Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was born April 28, 1937 and died December 30, 2006. He was the fifth President of Iraq, holding that position from July 16, 1979 until 9 April 2003. He was one of the leading members of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party, and afterward, the Baghdad-based Ba’ath Party and its regional organization Ba’ath Party, Iraq Region, which advocated ba’athism, an ideological marriage of Arab nationalism with Arab socialism. (Patricia Ramos, july 2013)

"The national security of America and the security of the world could be attained if the American leaders [..] become rational, if America disengages itself from its evil alliance with Zionism, which has been scheming to exploit the world and plunge it in blood and darkness, by using America and some Western countries.
What the American peoples need mostly is someone who tells them the truth, courageously and honestly as it is.
They don’t need fanfares and cheerleaders, if they want to take a lesson from the (sept. 11) event so as to reach a real awakening, in spite of the enormity of the event that hit America.
But the world, including the rulers of America, should say all this to the American peoples, so as to have the courage to tell the truth and act according to what is right and not what to is wrong and unjust, to undertake their responsibilities in fairness and justice, and by recourse to reason..."

Saddam Hussein, INA 15-9-2002

"A lot of rulers today still view principled people as a burden to them"

"A lot of rulers today still view principled people, who persist in defending their noble and just causes and who refuse to compromise at the expense of their peoples, their nations, the honour of their cause, their integrity and their principles, as a burden on them.
The policy of the United States still finds in this kind of genuine, honest and loyal people an obstacle before their evil and futile ambitions towards the world and humanity at large..." Saddam Hoessein, Oath and Speech, INA 17-10-2002

“All mankind is from Adam and Eve. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action.
Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly.
“Do not therefore do injustice to yourselves. Remember one day you will meet Allah and answer your deeds. So beware, do not astray from the path of righteousness after I am gone." Prophet Muhammad, Last Sermon

"Having principles is necessary in any talks, as they constitute a reference for the process of negotiating..." "Since the beginning of Geneva 3 talks, the delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic proposed a paper of principles that forms a basis for the talks. [...] There have been no real talks until this moment and the paper of principles has not been answered to.." Bashar al-Assad, speech 6-6-2016

"The West creates enemies; in the past it was the communism then it became Islam, and then it became Saddam Hussein for a different reason. Now, they want to create a new enemy represented by Bashar. That's why they say that the problem is the president so he has to leave. That is why we have to focus of the real problem, not to waste our time listening to what they say." (Bashar al-Assad, 9-11-2012)

"Syria is the heart of the Middle East. Everybody knows that. If the Middle East is sick, the whole world will be unstable. In 1991, when we started the peace process, we had a lot of hope. Now, after over 20 years, things are not at square one; they’re much below that square.

So the policy should be to help peace in the region, to fight terrorism, to promote secularism, to support this area economically, to help upgrade the mind and society like you did in your country. That is the supposed mission of the United States, not to launch wars. Launching war doesn’t make you a great power." (Bashar Al-Assad, 26-1-2015)

President Bashar, 'Le Figaro' interview 3-9-2013:

"How can the parliamentarians convince the French public that their country is secular, yet at the same time it supports extremism and sectarianism in other parts of the world? How can France advocate for democracy but yet one of its closest allies – Saudi Arabia – is still living in medieval times?"
"My message to the French Parliamentarians is: go back to the principles of the French Revolution that the whole world is proud of: Liberty, Justice, Equality."

About political holism

Political holism is based on the recognition that "we" are all members of a single whole. There's no "they," even though "we" are not all alike. Because "we" are all part of the whole, and therefore interdependent, we benefit from cooperating with each other. Political holism is a way of thinking about human cultures and nations as interdependent.
Political holists search for solutions other than war to settle international disagreements. Their model of the world is one in which cooperation and negotiation, even with the enemy, even with the weak, promotes political stability more than warfare.
In an overpopulated world with planet-wide environmental problems, the development of weapons of mass destruction has rendered war obsolete as an effective means to resolve disputes.

Political dualists consider political holists unpatriotic for questioning the necessity to defeat "them." In times of impending war, political dualists tend to measure patriotism by the intensity of one's hostility to the country's immediate enemy.
Naturally, they would view as disloyalty any suggestion that the enemy is not evil, any call for cooperation with the enemy, any criticism of one's own country.
To political dualists, cooperation with the enemy means capitulation, relinquishment of the nation's position of dominance.

At its extreme, political dualism is essentially tribalism. (Betty Craige, 16-8-1997)

Flashback: "The color grey in patriotism is no longer acceptable"
President Bashar Assad's Speech At the People's Assembly, June 04, 2012
Syria Times, 5-6-2016

Today you start your legislative role at a critical juncture whose dangers go beyond all the dangers faced by Syria since the evacuation of the French occupation. This gives you an exceptional role in dealing with two forces going in opposite directions.
The first force pushes backward and tries to weaken Syria and violate its sovereignty and perpetrate acts of killing, sabotage, ignorance, backwardness and serve the interests of foreign powers.
The second force pushes forward and is fully determined to implement reforms which have materialized in a package of laws and a new constitution and which has broadened popular participation in managing the affairs of the homeland.
If standing in the face of the regional and global attack against our country is not an easy task, accommodating ourselves to the reforms and strengthening them is not easy either. Through these reforms we counter a significant part of this attack and build strong fortifications against regional and international ambitions in our country.

A lot has been said about the political solution since the beginning of the crisis... The political process is moving forward, but terrorism is growing and hasn't subsided. Terrorists are concerned neither with reform nor with dialogue. They are criminals who have set themselves a task; and they are not concerned with condemnation or denunciation. They will never stop until they complete their task regardless of anything. They will never stop unless we stop them. Not distinguishing between terrorism and the political process is a great error made by some people...

A lot has been said about dialogue. Some of those who do not like slogans say that they are mere empty slogans and some have unknowingly turned dialogue into an empty slogan.
Where are the plans or visions for such a dialogue, and who are the parties concerned with dialogue. Who conducts dialogue with whom? What are the issues that the parties discuss in this dialogue? Who are these parties and what is their relationship to the events? And how can we ensure that these parties represent the people or a certain segment of the people?
In principle, the only basis is the elections. But these forces have run away from elections claiming that they have boycotted them.
When you boycott the elections, you do not boycott the state, the government or the ruling party. You boycott the people because elections are the right of the people and because the voter is the citizen, not the state and not the party. Consequently, how can any person stand in front of people and say I represent the people yet I boycott the people. This is an impossible contradiction. It cannot happen even in an imaginary movie.

The tasks ahead of us go beyond national borders. If some outside Syria have sent our people death and destruction, we will provide their people with a civilized model to use as an example in gaining their freedom and becoming partners in their countries instead of having rulers who own the land and the people. Then, we will receive messages of humanity from our brothers in free countries instead of receiving advice about democracy from countries of slavery...
Our guiding light is always Syria's sovereignty, independent decision, territorial integrity and the dignity of its people.
Always remember that individuals are ephemeral while the people is eternal; and that state positions come and go while the homeland is always there. I wish you every possible success in the tasks you are charged with in this first legislative course.

Syrian Parliament to Be Headed by Woman for First Time in History
Sputnik News, 6-6-2016

Hadiya Khalaf Abbas was elected as the Speaker of the People's Council of Syria, becoming the first woman to hold the post.
Syria held parliamentary elections on April 15 with over 3,500 candidates contesting the 250 seats in Syria's parliament. Ballot stations were set up in 12 of Syria's 14 provinces, as the northern province of Raqqa was still under the control of Daesh terrorist group and the northwestern Idlib province was controlled by al-Nusra Front. The newly-elected parliament held its first session on Monday.

Hadiyeh Khalaf Abbas was born in 1958 in Deir Ezzor. She holds a PhD in Agricultural Engineering from Aleppo University. She held positions at the National Union of Syrian Students (Deir Ezzor-Raqqa branch) and she was a member of the leadership of the Deir Ezzor branch of al-Baath Arab Socialist Party (1988-1998).
Abbas is the first woman to have held this position since 1919, when the first national parliament was formed, called the Syrian National Congress. The 1953 Syrian constitution was the first to give the right of suffrage to women. In the first legislative term of the People’s Assembly (1973-1977), there were only five women out of 186 members. This number rose to 31 women out of 250 members in the first legislative term of 2012-2016. (SANA, 6-6-2016)

The People’s Assembly elections for the second legislative term were held on April 13th. The eligible voters in Syria numbered 8,834,994 people, of which 5,085,444 voted in the elections, with a participation rate of 57.56%.

The friends of Isis & Al-Qaeda: Libya 2012 (Levy-Cameron-Sarkozy) - Syria 2013 (McCain) -Syria 2014 (Kerry-Ford)

President Bashar al-Assad: "The defeat of terrorism must be realized "
Information Clearing House, 7-6-2016

“It is no longer secret that - since the beginning and throughout the various initiatives - supporting terrorism has been aimed at undermining the presence of any concept of the homeland through hitting its core, which is the constitution, and through continuous pressure to consider it null and stop it and freeze it under different names and terms, mainly the so-called transitional stage.
“And of course, through hitting the constitution, two main pillars of the state get hit:
- the first is the institutions, on top being the institution of the army that is the defender of the state and the guarantor of the people’s security, as they started focusing on that greatly since the start and during any talk about Syria’s future and institutions.
- The other pillar is the diverse national, pan-Arab, and religious identity of Syria, which they started to focus on when they realized that it was the underpinning of the homeland’s steadfastness at the beginning of the events.

“They believed that the core of their political scheme, after their plot of terrorism failed, was to hit the constitution… the scheme was for terrorism to come and fully take over and be given the quality of moderation and later be given the legitimate cover, of course from the outside and not the inside.
Their scheme was to undermine the constitution, and consequently create absolute chaos from which the only exit would be a sectarian, ethnic constitution that turns us from people committed to their homeland into conflicting groups that cling to their sects and seek help from strangers against their own...”
“Here is when the imperialist states come and put themselves forward as protectors of those groups, and their interference in the affairs of that homeland becomes justified and legitimate, and then they move at some point to partitioning when the partitioning scheme is ready.
Therefore, and in order to consolidate their scheme, we all notice that the sectarian terms occupy a significant space in the political discourse of the terrorism-sponsoring countries, the regional and the international ones...”

“I will quickly mention the basic principles we proposed: Syria’s sovereignty and unity, rejection of foreign interference, rejection of terrorism, supporting reconciliations, preserving establishments, lifting the siege, reconstruction, and controlling borders.
There are also other points that are mentioned in the current constitution and other constitutions like cultural diversity, citizens’ liberties, and independence of the judiciary, and other principles. We didn’t agree to any proposition outside these principles, quite simply, and this is why they refused. We didn’t hear anyone saying no but there was evasion....
“When they failed to achieve what they wanted in the first time, they wanted to withdraw and hold Syria responsible, but they couldn’t do that in the second time. In the last time, their response was a public declaration of supporting terrorism and stopping the truce or withdrawing from the truce or what was called the cessation of hostilities,” stressing that the aftermath of that was the brutal shelling of Aleppo and the targeting of hospitals, civilians, and children by terrorists.

“In this context, the issue that was proposed constantly during the past few months was the issue of truce. Many of us hold the truce responsible for all that is happening. Let’s talk objectively here; nothing in this world is absolute except divine ability, and for us humans everything is relative. The truce, like anything else, if is positive then it has negative points, and if it’s negative it has positive points..."
“On the military level, it allowed for concentrating military efforts in specific directions and realize achievements, and the first proof is liberating Palmyra shortly after the beginning of this truce and after it al-Qaryatain, and in the Ghouta of Damascus several areas were liberated...”

“Just like we liberated Palmyra and many other areas before it, we will liberate every inch of Syria from their grasp. We have no choice other than victory, or else there won’t be a Syria and our children will not have a present or a future...”
This doesn’t mean excluding the political track, “we will continue working on the political track no matter how slim the possibilities of realizing and achievement are, and this is based on the strong desire on the popular and official levels to stop bloodshed and destruction and to save the country. However, any political process that doesn’t begin, continue, and end with eliminating terrorism is meaningless and will not produce results.”
“The defeat of terrorism must be realized as long as there are states like Iran, Russia, and China that support the Syrian people and stand by righteousness and assist the wronged in the face of the wrongdoer...”

Syria: Army officers to hold talks with Russia, Iran in Tehran
Middle East Online, 8-6-2016

DAMASCUS - Syria's defence minister is to hold Tehran talks with his Iranian and Russian counterparts on Thursday as government forces press an offensive against the Islamic State group, state media said.
Moscow has sent warplanes and special forces in support of President Bashar al-Assad's regime, while Tehran has deployed military advisers and trained and equipped pro-government militias.
The visit by Syria's General Fahd Jassem al-Freij comes as the Damascus regime steps up its campaign against both IS and rebel fighters in second city Aleppo it charges are in cahoots with Al-Qada.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu travels to Tehran after Moscow pledged to step up its air strikes against rebel forces in and around Aleppo, accusing non-jihadist rebels of failing to deliver on a February ceasefire pledge to break ranks with Al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate Al-Nusra Front. The talks are being held at the invitation of Iran's General Hossein Dehghan, the state IRNA news agency said.

Tehran has provided Damascus with military and financial support ever since the uprising against Assad's regime erupted more than five years ago. Moscow's military intervention last September has significantly improved the regime's position.
Russian forces helped government troops to recapture the famed ancient city of Palmyra in March and are now backing a push towards Syria's largest dam at Tabqa in the Euphrates Valley.

Supporting Political Anarchism?
US only works with SD, not with the Syrian Nation State
ARA News, June 8, 2016

Anarchism is the political philosophy which rejects (and supports the elimination of) compulsory government
or compulsory rule, and holds that society can (and should) be organized without a coercive state (nationalism).

KOBANE – In its war against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria, the United States will only work with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) not with the Assad regime, US State Department said.
“So we support the SDF as they continue to take land back from ISIL [ISIS]. I’m not going to speak to the Syrian movements. And we’ve actually had this conversation...” US State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said on Monday.
The Syrian regime forces entered the Raqqa province for the first time since 2014 last Saturday, and approached the Tabqa dam. Recent reports suggested there is now a race between the Kurdish-led SDF-forces and the Assad regime towards Raqqa.
“Yes. So I’m aware of those reports. I cannot confirm it. For our part, we continue to work with the Syrian Democratic Forces, our partners on the ground in Syria, to retake land from ISIL [ISIS] and further isolate ISIL’s transportation, communications and supply routes into Raqqa to weaken its grip on the city,” Trudeau added.
“We believe the SDF has seen progress in recent months in retaking land from ISIL [ISIS]. Again – and we’ve spoken about this – this is not an easy fight. This is a slow slog. So I’ve seen the reports. I just can’t confirm them now,” she said.

Speaking to ARA News in Kobane, Kurdish politician and TEV-DEM official Ruken Amed said that the United States only backs the SDF forces for two reasons:
“There are many ethnic groups inside the SDF and it reflects the Syrian society. Secondly, we are not an occupying force, we just want to defeat ISIS and the local people can administrate their cities.... " “We don’t seek to extend territory, we fight terrorism, and let people run their own territory...”

The Dirty War on Syria
By Prof. Tim Anderson, Global Research, June 06, 2016

Although every war makes ample use of lies and deception, the dirty war on Syria has relied on a level of mass disinformation not seen in living memory.
The British-Australian journalist Philip Knightley pointed out that war propaganda typically involves ‘a depressingly predictable pattern’ of demonising the enemy leader, then demonising the enemy people through atrocity stories, real or imagined.
Accordingly, a mild-mannered eye doctor called Bashar al Assad became the new evil in the world and, according to consistent western media reports, the Syrian Army did nothing but kill civilians for more than four years.
To this day, many imagine the Syrian conflict is a ‘civil war’, a ‘popular revolt’ or some sort of internal sectarian conflict. These myths are, in many respects, a substantial achievement for the big powers which have driven a series of ‘regime change’ operations in the Middle East region, all on false pretexts, over the past 15 years.

With the ‘Arab Spring’ of 2011 the big powers took advantage of a political foment by seizing the initiative to impose an ‘Islamist winter’, attacking the few remaining independent states of the region.
Very quickly we saw the destruction of Libya, a small country with the highest standard of living in Africa. NATO bombing and a Special Forces campaign helped the al Qaeda groups on the ground.
The basis for NATO’s intervention was lies told about actual and impending massacres, supposedly carried out or planned by the government of President Muammar Gaddafi. These claims led rapidly to a UN Security Council resolution said to protect civilians through a ‘no fly zone’. We know now that trust was betrayed, and that the NATO powers abused the limited UN authorisation to overthrow the Libyan Government.

Dubai Former Al Jazeera anchor Luna Al Shibl (born: 30-11-1974) replaced in 2012 Jihad Maqdisi as spokesperson for the Syrian foreign ministry. Al Shibl had been working as media adviser to the Syrian regime previously. She has appeared on pro-Bashar Al Assad media and she harshly criticised Al Jazeera's coverage, accusing the channel of fabricating news. (Saddam's Death, page 34)

Two days before NATO bombed Libya another armed Islamist insurrection broke out in Daraa, Syria’s southernmost city.
Yet because this insurrection was linked to the demonstrations of a political reform movement, its nature was disguised. Many did not see that those who were providing the guns – Qatar and Saudi Arabia – were also running fake news stories in their respective media channels, Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya.
There were other reasons for the durable myths of this war. Many western audiences, liberals and leftists as well as the more conservative, seemed to like the idea of their own role as the saviours of a foreign people... With a mission and their proud self-image western audiences apparently forgot the lies of previous wars, and of their own colonial legacies.

I would go so far as to say that, in the Dirty War on Syria, western culture in general abandoned its better traditions: of reason, the maintenance of ethical principle and the search for independent evidence at times of conflict;
in favour of its worst traditions: the ‘imperial prerogative’ for intervention, backed by deep racial prejudice and poor reflection on the histories of their own cultures.
That weakness was reinforced by a ferocious campaign of war propaganda. After the demonisation of Syrian leader Bashar al Assad began, a virtual information blockade was constructed against anything which might undermine the wartime storyline.
In that context I came to write this book. It is a defence of Syria, not primarily addressed to those who are immersed the western myths but to others who engage with them. This is therefore a resource book and a contribution to the history of the Syrian conflict.

Vitaly Churkin: "A one-sided document"
UN report ‘deliberately ignores’ Russia’s anti-ISIS efforts
Russia Today, 9-6-2016

Russia's envoy to the United Nations has criticized the latest UN report which singled out the US coalition efforts in fighting ISIS, overlooking the game-changing role of Russia as well as other countries’ achievements in battling terrorism in Syria.
Sharing his assessment of the circulated Report of the Secretary-General in the Security Council on the threat of terrorism in Syria, envoy Vitaly Churkin noted that Russian-led contribution is being neglected, while all the successes are being attributed to the “international coalition forces” led by Washington.
"It seems that the role of the coalition led by the United States is singled out, while the actions of other states, which are often more effective, are deliberately ignored,” Churkin said Wednesday.
“It cannot be denied that substantial damage to ISIS potential in Syria was done by the Russian Air Force,” Churkin said, while also stressing that the role of the Syrian air force cannot be ignored too, as they are on the front line of fighting terrorism.
“As a result of the Russian air group operation in Syria, [we] managed to reverse the situation and undermine the resource base of the terrorists. It destroyed thousands of control points, warehouses with ammunition, weapons, military equipment, materiel, fuel and explosives, more than 200 oil production, pumping and processing facilities, as well as over 2,000 means of delivery of petroleum products for contraband sales to Turkey.”

Among other things, the ambassador pointed out that he is “bewildered” that the report “doesn’t say a word” about the role Russia played in liberating Palmyra and subsequent Russian mine-sweeping effort of the UNESCO heritage site.
At the same time, Churkin wondered why the UN even bothered to ask Russia for its operational data in Syria, if the report did not take into account any of the information provided by Russia.
The May 31 report, Churkin went on to say, does not reflect an “objective understanding of the terrorist threat” nor a full assessment of countries that are contributing in fighting terrorism in Syria. He called it a “one-sided” document which fails to “paint an adequate picture.”

Defense ministers of Syria, Iran and Russia meet in Tehran for anti-terrorism talks
Syrian Arab News Agency, 9 June 2016

Tehran, SANA-Defense Ministers of Syria, Iran and Russia met in Tehran on Thursday to discuss issues related to combating terrorism in Syria and the region.
Defense Minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij said during the meeting that Syria is bent on striking terrorism everywhere on its land “with valor and determination”, backed by friends and allies.
“For over five years Syria has been confronting Takfiri terrorism led by the US which exerted immense efforts to fight Syria, making it imperative for us to confront terrorism,” he added.
He expressed appreciation for the support of the Iranian and Russian friends, voicing confidence in Syria’s victory over terrorism which will mark an end of terrorism in the entire region.
Al-Freij described the results of an earlier meeting he held with his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoygu as “excellent”, adding that a recent array of measures is expected to yield even better results.

Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan, for his part, said Iran has always been a promoter of dialogue among the Syrians for resolving the crisis, noting that Iran agrees to a guaranteed ceasefire that does not give space to terrorists to bolster their resources.
He criticized the claims of the US and Saudi Arabia about backing “moderate opposition” which he said is in fact a covert support for terrorists...
Sergey Shoygu said terrorism is a problem jeopardizing the entire world, which necessitates high-level coordination against it, disclosing that intensive meetings were held with the Syrian side in which future goals and plans were outlined.
During the meeting, al-Freij slammed US and Turkish support for terrorists, adding that some Gulf States speak of fraternal ties binding them with the Syrian people as they overtly patronize terrorist organizations committing heinous crimes against Syrians.

Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade designated terrorist by US
By Rudaw, 9-6-2016

Yarmouk Brigade clashing with regime forces in the Manshiyah neighborhood of Daraa. August 26th, 2013 The Syrian Daraa area is witnessing nonstop fighting between al-Muthanna and al-Yarmouk Brigades (4 May 2016 united and transformed to Jaish Khalid ibn al-Walid), which are accused of making allegiance to ISIS on one side, and the Southern Fronts’ Brigades, Ahrar al-Sham and Al-Nusra Front (FSA-Al-Qaeda 'moderates') on the other.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, an Islamic State-aligned militia group operating in southern Syria, has been declared a terrorist organization by the United States. Labelling it a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, “I hereby determine that the entity known as Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade… committed, or poses a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of US nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States,” reads a statement from US Secretary of State John Kerry. Designating the Yarmourk Martyrs Brigade as a terrorist organization exposes and isolates the group, and leaves members and associates, including financial backers, open to prosecution under American law. It will also likely exclude the Yarmourk Martyrs Brigade from any ceasefires in Syria, just as the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra have not been protected by cessations of hostilities. The Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade was formed in southern Syria in August 2012 in the area of the Yarmouk Valley. The group initially aligned with Jabhat al-Nusra but, in 2014 it pledge allegiance to the Islamic State.

How the 'legal representatives of the Syrian people' became a 'terror-army'
Written by Geoffrey Giller, Syria Deeply, Oct. 13, 2015

It is by now well established that Liwa Shuhada’ al-Yarmouk (‘The Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade’), a one-time member of the Free Syrian Army (a group of militants, called 'legal representatives of the Syrian people' by 'The friends of Syria-countries'), has become pro-Islamic State (ISIS) in orientation, using the ISIS flag in its logo and echoing ISIS discourse in its statements.
Controlling a contiguous area of towns and villages in the Yarmouk Valley in south-western Deraa province, aspects of Liwa Shuhada’ al-Yarmouk governance have begun to mimic ISIS administration.
The first claims of a Liwa Shuhada’ al-Yarmouk alignment with ISIS came in December 2014 from Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, which sparked clashes between the two groups that culminated in a ceasefire brokered by the Salafi rebel group Harakat al-Muthanna al-Islamiya.

What prompted the turn toward ISIS? To be sure, the brigade did not exactly have the best reputation, even as a member of the wider Southern Front (FSA) coalition. Perhaps the group saw a chance to improve its standing among locals by gradually becoming more ‘Islamic’ in governance and deepening its affinity with ISIS...
For now, Liwa Shuhada’ al-Yarmouk has not become ISIS’ ‘Wilayat Deraa’ in Syria, but that seems to be only a matter of time and partly dependent on whether ISIS can connect the Yarmouk Valley to the rest of its contiguous territorial holdings in Syria.

Shoigu: Fighting terrorism is an international duty
Press TV, Fri Jun 10, 2016

Iranian secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani met separately with Russian and Syrian Defense Ministers Sergei Shoigu and Fahad Jassim Freij in Tehran on Thursday.
Shamkhani thanked “the courageous actions and policies of Russian President (Vladimir Putin) and his effective support in the comprehensive fight against terrorism in Syria.”
Shoigu said fighting terrorism is an international duty which all countries should work together to fulfill in order to have a more secure world.

During a separate meeting with the Syrian defense chief, Shamkhani called for joint Tehran-Moscow-Damascus efforts to improve the diplomatic process aimed at ending the Syria crisis in parallel with the fight against terror groups on the ground.
The Iranian official further hailed the Syrian army’s recent victories in liberating many areas from the clutches of Takfiri militants and said, “Today, Syria is the battle ground against sedition, which would spread to the entire world if not countered.”
Shamkhani slammed the United States as well as its Western and regional allies for adopting an “unconstructive” and “politically-motivated” approach on the crisis in Syria.
“Backing the terrorists groups and at the same time putting forward political initiative to resolve the Syria crisis are two contrary stances, which have cast doubt on the sincerity of these countries,” he said.
The Syrian official, in turn, thanked the Iranian nation and government for standing by the Syrians in their struggles against terrorism.

Israel bars all Palestinians after Tel Aviv attack
Middle East Eye, 10-6-2016

The Israeli army said Friday that it was temporarily barring all Palestinians from entering Israel, stepping up already tough restrictions announced after Palestinian gunmen shot dead four Israelis in Tel Aviv.
"In accordance with government directives and the ongoing situation assessment, as of today crossing from the Gaza Strip and Judaea and Samaria (the West Bank) will be open to Palestinians only in medical and humanitarian cases," a spokeswoman told AFP. She said that the closure would remain in force until midnight Sunday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his security cabinet on Thursday... Newly installed Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman ordered that the bodies of Palestinians killed while carrying out attacks no longer be returned to their families for burial, a spokesman said.

‘Kill hope for Palestinian state’
By Ido Ben Porat, Arutz Sheva, 9-6-2016

Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) expressed his satisfaction Thursday with the instruction issued by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman not to hand over terrorists’ bodies to the Palestinian Authority (PA), but stressed that defeating terrorism requires additional measures.
Israel needs “to kill the hope” that Arabs have, for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“There are no two states for two nations,” he added. “There is one state for the Jewish people.”
"There needs to be a proper Zionist response" to terror... Wherever they are trying to uproot us, we must settle with greater force...
We should build thousands of units now in Judea and Samaria."

Tel Aviv mayor laments lack of 'courageous' Israeli leadership
Ynetnews, 9-6-2016

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai spoke on Army Radio about Tel Aviv and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in light of Wednesday night's terror attack at Sarona Market.
Huldai spoke of the situation under which Palestinians live: "We are probably the only country in which another people is living under occupation without civil rights and the leadership is saying the situation will (make conditions ripe) in favor of an agreement."
He added, "I know the reality and I know that courageous leaders need to aspire to take action and not just pay lip service. The fact that we are tolerating this misery will not lead to the change that needs to be made."
Huldai argued that the status quo cannot be maintained: "You can’t hold people in a situation of occupation and hope they’ll reach the conclusion everything is all right."
"There has been an occupation for 49 years, which I was part of and I know the reality..." "We have to show our neighbours that we have true intentions to return to a reality of a smaller Jewish state with a clear Jewish majority."

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai's assertion is clear-eyed and correct.
By Juan Cole | Jun. 12, 2016

Deputy-defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan rebuked Huldai, saying “I want to remind him that there was terrorism here 100 years ago, and in 1929 Jews were murdered and there was no State of Israel. There wasn’t even an ‘occupation.’”

Ben-Dahan’s remark is so inaccurate as to be delusional. Palestine was occupied by the British Empire at the end of World War I and ruled by London until 1948. The Palestinians were under occupation. Moreover, in 1917 just before that occupation began, the British government in its notorious colonial Balfour Declaration promised to create a homeland for Jews in the midst of Palestine.
The hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were not consulted by the British about this plan for bringing in thousands of foreign immigrants (just as French colonial authorities did not consult the Algerians about bringing in colonists from Malta, Italy and elsewhere, and from southern France).
Attacks on Jews in Palestine during the British Mandate were in fact a protest against occupation (sometimes they had economic motives).
What the Palestinians could not imagine is that the British and the Jewish immigrants would deprive them of their country entirely (a country promised by the League of Nations and the 1939 British white paper)and turn them into stateless refugees, i.e. into flotsam on the waves of history rather than human beings with rights...
As for Huldai’s assertion, it is clear-eyed and correct.

See also: Saddam's Death, page 48
Saddam's Death, page 53: Dahan must go

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Saudi Arabia: Noor Al-Ahmadi’s holistic approach to healing Saudi Gazette report, 11-6-2016 Noor Al-Ahmadi is an art therapist at Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Humanitarian City in Riyadh where she works with disabled patients. “Shortly before my mother’s death, colors did not mean anything to me. Life no longer appeared appealing to me. The sight of my mother suffering had taken its toll on me. But I decided to be strong for her and had to find a way to make her feel better. All of a sudden colors started to mean everything to me. I discovered that colors can have different meanings,” she reminisced. White color symbolizes compassion and mercy and more specifically the profession of medicine. To her, this color represents purity and kindness and a strong motive to cling on to life. Al-Ahmadi considers black as the color of elegance, noting that to some people this color represents sadness and depression. “Each person views colors from a certain perspective; for example, some view red as the color of love while others as the color of blood, murder and torture. It all boils down to perspective,” she added. A 2005 graduate of Goldsmiths, University of London, Al-Ahmadi set up the plastic art therapy department at the hospital where she works and formed a group called “Noor’s Art” to promote art therapy. Colors can help patients battling cancer, disabilities and other illnesses. Art therapy can also correct the behavior of children who suffer from psychological and behavioral problems. “We can deliver a positive message to a patient indirectly through art therapy. Al-Ahmadi has big dreams and ambitions. She wants to promote plastic art as a form of therapy all over the Kingdom and in the wider Gulf region so that any patient who needs it can have easy access to it.

Saddam Hoessein & the color White on the occasion of the 34th anniversay of the 17-30 july revolution So we stand unshaken, clear in our mind and vision as to truth against falsehood, the colour black, which represents darkness, wickedness and aberration, as opposed to the colour white which represents truth, justice, fairness, purity, virtue, adherence to principles and defending these principles against those who abandoned them..., blind in both heart and conscience." Saddam Hussein, 16-11-2002

The Colors White, Purple & Blue In color psychology white is the color of new beginnings, wiping the slate clean, so to speak. It is the blank canvas waiting to be written upon. While white isn't stimulating to the senses, it opens the way for the creation of anything the mind can conceive. White contains an equal balance of all the colors of the spectrum, representing both the positive and negative aspects of all colors. Its basic feature is equality, implying fairness and impartiality, neutrality and independence. White is totally reflective, awakening openness, growth and creativity. You can't hide behind it as it amplifies everything in its way. White is a color of protection and encouragement, offering a sense of peace and calm, comfort and hope, helping alleviate emotional upsets. It creates a sense of order and efficiency, a great help if you need to declutter your life. Many people use white as a recall of their youth and innocence. It reminds them of a time when their lives were easier and less complicated. The color purple relates to the imagination and spirituality. It stimulates the imagination and inspires high ideals. It is an introspective color, allowing us to get in touch with our deeper thoughts. Purple or violet assists those who seek the meaning of life and spiritual fulfillment. The Color Purple/Violet Represents: Inspiration: Original and sound ideas are created with violet - use it when looking for inspiration during brainstorming sessions. Imagination: Violet inspires creativity with intellect - it is also stimulating to dream activity. Individuality: Violet is unconventional, individual and original. It hates to copy anyone else and likes to do its own thing. Spirituality: Violet assists us during prayer and meditation, helping us to get in touch with our deeper subconscious thoughts. Churches often feature violet in their stained glass windows. From a negative perspective it can relate to the cult follower. The color blue is the color of trust and responsibility. This color is one of trust, honesty and loyalty. It is sincere, reserved and quiet, and doesn't like to make a fuss or draw attention. It hates confrontation, and likes to do things in its own way. From a color psychology perspective, blue is reliable and responsible. Blue relates to one-to-one communication, especially communication using the voice - speaking the truth through verbal self-expression - it is the teacher, the public speaker. The color blue is idealistic. It inspires higher ideals. Blue Represents: Communication: Blue relates to one-to-one verbal communication and self expression. Peace and calm: The color blue induces calm and peace within us, particularly the deeper shades. Honesty: Blue is the colour of truth. Religion: Blue is the colour of devotion and religious study. Wisdom: Blue enhances the wisdom of the intellect.

Gaddafi: Green & White are the basic colors In color psychology white is the color of new beginnings, wiping the slate clean, so to speak. White contains an equal balance of all the colors of the spectrum, representing both the positive and negative aspects of all colors. Its basic feature is equality, implying fairness and impartiality, neutrality and independence. The color most strongly associated with Islam is green because it has represented Islam for centuries. White is perhaps the second-most associated color with Islam. The color white symbolizes purity and peace and so it is often worn by Muslims attending Friday prayers. Muslims also wear it when performing sacred rites of pilgrimage. The color green is the color of balance and harmony. From a color psychology perspective, it is the great balancer of the heart and the emotions, creating equilibrium between the head and the heart. From a meaning of colors perspective, green is also the color of growth, the color of spring, of renewal and rebirth. It renews and restores depleted energy. It is the sanctuary away from the stresses of modern living, restoring us back to a sense of well being. There were some of those who believed that the green colour was the colour of the Prophet Muhammad’s tribe, the Quraysh. Others believed that green was the Prophet’s favourite colour. In fact, it is said that the Prophet always wore a green turban. There are also those who associated the colour with a hadith attributed to the Prophet, which says that “Three things of this world are acceptable: water, greenery and a beautiful face.” ( Colors of islam)

Iran 2003: Shahroudi Children Learning Orff Music For the first time in Semnan Province, the Shahroud Art Bureau's Music Center is holding Orff courses for children, head of the center said. The courses have been arranged for children between 6 and 12 years old. Founded by German composer, Carl Orff (1895-1982), this type of music is more understandable by children than others. Shahroudi children have already welcomed the courses. (Mehr News Agency 2003) Orff Schulwerk: holistic, experiential and process oriented Carl Orff (1895-1982) is probably best known as the composer of such works as Carmina Burana and Catulli Carmina, but it is his work with "Music for Children" which has inspired a global movement in music education. The Orff approach to Music Education is holistic, experiential and process oriented. It is for all children, not just the most musically or intellectually gifted and encompasses aural, visual and kinesthetic learners. Orff's philosophy is based on solid, pedagogical principles. A structured, sequential development of knowledge and skills encourages joyful participation, creativity, and personal musical growth from all participants. The Orff approach taps the very essence of our beings. Children learn through doing, exploring and improvising. They are active participants in an integrated, guided process, one which allows for differing musical abilities. In the Orff approach, no child is neglected. The Orff philosophy combines the elements of speech, rhythm, movement, dance, and song. And at the heart of all this is improvisation - the instinct children have to create their own melodies, to explore their imaginations. (Carl Orff Website) Einstein's Holistic Worldview "A human being is a part of a whole, called by us 'universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." Albert Einstein

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Ibrahim Al-Jaafari: Iraq Needs Iran, Syria, Russia's Experience in Fighting ISIL
FARS News Agency (Iran), 12-6-2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari underlined that his country needs full coordination with Iran, Syria and Russia in the war on terrorism, and said the US shouldn’t impose its will on Baghdad. "Iraq needs Iran, Syria and Russia's assistance in the fight against the ISIL," Jaafari told al-Mayadeen news channel on Sunday.
He said that in fighting terrorism, Iraq fully acts in coordination with the three countries, adding that the US cannot impose its decisions and stances on Baghdad. Jaafari also stressed that the anti-terrorism battle in Fallujah is no different from the battle in Mosul and the battlefields against the ISIL cannot be separated from each other.

In relevant remarks on Friday, al-Jaafari underlined that Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force Commander Major General Qassem Soleimani is in Iraq to help the country in campaign against terrorism after receiving Baghdad's rigid request.
"General Soleimani is in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government to provide military counseling to the Iraqi forces," the Arabic-language Sumeria news channel quoted al-Jaafari as saying.
Also last Sunday, Hashd al-Shaabi (volunteer forces) Commander Abu Mehdi al-Mohandes underlined that General Soleimani is helping the Iraqi forces in their campaign against terrorism upon a request by the Iraqi government.

Defenders of a new form of nationalism that is pragmatic
The IRGC's plan to win hearts and minds
Narges Bajoghli, Al-Monitor, 13-3-2016

He is referred to as a “shadow” commander by Western journalists as he stealthily fights the Islamic State (IS) in places such as Syria and Iraq on behalf of Iran. He has kept a low profile, despite his position as the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) elite foreign operations branch, the Quds Force. Yet last year it seemed that he sprang onto the scene out of the blue. News outlets and social media featured his familiar face posing for selfies on the front lines in Iraq and Syria, documentaries touted his military acumen and music videos passionately praised his strength and bravery...
The surge in public displays of adoration for Qasem Soleimani (born 11-3-1957) are part of a larger public relations campaign by the IRGC that dates to the aftermath of the 2009 Green Movement.
“We faced a crisis of legitimacy after the suppression of the 2009 uprisings,” a retired IRGC captain who now works in pro-regime media production told Al-Monitor. “People, especially young people, began to turn away from us. We knew we had to win them back. We had to give them heroes they could respect.” Soleimani, or Hajj Qasem as he is affectionately known in Iran, became one of those heroes...

“I understand the need for change in this country,” Mehdi, a 30-year old member of the Basij who believes in reform, said. “But I don’t want our generation going into the arms of just any opposition movement. We can’t let Iran turn into Syria..."
The rapid advancement of IS, a sworn enemy of Iran and Shiite Muslims, in the Middle East throughout 2014 and 2015 raised great alarm in Iran.
Last year’s announcements in Iran that the country’s intelligence services uncovered plots to detonate bombs in Tehran created an atmosphere of frenzy. As a means to counter this, pro-regime cultural producers were busy creating social media campaigns, television pieces, films and nationalist posters about the IRGC, and Soleimani featured prominently in them.
“What Hajj Qasem has been able to do is no joke. If it weren’t for him, IS would have advanced throughout Iraq and be at our doorsteps. All Iranians owe him. We owe our safety to him, and I think our people are beginning to see that,” Reza, a 27-year old Basij filmmaker, told Al-Monitor.
“Iran is the only stable, safe country in our neighborhood, and we have Qasem Soleimani and the Revolutionary Guards to thank for that", Sepideh, a 26-year old painter who considers herself in opposition to the government, told Al-Monitor.
The fight against IS has allowed pro-regime cultural producers to rebrand the IRGC not as defenders of the Islamic Republic, but as defenders of the Iranian nation.

The IRGC’s media offensive, including the promotion of Soleimani as the hero par excellence, is thus primarily directed domestically, with the aim of cleaning up an image battered by the 2009 crackdown. Most of all, the perhaps unexpected dynamics of this charm offensive, such as the rise of a new form of nationalism that is pragmatic, in the sense that even opponents of the Islamic Republic back some aspects of the Guards’ operations, should not be underestimated..

See also: Modernity & The Third Culture

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UN elects Israeli Likudnik as committee chair
AP | Al-Arabiya, Tuesday, 14 June 2016

The UN General Assembly elected Israel to chair one of its six major committees for the first time on Monday, a decision denounced by the Palestinians and Arab nations.
In the secret ballot election in the 193-member world body, Israel received 109 “yes” votes. Nobody voted against Israel but there were 23 abstentions, 14 invalid ballots, and 43 votes for other countries in the Western European and Others group which nominated Israel to chair the assembly committee dealing with legal issues.
“This is a historic achievement for Israel,” said Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon. “I am very proud to be the first Israeli to serve as the chairman of a committee.”

Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour strongly objected, saying the group should have nominated “a very responsible qualified candidate, not a big violator of international law.”
Danon “represents occupation” and is not qualified to chair the committee, Mansour said. “This is negative. This is destructive. This is showing lack of sensitivity to our concerns.”

The Israeli ambassador said “it was a pitiful moment” to see some Arab countries trying to block Israel.
“As the chairman of the committee I will work with all member states, including those who didn’t vote for me today, and they will have to decide whether they will come to promote the real goals of the United Nations,” Danon said.
The legal committee deals with UN activities related to international law and the Israeli ambassador said one of his first tasks will be to advance the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.

Danny Danon (born 8 May 1971) is an Israeli politician. He was a member of the Knesset for the Likud party, and served as the chairman of World Likud.
World Likud is the Likud Party’s wing for global communication and networking. World Likud branches are located worldwide and maintain contact with the Jewish communities outside of Israel. Ideological founders like Zeev Jabotinsky and Joseph Trumpeldor remain inspirational icons within the movement and likewise continue to inspire World Likud activities. Proudly serving under the ideological platforms of its past and present leaders, World Likud aims to increase support for Zionism using its global branches. (see also: Saddam's Death, page 71)

Jabotinsky: There is no international law, there is only Zionist law

Either Zionism is moral and just, or it is immoral and unjust. But that is a question that we should have settled before we became Zionists... Actually we have settled that question, and in the affirmative. We hold that Zionism is moral and just. And since it is moral and just, justice must be done, no matter whether Joseph or Simon or Ivan or Achmet agree with it or not.
There is no other morality. (Zeev Jabotinsky, The Iron Wall, 1923)

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Europe should give financial, moral and political support to courageous Islamic dissidents, Giulio Meotti, Arutz Sheva, June 13, 2016 In an interview with German media, Algerian novelist, Boualem Sansal painted a vision of Europe subjugated by radical Islam. According to Sansal, the terror attacks in Paris and Brussels are directed at the Western way of life: "You can not even defeat the weak Arab states, so they have brought in fifth columns to bring the West to destroy itself. If they succeed society will fall." Mr. Sansal belongs to a rapidly growing army of Muslim dissidents. They are the best liberation movement for millions of Muslims who aspire to practice their faith peacefully without submitting to the dictates of fundamentalists and fanatics. These Muslim dissidents pursue freedom of conscience, interreligious coexistence, pluralism in the public sphere, criticism of Islam, and respect for the rule of common law. For the Islamic world, their message could be devastating. That is why the Islamists are hunting them down. Today a new Iron Curtain has been erected by Islam against the rest of the world, and the new heroes are the dissidents, the apostates, the heretics, the rebels, and the non-believers. Pascal Bruckner called them "the free thinkers of the Muslim world." We should support them -- all of them. Because if the enemies of freedom come from free societies, those who kneel before Allah's enforcers, some of the bravest defenders of freedom come from the Islamic regimes. Europe should give financial, moral and political support to these friends of Western civilization, while our disgraced intelligentsia is engaged in slandering them... Those heroes know what happened to their predecessors in "the war on Arab intellectuals." Writers such as Tahar Djaout were killed in 1993 by the Islamists in Algiers, as was the journalist, Farag Foda, famous for his sharp satires on Islamic fundamentalism. Prior to his murder, Foda had been accused of "blasphemy" by the great mosque of al-Azhar... Last year, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called for reforming Islam and the way it is taught as did Sunni Islam's leading cleric, Sheikh Ahmed al Tayeb, head of Cairo's al-Azhar University, the center of Sunni Islam. And he said it in Mecca, no less. Egypt's conservatives however did their best to tamp that down – at least for the moment. egypt: higazi - qatar: qaradawi (muslim brotherhood) - syria-aleppo: al-qaeda

Muammar Gaddafi & The Outsider A new religion is needed In a rare interview with Western journalists in January 1986 Muammar Gaddafi spoke frankly about his life and how he had been misunderstood by the West. Meeting the journalists in his tent he told of how he admired former US Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and of other world leaders he admires like "Egypt's late Gamal Abdul Nasser, India's Mahatma Gandhi, Sun Yat-Sen of China and Italy's Garibaldi and Mazzini." He spoke of his favourite book The Outsider by British author Colin Wilson and others he likes such as Uncle Tom's Cabin and Roots. The Outsider The outsider is the seminal work on alienation, creativity and the modern mind-set. First published over thirty years ago, it made its youthful author England's most controversial intellectual. The Outsider is an individual engaged in an intense self-exploration - a person who lives at the edge, challenges cultural values, and "stands for Truth." Born into a world without perspective, where others simply drift through life, the Outsider creates his own set of rules and lives them in an unsympathetic environment. Wilson illuminates the struggle of those who seek only the transformation of Self but also the transformation of society as a whole. The book is essential for everyone who share's Wilson's conviction that "a new religion is needed." (Source)

Quotes from The Outsider For the bourgeois, the world is fundamentally an orderly place, with a disturbing element of the irrational, the terrifying, which his preoccupation with the present usually permits him to ignore. For the Outsider, the world is not rational, not orderly. When he asserts his sense of anarchy in the face of the bourgeois' complacent acceptance, it is not simply the need to cock a snook at respectability that provokes him; it is a distressing sense that the truth must be told at all costs, otherwise there can be no hope for an ultimate restoration of order. Even if there seems no room for hope, truth must be told. ... "All men should possess a 'visionary faculty'. Men do not, because they live wrongly. They live too tensely, under too much strain, 'getting and spending'. … The visionary faculty comes naturally to all men. When they are relaxed enough, every leaf of every tree in the world, every speck of dust, is a separate world capable of producing infinite pleasure. If these fail to do so, it is man's own fault for wasting his time and energy on trivialities. The ideal is the contemplative poet, the 'sage', who cares about having only enough money and food to keep him alive, and never takes thought for the morrow." Colin Wilson Quote "You recognise something inside yourself changing and that you can actually do things with focused concentration that you could never do before. It's a fascinating business to suddenly realise that it's the mind itself that is the answer to all of these problems." "Here was I saying, in The Outsider: 'Look, you've got to stop being self-pitying, somehow you Outsiders have got to stop being the miserable Outsiders saying you don't want anything to do with this lousy material world, because if you don't do something about this lousy material world, nobody else will. You yourselves have got to take over and become the leaders'. And this was what I was basically saying in The Outsider." Blurb from the inside cover of The Outsider: The outsider is the seminal work on alienation, creativity and the modern mind-set. First published over thirty years ago, it made its youthful author England's most controversial intellectuals. Many of Wilson's Critics were angry that a 24-year-old non-academic had put out a piece of work that describes "human alienation" in populist society so well, even offering up creating one's own religion or reinventing one's spirituality as a solution to one's own malaise. WIKIPEDIA info

Muammar Gaddafi, in 'The Green Book': Earth is your mother Truly, the earth is your mother; she gave birth to you from her insides. She is the one who nursed you and fed you. Do not be disobedient to your mother -- and do not shear her hair, cut off her limbs, rip her flesh, or wound her body. You must only trim her nails, make her body clean of dirt or filth. Give her medicine to cure any disease. Do not place great weights above her breast, weights of mud or stone above her ribs. Respect her, and remember that if you are too harsh with her, you will not find another. Sweep the accumulated iron, mud, and stone from her back. Relieve her of the burdens that others have placed on her unfairly. Revere the cradle in which you grew up, the lap in which you lay. Do not destroy your final resting-place, your place of refuge, or you are the losers and you shall truly regret it... See also: Saddam's Death, page 10: The return of Colonial Theology B-H Levy & the Philosophy of War

Iranian Messianism:
Moslims & Christians will form a progressive movement.

Iranian Shiites believe that at the end of times, the 12th Imam, Mahdi, a 9th century prophet, will reappear with Jesus Christ at his side..
In the picture below, the Chief of Staff ofIslam Republic of Iran, Major General Sayyid Hassan Firouzabadi is seen while kissing the book called "The Prophet Jesus and Hazrat Mahdi Will Come This Century" as an expression of his appreciation.
The Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces, Major General Sayyid Hassan Firouzabadi, who is known with his closeness to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khmenei, noted "Today’s world is enthusiastic for a justice-dispersing Saviour [Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh)] and the emergence of the rule of justice..." (en.a9.com.tr, july 2011)

In a message to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Iranian Armed Forces' Chief of Staff Major General Hassan Firouzabadi said the 1979 Islamic Revolution's progressive movement is continuing “strongly and successfully” (Press TV, 5-4-2015)

Jesus was a lefty
By Mehdi Hasan, NewStatesman, 15-12-2010

Conservatives claim Christ as one of their own. But he was the unemployed son of two asylum-seekers with all the personal traits of a modern revolutionary.
The former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev once declared: "Jesus was the first socialist, the first to seek a better life for mankind." The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, went further, describing Christ as "the greatest socialist in history". But it's not just Russian ex-communists and Bolivarian socialists who consider Jesus to be a fellow-traveller. Even the Daily Mail sketch-writer Quentin Letts once confessed: "Jesus preached fairness - you could almost call him a lefty."

That conservatives have succeeded in claiming Christ as one of their own in recent years - especially in the US, where the Christian right is in the ascendancy - is a tragedy for the modern left.
Throughout history, Jesus's teachings have inspired radical social and political movements: Christian pacifism (think the Quakers, Martin Luther King or Bruce Kent in CND), Christian socialism (Keir Hardie or Tony Benn), liberation theology (in South America) and even "Christian communism".
In the words of the 19th-century French utopian philosopher Étienne Cabet, "Communism is Christianity . . . it is pure Christianity, before it was corrupted by Catholicism."

Right-Wing Pharisaism (Ezra) shaped the character of Judaism

        Matthew (23.13): Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!
        You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces; you do not enter yourselves, nor will you let others enter...

Orthodoxy is the only movement that is formally and legally recognized in Israel.
Orthodoxy or Rabbinic Judaism is the normative form of Judaism that developed after the fall of the Temple of Jerusalem (ad 70). Originating in the work of the Pharisaic rabbis, it was based on the legal and commentative literature in the Talmud, and it set up a mode of worship and a life discipline that were to be practiced by Jews worldwide down to modern times.
Pharisaism shaped the character of Judaism and the life and thought of the Jew for all the future. It gave the Jewish religion a legalistic tendency and made "separatism" its chief characteristic... (Jewish Encyclopedia)

The word Pharisee means “pure,” or “separated,” and was an apt term for this group of ultra-Orthodox men who distanced themselves from the unrighteous while they established many extraneous commandments in connection with their pursuit of holiness. In the time of Jesus, there were several thousand Pharisees in Israel led by two main schools of philosophy:

The School of Shammai: ultra-conservative religious fundamentalists with a pathological devotion to obeying hosts of man-made traditions and commandments. Most believed, among other things, that the Hebrew descendants of Abraham were the only people beloved of God, and that no other people were of value in His sight. This attitude caused Pharisees from the school of Shammai to hate all Gentiles, and left them with little regard even for Jews who didn’t follow them.
The school of Shammai had close ties to the infamous zealots, a group of fanatics who favored armed revolt against Rome.
It’s critical to note that virtually every time you see Jesus or the apostles in strife against what the Bible labels as “Pharisees,” it is almost certainly referring to Pharisees or ex-Pharisees from the School of Shammai.

Of lesser influence in Israel was The School of Hillel.
The school of Hillel was far more liberal, and its founder was renowned for placing people and justice at the heart of Judaism, whereas Shammai stressed strict observance of religious laws. Whenever you see Jesus interacting positively** with the Pharisees (for instance, with Nicodemus or the rich young ruler), he is probably interacting with Pharisees from the school of Hillel. (Page 68)

Jesus apparently grew up in Galilee which was at that time under Herod Antipas undergoing a form of Hellenization. There was a continuation of the program of Herod the Great, the father of Herod Antipas. And that Hellenization was most visible in a place like Sepphoris which was being reconstructed during the youth of Jesus. We have clear evidence in all of that architectural remains Hellenism was having a strong impact even on Galilee during this period....

Jews are lovers of Peace & Truth - Arabs & Muslims are Lyers & Murderers
Prof. Paul Eidelberg, Arutz Sheva (the voice of religious zionism), 14-6-2016

Regime Change, or: Hunters, In Need Of A Prey
Dozens of U.S. Diplomats, in Memo, Urge Strikes Against Syria’s Assad
By Mark Landler, New York Times, JUNE 16, 2016

WASHINGTON — More than 50 State Department diplomats have signed an internal memo sharply critical of the Obama administration’s policy in Syria, urging the United States to carry out military strikes against the government of President Bashar al-Assad...

There is little evidence that President Obama has plans to change course. Mr. Obama has emphasized the military campaign against the Islamic State over efforts to dislodge Mr. Assad.
But the memo, filed in the State Department’s “dissent channel,” underscores the deep rifts and lingering frustration within the administration over how to deal with Syria.
The names on the memo are almost all midlevel officials — many of them career diplomats — who have been involved in the administration’s Syria policy over the last five years, at home or abroad...

The State Department spokesman, John Kirby, declined to comment on the memo.
Robert S. Ford, a former ambassador to Syria, said, “Many people working on Syria for the State Department have long urged a tougher policy with the Assad government as a means of facilitating arrival at a negotiated political deal to set up a new Syrian government.”
Mr. Ford, who is now a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, resigned from the Foreign Service in 2014 out of frustration with the administration’s hands-off policy toward the conflict.
In the memo, the State Department officials wrote that the government’s barrel bombing of civilians is the “root cause of the instability that continues to grip Syria and the broader region.”
“The moral rationale for taking steps to end the deaths and suffering in Syria, after five years of brutal war, is evident and unquestionable,” it said. The memo acknowledged that military action would have risks, not the least further tensions with Russia, which has intervened in the war on Mr. Assad’s behalf and helped negotiate a cease-fire.
The State Department officials insisted in their memo that they were not “advocating for a slippery slope that ends in a military confrontation with Russia,” but rather a credible threat of military action to keep Mr. Assad in line.
Once that threat was in place, the memo said, Mr. Kerry could undertake a diplomatic mission similar to the one he led with Iran on its nuclear program.
In the memo, the State Department officials argued that military action against Mr. Assad would help the fight against the Islamic State because it would bolster moderate Sunnis, who are necessary allies against the group, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

Bashar Assad: They don't want peace, they want us to obey

- Question: So, what does the West require of Syria today in order to stop arming the Syrian opposition and start the political solution?
- President Assad: Simply, to be a puppet...

Neocons Attempt to Hijack US Policy in Syria Via Diplomatic Memo
Sputnik News, 18-6-2016

Neoconservatives in the US State Department leaked a diplomatic memorandum urging military action in Syria in an attempt to manipulate the next president’s foreign policy agenda, former White House National Security Council advisor Gwenyth Todd told Sputnik.
"Such an ‘open letter’ is a typical maneuver by neoconservatives to manipulate the agenda of the next US President, be it Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump..."
"If the next US President surrounds himself or herself with neoconservative, anti-Iran, anti-Assad advisers, this ‘open letter’ from State Department officials could well become very relevant," Todd warned.

It became evident under George W. Bush that intelligent and pragmatic US military leaders are unable to stand up to the neoconservative agenda, she added.

"I call my philosophy and approach compassionate conservatism. It is compassionate to actively help our fellow citizens in need. It is conservative to insist on responsibility and results. And with this hopeful approach, we will make a real difference in people's lives." George W. Bush, 2002

Although Clinton is a highly intelligent and caring person, Todd claimed, she is likely to be easily convinced by her advisers to launch a military intervention against the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Trump, Todd observed, has been highly critical of using the US military in hopeless and catastrophic misadventures in the Middle East but what he might do is still a mystery. "As a businessman focused on profit, the disastrous economic implications of increased US military involvement in Syria suggests he [Trump] would not be swayed by neoconservative ideologues," Todd mused.
"Still, post-Obama Washington remains a great unknown."

John Kirby told reporters in a briefing on Friday that the Obama administration was still committed to pursuing a political solution in Syria despite the memorandum, which came through the department's "dissident channel."
Russia recognizes Assad as the legitimate authority in Syria, and has repeatedly stated the Syrian people should be free to choose their leadership without outside intervention.

Sergey Lavrov: “U.S. seems to want to use al-Nusra to overthrow al-Assad”
Syrian Freepress Website

Russian defense minister meets Assad, inspects Khmeimim airbase in Syria
Russia Today, 18 Jun, 2016

Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has visited Syria where he met with President Bashar Assad and inspected the Khmeimim air base, the Russian military said on Saturday. Shoigu and Assad discussed military cooperation and fight against terrorism.
Shoigu has met with the Syrian leader upon the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Defense Ministry’s spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.
“Topical issues concerning military cooperation between the two countries’ defense ministries, as well as certain aspects of cooperation in the fight against terror groups that are active on Syrian territory, were discussed at the meeting,” Konashenkov said.
The minister inspected Russian Khmeimim air base in Latakia Province and also inspected the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system deployed there. “The defense minister ordered the commanders of the air base to boost comprehensive support to the locals, especially in the areas blocked by terrorists,” Konashenkov added.

Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday, Vladimir Putin said that maintaining Syria’s integrity must be the top priority and warned that the disintegration of the Middle Eastern country would be a “destabilizing factor not only for the region, but for the whole world.”
“We must act carefully, step by step, aiming to establish trust between all sides to the conflict,” the Russian president said, adding that a new and effective government could be formed in Syria once this trust is finally built. A political process is the only way to reach peace, Putin said, stressing that Syrian President Bashar Assad “also agrees to such a process.”
“If we want to promote the principle of democracy, let’s do so with democratic instruments,” Putin told the forum, while cautioning that it will be a “complicated process that will take time.”

Flashback 2002-2003: NO to the rule of force

Russian President Vladimir Putin brushed aside a joint charm offensive launched by US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, dismissing their arguments for a military assault on Iraq. The Kremlin said Bush and Blair had called Putin within minutes of each other as they pressed on with their campaign to win international support for a controversial strike to unseat Saddam. The Russian president had said no to both of them, it said. (India Times, 8-9-2002)

Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the United States to stop the war against Iraq, calling the campaign a "serious political mistake."
"If we install the rule of force in place of international security structures, no country in the world will feel secure," he said. "That is why Russia insists on a quick end to military operations."
The Russian leader, in his first comments on the US decision to launch a war to disarm Iraq and overthrow its president Saddam Hussein, said "there was no need" for military strikes because UN-led weapons inspections in the country were taking their course.
"I would like to underline that military action is happening in contradiction of international public opinion and in despite of principles of international law," said Putin. "This military action is unjustified," he said. (Wold-AfP, 20-3-2003)

U.S. Air Strikes Kill Six al-Qaida Fighters in Yemen
by Naharnet Newsdesk, 18-6-2016

AQAP-leader Qasim al-Raymi On July 9, al-Raymi swore allegiance to al-Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri. He congratulated the recent successes of the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, al-Nusra Front, and the gains made by Army of Conquest coalition in Syria. He called for renewed attacks against the United States, remarking "All of you must direct and gather your arrows and swords against [America]." (see also: page 69)

The United States killed six a-Qaida fighters last week in three separate air strikes in central Yemen, the military said Friday. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) "remains a significant threat to the region, the United States and beyond," US Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said in a statement. "We remain committed to defeating AQAP and denying it safe haven regardless of its location." The United States, which considers AQAP the most dangerous al-Qaida branch, regularly conducts air strikes against the jihadist group in Yemen, mostly using drones. AQAP has several thousand "adherents and fighters" in Yemen, where it is "very active," CIA Director John Brennan told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday. "There is an active effort underway to continue to dismantle and destroy that organization." There are also "several hundred" fighters loyal to the Islamic State group in Yemen, Brennan said. AQAP has taken advantage of the country's civil conflict between Huthi rebels and Yemeni government forces to expand its influence in the country's south and southeast.

Haider Al-Abadi: "Iraq is for Iraqis"
FARS News Agency, 18-6-2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraqi premier congratulated the nation for the liberation of Fallujah from the grip of the ISIL, saying there is no place in his country for the Takfiri terrorists.
“We promised you the liberation of Fallujah and we retook it. Our security forces control the city except for small pockets that need to be cleared within the coming hours,” Haider al-Abadi said in a brief speech broadcast on state television...
“There is no place in Iraq for you... The Iraqi people are all united against you. Get out of our country, for Iraq is for Iraqis,” Abadi further said, addressing the terrorists.
Addressing the inhabitants of newly-liberated Fallujah, he said troops from across the country did their best to protect them and bring back peace and security to the city.
On Friday, army forces raised the Iraqi national flag over the main government compound in Fallujah, symbolizing the recapture of the beleaguered western city from ISIL.
The forces met limited resistance from the terrorists, who were fleeing the city. Fallujah, in the western province of Anbar, is located about 69 kilometers (43 miles) west of the capital Baghdad.

US Rejects Federalism for Iraq After Plea From Kurdish Security Chief
By Wladimir van Wilgenburg, AINA news, 20-6-2016

The US State Department said it will not change its policy towards the Kurds, after Masrour Barzani, the Iraqi Kurdish security chief, called for dividing Iraq into three separate entities after the defeat of ISIS.
Masrour Barzani, the head of the KRG's national security council, and the son of KRG President Masoud Barzani, said that he believes Iraq should be divided into three separate entities once the Islamic State group (ISIS) is defeated.
"Federation hasn't worked, so it has to be either confederation or full separation," Barzani told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday in the Kurdish capital Erbil. "If we have three confederated states, we will have equal three capitals, so one is not above the other."

However, the US State Department says they will not change their views although the Kurdistan Region has functioned as almost an independent country since 1991 with US support...
"Nothing's changed about our position and what we support going forward -- as I said, a federal, democratic, pluralistic, and unified Iraq. And that's been our policy; it's going to remain our policy, US State Department spokesperson John Kirby said on Wednesday.
"We believe that this -- that our view here of a unified Iraq going forward, the policy that we've espoused, is the best policy for the region, quite frankly," he added.
Kirby said they remain committed to a unified Iraq, and will provide support to the Peshmerga forces through Baghdad.
"So we don't just say these words; we live by them and we work with these words as a foundation in terms of even the fight against Daesh," he said, using another acronym for ISIS.
"It's not about denying anybody anything. It's about trying to help Iraq -- especially right now -- defeat this very deadly threat..." Kirby added.

Tunisia doubles scholarships for Palestinians
Middle East Monitor, 21-6-2016

Tunisia has doubled the number of scholarships it issued to Palestinian students, Felesteen newspaper reported Palestinian Education Minister Sabri Saidam saying.
One hundred scholarships were made annually however this year, Tunisia is offering 100 scholarships for undergraduate degrees and a further 100 for postgraduate studies. Twenty scholarships were allocated to Palestinians in Jerusalem.
The announcement was made during a visit by Tunisian Ambassador to Palestine Al-Habib Ben Farah’s visit to Saidam’s office in Ramallah.
During the visit, Saidam hailed the Tunisian support for Palestinians and the Palestinian state, as well as the mutual relations between the two nations, noting that doubling the number of Tunisian scholarships reinforces the deep relations between the two nations.
Meanwhile, Farah announced his country’s readiness to support Palestinians in all fields, mainly education, noting the real investment is in this field as it qualifies the new generations to bear future responsibilities.

Dr. Sabri Saidam, Minister of Education,
State of Palestine - Government website

Vision and Mission

To prepare human beings who are proud of their religious values, national identity, country, and their Palestinian, Arab and Islamic culture; who contribute to the development of their society;
who think critically and actively seek knowledge, innovation and creativity; who interact positively with the requirements of scientific and technological development and are capable to compete;
who are open to other cultures and regional and international markets; who are capable of building a society based on equality between males and females and upholding human values and religious tolerance;
and build up an education system which is accessible, diversified, multiple, flexible, effective, efficient, sustainable, responsive to local needs and qualitative.

Sabri Saidam was born in Damascus in 1971. He was educated in Britain with a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine; and a certification in Human development from Oxford University.
He became the youngest serving minister since the establishment of the Palestine National Authority. He's also the youngest serving minister of Education and Higher Education. Dr. Saidam is a Board member of Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD) and an ex¬board member of Hisham Hijawi College for Vocational and Technical Education - AI-Najah University.

Islamic Emirate and homosexuality
by Thierry Meyssan, Voltaire Network | Damascus, 20 June 2016

Looking back to the mass killing in Orlando, Thierry Meyssan reminds us that the conflict between Daesh and the Syrian Arab Republic is above all a struggle between two forms of society, one dominated by men, the other equal in rights.
It is also the occasion to underline the fact that the Syrian civilisation has a long yet little-known history of the integration of homosexuals, which Daesh is attempting to destroy.

Daesh and the Baath party – two conceptions of society

The massacre of homosexuals is not the prerogative of Daesh alone, it is a practice of numerous sectarian groups who claim to be followers of various religions, and more particularly that of Islamist groups... More generally, a large number of Jews, Christians and Muslims consider that sexual activity between people of the same sex is a «sin», while admitting that you do not choose who you fall in love with.
From an ethnological point of view, the condemnation of homosexuality in the name of these religions is concomitant with a view of a society in which men dominate women. It does not exist in societies where individuals are equal in rights.

As I wrote a year ago, «the support for Daesh among certain populations has nothing to do either with the Qur’an or the class struggle. It is the revolt of a disappearing way of life, a violent society dominated by men, against a way of life which is respectful of women and which practices birth control.»
It should be noted here that contrary to an image that has been imposed without ever having been discussed, the Syrian Arab Republic has never persecuted anyone for motives concerning their private life.
All crimes, real or imaginary, that have been attributed to the Republic are exclusively linked to the repression of Islamists, whether the Muslim Brotherhood or more recently their extensions, al-Qaïda and Daesh...
Even though the dispositions of the Code Pénal of 1949 have not been repealed, the party of President Bachar el-Assad, the Baath, has developed a form of culture almost unique in an Arab country, based on the respect for differences.
Although the founders of the Baath party were inspired first by the French Revolution, their ideology is above all the fruit of the Syrian culture.
And contrary to other Arab countries, Syria has a long tradition of respect for different life-styles.
Syrians do not consider the question of homosexuality from the angle of tolerance or intolerance, but from the angle of privacy. Thousands of years of civilisation have taught them that they can only survive in this region of the world by living together, and they can only manage that by respecting the private life of each and all.

The Quran and sexuality

Islam presents itself as an intervention by God to clarify the theological confusion which reigned in Arabia.
The Qur’an, adopting the myth of Genesis, evokes on six occasions the myth of Sodom and Gomorrha. These verses have only recently been interpreted to condemn the «crime of Lot», and to advocate the stoning and killing of homosexuals by throwing them from roof-tops.
In reality, the myth of Lot does not apply to relations between people of the same sex, but stigmatises both the non-respect of hospitality and rape, which the Bedouins considered as a mark of enslavement. Besides, the Qur’an does not condemne Lot – whom it presents as one of the prophets of Islam – nor his visitors, who ultimately reveal themselves as angels, but the inhabitants of Sodom, who practised MOB-rule....
Many artists from the golden age of Islam celebrated homosexual love, and several caliphs openly displayed their relations with other men (for example Al-Amîne, Al-Muʿtasim and Al-Wathiq).

MOB-rule: Control of a political situation by those outside the conventional or lawful realm,
typically involving violence and intimidation

Today, Daesh is campaigning against those who practice the «crime of Lot».
On the 24 August 2015 the UN Security Council held a meeting concerning the executions that the terrorist organisation has praticed on homosexuals in Iraq and Syria.
Nonetheless, several members of the Council hesitated to condemn these exactions by the jihadists. Angola (80 % Christian) and Chad (mostly Muslim) asked their ambassadors not to participate in the meeting, while other members of the Council demanded a closed session, so that there would be no written report of the meeting, and the Council would abstain from any public conclusion. As a result, we do not know if it examined only the exactions committed by Daesh, or if it extended its investigations to other jihadist groups.

In 2011, Americans mistook mob rule in the streets of the Middle East for democracy
Chas W. Freeman, MEPC, October 14, 2015

isis punishing gay men

Flashback: UN Security Council Holds Inaugural Meeting on LGBT Issues
John Kirby, US Department of State Spokesperson, Washington, August 24, 2015

Today, members of the UN Security Council held their first Arria-formula meeting on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) issues, particularly in the context of ISIL’s crimes against LGBT individuals in Iraq and Syria. This historic event recognizes that the issue of LGBT rights has a place in the UN Security Council.
Around the world, the UN has documented thousands of cases of individuals killed or injured in brutal attacks simply because they are LGBT or perceived to be LGBT. This abhorrent practice is particularly widespread in ISIL-seized territory in Iraq and Syria, where these violent extremists proudly target and kill LGBT individuals or those accused of being so.
No one should be harmed or have their basic human rights denied because of who they are and who they love.
We would like to thank Chile for co-sponsoring this event with us. The United States will continue to raise the plight of targeted LGBT individuals around the world and work to protect their basic human rights.

Samantha Power (United States Ambassador to the United Nations): “In too many parts of the world, denying LGBT rights is still seen as moral and just. Laws are used to criminalize LGBT persons, rather than to prosecute the people who violate their rights. That must change."

Al-Jaafari 2014: Terrorist organizations in Syria sought to eliminate
existence of Syrian women as human beings

New York, SANA Syria’s Permanent Representative to the UN Bashar al Jaafari pointed out that for three years, members of the Salafist-Wahhabi terrorist organizations have committed gang rapes against thousands of Syrian women, and these organizations sought with full support of Arab, regional and international governments to eliminate the existence of the Syrian woman as a human being, changing her into a method for entertaining terrorists and imposing their dark ideology on them.

He clarified that this obscurantist ideology has imposed restrictions on women inside their families, in the way they dress, in education and within their society through Sharia court verdicts that contradict with the level of Constitution-ensured dignity and freedom the Syrian women were enjoying throughout the past decades...
Al-Jaafari said that the Syrian women have paid the price of the terrorist attack against Syria, particularly due to the close-minded ideas of the takfiri ideology and the fatwas which humiliate women and deprive them of their rights, achievements and their active role in the Syrian society. (Syrian Arab News Agency, 14/10/2014)

‘I promised my mother to improve the situation of women in Libya…’
Gaddafi’s odd love affair with women
The Observer, 27-10-2011 (Evelyn Matsamura Kiapi )

The world might remember him as a despot, dictator and murderer, but at least one virtue will stick out: that Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, took good care of women. Not only did he support them, he also believed in their abilities and emancipation, moreover in a society where being a woman is normally associated with getting the back seat.
Wearing heavy make-up and military fatigues, Gaddafi’s female bodyguards, better known as the Amazonian Guard, were synonymous with his presence. He paraded them as a symbol of his belief in women’s emancipation and their role in the defence of their country. He also had a team of female nurses led by his long-time Ukrainian nurse, Galyna Kolotnytska.
Central to Gaddafi’s 1969 revolution was the empowerment of women. His new regime made efforts to advance female emancipation. The new government encouraged women to participate in Libya’s political life and several cabinet posts were allocated to them. Women were also able to form associations.