Articles

Muslim states and many Islamic movements fail to distinguish between the erstwhile USSR and today’s Russia due to the deep-seated association of Russia with the Soviet Union. Similarly, many Muslims have not taken into account that today’s Russia does not seek to be a global power because it has accepted the dominant Western global order.

How tight are US-Saudi relations? Here is a clue. While former US President George Bush would publicly hold hands with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and even touch noses like birds before mating, his successor Barack Obama also made his first overseas trip to Saudi Arabia before he landed in Cairo for his now-forgotten speech delivered on June 4, 2009.

The Islamic party, al-Nahda, was the clear winner out of a crowded field of some 100 parties but it did not gain an absolute majority because of the way the electoral process was structured. Even so, party leaders were at pains to assure the secularists — and indeed the West — that al-Nahda had no plans to establish an Islamic state.

Unease and concerns have escalated among political activists in Egypt following announcement by two top generals that the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) intends to remain in firm control even after election of the People’s Assembly.

Only the demented minds of American officials could concoct a story of the alleged plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Adel al-Jubeir. In making this scandalous allegation on October 11, US Attorney General Eric Holder and FBI Director Robert Mueller looked shifty and visibly uncomfortable.

The West has gotten rid of another pesky dictator with the execution-style killing of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi on 10-20-2011 in Sirte. There was much jubilation in Western capitals as news of Qaddafi’s killing spread.

Mahmoud Abbas (aka Abu Mazen) addressed the UN General Assembly on September 23, making an emotional plea for Palestinian statehood. The moment was made for TV — “Abbas brings Tahrir Square to New York,” declared one observer, noting CNN’s broadcast of the speech spliced with scenes of flag-waving crowds in Palestine.

The First International Conference on Islamic Awakening held in Tehran on September 17 and 18 was a grand affair. There were more than 700 delegates from 84 countries representing all shades of opinion and thought in the Ummah.

Troy Davis was executed on the night of September 21, 2011 as hundreds of people maintained vigil outside the Jackson, Georgia prison hoping the Supreme Court would grant a stay of execution. It was all very civilized; he was killed by a large dose of lethal injection administered at 7pm.

The uprisings in the Muslim East (Middle East) took virtually everyone by surprise including those in the forefront of these movements. They could hardly believe, especially in Tunisia and the sleepy backwaters of North Africa.