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By Jafar M. Ramini

Ramadan is upon us when all true Muslims cleanse their bodies and souls by fasting, praying, meditating and bringing the best of themselves to the fore.

I wish that this Ramadan would be the month that will bring an end to the bloodshed and suffering of Muslim Arabs from North Africa to the Arabian Gulf and beyond. But the indications that this is not going to happen any day soon are there for all to see.

Perhaps you’ll agree with me when I say that a person does not have to be a paid up collaborator to help the enemy of his people. His ignorance, his indifference and his greed will do the job for free. This is what I call the enemy within.

We have all been treated to a diet of wall-to-wall coverage of the amassed millions of Egyptians on the streets of Cairo and Alexandria, protesting either for or against the incumbent, democratically elected President, Mohammad Mursi. This has culminated in the removal of President Mursi and various members of his government from office by a military coup d’etat. Though most pundits are arguing whether to call it a coup or acquiescence to the demands of the people. In my opinion it is a coup, it is against the interests of Egypt and the Egyptians and at the end it is against the aspirations of all the Arabs. I say this because of my love for Egypt and the Egyptians and my firmly held belief that there is no Egypt without the Arabs and there are no Arabs without Egypt.

Yes, President Mursi made a lot of mistakes, and yes, members of the Muslim Brotherhood who spawned him have taken advantage and liberties with their newfound power. And yes, the fears and apprehensions of many Egyptians are understandable. But that does not justify forcible removal after only one year in office and imprisonment, no matter what they have done. They certainly should not be replaced by the people who actually lost every democratically contested election since the removal of President Mubarak.

The Egyptian people are renowned for their wisdom, patience, piety and placid nature. In my opinion, they should have gathered together a coherent opposition, based on national interests, and waited until the term of the democratically elected President Mursi had expired. That would be right time and the proper time to face him and the Muslim Brotherhood at the ballot box.

The reason why they are shying away from the word ‘coup’ is because it has ramifications that would affect the US military aid package to the Egyptian army to the tune of $1.3 billion a year. This subsidy is not because of the love of the Americans for Egypt but a form of bribe to keep the Egyptian army pacified and subjugated and serve the interests of the USA and the continued survival and security of Israel.

I know that at the moment emotions are running high but if we are to spare Egyptian blood, the fledgling democracy of Egypt, the unity of Egypt and most important of all, the revolution in Egypt we must all take a deep breath and reflect.

Please, my brothers and sisters in Egypt, make Ramadan not only the Holy Month of fasting, praying and meditation, make it a month of peace and reconciliation. The Arab nation will look to you again and feel confident that their future and destiny are assured.

The tragedy that is Syria is not coming to an end soon. How could it when ignorance, bigotry and misuse of Islam by the protagonists on the ground fuel the conflict more and more? The western powers and the various backward Arab regimes are not helping the situation by hypocrisy, double standards and the increased lethal influx of weaponry in the hands of the so-called rebels and the Free Syrian Army.

Please, my brothers and sisters in Syria, during this Holy Month of Ramadan, try to find in your hearts a way to put an end to this on-going calamity. Syria belongs to you all, irrespective of political affiliation and religious indoctrination. Cast aside your differences and spare Syria more pain and destruction. Spare the Arab world more division and fragmentation. Think of the future for Arab generations to come.

Amongst all this chaos in the Arab/Muslim world, John Kerry, the US Secretary of State is yet again on one of his shuttles to the Middle East, trying to look as if he is giving the stalled, futile peace process a shot in the arm. I remember another American Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, who perfected this new form of deception and we the Arabs have been reeling from the effects ever since.

No free-thinking Palestinian is duped by this charade of endless talks and empty rhetoric. We always knew that Israel would never, not for a nanosecond, contemplate any meaningful and just end to the bitter and brutal occupation of Palestine.

From the inception of Zionism the plan was, and still is, Greater Israel, from the Nile to the Euphrates. Please take note of what Professor Llan Pape’ of Exeter University, an Israeli academic and former Zionist, and author of the book ‘The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine’ has to say.
“The Zionist goal, from the very beginning, was to have as much of Palestine as possible with as few Palestinians in it as possible.”

Not convinced yet? Do you need more evidence to that the Zionists will never ever make peace? Please sit back and have a look at this recent debate at the Oxford Union.




Of course, the American administration is trying to sugar-coat this bitter pill by offering the PA an enormous carrot. A package of proposed economic and development aid to the volume of $4 billion. Unfortunately, this carrot transforms miraculously into a heavy stick to coerce the people at the helm at the PA into yet more shameful compromises and retreats. It comes with the threat that if you don’t do as you’re told we shall withdraw from the scene and leave you to deal with Israel on your own. This is no empty American threat. it has been regurgitated by the likes of Tony Blair and some other mercenary Arab leaders. I find it very disturbing that Gaza is never mentioned. Nor the right of return for any Palestinians.

In the meantime the chasm between Ramallah and Gaza widens daily and they both behave as if they are two separate independent countries. Of course, Hamas is being subsidized and financed by parties in the Middle East and the Arab world who pray at the alter of Washington and Tel Aviv.

There is a famous English saying,” if you accept the King’s shilling then you must do the King’s bidding.” A lesson, I think, yet to be learned by most Arab leaders, who shamefully accept the largesse of the west, knowing full well that the west in general and the Americans in particular live by the notion that there is no such thing as a free lunch. These, my compatriots are the enemy within.

The Palestinian Authority is not mandated, does not speak in our name and does not have our blessings.

The Palestinian Nation is the sole custodian of Palestine. Not the PA. Not Hamas. Not the Arabs. And certainly not America or Israel.

Make this Holy Month of Ramadan a month of passive resistance against all our enemies. Inside and out. Make it a Ramadan to remember.

Ramadan Kareem.