     Hakim | Tuesday, October 03, 2000 - 03:41 am
Yemen's Parliamentary Speaker Calls For "Jihad" Against Israel
SANAA (AFP) - Yemen's parliamentary speaker Sheikh Abdullah al-Ahmar called Monday for a holy war against Israel, during a demonstration in Sanaa in support of the Palestinians.
"Oh Arab leaders, open the way to jihad!" shouted back the crowd that had gathered in Al-Sabeen square in central Sanaa.
Waving Palestinian flags, thousands of protestors chanted slogans opposing the normalization of ties between Arabs and Israel, and any plan for the division of Jerusalem.
Ahmar is head of Al-Islah party, an Islamist and tribal opposition group which co-organized the cross-party demonstration with the ruling General People's Congress.
Slamming "the suspicious Arab and Islamic silence in the face of the desecration of Al-Aqsa mosque by the Zionists," organizers vowed "solidarity with the Palestinian Mujahideen in their resistance to Zionist terrorism."
They urged Arab and Islamic countries to "stop all forms of normalization with the Zionist enemy" and called for an emergency Arab summit "to seal the reunification of Arab ranks and brandish the standard of the jihad."
Yemen on Saturday condemned what it called Israel's "savage butchery" in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem.
Since right-wing Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon's visit Thursday to Al-Aqsa, a Muslim holy site also sacred to Jews, more than 40 people, mainly Palestinians, have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces. |
| formerguest. | Tuesday, October 03, 2000 - 02:52 pm
hakim.
Thanks, I wonder what the egyptian government did or said about this?. Saudis, did they say anything yet?. Even empty rhetorics help at a time like these?. Any ideas?. I know americans don't even show what is going out there except when they feel it is too much to ignore what is going out there. All they talk about is the white house trying to mediate arafat and the jewish terrorist prime minister while all other international news organization let people see the ordeal. |
| MAD MAC | Tuesday, October 03, 2000 - 10:25 pm
Formerguest
Don't expect much from the white house. hillary is running for senate in a state that has a large Jewish Population with a critical vote.
Calling Ehud Barak a terrorist is a stretch. Barak is a reasonable man and the most flexible Israeli leader the Arabs are going to work with in the near future. The last man who plotted his course got killed for doing it. Funny how in the Middle East leaders who work for Peace (like Sadat) end up dead, while leaders who lead their countries to war and defeat (Saddam Hussein, Asad) prosper. In Lebanon everyone was killing everyone until they got tired of it, and even now it's a zoo. Anyway, I can't believe you think this kind of rhetoric is positive. Calls for Jihad nd violence will just make a bad situation worse. Right now everyone should be calling for calm, encouraging reason to take over instead of emotion.
Hakim
As near as I can tell Yemen has no geopolitical or economic interest in Israel or Palestine. This call to Jihad is clearly an example of Arab leadership losing focus on the welfare of the people they represent to support violence in an area of the world they have no genuine interests in. The Yemeni leadership should be spending its energies on improving the livelihood of their populations, on working to improve peace and stability in Somalia (definately an area of Yemeni interest) instead of calling for Jihad somewhere.
As for Somalis, they definately should be focused on their own problems. Somalia is a political basket case, and yet we have Somalis here on Somalinet babbling about Jihad. |
| hakim | Wednesday, October 04, 2000 - 01:11 am
Afghanistan's Taliban Urge Islamic World To Retaliate Against Israel
KABUL (AFP) -Afghanistan's Taliban Islamic regime Monday called on Muslim countries to use force against Israel in retaliation for its "violent deeds" against the Palestinians.
Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel said Israel had not desisted from killing Palestinians and usurping their property.
"For the time being, the violent deeds that Israel has adopted should be replied by force," Mutawakel told a news conference.
"In view of what Israel is doing, the Islamic Umma [nation] should do the same.
"Peaceful ways are in the second part," he said, stressing that negotiations should be accorded lesser importance in the current situation.
Mutawakel said the Taliban could not practically take part in Palestine's anti-Israel Jihad [holy war] due to the continuation of the 20-year-old war in Afghanistan.
He did not however rule out the possibility of Afghans taking part in the "Jihads" in Chechnya, Palestine and Kashmir if chances of negotiated settlement became extinct.
But such a course would be adopted in line with "an overt and sound plan," he said.
"If a plan is made for it and other ways are blocked, leaving Jihad as the only choice, naturally Afghans, as a valorous nation, should take part in the global Islamic issues and Jihads," he said. |
| hakim | Wednesday, October 04, 2000 - 01:12 am
Indonesia Condemns Israel For 'Excessive' Violence
JAKARTA (AFP) - The Indonesian government has condemned Israel for the use of "excessive" military force during five days of fighting with Palestinians, which has left more than 50 people dead.
"Indonesia is shocked by the use of excessive violence against Palestinian civilians by Israeli soldiers since the past several days," said a foreign ministry statement on Tuesday.
"Indonesia condemns the Israeli soldiers' action which has killed 40 people and wounded 1,000 others," the statement said.
The statement said Israel was to blame for the violence. "The action is a serious violation of international law and the Geneva convention on the protection of civilians in conflict," it added.
Indonesia urged both the Israelis and Palestinians to exercise restraint and to return to the negotiating table "to allow the Palestinians to establish their own state in accordance with U. N. resolutions."
The bitter fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinians followed a visit to a disputed shrine in Jerusalem by Israeli right-wing opposition leader Ariel Sharon.
Indonesian President Abdurrahaman Wahid called the visit by Sharon to the east Jerusalem mosque compound, whose site is sacred to Jews as well as, an act of "provocation."
"The [visit] provoked the anger of the Palestinians. Indonesia deplores the action," Wahid was quoted as saying by the state Antara news agency while on a flight from Chile to Canada.
"We hope that such an incident will not happen again," he said.
Wahid is on a 10-day visit to four Latin American countries and Canada. Indonesia has been a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause and has no diplomatic relations with Israel. |
| MAD MAC | Wednesday, October 04, 2000 - 01:56 am
Hakim
If you want to further your anti-Israel cause I would recommend you stop quoting the Taliban, who even the Iranians (of all people) label as reactionary.
I love that quote about how the Taliban can not practically help the Palestinians because they are engaged in their own civil war right now. TRANSLATION: We're too busy killing other Muslims who disagree with us to fight the lousy kufaars.
And this is lovely, not only does he want a Jihad in Palestine, but also in Chechnya and Kashmir. What a good idea. I'm sure if he casts around some, he can find other places to launch a Jihad.
At least the Indonesians are urging restraint and negotiation. I'm sure eveyone will ignore them. |
| formerguest. | Thursday, October 05, 2000 - 12:10 am
MAd.
I don't understand why you worry so much about our concern for other muslims. It is futile for you to defend this plain massacre. So far it is sixty six to one in the ordeal. How do you justify using HELICOPTER gunships to take out demonstrators even if they are armed with rifles?. I don't see any sound impartiality on your part. For a second, I think, you must be a crazy man for your justification of a nine year old killed yesterday, fourteen year old behind his father. Those kinds of immages are what we are dealing with here and be helpful okey if you can. Don't be another thorn in the side. I am not saying you are not free to express your thoughts on the subject but be mindful at least. |
| MAD MAC | Thursday, October 05, 2000 - 01:52 am
Here's where I sit on the whole thing.
I think the Palestinians allowed themselves to be suckered by Sharon. Not very smart. What is going down right now is exactly what Hamas and the Israeli right want. It's almost as though they're working together to make sure there's no peace.
I think the Israeli government screwed the pooch. When unrest started the Israeli security forces should have immdeiately coordinated with the PA security forces, pulled back 100 meters and allowed the PA Security to handle the problem and restore order. they never gave the PA a chance. Had the PA failed the Israelis could have then responded with force to restore the current boundaries. This might have defused the whole situation.
I think the reactionaries on both sides are narrow minded bigots. Both believe God is on their side (I'm willing to bet hard, cold cash that Allah thinks they're all assholes) and both have extreme aims.
I think the Palestinians have a legitimiate gripe but I don't think the clock can be turned back. Nevertheless, I think the Palestinians should be compensated financially for their lost property and where possible allowed to reclaim it (or if they don't want to live in Israel take compensation in lieu of). As I have stated before I have great sympathy for the Palestinians, but I'm a student of Real Politik. Being right or wrong doesn't have anything to do with how the end state turns out. The Palestinians keep digging their hole deeper and deeper. If a general war breaks out the Israelis will do the same thing they've done after each successive war - they will expand. They will throw the Palestinians out of the West Bank, the world will cry foul, but that's as far as it will go. Then the goal of building a Palestinian state will be further away than ever. Look at the last fifty years. This has been the pattern. Arab attack, Israeli counterattack and expansion using security concerns to justify it. The Israeli right continues to maintain irredentist claims. Don't give them an excuse. |
| Abu Nidal | Thursday, October 05, 2000 - 11:36 am
Dear Mad Mac,
As I have already stated, this is not a peace process, it is a war process that would never have worked in the first place for reasons I have already given. The only leader that could have brokered peace was Yitzhak Rabbin and he is dead now. The peace will never work, so it is better to make an uprising. Mad Mac, you are accusing Palestinians of creating themselves the riotings. It is like accusing a raped woman of complaing too much. It is like accusing a mugged woman why she is complaining. It is like accusing a young boy who has been beaten up of crying. You have no rational ideas, and you base your points on facts created by CNN. And you ask us, who are muslims and Arabs why we defend defenseless people. If I had the capability, I would have smuggled guns and ammunitions into Gaza from Jordan by myself. This is to prove you that indeed I am concerned about that situation and I follow. |
| MAD MAC | Thursday, October 05, 2000 - 10:43 pm
Abu Nidal
Sahib, if you are sympaethetic to the Palestinians, then you had better hope you are wrong, and this is not a war process. Because the Arabs can't win it.
If the raped woman is still trapped in the room with her rapist, she would be wise to shut up, lest he silence her himself. The Palestinians need to be smart - not let their emotions rule the actions. If a mid-intensity war breaks out the Israelis will occupy the west bank, throw the palestinians across the Jordan river and that will be that. The Arabs don't have the military capability to respond. The Syrian Army is in tatters, 2nd and 3rd Generation equipment. The Egyptians likely won't play, but if they try they will lose, the Israeli Air Force will smote them, as it did in 73. The Jordanian military is a joke. Israel will exploit its interior lines of communication, overun the west bank, force the Palestinians out (including Jerusalum). The World will bitch, the Israelis will say they have security concerns proven by the latest Arab attacks, and that will be all she wrote. The only people who profit from a full scale war are the Israeli zionists. It is a mistake to allow them to seize the political process when right now they represent less than 50% of the Israeli voters. Think with your head, not with your emotions. |
