About this blog

In recent times a plethora of misconceptions, misrepresentation and myths have been forged about Islam
and Muslims. Many western influentials from politicians, policymakers to judges have taken it upon
themselves to undermine the Islamic beliefs, values and rules so to make it palatable to their
egotistic minds and the secular liberal thoughts.

This blog is dedicated:-

1. To argue the point for Islam in its belief and systems and to refute the misconceptions.
2. To expose the weakness and contradictions of all forms of secularism.

15 Jan 2009

Analysis: Attack on Gaza



Analysis: Israeli strikes on Gaza and the implications for the peace process

On December 27, 2008 the Jewish state launched a savage assault on Gaza city, which left 255 people dead and over 700 injured. Almost half of those killed were women and children. Israeli military officials confirmed that more than 100 tons of bombs were dropped on Gaza within a span of few hours.

The attacks were the most brutal the people of Gaza had witnessed in many years. Yet the military operation code named Operation Cast Lead was not a spontaneous response to the termination of the truce between Hamas and Israel , rather it was part of a well-crafted military and diplomatic scheme intended to accomplish specific objectives.

Ever since, Hamas toppled the Palestinian Authority (PA) in June 2007, the Israelis perturbed by militant nature of the organisation have been planning to secure Israel 's borders with Gaza though a series of initiatives. The wide ranging measures consisted of mobilising the international community to accept Hamas as a terrorist organisation, isolating Hamas internationally and regionally, instituting a complete economic blockade of Gaza, instigating a popular uprising against Hamas's political leadership and collating intelligence related to Hamas's security and military infrastructure. The later has led to a full-scale military operation intended to destroy Hamas's security apparatus and its military capacity to strike back.

Despite the overwhelming superiority of the Israeli army in relation to the poorly equipped Hamas fighters, senior military and political figures were reluctant to wage another war without thorough planning. Essentially the cautious approach adopted by the civilian government was intended to avoid a repeat of the spectacular failings of the Israeli army during the Lebanon war of 2006. Hence Israel used the six-month truce with Hamas to gather invaluable intelligence before conducting the latest military operation.

The Jewish paper Haaretz in an article entitled Disinformation, secrecy and lies: How the Gaza offensive came about confirmed the cautious approach. It stated: "Defence Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel defence forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas".

Barak maintained that although the lull would allow Hamas to prepare for a showdown with Israel , the Israeli army needed time to prepare, as well. Barak gave orders to carry out a comprehensive intelligence-gathering drive, which sought to map out Hamas' security infrastructure, along with that of other militant organisations operating in the Strip. This intelligence-gathering effort brought back information about permanent bases, weapon silos, training camps, the homes of senior officials and coordinates for other facilities.

The manipulation of the truce to amass intelligence and prepare for armed combat demonstrates Israel 's unwillingness to accept Hamas as a viable entity in the peace process. In this regard Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said: "Hamas cannot continue to control Gaza ... In the long term, Israel cannot tolerate an extreme Islamic state on its southern border."

The plan to attack Hamas came into effect on November 19, 2008 when dozens of Qassam rockets and mortar rounds exploded on Israeli soil. Thereafter, Israel began a diplomatic offensive with a number of countries to explain its intentions. On December 15, 2008 Defence Minister Ehud Barak told visiting Austrian President Heinz Fischer that "I am not afraid of launching an offensive in Gaza , but I'm not running to Gaza ." Likewise Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni visited Cairo and told Hosni Mubarak about Israel 's plans to attack Gaza . (The fact that Livni was invited to Cairo as opposed to Olmert or Barak indicates that she is the preferred US choice to lead Israel ).

Furthermore, comments from some world leaders as well as regional leaders not only support the Israeli offensive on Gaza but hold Hamas responsible for the current situation. "Hamas must end its terrorist activities if it wishes to play a role in the future of the Palestinian people. The United States urges Israel to avoid civilian casualties as it targets Hamas in Gaza ," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "I call on Gazan militants to cease all rocket attacks on Israel immediately. These attacks are designed to cause random destruction and to undermine the prospects of peace talks led by Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas."

Mahmud Abbas and Egypt also blamed Hamas. Speaking from Cairo Abbas said: "We talked to them (Hamas) and we told them 'please, we ask you, do not end the truce. Let the truce continue and not stop' so that we could have avoided what happened."

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said: "The wounded are barred from crossing" into Cairo , blaming "those who control Gaza . We are waiting for the wounded to cross."

In fact the only people who were caught off guard by the attacks were Hamas and bore the brunt of the initial assault. It is expected that Israel will expand the operation into a ground offensive and actively seek out and destroy Hamas's security and military infrastructure.

But beyond destroying Hamas's ability to rule Gaza and launch rocket attacks against Israel , what is Israel trying to achieve. Israel is well aware that the incoming Obama administration is serious about implementing a comprehensive solution to Israel 's disputes with Palestine , Lebanon and Syria . The composition of Obama's foreign policy team (advisors and officials) together with Jimmy Carter's recent visit to the region points to a much more active US engagement than the outgoing Bush administration had managed to achieve in the past eight years. Additionally, the Obama administration unlike the Bush administration is not too close to the Israeli lobby.

This realisation has spread quickly amongst Israeli politicians. Therefore the expansion of settlements in West Bank and the latest military offensive in Gaza is designed to give Israel the upper hand over the Palestinians before the onset of peace talks sometime after January 2009. America has consented to this and expects Israel to agree to a ceasefire as soon as it feels it has achieved its security objectives in Gaza.

Regarding the Palestinian position, both Israel and America want the Abbas to lead the negotiations. However, Abbas's presidential term expires on January 9, 2009. Although his own Fatah party makes a case that the term could legitimately be extended by another year, Hamas is opposed to it. By inflicting huge damage on Hamas, the US through Egyptian mediation is expecting Hamas to agree to some type of power sharing formula with Fatah that retains Abbas as the president. Snap elections maybe called to achieve this outcome.

On the issue of who will lead Israel in polls scheduled for February 2009, the US favours Livni. Livni's strong stance against Hamas as a prelude to the latest military conflict has boosted her appeal amongst Israeli voters. On December 26, 2008 a poll published in the Maariv daily showed Livni's moderate Kadima Party neck and neck with its hawkish Likud rival ahead of general elections. A Teleseker survey showed Kadima winning 30 of Parliament's 120 seats, to Likud's 29 seats. The poll surveyed more than 800 people and had a margin of error of 2 seats. Previous polls in recent weeks had given Likud a strong lead.

However, the challenges facing the US in kick-starting the peace process and arriving at some resolution are significant. Both Hamas and Fatah are discredited amongst the Palestinian populace and even if both parties are able to form a unity government there is a strong likelihood that the people will resist its dealings with Israel.

On the Jewish front, Israeli intransigence to derail American peace initiatives is notorious. Unless, the Obama administration shows determination to force Israel into a peace deal then very little will be accomplished by America.

[Article written by Abid Mustafa, 01 January 2008]
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What they said...

“Islam represented the greatest military power on earth…It was the foremost economic power in the world…It had achieved the highest level so far in human history, in the arts and sciences of civilization...Islam in contrast created a world civilization, poly-ethnic, multiracial, international, one might even say intercontinental.”





[Bernard Lewis, Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Orientalist and Historian, 2001]





"There was once a civilization that was the greatest in the world. It was able to create a continental super-state that stretched from ocean to ocean, and from northern climes to tropics and deserts…the civilization I'm talking about was the Islamic world from the year 800 to 1600… Although we are often unaware of our indebtedness to this other civilization, its gifts are very much a part of our heritage"





[Carly Fiorina, ex-CEO of Hewlett-Packard, 2001]





"For the first three centuries of its existence (circ. A.D 650-1000) the realm of Islam was the most civilized and progressive portion of the world. Studded with splendid cities, gracious mosques and quiet universities where the wisdom of the ancient world was preserved and appreciated, the Moslem world offered a striking contrast to the Christian West, then sunk in the night of the Dark Ages."





[Lothrop Stoddard, Ph.D (Harvard), American political theorist and historian, 1932]





"Medieval Islam was technologically advanced and open to innovation. It achieved far higher literacy rates than in contemporary Europe;it assimilated the legacy of classical Greek civilization to such a degree that many classical books are now known to us only through Arabic copies. It invented windmills ,trigonometry, lateen sails and made major advances in metallurgy, mechanical and chemical engineering and irrigation methods. In the middle-ages the flow of technology was overwhelmingly from Islam to Europe rather from Europe to Islam. Only after the 1500's did the net direction of flow begin to reverse."





[Jared Diamond, UCLA sociologist and Author, 1997]



"No other society has such a record of success in uniting in an equality of status, of opportunity and endeavour so many and so varied races of mankind. The great Muslim communities of Africa, India and Indonesia, perhaps also the small community in Japan, show that Islam has still the power to reconcile apparently irreconcilable elements of race and tradition. If ever the opposition of the great societies of the East and west is to be replaced by cooperation, the mediation of Islam is an indispensable condition."





[Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb, Professor at Harvard University, 1932]





“The Muhammadan Law which is binding on all -- from the crowned head to the meanest subject is a law interwoven with a system of the wisest, the most learned and the most enlightened jurisprudence that ever existed in the world.”





[Edmund Burke, British Statesman and Philosopher, 1789]





"The Exile here is not like in our homeland. The Turks hold respectable Jews in esteem. Here and in Alexandria, Egypt, Jews are the chief officers and administrators of the customs, and the king’s revenues. No injuries are perpetuated against them in all the empire. Only this year, in consequence of the extraordinary expenditure caused by the war against Shah Tahmsap al-Sufi, were the Jews required to make advances of loans to the princes."





[David dei Rossi, Jewish Traveller 17CE, quoted by Norman A. Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands]





"The notable religious tolerance towards Christians and Jew under Muslim rule had given way to the uncompromising zealotry of Spanish Inquisition. Jews and Muslims thus fled Spain with large numbers of Jews immigrating to the Ottoman Empire which was known for its tolerance to the Jews."





[Graham Fuller, Author and former CIA, 1995]





“If there is much misunderstanding in the West about the nature of Islam, there is also much ignorance about the debt our own culture and civilization owe to the Islamic world. It is a failure, which stems, I think, from the straightjacket of history, which we have inherited. The medieval Islamic world, from central Asia to the shores of the Atlantic, was a world where scholars and men of learning flourished. But because we have tended to see Islam as the enemy of the West, as an alien culture, society, and systems of beliefs, we have tended to ignore or erase its great relevance to our own history”





[Charles Philip Arthur George, HRH The Prince of Wales, 1993]





"...Not being subject to the Sharia, Jews and Christians were free to go to their own religious authorities for adjudication of disputes; but in many cases they went instead to the [Muslim] Qadi"





[Richard W. Bulliet, Professor of History and Author, 2004]





"Here in the land of the Turks we have nothing to complain of. We possess great fortunes; much gold and silver are in our hands. We are not oppressed by heavy taxes and our commerce is free and unhindered. Rich are the fruits of the earth. Everything is cheap and each one of us lives in freedom. Here a Jew is not compelled to wear a yellow star as a badge of shame as is the case in Germany where even wealth and great fortune is a curse for a Jew because he therewith arouses jealousy among the Christians and they devise all kinds of slander against him to rob him of his gold. Arise my brethren, gird up your loins, collect up your forces and come to us."





[In his book 'Constantinople', Philip Mansel quotes a rabbi in Turkey writing to his brethren in Europe where they were facing increasing persecution after 1453]





"Praise be to the beneficent God for his mercy towards me! Kings of the earth, to whom his [the Caliph’s] magnificence and power are known, bring gifts to him, conciliating his favour by costly presents, such as the king of the Germans, the king of the Gebalim, the king of Constantinople, and others. All their gifts pass through my hands, and I am charged with making gifts in return. (Let my lips express praise to the God in heaven who so far extends his loving kindness towards me without any merit of my own, but in the fullness of his mercies.) I always ask the ambassadors of these monarchs about our brethren the Jews, the remnant of the captivity, whether they have heard anything concerning the deliverance of those who have pined in bondage and had found no rest."





[Hasdai Ibn Shaprut (915-990 CE) Jewish physician, chief minister of Islamic Caliphate in Cordova, 'The Jewish Caravan']





"In Baghdad there are about forty thousand Jews, and they dwell in security, prosperity, and honour under the great Caliph [al-Mustanjid, 1160-70 CE], and amongst them are great sages, the Heads of the Academies engaged in the study of the Law…’"





[Benjamin of Tudela, Rabbi in Baghdad in the year 1168 CE, 'The Jew in the Medieval World']





"Those Eastern thinkers of the ninth century laid down, on the basis of their theology, the principle of the Rights of Man, in those very terms, comprehending the rights of individual liberty, and of inviolability of person and property; described the supreme power in Islam, or Califate, as based on a contract, implying conditions of capacity and performance, and subject to cancellation if the conditions under the contract were not fulfilled; elaborated a Law of War of which the humane, chivalrous prescriptions would have put to the blush certain belligerents in the Great War; expounded a doctrine of toleration of non-Moslem creeds so liberal that our West had to wait a thousand years before seeing equivalent principles adopted.





[Leon Ostorog, French Jurist]





"The debt of our science to that of the Arabs does not consist in startling discoveries or revolutionary theories; science owes a great deal more to Arab culture, it owes its existence"





[Robert Briffault, Novelist and Historian, 1928]





"The only effective link between the old and the new science is afforded by the Arabs. The dark ages come as an utter gap in the scientific history of Europe, and for more than a thousand years there was not a scientific man of note except in Arabia"





[Oliver Joseph Lodge, Writer and Professor of Physics, 1893]





“Thus, when Muslims crossed the straits of Gibraltar from North Africa in 711 and invaded the Iberian Peninsula, Jews welcomed them as liberators from Christian Persecution.”





[Zion Zohar, Jewish scholar at Florida International University, 2005]







“Throughout much of the period in question, Arabic served as the global language of scholarship, and learned men of all stripes could travel widely and hold serious and nuanced discussions in this lingua franca. Medieval Western scholars who wanted access to the latest findings also needed to master the Arabic Tongue or work from translations by those who had done so.”





[Jonathan Lyons, Author, Writer and Lecturer, 2009]