BEYOND COUNTER REVOLUTION , ECONOMIC DEVASTATION AND ILLEGAL
WARS
Niloufer Bhagwat
It would be futile to deny that there were genuine political movements in
Tunisia , Egypt , Yemen and Bahrain in particular , among other stirrings ,
which have been hijacked or brutally repressed with the assistance of external
intervention .The apprehension of NATO governments was , that if resources of
these countries were harnessed by genuine political movements to improve the
lives of their middle income and working people , the neocolonial and
neo-liberal structures would come apart in a period where the liquidity of the
Banks and financial institutions of NATO countries had been destroyed by
ruling elites and sovereign government debt overwhelming many NATO governments
; therefore these movements had to be subverted or superseded by religious
parties and movements complementary to NATO .The absence of better
organization among those who stood for systemic change , made it easier to
disperse at least in the short run the forces which stood for significant and
not cosmetic change
In Syria ,a secular government which immediately announced political and
social reform in response to stirrings , was sought to be overthrown ,despite
continuing support of the Syrian people opposing foreign intervention , by
armed contingents sent in from neighbouring countries such as Turkey , Saudi
Arabia , UAE and Jordan ,as the avant guarde of NATO, with Israel as an ally
of this military pact , pursuing geopolitical objectives of controlling the
entire region and its resources by continuing Zionist colonization allied with
global financial interests and dominant Arms Corporations.The real reason
for singling out Syria was its opposition to the project of continuing Israeli
colonization of Palestine and the entire region and its alliance in pursuance
of these objectives with Iran which is threatened to seize its hydrocarbon
resources for continuing trade in a dying global currency, and for predatory
use of its national budget , gold and savings as we have seen in the case of
Libya and earlier in Iraq .
It cannot escape notice that the most undemocratic and autocratic regimes such
as Saudi Arabia and of the UAE which are monarchies/ Emirates arbitrarily
anointed by Britain , selecting so called heads of tribes thereafter conferred
with monarchial status to better serve its colonial interests , subsequently
assued protection by the USA initially for Oil , and thereafter for the
financial monopoly over the world through petro-dollars. That the Arab League
is also locked in an Imperial alliance with NATO governments against the Arab
people is visible, as there were no demands for withdrawal of Saudi Forces
from Bahrain and Yemen , no condemnation of Qatar for the reign of terror in
Libya in alliance with NATO , no calls for democracy in Saudi Arabia and the
UAE , and no sanctions imposed through the Security Council on Turkey , Jordan
, Saudi Arabia and the UAE for letting lose armed contingents into Syria
killing civilians and security forces alike and the earlier collective killings
of the Libyan people by those governments in the region allied to NATO .
Political commentators cannot deny that the first political stirrings in
Tunisia and Egypt against the existing dictatorships were not by religious
based parties or movements , which joined in only later , when the tide could
no longer be held back .
The desire to support or establish religious based movements and governments
is with a view to preserve the status quo of economic and social exploitation
to perpetuate the Washington Economic Consensus , and to better control and
regulate the citizenry through religious and social control .
How far this can continue with the entire financial edifice of the Western
World coming apart remains to be seen .This is certainly not the end of the
Arab revolutions or revolts , it is the beginning .In Libya too there is
already a revolt against NATO occupation and against the re-colonization and
counterrevolution which had been unleashed on the ground by collaborators .
Even as citizens of NATO governments are increasingly beset by economic
insecurity , they cannot hope to revive the destinies of their own societies
unless there is an understanding of the unbilical cord between their own
Bankers and Financiers imposing bankruptcy on them, and the ongoing illegal
wars being waged. These are two sides of the same coin . Seizures of resources
of people within Western societies and seizures of resources and national
budgets of countries of Asia , Africa and Latin America which has devastated
the budgets of the USA , Canada and governments in Europe , while enriching
the CEOs among others of Banking Institutions and Corporations creating the
biggest wealth divides in world history . Illegal wars and economic
devastation accompany every fascist business model , is the verdict of eminent
financial analysts of the Western world which citizens can deny only at their
own peril .
Niloufer Bhagwat
----- Original Message -----
From: gajendra singh
Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2012 7:55 PM
Subject: US Promoting Extremist Muslims Takeover in north Africa, Middle East
& Beyond
US Promoting Extremist Muslims Takeover in north Africa, Middle East & Beyond
India Remains a Collateral Victim of US/Riyadh Afghan Jihad
It is more than a year since the oppressed Arabs from Morocco to Saudi Arabia
and beyond revolted against their dictatorial and feudal oppressive regimes and
kingdoms, most of them US puppets or fully supported by the West.
Wrote C Gharekhan a few weeks ago,”It is still early to come to any
conclusion about the -- the churning in West Asia. Things are far from settled.
The euphoria generated by the Jasmine and Tahrir revolutions has all but
dissipated during the past year. The unrealistic expectations, the hype built
up mainly by the western governments and the media have given way to doubt
disappointment and even despair over the fate of ‘Arab Spring.' The concern of
most observers in the international community is now focused on the direction
in which “people's movements” in various countries will proceed, and on the
loss of lives that occurred in Libya, Yemen and, to a less extent, Egypt, and
that is continuing in Syria and can be expected to happen in some other
countries in the region in the coming months. It is a sad commentary on the
rest of the international community that it unhesitatingly adopts the
terminology coined by the West to describe the historic events in West Asia.
‘Arab Spring' or ‘Arab Awakening' is a condescending description; it suggests
that the people of West Asia have been sleeping all these decades, not caring
for freedoms enjoyed by people elsewhere. The fact is that non-regional
governments have been supporting the authoritarian regimes through massive
supply of deadly weapons and technology, which were used to suppress the
people.”
Full article
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2799237.ece?homepage=true
It soon became clear that suspecting such movements of revolts ,Washington
and poodle UK and France infiltrated and organized groups of disaffected Arabs
and with financing from Saudi Arabia ( remember the Afghan Jihad of 1980s
against USSR) and upstart Qatar ( what shining examples of freedom and
democracy they are !) taking over these events something like the franchised
street revolutions West organized in East Europe and central Asia after the
collapse of the Soviet Union , with some successes and some reversal /failures
too.
John R. Bradley, a British expert on the Middle East recently told Russian
TV. (Watch it as an antidote to western lies and propaganda and Indian media
ignorance).
The turbulence that saw several governments overthrown in 2011 came from
sectarian divide among Muslims, which the West played on, to support its own
allies. (Divide and rule is old imperialist policy. How very effective it has
proved in partitioned Hindustan -editor)
Bradley says;
“What we’re seeing is a Sunni-Shiite divide reemerge in the Middle East with
Washington clearly backing the Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia, a close American
ally. And Saudi Arabia in turn along with Qatar has taken control of the
revolutions elsewhere.
“For example it’s funding the Ennahda, the main Islamist party in Tunisia.
The Muslim Brotherhood and more extremist Salafi groups in Egypt on the record
were saying they received substantial funds from Saudi Arabia. The Yemeni
government has openly criticized Qatar for interfering in its internal affairs
and funding radical Islamists. And of course in Syria the main civilian
opposition is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood, and the so-called Free
Syrian Army is dominated by not only radical jihadists from within Syria, but
also by jihadists from throughout the region,” said Bradley
(Turkey’s Islamist AK Party of Erdogan has received $ billions in investment
in AKP areas of influence and as outright gifts- But Ankara’s pro-Riyadh
policies are unraveling- Editor)
Bradley added little doubt that citizens of the countries hit by the Arab
Spring had reason to criticize their authorities, but contrary to western
audiences’ beliefs [ propaganda Editor] , the lack of political rights was far
from being the most important factor.[i.e. revolt of 99% against 1%, except in
India]
“The motivation for these revolutions was economic. In Tunisia for example it
started with the impoverished and neglected Deep South. In Syria it started in
Daraa, a city near Jordan, which has been experiencing drought for three years.
And in Egypt an extensive opinion poll carried out among those who went to
Tahrir just after Mubarak fell showed that only 19 per cent of them put free
and fair election and free expression and so on, on top of their agenda. The
main priority for 65 percent was the economy,” he added.
People [ like Salafis and Muslims Brothers] more concerned with a power grab
than improving lives were quick to seize the opportunity, Bradley explains.
“Now the people who provoked these revolutions foolishly declared their
revolutions leaderless and they didn’t have an agenda. Anyone who knows
anything about revolutionary uprisings in the past… knows that what happens in
the post-revolutionary chaos is that the groups that are most disciplined and
most ruthless politically then fill the vacuum. When you couple that with the
funding that we were talking about from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, able to
manipulate the electoral process, they were perfectly poised to step into the
gap and fill the vacuum and that’s what they’ve done,” he concludes
Whether USA which spends over $700 billion on defense or rather on attacking
or browbeating the rest of the world, since last few years on borrowed money
from China, Japan etc, collapses sooner or later in its actions and activities
against international law as in Iraq and even Libya, one fact is likely to
emerge clearly .That the extremist Muslim Organisations will fill the space
vacated by pro-West secular dictatorships.
Like the collapse of the two empires Roman/Byzantine and Persian, before the
advent of Islam in seventh century from the arid Arabian desert and its spread
from Morocco to the border of China, Muslim Brotherhoods, Salafis and Wahabis,
Taliban and their kind might take over Muslim lands in north Africa, Middle
east and try to even penetrate in central Asia and South Asia fully.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, socialism and nationalism has been
condemned and neo-liberalism and war and energy and financial interests have
taken over the West .If such a catastrophe strikes and Wahabism and its other
strands take over in Arab lands as in Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, courtesy
(money from Saudi Arabia and other GCC members)
Then remember what Taliban (created by Islamabad, Saudi Arabia with
Washington approval) did to human rights, women rights .Read below what a
Muslim Sister / woman member of Muslim Brotherhood has to say about MB. It is
all known to all.
(Note ; 81 million Egypt contains a quarter of the Arab world’s people.
Nearly half of Egyptians are functionally illiterate. Nine-tenths of adult
women have suffered genital mutilation. Almost a third of Egyptians marry first
or second cousins, the fail-safe indicator of a clan-based society. Half of
Egyptians live on less than $2 a day, and must spend half of that on food)
AL MASRY AL YOUM.
EGYPT INDEPENDENT
Mon, 16/01/2012 - 13:35
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/603661
In memoir, ex-Muslim Sister paints an unflattering picture
Author: Noha El-Hennawy
As the Muslim Brotherhood strives to project the image of a moderate and
democratic political organization, a book featuring the angry account of a
former member has hit the market.
"The Memoirs of a Former Sister: My Story with the Muslim Brotherhood" is the
testimony of Intissar Abdel Moneim, an Alexandria-based novelist and author.
With a compelling style and sharp language, the book takes the reader on a
journey exploring the internal politics of the 83-year-old organization,
placing special emphasis on discrimination against female members.
Throughout her work, Abdel Moneim decries the sisters’ internalization of
oppression as women are socialized in a way that compels them to accept male
dominance within the organization — and the household.
Early in the book, Abdel Moneim condemns what could be interpreted as the
Brotherhood’s exploitation of the permissibility of polygamy in Islam.
“One of the areas where the Brothers have exploited the idea of blind
obedience and submission is polygamy,” she writes, adding that a brother would
take second and third wives for no valid reason. “When the [first] wife
complains, a session is held for her where other sisters would remind her of
the importance of obedience, patience and submission to God’s will and to [the
husband]’s will,” she writes.
To understand the roots of the subjugation of women, Abdel Moneim unpacks the
writings of Hassan al-Banna, the group’s late founder. Here, the author summons
her courage and puts forth a vehement critique of the group’s canonized leader,
who is rarely questioned, even by the most vocal ex-brothers.
Banna's teachings sought to limit women to "catering to their husbands'
desires and to reproduction," Abdel Moneim writes.
The book dismisses Banna's dictum that there is no need to invest heavily in
girls' education and that women should be trained only to serve as housewives
and mothers. Abdel Moneim feels that this sentiment is contradictory to true
Islam.
“It is true that Islam says that a woman’s primary role is to raise children,
but it does not say that this is her only role and that she should not do
anything beyond it. Neither the Koran nor the Sunna [Prophet Mohamed’s sayings
and deeds] nor the sayings of the prophet’s companions and successors barred
her from learning any sciences. The matter has been left for her to decide,
according to her needs and circumstances," writes Abdel Moneim.
She goes on to criticize Banna's insistence that men and women should be
separated. With a scathingly sarcastic tone, the author argues that Banna’s
view portrays humans as if they are mere animals who have little control over
their impulses.
“You cannot by any logic perceive all people as mere female and male sex
organs that roam the streets looking for the moment of intercourse like cats,"
the book reads. Abdel Moneim attributes Banna’s rigid outlook to his rural
background.
This outlook still shapes the group’s perception of women’s roles within the
organization and in the society at large. It justifies why the Muslim Sisters'
division cannot operate independently from the Brothers, why no woman is
admitted into the group's highest bodies, namely the Shura Council and the
Guidance Bureau, and why the group will not acknowledge a woman's right to
rule, according to the book.
This does not mean that the group never deviated from this ideology. In the
lead-up to the 2005 parliamentary elections, it relied heavily on the sisters
to campaign for male candidates, says Abdel Moneim.
“Nobody was saying then that women should be staying at home, raising
children and beautifying themselves for their husbands. ... All of a sudden
women providing logistical support became crucial,” she writes sarcastically.
To her, this deviation stemmed from the group’s lust for political power, which
required mobilizing all its resources to win seats in the elections.
The book came out in the midst of Egypt's first post-Hosni Mubarak
parliamentary poll. The Muslim Brotherhood has proven itself the most popular
political faction and the key civilian player in the new order. The group has
already risen as the largest bloc in the People’s Assembly by garnering nearly
40 percent of the seats. The Brotherhood is expected to achieve similar gains
in the Shura Council vote scheduled to begin later this month.
Since Mubarak's ouster, the group has strived to assuage concerns about its
political and social outlook by claiming that it holds a genuine belief in
democracy and equality between all citizens regardless of their faith and
gender. To prove that they had relinquished their gender and religious bias,
the Brotherhood fielded Copts and women on their electoral lists. Yet, these
attempts were unable to completely alleviate the fears of liberals and
secularists that the group still flirts with a rigid Islamic outlook.
By the same critical token, the author bashes the Brotherhood’s internal
dynamics, arguing that it is based on nepotism rather than merit. To
substantiate her claim, she refers to her personal experience recounting that
she was not easily admitted into the group because she was not the daughter,
the sister or the wife of one of the Muslim Brotherhood's heroic or wealthy
figures. For both men and women, such family ties are required to facilitate
one’s upward mobility within the organization, according to Abdel Moneim.
Meanwhile, the author coins the phrase “the Muslim Brotherhood’s classism” to
describe the full submission of rank-and-file members to their leaders. She
borrows the analogy put forward by a former Muslim Brotherhood leader who drew
parallels between the organization and an electricity-providing company that
needs lots of workers (rank-and-file members) and few engineers.
“It is illogical for a worker to bypass his master or demand that his
position be improved even if he proves himself,” Abdel Moneim writes.
“Otherwise, he will be violating the group’s charter and instilling divisions.
This is probably the Muslim Brotherhood’s interpretation of George Orwell’s
‘Animal Farm.’”
Although the book is presented as a memoir, it provides very little
biographical information about the author. The reader finishes the book not
knowing Abdel Moneim’s age, when and how she joined the Brotherhood and what
year she left the group. Toward the middle of the book, the author implies that
she became a sister after marrying a brother. Nothing is mentioned about this
brother, who seemed to have joined the group with ease.
Yet the book has not failed to cause a stir. Earlier this month, the Muslim
Brotherhood rushed to sue the privately owned Al-Fagr newspaper for running a
sensational review of the book that accused the organization of abusing women
sexually and politically.
Surprisingly enough, the group has declined to sue the book's author. In an
interview with a local website, Mahmoud Ghazlan, the Brotherhood’s
spokesperson, downplayed the book’s impact.
“The Muslim Brotherhood is much bigger than a woman or a man. We will not
preoccupy ourselves with whoever leaves us, insults us or publishes a book,"
Ghazlan said.
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