Arab News Blog

My weekly article in Al-Akhbar: “When Gilbert Achqar Invaded the hearts of Israelis”

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I guess I should end this week of snow and Iranian heavy-handedness with something lighter, though not everyone will consider it so: in the controversy over whether or not the doubling of Saudi traffic fines constitute usury under Islamic law, a senior scholar is siding with the government, which disagrees with a ruling by the Saudi Grand Mufti, Sheikh ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Al al-Sheikh. (For those not familiar with the KSA, the name “Al al-Sheikh” refers to descendants of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab, founder of the Wahhabi interpretation of Hanbali Islam.) (No, it’s not a “sect,” whatever you may read elsewhere.)

Another English-language Saudi account here, and isn’t it interesting how when it’s a government-imposed policy, suddenly those who disagree with the Mufti (“Grand Mufti” is actually, I think, a term the British created for Amin al-Husseini; I think the proper title is just Mufti of Saudi Arabia) get good government press?

Afterthought: Could this explain traffic in most major Middle Eastern cities? Sorry, we can’t ticket anybody, it’s haram?

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The USG Open Source Center translates the statement of Mullah Omar, leader of the “Old Taliban” in Afghanistan, on the occasion of the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha). Mullah Omar demands and end to the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan and rejects the idea of negotiating with the US, calling it a “surrender.”

November 25, 2009 Wednesday

Taleban leader calls for end to Afghan “occupation” in Id al-Adha message

Text of report by private Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency

Kandahar, 25 November: Taleban leader:

In his message on the occasion of the 1388 [year beginning 21 March 2009] Id al-Adha, Taleban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has said that by talking about negotiations, the invading Americans want the mojahedin to surrender to them – something that is impossible.

He has talked about many important issues in his long message. Talking to Afghan Islamic Press [AIP] on the phone, Taleban Spokesman Qari Mohammad Yusof Ahmadi confirmed that it was their leader’s message. Because the message covers some important issues, based on its policy AIP is publishing its full text:

Message of congratulations of honourable Amir al-Momenin [Taleban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar Mojahed] on the auspicious occasion of Id al-Adha:

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. [Verse in Arabic]

I congratulate the mojahed [holy-warrior] nation of Afghanistan, the respectable families of martyrs, those who live in captivity of the enemy, the brave mojahedin [holy warriors] and all members of the Islamic Ummah [nation] on the auspicious occasion of Id al-Adha. May this sacred day be the day of eternal freedom, pride, happiness, wellbeing and success for the entire Islamic Ummah. May Allah accept the hajj, acts of worship and prayers of hajjis [pilgrims to Mecca] and make their religious gathering a cause for unity among members of the Ummah.

On the auspicious occasion of Id al-Adha and based on the needs of time, I would also like to mention a few necessary issues:

1. To Muslim and mojahed nation

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to my Muslim nation for welcoming the request of the Islamic Emirate not to participate in the American process under the name of elections and thus failing and exposing this American drama. I strongly believe that if the mojahed nation continues to extend its all-round and sincere cooperation, Allah will foil all conspiracies of the enemies of our country one after another. It is because of your sacrifices and the grace of Allah that the arrogant enemy is facing a major embarrassment and defeat and is panicking. In order to attain our Islamic objectives, you should continue your jihad and struggle and help the mojahedin who are sacrificing their lives. Strengthen the ranks of the mojahedin by joining them and by offering your wealth. I especially hope that you will take care of the families of holy martyrs and captives. Similarly, on the basis of your religious responsibility, cut all your ties with the mercenary administration in Kabul.

Those who have occupied our country and have held our nation hostage are now trying to use for some time the deceitful drama of talks the way they used the elections drama in order to secure their colonial objectives. The occupying enemy does not want talks as a result of which Afghanistan will become independent and which will end their occupation. They want talks that will ensure the continuation of their occupation and dirty colonial policies. However, the mojahed nation of Afghanistan will never accept talks that will legalize the continual presence of foreign forces in our beloved country.
Cont’d (click below or on “comments”)

Afghanistan is our home and nobody negotiates with anyone about the ownership of their home and about how to share sovereignty and management responsibilities of their home. Nobody will give up their right to be the owner of their home and nobody will wilfully lose their authority in their own home. The foreigners have taken over the home of the Afghans by force and cruelty. If they want a solution to the problem, they should first end their occupation of Afghanistan. Under the pretext of talks, the invading Americans want the mojahedin to surrender to them. This is something that is impossible.

Our nation has good experiences and clear principles to guide them resolve their problems and deal with the world. Therefore, the position of the Islamic Emirate is based on Islamic and national interests and strong reasons.

2. To brave mojahedin in the trenches

Your victory against the infidel occupiers is because of help from Allah. If in return you dedicate yourselves to pleasing Allah and serving the people in exchange for His help, Allah will be kinder to you, the enemy will not be able to stand against you and you will have the pride of having defeated the colonial superpower of this century. This is something that seems to be happening already, God is willing.

Follow the orders of Allah, stay united and refrain from disunity and differences among yourself.

Obey the commands of your superiors in all matters of jihad. Be very careful not to harm civilians and public property. Pay special attention to targeting occupiers, their mercenaries and important targets only while launching martyrdom (self-sacrificing) operations. It is a religious duty of every Muslim to avoid harming ordinary people. There is no Islamic justification for killing and injuring ordinary people nor is there any space in our holy religion for such an act.

The cunning enemy wants to defame mojahedin by launching bloody attacks among the people (in religious centres, mosques and similar places) and then call their attacks martyrdom attacks. Mojahedin should be vigilant about enemy tactics and never engage in this kind of activity.

You should prioritize pleasure of Allah and wellbeing of your oppressed nation. You should respect elders and prominent figures and be kind to youngsters. Ensure justice in social affairs and make sure that everyone’s rights are upheld. You should fully implement the principles of the Islamic Emirate to better your jihad efforts.

Take advantage of existing experiences, advice and strong measures to prevent differences, complaints and casualties in military operations and in all other jihadi matters.

Similarly, take special care to protect your lives. Respect his rights if a member of the opposition surrenders to you, as this process is in progress.

The defeated Americans are trying to repeat the failed experience of the communists who, on the verge of their defeat, formed tribal battalions and secret armed groups under the name of tribal militias to create internal differences and to use these groups to take revenge on the mojahedin. I strongly believe that this tactic of the enemy will also fail and the enemy will be further defamed. But you should also try hard to fail the enemy’s this latest plan with the help of your mojahed nation. You should punish those who supervise schism and sedition so that others learn a lesson and the dark history of wild and notorious militias is not repeated.

3. To the officials and employees of the slave Kabul administration

Stop oppressing and tormenting your Muslim and oppressed nation by serving as slaves to infidel occupiers. Foreign occupiers can never wish well for the Afghan nation. They intend to destroy the belief and sanctities of the people of Afghanistan. They plan to devour all material wealth of our country.

Slogans of reconstruction that they chant are empty words that they use to achieve their own objectives. They have pocketed back thousands of millions of dollars that they provided in aid for the so-called reconstruction of Afghanistan and they intend to entrap our country into a massive debt trap under a well-planned conspiracy.

They have come to enslave our brave nation. I call on all of you, like I have done in the past because of my responsibility, to stop living disgracefully. Stop being an enemy of your own people and instead of being shameless, stand with the mojahedin in the ranks of pride, nobility and faith.

The enemy wants to put a gun on your shoulder to kill your countrymen but you should try not to be associated with pro-Britain Shah Shoja and pro-Soviet [Nur Mohammad] Taraki, [Hafizollah] Amin, [Babrak] Karmal and Najib and carry the shame of sharing the same fate with them.

If you abandon the path of lies, you will be victorious in this world and in the world hereafter. You should realize that the magic spell of Western colonial power has been broken and realities on the ground in our beloved country show that the enemy is on the run. The caravan of truth is patiently marching forward towards its logical victorious conclusion. The brave mojahedin are improving with time and gaining experience in military, political, media and social affairs. Desperate efforts by the aggressors and their servants resemble sand castles in the way of the waves of ocean. Waves sent by the brave Afghan nation will prevail over the arrogance of the aggressor, Allah willing.

4. To the Organization of the Islamic Conference and so-called international human rights organizations

I call on the Organization of the Islamic Conference and all human rights organizations in the world to prevent the killing of civilians in Afghanistan by American and coalition forces. They should raise their voices and ask for punishment for this crime. Similarly, occupation forces led by America and the puppet administration in Kabul have in violation of all international principles set up prisons in different parts of the country where many of our innocent and poor countrymen are savagely tortured. All human rights organizations must take immediate action in line with their responsibility to stop these inhuman acts. Many of our prisoners have been martyred or maimed because of bad treatment and torture at these prisons.

If human rights organizations are not fulfilling their responsibility in order to please America and the West, they should remove their titles as human rights organizations.

5. To scholars, writers and authors

I request the independent scholars and politicians that they in all gatherings and meetings should support their innocent and oppressed people. In their books, publications and articles they should enlighten the minds of the people and the world. By using their words and their pens they should start jihad to pay for the debt for their God-given talent.

I call upon journalists and writers to play their role and make efforts supporting an independent and fully Islamic nation.

The media should convey the realities clearly to the people and should strive to tell the truth. I also call upon the caring and compassionate poets to strengthen the passion of mojahedin’s achievements and struggle against the invaders and to strengthen people’s sentiments for independence, honour, national unity, independence and Islamic dynamism.

6. To regional and neighbouring countries

The West’s vicious expansionist colonialist plans in the region have paved the way for the overt and covert plots by known and mercenary murderers and filthy companies under the name of economic assistance and for resentment, hatred and discord among the nations of the region. These are in fact actions against human values, justice, peace, reciprocal relations and independence of the countries.

If countries of the region ignore the American colonialist interference and large-scale military presence in the region, then the entire region will remain unstable, backward and independent for ever. We confidently say that with help of Almighty God and the firm determination and resistance of the mojahedin, the enemy’s ability has swiftly decreased and their vicious plans has been neutralized.

It is time that you all help and cooperate with us for freedom of our nation. The Islamic Emirates in case of mutual respect wants to take major steps to cooperate and work with all nations of the world. We see the whole region as our common home against colonialism and as a responsible force we want to play our role for the long-term peace and stability of the whole region.

7. To White House officials and pro-war Americans

Considering the current realities in Afghanistan the occupier Americans and their coalition is fully defeated in Afghanistan; a defeat which cannot be compensated by even by sending more troops or creating many illogical strategies. You must understand that the logic of force and oppression will not more work and you will not be able to use force and evil intentions to deceive the zealous Afghan people.

The people you chosen to fight with are those brave and warrior people who has the honour of toppling despotic empires in the world and has full skill and historical experience in this regard. Our Muslim nation will not allow the Western occupiers to undermine our freedom and vital values and to transform our nation as a base for plots of aggressors against other nations.

This is the nation which eliminated the Russian and British empires from the map of the world. Using the past experiences with full patience, force and high morale we are continuing our holy war against the defeated invaders. Based on our faith and high morale we believe in our victory and your defeat. You need to choose logical ways instead of flexing your muscle to end the occupation of Afghanistan.

Your aggressive policies will increase your people’s enemies all over the world and will make life for you as hell, this is because war and aggression is no longer acceptable for anyone.

8. To Europe and in general to the freedom-loving Western nation

Your aggressive authorities have attacked and occupied our country under the pretext of war on terror in order to increase the wealth of a few capitalists. Our youths, elders, women and children die on a daily basis by your bombs and cannons. The occupiers attack our people homes during the day and destroy our green orchards, our national wealth and our educational and business centres. To fight such a cruelty and aggression is our legitimate and national right.

We would use our full rights with all the resources we have.

You should not be deceived by your aggressive officials who call their aggression as the war of necessity. This is not a war of necessity but it is in fact a war of aggression. The expression of war on terror is a fraudulent and false tool which your authorities have in their hands. It is your moral responsibility to raise your voice in order to prevent them from cruelty.

We are in favour of an Islamic system in our country where the rights of all men and women are protected in the light of Islamic principles. We want a self-sufficient system which should be based on the Islamic principles. We want a system whose domestic and foreign policy should neither harm others nor let others to harm it. The illogical concept of war against terrorism is an expression made by the Pentagon and Washington. Through this expression, they want to occupy the independent countries. They want to snatch their natural and economic resources. They want to abuse their religion and beliefs.

9. To the entire Muslim Ummah

[Verse in Arabic] I suggest to all Muslim brothers in all corners of the world that you should act upon the sacred instructions of Islam to regain your previous pride and glory Help your innocent Muslim brothers all across the world. Take a lead in performing jihad against the cruel aggressors. Stay away from disunity and pay careful attention to all those plots and conspiracies of the enemy which had been hatched for defaming Muslims.

Stay away from all those things which harm Muslims. Focus on defeating the aggressive enemy in the battlefield. Do not engage in aimless activities. Pay serious attention to your most important objective.

Muslims all over the world should pray for the protection and success of mojahedin in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and other countries. They should provide moral and Islamic support to the mojahedin and support them in a justified Islamic way. Same as the United States and its supporters make overt and covert efforts to destabilize the Islamic world and provoke differences in the Islamic countries in order to ensure their own interests, therefore, all the Muslims must know their real enemy and should be alert to their conspiracies. [Verses of in Arabic and their translation]

The servant of Islam, Amir al-Momenin Mullah Mohammad Omar Mojahed

Source: Afghan Islamic Press news agency, Peshawar, in Pashto 1135 gmt 25 Nov 09

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Okay, I realize they’re smiling, but it still looks like awkward body language to me. Are these men really comfortable, or feeling a bit like they’d rather both be somewhere else? (That’s Lebanese President Michel Suleiman on the left and Premier-designate Sa‘d Hariri on the right.)

Sa‘d Hariri’s proposed Cabinet formula was, as pretty much everyone expected, rejected by Michel ‘Aoun and Hizbullah, but it’s also raised some hackles among his March 14 allies. This Naharnet post says that Phalanges Party leader Amin Gemayel (a former President) rejects the idea because he wants his party to have an additional portfolio and rejects the appointment of Sami Gemayel as Tourism Minister unless he gets a more important post. Sami is Amin’s son, but I’m sure that has nothing to do with his concerns.

Samir Geagea of the Lebanese Forces (which started life as the Phalanges Party militia but evolved into a Maronite party of its own) also rejects the mix of portfolios on offer.

Here’s the Daily Star’s overall account of the reactions. Pro-March 14 folks are starting to look to President Suleiman as some sort of potential agent for defusing the opposition pressures, but Suleiman got his job through a long and extremely tedious hammering out of compromises and if he were to suddenly take a strong position now it would be somewhat out of character, or at least track record.

All this sound and fury, by the way, is over a proposed Cabinet list that was not made public. It leaked, of course, instantly. A list published by the paper Al-Liwa’ was published on the website Ya Libnan: (I haven’t reformated its awkward layout):

Even though the proposed line -up was not made public Al Liwaa newspaper was able to obtain through its sources the following line-up:

1 – Sunnis : 6
Saad Hariri, Prime minister . Almustaqbal
Mohammad Safadi, minister of the economy.
Raya Haffar al-Hassan, minister of of Finance.
Ghaleb Mahmassani, Minister of State( share of the President of the Republic )
Minister of Justice ( name unknown) .
Minister of information ( name unknown) , but the name of Ammar Houry was mentioned as a possibility

2 – Shiites: 6
Yassin Jaber of minister of Foreign Affairs. Amal
Mohammed Jawad Khalifa minister of Health. Amal
Ali Abdullah, Minister of Agriculture. Amal
Mohammed Fneish Minister of industry. Hezbollah
Hussein Haj Hassan Youth and Sport. Hezbollah
Adnan al Sayyed Hussein, Minister of State of the share of the President.

3 – Druze: 3
Ghazi Aridi minister of communications. PSP
Wael Abu Faour minister of the displaced. PSP
Akram Shehayyeb , Minister of State. PSP

4 – Maronites: 6
Joe Sarkis minister of the environment. Lebanese Forces
Ziad Baroud of the Interior. share of the President.
Alain Aoun minister of public works. Change & Reform
Farid al-Khazen of minister of Education. Change & Reform
Vera Yammin minister of Administrative Development. Marada
Sami Gemayel minister of Social Affairs. Kataeb

5 – Orthodox: 4
Elias Murr, minister defense and deputy prime minister. share of the President.
Imad Wakim , minister of energy. Lebanese Forces
a person for from al Malouf family representing Zahle in our heart bloc .
And a fourth unknown person.

6 – Catholics: 3
Edgar Maalouf minister of public works. Change & Reform
Catholic woman as part of the share of the President.
Catholic Minister of Lebanon first loc .
7 – Armenian: 2
Hagop Bukradonian minister of labor ( Tashnaq party ) Change & Reform
Jean Ogassbian most likely as Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs.

Only one of the designated ministers (at first glance anyway) has been published by me in The Middle East Journal, but how many other Cabinet lists can say that of even one? Minister of Education-designate Farid al-Khazen wrote “Political Parties in Postwar Lebanon: Parties in Search of Partisans,” which appeared in the Autumn 2003 issue of MEJ. Soon after that he ran for Parliament and became an MP, but at the time he was a Professor at AUB. Congratulations, Farid, on the designation, though it appears this Cabinet list is a long way from being sworn into office.

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“When Radio Uganda announced at dawn on 25 January 1971 that Idi Amin was Uganda’s new ruler, many people suspected that Britain had a hand in the coup. However, Foreign Office papers released last year point to a different conspirator: Israel…The first telegrams to London from the British High Commissioner in Kampala, Richard Slater, show a man shocked and bewildered by the coup. But he quickly turned to the man who he thought might know what was going on; Colonel Bar-Lev, the Israeli defence attaché. He found the Israeli colonel with Amin. They had spent the morning of the coup together. Slater’s next telegram says that according to Colonel Bar-Lev: “In the course of last night General Amin caused to be arrested all officers in the armed forces sympathetic to Obote … Amin is now firmly in control of all elements of [the] army which controls vital points in Uganda … the Israeli defence attaché discounts any possibility of moves against Amin.” The Israelis moved quickly to consolidate the coup. In the following days Bar-Lev was in constant contact with Amin and giving him advice. Slater told London that Bar-Lev had explained “in considerable detail [how] … all potential foci of resistance, both up country and in Kampala, had been eliminated”. Shortly afterwards Amin made his first foreign trip; a state visit to Israel. Golda Meir, the Prime Minister, was reportedly “shocked at his shopping list” for arms.”

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Seventy years ago today, the Second World War began in Europe. The war was so all-encompassing in its scope and scale that any anniversary date is artificial: China and Japan had already been at war for years in 1939, and the US would not enter the war until 1941, but from that grim September 1 when — in Auden’s words, the world saw “the clever hopes expire/of a low dishonest decade” — the war was clearly under way as a global conflict.

September 1939 had little immediate direct impact on the Middle East, but the war itself would ravage the region as Europe’s quarrels were fought out on their colonial battlefields, as Italian and British, then German and British, forces struggled for North Africa, back and forth across Libya and Egypt, ultimately into French North Africa, Vichy Syria, and British-reoccupied Iraq, or as the Allies remolded Iran in their own image to facilitate supply lines to Russia.

Many Middle Easterners fought for the European armies — Moroccans, Tunisians, and Algerians fighting for both Vichy and Free France; fighters from the Zionist Yishuv serving with British forces in Vichy Lebanon and Syria (where Moshe Dayan lost his eye); Iraqi forces supporting Rashid ‘Ali and the “Golden Square” against British forces. Egypt and Iraq, which had gained nominal independence in the 1920s and 1930s, found themselves to all intents and purposes reoccupied.

Three of the major summit meetings of the war were held in the Middle East: at Casablanca, Cairo, and Tehran.

Despite the major campaigns that rolled across the region, the Second World War does not play a major role in the modern nationalist narratives of most Middle Eastern countries, with one very large exception and a few smaller ones.

The very large exception, of course, is Israel. The European Holocaust not only propelled the Zionist project but in the wake of the war made it all but inevitable. For the founding generation of Israel, the Holocaust looms large in explaining the need for a Jewish state. Just recently Avigdor Lieberman raised the old specter of the ex-Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, and his stay in Berlin and meetings with Hitler. The World War II generation is passing, but memories still play a role in Israel today. No American politician goes to Israel without visiting Yad Vashem. Even its name (literally, “a hand and a name” or “a memorial and a name”, a quote from Isaiah, is all about memory.

Smaller exceptions may be found elsewhere. Egyptian nationalists still bristle over Sir Miles Lampson’s reported comment, “Where’s the Boy?” referring to King Farouq, in the ‘Abdin incident of 1942, and the British intervention in Iraq in 1941 is still remembered by many Iraqis. For Lebanon, the National Pact of 1943, foundation of the modern Lebanese state until revised by the Ta’if Agreements, was a direct outgrowth of the war.

And of course, insofar as the war marked the immediate end of the Italian Empire and the beginning of the end of the British and French, the war marked the beginning of much of m0dern Middle Eastern national evolution. Since 1980, The Middle East Journal has limited itself to publishing articles on the Middle East since 1945. That decision was made by MEJ’s third Editor, Ambassador Richard Parker, whose own lifetime of dealing with the Middle East began with the end of the war: a POW in Europe, liberated by the Russians, he was repatriated through the Straits and saw Turkey for the first time on his way home. Like many of us in the field, he was hooked.

Some years ago — long enough I’m pretty sure that the airline involved was TWA — I was checking in at the airport with a ticket that read Washington/Frankfurt/Tunis. The check-in clerk, required to check for appropriate visas, asked me, “Is Tunis in Germany, too?” I shrugged it off, until my ride from the Tunis airport to the city drove past the sign marking the big American and British military cemeteries, not far from Carthage. A lot of Americans’ second world war ended in Tunisia (especially at Kasserine Pass), but Americans today don’t remember.

As a member of the Baby Boomer generation, I was born just after the war and raised with its memories all around me, my father a veteran of the Pacific war; almost every adult male I grew up around having served in some service somewhere. That generation is mostly gone now, or will be in a few more years. (My father-in-law, a veteran of the European theater, is still around.) But for my daughter’s generation, the war is as remote as the Spanish-American war was for me. The places on the German-Polish frontier of 1939 where the war began 70 years ago today are deep inside Poland now, and Germany and Poland (and France and Britain) all members of the European Union.

But if the world has changed (especially since the end of the Cold War), it is also still a world whose very shape and characteristics stem from World War II. On the question of Iranian nuclear proliferation we are still dealing with the problem of how to put the genie back in the bottle that we released at the end of World War II. (And the Non-Proliferation Treaty is now 40 years old, far closer in time to Hiroshima than to us.) Israel’s very existence is a direct consequence of the war. The British and French empires would have survived longer, perhaps, if the war had not come.

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