Re: Ground Zero Mosque

So regarding the last article I posted more information about the debate have emerged.  One of the most interesting ones is that in actual fact the so called Ground Zero Mosque is actually a Muslim community centre. This changes things greatly as what was once portrayed as being just a worshipping place for Muslims to go to is in fact something that is more community focused. The Community centre will have a basketball court, a memorial site for the 9/11 victims and other recreational facilities as well as a place to for Muslims to worship. So this begs the question what is so profoundly wrong with the building of this so called community centre two districts *which in American terms is a rite old road trip away* from Ground Zero?

The image portrayed by some news outlets in America made it seem like a Taj-Mahal proportionate mosque was being built on the foundations of ground Zero itself. It says a lot that it took quiet a while for the news to filter out that the proposed building was actually a Muslim Community Centre. Is the fact that its a Muslim community centre that bothers people? Even though this community centre has in itself a memorial for the victims of 9/11 which in itself stresses the community focused aspect of the structure. Or is it because there are prayer facilities for Muslims available that make this idea such a heinous one? How far away from ground Zero do you need to be able to practice your faith freely or in this case, be a Muslim?

This all leads me to believe that most of the opposition voiced on this issue are less concerned about the actual building but more concerned about opposing Muslims themselves. This is exactly what I was arguing against in the previous article and it is the real underlying issue here. For some the Community centre is just a prop to give them reason to voice their hate and ignorance. Proof being the recent protests against this building in new York where people began heckling a passer-by who happened to look like a Muslim i.e. had a beard and happened to be a man of colour wearing an unfortunate looking hat,  but who was in actual fact a carpenter. The carpenter throughout the confrontation stated he was not a Muslim but this fell on deaf ears and in the end he had to be escorted away for his own safety as the hecklers got more and more aggressive.

The most unfortunate thing of all are that those who where protesting where banding about signs that summed up the ignorance that some Americans today are left believing. Signs like ‘No mosque No jihad’  reflect the real problem here. Its the lack of clear and informed knowledge that is causing this uneasiness and fuelling this hate.   Even 24% of Americans a survey has found recently still believe Obama is a Muslim. This fear mongering and uncertainty is driving community’s apart and is causing more problems than solutions by increasing tension and hostility. Extremism comes in all forms shapes and sizes and you don’t have to have a bomb strapped around you to fit this criteria. Extremism in all its forms should be combated and that includes people who hold racist and bigoted views.  Fear and Ignorance compounded make up a lethal combination and this is being aided by right wing conservative politicians and networks like Sarah Palin, Fox News etc. who rather then address the facts as they are, are choosing to further cloud the water of the debate with misinformation to suit their own agenda.

But overall, I think this article sums up the debate about the ground zero ‘mosque’ more eloquently than me:

http://www.cracked.com/blog/3-reasons-the-ground-zero-mosque-debate-makes-no-sense/

‘The most violent element in society is ignorance.’  ~Emma Goldman

Till next time

 

Ground Zero Mosque

So the thing that caught my attention today was the recent debate going on in America over the proposed building of a mosque on private property near the area of Ground Zero. Obama himself made a speech about the issue stating that Muslims have the right to build a mosque near the site but did not state whether or not he believed it would be a good idea. The issue has divided many people in America with the majority against the proposed idea. The issue has also greatly divided those relatives who lost loved ones on the day of 9/11 with some in support of it claiming it showed the moderate side of Islam whilst others argued that this was grossly insensitive comment made by the president. The debate is a sensitive one and goes to the heart of the recent events surrounding Muslims and the West.

My view is in line with president Obama’s comment on the situation. It is inherently true that freedom to practice ones religion is enshrined in the American constitution. The government has no lawful right to interfere with peoples choice of religion and where and how they choose to practice their beliefs. The property, as stated before, is also being built on private land so the people are breaking no rule or law in wishing to build this mosque. That side there are two sides to this debate and what is important is to make sure that the views opposing the building of this mosque are rational arguments free of any racial or ill informed hate mongering. There are those relatives who have said that the building of this mosque would be an affront to all those who lost their lives on day of 9/11. This is a very insensitive and crass comment in itself to make as some of the people who did loose their lives where everyday lawful and moderate Muslims. Those who where attacked where not of one race, cultural, ethnic diversity or religion it was a mixture of Americans who lost their lives. So to claim to speak on behalf of all the relatives is something that should not be said so carelessly. Ones opinion on a matter is just that, ones opinion and making a blanket like comment should be avoided in respect for those who do not share your view but do share your sense of loss.

Another issue raised is that the building of this mosque will be a win and strike for the Jihadists who caused the 9/11 event. This is also a very dangerous argument as it tarnishes all Muslims with the same brush and claims that they are all one and the same. The majority of moderate Muslims should not be scapegoated because of the actions of a few misguided minority as doing this further isolates the community that the west needs to engage with effectively to combat the threat they face. It also gives more ammunition to those dangerous individuals who claim the west as having nothing but an anti-Islam rhetoric and who use this to misguide and recruit followers to their hate filled cause. The Muslims who are building this mosque have also clearly denounced  terrorism in all its forms and stated their stance against these breed of Jihadists. They are also planning to help bridge the gap created by 9/11 between Muslim’s and the west through their foundation. It’s also highly doubtful that those who caused the destruction of 9/11 to occur would wisely and  easily set up shop in the backyard of their crime scene as I am sure that if built this mosques activities will be to say the least closely monitored.

This said it doesn’t mean all opposition to the building of this mosque are invalid arguments as their are always two sides to any debate. The point that maybe this 100 million dollar megamosque should just be relocated a few blocks further down for tactical  and significant reasons should not be ignored. Considering there is a strong majority opposition to this it might be in the interest of the Muslim leaders who are building the mosque to  simply move the sight further as a sign of tolerance and respect to those who bear no ill will towards them but who do not support the location this mosque is being built near. They could therefore avoid adding fuel to the fire of tensions being felt in America over this decision. No added excuse should be given to alleviate any hatred or misgiving towards the Muslim community living in America. But that should also be under the condition that those who’s arguments are nothing less then racial and hate filled should have their ill informed views corrected. This debate should not just stop if this mosque is moved a couple of blocks further down as it is important to make sure that all Americans are not misinformed about a given race or creed of people.

We should not play into the hands of those extreme minorities on both sides of the spectrum who only seek to gain from hate and animosity being bred in a divided society. Tolerance is the key word here, those who oppose the building of this mosque should not oppose the fundamentals of the mosque itself but  just the given location. And those who want to build the mosque must understand that a middle way should be adopted to appease both sides and to avoid any more animosity. The words of  Mahatma Ghandi sum this up nicely:

“The need of the moment is not one religion, but mutual respect and tolerance of the devotees of the different religions.”

That’s all for today,

till next time.

 

Iran and the constant denial

Now reading the title you might be thinking that I am going to talk about the obvious issue of whether Iran seeks or doesn’t seek to build nuclear weapons. But that’s not the issue I want to actually talk about. The issue I want to talk about is Iran’s constant denial that there is any sort of internal rift in its populations over the current leadership of Ahmadinajad. Any sort of evidence to the contrary is blamed on ‘western’ interference and influence. The election demonstrations back in June- the west’s doing, claims of election fraud- the west’s doing, the recent alleged ‘assassination’ attempt on Ahmadinajad- a fabrication of the west.   Now the last point is what initially brought me to post on this subject.  On Thursday the president was visiting the city of Hamedan and during the procession a loud explosion was heard near his motorcade. In initial comments to western agencies the Iranian officials seemed to indicate that this was an attempted attack and that someone had been arrested. But this version changed during the rest of the day and the official response now was that it was just an over excited supporter letting of ‘steam’.

Now, I’d like to think I know a thing or two about celebrating, but not once have I felt the urge to throw a handmade grenade at a the person I am celebrating for. Wedding? throw a grenade at the bride and groom. Graduation? through a grenade at the graduate. Show them you REALLY care with a good old bang. A congratulatory hug just doesn’t cut it any more.  And when the western news agencies round the world reported it was an attack the Iranians responded that the west where just doing what they do best and trying to undermine the government and make a story out of nothing. If I was Iran, id be firing my dam spin doctor, if your going to cover up something, do it right. Don’t just hand us your deceit on a silver platter. And if your going to lie badly, then go all the way, do it the North Korean way and realllllly push the boat out.

It seems like Iran out of all nations has achieved the impossible and has a government and leadership in place that apparently is supported by the whole nation. The citizens who don’t fit this criteria are apparently stooges and lackeys of the west. Though there is no denying that Ahmadinajad does have a great share of support within Iran it’s not to say that the support against him is not large. And its this point that the Iranian leadership just won’t publicly own up to. No matter how many times you try and sweep crap under the carpet you know its still there cause you can dam well smell it. And one day the Iranian leadership is going to have to face up to it, the more they lie the more they loose the support and trust of the people. The big bad wolf aka the west won’t be a good enough excuse forever.

Till next time

 

Blood Diamonds

So the news that interested me today surrounded the trial of Charles Taylor the ex-president of Liberia and Naomi Campbell’s brief appearance at the court. The trial surrounds Charles Taylor alleged role in the bloody Liberian civil war in which he is accused of committing  war crimes and crimes against humanity.  Some of the crimes levied against him involve the case of him being involved in supplying blood diamonds.  For those who don’t know blood diamonds are diamonds mined in forced and harsh conditions in a war zone area where they are used to fuel an insurgency or a warlords activity. So the involvement of Naomi Campbell in the trial surrounds events that happened at a party hosted by Nelson Mandela in 1997. There Naomi met Charles for the first time and after that meeting Naomi was alleged to have received blood diamonds from Charles Taylor. So Naomi’s appearance and testification was needed to help prove a link between Charles Taylor and blood diamond’s.

But the point that interested me was Naomi’s blatant reluctance towards having to appear at this trial. She constintley tried to dodge having to make this appereance at the trial and even when she did appear she complained that she ‘didn’t really want to be here,’ and that  ‘This is a big inconvenience for (her)’. This being said even though she was ONLY cross-examined for 2 hours. She’s had to work fashion runways for longer then that but somehow she feels the need to act like a right old bitch when she is asked to play an important role in what is unarguably a very important trial politically and internationally. This trial involves war crimes and surrounds the loss of many peoples lives and yet she can’t seem to fathom the slightest bit of respect or duty to carry out a task that arguably requires nothing more then her recalling events for a short period of time. I just can’t comprehend the mindset of someone so shallow and self-engrossed to think that her inconvenience merits even a slight mention when we are talking about the massive pain and suffering that the people of Liberia caught in the crossfire of this civil war have had to go through. But this so called  ’inconvenience’ i’m sure will be short-lived as she jumps back onto a plane and out of the country to her pampered and lavish life whilst those whose lives have been affected by Charles Taylor’s actions have to live with their inconvenience for the rest of their lives.

No wonder the woman chose modelling as a career. Its something she is obviously a pro at….having a face that screams sulky whilst keeping that gob of hers tightly shut. Lets hope she spares us all the inconvenience of ever having to see or hear of her again.

Till next time

 

Post Correction: Lebanon-Israeli border clash

So this post is just going to be a post clarifying some details that I posted up on in the last post. I didn’t have access to this information at the time of posting but its come to light that some of the UN findings on this event say that the tree was actually on Israel’s side of the border. Not only that but Israel did convey the message to the Unifil *the UN border patrol monitoring the borders since the ceasefire in 2006* that they would be carrying out this clearing process. Unifil also insist that this message was relayed to the officials in the Lebanese army. Though the investigation is still under way to clarify the rest of the events unfolding regarding the actual shooting.

So I’v learnt a thing or two about hastily commenting on an event without knowing the full details first and in the future will wait a while before adding my titbit of commentary. This saves me from having to post a correction post whilst also bypassing me sounding  like a complete un-informed A hole. I say this because I know the frustration of coming across and reading something which someone unequivocally believes is right whilst all evidence points to the contrary. Not only that but its never smart to jump the gun with events as serious as this because at the end of the day lives where lost and to mis-portray events would be an affront to those who passed.    Plus it does take a bit of the sting out of my argument as once one thing is proven false the rest of it can seem to be less convincing.  So far that I am sorry and I guess that this is first mistake out of many ill be making as I progress and develop this blog onwards. Lets just hope the mistakes are on the low side of things number wise.

But that’s not to say that the whole post should be ignored as the argument  comparing it to the flotilla incident still stands. I do believe that if things where the other way round *as they where in the flotilla incident* Israel would be able to legally justify the events unfolding in its eyes.

But I do wish that governments states and people in power would do the normal human thing and admit they are wrong when they have f***** up. We aren’t perfect, we are human, we have flaws and we make mistakes, it just seems this basic human truth escapes those in power. they believe they are immune to it generally and that admitting they are wrong is a sign of weakness. B*******, the reason why trust in government and people in power is at an all time low is because this people will spew any amount of crap to escape from having to admit they are wrong or mistaken. The only time they do admit it is when they are backed up in a corner and their PR managers have jumped ship and left them with nothing else to say. From the ex-BP oil chief exclaiming that the BP oil spill is small compared to the body of water on earth *really? that’s ALLl you could come up with in defence? really?  Couldn’t go with something less  obviously  irrelevant? Surprised you didn’t bother to work out the percentage ratio to add more grit to your seemingly solid argument* to the Israeli deputy UN minister claiming that the Gaza aid convey was anything but a ‘humanitarian mission’  *obviously his definition of humanitarian is much much much more exclusive* in justification of the illegal raid on the ships whilst still in international waters.

And on that note ill end this post with a quote since I couldn’t find a good enough picture to digitally alter sophisticatedly on my purpose built picture software *minimizes the Paint tab on Microsoft*  to summarise this post:

‘ A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.’ John C. Maxwell.

Till next time

 

Lebanon-Israeli border clash

So the story that interested me today concerned border clashes between Israel and Lebanon. The border between these countries has been tense and on high alert ever since Israel invaded Lebanon in the 2006 war. And with the recent events surrounding Israel and the Turkey flotilla incident tensions have become ever more prickly with that of its continents neighbours. Lets just remind ourselves briefly of this flotilla incident. A flotilla of aid and materials was being shipped unofficially from Turkey by a humanitarian group to Gaza in response to the blockade in Gaza. They where there to assist and provide much-needed materials to the closed off city. Israel had not approved this ship to enter Gaza as it would breach their ‘blockade’. So they met this flotilla in International waters *an important point* and through the following confrontation killed 9 people on the flotilla.

Now lets look at the recent clash between Israeli and Lebanese border troops. The Lebanese say that Israeli soldiers crossed their border to uproot a tree and shrubbery that was blocking their view of a town in Lebanon . The Lebanese claimed to have fired warning shots and where met with artillery fire from the Israeli side which sparked the direct clash which resulted in 3 Lebanese officers being killed along with 1 Israeli officer and a Lebanese Journalist. Now the Israelis say that they where on their side of the border and the troops that were fired on where 300 – 400 meters away from the border watching over their fellow troops as they cut away at shrubbery that was falling on their side.

Now regardless of which side is telling the truth *though i doubt with Israelis recent track record of honesty we have much trouble deciding on the truth* Israel would be hard pressed to be able to defend its actions. This is bearing in mind the fact that they don’t believe they did anything unlawful with their handling of the flotilla incident.  The flotilla was a distance away from the Israeli waters but was still attacked because Israel believed that they would be infringing on their territorial sovereignty even though they hadn’t reached there shores just yet. So using that argument the Lebanese soldiers could easily argue that regardless of the fact that the Israeli soldiers weren’t at their border as the Israelis claim they where close enough to threaten their territorial sovereignty.

And since when did gardening become such a top Israeli priority. Overgrown shrubs? not in my neighbours backyard if i have anything to do with it. it’s all about the scenery, It’s the little details that make a big difference as any keen gardener will tell you. Who knew Israeli border officials had such green fingers.  Aid and much-needed material for the imprisoned Palestinian population in Gaza, not really that necessary. A shrub and a tree infringing on their view or land, Unfathomable. It’s good to see their priorities are in place correctly. Not only that, if it is true that the shrubbery was infringing on their view of a village in Lebanon and which they needed to be able to view for security reasons im pretty sure they could have taken the common courtesy of communicating this to the Lebanese border officials rather than doing what they do best and taking matters into their own hand and lauding about the place as they see fit. Especially with all the recent hoopla over Israelis over-aggressive and i’ll-do-what-i-want-regardless-of-what-anyone-thinks attitude being questioned and criticised in the wake of the flotilla incident.

You’d think they would have wanted to buck the trend this time and maybe take a more diplomatic approach especially considering the tense nature of things in the middle east at present. But no, I guess when a shrub or tree has got to go, its got to go asap. That train ain’t waiting for no one, your either on the green carriage or your left stranded on a shrubbery platform. It’s the kind of can-do attitude people welcome at gardening shows who knew it would blossom so passionately in the Israeli border patrol.

That’s all for now

till next time

 

Second time’s a charm

So as you can see my promise to keep this blog alive and kicking was shortlived to say the least. So here I am ready to give it another go and hopefully this time my attempt will last longer then my first. I still haven’t decided how regularly ill be posting in this blog but for now ill just post when I can *which shouldn’t be much of a problem as I doubt being a bum takes up that much time* and whenever I happen to come across an interesting issue.

But since I’m posting I might as well add my lil tidbit of commentary on an issue I happened to hear about. Apparently both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are kicking up a fuss with blackberry over there refusal to allow them access to monitor some of the blackberry handsets communication facilities. So they have instigated a ban on these communication features on the blackberry so people within there states can’t access them. So the action they have taken is if they can’t monitor it, then to hell with it. They are hoping to increase pressure on blackberry to release the information when they need it. They claim this request is for  ’national security reasons’.

Now, I don’t doubt it’s for security reasons, what I do doubt is if its for national reasons.  It seems to me its more of a case of monarchy-trying-to-keep-its-ass-on-the-throne security reasons. Its no secret that the ruling monarchy likes to keep a tab on all things that threaten there ruling interests. Lets just say democracy hasn’t yet reached the shores of these countries as quickly as the latest batch of blackberries have…customs in those shores can be quite a bitch when it comes to letting democracy through its borders. Latest technology – yes….democracy – will think about it and by think about it I mean I’ll keep a close *cracks whip* eye on those who do think about it and by close I mean as close as a contact lens gets to an eye….fairly close. Even clamp-down-on-everything China hasn’t taken these steps with blackberry, looks like these two countries like to be ahead of the totalitarian/dictatorship trend. China will be green with envy when it sees them strutting there new brand of the big brother state.  I hope blackberry don’t bow down to pressure and stick to their guns as stubbornly as the ruling elite in these countries stick their backsides on there oil rich throne. Hopefully the ban might raise the same backlash as China’s ban on google did with the wider world. though I doubt it, as on trend as these two countries are with dictatorships unlike China they are sat snug and cosy in the pocket of the western nations whose criticisms China endured.

Thats all for now

Till next time