam, children are in father's custody but if the circumstances are different, the mother might keep her children).

Rania said she stayed with her husband despite his history of violence because she was afraid she would be denied custody of her two boys. When she attempted to leave him, he abducted the children and kept her from seeing them for two months.

Al-Fallatta was sentenced to six months in jail and 300 lashes (I know it sounds barbaric, but it is according to Shariah Law). He was later released from jail, serving only half of his sentence, after Rania pardoned him (In my opinion she shouldn't have done that). He refused to grant Rania a divorce which made the case a bit complicated because the Judge would now have to revoke the marriage contract.

Later, Rania decided to return to her husband. He said he beat his wife for 'specific reasons' which he didn't want to make public. Al-Fallatta was confident about his reunion with Rania. He said that the next time he would punish his wife by marrying another woman (What a jerk!).

Al-Fallatta didn't show up at the hearing thrice. He was brought in by an official of the area where he lived. Last week the judge ordered him to divorce Rania and her divorce will be finalised after Hajj.

I don't want people to use this story as another excuse that Islam isn't perfect. Islam is a very clear-cut religion and has answers for every problem. The problem arises when people inject their customs and traditions in Islam.

Holiday Season Is Over

As it is obvious I haven't updated the blog since Sunday. Its because the holiday break is over and I have classes to attend. Therefore, it might take me long intervals to update my blog.

If you haven't noticed yet, I have added a new section in the side-bar 'My Photo Album'. So, feast your eyes on this for a while. I will keep adding pictures to this section. So, stick around:)

I love the 'Cute Cat' picture. It reminds me of puss-in-boots.

Historic Win In Religious Hatred Case

In 2002, Pastor Danny Nalliah and speaker Daniel Scot vilified Muslims at a seminar and in a newsletter. Mr Scot made fun of muslims beliefs and practices. When Muslims found about this, the matter was taken to court in 2003 by Yasser Soliman, the president of the Islamic Council of Victoria. Imams in mosques encouraged muslims to attend court hearings for support.

A decision was reached in favour of the muslims last month by Judge Michael Higgins. He ruled that "Mr Scot's conduct was not reasonable and in good faith for any genuinely religious purpose or in the public interest". Higgins said the newsletter by Mr Nalliah sought to create fear of Muslims and was likely to incite hatred.

Daniel Scot said he was disappointed but not surprised by the decision. "There was no mention of freedom of speech there".

Afterwards, outside the court Nalliah said "We may have lost the battle, but the war is not over. The law has to be removed, there is no question".

Although the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act provides for prison sentences, Judge Higgins said earlier in the case that jail was not an option. Mr Soliman said he would not seek a big fine. "As far as the Muslim community is concerned, it's not about the money," he said.

The case has divided Christian churches, with the Catholic and Uniting churches supporting the Islamic Council and Pentecostal and evangelical groups saying the law inhibits free speech.

Conservative Christians said they would repeal the vilification law.

You can read the entire story in The Age.

New Year

Sydney Harbour

I don't have much to say about the new year, just admire this picture.

Anyone got new year experiences to share?

Tariq Ramadan In Australia

Tariq Ramadan: Renowned Islamic Scholar

The most unusual thing happened yesterday. As I was listening to the Juma Khutba(Sermon) in my local mosque I realized that the Khateeb was not our regular Imam because the voice didn't sound familiar. Anyway, I thought the Imam would certainly announce the guest speaker's name and so I waited for the khutba to get over.

When the khutba was over the Imam spoke in Arabic and I only got bits and peices of it. Once I put it all together I realised that Tariq Ramadan was the guest khateeb. He mentioned Switzerland and Egypt alot in the khutba, which made him fit the profile of the Tariq Ramadan I had heard of. Since, I had never heard him speak I couldn't recognize him at first.I was unaware that he was in Australia.

He talked about how muslims should stop looking at each other as born muslims and converts. Arabs attitude of being better muslims than other non-arab muslims. Muslims that accuse each other of being ignorant about Islam and say that they know more than the other person. Muslims that consider Arabic to be the language of the Believers and English to be the language of the Kufar.

He said that he would not want to go back to Egypt and would rather stay in Switzerland because he has more freedoms in Swiz. He said that when he was growing up he used to think about going back to Egypt but when he went back for studies he realized he was more free as a muslim in Swiz than in Egypt.

What are the odds of him giving a khutba in my local mosque? I don't know why they didn't announce his coming to the masjid last Friday but it sure was a pleasure listening to him.

We Didn't Start The Fire

I found this amature flash video of Billy Joel's song 'We didn't start the fire'. Its really interesting so check it out here.

It has no place to leave any comments about what you think of it. So, you can post your comments on this blog if you like.

Buy Jesus And Get Moses Free

Ever seen those Bible movies advertisements on TV? I recently saw one about 'Jesus' starring Brian Deacon as Jesus. The thing that caught my attention was the marketing strategy used in the ad. It said "Buy 'Jesus' for $19.95 and get 'Moses' free!" It sounded pretty strange that Moses was a bargain.

What I don't get about these advertisements is that how can they put a price on the Lord... this was Jesus for Christs sake! Has religion steeped so low that we have to pay for the truth. I don't know who are the people that are going to buy these movies but I would rather read the Good Book since every Jesus movie that I have ever seen is like a whole different story, its like Jesus had a different life each time.

Hollywood comes to Australia...Again

Hollywood will be filming a children's classic called Charlotte's Web, in a lcoal town, Greendale in the state of Victoria. Its a movie about a pig, Wilbur and a spider, Charlotte. I never heard of this classic until yesterday when I read about it in The Age.

Albeit, the cast has not be made public it seems that Dakota Fanning, the girl in I Am Sam and Cat in the Hat is going to star in it, and Susan Sarandon might as well. Gary Winick is going to direct this movie. He also directed Suddenly 30... You can draw your own conclusions.

Hollywood will be filming another movie in Victoria based on the Marvel comic Ghost Rider in 2005. This too is a comic that I have never heard of.

I think there is no way in hell this pig movie is going to be a blockbuster even if its filmed in Hawaii. When will people get it that retarded movies don't make it big?

I don't know if anyone's seen Babe but this spider and pig movie seems to be going in the same direction. Its an unspoken truth whenever Hollywood makes movies about farm animals they just SUCK!

The Tsunami Disaster

Since this is my first official post, it might not be that good. Anyway, since the day I heard about the quake in South-East Asia on the news, I've been stuck to the TV. For some reason this thing has really really got my attention...I mean I've seen a lot about earthquakes on TV in several years but I guess I am so interested in it since I belong to the region (India exactly). I'm waiting that my local mosque people will start fund raising for this and then I'll get a chance to donate whats left of my allowance.

Strangely, the Australian media is just concerned about the tourists. All they show is how the '700' tourists got affected and not the other 24,000. What a bunch of snobs?

Finally, let's pray for the people who suffered in the quake and also for the people who are still missing.

New Blog On the Block

This blog is going to be a lot of fun. So, keep watching for new content.