Freedom, Understanding and the Middle East: One Muslim’s view

by Amhed Aziz

Our blogging friend Amhed Aziz is a Pakistani Muslim and a PhD candidate at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Once in a while Amhed stops by Barbados Free Press and says “Hi”. (Hi back Amhed!)

While we may not agree with everything Amhed says, nor he with us, we’re happy to link to anything he writes. Here are a few excerpts from his blog Bleeding Humanity…

“It is the Jews’ fault”, “the Jews’ control the world”, “Jews are evil”, “Jews are kafirs” – We are used to hearing these words in our part of the world. It has become a mantra for conspiracy theorists like Zaid Hamid and basically each and every preacher in our mosques, teacher in our schools and friends in our circles in Pakistan. Why do we blame the Jews for everything? Are these accusations based on fact or hearsay? Or are we grossly generalizing the actions of the State of Israel and the Jewish people? Have we ever tried to examine the insecurity that the State of Israel uses to perpetrate the injustices in besieged Gaza and the occupied territory of West Bank?

In this article I would like to present some history of the Jewish people so we can actually know the people that we blame and understand them as human beings. The purpose of this article is not in any way to justify the barbarism of IDF (Israel Defense Force) and the actions of the State of Israel but to understand the people we blame for everything. Actions of a state, government or an organization does not mean that they are exacting the collective will of the people, exactly like actions of Al-Qaeda, Taliban or Hezbollah does not represent the collective will of the Muslim people.  We expect them to understand us, our actions and our suffering so it is imperative for us to also endeavor to understand them as our fellow human beings. It is not a one way street…

… from the Bleeding Humanity article An attempt to understand the people we Muslims blame for all that is wrong

It’s the same old cycle. Once again an insignificant person does something radically stupid in the West, and we in the East go on to a killing rampage.

… from the Bleeding Humanity article Hating Terry Jones is bad for Muslims

Are we free? The answer to that question is normally “Yes”. The reasons given for that affirmative answer are usually: we are free from the shackles of the colonial British and we are free from the united sub-continent, so we are free. According to the Two-Nation Theory that we study all through our school lives,  essentially, we as Muslims, would be a minority in United India and our right to practice our religion would be taken away because Hindus and Muslims are two separate nations.

So today, in 2011, are we actually free? Or this is just a fallacy? In this article I would refrain from a long tirade of blaming the corruption of our leaders for our perilous history and would invite readers to look at their own selves. I would specifically focus on freedom of thought and belief.

… from the Bleeding Humanity article Freedom to Believe in Pakistan: Comparison with an arch-rival in the Middle East

Cry-Baby Barbados Nation News Staffer Uses BFP Blog To Hit Back Over Firings!

A Word From BFP Editor Marcus…

Oh, the delicious irony.

After years of being lapdog to the BLP government. After years of unethically suppressing news and stories that embarrassed the political and business elites of Barbados. After failing time and time again to fulfill a journalist’s duty to guard the public trust… a fired Nation News staffer comes to one of the hated, ignored and villified blogs, to freely have their say to the Bajan public.

No problem – Barbados Free Press and other blogs are here to let Bajans discuss important issues. No thanks to the lapdog “professional” news media.

Take it away Fired Journalist. Just don’t expect any sympathy from we…

Letter To Barbados Free Press

Well, well. It seems as though the Free Press has gone soft on us. It seems as though it is protecting the other sections of the media and just pretending to be critical.

You know what they say about people who protest too much. Maybe the BFP has shares in One Caribbean Media (OCM).

Last Friday 23 Barbadians were laid off by the OCM setup in Barbados. The OCM setup in Barbados is The Nation Corporation, the STARCOM Network, and the corporate entity in Roebuck Street. The silence is interesting especially since each Morning Vic Fernandes parades as the Market Vendor and washes his mouth on everybody (by the way he should wash his mouth on his son Bobby who recently *** removed by BFP editor***).

This same Vic Fernandes has been silent on the CLICO issue – know why CLICO had owned a sizeable chunk of OCM shares. But like most people it is the soft targets that they hit at despite him trying to give the impression that he as a Market Vendor is for equity and fair play. But yes last Friday six employees of the Nation were laid off including in this group were Adonijah, Katrina Bend, Wendy Burke and Cheryl Marshall-Morris.

The public wouldn’t know who Marshall-Morris is but let me just say she is the wife of the embattled former Nation Big-daddy, Chief Newsroom Whip, Roy Morris who fell from grace last year like Jimmy Swaggart after he couldn’t leave the underage girls. It is interesting to note that if he were still at the Nation he would be arrogantly presiding over who goes home.

Readers Say Barbados Arch Cot Cave-In Construction Was A C.O. Williams – Gregory Hazzard Project For Liz Thompson

FEBRUARY 28, 2009 UPDATED: Former Barbados Government Minister Liz Thompson Writes BFP – “I deny that I was involved in any way” with Arch Cot Collapse

“Barbados Free Press, this is the second time I am asking you to publish my comments. You very quickly published lies about my association with Arch Cot but I cannot get you to publish my response to your garbage. Is it because the BFP has no real commitment to the truth and knows that it can damage people’s personal and professional reputations and then hide behind the anonymity of the internet to escape being sued?

I am asking you to give my response the same kind of prominence that you gave to the libellous story. I am making this second attempt because people are asking me if I have seen the BFP story. In the past I have ignored the many untruths which the BFP has published about me but these most recent allegations are extremely serious…”

… continue reading former Government Minister Liz Thompson’s letter and BFP’s response in our article Former Barbados Government Minister Liz Thompson Writes BFP – “I deny that I was involved in any way” with Arch Cot Collapse

Original story…

Rumours Swirling About Daycare Center Construction

My friends, two newspaper articles about the Arch Cot cave-in deaths recently appeared in the local rags known as the Nation and the Barbados Advocate. The Nation article by Phillippe Aimey lamented the government’s inaction in assisting the displaced residents, while the Barbados Advocate published a comprehensive letter from Charles Whittaker asking many of the questions that have been on the front burner for everyone it seems – except the governments of Owen Arthur and David Thompson.

Mr. Whittaker asked most pointedly…

“Will there ever be a coroner’s enquiry or any public enquiry into the tragedy? The more we discuss the events leading up to the fateful cave-in, the more we are convinced that the final tragedy could have been prevented.”

We have all heard the rumours, but have never read any involved names in the news media in the nineteen months since the Codrington family died. It is disgusting that two successive Barbados governments and the island media are apparently more concerned with protecting big names and political elites than in allowing the citizens to know the truth. It is disgusting that two successive Barbados governments have failed to take the steps necessary to prevent a recurrence.

As citizens we have a right to the truth. We DEMAND that the David Thompson government call a PUBLIC inquest – a full and truthful inquest – into the deaths of an entire family.

No Inquest Means Citizens Must Find Other Sources

The rumours have been going on almost since the day of the tragedy and we have no way of knowing if they are true or not. We had hoped that the government would call a public inquest but that is apparently not to be – at least not in any timely fashion. As we’ve pointed out repeatedly in the last three years, Barbados doesn’t do inquests or assign blame, especially if big names are involved.

So we’re going to print the rumours here. They are the same rumours that we’ve all heard and it is time that someone printed them in public – if for no other reason than to force the truth to the surface.

Notice To Anyone Mentioned In This Article

If your name is mentioned in this article as possibly involved in the Arch Cot tragedy and you would like to dispute anything that is said, we would be willing to print your unedited response prominently so it can be read by the same audience that reads this article.

Names We’ve Heard Associated With The Arch Cot Cave-In Deaths

C.O. Williams Construction Ltd.

Elizabeth Thompson

Gregory Hazzard

Mahy, Ridley, Hazzard Engineers Limited

It is rumoured that C.O. Williams Construction Ltd. was doing the digging for a daycare center project for BLP Government Minister Liz Thompson. Gregory Hazzard is rumoured to be the engineer who attended at the construction site and gave the go ahead to resume construction four days before the cave-in. The construction had been halted for a week due to the appearance of large cracks and the loss of a drill bit down a “bottomless hole” that appeared near the Codrington family’s apartment. Mahy, Ridley, Hazzard Engineers Limited are rumoured to be the project’s engineering firm.

Now folks – we are just repeating the rumours we’ve all heard, and once again if these rumours are false or there is more known we want to hear about it like everyone else. If any of the people mentioned want to dispute that they were not involved at all, please write us and we’ll post your comments right here where everyone can read them. You can write to Barbados Free Press at our email address of…  barbadosfreepress@yahoo.com

Here is the letter from Charles Whittaker as published in the Barbados Advocate. We print the complete version because the Barbados Advocate often destroys their archives, presumably so the truth can be changed whenever convenient.