January 2007

Al-Bashir calls for national reconciliation while in Darfur… bombing raids continue!

On another note… check out this round-up post of the Sudanese Blogosphere at Global Voices. We made it guys and girls! We made it!

Madeeh songs are Islamic songs that praise the Prophet, Allah or Islam in general. Here is a video clip by a Sudanese madeeh group I really enjoy listening to. Also if you want to watch Sufis in Sudan peforming their rituals, then check out this clip of Sudanese singer and music maker, Al-Sarah. It’s absolutely fascinating even for me. It really makes me want to go back and explore Sudanese Sufi traditions even more. You can download Al-Sarah’s songs from her website. Check out Habibi Ta3al and Jamila. Great songs with an “experimental style”.

Yup, that’s right. Since it’s already 2007, it means we’re only one year away from our elections. Frankly, the idea of me voting is just too surreal. I still can’t absorb the fact that I’ll be able to vote together with my family (except for my sister since she’s too young). The elections will be truly historic. If John Garang was still alive, I might have actually voted for him. Yes, I know shocking to many of you Sudanese out there right? The SPLM however does remain a good option and I’m glad they’ve been busy touring the far north of Sudan. We’ll have to wait and see though… What about the Democratic Unionist Party or hizbal Umma? Hmmm. I know one thing for sure. I am NOT voting for Turabi’s Popular Congress Party. Oh hell no! In my opinion the main players in order will be Bashir’s NCP, the SPLM, Turabi’s Popular Congress Party, hizbal Umma, the Communist Party and then the others.

What’s a little scary is that this thing is about a year away and many Sudanese have no clue about it or what to do when the time comes. Even I admit that I myself am not prepared well enough for it. I think we Sudanese should start preparing ourselves from NOW. I just wish detailed information about the elections was easier to obtain.

The elections within Sudan will be internationally monitored but what about the votes that will be cast by the Sudanese Diaspora abroad? Will the voting process in Sudanese embassies across the world be monitored too? Because if it’s not, we can expect a lot of “lovely” games.

Yo, Sudanese people in the house… who are YOU going to vote for and why?

What I thought previously… well sort of

Zionism is an evil racist movement that seeks the establishment of a Greater Israel spanning from the Euphrates all the way until the Nile. It’s a movement that seeks world domination for the Jewish race. Zionists want to rule the world and make everybody else their slaves. They’re all a bunch of cunning, deceiving, occupying, ruthless, filthy, liars and killers. The Zionist movement was founded by a group of arrogant secular Jews who have perverted the teachings of Judaism to establish a Jewish-only state on what they believe to be their land… a land without a people for a people without a land. To sum it up, Zionism is a Jewish movement founded by “pigs and apes” for other “pigs and apes”. It must be destroyed! It must be made very clear however that NOT all Jews are Zionists. Many Jews actually oppose the evil ideology of Zionism and are against the Jewish state of Israel. We must stand by those Jews and treat them as our human brothers and sisters. They’re Jews who follow the true teachings of a great religion… Judaism. Unlike Zionist Jews, they’re Jews who believe in peace, kindness, tolerance and coexistence. Neturei Karta anyone?

What I think now

At its core, Zionism is a movement that supports a Jewish home in the Holy Land of Israel. The fact that the Jewish home has to be in the land of Israel indicates the religious elements of the movement since Judaism and Jewish tradition are intrinsically linked to that patch of land. According to conservative religious Jews however, establishing a Jewish home in the land of Israel and the return of the Jewish Diaspora to it goes against Jewish law since God wants Jews to remain in exile. That indicates the secular aspects of the movement. Moreover the fact that Zionism supports a Jewish state with a secular government also denotes the secular aspects even further. To sum it up, Zionism is basically a national movement.

Is Zionism racist?

Zionism supports a Jewish home in the land of Israel where Jews can have their own state in which they can live away from the risk of harsh anti-Semitism elsewhere (Holocaust anyone?). In order for this home to remain Jewish, the majority of the population needs to be Jewish. This will ensure a mainly Jewish government. After all, Israel is meant to be a Jewish state and Zionists want it to remain that way. The very notion that Israel is a Jewish state and should remain as such is in a way racist. Imagine if some American white Congressman suggested that America should become a mainly white State and should remain as such. Imagine if the American government did its best to make sure that the majority of new immigrants are white to ensure a white majority in the country. What would happen then? Zionism in a way is racist.

Aren’t other national movements racist?

Zionism is a national movement and in a way it is racist but aren’t there other national movements that are racist in one way or another too? What about pan-Arabism?

Zionism bears some slight similarities with other national movements. The best example I can think of right now is the Kurdish plight for a Kurdish homeland i.e. Kurdistan.

The Kurds are an ethnic group who consider themselves to be indigenous to a region often referred to as Kurdistan, an area which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.

Estimated at about 30 million people, the Kurds comprise one of the largest ethnic groups in the world that do not have a nation-state of their own. In the 20th century, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq have suppressed many Kurdish uprisings.

Kurds claim they’re generally discriminated against and they crave a homeland of their own, where they can build a Kurdish nation and escape the oppression facing them elsewhere. If Kurds succeed at doing that, they will need to remain the majority in order to keep their nation a mainly Kurdish state. Hence the very notion of a Kurdish state with a majority of Kurds is in a way also racist.

What makes Zionism so different and notorious then?

1- Zionists actually achieved their goal. They created a Jewish state on their land… or isn’t that Arab/Palestinian land? Controversy is the word. If Kurds achieved their goal of creating their own nation, Kurdistan, the issue of land won’t be such a controversial topic. The Kurds have inhabited the land they’re living on for a fairly long time without a period of absence. Proving that the land is not theirs should be a real headache. Jews on the other hand certainly inhabited the Holy Land and were the first ones to give it its “Holy” status thanks to Prophet Moses. They without a doubt had… have an intrinsic link to it. The difference between Kurds and Zionists regarding the issue of land is that Jews were exiled from the Holy Land. They remained in exile and absent from a land they considered theirs for a period of about 2000 years. That’s an awfully long time. During this long absence, other people settled on the land and developed a strong bond to it. They fell in love with the land and developed an intrinsic undeniable link to it. What about them? They remained on the land until… until Zionists came to reclaim back what they considered rightfully theirs.

(Frankly, I honestly think it’s something utterly wild to come back after an absence period of about 2000 years to grab back something which you still consider to be yours but then again… the further away you are from something you dearly long for and the larger the gap between you and a lost love you desire to feel again, the more you miss it and the more you want it back. Moreover when you’re in a place in which you’re facing discrimination and hatred, you’ll simply long for that “love” and for that sanctuary even more. Why? Because having a sanctuary of your own brings comfort.)

2- The creation of the Jewish State of Israel was NOT a pleasant process. Zionists brought a lot of pain and suffering to the Arabs of the Holy Land. Jordan also contributed towards this suffering but the Zionists were the ones who were mainly responsible. At least that’s what happened according to the history which *I* learnt growing up. My mind is quite made up on this one.

3- Anti Semitism. It’s not some myth the Jews invented to make others sympathize with them. It existed for a long time, still continues to and is very real. A lot of anti-Zionist rhetoric in the Arab world is just plain anti-Semitism hiding behind the “Zionists are evil” argument.

4- Again, controversy. The media likes controversy and there’s no modern day conflict that’s more controversial than the Israeli-Arab and more recently Iranian conflict. The media is sensational and it loves to grab our attention.

Are ALL Zionists evil people? Shouldn’t we Muslims regard them as enemies?

I certainly don’t think so… anymore at least. After engaging in discussions on the blogosphere with a number of Zionists and after immersing myself in Zionism/Zionists related online reading material, I realized that the initial basic ideology of Zionism is interpreted rather differently by different Zionists today. Whether a Zionist is an enemy or not depends on his/her interpretation of Zionism. I truly doubt if there are many “Euphrates to Niles”, Zionists out there nowadays with “expansionary” tendencies. I certainly doubt if there were many of them about 2 decades ago also. Why would Israel hand Sinai, an area about 10 times Israel’s current size back to Egypt? Either Begin was a very stupid “Euphrates to Niles”, “expansionary” Zionist or he didn’t have much of those tendencies to begin with. Anyways, I’ll probably get into greater detail regarding this in a future post but for now I have some questions for my Zionist readers. Does being a peace loving moderate Zionist who’s against the expansion of the current state of Israel mean you’re less of a Zionist who’s not following the real “evil Zionism”? Is your Zionism only limited to patriotism and love for Israel or does it include “expansionary” tendencies? In other words, do you support the continuing construction of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land?

When answering, please don’t practice the Zionist version of Taqiyya. Okay?

Is it possible to live in peace with peace loving moderate Zionists? (Reality check)

Hell yeah! It’s bound to happen next week. Fine, maybe a year or two tops.

Alright, FINE! At this point the above question is actually quite irrelevant especially in the context of the Arab world. Instead, we’ll first need to ask “is it possible to live in peace with Jews?”

We all know the answer to this one don’t we? This guy here is not the general rule but the exception.

Conclusion

Knowing history is not a bad thing at all but being obsessed with it certainly is. You can’t dwell on the past for too long if you want to remain sane.

Israel today exists. This is the present reality. About 70% of Israelis today are 3^rd generation, born and raised in Israel. As Israelis, they love their country, they support it and they’re patriotic. Hence that makes them Zionists.

We can continue wishing for this to happen:

…but I doubt it will.

We can continue cursing Zionists but if we truly do believe in a 2 states solution and do want to live in peace side by side with Israel then we’re going to have to drop this whole “Zionists are evil devils” crap. There are many many Zionists who just want to live in peace with their neighbors. They don’t believe in a Greater Israel and they don’t believe killing Arabs just for the fun of it is a nice thing to do. There’s no need to harbor ill-intentions towards them. Befriending them is not wrong. It’s perfectly fine and indeed they’re our friends. As for loony land-hungry blood thirsty Zionists, may they burn in hell. Amen!

From an AP article on Yahoo:

By STEVEN R. HURST and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writers 2 hours, 5 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi forces backed by U.S. troops will begin a neighborhood-by-neighborhood assault on militants in the capital this weekend as a first step in the new White House strategy to contain Sunni insurgents and Shiite death squads, key advisers to the prime minister said Friday.

Why are the Sunnis refered to as insurgents while the Shiites are refered to as death squads? Isn’t that clearly biased reporting? I meany hey, it’s not like there is any real difference between the brutality of al-Qaeda and the brutality of Sadrists now is there? I’m guessing QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA is a Sunni who has a very “favorable” view of Shiites.

I know I’ve kept you guys waiting for quite a while now for some things which I promised to blog about. I’ve already finished my first podcast. It took me a while to get used to this podcasting thingy. I was quite hesitant in the start but I’m becoming accustomed to it. I’m also supposed to blog a post entitled “Islam & Muslims: Distinguising Between the Two” but I haven’t until now. After leaving campus and coming back home, I started doing research and reading some books. Slowly I found myself reading more books and exploring things which are so interesting. The questions I had were answered in the form of more questions. I kept reading and reading, and now I’m paralyzed with so much new information that I don’t even know how to arrange things. So ya, I’m still trying to figure that out. As for sharing my music with you, I’m already on it. In fact, I’m working on a brand new fresh song just for you guys… well sort of. The thing that I’ve managed to complete for now though is a long post post entitled “My Thoughts On Zionism”. It should be up tomorrow. Peace

Brilliant and hilarious post by Ali at eteraz.org

… a statue of Saddam!

I watched a report about it on TV and it certainly wasn’t pleasant. Black Kush has more.

UPDATE: It looks like the UN is trying crack down on the abusers. They better get rid of those pigs responsible for what happened in south Sudan. I’m telling you people, the happiest person enjoying all of this right now is Omar al-Bashir. We can probably forget about phase 3 for the plan of the AU-UN hybrid force being implemented. I don’t think Darfur will be witnessing any UN troops anytime soon… but then again will the AU troops behave any better? Whatever the answer is, the Janjaweed are certainly by far much worse.

From Iman’s:

I have not been able to look at Saddam’s capture and trial pictures for more than a few seconds… once a great, charismatic leader has been reduced to such degrading state all in the name of justice and freedom on the hands of a foreign occupying force…the truth is that’s far from it …whether he deserves all that’s happened to him is not the point. Saddam’s overall trial does not have anything remotely connected to justice and freedom…His soul will soon transcend to a place where the real trial, with the fairest judge will take place…till mine follows, this is the image of Saddam that I’d like to carry with me, always:

Thanks Iman. I think I’m gonna puke! Rihab is so right:

I’ve been reading a few posts in a few Arab blogs, and the phrase “great leader” keeps popping up after Saddam… and it is starting to really piss me off.

It is honestly, beyond me how we are capable of devaluing each others blood. If an American or Israeli kills an Arab all hell breaks loose, but if it’s an Arab killing another Arab… oh well, no real biggie, who gives a crap?? we’re all brothers after all! I mean surely, it’s far more disgusting when a stranger kills you as opposed to your brother killing you, right??!!! Wrong! It’s far more disgusting when your brother invades your country, it is far more disgusting when a president sprays his own people with chemicals, as though they were a swarm of flies!! How on earth do people’s minds work?????

From Fluent-Sudani:

May the Lord have mercy on his soul. Allahuma askinhoo faseeh jinanik. It’s a darn shame a man dies protecting his land from occupants. What justice has it done? one-in-one-out justice prevailence. You have Abu Gharib prison assaulters wandering around, no punishment, many other Iraqi teen girls molestors free. Oh, they are not Muslim. “Muslim bad guys are treated humanely not tortured in Gitmo” [sacrasm].

As any Muslim, hanging Saddam in Eid day brings a disrespectful message to the Muslim world, suffering in a religious holiday. Underlying Bush’s announcement of CRUSADE when he first set foot in Iraq. Romans used this filthy method on Christians, now who is repeating the same stab! I am in no position to judge a man who was bravely standing out against invasion, that’s a divine role. Look at what have become of Iraq now, a well-advanced land into rubbles of worthless massacres from angered acadameic-failure troops and daily secterian violence- John Kerry hadn’t lied when he said students get stuck in Iraq when they do bad in school.

Let us classify marytr “Shaheed” in Islam.. according to an authentic hadith, any person who gets killed by occupants of their homes, burnt, drowned. To the last minute, Saddam didn’t fear death and revert into a traitor against his nation.

So when the retarded pigs who were involved in Abu Ghraib roam around freely or get a slap on the wrist, you complain (which is fine) but when Saddam dies protecting his land against occupants, you suddenly sympathize with him and resort to calling him a Shaheed even though the filthy things he committed were so much “lovelier” than what happened in Abu Ghraib. Well surely, it’s all okay right? The moment Saddam stood up to America, he automatically transformed into a brave person and his past horrific crimes became overshadowed and almost hidden by his heroic efforts. No? Oh ya and regarding the the timing of the execution, apparently the US tried to delay it but the Shia dominated Iraqi government refused. I guess you’ll probably dismiss the article as a “lie”. Well maybe it is but I have little difficulty believing it now especially after watching the full video of Saddam’s execution and realizing that Sadr’s supporters were there cheering happily in the spirit of revenge. Ah, you know what… never mind. Saddam was a brave man and he’s now a Shaheed. Ya, that’s why he was hiding in a hole in the ground right?

People want to discuss the trial, fine… People want to discuss America’s invasion of Iraq, fine… People want to discuss the execution, fine… No problem… But pleeeease, I’m sick and tired of hearing all that crap about how Saddam was apparently a “Shaheed” or a “great charismatic” leader.

Sudan, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Czech Republic and Slovakia (when they were both one country called Czechoslovakia… Oh how I miss Prague), Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and USA. I really need to do more traveling.

create your own visited country map

Okay so this entry should have been posted yesterday but hey don’t blame me. I came back home at 10am and slept until 6pm. After that I went out again. Damn, new year’s eve was so damn bloody good this time. I had so much fun. Did you? You see, this is the same kind of thing that pisses off Islamists. Okay, I’ll elaborate a little bit. The international economy operates based on “capitalist” standards and the fact that so many Muslims celebrate the “infidel Western calendar” is another thing that bugs them. Anyways, happy 51st independence day to Sudan and to my fellow Sudanese bloggers. It’s been 51 years already and we need to ask ourselves what have we achieved so far as a nation? Apparently North Korea and Pakistan also sent letters to al-Bashir congratulating him. Oh ya and happy 2007 even though I doubt it’s going to be a happy year for a lot of people. Darfur anyone? Black Kush from South Sudan has high expectations.

It is the new year again! Welcome 2007.

The past year had been one with lots of ups and downs in Sudan. There are bad sides, very bad sides andvery, very bad sides for many people in the country. I don’t want to dwell on all these bad times. However, I have high expectations for 2007.

Let 2007 be the year we see peace and stability in Sudan’s Darfur region where more 250,000 lost their dear lives and thousands others displaced.

Let 2007 be the year we see real peace in South Sudan, implementation of the CPA to the letter, without the instability cause by the militias.

Let 2007 be the year when all Sudanese put their differences behind them and resolve to work together, building the nation that will be the envy of the world.

Let 2007 be the year all Sudanese people of all colours and creed enjoy the fruits and wealth of their country.

Let 2007 be the year that goes down in history as the turning point.

Let it be. Welcome 2007.

Sorry brother, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed and I mean really really crossed. Oh well… I gotta go to bed now. I’ve got work 2moro. Grrrrrr.

The full video of Saddam’s execution was NOT pleasant. It was very freaky and my reaction to it was very different from the reaction I got watching the other video on TV. I was disturbed. The execution seemed like no act of justice at all. It was so unprofessional and it seemed like an act of pure revenge. The cheers of the crowd, especially the cheers of the pro-Sardists are revealing. Why the hell were they there??!! It’s as if Sadr’s supporters have infiltrated every single place in Iraq. That’s defintely NOT good. What was freakier is the fact that I saw a little bit of me in those who cheered as Saddam dropped to his death. A few days ago when I watched the news of Saddam’s execution, I was super happy, excited and in a state of disbelief. Little did I realize until now that the excitement I felt was in a way me getting a sweet taste of revenge. I don’t want to be that guy. I don’t want to be those people who cheered happily in the spirit of revenge as Saddam was hung.

The defiant dictator… defiant until death is now gone and he got was deserved. Never mind the fact that the execution was disturbing. When I watched it, this verse from the Quran (3:26) also came to mind:

O Allah! Lord of Power (And Rule), Thou givest power to whom Thou pleasest, and Thou strippest off power from whom Thou pleasest: Thou enduest with honour whom Thou pleasest, and Thou bringest low whom Thou pleasest: In Thy hand is all good. Verily, over all things Thou hast power.

So long Saddam. The Lord will judge you now. As for Iraq, Lord have mercy!

Hmmmm… I wonder how many “closet” Lesbians there are in Sudan… Yo, Sudanese ladies in the house… Any idea? I had the shock of my life last holiday when I met a Sudanese lesbian couple in Mamoon 7immeda uni. Long story. Maybe another day. Meanwhile enjoy the rants of Saudi lesbians here and here.