|
In this mailing:
by Bassam Tawil
• January 17, 2016 at 5:00 am
- If the
Americans and Europeans continue meddling, the stable but still
fragile Palestinian social fabric in the West Bank will tear, and at
the first sign of weakness, Hamas and ISIS will rush in -- as they
have long been planning -- to take over.
- Every Arab
regime has, at one time or another, used the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict as an excuse to oppress its people. Our fellow Muslims have
been happy to use us as a pretext: We are waging war because of the
Palestinians. We refuse to fight because of the Palestinians. We
cannot do what you want because of the Palestinians. At no time did
they ever seriously seek to resolve the conflict -- nor did they
ever want to.
- The sheikhs who
claimed it was forbidden for Muslims to live under the shadow of
infidel European Christianity now have to watch as Muslims grovel at
Europe's feet and beg the infidel Christians for a safe haven and
shelter from... other Muslims.
|
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at Al-Azhar
University in Cairo, on June 4, 2009. (Image source: White House)
|
According to Islamic sources, one of the signs of yawm al-qiyamah
(Judgment Day) and redemption is the appearance of the False Messiah, masih
dajjal, sent by Satan in the guise of the True Messiah. He is
charismatic and powerful, his skin is the color of bronze, his hair is
curly and his eyes flash fire. He pretends to do good deeds, drawing
people to him and making them blindly follow him.
According to the tradition, the False Messiah sows disaster around
the world, marking the stage before redemption. The Qur'an says,
"You may love something that is bad for you and hate something that
is good for you," a convenient way of cajoling people into doing
things they might find distasteful, such as blowing themselves up.
by Lawrence A. Franklin
• January 17, 2016 at 4:00 am
- Iran's
commitment to Shi'ite interests seems firmly linked to its idea of
its mission, as well as to the survival of its revolutionary regime.
Iran's theocracy is likely willing to pay a high price to safeguard
this legacy. The West should not expect Iran to reduce its presence
in Syria or Iraq, even under severe military pressure.
- As the Obama
Administration continues to reward Iran for violating its agreement
not to build nuclear weapons under the nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT), and violating its agreement not to build
nuclear-capable missiles, and its refusal to sign the worthless
"Iran Deal," its presence is set to become even more
unpleasant as it becomes more prominent.
|
Parts of the Saudi embassy in Tehran were burned on
January 2, when a mob of Iranians attacked and ransacked the diplomatic
mission. The attack came in response to Saudi Arabia's execution of
Shi'ite preacher Nimr al-Nimr the same day.
|
The West does not seem to appreciate the intensity of Iran's
commitment to its Shi'ite cousins in Syria. The West also seems not to
comprehend the depth of Iran's spiritual ties to its centuries-old role
as the champion of Shi'a Islam.
Much Western journalistic commentary addresses Iran's commitment to
the Assad regime in Damascus. Left underreported is the profound sense of
shared religious identity between the Shia of Iran and the Shi'a Alawi
minority of Syria. Iran's determination to maintain Alawi supremacy in
Syria transcends any personal attachment to the Assad administration.
In light of this month's execution of a leading Shi'ite preacher
Nimr al-Nimr by Saudi Arabia and the consequent heightened tension
between Tehran and Riyadh, it might help policymakers to understand that
the religious divide between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims as an inveterate
and unbridgeable chasm as that between ISIS and the United States.
|
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment