Conquering the African Minds: The Arrows of the Arabs and the Europeans

'When the White men came to Africa, they had the Bible and we had the land. Then, they told us to close our eyes for prayer, when we opened our eyes, they had the land and we had the Bible.' ~Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.
This quote has also been ascribed to the first President of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta. 

Going back to history is of no use here, it will simply be too trite and and banal because the world is not blind to the twin facts of slavery and colonialism. Africans continue to live in what can be termed the slavery-colonial world of self-destruction. The continent has taken on this banner copiously with ignorance and 'natural gullibility'. Whilst the Arabs upon making contacts with Africa realised the blessings nature has bequeathed to Africa and made all necessary attempts to tap from them, Africans were indoctrinated into a belief that would come to hunt, haunt and hurt them later.

Arabs bought goods and in a bid to maintain an upper hand, they enforced what would later be used to continuously control the minds of Africans. While the Dogon people of Mali had mastered the art of astronomy a very long time, they were mentally relaxed with the blessings of nature and it was not projected beyond their frontiers. This was true of most African ingenious knowledge and accomplishments. This was due to the relatively peaceful and tranquil environmental conditions where nutritional needs were rightly met on a daily basis. Though that was somehow the nature of the world ab initio, that of Africa was exceptional because of the extreme fertility its land had and still has.

From the stone age to the present era, food has always been the most important in the lives of man but man shall not live by bread alone, hence man needs to think of how to develop and advance. The African writing system was localised; serving only Africans but with the contact of the Arabs and the apparent 'brutal' conversion to Islam, Africans began to lose some of its indigenous contents. The Arabs were trading as well as forcing religion down the throats of Africans. They also took slaves down to the Mediterranean, castrated the men and they died with almost no traces as documented by the Tarikhs. While they were growing with the trade, Africans were studying the religion of Islam.

Then came the Europeans who dared nature and moved beyond their frontiers. They defiled all hurdles and mounted great audacity to conquer challenges and whatever barriers nature imposed on them. They learnt and stole. They ventured into Africa and other parts of the globe beginning from Amerigo Vespucci down to Columbus and the Conquistadors. What followed was the enslavement of Africans. While Africans were being enslaved which had the blessing of the Pope and other notable adherents of Christianity, Europeans also forced religion down their throats.

Africans were made to accept a new master. The apparent peace they witnessed using Africans as slaves and stealing from the ingenuity and discoveries of the slaves gave birth to the industrial revolution. One who has less worry of what to eat and work not will be equipped with the utmost mental capacity to think and project; hence they were growing while Africa was plundered. Now, they have given us alternatives to development which are the religions. The religions ensure we die today; killing one another in religious competition. The religions ensure we blame some supernatural forces like the days of our forebears who offered sacrifices to gods but they were better than us because they never depended on foreigners for solutions and they created civilisations that the world continues to bow for.

Africa was not made to evolve; its development and advancement was brutally, inhumanly and inhumanely truncated. Its worldview was replaced by another superstructure hinged on respecting the masters who gave Africans religions and took away vital and viable elements of growth and advancement. African parents teach children to read the Bible and the Quran in order to conquer heaven while it does not matter to them how miserable their existence is on planet earth. On the other hand the 'masters' teach their children to study the sciences, conquer self first, then their environment and the Universe far into space. In the end one remains a slave forever and the other the master eternally. Ironically, the same African parents are ready to spend huge sums to train their children in the masters' lands.

Even when the 'slave' is a bit polished to make him or her look near a master, being a master can never really be possible because the brain has been underdeveloped from childhood. There is lack of concept for and of the environment but that of heaven. The wealth is to be stored in heaven while begging is the only means to survive on planet earth. Today, some religious fundamentalists can wake to bomb people in Somalia, Central African Republic, Mali, Nigeria, Kenya and host of other places using the umbrella of a concept that was sold to Africa around the 9th century by the Arabs while the other, while trying to curb the activities of the so-called terrorists, would rush to the 'masters', the Europeans who imposed the second religious concept beginning from the 15th century.

Teresa Brennan captured this well in her treatise Globalization and its Terrors; Daily Life in the West. She said the brains of the South (Africans majorly) have been decimated and desecrated because they are malnourished; not eating properly and combated my extreme poverty while the bodies of the North are useless; obesity and weakness because of much affluence and extreme good life conditions. The good life of the North depends on the hunger and poverty of the South.

Thus, the brains of the North will always enslave the bodies of the South. Not that the people of the South have no brains but they are functioning below capacity. Not that the people of the North have no bodies too but they are rendered really useless because goodies of life. This brings to mind the rush to be in foreign lands by Africans which equals modern slavery. Brain drain. Africans believe in trying to walk through the valley of the shadow of death without fear of evil while their mates in other climes are walking in Space; moon and Mars. Today, Africans export clergies while they import technology.

It is not a crime for us to learn from the world but we must understand that no one can build our homes for us. Doing everything to be like others; Arabs and Europeans while losing our cultures and values is to our detriment. It is the reason why we are confused in the world today. We are the only ones that foreigners dictate how to live for.  We are the only ones in the world who want to be like others even when we are racially discriminated against. We are the only ones who steal our wealth and give it to those who will still insult us as being thieves and backward. If we refuse to correct our enslaved mindset and colonial mentality, then we have no right to complain or lament. We should accept our fate as a conquered people.

All Personnel Withdrawn from Russian Navy Base in Syria

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister says all personnel had been evacuated from the navy resupply base in Tartus, Syria, adding that not a single Russian military serviceman remained in the country.

Mikhail Bogdanov made the announcement in an interview with the Al-Hayat newspaper. “Presently, the Russian Defence Ministry has not a single person stationed in Syria. The base does not have any strategic military importance,” the newspaper quoted the Russian official as saying.

Russian media have verified the statement and the business daily Vedomosti quoted an unnamed source in the Defence Ministry as saying that this was true as all military and civilian personnel had been evacuated from the Tartus base and there were no Russian military instructors working with the Syrian military forces.

The source added that the withdrawal was prompted not only by the increased risks caused by the ongoing military conflict, but also by the fact that in the current conditions any incident involving Russian servicemen would likely have some unfavourable reaction from the international community.

Russia currently has a 16-ship flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea but none of them has called at the port of Tartus in recent months and there were no reports of such plans.

Mikhail Bogdanov is also Russian President’s plenipotentiary for Middle East issues and he headed the Russian delegation at this week’s talks between Russia, US and UN on preparations of the major international conference on Syria, dubbed Geneva-2.

Following the Tuesday round of talks another Russian diplomat – Deputy Foreign Minister Gennadiy Gatilov – told reporters that the sides failed to agree on a number of questions and the terms of the future conference were not yet agreed. In particular, the participants of the talks varied on Iran’s possible role in the future conference.

Moscow supports Tehran’s participation in talks as it would make a positive contribution to the possible political settlement in Syria, the Russian official noted.

Besides, the participation of some of the Syrian opposition groups remains under question though the US side said they were working on this, Gatilov added.

The Russian diplomat said that the supplies of weapons to the Syrian opposition were not discussed at Tuesday's talks, though he noted that this issue “was not creating positive political environment for the start of the political process.”

Gatilov said that Russia still hoped the plan to call the international conference would end in success. In particular, the issue will be discussed at the forthcoming meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US State Secretary John Kerry, due soon within the framework of the ASEAN conference in Brunei.

Courtesy: Russia Today

'West fighting al Qaeda in Mali and Supporting same in Syria. Syria needs Reforms’ ~Putin

Speaking about the conflict in Syria, President Vladimir Putin said it was possible to avoid the civilian war by conducting reforms in due time.

“Syria as a country was rife for some kind of change. And the government of Syria should have felt that in due time and should have undertaken some reform,” Putin said. “Had they done that, what we’re seeing in Syria today would have never happened.”

However, he added, one should take into account that the entire Middle East is currently finding itself in a state of uncertainty and conflict – and it’s wrong to try and interfere from outside.

"From the outside some people think that if you bring the entire region in compliance with someone’s specific idea of democracy, things will settle down, and everything will be all right in that region. But that’s not true. Considering that region’s background history, culture, religion – you cannot interfere with it from the outside.”

Putin pointed out that the West is supporting some certain organizations that are fighting Assad in Syria, and they are countering "those very same groups" in Mali.


“Where is the logic in that?” he said. “Our Western counterparts often tell us that the Al-Nusra is one of the key organizations in the Syrian military opposition. But it has been dubbed terrorist by the US Department of State, and it doesn’t even hide its links to Al-Qaeda. So will you let this organization join the future government of Syria? Our Western counterparts say no. Are you going to just make them go away once you have victory in Syria? They don’t know. It’s totally unclear.”

Putin reminded that the quality of life in Libya was one of the highest in the region before the regime change.

“What do you have there now? There is a war of everybody against everybody among various tribes, there is war for resources, and, I’m afraid, if we go the same way in Syria, there will be same havoc in Syria that we’re now witnessing in Libya,” he concluded. “Isn’t that enough from what we’re seeing in Pakistan and Afghanistan right now, where there’re terrorists that are not controlled by anyone, except for terrorists?”

Speaking about mass demonstrations, the president stressed that the government should control protesters, “put them put them in the legislative field,” if they “violate the law.”

“This is what happening both in the US and in Russia,” Putin said.

“Russia doesn’t try to influence Occupy activists, yet foreign agents try to do this in Russia,” he said, referring to the Occupy movement that initially started from protests in New York and then spread worldwide.

Middle East Dilemma: Washington calls on France and Britain to arm Rebels; Iran to send troops to Assad

The Middle East is edging closer to a more precarious situation with the recent turn of events. The announcement by Washington to arm Syrian rebels and the recent meeting of Sunnis in Cairo have all added fuel to the Syrian crisis. The Sunnis vow to end the regime of Bashar al Assad.

The prompt result of this was the severing of diplomatic and political ties by the Egyptian President, Mohammed Morsi, with President Assad. President Morsi said there is 'no space or place for Hezbollah is Syria'. He made it resoundingly clear that Hezbollah must leave Syria. Morsi went further to demand a no-fly zone be imposed over Syria.

All this events happening barely 24 hours before the Iranian election (that of Washington) and within 24 hours after the election (that of President Morsi). Within 24 hours after Morsi's declaration, reports came out from Iran that the Islamic Republic will be sending 4,000 soldiers to Syria to help Assad.

Russia too is to go ahead in supplying his S-300 missile batteries to Assad. The US also calls on France and Britain to supply weapons to Syrian rebels thus creating a cold-war-like conflict in Syria. Syria definitely represents one of the last bastions of Cold War alongside North Korea and Cuba.

Hezbollah's involvement and its seemingly rising power after the Qusayr victory seems to have 'alarmed' Israel and its powerful lobby group in Washington. Hassan Nasrallah has vowed that Hezbollah will not leave Syria because it cannot afford it falling into the hands of Israel, the US and al Qaeda.

Washington upon the imposition of a Shi'ite regime in Iraq saw it bolstered Iran, hence, roughly calculates to counter-balance the trend by supporting rebels (Sunni and al Qaeda-linked rebels in Syria) while overlooking the brutality in Bahrain for fear of losing it to another Shi'ite group. Saudi, Bahrain and 'Syria' together will be a great buffer zone to cage Iran for the benefits of oil and Israel.

In now looks as if the main targets of the US and Israel are now becoming full participants; Iran and Hezbollah. This will definitely be a bad, catastrophic and colossal precedent for the Middle East as Washington and Israel have 'effectively' used the Sunni-Shi'ite divide well to their advantage. Arabs are the epitome of their own failure, instability and regional chaos with so-called Sunni-Shi'ite divide.

Their wall has cracked beyond repair to the advantage of Israel and Washington. Palestine is on its own once Iran is taken off the radar. Other Arab nations will only make much noise and Washington cum Tel Aviv can easily pocket them. Iran has been a kind of 'rational' player Israel finds hard to 'effectively' get off the table and the Syrian war looks pretty good for the job to be done. In all these calculations, it is the people that will get to suffer.

One Dead, Several Others Injured in anti-Hezbollah Protest in Lebanon

As activists gathered to protest the involvement of the Islamist group in Syria, violence broke out. At least one person has been killed and several others injured in gunfire during an anti-Hezbollah protest outside the Iranian Embassy in Beirut. .

Men in black shirts began to scuffle with protesters as they arrived in front of the Embassy in preparation for the demonstration, reports Lebanese publication the Daily Star. They also fired gunshots into the air to disperse the activists.

Lebanese state news reported that the army quickly restored calm and cordoned off the area following the outbreak of violence.

Hezbollah helped Syrian government forces to expel armed rebels from the strategic region of Qusayr on Saturday, a move that was criticised by Washington.

"Hezbollah and Iran should immediately withdraw their fighters from Syria," State Department spokesperson Jay Carney said, accusing the two of aiding the Syrian government in its battle for Qusayr. The US regards Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

The head of Hezbollah, Hasan Nasrallah, has justified the group’s involvement in the Syrian conflict, maintaining they are defending Lebanese-inhabited border villages inside Syria and Shiite holy sites.

Hezbollah has vowed never to allow Syria fall into the hands of Israel and the United States. It says it is ready to defend Syria and avoid the planting of a stooge of the two countries in Damascus.

"No power can stop Iran if it wants Nuclear Weapons' -Ayatollah Khamenei

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said his country was not seeking nuclear weapons but added that if Iran ever decided to build them, no “world power” could alter the trend.

The supreme leader whose 2005 edict banning nuclear weapons is regarded as binding in Iran, told a group of visitors to his home in Tehran, the capital, that Iran is in favour of the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons.

“We believe that nuclear weapons must be eliminated,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. “We don’t want to build atomic weapons. But if we didn’t believe so and intended to possess nuclear weapons, no power could stop us.” His comments were posted on his Web site, Khamenei.ir.

American officials say they believe that Ayatollah Khamenei exercises full control over Iran’s nuclear programme. He had earlier rejected direct talks with the United States when he said Washington was “pointing a gun at Iran”.

He called on the United States to show “logic” while talking to Iran. He and other Iranian leaders have often emphasized that before any talks can take place, Western sanctions must be lifted and the West must respect what they say is Iran’s right to a nuclear programme monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“This is the only way to interact with the Islamic republic of Iran, and in that case the US administration would receive a proper response” from Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei said.

He pointed to American-devised sanctions, to which a new set of measures was added this month, as the prime example of why negotiations between Iran and the United States would fail.

“They seek the surrender of the Iranian nation,” Ayatollah Khamenei said of the United States. If negotiations are a sign of good will, he asked how talks could occur in the face of the current sanctions. He said the sanctions do not show goodwill, hence, Iran will not bow.

“They naïvely think that the nation has been exhausted by the sanctions and will therefore yearn for negotiations with the US,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

In a separate part of his speech, he sharply criticized President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the speaker of Iran’s Parliament, Ali Larijani, who recently traded accusations during a public session of Parliament. Mr. Ahmadinejad caused an uproar by releasing a video of what he said were secret business dealings involving Mr. Larijani’s brother Fazel. During the same session, Mr. Larijani led the parliamentary effort to impeach one of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s ministers.

“People want psychological and moral peace, and I explicitly say that the event was not fitting to Islamic republic’s code of conduct,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, condemning both the release of the video and the impeachment effort.

“This event made me feel sad,” said the ayatollah. He has been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989 with much power and influence.

Israel Condemns Diplomacy with Iran

                

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu heads the weekly cabinet meeting in his office in Jerusalem.

A powerful partner of Israel's prime minister says sanctions and negotiations will not stop Iran from pursuing its disputed nuclear programme.

Former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman says North Korea's nuclear test was an "obvious example" of diplomacy failing to curb a nuclear programme.

Lieberman told Army Radio on Wednesday that "anyone who thinks sanctions or negotiations will stop Iran is wrong."

Iran, like North Korea, is under stiff sanctions and negotiations with the West over its nuclear program have stalled.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu often hints about a possible strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Lieberman stepped down from his post two months ago after he was indicted for breach of trust in a fraud and money-laundering case. But he remains a powerful lawmaker and Netanyahu's top political ally.

Lieberman has also reiterated that there can never be any peace accord with Palestinians since the last one signed in 1993. Lieberman is a complete hardliner.

President Obama is set to visit Israel. His visit will surely focus on Iran, peace with Palestine and the Syrian crisis.

No Peace Accord for Israel and Palestine -Lieberman

Israel has no chance of signing a permanent peace accord with the Palestinians and should instead seek a long-term interim deal, the most powerful political partner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday.

Avigdor Lieberman, an ultranationalist whose joint party list with Netanyahu narrowly won a January 22 election while centrist challengers made surprise gains, seemed designed to dampen expectations at home and abroad of fresh peacemaking with the remarks.

In a television interview, ex-foreign minister Lieberman linked the more than two-year-old impasse to pan-Arab political upheaval that has boosted Islamists hostile to the Jewish state.

These include Hamas, rivals of U.S.-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who control the Gaza Strip and spurn coexistence with Israel though they have mooted extended truces.

"Anyone who thinks that in the center of this socio-diplomatic ocean, this tsunami which is jarring the Arab world, it is possible to arrive at the magic solution of a comprehensive peace with the Palestinians does not understand," Lieberman told Israel's Channel Two.

"This is impossible. It is not possible to solve the conflict here. The conflict can be managed and it is important to manage the conflict ... to negotiate on a long-term interim agreement."

Abbas broke off talks in late 2010 in protest at Israel's settlement of the occupied West Bank. He angered Israel and the United States in November by securing a UN status upgrade that implicitly recognized Palestinian independence in all the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.

Israel insists it will keep East Jerusalem and swathes of West Bank settlements under any eventual peace deal. Most world powers consider the settlements illegal because they take up land seized in the 1967 Middle East war.

Lieberman, himself a West Bank settler, said the ball was "in Abu Mazen's (Abbas') court" to revive diplomacy.

Abbas has demanded Israel first freeze all settlement constructions. With two decades gone since Palestinians signed their first interim deal with Israel, he has ruled out any new negotiations that do not solemnize Palestinian statehood.

Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev noted that Lieberman, in the Channel Two interview, had said he was expressing his own opinion.

Asked how Netanyahu saw peace prospects for an accord with the Palestinians, Regev referred to a speech on Tuesday in which the conservative prime minister said that Israel, while addressing threats by its enemies, "must also pursue secure, stable and realistic peace with our neighbors".

Netanyahu has previously spoken in favour of a Palestinian state, though he has been cagey on its borders and whether he would be prepared to dismantle Israeli settlements.

Lieberman's role in the next coalition government is unclear as he faces trial for corruption. If convicted, he could be barred from the cabinet. Lieberman denies wrongdoing and has said he would like to regain the foreign portfolio, which he surrendered after his indictment was announced last year.

Becoming Wholly Self-Reliant?: Iran to Launch Three Space Satellites

Iran will launch three satellites to mark the country’s National Space Technology Day, Iranian Space Agency President Hamil Fazeli has announced. Fazeli explained that “due to inherent problems using international satellites,” Iran plans to put more of its own satellites into orbit over the next five years.

The Islamic Republic has also built her own National Internet Service to fully complement the restrictions on the usage of Twitter, Facebook and other Western-backed international social media. The country is advancing speedily steadily in technology and science especially military technology.

Growing Arab Unity against Israel: Iran and Turkey on Syria

A senior Iranian security official pledged full support of Tehran for its close ally, the Syrian regime in Damascus on Saturday.

 “We will give all our support so that Syria remains firm and able to face all the arrogant (Western power) conspiracies,” said the head of the Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, in the wake of Israeli airstrike on Syria.

Iran has been supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad and his regime since the Syrian crisis began nearly two years ago, which has so far claimed more than 60,000 lives.

The Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu on his part says Assad has a pact with Israel that is why the Syrian military which has been killing its own people cannot respond to Israeli airstrikes.

Turkey says it will not sit back and watch Israel attack any Muslim nation. The airstrikes could in the long run bring Iran and Turkey together. Both countries have been on opposite sides since Assad employed heavy firepower on his own people.