Media Review Network – Page 1224 – Providing Context and Substance

A bush in sheeps clothing

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

A Bush in sheep’s clothing
Obama’s speech shows little real change. In most regards his analysis maintains flawed American policies

by Ali Abunimah

Once you strip away the mujamalat – the courtesies exchanged between guest and host – the substance of President Obama’s speech in Cairo indicates there is likely to be little real change in US policy. It is not necessary to divine Obama’s intentions – he may be utterly sincere and I believe he is. It is his analysis and prescriptions that in most regards maintain flawed American policies intact.

Though he pledged to "speak the truth as best I can", there was much the president left out. He spoke of tension between "America and Islam" – the former a concrete specific place, the latter a vague construct subsuming peoples, practices, histories and countries more varied than similar.

Imam khomeini in contemporary islamic history

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

Imam Khomeini in contemporary Islamic history

This month, to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of Imam Khomeini, Crescent International and Islamic Book Trust, Kuala Lumpur, have published a book of essays on the Imam’s life and thought. Here we present an abridged version of the introduction to that volume, written by former Crescent editor IQBAL SIDDIQUI.

Imam Ruhullah Musawi al-Khomeini (September 24, 1902 to June 3, 1989) is among those iconic figures of history about whom everybody thinks they know much more than they actually do. His name and image, and a few basic facts about his life and work, are so familiar, so instantly recognisable, that any deeper consideration of his life and work seems superfluous. And yet he is in fact one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented figures of recent history. This is because the40and impressions people have of him are largely those generated and promoted by the West-dominated international media, for which he became a hate-figure after the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1978–79. In the Muslim world, moreover, enemies of the Islamic Revolution, and of political Islam generally, have not only adopted the West’s negative image of him, but have further added the sectarian label of “Shi‘i” to try to neutralise his influence on Islamic movements and activists there.

Is abbas destroying fateh?

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

Is Abbas destroying Fateh?

Mahmoud Abbas, the de-facto President of the nominally autonomous Palestinian Authority, is steadily and certainly corroding the Fateh movement.

For many years, Fateh was a conspicuous component of the progressive and anti-imperialistic Arab front.

Now, thanks to the Kafkaesque metamorphosis effected by Abbas and his Western-backed junta, Fateh has been transformed into a willing tool utilized by the U.S., Israel and tyrannical Arab regimes to undermine Palestinian national interests in ways unprecedented since the creation of the PLO more than 70 years ago.

Most arabs know this speech will make little difference

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

Most Arabs Know This Speech Will Make Little Difference

I suspect that what the Arab world wants to hear is that Obama will take his soldiers out of Muslim lands

By Robert Fisk

June 02, 2009 "The Independent" — More and more, it looks like the same old melody that Bush’s lads used to sing. We’re not against the Muslim world. In fact, we are positively for it. We want you to have democracy, up to a point. We love Arab "moderates" and we want to reach out to you and be your friends. Sorry about Iraq. And sorry – again, up to a point – about Afghanistan and we do hope that you understand why we’ve got to have a little "surge" in Helmand among all those Muslim villages with their paper-thin walls. And yes, we’ve made mistakes.

Everyone in the world, or so it seems, is waiting to see if this is what Barack Obama sings. I’m not sure, though, that the Arabs are waiting with such enthusiasm as the rest of the world.