Although on the other side of the Atlantic, many here in Britain have been inspired by the large number of people who waited hours to vote in the US general election. Men, women, and the youth of all colours and races were inspired by the vision of change which Barack Obama so brilliantly and eloquently advocated. ‘Change has come to America’.
Or has it? Only time will tell. We hope president-elect Barack Obama will live up to his promises and deliver the changes that everyone is yearning and hoping. However, many believe Obama will not have much room to move in the White House. The political system is heavily institutionalised that it will be very difficult or impossible for him to make those important changes, especially so because the system mainly serves the interests of the ‘elite’ and not the entire population.
Muslims should be pleased with the result, especially because it has ended the 8 years of war mongering republicans from spreading carnage on earth. However, we must remember that our hope and reliance is only in Allah, the creator and governor of the universe.
When the the Romans were defeated by the fire worshipping Persian army at the time of the Prophet, the Muslims felt sad and dejected due to their affinity with the Romans in the belief in God. But hope came in Allah’s saying, “The Romans have been defeated in the lowest land, but after their defeat they will soon be victorious. Within three to nine years. The decision of the matter, before and after, is with Allah.” [Quran 30:2-4]
Approximately seven years after this revelation, the Romans fought the Persians again and they had a decisive victory against the Persian army. As mentioned above, Barack Obama in my estimation cannot make much difference, as the system will not allow him to maneuver as he wants. However, he was definitely better than the Republican candidate.
This election was an historic one, as the American public for the first time in their history elected an black American as their Commander-in-Chief. What this implies, as Rev Jessie Jackson commented, is that anyone of colour anywhere in the world has the potential to accomplish what Barack Obama has achieved.
The question is. When will we see a ‘black Prime minister’ of the United Kingdom?
[...] http://www.blog.islamicforumeurope.com [...]
Al-Qaradhawi: The Democrats Are Like a Snake That “Kill[s] You Slowly Without You Noticing”
In a fatwa published on the eve of the U.S. elections, Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi expressed his preference for Sen. John McCain as president: “Personally, I would prefer for the Republican candidate, [John] McCain, to be elected. This is because I prefer the obvious enemy who does not hypocritically [conceal] his hostility toward you… to the enemy who wears a mask [of friendliness].”
Al-Qaradhawi added: “Whoever thinks that the Democrats are less hostile to [the Arabs] than the Republicans should know that the number of Iraqis killed during the siege [of Iraq] by the Democrat Bill Clinton is twice as high as the number of [Iraqis] killed by the Republican [George] Bush.
“The Democrats kill you slowly without you noticing it – and therein lies the danger. They are like a snake whose touch is not felt until its poison enters your body.
“Therefore, I hope that McCain comes to power, so that the motivation for jihad remains in our hearts, and so that we do not [begin to] rely on the infidels – [which will cause us] to be struck by the fire [of Hell].”
by Ralph Nader
Dear Senator Obama,
In your nearly two-year presidential campaign, the words “hope and change,” “change and hope” have been your trademark declarations. Yet there is an asymmetry between those objectives and your political character that succumbs to contrary centers of power that want not “hope and change” but the continuation of the power-entrenched status quo.
Far more than Senator McCain, you have received enormous, unprecedented contributions from corporate interests, Wall Street interests and, most interestingly, big corporate law firm attorneys. Never before has a Democratic nominee for President achieved this supremacy over his Republican counterpart. Why, apart from your unconditional vote for the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, are these large corporate interests investing so much in Senator Obama? Could it be that in your state Senate record, your U.S. Senate record and your presidential campaign record (favoring nuclear power, coal plants, offshore oil drilling, corporate subsidies including the 1872 Mining Act and avoiding any comprehensive program to crack down on the corporate crime wave and the bloated, wasteful military budget, for example) you have shown that you are their man?
To advance change and hope, the presidential persona requires character, courage, integrity– not expediency, accommodation and short-range opportunism. Take, for example, your transformation from an articulate defender of Palestinian rights in Chicago before your run for the U.S. Senate to an acolyte, a dittoman for the hard-line AIPAC lobby, which bolsters the militaristic oppression, occupation, blockage, colonization and land-water seizures over the years of the Palestinian peoples and their shrunken territories in the West Bank and Gaza. Eric Alterman summarized numerous polls in a December 2007 issue of The Nation magazine showing that AIPAC policies are opposed by a majority of Jewish-Americans.
You know quite well that only when the U.S. Government supports the Israeli and Palestinian peace movements, that years ago worked out a detailed two-state solution (which is supported by a majority of Israelis and Palestinians), will there be a chance for a peaceful resolution of this 60-year plus conflict. Yet you align yourself with the hard-liners, so much so that in your infamous, demeaning speech to the AIPAC convention right after you gained the nomination of the Democratic Party, you supported an “undivided Jerusalem,” and opposed negotiations with Hamas– the elected government in Gaza. Once again, you ignored the will of the Israeli people who, in a March 1, 2008 poll by the respected newspaper Haaretz, showed that 64% of Israelis favored “direct negotiations with Hamas.” Siding with the AIPAC hard-liners is what one of the many leading Palestinians advocating dialogue and peace with the Israeli people was describing when he wrote “Anti-semitism today is the persecution of Palestinian society by the Israeli state.”
During your visit to Israel this summer, you scheduled a mere 45 minutes of your time for Palestinians with no news conference, and no visit to Palestinian refugee camps that would have focused the media on the brutalization of the Palestinians. Your trip supported the illegal, cruel blockade of Gaza in defiance of international law and the United Nations charter. You focused on southern Israeli casualties which during the past year have totaled one civilian casualty to every 400 Palestinian casualties on the Gaza side. Instead of a statesmanship that decried all violence and its replacement with acceptance of the Arab League’s 2002 proposal to permit a viable Palestinian state within the 1967 borders in return for full economic and diplomatic relations between Arab countries and Israel, you played the role of a cheap politician, leaving the area and Palestinians with the feeling of much shock and little awe.
David Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator, described your trip succinctly: “There was almost a willful display of indifference to the fact that there are two narratives here. This could serve him well as a candidate, but not as a President.”
Palestinian American commentator, Ali Abunimah, noted that Obama did not utter a single criticism of Israel, “of its relentless settlement and wall construction, of the closures that make life unlivable for millions of Palestinians. …Even the Bush administration recently criticized Israeli’s use of cluster bombs against Lebanese civilians [see http://www.atfl.org for elaboration]. But Obama defended Israeli’s assault on Lebanon as an exercise of its ‘legitimate right to defend itself.’”
In numerous columns Gideon Levy, writing in Haaretz, strongly criticized the Israeli government’s assault on civilians in Gaza, including attacks on “the heart of a crowded refugee camp… with horrible bloodshed” in early 2008.
Israeli writer and peace advocate– Uri Avnery– described Obama’s appearance before AIPAC as one that “broke all records for obsequiousness and fawning, adding that Obama “is prepared to sacrifice the most basic American interests. After all, the US has a vital interest in achieving an Israeli-Palestinian peace that will allow it to find ways to the hearts of the Arab masses from Iraq to Morocco. Obama has harmed his image in the Muslim world and mortgaged his future– if and when he is elected president.,” he said, adding, “Of one thing I am certain: Obama’s declarations at the AIPAC conference are very, very bad for peace. And what is bad for peace is bad for Israel, bad for the world and bad for the Palestinian people.”
A further illustration of your deficiency of character is the way you turned your back on the Muslim-Americans in this country. You refused to send surrogates to speak to voters at their events. Having visited numerous churches and synagogues, you refused to visit a single Mosque in America. Even George W. Bush visited the Grand Mosque in Washington D.C. after 9/11 to express proper sentiments of tolerance before a frightened major religious group of innocents.
Although the New York Times published a major article on June 24, 2008 titled “Muslim Voters Detect a Snub from Obama” (by Andrea Elliott), citing examples of your aversion to these Americans who come from all walks of life, who serve in the armed forces and who work to live the American dream. Three days earlier the International Herald Tribune published an article by Roger Cohen titled “Why Obama Should Visit a Mosque.” None of these comments and reports change your political bigotry against Muslim-Americans– even though your father was a Muslim from Kenya.
Perhaps nothing illustrated your utter lack of political courage or even the mildest version of this trait than your surrendering to demands of the hard-liners to prohibit former president Jimmy Carter from speaking at the Democratic National Convention. This is a tradition for former presidents and one accorded in prime time to Bill Clinton this year.
Here was a President who negotiated peace between Israel and Egypt, but his recent book pressing the dominant Israeli superpower to avoid Apartheid of the Palestinians and make peace was all that it took to sideline him. Instead of an important address to the nation by Jimmy Carter on this critical international problem, he was relegated to a stroll across the stage to “tumultuous applause,” following a showing of a film about the Carter Center’s post-Katrina work. Shame on you, Barack Obama!
But then your shameful behavior has extended to many other areas of American life. (See the factual analysis by my running mate, Matt Gonzalez, on http://www.votenader.org). You have turned your back on the 100-million poor Americans composed of poor whites, African-Americans, and Latinos. You always mention helping the “middle class” but you omit, repeatedly, mention of the “poor” in America.
Should you be elected President, it must be more than an unprecedented upward career move following a brilliantly unprincipled campaign that spoke “change” yet demonstrated actual obeisance to the concentration power of the “corporate supremacists.” It must be about shifting the power from the few to the many. It must be a White House presided over by a black man who does not turn his back on the downtrodden here and abroad but challenges the forces of greed, dictatorial control of labor, consumers and taxpayers, and the militarization of foreign policy. It must be a White House that is transforming of American politics– opening it up to the public funding of elections (through voluntary approaches)– and allowing smaller candidates to have a chance to be heard on debates and in the fullness of their now restricted civil liberties. Call it a competitive democracy.
Your presidential campaign again and again has demonstrated cowardly stands. “Hope” some say springs eternal.” But not when “reality” consumes it daily.
Sincerely,
Ralph Nader
Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatu,
Ma’shallah, a great article. This is interesting, I hope Barack Obama is the president all the time in USA.
Wassaalam
President of Iran’s letter to Obama.
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Mr. Barack Obama
President-elect of the United States of America
I congratulate you on having gained the majority of the votes of those who took part in the election. As you know, the chances that God gives to his subjects pass swiftly. They can be used for the perfection of humanity and to the benefit of nations or, God forbid, to the detriment of nations.
I hope you will choose to honor the real interests of people and justice and equity over the insatiable appetites of the selfish minority. Use this chance to serve to the extent you can. And leave a good name behind for yourself.
People expect an immediate and clear response to the pressure for fundamental change in the American government’s policies, both foreign and domestic. This is the desire of all the world’s nations and of the American nation as well, and it should be the objective and basis of all your future government’s programs and actions.
On the one hand, the American nation, which has spiritual inclinations, expects your government to focus its energy and will on serving the people; dealing with the current economic crisis; restoring the country’s standing, morale and hope; eradicating poverty and discrimination; and renewing respect for individuals, their safety and their rights. It also expects policies that will strengthen the foundations of the family — part of the teachings of the holy prophets, who are also revered in America.
On the other hand, the nations of the world expect an end to policies based on warmongering, invasion, bullying, trickery, the humiliation of other countries by the imposition of biased and unfair requirements, and a diplomatic approach that has bred hatred for America’s leaders and undermined respect for its people. They want to see actions based on justice, respect for the rights of human beings and nations, friendship and non-intervention in the affairs of others. They want the American government to keep its interventions within its own country’s borders.
In the sensitive Middle East region, in particular, the expectation is that the unjust actions of the past 60 years will give way to a policy encouraging full rights for all nations, especially the oppressed nations of Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The great civilization-building and justice-seeking nation of Iran would welcome major, fair and real changes, in policies and actions, especially in this region.
If steps are taken in the path of righteousness, toward the goal of carrying out the teachings of the holy prophets, it is hoped that almighty God will help and that the enormous damage done in the past will be somewhat diminished.
I ask the high God to grant all of humanity and all nations health and happiness, honor and prosperity, and to grant rulers and officials the ability to learn from the past and to use every chance to serve, to spread love and kindness, to eradicate oppression, to do justice and to follow the holy guidelines.
Mahmoud Ahmadiniejad
Thanks Brother
Obama’s Victory: Why We Celebrate
by James Zogby
(Monday, November 10, 2008)
“John McCain in his concession speech called the election a great moment for African Americans. He was half right: it was a great moment for us all.”
On many levels the election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the U.S. represents a transformative moment in my nation’s history. I realize that there are some cynics and critics who will find reason to dismiss the significance of this victory, but they are wrong – and I want to share some personal reflections and vignettes from the campaign that describe this moment’s meaning for so many Americans.
During the past year my travels across the U.S. provided an extraordinary opportunity to experience at first-hand the concerns and expectations of so many Americans. There were many memorable experiences along the way, here are just a few:
I began the Sunday before the election by addressing a Bangladeshi-Yemeni rally for Obama at a United Auto Workers union hall in Hamtramck, Michigan. Among the newest members of our nation’s immigrant communities, these two groups have been hard hit by a double-whammy: the economic downturn and the anti-Muslim bigotry on the right and left. Looking into the eyes of the young people from both communities and listening to their words made clear how important this campaign has been, and how their belief in the American Dream would be restored with an Obama victory.
The notion that “you, too, can grow up to be President” had, for many Americans, become a mere banality. But not for those assembled before me. For these new immigrants that expression, and its deeper meaning of acceptance and opportunity, still resonated.
I ended the day at the Annual Hungarian Dinner at a church in Toledo, Ohio. Most of Northwest Ohio’s Democratic Party operatives were gathered there to get energized before the final push to the election. These European ethnic immigrants, who have for a century been the bedrock of the Democratic Party, were the “white middle class” voters whose support Barack Obama had to win in this election. And from the excitement I saw, it was clear that he had. After a few generations in the U.S., these communities felt that they had secured their place in the great American middle class; but now they could feel it slipping away and some feared that the “Dream” was getting beyond their children’s reach.
Scenes like this were nothing new to me. They replayed what I had witnessed over the past year, from as early as October of 2007 in Iowa to this, the final Sunday before the election. And what the scenes spoke to me of was what Barack Obama had achieved – a renewal of hope and a belief in change that had crossed ethnic, racial, religious, and generational lines.
On election day, waiting in a long line to cast my vote, I would again sense the power of this moment. Having been a part of the Jesse Jackson for President campaigns in 1984 and 1988, I knew how many diverse minority communities, and most especially African Americans, understood this day. For those of my generation, and older, the flood of history swept over us. We recalled, in our lifetime, the harsh reality of segregation and racist laws that had prohibited African Americans from using the same accommodations, attending the same schools, and even denied them the right to vote. We had participated in the movement to change our laws, and to open our political process. We had seen many pay the price along the way. Now we saw the fruits of these labors rewarded. We had, over forty years, made a long journey – and here we were in line, waiting to vote for the first African American who could be President.
Watching the results come in with my family gathered around, we wept as Obama’s victory became clear. In some ways we had expected this win, but were still overcome by its reality. And when the Obama family came on stage, announced as First Lady and President-elect, one chapter in America’s history was closed, and another opened. In this regard, the Obama victory represents a potentially transformative moment. We will now be able to see ourselves differently, and the world will see us differently as well. John McCain in his concession speech called the election a great moment for African Americans. He was half right: it was a great moment for us all.
In his remarkable speech in Chicago’s Grant Park on election night, Obama made clear that he understood the importance of all this. He also correctly cautioned America and the world to temper their expectations, and understand that all will not be made perfect. There will be disagreements over appointments made and decisions reached. But none of that diminishes the significance of the moment, nor should it dampen the belief in the real changes in policy and direction that will, undoubtedly, occur.
Congratulations America! You’ve overcome… But… ?
by Mohamed Elmasry
(Monday, November 10, 2008)
“Perhaps it is unrealistic to hope that this newly minted and idealistic young American president can achieve Middle East peace by ending the 42-year-old Israeli occupation of native Palestinian lands. But I dared not tell my Egyptian friends that. Within hours of his confirmed election, however, Obama had appointed an Israeli-American as his Chief of Staff. Does that mean all our hopes of peace through justice have been dashed? Only time can tell.”
Congratulations America! You’ve overcome.
You’ve overcome Islamophobes, racists, war-mongers and purveyors of fear. You’ve overcome a generation of political apathy and have launched a new trend of interest that should be emulated everywhere. As a people, you embraced the urgent need for deep-level change in Washington – and you’ve just elected a new President with a strong mandate to lead that change.
The world has watched throughout the long and sometimes arduous campaign that brought Barack Obama to the White House on November 4 and it will be watching intently for the next four years. After two consecutive terms of extreme right-wing politics under the Bush administration, you can’t blame anyone at home or abroad for having high expectations of the coming presidential mandate.
But be warned: the first African-American leader of the world’s last remaining super-power also bears an unprecedented burden. If he fails in even the smallest detail of policy or judgment, there will be those quick to blame his black heritage and forget that he is also half-white.
America under the tenure of George W. Bush Jr. initiated three wars – in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and globally “a war against terror” – and these continue as Obama prepares to take the reins of power. The so-called War on Terror is the huge “elephant in the room” as Obama steps into office. It has been used to justify the steady erosion and compromise of human civil liberties; to condone rising Islamophobia worldwide; to promote torture; to operate inhumane detention centres such as Guantanamo Bay; to rationalize increasing global militancy; and to neglect urgent peace and social justice issues at home and abroad.
The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq are the least difficult to handle of America’s three wars. Much could be accomplished simply by pulling troops from cities and establishing military bases outside the volatile zones – a solution employed by European occupation powers. But President-elect Obama could be even more creative and innovative than that if he has the will and courage to surround himself with top advisors who are not part of established lobby groups and who are willing to leave their political agendas and self-interests at the door.
On the national front, economic reform is urgently needed, along with major improvements to health care, education, environmental safeguards, gun laws, and crime deterrence — especially in schools. Economics and social reform initiatives must come together in a genuine push to narrow the gap between America’s “haves” and “have-nots,” so that the welfare of the young, the poor, the needy, the elderly and the disabled are moved to the top of the list.
It is no longer acceptable that America’s financial system can be allowed to favor only the rich and powerful, but not the middle class and working poor. The U.S. still represents more than 20 per cent of the world’s economy and this will almost certainly continue over the next four years while Obama is in office; any good he can do in this area will benefit people both inside and outside the country.
In fact, the attention of the Obama administration could easily be totally absorbed by the economic crisis. The U.S. jobless rate has reached a 14-year high of 6.5 per cent and continues to rise; full-blown recession is more than a distinct possibility.
Yet the world is still hopeful that the historic election of an American president of colour can turn many other things around for the better. Antigua’s prime minster has already declared that he wants to rename the island’s highest peak “Mount Obama.” No pressure for a new leader who is already facing great heights to scale!
I was in Cairo just after the American election results were announced. No sooner were they made official than many new fathers whose family names are Hussein (Obama’s middle name) called their infant sons Barack, so as to be registered as Barack Hussein. Even Egyptians who claim to be uninterested in world politics have emulated my fellow Canadians in following the U.S presidential campaign from start to finish and staying up until the early morning hours of November 5 (local time) to see the results for themselves.
Perhaps it is unrealistic to hope that this newly minted and idealistic young American president can achieve Middle East peace by ending the 42-year-old Israeli occupation of native Palestinian lands. But I dared not tell my Egyptian friends that. Within hours of his confirmed election, however, Obama had appointed an Israeli-American as his Chief of Staff. Does that mean all our hopes of peace through justice have been dashed? Only time can tell.
From the moment when it seemed inevitable that Obama would win, some analysts began talking about his chances of being assassinated in office by white supremacists or some other extremist faction. But chances are far higher that he could be politically “assassinated” by powerfully entrenched Washington lobbyists. That would be as great a tragedy as a literal killing, for it would be accompanied also by the death of hope.
For now, however, let us pause to enjoy the hope that Barack Obama can truly succeed as an effective agent of change in a world that badly needs to believe in him.
I think the author of this blog has got it spot on:
http://kalimataan.wordpress.com/2008/11/09/will-president-barak-obama-really-be-assasinated/
Obama is just another ‘house negro’ who is eloquent and sweet on the outside but just another neo-con zionist on the inside. Check out the short youtube clip of his speech at AIPAC to hear for yourself…
@abu abdullah
The above statement has been falsely attributed to our Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi. In a recent statement posted on his website (www.qaradawi.net) Shaykh Qaradawi denied that he ever supported senator McCain. He said that some of the newspapaers had fabricated this lie in his name. The Shaykh said, “In reality I was hoping for Barack Obama to win though his position on Israel is not much different to his rival. However, in my opionion he was different because:
1. He promised to bring about changes to US internal and foreign policies, and this is something in our interest.
2. He is of African origin and therefore we hope that he would be more closer to our affairs.
3. We suffred for 8 years under the republican/bush admistration which has brought about war and devastation in Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries. They also declared war against (legitimate) Islamic charities. Therefore we welcome this change (in administration) and hope for a better future.” [end of qoute]
I too believe that Mr Obama is not much different from his predecessors but at the end of the day he is a lessor evil than Mr McCain and his republican party.
Jk brother Abu Muhammed,
May Allah preserve Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi
wslm
القرضاوي: لم أؤيد ماكين قط
موقع القرضاوي/13-11-2008
أصدر العلامة الدكتور يوسف القرضاوي – رئيس الاتحاد العالمي لعلماء المسلمين – بيانا ينفي فيه صحة ما ذكرته بعض الصحف عن أنه كان مؤيدا لانتخاب مرشح الحزب الجمهوري في أمريكا جون ماكين رئيسا للولايات المتحدة…
وهذا نص البيان كما ورد عن مكتب فضيلته:
نقلت بعض الصحف عنِّي أني كنتُ مؤيِّدا لمرشح الحزب الجمهوري في أمريكا جون ماكين، وقال مَن قال على لساني: إني قلتُ: إن ماكين صريح في إظهار موقفه وعداوته لنا، وأما الثاني فهو ثعلب ماكر يلعب بعواطفنا، ويبطن غير ما يظهر. والتعامل مع الصريح أولى من التعامل مع الملتوي.
والحقُّ أن هذا قول مختلق عليَّ، لم أقله قط لأيِّ صحيفة ولا قناة، ولم ينزل بموقعي كما ادَّعى مدَّعون، ولا أدري لماذا يفتري بعض الناس الكذب عمدا؟ والله تعالى يقول: {إِنَّمَا يَفْتَرِي الْكَذِبَ الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِآَيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْكَاذِبُونَ} [النحل:105].
والحقيقة أني تمنيت نجاح (باراك أوباما)، وإن كان موقفه من إسرائيل لا يختلف كثيرا عن موقف منافسه، ولكن كان في نظري يتميَّز بجملة أمور:
1. أنه وعد بالتغيير في سياسته الداخلية والخارجية، وهذا في صالحنا.
2. أنه من أصول إفريقية، وهو أقرب إلينا، وإلى حُسن النظر في قضايانا.
3. أنه أقرب إلى الشباب في سنِّه وفي تطلُّعاته، والشباب أقدر على التجديد.
4. أننا قاسينا من سياسة بوش ومن حوله ثماني سنوات في حربه ضد أفغانستان والعراق وغيرهما، ومحاربته للعمل الخيري الإسلامي، ولذا نرحب بالبديل آملين أن يكون خيرا وأمثل.