Assad’s Crimes And The Syrian Nuclear State

By 2 Comments

Recently, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported it had overwhelming evidence proving Assad is still working to create a nuclear facility with assistance from Tehran and Pyongyang. This evidence included satellite imagery of the location and sources from western intelligence agencies. Western experts who evaluated the documents Spiegel obtained believed a reactor or enrichment plant was could be the aim of the project currently codenamed, “Zamzam.” There have also been reports that this facility is actually being built for the government in Tehran. Should this be true and the Assad regime can create a nuclear facility capable of creating weapons, things begin to look much worse for the Syrian people.

For almost four years now the Assad regime has been decimating its own people for the sake of holding onto power. When the Syrian Civil War began it was not due to extremism or a power hungry group trying to take control, it was the cry of a peoples to live in a truly democratic, civil state and for the release of political prisoners. The regime responded to these cries with the arrests and murder of hundreds of individuals over several months, eventually blockading an entire neighborhood of Daraa with automatic rifles and missiles, pushing the inhabitants to famine. After this peaceful resistance was continually met with violence, the people of Syria understood their dream of a truly democratic, free state would not be realized unless other paths were taken.

Great Women In Muslim History: The Women of Khariji Islam

By 1 Comment

In this article I would like to present a small chapter of the book written by the Tunisian writer Nadjia al-Wazami Bu ‘Adjila, who teaches at the University of Tunis, entitled “al-Islam al-Khariji” in English translation.

For months I had not even dared to write about the small sect of the Kharijites because many people in Islamic circles mention the Khariji sect as the anticipator of the “takfir” ideology perpetuated by ISIS today. They would like to link ISIS to this small group at the beginning of Muslim history, even if ISIS today is something completely different. To some it seems to represent Iraqi and Syrian Sunni Islam as a whole, even if beyond the curtain it is the opposite.

I am convinced that introducing an interesting historical analysis of the Khariji women and their military, political and social involvement in early Islam will make these scholars reconsider their position. It will help them understand that ISIS is an absolutely post-modern, pseudo-political, and anti-religious construction. It is positioned on the new-imperialist chess board the Middle East has become since 1948. On the same basis, Zionist Israel can be defined as an anti-Jewish nation based on apartheid, colonialism, militarism, occupation, and linked with neo-colonialist actors in the Western nations.

Syrian Refugees Live As Second-class Citizens In Turkey

By Leave a Comment

I recently visited Istanbul, a Turkish city filled with Syrian refugees. Some old, some young but each with the same horror story of leaving behind dead friends and family in Syria. Their journeys to Istanbul are filled with difficulty and danger. Once arrived in Istanbul, most were not welcomed with open arms. Turkish people have a sense of pride towards their culture and history and many feel that the influx of refugees will change their identity. Many stores in Turkey refuse to speak to you in anything but Turkish for fear of their language being replaced with Arabic. Lots of Landlords refuse to lease apartments to Syrian refugees and most employers will discriminate against Syrians or not hire them at all.

One of the Syrian refugees I met was a young man in his mid-20s, married with two children of his own and supporting four other relatives. He worked 10-12 hour days, six days a week with no benefits for roughly $300 a month. This does not even provide the basic needs for his family, but they survive. His wage is less than a quarter of what his Turkish peers would make for the same job. When I spoke with him he told me he felt lucky and blessed to at least have some sort of income.

The children in the streets of Istanbul are plenty. All wander attempting to sell simple items such as napkins, pencils or candy. Some cannot afford to buy those items to sell so they just ask for anything from any passerby. They wear the expressions of children robber of childhood; their faces tell an excruciating story without uttering a word.

The file does not exist View/Post/small_loop.php