Iqbal Jassat

IS COLONIALISM IN ISRAEL UNTOUCHABLE?

moderator@openmindsblogspot.com — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:05:00 GMT

Since the pages have turned in commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Nakba, do new headlines and reports covering stories other than Palestine suggest that its business as usual in Israel?

PARADOX OF FIREWORKS OVER STOLEN LAND

moderator@openmindsblogspot.com — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:58:00 GMT

After 60 years it seems that the collective memory of the West is in danger of fading. Much worse is that concurrently, the West desires that the collective memory of the entire world also evaporates. This is wishful thinking simply because the world is aware that what the West hopes for is driven by a need to erase its guilt in the criminal dispossession of Palestinians six decades ago.

NAQBA'S 60TH YEAR: COMPLEX OR NOT - SOLUTION IS SIMPLE!

moderator@openmindsblogspot.com — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:28:00 GMT

Will pious pontification by Western nations ever be replaced by an acknowledgement that short of decisive action, such pompous speeches will remain no more than that?

Can a thief present demands to the owner of the property he has robbed?

moderator@openmindsblogspot.com — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 11:53:00 GMT

According to Gideon Levy, a Haaretz journalist, Israelis who bear the guilt of stealing land from the Palestinians along with their fundamental human rights and humanity, should be terribly troubled by the answers to these questions.

IS ZUMA VICTORY COMPARABLE TO HAMAS’ DEFEAT OF FATAH?

moderator@openmindsblogspot.com — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 12:37:00 GMT

An interesting analogy being made by some commentators is that Jacob Zuma’s victory over Thabo Mbeki is similar to the defeat suffered by Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah faction at the hands of Hamas.

Unmasking of Abbas gives Bush final shot at imposing Bantustan

moderator@openmindsblogspot.com — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 09:18:00 GMT

Where does he hide now? Mahmoud Abbas, de facto dictator of the Occupied Territories is in hiding from his own people! Unlike his predecessor Yasser Arafat, who was incarcerated in his Ramallah HQ - under siege from Israel; Abbas is an esteemed guest in Jerusalem.

His limited movement within the West Bank and zero presence in the Gaza is in sharp contrast to the way he is feted by the Israelis. While he does Israel's bidding by outlawing the elected government led by Hamas, Abbas has foolishly painted himself into a corner.

Unable to step into any role to lead a spirited struggle for freedom from the colonial occupier, Abbas has nowhere to hide. Neither his policies of collaboration, nor his unprincipled attempts to wrest control through a coup, have left him with any integrity. Now that he has been unmasked as a sell-out, his dependence on Israel is his only lifeline to gain endorsement from an equally discredited US leader.

In his rush to marginalize Hamas, he has in fact been following a script flowing from what is known as the Bush doctrine. This required him and his coterie of advisors to conspire with the Zionist regime and the US to dislodge Hamas from power. According to various accounts and more specifically from the editor of the on-line Electronic Intifada, Ali Abunimah, this entailed funneling weapons and tens of millions of dollars to militias, particularly the "Preventive Security Force" headed by the former Gaza warlord Mohammad Dahlan.

Abbas' humiliating failure, compounded by revelations of Dahlan's complicity in the murder of Arafat, has in effect tarnished his image in the eyes of Palestinians, thereby undermining his ability to lead his people. Indeed, sticking to the script has entrenched him as the latest addition to a long list of puppet leaders in the Arab world.

Within PLO structures many questions are being raised about why Abbas would turn his back on the Mecca Agreement, so soon after huge expectations were raised about a united Palestinian position - with a single minded focus on attaining national liberation.

Hamas was applauded for displaying graciousness in allowing Fatah a substantial role within a Government of National Unity, notwithstanding the fact that it [Fatah] lost the Jan '06 elections by a huge margin.

In such a scenario where the defeated party is given a respectful presence in the legislative structures of the Palestinian Authority, it makes no sense for such an arrangement to be scuttled. Yet this is the route chosen by Abbas and his cohorts, who sought to regain complete and total control as became evident in the short-lived anarchy they created in the Gaza.

Why? Is it because Abbas was tempted to forego his people's legitimate rights for a handful of dollars? Or is it due to US pressure and manipulation which he found too hot to handle? Perhaps it was the promise of being enthroned as the Czar of Palestine, with unlimited capacity to reign over his people without any regard to democratic values?

These questions will be answered in due course in possibly the same dramatic way Hamas uncovered Dahlan's nefarious links and destructive mission to keep Palestinians in perpetual bondage.

In the meantime, reports about the handful of dollars turning into bucketsful and increased US training for Abbas' private militia point to a set-up intended to culminate in the so-called "International Conference" organized by the Washington/Tel Aviv alliance for the end of the year. Many pundits expect that as much as that conference may be Bush's last aria, it also will seal Palestine's fate as a doomed Bantustan and Abbas crowned as King - if allowed to proceed!

Mahmoud Abbas and his small group of unelected charlatans have become Palestine's biggest liability. They are willing to barter Jerusalem, the right of return and every legitimate right of the Palestinians for no more than the disgrace of being outright sell-outs.

Will they succeed?

Finding Lessons in Gaza's Bloodshed

moderator@openmindsblogspot.com — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 07:24:00 GMT

The Hamas-Fatah clash that has culminated into a mini-civil war in recent weeks is both old and new, and while some of its elements are uniquely Palestinian, much of it was manufactured at the behest of US-Israeli intelligence and governments.

The tensions between Fatah and Hamas are decades old. Fatah has - since the late 1960s until today - claimed a superior, if not exclusive, position at the helm of Palestinian politics. At times there seemed little margin for any other organization - be it secular, socialist or religious - to share a platform with Yasser Arafat's movement.

Throughout the years, Fatah ensured the relevance of Palestinians to their own struggle. It's important, therefore, that Fatah is not seen as one monolithic body. Fatah security chief Mohammed Dahlan and the likes have tainted the reputation of Fatah forever, but the movement and its decades-long struggle must not be reduced to these individuals. With Fatah through its hegemony within the Palestine Liberation Organization being the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" for so many years, Hamas' rise was never accepted as part of the fold.

The second Palestinian uprising of 2000 can be seen as a revolt against Israel and its occupation, but also against those who did its bidding among Palestinians - the shameful legion of Palestinians whose wealth grew to unprecedented levels as the great majority were steeped further in poverty.

Such shamelessness fostered support for Hamas among ordinary Palestinians, and in January 2006, Hamas swept the polls, to its own surprise and the surprise of many. The elites and wealthy few had espoused a society that was governed by brutality, nepotism and favoritism and was unabashedly managed with the help of Israel. Hamas was the only serious alternative: its anti-corruption record and the tough fight it displayed against Israel made it deserving of the responsibility from the ordinary Palestinian's point of view.

Though Palestinians were ready to give Hamas a chance, the US government, Israel, various Arab regimes and Fatah were not. The latest weeks in Gaza, the tragedy of killings and brutality there, all attest to the lengths the US and Israel are willing to take to keep Hamas at bay.

What took place in Gaza was tragic, but the question remains. Considering the circumstances at the time, did Hamas and Fatah have other options that could have allowed them to achieve their objectives peacefully?

I think there was enough determination on both sides to prevent a civil war at any cost, thus the agreement in Mecca. However, US officials entrusted with ensuring the failure and collapse of the unity government and the utter corruption among Fatah's self-serving security circles made good intentions simply extraneous.

The violence was heartbreaking, especially when one read the details: people getting thrown from the top of high buildings and summary executions. Palestinians were caught in many violent episodes in the past, but this one is most tragic, for it took place under the watchful eye of Israel, which mercilessly continued to kill Palestinians, young and old at the same time that Palestinians were killing one another.

Now that the tragedy has occurred, one can only hope that common sense and sanity will return and for Palestinians to rediscover, once more, that they are still an occupied nation that has no meaningful political sovereignty.

Unfortunately, the US government and Israel remain most relevant in determining the course of action in Palestine, and naturally, they continue to infuse much harm. Israel is now scheduled to hand back the money it stole from the Palestinians in the form of taxes collected on their behalf to Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank, while declaring it intends to tighten the siege on the already besieged and utterly poor Gaza.

Even personal money transfers, Western Union and the like, will be halted to ensure the total suffocation of Gaza. The US will pumping tens of millions of dollars into hand Abbas' hands, and Fatah's warlords - rampaging against Hamas institutions in the West Bank - will also receive more than their fair share of money and weapons. It is quite simple to understand the underlying intents of this generosity after a year and a half of embargo, or to picture the horrible scenario that will result from an empowered, corrupt and vengeful regime.

Israel is committing itself to ensure that the friction among Palestinians will destroy their national project in the West Bank as well. Fatah will now be allowed to do what Israel has failed to do over six decades of occupation.

Despite the painful nature of this conflict, one can only hope that some valuable lessons can be gleaned from all of this, not just by Palestinians alone, but by others who endure along with them the meddling of superpowers and whose democracy is a constant target.

First, Gaza has exposed, like no other experience in modern history, the hypocrisy of the US government's democracy charade; if it was true democracy that the United States was seeking, it would have acknowledged the Palestinian people's collective will and fostered dialogue with their representatives, as opposed to starvation and blockade and covert operations to topple the government.

Second, corruption, although temporarily rewarding, is never lasting, and the people, although forgiving and patient at times, have the ability to withstand pressure, to prevail and force change, even if violently.

Third, proxy politics is most harmful, in Palestine and elsewhere. Palestinian leaders must learn that selling one's political will to foreign polities for the sake of money, power or political substantiation is unforgivable in the eyes of ordinary Palestinians. After all, it's those "ordinary" people who have stood up and confronted the awesome powers of Israel, the US and the corruption and brutality of some of their own for many decades. They will continue to do so no matter how high the price may be. Freedom for Palestinians is more precious than bread, no matter how irrational this may sound.

Gaza might have descended into chaos for a few weeks or months, but so also has the US agenda championed by the remnants of the neo-conservative clique in the administration of President George W Bush, which stubbornly fails to operate outside the parameters of the doctrine of violence, secrecy, conspiracies and military coups.

They refuse to knowledge that it is not weapons that Palestinians want. It is simply freedom.

Palestine: A new conundrum?

moderator@openmindsblogspot.com — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 13:14:00 GMT

Dramatic developments in the Occupied Territories of Gaza and the West Bank have catapulted the Palestinian freedom struggle onto a track which, despite the accompanying tragedy, may in fact be the only route for the elected government of Hamas to propel.

What clearly bore the hallmarks of an interminable duel between Fatah and Hamas after the popular Islamic Movement emerged as the undisputed victors at the polls eighteen months ago, could not be allowed to degenerate into a major disaster for a people now into their 60th year following the Naqba.

Since the January '06 elections, the quartet, led by the Bush Administration has refused to recognize Hamas as the legitimate voice of the Palestinians. In addition to shunning the victors, it also adopted a more belligerent approach by punishing the people for electing Hamas. This aggression took the form of sanctions, isolation and a perpetual siege, placing a million people in an open-air prison without any recourse to end their miserable occupation except through resistance.

But the Israeli/American axis had more than mere starvation in mind. They realized that Hamas cannot be manipulated the way Fatah's unfortunate flirting with the Occupying Power had resulted in straitjacketing its revolutionary ideals. The ultimate prize sought by them is regime change! And, since new elections are years away, Hamas' ability to govern had to be undermined at all cost.

Enter Mohamed Dahlan and his CIA trained thugs. As Fatah's millstone, Dahlan with full US backing in terms of weaponry and funds began spearheading an armed insurrection against Hamas. What media commentators and other analysts have described as a "civil war" - suggesting widespread intolerance within Palestinian civil society - has been entirely misleading. This so-called internecine war has in actual fact been no less than a mutiny!

Hamas' graciousness in respect of forging a unity government notwithstanding, the Dahlan factor had to be dealt with decisively. To ignore or allow foreign-backed agents to drag Gaza into a bottomless pit would be tantamount to giving up the freedom struggle against a foreign military occupation. Knowing full well that the existence and operations of Dahlan's militias, masquerading as the official security apparatus posed enormous challenges to Hamas' ability to retain authority, Ismail Haniyeh's men had to wrest total control.

The result is what TV broadcasts unfairly refer to as a "Hamas mutiny". The truth is that an American operation to impose Dahlan as the emperor of Gaza has been defeated!

The reverberations of this historic turn of events are being felt throughout the region, as indeed the rest of the world. However, the most shocking result has been Mahmoud Abbas' short-sighted and hasty decision to dissolve the unity government, sack PM Haniyeh and declare a state of emergency.

One wonders whether Abbas really believes in the illusion of power his office holds within the confines of Ramallah and - to add insult to injury - being at the mercy of a hostile occupying power.

By playing his hand in this manner, Abbas certainly cannot hope to restore Fatah's revolutionary credentials of the '70s. As an architect of the Oslo Accords, which everyone agrees are "dead", he ought to know the limitations of his Presidency. Apart from small pockets of faithful cadres and a US trained Presidential Guard, Abbas, without co-operation from Hamas will remain entirely ineffective.

Many will argue that Abbas' failure to take dramatic anti-occupation steps - albeit symbolic - following the mass detentions of Hamas members of his parliament by Israel, is an indication of him not being in control of his script. This view will be reinforced yet again by the endorsement he received from Condoleeza Rice minutes after dissolving the government. The Bush Administration has shamelessly supported Abbas through a series of blatant attempts to keep the Palestinians hostage to Israeli dictates.

Gaza today is much freer now that Dahlan's mercenary thugs have been routed. But the larger freedom struggle continues. Hamas' challenges in this regard are no less daunting as vengeful Fatah factions in the West Bank seeks to humiliate their brothers-in-arms.

Obituary - Yusuf Nazeer

moderator@openmindsblogspot.com — Tue, 08 May 2007 13:09:00 GMT

A day before his 75th birthday, Yusuf Nazeer was laid to rest at Johannesburg's Newclare cemetery, succumbing to a brief few months of illness.

Better known to many in the media industry as "Joe", Nazeer's career as a journalist, broadcaster, producer, and inspirational speaker, earned him enormous respect as a person dedicated to his craft.

He belonged to a tradition of scribes who cut their teeth against enormous odds during the notorious apartheid era, when covering stories and reporting from the frontlines of political dissent was as risky as being in the trenches of the underground.

Names such as Omar Don Mattera, Joe Thloloe, Jon Qwelane, Ameen Akhalwaya, Ahmed Essop and many more former and current media luminaries who were his peers during his distinguished career, will certainly recall numerous anecdotes from their past interactions with Nazeer.

After all, the era of "struggle journalism" - riddled as it was with prescriptive censorship laws - was characterised by unique innovative techniques by journalists to "beat the system". Nazeer symbolised such determination not to be intimidated by the apartheid regime's brutal force and laboured courageously to ensure that his investigative reports or full-page features in The Star, reflected truth with integrity.

His association with the nascent Islamic Movement in the early seventies was an exciting period during which his visionary outlook led to the launch of many socio-political projects. One such initiative was the introduction of a national Muslim monthly paper in 1974, al Qalam, which has continued publishing to this day despite facing a spate of banning orders during the heydays of National Party rule.

Nazeer's wide reading and intense study of history was fully complemented by his devotion to the message of the Quran. Drawing from what he called his "true source of knowledge" - the Quran, Nazeer was able to analyse and comment extensively on many contemporary social ills. A great deal of his study undertaken during the wee hours have been published. Many of these have also been offered as "study courses".

Nazeer was an inspiration to many in different vacations. Being a committed health freak, his weightlifting days and boxing forays led him to manage a rigorous diet long before any "weight conscious" programmes were popular.

My friendship with Nazeer started during the 70's when he launched a photo-journal titled "The Mirror" in Johannesburg. His selfless conduct and modest lifestyle added great value to his unique teaching skills whereby he imparted writing techniques to me and others. His regular forays in defense of Islam alongside great scholars such as ASK Joomal and the late MS Laher, challenged media stereotypes at a time debates were centered around Islam's compatability with communism or capitalism.

International pressures brought about by the United States and Israel to either defeat or contain the '79 Islamic Revolution of Iran, which saw the toppling of a favoured client state under the Shah, encouraged Nazeer to probe Imam Khomeini's rule. His subsequent fact-finding mission to Iran resulted in him documenting lengthy feature spreads which conflicted with the general western perception of a country heading into the abyss of "medievalism".

Yusuf Nazeer was a remarkable person. Humble and modest, he exuded a quiet personal charm and dignity. Yet driven by an insatiable passion for reading and learning. His study of the Quran is perhaps the best testimony of his profound knowledge on subjects as diverse as astronomy and sociology.

He is survived by his wife, 3 daughters and 11 grandchildren.

In whose interest is Saudi Arabia acting?

moderator@openmindsblogspot.com — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 08:14:00 GMT

Saudi Arabia's recent moves to broker an inter-Palestinian government of national unity - known as the Mecca Agreement - and followed through with re-floating a five-year old "peace offer" to Israel, has led to a flurry of diplomatic activity in the region.

Even before the proverbial ink had dried, analysts and critics alike have been searching for the real motivation behind the Saudi's renewed enthusiasm and rush to package the Palestinian issue. As different perspectives are scrutinized and faceless sources emerge at regular intervals to provide their interpretations, much of the Muslim world seems to have adopted a 'wait and see' approach.

After all, the Muslim world has during regular intervals been bitterly disappointed after having their hopes inflated by a variety of Arab leaders from Gamal Abdel Nasser to Muammar Gaddafi. None delivered! Most left behind as legacy an era which Palestinians would justly describe as a period of deception, collusion and betrayal.

So while there is no surprise as to why very little excitement about King Abdullah's 'peace offer' is being displayed in the Arab streets; this time around though, public opinion may be swung behind the Saudi initiative if it is seen to be willing to risk US alienation in pursuit of Palestinian interests.

This wont be the first time that Saudi Arabia and the United States will be on a collision course if indeed King Abdullah is acting without consent from the White House.

According to the founder of Stratfor, George Friedman, Saudi relations with America has since September 11 been severely tested over the question of Al Qaeda. US intelligence had even before that event which brought the twin towers crashing down to ground zero, insisted that Saudi intelligence function as their primary window into Al Qaeda.

The American view is pretty simplistic: In the 1970s the Saudis had helped create the mujahideen movement for the Americans to help oppose the Soviets. Having energized this movement with finance and recruits, the Saudis were unable to shut it down nor were they willing to do so. It mutated into Al Qaeda, intensified and turned upon the United State's presence in Saudi Arabia.

Hence, tensions developing between the Saudi monarchy and the Bush administration had to be managed. The only plausible diversion for the Saudis was to place the Palestinian issue on the table and secure a quid pro quo of Al Qaeda for Israel. Helping the Americans would open them to charges of collaboration. But if they through complex bargaining could extract a decision from Bush jnr to impose some tangible peace agreement, they could reclaim respectable leadership in the Arab world.

The focus on Palestine then was purely driven by selfish national interests rather than any genuine concern for the oppression experienced by victims of apartheid Israel.

How certain can we be that this time around, the Saudis have suddenly been emboldened by a desire to assist the Palestinians in the interest of Palestine rather than any ulterior motives?