The Holy Month of Ramadan 2014

Nasir Khan, June 29, 2014

My greetings to all Muslims and other believers on the start of the holy month of Ramadan. We learnt at school that Satan is chained during this holy month, unable to do any usual mischiefs or mislead any good Muslim. That was good to know. Possibly, this referred to that Satan who has been around from the beginning of the universe. But there are still many people who call themselves Muslims but are doing exactly the opposite of what Muslims or other human beings should do. They are killing each other on sectarian grounds, misusing the name of God and Islam to unleash violence upon innocent people in various countries. This is so in case of the indoctrinated and misguided Muslims. Many so-called Muslim rulers are also doing the same by patronising and fanning such anti-human violence and hatred for their own political ends. In my view, these actions and crimes are the actions of Satanic forces and the followers of the Satanic forces. These actions have nothing to do with the forces of good and humanity.

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JPost: Netanyahu suggests pinning ISIS against Iran

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Editor’s Note: Both America and Israel did the same thing during the Iraq-Iran War. They made sure no one side wins and did so by selling more arms to both sides during the war so that they prolong the war and weaken each other. Indeed, this they did. The resulting slaughter of Muslims on both sides was not a human tragedy for them but a strategic victory of U.S.-Israeli objectives.

Nasir Khan

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Netanyahu suggests pinning ISIS against Iran

By MICHAEL WILNER,  The Jerusalem Post, June 22, 2014

WASHINGTON — ​Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu waxed broadly of a Middle East in turmoil on Sunday, in his first public comments on the threat posed to the region by ISIS, a terrorist militia conquering swaths of territory in eastern Syria and northern Iraq.

Threatening a borderless conflict between “extremist Shi’ites,” funded by leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and equally extreme Sunnis— a soft “alliance” between ISIS and al Qaeda— the Israeli prime minister suggested the United States should largely stay out of the fight, and instead allow the parties to weaken one another.

“Don’t strengthen either of them. Weaken both,” Netanyahu said.

As  US President Barack Obama weighs precise air strikes against the Sunni terrorist group, which seeks to establish an Islamic caliphate across Iraq and the antiquated al-Sham lands, Netanyahu declined to comment on the wisdom of direct intervention.

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Remarks on science and scientific thinking

 

Nasir  Khan, June 26, 2014

When did  ‘science’ start in human history? And when did the ‘scientific thinking’ start? These seemingly simple questions can only be answered by a historian of science who has acquaintance with historical data relating to the issues. In other words, to find an answer we need the expertise of specialists. However, we should keep in mind that science is not any static body of knowledge but rather an active process through the ages.

Man’s use of his near environment and his attempts to understand the phenomenon around him goes back to the times when he started to use his hands and much later in the history of his social evolution he started to use stones and flint, for instance, to hunt and skin off the animals for food and clothing. That is the time when man started to affect his near environment intentionally that was primarily to meet his practical needs for his survival. These can be called man’s first steps towards ‘science’ in a general sense.

But the question of scientific thinking has a dialectical relationship with man’s relationship with nature as he started to form some ideas about how things work. These were his early steps towards understanding how things worked. That process has gone on in history for long. What we associate with scientific thinking’ in contrast to idealistic, speculative and mythical thinking

(eventually becoming religious thinking) belongs to the period after the Renaissance. But to a historian of ideas and science any such periodization is only for our convenience, not for its historical accuracy.

Prof. Richard Falk: Force-Feeding Palestinian Hunger Strikers

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Richard Falk, Global Justice in the 21st Century, June 11, 2014

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Hunger Strike and Israeli Force-Feeding Pending Legislation

             The highly respected human rights NGO, Adalah (meaning justice) dedicated to securing human rights for Palestinians living in Israel, has issued an urgent appeal on behalf of a reported 125 Palestinian prisoners who are engaged in a hunger strike protesting their being held in Israeli jails on the basis of ‘administrative detention’ procedures. It is the longest collective hunger strike in Palestinian history. Administrative detention is an objectionable practice by which individuals are held in prison, sometime for months or even years, without being informed of charges or facing trial. According to international law reliance on administrative detention is regarded as prohibited unless there are overwhelming reasons in the form of imminent and severe security threats to justify the failure to produce criminal charges and hold a trial. Israel has made no such appeal, and appears to use administrative detention procedures routinely and against individuals who cannot be considered security threats.

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Criticising Israeli policies towards Palestinians is not anti-Semitism

Nasir Khan,  June 13, 2014

I perceive some formulations of Gilad Atzmon a bit simplistic. But he produces facts to support his views whereby he maintains some Jews, NOT all, have been instrumental in standing for and supporting the Gulf War and the Iraq War, etc. Their names are familiar to anyone who has followed the events for the last two decades, if not more. The arguments of Gilad need to be faced and refuted by those who feel they are racist or unsubstantiated projections. But without refuting the evidence he has produced, it is unfair to dub him anti-Semite or racist. He himself is a Jew. I am also aware that many people use the shield of anti-Semitism and racism to cover-up the ugly policies of the apartheid state of Israel and its backers. Aren’t we well aware that whenever the Zionist leaders of Israel are condemned for their crimes against the captive populations of the West Bank and Gaza, they readily resort to the charge of anti-Semitism against their accusers? When Professor Richard Falk, the UN rapporteur on the occupied territories, told the facts, he was called a self-hating Jew and anti-Semite by the Zionist lobby and Israeli propagandists. To my knowledge, Zionists’ standard response is to call those people anti-Semite who voice their opposition to the oppressive Israeli policies towards the Palestinians. But that is a lie and a deceptive camouflage.

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http://dissidentvoice.org/2014/06/the-jewish-plan-for-the-middle-east-and-beyond/

The Jewish Plan for the Middle East and Beyond | Dissident Voice

The document, later labelled as ?Yinon Plan?, implied that Arabs and Muslims killing each other in endless sectarian wars was, in effect, Israel?s insurance policy.

dissidentvoice.org

Oddbjørn Leirvik’s constructive role in Norway

 

Nasir Khan, June 8, 2014

In Norway one social activist and theologian within the Lutheran church  who has done much to advance the cause of religious dialogue  amongst  the believing communities is  Oddbjørn Leirvik. He has focused on creating bonds of understanding and toleration between diverse religious communities. He represents an enlightened perspective in matters of religion that traditionally have led to much conflict and acrimony  in history. Single-mindedly he has followed an open and all-inclusive approach in inter-religious dialogue instead of the more familiar practice where people beat the drums of their own faith being the best and repository of all the truth for the whole of humanity.

Professor Leirvik is one of those people who understand that in these times social and political conditions have changed fast. Many countries in Western Europe have become multi-ethnic,   muti-cultural and multi-religious.  Now we find an increasing number of people from different parts of the world, belonging to different religions, religious traditions and non-religious ideologies living and working in the same country. They are all part of the same society. To live and work together in a humane and peaceful way we need to understand and respect others. That does not mean that we have to accept the misuse and manipulation of religion by some groups or individuals or bow down before those traditions that violate basic human rights and relegate an inferior social status to women. In all such things, Professor Leirvik stands for a just and equitable society where basic human values take precedence over bigotry and crude anti-social indoctrination.

The D-Day Celebrations

Nasir Khan, June 6, 2014

The Normandy landing on June 6, 1944 was a decisive military operation on the Western Front. It dealt a heavy blow to the Nazi occupation of Western Europe and liberated France from the German occupation. Joseph Stalin had for long asked United States and Britain to open up a western front that could have eased up the Nazi military pressure on the Eastern Front. President Roosevelt was willing to do so but Prime minster Winston Churchill hesitated. However the great D-Day was a monumental military operation in 1944.

We congratulate all those who opposed the Nazi war and brutal occupation and helped liberate Western Europe and Eastern Europe. Our solute to the brave men and women who took part in this war of liberation both on the Western and Eastern fronts and bow our heads in gratitude to those who sacrificed their lives in the war against the Nazi scourge.

 

Israel as the only democracy in the Middle East?

Nasir Khan, June 4, 2014

As compared to the pre-historic dinosaurs that rule the Arab world, Israel has the nominal wherewithal of a democracy, more in form than in substance. Its apartheid system, its occupation of the land of the Palestinians, its disregard of international laws and conventions, its continued expansion by illegal settlements in the West Bank brings it in the category of a state whose hybrid status puzzles social scientists! But it is a colonial-settler state based on a mythical supremacist ideology that has a destructive political agenda in the region and beyond.

Why has the U.S. Postal Service blocked me from buying books from the United States?

Nasir Khan, June 3, 2014

Last month I ordered a book from Oakwood Books through Amazon.com (USA). Today I was informed by the bookseller that the book package has been returned to them by U.S. Postal Service marked “Sender or recipient name matches a denied party/entity who may not send or receive exports.”

I wonder what is the reason for putting this ban on me. I have never done anything wrong against any American or anyone else. As an academic I buy the books I need from different countries. Can anyone explain this strange decision on the part of the USPS?