Hamas grip on Gaza hardens: peace outlook bleak Writer Karin Laub, Associated Press Writer – OCT 18,08
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Hamas' control of the Gaza Strip is now virtually complete.
Since the summer, the Islamic militants have silenced and disarmed their remaining opponents, filled the bureaucracy with their supporters, and kept Gaza's economy afloat, even if just barely, despite a 16-month-old international embargo and border blockades by Israel and Egypt.With nothing in sight to weaken Hamas' grip, the political split between Gaza and the West Bank — the two territories meant to make up a future Palestinian state — looks increasingly irreversible.That conclusion was also reached by the International Crisis Group, an independent think tank, in a September report describing Hamas' ascendancy, and the split is one of the main obstacles to U.S. efforts to forge an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.It weakens moderate President Mahmoud Abbas in the negotiations because he isn't seen as speaking for Gaza. Israel, Abbas and the international community don't want a deal that leaves out the 140-square mile Gaza Strip's and its 1.4 million Palestinians. And it's unlikely Israel would give up the West Bank as long as Hamas is in charge in Gaza.Undisputed rule has also improved Hamas' leverage ahead of power-sharing talks with Abbas' Fatah movement in Cairo later this month.Ahmed Yousef, a Hamas leader, said his movement is eager to reconcile with Abbas. If there is no pressure from the United States and Israel (on Abbas), we can build a good national unity government, Yousef said.However, in previous negotiations, the militants showed little willingness to give up any of their power and are unlikely to do so now.Instead, the failure of this round of talks could set the stage for a new round in the Palestinian power struggle.
Compounding Abbas' troubles is a dispute with Hamas over whether Palestinian law allows him to remain in office after Jan. 8, when Hamas says his term officially ends. Abbas, relying on an amendment that was never fully ratified, claims he can stay on another year. Hamas, citing Palestinian law, is set to appoint its own man, Deputy Parliament Speaker Ahmed Bahar, as president in January.Abbas would be hard put to portray the Islamists as usurpers of power when his own legal status is in question.Starting in January, no one is legitimate, said analyst Ghassan Khatib, a former Cabinet minister in the West Bank. And when everyone is equal in being illegitimate, the advantaged party is the one that has the strength on the ground.
That party is Hamas, which defeated thousands of forces loyal to Abbas in a five-day blitz in June 2007.We believe that Hamas is going ahead with its plan to sever Gaza from the West Bank and to build its own regime, said former Deputy Prime Minister Azzam Ahmed of Fatah. We believe they are succeeding.One reason they are succeeding is the situation on the ground. Gaza City's streets are cleaner and safer than before the takeover. Despite budget shortages, Hamas has fixed traffic lights, paved some streets and opened a new children's hospital, and claims to have imposed law and order after the chaos that often dogged Fatah rule.It has also been careful not to push an overtly Islamic social agenda. For example, officials have suggested to female reporters covering Gaza's parliament that they wear head scarves, but those who don't are not shunned.Still, one-party rule has made dissenters reluctant to talk openly, especially after hundreds of Fatah activists were rounded up over the summer.Hamas now controls every aspect of daily life, from screening visitors at a new border checkpoint to running what the International Crisis Group described as a network of paid and volunteer informers. Hamas has seized opportunities to neutralize opponents. A July bombing blamed on Fatah gave Hamas a pretext for shutting dozens of offices of Fatah and related associations. Hamas policemen guard the now empty former Fatah headquarters. Everything has been taken over and there is nothing left for Fatah in the Gaza Strip, said Hazem Abu Shanab, a Fatah spokesman who spent nearly two months in Hamas custody after the July blast. The bombing also provided the grounds to go after one of Hamas' last armed rivals, the Fatah-allied Hilles clan. In August, Hamas defeated Hilles fighters in a clash, sending dozens into exile and arresting others. Ahmed Hilles, 24, a mechanic, said he was ridiculed in Hamas custody. They told us we were defeated, said Hilles, adding that he believes Hamas is now too powerful to fight. Strikes by teachers and health workers, called by West Bank union leaders in August in an apparent attempt to pressure Hamas, have backfired. Hamas fired thousands of the teachers, replacing them with university graduates, and forced most doctors back to work. Not all the new teachers are necessarily Hamas loyalists, but even those without political ties feel increasingly indebted to the Islamists. I am not a Hamas member, but I think they have done many good things since they took over," said Abu Khaled, 35, a newly hired math teacher.
Economically, Hamas is surviving.
International sanctions can't block the inflow of money from Iran and donations from Muslims worldwide. At the same time, Abbas, Israel and the international community don't want to push Gaza over the brink by fully enforcing the embargo. The embargo is working, but not to the extent that we want it to work, and not to the extent that everybody is keeping up the pressure on Hamas, said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Aviv Shiron. Abbas, for example, continues to pay the salaries of some 70,000 civil servants in Gaza, in exchange for staying loyal and refusing to work for the Hamas government. Such loyalty, and with that Abbas' main link to Gaza, would likely disappear if the money stopped coming. Yet the salaries help prop up Gaza's economy, and thus Hamas rule. In addition, Hamas has about 20,000 people on its payroll, and Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh last month cited a monthly operating budget of $20 million. The money is scraped together by smuggling cash, laundering money and stepping up tax collection. There's even enough left over for occasional unemployment payments. Gazans are also feeling safer these days because of a cease-fire that has stopped Israel's attacks on wanted militants in Gaza and salvoes of Palestinian rockets on Israeli border towns. Israel agreed to the truce in June despite concerns that Hamas would use it to bring in more weapons, and has eased the blockade, allowing in more trucks carrying food and humanitarian supplies.
Life is also made more bearable by the unhindered influx of goods, from weapons to food and medicines, through dozens of Hamas-supervised smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border. For example, the underground trade has brought down the price of a pack of Marlboro cigarettes to $3, down from $8.30 a year ago. Politically, through, the future looks gloomy, the International Crisis Group said. Reversing the drift toward greater Palestinian separation, both political and geographic, will be a difficult and, at this point, almost hopeless task, said the think tank, which specializes in areas of conflict and has been monitoring the rise of Hamas in Gaza.
In Gaza, new realities are taking hold, it added. Prospects for reconciliation, reunification and a credible peace process seem as distant and illusory as ever.
Associated Press writers Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City and Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah contributed to this report.
Timeline of Hamas-Fatah struggle over Gaza
The Associated Press – OCT 18,08
• Sept. 11, 2005: The last Israeli soldiers and settlers leave Gaza, completing Israel's withdrawal after 38 years of military occupation.
• Jan. 25, 2006: In election of a West Bank-Gaza parliament, Hamas wins 76 of 132 seats, most of them in Gaza. Western powers cut off aid to the Palestinians, and Israel withholds tax revenues. Repeated power-sharing efforts between Hamas and West Bank-based President Mahmoud Abbas collapse because of internal fighting in Gaza.
• June 14, 2007: Hamas defeats Abbas' forces in Gaza after five days of battle and sets up its own government in Gaza. Israel and Egypt seal Gaza's borders.
• June 18, 2008: A cease-fire between Israel and Hamas ends rocket attacks from Gaza and Israeli strikes against wanted militants, freeing Hamas to focus on tightening its grip on government. Israel eases its border blockade.
• July 25, 2008: A bomb on a Gaza City beach kills five Hamas militants and a little girl. Hamas blames Abbas supporters and shuts down their remaining offices. Abbas responds with a similar crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank.
• Late August 2008: Teachers and health workers in Gaza heed their West Bank-based unions' strike call. Hamas defeats the challenge by hiring replacement teachers and forcing most doctors back to work.
• Late September 2008: Hamas tightens its control over the smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border that are one of the territory's economic lifelines.
Lebanon PM denounces Israel to UN Sat Oct 18, 9:07 am ET
BEIRUT (AFP) – Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora has sent two letters to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon accusing Israel of violating Lebanese sovereignty, a statement from his office said on Saturday.The first letter was in relation to Israeli threats and violations and the second was in relation to cluster bombs, the statement said.Israeli jets repeatedly overfly Lebanon in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which brought an end to Israel's devastating 2006 war against Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah.The United Nations has called on Israel to stop violating Lebanese air space, saying the overflights undermine the credibility of UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon and compromise efforts to bring stability to the region.Israeli cabinet ministers have warned recently that Lebanon's civilian infrastructure could be targeted in any new war, now that Hezbollah has secured veto powers in a national unity government.Siniora affirmed that Lebanon is the victim of Israeli occupation and that the threats ... do not exempt Israel from implementing its responsibilities according to Resolution 1701, the statement said.There is no excuse whatsoever for any aggressive action Israel might undertake against Lebanon in the future, it added.Siniora also called for increased international support for demining efforts and for continued pressure on Israel to turn over maps and locations of where cluster bombs were dropped in the 2006 war.At least 40 people have been killed by these bombs since the end of the war.
Jordan king pessimistic about Mideast peace deal Sat Oct 18, 9:02 am ET
MADRID (AFP) – Jordan's King Abdullah II said he doubted a Palestinian-Israeli peace deal will be clinched by January 20 when President George W. Bush steps down, in an interview published on Saturday in Spain's El Pais daily.For the first time I view myself as pessimistic. And I believe I am one of the most optimistic leaders in the Middle East, said the monarch, who starts a a tour of Spain later Saturday.The success of the peace process will depend on whether there are successful advances between Israelis and Palestinians when the next US administration takes over, he said.If we manage nothing by the end of the year, given the uncertainty between Israel and Palestine, there will be no future for the peace process, the monarch said, underlining that this prospect scared everybody.Abdullah said Israel must decide if it wants to be a fortress or involve itself in the Muslim and Arab world.
US President George W. Bush hosted a peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland in November last year that launched the first serious Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in seven years -- with the goal of a peace agreement by the end of the administration.The negotiations have made little visible progress since then, however, despite Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's joint pledge to try to reach a full agreement by the end of 2008.The two sides remain deeply divided on the core issues of the decades-old conflict, including the future status of Jerusalem, the fate of some 4.6 million Palestinian refugees, and continuing Israeli settlement activity.The talks were dealt a further blow last month when Olmert resigned amid a series of corruption allegations, plunging the Jewish state into what could be months of political turmoil and uncertainty.
Financial crisis is divine punishment for U.S.: Hamas By Nidal al-Mughrabi Nidal Al-mughrabi – Fri Oct 17, 9:22 am ET Reuters
GAZA (Reuters) – The leader of the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas said on Friday that the global financial meltdown was God's way of punishing the United States for its support of Israel and its occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.We see it as God's punishment for the criminals (U.S. and its Western allies). Nothing is more unjust than occupying an Islamic state. Nothing is more unjust than keeping the Palestinian people under occupation for over 60 years, Ismail Haniyeh told worshippers before Friday prayers in the Gaza Strip.A financial crisis has hit markets across the world, forcing governments to mount bank bail-outs and fanning fears of recession, especially in the West.Haniyeh's Islamist group is shunned by Israel and the United States for refusing to renounce violence and recognize interim Israeli-Palestinian agreements after it won a parliamentary election two years ago.Following Hamas's election victory, Israel imposed an economic blockade on Gaza, which Hamas seized last year after routing Fatah forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.They deprived our people of money and now God has deprived them of money. They besieged our people and now they are besieged by the punishment of God, Haniyeh said.Egypt is hosting a summit on November 9 to try to heal the schism between Hamas and Fatah and forge consensus among the over thirteen factions that make up the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in preparation for new elections.
(Writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Editing by Joseph Nasr and Elizabeth Piper)
Israelis kill 2 alleged Palestinian firebombers By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press Writer Thu Oct 16, 1:23 pm ET
AP JERUSALEM – Israeli troops shot and killed a 21-year-old Palestinian allegedly preparing to carry out a firebomb attack in a West Bank village early Thursday. He was the third Palestinian killed by army fire in as many days.Citing a recent wave of firebombings in the roughly 10-mile area between Jerusalem and Ramallah in the West Bank, the army has been stepping up efforts to stop them, including laying nighttime ambushes near potential targets.Before dawn Thursday, an army patrol spotted three men carrying firebombs in Kufr Malek, a village near Ramallah, the military said. Troops shot one man after the three ignored warning shots, the army said. The other two escaped.Nael Saleh Beirat, who witnessed the shooting, said troops moved into the village's cemetery early Thursday. He said troops opened fire after some young people on a rooftop threw rocks at army vehicles.The soldiers shot them from the cemetery. He was killed, said Beirat, a 31-year-old merchant.
Palestinian medics identified the dead man as Aziz Yousef, 21.
Also Thursday, a Palestinian man died in a Ramallah hospital a day after being shot by troops in the nearby Jelazoun refugee camp. The military said Mohammed Ramahi, 21, was shot as he prepared to lob a blazing firebomb at troops. Witnesses said Ramahi was merely a bystander.The violence erupted after the funeral of a Palestinian teenager shot dead Tuesday. The army said he, too, was preparing to carry out a firebomb attack near a Jewish settlement.Israel has been conducting peace talks with the West Bank government of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for nearly a year. Despite the talks, Israel frequently carries out military operations in the West Bank, saying Abbas has not done enough to control militants in the territory.
Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the Israeli military operations. He noted Israel has been observing a cease-fire with the Hamas militant group, which controls the Gaza Strip, and asked why Israel is utterly unwilling to do the same in the West Bank.Israel is working through Egyptian meditators to negotiate an extension to the Gaza truce, which expires in December.In Gaza, a senior Hamas official said the movement has not decided whether to extend the truce. The official declined to be identified because Hamas is still considering its course of action.
Olmert and Abbas will not meet as announced: Erakat Thu Oct 16, 6:19 am ET
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) – Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will not be meeting for a new round of peace talks on Friday as was announced earlier this week, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said.There will not be a meeting tomorrow, Erakat told AFP on Thursday, adding that discussions were under way to fix a date for one.On Monday, Palestinian foreign minister Riyad Al-Malki had said a meeting would be held on Friday, but Olmert's office never confirmed.Olmert and Abbas have been meeting about twice a month since the peace process was relaunched at a US conference in November.
Hounded by a series of corruption scandals, Olmert formally resigned on September 21 after the governing Kadima party elected Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni as its new leader.Livni is trying to form a new coalition government so she can also take over as prime minister and avert early elections.Last month, Olmert said Israel must give up almost the entire occupied West Bank including east Jerusalem as the price for peace with the Palestinians.But he later said the comments, made in a newspaper interview, reflected his private view and were not binding for Livni.
Thousands of Christian pilgrims march for Israel by Joseph Krauss Joseph Krauss – Wed Oct 15, 1:06 pm ET
(AFP) – Thousands of Christian pilgrims from around the globe took to the streets of Jerusalem on Wednesday, singing hymns and swaying in the autumn sunlight in a colourful parade of support for Israel.The Papua New Guinea delegation shimmied down the parade route in traditional grass skirts and body paint, the Singapore delegation delicately waved colourful banners, and the Malaysians rolled a giant pomegranate statue through the heart of the Holy City.About 3,000 people took part in the festive march, in a sea of flags from Israel and around the world that passed through streets lined with spectators and security guards.Many said the annual pilgrimage, organised by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), represented a fulfilment of a Biblical prophesy that all nations would gather in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles.This year's gathering attracted attention to Iran, which Israel considers a potential threat to its existence because of Tehran's accelerating nuclear enrichment programme and the hardline rhetoric of its leaders.
We understand the threat that is out there, and we say we are with Israel, said Mike Kerry, a pastor from Manchester, England, clad in a jumpsuit made of Union Jacks with an Israeli flag dangling from his cap.I believe (Iranian President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad is as much of a threat as Adolf Hitler," said Kerry, who came on a pilgrimage marking the eight-day Biblical celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, known to Jews as Sukkot.Most of those gathered were Evangelical Christians whose bond with Israel is rooted in their shared biblical covenant between God and Abraham, said David Parsons, a spokesman for the ICEJ.Because of the unique and tragic history of Christian anti-Semitism, particularly in Europe ... Christians have a profound sense of a moral duty to speak out whenever the Jewish people are threatened, said Parsons.Tehran insists its nuclear programme in entirely peaceful, but senior Iranian leaders, including Ahmadinejad, have repeatedly predicted the demise of the Jewish state.On Thursday, the ICEJ plans to announce a new Christian-Jewish coalition to pursue charges against Ahmadinejad at The Hague for incitement to genocide.Australia, however, said on Wednesday that on the basis of legal advice it has dropped moves to take Ahmadinejad to the International Court of Justice over his comments.Most of those gathered for the Jerusalem parade felt that the same prophecy that had led them to the city also foretold Israel's survival.She is not in danger because the God of Israel is stronger than her enemies, said Mosy Madugba, who had come from Port Harcourt, Nigeria. But we know she appreciates the love and encouragement from other nations.Israelis lining the street swayed and clapped to the music, many of them surprised to see so many visitors from so many different countries.Did you see the number of Brazilians here? That whole country must be empty, said Richard Hirschhorn as he watched from the sidewalk.But the 76-year-old retiree downplayed the political implications. I don't think this has anything to do with safety and security. There are other things more important than that, like living life and enjoying people.
14 accused of sending illegal profits to MideastWed Oct 15, 12:30 pm ET
ST. LOUIS – Fourteen people have been indicted on charges of using convenience stores to trade in stolen goods and contraband cigarettes, sending the profits to groups in the Palestinian territories.Five stores were raided Tuesday as part of an alleged racketeering organization and at least nine people were arrested, authorities said.The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force was involved in the investigation, but officials would not say whether they think terrorism was involved.
The indictment, announced by U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway, said that since 2000, the organization profited from bank and wire fraud, receipt of stolen property and sales of contraband cigarettes.The organization, led by 33-year-old Bassam Hamed, operated convenience stores that were used to sell stolen goods, Hanaway said. He and two of his brothers were among the 14 people charged.The indictment was issued last week and unsealed Tuesday. It said members of the Hamed Organization transferred money to entities in the Palestinian territories. Officials would not disclose those entities but said they were not individuals.Lawyer Rob Lutfiyya, who has represented some of those indicted in business matters, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he doubted the men had connections to terrorism.They're hardworking guys, he said. They're family guys. They're trying to make names for themselves.
Lutfiyya said the men came to the U.S. as teens and still have family in the Middle East.I'm sure they were sending money to support them, he said.
Arab remanded in custody after driving on Jewish holiday Wed Oct 15, 11:31 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli authorities on Wednesday released into house arrest an Arab Israeli who drove his car during the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday in an incident that sparked four nights of rioting in the northern town of Acre.The Haifa court decided to continue his detention but commute it to house arrest for a week, said police spokesman Eran Shaked.The court also suspended his driving licence for one month, because he is dangerous, Shaked told AFP.Tawfik Jamal had spent three days behind bars, accused of reckless endangerment and harming religious sensitivities, for driving on October 8 during the Yom Kippur holiday when Israeli Jews respect a religious ban on driving as the observant fast and pray.At least three people were injured during the clashes that broke out after Tawfik drove through a conservative Jewish neighbourhood of Acre.A group of Jewish youths assaulted him, accusing him of deliberately making noise and disrupting the sanctity of the Day of Atonement.
Hundreds of Arabs then took to the streets, damaging around 100 cars and 40 shops, according to police. Over the following four nights, Jewish and Arab rioters clashed with each other and with police.Tawfik appeared before a parliamentary committee on Sunday to say he regretted his mistake.If what I did caused this, I am ready to sacrifice my neck right here on this table... just to return peace and quiet back to the city of Acre, to bring coexistence back to its place, he said.Arabs with Israeli citizenship, the descendants of those who remained in the Jewish state after the 1948war that followed its creation, make up around 20 percent of the population.
Palestinian group threatens Israeli minister Tue Oct 14, 4:43 pm ET
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – The Palestinian militant group that assassinated Israeli Cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi in 2001 said Tuesday it has another politician in its sights.A spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine made the threat against Israeli lawmaker Avigdor Lieberman. The spokesman identified himself as Abu Jamal and spoke on the group's radio station.Lieberman wants to transfer Israeli Arab towns to Palestinian jurisdiction and annex large Jewish settlements in the West Bank to Israel.Abu Jamal spoke in response to Arab-Jewish clashes in a mixed Israeli town and said the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine would defend Israeli Arabs.He said: Our fingers are on the triggers of our weapons and we know where to direct our fire ... The fate of the Zionist Lieberman will be similar to Zeevi's.
ELECTION 2008 Mideast leader: Obama a Muslim who studied in Islamic schools Says Arab world campaign contributions 'may enable him to win U.S. presidency' October 17, 2008 9:00 pm Eastern By Aaron Klein 2008 WorldNetDaily
JERUSALEM – Sen. Barack Obama is a Muslim of Kenyan origins who studied in Islamic schools and whose campaign may have been financed by people in the Islamic and African worlds, Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi said during a recent televised national rally.There are elections in America now. Along came a black citizen of Kenyan African origins, a Muslim, who had studied in an Islamic school in Indonesia. His name is Obama, said Gadhafi in little-noticed remarks he made at a rally marking the anniversary of the 1986 U.S. air raid on his country.The remarks, translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, MEMRI, were aired on Al Jazeera in June.
The video also has been posted on YouTube and can be seen here:
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78309
All the people in the Arab and Islamic world and in Africa applauded this man, continued Gadhafi. They welcomed him and prayed for him and for his success, and they may have even been involved in legitimate contribution campaigns to enable him to win the American presidency.We are hoping that this black man will take pride in his African and Islamic identity, and in his faith, and that [he will know] that he has rights in America, and that he will change America from evil to good, and that America will establish relations that will serve it well with other peoples, especially the Arabs, Gadhafi said.Gadhafi went on to lament statements Obama made at a June 4 address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in which the presidential candidate stated if he is elected president, Jerusalem would remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided.But it seems Gadhafi was not aware that the next day, during a CNN appearance, Obama explained he meant Jerusalem shouldn't be physically divided with a partition and was not referring to the city remaining in exclusively Jewish hands.Stated Gadhafi: But we were taken by surprise when our African Kenyan brother [Obama], who is an American national, made statements (about Jerusalem) that shocked all his supporters in the Arab world, in Africa, and in the Islamic world.We hope that this is merely an elections clearance sale, as they say in Egypt - in other words, merely an elections lie. As you know, this is the farce of elections - a person lies and lies to people, just so that they will vote for him, and afterwards, when they say to him, You promised this and that,' he says: No, this was just elections propaganda.' This is the farce of democracy for you. He says: This was propaganda, and you thought I was being serious. I was fooling you to get your votes.Allah willing, it will turn out that this was merely elections propaganda. Obama said he would turn Jerusalem into the eternal capital of the Israelis. This indicates that our brother Obama is ignorant of international politics, and is not familiar with the Middle East conflict, Gadhafi said.Gadhafi went on to express his hope if elected Obama will implement a one state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, meaning Israel would be flooded with millions of Palestinian Arabs who would terminate the country's Jewish nationality.Get the book that started it all – Jerome Corsi's The Obama Nation, personally autographed – for only $4.95, available today, but only from WND!
He said he was worried Obama may have a black inferiority complex whereby he may enact white men policies to prove he is no different from white America.The thing we fear most is that the black man suffers from an inferiority complex. This is dangerous. If our brother Obama feels that because he is black he doesn't have the right to rule America, this would be a disaster, because such a feeling would make him act whiter than the white, and go to an extreme in his persecution and degradation of the blacks.We say to him: Brother, the whites and blacks in America are equal. They are all immigrants. America belongs neither to the whites nor to the blacks. America belongs to its original inhabitants, the Indians. Both the whites and the blacks immigrated to America, and so they are equal, and Obama has the right to hold his head high, and say: I am a partner in America. This is my land as much as it is yours. If it is not my land, it is not yours either. It is the land of the Indians. You are immigrants, and so are we.
Obama was quite religious in Islam
Obama repeatedly has denied he is a Muslim. His campaign site states: Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised as a Muslim, and is a committed Christian.
But as WND has reported, public records in Indonesia listed Obama as a Muslim during his early years, and a number of childhood friends claimed to the media Obama was once a mosque-attending Muslim.Obama's campaign several times has wavered in response to reporters queries regarding the senator's childhood faith.Commenting on a recent Los Angeles Times report quoting a childhood friend stating Obama prayed in a mosque "something the presidential candidate said he never did, Obama's campaign released a statement explaining the senator has never been a practicing Muslim.
Widely distributed reports have noted that in January 1968, Obama was registered as a Muslim at Jakarta's Roman Catholic Franciscus Assisi Primary School under the name Barry Soetoro. He was listed as an Indonesian citizen whose stepfather, listed on school documents as L Soetoro Ma, worked for the topography department of the Indonesian Army.Catholic schools in Indonesia routinely accept non-Catholic students but exempt them from studying religion. Obama's school documents, though, wrongly list him as being Indonesian.After attending the Assisi Primary School, Obama was enrolled also as a Muslim, according to documents in the Besuki Primary School, a public school in Jakarta.Laotze blog, run by an American expatriate in Southeast Asia who visited the Besuki school, noted: All Indonesian students are required to study religion at school, and a young Barry Soetoro, being a Muslim, would have been required to study Islam daily in school. He would have been taught to read and write Arabic, to recite his prayers properly, to read and recite from the Quran and to study the laws of Islam.Indeed, in Obama's autobiography, Dreams From My Father, he acknowledged studying the Quran and describes the public school as a Muslim school.
In the Muslim school, the teacher wrote to tell mother I made faces during Quranic studies, wrote Obama.The Indonesian media have been flooded with accounts of Obama's childhood Islamic studies, some describing him as a religious Muslim.Speaking to the country's Kaltim Post, Tine Hahiyary, who was principal of Obama's school while he was enrolled there, said she recalls he studied the Quran in Arabic.At that time, I was not Barry's teacher, but he is still in my memory claimed Tine, who is 80 years old.The Kaltim Post said Obama's teacher, named Hendri, died.I remember that he studied 'mengaji (recitation of the Quran), Tine said, according to an English translation by Loatze.Mengaji, or the act of reading the Quran with its correct Arabic punctuation, is usually taught to more religious pupils and is not known as a secular study.Also, Loatze documented the Indonesian daily Banjarmasin Post interviewed Rony Amir, an Obama classmate and Muslim, who described Obama as previously quite religious in Islam.We previously often asked him to the prayer room close to the house. If he was wearing a sarong (waist fabric worn for religious or casual occasions) he looked funny, Amir said.The Los Angeles Times, which sent a reporter to Jakarta, quoted Zulfin Adi, who identified himself as among Obama's closest childhood friends, stating the presidential candidate prayed in a mosque, something Obama's campaign claimed he never did.We prayed, but not really seriously, just following actions done by older people in the mosque. But as kids, we loved to meet our friends and went to the mosque together and played, said Adi.
Friday prayers
Aside from a new website to fight purported smears, Obama's official campaign site has a page titled Obama has never been a Muslim, and is a committed Christian. The page states, Obama never prayed in a mosque. He has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ.But the campaign changed its tune when it issued a practicing Muslim clarification to the Los Angeles Times.An article in March by the Chicago Tribune apparently disputes Adi's statements to the L.A. paper. The Tribune caught up with Obama's declared childhood friend, who now describes himself as only knowing Obama for a few months in 1970 when his family moved to the neighborhood. Adi said he was unsure about his recollections of Obama.But the Tribune found Obama did attend mosque.Interviews with dozens of former classmates, teachers, neighbors and friends show that Obama was not a regular practicing Muslim when he was in Indonesia, states the Tribune article.It quotes the presidential candidate's former neighbors and third-grade teacher recalling Obama occasionally followed his stepfather to the mosque for Friday prayers.Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, notes the Tribune article cited by liberal blogs as refuting claims Obama is Muslim actually implies Obama was an irregularly practicing Muslim and twice confirms Obama attended mosque services.In a free-ranging interview with the New York Times, Obama described the Muslim call to prayer as one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.The Times' Nicholos Kristof wrote Obama recited, with a first-class [Arabic] accent, the opening lines of the Muslim call to prayer.
The first few lines of the call to prayer state:
Allah is Supreme!
Allah is Supreme!
Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme!
I witness that there is no god but Allah
I witness that there is no god but Allah
I witness that Muhammad is his prophet ...
Some attention also has been paid to Obama's paternal side of the family, including his father and his brother, Roy.
Writing in a chapter of his book describing his 1992 wedding, the presidential candidate stated: The person who made me proudest of all was Roy. Actually, now we call him Abongo, his Luo name, for two years ago he decided to reassert his African heritage. He converted to Islam and has sworn off pork and tobacco and alcohol.
Still, Obama says he was raised by his Christian mother and repeatedly has labeled as smears several reports attempting to paint him as a Muslim.Let's make clear what the facts are: I am a Christian. I have been sworn in with a Bible. I pledge allegiance [to the American flag] and lead the Pledge of Allegiance sometimes in the United States Senate when I'm presiding, he told the Times of London earlier this year.
