Gaza War : Another War, Another Defeat

Another War, Another Defeat

The Gaza offensive has succeeded in punishing the Palestinians but not in making Israel more secure.

By John J. Mearsheimer
Professor of political science at the University of Chicago and coauthor of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.

Israelis and their American supporters claim that Israel learned its lessons well from the disastrous 2006 Lebanon war and has devised a winning strategy for the present war against Hamas. Of course, when a ceasefire comes, Israel will declare victory. Don’t believe it. Israel has foolishly started another war it cannot win.

The campaign in Gaza is said to have two objectives: 1) to put an end to the rockets and mortars that Palestinians have been firing into southern Israel since it withdrew from Gaza in August 2005; 2) to restore Israel’s deterrent, which was said to be diminished by the Lebanon fiasco, by Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, and by its inability to halt Iran’s nuclear program.

But these are not the real goals of Operation Cast Lead. The actual purpose is connected to Israel’s long-term vision of how it intends to live with millions of Palestinians in its midst. It is part of a broader strategic goal: the creation of a “Greater Israel.” Specifically, Israel’s leaders remain determined to control all of what used to be known as Mandate Palestine, which includes Gaza and the West Bank. The Palestinians would have limited autonomy in a handful of disconnected and economically crippled enclaves, one of which is Gaza. Israel would control the borders around them, movement between them, the air above and the water below them.

The key to achieving this is to inflict massive pain on the Palestinians so that they come to accept the fact that they are a defeated people and that Israel will be largely responsible for controlling their future. This strategy, which was first articulated by Ze’ev Jabotinsky in the 1920s and has heavily influenced Israeli policy since 1948, is commonly referred to as the “Iron Wall.”

What has been happening in Gaza is fully consistent with this strategy.

Let’s begin with Israel’s decision to withdraw from Gaza in 2005. The conventional wisdom is that Israel was serious about making peace with the Palestinians and that its leaders hoped the exit from Gaza would be a major step toward creating a viable Palestinian state. According to the New York Times’ Thomas L. Friedman, Israel was giving the Palestinians an opportunity to “build a decent mini-state there—a Dubai on the Mediterranean,” and if they did so, it would “fundamentally reshape the Israeli debate about whether the Palestinians can be handed most of the West Bank.”

This is pure fiction. Even before Hamas came to power, the Israelis intended to create an open-air prison for the Palestinians in Gaza and inflict great pain on them until they complied with Israel’s wishes. Dov Weisglass, Ariel Sharon’s closest adviser at the time, candidly stated that the disengagement from Gaza was aimed at halting the peace process, not encouraging it. He described the disengagement as “formaldehyde that’s necessary so that there will not be a political process with the Palestinians.” Moreover, he emphasized that the withdrawal “places the Palestinians under tremendous pressure. It forces them into a corner where they hate to be.”

Arnon Soffer, a prominent Israeli demographer who also advised Sharon, elaborated on what that pressure would look like. “When 2.5 million people live in a closed-off Gaza, it’s going to be a human catastrophe. Those people will become even bigger animals than they are today, with the aid of an insane fundamentalist Islam. The pressure at the border will be awful. It’s going to be a terrible war. So, if we want to remain alive, we will have to kill and kill and kill. All day, every day.”

In January 2006, five months after the Israelis pulled their settlers out of Gaza, Hamas won a decisive victory over Fatah in the Palestinian legislative elections. This meant trouble for Israel’s strategy because Hamas was democratically elected, well organized, not corrupt like Fatah, and unwilling to accept Israel’s existence. Israel responded by ratcheting up economic pressure on the Palestinians, but it did not work. In fact, the situation took another turn for the worse in March 2007, when Fatah and Hamas came together to form a national unity government. Hamas’s stature and political power were growing, and Israel’s divide-and-conquer strategy was unraveling.

To make matters worse, the national unity government began pushing for a long-term ceasefire. The Palestinians would end all missile attacks on Israel if the Israelis would stop arresting and assassinating Palestinians and end their economic stranglehold, opening the border crossings into Gaza.

Israel rejected that offer and with American backing set out to foment a civil war between Fatah and Hamas that would wreck the national unity government and put Fatah in charge. The plan backfired when Hamas drove Fatah out of Gaza, leaving Hamas in charge there and the more pliant Fatah in control of the West Bank. Israel then tightened the screws on the blockade around Gaza, causing even greater hardship and suffering among the Palestinians living there.

Hamas responded by continuing to fire rockets and mortars into Israel, while emphasizing that they still sought a long-term ceasefire, perhaps lasting ten years or more. This was not a noble gesture on Hamas’s part: they sought a ceasefire because the balance of power heavily favored Israel. The Israelis had no interest in a ceasefire and merely intensified the economic pressure on Gaza. But in the late spring of 2008, pressure from Israelis living under the rocket attacks led the government to agree to a six-month ceasefire starting on June 19. That agreement, which formally ended on Dec. 19, immediately preceded the present war, which began on Dec. 27.

The official Israeli position blames Hamas for undermining the ceasefire. This view is widely accepted in the United States, but it is not true. Israeli leaders disliked the ceasefire from the start, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the IDF to begin preparing for the present war while the ceasefire was being negotiated in June 2008. Furthermore, Dan Gillerman, Israel’s former ambassador to the UN, reports that Jerusalem began to prepare the propaganda campaign to sell the present war months before the conflict began. For its part, Hamas drastically reduced the number of missile attacks during the first five months of the ceasefire. A total of two rockets were fired into Israel during September and October, none by Hamas.

How did Israel behave during this same period? It continued arresting and assassinating Palestinians on the West Bank, and it continued the deadly blockade that was slowly strangling Gaza. Then on Nov. 4, as Americans voted for a new president, Israel attacked a tunnel inside Gaza and killed six Palestinians. It was the first major violation of the ceasefire, and the Palestinians— who had been “careful to maintain the ceasefire,” according to Israel’s Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center—responded by resuming rocket attacks. The calm that had prevailed since June vanished as Israel ratcheted up the blockade and its attacks into Gaza and the Palestinians hurled more rockets at Israel. It is worth noting that not a single Israeli was killed by Palestinian missiles between Nov. 4 and the launching of the war on Dec. 27.

As the violence increased, Hamas made clear that it had no interest in extending the ceasefire beyond Dec. 19, which is hardly surprising, since it had not worked as intended. In mid-December, however, Hamas informed Israel that it was still willing to negotiate a long-term ceasefire if it included an end to the arrests and assassinations as well as the lifting of the blockade. But the Israelis, having used the ceasefire to prepare for war against Hamas, rejected this overture. The bombing of Gaza commenced eight days after the failed ceasefire formally ended.

If Israel wanted to stop missile attacks from Gaza, it could have done so by arranging a long-term ceasefire with Hamas. And if Israel were genuinely interested in creating a viable Palestinian state, it could have worked with the national unity government to implement a meaningful ceasefire and change Hamas’s thinking about a two-state solution. But Israel has a different agenda: it is determined to employ the Iron Wall strategy to get the Palestinians in Gaza to accept their fate as hapless subjects of a Greater Israel.

This brutal policy is clearly reflected in Israel’s conduct of the Gaza War. Israel and its supporters claim that the IDF is going to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties, in some cases taking risks that put Israeli soldiers in jeopardy. Hardly. One reason to doubt these claims is that Israel refuses to allow reporters into the war zone: it does not want the world to see what its soldiers and bombs are doing inside Gaza. At the same time, Israel has launched a massive propaganda campaign to put a positive spin on the horror stories that do emerge.

The best evidence, however, that Israel is deliberately seeking to punish the broader population in Gaza is the death and destruction the IDF has wrought on that small piece of real estate. Israel has killed over 1,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 4,000. Over half of the casualties are civilians, and many are children. The IDF’s opening salvo on Dec. 27 took place as children were leaving school, and one of its primary targets that day was a large group of graduating police cadets, who hardly qualified as terrorists. In what Ehud Barak called “an all-out war against Hamas,” Israel has targeted a university, schools, mosques, homes, apartment buildings, government offices, and even ambulances. A senior Israeli military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, explained the logic behind Israel’s expansive target set: “There are many aspects of Hamas, and we are trying to hit the whole spectrum, because everything is connected and everything supports terrorism against Israel.” In other words, everyone is a terrorist and everything is a legitimate target.

Israelis tend to be blunt, and they occasionally say what they are really doing. After the IDF killed 40 Palestinian civilians in a UN school on Jan. 6, Ha’aretz reported that “senior officers admit that the IDF has been using enormous firepower.” One officer explained, “For us, being cautious means being aggressive. From the minute we entered, we’ve acted like we’re at war. That creates enormous damage on the ground … I just hope those who have fled the area of Gaza City in which we are operating will describe the shock.”

One might accept that Israel is waging “a cruel, all-out war against 1.5 million Palestinian civilians,” as Ha’aretz put it in an editorial, but argue that it will eventually achieve its war aims and the rest of the world will quickly forget the horrors inflicted on the people of Gaza.

This is wishful thinking. For starters, Israel is unlikely to stop the rocket fire for any appreciable period of time unless it agrees to open Gaza’s borders and stop arresting and killing Palestinians. Israelis talk about cutting off the supply of rockets and mortars into Gaza, but weapons will continue to come in via secret tunnels and ships that sneak through Israel’s naval blockade. It will also be impossible to police all of the goods sent into Gaza through legitimate channels.

Israel could try to conquer all of Gaza and lock the place down. That would probably stop the rocket attacks if Israel deployed a large enough force. But then the IDF would be bogged down in a costly occupation against a deeply hostile population. They would eventually have to leave, and the rocket fire would resume. And if Israel fails to stop the rocket fire and keep it stopped, as seems likely, its deterrent will be diminished, not strengthened.

More importantly, there is little reason to think that the Israelis can beat Hamas into submission and get the Palestinians to live quietly in a handful of Bantustans inside Greater Israel. Israel has been humiliating, torturing, and killing Palestinians in the Occupied Territories since 1967 and has not come close to cowing them. Indeed, Hamas’s reaction to Israel’s brutality seems to lend credence to Nietzsche’s remark that what does not kill you makes you stronger.

But even if the unexpected happens and the Palestinians cave, Israel would still lose because it will become an apartheid state. As Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recently said, Israel will “face a South African-style struggle” if the Palestinians do not get a viable state of their own. “As soon as that happens,” he argued, “the state of Israel is finished.” Yet Olmert has done nothing to stop settlement expansion and create a viable Palestinian state, relying instead on the Iron Wall strategy to deal with the Palestinians.

There is also little chance that people around the world who follow the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will soon forget the appalling punishment that Israel is meting out in Gaza. The destruction is just too obvious to miss, and too many people—especially in the Arab and Islamic world—care about the Palestinians’ fate. Moreover, discourse about this longstanding conflict has undergone a sea change in the West in recent years, and many of us who were once wholly sympathetic to Israel now see that the Israelis are the victimizers and the Palestinians are the victims. What is happening in Gaza will accelerate that changing picture of the conflict and long be seen as a dark stain on Israel’s reputation.

The bottom line is that no matter what happens on the battlefield, Israel cannot win its war in Gaza. In fact, it is pursuing a strategy—with lots of help from its so-called friends in the Diaspora—that is placing its long-term future at risk.

Bush bids farewell with clemency

In one of his final acts as president, George W Bush has commuted the prison sentences of two US border patrol agents who shot an unarmed Mexican man.
Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean were sentenced to 11 and 12 years in jail respectively for the 2005 shooting of a drug smuggler at the border.
The sentences were widely criticised as unduly harsh. The pair are now due to be freed in March.
The decision was welcomed in Congress both by Democrats and Republicans…(BBC, 19 January 2009).

Comment: But who will pardon George W Bush for causing mischief on this very earth in front of more than 1 billion of us, using the military might to flatten the civilization causing death, harm and hardship to the people of helpless Iraq and Afghanistan? The might should ever be to uphold right.

Tiga penjenayah ditembak mati

KAJANG 19 Jan. – Tiga penjenayah paling dikehendaki termasuk ketua geng Ronau kerana terlibat dalam banyak kes samun, pecah rumah dan rogol, ditembak mati berdekatan plaza tol Sungai Ramal di sini awal pagi ini…

Ulasan: Apalah guna hidup melakukan jenayah dan menyusahkan orang lain. Sayangkan nyawa dan jagalah maruah diri. Carilah rezeki yang halal.

Sebarkan suara umat Islam perjuangkan persefahaman
KUALA LUMPUR 19 Jan. - Raja Nazrin Shah bertitah, suara umat Islam yang memperjuangkan persefahaman, saling menghormati dan mempunyai sikap yang baik perlu disebar serta diutamakan.
Raja Muda Perak bertitah, tindakan itu adalah jalan penyelesaian terbaik bagi menangani masalah ketakutan dan curiga terhadap orang Islam di dunia Barat.
''Kita perlu bersama-sama untuk menghapuskan pandangan palsu terhadap orang Islam dan usaha menyatupadukan mereka dengan masyarakat dunia perlu dilaksanakan.
''Menyatupadukan umat Islam dengan masyarakat dunia bukan setakat mempromosikankepelbagaian budaya tetapi juga dari segi keadilan dan hak asasi manusia,'' titah baginda…

Ulasan: Mari bersama-sama berdakwah untuk menyelamatkan manusia dari neraka dan di kurniakan nikmat abadi masuk syurga Allah di akhirat.

Israel Uses Gazans as Human Shields

14 January 2009, 08:11

Israeli invading troops are using armless civilians in the Gaza Strip as human shields to protect them against attacks from Palestinian resistance fighters.

"It's standard practice for Israeli soldiers to go into a house, lock up the family in a room on the ground floor and use the rest of the house as a military base, as a sniper's position," Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International 's investigator in Israel, told The Guardian on Tuesday, January 13.

"That is the absolute textbook case of human shields."

Last week, Amnesty accused Israel of using civilians as human shields in its nearly three-week onslaught against the Gaza Strip, which has so far killed more than 971, half of them women and children.

Rovera said this is not the first time that Israel has used Palestinian civilians as human shields.



"It has been practiced by the Israeli army for many years and they are doing it again in Gaza now."

In several well-documented cases, Israeli troops forced Palestinian civilians, at gunpoint, to go before them into buildings from which they feared attack.

They also use Palestinians to drive out wanted Palestinian resistance fighters by making them approach their homes first and asking them to surrender.

In 2005, Israel's Supreme Court banned the military's practice of using Palestinian civilians as human shields in arrest raids.

The use of human shields in conflict is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions which clearly states that they "shall not be used to...shield military objectives from attacks or to shield, favor or impede military operations."

War Crimes

Amnesty's Rovera also accused Israeli troops of committing war crimes by using weapons which cause huge fatalities among the 1.6 million population of Gaza.

"There has been reckless and disproportionate and in some cases indiscriminate use of force," she said.

"There has been the use of weaponry that shouldn't be used in densely populated areas because it's known that it will cause civilian fatalities and casualties," added the investigator.

"They have extremely sophisticated missiles that can be guided to a moving car and they choose to use other weapons or decide to drop a bomb on a house knowing that there were women and children inside.

"These are very, very clear breaches of international law."

The Human Right Watch has accused Israel of using white-phosphorus, a chemical that burns away human flesh to the bone, in shelling Gaza.

The 1980 Third Convention on Conventional Weapons bans the use of white phosphorus as a weapon, even against military targets situated within population centers.

John Ging, director of UNRWA operations in Gaza, called Tuesday for a full investigation into reports of Israel's use of illegal weapons in its 18-day offensive.


He also appealed for the international community to provide protection for civilians in Gaza as mandated by the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

"All the people, the first thing they say to me and the last thing they say to me is 'Please, we need protection, nowhere is safe'," he told reporters in Geneva via an audio link from an UNRWA distribution center after visiting shelters and clinics.

"And they're right, nowhere is safe."

EXTRA: BBC video; Israeli Soldiers using Palestinians as Human Shields
Source: IslamOnline

Israeli weaponry under scrutiny

Publication time: 15 January 2009, 10:57

NAZARETH, Israel - Concerns about Israel's use of non-conventional and experimental weapons in the Gaza Strip are growing, with evasive comments from spokesmen and reluctance to allow independent journalists inside the tiny enclave only fuelling speculation.

The most prominent controversy is over the use of shells containing white phosphorus, which causes horrific burns when it comes into contact with skin. Under international law, phosphorus is allowed as a smokescreen to protect soldiers but treated as a chemical weapon when used against civilians.

The Israeli army maintains that it is using only weapons authorised in international law, though human rights groups have severely criticised Israel for firing phosphorus shells over densely populated areas of Gaza.

But there might be other unconventional weapons Israel is using out of sight of the watching world.

One such munition may be Dime, or dense inert metal explosives, a weapon recently developed by the U.S. army to create a powerful and lethal blast over a small area.

The munition is supposed to still be in the development stage and is not yet regulated. There are fears, however, that Israel may have received a green light from the U.S. military to treat Gaza as a testing ground.

"We have seen Gaza used as a laboratory for testing what I call weapons from hell," said David Halpin, a retired British surgeon and trauma specialist who has visited Gaza on several occasions to investigate unusual injuries suffered by Gazans.

"I fear the thinking in Israel is that it is in its interests to create as much mutilation as possible to terrorise the civilian population in the hope they will turn against Hamas."

Gaza's doctors, including one of the few foreigners there, Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian specialist in emergency medicine working at Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City, report that many of the injuries they see are consistent with the use of Dime.

Wounds from the weapon are said to be distinctive. Those exposed to the blast have severed or melted limbs, or internal ruptures, especially to soft tissue such as the abdomen, that often lead to death.

There is said to be no shrapnel apart from a fine "dusting" of minute metal particles on damaged organs visible when autopsies are carried out. Survivors of a Dime blast are at increased risk of developing cancer, according to research carried out in the United States.



Traditional munitions, by contrast, cause large wounds wherever shrapnel penetrates the body.

"The power of the explosion dissipates very quickly and the strength does not travel long, maybe 10 metres, but those humans who are hit by this explosion, this pressure wave, are cut in pieces," Dr Gilbert said in a recent interview.

This is not the first time concerns about Israel's use of Dime have surfaced in Gaza. Doctors there reported strange injuries they could not treat, and from which patients died unexpectedly days later, during a prolonged wave of Israeli air strikes in 2006.

A subsequent Italian investigation found Israel was using a prototype weapon similar to Dime. Samples from victims in Gaza showed concentrations of unusual metals in their bodies.

Yitzhak Ben-Israel, the former head of the Israeli military's weapons development programme, appeared familiar with the weapon, telling Italian TV that the short radius of the explosion helped avoid injuries to bystanders, allowing "the striking of very small targets".

Israeli denials about using weapons banned by international law would not cover Dime because it is not yet officially licensed.

It will be difficult to investigate claims that non-conventional weapons have been used in Gaza until a ceasefire is agreed, but previous inquiries have shown that Israel resorts to such munitions.

The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem has recorded numerous occasions when the Israeli army has fired flechette shells, both in Lebanon and Gaza. The shell releases thousands of tiny metal darts that cause horrible injuries to anyone out in the open.

A Reuters cameraman, Fadel Shana, filmed the firing of such a shell from an Israeli tank in Gaza in April, moments before its flechettes killed him.

Miri Weingarten, a spokeswoman for Physicians for Human Rights, said they were watching out for use of a new flechette-type weapon the Israeli army has developed called kalanit (anemone). An anti-personnel munition, the shell sends out hundreds of small discs.

Israel appears to have used a range of controversial weapons during its attack on Lebanon in 2006. After initial denials, an Israeli government minister admitted that the army had fired phosphorus shells, and the Israeli media widely reported millions of cluster bombs being dropped over south Lebanon.

There are also suspicions that Israel may have used uranium-based warheads. A subsequent inquiry by a British newspaper found elevated levels of radiation at two Israeli missile craters.

Sarit Michaeli, a spokeswoman for B'Tselem, said her organisation had not yet been able to confirm which weapons were being used in Gaza in the current attacks. She added, however, that Israel's denials about using non-conventional munitions should not be relied on.

"It is true, as the army spokespeople say, that weapons such as phosphorus and flechette shells are not expressly prohibited. But our view is that such weapons, which do not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants, cannot be used legally in a densely populated area like Gaza."

Reports this month revealed that the United States has been organising massive shipments of arms to Israel, though a Pentagon spokesman denied they were for use in Gaza.

*Jonathan Cook is a writer and journalist based in Nazareth, Israel. His latest books are "Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East" (Pluto Press) and "Disappearing Palestine: Israel's Experiments in Human Despair" (Zed Books). His website is www.jkcook.net. A version of this article originally appeared in The National.

Boikot produk Israel, AS berterusan

KOTA BHARU 15 Jan. - Tindakan memboikot produk keluaran Amerika Syarikat (AS) dan Israel mesti dilakukan berterusan bagi memberi pengajaran kepada kedua-dua negara itu terhadap keganasan yang telah mereka lakukan.
Ahli Parlimen Pasir Mas, Datuk Ibrahim Ali berkata, usaha itu bukan sahaja mampu mengekang dana Israel dalam melakukan serangan ke atas Palestin tetapi turut menghalang mereka daripada mengulangi kekejaman tersebut.

"Kita tahu Israel dan AS bukan sahaja sedang melakukan kekejaman di Palestin tetapi sedang mengugut negara-negara Islam lain. Oleh sebab itu sokongan kita juga haruslah berterusan," katanya…

Ulasan: Jangan tunggu sampai diri sendiri, keluarga dan sahabat handai dan rakan taulan kena tembak dan negara kita sudah lumat kena bom, barulah kita hendak boikot produk Amerika Syarikat (AS) dan Israel. Kenapa Menteri Perdagangan Dalam Negeri dan Hal Ehwal Pengguna Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad senyap?

Kampung baru dianggap curi hak tanah Melayu’
KUALA LUMPUR 15 Jan. – Raja Muda Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah bertitah, raja-raja Melayu telah menzahirkan teguran terhadap rancangan penempatan semula kampung baru pada tahun 1950 yang dianggap mencuri hak tanah kepunyaan Melayu.
Baginda yang dalam keadaan sebak semasa menyentuh perkara itu ketika menutup Kongres Ekonomi Islam Ketiga (KEI-3) di sini hari ini bertitah, teguran tersebut dizahirkan dalam Mesyuarat Raja-Raja Melayu pada 24 Mei 1950.
Titah baginda, penempatan semula melalui Rancangan Briggs yang dilancarkan oleh Sir Henry Gurney itu telah menimbulkan rasa kurang senang raja-raja Melayu.
Raja Nazrin bertitah, Rancangan Briggs memberi nikmat kepada 400,000 penduduk setinggan Cina di pinggir hutan berpindah ke kampung baru yang dilengkapkan dengan jalan, bekalan elektrik, air paip, kemudahan sekolah dan kesihatan serta turut dibantu mendapat pelbagai peluang pekerjaan dan kemudahan perniagaan.
Rancangan penempatan tersebut, titah baginda, dilaksanakan ketika masih begitu ramai keluarga Melayu yang tidak memiliki tanah dan dari segi lokasi geografi, kampung baru itu lebih hampir dengan bandar berbanding kawasan pembangunan Felda.
Raja Nazrin bertitah, kemudahan-kemudahan infrastruktur dan sosial yang disediakan di kampung baru juga jauh lebih baik daripada apa yang terdapat di kampung tradisi Melayu…

Ulasan: Sejak merdeka UMNO sebagai parti utama kerajaan pun masih terlalu lambat untuk menyediakan kemudahan infrastruktur dan social di kampong tradisi. Hasilnya, di katakan perjuangannya belum selesai. Sampai bila perjuangan UMNO belum selesai kerana bila menang sibuk mengaut khazanah negeri/negara dengan cara yang tidak sah. Yang tentu kaya ialah kroni-kroninya. UMNO boleh di percayai lagi?

Gaza ‘neraka dunia’

Pemimpin Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh beri tiga syarat ‘jelas dan mudah’ untuk gencatan senjata baru dengan Israel, termasuk menarik balik sekatan ekonomi yang kini menjadikan Genting Gaza seperti neraka dunia.
Sekurang-kurangnya 1,054 penduduk Palestin terkorban, termasuk 355 kanak-kanak dan 100 wanita manakala lebih 4,870 lagi cedera dalam operasi ketenteraan Israel yang masuk hari ke-20.
Pertubuhan hak asasi manusia Palestin desak Mahkamah Jenayah Antarabangsa (ICC) di The Hague lancar siasatan ke atas Israel atas tuduhan melakukan jenayah perang dan kemanusiaan…
&
Damai: Tiga syarat Hamas
LONDON 15 Jan. – Ketua kerajaan Hamas di Genting Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh hari ini membuat seruan langsung kepada pembaca di Barat untuk meminta mereka mendesak Israel menghentikan serangan di wilayah Palestin itu.
Ismail yang menulis dalam akhbar Britain, Independent berkata, Hamas akan mempersetujui gencatan senjata dengan syarat yang ‘jelas lagi mudah’ iaitu sekatan ke atas Gaza ditarik balik, pembukaan semula pintu sempadan dan pengunduran penuh tentera Israel.
“Hanya ada satu jalan ke hadapan, tidak ada jalan lain. Syarat kami untuk mengadakan gencatan senjata baru adalah jelas dan mudah.
“Israel mesti menghentikan perang dan penyembelihan rakyat kami, menarik balik sepenuhnya sekatan haram ke atas Genting Gaza dan tanpa syarat, membuka semua pintu sempadan dan berundur sepenuhnya dari Gaza.

Ulasan: Negara haram Israel membuat kerosakan di muka bumi, di tanah jajahannya sendiri untuk menunjukkan gah. Hasilnya sudah pasti, Israel di benci di seluruh dunia.

BN mahu pilihan raya Kuala Terengganu telus

KUALA TERENGGANU 16 Jan. — Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak berkata Barisan Nasional (BN) bersetuju dengan langkah penarikan diri Datuk Bandar Kuala Terengganu, Datuk Mat Razali Kassim sebagai Pegawai Pengurus Pilihan Raya Kecil Parlimen Kuala Terengganu.
Timbalan Perdana Menteri itu berkata langkah tersebut adalah yang terbaik bagi memastikan proses pilihan raya kecil esok, berjalan dengan telus, tidak ada penyelewengan dan mengikut peraturan yang ditetapkan...

Ulasan: Akhirnya, BN pun mahukan ketelusan pilihanraya. Bukan setakat pilihan raya kecil ini tapi semua pilihan raya. Rakyat dah lama mahukan pilihan raya yang bersih dan bebas. Kepada BN: Bercakap satu hal, perkara yang dilakukan pun penting. Rakyat biasa melihat dan akan buat pilihan terbaik.

PPSMI: Kerajaan bukannya berdiam diri
KUALA TERENGGANU 15 Jan. - Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi menegaskan, isu pelaksanaan pengajaran Sains dan Matematik di dalam bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI) bukan satu perkara yang boleh diperkatakan secara sewenang-wenangnya tanpa berdasarkan fakta.
Menurut Perdana Menteri, mereka yang ingin memberi komen tentang isu itu hendaklah berbuat demikian berdasarkan kajian dan fakta.
Jelasnya, kerajaan bukan berdiam diri berhubung pelaksanaan PPSMI, sebaliknya pada masa ini keputusan mengenainya belum dibuat kerana kajian tentang perkara itu masih belum selesai…

Ulasan: 6 tahun masa berjalan. Berapa ramai lagi anak kita yang terperangkap oleh sistem yang tak pernah di persetujui oleh pakar bahasa. Kini BN selepas Dr Mahathir masih selesa melaksanakannya.

Stop War in Gaza

Jangan jadikan pilihan raya macam tukar baju - Najib

KUALA TERENGGANU 14 Jan. - Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak meminta pengundi di Parlimen Kuala Terengganu tidak menjadikan pilihan raya kecil Sabtu ini sebagai peluang untuk beralih rasa seperti menukar baju atau hidangan makanan.
Timbalan Perdana Menteri berkata, sebaliknya mereka perlu sedar pilihan raya adalah medan untuk mempertahankan agenda kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN) yang selama ini terbukti berjaya membawa pembangunan dan kemajuan kepada negeri ini.
''Terengganu di bawah BN dari hari ke hari semakin maju dan berjaya. Kita tahu hampir lima tahun di bawah Pas dari 1999 hingga 2004, masa itu kita lihat Terengganu dalam keadaan gerhana, bukan bulan yang terang.
''Apabila BN kembali memerintah negeri Terengganu, ia bercahaya, bersinar semula," katanya ketika berucap pada majlis perjumpaan dengan masyarakat India Muslim di sebuah hotel di sini hari ini…

Ulasan: 1) Pilihlah dan undilah calon yang berwibawa dan berperibadi yang baik: mengamalkan agama, tidak minum arak, tidak ada perempuan simpanan dan bencikan rasuah. Kalau tidak, bila jadi berkuasa nanti sibuk mengaut khazanah negeri dengan cara tidak sah seperti yang semua rakyat sudah tentu maklum berdasarkan pengalaman BN yang terlalu lama.
2) Terengganu sebagai negeri pengeluar minyak. Tapi kenapa di bawah BN dulu, Terengganu masih miskin? Semak yang sama berlaku di Sabah.
3) Kenapa sewaktu PAS memerintah Terengganu, kerajaan Malaysia menyekat pemberian royalti minyak sehingga kes itu tertangguh sampai kini?

Gaza Massacres: The Time Is NOW

By Anna Baltzer*

Here is what Anna has to say about what Israel is doing to the people of Gaza.

Please, everyone, stop what you’re doing. This is not just any report from Palestine, but the worst in my lifetime, the worst in 40 years. At this moment, Israel is raining bombs down on Gaza, an enclosed tiny area that is home to 1.5 million men, women, and children, most of them innocent civilians. This space is tightly sealed by Israel, which constantly denies Gazans electricity, food, medicine, and the ability to leave. Gaza is one big prison being bombed from above. The death toll is up to 428 in the past 7 days. That’s more than the number of Israelis killed in the last 7 years. This is what I would call a massacre.

Yes, more Palestinians killed in 7 days than Israelis in 7 years, and yet no comments from President Bush or President-elect Obama. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice places blame solely on Hamas for holding Gazans "hostage," as if Israel’s actions were beyond judgment. Would Rice ever respond to a Palestinian attack on Israelis by blaming the Israeli government for holding its citizens hostage with their army’s violence?

I am writing you from Jordan. I arrived the day after the attacks began. The day before they began, my friend and colleague Hannah had asked me to deliver a book of poetry to her friend Summer in Gaza, hoping I’d manage to make it on a Free Gaza boat. Since then, these boats bringing unarmed witnesses to Gaza (www.freegaza.org) have been attacked in international waters, and Summer’s house has been blown to pieces, her brother almost died under the rubble, and her father desperately needs an operation but the hospitals are overflowing. In every home or shop I enter in Jordan, people are huddled watching the stories unfold: a family killed in their home, a university destroyed, a pharmacy blown to pieces, countless bloody babies screaming or worse, silent.

I wonder if people in the US are also seeing the bodies and faces or, as I fear, only some rubble and angry Gazans. The day after attacks began, Israel’s largest newspaper Yediot Aharonot covered almost the entire front page with the words, "500,000 Israelis Under Attack!" In smaller font, one could learn that in addition to 1 Israeli, 225 Palestinians had also been killed. It was surreal. Consider where you are getting your news, and what is not being told to you.

For example, the stated purpose of the attack is to drive out Hamas, i.e. to kill anyone in Hamas and scare the rest into turning against Hamas. Not only does this tactic not work (brutality fosters violence), but it clearly fits the definition of terrorism: unlawful violence intended to frighten or coerce a people or government in order to achieve a political or ideological agenda. Israel is operating as a terrorist state in the true sense of the word.

Hamas is also a terrorist organization by this definition, so it would be easy to simplify the conflict as "an endless cycle of violence" were there no historical context. But there is a context, and there are alternatives: Let us remember that Hamas was elected after an intentional shift away from violence towards a mainstream political agenda. Hamas stopped its attacks and began offering the Palestinian people an alternative to the corruption of Fatah. Hamas was democratically elected and immediately strangled by a US-led boycott, preventing the government from functioning. Hamas continued to hold to its one-sided ceasefire (totaling almost 2 years), meanwhile the US and Israel began to train and arm the opposition government, Fatah, which they preferred. In response to plans for a coup in Gaza (anti-democratic takeover by the US-supported opposition government), Hamas secured its control (again, democratically-elected whether or not we like them) over Gaza, and continues to offer Israel an indefinite ceasefire–no more violent attacks, period–if Israel simply complies with international law. The Arab League (comprised of 22 Arab nation members) has offered the same. These offers are dismissed by Israel and silenced in the US media. Israel says it has tried everything else, but it has not tried the most obvious: complying with international law and accepting repeated offers for a peaceful resolution.

As events unfold in Gaza neither the media nor the people are silent here in Jordan, where people refuse to go on as if nothing were happening to their brothers and sisters (sometimes literally—more than 60% of Jordan’s population is Palestinian refugees). Just one day after attacks began, the king of Jordan gave blood to send to Gaza and inspired hundreds of others to do the same (meanwhile President Bush was on vacation in Texas). Spontaneous demonstrations have erupted at least twice here in the capitol today, and thousands are protesting in various major cities around the Middle East and around the world.

Please, wherever you are, do something. Write a letter to the editor. Get a large group to inundate your congressperson at once. Protest! There are demonstrations being organized around the US. If there isn’t one happening near you, then do what I would do: buy a poster-board and large marker and write something on it ("Gazans Are People Too," "Massacre in Gaza: Silence is Complicity," "Our Weapons Are Killing Palestinian Children," or anything you can think of). Go outside and stand on a busy corner with it. Force others to confront the reality. Talk to people, invite them to join you. People around the world are empowered enough to take to the streets; we have no excuse not to. The time is now.

*Anna Baltzer, a Jewish American Columbia graduate, Fulbright scholar, granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, and volunteer with the International Women’s Peace Service, is touring the United States with her acclaimed presentation and book describing her experiences documenting human rights abuses in the West Bank and supporting Palestinian-led nonviolent resistance to the Occupation.
Providing photographic documentation and critical information often misrepresented or ignored in the Western media, Anna’s presentation covers checkpoints, settlements, demonstrations, Israeli activism, the 1948 war & refugees, censorship, the Separation Wall, and more. For further information about Anna’s work and tour, please visit: www.AnnaInTheMiddleEast.com

Israel accused of Gaza 'genocide'

The president of the UN General Assembly has condemned Israel's killings of Palestinians in its Gaza offensive as "genocide".
Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann also told Al Jazeera he had never believed that the UN Security Council would be able to stop the violence in Gaza and that Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, had practically told the UN to "mind their own business" by continuing the offensive.
"The number of victims in Gaza is increasing by the day... The situation is untenable. It's genocide," d'Escoto said at the UN in New York.
About 970 Palestinians have been killed and 4,300 injured since Israel began its Gaza offensive on December 27, which it says is to stop Palestinian fighters attacking Israel with rockets…
&
UN watchdog condemns war on Gaza
A resolution condemning Israel's military offensive in Gaza has been adopted by the UN Human Rights Council.
The non-binding resolution, approved in Geneva on Monday, said Israel's operation had "resulted in massive violations of human rights of the Palestinian people".
More than 935 Palestinians have died during the fighting, many of them women and children, and a further 4,300 have been wounded.
At least 25,000 have been displaced due to the ongoing bombardment, but are unable to flee the overcrowded territory as crossing points remain closed…
&
Israelis 'push on into Gaza City'
Israeli troops have entered the suburbs of Gaza City and are engaged in street fighting with militants, reports say.
Witnesses said Israeli special forces had advanced several hundred metres into several neighbourhoods and that intense gunfire could be heard.
Earlier, Israeli planes attacked more targets in Gaza as Israel's offensive against Hamas entered an 18th day.
A UN watchdog meanwhile accused Israel of showing a "manifest disrespect" for the protection of children in Gaza.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child said more than 40% of those killed in Gaza were women or children, even though the Israeli government had signed a UN protocol condemning attacks on places where children were likely to be present.
The attacks would have a severe emotional and psychological effect on an entire generation of children in Gaza, it added…

Comment: Why the world viz UN just cannot stop the unequal war in Gaza? One day war is too much. The whole world is CRYING for what the illegal Zionist state of Israel had done all this while. Using its might, blessed by USA, the illegal state of Israel has reduced large parts of the Gaza Strip to rubble and made refugees of its inhabitants. Please ever remember that an era of continued conflict could generate a new generation of Palestinians opposed to Israel.

Bush ikut telunjuk saya

BAITULMAQDIS 13 Jan. – Perdana Menteri Israel, Ehud Olmert mendakwa keputusan Amerika Syarikat (AS) untuk bersikap berkecuali semasa pengundian Majlis Keselamatan Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) pada Khamis lalu dibuat setelah beliau ‘bercakap’ dengan Presiden George W. Bush.
Menurut Olmert, AS pada mulanya akan mengundi menyokong resolusi itu. Berikut adalah kenyataan Olmert seperti dipetik dalam laporan berita AFP hari ini.
-Olmert minta petugas menelefon Bush, namun mereka menyatakan Bush sedang berucap di Philadelphia.
- Olmert tegaskan bahawa beliau tetap mahu bercakap juga dengan Bush. Presiden AS itu kemudian turun dari podium dan bercakap dengannya.
AS pada mulanya akan mengundi resolusi untuk gencatan senjata di Genting Gaza tetapi tiba-tiba berubah selepas Bush bercakap dengan Perdana Menteri Israel…

Ulasan: Rupanya ular sawa besar takut dengan ular lidi. Ada orang yang hebat zahir tapi jiwanya miskin kerana menjadi tidak berpendirian menyokong kebenaran.

Royalti minyak Terengganu dijangka lebih RM3 bilion
KUALA TERENGGANU 13 Jan. - Kerajaan Persekutuan menjangkakan Terengganu akan memperoleh lebih RM3 bilion hasil daripada wang royalti minyak tahun depan jika harga bahan api itu naik di pasaran sepanjang tahun ini.
Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak berkata, jumlah itu lebih tinggi daripada hasil royalti yang diperoleh sekarang iaitu antara RM1.6 bilion hingga RM3 bilion setiap tahun.
Katanya, untuk itu, beliau mahu kerajaan negeri yang diterajui Menteri Besar, Datuk Ahmad Said menggunakan wang royalti sebaik mungkin untuk membangunkan negeri ini berkonsepkan mesra rakyat…

Ulasan: Negeri yang kaya boleh menjadi miskin bila kerajaannya suka menghabiskan wang rakyat melalui jalan yang tidak sah. Yang tentu kaya ialah orang politik pelbagai peringkat dan kroni .

Perubahan besar di Kuala Terengganu jika BN diberi mandat

KUALA TERENGGANU 13 Jan. - Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak berjanji kerajaan akan membuat perubahan besar di Kuala Terengganu jika rakyat memberi mandat kepada Barisan Nasional (BN) pada pilihan raya kecil Parlimen kawasan itu 17 Januari ini.
Timbalan Perdana Menteri berkata kerajaan BN merupakan sebuah kerajaan yang mampu membuat perubahan untuk kesejahteraan rakyat berbanding PAS yang hanya tahu berjanji tetapi tidak mampu melakukannya…

Ulasan: Negeri yang menghasilkan minyak pun miskin di bawah BN. Yang biasanya kaya ialah menteri-menteri dan orang politik BN/UMNO dalam pelbagai peringkat serta kroni mereka. Dapatkah BN/UMNO memacu negara tanpa rasuah?

Dua orang Islam minum arak didenda RM5,000, sebat 6 kali
KUANTAN 12 Jan. - Mahkamah Tinggi Syariah di sini hari ini menjatuhkan hukuman denda RM5,000 dan sebatan enam kali mengikut syariah ke atas seorang lelaki dan seorang wanita yang mengaku bersalah meminum arak…

Ulasan: Eloklah di hukum sedemikian supaya menjadi pengajaran bagi ramai. Hinanya diri bila kita membuat larangan agama.

Teruskan Berdoa

Ya Allah
sebagaimana Engkau pernah menghantar burung-burung ababil
menghancurkan tentera bergajah musyrikin,
maka kami memohon kepadaMu ya Allah
supaya di turunkan bantuanMu kali ini
kepada saudara kami orang-orang Islam yang sedang di bedil di Palestin,
dan hancurkanlah rejim zionis Israel sedahsyat-dahsyatnya.
Amin.

For Arab Clan, Days of Agony in a Cross-Fire

For Arab Clan, Days of Agony in a Cross-Fire
By TAGHREED EL-KHODARY and ISABEL KERSHNER
Published: January 9, 2009; New York Times

GAZA — Israel’s attack has razed buildings and upended families in much of crowded Gaza. But few neighborhoods suffered more than Zeitoun, a district of eastern Gaza City. And few families felt the wrath of the Israeli military more than the Samounis.

Israeli troops swarmed Zeitoun shortly after the ground invasion of Gaza began a week ago, and members of the extended Samouni family said they were moved from house to house as soldiers took over the neighborhood. On Monday, with nearly 100 Samounis huddled together in one house, the shooting and the shelling began, according to accounts of family members and witnesses that were partly corroborated by the Red Cross and the United Nations.

Thirty Samounis died, not all of them quickly. Ahmed al-Samouni, 16, survived.

“I could feel the blood dripping inside my head,” Ahmed said, recalling the days he lay wounded in the bombed-out building. “My father was crawling — he couldn’t move his legs,” he said. His cousin Abdallah, 10, was trying to stand up but kept falling down; his brother Yaqoub, 12, kept removing large pieces of shrapnel from his own stomach; and his sister Amal, 9, was not moving at all. Another brother, Ishaq, 12, was wounded in the legs. He bled for two days before he died.

Ahmed, speaking from his hospital bed, said he wanted to call for help. But his mother, Laila, was among the dead, and her cellphone was nowhere to be found.

The story of the Samouni family has horrified many since Red Cross officials on Wednesday publicized their discovery of four emaciated Samouni children trapped for days in a home with the corpses of their mothers. The Red Cross said the Israeli military denied its paramedics access to the area for several days after the ground invasion began on Jan. 3, part of the offensive against Hamas that Israel says is intended to stop the firing of rockets into southern Israel.

Israeli officials said they were still looking into the Zeitoun episode. A military spokeswoman, Maj. Avital Leibovich, said Monday that the army had “no intention of harming civilians.” Hamas, which governs Gaza, “cynically uses” civilians for cover by operating in their midst, she said.

But some international aid officials are arguing that the plight of civilians in Zeitoun, as well as the shelling of a United Nations school where civilians had sought refuge, should be investigated as war crimes.

“Accountability must be ensured for violations of international law,” Navi Pillay, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, said in an address in Geneva to a special session of the Human Rights Council focused on Gaza. The council has a reputation for censuring Israel. Ms. Pillay is a respected South African judge who recently assumed the top United Nations human rights job, which is separate from the council.

Ms. Pillay said, “Violations of international humanitarian law may constitute war crime, for which individual criminal responsibility may be invoked.” She suggested that the council weigh dispatching a mission to assess violations committed by both sides.

The Israeli military has not said whether the strike on the house in Zeitoun was intentional or a mistake. In the case of the United Nations school, Israel has said that Hamas militants were firing mortars from a location near the school.

According to Ahmed and other witnesses interviewed at the hospital, soldiers came to several of the Samouni homes that make up a section of Zeitoun soon after the ground invasion started. They told family members to vacate their homes and to gather together in one home down the street. Ahmed said they were moved a second time as well, until nearly 100 of his relatives crowded into one house.

Soldiers searched and occupied the now-empty houses. The Zeitoun neighborhood is strategically located and is known to have many supporters of Hamas. Ahmed said the Israelis wanted to turn it into “a military camp.”

Samouni family members did not deny that Hamas militants operated in the area. A family member said there was no active Hamas resistance in the immediate vicinity, although militants were firing rockets at Israel a little more than a mile away.

At about 6 a.m. on Monday morning, Ahmed said, tanks started demolishing a wall of the house where the extended clan was sheltered. His father moved toward the door, presumably to warn the soldiers that civilians were inside, but the troops started shooting, he said.

The shooting then stopped, and the soldiers appeared to withdraw. But a short time later, three rockets and several shells hit the building and tore apart the rooms where his family was gathered.

Ahmed said he and his brother Yaqoub pulled blankets over their relatives and managed to shut the doors in an attempt to hide from the tanks and soldiers outside. Everyone was crying, he recalled, and he did not immediately realize the scope of the damage.

Some relatives, like Masouda Samouni, 20, Ahmed’s sister-in-law, managed to crawl out by themselves and arrived at the hospital that same day. A few hours after the attack on Monday, she recounted how she had lost her mother-in-law, her husband and her 10-month-old son.

At that time, witnesses and hospital officials believed that 11 members of the extended family were killed and 26 wounded, with five children age 4 and under among the dead. The first survivors who arrived at the hospital may not have been aware of the full extent of the disaster and apparently had not counted all those left behind.

Ahmed, rescued nearly three days later, named 27 relatives who died in the building where he was hiding; the Red Cross said three more corpses were found in a house nearby.

The survivors ate tomatoes, drank water and cooked noodles over a fire, but tried to avoid attracting the attention of soldiers in the area. Relatives who escaped repeatedly asked the Red Cross to send help, but Red Cross officials said their requests to respond to the emergency were rejected by the Israelis during the initial days of the siege.

It was 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday when help finally came, half an hour before the end of a three-hour pause in the fighting ordered that day by Israel to allow humanitarian aid and rescue workers to enter Gaza.

Antoine Grand, the head of Red Cross operations in the Gaza Strip, said in a telephone interview on Thursday that the first rescue team on Wednesday had to leave the dead and take out only the wounded, “horrible as that seems,” because they had only limited time and only four ambulances.

“We had no other choice,” Mr. Grand said.

He added that the ambulances had to stop on one side of an earth mound put up by the military. The team had to walk a mile to the houses and bring back the wounded in a donkey cart.

On Thursday, they went back to the same area and brought out another 103 survivors, three of them wounded.

A report issued by the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs on Thursday, based on telephone interviews with several members of the Samouni family, largely corroborated Ahmed’s version of events, saying about 30 people were killed when the house was shelled repeatedly. The report said the attack on the Samouni home was one of the “gravest incidents” in the Israeli campaign.

In another statement issued on Friday, the humanitarian affairs office emphasized that its report was not intended to render a legal verdict on the attack.

In a rare public statement on Thursday, the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross said it believed that in this instance, the Israeli military failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded. The delay in permitting entry to rescue services was “unacceptable,” it said.

The rescue team found “four small children next to their dead mothers in one of the houses,” the Red Cross said. “They were too weak to stand up on their own.”

The Red Cross added that Israeli soldiers were posted at a military position some 80 yards away from the house, and there were several other army positions and two Israeli tanks nearby.

Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli government, said Friday that it was important that “we have better channels of communication and coordination” with the Red Cross and other aid groups. He said Israel had an interest in the Red Cross’s “successfully carrying out its mission.”

Taghreed El-Khodary reported from Gaza, and Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem. Neil MacFarquhar contributed reporting from the United Nations.

Negara Haram Israel Akan Punah

Negara Haram Israel Tidak Akan Berkekalan
Sejarah telah membuktikan bahawa kaum Yahudi merupakan kaum yang sentiasa ditindas dan ditekan. Peristiwa-peristiwa yang berlaku sepanjang zaman semenjak dari zaman Nabi Allah SWT Musa a.s. sehinggalah zaman mereka berada di Palestin selepas itu sentiasa menyaksikan pembunuhan kaum Yahudi secara beramai-ramai oleh musuh-musuh mereka.

Melalui peristiwa-peristiwa yang berlaku itu, kita selaku umat Islam yakin bahawa kependudukan mereka secara haram di negara Palestin akan berakhir tidak lama lagi.

Mereka akan dihalau keluar dari negara itu sama sepertimana datuk nenek mereka dipaksa keluar dari negara itu. Perkara ini telah dijanjikan oleh Allah SWT menerusi banyak ayat al-Quran, contohnya dalam surah Al-A'raf ayat 167 yang bermaksud:
"Dan (ingatlah wahai Muhammad) ketika Tuhanmu memberitahu: Bahawa sesungguhnya Ia akan menghantarkan kepada kaum Yahudi itu, (terus menerus) hingga hari kiamat, kaum-kaum yang akan menimpakan mereka dengan azab sengsara yang seburuk-buruknya (disebabkan kejahatan dan kekufuran mereka). Sesungguhnya Tuhanmu amat cepat azab seksa-Nya, dan sesungguhnya Dia juga Maha Pengampun lagi Maha Mengasihani."

Kejahatan Bangsa Yahudi Menurut Al-Quran
Ayat di atas menyebutkan bahawa azab dan tekanan akan terus menimpa mereka hingga ke hari kiamat. Berita-berita masa lampau tentang mereka sebelum Islam perlu diberitahu kepada mereka agar mereka sedar bahawa masa tersebut akan tiba dan kebenaran isi kandungan al-Quran sebagai wahyu Ilahi akan terbukti.
Ayat-ayat seperti ini memberi satu kekuatan berupa sokongan moral kepada umat Islam secara amnya dan bangsa Arab Islam khasnya agar berusaha memperkuatkan diri ke arah merealisasikan fakta ini.

Penindasan Ke Atas Yahudi Sebelum Islam
Tersebut dalam lipatan sejarah penjajahan ke atas Yahudi telah dimulakan oleh Raja Fir'aun Nikho dari Mesir. Selepas itu untuk kali keduanya mereka telah dijajah lagi oleh Raja Nabukadnesar (Bukhti-Nashar) dari Babil. Semasa penjajahan tersebut, raja dan tenteranya telah membinasakan habis-habisan Jerussalam termasuk Baitul Maqdis yang didirikan oleh Nabi Sulaiman a.s. dan menawan majoriti rakyatnya .
Inilah yang disebutkan oleh Allah SWT dalam ayat surah al-Isra' ayat yang bermaksud:
"Dan Kami menyatakan kepada Bani Israel dalam Kitab itu: "Sesungguhnya kamu akan melakukan kerosakan di bumi (Palestin) dua kali, dan sesungguhnya kamu akan berlaku sombong angkuh dengan melampau. Maka apabila sampai masa janji (membalas kederhakaan kamu) kali yang pertama dari dua (kederhakaan) itu, Kami datangkan kepada kamu hamba-hamba Kami yang kuat gagah dan amat ganas serangannya lalu mereka rnenjelajah di segala ceruk rantau (membunuh dan membinasakan kamu); dan (sebenarnya peristiwa itu) adalah satu janji yang tetap berlaku".

Seterusnya pada tahun 203 sebelum Masihi pula menyaksikan penjajahan yang lebih teruk oleh raja-raja Syria malahan membawa kepada penahanan Yahuza yang menjadi raja Yahudi pada masa itu. Orang-orang lelaki dijadikan hamba abdi, manakala cukai-cukai yang tinggi turut dikenakan ke atas mereka.

Tidak cukup di situ Allah SWT membinasakan mereka apabila Rom menjajah pula selepas itu. Negara Palestin telah dimasukkan di bawah negara mereka. Pada tahun 70 Masihi, golongan Yahudi telah melakukan pemberontakan ke atas penjajah mereka iaitu Rom. Pemberontakan ini menemui jalan buntu. Akibatnya Rom telah mengeluarkan arahan kepada gabenornya di situ yang bernama Titus untuk membakar rumah-rumah ibadat Yahudi dan membunuh kebanyakan penduduk Yahudi dan menjual yang lainnya sehagai hamba.

Tidak lama selepas itu, Jerussalem pesat membangun semula. Kaum Yahudi mengambil kesempatan untuk memberontak buat kali kedua tetapi masih gagal. Adrian yang menjadi raja Rom akhirnya memerintahkan agar bandar Jerussalem dimusnahkan habis-habisan dan rakyatnya dibunuh. Ditaksirkan lebih 500,000 jiwa telah terkorban dalam peristiwa itu .

Penindasan Ke Atas Yahudi Selepas Islam
Apabila Nabi Muhammad SAW berhijrah ke Madinah, kaum Yahudi telah menyusun beberapa konspirasi jahat ke atas Islam. Akibatnya, pelbagai tindakan tegas telah dikenakan terhadap mereka sehingga membawa kepada pembunuhan beramai-ramai kaum Yahudi dan pengusiran keluar dari negara Islam Madinah.
Kemudian di akhir kurun ke 13, penindasan ke atas mereka masih berterusan. Pada kali ini negara Eropah pula yang bertindak menekan mereka. Sejarah telah menunjukkan bahawa kaum Yahudi pernah dibunuh di Sepanyol dan Portugal. Bahkan kepercayaan agama Kristian lama beranggapan bahawa menekan Yahudi adalah melambangkan keimanan yang sebenarnya.

Tekanan yang dihadapi menyebabkan Yahudi mencari perlindungan di Andalus. Pemimpin-pemimpin Islam di Andalus pada waktu itu memberi perlindungan politik kepada Yahudi sebagai satu cara untuk berdakwah kepada mereka. Namun panas yang disangka sampai ke petang, rupanya hujan di tengahari. Nikmat perlindungan rupa-rupanya tidak lama. Penganut-penganut Kristian telah berjaya menundukkan kuasa Islam di Andalus. Sekali lagi penyembelihan orang-orang Yahudi berlaku secara beramai-ramai. Mereka di halau keluar dari bandar-bandar seperti Balensia, Qordova, Gibraltar, Barcelona dan juga dari tempat-tempat lain. Seorang paderi besar Katolik di situ yang bernama Hernando Martins telah menyampaikan ucapan anti Yahudi dan mengarahkan agar unsur-unsur termasuk penganutnya dihapuskan.

Peperangan Salib telah meletus di Andalus dan kebanyakan orang yahudi dihapuskan. Ramai dari kalangan mereka telah dipaksa memeluk Kristian. Dalam tempoh kurang dari 3 bulan, setiap individu yang enggan masuk Kristian akan dihalau ke tempat lain luar dari Andalus. Sesiapa yang melanggar perintah akan dihukum bunuh .

Kebanyakan orang Yahudi yang enggan memeluk Kristian telah meninggalkan Andalus. Malangnya di tengah jalan para lanun telah menangkap mereka dan mereka dijadikan hamba untuk diperniagakan. Sesiapa yang terlepas pula jarang yang dapat hidup kerana diserang kelaparan dan penyakit berjangkit seperti taun dan lain-lain.

Walaupun menghadapi pelbagai penindasan, golongan Yahudi akhirnya berjaya juga menaja satu perhimpunan yang menghimpunkan sekitar 80,000 orang ahli. Mereka mengambil keputusan untuk berhijrah ke Portugal setelah mendapat pelawaan rajanya yang beragama Kristian dan bersikap terbuka. Setibanya di sana, raja yang selama ini bersikap terbuka, tiba-tiba berubah menjadi anti Yahudi selepas dipengaruhi golongan gereja yang selama ini menentang mereka. Semua golongan lelaki dewasa Yahudi telah dipaksa meninggalkan negara Portugal, manakala wanita dan anak-anak dipaksa menukar agama kepada Kristian.

Tekanan dan kezaliman ke atas Yahudi sebenarnya tidaklah terbatas di negara-negara seperti Sepanyol, Portugal dan Rom sahaja.

Malahan semua negara Eropah Kristian telah mengambil sikap anti-Yahudi secara terang-terangan. Di bawah dinyatakan peristiwa-peristiwa kezaliman yang berlaku keatas golongan Yahudi:

1. Di England, King Edwaard telah menghalau Yahudi beramai-ramai pada tahun 1290.
2. Di Perancis, King Phillip telah menghalau mereka dari Perancis pada tahun 1306. Menurut fakta sejarah, Raja Phillip kemudiannva telah membenarkan sebahagian daripada mereka untuk pulang ke Perancis selepas itu, tetapi keputusan diambil untuk menghalau semula mereka pada tahun 1394.
3. Di Hungary, golongan Yahudi telah dibuang negara beramai-ramai. Tetapi mereka memberanikan diri pulang semula sebelum dihalau kembali pada tahun 1582.
4. Di Belgium, mereka dihalau beramai-ramai pada tahun 1370.
5. Di negara Czechoslovakia pula, puak Yahudi dihalau pada tahun 1380. Mereka kembali semula untuk bermastautin pada tahun 1592. Malangnya pada tahun 1744, Queen Maria Theressa telah mengarahkan agar dihalau semula golongan Yahudi tersebut.
6. Di negara Austria pula, Raja Bright ke-5 telah menghalau mereka dari negara itu pada tahun 1420.
7. Di Holland, mereka dihalau dari Outricht pada tahun 1444..
8. Di Itali, mereka dihalau dari Napoli dan Sardina pada tahun 1540.
9. Di Jerman, golongan Yahudi dihambat dari Bavaria pada tahun 1551. Kemudian telah berlaku penindasan secara berterusan ke atas mereka oleh masyarakat berfahaman Nazi. Beratus ribu Yahudi telah terkorban dalam keganasan itu.
10.. Di Rusia pula, rakyat tempatan telah berkerjasama menghalau orang-orang Yahudi pada tahun 1510. Golongan Yahudi beransur-ansur pulang selepas itu dengan harapan penduduk tempatan telah memaafkan mereka. Namun begitu, tekanan masih berterusan sehingga tentera Rusia turut masuk campur untuk menyembelih mereka beramai-ramai di Ukraine sepanjang tahun 1919..

Menurut kajian, lebih dari 100,000 Yahudi telah diragut nyawanya termasuk lelaki dan perempuan serta anak-anak mereka. Jalanraya telah dibasahi dengan darah mereka. Tentera telah melakukan kekejaman di luar batasan pemikiran manusia di samping mencincang lumat anggota badan mereka.

Mengapa Yahudi Ditindas?
Antara sebab penindasan dilakukan ke atas mereka adalah kerana sikap sombong dan tidak setia pada perjuangan. Masyarakat Kristian Eropah menyedari sikap yang ditunjukkan itu. Golongan Yahudi merupakan golongan yang tidak pernah kenal erti berterima kasih. Walaupun hanya menumpang di negara orang, perangai mereka tidak ubah seperti tuan yang memeras dan menganiaya golongan peribumi negara itu. Kemahiran berniaga telah menjadikan golongan Yahudi sombong dan tidak berperikemanusiaan.

Orang yang meminjam dan berurus niaga dengan mereka terjebak dalam sistem riba. Ekonomi yang berasaskan riba telah dimulakan oleh korporat-korporat Yahudi yang berjaya untuk memastikan terus menjadi kaya tanpa memikirkan nasib si miskin.
Perkara ini tidaklah menghairankan kerana menurut kepercayaan mereka seperti yang dijelaskan di dalam 'Talmud' iaitu tafsiran kepada kitab 'Taurat', ada dinyatakan secara terang-terangan bahawa riba halal dengan urus niaga bersama bukan Yahudi. Ini disebabkan Yahudi adalah anak-anak Allah SWT, manakala selain mereka adalah binatang berupa anjing dan babi. Justeru itu, mereka berhak melakukan apa sahaja demi kepentingan peribadi.

Disebut dalam Talmud lagi:
Pemilikan harta-harta oleh selain Yahudi adalah tidak sah. Jadi sesiapa sahaja di kalangan Yahudi boleh merampas hak tersebut.
Allah SWT (SWT) menganugerahkan ke atas mereka hak untuk bertindak sesuka hati ke atas bangsa-bangsa lain.
Kedudukan Yahudi ke atas bangsa-bangsa lain sama seperti kedudukan manusia ke atas binatang. Bangsa-bangsa lain memiliki sifat-sifat kebinatangan. Tiada siapa yang dapat mengajar mereka melainkan Yahudi.
Riba diharamkan sesama Yahudi, tetapi dihalalkan kepada selain mereka. Malahan menurut perlembagaan Talmud itu, HARAM memberikan pinjaman kepada bangsa lain tanpa dikenakan riba.
Penaklukan Palestin Oleh Rejim Haram Yahudi Sebab utama penaklukan negara Palestin sebenarnya berpunca dari perancangan yang teliti oleh Persatuan Freemason Antarabangsa. Freemason melihat usaha begini penting bagi mengelakkan pupusnya spesis Yahudi dari persada dunia.
Takdir Allah SWT membenarkan mereka berjaya menakluk Palestin dengan restu gerakan Kristian sedunia dan bantuan mereka. Perkara ini berlaku dalam keadaan orang-umat Islam terutamanya masyarakat Arab sedang lalai. Persoalannya, sampai bilakah mereka akan berjaya mendominasi negara yang kecil itu. Mereka perlu waspada kepada masyarakat Arab yang berjumlah lebih 100 juta orang itu yang sentiasa mengingati sejarah buruk antara mereka dan Yahudi sepanjang zaman. Masa jua yang akan menentukan segala-galanya.

Penutup
Janji Allah SWT akan sampai bagi memastikan Islam akan tinggi semula dan musuh-musuh Islam terutamanya Yahudi akan kembali ke era kesusahan dan penindasan seperti keadaan asal mereka.

Kita meyakini usaha mereka mengumpulkan bangsa mereka di tengah-tengah negara umat Islam itu akan berakhir dengan penghapusan mereka secara terus dari muka bumi Allah SWT ini. Ini bersesuaian dengan maksud sebuah hadith sahih riwayat Al-Bukhari dan Muslim:
"Tidak akan berlaku kiamat sehinggalah orang-umat Islam berperang dengan orang-orang Yahudi (di sebuah tempat). Orang-umat Islam akan membunuh mereka beramai-ramai sehinggakan apabila mereka bersembunyi di sebalik batu dan pokok, tiba-tiba pokok-pokok dan batu-batu itu bersuara menjerit memanggil umat Islam agar membunuh orang-orang Yahudi itu, kecuali pokok 'Gharqad', kerana ia adalah pokok Yahudi".

Janji Nabi pastinya benar. Peristiwa ini akan berlaku bagi menamatkan siri pengkhianatan Yahudi terhadap Islam dan manusia secara keseluruhannya.

Di ambil dari e-mail.

Najib: Pakatan Rakyat tak mampu menyamai BN

KUALA TERENGGANU 9 Jan. — Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak berkata hubungan parti-parti dalam Pakatan Rakyat (PR) tidak mampu menyamai apa yang ada pada Barisan Nasional (BN) dan semakin goyah dari hari ke hari…

Ulasan: Memang pun tidak akan sama kerana berbeza asas pembentukkannya. Perjuangan PR kearah penegakkan keadilan, kebebasan bersuara, mementingkan rakyat dan negara kita yang bebas rasuah. BN pula dari rekod pemerintahannya yang terlalu lama sedia ada meneruskan kezaliman, memaksa rakyat berdiam diri kerana takut ISA, mementingkan kroni melebihi rakyat dan negara di landa rasuah. Apa boleh rakyat telah tempoh yang cukup lama untuk BN berubah tapi serupa saja perangainya.

Karpal sudah faham hudud - Hadi
KUALA TERENGGANU 9 Jan. — Pas berkata parti ini tidak perlu lagi memberi penjelasan mengenai pelaksanaan hukum hudud dan qisas kepada Pengerusi DAP Karpal Singh kerana anggota Parlimen Jelutong itu telah faham mengenainya.
Presidennya, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang berkata soal pelaksanaan hukum tersebut telah pun dijelaskan kepada para pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat (PR) termasuk pemimpin DAP.
“Kita dah pernah buat seminar dan berbincang pasal benda ini (hudud dan qisas) kepada semua pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat. Saya rasa tak perlu lagi saya nak jelaskan kepada DAP kerana saya rasa Karpal Singh (Pengerusi DAP) dah faham.
“Sekarang ini persoalannya kenapa UMNO menolak untuk dilaksanakan hudud?
Saya bersedia untuk berbincang dan memberikan penjelasan kepada Umno mengenai hudud,” katanya kepada pemberita di kediamannya di Rusila, Marang…

Ulasan: Hudud hanya untuk umat Islam. Tapi kenapa pula selama ini UMNO, sebuah parti Melayu bersungguh-sungguh menolak pelaksanaan hudud?

Tindakan pulau Coca-Cola tidak sesuai – Kadri
KUALA LUMPUR 8 Jan. - The Coca- Cola Company dan syarikat pembotolan yang menjadi rakan niaganya menyifatkan tindakan memboikot semua produk keluaran mereka tidak sesuai dilancarkan sebagai tindak balas terhadap kekejaman tentera Israel yang menyerang Palestin.
Pengarah Hal Ehwal Awam dan Komunikasi Coca-Cola Malaysia, Kadri Taib berkata, pihaknya percaya langkah memboikot produk mereka akan menjejaskan ekonomi, perniagaan dan kehidupan rakyat di negara ini.
''Di Malaysia, produk minuman Coca-Cola telah dihasil dan diedarkan oleh syarikat pembotolan F&N Coca-Cola selama 72 tahun dan kami mempunyai 1,700 pekerja di negara ini dengan 60 peratus daripadanya adalah beragama Islam," katanya dalam kenyataan di sini hari ini.
Beliau berkata, pihaknya telah membantu masyarakat di seluruh dunia termasuk di Malaysia menerusi pelaburan langsung, pengambilan pekerja dan sokongan yang diberi kepada organisasi tempatan.
''Kajian bebas menunjukkan perniagaan The Coca-Cola Company secara tidak langsung telah membuka peluang pekerjaan kepada rakyat tempatan menerusi aktiviti pembekalan dan peruncitan produk syarikat kami," katanya…

Ulasan: Tunggulah sampai semua keluarga terdekat musnah oleh senjata musuh yang di sokong oleh AS baru hendak boikot barangan AS? Jumlah keuntungan yng di bawa balik AS dari Malaysia adalah lebih banyak dari duit yang dibawa balik dari rakyat tempatan.

Pelajar IPTA dibenar sertai bantahan
KUALA LUMPUR 8 Jan. - Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi tidak bercadang untuk mengenakan tindakan undang-undang terhadap mana-mana pelajar institusi pengajian tinggi awam (IPTA) yang menyertai demonstrasi bagi membantah serangan Israel terhadap rakyat Palestin di Gaza.
Menterinya, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin berkata, langkah itu dibuat berikutan pindaan Akta Universiti dan Kolej Universiti (AUKU) yang diluluskan di Parlimen bulan lepas membenarkan pelajarnya menyertai aktiviti pertubuhan, persatuan mahupun organisasi sama ada dalam mahupun di luar negara…

Ulasan: Berikan balik hak semua rakyat untuk berdemonstasi asalkan ada alasan yang kukuh dan benar. Kehadiran polis hanya untuk mempastikan demonstrasi berjalan dengan tersusun.

Artis antarabangsa: Iqwal perlu RM500,000
KUALA LUMPUR 8 Jan. - Penyanyi Iqwal atau Ikhwal Hafiz Ismail, 16, yang pernah menempa kejayaan besar dalam pertandingan seni di Los Angeles, Amerika Syarikat (AS) mungkin terpaksa melupakan tawaran komposer antarabangsa di negara itu kerana kekangan kewangan yang dihadapinya…

Ulasan: Semoga Allah jauhkan kita menjadi terkenal dalam bidang yang telah ramai kecundang dan membuat dosa.

Tangisan Gaza : Tanggungjawab KITA

Seruan Kelab Iqra' Terhadap Isu Palestin

BismiLlahirrahmanirahim,

Segala puji bagi Allah, selawat dan salam ke atas khatimil ambiya', Muhammad SAW, dan mereka yang menempuh jalannya sehingga hari kiamat.

Firman Allah swt bermaksud, "Allah menetapkan, 'Sungguh Aku akan memenangkan (agama) Aku dan Rasul-rasulKu. Sesungguhnya Allah Maha Kuat, Maha Perkasa" (Al-Mujadilah, 58:21).
"Sesungguhnya Kami akan memenangkan Rasul-rasul Kami dalam kehidupan di dunia dan di hari dibangkitkan saksi-saksi" (Ghafir, 40:51).

Sabda Rasulullah saw bermaksud, "Akan terus dari umatku mereka yang terang-terang atas kebenaran. Tidak akan memudharatkan mereka oleh orang-orang yang memusuhi mereka sehingga datang ketetapan Allah, sedang mereka dalam keadaan sedemikian". Sahabat bertanya, "Di manakah mereka?" Rasulullah saw menjawab, "Mereka di Jerusalem dan di sekeliling Jerusalem (Palestin)".

Wahai pembaca sekalian!

Semenjak 60 tahun yang lalu (1948H), bumi para ambiya' ini telah diambil secara kasar oleh zionis yang terlaknat. Lebih-lebih dalam keadaan yang dunia Islam tidak mempunyai sistem Khalifah tertegak di muka bumi. Dalam keadaan inilah musuh-musuh agama ini membuat kerosakan di bumi yang suci tersebut. Iaitu bumi yang terletaknya kiblat pertama umat Islam (Masjid al-Aqsa), dan bumi tempat RasuluLlah SAW bermi'raj (dinaikkan) ke langit ketika peristiwa Isra' dan Mi'raj. Dan semenjak 60 tahun itulah, bermacam-macam kezaliman ditimpa ke atas rakyat Palestin yang tinggal di dalam negara tersebut.

Baru-baru ini, kita digemparkan lagi dengan berita-berita terburuk yang sampai dari Gaza, Palestin. Kita telah mengetahui bahawa rejim Zionis telah melancarkan serangan secara besar-besaran terhadap penduduk Palestin, yang telah bermula sejak 27 Disember 2008. Dan sehingga saat ini (artikel ditulis), sudah lebih daripada 520 orang yang telah dibunuh oleh rejim ganas zionis, dan beribu-ribu lagi yang telah dicederakan. Bahkan angka tersebut kian meningkat dengan mendadak dari masa ke masa.

Hal ini, dan keadaan umat Islam di seluruh dunia yang ditindas, jelas bertepatan dengan apa yang disebutkan oleh RasuluLlah di dalam sebuah hadith daripada Thauban: "Akan datang suatu masa kamu akan dikerumuni oleh bangsa-bangsa seperti pelahap-pelahap mengerumuni makanannya". Sahabat bertanya: "Adakah disebabkan kami sedikit pada hari itu?" Baginda bersabda: "Bahkan kamu pada ketika itu banyak sekali! Akan tetapi kamu umpama buih seperti buih air bah. Dan Allah akan mencabut dari dada musuh kamu kegerunan terhadapmu. Dan Dia meletakkan di dalam hati kamu al-Wahnu" Sahabat bertanya: "Wahai RasuluLlah, apakah al-Wahnu?" Baginda bersabda: "Cintakan dunia dan bencikan kematian" (Abu Daud, Ibnu Majah).

Sesungguhnya hadith ini memberikan pengertian yang sungguh mendalam buat kita, ummah di akhir zaman. Kerana di dalam hadith ini RasuluLlah SAW telah menyebut beberapa faktor yang menyebabkan ummah ini lemah sehingga keadaan ini menimpa mereka:
Kosongnya hati individu muslim dari iman yang mendalam. Ini dilihat dalam makna ketika Rasulullah mengumpamakan kita sebagai buih, yang wujud luaran sahaja. Dalamnya kosong sekosongnya. Andaikata luaran itu pecah, maka tiada lagilah individu muslim tersebut.
Cintakan dunia. Betapa ramainya dari kalangan ummah ini yang dirinya disibukkan dengan urusan dunia sehinggakan hatinya berjaya dicengkam oleh urusan tersebut, dan sehingga hatinya merasa kecenderungan ke arah itu.
Bencikan kematian merupakan petunjuk bahawa semangat jihad dan perjuangan telah hilang dari dada ummah. Ummah ini hilang kekuatannya dengan hilangnya semangat tersebut, dan kita umpama singa yang telah bertukar menjadi anak kijang.

Pembaca yang dihormati!

Kita hendaklah mengeluarkan diri kita dari keadaan yang hina ini sesegera mungkin. Jika tidak, dosa pasti akan menimpa ummah ini lantaran kezaliman yang tertimpa ke atas ahlinya di kawasan-kawasan tertindas. Sesungguhnya, saudara kita dari HAMAS dan gerakan jihad yang lain di Palestin, telah mewakili kita bagi menghadapi pertempuran ini dengan jiwa dan raga mereka. Seperti mana yang pernah disebutkan oleh Dr. Khalil al-Hayya: "AlhamduliLlah, Allah memilih kami yang berada di Palestin supaya berjihad. Kami dipilih bagi menjadi barisan hadapan kepada umat Islam. Kami dipilih oleh ALLAH bagi mengorbankan jiwa, nyawa, harta, anak-anak kami supaya menentang musuh ALLAH dan mempertahankan Masjid Al-Aqsa". Mereka mengorbankan segala apa yang mereka miliki untuk mempertahankan harta kepunyaan ummah. Dan mereka telah melakukannya sejak puluhan tahun yang lalu. Apabila peristiwa di Gaza tercetus, maka mereka jugalah kumpulan yang pertama menfinfaqkan diri mereka untuk melawan dan menentang musuh-musuh Allah.

Kita juga harus melakukan sesuatu, wahai saudara yang budiman! Dengan segala kemampuan dan kapasiti yang ada pada kita, kita harus bertindak dengan cepat untuk mengeluarkan ummah yang tenat ini dari ditindas secara berterusan. Kerana ummah ini umpama satu badan, jika kepala sakit nescaya seluruh badan akan terasa kesakitannya. Dan juga kerana kita ingat kepada sebuah sabda Nabi SAW: "Mu'min dengan mu'min umpama satu bangunan, sebahagiannya memperkukuhkan sebahagian yang lain" (Bukhari). Tetapi persoalannya, apa yang anda boleh sumbangkan? Apa yang boleh anda lakukan sebagai seorang mahasiswa?

Wahai ummah Muslimin! Wahai ummah yang kasih akan saudaranya!

Sesugguhnya kita harus melihat dalam dua perspektif; (1) Tindakan untuk kesan jangka masa pendek atau tindakan segera, dan juga (2) tindakan untuk kesan jangka masa panjang.

Untuk yang segera, yang boleh dilakukan dengan serta merta dan dapat dilihat kesannya dengan cepat ialah:
Mengambil tahu update-update terkini berkaitan dengan isu Palestin dan Gaza. Baca dari sumber-sumber berita yang boleh dipercayai maklumatnya, seperti; www.palestine-info.com, palestinkini.info, www.al-ikhwan.net dan lain-lain. Jangan dengan mudah mempercayai maklumat dari media barat.
Menyebar dan menyampaikan maklumat-maklumat yang tepat tersebut kepada seramai mungkin kenalan anda, dalam apa jua bentuk yang mudah bagi anda. Sekiranya anda mempunyai kelebihan mendesign poster, maka designlah dan sebarkanlah sehingga semua orang sedar dengan isu yang sedang berlaku ini.
Sumbanglah apa-apa yang anda mampu berupa kewangan kepada NGO-NGO yang boleh dipercayai dan mempunyai track record yang bagus, seperti AMAN Palestin dan Mercy Malaysia.
Bersatu hati dengan semua golongan umat Tauhid ini, dan melupakan semua perselisihan hal furu' (cabang).
Bekerjasama dengan semua pihak yang mempunyai cita-cita dan hasrat yang sama.
emperbanyakkan doa kepada Allah khasnya buat saudara-saudara di Gaza, Palestin, dan buat ummah ini secara amnya. Selitkan di dalam doa-doa selepas solat anda; "Ya Allah, tolonglah saudara-saudara Muslimin kami di Gaza dan di juga di seluruh dunia".
Memperbanyakkan taubat kepada Allah di atas dosa-dosa yang telah kita lakukan, mudah-mudahan iman mudah mekar di hati, lalu terkeluarnya penyakit al-Wahnu yang RasuluLlah SAW sebut.
Memboikot barang-barangan yang menyumbang dengan jelas dan terang kepada Zionis.

Untuk jangka masa panjang pula, agar ummah ini keluar dari keadaan ini selamanya:
Berusaha mencari dan memahamkan diri dengan Deen yang mulia ini. Carilah kefahaman kerana "Barangsiapa yang Allah menghendaki dia memperoleh kebaikan, maka Dia memahamkan dia tentang deen" (HR. Syaykhan).
Carilah dan bergabung dengan persatuan-persatuan Islam yang dirasakan mampu mempercepatkan berlakunya hal (1) di atas.
Bersama-sama dengan persatuan-persatuan Islam yang mampu dengannya terdidik al-imanul 'amiq (keimanan yang mendalam), terlaksananya takwin daqiq (pembentukan yang rapi dan kemas) dan amal mutawassil (usaha dan amal yang berterusan). Kerana kita ingin agar ummah ini tidak lagi dizalimi selama-lamanya.
Dan buat persatuan-persatuan Islam di bumi UTM ini, marilah kita bersama-sama memperkasakan da'wah dan tarbiyah. Agar pada masa hadapan, zionis dan musuh Allah yang lain tidak mampu untuk sentuh ummah ini walau sedikitpun insya Allah.

Wahai para pemuda ummah!

Akhir sekali, Kelab Iqra' ingin menyeru kepada semua pihak dari kalangan warga kampus, tidak kira sama ada pelajar ataupun kakitangan, agar kita secara bersama dan kolektif berusaha ke arah memperbaikkan ummah dalam jangka masa pendek dan panjang. Kerana tanggungjawab tersebut adalah tanggungjawab bersama. Saudara-saudara di Palestin telah menyelesaikan janji mereka kepada Allah, kini kita pula yang menunggu-nunggu dan tetap thabat di atas jalanNya: "Dari kalangan orang-orang beriman terdapat mereka yang benar janji mereka kepada Allah. Dari kalangan mereka ada yang telah Syahid. Dan sebahagian lagi masih menunggu dan mereka tidak mengubah sedikitpun janji mereka itu" (al-Ahzab, 33:23).

"Dan katakanlah: Beramallah kamu! Nescaya kelak Allah akan melihat amalan kamu, dan rasulNya beserta orang-orang yang beriman. Dan kamu akan dikembalikan kepada yang Maha Mengetahui perkara ghaib dan yang nyata dan kamu akan dikhabarkan dengan apa yang kamu perbuat" (at-Taubah, 9:105).

'Ammar Taqiyuddin bin Ainullotfi
Presiden Kelab Iqra', UTM Skudai

http://kelab-iqra.blogspot.com/2009/01/seruan-kelab-iqra-terhadap-isu-palestin.html

Top 5 Lies about Israel's Assault on Gaza

Israel's violation of the cease-fire predictably resulted in retaliation from militants in Gaza who fired rockets into Israel in response. The increased barrage of rocket fire at the end of December is being used as justification for the continued Israeli bombardment, but is a direct response to the Israeli attacks, notes Jeremy Hammond.

Lie #1:
Israel is only targeting legitimate military sites and is seeking to protect innocent lives. Israel never targets civilians.

The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated pieces of property in the world. The presence of militants within a civilian population does not, under international law, deprive that population of their protected status, and hence any assault upon that population under the guise of targeting militants is, in fact, a war crime.

Moreover, the people Israel claims are legitimate targets are members of Hamas, which Israel says is a terrorist organization. Hamas has been responsible for firing rockets into Israel. These rockets are extremely inaccurate and thus, even if Hamas intended to hit military targets within Israel, are indiscriminate by nature. When rockets from Gaza kill Israeli civilians, it is a war crime.

Hamas has a military wing. However, it is not entirely a military organization, but a political one. Members of Hamas are the democratically elected representatives of the Palestinian people. Dozens of these elected leaders have been kidnapped and held in Israeli prisons without charge. Others have been targeted for assassination, such as Nizar Rayan, a top Hamas official. To kill Rayan, Israel targeted a residential apartment building. The strike not only killed Rayan but two of his wives and four of his children, along with six others. There is no justification for such an attack under international law. This was a war crime.

Other of Israel's bombardment with protected status under international law have included a mosque, a prison, police stations, and a university, in addition to residential buildings.

Moreover, Israel has long held Gaza under siege, allowing only the most minimal amounts of humanitarian supplies to enter. Israel is bombing and killing Palestinian civilians. Countless more have been wounded, and cannot receive medical attention. Hospitals running on generators have little or no fuel. Doctors have no proper equipment or medical supplies to treat the injured. These people, too, are the victims of Israeli policies targeted not at Hamas or legitimate military targets, but directly designed to punish the civilian population.

Lie #2:
Hamas violated the cease-fire. The Israeli bombardment is a response to Palestinian rocket fire and is designed to end such rocket attacks.

Israel never observed the cease-fire to begin with. From the beginning, it announced a "special security zone" within the Gaza Strip and announced that Palestinians who enter this zone will be fired upon. In other words, Israel announced its intention that Israeli soldiers would shoot at farmers and other individuals attempting to reach their own land in direct violation of not only the cease-fire but international law.

Despite shooting incidents, including ones resulting in Palestinians getting injured, Hamas still held to the cease-fire from the time it went into effect on June 19 until Israel effectively ended the truce on November 4 by launching an airstrike into Gaza that killed five and injured several others.

Israel's violation of the cease-fire predictably resulted in retaliation from militants in Gaza who fired rockets into Israel in response. The increased barrage of rocket fire at the end of December is being used as justification for the continued Israeli bombardment, but is a direct response to the Israeli attacks.

Israel's actions, including its violation of the cease-fire, predictably resulted in an escalation of rocket attacks against its own population.

Lie #3:
Hamas is using human shields, a war crime.

There has been no evidence that Hamas has used human shields. The fact is, as previously noted, Gaza is a small piece of property that is densely populated. Israel engages in indiscriminate warfare such as the assassination of Nizar Rayan, in which members of his family were also murdered. It is victims like his dead children that Israel defines as "human shields" in its propaganda. There is no legitimacy for this interpretation under international law. In circumstances such as these, Hamas is not using human shields, Israel is committing war crimes in violation of the Geneva Conventions and other applicable international law.

Lie #4:
Arab nations have not condemned Israel's actions because they understand Israel's justification for its assault.

The populations of those Arab countries are outraged at Israel's actions and at their own governments for not condemning Israel's assault and acting to end the violence. Simply stated, the Arab governments do not represent their respective Arab populations. The populations of the Arab nations have staged mass protests in opposition to not only Israel's actions but also the inaction of their own governments and what they view as either complacency or complicity in Israel's crimes.

Moreover, the refusal of Arab nations to take action to come to the aid of the Palestinians is not because they agree with Israel's actions, but because they are submissive to the will of the US, which fully supports Israel. Egypt, for instance, which refused to open the border to allow Palestinians wounded in the attacks to get medical treatment in Egyptian hospitals, is heavily dependent upon US aid, and is being widely criticized within the population of the Arab countries for what is viewed as an absolute betrayal of the Gaza Palestinians.

Even Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been regarded as a traitor to his own people for blaming Hamas for the suffering of the people of Gaza. Palestinians are also well aware of Abbas' past perceived betrayals in conniving with Israel and the US to sideline the democratically elected Hamas government, culminating in a counter-coup by Hamas in which it expelled Fatah (the military wing of Abbas' Palestine Authority) from the Gaza Strip. While his apparent goal was to weaken Hamas and strengthen his own position, the Palestinians and other Arabs in the Middle East are so outraged at Abbas that it is unlikely he will be able to govern effectively.

Lie #5:
Israel is not responsible for civilian deaths because it warned the Palestinians of Gaza to flee areas that might be targeted.

Israel claims it sent radio and telephone text messages to residents of Gaza warning them to flee from the coming bombardment. But the people of Gaza have nowhere to flee to. They are trapped within the Gaza Strip. It is by Israeli design that they cannot escape across the border. It is by Israeli design that they have no food, water, or fuel by which to survive. It is by Israeli design that hospitals in Gaza have no electricity and few medical supplies with which to treat the injured and save lives. And Israel has bombed vast areas of Gaza, targeting civilian infrastructure and other sites with protected status under international law. No place is safe within the Gaza Strip.

Jeremy R. Hammond is the editor of Foreign Policy Journal (www.foreignpolicyjournal.com), a website dedicated to providing news, critical analysis, and opinion commentary on US foreign policy from outside of the standard framework offered by government officials and the mainstream corporate media, particularly with regard to the "war on terrorism" and events in the Middle East. He has also written for numerous other online publications. Contact him at: jeremy@foreignpolicyjournal.com. This article appeared in the PalestineChronicle.com.

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=29556

World's oldest person dies at 115

A Portuguese woman who was the world's oldest person has died at the age of 115. Maria de Jesus became the world's oldest person after an American woman, Edna Parker, died in November at the age of 115 years and 220 days, according to the Gerontology Research Group.
A family member said Maria de Jesus died in an ambulance on her way to hospital.
She was born on September 10, 1893 and reached 115 years and 114 days old…
(http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090102/).

Comment: Our success in this world and the hereafter depends on our obedience to commandments of Allah, Our Creator following His Prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him). No one who has lived once before is excluded.




C

Masjid jadi sasaran Yahudi

BAITULMAQDIS 1 Jan. – Masjid dan kawasan ibadat umat Islam tidak terkecuali daripada menjadi sasaran serangan tentera Israel di Genting Gaza yang memasuki hari keenam, hari ini.
Tindakan menyerang masjid dan tempat ibadat umat Islam itu dibuat selepas Israel mendakwa terdapat pejuang Palestin yang menyalahgunakan kawasan berkenaan sebagai pusat pemerintahan tentera dan stor simpanan senjata…

Ulasan: Teruskan berdoa supaya Allah memenangkan umat Islam di Palestin menentang penjajah Israel.

Melamin: Bekas Pengerusi Sanlu mengaku salah
BEIJING 1 Jan. - Bekas majikan syarikat tenusu dalam skandal susu bayi dicemari melamin di China hari ini mengaku salah atas dakwaan menyembunyikan fakta mengenai pencemaran tersebut.
Bekas Pengerusi dan Pengurus Besar Kumpulan Sanlu, Tian Wenhua dalam keterangannya semalam mengaku bersalah dan menyatakan masalah itu diketahui beberapa bulan lebih awal sebelum ia dimaklumkan kepada pihak berkuasa.
Perbicaraannya adalah yang paling berprofil tinggi dalam krisis keselamatan makanan yang telah memalukan China serta mendedahkan salah laku korporat dan pihak berkuasa.
Orang tengah yang menjual susu kepada syarikat tenusu didakwa menambahnya dengan air dan dicampurkan dengan melamin untuk menipu ujian kualiti yang memeriksa kandungan protein.
Bahan kimia yang biasanya digunakan untuk membuat plastik itu boleh menyebabkan pembentukan batuan dan kegagalan fungsi buah pinggang.
Agensi berita Xinhua melaporkan, Wenhua mengaku bersalah atas dakwaan mengeluar dan menjual produk palsu atau tidak mengikut piawaian dan tiga lagi eksekutif kanan syarikat turut berdepan tuduhan sama…

Ulasan: Angkara tangan manusia, ramai bayi mati…

61 maut kelab malam terbakar
BANGKOK 1 Jan. – Sekurang-kurangnya 61 terbunuh manakala lebih 200 lagi cedera apabila sebuah kelab malam mewah di sini musnah dalam satu kebakaran lewat malam tadi.
Kebakaran di kelab malam Santika itu berlaku sewaktu ambang sambutan tahun baru dan nahas itu turut mengorbankan beberapa pelancong dari Australia, Jepun, Belanda, Singapura dan Nepal.
Kebanyakan mangsa terbunuh akibat tersedut asap tebal atau lemas kerana dipijak ketika rempuhan untuk menyelamatkan diri…

Ulasan: Elakkan berada di tempat maksiat kecuali melaksanakan dakwah di bawah arahan jamaah hak.

SELAMAT TAHUN BARU...

Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi dan isteri, Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah bersama kira-kira 30,000 warga kota malam tadi meraikan sambutan Tahun Baru 2009 di Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur.
Pelbagai acara menarik disediakan untuk orang ramai dengan kemuncaknya Perdana Menteri bersama para pengunjung menghitung detik 12 tengah malam tanda ketibaan tahun baru yang diikuti dengan tembakan bunga api…

Ulasan: PM dan isteri pun hadir ke majlis lalai? Bila pemimpin negara pun datang berseronok, muda-mudi LEBIH-LEBIH lagi. Tidak pelik kes maksiat proportional dengan acara sambutan lewat malam. Pemimpin negara sepatutnya malu kerana muda-mudinya mengambil peluang bermaksiat. Sila semak 9 bulan selepas sambutan Tahun Baru, Hari Kemerdekaan dn Hari Valentine dsbnya mengenai kes kelahiran anak luar nikah akibat zina. Yang rugi dan hilang maruahnya ialah perempuan.

Pesta seks: Penyampai berita, pelakon wanita ditahan
KUALA LUMPUR 1 Jan. – Seorang penyampai berita dan seorang pelakon adalah antara 26 yang ditahan dalam satu pesta seks, dadah dan arak yang diadakan di sebuah bilik hotel di Jalan P.Ramlee di sini, awal pagi ini.
Kedua-dua mereka berusia dalam lingkungan umur 20-an dan pelakon wanita terbabit pula difahamkan membintangi drama bersiri.
Selain kedua-dua selebriti berkenaan, 24 lagi yang ditahan berusia antara 18 hingga 31 tahun dan sembilan daripada mereka itu positif dadah.
Malah, kebanyakan yang ditahan dipercayai penuntut sebuah institusi pengajian tinggi awam dan swasta di Lembah Klang...
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56 diberkas dalam operasi cegah maksiat
KUANTAN 1 Jan. - Jabatan Agama Islam Pahang (JAIP) memberkas 56 orang dalam operasi mencegah maksiat sempena sambutan tahun baru di beberapa hotel murah di sekitar bandar ini, awal pagi ini.
Turut ditahan ialah lima remaja lelaki dan seorang gadis berusia 17 tahun kerana tidur sebilik di sebuah hotel murah di Jalan Besar di sini.
Timbalan Pengarah JAIP, Ghazali Abdul Aziz berkata, operasi yang dikenali sebagai Ops Tahun Baru itu diadakan bermula pukul 6 pagi hingga 10 pagi membabitkan 42 kakitangan Bahagian Penguat Kuasa JAIP.
''Apa yang membimbangkan, rata-rata pasangan yang ditangkap dalam operasi itu merupakan golongan remaja bawah umur antara 15 hingga 17 tahun dan ada yang masih bersekolah," katanya kepada pemberita ketika ditemui di sini, hari ini.
''Sudah macam trend pula sekarang ini, apabila ada sahaja sambutan atau acara menarik berkonsepkan hiburan, pasti golongan ini tidak melepaskan peluang untuk melakukan maksiat.
''Kononnya hendak sambut tahun baru dengan kawan-kawan. Selepas itu, tidak sempat hendak balik rumah dan kemudian mengambil jalan mudah dengan menyewa hotel murah, tidur bercampur antara lelaki dan perempuan…

Ulasan: Muda-mudi mengambil peluang bermaksiat (termasuk berzina) apabila kerajaan persekutuan dan negeri mengizinkan sambutan tahun baru. Hal ini berlaku saban tahun. Di manakah maruah pemimpin Malaysia kerana tidak menghalang perkara ini dari berlaku?

PM: Lindungi kepentingan rakyat

PUTRAJAYA 31 Dis. – Kerajaan berazam mengambil langkah-langkah berkesan untuk memelihara kekuatan ekonomi negara dan melindungi kepentingan rakyat dalam menghadapi cabaran ekonomi global yang mencabar tahun depan.
Dalam amanatnya sempena Tahun Baru 2009, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi berkata, kerajaan akan terus bertindak secara bertanggungjawab dengan memantau perkembangan krisis ekonomi itu serta mengambil langkah-langkah wajar mendepaninya.
Tegas Perdana Menteri, dasar kerajaan bagi menghadapi krisis ekonomi global mempunyai dua matlamat iaitu mengekalkan daya saing serta keutuhan ekonomi dan memelihara kesejahteraan rakyat terutama golongan miskin.

Ulasan: Kesejahteraan rakyat tercapai bila negara bebas dari rasuah.

Hudud Hanya Untuk Orang Islam Sahaja: Siapa Yang Sibuk Menentang?

Terima kasih pendikar gunung kriang (http://pendikargunung.blogspot.com/):
kerana mengusahakan mencari keratan kata-kata pemimpin negara kita mengenai perundangan Islam. Mungkin ada lagi yang tertinggal.

i) ‘Bagaimana kita boleh maju kalau orang Islam sudah tiada tangan dan kaki. Bagaimana mereka mahu bersaing dengan bangsa-bangsa lain kalau sifatnya sudah tidak cukup. Hukum Hudud tidak sesuai dilaksanakan di negara ini yang mempunyai rakyat berbilang kaum dan agama'.(Dr. Mahathir b.Mohamed, 2.5.1992)

ii) 'Apabila hukum rejam batu sampai mati kepada penzina dan potong tangan kepada pencuri, nescaya ramailah rakyat Islam yang mati dan kudung tangan. Ini sangat memalukan umat Islam kerana orang bukan Islam akan sempurna sifatnya dan boleh meneruskan kerja'. (Dr. Mahathir b.Mohamed, 14.7.1992)

iii) 'Negara akan huru-hara sekiranya undang-undang Islam dilaksanakan'.
( Dato' Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak,: 20.4.1993)

iv) Saya akan memastikan bahawa negeri-negeri yang diperintah oleh BN tidak akan melaksanakan hukum hudud'. (Dr. Mahathir b.Mohamed, 1994)

v) "Apakah dalam keadaan Islam sudah lemah, hukum (hudud) yang boleh melemahkan lagi orang Islam mesti dilaksanakan?" (Dr Mahathir Mohamad, 3.3.1994)

vi) 'Hukum rejam kepada penzina adalah primitif'. (Dr. Mahathir b.Mohamed, 3.3.1994)

vii) "Sukar dilaksanakan hukum syarak kerana masyarakat Malaysia bukan seratus peratus Islam". (Dr. Mahathir b. Mohamed, 4.8.1994)

viii) "Melaksanakan hukum hudud sehingga melemahkan orang Islam sehingga menjadi masyarakat kucar-kacir dan ditindas oleh orang lain tidak secocok dengan ajaran Islam"(Dato' Seri Mahathir Mohamad, 14.4.1994)

ix) Tujuan menutup aurat ialah kerana di zaman Nabi, Arab jahiliyyah mempunyai nafsu yang kuat sehingga sering menculik dan merogol wanita daripada kabilah-kabilah lain, akibatnya ialah peperangan antara mereka yang tidak pernah tamat" (Dato Seri Dr Mahathir Muhamad, 5.9.1997)

7. 'Apa erti pembentukan negara Islam jika ia mundur'. (Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi: 13.11.1999)

Ulasan: Jelas yang sibuk menentang selama ini ialah pemimpin politik dari UMNO. Sedih sebab UMNO selama ini menipu rakyat kerana berselindung di sebalik perjuangan bangsa Melayu dan mendaulatkan agama Islam. Pada hal Islam tak mungkin di daulatkan tanpa hudud. Wahai wakil rakyat: Berikan hak untuk orang Islam memilih untuk hidup di bawah perundangan Islam.

Umumnya, kenyataan-kenyataan dan tindakan menentang agama Allah selalunya berlaku sewaktu memegang kuasa seperti firaun dan namrud. Bagi kita yang masih lagi bernafas, segeralah bertaubat dan bersama-sama berusaha untuk melaksanakan islam cara hidup yang lengkap.

Sambutan Tahun Baru 2009 di Danga Bay malam ini

JOHOR BAHRU 30 Dis. - Warga bandar raya ini dijemput datang beramai-ramai memeriahkan sambutan Tahun Baru 2009 yang akan diadakan malam esok di Danga Bay di sini.
Program tahunan anjuran bersama Danga Bay Sdn. Bhd., dan Iskandar Malaysia itu akan menampilkan persembahan beberapa artis terkenal tanah air seperti Wings dan Kristal.
Bagi memeriahkan sambutan, pelbagai acara seperti permainan dan kuiz turut diadakan selain pertunjukan bunga api menjelang detik 12 tengah malam yang menjadi acara kemuncak sambutan berkenaan, kata Danga Bay dalam satu kenyataan hari ini.
Selain itu, para pengunjung turut dihiburkan dengan persembahan tarian tradisional daripada berbilang kaum yang terdapat di negeri ini…

Ulasan: Dulu hanya manusia d Barat yang sibuk merayakan Sambutan Tahun Baru Masihi. Apakah kita maju dan hebat bila kita mengikut cara hidup mereka? Dengan hanya mengikut dan menjadi pak turut kita tidak akan mencipta sejarah. Apakah sebenarnya kemerdekaan? Sedih bila 9 bulan selepas perayaan Hari Merdeka, Hari Valentine dan Sambutan Tahun Baru selalunya akan lahirlah anak haram hasil perbuatan zina selepas perayaan. Takut nanti PM dan Menteri Besar kena jawab kerana tidak berusaha menghalang maksiat.

Injil tidak boleh diterjemahkan dalam bahasa Melayu - Zahid
KUALA LUMPUR 30 Dis. – Kerajaan akan menyekat sebarang usaha pengembangan agama Kristian termasuk penterjemahan kitab Injil ke bahasa Melayu yang bertujuan mengelirukan umat Islam di negara ini.
Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (gambar) berkata, ia bertepatan dengan Perkara 11 (4) Perlembagaan Persekutuan serta Enakmen Kawalan Dan Pengembangan Agama Bukan Islam Kepada Orang Islam.
Menurutnya, isu penterjemahan kitab Injil kepada bahasa Melayu sememangnya boleh menyebabkan kekeliruan istilah dan konsep ajaran Islam serta merosakkan akidah umatnya...

Ulasan: Memang pun demikianlah caranya untuk mengelirukan umat Islam. Kita umat Islam wajar di didik cara berdakwah dan mengajak orang yang belum Islam kepada Islam. Kalau kita tidak berdakwah kita akan di dakwahkanya dan di sesatkannya.

Gaza terus bermandi darah

BANDAR GAZA 29 Dis. – Jet-jet pejuang Israel mengebom kedudukan Hamas di Genting Gaza buat hari ketiga berturut-turut hari ini menyebabkan tujuh orang terbunuh, termasuk kanak-kanak.
Antara mangsa yang terkorban awal hari ini ialah empat kanak-kanak perempuan berusia antara setahun hingga 12 tahun daripada sebuah keluarga.
Mereka terbunuh dalam serangan udara ke atas sebuah masjid dekat rumah mereka di pekan Jabaliya, utara Gaza, manakala dua budak lelaki terbunuh dalam satu serangan di bandar Rafah, selatan wilayah ini.
Jet-jet pejuang Israel mensasarkan rumah Komander Kanan sayap bersenjata Hamas, Briged Izz el-Deen al-Qassam, Maher Zaqout, tetapi beliau terselamat kerana tidak berada di rumah itu ketika serangan tersebut…

Ulasan: Paling tidak kita perlu berdoa supaya Allah berikan kemenangan kepada penduduk Palestin yang telah 50 tahun tertindas di tanah sendiri. Sama-samalah kita membantu mereka dalam berbagai cara yang ada.

Demonstrasi di seluruh dunia kutuk Israel
LONDON 29 Dis. - Beberapa bandar utama di dunia mengadakan demonstrasi semalam memprotes serangan udara Israel ke atas Genting Gaza, yang membunuh lebih 300 orang penduduk Palestin.
Awal semalam, Setiausaha Luar Britain, David Miliband mendesak agar "gencatan senjata diadakan dan pemberhentian segera semua keganasan" di Gaza.
Seruan serupa turut dibuat oleh Menteri Luar Rusia, Sergei Lavrov yang telah berhubung dengan rakan sejawatannya di Israel, Tzipi Livni.
Diplomat tertinggi Itali dan Sepanyol, Franco Frattini dan Miguel Angel Moratinos turut bercakap melalui telefon dengan Livni yang mengatakan "Israel akan cuba mengehadkan kesengsaraan penduduk Gaza.
Presiden Perancis, Nicolas Sarkozy dalam perbualan dengan Presiden Palestin, Mahmoud Abbas juga menyatakan kebimbangan mengenai keganasan di rantau itu dan kedua-dua pihak perlu menghentikan serangan…

Ulasan: AS seperti biasa akur terhadap tindakan regim Israel menggunakan kekejaman terhadap rakyat Palestin. Bersama gerakkan pergerakan kebenaran melawan dan mengalahkan kekuatan senjata (Toward Right Against Might).

Perbuatan biadap, kurang ajar - Mufti

PUTRAJAYA 29 Dis. - Tokoh Maal Hijrah Kebangsaan 1430H, Datuk Seri Harussani Zakaria menyifatkan perbuatan menghina Nabi Muhammad SAW oleh satu laman blog tempatan baru-baru ini sebagai biadap dan kurang ajar.
Mufti Perak itu berkata, selama ini umat Islam tidak pernah membuat kenyataan yang menghina dan mengeji agama lain di negara ini.
''Walaupun orang Islam menganggap agama Islam adalah benar dan agama-agama lain tidak benar namun kita tidak pernah kata (ungkapkan) itu secara terbuka kepada penganut agama terbabit.
''Umat Islam amat menghormati agama-agama lain kerana itu adalah perintah daripada agama Islam sendiri dan berdosa kalau kita berbuat demikian," katanya…

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Sukar mengawal kemasukan blog palsu
KUALA LUMPUR 29 Dis. - Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia (SKMM) sukar mengawal kemasukan blog-blog palsu berikutan penggunaan Internet pada masa ini yang sangat meluas.
Ketua Pegawai Operasi Suruhanjaya SKMM, Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi berkata, SKMM juga tidak berhak melarang mana-mana individu untuk membuka pelbagai jenis blog kerana itu hak mereka.
Beliau berkata, SKMM tidak berupaya untuk memantau secara menyeluruh individu-individu yang membuka blog secara palsu iaitu dengan menggunakan identiti orang lain.
"Perkara seperti ini akan berterusan, ia tidak boleh dikawal sepenuhnya kerana penggunaan Internet terlalu meluas.
"SKMM hanya boleh menutup blog-blog yang didapati benar-benar palsu serta diragui dan seterusnya mengenakan tindakan mengikut kesalahan-kesalahan tertentu," katanya kepada Utusan Malaysia hari ini…

Ulasan: Sewaktu kita masih berkuasa, lakukan yang terbaik untuk membantu agama Allah.

HUDUD HANYA UNTUK ORANG ISLAM

SHAH ALAM, 28 Dis (Hrkh) - Memahami keresahan masyarakat bukan Islam, Presiden PAS Dato' Seri Abdul Hadi Awang menjelaskan bahawa pelaksanaan Hudud hanya melibatkan kalangan yang beragama Islam.
Masyarakat bukan Islam tidak seharusnya berasa bimbang jika hukum Hudud dilaksanakan di negara ini sebaliknya boleh memilih undang-undang yang mereka mahu seperti yang telah tertulis dalam Undang-undang Kanun Jenayah Syariah Kelantan dan Terengganu, katanya.
"PAS tak perlu terangkan (tentang hukum Hudud) kerana undang-undang ini tiada kena mengena dengan orang bukan Islam.
"Pada kita, tidak timbul lagi soal Hudud kerana ia telah diluluskan di DUN (Dewan Undangan Negeri) Kelantan sejak tahun 90-an lagi dan di Terengganu pula telah diwartakan," katanya dalam sidang akhbar selepas merasmikan kempen 'Jom Sertai Pas' di Dataran Shah Alam semalam.
Ditanya sama ada PAS akan membawa usul mengenai pelaksanaan hukum Hudud di Parlimen untuk dibahaskan, beliau berkata belum tiba masanya untuk berbuat demikian.
Abdul Hadi dalam pada itu menyatakan hukum Hudud di negara ini hanya akan dilakukan jika rakyat negara ini berada dalam keadaan yang stabil.
"Masalah pengangguran masih ada lagi dan untuk laksanakan hukum ini kedudukan rakyat Malaysia mesti stabil contohnya daripada segi pendidikan, kehidupan, dan hubungan keluarga juga kena dijaga," katanya yang dipetik daripada agensi berita.

Ulasan: Kepada kawan-kawan yang bukan Islam, berikanlah kami peluang untuk melaksanakan agama kami.

Selebriti Bercerai: Misteri, Rahsia dan Pelik!

Hajat di hati ingin bersama kalau boleh hingga ke hujung nyawa tapi kuasa Allah tiada siapa yang tahu.
Mungkin itu yang selalu dirasakan oleh mereka yang kecundang melayari bahtera rumahtangga. Walau berapa talak yang diberi, momen indah tetap terpahat di dalam hati.
Tidak wajar menuding jari, baik suami atau isteri kerana bertepuk tangan sebelah tidak berbunyi. Lagipun, tiada siapa yang inginkan penceraian, apatah lagi jika ada anak kecil yang tidak berdosa menjadi korban.
Rata-rata kehadiran orang ketiga menjadi penyebab rumahtangga bergolak dan akhirnya pecah. Tapi ada juga yang masih bertahan sungguhpun si suami bermain kayu tiga…
(http://pasbagandatoh.blogspot.com/2008/12/selebriti-bercerai-yang-misteri-rahsia.html)

Ulasan: Kejayaan dan kebahagiaan kita di dalam hidup ini dan di akhirat nanti bergantung hanya di atas ketaatan kita kepada perintah Allah s.w.t mengikut cara hidup Rasulullah s.a.w. Jangan terleka dan tertipu dengan perhiasan dunia yang mengasyikkan dan mengkagumkan tapi semuanya hanyalah sementara cuma.