The conflict between Sunni and Shiites in Iraq is what this cartoon is portraying. Obviously the cartoonists positions is that the conflict is to blame on an ignorant American Government, portrayed as a cowboy. He also portrays the views of others that yes, the Americans did break into Iraq but that they are not to blame for the current conflict. The way that the cartoonist portrayed the two factions like two djinns ( Devils from Arabic mythology) made it pretty persuasive, it also had a lot of humor in it, which made it more convincing indeed.
'The present struggle over Al-Aqsa is the consequence of Israel's use of religious dogma as a cover for its violent settler-colonialism,' says Abunimah
Much of the media coverage of recent raids and protests by Israeli police and settlers at Al-Aqsa Mosque have focused on the"exclusive Muslim control"over the compound in Israeli-occupied Jerusalem, and Palestinian fears of the demand by Jewish settlers to "divide it". Lost in the religious warfare narrative is the colonial impulse governing both Israeli actions and Palestinian reactions. Where does the struggle for Al-Aqsa fit within the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
Four leading Palestinian figures give their take on the latest round of Israeli violence at Al-Aqsa.
The escalating Israeli attempts to take over the Aqsa Mosque and the rest of the Noble Sanctuary (al-Haram al-Sharif) in Jerusalem is a sign of Israeli boldness to complete the occupation of all Palestine. It is also a sign of Israeli realisation that neither Palestinians nor Arabs have a determined leadership to defend Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim rights.
This is a time of Israeli fanatic extremism at its height and the Arab defence at its lowest ebb.
At its origins, Zionism was a pure colonial project to serve the interests of wealthy European Jews who had financed European colonialism in the 19th century. It was a secular movement which used religion at later stages to recruit simple followers.
In his only visit to Jerusalem in 1898, [Theodor] Herzl found in Jerusalem a miserable Jewish community, full of superstition and fanaticism, and preferred to build his intended capital in Galilee.
Leading Zionists have expounded the priority of their aims clearly: to acquire land and bring Jews to colonise it. The Zionist programme was a gradual takeover of Palestine.
It is the same today. But history and international law go against Zionist schemes.
In July 1924, the British Mandate of Palestine, in spite of its bias towards Zionism, promulgated an order-in-council that guaranteed the status quo of religious sites and practises, which existed many centuries before.
When Jewish fanatics broke the law and attacked the Buraq Wall (Western Wall) in 1929, an international committee was convened to investigate the situation; it determined that the Buraq Wall is an absolute Muslim property and Jews are only allowed to pray there "as per custom", provided they do not install any permanent structures.
The famous United Nations resolution 194 of December 1948, calling for the return of refugees, states that "the holy places, religious buildings, and sites in Palestine should be protected and free access to them assured, in accordance with existing rights and historical practise".
The 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict states that "the high contracting parties further undertake to prohibit, prevent and, if necessary, put a stop to any form of theft, pillage or misappropriation of, and any acts of vandalism directed against cultural property. They shall refrain from requisitioning movable cultural property situated in the territory of another high contracting party; and, they shall refrain from any act directed by way of reprisals against cultural property".
But Israel violates all these laws.
Inside Story - Can Netanyahu change Al-Aqsa status quo?
After the Israeli destruction of the 800-year-old Moroccan Quarter in June 1967, Jews wanted to take the Noble Sanctuary. The burning of Saladin's minbar in August 1969, the slaughter of worshippers on many occasions, and now, the brazen attempts to attack Al-Aqsa Mosque, highlight Israel's unchecked behaviour.
This is a direct consequence of Israel revealing its true face of fanaticism, racism, and extended occupation. It is futile to call this Israeli government right-wing. Its basic structure is, as always, a settlers' regime that now wants to ensure its full control of what is left of Palestine and to make Jerusalem the unchallenged political and religious capital of Greater Israel.
This development is a direct result of the absence of a trustworthy Palestinian leadership, of its acquiescence in the Oslo Accords to serve the Israeli occupation, of the failure of the Arab government to defend Arab rights - with some actually siding with Israel - and of the inability of 1.5 billion Muslims to defend the first Qibla and the third holy mosque after Mecca.
But resistance will undoubtedly rise, possibly from unexpected quarters.
Resistance can take many forms: legal, public, boycott, and international sanctions, to name a few. The list is endless.The burden will fall upon people, not governments.There is a great reservoir of power there.
'The escalating Israeli attempts to take over the Aqsa Mosque and the rest of the Noble Sanctuary is a sign of Israeli boldness to complete the occupation of all Palestine,' says Abu Sitta [AP]
The present struggle over Al-Aqsa is the consequence of Israel's use of religious dogma as a cover for its violent settler-colonialism and ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied West Bank since 1967.
Recall that the key founders of Zionism and the Israeli state - Theodor Herzl and David Ben-Gurion, for instance - were not particularly religious and indeed anti-religious. Religious dogma was not the most prominent feature of Zionism in its earliest phases. Rather, Zionism was modelled after other 19th-century European Romantic nationalist movements.
After 1967, Israel sought excuses for its colonisation of the newly conquered West Bank, leading to the ascendancy of the so-called national-religious trend and the formation of Gush Emunim, the right-wing group that spearheaded the new settlement movement in the West Bank.
Their doctrine, once seen as fringe even in Israel, is now entirely mainstream. It posits that the modern-day Israeli state is justified in settling the whole "Land of Israel" because of promises contained in biblical texts.
In this sense, modern-day Zionist settler-colonialism is not terribly different from its defunct cousins in South Africa and Northern Ireland, where Afrikaners and Unionists respectively imagined themselves as beleaguered peoples fulfilling a covenant with God by settling the land.
The logical extension of this post-1967 trend is the so-called "temple movement", which today finds support in the heart of the Israeli government and establishment.
Temple groups, funded by the state and the occupation municipality in Jerusalem, are actively agitating for the construction of a Jewish "Third Temple" in place of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
These are the groups behind the increasingly aggressive incursions into Al-Aqsa, under the guise of seeking more access for Jews. But the outcome they seek is the destruction of Al-Aqsa in order to build the temple; some groups have already developed detailed blueprints for it.
Many believe that violent provocations will bring about the conditions necessary to bring their vision to reality.
If they make a serious attempt to destroy Al-Aqsa - something that is growing more likely by the day - there is no underestimating the catastrophic geopolitical consequences.
The Palestinian and broader Muslim reactions to Israel's use of religious dogma to justify its violent takeover of Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank has sometimes been to advance religious counterclaims and to emphasise the Islamic sanctity of Al-Aqsa as the prime motivation for defending it.
But recasting the anti-colonial struggle in Palestine in religious terms would be a mistake, which ultimately plays into Israel's hands.
Zionists actively promote the idea that Jews, represented by Israel, and Christians, represented by "the West", are engaged in a global struggle against "radical Islam". A religious struggle has no ultimate solution. It is an endless war. That suits Israel just fine.
A political, territorial and colonial struggle, by contrast, does have a solution: decolonisation and the restoration of the rights of the colonised people. That, of course, is the last thing Israel wants, which is why it will continue to stoke religious strife at Al-Aqsa.
'Resistance will undoubtedly rise, possibly from unexpected quarters,' says Abu Sitta [Getty Images]
Israeli leaders have long strategised and planned to frame this conflict along religious lines. All of their designs for Jerusalem, ever since they occupied it in 1967, have been about how to increase the Jewish population of the city and decrease the Palestinian Muslim and Christian populations.
To achieve that end, Israel crafted several laws that favour incremental Israeli control of the city and systematic expelling of its Palestinian residents.
Israeli plans for Jerusalem are to put the Arab population in the city at only 12 percent, while the remaining 88 percent would be Jewish, with full Israeli sovereignty over all of Jerusalem, excluding the villages of Beit Hanina and other outlying areas.
The conflict in Jerusalem is a demographic one that Israel is framing along religious lines. In 1972, for example, then Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir wanted the percentage of the city's residents to be 78 percent Jewish and 22 percent Arab.
But now, the strategies have changed, with Israeli leaders speaking about a "Metropolitan Jerusalem" that would comprise about 10 percent of the entire land area of the West Bank. This would include all of the Israeli settlements that are now outside the municipal boundaries of the city and exclude the Palestinian areas located outside of the separation wall. This is known as Israel's "master plan", the "Jerusalem 2020".
Accordingly, Israel plans to build a synagogue inside the Aqsa courtyard to further enhance its religious narrative, inflaming Muslims' religious passion and solidifying its religious framing of the conflict.
Israel wants to drag Palestinians and Arabs into a religious war between Muslims and Jews, altering the nature of the conflict from a conflict over the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories to a religious war.
By framing the conflict as a religious one, Israel would argue on the world stage that Jews are once again being threatened with a holocaust, but this time around, at the hands of Muslims and in the Middle East, rather than in Europe.
It is a hideous design that incorporates politics, geography, law and slick PR tactics in order to convince the world.
At the same time, it is Israel that has systematically undermined the Palestinian Muslim and Christian historic presence in the city and worked tirelessly to eradicate the Palestinian character of the city.
'The Israeli government should work to restrain Jewish extremists before they drag the whole region into more conflict and more violence,' says Pastor Noam [EPA]
Very Reverend Hosam Naom, Dean of St George the Martyr Cathedral in Jerusalem
What's happening in Al-Aqsa today is a very dangerous escalation, and it does undermine the peace and stability of our city. The Israeli government should work to restrain Jewish extremists before they drag the whole region into more conflict and more violence.
We as Palestinian Christians have always stood with our Muslim brothers and sisters in defence of our city and our holy places. We condemn any act of vandalism against holy sites of all Abrahamic faiths.
We also stress the importance of the status quo of the holy sites in Jerusalem, and we value the role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan as custodian of these holy sites.
The tragic events at Al-Aqsa are a serious reminder to all of us of the need to have a solution to this conflict, and we hope it will be a peaceful one. We always pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict - and particularly in Jerusalem - is not about religion; that is, it is not between Muslims and Jews or Christians and Jews. The issue is much bigger than that.
From a Palestinian Christian perspective, the issue for us is the same as for the rest of Palestinians who are not Christians. Palestinians have the right to have their own state in their own territories as per the agreements signed between Palestinian leaders and Israel.
This conflict cannot be resolved along religious parameters or framed as a religious one simply because it is not. A religious war is very dangerous for all of us.
Palestinians aspire to be free in their own country, regardless of the religious affiliation of anyone who is party to this conflict.
"Why Israel wants a religious war over Al-Aqsa." Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera English. 21 Sept 2015. 21 Sept 2015 8:24
I really liked this article because it presented views and opinions almost completely contrary to mine. Al-Jazeera an Arab new media which targets Muslims presented their information very well. They obviously had a bias, their opposition to Jewish settlement. It is a very persuasive article, especially for Christians since they even give the opinion of a church official in Jerusalem. This paper was more analytical in for of news instead of being breaking news. It presented a very international problem to its audience, in the article it mentions that what they are writing about pertains to about 1.5 billion Muslims. It also pertains to about 2 billion Christians in the world and about 10 million Jews. In conclusion even though this article had a clear bias it managed to be relevant to a large and heterogeneous audience.
Clashes as Israeli soldiers storm Al-Aqsa compound
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemns "attack" on
Al-Aqsa following clashes at one of Islam's holiest sites.
Clashes have erupted after a number Of Israeli soldiers entered the Al-Aqsa
Mosque
compound in Jerusalem, police and witnesses said.
The Israeli security personnel used tear
gas and stun grenades, as they entered the
compound to arrest what they called Palestinian "stone
throwers".
Omar Kiswani, the manager of Al-Aqsa Mosque, told Al Jazeera that 80 "Jewish settlers-
protected by the Israeli police, attacked the mosque when confronted by Palestinian
volunteer guards.
A statement issued by the Israeli police said that "masked protesters who were inside the
mosque
threw stones and fireworks at police".
A TV-Muslim witness accused police of entering the mosque and
causing damage, saying
prayer mats were partially burned
Clashes later continued outside the
mosque complex, with police firing tear gas and stun
grenades.
Israeli security forces closed the
mosque's compound to worshippers following the
clashes that come just hours before the Start Of the
Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned what he called
an "attack" by Israeli
authorities.
"The presidency strongly condemns the attack by the occupier's
military and police against
the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the aggression against the faithful who were
there," a statement
from his office said.
Israeli forces, accompanied by minister of agriculture
stormed Al-aqsa mosque
early this morning.
Micky Rosenfeld, a spokesman for Israeli police, said
that the Israeli police received
intelligence in the morning about the possible disturbances at Al-Aqsa
Mosque that would
involve explosive devices as well as stones thrown at Jewish visitors.
Police
officers entered the area, I am talking about the Temple Mount area only,
and shut the front doors of
the Al Aqsa Mosque to prevent those riots from overflowing
onto the Temple Mount area.
"Our
police units took the situation under control from 20 to 25 minutes only using stun
grenades, non-
lethal weapons only to make sure that situation remained calm.
Mustafa Barghouti, the secretary-
general of the Palestinian National Initiative, said that
the Israeli police were being dishonest.
"The
Israeli police are lying, they have lied before and they are lying again," he said.
"I think what
happened today is an act of aggression on the part of the Israeli army,- he
said, adding that right-wing
Jewish settlers provoked Palestinians when they entered the
mosque.
"This is unacceptable.
Al
Jazeera's Scott Heidler, reporting from Jerusalem, said there are some reports that
Jewish groups and
Jewish activists who are not supposed to pray in the Al-Aqsa compound
got in there, and this is what
could have triggered the clashes.
"We are hearing that the minister of agriculture, a member of a
right-wing political party
here in Israel, was waiting to get into the compound this morning If that
directly sparked
what we saw, it is difficult to say," Heidler said.
The disturbances carne with
tensions running high after Israeli Defence Minister Moshe
Yaalon last week banned two Muslim
groups from entering the mosque compound
Islam's third holiest site.
Israel seized East Jerusalem,
where Al Aqsa is located, in the Six Day War Of 1967 and later
annexed it in a move not recognised
by the international community.
Clashes continued outside the mosque complex, with police firing
tear gas and stun
grenades
Renewed clashes at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound At least three arrested in second day of clashes as Israeli
security forces storm the compound of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Palestinians and Israeli police clashed at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for a
second
straight day on Monday, prompting several arrests.
" As the police entered the compound, masked
youths fled inside the mosque and threw
stones at the force," an Israeli police statement said.
Police
said they entered the hilltop compound to ensure that Muslim youths massing
there did not harass
Jews or tourists during the morning visiting hours. The statement
added that three protesters were
arrested.
Israeli security personnel on Sunday used tear gas and stun grenades in a move
condemned
by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as they entered the compound to
arrest what they called
Palestinian "stone throwers".
"The presidency strongly condemns the attack by the occupier's military
and police
against the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the aggression against the faithful who were there," a
statement from his office said.
Non-Muslims are allowed to visit the compound, but Jews must
display national symbols
for fear of triggering tensions with Muslim worshipers.
Muslims fear Israel
will seek to change rules governing the site, with far-right Jewish
groups pushing for more access and
even efforts by fringe organisations to erect a new
temple. Al-Aqsa Mosque is Muslim's third holiest
site.
Israel seized East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, in the Six Day War of 1967 and
later
annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community.
"Renewed clashes at Jerusalem 's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound" Al-Jazeera. Al-Jazeera English. 14 September 2015 09:13 GMT. 14 September 2015 05:01 EAT. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/09/renewed-clashes-jerusalem-al-aqsa-mosque-compound-150914072317224.html
This article caught my attention because it is about the situation between Israel and Palestine, particularly because it is about one of the focal points of the conflict. The Temple Mount which is where the Al-Aqsa Mosque is located. The article intended for Arab adults was most definitely biased towards the Palestine side of the story. This is evident because in the pictures ( if you can't see them in them in the blog click on the URL above) you only see Palestine individuals being attacked, you don’t see them throwing stones at the Jewish police. Also only the Palestinian reaction is given in the article, the Jewish side of the story is mostly ignored. This bias is because Al-Jazeera is an Arab news media so understandably they would present their twist on the truth.
Tuareg and Tebu fight proxy battle in southwest Libya
Since September, the conflict has claimed hundreds of lives
and displaced most of the region's population.
Tuareg youth have been hit hardest by Libya's violent chaos and skyrocketing
unemployment
Ubari and Ghat, Libya - Fierce fighting between indigenous Tuareg and Tebu tribes in
the isolated Saharan town of Ubari, near Libya's lucrative southern oil fields and vast
frontier with Algeria, Niger, and Chad, has entered its 10th bloody month.
The oasis, once a draw for tourists crossing kilometres of spectacular desert dunes, is
now the site of a vicious proxy battle between outside powers vying to divide local tribes
and rule the remote mineral-rich and politically volatile area.
"We want peace and we want Libya to prosper," said 'lahar Wafalla, a Tuareg leader in his
mid-30s who mans a nightly watch of volunteer fighters in Ubari's outskirts. They all said
they brought their own weapons and ammunition to the battle.
Since September, the conflict has claimed hundreds of lives and displaced most of the
region's Tuareg and Arab families, as well as the Tebu minority. Businesses and homes in
the town, which had a pre-war population of 35,000, have been destroyed, and the one
road leading through Ubari has been held hostage by the fight.
Many Tuareg have little economic alternative but to use their innate knowledge of the
desert
The Tuareg fighters talk softly and laugh while they cook their evening meal over a
bonfire, after an exhausting day of violent skirmishes with Tebu snipers in Ubari's
devastated downtown, and mortar fire on the nearby strategic Tendi mountaintop. They
tense up when vehicles approach over sandy tracks in the dark, and strain to hear distant
gunfire.
They have been guarding Ubari's residents against Tebu fighters, said Wafalla, who is
from the remote Tuareg town Of Ghat, nearly 300km southwest along a narrow, decrepit
road skirting the picturesque Acacus mountain range towards Algeria 's border.
Former dictator Muammar Gaddafi heavily recruited from Ghat for his army and
intelligence services, promising the Tuareg - who are stretched across borders into
Algeria, Niger and Mali - a Libyan sanctuary, jobs and rights. But many Tuareg still await
their promised Libyan ID cards, access to a quality education, and an escape from the
poorly paid security sector or hard-scrabble life of smuggling.
Tuareg youth have been hit hardest, impoverished and hemmed in by Libya 's violent
chaos and skyrocketing unemployment. Like members Of the Tebu tribe, who live mostly
between the southern towns of Murzuq and Kufra, as well as in neighbouring Chad, many
Tuareg have little economic alternative but to use their innate knowledge of the desert to
transport a cross-border cargo Of people, subsidised gasoline, drugs, and guns.
Mohammed, 28, wears a baseball hat, black T-shirt and gold chains as he hawks black
market gasoline in jerry cans by a dusty football pitch in Ghat to customers desperate for
fuel. Gas stations are often closed around the southern city of Sebha, mostly due to
corruption, and the one road from there to Ghat is blocked at Ubari by Tebu snipers.
Mohammed buys gas in Ubari from traders and shuttles it to Ghat, marking up the price
by one-third, to 300 Libyan dinars ($220) for a full tank.
"There are no jobs and the quality of life is bad," Mohammed told Al Jazeera, noting
many of the young men here smoke hash and smuggle drugs, migrants, and guns.
"We smuggle because we know the desert, even though the French are there,"
Mohammed said. He laughed when asked about the lack of roads. "We use the stars, not
GPS.-
Although many Tuareg soldiers remained loyal until Gaddafi was toppled in 2011, the
Tebu tribe sided with the revolutionaries hoping for a better life. So did Tuareg men like
Wafalla, who, under Tuareg leader Abu Baker Issa - recently killed in a Tebu ambush in
Ubari - formed a revolutionary unit to safeguard Tuareg territory in the southwest.
In Wadi Meggedet, looming volcanic pinnacles jut out Of a remote sandy moonscape near
the Algerian border, hours off road from Ghat's asphalt highway. A group of young
Tuareg students, border guards and musicians travel here often to sit under the stars,
drink tea, eat and play the guitar and drums.
Mojahad, 37, like Wafalla, said he defected to join Issa's revolutionary forces securing the
borders. But he and his colleagues have not been paid their government salaries for three
months, he said, and they have few patrol cars and weapons.
Recently, many smuggling paths have shifted away from Tuareg territory in the
southwest to the border due south Of Sebha, under 'rebu control and French surveillance.
A group of young Tuareg travel here often to sit under the stars, drink tea and play
guitar.
Libya's duelling governments have backed armed groups across the country fighting over
oil assets and infrastructure. They have thrown support to opposing forces in the Ubari
fight, but both the Tuareg and Tebu say while it is enough to sustain the fighting, it is
not enough to win.
Misratan forces, who are based in Sebha and, alongside the Tuareg, guard Libya's second-
largest oil field at Sharara, are a key power in the Tripoli-based Libya Dawn government.
Misrata provides medical aid and gasoline to Tuareg fighters, while Tripoli's defence
ministry is said to provide some financial backing.
The internationally recognised Dignity government, based in Tobruk and Beida, along
with General Khalifa Haftar's force, have the United Arab Emirates and Egypt as large
supporters and back the Tebu. While the Tebu have largely aligned with the Dignity
government, the Tuareg community is split between the two governments.
However, all Tuareg residents, who spoke with Al Jazeera, said they were united in
defending their homes in Ubari, noting loyalty to their tribe trumps politics.
Meanwhile, the United States and European Union have expressed concern(81 about the
growing threat Of the Islamic State Of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the north. There are
also fears the group could take root in the chaotic south. They have been scrambling for
solutions to stem the tide of thousands of African migrants and asylum seekers
traversing the desert en route to Europe. Many Tuareg are sceptical Of a recent
ceasefire brokered in Ubari, the latest in a series of ineffectual agreements for what
they now consider a proxy war.
The Tuareg, who have a history Of conflict with France in north Africa, are suspicious Of
French military and economic aspirations in the area. There is a French military base
100km into Niger from the Libyan border, as well as a US military presence.
Meanwhile, Algeria has bolstered its border security to control spillover violence from
Libya, effectively cutting Off the Libyan Tuareg from their Algerian kin.
Additionally, some Tuareg believe that powerful Libyan government interests are pitting
the south's indigenous tribes against each other to control the area's lucrative oil fields
and border trade.
"There were so many katibas (armed groups) in Ubari to defend the tribes before the
fighting, and we told them that this was wrong, that they should be accountable to the
government," said Yahya Ibrahim, a Tuareg school teacher in Ubari. He was forced to flee
with his family to Ghat when his home on the front-line was burned down.
"I think Libyans can govern themselves, but the problem is from the outside," he said. "If
this was purely Libyan, we could solve the problem between ourselves."
This article is
quite an interesting article to read because it incorporates many elements that
are prevalent in modern media. The article which is intended towards adults,
mainly Arab adults, is like a follow up on the Arab spring which in Libya
turned into a civil war. It also touches on ISIS and western foreign
involvement. When reading the article one feels like the writer is definitely
against Western involvement in Libya since they focus more on the Libyan side
of the story, particularly the Tuareg. The publisher is most definitely biased
against the West since it is an Arab media. The objective of the article is to
give light to a people group who are marginalized and misrepresented.
Hello all who read this, my name is Joel Manu. I am a Swedish teen living in Kenya. My parents live and work in a country called Mozambique, so if you ever ask where I'm from you will probably get a blank stare. I don't really have hobbies, those are for people with free time. Lots of free time. In the rare moments when I'm not in school or doing that H.W I like to sleep, hang out with my friends, game, ( Dota all the way) and cook food, ( Rice is life). Oh and I'm a Christian, forgot about that. My favorite activity is probably public speaking, I do it for the rush! My dream is to one day speak in front of the U.N General Assembly, or just a really big crowd of people. My nightmare would be to be a brick maker in Pakistan. Yes, Pakistan. I am looking forward to working with all of you, my dear readers.
