Beyond the clichéd-ridden rhetoric on Kashmir, real people — men, women and children — are getting killed and maimed by one of the most ruthless military machines in the world: India’s 1.2 million-strong army, of whom 700,000 are deployed in Kashmir.

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.

“The mob then took him out on the road and killed him. Before that they removed his clothes and cut-off his hands and legs,” said Zakia Jafri before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on October 23, 2010. She was describing the brutal killing of her husband, former Congress Party MP, Ehsan Jafri.

As a symbol of Islamic unity and honour and the emblem of monotheism and spirituality, the sacred Ka‘bah, during the Hajj season, is host to the ardent and hopeful hearts, who come hurrying from all over the world to the birthplace of Islam in response to the call of the Glorified Lord.

The geopolitics of Bosnia Hercegovina, together with its reliance on factors outside its borders, makes Bosnia’s internal policies hostage to external forces. Most states can avoid the necessity of constantly evaluating their every minuscule internal policy against its foreign relations.

One of the ways through which the enemies of Iran attempt to discredit its Islamic credentials is by “exposing” its relations with Armenia. The narrative goes as follows: if Iran is truly an Islamic state, why does it not provide all the required assistance to Azerbaijan to liberate occupied Karabakh from Armenian nationalists? Why does Iran have non-hostile relations with Armenia?

The fact that America is in decline is indisputable. With a crumbling physical infrastructure, a growing gap between the rich and poor, a shrinking middle class, rapidly rising numbers of poor and unemployed, and an economy beholden to China, even American pundits admit the once proud superpower is sliding into rapid decline.

As Crescent was about to go to press, WikiLeaks released some 250,000 secret cables between US diplomats and the State Department up to the year 2009. Among them was one dealing with a plea to Washington from Saudi king Abdullah, currently undergoing medical treatment in the US, to attack Iran.