Articles

American officials are scurrying to various capitals to advise “friendly” governments that the undiplomatic, indeed nasty language used by their diplomats and officials about other leaders should not be taken too seriously.

Guns and bullets cannot extinguish the spark of freedom that is lit in the hearts of people. Both Palestine and Kashmir represent this reality although the struggle of the Palestinian people is far better known — and now increasingly supported — worldwide while the suffering of the Kashmiris barely registers anywhere.

Egypt’s parliamentary elections will take place on November 28, by which time this issue of Crescent will have gone to press. Normally, this would be problematic from a news point of view; one of the most difficult issues for any periodical is when major developments are expected between its press deadline and its publication date.

This writer remembers the time — about 25 years ago — when friendly members of the Islamic Movement would ask: why can’t our brothers in Iran have a more subtle approach and a dodgy political posture when it comes to their official decisions as well as their public relations and information services?

The chest thumping at the NATO Lisbon conference (November 19-20) did not impress the Taliban much. Instead, they were chuckling at how easily the Americans can be duped into believing they are negotiating with the Taliban.

George Galloway, the former British Member of Parliament, is a sharp debater and gifted orator with a ready wit. He was in Canada on a 9-city speaking tour from November 16–27. He addressed standing room audiences in cities from coast to coast to coast including Yellowknife in Canada’s frozen north.

His majesty, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, aka Khadim al-Haramayn (Servant of the Two Holy Places but his sycophants insist on calling him “Custodian”) is not well. In fact, so unwell that he had to be taken in wheelchair to a fully equipped luxury-fitted 747 Jumbo Jet before being flown to the US on November 22.

“…We were made aware of the orphans, the slums they live in; you witness the Israeli settlements that withdrew from [Gaza]; you witness the old Israeli checkpoints. “It’s an atrocity what is being perpetrated as punishment on the people in Gaza. It’s a crime… I think it is an abomination that this continues to go on.

The October 18 confession by leader of the pro-independence forces in the North Caucasus of direct Zionist influence on their struggle might be the beginning of the movement’s self cleansing process. A video announcement by Doku Umarov, leader of the Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus (IEC), posted on October 18, criticized four senior field commanders for their withdrawal of allegiance to him in August 2010.

Some Canadian media outlets have become conduits for Israeli propaganda. The latest in this series were “leaked” United Nations documents about the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s 2005 assassination in Beirut.