Habib Siddiqui

Oppression, marginalization, violence, propaganda – none of it is new. What is new, however, is the mere scale, frequency and omnipresence of disinformation, especially when it is propagated by a powerful group that runs at the state level with the goal to eliminate a small minority that is different than the dominant group’s identity by race, ethnicity, language, religion, customs and culture. Nowhere in our time is this issue perhaps more acute than in Myanmar where the Rohingyas are victims of a carefully crafted genocidal program that has become a national project there, enjoying full support from top to bottom of every rung and corner of the Buddhist society – from a military man in uniform to a monk in a saffron robe, from a peasant in the paddy field to a politician wearing a longyi. The decades of disinformation campaigns against the Rohingya people have robbed the persecutor of its moral teachings about what defines our humanity, and the values of compassion and empathy for a...

A coalition of Muslim American groups has called on the administration of President Joe Biden to intervene to halt a mass execution of political dissidents in Egypt set to take place in the coming days, joining a growing number of rights groups urging increased US pressure on Cairo. The US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), which includes some of the largest Muslim American groups, sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday stressing that Washington should pressure Cairo "publicly and privately" to stop the executions. The groups called on Biden to suspend US military aid to Egypt until Cairo improved its human rights record. "As Americans, we know that Egypt's military dictatorship benefits greatly from our taxpayer dollars," the coalition wrote. "Because of this support, our nation has both the opportunity and the obligation to stop its planned mass execution of political prisoners." The USCMO includes prominent Muslim gro...

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has provided the United States with a number of objectives it seeks to work on in its negotiations with Israel while US President Joe Biden is in office. The PA has suggested approximately 30 items that relate to regaining its rights as a body, boosting the Palestinian economy and improving its people’s circumstances, Haaretz reported on Tuesday. An individual informed about the discussions told the Israeli daily that Washington, Tel Aviv and Ramallah all consider that such negotiations cannot currently be conducted in the open. However, the source argued that discreet work on some of the PA’s suggestions could occur. Among its suggestions, the PA has reportedly called for the number of work permits given to its citizens by the Jewish state to be raised. This would permit them to seek employment in illegal West Bank settlements as well as within Israel itself. The PA also suggested relatives from different areas of Palestine and Israel be allowed to...

by Ramzy Baroud Posted onJune 25, 2021 When former US President Barack Obama used an old cliché to denigrate his political opponent, the late US Senator, John McCain, he triggered a political controversy lasting several days. "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig," Obama said at a campaign event in 2008. The maxim indicates that superficial changes have no bearings on outcomes and that modifying our facade does not alter who we really are. American politicians are an authority on the subject. They are experts on artificial, rhetorical and, ultimately, shallow change. Once again, Washington’s political make-up artists are busy at work. Since the dramatic ousting of his former mentor, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s new Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, is now being presented as the alternative to Netanyahu’s right-wing, chauvinistic and rowdy political style. However, for this to happen, more makeup is required. Much can be said about Ben...

An Israeli Knesset member has called for the killing of couples involved in mixed marriages during a speech in parliament. Yitzhak Pindrus is a member of the United Torah Judaism, an ultra-Orthodox party that believes in a homogenous Jewish state and society. He called for the murder of "people who contribute to miscegenation", invoking a Biblical story about the murder of a Jewish man and non-Jewish woman while they were making love by lancing a spear through their engaged sexual organs. He made his comments on Monday while addressing - and looking at - Mansour Abbas, a Palestinian citizen of Israel who is a deputy minister in Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's coalition and the head of the Islamist Raam party. David Sheen, an Israeli journalist, who wrote about Pindrus's remarks on Twitter and shared his speech, said: "Like most eliminationist lawmakers, Yitzhak Pindrus doesn’t have a Twitter account, but apparently he has a private account, because he immedi...

The Pentagon announced Sunday that U.S. forces had conducted strikes against Iranian-backed militia groups on the Iraqi-Syrian border in response to drone attacks targeting U.S. troops and facilities. America has tried this strategy before, and it has failed to stop such proxy attacks: Iranian rockets, and now unmanned aircraft, continue to rain intermittently on U.S. personnel with no signs of abating. Instead of allowing U.S. contractors, troops and property to face attack, the Pentagon would be better off withdrawing from Iraq altogether. The domestic threat to the U.S. of ISIS-inspired attacks isn’t diminished by stationing troops abroad because the threat stems from radicalization, not from ISIS’ material strength. The tit-for-tat process started under President Donald Trump and escalated following the January 2020 U.S. assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a senior figure involved in most of the Iranian attacks on U.S. troops. That flashpoint nearly started a war betw...

One month after the end of the last hostilities between Israel and Hamas, events on the ground demonstrate that little has changed. And once again the US media is ignoring Israel's creeping annexation of Palestinian lands and their brutally aggressive behaviors toward the Palestinian people. There appeared to be an awakening of the press last month—especially the extensive coverage given to Israel's effort to evict Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah and the Israeli military's brutal assault on Palestinians at al Aqsa—signaling greater sensitivity to the Palestinian plight. Although these Israeli actions and the mass uprisings of Palestinian youth they precipitated were drowned out by the more familiar storyline of Israeli bombardments of Gaza in response to Hamas rocket fire, after the ceasefire, positive coverage of Palestinian suffering continued, but only for a time. Shortly after being inaugurated, the new government issued a permit for flag-waving extre...

Donald Rumsfeld, The Controversial Architect Of The Iraq War, Has Died NPR Donald Rumsfeld, who served twice as U.S. secretary of defense and who was an architect of America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has died. He was 88. "It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of Donald Rumsfeld, an American statesman and devoted husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather," Rumsfeld's family said in a Twitter post. "History may remember him for his extraordinary accomplishments over six decades of public service, but for those who knew him best and whose lives were forever changed as a result, we will remember his unwavering love for his wife Joyce, his family and friends and the integrity he brought to a life dedicated to country." Rumsfeld holds the distinction of being both the youngest and the oldest person to serve at the helm of the Defense Department. Hawkish and a leader of the neoconservative movement that found considerabl...

A UK-based rights group accused the Myanmar military junta of harassing minority Muslims and setting a mosque on fire. “A fire in a mosque in Ahlone Township, Yangon, is the latest incident of violence against Muslims and other minorities in Burma by the illegitimate military regime,” the Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) said in a statement on Thursday. It also blamed the junta for misinterpreting its oppressive acts. “While authorities blamed the fire on electrical issues, sources blamed the military and described it as an arson attack.” The mosque fire comes after months of attacks against Muslims and Christians throughout Burma, said the statement, adding that such attacks against the minorities are “intolerable” and the international community must realize the seriousness of these incidents and act immediately. According to the BHRN records and other available reports, more than 900 civilians, including 70 underaged children, have been killed by the Myanmar forces since the Feb. 1...

24 June 2021 -- London/Yangon -- A fire in a mosque in Ahlone Township, Yangon is the latest incident of violence against Muslims and other minorities in Burma by the illegitimate military regime. While authorities blamed the fire on electrical issues, sources blame the military and describe it as an arson attack. The fire comes after months of attacks against Muslims and Christians throughout Burma. “These attacks against Muslims and Christians in Burma are intolerable and the international community must recognize the seriousness of these incidents immediately. The military has been able to increase its attacks on minorities in the country since the coup, believing they will face no further repercussions. This is just the latest reason the world needs to immediately launch a global arms embargo and sanction all businesses connected to the Tatmadaw, including the oil and gas sector,” Said BHRN’s Executive Director Kyaw Win. Previously, two raids occurred at Mohnhyin mosque and Butary...

ARNO* June 21, 2021 Rohingya refugees. On 3 June 2021 the National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar issued its “Policy Position on the Rohingya in the Rakhine State.” In response, the Arakan Rohingya National Organisation (ARNO) with the Rohingya people cautiously welcomed this development. The announcement was a step in the right direction towards a credible solution for the Rohingya community of Myanmar. This process would need to be inclusive from the onset. In this regard, we encourage further direct engagement between the NUG and Rohingya representatives, and as such ARNO and our partners stand ready to play our part in what needs to be an inclusive process of engagement with Rohingya representatives. Against this background, we wished to emphasise the following in response to the policy position: 1. We welcome the NUG’s clear acknowledgment of the violence and gross human rights violations inflicted upon Rohingyas, including the massive displacement inflicted on our people, ...

SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama drew comparisons on Wednesday between attempts by his country and North Macedonia to join the European Union and the absurdist play "Waiting for Godot". Edi Rama looking at the camera: FILE PHOTO: Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama celebrates his party's election victory, in Tirana© Reuters/FLORION GOGA FILE PHOTO: Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama celebrates his party's election victory, in Tirana Bulgaria vetoed the start of talks with the two Balkan countries at an EU meeting on Tuesday. "This is a big disappointment and huge failure of the European Union, and a bad message to the whole region," North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev told a news conference with Rama at an economic forum in North Macedonia's capital, Skopje. Rama likened himself and Zaev to readers of Irish writer Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot", in which two characters wait for a third character who never arr...

US lawmakers and human rights groups are calling on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to commute the planned executions of a dozen members of the Muslim Brotherhood who were charged with hundreds of others in a "sham" mass trial. Representative André Carson called the death sentences that were upheld against the 12 last week "unjust" and an "egregious human rights violations", asking Sisi to intervene before the Monday deadline. "President al-Sisi should commute these death sentences, and he must hold accountable the members of the security forces responsible for the mass killings at Rab'a Square," Carson said in a tweet on Tuesday. An Egyptian court upheld the death sentences against the men, including two senior Muslim Brotherhood leaders, Mohamed el-Beltagy and Ahmed Aref, in a ruling on 14 June. Egypt's Criminal Procedure Code gives the president 14 days following the court ruling to pardon the defendants or commute the ...

The Israeli government has approved, Wednesday, plans for expanding illegal colonies on Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank. Israeli Ynet News said Israel approved new construction in Jewish settlements, which also marks the first decision of its kind since the new Prime Minister Naftali Bennet took office. The plan was approved by the subcommittee in charge of colonialist activities, in the so-called “Civil Administration Office”, the administrative branch of Israel’s illegal occupation. Ynet stated that the subcommittee approved what it called a “limited construction plan” in the illegal colonies of Yitzhar, Elkana, and Mishor Adumim. In early May of this year, the Israeli government announced plans for the construction of at least 392 units in illegal Israeli colonies, on more than 432.1 Dunams of Palestinian lands. All of Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around occupied East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth G...

Daniel Larison made the central point about the Ilhan Omar controversy. People should be outraged about Antony Blinken’s comment and not hers. “The real outrage in this exchange was Blinken’s claim that victims of U.S. and Israeli war crimes can get justice from the governments responsible for those crimes, because all of us, Blinken included, know that this isn’t true.” Israel and the US are not accountable to their victims. This is a question of power. Proclamations about being democracies and having justice systems ignore the fact about their actual behavior. When Blinken said that Palestinians can get justice through Israeli structures he was lying through his teeth. I believe, whether it’s the United States or Israel, that we both have the mechanisms to make sure there is accountability in any situations where there are concerns about use of force, human rights, etc. I believe that both of our democracies have that capacity He simply wiped away all the facts gathered by ...

Twenty years ago, Barbara Lee cast the lone vote against the Authorization for Use of Military Force — the blank check for endless war Congress gave George W. Bush after 9/11. She's been vindicated by history. Those who pushed the "War on Terror" have not. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) speaks with reporters in the Capitol in January 2020. (Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) Three days after the horrific September 11 attacks, America’s national atmosphere was a disorienting haze of fear, trauma, and jingoism. In the wake of what had just transpired, the bipartisan consensus could not have been more ironclad: the country would be entering into a vaguely defined war of unknown length whose parameters were essentially open-ended and could be determined at will by the president. That spirit was aptly captured in the language of a House resolution passed on September 14: The President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, ...

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday renewed her call to the global community to ensure the dignified repatriation of Rohingyas as they are posing a big security threat to Bangladesh as well as the region. "We’ve sheltered them on humanitarian grounds but such a huge population can't be lodged for an indefinite period… I request the world community to assist us in dignified and peaceful repatriation of the Rohingyas," she said in her pre-recorded speech at the three-day “IX Moscow Conference on International Security.” She said Bangladesh has been hosting more than 1.1 million forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals for about four years. "They’re posing a huge security threat to Bangladesh as well as the region," she added. Hasina said it goes without saying that conflicts among states give rise to intrastate security problems. Besides, she mentioned, the concept of security now includes, in addition to military threats, the socio-economic and political need...

Ram Puniyani One will be amazed to compare the India of today with the same a decade ago. BJP’s getting majority in the Lok Sabha (2014) has changed the political, social and economic scenario in adverse direction. The rising prices, the free fall of economy with GDP at all time low, with India falling down on hunger index and the massive rise in poverty-unemployment along with rise of corporate might reflects the economic plight of the citizens. The erosion of democratic ethos, parliamentary practices, decline in autonomy of democratic institutions like Election Commission, ED, CBI and role of section of judiciary in not preserving values of Indian Constitution are out in the open. The state of federalism is worrying again and many of the regional parties-states are feeling that Union Government is trampling over their rights. This has been most manifest in the Corona vaccination drive as one example. The social plight of dalits, adivasis and religious minorities and the ruling par...

BY PAUL STREET United States political culture is an Orwellian nightmare. Two plus two equals five in the propaganda spectacle that passes for “democratic” news and debate here. Take the latest bipartisan establishment disciplining of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), the U.S. House’s most courageous and eloquent member, for saying this: “We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity. We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.” Omar dared, in the words of The New York Times, “to compare Israel and the United States to Hamas and the Taliban.” But did she? Look at these two sentences: “There’s nothing quite as exciting for baseball fans as a no-hitter. We have this season seen no-hitters thrown by pitchers with the Chicago White Sox, the San Diego Padres, the Detroit Tigers, the New York Yankees, the Baltimore Orioles, and the Cincinnati Reds.” Does this statement compare the Whi...