State of the Ummah: Discussing the Role of IslamPolicy.com

State of the Ummah: Discussing the Role of IslamPolicy.com from Younus Abdullah Muhammad on Vimeo.

In this conversation we discuss a bit of IslamPolicy's vision and objectives and dissect some of the contemporary conceptual issues of the ummah today, alongside of the importance of initiating discourse about the specific solution at this stage. 

Yemenis take to the streets calling for President Saleh to step down

source As unemployment rises and oil and water reserves dwindle, thousands demand an end to president's 32-year reign

Thousands of people took to the streets of Sana'a today, calling for an end to the reign of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in some of the biggest anti-government rallies Yemen has seen for a decade.

Spurred on by events in Tunisia and Egypt, students and opposition activists assembled across the capital chanting for Saleh to quit after 32 years in power.

"It's over Saleh, your time is up!" shouted a crowd of students, rattling the gates of Sana'a University.

The protests were organised by Yemen's opposition coalition, which includes the Islamist party Islah, as well as the Socialist and Nasserite party. However, unlike protests last weekend in Sana'a when riot police used teargas and batons to disperse protesters, a relative calm and an almost carnival-like atmosphere prevailed.

Protesters are demanding improvements in living conditions as well as political reform. One banner read simply: "Look at the gap between the rich and poor."

Yemen, the poorest country in the Arab world, is struggling with rising unemployment and dwindling oil and water reserves. Almost half its 23 million people live on $2 or less a day, while one-third suffer from chronic hunger.

In one protest, a group of 3,000 men gathered outside the house of Abdullah al-Ahmar, the former leader of the Islamist party Islah. "We are here to say enough, enough, the president should go," Mohammed al-Sabri, a leading opposition figure, told the crowds.

Around 15,000 students and activists wearing pink ties on their heads formed a "human wall" at Sana'a University, which has become a hub for the protests.

"We choose pink to represent the Jasmine revolution and to show that we do not want violence," said Rudhwan Masude, head of the student union at Sana'a University. "We didn't give [the security] a chance to find fault in our demonstration or attack us like they did last time."

The rallies follow several days of smaller protests calling for Saleh to quit. Tensions boiled over on Sunday when plainclothes officers arrested Tawakul Karman, an activist who had helped organise the protest. She was freed on Monday with a pledge from her family that she would "no longer offend public order and law".

Nasser Araybee, a Yemeni journalist with al-Ahram weekly, said: "These were not spontaneous or popular protests like in Egypt, but rather mass-rallies organised by the opposition who are using events in Tunisia to test Saleh's regime. This is only the start of a fierce political battle in the run-up to Yemen's parliamentary elections in April."

Earlier this month, Yemen's parliament gave preliminary approval to a constitutional amendment ending limits to the president's term of office, a measure that would allow Saleh to stay in power past his mandate, which ends in 2013.

Saleh's ruling General People's Congress staged counter marches across the capital today, attended by hundreds of government supporters.

In a bid to defuse tensions Saleh has raised army and civil servant salaries, and denied claims he plans to install his son, Ahmed, as his successor. Saleh has also ordered income taxes to be halved, and has told ministers to control prices.

May it be the First of Many - Ben Ali Leaves Tunis

Tunisia's President Fascist Western Puppet Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali is looking for a country to run to at the moment in what will end up being either another American land grab from the French or a positive move in the direction of a return to Islamic roots in the Arab world. One thing is for certain, amongst an ummah that gets very little good news these days, it is a bit inspiring. All the more important to recognize that unexpected change is a part of life and that preparation and contemplation about the reality we live in is important. Please see the series of posts we released during these happenings, look through the pdf's, analyze how the economic work interrelates, the importance of having a solution, cooperatives as alternatives and etcetera. A revolution is only a revolution if there is a replacement of paradigm. Getting rid of a dictator presents oppurtunity but can only be positive if justice prevails. As justice can only prevail through Islam we encourage the Tunisians to return to Islam, implement the shariah and spread their movement throughout the Muslim world. Regardless, a message has been sent, but the struggle does not end here.   May Allah (swt) guide us all to a better condition, give us the courage to improve what we can of ourselves and the wisdom to know where, when and what we should do within our appropriate locations. 

From trying to pull the terror card... 

To this:

Tunisia's President has fled the country and the prime minister has announced he is in charge Friday after protests and riots rocked the capital.

Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi went on state television to say he was assuming power amid reports the country's president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali had fled the country. The army has sealed off the airport and closed Tunisian airspaced. Earlier President Ben Ali announced a state of emergency and fired the government following the worst unrest to hit this North African country in decades. 

source  for more...

News Analysis-Tunisia tensions-01-11-2011

Tunisia: IMF “Economic Medicine” has resulted in Mass Poverty and Unemployment

Nawaat.org | Jan 02, 2011 | 2 comments - Protest by Suicide as a Symbol of Resistance

by Prof. Basel Saleh *

Mass and spontaneous demonstrations erupted on Friday, December 17th in the city of Sidi Bouzid (central Tunisia) when Mohammad Bouazizi , a 26 year-old, doused himself with gasoline and set himself on fire after a female police officer slapped and spat on him. The only crime Bouazizi committed was that of being a street vendor selling vegetables and fruits without a permit, in a country where neoliberal economic policies failed to provide economic opportunities to Bouazizi and thousands of others like him.[1] Bouazizi’ s attempted suicide, which comes hard on the heels of police humiliation and confiscation of his only source of income, reveals the utter despair prevalent today among Tunisia’s population especially college graduates. Twenty-four years of ruthless corruptions, dictatorship, and neoliberal economic policies led to wealth being concentrated in the hands of very few people connected to President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his wife’s family. Bouazizi, a college graduate,[2] was trying to live in dignity and provide for his family by becoming a street vendor despite living in a country that is considered an economic miracle and one of the African lions by western economic monitors and analysts.[3]

The miserable economic conditions in the interior of the country, lack of employment opportunities and political freedoms pushed Bouazizi, like thousands of other young men and women in the Maghreb countries, to the margins of society. Tunisia’s national unemployment rate, which understates the true unemployment situation, stands at 14%.[4] However, the youth unemployment rate (those between15-24 year-old) is at 31%. The income share of the top 10% is approximately 32%, and the top 20% of the population controls 47% of Tunisia’s income. Tunisia’s inequality is so severe that the bottom 60% of the population earns only 30% (the top 40% take home 70% of the income).[5] Still, the IMF describes the government management of the economy and the uneven economic growth which benefited mainly northern and coastal cities while marginalizing the interior of the country as a “prudent macroeconomic management.”[6]

The despicable behavior of the police officer described above is not uncommon in Tunisia and is condoned by the police state that ignores basic human rights, shows no respect for the dignity of its citizens, and does not tolerate any signs of dissent. Poverty, unemployment and oppression have pushed yet another young man to commit suicide just few days later after Bouazizi’s attempt. On Wednesday, December 22nd, Hussein Nagi Felhi, also unemployed, unfortunately succeeded in committing suicide by climbing a high-voltage electric power line. He was electrocuted and died on the scene. Witnesses say the young man was shouting “no for misery, no for unemployment” as he climbed the electric pylon.[7]

The epidemic of youth unemployment, inequality, political repression, and lack of any meaningful freedoms inflamed solidarity among the population which took to the streets in a spontaneous and unplanned organic protests. Within days of the attempted suicide by Bouazizi and the suicide of Felhi, protests spread across the country and reached the capital Tunis and are still ongoing even in the face of total national media blackout and police brutality which resulted in the killing of an 18 year-old. This is not the first time the dictator of Tunisia Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has faced street anger over joblessness and economic misery during his 24-year reign, but this is by far the most serious challenge to his rule. About three years ago in January 2008, his security apparatus crushed protesters in the southern mining town of Redhayef when workers and young people protested wages and unemployment.[8]At that time, over 300 people were arrested as a result of the protests.[9] However, this time the desperation among the population has reached the boiling point. Aided by social media, some protesters launched a Facebook page to document riots and share news although the government promptly shuts down any protest-linked websites.[10] The demonstrations are increasing in intensity and show no signs of abating. The protesters are fed up with the status quo of a self-enriching and corrupt ruling family which is the de facto governing system in the Middle East and North Africa.

A Western Ally: The Hypocrisy of Western Neoliberal and Foreign Policies

Respect for human rights and freedom of the press is almost nonexistent in Tunisia. The Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom labels Tunisia as ‘mostly unfree’ nation and marginally close to being repressed—its lowest score.[11] Transparency International ranks Tunisia among its seriously corrupt nations with a score of 4.3 out of 10 (10 being free of corruption and 1 as most corrupt), and Tunisia is considered ‘not free’ according to Freedom House Index.[12] This is no surprise in a country where the government controls almost all aspects of people’s lives. Young people are especially tightly controlled and monitored. Even fields of study in post-secondary education are decided by the government where the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research decides in which field of study students will be placed.[13]

Although the protests that are spreading across the country took on the form of social unrest for the first few days, they rapidly metamorphosed over the last ten days to become a mass political rally by the people. The protesters are now on the streets calling openly for the president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to leave office by holding signs in Tunisian Arabic dialect that read “Yezzi Fock” (Ben Ali, it is enough) which has become the protesters’ political slogan. Labor and industry unions which played an active role in public life since independence from France are also supporting the protesters. President Ben Ali, nearing 80, is very aware of the gravity and the real threat to his grip on power. His first reaction was to preempt the protesters by firing some local officials, replace some ministers in his cabinet, and then immediately promising more investment and job creation completely oblivious to his record after 24 years in power. When these empty promises failed to deflate the protesters’ anger, he resorted to the routine policies of riot police and explicit threats directed to his citizens. Facing the most serious unrest in the history of his rule, he took to the airways and gave a televised address in response to the demonstrations. He vowed to punish “the minority of extremists” whom he blamed for the riots (as he calls them) and also indicated that these protests “will have a negative impact on creating jobs. It will discourage investors and tourists which will hit jobs.”[14] It appears that the President’s main concern is the tourism industry which is tightly controlled by his family and that of his wife as revealed by several Wikileaks concerning the economic and financial corruption of the first family.

The Tunisian dictator and his family are touted by Western governments as an example of a stable and progressive North African Muslim nation. The neoliberal economic policies are hailed as prudent and wise by the IMF yet these policies primarily benefited his family, that of his wife in addition to other well-connected wealthy Tunisians. In one incident of corruption revealed by Wikileaks, the Son-in-Law of the President purchased a 17% share of a bank just before it was to be privatized and then sold the shares at a premium. Readings from Wikileaks U.S. diplomatic cables underscore that success in the Tunisian economy is directly related to connection to the first family. Income and regional inequalities are on the rise in Tunisia. Job creation and widespread prosperity promised by defunct orthodox economic dictates never trickled down to the masses or even materialized for most unemployed college graduates where net migration has been steadily increasing rising from -16,000 in 1980 to -80,000 in 2005.

The Tunisian Government is an important ally for the U.S. in its resource-driven colonial wars with Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere. A United Nations report on secret detention practices lists Tunisia as having secret detention facilities where prisoners are held without International Red Cross access. [15] Intelligence services in Tunisia cooperated with the U.S. efforts in the War on Terror and have participated in interrogating prisoners at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan and in Tunisia. Recent Wikileaks diplomatic cables reveal that the U.S. not long ago was concerned about the growing anger on the streets and the corruption of Ben Ali and the Trabelsi family (his wife’s family) who treat everything in the country as theirs. A list of Wikileaks cables from the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia posted on The Guardian newspaper website indicate that the U.S. considers Tunisia as a police state “with little freedom of expression or association, and serious human rights problems,” and the Ben Ali family as a “quasi mafia.”[16] Nevertheless, the State Department boasts about the active support the Tunisian security forces receive from the U.S. in spite of the Ben Ali’s government record of serious human rights violations. According to the State Department website:

“The United States and Tunisia have an active schedule of joint military exercises. U.S. security assistance historically has played an important role in cementing relations. The U.S.-Tunisian Joint Military Commission meets annually to discuss military cooperation, Tunisia’s defense modernization program, and other security matters.”[17]

The fate of the protests is unclear at this point. The Ben Ali government is frantic to control the situation by sending police and security enforcements in the cities affected by the protests. The protesters have been peaceful and have not resorted to any violence or destruction of property. Some protesters simply held a loaf of bread and others are simply holding signs that call for jobs and dignity. In the meantime, the IMF is continuing to push Tunisia to more austere economic policies on the expenditure side, recommending that the government ends its support for food and fuel products and reform its social security system, a code word for privatizing the pension system in Tunisia which benefits the masses of poor Tunisians.[18]The greatest hypocrisy in all of this is that the IMF recommends these policies in the name of greater employment and growth which is the IMF’s cut-and-paste recipe for all nations it studies.

In the meantime, the Western international community has been largely silent about the protests. The U.S. corporate-run media is as usual busy selling air time to corporations eager to cash in on the Christmas holiday while simultaneously raising their prices to squeeze more out of their customers.[19] The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal didn’t report on the Tunisian protests at all. The U.S. State Department remains tight-lipped on the issue and has yet to release any statement on the situation. The U.S. government’s deafening silence confirms the inherent hypocrisy in U.S. diplomatic and foreign policy that is widely known, detested, and recently confirmed by Wikileaks released U.S. diplomatic cables.

Basel Saleh is an Assistant Professor of Economics and Peace Studies Faculty at Radford University, Virginia. His work on Palestinian suicide bombers is widely cited in national media and academic journals. He is currently writing his book Economics When People Matter due for publication with Kendall Hunt in the summer of 2011. The author can be reached by email bsaleh@radford.edu

Notes

[1] See Aljazeera story in (Arabic), 23 December 2010:

http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D2ACC91E-B225-411B-8073-AC6C79845D77.htm

[2] There are conflicting reports on whether Mohammad Bouazizi is a college graduate or not. But most news sources indicate that he is. See:

http://dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=123016#axzz19WbaUTRj

[3] ‘African lions’ is a term used by Boston Consulting Group to describe the eight countries driving growth on the continent: South Africa, Algeria, Botswana, Egypt, Mauritius, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. See Florence Beaugé, Economic power of the ‘African lions’ tallied. , The Guardian Weekly, 10 June 2010: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jun/09/morocco-southafrica

[4] Julian Borger, Tunisian President Vows to Punish Rioters After Worst Unrest in a Decade. The Guardian, 29 December 2010:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/29/tunisian-president-vows-punish-rioters

[5] World Bank Indicators: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.1524.MA.ZS/countries/TN?display=graph

[6] Joël Toujas-Bernate and Rina Bhattachary, Tunisia Weathers Crisis Well, But Unemployment Persistsa. IMFSurvey Magazine: Countries & Regions , 10 September 2010:

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2010/car091010a.htm

[7] Amro Hassan, Tunisia: Apparent Suicide Triggers Youth Protests Against Unemployment. The Los Angeles Times, 23 December 2010:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2010/12/tunisia-suicide-triggers-youth-protests-against-unemployment.html

[8] Human Rights Watch, World Report Chapter: Tunisia, January 2009: http://www.hrw.org/en/node/79260

[9] Amnesty International, Behind Tunisia’s Economic Miracle: Inequality and Criminalization of Protests, June 2009:

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE30/003/2009/en/2e1d33e2-55da-45a3-895f-656db85b7aed/mde300032009en.pdf

[10] The facebook page for protesters can be accessed via http://www.facebook.com/yezzifock?v=photos#!/yezzifock?v=wall

[11] The Heritage Foundation, 2010 Index of Economic Freedom: http://www.heritage.org/Index/Ranking

[12] Freedom House, Freedom in The World Country Report , 2010 edition:

http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=363&year=2010 , and Transparency International Corruption Index

http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results

[13] Housa Trabelsi, Unemployment Haunts Tunisia’s College Graduates. The Megharebia, 30 July 2010:

http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/07/30/feature-01

[14] Tunisian President Says Job Riots are not Acceptable. The BBC, 28 December 2010:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12087596

[15] See United Nations report on secrete detention practices

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/13session/A-HRC-13-42.pdf

[16] US embassy cables: Tunisia – a US foreign policy conundrum, The Guardian, 7 December 2010:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/217138

[17] Background Note: Tunisia, U.S. State Department, 13 October 2010:

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5439.htm#relations

[18] See note 4

[19] Matthew Boyle, Wal-Mart Raising Prices on Toys, Squeezing More Out of Holidays. Bloomberg News, 15 December 2010:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-15/wal-mart-raised-prices-on-toys-this-month-squeezing-more-out-of-holidays.html

* Dr. Basel Saleh is Assistant Professor of Economics at Radford University Virginia.

“The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people.” (César Chávez)

Source: Global Research

Announcement from IslamPolicy.com - on transfer from RevolutionMuslim

:السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

I am saddened to announce that revolutionmuslim.com has been shut down due to an alleged, reckless post that has now been the cause of the incarceration of one of our brothers (May Allah hasten his release). We have seen a few arrests of late, with alleged ties to Revolution Muslim, and while most of what the media reports is distorted to say the least the blogs and forums have also been abuzz with imaginative and hypothetical speculation (as usual), most of which has assumed the worst and been representative of lies.  

I want to express my great apology for being inactive and for remaining silent for the past few months.  I have been going through some personal alterations with regard to physical, mental and spiritual space and was eager to alter some of the approach I had been being informed of when this recent spate of bad news hit.  Perhaps prematurely, this post is to announce the initiation of IslamPolicy.com, the new home of Revolution Muslim.

Firstly, I would like to say that we pray and anticipate the best for our brothers and sisters all over the globe who are incarcerated at this time.  We know that acts in Islam are based on intention, and that one is only granted the reward of what they intended. Some of our brothers and sisters, no matter how they may be perceived by others, were acting out of what we consider to be a pure intention. It has been narrated from Ibn Umar (ra) that Abu Bakr (ra) dispatched Yazeed ibn Abu Sufyan (ra) to Syria and that Abu Bakr (ra) walked along with him for about two miles when they said to him (ra), “O, Khalifah of the Messenger of Allah would you not go back?” and that he said, “No, for I have heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) saying that, “he whose feet are covered with dust in the path of Allah, Allah will save him from the fire.”  Indeed our brothers and sisters may have taken the words, “O you who believe why do say that which you do not do?” to heart and so we ask that they are rewarded for their intentions and that they are rewarded the same as if they had attained their lofty goals. 

Still recent events should serve as reminders.  We live in an age where intention is not enough.  We live in an age where we need increased knowledge and understanding as well, and so we set forth continuing on a path hoping to please Allah.  It is imperative at this juncture that we redefine our mission, advance our platform, and improve our position.  Inshallah, this Eid al Adha marks the end of our two year plan of action entitled By All Means Necessary (link). This plan outlined the objectives that Revolution Muslim held and was a guide for my decisions.  However, few of our affiliates read it and so perhaps misunderstood the purpose of our organization. In retrospect the document should be read by those that seek a greater understanding of our call, but for brevity I will highlight the closing paragraphs here.  By All Means Necessary concluded two years ago by stating that,

We have learned a great deal over the last few years. Osama Bin Laden is still alive and Al-Qaeda is plotting attacks that “outdo by far” September 11. According to a former senior Yemeni Al-Qaeda operative, Al-Qaeda has reinforced training camps across the globe. Victory is recognizable in Afghanistan, more may occur in Iraq with recent developments and the prospect of an attack by Israel on Iran. The Shabaab in Somalia are getting closer to regaining Mogadishu as the Ethiopian forces look poised to withdrawal at the end of the year. The incoming American Administration looks destined to be a mule of the international financiers and may be reverting towards a protectionism that will create discord between China and the U.S. and destroy the value of the dollar. Chaos abounds in international markets. The mujahedeen are still waging a successful jihad, but the majority of Muslims cannot foresee the justice of an Islamic State. They are largely unaware of the effect the corporatacracy has on their lives, largely afraid of the rulers the corporatocracy defends. We must pose and become the solution to this paradigmatic problem. It is the best we can do. Revolution Muslim issues a challenge to Muslims across the globe to accept a role in working toward the establishment of the state. Say Somalia would be taken tomorrow. We have problems with piracy, drinking water, health care and political divisions. The world would pose an economic barricade with no foreign investment. The State has oil, resources, agricultural capabilities and a strategic location and the right crew with the right connections could come in with some serious policy recommendations, community organizing and etcetera and protect the State. However, there may not be an internet connection for quite some time and there is little use chatting when the whole world gathers around to destroy you. This is a bold challenge but one that can be met. These are our objectives for the following two years; call it a strategic plan for advancing the objectives outlined in the Mission Statement of Revolution Muslim. Inshallah by the completion of two years heijra will be possible. May Allah make it soon!!!

Having passed two years, much of it remains true, our predictions about the Obama Administration and friction between West and East were accurate, the lands of jihad are spreading, and the ummah still has little clear understanding about what the Islamic State would look like were it established.  Thus, the next two years will, inshallah, concentrate on the solution that is the establishment of the state, defining its specifics, enhancing the sophistication of calls for it, and helping prepare and advance progress, while maintaining support for brothers and sisters working for it across the globe.

In order to attain that objective, modification is necessary.  Inshallah, on the Eid, IslamPolicy.com will release its methodology which will clarify the next stage of our struggle and at that time we will be setting forth a very idealistic set of lofty goals.  The only way they will ever be attained is if we get the help of fellow Muslims. And so please watch IslamPolicy.com for the platform, pass this message and the accompanying videos around the web via email, posting on forums, blogs, websites, facebook, twitter and etcetera so that people know of the change in sites.   

Of course we will include all the brothers and sisters that are willing to aid and abide in the effort but would like to make some alterations having observed that they are due.  The video above highlights the principles that will drive these changes.  Please feel free to comment or criticize. 

Inshallah, we will be back soon, founding an online radio show, magazine, extensive blog and other activities, while keeping the ummah connected to the sincere callers to Islam.  Because his words are so much more beneficial than mine I depart for now with a selection from Ibn Qayyim’s book The Path to Guidance:

There are matters to which he (the sincere servant) has been guided but he is in need of further guidance with respect to them since guidance to the path is one thing, but guidance upon the path is something else. Do we not see that a man knows the path to a certain city, that the path is such and such? However, he is not capable of traversing this path because traversing it requires specific guidance in the journey itself, such as travelling at a certain time as opposed to another, taking a certain amount of water in such and such a desert, resting at this place as opposed to that one. All of this is guidance upon the journey. The one who (merely) knows that this is the path neglects all of this, perishes and is cut off from the desired goal 

We ask Allah, having guided us to the path to place us upon it and I close with this from the Quran praying that it is the sincere reality of my intention:

أُرِيدُ إِلاَّ الإِصْلاَحَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُ وَمَا تَوْفِيقِي إِلاَّ بِاللّهِ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَإِلَيْهِ أُنِيبُ

I only desire (your) betterment to the best of my power; and my success (in my task) can only come from Allah. In Him I trust, and unto Him I look.

It is truly a pleasure to be back in contact with you all.  I look forward to hearing the ideas of all: old friends and new.  Welcome to IslamPolicy.com, where the revolution in Islam continues inshallah!

~Younus Abdullah Muhammad

On Those that Remain Behind