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(TEL AVIV / SALEM) – Israel’s population is facing a dire threat: a drastic depopulation, from the use of weapons that leave behind Depleted Uranium (DU). Depleted Uranium leads to the word Omnicidal, as DU kills everything in the food chain, everywhere the wind blows. Experts say the dramatic drop in Israel’s sperm count could eliminate their ability to reproduce.

Research by an Israeli doctor shows a significant drop in sperm count level and sperm motility among young Israeli soldiers in recent years. Sperm motility is the ability of sperm to move properly toward an egg.

It is attributed to the inhalation of DU aerosolized nano-particles; the dirty results of extra powerful weapons used by Israel and the U.S.

All of that military might as it turns out, could set the stage for a massive Israeli act of population suicide.

A study by Dr. Ronit Haimov-Kokhman released in November, showed a 40-percent decline in the concentration of sperm cells in Israeli sperm donors from 2004 to 2008, compared to samples taken between 1995 and 1999.

Sperm banks in Israel are now reportedly turning away as many as two-thirds of potential donors, due to the low-quality sperm. In the past, around one-third of the potential donors were turned away.

According to Ofri Ilani’s article in Haaretz, Study: Quality of Israeli sperm down 40% in past decade:

“The research confirmed that in 10 years, the average concentration of sperm among donors declined from 106 million cells per cubic centimeter to 67 million per cubic centimeter. The rate of sperm motility has also declined: from 79 to 67 percent, although the profile of donors did not change over that period; they are still young, healthy and do not smoke.”[1]

Haimov-Kokhman says the problem is not entirely unique; the quality of sperm has also declined in a number of Western countries. But in Israel he says, it has been particularly rapid.

“If we keep going at this rate, a decline of 3 million cubic centimeters of sperm cells per year, we’ll reach an average of 20 million in 2030. The World Heath Organization defines this as fertility impairment.”

Questionitnow.com said this about the reported thousands of tons of nuclear waste in the form of armor piercing rounds, referred to as “depleted uranium” or “DU”, in the invasion of Iraq:

“The United States and Britain have gravely endangered not only the Iraqis and their own troops, but the entire world. In the first invasion, at least 320 tons of DU were exploded into Iraq, at least 1500 tons were blasted in the second illegal invasion.”[2]

They cite Professor Malcolm Hopper of the University of Sunderland in the U.K., whose extensive studies of health effects on British and U.S. soldiers who served in the Gulf War, shows as many as 21,000 U.S. Gulf War veterans have died, “due not just to DU exposure but to the astounding amounts of organophosphate (OP) poisoning from various toxins (or supposedly anti-toxins) given to the troops as ‘preventive’ medicine.”

This human and environmental disaster was reviewed by Bob Nichols, a correspondent with SFBayView who specializes in nuclear issues with an emphasis on the atmospheric contamination from Depleted Uranium. In the article PTSD, Infertility and Other Consequences of War, he discusses how Israel is likely to be depopulated soon[3].

“Israel falls within the region that has been dosed with depleted uranium [DU] [various kinds of munitions] in the West Asian theatre of war. DU kills people at genetic level.” A report by Dr. Ronit Haimov-Kokhman, which was debated in the Knesset, is cited in the report by Ofri Ilani.

Arun Shrivastava, a writer with the Centre for Research on Globalization, says this has been known for some time.

“Admiral Bhagwat and I made our presentations at GNDU, Amritsar, in April 2008, social workers among the audience came up and narrated some events that actually provide hard enough evidence of DU contamination the entire North-western India. There was a significant presence of top officers from the Indian Army.”

He says they are keenly aware of this silent weapon. “The security forces know what the American and NATO soldiers have done to South and West Asians.”

According to Shrivastava, contamination of the total Indian population stands at over 300 million; the total West and South Asian population affected stands at least 900 million, possibly more than a billion.

“None of these would complete their normal life. None of us will. This entire region will be depopulated which is what the PTBs have in mind and they have set in motion processes that can’t be stopped. No way,” Shrivastava said.

There is little question that this information has tremendous significance for the people of Palestine and Gaza, although these unfortunate people might end up the same way as the Israelis.

Reports from other West Asian countries are identical, Shrivastava says, “Both US and NATO forces have committed genocide right in Asia. Our civilizations may never be the same, may not be viable.”

It is important to note how overlooked this significant world problem truly is, and how indicting it turns out to be. Shrivastava says it is also important to remember that the DU is a result of military activity that is illegal under international law.

“Please note that the use of WMD is war crime. There are cases pending under ICCA against three US Presidents and two British PMs and their entire cabinet. DU weapons are WMDs; they are weapons of indiscriminate destruction and environmental contamination….IN PERPETUITY.”

As Nichols states in his article, uranium oxide gas weapons are called “genocidal weapons.”

“They maim and kill millions of people, their animals and their land. The actual targets by the U.S. Expeditionary Forces are the populations of Central Asia and the Middle East, about a billion people.”

He reminds us that more than a million American servicemembers, thousands of contractors, and others, like journalists have had their boots on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past several years, not to mention the thousands of people from other nations.

“The medical disability rate is over 60 percent and ‘PTSD’ is a common diagnosis. Soldiers from the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy report similar medical problems as well.”

According to figures cited in his article, a milligram (mg) of uranium oxide poison gas is roughly equal in size to one of the periods at the end of these sentences. When this is absorbed by Marines and soldiers, through their skin, no limit exists in regard to their exposure. It could range from to one milligram to a thousand.

Rosalie Bertell, Ph.D., GNSH said, “Each tiny milligram shoots about 1,251,000 powerful radioactive bullets a day with a range of about 20 cells of the human body for thousands or even billions of years.”

Dr. Bertell currently serves on a number of Pentagon radiation committees; she has been in this role for decades.

The worst part is that all of it has taken place under protest by activists, scientists, and defense experts. There has been no doubt in the minds of those who know, but their words have gone unheeded. Orders to use these internationally illegal weapons are made by presidential order in U.S. war zones.

Serious information at a serious time in history. It would truly be ironic if Israel’s military machine, so ruthlessly applied over the years on the Arab people, would render the population without the ability to reproduce.

14 April, 2010

By Tim King

Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com’s Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines.

Countercurrents.org

I want to tell the world a story

About a home with a broken lantern

And a burnt doll

About a picnic that wasn’t enjoyed

About an axe that killed a tulip

A story about a fire that consumed a plait

a story about a tear that couldn’t run down

I want to tell a story about a goat that wasn’t milked

About a mother’s dough that wasn’t baked

About a wedding that wasn’t celebrated

And a baby girl that didn’t grow up

About a football that wasn’t kicked

About a dove that didn’t fly

I want to tell a story about a key that wasn’t used

About a classroom that wasn’t attended

About a playground that was silenced

About a book that wasn’t read

About a besieged lonely farm

And about its fruits that weren’t picked

About a lie that wasn’t discovered

A story about a church that’s no longer prayed in

And a mosque that no longer stands

And a culture no longer rejoiced

I want to tell a story about a muddy grassy roof

About a stone that faced a tank

And about a stubborn flag that refuses to lie down

About a spirit that cannot be defeated

I want to tell the world a story

Now light a little candle for Palestine

You can do it

Light a candle One little candle

Watch the darkness fade away

Just try it out

One ray of light

Wipes away the gloomiest

Jet-black nights

As the dawn breaks

Just observe

Can you see that

All the might of darkness

In the world

Cannot extinguish

The faintest flicker

Of a beam of light

Light a candle

One little candle

Watch the darkness fade away

You can do it

Hey.. WORLD

Did you hear me?

I am a Jerusalem-born Palestinian refugee living in exile for over 42 years. I was forced to leave my homeland, Palestine at the age of seven during the six-day war. I am a mathematician by profession. I started writing about three years ago when my friends insisted I should write about my memories, experiences, and feelings as a Palestinian. I did… but it all came out -for some strange reason- sounding -as I am told- like poetry! So I self published two books (I Believe in Miracles, and Palestine, The True Story. Write to me at: nahidayasin@googlemail.com

AUTHOR: Nahida

27 April, 2010

Poetryforpalestine Blog

Original article published on 15 July 2008

The first step in the quest for inter-community dialogue is the search for common ground. Religious and cultural differences divide Hindus and Muslims from each other. This diversity need not necessarily be seen as intimidating, however. In fact, the Quran explains that diversity is natural. The Quran instructs us thus:

‘If God so willed, He could make you all one people’ (16:93).

Commenting on the above-quoted Quranic verse, the noted Islamic scholar Imam Razi writes in his Tafsir-e Kabir that this refers to the fact of diversity of religions and customs among human beings.

Nature desires diversity, not uniformity. That is why we should aim not at eliminating these differences but, rather, to tolerate them in accordance with the demands of Nature.

Man is a social animal. It is ingrained in his nature to seek to live in peace with others. That is why there are no two communities in the entire world that have nothing in common between them. It was for the common purpose of protection, peace and justice that the Prophet entered into a treaty or pact with the Jews of Medina. This is an instance of practical inter-community dialogue based on common values and concerns.

The basic task before is to seek to develop and promote that spirit among both Hindus and Muslims that would urge them to ignore their differences and, instead, focus on what they have in common or on issues of common concern that can bring them closer to each other. We must not let what sets us apart overwhelm what we have in common. A key aspect that we Indian Hindus and Muslims have in common is our Indianness, the fact of belonging to the same land. Another key issue and concern that can bring us together is a common quest for preventing moral decline in our societies, which both Hindus and Muslims are faced with. Anti-religious forms of secularism and liberalism invented in the West that claim to have ‘liberated’ human beings from God have led to horrendous anarchy throughout the world, including in our own country. This calls for Hindus, Muslims and people of other faiths, who take their religions seriously, to work together to combat such dangerous tendencies. This is a duty we all owe to God and to humanity, which we must undertake in cooperation with each other.

Hindu-Muslim dialogue involves efforts at both the intellectual as well as practical levels. But, all these efforts can make no headway without sincerity of purpose. If these efforts are made simply for political gain or fame they can produce no positive results. Parties to the dialogue must be conscious of the fact that they need each other. They must realize that they can and, indeed, must, learn from each other. They must know that the progress of our common homeland, and, therefore, of each and every community that inhabits it, is impossible without Hindu-Muslim cooperation. For meaningful dialogue between Muslims and Hindus, both must consider themselves not as opponents but as friends, or at least as potential friends.

Hindu-Muslim dialogue, or inter-community dialogue more generally, must focus, among other issues, on addressing and removing mutual misunderstandings, which are often rooted in deeply-held but misleading negative stereotypical images of the ‘other’. Some of these misunderstandings are rooted in our traditional ways of thinking about the ‘other’. One such contentious issue is the way Muslims understand the status of the Hindus and their religion in terms of the shariah. While many ulema see nothing of worth in the Hindu religion and consider all the Hindus to be polytheists, some of them are of the view that the basic principles of monotheism and prophethood can be discerned in the religious traditions of the Hindus. The founder of the Dar ul-Uloom at Deoband, Maulana Qasim Nanotavi, was of the opinion that Ram and Krishna might possibly have been prophets of God and that is why Muslims must not say anything bad about them. Some scholars, including a leading Sanskrit scholar Pandit Ved Prakash Upadhyaya, claim that the Kalki Avatar or Antim Rishi mentioned in some Hindu scriptures actually refers to the Prophet Muhammad. If this is true, then obviously these scriptures cannot be said not to have been of divine origin.

Another issue that continues to be discussed in ulema circles is the status of Hindus in terms of the shariah. This question needs to be resolved in the interest of Hindu-Muslim dialogue. If, as the ulema claim, the Hindus, or many of them, are polytheists (mushriks), are they to be considered mushriks in the same sense as Muslims understood the pagan Arabs at the time of the Prophet? I personally believe that a distinction should be made between the two. Even the classical jurists and Quranic commentators differentiated between the Arab pagans, who virulently opposed the Prophet, and other pagan so that the commandment for jihad vis-à-vis the former did not apply in the same way to the latter. It is critical to distinguish the Hindus from the Arab pagans because of the tendency of many ulema to relate and apply Quranic verses about the pagan Arabs to the Hindus of today, as, for instance, the verse which says, ‘Strongest among men in enmity to the believers will you find the Jews and pagans’ (5:82). Clearly, this is unacceptable.

Yet another issue that must be clarified if Hindu-Muslim dialogue is to proceed is the distinction between Islam and Muslim history. We must not, as we often do, adopt a defensive attitude towards the latter by seeking to justify the misdeeds of Muslim rulers or argue, through erroneous interpretation of Islamic sources, that all the actions of the Sultans and Muslim religious figures were actually in accordance with the teachings of Islam. If the policies of many Muslim rulers of the early Islamic period, which many Muslims regard as a ‘Golden Age’, were not just un-Islamic but even anti-Islamic, how can we expect Muslim rulers of the later period, which Muslims consider to have been characterized by widespread deviation from Islam, to have been models of Islamic virtue?

A basic cause for mutual misunderstandings between Hindus and Muslims is lack of proper knowledge and awareness of each other. They have made no serious attempts to understand the religious traditions and beliefs of each other from their original sources, in an objective manner. Muslims have viewed Hinduism in a polemical fashion, not as the Hindus themselves understand it, and not using the same framework as the Hindus use to relate to their faith tradition. And vice versa. This explains the virtual absence of any literature that can enable Hindus and Muslims to understand each other seriously, in a balanced way. Not a single book of this sort on the religious traditions of the Hindus has been written by Muslims ever since Al-Biruni wrote his famed Kitab al-Hind more than a thousand years ago. Barring a few exceptions, our madrasas do not teach about other religions. That is why their students, our would-be ulema, have only a very superficial and partial understanding of Hinduism and other religions. This urgently needs to change.

A key form of Hindu-Muslim dialogue is for Hindus and Muslims to work together for common social purposes on a wide range of issues. The opportunities for this, however, are becoming alarmingly restricted today as, especially in urban areas in northern India, Muslims are becoming increasingly ghettoized, for various reasons. In recent years, especially in the aftermath of the destruction of the Babri Masjid and the ensuing wave of anti-Muslim violence that culminated in the genocide of Muslims in Gujarat, there has been a perceptible trend of Muslims seeking to shift from mixed localities to almost wholly Muslim ghettos. Numerous leading ulema and other Muslim leaders have openly supported this trend, claiming that there are numerous Hadith reports wherein the Prophet had advised Muslims to do so. This, to my mind, is a wholly incorrect deduction from Hadith reports wherein the Prophet is said to have advised Muslims not to stay in the same localities as polytheists, because these reports actually relate to those Muslims who had stayed behind in pagan-dominated Mecca even after the Prophet had migrated to Mecca. Heavily outnumbered by their pagan opponents, their lives and properties were gravely threatened. This is the particular historical context for these Hadith reports. To argue, as some of our ulema do, that the same rule applies for Muslims in India, even in places where Muslims do not face any such threat, is incorrect. If Muslims were to restrict themselves to Muslim ghettos and thereby cut themselves off from people of other faiths, they would be unable to relate to, and interact with, others in the social, economic and political spheres, and would also have no opportunity to engage in the task of da‘wah or communicating the true message of Islam to them. Hence, this ghettoisation process must be reversed, for it is harmful particularly to the Muslims themselves.

In fact, Muslims must make all efforts to promote closer interaction at all planes with Hindus, rather than isolate themselves in a corner. In this regard, we would need to exercise a certain degree of flexibility in the matter of some fiqh rules about relations between Muslims and others that were developed in the period of Muslim domination and which may not be relevant in today’s context. In the light of these medieval fiqh prescriptions, many Muslims have grave reservations on a host of issues with regard to people of other faiths, such as participating in their functions, greeting them on their festivals, wishing them, exchanging gifts with them, and sharing in their joys and sorrows. In the face of this, it is imperative that we develop a contextually-relevant ‘fiqh for Muslim minorities’ (fiqh ul-aqalliyat) through which we can review and rethink these fiqh rules so as to enable us to adopt a more expansive and open stance on these matters.

Similarly, in line with medieval fiqh formulations, many Muslims take a very extreme position with regard to the prohibition of imitating or following the ways and customs of non-Muslims. Traditional understandings of this question also need to be reviewed if we are to establish closer links with Hindus and people of other faiths. On this issue, the influential medieval Islamic scholar Ibn Taimiyah, who is known for having adopted a rather extreme position in this regard, made a clear distinction between Muslims in a state of cultural domination and those in a condition where they are culturally dominated by others. In the latter case, he opined, for Muslims to adopt some of the external practices of non-Muslims might actually be desirable from the point of view of the Islamic cause. Indeed, he went on, it might even become necessary for this purpose. As he explained in his book Iqtiza us-Sirat ul-Mustaqim:

‘Saving oneself from imitating non-Muslims and distinguishing oneself from them applies only in the context of [Muslim] dominance. When in the early period [of Islam] Muslims were weak, this commandment was not given. This commandment was given only later, when Islam became dominant and acquired power. Likewise, today, Muslims living in non-Muslim lands are not obliged to distinguish themselves externally from non-Muslims, because this might cause them harm. Indeed, under some circumstances, it is appropriate or even necessary for Muslims to share [some of] the external practices of non-Muslims if this is in the larger interests of Islam or for a noble purpose.’

The time for Hindu-Muslim dialogue is now. It cannot be put off until later.

By Maulana Waris Mazhari

(Translated from Urdu by Yoginder Sikand)

Maulana Waris Mazhari is the editor of the New Delhi-based monthly Tarjuman Dar ul-Uloom, the official organ of the Graduates’ Association of the Deoband madrasa. He can be contacted on w.mazhari@gmail.com

Yoginder Sikand works with the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion at the National Law School, Bangalore.

We have no choice but to call a spade a spade. Those who still have a pinch of common sense find it easy to see how little realism is being left in today’s world.

When American President Barack Obama was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, Michael Moore said, “Now, earn it.” Many people liked the ingenious comment; it was a smart phrase, even though many found the decision of the Norwegian Committee an example of demagoguery and the exaltation of the apparently harmless petty-politics of the new US President, an African-American, a good communicator and a clever politician leading a powerful empire involved in a deep economic crisis.

The World Conference in Copenhagen was about to be held and Obama sparked off hopes that the United States would join the world consensus in favor of a binding agreement to prevent the ecologic catastrophe threatening the human species. What happened there was disappointing; the international public had become the victim of a painful deception.

At the recent World Conference of the Peoples on Climate Change and the Rights of the Mother Land held in Bolivia responses were offered filled with the wisdom of the ancient indigenous nationalities, invaded and virtually devastated by the European conquerors who, in search of gold and easy wealth, imposed for centuries their selfish cultures incompatible with the most sacred interests of mankind.

Two news reports received yesterday are an expression of the empire’s philosophy intending to make us believe in its “democratic, peaceful, selfless and honest” nature. Suffice it to read the text of said press dispatches dated in the US capital.

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2010. – US President Barack Obama is examining the possibility of deploying an arsenal of missiles with conventional non-nuclear warheads and a very powerful explosion capacity that can hit their targets anywhere in the world in about an hour.

Albeit the new super-bomb, delivered by Minuteman missiles, will not carry nuclear warheads their destructive capability will be similar, as confirmed by the fact that their deployment is foreseen in the recently signed START 2 agreements with Russia.

The Moscow authorities demanded, and managed to include in the agreement, that the United States will remove one of its nuclear warhead missiles for each one of these missiles.

According to reports in the New York Times and the CBS TV network, the new bomb known as Prompt Global Strike (PGS) should be able to kill Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in a cave in Afghanistan, destroy a North Korean missile in full preparation or attack an Iranian nuclear site, ‘all of this without crossing the nuclear threshold.’

The advantage of having the military option of a non-nuclear weapon with the same effect of the targeted impact of a nuclear bomb is judged interesting by the Obama Administration.

The project had been initially undertaken by Obama’s predecessor, Republican President George W. Bush, but it was blocked by Moscow’s protestations. The Russian authorities had said that given the Minuteman’s capability to deliver nuclear warheads, it was impossible to determine that the launching of a PGS did not mark the beginning of a nuclear attack.

However, the Obama Administration feels that it can give Russia and China the necessary guarantees to avoid misunderstandings. The missile silos of the new weapon will be raised in areas distant from the nuclear warhead deposits and they can be regularly supervised by experts from Moscow or Beijing.

The super-bomb could be delivered by a Minuteman missile capable of flying through the atmosphere at sound speed while carrying one thousand pounds of explosives. Then, extremely sophisticated equipment will enable the missile to release the bomb letting it fall with great accuracy on the selected targets.

Responsibility for the PGS project –at an estimated cost of $250 million only in its first experimental year—fell on General Kevin Chilton, commander of the US nuclear arsenal. Chilton explained that the PGS will be filling up a gap in the range of options currently available to the Pentagon.

‘At the moment,’ he said, ‘we can target any place in the world with non-nuclear weapons in a frame of time of no less than four hours.’ ‘For a faster action,’ he conceded, ‘we only have the nuclear option.’

With the new bomb, in the future the United States could act quickly and with conventional resources both against a terrorist group or an enemy country, in a much shorter time and avoiding international indignation over the use of nuclear weapons.

It is planned to start testing in 2014 and to have it available in the US arsenal by 2017. Obama will no longer be in power but the super-bomb can be the non-nuclear legacy of this President who was already awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

WASHINGTON, April 22, 2010. – A US Air Force non-piloted spaceship took off from Florida this Thursday, its military mission covered by veil of secrecy.

The automated spaceship or X-37B was launched from Cape Canaveral in an Atlas V rocket at the 19:52 hours local time (23:52 hrs GMT), according to a video distributed by the army.

‘The launching is imminent,’ said to the France Press Agency US Air Force Major Angie Blair.

The plane looking like a miniature spaceship is 8.9 meters long by 4.5 meters wingspan.

It has taken years to manufacture the reusable spaceship and the army has offered only vague explanations on its objective or its role in the military arsenal.

The vehicle has been designed ‘to create the ambiance of an “orbital laboratory” to put to the test new technologies and components before these technologies are assigned to ongoing satellite programs,’ stated the Air Force in a recent communiqué.

Officials have said that the X-37B will be landing at the Vandenberg Air Force base in California, although they did not say how long its first mission will last.

‘To be honest, we don’t know when it will return,’ said to the press this week Gary Payton, second assistant secretary of the Air Force space programs.

Payton indicated that the ship could stay in space up to nine months.

The aircraft, manufactured by Boeing, started in 1999 as a US National Space Agency (NASA) project and was later transferred to the Air Force, which has plans to launch a second X-37B by 2011.

Do they need anything else?

Today they face an enormous obstacle: the already unstoppable climate change. There is talk of the unavoidable rise of heat by more than two degrees centigrade, with catastrophic consequences. Within only 40 years, the world population will increase in 2 billion to reach the figure of 9 billion people in that short time. Harbors, hotels, tourist resorts, roads, industries and facilities close to the ports will be underwater in less time than a generation from a wealthy and developed nation needs to enjoy half their lives, the same nations that today selfishly refuse to make the least of sacrifices to preserve the survival of the human species. The farming land and the drinking water will be considerably reduced. The oceans will be contaminated and many marine species will no longer be edible while others will be extinct. This is not simply a logical assertion but the result of scientific research.

Through natural genetics and the transfer of various species from one continent to another, human beings had been able to increase food and other useful crop productions per hectare. Thus, for some time, man suffered less from the shortage of such food as maize, potato, wheat, fiber and other necessary products. Later, genetic manipulation and the use of chemical fertilizers also contributed to the solution of crucial needs but they too are coming to the end of their possibilities to produce healthy food for human consumption.

On the other hand, we are witnessing the depletion in barely two centuries of the hydrocarbons that it took nature 400 million years to create. Likewise, crucial no-renewable mineral resources required by the world economy are being depleted. At the same time, science has created the capacity to destroy the planet several times over in a matter of hours. The major contradiction of our times is precisely the capacity of the human species for self-destruction and its inability to govern itself.

The human being managed to raise its life possibilities to such limits as exceed its own capacity to survive, and in this battle they are consuming at an accelerated pace the raw materials available to them. Science made it possible to turn matter into energy, as in the case of the nuclear reaction, –through large investments– but there is no sign that turning energy into matter is even viable. The infinite cost of investments in the relevant research is showing the impossibility to achieve in a few decades what it took the universe tens of thousands of millions of years to create. Will it be necessary for Barack Obama, the wunderkid, to explain it to us? Science has experienced a remarkable growth but ignorance and poverty grow too. Can anyone prove the opposite?

Fidel Castro Ruz

April 25, 2010

By Fidel Castro

27 April, 2010

@ Cuba.cu

According to a recent report from US-based Pew Research Center, there are 1 billion 570 million Muslims living in the world today, and thus every fourth person on this earth is a Muslim. Is this report a good reason for rejoicing? I do not think so. On the contrary Muslim should do some exercise for self appraisal after this report. Why with 25 percent (1.5 Billion) in this world they are scientifically and technologically backward, politically marginalized and economically poor. Why their share of World GDP (60 trillion dollars) is hardly 3 trillion dollars which is less than the GDP of France (Population 70 Millions), about half of the GDP of Japan (Population 120 Millions) and one fifth of GDP of U.S. (Population 300 Millions). It is important to know that Christians constitute about 35% of the world population but control nearly 70% of the World’s wealth.

In case of Human Development Index too, ranking of Muslim countries, with the exception of some Oil producing Arab countries, is very low. In scientific field record of Muslim nations is dismal. Hardly five hundred Science Ph.D’s.are produced every year. This number is three thousand in U.K. alone. Out of the five hundred and odd Nobel Prizes in Science from 1901 to 2008, Jews, who are 0.2 per cent of the World population, got around 140 Prizes (25%) as against only one to a Muslim (the other one being declared non-Muslim by Pakistan), which is about 0.2% of the total Awards. What a sad commentary for Muslims as far as scientific achievements are concerned. Another disheartening report has appeared recently from Shanghai University which has listed top four hundred World Universities with high standard of teaching and research. None from the Islamic World finds a place in the list. This is really painful situation, particularly when compared with period of shining Islamic Civilization of middle Ages (7 th to 16th Century.) when all the standard universities were situated in the Islamic cities of Cordoba, Baghdad, Cairo etc. Well known Science Historian Gillespie has recorded around 130 names of scientists and technologists who made great impact during middle ages. Out of this number 120 scientists belonged to Islamic world and only four from Europe. Is this not enough reason for Muslims to know their past critically, asses the present honestly and determine the future rationally.

I can add little more information (based on reports from several Agencies),not a happy one, about the so-called numerical strength of Muslims in coming years. With the present birth rate, Muslim population will be doubled in next 50 years. i.e. it would be around 3 billions. In that scenario Muslims will surpass the Christian population which stands today at about 2.3 billion but will only be doubled in 500 years. Once again that situation will not be good either for Muslims because with the present economic conditions prevailing in the Muslim World and the backwardness they are experiencing today, their growth in terms of population may still aggravates the economic problems instead of solving it. Doubling the population in next fifty years may still increase the economic gap between Muslims and Christians nations. Who will dominate the World thus in this century or the next century? Muslims with 5% of global wealth or Christians with 70% of world economic power. Muslims must understand that numerical strength of any nation or a country does not guarantee respect and dominance in the present day scientifically advanced world. It is only scientific knowledge which matters and which brings respect, power and wealth. There are many examples which prove the futility of higher population with lower economic and military power. For instance, powerful (economically, militarily, scientifically) small Jew community of Israel is considered a perpetual threat to a very large population (technologically backward) of Arab countries who feel rightly defeated and cheated. Another glaring example is of those small numbers of Muslims who are living in the West and but are happy with their economic prosperity whereas in many Muslim majority countries with large population, they are experiencing hardship of various kinds. Gross Domestic product of about 20 million Muslims living in Europe is higher than the entire Muslim population of Indian subcontinent which is around 500 million

Nissim Hasan, an Islamic Scholar of repute, has observed that “Diminishing Muslim vision of knowledge is singularly responsible for the decline of economic and political power of the Islamic civilization. We have failed now for centuries to become leaders of humanity. We have surrendered our vision, our faith and our reason to deadwoods”. Mahathir Mohammad (Former P.M., Malaysia) has rightly advised Muslims “to give up their illogical beliefs and regressing thoughts and be prepared to face the challenges of the fast changing social order (OIC Conference, Kuala Lumpur).

It is important to note that during their Rule of Spain (8th century Ad to 14th century A.D.), Muslim dominated the entire Europe as the Muslim Spain was hub of scientific activity and its earnings were higher than the earning of entire Europe. Today situation has changed topsy turvy. Today DGP of Christian Spain is higher than that of combined 12 Oil Producing Muslim Countries. It was not Spain alone that was a highly developed country in the Islamic World during Middle Ages, but all the regions and cities under Islamic Rule such as Baghdad, Damascus, Cairo, Tripoli etc were humming with scientific activities. Islamic Society all over the world was considered to be highly developed scientifically, intellectually, culturally and economically. In contrast, as described by Donald Cambell- (Surgeon- France) “When Science flourished in the Islamic World, Europe was on dark ages and evils of pedantry, bigotry, cruelty, charms, amulets and relics were common there”(Muslim Medicine). It is important to note that during the Rise of Islam, world population of Muslims was hardly ten percent. According to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the great Visionary of India, this situation “started changing after sixteenth century when Muslim Society stagnated and followed the lifestyle of Europeans of Dark Ages. On the other hand Europeans (Christians) turned towards progressive thinking and scientific pursuits of Muslims” (Letters of Azad). Result was obvious. Muslim Society which dominated the World for about eight hundred years in all respect of human activity, started declining in their intellectual vitality, and were ultimately dominated by the Emerging Power of Europe. In this connection, observations of Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi, great Thinker of Islam, are very relevant and valid when he explains “After sixteenth century Muslims lost the interest in Enquiry and Physical Sciences and engaged themselves more in Metaphysical Sciences with the result they could not produce great men of knowledge (genius). Muslims forgot their own scientific thinking and followed only traditional knowledge. They, therefore, lagged behind in Science and Technology and thus became slaves of the West”. (Islam & the West). Sometime back political scientist Samuel P. Huntington expressed his view that the recent conflict between the West and the Muslim World is actually a Clash of Civilization. This is an absolute nonsense. In fact it is a clash between the rich and poor. Rich nations are dictating their terms and poor nations are subjected to exploitation and humiliations.

Poor nations, Muslims or non-Muslims, should understand that their survival depends entirely on global peace and their unnecessary conflict with the rich nations, particularly in the name of religion, will only land them into greater trouble and distress. Muslims can only regain their past glory, if they adopt scientific renaissance similar to European renaissance, more vigorously and faster than done by Europe. But before this is done, Muslims have to condemn and reject forces of extremism and promote true Islamic values of tolerance and moderation. Hatred of the West will do no good to Muslims. This will only lead to their greater miseries.

Hating the West but taking pride in getting Visas or Green Cards for living in the West is nothing short of hypocrisy and duplicity. Some Distinguished Rulers of Arab world in general and Saudi Arab King Abdullah in particular must be congratulated and supported for their recent initiative of interfaith dialogues and understanding between all the Faiths of the World. In a recently held Interfaith Conference, King Abdullah rightly observed that” Islam must do away with the dangers of extremism to present the religion’s “good message”. We must tell the whole world that we are a voice of justice and values and humanity, and we are a voice of coexistence. Islamic world faces difficult challenges from the extremism of some Muslims, whose aggressions target the magnanimity, fairness and lofty aims of Islam”. Establishment of Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue (DCID) at Qatar Capital to foster better understanding among followers of the different faiths for the cause of World Peace and Peaceful Coexistence, is a highly laudable step by Arab Rulers.

Muslims do not need empty slogans and misplaced religious fervour. It high time that they interact with the West as responsible nations. They must welcome Barrack Obama’s Cairo Speech which invites Muslims to join hands with the West for Global Peace and Prosperity. Obama’s initiatives should be supported, his hands strengthened so that he succeeds in his stupendous task of unity of all faiths for the cause of better Understanding and Peace on highly charged and disturbed Earth. President Hosni Mubarak has rightly observed that “Islamic civilization respects all the mankind and this must be made clear to the whole world, not by words, but rather by deeds and conduct.”

It is high time that close contact and cooperation is established between Nobel Peace Prize Winner Obama and Muslim Nations in general and Arab Countries in particular. This will greatly help in weakening the Anti-Islamic Forces of the West, which have, no doubt, existed there, in some form and strength, since the period of Crusades.

(Issued by Sir Syed Scientific Society, Lucknow. Dr. M.I.H. Farooqi, Secretary of the Society, is the author of PLANTS OF QURAN and MEDICINAL PLANTS IN PROPHETIC TRADITIONS) Email: mihfarooqi@gmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

22 April, 2010

Countercurrents.org

Written by Dr. M.I.H. Farooqi

Posted: 24 April 2010 00:00

The US military has warned that surplus oil production capacity could disappear within two years and there could be serious shortages by 2015 with a significant economic and political impact.

The energy crisis outlined in a Joint Operating Environment report from the US Joint Forces Command, comes as the price of petrol in Britain reaches record levels and the cost of crude is predicted to soon top $100 a barrel.

“By 2012, surplus oil production capacity could entirely disappear, and as early as 2015, the shortfall in output could reach nearly 10 million barrels per day,” says the report, which has a foreword by a senior commander, General James N Mattis.

It adds: “While it is difficult to predict precisely what economic, political, and strategic effects such a shortfall might produce, it surely would reduce the prospects for growth in both the developing and developed worlds. Such an economic slowdown would exacerbate other unresolved tensions, push fragile and failing states further down the path toward collapse, and perhaps have serious economic impact on both China and India.”

The US military says its views cannot be taken as US government policy but admits they are meant to provide the Joint Forces with “an intellectual foundation upon which we will construct the concept to guide out future force developments.”

The warning is the latest in a series from around the world that has turned peak oil – the moment when demand exceeds supply – from a distant threat to a more immediate risk.

The Wicks Review on UK energy policy published last summer effectively dismissed fears but Lord Hunt, the British energy minister, met concerned industrialists two weeks ago in a sign that it is rapidly changing its mind on the seriousness of the issue.

The Paris-based International Energy Agency remains confident that there is no short-term risk of oil shortages but privately some senior officials have admitted there is considerable disagreement internally about this upbeat stance.

Future fuel supplies are of acute importance to the US army because it is believed to be the biggest single user of petrol in the world. BP chief executive, Tony Hayward, said recently that there was little chance of crude from the carbon-heavy Canadian tar sands being banned in America because the US military like to have local supplies rather than rely on the politically unstable Middle East.

But there are signs that the US Department of Energy might also be changing its stance on peak oil. In a recent interview with French newspaper, Le Monde, Glen Sweetnam, main oil adviser to the Obama administration, admitted that “a chance exists that we may experience a decline” of world liquid fuels production between 2011 and 2015 if the investment was not forthcoming.

Lionel Badal, a post-graduate student at Kings College, London, who has been researching peak oil theories, said the review by the American military moves the debate on.

“It’s surprising to see that the US Army, unlike the US Department of Energy, publicly warns of major oil shortages in the near-term. Now it could be interesting to know on which study the information is based on,” he said.

“The Energy Information Administration (of the department of energy) has been saying for years that Peak Oil was “decades away”. In light of the report from the US Joint Forces Command, is the EIA still confident of its previous highly optimistic conclusions?”

The Joint Operating Environment report paints a bleak picture of what can happen on occasions when there is serious economic upheaval. “One should not forget that the Great Depression spawned a number of totalitarian regimes that sought economic prosperity for their nations by ruthless conquest,” it points out.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010,

Written by Terry Macalister

Posted: 16 April 2010 19:41