Radical Muslim cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki, the victim of assassination by US forces 30 September, was born in New Mexico in 1971, educated at Colorado State University in engineering, and radicalised while preaching in US mosques and visiting Afghanistan in the 1990s. His sermons attracted a large following, first in Denver and then San Diego, where he completed a Masters in education.
Though in the FBI’s sites from 1999, he became a media star after 9/11, interviewed by National Geographic and the New York Times as a moderate, articulate American Muslim. He condemned the attacks, stating ”There is no way that the people who did this could be Muslim, and if they claim to be Muslim, then they have perverted their religion.” On IslamOnline.net six days after the 9/11 attacks, he suggested that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible, and that the FBI “went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default”.
Middle East
Al-Awlaki: ‘Mowing the grass’ in Yemen
- Written by Eric Walberg Эрик Вальберг/ Уолберг إيريك والبرغ
Turkey redraws Sykes-Picot
- Written by Eric Walberg Эрик Вальберг/ Уолберг إيريك والبرغ
A new Bermuda Triangle has been spotted, but this one is in the eastern Mediterranean -- between Turkey, Cyprus and Israel, observes Eric Walberg
Turkey’s foreign policy shift is now in full gear. Having kicked out the Israeli ambassador and rejected the UN Palmer Report, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says that Turkey plans to take its case against Israel’s blockade of Gaza to the International Court of Justice, not alone, but with the support of the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the African Union. “The process will probably reach a certain point in October and we will make our application.”
Israel’s refusal to say “I apologise” has already proved to be very expensive, and will continue to reverberate, not just in the hollow halls of the ICC, but off the shores of Israel itself, as Turkish warships accompany flotillas breaking the siege, and when Turkey begins drilling for gas in waters that Greek Cyprus and Israel have their eyes on. It will echo when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who US International Trade Undersecretary Francisco Sanchez said was “like a rock star”, crosses the Rafah border to visit Gaza. No one can mistake Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias for Elton John.
BDS update: Buttressing an independent Palestine
- Written by Eric Walberg Эрик Вальберг/ Уолберг إيريك والبرغ
Palestine’s move to become an independent state has benefitted from the
growing BDS movement, as the world wakes up the enormous and unjust
suffering of the Palestinian people, writes Eric Walberg
A new Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) campaign was launched this
summer by the United Church of Canada, which will try to persuade six
companies operating in Canada — Caterpillar, Motorola, Ahava, Veolia,
Elbit Systems and Chapters/Indigo — to stop supporting the Israeli
occupation. “The Campaign follows similar campaigns launched some time
ago by the US Presbyterian Church and the New England Conference of the
United Methodist Church. We have launched ‘Occupied with Peace’ after
almost two years of discernment and information gathering,” says
spokesperson Jean Lee.
Pakistan vs the US: Moving on
- Written by Eric Walberg Эрик Вальберг/ Уолберг إيريك والبرغ
The latest
Mumbai bombings were not obviously the work of Pakistani extremists, but
reflect the unrest thanks to America’s continued reckless policies of
escalation in the region, notes Eric Walberg
India
has shown admirable restraint, refusing to accuse its Western neighbour
following the triple bombing in India’s financial capital Mumbai last
week which killed 19 people and injured 129. The area targetted, with
its gem and precious-metal traders, witnessed bombings in 1993, 2004 and
2006, culminating in the November 2008 siege of Mumbai, in which 166
people died.
Freedom Flotilla 2: To Gaza with Dignity
- Written by Eric Walberg Эрик Вальберг/ Уолберг إيريك والبرغ
The drama now playing out on the high seas has captured the world’s hearts, says Eric Walberg
The
tiny Dignité/Karama, sailing under a French flag, left Corsica on
25 June, and has been chugged along for the past weeks mostly in
Greek waters. Its last stop was the Greek island Kastellorizo on
Saturday, after which it headed south. The 16 passengers onboard
view themselves as representatives of the entire Freedom Flotilla II:
Stay Human. The rest of the Flotilla’s ships have all been detained
in Greek ports, some sabotaged, others on technicalities, and
when that failed — the withdrawal of their flags.
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