January 2023
Muslim World in the New Global Order by Abdus Sattar Ghazali published on Amazon
59 killed, 157 injured in bomb blast in Peshawar, Pakistan
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: In a return to terrorist activities in Pakistan, at least 59 people were killed and 157 were injured in a blast inside a mosque shook Peshawar’s Police Lines area on Monday. The outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the blast. Read More
Biden’s ‘fumbling’ doctrine
By Habib Siddiqui: Former U.S. Defense Secretary Bob Gates wrote in his memoir, Duty, that Joe Biden has been “wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.” For progressives, “Biden appears to be a man of the past: an unapologetic champion of American exceptionalism,” Foreign Policy reported in June 2020. Many insiders who had worked closely with Mr. Biden would beg to differ on such assertions. Read More
Third wave of Islamophobia in Europe on the rise
By Yusuf Kaplan: The war that started with Russia's invasion of Ukraine inevitably shook the balance of power in Europe. Scandinavian countries, especially at the behest of the Anglo-Saxons, decided to guarantee their security as NATO members. Sweden and Finland then applied for NATO membership. However, Sweden and Finland's NATO application is in Turkey's hands, and Turkey's approval is the only hurdle: The U.S. is piling pressure on Ankara, but when Turkey stipulates that Sweden distances itself from the terrorist organization PKK as an indispensable prerequisite for Sweden's approval of NATO membership, Sweden has undergone legislative changes, initially showing a willingness to do its "homework". Read More
Turkey warns citizens of 'Islamophobic', 'racist' attacks in EU, US
By TRT World: Turkey has issued a strong travel advisory, warning its citizens against "possible Islamophobic, xenophobic and racist attacks" in the Europe and United States. In two separate travel advisories on Saturday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry recommended its citizens in the United States and European countries to "act calmly in the face of possible xenophobic and racist harassment and attacks" and to "stay away from areas where demonstrations may intensify." Read More
Danish politician stages another Quran burning stunt
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: In yet another provocative act on Friday, far-right Danish politician Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the Holy Quran in front of a Copenhagen mosque and also outside the Turkish embassy in Denmark. The incident took place days after Paludan, the leader of Denmark’s far-right party Stram Kurs (Hard Line), committed a similar act outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm on Jan 21. On Friday, Paludan burned the holy scripture with a helmet on his head just across from the Islamic Society mosque after noon prayers in the Dortheavej district of Copenhagen. Read More
India lost 26 of 65 patrolling points to China in disputed Ladakh
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: India has lost its presence in 26 of the 65 Patrolling Points (PP) in Eastern Ladakh, which were patrolled regularly by the Indian forces, due to ‘restrictive or no patrolling’ by the forces, according to a research paper by a senior police officer, Indian Express reported Tuesday. The document was prepared by Leh, Ladakh, Police officer P D Nitya, who said the Chinese have a strong economic and strategic need in the eastern border sector and they are aggressively building up their army to dominate the unfenced areas marked by the PPs on the Indian side to lay their claim on the area for further domination. Read More
Russia negotiating with Taliban to procure U.S. arms in exchange for recognition
By Abus Sattar Ghazali: Russia is planning to procure the U.S. weaponry left behind during the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal by the US Army in August 2021, Russian Telegram channel General SVR has reported. Russian President Viladimir Putin has been in process of negotiating with Taliban to procure leftover arms to be used by Russian forces in the ongoing military offensive in Ukraine in exchange for recognizing the Taliban government, the Telegram channel General SVR reported informed sources as saying. Read More
US averted nuclear war between India, Pakistan in 2019 says Pompeo
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: India and Pakistan came close to a nuclear war in 2019 and Washington’s intervention prevented an escalation, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reveals in his memoir published on Tuesday. This happened in February 2019 after New Delhi launched air raids inside Pakistani territory after blaming an armed group there for a suicide bombing that killed 41 Indian soldiers in disputed Kashmir region. In response to the attack, Islamabad shot down an Indian warplane, capturing the pilot, Abhinandan Varthaman. India's aerial attacks across the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Indian and Pakistan in Kashmir were the first since a war in 1971. India said it had killed a large number of militants but Pakistan called the claim "reckless". Read More
Erdogan Says Swedish NATO Application out of Question after Qur’an burning in Stockholm
By Juan Cole: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Sweden can forget about membership in the 30-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Erdogan is demanding that Sweden cooperate with Turkey in repressing Kurdish activist expatriates in Sweden, all of whom he views as terrorists. He also says he is furious about the stunt pulled by Danish-Swedish Islamophobe Rasmus Palodan of burning the holy Qur’an near the Turkish embassy. Paludan is the leader of the far right “Hard-Line Party” (Stram Kurs). No subtleties for these fascists, I guess. Pal Jonson, the Swedish Defense Minister, had been slated to visit Turkey on Jan. 27, but Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has canceled that meeting over the controversy. Read More
Quran burning sessions in pagan rituals
By Selçuk Türkyılmaz: The anti-Islam and anti-Turkey demonstrations in North European countries repeating regularly makes it essential to approach the events from different angles. It is believed that European nations hold a common perspective when it comes to anti-Islam and anti-Turkey sentiment. When generalized, it is possible to talk about certain common points, especially with respect to West European countries. However, going into detail, it is seen that the common perspective loses validity. This thus makes it essential to discuss different categories. The colonialist heritage must be taken seriously. Hence, it would help to re-identify the extremism in terms of anti-Islam and anti-Turkey sentiment today, especially in North European countries. Read More
Worldwide condemnation of Quran burning in Sweden
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The Muslim Islamic world condemns the burning of a copy of the Quran, Islam’s holy book, by a Swedish-Danish right-wing extremist, Rasmus Paludan, in the Swedish capital, Stockholm. Rasmus Paludan, the leader of the Stram Kurs (Hard Line) Party, under the protection of police and with permission from the government, burned a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm on Saturday, the Anadolu Agency reported Sunday. Read More
Russia’s oil supply deal with Pakistan in 'final stage'
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Russia said Friday it had reached "conceptual agreements" with Pakistan on the supply of crude oil and petroleum products, noting the two sides also agreed the payments will be made in "currencies of friendly countries," the Voice of America News reported. According to Gzeromedia, payments might be made through a “friendly” country, presumably China – a power play for Beijing, whose yuan will be used for the transactions, giving the currency more sway as an alternative to the US dollar. Read More
Argentina and Brazil to cut reliance on U.S. dollar and create common currency
by Countercurrents Collective: Citing officials, the Financial Times said on Sunday: Brazil and Argentina plan to create a common currency. According to the newspaper, this move could finally create the world’s second-largest currency bloc with roughly 5% of global GDP, if the initiative is successfully implemented across all of Latin America. The plan will be discussed and officially announced at a summit in Buenos Aires this week, according to the report. Read More
Indian Muslim brutally beaten by Hindu mob as government-induced sectarian tension deepens
Press TV: A Muslim man in India has been brutally assaulted and beaten by a Hindu-radical mob on board a train after he refused to say a proclamation used by Hindus. The video of the incident, which was shared on social media by Shaukat Ali, State President of All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), showed Asim Hussain, the victim, being stripped to the waist along with being brutally flogged in the walk-way area of the train compartment by unidentified people. According to Hussain, 46, the incident took place at the Hapur station in Uttar Pradesh, as he was returning from Delhi to Moradabad. Read More
Will the 2024 elections in Bangladesh be any different?
By Habib Siddiqui: The 5-year long tenure of the current (11th) JatiyaSangsad (National Parliament) of Bangladesh is scheduled to expire on 29 January 2024. General elections are, thus, expected to be held in January 2024. With thousands of party members behind the bar or in hiding, the opposition BNP has been effectively neutered by the ruling Awami League (AL). The party wants its leaders to be fully released immediately. While the AL leadership may feel secure with the demise or choking of opposition forces, it is not a good sign for democracy. Bangladesh is, thus, back to square one, and what we witnessed in the 2018 election does not bode well for the nation. Read More
The Recent Elections in Bangladesh
By Dr. Habib Siddiqui: Before the 2018 election there was some optimism in the air that this time with the participation of the opposition BNP (which sat out the previous general election over its unmet demand for poll-time neutral, i.e., caretaker, government) and the JatiyaOikya Front (Gono Forum) the election would be fair, thus allowing democracy to take a deeper root in this country of nearly 160 million people. Apparently, all such hoopla came to nothing. Bangladesh will have to live through its ignominy of being an illiberal and a flawed democracy for a foreseeable future! Read More
“Survival of the Richest” widens the gap between the rich and the poor
by Vikas Parashram Meshram: The terrible reality of the widening gap between the rich and the poor has been presented by the famous organization ‘Oxfam’ in its report. However, now a situation like ‘Survival of the Richest’ has arisen in India. The rich are getting richer while poverty is increasing day by day. Only 21 billionaires in the country have more wealth than 70 crore Indians. Only the richest one percent own 40 percent of the wealth generated in the country. The gap between the highest income groups and the lowest income groups in national incomes is significant. The ratio of wealth to income is also increasing due to the increase in national income. As a result, the gap between these two groups continues to widen. Apart from this, there is a huge disparity in income between urban and rural areas. Read More
Richest 1% bag nearly twice as much wealth as the rest of the world put together over the past two years, finds Oxfam
by Countercurrents Collective: The rich are having good days as they always have. Even the pandemic could not brake their stockpiling of wealth. The super-rich outstrip their extraordinary grab of half of all new wealth in past decade. The richest 1% of the world bag nearly twice as much wealth as the rest of the world put together over the past two years, finds Survival of the Richest, an Oxfam International (OI) study released on the first day of the World Economic Forum (WEF), January 16, 2023, being held in Davos, Switzerland. The richest 1% grabbed nearly two-thirds of all new wealth worth $42 trillion created since 2020, almost twice as much money as the bottom 99% of the world’s population, reveals the report. During the past decade, the richest 1% had captured around half of all new wealth. Read More
Billionaires Gobbled up 2/3s of New Wealth at $2.7 bn/ day, as 800 million go to bed Hungry: Oxfam
JUAN COLE: Oxfam, the British charity, has released a new report finding that the global problem of wealth inequality is growing ever more threatening. Of all the new wealth the entire human race has produced in the past two years, the richest 1% gobbled up 66% of it. The less-rich 99% of us only got a third of it. So Neoliberal economists will say, so what? Everybody gets richer with unfettered market capitalism. Why should we care if some people get really richer? Is it just envy? Read More
China now publishes more high-quality science than any other nation – should the US be worried?
by Caroline Wagner: In 2022, Chinese researchers published three times as many papers on artificial intelligence as US researchers. By at least one measure, China now leads the world in producing high-quality science. My research shows that Chinese scholars now publish a larger fraction of the top 1% most cited scientific papers globally than scientists from any other country. Read More
WEF: Cost-of-living Crisis Can Result in Hunger for Millions in Pakistan
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2023 says that a combination of extreme weather events and constrained supply could lead Pakistan’s current cost-of-living crisis into a catastrophic scenario of hunger and distress for millions. The World Economic Forum (WEF) delivered its Global Risks Report for 2023 was released ahead of the WEF’s Davos, Switzerland, meeting from January 16 to 20. Read More
Pakistan’s strategic City Gwadar faces Chaos
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Pakistan’s port city of Gwadar, the hub of the mammoth $62 billion infrastructure project known as China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), is in a siege-like situation amid unrest caused by a crackdown against protesting Balochs. The city faced a blackout of mobile and internet communications for almost a week. While the mobile networks have been restored, the internet has been shut down since December 28, according to the Diplomat. Read More
50,000 Indian Muslims fear homelessness as their houses face demolition
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The Supreme Court Thursday stayed an order passed by the Uttarakhand High Court to evict over 4,000 families living on “encroached” Railways land in Haldwani City. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and A S Oka observed that the matter was a “human issue”, and that 50,000 people couldn’t be evicted in seven days. The court will hear the matter again on February 7. Read More
Pakistan, India exchange lists of nuclear facilities and prisoners as part of new year tradition
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Pakistan and India on Sunday exchanged the lists of nuclear sites and prisoners in each other’s custody as part of various agreements in place between the two countries, Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) announced. According to the FO, the tradition of exchanging the nuclear installations and facilities list has existed since January 1992, whereas the first exchange of the prisoners’ list took place in 2008. India has simultaneously handed over a list of its nuclear installations and facilities to the Pakistani mission in New Delhi, the statement said. Read More
Deadliest Year for Palestinians in Decades: Israeli Forces Kill 240, including 47 children
Ramzy Baroud: Another critical year for Palestine has folded. While 2022 has wrought much of the same in terms of Israeli military occupation and increasing violence, it also introduced new variables to the Palestinian struggle – nationally, regionally and internationally. Read More
Happy New Year For Palestine?
by Jafar M Ramini: It is New Year’s Eve, 2022, by all accounts the year that has been the hardest for Palestinians living under the yolk of Apartheid Israel. At least 207 people killed, 47 of whom were children. That Israel is an Apartheid state is not just an off-the-cuff remark, or yet another adjective to throw at Israel, it is what Amnesty International and the UN Human Rights Watch have called it and most tellingly, it is what an Israeli human rights, NGO, B’Tselem called it. Apartheid. Read More
The Price of Betraying Palestine: Moroccans Challenge Normalization with Israel
by Dr Ramzy Baroud: Two years ago, Morocco and Israel signed the US-brokered “Joint Declaration”, thus officially recognizing Israel and instating diplomatic ties. Though other Arab countries had already done the same, the Moroccan official recognition of Apartheid Israel was particularly devastating for Palestinians. Read More
Pakistan's Former PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja Grilled
By Syed Rifaquat Ali: Renowned Pakistani TV anchor, Mansoor Ali Khan, grilled the former Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ramiz Raja, who was recently sacked after England beat Pakistan 3-0 to clinch the series. Pakistan had never lost a series at home against England. Read More
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The Journal of America Team:
Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott
Special Correspondent
Maryam Turab
