First of all, my apologies to my regular
readers for the month-long silence.
The main reason is that I find it increasingly
difficult to read and watch the news:
Whether the topic is the imperialistic wars of
aggression on Iraq and Afghanistan, or the
legitimate technological aspirations of Iran,
or the continued terrible plight of the
Palestinians, or almost any other subject in
the news, the West is daily proving to the
rest of the world that it (the West) has little
or no positive role to play anywhere - in its
own perverse view, the West is always right
and the rest is always wrong, so no need for
dialogue, consensus and compromise,
and the West claims it promotes moderation,
but what it really seeks is compliance with its
own narrow interests, which are insatiable
greed and ruthless exploitation,
and, as it pursues its ridiculous counter-
productive and unwinnable "War on Terror",
the West rants and raves about Islamic
"extremism" and what a grave threat it poses
to the "civilised" world but there is nothing
civilised about the general conduct of the
West itself, forever encroaching on Muslim
lands and resources, so inevitably forcing a
healthy, natural, human reaction, which is
no more militant than the methods of the
West, and, by the way, the current revival
of political Islam is not a threat but -
a promise!
All in all, the reality seen and felt by the
rest of the world, in particular Muslims,
is that of hypocrisy, and not just ordinary
hypocrisy -
nauseating, stinking, hideous, revolting,
screaming-to-high-heaven hypocrisy.....
Maybe I'll leave the news alone for a few
weeks and see if I can write some serious
articles or some more poems - Inshallah.....
Showing posts with label islam+the-west. Show all posts
Showing posts with label islam+the-west. Show all posts
11 April 2007
17 January 2007
Somalia sliding back where it was...
SOMALIA is on the slide back to where it was.
Having had no proper central government for
15 years or so, and having been "ruled" by the
various warlords who are operating along clan
loyalties, and with a totally non-representative
internationally-backed transitional government
wielding neither influence nor power holed up in
the provincial town Baidoa, it must have been a
relief to most in Somalia to see the emergence
of the Union of Islamic Courts, which, with their
strict interpretation of Islam, finally brought
some law and order, stability and security to the
parts of Somalia which they controlled -
sadly using the past tense here as the Ethiopian
army, helping its friends in Baidoa, and backed
by the West, has dislodged the UIC and driven
them from power. Predictably, the warlords have
moved straight back in, and almost certainly will
return the situation to the utter chaos it was.
Ethiopia's invasion of its neighbour Somalia is
of course totally illegal and a flagrant breach of
various treaties and conventions, just like the
invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq
by the Great Satan and Co - and not a squeak
from the international community. As usual the
UN SC could not agree on anything substantial,
so, just as in the case last Summer of Israel's
grotesquely savage destruction of Lebanon and
its friendly people, giving the time to Ethiopia
to remove the UIC and for the US to, again
totally illegally, send aircraft in to shoot and
bomb "suspected al-Qaida hideouts" on the
Kenyan border, in one attack locals insisted
that 31 civilians had been killed by US fire.
Isn't it amazing, the Ethiopian government
which until very recently was being criticised
and harassed by the West about flawed elections,
brutal suppression of protests, and threatened
with the prospects of aid being withheld failing
improvements, suddenly everything is OK and
nothing is a problem. Why? Simple:
Because the rising power in Somaia was Islamist.
Here, yet again, we see the long bloody fingers
of the Great Satan: Any situation is OK and to be
preferred, from lackeys and stooges, posing as
democratically elected representatives, to brutal
dictators, made-to-measure and installed if not
readily available, to absolute chaos, mayhem
and anarchy, anything goes, absolutely anything,
so long as it is not political Islam.
Is it not clear to all by now?
Political Islam, if the democratic choice of the
majority of the people, has every right not only
to exist but to prosper which, if left alone, it no
doubt would and THAT is the nightmare-fear of
the West, and it is easy to see why:
Compare the elected pathetic compulsive liars
of America, Britain, Israel etc, who only serve
themselves and vested interests, with the god-
fearing, clean-living, straight-dealing leaders of
Hamas, Hizbollah etc.
Which would you rather have?
The time for the Islamic world to unite is long
overdue - bring back the Caliphate!
Having had no proper central government for
15 years or so, and having been "ruled" by the
various warlords who are operating along clan
loyalties, and with a totally non-representative
internationally-backed transitional government
wielding neither influence nor power holed up in
the provincial town Baidoa, it must have been a
relief to most in Somalia to see the emergence
of the Union of Islamic Courts, which, with their
strict interpretation of Islam, finally brought
some law and order, stability and security to the
parts of Somalia which they controlled -
sadly using the past tense here as the Ethiopian
army, helping its friends in Baidoa, and backed
by the West, has dislodged the UIC and driven
them from power. Predictably, the warlords have
moved straight back in, and almost certainly will
return the situation to the utter chaos it was.
Ethiopia's invasion of its neighbour Somalia is
of course totally illegal and a flagrant breach of
various treaties and conventions, just like the
invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq
by the Great Satan and Co - and not a squeak
from the international community. As usual the
UN SC could not agree on anything substantial,
so, just as in the case last Summer of Israel's
grotesquely savage destruction of Lebanon and
its friendly people, giving the time to Ethiopia
to remove the UIC and for the US to, again
totally illegally, send aircraft in to shoot and
bomb "suspected al-Qaida hideouts" on the
Kenyan border, in one attack locals insisted
that 31 civilians had been killed by US fire.
Isn't it amazing, the Ethiopian government
which until very recently was being criticised
and harassed by the West about flawed elections,
brutal suppression of protests, and threatened
with the prospects of aid being withheld failing
improvements, suddenly everything is OK and
nothing is a problem. Why? Simple:
Because the rising power in Somaia was Islamist.
Here, yet again, we see the long bloody fingers
of the Great Satan: Any situation is OK and to be
preferred, from lackeys and stooges, posing as
democratically elected representatives, to brutal
dictators, made-to-measure and installed if not
readily available, to absolute chaos, mayhem
and anarchy, anything goes, absolutely anything,
so long as it is not political Islam.
Is it not clear to all by now?
Political Islam, if the democratic choice of the
majority of the people, has every right not only
to exist but to prosper which, if left alone, it no
doubt would and THAT is the nightmare-fear of
the West, and it is easy to see why:
Compare the elected pathetic compulsive liars
of America, Britain, Israel etc, who only serve
themselves and vested interests, with the god-
fearing, clean-living, straight-dealing leaders of
Hamas, Hizbollah etc.
Which would you rather have?
The time for the Islamic world to unite is long
overdue - bring back the Caliphate!
19 December 2006
Bombs on Bali but not on Ibiza and Mikonos
(First posted January 2006)
The title may surprise you. Read on.
That the small island of Bali was selected in
all of enormous Indonesia is pretty obvious:
It has the biggest tourist resorts and they
generate substantial income for the island and
for Indonesia, so putting Bali out of business
might help to destabilise Indonesia.
But the bombings, although carried out in a
Muslim country, were also an attack on the
West in general as the vast majority of the
holiday-makers are from affluent Western
countries, mainly coming from Europe and
Australia, flying out to Bali for a couple of
weeks to "have a good time".
And that is the real problem.
Whenever we travel and wherever we go, there
is an obligation on us to behave according to the
laws and customs of the places we visit and above
all to conduct ourselves at all times in a generally
responsible and decent manner.
Indonesia is a Muslim country. The importance of
decency in public in a Muslim country cannot be
overstated. The Muslim attitude can be summed
up like this: behave yourselves in public and do
what you like in private so long as you can justify
it before your Creator.
To me, that is civilised behaviour.
I have seen a middle-aged French couple,
both wearing shorts, trying to enter a mosque
in Agadir - they were politely prevented access
by two old men.
I have personally told a young couple not
to mouth-kiss in a cathedral in Budapest -
I don't know where they were from but
they ought to know better.
From Dublin to Bucharest, from Oslo to Cadiz,
I have seen Europeans, and not all of them
young ones, in restaurants, cafes and other
public places, trying to eat, drink, smoke,
read, telehone, SMS, Walkman-Discman-MP3
via headphones, tongue-kiss and grope all at
the same time, and you have the impression
that if it were physically possible to do it all
simultaneously, then they would overdose
themselves into oblivion on it all.
Just Do It as that dreadful Nike slogan goes...
This is "Instant Gratification Syndrome" at
its worst and a cancer of Western society.
There is a time and a place for everything!
To say that they behave like pigs is an insult -
to the pigs of course. Pigs just do what they are
supposed to do according to their software and
operating system.
In recent years it has been a case of
"instant relief" for me when I have gone from a
Western to a Muslim country, the difference is
immediate and striking.
My traditional and cultural and religious
background is not Islamic but European-
Scandinavian, so I cannot say that entering a
Muslim country is "like coming home" but the
feeling is similar, a feeling of being in the right
place, of being where I belong.
Back to Bali:
When affluent Westerners on holiday on Bali walk
about almost naked, drink and drug themselves
into a stupor and dance themselves into a daze
to obscene Western music, it should surprise
nobody if the locals are offended and dismayed.
Yes I know that the inhabitants of Bali are
predominantly Hindu but that does not change
anything.
There is a balance to be struck between jobs and
money for the local community (and, in truth,
how much stays on the island and how much is
owned by foreigners anyway?) and watching your
culture being ridiculed and poisoned.
I do not know whether Muslim groups held
peaceful demonstrations against the behaviour
of foreign tourists before the bombings or
whether there had been any other warnings
or indications that "enough is enough".
Clearly, for some in Indonesia, it was
more than enough.
On to Ibiza and Mikonos:
It surprises me that there have been no
protests in Spain and Greece against the
behaviour of tourists on those two islands
(used here as specific examples).
You may ask: Who would protest?
Well, decent Christians, of course!
Both Spain and Greece are deeply religious
countries with the Catholic and the Orthodox
churches, respectively, still enjoying widespread
genuine support.
The fact that Western countries have separation
of state and religion does not prevent anyone with
deeply held religious views from protesting and
demonstrating.
Spain's socialist government recently legalised
homosexual marriages and, whilst there were
meetings between government and church where
no doubt worries and objections were expressed,
the fact that there were no big demonstrations
where one might have expected millions in the
streets in all the major cities, is a cause for,
maybe not concern, but certainly reflection.
Is it because there are no decent Christians
anymore? Of course not.
Is it because decent Christians are content so
long as they can practice their religion in peace
but do not feel the need to impose it on the
rest of society?
That is probably part of the answer.
Is it because decent Christians have simply given
up trying to influence the secular world around
them because they know from experience that
they will either get shouted down or voted down
or simply ignored?
That is probably pretty close to the facts.
And very sad. Why?
Because in that case religion has already
admitted defeat and retreated from the World.
All religions are, how can I put it, an "operating
system" for how to live a decent life but, to
continue the metaphor, it is not enough to know
the instructions: You have to run the programme!
How can you separate your religion from your
daily life? And your daily life is of course your
secular existence. How can you separate the two?
To me, the separation of state and religion is a
nonsense, is a fake, an illusion, a hallucination.
Take Turkey: A pure Muslim nation but since
1922 a secular state. I understand the reasons
why Kemal "Ataturk" Mustafa designed the
constitution the way it is but it is a schizophrenic
arrangement and in the long term it will return
to haunt the nation through causing enormous
frictions within society.
Maybe for Turkey that "long term" is coming to
an end after more than 80 years of secularism?
Governments can legislate all they want but the
simple fact is: You cannot stop people being
religious. Communism tried and failed miserably
in that endeavour as in all others except
education and military power.
That is one aspect of Islamic culture which so
impresses me: It is a living religion, it is a part
of everything you do. It governs your spiritual
life and your secular life to the extent that the
boundaries between the two become blurred
and for many they merge into one, and that,
surely, is precisely the purpose.
I am sure that, not in the recent past but long
ago, Christianity was lived in the same way,
and maybe Christianity could be revived to be
like that again - but only if decent Christians
really want it to!
That would of course require Christians to say NO
now and then, and not just say it but mean it and
live it. The only current example I know of is the
anti-abortion direct action groups in the US.
If their religion mattered as much to decent
Christians as it does to decent Muslims, then
there would have been bombs going off, or
something similar happening, long ago on Ibiza
and Mikonos, where holiday-makers from mainly
northern Europe congregate in the Summer
months to freak out and compete with each
other as to who can be most gross or obscene,
including copulating on the beaches,
homosexuals too.
The title may surprise you. Read on.
That the small island of Bali was selected in
all of enormous Indonesia is pretty obvious:
It has the biggest tourist resorts and they
generate substantial income for the island and
for Indonesia, so putting Bali out of business
might help to destabilise Indonesia.
But the bombings, although carried out in a
Muslim country, were also an attack on the
West in general as the vast majority of the
holiday-makers are from affluent Western
countries, mainly coming from Europe and
Australia, flying out to Bali for a couple of
weeks to "have a good time".
And that is the real problem.
Whenever we travel and wherever we go, there
is an obligation on us to behave according to the
laws and customs of the places we visit and above
all to conduct ourselves at all times in a generally
responsible and decent manner.
Indonesia is a Muslim country. The importance of
decency in public in a Muslim country cannot be
overstated. The Muslim attitude can be summed
up like this: behave yourselves in public and do
what you like in private so long as you can justify
it before your Creator.
To me, that is civilised behaviour.
I have seen a middle-aged French couple,
both wearing shorts, trying to enter a mosque
in Agadir - they were politely prevented access
by two old men.
I have personally told a young couple not
to mouth-kiss in a cathedral in Budapest -
I don't know where they were from but
they ought to know better.
From Dublin to Bucharest, from Oslo to Cadiz,
I have seen Europeans, and not all of them
young ones, in restaurants, cafes and other
public places, trying to eat, drink, smoke,
read, telehone, SMS, Walkman-Discman-MP3
via headphones, tongue-kiss and grope all at
the same time, and you have the impression
that if it were physically possible to do it all
simultaneously, then they would overdose
themselves into oblivion on it all.
Just Do It as that dreadful Nike slogan goes...
This is "Instant Gratification Syndrome" at
its worst and a cancer of Western society.
There is a time and a place for everything!
To say that they behave like pigs is an insult -
to the pigs of course. Pigs just do what they are
supposed to do according to their software and
operating system.
In recent years it has been a case of
"instant relief" for me when I have gone from a
Western to a Muslim country, the difference is
immediate and striking.
My traditional and cultural and religious
background is not Islamic but European-
Scandinavian, so I cannot say that entering a
Muslim country is "like coming home" but the
feeling is similar, a feeling of being in the right
place, of being where I belong.
Back to Bali:
When affluent Westerners on holiday on Bali walk
about almost naked, drink and drug themselves
into a stupor and dance themselves into a daze
to obscene Western music, it should surprise
nobody if the locals are offended and dismayed.
Yes I know that the inhabitants of Bali are
predominantly Hindu but that does not change
anything.
There is a balance to be struck between jobs and
money for the local community (and, in truth,
how much stays on the island and how much is
owned by foreigners anyway?) and watching your
culture being ridiculed and poisoned.
I do not know whether Muslim groups held
peaceful demonstrations against the behaviour
of foreign tourists before the bombings or
whether there had been any other warnings
or indications that "enough is enough".
Clearly, for some in Indonesia, it was
more than enough.
On to Ibiza and Mikonos:
It surprises me that there have been no
protests in Spain and Greece against the
behaviour of tourists on those two islands
(used here as specific examples).
You may ask: Who would protest?
Well, decent Christians, of course!
Both Spain and Greece are deeply religious
countries with the Catholic and the Orthodox
churches, respectively, still enjoying widespread
genuine support.
The fact that Western countries have separation
of state and religion does not prevent anyone with
deeply held religious views from protesting and
demonstrating.
Spain's socialist government recently legalised
homosexual marriages and, whilst there were
meetings between government and church where
no doubt worries and objections were expressed,
the fact that there were no big demonstrations
where one might have expected millions in the
streets in all the major cities, is a cause for,
maybe not concern, but certainly reflection.
Is it because there are no decent Christians
anymore? Of course not.
Is it because decent Christians are content so
long as they can practice their religion in peace
but do not feel the need to impose it on the
rest of society?
That is probably part of the answer.
Is it because decent Christians have simply given
up trying to influence the secular world around
them because they know from experience that
they will either get shouted down or voted down
or simply ignored?
That is probably pretty close to the facts.
And very sad. Why?
Because in that case religion has already
admitted defeat and retreated from the World.
All religions are, how can I put it, an "operating
system" for how to live a decent life but, to
continue the metaphor, it is not enough to know
the instructions: You have to run the programme!
How can you separate your religion from your
daily life? And your daily life is of course your
secular existence. How can you separate the two?
To me, the separation of state and religion is a
nonsense, is a fake, an illusion, a hallucination.
Take Turkey: A pure Muslim nation but since
1922 a secular state. I understand the reasons
why Kemal "Ataturk" Mustafa designed the
constitution the way it is but it is a schizophrenic
arrangement and in the long term it will return
to haunt the nation through causing enormous
frictions within society.
Maybe for Turkey that "long term" is coming to
an end after more than 80 years of secularism?
Governments can legislate all they want but the
simple fact is: You cannot stop people being
religious. Communism tried and failed miserably
in that endeavour as in all others except
education and military power.
That is one aspect of Islamic culture which so
impresses me: It is a living religion, it is a part
of everything you do. It governs your spiritual
life and your secular life to the extent that the
boundaries between the two become blurred
and for many they merge into one, and that,
surely, is precisely the purpose.
I am sure that, not in the recent past but long
ago, Christianity was lived in the same way,
and maybe Christianity could be revived to be
like that again - but only if decent Christians
really want it to!
That would of course require Christians to say NO
now and then, and not just say it but mean it and
live it. The only current example I know of is the
anti-abortion direct action groups in the US.
If their religion mattered as much to decent
Christians as it does to decent Muslims, then
there would have been bombs going off, or
something similar happening, long ago on Ibiza
and Mikonos, where holiday-makers from mainly
northern Europe congregate in the Summer
months to freak out and compete with each
other as to who can be most gross or obscene,
including copulating on the beaches,
homosexuals too.
08 December 2006
Made in Denmark
(First posted early 2006)
I am Danish and have travelled extensively for
decades. I have always told people everywhere
I went that coming from a small unimportant
country has certain advantages because it is,
well, too small and unimportant to upset anyone.
How wrong can you be!
Look:
Denmark joined the Coalition of the Killing
in those illegal wars of aggression first against
Afghanistan and then against Iraq, and now
those dreadful drawings of Muhammad (pbuh)
which have resulted in violent protests against
little Denmark right across the Islamic world,
from Morocco and Nigeria in the west over
occupied Palestine to Saudi Arabia, Iran,
Afghanistan and Pakistan to Indonesia in
the east. Denmark is suddenly world-famous
but, tragically, for all the wrong reasons.
Decades of hard work by decent people
destroyed overnight!
As I say in my long poem Axis of Evil :
"..Watch out Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Rome..."
When I next travel in Islamic countries I shall still
when asked, and you always are, tell them that
I am Danish but I am not looking forward to it.
At least I can prove to them that I love their
culture and have a profound respect for their
religion which maybe by then, Inshallah, will also
be mine (isn't it already?), so all is not lost but I
can think of better ways of promoting
Made in Denmark.
PS And I formally became a Muslim
on 15 November 2006.
I am Danish and have travelled extensively for
decades. I have always told people everywhere
I went that coming from a small unimportant
country has certain advantages because it is,
well, too small and unimportant to upset anyone.
How wrong can you be!
Look:
Denmark joined the Coalition of the Killing
in those illegal wars of aggression first against
Afghanistan and then against Iraq, and now
those dreadful drawings of Muhammad (pbuh)
which have resulted in violent protests against
little Denmark right across the Islamic world,
from Morocco and Nigeria in the west over
occupied Palestine to Saudi Arabia, Iran,
Afghanistan and Pakistan to Indonesia in
the east. Denmark is suddenly world-famous
but, tragically, for all the wrong reasons.
Decades of hard work by decent people
destroyed overnight!
As I say in my long poem Axis of Evil :
"..Watch out Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Rome..."
When I next travel in Islamic countries I shall still
when asked, and you always are, tell them that
I am Danish but I am not looking forward to it.
At least I can prove to them that I love their
culture and have a profound respect for their
religion which maybe by then, Inshallah, will also
be mine (isn't it already?), so all is not lost but I
can think of better ways of promoting
Made in Denmark.
PS And I formally became a Muslim
on 15 November 2006.
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