On Monday June 6 the Adhaalath Party released an ominous statement claiming that allowing the Israeli national carrier El Al to fly to the Maldives is “a threat” to the country’s economy and statehood.
Maldivian authorities have announced that the airline could begin operations in December this year.
In a valiant effort to shoulder the unwieldy burden of speaking for the 1400-year old Islamic faith, the Adhaalath Party has responded to the news by threatening “nationwide protests”, exhorting citizens “who love their religion” to join them.
It has become absurd theatre to watch the Mullah reach for the raw teats of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and milk the tragedy for all it is worth.
Hawks and doves
First, the facts – the world has overwhelmingly recognised the need for Palestinian statehood.
In his 2009 address to the Muslim world at Cairo, President Barack Obama reaffirmed US support for a two-state solution, recognising both parties as having “legitimate aspirations.”
In perhaps the most pro-Palestinian speech by a US President in history, Obama also asserted in a major speech last month that “the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines”, while also calling for full and phased withdrawal of Israeli military forces from Palestine.
Various polls show that a majority of Palestinians and Israelis support the idea of two states co-existing peacefully side-by-side.
Pope Benedict XVI, Bishop of Rome, and leader of the billion-strong Roman Catholic Church, has also thrown his weight behind the idea of Palestinian statehood. Celebrities, left-leaning Israeli parties, public intellectuals and several high-profile Jews and Jewish organisations around the world have also lent their support to the Palestinian cause.
Why, then, has this convoluted tangle remained unsolved for decades?
Perhaps the answer partly lies in the reactions to the US President’s conciliatory speech.
While Obama’s statements were well-received among Palestinian lobbyists, the right-wing militant Hamas wasted no time in heaping scorn on it. On the other side of the fence, within hours of the US government’s announcement that it “does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements”, hawkish elements in the right-wing Israeli government announced the construction of 1500 more housing units in occupied Jerusalem.
Peace, unsurprisingly, is not welcome by those whose politics depend on division and hatred.
Selective outrage
The Adhaalath party has stated that “the government should not establish ties with oppressive states that violate international human rights conventions.”
Fair enough. But one must wonder why this magnanimous vision is not being applied uniformly to our ties with the rest of the world.
Why does this party not take the moral high-ground on our ties with China? After all, that country has, by numerous accounts, oppressed the people of Xinjiang and Tibet regions for over half a century.
During Chairman Mao’s infamous Great Leap Forward, between 200,000 and one million Tibetans – of whom Muslims form the largest minority – lost their lives. To this day, the Tibetan government operates in exile and their displaced populations have little hope of returning to their homeland.
Why does the Mullah not demand “nationwide” protests against the twice daily flights operating from India – a country that, according to Amnesty International and various other Human Rights NGOs – has continued to exercise brutal military control over Kashmir since 1947?
Apologists for the “boycott Israel” camp insist there is an as-yet-unexplained “difference” between the Palestinian situation and the rest of the world’s humanitarian crises.
Don’t the Kashmiris, who have been fighting for a homeland and self-representation in the most militarised region of the world for a full year longer than Palestinians, find equal sympathy in the heart of the otherwise easily outraged Mullah?
There are, after all, 1.5 million refugees from the vivisected remains of Muslim-populated Kashmir, according to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
Why should the mass-graves unearthed in Kashmir be less of a humanitarian catastrophe than Palestinians going without gasoline?
And why doesn’t the big-hearted Mullah condemn the Kashmiri Islamists as well? Surely, the murder and displacement of over 400,000 Kashmiri Hindus, which the US Congress declared an act of ethnic cleansing in 2006, qualifies as a crime against humanity?
Pray why haven’t the Mullah’s minions gathered outside the Turkish Embassy in Male’ with their pitchforks?
Surely, the Turkish government’s continued denial of justice for the genocide of hundreds of thousands of Armenians – by burning, poisoning, drowning and marching till exhaustion – counts as “violating Human Rights conventions”?
If the Mullah contends those wounds have been healed and forgiven by the passage of time, then perhaps he could also explain his meek silence over the ongoing genocide in Darfur – an area approximately the size of Spain.
Even the Sudanese authorities have officially admitted to a death toll of nearly 20,000 since 2003 – which outnumbers the total Palestinian deaths over the last three decades. Aid agencies on the ground in Darfur have estimated about 400,000 dead as a result of systematic ethnic cleansing, aided and funded by the Sudanese government.
A party that can issue swift press releases condemning the President’s dance moves can certainly spare a word of condemnation for the war crimes in neighboring Sri Lanka, and perhaps organise “nationwide” protests against their airlines as well.
The Maldives continues to maintain ties with undemocratic, repressive regimes throughout the Middle East.
Syria has killed over a thousand Muslims and erased the whereabouts of another ten thousand over the past two months.
Bahrain has ruthlessly cracked down on doctors and nurses attending to injured Muslim protesters.
Should we also reconsider our ties with Pakistan in the light of increasing evidence that points towards decades of sponsored terrorism that has cost numerous lives in bombings of Mosques and market places?
If the argument is that Palestine deserves a special consideration because of the holy sites present there, then the shouldn’t the esteemed Mullah be the first to demand that the Maldives cut off all ties with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – a nation that violates numerous International Human Rights conventions, and is widely alleged to have tortured thousands of its own citizens?
The answer in all these cases, one might reasonably expect, is an unreserved “No”.
Why then does the Mullah vent his spleen so selectively over just one nation – Israel – with a passion and vehemence that he denies for all the other inhuman atrocities taking place in the world?
What explains the Mullahs’ double standards in singling out just one nation – Israel – while maintaining healthy relations with the United States, Italy, England and Australia – all of whom have allegedly ‘wronged our Muslim brothers’ by participating in a global war on abstract concepts?
This two-faced approach towards foreign policy is patently dishonest, disingenuous, and riddled with bias. Genuine empathy and humanitarian compassion is unconditional and transcends all petty distinctions of race, ethnicity and artificial geographical boundaries.
In that context, what is being passed off as ‘humanitarian concern’ by the Adhaalath party, unfortunately, smacks of mere political opportunism.
Sovereign Republic or Arab Satellite state?
A nation is truly sovereign when its leaders have both the will and capacity to take independent decisions that places at its heart the best interests of its citizens.
A note-worthy example is India – the first non-Arab nation to establish diplomatic relations with the PLO, and well-known champion of the Palestinian cause, that nevertheless maintains strong defense and diplomatic ties with Israel.
An indicator of their successful foreign policy would be that despite being a severe critic of Israeli military misadventures in Lebanon and Gaza, India emerged on a 2009 poll conducted on behalf of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, as the most “pro-Israeli” nation in the world ahead of the US!
The sovereignty of Dhivehi Raajje is put under a cloud by those who place Arab priorities above the interests of Dhivehin.
The Maldives was the second nation – and the first Muslim nation – in the world to recognise the state of Israel. Israel became the first modern country to send an ambassador to the Maldives in 1965, during the reign of the Sultan Mohamed Farid.
When the Indian Ocean tsunami struck in 2004, Israel was among the first nations in the world to respond with emergency relief measures. Israeli Magen David Adom has provided training and support to Maldivian armed forces, police and fire departments.
Israeli medical volunteers from ‘Eye from Zion’ have conducted free treatment camps in the Maldives late last year, in a bid to strengthen friendly relations between the two nations.
However, just as with the Hamas and the Far-Right parties in Israel, Maldivian Islamist groups responded to the extended olive branch with claws and daggers.
If hostility seems insurmountable, it is because there are those who cannot stand the idea of peace.
Era of Peace and Dialogue
According to Maulana Jamil Ilyasi, who led an official delegation of the All India Organization of Imams and Mosques, a body representing over 500,000 Imams across India, to Israel in August 2007, “The time for violence has come to an end, and the era of peace and dialogue between Muslims and Jews has begun”
The Senior Indian cleric also called upon Pakistan to recognize the Jewish state, saying “The Jews I have met here say that we are all children of Abraham, part of the same family… The Muslims in India should come and see things for themselves.”
According to Transport and Communications Minister Adil Saleem, 500 Maldivians have traveled to Israel this year – and history bears witness that people-to-people exchanges are the surest way of ensuring lasting peace and mutual understanding.
Those who willfully spurn all attempts at peace have no moral authority to complain about violence.
So when vested interests claim that an Israeli airline would threaten the country – it is a blatant attempt at fanning the fires of hostility.
This so-called “threat” to our statehood and economy comes only from those who seek to stoke baseless controversy for mere political drama.
All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected].
–
(0)Dislikes
(0)Related Posts
Maldivians called to pray for Palestine following conflict - Maldives to boycott Israeli products, annul bilateral agreements
- Comment: The enigma of the Adhaalath Party and their radical politics
- Innamaadhoo island council asks Islamic Ministry to take action against Sheikh Shameem
- “Anti-semitism, racism, xenophobia and religious intolerance” deeply entrenched in Maldivian political discourse: Dr Shaheed
- Comment: Maldivian faith to Maldivians
Create, highlight issues, such as Muslims throwing the holy book on rubbish dumps, co-education, Arabiyya School, Israeli connection, .. all for photos.. to be mailed to officially "unknown" benefactors in the Middle East.. from whom Mullahs cream off their "charity" money. That's the modus operandi..
Great article Yameen.
Conservative Islamists in this country has taken over all dialog when it comes to morel riotousness, so it is good to see an argument that exposes that so called richousness for the farce that it is.
I condemn the state of Israel for not working towards a two state solution. But I also condemn all those who call for the abolition of Israel. In today's reality only a blood thirsty psychopath would make such an argument.
The extremist response to the Israel - Palestine solution is not rational. That you have made clear on numerous occasions. Reasonable people appreciate it. Yet will it work on men whose hearts are so inflamed with hatred, that they can not be reasoned with?
The extremist respone is routed in an all consuming desire for Muslims to control this 'Holy Land' land. An extremist interpretation of Islamic scriptures, which takes what are defined as Sahih Ahadith literally, believes that Muslims MUST control the Holy Land.
In an age of post modernism, and the despair many have of being able to spread peace and huma rights through rational arguments, the power of reason is, tragically, in decine, the rise of fundamentalism is the consequence. I read Nietzche' stating that you could take any position and REASON it out to make it appear that a position is based on reason, but that the concept that anything is 'reasonable' is an oppressive fallacy. This generated the romantic response, a revival of emotionalism in political drive, most of which was destructive.
Having been into Islamic extremism at one point myself, after having completed a few years of a degree, I can tell you that even the most rational minded men, if broken, if there human rights are oppressed, if their ability to be true to themselves is repressed through fear, if lonely and socially alienated, can be moved by the most irrational, emotive mindless drive.
When I was into extremist thinking, no rational minded argument would have worked on me. All that worked to bring my mind back out of the darkness was love.
Extremists have to be cared for, they have to be revived by the power of empathy before they can begin to appreciate our reason.
I believe that for extremist thinking to be eradicated in the Maldives, full human rights have to be realized. There has to be social justice. People have to be free from fear. I believe that to stand up for full human rights in the Maldives, it does not take a huge mind, it takes a huge HEART. It takes courage, it takes love, and these things are inspired through emotional inspiration, as I said before. THAT was what I was struggling to achieve, I was generating EMOTION. I am very sad to see it did not work.
Yet, I am only learning about blogging, and submitting letters etc... now, so I have not finished the struggle.
At the same time, Yameen, I had observed that you have even commented that 'oh why do I bother..." so... Let me assure you, that your work will help, but sometimes perhaps you need a little emotional inspiration to stay strong. So, your work is brilliant brother (we are all brother's in humanity) you have a real gift which you have had the opportunity to cultivate, so please stay strong,, never give up the fight...
The islamic conservatives need Israel. Together with Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United States, they forcibly keep the war burning, to milk the nations they control of flesh and blood for their 'outsourced war'.
When Israeli tanks and bombs attack Palestinian towns, men , women and children suffer. When an Italian man infiltrated Palestine to learn the truth, the salafis executed him.
What are they hiding? The fact that Palestine war is engineered to ply profit to OPEC, while inflicting unknowable suffering to the rest of the world?
A nation is truly sovereign when its leaders have both the will and capacity to take independent decisions that places at its heart the best interests of its citizens.
Sadly Mr. Rasheed once again tries to write above his capacity. Policy formulation is not for the young and inexperienced and foreign policy is always the hardest to grasp. The reason behind the Maldives' newfound love and support for America's Middle-East policy lies in indebtedness and an emerging dependence on the IMF. This is not an opinion piece as most people do not have the experience and knowledge to comment on the issue of Israel. I myself profess that I lack the same.
So shall we all allow the Adaalat Party to outline their foreign policy agenda and publicize it as they see fit. Perhaps they have a strategy for monetizing our budget beyond complete dependence on the UK, the EU and America.
Yameen wrote" "Genuine empathy and humanitarian compassion is unconditional and transcends all petty distinctions of race, ethnicity and artificial geographical boundaries."
Beautiful Brother...
Most Maldivians have no respect for the human right of their own people, yet I, as a Westerner, am supposed to, when speaking on a Maldivian e-news station (minivan) express respect for a Maldivian culture and Maldivian people who do not respect their own people's rights! Hypocrisy indeed!
Don't give me this your culture my culture you respect ours I will respect yours bullshit! We are all human beings with the same need for understanding and respect, and need to be free to be true to themselves! Why the hell should I respect a person and their culture which is oppressive to their own people!
Even Mohammed did not deprive people of their basic human rights so long as they were not a physical threat to the Muslims.
Please read Saeed and Saeed on Riddah. It is explained, in depth, that the reason the only time apostates were forced into Islam, was when they were AGAINST the Muslims physically, the context of the pro-coercion arguments has to be understood!
There are occasions that the Prophet and the Suhabba even fought for the rights of non-Muslims without forcing them to become Muslim! So, be good Muslims, like you claim you are, and follow the Sunnah in this regard!
Its interesting how the article's writer has tried to give information in a way that it tries to give the writer an image of someone having a lot of knowledge. But I can guarantee those that reads this article that the writer's knowledge is limited to a bias American point of view. I do not say all Western point of view because I studied International Relations and Security from Britain and even the British activists that fight for Freedom of Palestine and peace through out the world would acknowledge the lack of in depth understanding of the subjects by this writer. It is one thing to read books or political magazines and newspapers. However, it is another thing to actually understand the suffering behind the complex situations in each country, the history of each situation, the role of western countries in each conflict, the natural resources that exists in each region, why on certain oppressive regimes the West stays silent and on others they are ready to go to war, understanding the Jewish Lobby in America, Britain, Canada and other western nations, understanding how military objectives are planned out according to the pros and cons of that moment, understanding how activists and lobbyist target each issue/conflict on its own ground and on the right time;
(When Bush came to England to visit, I and over a two hundred thousand activist occupied London streets to show support for Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. It would not be advisable or even logical for us to demonstrate against Bush in support for the Muslims in Chechnya because Bush is not the Russian President)
,understanding the disadvantages of mixing different conflicts, understanding the legitimate right for people to fight oppression, understanding these rights given by International Law, understanding the right of a country to not receiving any foreign interference to its internal political problems under International Law, understanding the role played by capitalist states against the same international law which they expect other countries to abide by, understanding the ineffectiveness of the UN Security Council in dealing with world conflicts from Africa to Asia, understanding capitalism and imperialism, understanding how financial markets works, understanding how big business works with banks, understanding the western roles in oppressing the poor for decades, understanding the political and military support given by Western countries to oppressive dictators in Latin America as well as other regions, understanding the reasons for the support, understanding who benefited and who suffered, understanding regional influence and its impact on trade as well as economy of Western countries in the short term as well as the long term, understanding the genocides which have taken place around the world against Muslims as well as non-muslims and what justice was given to the victims by the United Nations, understanding why on some issues the UN is outspoken and on other issues it avoids direct confrontation to help the weak (One example for was the Rwandan Genocide), understanding the oppressive and undemocratic structure of the UN with its Security Council having the power of full veto on any subject at any time, understanding the amount of times the US has vetoed resolutions on condemning Israel by the UNSC on Israeli warcrimes, understanding how the UN and western nations were responsible for the creation of Israel at the expense of Muslims that were greater than the Maldives population, understanding imperialism, understanding what is an empire, understanding the rise and falls of empires before, its strategies to stay in power, its strategies to keep influence for its long term security, understanding of a new type of war that is fought where there is no borders, the use of covert assassinations in history and current date, understanding different secret agencies located in different nations, understanding politics of fear, understanding the different voting systems and media influence on voters, understanding who controls the media, understanding the role of certain lobbyist in influencing media in various countries, understanding propaganda from all sides, understanding the art of war used by military and politicians in history and to date and the most importantly the understanding the religion of Islam and the life and battles of Rasurullah (peace be upon him).
Without the knowledge of Islam and its Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), no use trying to convince believers of something which has no strong foundation. May Allah (swt) forgive you for your lack of understanding towards your Creator and your purpose in life as a slave of Allah (Swt). The easiest thing that lands us in Hell is our tongue, so best to fear Allah (Swt) and ask for forgiveness.
http://www.sandhaanu.net/videos/world-news/when-the-terrorists-were-freedom-fighters-video_2496913f4.html
who is this yaamin rasheed anyway? some anonymous blogger i think. no?
@MUAD MZ
Thankyou, that was insightful.
One ingredient which went into the mix to create the UN philosophy was Kant’s Perpetual Peace. He said that a nation only deserves sovereignty if it is a republic and respects its human rights.
Yes, the will to Power of early British Imperialism used International Law to stamp its own authority on nations and oppress them, the US did the same.
Yet Kant was correct, even though the ideals of UN have never been practiced, yes they had been exploited hypocritically.
The only argument which comes close to convincing me that in the name of National Sovereignty a people’s human rights can be overridden by the state and or it’s religion (people are forced into a religion be it Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism or whatever)is when it is convincing that a people MUST be united to ward off external attack, and that to not fight with, for your people and to not share their spirit would be genuine selfishness and harm the chance of other people’s lives being saved.
From the Islamic perspective you mention, this is best summarized by Hassan Al-Banna’s lecture on leadership, where, arguing that the Muslims had to have one leader to create internal unity to save the lives of their oppressed, it was fair that one from Bani Qureysh be the leader.
It is possible that it is justifiable that the Maldivians be forced into Islam to secure themselves against the Portuguese, for example. I would begrudgingly concede that as I do not know enough to argue otherwise.
However, to argue that it is necessary for Maldivian sovereignty now, to make sure all Maldivians are Muslim’s constitutionally; you have to explain that to me convincingly. You have to convince me Maldives sovereignty is at stake, genuinely. PLEASE try and do that.
It seems that it is simply diversionary, that is, focusing attention on an external enemy to justify political repression, a tactic used by dictators to secure support, the creation of external fear to prop a dictator up as a protector, defender, of a person’s sovereignty, when a dictator is in fact a repressor of people’s sovereignty.
I feel, Maldives will always retain its Islamic identity politically and otherwise, but that apostates deserve fairer treatment.
I mean, you can recite Prayer’s in parliament, structure the Government around Islam, and the culture, etc… yet IF a person happens to not believe, SO long as he is no threat, let him be!
For example I recently read a beautiful article where it said that when the Muslims were praying in the recent egyptian protest, the Christians surrounded them, joined hands with each other to protect them, to form a human shield around them. If a person becomes a Christian or is gay, or an atheist, he would not necessarily stop loving his Maldivian people.
For example, one Maldivian Christian says that being a Christian makes him more nationalistic than ever. Hilath, the so called champion of gay rights, has a deeper love for the spirituality of Maldives than anyone I know. He had written alot about Fanditha etc in the past... Just two examples out of a thousand.
This is not a great article at all. It's a mediocre one at best which tries to create a semblance of balance by quoting unconnected international conflicts.
Yameen Rasheed tries yet again to punch above his weight. This article is a thin facade which sadly tries to de-emphasise the illegal annexation, continued occupation and repression of the Palestinians by a state itself founded on the blood of those Palestinians.
Yameen asks us why we do not break off ties with India because of Kashmir. This shows a complete lack of understanding around the issues in these different cases.
The author claims that the Mullahs want the Holy Lands in Muslim hands. Well, hello, those lands were in Muslim Hands for hundreds of years. Those Muslims were not some alien force; they were natives of those lands. They were driven out by Jewish immigrants from all over the world! Yameen, yet again tries to belittle the issue by totally ignoring relevant facts.
Yameen of course the right to air his distorted view of the world; but thankfully, most of us have a better understanding of the issues involved than him!
Its quite apparent that the nation needs to be made aware that a large section of Maldivian society are alarmed and fearful because of religious extremism spread by adhaalth and others, for purely non religious reasons.
I am blaming the government for not taking any action and even actively supporting when peoples beliefs are perverted beyond reason.
"If the argument is that Palestine deserves a special consideration because of the holy sites present there"
goodnight.
You think your reserved renaissance semantics can shatter this? you think this has anything to do with logic? this is passion; impaled reason.
your artilce is filth in this regard. It hits no where.
Appointing Adhaalath party is the biggest mistake the Anni has made. The talk shows on TV are full of dogma,promoting a prohibition on reason. Adhaalth is the voice of God in the Maldives, they believe, and we tiny mortals must always listen to God.
Oh, that’s not to say Hilath is not a Muslim, I believe he is one, but I only used him as an example because he speaks against the fundamentalist view points at times… He is one of my sources of courage, his courage is inspiring!
Yaamyn, this is very nicely written; but it is not a good essay, I am afraid. Still, I admit that I enjoyed reading it.
I give full credit to your style and presentation. But a lot of your arguments are weak and the content is rather poor. Your naivity is especially reflected in the section subtitled "Sovereign Republic or Arab Satellite state?" and that you have an extremely poor understanding of the topic you chose is seen in "Selective outrage."
Over all, I would say, it is a good read because your style of writing captivated me. Full marks for that. But I am complaining that this piece, though supposed to be an evaluation of the present state of things, borders on the verge of fiction.
I only wish you focussed less with your ultra-critical attitude towards all Mullahs and had more knowledge on "The Israel hypocrisy."
A great writer is, after all, one who can deliver raw issues in their complex state, in a simple manner. For this, you need to be good at writing and also you need the substance. You have the former, but this essay lacks of the latter.
How about writing a piece on Maldivian politics? I encourage you to make more of your writing available, here, for us to read (and comment upon 🙂 ).
Wish you good luck!
..the only place it hit was your pleasure center!... an extremely astute piece of writing nonetheless. However this only proves that the wicked did in fact inherit the earth. We are here only momentarily. why we don't know...maybe it was to give us a taste of the Hell you all would occupy soon..!
🙂
Interesting read. Favourite line from the piece - "Genuine empathy and humanitarian compassion is unconditional and transcends all petty distinctions of race, ethnicity and artificial geographical boundaries".
Also I tend to agree with the comments from - Prof Robin, Rather than singling out the Mullah's, might want to balance that with Israel's hypocrisy.
From a son of Israel
The article is praiseworthy from the point of view of a true modern man, a nationalist rather than a person with views of the 8th Century of the common era which is prevalent among most public Moslems today.
You'd scorn Americans who automatically sided with the foreign policy of Italy and the Catholic Church but think nothing about Moslem nations automatically being prisoners of Arab nationalism/imperialism. Shame on your teachers.
From 1948 to 1967 there was a two-state solution with Jerusalem divided. The Arabs couldn't stand it. Jordan didn't have to participate in Nasser's craziness but she did. The result is what we have today. Not only does the PLO govt insist on what they lost through Arab craziness but to repatriate Arabs not into their state but into Israel so as to subvert it from within. A 7 year -old child can see through their tactics. Yet that is what the Moslem fanatics agitate for.
The best you can do is separate yourselves from the conflict.
*{And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, except in the best way, unless it be with those of them who do wrong: but say, "We believe in the revelation, which has come down to us and in that which came down to you. Our God and your God is One; and it is to Him we submit [in Islam].}*
Nice comment by Muad MZ.
Why dont minivan news give opportunity to people like Mr. Muad who knows what he is talking about and has the knowledge & education, instead of always publishing comments from morons like yaamyn who has some fundamental education in a military academy yet pretend to know each and everything.
The only threat to Maldivian Statehood and her survival is Mullahs. There is no doubt the survival in the 21st century is inclusive not isolation. The mullah’s approach is isolation and alienation towards today’s inclusive and peaceful approach to all disputes. We have already achieved what Arab spring is now all about, we are ahead of them in achieving democracy and we will be the first Muslim country wholeheartedly accept Israel as a legitimate nation and soon all Arabs will follow. Mullas will be thrown in to dustbin of history
@Emanuel Appel
"Not only does the PLO govt insist on what they lost through Arab craziness but to repatriate Arabs not into their state but into Israel so as to subvert it from within."
This is a very distateful distortion of history. No one can deny the expulsion of Arabs from their homes to create what is now the State of Israel. Arab Christians and Muslims were driven out by force in most cases. This not heresay, this evidence is as clear as daylight and even an Israeli cannot deny this.
Israel is not only denying any right of return for the rightful owners of the land who were driven out, but also failing to recognise that they threw them out in the first place! Shame on you Emanuel, son of Israel.
I full respect Israel's right to exist as a nation and a secure future for it. Truth is, Israel was born out of conflict, and that conflict isn't going to disappear in our lifetime.
In the meantime, Yameen Rasheed ought to find a topic on which he can show some level of competence. This article is nothing more than an ad hoc cut-and-paste of his ramblings on various forums.
Ahmed Bin Addu Bin Suvadheeb has said it all. In the meantime, try on this one:
http://goo.gl/tuS1p
You are the people who always saying that israel's rights i just want ask these ? from you.. 44 years and still Palestinian are refugees why they are refugees so long? where there rights Or is Israeli are occupying homes in there own land or Palestinian land? is masjidhul aqsha is israelian property? more than 1 billion Palestinian where death israelian attacks is this not contradict human rights.. You the people who were not think but you people are having big stupid mouth..
Yameen Rasheed, don’t understand dhivehin well!
In case of Adhaalath party and the mullahs, they are just trying to get into political arena in dhivehiraajje. That is all!
There are a few old dhivehin who will follow their version Islam. The mullahs in Adhaalth party have no followers and how can they organize nationwide strike. This is a big joke. Mullah Shaheem, nut case Iliyaas are making statements; that Adhaalath party will break from coalition with MDP; this too will not happen since these mullahs like to be in power.
The mullahs should understand that to dance for boduberu is our culture, so we feel good to see our politicians and the president dancing.
Bring and welcome the devil by ignorance and face what all the arabs face today. Quran and Adees, is enough for us. The whole world knows, that zionists cannot be trusted, and yet we welcome them. May be this is how they (the zionists) plan to destroy 300,000 additional muslims, by pressuring on the Maldivian government to start abridge between Israel and Maldives, so that they can start their evil plans.
Oh may be we will import their genetically modified food so that we can become guinea pigs, and introduce to brand new diseases to Asia and the rest of the world.
What I will say is this. Start diplomatic relationship and airline services with every single country in the world. BUT NEVER NEVER WITH THE ZIONIST REGIME OF ISRAEL.
@salim waheed,
Horreey!! You are back in town? Did u bring one of your twisted Islamic sohalrs to teach us from the grand masters of your father's golden era of new world order?
Maldives once had a sound foreign policy. That of non-alignment.
It is true that the Maldives started spending above her capacity in Qayyoom's final days for a variety of reasons such as:
- The tsunami recovery and reconstruction.
- Reactionary measures towards the growing popularity of a political opposition.
- The increased expenditure on political reforms.
The situation also deteriorated further in the first days of the Nasheed government as they decided to raise the public wage bill even further. However the work of the MMA, the Nasheed government and the donor agencies in bringing a stop to the printing of rufiyaa and monetizing the deficit by the sale of sovereign securities is laudable.
I do not blame young Yaameen. Either he receives cutbacks from the government or he truly believes in their sincerity towards the people. The truth is, the government is not politically prepared to sacrifice their popularity by implementing much-needed austerity measures in tandem with the planned revenue-increasing programs.
This creates a vacuum for foreign donor agencies to rush in and exert their influence on our domestic and foreign policies. This might have happened regardless of whether Qayyoom or Nasheed had won the Presidency if Shaheed was the only man counted upon to set the foreign policy agenda.
My suspicions are;
- Our insignificant state was given a seat on the UNHRC for a reason.
- Our young President is being actively promoted by the foreign media as part of that reason.
- Our State propaganda channel has suddenly taken an interest in select democratic movements for that same reason.
- Our borders are being opened to American investment to facilitate a particular strategy.
What we might see in the future is;
- A Western-backed regime which can preach about democracy without practicing it.
- That same regime will act as a suicide bomber in the international arena voicing opinions that would make us more dependent on America and India for our security.
- We will become further dependent on MNCs which will control our economy.
These are my suspicions and they are informed by what little knowledge I have. Young Yaameen should really read a few books on American foreign policy and the whole Middle-East fiasco.
Rashid poses an excellent question: The Israeli conflict has caused so much less death and destruction than other conflicts, why then does it receive such a disproportionate amount of scrutiny? The answer? Because Muslims consider Israel to be a religious affront, that Jews would take over Muslim land (which they most clearly did).
I agree that this is probably why Muslims around the world care more about Israel than other conflicts with higher body counts. And what about the Islamic belief that the Jews were forever cast out of their Holy Land? Since 1948 this has been proven to be a somewhat dubious contention. Does this make it harder for someone a Muslim follows world events to remain a believer? Also, the fact that many Jews consider 48 and 67 to be miracles performed by God must be especially infuriating to Muslims, who must be wondering if God might actually be fighting for the other side.
From a son of Israel
Some of the above correspondents are good examples of all's that backward in the Moslem world. They show a tremendous ignorance of secular knowledge and are willing to see the world through Arab eyes. That's fine if you wish to be as poor and ignorant as the non-oil Arab nations.
First and foremost - separate government practice from the Koran and mullahs as much as possible.
Second - view yourselves in the context of south Asia and her history as much as possible, not as servants to the Arab's idea of history.
the problem with becoming a kaafir after Islam is like this. you cannot stand anything that is Islamic, even an idea, a hope, a ray of light, anything that is favourable or desirable to Muslims will automatically be undesirable for the kaafir. Same is the case with Yaameen. I am not making him a kaafir for writing this piece only, I know him and his ideas for a long time. An avowed kaafir he is and he will find nothing good to say about Islam or any issue that is even related to Islam. So Israel became his love overnight by his hatred of Islam.
Now there are many kaafirs who are born and lives in their kufr and still find common ground with human suffering in Palestine and knows about the hypocrisy of Israel. Such kaafirs are in essence better for Islam than these. I think this is the reason why apostasy is punished with death.
A few commnets.
It is unclear to me what or who the author refers to by the term 'Mullah'. Is the reference to the Adhaalath Party or all its members or some of its members?
The term Mullah originally used to refer to a Shiite religious scholar although it came to be used in the sub-continent to refer to Islamic scholars in general - both Shiite and Sunni. However, these days the term is used more commonly to refer to Islamic scholars in a derogatory sense meaning a poorly/un educated, stupid,irrational, intolerant person.
In a public debate as the one in which the author is engaged in there will more often more than one opinion. And in a democracy, which now Maldives claim to be, such diversity is healthy in determining - by the people what is best or most appropriate for their country.
Whether one agrees or not with the government position on the issue of El Al operating to the Maldives, all Maldivians have every right to state their opinion. Adhaalath has chosen to oppose government's position. If the author disagrees with Adhaalath, it is his right to disagree with, object to and refute Adhaalath's claim. If the author is civilised, democractic and fair (not hypocritical) he does not need to deride Adhaalath or any other party or person and use ad hominem arguments by using derogatory terms to give more weight to his arguments.
By the way Israeli democracy also allows religious parties and some of these are in the current Israeli coalition government. These Israeli religious parties are no more tolerant of non-Halakaic (Jewish equivalent of the Shariah) views than Adhaalath is of its perception of non-Shariah complacent views. And some of the leaders of these Jewish religious groups (e.g. Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu )issue Halakai rulings which emanates a virulent hatred of Muslims.
And finally, some history: of the 4 major wars in the Arab Israeli conflict (1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973), two (1956 and 1967) were initiated by Israel. The 1948 Arab-Israeli war was initiated by the Arab states (Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon with minor roles of Saudi Arabia and Iraq) when the Arabs (who populated at the begining of the 20th century more than 90% of the land which constitutes today's Israel, West Bank and Gaza, - referred to as Palestine until 1948 - and owned more than 95% of Palestine then) lost more than half of Palestine. The 1973 war was initiated by Egypt to get back Sinai which was lost to Israel in 1967 war and which the Egyptians got back in 1979. The 1956 war was initiated by Britain, France and Israel to regain control over Suez whcih President Nasser of Egypt had nationalised, and the 1967 war was initiated by Israel as a preemptive strike in which Israel destroyed Egyptian/Syrian/Jordanian air offensive capability and, as a result, captured more Arab territory (Sinai from Egypt, and Egypt-ruled Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan and Golan Heights from Syria.
Many Israelis depict Arabs and Muslims (check Haaretz, Jerusalem Post and comments posted to articles related to Middel East) not only as dictators and terrorists but also incapable of being able to become democratic or civilized. This may or may not be true; history will tell. But one may also point out that history is yet to see Israel as the peace loving democratic country it projects itself to be.
Just because USA vetos against any action, even against the mere investigation of the human-rights abuses, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and the Apartheid practices of the Israeli dictatorship, it does not mean they don't take place, nor does it mean that WE, as Maldivians, have to pretend that they don't take place.
Israel arrests, tortures, physically & sexually abuses Arab CHILDREN (7000 children since 2001 alone) and then subject them to MILITARY TRIALS. ie. against every convention ever written on children's, as well as human rights.
Israel continues to expel families, women & children from their own homes in land they continue to illegally occupy against International Law.
Just like Iran, Saudi Arabia & North Korea brutally suppress political dissent, Israel arrests, tortures, kills and even expels political opponents (ie. Arabs) from Israel and from illegally occupied territories in order to suppress political opposition and maintain the demographic advantage of a certain ethnicity over the other.
Israel continues to detain nearly 10,000 political prisoners without trial or even a charge.
Yameen, please do your homework!
No. Palestinians are not the only people in this world, but they are the only people occupied, tortured, murdered, oppressed & ethnically cleansed with TOTAL IMPUNITY, if not with the full support of the US, Europe & much of the West.
That is, after Europe committed the Holocaust killing more than 6 MILLION Jews. Palestinians didn't do it, Europe did it, and Palestinians are having to pay for it!!!
Adhaalath does have a point in this case...The vast majority of Dhivehin are muslims and as such they have a divine attachment to the land of palestine..the land of the prophets and miracles..the site of many Quranic stories...So you cant just expect them to forget all that accept that its Israeli land..the historical sworn enemy of the muslims..specially with their brutal occupation of palestinian land...Illegal under international law and every aw any where....The problem with this Yellow government is that due to corruption it is unable to manage its own finaces and these foreign loans comes with conditions....Starting Airlink with Israel does nothing positive with the peace process..the palestines are willing to give everything to the make peace including Islams holy land..this is clear from the Wikileaks....In such an environment it would be wise not to start ailine services with Israel.
@ben...."For example, one Maldivian Christian says that being a Christian makes him more nationalistic than ever. Hilath, the so called champion of gay rights, has a deeper love for the spirituality of Maldives than anyone I know. He had written alot about Fanditha etc in the past… Just two examples out of a thousand"
The simple truth is..I am also being a muslim and belive in the herafter with heaven and hell..........i just cant agree with the above statement bcs my religion doesnt allow me to...Its impossible for a muslim to be gay legally under islam, and its also impossible for a muslim to change his religion....and actually nationalism is nothing without religion....Islam also compels its follows to condemn and even stop if they have the power, of stuff that goes against fundamental principles of islam like gay rights etc........frankly, i just terrified of hell.
writing about fanditha makes hilath a nationalist??? lol. whats the relationship between fanditha and nationalism? and it seems that changing religion to Christianity also suddenly makes you fall in love with the muslim maldives. seriously, do these secularists know what they are talking about?
PLEASE SEE THIS VIDEO OF ISRAELIS DESTROYING THE TOMBS OF PROPHET MOHAMED (SALAHLAAHU ALAIHI WASALAM)'S COMPANIONS (SAHAABEEN) WHICH INCLUDED UBAID BIN SABITH AND MANY OTHER RIGHTEOUS INDIVIDUALS..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O88ehdhHCng
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/1388-israel-excavates-graves-of-the-prophets-companions-in-jerusalem
LETS NOT WELCOME THESE TYPE OF PEOPLE TO OUR COUNTRY.
An excellent comment by habeeb!
keep exposing these sort of people.
From a son of Israel
The Arab- Israeli conflict is none of the business of the Maldives. It's silly to involve oneself in wars involving Eskimos, so it's equally silly to get all excited about a conflict so far away.
The Arabs have deliberately kept the Arabs displaced as refugees for political reasons. Soon, all the original displaced persons will be dead of old age. Then what is the position of the grandchildren - Refugees by inheritance. Can a more ridiculous situation exist?
After WWII, the UN created two refugee agencies - a normal one to resettle refugees and UNWRA only for the Arab refugees. These have been deliberately kept on the dole since 1948. They are NOT going back to Israel despite the PLO demands. They're living in an Arab make-believe world but they like it that way.
What if half of Pakistan demanded to be allowed back to India so that India be subverted from within? But Israel is supposed to be flooded by her enemies instead of settling in a Plaestinian State. How reasonable is that except to an Arab Moslem fanatic? They don't reason like normal people.
personally i dont have a problem with jews and their airline coming to male'. but one thing that worries me is we do have enough lunatics who wouldnt mind blowing up the airport (or at least giving it a try) to protest against el al landing in maldives. even an attempt to blast an i.e.d in hulhule' would harm maldives tourism like we have never experienced before.
i think we should now accept that adhaalath is a political force in maldives. by not recognizing their political weight doesnt make them extinct. they were no more than a maaloodh party until mdp gave them political exposure by giving them a ministry of this government. now they are the third largest party and their future looks favorable for them as drp is falling apart and mdp is not living up to its expectations. so guys, like it or not, adhaalath is here to stay.
" palestine..the land of the prophets and miracles " ? these prophets were non other but the sons of Israel. Why do we not digest that? Why not give up on this fight and move the muslims (who are willing) out to some other place and end this conflict? (if the rest of the world so much cares) Ego ? (just thinking)
"Why not give up on this fight and move the muslims (who are willing) out to some other place and end this conflict? (if the rest of the world so much cares) Ego ? (just thinking)"
Why not move out the jews form the land which they have illegally occupied and send them back to places where they came from? This will solve the conflict and it will bring justice.
Only an educated, secular person could have written this article. Well done Yameen Rasheed.
writing "Moslem" instead of "Muslim" doesnt fool anyone. One maldivian secularist is now pretending to be a "son of israel" and writing as an Emanuel Appel. Haha.
well, Mr.Ape, why dont you start answering some of the valid points brought in the comments that we shouldnt allow zionist planes in maldives?
From a son of Israel
Israel's airports routinely receive airplanes from Moslem countries such as Egypt, Jordan and Turkey without incident. If anyone tries to do them harm, the police prevent it. Why can't the Maldives work that way?
Moslems are prisoners of the Arab use of Islam. The Arabs used their religion as a means of imperialism, that is, collecting various nations by force to be subjects of the central religious authorities. They used militarism from Portugal to India.
As is evident here, the most absurd non historical arguments are used to forward the Arab cause. For example, someone claimed that Israelis were destroying the tombs of Mohamed's followers. This is just a projection of their tactics onto others.
The Arab / Moslem record of conquests is one where the monuments and symbols of the vanquished are thoroughly humiliated or appropriated for the Moslem's use. For example, the church of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul became a mosque until the first secular Turk, Mustafa Kemal, made it into a museum. But it was a mosque from 1453 to 1922 I believe.
The very idea that one cannot leave Islam is offensive or that a non Moslem cannot marry a Moslem woman or that new churches cannot be built as evidenced in Egypt today post Mubarak leaves a very bad taste. So for the sake of your children, keep religion as far away from your politics as possible. Don't copy the Arab.
Dear son of a, sorry, son of israel,
pls help me find locate the 'real' borders of israel. i am finding it difficult cos israel doesnt seem to have decided where its borders will finally rest. Can you help me?
@moodhu.....these propehts were indeed sons of Israel...but they were musims, they were our prophets....These propehts are not "jews" like the todays jews and jewish religion..these propehts do no belive in YHWH as their god...Todays jewish imposters occupying palestinian land are not jews ..they are eropeans, irish, russian, bulgarian,whatever....these are not sons of Israel...they dont have any evidence...so they should leave the land and go back t otheir ancestorial homes.
Comment by "tsk tsk"... well appreciated... as is the ones who understand the Palestinian issue, and not speak the "truths" spoken by Zionists, their lobbyist groups and US govt...
BDS (Boycott Divestment & Sanction)is NOT something created by Adhaalath nor "mullahs" as Yameen seems to be implying. And it is NOT just Maldivians who support Adhaalath that believes in an Israel BDS campaign...
poor article... has not even tried to analyze why all over the world, esp in European countries, the BDS campaign is full on, and it is the ONE thing that the Israeli govt has been effected by...
BDS works... that is why it shud be done... and that is why who support Israel always, without fail condemn the BDS campaign... whereas Palestinians and activists from all over the world fighting for a FREE & INDEPENDENT Palestine calls for BDS Israel...