Afghanistan: How We See It vs. How They See It

by Nonie Darwish • August 29, 2017 at 5:00 am

CNN International, which is widely watched in the Muslim world, has not been fair to the American position in the current clash between Islam and the West and Israel. Western media have a strong presence in the Middle East but refuse to bring much needed enlightenment to the Muslim public, and explain that the West has a legitimate right to self-defense against Islamic jihadist terrorism. As a result, the majority of Muslims in the Middle East, and many in the West, have no clue why America is in Afghanistan and why Syria is a huge security threat to Western nations.
After the invasion of Afghanistan, Islamic propaganda told Muslims that the US was intentionally poisoning its humanitarian food supplies in order to hurt the Afghani people. My own cousin, who received a good education in Cairo, called during the Afghan war to ask, "Why is the US poisoning Afghanis?"
It is hard for the Western mind to understand why the Muslim leadership and media are frantically trying to keep the public hostile and misinformed as to why the US is in Afghanistan. It is because the truth about violent jihad against the West launched from Afghanistan must be hidden and protected. There is an Islamic law that commands every Muslim head of state to conduct jihad and never abandon that sacred Islamic duty. Sharia dictates that leaders who refuse to conduct and support jihad must be removed from office. Such uncompromising Sharia laws regarding jihad imposed on Muslim heads of states are ignored and not taken seriously by Western leaders and the media.

A U.S. Army soldier shakes the hand of a young Afghan child while on patrol in southern Afghanistan on Feb. 5, 2010. The American soldiers were part of an operation helping the Afghan National Army clear several villages of improvised explosive devices, weapons caches and illegal drugs. (Image source: U.S. Department of Defense)

It was refreshing to hear President Donald J. Trump define without reservation a US mission to fight terrorism and prevent Afghanistan from once again becoming a safe haven for Al-Qaeda, or any other terror groups, when he summarized the US presence in Afghanistan as no longer about nation-building, but rather about "killing terrorists."

Many Americans, however, are still confused regarding our mission in Afghanistan. This is mainly because the media in general did little to keep the public informed of the complexities of the Middle East and to stay focused on why, after 9/11, the US needed to destroy the safe havens of Al-Qaeda and other terror groups.

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FIFA and International Olympic Committee Furthering Racism, Terror?

by A. Z. Mohamed • August 29, 2017 at 4:00 am

Palestinian Media Watch stated that "FIFA has a clear double standard when responding to violations of its statutes. PMW has reviewed hundreds of decisions of the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) (the highest court for sport) and has learned that FIFA and the football community act forcefully to punish even minor violations when committed by other football clubs or even their fans. Yet the PFA's and Rajoub's racism and terror promotion, all serious violations, are being ignored by FIFA."
Swift action must be taken to remove Jibril Rajoub from his posts, and the Palestinian Authority needs to be pressured to replace him with someone whose passion for sports and sportsmanship exceeds that of his lust for Jewish blood. If this is not undertaken, FIFA should oust the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) from its ranks.
The same applies to the International Olympic Committee, which has a duty to remain true to its mission -- "to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play." It has to threaten the Palestinian Olympic Committee that it will be ousted unless it rids itself of dangerous radicals such as Rajoub.

Jibril Rajoub, President of the Palestinian Football Association and the Palestinian Olympic Committee, has referred to Jews and Israelis as "Satans" and "Zionist sons of bitches." Pictured: Rajoub giving a speech at the 65th FIFA Congress on May 29, 2015 in Zurich, Switzerland. (Photo by Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images)

In its latest violation of the International Olympic Committee's Code of Ethics in particular and the spirit of sports in general, Palestinian boxer Sultan Abu Al-Haj recently forfeited a match because it was against an Israeli -- Druze contender, Amit Madah.

When asked recently by an interviewer on official Palestinian Authority television why he had "refused" to compete in the August 8, 2017 match at the Youth Muaythai World Championships in Bangkok, Abu Al-Haj replied:

"I didn't make the decision. It's my coaches and the [Palestinian] Olympic Committee that made the decision, and as an athlete, I cannot oppose them...The decision was reached that it is forbidden to compete with [Israelis] because it's beneath my dignity and dishonorable to compete with them and recognize them [sic] the State of Israel."

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