Habib Siddiqui

  PITTSBURGH (AP) — Robert Bowers carried out the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history when he killed   11 people and injured seven others   by storming a Pittsburgh synagogue and shooting everyone he could find. On that, everyone agrees. Even though Bowers’ defense acknowledged at the outset of his federal trial Tuesday that he was the gunman, they hope to spare the suburban truck driver from a  possible death sentence  over the Oct. 27, 2018, massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue. Bowers “shot every person he saw" that day in the building, his lead lawyer, Judy Clarke, said in her opening statement. But she questioned whether Bowers had acted out of hatred, as prosecutors contend, or an irrational belief that he needed to kill Jews to save others from the genocide he claimed they were enabling by helping immigrants come to the U.S. “He had what to us is this unthinkable, nonsensical, irrational thought: that by killing Jews, he would attain his goal,”...

  It is unclear why 100-year-old Henry Kissinger has been elevated by Western intelligentsia to serve the role of the visionary in how the West should behave in response to the Russia-Ukraine war. But does the centenarian politician have the answers? Every major global conflict that involved the US and its NATO allies in the past had its own state-sanctioned intellectuals. These are the people who usually explain, justify and promote the West’s position to their own countrymen first, then internationally. They are not ‘intellectuals’ in the strict definition of the term, as they rarely use critical thinking to reach conclusions that may or may not be consistent with the official position or interests of Western governments. Instead, they advocate and champion stances that are dominant within the various strands of power. Quite often, these intellectuals have the privilege of time. In the case of Iraq, for example, neoconservative intellectuals, the likes of Bernard Lewis, worked ti...

  Leaders of the Palestinian community within  Israel   on Monday set up a "protest tent" in front of the government buildings in West Jerusalem to press authorities to address an   escalating crime wave . The protest, set to last three days, comes as scores of Palestinians in Israel have been killed in crime-related incidents this year. The Palestinian community within the 1948 borders that compose the state of Israel are mainly those who were able to remain despite the ethnic cleansing by Zionist forces during the Nakba.  Muhammad Barakeh, a former Knesset member and leader of the Arab follow-up committee in Israel, said a series of actions are planned soon to pressure the government to tackle crime within Palestinian communities, which make up more than 20 per cent of Israel's population.  This year is on track to become one of the deadliest for Palestinian citizens of Israel in recent memory. At least 76 Arab citizens, including six women and ...

  As delivered Merci Madame la Présidente [Permanent Representative of Switzerland, H.E. Pascale Baeriswyl], Madam President, The humanitarian crisis in Syria must remain a global priority. The reasons are clear: After twelve years of conflict, the vast majority of the Syrian population continues to face daily challenges to meet the most basic food, health, WASH, and shelter needs. A staggering 15.3 million people require humanitarian assistance throughout the country, representing nearly 70 per cent of Syria’s population. For the first time in the history of the crisis, people across every sub-district in Syria are experiencing some degree of humanitarian stress. Some 12 million people – more than 50 per cent of the population – are currently food insecure and a further 2.9 million are at risk of sliding into hunger. In addition, recent data show that malnutrition is on the rise, with stunting and maternal malnutrition rates reaching levels never seen before. The earthquakes compo...

  by  Carolyn Eisenberg   Posted on As Henry Kissinger celebrated his 100 th  year birthday, during this Memorial weekend, mainstream media lauded his brilliance and lifetime of achievement. Predictably ignored, were the literally thousands of Cambodian, Laotian and Vietnamese children, whose chance to reach adulthood was cruelly severed by Kissinger- promoted airstrikes. The  Washington Post  ran a proud column by Kissinger’s son David pondering the secrets of his longevity. The "real secret of my father’s endurance is his sense of mission." Some might think him a "cold realist," but his unrecognized idealism is salient. "He believes deeply in such arcane concepts as patriotism, loyalty, and bipartisanship. It pains him to see the nastiness in today’s public discourse and the seeming collapse of the art of diplomacy." Notably absent from David’s list are other "arcane concepts" – including human rights, the rule of law, the sovereignty of nation...

By:  Entertainment Desk Mumbai |  May 31, 2023 11:55 IST Follow Us X Actor Naseeruddin Shah opens up about the vilification of Mughals in the country. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty) Listen to this article 00:00 1x 1.5x 1.8x Veteran actor  Naseeruddin Shah  says it is disinformation that the Mughals came to the Indian land to “loot” and destroyed temples. The veteran feels running them down favours the government’s attempts to paint all Muslims in one colour. Shah, who plays Mughal emperor Akbar in ZEE5’s  Taj: Reign of Revenge , said it has become easy to target Mughals because they are the only ones “the whole world knows about”. Also Read  |  ‘Knock down Taj Mahal, Red Fort if everything Mughals did was evil’: Naseeruddin Shah says Mughals needn’t be glorified, but shouldn’t be vilified In an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Shah said, “Mogul has become an English word, an American word; movie Mogul. Running them down is very convenient fo...

  At the ripe age of 100, Henry Kissinger remains an icon of the governing class and the foreign policy establishment. Amazingly, his advice is still sought, he writes lucidly on foreign affairs, and he commands attention wherever he goes. Unfortunately, his legacy is tarnished by malevolent intentions and costly outcomes, for example: conspiring with the Chilean military to oust President Salvador Allende, leading to the rise of General Augusto Pinochet; supporting CIA involvement in Operation Condor, a secret campaign founded by Pinochet to keep right-wing dictators in power in Latin America and assassinate or otherwise remove leftist challengers; supporting the bloody Indonesian intervention in East Timor; arming what was then West Pakistan to quash East Pakistan (which later became Bangladesh), in a bloodbath that Kissinger and Nixon knew about and ignored; orchestrating the October Surprise to delay peace talks on Vietnam until after the 1968 elections and Nixon’s victory; the...