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Saturday, May 24, 2008

[chottala.com] this was a first in Israeli history

Though the number of israel's supporter is very very few, the follwoinga article may put fire on the ass of these supporters.
 
 the article is  from the following link: http://www.thedailystar.net/forum/2008/may/israel.htm
 
 
 
Hizbullah: Has Israel Met Its Match?
M. Shahid Alam considers the evidence
On January 31, when the Winograd Commission submitted its final report on the Second Lebanese War of July 2006, this was a first in Israeli history: a report on why the Israeli military had failed in a war.
The Winograd Commission offers a quite honest appraisal of some aspects of the July 2006 War. It acknowledges that it was "a serious missed opportunity." Israel had "initiated a long war, which ended without its clear military victory (italics added)." The Commission notes that a militia "of a few thousand men resisted, for a few weeks, the strongest army in the Middle East, which enjoyed full air superiority, and size and technology advantages." Nothing could reverse Israel's handicaps: not even a massive ground offensive launched in the last days of the war.
Yet, after this clear-headed assessment, the Commission stumbles. It blames Israel's military setback on "serious failings and flaws" in decision-making, preparedness, coordination between the civilian and military leadership, and strategic planning. In other words, the Israeli military's poor showing in July 2006 was not the result of any fundamental shift in the balance of forces. These failures were the result of a few bad judgments, inadequate preparation, and less-than-optimal coordination between different branches of the Israeli military: all of them errors which can, and will can, and willbe, easily corrected in a rematch with the Hizbullah.
We cannot credibly blame the Israeli defeat on failures in decision-making. Israel had many years to destroy the Hizbullah during its long occupation of southern Lebanon; but it withdrew unilaterally in April 2000, with the Hizbullah claiming victory. In July 2006, too, the Israeli military fell far short of matching its earlier easy victories over Arab armies: but this was not because of failures of leadership, the failure to use sufficient firepower (which it did), or the failure to launch a timely ground offensive (it would get grounded the way it had before).
The Israeli military offensive of July 2006 failed because Israel was fighting a war that did not play to its advantages in size and technology. Israel had finally met its match -- a foe that was prepared to fight, that knew how to fight on its own terms, a foe that was elusive and cunning, skilled and daring, ready to adapt its methods to neutralise Israel's technical superiority, that controlled its terrain, and, most importantly, was backed by Iran and Syria. For the first time in history, an Israeli invasion had been reversed by cunning guerilla resistance.
In the past, Arab armies had handed easy victories to Israel. Repeatedly, the Arab states chose to fight conventional wars: these backward, recently decolonised countries sent their poorly trained, poorly led, poorly motivated military to fight against the best, most determined military force the developed West could put together. Israel's victories against the Arab armies are overrated: it always was an unequal match. The Palestinians chose to fight a guerilla war in Jordan in the late 1960s, but they did so prematurely, without preparing the political conditions for their success. They were defeated because they were forced to fight on two fronts: against Arab enemy states and the Israelis.
The Israelis only deceive themselves when they use alibis -- bad decisions or inadequate preparation -- to "explain" their military failures. Since their withdrawal from southern Lebanon in April 2000, the Israeli leadership had prepared for an opportunity to deal a knockout blow to Hizbullah. Indeed, when the Israelis launched their latest invasion of Lebanon on July 12, 2006, they had had more than six years to prepare; and more than two decades to study their adversary.
The Hizbullah, too, had prepared. Without fanfare, but with dedication, discipline, skill, and cunning, the Hizbullah leaders assembled an arsenal of low-tech rockets as well as more advanced missiles; they built secret bunkers; they laid out defensible communications; they acquired capabilities in electronic warfare; they used drones and eaves-dropping equipment to gather information; they placed spies inside Israel; they studied their enemy; and, most importantly, they had planned and trained, while maintaining the highest secrecy. In a word, the small bands of Arab guerillas in southern Lebanon were prepared and ready.
Israel executed its long-planned offensive against Hizbullah on July 12, 2006, using the excuse of a border skirmish to launch a full-scale and devastating war against Lebanon. They launched massive air and artillery strikes against Lebanon's civilian infrastructure -- targeting Beirut and sites as far north as the port city of Tripoli. Israeli ground forces crossed the Lebanese border the same day, and continued to expand their ground invasion in stages throughout the war.
During the 33-day war, the Israeli air force flew more than 15,000 sorties and struck 7,000 targets in Lebanon; the Israeli navy imposed a blockade on Lebanon, and bombed 2,500 Lebanese targets; and, all told, the Israelis destroyed 15,000 homes, 900 commercial buildings, 400 miles of roads, 80 bridges, and Lebanon's international airport. Lebanon's human toll at the end of the war consisted of 845 dead, including 743 civilians, 34 soldiers and 68 Hizbullah guerillas. In addition, close to a million Lebanese were forced to flee their homes. The intent of these genocidal attacks was to turn the Lebanese against the Hizbullah. The Israelis failed in this objective, too.
In all their wars against Arab armies, the Israelis had achieved clear victories within days. In 1956, they captured nearly all of the Sinai in about seven days. In June 1967, they crippled the Egyptian air force within two hours: and the war against the three front-line Arab armies was over in six days. In the October war of 1973, the Israelis recovered from their initial losses to cross the Suez Canal ten days after the start of the war, and five days later they had encircled the Egyptian Third Army, a mere 40 miles from Cairo. On the Syrian front, the Israelis had advanced to within ten miles of Damascus. Since 1973, Israel has many times violated the sovereignty of Arab states with impunity.
In contrast, Israel's full-scale war against Hizbullah's small guerilla force of some 3000 fighters lasted for 33 days, without giving the Israelis the satisfaction of claiming victory. On July 12 2006, Israel started a full-scale war against Lebanon, convinced that it could destroy Hizbullah or greatly diminish its military force within a few days -- and do it with air power alone. Israel's decision to end the war 33 days later, even as Hizbullah kept up its barrage of Katyusha rockets into Israel, was a dark chapter in its military history. Israel's military might had been neutralised by a seemingly Lilliputian adversary.
In July 2006, agility and cunning favoured the Hizbullah. Consider the victories that Israel failed to score against this tiny but agile foe: it failed to destroy or jam Hizbullah's communications network; to knock out Hizbullah's television and radio stations; to kill or capture Hassan Nasrallah; or to dent Hizbullah's ability to launch Katyusha rockets into Israel. Hizbullah was firing Katyusha rockets at the rate of 100 a day during July, doubled this rate in early August, and, in the last few hours before the ceasefire came into effect, fired 250 rockets. On the day of the ceasefire, the Hizbullah still had 14,000 rockets in its arsenal, enough to continue the war for another three months.
Contrary to Israeli denials, the daily barrage of Katyusha rockets took a heavy toll on the Israeli economy. Altogether, a quarter of the 4,000 rockets Hizbullah launched during the war hit urban areas. They "paralysed the whole of northern Israel, its main port, refineries, and many other strategic installations. Over one million Israelis lived in bomb shelters, and about 300,000 temporarily left their homes and sought refuge in the south." For a change, the Hizbullah had brought the war to Israel.
Moreover, the Hizbullah scored several clear victories over Israel's military. According to an IDF Report Card published in the Jerusalem Post, Israel had deployed some 400 Merkava MK-4 tanks -- its safest and deadliest tank -- in Lebanon: 40 of these were hit by Hizbullah's anti-tank weapons, 20 of them were destroyed and 30 tank crewmen were killed. According to a report published by The Washington Institute for Near East Policy: "Hizbullah's success with anti-tank weapons during the July War reflects many years spent training on these weapons as well as a good plan to use these weapons once the battle began."
Hizbullah's infantry, or "village units" -- deployed along the border to slow down the advance of Israeli ground forces -- "made the IDF pay for every inch of ground that it took. At the same time, crucially, Hizbullah dictated the rules of how the war was to be fought." It is worth noting that the fighters Hizbullah deployed in southern Lebanon were not its best. "One of the war's ironies," Andrew Axum writes, "is that many of Hizbullah's best and most skilled fighters never saw action, lying in wait along the Litani River with the expectation that the IDF assault would be much deeper and arrive much faster than it did."
The Hizbullah scored its most impressive military victory in the area of intelligence. Israel's electronic warfare systems are amongst the most advanced in the world; they are war-tested and developed in cooperation with the United States. Indeed, the Israeli commanders were certain at the outset of the war of their ability to jam Hizbullah communications. They were wrong. Hizbullah's command and control system remained operational throughout the war; they evaded Israeli jamming devices by using fiber-optic lines instead of relying on wireless signals.
The Hizbullah had blocked the Barak anti-missile system on Israeli ships; hacked into Israeli battlefield communications in order to monitor Israeli tank movements; and, they monitored cell-phone conversations in Hebrew between Israeli reservists and their families. They intercepted Israeli military communications on battlefield casualties and announced them on their media network.
They successfully employed decoys to hide the locations of hundreds of bunkers they built in southern Lebanon to store weapons and shelter their fighters. As a world leader in weapons technology and communications, Israel had a decisive advantage in electronic warfare in its wars with Arab armies. In July 2006, the Hizbullah neutralised this advantage.
Israel claims that it killed 400-500 Hizbullah fighters. Crooke and Perry insist that these numbers are exaggerated. "It is impossible for Shi'ites (and Hizbullah)," they argue, "not to allow an honourable burial for their martyrs, so in this case it is simply a matter of counting funerals. Fewer than 180 funerals have been held for Hizbullah fighters -- nearly equal to the number killed on the Israeli side."
The Israeli setback in the July War of 2006, then, represents a paradigm shift -- not something that can be pinned on careless errors in decision-making. Unlike the Arab armies in the past, the Hizbullah had fought a people's war. It neutralised Israel's technological superiority by deploying its mobile, elusive, disciplined and skilled guerilla detachments -- not a centralised, conventional army -- to fight the Israelis.
The Hizbullah fights in small groups, it is evasive, it is secretive, it owns its terrain, it trains, it has high morale, and it enjoys complete popular support amongst Lebanon's Shi'ites. It can launch thousands of low-tech rockets, which rendered sophisticated anti-missile defenses useless. It has also acquired, and learned to use with great effectiveness, anti-tank missiles that make Israel's most advanced tanks vulnerable. They have even successfully targeted Israeli warships.
If the Hizbullah can extend these advantages, if it can add shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to its arsenal and bring down a few Israeli helicopters and jets, Israel could quickly lose its unchallenged control over Lebanese skies. Israel's daily and wanton violations of Lebanese airspace would also come to an end.
The Hizbullah offers Israel a new kind of asymmetric warfare: it combines low-tech guerilla tactics with sophisticated missile and communications technology. Understandably, the Israelis find these Hizbullah achievements hard to digest. What the world witnessed in Lebanon in July 2006 were events that contain the potential for shifting the balance of power in the Middle East. Earlier, the Iraqi insurgents had demonstrated that they could make an occupation -- even by the world's greatest power -- very costly. Now, the Hizbullah has shown that a disciplined guerilla force, with access to advanced missiles, can repel the most powerful invading army.
It appears that the weapons gap that had opened up in recent decades between Western powers and the weaker, technologically backward nations may be closing. How rapidly this happens will depend on the willingness of countries like Russia, China, North Korea, Iran -- with other countries getting ready to join them -- to make these weapons available to movements of resistance.
Alternatively, if these countries hesitate, the arms smugglers will step in to provide this service. Once anti-tank, anti-ship and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles can be bought on the world's illicit arms markets as readily as AK-47s, the fortunes of resistance movements battling great powers will be altered.
In the late nineteenth century, the advanced Western nations had opened a lethal weapons gap with their automatic weapons: this gave them a quick, nearly costless colonisation of Africa and Southeast Asia. When that gap began to close in the interwar period, it gave an impetus to resistance movements in Indonesia, Vietnam, Kenya and Algeria. Already weakened from fighting their own fratricidal wars, the Western colonial powers retreated: and the Third World was born.
Will the twenty-first century herald the dawn of another era of gains for movements of resistance across Asia, Africa and Latin America?
Photos: AFP
M. Shahid Alam is professor of economics at Northeastern University, Boston. He is the author most recently of Challenging the New Orientalism (IPI: 2007). You may email him at alqalam 02760 @yahoo.com.


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[chottala.com] Burma CycloneThe military wouldn't care about human suffering.

Burma Cyclone: The military wouldn't care about human suffering.
Abid Bahar
The mainly Burman and Rakhine led military considers ordinary Burmese people only as the subject people/ tenants. If it is about the ethnic members the treatment could be even worse. They wouldn't care human suffering.  The military rulers possess these mental make up from their much charished symbols; the medieval kings who controlled Burma through committing notorious genocides.
One of such kings was Anuradtha, the man who became king by killing his own brother and killed a great number of Mon people and took their religion Buddhism for Burma. Anuradha was the founder of Theraveda Buddhism in Burma. All these factors make Burma's case (with its military occupying power with the ancient king's model for half a century,) most interesting and unfortunately complicated.
(Comment sent to Save the Children)
http://burmaemergency.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/latest-news-save-the-children-reaches-160000-cyclone-survivors-with-aid/#comments


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[chottala.com] Fwd: Death

Assalamu Alaikum,

I woke up this morning to find this mail in my inbox. The title itself was frightening enough for me to think twice before opening it. However, I did, and I realized it surely IS frightening.

Reading this article, I realized how I am so ignorant about life's most  inevitable fact that I may face at any moment! Although my realization will not be complete unless I enact upon it, I still couldn't hold myself from letting others know and get a chance to contemplate.

I woke up this morning to read this. Who knows, I may not wake up tomorrow to forward it!! So, I thought I better not delay.

May Allah grant us the ability to contemplate on our surroundings, to act upon His words, to be patiently steadfast on His righteous path. May He, The Merciful and Beneficent, forgive us and accept us among those who will be under His shade on the day when there will be no other shade but His.
Ameen.

Ma'assalam




>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Summary
1)     People are heedless and do not take admonition from those who die around them
2)     The transitory nature of life
3)     The evil effects of the wishing to live longer
4)     The advice for continuous remembrance of death and the effect of that
5)     The obligation of immediate repentance and preparation to face death
 
First Khutbah
 اتقوا الله عباد الله واتقوا يوماً تُرجَعون فيه إلى الله. يوم يُنفَخُ في الصور ويُبعَثُ من في القبور. ويظهرُ المستور. يوم تُبلى السرائر. وتُكشف الضمائر. ويتميَّز البَرُّ من الفاجر.
O People! I advise myself and you to fear Allaah, for he who does not fear Allaah will go astray. Allaah says that which means:
إن تَتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ يَجْعَل لَّكُمْ فُرْقَانًا
 "O you who have believed, if you fear Allaah, He will grant you a criterion," (Al-Anfaal: 29), to judge between right and wrong.
Servants of Allaah! He who fears punishment, then the furthest thing to him becomes within his reach and he who harbours false hopes and wishes to live long, his performance and actions become weak. Indeed, the future is near. Your Lord did not create you in vain and will not leave you unavailing, so take provision from this life by which you can protect yourself tomorrow.
The time of death is concealed and wishes are deceiving. Funerals pass by people, and they prepare them, pray over the deceased, accompany them and carry them to their final abode. You see people viewing them causally and perhaps they might get slightly saddened or grieved, but very soon they become overwhelmed again with the ravishment of this life and the heedlessness of living.
Respected brothers! Life is evidence against those who are heedless and their days lead them to wretchedness. How can one hope for the reward in the Hereafter without righteous deeds? How can someone wish to repent while being heedless and hoping to live longer?
Woe to the people of heedlessness! When they are given something, they are not satisfied and when they are deprived of anything, they become discontent. They enjoin that which they do not do themselves and forbid what they do not refrain from. They continuously criticize others and compromise with themselves.
 O people of heedlessness! How many people trusted life but it betrayed them and how many were assured by it, that were let down? How many swindlers got deceived in it? And, how many arrogant people became degraded and honorable ones humiliated by it? Power in this life alternates, it is never stable. Its sweetness soon becomes bitter and its bitterness sweet. People of might become overpowered. Life is short, the great things in it are few in number and this life very soon turns out to be as though it never even existed. Its happiness eventually turns into sorrow, health into sickness, and wealth into poverty. Its days are deceiving and it commands people with evil. It consists of vanishing pleasures, afflicting adversities or death. Its structure is soon destroyed, people unite but soon separate, and everything on earth turns into dust.
People of heedlessness are never satisfied, regardless of how much they may accumulate. They do not achieve all they wish for and are not prepared for what they are approaching. They collect but do not benefit from it, build that which they will not live in and hope for things that they will never achieve. Allaah says that which means:
ذَرْهُمْ يَأْكُلُواْ وَيَتَمَتَّعُواْ وَيُلْهِهِمُ ٱلاْمَلُ فَسَوْفَ يَعْلَمُونَ [الحجر:3]
"Let them eat and enjoy themselves and be diverted by (false) hope, for they are going to know." (Al-Hijr: 3)
One who wishes to live long, builds and demolishes and estimates but with a wrong estimation. He says something but does not do it, plans but does not implement them, and things happen which are the opposite to that which has been planned. He does wrong and delays repentance, then death comes and then he will not benefit from his deeds; his family and friends leave him and there are no longer any excuses. Allaah says that which means,
أَفَرَأَيْتَ إِن مَّتَّعْنَـٰهُمْ سِنِينَ ثُمَّ جَاءهُم مَّا كَانُواْ يُوعَدُونَ مَا أَغْنَىٰ عَنْهُمْ مَّا كَانُواْ يُمَتَّعُونَ [الشعراء:205-207]
"Then have you considered if We gave them enjoyment for years. And then there came to them that which they were promised? They would not be availed by the enjoyment which they were provided."  (Ash-Shu'araa': 205 – 207)
Oh people of heedlessness! O Muslim brothers and sisters! The Prophet sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam said in a Hadeeth:
((أكثروا من ذكر هادم اللذات))   
 "Abundantly remember the destroyer of pleasures (meaning death)" (An-Nasaa'i). This is the advice of your Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam which consists of a few words but is concise; short but effective. Indeed, he who remembers death as it should be remembered will hold himself accountable and question himself about his deeds and aspirations. But one who has a heedless heart, as Imaam Al Qurtubi, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said: "Needs long speeches and embellished statements." Abundantly remember the destroyer of pleasures, which will separate those who are united:
((فما ذكره أحد في ضيق من العيش إلا وسعه، ولا سعة إلا ضيقها))
 "None will remember it (meaning death) while in hardship but will feel ease and while at ease but will feel disturbed". (Tabaraani)
I swear by Allaah! Each one of us will come to an end, and each soul will die. The earth will eat our flesh and drink our blood - just as we walk over it, eat from its fruits and drink from its water. Then it becomes like Allaah says, which means:
وَنُفِخَ فِى ٱلصُّورِ فَصَعِقَ مَن فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوٰتِ وَمَن فِى ٱلأرْضِ إِلاَّ مَن شَاء ٱللَّهُ ثُمَّ نُفِخَ فِيهِ أُخْرَىٰ فَإِذَا هُمْ قِيَامٌ يَنظُرُونَ [الزمر:68]
 "And the Horn will be blown, and whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth will fall dead except whom Allaah wills. Then it will be blown again, and at once they will be standing, looking on." (Az- Zumar: 68).
Your Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam stood at the edge of a grave and cried as related in a Hadeeth; he then said:
((يا إخواني لمثل هذا فأعدوا))
 "O my brothers! For this, prepare yourselves". (Ibn Maajah) A man asked the Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam: "Who is the most wise of people O Messenger of Allaah?" He replied:
 ((أكثرهم ذكرا للموت وأشدهم استعدادا له، أولئك هم الأكياس ذهبوا بشرف الدنيا وكرامة الآخرة))
 "The one who remembers death most often and the one who is well-prepared to meet it; these are the wise; honorable in this life and dignified in the Hereafter." (Ibn Maajah & Tabaraani). In another Hadeeth, he, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said:
((الكيِّس من دان نفسه وعمل لما بعد الموت))
 "The wise one is he who reproaches himself and acts in preparation for what is after death." (Ahmad)
Al Hasan, may Allaah have mercy on him, said:
 إن الموت قد فضح الدنيا فلم يدع لذي لبٍّ بها فرحا
"Death has exposed the reality of life and left no reason for one with a sound mind to be happy in it."
Yunus Ibn 'Ubayd said:
ما ترك ذكر الموت لنا قرة عين في أهل ولا مال
 "The remembrance of death deprived us from enjoying our families and wealth." Also, Mutarrif said:
إن هذا الموت قد أفسد على أهل النعيم نعيمهم، فالتمسوا نعيما لا موت فيه. لقد أمِنَ أهل الجنة الموت فطاب لهم عيشهم وأمنوا الأسقام فهنيئا لهم طول مقامهم.
"Death spoils for the people of pleasure, their enjoyment. So look for pleasure in which there is no death. The people of Paradise do not die, so their lives will become comfortable, and they do not become sick, so they live a pleasant, eternal life."
O Muslims! Remember death and all its hardships, the rattling of ones soul in the throat and remember the terrifying screams one will give; for he who remembers death often, Allaah will bless him with three things: immediate repentance, contentment of the heart, and vigour for worship. Moreover, he who forgets death will be afflicted with three things: delay in repentance, discontentment, and laziness in worship.
Death is enough of a reason to break hearts, shed tears, destroy pleasures, divide people and ruin all hopes. The dead are made to be lonely after having lived with their families; they live in darkness after having been in the light; in tightness after having lived in wide space, and under the soil after having walked the earth. They become bare-footed, naked and alone. The grave is their dwelling, dust is their shroud, and mortal remains are their neighbors, who cannot hear a call nor respond to it. They lived long and owned much, but it did not benefit them when the command of their Lord came. So their homes became graves and what they collected was lost. Their money went to their inheritors, their wives re-married and what they were promised came to them. Allaah says that which means:
أَفَحَسِبْتُمْ أَنَّمَا خَلَقْنَـٰكُمْ عَبَثاً وَأَنَّكُمْ إِلَيْنَا لاَ تُرْجَعُونَ [المؤمنون:115]
"Then did you think that We created you uselessly and that to Us you would not be returned?" (Al-Mu'minoon: 115)
Have you ever thought, O servant of Allaah, about the day that you will die? - The day that you cannot delay and in which regret will not benefit you? Remove the cover of heedlessness from your heart for you will soon be standing before the One who knows the whims and whispers of the hearts, Who asks about the actions of the eyes and holds one accountable for what he hears. Allaah says that which means:
يَوْمَئِذٍ تُعْرَضُونَ لاَ تَخْفَىٰ مِنكُمْ خَافِيَةٌ [الحاقة:18]
"That Day, you will be exhibited (for judgment); not hidden among you is anything concealed.." (Al-Haaqqah: 18) 
Contemplate death, for it prevents one from disobedience, softens a hard heart, stops one from trusting this life and makes one feel ease at the time of hardships. Remember death so that you may be saved at the time of regret. Al Hasan, may Allaah have mercy on him, said:
يا بن آدم، لا يجتمع عليك خصلتان: سكرة الموت وحسرة الفوت.
احذر السكرة والحسرة يفجأك الموت وأنت على غرة فلا يصف واصف قدر ما تلقى ولا قدر ما ترى.
احذر لا يأخذك الله على ذنب فتلقاه ولا حجة لك.
 "O son of Aadam! Fear Allaah, and let two things not happen to you at the same time: the hardships and agony of death, plus sorrow and regret. Beware of agonies and regrets, for death will come to you suddenly and no one can describe to you what you will face and see. Beware, so as not to die while in a state of disobedience, otherwise you will meet Allaah with no excuse."
Respected brothers! Where are those who are afraid of not having enough provision? Where is he who is terrified of the lengthy distance of the journey and hostility of the road? All he took from this life is an old garment and a morsel of food. He was chaste through life, guided, and so little provision sufficed him. He was ashamed of himself in front of his Lord, remembered death, and therefore preserved his head (meaning his senses: eyes, ears and tongue) and stomach (meaning did not eat or drink except that which is lawful). He sought the reward of the Hereafter and gave up the adornments of this worldly life. He favored that which is everlasting over that which is vanishing - this is indeed the wise and clever one.
So fear Allaah, may Allaah have mercy on you, and be aware of Allaah, and watchful of that which He entrusted you with. Remember that you will be standing before your Lord, being judged according to your deeds and you will regret your negligence. Allaah says that which means:
كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ ٱلْمَوْتِ وَإِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوْنَ أُجُورَكُمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ فَمَن زُحْزِحَ عَنِ ٱلنَّارِ وَأُدْخِلَ ٱلْجَنَّةَ فَقَدْ فَازَ وَما ٱلْحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنْيَا إِلاَّ مَتَـٰعُ ٱلْغُرُورِ [آل عمران:185]
"Every soul will taste death, and you will only be given your (full) compensation on the Day of Resurrection. So he who is drawn away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise has attained (his desire). And what is the life of this world except the enjoyment of delusion." (Aal 'Imraan: 185)
 
Second Khutbah
O Muslims, repent to Allaah before death. The Prophet sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam said:
((بادروا بالأعمال قبل أن تشغلوا، فهل تنتظرون إلا فقرا منسيا أو غنى مطغيا أو مرضا مفسدا أو هرما مفندا أو موتا مجهزا أو الدجال فشرٌّ غائب ينتظر أو الساعة فالساعة أدهى وأمرُّ))
 "Hasten to do good deeds before you become busy. Are you waiting for such penury which will make you unmindful of devotion? Or such prosperity which will make you corrupt? Or such disease which will disable you? Or such senility which will make you mentally unstable? Or sudden death? Or the Dajjaal (Anti-Christ), who is the worst apprehended (sign of the hour)? Or (are you waiting) for the Hour? - that will be most grievous and bitter". (At-Tirmidhi)
Now that you are aware of the suddenness of death, do not be like those who hoped for the reward of the Hereafter without performing righteous deeds, and who delayed repentance, due to the false hope of living longer.
Visit the graveyards frequently for it reminds one of the Hereafter, and take a lesson from those who are under the earth and have lost connection with their families and loved ones; death came to them at a time which they did not expect and horror came to them in a way which they did not anticipate. Let he who visits the graves ponder and think of the situation of those who have passed away from his friends. They gathered money and had a high hopes, but suddenly they lost all their wishes and their wealth did not benefit them. The soil of the earth changed the nice appearance of their faces and their bodies became scattered in their graves. Their wives became widows and their wealth and homes were all distributed. Allaah said, which means:
وَلَقَدْ جِئْتُمُونَا فُرَادَىٰ كَمَا خَلَقْنَـٰكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَتَرَكْتُمْ مَّا خَوَّلْنَـٰكُمْ وَرَاء ظُهُورِكُمْ [الأنعام:94]
"(It will be said to them), "And you have certainly come to Us alone (i.e., individually) as We created you the first time, and you have left whatever We bestowed upon you behind you."(Al-An'aam: 94)
So, fear Allaah, may Allaah have mercy on you, and work for the Hereafter, for it is a dwelling in which there is no death for its inhabitants. Its structure does not wear out, youth does not age and its pleasure is never-ending. Its beauty, enjoyment, and women do not change and its people live under the mercy of the Most Merciful. Allaah says that which means:
دَعْوٰهُمْ فِيهَا سُبْحَـٰنَكَ ٱللَّهُمَّ وَتَحِيَّتُهُمْ فِيهَا سَلاَمٌ وَءاخِرُ دَعْوَاهُمْ أَنِ ٱلْحَمْدُ للَّهِ رَبّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ [يونس:10]
"Their call therein will be, "Exalted are You, O Allaah," and their greeting therein will be, "Peace." And the last of their call will be, "Praise to Allaah, Lord of the worlds!" (Yoonus: 10)
 




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[chottala.com] A question to Bangladeshi economists and bussiness forums and supporters of CTG

How much Bangladesh is loosing every day due to the inefficiency of  the inept Adviser's of CTG?
 
Is it less or more than they are accusing Hasina and Khaleda for the lossses?
 
  


অদক্ষ তত্ববধায়কদের জন্য দেশের প্রতিদিনের ক্ষতি কত কোটি টাকা?

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[chottala.com] *THESE PEOPLE HAVE NO SHAME!*

*THESE PEOPLE HAVE NO SHAME!* - Phil Donahue show:
 
 
Body of War
 
 

Body of War is a documentary following Tomas Young, an Iraq War veteran paralyzed from a bullet to the spine, on a physical and emotional journey as he adapts to his new body and begins to question the decision to go to war in Iraq. From soldier to anti-war activist, the film takes an unflinching view of the physical and emotional aftermath of war through the eyes of an American hero. The film unfolds on two parallel tracks. On the one hand, we see Tomas evolving into a powerful voice against the war as he struggles to deal with the complexities of a paralyzed body. And on the other hand, we see the historic debate unfolding in the Congress about going to war in Iraq. Written by Ellen Spiro

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1172373785/

Video at a Glance: Uploaded: 04/17/2008
Description: Clip: Tomas Young in Washington DC, Voice of Cathy Smith (mother of Tomas Young)
Video URL: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1172373785/
Related Titles: Body of War
Courtesy of: Screenplay, Inc.

 

BODY OF WAR Trailer [NEW]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HZuQkITY64

 

 

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[chottala.com] McCain's Worst Nightmare - Irrelevancy says Republicans for Obama [RFO]

 
Home
 
 
 

McCain's Worst Nightmare - Irrelevancy

Fri, 05/16/2008 - 9:18am — acspark

McCain's Worst Nightmare – Irrelevancy 

Yesterday, President Bush accomplished something that the two remaining Democratic candidates have yet to do…make John McCain seem irrelevant.  The appeasement statement should have put both McCain and Obama on notice: the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is not going away quietly.  This is good news for Obama and bad news for McCain. 

In 2008,  John McCain is facing a problem usually experienced by Vice Presidents (just ask Al Gore).  In yesterday's speech, President Bush was justifying his policy decisions and protecting his legacy.  President Bush has officially, and literally, transformed into "the big elephant" in the room that McCain wishes would go away.  The election will come down to a competition between Obama's vision vs. continuing the current domestic and foreign policy situations from eight years of the Bush Administration.  McCain will become an afterthought in his own campaign for the Presidency.  

Irrelevancy, thy name may be John McCain.

Technorati Tags:
 
Recent News:

Republicans for Obama in The Examiner: An emerging constituency: Obama Republicans by Susan Ferrechio | Give to the Obama campaign...or, buy some R.F.O. gear and we'll give the proceeds to the campaign!

http://www.republicansforobama.org/?q=homepage


 

Republicans for Obama was founded in late 2006 as part of the nationwide effort to encourage Senator Obama to run for the Presidency.  Since that time, our volunteer-run, grassroots organization has grown to include over 1500 members from across the country.  Find out more

Throughout the Presidential campaign, RepublicansforObama.org will continue to serve as an online forum for the growing number of Republican Obama supporters to discuss the election, and to encourage other Republicans to embrace Obama's message of unity and competency and support his candidacy. 

 

 

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[chottala.com] US academic Finkelstein deported from Israel

Norman Finkelstein deported from Israel

Controversial US academic held overnight at Ben Gurion airport for questioning, denied entry due to 'security considerations'

Eli Senyor and Adva Naftali

Published:  05.24.08, 21:05 / Israel News

Israel deported Jewish-American Professor Norman Finkelstein to the United States on Friday after questioning him at Ben Gurion airport. Finkelstein was denied entry due to "security concerns," authorities said.

DePaul Controversy
Controversial Jewish professor resigns post  / Associated Press
In review of Harvard law professor's book, Norman Finkelstein argued Israel uses anti-Semitism as means to stifle criticism. 'Resignation – for everybody's sake,' he says in departure letter
Full Story

 

Finkelstein was detained immediately after landing in Israel late Thursday night and was questioned at the airport before being told he could not enter Israel.

 

"Finkelstein was boarded onto a plane back the United States before dawn. When he arrived we will decide whether to appeal this decision," his attorney, Michael Sfard, told Ynet. Sfard said the entry ban could last 10 years.

 

"A country that starts to fear what its harshest critics write about it is a country that is already behaving in a manner reminiscent of the darkest days of the communist regime," said Sfard.

 

Finkelstein, the son of a Holocaust survivor, has written extensively regarding Israel's policies in the territories and accuses Israel of manipulating the memory of the Holocaust and present-day anti-Semitism to justify illegitimate policies.

 

His work has garnered considerable admiration in some circles and scathing criticism in others.

 

In a much-publicized mêlée, he was denied tenure at DePaul University in 2007, reportedly over the frequent criticism lobbed at him from numerous academic and public figures, most notably Harvard's Alan Dershowitz.

 
 
Persona Non-Grata

Finkelstein - Sent back to US 

 

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) denounced Finkelstein's deportation.

 

"The decision to prevent someone from voicing their opinions by arresting and deporting them is typical of a totalitarian regime. A democratic state, where freedom of expression is the highest principle, does not shut out criticism or ideas just because they are uncomfortable for its authorities to hear, it confronts those ideas in public debate," said ACRI

See More Photo: AFP Poll: US Jews prefer Clinton

 Attorney Oded Peler.

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Re: [chottala.com] These inhuman Saudis! And these Arabs - Disgrace for mankind

How do you know? Can you elaborate?

On 5/23/08, dina khan <dina30_khan@yahoo.com> wrote:

Maximum false & ill propaganda................

--- On Sat, 24/5/08, Syed Aslam <Syed.Aslam3@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Syed Aslam <Syed.Aslam3@gmail.com>
Subject: [chottala.com] These inhuman Saudis! And these Arabs - Disgrace for mankind
To: notun_bangladesh@yahoogroups.com, "khabor" <khabor@yahoogroups.com>, SonarBangladesh@yahoogroups.com, chottala@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, 24 May, 2008, 12:25 AM

Image : www.bwint.org

These inhuman Saudis! And these Arabs - Disgrace for mankind
"Opinion "

Friday May 23 2008 21:55:45 PM BDT

By Tayeb Husain, Sweden
http://www.banglade sh-web.com/ view.php? hidRecord= 200971

Millions of poor people from all over the world come to Arab kingdoms to work because they are poor and need work for a living. These poor workers give their blood and build these brutish peoples' homes and palaces, work in their factories and infra-structure buildings and in exchange they offer them a little petrodollar and the most inhuman treatment that we read everyday in international newspapers.
------------ ---------

Allah must have committed a great sin by giving so much oil to these Saudis and the Arabs, the worst mankind in the world I suppose. With their oil money they have built their societies that are so inhuman and so much devoid of human conscience! Millions of poor people from all over the world come to Arab kingdoms to work because they are poor and need work for a living. These poor workers give their blood and build these brutish peoples' homes and palaces, work in their factories and infra-structure buildings and in exchange they offer them a little petrodollar and the most inhuman treatment that we read everyday in international newspapers. The western media, if and when something bad happens in China, Myanmar or in Zimbabwe or countries they do not like, are very vocal and go on reporting and condemning such things for weeks or months but they speak very mildly the inhuman things the Saudis and the other rich Arab countries do to people from poor countries working for peanuts in these oil rich Arab lands.

The Arabs treat very respectfully to Europeans and especially their employees from Western Europe and North America but their behaviour to people from poor countries are subhuman and most brutish. This is very much true when they employ women from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and other countries in Asia as home maids. They employ these poor women for very little money and force them to work 15-16 hours a day. Often they do not get any break and work 7 days a week. Their work-hours could be any time at day or at night.

These women get their jobs paying good amount as fees to local employment agencies in their own countries. These local employment agencies arrange jobs in collusion with similar organizations in Arab countries. The usual practice is to pay the local agents, quite substantial amount by the local standard and often these poor people arrange the amount by selling the land or such small properties they own, get the job and come to work in an Arab country. On arrival the domestic women workers need to surrender their passports and other documents to the employers, start working and with the works the real ordeal begins.

Many foreign domestic maids in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries work in harsh circumstances and very often suffer abuse by their employers. Often they do not get the salary they are promised, they need to work very long hours every day and no compensation for long working hours and no complain to be made but to work, work and work as ordered.

The ordeal of young women are further more complicated for the employers' sex lust. Often the employers sexually violate the young employees by force and making any complain or reporting it means inviting serious problems. Generally there is nobody to listen to them and what the employers say are the only truths. In Arab countries justice system does not work when it involves foreign workers from the poor countries. In March 2007 I met 4 women from Bangladesh at Doha airport while flying by Qatar Airlines from Frankfurt to Dhaka who told me their ordeal in Saudi Arabia. Each of these women paid above 80,000 or so Taka to get jobs as domestic servant in Saudi kingdom and on arrival they faced the same horrible situation. They worked 3 months in the kingdom and were not paid a cent for their hard work. The employers had something else in their minds until the moment came for real action.

These women were not young and they wanted to send them back home. So they let them work day and night long 3 months to earn enough for the air ticket to Dhaka and then they bought one way tickets for each one of them and then bundled them home to Bangladesh via Doha. I could see they were lucky. At least they were not sexually molested, thanks to their advanced age.

Today (23d May 2008) I read in BBC a tragic story of an Indonesian woman, Nour Miyati, and unfortunately the poor woman was not so lucky. This 25 years old woman contracted gangrene after allegedly being tied up for a month and left without food in 2005. She had to have several fingers and toes amputated. Human Rights Watch says that Miyati was treated in a Riyadh hospital in March 2005 for gangrene, malnourishment and other injuries. The case was taken up by human rights group and the cruel employer family was brought to justice. Then again, what is justice in a country where this sort of criminality is a norm of most of the employers' psyche? A judge in Riyadh gave a verdict on the case on last Monday and awarded $670 damages to the maid but dropped all charges against her employers.

The female employer, it is reported, admitted the abuse and was originally sentenced to 35 lashes, had her sentence overturned. A Saudi judgment earlier had convicted Miyati for falsely accusing her employers and sentenced to 79 lashes. On his judgment the horrendous Bedouin judge in Riyadh on last Monday found the female employer not guilty, despite her earlier admission and 'compelling physical evidence' on Miyati's body, the human rights group says.

Another story of a Sri Lankan woman I remember vividly that again I read in BBC world news 3 / 4 years ago. 'After three months, I asked Madam for my salary and she started to beat me with iron bars and wooden sticks', the maid was explaining of her time in Saudi Arabia. 'Sometimes she would take a hot iron and burn me or heat up a knife and put it on my body'. Readers may see similar stories in http://news. bbc.co.uk/ 2/hi/south_ asia/3204297. stm

In modern time numbers of migrant workers are innumerable. Nowhere had they got equal treatment as the local workers but little fairness must be there, at least that is what my experience in Europe over 3 decades. But Arabs' treatments to poor migrant workers are most horrendous and utterly inhuman. Indeed treating migrant workers such inhuman way is unique and unparallel as we hear of in cases from Saudi kingdom and other Arab countries. The case of Saudi Arabia, the land of Prophet of Islam and where the holy Kaaba is situated makes one ponder how come this people could be so cruel whereas Islam is said to be a religion of peace and its inherent power is supposed to be equality of mankind. Those Muslims who go to Mecca for religious purpose need to contemplate for a while if it is worth performing Hajj in a country that is inhabited by so many inhuman people and who is devoid of humanity in such a colossal scale among the people of the world. I need not mention that Saudi government is undemocratic, un-Islamic and one of the most barbarian one in the planet.

Tayeb Husain
Sweden
e-mail: th12sw@yahoo. com
 
 


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